Comperative studies with Culex pipiens egg rafts. Immunogenetic, electrophoretic and enzymatic analysis of unfertilized, compatible and incompatible fertilized eggs.

PubMed

Schumann, W

1974-01-01

By applying immunologic, electrophoretic and enzymatic methods, extracts of different raft types of Culex pipiens were analysed. Rafts of the crosses Pa x Pa and Ha x Ha contained four common antigens, while unfertilized rafts of Pa and Ha (no antisera were prepared against them) and rafts of the crosses Og x Og, Og x Pa, and Pa x Og shared three common antigens with the remaining raft extracts. Disk-electrophoresis of raft extracts in acrylamide gel resulted in different electropherograms. Ten protein bands were common to all these raft types. The unfertilized rafts of Pa and Ha yielded three more protein bands, the crosses Pa x Ha and Ha x Pa one more, the crosses Og x Og and Pa x Og three more, and Og x Pa two more. Many enzymes were demonstrated in the raft extracts after they were separated in acrylamide gel and incubated with the corresponding substrate solutions. All the raft types possessed one enzyme type for glutaminate-, lactate-, glucose-6-phosphate-dehydrogenase and catalase. Malate-dehydrogenase and leucine aminopeptidase occurred in each raft type as two isoenzymes. Alkaline phosphatase was observed as a single enzyme, but was lacking in rafts of the crosses Pa X Pa and Ha X Ha. While rafts of the crosses Og x Og and Og x Pa possessed two acid phosphatases, three could be demonstrated for the remaining raft types. Up to eight esterases appeared; rafts of the crosses Og x Og and Og x Pa possessed seven such activities. The results obtained by the Ouchterlony test, disk-electrophoresis and the histochemical enzyme tests are discussed in context and checked according to the phenomenon of incompatibility.

The plant limonoid 7-oxo-deacetoxygedunin inhibits RANKL-induced osteoclastogenesis by suppressing activation of the NF-{kappa}B and MAPK pathways

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

Wisutsitthiwong, Chonnaree; Buranaruk, Chayanit; Pudhom, Khanitha

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer A gedunin type limonoid from seeds of mangroves, 7-oxo-7-deacetoxygedunin, exhibits strong anti-osteoclastogenic activity. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Treatment with this limonoid results in significant decrease in expression of NFATc1 and osteoclast-related genes. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The mode of action of this limonoid is by inhibiting activation of the NF-{kappa}B and MAPK pathways which are activated by RANKL. -- Abstract: Osteoclasts together with osteoblasts play pivotal roles in bone remodeling. Aberrations in osteoclast differentiation and activity contribute to osteopenic disease. Osteoclasts differentiate from monocyte/macrophage progenitors, a process that is initiated by the interaction between receptor activator of NF-{kappa}B (RANK) and its ligand, RANKL. Inmore » this study, we identified 7-oxo-7-deacetoxygedunin (7-OG), a gedunin type limonoid from seeds of the mangrove Xylocarpus moluccensis, as a potent inhibitor of osteoclastogenesis. Additionally, 7-OG showed strong anti-osteoclastogenic activity with low cytotoxicity against the monocyte/macrophage progenitor cell line, RAW264.7. The IC50 for anti-osteoclastogenic activity was 4.14 {mu}M. Treatment with 7-OG completely abolished the appearance of multinucleated giant cells with tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase activity in RAW264.7 cells stimulated with RANKL. When the expression of genes related to osteoclastogenesis was investigated, a complete downregulation of NFATc1 and cathepsin K and a delayed downregulation of irf8 were observed upon 7-OG treatment in the presence of RANKL. Furthermore, treatment with this limonoid suppressed RANKL-induced activation of p38, MAPK and Erk and nuclear localization of NF-{kappa}B p65. Taken together, we present evidence indicating a plant limonoid as a novel osteoclastogenic inhibitor that could be used for osteoporosis and related conditions.« less

Two Dimensional Array Based Overlay Network for Balancing Load of Peer-to-Peer Live Video Streaming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Faruq Ibn Ibrahimy, Abdullah; Rafiqul, Islam Md; Anwar, Farhat; Ibn Ibrahimy, Muhammad

2013-12-01

The live video data is streaming usually in a tree-based overlay network or in a mesh-based overlay network. In case of departure of a peer with additional upload bandwidth, the overlay network becomes very vulnerable to churn. In this paper, a two dimensional array-based overlay network is proposed for streaming the live video stream data. As there is always a peer or a live video streaming server to upload the live video stream data, so the overlay network is very stable and very robust to churn. Peers are placed according to their upload and download bandwidth, which enhances the balance of load and performance. The overlay network utilizes the additional upload bandwidth of peers to minimize chunk delivery delay and to maximize balance of load. The procedure, which is used for distributing the additional upload bandwidth of the peers, distributes the additional upload bandwidth to the heterogeneous strength peers in a fair treat distribution approach and to the homogeneous strength peers in a uniform distribution approach. The proposed overlay network has been simulated by Qualnet from Scalable Network Technologies and results are presented in this paper.

Characteristic Features of Kynurenine Aminotransferase Allosterically Regulated by (Alpha)-Ketoglutarate in Cooperation with Kynurenine

PubMed Central

Okada, Ken; Angkawidjaja, Clement; Koga, Yuichi; Takano, Kazufumi; Kanaya, Shigenori

2012-01-01

Kynurenine aminotransferase from Pyrococcus horikoshii OT3 (PhKAT), which is a homodimeric protein, catalyzes the conversion of kynurenine (KYN) to kynurenic acid (KYNA). We analyzed the transaminase reaction mechanisms of this protein with pyridoxal-5′-phosphate (PLP), KYN and α-ketoglutaric acid (2OG) or oxaloacetic acid (OXA). 2OG significantly inhibited KAT activities in kinetic analyses, suggesting that a KYNA biosynthesis is allosterically regulated by 2OG. Its inhibitions evidently were unlocked by KYN. 2OG and KYN functioned as an inhibitor and activator in response to changes in the concentrations of KYN and 2OG, respectively. The affinities of one subunit for PLP or 2OG were different from that of the other subunit, as confirmed by spectrophotometry and isothermal titration calorimetry, suggesting that the difference of affinities between subunits might play a role in regulations of the KAT reaction. Moreover, we identified two active and allosteric sites in the crystal structure of PhKAT-2OG complexes. The crystal structure of PhKAT in complex with four 2OGs demonstrates that two 2OGs in allosteric sites are effector molecules which inhibit the KYNA productions. Thus, the combined data lead to the conclusion that PhKAT probably is regulated by allosteric control machineries, with 2OG as the allosteric inhibitor. PMID:22792273

Understanding Outdoor Gyms in Public Open Spaces: A Systematic Review and Integrative Synthesis of Qualitative and Quantitative Evidence

PubMed Central

Lee, Janet Lok Chun; Lo, Temmy Lee Ting

2018-01-01

(1) Background: An outdoor gym (OG) is environmental infrastructure built in a public open space to promote structured physical activity. The provision of OGs is increasingly seen as an important strategy to realize public health agendas promoting habitual physical activity. A systematic review was conducted to synthesize characteristics of OG and OG users’ experiences and perceptions in different cultural contexts; (2) Methods: Online searches of multidisciplinary databases were conducted in health, sport and recreation, and urban planning disciplines. Characteristics of OGs were synthesized by integrating evidence from quantitative, qualitative, and mix-methods studies. The experiences and perceptions of OG users from both qualitative data and survey responses were synthesized through framework analysis; (3) Results: Nine studies met the inclusion criteria (three quantitative studies, four mixed-methods studies, and two pure qualitative studies). None were excluded on the basis of quality. OGs mainly serve adult and older adult population groups. Their size, design, and instructional support vary across studies. The inclusion of functional types of equipment did not have a unified standard. Regarding experiences and perceptions of OGs, five major themes emerged: “health”, “social connectedness”, “affordable”, “support”, and “design and promotion”; (4) Conclusions: The OG characteristics synthesis guides the direction in further studies regarding exploration of design parameters. The qualitative and quantitative synthesis revealed that health was a central theme of users’ experiences. OGs are also spaces where community-dwellers can find social connectedness while participating in structured physical activity at no cost. Findings from this review create knowledge support for OG as environmental infrastructure for further research and facilitate the understanding of users’ experiences and perceptions of OGs in different cultural contexts. PMID:29587402

Data upload capability of 3G mobile phones.

PubMed

Moon, Jon K; Barden, Charles M; Wohlers, Erica M

2009-01-01

Mobile phones are becoming an important platform to measure free-living energy balance and to support weight management therapies. Sensor data, camera images and user input are needed by clinicians and researchers in close to real time. We assessed upload (reverse link) data transport rates for 2007-2008 model mobile phones on two major US wireless systems. Even the slowest phone (EVDO Rev 0) reliably uploaded 40 MB of data in less than 1 h. More than 95% of file uploads were successful in tests that simulated normal phone use over 3 d. Practical bandwidth and data currency from typical smart phones will likely keep pace with the data needs of energy balance studies and weight management therapy.

A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words. The Use of Clinical Images in Electronic Medical Records.

PubMed

Ai, Angela C; Maloney, Francine L; Hickman, Thu-Trang; Wilcox, Allison R; Ramelson, Harley; Wright, Adam

2017-07-12

To understand how clinicians utilize image uploading tools in a home grown electronic health records (EHR) system. A content analysis of patient notes containing non-radiological images from the EHR was conducted. Images from 4,000 random notes from July 1, 2009 - June 30, 2010 were reviewed and manually coded. Codes were assigned to four properties of the image: (1) image type, (2) role of image uploader (e.g. MD, NP, PA, RN), (3) practice type (e.g. internal medicine, dermatology, ophthalmology), and (4) image subject. 3,815 images from image-containing notes stored in the EHR were reviewed and manually coded. Of those images, 32.8% were clinical and 66.2% were non-clinical. The most common types of the clinical images were photographs (38.0%), diagrams (19.1%), and scanned documents (14.4%). MDs uploaded 67.9% of clinical images, followed by RNs with 10.2%, and genetic counselors with 6.8%. Dermatology (34.9%), ophthalmology (16.1%), and general surgery (10.8%) uploaded the most clinical images. The content of clinical images referencing body parts varied, with 49.8% of those images focusing on the head and neck region, 15.3% focusing on the thorax, and 13.8% focusing on the lower extremities. The diversity of image types, content, and uploaders within a home grown EHR system reflected the versatility and importance of the image uploading tool. Understanding how users utilize image uploading tools in a clinical setting highlights important considerations for designing better EHR tools and the importance of interoperability between EHR systems and other health technology.

Systemic Induction of the Defensin and Phytoalexin Pisatin Pathways in Pea (Pisum sativum) against Aphanomyces euteiches by Acetylated and Nonacetylated Oligogalacturonides.

PubMed

Selim, Sameh; Sanssené, Jean; Rossard, Stéphanie; Courtois, Josiane

2017-06-19

Oligogalacturonides (OGs) are known for their powerful ability to stimulate the plant immune system but little is known about their mode of action in pea ( Pisum sativum ). In the present study, we investigated the elicitor activity of two fractions of OGs, with polymerization degrees (DPs) of 2-25, in pea against Aphanomyces euteiches . One fraction was nonacetylated (OGs - Ac) whereas the second one was 30% acetylated (OGs + Ac). OGs were applied by injecting the upper two rachises of the plants at three- and/or four-weeks-old. Five-week-old roots were inoculated with 10⁵ zoospores of A. euteiches . The root infection level was determined at 7, 10 and 14 days after inoculation using the quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Results showed significant root infection reductions namely 58, 45 and 48% in the plants treated with 80 µg OGs + Ac and 59, 56 and 65% with 200 µg of OGs - Ac. Gene expression results showed the upregulation of genes involved in the antifungal defensins, lignans and the phytoalexin pisatin pathways and a priming effect in the basal defense, SA and ROS gene markers as a response to OGs. The reduction of the efficient dose in OGs + Ac is suggesting that acetylation is necessary for some specific responses. Our work provides the first evidence for the potential of OGs in the defense induction in pea against Aphanomyces root rot.

Energy balance-dependent regulation of ovine glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase protein isoform expression.

PubMed

Triantaphyllopoulos, Kostas A; Laliotis, George P; Bizelis, Iosif A

2014-01-01

G6PDH is the rate-limiting enzyme of the pentose phosphate pathway and one of the principal source of NADPH, a major cellular reductant. Importantly, in ruminant's metabolism the aforementioned NADPH provided, is utilized for de novo fatty acid synthesis. Previous work of cloning the ovine (Ovis aries) og6pdh gene has revealed the presence of two cDNA transcripts (og6pda and og6pdb), og6pdb being a product of alternative splicing not similar to any other previously reported.(1) In the current study the effect of energy balance in the ovine G6PDH protein expression was investigated, shedding light on the biochemical features and potential physiological role of the oG6PDB isoform. Changes in energy balance leads to protein expression changes in both transcripts, to the opposite direction and not in a proportional way. Negative energy balance was not in favor of the presence of any particular isoform, while both protein expression levels were not significantly different (P > 0.05). In contrast, at the transition point from negative to positive and on the positive energy balance, there is a significant increase of oG6PDA compared with oG6PDB protein expression (P < 0.001). Both oG6PDH protein isoforms changed significantly toward the positive energy balance. oG6PDA is escalating, while oG6PDB is falling, under the same stimulus (positive energy balance alteration). This change is also positively associated with increasing levels in enzyme activity, 4 weeks post-weaning in ewes' adipose tissue. Furthermore, regression analysis clearly demonstrated the linear correlation of both proteins in response to the WPW, while energy balance, enzyme activity, and oG6PDA relative protein expression follow the same escalating trend; in contrast, oG6PDB relative protein expression falls in time, similar to both transcripts accumulation pattern, as reported previously.(2.)

Introducing a New Interface for the Online MagIC Database by Integrating Data Uploading, Searching, and Visualization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jarboe, N.; Minnett, R.; Constable, C.; Koppers, A. A.; Tauxe, L.

2013-12-01

The Magnetics Information Consortium (MagIC) is dedicated to supporting the paleomagnetic, geomagnetic, and rock magnetic communities through the development and maintenance of an online database (http://earthref.org/MAGIC/), data upload and quality control, searches, data downloads, and visualization tools. While MagIC has completed importing some of the IAGA paleomagnetic databases (TRANS, PINT, PSVRL, GPMDB) and continues to import others (ARCHEO, MAGST and SECVR), further individual data uploading from the community contributes a wealth of easily-accessible rich datasets. Previously uploading of data to the MagIC database required the use of an Excel spreadsheet using either a Mac or PC. The new method of uploading data utilizes an HTML 5 web interface where the only computer requirement is a modern browser. This web interface will highlight all errors discovered in the dataset at once instead of the iterative error checking process found in the previous Excel spreadsheet data checker. As a web service, the community will always have easy access to the most up-to-date and bug free version of the data upload software. The filtering search mechanism of the MagIC database has been changed to a more intuitive system where the data from each contribution is displayed in tables similar to how the data is uploaded (http://earthref.org/MAGIC/search/). Searches themselves can be saved as a permanent URL, if desired. The saved search URL could then be used as a citation in a publication. When appropriate, plots (equal area, Zijderveld, ARAI, demagnetization, etc.) are associated with the data to give the user a quicker understanding of the underlying dataset. The MagIC database will continue to evolve to meet the needs of the paleomagnetic, geomagnetic, and rock magnetic communities.

Prior-Based Quantization Bin Matching for Cloud Storage of JPEG Images.

PubMed

Liu, Xianming; Cheung, Gene; Lin, Chia-Wen; Zhao, Debin; Gao, Wen

2018-07-01

Millions of user-generated images are uploaded to social media sites like Facebook daily, which translate to a large storage cost. However, there exists an asymmetry in upload and download data: only a fraction of the uploaded images are subsequently retrieved for viewing. In this paper, we propose a cloud storage system that reduces the storage cost of all uploaded JPEG photos, at the expense of a controlled increase in computation mainly during download of requested image subset. Specifically, the system first selectively re-encodes code blocks of uploaded JPEG images using coarser quantization parameters for smaller storage sizes. Then during download, the system exploits known signal priors-sparsity prior and graph-signal smoothness prior-for reverse mapping to recover original fine quantization bin indices, with either deterministic guarantee (lossless mode) or statistical guarantee (near-lossless mode). For fast reverse mapping, we use small dictionaries and sparse graphs that are tailored for specific clusters of similar blocks, which are classified via tree-structured vector quantizer. During image upload, cluster indices identifying the appropriate dictionaries and graphs for the re-quantized blocks are encoded as side information using a differential distributed source coding scheme to facilitate reverse mapping during image download. Experimental results show that our system can reap significant storage savings (up to 12.05%) at roughly the same image PSNR (within 0.18 dB).

Transverse Myelitis Association

MedlinePlus

... INSPIRATION What is Anti-Myelin Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein (MOG)? https://myelitis.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/blog_research.jpg 999 1500 The TMA https://myelitis.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/TMA- ...

Multi-level meta-workflows: new concept for regularly occurring tasks in quantum chemistry.

PubMed

Arshad, Junaid; Hoffmann, Alexander; Gesing, Sandra; Grunzke, Richard; Krüger, Jens; Kiss, Tamas; Herres-Pawlis, Sonja; Terstyanszky, Gabor

2016-01-01

In Quantum Chemistry, many tasks are reoccurring frequently, e.g. geometry optimizations, benchmarking series etc. Here, workflows can help to reduce the time of manual job definition and output extraction. These workflows are executed on computing infrastructures and may require large computing and data resources. Scientific workflows hide these infrastructures and the resources needed to run them. It requires significant efforts and specific expertise to design, implement and test these workflows. Many of these workflows are complex and monolithic entities that can be used for particular scientific experiments. Hence, their modification is not straightforward and it makes almost impossible to share them. To address these issues we propose developing atomic workflows and embedding them in meta-workflows. Atomic workflows deliver a well-defined research domain specific function. Publishing workflows in repositories enables workflow sharing inside and/or among scientific communities. We formally specify atomic and meta-workflows in order to define data structures to be used in repositories for uploading and sharing them. Additionally, we present a formal description focused at orchestration of atomic workflows into meta-workflows. We investigated the operations that represent basic functionalities in Quantum Chemistry, developed the relevant atomic workflows and combined them into meta-workflows. Having these workflows we defined the structure of the Quantum Chemistry workflow library and uploaded these workflows in the SHIWA Workflow Repository.Graphical AbstractMeta-workflows and embedded workflows in the template representation.

Green synthesized nickel nanoparticles for targeted detection and killing of S. typhimurium.

PubMed

Jeyaraj Pandian, Chitra; Palanivel, Rameshthangam; Balasundaram, Usha

2017-09-01

Simple and sensitive colorimetric immunosensor based on peroxidase mimetic activity and photothermal effect of nickel oxide nanoparticle (NiOGs) has been developed to detect and kill food borne pathogen Salmonella typhimurium. NiOGs showed superior peroxidase mimetic activity for oxidation of peroxidase substrate 3, 3', 5, 5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB). Oxidation of TMB by NiOGs followed Michaelis-Menten kinetics with K m and V max values of 0.25mM and 2.64×10 -8 M/s respectively. NiOGs was coated with citric acid (CA-NiOGs) followed by conjugation with antibody (anti-S. typhimurium) (Ab-CA-NiOGs) that effectively captured S. typhimurium. Colorimetric detection of S. typhimurium by Ab-CA-NiOGs showed a linear relationship between pathogen concentration (1×10 1 to 1×10 6 cfu/mL) and color signal (652nm) with limit of detection (LOD) of 10cfu/mL. The proposed method showed no cross reactivity against other pathogens. Recovery of S. typhimurium in milk and juice samples was found to be 95 to 100% and 92 to 99% respectively. NiOGs exposed to laser irradiation showed dose dependent increase in temperature and singlet oxygen within 5min. Bacteria bound to Ab-CA-NiOGs after laser irradiation, induced membrane damage and reduced bacterial viability to 6%. The bifunctional peroxidase-mimetic activity and photothermal effect of NiOGs can be exploited in selective sensing and killing of target pathogens respectively in food products. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Unnatural substrates reveal the importance of 8-oxoguanine for in vivo mismatch repair by MutY

PubMed Central

Livingston, Alison L.; O’Shea, Valerie L.; Kim, Taewoo; Kool, Eric T.; David, Sheila S.

2009-01-01

Escherchia coli MutY plays an important role in preventing mutations associated with the oxidative lesion 7,8-dihydro-8-oxo-2′-deoxyguanosine (OG) in DNA by excising adenines from OG:A mismatches as the first step of base excision repair. To determine the importance of specific steps in the base pair recognition and base removal process of MutY, we have evaluated the effects of modifications of the OG:A substrate on the kinetics of base removal, mismatch affinity and repair to G:C in an Escherchia coli-based assay. Surprisingly, adenine modification was tolerated in the cellular assay, while modification of OG results in minimal cellular repair. High affinity for the mismatch and efficient base removal require the presence of OG. Taken together, these results suggest that the presence of OG is a critical feature for MutY to locate OG:A mismatches and select the appropriate adenines for excision to initiate repair in vivo prior to replication. PMID:18026095

Tourette Association Chapters

MedlinePlus

... 1 [read] => 1 [upload_files] => 1 [chapter] => 1 ) [filter] => ) Alaska Chapter View WP_User Object ( [data] => stdClass ... 1 [read] => 1 [upload_files] => 1 [chapter] => 1 ) [filter] => ) Arizona Chapter View WP_User Object ( [data] => stdClass ...

Olumacostat glasaretil, a novel topical sebum inhibitor, in the treatment of acne vulgaris: A phase IIa, multicenter, randomized, vehicle-controlled study.

PubMed

Bissonnette, Robert; Poulin, Yves; Drew, Janice; Hofland, Hans; Tan, Jerry

2017-01-01

Olumacostat glasaretil (OG) inhibits acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase, the enzyme responsible for the first, rate-limiting step in de novo fatty acid synthesis. OG inhibited in vitro human sebocyte lipid production and reduced in vivo sebaceous gland size in hamster ears. Safety and efficacy of OG 7.5% gel were evaluated in patients with moderate to severe facial acne vulgaris. Patients were randomized (1:1) to twice-daily application of OG or vehicle for 12 weeks. Efficacy was measured through changes in lesion counts and improvement in acne severity scores. A total of 108 patients received OG (n = 53) or vehicle (n = 55); these groups had mean baseline counts of 29.7 and 28.6 inflammatory and 40.9 and 38.8 noninflammatory lesions, respectively. At week 12, OG treatment showed greater reductions from baseline in inflammatory lesions (-63.9% vs -45.9%; P = .0006) and noninflammatory lesions (-48.1% vs -28.8%; P = .0025), and more patients with greater than or equal to 2-grade improvement in investigator global assessment score (24.5% vs 7.3%; P = .0070) than vehicle. Application-site adverse events (typically mild or moderate intensity) were more common with OG. Larger trials are needed to optimize OG dosing and confirm the current results. OG was well tolerated and showed evidence of efficacy, suggesting further development is warranted. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Theoretical Synthesis of Mixed Materials for CO2 Capture Applications

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

Duan, Yuhua

These pages provide an example of the layout and style required for the preparation of four-page papers for the TechConnect World 2015 technical proceedings.Documents must be submitted in electronic (Adobe PDFfile) format. Please study the enclosed materials beforebeginning the final preparation of your paper. Proofread your paper carefully before submitting (it will appear in the published volume in exactly the same form). Your PDF manuscript must be uploaded online by April 11th, 2015.You will receive no proofs. Begin your paper with an abstract of no more than 18 lines. Thoroughly summarize your article in this section since this text willmore » be used for on-line listing and classification of the publication.« less

Integration of remote blood glucose meter upload technology into a clinical pharmacist medication therapy management service.

PubMed

Schenk, Robert J; Schenk, Jenna

2011-01-01

A pharmacist-delivered, outpatient-focused medication therapy management (MTM) program is using a remote blood glucose (BG) meter upload device to provide better care and to improve outcomes for its patients with diabetes. Sharing uploaded BG meter data, presented in easily comprehensible graphs and charts, enables patients, caregivers, and the medical team to better understand how the patients' diabetes care is progressing. Pharmacists are becoming increasingly more active in helping to manage patients' complex medication regimens in an effort to help detect and avoid medication-related problems. Working together with patients and their physicians as part of an interdisciplinary health care team, pharmacists are helping to improve medication outcomes. This article focuses on two case studies highlighting the Diabetes Monitoring Program, one component of the Meridian Pharmacology Institute MTM service, and discusses the clinical application of a unique BG meter upload device. © 2010 Diabetes Technology Society.

The ISMARA client

PubMed Central

Ioannidis, Vassilios; van Nimwegen, Erik; Stockinger, Heinz

2016-01-01

ISMARA ( ismara.unibas.ch) automatically infers the key regulators and regulatory interactions from high-throughput gene expression or chromatin state data. However, given the large sizes of current next generation sequencing (NGS) datasets, data uploading times are a major bottleneck. Additionally, for proprietary data, users may be uncomfortable with uploading entire raw datasets to an external server. Both these problems could be alleviated by providing a means by which users could pre-process their raw data locally, transferring only a small summary file to the ISMARA server. We developed a stand-alone client application that pre-processes large input files (RNA-seq or ChIP-seq data) on the user's computer for performing ISMARA analysis in a completely automated manner, including uploading of small processed summary files to the ISMARA server. This reduces file sizes by up to a factor of 1000, and upload times from many hours to mere seconds. The client application is available from ismara.unibas.ch/ISMARA/client. PMID:28232860

Methylation effect on chalcone synthase gene expression determines anthocyanin pigmentation in floral tissues of two Oncidium orchid cultivars.

PubMed

Liu, Xiao-Jing; Chuang, Yao-Nung; Chiou, Chung-Yi; Chin, Dan-Chu; Shen, Fu-Quan; Yeh, Kai-Wun

2012-08-01

The anthocyanin-biosynthetic pathway was studied in flowers of Oncidium Gower Ramsey with yellow floral color and mosaic red anthocyanin in lip crests, sepals and petals, and compared with the anthocyanin biosynthesis in flowers of Oncidium Honey Dollp, a natural somatoclone derived from tissue culture of Gower Ramsey, with a yellow perianth without red anthocyanins in floral tissues. HPLC analysis revealed that the red anthocyanin in lip crests of the Gower Ramsey cultivar comprised peonidin-3-O-glucoside, delphinidin-3-O-glucoside and cyanidin-3-O-glucoside, whereas Honey Dollp was devoid of anthocyanin compounds. Among the five anthocyanin-biosynthetic genes, OgCHS was actively expressed in lip crests of Gower Ramsey flowers, but no transcripts of OgCHS were detected in Honey Dollp floral tissues. Transient expression of OgCHS by bombardment confirmed that recovery of the OgCHS gene expression completed the anthocyanin pathway and produced anthocyanin compounds in lip crests of Honey Dollp flowers. Transcription factor genes regulating anthocyanin biosynthesis showed no distinctive differences in the expression level of OgMYB1, OgbHLH and OgWD40 between the two cultivars. A methylation assay revealed that the promoter of OgCHS was not methylated in Gower Ramsey, while a positive methylation effect was present in the upstream promoter region of OgCHS in Honey Dollp. Overall, our results suggest that the failure of anthocyanin accumulation in Honey Dollp floral tissues may be attributed to inactivation of the OgCHS gene resulting from the epigenetic methylation of 5'-upstream promoter region.

Get the Picture: A Pilot Feasibility Study of Telemedical Wound Assessment Using a Mobile Phone in Cardiology Patients.

PubMed

de Heide, John; Vroegh, C J; Szili Torok, T; Gobbens, R J J; Zijlstra, F; Takens-Lameijer, M; Lenzen, M J; Yap, S C; Scholte Op Reimer, W J M

Postprocedural complications after elective cardiac interventions include hematomas and infections. Telemedical wound assessment using mobile phones with integrated cameras may improve quality of care and help reduce costs. We aimed to study the feasibility of telemedical wound assessment using a mobile phone. The primary aim was the number of patients who were able to upload their pictures. Secondary aims were image interpretability, agreement between nurse practitioners, and patient evaluation of the intervention. This is a prospective study of all consecutive patients who underwent an elective cardiac intervention. Patients were instructed to photograph their wound or puncture site after hospital discharge and upload the pictures to a secure email address 6 days after hospital discharge. Received photos were assessed by 2 nurse practitioners. The intervention was evaluated using a peer-reviewed questionnaire and photo assessment scheme. In total, 46 eligible patients were included in the study, with 5 screen failures (eg, clinical stay ≥ 6 days) and 1 patient lost to follow-up. Thirty-three of 40 patients (83%) were able to upload their pictures. Smartphone users were more successful in uploading their pictures compared with feature phone users (93% vs 55%, P < .01). Eighty-eight percent of the clinical pictures were interpretable. The interobserver variability had an agreement between 93% and 97%. Patients are able to take and upload the mobile clinical photos to the secure email address, and the vast majority was interpretable. Smartphone users were more successful than feature phone users in uploading their pictures. The interobserver variability was good.

Comparing top-down and bottom-up estimates of methane emissions across multiple U.S. oil and gas basins provides insights into national O&G emissions, mitigation strategies, and research priorities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lyon, D. R.; Alvarez, R.; Zavala Araiza, D.; Hamburg, S.

2017-12-01

We develop a county-level inventory of U.S. anthropogenic methane emissions by integrating multiple data sources including the Drillinginfo oil and gas (O&G) production database, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, a previously published gridded EPA Greenhouse Gas Inventory (Maasakkers et al 2016), and recent measurements studies of O&G pneumatic devices, equipment leaks, abandoned wells, and midstream facilities. Our bottom-up estimates of total and O&G methane emissions are consistently lower than top-down, aerial mass balance estimates in ten O&G production areas. We evaluate several hypotheses for the top-down/bottom-up discrepancy including potential bias of the aerial mass balance method, temporal mismatch of top-down and bottom-up emission estimates, and source attribution errors. In most basins, the top-down/bottom-up gap cannot be explained fully without additional O&G emissions from sources not included in traditional inventories, such as super-emitters caused by malfunctions or abnormal process conditions. Top-down/bottom-up differences across multiple basins are analyzed to estimate the magnitude of these additional emissions and constrain total methane emissions from the U.S. O&G supply chain. We discuss the implications for mitigating O&G methane emissions and suggest research priorities for increasing the accuracy of future emission inventories.

Development of a see-through hollow cathode discharge lamp for (Li/Ne) optogalvanic studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saini, V. K.; Kumar, P.; Sarangpani, K. K.; Dixit, S. K.; Nakhe, S. V.

2017-09-01

Development of a demountable and see-through hollow cathode (HC) discharge lamp suitable for optogalvanic (OG) spectroscopy is described. The design of the HC lamp is simple, compact, and inexpensive. Lithium, investigated rarely by the OG method, is selected for cathode material as its isotopes are important for nuclear industry. The HC lamp is characterized electrically and optically for discharge oscillations free OG effect. Strong OG signals of lithium as well as neon (as buffer gas) are produced precisely upon copper vapor laser pumped tunable dye laser irradiation. The HC lamp is capable of generating a clean OG resonance spectrum in the available dye laser wavelength scanning range (627.5-676 nm) obtained with 4-(Dicyanomethylene)-2-methyl-6-(4-dimethylaminostyryl)-4H-pyran dye. About 28 resonant OG lines are explicitly observed. Majority of them have been identified using j-l coupling scheme and assigned to the well-known neon transitions. One line that corresponds to wavelength near about 670.80 nm is assigned to lithium and resolved for its fine (2S1/2 → 2P1/2, 3/2) transitions. These OG transitions allow 0.33 cm-1 accuracy and can be used to supplement the OG transition data available from other sources to calibrate the wavelength of a scanning dye laser with precision at atomic levels.

Development of a see-through hollow cathode discharge lamp for (Li/Ne) optogalvanic studies.

PubMed

Saini, V K; Kumar, P; Sarangpani, K K; Dixit, S K; Nakhe, S V

2017-09-01

Development of a demountable and see-through hollow cathode (HC) discharge lamp suitable for optogalvanic (OG) spectroscopy is described. The design of the HC lamp is simple, compact, and inexpensive. Lithium, investigated rarely by the OG method, is selected for cathode material as its isotopes are important for nuclear industry. The HC lamp is characterized electrically and optically for discharge oscillations free OG effect. Strong OG signals of lithium as well as neon (as buffer gas) are produced precisely upon copper vapor laser pumped tunable dye laser irradiation. The HC lamp is capable of generating a clean OG resonance spectrum in the available dye laser wavelength scanning range (627.5-676 nm) obtained with 4-(Dicyanomethylene)-2-methyl-6-(4-dimethylaminostyryl)-4H-pyran dye. About 28 resonant OG lines are explicitly observed. Majority of them have been identified using j-l coupling scheme and assigned to the well-known neon transitions. One line that corresponds to wavelength near about 670.80 nm is assigned to lithium and resolved for its fine ( 2 S 1/2 → 2 P 1/2, 3/2 ) transitions. These OG transitions allow 0.33 cm -1 accuracy and can be used to supplement the OG transition data available from other sources to calibrate the wavelength of a scanning dye laser with precision at atomic levels.

Unmatched speed perceptions between overground and treadmill manual wheelchair propulsion in long-term manual wheelchair users.

PubMed

Chénier, Félix; Champagne, Audrey; Desroches, Guillaume; Gagnon, Dany H

2018-03-01

Manual wheelchair (MWC) propulsion is increasingly assessed on a motorized treadmill (TM), which is often considered more ecologically valid than stationary rollers. However, no clear consensus on the similarities between overground (OG) and TM propulsion has yet been reached. Furthermore, no study has investigated the participants' perceptions of propelling a MWC on a TM compared to OG. The present study aims to assess the perception of speed when propelling on a TM vs OG, and to relate this perception to measured spatiotemporal variables, kinetics and work. In this repeated-measures study, the propulsion's spatiotemporal variables, kinetics, and work of nineteen experienced wheelchair users with a spinal cord injury were compared between three conditions: 1) OG at a self-selected speed, 2) on a TM at a self-selected speed perceived as being similar to the OG speed (TM perceived ), and 3) on a TM at the same speed as OG (TM matched ). Each variable was compared between conditions using an analysis of variance for repeated measures. All participants selected a lower speed for TM perceived than OG, with a difference of -0.6 m/s (-44%). This adaptation may be due to a combination of two factors: 1) the absence of speed information, and 2) the feeling of urgency to grab the wheels during the recovery phase. The power output, work per cycle, and work per minute were also much lower on TM perceived than OG. However, in contrast to other work on MWC propulsion on a TM, the kinetic variables assessed were all similar between the OG and TM matched conditions. Training on a TM should be performed at a speed that matches the OG speed and not at a self-selected speed on the TM, which would reduce the power output and work and therefore reduce the efficiency of the training. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The use of the osmole gap as a screening test for the presence of exogenous substances.

PubMed

Purssell, Roy A; Lynd, Larry D; Koga, Yoshikata

2004-01-01

The rapid and accurate diagnosis of toxic alcohol poisoning due to methanol (methyl alcohol) [MeOH] and ethylene glycol (EG), is paramount in preventing serious adverse outcomes. The quantitative measurement of specific serum levels of these substances using gas chromatography is expensive, time consuming and generally only available at major tertiary-care facilities. Therefore, because these toxic substances are osmotically active and the measurement of serum osmolality is easily performed and more readily available, the presence of an osmole gap (OG) has been adopted as an alternative screening test. By definition, the OG is the difference between the measured serum osmolality determined using the freezing point depression (Osm(m)) and the calculated serum molarity (Mc), which is estimated from the known and readily measurable osmotically active substances in the serum, in particular sodium, urea, glucose, and potassium and ethanol (alcohol). Thus, the OG=Osm(m)-Mc, and an OG above a specific threshold (the threshold of positivity) suggests the presence of unmeasured osmotically active substances, which could be indicative of a toxic exposure. The objectives of this study were to review the principles of evaluating screening tests, the theory behind the OG as a screening test and the literature upon which the adoption of the OG as a screening test has been based. This review revealed that there have been numerous equations derived and proposed for the estimation of the Mc, with the objective of developing empirical evidence of the best equation for the determination of the OG and ultimately the utility of OG as a screening test. However, the methods and statistical analysis employed have generally been inconsistent with recommended guidelines for screening test evaluation and although many equations have been derived, they have not been appropriately validated. Specific evidence of the clinical utility of the OG requires that a threshold of positivity be definitively established, and the sensitivity and specificity of the OG in patients exposed to either EG or MeOH be measured. However, the majority of studies to date have only evaluated the relationship between the Osm(m) (mmol/kg H2O) and the Mc (mmol/L) in patients that have not been exposed to either MeOH or EG. While some studies have evaluated the relationship between the OG and serum ethanol concentration, these findings cannot be extrapolated to the use of the OG to screen for toxic alcohol exposure. This review shows that there has not been an appropriately designed empirical evaluation of the diagnostic utility of the OG and that its clinical utility remains hypothetical, having been theoretically extrapolated from the non-poisoned population.

Environmental and Human Health Impacts of Spreading Oil and Gas Wastewater on Roads.

PubMed

Tasker, T L; Burgos, W D; Piotrowski, P; Castillo-Meza, L; Blewett, T A; Ganow, K B; Stallworth, A; Delompré, P L M; Goss, G G; Fowler, L B; Vanden Heuvel, J P; Dorman, F; Warner, N R

2018-06-19

Thirteen states in the United States allow the spreading of O&G wastewaters on roads for deicing or dust suppression. In this study, the potential environmental and human health impacts of this practice are evaluated. Analyses of O&G wastewaters spread on roads in the northeastern, U.S. show that these wastewaters have salt, radioactivity, and organic contaminant concentrations often many times above drinking water standards. Bioassays also indicated that these wastewaters contain organic micropollutants that affected signaling pathways consistent with xenobiotic metabolism and caused toxicity to aquatic organisms like Daphnia magna. The potential toxicity of these wastewaters is a concern as lab experiments demonstrated that nearly all of the metals from these wastewaters leach from roads after rain events, likely reaching ground and surface water. Release of a known carcinogen (e.g., radium) from roads treated with O&G wastewaters has been largely ignored. In Pennsylvania from 2008 to 2014, spreading O&G wastewater on roads released over 4 times more radium to the environment (320 millicuries) than O&G wastewater treatment facilities and 200 times more radium than spill events. Currently, state-by-state regulations do not require radium analyses prior to treating roads with O&G wastewaters. Methods for reducing the potential impacts of spreading O&G wastewaters on roads are discussed.

Methanol extract of Ocimum gratissimum protects murine peritoneal macrophages from nicotine toxicity by decreasing free radical generation, lipid and protein damage and enhances antioxidant protection

PubMed Central

Mahapatra, Santanu Kar; Chakraborty, Subhankari Prasad; Das, Subhasis

2009-01-01

In the present study, methanol extract of Ocimum gratissimum Linn (ME-Og) was tested against nicotine-induced murine peritoneal macrophage in vitro. Phytochemical analysis of ME-Og shown high amount of flavonoid and phenolic compound present in it. The cytotoxic effect of ME-Og was studied in murine peritoneal macrophages at different concentrations (0.1 to 100 µg/ml) using the 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5 diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) method. To establish the protective role of ME-Og against nicotine toxicity, peritoneal macrophages from mice were treated with nicotine (10 mM), nicotine + ME-Og (1 to 25 µg/ml) for 12 h in culture media. The significantly (p < 0.05) increased super oxide anion generation, reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase activity, myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, lipid peroxidation, protein carbonyls, oxidized glutathione levels were observed in nicotine-treated group as compared to control group; those were significantly (p < 0.05) reduced in ME-Og supplemented groups in concentration dependent manner. More over, significantly (p < 0.05) reduced antioxidant status due to nicotine exposure was effectively ameliorated by ME-Og supplementation in murine peritoneal macrophages. Among the different concentration of ME-Og, maximum protective effect was observed by 25 µg/ml, which does not produce significant cell cytotoxicity in murine peritoneal macrophages. These findings suggest the potential use and beneficial role of O. gratissimum as a modulator of nicotine-induced free radical generation, lipid-protein damage and antioxidant status in important immune cell, peritoneal macrophages. PMID:20716908

Outcome of Laparoscopic Adrenalectomy in Obese Patients.

PubMed

Paun, Diana; Petris, Rodica; Ganescu, Roxana; Paun, Sorin; Vartic, Mihaela; Beuran, Mircea

2015-09-01

To compare early morbidity of obese and nonobese patients with minimally invasive adrenalectomies. Retrospective study of a prospectively maintained database, between June 2003 - December 2012, in a universitary affiliated tertiary hospital. Selection criteria: Minimally invasive adrenalectomy. Obese patients were defined as BMI over 30 kg/m2. From 205 patient with laparoscopic adrenalectomies we counted 30 obese patients (OG), 25 of them female and only 5 men with a median age of 54,20 years versus 47,94 years for nonobese group (NOG) (p=0.008). In OG were 15 right sided tumor, 11 on the left side and 4 bilateral all treated with transperitoneal antero-lateral approach. Median operating time was 92.20 minutes for OG versus 91.13 minutes for NOG (p=0.924). In OG, 5 patients had previous abdominal surgeries and we counted 4 conversion to open surgery, 2 postoperative complications (6.6%) and no mortality. All OG patients have diverse comorbidities, 50% of them more then 3. Median specimen size was 5.92 cm for OG versus 4.85 cm for NOG (p=0.057). The histology of OG was: adenoma 11 cases, hiperplasia 13 cases and pheochromocytoma 6. In NOG we had: postoperative hospital stay was 6.57 days in OG versus 4.11 days in NOG (p=0.009). Although obese patients had a higher rate for early morbidities, the minimally invasive approach has particular benefits for them. Although postoperative hospital stay was significantly longer, we believe that advantages of minimal invasive surgery for obese patients remains valid even in a BMI over 30.

Adaptive Sampling-Based Information Collection for Wireless Body Area Networks.

PubMed

Xu, Xiaobin; Zhao, Fang; Wang, Wendong; Tian, Hui

2016-08-31

To collect important health information, WBAN applications typically sense data at a high frequency. However, limited by the quality of wireless link, the uploading of sensed data has an upper frequency. To reduce upload frequency, most of the existing WBAN data collection approaches collect data with a tolerable error. These approaches can guarantee precision of the collected data, but they are not able to ensure that the upload frequency is within the upper frequency. Some traditional sampling based approaches can control upload frequency directly, however, they usually have a high loss of information. Since the core task of WBAN applications is to collect health information, this paper aims to collect optimized information under the limitation of upload frequency. The importance of sensed data is defined according to information theory for the first time. Information-aware adaptive sampling is proposed to collect uniformly distributed data. Then we propose Adaptive Sampling-based Information Collection (ASIC) which consists of two algorithms. An adaptive sampling probability algorithm is proposed to compute sampling probabilities of different sensed values. A multiple uniform sampling algorithm provides uniform samplings for values in different intervals. Experiments based on a real dataset show that the proposed approach has higher performance in terms of data coverage and information quantity. The parameter analysis shows the optimized parameter settings and the discussion shows the underlying reason of high performance in the proposed approach.

Adaptive Sampling-Based Information Collection for Wireless Body Area Networks

PubMed Central

Xu, Xiaobin; Zhao, Fang; Wang, Wendong; Tian, Hui

2016-01-01

To collect important health information, WBAN applications typically sense data at a high frequency. However, limited by the quality of wireless link, the uploading of sensed data has an upper frequency. To reduce upload frequency, most of the existing WBAN data collection approaches collect data with a tolerable error. These approaches can guarantee precision of the collected data, but they are not able to ensure that the upload frequency is within the upper frequency. Some traditional sampling based approaches can control upload frequency directly, however, they usually have a high loss of information. Since the core task of WBAN applications is to collect health information, this paper aims to collect optimized information under the limitation of upload frequency. The importance of sensed data is defined according to information theory for the first time. Information-aware adaptive sampling is proposed to collect uniformly distributed data. Then we propose Adaptive Sampling-based Information Collection (ASIC) which consists of two algorithms. An adaptive sampling probability algorithm is proposed to compute sampling probabilities of different sensed values. A multiple uniform sampling algorithm provides uniform samplings for values in different intervals. Experiments based on a real dataset show that the proposed approach has higher performance in terms of data coverage and information quantity. The parameter analysis shows the optimized parameter settings and the discussion shows the underlying reason of high performance in the proposed approach. PMID:27589758

77 FR 8818 - Publication of FY 2011 Service Contract Inventory

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-02-15

... the inventory on the Bureau's Open Government homepage at the following link: http://www.consumerfinance.gov/open/ , specifically at http://www.consumerfinance.gov/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Appendix-C-FY2011-Inventory-Data-Summary.pdf and http://www.consumerfinance.gov/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Appendix...

Octyl gallate reduces ATP levels and Ki67 expression leading HepG2 cells to cell cycle arrest and mitochondria-mediated apoptosis.

PubMed

Lima, Kelly Goulart; Krause, Gabriele Catyana; da Silva, Elisa Feller Gonçalves; Xavier, Léder Leal; Martins, Léo Anderson Meira; Alice, Laura Manzoli; da Luz, Luiza Bueno; Gassen, Rodrigo Benedetti; Filippi-Chiela, Eduardo Cremonese; Haute, Gabriela Viegas; Garcia, Maria Claudia Rosa; Funchal, Giselle Afonso; Pedrazza, Leonardo; Reghelin, Camille Kirinus; de Oliveira, Jarbas Rodrigues

2018-04-01

Octyl gallate (OG) is an antioxidant that has shown anti-tumor, anti-diabetic and anti-amyloidogenic activities. Mitochondria play an important role in hepatocellular carcinoma, mainly by maintaining accelerated cellular proliferation through the production of ATP. Thus, the mitochondria may be a target for antitumor therapies. Here, we investigated the effects of OG in the hepatocarcinoma cell line (HepG2) and the mechanisms involved. We report, for the first time, that treatment with OG for 24h inhibited HepG2 cell growth by decreasing mitochondrial activity and mass, which led to the reduction of ATP levels. This reduction in the energy supply triggered a decrease in Ki67 protein expression, leading cells to cycle arrest. In addition, treatment with two doses of OG for 48h induced loss of mitochondrial functionality, mitochondrial swelling and apoptosis. Finally, we report that HepG2 cells had no resistance to treatment after multiple doses. Collectively, our findings indicate that metabolic dysregulation and Ki67 protein reduction are key events in the initial anti-proliferative action of OG, whereas mitochondrial swelling and apoptosis induction are involved in the action mechanism of OG after prolonged exposure. This suggests that OG targets mitochondria, thus representing a candidate for further research on therapies for hepatocarcinoma. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ocimum gratissimum retards breast cancer growth and progression and is a natural inhibitor of matrix metalloproteases

PubMed Central

Nangia-Makker, Pratima; Raz, Tirza; Tait, Larry; Shekhar, Malathy P.V.; Li, Hong; Balan, Vitaly; Makker, Hemanckur; Fridman, Rafael; Maddipati, Krishnarao; Raz, Avraham

2013-01-01

Ocimum genus (a.k.a holy basil or tulsi) is a dietary herb used for its multiple beneficial pharmacologic properties including anti-cancer activity. Here we show that crude extract of Ocimum gratissimum (OG) and its hydrophobic and hydrophilic fractions (HB and HL) differentially inhibit breast cancer cell chemotaxis and chemoinvasion in vitro and retard tumor growth and temporal progression of MCF10ADCIS.com xenografts, a model of human breast comedo-ductal carcinoma in situ (comedo-DCIS). OG-induced inhibition of tumor growth was associated with decreases in basement membrane disintegration, angiogenesis and MMP-2 and MMP-9 activities as confirmed by in situ gelatin zymography and cleavage of galectin-3. There was also decrease in MMP-2 and MMP-9 activities in the conditioned media of OG-treated MCF10AT1 and MCF10AT1-EIII8 premalignant human breast cancer cells as compared with control. The MMP-2 and MMP-9 inhibitory activities of OG were verified in vitro using gelatin, a synthetic fluorogenic peptide and recombinant galectin-3 as MMP substrates. Mice fed on OG-supplemented drinking water showed no adverse effects compared with control. These data suggest that OG is non-toxic and that the anti-cancer therapeutic activity of OG may in part be contributed by its MMP inhibitory activity. PMID:23380593

2-Oxoglutarate levels control adenosine nucleotide binding by Herbaspirillum seropedicae PII proteins.

PubMed

Oliveira, Marco A S; Gerhardt, Edileusa C M; Huergo, Luciano F; Souza, Emanuel M; Pedrosa, Fábio O; Chubatsu, Leda S

2015-12-01

Nitrogen metabolism in Proteobacteria is controlled by the Ntr system, in which PII proteins play a pivotal role, controlling the activity of target proteins in response to the metabolic state of the cell. Characterization of the binding of molecular effectors to these proteins can provide information about their regulation. Here, the binding of ATP, ADP and 2-oxoglutarate (2-OG) to the Herbaspirillum seropedicae PII proteins, GlnB and GlnK, was characterized using isothermal titration calorimetry. Results show that these proteins can bind three molecules of ATP, ADP and 2-OG with homotropic negative cooperativity, and 2-OG binding stabilizes the binding of ATP. Results also show that the affinity of uridylylated forms of GlnB and GlnK for nucleotides is significantly lower than that of the nonuridylylated proteins. Furthermore, fluctuations in the intracellular concentration of 2-OG in response to nitrogen availability are shown. Results suggest that under nitrogen-limiting conditions, PII proteins tend to bind ATP and 2-OG. By contrast, after an ammonium shock, a decrease in the 2-OG concentration is observed causing a decrease in the affinity of PII proteins for ATP. This phenomenon may facilitate the exchange of ATP for ADP on the ligand-binding pocket of PII proteins, thus it is likely that under low ammonium, low 2-OG levels would favor the ADP-bound state. © 2015 FEBS.

Medical abortions performed by specialists in private practice.

PubMed

Pay, Aase Serine Devold; Aabø, Runa Sigrid; Økland, Inger; Janbu, Torunn; Iversen, Ole-Erik; Løkeland, Mette

2018-05-29

I Norge utføres abort kun i offentlige sykehus. I 2010 besluttet Helse- og omsorgsdepartementet å iverksette et toårig prøveprosjekt som ga avtalespesialister i fødselshjelp og kvinnesykdommer adgang til å tilby medikamentell abort før utgangen av 9. svangerskapsuke. Prøveprosjektet ble igangsatt 1.3.2015 og varte til 31.3.2017. I denne artikkelen presenterer vi de første erfaringene, herunder hvordan behandlingstilbudet ble mottatt av kvinnene. Gravide med en svangerskapsvarighet < 63 dager ultrasonografisk vurdert, som oppsøkte avtalespesialist for medikamentell abort, ble fortløpende inkludert i prosjektet (n = 476). Kvinnene inntok 200 mg mifepriston peroralt på legekontoret, 36-48 timer senere satte de selv 800 µg misoprostol vaginalt hjemme. Informasjon ble innhentet ved spørreskjema på den første konsultasjonen, under aborten og ved etterkontrollen 2-4 uker etter aborten. Under aborten rapporterte 66 % (296/450) moderat eller sterk smerte og 79 % (358/451) moderat eller sterk blødning. De fleste opplevde det som trygt å være hjemme. 96 % (390/406) ville valgt medikamentell abort hos avtalespesialist ved en eventuell senere abort, og 97 % (392/405) ville anbefalt behandlingstilbudet til andre i samme situasjon. Kvinnene i studien opplevde abortbehandling hos avtalespesialist som trygt. Tilbudet gir større valgfrihet til gravide som ønsker abort, og pasientene er tilfredse.

Operational Group Sandy technical progress report

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

2013-01-01

This report documents results from the March 2013 deployment of the OGS. It includes background information on Hurricane Sandy and the federal response; the OGS methodology; scenarios for Hurricane Sandy’s impact on coastal communities and urban ecosystems; potential interventions to improve regional resilience to future major storms; a discussion of scenario results; and lessons learned about the OGS process.

The opposite roles of agdA and glaA on citric acid production in Aspergillus niger.

PubMed

Wang, Lu; Cao, Zhanglei; Hou, Li; Yin, Liuhua; Wang, Dawei; Gao, Qiang; Wu, Zhenqiang; Wang, Depei

2016-07-01

Citric acid is produced by an industrial-scale process of fermentation using Aspergillus niger as a microbial cell factory. However, citric acid production was hindered by the non-fermentable isomaltose and insufficient saccharification ability in A. niger when liquefied corn starch was used as a raw material. In this study, A. niger TNA 101ΔagdA was constructed by deletion of the α-glucosidase-encoding agdA gene in A. niger CGMCC 10142 genome using Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation. The transformants A. niger OG 1, OG 17, and OG 31 then underwent overexpression of glucoamylase in A. niger TNA 101ΔagdA. The results showed that the α-glucosidase activity of TNA 101ΔagdA was decreased by 62.5 % compared with CGMCC 10142, and isomaltose was almost undetectable in the fermentation broth. The glucoamylase activity of the transformants OG 1 and OG 17 increased by 34.5 and 16.89 % compared with that of TNA 101ΔagdA, respectively. In addition, for the recombinants TNA 101ΔagdA, OG 1 and OG 17, there were no apparent defects in the growth development. Consequently, in comparison with CGMCC 10142, TNA 101ΔagdA and OG 1 decreased the residual reducing sugar by 52.95 and 88.24 %, respectively, and correspondingly increased citric acid production at the end of fermentation by 8.68 and 16.87 %. Citric acid production was further improved by decreasing the non-fermentable residual sugar and increasing utilization rate of corn starch material in A. niger. Besides, the successive saccharification and citric acid fermentation processes were successfully integrated into one step.

Oxygen Generator System Mars In-Situ Propellant Production Precursor Flight

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sridhar, K. R.; Gottmann, M.; Baird, R. S.

1999-01-01

The 2001 Lander to Mars will carry the first ever ISRU payload to Mars. This payload, the Mars In-situ Propellant production Precursor (MIP), will demonstrate a variety of technologies that will be required for future ISRU Mars indigenous material processing plant designs. One of those technologies is that of extracting oxygen from the predominantly carbon dioxide atmosphere of Mars, a prerequisite for future sample return and human missions to Mars. The Oxygen Generator Subsystem (OGS) portion of the MIP will demonstrate this and is the focus of this paper. The primary objective of the OGS is to demonstrate the production of oxygen from Mars atmospheric gases. Secondary objectives are to measure the performance and reliability of oxygen generation hardware in actual mission environments over an extended time. Major constraints on the OGS design came from several sources. The Lander provides power to the system from solar power that is harnessed by photovoltaic arrays. This limited OGS to daytime only operations (six to eight hours) and a maximum power of 15W. The reliance on solar power necessitated thermal cycling of the OGS between Mars ambient and OGS operating temperatures. The Lander also limited the total mass of the MIP payload to 7.5 kg with a correspondingly small volume, and the OGS was one of six experiments in the MIP. Mass and volume were to be minimized. Another constraint was cost. Mission funding, as always, was tight. Cost was to be minimized. In short the OGS design had to be low power (<15 Watts), low mass (1 kg), low volume, low cost, and be capable of cyclical operations for an extended stay on Mars. After extensive research, a zirconia based solid oxide electrolyzer design was selected.

Oxygen Generator System Mars In-Situ Propellant Production Precursor Flight

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sridhar, K. R.; Gottmann, M.; Baird, R. S.

1999-01-01

The 2001 Lander to Mars will carry the first ever In situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) payload to Mars. This payload, the Mars In-situ Propellant production Precursor (MIP), will demonstrate a variety of technologies that will be required for future ISRU Mars indigenous material processing plant designs. One of those technologies is that of extracting oxygen from the predominantly carbon dioxide atmosphere of Mars, a prerequisite for future sample return and human missions to Mars. The Oxygen Generator Subsystem (OGS) portion of the MIP will demonstrate this and is the focus of this paper. The primary objective of the OGS is to demonstrate the production of oxygen from Mars atmospheric gases. Secondary objectives are to measure the performance and reliability of oxygen generation hardware in actual mission environments over an extended time. Major constraints on the OGS design came from several sources. The Lander provides power to the system from solar power that is harnessed by photovoltaic arrays. This limited OGS to daytime only operations (six to eight hours) and a maximum power of 15W. The reliance on solar power necessitated thermal cycling of the OGS between Mars ambient and OGS operating temperatures. The Lander also limited the total mass of the MIP payload to 7.5 kg with a correspondingly small volume, and the OGS was one of six experiments in the MIP Mass and volume were to be minimized. Another constraint was cost. Mission funding, as always, was tight. Cost was to be minimized. In short the OGS design had to be low power (<15 Watts), low mass (1 kg), low volume, low cost, and be capable of cyclical operations for an extended stay on Mars. After extensive research, a zirconia based solid oxide electrolyzer design was selected.

Distribution of the P2X2 receptor and chemical coding in ileal enteric neurons of obese male mice (ob/ob)

PubMed Central

Mizuno, Márcia Sanae; Crisma, Amanda Rabello; Borelli, Primavera; Schäfer, Bárbara Tavares; Silveira, Mariana Póvoa; Castelucci, Patricia

2014-01-01

AIM: To investigate the colocalization, density and profile of neuronal areas of enteric neurons in the ileum of male obese mice. METHODS: The small intestinal samples of male mice in an obese group (OG) (C57BL/6J ob/ob) and a control group (CG) (+/+) were used. The tissues were analyzed using a double immunostaining technique for immunoreactivity (ir) of the P2X2 receptor, nitric oxide synthase (NOS), choline acetyl transferase (ChAT) and calretinin (Calr). Also, we investigated the density and profile of neuronal areas of the NOS-, ChAT- and Calr-ir neurons in the myenteric plexus. Myenteric neurons were labeled using an NADH-diaphorase histochemical staining method. RESULTS: The analysis demonstrated that the P2X2 receptor was expressed in the cytoplasm and in the nuclear and cytoplasmic membranes only in the CG. Neuronal density values (neuron/cm2) decreased 31% (CG: 6579 ± 837; OG: 4556 ± 407) and 16.5% (CG: 7796 ± 528; OG: 6513 ± 610) in the NOS-ir and calretinin-ir neurons in the OG, respectively (P < 0.05). Density of ChAT-ir (CG: 6200 ± 310; OG: 8125 ± 749) neurons significantly increased 31% in the OG (P < 0.05). Neuron size studies demonstrated that NOS, ChAT, and Calr-ir neurons did not differ significantly between the CG and OG groups. The examination of NADH-diaphorase-positive myenteric neurons revealed an overall similarity between the OG and CG. CONCLUSION: Obesity may exert its effects by promoting a decrease in P2X2 receptor expression and modifications in the density of the NOS-ir, ChAT-ir and CalR-ir myenteric neurons. PMID:25320527

Foot-Ground Reaction Force During Resistance Exercise in Parabolic Flight

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, Stuart M. C.; Cobb, Kendall; Loehr, James A.; Nguyen, Daniel; Schneider, Suzanne M.

2003-01-01

An interim Resistance Exercise Device (iRED) was designed to provide resistive exercise as a countermeasure to space flight-induced loss of muscle strength and endurance as well as decreased bone mineral density. The purpose of this project was to compare foot-ground reaction force during iRED exercise in normal gravity (l-g) versus micro gravity (O-g) achieved during parabolic flight. METHODS: Four subjects performed three exercises using the iRED (squat, heel raise, and deadlift) during I-g and O-g at a moderate intensity (60% of maximum strength during deadlift exercise). Foot-ground reaction force was measured in three axes (x,y,z) using a force plate, and the magnitude of the resultant force vector was calculated (r = X 2 + y2 + Z2 ). Range of motion (ROM) was measured using a linear encoder. Peak force (PkF) and total work (TW) were calculated using a customized computer program. Paired t-tests were used to test if significant differences (p.::::0.05) were observed between I-g and O-g exercise. RESULTS: PkF and TW measured in the resultant axis were significantly less in O-g for each of the exercises tested. During O-g, PkF was 42-46% and TW was 33- 37% of that measured during I-g. ROM and average time to complete each repetition were not different from I-g to O-g. CONCLUSIONS: When performing exercises in which body mass is a portion of the resistance during I-g, PkF and TW measured during resistive exercise were reduced approximately 60-70% during O-g. Thus, a resistive exercise device during O-g will be required to provided higher resistances to induce a similar training stimulus to that on Earth.

Detection of induced seismicity due to oil and gas extraction in the northern Gulf of Mexico, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fadugba, Oluwaseun Idowu

Drilling operations and extraction of oil and gas (O&G) may lead to subsurface slumping or compression of sediments due to reduced vertical principal stress which may lead to small earthquakes at the drilling site. O&G extraction is common in the northern Gulf of Mexico (NGM) and only thirty-five earthquakes of magnitudes between 2.3 and 6.0 have been recorded in the area from 1974 to the present. The purpose of this research is to detect more earthquakes using stacks of seismic data from the Transportable USArray (TA) from 2011 to 2013, and determine the spatiotemporal relationship between the detected earthquakes and O&G extraction. Five new small offshore earthquakes, that may be associated with the offshore O&G production, have been detected in the data. Spatial correlation of the epicenters with offshore drilling sites shows that the earthquakes may be due to the O&G extraction.

49 CFR 350.327 - How may States qualify for Incentive Funds?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... Incentive Funds? (a) A State may qualify for Incentive Funds if it can demonstrate that its CMV safety... recipients. (3) Upload of CMV accident reports in accordance with current FMCSA policy guidelines. (4) Verification of CDLs during all roadside inspections. (5) Upload of CMV inspection data in accordance with...

49 CFR 350.327 - How may States qualify for Incentive Funds?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... Incentive Funds? (a) A State may qualify for Incentive Funds if it can demonstrate that its CMV safety... recipients. (3) Upload of CMV accident reports in accordance with current FMCSA policy guidelines. (4) Verification of CDLs during all roadside inspections. (5) Upload of CMV inspection data in accordance with...

49 CFR 350.327 - How may States qualify for Incentive Funds?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... Incentive Funds? (a) A State may qualify for Incentive Funds if it can demonstrate that its CMV safety... recipients. (3) Upload of CMV accident reports in accordance with current FMCSA policy guidelines. (4) Verification of CDLs during all roadside inspections. (5) Upload of CMV inspection data in accordance with...

49 CFR 350.327 - How may States qualify for Incentive Funds?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... Incentive Funds? (a) A State may qualify for Incentive Funds if it can demonstrate that its CMV safety... recipients. (3) Upload of CMV accident reports in accordance with current FMCSA policy guidelines. (4) Verification of CDLs during all roadside inspections. (5) Upload of CMV inspection data in accordance with...

78 FR 64294 - Loan Guaranty: Mandatory Electronic Delivery of Loan Files for Review

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-10-28

... DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS Loan Guaranty: Mandatory Electronic Delivery of Loan Files for... through either electronic upload or in hard copy form. Effective January 1, 2014, LGY will require the electronic uploading of all loan files, pursuant to 38 CFR 36.4333. DATES: Effective January 1, 2014, VA will...

Mechanisms of formation of 8-oxoguanine due to reactions of one and two OH* radicals and the H2O2 molecule with guanine: A quantum computational study.

PubMed

Jena, N R; Mishra, P C

2005-07-28

Mechanisms of formation of the mutagenic product 8-oxoguanine (8OG) due to reactions of guanine with two separate OH* radicals and with H2O2 were investigated at the B3LYP/6-31G, B3LYP/6-311++G, and B3LYP/AUG-cc-pVDZ levels of theory. Single point energy calculations were carried out with the MP2/AUG-cc-pVDZ method employing the optimized geometries at the B3LYP/AUG-cc-pVDZ level. Solvent effect was treated using the PCM and IEF-PCM models. Reactions of two separate OH* radicals and H2O2 with the C2 position of 5-methylimidazole (5MI) were investigated taking 5MI as a model to study reactions at the C8 position of guanine. The addition reaction of an OH* radical at the C8 position of guanine is found to be nearly barrierless while the corresponding adduct is quite stable. The reaction of a second OH* radical at the C8 position of guanine leading to the formation of 8OG complexed with a water molecule can take place according to two different mechanisms, involving two steps each. According to one mechanism, at the first step, 8-hydroxyguanine (8OHG) complexed with a water molecule is formed ,while at the second step, 8OHG is tautomerized to 8OG. In the other mechanism, at the first step, an intermediate complexed (IC) with a water molecule is formed, the five-membered ring of which is open, while at the second step, the five-membered ring is closed and a hydrogen bonded complex of 8OG with a water molecule is formed. The reaction of H2O2 with guanine leading to the formation of 8OG complexed with a water molecule can also take place in accordance with two different mechanisms having two steps each. At the first step of one mechanism, H2O2 is dissociated into two OH* groups that react with guanine to form the same IC as that formed in the reaction with two separate OH* radicals, and the subsequent step of this mechanism is also the same as that of the reaction of guanine with two separate OH* radicals. At the first step of the other mechanism of the reaction of guanine with H2O2, the latter molecule is dissociated into a hydrogen atom and an OOH* group which become bonded to the N7 and C8 atoms of guanine, respectively. At the second step of this mechanism, the OOH* group is dissociated into an oxygen atom and an OH* group, the former becomes bonded to the C8 atom of guanine while the latter abstracts the H8 atom bonded to C8, thus producing 8OG complexed with a water molecule. Solvent effects of the aqueous medium on certain reaction barriers and released energies are appreciable. 5MI works as a satisfactory model for a qualitative study of the reactions of two separate OH* radicals or H2O2 occurring at the C8 position of guanine.

Caching Joint Shortcut Routing to Improve Quality of Service for Information-Centric Networking.

PubMed

Huang, Baixiang; Liu, Anfeng; Zhang, Chengyuan; Xiong, Naixue; Zeng, Zhiwen; Cai, Zhiping

2018-05-29

Hundreds of thousands of ubiquitous sensing (US) devices have provided an enormous number of data for Information-Centric Networking (ICN), which is an emerging network architecture that has the potential to solve a great variety of issues faced by the traditional network. A Caching Joint Shortcut Routing (CJSR) scheme is proposed in this paper to improve the Quality of service (QoS) for ICN. The CJSR scheme mainly has two innovations which are different from other in-network caching schemes: (1) Two routing shortcuts are set up to reduce the length of routing paths. Because of some inconvenient transmission processes, the routing paths of previous schemes are prolonged, and users can only request data from Data Centers (DCs) until the data have been uploaded from Data Producers (DPs) to DCs. Hence, the first kind of shortcut is built from DPs to users directly. This shortcut could release the burden of whole network and reduce delay. Moreover, in the second shortcut routing method, a Content Router (CR) which could yield shorter length of uploading routing path from DPs to DCs is chosen, and then data packets are uploaded through this chosen CR. In this method, the uploading path shares some segments with the pre-caching path, thus the overall length of routing paths is reduced. (2) The second innovation of the CJSR scheme is that a cooperative pre-caching mechanism is proposed so that QoS could have a further increase. Besides being used in downloading routing, the pre-caching mechanism can also be used when data packets are uploaded towards DCs. Combining uploading and downloading pre-caching, the cooperative pre-caching mechanism exhibits high performance in different situations. Furthermore, to address the scarcity of storage size, an algorithm that could make use of storage from idle CRs is proposed. After comparing the proposed scheme with five existing schemes via simulations, experiments results reveal that the CJSR scheme could reduce the total number of processed interest packets by 54.8%, enhance the cache hits of each CR and reduce the number of total hop counts by 51.6% and cut down the length of routing path for users to obtain their interested data by 28.6⁻85.7% compared with the traditional NDN scheme. Moreover, the length of uploading routing path could be decreased by 8.3⁻33.3%.

The Mu.Ta.Lig. Chemotheca: A Community-Populated Molecular Database for Multi-Target Ligands Identification and Compound-Repurposing.

PubMed

Ortuso, Francesco; Bagetta, Donatella; Maruca, Annalisa; Talarico, Carmine; Bolognesi, Maria L; Haider, Norbert; Borges, Fernanda; Bryant, Sharon; Langer, Thierry; Senderowitz, Hanoch; Alcaro, Stefano

2018-01-01

For every lead compound developed in medicinal chemistry research, numerous other inactive or less active candidates are synthetized/isolated and tested. The majority of these compounds will not be selected for further development due to a sub-optimal pharmacological profile. However, some poorly active or even inactive compounds could live a second life if tested against other targets. Thus, new therapeutic opportunities could emerge and synergistic activities could be identified and exploited for existing compounds by sharing information between researchers who are working on different targets. The Mu.Ta.Lig (Multi-Target Ligand) Chemotheca database aims to offer such opportunities by facilitating information exchange among researchers worldwide. After a preliminary registration, users can (a) virtually upload structures and activity data for their compounds with corresponding, and eventually known activity data, and (b) search for other available compounds uploaded by the users community. Each piece of information about given compounds is owned by the user who initially uploaded it and multiple ownership is possible (this occurs if different users uploaded the same compounds or information pertaining to the same compounds). A web-based graphical user interface has been developed to assist compound uploading, compounds searching and data retrieval. Physico-chemical and ADME properties as well as substructure-based PAINS evaluations are computed on the fly for each uploaded compound. Samples of compounds that match a set of search criteria and additional data on these compounds could be requested directly from their owners with no mediation by the Mu.Ta.Lig Chemotheca team. Guest access provides a simplified search interface to retrieve only basic information such as compound IDs and related 2D or 3D chemical structures. Moreover, some compounds can be hidden to Guest users according to an owner's decision. In contrast, registered users have full access to all of the Chemotheca data including the permission to upload new compounds and/or update experimental/theoretical data (e.g., activities against new targets tested) related to already stored compounds. In order to facilitate scientific collaborations, all available data are connected to the corresponding owner's email address (available for registered users only). The Chemotheca web site is accessible at http://chemotheca.unicz.it.

IMPACT OF DEFICIENT NUTRITION IN BONE MASS AFTER BARIATRIC SURGERY.

PubMed

Costa, Tatiana Munhoz da Rocha Lemos; Paganoto, Mariana; Radominski, Rosana Bento; Borba, Victoria Zeghbi Cochenski

2016-03-01

Essential nutrients are considered for the prevention of the bone loss that occurs after bariatric surgery. Evaluate nutrients involved in bone metabolism, and relate to serum concentrations of calcium, vitamin D, and parathyroid hormone, and the use of supplements and sun exposure on the bone mass of patients who had undergone gastric bypass surgery. An observational study, with patients who had undergone the surgery 12 or more months previously, operated group (OG), compared to a control group (CG). Were included 56 in OG and 27 in the CG. The mean age was 36.4±8.5 years. The individuals in the OG, compared to CG, consumed inadequate amounts of protein and daily calcium. The OG had a higher prevalence of low sun exposure, lower levels of 25OH Vitamin D (21.3±10.9 vs. 32.1±11.8 ng/dl), and increased serum levels of parathyroid hormone (68.1±32.9 vs. 39.9±11.9 pg/ml, p<0.001). Secondary hyperparathyroidism was present only in the OG (41.7%). The mean lumbar spine bone mineral density was lower in the OG. Four individuals from the OG had low bone mineral density for chronological age, and no one from the CG. The dietary components that affect bone mass in patients undergoing bariatric surgery were inadequate. The supplementation was insufficient and the sun exposure was low. These changes were accompanied by secondary hyperparathyroidism and a high prevalence of low bone mass in lumbar spine in these subjects.

Extensive Copy Number Variations in Admixed Indian Population of African Ancestry: Potential Involvement in Adaptation

PubMed Central

Dash, Debasis; Mukerji, Mitali

2014-01-01

Admixture mapping has been enormously resourceful in identifying genetic variations linked to phenotypes, adaptation, and diseases. In this study through analysis of copy number variable regions (CNVRs), we report extensive restructuring in the genomes of the recently admixed African-Indian population (OG-W-IP) that inhabits a highly saline environment in Western India. The study included subjects from OG-W-IP (OG), five different Indian and three HapMap populations that were genotyped using Affymetrix version 6.0 arrays. Copy number variations (CNVs) detected using Birdsuite were used to define CNVRs. Population structure with respect to CNVRs was delineated using random forest approach. OG genomes have a surprising excess of CNVs in comparison to other studied populations. Individual ancestry proportions computed using STRUCTURE also reveals a unique genetic component in OGs. Population structure analysis with CNV genotypes indicates OG to be distant from both the African and Indian ancestral populations. Interestingly, it shows genetic proximity with respect to CNVs to only one Indian population IE-W-LP4, which also happens to reside in the same geographical region. We also observe a significant enrichment of molecular processes related to ion binding and receptor activity in genes encompassing OG-specific CNVRs. Our results suggest that retention of CNVRs from ancestral natives and de novo acquisition of CNVRs could accelerate the process of adaptation especially in an extreme environment. Additionally, this population would be enormously useful for dissecting genes and delineating the involvement of CNVs in salt adaptation. PMID:25398783

Extending the XNAT archive tool for image and analysis management in ophthalmology research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wahle, Andreas; Lee, Kyungmoo; Harding, Adam T.; Garvin, Mona K.; Niemeijer, Meindert; Sonka, Milan; Abràmoff, Michael D.

2013-03-01

In ophthalmology, various modalities and tests are utilized to obtain vital information on the eye's structure and function. For example, optical coherence tomography (OCT) is utilized to diagnose, screen, and aid treatment of eye diseases like macular degeneration or glaucoma. Such data are complemented by photographic retinal fundus images and functional tests on the visual field. DICOM isn't widely used yet, though, and frequently images are encoded in proprietary formats. The eXtensible Neuroimaging Archive Tool (XNAT) is an open-source NIH-funded framework for research PACS and is in use at the University of Iowa for neurological research applications. Its use for ophthalmology was hence desirable but posed new challenges due to data types thus far not considered and the lack of standardized formats. We developed custom tools for data types not natively recognized by XNAT itself using XNAT's low-level REST API. Vendor-provided tools can be included as necessary to convert proprietary data sets into valid DICOM. Clients can access the data in a standardized format while still retaining the original format if needed by specific analysis tools. With respective project-specific permissions, results like segmentations or quantitative evaluations can be stored as additional resources to previously uploaded datasets. Applications can use our abstract-level Python or C/C++ API to communicate with the XNAT instance. This paper describes concepts and details of the designed upload script templates, which can be customized to the needs of specific projects, and the novel client-side communication API which allows integration into new or existing research applications.

Future Research Priorities for Morbidity Control of Lymphedema.

PubMed

Narahari, S R; Aggithaya, Madhur Guruprasad; Moffatt, Christine; Ryan, T J; Keeley, Vaughan; Vijaya, B; Rajendran, P; Karalam, S B; Rajagopala, S; Kumar, N K; Bose, K S; Sushma, K V

2017-01-01

Innovation in the treatment of lower extremity lymphedema has received low priority from the governments and pharmaceutical industry. Advancing lymphedema is irreversible and initiates fibrosis in the dermis, reactive changes in the epidermis and subcutis. Most medical treatments offered for lymphedema are either too demanding with a less than satisfactory response or patients have low concordance due to complex schedules. A priority setting partnership (PSP) was established to decide on the future priorities in lymphedema research. A table of abstracts following a literature search was published in workshop website. Stake holders were requested to upload their priorities. Their questions were listed, randomized, and sent to lymphologists for ranking. High ranked ten research priorities, obtained through median score, were presented in final prioritization work shop attended by invited stake holders. A free medical camp was organized during workshop to understand patients' priorities. One hundred research priorities were selected from priorities uploaded to website. Ten priorities were short listed through a peer review process involving 12 lymphologists, for final discussion. They were related to simplification of integrative treatment for lymphedema, cellular changes in lymphedema and mechanisms of its reversal, eliminating bacterial entry lesions to reduce cellulitis episodes, exploring evidence for therapies in traditional medicine, improving patient concordance to compression therapy, epidemiology of lymphatic filariasis (LF), and economic benefit of integrative treatments of lymphedema. A robust research priority setting process, organized as described in James Lind Alliance guidebook, identified seven priority areas to achieve effective morbidity control of lymphedema including LF. All stake holders including Department of Health Research, Government of India, participated in the PSP.

Future Research Priorities for Morbidity Control of Lymphedema

PubMed Central

Narahari, S R; Aggithaya, Madhur Guruprasad; Moffatt, Christine; Ryan, T J; Keeley, Vaughan; Vijaya, B; Rajendran, P; Karalam, S B; Rajagopala, S; Kumar, N K; Bose, K S; Sushma, K V

2017-01-01

Background: Innovation in the treatment of lower extremity lymphedema has received low priority from the governments and pharmaceutical industry. Advancing lymphedema is irreversible and initiates fibrosis in the dermis, reactive changes in the epidermis and subcutis. Most medical treatments offered for lymphedema are either too demanding with a less than satisfactory response or patients have low concordance due to complex schedules. A priority setting partnership (PSP) was established to decide on the future priorities in lymphedema research. Methods: A table of abstracts following a literature search was published in workshop website. Stake holders were requested to upload their priorities. Their questions were listed, randomized, and sent to lymphologists for ranking. High ranked ten research priorities, obtained through median score, were presented in final prioritization work shop attended by invited stake holders. A free medical camp was organized during workshop to understand patients’ priorities. Results: One hundred research priorities were selected from priorities uploaded to website. Ten priorities were short listed through a peer review process involving 12 lymphologists, for final discussion. They were related to simplification of integrative treatment for lymphedema, cellular changes in lymphedema and mechanisms of its reversal, eliminating bacterial entry lesions to reduce cellulitis episodes, exploring evidence for therapies in traditional medicine, improving patient concordance to compression therapy, epidemiology of lymphatic filariasis (LF), and economic benefit of integrative treatments of lymphedema. Conclusion: A robust research priority setting process, organized as described in James Lind Alliance guidebook, identified seven priority areas to achieve effective morbidity control of lymphedema including LF. All stake holders including Department of Health Research, Government of India, participated in the PSP. PMID:28216723

Effects of feeding an immunomodulatory supplement to heat-stressed or actively cooled cows during late gestation on postnatal immunity, health, and growth of calves.

PubMed

Skibiel, Amy L; Fabris, Thiago F; Corrá, Fabiana N; Torres, Yazielis M; McLean, Derek J; Chapman, James D; Kirk, David J; Dahl, Geoffrey E; Laporta, Jimena

2017-09-01

Heat stress during late gestation negatively affects the physiology, health, and productivity of dairy cows as well as the calves developing in utero. Providing cows with active cooling devices, such as fans and soakers, and supplementing cows with an immunomodulating feed additive, OmniGen-AF (OG; Phibro Animal Health Corporation), improves immune function and milk yield of cows. It is unknown if maternal supplementation of OG combined with active cooling during late gestation might benefit the developing calf as well. Herein we evaluated markers of innate immune function, including immune cell counts, acute phase proteins, and neutrophil function, of calves born to multiparous dams in a 2 × 2 factorial design. Dams were supplemented with OG or a bentonite control (NO) beginning at 60 d before dry off and exposed to heat stress with cooling (CL) or without active cooling (HT) during the dry period (∼46 d). At birth, calves were separated from their dams and fed 6.6 L of their dams' colostrum in 2 meals. Calf body weight and rectal temperature were recorded, and blood samples were collected at birth (before colostrum feeding) and at 10, 28, and 49 d of age. Calves born to either CL dams or OG dams were heavier at birth than calves born to HT or NO dams, respectively. Concentrations of serum amyloid A were higher in the blood of calves born to OG dams relative to NO and for HT calves relative to CL calves. In addition, calves born to cooled OG dams had greater concentrations of plasma haptoglobin than calves born to cooled control dams. Neutrophil function at 10 d of age was enhanced in calves born to cooled OG dams and lymphocyte counts were higher in calves born to OG dams. Together these results suggest that adding OG to maternal feed in combination with active cooling of cows during late gestation is effective in mitigating the negative effects of in utero heat stress on postnatal calf growth and immune competence. Copyright © 2017 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Elderly patients with colorectal cancer: treatment modalities and survival in France. National data from the ThInDiT cohort study.

PubMed

Doat, S; Thiébaut, A; Samson, S; Ricordeau, P; Guillemot, D; Mitry, E

2014-05-01

Few data exist on how elderly patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) are actually treated in real-life practice. Based on a national cohort, we analysed routine treatment modalities of the elderly who were diagnosed with CRC in France in 2009. The characteristics of patients and tumours and the cancer treatments received during the first year of all national incident cases of CRC diagnosed between 1st April and 31st December 2009, were compared between a 'younger group' (YG), under 75 years of age (N = 18,410 patients), and an 'older group' (OG), aged 75 and over (N = 13,255 patients). In the OG with metastases at baseline, we analysed two-year overall survival (OS) according to the treatment received (e.g. chemotherapy, surgery) and well-known prognostic factors. Among patients with localised CRC (N = 25,353), surgery was equally performed in both groups in more than 80% of the cases (p=0.52); time to surgery was shorter in the OG (8 versus 23 days) because there was more emergency surgery for occlusion among the OG. Adjuvant chemotherapy was performed in 15% of the OG (versus 29% in the YG) and consisted of 5-fluorouracil (5FU) monotherapy in more than 50% of OG patients. Among patients with metastatic CRC (N = 6,312), palliative chemotherapy was given to 48% of the OG versus 85% of the YG. Chemotherapy regimens included 30% monotherapy with 5FU, 30% oxaliplatin combination and 20% bevacizumab combination in the OG; compared to 10%, 34% and 35%, respectively, in the YG. The median OS for the OG was 8.4 months (versus 22.3 months in the YG) and 17.1 months among elderly patients who received chemotherapy. CRC is more frequently complicated at diagnosis among elderly patients. Adjuvant and palliative chemotherapy is less frequently prescribed among elderly patients. This could be explained by the fact that unfit elderly patients do not deserve chemotherapy, but certainly also reflect the fact that some fit elderly patients are undertreated. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

76 FR 4897 - Submission for OMB Review; OMB Control No. 3090-0291; FSRS Registration and Prime Awardee Entity...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-01-27

... methods for submitting multiple FFATA subaward reports: A batch upload template using Microsoft Excel, an... three methods for submitting multiple FFATA subaward reports: A batch upload template using Microsoft Excel, an XML report submission template and an XML web service. These methods do take advantage of the...

A web-based biosignal data management system for U-health data integration.

PubMed

Ro, Dongwoo; Yoo, Sooyoung; Choi, Jinwook

2008-11-06

In the ubiquitous healthcare environment, the biosignal data should be easily accessed and properly maintained. This paper describes a web-based data management system. It consists of a device interface, a data upload control, a central repository, and a web server. For the user-specific web services, a MFER Upload ActiveX Control was developed.

Development of a liposome microbicide formulation for vaginal delivery of octylglycerol for HIV prevention

PubMed Central

Wang, Lin; Sassi, Alexandra Beumer; Patton, Dorothy; Isaacs, Charles; Moncla, B. J.; Gupta, Phalguni; Rohan, Lisa Cencia

2015-01-01

The feasibility of using a liposome drug delivery system to formulate octylglycerol (OG) as a vaginal microbicide product was explored. A liposome formulation was developed containing 1% OG and phosphatidyl choline in a ratio that demonstrated in vitro activity against Neisseria gonorrhoeae, HSV-1, HSV-2 and HIV-1 while sparing the innate vaginal flora, Lactobacillus. Two conventional gel formulations were prepared for comparison. The OG liposome formulation with the appropriate OG/lipid ratio and dosing level had greater efficacy than either conventional gel formulation and maintained this efficacy for at least 2 months. No toxicity was observed for the liposome formulation in ex vivo testing in a human ectocervical tissue model or in vivo testing in the macaque safety model. Furthermore, minimal toxicity was observed to lactobacilli in vitro or in vivo safety testing. The OG liposome formulation offers a promising microbicide product with efficacy against HSV, HIV and N. gonorrhoeae. PMID:22149387

OGS Hydrogen Sensor ORU R&R

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-04-18

ISS030-E-236919 (18 April 2012) --- NASA astronaut Dan Burbank, Expedition 30 commander, works with the Oxygen Generator System (OGS) rack in the Tranquility node of the International Space Station. Burbank unpowered the OGS, purged the hydrogen sensor Orbital Replacement Unit (ORU) with the Hydrogen Sensor ORU Purge Adapter (HOPA) for return to Earth, and replaced the hydrogen sensor with a new spare, then cleaned the rack Avionics Air Assembly (AAA).

Decolorization of azo dyes Orange G using hydrodynamic cavitation coupled with heterogeneous Fenton process.

PubMed

Cai, Meiqiang; Su, Jie; Zhu, Yizu; Wei, Xiaoqing; Jin, Micong; Zhang, Haojie; Dong, Chunying; Wei, Zongsu

2016-01-01

The present work demonstrates the application of the combination of hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) and the heterogeneous Fenton process (HF, Fe(0)/H2O2) for the decolorization of azo dye Orange G (OG). The effects of main affecting operation conditions such as the inlet fluid pressure, initial concentration of OG, H2O2 and zero valent iron (ZVI), the fixed position of ZVI, and medium pH on decolorization efficiency were discussed with guidelines for selection of optimum parameters. The results revealed that the acidic conditions are preferred for OG decolorizaiton. The decolorization rate increased with increasing H2O2 and ZVI concentration and decreased with increasing OG initial concentration. Besides, the decolorization rate was strongly dependent on the fixed position of ZVI. The analysis results of degradation products using liquid chromatography-ESI-TOF mass spectrometry revealed that the degradation mechanism of OG proceeds mainly via reductive cleavage of the azo linkage due to the attack of hydroxyl radical. The present work has conclusively established that the combination of HC and HF can be more energy efficient and gives higher decolorization rate of OG as compared with HC and HF alone. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ultrasound enhanced activation of peroxydisulfate by activated carbon fiber for decolorization of azo dye.

PubMed

Huang, Tianyin; Zhang, Ke; Qian, Yajie; Fang, Cong; Chen, Jiabin

2018-02-20

Activated carbon fiber (ACF) has become an emerging activator for peroxydisulfate (PDS) to generate sulfate radical (SO 4 •- ). However, the relative low activation efficiency and poor contaminant mineralization limited its widespread application. Herein, ultrasound (US) was introduced to the ACF activated PDS system, and the synergistic effect of US and ACF in PDS activation and the enhancement of contaminant mineralization were investigated. The synergistic effect of US and ACF was observed in the PDS activation to decolorize orange G (OG). The decolorization efficiency increased with increasing ACF loading and US power, and PDS/OG ratio from 1 to 40. The activation energy was determined to be 24.065 kJ/mol. The radical-induced decolorization of OG took place on the surface of ACF, and both SO 4 •- and hydroxyl radical ( • OH) contributed to OG decolorization. The azo bond and naphthalene ring on OG were destructed to other aromatic intermediates and finally mineralized to CO 2 and H 2 O. The introduction of US in the ACF/PDS system significantly enhanced the mineralization of OG. The combination of US and PDS was highly efficient to activate PDS to decolorize azo dyes. Moreover, the introduction of US remarkably improved the contaminant mineralization.

Enhanced degradation of Orange G by permanganate with the employment of iron anode.

PubMed

Bu, Lingjun; Shi, Zhou; Zhou, Shiqing

2017-01-01

Iron anode was employed to enhance the degradation of Orange G (OG) by permanganate (EC/KMnO 4 ). Continuously generated Fe 2+ from iron anode facilitated the formation of fresh MnO 2 , which plays a role in catalyzing permanganate oxidation. The EC/KMnO 4 system also showed a better performance to remove OG than Fe 2+ /KMnO 4 , indicating the importance of in situ formed fresh MnO 2 . Besides, the effects of applied current, KMnO 4 dosage, solution pH, and natural organics were evaluated and results demonstrated that high current and oxidant dosage are favorable for OG removal. And the application of iron anode has a promoting effect on the KMnO 4 oxidation over a wide pH range (5.0-9.0), while the Fe 2+ /KMnO 4 process does not. For natural organics, its presence could inhibit OG removal due to its competitive role. And the promoting effect of OG removal by the EC/KMnO 4 process in natural water was confirmed. At last, the EC/KMnO 4 process showed a satisfying performance on the decolorization and mineralization of OG. This study provides a potential technology to enhance permanganate oxidation and broadens the knowledge of azo dye removal.

Outcomes following neonatal cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

PubMed

Boldingh, Anne Marthe; Solevåg, Anne Lee; Nakstad, Britt

2018-05-29

Hjerte-lunge-redning av et kritisk sykt barn ved fødsel kan føre til overlevelse eller død. De som overlever kan utvikle komplikasjoner direkte etter fødsel eller senere i småbarns- og skolealder. Hypoksisk iskemisk encefalopati er en tilstand med nevrologiske symptomer hos den nyfødte etter hypoksi ved fødsel. Tilstanden klassifiseres som mild, moderat eller alvorlig. Vi ønsket å gi en oversikt over kort- og langtidsutfall etter hjerte-lunge-redning ved fødsel. Vi søkte i databasen Medline for utfall etter hjerte-lunge-redning ved fødsel. Vi identifiserte 15 indekserte, fagfellevurderte originalartikler og to metaanalyser om utfall etter hjerte-lunge-redning ved fødsel eller fødselsasfyksi. Hypoksisk iskemisk encefalopati rammer generelt 38 % av pasientene i mild til moderat grad og 23 % i alvorlig grad. Dødeligheten varierte fra 10 % i høy- til 28 % i lavinntektsland. Overlevende utvikler ofte motoriske, kognitive og sensoriske utviklingshemninger. I noen tilfeller blir det først avdekket ved skolestart når mer komplekse ferdigheter kreves. Funksjonshemning ved skolealder er sterkt korrelert til tilstanden i småbarnsalder. Endringer i algoritmene ved hjerte-lunge-redning og rutinebehandling med hypotermi har redusert risikoen for alvorlige følgetilstander etter hypoksisk iskemisk encefalopati.

Anxiolytic effects of orcinol glucoside and orcinol monohydrate in mice.

PubMed

Wang, Xiaohong; Li, Guiyun; Li, Peng; Huang, Linyuan; Huang, Jianmei; Zhai, Haifeng

2015-06-01

Anxiety is a common psychological disorder, often occurring in combination with depression, but therapeutic drugs with high efficacy and safety are lacking. Orcinol glucoside (OG) was recently found to have an antidepressive action. To study the therapeutic potential of OG and orcinol monohydrate (OM) as anxiolytic agents. Anxiolytic effects in mice were measured using the elevated plus-maze, hole-board, and open-field tests. Eight groups of mice were included in each test. Thirty minutes before each test, mice in each group received one oral administration of OG (5, 10, or 20 mg/kg), OM (2.5, 5, or 10 mg/kg), the positive control diazepam (1 or 5 mg/kg), or control vehicle. Each mouse underwent only one test. Uptake of orcinol (5 mg/kg) in the brain was qualitatively detected using the HPLC-MS method. OG (5, 10, and 20 mg/kg) and OM (2.5 and 5 mg/kg) increased the time spent in open arms and the number of entries into open arms in the elevated plus-maze test. OG (5 and 10 mg/kg) and OM (2.5 and 5 mg/kg) increased the number of head-dips in the hole-board test. At all tested doses, OG and OM did not significantly affect the locomotion of mice in the open-field test. Orcinol could be detected in the mouse brain homogenates 30 min after oral OM administration, having confirmed that OM is centrally active. The results demonstrated that OG and OM are anxiolytic agents without sedative effects, indicating their therapeutic potential for anxiety.

Validation of the American Board of Orthodontics Objective Grading System for assessing the treatment outcomes of Chinese patients.

PubMed

Song, Guang-Ying; Baumrind, Sheldon; Zhao, Zhi-He; Ding, Yin; Bai, Yu-Xing; Wang, Lin; He, Hong; Shen, Gang; Li, Wei-Ran; Wu, Wei-Zi; Ren, Chong; Weng, Xuan-Rong; Geng, Zhi; Xu, Tian-Min

2013-09-01

Orthodontics in China has developed rapidly, but there is no standard index of treatment outcomes. We assessed the validity of the American Board of Orthodontics Objective Grading System (ABO-OGS) for the classification of treatment outcomes in Chinese patients. We randomly selected 108 patients who completed treatment between July 2005 and September 2008 in 6 orthodontic treatment centers across China. Sixty-nine experienced Chinese orthodontists made subjective assessments of the end-of-treatment casts for each patient. Three examiners then used the ABO-OGS to measure the casts. Pearson correlation analysis and receiver operating characteristic curve analysis were conducted to evaluate the correspondence between the ABO-OGS cast measurements and the orthodontists' subjective assessments. The average subjective grading scores were highly correlated with the ABO-OGS scores (r = 0.7042). Four of the 7 study cast components of the ABO-OGS score-occlusal relationship, overjet, interproximal contact, and alignment-were statistically significantly correlated with the judges' subjective assessments. Together, these 4 accounted for 58% of the variability in the average subjective grading scores. The ABO-OGS cutoff score for cases that the judges deemed satisfactory was 16 points; the corresponding cutoff score for cases that the judges considered acceptable was 21 points. The ABO-OGS is a valid index for the assessment of treatment outcomes in Chinese patients. By comparing the objective scores on this modification of the ABO-OGS with the mean subjective assessment of a panel of highly qualified Chinese orthodontists, a cutoff point for satisfactory treatment outcome was defined as 16 points or fewer, with scores of 16 to 21 points denoting less than satisfactory but still acceptable treatment. Cases that scored greater than 21 points were considered unacceptable. Copyright © 2013 American Association of Orthodontists. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

A fast visual evoked potential method for functional assessment and follow-up of childhood optic gliomas.

PubMed

Trisciuzzi, Maria Teresa S; Riccardi, Riccardo; Piccardi, Marco; Iarossi, Giancarlo; Buzzonetti, Luca; Dickmann, Anna; Colosimo, Cesare; Ruggiero, Antonio; Di Rocco, Concezio; Falsini, Benedetto

2004-01-01

To evaluate a fast technique of visual evoked potentials (VEPs) recording, in response to steady-state luminance stimuli (SS-LVEPs), for functional assessment and follow-up of childhood optic gliomas (OGs). Eighteen OG patients (age range: 3.5-18 years), with different degrees of optic pathway damage severity, were examined. Sixteen age-matched normal subjects served as controls. Ten of the 18 OG patients were re-tested 1-3 months after the first examination. SS-LVEPs were elicited by a sinusoidally-modulated flickering (8 Hz) uniform field, generated by a light emitting diode (LED)-array and presented monocularly in a mini-ganzfeld. Amplitude and phase of the Fourier-analyzed response fundamental (1F) and second harmonic (2F) were measured. The full VEP protocol had a median duration of 6 min (range: 4-12). When compared to normal control values, median 1F and 2F SS-LVEP amplitudes of OG patients were reduced (P<0.01), with a borderline increase in 2F phase lag (P<0.05). In 11 OG patients with asymmetric optic pathway damage in between-eye comparisons, median 1F amplitude losses were greater (P<0.01) in fellow eyes with more severe damage. No significant interocular difference was observed in control subjects. Median test-retest changes of 1F and 2F component were <20% and 30 degrees for amplitude and phase, respectively. In individual OG patients, 1F and 2F amplitudes were positively correlated (P<0.01) with visual acuity. 1F amplitude losses were correlated (P=0.01) with the severity of optic disc atrophy. Considering both 1F and 2F abnormalities, diagnostic sensitivity of SS-LVEP in detecting OG-induced optic pathways damage was 83.3%. The present findings support the use of this technique, as an alternative to pattern VEPs, for functional assessment and follow-up of OG in uncooperative children.

OGS improvements in 2012 in running the Northeastern Italy Seismic Network: the Ferrara VBB borehole seismic station

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pesaresi, Damiano; Romanelli, Marco; Barnaba, Carla; Bragato, Pier Luigi; Durì, Giorgio

2013-04-01

The Centro di Ricerche Sismologiche (CRS, Seismological Research Center) of the Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale (OGS, Italian National Institute for Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics) in Udine (Italy) after the strong earthquake of magnitude M=6.4 occurred in 1976 in the Italian Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, started to operate the Northeastern Italy Seismic Network: it currently consists of 17 very sensitive broad band and 18 simpler short period seismic stations, all telemetered to and acquired in real time at the OGS-CRS data center in Udine. Real time data exchange agreements in place with other Italian, Slovenian, Austrian and Swiss seismological institutes lead to a total number of about 100 seismic stations acquired in real time, which makes the OGS the reference institute for seismic monitoring of Northeastern Italy. The southwestern edge of the OGS seismic network stands on the Po alluvial basin: earthquake localization and characterization in this area is affected by the presence of soft alluvial deposits. OGS ha already experience in running a local seismic network in high noise conditions making use of borehole installations in the case of the micro-seismicity monitoring of a local gas storage site for a private company. Following the ML=5.9 earthquake that struck the Emilia region around Ferrara in Northern Italy on May 20, 2012 at 02:03:53 UTC, a cooperation of Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, OGS, the Comune di Ferrara and the University of Ferrara lead to the reinstallation of a previously existing very broad band (VBB) borehole seismic station in Ferrara. The aim of the OGS intervention was on one hand to extend its real time seismic monitoring capabilities toward South-West, including Ferrara and its surroundings, and on the other hand to evaluate the seismic response at the site. We will describe improvements in running the Northeastern Italy Seismic Network, including details of the Ferrara VBB borehole station configuration and installation, with first results.

Comparison of long-term results between laparoscopy-assisted gastrectomy and open gastrectomy with D2 lymph node dissection for advanced gastric cancer.

PubMed

Hamabe, Atsushi; Omori, Takeshi; Tanaka, Koji; Nishida, Toshirou

2012-06-01

Laparoscopy-assisted gastrectomy (LAG) has been established as a low-invasive surgery for early gastric cancer. However, it remains unknown whether it is applicable also for advanced gastric cancer, mainly because the long-term results of LAG with D2 lymph node dissection for advanced gastric cancer have not been well validated compared with open gastrectomy (OG). A retrospective cohort study was performed to compare LAG and OG with D2 lymph node dissection. For this study, 167 patients (66 LAG and 101 OG patients) who underwent gastrectomy with D2 lymph node dissection for advanced gastric cancer were reviewed. Recurrence-free survival and overall survival time were estimated using Kaplan-Meier curves. Stratified log-rank statistical evaluation was used to compare the difference between the LAG and OG groups stratified by histologic type, pathologic T status, N status, and postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy. The adjusted Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to calculate the hazard ratios (HRs) of LAG. The 5-year recurrence-free survival rate was 89.6% in the LAG group and 75.8% in the OG group (nonsignificant difference; stratified log-rank statistic, 3.11; P = 0.0777). The adjusted HR of recurrence for LAG compared with OG was 0.389 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.131-1.151]. The 5-year overall survival rate was 94.4% in the LAG group and 78.5% in the OG group (nonsignificant difference; stratified log-rank statistic, 0.4817; P = 0.4877). The adjusted HR of death for LAG compared with OG was 0.633 (95% CI 0.172-2.325). The findings show that LAG with D2 lymph node dissection is acceptable in terms of long-term results for advanced gastric cancer cases and may be applicable for advanced gastric cancer treatment.

Comparing Top-down and Bottom-up Estimates of Methane Emissions across Multiple U.S. Basins Provides Insights into National Oil and Gas Emissions and Mitigation Strategies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamburg, S.; Alvarez, R.; Lyon, D. R.; Zavala-Araiza, D.

2016-12-01

Several recent studies quantified regional methane emissions in U.S. oil and gas (O&G) basins using top-down approaches such as airborne mass balance measurements. These studies apportioned total methane emissions to O&G based on hydrocarbon ratios or subtracting bottom-up estimates of other sources. In most studies, top-down estimates of O&G methane emissions exceeded bottom-up emission inventories. An exception is the Barnett Shale Coordinated Campaign, which found agreement between aircraft mass balance estimates and a custom emission inventory. Reconciliation of Barnett Shale O&G emissions depended on two key features: 1) matching the spatial domains of top-down and bottom-up estimates, and 2) accounting for fat-tail sources in site-level emission factors. We construct spatially explicit custom emission inventories for domains with top-down O&G emission estimates in eight major U.S. oil and gas production basins using a variety of data sources including a spatially-allocated U.S. EPA Greenhouse Gas Inventory, the EPA Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, state emission inventories, and recently published measurement studies. A comparison of top-down and our bottom-up estimates of O&G emissions constrains the gap between these approaches and elucidates regional variability in production-normalized loss rates. A comparison of component-level and site-level emission estimates of production sites in the Barnett Shale region - where comprehensive activity data and emissions estimates are available - indicates that abnormal process conditions contribute about 20% of regional O&G emissions. Combining these two analyses provides insights into the relative importance of different equipment, processes, and malfunctions to emissions in each basin. These data allow us to estimate the U.S. O&G supply chain loss rate, recommend mitigation strategies to reduce emissions from existing infrastructure, and discuss how a similar approach can be applied internationally.

An evaluation of an immunomodulatory feed ingredient in heat-stressed lactating Holstein cows: Effects on hormonal, physiological, and production responses.

PubMed

Hall, L W; Villar, F; Chapman, J D; McLean, D J; Long, N M; Xiao, Y; Collier, J L; Collier, R J

2018-06-06

Holstein cows (n = 30) were balanced by days in milk, milk production, and parity (91 ± 5.9 d in milk, 36.2 ± 2.5 kg/d, and 3.1 ± 1.4, respectively) and fed OmniGen-AF (OG; Phibro Animal Health, Teaneck, NJ), an immune stimulant, at 0 g/cow per d for control (CON) or 56 g/cow per d for OG for 52 d on a commercial dairy. At 52 d of the study cows were randomly selected (n = 12) from both groups (6 OG and 6 CON) and housed in environmentally controlled rooms at the Agricultural Research Complex for 21 d at the University of Arizona. Cows were subjected to 7 d of thermoneutral (TN) conditions, 10 d of heat stress (HS), and 4 d of recovery (REC) under TN conditions. Feed intake, milk production, and milk composition were measured daily. Rectal temperatures (RT) and respiration rates (RR) were recorded 3 times per day (600, 1400, and 1800 h). Blood samples were taken on d 7 (TN), 8 (HS), 10 (HS), 17 (HS), and 18 (TN) during the Agricultural Research Complex segment. Cows in HS had higher RR and RT and water intake and lower dry matter intake and milk yield than these measures in TN. There was a treatment × environment interaction with cows fed OG having lower RR and RT and higher dry matter intake during peak thermal loads than CON. However, milk yield did not differ between groups. Cows fed OG had lower milk fat percent than CON (3.7 vs 4.3%) during HS. The SCC content of milk did not differ between treatment groups but rose in both groups during the REC phase following HS. Plasma insulin and plasma glucose levels were not different between groups. However, plasma insulin in both groups was lower during acute HS, then rose across the HS period, and was highest during the REC phase. Plasma cortisol levels were highest in all cows on the first day of HS (d 8) but were lower in cows fed OG compared with CON. However, plasma ACTH concentrations were elevated in OG-fed animals at all times samples were collected. Plasma ACTH was also elevated in cows fed both OG and CON during HS. Feeding OG reduced plasma cortisol during acute but not chronic HS and increased basal plasma ACTH, suggesting that OG treatment may alter the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis. Copyright © 2018 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

77 FR 47080 - Announcement of Requirements and Registration for “Stop Bullying Video Challenge”

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-07

... must upload their video to YouTube as private. To do this, select ``Privacy Settings,'' mark video as private, enter the YouTube username ``stopbullyinggov'' in the box that appears below, then select ``save changes.'' Videos must be uploaded to YouTube in one of the following file formats: WebM, MPEG4, 3GPP, MOV...

Reliability of trauma management videos on YouTube and their compliance with ATLS® (9th edition) guideline.

PubMed

Şaşmaz, M I; Akça, A H

2017-06-01

In this study, the reliability of trauma management scenario videos (in English) on YouTube and their compliance with Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS ® ) guidelines were investigated. The search was conducted on February 15, 2016 by using the terms "assessment of trauma" and ''management of trauma''. All videos that were uploaded between January 2011 and June 2016 were viewed by two experienced emergency physicians. The data regarding the date of upload, the type of the uploader, duration of the video and view counts were recorded. The videos were categorized according to the video source and scores. The search results yielded 880 videos. Eight hundred and thirteen videos were excluded by the researchers. The distribution of videos by years was found to be balanced. The scores of videos uploaded by an institution were determined to be higher compared to other groups (p = 0.003). The findings of this study display that trauma management videos on YouTube in the majority of cases are not reliable/compliant with ATLS-guidelines and can therefore not be recommended for educational purposes. These data may only be used in public education after making necessary arrangements.

Crown oxygen-doping graphene with embedded main-group metal atoms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Liyuan; Wang, Qian; Yang, Chuanghua; Quhe, Ruge; Guan, Pengfei; Lu, Pengfei

2018-02-01

Different main-group metal atoms embedded in crown oxygen-doping graphene (metal@OG) systems are studied by the density functional theory. The binding energies and electronic structures are calculated by using first-principles calculations. The binding energy of metal@OG system mainly depends on the electronegativity of the metal atom. The lower the value of the electronegativity, the larger the binding energy, indicating the more stable the system. The electronic structure of metal@OG arouses the emergence of bandgap and shift of Dirac point. It is shown that interaction between metal atom and crown oxygen-doping graphene leads to the graphene's stable n-doping, and the metal@OG systems are stable semiconducting materials, which can be used in technological applications.

Data-intensive science gateway for rock physicists and volcanologists.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Filgueira, Rosa; Atkinson, Malcom; Bell, Andrew; Main, Ian; Boon, Steve; Meredith, Philp; Kilburn, Christopher

2014-05-01

Scientists have always shared data and mathematical models of the phenomena they study. Rock physics and Volcanology, as well as other solid-Earth sciences, have increasingly used Internet communications and computational renditions of their models for this purpose over the last two decades. Here we consider how to organise rock physics and volcanology data to open up opportunities for sharing and comparing both experiment data from experiments, observations and model runs and analytic interpretations of these data. Our hypothesis is that if we facilitate productive information sharing across those communities by using a new science gateway, it will benefit the science. The proposed science gateway should make the first steps for making existing research practices easier and facilitate new research. It will achieve this by supporting three major functions: 1) sharing data from laboratories and observatories, experimental facilities and models; 2) sharing models of rock fracture and methods for analysing experimental data; and 3) supporting recurrent operational tasks, such as data collection and model application in real time. We report initial work in two projects (NERC EFFORT and NERC CREEP-2) and experience with an early web-accessible protytpe called EFFORT gateway, where we are implementing such information sharing services for those projects. 1. Sharing data: In EFFORT gateway, we are working on several facilities for sharing data: *Upload data: We have designed and developed a new adaptive data transfer java tool called FAST (Flexible Automated Streaming Transfer) to upload experimental data and metadata periodically from laboratories to our repository. *Visualisation: As data are deposited in the repository, a visualisation of the accumulated data is made available for display in the Web portal. *Metadata and catalogues: The gateway uses a repository to hold all the data and a catalogue to hold all the corresponding metadata. 2. Sharing models and methods: The EFFORT gateway uses a repository to hold all of the models and a catalogue to hold the corresponding metadata. It provides several Web facilities for uploading, accessing and testing models. *Upload and store models: Through the gateway, researchers can upload as many models to the repository as they want. *Description of models: The gateway solicits and creates metadata for every model uploaded to store in the catalogue. *Search for models: Researchers can search the catalogue for models by using prepackaged sql-queries. *Access to models: Once a researcher has selected the model(s) that is going to be used for analysing an experiment, it will be obtained from the gateway. *Services to test and run models: Once a researcher selects a model and the experimental data to which it should be applied, the gateway submits the corresponding computational job to a high-performance computational (HPC) resource hiding technical details. Once a job is submitted to the HPC cluster, the results are displayed in the gateway in real time, catalogued and stored in the data repository, allowing further researcher-instigated operations to retrieve, inspect and aggregate results. *Services to write models: We have desgined VarPy library, which is an open-source toolbox which provides a Python framework for analysing volcanology and rock physics data. It provides several functions, which allow users to define their own workflows to develop models, analyses and visualizations. 3. Recurrent Operations: We have started to introduce some recurrent operations: *Automated data upload: FAST provides a mechanism to automate the data upload. *Periodic activation of models: The EFFORT gateway allows researchers to run different models periodically against the experimental data that are being or have been uploaded

Location Capability and Site Characterization Installing a Borehole VBB Seismometer: the OGS Experience in Ferrara (Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pesaresi, D.; Barnaba, C.

2014-12-01

The Centro di Ricerche Sismologiche (CRS, Seismological Research Centre) of the Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale (OGS, Italian National Institute for Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics) in Udine (Italy) after the strong earthquake of magnitude M=6.4 occurred in 1976 in the Italian Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, started to operate the Northeastern Italy Seismic Network: it currently consists of 19 very sensitive broad band and 17 simpler short period seismic stations, all telemetered to and acquired in real time at the OGS CRS data centre in Udine. The southwestern edge of the OGS seismic network stands on the Po alluvial basin: earthquake localization and characterization in this area is affected by the presence of soft alluvial deposits. Following the ML=5.9 earthquake that struck the Emilia region around Ferrara in Northern Italy on May 20, 2012, a cooperation of Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, OGS, the Comune di Ferrara and the University of Ferrara lead to the reinstallation of a previously existing very broad band (VBB) borehole seismic station in Ferrara and to the deployment of a temporary seismographic network consisting of eight portable seismological stations, to record the local earthquakes that occurred during the seismic sequence. The aim of the OGS intervention was on one hand to extend its real time seismic monitoring capabilities toward South-West, including Ferrara and its surroundings, and on the other hand to evaluate seismic site responses in the area. We will introduce details of the Ferrara VBB borehole station and the OGS temporary seismographic network configuration and installation. We will then illustrate the location capability performances, and finally we will shortly describe seismic site characterization with surface/borehole comparisons in terms of seismic noise, site amplification and resonance frequencies.

Extensive copy number variations in admixed Indian population of African ancestry: potential involvement in adaptation.

PubMed

Narang, Ankita; Jha, Pankaj; Kumar, Dhirendra; Kutum, Rintu; Mondal, Anupam Kumar; Dash, Debasis; Mukerji, Mitali

2014-11-13

Admixture mapping has been enormously resourceful in identifying genetic variations linked to phenotypes, adaptation, and diseases. In this study through analysis of copy number variable regions (CNVRs), we report extensive restructuring in the genomes of the recently admixed African-Indian population (OG-W-IP) that inhabits a highly saline environment in Western India. The study included subjects from OG-W-IP (OG), five different Indian and three HapMap populations that were genotyped using Affymetrix version 6.0 arrays. Copy number variations (CNVs) detected using Birdsuite were used to define CNVRs. Population structure with respect to CNVRs was delineated using random forest approach. OG genomes have a surprising excess of CNVs in comparison to other studied populations. Individual ancestry proportions computed using STRUCTURE also reveals a unique genetic component in OGs. Population structure analysis with CNV genotypes indicates OG to be distant from both the African and Indian ancestral populations. Interestingly, it shows genetic proximity with respect to CNVs to only one Indian population IE-W-LP4, which also happens to reside in the same geographical region. We also observe a significant enrichment of molecular processes related to ion binding and receptor activity in genes encompassing OG-specific CNVRs. Our results suggest that retention of CNVRs from ancestral natives and de novo acquisition of CNVRs could accelerate the process of adaptation especially in an extreme environment. Additionally, this population would be enormously useful for dissecting genes and delineating the involvement of CNVs in salt adaptation. © The Author(s) 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

Differential Game Theory Application to Intelligent Missile Guidance

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-06-01

guidance (OG) and game theoretic guidance ( GTG ). One reason for this development is the fact that the implementation hardware for the guidance system has...state estimation techniques such as the Kalman Filter and others, it is now feasible to implement the OG, GTG and GTG +AI ‘intelligent’ guidance on...both PN and APN as special cases of OG and GTG ; this connection is further explored in this report. The desire to reduce weapon life-cycle cost

Three Years of on Orbit ISS Oxygen Generation System Operation 2007-2010

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Diderich, Greg S.; Polis, Pete; VanKeuren, Steven P.; Erickson, Bob

2010-01-01

The International Space Station (ISS) United States Orbital Segment (USOS) Oxygen Generation System (OGS) has accumulated 240 days of continuous operation at varied oxygen production rates within the US Laboratory Module (LAB) since it was first activated in July 2007. OGS relocated from the ISS LAB to Node 3 during 20A Flight (February 2010). The OGS rack delivery was accelerated for on-orbit checkout in the LAB, and it was launched to ISS in July of 2006. During the on-orbit checkout interval within the LAB from July 2007 to October 2008, OGS operational times were limited by the quantity of feedwater in a Payload Water Reservoir (PWR) bag. Longer runtimes are now achievable due to the continuous feedwater availability after ULF2 delivery and activation of the USOS Water Recovery System (WRS) racks. OGS is considered a critical function to maintaining six crew capability. There have been a number of failures which interrupted or threatened to interrupt oxygen production. Filters in the recirculation loop have clogged and have been replaced, Hydrogen sensors have fallen out of specifications, a pump delta pressure sensor failed, a pump failed to start, and the voltage on the cell stack increased out of tolerance. This paper will discuss the operating experience and characteristics of the OGS, as well as operational issues and their resolution.

Effect of nutritional immunomodulation and heat stress during the dry period on subsequent performance of cows.

PubMed

Fabris, Thiago F; Laporta, Jimena; Corra, Fabiana N; Torres, Yazielis M; Kirk, David J; McLean, Derek J; Chapman, J D; Dahl, Geoffrey E

2017-08-01

Heat stress in dairy cows during the dry period impairs milk yield in the next lactation. Feeding OmniGen-AF (OG; Phibro Animal Health Corp., Teaneck, NJ) to lactating cows during heat stress may increase dry matter intake (DMI) and lowers respiration rate (RR) and rectal temperature (RT), but the effects in dry cows are not known. We hypothesized that OG supplementation before, during, and after the dry period (approximately 160 d total) would overcome the effects of heat stress and improve cow performance in the next lactation. Cows were randomly assigned to OG or control (placebo) treatments for the last 60 d in milk (DIM), based on mature-equivalent milk yield in the previous lactation. Cows were dried off 45 d before expected calving and randomly assigned to heat stress (HT) or cooling (CL) treatments. Thus, cows received dietary supplementation during late lactation before they were exposed to either CL or HT. After dry-off, treatment groups included heat stress with placebo (HT, only shade, 56 g/d of placebo, n = 17), HT with OG supplementation (HTOG, 56 g/d of OG, n = 19), cooling with placebo (CL, shade, fans, and soakers, 56 g/d of placebo, n = 16), and CL with OG supplementation (CLOG, 56 g/d of OG, n = 11). After parturition, all cows were kept under the same CL system and management, and all cows continued to receive OG or control treatment until 60 DIM. Cooling cows during the dry period reduced afternoon RT (CL vs. HT; 38.9 ± 0.05 vs. 39.3 ± 0.05°C) and RR (CL vs. HT; 45 ± 1.6 vs. 77 ± 1.6 breaths/min). Respiration rate was also decreased by OG supplementation under HT conditions (HTOG vs. HT; 69.7 ± 1.6 vs. 77.2 ± 1.6 breaths/min). An interaction was observed between OG supplementation and HT; HTOG cows tended to have lower morning RT compared with HT cows. During the dry period, OG reduced DMI relative to control cows. Birth weight was greater in calves from CL cows (CL vs. HT; 40.6 ± 1.09 vs. 38.7 ± 1.09 kg). No differences were detected among treatments in hematocrit, total protein, and body condition score. Cows offered CLOG, CL, and HTOG treatments had greater body weight during the dry period (794.9 ± 17.9, 746.8 ± 16.7, and 762.9 ± 14.9 kg, respectively) than HT cows (720 ± 16.2 kg). Gestation length was approximately 4 d longer for CL cows compared with HT cows. Cows offered CLOG, CL, and HTOG treatments produced more milk (41.3 ± 1.6, 40.7 ± 1.6, and 40.5 ± 1.6 kg/d, respectively) than HT treatment (35.9 ± 1.6 kg/d). Body weight after parturition and DMI were evaluated up to 60 DIM and averaged 661.5 ± 15.8 and 19.4 ± 0.7 kg/d, respectively, with no differences observed among treatments. These results confirm that exposure of dry cows to heat stress negatively affects milk yield in the subsequent lactation. Active cooling of dry cows and OG supplementation can reduce the negative effects of heat stress in the dry period on subsequent performance. Copyright © 2017 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The impact of using mobile-enabled devices on patient engagement in remote monitoring programs.

PubMed

Agboola, Stephen; Havasy, Rob; Myint-U, Khinlei; Kvedar, Joseph; Jethwani, Kamal

2013-05-01

Different types of data transmission technologies are used in remote monitoring (RM) programs. This study reports on a retrospective analysis of how participants engage, based on the type of data transfer technology used in a blood pressure (BP) RM program, and its potential impact on RM program design and outcomes. Thirty patients, aged 23-84 years (62 ± 14 years), who had completed at least 2 months in the program and were not participating in any other clinical trial were identified from the Remote Monitoring Data Repository. Half of these patients used wireless-based data transfer devices [wireless-based device (WBD)] while the other half used telephone modem-based data transfer devices [modem-based device (MBD)]. Participants were matched by practice and age. Engagement indices, which include frequency of BP measurements, frequency of data uploads, time to first BP measurement, and time to first data upload, were compared in both groups using the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney two-sample rank-sum test. Help desk call data were analyzed by Chi square test. The frequency of BP measurements and data uploads was significantly higher in the WBD group versus the MBD group [median = 0.66 versus 0.2 measurements/day (p = .01) and 0.46 versus 0.01 uploads/day (p < .001), respectively]. Time to first upload was significantly lower in the WBD group (median = 4 versus 7 days; p = .02), but time to first BP measurement did not differ between the two groups (median = 2 versus 1 day; p = .98). Wireless transmission ensures instantaneous transmission of readings, providing clinicians timely data to intervene on. Our findings suggest that mobile-enabled wireless technologies can positively impact patient engagement, outcomes, and operational workflow in RM programs. © 2013 Diabetes Technology Society.

The Reliability of Turkish "Basic Life Support" and "Cardiac Massage" Videos Uploaded to Websites.

PubMed

Elicabuk, Hayri; Yaylacı, Serpil; Yilmaz, Atakan; Hatipoglu, Celile; Kaya, F Gokhan; Serinken, Mustafa

2016-02-01

In this study, the reliability of Turkish cardiac massage and Basic Life Support (BLS) videos, which have already been downloaded from three website such as YouTube, Google, Yahoo following the publication of 2010 cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) guideline and their suitability to the same guideline were researched. The videos uploaded to the three web-site to search videos on internet were queried by using the keywords "cardiac massage" and "basic life support". Videos that had been uploaded between January 2011 and July 2014 were analyzed and scored by two experienced emergency specialists. A total of 1126 videos were obtained. 1029 of the videos (91.4%) were excluded by researchers. 97 videos were detected to accord with study criteria. Despite most of the videos were found on Google website by keywords, the enormous part of videos proper to criteria were sourced from YouTube website (n=65, 67.0%). One fourth of the videos (24.7%) were observed to not be suitable for 2010 CPR guideline. AED usage was mentioned slightly in the videos (14.4%). Median score of the videos is 5 (IQR: 4-6). The rate and scores of the videos uploaded by official institution or association were significantly higher than others (p=0.007 and 0.006, respectively). Moreover, scores of the videos compatible with guidelines uploaded by official institution or association and medical personal were also found higher (p=0.001). Eventually, all the data obtained in this study support that Turkish videos were not reliable on the subject of BLS and cardiac massage. It is promising that videos with high follow-up rates also have been scored higher.

OGS improvements in 2012 in running the North-eastern Italy Seismic Network: the Ferrara VBB borehole seismic station

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pesaresi, D.; Romanelli, M.; Barnaba, C.; Bragato, P. L.; Durì, G.

2014-07-01

The Centro di Ricerche Sismologiche (CRS, Seismological Research Centre) of the Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale (OGS, Italian National Institute for Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics) in Udine (Italy) after the strong earthquake of magnitude M=6.4 occurred in 1976 in the Italian Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, started to operate the North-eastern Italy Seismic Network: it currently consists of 17 very sensitive broad band and 18 simpler short period seismic stations, all telemetered to and acquired in real time at the OGS-CRS data centre in Udine. Real time data exchange agreements in place with other Italian, Slovenian, Austrian and Swiss seismological institutes lead to a total number of about 100 seismic stations acquired in real time, which makes the OGS the reference institute for seismic monitoring of North-eastern Italy. The south-western edge of the OGS seismic network (Fig. 1) stands on the Po alluvial basin: earthquake localization and characterization in this area is affected by the presence of soft alluvial deposits. OGS ha already experience in running a local seismic network in high noise conditions making use of borehole installations in the case of the micro-seismicity monitoring of a local gas storage site for a private company. Following the ML = 5.9 earthquake that struck the Emilia region around Ferrara in Northern Italy on 20 May 2012 at 02:03:53 UTC, a cooperation of Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, OGS, the Comune di Ferrara and the University of Ferrara lead to the reinstallation of a previously existing very broad band (VBB) borehole seismic station in Ferrara. The aim of the OGS intervention was on one hand to extend its real time seismic monitoring capabilities toward South-West, including Ferrara and its surroundings, and on the other hand to evaluate the seismic response at the site. We will describe improvements in running the North-eastern Italy Seismic Network, including details of the Ferrara VBB borehole station configuration and installation, with first results.

Analysis of factors related to vagally mediated reflex bradycardia during gastrectomy.

PubMed

Kim, Duk-Kyung; Ahn, Hyun Joo; Lee, Seung Won; Choi, Ji Won

2015-12-01

Because vagally mediated reflex bradycardia occurs frequently during gastrectomy and is potentially harmful, we compared the incidence of clinically significant reflex bradycardia between patients undergoing laparoscopic gastrectomy (LG) and open gastrectomy (OG) and examined whether the type of surgery (OG vs. LG) was an independent risk factor for clinically significant reflex bradycardia. This prospective observational study evaluated 358 adult patients (age 18-70 years) who were undergoing elective OG or LG for gastric cancer resection. Symptomatic reflex bradycardia was defined as a sudden decrease in heart rate to <50 beats per minute (bpm), or to 50-59 bpm with a systolic blood pressure <70 mmHg, associated with a specific surgical maneuver. If bradycardia or hypotension developed, atropine or ephedrine was administered, in accordance with a predefined treatment protocol. The overall incidence of symptomatic reflex bradycardia was 24.6% (88/358). Univariate analysis revealed the incidence of symptomatic reflex bradycardia in the LG group was significantly lower than that in the OG group [13.0% (13/100) vs. 29.1% (75/258), p = 0.002]. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the type of surgery (OG vs. LG), advanced age, preoperative bradycardia, type of muscle relaxant (vecuronium vs. rocuronium), no use of intravenous remifentanil, and low core temperature, were independent risk factors for symptomatic reflex bradycardia (odds ratio 3.184; 95% confidence interval 1.490-6.800; p = 0.003). The LG approach was associated with a reduced risk of clinically significant reflex bradycardia compared with the OG approach.

Characterization and antimicrobial activity of sweetpotato starch-based edible film containing origanum (Thymus capitatus) oil.

PubMed

Ehivet, Fabienne E; Min, Byungjin; Park, Mi-Kyung; Oh, Jun-Hyun

2011-01-01

The objectives of this research were to characterize the mechanical and barrier properties of sweetpotato starch (SPS)-based film (SPSF) and to investigate the antimicrobial activity of SPSF containing origanum oil (OG) against foodborne pathogenic bacteria. The SPSF was fabricated with the SPS extracted from commercial sweetpotato roots. Tensile strength (TS), percent elongation at break (E), and water vapor permeability (WVP) were determined to characterize the SPSF fabricated with selected SPS concentrations, plasticizers, and the concentrations of plasticizers. The agar diffusion assay was used to determine the antimicrobial activity of SPSF containing selective concentrations of OG against Salmonella Enteritidis, Escherichia coli O157:H7, and Listeria monocytogenes. The SPSF fabricated with 2.5% SPS exhibited the greatest TS (4.58 MPa). The TS, E, and WVP of SPSF plasticized with 40% sorbitol exhibited 7.96 MPa, 77.92%, 0.212 ng m/m(2) S Pa, respectively. Therefore, the SPSF fabricated with 2.5% SPS and 40% sorbitol was determined as the optimum film. The antimicrobial activity of the SPSF containing OG increased as the concentration of OG increased. And the SPSF containing OG exhibited greater inhibitory effects against the gram-negative bacteria such as S. Enteritidis and E. coli O157:H7 than the gram-positive L. monocytogenes. The greatest antimicrobial activity was observed against S. Enteritidis when the SPSF containing 2% OG was applied, and the maximum square of zone width was 18.43 mm(2).

Increase in Dye:Dendrimer Ratio Decreases Cellular Uptake of Neutral Dendrimers in RAW Cells.

PubMed

Vaidyanathan, Sriram; Kaushik, Milan; Dougherty, Casey; Rattan, Rahul; Goonewardena, Sascha N; Banaszak Holl, Mark M; Monano, Janet; DiMaggio, Stassi

2016-09-12

Neutral generation 3 poly(amidoamine) dendrimers were labeled with Oregon Green 488 (G3-OG n ) to obtain materials with controlled fluorophore:dendrimer ratios (n = 1-2), a mixture containing mostly 3 dyes per dendrimer, a mixture containing primarily 4 or more dyes per dendrimer ( n = 4+), and a stochastic mixture ( n = 4 avg ). The UV absorbance of the dye conjugates increased linearly as n increased and the fluorescence emission decreased linearly as n increased. Cellular uptake was studied in RAW cells and HEK 293A cells as a function of the fluorophore:dendrimer ratio (n). The cellular uptake of G3-OG n ( n = 3, 4+, 4 avg ) into RAW cells was significantly lower than G3-OG n ( n = 1, 2). The uptake of G3-OG n ( n = 3, 4+, 4 avg ) into HEK 293A cells was not significantly different from G3-OG 1 . Thus, the fluorophore:dendrimer ratio was observed to change the extent of uptake in the macrophage uptake mechanism but not in the HEK 293A cell. This difference in endocytosis indicates the presence of a pathway in the macrophage that is sensitive to hydrophobicity of the particle.

Can anti-gravity running improve performance to the same degree as over-ground running?

PubMed

Brennan, Christopher T; Jenkins, David G; Osborne, Mark A; Oyewale, Michael; Kelly, Vincent G

2018-03-11

This study examined the changes in running performance, maximal blood lactate concentrations and running kinematics between 85%BM anti-gravity (AG) running and normal over-ground (OG) running over an 8-week training period. Fifteen elite male developmental cricketers were assigned to either the AG or over-ground (CON) running group. The AG group (n = 7) ran twice a week on an AG treadmill and once per week over-ground. The CON group (n = 8) completed all sessions OG on grass. Both AG and OG training resulted in similar improvements in time trial and shuttle run performance. Maximal running performance showed moderate differences between the groups, however the AG condition resulted in less improvement. Large differences in maximal blood lactate concentrations existed with OG running resulting in greater improvements in blood lactate concentrations measured during maximal running. Moderate increases in stride length paired with moderate decreases in stride rate also resulted from AG training. The use of AG training to supplement regular OG training for performance should be used cautiously, as extended use over long periods of time could lead to altered stride mechanics and reduced blood lactate.

The effect of vision on postural strategies in Prader-Willi patients.

PubMed

Cimolin, Veronica; Galli, Manuela; Vismara, Luca; Grugni, Graziano; Priano, Lorenzo; Capodaglio, Paolo

2011-01-01

The aim of this study was to quantify the role of visual contribution in patients with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) on balance maintenance using a force platform. We enrolled 14 individuals with PWS free from conditions associated with impaired balance, 44 obese (OG) and 20 healthy controls (CG). Postural sway was measured for 60s while standing on a force platform (Kistler, CH; acquisition frequency: 500 Hz) integrated with a video system. Patients maintained an upright standing position with Open Eyes (OE) and then with Closed Eyes (CE). The ratio between the value of the parameter under OE and CE conditions was measured. Under OE condition PWS and OG were characterized by higher postural instability than CG, with the PWS group showing poorer balance capacity than OG. The Romberg ratio showed that while OG and CG had lower balance without vision, PWS maintained the same performance changing from OE to CE. The integration of different sensory inputs appears similar in OG and CG with higher postural stability under OE than CE. Balance in PWS is not influenced by the elimination of visual input. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

DNAproDB: an interactive tool for structural analysis of DNA–protein complexes

PubMed Central

Sagendorf, Jared M.

2017-01-01

Abstract Many biological processes are mediated by complex interactions between DNA and proteins. Transcription factors, various polymerases, nucleases and histones recognize and bind DNA with different levels of binding specificity. To understand the physical mechanisms that allow proteins to recognize DNA and achieve their biological functions, it is important to analyze structures of DNA–protein complexes in detail. DNAproDB is a web-based interactive tool designed to help researchers study these complexes. DNAproDB provides an automated structure-processing pipeline that extracts structural features from DNA–protein complexes. The extracted features are organized in structured data files, which are easily parsed with any programming language or viewed in a browser. We processed a large number of DNA–protein complexes retrieved from the Protein Data Bank and created the DNAproDB database to store this data. Users can search the database by combining features of the DNA, protein or DNA–protein interactions at the interface. Additionally, users can upload their own structures for processing privately and securely. DNAproDB provides several interactive and customizable tools for creating visualizations of the DNA–protein interface at different levels of abstraction that can be exported as high quality figures. All functionality is documented and freely accessible at http://dnaprodb.usc.edu. PMID:28431131

KUTE-BASE: storing, downloading and exporting MIAME-compliant microarray experiments in minutes rather than hours.

PubMed

Draghici, Sorin; Tarca, Adi L; Yu, Longfei; Ethier, Stephen; Romero, Roberto

2008-03-01

The BioArray Software Environment (BASE) is a very popular MIAME-compliant, web-based microarray data repository. However in BASE, like in most other microarray data repositories, the experiment annotation and raw data uploading can be very timeconsuming, especially for large microarray experiments. We developed KUTE (Karmanos Universal daTabase for microarray Experiments), as a plug-in for BASE 2.0 that addresses these issues. KUTE provides an automatic experiment annotation feature and a completely redesigned data work-flow that dramatically reduce the human-computer interaction time. For instance, in BASE 2.0 a typical Affymetrix experiment involving 100 arrays required 4 h 30 min of user interaction time forexperiment annotation, and 45 min for data upload/download. In contrast, for the same experiment, KUTE required only 28 min of user interaction time for experiment annotation, and 3.3 min for data upload/download. http://vortex.cs.wayne.edu/kute/index.html.

Barriers to Breast Cancer Screening among Latinas in the U.S.-Mexico Border Region

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-05-01

la Salud : A breast and cervical... en in g E ve r ha d a m am m og ra m H ad a M am m og ra m w ith in th e la st 2 ye ar s H ad a m am m og ra m w ith in th e la st ye ar U na dj us...Cancer Society, Atlanta, GA 22. Fernandez ME, Gonzales A, Tortolero-Luna G et al (2009) Effectiveness of Cultivando la Salud : a breast and cervical

Self-induced optogalvanic effect in a segmented hollow-cathode discharge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steflekova, V.; Zhechev, D.

2018-03-01

Optogalvanic (OG) interaction is simulated and studied in a segmented hollow-cathode discharge (SHCD). HCD-lamps are used to induce an OG signal by their own emission or by that of another lamp. The efficiency of the OG of a Ne/Cu HCD lamp in the range 320-380 nm is estimated theoretically. An irregular galvanic peak arising near the inflection point in the i-V curve (∂V/∂i<0) is detected. Its origin is related to Penning ionization of the sputtered cathode material.

Nyberg with OGS R&R

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-07-19

ISS036-E-021797 (18 July 2013) --- NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg, Expedition 36 flight engineer, performs a remove and replace of the Oxygen Generation System (OGS) Hydrogen (H2) Sensor in the Tranquility node of the International Space Station.

Pre-treatment of high oil and grease pet food industrial wastewaters using immobilized lipase hydrolyzation.

PubMed

Jeganathan, Jeganaesan; Bassi, Amarjeet; Nakhla, George

2006-09-01

Wastewaters generating from pet food industries contain high concentration of oil and grease (O&G), which is difficult to treat through conventional biological treatment systems. In this study, the hydrolysis of O&G originating from pet food industrial wastewater was evaluated. Candida rugosa lipase was immobilized in calcium alginate beads and applied in the hydrolysis experiment. Results showed that approximately 50% of the O&G was hydrolyzed due to the enzyme activity. A significant increment in COD and VFA production was also observed. The immobilized lipase activity was confirmed with p-nitrophenyl palmitate (pNPP) before and after O&G hydrolysis. During the 3-day experiment, approximately 65% of the beads were recovered and after the hydrolysis, approximately 70% of the enzyme activity remained in the beads. This study shows the potential of immobilized lipase as a pre-treatment step in biological treatment of pet food manufacturing wastewater.

International Space Station United States Orbital Segment Oxygen Generation System On-Orbit Operational Experience

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Erickson, Robert J.; Howe, John, Jr.; Kulp, Galen W.; VanKeuren, Steven P.

2008-01-01

The International Space Station (ISS) United States Orbital Segment (USOS) Oxygen Generation System (OGS) was originally intended to be installed in ISS Node 3. The OGS rack delivery was accelerated, and it was launched to ISS in July of 2006 and installed in the US Laboratory Module. Various modification kits were installed to provide its interfaces, and the OGS was first activated in July of 2007 for 15 hours, In October of 2007 it was again activated for 76 hours with varied production rates and day/night cycling. Operational time in each instance was limited by the quantity of feedwater in a Payload Water Reservoir (PWR) bag. Feedwater will be provided by PWR bag until the USOS Water Recovery System (WRS) is delivered to SS in fall of 2008. This paper will discuss operating experience and characteristics of the OGS, as well as operational issues and their resolution.

Two Distinct Mechanisms for C-C Desaturation by Iron(II)- and 2-(Oxo)glutarate-Dependent Oxygenases: Importance of α-Heteroatom Assistance.

PubMed

Dunham, Noah P; Chang, Wei-Chen; Mitchell, Andrew J; Martinie, Ryan J; Zhang, Bo; Bergman, Jonathan A; Rajakovich, Lauren J; Wang, Bo; Silakov, Alexey; Krebs, Carsten; Boal, Amie K; Bollinger, J Martin

2018-06-04

Hydroxylation of aliphatic carbons by nonheme Fe(IV)-oxo (ferryl) complexes proceeds by hydrogen-atom (H•) transfer (HAT) to the ferryl and subsequent coupling between the carbon radical and Fe(III)-coordinated oxygen (termed rebound). Enzymes that use H•-abstracting ferryl complexes for other transformations must either suppress rebound or further process hydroxylated intermediates. For olefin-installing C-C desaturations, it has been proposed that a second HAT to the Fe(III)-OH complex from the carbon α to the radical preempts rebound. Deuterium ( 2 H) at the second site should slow this step, potentially making rebound competitive. Desaturations mediated by two related l-arginine-modifying iron(II)- and 2-(oxo)glutarate-dependent (Fe/2OG) oxygenases behave oppositely in this key test, implicating different mechanisms. NapI, the l-Arg 4,5-desaturase from the naphthyridinomycin biosynthetic pathway, abstracts H• first from C5 but hydroxylates this site (leading to guanidine release) to the same modest extent whether C4 harbors 1 H or 2 H. By contrast, an unexpected 3,4-desaturation of l-homoarginine (l-hArg) by VioC, the l-Arg 3-hydroxylase from the viomycin biosynthetic pathway, is markedly disfavored relative to C4 hydroxylation when C3 (the second hydrogen donor) harbors 2 H. Anchimeric assistance by N6 permits removal of the C4-H as a proton in the NapI reaction, but, with no such assistance possible in the VioC desaturation, a second HAT step (from C3) is required. The close proximity (≤3.5 Å) of both l-hArg carbons to the oxygen ligand in an X-ray crystal structure of VioC harboring a vanadium-based ferryl mimic supports and rationalizes the sequential-HAT mechanism. The results suggest that, although the sequential-HAT mechanism is feasible, its geometric requirements may make competing hydroxylation unavoidable, thus explaining the presence of α-heteroatoms in nearly all native substrates for Fe/2OG desaturases.

ogs6 - a new concept for porous-fractured media simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Naumov, Dmitri; Bilke, Lars; Fischer, Thomas; Rink, Karsten; Wang, Wenqing; Watanabe, Norihiro; Kolditz, Olaf

2015-04-01

OpenGeoSys (OGS) is a scientific open-source initiative for numerical simulation of thermo-hydro-mechanical/chemical (THMC) processes in porous and fractured media, continuously developed since the mid-eighties. The basic concept is to provide a flexible numerical framework for solving coupled multi-field problems. OGS is targeting mainly on applications in environmental geoscience, e.g. in the fields of contaminant hydrology, water resources management, waste deposits, or geothermal energy systems, but it has also been successfully applied to new topics in energy storage recently. OGS is actively participating several international benchmarking initiatives, e.g. DECOVALEX (waste management), CO2BENCH (CO2 storage and sequestration), SeSBENCH (reactive transport processes) and HM-Intercomp (coupled hydrosystems). Despite the broad applicability of OGS in geo-, hydro- and energy-sciences, several shortcomings became obvious concerning the computational efficiency as well as the code structure became too sophisticated for further efficient development. OGS-5 was designed for object-oriented FEM applications. However, in many multi-field problems a certain flexibility of tailored numerical schemes is essential. Therefore, a new concept was designed to overcome existing bottlenecks. The paradigms for ogs6 are: - Flexibility of numerical schemes (FEM#FVM#FDM), - Computational efficiency (PetaScale ready), - Developer- and user-friendly. ogs6 has a module-oriented architecture based on thematic libraries (e.g. MeshLib, NumLib) on the large scale and uses object-oriented approach for the small scale interfaces. Usage of a linear algebra library (Eigen3) for the mathematical operations together with the ISO C++11 standard increases the expressiveness of the code and makes it more developer-friendly. The new C++ standard also makes the template meta-programming technique code used for compile-time optimizations more compact. We have transitioned the main code development to the GitHub code hosting system (https://github.com/ufz/ogs). The very flexible revision control system Git in combination with issue tracking, developer feedback and the code review options improve the code quality and the development process in general. The continuous testing procedure of the benchmarks as it was established for OGS-5 is maintained. Additionally unit testing, which is automatically triggered by any code changes, is executed by two continuous integration frameworks (Jenkins CI, Travis CI) which build and test the code on different operating systems (Windows, Linux, Mac OS), in multiple configurations and with different compilers (GCC, Clang, Visual Studio). To improve the testing possibilities further, XML based file input formats are introduced helping with automatic validation of the user contributed benchmarks. The first ogs6 prototype version 6.0.1 has been implemented for solving generic elliptic problems. Next steps are envisaged to transient, non-linear and coupled problems. Literature: [1] Kolditz O, Shao H, Wang W, Bauer S (eds) (2014): Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical-Chemical Processes in Fractured Porous Media: Modelling and Benchmarking - Closed Form Solutions. In: Terrestrial Environmental Sciences, Vol. 1, Springer, Heidelberg, ISBN 978-3-319-11893-2, 315pp. http://www.springer.com/earth+sciences+and+geography/geology/book/978-3-319-11893-2 [2] Naumov D (2015): Computational Fluid Dynamics in Unconsolidated Sediments: Model Generation and Discrete Flow Simulations, PhD thesis, Technische Universität Dresden.

Molecular dynamics simulations of pea (Pisum sativum) lectin structure with octyl glucoside detergents: the ligand interactions and dynamics.

PubMed

Konidala, Praveen; Niemeyer, Bernd

2007-07-01

The mitogenic pea (Pisum sativum) lectin is a legume protein of non-immunoglobulin nature capable of specific recognition of glucose derivatives without altering its structure. Molecular dynamics simulations were performed in a realistic environment to investigate the structure and interaction properties of pea lectin with various concentrations of n-octyl-beta-d-glucopyranoside (OG) detergent monomers distributed inside explicit solvent cell. In addition, the diffusion coefficients of the ligands (OG, Ca2+, Mn2+, and Cl-) and the water molecules were also reported. The structural flexibility of the lectin was conserved in all simulations. The self-assembly of OG monomers into a small micelle at the hydrophobic site of the lectin was noticed in the simulation with 20 OG monomers. The interaction energy analysis concludes that the lectin was appropriately termed an adaptive structure. One or rarely two binding sites were observed at an instant in each simulation that were electrostatically favoured for the OG to interact with the surface amino acid residues. Enhanced binding of OG to the pea lectin was quantified in the system containing only Ca2+ divalent ions. Interestingly, no binding was observed in the simulation without divalent ions. Furthermore, the lectin-ligand complex was stabilized by multiple hydrogen bonds and at least one water bridge. Finally, the work was also in accordance with the published work elsewhere that the simulations performed with different initial conditions and using higher nonbonded cutoffs for the van der Waals and electrostatic interactions provide more accurate information and clues than the single large simulation of the biomolecular system of interest.

Hypercaloric Diet Establishes Erectile Dysfunction in Rat: Mechanisms Underlying the Endothelial Damage

PubMed Central

de Souza, Iara L. L.; Barros, Bárbara C.; de Oliveira, Giuliana A.; Queiroga, Fernando R.; Toscano, Lydiane T.; Silva, Alexandre S.; Silva, Patrícia M.; Interaminense, Leylliane F. L.; Cavalcante, Fabiana de Andrade; da Silva, Bagnólia A.

2017-01-01

Obesity is characterized by an excessive increase in body mass, leading to endothelial damage that may favor the development of erectile dysfunction (ED). ED is defined as the inability to achieve or maintain a penile erection long enough to have a sexual intercourse. In this context, different ED models were developed, however the high price of special animals or the long period to establish the disease has limited studies in this field. Therefore, this study proposed to establish and characterize a novel model of ED in rats associated to a hypercaloric diet consumption. Animals were randomly divided into control group (CG), which received a standard diet, and obese group (OG), fed with a hypercaloric diet during 8 weeks. Rat's erectile function was evaluated in vivo and in vitro. Food and caloric intake of OG were reduced compared to CG, due to an increased diet energy efficiency. However, OG presented an increased body mass, inguinal, retroperitoneal and epididymal adipose tissues, as well as body adiposity index at the end of experimental protocol. In erectile function analysis, there was a decrease in the number and the latency of penile erections in OG. Additionally, the contractile reactivity of corpus cavernosum was increased in OG, favoring penile detumescence and related to a reduced nitric oxide bioavailability and an increased in contractile prostaglandins levels as a consequence of endothelial damage. Moreover, the endothelium-relaxation reactivity of corpus cavernosum was attenuated in OG associated to the oxidative stress. Thus, it was provided a model for advances in sexual dysfunction field and drug discovery for ED treatment. PMID:29085300

Prescribing of asthma drugs for children 2004-2015.

PubMed

Mikalsen, Ingvild Bruun; Karlstad, Øystein; Furu, Kari; Øymar, Knut

2018-02-20

Astma kan være vanskelig å diagnostisere hos barn. For barn under skolealder finnes det få tilgjengelige objektive diagnostiske undersøkelser, og retningslinjene for diagnose og behandling er basert på sykehistorie og klinisk undersøkelse. Dette kan gi rom for varierende behandlingspraksis. Data fra Reseptregisteret ble brukt til å studere forskrivning av legemidler mot astma til barn i aldersgruppene 0-4 år og 5-9 år fordelt på fylker fra 2004-15. Det var stor variasjon mellom fylkene i andelen per 1 000 barn som fikk forskrevet legemidler mot astma i perioden 2012-14 (aldersgruppen 0-4 år: median: 104/1 000; ekstremverdier: 64-147, aldersgruppen 5-9 år: 68/1000; 46-86). Inhalasjonssteroider var hyppigst forskrevet, og det var her variasjonen mellom fylkene var størst i begge aldersgruppene (aldersgruppen 0-4 år: 85/1 000; 42-116, aldersgruppen 5-9 år: 51/1 000; 31-70). De fleste fikk kun en eller få forskrivninger med inhalasjonssteroider over en treårsperiode. Endring i forskrivningen av inhalasjonssteroider fra 2004 til 2015 varierte betydelig mellom fylkene, mest for aldersgruppen 0-4 år. Stor forskjell i forskrivning av legemidler mot astma fylkene imellom, høy andel sporadisk bruk og endring over tid, særlig i den yngste aldersgruppen, kan tyde på en unaturlig variasjon i behandlingen som ikke kan forklares av forskjeller i astmaforekomst. Uklare retningslinjer som ikke er tilstrekkelig innarbeidet i klinisk praksis kan være én årsak.

A New Interface for the Magnetics Information Consortium (MagIC) Paleo and Rock Magnetic Database

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jarboe, N.; Minnett, R.; Koppers, A. A. P.; Tauxe, L.; Constable, C.; Shaar, R.; Jonestrask, L.

2014-12-01

The Magnetic Information Consortium (MagIC) database (http://earthref.org/MagIC/) continues to improve the ease of uploading data, the creation of complex searches, data visualization, and data downloads for the paleomagnetic, geomagnetic, and rock magnetic communities. Data uploading has been simplified and no longer requires the use of the Excel SmartBook interface. Instead, properly formatted MagIC text files can be dragged-and-dropped onto an HTML 5 web interface. Data can be uploaded one table at a time to facilitate ease of uploading and data error checking is done online on the whole dataset at once instead of incrementally in an Excel Console. Searching the database has improved with the addition of more sophisticated search parameters and with the ability to use them in complex combinations. Searches may also be saved as permanent URLs for easy reference or for use as a citation in a publication. Data visualization plots (ARAI, equal area, demagnetization, Zijderveld, etc.) are presented with the data when appropriate to aid the user in understanding the dataset. Data from the MagIC database may be downloaded from individual contributions or from online searches for offline use and analysis in the tab delimited MagIC text file format. With input from the paleomagnetic, geomagnetic, and rock magnetic communities, the MagIC database will continue to improve as a data warehouse and resource.

Magnetic EDTA functionalized CoFe2O4 nanoparticles (EDTA-CoFe2O4) as a novel catalyst for peroxymonosulfate activation and degradation of Orange G.

PubMed

Deng, Lin; Shi, Zhou; Zou, Zhiyan; Zhou, Shiqing

2017-04-01

EDTA functionalized CoFe 2 O 4 nanoparticles (EDTA-CoFe 2 O 4 ) synthesized using a facile one-pot solvothermal method were employed as catalysts to activate peroxymonosulfate (PMS) with Orange G (OG) as the target pollutant. Effects of operating parameters including initial solution pH, catalyst dosage, PMS dosage, and water matrix components such as Cl - , NO 3 - , CO 3 2- , and humic acid were evaluated. A degradation efficiency of 93% was achieved in 15 min with 1 mM PMS and 0.2 g/L EDTA-CoFe 2 O 4 catalyst, while only 57% of OG was degraded within 15 min in CoFe 2 O 4 /PMS system. The degradation of OG followed pseudo-first-order kinetics, and the apparent first-order date constant (k obs ) for OG in EDTA-CoFe 2 O 4 /PMS and CoFe 2 O 4 /PMS system was determined to be 0.152 and 0.077 min -1 , respectively. OG degradation by EDTA-CoFe 2 O 4 /PMS was enhanced with the increase of catalyst and PMS doses at respective range of 0.1-2.0 g/L and 0.5-10.0 mM. Higher efficiency of OG oxidation was observed within a wide pH range (3.0-9.0), implying the possibility of applying EDTA-CoFe 2 O 4 /PMS process under environmental realistic conditions. Humic acid (HA) at low concentration accelerated the removal of OG; however, a less apparent inhibitive effect was observed at HA addition of 10 mg/L. The k obs value was found to decrease slightly from 0.1601 to 0.1274, 0.1248, and 0.1152 min -1 with the addition of NO 3 - , CO 3 2- , and Cl - , respectively, but near-complete removal of OG could still be obtained after 15 min. Both of the sulfate radicals and hydroxyl radicals were produced in the reaction, and sulfate radicals were the dominant according to the scavenging tests and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) tests. Finally, a degradation mechanism was proposed, and the stability and reusability of the EDTA-CoFe 2 O 4 were evaluated.

Implementing electronic identification for performance recording in sheep: I. Manual versus semiautomatic and automatic recording systems in dairy and meat farms.

PubMed

Ait-Saidi, A; Caja, G; Salama, A A K; Carné, S

2014-12-01

With the aim of assessing the secondary benefits of using electronic identification (e-ID) in sheep farms, we compared the use of manual (M), semiautomatic (SA), and automatic (AU) data-collection systems for performance recording (i.e., milk, lambing, and weight) in 3 experiments. Ewes were identified with visual ear tags and electronic rumen boluses. The M system consisted of visual ear tags, on-paper data recording, and manual data uploading to a computer; the use of a personal digital assistant (PDA) for data recording and data uploading was also done in M. The SA system used a handheld reader (HHR) for e-ID, data recording, and uploading. Both PDA and HHR used Bluetooth for uploading. The AU system was only used for body weight recording and consisted of e-ID, data recording in an electronic scale, and data uploading. In experiment 1, M and SA milk-recording systems were compared in a flock of 48 dairy ewes. Ewes were milked once- (×1, n=24) or twice- (×2, n=24) daily in a 2 × 12 milking parlor and processed in groups of 24. Milk yield (1.21 ± 0.04 L/d, on average) was 36% lower in ×1 than ×2 ewes and milk recording time correlated positively with milk yield (R(2)=0.71). Data transfer was markedly faster for PDA and HHR than for M. As a result, overall milk recording time was faster in SA (×1=12.1 ± 0.6 min/24 ewes; ×2=22.1 ± 0.9 min/24 ewes) than M (×1=14.9 ± 0.6 min/24 ewes; ×2=27.9 ± 1.0 min/24 ewes). No differences between PDA and HHR were detected. Time savings, with regard to M, were greater for ×2 than for ×1 (5.6 ± 0.2 vs. 2.8 ± 0.1 min per 24 ewes, respectively), but similar for PDA and HHR. Data transfer errors averaged 3.6% in M, whereas no errors were found in either SA system. In experiment 2, 73 dairy and 80 meat ewes were monitored at lambing using M and SA. Overall time for lambing recording was greater in M than SA in dairy (1.67 ± 0.06 vs. 0.87 ± 0.04 min/ewe) and meat (1.30 ± 0.03 vs. 0.73 ± 0.03 min/ewe) ewes. Recording errors were greater in dairy (9.6%) than in meat (1.9%) ewes. Data uploading errors only occurred in M (4.9%). In experiment 3, 120 dairy and 120 meat ewes were weighed using M and AU systems. In both flocks, mean BW recording and data uploading times, as well as overall BW recording time (0.63 ± 0.02 and 0.25 ± 0.01 min/ewe, respectively) were greater in M than in AU, and uploading errors only occurred in M (8.8%). In conclusion, HHR and PDA systems were time-effective for performance recording, both saving time and improving data accuracy. Working load and time for ewe identification were faster in HHR but it did not affect the performance recording time. The PDA was the fastest device for data download. Further research will evaluate the costs of implementing e-ID for performance recording and other uses in sheep farms. Copyright © 2014 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

40 CFR 432.25 - New source performance standards (NSPS).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

..., fecal coliform, O&G, and TSS are the same as the limitations specified in § 432.22(a)(1), and the... on-site, the standards for BOD5, fecal coliform, O&G, and TSS are the same as the corresponding...

40 CFR 432.85 - New source performance standards (NSPS).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

..., fecal coliform, O&G, and TSS specified in § 432.82(a). (b) Facilities that generate more than 50 million pounds per year of finished products must achieve the limitations for BOD5, fecal coliform, O&G, and TSS...

40 CFR 432.35 - New source performance standards (NSPS).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

..., fecal coliform, TSS, and O&G are the same as the limitations specified in § 432.32(a)(1) and the... on-site, the standards for BOD5, fecal coliform, TSS, and O&G are the same as the corresponding...

40 CFR 432.65 - New source performance standards (NSPS).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

..., fecal coliform, O&G, and TSS specified in § 432.62(a). (b) Facilities that generate more than 50 million pounds per year of finished products must achieve the limitations for BOD5, fecal coliform, O&G, and TSS...

40 CFR 432.35 - New source performance standards (NSPS).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

..., fecal coliform, TSS, and O&G are the same as the limitations specified in § 432.32(a)(1) and the... on-site, the standards for BOD5, fecal coliform, TSS, and O&G are the same as the corresponding...

40 CFR 432.45 - New source performance standards (NSPS).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

..., fecal coliform, TSS, and O&G are the same as the limitations specified in § 432.42(a)(1); and standards... on-site, the standards for BOD5, fecal coliform, TSS, and O&G are the same as the limitations...

40 CFR 432.15 - New source performance standards (NSPS).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

..., fecal coliform, O&G, and TSS are the same as the corresponding limitations specified in § 432.12(a)(1... on-site, the standards for BOD5, fecal coliform, O&G, and TSS are the same as the limitations...

40 CFR 432.25 - New source performance standards (NSPS).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

..., fecal coliform, O&G, and TSS are the same as the limitations specified in § 432.22(a)(1), and the... on-site, the standards for BOD5, fecal coliform, O&G, and TSS are the same as the corresponding...

40 CFR 432.85 - New source performance standards (NSPS).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

..., fecal coliform, O&G, and TSS specified in § 432.82(a). (b) Facilities that generate more than 50 million pounds per year of finished products must achieve the limitations for BOD5, fecal coliform, O&G, and TSS...

40 CFR 432.15 - New source performance standards (NSPS).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

..., fecal coliform, O&G, and TSS are the same as the corresponding limitations specified in § 432.12(a)(1... on-site, the standards for BOD5, fecal coliform, O&G, and TSS are the same as the limitations...

40 CFR 432.45 - New source performance standards (NSPS).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

..., fecal coliform, TSS, and O&G are the same as the limitations specified in § 432.42(a)(1); and standards... on-site, the standards for BOD5, fecal coliform, TSS, and O&G are the same as the limitations...

Watershed-Scale Impacts from Surface Water Disposal of Oil and Gas Wastewater in Western Pennsylvania.

PubMed

Burgos, William D; Castillo-Meza, Luis; Tasker, Travis L; Geeza, Thomas J; Drohan, Patrick J; Liu, Xiaofeng; Landis, Joshua D; Blotevogel, Jens; McLaughlin, Molly; Borch, Thomas; Warner, Nathaniel R

2017-08-01

Combining horizontal drilling with high volume hydraulic fracturing has increased extraction of hydrocarbons from low-permeability oil and gas (O&G) formations across the United States; accompanied by increased wastewater production. Surface water discharges of O&G wastewater by centralized waste treatment (CWT) plants pose risks to aquatic and human health. We evaluated the impact of surface water disposal of O&G wastewater from CWT plants upstream of the Conemaugh River Lake (dam controlled reservoir) in western Pennsylvania. Regulatory compliance data were collected to calculate annual contaminant loads (Ba, Cl, total dissolved solids (TDS)) to document historical industrial activity. In this study, two CWT plants 10 and 19 km upstream of a reservoir left geochemical signatures in sediments and porewaters corresponding to peak industrial activity that occurred 5 to 10 years earlier. Sediment cores were sectioned for the collection of paired samples of sediment and porewater, and analyzed for analytes to identify unconventional O&G wastewater disposal. Sediment layers corresponding to the years of maximum O&G wastewater disposal contained higher concentrations of salts, alkaline earth metals, and organic chemicals. Isotopic ratios of 226 Ra /228 Ra and 87 Sr /86 Sr identified that peak concentrations of Ra and Sr were likely sourced from wastewaters that originated from the Marcellus Shale formation.

Spatiotemporal Industrial Activity Model for Estimating the Intensity of Oil and Gas Operations in Colorado.

PubMed

Allshouse, William B; Adgate, John L; Blair, Benjamin D; McKenzie, Lisa M

2017-09-05

Oil and gas (O&G) production in the United States has increased in the last 15 years, and operations, which are trending toward large multiwell pads, release hazardous air pollutants. Health studies have relied on proximity to O&G wells as an exposure metric, typically using an inverse distance-weighting (IDW) approach. Because O&G emissions are dependent on multiple factors, a dynamic model is needed to describe the variability in air pollution emissions over space and time. We used information on Colorado O&G activities, production volumes, and air pollutant emission rates from two Colorado basins to create a spatiotemporal industrial activity model to develop an intensity-adjusted IDW well-count metric. The Spearman correlation coefficient between this metric and measured pollutant concentrations was 0.74. We applied our model to households in Greeley, Colorado, which is in the middle of the densely developed Denver-Julesburg basin. Our intensity-adjusted IDW increased the unadjusted IDW dynamic range by a factor of 19 and distinguishes high-intensity events, such as hydraulic fracturing and flowback, from lower-intensity events, such as production at single-well pads. As the frequency of multiwell pads increases, it will become increasingly important to characterize the range of intensities at O&G sites when conducting epidemiological studies.

An overview of turbomachinery project in Malaysian oil and gas industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abd. Rahman Sabri, Harris; Rahim, Abd. Rahman Abdul; Yew, Wong Kuan; Ismail, Syuhaida

2017-12-01

Being the most demanding, challenging and exciting engineering and technological advances has provided escalated interests amongst the engineers at large to venture into the oil and gas (O&G) industry. Although claimed as the most expensive industry in the world via the utilisation of critical equipments, the O&G industry is still recording notorius failures in its project management especially due to turbomachinery issues, the heart equipment of any O&G project. Therefore, it is important for this paper to review turbomachinery project as one of the long lead items during project executions that is also proven to be the most costly and expensive equipment. This paper therefore discusses the gaps in turbomachinery studies via literature review in highlighting its application in O&G projects. It is found that the main components of turbomachinery are driver and driven equipment, which are applied for mechanical equipment, Electric Power Generation and heat generation for Combined Cycled Configuration. Important variables for turbomachinery selection include: (1) process requirement; (2) site location; (3) driver selection; (4) equipment sparing philosophy; (5) efficiency and reliability; (6) operability and maintainability; and (7) cost. It is hoped that this paper would lead to the successful project management of turbomachinery in the O&G industry.

Assessment of the Efficacy of Home Remedial Methods to Improve Drinking Water Quality in Two Major Aquifer Systems in Jaffna Peninsula, Sri Lanka

PubMed Central

Subanky, Suvendran

2017-01-01

Chunnakam and Vadamaradchi are two major aquifer systems in Jaffna Peninsula, Sri Lanka. This study was performed to compare water quality in the domestic wells in these aquifers and to assess the efficacy of household water treatments for treating contaminated water. Replicate well water samples were collected from each aquifer and pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), conductivity, total dissolved solids (TDS), salinity, temperature, total solids (TS), total hardness (TH), chemical oxygen demand (COD), oil and grease (OG), nitrate N (N), and total phosphate (TP) were measured. The sampled water from the domestic wells was filtered through commercial mineral filter and Moringa oleifera leaf powder and boiled at 100°C for 10 minutes and the TH, OG, N, and TP were measured. Both OG and N in Chunnakam were significantly higher and the DO were significantly lower than those of Vadamaradchi. TH, N, and OG of some wells exceeded the drinking water quality standards established by Sri Lanka Standards Institution. Moringa oleifera leaf powder filtration reduced N significantly and filtering through commercial mineral filter reduced OG, TH, and N significantly. Boiling at 100°C could remove TH significantly but may cause significant increase in N which might result in health impacts. PMID:29181225

Assessment of the Efficacy of Home Remedial Methods to Improve Drinking Water Quality in Two Major Aquifer Systems in Jaffna Peninsula, Sri Lanka.

PubMed

Wijeyaratne, W M Dimuthu Nilmini; Subanky, Suvendran

2017-01-01

Chunnakam and Vadamaradchi are two major aquifer systems in Jaffna Peninsula, Sri Lanka. This study was performed to compare water quality in the domestic wells in these aquifers and to assess the efficacy of household water treatments for treating contaminated water. Replicate well water samples were collected from each aquifer and pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), conductivity, total dissolved solids (TDS), salinity, temperature, total solids (TS), total hardness (TH), chemical oxygen demand (COD), oil and grease (OG), nitrate N (N), and total phosphate (TP) were measured. The sampled water from the domestic wells was filtered through commercial mineral filter and Moringa oleifera leaf powder and boiled at 100°C for 10 minutes and the TH, OG, N, and TP were measured. Both OG and N in Chunnakam were significantly higher and the DO were significantly lower than those of Vadamaradchi. TH, N, and OG of some wells exceeded the drinking water quality standards established by Sri Lanka Standards Institution. Moringa oleifera leaf powder filtration reduced N significantly and filtering through commercial mineral filter reduced OG, TH, and N significantly. Boiling at 100°C could remove TH significantly but may cause significant increase in N which might result in health impacts.

Mobile direct observation of therapy (MDOT) - A rapid systematic review and pilot study in children with asthma

PubMed Central

Shields, Michael D.; ALQahtani, Fahad; Rivey, Michael P.

2018-01-01

We describe, for the first time, the use of a mobile device platform for remote direct observation of inhaler use and technique. The research programme commenced with a rapid systematic review of mobile device (or videophone) use for direct observation of therapy (MDOT). Ten studies (mainly pilots) were identified involving patients with tuberculosis, sickle cell disease and Alzheimer's disease. New studies are ongoing (ClinicalTrials.gov website) in TB, stroke, sickle cell disease, HIV and opioid dependence. Having identified no prior use of MDOT in inhaler monitoring, we implemented a feasibility study in 12 healthy volunteer children (2–12 years; 8 females and 4 males) over a period of 14 days, with twice daily video upload of their 'dummy' inhaler use. Two children uploaded 100% of the requested videos, with only one child having an inhaler upload rate of <75%. The quality of uploaded videos was generally good (only 1.7% of unacceptable quality for evaluation). The final aspect of the research was a pilot study using MDOT (6 weeks) in 22 children with difficult to treat asthma. Healthcare professionals evaluated inhaler technique using uploaded videos and provided telephone instruction on improving inhaler use. The main outcomes were assessed at week 12 post initiation of MDOT. By week 5, all children still engaging in MDOT (n = 18) were judged to have effective inhaler technique. Spirometry values did not vary to a significantly significant degree between baseline and 12 weeks (P>0.05), however, mean fraction of exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) values normalised (mean 38.7 to 19.3ppm) and mean Asthma Control Test values improved (13.1 to mean 17.8). Feedback from participants was positive. Overall the findings open up a new paradigm in device independent (can be used for any type of inhaler device) monitoring, providing a platform for evaluating / improving inhaler use at home. PMID:29401500

OGS Maintenance

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-07-21

ISS024-E-009246 (21 July 2010) --- NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Expedition 24 flight engineer, is pictured during troubleshooting operations of the Oxygen Generator System (OGS) hardware and replacement of an H2 (hydrogen) Dome Orbit Replaceable Unit (ORU) in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station.

40 CFR 432.75 - New source performance standards (NSPS).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... achieve the standards for BOD5, fecal coliform, O&G, and TSS specified in § 432.72(a). (b) Facilities that..., fecal coliform, O&G, and TSS specified in § 432.72(b) and the limitations for ammonia (as N) and total...

40 CFR 432.95 - New source performance standards (NSPS).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... standards for BOD 5, fecal coliform, O&G, and TSS specified in § 432.92(a). (b) Facilities that generate... coliform, O&G, and TSS specified in § 432.92(b) and the limitations for ammonia (as N) and total nitrogen...

Uploading, Searching and Visualizing of Paleomagnetic and Rock Magnetic Data in the Online MagIC Database

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Minnett, R.; Koppers, A.; Tauxe, L.; Constable, C.; Donadini, F.

2007-12-01

The Magnetics Information Consortium (MagIC) is commissioned to implement and maintain an online portal to a relational database populated by both rock and paleomagnetic data. The goal of MagIC is to archive all available measurements and derived properties from paleomagnetic studies of directions and intensities, and for rock magnetic experiments (hysteresis, remanence, susceptibility, anisotropy). MagIC is hosted under EarthRef.org at http://earthref.org/MAGIC/ and will soon implement two search nodes, one for paleomagnetism and one for rock magnetism. Currently the PMAG node is operational. Both nodes provide query building based on location, reference, methods applied, material type and geological age, as well as a visual map interface to browse and select locations. Users can also browse the database by data type or by data compilation to view all contributions associated with well known earlier collections like PINT, GMPDB or PSVRL. The query result set is displayed in a digestible tabular format allowing the user to descend from locations to sites, samples, specimens and measurements. At each stage, the result set can be saved and, where appropriate, can be visualized by plotting global location maps, equal area, XY, age, and depth plots, or typical Zijderveld, hysteresis, magnetization and remanence diagrams. User contributions to the MagIC database are critical to achieving a useful research tool. We have developed a standard data and metadata template (version 2.3) that can be used to format and upload all data at the time of publication in Earth Science journals. Software tools are provided to facilitate population of these templates within Microsoft Excel. These tools allow for the import/export of text files and provide advanced functionality to manage and edit the data, and to perform various internal checks to maintain data integrity and prepare for uploading. The MagIC Contribution Wizard at http://earthref.org/MAGIC/upload.htm executes the upload and takes only a few minutes to process tens of thousands of data records. The standardized MagIC template files are stored in the digital archives of EarthRef.org where they remain available for download by the public (in both text and Excel format). Finally, the contents of these template files are automatically parsed into the online relational database, making the data available for online searches in the paleomagnetic and rock magnetic search nodes. During the upload process the owner has the option of keeping the contribution private so it can be viewed in the context of other data sets and visualized using the suite of MagIC plotting tools. Alternatively, the new data can be password protected and shared with a group of users at the contributor's discretion. Once they are published and the owner is comfortable making the upload publicly accessible, the MagIC Editing Committee reviews the contribution for adherence to the MagIC data model and conventions to ensure a high level of data integrity.

Surface texture of resin-modified glass ionomer cements: effects of finishing/polishing systems.

PubMed

Yap, Adrian U J; Tan, W S; Yeo, J C; Yap, W Y; Ong, S B

2002-01-01

This study investigated the surface texture of two resin-modified glass ionomer cements (RMGICs) in the vertical and horizontal axis after treatment with different finishing/polishing systems. Class V preparations were made on the buccal and lingual/palatal surfaces of freshly extracted teeth. The cavities on each tooth were restored with Fuji II LC (GC) and Photac-Fil Quick (ESPE) according to manufacturers' instructions. Immediately after light-polymerization, gross finishing was done with 8-flute tungsten carbide burs. The teeth were then randomly divided into four groups and finished/polished with (a) Robot Carbides (RC); (b) Super-Snap system (SS); (c) OneGloss (OG) and (d) CompoSite Points (CS). The sample size for each material-finishing/polishing system combination was eight. The mean surface roughness (microm) in vertical (RaV) and horizontal (RaH) axis was measured using a profilometer. Data was subjected to ANOVA/Scheffe's tests and Independent Samples t-test at significance level 0.05. Mean RaV ranged from 0.59-1.31 and 0.83-1.52, while mean RaH ranged from 0.80-1.43 and 0.85-1.58 for Fuji II LC and Photac-Fil, respectively. Results of statistical analysis were as follows: Fuji II LC: RaV-RC, SS

Effects of finishing/polishing techniques on microleakage of resin-modified glass ilonomer cement restorations.

PubMed

Yap, Adrian U J; Yap, W Y; Yeo, Egwin J C; Tan, Jane W S; Ong, Debbie S B

2003-01-01

This study investigated the effect of finishing/polishing techniques on the microleakage of resin-modified glass ionomer restorations. Class V preparations were made on the buccal and lingual/palatal surfaces of freshly extracted teeth. The cavities on each tooth were restored with Fuji II LC (FT [GC]) and Photac-Fil Quick (PF [3M-ESPE]) according to manufacturers' instructions. Immediately after light-polymerization, gross finishing was done with eight-fluted tungsten carbide burs. The teeth were then randomly divided into four groups and finishing/polishing was done with one of the following systems: (a) Robot Carbides (RC); (b) Super-Snap system (SS); (c) OneGloss (OG) and (d) CompoSite Polishers (CS). The sample size for each material-finishing/polishing system combination was eight. After finishing/polishing, the teeth were stored in distilled water at 37 degrees C for one week. The root apices were then sealed with acrylic and two coats of varnish was applied 1 mm beyond the restoration margins. The teeth were subsequently subjected to dye penetration testing (0.5% basic fuchsin), sectioned and scored. Data was analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests at a significance level of 0.05. Results of statistical analysis were as follows: Enamel margins: PF-OG

Anti-Cancer Efficacy of Silybin Derivatives - A Structure-Activity Relationship

PubMed Central

Agarwal, Chapla; Wadhwa, Ritambhara; Deep, Gagan; Biedermann, David; Gažák, Radek; Křen, Vladimír; Agarwal, Rajesh

2013-01-01

Silybin or silibinin, a flavonolignan isolated from Milk thistle seeds, is one of the popular dietary supplements and has been extensively studied for its antioxidant, hepatoprotective and anti-cancer properties. We have envisioned that potency of silybin could be further enhanced through suitable modification/s in its chemical structure. Accordingly, here, we synthesized and characterized a series of silybin derivatives namely 2,3-dehydrosilybin (DHS), 7-O-methylsilybin (7OM), 7-O-galloylsilybin (7OG), 7,23-disulphatesilybin (DSS), 7-O-palmitoylsilybin (7OP), and 23-O-palmitoylsilybin (23OP); and compared their anti-cancer efficacy using human bladder cancer HTB9, colon cancer HCT116 and prostate carcinoma PC3 cells. In all the 3 cell lines, DHS, 7OM and 7OG demonstrated better growth inhibitory effects and compared to silybin, while other silybin derivatives showed lesser or no efficacy. Next, we prepared the optical isomers (A and B) of silybin, DHS, 7OM and 7OG, and compared their anti-cancer efficacy. Isomers of these three silybin derivatives also showed better efficacy compared with respective silybin isomers, but in each, there was no clear cut silybin A versus B isomer activity preference. Further studies in HTB cells found that DHS, 7OM and 7OG exert better apoptotic activity than silibinin. Clonogenic assays in HTB9 cells further confirmed that both the racemic mixtures as well as pure optical isomers of DHS, 7OM and 7OG were more effective than silybin. Overall, these results clearly suggest that the anti-cancer efficacy of silybin could be significantly enhanced through structural modifications, and identify strong anti-cancer efficacy of silybin derivatives, namely DHS, 7OM, and 7OG, signifying that their efficacy and toxicity should be evaluated in relevant pre-clinical cancer models in rodents. PMID:23555889

Postoperative Outcomes of Minimally Invasive Gastrectomy Versus Open Gastrectomy During the Early Introduction of Minimally Invasive Gastrectomy in the Netherlands: A Population-based Cohort Study.

PubMed

Brenkman, Hylke J F; Gisbertz, Suzanne S; Slaman, Annelijn E; Goense, Lucas; Ruurda, Jelle P; van Berge Henegouwen, Mark I; van Hillegersberg, Richard

2017-11-01

To compare postoperative outcomes of minimally invasive gastrectomy (MIG) to open gastrectomy (OG) for cancer during the introduction of MIG in the Netherlands. Between 2011 and 2015, the use of MIG increased from 4% to 53% in the Netherlands. This population-based cohort study included all patients with curable gastric adenocarcinoma that underwent gastrectomy between 2011 and 2015, registered in the Dutch Upper GI Cancer Audit. Patients with missing preoperative data, and patients in whom no lymphadenectomy or reconstruction was performed were excluded. Propensity score matching was applied to create comparable groups between patients receiving MIG or OG, using year of surgery and other potential confounders. Morbidity, mortality, and hospital stay were evaluated. Of the 1697 eligible patients, 813 were discarded after propensity score matching; 442 and 442 patients who underwent MIG and OG, respectively, remained. Conversions occurred in 10% of the patients during MIG. Although the overall postoperative morbidity (37% vs 40%, P = 0.489) and mortality rates (6% vs 4%, P = 0.214) were comparable between the 2 groups, patients who underwent MIG experienced less wound complications (2% vs 5%, P = 0.006). Anastomotic leakage occurred in 8% of the patients after MIG, and in 7% after OG (P = 0.525). The median hospital stay declined over the years for both procedures (11 to 8 days, P < 0.001). Overall, hospital stay was shorter after MIG compared with OG (8 vs 10 days, P < 0.001). MIG was safely introduced in the Netherlands, with overall morbidity and mortality comparable with OG, less wound complications and shorter hospitalization.

Resterilized mesh in repair of abdominal wall defects in rats.

PubMed

Sucullu, Ilker; Akin, Mehmet Levhi; Yitgin, Selahattin; Filiz, Ali Ilker; Kurt, Yavuz

2008-01-01

A variety of negative opinions about repeated usage of relatively expensive resterilized synthetic meshes have been considered. It had been stated that resterilized polypropylene meshes inhibits fibroblastic activity, decreases proliferative activity, and increases apoptosis in human fibroblast culture, in vitro. The purpose of this study is the in vivo evaluation of the resterilized mesh repairs of abdominal hernia defects in rat models of incisional hernia by comparing primer repair and original mesh repairs. The rats (n = 22) were separated into three groups. While the abdominal defect was repaired by primary suture in the control group (CG), the defects were repaired by original mesh (OG) or resterilized mesh (RG) in mesh-repaired groups. After 21 days, the rats were evaluated for tissue tensile strengths, tissue hydroxyproline levels, tissue inflammation, fibrosis, and apoptosis. Although the tensile strengths in OG and RG were significantly higher than those of CG (p < .05 and p < .05), there was no significant difference between two groups. The tissue hydroxyproline levels in OG and RG were also higher than those of CG. The difference was not significant between the two groups. The inflammation and fibrosis indexes in OG and RG were significantly higher than those of CG (p < .0001 for both), but there was no difference between groups. While the apoptosis index in OG and RG was also higher than that of CG (p < .0001 for both), there was no significant difference between OG and RG. The usage of resterilized mesh in abdominal wall repair did not reduce the tissue tensile strength, did not affect the tissue hydroxyproline levels, did not decrease the fibrosis, and did not increase the tissue inflammation and apoptosis. In conclusion, usage of resterilized meshes in abdominal wall defects was as safe as sterilized meshes.

Arduino Uno Microcontroller with Commercially Available Sensors Towards Generating Student Accessible Raw Meteorological Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Henson, Gabrielle; Tanner, Meghan; Senevirathne, Indrajith

Microcontroller systems can be a boon to cost - effective techniques that can be used to enhance teaching at college level. We have used Arduino microcontroller coupled with commercially available sensors to systematically measure, record and analyze temperature, humidity and barometric pressure and to upload the real time raw data to cloud. Corresponding data will be available in classroom settings for predictions, analysis and simple weather forecasting. Setup was assembled via breadboard, wire and simple soldering with an Arduino Uno ATmega328P microcontroller connected to a PC. The microcontroller was programmed with Arduino Software while the bootloader was used to upload the code. Commercial DHT22 humidity and temperature sensor and BMP180 barometric pressure sensor were used to obtain relative humidity, temperature and the barometric pressure. System was mounted inside a weather resistant enclosure and data measurements were obtained and were uploaded onto the PC and then to cloud. Cloud data can be accessed via a shared link in a General Education class for multitude of purposes.

A system for intelligent home care ECG upload and priorisation.

PubMed

D'Angelo, Lorenzo T; Tarita, Eugeniu; Zywietz, Tosja K; Lueth, Tim C

2010-01-01

In this contribution, a system for internet based, automated home care ECG upload and priorisation is presented for the first time. It unifies the advantages of existing telemonitoring ECG systems adding functionalities such as automated priorisation and usability for home care. Chronic cardiac diseases are a big group in the geriatric field. Most of them can be easily diagnosed with help of an electrocardiogram. A frequent or long-term ECG analysis allows early diagnosis of e.g. a cardiac infarction. Nevertheless, patients often aren't willing to visit a doctor for prophylactic purposes. Possible solutions of this problem are home care devices, which are used to investigate patients at home without the presence of a doctor on site. As the diffusion of such systems leads to a huge amount of data which has to be managed and evaluated, the presented approach focuses on an easy to use software for ECG upload from home, a web based management application and an algorithm for ECG preanalysis and priorisation.

An Acidic PATHOGENESIS-RELATED1 Gene of Oryza grandiglumis is Involved in Disease Resistance Response Against Bacterial Infection

PubMed Central

Shin, Sang Hyun; Pak, Jung-Hun; Kim, Mi Jin; Kim, Hye Jeong; Oh, Ju Sung; Choi, Hong Kyu; Jung, Ho Won; Chung, Young Soo

2014-01-01

Wild rice, Oryza grandiglumis shows hyper-resistance response to pathogen infection. In order to identify genes necessary for defense response in plants, we have carried out a subtractive hybridization coupled with a cDNA macroarray. An acidic PATHOGENESIS-RELATED1 (PR1) gene of the wild rice is highly identical to the acidic PR1 genes of different plant species. The OgPR1a cDNA has an apparent single open reading frame with a predicted molecular mass 40,621 Da and an isoelectic point of 5.14. Both in silico analysis and a transient expression assay in onion epidermal cells revealed that the OgPR1a protein could be localized in intercellular space in plants. The OgPR1a mRNA was strongly transcribed by the exogenous treatment with ethylene and jasmonic acid as well as protein phosphatase inhibitors. Additionally, ectopic expression of the OgPR1a conferred disease resistance on Arabidopsis to the bacterial and fungal infections. PMID:25289005

Targeted Therapies for Advanced Oesophagogastric Cancer: Recent Progress and Future Directions.

PubMed

Young, Kate; Chau, Ian

2016-01-01

The genomic landscape of oesophagogastric (OG) cancer is highly complex. The recent elucidation of some of the pathways involved has suggested a number of novel targets for therapy. This therapy is urgently required as with conventional chemotherapy regimens patients with advanced OG cancer still have a median overall survival of under a year. This review outlines the rationale for the current treatment of OG cancer with chemotherapy and describes both previously conducted and ongoing clinical trials of novel agents in this area. The targets and associated treatments discussed include HER-2, EGFR, VEGF, c-Met, FGFR-2, PI3K, mTOR andIGF-1. To date only two targeted treatments, trastuzumab and ramucirumab, have become part of the treatment paradigm for OG cancer, partly due to difficulties in defining predictive biomarkers in this disease. However, there are a number of promising drugs in the pipeline and this article seeks to describe these and other potential novel approaches including targeting DNA repair deficiencies and the immune system.

5-Carboxy-8-hydroxyquinoline is a Broad Spectrum 2-Oxoglutarate Oxygenase Inhibitor which Causes Iron Translocation

PubMed Central

Aik, WeiShen; Che, Ka Hing; Li, Xuan Shirley; Kristensen, Jan B. L.; King, Oliver N. F.; Chan, Mun Chiang; Yeoh, Kar Kheng; Choi, Hwanho; Walport, Louise J.; Thinnes, Cyrille C.; Bush, Jacob T.; Lejeune, Clarisse; Rydzik, Anna M.; Rose, Nathan R.; Bagg, Eleanor A.; McDonough, Michael A.; Krojer, Tobias; Yue, Wyatt W.; Ng, Stanley S.; Olsen, Lars; Brennan, Paul E.; Oppermann, Udo; Muller-Knapp, Susanne; Klose, Robert J.; Ratcliffe, Peter J.; Schofield, Christopher J.; Kawamura, Akane

2015-01-01

2-Oxoglutarate and iron dependent oxygenases are therapeutic targets for human diseases. Using a representative 2OG oxygenase panel, we compare the inhibitory activities of 5-carboxy-8-hydroxyquinoline (IOX1) and 4-carboxy-8-hydroxyquinoline (4C8HQ) with that of two other commonly used 2OG oxygenase inhibitors, N-oxalylglycine (NOG) and 2,4-pyridinedicarboxylic acid (2,4-PDCA). The results reveal that IOX1 has a broad spectrum of activity, as demonstrated by the inhibition of transcription factor hydroxylases, representatives of all 2OG dependent histone demethylase subfamilies, nucleic acid demethylases and γ-butyrobetaine hydroxylase. Cellular assays show that, unlike NOG and 2,4-PDCA, IOX1 is active against both cytosolic and nuclear 2OG oxygenases without ester derivatisation. Unexpectedly, crystallographic studies on these oxygenases demonstrate that IOX1, but not 4C8HQ, can cause translocation of the active site metal, revealing a rare example of protein ligand-induced metal movement PMID:26682036

Restaurant oil and grease management in Hong Kong.

PubMed

Yau, Yiu-Hung; Rudolph, Victor; Lo, Cat Chui-Man; Wu, Kam-Chau

2018-06-24

Oil and grease (O&G) in wastewater can be considered as two parts or proportion contained in emulsion which exceeded O&G standard. Most of oil becomes emulsified with water when they pass through grease trap and discharged in the effluents. Thus, it may indicate that either treatment of grease traps or standards for O&G content stipulated in technical memorandum of Water Pollution Control Ordinance (WPCO) do not reflect the actual situation. Existing grease traps should be upgraded to meet the requirements of WPCO. Alternative technologies need to be developed to tackle this unsolved problem. Good management and practices are also important to ensure proper collection and waste recycling rather than just disposing effluent into drains. Collected O&G content can be recycled as valuable products such as biofuel, flotation agent, or other derivatives. This approach not only protects the environment by improving water quality, it also encourages large flow restaurant operators to recycle oil and grease content towards cleaner production.

Improved regional-scale groundwater representation by the coupling of the mesoscale Hydrologic Model (mHM v5.7) to the groundwater model OpenGeoSys (OGS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jing, Miao; Heße, Falk; Kumar, Rohini; Wang, Wenqing; Fischer, Thomas; Walther, Marc; Zink, Matthias; Zech, Alraune; Samaniego, Luis; Kolditz, Olaf; Attinger, Sabine

2018-06-01

Most large-scale hydrologic models fall short in reproducing groundwater head dynamics and simulating transport process due to their oversimplified representation of groundwater flow. In this study, we aim to extend the applicability of the mesoscale Hydrologic Model (mHM v5.7) to subsurface hydrology by coupling it with the porous media simulator OpenGeoSys (OGS). The two models are one-way coupled through model interfaces GIS2FEM and RIV2FEM, by which the grid-based fluxes of groundwater recharge and the river-groundwater exchange generated by mHM are converted to fixed-flux boundary conditions of the groundwater model OGS. Specifically, the grid-based vertical reservoirs in mHM are completely preserved for the estimation of land-surface fluxes, while OGS acts as a plug-in to the original mHM modeling framework for groundwater flow and transport modeling. The applicability of the coupled model (mHM-OGS v1.0) is evaluated by a case study in the central European mesoscale river basin - Nägelstedt. Different time steps, i.e., daily in mHM and monthly in OGS, are used to account for fast surface flow and slow groundwater flow. Model calibration is conducted following a two-step procedure using discharge for mHM and long-term mean of groundwater head measurements for OGS. Based on the model summary statistics, namely the Nash-Sutcliffe model efficiency (NSE), the mean absolute error (MAE), and the interquartile range error (QRE), the coupled model is able to satisfactorily represent the dynamics of discharge and groundwater heads at several locations across the study basin. Our exemplary calculations show that the one-way coupled model can take advantage of the spatially explicit modeling capabilities of surface and groundwater hydrologic models and provide an adequate representation of the spatiotemporal behaviors of groundwater storage and heads, thus making it a valuable tool for addressing water resources and management problems.

OGS improvements in the year 2011 in running the Northeastern Italy Seismic Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bragato, P. L.; Pesaresi, D.; Saraò, A.; Di Bartolomeo, P.; Durı, G.

2012-04-01

The Centro di Ricerche Sismologiche (CRS, Seismological Research Center) of the Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale (OGS, Italian National Institute for Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics) in Udine (Italy) after the strong earthquake of magnitude M=6.4 occurred in 1976 in the Italian Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, started to operate the Northeastern Italy Seismic Network: it currently consists of 15 very sensitive broad band and 21 simpler short period seismic stations, all telemetered to and acquired in real time at the OGS-CRS data center in Udine. Real time data exchange agreements in place with other Italian, Slovenian, Austrian and Swiss seismological institutes lead to a total number of about 100 seismic stations acquired in real time, which makes the OGS the reference institute for seismic monitoring of Northeastern Italy. Since 2002 OGS-CRS is using the Antelope software suite on several workstations plus a SUN Cluster as the main tool for collecting, analyzing, archiving and exchanging seismic data, initially in the framework of the EU Interreg IIIA project "Trans-national seismological networks in the South-Eastern Alps". SeisComP is also used as a real time data exchange server tool. In order to improve the seismological monitoring of the Northeastern Italy area, at OGS-CRS we tuned existing programs and created ad hoc ones like: a customized web server named PickServer to manually relocate earthquakes, a script for automatic moment tensor determination, scripts for web publishing of earthquake parametric data, waveforms, state of health parameters and shaking maps, noise characterization by means of automatic spectra analysis, and last but not least scripts for email/SMS/fax alerting. The OGS-CRS Real Time Seismological website (RTS, http://rts.crs.inogs.it/) operative since several years was initially developed in the framework of the Italian DPC-INGV S3 Project: the RTS website shows classic earthquake locations parametric data plus ShakeMap and moment tensor information. At OGS-CRS we also spent a considerable amount of efforts in improving the long-period performances of broadband seismic stations, either by carrying out full re-installations and/or applying thermal insulations to the seismometers: more examples of PSD plots of the PRED broad band seismic station installation in the cave tunnel of Cave del Predil using a Quanterra Q330HR high resolution digitizer and a Sterckeisen STS-2 broadband seismometer will be illustrated. Efforts in strengthening the reliability of data links, exploring the use of redundant satellite/radio/GPRS links will also be shown.

Crystal Structure and Functional Analysis of Homocitrate Synthase, an Essential Enzyme in Lysine Biosynthesis

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

Bulfer, Stacie L.; Scott, Erin M.; Couture, Jean-François

2010-01-12

Homocitrate synthase (HCS) catalyzes the first and committed step in lysine biosynthesis in many fungi and certain Archaea and is a potential target for antifungal drugs. Here we report the crystal structure of the HCS apoenzyme from Schizosaccharomyces pombe and two distinct structures of the enzyme in complex with the substrate 2-oxoglutarate (2-OG). The structures reveal that HCS forms an intertwined homodimer stabilized by domain-swapping between the N- and C-terminal domains of each monomer. The N-terminal catalytic domain is composed of a TIM barrel fold in which 2-OG binds via hydrogen bonds and coordination to the active site divalent metalmore » ion, whereas the C-terminal domain is composed of mixed {alpha}/{beta} topology. In the structures of the HCS apoenzyme and one of the 2-OG binary complexes, a lid motif from the C-terminal domain occludes the entrance to the active site of the neighboring monomer, whereas in the second 2-OG complex the lid is disordered, suggesting that it regulates substrate access to the active site through its apparent flexibility. Mutations of the active site residues involved in 2-OG binding or implicated in acid-base catalysis impair or abolish activity in vitro and in vivo. Together, these results yield new insights into the structure and catalytic mechanism of HCSs and furnish a platform for developing HCS-selective inhibitors.« less

Evolution of food provision to athletes at the summer Olympic Games.

PubMed

Pelly, Fiona E; O'Connor, Helen T; Denyer, Gareth S; Caterson, Ian D

2011-06-01

The history of food provision at the summer Olympic Games (OG) over the past century (1896-2008) provides insight into the evolution of sports nutrition research and the dietary strategies of athletes. Early research favoring protein as the main fuel for exercise was reflected in OG menus from 1932 to 1968. Despite conclusive research from the 1960s demonstrating the clear benefit of carbohydrate on exercise performance, a specific emphasis on carbohydrate-rich foods was not noted until the 1970s. Athlete food preferences and catering complexity evolved rapidly between 1970 and 2000, driven predominantly by a dramatic expansion of the OG and the emergence of systematic sports nutrition research. Nutritional advice by experts and sponsorship by food companies became increasingly important beginning with the 1984 Los Angeles OG. More recent developments include nutritional labeling of menu items and provision of a nutrition information desk (Barcelona 1992), demand for a "high-starch, low-fat menu" (Atlanta 1996), the addition of a dedicated menu website and the systematic gathering of information on athletes' apparent consumption (Sydney 2000), and appointment of the first international dietetic review committee (Beijing 2008). The history of catering at the OG tracks the evolution of sports nutrition practice from anecdotes and myth towards an established specialty in nutrition and dietetics grounded in evidence-based science. © 2011 International Life Sciences Institute.

Uridylylation of Herbaspirillum seropedicae GlnB and GlnK proteins is differentially affected by ATP, ADP and 2-oxoglutarate in vitro.

PubMed

Bonatto, Ana C; Souza, Emanuel M; Oliveira, Marco A S; Monteiro, Rose A; Chubatsu, Leda S; Huergo, Luciano F; Pedrosa, Fábio O

2012-08-01

PII are signal-transducing proteins that integrate metabolic signals and transmit this information to a large number of proteins. In proteobacteria, PII are modified by GlnD (uridylyltransferase/uridylyl-removing enzyme) in response to the nitrogen status. The uridylylation/deuridylylation cycle of PII is also regulated by carbon and energy signals such as ATP, ADP and 2-oxoglutarate (2-OG). These molecules bind to PII proteins and alter their tridimensional structure/conformation and activity. In this work, we determined the effects of ATP, ADP and 2-OG levels on the in vitro uridylylation of Herbaspirillum seropedicae PII proteins, GlnB and GlnK. Both proteins were uridylylated by GlnD in the presence of ATP or ADP, although the uridylylation levels were higher in the presence of ATP and under high 2-OG levels. Under excess of 2-OG, the GlnB uridylylation level was higher in the presence of ATP than with ADP, while GlnK uridylylation was similar with ATP or ADP. Moreover, in the presence of ADP/ATP molar ratios varying from 10/1 to 1/10, GlnB uridylylation level decreased as ADP concentration increased, whereas GlnK uridylylation remained constant. The results suggest that uridylylation of both GlnB and GlnK responds to 2-OG levels, but only GlnB responds effectively to variation on ADP/ATP ratio.

SalB inactivation modulates culture supernatant exoproteins and affects autolysis and viability in Enterococcus faecalis OG1RF.

PubMed

Shankar, Jayendra; Walker, Rachel G; Wilkinson, Mark C; Ward, Deborah; Horsburgh, Malcolm J

2012-07-01

The culture supernatant fraction of an Enterococcus faecalis gelE mutant of strain OG1RF contained elevated levels of the secreted antigen SalB. Using differential fluorescence gel electrophoresis (DIGE) the salB mutant was shown to possess a unique complement of exoproteins. Differentially abundant exoproteins were identified using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry. Stress-related proteins including DnaK, Dps family protein, SOD, and NADH peroxidase were present in greater quantity in the OG1RF salB mutant culture supernatant. Moreover, several proteins involved in cell wall synthesis and cell division, including d-Ala-d-Lac ligase and EzrA, were present in reduced quantity in OG1RF salB relative to the parent strain. The salB mutant displayed reduced viability and anomalous cell division, and these phenotypes were exacerbated in a gelE salB double mutant. An epistatic relationship between gelE and salB was not identified with respect to increased autolysis and cell morphological changes observed in the salB mutant. SalB was purified as a six-histidine-tagged protein to investigate peptidoglycan hydrolytic activity; however, activity was not evident. High-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis of reduced muropeptides from peptidoglycan digested with mutanolysin revealed that the salB mutant and OG1RF were indistinguishable.

Photocatalytic degradation of Orange G dye under solar light using nanocrystalline semiconductor metal oxide.

PubMed

Thennarasu, G; Kavithaa, S; Sivasamy, A

2011-08-01

The photocatalytic degradation of Orange G (OG) dye has been investigated using synthesised nanocrystalline ZnO as a photocatalyst and sunlight as the irradiation source. The formation of ZnO prepared from its precursor was confirmed through FT-IR and powder X-ray diffraction analyses. Surface morphology was characterised by scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope analysis. Band gap energy of synthesised nanocrystalline ZnO was calculated using diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). Different experimental parameters such as effects of pH, dye concentrations and mass of catalyst were standardised in order to achieve complete degradation of the dye molecules under solar light irradiation. The kinetics of oxidation of OG was also studied. The complete degradation of OG was evident after 90 min of irradiation at an initial pH of 6.86. The degradation of OG was confirmed by UV-Visible spectrophotometer, high-pressure liquid chromatography, ESI-Mass and chemical oxygen demand analyses. The adsorption of dye onto catalytic surface was analysed employing model equations such as Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms, and it was found that the Langmuir isotherm model best fitted the adsorption data. The solar photodegradation of OG followed pseudo-first-order kinetics. HPLC and ESI-Mass analyses of the degraded samples suggested that the dye molecules were readily degraded under solar irradiation with nanocrystalline ZnO.

An update from AGU about the Virtual Poster Showcase

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Asher, P. M.; Furukawa, H.; Brown, V.

2016-12-01

The Virtual Poster Showcase (VPS), now in its second year of implementation, has garnered a lot of interest from the geoscience community. The platform enables both undergraduate and graduate students to present their research from anywhere in the world without having to travel to a national or international conference. The VPS platform is simple to use and consists of three steps which include submission of an abstract, uploading a poster and a short video presentation explaining the work, and judging three peer posters online and receiving feedback/comments on their own posters. Based on the completed showcases from 2015 and now 2016, students reported gains in confidence in both preparing and presenting research posters as well as the impact on their careers based on post-showcase evaluations. This presentation will discuss some statistics about the showcases and participants, student evaluation results, stories and anecdotes about the showcases impact on individual students and faculty, as well as plans for the coming year.

Digital pathology imaging as a novel platform for standardization and globalization of quantitative nephropathology

PubMed Central

Gimpel, Charlotte; Kain, Renate; Laurinavicius, Arvydas; Bueno, Gloria; Zeng, Caihong; Liu, Zhihong; Schaefer, Franz; Kretzler, Matthias; Holzman, Lawrence B.; Hewitt, Stephen M.

2017-01-01

Abstract The introduction of digital pathology to nephrology provides a platform for the development of new methodologies and protocols for visual, morphometric and computer-aided assessment of renal biopsies. Application of digital imaging to pathology made substantial progress over the past decade; it is now in use for education, clinical trials and translational research. Digital pathology evolved as a valuable tool to generate comprehensive structural information in digital form, a key prerequisite for achieving precision pathology for computational biology. The application of this new technology on an international scale is driving novel methods for collaborations, providing unique opportunities but also challenges. Standardization of methods needs to be rigorously evaluated and applied at each step, from specimen processing to scanning, uploading into digital repositories, morphologic, morphometric and computer-aided assessment, data collection and analysis. In this review, we discuss the status and opportunities created by the application of digital imaging to precision nephropathology, and present a vision for the near future. PMID:28584625

BiobankUniverse: automatic matchmaking between datasets for biobank data discovery and integration

PubMed Central

Pang, Chao; Kelpin, Fleur; van Enckevort, David; Eklund, Niina; Silander, Kaisa; Hendriksen, Dennis; de Haan, Mark; Jetten, Jonathan; de Boer, Tommy; Charbon, Bart; Holub, Petr; Hillege, Hans; Swertz, Morris A

2017-01-01

Abstract Motivation Biobanks are indispensable for large-scale genetic/epidemiological studies, yet it remains difficult for researchers to determine which biobanks contain data matching their research questions. Results To overcome this, we developed a new matching algorithm that identifies pairs of related data elements between biobanks and research variables with high precision and recall. It integrates lexical comparison, Unified Medical Language System ontology tagging and semantic query expansion. The result is BiobankUniverse, a fast matchmaking service for biobanks and researchers. Biobankers upload their data elements and researchers their desired study variables, BiobankUniverse automatically shortlists matching attributes between them. Users can quickly explore matching potential and search for biobanks/data elements matching their research. They can also curate matches and define personalized data-universes. Availability and implementation BiobankUniverse is available at http://biobankuniverse.com or can be downloaded as part of the open source MOLGENIS suite at http://github.com/molgenis/molgenis. Contact m.a.swertz@rug.nl Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. PMID:29036577

College Health Surveillance Network: Epidemiology and Health Care Utilization of College Students at US 4-Year Universities

PubMed Central

Turner, James C.; Keller, Adrienne

2015-01-01

Abstract Objective: This description of the College Health Surveillance Network (CHSN) includes methodology, demography, epidemiology, and health care utilization. Participants: Twenty-three universities representing approximately 730,000 enrolled students contributed data from January 1, 2011, through May 31, 2014. Methods: Participating schools uploaded de-identified electronic health records from student health services monthly. Results: During this study, just over 800,000 individuals used the health centers, comprising 4.17 million patient encounters. Sixty percent of visits included primary care, 13% mental health, 9% vaccination, and 31% other miscellaneous services. The 5 most common specific diagnostic categories (with annual rates per 100 enrolled students) were preventive (16); respiratory (12); skin, hair, and nails; infectious non–sexually transmitted infection (5 each); and mental health (4). Utilization and epidemiologic trends are identified among subpopulations of students. Conclusions: CHSN data establish trends in utilization and epidemiologic patterns by college students and the importance of primary and behavioral health care services on campuses. PMID:26086428

sbml-diff: A Tool for Visually Comparing SBML Models in Synthetic Biology.

PubMed

Scott-Brown, James; Papachristodoulou, Antonis

2017-07-21

We present sbml-diff, a tool that is able to read a model of a biochemical reaction network in SBML format and produce a range of diagrams showing different levels of detail. Each diagram type can be used to visualize a single model or to visually compare two or more models. The default view depicts species as ellipses, reactions as rectangles, rules as parallelograms, and events as diamonds. A cartoon view replaces the symbols used for reactions on the basis of the associated Systems Biology Ontology terms. An abstract view represents species as ellipses and draws edges between them to indicate whether a species increases or decreases the production or degradation of another species. sbml-diff is freely licensed under the three-clause BSD license and can be downloaded from https://github.com/jamesscottbrown/sbml-diff and used as a python package called from other software, as a free-standing command-line application, or online using the form at http://sysos.eng.ox.ac.uk/tebio/upload.

Coleman works at the AR OGS Rack in the Node 3

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-02-08

ISS026-E-025143 (8 Feb. 2011) --- NASA astronaut Catherine (Cady) Coleman, Expedition 26 flight engineer, works at the Atmosphere Revitalization / Oxygen Generation System (AR OGS) rack in the Harmony node of the International Space Station. Coleman collected recirculation loop samples for subsequent analysis for pH value.

Coleman works at the AR OGS Rack in the Node 3

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-02-08

ISS026-E-025142 (8 Feb. 2011) --- NASA astronaut Catherine (Cady) Coleman, Expedition 26 flight engineer, works at the Atmosphere Revitalization / Oxygen Generation System (AR OGS) rack in the Harmony node of the International Space Station. Coleman collected recirculation loop samples for subsequent analysis for pH value.

Toto, We’re Not in Kansas Anymore: How the Communication Landscape Has Changed and Why Organizations Must Adapt

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-03-22

both uses—chitchat or collective action—social media complement the social nature of humans and provide a way to channel users ’ motivations and agendas...remarkable. Facebook, which launched in 2004 with a mission to "make the world more open and connected," has more than 845 million active users ...more than 4 billion videos a day and upload 60 hours of video every minute.37 To provide perspective, users upload more video to YouTube in one month

Duty Module Methodology for Officer Career Management System Development: Task Data Bank, Task List.

DTIC Science & Technology

1975-11-01

and supply of communications equipment. O-G-1 0427 Prepare communications portion of unit SOP, operations orders, and plans. O-G-1 0428 Interpret...property for sale into commrercial categories. 0-FF-10 1307 Prepare formal advertising and invitations to bid and make other authorized arrangements for

On-The-Move Nutrient Delivery System (NDS): User Acceptability of Rotary Flow Control Version

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-04-01

Following: Salt, Sodium Citrate, Monopotassium Phosphate, Sodium Benzoate , Potassium Sorbate, FD & C Yellow #5. Faslln,,, Flow Mallifold 126.00 g (4.44 oz...Fat Cholesterol Sodium 440mg Potassium Total Carbohydrate Dietary Fiber Sugars Protein Vitamin A Vitamin C Calcium lron Phosphorus 260 o Og Og Omg 18

40 CFR 432.62 - Effluent limitations attainable by the application of the best practicable control technology...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

....018 Fecal Coliform (2) (3) O&G 4 0.012 0.006 TSS 0.044 0.022 1 Pounds per 1000 lbs (or g/kg) of... million pounds per year of finished products must achieve the limitations for BOD5, fecal coliform, O&G...

40 CFR 432.82 - Effluent limitations attainable by the application of the best practicable control technology...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

....31 Fecal Coliform (2) (3) O&G 4 0.22 0.11 TSS 0.74 0.37 1 Pounds per 1000 lbs (or g/kg) of finished... million pounds per year of finished products must achieve the limitations for BOD5, fecal coliform, O&G...

40 CFR 432.92 - Effluent limitations attainable by the application of the best practicable control technology...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

....37 Fecal Coliform (2) (3) O&G 4 0.26 0.13 TSS 0.90 0.45 1 Pounds per 1000 lbs (or g/kg) of finished... million pounds per year of finished products must achieve the limitations for BOD5, fecal coliform, O&G...

40 CFR 432.82 - Effluent limitations attainable by the application of the best practicable control technology...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

....31 Fecal Coliform (2) (3) O&G 4 0.22 0.11 TSS 0.74 0.37 1 Pounds per 1000 lbs (or g/kg) of finished... million pounds per year of finished products must achieve the limitations for BOD5, fecal coliform, O&G...

New Insights on Leucine-Rich Repeats Receptor-Like Kinase Orthologous Relationships in Angiosperms

PubMed Central

Dufayard, Jean-François; Bettembourg, Mathilde; Fischer, Iris; Droc, Gaetan; Guiderdoni, Emmanuel; Périn, Christophe; Chantret, Nathalie; Diévart, Anne

2017-01-01

Leucine-Rich Repeats Receptor-Like Kinase (LRR-RLK) genes represent a large and complex gene family in plants, mainly involved in development and stress responses. These receptors are composed of an LRR-containing extracellular domain (ECD), a transmembrane domain (TM) and an intracellular kinase domain (KD). To provide new perspectives on functional analyses of these genes in model and non-model plant species, we performed a phylogenetic analysis on 8,360 LRR-RLK receptors in 31 angiosperm genomes (8 monocots and 23 dicots). We identified 101 orthologous groups (OGs) of genes being conserved among almost all monocot and dicot species analyzed. We observed that more than 10% of these OGs are absent in the Brassicaceae species studied. We show that the ECD structural features are not always conserved among orthologs, suggesting that functions may have diverged in some OG sets. Moreover, we looked at targets of positive selection footprints in 12 pairs of OGs and noticed that depending on the subgroups, positive selection occurred more frequently either in the ECDs or in the KDs. PMID:28424707

Study of the 249-251Cf + 48Ca reactions: recent results and outlook

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Voinov, A. A.; Oganessian, Yu Ts; Abdullin, F. Sh; Brewer, N. T.; Dmitriev, S. N.; Grzywacz, R. K.; Hamilton, J. H.; Itkis, M. G.; Miernik, K.; Polyakov, A. N.; Roberto, J. B.; Rykaczewski, K. P.; Sabelnikov, A. V.; Sagaidak, R. N.; Shirokovsky, I. V.; Shumeiko, M. V.; Stoyer, M. A.; Subbotin, V. G.; Sukhov, A. M.; Tsyganov, Yu S.; Utyonkov, V. K.; Vostokin, G. K.

2018-02-01

Experiment aiming at the synthesis of heavy isotopes of Z=118 (Og) using beam of 48Ca and a target of 249-251Cf was undertaken in October 2015 - April 2016 employing the Dubna Gas-Filled Recoil Separator (FLNR JINR). The target of mixed isotopes of 249-251Cf (50.7% of 249Cf, 12.9% of 250Cf, and 36.4% of 251Cf) was irradiated by 48Ca ions at two beam energies of 252 and 258 MeV with the corresponding accumulated beam doses of 1.6×1019 and 1.1×1019. A single event observed at lower beam energy was assigned to the isotope 294Og, the product of the reaction 249Cf(48Ca, 3n); its decay pattern and the observed radioactive properties of the nuclides in the decay chain reproduce in full those observed for 294Og in our earlier experiments of 2002-2005 and 2012. At higher beam energy we observed no decay chains that could be attributed to the isotopes of Og. The possibility of renewal of this experiment in the future is discussed.

Characterization of VOCs Emissions from Industrial Facilities and Natural Gas Production Sites: A Mobile Sensing Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, X.; Gu, J.; Trask, B.; Lyon, D. R.; Albertson, J. D.

2017-12-01

With the recent expansion of U.S. oil and gas (O&G) production, many studies have focused on the quantification of fugitive methane emissions. However, only a few studies have explored the emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from O&G production sites that affect human health in adjacent communities, both directly through exposure to toxic chemical compounds and indirectly via formation of ground-level ozone. In this study, we seek to quantify emissions of VOCs from O&G production sites and petrochemical facilities using a mobile sensing approach, with both high-end analyzers and relatively low-cost sensors. A probabilistic source characterization approach is used to estimate emission rates of VOCs, directly taking into account quantitative measure of sensor accuracy. This work will provide data with proper spatiotemporal resolution and coverage, so as to improve the understanding of VOCs emission from O&G production sites, VOCs-exposure of local communities, and explore the feasibility of low-cost sensors for VOCs monitoring. The project will provide an important foundational step to enable large scale studies.

Insights from internet-based remote intrathoracic impedance monitoring as part of a heart failure disease management program.

PubMed

Mullens, Wilfried; Oliveira, Leonardo P J; Verga, Tanya; Wilkoff, Bruce L; Tang, Wai Hong Wilson

2010-01-01

Changes in intrathoracic impedance (Z) leading to crossing of a derived fluid index (FI) threshold has been associated with heart failure (HF) hospitalization. The authors developed a remote monitoring program as part of HF disease management and prospectively examined the feasibility and resource utilization of monitoring individuals with an implanted device capable of measuring Z. An HF nurse analyzed all transmitted data daily, as they were routinely uploaded as part of quarterly remote device monitoring, and called the patient if the FI crossed the threshold (arbitrarily defined at 60 Omega) to identify clinically relevant events (CREs) that occurred during this period (eg, worsening dyspnea or increase in edema or weight). A total of 400 uploads were completed during the 4-month study period. During this period, 34 patients (18%) had an FI threshold crossing, averaging 0.52 FI threshold crossings per patient-year. Thirty-two of 34 patients contacted by telephone (94%) with FI threshold crossing had evidence of CREs during this period. However, only 6 (18%) had HF hospitalizations, 19 (56%) had reported changes in HF therapy, and 13 (38%) reported drug and/or dietary plan nonadherence. The average data analysis time required was 30 min daily when focusing on those with FI threshold crossing, averaging 8 uploads for review per working day and 5 telephone follow-ups per week. Our pilot observations suggested that Internet-based remote monitoring of Z trends from existing device interrogation uploads is feasible as part of a daily routine of HF disease management. 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Virtual reality case-specific rehearsal in temporal bone surgery: a preliminary evaluation.

PubMed

Arora, Asit; Swords, Chloe; Khemani, Sam; Awad, Zaid; Darzi, Ara; Singh, Arvind; Tolley, Neil

2014-01-01

1. To investigate the feasibility of performing case-specific surgical rehearsal using a virtual reality temporal bone simulator. 2. To identify potential clinical applications in temporal bone surgery. Prospective assessment study. St Mary's Hospital, Imperial College NHS Trust, London UK. Sixteen participants consisting of a trainer and trainee group. Twenty-four cadaver temporal bones were CT-scanned and uploaded onto the Voxelman simulator. Sixteen participants performed a 90-min temporal bone dissection on the generic simulation model followed by 3 dissection tasks on the case simulation and cadaver models. Case rehearsal was assessed for feasibility. Clinical applications and usefulness were evaluated using a 5-point Likert-type scale. The upload process required a semi-automated system. Average time for upload was 20 min. Suboptimal reconstruction occurred in 21% of cases arising when the mastoid process and ossicular chain were not captured (n = 2) or when artefact was generated (n = 3). Case rehearsal rated highly (Likert score >4) for confidence (75%), facilitating planning (75%) and training (94%). Potential clinical applications for case rehearsal include ossicular chain surgery, cochlear implantation and congenital anomalies. Case rehearsal of cholesteatoma surgery is not possible on the current platform due to suboptimal soft tissue representation. The process of uploading CT data onto a virtual reality temporal bone simulator to perform surgical rehearsal is feasible using a semi-automated system. Further clinical evaluation is warranted to assess the benefit of performing patient-specific surgical rehearsal in selected procedures. Copyright © 2013 Surgical Associates Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Reliability of Bariatric Surgery Videos in YouTube Platform.

PubMed

Erdem, Hasan; Sisik, Abdullah

2018-03-01

The growing number of bariatric surgery videos shared on YouTube highlights the need for content and quality assessment. The aim of this study was to answer the question 'Is watching these videos useful to surgeons and patients?' YouTube was searched using the keywords 'obesity surgery', 'bariatric surgery' and 'weight loss surgery', and 100 videos retrieved using each keyword were classified based on their 'usefulness score' as very useful, useful and not useful. Video content; source; length and number of views, likes and dislikes were recorded. Upload sources included doctors or hospitals (DH), medical web sites or TV channels (MW), commercial web sites (CW) or civilians (CI). Between-group differences were compared. Of the 300 videos watched, 175 were included in the study; 53.7% were useful and 24.6% were very useful. There were no between-group differences in the number of likes (p = 0.480), dislikes (p = 0.592) and views (p = 0.104). Most videos were uploaded by MW and DH, also with no significant differences in the number of likes (p = 0.35), dislikes (p = 0.14) and views (p = 0.93). No videos were found with misleading information. The popularity of bariatric surgery and interest of both patients and surgeons are increasing daily. Although videos on bariatric surgery on YouTube may be more useful than those on other surgical procedures, it is important that the videos are uploaded by medical professionals and that specific upload and retrieval filters are applied.

YouTube as a Source of Information on Neurosurgery.

PubMed

Samuel, Nardin; Alotaibi, Naif M; Lozano, Andres M

2017-09-01

The importance of videos in social media communications in the context of health care and neurosurgery is becoming increasingly recognized. However, there has not yet been a systematic analysis of these neurosurgery-related communications. Accordingly, this study was aimed at characterizing the online video content pertaining to neurosurgery. Neurosurgery-related videos uploaded on YouTube were collected using a comprehensive search strategy. The following metrics were extracted for each video: number of views, likes, dislikes, comments, shares, date of upload, and geographic region of origin where specified. A quantitative and qualitative evaluation was performed on all videos included in the study. A total of 713 nonduplicate videos met the inclusion criteria. The overall number of views for all videos was 90,545,164. Videos were most frequently uploaded in 2016 (n = 348), with a 200% increase in uploads compared with the previous year. Of the videos that were directly relevant to clinical neurosurgery, the most frequent video categories were "educational videos" (25%), followed by "surgical and procedure overview" (20%), "promotional videos" (17%), and "patient experience" (16%). The remainder of the videos consisted primarily of unrealistic simulations of cranial surgery for entertainment purposes (20%). The findings from this study highlight the increasing use of video communications related to neurosurgery and show that institutions, neurosurgeons, and patients are using YouTube as an educational and promotional platform. As online communications continue to evolve, it will be important to harness this tool to advance patient-oriented communication and knowledge dissemination in neurosurgery. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An Analysis of Widely Viewed YouTube Videos on Anal Cancer.

PubMed

Basch, Corey H; Kecojevic, Aleksandar; Berdnik, Alyssa; Cadorett, Valerie; Basch, Charles E

2017-01-01

Rates of anal squamous cell carcinoma have increased over recent decades. The aim of this study was to describe characteristics of widely viewed YouTube videos about anal cancer. A total of 57 videos were identified and reviewed. Videos were assessed and coded with respect to date uploaded, upload source, gender of presenter, number of views, length in minutes, number of likes and dislikes, and selected aspects of content. Each video was assessed to determine if the sole purpose of the video was to provide information regarding anal cancer or existed to serve another purpose. Content related to anal cancer was categorized. The mean number of views was 23,548 (range 1014-440,078), and the average length of videos was 8:14 min. The upload source of 57 videos was 19 (33.3%) by consumers, 12 (21.1%) by professional, and 26 (45.6%) by news-based sources. More than half ( n = 30; 52.6%) had the sole purpose of providing information. The most frequently mentioned topics were treatment ( n = 25, 43.9%), symptoms ( n = 15, 26.3%), encouraging screening, human papillomavirus, and pain, respectively ( n = 14, 26.4% for each); only 6 of the 57 videos (10.5%) specifically mentioned prevention. None of 57 most widely viewed videos were uploaded by any agency of the U.S. Public Health Service or by any other U.S. governmental agency. It is important for health practitioners to be aware of the type of information available for their patients on the YouTube platform.

Design and Implementation of a Web-Based Reporting and Benchmarking Center for Inpatient Glucometrics

PubMed Central

Schnipper, Jeffrey Lawrence; Messler, Jordan; Ramos, Pedro; Kulasa, Kristen; Nolan, Ann; Rogers, Kendall

2014-01-01

Background: Insulin is a top source of adverse drug events in the hospital, and glycemic control is a focus of improvement efforts across the country. Yet, the majority of hospitals have no data to gauge their performance on glycemic control, hypoglycemia rates, or hypoglycemic management. Current tools to outsource glucometrics reports are limited in availability or function. Methods: Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM) faculty designed and implemented a web-based data and reporting center that calculates glucometrics on blood glucose data files securely uploaded by users. Unit labels, care type (critical care, non–critical care), and unit type (eg, medical, surgical, mixed, pediatrics) are defined on upload allowing for robust, flexible reporting. Reports for any date range, care type, unit type, or any combination of units are available on demand for review or downloading into a variety of file formats. Four reports with supporting graphics depict glycemic control, hypoglycemia, and hypoglycemia management by patient day or patient stay. Benchmarking and performance ranking reports are generated periodically for all hospitals in the database. Results: In all, 76 hospitals have uploaded at least 12 months of data for non–critical care areas and 67 sites have uploaded critical care data. Critical care benchmarking reveals wide variability in performance. Some hospitals achieve top quartile performance in both glycemic control and hypoglycemia parameters. Conclusions: This new web-based glucometrics data and reporting tool allows hospitals to track their performance with a flexible reporting system, and provides them with external benchmarking. Tools like this help to establish standardized glucometrics and performance standards. PMID:24876426

Design and implementation of a web-based reporting and benchmarking center for inpatient glucometrics.

PubMed

Maynard, Greg; Schnipper, Jeffrey Lawrence; Messler, Jordan; Ramos, Pedro; Kulasa, Kristen; Nolan, Ann; Rogers, Kendall

2014-07-01

Insulin is a top source of adverse drug events in the hospital, and glycemic control is a focus of improvement efforts across the country. Yet, the majority of hospitals have no data to gauge their performance on glycemic control, hypoglycemia rates, or hypoglycemic management. Current tools to outsource glucometrics reports are limited in availability or function. Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM) faculty designed and implemented a web-based data and reporting center that calculates glucometrics on blood glucose data files securely uploaded by users. Unit labels, care type (critical care, non-critical care), and unit type (eg, medical, surgical, mixed, pediatrics) are defined on upload allowing for robust, flexible reporting. Reports for any date range, care type, unit type, or any combination of units are available on demand for review or downloading into a variety of file formats. Four reports with supporting graphics depict glycemic control, hypoglycemia, and hypoglycemia management by patient day or patient stay. Benchmarking and performance ranking reports are generated periodically for all hospitals in the database. In all, 76 hospitals have uploaded at least 12 months of data for non-critical care areas and 67 sites have uploaded critical care data. Critical care benchmarking reveals wide variability in performance. Some hospitals achieve top quartile performance in both glycemic control and hypoglycemia parameters. This new web-based glucometrics data and reporting tool allows hospitals to track their performance with a flexible reporting system, and provides them with external benchmarking. Tools like this help to establish standardized glucometrics and performance standards. © 2014 Diabetes Technology Society.

Mechanical external work and recovery at preferred walking speed in obese subjects.

PubMed

Malatesta, Davide; Vismara, Luca; Menegoni, Francesco; Galli, Manuela; Romei, Marianna; Capodaglio, Paolo

2009-02-01

The aim of this study was to compare the mechanical external work (per kg) and pendular energy transduction at preferred walking speed (PWS) in obese versus normal body mass subjects to investigate whether obese adults adopt energy conserving gait mechanics. The mechanical external work (Wext) and the fraction of mechanical energy recovered by the pendular mechanism (Rstep) were computed using kinematic data acquired by an optoelectronic system and were compared in 30 obese (OG; body mass index [BMI] = 39.6 +/- 0.6 kg m(-2); 29.5 +/- 1.3 yr) and 19 normal body mass adults (NG; BMI = 21.4 +/- 0.5 kg m(-2); 31.2 +/- 1.2 yr) walking at PWS. PWS was significantly lower in OG (1.18 +/- 0.02 m s(-1)) than in NG (1.33 +/- 0.02 m s(-1); P

Pectin Biosynthesis Is Critical for Cell Wall Integrity and Immunity in Arabidopsis thaliana

PubMed Central

Bethke, Gerit; Thao, Amanda; Xiong, Guangyan; Hatsugai, Noriyuki; Katagiri, Fumiaki; Pauly, Markus

2016-01-01

Plant cell walls are important barriers against microbial pathogens. Cell walls of Arabidopsis thaliana leaves contain three major types of polysaccharides: cellulose, various hemicelluloses, and pectins. UDP-d-galacturonic acid, the key building block of pectins, is produced from the precursor UDP-d-glucuronic acid by the action of glucuronate 4-epimerases (GAEs). Pseudomonas syringae pv maculicola ES4326 (Pma ES4326) repressed expression of GAE1 and GAE6 in Arabidopsis, and immunity to Pma ES4326 was compromised in gae6 and gae1 gae6 mutant plants. These plants had brittle leaves and cell walls of leaves had less galacturonic acid. Resistance to specific Botrytis cinerea isolates was also compromised in gae1 gae6 double mutant plants. Although oligogalacturonide (OG)-induced immune signaling was unaltered in gae1 gae6 mutant plants, immune signaling induced by a commercial pectinase, macerozyme, was reduced. Macerozyme treatment or infection with B. cinerea released less soluble uronic acid, likely reflecting fewer OGs, from gae1 gae6 cell walls than from wild-type Col-0. Although both OGs and macerozyme-induced immunity to B. cinerea in Col-0, only OGs also induced immunity in gae1 gae6. Pectin is thus an important contributor to plant immunity, and this is due at least in part to the induction of immune responses by soluble pectin, likely OGs, that are released during plant-pathogen interactions. PMID:26813622

Effects of forage family on apparent ruminal synthesis of B vitamins in lactating dairy cows.

PubMed

Castagnino, D S; Seck, M; Beaudet, V; Kammes, K L; Linton, J A Voelker; Allen, M S; Gervais, R; Chouinard, P Y; Girard, C L

2016-03-01

Effects of forage family (legume vs. grass) on apparent ruminal synthesis (ARS) and postruminal supply of B vitamins were evaluated in 2 experiments. Diets containing either alfalfa (AL) or orchardgrass (OG) silages as the sole forage were offered to ruminally and duodenally cannulated lactating Holstein cows in crossover design experiments. Experiment 1 compared diets containing AL and OG [~23% forage neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and ~27% total NDF] offered to 8 cows in two 15-d treatment periods. Experiment 2 compared diets containing AL and OG (~25% forage NDF and ~30% total NDF) offered to 13 cows in two 18-d treatment periods. Thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, folates, and vitamin B12 were analyzed in feeds and duodenal digesta. Apparent ruminal synthesis was calculated as the duodenal flow of each vitamin minus its intake. Forage family affected B vitamin intakes, duodenal flow, and ARS. In both experiments, AL diets increased vitamin B6 and decreased folate intakes. In experiment 1, riboflavin and niacin intakes were greater with the OG diet, whereas in experiment 2 thiamin intake was greater but riboflavin intake was smaller with the OG diet. In spite of the low contribution of either silage to the dietary folate content, folate intake was greater with OG diets than AL due to the difference in soybean meal contribution between diets. Niacin and folate ARS were not affected by the forage family. Duodenal microbial nitrogen flow was positively correlated with ARS of riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, folates, and vitamin B12, but tended to be negatively correlated with thiamin ARS. Apparent ruminal synthesis of folates and vitamin B12 appear to be related to microbial biomass activity. Changes in nutrient composition of the diets likely affected the microbial population in the rumen and their B vitamin metabolism. Copyright © 2016 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Long-term Outcomes of Laparoscopic Versus Open Surgery for Clinical Stage II/III Gastric Cancer: A Multicenter Cohort Study in Japan (LOC-A Study).

PubMed

Kinoshita, Takahiro; Uyama, Ichiro; Terashima, Masanori; Noshiro, Hirokazu; Nagai, Eishi; Obama, Kazutaka; Tamamori, Yutaka; Nabae, Toshinaga; Honda, Michitaka; Abe, Takayuki

2018-04-24

A large-scale multicenter historical cohort study was conducted to investigate the efficacy of laparoscopic gastrectomy (LG) in comparison to open gastrectomy (OG) for locally advanced gastric cancer. LG is now practiced widely, but its applicability for advanced gastric cancer is still controversial. As oncologic outcomes of randomized trials are still pending, there is an urgent need for information that would be relevant to current practice. Through a consensus meeting involving surgeons and biostatisticians, 30 preoperative variables possibly influencing the choice of surgical approach and associated with outcome were identified to enable rigorous estimation of propensity scores. A total of 1948 consecutive patients who underwent gastrectomy for clinical stage II/III gastric adenocarcinoma between 2008 and 2014 were identified, and their clinical data were collected from 8 participating hospitals. After propensity score matching, 610 cases (OG = 305, LG = 305) were finally selected for comparison of long-term outcomes. In the propensity-matched OG and LG populations, the mean observation period was 3.5 and 3.4 years, and the 5-year overall survival was 53.0% and 54.2%, respectively. The hazard ratio (LG/OG) for overall survival was 1.01 (95% confidence interval, 0.80-1.29), and noninferiority of LG was demonstrated statistically as the upper 95% confidence limit was less than the prespecified margin (1.33). The recurrence rate was 30.8% and 29.8% for OG and LG, respectively, and the hazard ratio for recurrence was 0.98 (95% confidence interval, 0.74-1.31). The patterns of recurrence in the 2 groups were similar. This observational study strictly adjusted for confounding factors has provided evidence to suggest that LG is oncologically comparable to OG for locally advanced gastric cancer. The validity of this result will be examined in ongoing randomized trials.

Analysis of a long-term measurement of air pollutants (2007-2011) in North China Plain (NCP); Impact of emission reduction during the Beijing Olympic Games.

PubMed

Xu, Ruiguang; Tang, Guiqian; Wang, Yuesi; Tie, Xuexi

2016-09-01

Five years measurements were used to evaluate the effect of emission controls on the changes of air pollutants in Beijing and its surroundings in the NCP during 2008 Olympic Games (2008OG). The major challenge of this study was to filter out the effect of variability of meteorological conditions, when compared the air pollutants during the game to non-game period. We used four-year (2007, 2009-2011) average as the Non-2008OG to smooth the temporal variability caused by meteorological parameters. To study the spatial variability and regional transport, 6 sites (urban, rural, a mega city, a heavy industrial city, and a remote site) were selected. The result showed that the annually meteorological variability was significantly reduced. Such as, in BJ the differences between 2008OG and 5-years averaged values were 2.7% for relative humidity and 0.6% for wind speed. As a result, the anomaly of air pollutants between 2008OG and Non-2008OG can largely attribute to the emission control. The comparison showed that the major pollutants (PM10, PM2.5, NO, NOx) at the 6 sites in 2008OG were consistently lowered. For example, PM2.5 in BJ decreased from 75 to 45 μg/m(3) (40% reduction). However, the emission controls had minor effect on O3 concentrations (1% reduction). In contrast, the O3 precursor (NOx) reduced from 19.7 to 13.2 ppb (33% reduction). The in-sensitivity between NOx and O3 suggested that the O3 formation was under VOCs control condition in NCP, showing that strong VOC emission control is needed in order to significantly reduce O3 concentration in the region. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

EviNet: a web platform for network enrichment analysis with flexible definition of gene sets.

PubMed

Jeggari, Ashwini; Alekseenko, Zhanna; Petrov, Iurii; Dias, José M; Ericson, Johan; Alexeyenko, Andrey

2018-06-09

The new web resource EviNet provides an easily run interface to network enrichment analysis for exploration of novel, experimentally defined gene sets. The major advantages of this analysis are (i) applicability to any genes found in the global network rather than only to those with pathway/ontology term annotations, (ii) ability to connect genes via different molecular mechanisms rather than within one high-throughput platform, and (iii) statistical power sufficient to detect enrichment of very small sets, down to individual genes. The users' gene sets are either defined prior to upload or derived interactively from an uploaded file by differential expression criteria. The pathways and networks used in the analysis can be chosen from the collection menu. The calculation is typically done within seconds or minutes and the stable URL is provided immediately. The results are presented in both visual (network graphs) and tabular formats using jQuery libraries. Uploaded data and analysis results are kept in separated project directories not accessible by other users. EviNet is available at https://www.evinet.org/.

The Israel DNA database--the establishment of a rapid, semi-automated analysis system.

PubMed

Zamir, Ashira; Dell'Ariccia-Carmon, Aviva; Zaken, Neomi; Oz, Carla

2012-03-01

The Israel Police DNA database, also known as IPDIS (Israel Police DNA Index System), has been operating since February 2007. During that time more than 135,000 reference samples have been uploaded and more than 2000 hits reported. We have developed an effective semi-automated system that includes two automated punchers, three liquid handler robots and four genetic analyzers. An inhouse LIMS program enables full tracking of every sample through the entire process of registration, pre-PCR handling, analysis of profiles, uploading to the database, hit reports and ultimately storage. The LIMS is also responsible for the future tracking of samples and their profiles to be expunged from the database according to the Israeli DNA legislation. The database is administered by an in-house developed software program, where reference and evidentiary profiles are uploaded, stored, searched and matched. The DNA database has proven to be an effective investigative tool which has gained the confidence of the Israeli public and on which the Israel National Police force has grown to rely. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

OpenGeoSys-GEMS: Hybrid parallelization of a reactive transport code with MPI and threads

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kosakowski, G.; Kulik, D. A.; Shao, H.

2012-04-01

OpenGeoSys-GEMS is a generic purpose reactive transport code based on the operator splitting approach. The code couples the Finite-Element groundwater flow and multi-species transport modules of the OpenGeoSys (OGS) project (http://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=18345) with the GEM-Selektor research package to model thermodynamic equilibrium of aquatic (geo)chemical systems utilizing the Gibbs Energy Minimization approach (http://gems.web.psi.ch/). The combination of OGS and the GEM-Selektor kernel (GEMS3K) is highly flexible due to the object-oriented modular code structures and the well defined (memory based) data exchange modules. Like other reactive transport codes, the practical applicability of OGS-GEMS is often hampered by the long calculation time and large memory requirements. • For realistic geochemical systems which might include dozens of mineral phases and several (non-ideal) solid solutions the time needed to solve the chemical system with GEMS3K may increase exceptionally. • The codes are coupled in a sequential non-iterative loop. In order to keep the accuracy, the time step size is restricted. In combination with a fine spatial discretization the time step size may become very small which increases calculation times drastically even for small 1D problems. • The current version of OGS is not optimized for memory use and the MPI version of OGS does not distribute data between nodes. Even for moderately small 2D problems the number of MPI processes that fit into memory of up-to-date workstations or HPC hardware is limited. One strategy to overcome the above mentioned restrictions of OGS-GEMS is to parallelize the coupled code. For OGS a parallelized version already exists. It is based on a domain decomposition method implemented with MPI and provides a parallel solver for fluid and mass transport processes. In the coupled code, after solving fluid flow and solute transport, geochemical calculations are done in form of a central loop over all finite element nodes with calls to GEMS3K and consecutive calculations of changed material parameters. In a first step the existing MPI implementation was utilized to parallelize this loop. Calculations were split between the MPI processes and afterwards data was synchronized by using MPI communication routines. Furthermore, multi-threaded calculation of the loop was implemented with help of the boost thread library (http://www.boost.org). This implementation provides a flexible environment to distribute calculations between several threads. For each MPI process at least one and up to several dozens of worker threads are spawned. These threads do not replicate the complete OGS-GEM data structure and use only a limited amount of memory. Calculation of the central geochemical loop is shared between all threads. Synchronization between the threads is done by barrier commands. The overall number of local threads times MPI processes should match the number of available computing nodes. The combination of multi-threading and MPI provides an effective and flexible environment to speed up OGS-GEMS calculations while limiting the required memory use. Test calculations on different hardware show that for certain types of applications tremendous speedups are possible.

Physical characteristics of Comet Nucleus C/2001 OG 108 (LONEOS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abell, Paul A.; Fernández, Yanga R.; Pravec, Petr; French, Linda M.; Farnham, Tony L.; Gaffey, Michael J.; Hardersen, Paul S.; Kušnirák, Peter; Šarounová, Lenka; Sheppard, Scott S.; Narayan, Gautham

2005-12-01

A detailed description of the Halley-type Comet C/2001 OG 108 (LONEOS) has been derived from visible, near-infrared, and mid-infrared observations obtained in October and November 2001. These data represent the first high-quality ground-based observations of a bare Halley-type comet nucleus and provide the best characterization of a Halley-type comet other than 1P/Halley itself. Analysis of time series photometry suggests that the nucleus has a rotation period of 57.2±0.5 h with a minimum nuclear axial ratio of 1.3, a phase-darkening slope parameter G of -0.01±0.10, and an estimated H=13.05±0.10. The rotation period of C/2001 OG 108 is one of the longest observed among comet nuclei. The V- R color index for this object is measured to be 0.46±0.02, which is virtually identical to that of other cometary nuclei and other possible extinct comet candidates. Measurements of the comet's thermal emission constrain the projected elliptical nuclear radii to be 9.6±1.0 km and 7.4±1.0 km, which makes C/2001 OG 108 one of the larger cometary nuclei known. The derived geometric albedo in V-band of 0.040±0.010 is typical for comet nuclei. Visible-wavelength spectrophotometry and near-infrared spectroscopy were combined to derive the nucleus's reflectance spectrum over a 0.4 to 2.5 μm wavelength range. These measurements represent one of the few nuclear spectra ever observed and the only known spectrum of a Halley-type comet. The spectrum of this comet nucleus is very nearly linear and shows no discernable absorption features at a 5% detection limit. The lack of any features, especially in the 0.8 to 1.0 μm range such as are seen in the spectra of carbonaceous chondrite meteorites and many low-albedo asteroids, is consistent with the presence of anhydrous rather than hydrous silicates on the surface of this comet. None of the currently recognized meteorites in the terrestrial collections have reflectance spectra that match C/2001 OG 108. The near-infrared spectrum, the geometric albedo, and the visible spectrophotometry all indicate that C/2001 OG 108 has spectral properties analogous to the D-type, and possibly P-type asteroids. Comparison of the measured albedo and diameter of C/2001 OG 108 with those of Damocloid asteroids reveals similarities between these asteroids and this comet nucleus, a finding which supports previous dynamical arguments that Damocloid asteroids could be composed of cometary-like materials. These observations are also consistent with findings that two Jupiter-family comets may have spectral signatures indicative of D-type asteroids. C/2001 OG 108 probably represents the transition from a typical active comet to an extinct cometary nucleus, and, as a Halley-type comet, suggests that some comets originating in the Oort cloud can become extinct without disintegrating. As a near-Earth object, C/2001 OG 108 supports the suggestion that some fraction of the near-Earth asteroid population consists of extinct cometary nuclei.

From Black Power to Hip-Hop: Jeffrey O.G. Ogbar

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smiles, Robin V.

2005-01-01

While history for most conjures up images of places and experiences far removed, for Dr. Jeffrey O.G. Ogbar, the field provides a "wonderful medium" to illuminate contemporary issues as well. Much of Ogbar's current research centers on events occurring in the latter half of the 20th century, such as the civil rights and Black power…

Reading and Spelling Gains Following One Year of Orton-Gillingham Intervention in Singaporean Students with Dyslexia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lim, Lois; Oei, Adam C.

2015-01-01

Despite the widespread use of Orton-Gillingham (OG) based approaches to dyslexia remediation, empirical support documenting its effectiveness is lacking. Recently, Chia and Houghton demonstrated the effectiveness of the OG approach for remediation of dyslexia in Singapore. As a conceptual replication and extension of that research, we report…

Vertical stratification of soil water storage and release dynamics in Pacific Northwest coniferous forests.

Treesearch

J.M. Warren; F.C. Meinzer; J.R. Brooks; J.C. Domec

2005-01-01

We characterized vertical variation in the seasonal release of stored soil moisture in old-growth ponderosa pine (OG-PP, xeric), and young and old-growth Douglas-fir (Y-DF, OG-DF, mesic) forests to evaluate changes in water availability for root uptake. Soil water potential (ψ) and volumetric water content (θ...

40 CFR 432.125 - New source performance standards (NSPS).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... BOD5 26 16 Fecal Coliform (2) (3) O&G (as HEM) 14 8.0 TSS 30 20 1 mg/L (ppm). 2 Maximum of 400 MPN or... Ammonia (as N) 8.0 4.0 BOD5 26 16 Fecal Coliform (2) (3) O&G (as HEM) 14 8.0 TSS 30 20 Total Nitrogen 147...

40 CFR 432.115 - New source performance standards (NSPS).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Coliform ( 2 ) ( 3 ) O&G (as HEM) 14 8.0 TSS 30 20 1 mg/L (ppm). 2 Maximum of 400 MPN or CFU per 100 mL at... Coliform (2) (3) O&G (as HEM) 14 8.0 TSS 30 20 Total Nitrogen 147 103 1 mg/L (ppm). 2 Maximum of 400 MPN or...

40 CFR 432.72 - Effluent limitations attainable by the application of the best practicable control technology...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... BOD5 0.56 0.28 Fecal Coliform (2) (3) O&G 4 0.20 0.10 TSS 0.68 0.34 1 Pounds per 1000 lbs (or g/kg) of... million pounds per year of finished products must achieve the limitations for BOD5, fecal coliform, O&G...

40 CFR 432.125 - New source performance standards (NSPS).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... BOD5 26 16 Fecal Coliform (2) (3) O&G (as HEM) 14 8.0 TSS 30 20 1 mg/L (ppm). 2 Maximum of 400 MPN or... Ammonia (as N) 8.0 4.0 BOD5 26 16 Fecal Coliform (2) (3) O&G (as HEM) 14 8.0 TSS 30 20 Total Nitrogen 147...

40 CFR 432.115 - New source performance standards (NSPS).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Coliform ( 2 ) ( 3 ) O&G (as HEM) 14 8.0 TSS 30 20 1 mg/L (ppm). 2 Maximum of 400 MPN or CFU per 100 mL at... Coliform (2) (3) O&G (as HEM) 14 8.0 TSS 30 20 Total Nitrogen 147 103 1 mg/L (ppm). 2 Maximum of 400 MPN or...

Regulation of nitrate assimilation in cyanobacteria.

PubMed

Ohashi, Yoshitake; Shi, Wei; Takatani, Nobuyuki; Aichi, Makiko; Maeda, Shin-ichi; Watanabe, Satoru; Yoshikawa, Hirofumi; Omata, Tatsuo

2011-02-01

Nitrate assimilation by cyanobacteria is inhibited by the presence of ammonium in the growth medium. Both nitrate uptake and transcription of the nitrate assimilatory genes are regulated. The major intracellular signal for the regulation is, however, not ammonium or glutamine, but 2-oxoglutarate (2-OG), whose concentration changes according to the change in cellular C/N balance. When nitrogen is limiting growth, accumulation of 2-OG activates the transcription factor NtcA to induce transcription of the nitrate assimilation genes. Ammonium inhibits transcription by quickly depleting the 2-OG pool through its metabolism via the glutamine synthetase/glutamate synthase cycle. The P(II) protein inhibits the ABC-type nitrate transporter, and also nitrate reductase in some strains, by an unknown mechanism(s) when the cellular 2-OG level is low. Upon nitrogen limitation, 2-OG binds to P(II) to prevent the protein from inhibiting nitrate assimilation. A pathway-specific transcriptional regulator NtcB activates the nitrate assimilation genes in response to nitrite, either added to the medium or generated intracellularly by nitrate reduction. It plays an important role in selective activation of the nitrate assimilation pathway during growth under a limited supply of nitrate. P(II) was recently shown to regulate the activity of NtcA negatively by binding to PipX, a small coactivator protein of NtcA. On the basis of accumulating genome information from a variety of cyanobacteria and the molecular genetic data obtained from the representative strains, common features and group- or species-specific characteristics of the response of cyanobacteria to nitrogen is summarized and discussed in terms of ecophysiological significance.

Therapeutic potential of octyl gallate isolated from fruits of Terminalia bellerica in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.

PubMed

Latha, R Cecily Rosemary; Daisy, P

2013-06-01

Medicinal plants are a potential source of antidiabetic drugs. Terminalia bellerica Roxb. (Combretaceae) is used in Indian traditional systems of medicine to treat diabetes mellitus. The aim of this study was to isolate and identify antihyperglycemic principle(s) from the fruits of T. bellerica and assess the bioactivity in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. Bioassay-guided fractionation was followed to isolate the active compound(s), structure was elucidated using (1)H and (13)C NMR, IR and mass spectrometry and administered intragastrically to diabetic Wistar rats at different doses (5, 10 and 20 mg/kg, body weight) for 28 d. Plasma glucose, insulin, C-peptide and other biochemical parameters were studied. Octyl gallate (OG) isolated first time from the fruit rind of T. bellerica significantly (p < 0.05) reduced plasma glucose to near normal values (108.47 ± 6.9 mg/dl) after 14 d at the dose of 20 mg/kg. In addition, OG significantly increased plasma insulin, C-peptide, total protein, albumin, tissue glycogen, body weight and markedly decreased serum total cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL-cholesterol, urea, uric acid and creatinine in diabetic rats. Also OG restored the altered regulatory enzymes of carbohydrate metabolism. OG might have augmented the secretion of insulin by the modulation of cAMP and intracellular calcium levels in the β cells of the pancreas. Our findings indicate that OG isolated first time from the fruit rind of T. bellerica has potential antidiabetic effect as it augments insulin secretion and normalizes the altered biochemical parameters in experimental diabetic rat models.

Evidence for the Slow Reaction of Hypoxia-Inducible Factor Prolyl Hydroxylase 2 with Oxygen

PubMed Central

Flashman, Emily; Hoffart, Lee M.; Hamed, Refaat B.; Bollinger, J. Martin; Krebs, Carsten; Schofield, Christopher J.

2010-01-01

SUMMARY The response of animals to hypoxia is mediated by the hypoxia-inducible transcription factor (HIF). Human HIF is regulated by four Fe(II) and 2-oxoglutarate (2OG) dependent oxygenases: Prolyl hydroxylase domain enzymes (PHDs or EGLNs) 1–3 catalyse hydroxylation of two prolyl-residues in HIF, triggering its degradation by the proteasome. Factor inhibiting HIF (FIH) catalyses hydroxylation of an asparagine-residue in HIF, inhibiting its transcriptional activity. Collectively, the HIF hydroxylases negatively regulate HIF in response to increasing oxygen concentration. Prolyl hydroxylase domain 2 (PHD2) is the most important oxygen sensor in human cells; however the underlying kinetic basis of the oxygen sensing function of PHD2 is unclear. We report analyses of the reaction of PHD2 with oxygen. Chemical quench/mass spectrometry experiments showed that reaction of a complex of PHD2, Fe(II), 2OG and the C-terminal oxygen-dependent degradation domain of HIF-α (CODD) with oxygen to form hydroxylated CODD and succinate is much slower (~100 fold) than for other similarly studied 2OG oxygenases. Stopped flow/UV-visible spectroscopy experiments showed that the reaction produces a relatively stable species absorbing at 320nm; Mössbauer spectroscopic experiments implied that this species is likely not a Fe(IV)=O intermediate, as observed for other 2OG oxygenases. Overall the results suggest that, at least compared to other studied 2OG oxygenases, PHD2 reacts relatively slowly with oxygen, a property that may be associated with its function as an oxygen sensor. PMID:20840591

Enhanced treatment of waste frying oil in an activated sludge system by addition of crude rhamnolipid solution.

PubMed

Zhang, Hongzi; Xiang, Hai; Zhang, Guoliang; Cao, Xia; Meng, Qing

2009-08-15

The presence of high-strength oil and grease (O&G) in wastewater poses serious challenges for environment. Addition of surfactant into the activated sludge bioreactor is feasible in reducing high concentrations of O&G via enhancing its bioavailability. In this paper, an aqueous biosurfactant solution of rhamnolipid as a cell-free culture broth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa zju.um1 was added into a batch of aerobic activated sludge system for treatment of the waste frying oil. This treatment was conducted on both bench and pilot-scales, whereas the removal efficiency of frying oil was determined by analyzing the residue concentration of O&G and chemical oxygen demand (COD). In the presence of varying concentrations of rhamnolipid from 22.5 mg/L to 90 mg/L, aerobic treatment for 30 h was enough to remove over 93% of O&G while this biodegradability was only 10% in the control system with the absence of rhamnolipids. The equivalent biodegradability was similarly obtained on COD under addition of rhamnolipid. Compared with bench studies, a higher treatment efficiency with the presence of rhamnolipids was achieved on a pilot-scale of activated sludge system, in which a short time of 12h was required for removing approximately 95% of O&G while the control treatment attained a low efficiency of 17%. Finally, foaming and biodegradability of rhamnolipids in activated sludge system were further examined in the whole treatment process. It seems that the addition of rhamnolipid-containing culture broth showed great potential for treatment of oily wastewater by activated sludge.

Modeled Oil and Gas Atmospheric Impacts in National Parks and Wilderness Areas in the Western US

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thompson, T. M.; Barna, M. G.; Schichtel, B. A.; Vimont, J.; Moore, C. T.

2014-12-01

Oil and gas production in the Western United States has increased considerably over the past 10 years. While many of the still limited oil and gas impact assessments have focused on potential human health impacts, the typically remote locations of production in the Intermountain West suggests that the impacts of oil and gas production on national parks and wilderness areas (class 1&2 areas) could also be important. To evaluate this, we utilize the Comprehensive Air quality Model with Extensions (CAMx) with two year-long modeling episodes representing 2008 and 2011, meteorology and emissions. The model inputs for the 2008 and 2011 episodes were generated as part of the West-wide Jump-start Air Quality Modeling Study (WestJumpAQMS) and Three State Air Quality Study (3SAQS) respectively. Both studies included a detailed assessment of oil and gas (O&G) emissions in Western States for the respective years. Each year-long modeling episode was run both with and without emissions from O&G production. The difference between these two runs provides an estimate of the contribution of the O&G production to air quality. These data were used to assess the contribution of O&G to the 8 hour average ozone concentrations, daily and annual fine particulate concentrations, annual nitrogen deposition totals and visibility in the modeling domain. We present the results for the class 1&2 areas in the Western US. We also present temporal trends of O&G impacts, differentiating between trends in urban and rural areas.

Plant immunity triggered by engineered in vivo release of oligogalacturonides, damage-associated molecular patterns.

PubMed

Benedetti, Manuel; Pontiggia, Daniela; Raggi, Sara; Cheng, Zhenyu; Scaloni, Flavio; Ferrari, Simone; Ausubel, Frederick M; Cervone, Felice; De Lorenzo, Giulia

2015-04-28

Oligogalacturonides (OGs) are fragments of pectin that activate plant innate immunity by functioning as damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs). We set out to test the hypothesis that OGs are generated in planta by partial inhibition of pathogen-encoded polygalacturonases (PGs). A gene encoding a fungal PG was fused with a gene encoding a plant polygalacturonase-inhibiting protein (PGIP) and expressed in transgenic Arabidopsis plants. We show that expression of the PGIP-PG chimera results in the in vivo production of OGs that can be detected by mass spectrometric analysis. Transgenic plants expressing the chimera under control of a pathogen-inducible promoter are more resistant to the phytopathogens Botrytis cinerea, Pectobacterium carotovorum, and Pseudomonas syringae. These data provide strong evidence for the hypothesis that OGs released in vivo act as a DAMP signal to trigger plant immunity and suggest that controlled release of these molecules upon infection may be a valuable tool to protect plants against infectious diseases. On the other hand, elevated levels of expression of the chimera cause the accumulation of salicylic acid, reduced growth, and eventually lead to plant death, consistent with the current notion that trade-off occurs between growth and defense.

α decay properties of 297Og within the two-potential approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Jun-Gang; Cheng, Jun-Hao; Zheng, Bo; Li, Xiao-Hua

2017-12-01

The α decay half-life of the unknown nucleus 297Og is predicted within the two-potential approach, and α preformation probabilities of 64 odd-A nuclei in the region of proton numbers 82 < Z < 126 and neutron numbers 152 < N < 184, from 251Cf to 295Og, are extracted. In addition, based on the latest experimental data, a new set of parameters for α preformation probabilities considering the shell effect and proton-neutron interaction are obtained. The predicted α decay half-life of 297Og is 0.16 ms within a factor of 4.97. The predicted spin and parity of the ground states for 269Sg, 285Fl and 293Lv are 3/2+, 3/2+ and 5/2+, respectively. Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (11205083, 11505100), Construct Program of the Key Discipline in Hunan Province, the Research Foundation of Education Bureau of Hunan Province, China (15A159), the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province, China (2015JJ3103, 2015JJ2121), the Innovation Group of Nuclear and Particle Physics in USC, the Shandong Province Natural Science Foundation, China (ZR2015AQ007) and Hunan Provincial Innovation Foundation For Postgraduate (CX2017B536)

Regulation of GPR119 receptor activity with endocannabinoid-like lipids.

PubMed

Syed, Samreen K; Bui, Hai Hoang; Beavers, Lisa S; Farb, Thomas B; Ficorilli, James; Chesterfield, Amy K; Kuo, Ming-Shang; Bokvist, Krister; Barrett, David G; Efanov, Alexander M

2012-12-15

The GPR119 receptor plays an important role in the secretion of incretin hormones in response to nutrient consumption. We have studied the ability of an array of naturally occurring endocannabinoid-like lipids to activate GPR119 and have identified several lipid receptor agonists. The most potent receptor agonists identified were three N-acylethanolamines: oleoylethanolamine (OEA), palmitoleoylethanolamine, and linoleylethanolamine (LEA), all of which displayed similar potency in activating GPR119. Another lipid, 2-oleoylglycerol (2-OG), also activated GPR119 receptor but with significantly lower potency. Endogenous levels of endocannabinoid-like lipids were measured in intestine in fasted and refed mice. Of the lipid GPR119 agonists studied, the intestinal levels of only OEA, LEA, and 2-OG increased significantly upon refeeding. Intestinal levels of OEA and LEA in the fasted mice were low. In the fed state, OEA levels only moderately increased, whereas LEA levels rose drastically. 2-OG was the most abundant of the three GPR119 agonists in intestine, and its levels were radically elevated in fed mice. Our data suggest that, in lean mice, 2-OG and LEA may serve as physiologically relevant endogenous GPR119 agonists that mediate receptor activation upon nutrient uptake.

Plant immunity triggered by engineered in vivo release of oligogalacturonides, damage-associated molecular patterns

PubMed Central

Benedetti, Manuel; Pontiggia, Daniela; Raggi, Sara; Cheng, Zhenyu; Scaloni, Flavio; Ferrari, Simone; Ausubel, Frederick M.; Cervone, Felice; De Lorenzo, Giulia

2015-01-01

Oligogalacturonides (OGs) are fragments of pectin that activate plant innate immunity by functioning as damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs). We set out to test the hypothesis that OGs are generated in planta by partial inhibition of pathogen-encoded polygalacturonases (PGs). A gene encoding a fungal PG was fused with a gene encoding a plant polygalacturonase-inhibiting protein (PGIP) and expressed in transgenic Arabidopsis plants. We show that expression of the PGIP–PG chimera results in the in vivo production of OGs that can be detected by mass spectrometric analysis. Transgenic plants expressing the chimera under control of a pathogen-inducible promoter are more resistant to the phytopathogens Botrytis cinerea, Pectobacterium carotovorum, and Pseudomonas syringae. These data provide strong evidence for the hypothesis that OGs released in vivo act as a DAMP signal to trigger plant immunity and suggest that controlled release of these molecules upon infection may be a valuable tool to protect plants against infectious diseases. On the other hand, elevated levels of expression of the chimera cause the accumulation of salicylic acid, reduced growth, and eventually lead to plant death, consistent with the current notion that trade-off occurs between growth and defense. PMID:25870275

YouTube as a source of patient information on gallstone disease.

PubMed

Lee, Jun Suh; Seo, Ho Seok; Hong, Tae Ho

2014-04-14

To investigate the quality of YouTube videos on gallstone disease and to assess viewer response according to quality. A YouTube search was performed on September 18, 2013, using the keywords ''gallbladder disease'', ''gallstone disease'', and ''gallstone treatment''. Three researchers assessed the source, length, number of views, number of likes, and days since upload. The upload source was categorised as physician or hospital (PH), medical website or TV channel, commercial website (CW), or civilian. A usefulness score was devised to assess video quality and to categorise the videos into ''very useful'', ''useful'', ''slightly useful'', or ''not useful''. Videos with misleading content were categorised as ''misleading''. One hundred and thirty-one videos were analysed. Seventy-four videos (56.5%) were misleading, 36 (27.5%) were slightly useful, 15 (11.5%) were useful, three (2.3%) were very useful, and three (2.3%) were not useful. The number of mean likes (1.3 ± 1.5 vs 17.2 ± 38.0, P = 0.007) and number of views (756.3 ± 701.0 vs 8910.7 ± 17094.7, P = 0.001) were both significantly lower in the very useful group compared with the misleading group. All three very useful videos were PH videos. Among the 74 misleading videos, 64 (86.5%) were uploaded by a CW. There was no correlation between usefulness and the number of views, the number of likes, or the length. The "gallstone flush" was the method advocated most frequently by misleading videos (25.7%). More than half of the YouTube videos on gallstone disease are misleading. Credible videos uploaded by medical professionals and filtering by the staff of YouTube appear to be necessary.

Critical care procedure logging using handheld computers

PubMed Central

Carlos Martinez-Motta, J; Walker, Robin; Stewart, Thomas E; Granton, John; Abrahamson, Simon; Lapinsky, Stephen E

2004-01-01

Introduction We conducted this study to evaluate the feasibility of implementing an internet-linked handheld computer procedure logging system in a critical care training program. Methods Subspecialty trainees in the Interdepartmental Division of Critical Care at the University of Toronto received and were trained in the use of Palm handheld computers loaded with a customized program for logging critical care procedures. The procedures were entered into the handheld device using checkboxes and drop-down lists, and data were uploaded to a central database via the internet. To evaluate the feasibility of this system, we tracked the utilization of this data collection system. Benefits and disadvantages were assessed through surveys. Results All 11 trainees successfully uploaded data to the central database, but only six (55%) continued to upload data on a regular basis. The most common reason cited for not using the system pertained to initial technical problems with data uploading. From 1 July 2002 to 30 June 2003, a total of 914 procedures were logged. Significant variability was noted in the number of procedures logged by individual trainees (range 13–242). The database generated by regular users provided potentially useful information to the training program director regarding the scope and location of procedural training among the different rotations and hospitals. Conclusion A handheld computer procedure logging system can be effectively used in a critical care training program. However, user acceptance was not uniform, and continued training and support are required to increase user acceptance. Such a procedure database may provide valuable information that may be used to optimize trainees' educational experience and to document clinical training experience for licensing and accreditation. PMID:15469577

Are YouTube videos accurate and reliable on basic life support and cardiopulmonary resuscitation?

PubMed

Yaylaci, Serpil; Serinken, Mustafa; Eken, Cenker; Karcioglu, Ozgur; Yilmaz, Atakan; Elicabuk, Hayri; Dal, Onur

2014-10-01

The objective of this study is to investigate reliability and accuracy of the information on YouTube videos related to CPR and BLS in accord with 2010 CPR guidelines. YouTube was queried using four search terms 'CPR', 'cardiopulmonary resuscitation', 'BLS' and 'basic life support' between 2011 and 2013. Sources that uploaded the videos, the record time, the number of viewers in the study period, inclusion of human or manikins were recorded. The videos were rated if they displayed the correct order of resuscitative efforts in full accord with 2010 CPR guidelines or not. Two hundred and nine videos meeting the inclusion criteria after the search in YouTube with four search terms ('CPR', 'cardiopulmonary resuscitation', 'BLS' and 'basic life support') comprised the study sample subjected to the analysis. Median score of the videos is 5 (IQR: 3.5-6). Only 11.5% (n = 24) of the videos were found to be compatible with 2010 CPR guidelines with regard to sequence of interventions. Videos uploaded by 'Guideline bodies' had significantly higher rates of download when compared with the videos uploaded by other sources. Sources of the videos and date of upload (year) were not shown to have any significant effect on the scores received (P = 0.615 and 0.513, respectively). The videos' number of downloads did not differ according to the videos compatible with the guidelines (P = 0.832). The videos downloaded more than 10,000 times had a higher score than the others (P = 0.001). The majority of You-Tube video clips purporting to be about CPR are not relevant educational material. Of those that are focused on teaching CPR, only a small minority optimally meet the 2010 Resucitation Guidelines. © 2014 Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and Australasian Society for Emergency Medicine.

A new overgrowth syndrome is due to mutations in RNF125.

PubMed

Tenorio, Jair; Mansilla, Alicia; Valencia, María; Martínez-Glez, Víctor; Romanelli, Valeria; Arias, Pedro; Castrejón, Nerea; Poletta, Fernando; Guillén-Navarro, Encarna; Gordo, Gema; Mansilla, Elena; García-Santiago, Fé; González-Casado, Isabel; Vallespín, Elena; Palomares, María; Mori, María A; Santos-Simarro, Fernando; García-Miñaur, Sixto; Fernández, Luis; Mena, Rocío; Benito-Sanz, Sara; del Pozo, Ángela; Silla, Juan Carlos; Ibañez, Kristina; López-Granados, Eduardo; Martín-Trujillo, Alex; Montaner, David; Heath, Karen E; Campos-Barros, Ángel; Dopazo, Joaquín; Nevado, Julián; Monk, David; Ruiz-Pérez, Víctor L; Lapunzina, Pablo

2014-12-01

Overgrowth syndromes (OGS) are a group of disorders in which all parameters of growth and physical development are above the mean for age and sex. We evaluated a series of 270 families from the Spanish Overgrowth Syndrome Registry with no known OGS. We identified one de novo deletion and three missense mutations in RNF125 in six patients from four families with overgrowth, macrocephaly, intellectual disability, mild hydrocephaly, hypoglycemia, and inflammatory diseases resembling Sjögren syndrome. RNF125 encodes an E3 ubiquitin ligase and is a novel gene of OGS. Our studies of the RNF125 pathway point to upregulation of RIG-I-IPS1-MDA5 and/or disruption of the PI3K-AKT and interferon signaling pathways as the putative final effectors. © 2014 WILEY PERIODICALS, INC.

Hubble Space Telescope Reduced-Gyro Control Law Design, Implementation, and On-Orbit Performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clapp, Brian R.; Ramsey, Patrick R.; Wirzburger, John H.; Smith, Daniel C.; VanArsadall, John C.

2008-01-01

Following gyro failures in April 2001 and April 2003, HST Pointing Control System engineers designed reduced-gyro control laws to extend the spacecraft science mission. The Two-Gyro Science (TGS) and One-Gyro Science (OGS) control laws were designed and implemented using magnetometers, star trackers, and Fine Guidance Sensors in succession to control vehicle rate about the missing gyro axes. Both TGS and OGS have demonstrated on-orbit pointing stability of 7 milli-arcseconds or less, which depends upon the guide star magnitude used by the Fine Guidance Sensor. This paper describes the design, implementation, and on-orbit performance of the TGS and OGS control law fine-pointing modes using Fixed Head Star Trackers and Fine Guidance Sensors, after successfully achieving coarse-pointing control using magnetometers.

Land use and land management effects on soil organic carbon stock in Mediterranean agricultural areas (Southern Spain)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parras-Alcántara, Luis; Lozano-García, Beatriz

2014-05-01

INTRODUCTION Soils play a key role in the carbon geochemical cycle. Agriculture contributes to carbon sequestration through photosynthesis and the incorporation of carbon into carbohydrates. Soil management is one of the best tools for climate change mitigation. Small increases or decreases in soil carbon content due to changes in land use or management practices, may result in a significant net exchange of carbon between the soil carbon pool and the atmosphere. In the last decades arable crops (AC) have been transformed into olive grove cultivations (OG) or vineyards (V) in Mediterranean areas. A field study was conducted to determine long-term effects of land use change (LUC) (AC by OG and V) on soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), C:N ratio and their stratification in Calcic-Chromic Luvisols (LVcc/cr) in Mediterranean conditions. MATERIAL AND METHODS An unirrigated farm in Montilla-Moriles (Córdoba, Spain) cultivated under conventional tillage (animal power with lightweight reversible plows and non-mineral fertilization or pesticides) was selected for study in 1965. In 1966, the farm was divided into three plots with three different uses (AC, OG and V). The preliminary analyses were realized in 1965 for AC (AC1), and the second analyses were realized in 2011 for AC (AC2 - winter crop rotation with annual wheat and barley, receiving mineral fertilization or pesticides), OG (annual passes with disk harrow and cultivator in the spring, followed by a tine harrow in the summer receiving mineral fertilization and weed control with residual herbicides), and V (with three or five chisel passes a year from early spring to early autumn with mineral fertilization or pesticides.). In all cases (AC1, AC2, OG and V) were collected soil entire profiles. Soil properties determined were: soil particle size, bulk density, SOC, TN, C:N ratio, stocks and SRs. The statistical significance of the differences in the variables between land use practices was tested using the Anderson-Darling test at each horizon or a combination of horizons for each soil type. RESULTS The LUC had a negative impact in the soil, reducing the SOC and TN stocks. The conversion from AC to V and OG involved the loss of the SOC stock (52.7% and 64.9% to V and OG respectively) and the loss of the TN stock (42.6% and 38.1% to V and OG respectively). The reduction of SOC by LUC, can be explained by a degraded process (due to vegetation losses and unsustainable soil management, which result in progressive impoverishment in the soil organic matter (OM) content, causing low productivity, which derived in unsuitable chemical properties) and by the reduced input of OM in cultivated soils, which reduced physical protection of soil and increased water erosion. However, 46 years of LUC had a positive effect in the soil, increasing the SR (in V and OG) of SOC, TN and C:N ratio (Parras-Alcántara et al., 2013). REFERENCES Parras-Alcántara, L., Martín-Carrillo, M., Lozano-García, B. 2013. Impacts of land use change in soil carbon and nitrogen in a Mediterranean agricultural area (Southern Spain). Solid Earth, 4: 167-177.

Epilepsy postings on YouTube: exercising individuals' and organizations' right to appear.

PubMed

Kerson, Toba Schwaber

2012-01-01

Philosopher Hannah Arendt maintains that everyone has the right to appear in public as an embodied, singular individual. Because of the stigma attached to epilepsy, many with this condition are denied this right. Using grounded theory techniques, the author analyzes uploads of epilepsy on YouTube. The author argues that personal uploads on YouTube are the only mass media examples in which those with epilepsy can exercise their right to appear without the interpretation of intermediaries. Emerging themes relating to "the right to appear" allow social workers to deepen understanding of this and other devastating, often invisible and sometimes life-threatening illnesses.

Exhibits Recognition System for Combining Online Services and Offline Services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, He; Liu, Jianbo; Zhang, Yuan; Wu, Xiaoyu

2017-10-01

In order to achieve a more convenient and accurate digital museum navigation, we have developed a real-time and online-to-offline museum exhibits recognition system using image recognition method based on deep learning. In this paper, the client and server of the system are separated and connected through the HTTP. Firstly, by using the client app in the Android mobile phone, the user can take pictures and upload them to the server. Secondly, the features of the picture are extracted using the deep learning network in the server. With the help of the features, the pictures user uploaded are classified with a well-trained SVM. Finally, the classification results are sent to the client and the detailed exhibition’s introduction corresponding to the classification results are shown in the client app. Experimental results demonstrate that the recognition accuracy is close to 100% and the computing time from the image uploading to the exhibit information show is less than 1S. By means of exhibition image recognition algorithm, our implemented exhibits recognition system can combine online detailed exhibition information to the user in the offline exhibition hall so as to achieve better digital navigation.

Battery Data MI Importer Template Quick Start Guide

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Levinson, Laurie H.

2017-01-01

In order to ensure the persistent availability and reliability of test data generated over the course of the project, the M-SHELLS Project has decided to store acquired test data, as well as associated pedigree information, in the Granta Materials Intelligence (MI) database. To facilitate that effort, an importer template and associated graphical user interface (GUI) software have been developed, with this guide providing the operating instructions for their use. The template and automation software GUI are contained in the BatteryDataImporter.xlsm Excel workbook, and are to be used to import M-SHELLS summary, or pedigree, data and the associated raw test data results into an importer template-based file, formatted in such a way as to be ready for immediate upload to the Test Data: Battery Performance table of the Granta MI database. The provided GUI enables the user to select the appropriate summary data file(s), with each file containing the required information to identify any associated raw test data file(s) to be processed. In addition to describing the setup and operation of the importer template and GUI software, this guide also provides instructions for uploading processed data to the database and for viewing the data following upload.

A Content Analysis of YouTubeTM Videos Related to Prostate Cancer.

PubMed

Basch, Corey H; Menafro, Anthony; Mongiovi, Jennifer; Hillyer, Grace Clarke; Basch, Charles E

2016-09-29

In the United States, prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer in men after skin cancer. There is a paucity of research devoted to the types of prostate cancer information available on social media outlets. YouTube TM is a widely used video sharing website, which is emerging as commonplace for information related to health. The purpose of this study was to describe the most widely viewed YouTube TM videos related to prostate cancer. The 100 videos were watched a total of 50,278,770 times. The majority of videos were uploaded by consumers (45.0%) and medical or government professionals (30%). The purpose of most videos (78.0%) was to provide information, followed by discussions of prostate cancer treatment (51%) and prostate-specific antigen testing and routine screening (26%). All videos uploaded by medical and government professionals and 93.8% of videos uploaded by news sources provided information compared with about two thirds of consumer and less than one half of commercial and advertisement videos (p < .001). As society becomes increasingly technology-based, there is a need to help consumers acquire knowledge and skills to identify credible information to help inform their decisions. © The Author(s) 2016.

40 CFR 75.19 - Optional SO2, NOX, and CO2 emissions calculation for low mass emissions (LME) units.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... hourly SO2 mass emissions under this section. Alternatively, for fuel oil combustion, a lower, fuel... (or ozone season) prior to the year of the test (g H2O/g air). Ho = Observed humidity ratio during the test run (g H2O/g air). Tr = Average annual atmospheric temperature (or average ozone season...

Students' Decision Steps in Meta-Cognitive Learning in Free Online Groups (MetaL-FrOG): A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sen Fa, Kinsley Ng; Hussin, Firuz Hussin

2011-01-01

What prompts the students to respond in online dialogic discussion? Why some students chose to fall out? This case study through the lens of phenomenography observation attempts to explain the five decision steps of students to respond in Meta-cognitive Learning in Free Online Groups (MetaL-FrOG) discussion. It presents a part of a research…

Quantifying, Assessing, and Mitigating Methane Emissions from Super-emitters in the Oil and Gas Supply Chain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lyon, David Richard

Methane emissions from the oil and gas (O&G) supply chain reduce potential climate benefits of natural gas as a replacement for other fossil fuels that emit more carbon dioxide per energy produced. O&G facilities have skewed emission rate distributions with a small fraction of sites contributing the majority of emissions. Knowledge of the identity and cause of these high emission facilities, referred to as super-emitters or fat-tail sources, is critical for reducing supply chain emissions. This dissertation addresses the quantification of super-emitter emissions, assessment of their prevalence and relationship to site characteristics, and mitigation with continuous leak detection systems. Chapter 1 summarizes the state of the knowledge of O&G methane emissions. Chapter 2 constructs a spatially-resolved emission inventory to estimate total and O&G methane emissions in the Barnett Shale as part of a coordinated research campaign using multiple top-down and bottom-up methods to quantify emissions. The emission inventory accounts for super-emitters with two-phase Monte Carlo simulations that combine site measurements collected with two approaches: unbiased sampling and targeted sampling of super-emitters. More comprehensive activity data and the inclusion of super-emitters, which account for 19% of O&G emissions, produces a emission inventory that is not statistically different than top-down regional emission estimates. Chapter 3 describes a helicopter-based survey of over 8,000 well pads in seven basins with infrared optical gas imaging to assess high emission sources. Four percent of sites are observed to have high emissions with over 90% of observed sources from tanks. The occurrence of high emissions is weakly correlated to site parameters and the best statistical model explains only 14% of variance, which demonstrates that the occurrence of super-emitters is primarily stochastic. Chapter 4 presents a Gaussian dispersion model for optimizing the placement of continuous leak detection systems at three example well pads. The model demonstrates that large leaks can be detected quickly with first generation systems. Continuous leak detection can be used in the near future to cost-effectively mitigate methane emissions from O&G super-emitters.

Mouse alpha1(I)-collagen promoter is the best known promoter to drive efficient Cre recombinase expression in osteoblast.

PubMed

Dacquin, Romain; Starbuck, Michael; Schinke, Thorsten; Karsenty, Gérard

2002-06-01

Cell- and time-specific gene inactivation should enhance our knowledge of bone biology. Implementation of this technique requires construction of transgenic mouse lines expressing Cre recombinase in osteoblasts, the bone forming cell. We tested several promoter fragments for their ability to drive efficient Cre expression in osteoblasts. In the first mouse transgenic line, the Cre gene was placed under the control of the 2.3-kb proximal fragment of the alpha1(I)-collagen promoter, which is expressed at high levels in osteoblasts throughout their differentiation. Transgenic mice expressing this transgene in bone were bred with the ROSA26 reporter (R26R) strain in which the ROSA26 locus is targeted with a conditional LacZ reporter cassette. In R26R mice, Cre expression and subsequent Cre-mediated recombination lead to expression of the LacZ reporter gene, an event that can be monitored by LacZ staining. LacZ staining was detected in virtually all osteoblasts of alpha1(I)-Cre;R26R mice indicating that homologous recombination occurred in these cells. No other cell type stained blue. In the second line studied, the 1.3-kb fragment of osteocalcin gene 2 (OG2) promoter, which is active in differentiated osteoblasts, was used to drive Cre expression. OG2-Cre mice expressed Cre specifically in bone. However, cross of OG2-Cre mice with R26R mice did not lead to any detectable LacZ staining in osteoblasts. Lastly, we tested a more active artificial promoter derived from the OG2 promoter. The artificial OG2-Cre transgene was expressed by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction in cartilage and bone samples. After cross of the artificial OG2-Cre mice with R26R mice, we detected a LacZ staining in articular chondrocytes but not in osteoblasts. Our data suggest that the only promoter able to drive Cre expression at a level sufficient to induce recombination in osteoblasts is the alpha1(I)-collagen promoter. Copyright 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Experimental and theoretical investigation of homogeneous gaseous reaction of CO2(g) + nH2O(g) + nNH3(g) → products (n = 1, 2).

PubMed

Li, Zhuangjie; Zhang, Baoquan

2012-09-13

Decreasing CO2 emissions into the atmosphere is key for reducing global warming. To facilitate the CO2 emission reduction efforts, our laboratory conducted experimental and theoretical investigations of the homogeneous gaseous reaction of CO2(g) + nH2O(g) + nNH3(g) → (NH4)HCO3(s)/(NH4)2CO3(s) (n = 1 and 2) using Fourier transform infrared attenuated total reflectance (FTIR-ATR) spectroscopy and ab initio molecular orbital theory. Our FTIR-ATR experimental results indicate that (NH4)2CO3(s) and (NH4)HCO3(s) are formed as aerosol particulate matter when carbon dioxide reacts with ammonia and water in the gaseous phase at room temperature. Ab initio study of this chemical system suggested that the reaction may proceed through formation of NH3·H2O(g), NH3·CO2(g), and CO2·H2O(g) complexes. Subsequent complexes, NH3·H2O·CO2 and (NH3)2·H2O·CO2, can be formed by adding gaseous reactants to the NH3·H2O(g), NH3·CO2(g), and CO2·H2O(g) complexes, respectively. The NH3·H2O·CO2 and (NH3)2·H2O·CO2 complexes can then be rearranged to produce (NH4)HCO3 and (NH4)2CO3 as final products via a transition state, and the NH3 molecule acts as a medium accepting and donating hydrogen atoms in the rearrangement process. Our computational results also reveal that the presence of an additional water molecule can reduce the activation energy of the rearrangement process. The high activation energy predicted in the present work suggests that the reaction is kinetically not favored, and our experimental observation of (NH4)HCO3(s) and (NH4)2CO3(s) may be attributed to the high concentrations of reactants increasing the reaction rate of the title reactions in the reactor.

Effect of High-Intensity Interval Training on Plasma Omentin-1 Concentration in Overweight/Obese and Normal-Weight Youth

PubMed Central

Ouerghi, Nejmeddine; Fradj, Mohamed Kacem Ben; Bezrati, Ikram; Feki, Moncef; Kaabachi, Naziha; Bouassida, Anissa

2017-01-01

Objectives Omentin-1 is a recently discovered adipokine, mainly produced by visceral adipose tissue, which is thought to improve insulin sensitivity. The study aimed to assess the association of plasma omentin-1 with cardiometabolic traits and physical performance and to test its response to high-intensity interval training (HIIT) in obese and normal-weight subjects. Methods Nine overweight/obese (OG) and 9 normal-weight (NWG) young men performed an 8-week HIIT program. Body composition, physical performance, homeostasis model assessment index for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) as well as plasma omentin-1and lipid levels were assessed before and after the HIIT program. Results Baseline plasma omentin-1 was lower in OG than NWG men (359 ± 138 vs. 470 ± 114 ng/ml; p = 0.052). Plasma omentin-1 was related to body fat (r = −0.57; p = 0.03) and LDL-cholesterol (r = −0.49; p = 0.04). There was a trend towards significant association of omentin-1 with BMI (r = −0.47; p = 0.06) and VO2max (r = 0.41; p = 0.09). However, no association was observed with HOMA-IR. Following the HIIT program, omentin-1 concentrations have significantly (p < 0.01) increased in OG (359 ± 138 to 455 ± 126 ng/ml) and NWG men (470 ± 114 to 572 ± 115 ng/ml). In parallel, the cardiometabolic profile has improved with a significant decrease of HOMA-IR in OG. Conclusions HIIT resulted in a plasma omentin-1 increase and an improvement with regard to cardiometabolic traits in the OG men, which may contribute to modulate insulin sensitivity. PMID:28787708

Longitudinal assessment of childhood optic gliomas: relationship between flicker visual evoked potentials and magnetic resonance imaging findings.

PubMed

Falsini, Benedetto; Ziccardi, Lucia; Lazzareschi, Ilaria; Ruggiero, Antonio; Placentino, Luca; Dickmann, Anna; Liotti, Lucia; Piccardi, Marco; Balestrazzi, Emilio; Colosimo, Cesare; Di Rocco, Concezio; Riccardi, Riccardo

2008-05-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate longitudinally functional and neuro-radiologic findings in childhood optic gliomas (OG), by comparing flicker visual evoked potentials (F-VEPs) with brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) changes. Fourteen children (age range: 1-13 years) with OGs underwent serial F-VEP, MRI and neuro-ophthalmic examinations over a 38 month (median, range: 6-76) follow-up. F-VEPs were elicited by 8 Hz sine-wave flicker stimuli presented in a mini-Ganzfeld. Contrast-enhanced MRI examinations were performed. Results of both tests were blindly assessed by independent evaluators. F-VEPs were judged to be improved, stable or worsened if changes in the amplitude and/or phase angle of the response exceeded the limits of test-retest variability (+/-90th percentile) established for the same patients. MRI results were judged to show regression, stabilization or progression of OG based on its changes in size (+/-20%) or extension. Two to seven pairs of F-VEP/MRI examinations per patient (median: 4) were collected. Based on a total of 38 pairs of F-VEP/MRI examinations, both tests agreed in showing worsening (progression), stabilization and improvement (regression) in 5, 15 and 10 cases, respectively. In 3 cases, F-VEPs showed a worsening and MRI a stabilization, while in 5 cases F-VEPs showed an improvement and MRI a stabilization. Agreement between F-VEP and MRI changes was 78.9% (95% CI: +/- 37%, K statistics = 0.67, P < 0.001). The results indicate that longitudinal F-VEP changes can predict changes in MRI-assessed OG size and extension, providing a non-invasive functional assay, complementary to neuro-imaging, for OG follow-up.

Effect of High-Intensity Interval Training on Plasma Omentin-1 Concentration in Overweight/Obese and Normal-Weight Youth.

PubMed

Ouerghi, Nejmeddine; Ben Fradj, Mohamed Kacem; Bezrati, Ikram; Feki, Moncef; Kaabachi, Naziha; Bouassida, Anissa

2017-01-01

Omentin-1 is a recently discovered adipokine, mainly produced by visceral adipose tissue, which is thought to improve insulin sensitivity. The study aimed to assess the association of plasma omentin-1 with cardiometabolic traits and physical performance and to test its response to high-intensity interval training (HIIT) in obese and normal-weight subjects. Nine overweight/obese (OG) and 9 normal-weight (NWG) young men performed an 8-week HIIT program. Body composition, physical performance, homeostasis model assessment index for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) as well as plasma omentin-1and lipid levels were assessed before and after the HIIT program. Baseline plasma omentin-1 was lower in OG than NWG men (359 ± 138 vs. 470 ± 114 ng/ml; p = 0.052). Plasma omentin-1 was related to body fat (r = -0.57; p = 0.03) and LDL-cholesterol (r = -0.49; p = 0.04). There was a trend towards significant association of omentin-1 with BMI (r = -0.47; p = 0.06) and VO2max (r = 0.41; p = 0.09). However, no association was observed with HOMA-IR. Following the HIIT program, omentin-1 concentrations have significantly (p < 0.01) increased in OG (359 ± 138 to 455 ± 126 ng/ml) and NWG men (470 ± 114 to 572 ± 115 ng/ml). In parallel, the cardiometabolic profile has improved with a significant decrease of HOMA-IR in OG. HIIT resulted in a plasma omentin-1 increase and an improvement with regard to cardiometabolic traits in the OG men, which may contribute to modulate insulin sensitivity. © 2017 The Author(s) Published by S. Karger GmbH, Freiburg.

Tactical Behaviors in Men's 800-m Olympic and World-Championship Medalists: A Changing of the Guard.

PubMed

Sandford, Gareth N; Pearson, Simon; Allen, Sian V; Malcata, Rita M; Kilding, Andrew E; Ross, Angus; Laursen, Paul B

2018-02-01

To assess the longitudinal evolution of tactical behaviors used to medal in men's 800-m Olympic Games (OG) or world-championship (WC) events in the recent competition era (2000-2016). Thirteen OG and WC events were characterized for 1st- and 2nd-lap splits using available footage from YouTube. Positive pacing strategies were defined as a faster 1st lap. Season's best 800-m time and world ranking, reflective of an athlete's "peak condition," were obtained to determine relationships between adopted tactics and physical condition prior to the championships. Seven championship events provided coverage of all medalists to enable determination of average 100-m speed and sector pacing of medalists. From 2011 onward, 800-m OG and WC medalists showed a faster 1st lap by 2.2 ± 1.1 s (mean, ±90% confidence limits; large difference, very likely), contrasting a possibly faster 2nd lap from 2000 to 2009 (0.5, ±0.4 s; moderate difference). A positive pacing strategy was related to a higher world ranking prior to the championships (r = .94, .84-.98; extremely large, most likely). After 2011, the fastest 100-m sector from 800-m OG and WC medalists was faster than before 2009 by 0.5, ±0.2 m/s (large difference, most likely). A secular change in tactical racing behavior appears evident in 800-m championships; since 2011, medalists have largely run faster 1st laps and have faster 100-m sector-speed requirements. This finding may be pertinent for training, tactical preparation, and talent identification of athletes preparing for 800-m running at OGs and WCs.

Data inconsistencies from states with unconventional oil and gas activity.

PubMed

Malone, Samantha; Kelso, Matthew; Auch, Ted; Edelstein, Karen; Ferrar, Kyle; Jalbert, Kirk

2015-01-01

The quality and availability of unconventional oil and gas (O&G) data in the United States have never been compared methodically state-to-state. By conducting such an assessment, this study seeks to better understand private and publicly sourced data variability and to identify data availability gaps. We developed an exploratory data-grading tool - Data Accessibility and Usability Index (DAUI) - to guide the review of O&G data quality. Between July and October 2013, we requested, collected, and assessed 5 categories of unconventional O&G data (wells drilled, violations, production, waste, and Class II disposal wells) from 10 states with active drilling activity. We based our assessment on eight data quality parameters (accessibility, usability, point location, completeness, metadata, agency responsiveness, accuracy, and cost). Using the DAUI, two authors graded the 10 states and then averaged their scores. The average score received across all states, data categories, and parameters was 67.1 out of 100, largely insufficient for proper data transparency. By state, Pennsylvania received the highest average ( = 93.5) and ranked first in all but one data category. The lowest scoring state was Texas ( = 44) largely due to its policy of charging for certain data. This article discusses the various reasons for scores received, as well as methodological limitations of the assessment metrics. We argue that the significant variability of unconventional O&G data-and its availability to the public-is a barrier to regulatory and industry transparency. The lack of transparency also impacts public education and broader participation in industry governance. This study supports the need to develop a set of data best management practices (BMPs) for state regulatory agencies and the O&G industry, and suggests potential BMPs for this purpose.

In situ one-step hydrothermal synthesis of oxygen-containing groups-modified g-C3N4 for the improved photocatalytic H2-evolution performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Xinhe; Chen, Fengyun; Wang, Xuefei; Yu, Huogen

2018-01-01

Surface modification of g-C3N4 is one of the most effective strategies to boost its photocatalytic H2-evolution performance via promoting the interfacial catalytic reactions. In this study, an in situ one-step hydrothermal method was developed to prepare the oxygen-containing groups-modified g-C3N4 (OG/g-C3N4) by a facile and green hydrothermal treatment of bulk g-C3N4 in pure water without any additives. It was found that the hydrothermal treatment (180 °C) not only could greatly increase the specific surface area (from 2.3 to 69.8 m2 g-1), but also caused the formation of oxygen-containing groups (sbnd OH and Cdbnd O) on the OG/g-C3N4 surface, via the interlayer delamination and intralayer depolymerization of bulk g-C3N4. Photocatalytic experimental results indicated that after hydrothermal treatment, the resultant OG/g-C3N4 samples showed an obviously improved H2-evolution performance. Especially, when the hydrothermal time was 6 h, the resultant OG/g-C3N4(6 h) exhibited the highest photocatalytic activity, which was clearly higher than that of the bulk g-C3N4 by a factor of ca. 7. In addition to the higher specific surface area, the enhanced H2-evolution rate of OG/g-C3N4 photocatalysts can be mainly attributed to the formation of oxygen-containing groups, which possibly works as the effective H2-evolution active sites. Considering the facie and green synthesis method, the present work may provide a new insight for the development of highly efficient photocatalytic materials.

The Magnetics Information Consortium (MagIC) Online Database: Uploading, Searching and Visualizing Paleomagnetic and Rock Magnetic Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koppers, A.; Tauxe, L.; Constable, C.; Pisarevsky, S.; Jackson, M.; Solheid, P.; Banerjee, S.; Johnson, C.; Genevey, A.; Delaney, R.; Baker, P.; Sbarbori, E.

2005-12-01

The Magnetics Information Consortium (MagIC) operates an online relational database including both rock and paleomagnetic data. The goal of MagIC is to store all measurements and their derived properties for studies of paleomagnetic directions (inclination, declination) and their intensities, and for rock magnetic experiments (hysteresis, remanence, susceptibility, anisotropy). MagIC is hosted under EarthRef.org at http://earthref.org/MAGIC/ and has two search nodes, one for paleomagnetism and one for rock magnetism. These nodes provide basic search capabilities based on location, reference, methods applied, material type and geological age, while allowing the user to drill down from sites all the way to the measurements. At each stage, the data can be saved and, if the available data supports it, the data can be visualized by plotting equal area plots, VGP location maps or typical Zijderveld, hysteresis, FORC, and various magnetization and remanence diagrams. All plots are made in SVG (scalable vector graphics) and thus can be saved and easily read into the user's favorite graphics programs without loss of resolution. User contributions to the MagIC database are critical to achieve a useful research tool. We have developed a standard data and metadata template (version 1.6) that can be used to format and upload all data at the time of publication in Earth Science journals. Software tools are provided to facilitate easy population of these templates within Microsoft Excel. These tools allow for the import/export of text files and they provide advanced functionality to manage/edit the data, and to perform various internal checks to high grade the data and to make them ready for uploading. The uploading is all done online by using the MagIC Contribution Wizard at http://earthref.org/MAGIC/upload.htm that takes only a few minutes to process a contribution of approximately 5,000 data records. After uploading these standardized MagIC template files will be stored in the digital archives of EarthRef.org from where they can be downloaded at all times. Finally, the contents of these template files will be automatically parsed into the online relational database, making the data available for online searches in the paleomagnetic and rock magnetic search nodes. The MagIC database contains all data transferred from the IAGA paleomagnetic poles database (GPMDB), the lava flow paleosecular variation database (PSVRL), lake sediment database (SECVR) and the PINT database. In addition to that a substantial number of data compiled under the Time Averaged Field Investigations project is now included plus a significant fraction of the data collected at SIO and the IRM. Ongoing additions of legacy data include ~40 papers from studies on the Hawaiian Islands, data compilations from archeomagnetic studies and updates to the lake sediment dataset.

The Virtual Poster Showcase: Opportunities for students to present their research from anywhere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Asher, P. M.; Furukawa, H.; Williams, B. M.; Holm Adamec, B.

2015-12-01

Although many students conduct research with faculty in organized summer programs or as part of their course work or their degree work, they often face barriers to traveling to present that research, especially at national or international conferences. This is especially true for students who are members of underrepresented minority populations and students studying outside of the United States. A new and exciting opportunity for undergraduate as well as graduate students to showcase their work is now available. AGU piloted three opportunities for an undergraduate and graduate virtual poster showcase in the fall of 2015. Student participants were recruited from a diverse array of groups including minority-serving organizations, two-year colleges, and internship programs at federal agencies and national laboratories. Students uploaded an abstract, poster, and short video explain their research, and then participated in Q&A sessions with peers as well as expert judges. This presentation will share characteristics of participating groups, lessons learned from this new program, and preliminary evaluation findings as well as plans for the future.

SnapDock—template-based docking by Geometric Hashing

PubMed Central

Estrin, Michael; Wolfson, Haim J.

2017-01-01

Abstract Motivation: A highly efficient template-based protein–protein docking algorithm, nicknamed SnapDock, is presented. It employs a Geometric Hashing-based structural alignment scheme to align the target proteins to the interfaces of non-redundant protein–protein interface libraries. Docking of a pair of proteins utilizing the 22 600 interface PIFACE library is performed in < 2 min on the average. A flexible version of the algorithm allowing hinge motion in one of the proteins is presented as well. Results: To evaluate the performance of the algorithm a blind re-modelling of 3547 PDB complexes, which have been uploaded after the PIFACE publication has been performed with success ratio of about 35%. Interestingly, a similar experiment with the template free PatchDock docking algorithm yielded a success rate of about 23% with roughly 1/3 of the solutions different from those of SnapDock. Consequently, the combination of the two methods gave a 42% success ratio. Availability and implementation: A web server of the application is under development. Contact: michaelestrin@gmail.com or wolfson@tau.ac.il PMID:28881968

Target-Pathogen: a structural bioinformatic approach to prioritize drug targets in pathogens

PubMed Central

Sosa, Ezequiel J; Burguener, Germán; Lanzarotti, Esteban; Radusky, Leandro; Pardo, Agustín M; Marti, Marcelo

2018-01-01

Abstract Available genomic data for pathogens has created new opportunities for drug discovery and development to fight them, including new resistant and multiresistant strains. In particular structural data must be integrated with both, gene information and experimental results. In this sense, there is a lack of an online resource that allows genome wide-based data consolidation from diverse sources together with thorough bioinformatic analysis that allows easy filtering and scoring for fast target selection for drug discovery. Here, we present Target-Pathogen database (http://target.sbg.qb.fcen.uba.ar/patho), designed and developed as an online resource that allows the integration and weighting of protein information such as: function, metabolic role, off-targeting, structural properties including druggability, essentiality and omic experiments, to facilitate the identification and prioritization of candidate drug targets in pathogens. We include in the database 10 genomes of some of the most relevant microorganisms for human health (Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Mycobacterium leprae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Plasmodium vivax, Toxoplasma gondii, Leishmania major, Wolbachia bancrofti, Trypanosoma brucei, Shigella dysenteriae and Schistosoma Smanosoni) and show its applicability. New genomes can be uploaded upon request. PMID:29106651

40 CFR 420.104 - New source performance standards (NSPS).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... TSS 0.00125 0.000626 O&G 0.000522 0.000209 Chromium 1 0.0000209 0.0000084 Lead 0.0000094 0.0000031... pH (2) (2) 1 The limitations for chromium and nickel shall be applicable in lieu of those for lead... consecutive days Kg/kkg (pounds per 1,000 lb) of product TSS 0.00250 0.00125 O&G 0.00104 0.000417 Chromium 1 0...

40 CFR 420.104 - New source performance standards (NSPS).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... TSS 0.00125 0.000626 O&G 0.000522 0.000209 Chromium 1 0.0000209 0.0000084 Lead 0.0000094 0.0000031... pH (2) (2) 1 The limitations for chromium and nickel shall be applicable in lieu of those for lead... consecutive days Kg/kkg (pounds per 1,000 lb) of product TSS 0.00250 0.00125 O&G 0.00104 0.000417 Chromium 1 0...

40 CFR 420.104 - New source performance standards (NSPS).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... TSS 0.00125 0.000626 O&G 0.000522 0.000209 Chromium 1 0.0000209 0.0000084 Lead 0.0000094 0.0000031... pH (2) (2) 1 The limitations for chromium and nickel shall be applicable in lieu of those for lead... consecutive days Kg/kkg (pounds per 1,000 lb) of product TSS 0.00250 0.00125 O&G 0.00104 0.000417 Chromium 1 0...

40 CFR 437.43 - Effluent limitations attainable by the application of the best conventional pollutant control...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

...&G, pH, and TSS are the same as the corresponding limitation specified in § 437.42(b). (c) Combined waste receipts from subparts A and B of this part: Limitations for O&G, pH, and TSS are the same as the... part: Limitations for BOD5, O&G, pH, and TSS are the same as the corresponding limitation specified in...

40 CFR 437.43 - Effluent limitations attainable by the application of the best conventional pollutant control...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

...&G, pH, and TSS are the same as the corresponding limitation specified in § 437.42(b). (c) Combined waste receipts from subparts A and B of this part: Limitations for O&G, pH, and TSS are the same as the... part: Limitations for BOD5, O&G, pH, and TSS are the same as the corresponding limitation specified in...

40 CFR 420.104 - New source performance standards (NSPS).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... TSS 0.00125 0.000626 O&G 0.000522 0.000209 Chromium 1 0.0000209 0.0000084 Lead 0.0000094 0.0000031... pH (2) (2) 1 The limitations for chromium and nickel shall be applicable in lieu of those for lead... consecutive days Kg/kkg (pounds per 1,000 lb) of product TSS 0.00250 0.00125 O&G 0.00104 0.000417 Chromium 1 0...

40 CFR 420.104 - New source performance standards (NSPS).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... TSS 0.00125 0.000626 O&G 0.000522 0.000209 Chromium 1 0.0000209 0.0000084 Lead 0.0000094 0.0000031... pH (2) (2) 1 The limitations for chromium and nickel shall be applicable in lieu of those for lead... consecutive days Kg/kkg (pounds per 1,000 lb) of product TSS 0.00250 0.00125 O&G 0.00104 0.000417 Chromium 1 0...

Schwannoma-like tumor in the anterior cranial fossa immunonegative for Leu7 but immunopositive for Schwann/2E.

PubMed

Bohoun, Christian Aïssè; Terakawa, Yuzo; Goto, Takeo; Tanaka, Sayaka; Kuwae, Yuko; Ohsawa, Masahiko; Morisako, Hiroki; Nakajo, Kosuke; Sato, Hidetoshi; Ohata, Kenji; Yokoo, Hideaki

2017-06-01

Schwannoma arising from the olfactory system, often called olfactory groove schwannoma (OGS), is rare, as the olfactory bulb and tract, belonging to the central nervous system, should lack Schwann cells. Another rare entity called olfactory ensheathing cell tumor (OECT) has been reported, which mimics clinical and radiological characteristics of OGS. Here, we report two rare cases of schwannoma-like tumor in the anterior cranial fossa that showed negative staining for Leu7, but positive staining for Schwann/2E, and discuss their origin. Two cases of mass lesions in the anterior cranial fossa in a 26-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman were successfully removed. Morphological examination of these tumors was compatible with a diagnosis of schwannoma. Immunohistochemically, both cases were negative for Leu7, yielding a diagnosis of OECT, but were positive for the schwannoma-specific marker, Schwann/2E. Immunohistochemical staining results in our two cases question the current assumption that OGS and OECT can be distinguished only by Leu7 staining pattern. In conclusion, the origins of OGS and OECT remain to be determined, and further studies in larger numbers of cases are needed to characterize these rare tumors in the anterior cranial fossa. © 2016 Japanese Society of Neuropathology.

α decay properties of 296Og within the two-potential approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Jun-Gang; Zhao, Jie-Cheng; Chen, Jiu-Long; Wu, Xi-Jun; Li, Xiao-Hua

2018-04-01

The present work is a continuation of our previous paper [J.-G. Deng, et al., Chin. Phys. C, 41: 124109 (2017)]. In the present work, the α decay half-life of the unknown nucleus 296Og is predicted within the two-potential approach and the hindrance factors of all 20 even-even nuclei in the same region as 296Og, i.e. proton number 82

Requirement for Pectin Methyl Esterase and Preference for Fragmented over Native Pectins for Wall-associated Kinase-activated, EDS1/PAD4-dependent Stress Response in Arabidopsis*

PubMed Central

Kohorn, Bruce D.; Kohorn, Susan L.; Saba, Nicholas J.; Martinez, Victoriano Meco

2014-01-01

The wall-associated kinases (WAKs) have a cytoplasmic protein kinase domain that spans the plasma membrane and binds pectin in the extracellular matrix of plants. WAKs are required for cell expansion during Arabidopsis seedling development but are also an integral part of the response to pathogens and stress that present oligogalacturonides (OGs), which subsequently bind to WAKs and activate a MPK6 (mitogen-activated protein kinase)-dependent pathway. It was unclear how WAKs distinguish native pectin polymers and OGs to activate one or the other of these two pathways. A dominant allele of WAK2 constitutively activates the stress response, and we show here that the effect is dependent upon EDS1 and PAD4, transcriptional activators involved in the pathogen response. Moreover, the WAK2 dominant allele is suppressed by a null allele of a pectin methyl esterase (PME3) whose activity normally leads to cross-linking of pectins in the cell wall. Although OGs activate a transcriptional response in wild type, the response is enhanced in a pme3/pme3 null, consistent with a competition by OG and native polymers for activation of WAKs. This provides a plausible mechanism for WAKs to distinguish an expansion from a stress pathway. PMID:24855660

Residential noise from nearby oil and gas well construction and drilling.

PubMed

Blair, Benjamin D; Brindley, Stephen; Dinkeloo, Eero; McKenzie, Lisa M; Adgate, John L

2018-05-11

Public concern about oil and gas (O&G) operations in residential areas is substantial. Noise from construction and drilling related to O&G operations may be greater than other phases of O&G operations; yet the impacts of audible and low-frequency noise during these operations are not extensively explored nor the effects on health well understood. This study documents the noise levels at a multi-well O&G well pad during construction and drilling in a residential area in Colorado. A-weighted (dBA) and C-weighted (dBC) noise measurements were collected at four locations during development over a 3-month period. The maximum 1-min equivalent continuous sound levels over a 1-month period were 60.2 dBA and 80.0 dBC. Overall, 41.1% of daytime and 23.6% of nighttime dBA 1-min equivalent continuous noise measurements were found to exceed 50 dBA, and 97.5% of daytime and 98.3% of nighttime measurements were found to exceed 60 dBC. Noise levels exceeding 50 dBA or 60 dBC may cause annoyance and be detrimental to health; thus, these noise levels have the potential to impact health and noise levels and associated health effects warrant further investigation.

Accuracy of Three-Dimensional Planning in Surgery-First Orthognathic Surgery: Planning Versus Outcome.

PubMed

Tran, Ngoc Hieu; Tantidhnazet, Syrina; Raocharernporn, Somchart; Kiattavornchareon, Sirichai; Pairuchvej, Verasak; Wongsirichat, Natthamet

2018-05-01

The benefit of computer-assisted planning in orthognathic surgery (OGS) has been extensively documented over the last decade. This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of three-dimensional (3D) virtual planning in surgery-first OGS. Fifteen patients with skeletal class III malocclusion who underwent bimaxillary OGS with surgery-first approach were included. A composite skull model was reconstructed using data from cone-beam computed tomography and stereolithography from a scanned dental cast. Surgical procedures were simulated using Simplant O&O software, and the virtual plan was transferred to the operation room using 3D-printed splints. Differences of the 3D measurements between the virtual plan and postoperative results were evaluated, and the accuracy was reported using root mean square deviation (RMSD) and the Bland-Altman method. The virtual planning was successfully transferred to surgery. The overall mean linear difference was 0.88 mm (0.79 mm for the maxilla and 1 mm for the mandible), and the overall mean angular difference was 1.16°. The RMSD ranged from 0.86 to 1.46 mm and 1.27° to 1.45°, within the acceptable clinical criteria. In this study, virtual surgical planning and 3D-printed surgical splints facilitated the diagnosis and treatment planning, and offered an accurate outcome in surgery-first OGS.

Development of cereal-based functional food using cereal-mix substrate fermented with probiotic strain - Pichia kudriavzevii OG32.

PubMed

Ogunremi, Omotade R; Agrawal, Renu; Sanni, Abiodun I

2015-11-01

Probiotic strains contribute to the functionality of foods during fermentation. In this present work, cereal-mix was fermented with probiotic Pichia kudriavzevii OG32. Selected fermentation parameters and functional properties of the product were determined. The growth of Pichia kudriavzevii OG32 was supported by the cereal-mix containing 1% salt and 0.2% red chili powder to counts of between 7.46 and 8.22 Log10 cfu/mL within 24 h. Pichia kudriavzevii OG32 increased the viscosity of cereal-mix with the highest inoculum size (1.84x105cfu/ml) giving the highest viscosity of 1793.6 mPa.S. An inoculum size of 1.98 × 10(4) cfu/mL gave the most acceptable product based on the sensory evaluation by the panelist. Forty volatile compounds were identified in the fermented product, while acids (32.21%) and esters (32.37%) accounted for the largest proportions. The cereal-based fermented product scavenged DPPH from 200 μmol/L methanolic solution by 55.71%. Probiotic yeast improved the sensory and some functional properties of cereal-based substrate during fermentation. This is one of the first reports on the volatile composition of cereal-based functional food produced with probiotic yeast.

Studies on pulsed optogalvanic effect in Eu/Ne hollow cathode discharge.

PubMed

Saini, V K; Kumar, P; Dixit, S K; Nakhe, S V

2014-07-01

The optogalvanic (OG) effect has been observed in a Eu/Ne hollow cathode discharge lamp using pulsed laser irradiation. An OG spectrum is recorded in dye laser wavelength region 574–602 nm using a boxcar-averager. In total 41 atomic lines are observed. Of these, 38 lines are assigned to neon transitions. Two lines observed corresponding to wavelengths 576.519 and 601.815 nm are assigned to europium transitions; (4f 7 6s 2 , S 8 7/2 →4f 7 6s6p , zP 6 7/2 ) and (4f 7 6s 2 , S 8 7/2 →4f 7 6s6p , zP 8 9/2 ), respectively, and the remaining line at 582.475 nm could not be assigned. The effect of the discharge current on europium as well as neon OG signals is also studied. At moderate discharge current values, an extra positive peak is observed in neon OG signal for the transition (1s 5 →2p 2 ) at 588.189 nm, which is explained by Penning-ionization process using the quasi-resonant energy transfer interactions between excited neon and europium atoms lying in 2p 2 and D 10 9/2 states, respectively.

The QSPR-THESAURUS: the online platform of the CADASTER project.

PubMed

Brandmaier, Stefan; Peijnenburg, Willie; Durjava, Mojca K; Kolar, Boris; Gramatica, Paola; Papa, Ester; Bhhatarai, Barun; Kovarich, Simona; Cassani, Stefano; Roy, Partha Pratim; Rahmberg, Magnus; Öberg, Tomas; Jeliazkova, Nina; Golsteijn, Laura; Comber, Mike; Charochkina, Larisa; Novotarskyi, Sergii; Sushko, Iurii; Abdelaziz, Ahmed; D'Onofrio, Elisa; Kunwar, Prakash; Ruggiu, Fiorella; Tetko, Igor V

2014-03-01

The aim of the CADASTER project (CAse Studies on the Development and Application of in Silico Techniques for Environmental Hazard and Risk Assessment) was to exemplify REACH-related hazard assessments for four classes of chemical compound, namely, polybrominated diphenylethers, per and polyfluorinated compounds, (benzo)triazoles, and musks and fragrances. The QSPR-THESAURUS website (http: / /qspr-thesaurus.eu) was established as the project's online platform to upload, store, apply, and also create, models within the project. We overview the main features of the website, such as model upload, experimental design and hazard assessment to support risk assessment, and integration with other web tools, all of which are essential parts of the QSPR-THESAURUS. 2014 FRAME.

Gen IV Materials Handbook Functionalities and Operation (4A) Handbook Version 4.0

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

Ren, Weiju

2013-09-01

This document is prepared for navigation and operation of the Gen IV Materials Handbook, with architecture description and new user access initiation instructions. Development rationale and history of the Handbook is summarized. The major development aspects, architecture, and design principles of the Handbook are briefly introduced to provide an overview of its past evolution and future prospects. Detailed instructions are given with examples for navigating the constructed Handbook components and using the main functionalities. Procedures are provided in a step-by-step fashion for Data Upload Managers to upload reports and data files, as well as for new users to initiate Handbookmore » access.« less

Web-based management of diabetes through glucose uploads: has the time come for telemedicine?

PubMed

Azar, Madona; Gabbay, Robert

2009-01-01

This review focuses on the burgeoning use of web-based systems allowing patient-initiated glucometer uploads to facilitate provider treatment intensification. Studies in type 1 diabetes tended to show equivalent HbA1c improvements in both intervention and control groups without statistically significant difference. In contrast, type 2 patients seemed to do better than controls with significant differences in HbA1c. Patients were the beneficiaries of web-based diabetes management both through savings in time and cost. Major obstacles to wider implementation are patient computer skills, adherence to the technology, architectural and technical design, and the need to reimburse providers for their care.

40 CFR 420.102 - Effluent limitations representing the degree of effluent reduction attainable by the application...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

....000626 O&G 0.000522 0.000209 Chromium 1 0.0000209 0.0000084 Lead 0.0000094 0.0000031 Nickel 1 0.0000188 0... limitations for chromium and nickel shall be applicable in lieu of those for lead and zinc when cold rolling...) of product TSS 0.00626 0.00313 O&G 0.00261 0.00104 Chromium 1 0.000104 0.0000418 Lead 0.0000469 0...

40 CFR 420.102 - Effluent limitations representing the degree of effluent reduction attainable by the application...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

....000626 O&G 0.000522 0.000209 Chromium 1 0.0000209 0.0000084 Lead 0.0000094 0.0000031 Nickel 1 0.0000188 0... limitations for chromium and nickel shall be applicable in lieu of those for lead and zinc when cold rolling...) of product TSS 0.00626 0.00313 O&G 0.00261 0.00104 Chromium 1 0.000104 0.0000418 Lead 0.0000469 0...

40 CFR 420.102 - Effluent limitations representing the degree of effluent reduction attainable by the application...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

....000626 O&G 0.000522 0.000209 Chromium 1 0.0000209 0.0000084 Lead 0.0000094 0.0000031 Nickel 1 0.0000188 0... limitations for chromium and nickel shall be applicable in lieu of those for lead and zinc when cold rolling...) of product TSS 0.00626 0.00313 O&G 0.00261 0.00104 Chromium 1 0.000104 0.0000418 Lead 0.0000469 0...

40 CFR 420.102 - Effluent limitations representing the degree of effluent reduction attainable by the application...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

....000626 O&G 0.000522 0.000209 Chromium 1 0.0000209 0.0000084 Lead 0.0000094 0.0000031 Nickel 1 0.0000188 0... limitations for chromium and nickel shall be applicable in lieu of those for lead and zinc when cold rolling...) of product TSS 0.00626 0.00313 O&G 0.00261 0.00104 Chromium 1 0.000104 0.0000418 Lead 0.0000469 0...

40 CFR 420.102 - Effluent limitations representing the degree of effluent reduction attainable by the application...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

....000626 O&G 0.000522 0.000209 Chromium 1 0.0000209 0.0000084 Lead 0.0000094 0.0000031 Nickel 1 0.0000188 0... limitations for chromium and nickel shall be applicable in lieu of those for lead and zinc when cold rolling...) of product TSS 0.00626 0.00313 O&G 0.00261 0.00104 Chromium 1 0.000104 0.0000418 Lead 0.0000469 0...

Sustainable oil and grease removal from synthetic stormwater runoff using bench-scale bioretention studies.

PubMed

Hong, Eunyoung; Seagren, Eric A; Davis, Allen P

2006-02-01

One of the principal components of the contaminant load in urban stormwater runoff is oil and grease (O&G) pollution, resulting from vehicle emissions. A mulch layer was used as a contaminant trap to remove O&G (dissolved and particulate-associated naphthalene, dissolved toluene, and dissolved motor oil hydrocarbons) from a synthetic runoff during a bench-scale infiltration study. Approximately 80 to 95% removal of all contaminants from synthetic runoff was found via sorption and filtration. Subsequently, approximately 90% of the sorbed naphthalene, toluene, oil, and particulate-associated naphthalene was biodegraded within approximately 3, 4, 8, and 2 days after the event, respectively, based on decreases in contaminant concentrations coupled with increases of microbial populations. These results indicate the effectiveness and sustainability of placing a thin layer of mulch on the surface of a bioretention facility for reducing O&G pollution from urban stormwater runoff.

Data provenance assurance in the cloud using blockchain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shetty, Sachin; Red, Val; Kamhoua, Charles; Kwiat, Kevin; Njilla, Laurent

2017-05-01

Ever increasing adoption of cloud technology scales up the activities like creation, exchange, and alteration of cloud data objects, which create challenges to track malicious activities and security violations. Addressing this issue requires implementation of data provenance framework so that each data object in the federated cloud environment can be tracked and recorded but cannot be modified. The blockchain technology gives a promising decentralized platform to build tamper-proof systems. Its incorruptible distributed ledger/blockchain complements the need of maintaining cloud data provenance. In this paper, we present a cloud based data provenance framework using block chain which traces data record operations and generates provenance data. We anchor provenance data records into block chain transactions, which provide validation on provenance data and preserve user privacy at the same time. Once the provenance data is uploaded to the global block chain network, it is extremely challenging to tamper the provenance data. Besides, the provenance data uses hashed user identifiers prior to uploading so the blockchain nodes cannot link the operations to a particular user. The framework ensures that the privacy is preserved. We implemented the architecture on ownCloud, uploaded records to blockchain network, stored records in a provenance database and developed a prototype in form of a web service.

Document creation, linking, and maintenance system

DOEpatents

Claghorn, Ronald [Pasco, WA

2011-02-15

A document creation and citation system designed to maintain a database of reference documents. The content of a selected document may be automatically scanned and indexed by the system. The selected documents may also be manually indexed by a user prior to the upload. The indexed documents may be uploaded and stored within a database for later use. The system allows a user to generate new documents by selecting content within the reference documents stored within the database and inserting the selected content into a new document. The system allows the user to customize and augment the content of the new document. The system also generates citations to the selected content retrieved from the reference documents. The citations may be inserted into the new document in the appropriate location and format, as directed by the user. The new document may be uploaded into the database and included with the other reference documents. The system also maintains the database of reference documents so that when changes are made to a reference document, the author of a document referencing the changed document will be alerted to make appropriate changes to his document. The system also allows visual comparison of documents so that the user may see differences in the text of the documents.

YouTube as a source of information on mouth (oral) cancer.

PubMed

Hassona, Y; Taimeh, D; Marahleh, A; Scully, C

2016-04-01

We examined the content of YouTube(™) videos on mouth (oral) cancer and evaluated their usefulness in promoting early detection of oral cancer. A systematic search of YouTube(™) for videos containing information on mouth cancer was conducted using the keywords 'mouth cancer' and 'oral cancer'. Demographics of videos, including type, source, length, and viewers' interaction, were evaluated, and three researchers independently assessed the videos for usefulness in promoting early detection of oral cancer. A total of 188 YouTube(™) videos (152 patient-oriented educational videos and 36 testimonial videos) were analyzed. The overall usefulness score ranged from 0 to 10 (mean = 3.56 ± 2.44). The most useful videos ranked late on the viewing list, and there was no significant correlation between video usefulness and viewing rate, viewers' interaction, and video length. Videos uploaded by individual users were less useful compared with videos uploaded by professional organizations or by healthcare professionals. Healthcare professionals, academic institutions, and professional organizations have a responsibility for improving the content of YouTube(™) about mouth cancer by uploading useful videos, and directing patients to reliable information sources. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Data Publishing and Sharing Via the THREDDS Data Repository

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, A.; Caron, J.; Davis, E.; Baltzer, T.

2007-12-01

The terms "Team Science" and "Networked Science" have been coined to describe a virtual organization of researchers tied via some intellectual challenge, but often located in different organizations and locations. A critical component to these endeavors is publishing and sharing of content, including scientific data. Imagine pointing your web browser to a web page that interactively lets you upload data and metadata to a repository residing on a remote server, which can then be accessed by others in a secure fasion via the web. While any content can be added to this repository, it is designed particularly for storing and sharing scientific data and metadata. Server support includes uploading of data files that can subsequently be subsetted, aggregrated, and served in NetCDF or other scientific data formats. Metadata can be associated with the data and interactively edited. The THREDDS Data Repository (TDR) is a server that provides client initiated, on demand, location transparent storage for data of any type that can then be served by the THREDDS Data Server (TDS). The TDR provides functionality to: * securely store and "own" data files and associated metadata * upload files via HTTP and gridftp * upload a collection of data as single file * modify and restructure repository contents * incorporate metadata provided by the user * generate additional metadata programmatically * edit individual metadata elements The TDR can exist separately from a TDS, serving content via HTTP. Also, it can work in conjunction with the TDS, which includes functionality to provide: * access to data in a variety of formats via -- OPeNDAP -- OGC Web Coverage Service (for gridded datasets) -- bulk HTTP file transfer * a NetCDF view of datasets in NetCDF, OPeNDAP, HDF-5, GRIB, and NEXRAD formats * serving of very large volume datasets, such as NEXRAD radar * aggregation into virtual datasets * subsetting via OPeNDAP and NetCDF Subsetting services This talk will discuss TDR/TDS capabilities as well as how users can install this software to create their own repositories.

Physiochemical Characterization of Iodine (V) Oxide: Hydration Rates

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-12-15

decomposition .21 2 Distribution A Scheme 1. Iodine (V) Oxide‐Water System Hydration : 3I2O5(s) + H2O(g) → 2HI3O8(s) + 2H2O(g) → 6HIO3(s...dehydration steps and decomposition step for each sample. The corresponding percent compositions of the three hydration forms of the oxide have been...135 Physiochemical Characterization of Iodine (V) Oxide: Hydration Rates Distribution A: Approved for public release; distribution unlimited

Comparison of Oogenesis and Sex Steroid Profiles between Twice and Once Annually Spawning of Rainbow Trout Females (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

PubMed Central

Estay, Francisco; Colihueque, Nelson; Araneda, Cristian

2012-01-01

This study compares the gonadosomatic index (GSI), oocyte growth (OG), gonadal histology, and plasma level concentrations of sex hormones (estradiol-17β (E2) and vitellogenin (V)) of twice-spawning (T-SP) and once-spawning (O-SP) females of rainbow trout throughout the additional and the normal reproductive cycle, respectively. In T-SP, the GSI values rapidly increase from May to November, in contrast to O-SP, which showed low and constant GSI values (1.19 to 14.5 and 1.19 to 0.63, resp.). T-SP exhibited a marked increase of OG in the same period, reaching a maximum diameter of 4,900 ± 141.42 μm, in contrast to O-SP, which presented a slow OG. The gonadal histology of T-SP agreed with the general pattern of ovogenesis observed for O-SP (vitellogenesis, ovulation, and recrudescence); however, this process was nonsynchronous between the two breeder groups. Plasma steroid levels showed significant variation during oogenesis, which agreed with the GSI, OG, and gonadal histology patterns. The level of E2 increased to a maximum value of 26.2 ng/mL and 36.0 ng/mL in O-SP and T-SP, respectively, one or two months before the spawning event where vitellogenesis was fully active. The V concentrations followed a pattern similar to those of E2. PMID:23213308

Telecom and scintillation first data analysis for DOMINO: laser communication between SOTA, onboard SOCRATES satellite, and MEO optical ground station

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Phung, D.-H.; Samain, E.; Maurice, N.; Albanesse, D.; Mariey, H.; Aimar, M.; M. Lagarde, G.; Artaud, G.; Issler, J.-L.; Vedrenne, N.; Velluet, M.-T.; Toyoshima, M.; Akioka, M.; Kolev, D.; Munemasa, Y.; Takenaka, H.; Iwakiri, N.

2016-03-01

In collaboration between CNES, NICT, Geoazur, the first successful lasercom link between the micro-satellite SOCRATES and an OGS in Europe has been established. This paper presents some results of telecom and scintillation first data analysis for 4 successful links in June & July 2015 between SOTA terminal and MEO optical ground station (OGS) at Caussols France. The telecom and scintillation data have been continuously recorded during the passes by using a detector developed at the laboratory. An irradiance of 190 nW/m2 and 430 nW/m2 has been detected for 1549 nm and 976 nm downlinks at 35° elevation. Spectrums of power fluctuation measured at OGS are analyzed at different elevation angles and at different diameters of telescope aperture to determine fluctuations caused by pointing error (due to satellite & OGS telescope vibrations) and caused by atmospheric turbulence. Downlink & Uplink budgets are analyzed, the theoretical estimation matches well to measured power levels. Telecom signal forms and bit error rates (BER) of 1549 nm and 976 nm downlink are also shown at different diameters of telescope aperture. BER is 'Error Free' with full-aperture 1.5m telescope, and almost in `good channel' with 0.4 m sub-aperture of telescope. We also show the comparison between the expected and measured BER distributions.

Immunomodulatory Role of Ocimum gratissimum and Ascorbic Acid against Nicotine-Induced Murine Peritoneal Macrophages In Vitro

PubMed Central

Mahapatra, Santanu Kar; Chakraborty, Subhankari Prasad; Roy, Somenath

2011-01-01

The aim of this present study was to evaluate the immune functions and immune responses in nicotine-induced (10 mM) macrophages and concurrently establish the immunomodulatory role of aqueous extract of Ocimum gratissimum (Ae-Og) and ascorbic acid. In this study, nitrite generations and some phenotype functions by macrophages were studied. Beside that, release of Th1 cytokines (TNF-α, IL-12) and Th2 cytokines (IL-10, TGF-β) was measured by ELISA, and the expression of these cytokines at mRNA level was analyzed by real-time PCR. Ae-Og, at a dose of 10 μg/mL, significantly reduced the nicotine-induced NO generation and iNOSII expression. Similar kinds of response were observed with supplementation of ascorbic acid (0.01 mM). The administration of Ae-Og and ascorbic acid increased the decreased adherence, chemotaxis, phagocytosis, and intracellular killing of bacteria in nicotine-treated macrophages. Ae-Og and ascorbic acid were found to protect the murine peritoneal macrophages through downregulation of Th1 cytokines in nicotine-treated macrophages with concurrent activation of Th2 responses. These findings strongly enhanced our understanding of the molecular mechanism leading to nicotine-induced suppression of immune functions and provide additional rationale for application of anti-inflammatory therapeutic approaches by O. gratissimum and ascorbic acid for different inflammatory disease prevention and treatment during nicotine toxicity. PMID:22220218

Requirement for pectin methyl esterase and preference for fragmented over native pectins for wall-associated kinase-activated, EDS1/PAD4-dependent stress response in Arabidopsis.

PubMed

Kohorn, Bruce D; Kohorn, Susan L; Saba, Nicholas J; Martinez, Victoriano Meco

2014-07-04

The wall-associated kinases (WAKs) have a cytoplasmic protein kinase domain that spans the plasma membrane and binds pectin in the extracellular matrix of plants. WAKs are required for cell expansion during Arabidopsis seedling development but are also an integral part of the response to pathogens and stress that present oligogalacturonides (OGs), which subsequently bind to WAKs and activate a MPK6 (mitogen-activated protein kinase)-dependent pathway. It was unclear how WAKs distinguish native pectin polymers and OGs to activate one or the other of these two pathways. A dominant allele of WAK2 constitutively activates the stress response, and we show here that the effect is dependent upon EDS1 and PAD4, transcriptional activators involved in the pathogen response. Moreover, the WAK2 dominant allele is suppressed by a null allele of a pectin methyl esterase (PME3) whose activity normally leads to cross-linking of pectins in the cell wall. Although OGs activate a transcriptional response in wild type, the response is enhanced in a pme3/pme3 null, consistent with a competition by OG and native polymers for activation of WAKs. This provides a plausible mechanism for WAKs to distinguish an expansion from a stress pathway. © 2014 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Sequential capillary electrophoresis analysis using optically gated sample injection and UV/vis detection.

PubMed

Liu, Xiaoxia; Tian, Miaomiao; Camara, Mohamed Amara; Guo, Liping; Yang, Li

2015-10-01

We present sequential CE analysis of amino acids and L-asparaginase-catalyzed enzyme reaction, by combing the on-line derivatization, optically gated (OG) injection and commercial-available UV-Vis detection. Various experimental conditions for sequential OG-UV/vis CE analysis were investigated and optimized by analyzing a standard mixture of amino acids. High reproducibility of the sequential CE analysis was demonstrated with RSD values (n = 20) of 2.23, 2.57, and 0.70% for peak heights, peak areas, and migration times, respectively, and the LOD of 5.0 μM (for asparagine) and 2.0 μM (for aspartic acid) were obtained. With the application of the OG-UV/vis CE analysis, sequential online CE enzyme assay of L-asparaginase-catalyzed enzyme reaction was carried out by automatically and continuously monitoring the substrate consumption and the product formation every 12 s from the beginning to the end of the reaction. The Michaelis constants for the reaction were obtained and were found to be in good agreement with the results of traditional off-line enzyme assays. The study demonstrated the feasibility and reliability of integrating the OG injection with UV/vis detection for sequential online CE analysis, which could be of potential value for online monitoring various chemical reaction and bioprocesses. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Accuracy of Three-Dimensional Planning in Surgery-First Orthognathic Surgery: Planning Versus Outcome

PubMed Central

Tran, Ngoc Hieu; Tantidhnazet, Syrina; Raocharernporn, Somchart; Kiattavornchareon, Sirichai; Pairuchvej, Verasak; Wongsirichat, Natthamet

2018-01-01

Background The benefit of computer-assisted planning in orthognathic surgery (OGS) has been extensively documented over the last decade. This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of three-dimensional (3D) virtual planning in surgery-first OGS. Methods Fifteen patients with skeletal class III malocclusion who underwent bimaxillary OGS with surgery-first approach were included. A composite skull model was reconstructed using data from cone-beam computed tomography and stereolithography from a scanned dental cast. Surgical procedures were simulated using Simplant O&O software, and the virtual plan was transferred to the operation room using 3D-printed splints. Differences of the 3D measurements between the virtual plan and postoperative results were evaluated, and the accuracy was reported using root mean square deviation (RMSD) and the Bland-Altman method. Results The virtual planning was successfully transferred to surgery. The overall mean linear difference was 0.88 mm (0.79 mm for the maxilla and 1 mm for the mandible), and the overall mean angular difference was 1.16°. The RMSD ranged from 0.86 to 1.46 mm and 1.27° to 1.45°, within the acceptable clinical criteria. Conclusion In this study, virtual surgical planning and 3D-printed surgical splints facilitated the diagnosis and treatment planning, and offered an accurate outcome in surgery-first OGS. PMID:29581806

Phylogeny Inference of Closely Related Bacterial Genomes: Combining the Features of Both Overlapping Genes and Collinear Genomic Regions

PubMed Central

Zhang, Yan-Cong; Lin, Kui

2015-01-01

Overlapping genes (OGs) represent one type of widespread genomic feature in bacterial genomes and have been used as rare genomic markers in phylogeny inference of closely related bacterial species. However, the inference may experience a decrease in performance for phylogenomic analysis of too closely or too distantly related genomes. Another drawback of OGs as phylogenetic markers is that they usually take little account of the effects of genomic rearrangement on the similarity estimation, such as intra-chromosome/genome translocations, horizontal gene transfer, and gene losses. To explore such effects on the accuracy of phylogeny reconstruction, we combine phylogenetic signals of OGs with collinear genomic regions, here called locally collinear blocks (LCBs). By putting these together, we refine our previous metric of pairwise similarity between two closely related bacterial genomes. As a case study, we used this new method to reconstruct the phylogenies of 88 Enterobacteriale genomes of the class Gammaproteobacteria. Our results demonstrated that the topological accuracy of the inferred phylogeny was improved when both OGs and LCBs were simultaneously considered, suggesting that combining these two phylogenetic markers may reduce, to some extent, the influence of gene loss on phylogeny inference. Such phylogenomic studies, we believe, will help us to explore a more effective approach to increasing the robustness of phylogeny reconstruction of closely related bacterial organisms. PMID:26715828

An Investigation into the Use of 3G Mobile Communications to Provide Telehealth Services in Rural KwaZulu-Natal

PubMed Central

Mars, Maurice

2015-01-01

Abstract Background: We investigated the use of third-generation (3G) mobile communications to provide telehealth services in remote health clinics in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Materials and Methods: We specified a minimal set of services as our use case that would be representative of typical activity and to provide a baseline for analysis of network performance. Services included database access to manage chronic disease, local support and management of patients (to reduce unnecessary travel to the hospital), emergency care (up to 8 h for an ambulance to arrive), e-mail, access to up-to-date information (Web), and teleclinics. We made site measurements at a representative set of health clinics to determine the type of coverage (general packet radio service [GPRS]/3G), its capabilities to support videoconferencing (H323 and Skype™ [Microsoft, Redmond, WA]) and audio (Skype), and throughput for transmission control protocol (TCP) to gain a measure of application performance. Results: We found that none of the remote health clinics had 3G service. The GPRS service provided typical upload speed of 44 kilobits per second (Kbps) and download speed of 64 Kbps. This was not sufficient to support any form of videoconferencing. We also observed that GPRS had significant round trip time (RTT), in some cases in excess of 750 ms, and this led to slow start-up for TCP applications. Conclusions: We found audio was always so broken as to be unusable and further observed that many applications such as Web access would fail under conditions of very high RTT. We found some health clinics were so remote that they had no mobile service. 3G, where available, had measured upload speed of 331 Kbps and download speed of 446 Kbps and supported videoconferencing and audio at all sites, but we frequently experienced 3G changing to GPRS. We conclude that mobile communications currently provide insufficient coverage and capability to provide reliable clinical services and would advocate dedicated wireless services where reliable communication is essential and use of store and forward for mobile applications. PMID:24926731

The interns' learning assessment in obstetrics and gynecology department of Zahedan University of Medical Sciences.

PubMed

Roudbari, Masoud; Yaghmaei, Minoo

2007-09-01

One of the aims of management priorities in medical universities is the evaluation of learning in educational departments in order to prevent educational retardation and to improve the quality of education. The aim of this study was to evaluate the interns' learning in the obstetrics and gynecology (O&G) department at Zahedan University of Medical Sciences (ZUMS). The study was performed in ZUMS, Iran, in 2002-2003 on all interns at the O&G department, including 30 men and 40 women. For data collection, a questionnaire was used and included some questions regarding the common emergencies and diseases in O&G, together with different learning indicators such as reading, observation, hearing, management, and the capability of management. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, tables, t test, and chi-square test using the SPSS software. The mean percentages of learning indicators of observation, bedside teaching, supervised management, and personal management in the common emergencies and diseases of O&G in male interns were significantly lower than those in female interns. Also, the mean percentages of managing capabilities were 12% and 70.5% in common emergencies and 14.2% and 59.3% in common diseases for male and female interns, respectively. The chi-square test showed a significant difference between the mean percentages of the managing capabilities in male and female interns for the majority of the common emergencies and diseases. Also, the chi-square test revealed a significant relationship between the learning indicators and the interns' managing capabilities for common emergencies and diseases. Some learning indicators in the male interns were very low. This needs urgent improvement of the learning quality in the O&G department, especially for the male interns, particularly those who are supposed to work in the deprived areas of the country after graduation in the public service.

Environmental Defense Fund Oil and Gas Methane Studies: Principles for Collaborating with Industry Partners while Maintaining Scientific Objectivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamburg, S.

2016-12-01

Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) launched a series of 16 research studies in 2012 to quantify methane emissions from the U.S. oil and gas (O&G) supply chain. In addition to EDF's funding from philanthropic individuals and foundations and in-kind contributions from universities, over forty O&G companies contributed money to the studies. For a subset of studies that required partner companies to provide site access to measure their equipment, five common principles were followed to assure that research was objective and scientifically rigorous. First, academic scientists were selected as principal investigators (PIs) to lead the studies. In line with EDF's policy of not accepting money from corporate partners, O&G companies provided funding directly to academic PIs. Technical work groups and steering committees consisting of EDF and O&G partner staff advised the PIs in the planning and implementation of research, but PIs had the final authority in scientific decisions including publication content. Second, scientific advisory panels of independent experts advised the PIs in the study design, data analysis, and interpretation. Third, studies employed multiple methodologies when possible, including top-down and bottom-up measurements. This helped overcome the limitations of individual approaches to decrease the uncertainty of emission estimates and minimize concerns with data being "cherry-picked". Fourth, studies were published in peer-reviewed journals to undergo an additional round of independent review. Fifth, transparency of data was paramount. Study data were released after publication, although operator and site names of individual data points were anonymized to ensure transparency and allow independent analysis. Following these principles allowed an environmental organization, O&G companies, and academic scientists to collaborate in scientific research while minimizing conflicts of interest. This approach can serve as a model for a scientifically rigorous process minimally influenced by study partners.

Integrated processes for produced water polishing: Enhanced flotation/sedimentation combined with advanced oxidation processes.

PubMed

Jiménez, Silvia; Micó, María M; Arnaldos, Marina; Ferrero, Enrique; Malfeito, Jorge J; Medina, Francisco; Contreras, Sandra

2017-02-01

In this study, bench scale dissolved air flotation (DAF) and settling processes have been studied and compared to a novel flotation technology based on the use of glass microspheres of limited buoyancy and its combination with conventional DAF, (Enhanced DAF or E-DAF). They were evaluated as pretreatments for advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) to polish produced water (PW) for reuse purposes. Settling and E-DAF without air injection showed adequate turbidity and oil and grease (O&G) removals, with eliminations higher than 87% and 90% respectively, employing 70 mg L -1 of FeCl 3 and 83 min of settling time, and 57.9 mg L -1 of FeCl 3 , 300 mg L -1 of microspheres and a flocculation rate of 40 rpm in the E-DAF process. A linear correlation was observed between final O&G concentration and turbidity after E-DAF. In order to polish the O&G content of the effluent even further, to remove soluble compounds as phenol and to take advantage of residual iron after these treatments, Fenton and photo-Fenton reactions were essayed. After 6 h of the Fenton reaction at pH 3, the addition of 1660 mg L -1 of H 2 O 2 and 133 mg L -1 of iron showed a maximum O&G elimination of 57.6% and a phenol removal up to 80%. Photo-Fenton process showed better results after 3 h, adding 600 mg L -1 of H 2 O 2 and 300 mg L -1 of iron, at pH 3, with a higher fraction of elimination of the O&G content (73.7%) and phenol (95%) compared to the conventional Fenton process. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Antimicrobial Efficacy of a Silver Impregnated Hydrophilic PU Foam.

PubMed

Percival, Steven L

2018-06-01

A novel hydrophilic polyurethane (PU) foam dressing which is impregnated with silver chloride, Optifoam® Gentle (OG) Ag+ (Medline Industries Inc., Chicago, Illinois), was evaluated in this study. The aims of this study were to determine the rate of elution of silver from the foam dressing over a period of 168 hours into simulated wound fluid and an evaluation of antimicrobial efficacy using zone of inhibition (ZOI), direct kill, and time-kill viability. Thirty-two microorganisms associated with wounds including Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Methicillin sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA), Acinetobacter baumannii, Candida albicans, and antibiotic-resistant strains (Methicillin-resistant S. aureus [MRSA] and Vancomycin-resistant Enterococci [VRE]) were evaluated. Silver release from the wound dressing showed an exponential curve with a stable sustained release of 25ppm achieved after 24 hours, which was maintained for the full duration of the study. OG Ag+ caused inhibition zones ranging from 4-16mm after a 24-hour contact time. In the direct kill assay, OG Ag+ reduced the microbial numbers below the limit of detection and reduced viability by a log of four within 24 hours. For the time-kill viability studies, the results support the use of this hydrophilic polyurethane foam as a wound dressing for use in wounds at risk of infection or infected by achieving a four log kill within six hours and a six log kill in 16 hours. In conclusion, OG Ag+ was shown to be an effective wound dressing in the killing of a range of important opportunistic pathogens of relevance to wound healing and infections. Achieving a six log kill against S. aureus and E.coli, within 16 hours in the time kill assay, (ASTM E2315-03) demonstrates that OG Ag+ should be an important addition to the armoury available for the management of acute and chronic wounds at risk of infection or clinically infected.

MySQL/PHP web database applications for IPAC proposal submission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crane, Megan K.; Storrie-Lombardi, Lisa J.; Silbermann, Nancy A.; Rebull, Luisa M.

2008-07-01

The Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC) is NASA's multi-mission center of expertise for long-wavelength astrophysics. Proposals for various IPAC missions and programs are ingested via MySQL/PHP web database applications. Proposers use web forms to enter coversheet information and upload PDF files related to the proposal. Upon proposal submission, a unique directory is created on the webserver into which all of the uploaded files are placed. The coversheet information is converted into a PDF file using a PHP extension called FPDF. The files are concatenated into one PDF file using the command-line tool pdftk and then forwarded to the review committee. This work was performed at the California Institute of Technology under contract to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Investigation into the High Voltage Shutdown of the Oxygen Generator System in the International Space Station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carpenter, Joyce E.; Gentry, Gregory J.; Diderich, Greg S.; Roy, Robert J.; Golden, John L.; VanKeuren, Steve; Steele, John W.; Rector, Tony J.; Varsik, Jerome D.; Montefusco, Daniel J.;

Innovating in the teaching of Chemical Equilibrium: Taking effective advantage of Information and Communication Technologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fonseca, Susana Cristina Morais da

Chemical Equilibrium (CE) is a good example of the specific nature of chemistry. The understanding of this theme requires the conceptualization of macroscopic events, as well as explanations of sub microscopic nature, application of symbolic language and mathematics. CE is commonly identified as a topic suitable for the pedagogical use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). However, the growth in the roll of digital resources for the teaching of CE, that took place in the last decades, was not accompanied by a decrease in the signalling of students' difficulties and misconceptions in the subject. This fact, points out the relevance of clarifying the circumstances under which digital resources turn out to be useful in the teaching of CE and develop educative modules that take into account the findings and recommendations from the literature. This project aims to bring a contribution to take advantage form ICT potential in the teaching of CE. The objectives underlying the main purpose of the project were defined according to literature review, which crosses three fundamental dimensions (scientific, pedagogical and technological). The project also benefited from the previous experience of the group and the collaboration with an European project (CROSSNET). The level of abstraction necessary for the understanding of the scientific model is pointed out as the major source of difficulties in the learning of CE, while also referred as a privileged target for the intervention of ICT. In this context, we introduce the expression "facilitating abstraction" to summarize the idea of supporting students' abstract thinking process during the learning of formal concepts. This idea has gained importance throughout the project leading to the development of a pedagogical approach to facilitate abstraction in the learning of CE. Although based on the use of ICT, the main purpose wasn't to introduce new digital resources in the saturated field of CE. Instead, the innovation resides in applying those resources in a properly planned approach, centred in promoting 'facilitated abstraction. The research model was designed in partnership with the CROSSNET project, consisting of the conduction of a case study for gathering information on the operation of the approach in classroom context (the major advantages, difficulties associated') Based on the results, a list of recommendations was established, as well as indicators for the upgrade of the resources used. Some hypotheses for further studies were also raised. The ultimate product of the project is the pedagogical approach that we refer to as 'FACE - Facilitating Abstraction in Chemical Equilibrium (learning), available online in Portuguese/English, uploaded on educational platforms based on Web 2.0. Keywords: Chemical Equilibrium, facilitated abstraction, digital resources, learning difficulties/ misconceptions, educational modules, case study, CROSSNET project. None None None None None None None None None None None None None None None

Effects of orofacial myofunctional therapy on masticatory function in individuals submitted to orthognathic surgery: a randomized trial

PubMed Central

Prado, Daniela Galvão de Almeida; Berretin-Felix, Giédre; Migliorucci, Renata Resina; Bueno, Mariana da Rocha Salles; Rosa, Raquel Rodrigues; Polizel, Marcela; Teixeira, Isadora Ferraz; Gavião, Maria Beatriz Duarte

2018-01-01

Abstract Objectives The esthetic and functional results of orthognathic surgery of severe dentofacial deformities are predictable, however there are differences regarding the effects on stomatognathic system. The aim was to investigate the effects of orofacial myofunctional therapy (OMT) on the masticatory function in individuals with dentofacial deformity submitted to orthognathic surgery (OGS). Material and Methods Forty-eight individuals (18-40 years) were evaluated, 14 undergoing OMT (treated group-TG), 10 without this treatment (untreated group-UTG) and 24 in a control group with normal occlusion; for clinical aspects the data of an individual was missed (n=46). Chewing was performed using the Expanded protocol of orofacial myofunctional evaluation with scores (OMES-E). Muscle tone and mobility were also analyzed before (P0), three (P1) and six months (P2) after OGS. Surface electromyography of the masseter and temporalis muscles was performed, considering the parameters amplitude and duration of act and cycle, and the number of masticatory cycles. The OMT consisted of ten therapeutic sessions along the postoperative period. The results were compared using parametric and non-parametric tests. Results TG showed higher scores in P1 and P2 than P0; for the masticatory type the scores in P2 were significantly higher than P0. In addition, the proportion of individuals with adequate tone of lower lip and adequate tongue mobility for TG increased significantly from P1 and P2 in relation to P0. The EMG results showed a decrease in act and cycle duration in P2 in relation to P0 and P1 for the TG; furthermore the values were close to controls. An increase in the number of cycles from P0 to P2 was also observed, indicating faster chewing, which may be attributed to an improvement of balanced occlusion associated with OMT. Conclusion There were positive effects of OMT on the clinical and electromyography aspects of chewing in individual submitted to orthognathic surgery. PMID:29412368

A comparison of two antigen-detection ELISA for detecting infection of Dirofilaria immitis in dogs.

PubMed

Euclid, J M; Copeman, D B

1997-09-01

A survey on 87 dogs necropsied in the Townsville region revealed 34 (39%) were infected with Dirofilaria immitis. Infected dogs had an average of 6.1 adult worms in the heart and associated blood vessels. The VetRED assay detected 23 of the 34 infected dogs (sensitivity 65%) and the Og4C3 ELISA detected 27 (sensitivity 80%). Sensitivity of the VetRED and Og4C3 ELISA increased to 88 and 94% respectively in dogs with three or more worms. Both tests detected correctly all uninfected dogs. Despite the higher accuracy of the Og4C3 ELISA, compared to the VetRED assay, it is unlikely to be used widely as a field test for heartworm unless it can be modified from its present plate ELISA format which takes 4 hours, into one which is more rapid and convenient. However, as a reference ELISA, it may well be worthwhile in situations which require considerable accuracy for detecting D. immitis infection.

SANS with contrast variation study of the bacteriorhodopsin-octyl glucoside complex

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mo, Yiming; Heller, William T.

2010-11-01

Membrane proteins (MPs), which play vital roles in trans-membrane trafficking and signalling between cells and their external environment, comprise a major fraction of the expressed proteomes of many organisms. MP production for biophysical characterization requires detergents for extracting MPs from their native membrane and to solubilize the MP in solution for purification and study. In a proper detergent solution, the detergent-associated MPs retain their native fold and oligomerization state, key requirements for biophysical characterization and crystallization. SANS with contrast variation was performed to characterize BR in complex with OG to better understand the MP-detergent complex. Contrast variation makes it possible to not only probe the conformation of the entire structure but also investigate the conformation of the polypeptide chain within the BR-OG complex. The BR-OG SANS contrast variation series is not consistent with a compact structure, such as a trimeric BR complex surrounded by a belt of detergent. The data strongly suggest that the protein is partially unfolded through its association with the detergent micelles.

Enterococcus faecalis Ebp pili are important for cell-cell aggregation and intraspecies gene transfer

PubMed Central

Leanti La Rosa, Sabina; Camila Montealegre, Maria; Singh, Kavindra V.

2016-01-01

Enterococcus faecalis is an opportunistic pathogen that ranks among the leading causes of biofilm-associated infections. We previously demonstrated that the endocarditis- and biofilm-associated pili (Ebp) of E. faecalis play a major role in biofilm formation, adherence to abiotic surfaces and experimental infections. In this study, derivatives of E. faecalis strain OG1 were engineered to further characterize functions of Ebp pili. Loss of pili resulted in a 36-fold decrease in the number of closely associated cells when OG1RFΔebpABC was mixed with OG1SSpΔebpABC, compared with mixing the Ebp+ parental strains. In addition, using the Ebp+ parental strains as donor and recipient, we found a statistically significant increase (280–360 %, P < 0.05) in the frequency of plasmid transfer versus using Ebp−  mutants in the conjugation experiments. These results demonstrate a previously unrecognized role of Ebp pili, namely, as important contributors to microscale cell aggregation and horizontal spread of genetic material. PMID:26967674

Oligomerization state of water channels and glycerol facilitators. Involvement of loop E.

PubMed

Lagrée, V; Froger, A; Deschamps, S; Pellerin, I; Delamarche, C; Bonnec, G; Gouranton, J; Thomas, D; Hubert, J F

1998-12-18

The major intrinsic protein (MIP) family includes water channels aquaporins (AQPs) and facilitators for small solutes such as glycerol (GlpFs). Velocity sedimentation on sucrose gradients demonstrates that heterologous AQPcic expressed in yeast or Xenopus oocytes behaves as an homotetramer when extracted by n-octyl beta-D-glucopyranoside (OG) and as a monomer when extracted by SDS. We performed an analysis of GlpF solubilized from membranes of Escherichia coli or of mRNA-injected Xenopus oocytes. The GlpF protein extracted either by SDS or by nondenaturing detergents, OG and Triton X-100, exhibits sedimentation coefficients only compatible with a monomeric form of the protein in micelles. We then substituted in loop E of AQPcic two amino acids predicted to play a role in the functional/structural properties of the MIPs. In two expression systems, yeast and oocytes, the mutant AQPcic-S205D is monomeric in OG and in SDS. The A209K mutation does not modify the tetrameric form of the heterologous protein in OG. This study shows that the serine residue at position 205 is essential for AQPcic tetramerization. Because the serine in this position is highly conserved among aquaporins and systematically replaced by an acid aspartic in GlpFs, we postulate that glycerol facilitators are monomers whereas aquaporins are organized in tetramers. Our data suggest that the role of loop E in MIP properties partly occurs through its ability to allow oligomerization of the proteins.

Effect of oral glucose administration on rebound growth hormone release in normal and obese women: the role of adiposity, insulin sensitivity and ghrelin.

PubMed

Pena-Bello, Lara; Pertega-Diaz, Sonia; Outeiriño-Blanco, Elena; Garcia-Buela, Jesus; Tovar, Sulay; Sangiao-Alvarellos, Susana; Dieguez, Carlos; Cordido, Fernando

2015-01-01

Metabolic substrates and nutritional status play a major role in growth hormone (GH) secretion. Uncovering the mechanisms involved in GH secretion following oral glucose (OG) administration in normal and obese patients is a pending issue. The aim of this study was to investigate GH after OG in relation with adiposity, insulin secretion and action, and ghrelin secretion in obese and healthy women, to further elucidate the mechanism of GH secretion after OG and the altered GH secretion in obesity. We included 64 healthy and obese women. After an overnight fast, 75 g of OG were administered; GH, glucose, insulin and ghrelin were obtained during 300 minutes. Insulin secretion and action indices and the area under the curve (AUC) were calculated for GH, glucose, insulin and ghrelin. Univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses were employed. The AUC of GH (μg/L•min) was lower in obese (249.8±41.8) than in healthy women (490.4±74.6), P=0.001. The AUC of total ghrelin (pg/mL•min) was lower in obese (240995.5±11094.2) than in healthy women (340797.5±37757.5), P=0.042. There were significant correlations between GH secretion and the different adiposity, insulin secretion and action, and ghrelin secretion indices. After multivariate analysis only ghrelin AUC remained a significant predictor for fasting and peak GH.

Effect of Oral Glucose Administration on Rebound Growth Hormone Release in Normal and Obese Women: The Role of Adiposity, Insulin Sensitivity and Ghrelin

PubMed Central

Pena-Bello, Lara; Pertega-Diaz, Sonia; Outeiriño-Blanco, Elena; Garcia-Buela, Jesus; Tovar, Sulay; Sangiao-Alvarellos, Susana; Dieguez, Carlos; Cordido, Fernando

2015-01-01

Context Metabolic substrates and nutritional status play a major role in growth hormone (GH) secretion. Uncovering the mechanisms involved in GH secretion following oral glucose (OG) administration in normal and obese patients is a pending issue. Objective The aim of this study was to investigate GH after OG in relation with adiposity, insulin secretion and action, and ghrelin secretion in obese and healthy women, to further elucidate the mechanism of GH secretion after OG and the altered GH secretion in obesity. Participants and Methods We included 64 healthy and obese women. After an overnight fast, 75 g of OG were administered; GH, glucose, insulin and ghrelin were obtained during 300 minutes. Insulin secretion and action indices and the area under the curve (AUC) were calculated for GH, glucose, insulin and ghrelin. Univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses were employed. Results The AUC of GH (μg/L•min) was lower in obese (249.8±41.8) than in healthy women (490.4±74.6), P=0.001. The AUC of total ghrelin (pg/mL•min) was lower in obese (240995.5±11094.2) than in healthy women (340797.5±37757.5), P=0.042. There were significant correlations between GH secretion and the different adiposity, insulin secretion and action, and ghrelin secretion indices. After multivariate analysis only ghrelin AUC remained a significant predictor for fasting and peak GH. PMID:25782001

Computational analysis of pediatric ventricular assist device implantation to decrease cerebral particulate embolization.

PubMed

Nguyen, ThuyTien; Argueta-Morales, I Ricardo; Guimond, Stephen; Clark, William; Ceballos, Andres; Osorio, Ruben; Divo, Eduardo A; De Campli, William M; Kassab, Alain J

2016-01-01

Stroke is the most devastating complication after ventricular assist device (VAD) implantation with a 19% incidence and 65% mortality in the pediatric population. Current pediatric VAD technology and anticoagulation strategies alone are suboptimal. VAD implantation assisted by computational methods (CFD) may contribute reducing the risk of cerebral embolization. Representative three-dimensional aortic arch models of an infant and a child were generated. An 8 mm VAD outflow-graft (VAD-OG) anastomosed to the aorta was rendered and CFD was applied to study blood flow patterns. Particle tracks, originating in the VAD, were computed with a Lagrangian phase model and the percentage of particles entering the cerebral vessels was calculated. Eight implantation configurations (infant = 5 and child = 3) and 5 particle sizes (0.5, 1, 2, 3, and 4 mm) were considered. For the infant model, percentage of particles entering the cerebral vessels ranged from 15% for a VAD-OG anastomosed at 90° to the aorta, to 31% for 30° VAD-OG anastomosis (overall percentages: X(2) = 10,852, p < 0.0001). For the child model, cerebral embolization ranged from 9% for the 30° VAD-OG anastomosis to 15% for the 60° anastomosis (overall percentages: χ(2) = 10,323, p < 0.0001). Using detailed CFD calculations, we demonstrate that the risk of stroke depends significantly on the VAD implantation geometry. In turn, the risk probably depends on patient-specific anatomy. CFD can be used to optimize VAD implantation geometry to minimize stroke risk.

Sono-incorporation of CuO nanoparticles on the surface and into the mesoporous hexatitanate layers: Enhanced Fenton-like activity in degradation of orange-G at its neutral pH

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sehati, S.; Entezari, M. H.

2017-03-01

In this work, for the first time, CuO/Ti6O13 mesoporous nanocomposite was synthesized by direct intercalation of CuO nanoparticles into hexatitanate layers in the presence of ultrasound. In fact mesoporous potassium hexatitanate with high pore size (44.94 nm) was used as a support. CuO nanoparticles were grown into the titanate pores which caused formation of ultra small CuO with uniform size and high surface area. In fact, titanate is considered as a substrate for better dispersion and nucleation of the CuO nanoparticles which prevented the agglomeration and overgrowth of guest molecules. The prepared sample was characterized by XRD, FE-SEM, TEM, UV-vis spectra, N2 adsorption-desorption, Raman spectra and FT-IR techniques. The product was used as a heterogeneous Fenton-like catalyst for the degradation of Orang G (OG). The effect of important parameters, including pH, H2O2 addition rate and catalyst loading on the decolorization of OG were investigated. Based on the results, CuO/Ti6O13 catalyst exhibited high catalytic activity for OG degradation in aqueous solution at neutral pH of the dye. Moreover, breaking of H2O2 during the catalytic reaction was monitored by spectroscopic method. The results confirmed the decomposition of H2O2 to produce rad OH which is the main active species for the degradation of OG.

Interaction of Aβ(1-42) amyloids with lipids promotes "off-pathway" oligomerization and membrane damage.

PubMed

Henry, Sarah; Vignaud, Hélène; Bobo, Claude; Decossas, Marion; Lambert, Oliver; Harte, Etienne; Alves, Isabel D; Cullin, Christophe; Lecomte, Sophie

2015-03-09

The toxicity of amyloids, as Aβ(1-42) involved in Alzheimer disease, is a subject under intense scrutiny. Many studies link their toxicity to the existence of various intermediate structures prior to fiber formation and/or their specific interaction with membranes. In this study we focused on the interaction between membrane models and Aβ(1-42) peptides and variants (L34T, mG37C) produced in E. coli and purified in monomeric form. We evaluated the interaction of a toxic stable oligomeric form (oG37C) with membranes as comparison. Using various biophysical techniques as fluorescence and plasmon waveguide resonance, we clearly established that the oG37C interacts strongly with membranes leading to its disruption. All the studied peptides destabilized liposomes and accumulated slowly on the membrane (rate constant 0.02 min(-1)). Only the oG37C exhibited a particular pattern of interaction, comprising two steps: the initial binding followed by membrane reorganization. Cryo-TEM was used to visualize the peptide effect on liposome morphologies. Both oG37C and mG37C lead to PG membrane fragmentation. The PG membrane promotes peptide oligomerization, implicated in membrane disruption. WT (Aβ(1-42)) also perturbs liposome organization with membrane deformation rather than disruption. For all the peptides studied, their interaction with the membranes changes their fibrillization process, with less fibers and more small aggregates being formed. These studies allowed to establish, a correlation between toxicity, fiber formation, and membrane disruption.

The Mitochondrial 2-Oxoglutarate Carrier Is Part of a Metabolic Pathway That Mediates Glucose- and Glutamine-stimulated Insulin Secretion*

PubMed Central

Odegaard, Matthew L.; Joseph, Jamie W.; Jensen, Mette V.; Lu, Danhong; Ilkayeva, Olga; Ronnebaum, Sarah M.; Becker, Thomas C.; Newgard, Christopher B.

2010-01-01

Glucose-stimulated insulin secretion from pancreatic islet β-cells is dependent in part on pyruvate cycling through the pyruvate/isocitrate pathway, which generates cytosolic α-ketoglutarate, also known as 2-oxoglutarate (2OG). Here, we have investigated if mitochondrial transport of 2OG through the 2-oxoglutarate carrier (OGC) participates in control of nutrient-stimulated insulin secretion. Suppression of OGC in clonal pancreatic β-cells (832/13 cells) and isolated rat islets by adenovirus-mediated delivery of small interfering RNA significantly decreased glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. OGC suppression also reduced insulin secretion in response to glutamine plus the glutamate dehydrogenase activator 2-amino-2-norbornane carboxylic acid. Nutrient-stimulated increases in glucose usage, glucose oxidation, glutamine oxidation, or ATP:ADP ratio were not affected by OGC knockdown, whereas suppression of OGC resulted in a significant decrease in the NADPH:NADP+ ratio during stimulation with glucose but not glutamine + 2-amino-2-norbornane carboxylic acid. Finally, OGC suppression reduced insulin secretion in response to a membrane-permeant 2OG analog, dimethyl-2OG. These data reveal that the OGC is part of a mechanism of fuel-stimulated insulin secretion that is common to glucose, amino acid, and organic acid secretagogues, involving flux through the pyruvate/isocitrate cycling pathway. Although the components of this pathway must remain intact for appropriate stimulus-secretion coupling, production of NADPH does not appear to be the universal second messenger signal generated by these reactions. PMID:20356834

Effect of high-frequency bio-oxidative ozone therapy for masticatory muscle pain: a double-blind randomised clinical trial.

PubMed

Celakil, T; Muric, A; Gokcen Roehlig, B; Evlioglu, G; Keskin, H

2017-06-01

To evaluate the effect of bio-oxidative ozone application at the points of greatest pain in patients with chronic masticatory muscle pain. A total number of 40 (40 women, with a mean age of 31·7) were selected after the diagnosis of myofacial pain dysfunction syndrome according to the Research Diagnostic Criteria for temporomandibular disorder (RDC/TMD). The patients were randomly divided into two groups: patients received the ozone therapy at the point of greatest pain, ozone group (OG; n = 20); patients received the sham ozone therapy at the point of greatest pain, placebo group (PG; n = 20). Ozone and placebo were applied three times per week, for a total of six sessions. Mandibular movements were examined, masticator muscles tenderness were assessed and pressure pain threshold (PPT) values were obtained. Subjective pain levels were evaluated using visual analogue sale (VAS). These assessments were performed at baseline, 1 month and 3 months. Ozono therapy decreased pain intensity and increased PPT values significantly from baseline to 1 month and 3 months in OG compared with PG. PPTs of the temporal (OG = 24·85 ± 6·65, PG = 20·65 ± 5·43, P = 0.035) and masseter (OG = 19·03 ± 6·42, PG = 14·23 ± 2·95, P = 0.007) muscles at 3 months of control (T2) were significantly higher in the OG group. PPT value of the lateral pole was also significantly higher at T2 in the OG group (OG = 21·25 ± 8·43, PG = 15·35 ± 4·18, P = 0.012). Mandibular movements did not show significant differences between treatment groups except right lateral excursion values at T2 (OG = 8·90 ± 1·77, PG = 6·85 ± 2·41, P = 0.003); however, OG demonstrated significantly better results over time. Overall improvements in VAS scores from baseline to 3 months were OG 67·7%; PG 48·4%. Although ozone therapy can be accepted as an alternative treatment modality in the management of masticatory muscle pain, sham ozone therapy (placebo) showed significant improvements in the tested parameters. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

On-board ephemeris representation for Topex/Poseidon

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Salama, Ahmed H.

1990-01-01

The Topex/Poseidon satellite requires real-time on-board knowledge of the satellite and TDRS ephemeris for attitude determination and control and High-Gain Antenna (HGA) pointing. The ephemeris representation concept for the MMS (Multimission Modular Spacecraft) satellites has shown that compressing the predicted ephemeris in a Fourier Power Series (FPS) before uplinking in conjunction with the On-Board Computer (OBC) ephemeris reconstruction algorithms is an efficient technique for ephemeris representation. As an MMS-based satellite, Topex/Poseidon has inherited the Landsat ephemeris representation concept including a daily FPS upload. This paper presents the Topex/Poseidon concept, analysis, and results including the conclusion that the ephemeris representation duration could be extended to 10 days or more and convenient weekly uploading is adopted without an increase in OBC memory requirements.

A novel digital neutron flux monitor for international thermonuclear experimental reactor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiang, ZHOU; Zihao, LIU; Chao, CHEN; Renjie, ZHU; Li, ZHAO; Lingfeng, WEI; Zejie, YIN

2018-04-01

A novel full-digital real-time neutron flux monitor (NFM) has been developed for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor. A measurement range of 109 counts per second is achieved with 3 different sensitive fission chambers. The Counting mode and Campbelling mode have been combined as a means to achieve higher measurement range. The system is based on high speed as well as parallel and pipeline processing of the field programmable gate array and has the ability to upload raw-data of analog-to-digital converter in real-time through the PXIe platform. With the advantages of the measurement range, real time performance and the ability of raw-data uploading, the digital NFM has been tested in HL-2A experiments and reflected good experimental performance.

Building environment assessment and energy consumption estimation using smart phones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xiangli; Zhang, Li; Jia, Yingqi; Wang, Zihan; Jin, Xin; Zhao, Xuefeng

2017-04-01

In this paper, an APP for building indoor environment evaluation and energy consumption estimation based on Android platform is proposed and established. While using the APP, the smart phone built-in sensors are called for real-time monitoring of the building environmental information such as temperature, humidity and noise, etc. the built-in algorithm is developed to calculate the heat and power consumption, and questionnaires, grading and other methods are used to feed back to the space heating system. In addition, with the application of the technology of big data and cloud technology, the data collected by users will be uploaded to the cloud. After the statistics of the uploaded data, regional difference can be obtained, thus providing a more accurate basis for macro-control and research of energy, thermal comfort, greenhouse effect.

Flora-On: Occurrence data of the vascular flora of mainland Portugal

PubMed Central

Pereira, Ana Júlia; Francisco, Ana; Porto, Miguel

2016-01-01

Abstract The Flora-On dataset currently includes 253,310 occurrence records for the class Embryopsidae (vascular plants), comprising data collated via the platform http://flora-on.pt/ relating to observation records of vascular plants across mainland Portugal. Observations are uploaded directly to the database primarily by experienced botanists and naturalists, typically on a weekly basis, and consist of geo-referenced data points for species (or infraspecific taxa) along with their date of observation and phenological state. The Flora-On project aims to compile and make publicly accessible chorological, ecological, morphological and photographic information for the entire vascular flora of Portugal. The project’s website offers powerful query and visualization capabilities, of which we highlight the probabilistic bioclimatic and phenological queries which operate based on the empirical density distributions of species in those variables. Flora-On was created and continues to be maintained by volunteers who are Associate members of Sociedade Portuguesa de Botânica (Botanical Society of Portugal). Given its focus on research-grade and current data, the Flora-On project represents a significant contribution to the knowledge of the present distribution and status of the Portuguese flora. PMID:27698587

The Magnetics Information Consortium (MagIC) Online Database: Uploading, Searching and Visualizing Paleomagnetic and Rock Magnetic Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Minnett, R.; Koppers, A.; Tauxe, L.; Constable, C.; Pisarevsky, S. A.; Jackson, M.; Solheid, P.; Banerjee, S.; Johnson, C.

2006-12-01

The Magnetics Information Consortium (MagIC) is commissioned to implement and maintain an online portal to a relational database populated by both rock and paleomagnetic data. The goal of MagIC is to archive all measurements and the derived properties for studies of paleomagnetic directions (inclination, declination) and intensities, and for rock magnetic experiments (hysteresis, remanence, susceptibility, anisotropy). MagIC is hosted under EarthRef.org at http://earthref.org/MAGIC/ and has two search nodes, one for paleomagnetism and one for rock magnetism. Both nodes provide query building based on location, reference, methods applied, material type and geological age, as well as a visual map interface to browse and select locations. The query result set is displayed in a digestible tabular format allowing the user to descend through hierarchical levels such as from locations to sites, samples, specimens, and measurements. At each stage, the result set can be saved and, if supported by the data, can be visualized by plotting global location maps, equal area plots, or typical Zijderveld, hysteresis, and various magnetization and remanence diagrams. User contributions to the MagIC database are critical to achieving a useful research tool. We have developed a standard data and metadata template (Version 2.1) that can be used to format and upload all data at the time of publication in Earth Science journals. Software tools are provided to facilitate population of these templates within Microsoft Excel. These tools allow for the import/export of text files and provide advanced functionality to manage and edit the data, and to perform various internal checks to maintain data integrity and prepare for uploading. The MagIC Contribution Wizard at http://earthref.org/MAGIC/upload.htm executes the upload and takes only a few minutes to process several thousand data records. The standardized MagIC template files are stored in the digital archives of EarthRef.org where they remain available for download by the public (in both text and Excel format). Finally, the contents of these template files are automatically parsed into the online relational database, making the data available for online searches in the paleomagnetic and rock magnetic search nodes. The MagIC database contains all data transferred from the IAGA paleomagnetic poles database (GPMDB), the lava flow paleosecular variation database (PSVRL), lake sediment database (SECVR) and the PINT database. Additionally, a substantial number of data compiled under the Time Averaged Field Investigations project is now included plus a significant fraction of the data collected at SIO and the IRM. Ongoing additions of legacy data include over 40 papers from studies on the Hawaiian Islands and Mexico, data compilations from archeomagnetic studies and updates to the lake sediment dataset.

Gruppeorganiseret og selvstyret fremmedsprogstilegnelse. Et undervisningseksperiment pa RUC [and] Skolesprogene. Om fremmedsprogenes status og funktion i gymnasiet. ROLIG Papir 22 (Group Organized and Self Managed Foreign Language Acquisition. A Research Project at RUC [and] School Languages. On the Status and Function of Foreign Languages in Secondary Schools. ROLIG Paper 22).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jakobsen, Karen Sonne

Two articles highlight different issues on foreign language learning and instruction in Denmark. The first article describes a research project at Roskilde University Center that focuses on group organized and self managed foreign language acquisition. The idea for the project came about as a result of concern over problems related to foreign…

Analysis of YouTube as a Source of Information for West Nile Virus Infection

PubMed Central

Dubey, Divyanshu; Amritphale, Amod; Sawhney, Anshudha; Dubey, Devashish; Srivastav, Nupur

2014-01-01

Introduction A major outbreak of West Nile Virus was seen last year in different parts of the United States. Adequate dissemination of correct information about the disease would have helped decrease its spread and the associated panic in the general population. In this study, we looked into the use of YouTube as a resource for providing information about West Nile Virus infection. Objective This study aims to identify and evaluate YouTube as resource for providing information on West Nile Virus infection to the general public. Methods YouTube was searched on November 25, 2012, using the keywords West Nile Virus epidemic, West Nile Virus infection, and West Nile Virus prevention for videos uploaded in the past 6 months containing relevant information about the disease. The videos were classified as useful, misleading, or as news updates based on the type of information contained. Total viewership, number of days since upload, total duration of videos, and source of upload were noted. Results A total of 106 videos with information on West Nile Virus infection were included in the study, with 79.24% having useful information about the disease. Among the useful videos, 51/84 (60.71%) had information on disease prevention, and 29/84 (34.52%) contained information on news and research updates. The majority of these videos were uploaded by individuals (54.6%) or news agencies (41.8 %). Healthcare agencies contributed only 3.4 % of the total videos. Even though the useful videos represented 72% of all videos, there was significantly higher total viewership and viewership per day for the non-useful videos (P<0.05). Conclusions YouTube may be a significant resource for dissemination of information on public health issues like West Nile virus infection and should be targeted by healthcare agencies for this use. The major drawback of this medium is lack of verification by authorized healthcare professionals before these videos are made available for viewing by the community. Hence, a strict caution should be exercised in obtaining the information from unauthorized videos posted on YouTube. PMID:24573700

Analysis of YouTube as a source of information for West Nile Virus infection.

PubMed

Dubey, Divyanshu; Amritphale, Amod; Sawhney, Anshudha; Dubey, Devashish; Srivastav, Nupur

2014-12-01

A major outbreak of West Nile Virus was seen last year in different parts of the United States. Adequate dissemination of correct information about the disease would have helped decrease its spread and the associated panic in the general population. In this study, we looked into the use of YouTube as a resource for providing information about West Nile Virus infection. This study aims to identify and evaluate YouTube as resource for providing information on West Nile Virus infection to the general public. YouTube was searched on November 25, 2012, using the keywords West Nile Virus epidemic, West Nile Virus infection, and West Nile Virus prevention for videos uploaded in the past 6 months containing relevant information about the disease. The videos were classified as useful, misleading, or as news updates based on the type of information contained. Total viewership, number of days since upload, total duration of videos, and source of upload were noted. A total of 106 videos with information on West Nile Virus infection were included in the study, with 79.24% having useful information about the disease. Among the useful videos, 51/84 (60.71%) had information on disease prevention, and 29/84 (34.52%) contained information on news and research updates. The majority of these videos were uploaded by individuals (54.6%) or news agencies (41.8 %). Healthcare agencies contributed only 3.4 % of the total videos. Even though the useful videos represented 72% of all videos, there was significantly higher total viewership and viewership per day for the non-useful videos (P<0.05). YouTube may be a significant resource for dissemination of information on public health issues like West Nile virus infection and should be targeted by healthcare agencies for this use. The major drawback of this medium is lack of verification by authorized healthcare professionals before these videos are made available for viewing by the community. Hence, a strict caution should be exercised in obtaining the information from unauthorized videos posted on YouTube. © 2013 Marshfield Clinic.

Interdisciplinary curriculum to train internal medicine and obstetrics-gynecology residents in ambulatory women's health: adapting problem-based learning to residency education.

PubMed

Spencer, Abby L; McNeil, Melissa

2009-09-01

Although residents in internal medicine (IM) and obstetrics-gynecology (OG) must provide primary care for women, studies indicate that both groups require more skills and training in women's health. Our goals were to assess the needs of residents at our academic medical center and to design an interdisciplinary curriculum that addresses these needs utilizing a modified problem-based learning (PBL) format. The aim of this article is to report on the development, logistics, and successful implementation of our innovative curriculum. Based on results from a targeted needs-assessment, we designed a curriculum for both IM and OG residents to address curricular deficiencies in an efficient and effective manner. Procurement of support was achieved by reviewing overlapping competency requirements and results of the needs-assessment with the program directors. The curriculum consists of six ambulatory clinical cases which lead residents through a discussion of screening, diagnosis, prevention, and management within a modified PBL format. Residents select one learning objective each week which allows them to serve as content experts during case discussions, applying what they learned from their literature review to guide the group as they decide upon the next step for the case. This format helps accommodate different experience levels of learners, encourages discussion from less-vocal residents, and utilizes theories of adult learning. Sixty-five residents have participated in the curriculum since it was successfully implemented. IM residents report that the cases were their first opportunity to discuss the health concerns of younger women; OG residents felt similarly about cases related to older women. Implementation challenges included resident accountability. Residents identified the timing of the sessions and clinical coverage requirements as barriers to conference attendance. Interdisciplinary modified PBL conferences focusing on shared curricular needs in ambulatory women's health are well-received by both IM and OG residents. This format utilizes theories of adult learning and maximizes limited time and resources by teaching IM and OG residents concurrently, and can be successfully implemented at a large academic medical center.

Effects of endophyte-infected tall fescue on indicators of thermal status and growth in Hereford and Senepol steers.

PubMed

Browning, R

2004-02-01

Poor growth often occurs in cattle consuming ergot alkaloids associated with endophyte-infected (EI) tall fescue. Hyperthermia may contribute significantly to poor growth resulting from fescue toxicosis. This study examined indicators of thermal status and growth in Hereford (n = 30; heat-sensitive Bos taurus; H) and Senepol (n = 28; heat-tolerant Bos taurus; S) steers fed EI tall fescue (TF) or orchardgrass (OG) in 2 x 2 factorial experiments. Respiration rates, daytime shade use, tail skin temperatures, and body weights were measured during the summer and fall of 2000 (Exp. 1) and 2001 (Exp. 2). Experimental diets consisted of hay and seed for 12 wk in 2000, hay for 6 wk during the summer of 2001, and hay plus seed for 6 wk during the fall of 2001. In Exp. 1, EI tall fescue increased (P < 0.01) respiration rates, shade use, and skin temperatures in both breeds. Breed x diet affected (P < 0.01) 12-wk ADG in Exp. 1. Growth rate was lower for H-TF (262 g/d) than for S-TF, S-OG, and H-OG (475, 497, and 524 g/d, respectively). In Exp. 2, Senepol had lower (P < 0.01) respiration rates, shade use, and skin temperatures compared with Hereford, but diet did not alter (P > 0.14) these indicator traits in either breed. Breed x diet affected (P < 0.01) summer growth rates. Growth rate was lower for H-TF (88 g/d) than for H-OG, S-TF, and S-OG (508, 555, and 566 g/d, respectively). Adding seed to the diets in Exp. 2 decreased (P < 0.01) ADG for both breeds on TF during the fall. Thermal status indicator traits in Senepol and Hereford steers were similarly altered by TF; however, only Hereford showed consistently poor growth. Senepol showed resilience in their capacity for growth under conditions of fescue toxicosis. Senepol influence may enhance cattle performance in production systems that use EI tall fescue as the base forage.

Minimally invasive surgery for gastric cancer: A comparison between robotic, laparoscopic and open surgery

PubMed Central

Parisi, Amilcare; Reim, Daniel; Borghi, Felice; Nguyen, Ninh T; Qi, Feng; Coratti, Andrea; Cianchi, Fabio; Cesari, Maurizio; Bazzocchi, Francesca; Alimoglu, Orhan; Gagnière, Johan; Pernazza, Graziano; D’Imporzano, Simone; Zhou, Yan-Bing; Azagra, Juan-Santiago; Facy, Olivier; Brower, Steven T; Jiang, Zhi-Wei; Zang, Lu; Isik, Arda; Gemini, Alessandro; Trastulli, Stefano; Novotny, Alexander; Marano, Alessandra; Liu, Tong; Annecchiarico, Mario; Badii, Benedetta; Arcuri, Giacomo; Avanzolini, Andrea; Leblebici, Metin; Pezet, Denis; Cao, Shou-Gen; Goergen, Martine; Zhang, Shu; Palazzini, Giorgio; D’Andrea, Vito; Desiderio, Jacopo

2017-01-01

AIM To investigate the role of minimally invasive surgery for gastric cancer and determine surgical, clinical, and oncological outcomes. METHODS This is a propensity score-matched case-control study, comparing three treatment arms: robotic gastrectomy (RG), laparoscopic gastrectomy (LG), open gastrectomy (OG). Data collection started after sharing a specific study protocol. Data were recorded through a tailored and protected web-based system. Primary outcomes: harvested lymph nodes, estimated blood loss, hospital stay, complications rate. Among the secondary outcomes, there are: operative time, R0 resections, POD of mobilization, POD of starting liquid diet and soft solid diet. The analysis includes the evaluation of type and grade of postoperative complications. Detailed information of anastomotic leakages is also provided. RESULTS The present analysis was carried out of 1026 gastrectomies. To guarantee homogenous distribution of cases, patients in the RG, LG and OG groups were 1:1:2 matched using a propensity score analysis with a caliper = 0.2. The successful matching resulted in a total sample of 604 patients (RG = 151; LG = 151; OG = 302). The three groups showed no differences in all baseline patients characteristics, type of surgery (P = 0.42) and stage of the disease (P = 0.16). Intraoperative blood loss was significantly lower in the LG (95.93 ± 119.22) and RG (117.91 ± 68.11) groups compared to the OG (127.26 ± 79.50, P = 0.002). The mean number of retrieved lymph nodes was similar between the RG (27.78 ± 11.45), LG (24.58 ± 13.56) and OG (25.82 ± 12.07) approach. A benefit in favor of the minimally invasive approaches was found in the length of hospital stay (P < 0.0001). A similar complications rate was found (P = 0.13). The leakage rate was not different (P = 0.78) between groups. CONCLUSION Laparoscopic and robotic surgery can be safely performed and proposed as possible alternative to open surgery. The main highlighted benefit is a faster postoperative functional recovery. PMID:28428717

Modeling to Evaluate Contribution of Oil and Gas Emissions to Air Pollution.

PubMed

Thompson, Tammy M; Shepherd, Donald; Stacy, Andrea; Barna, Michael G; Schichtel, Bret A

2017-04-01

Oil and gas production in the Western United States has increased considerably over the past 10 years. While many of the still limited oil and gas impact assessments have focused on potential human health impacts, the typically remote locations of production in the Intermountain West suggests that the impacts of oil and gas production on national parks and wilderness areas (Class I and II areas) could also be important. To evaluate this, we utilize the Comprehensive Air quality Model with Extensions (CAMx) with a year-long modeling episode representing the best available representation of 2011 meteorology and emissions for the Western United States. The model inputs for the 2011 episodes were generated as part of the Three State Air Quality Study (3SAQS). The study includes a detailed assessment of oil and gas (O&G) emissions in Western States. The year-long modeling episode was run both with and without emissions from O&G production. The difference between these two runs provides an estimate of the contribution of the O&G production to air quality. These data were used to assess the contribution of O&G to the 8 hour average ozone concentrations, daily and annual fine particulate concentrations, annual nitrogen deposition totals and visibility in the modeling domain. We present the results for the Class I and II areas in the Western United States. Modeling results suggest that emissions from O&G activity are having a negative impact on air quality and ecosystem health in our National Parks and Class I areas. In this research, we use a modeling framework developed for oil and gas evaluation in the western United States to determine the modeled impacts of emissions associated with oil and gas production on air pollution metrics. We show that oil and gas production may have a significant negative impact on air quality and ecosystem health in some national parks and other Class I areas in the western United States. Our findings are of particular interest to federal land managers as well as regulators in states heavy in oil and gas production as they consider control strategies to reduce the impact of development.

Patient Eye Examinations - Adults

MedlinePlus

Explore Recent Photos Trending Flickr VR The Commons Galleries World Map Camera Finder The Weekly Flickr Flickr Blog Create Upload Log In Sign Up Explore Recent Photos Trending The Commons Galleries The Weekly Flickr Flickr ...

Anatomy of the Eye

MedlinePlus

Explore Recent Photos Trending Flickr VR The Commons Galleries World Map Camera Finder The Weekly Flickr Flickr Blog Create Upload Log In Sign Up Explore Recent Photos Trending The Commons Galleries The Weekly Flickr Flickr ...

Terminology Guideline for Classifying Offshore Wind Energy Resources

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

Beiter, Philipp; Musial, Walt

The purpose of this guideline is to establish a clear and consistent vocabulary for conveying offshore wind resource potential and to interpret this vocabulary in terms that are familiar to the oil and gas (O&G) industry. This involves clarifying and refining existing definitions of offshore wind energy resource classes. The terminology developed in this guideline represents one of several possible sets of vocabulary that may differ with respect to their purpose, data availability, and comprehensiveness. It was customized to correspond with established offshore wind practices and existing renewable energy industry terminology (e.g. DOE 2013, Brown et al. 2015) while conformingmore » to established fossil resource classification as best as possible. The developers of the guideline recognize the fundamental differences that exist between fossil and renewable energy resources with respect to availability, accessibility, lifetime, and quality. Any quantitative comparison between fossil and renewable energy resources, including offshore wind, is therefore limited. For instance, O&G resources are finite and there may be significant uncertainty associated with the amount of the resource. In contrast, aboveground renewable resources, such as offshore wind, do not generally deplete over time but can vary significantly subhourly, daily, seasonally, and annually. The intent of this guideline is to make these differences transparent and develop an offshore wind resource classification that conforms to established fossil resource classifications where possible. This guideline also provides methods to quantitatively compare certain offshore wind energy resources to O&G resource classes for specific applications. Finally, this guideline identifies areas where analogies to established O&G terminology may be inappropriate or subject to misinterpretation.« less

Commitment to and preparedness for sustainable supply chain management in the oil and gas industry.

PubMed

Wan Ahmad, Wan Nurul K; Rezaei, Jafar; Tavasszy, Lóránt A; de Brito, Marisa P

2016-09-15

Our current dependency on the oil and gas (O&G) industry for economic development and social activities necessitates research into the sustainability of the industry's supply chains. At present, studies on sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practices in the industry do not include firm-internal factors that affect the sustainability strategies employed by different functional areas of its supply chains. Our study aims to address this gap by identifying the relevant internal factors and exploring their relationship with SSCM strategies. Specifically, we discuss the commitment to and preparedness for sustainable practices of companies that operate in upstream and downstream O&G supply chain. We study the impact of these factors on their sustainability strategies of four key supply chain functions: supplier management, production management, product stewardship and logistics management. The analyses of data collected through a survey among 81 companies show that management preparedness may enhance sustainable supply chain strategies in the O&G industry more than commitment does. Among the preparedness measures, management of supply chain operational risks is found to be vital to the sustainability of all supply chain functions except for production management practices. The findings also highlight the central importance of supplier and logistics management to the achievement of sustainable O&G supply chains. Companies must also develop an organizational culture that encourages, for example, team collaboration and proactive behaviour to finding innovative sustainability solutions in order to translate commitment to sustainable practices into actions that can produce actual difference to their SSCM practices. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Theoretical predictions for α -decay chains of 118 290 -298Og isotopes using a finite-range nucleon-nucleon interaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ismail, M.; Adel, A.

2018-04-01

The α -decay half-lives of the recently synthesized superheavy nuclei (SHN) are investigated by employing the density dependent cluster model. A realistic nucleon-nucleon (NN ) interaction with a finite-range exchange part is used to calculate the microscopic α -nucleus potential in the well-established double-folding model. The calculated potential is then implemented to find both the assault frequency and the penetration probability of the α particle by means of the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (WKB) approximation in combination with the Bohr-Sommerfeld quantization condition. The calculated values of α -decay half-lives of the recently synthesized Og isotopes and its decay products are in good agreement with the experimental data. Moreover, the calculated values of α -decay half-lives have been compared with those values evaluated using other theoretical models, and it was found that our theoretical values match well with their counterparts. The competition between α decay and spontaneous fission is investigated and predictions for possible decay modes for the unknown nuclei 118 290 -298Og are presented. We studied the behavior of the α -decay half-lives of Og isotopes and their decay products as a function of the mass number of the parent nuclei. We found that the behavior of the curves is governed by proton and neutron magic numbers found from previous studies. The proton numbers Z =114 , 116, 108, 106 and the neutron numbers N =172 , 164, 162, 158 show some magic character. We hope that the theoretical prediction of α -decay chains provides a new perspective to experimentalists.

An optoacoustic guide with augmented reality system towards precision breast conserving surgery (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lan, Lu; Liu, Kaiming; Xia, Yan; Wu, Jiayingzi; Li, Rui; Wang, Pu; Han, Linda K.; Cheng, Ji-Xin

2017-02-01

Breast-conserving surgery is a well-accepted breast cancer treatment. However, it is still challenging for the surgeon to accurately localize the tumor during the surgery. Also, the guidance provided by current methods is 1 dimensional distance information, which is indirect and not intuitive. Therefore, it creates problems on a large re-excision rate, and a prolonged surgical time. To solve these problems, we have developed a fiber-delivered optoacoustic guide (OG), which mimics the traditional localization guide wire and is preoperatively placed into tumor mass, and an augmented reality (AR) system to provide real-time visualization on the location of the tumor with sub-millimeter variance. By a nano-composite light diffusion sphere and light absorbing layer formed on the tip of an optical fiber, the OG creates an omnidirectional acoustic source inside tumor mass under pulsed laser excitation. The optoacoustic signal generated has a high dynamic range ( 58dB) and spreads in a large apex angle of 320 degrees. Then, an acoustic radar with three ultrasound transducers is attached to the breast skin, and triangulates the location of the OG tip. With an AR system to sense the location of the acoustic radar, the relative position of the OG tip inside the tumor to the AR display is calculated and rendered. This provides direct visual feedback of the tumor location to surgeons, which will greatly ease the surgical planning during the operation and save surgical time. A proof-of-concept experiment using a tablet and a stereo-vision camera is demonstrated and 0.25 mm tracking variance is achieved.

Circulating filarial antigen in the hydrocele fluid from individuals living in a bancroftian filariasis area - Recife, Brazil: detected by the monoclonal antibody Og4C3-assay.

PubMed

Rocha, Abraham; Lima, Guilherme; Medeiros, Zulma; Aguiar-Santos, Ana; Alves, Sandra; Montarroyos, Ulisses; Oliveira, Paula; Béliz, Fátima; Netto, Maria José; Furtado, André

2004-02-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the circulating filarial antigen (CFA) detected by the monoclonal antibody (mAb) Og4C3-ELISA in paired samples of serum and hydrocele fluid from 104 men with hydrocele, living in an endemic area of Wuchereria bancrofti. Nocturnal blood specimens were filtered and examined for microfilariae (MF) and ultrasound was used in order to identify the presence of adult worms (the filaria dance sign - FDS) in the lymphatic vessels of the scrotal area. Four groups were selected according to their parasitological status: group I - 71 MF- and FDS-; group II - 21 MF+ and FDS+; group III - 10 MF- and FDS+ and group IV- 2 MF+ and FDS-. CFA was identified simultaneously (fluid and serum) in 11 (15.5%), 21 (100%), 3 (30%), and 1 (50%) in groups I, II, III, and IV, respectively. In despite of high CFA+ level (antigen Og4C3) units/ml, the Geometrical Mean (GM) = 2696) in the sera of these 36/104 paired samples, when compared to the hydrocele fluid, (GM = 1079), showed a very good correlation between the CFA level in the serum and CFA level in the fluid (r = 0.731). CFA level in the serum of the 23 microfilaremics (groups II and IV) was extremely high (GM = 4189) and was correlated with MF density (r = 0.442). These findings report for the first time the potential alternative use of the hydrocele fluid to investigate CFA using the mAb Og4C3-ELISA.

Instability and thermal conductivity of pressure-densified and elastically altered orientational glass of Buckminsterfullerene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johari, G. P.; Andersson, Ove; Sundqvist, Bertil

2018-04-01

We report on the temperature, pressure, and time (T, p, and t)-dependent features of thermal conductivity, κ, of partially ordered, non-equilibrium state of C60-OG, the orientational glass of Buckminsterfullerene (at T below the orientational freezing temperature Tog) made more unstable (i) by partially depressurizing its high-p formed state to elastically expand it and (ii) by further pressurizing that state to elastically contract it. The sub-Tog effects observed on heating of C60-OG differ from those of glasses because phonon propagation depends on the ratio of two well-defined orientational states of C60 molecules and the density of the solid. A broad peak-like feature appears at T near Tog in the κ-T plots of C60-OG formed at 0.7 GPa, depressurized to 0.2 GPa and heated at 0.2 GPa, which we attribute to partial overlap of the sub-Tog and Tog features. A sub-Tog local minimum appears in the κ-T plots at T well below Tog of C60-OG formed at 0.1 GPa, pressurized to 0.5 GPa and heated at 0.5 GPa and it corresponds to the state of maximum disorder. Although Buckminsterfullerene is regarded as an orientationally disordered crystal, variation of its properties with T and p is qualitatively different from other such crystals. We discuss the findings in terms of the nature of its disorder, sensitivity of its rotational dynamics to temperature, and the absence of the Johari-Goldstein relaxation. All seem to affect the phenomenology of its glass-like transition.

Anaerobic treatability of high oil and grease rendering wastewater.

PubMed

Nakhla, George; Al-Sabawi, Mustafa; Bassi, Amerjeet; Liu, Victor

2003-08-29

This study evaluated the use of a new biosurfactant, BOD-Balance, derived from cactus for the treatment of oil-and-grease-laden rendering wastewater anaerobically. Batch laboratory experimental results and preliminary full-scale data are presented. The biosurfactant affected a significant increase in the COD degradation rate for the raw wastewater. However, after reduction of the oil and grease (O&G) by dissolved air flotation, the biosurfactant did not exhibit any advantages. Modeling of the data indicated that various COD fractions, i.e. both soluble and particulate as well as total COD at various testing conditions conformed well to both zero-order and first-order models. The biosurfactant affected a 164-238 and 164-247% increase in COD and particulate COD biodegradation rate for the raw wastewater. The reduction of O&G concentration to <800 mg/l increased total and soluble COD degradation rates by 106%. Results from the full-scale mesophilic anaerobic digestion system indicated that the addition of the biosurfactant at doses of 130-200 mg/l decreased O&G concentrations from 66,300 to 10,200 mg/l over a 2-month-period.

The effects of detergents DDM and beta-OG on the singlet excited state lifetime of the chlorophyll a in cytochrome b6f complex from spinach chloroplasts.

PubMed

Chen, XiaoBo; Zhao, XiaoHui; Zhang, JianPing; Li, LiangBi; Kuang, TingYun

2007-08-01

The singlet excited state lifetime of the chlorophyll a (Chl a) in cytochrome b(6)f (Cyt b(6)f) complex was reported to be shorter than that of free Chl a in methanol, but the value was different for Cyt b(6)f complexes from different sources ( approximately 200 and approximately 600 ps are the two measured results). The present study demonstrated that the singlet excited state lifetime is associated with the detergents n-dodecyl-beta-D-maltoside (DDM) and n-octyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside (beta-OG), but has nothing to do with the different sources of Cyt b(6)f complexes. Compared with the Cyt b(6)f dissolved in beta-OG, the Cyt b(6)f in DDM had a lower fluorescence yield, a lower photodegradation rate of Chl a, and a shorter lifetime of Chl a excited state. In short, the singlet excited state lifetime, approximately 200 ps, of the Chl a in Cyt b(6)f complex in DDM is closer to the true in vivo.

The influence of regional geological settings on the seismic hazard level in copper mines in the Legnica-Głogów Copper Belt Area (Poland)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burtan, Zbigniew

2017-11-01

The current level of rockburst hazard in copper mines of the (LGOM) Legnica- Głogów Copper Belt Area is mostly the consequence of mining-induced seismicity, whilst the majority of rockbursting events registered to date were caused by high-energy tremors. The analysis of seismic readings in recent years reveals that the highest seismic activity among the copper mines in the LGOM is registered in the mine Rudna. This study investigates the seismic activity in the rock strata in the Rudna mine fields over the years 2006-2015. Of particular interest are the key seismicity parameters: the number of registered seismic events, the total energy emissions, the energy index. It appears that varied seismic activity in the area may be the function of several variables: effective mining thickness, the thickness of burst-prone strata and tectonic intensity. The results support and corroborate the view that principal factors influencing the actual seismic hazard level are regional geological conditions in the copper mines within the Legnica-Głogów Copper Belt Area.

Arab-American trade: performance and prospects. [With oil group and non-oil group countries

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

Al-Bustany, B.

1980-03-01

Twenty Arab countries were examined by dividing them into two groups depending on the relative share of oil exports (excluding re-exports) in total exports as an annual average for 1972-1978, with a demarcation line of 50%. The oil group (OG) comprises eight countries while the non-oil group covers twelve countries. The level of Arab exports and imports increased during the period between 1972 and 1978. Oil was the dominant export but NOG countries diversified with exports of cotton and phosphate. The balance of trade of the Arab countries was positive during this period despite the persistent, and increasing, deficit ofmore » the NOG countries, Combined Arab-American trade increased substantially during the 1970's but particularly after 1974. Oil has been the major factor affecting the size and pattern of Arab-American trade. Export earnings of the OG increased while import capacity of the NOG, supported by increased financial aid received from the OG, also increased. The American balance of trade will continue to be closely linked to Arab influence. (SAC)« less

COPD and other health problems

MedlinePlus

... 105. Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) website. Global strategy for the diagnosis, management, and ... report. goldcopd.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/GOLD-2018-v6.0-FINAL-revised-20-Nov_WMS. ...

Cassini's Test Methodology for Flight Software Verification and Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wang, Eric; Brown, Jay

2007-01-01

The Cassini spacecraft was launched on 15 October 1997 on a Titan IV-B launch vehicle. The spacecraft is comprised of various subsystems, including the Attitude and Articulation Control Subsystem (AACS). The AACS Flight Software (FSW) and its development has been an ongoing effort, from the design, development and finally operations. As planned, major modifications to certain FSW functions were designed, tested, verified and uploaded during the cruise phase of the mission. Each flight software upload involved extensive verification testing. A standardized FSW testing methodology was used to verify the integrity of the flight software. This paper summarizes the flight software testing methodology used for verifying FSW from pre-launch through the prime mission, with an emphasis on flight experience testing during the first 2.5 years of the prime mission (July 2004 through January 2007).

Apollo2Go: a web service adapter for the Apollo genome viewer to enable distributed genome annotation.

PubMed

Klee, Kathrin; Ernst, Rebecca; Spannagl, Manuel; Mayer, Klaus F X

2007-08-30

Apollo, a genome annotation viewer and editor, has become a widely used genome annotation and visualization tool for distributed genome annotation projects. When using Apollo for annotation, database updates are carried out by uploading intermediate annotation files into the respective database. This non-direct database upload is laborious and evokes problems of data synchronicity. To overcome these limitations we extended the Apollo data adapter with a generic, configurable web service client that is able to retrieve annotation data in a GAME-XML-formatted string and pass it on to Apollo's internal input routine. This Apollo web service adapter, Apollo2Go, simplifies the data exchange in distributed projects and aims to render the annotation process more comfortable. The Apollo2Go software is freely available from ftp://ftpmips.gsf.de/plants/apollo_webservice.

Apollo2Go: a web service adapter for the Apollo genome viewer to enable distributed genome annotation

PubMed Central

Klee, Kathrin; Ernst, Rebecca; Spannagl, Manuel; Mayer, Klaus FX

2007-01-01

Background Apollo, a genome annotation viewer and editor, has become a widely used genome annotation and visualization tool for distributed genome annotation projects. When using Apollo for annotation, database updates are carried out by uploading intermediate annotation files into the respective database. This non-direct database upload is laborious and evokes problems of data synchronicity. Results To overcome these limitations we extended the Apollo data adapter with a generic, configurable web service client that is able to retrieve annotation data in a GAME-XML-formatted string and pass it on to Apollo's internal input routine. Conclusion This Apollo web service adapter, Apollo2Go, simplifies the data exchange in distributed projects and aims to render the annotation process more comfortable. The Apollo2Go software is freely available from . PMID:17760972

Improvements to the Magnetics Information Consortium (MagIC) Paleo and Rock Magnetic Database

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jarboe, N.; Minnett, R.; Tauxe, L.; Koppers, A. A. P.; Constable, C.; Jonestrask, L.

2015-12-01

The Magnetic Information Consortium (MagIC) database (http://earthref.org/MagIC/) continues to improve the ease of data uploading and editing, the creation of complex searches, data visualization, and data downloads for the paleomagnetic, geomagnetic, and rock magnetic communities. Online data editing is now available and the need for proprietary spreadsheet software is therefore entirely negated. The data owner can change values in the database or delete entries through an HTML 5 web interface that resembles typical spreadsheets in behavior and uses. Additive uploading now allows for additions to data sets to be uploaded with a simple drag and drop interface. Searching the database has improved with the addition of more sophisticated search parameters and with the facility to use them in complex combinations. A comprehensive summary view of a search result has been added for increased quick data comprehension while a raw data view is available if one desires to see all data columns as stored in the database. Data visualization plots (ARAI, equal area, demagnetization, Zijderveld, etc.) are presented with the data when appropriate to aid the user in understanding the dataset. MagIC data associated with individual contributions or from online searches may be downloaded in the tab delimited MagIC text file format for susbsequent offline use and analysis. With input from the paleomagnetic, geomagnetic, and rock magnetic communities, the MagIC database will continue to improve as a data warehouse and resource.

Absolute Doppler shift calibration of laser induced fluorescence signals using optogalvanic measurements in a hollow cathode lamp

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ruyten, Wilhelmus M.; Keefer, Dennis

1992-01-01

The paper investigates the use of optogalvanic (OG) measurements on the neutral 3P1 and 3P2 levels of argon in a hollow cathode lamp for the purpose of calibrating Doppler shifts of laser-induced fluorescence signals from an arcjet plume. It is shown that, even with non-Doppler-free OG detection, accuracy to better than 10 MHz is possible but that, depending on the experiment geometry, corrections of 10-35 MHz may be necessary to offset small axial drift velocities of neutral atoms in the hollow cathode lamp.

Testosterone Test

MedlinePlus

... Cancer Therapy Glucose Tests Gonorrhea Testing Gram Stain Growth Hormone Haptoglobin hCG Pregnancy hCG Tumor Marker HDL Cholesterol ... Puberty. PDF available for download at http://www.hormone.org/Resources/Growth/upload/bilingual_precocious_puberty.pdf. Accessed January 2009. ...

77 FR 22707 - Electronic Reporting Under the Toxic Substances Control Act

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-17

... completes metadata information, the web-based tool validates the submission by performing a basic error... uploading PDF attachments or other file types, such as XML, and completing metadata information would be...

Handling a Collection of PDF Documents

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

You have several options for making a large collection of PDF documents more accessible to your audience: avoid uploading altogether, use multiple document pages, and use document IDs as anchors for direct links within a document page.

76 FR 49455 - Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-08-10

... System name: Sensitive Compartmented Info (SCI) Posn/Pers Accountability System (February 22, 1993, 58 FR 10562). Reason: DISA does not upload or input PII into the Sensitive Compartmented Info (SCI) Posn/Pers...

Delayed Puberty

MedlinePlus

... which make sex hormones • Genetic problems such as Turner syndrome in girls or Klinefelter syndrome in boys • Some ... FS_MH_Klinefelter_Syndrome_EN-6-12.pdf ——Turner Syndrome: www.hormone.org/Resources/upload/ FS_GD_Turner_ ...

Meals on Wheels? A Decade of Megafaunal Visual and Acoustic Observations from Offshore Oil & Gas Rigs and Platforms in the North and Irish Seas.

PubMed

Todd, Victoria Louise Georgia; Warley, Jane Clare; Todd, Ian Boyer

2016-01-01

A decade of visual and acoustic detections of marine megafauna around offshore Oil & Gas (O&G) installations in the North and Irish Seas are presented. Marine megafauna activity was monitored visually and acoustically by Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) qualified and experienced Marine Mammal Observers (MMO) and Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) Operators respectively, with real-time towed PAM in combination with industry standard software, PAMGuard. Monitoring was performed during routine O&G industrial operations for underwater noise mitigation purposes, and to ensure adherence to regulatory guidelines. Incidental sightings by off-effort MMOs and installation crew were also reported. Visual and acoustic monitoring spanned 55 non-consecutive days between 2004 and 2014. A total of 47 marine mammal sightings were recorded by MMOs on dedicated watch, and 10 incidental sightings of marine megafauna were reported over 10 years. Species included: harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena), Atlantic white-sided dolphin (Lagenorhynchus acutus), white beaked dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris), common dolphin (Delphinus delphis), minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), common seal (Phoca vitulina), grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) and, basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus). Passive Acoustic Monitoring was conducted on two occasions in 2014; 160 PAM hours over 12 days recorded a total of 308 individual clicks identified as harbour porpoises. These appear to be the first such acoustic detections obtained from a North Sea drilling rig whilst using a typically configured hydrophone array designed for towing in combination with real-time PAMGuard software. This study provides evidence that marine megafauna are present around mobile and stationary offshore O&G installations during routine operational activities. On this basis, Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) for decommissioning O&G platforms should be carried-out on a case-by-case basis, and must include provisions for hitherto overlooked marine megafauna.

Heterogeneous Human Periodontal Ligament-Committed Progenitor and Stem Cell Populations Exhibit a Unique Cementogenic Property Under In Vitro and In Vivo Conditions.

PubMed

Shinagawa-Ohama, Rei; Mochizuki, Mai; Tamaki, Yuichi; Suda, Naoto; Nakahara, Taka

2017-05-01

An undesirable complication that arises during dental treatments is external apical-root resorption, which causes root-cementum and root-dentin loss. To induce de novo cementogenesis, stem cell therapy is required. Cementum-forming cells (cementoblasts) are known to be differentiated from periodontal-lineage mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which are derived from the dental follicle (DF) in developing tissues and the periodontal ligament (PDL) in adult tissues, but the periodontal-lineage MSC type that is optimal for inducing de novo cementogenesis remains unidentified, as does the method to isolate these cells from harvested tissues. Thus, we investigated the cementogenic potential of DF- and PDL-derived MSCs that were isolated by using two widely used cell-isolation methods: enzymatic digestion and outgrowth (OG) methods. DF- and PDL-derived cells isolated by using both methods proliferated actively, and all four isolated cell types showed MSC gene/protein expression phenotype and ability to differentiate into adipogenic and chondrogenic lineages. Furthermore, cementogenic-potential analysis revealed that all cell types produced alizarin red S-positive mineralized materials in in vitro cultures. However, PDL-OG cells presented unique cementogenic features, such as nodular formation of mineralized deposits displaying a cellular intrinsic fiber cementum-like structure, as well as a higher expression of cementoblast-specific genes than in the other cell types. Moreover, in in vivo transplantation experiments, PDL-OG cells formed cellular cementum-like hard tissue containing embedded osteocalcin-positive cells, whereas the other cells formed acellular cementum-like materials. Given that the root-cementum defect is likely regenerated through cellular cementum deposition, PDL-OG cell-based therapies might potentially facilitate the de novo cellular cementogenesis required for regenerating the root defect.

O-GlcNAcPRED-II: an integrated classification algorithm for identifying O-GlcNAcylation sites based on fuzzy undersampling and a K-means PCA oversampling technique.

PubMed

Jia, Cangzhi; Zuo, Yun; Zou, Quan; Hancock, John

2018-02-06

Protein O-GlcNAcylation (O-GlcNAc) is an important post-translational modification of serine (S)/threonine (T) residues that involves multiple molecular and cellular processes. Recent studies have suggested that abnormal O-G1cNAcylation causes many diseases, such as cancer and various neurodegenerative diseases. With the available protein O-G1cNAcylation sites experimentally verified, it is highly desired to develop automated methods to rapidly and effectively identify O-G1cNAcylation sites. Although some computational methods have been proposed, their performance has been unsatisfactory, particularly in terms of prediction sensitivity. In this study, we developed an ensemble model O-GlcNAcPRED-II to identify potential O-G1cNAcylation sites. A K-means principal component analysis oversampling technique (KPCA) and fuzzy undersampling method (FUS) were first proposed and incorporated to reduce the proportion of the original positive and negative training samples. Then, rotation forest, a type of classifier-integrated system, was adopted to divide the eight types of feature space into several subsets using four sub-classifiers: random forest, k-nearest neighbour, naive Bayesian and support vector machine. We observed that O-GlcNAcPRED-II achieved a sensitivity of 81.05%, specificity of 95.91%, accuracy of 91.43% and Matthew's correlation coefficient of 0.7928 for five-fold cross-validation run 10 times. Additionally, the results obtained by O-GlcNAcPRED-II on two independent datasets also indicated that the proposed predictor outperformed five published prediction tools. http://121.42.167.206/OGlcPred/. cangzhijia@dlmu.edu.cn or zouquan@nclab.net. © The Author (2018). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com

The newly developed CRF1-receptor antagonists, NGD 98-2 and NGD 9002, suppress acute stress-induced stimulation of colonic motor function and visceral hypersensitivity in rats.

PubMed

Million, Mulugeta; Zhao, Jing-Fang; Luckey, Andrew; Czimmer, József; Maynard, George D; Kehne, John; Hoffman, Diane C; Taché, Yvette

2013-01-01

Corticotropin releasing factor receptor 1 (CRF1) is the key receptor that mediates stress-related body responses. However to date there are no CRF1 antagonists that have shown clinical efficacy in stress-related diseases. We investigated the inhibitory effects of a new generation, topology 2 selective CRF1 antagonists, NGD 98-2 and NGD 9002 on exogenous and endogenous CRF-induced stimulation of colonic function and visceral hypersensitivity to colorectal distension (CRD) in conscious rats. CRF1 antagonists or vehicle were administered orogastrically (og) or subcutaneously (sc) before either intracerebroventricular (icv) or intraperitoneal (ip) injection of CRF (10 µg/kg), exposure to water avoidance stress (WAS, 60 min) or repeated CRD (60 mmHg twice, 10 min on/off at a 30 min interval). Fecal pellet output (FPO), diarrhea and visceromotor responses were monitored. In vehicle (og)-pretreated rats, icv CRF stimulated FPO and induced diarrhea in >50% of rats. NGD 98-2 or NGD 9002 (3, 10 and 30 mg/kg, og) reduced the CRF-induced FPO response with an inhibitory IC50 of 15.7 and 4.3 mg/kg respectively. At the highest dose, og NGD 98-2 or NGD 9002 blocked icv CRF-induced FPO by 67-87% and decreased WAS-induced-FPO by 23-53%. When administered sc, NGD 98-2 or NGD 9002 (30 mg/kg) inhibited icv and ip CRF-induced-FPO. The antagonists also prevented the development of nociceptive hyper-responsivity to repeated CRD. These data demonstrate that topology 2 CRF1 antagonists, NGD 98-2 and NGD 9002, administered orally, prevented icv CRF-induced colonic secretomotor stimulation, reduced acute WAS-induced defecation and blocked the induction of visceral sensitization to repeated CRD.

Postural alignment in children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy and its relationship with balance

PubMed Central

Baptista, Cyntia R. J. A.; Costa, Andreia A.; Pizzato, Tatiana M.; Souza, Francine B.; Mattiello-Sverzut, Ana C.

2014-01-01

Background In Duchenne muscular dystrophy, functional deficits seem to arise from body misalignment, deconditioning, and obesity secondary to weakness and immobility. The question remains about the effects of postural deviations on the functional balance of these children. Objectives To identify and quantify postural deviations in children with DMD in comparison to non-affected children (eutrophic and overweight/obese), exploring relationships between posture and function. Method This case-control study evaluated 29 participants aged 6 to 11 years: 10 DMD (DG), 10 eutrophic (EG), and 9 overweight/obese (OG). Digital photogrammetry and SAPo program were used to measure postural alignment and the Pediatric Balance Scale (PBS) was used to measure balance. The Kruskall-Wallis and Dunn post-hoc tests were used for inter-group comparison of posture and balance. Spearman's coefficient tested the correlation between postural and balance variables. Results The horizontal pelvic alignment data indicated that the anteversion of the DG was similar to that of the OG and twice that of the EG (p<0.05). Compared to the EG, the DG and OG showed an increased forward position of the center of mass (p<0.05). There was a moderate and weak correlation between the PBS score and horizontal pelvic alignment (0.58 and 0.47-left/right). The PBS showed a weak correlation with asymmetries in the sagittal plane (-0.39). The PBS scores for the OG and EG suggest that obesity did not have a deleterious effect on balance. Conclusions The balance deficit in children with DMD was accompanied by an increased forward position of the center of mass and significant pelvic anteversion that constitutes a compensatory strategy to guarantee similar performance to the children not affected by the disease. PMID:24838810

Regulation of nif expression in Methanococcus maripaludis: roles of the euryarchaeal repressor NrpR, 2-oxoglutarate, and two operators.

PubMed

Lie, Thomas J; Wood, Gwendolyn E; Leigh, John A

2005-02-18

The methanogenic archaean Methanococcus maripaludis can use ammonia, alanine, or dinitrogen as a nitrogen source for growth. The euryarchaeal nitrogen repressor NrpR controls the expression of the nif (nitrogen fixation) operon, resulting in full repression with ammonia, intermediate repression with alanine, and derepression with dinitrogen. NrpR binds to two tandem operators in the nif promoter region, nifOR(1) and nifOR(2). Here we have undertaken both in vivo and in vitro approaches to study the way in which NrpR, nifOR(1), nifOR(2), and the effector 2-oxoglutarate (2OG) combine to regulate nif expression, leading to a comprehensive understanding of this archaeal regulatory system. We show that NrpR binds as a dimer to nifOR(1) and cooperatively as two dimers to both operators. Cooperative binding occurs only with both operators present. nifOR(1) has stronger binding and by itself can mediate the repression of nif transcription during growth on ammonia, unlike the weakly binding nifOR(2). However, nifOR(2) in combination with nifOR(1) is critical for intermediate repression during growth on alanine. Accordingly, NrpR binds to both operators together with higher affinity than to nifOR(1) alone. NrpR responds directly to 2OG, which weakens its binding to the operators. Hence, 2OG is an intracellular indicator of nitrogen deficiency and acts as an inducer of nif transcription via NrpR. This model is upheld by the recent finding (J. A. Dodsworth and J. A. Leigh, submitted for publication) in our laboratory that 2OG levels in M. maripaludis vary with growth on different nitrogen sources.

Adjustment among mothers reporting same-gender sexual partners: a study of a representative population sample from Quebec Province (Canada).

PubMed

Julien, Danielle; Jouvin, Emilie; Jodoin, Emilie; L'archevêque, Alexandre; Chartrand, Elise

2008-12-01

We examined the well-being of mothers and non-mothers reporting exclusive opposite-gender sexual partners (OG), same-gender sexual partners (SG), or both (BI) in a representative sample of 20,773 participants (11,034 women) 15-years-old or older from the population of Quebec province in Canada. Participants completed a self-administered questionnaire and SG and BI women (n = 179) were matched to a sample of OG women (n = 179) based on age, income, geographical area, and children (having at least one 18-year-old or younger biological or adopted child at home). We assessed social milieu variables, risk factors for health disorders, mental health, and quality of mothers' relationship with children. The findings indicated a sexual orientation main effect: Mothers and non-mothers in the SG and BI group, as compared to their OG controls, were significantly less likely to live in a couple relationship, had significantly lower levels of social support, higher prevalence of early negative life events, substance abuse, suicide ideation, and higher levels of psychological distress. There were no Sexual Orientation X Parenthood status effects. The results further indicated that sexual orientation did not account for unique variance in women's psychological distress beyond that afforded by their social milieu, health risk factors, and parenthood status. No significant differences were found for the quality of mothers' relationship with children. SG-BI and OG mothers with low levels of social integration were significantly more likely to report problems with children than parents with high levels of social integration. We need to understand how marginal sexualities and their associated social stigma, as risk indicators for mothers, interact with other factors to impact family life, parenting skills, and children's adjustment.

Development of a new multimedia instrument to measure cancer-specific quality of life in Portuguese-speaking patients with varying literacy skills.

PubMed

Paiva, Carlos Eduardo; Siquelli, Felipe Augusto Ferreira; Zaia, Gabriela Rossi; de Andrade, Diocésio Alves Pinto; Borges, Marcos Aristoteles; Jácome, Alexandre A; Giroldo, Gisele Augusta Sousa Nascimento; Santos, Henrique Amorim; Hahn, Elizabeth A; Uemura, Gilberto; Paiva, Bianca Sakamoto Ribeiro

2016-01-01

To develop and validate a new multimedia instrument to measure health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in Portuguese-speaking patients with cancer. A mixed-methods study conducted in a large Brazilian Cancer Hospital. The instrument was developed along the following sequential phases: identification of HRQOL issues through qualitative content analysis of individual interviews, evaluation of the most important items according to the patients, review of the literature, evaluation by an expert committee, and pretesting. In sequence, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted (pilot testing, n = 149) to reduce the number of items and to define domains and scores. The psychometric properties of the IQualiV-OG-21 were measured in a large multicentre Brazilian study (n = 323). A software containing multimedia resources were developed to facilitate self-administration of IQualiV-OG-21; its feasibility and patients' preferences ("paper and pencil" vs. software) were further tested (n = 54). An exploratory factor analysis reduced the 30-item instrument to 21 items. The IQualiV-OG-21 was divided into 6 domains: emotional, physical, existential, interpersonal relationships, functional and financial. The multicentre study confirmed that it was valid and reliable. The electronic multimedia instrument was easy to complete and acceptable to patients. Regarding preferences, 61.1 % of them preferred the electronic format in comparison with the paper and pencil format. The IQualiV-OG-21 is a new valid and reliable multimedia HRQOL instrument that is well-understood, even by patients with low literacy skills, and can be answered quickly. It is a useful new tool that can be translated and tested in other cultures and languages.

Prediction of optical communication link availability: real-time observation of cloud patterns using a ground-based thermal infrared camera

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bertin, Clément; Cros, Sylvain; Saint-Antonin, Laurent; Schmutz, Nicolas

2015-10-01

The growing demand for high-speed broadband communications with low orbital or geostationary satellites is a major challenge. Using an optical link at 1.55 μm is an advantageous solution which potentially can increase the satellite throughput by a factor 10. Nevertheless, cloud cover is an obstacle for this optical frequency. Such communication requires an innovative management system to optimize the optical link availability between a satellite and several Optical Ground Stations (OGS). The Saint-Exupery Technological Research Institute (France) leads the project ALBS (French acronym for BroadBand Satellite Access). This initiative involving small and medium enterprises, industrial groups and research institutions specialized in aeronautics and space industries, is currently developing various solutions to increase the telecommunication satellite bandwidth. This paper presents the development of a preliminary prediction system preventing the cloud blockage of an optical link between a satellite and a given OGS. An infrared thermal camera continuously observes (night and day) the sky vault. Cloud patterns are observed and classified several times a minute. The impact of the detected clouds on the optical beam (obstruction or not) is determined by the retrieval of the cloud optical depth at the wavelength of communication. This retrieval is based on realistic cloud-modelling on libRadtran. Then, using subsequent images, cloud speed and trajectory are estimated. Cloud blockage over an OGS can then be forecast up to 30 minutes ahead. With this information, the preparation of the new link between the satellite and another OGS under a clear sky can be prepared before the link breaks due to cloud blockage.

Effects of music and art education in early life and oral functions on the QOL of the Takarazuka Revue Company OG compared with general elderly females.

PubMed

Masutani, Takiko; Yamamoto, Yasuji; Konishi, Junya; Maeda, Kiyoshi

2010-03-01

Today, Japan is becoming a super-aged society, with senior citizens already constituting over 21% of the population. In this situation, the question of how elderly people can extend their lives and enjoy independent lifestyles is becoming more important. The present study aims to clarify the relationship between the Quality of Life (QOL) of elderly females and their current oral functions and experiences of music and art education in early life. We carried out a survey study focusing on elderly females (Takarazuka Revue Company OG group and general female group) by carrying out a questionnaire survey and comparing cognitive function, oral examinations, cerebral atrophy in magnetic resonance imaging, and other characteristics. It was shown that the Takarazuka Revue Company OG group had greater hippocampal volumes and significantly higher cognitive functions than the general female group. In addition, in the general female group, there was a significant correlation between a decrease in the number of remaining teeth and a decrease in activities in daily living, but in the Takarazuka Revue Company OG group, no such correlation was observed. The results showed that those who have received art education as part of their careers over an extensive period since early life have higher levels of cognitive function, QOL, physical activity, social activity and life satisfaction compared with the general female group; showing that they sense a purpose in life and live with a positive attitude. In contrast, in the general female group, those who have continued to enjoy hobbies have higher levels of cognitive function, QOL, physical activity, social activity and life satisfaction than those who have not, thus showing that they live with a positive attitude.

Cellular Assays for Studying the Fe-S Cluster Containing Base Excision Repair Glycosylase MUTYH and Homologs.

PubMed

Majumdar, Chandrima; Nuñez, Nicole N; Raetz, Alan G; Khuu, Cindy; David, Sheila S

2018-01-01

Many DNA repair enzymes, including the human adenine glycosylase MUTYH, require iron-sulfur (Fe-S) cluster cofactors for DNA damage recognition and subsequent repair. MUTYH prokaryotic and eukaryotic homologs are a family of adenine (A) glycosylases that cleave A when mispaired with the oxidatively damaged guanine lesion, 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine (OG). Faulty OG:A repair has been linked to the inheritance of missense mutations in the MUTYH gene. These inherited mutations can result in the onset of a familial colorectal cancer disorder known as MUTYH-associated polyposis (MAP). While in vitro studies can be exceptional at unraveling how MutY interacts with its OG:A substrate, cell-based assays are needed to provide a cellular context to these studies. In addition, strategic comparison of in vitro and in vivo studies can provide exquisite insight into the search, selection, excision process, and the coordination with protein partners, required to mediate full repair of the lesion. A commonly used assay is the rifampicin resistance assay that provides an indirect evaluation of the intrinsic mutation rate in Escherichia coli (E. coli or Ec), read out as antibiotic-resistant cell growth. Our laboratory has also developed a bacterial plasmid-based assay that allows for direct evaluation of repair of a defined OG:A mispair. This assay provides a means to assess the impact of catalytic defects in affinity and excision on overall repair. Finally, a mammalian GFP-based reporter assay has been developed that more accurately models features of mammalian cells. Taken together, these assays provide a cellular context to the repair activity of MUTYH and its homologs that illuminates the role these enzymes play in preventing mutations and disease. © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Biological treatment of produced water in a sequencing batch reactor by a consortium of isolated halophilic microorganisms.

PubMed

Pendashteh, A R; Fakhru'l-Razi, A; Chuah, T G; Radiah, A B Dayang; Madaeni, S S; Zurina, Z A

2010-10-01

Produced water or oilfield wastewater is the largest volume ofa waste stream associated with oil and gas production. The aim of this study was to investigate the biological pretreatment of synthetic and real produced water in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) to remove hydrocarbon compounds. The SBR was inoculated with isolated tropical halophilic microorganisms capable of degrading crude oil. A total sequence of 24 h (60 min filling phase; 21 h aeration; 60 min settling and 60 min decant phase) was employed and studied. Synthetic produced water was treated with various organic loading rates (OLR) (0.9 kg COD m(-3) d(-1), 1.8 kg COD m(-3) d(-1) and 3.6 kg COD m(-3) d(-1)) and different total dissolved solids (TDS) concentration (35,000 mg L(-1), 100,000 mg L(-1), 150,000 mg L(-1), 200,000 mg L(-1) and 250,000 mg L(-1)). It was found that with an OLR of 0.9 kg COD m(-3) d(-1) and 1.8 kg COD m(-3) d(-1), average oil and grease (O&G) concentrations in the effluent were 7 mg L(-1) and 12 mg L(-1), respectively. At TDS concentration of 35,000 mg L(-1) and at an OLR of 1.8 kg COD m(-3)d(-1), COD and O&G removal efficiencies were more than 90%. However, with increase in salt content to 250,000 mg L(-1), COD and O&G removal efficiencies decreased to 74% and 63%, respectively. The results of biological treatment of real produced water showed that the removal rates of the main pollutants of wastewater, such as COD, TOC and O&G, were above 81%, 83%, and 85%, respectively.

Paisley Oregon Geothermal Plant Operated by Surprise Valley Electrification - 2016 Operational Information

DOE Data Explorer

Culp, E. Lynn

2017-01-01

This submission includes an Electricity Generation Summary, Maintenance Logs, Detailed Operations Data, Operating Cost Summary, and an Operations overview at the Paisley Oregon Geothermal Plant. Data uploaded for SVEC by Tom Williams, NREL

5 CFR 1201.14 - Electronic filing procedures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... (PDF), and image files (files created by scanning). A list of formats allowed can be found at e-Appeal..., or by uploading the supporting documents in the form of one or more PDF files in which each...

32 CFR 536.30 - Action upon receipt of claim.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... in any other format, shall be scanned into a computer and uploaded onto the TSCA database so that it... Medicine, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, 1335 E. West Highway, #6-100, Silver Spring, MD 20910-6254...

32 CFR 536.30 - Action upon receipt of claim.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... in any other format, shall be scanned into a computer and uploaded onto the TSCA database so that it... Medicine, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, 1335 E. West Highway, #6-100, Silver Spring, MD 20910-6254...

32 CFR 536.30 - Action upon receipt of claim.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... in any other format, shall be scanned into a computer and uploaded onto the TSCA database so that it... Medicine, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, 1335 E. West Highway, #6-100, Silver Spring, MD 20910-6254...

32 CFR 536.30 - Action upon receipt of claim.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... in any other format, shall be scanned into a computer and uploaded onto the TSCA database so that it... Medicine, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, 1335 E. West Highway, #6-100, Silver Spring, MD 20910-6254...

Demonstration of New OLAF Capabilities and Technologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kingston, C.; Palmer, E.; Stone, J.; Neese, C.; Mueller, B.

2017-06-01

Upgrades to the On-Line Archiving Facility (OLAF) PDS tool are leading to improved usability and additional functionality by integration of JavaScript web app frameworks. Also included is the capability to upload tabular data as CSV files.

Connected Vehicle Technologies for Efficient Urban Transportation

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-10-24

Connected vehicle technology is employed to optimize the vehicle's control system in real-time to reduce congestion, improve fuel economy, and reduce emissions. This project's goal was to develop a two-way communication system to upload vehicle data ...

Drainage identification analysis and mapping, phase 2 : technical brief.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-01-01

This research studied, tested and rectified the compatibility issue related to the recent upgrades of : NJDOT vendor inspection software, and uploaded all collected data to make Drainage Identification : Analysis and Mapping System (DIAMS) current an...

Handling a Large Collection of PDF Documents

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

You have several options for making a large collection of PDF documents more accessible to your audience: avoid uploading altogether, use multiple document pages, and use document IDs as anchors for direct links within a document page.

Publisher Correction: Measuring progress from nationally determined contributions to mid-century strategies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iyer, Gokul; Ledna, Catherine; Clarke, Leon; Edmonds, James; McJeon, Haewon; Kyle, Page; Williams, James H.

2018-03-01

In the version of this Article previously published, technical problems led to the wrong summary appearing on the homepage, and an incorrect Supplementary Information file being uploaded. Both errors have now been corrected.

EXIF Custom: Automatic image metadata extraction for Scratchpads and Drupal.

PubMed

Baker, Ed

2013-01-01

Many institutions and individuals use embedded metadata to aid in the management of their image collections. Many deskop image management solutions such as Adobe Bridge and online tools such as Flickr also make use of embedded metadata to describe, categorise and license images. Until now Scratchpads (a data management system and virtual research environment for biodiversity) have not made use of these metadata, and users have had to manually re-enter this information if they have wanted to display it on their Scratchpad site. The Drupal described here allows users to map metadata embedded in their images to the associated field in the Scratchpads image form using one or more customised mappings. The module works seamlessly with the bulk image uploader used on Scratchpads and it is therefore possible to upload hundreds of images easily with automatic metadata (EXIF, XMP and IPTC) extraction and mapping.

The ATLAS TAGS database distribution and management - Operational challenges of a multi-terabyte distributed database

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Viegas, F.; Malon, D.; Cranshaw, J.; Dimitrov, G.; Nowak, M.; Nairz, A.; Goossens, L.; Gallas, E.; Gamboa, C.; Wong, A.; Vinek, E.

2010-04-01

The TAG files store summary event quantities that allow a quick selection of interesting events. This data will be produced at a nominal rate of 200 Hz, and is uploaded into a relational database for access from websites and other tools. The estimated database volume is 6TB per year, making it the largest application running on the ATLAS relational databases, at CERN and at other voluntary sites. The sheer volume and high rate of production makes this application a challenge to data and resource management, in many aspects. This paper will focus on the operational challenges of this system. These include: uploading the data from files to the CERN's and remote sites' databases; distributing the TAG metadata that is essential to guide the user through event selection; controlling resource usage of the database, from the user query load to the strategy of cleaning and archiving of old TAG data.

MITOPRED: a web server for the prediction of mitochondrial proteins

PubMed Central

Guda, Chittibabu; Guda, Purnima; Fahy, Eoin; Subramaniam, Shankar

2004-01-01

MITOPRED web server enables prediction of nucleus-encoded mitochondrial proteins in all eukaryotic species. Predictions are made using a new algorithm based primarily on Pfam domain occurrence patterns in mitochondrial and non-mitochondrial locations. Pre-calculated predictions are instantly accessible for proteomes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Caenorhabditis elegans, Drosophila, Homo sapiens, Mus musculus and Arabidopsis species as well as all the eukaryotic sequences in the Swiss-Prot and TrEMBL databases. Queries, at different confidence levels, can be made through four distinct options: (i) entering Swiss-Prot/TrEMBL accession numbers; (ii) uploading a local file with such accession numbers; (iii) entering protein sequences; (iv) uploading a local file containing protein sequences in FASTA format. Automated updates are scheduled for the pre-calculated prediction database so as to provide access to the most current data. The server, its documentation and the data are available from http://mitopred.sdsc.edu. PMID:15215413

The Materials Commons: A Collaboration Platform and Information Repository for the Global Materials Community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Puchala, Brian; Tarcea, Glenn; Marquis, Emmanuelle. A.; Hedstrom, Margaret; Jagadish, H. V.; Allison, John E.

2016-08-01

Accelerating the pace of materials discovery and development requires new approaches and means of collaborating and sharing information. To address this need, we are developing the Materials Commons, a collaboration platform and information repository for use by the structural materials community. The Materials Commons has been designed to be a continuous, seamless part of the scientific workflow process. Researchers upload the results of experiments and computations as they are performed, automatically where possible, along with the provenance information describing the experimental and computational processes. The Materials Commons website provides an easy-to-use interface for uploading and downloading data and data provenance, as well as for searching and sharing data. This paper provides an overview of the Materials Commons. Concepts are also outlined for integrating the Materials Commons with the broader Materials Information Infrastructure that is evolving to support the Materials Genome Initiative.

A novel network module for medical devices.

PubMed

Chen, Ping-Yu

2008-01-01

In order to allow medical devices to upload the vital signs to a server on a network without manually configuring for end-users, a new network module is proposed. The proposed network module, called Medical Hub (MH), functions as a bridge to fetch the data from all connecting medical devices, and then upload these data to the server. When powering on, the MH can immediately establish network configuration automatically. Network Address Translation (NAT) traversal is also supported by the MH with the UPnP Internet Gateway Device (IGD) methodology. Besides the network configuration, other configuration in the MH is automatically established by using the remote management protocol TR-069. On the other hand, a mechanism for updating software automatically according to the variant connected medical device is proposed. With this mechanism, newcome medical devices can be detected and supported by the MH without manual operation.

Dynamical processes and epidemic threshold on nonlinear coupled multiplex networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Chao; Tang, Shaoting; Li, Weihua; Yang, Yaqian; Zheng, Zhiming

2018-04-01

Recently, the interplay between epidemic spreading and awareness diffusion has aroused the interest of many researchers, who have studied models mainly based on linear coupling relations between information and epidemic layers. However, in real-world networks the relation between two layers may be closely correlated with the property of individual nodes and exhibits nonlinear dynamical features. Here we propose a nonlinear coupled information-epidemic model (I-E model) and present a comprehensive analysis in a more generalized scenario where the upload rate differs from node to node, deletion rate varies between susceptible and infected states, and infection rate changes between unaware and aware states. In particular, we develop a theoretical framework of the intra- and inter-layer dynamical processes with a microscopic Markov chain approach (MMCA), and derive an analytic epidemic threshold. Our results suggest that the change of upload and deletion rate has little effect on the diffusion dynamics in the epidemic layer.

Cloud GIS Based Watershed Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bediroğlu, G.; Colak, H. E.

2017-11-01

In this study, we generated a Cloud GIS based watershed management system with using Cloud Computing architecture. Cloud GIS is used as SAAS (Software as a Service) and DAAS (Data as a Service). We applied GIS analysis on cloud in terms of testing SAAS and deployed GIS datasets on cloud in terms of DAAS. We used Hybrid cloud computing model in manner of using ready web based mapping services hosted on cloud (World Topology, Satellite Imageries). We uploaded to system after creating geodatabases including Hydrology (Rivers, Lakes), Soil Maps, Climate Maps, Rain Maps, Geology and Land Use. Watershed of study area has been determined on cloud using ready-hosted topology maps. After uploading all the datasets to systems, we have applied various GIS analysis and queries. Results shown that Cloud GIS technology brings velocity and efficiency for watershed management studies. Besides this, system can be easily implemented for similar land analysis and management studies.

The ERESE Project: Interfacing with the ERDA Digital Archive and ERR Reference Database in EarthRef.org

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koppers, A. A.; Staudigel, H.; Mills, H.; Keller, M.; Wallace, A.; Bachman, N.; Helly, J.; Helly, M.; Miller, S. P.; Massell Symons, C.

2004-12-01

To bridge the gap between Earth science teachers, librarians, scientists and data archive managers, we have started the ERESE project that will create, archive and make available "Enduring Resources in Earth Science Education" through information technology (IT) portals. In the first phase of this National Science Digital Library (NSDL) project, we are focusing on the development of these ERESE resources for middle and high school teachers to be used in lesson plans with "plate tectonics" and "magnetics" as their main theme. In this presentation, we will show how these new ERESE resources are being generated, how they can be uploaded via online web wizards, how they are archived, how we make them available via the EarthRef.org Digital Archive (ERDA) and Reference Database (ERR), and how they relate to the SIOExplorer database containing data objects for all seagoing cruises carried out by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The EarthRef.org web resource uses the vision of a "general description" of the Earth as a geological system to provide an IT infrastructure for the Earth sciences. This emphasizes the marriage of the "scientific process" (and its results) with an educational cyber-infrastructure for teaching Earth sciences, on any level, from middle school to college and graduate levels. Eight different databases reside under EarthRef.org from which ERDA holds any digital object that has been uploaded by other scientists, teachers and students for free, while the ERR holds more than 80,000 publications. For more than 1,500 of these publications, this latter database makes available for downloading JPG/PDF images of the abstracts, data tables, methods and appendices, together with their digitized contents in Microsoft Word and Excel format. Both holdings are being used to store the ERESE objects that are being generated by a group of undergraduate students majoring in Environmental Systems (ESYS) program at the UCSD with an emphasis on the Earth Sciences. These students perform library and internet research in order to design and generate these "Enduring Resources in Earth Science Education" that they test by closely interacting with the research faculty at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Typical ERESE resources can be diagrams, model cartoons, maps, data sets for analyses, and glossary items and essays to explain certain Earth Science concepts and are ready to be used in the classroom.

MICE data handling on the Grid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martyniak, J.; Mice Collaboration

2014-06-01

The international Muon Ionisation Cooling Experiment (MICE) is designed to demonstrate the principle of muon ionisation cooling for the first time, for application to a future Neutrino factory or Muon Collider. The experiment is currently under construction at the ISIS synchrotron at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL), UK. In this paper we present a system - the Raw Data Mover, which allows us to store and distribute MICE raw data - and a framework for offline reconstruction and data management. The aim of the Raw Data Mover is to upload raw data files onto a safe tape storage as soon as the data have been written out by the DAQ system and marked as ready to be uploaded. Internal integrity of the files is verified and they are uploaded to the RAL Tier-1 Castor Storage Element (SE) and placed on two tapes for redundancy. We also make another copy at a separate disk-based SE at this stage to make it easier for users to access data quickly. Both copies are check-summed and the replicas are registered with an instance of the LCG File Catalog (LFC). On success a record with basic file properties is added to the MICE Metadata DB. The reconstruction process is triggered by new raw data records filled in by the mover system described above. Off-line reconstruction jobs for new raw files are submitted to RAL Tier-1 and the output is stored on tape. Batch reprocessing is done at multiple MICE enabled Grid sites and output files are shipped to central tape or disk storage at RAL using a custom File Transfer Controller.

Implementing eco friendly highly reliable upload feature using multi 3G service

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tanutama, Lukas; Wijaya, Rico

2017-12-01

The current trend of eco friendly Internet access is preferred. In this research the understanding of eco friendly is minimum power consumption. The devices that are selected have operationally low power consumption and normally have no power consumption as they are hibernating during idle state. To have the reliability a router of a router that has internal load balancing feature will provide the improvement of previous research on multi 3G services for broadband lines. Previous studies emphasized on accessing and downloading information files from Public Cloud residing Web Servers. The demand is not only for speed but high reliability of access as well. High reliability will mean mitigating both direct and indirect high cost due to repeated attempts of uploading and downloading the large files. Nomadic and mobile computer users need viable solution. Following solution for downloading information has been proposed and tested. The solution is promising. The result is now extended to providing reliable access line by means of redundancy and automatic reconfiguration for uploading and downloading large information files to a Web Server in the Cloud. The technique is taking advantage of internal load balancing feature to provision a redundant line acting as a backup line. A router that has the ability to provide load balancing to several WAN lines is chosen. The WAN lines are constructed using multiple 3G lines. The router supports the accessing Internet with more than one 3G access line which increases the reliability and availability of the Internet access as the second line immediately takes over if the first line is disturbed.

MaROS: Information Management Service

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Allard, Daniel A.; Gladden, Roy E.; Wright, Jesse J.; Hy, Franklin H.; Rabideau, Gregg R.; Wallick, Michael N.

2011-01-01

This software is provided by the Mars Relay Operations Service (MaROS) task to a variety of Mars projects for the purpose of coordinating communications sessions between landed spacecraft assets and orbiting spacecraft assets at Mars. The Information Management Service centralizes a set of functions previously distributed across multiple spacecraft operations teams, and as such, greatly improves visibility into the end-to-end strategic coordination process. Most of the process revolves around the scheduling of communications sessions between the spacecraft during periods of time when a landed asset on Mars is geometrically visible by an orbiting spacecraft. These relay sessions are used to transfer data both to and from the landed asset via the orbiting asset on behalf of Earth-based spacecraft operators. This software component is an application process running as a Java virtual machine. The component provides all service interfaces via a Representational State Transfer (REST) protocol over https to external clients. There are two general interaction modes with the service: upload and download of data. For data upload, the service must execute logic specific to the upload data type and trigger any applicable calculations including pass delivery latencies and overflight conflicts. For data download, the software must retrieve and correlate requested information and deliver to the requesting client. The provision of this service enables several key advancements over legacy processes and systems. For one, this service represents the first time that end-to-end relay information is correlated into a single shared repository. The software also provides the first multimission latency calculator; previous latency calculations had been performed on a mission-by-mission basis.

Does Wearable Medical Technology With Video Recording Capability Add Value to On-Call Surgical Evaluations?

PubMed

Gupta, Sameer; Boehme, Jacqueline; Manser, Kelly; Dewar, Jannine; Miller, Amie; Siddiqui, Gina; Schwaitzberg, Steven D

2016-10-01

Background Google Glass has been used in a variety of medical settings with promising results. We explored the use and potential value of an asynchronous, near-real time protocol-which avoids transmission issues associated with real-time applications-for recording, uploading, and viewing of high-definition (HD) visual media in the emergency department (ED) to facilitate remote surgical consults. Study Design First-responder physician assistants captured pertinent aspects of the physical examination and diagnostic imaging using Google Glass' HD video or high-resolution photographs. This visual media were then securely uploaded to the study website. The surgical consultation then proceeded over the phone in the usual fashion and a clinical decision was made. The surgeon then accessed the study website to review the uploaded video. This was followed by a questionnaire regarding how the additional data impacted the consultation. Results The management plan changed in 24% (11) of cases after surgeons viewed the video. Five of these plans involved decision making regarding operative intervention. Although surgeons were generally confident in their initial management plan, confidence scores increased further in 44% (20) of cases. In addition, we surveyed 276 ED patients on their opinions regarding concerning the practice of health care providers wearing and using recording devices in the ED. The survey results revealed that the majority of patients are amenable to the addition of wearable technology with video functionality to their care. Conclusions This study demonstrates the potential value of a medically dedicated, hands-free, HD recording device with internet connectivity in facilitating remote surgical consultation. © The Author(s) 2016.

YouTube as a potential training method for laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

PubMed

Lee, Jun Suh; Seo, Ho Seok; Hong, Tae Ho

2015-08-01

The purpose of this study was to analyze the educational quality of laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) videos accessible on YouTube, one of the most important sources of internet-based medical information. The keyword 'laparoscopic cholecystectomy' was used to search on YouTube and the first 100 videos were analyzed. Among them, 27 videos were excluded and 73 videos were included in the study. An arbitrary score system for video quality, devised from existing LC guidelines, were used to evaluate the quality of the videos. Video demographics were analyzed by the quality and source of the video. Correlation analysis was performed. When analyzed by video quality, 11 (15.1%) were evaluated as 'good', 40 (54.8%) were 'moderate', and 22 (30.1%) were 'poor', and there were no differences in length, views per day, or number of likes, dislikes, and comments. When analyzed by source, 27 (37.0%) were uploaded by primary centers, 20 (27.4%) by secondary centers, 15 (20.5%) by tertiary centers, 5 (6.8%) by academic institutions, and 6 (8.2%) by commercial institutions. The mean score of the tertiary center group (6.0 ± 2.0) was significantly higher than the secondary center group (3.9 ± 1.4, P = 0.001). The video score had no correlation with views per day or number of likes. Many LC videos are accessible on YouTube with varying quality. Videos uploaded by tertiary centers showed the highest educational value. This discrepancy in video quality was not recognized by viewers. More videos with higher quality need to be uploaded, and an active filtering process is necessary.

Electron and Nucleon Localization Functions of Oganesson: Approaching the Thomas-Fermi Limit

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

Jerabek, Paul; Schuetrumpf, Bastian; Schwerdtfeger, Peter

Fermion localization functions are used to discuss electronic and nucleonic shell structure effects in the superheavy element oganesson, the heaviest element discovered to date. Spin-orbit splitting in the 7p electronic shell becomes so large (~10 eV) that Og is expected to show uniform-gas-like behavior in the valence region with a rather large dipole polarizability compared to the lighter rare gas elements. The nucleon localization in Og is also predicted to undergo a transition to the Thomas-Fermi gas behavior in the valence region. Finally, this effect, particularly strong for neutrons, is due to the high density of single-particle orbitals.

Electron and Nucleon Localization Functions of Oganesson: Approaching the Thomas-Fermi Limit

DOE PAGES

Jerabek, Paul; Schuetrumpf, Bastian; Schwerdtfeger, Peter; ...

2018-01-31

Fermion localization functions are used to discuss electronic and nucleonic shell structure effects in the superheavy element oganesson, the heaviest element discovered to date. Spin-orbit splitting in the 7p electronic shell becomes so large (~10 eV) that Og is expected to show uniform-gas-like behavior in the valence region with a rather large dipole polarizability compared to the lighter rare gas elements. The nucleon localization in Og is also predicted to undergo a transition to the Thomas-Fermi gas behavior in the valence region. Finally, this effect, particularly strong for neutrons, is due to the high density of single-particle orbitals.

History of the Army Ground Forces. Study Number 22. The Amphibious Training Center

DTIC Science & Technology

1946-01-01

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Electron and Nucleon Localization Functions of Oganesson: Approaching the Thomas-Fermi Limit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jerabek, Paul; Schuetrumpf, Bastian; Schwerdtfeger, Peter; Nazarewicz, Witold

2018-02-01

Fermion localization functions are used to discuss electronic and nucleonic shell structure effects in the superheavy element oganesson, the heaviest element discovered to date. Spin-orbit splitting in the 7 p electronic shell becomes so large (˜10 eV ) that Og is expected to show uniform-gas-like behavior in the valence region with a rather large dipole polarizability compared to the lighter rare gas elements. The nucleon localization in Og is also predicted to undergo a transition to the Thomas-Fermi gas behavior in the valence region. This effect, particularly strong for neutrons, is due to the high density of single-particle orbitals.

Catalytic Mechanisms of Fe(II)- and 2-Oxoglutarate-dependent Oxygenases*

PubMed Central

Martinez, Salette; Hausinger, Robert P.

2015-01-01

Mononuclear non-heme Fe(II)- and 2-oxoglutarate (2OG)-dependent oxygenases comprise a large family of enzymes that utilize an Fe(IV)-oxo intermediate to initiate diverse oxidative transformations with important biological roles. Here, four of the major types of Fe(II)/2OG-dependent reactions are detailed: hydroxylation, halogenation, ring formation, and desaturation. In addition, an atypical epimerization reaction is described. Studies identifying several key intermediates in catalysis are concisely summarized, and the proposed mechanisms are explained. In addition, a variety of other transformations catalyzed by selected family members are briefly described to further highlight the chemical versatility of these enzymes. PMID:26152721

Development and Utilization of a Patient-Oriented Outpatient Guidance System.

PubMed

Baek, Mira; Koo, Bo Kyung; Kim, Byoung Jae; Hong, Kyung-Ran; Kim, Jongdeuk; Yoo, Sooyoung; Hwang, Hee; Seo, Jeongwan; Kim, Donghyeok; Shin, Kichul

2016-07-01

To develop a tool which can easily access the hospital information system (HIS) to facilitate outpatient care and maximize patient satisfaction on his or her hospital visit. Our Center for Informatics developed an outpatient guidance system (OGS) after careful analysis of the list of daily tasks undergone by patients and related work processes. Bluetooth beacons were installed to assist patients, to inform them of points of interest, and to guide them along the proper routes to and within the hospital. The OGS conveniently provided patients' clinic schedules, routes to the hospital, and direct costs; all of this information was embedded in the HIS accessed from patients' personal mobile devices or kiosks. Patients were also able to identify their locations within the hospital, receiving proper directions to subsequent task. Since its launch in October 2014, the number of mobile accesses increased from 4,011 to 8,242 per month within a year. The substantial growth of interest in and use of our OGS in such a short period indicate that this system has been successfully incorporated into patients' daily activities. We believe that this system will continue to help improve health services and the well-being of those visiting the hospital.

Cardiovascular fitness in obese versus nonobese 8-11-year-old boys and girls.

PubMed

Mastrangelo, M Alysia; Chaloupka, Edward C; Rattigan, Peter

2008-09-01

The purpose of this study was to compare cardiovascular fitness between obese and nonobese children. Based on body mass index, 118 were classified as obese (boys [OB] = 62, girls [OG] = 56), while 421 were nonobese (boys [NOB] = 196, girls [NOG] = 225). Cardiovascular fitness was determined by a 1-mile [1.6 km] run/walk (MRW) and estimated peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak) and analyzed using two-way analyses of variance (Gender x Obese/Nonobese). MRW times were significantly faster (p < .05) for the NOB (10 min 34 s) compared to the OB (13 min 8 s) and the NOG (13 min 15 s.) compared to the OG (14 min 44 s.). Predicted VO2peak values (mL x kg(-1) x min(-1)) were significantly higher (p < .05) for the NOB (48.29) compared to the OB (41.56) and the NOG (45.99) compared to the OG (42.13). MRW was compared between obese and nonobese participants on the President's Challenge (2005), the National Children and Youth Fitness Study, and FITNESSGRAM HFZ standards. The nonobese boys and girls scored higher on all three, exhibiting better cardiovascular fitness as compared to obese counterparts.

Oxygen Generation System Laptop Bus Controller Flight Software

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rowe, Chad; Panter, Donna

2009-01-01

The Oxygen Generation System Laptop Bus Controller Flight Software was developed to allow the International Space Station (ISS) program to activate specific components of the Oxygen Generation System (OGS) to perform a checkout of key hardware operation in a microgravity environment, as well as to perform preventative maintenance operations of system valves during a long period of what would otherwise be hardware dormancy. The software provides direct connectivity to the OGS Firmware Controller with pre-programmed tasks operated by on-orbit astronauts to exercise OGS valves and motors. The software is used to manipulate the pump, separator, and valves to alleviate the concerns of hardware problems due to long-term inactivity and to allow for operational verification of microgravity-sensitive components early enough so that, if problems are found, they can be addressed before the hardware is required for operation on-orbit. The decision was made to use existing on-orbit IBM ThinkPad A31p laptops and MIL-STD-1553B interface cards as the hardware configuration. The software at the time of this reporting was developed and tested for use under the Windows 2000 Professional operating system to ensure compatibility with the existing on-orbit computer systems.

International Space Station (ISS)

NASA Image and Video Library

2000-09-01

The Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Group of the Flight Projects Directorate at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama, is responsible for designing and building the life support systems that will provide the crew of the International Space Station (ISS) a comfortable environment in which to live and work. This is a close-up view of ECLSS Oxygen Generation System (OGS) rack. The ECLSS Group at the MSFC oversees the development of the OGS, which produces oxygen for breathing air for the crew and laboratory animals, as well as for replacing oxygen lost due to experiment use, airlock depressurization, module leakage, and carbon dioxide venting. The OGS consists primarily of the Oxygen Generator Assembly (OGA), provided by the prime contractor, the Hamilton Sundstrand Space Systems, International (HSSSI) in Windsor Locks, Cornecticut and a Power Supply Module (PSM), supplied by the MSFC. The OGA is comprised of a cell stack that electrolyzes (breaks apart the hydrogen and oxygen molecules) some of the clean water provided by the Water Recovery System and the separators that remove the gases from water after electrolysis. The PSM provides the high power to the OGA needed to electrolyze the water.

Photocatalytic degradation of Orange G on nitrogen-doped TiO2 catalysts under visible light and sunlight irradiation.

PubMed

Sun, Jianhui; Qiao, Liping; Sun, Shengpeng; Wang, Guoliang

2008-06-30

In this paper, the degradation of an azo dye Orange G (OG) on nitrogen-doped TiO2 photocatalysts has been investigated under visible light and sunlight irradiation. Under visible light irradiation, the doped TiO2 nanocatalysts demonstrated higher activity than the commercial Dugussa P25 TiO2, allowing more efficient utilization of solar light, while under sunlight, P25 showed higher photocatalytic activity. According to the X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and UV-vis spectra analyses, it was found that both the nanosized anatase structure and the appearance of new absorption band in the visible region caused by nitrogen doping were responsible for the significant enhancement of OG degradation under visible light. In addition, the photosensitized oxidation mechanism originated from OG itself was also considered contributing to the higher visible-light-induced degradation efficiency. The effect of the initial pH of the solution and the dosage of hydrogen peroxide under different light sources was also investigated. Under visible light and sunlight, the optimal solution pH was both 2.0, while the optimal dosage of H2O2 was 5.0 and 15.0 mmol/l, respectively.

Oily wastewater treatment using a novel hybrid PBR-UASB system.

PubMed

Jeganathan, Jeganaesan; Nakhla, George; Bassi, Amarjeet

2007-04-01

In this study, anaerobic treatability of oily wastewater was investigated in a hybrid reactor system consisting of a packed bed reactor (PBR) followed by an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor at 35 degrees C. The system was operated using real pet food wastewater at different hydraulic retention times and loading rates for 165 d. The PBR was packed with sol-gel/alginate beads containing immobilized enzyme which hydrolyzed the oil and grease (O&G) into free long chain fatty acids, that were biodegraded by the UASB. The hybrid system was operated up to an oil loading rate of 4.9 kg O&Gm(-3)d(-1) (to the PBR) without any operational problems for a period of 100 d, with COD and O&G removal efficiencies above 90% and no sludge flotation was observed in the UASB. Beads supplement to the PBR was less than 2 g d(-1) and the relative activity was about 70%. Further increment in O&G loading to 18.7 kg O&Gm(-3)d(-1) caused destabilization of the system with 0.35% (v float/v feed) sludge float removed from the UASB.

Radiation sensitivity and EPR dosimetric potential of gallic acid and its esters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tuner, Hasan; Oktay Bal, M.; Polat, Mustafa

2015-02-01

In the preset work the radiation sensitivities of Gallic Acid anhydrous and monohydrate, Octyl, Lauryl, and Ethyl Gallate (GA, GAm, OG, LG, and EG) were investigated in the intermediate (0.5-20 kGy) and low radiation (<10 Gy) dose range using Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. While OG, LG, and EG are presented a singlet EPR spectra, their radiation sensitivity found to be very different in the intermediate dose range. At low radiation dose range (<10 Gy) only LG is found to be present a signal that easily distinguished from the noise signals. The intermediate and low dose range radiation sensitivities are compared using well known EPR dosimeter alanine. The radiation yields (G) of the interested material were found to be 1.34×10-2, 1.48×10-2, 4.14×10-2, and 6.03×10-2, 9.44×10-2 for EG, GA, GAm, OG, and LG, respectively at the intermediate dose range. It is found that the simple EPR spectra and the noticeable EPR signal of LG make it a promising dosimetric material to be used below 10 Gy of radiation dose.

Techno-Economic Assessment of Recycling BOF Offgas Cleaning System Solid Wastes by Using Zinc-Free Scrap

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Naiyang

High zinc concentration in basic oxygen furnace (BOF) steelmaking offgas (OG) cleaning system solid wastes is one of the main barriers for recycling of the solid wastes in sintering — blast furnace ironmaking process. One of the possible solutions is to utilize zinc-free scrap in BOF steelmaking so that the BOF OG solid wastes will not be contaminated with zinc and can be recycled through sintering — blast furnace ironmaking. This paper describes a model for helping to decide whether to use zinc-free scrap in a BOF process. A model computing marginal price increment of zinc-free scrap is developed. The marginal price increment is proportional to value change of the BOF OG solid wastes after and before using zinc-free scrap, to ratio of BOF solid waste rate to purchased galvanized scrap rate, and to price of galvanized scrap. Due to the variations of consumption rate of purchased galvanized scrap and home galvanized scrap, iron ore price, landfill cost, and price of purchased galvanized scrap, using zinc-free scrap in a BOF process might be economically feasible for some ironmaking and steelmaking plants or in some particular market circumstances.

Soil organic matter degradability in four Japanese forest soils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moriya, K.; Koarashi, J.; Atarashi-Andoh, M.; Moriizumi, J.; Yamazawa, H.; Ishizuka, S.

2011-12-01

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is the largest carbon reservoir in terrestrial ecosystems, and CO2 emission derived from SOC decomposition is considered to strongly influence atmospheric CO2 concentration. Therefore, it is important to understand what factors control the process of SOC decomposition. We studied the temperature sensitivity of SOC decomposition in forest surface soils by an incubation experiment at two temperatures. Soil samples were collected from the top 20 cm of mineral soils at four forest sites in Japan: AP (Appi: 40°00'N, 140°56'E), US (Ushiku: 35°57'N, 140°10'E), OG (Ogawa: 36°56'N, 140°35'E), and HO (Hitsujigaoka: 43°59'N, 141°23'E). The soil samples were sieved with a 4 mm-mesh and remaining roots in the samples were carefully removed by hand. Approximately a 75 g dry weight equivalent of the sample was adjusted to 50% of water holding capacity and put into a 1 L jar. Triplicate jars were enclosed after flushing their headspaces with CO2-free air and incubated at temperatures of 10°C and 20°C, respectively. We periodically collected 1 mL of headspace gas from the jars to measure CO2 concentration using a gas chromatograph. When the CO2 concentration in each jar reached 1.5% in volume, the headspace gas in the jar was collected to measure carbon isotope ratio of the CO2, and then the headspace of the jar was re-flushed and continued to incubate. The SOC decomposition rate at 20°C was consistently higher than that at 10°C, the order of which was AP ≤ US ≤ OG < HO. This order did not correspond to the orders of both mean annual temperature at the sites (AP < HO < OG < US), and total organic carbon content per dry soil weight (HO < US < AP < OG). Our result suggests that field temperature does not exert predominant control over SOC degradability in Japanese forest surface soils. Q10 values obtained for the AP, US, and OG soils was initially approximately 3 and increased up to 4 after one month of incubation. The increase in Q10 value was possibly due to reducing in labile SOC. Our result support that recalcitrant substrates with the higher activation energy are more sensitive to temperature than labile ones.

Turbulence Considerations for Comparing Ecosystem Exchange over Old-Growth and Clear-Cut Stands For Limited Fetch and Complex Canopy Flow Conditions

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

Wharton, S; Schroeder, M; Paw U, K T

2009-01-08

Carbon dioxide, water vapor and energy fluxes were measured using eddy covariance (EC) methodology over three adjacent forests in southern Washington State to identify stand-level age-effects on ecosystem exchange. The sites represent Douglas-fir forest ecosystems at two contrasting successional stages: old-growth (OG) and early seral (ES). Here we present eddy flux and meteorological data from two early seral stands and the Wind River AmeriFlux old-growth forest during the growing season (March-October) in 2006 and 2007. We show an alternative approach to the usual friction velocity (u*) method for determining periods of adequate atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) mixing based on themore » ratio of mean horizontal ({bar u}) and vertical ({bar w}) wind flow to a modified turbulent kinetic energy scale (uTKE). This new parameter in addition to footprint modeling showed that daytime CO{sub 2} fluxes (F{sub NEE}) in small clear-cuts (< 10 hectares) can be measured accurately with EC if micrometeorological conditions are carefully evaluated. Peak midday CO{sub 2} fluxes (F{sub NEE} = -14.0 to -12.3 {micro}mol m{sup -2} s{sup -1}) at OG were measured in April in both 2006 and 2007 before bud break when air and soil temperatures and vapor pressure deficit were relatively low, and soil moisture and light levels were favorable for photosynthesis. At the early seral stands, peak midday CO{sub 2} fluxes (F{sub NEE} = -11.0 to -8.7 {micro}mol m{sup -2} s{sup -1}) were measured in June and July while spring-time CO{sub 2} fluxes were much smaller (F{sub NEE} = -3.8 to -3.6 {micro}mol m{sup -2} s{sup -1}). Overall, we measured lower evapotranspiration (OG = 230 mm; ES = 297 mm) higher midday F{sub NEE} (OG F{sub NEE} = -9.0 {micro}mol m{sup -2} s{sup -1}; ES F{sub NEE} = -7.3 {micro}mol m{sup -2} s{sup -1}) and higher Bowen ratios (OG {beta} = 2.0. ES {beta} = 1.2) at the old-growth forest than at the ES sites during the summer months (May-August). Eddy covariance studies such as ours add critical land-atmosphere exchange data for an abundant, but rarely studied Douglas-fir age class.« less

Oligosaccharide nanomedicine of alginate sodium improves therapeutic results of posterior lumbar interbody fusion with cages for degenerative lumbar disease in osteoporosis patients by downregulating serum miR-155.

PubMed

Qu, Yang; Wang, Zhengming; Zhou, Haohan; Kang, Mingyang; Dong, Rongpeng; Zhao, Jianwu

2017-01-01

Degenerative lumbar disease (DLD) is a significant issue for public health. Posterior lumbar intervertebral fusion with cages (PLIFC) has high-level fusion rate and realignment on DLD. However, there are some complications following the surgery. Alginate oligosaccharides (AOS) have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities and may be suitable for infection therapy. MiR-155 is a biomarker associated with inflammatory and oxidative stress. AOS may promote PLIFC therapy by regulating miR-155. Pluronic nanoparticles and oligosaccharide nanomedicine of alginate sodium (ONAS) were prepared with ampicillin at size <200 nm. Ninety-six DLD osteoporosis patients received PLIFC and were evenly assigned into ONAS group (OG, oral administration of 100 mg ONAS daily) and control group (PG, 100 mg pluronic nanoparticles). Serum miR-155 level was measured by real-time quantitative PCR. The levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH), aspartate aminotransaminase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) were measured. Weighted mean difference (WMD), relative risk (RR), complications, surgery infection rate, fusion rate, and Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) scores were used to evaluate therapeutic efficacy. After 1-month therapy, infection rates and side effects were lower in OG than those in PG (RR =0.64, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.48, 0.84], P =0.001). The fusion rates were higher in OG than in PG (WMD =21.96, 95% CI [-0.24, 37.62], P =0.021). The JOA scores were higher in OG than in PG (RR =0.52, 95% CI [0.33, 0.84], P =0.007), and no significant difference was found for the visual analog scale and Oswestry Disability Index. Serum levels of miR-155, ALT, AST, and IL-1β were lower while SOD, GSH, and IL-1ra were higher in OG than in PG. MiR-155 mimic increased the levels of ALT, AST, and IL-1β and reduced the levels of SOD, GSH, and IL-1ra. In contrast, miR-155 inhibitor had reverse results. Therefore, ONAS has better improvement in complications and therapeutic effects on DLD by regulating serum miR-155.

Gait initiation and termination strategies in patients with Prader-Willi syndrome.

PubMed

Cimolin, Veronica; Cau, Nicola; Galli, Manuela; Santovito, Cristina; Grugni, Graziano; Capodaglio, Paolo

2017-05-23

Gait Initiation (GI) is a functional task representing one of the first voluntary destabilizing behaviours observed in the development of a locomotor pattern as the whole body centre of mass transitions from a large to a small base of support. Conversely, Gait Termination (GT) consists in the transition from walking to standing which, in everyday life, is a very common movement. Compared to normal walking, it requires higher control of postural stability. For a safe GT, the forward movement of the body has to be slowed down to achieve a stable upright position. Stability requirements have to be fulfilled for safe GT. In individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS), excessive body weight negatively affects the movement, such as walking and posture, but there are no experimental studies about GI and GT in these individuals. The aim of this study was to quantitatively characterise the strategy of patients with PWS during GI and GT using parameters obtained by the Center of Pressure (CoP) track. Twelve patients with PWS, 20 obese (OG) and 19 healthy individuals (HG) were tested using a force platform during the GI and GT tasks. CoP plots were divided into different phases, and duration, length and velocity of the CoP trace in these phases were calculated and compared for each task. As for GI, the results showed a significant reduction of the task duration and lower velocity and CoP length parameters in PWS, compared to OG and HG. In PWS, those parameters were reduced to a higher degree with respect to the OG. During GT, longer durations, similar to OG, were observed in PWS than HG. Velocity is reduced when compared to OG and HG, especially in medio-lateral direction and in the terminal part of GT. From these data, GI appears to be a demanding task in most of its sub-phases for PWS individuals, while GT seems to require caution only towards the end of the task. Breaking the cycle of gait into the phases of GI and GT and implementing specific exercises focusing on weight transfer and foot clearance during the transition phase from the steady condition to gait will possibly improve the effectiveness of rehabilitation and fall and injury prevention.

Adding and Deleting Images

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Images are added via the Drupal WebCMS Editor. Once an image is uploaded onto a page, it is available via the Library and your files. You can edit the metadata, delete the image permanently, and/or replace images on the Files tab.

Modeling Interdisciplinary Notion “Substance” with Information Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gnitetskaya, Tatyana; Ivanova, Elena; Kovalchuk, Natalya; Shutko, Yuliya; Dubovaya, Larisa; Karnaukhova, Elena

2017-12-01

Wireless mobile technologies have caused a tendency to use mobile devices in the learning process. However, delivery mode should be changed. This paper describes a method of uploadable semantic structures for students’ personal mobile devices that would ensure interdisciplinarity.

Image Analyzed by Mars Rover for Selection of Target

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-03-23

NASA Opportunity used newly developed and uploaded software called AEGIS, to analyze images to identify features that best matched criteria for selecting an observation target; the criteria in this image -- rocks that are larger and darker than others.

First Image from a Mars Rover Choosing a Target, False Color

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-03-23

This image is the result of the first observation of a target selected autonomously by NASA Opportunity using newly developed and uploaded software called AEGIS. The false color makes some differences between materials easier to see.

First Image from a Mars Rover Choosing a Target

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-03-23

This true-color image is the result of the first observation of a target selected autonomously by NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity using newly developed and uploaded software named Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science, or AEGIS.

Implementing electronic identification for performance recording in sheep: II. Cost-benefit analysis in meat and dairy farms.

PubMed

Ait-Saidi, A; Caja, G; Salama, A A K; Milán, M J

2014-12-01

Costs and secondary benefits of implementing electronic identification (e-ID) for performance recording (i.e., lambing, body weight, inventory, and milk yield) in dairy and meat ewes were assessed by using the results from a previous study in which manual (M), semiautomatic (SA), and automatic (AU) data collection systems were compared. Ewes were identified with visual ear tags and electronic rumen boluses. The M system used visual identification, on-paper data recording, and manual data uploading to a computer. The SA system used e-ID with a handheld reader in which performances were typed and automatic uploaded to a computer. The use of a personal digital assistant (PDA) for recording and automatic data uploading, which transformed M in a SA system, was also considered. The AU system was only used for BW recording and consisted of e-ID, automatic data recording in an electronic scale, and uploading to a computer. The cost-benefit study was applied to 2 reference sheep farms of 700 meat ewes, under extensive or intensive production systems, and of 400 dairy ewes, practicing once- or twice-a-day machine milkings. Sensitivity analyses under voluntary and mandatory e-ID scenarios were also included. Benefits of using e-ID for SA or AU performance recording mainly depended on sheep farm purpose, number of test days per year, handheld reader and PDA prices, and flock size. Implementing e-ID for SA and AU performance recording saved approximately 50% of the time required by the M system, and increased the reliability of the data collected. Use of e-ID increased the cost of performance recording in a voluntary e-ID scenario, paying only partially the investment made (15 to 70%). For the mandatory e-ID scenario, in which the cost of e-ID devices was not included, savings paid 100% of the extra costs needed for using e-ID in all farm types and conditions. In both scenarios, the reader price was the most important extra cost (40 to 90%) for implementing e-ID in sheep farms. Calculated extra costs of using the PDA covered more than 100% of the implementation costs in all type of sheep farms, indicating that this device was cost-effective for sheep-performance recording. Copyright © 2014 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

SCENERY: a web application for (causal) network reconstruction from cytometry data

PubMed Central

Papoutsoglou, Georgios; Athineou, Giorgos; Lagani, Vincenzo; Xanthopoulos, Iordanis; Schmidt, Angelika; Éliás, Szabolcs; Tegnér, Jesper

2017-01-01

Abstract Flow and mass cytometry technologies can probe proteins as biological markers in thousands of individual cells simultaneously, providing unprecedented opportunities for reconstructing networks of protein interactions through machine learning algorithms. The network reconstruction (NR) problem has been well-studied by the machine learning community. However, the potentials of available methods remain largely unknown to the cytometry community, mainly due to their intrinsic complexity and the lack of comprehensive, powerful and easy-to-use NR software implementations specific for cytometry data. To bridge this gap, we present Single CEll NEtwork Reconstruction sYstem (SCENERY), a web server featuring several standard and advanced cytometry data analysis methods coupled with NR algorithms in a user-friendly, on-line environment. In SCENERY, users may upload their data and set their own study design. The server offers several data analysis options categorized into three classes of methods: data (pre)processing, statistical analysis and NR. The server also provides interactive visualization and download of results as ready-to-publish images or multimedia reports. Its core is modular and based on the widely-used and robust R platform allowing power users to extend its functionalities by submitting their own NR methods. SCENERY is available at scenery.csd.uoc.gr or http://mensxmachina.org/en/software/. PMID:28525568

SQL is Dead; Long-live SQL: Relational Database Technology in Science Contexts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Howe, B.; Halperin, D.

2014-12-01

Relational databases are often perceived as a poor fit in science contexts: Rigid schemas, poor support for complex analytics, unpredictable performance, significant maintenance and tuning requirements --- these idiosyncrasies often make databases unattractive in science contexts characterized by heterogeneous data sources, complex analysis tasks, rapidly changing requirements, and limited IT budgets. In this talk, I'll argue that although the value proposition of typical relational database systems are weak in science, the core ideas that power relational databases have become incredibly prolific in open source science software, and are emerging as a universal abstraction for both big data and small data. In addition, I'll talk about two open source systems we are building to "jailbreak" the core technology of relational databases and adapt them for use in science. The first is SQLShare, a Database-as-a-Service system supporting collaborative data analysis and exchange by reducing database use to an Upload-Query-Share workflow with no installation, schema design, or configuration required. The second is Myria, a service that supports much larger scale data, complex analytics, and supports multiple back end systems. Finally, I'll describe some of the ways our collaborators in oceanography, astronomy, biology, fisheries science, and more are using these systems to replace script-based workflows for reasons of performance, flexibility, and convenience.

SNPversity: a web-based tool for visualizing diversity

PubMed Central

Schott, David A; Vinnakota, Abhinav G; Portwood, John L; Andorf, Carson M

2018-01-01

Abstract Many stand-alone desktop software suites exist to visualize single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) diversity, but web-based software that can be easily implemented and used for biological databases is absent. SNPversity was created to answer this need by building an open-source visualization tool that can be implemented on a Unix-like machine and served through a web browser that can be accessible worldwide. SNPversity consists of a HDF5 database back-end for SNPs, a data exchange layer powered by TASSEL libraries that represent data in JSON format, and an interface layer using PHP to visualize SNP information. SNPversity displays data in real-time through a web browser in grids that are color-coded according to a given SNP’s allelic status and mutational state. SNPversity is currently available at MaizeGDB, the maize community’s database, and will be soon available at GrainGenes, the clade-oriented database for Triticeae and Avena species, including wheat, barley, rye, and oat. The code and documentation are uploaded onto github, and they are freely available to the public. We expect that the tool will be highly useful for other biological databases with a similar need to display SNP diversity through their web interfaces. Database URL: https://www.maizegdb.org/snpversity PMID:29688387

GenderMedDB: an interactive database of sex and gender-specific medical literature.

PubMed

Oertelt-Prigione, Sabine; Gohlke, Björn-Oliver; Dunkel, Mathias; Preissner, Robert; Regitz-Zagrosek, Vera

2014-01-01

Searches for sex and gender-specific publications are complicated by the absence of a specific algorithm within search engines and by the lack of adequate archives to collect the retrieved results. We previously addressed this issue by initiating the first systematic archive of medical literature containing sex and/or gender-specific analyses. This initial collection has now been greatly enlarged and re-organized as a free user-friendly database with multiple functions: GenderMedDB (http://gendermeddb.charite.de). GenderMedDB retrieves the included publications from the PubMed database. Manuscripts containing sex and/or gender-specific analysis are continuously screened and the relevant findings organized systematically into disciplines and diseases. Publications are furthermore classified by research type, subject and participant numbers. More than 11,000 abstracts are currently included in the database, after screening more than 40,000 publications. The main functions of the database include searches by publication data or content analysis based on pre-defined classifications. In addition, registrants are enabled to upload relevant publications, access descriptive publication statistics and interact in an open user forum. Overall, GenderMedDB offers the advantages of a discipline-specific search engine as well as the functions of a participative tool for the gender medicine community.

Oral pharmacokinetics of baicalin, wogonoside, oroxylin A 7-O-β-d-glucuronide and their aglycones from an aqueous extract of Scutellariae Radix in the rat.

PubMed

Cai, Yu; Li, Sai; Li, Ting; Zhou, Ruina; Wai, Alfred Tai-Seng; Yan, Ru

2016-07-15

Scutellariae Radix (SR) has been extensively prescribed in folk medicines due to its notable beneficial activities. The flavonoid glucuronides baicalin (BG), wogonoside (WG), oroxylin A 7-O-β-d-glucuronide (OG) and their aglycones baicalein, wogonin and oroxylin A, are the main components of the herb. So far, majority of previous studies failed to report the pharmacokinetics and none offered an explanation for the systemic exposures of these six flavonoids when the herbal extract was orally administered. In this study, when a SR extract was orally dosed to rats (800mg/kg, equivalent to BG 324.80, WG 124.00, OG 43.04, baicalein 25.36, wogonin 24.40, and oroxylin A 5.79mg/kg), all six flavonoids were detectable throughout the experimental period (48h) using an LC-MS/MS method with the Cmax and AUC0-48h of the glucuronides 10-130 times that of respective aglycones. As the lowest among the three glucuronides in the herb, OG was the most abundant in vivo, while the systemic exposure of wogonin was the highest amongst the three aglycones. The dose-normalized AUC0-48h descended in orders of OG/oroxylin A, WG/wogonin and BG/baicalein. Two di-conjugates of baicalein (BG glucuronide and BG glucoside), two BG isomers (minor BM1 and major BM2), and one WG isomer (wogonin 5-O-glucuronide) were detected in rat plasma. Semi-quantitation of the isomers with peak area data revealed that the AUPs (area under peak area ratio-time curves) of BG isomers were ∼3 times that of BG, yet the AUP of wogonin 5-O-glucuronide was only one seventh of WG. BM2, tentatively assigned as baicalein 6-O-glucuronide, was formed from both microbial isomerization of BG and hepatic glucuronidation of baicalein. Wogonin 5-O-glucuronide was only formed in hepatic glucuronidation of wogonin. Demethylated wogonin was observed in gut bacteria, offering an optional origin of BM1 apart from baicalein glucuronidation. Microbial isomerization of BG and extensive hepatic glucuronidation of baicalein to form BM2as well as a poorer intestinal permeability of baicalein (Papp×10(-6)cm/s) should account for the lower systemic exposures of BG and baicalein. Faster microbial hydrolysis of WG, high intestinal permeability (Papp×10(-5)cm/s) and less hepatic glucuronidation of wogonin explain the relatively high systemic exposure of wogonin. Sole microbial deglycosylation of OG, high intestinal permeability (Papp×10(-5)cm/s) and extensive hepatic glucuronidation of oroxylin A supported the highest systemic exposure of OG. Taken together, the oral kinetics of six flavonoid glucuronides and aglycones in the SR extract were simultaneously obtained. Microbial conversion, intestinal epithelial permeability and hepatic glucuronidation are determinant factors for their systemic exposures. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

75 FR 33099 - Amendment to Municipal Securities Disclosure

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-10

... delinquencies; (2) non-payment related defaults; (3) unscheduled draws on debt service reserves reflecting... to statistics assembled by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (``SIFMA''), the....org/uploadedFiles/Research/Statistics/SIFMA_USMunicipalSecuritiesHolders.pdf ) (``SIFMA Report''). As...

Room-temperature optically pumped laser emission from a-plane GaN with high optical gain characteristics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuokstis, E.; Chen, C. Q.; Yang, J. W.; Shatalov, M.; Gaevski, M. E.; Adivarahan, V.; Khan, M. Asif

2004-04-01

Photoluminescence (PL) and optical gain (OG) spectra of a-plane GaN layers have been analyzed over a wide range of excitation intensities. The samples were fully coalesced layers grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition over r-plane sapphire substrates using epitaxial layer overgrowth (ELOG) and selective area lateral epitaxy (SALE) procedures. ELOG and SALE a-plane samples showed a strong stimulated emission line in backscattering-geometry PL spectra along with extremely high OG coefficient values (in SALE samples more than 2000 cm-1). Structures prepared with natural cleaved facet cavities based on these films were used to demonstrate optically pumped room-temperature lasing.

Characterization and promoter activity of chromoplast specific carotenoid associated gene (CHRC) from Oncidium Gower Ramsey.

PubMed

Chiou, Chung-Yi; Wu, Keqiang; Yeh, Kai-Wun

2008-10-01

Tissue-specific promoters are required for plant molecular breeding to drive a target gene in the appropriate location in plants. A chromoplast-specific, carotenoid-associated gene (OgCHRC) and its promoter (Pchrc) were isolated from Oncidium orchid and characterized. Northern blot analysis revealed that OgCHRC is specifically expressed in flowers, not in roots and leaves. Transient expression assay of Pchrc by bombardment transformation confirmed its differential expression pattern in floral tissues of different horticulture plants and cell-type location in conical papillate cells of adaxial epidermis of flower. These results suggest that Pchrc could serve as a useful tool in ornamental plant biotechnology to modify flower color.

Brady's Geothermal Field Nodal Seismometers Metadata

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

Lesley Parker

Metadata for the nodal seismometer array deployed at the POROTOMO's Natural Laboratory in Brady Hot Spring, Nevada during the March 2016 testing. Metadata includes location and timing for each instrument as well as file lists of data to be uploaded in a separate submission.

PLEXdb: Gene expression resources for plants and plant pathogens

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

PLEXdb (Plant Expression Database), in partnership with community databases, supports comparisons of gene expression across multiple plant and pathogen species, promoting individuals and/or consortia to upload genome-scale data sets to contrast them to previously archived data. These analyses facili...

Using Biblio-Link...For Those Other Databases.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Joy, Albert

1989-01-01

Sidebar describes the use of the Biblio-Link software packages to download citations from online databases and convert them into a form that can be automatically uploaded into a Pro-Cite database. An example of this procedure using DIALOG2 is given. (CLB)

Delineating floodplain and upload areas for hydrologic models: A comparison of methods

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A spatially distributed representation of basin hydrology and transport processes in eco-hydrological models facilitates the identification of critical source areas and the placement of management and conservation measures. Floodplains are critical landscape features that differ from neighboring up...

Rapid deployment of internet-connected environmental monitoring devices

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Advances in electronic sensing and monitoring systems and the growth of the communications infrastructure have enabled users to gain immediate access to information and interaction with physical devices. To facilitate the uploading, viewing, and sharing of data via the internet, while avoiding the ...

YouTube as a potential training method for laparoscopic cholecystectomy

PubMed Central

Lee, Jun Suh; Seo, Ho Seok

2015-01-01

Purpose The purpose of this study was to analyze the educational quality of laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) videos accessible on YouTube, one of the most important sources of internet-based medical information. Methods The keyword 'laparoscopic cholecystectomy' was used to search on YouTube and the first 100 videos were analyzed. Among them, 27 videos were excluded and 73 videos were included in the study. An arbitrary score system for video quality, devised from existing LC guidelines, were used to evaluate the quality of the videos. Video demographics were analyzed by the quality and source of the video. Correlation analysis was performed. Results When analyzed by video quality, 11 (15.1%) were evaluated as 'good', 40 (54.8%) were 'moderate', and 22 (30.1%) were 'poor', and there were no differences in length, views per day, or number of likes, dislikes, and comments. When analyzed by source, 27 (37.0%) were uploaded by primary centers, 20 (27.4%) by secondary centers, 15 (20.5%) by tertiary centers, 5 (6.8%) by academic institutions, and 6 (8.2%) by commercial institutions. The mean score of the tertiary center group (6.0 ± 2.0) was significantly higher than the secondary center group (3.9 ± 1.4, P = 0.001). The video score had no correlation with views per day or number of likes. Conclusion Many LC videos are accessible on YouTube with varying quality. Videos uploaded by tertiary centers showed the highest educational value. This discrepancy in video quality was not recognized by viewers. More videos with higher quality need to be uploaded, and an active filtering process is necessary. PMID:26236699

From theater to the world wide web--a new online era for surgical education.

PubMed

O'Leary, D Peter; Corrigan, Mark A; McHugh, Seamus M; Hill, A D; Redmond, H Paul

2012-01-01

Traditionally, surgical education has been confined to operating and lecture theaters. Access to the World Wide Web and services, such as YouTube and iTunes has expanded enormously. Each week throughout Ireland, nonconsultant hospital doctors work hard to create presentations for surgical teaching. Once presented, these valuable presentations are often never used again. We aimed to compile surgical presentations online and establish a new online surgical education tool. We also sought to measure the effect of this educational tool on surgical presentation quality. Surgical presentations from Cork University Hospital and Beaumont Hospital presented between January 2010 and April 2011 were uploaded to http://www.pilgrimshospital.com/presentations. A YouTube channel and iTunes application were created. Web site hits were monitored. Quality of presentations was assessed by 4 independent senior surgical judges using a validated PowerPoint assessment form. Judges were randomly given 6 presentations; 3 presentations were pre-web site setup and 3 were post-web site setup. Once uploading commenced, presenters were informed. A total of 89 presentations have been uploaded to date. This includes 55 cases, 17 journal club, and 17 short bullet presentations. This has been associated with 46,037 web site page views. Establishment of the web site was associated with a significant improvement in the quality of presentations. Mean scores for pre- and post-web site group were 6.2 vs 7.7 out of 9 respectively, p = 0.037. This novel educational tool provides a unique method to enable surgical education become more accessible to trainees, while also improving the overall quality of surgical teaching PowerPoint presentations. Copyright © 2012 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Professional Caregivers’ Perceptions on how Persons with Mild Dementia Might Experience the Usage of a Digital Photo Diary

PubMed Central

Harrefors, Christina; Sävenstedt, Stefan; Lundquist, Anders; Lundquist, Bengt; Axelsson, Karin

2012-01-01

Cognitive impairments influence the possibility of persons with dementia to remember daily events and maintain a sense of self. In order to address these problems a digital photo diary was developed to capture information about events in daily life. The device consisted of a wearable digital camera, smart phone with Global Positioning System (GPS) and a home memory station with computer for uploading the photographs and touch screen. The aim of this study was to describe professional caregiver’s perceptions on how persons with mild dementia might experience the usage of this digital photo diary from both a situation when wearing the camera and a situation when viewing the uploaded photos, through a questionnaire with 408 respondents. In order to catch the professional caregivers’ perceptions a questionnaire with the semantic differential technique was used and the main question was “How do you think Hilda (the fictive person in the questionnaire) feels when she is using the digital photo diary?”. The factor analysis revealed three factors; Sense of autonomy, Sense of self-esteem and Sense of trust. An interesting conclusion that can be drawn is that professional caregivers had an overall positive view of the usage of digital photo diary as supporting autonomy for persons with mild dementia. The meaningfulness of each situation when wearing the camera and viewing the uploaded pictures to be used in two different situations and a part of an integrated assistive device has to be considered separately. Individual needs and desires of the person who is living with dementia and the context of each individual has to be reflected on and taken into account before implementing assistive digital devices as a tool in care. PMID:22509232

Facilitating climate change assessments by providing easy access to data and decision-support tools on-line

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bachelet, D. M.

2012-12-01

Public land managers are under increasing pressure to consider the potential impacts of climate change but they often lack access to the necessary scientific information and the support to interpret projections. Over 27% of the United States land area are designated as protected areas (e.g. National Parks and Wilderness Areas) including 76,900,000 ha of National Forests areas for which management plans need to be revised to prepare for climate change. Projections of warmer drier conditions raise concerns about extended summer drought, increased fire risks and potential pest/insect outbreaks threatening the carbon sequestration potential of the region as well as late summer water availability. Downscaled climate projections, soil vulnerability indices, and simulated climate change impacts on vegetation cover, fire frequency, carbon stocks, as well as species range shifts, have been uploaded in databasin.org to provide easy access to documented information that can be displayed, shared, and freely manipulated on line. We have uploaded NARCCAP scenarios and provided animations and time series display to look at regional and temporal trends in climate projections. We have uploaded simulation results of vegetation shifts from the global scale to local national parks and shared results with concerned managers. We have used combinations of vegetation models and niche models to evaluate wildlife resilience to future conditions. We have designed fuzzy logic models for ecological assessment projects and made them available on the Data Basin web site. We describe how we have used all this information to quantify climate change vulnerability for a variety of ecosystems, developing new web tools to provide comparative summaries of the various types of spatial and temporal data available for different regions.

Systematic review of interventional sickle cell trials registered in ClinicalTrials.gov.

PubMed

Lebensburger, Jeffrey D; Hilliard, Lee M; Pair, Lauren E; Oster, Robert; Howard, Thomas H; Cutter, Gary R

2015-12-01

The registry ClinicalTrials.gov was created to provide investigators and patients an accessible database of relevant clinical trials. To understand the state of sickle cell disease clinical trials, a comprehensive review of all 174 "closed," "interventional" sickle cell trials registered at ClinicalTrials.gov was completed in January 2015. The majority of registered sickle cell disease clinical trials listed an academic center as the primary sponsor and were an early phase trial. The primary outcome for sickle cell disease trials focused on pain (23%), bone marrow transplant (BMT) (13%), hydroxyurea (8%), iron overload (8%), and pulmonary hypertension (8%). A total of 52 trials were listed as terminated or withdrawn, including 25 (14% of all trials) terminated for failure to enroll participants. At the time of this review, only 19 trials uploaded results and 29 trials uploaded a manuscript in the ClinicalTrials.gov database. A systematic review of pubmed.gov revealed that only 35% of sickle cell studies completed prior to 2014 resulted in an identified manuscript. In comparison, of 80 thalassemia trials registered in ClinicalTrials.gov, four acknowledged failure to enroll participants as a reason for trial termination or withdrawal, and 48 trials (60%) completed prior to 2014 resulted in a currently identified manuscript. ClinicalTrials.gov can be an important database for investigators and patients with sickle cell disease to understand the current available research trials. To enhance the validity of the website, investigators must update their trial results and upload trial manuscripts into the database. This study, for the first time, quantifies outcomes of sickle cell disease trials and provides support to the belief that barriers exist to successful completion, publication, and dissemination of sickle cell trial results. © The Author(s) 2015.

Prospective study of clinician-entered research data in the Emergency Department using an Internet-based system after the HIPAA Privacy Rule

PubMed Central

Kline, Jeffrey A; Johnson, Charles L; Webb, William B; Runyon, Michael S

2004-01-01

Background Design and test the reliability of a web-based system for multicenter, real-time collection of data in the emergency department (ED), under waiver of authorization, in compliance with HIPAA. Methods This was a phase I, two-hospital study of patients undergoing evaluation for possible pulmonary embolism. Data were collected by on-duty clinicians on an HTML data collection form (prospective e-form), populated using either a personal digital assistant (PDA) or personal computer (PC). Data forms were uploaded to a central, offsite server using secure socket protocol transfer. Each form was assigned a unique identifier, and all PHI data were encrypted, but were password-accessible by authorized research personnel to complete a follow-up e-form. Results From April 15, 2003-April 15 2004, 1022 prospective e-forms and 605 follow-up e-forms were uploaded. Complexities of PDA use compelled clinicians to use PCs in the ED for data entry for most forms. No data were lost and server log query revealed no unauthorized entry. Prospectively obtained PHI data, encrypted upon server upload, were successfully decrypted using password-protected access to allow follow-up without difficulty in 605 cases. Non-PHI data from prospective and follow-up forms were available to the study investigators via standard file transfer protocol. Conclusions Data can be accurately collected from on-duty clinicians in the ED using real-time, PC-Internet data entry in compliance with the Privacy Rule. Deidentification-reidentification of PHI was successfully accomplished by a password-protected encryption-deencryption mechanism to permit follow-up by approved research personnel. PMID:15479471

GIFT-Cloud: A data sharing and collaboration platform for medical imaging research.

PubMed

Doel, Tom; Shakir, Dzhoshkun I; Pratt, Rosalind; Aertsen, Michael; Moggridge, James; Bellon, Erwin; David, Anna L; Deprest, Jan; Vercauteren, Tom; Ourselin, Sébastien

2017-02-01

Clinical imaging data are essential for developing research software for computer-aided diagnosis, treatment planning and image-guided surgery, yet existing systems are poorly suited for data sharing between healthcare and academia: research systems rarely provide an integrated approach for data exchange with clinicians; hospital systems are focused towards clinical patient care with limited access for external researchers; and safe haven environments are not well suited to algorithm development. We have established GIFT-Cloud, a data and medical image sharing platform, to meet the needs of GIFT-Surg, an international research collaboration that is developing novel imaging methods for fetal surgery. GIFT-Cloud also has general applicability to other areas of imaging research. GIFT-Cloud builds upon well-established cross-platform technologies. The Server provides secure anonymised data storage, direct web-based data access and a REST API for integrating external software. The Uploader provides automated on-site anonymisation, encryption and data upload. Gateways provide a seamless process for uploading medical data from clinical systems to the research server. GIFT-Cloud has been implemented in a multi-centre study for fetal medicine research. We present a case study of placental segmentation for pre-operative surgical planning, showing how GIFT-Cloud underpins the research and integrates with the clinical workflow. GIFT-Cloud simplifies the transfer of imaging data from clinical to research institutions, facilitating the development and validation of medical research software and the sharing of results back to the clinical partners. GIFT-Cloud supports collaboration between multiple healthcare and research institutions while satisfying the demands of patient confidentiality, data security and data ownership. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

HKHC Community Dashboard: design, development, and function of a Web-based performance monitoring system.

PubMed

Bors, Philip A; Kemner, Allison; Fulton, John; Stachecki, Jessica; Brennan, Laura K

2015-01-01

As part of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities (HKHC) national grant program, a technical assistance team designed the HKHC Community Dashboard, an online progress documentation and networking system. The Dashboard was central to HKHC's multimethod program evaluation and became a communication interface for grantees and technical assistance providers. The Dashboard was designed through an iterative process of identifying needs and priorities; designing the user experience, technical development, and usability testing; and applying visual design. The system was created with an open-source content management system and support for building an online community of users. The site developer trained technical assistance providers at the national program office and evaluators, who subsequently trained all 49 grantees. Evaluators provided support for Dashboard users and populated the site with the bulk of its uploaded tools and resource documents. The system tracked progress through an interactive work plan template, regular documentation by local staff and partners, and data coding and analysis by the evaluation team. Other features included the ability to broadcast information to Dashboard users via e-mail, event calendars, discussion forums, private messaging, a resource clearinghouse, a technical assistance diary, and real-time progress reports. The average number of Dashboard posts was 694 per grantee during the grant period. Technical assistance providers and grantees uploaded a total of 1304 resource documents. The Dashboard functions with the highest grantee satisfaction were its interfaces for sharing and progress documentation. A majority of Dashboard users (69%) indicated a preference for continued access to the Dashboard's uploaded resource documents. The Dashboard was a useful and innovative tool for participatory evaluation of a large national grant program. While progress documentation added some burden to local project staff, the system proved to be a useful resource-sharing technology.

EMODNet Hydrography - Seabed Mapping - Developing a higher resolution digital bathymetry for the European seas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schaap, Dick M. A.; Moussat, Eric

2013-04-01

In December 2007 the European Parliament and Council adopted the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) which aims to achieve environmentally healthy marine waters by 2020. This Directive includes an initiative for an overarching European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODNet). The EMODNet Hydrography - Seabed Mapping projects made good progress in developing the EMODNet Hydrography portal to provide overview and access to available bathymetric survey datasets and to generate an harmonised digital bathymetry for Europe's sea basins. Up till end 2012 more than 8400 bathymetric survey datasets, managed by 14 data centres from 9 countries and originated from 118 institutes, have been gathered and populated in the EMODNet Hydrography Data Discovery and Access service, adopting SeaDataNet standards. These datasets have been used as input for analysing and generating the EMODNet digital terrain model (DTM), so far for the following sea basins: • the Greater North Sea, including the Kattegat • the English Channel and Celtic Seas • Western and Central Mediterranean Sea and Ionian Sea • Bay of Biscay, Iberian coast and North-East Atlantic • Adriatic Sea • Aegean - Levantine Sea (Eastern Mediterranean). • Azores - Madeira EEZ The Hydrography Viewing service gives users wide functionality for viewing and downloading the EMODNet digital bathymetry: • water depth in gridded form on a DTM grid of a quarter a minute of longitude and latitude • option to view QC parameters of individual DTM cells and references to source data • option to download DTM tiles in different formats: ESRI ASCII, XYZ, CSV, NetCDF (CF), GeoTiff and SD for Fledermaus 3 D viewer software • option for users to create their Personal Layer and to upload multibeam survey ASCII datasets for automatic processing into personal DTMs following the EMODNet standards The NetCDF (CF) DTM files are fit for use in a special 3D Viewer software package which is based on the existing open source NASA World Wind JSK application. It has been developed in the frame of the EU Geo-Seas project (another sibling of SeaDataNet for marine geological and geophysical data) and is freely available. The 3D viewer also supports the ingestion of WMS overlay maps. The EMODNet consortium is actively seeking cooperation with Hydrographic Offices, research institutes, authorities and private organisations for additional data sets (single and multibeam surveys, sounding tracks, composite products) to contribute to an even better geographical coverage. These datasets will be used for upgrading and extending the EMODNet regional Digital Terrain Models (DTM). The datasets themselves are not distributed but described in the metadata service, giving clear information about the background survey data used for the DTM, their access restrictions, originators and distributors and facilitating requests by users to originators. This way the portal provides originators of bathymetric data sets an attractive shop window for promoting their data sets to potential users, without losing control. The EMODNet Hydrography Consortium consists of MARIS (NL), ATLIS (NL), IFREMER (FR), SHOM (FR), IEO (ES), GSI (IE), NERC-NOCS (UK), OGS (IT), HCMR (GR), and UNEP/GRID-Arendal (NO) with associate partners CNR-ISMAR (IT), OGS-RIMA (IT), IHPT (PT), and LNEG (PT). Website: http://www.emodnet-hydrography.eu

A small molecule fusion inhibitor of dengue virus.

PubMed

Poh, Mee Kian; Yip, Andy; Zhang, Summer; Priestle, John P; Ma, Ngai Ling; Smit, Jolanda M; Wilschut, Jan; Shi, Pei-Yong; Wenk, Markus R; Schul, Wouter

2009-12-01

The dengue virus envelope protein plays an essential role in viral entry by mediating fusion between the viral and host membranes. The crystal structure of the envelope protein shows a pocket (located at a "hinge" between Domains I and II) that can be occupied by ligand n-octyl-beta-D-glucoside (betaOG). Compounds blocking the betaOG pocket are thought to interfere with conformational changes in the envelope protein that are essential for fusion. Two fusion assays were developed to examine the anti-fusion activities of compounds. The first assay measures the cellular internalization of propidium iodide upon membrane fusion. The second assay measures the protease activity of trypsin upon fusion between dengue virions and trypsin-containing liposomes. We performed an in silico virtual screening for small molecules that can potentially bind to the betaOG pocket and tested these candidate molecules in the two fusion assays. We identified one compound that inhibits dengue fusion in both assays with an IC(50) of 6.8 microM and reduces viral titers with an EC(50) of 9.8 microM. Time-of-addition experiments showed that the compound was only active when present during viral infection but not when added 1h later, in agreement with a mechanism of action through fusion inhibition.

Comparing the Thermodynamic Behaviour of Al(1)+ZrO2(s) to Al(1)+Al2O3(s)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Copland, Evan

2004-01-01

In an effort to better determine the thermodynamic properties of Al(g) and Al2O(g). the vapor in equilibrium with Al(l)+ZrO2(s) was compared to the vapor in equilibrium with Al(l)+Al2O3(s) over temperature range 1197-to-1509K. The comparison was made directly by Knudsen effusion-cell mass spectrometry with an instrument configured for a multiple effusion-cell vapor source (multi-cell KEMS). Second law enthalpies of vaporization of Al(g) and Al2O(g) together with activity measurements show that Al(l)+ZrO2(s) is thermodynamically equivalent to Al(l)+Al2O3(s), indicating Al(l) remained pure and Al2O3(s) was present in the ZrO2-cell. Subsequent observation of the Al(l)/ZrO2 and vapor/ZrO2 interfaces revealed a thin Al2O3-layer had formed, separating the ZrO2-cell from Al(l) and Al(g)+Al2O(g), effectively transforming it into an Al2O3 effusion-cell. This behavior agrees with recent observations made for Beta-NiAl(Pt) alloys measured in ZrO2 effusion-cell.

Effects of untreated and treated oilfield-produced water on seed germination, seedling development, and biomass production of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.).

PubMed

da Costa Marques, Mônica Regina; de Souza, Paulo Sérgio Alves; Rigo, Michelle Machado; Cerqueira, Alexandre Andrade; de Paiva, Julieta L; Merçon, Fábio; Perez, Daniel Vidal

2015-10-01

This study aims to evaluate possible toxic effects of oil and other contaminants from oilfield-produced water from oil exploration and production, on seed germination, and seedling development of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.). In comparison, as treated by electroflocculation, oilfield-produced water, with lower oil and organic matter content, was also used. Electroflocculation treatment of oilfield-produced water achieved significant removals of chemical oxygen demand (COD) (94 %), oil and grease (O&G) (96 %), color (97 %), and turbidity (99 %). Different O&G, COD, and salt levels of untreated and treated oilfield-produced water did not influence germination process and seedling biomass production. Normal seedlings percentage and vigor tended to decrease more intensely in O&G and COD levels, higher than 337.5 mg L(-1) and 1321 mg O2 L(-1), respectively, using untreated oilfield-produced water. These results indicate that this industrial effluent must be treated, in order to not affect adversely seedling development. This way, electroflocculation treatment appears as an interesting alternative to removing oil and soluble organic matter in excess from oilfield-produced water improving sunflower's seedling development and providing a friendly environmental destination for this wastewater, reducing its potential to harm water resources, soil, and biota.

Systematic reviews involving complementary and alternative medicine interventions had higher quality of reporting than conventional medicine reviews.

PubMed

Lawson, Margaret L; Pham, Ba'; Klassen, Terry P; Moher, David

2005-08-01

To compare the quality of systematic reviews reported in English and in languages other than English, and to determine whether there are differences between conventional medicine (CM) and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) reports. We used the Oxman and Guyatt (OG) scale to assess the quality of reporting in 130 systematic reviews: 50 were language-restricted, 32 were language-inclusive but only English-language (EL) trials contained (inclusive-EL), and 48 were language-inclusive and included trials published in languages other than English (inclusive-LOE). Of the 130 reviews, 105 addressed CM interventions and 25 addressed CAM interventions. Comparison of the systematic reviews showed that the quality of reporting and reporting characteristics are not affected by inclusion or exclusion of LOE; however, the quality of reporting of systematic reviews involving CAM interventions is higher than that of reviews focusing on CM interventions. Informal comparison of the OG scale with the data collected on quality assessments showed that the OG scale performs well overall but may not identify important differences in comprehensiveness of the search strategy and avoidance of bias in study selection. Further research is required to determine the best methods for assessing quality of systematic reviews and whether the effect of language restrictions is dependent on the type of intervention (CM or CAM).

Analysis of obstetrics and gynecology professional liability claims in Catalonia, Spain (1986-2010).

PubMed

Gómez-Durán, Esperanza L; Mulà-Rosías, Joan Antoni; Lailla-Vicens, Josep Maria; Benet-Travé, Josep; Arimany-Manso, Josep

2013-07-01

To identify relevant factors involved in obstetrics and gynecology (OG) professional liability claims to help archive better management of risks. Analysis of 885 OG claims opened between 1986 and 2010, with the identification of the most common events leading to a claim, the economical and juridical characteristics of the claims, as well as the relevant trends over the study period. Most claims related to obstetrics. Labor, delivery and its complications accounted for 33.1% of the claims; 12.77% related specifically to cesarean. Oncological diseases, fetus death during labor and delivery, neurologically impaired infant and histerectomy-related problems were the most frequently claimed events. Most cases ended up without an indemnity payment and 37.7% of closed files were solved by an out-of-court procedure. Average payment was higher for the obstetric procedures than for those concerning gynecology cases. The proportion of claims relating to obstetrics increased during the study period, as well as the average payment. OG is at high-risk for malpractice claims, but compensation awards are not frequent. However, particular events, such as retained foreign objects, tubal ligation, ultrasound diagnosis or neurologically impaired newborns, deserve special attention regarding medico-legal issues. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved.

International Space Station (ISS)

NASA Image and Video Library

2001-03-01

The Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Group of the Flight Projects Directorate at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, is responsible for designing and building the life support systems that will provide the crew of the International Space Station (ISS) a comfortable environment in which to live and work. This photograph shows the mockup of the the ECLSS to be installed in the Node 3 module of the ISS. From left to right, shower rack, waste management rack, Water Recovery System (WRS) Rack #2, WRS Rack #1, and Oxygen Generation System (OGS) rack are shown. The WRS provides clean water through the reclamation of wastewaters and is comprised of a Urine Processor Assembly (UPA) and a Water Processor Assembly (WPA). The UPA accepts and processes pretreated crewmember urine to allow it to be processed along with other wastewaters in the WPA. The WPA removes free gas, organic, and nonorganic constituents before the water goes through a series of multifiltration beds for further purification. The OGS produces oxygen for breathing air for the crew and laboratory animals, as well as for replacing oxygen loss. The OGS is comprised of a cell stack, which electrolyzes (breaks apart the hydrogen and oxygen molecules) some of the clean water provided by the WRS, and the separators that remove the gases from the water after electrolysis.

Enhanced biofiltration of O&G produced water comparing granular activated carbon and nutrients.

PubMed

Riley, Stephanie M; Ahoor, Danika C; Cath, Tzahi Y

2018-05-31

Large volumes of water are required for the development of unconventional oil and gas (O&G) wells. Water scarcity coupled with seismicity induced by deep-well disposal promote new O&G wastewater management strategies, specifically treatment and reuse. One technology that has been proven effective for removal of organic matter and solids is biologically active filtration (BAF) with granular active carbon (GAC); however, further optimization is needed to enhance BAF performance. This study evaluated three GAC media (one spent and two new) and two nutrient-mix supplements for enhanced removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Biofilm development was also monitored and correlated to BAF performance. The spent GAC with extant biofilm quickly acclimated to PW and demonstrated up to 92% DOC removal (81% COD) in 24h, while little impact by nutrient addition was observed. In addition, virgin GAC was slow to establish a biofilm, indicating that appropriate GAC selection and pre-developed biofilm is critical for efficient BAF performance. Furthermore, the production of high quality BAF effluent (less than 20mg/L DOC) presents the opportunity to apply BAF as a pretreatment for subsequent desalination-expanding the potential for reuse applications of PW. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Experience with external pump trial prior to implantation for intrathecal baclofen in ambulatory patients with spastic cerebral palsy.

PubMed

Bleyenheuft, C; Filipetti, P; Caldas, C; Lejeune, T

2007-01-01

To evaluate effectiveness and safety of intrathecal baclofen administration (ITB) testing with continuous infusion via an external pump before the implantation of an internal one in ambulatory spastic patients with cerebral palsy (CP). Seven CP patients (3 diplegic, 4 quadriplegic - 18.4+/-7.0 years) with a progressive decrease in walking ability were included. Assessments included: Ashworth's scale, Observational Gait Scale (OGS), and GMFM-66. During the ITB test (45-150 microg/24h), spasticity decreased by more than two points on Ashworth's scale (p<0.001) and walking ability improved (median OGS increased from 7 to 9, p

Conversion of laparoscopic surgery for perforated peptic ulcer: a single-center study.

PubMed

Zimmermann, Markus; Hoffmann, Martin; Laubert, Tilman; Jung, Carlo; Bruch, Hans-Peter; Schloericke, Erik

2015-11-01

A perforated peptic ulcer can be managed laparoscopically in selected patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether conversion of emergency laparoscopy is inferior to primary median laparotomy in terms of postoperative morbidity and mortality. We analyzed patients who underwent laparoscopic or open surgery for a perforated peptic ulcer at the Department of Surgery, University of Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Luebeck between January, 1996 and December, 2010. Perforations were graded according to the Boey classification, a preoperative risk-scoring system. Conversion to laparotomy was necessary in 20 of the 45 patients who underwent laparoscopic surgery (CG); therefore, laparoscopic operations were completed in 25 patients (LG). The third patient cohort comprised 139 patients who underwent primary laparotomy (OG). Overall minor morbidity was significantly lower (p = 0.048) in the LG patients than in the OG patients, whereas no significant differences were found in major morbidity and mortality, particularly between the OG and CG. Patients' suitability for laparoscopic management should be decided on according to Boey's clinical scoring system. Our findings demonstrated that conversion from laparoscopy to laparotomy was not associated with elevated postoperative morbidity or mortality versus initial laparotomy. Therefore, emergency operations may be commenced laparoscopically in selected patients, especially considering the postoperative advantages of this approach.

Meals on Wheels? A Decade of Megafaunal Visual and Acoustic Observations from Offshore Oil & Gas Rigs and Platforms in the North and Irish Seas

PubMed Central

Todd, Victoria Louise Georgia; Todd, Ian Boyer

2016-01-01

A decade of visual and acoustic detections of marine megafauna around offshore Oil & Gas (O&G) installations in the North and Irish Seas are presented. Marine megafauna activity was monitored visually and acoustically by Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) qualified and experienced Marine Mammal Observers (MMO) and Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) Operators respectively, with real-time towed PAM in combination with industry standard software, PAMGuard. Monitoring was performed during routine O&G industrial operations for underwater noise mitigation purposes, and to ensure adherence to regulatory guidelines. Incidental sightings by off-effort MMOs and installation crew were also reported. Visual and acoustic monitoring spanned 55 non-consecutive days between 2004 and 2014. A total of 47 marine mammal sightings were recorded by MMOs on dedicated watch, and 10 incidental sightings of marine megafauna were reported over 10 years. Species included: harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena), Atlantic white-sided dolphin (Lagenorhynchus acutus), white beaked dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris), common dolphin (Delphinus delphis), minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), common seal (Phoca vitulina), grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) and, basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus). Passive Acoustic Monitoring was conducted on two occasions in 2014; 160 PAM hours over 12 days recorded a total of 308 individual clicks identified as harbour porpoises. These appear to be the first such acoustic detections obtained from a North Sea drilling rig whilst using a typically configured hydrophone array designed for towing in combination with real-time PAMGuard software. This study provides evidence that marine megafauna are present around mobile and stationary offshore O&G installations during routine operational activities. On this basis, Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) for decommissioning O&G platforms should be carried-out on a case-by-case basis, and must include provisions for hitherto overlooked marine megafauna. PMID:27078153

Sequential simulation (SqS) of clinical pathways: a tool for public and patient engagement in point-of-care diagnostics

PubMed Central

Huddy, Jeremy R; Weldon, Sharon-Marie; Ralhan, Shvaita; Painter, Tim; Hanna, George B; Kneebone, Roger; Bello, Fernando

2016-01-01

Objectives Public and patient engagement (PPE) is fundamental to healthcare research. To facilitate effective engagement in novel point-of-care tests (POCTs), the test and downstream consequences of the result need to be considered. Sequential simulation (SqS) is a tool to represent patient journeys and the effects of intervention at each and subsequent stages. This case study presents a process evaluation of SqS as a tool for PPE in the development of a volatile organic compound-based breath test POCT for the diagnosis of oesophagogastric (OG) cancer. Setting Three 3-hour workshops in central London. Participants 38 members of public attended a workshop, 26 (68%) had no prior experience of the OG cancer diagnostic pathway. Interventions Clinical pathway SqS was developed from a storyboard of a patient, played by an actor, noticing symptoms of oesophageal cancer and following a typical diagnostic pathway. The proposed breath testing strategy was then introduced and incorporated into a second SqS to demonstrate pathway impact. Facilitated group discussions followed each SqS. Primary and secondary outcome measures Evaluation was conducted through pre-event and postevent questionnaires, field notes and analysis of audiovisual recordings. Results 38 participants attended a workshop. All participants agreed they were able to contribute to discussions and like the idea of an OG cancer breath test. Five themes emerged related to the proposed new breath test including awareness of OG cancer, barriers to testing and diagnosis, design of new test device, new clinical pathway and placement of test device. 3 themes emerged related to the use of SqS: participatory engagement, simulation and empathetic engagement, and why participants attended. Conclusions SqS facilitated a shared immersive experience for participants and researchers that led to the coconstruction of knowledge that will guide future research activities and be of value to stakeholders concerned with the invention and adoption of POCT. PMID:27625053

Dynamics of two methanogenic microbiomes incubated in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, naphthenic acids, and oil field produced water.

PubMed

Oko, Bonahis J; Tao, Yu; Stuckey, David C

2017-01-01

Oil field produced water (OFPW) is widely produced in large volumes around the world. Transforming the organic matter in OFPW into bioenergy, such as biomethane, is one promising way to sustainability. However, OFPW is difficult to biologically degrade because it contains complex compounds such as naphthenic acids (NAs), or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Although active microbial communities have been found in many oil reservoirs, little is known about how an exotic microbiome, e.g. the one which originates from municipal wastewater treatment plants, would evolve when incubated with OFPW. In this study, we harvested methanogenic biomass from two sources: a full-scale anaerobic digester (AD) treating oil and gas processing wastewater (named O&G sludge), and from a full-scale AD reactor treating multiple fractions of municipal solid wastes (named MS, short for mixed sludge). Both were incubated in replicate microcosms fed with PAHs, NAs, or OFPW. The results showed that the PAHs, NAs, and OFPW feeds could rapidly alter the methanogenic microbiomes, even after 14 days, while the O&G sludge adapted faster than the mixed sludge in all the incubations. Two rarely reported microorganisms, a hydrogenotrophic methanogen Candidatus methanoregula and a saccharolytic fermenter Kosmotoga , were found to be prevalent in the PAHs and OFPW microcosms, and are likely to play an important role in the syntrophic degradation of PAHs and OFPW, cooperating with methanogens such as Methanoregula, Methanosarcina, or Methanobacterium . The dominant phyla varied in certain patterns during the incubations, depending on the biomass source, feed type, and variation in nutrients. The sludge that originated from the oil and gas processing wastewater treatment (O&G) reactor adapted faster than the one from municipal solid waste reactors, almost certainly because the O&G biomass had been "pre-selected" by the environment. This study reveals the importance of biomass selection for other crude oil-waste-related bioengineering studies, such as bioaugmentation and bioremediation.

Increased Drought Impacts on Temperate Rainforests from Southern South America: Results of a Process-Based, Dynamic Forest Model

PubMed Central

Gutiérrez, Alvaro G.; Armesto, Juan J.; Díaz, M. Francisca; Huth, Andreas

2014-01-01

Increased droughts due to regional shifts in temperature and rainfall regimes are likely to affect forests in temperate regions in the coming decades. To assess their consequences for forest dynamics, we need predictive tools that couple hydrologic processes, soil moisture dynamics and plant productivity. Here, we developed and tested a dynamic forest model that predicts the hydrologic balance of North Patagonian rainforests on Chiloé Island, in temperate South America (42°S). The model incorporates the dynamic linkages between changing rainfall regimes, soil moisture and individual tree growth. Declining rainfall, as predicted for the study area, should mean up to 50% less summer rain by year 2100. We analysed forest responses to increased drought using the model proposed focusing on changes in evapotranspiration, soil moisture and forest structure (above-ground biomass and basal area). We compared the responses of a young stand (YS, ca. 60 years-old) and an old-growth forest (OG, >500 years-old) in the same area. Based on detailed field measurements of water fluxes, the model provides a reliable account of the hydrologic balance of these evergreen, broad-leaved rainforests. We found higher evapotranspiration in OG than YS under current climate. Increasing drought predicted for this century can reduce evapotranspiration by 15% in the OG compared to current values. Drier climate will alter forest structure, leading to decreases in above ground biomass by 27% of the current value in OG. The model presented here can be used to assess the potential impacts of climate change on forest hydrology and other threats of global change on future forests such as fragmentation, introduction of exotic tree species, and changes in fire regimes. Our study expands the applicability of forest dynamics models in remote and hitherto overlooked regions of the world, such as southern temperate rainforests. PMID:25068869

Detergent-dependent separation of postsynaptic density, membrane rafts and other subsynaptic structures from the synaptic plasma membrane of rat forebrain.

PubMed

Zhao, LiYing; Sakagami, Hiroyuki; Suzuki, Tatsuo

2014-10-01

We systematically investigated the purification process of post-synaptic density (PSD) and post-synaptic membrane rafts (PSRs) from the rat forebrain synaptic plasma membranes by examining the components and the structures of the materials obtained after the treatment of synaptic plasma membranes with TX-100, n-octyl β-d-glucoside (OG) or 3-([3-cholamidopropyl]dimethylammonio)-2-hydroxy-1-propanesulfonate (CHAPSO). These three detergents exhibited distinct separation profiles for the synaptic subdomains. Type I and type II PSD proteins displayed mutually exclusive distribution. After TX-100 treatment, type I PSD was recovered in two fractions: a pellet and an insoluble fraction 8, which contained partially broken PSD-PSR complexes. Conventional PSD was suggested to be a mixture of these two PSD pools and did not contain type II PSD. An association of type I PSD with PSRs was identified in the TX-100 treatment, and those with type II PSD in the OG and CHAPSO treatments. An association of GABA receptors with gephyrin was easily dissociated. OG at a high concentration solubilized the type I PSD proteins. CHAPSO treatment resulted in a variety of distinct fractions, which contained certain novel structures. Two different pools of GluA, either PSD or possibly raft-associated, were identified in the OG and CHAPSO treatments. These results are useful in advancing our understanding of the structural organization of synapses at the molecular level. We systematically investigated the purification process of post-synaptic density (PSD) and synaptic membrane rafts by examining the structures obtained after treatment of the SPMs with TX-100, n-octyl β-d-glucoside or CHAPSO. Differential distribution of type I and type II PSD, synaptic membrane rafts, and other novel subdomains in the SPM give clues to understand the structural organization of synapses at the molecular level. © 2014 International Society for Neurochemistry.

SU-D-9A-01: Listmode-Driven Optimal Gating (OG) Respiratory Motion Management: Potential Impact On Quantitative PET Imaging

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

Lee, K; Hristov, D

2014-06-01

Purpose: To evaluate the potential impact of listmode-driven amplitude based optimal gating (OG) respiratory motion management technique on quantitative PET imaging. Methods: During the PET acquisitions, an optical camera tracked and recorded the motion of a tool placed on top of patients' torso. PET event data were utilized to detect and derive a motion signal that is directly coupled with a specific internal organ. A radioactivity-trace was generated from listmode data by accumulating all prompt counts in temporal bins matching the sampling rate of the external tracking device. Decay correction for 18F was performed. The image reconstructions using OG respiratorymore » motion management technique that uses 35% of total radioactivity counts within limited motion amplitudes were performed with external motion and radioactivity traces separately with ordered subset expectation maximization (OSEM) with 2 iterations and 21 subsets. Standard uptake values (SUVs) in a tumor region were calculated to measure the effect of using radioactivity trace for motion compensation. Motion-blurred 3D static PET image was also reconstructed with all counts and the SUVs derived from OG images were compared with SUVs from 3D images. Results: A 5.7 % increase of the maximum SUV in the lesion was found for optimal gating image reconstruction with radioactivity trace when compared to a static 3D image. The mean and maximum SUVs on the image that was reconstructed with radioactivity trace were found comparable (0.4 % and 4.5 % increase, respectively) to the values derived from the image that was reconstructed with external trace. Conclusion: The image reconstructed using radioactivity trace showed that the blurring due to the motion was reduced with impact on derived SUVs. The resolution and contrast of the images reconstructed with radioactivity trace were comparable to the resolution and contrast of the images reconstructed with external respiratory traces. Research supported by Siemens.« less

Genome‐scale diversity and niche adaptation analysis of Lactococcus lactis by comparative genome hybridization using multi‐strain arrays

PubMed Central

Siezen, Roland J.; Bayjanov, Jumamurat R.; Felis, Giovanna E.; van der Sijde, Marijke R.; Starrenburg, Marjo; Molenaar, Douwe; Wels, Michiel; van Hijum, Sacha A. F. T.; van Hylckama Vlieg, Johan E. T.

2011-01-01

Summary Lactococcus lactis produces lactic acid and is widely used in the manufacturing of various fermented dairy products. However, the species is also frequently isolated from non‐dairy niches, such as fermented plant material. Recently, these non‐dairy strains have gained increasing interest, as they have been described to possess flavour‐forming activities that are rarely found in dairy isolates and have diverse metabolic properties. We performed an extensive whole‐genome diversity analysis on 39 L. lactis strains, isolated from dairy and plant sources. Comparative genome hybridization analysis with multi‐strain microarrays was used to assess presence or absence of genes and gene clusters in these strains, relative to all L. lactis sequences in public databases, whereby chromosomal and plasmid‐encoded genes were computationally analysed separately. Nearly 3900 chromosomal orthologous groups (chrOGs) were defined on basis of four sequenced chromosomes of L. lactis strains (IL1403, KF147, SK11, MG1363). Of these, 1268 chrOGs are present in at least 35 strains and represent the presently known core genome of L. lactis, and 72 chrOGs appear to be unique for L. lactis. Nearly 600 and 400 chrOGs were found to be specific for either the subspecies lactis or subspecies cremoris respectively. Strain variability was found in presence or absence of gene clusters related to growth on plant substrates, such as genes involved in the consumption of arabinose, xylan, α‐galactosides and galacturonate. Further niche‐specific differences were found in gene clusters for exopolysaccharides biosynthesis, stress response (iron transport, osmotolerance) and bacterial defence mechanisms (nisin biosynthesis). Strain variability of functions encoded on known plasmids included proteolysis, lactose fermentation, citrate uptake, metal ion resistance and exopolysaccharides biosynthesis. The present study supports the view of L. lactis as a species with a very flexible genome. PMID:21338475

Increased drought impacts on temperate rainforests from southern South America: results of a process-based, dynamic forest model.

PubMed

Gutiérrez, Alvaro G; Armesto, Juan J; Díaz, M Francisca; Huth, Andreas

2014-01-01

Increased droughts due to regional shifts in temperature and rainfall regimes are likely to affect forests in temperate regions in the coming decades. To assess their consequences for forest dynamics, we need predictive tools that couple hydrologic processes, soil moisture dynamics and plant productivity. Here, we developed and tested a dynamic forest model that predicts the hydrologic balance of North Patagonian rainforests on Chiloé Island, in temperate South America (42°S). The model incorporates the dynamic linkages between changing rainfall regimes, soil moisture and individual tree growth. Declining rainfall, as predicted for the study area, should mean up to 50% less summer rain by year 2100. We analysed forest responses to increased drought using the model proposed focusing on changes in evapotranspiration, soil moisture and forest structure (above-ground biomass and basal area). We compared the responses of a young stand (YS, ca. 60 years-old) and an old-growth forest (OG, >500 years-old) in the same area. Based on detailed field measurements of water fluxes, the model provides a reliable account of the hydrologic balance of these evergreen, broad-leaved rainforests. We found higher evapotranspiration in OG than YS under current climate. Increasing drought predicted for this century can reduce evapotranspiration by 15% in the OG compared to current values. Drier climate will alter forest structure, leading to decreases in above ground biomass by 27% of the current value in OG. The model presented here can be used to assess the potential impacts of climate change on forest hydrology and other threats of global change on future forests such as fragmentation, introduction of exotic tree species, and changes in fire regimes. Our study expands the applicability of forest dynamics models in remote and hitherto overlooked regions of the world, such as southern temperate rainforests.

NGDS Data Archiver

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

2013-08-01

This is a Node.js command line utility for scraping XML metadata from CSW and WFS, downloading linkage data from CSW and WFS, pinging hosts and returning status codes, pinging data linkages and returning status codes, writing ping status to CSV files, and uploading data to Amazon S3.

Linking to EPA Publications in the National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Linking to a document at NSCEP rather than uploading your own copy meets EPA standards and best practices for web content. If you follow this procedure, you can link directly to the PDF document without NSCEP's viewing pane or navigation.

WateriD User Manual (WERF Report INFR9SG09a)

EPA Science Inventory

The Water Infrastructure Database (WATERiD; http://waterid.org ) is designed to be a knowledge base where water and wastewater utilities can upload and gather information about asset management technology and practice experiences. The main emphasis is on pipe location, condition...

Updates on HRF Payloads Operations in Columbus ATCS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

DePalo, Savino; Wright, Bruce D.; La,e Robert E.; Challis, Simon; Davenport, Robert; Pietrafesa, Donata

2011-01-01

The NASA developed Human Research Facility 1 (HRF1) and Human Research Facility (HRF2) experiment racks have been operating in the European Space Agency (ESA) Columbus module of the International Space Station (ISS) since Summer 2008. The two racks are of the same design. Since the start of operations, unexpected pressure spikes were observed in the Columbus module's thermal-hydraulic system during the racks activation sequence. The root cause of these spikes was identified in the activation command sequence in the Rack Interface Controller (RIC), which controls the flow of thermal-hydraulic system fluid through the rack. A new Common RIC Software (CRS) release fixed the bug and was uploaded on both racks in late 2009. This paper gives a short introduction to the topic, describes the Columbus module countermeasures to mitigate the spikes, describes the ground validation test of the new software, and describes the flight checks performed before and after the final upload. Finally, the new on-orbit test designed to further simplify the racks hydraulic management is presented.

U.S. Spacesuit Knowledge Capture Status and Initiatives in Fiscal Year 2014

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chullen, Cinda; Oliva, Vladenka R.

2015-01-01

Since its 2008 inception, the NASA U.S. Spacesuit Knowledge Capture (KC) program has shared historical spacesuit information with engineers and other technical team members to expand their understanding of the spacesuit's evolution, known capability and limitations, and future desires and needs for its use. As part of the U.S. Spacesuit KC program, subject-matter experts have delivered presentations, held workshops, and participated in interviews to share valuable spacesuit lessons learned to ensure this vital information will survive for existing and future generations to use. These events have included spacesuit knowledge from the inception of NASA's first spacesuit to current spacesuit design. To ensure that this information is shared with the entire NASA community and other interested or invested entities, these KC events were digitally recorded and transcribed to be uploaded onto several applicable NASA Web sites. This paper discusses the various Web sites that the KC events are uploaded to and possible future sites that will channel this information.

A new, low-cost sun photometer for student use

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Espinoza, A.; Pérez-Álvarez, H.; Parra-Vilchis, J. I.; Fauchey-López, E.; Fernando-González, L.; Faus-Landeros, G. E.; Celarier, E. A.; Robinson, D. Q.; Zepeda-Galbez, R.

2011-12-01

We have designed a sun photometer for the measurement of aerosol optical thickness (AOT) at 505 nm and 620 nm, using custom-made glass filters (9.5 nm bandpass, FWHM) and photodiodes. The recommended price-point (US150 - US200) allowed us to incorporate technologies such as microcontrollers, a sun target, a USB port for data uploading, nonvolatile memory to contain tables of up to 127 geolocation profiles, extensive calibration data, and a log of up to 2,000 measurements. The instrument is designed to be easy to use, and to provide instant display of AOT estimates. A diffuser in the fore-optics limits the sensitivity to pointing error. We have developed postprocessing software to refine the AOT estimates, format a spreadsheet file, and upload the data to the GLOBE website. We are currently finalizing hardware and firmware, and conducting extensive calibration/validation experiments. These instruments will soon be in production and available to the K-12 education community, including and especially the GLOBE program.

YouTube as a source of information on rhinosinusitis: the good, the bad and the ugly.

PubMed

Biggs, T C; Bird, J H; Harries, P G; Salib, R J

2013-08-01

YouTube is an internet-based repository of user-generated content. This study aimed to determine whether YouTube represented a valid and reliable patient information resource for the lay person on the topic of rhinosinusitis. The study included the first 100 YouTube videos found using the search term 'sinusitis'. Videos were graded on their ability to inform the lay person on the subject of rhinosinusitis. Forty-five per cent of the videos were deemed to provide some useful information. Fifty-five per cent of the videos contained little or no useful facts, 27 per cent of which contained potentially misleading or even dangerous information. Videos uploaded by medical professionals or those from health information websites contained more useful information than those uploaded by independent users. YouTube appears to be an unreliable resource for accurate and up to date medical information relating to rhinosinusitis. However, it may provide some useful information if mechanisms existed to direct lay people to verifiable and credible sources.

U.S. Spacesuit Knowledge Capture Accomplishments in Fiscal Year 2014

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chullen, Cinda; Oliva, Vladenka R.

2015-01-01

Since its 2008 inception, the NASA U.S. Spacesuit Knowledge Capture (KC) program has shared historical spacesuit information with engineers and other technical team members to expand their understanding of the spacesuit's evolution, known capability and limitations, and future desires and needs for its use. As part of the U.S. Spacesuit KC program, subject-matter experts have delivered presentations, held workshops, and participated in interviews to share valuable spacesuit lessons learned to ensure this vital information will survive for existing and future generations to use. These events have included spacesuit knowledge from the inception of NASA's first spacesuit to current spacesuit design. To ensure that this information is shared with the entire NASA community and other interested or invested entities, these KC events were digitally recorded and transcribed to be uploaded onto several applicable NASA Web sites. This paper discusses the various Web sites that the KC events are uploaded to and possible future sites that will channel this information.

Celebrity over science? An analysis of Lyme disease video content on YouTube.

PubMed

Yiannakoulias, N; Tooby, R; Sturrock, S L

2017-10-01

Lyme disease has been a subject of medical controversy for several decades. In this study we looked at the availability and type of content represented in a (n = 700) selection of YouTube videos on the subject of Lyme disease. We classified video content into a small number of content areas, and studied the relationship between these content areas and 1) video views and 2) video likeability. We found very little content uploaded by government or academic institutions; the vast majority of content was uploaded by independent users. The most viewed videos tend to contain celebrity content and personal stories; videos with prevention information tend to be of less interest, and videos with science and medical information tend to be less liked. Our results suggest that important public health information on YouTube is very likely to be ignored unless it is made more appealing to modern consumers of online video content. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Feed intake patterns of sport ponies and warmblood horses following iso-energetic intake of pelleted fibre-rich mixed feed, muesli feed and semicrushed oat grains.

PubMed

Bochnia, M; Boesel, M; Bahrenthien, L; Wensch-Dorendorf, M; Zeyner, A

2017-06-01

The aim of the study was to compare diverse feed intake patterns in sport ponies and warmblood-type horses after feeding iso-energetic amounts of three different concentrates: a pelleted fibre-rich mixed feed (PF), a muesli feed (MF) and semicrushed oat grains (OG). Four sport ponies and six warmblood-type horses received the concentrates and meadow hay according to maintenance (0.52 MJ metabolizable energy (ME) kg body weight (BW) 0.75 /day). Both breeds were allocated at random to three groups and received once daily for 8 days either OG (1 g starch/kg BW/meal) or iso-energetic quantities of PF and MF according to a crossover design. On the 8th day, feed intake patterns (chewing frequency (CF) in number of chewings (NC), NC/s), feed intake time (FIT DM , min/kg dry matter (DM); FIT (neutral detergent fibre) NDF , min/kg NDF) and chewing intensity (CI, NC/kg DM) were measured using modified halters. In warmbloods, PF tended to be ingested faster than MF and OG (10.3 ± 1.9, 13.0 ± 1.3, 14.4 ± 2.0 min/kg DM, respectively; p = 0.05). In ponies, a similar trend was observed (13.5 ± 2.5, 13.6 ± 2.0 and 15.4 ± 1.1 min/kg DM, respectively; p > 0.05). Ponies needed more time to ingest PF than warmbloods (p < 0.05). The CF of ponies was affected by the type of concentrate (PF and MF 1.43 ± 0.11 vs. OG 1.28 ± 0.093 NC/s; p < 0.05). The results indicate that concentrate intake of breeds follows a similar pattern and that breed differences were limited to PF only. In both breeds, PF induced chewing patterns different from those observed for OG and/or MF. However, an interpretation of these differences needs to take into consideration the diverse chemical compositions of the concentrates. Upcoming studies should address the throwback regarding PF and also examine the metabolic consequences of concentrate intake in ponies. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition © 2017 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Effects of isoenergetic quantities of a low-starch muesli feed high in fat and fibre vs. oat grains on the glycemic and insulinemic responses and feed intake patterns in sport ponies.

PubMed

Bochnia, M; Schürer, C; Gottschalk, J; Einspanier, A; Hillegeist, D; Wensch-Dorendorf, M; Greef, J M; Glatter, M; Zeyner, A

2017-06-01

Aim of this study was to compare glycemic and insulinemic responses and feed intake patterns in sport ponies after feeding isoenergetic quantities of low-starch muesli feed high in fat and fibre (FF) or oat grains (OG). Six sport ponies were randomly assigned to one of these two treatment groups for 2 × 3 weeks according to a crossover-design. Ponies received two equal meals/day of either semi-crushed OG (1 g starch/kg bwt*meal -1 ) or an isoenergetic quantity of FF. Hay was also given in two equal meals/day and provided the remaining metabolisable energy up to 1.3-fold maintenance level. On day 21, blood was sampled 1 h after each pony received 0.5 kg hay (0 min). Then, the concentrate was provided and blood sampled 30, 60, 90, 120, 180, 240 and 300 min thereafter. Plasma glucose and serum insulin were analysed, and the areas under the curve (AUC) was calculated 120 and 300 min postprandial (PP). Feed intake patterns were measured in 4 ponies/group via a modified halter. OG was ingested faster than FF (feed intake time; FIT DM in min/kg DM: 8.8 ± 1.6 vs. 15.9 ± 1.62, p < 0.05) combined with a higher chewing frequency (p < 0.05). The AUCs gluc120/300, ins120/300 were statistically higher with OG than FF (mmol/L*min -1 : AUC gluc120 : 776 ± 128 vs. 676 ± 80.4; AUC gluc300 : 1811 ± 295.3 vs. 1569 ± 126.3; nmol/L*min -1 : AUC ins120 : 38 ± 18 vs. 22 ± 8.1; AUC ins300 : 83 ± 39 vs. 35 ± 12; p < 0.05). Plasma glucose tended to decline following the intake of FF, which might be beneficial for equines with reduced glucose tolerance. This, however, requires further investigation. In this study, the ponies consumed OG unexpectedly rapidly. The rate of feed intake was similar to the results previously reported in the literature for warmblood horses. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition © 2017 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Modeling Phase-Aligned Gamma-Ray and Radio Millisecond Pulsar Light Curves

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Venter, C.; Johnson, T.; Harding, A.

2012-01-01

Since the discovery of the first eight gamma-ray millisecond pulsars (MSPs) by the Fermi Large Area Telescope, this population has been steadily expanding. Four of the more recent detections, PSR J00340534, PSR J1939+2134 (B1937+21; the first MSP ever discovered), PSR J1959+2048 (B1957+20; the first discovery of a black widow system), and PSR J2214+3000, exhibit a phenomenon not present in the original discoveries: nearly phase-aligned radio and gamma-ray light curves (LCs). To account for the phase alignment, we explore models where both the radio and gamma-ray emission originate either in the outer magnetosphere near the light cylinder or near the polar caps. Using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo technique to search for best-fit model parameters, we obtain reasonable LC fits for the first three of these MSPs in the context of altitude-limited outer gap (alOG) and two-pole caustic (alTPC) geometries (for both gamma-ray and radio emission). These models differ from the standard outer gap (OG)/two-pole caustic (TPC) models in two respects: the radio emission originates in caustics at relatively high altitudes compared to the usual conal radio beams, and we allow both the minimum and maximum altitudes of the gamma-ray and radio emission regions to vary within a limited range (excluding the minimum gamma-ray altitude of the alTPC model, which is kept constant at the stellar radius, and that of the alOG model, which is set to the position-dependent null charge surface altitude). Alternatively, phase-aligned solutions also exist for emission originating near the stellar surface in a slot gap scenario (low-altitude slot gap (laSG) models). We find that the alTPC models provide slightly better LC fits than the alOG models, and both of these give better fits than the laSG models (for the limited range of parameters considered in the case of the laSG models). Thus, our fits imply that the phase-aligned LCs are likely of caustic origin, produced in the outer magnetosphere, and that the radio emission for these pulsars may come from close to the light cylinder. In addition, we were able to constrain the minimum and maximum emission altitudes with typical uncertainties of 30% of the light cylinder radius. Our results therefore describe a third gamma-ray MSP subclass, in addition to the two previously found by Venter et al.: those with LCs fit by standard OG/TPC models and those with LCs fit by pair-starved polar cap models.

Screencasts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yee, Kevin; Hargis, Jace

2010-01-01

This article discusses the benefits of screencasts and its instructional uses. Well-known for some years to advanced technology users, Screen Capture Software (SCS) offers the promise of recording action on the computer desktop together with voiceover narration, all combined into a single movie file that can be shared, emailed, or uploaded.…

47 CFR 1.913 - Application and notification forms; electronic and manual filing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... Portable Document Format (PDF) whenever possible. (2) Any associated documents submitted with an... possible. The attachment should be uploaded via ULS in Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF... the table of contents, should be in Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF) whenever possible...

Integrated Autonomous Network Management (IANM) Multi-Topology Route Manager and Analyzer

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-02-01

zebra tmg mtrcli xinetd (tftp) mysql configuration file (mtrrm.conf) configuration file (mtrrmAggregator.properties) tftp files /tftpboot NetFlow PDUs...configuration upload/download snmp, telnet OSPFv2 user interface tmg Figure 6-2. Internal software organization Figure 6-2 illustrates the main

Rewriting the Journal

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fredette, Michelle

2012-01-01

With faculty balking at the price of academic journals, can other digital publishing options get traction? University libraries are no strangers to one of the most popular online alternatives, the open-access archive. These archives enable scholars to upload work--including drafts of articles that are published later in subscription journals--so…

TRAC Searchable Research Library

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-05-01

network accessible document repository for technical documents and similar document artifacts. We used a model-based approach using the Vector...demonstration and model refinement. 14. SUBJECT TERMS Knowledge Management, Document Repository , Digital Library, Vector Directional Data Model...27 Figure D1. Administrator Repository Upload Page. ................................................................... D-2 Figure D2

The Outline of Personhood Law Regarding Artificial Intelligences and Emulated Human Entities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muzyka, Kamil

2013-12-01

On the verge of technological breakthroughs, which define and revolutionize our understanding of intelligence, cognition, and personhood, especially when speaking of artificial intelligences and mind uploads, one must consider the legal implications of granting personhood rights to artificial intelligences or emulated human entities

Characterization of adult transcriptomes from the omnivorous lady beetle Coleomegilla maculata fed pollen or insect Egg Diet

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

32 reference transcriptome sequences described herein are filed with the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), GenBank Bioproject PRJNA236444. Transcriptome Shotgun Assembly (TSA) will also be submitted when upload instructions are received from gb-admin....

An Internet-Based Method for Extracting Nursing Home Resident Sedative Medication Data From Pharmacy Packing Systems: Descriptive Evaluation

PubMed Central

Gee, Peter; Westbury, Juanita; Bindoff, Ivan; Peterson, Gregory

2017-01-01

Background Inappropriate use of sedating medication has been reported in nursing homes for several decades. The Reducing Use of Sedatives (RedUSe) project was designed to address this issue through a combination of audit, feedback, staff education, and medication review. The project significantly reduced sedative use in a controlled trial of 25 Tasmanian nursing homes. To expand the project to 150 nursing homes across Australia, an improved and scalable method of data collection was required. This paper describes and evaluates a method for remotely extracting, transforming, and validating electronic resident and medication data from community pharmacies supplying medications to nursing homes. Objective The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate an electronic method for extracting and enriching data on psychotropic medication use in nursing homes, on a national scale. Methods An application uploaded resident details and medication data from computerized medication packing systems in the pharmacies supplying participating nursing homes. The server converted medication codes used by the packing systems to Australian Medicines Terminology coding and subsequently to Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) codes for grouping. Medications of interest, in this case antipsychotics and benzodiazepines, were automatically identified and quantified during the upload. This data was then validated on the Web by project staff and a “champion nurse” at the participating home. Results Of participating nursing homes, 94.6% (142/150) had resident and medication records uploaded. Facilitating an upload for one pharmacy took an average of 15 min. A total of 17,722 resident profiles were extracted, representing 95.6% (17,722/18,537) of the homes’ residents. For these, 546,535 medication records were extracted, of which, 28,053 were identified as antipsychotics or benzodiazepines. Of these, 8.17% (2291/28,053) were modified during validation and verification stages, and 4.75% (1398/29,451) were added. The champion nurse required a mean of 33 min website interaction to verify data, compared with 60 min for manual data entry. Conclusions The results show that the electronic data collection process is accurate: 95.25% (28,053/29,451) of sedative medications being taken by residents were identified and, of those, 91.83% (25,762/28,053) were correct without any manual intervention. The process worked effectively for nearly all homes. Although the pharmacy packing systems contain some invalid patient records, and data is sometimes incorrectly recorded, validation steps can overcome these problems and provide sufficiently accurate data for the purposes of reporting medication use in individual nursing homes. PMID:28778844

Dietary Fat, Eicosanoids and Breast Cancer Risk

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-04-01

Celery log 1Og log Peas 15g 15g 15g Garlic Powder/Salt/Pepper Dash Dash Dash Lemon Juice 2g 2g 2g Mayonnaise 25g 9g 0 Fat Free Miracle Whip 0 20g 30g...Sugar 0 4g 4g Oatmeal Walnut Cookie 30g 30g 30g Dinner: Beef Tenderloin 65g 60g 75g Mashed Potatoes 10Og 140g 140g w/Butter/Olive Oil 5g/4g 0 0 Corn 80g...Fat Free Gravy 40g 40g 40g w/ Safflower Oil/Flax Oil 7g (Safflower) 3g (Safflower) 3g (Flax) Mashed Potato 100g 140g 140g Green Beans 100g 100g �g

Using Technology To Enhance Literacy in Elementary School Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Christie, Alice

The electronic information age is here, and adults as well as children are using new ways to gather and generate information. Electronics users are writing in hypertext; exploring cyberspace; living in virtual communities; scooping interactively with CD-ROMs and laserdiscs; using File Transfer Protocols to upload and download information from…

Rendering Private Writing Public in the DALN

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alexander, Kara Poe

2017-01-01

In this article Kara Alexander discusses why, as a literacy studies instructor, she believes requiring her students to upload their literacy narratives to the Digital Archive of Literacy Narratives (DALN) is beneficial. She provides three reasons for this requirement: (1) making their work public has the potential to enhance student agency,…

Submitting Publications to, and Linking to EPA Publications in, the National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Linking to a document at NSCEP rather than uploading your own copy meets EPA standards and best practices for web content. If you follow this procedure, you can link directly to the PDF document without NSCEP's viewing pane or navigation.

Real-Time Geospatial Data Viewer (RETIGO)

EPA Science Inventory

This is a web-based method that allows the users to upload their air monitoring data and explore the data on graphical interface. The method is optimized for mobile monitoring data sets, showing the data on a map, on a time series, and referenced to a hypothesized line and/or poi...

Using Cloud Storage for NMR Data Distribution

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Soulsby, David

2012-01-01

An approach using Google Groups as method for distributing student-acquired NMR data has been implemented. We describe how to configure NMR spectrometer software so that data is uploaded to a laboratory section specific Google Group, thereby removing bottlenecks associated with printing and processing at the spectrometer workstation. Outside of…

SMARTe Site Characterization Tool. In: SMARTe20ll, EPA/600/C-10/007

EPA Science Inventory

The purpose of the Site Characterization Tool is to: (1) develop a sample design for collecting site characterization data and (2) perform data analysis on uploaded data. The sample design part helps to determine how many samples should be collected to characterize a site with ...

Integration of Open Educational Resources in Undergraduate Chemistry Teaching--A Mapping Tool and Lecturers' Considerations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Feldman-Maggor, Yael; Rom, Amira; Tuvi-Arad, Inbal

2016-01-01

This study examines chemistry lecturers' considerations for using open educational resources (OER) in their teaching. Recent technological developments provide innovative approaches for teaching chemistry and visualizing chemical phenomena. End users' improved ability to upload information online enables integration of various pedagogical models…

Jingqiu Moa and Xinrong Ren check out Pennsylvania State University's Airborne Tropospheric Hydrogen Oxides Sensor instrument during the ARCTAS mission upload

NASA Image and Video Library

2008-03-07

Climate researchers from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and several universities install and perform functional checkouts of a variety of sensitive atmospheric instruments on NASA's DC-8 airborne laboratory prior to beginning the ARCTAS mission.

47 CFR 1.913 - Application and notification forms; electronic and manual filing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... notifications whenever possible. The files, other than the ASCII table of contents, should be in Adobe Acrobat... possible. The attachment should be uploaded via ULS in Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF... the table of contents, should be in Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF) whenever possible...

47 CFR 1.1705 - Forms; electronic and manual filing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... with the basic signal leakage performance criteria. (2) FCC Form 321, Aeronautical Frequency... time the data entry is made. (2) Attachments to applications must be uploaded along with the...) Forms 320, 321, 322, 324, 325, and 327 may be filed manually. (2) Manual filings must be submitted to...

47 CFR 1.1705 - Forms; electronic and manual filing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... with the basic signal leakage performance criteria. (2) FCC Form 321, Aeronautical Frequency... time the data entry is made. (2) Attachments to applications must be uploaded along with the...) Forms 320, 321, 322, 324, 325, and 327 may be filed manually. (2) Manual filings must be submitted to...

Characteristics of "Music Education" Videos Posted on Youtube

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whitaker, Jennifer A.; Orman, Evelyn K.; Yarbrough, Cornelia

2014-01-01

This content analysis sought to determine information related to users uploading, general content, and specific characteristics of music education videos on YouTube. A total of 1,761 videos from a keyword search of "music education" were viewed and categorized. Results for relevant videos indicated users posted videos under 698 different…

Teaching Shakespeare with YouTube

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Desmet, Christy

2009-01-01

YouTube, the video sharing website that allows viewers to upload video content ranging from cute dog tricks to rare rock videos, also supports a lively community devoted to the performance of Shakespeare and Shakespearean adaptations. YouTube is also a popular site for student producers of Shakespeare performances, parodies, and other artistic…

Buyers Guide: Communications Software--Overview; Ratings Digest; Reviews; Benchmarks.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lockwood, Russ; And Others

1988-01-01

Contains articles which review communications software. Includes "Crosstalk Mark 4,""ProComm,""Freeway Advanced,""Windows InTalk,""Relay Silver," and "Smartcom III." Compares in terms of text proprietary, MCI upload, Test ASCII, Spreadsheet Proprietary, Text XMODEM, Spreadsheet XMODEM, MCI Download, Documentation, Support and Service, ease of use,…

75 FR 44058 - Office of Postsecondary Education; Overview Information; Promoting Postbaccalaureate...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-07-27

... one of the exceptions to the electronic submission requirement and submit, no later than two weeks... these exceptions. Further information regarding calculation of the date that is two weeks [[Page 44060... upload large documents to e-Application; and No later than two weeks before the application deadline date...

FAQs | Office of Cancer Clinical Proteomics Research

Cancer.gov

What makes an assay “CPTAC Characterized?” As described in the Assay Characterization Guidance, an assay receives a “CPTAC characterized” stamp of approval if it satisfies the following criteria: Experiments 1 and 2 are required for upload of assays into the portal. Other experiments are optional but highly encouraged.

Remote software upload techniques in future vehicles and their performance analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hossain, Irina

Updating software in vehicle Electronic Control Units (ECUs) will become a mandatory requirement for a variety of reasons, for examples, to update/fix functionality of an existing system, add new functionality, remove software bugs and to cope up with ITS infrastructure. Software modules of advanced vehicles can be updated using Remote Software Upload (RSU) technique. The RSU employs infrastructure-based wireless communication technique where the software supplier sends the software to the targeted vehicle via a roadside Base Station (BS). However, security is critically important in RSU to avoid any disasters due to malfunctions of the vehicle or to protect the proprietary algorithms from hackers, competitors or people with malicious intent. In this thesis, a mechanism of secure software upload in advanced vehicles is presented which employs mutual authentication of the software provider and the vehicle using a pre-shared authentication key before sending the software. The software packets are sent encrypted with a secret key along with the Message Digest (MD). In order to increase the security level, it is proposed the vehicle to receive more than one copy of the software along with the MD in each copy. The vehicle will install the new software only when it receives more than one identical copies of the software. In order to validate the proposition, analytical expressions of average number of packet transmissions for successful software update is determined. Different cases are investigated depending on the vehicle's buffer size and verification methods. The analytical and simulation results show that it is sufficient to send two copies of the software to the vehicle to thwart any security attack while uploading the software. The above mentioned unicast method for RSU is suitable when software needs to be uploaded to a single vehicle. Since multicasting is the most efficient method of group communication, updating software in an ECU of a large number of vehicles could benefit from it. However, like the unicast RSU, the security requirements of multicast communication, i.e., authenticity, confidentiality and integrity of the software transmitted and access control of the group members is challenging. In this thesis, an infrastructure-based mobile multicasting for RSU in vehicle ECUs is proposed where an ECU receives the software from a remote software distribution center using the road side BSs as gateways. The Vehicular Software Distribution Network (VSDN) is divided into small regions administered by a Regional Group Manager (RGM). Two multicast Group Key Management (GKM) techniques are proposed based on the degree of trust on the BSs named Fully-trusted (FT) and Semi-trusted (ST) systems. Analytical models are developed to find the multicast session establishment latency and handover latency for these two protocols. The average latency to perform mutual authentication of the software vendor and a vehicle, and to send the multicast session key by the software provider during multicast session initialization, and the handoff latency during multicast session is calculated. Analytical and simulation results show that the link establishment latency per vehicle of our proposed schemes is in the range of few seconds and the ST system requires few ms higher time than the FT system. The handoff latency is also in the range of few seconds and in some cases ST system requires less handoff time than the FT system. Thus, it is possible to build an efficient GKM protocol without putting too much trust on the BSs.

Finishing/polishing of composite and compomer restoratives: effectiveness of one-step systems.

PubMed

Yap, Adrian U J; Yap, S H; Teo, C K; Ng, J J

2004-01-01

This study investigated the surface texture of composite (Z100, 3M ESPE) and compomer (F2000, 3M ESPE) restoratives after treatment with different one-step finishing/polishing systems (One-Gloss [OG], Shofu; PoGo [PG], Dentsply; Sof-Lex Brush [SB], 3M ESPE). The surface roughness obtained was compared to that using a matrix strip [MS], a two-step rubber abrasive (CompoSite [CS], Shofu) and a graded abrasive disk (Super Snap [SS], Shofu) system. Eight specimens (3-mm long x 3-mm wide x 2-mm deep) of each material were made according to manufacturer's instructions. With exception of the MS group, all groups were roughened with 320 grit grinding paper using a lapping device prior to finishing/polishing with the different systems. The mean surface roughness (microm) was measured with a profilometer. Data was subjected to ANOVA/Scheffe's tests and independent samples t-test at significance level 0.05. Mean Ra ranged from 0.22 to 0.32 microm for Z100 and 0.45 to 0.68 for F2000. For both materials, the smoothest surfaces were obtained with MS. The roughest surfaces were observed after treatment with SS and OG for Z100 and F2000, respectively. The effectiveness of the finishing/polishing systems was material dependent. The surface finish produced by PG and SB was superior or comparable to that obtained with CS, SS and OG.

Colorful protein-based fluorescent probes for collagen imaging.

PubMed

Aper, Stijn J A; van Spreeuwel, Ariane C C; van Turnhout, Mark C; van der Linden, Ardjan J; Pieters, Pascal A; van der Zon, Nick L L; de la Rambelje, Sander L; Bouten, Carlijn V C; Merkx, Maarten

2014-01-01

Real-time visualization of collagen is important in studies on tissue formation and remodeling in the research fields of developmental biology and tissue engineering. Our group has previously reported on a fluorescent probe for the specific imaging of collagen in live tissue in situ, consisting of the native collagen binding protein CNA35 labeled with fluorescent dye Oregon Green 488 (CNA35-OG488). The CNA35-OG488 probe has become widely used for collagen imaging. To allow for the use of CNA35-based probes in a broader range of applications, we here present a toolbox of six genetically-encoded collagen probes which are fusions of CNA35 to fluorescent proteins that span the visible spectrum: mTurquoise2, EGFP, mAmetrine, LSSmOrange, tdTomato and mCherry. While CNA35-OG488 requires a chemical conjugation step for labeling with the fluorescent dye, these protein-based probes can be easily produced in high yields by expression in E. coli and purified in one step using Ni2+-affinity chromatography. The probes all bind specifically to collagen, both in vitro and in porcine pericardial tissue. Some first applications of the probes are shown in multicolor imaging of engineered tissue and two-photon imaging of collagen in human skin. The fully-genetic encoding of the new probes makes them easily accessible to all scientists interested in collagen formation and remodeling.

Studies on laser-assisted Penning ionization by the optogalvanic effect in Ne/Eu hollow cathode discharge.

PubMed

Saini, V K; Kumar, P; Dixit, S K; Nakhe, S V

2015-02-01

Laser-assisted Penning ionization (LAPI) is detected in a Ne/Eu hollow cathode (HC) discharge lamp using the pulsed optogalvanic (OG) method. In the Ne/Eu discharge, doubly ionized europium excited energy levels Eu[4f(7)(P(7/2,5/2)6)] lie within the thermal limit (∼kT) from the laser-excited neon's energy level [2p(5)(P3/202)3p or 2p(8) (in Paschen notation)] lying at 149,848  cm(-1). Therefore, Penning ionization (PI) of europium atoms likely to occur into its highly excited ionic states is investigated. To probe the PI of europium, the temporal profiles of its counterpart neon OG signal are studied as a function of discharge current for the transitions (1s(4)→2p(8)) and (1s(2)→2p(2)), corresponding to 650.65 and 659.89 nm wavelengths, respectively. It is observed that PI of europium alters the overall discharge characteristics significantly and, hence, modifies the temporal profile of the OG signals accordingly. The quasi-resonant ionizing energy transfer collisions between laser-excited Ne 2p(8) atoms and electronically excited europium P(9/2)10 atoms are used to explain the LAPI mechanism. Such LAPI studies carried out in HC discharge could be useful for the discharge of a metal-vapor laser with appropriate Penning mixtures.

On the nonlinear development of the most unstable Goertler vortex mode

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Denier, James P.; Hall, Philip

1991-01-01

The nonlinear development of the most unstable Gortler vortex mode in boundary layer flows over curved walls is investigated. The most unstable Gortler mode is confined to a viscous wall layer of thickness O(G -1/5) and has spanwise wavelength O(G 11/5); it is, of course, most relevant to flow situations where the Gortler number G is much greater than 1. The nonlinear equations covering the evolution of this mode over an O(G -3/5) streamwise lengthscale are derived and are found to be of a fully nonparallel nature. The solution of these equations is achieved by making use of the numerical scheme used by Hall (1988) for the numerical solution of the nonlinear Gortler equations valid for O(1) Gortler numbers. Thus, the spanwise dependence of the flow is described by a Fourier expansion, whereas the streamwise and normal variations of the flow are dealt with by employing a suitable finite difference discretization of the governing equations. Our calculations demonstrate that, given a suitable initial disturbance, after a brief interval of decay, the energy in all the higher harmonics grows until a singularity is encountered at some downstream position. The structure of the flowfield as this singularity is approached suggests that the singularity is responsible for the vortices, which are initially confined to the thin viscous wall layer, moving away from the wall and into the core of the boundary layer.

Environmental Control and Life Support System Mockup

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2001-01-01

The Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Group of the Flight Projects Directorate at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, is responsible for designing and building the life support systems that will provide the crew of the International Space Station (ISS) a comfortable environment in which to live and work. This photograph shows the mockup of the the ECLSS to be installed in the Node 3 module of the ISS. From left to right, shower rack, waste management rack, Water Recovery System (WRS) Rack #2, WRS Rack #1, and Oxygen Generation System (OGS) rack are shown. The WRS provides clean water through the reclamation of wastewaters and is comprised of a Urine Processor Assembly (UPA) and a Water Processor Assembly (WPA). The UPA accepts and processes pretreated crewmember urine to allow it to be processed along with other wastewaters in the WPA. The WPA removes free gas, organic, and nonorganic constituents before the water goes through a series of multifiltration beds for further purification. The OGS produces oxygen for breathing air for the crew and laboratory animals, as well as for replacing oxygen loss. The OGS is comprised of a cell stack, which electrolyzes (breaks apart the hydrogen and oxygen molecules) some of the clean water provided by the WRS, and the separators that remove the gases from the water after electrolysis.

Octyl gallate and gallic acid isolated from Terminalia bellarica regulates normal cell cycle in human breast cancer cell lines.

PubMed

Sales, Mary Selesty; Roy, Anita; Antony, Ludas; Banu, Sakhila K; Jeyaraman, Selvaraj; Manikkam, Rajalakshmi

2018-07-01

Herbal medicines stand unique and effective in treating human diseases. Terminalia bellarica (T. bellarica) is a potent medicinal herb, with a wide range of pharmacological activities. The present study was aimed to evaluate the effect of octyl gallate (OG) and gallic acid (GA) isolated from methanolic fruit extract of T. bellirica to inhibit the survival of breast cancer cells (MCF-7 & MDA-MB-231). Both OG & GA exhibited decreased MCF-7 & MDA-MB-231 survival and induced apoptosis, with IC 50 value of OG and GA as 40 μM and 80 μM respectively. No toxic effect was observed on normal breast cells (MCF-10A). The compounds inhibited cell cycle progression by altering the expression of the cell cycle regulators (Cyclin D1, D3, CDK-4, CDK-6, p18 INK4, p21Waf-1 and p27 KIP). Octyl gallate was more effective at low concentrations than GA. In-silico results provided stable interactions between the compounds and target proteins. The present investigation proved the downregulation of positive cell cycle regulators and upregulation of negative cell cycle regulators inducing apoptosis in compound-treated breast cancer cells. Hence, both the compounds may serve as potential anticancer agents and could be developed as breast cancer drugs, with further explorations. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

ActiveDriverDB: human disease mutations and genome variation in post-translational modification sites of proteins

PubMed Central

Krassowski, Michal; Paczkowska, Marta; Cullion, Kim; Huang, Tina; Dzneladze, Irakli; Ouellette, B F Francis; Yamada, Joseph T; Fradet-Turcotte, Amelie

2018-01-01

Abstract Interpretation of genetic variation is needed for deciphering genotype-phenotype associations, mechanisms of inherited disease, and cancer driver mutations. Millions of single nucleotide variants (SNVs) in human genomes are known and thousands are associated with disease. An estimated 21% of disease-associated amino acid substitutions corresponding to missense SNVs are located in protein sites of post-translational modifications (PTMs), chemical modifications of amino acids that extend protein function. ActiveDriverDB is a comprehensive human proteo-genomics database that annotates disease mutations and population variants through the lens of PTMs. We integrated >385,000 published PTM sites with ∼3.6 million substitutions from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), the ClinVar database of disease genes, and human genome sequencing projects. The database includes site-specific interaction networks of proteins, upstream enzymes such as kinases, and drugs targeting these enzymes. We also predicted network-rewiring impact of mutations by analyzing gains and losses of kinase-bound sequence motifs. ActiveDriverDB provides detailed visualization, filtering, browsing and searching options for studying PTM-associated mutations. Users can upload mutation datasets interactively and use our application programming interface in pipelines. Integrative analysis of mutations and PTMs may help decipher molecular mechanisms of phenotypes and disease, as exemplified by case studies of TP53, BRCA2 and VHL. The open-source database is available at https://www.ActiveDriverDB.org. PMID:29126202

TranslatomeDB: a comprehensive database and cloud-based analysis platform for translatome sequencing data

PubMed Central

Liu, Wanting; Xiang, Lunping; Zheng, Tingkai; Jin, Jingjie

2018-01-01

Abstract Translation is a key regulatory step, linking transcriptome and proteome. Two major methods of translatome investigations are RNC-seq (sequencing of translating mRNA) and Ribo-seq (ribosome profiling). To facilitate the investigation of translation, we built a comprehensive database TranslatomeDB (http://www.translatomedb.net/) which provides collection and integrated analysis of published and user-generated translatome sequencing data. The current version includes 2453 Ribo-seq, 10 RNC-seq and their 1394 corresponding mRNA-seq datasets in 13 species. The database emphasizes the analysis functions in addition to the dataset collections. Differential gene expression (DGE) analysis can be performed between any two datasets of same species and type, both on transcriptome and translatome levels. The translation indices translation ratios, elongation velocity index and translational efficiency can be calculated to quantitatively evaluate translational initiation efficiency and elongation velocity, respectively. All datasets were analyzed using a unified, robust, accurate and experimentally-verifiable pipeline based on the FANSe3 mapping algorithm and edgeR for DGE analyzes. TranslatomeDB also allows users to upload their own datasets and utilize the identical unified pipeline to analyze their data. We believe that our TranslatomeDB is a comprehensive platform and knowledgebase on translatome and proteome research, releasing the biologists from complex searching, analyzing and comparing huge sequencing data without needing local computational power. PMID:29106630

Acquiring data in real time in Italy from the Antarctic Seismographic Argentinean Italian Network (ASAIN): testing the global capabilities of the EarthWorm and Antelope software suites.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Percy Plasencia Linares, Milton; Russi, Marino; Pesaresi, Damiano; Cravos, Claudio

2010-05-01

The Italian National Institute for Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics (Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale, OGS) is running the Antarctic Seismographic Argentinean Italian Network (ASAIN), made of 7 seismic stations located in the Scotia Sea region in Antarctica and in Tierra del Fuego - Argentina: data from these stations are transferred in real time to the OGS headquarters in Trieste (Italy) via satellite links provided by the Instituto Antártico Argentino (IAA). Data is collected and archived primarily in Güralp Compress Format (GCF) through the Scream! software at OGS and IAA, and transmitted also in real time to the Observatories and Research Facilities for European Seismology (ORFEUS). The main real time seismic data acquisition and processing system of the ASAIN network is based on the EarthWorm 7.3 (Open Source) software suite installed on a Linux server at the OGS headquarters in Trieste. It runs several software modules for data collection, data archiving, data publication on dedicated web servers: wave_serverV, Winston Wave Server, and data analysis and realtime monitoring through Swarm program. OGS is also running, in close cooperation with the Friuli-Venezia Giulia Civil Defense, the North East (NI) Italy seismic network, making use of the Antelope commercial software suite from BRTT as the main acquisition system. As a test to check the global capabilities of the Antelope software suite, we also set up an instance of Antelope acquiring data in real time from both the regional ASAIN seismic network in Antarctica and a subset of the Global Seismic Network (GSN) funded by the Incorporated Research Institution for Seismology (IRIS). The facilities of the IRIS Data Management System, and specifically the IRIS Data Management Center, were used for real time access to waveform required in this study. The first tests indicated that more than 80% of the earthquakes with magnitude M>5.0 listed in the Preliminary Determination of Epicenters (PDE) catalogue of the National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) were also correctly automatically detected by Antelope, with an average location error of 0.05 degrees and average body wave magnitude Mb estimation error below 0.1. The average time difference between event origin time and the actual time of event determination by Antelope was of about 45': the comparison with 20', the IASPEI91 P-wave travel time for 180 degrees distance, and 25', the estimate of our test system data latency, indicate that Antelope is a serious candidate for regional and global early warning systems.

Developing Communication Competence Using an Online Video Reflection System: Pre-Service Teachers' Experiences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bower, Matt; Cavanagh, Michael; Moloney, Robyn; Dao, MingMing

2011-01-01

This paper reports on how the cognitive, behavioural and affective communication competencies of undergraduate students were developed using an online Video Reflection system. Pre-service teachers were provided with communication scenarios and asked to record short videos of one another making presentations. Students then uploaded their videos to…

Evaluating the Usability and Accessibility of LMS "Blackboard" at King Saud University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alturki, Uthman T.; Aldraiweesh, Ahmed; Kinshuck

2016-01-01

King Saud University is in the process of adopting and implementing the interactive Blackboard Learning Management Systems (LMSs) with features that allow members of staff and teachers from different faculties to access, upload assignments, send quizzes, download content, and evaluate the academic progress of the members of faculty. However, many…

NGEE Arctic Plant Traits: Soil Depth, Kougarok Road Mile Marker 64, Seward Peninsula, Alaska, Beginning 2016

DOE Data Explorer

Stel, Holly Vander; Wullschleger, Stan; Breen, Amy; Iversen, Colleen

2017-03-01

Data includes active layer depth measured at intensive plots, reference points, vegetation plots, and soil temperature/moisture monitoring stations at the Kougarok hill slope located at Kougarok Road, Mile Marker 64. Data collection started July 2016 and will be ongoing. Data upload will be completed January 2017.

MOOCs: When Opening Doors to Education, Institutions Must Ensure That People with Disabilities Have Equal Access

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anastasopoulos, Nicholas; Baer, Amanda Marie

2013-01-01

Massive Open Online Courses ("MOOCs") are free online courses offered by institutions of higher education to individuals across the world, without any admissions criteria. Through web-based courses hosted by MOOC platforms, student-participants learn by accessing media, including documents, pictures and uploaded lectures on the course…

A Distributed Processing Approach to Payroll Time Reporting for a Large School District.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Freeman, Raoul J.

1983-01-01

Describes a system for payroll reporting from geographically disparate locations in which data is entered, edited, and verified locally on minicomputers and then uploaded to a central computer for the standard payroll process. Communications and hardware, time-reporting software, data input techniques, system implementation, and its advantages are…

Issues in the Convergence of Control with Communication and Computation

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-10-04

Library/Upload/116/Cal1.doc. [42] M. H. Shwehdi and A. Z. Khan, “A power line data communication interface using spread spectrum technology in home ... automation ,” IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, vol. 11, pp. 1232–1237, July 1996. ISSN: 0885-8977. [43] R. G. Olsen, “Technical considerations for

UPLOAD: THE NEW NORRIS HOUSE – A SUSTAINABLE HOME FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

EPA Science Inventory

In 1933 the Tennessee Valley Authority constructed a model community, Norris, Tennessee, as part of the Norris Dam construction project. A key feature of this New Deal village was the Norris House, a series of home designs built as models for modern, efficient, and sustain...

Teachers' Acceptance and Use of an Educational Portal

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pynoo, Bram; Tondeur, Jo; van Braak, Johan; Duyck, Wouter; Sijnave, Bart; Duyck, Philippe

2012-01-01

In this study, teachers' acceptance and use of an educational portal is assessed based on data from two sources: usage data (number of logins, downloads, uploads, reactions and pages viewed) and an online acceptance questionnaire. The usage data is extracted on two occasions from the portal's database: at survey completion (T1) and twenty-two…

17 CFR 232.10 - Application of part 232.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... uniform application form for access codes to file on EDGAR, and (2) File, by uploading as a Portable... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Application of part 232. 232...-T-GENERAL RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR ELECTRONIC FILINGS General § 232.10 Application of part 232. (a...

41 CFR 102-33.460 - What is our responsibility in relation to C-AMIS?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 33-MANAGEMENT OF GOVERNMENT AIRCRAFT Reporting Information on Government Aircraft Common Aviation Management Information Standard (c-Amis) § 102-33.460 What is our responsibility in relation to C-AMIS? If you use a management information system to provide data to FAIRS by batch upload, you are responsible...

78 FR 72146 - Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS) Changes to Improve Uniformity in the...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-12-02

...-0457] Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS) Changes to Improve Uniformity in the... Management Information System (MCMIS) to allow the Agency to upload the results of associated adjudicated... information concerning a citation associated with a violation that was dismissed or resulted in a finding of...

Marketing 2.0

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Germain, Carol Anne

2008-01-01

There is no doubt that today's student is much more savvy with using computers than the students of years gone by. This tech generation eagerly embraces the Internet, online searching, and the newer Web 2.0 technologies. This latter platform provides users with the ability to interact in a large virtual world, share/take (upload/download)…

30 CFR 210.54 - Must I submit this royalty report electronically?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... with which either party may contract. (2) Web-based reporting—Reporters/payors may enter report data directly or upload files using the MMS electronic web form located at http://www.mrmreports.net. The... generated from a reporter's system application. (c) Refer to our electronic reporting guidelines in the MMS...

WETS - Azura Half Scale Testing MOIS Documentation

DOE Data Explorer

Nelson, Eric

2015-05-30

This submission includes documentation on the Modular Ocean Instrumentation System (MOIS) installation on the Azura 1/2 scale wave energy converter at the Marine Station Kaneohe Bay (MCBH). Data from the deployment will be uploaded over the course of the test. The instrumentation and data come from the NREL team participating in this testing.

49 CFR 350.327 - How may States qualify for Incentive Funds?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

...-involved fatal accidents. (2) Reduction of large truck-involved fatal accident rate or maintenance of a large truck-involved fatal accident rate that is among the lowest 10 percent of such rates of MCSAP recipients. (3) Upload of CMV accident reports in accordance with current FMCSA policy guidelines. (4...

NDEx - The Network Data Exchange | Informatics Technology for Cancer Research (ITCR)

Cancer.gov

NDEx is an online commons where scientists can upload, share, and publicly distribute biological networks and pathway models. The NDEx Project maintains a web-accessible public server, a documentation website, provides seamless connectivity to Cytoscape as well as programmatic access using a variety of languages including Python and Java.

Computers and Teaching: Evolution of a Cyberclass.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, Jerome

1998-01-01

Addresses the role of technology in higher education outlining the various steps in creating a cyberclass: (1) provide access to Web sites on general research; (2) create a class listserv and a FTP site for students to upload coursework; (3) provide access to the syllabus electronically; and (4) teach an entire course online. (CMK)

Podcasting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Warlick, David

2005-01-01

Employing elements of both radio and blogging, podcasting has enormous potential for providing learning experiences for children. At its most basic level, podcasting involves a person (or team) recording an audio program and saving the program as an MP3 file then uploading the file to the Internet and placing a link to the file in a Weblog. The…

Further Investigation into the Reuse of OERs for Language Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pulker, Hélène

2013-01-01

The use of Open Educational Resources (OERs) to support language teaching and learning in higher education has become standard practice in recent years. While OER initiatives have given considerable attention to teacher's engagement as well as the sharing of culture and the creation and uploading of OERs, there is little evidence about specific…

Automated Bulk Uploading of Images and Metadata to Flickr

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Michel, Jason Paul; Tzoc, Elias

2010-01-01

The Digital Initiatives department at Miami University, like most digital initiatives and special collections departments, has a large number of rich digital image collections, stored primarily in a third-party database. Typically, these databases are not findable to the average Web user. From a desire to expose these collections to the wider Web…

Ethics Training and Workplace Ethical Decisions of MBA Professionals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Romious, Tamar S.; Thompson, Randall; Thompson, Elizabeth

2016-01-01

We recruited 15 MBA professionals in the St. Louis, Missouri metropolitan area to explore experiences and perceptions of classroom ethics training and ethical experiences in the workplace. Telephone interviews were conducted using open-ended questions to collect data that were uploaded to NVivo 10 for qualitative analysis. As a result of the data…

75 FR 54943 - Notice of Request To Revise a Currently-Approved Information Collection Request: Motor Carrier...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-09-09

... required consists of grant application preparation, quarterly reports and electronic data documenting the...: 52. Estimated Time per Response: Grant application preparation: 79.5 hours each; quarterly report preparation: 8 hours each; and inspection and data upload: 1 minute each. Expiration Date: February 28, 2011...

www.p2p.edu: Rip, Mix & Burn Your Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gillespie, Thom

2001-01-01

Discusses peer to peer technology which allows uploading files from one hard drive to another. Topics include the client/server model for education; the Napster client/server model; Gnutella; Freenet and other projects to allow the free exchange of information without censorship; bandwidth problems; copyright issues; metadata; and the United…

Voxel-Based Morphometry ALE meta-analysis of Bipolar Disorder

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Magana, Omar; Laird, Robert

2012-03-01

A meta-analysis was performed independently to view the changes in gray matter (GM) on patients with Bipolar disorder (BP). The meta-analysis was conducted on a Talairach Space using GingerALE to determine the voxels and their permutation. In order to achieve the data acquisition, published experiments and similar research studies were uploaded onto the online Voxel-Based Morphometry database (VBM). By doing so, coordinates of activation locations were extracted from Bipolar disorder related journals utilizing Sleuth. Once the coordinates of given experiments were selected and imported to GingerALE, a Gaussian was performed on all foci points to create the concentration points of GM on BP patients. The results included volume reductions and variations of GM between Normal Healthy controls and Patients with Bipolar disorder. A significant amount of GM clusters were obtained in Normal Healthy controls over BP patients on the right precentral gyrus, right anterior cingulate, and the left inferior frontal gyrus. In future research, more published journals could be uploaded onto the database and another VBM meta-analysis could be performed including more activation coordinates or a variation of age groups.

Pediatric Trauma Transfer Imaging Inefficiencies-Opportunities for Improvement with Cloud Technology.

PubMed

Puckett, Yana; To, Alvin

2016-01-01

This study examines the inefficiencies of radiologic imaging transfers from one hospital to the other during pediatric trauma transfers in an era of cloud based information sharing. Retrospective review of all patients transferred to a pediatric trauma center from 2008-2014 was performed. Imaging was reviewed for whether imaging accompanied the patient, whether imaging was able to be uploaded onto computer for records, whether imaging had to be repeated, and whether imaging obtained at outside hospitals (OSH) was done per universal pediatric trauma guidelines. Of the 1761 patients retrospectively reviewed, 559 met our inclusion criteria. Imaging was sent with the patient 87.7% of the time. Imaging was unable to be uploaded 31.9% of the time. CT imaging had to be repeated 1.8% of the time. CT scan was not done per universal pediatric trauma guidelines 1.2% of the time. Our study demonstrated that current imaging transfer is inefficient, leads to excess ionizing radiation, and increased healthcare costs. Universal implementation of cloud based radiology has the potential to eliminate excess ionizing radiation to children, improve patient care, and save cost to healthcare system.