Nodal-line pairing with 1D-3D coupled Fermi surfaces: A model motivated by Cr-based superconductors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wachtel, Gideon; Kim, Yong Baek

2016-09-01

Motivated by the recent discovery of a new family of chromium-based superconductors, we consider a two-band model, where a band of electrons dispersing only in one direction interacts with a band of electrons dispersing in all three directions. Strong 2 kf density fluctuations in the one-dimensional band induces attractive interactions between the three-dimensional electrons, which, in turn, makes the system superconducting. Solving the associated Eliashberg equations, we obtain a gap function which is peaked at the "poles" of the three-dimensional Fermi sphere, and decreases towards the "equator." When strong enough local repulsion is included, the gap actually changes sign around the equator and nodal rings are formed. These nodal rings manifest themselves in several experimentally observable quantities, some of which resemble unconventional observations in the newly discovered superconductors which motivated this work.

Topological transport in Dirac nodal-line semimetals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rui, W. B.; Zhao, Y. X.; Schnyder, Andreas P.

2018-04-01

Topological nodal-line semimetals are characterized by one-dimensional Dirac nodal rings that are protected by the combined symmetry of inversion P and time-reversal T . The stability of these Dirac rings is guaranteed by a quantized ±π Berry phase and their low-energy physics is described by a one-parameter family of (2+1)-dimensional quantum field theories exhibiting the parity anomaly. Here we study the Berry-phase supported topological transport of P T -invariant nodal-line semimetals. We find that small inversion breaking allows for an electric-field-induced anomalous transverse current, whose universal component originates from the parity anomaly. Due to this Hall-like current, carriers at opposite sides of the Dirac nodal ring flow to opposite surfaces when an electric field is applied. To detect the topological currents, we propose a dumbbell device, which uses surface states to filter charges based on their momenta. Suggestions for experiments and device applications are discussed.

Risk of Nodal Metastasis in Major Salivary Gland Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma.

PubMed

Megwalu, Uchechukwu C; Sirjani, Davud

2017-04-01

Objective To determine the risk of nodal metastasis, examine risk factors for nodal metastasis, and evaluate the impact of nodal metastasis on survival in patients with major salivary gland adenoid cystic carcinoma. Study Design Retrospective cohort study from a large population- based cancer database. Methods Data were extracted from the SEER 18 database (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results) of the National Cancer Institute. The study cohort included 720 patients diagnosed with major salivary gland adenoid cystic carcinoma between 1988 and 2013. Results The overall rate of lymph node metastasis was 17%. T3 disease (odds ratio, 4.74) and T4 disease (odds ratio, 9.24) were associated with increased risk of nodal metastasis. Age, sex, and site were not associated with nodal metastasis. Nodal metastasis was associated with worse overall survival (hazard ratio, 2.56) and disease-specific survival (hazard ratio, 3.27), after adjusting for T stage, presence of distant metastasis, site, surgical resection, radiotherapy, neck dissection, age, sex, race, marital status, and year of diagnosis. Conclusion Major salivary gland adenoid cystic carcinoma carries significant risk of nodal metastasis. Advanced T stage is associated with increased risk of nodal metastasis. Nodal metastasis is associated with worse survival.

Chiral topological insulating phases from three-dimensional nodal loop semimetals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Linhu; Yin, Chuanhao; Chen, Shu; Araujo, Miguel

We begin with a minimal model of three-dimensional nodal loop semimetals, and study the effect of anticommuting gap terms. The resulting topological insulating phases are protected by a chiral symmetry, and can be characterized by a winding number defined along the nodal loop. We illustrate the geometric relation between the nodal loop and the gap terms, which has a correspondence to the nodal loop winding number. We further investigate a lattice model and study its edge states under open boundary condition. The edge states hold Dirac cones with the same number as the summation of the winding numbers of each nodal loop in the first Brillouin zone.

Topological Nodal-Net Semimetal in a Graphene Network Structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jian-Tao; Nie, Simin; Weng, Hongming; Kawazoe, Yoshiyuki; Chen, Changfeng

2018-01-01

Topological semimetals are characterized by the nodal points in their electronic structure near the Fermi level, either discrete or forming a continuous line or ring, which are responsible for exotic properties related to the topology of bulk bands. Here we identify by ab initio calculations a distinct topological semimetal that exhibits nodal nets comprising multiple interconnected nodal lines in bulk and have two coupled drumheadlike flat bands around the Fermi level on its surface. This nodal net semimetal state is proposed to be realized in a graphene network structure that can be constructed by inserting a benzene ring into each C- C bond in the bct-C4 lattice or by a crystalline modification of the (5,5) carbon nanotube. These results expand the realm of nodal manifolds in topological semimetals, offering a new platform for exploring novel physics in these fascinating materials.

Nodal portraits of quantum billiards: Domains, lines, and statistics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jain, Sudhir Ranjan; Samajdar, Rhine

2017-10-01

This is a comprehensive review of the nodal domains and lines of quantum billiards, emphasizing a quantitative comparison of theoretical findings to experiments. The nodal statistics are shown to distinguish not only between regular and chaotic classical dynamics but also between different geometric shapes of the billiard system itself. How a random superposition of plane waves can model chaotic eigenfunctions is discussed and the connections of the complex morphology of the nodal lines thereof to percolation theory and Schramm-Loewner evolution are highlighted. Various approaches to counting the nodal domains—using trace formulas, graph theory, and difference equations—are also illustrated with examples. The nodal patterns addressed pertain to waves on vibrating plates and membranes, acoustic and electromagnetic modes, wave functions of a "particle in a box" as well as to percolating clusters, and domains in ferromagnets, thus underlining the diversity and far-reaching implications of the problem.

47 CFR 101.503 - Digital Electronic Message Service Nodal Stations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Digital Electronic Message Service Nodal... AND SPECIAL RADIO SERVICES FIXED MICROWAVE SERVICES 24 GHz Service and Digital Electronic Message Service § 101.503 Digital Electronic Message Service Nodal Stations. 10.6 GHz DEMS Nodal Stations may be...

Nodal weighting factor method for ex-core fast neutron fluence evaluation

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

Chiang, R. T.

The nodal weighting factor method is developed for evaluating ex-core fast neutron flux in a nuclear reactor by utilizing adjoint neutron flux, a fictitious unit detector cross section for neutron energy above 1 or 0.1 MeV, the unit fission source, and relative assembly nodal powers. The method determines each nodal weighting factor for ex-core neutron fast flux evaluation by solving the steady-state adjoint neutron transport equation with a fictitious unit detector cross section for neutron energy above 1 or 0.1 MeV as the adjoint source, by integrating the unit fission source with a typical fission spectrum to the solved adjointmore » flux over all energies, all angles and given nodal volume, and by dividing it with the sum of all nodal weighting factors, which is a normalization factor. Then, the fast neutron flux can be obtained by summing the various relative nodal powers times the corresponding nodal weighting factors of the adjacent significantly contributed peripheral assembly nodes and times a proper fast neutron attenuation coefficient over an operating period. A generic set of nodal weighting factors can be used to evaluate neutron fluence at the same location for similar core design and fuel cycles, but the set of nodal weighting factors needs to be re-calibrated for a transition-fuel-cycle. This newly developed nodal weighting factor method should be a useful and simplified tool for evaluating fast neutron fluence at selected locations of interest in ex-core components of contemporary nuclear power reactors. (authors)« less

Nodal network generator for CAVE3

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Palmieri, J. V.; Rathjen, K. A.

1982-01-01

A new extension of CAVE3 code was developed that automates the creation of a finite difference math model in digital form ready for input to the CAVE3 code. The new software, Nodal Network Generator, is broken into two segments. One segment generates the model geometry using a Tektronix Tablet Digitizer and the other generates the actual finite difference model and allows for graphic verification using Tektronix 4014 Graphic Scope. Use of the Nodal Network Generator is described.

Observation of a nodal chain with Dirac surface states in Ti B2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yi, C.-J.; Lv, B. Q.; Wu, Q. S.; Fu, B.-B.; Gao, X.; Yang, M.; Peng, X.-L.; Li, M.; Huang, Y.-B.; Richard, P.; Shi, M.; Li, G.; Yazyev, Oleg V.; Shi, Y.-G.; Qian, T.; Ding, H.

2018-05-01

Topological nodal-line semimetals (TNLSMs) are characterized by symmetry-protected band crossings extending along one-dimensional lines in momentum space. The nodal lines exhibit a variety of possible configurations, such as nodal ring, nodal link, nodal chain, and nodal knot. Here, using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we observe nodal rings on the orthogonal kz=0 and kx=0 planes of the Brillouin zone in Ti B2 . The nodal rings connect with each other on the intersecting line Γ-K of the orthogonal planes forming a remarkable nodal-chain structure. Furthermore, we observe surface states (SSs) on the (001) cleaved surface, which are consistent with the calculated SSs considering the contribution from both Ti and B terminations. The calculated SSs have novel Dirac-cone-like band structures, which are distinct from the usual drumhead SSs with a single flatband proposed in other TNLSMs.

Nodal lines and nodal loops in nonsymmorphic odd-parity superconductors

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

Micklitz, T.; Norman, M. R.

2017-01-01

We discuss the nodal structure of odd-parity superconductors in the presence of nonsymmorphic crystal symmetries, both with and without spin-orbit coupling, and with and without time-reversal symmetry. We comment on the relation of our work to previous work in the literature, and also the implications for unconventional superconductors such as UPt3.

A novel algorithm for the calculation of physical and biological irradiation quantities in scanned ion beam therapy: the beamlet superposition approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Russo, G.; Attili, A.; Battistoni, G.; Bertrand, D.; Bourhaleb, F.; Cappucci, F.; Ciocca, M.; Mairani, A.; Milian, F. M.; Molinelli, S.; Morone, M. C.; Muraro, S.; Orts, T.; Patera, V.; Sala, P.; Schmitt, E.; Vivaldo, G.; Marchetto, F.

2016-01-01

The calculation algorithm of a modern treatment planning system for ion-beam radiotherapy should ideally be able to deal with different ion species (e.g. protons and carbon ions), to provide relative biological effectiveness (RBE) evaluations and to describe different beam lines. In this work we propose a new approach for ion irradiation outcomes computations, the beamlet superposition (BS) model, which satisfies these requirements. This model applies and extends the concepts of previous fluence-weighted pencil-beam algorithms to quantities of radiobiological interest other than dose, i.e. RBE- and LET-related quantities. It describes an ion beam through a beam-line specific, weighted superposition of universal beamlets. The universal physical and radiobiological irradiation effect of the beamlets on a representative set of water-like tissues is evaluated once, coupling the per-track information derived from FLUKA Monte Carlo simulations with the radiobiological effectiveness provided by the microdosimetric kinetic model and the local effect model. Thanks to an extension of the superposition concept, the beamlet irradiation action superposition is applicable for the evaluation of dose, RBE and LET distributions. The weight function for the beamlets superposition is derived from the beam phase space density at the patient entrance. A general beam model commissioning procedure is proposed, which has successfully been tested on the CNAO beam line. The BS model provides the evaluation of different irradiation quantities for different ions, the adaptability permitted by weight functions and the evaluation speed of analitical approaches. Benchmarking plans in simple geometries and clinical plans are shown to demonstrate the model capabilities.

Super-nodal methods for space-time kinetics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mertyurek, Ugur

The purpose of this research has been to develop an advanced Super-Nodal method to reduce the run time of 3-D core neutronics models, such as in the NESTLE reactor core simulator and FORMOSA nuclear fuel management optimization codes. Computational performance of the neutronics model is increased by reducing the number of spatial nodes used in the core modeling. However, as the number of spatial nodes decreases, the error in the solution increases. The Super-Nodal method reduces the error associated with the use of coarse nodes in the analyses by providing a new set of cross sections and ADFs (Assembly Discontinuity Factors) for the new nodalization. These so called homogenization parameters are obtained by employing consistent collapsing technique. During this research a new type of singularity, namely "fundamental mode singularity", is addressed in the ANM (Analytical Nodal Method) solution. The "Coordinate Shifting" approach is developed as a method to address this singularity. Also, the "Buckling Shifting" approach is developed as an alternative and more accurate method to address the zero buckling singularity, which is a more common and well known singularity problem in the ANM solution. In the course of addressing the treatment of these singularities, an effort was made to provide better and more robust results from the Super-Nodal method by developing several new methods for determining the transverse leakage and collapsed diffusion coefficient, which generally are the two main approximations in the ANM methodology. Unfortunately, the proposed new transverse leakage and diffusion coefficient approximations failed to provide a consistent improvement to the current methodology. However, improvement in the Super-Nodal solution is achieved by updating the homogenization parameters at several time points during a transient. The update is achieved by employing a refinement technique similar to pin-power reconstruction. A simple error analysis based on the relative

Nodal Lymphangiogenesis and Metastasis

PubMed Central

Hirakawa, Satoshi; Detmar, Michael; Kerjaschki, Dontscho; Nagamatsu, Shogo; Matsuo, Keitaro; Tanemura, Atsushi; Kamata, Nobuyuki; Higashikawa, Koichiro; Okazaki, Hidenori; Kameda, Kenji; Nishida-Fukuda, Hisayo; Mori, Hideki; Hanakawa, Yasushi; Sayama, Koji; Shirakata, Yuji; Tohyama, Mikiko; Tokumaru, Sho; Katayama, Ichiro; Hashimoto, Koji

2009-01-01

Nodal lymphangiogenesis promotes distant lymph node (LN) metastasis in experimental cancer models. However, the role of nodal lymphangiogenesis in distant metastasis and in the overall survival of cancer patients remains unknown. Therefore, we investigated mechanisms that might facilitate regional and distant LN metastasis in extramammary Paget’s disease (EMPD). We retrospectively analyzed the impact of tumor-induced lymphatic vessel activation on the survival of 116 patients, the largest cohort with EMPD studied to date. Nodal lymphangiogenesis was significantly increased in metastatic, compared with tumor-free, LNs (P = 0.022). Increased lymphatic invasion within regional LNs was significantly associated with distant metastasis in LN (P = 0.047) and organs (P = 0.003). Thus, invasion within regional LNs is a powerful indicator of systemic tumor spread and reduced patient survival in EMPD (P = 0.0004). Lymphatic vessels associated with tumors expressed stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1), whereas CXCR4 was expressed on invasive Paget cells undergoing epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-like process. A431 cells overexpressing Snail expressed increased levels of CXCR4 in the presence of transforming growth factor-β1. Haptotactic migration assays confirmed that Snail-induced EMT-like process promotes tumor cell motility via the CXCR4-SDF-1 axis. Sinusoidal lymphatic endothelial cells and macrophages expressed SDF-1 in subcapsular sinuses of lymph nodes before Paget cell arrival. Our findings reveal that EMT-related features likely promote lymphatic metastasis of EMPD by activating the CXCR4-SDF-1 axis. PMID:19815713

A Nodal-independent and tissue-intrinsic mechanism controls heart-looping chirality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Noël, Emily S.; Verhoeven, Manon; Lagendijk, Anne Karine; Tessadori, Federico; Smith, Kelly; Choorapoikayil, Suma; den Hertog, Jeroen; Bakkers, Jeroen

2013-11-01

Breaking left-right symmetry in bilateria is a major event during embryo development that is required for asymmetric organ position, directional organ looping and lateralized organ function in the adult. Asymmetric expression of Nodal-related genes is hypothesized to be the driving force behind regulation of organ laterality. Here we identify a Nodal-independent mechanism that drives asymmetric heart looping in zebrafish embryos. In a unique mutant defective for the Nodal-related southpaw gene, preferential dextral looping in the heart is maintained, whereas gut and brain asymmetries are randomized. As genetic and pharmacological inhibition of Nodal signalling does not abolish heart asymmetry, a yet undiscovered mechanism controls heart chirality. This mechanism is tissue intrinsic, as explanted hearts maintain ex vivo retain chiral looping behaviour and require actin polymerization and myosin II activity. We find that Nodal signalling regulates actin gene expression, supporting a model in which Nodal signalling amplifies this tissue-intrinsic mechanism of heart looping.

Rules for Phase Shifts of Quantum Oscillations in Topological Nodal-Line Semimetals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Cequn; Wang, C. M.; Wan, Bo; Wan, Xiangang; Lu, Hai-Zhou; Xie, X. C.

2018-04-01

Nodal-line semimetals are topological semimetals in which band touchings form nodal lines or rings. Around a loop that encloses a nodal line, an electron can accumulate a nontrivial π Berry phase, so the phase shift in the Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) oscillation may give a transport signature for the nodal-line semimetals. However, different experiments have reported contradictory phase shifts, in particular, in the WHM nodal-line semimetals (W =Zr /Hf , H =Si /Ge , M =S /Se /Te ). For a generic model of nodal-line semimetals, we present a systematic calculation for the SdH oscillation of resistivity under a magnetic field normal to the nodal-line plane. From the analytical result of the resistivity, we extract general rules to determine the phase shifts for arbitrary cases and apply them to ZrSiS and Cu3 PdN systems. Depending on the magnetic field directions, carrier types, and cross sections of the Fermi surface, the phase shift shows rich results, quite different from those for normal electrons and Weyl fermions. Our results may help explore transport signatures of topological nodal-line semimetals and can be generalized to other topological phases of matter.

Nodal aberration theory for wild-filed asymmetric optical systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yang; Cheng, Xuemin; Hao, Qun

2016-10-01

Nodal Aberration Theory (NAT) was used to calculate the zero field position in Full Field Display (FFD) for the given aberration term. Aiming at wide-filed non-rotational symmetric decentered optical systems, we have presented the nodal geography behavior of the family of third-order and fifth-order aberrations. Meanwhile, we have calculated the wavefront aberration expressions when one optical element in the system is tilted, which was not at the entrance pupil. By using a three-piece-cellphone lens example in optical design software CodeV, the nodal geography is testified under several situations; and the wavefront aberrations are calculated when the optical element is tilted. The properties of the nodal aberrations are analyzed by using Fringe Zernike coefficients, which are directly related with the wavefront aberration terms and usually obtained by real ray trace and wavefront surface fitting.

ALGORITHM TO REDUCE APPROXIMATION ERROR FROM THE COMPLEX-VARIABLE BOUNDARY-ELEMENT METHOD APPLIED TO SOIL FREEZING.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hromadka, T.V.; Guymon, G.L.

1985-01-01

An algorithm is presented for the numerical solution of the Laplace equation boundary-value problem, which is assumed to apply to soil freezing or thawing. The Laplace equation is numerically approximated by the complex-variable boundary-element method. The algorithm aids in reducing integrated relative error by providing a true measure of modeling error along the solution domain boundary. This measure of error can be used to select locations for adding, removing, or relocating nodal points on the boundary or to provide bounds for the integrated relative error of unknown nodal variable values along the boundary.

Orbital nodal surfaces: Topological challenges for density functionals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aschebrock, Thilo; Armiento, Rickard; Kümmel, Stephan

2017-06-01

Nodal surfaces of orbitals, in particular of the highest occupied one, play a special role in Kohn-Sham density-functional theory. The exact Kohn-Sham exchange potential, for example, shows a protruding ridge along such nodal surfaces, leading to the counterintuitive feature of a potential that goes to different asymptotic limits in different directions. We show here that nodal surfaces can heavily affect the potential of semilocal density-functional approximations. For the functional derivatives of the Armiento-Kümmel (AK13) [Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 036402 (2013), 10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.036402] and Becke88 [Phys. Rev. A 38, 3098 (1988), 10.1103/PhysRevA.38.3098] energy functionals, i.e., the corresponding semilocal exchange potentials, as well as the Becke-Johnson [J. Chem. Phys. 124, 221101 (2006), 10.1063/1.2213970] and van Leeuwen-Baerends (LB94) [Phys. Rev. A 49, 2421 (1994), 10.1103/PhysRevA.49.2421] model potentials, we explicitly demonstrate exponential divergences in the vicinity of nodal surfaces. We further point out that many other semilocal potentials have similar features. Such divergences pose a challenge for the convergence of numerical solutions of the Kohn-Sham equations. We prove that for exchange functionals of the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) form, enforcing correct asymptotic behavior of the potential or energy density necessarily leads to irregular behavior on or near orbital nodal surfaces. We formulate constraints on the GGA exchange enhancement factor for avoiding such divergences.

Counting nodal domains on surfaces of revolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karageorge, Panos D.; Smilansky, Uzy

2008-05-01

We consider eigenfunctions of the Laplace-Beltrami operator on special surfaces of revolution. For this separable system, the nodal domains of the (real) eigenfunctions form a checkerboard pattern, and their number νn is proportional to the product of the angular and the 'surface' quantum numbers. Arranging the wavefunctions by increasing values of the Laplace-Beltrami spectrum, we obtain the nodal sequence, whose statistical properties we study. In particular, we investigate the distribution of the normalized counts \\frac{\

Fourier-Accelerated Nodal Solvers (FANS) for homogenization problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leuschner, Matthias; Fritzen, Felix

2017-11-01

Fourier-based homogenization schemes are useful to analyze heterogeneous microstructures represented by 2D or 3D image data. These iterative schemes involve discrete periodic convolutions with global ansatz functions (mostly fundamental solutions). The convolutions are efficiently computed using the fast Fourier transform. FANS operates on nodal variables on regular grids and converges to finite element solutions. Compared to established Fourier-based methods, the number of convolutions is reduced by FANS. Additionally, fast iterations are possible by assembling the stiffness matrix. Due to the related memory requirement, the method is best suited for medium-sized problems. A comparative study involving established Fourier-based homogenization schemes is conducted for a thermal benchmark problem with a closed-form solution. Detailed technical and algorithmic descriptions are given for all methods considered in the comparison. Furthermore, many numerical examples focusing on convergence properties for both thermal and mechanical problems, including also plasticity, are presented.

Classification of reflection-symmetry-protected topological semimetals and nodal superconductors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chiu, Ching-Kai; Schnyder, Andreas P.

2014-11-01

While the topological classification of insulators, semimetals, and superconductors in terms of nonspatial symmetries is well understood, less is known about topological states protected by crystalline symmetries, such as mirror reflections and rotations. In this work, we systematically classify topological semimetals and nodal superconductors that are protected, not only by nonspatial (i.e., global) symmetries, but also by a crystal reflection symmetry. We find that the classification crucially depends on (i) the codimension of the Fermi surface (nodal line or point) of the semimetal (superconductor), (ii) whether the mirror symmetry commutes or anticommutes with the nonspatial symmetries, and (iii) how the Fermi surfaces (nodal lines or points) transform under the mirror reflection and nonspatial symmetries. The classification is derived by examining all possible symmetry-allowed mass terms that can be added to the Bloch or Bogoliubov-de Gennes Hamiltonian in a given symmetry class and by explicitly deriving topological invariants. We discuss several examples of reflection-symmetry-protected topological semimetals and nodal superconductors, including topological crystalline semimetals with mirror Z2 numbers and topological crystalline nodal superconductors with mirror winding numbers.

Cerberus-Nodal-Lefty-Pitx signaling cascade controls left-right asymmetry in amphioxus.

PubMed

Li, Guang; Liu, Xian; Xing, Chaofan; Zhang, Huayang; Shimeld, Sebastian M; Wang, Yiquan

2017-04-04

Many bilaterally symmetrical animals develop genetically programmed left-right asymmetries. In vertebrates, this process is under the control of Nodal signaling, which is restricted to the left side by Nodal antagonists Cerberus and Lefty. Amphioxus, the earliest diverging chordate lineage, has profound left-right asymmetry as a larva. We show that Cerberus , Nodal , Lefty , and their target transcription factor Pitx are sequentially activated in amphioxus embryos. We then address their function by transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALEN)-based knockout and heat-shock promoter (HSP)-driven overexpression. Knockout of Cerberus leads to ectopic right-sided expression of Nodal , Lefty , and Pitx , whereas overexpression of Cerberus represses their left-sided expression. Overexpression of Nodal in turn represses Cerberus and activates Lefty and Pitx ectopically on the right side. We also show Lefty represses Nodal , whereas Pitx activates Nodal These data combine in a model in which Cerberus determines whether the left-sided gene expression cassette is activated or repressed. These regulatory steps are essential for normal left-right asymmetry to develop, as when they are disrupted embryos may instead form two phenotypic left sides or two phenotypic right sides. Our study shows the regulatory cassette controlling left-right asymmetry was in place in the ancestor of amphioxus and vertebrates. This includes the Nodal inhibitors Cerberus and Lefty, both of which operate in feedback loops with Nodal and combine to establish asymmetric Pitx expression. Cerberus and Lefty are missing from most invertebrate lineages, marking this mechanism as an innovation in the lineage leading to modern chordates.

The accuracy of preoperative axillary nodal staging in primary breast cancer by ultrasound is modified by nodal metastatic load and tumor biology

PubMed Central

Dihge, Looket; Grabau, Dorthe A.; Rasmussen, Rogvi W.; Bendahl, Pär-Ola; Rydén, Lisa

2016-01-01

Abstract Background The outcome of axillary ultrasound (AUS) with fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) in the diagnostic work-up of primary breast cancer has an impact on therapy decisions. We hypothesize that the accuracy of AUS is modified by nodal metastatic burden and clinico-pathological characteristics. Material and methods The performance of AUS and AUS-guided FNAB for predicting nodal metastases was assessed in a prospective breast cancer cohort subjected for surgery during 2009–2012. Predictors of accuracy were included in multivariate analysis. Results AUS had a sensitivity of 23% and a specificity of 95%, while AUS-guided FNAB obtained 73% and 100%, respectively. AUS-FNAB exclusively detected macro-metastases (median four metastases) and identified patients with more extensive nodal metastatic burden in comparison with sentinel node biopsy. The accuracy of AUS was affected by metastatic size (OR 1.11), obesity (OR 2.46), histological grade (OR 4.43), and HER2-status (OR 3.66); metastatic size and histological grade were significant in the multivariate analysis. Conclusions The clinical utility of AUS in low-risk breast cancer deserves further evaluation as the accuracy decreased with a low nodal metastatic burden. The diagnostic performance is modified by tumor and clinical characteristics. Patients with nodal disease detected by AUS-FNAB represent a group for whom neoadjuvant therapy should be considered. PMID:27050668

Hybrid nodal loop metal: Unconventional magnetoresponse and material realization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Xiaoming; Yu, Zhi-Ming; Lu, Yunhao; Sheng, Xian-Lei; Yang, Hui Ying; Yang, Shengyuan A.

2018-03-01

A nodal loop is formed by a band crossing along a one-dimensional closed manifold, with each point on the loop a linear nodal point in the transverse dimensions, and can be classified as type I or type II depending on the band dispersion. Here, we propose a class of nodal loops composed of both type-I and type-II points, which are hence termed as hybrid nodal loops. Based on first-principles calculations, we predict the realization of such loops in the existing electride material Ca2As . For a hybrid loop, the Fermi surface consists of coexisting electron and hole pockets that touch at isolated points for an extended range of Fermi energies, without the need for fine-tuning. This leads to unconventional magnetic responses, including the zero-field magnetic breakdown and the momentum-space Klein tunneling observable in the magnetic quantum oscillations, as well as the peculiar anisotropy in the cyclotron resonance.

Type-I and type-II topological nodal superconductors with s -wave interaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Beibing; Yang, Xiaosen; Xu, Ning; Gong, Ming

2018-01-01

Topological nodal superconductors with protected gapless points in momentum space are generally realized based on unconventional pairings. In this work we propose a minimal model to realize these topological nodal phases with only s -wave interaction. In our model the linear and quadratic spin-orbit couplings along the two orthogonal directions introduce anisotropic effective unconventional pairings in momentum space. This model may support different nodal superconducting phases characterized by either an integer winding number in BDI class or a Z2 index in D class at the particle-hole invariant axes. In the vicinity of the nodal points the effective Hamiltonian can be described by either type-I or type-II Dirac equations, and the Lifshitz transition from type-I nodal phases to type-II nodal phases can be driven by external in-plane magnetic fields. We show that these nodal phases are robust against weak impurities, which only slightly renormalizes the momentum-independent parameters in the impurity-averaged Hamiltonian, thus these phases are possible to be realized in experiments with real semi-Dirac materials. The smoking-gun evidences to verify these phases based on scanning tunneling spectroscopy method are also briefly discussed.

Nodal Topological Phases in s-wave Superfluid of Ultracold Fermionic Gases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Bei-Bing; Yang, Xiao-Sen

2018-02-01

The gapless Weyl superfluid has been widely studied in the three-dimensional ultracold fermionic superfluid. In contrast to Weyl superfluid, there exists another kind of gapless superfluid with topologically protected nodal lines, which can be regarded as the superfluid counterpart of nodal line semimetal in the condensed matter physics, just as Weyl superfluid with Weyl semimetal. In this paper we study the ground states of the cold fermionic gases in cubic optical lattices with one-dimensional spin-orbit coupling and transverse Zeeman field and map out the topological phase diagram of the system. We demonstrate that in addition to a fully gapped topologically trivial phase, some different nodal line superfluid phases appear when the Zeeman field is adjusted. The presence of topologically stable nodal lines implies the dispersionless zero-energy flat band in a finite region of the surface Brillouin zone. Experimentally these nodal line superfluid states can be detected via the momentum-resolved radio-frequency spectroscopy. The nodal line topological superfluid provide fertile grounds for exploring exotic quantum matters in the context of ultracold atoms. Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 11547047 and 11504143

Topological Phase Transitions in Line-nodal Superconductors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cho, Gil Young; Han, Sangeun; Moon, Eun-Gook

Fathoming interplay between symmetry and topology of many-electron wave-functions deepens our understanding in quantum nature of many particle systems. Topology often protects zero-energy excitation, and in a certain class, symmetry is intrinsically tied to the topological protection. Namely, unless symmetry is broken, topological nature is intact. We study one specific case of such class, symmetry-protected line-nodal superconductors in three spatial dimensions (3d). Mismatch between phase spaces of order parameter fluctuation and line-nodal fermion excitation induces an exotic universality class in a drastic contrast to one of the conventional ϕ4 theory in 3d. Hyper-scaling violation and relativistic dynamic scaling with unusually large quantum critical region are main characteristics, and their implication in experiments is discussed. For example, continuous phase transition out of line-nodal superconductors has a linear phase boundary in a temperature-tuning parameter phase-diagram. This work was supported by the Brain Korea 21 PLUS Project of Korea Government and KAIST start-up funding.

Mapping of nodal disease in locally advanced prostate cancer: Rethinking the clinical target volume for pelvic nodal irradiation based on vascular rather than bony anatomy

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

Shih, Helen A.; Harisinghani, Mukesh; Zietman, Anthony L.

2005-11-15

Purpose: Toxicity from pelvic irradiation could be reduced if fields were limited to likely areas of nodal involvement rather than using the standard 'four-field box.' We employed a novel magnetic resonance lymphangiographic technique to highlight the likely sites of occult nodal metastasis from prostate cancer. Methods and Materials: Eighteen prostate cancer patients with pathologically confirmed node-positive disease had a total of 69 pathologic nodes identifiable by lymphotropic nanoparticle-enhanced MRI and semiquantitative nodal analysis. Fourteen of these nodes were in the para-aortic region, and 55 were in the pelvis. The position of each of these malignant nodes was mapped to amore » common template based on its relation to skeletal or vascular anatomy. Results: Relative to skeletal anatomy, nodes covered a diffuse volume from the mid lumbar spine to the superior pubic ramus and along the sacrum and pelvic side walls. In contrast, the nodal metastases mapped much more tightly relative to the large pelvic vessels. A proposed pelvic clinical target volume to encompass the region at greatest risk of containing occult nodal metastases would include a 2.0-cm radial expansion volume around the distal common iliac and proximal external and internal iliac vessels that would encompass 94.5% of the pelvic nodes at risk as defined by our node-positive prostate cancer patient cohort. Conclusions: Nodal metastases from prostate cancer are largely localized along the major pelvic vasculature. Defining nodal radiation treatment portals based on vascular rather than bony anatomy may allow for a significant decrease in normal pelvic tissue irradiation and its associated toxicities.« less

Targeting nodal in conjunction with dacarbazine induces synergistic anticancer effects in metastatic melanoma.

PubMed

Hardy, Katharine M; Strizzi, Luigi; Margaryan, Naira V; Gupta, Kanika; Murphy, George F; Scolyer, Richard A; Hendrix, Mary J C

2015-04-01

Metastatic melanoma is a highly aggressive skin cancer with a poor prognosis. Despite a complete response in fewer than 5% of patients, the chemotherapeutic agent dacarbazine (DTIC) remains the reference drug after almost 40 years. More recently, FDA-approved drugs have shown promise but patient outcome remains modest, predominantly due to drug resistance. As such, combinatorial targeting has received increased attention, and will advance with the identification of new molecular targets. One attractive target for improving melanoma therapy is the growth factor Nodal, whose normal expression is largely restricted to embryonic development, but is reactivated in metastatic melanoma. In this study, we sought to determine how Nodal-positive human melanoma cells respond to DTIC treatment and to ascertain whether targeting Nodal in combination with DTIC would be more effective than monotherapy. A single treatment with DTIC inhibited cell growth but did not induce apoptosis. Rather than reducing Nodal expression, DTIC increased the size of the Nodal-positive subpopulation, an observation coincident with increased cellular invasion. Importantly, clinical tissue specimens from patients with melanomas refractory to DTIC therapy stained positive for Nodal expression, both in pre- and post-DTIC tumors, underscoring the value of targeting Nodal. In vitro, anti-Nodal antibodies alone had some adverse effects on proliferation and apoptosis, but combining DTIC treatment with anti-Nodal antibodies decreased cell growth and increased apoptosis synergistically, at concentrations incapable of producing meaningful effects as monotherapy. Targeting Nodal in combination with DTIC therapy holds promise for the treatment of metastatic melanoma. ©2015 American Association for Cancer Research.

Supply chain coordination with defective items and quantity discount

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Hsien-Jen; Lin, Yu-Jen

2014-12-01

This study develops an integrated inventory system involving defective items and quantity discount for optimal pricing and ordering strategies. The model analysed in this study is one in which the buyer orders a quantity, the vendor produces more than buyer's order quantity in order to reduce set-up cost, and then he/she offers an all-units quantity discount to the buyer. Our objective is to determine the optimal order quantity, retail price, mark-up rate, and the number of shipments per production run from the vendor to the buyer, so that the entire supply chain joint total profit incurred has a maximum value. Furthermore, an algorithm of finding the optimal solution is developed. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate the theoretical results.

Implications of inaccurate clinical nodal staging in pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

PubMed

Swords, Douglas S; Firpo, Matthew A; Johnson, Kirsten M; Boucher, Kenneth M; Scaife, Courtney L; Mulvihill, Sean J

2017-07-01

Many patients with stage I-II pancreatic adenocarcinoma do not undergo resection. We hypothesized that (1) clinical staging underestimates nodal involvement, causing stage IIB to have a greater percent of resected patients and (2) this stage-shift causes discrepancies in observed survival. The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) research database was used to evaluate cause-specific survival in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma from 2004-2012. Survival was compared using the log-rank test. Single-center data on 105 patients who underwent resection of pancreatic adenocarcinoma without neoadjuvant treatment were used to compare clinical and pathologic nodal staging. In SEER data, medium-term survival in stage IIB was superior to IB and IIA, with median cause-specific survival of 14, 9, and 11 months, respectively (P < .001). Seventy-two percent of stage IIB patients underwent resection vs 28% in IB and 36% in IIA (P < .001). In our institutional data, 12.4% of patients had clinical evidence of nodal involvement vs 69.5% by pathologic staging (P < .001). Among clinical stage IA-IIA patients, 71.6% had nodal involvement by pathologic staging. Both SEER and institutional data support substantial underestimation of nodal involvement by clinical staging. This finding has implications in decisions regarding neoadjuvant therapy and analysis of outcomes in the absence of pathologic staging. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Calculating Time-Integral Quantities in Depletion Calculations

DOE PAGES

Isotalo, Aarno

2016-06-02

A method referred to as tally nuclides is presented for accurately and efficiently calculating the time-step averages and integrals of any quantities that are weighted sums of atomic densities with constant weights during the step. The method allows all such quantities to be calculated simultaneously as a part of a single depletion solution with existing depletion algorithms. Some examples of the results that can be extracted include step-average atomic densities and macroscopic reaction rates, the total number of fissions during the step, and the amount of energy released during the step. Furthermore, the method should be applicable with several depletionmore » algorithms, and the integrals or averages should be calculated with an accuracy comparable to that reached by the selected algorithm for end-of-step atomic densities. The accuracy of the method is demonstrated in depletion calculations using the Chebyshev rational approximation method. Here, we demonstrate how the ability to calculate energy release in depletion calculations can be used to determine the accuracy of the normalization in a constant-power burnup calculation during the calculation without a need for a reference solution.« less

Evaluation of the use of nodal methods for MTR neutronic analysis

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

Reitsma, F.; Mueller, E.Z.

1997-08-01

Although modern nodal methods are used extensively in the nuclear power industry, their use for research reactor analysis has been very limited. The suitability of nodal methods for material testing reactor analysis is investigated with the emphasis on the modelling of the core region (fuel assemblies). The nodal approach`s performance is compared with that of the traditional finite-difference fine mesh approach. The advantages of using nodal methods coupled with integrated cross section generation systems are highlighted, especially with respect to data preparation, simplicity of use and the possibility of performing a great variety of reactor calculations subject to strict timemore » limitations such as are required for the RERTR program.« less

Optical conductivity of three and two dimensional topological nodal-line semimetals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barati, Shahin; Abedinpour, Saeed H.

2017-10-01

The peculiar shape of the Fermi surface of topological nodal-line semimetals at low carrier concentrations results in their unusual optical and transport properties. We analytically investigate the linear optical responses of three- and two-dimensional nodal-line semimetals using the Kubo formula. The optical conductivity of a three-dimensional nodal-line semimetal is anisotropic. Along the axial direction (i.e., the direction perpendicular to the nodal-ring plane), the Drude weight has a linear dependence on the chemical potential at both low and high carrier dopings. For the radial direction (i.e., the direction parallel to the nodal-ring plane), this dependence changes from linear into quadratic in the transition from low into high carrier concentration. The interband contribution into optical conductivity is also anisotropic. In particular, at large frequencies, it saturates to a constant value for the axial direction and linearly increases with frequency along the radial direction. In two-dimensional nodal-line semimetals, no interband optical transition could be induced and the only contribution to the optical conductivity arises from the intraband excitations. The corresponding Drude weight is independent of the carrier density at low carrier concentrations and linearly increases with chemical potential at high carrier doping.

Pathology of nodal marginal zone lymphomas.

PubMed

Pileri, Stefano; Ponzoni, Maurilio

Nodal marginal zone B cell lymphomas (NMZLs) are a rare group of lymphoid disorders part of the spectrum of marginal zone B-cell lymphomas, which encompass splenic marginal one B-cell lymphoma (SMZL) and extra nodal marginal zone of B-cell lymphoma (EMZL), often of MALT-type. Two clinicopathological forms of NMZL are recognized: adult-type and pediatric-type, respectively. NMZLs show overlapping features with other types of MZ, but distinctive features as well. In this review, we will focus on the salient distinguishing features of NMZL mostly under morphological/immunophenotypical/molecular perspectives in views of the recent acquisitions and forthcoming updated 2016 WHO classification of lymphoid malignancies. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A quantitative description of normal AV nodal conduction curve in man.

PubMed

Teague, S; Collins, S; Wu, D; Denes, P; Rosen, K; Arzbaecher, R

1976-01-01

The AV nodal conduction curve generated by the atrial extrastimulus technique has been described only qualitatively in man, making clinical comparison of known normal curves with those of suspected AV nodal dysfunction difficult. Also, the effects of physiological and pharmacological interventions have not been quantifiable. In 50 patients with normal AV conduction as defined by normal AH (less than 130 ms), normal AV nodal effective and functional refractory periods (less than 380 and less than 500 ms), and absence of demonstrable dual AV nodal pathways, we found that conduction curves (at sinus rhythm or longest paced cycle length) can be described by an exponential equation of the form delta = Ae-Bx. In this equation, delta is the increase in AV nodal conduction time of an extrastimulus compared to that of a regular beat and x is extrastimulus interval. The natural logarithm of this equation is linear in the semilogarithmic plane, thus permitting the constants A and B to be easily determined by a least-squares regression analysis with a hand calculator.

Parallel algorithms for islanded microgrid with photovoltaic and energy storage systems planning optimization problem: Material selection and quantity demand optimization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Yang; Liu, Chun; Huang, Yuehui; Wang, Tieqiang; Sun, Chenjun; Yuan, Yue; Zhang, Xinsong; Wu, Shuyun

2017-02-01

With the development of roof photovoltaic power (PV) generation technology and the increasingly urgent need to improve supply reliability levels in remote areas, islanded microgrid with photovoltaic and energy storage systems (IMPE) is developing rapidly. The high costs of photovoltaic panel material and energy storage battery material have become the primary factors that hinder the development of IMPE. The advantages and disadvantages of different types of photovoltaic panel materials and energy storage battery materials are analyzed in this paper, and guidance is provided on material selection for IMPE planners. The time sequential simulation method is applied to optimize material demands of the IMPE. The model is solved by parallel algorithms that are provided by a commercial solver named CPLEX. Finally, to verify the model, an actual IMPE is selected as a case system. Simulation results on the case system indicate that the optimization model and corresponding algorithm is feasible. Guidance for material selection and quantity demand for IMPEs in remote areas is provided by this method.

Targeting Nodal in Conjunction with Dacarbazine Induces Synergistic Anti-cancer Effects in Metastatic Melanoma

PubMed Central

Hardy, Katharine M.; Strizzi, Luigi; Margaryan, Naira V.; Gupta, Kanika; Murphy, George F.; Scolyer, Richard A.; Hendrix, Mary J.C.

2015-01-01

Metastatic melanoma is a highly aggressive skin cancer with a poor prognosis. Despite a complete response in fewer than 5% of patients, the chemotherapeutic agent Dacarbazine (DTIC) remains the reference drug after almost 40 years. More recently FDA approved drugs have shown promise but patient outcome remains modest, predominantly due to drug resistance. As such, combinatorial targeting has received increased attention, and will advance with the identification of new molecular targets. One attractive target for improving melanoma therapy is the growth factor Nodal, whose normal expression is largely restricted to embryonic development, but is reactivated in metastatic melanoma. In this study, we sought to determine how Nodal-positive human melanoma cells respond to DTIC treatment and to ascertain if targeting Nodal in combination with DTIC would be more effective than monotherapy. A single treatment with DTIC inhibited cell growth but did not induce apoptosis. Rather than reducing Nodal expression, DTIC increased the size of the Nodal-positive subpopulation, an observation coincident with increased cellular invasion. Importantly, clinical tissue specimens from patients with melanomas refractory to DTIC therapy stained positive for Nodal expression, both in pre- and post-DTIC tumors, underscoring the value of targeting Nodal. In vitro, anti-Nodal antibodies alone had some adverse effects on proliferation and apoptosis, but combining DTIC treatment with anti-Nodal antibodies decreased cell growth and increased apoptosis synergistically, at concentrations incapable of producing meaningful effects as monotherapy. Implications Targeting Nodal in combination with DTIC therapy holds promise for the treatment of metastatic melanoma. PMID:25767211

Cilia are required for asymmetric nodal induction in the sea urchin embryo.

PubMed

Tisler, Matthias; Wetzel, Franziska; Mantino, Sabrina; Kremnyov, Stanislav; Thumberger, Thomas; Schweickert, Axel; Blum, Martin; Vick, Philipp

2016-08-23

Left-right (LR) organ asymmetries are a common feature of metazoan animals. In many cases, laterality is established by a conserved asymmetric Nodal signaling cascade during embryogenesis. In most vertebrates, asymmetric nodal induction results from a cilia-driven leftward fluid flow at the left-right organizer (LRO), a ciliated epithelium present during gastrula/neurula stages. Conservation of LRO and flow beyond the vertebrates has not been reported yet. Here we study sea urchin embryos, which use nodal to establish larval LR asymmetry as well. Cilia were found in the archenteron of embryos undergoing gastrulation. Expression of foxj1 and dnah9 suggested that archenteron cilia were motile. Cilia were polarized to the posterior pole of cells, a prerequisite of directed flow. High-speed videography revealed rotating cilia in the archenteron slightly before asymmetric nodal induction. Removal of cilia through brief high salt treatments resulted in aberrant patterns of nodal expression. Our data demonstrate that cilia - like in vertebrates - are required for asymmetric nodal induction in sea urchin embryos. Based on these results we argue that the anterior archenteron represents a bona fide LRO and propose that cilia-based symmetry breakage is a synapomorphy of the deuterostomes.

Toddler signaling regulates mesodermal cell migration downstream of Nodal signaling

PubMed Central

Norris, Megan L; Pauli, Andrea; Gagnon, James A; Lord, Nathan D; Rogers, Katherine W; Mosimann, Christian; Zon, Leonard I

2017-01-01

Toddler/Apela/Elabela is a conserved secreted peptide that regulates mesendoderm development during zebrafish gastrulation. Two non-exclusive models have been proposed to explain Toddler function. The ‘specification model’ postulates that Toddler signaling enhances Nodal signaling to properly specify endoderm, whereas the ‘migration model’ posits that Toddler signaling regulates mesendodermal cell migration downstream of Nodal signaling. Here, we test key predictions of both models. We find that in toddler mutants Nodal signaling is initially normal and increasing endoderm specification does not rescue mesendodermal cell migration. Mesodermal cell migration defects in toddler mutants result from a decrease in animal pole-directed migration and are independent of endoderm. Conversely, endodermal cell migration defects are dependent on a Cxcr4a-regulated tether of the endoderm to mesoderm. These results suggest that Toddler signaling regulates mesodermal cell migration downstream of Nodal signaling and indirectly affects endodermal cell migration via Cxcr4a-signaling. PMID:29117894

Nodal patterning without Lefty inhibitory feedback is functional but fragile

PubMed Central

Gagnon, James A; Pauli, Andrea; Zimmerman, Steven; Aksel, Deniz C; Reyon, Deepak; Tsai, Shengdar Q; Joung, J Keith

2017-01-01

Developmental signaling pathways often activate their own inhibitors. Such inhibitory feedback has been suggested to restrict the spatial and temporal extent of signaling or mitigate signaling fluctuations, but these models are difficult to rigorously test. Here, we determine whether the ability of the mesendoderm inducer Nodal to activate its inhibitor Lefty is required for development. We find that zebrafish lefty mutants exhibit excess Nodal signaling and increased specification of mesendoderm, resulting in embryonic lethality. Strikingly, development can be fully restored without feedback: Lethal patterning defects in lefty mutants can be rescued by ectopic expression of lefty far from its normal expression domain or by spatially and temporally uniform exposure to a Nodal inhibitor drug. While drug-treated mutants are less tolerant of mild perturbations to Nodal signaling levels than wild type embryos, they can develop into healthy adults. These results indicate that patterning without inhibitory feedback is functional but fragile. PMID:29215332

Occult Nodal Disease Prevalence and Distribution in Recurrent Laryngeal Cancer Requiring Salvage Laryngectomy.

PubMed

Birkeland, Andrew C; Rosko, Andrew J; Issa, Mohamad R; Shuman, Andrew G; Prince, Mark E; Wolf, Gregory T; Bradford, Carol R; McHugh, Jonathan B; Brenner, J Chad; Spector, Matthew E

2016-03-01

The indications for neck dissection concurrent with salvage laryngectomy in the clinically N0 setting remain unclear. Our goals were to determine the prevalence of occult nodal disease, analyze nodal disease distribution patterns, and identify predictors of occult nodal disease in a salvage laryngectomy cohort. Case series with planned data collection. Tertiary academic center. Patients with persistent or recurrent laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) after radiation/chemoradiation failure undergoing salvage laryngectomy with neck dissection. We analyzed a single-institution retrospective case series of patients between 1997 and 2014 and identified those who had clinically N0 (cN0) necks (n = 203). Clinical and pathologic data, including nodal prevalence and distribution, were collected and statistical analyses performed. Overall, cN0 necks had histologically positive occult nodes in 17% (n = 35) of cases. Univariate predictors of occult nodal positivity included recurrent T4 stage (34% T4 vs 12% non-T4; P = .0003) and supraglottic subsite (28% supraglottic vs 10% nonsupraglottic; P = .0006). Histologically positive nodes associated with supraglottic primaries were most frequently positive in ipsilateral levels II and III (17% and 16%). Positive nodes for glottic LSCC were most frequently positive in the ipsilateral and contralateral paratracheal nodes (11% and 9%). Histologically positive occult nodes are identified in 17% of cN0 patients undergoing salvage laryngectomy with neck dissection. Occult nodal disease varies in frequency and distribution based on tumor subsite. Predictors of high (>20%) occult nodal positivity include T4 tumors and supraglottic subsite. In glottic LSCC, the most frequent sites of occult nodal disease are the paratracheal nodal basins. © American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery Foundation 2016.

47 CFR 101.503 - Digital Electronic Message Service Nodal Stations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... DEMS Nodal Station licenses should specify the maximum number of 10.6 GHz DEMS User Stations to be served by that nodal station. Any increase in that number must be applied for pursuant to § 1.913 of this... Stations. 101.503 Section 101.503 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) SAFETY...

47 CFR 101.503 - Digital Electronic Message Service Nodal Stations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... DEMS Nodal Station licenses should specify the maximum number of 10.6 GHz DEMS User Stations to be served by that nodal station. Any increase in that number must be applied for pursuant to § 1.913 of this... Stations. 101.503 Section 101.503 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) SAFETY...

47 CFR 101.503 - Digital Electronic Message Service Nodal Stations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... DEMS Nodal Station licenses should specify the maximum number of 10.6 GHz DEMS User Stations to be served by that nodal station. Any increase in that number must be applied for pursuant to § 1.913 of this... Stations. 101.503 Section 101.503 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) SAFETY...

47 CFR 101.503 - Digital Electronic Message Service Nodal Stations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... DEMS Nodal Station licenses should specify the maximum number of 10.6 GHz DEMS User Stations to be served by that nodal station. Any increase in that number must be applied for pursuant to § 1.913 of this... Stations. 101.503 Section 101.503 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) SAFETY...

Elsevier Trophoblast Research Award lecture: The multifaceted role of Nodal signaling during mammalian reproduction.

PubMed

Park, C B; Dufort, D

2011-03-01

Nodal, a secreted signaling protein in the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) superfamily, has established roles in vertebrate development. However, components of the Nodal signaling pathway are also expressed at the maternal-fetal interface and have been implicated in many processes of mammalian reproduction. Emerging evidence indicates that Nodal and its extracellular inhibitor Lefty are expressed in the uterus and complex interactions between the two proteins mediate menstruation, decidualization and embryo implantation. Furthermore, several studies have shown that Nodal from both fetal and maternal sources may regulate trophoblast cell fate and facilitate placentation as both embryonic and uterine-specific Nodal knockout mouse strains exhibit disrupted placenta morphology. Here we review the established and prospective roles of Nodal signaling in facilitating successful pregnancy, including recent evidence supporting a potential link to parturition and preterm birth. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Tumor microvessel density–associated mast cells in canine nodal lymphoma

PubMed Central

Mann, Elizabeth; Whittington, Lisa

2014-01-01

Objective: Mast cells are associated in angiogenesis in various human and animal neoplasms. However, association of mast cells with tumor microvessel density in canine lymphoma was not previously documented. The objective of the study is to determine if mast cells are increased in canine nodal lymphomas and to evaluate their correlation with tumor microvessel density and grading of lymphomas. Methods: Nodal lymphomas from 33 dogs were studied and compared with nonneoplastic lymph nodes from 6 dogs as control. Mast cell count was made on Toluidine blue stained sections. Immunohistochemistry using antibody against Factor VIII was employed to visualize and determine microvessel density. Results: The mast cell count in lymphoma (2.95 ± 2.4) was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than that in the control (0.83 ± 0.3) and was positively correlated with tumor microvessel density (r = 0.44, p = 0.009). Significant difference was not observed in mast cell count and tumor microvessel density among different gradings of lymphomas. Conclusions: Mast cells are associated with tumor microvessel density in canine nodal lymphoma with no significant difference among gradings of lymphomas. Mast cells may play an important role in development of canine nodal lymphomas. Further detailed investigation on the role of mast cells as important part of tumor microenvironment in canine nodal lymphomas is recommended. PMID:26770752

A Search Algorithm for Determination of Economic Order Quantity in a Two-Level Supply Chain System with Transportation Cost

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pirayesh Neghab, Mohammadali; Haji, Rasoul

This study considers a two-level supply chain system consisting of one warehouse and a number of identical retailers. In this system, we incorporate transportation costs into inventory replenishment decisions. The transportation cost contains a fixed cost and a variable cost. We assume that the demand rate at each retailer is known and the demand is confined to a single item. First, we derive the total cost which is the sum of the holding and ordering cost at the warehouse and retailers as well as the transportation cost from the warehouse to retailers. Then, we propose a search algorithm to find the economic order quantities for the warehouse and retailers which minimize the total cost.

Response of millet and sorghum to a varying water supply around the primary and nodal roots

PubMed Central

Rostamza, M.; Richards, R. A.; Watt, M.

2013-01-01

Background and Aims Cereals have two root systems. The primary system originates from the embryo when the seed germinates and can support the plant until it produces grain. The nodal system can emerge from stem nodes throughout the plant's life; its value for yield is unclear and depends on the environment. The aim of this study was to test the role of nodal roots of sorghum and millet in plant growth in response to variation in soil moisture. Sorghum and millet were chosen as both are adapted to dry conditions. Methods Sorghum and millet were grown in a split-pot system that allowed the primary and nodal roots to be watered separately. Key Results When primary and nodal roots were watered (12 % soil water content; SWC), millet nodal roots were seven times longer than those of sorghum and six times longer than millet plants in dry treatments, mainly from an 8-fold increase in branch root length. When soil was allowed to dry in both compartments, millet nodal roots responded and grew 20 % longer branch roots than in the well-watered control. Sorghum nodal roots were unchanged. When only primary roots received water, nodal roots of both species emerged and elongated into extremely dry soil (0·6–1·5 % SWC), possibly with phloem-delivered water from the primary roots in the moist inner pot. Nodal roots were thick, short, branchless and vertical, indicating a tropism that was more pronounced in millet. Total nodal root length increased in both species when the dry soil was covered with plastic, suggesting that stubble retention or leaf mulching could facilitate nodal roots reaching deeper moist layers in dry climates. Greater nodal root length in millet than in sorghum was associated with increased shoot biomass, water uptake and water use efficiency (shoot mass per water). Millet had a more plastic response than sorghum to moisture around the nodal roots due to (1) faster growth and progression through ontogeny for earlier nodal root branch length and (2

Response of millet and sorghum to a varying water supply around the primary and nodal roots.

PubMed

Rostamza, M; Richards, R A; Watt, M

2013-07-01

Cereals have two root systems. The primary system originates from the embryo when the seed germinates and can support the plant until it produces grain. The nodal system can emerge from stem nodes throughout the plant's life; its value for yield is unclear and depends on the environment. The aim of this study was to test the role of nodal roots of sorghum and millet in plant growth in response to variation in soil moisture. Sorghum and millet were chosen as both are adapted to dry conditions. Sorghum and millet were grown in a split-pot system that allowed the primary and nodal roots to be watered separately. When primary and nodal roots were watered (12 % soil water content; SWC), millet nodal roots were seven times longer than those of sorghum and six times longer than millet plants in dry treatments, mainly from an 8-fold increase in branch root length. When soil was allowed to dry in both compartments, millet nodal roots responded and grew 20 % longer branch roots than in the well-watered control. Sorghum nodal roots were unchanged. When only primary roots received water, nodal roots of both species emerged and elongated into extremely dry soil (0.6-1.5 % SWC), possibly with phloem-delivered water from the primary roots in the moist inner pot. Nodal roots were thick, short, branchless and vertical, indicating a tropism that was more pronounced in millet. Total nodal root length increased in both species when the dry soil was covered with plastic, suggesting that stubble retention or leaf mulching could facilitate nodal roots reaching deeper moist layers in dry climates. Greater nodal root length in millet than in sorghum was associated with increased shoot biomass, water uptake and water use efficiency (shoot mass per water). Millet had a more plastic response than sorghum to moisture around the nodal roots due to (1) faster growth and progression through ontogeny for earlier nodal root branch length and (2) partitioning to nodal root length from primary roots

Comparison of Modal to Nodal Approaches for Wavefront Correction,

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-02-01

the influence function of the wavefront corrector. (Implicit here is the assumption that the influence function is the same for every node, which is...To implement a nodal correction, the wavefront to be corrected is -. .. decomposed using a basis which is determined by the nodal (actuator) influence ... function of the wavefront corrector. This decomposition results in a set of coefficients which correspond to the drive signal required at the

Precise and efficient evaluation of gravimetric quantities at arbitrarily scattered points in space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ivanov, Kamen G.; Pavlis, Nikolaos K.; Petrushev, Pencho

2017-12-01

Gravimetric quantities are commonly represented in terms of high degree surface or solid spherical harmonics. After EGM2008, such expansions routinely extend to spherical harmonic degree 2190, which makes the computation of gravimetric quantities at a large number of arbitrarily scattered points in space using harmonic synthesis, a very computationally demanding process. We present here the development of an algorithm and its associated software for the efficient and precise evaluation of gravimetric quantities, represented in high degree solid spherical harmonics, at arbitrarily scattered points in the space exterior to the surface of the Earth. The new algorithm is based on representation of the quantities of interest in solid ellipsoidal harmonics and application of the tensor product trigonometric needlets. A FORTRAN implementation of this algorithm has been developed and extensively tested. The capabilities of the code are demonstrated using as examples the disturbing potential T, height anomaly ζ , gravity anomaly Δ g , gravity disturbance δ g , north-south deflection of the vertical ξ , east-west deflection of the vertical η , and the second radial derivative T_{rr} of the disturbing potential. After a pre-computational step that takes between 1 and 2 h per quantity, the current version of the software is capable of computing on a standard PC each of these quantities in the range from the surface of the Earth up to 544 km above that surface at speeds between 20,000 and 40,000 point evaluations per second, depending on the gravimetric quantity being evaluated, while the relative error does not exceed 10^{-6} and the memory (RAM) use is 9.3 GB.

On the Nodal Lines of Eisenstein Series on Schottky Surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jakobson, Dmitry; Naud, Frédéric

2017-04-01

On convex co-compact hyperbolic surfaces {X=Γ backslash H2}, we investigate the behavior of nodal curves of real valued Eisenstein series {F_λ(z,ξ)}, where {λ} is the spectral parameter, {ξ} the direction at infinity. Eisenstein series are (non-{L^2}) eigenfunctions of the Laplacian {Δ_X} satisfying {Δ_X F_λ=(1/4+λ^2)F_λ}. As {λ} goes to infinity (the high energy limit), we show that, for generic {ξ}, the number of intersections of nodal lines with any compact segment of geodesic grows like {λ}, up to multiplicative constants. Applications to the number of nodal domains inside the convex core of the surface are then derived.

Topological nodal-line fermions in spin-orbit metal PbTaSe2

DOE PAGES

Bian, Guang; Chang, Tay-Rong; Sankar, Raman; ...

2016-02-02

Here we discuss how topological semimetals can support one-dimensional Fermi lines or zero-dimensional Weyl points in momentum space, where the valence and conduction bands touch. While the degeneracy points in Weyl semimetals are robust against any perturbation that preserves translational symmetry, nodal lines require protection by additional crystalline symmetries such as mirror reflection. Here we report, based on a systematic theoretical study and a detailed experimental characterization, the existence of topological nodal-line states in the non-centrosymmetric compound PbTaSe 2 with strong spin-orbit coupling. Remarkably, the spin-orbit nodal lines in PbTaSe 2 are not only protected by the reflection symmetry butmore » also characterized by an integer topological invariant. Our detailed angle-resolved photoemission measurements, first-principles simulations and theoretical topological analysis illustrate the physical mechanism underlying the formation of the topological nodal-line states and associated surface states for the first time, thus paving the way towards exploring the exotic properties of the topological nodal-line fermions in condensed matter systems.« less

Topological nodal-line fermions in spin-orbit metal PbTaSe2

PubMed Central

Bian, Guang; Chang, Tay-Rong; Sankar, Raman; Xu, Su-Yang; Zheng, Hao; Neupert, Titus; Chiu, Ching-Kai; Huang, Shin-Ming; Chang, Guoqing; Belopolski, Ilya; Sanchez, Daniel S.; Neupane, Madhab; Alidoust, Nasser; Liu, Chang; Wang, BaoKai; Lee, Chi-Cheng; Jeng, Horng-Tay; Zhang, Chenglong; Yuan, Zhujun; Jia, Shuang; Bansil, Arun; Chou, Fangcheng; Lin, Hsin; Hasan, M. Zahid

2016-01-01

Topological semimetals can support one-dimensional Fermi lines or zero-dimensional Weyl points in momentum space, where the valence and conduction bands touch. While the degeneracy points in Weyl semimetals are robust against any perturbation that preserves translational symmetry, nodal lines require protection by additional crystalline symmetries such as mirror reflection. Here we report, based on a systematic theoretical study and a detailed experimental characterization, the existence of topological nodal-line states in the non-centrosymmetric compound PbTaSe2 with strong spin-orbit coupling. Remarkably, the spin-orbit nodal lines in PbTaSe2 are not only protected by the reflection symmetry but also characterized by an integer topological invariant. Our detailed angle-resolved photoemission measurements, first-principles simulations and theoretical topological analysis illustrate the physical mechanism underlying the formation of the topological nodal-line states and associated surface states for the first time, thus paving the way towards exploring the exotic properties of the topological nodal-line fermions in condensed matter systems. PMID:26829889

TGF-β promotes glioma cell growth via activating Nodal expression through Smad and ERK1/2 pathways

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

Sun, Jing; Liu, Su-zhi; Lin, Yan

Highlights: •TGF-β promoted Nodal expression in glioma cells. •TGF-β promoted Nodal expression via activating Smad and ERK1/2 pathways. •TGF-β promotes glioma cell growth via activating Nodal expression. -- Abstract: While there were certain studies focusing on the mechanism of TGF-β promoting the growth of glioma cells, the present work revealed another novel mechanism that TGF-β may promote glioma cell growth via enhancing Nodal expression. Our results showed that Nodal expression was significantly upregulated in glioma cells when TGF-β was added, whereas the TGF-β-induced Nodal expression was evidently inhibited by transfection Smad2 or Smad3 siRNAs, and the suppression was especially significantmore » when the Smad3 was downregulated. Another, the attenuation of TGF-β-induced Nodal expression was observed with blockade of the ERK1/2 pathway also. Further detection of the proliferation, apoptosis, and invasion of glioma cells indicated that Nodal overexpression promoted the proliferation and invasion of tumor cells and inhibited their apoptosis, resembling the effect of TGF-β addition. Downregulation of Nodal expression via transfection Nodal-specific siRNA in the presence of TGF-β weakened the promoting effect of the latter on glioma cells growth, and transfecting Nodal siRNA alone in the absence of exogenous TGF-β more profoundly inhibited the growth of glioma cells. These results demonstrated that while both TGF-β and Nodal promoted glioma cells growth, the former might exert such effect by enhancing Nodal expression, which may form a new target for glioma therapy.« less

Bcl-2 and BLIMP-1 expression predict worse prognosis in gastric diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLCBL) while other markers for nodal DLBCL are not useful.

PubMed

Martin-Arruti, Maialen; Vaquero, Manuel; Díaz de Otazu, Ramón; Zabalza, Iñaki; Ballesteros, Javier; Roncador, Giovanna; García-Orad, Africa

2012-04-01

Previous studies have identified clinicopathological and immunohistochemical differences among diffuse large B cell lymphomas (DLBCL) as a function of disease location. Nevertheless, there is a continuing tendency to generalize the prognostic value of various identified markers without taking into account tumour site. Accordingly, we analysed the prognostic value of several of the immunohistochemical markers that have been proposed for nodal DLBCL in a group of patients with gastric DLBCL. Using histochemical methods, CD10, Bcl-6, Gcet1, MUM-1, Bcl-2 and BLIMP-1 expression was investigated in 43 cases of gastric DBLCL. As in nodal DLBCLs, expression of BLIMP-1, and of Bcl-2 in non-germinal centre B cell-like (non-GCB) patients, was associated with a worse prognosis. However, unlike nodal DBLCL, there was no significant association of prognosis with expression of CD10, Bcl-6, Gcet1 or MUM-1, or with categorization according to Hans or Muris algorithms. Although most markers of prognosis in nodal DLBCL are not useful indicators for gastric DLBCL, Bcl-2 or BLIMP-1 expression does correlate with worse prognosis. These data support the notion that clinicopathological features in DLBCL vary according to the disease location. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Off-diagonal Jacobian support for Nodal BCs

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

Peterson, John W.; Andrs, David; Gaston, Derek R.

In this brief note, we describe the implementation of o-diagonal Jacobian computations for nodal boundary conditions in the Multiphysics Object Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE) [1] framework. There are presently a number of applications [2{5] based on the MOOSE framework that solve complicated physical systems of partial dierential equations whose boundary conditions are often highly nonlinear. Accurately computing the on- and o-diagonal Jacobian and preconditioner entries associated to these constraints is crucial for enabling ecient numerical solvers in these applications. Two key ingredients are required for properly specifying the Jacobian contributions of nonlinear nodal boundary conditions in MOOSE and nite elementmore » codes in general: 1. The ability to zero out entire Jacobian matrix rows after \

Barrier tunneling of the loop-nodal semimetal in the hyperhoneycomb lattice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guan, Ji-Huan; Zhang, Yan-Yang; Lu, Wei-Er; Xia, Yang; Li, Shu-Shen

2018-05-01

We theoretically investigate the barrier tunneling in the 3D model of the hyperhoneycomb lattice, which is a nodal-line semimetal with a Dirac loop at zero energy. In the presence of a rectangular potential, the scattering amplitudes for different injecting states around the nodal loop are calculated, by using analytical treatments of the effective model, as well as numerical simulations of the tight binding model. In the low energy regime, states with remarkable transmissions are only concentrated in a small range around the loop plane. When the momentum of the injecting electron is coplanar with the nodal loop, nearly perfect transmissions can occur for a large range of injecting azimuthal angles if the potential is not high. For higher potential energies, the transmission shows a resonant oscillation with the potential, but still with peaks being perfect transmissions that do not decay with the potential width. These strikingly robust transports of the loop-nodal semimetal can be approximately explained by a momentum dependent Dirac Hamiltonian.

Quantum anomalies in nodal line semimetals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burkov, A. A.

2018-04-01

Topological semimetals are a new class of condensed matter systems with nontrivial electronic structure topology. Their unusual observable properties may often be understood in terms of quantum anomalies. In particular, Weyl and Dirac semimetals, which have point band-touching nodes, are characterized by the chiral anomaly, which leads to the Fermi arc surface states, anomalous Hall effect, negative longitudinal magnetoresistance, and planar Hall effect. In this paper, we explore analogous phenomena in nodal line semimetals. We demonstrate that such semimetals realize a three-dimensional analog of the parity anomaly, which is a known property of two-dimensional Dirac semimetals arising, for example, on the surface of a three-dimensional topological insulator. We relate one of the characteristic properties of nodal line semimetals, namely, the drumhead surface states, to this anomaly, and derive the field theory, which encodes the corresponding anomalous response.

Three-dimensional graphdiyne as a topological nodal-line semimetal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nomura, Takafumi; Habe, Tetsuro; Sakamoto, Ryota; Koshino, Mikito

2018-05-01

We study the electronic band structure of three-dimensional ABC-stacked (rhombohedral) graphdiyne, which is a new planar carbon allotrope recently fabricated. Using first-principles calculation, we show that the system is a nodal-line semimetal, in which the conduction band and valence band cross at a closed ring in the momentum space. We derive the minimum tight-binding model and the low-energy effective Hamiltonian in a 4 ×4 matrix form. The nodal line is protected by a nontrivial winding number, and it ensures the existence of the topological surface state in a finite-thickness slab. The Fermi surface of the doped system exhibits a peculiar, self-intersecting hourglass structure, which is quite different from the torus or pipe shape in the previously proposed nodal semimetals. Despite its simple configuration, three-dimensional graphdiyne offers unique electronic properties distinct from any other carbon allotropes.

Long period nodal motion of sun synchronous orbits

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Duck, K. I.

1975-01-01

An approximative model is formulated for assessing these perturbations that significantly affect long term modal motion of sun synchronous orbits. Computer simulations with several independent computer programs consider zonal and tesseral gravitational harmonics, third body gravitational disturbances induced by the sun and the moon, and atmospheric drag. A pendulum model consisting of evenzonal harmonics through order 4 and solar gravity dominated nodal motion approximation. This pendulum motion results from solar gravity inducing an inclination oscillation which couples into the nodal precession induced by the earth's oblateness. The pendulum model correlated well with simulations observed flight data.

Topological nodal superconducting phases and topological phase transition in the hyperhoneycomb lattice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bouhon, Adrien; Schmidt, Johann; Black-Schaffer, Annica M.

2018-03-01

We establish the topology of the spin-singlet superconducting states in the bare hyperhoneycomb lattice, and we derive analytically the full phase diagram using only symmetry and topology in combination with simple energy arguments. The phase diagram is dominated by two states preserving time-reversal symmetry. We find a line-nodal state dominating at low doping levels that is topologically nontrivial and exhibits surface Majorana flatbands, which we show perfectly match the bulk-boundary correspondence using the Berry phase approach. At higher doping levels, we find a fully gapped state with trivial topology. By analytically calculating the topological invariant of the nodal lines, we derive the critical point between the line-nodal and fully gapped states as a function of both pairing parameters and doping. We find that the line-nodal state is favored not only at lower doping levels but also if symmetry-allowed deformations of the lattice are present. Adding simple energy arguments, we establish that a fully gapped state with broken time-reversal symmetry likely appears covering the actual phase transition. We find this fully gapped state to be topologically trivial, while we find an additional point-nodal state at very low doing levels that also break time-reversal symmetry and has nontrivial topology with associated Fermi surface arcs. We eventually address the robustness of the phase diagram to generalized models also including adiabatic spin-orbit coupling, and we show how all but the point-nodal state are reasonably stable.

Unilateral dampening of Bmp activity by nodal generates cardiac left-right asymmetry.

PubMed

Veerkamp, Justus; Rudolph, Franziska; Cseresnyes, Zoltan; Priller, Florian; Otten, Cécile; Renz, Marc; Schaefer, Liliana; Abdelilah-Seyfried, Salim

2013-03-25

Signaling by Nodal and Bmp is essential for cardiac laterality. How activities of these pathways translate into left-right asymmetric organ morphogenesis is largely unknown. We show that, in zebrafish, Nodal locally reduces Bmp activity on the left side of the cardiac field. This effect is mediated by the extracellular matrix enzyme Hyaluronan synthase 2, expression of which is induced by Nodal. Unilateral reduction of Bmp signaling results in lower expression of nonmuscle myosin II and higher cell motility on the left, driving asymmetric displacement of the entire cardiac field. In silico modeling shows that left-right differences in cell motility are sufficient to induce a robust, directional migration of cardiac tissue. Thus, the mechanism underlying the formation of cardiac left-right asymmetry involves Nodal modulating an antimotogenic Bmp activity. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Face Centered Cubic SnSe as a Z2 Trivial Dirac Nodal Line Material

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tateishi, Ikuma; Matsuura, Hiroyasu

2018-07-01

The presence of a Dirac nodal line in a time-reversal and inversion symmetric system is dictated by the Z2 index when spin-orbit interaction is absent. In a first principles calculation, we show that a Dirac nodal line can emerge in Z2 trivial material by calculating the band structure of SnSe in a face centered cubic lattice as an example. We qualitatively show that it becomes a topological crystalline insulator when spin-orbit interaction is taken into account. We clarify the origin of the Dirac nodal line by obtaining irreducible representations corresponding to bands and explain the triviality of the Z2 index. We construct an effective model representing the Dirac nodal line using the k · p method, and discuss the Berry phase and a surface state expected from the Dirac nodal line.

Symmorphic Intersecting Nodal Rings in Semiconducting Layers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gong, Cheng; Xie, Yuee; Chen, Yuanping; Kim, Heung-Sik; Vanderbilt, David

2018-03-01

The unique properties of topological semimetals have strongly driven efforts to seek for new topological phases and related materials. Here, we identify a critical condition for the existence of intersecting nodal rings (INRs) in symmorphic crystals, and further classify all possible kinds of INRs which can be obtained in the layered semiconductors with Amm2 and Cmmm space group symmetries. Several honeycomb structures are suggested to be topological INR semimetals, including layered and "hidden" layered structures. Transitions between the three types of INRs, named as α , β , and γ type, can be driven by external strains in these structures. The resulting surface states and Landau-level structures, more complicated than those resulting from a simple nodal loop, are also discussed.

A predictive index of axillary nodal involvement in operable breast cancer.

PubMed Central

De Laurentiis, M.; Gallo, C.; De Placido, S.; Perrone, F.; Pettinato, G.; Petrella, G.; Carlomagno, C.; Panico, L.; Delrio, P.; Bianco, A. R.

1996-01-01

We investigated the association between pathological characteristics of primary breast cancer and degree of axillary nodal involvement and obtained a predictive index of the latter from the former. In 2076 cases, 17 histological features, including primary tumour and local invasion variables, were recorded. The whole sample was randomly split in a training (75% of cases) and a test sample. Simple and multiple correspondence analysis were used to select the variables to enter in a multinomial logit model to build an index predictive of the degree of nodal involvement. The response variable was axillary nodal status coded in four classes (N0, N1-3, N4-9, N > or = 10). The predictive index was then evaluated by testing goodness-of-fit and classification accuracy. Covariates significantly associated with nodal status were tumour size (P < 0.0001), tumour type (P < 0.0001), type of border (P = 0.048), multicentricity (P = 0.003), invasion of lymphatic and blood vessels (P < 0.0001) and nipple invasion (P = 0.006). Goodness-of-fit was validated by high concordance between observed and expected number of cases in each decile of predicted probability in both training and test samples. Classification accuracy analysis showed that true node-positive cases were well recognised (84.5%), but there was no clear distinction among the classes of node-positive cases. However, 10 year survival analysis showed a superimposible prognostic behaviour between predicted and observed nodal classes. Moreover, misclassified node-negative patients (i.e. those who are predicted positive) showed an outcome closer to patients with 1-3 metastatic nodes than to node-negative ones. In conclusion, the index cannot completely substitute for axillary node information, but it is a predictor of prognosis as accurate as nodal involvement and identifies a subgroup of node-negative patients with unfavourable prognosis. PMID:8630286

Reactivation of Embryonic Nodal Signaling is Associated with Tumor Progression and Promotes the Growth of Prostate Cancer Cells

PubMed Central

Lawrence, Mitchell G.; Margaryan, Naira V.; Loessner, Daniela; Collins, Angus; Kerr, Kris M.; Turner, Megan; Seftor, Elisabeth A.; Stephens, Carson R.; Lai, John; BioResource, APC; Postovit, Lynne-Marie; Clements, Judith A.; Hendrix, Mary J.C.

2011-01-01

Background Nodal is a member of the Transforming Growth Factor β (TGFβ) superfamily that directs embryonic patterning and promotes the plasticity and tumorigenicity of tumor cells, but its role in the prostate is unknown. The goal of this study was to characterize the expression and function of Nodal in prostate cancer and determine whether, like other TGFβ ligands, it modulates androgen receptor (AR) activity. Methods Nodal expression was investigated using immunohistochemistry of tissue microarrays and Western blots of prostate cell lines. The functional role of Nodal was examined using Matrigel and soft agar growth assays. Cross-talk between Nodal and AR signaling was assessed with luciferase reporter assays and expression of endogenous androgen regulated genes. Results Significantly increased Nodal expression was observed in cancer compared with benign prostate specimens. Nodal was only expressed by DU145 and PC3 cells. All cell lines expressed Nodal’s co-receptor, Cripto-1, but lacked Lefty, a critical negative regulator of Nodal signaling. Recombinant human Nodal triggered downstream Smad2 phosphorylation in DU145 and LNCaP cells, and stable transfection of pre-pro-Nodal enhanced the growth of LNCaP cells in Matrigel and soft agar. Finally, Nodal attenuated AR signaling, reducing the activity of a PSA promoter construct in luciferase assays and down-regulating the endogenous expression of androgen regulated genes. Conclusions An aberrant Nodal signaling pathway is re-expressed and functionally active in prostate cancer cells. PMID:21656830

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.

Amplification and protein overexpression of cyclin D1: Predictor of occult nodal metastasis in early oral cancer.

PubMed

Noorlag, Rob; Boeve, Koos; Witjes, Max J H; Koole, Ronald; Peeters, Ton L M; Schuuring, Ed; Willems, Stefan M; van Es, Robert J J

2017-02-01

Accurate nodal staging is pivotal for treatment planning in early (stage I-II) oral cancer. Unfortunately, current imaging modalities lack sensitivity to detect occult nodal metastases. Chromosomal region 11q13, including genes CCND1, Fas-associated death domain (FADD), and CTTN, is often amplified in oral cancer with nodal metastases. However, evidence in predicting occult nodal metastases is limited. In 158 patients with early tongue and floor of mouth (FOM) squamous cell carcinomas, both CCND1 amplification and cyclin D1, FADD, and cortactin protein expression were correlated with occult nodal metastases. CCND1 amplification and cyclin D1 expression correlated with occult nodal metastases. Cyclin D1 expression was validated in an independent multicenter cohort, confirming the correlation with occult nodal metastases in early FOM cancers. Cyclin D1 is a predictive biomarker for occult nodal metastases in early FOM cancers. Prospective research on biopsy material should confirm these results before implementing its use in routine clinical practice. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 39: 326-333, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Persistence of RSV promotes proliferation and epithelial-mesenchymal transition of bronchial epithelial cells through Nodal signaling.

PubMed

Xiang, Zhao; Liang, Zhang; Yanfeng, Huang; Leitao, Kang

2017-10-01

Nodal may play an important role in the development of cancers. The present study was designed to determine the effects of Nodal induced by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection on the occurrence and development of lung cancer and the underlying mechanisms. After verification of RSV infection by observation of cytopathic effect and indirect immunofluorescence, real-time PCR, Western blot and methylation assays were used to verify the influence of RSV on Nodal expression. Then, a Nodal overexpressed vector was constructed and the effects of Nodal on the proliferation and apoptosis of bronchial epithelial cells (BECs) and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) were assayed by flow cytometry and Western blot, respectively. Moreover, Lefty and pSmad2/3 were assayed by Western blot and Cyclin D1, CDK4, c-myc and Bcl-2 induced by Nodal overepression or RSV infection were also assayed by real-time PCR. The results showed that Nodal over expression and demethylation of the promoter were observed in BECs after RSV infection. Activation of Nodal promoted proliferation, colony formation and EMT and inhibited apoptosis of BECs. Nodal also promoted malignant change by promoting expression of cyclin D1 and related-dependent kinase and inhibiting apoptosis. Besides, RSV infection inhibited Lefty expression and promoted the activation of pSmad2/3. RSV also promoted Cyclin D1, CDK4, c-myc and Bcl-2 expression through the activation of pSmad2/3. Our data showed that persistence of RSV promoted the proliferation, epithelial-mesenchymal transition and expression of oncogenes through Nodal signaling, which may be associated with the occurrence and development of lung cancers.

Brady's Geothermal Field - Map of DAS, Nodal, Vibroseis and Reftek Station Deployment

DOE Data Explorer

Kurt Feigl

2016-10-15

Map of DAS, nodal, vibroseis and Reftek stations during March 2016 deployment. The plot on the left has nodal stations labeled; the plot on the right has vibroseis observations labeled. Stations are shown in map-view using Brady's rotated X-Y coordinates with side plots denoting elevation with respect to the WGS84 ellipsoid. Blue circles denote vibroseis data, x symbols denote DAS (cyan for horizontal and magenta for vertical), black asterisks denote Reftek data, and red plus signs denote nodal data. This map can be found on UW-Madison's askja server at /PoroTomo/DATA/MAPS/Deployment_Stations.pdf

Recognizing nodal marginal zone lymphoma: recent advances and pitfalls. A systematic review

PubMed Central

van den Brand, Michiel; van Krieken, J. Han J.M.

2013-01-01

The diagnosis of nodal marginal zone lymphoma is one of the remaining problem areas in hematopathology. Because no established positive markers exist for this lymphoma, it is frequently a diagnosis of exclusion, making distinction from other low-grade B-cell lymphomas difficult or even impossible. This systematic review summarizes and discusses the current knowledge on nodal marginal zone lymphoma, including clinical features, epidemiology and etiology, histology, and cytogenetic and molecular features. In particular, recent advances in diagnostics and pathogenesis are discussed. New immunohistochemical markers have become available that could be used as positive markers for nodal marginal zone lymphoma. These markers could be used to ensure more homogeneous study groups in future research. Also, recent gene expression studies and studies describing specific gene mutations have provided clues to the pathogenesis of nodal marginal zone lymphoma, suggesting deregulation of the nuclear factor kappa B pathway. Nevertheless, nodal marginal zone lymphoma remains an enigmatic entity, requiring further study to define its pathogenesis to allow an accurate diagnosis and tailored treatment. However, recent data indicate that it is not related to splenic or extranodal lymphoma, and that it is also not related to lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma. Thus, even though the diagnosis is not always easy, it is clearly a separate entity. PMID:23813646

Particle transport in the human respiratory tract: formulation of a nodal inverse distance weighted Eulerian-Lagrangian transport and implementation of the Wind-Kessel algorithm for an oral delivery.

PubMed

Kannan, Ravishekar; Guo, Peng; Przekwas, Andrzej

2016-06-01

This paper is the first in a series wherein efficient computational methods are developed and implemented to accurately quantify the transport, deposition, and clearance of the microsized particles (range of interest: 2 to 10 µm) in the human respiratory tract. In particular, this paper (part I) deals with (i) development of a detailed 3D computational finite volume mesh comprising of the NOPL (nasal, oral, pharyngeal and larynx), trachea and several airway generations; (ii) use of CFD Research Corporation's finite volume Computational Biology (CoBi) flow solver to obtain the flow physics for an oral inhalation simulation; (iii) implement a novel and accurate nodal inverse distance weighted Eulerian-Lagrangian formulation to accurately obtain the deposition, and (iv) development of Wind-Kessel boundary condition algorithm. This new Wind-Kessel boundary condition algorithm allows the 'escaped' particles to reenter the airway through the outlets, thereby to an extent accounting for the drawbacks of having a finite number of lung generations in the computational mesh. The deposition rates in the NOPL, trachea, the first and second bifurcation were computed, and they were in reasonable accord with the Typical Path Length model. The quantitatively validated results indicate that these developments will be useful for (i) obtaining depositions in diseased lungs (because of asthma and COPD), for which there are no empirical models, and (ii) obtaining the secondary clearance (mucociliary clearance) of the deposited particles. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

RW Per - Nodal motion changes its amplitude by 1.4 mag

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schaefer, Bradley E.; Fried, Robert E.

1991-01-01

RW Per was found to have large secular changes in its eclipse amplitude. In blue light, for example, the amplitude was 3.2 mag in the early 1900s, 2.2 mag in the late 1960s, and 1.75 mag in 1990. Throughout this time, the brightness at maximum was constant in all colors. It is shown that the only possible explanation is nodal motion, where the inclination varies with a period of roughly 100,000 yr. The nodal motion is caused by a third star, for which the light curve, the colors, and the O - C curve already provide evidence. Thus, RW Per is only the fourth known star with large changes of eclipse amplitude and is only the second example of nodal motion.

Evaluation of the LWVD Luminosity for Use in the Spectral-Based Volume Sensor Algorithms

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-04-29

VMI Vibro-Meter, Inc. VS Volume Sensor VSCS Volume Sensor Communications Specification VSDS Volume Sensor Detection Suite VSNP Volume Sensor Nodal Panel...using the VSCS communications protocol. Appendix A gives a complete listing of the SBVS EVENT parameters and the EVENT algorithm descriptions. See

Incidental Prophylactic Nodal Irradiation and Patterns of Nodal Relapse in Inoperable Early Stage NSCLC Patients Treated With SBRT: A Case-Matched Analysis

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

Lao, Louis; Department of Radiation Oncology, Auckland City Hospital, Auckland; Hope, Andrew J.

2014-09-01

Purpose: Reported rates of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) nodal failure following stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) are lower than those reported in the surgical series when matched for stage. We hypothesized that this effect was due to incidental prophylactic nodal irradiation. Methods and Materials: A prospectively collected group of medically inoperable early stage NSCLC patients from 2004 to 2010 was used to identify cases with nodal relapses. Controls were matched to cases, 2:1, controlling for tumor volume (ie, same or greater) and tumor location (ie, same lobe). Reference (normalized to equivalent dose for 2-Gy fractions [EQD2]) point doses atmore » the ipsilateral hilum and carina, demographic data, and clinical outcomes were extracted from the medical records. Univariate conditional logistical regression analyses were performed with variables of interest. Results: Cases and controls were well matched except for size. The controls, as expected, had larger gross tumor volumes (P=.02). The mean ipsilateral hilar doses were 9.6 Gy and 22.4 Gy for cases and controls, respectively (P=.014). The mean carinal doses were 7.0 Gy and 9.2 Gy, respectively (P=.13). Mediastinal nodal relapses, with and without ipsilateral hilar relapse, were associated with mean ipsilateral hilar doses of 3.6 Gy and 19.8 Gy, respectively (P=.01). The conditional density plot appears to demonstrate an inverse dose-effect relationship between ipsilateral hilar normalized total dose and risk of ipsilateral hilar relapse. Conclusions: Incidental hilar dose greater than 20 Gy is significantly associated with fewer ipsilateral hilar relapses in inoperable early stage NSCLC patients treated with SBRT.« less

The orphan receptor ALK7 and the Activin receptor ALK4 mediate signaling by Nodal proteins during vertebrate development.

PubMed

Reissmann, E; Jörnvall, H; Blokzijl, A; Andersson, O; Chang, C; Minchiotti, G; Persico, M G; Ibáñez, C F; Brivanlou, A H

2001-08-01

Nodal proteins have crucial roles in mesendoderm formation and left-right patterning during vertebrate development. The molecular mechanisms of signal transduction by Nodal and related ligands, however, are not fully understood. In this paper, we present biochemical and functional evidence that the orphan type I serine/threonine kinase receptor ALK7 acts as a receptor for mouse Nodal and Xenopus Nodal-related 1 (Xnr1). Receptor reconstitution experiments indicate that ALK7 collaborates with ActRIIB to confer responsiveness to Xnr1 and Nodal. Both receptors can independently bind Xnr1. In addition, Cripto, an extracellular protein genetically implicated in Nodal signaling, can independently interact with both Xnr1 and ALK7, and its expression greatly enhances the ability of ALK7 and ActRIIB to respond to Nodal ligands. The Activin receptor ALK4 is also able to mediate Nodal signaling but only in the presence of Cripto, with which it can also interact directly. A constitutively activated form of ALK7 mimics the mesendoderm-inducing activity of Xnr1 in Xenopus embryos, whereas a dominant-negative ALK7 specifically blocks the activities of Nodal and Xnr1 but has little effect on other related ligands. In contrast, a dominant-negative ALK4 blocks all mesoderm-inducing ligands tested, including Nodal, Xnr1, Xnr2, Xnr4, and Activin. In agreement with a role in Nodal signaling, ALK7 mRNA is localized to the ectodermal and organizer regions of Xenopus gastrula embryos and is expressed during early stages of mouse embryonic development. Therefore, our results indicate that both ALK4 and ALK7 can mediate signal transduction by Nodal proteins, although ALK7 appears to be a receptor more specifically dedicated to Nodal signaling.

The orphan receptor ALK7 and the Activin receptor ALK4 mediate signaling by Nodal proteins during vertebrate development

PubMed Central

Reissmann, Eva; Jörnvall, Henrik; Blokzijl, Andries; Andersson, Olov; Chang, Chenbei; Minchiotti, Gabriella; Persico, M. Graziella; Ibáñez, Carlos F.; Brivanlou, Ali H.

2001-01-01

Nodal proteins have crucial roles in mesendoderm formation and left–right patterning during vertebrate development. The molecular mechanisms of signal transduction by Nodal and related ligands, however, are not fully understood. In this paper, we present biochemical and functional evidence that the orphan type I serine/threonine kinase receptor ALK7 acts as a receptor for mouse Nodal and Xenopus Nodal-related 1 (Xnr1). Receptor reconstitution experiments indicate that ALK7 collaborates with ActRIIB to confer responsiveness to Xnr1 and Nodal. Both receptors can independently bind Xnr1. In addition, Cripto, an extracellular protein genetically implicated in Nodal signaling, can independently interact with both Xnr1 and ALK7, and its expression greatly enhances the ability of ALK7 and ActRIIB to respond to Nodal ligands. The Activin receptor ALK4 is also able to mediate Nodal signaling but only in the presence of Cripto, with which it can also interact directly. A constitutively activated form of ALK7 mimics the mesendoderm-inducing activity of Xnr1 in Xenopus embryos, whereas a dominant-negative ALK7 specifically blocks the activities of Nodal and Xnr1 but has little effect on other related ligands. In contrast, a dominant-negative ALK4 blocks all mesoderm-inducing ligands tested, including Nodal, Xnr1, Xnr2, Xnr4, and Activin. In agreement with a role in Nodal signaling, ALK7 mRNA is localized to the ectodermal and organizer regions of Xenopus gastrula embryos and is expressed during early stages of mouse embryonic development. Therefore, our results indicate that both ALK4 and ALK7 can mediate signal transduction by Nodal proteins, although ALK7 appears to be a receptor more specifically dedicated to Nodal signaling. PMID:11485994

Role of Nodal-PITX2C signaling pathway in glucose-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy.

PubMed

Su, Dongmei; Jing, Sun; Guan, Lina; Li, Qian; Zhang, Huiling; Gao, Xiaobo; Ma, Xu

2014-06-01

Pathological cardiac hypertrophy is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in cardiovascular disease. Recent studies have shown that cardiomyocytes, in response to high glucose (HG) stimuli, undergo hypertrophic growth. While much work still needs to be done to elucidate this important mechanism of hypertrophy, previous works have showed that some pathways or genes play important roles in hypertrophy. In this study, we showed that sublethal concentrations of glucose (25 mmol/L) could induce cardiomyocyte hypertrophy with an increase in the cellular surface area and the upregulation of the atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) gene, a hypertrophic marker. High glucose (HG) treatments resulted in the upregulation of the Nodal gene, which is under-expressed in cardiomyocytes. We also determined that the knockdown of the Nodal gene resisted HG-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. The overexpression of Nodal was able to induce hypertrophy in cardiomyocytes, which was associated with the upregulation of the PITX2C gene. We also showed that increases in the PITX2C expression, in response to Nodal, were mediated by the Smad4 signaling pathway. This study is highly relevant to the understanding of the effects of the Nodal-PITX2C pathway on HG-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, as well as the related molecular mechanisms.

Using genetic algorithm to determine the optimal order quantities for multi-item multi-period under warehouse capacity constraints in kitchenware manufacturing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saraswati, D.; Sari, D. K.; Johan, V.

2017-11-01

The study was conducted on a manufacturer that produced various kinds of kitchenware with kitchen sink as the main product. There were four types of steel sheets selected as the raw materials of the kitchen sink. The problem was the manufacturer wanted to determine how much steel sheets to order from a single supplier to meet the production requirements in a way to minimize the total inventory cost. In this case, the economic order quantity (EOQ) model was developed using all-unit discount as the price of steel sheets and the warehouse capacity was limited. Genetic algorithm (GA) was used to find the minimum of the total inventory cost as a sum of purchasing cost, ordering cost, holding cost and penalty cost.

A nodal signaling pathway regulates the laterality of neuroanatomical asymmetries in the zebrafish forebrain.

PubMed

Concha, M L; Burdine, R D; Russell, C; Schier, A F; Wilson, S W

2000-11-01

Animals show behavioral asymmetries that are mediated by differences between the left and right sides of the brain. We report that the laterality of asymmetric development of the diencephalic habenular nuclei and the photoreceptive pineal complex is regulated by the Nodal signaling pathway and by midline tissue. Analysis of zebrafish embryos with compromised Nodal signaling reveals an early role for this pathway in the repression of asymmetrically expressed genes in the diencephalon. Later signaling mediated by the EGF-CFC protein One-eyed pinhead and the forkhead transcription factor Schmalspur is required to overcome this repression. When expression of Nodal pathway genes is either absent or symmetrical, neuroanatomical asymmetries are still established but are randomized. This indicates that Nodal signaling is not required for asymmetric development per se but is essential to determine the laterality of the asymmetry.

An approach to model reactor core nodalization for deterministic safety analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salim, Mohd Faiz; Samsudin, Mohd Rafie; Mamat @ Ibrahim, Mohd Rizal; Roslan, Ridha; Sadri, Abd Aziz; Farid, Mohd Fairus Abd

2016-01-01

Adopting good nodalization strategy is essential to produce an accurate and high quality input model for Deterministic Safety Analysis (DSA) using System Thermal-Hydraulic (SYS-TH) computer code. The purpose of such analysis is to demonstrate the compliance against regulatory requirements and to verify the behavior of the reactor during normal and accident conditions as it was originally designed. Numerous studies in the past have been devoted to the development of the nodalization strategy for small research reactor (e.g. 250kW) up to the bigger research reactor (e.g. 30MW). As such, this paper aims to discuss the state-of-arts thermal hydraulics channel to be employed in the nodalization for RTP-TRIGA Research Reactor specifically for the reactor core. At present, the required thermal-hydraulic parameters for reactor core, such as core geometrical data (length, coolant flow area, hydraulic diameters, and axial power profile) and material properties (including the UZrH1.6, stainless steel clad, graphite reflector) have been collected, analyzed and consolidated in the Reference Database of RTP using standardized methodology, mainly derived from the available technical documentations. Based on the available information in the database, assumptions made on the nodalization approach and calculations performed will be discussed and presented. The development and identification of the thermal hydraulics channel for the reactor core will be implemented during the SYS-TH calculation using RELAP5-3D® computer code. This activity presented in this paper is part of the development of overall nodalization description for RTP-TRIGA Research Reactor under the IAEA Norwegian Extra-Budgetary Programme (NOKEBP) mentoring project on Expertise Development through the Analysis of Reactor Thermal-Hydraulics for Malaysia, denoted as EARTH-M.

An approach to model reactor core nodalization for deterministic safety analysis

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

Salim, Mohd Faiz, E-mail: mohdfaizs@tnb.com.my; Samsudin, Mohd Rafie, E-mail: rafies@tnb.com.my; Mamat Ibrahim, Mohd Rizal, E-mail: m-rizal@nuclearmalaysia.gov.my

Adopting good nodalization strategy is essential to produce an accurate and high quality input model for Deterministic Safety Analysis (DSA) using System Thermal-Hydraulic (SYS-TH) computer code. The purpose of such analysis is to demonstrate the compliance against regulatory requirements and to verify the behavior of the reactor during normal and accident conditions as it was originally designed. Numerous studies in the past have been devoted to the development of the nodalization strategy for small research reactor (e.g. 250kW) up to the bigger research reactor (e.g. 30MW). As such, this paper aims to discuss the state-of-arts thermal hydraulics channel to bemore » employed in the nodalization for RTP-TRIGA Research Reactor specifically for the reactor core. At present, the required thermal-hydraulic parameters for reactor core, such as core geometrical data (length, coolant flow area, hydraulic diameters, and axial power profile) and material properties (including the UZrH{sub 1.6}, stainless steel clad, graphite reflector) have been collected, analyzed and consolidated in the Reference Database of RTP using standardized methodology, mainly derived from the available technical documentations. Based on the available information in the database, assumptions made on the nodalization approach and calculations performed will be discussed and presented. The development and identification of the thermal hydraulics channel for the reactor core will be implemented during the SYS-TH calculation using RELAP5-3D{sup ®} computer code. This activity presented in this paper is part of the development of overall nodalization description for RTP-TRIGA Research Reactor under the IAEA Norwegian Extra-Budgetary Programme (NOKEBP) mentoring project on Expertise Development through the Analysis of Reactor Thermal-Hydraulics for Malaysia, denoted as EARTH-M.« less

Structural insights into the interaction of a monoclonal antibody and Nodal peptides by STD-NMR spectroscopy.

PubMed

Calvanese, Luisa; Focà, Annalia; Sandomenico, Annamaria; Focà, Giuseppina; Caporale, Andrea; Doti, Nunzianna; Iaccarino, Emanuela; Leonardi, Antonio; D'Auria, Gabriella; Ruvo, Menotti; Falcigno, Lucia

2017-12-15

Nodal is a growth factor expressed during early embryonic development, but reactivated in several advanced-stage cancers. Targeting of Nodal signaling, which occurs via the binding to Cripto-1 co-receptor, results in inhibition of cell aggressiveness and reduced tumor growth. The Nodal binding region to Cripto-1 was identified and targeted with a high affinity monoclonal antibody (3D1). By STD-NMR technique, we investigated the interaction of Nodal fragments with 3D1 with the aim to elucidate at atomic level the interaction surface. Data indicate with high accuracy the antibody-antigen contact atoms and confirm the information previously obtained by immune-enzymatic methods. Main residues contacted by 3D1 are P46, V47, E49 and E50, which belong to the Nodal loop involved in the interaction with the co-receptor. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Analysis of nodal aberration properties in off-axis freeform system design.

PubMed

Shi, Haodong; Jiang, Huilin; Zhang, Xin; Wang, Chao; Liu, Tao

2016-08-20

Freeform surfaces have the advantage of balancing off-axis aberration. In this paper, based on the framework of nodal aberration theory (NAT) applied to the coaxial system, the third-order astigmatism and coma wave aberration expressions of an off-axis system with Zernike polynomial surfaces are derived. The relationship between the off-axis and surface shape acting on the nodal distributions is revealed. The nodal aberration properties of the off-axis freeform system are analyzed and validated by using full-field displays (FFDs). It has been demonstrated that adding Zernike terms, up to nine, to the off-axis system modifies the nodal locations, but the field dependence of the third-order aberration does not change. On this basis, an off-axis two-mirror freeform system with 500 mm effective focal length (EFL) and 300 mm entrance pupil diameter (EPD) working in long-wave infrared is designed. The field constant aberrations induced by surface tilting are corrected by selecting specific Zernike terms. The design results show that the nodes of third-order astigmatism and coma move back into the field of view (FOV). The modulation transfer function (MTF) curves are above 0.4 at 20 line pairs per millimeter (lp/mm) which meets the infrared reconnaissance requirement. This work provides essential insight and guidance for aberration correction in off-axis freeform system design.

Patterns of failure after the reduced volume approach for elective nodal irradiation in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

PubMed

Seol, Ki Ho; Lee, Jeong Eun

2016-03-01

To evaluate the patterns of nodal failure after radiotherapy (RT) with the reduced volume approach for elective neck nodal irradiation (ENI) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Fifty-six NPC patients who underwent definitive chemoradiotherapy with the reduced volume approach for ENI were reviewed. The ENI included retropharyngeal and level II lymph nodes, and only encompassed the echelon inferior to the involved level to eliminate the entire neck irradiation. Patients received either moderate hypofractionated intensity-modulated RT for a total of 72.6 Gy (49.5 Gy to elective nodal areas) or a conventional fractionated three-dimensional conformal RT for a total of 68.4-72 Gy (39.6-45 Gy to elective nodal areas). Patterns of failure, locoregional control, and survival were analyzed. The median follow-up was 38 months (range, 3 to 80 months). The out-of-field nodal failure when omitting ENI was none. Three patients developed neck recurrences (one in-field recurrence in the 72.6 Gy irradiated nodal area and two in the elective irradiated region of 39.6 Gy). Overall disease failure at any site developed in 11 patients (19.6%). Among these, there were six local failures (10.7%), three regional failures (5.4%), and five distant metastases (8.9%). The 3-year locoregional control rate was 87.1%, and the distant failure-free rate was 90.4%; disease-free survival and overall survival at 3 years was 80% and 86.8%, respectively. No patient developed nodal failure in the omitted ENI site. Our investigation has demonstrated that the reduced volume approach for ENI appears to be a safe treatment approach in NPC.

Patterns of failure after the reduced volume approach for elective nodal irradiation in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

PubMed Central

Seol, Ki Ho

2016-01-01

Purpose To evaluate the patterns of nodal failure after radiotherapy (RT) with the reduced volume approach for elective neck nodal irradiation (ENI) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Materials and Methods Fifty-six NPC patients who underwent definitive chemoradiotherapy with the reduced volume approach for ENI were reviewed. The ENI included retropharyngeal and level II lymph nodes, and only encompassed the echelon inferior to the involved level to eliminate the entire neck irradiation. Patients received either moderate hypofractionated intensity-modulated RT for a total of 72.6 Gy (49.5 Gy to elective nodal areas) or a conventional fractionated three-dimensional conformal RT for a total of 68.4–72 Gy (39.6–45 Gy to elective nodal areas). Patterns of failure, locoregional control, and survival were analyzed. Results The median follow-up was 38 months (range, 3 to 80 months). The out-of-field nodal failure when omitting ENI was none. Three patients developed neck recurrences (one in-field recurrence in the 72.6 Gy irradiated nodal area and two in the elective irradiated region of 39.6 Gy). Overall disease failure at any site developed in 11 patients (19.6%). Among these, there were six local failures (10.7%), three regional failures (5.4%), and five distant metastases (8.9%). The 3-year locoregional control rate was 87.1%, and the distant failure-free rate was 90.4%; disease-free survival and overall survival at 3 years was 80% and 86.8%, respectively. Conclusion No patient developed nodal failure in the omitted ENI site. Our investigation has demonstrated that the reduced volume approach for ENI appears to be a safe treatment approach in NPC. PMID:27104162

Segregated nodal domains of two-dimensional multispecies Bose-Einstein condensates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, Shu-Ming; Lin, Chang-Shou; Lin, Tai-Chia; Lin, Wen-Wei

2004-09-01

In this paper, we study the distribution of m segregated nodal domains of the m-mixture of Bose-Einstein condensates under positive and large repulsive scattering lengths. It is shown that components of positive bound states may repel each other and form segregated nodal domains as the repulsive scattering lengths go to infinity. Efficient numerical schemes are created to confirm our theoretical results and discover a new phenomenon called verticillate multiplying, i.e., the generation of multiple verticillate structures. In addition, our proposed Gauss-Seidel-type iteration method is very effective in that it converges linearly in 10-20 steps.

The distance between breast cancer and the skin is associated with axillary nodal metastasis.

PubMed

Eom, Yong Hwa; Kim, Eun Jin; Chae, Byung Joo; Song, Byung Joo; Jung, Sang Seol

2015-06-01

More superficially located tumors may be more likely than deeper tumors to metastasize to the axillary nodes via the lymphatics. The aim of this study was to determine whether breast cancer distance from the skin affects axillary node metastasis, ipsilateral breast cancer recurrence, or recurrence-free survival. A total of 1,005 consecutive patients with breast cancer who underwent surgery between January 2003 and December 2009 were selected. The distance of the tumor from the skin was measured from the skin to the most anterior hypoechoic leading edge of the lesion. In total, 603 (68%) patients had no axillary nodal metastasis, and 288 (32%) had axillary nodal metastasis. A breast cancer distance from the skin <3 mm induced more axillary nodal metastasis (P = 0.039). However, no significant correlation was observed between breast cancer distance from the skin <3 mm and ipsilateral breast cancer recurrence (P = 0.788) or recurrence-free survival (P = 0.353). Breast cancers located closer to the skin had a higher incidence of axillary nodal metastasis. Therefore, tumor distance from the skin should be considered when evaluating a patient with breast cancer and considering the risk of nodal metastasis. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Adaptive Nodal Transport Methods for Reactor Transient Analysis

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

Thomas Downar; E. Lewis

2005-08-31

Develop methods for adaptively treating the angular, spatial, and time dependence of the neutron flux in reactor transient analysis. These methods were demonstrated in the DOE transport nodal code VARIANT and the US NRC spatial kinetics code, PARCS.

Interplay between short-range correlated disorder and Coulomb interaction in nodal-line semimetals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yuxuan; Nandkishore, Rahul M.

2017-09-01

In nodal-line semimetals, Coulomb interactions and short-range correlated disorder are both marginal perturbations to the clean noninteracting Hamiltonian. We analyze their interplay using a weak-coupling renormalization group approach. In the clean case, the Coulomb interaction has been found to be marginally irrelevant, leading to Fermi liquid behavior. We extend the analysis to incorporate the effects of disorder. The nodal line structure gives rise to kinematical constraints similar to that for a two-dimensional Fermi surface, which plays a crucial role in the one-loop renormalization of the disorder couplings. For a twofold degenerate nodal loop (Weyl loop), we show that disorder flows to strong coupling along a unique fixed trajectory in the space of symmetry inequivalent disorder couplings. Along this fixed trajectory, all symmetry inequivalent disorder strengths become equal. For a fourfold degenerate nodal loop (Dirac loop), disorder also flows to strong coupling, however, the strengths of symmetry inequivalent disorder couplings remain different. We show that feedback from disorder reverses the sign of the beta function for the Coulomb interaction, causing the Coulomb interaction to flow to strong coupling as well. However, the Coulomb interaction flows to strong coupling asymptotically more slowly than disorder. Extrapolating our results to strong coupling, we conjecture that at low energies nodal line semimetals should be described by a noninteracting nonlinear sigma model. We discuss the relation of our results with possible many-body localization at zero temperatures in such materials.

Constructing a polynomial whose nodal set is the three-twist knot 52

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dennis, Mark R.; Bode, Benjamin

2017-06-01

We describe a procedure that creates an explicit complex-valued polynomial function of three-dimensional space, whose nodal lines are the three-twist knot 52. The construction generalizes a similar approach for lemniscate knots: a braid representation is engineered from finite Fourier series and then considered as the nodal set of a certain complex polynomial which depends on an additional parameter. For sufficiently small values of this parameter, the nodal lines form the three-twist knot. Further mathematical properties of this map are explored, including the relationship of the phase critical points with the Morse-Novikov number, which is nonzero as this knot is not fibred. We also find analogous functions for other simple knots and links. The particular function we find, and the general procedure, should be useful for designing knotted fields of particular knot types in various physical systems.

Development of a phenotyping platform for high throughput screening of nodal root angle in sorghum.

PubMed

Joshi, Dinesh C; Singh, Vijaya; Hunt, Colleen; Mace, Emma; van Oosterom, Erik; Sulman, Richard; Jordan, David; Hammer, Graeme

2017-01-01

In sorghum, the growth angle of nodal roots is a major component of root system architecture. It strongly influences the spatial distribution of roots of mature plants in the soil profile, which can impact drought adaptation. However, selection for nodal root angle in sorghum breeding programs has been restricted by the absence of a suitable high throughput phenotyping platform. The aim of this study was to develop a phenotyping platform for the rapid, non-destructive and digital measurement of nodal root angle of sorghum at the seedling stage. The phenotyping platform comprises of 500 soil filled root chambers (50 × 45 × 0.3 cm in size), made of transparent perspex sheets that were placed in metal tubs and covered with polycarbonate sheets. Around 3 weeks after sowing, once the first flush of nodal roots was visible, roots were imaged in situ using an imaging box that included two digital cameras that were remotely controlled by two android tablets. Free software ( openGelPhoto.tcl ) allowed precise measurement of nodal root angle from the digital images. The reliability and efficiency of the platform was evaluated by screening a large nested association mapping population of sorghum and a set of hybrids in six independent experimental runs that included up to 500 plants each. The platform revealed extensive genetic variation and high heritability (repeatability) for nodal root angle. High genetic correlations and consistent ranking of genotypes across experimental runs confirmed the reproducibility of the platform. This low cost, high throughput root phenotyping platform requires no sophisticated equipment, is adaptable to most glasshouse environments and is well suited to dissect the genetic control of nodal root angle of sorghum. The platform is suitable for use in sorghum breeding programs aiming to improve drought adaptation through root system architecture manipulation.

Influence of FDG-PET on primary nodal target volume definition for head and neck carcinomas.

PubMed

van Egmond, Sylvia L; Piscaer, Vera; Janssen, Luuk M; Stegeman, Inge; Hobbelink, Monique G; Grolman, Wilko; Terhaard, Chris H

The role of 2-[ 18 F]-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) in routine diagnostic staging remains controversial. In case of discordance between FDG-PET and CT, a compromise has to be made between the risk of false positive FDG-PET and the risk of delaying appropriate salvage intervention. Second, with intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), smaller radiation fields allow tissue sparing, but could also lead to more marginal failures. We retrospectively studied 283 patients with head and neck carcinoma scheduled for radiotherapy between 2002 and 2010. We analyzed the influence of FDG-PET/CT versus CT alone on defining nodal target volume definition and evaluated its long-term clinical results. Second, the location of nodal recurrences was related to the radiation regional dose distribution. In 92 patients, CT and FDG-PET, performed in mold, showed discordant results. In 33%, nodal staging was altered by FDG-PET. In 24%, FDG-PET also led to an alteration in nodal treatment, including a nodal upstage of 18% and downstage of 6%. In eight of these 92 patients, a regional recurrence occurred. Only two patients had a recurrence in the discordant node on FDG-PET and CT and both received a boost (high dose radiation). These results support the complementary value of FDG-PET/CT compared to CT alone in defining nodal target volume definition for radiotherapy of head and neck cancer.

Landau levels from neutral Bogoliubov particles in two-dimensional nodal superconductors under strain and doping gradients

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nica, Emilian M.; Franz, Marcel

2018-02-01

Motivated by recent work on strain-induced pseudomagnetic fields in Dirac and Weyl semimetals, we analyze the possibility of analogous fields in two-dimensional nodal superconductors. We consider the prototypical case of a d -wave superconductor, a representative of the cuprate family, and find that the presence of weak, spatially varying strain leads to pseudomagnetic fields and Landau quantization of Bogoliubov quasiparticles in the low-energy sector. A similar effect is induced by the presence of generic, weak doping gradients. In contrast to genuine magnetic fields in superconductors, the strain- and doping-gradient-induced pseudomagnetic fields couple in a way that preserves time-reversal symmetry and is not subject to the screening associated with the Meissner effect. These effects can be probed by tuning weak applied supercurrents which lead to shifts in the energies of the Landau levels and hence to quantum oscillations in thermodynamic and transport quantities.

Anomalous contagion and renormalization in networks with nodal mobility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manrique, Pedro D.; Qi, Hong; Zheng, Minzhang; Xu, Chen; Hui, Pak Ming; Johnson, Neil F.

2016-07-01

A common occurrence in everyday human activity is where people join, leave and possibly rejoin clusters of other individuals —whether this be online (e.g. social media communities) or in real space (e.g. popular meeting places such as cafes). In the steady state, the resulting interaction network would appear static over time if the identities of the nodes are ignored. Here we show that even in this static steady-state limit, a non-zero nodal mobility leads to a diverse set of outbreak profiles that is dramatically different from known forms, and yet matches well with recent real-world social outbreaks. We show how this complication of nodal mobility can be renormalized away for a particular class of networks.

Maternal Gdf3 is an obligatory cofactor in Nodal signaling for embryonic axis formation in zebrafish

PubMed Central

Bisgrove, Brent W; Su, Yi-Chu

2017-01-01

Zebrafish Gdf3 (Dvr1) is a member of the TGFβ superfamily of cell signaling ligands that includes Xenopus Vg1 and mammalian Gdf1/3. Surprisingly, engineered homozygous mutants in zebrafish have no apparent phenotype. Elimination of Gdf3 in oocytes of maternal-zygotic mutants results in embryonic lethality that can be fully rescued with gdf3 RNA, demonstrating that Gdf3 is required only early in development, beyond which mutants are viable and fertile. Gdf3 mutants are refractory to Nodal ligands and Nodal repressor Lefty1. Signaling driven by TGFβ ligand Activin and constitutively active receptors Alk4 and Alk2 remain intact in gdf3 mutants, indicating that Gdf3 functions at the same pathway step as Nodal. Targeting gdf3 and ndr2 RNA to specific lineages indicates that exogenous gdf3 is able to fully rescue mutants only when co-expressed with endogenous Nodal. Together, these findings demonstrate that Gdf3 is an essential cofactor of Nodal signaling during establishment of the embryonic axis. PMID:29140249

Nodal failure index approach to groundwater remediation design

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lee, J.; Reeves, H.W.; Dowding, C.H.

2008-01-01

Computer simulations often are used to design and to optimize groundwater remediation systems. We present a new computationally efficient approach that calculates the reliability of remedial design at every location in a model domain with a single simulation. The estimated reliability and other model information are used to select a best remedial option for given site conditions, conceptual model, and available data. To evaluate design performance, we introduce the nodal failure index (NFI) to determine the number of nodal locations at which the probability of success is below the design requirement. The strength of the NFI approach is that selected areas of interest can be specified for analysis and the best remedial design determined for this target region. An example application of the NFI approach using a hypothetical model shows how the spatial distribution of reliability can be used for a decision support system in groundwater remediation design. ?? 2008 ASCE.

Pressure-induced organic topological nodal-line semimetal in the three-dimensional molecular crystal Pd (dddt) 2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Zhao; Wang, Haidi; Wang, Z. F.; Yang, Jinlong; Liu, Feng

2018-04-01

The nodal-line semimetal represents a class of topological materials characterized with highest band degeneracy. It is usually found in inorganic materials of high crystal symmetry or a minimum symmetry of inversion aided with accidental band degeneracy [Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 176402 (2017), 10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.176402]. Based on first-principles band structure, Wannier charge center, and topological surface state calculations, here we predict a pressure-induced topological nodal-line semimetal in the absence of spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in the synthesized single-component 3D molecular crystal Pd (dddt) 2 . We show a Γ -centered single nodal line undulating within a narrow energy window across the Fermi level. This intriguing nodal line is generated by pressure-induced accidental band degeneracy, without protection from any crystal symmetry. When SOC is included, the fourfold degenerated nodal line is gapped and Pd (dddt) 2 becomes a strong 3D topological metal with an Z2 index of (1;000). However, the tiny SOC gap makes it still possible to detect the nodal-line properties experimentally. Our findings afford an attractive route for designing and realizing topological states in 3D molecular crystals, as they are weakly bonded through van der Waals forces with a low crystal symmetry so that their electronic structures can be easily tuned by pressure.

Radiotherapy for esthesioneuroblastoma: is elective nodal irradiation warranted in the multimodality treatment approach?

PubMed

Noh, O Kyu; Lee, Sang-wook; Yoon, Sang Min; Kim, Sung Bae; Kim, Sang Yoon; Kim, Chang Jin; Jo, Kyung Ja; Choi, Eun Kyung; Song, Si Yeol; Kim, Jong Hoon; Ahn, Seung Do

2011-02-01

The role of elective nodal irradiation (ENI) in radiotherapy for esthesioneuroblastoma (ENB) has not been clearly defined. We analyzed treatment outcomes of patients with ENB and the frequency of cervical nodal failure in the absence of ENI. Between August 1996 and December 2007, we consulted with 19 patients with ENB regarding radiotherapy. Initial treatment consisted of surgery alone in 2 patients; surgery and postoperative radiotherapy in 4; surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy in 1; surgery, postoperative radiotherapy, and chemotherapy in 3; and chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy or concurrent chemoradiotherapy in 5. Five patients did not receive planned radiotherapy because of disease progression. Including 2 patients who received salvage radiotherapy, 14 patients were treated with radiotherapy. Elective nodal irradiation was performed in 4 patients with high-risk factors, including 3 with cervical lymph node metastasis at presentation. Fourteen patients were analyzable, with a median follow-up of 27 months (range, 7-64 months). The overall 3-year survival rate was 73.4%. Local failure occurred in 3 patients (21.4%), regional cervical failure in 3 (21.4%), and distant failure in 2 (14.3%). No cervical nodal failure occurred in patients treated with combined systemic chemotherapy regardless of ENI. Three cervical failures occurred in the 4 patients treated with ENI or neck dissection (75%), none of whom received systemic chemotherapy. ENI during radiotherapy for ENB seems to play a limited role in preventing cervical nodal failure. Omitting ENI may be an option if patients are treated with a combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Risk of isolated nodal failure for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with the elective nodal irradiation (ENI) using 3D-conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) techniques--a retrospective analysis.

PubMed

Kepka, Lucyna; Bujko, Krzysztof; Zolciak-Siwinska, Agnieszka

2008-01-01

To estimate retrospectively the rate of isolated nodal failures (INF) in NSCLC patients treated with the elective nodal irradiation (ENI) using 3D-conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT). One hundred and eighty-five patients with I-IIIB stage treated with 3D-CRT in consecutive clinical trials differing in an extent of the ENI were analyzed. According to the extent of the ENI, two groups were distinguished: extended (n = 124) and limited (n = 61) ENI. INF was defined as regional nodal failure occurring without local progression. Cumulative Incidence of INF (CIINF) was evaluated by univariate and multivariate analysis with regard to prognostic factors. With a median follow up of 30 months, the two-year actuarial overall survival was 35%. The two-year CIINF rate was 12%. There were 16 (9%) INF, eight (6%) for extended and eight (13%) for limited ENI. In the univariate analysis bulky mediastinal disease (BMD), left side, higher N stage, and partial response to RT had a significant negative impact on the CIINF. BMD was the only independent predictor of the risk of incidence of the INF (p = 0.001). INF is more likely to occur in case of more advanced nodal status.

Observation of nodal line in non-symmorphic topological semimetal InBi

DOE PAGES

Ekahana, Sandy Adhitia; Wu, Shu-Chun; Jiang, Juan; ...

2017-05-30

Topological nodal semimetal (TNS), characterized by its touching conduction and valence bands, is a newly discovered state of quantum matter which exhibits various exotic physical phenomena. Recently, a new type of TNS called topological nodal line semimetal (TNLS) is predicted where its conduction and valence band form a degenerate one-dimension line which is further protected by its crystal symmetry. In this work, we systematically investigated the bulk and surface electronic structure of the non-symmorphic, TNLS in InBi (which is also a type II Dirac semimetal) with strong spin–orbit coupling by using angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy. By tracking the crossing points of the bulk bands at the Brillouin zone boundary, we discovered the nodal-line feature along themore » $${{k}}_{{z}}$$ direction, in agreement with the ab initio calculations and confirmed it to be a new compound in the TNLS family. Our discovery provides a new material platform for the study of these exotic topological quantum phases and paves the way for possible future applications.« less

Encapsulation of nodal cuttings and shoot tips for storage and exchange of cassava germplasm.

PubMed

Danso, K E; Ford-Lloyd, B V

2003-04-01

We report the encapsulation of in vitro-derived nodal cuttings or shoot tips of cassava in 3% calcium alginate for storage and germplasm exchange purposes. Shoot regrowth was not significantly affected by the concentration of sucrose in the alginate matrix while root formation was. In contrast, increasing the sucrose concentration in the calcium chloride polymerisation medium significantly reduced regrowth from encapsulated nodal cuttings of accession TME 60444. Supplementing the alginate matrix with increased concentrations of 6-benzylaminopurine and alpha-naphthaleneacetic acid enhanced complete plant regrowth within 2 weeks. Furthermore, plant regrowth by encapsulated nodal cuttings and shoot tips was significantly affected by the duration of the storage period as shoot recovery decreased from almost 100% to 73.3% for encapsulated nodal cuttings and 94.4% to 60% for shoot tips after 28 days of storage. The high frequency of plant regrowth from alginate-coated micropropagules coupled with high viability percentage after 28 days of storage is highly encouraging for the exchange of cassava genetic resources. Such encapsulated micropropagules could be used as an alternative to synthetic seeds derived from somatic embryos.

Role of Ultrasonography of Regional Nodal Basins in Staging Triple-Negative Breast Cancer and Implications For Local-Regional Treatment

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

Shaitelman, Simona F., E-mail: sfshaitelman@mdanderson.org; Tereffe, Welela; Dogan, Basak E.

2015-09-01

Purpose: We sought to determine the rate at which regional nodal ultrasonography would increase the nodal disease stage in patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) beyond the clinical stage determined by physical examination and mammography alone, and significantly affect the treatments delivered to these patients. Methods and Materials: We retrospectively reviewed the charts of women with stages I to III TNBC who underwent physical examination, mammography, breast and regional nodal ultrasonography with needle biopsy of abnormal nodes, and definitive local-regional treatment at our institution between 2004 and 2011. The stages of these patients' disease with and without ultrasonography of the regionalmore » nodal basins were compared using the Pearson χ{sup 2} test. Definitive treatments of patients whose nodal disease was upstaged on the basis of ultrasonographic findings were compared to those of patients whose disease stage remained the same. Results: A total of 572 women met the study requirements. In 111 (19.4%) of these patients, regional nodal ultrasonography with needle biopsy resulted in an increase in disease stage from the original stage by physical examination and mammography alone. Significantly higher percentages of patients whose nodal disease was upstaged by ultrasonographic findings compared to that in patients whose disease was not upstaged underwent neoadjuvant systemic therapy (91.9% and 51.2%, respectively; P<.0001), axillary lymph node dissection (99.1% and 34.5%, respectively; P<.0001), and radiation to the regional nodal basins (88.2% and 29.1%, respectively; P<.0001). Conclusions: Regional nodal ultrasonography in TNBC frequently changes the initial clinical stage and plays an important role in treatment planning.« less

Nodal liquids in extended t-J models and dynamical supersymmetry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mavromatos, Nick E.; Sarkar, Sarben

2000-08-01

In the context of extended t-J models, with intersite Coulomb interactions of the form -V∑ninj, with ni denoting the electron number operator at site i, nodal liquids are discussed. We use the spin-charge separation ansatz as applied to the nodes of a d-wave superconducting gap. Such a situation may be of relevance to the physics of high-temperature superconductivity. We point out the possibility of existence of certain points in the parameter space of the model characterized by dynamical supersymmetries between the spinon and holon degrees of freedom, which are quite different from the symmetries in conventional supersymmetric t-J models. Such symmetries pertain to the continuum effective-field theory of the nodal liquid, and one's hope is that the ancestor lattice model may differ from the continuum theory only by renormalization-group irrelevant operators in the infrared. We give plausible arguments that nodal liquids at such supersymmetric points are characterized by superconductivity of Kosterlitz-Thouless type. The fact that quantum fluctuations around such points can be studied in a controlled way, probably makes such systems of special importance for an eventual nonperturbative understanding of the complex phase diagram of the associated high-temperature superconducting materials.

Radio frequency tank eigenmode sensor for propellant quantity gauging

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zimmerli, Gregory A. (Inventor)

2013-01-01

A method for measuring the quantity of fluid in a tank may include the steps of selecting a match between a measured set of electromagnetic eigenfrequencies and a simulated plurality of sets of electromagnetic eigenfrequencies using a matching algorithm, wherein the match is one simulated set of electromagnetic eigenfrequencies from the simulated plurality of sets of electromagnetic eigenfrequencies, and determining the fill level of the tank based upon the match.

Analysis of nodal coverage utilizing image guided radiation therapy for primary gynecologic tumor volumes

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

Ahmed, Faisal; Loma Linda University Medical Center, Department of Radiation Oncology, Loma Linda, CA; Sarkar, Vikren

Purpose: To evaluate radiation dose delivered to pelvic lymph nodes, if daily Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) was implemented with treatment shifts based on the primary site (primary clinical target volume [CTV]). Our secondary goal was to compare dosimetric coverage with patient outcomes. Materials and methods: A total of 10 female patients with gynecologic malignancies were evaluated retrospectively after completion of definitive intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) to their pelvic lymph nodes and primary tumor site. IGRT consisted of daily kilovoltage computed tomography (CT)-on-rails imaging fused with initial planning scans for position verification. The initial plan was created using Varian's Eclipsemore » treatment planning software. Patients were treated with a median radiation dose of 45 Gy (range: 37.5 to 50 Gy) to the primary volume and 45 Gy (range: 45 to 64.8 Gy) to nodal structures. One IGRT scan per week was randomly selected from each patient's treatment course and re-planned on the Eclipse treatment planning station. CTVs were recreated by fusion on the IGRT image series, and the patient's treatment plan was applied to the new image set to calculate delivered dose. We evaluated the minimum, maximum, and 95% dose coverage for primary and nodal structures. Reconstructed primary tumor volumes were recreated within 4.7% of initial planning volume (0.9% to 8.6%), and reconstructed nodal volumes were recreated to within 2.9% of initial planning volume (0.01% to 5.5%). Results: Dosimetric parameters averaged less than 10% (range: 1% to 9%) of the original planned dose (45 Gy) for primary and nodal volumes on all patients (n = 10). For all patients, ≥99.3% of the primary tumor volume received ≥ 95% the prescribed dose (V95%) and the average minimum dose was 96.1% of the prescribed dose. In evaluating nodal CTV coverage, ≥ 99.8% of the volume received ≥ 95% the prescribed dose and the average minimum dose was 93%. In evaluating

Topological and trivial magnetic oscillations in nodal loop semimetals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oroszlány, László; Dóra, Balázs; Cserti, József; Cortijo, Alberto

2018-05-01

Nodal loop semimetals are close descendants of Weyl semimetals and possess a topologically dressed band structure. We argue by combining the conventional theory of magnetic oscillation with topological arguments that nodal loop semimetals host coexisting topological and trivial magnetic oscillations. These originate from mapping the topological properties of the extremal Fermi surface cross sections onto the physics of two dimensional semi-Dirac systems, stemming from merging two massless Dirac cones. By tuning the chemical potential and the direction of magnetic field, a sharp transition is identified from purely trivial oscillations, arising from the Landau levels of a normal two dimensional (2D) electron gas, to a phase where oscillations of topological and trivial origin coexist, originating from 2D massless Dirac and semi-Dirac points, respectively. These could in principle be directly identified in current experiments.

Rapid enhancement of nodal quasiparticle mass with heavily underdoping in Bi2212

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anzai, Hiroaki; Arita, Masashi; Namatame, Hirofumi; Taniguchi, Masaki; Ishikado, Motoyuki; Fujita, Kazuhiro; Ishida, Shigeyuki; Uchida, Shin-ichi; Ino, Akihiro

2018-05-01

We report substantial advance of our low-energy angle-resolved photoemission study of nodal quasiparticles in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ. The new data cover the samples from underdoped down to heavily underdoped levels. We also present the nodal Fermi velocities that determined by using an excitation-photon energy of hν = 7.0 eV over a wide doping range. The consistency between the results with hν = 8.1 and 7.0 eV allows us to rule out the effect of photoemission matrix elements. In comparison with the data previously reported, the nodal effective mass increases by a factor of ∼ 1.5 in going from optimally doped to heavily underdoped levels. We find a rapid enhancement of the nodal quasiparticle mass at low doping levels near the superconductor-to-insulator transition. The effective coupling spectrum, λ (ω) , is extracted directly from the energy derivatives of the quasiparticle dispersion and scattering rate, as a causal function of the mass enhancement factor. A steplike increase in Reλ (ω) around ∼ 65 meV is demonstrated clearly by the Kramers-Kronig transform of Imλ (ω) . To extract the low-energy renormalization effect, we calculated a simple model for the electron-boson interaction. This model reveals that the contribution of the renormalization at | ω | ≤ 15 meV to the quasiparticle mass is larger than that around 65 meV in underdoped samples.

Quantity and unit extraction for scientific and technical intelligence analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

David, Peter; Hawes, Timothy

2017-05-01

Scientific and Technical (S and T) intelligence analysts consume huge amounts of data to understand how scientific progress and engineering efforts affect current and future military capabilities. One of the most important types of information S and T analysts exploit is the quantities discussed in their source material. Frequencies, ranges, size, weight, power, and numerous other properties and measurements describing the performance characteristics of systems and the engineering constraints that define them must be culled from source documents before quantified analysis can begin. Automating the process of finding and extracting the relevant quantities from a wide range of S and T documents is difficult because information about quantities and their units is often contained in unstructured text with ad hoc conventions used to convey their meaning. Currently, even simple tasks, such as searching for documents discussing RF frequencies in a band of interest, is a labor intensive and error prone process. This research addresses the challenges facing development of a document processing capability that extracts quantities and units from S and T data, and how Natural Language Processing algorithms can be used to overcome these challenges.

SU-E-J-179: Prediction of Pelvic Nodal Coverage Using Mutual Information Between Cone-Beam and Planning CTs

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

Jani, S; Kishan, A; O'Connell, D

2014-06-01

Purpose: To investigate if pelvic nodal coverage for prostate patients undergoing intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) can be predicted using mutual image information computed between planning and cone-beam CTs (CBCTs). Methods: Four patients with high-risk prostate adenocarcinoma were treated with IMRT on a Varian TrueBeam. Plans were designed such that 95% of the nodal planning target volume (PTV) received the prescription dose of 45 Gy (N=1) or 50.4 Gy (N=3). Weekly CBCTs (N=25) were acquired and the nodal clinical target volumes and organs at risk were contoured by a physician. The percent nodal volume receiving prescription dose was recorded as amore » ground truth. Using the recorded shifts performed by the radiation therapists at the time of image acquisition, CBCTs were aligned with the planning kVCT. Mutual image information (MI) was calculated between the CBCT and the aligned planning CT within the contour of the nodal PTV. Due to variable CBCT fields-of-view, CBCT images covering less than 90% of the nodal volume were excluded from the analysis, resulting in the removal of eight CBCTs. Results: A correlation coefficient of 0.40 was observed between the MI metric and the percent of the nodal target volume receiving the prescription dose. One patient's CBCTs had clear outliers from the rest of the patients. Upon further investigation, we discovered image artifacts that were present only in that patient's images. When those four images were excluded, the correlation improved to 0.81. Conclusion: This pilot study shows the potential of predicting pelvic nodal dosimetry by computing the mutual image information between planning CTs and patient setup CBCTs. Importantly, this technique does not involve manual or automatic contouring of the CBCT images. Additional patients and more robust exclusion criteria will help validate our findings.« less

Assessment of Ultrasound Features Predicting Axillary Nodal Metastasis in Breast Cancer: The Impact of Cortical Thickness

PubMed Central

Stachs, A.; Thi, A. Tra-Ha; Dieterich, M.; Stubert, J.; Hartmann, S.; Glass, Ä.; Reimer, T.; Gerber, B.

2015-01-01

Purpose: To evaluate the accuracy of axillary ultrasound (AUS) in detecting nodal metastasis in patients with early-stage breast cancer and to identify AUS features with high predictive power. Materials and Methods: Prospective single-center preliminary study in 105 patients with a primary diagnosis of breast cancer and clinically negative axilla. AUS was performed using a 12 MHz linear-array transducer before ultrasound-guided needle biopsy. Nodal characteristics (shape, longitudinal-transverse [LT] axis ratio, margins, cortical thickness, hyperechoic hilum) were correlated with histopathological nodal status after SLNB or axillary lymph node dissection (ALND). Results: Nodal metastases were present in 42/105 patients (40.0%). Univariate analyses showed that absence of hyperechoic hilum, round shape, LT axis ratio<2, sharp margins and cortical thickness>3 mm were associated with lymph node metastasis. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed cortical thickness > 3 mm as an independent predictive parameter for nodal involvement. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy were 66.7, 74.6, 63.6, 77.0% and 71.4% respectively when cortical thickness > 3 mm was applied as the criterion for AUS positivity. Axillary tumor volume was low in patients with pT1/2 tumors and negative AUS, since only 3.2% of patients had > 2 metastatic lymph nodes. Conclusion: Cortical thickness>3 mm is a reliable predictor of nodal metastatic involvement. Negative AUS does not exclude lymph node metastases, but extensive axillary tumor volume is rare. PMID:27689144

Brady's Geothermal Field Nodal Seismometer Earthquake Data

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

Kurt Feigl

90-second records of data from 238 three-component nodal seismometer deployed at Bradys geothermal field. The time window catches an earthquake arrival. Earthquake data from USGS online catalog: Magnitude: 4.3 ml +/- 0.4 Location: 38.479 deg N 118.366 deg W +/- 0.7 km Depth: 9.9 km +/- 0.7 Date and Time: 2016-03-21 07:37:10.535 UTC

Isospectral discrete and quantum graphs with the same flip counts and nodal counts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Juul, Jonas S.; Joyner, Christopher H.

2018-06-01

The existence of non-isomorphic graphs which share the same Laplace spectrum (to be referred to as isospectral graphs) leads naturally to the following question: what additional information is required in order to resolve isospectral graphs? It was suggested by Band, Shapira and Smilansky that this might be achieved by either counting the number of nodal domains or the number of times the eigenfunctions change sign (the so-called flip count) (Band et al 2006 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 39 13999–4014 Band and Smilansky 2007 Eur. Phys. J. Spec. Top. 145 171–9). Recent examples of (discrete) isospectral graphs with the same flip count and nodal count have been constructed by Ammann by utilising Godsil–McKay switching (Ammann private communication). Here, we provide a simple alternative mechanism that produces systematic examples of both discrete and quantum isospectral graphs with the same flip and nodal counts.

Asynchronous collision integrators: Explicit treatment of unilateral contact with friction and nodal restraints

PubMed Central

Wolff, Sebastian; Bucher, Christian

2013-01-01

This article presents asynchronous collision integrators and a simple asynchronous method treating nodal restraints. Asynchronous discretizations allow individual time step sizes for each spatial region, improving the efficiency of explicit time stepping for finite element meshes with heterogeneous element sizes. The article first introduces asynchronous variational integration being expressed by drift and kick operators. Linear nodal restraint conditions are solved by a simple projection of the forces that is shown to be equivalent to RATTLE. Unilateral contact is solved by an asynchronous variant of decomposition contact response. Therein, velocities are modified avoiding penetrations. Although decomposition contact response is solving a large system of linear equations (being critical for the numerical efficiency of explicit time stepping schemes) and is needing special treatment regarding overconstraint and linear dependency of the contact constraints (for example from double-sided node-to-surface contact or self-contact), the asynchronous strategy handles these situations efficiently and robust. Only a single constraint involving a very small number of degrees of freedom is considered at once leading to a very efficient solution. The treatment of friction is exemplified for the Coulomb model. Special care needs the contact of nodes that are subject to restraints. Together with the aforementioned projection for restraints, a novel efficient solution scheme can be presented. The collision integrator does not influence the critical time step. Hence, the time step can be chosen independently from the underlying time-stepping scheme. The time step may be fixed or time-adaptive. New demands on global collision detection are discussed exemplified by position codes and node-to-segment integration. Numerical examples illustrate convergence and efficiency of the new contact algorithm. Copyright © 2013 The Authors. International Journal for Numerical Methods in

A nodal domain theorem for integrable billiards in two dimensions

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

Samajdar, Rhine; Jain, Sudhir R., E-mail: srjain@barc.gov.in

Eigenfunctions of integrable planar billiards are studied — in particular, the number of nodal domains, ν of the eigenfunctions with Dirichlet boundary conditions are considered. The billiards for which the time-independent Schrödinger equation (Helmholtz equation) is separable admit trivial expressions for the number of domains. Here, we discover that for all separable and non-separable integrable billiards, ν satisfies certain difference equations. This has been possible because the eigenfunctions can be classified in families labelled by the same value of mmodkn, given a particular k, for a set of quantum numbers, m,n. Further, we observe that the patterns in a familymore » are similar and the algebraic representation of the geometrical nodal patterns is found. Instances of this representation are explained in detail to understand the beauty of the patterns. This paper therefore presents a mathematical connection between integrable systems and difference equations. - Highlights: • We find that the number of nodal domains of eigenfunctions of integrable, planar billiards satisfy a class of difference equations. • The eigenfunctions labelled by quantum numbers (m,n) can be classified in terms of mmodkn. • A theorem is presented, realising algebraic representations of geometrical patterns exhibited by the domains. • This work presents a connection between integrable systems and difference equations.« less

Advanced nodal neutron diffusion method with space-dependent cross sections: ILLICO-VX

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

Rajic, H.L.; Ougouag, A.M.

1987-01-01

Advanced transverse integrated nodal methods for neutron diffusion developed since the 1970s require that node- or assembly-homogenized cross sections be known. The underlying structural heterogeneity can be accurately accounted for in homogenization procedures by the use of heterogeneity or discontinuity factors. Other (milder) types of heterogeneity, burnup-induced or due to thermal-hydraulic feedback, can be resolved by explicitly accounting for the spatial variations of material properties. This can be done during the nodal computations via nonlinear iterations. The new method has been implemented in the code ILLICO-VX (ILLICO variable cross-section method). Numerous numerical tests were performed. As expected, the convergence ratemore » of ILLICO-VX is lower than that of ILLICO, requiring approx. 30% more outer iterations per k/sub eff/ computation. The methodology has also been implemented as the NOMAD-VX option of the NOMAD, multicycle, multigroup, two- and three-dimensional nodal diffusion depletion code. The burnup-induced heterogeneities (space dependence of cross sections) are calculated during the burnup steps.« less

Fe-Cluster Compounds of Chalcogenides: Candidates for Rare-Earth-Free Permanent Magnet and Magnetic Nodal-Line Topological Material.

PubMed

Zhao, Xin; Wang, Cai-Zhuang; Kim, Minsung; Ho, Kai-Ming

2017-12-04

Fe-cluster-based crystal structures are predicted for chalcogenides Fe 3 X 4 (X = S, Se, Te) using an adaptive genetic algorithm. Topologically different from the well-studied layered structures of iron chalcogenides, the newly predicted structures consist of Fe clusters that are either separated by the chalcogen atoms or connected via sharing of the vertex Fe atoms. Using first-principles calculations, we demonstrate that these structures have competitive or even lower formation energies than the experimentally synthesized Fe 3 X 4 compounds and exhibit interesting magnetic and electronic properties. In particular, we show that Fe 3 Te 4 can be a good candidate as a rare-earth-free permanent magnet and Fe 3 S 4 can be a magnetic nodal-line topological material.

Testing algorithms for critical slowing down

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cossu, Guido; Boyle, Peter; Christ, Norman; Jung, Chulwoo; Jüttner, Andreas; Sanfilippo, Francesco

2018-03-01

We present the preliminary tests on two modifications of the Hybrid Monte Carlo (HMC) algorithm. Both algorithms are designed to travel much farther in the Hamiltonian phase space for each trajectory and reduce the autocorrelations among physical observables thus tackling the critical slowing down towards the continuum limit. We present a comparison of costs of the new algorithms with the standard HMC evolution for pure gauge fields, studying the autocorrelation times for various quantities including the topological charge.

Preoperative predictors of occult nodal disease in cT1N0 oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma: Review of 2623 cases.

PubMed

Zhan, Kevin Y; Morgan, Patrick F; Neskey, David M; Kim, Joanne J; Huang, Andrew T; Garrett-Mayer, Elizabeth; Day, Terry A

2018-05-14

Nodal disease predicts survival in oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Currently, no large studies on predictors of occult nodal disease in cT1N0 oral cavity SCC exist. The National Cancer Database (NCDB) review for cT1N0 oral cavity SCC with surgical resection and elective neck dissection (END). The number of patients found with occult nodal disease was 2623 (15.1%). In multivariable regression, female sex and tumor differentiation predict occult nodal disease. Occult nodal disease incidence was 5.9% in well-differentiated tumors, 17.4% in moderately differentiated tumors, and 28.5% in poorly differentiated tumor (P < .001). Women with oral tongue tumors had higher occult nodal disease (19.1%) than men (12%; P = .001). Adjusted odds ratios (aORs) for occult nodal disease in women were: aOR 1.26; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01-1.59; P = .045; moderately differentiated aOR 3.52; 95% CI 2.47-5.01; P < .001; and poorly differentiated aOR 6.25; 95% CI 4.17-9.38; P < .001. Sex and tumor differentiation significantly predict occult nodal disease. END is recommended for all moderately and poorly differentiated cT1N0 oral cavity SCC, regardless of the depth of invasion. One can consider not performing END in well-differentiated tumors. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A nodally condensed SUPG formulation for free-surface computation of steady-state flows constrained by unilateral contact - Application to rolling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arora, Shitij; Fourment, Lionel

2018-05-01

In the context of the simulation of industrial hot forming processes, the resultant time-dependent thermo-mechanical multi-field problem (v →,p ,σ ,ɛ ) can be sped up by 10-50 times using the steady-state methods while compared to the conventional incremental methods. Though the steady-state techniques have been used in the past, but only on simple configurations and with structured meshes, and the modern-days problems are in the framework of complex configurations, unstructured meshes and parallel computing. These methods remove time dependency from the equations, but introduce an additional unknown into the problem: the steady-state shape. This steady-state shape x → can be computed as a geometric correction t → on the domain X → by solving the weak form of the steady-state equation v →.n →(t →)=0 using a Streamline Upwind Petrov Galerkin (SUPG) formulation. There exists a strong coupling between the domain shape and the material flow, hence, a two-step fixed point iterative resolution algorithm was proposed that involves (1) the computation of flow field from the resolution of thermo-mechanical equations on a prescribed domain shape and (2) the computation of steady-state shape for an assumed velocity field. The contact equations are introduced in the penalty form both during the flow computation as well as during the free-surface correction. The fact that the contact description is inhomogeneous, i.e., it is defined in the nodal form in the former, and in the weighted residual form in the latter, is assumed to be critical to the convergence of certain problems. Thus, the notion of nodal collocation is invoked in the weak form of the surface correction equation to homogenize the contact coupling. The surface correction algorithm is tested on certain analytical test cases and the contact coupling is tested with some hot rolling problems.

Cryopreservation of in vitro grown nodal segments of Rauvolfia serpentina by PVS2 vitrification.

PubMed

Ray, Avik; Bhattacharya, Sabita

2008-01-01

This paper describes the cryopreservation by PVS2 vitrification of Rauvolfia serpentina (L.) Benth ex kurz, an important tropical medicinal plant. The effects of type and size of explants, sucrose preculture (duration and concentration) and vitrification treatment were tested. Preliminary experiments with PVS1, 2 and 3 produced shoot growth only for PVS2. When optimizing the PVS2 vitrification of nodal segments, those of 0.31 - 0.39 cm in size were better than other nodal sizes and or apices. Sucrose preculture had a positive role in survival and subsequent regrowth of the cryopreserved explants. Seven days on 0.5 M sucrose solution significantly improved the viability of nodal segments. PVS2 incubation for 45 minutes combined with a 7-day preculture gave the optimum result of 66 percent. Plantlets derived after cryopreservation resumed growth and regenerated normally.

Prognostic impact of the level of nodal involvement: retrospective analysis of patients with advanced oral squamous cell carcinoma.

PubMed

Murakami, R; Nakayama, H; Semba, A; Hiraki, A; Nagata, M; Kawahara, K; Shiraishi, S; Hirai, T; Uozumi, H; Yamashita, Y

2017-01-01

We retrospectively evaluated the prognostic impact of the level of nodal involvement in patients with advanced oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Between 2005 and 2010, 105 patients with clinical stage III or IV oral SCC had chemoradiotherapy preoperatively. Clinical (cN) and pathological nodal (pN) involvement was primarily at levels Ib and II. We defined nodal involvement at levels Ia and III-V as anterior and inferior extensions, respectively, and recorded such findings as extensive. With respect to pretreatment variables (age, clinical stage, clinical findings of the primary tumour, and nodal findings), univariate analysis showed that extensive cN was the only significant factor for overall survival (hazard ratio [HR], 3.27; 95% CI 1.50 to 7.13; p=0.001). Univariate analysis showed that all pN findings, including the nodal classification (invaded nodes, multiple, and contralateral) and extensive involvement were significant, and multivariate analysis confirmed that extensive pN (HR 4.71; 95% CI 1.85 to 11.97; p=0.001) and multiple pN (HR 2.59; 95% CI 1.10 to 6.09; p=0.029) were independent predictors of overall survival. Assessment based on the level of invaded neck nodes may be a better predictor of survival than the current nodal classification. Copyright © 2016 The British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Could machine learning improve the prediction of pelvic nodal status of prostate cancer patients? Preliminary results of a pilot study.

PubMed

De Bari, B; Vallati, M; Gatta, R; Simeone, C; Girelli, G; Ricardi, U; Meattini, I; Gabriele, P; Bellavita, R; Krengli, M; Cafaro, I; Cagna, E; Bunkheila, F; Borghesi, S; Signor, M; Di Marco, A; Bertoni, F; Stefanacci, M; Pasinetti, N; Buglione, M; Magrini, S M

2015-07-01

We tested and compared performances of Roach formula, Partin tables and of three Machine Learning (ML) based algorithms based on decision trees in identifying N+ prostate cancer (PC). 1,555 cN0 and 50 cN+ PC were analyzed. Results were also verified on an independent population of 204 operated cN0 patients, with a known pN status (187 pN0, 17 pN1 patients). ML performed better, also when tested on the surgical population, with accuracy, specificity, and sensitivity ranging between 48-86%, 35-91%, and 17-79%, respectively. ML potentially allows better prediction of the nodal status of PC, potentially allowing a better tailoring of pelvic irradiation.

Characterization of Lifshitz transitions in topological nodal line semimetals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Hui; Li, Linhu; Gong, Jiangbin; Chen, Shu

2018-04-01

We introduce a two-band model of three-dimensional nodal line semimetals (NLSMs), the Fermi surface of which at half-filling may form various one-dimensional configurations of different topology. We study the symmetries and "drumhead" surface states of the model, and find that the transitions between different configurations, namely, the Lifshitz transitions, can be identified solely by the number of gap-closing points on some high-symmetry planes in the Brillouin zone. A global phase diagram of this model is also obtained accordingly. We then investigate the effect of some extra terms analogous to a two-dimensional Rashba-type spin-orbit coupling. The introduced extra terms open a gap for the NLSMs and can be useful in engineering different topological insulating phases. We demonstrate that the behavior of surface Dirac cones in the resulting insulating system has a clear correspondence with the different configurations of the original nodal lines in the absence of the gap terms.

Cervical nodal metastases in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck: what to expect.

PubMed

Mukherji, S K; Armao, D; Joshi, V M

2001-11-01

The treatment and management of malignancies of the head and neck is directly altered by the presence of metastatic cervical adenopathy. The treatment of nodal metastases in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (HNSCCA) is determined by the lymphatic drainage of the upper aerodigestive tract. The lymphatic drainage is site-specific and occurs in a predictable manner. The purpose of this text is to provide an overview of the normal routes of lymphatic drainage in the head and neck and correlate this with the current nodal classification system. The specific aims of this manuscript are to 1) illustrate the expected lymphatic drainage patterns of HNSCCA arising in the different subsites (nasopharynx, oropharynx, oral cavity, larynx, and hypopharynx) and 2) review the expected frequency of metastases within nodal groups for HNSCCA that arise in these locations. An understanding of the topographical distribution and incidence of cervical lymph node metastases plays an integral role in the physical examination and radiological evaluation of patients with HNSCCA. For the neuroradiologist, this information may increases the ability to identify those nodal groups at risk for metastatic involvement. Copyright 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Head Neck 23: 995-1005, 2001.

Nodal Green’s Function Method Singular Source Term and Burnable Poison Treatment in Hexagonal Geometry

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

A.A. Bingham; R.M. Ferrer; A.M. ougouag

2009-09-01

An accurate and computationally efficient two or three-dimensional neutron diffusion model will be necessary for the development, safety parameters computation, and fuel cycle analysis of a prismatic Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) design under Next Generation Nuclear Plant Project (NGNP). For this purpose, an analytical nodal Green’s function solution for the transverse integrated neutron diffusion equation is developed in two and three-dimensional hexagonal geometry. This scheme is incorporated into HEXPEDITE, a code first developed by Fitzpatrick and Ougouag. HEXPEDITE neglects non-physical discontinuity terms that arise in the transverse leakage due to the transverse integration procedure application to hexagonal geometry andmore » cannot account for the effects of burnable poisons across nodal boundaries. The test code being developed for this document accounts for these terms by maintaining an inventory of neutrons by using the nodal balance equation as a constraint of the neutron flux equation. The method developed in this report is intended to restore neutron conservation and increase the accuracy of the code by adding these terms to the transverse integrated flux solution and applying the nodal Green’s function solution to the resulting equation to derive a semi-analytical solution.« less

Theory of nodal s ±-wave pairing symmetry in the Pu-based 115 superconductor family

DOE PAGES

Das, Tanmoy; Zhu, Jian -Xin; Graf, Matthias J.

2015-02-27

The spin-fluctuation mechanism of superconductivity usually results in the presence of gapless or nodal quasiparticle states in the excitation spectrum. Nodal quasiparticle states are well established in copper-oxide, and heavy-fermion superconductors, but not in iron-based superconductors. Here, we study the pairing symmetry and mechanism of a new class of plutonium-based high-T c superconductors and predict the presence of a nodal s⁺⁻ wave pairing symmetry in this family. Starting from a density-functional theory (DFT) based electronic structure calculation we predict several three-dimensional (3D) Fermi surfaces in this 115 superconductor family. We identify the dominant Fermi surface “hot-spots” in the inter-band scatteringmore » channel, which are aligned along the wavevector Q = (π, π, π), where degeneracy could induce sign-reversal of the pairing symmetry. Our calculation demonstrates that the s⁺⁻ wave pairing strength is stronger than the previously thought d-wave pairing; and more importantly, this pairing state allows for the existence of nodal quasiparticles. Finally, we predict the shape of the momentum- and energy-dependent magnetic resonance spectrum for the identification of this pairing symmetry.« less

Atlas-Based Segmentation Improves Consistency and Decreases Time Required for Contouring Postoperative Endometrial Cancer Nodal Volumes

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

Young, Amy V.; Department of Radiation Oncology, St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital, New York, NY; Wortham, Angela

2011-03-01

Purpose: Accurate target delineation of the nodal volumes is essential for three-dimensional conformal and intensity-modulated radiotherapy planning for endometrial cancer adjuvant therapy. We hypothesized that atlas-based segmentation ('autocontouring') would lead to time savings and more consistent contours among physicians. Methods and Materials: A reference anatomy atlas was constructed using the data from 15 postoperative endometrial cancer patients by contouring the pelvic nodal clinical target volume on the simulation computed tomography scan according to the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group 0418 trial using commercially available software. On the simulation computed tomography scans from 10 additional endometrial cancer patients, the nodal clinical targetmore » volume autocontours were generated. Three radiation oncologists corrected the autocontours and delineated the manual nodal contours under timed conditions while unaware of the other contours. The time difference was determined, and the overlap of the contours was calculated using Dice's coefficient. Results: For all physicians, manual contouring of the pelvic nodal target volumes and editing the autocontours required a mean {+-} standard deviation of 32 {+-} 9 vs. 23 {+-} 7 minutes, respectively (p = .000001), a 26% time savings. For each physician, the time required to delineate the manual contours vs. correcting the autocontours was 30 {+-} 3 vs. 21 {+-} 5 min (p = .003), 39 {+-} 12 vs. 30 {+-} 5 min (p = .055), and 29 {+-} 5 vs. 20 {+-} 5 min (p = .0002). The mean overlap increased from manual contouring (0.77) to correcting the autocontours (0.79; p = .038). Conclusion: The results of our study have shown that autocontouring leads to increased consistency and time savings when contouring the nodal target volumes for adjuvant treatment of endometrial cancer, although the autocontours still required careful editing to ensure that the lymph nodes at risk of recurrence are properly included in the

REACTT: an algorithm for solving spatial equilibrium problems.

Treesearch

D.J. Brooks; J. Kincaid

1987-01-01

The problem of determining equilibrium prices and quantities in spatially separated markets is reviewed. Algorithms that compute spatial equilibria are discussed. A computer program using the reactive programming algorithm for solving spatial equilibrium problems that involve multiple commodities is presented, along with detailed documentation. A sample data set,...

Human papillomavirus reduces the prognostic value of nodal involvement in tonsillar squamous cell carcinomas.

PubMed

Straetmans, Jos M J A A; Olthof, Nadine; Mooren, Jeroen J; de Jong, Jos; Speel, Ernst-Jan M; Kremer, Bernd

2009-10-01

Assessment of the prognostic value of nodal status in relation to human papillomavirus (HPV) status and the various treatment modalities in tonsillar squamous cell carcinomas (TSCC). Retrospective 5-year survival analysis. A 5-year follow-up of disease-free, disease-specific, and overall survival in a group of 81 patients with TSCC was conducted. The nodal status and integration of HPV-DNA in the genome (detected with fluorescence in situ hybridization) as prognostic indicators were examined while correcting for other clinical parameters (smoking habits, alcohol consumption, treatment modality, differentiation, TNM classification). Of TSCCs, 41% were positive for HPV type 16. In these TSCCs, the primary tumor was significantly smaller when compared to HVP-negative TSCCs (P = .04), whereas the percentage of cases with cervical metastases was identical. In the total population, it was not nodal involvement, but rather HPV manifestation, which was related to patient prognosis. Within the treatment modalities (surgery combined with radiotherapy and radiotherapy alone), neither nodal status nor HPV were prognostic indicators. Since a substantial percentage of TSCCs are HPV-positive and metastasizes to cervical lymph nodes in less advanced primary tumors, the N status is an unreliable prognostic indicator in TSCCs. HPV is only prognostically relevant in the total tumor population, but loses its value within patient groups receiving a single treatment modality. The value of HPV for prognosis of patients with TSCC requires further study.

Fe-Cluster Compounds of Chalcogenides: Candidates for Rare-Earth-Free Permanent Magnet and Magnetic Nodal-Line Topological Material

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

Zhao, Xin; Wang, Cai-Zhuang; Kim, Minsung

Here, Fe-cluster-based crystal structures are predicted for chalcogenides Fe 3X 4 (X = S, Se, Te) using an adaptive genetic algorithm. Topologically different from the well-studied layered structures of iron chalcogenides, the newly predicted structures consist of Fe clusters that are either separated by the chalcogen atoms or connected via sharing of the vertex Fe atoms. Additionally, using first-principles calculations, we demonstrate that these structures have competitive or even lower formation energies than the experimentally synthesized Fe 3X 4 compounds and exhibit interesting magnetic and electronic properties. In particular, we show that Fe 3X 4 can be a good candidatemore » as a rare-earth-free permanent magnet and Fe 3X 4 can be a magnetic nodal-line topological material.« less

Fe-Cluster Compounds of Chalcogenides: Candidates for Rare-Earth-Free Permanent Magnet and Magnetic Nodal-Line Topological Material

DOE PAGES

Zhao, Xin; Wang, Cai-Zhuang; Kim, Minsung; ...

2017-11-13

Here, Fe-cluster-based crystal structures are predicted for chalcogenides Fe 3X 4 (X = S, Se, Te) using an adaptive genetic algorithm. Topologically different from the well-studied layered structures of iron chalcogenides, the newly predicted structures consist of Fe clusters that are either separated by the chalcogen atoms or connected via sharing of the vertex Fe atoms. Additionally, using first-principles calculations, we demonstrate that these structures have competitive or even lower formation energies than the experimentally synthesized Fe 3X 4 compounds and exhibit interesting magnetic and electronic properties. In particular, we show that Fe 3X 4 can be a good candidatemore » as a rare-earth-free permanent magnet and Fe 3X 4 can be a magnetic nodal-line topological material.« less

Tumour thickness as a predictor of nodal metastases in oral cancer: comparison between tongue and floor of mouth subsites.

PubMed

Balasubramanian, Deepak; Ebrahimi, Ardalan; Gupta, Ruta; Gao, Kan; Elliott, Michael; Palme, Carsten E; Clark, Jonathan R

2014-12-01

To identify whether tumour thickness as a predictor of nodal metastases in oral squamous cell carcinoma differs between tongue and floor of mouth (FOM) subsites. Retrospective review of 343 patients treated between 1987 and 2012. The neck was considered positive in the presence of pathologically proven nodal metastases on neck dissection or during follow-up. There were 222 oral tongue and 121 FOM tumours. In patients with FOM tumours 2.1-4mm thick, the rate of nodal metastases was 41.7%. In contrast, for tongue cancers of a similar thickness the rate was only 11.2%. This increased to 38.5% in patients with tongue cancers that were 4.1-6mm thick. Comparing these two subsites, FOM cancers cross the critical 20% threshold of probability for nodal metastases between 1 and 2mm whereas tongue cancers cross the 20% threshold just under 4mm thickness. On logistic regression adjusting for relevant covariates, there was a significant difference in the propensity for nodal metastases based on tumour thickness according to subsite (p=0.028). Thin FOM tumours (2.1-4mm) have a high rate of nodal metastases. Elective neck dissection is appropriate in FOM tumours ⩾2mm thick and in tongue tumours ⩾4mm thick. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Disappearance of nodal gap across the insulator-superconductor transition in a copper-oxide superconductor.

PubMed

Peng, Yingying; Meng, Jianqiao; Mou, Daixiang; He, Junfeng; Zhao, Lin; Wu, Yue; Liu, Guodong; Dong, Xiaoli; He, Shaolong; Zhang, Jun; Wang, Xiaoyang; Peng, Qinjun; Wang, Zhimin; Zhang, Shenjin; Yang, Feng; Chen, Chuangtian; Xu, Zuyan; Lee, T K; Zhou, X J

2013-01-01

The parent compound of the copper-oxide high-temperature superconductors is a Mott insulator. Superconductivity is realized by doping an appropriate amount of charge carriers. How a Mott insulator transforms into a superconductor is crucial in understanding the unusual physical properties of high-temperature superconductors and the superconductivity mechanism. Here we report high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission measurement on heavily underdoped Bi₂Sr₂-xLaxCuO(₆+δ) system. The electronic structure of the lightly doped samples exhibit a number of characteristics: existence of an energy gap along the nodal direction, d-wave-like anisotropic energy gap along the underlying Fermi surface, and coexistence of a coherence peak and a broad hump in the photoemission spectra. Our results reveal a clear insulator-superconductor transition at a critical doping level of ~0.10 where the nodal energy gap approaches zero, the three-dimensional antiferromagnetic order disappears, and superconductivity starts to emerge. These observations clearly signal a close connection between the nodal gap, antiferromagnetism and superconductivity.

Disrupted Nodal and Hub Organization Account for Brain Network Abnormalities in Parkinson's Disease.

PubMed

Koshimori, Yuko; Cho, Sang-Soo; Criaud, Marion; Christopher, Leigh; Jacobs, Mark; Ghadery, Christine; Coakeley, Sarah; Harris, Madeleine; Mizrahi, Romina; Hamani, Clement; Lang, Anthony E; Houle, Sylvain; Strafella, Antonio P

2016-01-01

The recent application of graph theory to brain networks promises to shed light on complex diseases such as Parkinson's disease (PD). This study aimed to investigate functional changes in sensorimotor and cognitive networks in Parkinsonian patients, with a focus on inter- and intra-connectivity organization in the disease-associated nodal and hub regions using the graph theoretical analyses. Resting-state functional MRI data of a total of 65 participants, including 23 healthy controls (HCs) and 42 patients, were investigated in 120 nodes for local efficiency, betweenness centrality, and degree. Hub regions were identified in the HC and patient groups. We found nodal and hub changes in patients compared with HCs, including the right pre-supplementary motor area (SMA), left anterior insula, bilateral mid-insula, bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and right caudate nucleus. In general, nodal regions within the sensorimotor network (i.e., right pre-SMA and right mid-insula) displayed weakened connectivity, with the former node associated with more severe bradykinesia, and impaired integration with default mode network regions. The left mid-insula also lost its hub properties in patients. Within the executive networks, the left anterior insular cortex lost its hub properties in patients, while a new hub region was identified in the right caudate nucleus, paralleled by an increased level of inter- and intra-connectivity in the bilateral DLPFC possibly representing compensatory mechanisms. These findings highlight the diffuse changes in nodal organization and regional hub disruption accounting for the distributed abnormalities across brain networks and the clinical manifestations of PD.

Modification of atrioventricular nodal electrophysiology by selective radiofrequency delivery on the anterior or posterior approaches.

PubMed

Chorro, F J; Sanchis, J; Such, L; Artal, L; Llavador, J J; Llavador, E; Monmeneu, J V; López-Merino, V

1997-05-01

An analysis was made in 14 isolated and perfused rabbit hearts of the electrophysiological effects of selective radiofrequency (RF) delivery in the anterior (group I, n = 7) or posterior zone (group II, n = 7) of the Koch triangle, with the aim of modifying atrioventricular nodal (AVN) conduction without suppressing 1:1 transmission. After opening the right atrium, RF was delivered (0.5 W) with a 1-mm diameter unipolar electrode positioned in the selected zone until a prolongation of no less than 15% was obtained in the Wenckebach cycle length (WCL). Before and after (30 min) RF, anterograde and retrograde AVN refractoriness and conduction were evaluated, stimulating from the crista terminalis (CT), the interatrial septum (IAS), and from the RV epicardium. After RF, the following percentage increments were observed in group I: AH(CT) = 36% +/- 9%, AH(IAS) = 38% +/- 11%, WCL(CT) = 28% +/- 8%, WCL(IAS) = 22% +/- 6%, functional refractory period (FRP) of the AVN(CT) = 13% +/- 11%, FRP-AVN(IAS) = 13% +/- 8%, retrograde WCL = 20% +/- 19%, and retrograde FRPVA = 13% +/- 16%. The increments observed in group II and the significances of the differences with respect to group I were: AH(CT) = 11% +/- 14% (P < 0.01), AH(IAS) = 19% +/- 32% (NS), WCL(CT) = 42% +/- 14% (P < 0.05), WCL(IAS) = 42% +/- 16% (P < 0.01), FRP-AVN(CT) = 28% +/- 28% (NS), FRP-AVN(LAS) = 21% +/- 19% (NS), retrograde WCL = 35% +/- 24% (NS), and retrograde FRP = 16% +/- 13% (NS). In both groups, the AH interval variations were not correlated with those of the rest of the parameters analyzed. Truncated nodal function curves suggestive of a dual AV nodal pathway were obtained in three experiments, though in only one of them was this observed under basal conditions. In the other two experiments, with dual AV nodal physiology only after RF (one from each group), AV nodal reentrant tachycardias were triggered with atrial extrastimulus at coupling intervals equal to or shorter than at those that cause a sudden

Electrodynamics of the nodal metal state in weakly doped high- Tc cuprates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Y. S.; Segawa, Kouji; Li, Z. Q.; Padilla, W. J.; Dumm, M.; Dordevic, S. V.; Homes, C. C.; Ando, Yoichi; Basov, D. N.

2005-08-01

We report on the detailed analysis of the infrared (IR) conductivity of two prototypical high- Tc systems YBa2Cu3Oy and La2-xSrxCuO4 throughout the complex phase diagram of these compounds. Our focus in this work is to thoroughly document the electromagnetic response of the nodal metal state which is initiated with only a few holes doped in parent antiferromagnetic systems and extends up to the pseudogap boundary in the phase diagram. The key signature of the nodal metal is the two-component conductivity: the Drude mode at low energies followed by a resonance in mid-IR. The Drude component can be attributed to the response of coherent quasiparticles residing on the Fermi arcs detected in photoemission experiments. The microscopic origin of the mid-IR band is yet to be understood. A combination of transport and IR data uncovers fingerprints of the Fermi liquid behavior in the response of the nodal metal. The comprehensive nature of the data sets presented in this work allows us to critically re-evaluate common approaches to the interpretation of the optical data. Specifically we re-examine the role of magnetic excitations in generating electronic self-energy effects through the analysis of the IR data in a high magnetic field.

An Interesting Case of Retropharyngeal Lymph Nodal Metastases in a Case of Iodine-Refractory Thyroid Cancer.

PubMed

Harisankar, Chidambaram Natrajan Balasubramanian; Vijayabhaskar, Ramakrishnan

2018-01-01

Metastases to cervical lymph node are fairly common in differentiated thyroid cancer. In iodine-refractory disease, the disease may persist in the thyroid bed, cervical lymph nodes, lungs, or the bones commonly. Retropharyngeal lymph nodal involvement in thyroid cancer is unusual and may even be the presenting complaint. We represent a case of iodine-refractory thyroid cancer with retropharyngeal lymph nodal involvement in addition to lung metastases.

Two highly-related regulatory subunits of PP2A exert opposite effects on TGF-β/Activin/Nodal signalling

PubMed Central

Batut, Julie; Schmierer, Bernhard; Cao, Jing; Raftery, Laurel A.; Hill, Caroline S.; Howell, Michael

2016-01-01

Summary We identify Bα (PPP2R2A) and Bδ (PPP2R2D), two highly-related members of the B family of regulatory subunits of the protein phosphatase PP2A, as important modulators of TGF-β/Activin/Nodal signalling, which affect the pathway in opposite ways. Knockdown of Bα in Xenopus embryos or mammalian tissue culture cells suppresses TGF-β/Activin/Nodal-dependent responses, whereas knockdown of Bδ enhances these responses. Moreover, in Drosophila, overexpression of Smad2 rescues a severe wing phenotype caused by overexpression of the single Drosophila PP2A B subunit, Twins. We show that in vertebrates Bα enhances TGF-β/Activin/Nodal signalling by stabilising the basal levels of type I receptor, whereas Bδ negatively modulates these pathways by restricting receptor activity. Thus, these highly-related members of the same subfamily of PP2A regulatory subunits differentially regulate TGF-β/Activin/Nodal signalling to elicit opposing biological outcomes. PMID:18697906

Recovering tubewise power from three-dimensional nodal kinetics calculation during material relocation in an HWR

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

Kalimullah; Morris, E.E.; Yang, W.S.

1994-12-31

To analyze severe accidents in some special-purpose heavy-water reactors made of assemblies consisting of a number of coaxial tubes of aluminum-clad U-Al fuel and aluminum-clad neutron-capturing material, a mechanistic model, MARTINS, for tube beatup, melting, and molten material relocation has been developed and integrated with the DIF3D nodal hexagonal-z reactor kinetics and other phenomenological modules. The DIF3D kinetics homogenizes all materials located and computes the total power produced in an axial segment of a fuel assembly. This paper presents an approximate method, used in MARTINS, to calculate the distribution of this total nodal power into the intact fuel and capturingmore » material tubes and the meat-cladding mixtures relocating during tube disruption. The method accounts for the change in intraassembly radial power profile due to assembly geometry change with the progress of segment-by-segment disruption of different tubes. Earlier methods to recover pinwise power from nodal calculation for liquid-metal-cooled reactors and light water reactors (X-Y and hexagonal unit cells) are not practical for a disrupting assembly having material relocation. Figure 1 shows the assembly`s end view, divided into rings for modeling and analysis. A ring is a coolant subchannel plus the outer surrounding tube. The present method for distributing the nodal power consists of two parts: (a) calculation of the relative values of ring-by-ring power per unit uranium mass and power per unit mass of neutron-capturing material in a given assembly segment, and (b) normalization of these relative values such that the total power of all rings (intact tubes and U-Al-Cp meat-cladding mixtures, where Cp implies the neutron-capturing material) equals the DIF3D-calculated nodal power for the assembly axial segment.« less

Dirac Magnon Nodal Loops in Quasi-2D Quantum Magnets.

PubMed

Owerre, S A

2017-07-31

In this report, we propose a new concept of one-dimensional (1D) closed lines of Dirac magnon nodes in two-dimensional (2D) momentum space of quasi-2D quantum magnetic systems. They are termed "2D Dirac magnon nodal-line loops". We utilize the bilayer honeycomb ferromagnets with intralayer coupling J and interlayer coupling J L , which is realizable in the honeycomb chromium compounds CrX 3 (X ≡ Br, Cl, and I). However, our results can also exist in other layered quasi-2D quantum magnetic systems. Here, we show that the magnon bands of the bilayer honeycomb ferromagnets overlap for J L  ≠ 0 and form 1D closed lines of Dirac magnon nodes in 2D momentum space. The 2D Dirac magnon nodal-line loops are topologically protected by inversion and time-reversal symmetry. Furthermore, we show that they are robust against weak Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction Δ DM  < J L and possess chiral magnon edge modes.

Theoretical and experimental evidence for a nodal energy gap in MgB2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agassi, Y. Dan; Oates, Daniel E.

2017-11-01

We present a phenomenological model that strongly suggests that the smaller of the two energy gaps in MgB2, the so-called π gap, contains nodal lines with a six-fold symmetry (i-wave). The model also indicates that the larger gap, the so-called σ gap, is conventional s-wave. The model is an extension of the BCS gap equation that accounts for the elastic anisotropy in MgB2 and the Coulomb repulsion. It is based on a phononic pairing mechanism and assumes no coupling between the two energy gaps in MgB2 at zero temperature. All of the parameters of the model, such as sound velocities and masses, are independently determined material constants. The results agree with a previous ad-hoc hypothesis that the π energy gap has six nodal lines. That hypothesis was motivated by low-temperature measurements of the surface impedance and intermodulation distortion in high-quality thin films. We briefly review experimental evidence in the literature that is relevant to the energy-gap symmetry. We find that the evidence from the literature for s-wave is inconclusive. Our finding is that the π gap has six nodal lines.

Left Septal Slow Pathway Ablation for Atrioventricular Nodal Reentrant Tachycardia.

PubMed

Katritsis, Demosthenes G; John, Roy M; Latchamsetty, Rakesh; Muthalaly, Rahul G; Zografos, Theodoros; Katritsis, George D; Stevenson, William G; Efimov, Igor R; Morady, Fred

2018-03-01

Immunohistochemistry studies suggest that the anatomic substrate of the slow pathway in atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT) is the left inferior nodal extension. We hypothesized that slow pathway ablation from the left septum is an effective alternative to right-sided ablation. We analyzed our databases of AVNRT in search of cases that had used slow pathway ablation from the left septum because of failure of right septal ablation, and then prospectively subjected consenting patients to a left septal-only procedure. Of 1342 patients subjected to right septal slow pathway ablation for AVNRT, 15 patients, 11 with typical and 4 with atypical AVNRT, had a left septal approach after unsuccessful right-sided ablation (R+L group). Eleven patients were subjected to a left septal-only approach for slow pathway ablation without a previous right septal attempt (L group). Fluoroscopy times in the R+L and L groups were 30.5 (21.0-44.0) and 20.0 (17.0-25.0) minutes, respectively ( P =0.061), and radiofrequency current delivery times were 11.3 (5.0-19.1) and 10.0 (7.0-12.0) minutes, respectively ( P =0.897). There was no need for additional ablation lesions at other anatomic sites in either group, and no cases of atrioventricular block were encountered. Recurrence rates of the arrhythmia for the R+L and L groups were 6.7% and 0%, respectively, in the 3 months after ablation ( P =1.000). Left septal ablation at the anatomic site of the left inferior nodal extension is an alternative for ablation of both typical and atypical AVNRT when ablation at the right posterior septum is ineffective. © 2018 American Heart Association, Inc.

Nodal signalling in Xenopus: the role of Xnr5 in left/right asymmetry and heart development.

PubMed

Tadjuidje, Emmanuel; Kofron, Matthew; Mir, Adnan; Wylie, Christopher; Heasman, Janet; Cha, Sang-Wook

2016-08-01

Nodal class TGF-β signalling molecules play essential roles in establishing the vertebrate body plan. In all vertebrates, nodal family members have specific waves of expression required for tissue specification and axis formation. In Xenopus laevis, six nodal genes are expressed before gastrulation, raising the question of whether they have specific roles or act redundantly with each other. Here, we examine the role of Xnr5. We find it acts at the late blastula stage as a mesoderm inducer and repressor of ectodermal gene expression, a role it shares with Vg1. However, unlike Vg1, Xnr5 depletion reduces the expression of the nodal family member xnr1 at the gastrula stage. It is also required for left/right laterality by controlling the expression of the laterality genes xnr1, antivin (lefty) and pitx2 at the tailbud stage. In Xnr5-depleted embryos, the heart field is established normally, but symmetrical reduction in Xnr5 levels causes a severely stunted midline heart, first evidenced by a reduction in cardiac troponin mRNA levels, while left-sided reduction leads to randomization of the left/right axis. This work identifies Xnr5 as the earliest step in the signalling pathway establishing normal heart laterality in Xenopus. © 2016 The Authors.

GDF3 is a BMP inhibitor that can activate Nodal signaling only at very high doses

PubMed Central

Levine, Ariel J.; Levine, Zachary J.; Brivanlou, Ali H.

2013-01-01

Within the TGF-β superfamily, there are approximately forty ligands divided into two major branches: the TGF-β/Activin/Nodal ligands and the BMP/GDF ligands. We studied the ligand GDF3 and found that it inhibits signaling by its co-family members, the BMPs; however, GDF3 has been described by others to have Nodal-like activity. Here, we show that GDF3 can activate Nodal signaling, but only at very high doses and only upon mRNA over-expression. In contrast, GDF3 inhibits BMP signaling upon over-expression of GDF3 mRNA, as recombinant protein, and regardless of its dose. We therefore further characterized the mechanism through which GDF3 protein acts as a specific BMP inhibitor and found that the BMP inhibitory activity of GDF3 resides redundantly in the unprocessed, predominant form and in the mature form of the protein. These results confirm and extend the activity that we described for GDF3 and illuminate the experimental basis for the different observations of others. We suggest that GDF3 is either a bi-functional TGF-β ligand, or, more likely, that it is a BMP inhibitor that can artificially activate Nodal signaling under non-physiological conditions. PMID:18823971

The role of nodal and internodal responses in gravitropism and autotropism in Galium aparine L

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Heathcote, D. G.; Brown, A. H. (Principal Investigator)

1987-01-01

This time course and location of gravitropically induced curvatures in stems of goosegrass (Gallium aparine L.), a member of the Rubiaceae, have been investigated. In the early stages of the response (0-5 h), curvature develops throughout the growing region, and is followed by an autotropic straightening which affects the internodes only, leading to the production of essentially straight internodes some 15 h after the onset of gravistimulation. Curvatures developing in the nodal regions, however, continue to increase over this period, and are not subject to reversal by autotropism. The nodal curvatures are not entirely dependent on the presence of any other part of the plant, since marked curvatures can be induced in isolated nodal segments. This pattern of response leads ultimately to correction of the growth direction of the plant by means of curvature responses confined exclusively to the nodes, despite the initial participation of both nodes and internodes in the gravitropic reaction.

Disrupted Nodal and Hub Organization Account for Brain Network Abnormalities in Parkinson’s Disease

PubMed Central

Koshimori, Yuko; Cho, Sang-Soo; Criaud, Marion; Christopher, Leigh; Jacobs, Mark; Ghadery, Christine; Coakeley, Sarah; Harris, Madeleine; Mizrahi, Romina; Hamani, Clement; Lang, Anthony E.; Houle, Sylvain; Strafella, Antonio P.

2016-01-01

The recent application of graph theory to brain networks promises to shed light on complex diseases such as Parkinson’s disease (PD). This study aimed to investigate functional changes in sensorimotor and cognitive networks in Parkinsonian patients, with a focus on inter- and intra-connectivity organization in the disease-associated nodal and hub regions using the graph theoretical analyses. Resting-state functional MRI data of a total of 65 participants, including 23 healthy controls (HCs) and 42 patients, were investigated in 120 nodes for local efficiency, betweenness centrality, and degree. Hub regions were identified in the HC and patient groups. We found nodal and hub changes in patients compared with HCs, including the right pre-supplementary motor area (SMA), left anterior insula, bilateral mid-insula, bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and right caudate nucleus. In general, nodal regions within the sensorimotor network (i.e., right pre-SMA and right mid-insula) displayed weakened connectivity, with the former node associated with more severe bradykinesia, and impaired integration with default mode network regions. The left mid-insula also lost its hub properties in patients. Within the executive networks, the left anterior insular cortex lost its hub properties in patients, while a new hub region was identified in the right caudate nucleus, paralleled by an increased level of inter- and intra-connectivity in the bilateral DLPFC possibly representing compensatory mechanisms. These findings highlight the diffuse changes in nodal organization and regional hub disruption accounting for the distributed abnormalities across brain networks and the clinical manifestations of PD. PMID:27891090

Omitting elective nodal irradiation during thoracic irradiation in limited-stage small cell lung cancer--evidence from a phase II trial.

PubMed

Colaco, Rovel; Sheikh, Hamid; Lorigan, Paul; Blackhall, Fiona; Hulse, Paul; Califano, Raffaele; Ashcroft, Linda; Taylor, Paul; Thatcher, Nicholas; Faivre-Finn, Corinne

2012-04-01

Omitting elective nodal irradiation (ENI) in limited-stage disease small cell lung cancer (LD-SCLC) is expected to result in smaller radiation fields. We report on data from a randomised phase II trial that omitted ENI in patients receiving concurrent chemo-radiotherapy for LD-SCLC. 38 patients with LD-SCLC were randomised to receive once-daily (66 Gy in 33 fractions) or twice-daily (45 Gy in 30 fractions) radiotherapy (RT). 3D-conformal RT was given concurrently with cisplatin and etoposide starting with the second cycle of a total of four cycles. The gross tumour volume was defined as primary tumour with involved lymph nodes (nodes ≥1 cm in short axis) identifiable with CT imaging. ENI was not used. Six recurrence patterns were identified: recurrence within planning target volume (PTV) only, recurrence within PTV+regional nodal recurrence and/or distant recurrence, isolated nodal recurrence outside PTV, nodal recurrence outside PTV+distant recurrence, distant metastases only and no recurrence. At median follow-up 16.9 months, 31/38 patients were evaluable and 14/31 patients had relapsed. There were no isolated nodal recurrences. Eight patients relapsed with intra-thoracic disease: 2 within PTV only, 4 within PTV and distantly and 2 with nodal recurrence outside PTV plus distant metastases. Rates of grade 3+ acute oesophagitis and pneumonitis in the 31 evaluable patients were 23 and 3% respectively. In our study of LD-SCLC, omitting ENI based on CT imaging was not associated with a high risk of isolated nodal recurrence, although further prospective studies are needed to confirm this. Routine ENI omission will be further evaluated prospectively in the ongoing phase III CONVERT trial (NCT00433563). Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The role of elective-nodal irradiation for esthesioneuroblastoma patients with clinically negative neck

PubMed Central

Jiang, Wen; Mohamed, Abdallah Sherif; Fuller, Clifton David; Kim, Betty Y.S.; Tang, Chad; Gunn, G. Brandon; Hanna, Ehab Y.; Frank, Steven J.; Su, Shirley Y.; Diaz, Eduardo; Kupferman, Michael E.; Beadle, Beth M.; Morrison, William H.; Skinner, Heath; Lai, Stephen Y.; El-Naggar, Adel K.; DeMonte, Franco; Rosenthal, David I.; Garden, Adam S.; Phan, Jack

2017-01-01

Purpose Although adjuvant radiation to the tumor bed has been reported to improve the clinic outcomes of esthesioneuroblastoma (ENB) patients, the role of elective neck irradiation (ENI) in clinically node negative (N0) patients remains controversial. Here, we evaluated the effects of ENI on neck nodal relapse risk in ENB patients treated with radiotherapy as a component of multi-modality treatment. Methods and Materials Seventy-one N0 ENB patients irradiated at XXXXXXXXX between 1970 and 2013 were identified. ENI was performed on 22 of these patients (31%). Survival analysis was performed with focus on comparative outcomes of those patients who did and did not receive ENI. Results The median follow up time for our cohort is 80.8 months (range 6 – 350 month). Among N0 patients, 13 (18.3%) developed neck nodal relapses, with a median time to progression of 62.5 months. None of these 13 patients received prophylactic neck irradiation. ENI was associated with significantly improved regional nodal control at 5-year (regional control rate of 100% for ENI vs 82%, p < 0.001), but not overall survival or disease-free survival. Eleven patients without ENI developed isolated neck recurrences. All had further treatment for their neck disease, including neck dissection (n=10), radiation (n=10), or chemotherapy (n=5). Six of these 11 patients (54.5%) demonstrated no evidence of further recurrence with a median follow up of 55.5 month. Conclusion ENI significantly reduces the risk of cervical nodal recurrence in ENB patients with clinically N0 neck but this did not translate to a survival benefit. Multimodality treatment for isolated neck recurrence provides a reasonable salvage rate. The greatest benefit for ENI appeared to be among younger patients who presented with Kadish C disease. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings. PMID:26979544

Experimental validation of thermo-chemical algorithm for a simulation of pultrusion processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barkanov, E.; Akishin, P.; Miazza, N. L.; Galvez, S.; Pantelelis, N.

2018-04-01

To provide better understanding of the pultrusion processes without or with temperature control and to support the pultrusion tooling design, an algorithm based on the mixed time integration scheme and nodal control volumes method has been developed. At present study its experimental validation is carried out by the developed cure sensors measuring the electrical resistivity and temperature on the profile surface. By this verification process the set of initial data used for a simulation of the pultrusion process with rod profile has been successfully corrected and finally defined.

Atlas of the thoracic lymph nodal delineation and recommendations for lymph nodal CTV of esophageal squamous cell cancer in radiation therapy from China.

PubMed

Huang, Wei; Huang, Yong; Sun, Jujie; Liu, Xibin; Zhang, Jian; Zhou, Tao; Zhang, Baijiang; Li, Baosheng

2015-07-01

To construct an anatomical atlas of thoracic lymph node regions of esophageal cancer (EC) based on definitions from The Japan Esophageal Society (JES) and generate a consensus to delineate the nodal clinical target volume (CTVn) for elective nodal radiation (ENI) of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). An interdisciplinary group including two dedicated radiation oncologists, an experienced radiologist, a pathologist and two thoracic surgeons were gathered to generate a three-dimensional radiological description for the mediastinal lymph node regions of EC on axial CT scans. Then the radiological boundaries of lymph node regions were validated by a relatively large number of physicians in multiple institutions. An atlas of detailed anatomic boundaries of lymph node station No. 105-114 was defined on axial CT, along with illustrations. From the previous work, the study provided a guide of CTVn contouring for ENI of thoracic ESCC from a single center. It is feasible to use such an atlas of thoracic lymph node stations for radiotherapy planning. A phase III study based on the atlas is ongoing in China to measure quantitatively the ENI received by patients with ESCC. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The TROPOMI surface UV algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lindfors, Anders V.; Kujanpää, Jukka; Kalakoski, Niilo; Heikkilä, Anu; Lakkala, Kaisa; Mielonen, Tero; Sneep, Maarten; Krotkov, Nickolay A.; Arola, Antti; Tamminen, Johanna

2018-02-01

The TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) is the only payload of the Sentinel-5 Precursor (S5P), which is a polar-orbiting satellite mission of the European Space Agency (ESA). TROPOMI is a nadir-viewing spectrometer measuring in the ultraviolet, visible, near-infrared, and the shortwave infrared that provides near-global daily coverage. Among other things, TROPOMI measurements will be used for calculating the UV radiation reaching the Earth's surface. Thus, the TROPOMI surface UV product will contribute to the monitoring of UV radiation by providing daily information on the prevailing UV conditions over the globe. The TROPOMI UV algorithm builds on the heritage of the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) and the Satellite Application Facility for Atmospheric Composition and UV Radiation (AC SAF) algorithms. This paper provides a description of the algorithm that will be used for estimating surface UV radiation from TROPOMI observations. The TROPOMI surface UV product includes the following UV quantities: the UV irradiance at 305, 310, 324, and 380 nm; the erythemally weighted UV; and the vitamin-D weighted UV. Each of these are available as (i) daily dose or daily accumulated irradiance, (ii) overpass dose rate or irradiance, and (iii) local noon dose rate or irradiance. In addition, all quantities are available corresponding to actual cloud conditions and as clear-sky values, which otherwise correspond to the same conditions but assume a cloud-free atmosphere. This yields 36 UV parameters altogether. The TROPOMI UV algorithm has been tested using input based on OMI and the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment-2 (GOME-2) satellite measurements. These preliminary results indicate that the algorithm is functioning according to expectations.

Activin- and Nodal-related factors control antero-posterior patterning of the zebrafish embryo.

PubMed

Thisse, B; Wright, C V; Thisse, C

2000-01-27

Definition of cell fates along the dorso-ventral axis depends on an antagonistic relationship between ventralizing transforming growth factor-beta superfamily members, the bone morphogenetic proteins and factors secreted from the dorsal organizer, such as Noggin and Chordin. The extracellular binding of the last group to the bone morphogenetic proteins prevents them from activating their receptors, and the relative ventralizer:antagonist ratio is thought to specify different dorso-ventral cell fates. Here, by taking advantage of a non-genetic interference method using a specific competitive inhibitor, the Lefty-related gene product Antivin, we provide evidence that cell fate along the antero-posterior axis of the zebrafish embryo is controlled by the morphogenetic activity of another transforming growth factor-beta superfamily subgroup--the Activin and Nodal-related factors. Increasing antivin doses progressively deleted posterior fates within the ectoderm, eventually resulting in the removal of all fates except forebrain and eyes. In contrast, overexpression of activin or nodal-related factors converted ectoderm that was fated to be forebrain into more posterior ectodermal or mesendodermal fates. We propose that modulation of intercellular signalling by Antivin/Activin and Nodal-related factors provides a mechanism for the graded establishment of cell fates along the antero-posterior axis of the zebrafish embryo.

[Does nodal irradiation (clavicular and internal mammary chains) increase the toxicity of adjuvant breast radiotherapy?].

PubMed

Riou, O; Bourgier, C; Fenoglietto, P; Azria, D

2015-06-01

Treatment volume is a major risk factor of radiation-induced toxicity. As nodal irradiation increases treatment volume, radiation toxicity should be greater. Nevertheless, scientific randomised data do not support this fact. However, a radiation-induced toxicity is possible outside tangential fields in the nodal volumes not related to breast-only treatment. Treatment should not be adapted only to the disease but personalized to the individual risk of toxicity for each patient. Copyright © 2015 Société française de radiothérapie oncologique (SFRO). Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.

On the applicability of the principle of the quantity-to-quality transition to chemical evolution that led to life

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kolb, Vera M.

2005-10-01

We review and re-examine the arguments for the proposal that life emerged by a quantity-to-quality transition of abiotic matter. This idea was originally proposed by the dialectical materialists, who are the proponents of the materialistic approach to Hegel's laws of dialectics. We find that one of the universal features of the quantity-to-quality transitions is the change in the organization of the system, which brings about novelty. We suggest that the principle of the quantity-to-quality transition may be a part of the algorithm of life, which is not Earth-centric.

New core-reflector boundary conditions for transient nodal reactor calculations

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

Lee, E.K.; Kim, C.H.; Joo, H.K.

1995-09-01

New core-reflector boundary conditions designed for the exclusion of the reflector region in transient nodal reactor calculations are formulated. Spatially flat frequency approximations for the temporal neutron behavior and two types of transverse leakage approximations in the reflector region are introduced to solve the transverse-integrated time-dependent one-dimensional diffusion equation and then to obtain relationships between net current and flux at the core-reflector interfaces. To examine the effectiveness of new core-reflector boundary conditions in transient nodal reactor computations, nodal expansion method (NEM) computations with and without explicit representation of the reflector are performed for Laboratorium fuer Reaktorregelung und Anlagen (LRA) boilingmore » water reactor (BWR) and Nuclear Energy Agency Committee on Reactor Physics (NEACRP) pressurized water reactor (PWR) rod ejection kinetics benchmark problems. Good agreement between two NEM computations is demonstrated in all the important transient parameters of two benchmark problems. A significant amount of CPU time saving is also demonstrated with the boundary condition model with transverse leakage (BCMTL) approximations in the reflector region. In the three-dimensional LRA BWR, the BCMTL and the explicit reflector model computations differ by {approximately}4% in transient peak power density while the BCMTL results in >40% of CPU time saving by excluding both the axial and the radial reflector regions from explicit computational nodes. In the NEACRP PWR problem, which includes six different transient cases, the largest difference is 24.4% in the transient maximum power in the one-node-per-assembly B1 transient results. This difference in the transient maximum power of the B1 case is shown to reduce to 11.7% in the four-node-per-assembly computations. As for the computing time, BCMTL is shown to reduce the CPU time >20% in all six transient cases of the NEACRP PWR.« less

Topological surface states in nodal superconductors.

PubMed

Schnyder, Andreas P; Brydon, Philip M R

2015-06-24

Topological superconductors have become a subject of intense research due to their potential use for technical applications in device fabrication and quantum information. Besides fully gapped superconductors, unconventional superconductors with point or line nodes in their order parameter can also exhibit nontrivial topological characteristics. This article reviews recent progress in the theoretical understanding of nodal topological superconductors, with a focus on Weyl and noncentrosymmetric superconductors and their protected surface states. Using selected examples, we review the bulk topological properties of these systems, study different types of topological surface states, and examine their unusual properties. Furthermore, we survey some candidate materials for topological superconductivity and discuss different experimental signatures of topological surface states.

Nodal gap detection through polar angle-resolved density of states measurements in uniaxial superconductors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsutsumi, Yasumasa; Nomoto, Takuya; Ikeda, Hiroaki; Machida, Kazushige

2016-12-01

We propose a spectroscopic method to identify the nodal gap structure in unconventional superconductors. This method is best suited for locating the horizontal line node and for pinpointing the isolated point nodes by measuring polar angle (θ ) resolved zero-energy density of states N (θ ) . This is measured by specific heat or thermal conductivity at low temperatures under a magnetic field. We examine a variety of uniaxially symmetric nodal structures, including point and/or line nodes with linear and quadratic dispersions, by solving the Eilenberger equation in vortex states. It is found that (a) the maxima of N (θ ) continuously shift from the antinodal to the nodal direction (θn) as a field increases accompanying the oscillation pattern reversal at low and high fields. Furthermore, (b) local minima emerge next to θn on both sides, except for the case of the linear point node. These features are robust and detectable experimentally. Experimental results of N (θ ) performed on several superconductors, UPd2Al3,URu2Si2,CuxBi2Se3 , and UPt3, are examined and commented on in light of the present theory.

Nodal endoplasmic reticulum, a specialized form of endoplasmic reticulum found in gravity-sensing root tip columella cells

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zheng, H. Q.; Staehelin, L. A.

2001-01-01

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of columella root cap cells has been postulated to play a role in gravity sensing. We have re-examined the ultrastructure of columella cells in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) root tips preserved by high-pressure freezing/freeze-substitution techniques to gain more precise information about the organization of the ER in such cells. The most notable findings are: the identification of a specialized form of ER, termed "nodal ER," which is found exclusively in columella cells; the demonstration that the bulk of the ER is organized in the form of a tubular network that is confined to a peripheral layer under the plasma membrane; and the discovery that this ER-rich peripheral region excludes Golgi stacks, vacuoles, and amyloplasts but not mitochondria. Nodal ER domains consist of an approximately 100-nm-diameter central rod composed of oblong subunits to which usually seven sheets of rough ER are attached along their margins. These domains form patches at the interface between the peripheral ER network and the ER-free central region of the cells, and they occupy defined positions within central and flanking columella cells. Over one-half of the nodal ER domains are located along the outer tangential walls of the flanking cells. Cytochalasin D and latrunculin A cause an increase in size and a decrease in numbers of nodal ER domains. We postulate that the nodal ER membranes locally modulate the gravisensing signals produced by the sedimenting amyloplasts, and that the confinement of all ER membranes to the cell periphery serves to enhance the sedimentability of the amyloplasts in the central region of columella cells.

Patterns of practice of regional nodal irradiation in breast cancer: results of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) NOdal Radiotherapy (NORA) survey.

PubMed

Belkacemi, Y; Kaidar-Person, O; Poortmans, P; Ozsahin, M; Valli, M-C; Russell, N; Kunkler, I; Hermans, J; Kuten, A; van Tienhoven, G; Westenberg, H

2015-03-01

Predicting outcome of breast cancer (BC) patients based on sentinel lymph node (SLN) status without axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) is an area of uncertainty. It influences the decision-making for regional nodal irradiation (RNI). The aim of the NORA (NOdal RAdiotherapy) survey was to examine the patterns of RNI. A web-questionnaire, including several clinical scenarios, was distributed to 88 EORTC-affiliated centers. Responses were received between July 2013 and January 2014. A total of 84 responses were analyzed. While three-dimensional (3D) radiotherapy (RT) planning is carried out in 81 (96%) centers, nodal areas are delineated in only 51 (61%) centers. Only 14 (17%) centers routinely link internal mammary chain (IMC) and supraclavicular node (SCN) RT indications. In patients undergoing total mastectomy (TM) with ALND, SCN-RT is recommend by 5 (6%), 53 (63%) and 51 (61%) centers for patients with pN0(i+), pN(mi) and pN1, respectively. Extra-capsular extension (ECE) is the main factor influencing decision-making RNI after breast conserving surgery (BCS) and TM. After primary systemic therapy (PST), 49 (58%) centers take into account nodal fibrotic changes in ypN0 patients for RNI indications. In ypN0 patients with inner/central tumors, 23 (27%) centers indicate SCN-RT and IMC-RT. In ypN1 patients, SCN-RT is delivered by less than half of the centers in patients with ypN(i+) and ypN(mi). Twenty-one (25%) of the centers recommend ALN-RT in patients with ypN(mi) or 1-2N+ after ALND. Seventy-five (90%) centers state that age is not considered a limiting factor for RNI. The NORA survey is unique in evaluating the impact of SLNB/ALND status on adjuvant RNI decision-making and volumes after BCS/TM with or without PST. ALN-RT is often indicated in pN1 patients, particularly in the case of ECE. Besides the ongoing NSABP-B51/RTOG and ALLIANCE trials, NORA could help to design future specific RNI trials in the SLNB era without ALND in patients receiving or not PST. �

Observation of topological nodal fermion semimetal phase in ZrSiS

DOE PAGES

Neupane, Madhab; Belopolski, Ilya; Hosen, M. Mofazzel; ...

2016-05-11

We present that unveiling new topological phases of matter is one of the current objectives in condensed matter physics. Recent experimental discoveries of Dirac and Weyl semimetals prompt the search for other exotic phases of matter. Here we present a systematic angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy study of ZrSiS, a prime topological nodal semimetal candidate. Our wider Brillouin zone (BZ) mapping shows multiple Fermi surface pockets such as the diamond-shaped Fermi surface, elliptical-shaped Fermi surface, and a small electron pocket encircling at the zone center (Γ) point, the M point, and the X point of the BZ, respectively. We experimentally establish themore » spinless nodal fermion semimetal phase in ZrSiS, which is supported by our first-principles calculations. Our findings evidence that the ZrSiS-type of material family is a new platform on which to explore exotic states of quantum matter; these materials are expected to provide an avenue for engineering two-dimensional topological insulator systems.« less

NODAL in the Uterus Is Necessary for Proper Placental Development and Maintenance of Pregnancy1

PubMed Central

Park, Craig B.; DeMayo, Francesco J.; Lydon, John P.; Dufort, Daniel

2012-01-01

Preterm birth is the single leading cause of perinatal mortality in developed countries, affecting approximately 12% of pregnancies and accounting for 75% of neonatal loss in the United States. Despite the prevalence and severity of premature delivery, the causes and mechanisms that underlie spontaneous and idiopathic preterm birth remain unknown. Our inability to elucidate these fundamental causes has been attributed to a poor understanding of the signaling pathways associated with the premature induction of parturition and a lack of suitable animal models available for preterm birth research. In this study, we describe the generation and analysis of a novel conditional knockout of the transforming growth factor beta (TGFB) superfamily member, Nodal, from the maternal reproductive tract of mice. Strikingly, uterine Nodal knockout females exhibited a severe malformation of the maternal decidua basalis during placentation, leading to significant intrauterine growth restriction, and ultimately preterm birth and fetal loss on Day 17.5 of gestation. Using several approaches, we characterized aberrant placental development and demonstrated that reduced proliferation combined with increased apoptosis resulted in a diminished decidua basalis and compromised maternal-fetal interface. Last, we evaluated various components of the established parturition cascade and determined that preterm birth derived from the maternal Nodal knockout occurs prior to PTGS2 (COX-2) upregulation at the placental interface. Taken together, the results presented in this study highlight an in vivo role for maternal NODAL during placentation, present an interesting link between disrupted decidua basalis formation and premature parturition, and describe a potentially valuable model toward elucidating the complex processes that underlie preterm birth. PMID:22378764

Nodal Diffusion Burnable Poison Treatment for Prismatic Reactor Cores

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

A. M. Ougouag; R. M. Ferrer

2010-10-01

The prismatic block version of the High Temperature Reactor (HTR) considered as a candidate Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR)design may use burnable poison pins in locations at some corners of the fuel blocks (i.e., assembly equivalent structures). The presence of any highly absorbing materials, such as these burnable poisons, within fuel blocks for hexagonal geometry, graphite-moderated High Temperature Reactors (HTRs) causes a local inter-block flux depression that most nodal diffusion-based method have failed to properly model or otherwise represent. The location of these burnable poisons near vertices results in an asymmetry in the morphology of the assemblies (or blocks). Hencemore » the resulting inadequacy of traditional homogenization methods, as these “spread” the actually local effect of the burnable poisons throughout the assembly. Furthermore, the actual effect of the burnable poison is primarily local with influence in its immediate vicinity, which happens to include a small region within the same assembly as well as similar regions in the adjacent assemblies. Traditional homogenization methods miss this artifact entirely. This paper presents a novel method for treating the local effect of the burnable poison explicitly in the context of a modern nodal method.« less

Differential role of Sloan–Kettering Institute (Ski) protein in Nodal and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β)-induced Smad signaling in prostate cancer cells

PubMed Central

Khan, Shafiq A.

2012-01-01

Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) signaling pathways contain both tumor suppressor and tumor promoting activities. We have demonstrated that Nodal, another member of the TGF-β superfamily, and its receptors are expressed in prostate cancer cells. Nodal and TGF-β exerted similar biological effects on prostate cells; both inhibited proliferation in WPE, RWPE1 and DU145 cells, whereas neither had any effect on the proliferation of LNCaP or PC3 cells. Interestingly, Nodal and TGF-β induced migration in PC3 cells, but not in DU145 cells. TGF-β induced predominantly phosphorylation of Smad3, whereas Nodal induced phosphorylation of only Smad2. We also determined the expression and differential role of Ski, a corepressor of Smad2/3, in Nodal and TGF-β signaling in prostate cancer cells. Similar levels of Ski mRNA were found in several established prostate cell lines; however, high levels of Ski protein were only detected in prostate cancer cells and prostate cancer tissue samples. Exogenous Nodal and TGF-β had no effects on Ski mRNA levels. On the other hand, TGF-β induced a rapid degradation of Ski protein mediated by the proteasomal pathway, whereas Nodal had no effect on Ski protein. Reduced Ski levels correlated with increased basal and TGF-β-induced Smad2/3 phosphorylation. Knockdown of endogenous Ski reduced proliferation in DU145 cells and enhanced migration of PC3 cells. We conclude that high levels of Ski expression in prostate cancer cells may be responsible for repression of TGF-β and Smad3 signaling, but Ski protein levels do not influence Nodal and Smad2 signaling. PMID:22843506

An integral conservative gridding--algorithm using Hermitian curve interpolation.

PubMed

Volken, Werner; Frei, Daniel; Manser, Peter; Mini, Roberto; Born, Ernst J; Fix, Michael K

2008-11-07

The problem of re-sampling spatially distributed data organized into regular or irregular grids to finer or coarser resolution is a common task in data processing. This procedure is known as 'gridding' or 're-binning'. Depending on the quantity the data represents, the gridding-algorithm has to meet different requirements. For example, histogrammed physical quantities such as mass or energy have to be re-binned in order to conserve the overall integral. Moreover, if the quantity is positive definite, negative sampling values should be avoided. The gridding process requires a re-distribution of the original data set to a user-requested grid according to a distribution function. The distribution function can be determined on the basis of the given data by interpolation methods. In general, accurate interpolation with respect to multiple boundary conditions of heavily fluctuating data requires polynomial interpolation functions of second or even higher order. However, this may result in unrealistic deviations (overshoots or undershoots) of the interpolation function from the data. Accordingly, the re-sampled data may overestimate or underestimate the given data by a significant amount. The gridding-algorithm presented in this work was developed in order to overcome these problems. Instead of a straightforward interpolation of the given data using high-order polynomials, a parametrized Hermitian interpolation curve was used to approximate the integrated data set. A single parameter is determined by which the user can control the behavior of the interpolation function, i.e. the amount of overshoot and undershoot. Furthermore, it is shown how the algorithm can be extended to multidimensional grids. The algorithm was compared to commonly used gridding-algorithms using linear and cubic interpolation functions. It is shown that such interpolation functions may overestimate or underestimate the source data by about 10-20%, while the new algorithm can be tuned to

Brady's Geothermal Field Nodal Seismometer Active Source Data Sample

DOE Data Explorer

Kurt Feigl

2016-03-25

This data is in sac format and includes recordings of two active source events from 238 three-component nodal seismometers deployed at Bradys Hot Springs geothermal field as part of the PoroTomo project. The source was a viberoseis truck operating in P-wave vibrational mode and generating a swept-frequency signal. The files are 33 seconds long starting 4 seconds before each sweep was initiated. There is some overlap in the file times.

PITX2 and NODAL expression during axis formation in the early rabbit embryo.

PubMed

Plöger, Ruben; Viebahn, Christoph

2018-04-26

Attaining molecular and morphological axial polarity during gastrulation is a fundamental early requirement for normal development of the embryo. In mammals, the first morphological sign of the anterior-posterior axis appears anteriorly in the form of the anterior marginal crescent (or anterior visceral endoderm) while in the avian the first such sign is the Koller's sickle at the posterior pole of the embryonic disc. Despite this inverse mode of axis formation many genes and molecular pathways involved in various steps of this process seem to be evolutionary conserved amongst amniotes, the nodal gene being a well-known example with its functional involvement prior and during gastrulation. The pitx2 gene, however, is a new candidate described in the chick as an early marker for anterior-posterior polarity and as regulator of axis formation including twinning. To find out whether pitx2 has retained its inductive and early marker function during the evolution of mammals, this study analyzes pitx2 and nodal expression at parallel stages during formation of the anterior-posterior polarity in the early rabbit embryo using whole-mount in situ hybridization and serial light-microscopical sections. At a late pre-gastrulation stage a localized reduction of nodal expression presages the position of the anterior pole of the embryonic disc and thus serves as the earliest molecular marker of anterior-posterior polarity known so far. pitx2 is expressed in a polarized manner in the anterior marginal crescent and in the posterior half of the embryonic disc during further development only while nodal expression in the anterior segment of the posterior pitx2 expression domain helps to define the so-called anterior streak domain (ASD), a novel progenitor region of the anterior half of the primitive streak. The expression patterns of both genes thus serve as signs of a conserved involvement in early axis formation in amniotes and, possibly, in twinning in mammals as well. Copyright �

The role of elective nodal irradiation for esthesioneuroblastoma patients with clinically negative neck.

PubMed

Jiang, Wen; Mohamed, Abdallah S R; Fuller, Clifton David; Kim, Betty Y S; Tang, Chad; Gunn, G Brandon; Hanna, Ehab Y; Frank, Steven J; Su, Shirley Y; Diaz, Eduardo; Kupferman, Michael E; Beadle, Beth M; Morrison, William H; Skinner, Heath; Lai, Stephen Y; El-Naggar, Adel K; DeMonte, Franco; Rosenthal, David I; Garden, Adam S; Phan, Jack

2016-01-01

Although adjuvant radiation to the tumor bed has been reported to improve the clinic outcomes of esthesioneuroblastoma (ENB) patients, the role of elective neck irradiation (ENI) in clinically node-negative (N0) patients remains controversial. Here, we evaluated the effects of ENI on neck nodal relapse risk in ENB patients treated with radiation therapy as a component of multimodality treatment. Seventy-one N0 ENB patients irradiated at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center between 1970 and 2013 were identified. ENI was performed on 22 of these patients (31%). Survival analysis was performed with focus on comparative outcomes of those patients who did and did not receive ENI. The median follow-up time for our cohort is 80.8 months (range, 6-350 months). Among N0 patients, 13 (18.3%) developed neck nodal relapses, with a median time to progression of 62.5 months. None of these 13 patients received prophylactic neck irradiation. ENI was associated with significantly improved regional nodal control at 5 years (regional control rate of 100% for ENI vs 82%, P < .001), but not overall survival or disease-free survival. Eleven patients without ENI developed isolated neck recurrences. All had further treatment for their neck disease, including neck dissection (n = 10), radiation (n = 10), or chemotherapy (n = 5). Six of these 11 patients (54.5%) demonstrated no evidence of further recurrence with a median follow-up of 55.5 months. ENI significantly reduces the risk of cervical nodal recurrence in ENB patients with clinically N0 neck, but this did not translate to a survival benefit. Multimodality treatment for isolated neck recurrence provides a reasonable salvage rate. The greatest benefit for ENI appeared to be among younger patients who presented with Kadish C disease. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings. Copyright © 2016 American Society for Radiation Oncology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An Incremental High-Utility Mining Algorithm with Transaction Insertion

PubMed Central

Gan, Wensheng; Zhang, Binbin

2015-01-01

Association-rule mining is commonly used to discover useful and meaningful patterns from a very large database. It only considers the occurrence frequencies of items to reveal the relationships among itemsets. Traditional association-rule mining is, however, not suitable in real-world applications since the purchased items from a customer may have various factors, such as profit or quantity. High-utility mining was designed to solve the limitations of association-rule mining by considering both the quantity and profit measures. Most algorithms of high-utility mining are designed to handle the static database. Fewer researches handle the dynamic high-utility mining with transaction insertion, thus requiring the computations of database rescan and combination explosion of pattern-growth mechanism. In this paper, an efficient incremental algorithm with transaction insertion is designed to reduce computations without candidate generation based on the utility-list structures. The enumeration tree and the relationships between 2-itemsets are also adopted in the proposed algorithm to speed up the computations. Several experiments are conducted to show the performance of the proposed algorithm in terms of runtime, memory consumption, and number of generated patterns. PMID:25811038

Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Study on Dirac Nodal-line Semimetal ZrSiS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Su, Chih-Chuan; Guan, Syu-You; Wang, Tzu-Cheng; Sankar, Raman; Guo, Guang-Yu; Chou, Fangcheng; Chang, Chia-Seng; Chuang, Tien-Ming

The discovery of 3D Dirac nodal-line protected by non-symmophic symmetry in ZrSiS family has been reported by angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and quantum oscillation measurements. ZrSiS also exhibits a butterfly shaped titanic angular magnetoresistance and strong Zeeman splitting in quantum oscillation. These observations with its layered crystal structure make the ZrSiS family an interesting candidate to understand the novel properties of the nodal-line semimetals. Here, we study the electronic structures of the single crystal ZrSiS by using spectroscopic-imaging scanning tunneling microscope at T= 4.2K. Our quasiparticle scattering interference imaging reveals the characteristic wave vectors with linear dispersion from Dirac line nodes in the bulk and its surface states. Our results are in excellent agreement with the first principle calculation, and also in consistent with ARPES and quantum oscillation measurements.

The effect of viscosity on steady transonic flow with a nodal solution topology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Owocki, Stanley P.; Zank, Gary P.

1991-01-01

The effect of viscosity on a steady, transonic flow for which the inviscid limit has a nodal solution topology near the critical point is investigated. For the accelerating case, viscous solutions tend to repel each other, so that a very delicate choice of initial conditions is required to prevent them from diverging. Only the two critical solutions extend to arbitrarily large distances into both the subsonic and supersonic flows. For the decelerating case, the solutions tend to attract, and so an entire two-parameter family of solutions now extends over large distances. The general effect of viscosity on the solution degeneracy of a nodal topology is thus to reduce or limit it for the accelerating case and to enhance it for the decelerating case. The astrophysical implications of these findings are addressed.

Amyloid precursor protein at node of Ranvier modulates nodal formation

PubMed Central

Xu, De-En; Zhang, Wen-Min; Yang, Zara Zhuyun; Zhu, Hong-Mei; Yan, Ke; Li, Shao; Bagnard, Dominique; Dawe, Gavin S; Ma, Quan-Hong; Xiao, Zhi-Cheng

2014-01-01

Amyloid precursor protein (APP), commonly associated with Alzheimer disease, is upregulated and distributes evenly along the injured axons, and therefore, also known as a marker of demyelinating axonal injury and axonal degeneration. However, the physiological distribution and function of APP along myelinated axons was unknown. We report that APP aggregates at nodes of Ranvier (NOR) in the myelinated central nervous system (CNS) axons but not in the peripheral nervous system (PNS). At CNS NORs, APP expression co-localizes with tenascin-R and is flanked by juxtaparanodal potassium channel expression demonstrating that APP localized to NOR. In APP-knockout (KO) mice, nodal length is significantly increased, while sodium channels are still clustered at NORs. Moreover, APP KO and APP-overexpressing transgenic (APP TG) mice exhibited a decreased and an increased thickness of myelin in spinal cords, respectively, although the changes are limited in comparison to their littermate WT mice. The thickness of myelin in APP KO sciatic nerve also increased in comparison to that in WT mice. Our observations indicate that APP acts as a novel component at CNS NORs, modulating nodal formation and has minor effects in promoting myelination. PMID:25482638

Motion deficit in nodal interphalangeal joint osteoarthritis by digital goniometer in housewives.

PubMed

Ventura-Ríos, L; Hayes-Salinas, M; Ferrusquia-Toriz, D; Cariño-Escobar, R I; Cruz-Arenas, E; Gutiérrez-Martínez, J; González-Ramírez, L; Hernández-Díaz, C

2018-06-01

Range of motion (ROM) measured objectively in nodal hand osteoarthritis (NHOA) is missing. Evaluation of collateral ligaments by ultrasound (US) is unknown in NHOA also. To compare ROM in interphalangeal joints in housewives with nodal OA, with a control group by a digital system using angle to voltage (Multielgon). The second objective was to assess correlation between collateral radial and ulnar ligaments thickness and ROM. For this cross-sectional observational study, we assessed 60 hands with symptomatic NHOA and 30 hands of healthy housewives matched for age. We obtained clinical and demographic characteristics (a complete standardized physical examination of hand joints, DASH questionnaire, pain surveys, gross grasp hand goniometer, and ROM measurements by Multielgon. Presence of synovitis, power Doppler signal, osteophytes, and collateral ligaments thickness was evaluated by US. We used descriptive statistics, Spearman correlation, X 2 test, t test and odds ratio. Significant less gross grasp and ROM in the right hand were observed in NHOA (p = 0.01 for both). Presence of OA, painful joints, disease duration, and score DASH were significant correlated with reduced ROM (OR 4.12, 4.12, 1.04 and 1.09, respectively). Reduced ROM was statistical significant in thumb MCP and IP joints, second and third DIP in dominant hand. There was no association between collateral radial and ulnar ligaments and reduced ROM. Synovitis and osteophytes were more prevalent in OA group. Multielgon demonstrated the pattern of reduced ROM in nodal OA of housewives particularly in MCP and IP thumb joints, second and third distal interphalangeal joints.

Three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: is elective nodal irradiation necessary?

PubMed

Zhao, Kuai-le; Ma, Jin-bo; Liu, Guang; Wu, Kai-liang; Shi, Xue-hui; Jiang, Guo-liang

2010-02-01

To evaluate the local control, survival, and toxicity associated with three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) for squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the esophagus, to determine the appropriate target volumes, and to determine whether elective nodal irradiation is necessary in these patients. A prospective study of 3D-CRT was undertaken in patients with esophageal SCC without distant metastases. Patients received 68.4 Gy in 41 fractions over 44 days using late-course accelerated hyperfractionated 3D-CRT. Only the primary tumor and positive lymph nodes were irradiated. Isolated out-of-field regional nodal recurrence was defined as a recurrence in an initially uninvolved regional lymph node. All 53 patients who made up the study population tolerated the irradiation well. No acute or late Grade 4 or 5 toxicity was observed. The median survival time was 30 months (95% confidence interval, 17.7-41.8). The overall survival rate at 1, 2, and 3 years was 77%, 56%, and 41%, respectively. The local control rate at 1, 2, and 3 years was 83%, 74%, and 62%, respectively. Thirty-nine of the 53 patients (74%) showed treatment failure. Seventeen of the 39 (44%) developed an in-field recurrence, 18 (46%) distant metastasis with or without regional failure, and 3 (8%) an isolated out-of-field nodal recurrence only. One patient died of disease in an unknown location. In patients treated with 3D-CRT for esophageal SCC, the omission of elective nodal irradiation was not associated with a significant amount of failure in lymph node regions not included in the planning target volume. Local failure and distant metastases remained the predominant problems. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

F18 FDG positron emission tomography revelation of primary testicular lymphoma with concurrent multiple extra nodal involvement

PubMed Central

Vamsy, Mohana; Dattatreya, PS; Parakh, Megha; Dayal, Monal; Rao, VVS Prabhakar

2013-01-01

Primary testicular lymphoma (PTL) a relatively rare disease of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas occurring with a lesser incidence of 1-2% has a propensity to occur at later ages above 50 years. PTL spreads to extra nodal sites due to deficiency of extra cellular adhesion molecules. We present detection of multiple sites of extra nodal involvement of PTL by F-18 positron emission tomography/computed tomography study aiding early detection of the dissemination thus aiding in staging and management. PMID:24019676

An amphioxus nodal gene (AmphiNodal) with early symmetrical expression in the organizer and mesoderm and later asymmetrical expression associated with left-right axis formation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yu, Jr-Kai; Holland, Linda Z.; Holland, Nicholas D.

2002-01-01

The full-length sequence and zygotic expression of an amphioxus nodal gene are described. Expression is first detected in the early gastrula just within the dorsal lip of the blastopore in a region of hypoblast that is probably comparable with the vertebrate Spemann's organizer. In the late gastrula and early neurula, expression remains bilaterally symmetrical, limited to paraxial mesoderm and immediately overlying regions of the neural plate. Later in the neurula stage, all neural expression disappears, and mesodermal expression disappears from the right side. All along the left side of the neurula, mesodermal expression spreads into the left side of the gut endoderm. Soon thereafter, all expression is down-regulated except near the anterior and posterior ends of the animal, where transcripts are still found in the mesoderm and endoderm on the left side. At this time, expression also begins in the ectoderm on the left side of the head, in the region where the mouth later forms. These results suggest that amphioxus and vertebrate nodal genes play evolutionarily conserved roles in establishing Spemann's organizer, patterning the mesoderm rostrocaudally and setting up the asymmetrical left-right axis of the body.

Nodal enhances the activity of FoxO3a and its synergistic interaction with Smads to regulate cyclin G2 transcription in ovarian cancer cells.

PubMed

Fu, G; Peng, C

2011-09-15

Nodal, a member of the transforming growth factor-β superfamily, has been recently shown to suppress cell proliferation and to stimulate the expression of cyclin G2 (CCNG2) in human epithelial ovarian cancer cells. However, the precise mechanisms underlying these events are not fully understood. In this study, we investigated the transcriptional regulation of CCNG2 by the Nodal signaling pathway. In ovarian cancer cells, overexpression of Nodal or its receptors, activin receptor-like kinase 7 (ALK7) or ALK4, resulted in an increase in the CCNG2 promoter activity. Several putative Forkhead box class O (FoxO)3a-binding sites are present in the human CCNG2 promoter and overexpression of FoxO3a enhanced the CCNG2 promoter activity. The functional FoxO3a-binding element (FBE) was mapped to a proximal region located between -398 and -380 bp (FBE1) through deletion and mutation analyses, as well as chromatin immunoprecipitation (IP) assay. Interestingly, mutation of the FBE1 not only abolished the effect of FoxO3a, but also blocked Nodal-induced CCNG2 transcription. Nodal stimulated FoxO3a mRNA and protein expression through the canonical Smad pathway and suppressed FoxO3a inactivation by inhibiting AKT activity. Silencing of FoxO3a using small interfering RNA significantly reduced the effect of Nodal on the CCNG2 promoter activity. On the other hand, overexpression of Smad2 and Smad3 enhanced the FoxO3a-induced CCNG2 promoter activity whereas knockdown of Smad4 blocked the activity of FoxO3a. Furthermore, IP assays revealed that FoxO3a formed complexes with Smad proteins and that Nodal enhanced the binding of FoxO3a to the CCNG2 promoter. Finally, silencing of FoxO3a reversed the inhibitory effect of Nodal on cell proliferation. Taken together, these findings demonstrated that Nodal signaling promotes CCNG2 transcription by upregulating FoxO3a expression, inhibiting FoxO3a phosphorylation and enhancing its synergistic interaction with Smads. These results also suggest

Birkhoffian symplectic algorithms derived from Hamiltonian symplectic algorithms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xin-Lei, Kong; Hui-Bin, Wu; Feng-Xiang, Mei

2016-01-01

In this paper, we focus on the construction of structure preserving algorithms for Birkhoffian systems, based on existing symplectic schemes for the Hamiltonian equations. The key of the method is to seek an invertible transformation which drives the Birkhoffian equations reduce to the Hamiltonian equations. When there exists such a transformation, applying the corresponding inverse map to symplectic discretization of the Hamiltonian equations, then resulting difference schemes are verified to be Birkhoffian symplectic for the original Birkhoffian equations. To illustrate the operation process of the method, we construct several desirable algorithms for the linear damped oscillator and the single pendulum with linear dissipation respectively. All of them exhibit excellent numerical behavior, especially in preserving conserved quantities. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11272050), the Excellent Young Teachers Program of North China University of Technology (Grant No. XN132), and the Construction Plan for Innovative Research Team of North China University of Technology (Grant No. XN129).

Association of Nodal Metastasis and Mortality With Vermilion vs Cutaneous Lip Location in Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Lip.

PubMed

Wang, David M; Kraft, Stefan; Rohani, Pooyan; Murphy, George F; Besaw, Robert J; Karia, Pritesh S; Morgan, Frederick C; Schmults, Chrysalyne D

2018-06-01

Although the lip is considered a high-risk location in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC), it has not been established whether this risk stems from vermilion or cutaneous locations or both. To compare differences in risks of recurrence, metastasis, and death from cSCCs on the vermilion vs cutaneous lip. Retrospective cohort study of 303 patients with 310 primary cSCCs of the lip (138 cutaneous, 172 vermilion) diagnosed between 2000 and 2015 at 2 academic tertiary care centers in Boston, Massachusetts. Development of local recurrence, nodal metastasis, distant metastasis, disease-specific death, and all-cause death. Of the 303 study participants with 310 SCCs of the lip, 153 (50.5%) were men, and 150 (49.5%) were women; median age at diagnosis, 68 years (range, 27-93 years). Outcomes were as follows for vermilion vs cutaneous locations: local recurrence, 6.4% (11 of 172) vs 2.9% (4 of 138); nodal metastasis, 7.6% (13 of 172) vs 1.5% (2 of 138); distant metastasis, 0.6% (1 of 172) vs 0.7% (1 of 138); disease-specific death, 3.5% (6 of 172) vs 2.9% (4 of 138); and all-cause death, 26.7% (46 of 172) vs 29.0% (40 of 138). The difference was statistically significant for nodal metastasis (P = .01). In multivariable analysis, nodal metastasis was associated with vermilion lip location (subhazard ratio, 5.0; 95% CI, 1.1-23.8) and invasion beyond fat (fascia or beyond for vermilion lip) (subhazard ratio, 4.4; 95% CI, 1.3-14.9). The risk of nodal metastasis is 5-fold greater for cSCCs on the vermilion lip compared with those on the cutaneous lip. Squamous cell carcinomas of the cutaneous lip have a nodal metastasis risk similar to cSCCs in general (1.5%). Thus, vermilion involvement appears responsible for the increased risk associated with cSCC of lip. Vermilion involvement may merit radiologic nodal staging and inclusion in future tumor staging, since it was independently associated with higher-risk cSCC of the lip region.

Left-right asymmetry in the level of active Nodal protein produced in the node is translated into left-right asymmetry in the lateral plate of mouse embryos.

PubMed

Kawasumi, Aiko; Nakamura, Tetsuya; Iwai, Naomi; Yashiro, Kenta; Saijoh, Yukio; Belo, Jose Antonio; Shiratori, Hidetaka; Hamada, Hiroshi

2011-05-15

Left-right (L-R) asymmetry in the mouse embryo is generated in the node and is dependent on cilia-driven fluid flow, but how the initial asymmetry is transmitted from the node to the lateral plate has remained unknown. We have now identified a transcriptional enhancer (ANE) in the human LEFTY1 gene that exhibits marked L>R asymmetric activity in perinodal cells of the mouse embryo. Dissection of ANE revealed that it is activated in the perinodal cells on the left side by Nodal signaling, suggesting that Nodal activity in the node is asymmetric at a time when Nodal expression is symmetric. Phosphorylated Smad2/3 (pSmad2) indeed manifested an L-R asymmetric distribution at the node, being detected in perinodal cells preferentially on the left side. This asymmetry in pSmad2 distribution was found to be generated not by unidirectional transport of Nodal but rather as a result of LNodal antagonist Cerl2. For various mutant embryos examined, the asymmetry in pSmad2 distribution among the perinodal cells closely matched that in lateral plate mesoderm (LPM). However, autocrine-paracrine Nodal signaling in perinodal cells is dispensable for L-R patterning of LPM, given that its inhibition by expression of dominant negative forms of Smad3 or ALK4 was still associated with normal (left-sided) Nodal expression in LPM. Our results suggest that LPM is the direct target of Nodal secreted by the perinodal cells, and that an L>R distribution of active Nodal in the node is translated into the asymmetry in LPM. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Coexistence of tunable Weyl points and topological nodal lines in ternary transition-metal telluride TaIrT e4

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Xiaoqing; Liu, Qihang; Wu, QuanSheng; Nummy, Tom; Li, Haoxiang; Griffith, Justin; Parham, Stephen; Waugh, Justin; Emmanouilidou, Eve; Shen, Bing; Yazyev, Oleg V.; Ni, Ni; Dessau, Daniel

2018-06-01

We report a combined theoretical and experimental study on TaIrT e4 , a potential candidate for a minimal model of type-II Weyl semimetals. Unexpectedly, an intriguing node structure with 12 Weyl points and a pair of nodal lines protected by mirror symmetry was found by first-principles calculations. Some signatures of the complex electronic structure, such as topologically nontrivial band crossings and topologically trivial Fermi arcs, are cross-validated by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. Through external strain, the number of Weyl points can be reduced to a theoretical minimum of four, and the appearance of the nodal lines can be switched between different mirror planes in momentum space. The coexistence of switchable Weyl points and nodal lines establishes transition-metal chalcogenides as a unique test ground for topological state characterization and engineering.

Potential clinical value of PET/CT in predicting occult nodal metastasis in T1-T2N0M0 lung cancer patients staged by PET/CT

PubMed Central

Zhou, Xiang; Chen, Ruohua; Huang, Gang; Liu, Jianjun

2017-01-01

We assessed the clinical value of 2-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose (18F-FDG) PET/CT imaging for predicting occult nodal metastasis in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. This retrospective study included 54 patients with T1-2N0M0 NSCLC who had undergone 18F-FDG PET/CT before surgery. Occult nodal metastasis was detected in 25.9% (14/54) of the patients. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that increased glucose transporter 1 expression was associated with occult nodal metastasis, but hexokinase 2 expression was not. Compared to the negative nodal metastasis group, the positive nodal metastasis group was associated with increased maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) and tumor size. Multivariate analysis indicated that SUVmax and tumor size were associated with nodal metastasis. Nodal metastasis could be predicted with a sensitivity of 92.9% and a specificity of 55.0% when the SUVmax cutoff was 4.35. When patients were divided into low-risk (tumor size ≤ 2.5 cm and SUVmax ≤ 4.35), moderate-risk (tumor size ≤ 2.5 cm and SUVmax > 4.35 or tumor size > 2.5 cm and SUVmax ≤ 4.35) and high-risk (tumor size > 2.5 cm and SUVmax > 4.35) groups, the lymph node metastasis rates were 4.3%, 22.7%, and 88.9%, respectively. These results indicate that the combination of SUVmax and tumor size has potential clinical value for predicting occult nodal metastasis in NSCLC patients. PMID:29137276

A novel harmony search-K means hybrid algorithm for clustering gene expression data

PubMed Central

Nazeer, KA Abdul; Sebastian, MP; Kumar, SD Madhu

2013-01-01

Recent progress in bioinformatics research has led to the accumulation of huge quantities of biological data at various data sources. The DNA microarray technology makes it possible to simultaneously analyze large number of genes across different samples. Clustering of microarray data can reveal the hidden gene expression patterns from large quantities of expression data that in turn offers tremendous possibilities in functional genomics, comparative genomics, disease diagnosis and drug development. The k- ¬means clustering algorithm is widely used for many practical applications. But the original k-¬means algorithm has several drawbacks. It is computationally expensive and generates locally optimal solutions based on the random choice of the initial centroids. Several methods have been proposed in the literature for improving the performance of the k-¬means algorithm. A meta-heuristic optimization algorithm named harmony search helps find out near-global optimal solutions by searching the entire solution space. Low clustering accuracy of the existing algorithms limits their use in many crucial applications of life sciences. In this paper we propose a novel Harmony Search-K means Hybrid (HSKH) algorithm for clustering the gene expression data. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm produces clusters with better accuracy in comparison with the existing algorithms. PMID:23390351

A novel harmony search-K means hybrid algorithm for clustering gene expression data.

PubMed

Nazeer, Ka Abdul; Sebastian, Mp; Kumar, Sd Madhu

2013-01-01

Recent progress in bioinformatics research has led to the accumulation of huge quantities of biological data at various data sources. The DNA microarray technology makes it possible to simultaneously analyze large number of genes across different samples. Clustering of microarray data can reveal the hidden gene expression patterns from large quantities of expression data that in turn offers tremendous possibilities in functional genomics, comparative genomics, disease diagnosis and drug development. The k- ¬means clustering algorithm is widely used for many practical applications. But the original k-¬means algorithm has several drawbacks. It is computationally expensive and generates locally optimal solutions based on the random choice of the initial centroids. Several methods have been proposed in the literature for improving the performance of the k-¬means algorithm. A meta-heuristic optimization algorithm named harmony search helps find out near-global optimal solutions by searching the entire solution space. Low clustering accuracy of the existing algorithms limits their use in many crucial applications of life sciences. In this paper we propose a novel Harmony Search-K means Hybrid (HSKH) algorithm for clustering the gene expression data. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm produces clusters with better accuracy in comparison with the existing algorithms.

From nodal-ring topological superfluids to spiral Majorana modes in cold atomic systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Wen-Yu; Xu, Dong-Hui; Zhou, Benjamin T.; Zhou, Qi; Law, K. T.

2018-04-01

In this work, we consider a three-dimensional (3D) cubic optical lattice composed of coupled 1D wires with 1D spin-orbit coupling. When the s -wave pairing is induced through Feshbach resonance, the system becomes a topological superfluid with ring nodes, which are the ring nodal degeneracies in the bulk, and supports a large number of surface Majorana zero-energy modes. The large number of surface Majorana modes remain at zero energy even in the presence of disorder due to the protection from a chiral symmetry. When the chiral symmetry is broken, the system becomes a Weyl topological superfluid with Majorana arcs. With 3D spin-orbit coupling, the Weyl superfluid becomes a gapless phase with spiral Majorana modes on the surface. A spatial-resolved radio-frequency spectroscopy is suggested to detect this nodal-ring topological superfluid phase.

From cluster structures to nuclear molecules: The role of nodal structure of the single-particle wave functions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Afanasjev, A. V.; Abusara, H.

2018-02-01

The nodal structure of the density distributions of the single-particle states occupied in rod-shaped, hyper- and megadeformed structures of nonrotating and rotating N ˜Z nuclei has been investigated in detail. The single-particle states with the Nilsson quantum numbers of the [N N 0 ]1 /2 (with N from 0 to 5) and [N ,N -1 ,1 ]Ω (with N from 1 to 3 and Ω =1 /2 , 3/2) types are considered. These states are building blocks of extremely deformed shapes in the nuclei with mass numbers A ≤50 . Because of (near) axial symmetry and large elongation of such structures, the wave functions of the single-particle states occupied are dominated by a single basis state in cylindrical basis. This basis state defines the nodal structure of the single-particle density distribution. The nodal structure of the single-particle density distributions allows us to understand in a relatively simple way the necessary conditions for α clusterization and the suppression of the α clusterization with the increase of mass number. It also explains in a natural way the coexistence of ellipsoidal mean-field-type structures and nuclear molecules at similar excitation energies and the features of particle-hole excitations connecting these two types of the structures. Our analysis of the nodal structure of the single-particle density distributions does not support the existence of quantum liquid phase for the deformations and nuclei under study.

Identification of nodal tissue in the living heart using rapid scanning fiber-optics confocal microscopy and extracellular fluorophores.

PubMed

Huang, Chao; Kaza, Aditya K; Hitchcock, Robert W; Sachse, Frank B

2013-09-01

Risks associated with pediatric reconstructive heart surgery include injury of the sinoatrial node (SAN) and atrioventricular node (AVN), requiring cardiac rhythm management using implantable pacemakers. These injuries are the result of difficulties in identifying nodal tissues intraoperatively. Here we describe an approach based on confocal microscopy and extracellular fluorophores to quantify tissue microstructure and identify nodal tissue. Using conventional 3-dimensional confocal microscopy we investigated the microstructural arrangement of SAN, AVN, and atrial working myocardium (AWM) in fixed rat heart. AWM exhibited a regular striated arrangement of the extracellular space. In contrast, SAN and AVN had an irregular, reticulated arrangement. AWM, SAN, and AVN tissues were beneath a thin surface layer of tissue that did not obstruct confocal microscopic imaging. Subsequently, we imaged tissues in living rat hearts with real-time fiber-optics confocal microscopy. Fiber-optics confocal microscopy images resembled images acquired with conventional confocal microscopy. We investigated spatial regularity of tissue microstructure from Fourier analysis and second-order image moments. Fourier analysis of fiber-optics confocal microscopy images showed that the spatial regularity of AWM was greater than that of nodal tissues (37.5 ± 5.0% versus 24.3 ± 3.9% for SAN and 23.8 ± 3.7% for AVN; P<0.05). Similar differences of spatial regularities were revealed from second-order image moments (50.0 ± 7.3% for AWM versus 29.3 ± 6.7% for SAN and 27.3 ± 5.5% for AVN; P<0.05). The study demonstrates feasibility of identifying nodal tissue in living heart using extracellular fluorophores and fiber-optics confocal microscopy. Application of the approach in pediatric reconstructive heart surgery may reduce risks of injuring nodal tissues.

A penalty-based nodal discontinuous Galerkin method for spontaneous rupture dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ye, R.; De Hoop, M. V.; Kumar, K.

2017-12-01

Numerical simulation of the dynamic rupture processes with slip is critical to understand the earthquake source process and the generation of ground motions. However, it can be challenging due to the nonlinear friction laws interacting with seismicity, coupled with the discontinuous boundary conditions across the rupture plane. In practice, the inhomogeneities in topography, fault geometry, elastic parameters and permiability add extra complexity. We develop a nodal discontinuous Galerkin method to simulate seismic wave phenomenon with slipping boundary conditions, including the fluid-solid boundaries and ruptures. By introducing a novel penalty flux, we avoid solving Riemann problems on interfaces, which makes our method capable for general anisotropic and poro-elastic materials. Based on unstructured tetrahedral meshes in 3D, the code can capture various geometries in geological model, and use polynomial expansion to achieve high-order accuracy. We consider the rate and state friction law, in the spontaneous rupture dynamics, as part of a nonlinear transmitting boundary condition, which is weakly enforced across the fault surface as numerical flux. An iterative coupling scheme is developed based on implicit time stepping, containing a constrained optimization process that accounts for the nonlinear part. To validate the method, we proof the convergence of the coupled system with error estimates. We test our algorithm on a well-established numerical example (TPV102) of the SCEC/USGS Spontaneous Rupture Code Verification Project, and benchmark with the simulation of PyLith and SPECFEM3D with agreeable results.

Radiofrequency ablation versus cryoablation for atrioventricular nodal re-entrant tachycardia in children: a value comparison.

PubMed

Oster, Matthew E; Yang, Zhou; Stewart-Huey, Kay; Glanville, Michelle; Porter, Arlene; Campbell, Robert; Webb, Brad; Strieper, Margaret

2017-03-01

It is unclear whether cryoablation or radiofrequency ablation offers better value for treating atrioventricular nodal re-entrant tachycardia in children. We aimed to compare the value of these procedures for treating atrioventricular nodal re-entrant tachycardia in children, with value being outcomes relative to costs. We performed a retrospective cohort study of all atrioventricular nodal re-entrant tachycardia ablations for children (age⩽18 years) from July, 2009 to June, 2011 at our institution. Costs included fixed costs, miscellaneous hospital costs, and labour costs, and key outcomes were acute and long-term success (6 months) of the ablations. We conducted T-tests and regression analyses to investigate the associations between the ablation procedure type and the cost and success of the ablations. Of 96 unique cases performed by three paediatric electrophysiologists, 48 were cryoablation only, 42 radiofrequency ablation only, and six were a combination. Acute success was 100% for the cryoablation only and radiofrequency ablation only cases and 83% for the combination cases. There were no notable adverse events. The average total cost was $9636 for cryoablation cases, $9708 for radiofrequency ablation cases, and $10,967 for combination cases (p=0.51 for cryoablation only versus radiofrequency ablation only). The long-term success rate was 79.1% for cryoablation only, 92.8% for radiofrequency ablation only, and 66.7% for the combination (p=0.01 for cryoablation only versus radiofrequency ablation only), but long-term success varied notably by provider. Cryoablation and radiofrequency ablation offer similar value in the short term for the treatment of atrioventricular nodal re-entrant tachycardia in children. Differences in long-term success may vary substantially by physician, and thus may lead to differences in long-term value.

Nodal aberration theory applied to freeform surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fuerschbach, Kyle; Rolland, Jannick P.; Thompson, Kevin P.

2014-12-01

When new three-dimensional packages are developed for imaging optical systems, the rotational symmetry of the optical system is often broken, changing its imaging behavior and making the optical performance worse. A method to restore the performance is to use freeform optical surfaces that compensate directly the aberrations introduced from tilting and decentering the optical surfaces. In order to effectively optimize the shape of a freeform surface to restore optical functionality, it is helpful to understand the aberration effect the surface may induce. Using nodal aberration theory the aberration fields induced by a freeform surface in an optical system are explored. These theoretical predications are experimentally validated with the design and implementation of an aberration generating telescope.

Identification of lesion and nodal resistance in pea (Pisum sativum L.) to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum using genome-wide association studies and RNA-Seq

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Nodal resistance in plants is a phenomenon where a fungal infection is prevented from passing through a node and the infection is limited to an internode region. Nodal resistance has been observed in some pathosystems such as the pea (Pisum sativum L.)-white mold (WM) (Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib....

Pelvic Nodal Dosing With Registration to the Prostate: Implications for High-Risk Prostate Cancer Patients Receiving Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy

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

Kishan, Amar U., E-mail: aukishan@mednet.ucla.edu; Lamb, James M.; Jani, Shyam S.

2015-03-15

Purpose: To determine whether image guidance with rigid registration (RR) to intraprostatic markers (IPMs) yields acceptable coverage of the pelvic lymph nodes in the context of a stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) regimen. Methods and Materials: Four to seven kilovoltage cone-beam CTs (CBCTs) from 12 patients with high-risk prostate cancer were analyzed, allowing approximation of an SBRT regimen. The nodal clinical target volume (CTV{sub N}) and bladder were contoured on all kilovoltage CBCTs. The V{sub 100} CTV{sub N}, expressed as a ratio to the same parameter on the initial plan, and the magnitude of translational shift between RR to themore » IPMs versus RR to the pelvic bones, were computed. The ability of a multimodality bladder filling protocol to minimize bladder height variation was assessed in a separate cohort of 4 patients. Results: Sixty-five CBCTs were assessed. The average V{sub 100} CTV{sub N} was 92.6%, but for a subset of 3 patients the average was 80.0%, compared with 97.8% for the others (P<.0001). The average overall and superior–inferior axis magnitudes of the bony-to-fiducial translations were significantly larger in the subgroup with suboptimal nodal coverage (8.1 vs 3.9 mm and 5.8 vs 2.4 mm, respectively; P<.0001). Relative bladder height changes were also significantly larger in the subgroup with suboptimal nodal coverage (42.9% vs 18.5%; P<.05). Use of a multimodality bladder-filling protocol minimized bladder height variation (P<.001). Conclusion: A majority of patients had acceptable nodal coverage after RR to IPMs, even when approximating SBRT. However, a subset of patients had suboptimal nodal coverage. These patients had large bony-to-fiducial translations and large variations in bladder height. Nodal coverage should be excellent if the superior–inferior axis bony-to-fiducial translation and the relative bladder height change (both easily measured on CBCT) are kept to a minimum. Implementation of a strict bladder

Differential membranous E-cadherin expression, cell proliferation and O-GlcNAcylation between primary and metastatic nodal lesion in colorectal cancer.

PubMed

Jang, Tae Jung

2016-02-01

O-GlcNAcylation is an O-linked β-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) moiety linked to the side chain hydroxyl of a serine or threonine residue. The E-cadherin/β-catenin system, an integral component of epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT)/mesenchymal to epithelial transition (MET), is affected through O-GlcNAcylation. The current study examined the status of EMT/MET in both the tumor center and invasive front of the primary colorectal carcinoma (CRC) and metastatic nodal lesions, which were compared to O-GlcNAcylation expression levels in those areas. In addition, the cliniopathological significance of O-GlcNAcylation was studied Immunohistochemical staining for E-cadherin, β-catenin, Snail, O-GlcNAc and Ki67 was performed in 40 primary CRC tissues, 40 nonneoplastic colons, and 17 nodal metastatic lesions. Western blot was also conducted in primary CRC tissue Membranous E-cadherin expression was lowest in the invasive front, but showed greater increases in metastatic nodal lesions. Moreover, its expression level was negatively correlated with that of nuclear β-catenin and Snail. The Ki67 labeling index (LI) was lowest in the invasive front, and increased in metastatic nodal lesions. Primary CRC showed higher expression of O-GlcNAcylation and O-GlcNAc-transferase (OGT) than nonneoplastic colons. O-GlcNAcylation expression decreased in metastatic nodal lesions compared to the invasive front and tumor center, and was inversely correlated with Ki67 LI. However, O-GlcNAcylation expression was only slightly changed between tumor center and invasive front. In addition, there was no correlation between its expression and the level of nuclear β-catenin, membranous E-cadherin and Snail. No significant relationship was observed between O-GlcNAcylation level and cliniopathological parameters. Differential membranous E-cadherin expression, cell proliferation and O-GlcNAcylation in metastatic nodal lesion compared to primary CRC may play role in establishing its lesions

Quantity Stickiness versus Stackelberg Leadership

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferreira, F. A.

2008-10-01

We study the endogenous Stackelberg relations in a dynamic market. We analyze a twice-repeated duopoly where, in the beginning, each firm chooses either a quantity-sticky production mode or a quantity-flexible production mode. The size of the market becomes observable after the first period. In the second period, a firm can adjust its quantity if, and only if, it has adopted the flexible mode. Hence, if one firm chooses the sticky mode whilst the other chooses the flexible mode, then they respectively play the roles of a Stackelberg leader and a Stackelberg follower in the second marketing period. We compute the supply quantities at equilibrium and the corresponding expected profits of the firms. We also analyze the effect of the slope parameter of the demand curve on the expected supply quantities and on the profits.

Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy for the Treatment of Squamous Cell Anal Cancer With Para-aortic Nodal Involvement

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

Hodges, Joseph C.; Das, Prajnan, E-mail: PrajDas@mdanderson.or; Eng, Cathy

2009-11-01

Purpose: To determine the rates of toxicity, locoregional control, distant control, and survival in anal cancer patients with para-aortic nodal involvement, treated with intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and concurrent chemotherapy at a single institution. Methods and Materials: Between 2001 and 2007, 6 patients with squamous cell anal cancer and para-aortic nodal involvement were treated with IMRT and concurrent infusional 5-fluorouracil and cisplatin. The primary tumor was treated with a median dose of 57.5 Gy (range, 54-60 Gy), involved para-aortic, pelvic, and inguinal lymph nodes were treated with a median dose of 55 Gy (range, 50.5-55 Gy), and noninvolved nodal regions weremore » treated with a median dose of 45 Gy (range, 43.5-45 Gy). Results: After a median follow-up of 25 months, none of the patients had a recurrence at the primary tumor, pelvic/inguinal nodes, or para-aortic nodes, whereas 2 patients developed distant metastases to the liver. Four of the 6 patients are alive. The 3-year actuarial locoregional control, distant control, and overall survival rates were 100%, 56%, and 63%, respectively. Four of the 6 patients developed Grade 3 acute gastrointestinal toxicity during chemoradiation. Conclusions: Intensity-modulated radiotherapy and concurrent chemotherapy could potentially serve as definitive therapy in anal cancer patients with para-aortic nodal involvement. Adjuvant chemotherapy may be indicated in these patients, as demonstrated by the distant failure rates. These patients need to be followed carefully because of the potential for treatment-related toxicities.« less

Nodal-line dynamics via exact polynomial solutions for coherent waves traversing aberrated imaging systems.

PubMed

Paganin, David M; Beltran, Mario A; Petersen, Timothy C

2018-03-01

We obtain exact polynomial solutions for two-dimensional coherent complex scalar fields propagating through arbitrary aberrated shift-invariant linear imaging systems. These solutions are used to model nodal-line dynamics of coherent fields output by such systems.

Diagnostic Assessment of Deep Learning Algorithms for Detection of Lymph Node Metastases in Women With Breast Cancer

PubMed Central

Veta, Mitko; Johannes van Diest, Paul; van Ginneken, Bram; Karssemeijer, Nico; Litjens, Geert; van der Laak, Jeroen A. W. M.; Hermsen, Meyke; Manson, Quirine F; Balkenhol, Maschenka; Geessink, Oscar; Stathonikos, Nikolaos; van Dijk, Marcory CRF; Bult, Peter; Beca, Francisco; Beck, Andrew H; Wang, Dayong; Khosla, Aditya; Gargeya, Rishab; Irshad, Humayun; Zhong, Aoxiao; Dou, Qi; Li, Quanzheng; Chen, Hao; Lin, Huang-Jing; Heng, Pheng-Ann; Haß, Christian; Bruni, Elia; Wong, Quincy; Halici, Ugur; Öner, Mustafa Ümit; Cetin-Atalay, Rengul; Berseth, Matt; Khvatkov, Vitali; Vylegzhanin, Alexei; Kraus, Oren; Shaban, Muhammad; Rajpoot, Nasir; Awan, Ruqayya; Sirinukunwattana, Korsuk; Qaiser, Talha; Tsang, Yee-Wah; Tellez, David; Annuscheit, Jonas; Hufnagl, Peter; Valkonen, Mira; Kartasalo, Kimmo; Latonen, Leena; Ruusuvuori, Pekka; Liimatainen, Kaisa; Albarqouni, Shadi; Mungal, Bharti; George, Ami; Demirci, Stefanie; Navab, Nassir; Watanabe, Seiryo; Seno, Shigeto; Takenaka, Yoichi; Matsuda, Hideo; Ahmady Phoulady, Hady; Kovalev, Vassili; Kalinovsky, Alexander; Liauchuk, Vitali; Bueno, Gloria; Fernandez-Carrobles, M. Milagro; Serrano, Ismael; Deniz, Oscar; Racoceanu, Daniel; Venâncio, Rui

2017-01-01

Importance Application of deep learning algorithms to whole-slide pathology images can potentially improve diagnostic accuracy and efficiency. Objective Assess the performance of automated deep learning algorithms at detecting metastases in hematoxylin and eosin–stained tissue sections of lymph nodes of women with breast cancer and compare it with pathologists’ diagnoses in a diagnostic setting. Design, Setting, and Participants Researcher challenge competition (CAMELYON16) to develop automated solutions for detecting lymph node metastases (November 2015-November 2016). A training data set of whole-slide images from 2 centers in the Netherlands with (n = 110) and without (n = 160) nodal metastases verified by immunohistochemical staining were provided to challenge participants to build algorithms. Algorithm performance was evaluated in an independent test set of 129 whole-slide images (49 with and 80 without metastases). The same test set of corresponding glass slides was also evaluated by a panel of 11 pathologists with time constraint (WTC) from the Netherlands to ascertain likelihood of nodal metastases for each slide in a flexible 2-hour session, simulating routine pathology workflow, and by 1 pathologist without time constraint (WOTC). Exposures Deep learning algorithms submitted as part of a challenge competition or pathologist interpretation. Main Outcomes and Measures The presence of specific metastatic foci and the absence vs presence of lymph node metastasis in a slide or image using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. The 11 pathologists participating in the simulation exercise rated their diagnostic confidence as definitely normal, probably normal, equivocal, probably tumor, or definitely tumor. Results The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) for the algorithms ranged from 0.556 to 0.994. The top-performing algorithm achieved a lesion-level, true-positive fraction comparable with that of the pathologist

Diagnostic Assessment of Deep Learning Algorithms for Detection of Lymph Node Metastases in Women With Breast Cancer.

PubMed

Ehteshami Bejnordi, Babak; Veta, Mitko; Johannes van Diest, Paul; van Ginneken, Bram; Karssemeijer, Nico; Litjens, Geert; van der Laak, Jeroen A W M; Hermsen, Meyke; Manson, Quirine F; Balkenhol, Maschenka; Geessink, Oscar; Stathonikos, Nikolaos; van Dijk, Marcory Crf; Bult, Peter; Beca, Francisco; Beck, Andrew H; Wang, Dayong; Khosla, Aditya; Gargeya, Rishab; Irshad, Humayun; Zhong, Aoxiao; Dou, Qi; Li, Quanzheng; Chen, Hao; Lin, Huang-Jing; Heng, Pheng-Ann; Haß, Christian; Bruni, Elia; Wong, Quincy; Halici, Ugur; Öner, Mustafa Ümit; Cetin-Atalay, Rengul; Berseth, Matt; Khvatkov, Vitali; Vylegzhanin, Alexei; Kraus, Oren; Shaban, Muhammad; Rajpoot, Nasir; Awan, Ruqayya; Sirinukunwattana, Korsuk; Qaiser, Talha; Tsang, Yee-Wah; Tellez, David; Annuscheit, Jonas; Hufnagl, Peter; Valkonen, Mira; Kartasalo, Kimmo; Latonen, Leena; Ruusuvuori, Pekka; Liimatainen, Kaisa; Albarqouni, Shadi; Mungal, Bharti; George, Ami; Demirci, Stefanie; Navab, Nassir; Watanabe, Seiryo; Seno, Shigeto; Takenaka, Yoichi; Matsuda, Hideo; Ahmady Phoulady, Hady; Kovalev, Vassili; Kalinovsky, Alexander; Liauchuk, Vitali; Bueno, Gloria; Fernandez-Carrobles, M Milagro; Serrano, Ismael; Deniz, Oscar; Racoceanu, Daniel; Venâncio, Rui

2017-12-12

Application of deep learning algorithms to whole-slide pathology images can potentially improve diagnostic accuracy and efficiency. Assess the performance of automated deep learning algorithms at detecting metastases in hematoxylin and eosin-stained tissue sections of lymph nodes of women with breast cancer and compare it with pathologists' diagnoses in a diagnostic setting. Researcher challenge competition (CAMELYON16) to develop automated solutions for detecting lymph node metastases (November 2015-November 2016). A training data set of whole-slide images from 2 centers in the Netherlands with (n = 110) and without (n = 160) nodal metastases verified by immunohistochemical staining were provided to challenge participants to build algorithms. Algorithm performance was evaluated in an independent test set of 129 whole-slide images (49 with and 80 without metastases). The same test set of corresponding glass slides was also evaluated by a panel of 11 pathologists with time constraint (WTC) from the Netherlands to ascertain likelihood of nodal metastases for each slide in a flexible 2-hour session, simulating routine pathology workflow, and by 1 pathologist without time constraint (WOTC). Deep learning algorithms submitted as part of a challenge competition or pathologist interpretation. The presence of specific metastatic foci and the absence vs presence of lymph node metastasis in a slide or image using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. The 11 pathologists participating in the simulation exercise rated their diagnostic confidence as definitely normal, probably normal, equivocal, probably tumor, or definitely tumor. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) for the algorithms ranged from 0.556 to 0.994. The top-performing algorithm achieved a lesion-level, true-positive fraction comparable with that of the pathologist WOTC (72.4% [95% CI, 64.3%-80.4%]) at a mean of 0.0125 false-positives per normal whole-slide image

The Impact of the Size of Nodal Metastases on Recurrence Risk in Breast Cancer Patients With 1-3 Positive Axillary Nodes After Mastectomy

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

Harris, Eleanor E.R., E-mail: Eleanor.harris@moffitt.org; Freilich, Jessica; Lin, Hui-Yi

Purpose: Use of postmastectomy radiation therapy (PMRT) in breast cancer patients with 1-3 positive nodes is controversial. The objective of this study was to determine whether the size of nodal metastases in this subset could predict who would benefit from PMRT. Methods and Materials: We analyzed 250 breast cancer patients with 1-3 positive nodes after mastectomy treated with contemporary surgery and systemic therapy at our institution. Of these patients, 204 did not receive PMRT and 46 did receive PMRT. Local and regional recurrence risks were stratified by the size of the largest nodal metastasis measured as less than or equalmore » to 5 mm or greater than 5 mm. Results: The median follow-up was 65.6 months. In the whole group, regional recurrences occurred in 2% of patients in whom the largest nodal metastasis measured 5 mm or less vs 6% for those with metastases measuring greater than 5 mm. For non-irradiated patients only, regional recurrence rates were 2% and 9%, respectively. Those with a maximal nodal size greater than 5 mm had a significantly higher cumulative incidence of regional recurrence (P=.013). The 5-year cumulative incidence of a regional recurrence in the non-irradiated group was 2.7% (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.7%-7.2%) for maximal metastasis size of 5 mm or less, 6.9% (95% CI, 1.7%-17.3%) for metastasis size greater than 5 mm, and 16% (95% CI, 3.4%-36.8%) for metastasis size greater than 10 mm. The impact of the maximal nodal size on regional recurrences became insignificant in the multivariable model. Conclusions: In patients with 1-3 positive lymph nodes undergoing mastectomy without radiation, nodal metastasis greater than 5 mm was associated with regional recurrence after mastectomy, but its effect was modified by other factors (such as tumor stage). The size of the largest nodal metastasis may be useful to identify high-risk patients who may benefit from radiation therapy after mastectomy.« less

Constitutional rho-kinase regulates atrioventricular nodal conduction and ventricular repolarization of the canine heart.

PubMed

Sugiyama, Atsushi; Takahara, Akira; Yatomi, Yutaka; Satoh, Yoshioki; Nakamura, Yuji; Hashimoto, Keitaro

2003-06-01

Given the limited information, physiological roles of Rho-kinase in the cardiac conduction system and ventricular repolarization process were assessed in comparison with those in the coronary vascular tone. A specific Rho-kinase inhibitor Y-27632 was administered to the nutrient coronary artery of the canine isolated, blood-perfused atrioventricular node preparation under the monitoring of the ventricular monophasic action potentials. Administration of Y-27632 moderately suppressed the atrioventricular nodal conduction, slightly but significantly accelerated the repolarization process, and potently increased the coronary blood flow, whereas it hardly affected the intraventricular conduction. The estimated concentrations of Y-27632 causing the currently observed effects were enough to inhibit Rho-kinase. These results suggest that constitutional Rho-kinase functions to moderately facilitate the atrioventricular nodal conduction, slightly delay ventricular repolarization process, and significantly increase the coronary vascular tone.

The Maternal Maverick/GDF15-like TGF-β Ligand Panda Directs Dorsal-Ventral Axis Formation by Restricting Nodal Expression in the Sea Urchin Embryo.

PubMed

Haillot, Emmanuel; Molina, Maria Dolores; Lapraz, François; Lepage, Thierry

2015-01-01

Specification of the dorsal-ventral axis in the highly regulative sea urchin embryo critically relies on the zygotic expression of nodal, but whether maternal factors provide the initial spatial cue to orient this axis is not known. Although redox gradients have been proposed to entrain the dorsal-ventral axis by acting upstream of nodal, manipulating the activity of redox gradients only has modest consequences, suggesting that other factors are responsible for orienting nodal expression and defining the dorsal-ventral axis. Here we uncover the function of Panda, a maternally provided transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) ligand that requires the activin receptor-like kinases (Alk) Alk3/6 and Alk1/2 receptors to break the radial symmetry of the embryo and orient the dorsal-ventral axis by restricting nodal expression. We found that the double inhibition of the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) type I receptors Alk3/6 and Alk1/2 causes a phenotype dramatically more severe than the BMP2/4 loss-of-function phenotype, leading to extreme ventralization of the embryo through massive ectopic expression of nodal, suggesting that an unidentified signal acting through BMP type I receptors cooperates with BMP2/4 to restrict nodal expression. We identified this ligand as the product of maternal Panda mRNA. Double inactivation of panda and bmp2/4 led to extreme ventralization, mimicking the phenotype caused by inactivation of the two BMP receptors. Inhibition of maternal panda mRNA translation disrupted the early spatial restriction of nodal, leading to persistent massive ectopic expression of nodal on the dorsal side despite the presence of Lefty. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that Panda is not a prototypical BMP ligand but a member of a subfamily of TGF-β distantly related to Inhibins, Lefty, and TGF-β that includes Maverick from Drosophila and GDF15 from vertebrates. Indeed, overexpression of Panda does not appear to directly or strongly activate phosphoSmad1

The Maternal Maverick/GDF15-like TGF-β Ligand Panda Directs Dorsal-Ventral Axis Formation by Restricting Nodal Expression in the Sea Urchin Embryo

PubMed Central

Haillot, Emmanuel; Molina, Maria Dolores; Lapraz, François; Lepage, Thierry

2015-01-01

Specification of the dorsal-ventral axis in the highly regulative sea urchin embryo critically relies on the zygotic expression of nodal, but whether maternal factors provide the initial spatial cue to orient this axis is not known. Although redox gradients have been proposed to entrain the dorsal-ventral axis by acting upstream of nodal, manipulating the activity of redox gradients only has modest consequences, suggesting that other factors are responsible for orienting nodal expression and defining the dorsal-ventral axis. Here we uncover the function of Panda, a maternally provided transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) ligand that requires the activin receptor-like kinases (Alk) Alk3/6 and Alk1/2 receptors to break the radial symmetry of the embryo and orient the dorsal-ventral axis by restricting nodal expression. We found that the double inhibition of the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) type I receptors Alk3/6 and Alk1/2 causes a phenotype dramatically more severe than the BMP2/4 loss-of-function phenotype, leading to extreme ventralization of the embryo through massive ectopic expression of nodal, suggesting that an unidentified signal acting through BMP type I receptors cooperates with BMP2/4 to restrict nodal expression. We identified this ligand as the product of maternal Panda mRNA. Double inactivation of panda and bmp2/4 led to extreme ventralization, mimicking the phenotype caused by inactivation of the two BMP receptors. Inhibition of maternal panda mRNA translation disrupted the early spatial restriction of nodal, leading to persistent massive ectopic expression of nodal on the dorsal side despite the presence of Lefty. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that Panda is not a prototypical BMP ligand but a member of a subfamily of TGF-β distantly related to Inhibins, Lefty, and TGF-β that includes Maverick from Drosophila and GDF15 from vertebrates. Indeed, overexpression of Panda does not appear to directly or strongly activate phosphoSmad1

Concomitant Wolff-Parkinson-White and Atrioventricular Nodal Reentrant Tachycardia: Which Pathway to Ablate?

PubMed

Sarsam, Sinan; Sidiqi, Ibrahim; Shah, Dipak; Zughaib, Marcel

2015-12-11

Atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT) is the most common form of supraventricular tachycardia. In contrast, Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) pattern consists of an accessory pathway, which may result in the development of ventricular arrhythmias. Frequent tachycardia caused by AVNRT and accessory pathways may play a role in left ventricular systolic dysfunction. A 54-year-old man presented with palpitations and acute decompensated congestive heart failure. His baseline EKG showed Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) pattern. While hospitalized, he had an episode of atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT). He underwent radiofrequency catheter ablation for AVNRT, and his accessory pathway was also ablated even though its conduction was found to be weak. He was clinically doing well on follow-up visit, with resolution of his heart failure symptoms and normalization of left ventricular function on echocardiography. This case raises the question whether the accessory pathway plays a role in the development of systolic dysfunction, and if there is any role for ablation in patients with asymptomatic WPW pattern.

Varieties of quantity estimation in children.

PubMed

Sella, Francesco; Berteletti, Ilaria; Lucangeli, Daniela; Zorzi, Marco

2015-06-01

In the number-to-position task, with increasing age and numerical expertise, children's pattern of estimates shifts from a biased (nonlinear) to a formal (linear) mapping. This widely replicated finding concerns symbolic numbers, whereas less is known about other types of quantity estimation. In Experiment 1, Preschool, Grade 1, and Grade 3 children were asked to map continuous quantities, discrete nonsymbolic quantities (numerosities), and symbolic (Arabic) numbers onto a visual line. Numerical quantity was matched for the symbolic and discrete nonsymbolic conditions, whereas cumulative surface area was matched for the continuous and discrete quantity conditions. Crucially, in the discrete condition children's estimation could rely either on the cumulative area or numerosity. All children showed a linear mapping for continuous quantities, whereas a developmental shift from a logarithmic to a linear mapping was observed for both nonsymbolic and symbolic numerical quantities. Analyses on individual estimates suggested the presence of two distinct strategies in estimating discrete nonsymbolic quantities: one based on numerosity and the other based on spatial extent. In Experiment 2, a non-spatial continuous quantity (shades of gray) and new discrete nonsymbolic conditions were added to the set used in Experiment 1. Results confirmed the linear patterns for the continuous tasks, as well as the presence of a subset of children relying on numerosity for the discrete nonsymbolic numerosity conditions despite the availability of continuous visual cues. Overall, our findings demonstrate that estimation of numerical and non-numerical quantities is based on different processing strategies and follow different developmental trajectories. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Multidimensional generalized-ensemble algorithms for complex systems.

PubMed

Mitsutake, Ayori; Okamoto, Yuko

2009-06-07

We give general formulations of the multidimensional multicanonical algorithm, simulated tempering, and replica-exchange method. We generalize the original potential energy function E(0) by adding any physical quantity V of interest as a new energy term. These multidimensional generalized-ensemble algorithms then perform a random walk not only in E(0) space but also in V space. Among the three algorithms, the replica-exchange method is the easiest to perform because the weight factor is just a product of regular Boltzmann-like factors, while the weight factors for the multicanonical algorithm and simulated tempering are not a priori known. We give a simple procedure for obtaining the weight factors for these two latter algorithms, which uses a short replica-exchange simulation and the multiple-histogram reweighting techniques. As an example of applications of these algorithms, we have performed a two-dimensional replica-exchange simulation and a two-dimensional simulated-tempering simulation using an alpha-helical peptide system. From these simulations, we study the helix-coil transitions of the peptide in gas phase and in aqueous solution.

48 CFR 52.236-16 - Quantity Surveys.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 2 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Quantity Surveys. 52.236... Quantity Surveys. As prescribed in 36.516, the contracting officer may insert the following clause in... payment based on quantity surveys is contemplated: Quantity Surveys (APR 1984) (a) Quantity surveys shall...

48 CFR 52.236-16 - Quantity Surveys.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 2 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Quantity Surveys. 52.236... Quantity Surveys. As prescribed in 36.516, the contracting officer may insert the following clause in... payment based on quantity surveys is contemplated: Quantity Surveys (APR 1984) (a) Quantity surveys shall...

48 CFR 52.236-16 - Quantity Surveys.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 2 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Quantity Surveys. 52.236... Quantity Surveys. As prescribed in 36.516, the contracting officer may insert the following clause in... payment based on quantity surveys is contemplated: Quantity Surveys (APR 1984) (a) Quantity surveys shall...

48 CFR 52.236-16 - Quantity Surveys.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 2 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Quantity Surveys. 52.236... Quantity Surveys. As prescribed in 36.516, the contracting officer may insert the following clause in... payment based on quantity surveys is contemplated: Quantity Surveys (APR 1984) (a) Quantity surveys shall...

48 CFR 52.236-16 - Quantity Surveys.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Quantity Surveys. 52.236... Quantity Surveys. As prescribed in 36.516, the contracting officer may insert the following clause in... payment based on quantity surveys is contemplated: Quantity Surveys (APR 1984) (a) Quantity surveys shall...

Analysis of algorithms for predicting canopy fuel

Treesearch

Katharine L. Gray; Elizabeth Reinhardt

2003-01-01

We compared observed canopy fuel characteristics with those predicted by existing biomass algorithms. We specifically examined the accuracy of the biomass equations developed by Brown (1978. We used destructively sampled data obtained at 5 different study areas. We compared predicted and observed quantities of foliage and crown biomass for individual trees in our study...

The MHOST finite element program: 3-D inelastic analysis methods for hot section components. Volume 1: Theoretical manual

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nakazawa, Shohei

1991-01-01

Formulations and algorithms implemented in the MHOST finite element program are discussed. The code uses a novel concept of the mixed iterative solution technique for the efficient 3-D computations of turbine engine hot section components. The general framework of variational formulation and solution algorithms are discussed which were derived from the mixed three field Hu-Washizu principle. This formulation enables the use of nodal interpolation for coordinates, displacements, strains, and stresses. Algorithmic description of the mixed iterative method includes variations for the quasi static, transient dynamic and buckling analyses. The global-local analysis procedure referred to as the subelement refinement is developed in the framework of the mixed iterative solution, of which the detail is presented. The numerically integrated isoparametric elements implemented in the framework is discussed. Methods to filter certain parts of strain and project the element discontinuous quantities to the nodes are developed for a family of linear elements. Integration algorithms are described for linear and nonlinear equations included in MHOST program.

Integration of nodal and BMP signals in the heart requires FoxH1 to create left-right differences in cell migration rates that direct cardiac asymmetry.

PubMed

Lenhart, Kari F; Holtzman, Nathalia G; Williams, Jessica R; Burdine, Rebecca D

2013-01-01

Failure to properly establish the left-right (L/R) axis is a major cause of congenital heart defects in humans, but how L/R patterning of the embryo leads to asymmetric cardiac morphogenesis is still unclear. We find that asymmetric Nodal signaling on the left and Bmp signaling act in parallel to establish zebrafish cardiac laterality by modulating cell migration velocities across the L/R axis. Moreover, we demonstrate that Nodal plays the crucial role in generating asymmetry in the heart and that Bmp signaling via Bmp4 is dispensable in the presence of asymmetric Nodal signaling. In addition, we identify a previously unappreciated role for the Nodal-transcription factor FoxH1 in mediating cell responsiveness to Bmp, further linking the control of these two pathways in the heart. The interplay between these TGFβ pathways is complex, with Nodal signaling potentially acting to limit the response to Bmp pathway activation and the dosage of Bmp signals being critical to limit migration rates. These findings have implications for understanding the complex genetic interactions that lead to congenital heart disease in humans.

Nuclear movement regulated by non-Smad Nodal signaling via JNK is associated with Smad signaling during zebrafish endoderm specification.

PubMed

Hozumi, Shunya; Aoki, Shun; Kikuchi, Yutaka

2017-11-01

Asymmetric nuclear positioning is observed during animal development, but its regulation and significance in cell differentiation remain poorly understood. Using zebrafish blastulae, we provide evidence that nuclear movement towards the yolk syncytial layer, which comprises extraembryonic tissue, occurs in the first cells fated to differentiate into the endoderm. Nodal signaling is essential for nuclear movement, whereas nuclear envelope proteins are involved in movement through microtubule formation. Positioning of the microtubule-organizing center, which is proposed to be crucial for nuclear movement, is regulated by Nodal signaling and nuclear envelope proteins. The non-Smad JNK signaling pathway, which is downstream of Nodal signaling, regulates nuclear movement independently of the Smad pathway, and this nuclear movement is associated with Smad signal transduction toward the nucleus. Our study provides insight into the function of nuclear movement in Smad signaling toward the nucleus, and could be applied to the control of TGFβ signaling. © 2017. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

An efficient in vitro regeneration protocol for a natural dye yielding plant, Strobilanthes flaccidifolious Nees., from nodal explants.

PubMed

Deb, Chitta Ranjan; Arenmongla, T

2012-11-01

Adventitious shoot buds formation from axillary buds of nodal segments of S. flaccidifolious was achieved on MS medium containing sucrose (3%, w/v), and a-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA; 3 microM) and benzyl adenine (3 microM) in combination. The nodal segments were primed on 'Growtak Sieve' for 48 h on MS medium containing sucrose (2%), polyvinyl pyrollidone (200 mgL(-1)) as antioxidant. About 80% of primed nodal segments responded positively and formed approximately 12 adventitious shoot buds per explants from explants collected during October-November months of every year. The shoot buds converted into plantlets on MS medium containing sucrose (3%) and kinetin (3 microM) where approximately 7 micro shoots developed per subculture after 8 weeks of culture. The regenerated micro shoots induced average 14 roots/plant on medium containing NAA (3 microM). The regenerates were hardened for 6-7 weeks on medium with 1/2MS salt solution and sucrose (2%) under normal laboratory condition before transferring to potting mix. About 70% transplants survived after two months of transfer.

Serum decoy receptor 3 level: a predictive marker for nodal metastasis and survival among oral cavity cancer patients.

PubMed

Tu, Hsi-Feng; Liu, Chung-Ji; Liu, Shyun-Yeu; Chen, Yu-Ping; Yu, En-Hao; Lin, Shu-Chun; Chang, Kuo-Wei

2011-03-01

Validating markers for prediction of nodal metastasis could be beneficial in treatment of oral cavity cancer. Decoy receptor 3 (DcR3), locus on 20q13, functions as a death decoy inhibiting apoptosis mediated by the tumor necrosis factor receptor (TNFR) family. This study analyzed the serum level of DcR3 in relationship to the clinical parameters of oral cavity cancer patients together with detection of DcR3 genomic copy number in primary and recurrent tumors. Elevated serum DcR3 was associated with nodal metastasis and worse prognosis. Gain of DcR3 copy number was detected in 17% of primary tumor tissue but not found in healthy areca chewers. Tissue from recurrent tumors showed more frequent DcR3 copy number alteration (48%) than the paired primary tumor tissue. Serum DcR3 level is a predictor for the nodal metastasis and survival among oral cavity cancer patients and the DcR3 copy number alteration could underlie oral carcinogenesis progression. Copyright © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Automatic two- and three-dimensional mesh generation based on fuzzy knowledge processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yagawa, G.; Yoshimura, S.; Soneda, N.; Nakao, K.

1992-09-01

This paper describes the development of a novel automatic FEM mesh generation algorithm based on the fuzzy knowledge processing technique. A number of local nodal patterns are stored in a nodal pattern database of the mesh generation system. These nodal patterns are determined a priori based on certain theories or past experience of experts of FEM analyses. For example, such human experts can determine certain nodal patterns suitable for stress concentration analyses of cracks, corners, holes and so on. Each nodal pattern possesses a membership function and a procedure of node placement according to this function. In the cases of the nodal patterns for stress concentration regions, the membership function which is utilized in the fuzzy knowledge processing has two meanings, i.e. the “closeness” of nodal location to each stress concentration field as well as “nodal density”. This is attributed to the fact that a denser nodal pattern is required near a stress concentration field. What a user has to do in a practical mesh generation process are to choose several local nodal patterns properly and to designate the maximum nodal density of each pattern. After those simple operations by the user, the system places the chosen nodal patterns automatically in an analysis domain and on its boundary, and connects them smoothly by the fuzzy knowledge processing technique. Then triangular or tetrahedral elements are generated by means of the advancing front method. The key issue of the present algorithm is an easy control of complex two- or three-dimensional nodal density distribution by means of the fuzzy knowledge processing technique. To demonstrate fundamental performances of the present algorithm, a prototype system was constructed with one of object-oriented languages, Smalltalk-80 on a 32-bit microcomputer, Macintosh II. The mesh generation of several two- and three-dimensional domains with cracks, holes and junctions was presented as examples.

Elective nodal irradiation (ENI) vs. involved field radiotherapy (IFRT) for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC): A comparative analysis of toxicities and clinical outcomes.

PubMed

Fernandes, Annemarie T; Shen, Jason; Finlay, Jarod; Mitra, Nandita; Evans, Tracey; Stevenson, James; Langer, Corey; Lin, Lilie; Hahn, Stephen; Glatstein, Eli; Rengan, Ramesh

2010-05-01

Elective nodal irradiation (ENI) and involved field radiotherapy (IFRT) are definitive radiotherapeutic approaches used to treat patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). ENI delivers prophylactic radiation to clinically uninvolved lymph nodes, while IFRT only targets identifiable gross nodal disease. Because clinically uninvolved nodal stations may harbor microscopic disease, IFRT raises concerns for increased nodal failures. This retrospective cohort analysis evaluates failure rates and treatment-related toxicities in patients treated at a single institution with ENI and IFRT. We assessed all patients with stage III locally advanced or stage IV oligometastatic NSCLC treated with definitive radiotherapy from 2003 to 2008. Each physician consistently treated with either ENI or IFRT, based on their treatment philosophy. Of the 108 consecutive patients assessed (60 ENI vs. 48 IFRT), 10 patients had stage IV disease and 95 patients received chemotherapy. The median follow-up time for survivors was 18.9 months. On multivariable logistic regression analysis, patients treated with IFRT demonstrated a significantly lower risk of high grade esophagitis (Odds ratio: 0.31, p = 0.036). The differences in 2-year local control (39.2% vs. 59.6%), elective nodal control (84.3% vs. 84.3%), distant control (47.7% vs. 52.7%) and overall survival (40.1% vs. 43.7%) rates were not statistically significant between ENI vs. IFRT. Nodal failure rates in clinically uninvolved nodal stations were not increased with IFRT when compared to ENI. IFRT also resulted in significantly decreased esophageal toxicity, suggesting that IFRT may allow for integration of concurrent systemic chemotherapy in a greater proportion of patients. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Zero-gravity quantity gaging system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1989-01-01

The Zero-Gravity Quantity Gaging System program is a technology development effort funded by NASA-LeRC and contracted by NASA-JSC to develop and evaluate zero-gravity quantity gaging system concepts suitable for application to large, on-orbit cryogenic oxygen and hydrogen tankage. The contract effective date was 28 May 1985. During performance of the program, 18 potential quantity gaging approaches were investigated for their merit and suitability for gaging two-phase cryogenic oxygen and hydrogen in zero-gravity conditions. These approaches were subjected to a comprehensive trade study and selection process, which found that the RF modal quantity gaging approach was the most suitable for both liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen applications. This selection was made with NASA-JSC concurrence.

“Nodal Gap” induced by the incommensurate diagonal spin density modulation in underdoped high- T c superconductors

DOE PAGES

Zhou, Tao; Gao, Yi; Zhu, Jian -Xin

2015-03-07

Recenmore » tly it was revealed that the whole Fermi surface is fully gapped for several families of underdoped cuprates. The existence of the finite energy gap along the d -wave nodal lines (nodal gap) contrasts the common understanding of the d -wave pairing symmetry, which challenges the present theories for the high- T c superconductors. Here we propose that the incommensurate diagonal spin-density-wave order can account for the above experimental observation. The Fermi surface and the local density of states are also studied. Our results are in good agreement with many important experiments in high- T c superconductors.« less

Patterns of nodal relapse after surgery and postoperative radiation therapy for carcinomas of the major and minor salivary glands: What is the role of elective neck irradiation?

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

Chen, Allen M.; Garcia, Joaquin; Lee, Nancy Y.

2007-03-15

Purpose: To evaluate the incidence of nodal relapses from carcinomas of the salivary glands among patients with clinically negative necks in an attempt to determine the potential utility of elective neck irradiation (ENI). Methods and Materials: Between 1960 and 2004, 251 patients with clinically N0 carcinomas of the salivary glands were treated with surgery and postoperative radiation therapy. None of the patients had undergone previous neck dissection. Histology was: adenoid cystic (84 patients), mucoepidermoid (60 patients), adenocarcinoma (58 patients), acinic cell (21 patients), undifferentiated (11 patients), carcinoma ex pleomorphic adenoma (7 patients), squamous cell (7 patients), and salivary duct carcinomamore » (3 patients); 131 patients (52%) had ENI. Median follow-up was 62 months (range, 3-267 months). Results: The 5- and 10-year actuarial estimates of nodal relapse were 11% and 13%, respectively. The 10-year actuarial rates of nodal failure were 7%, 5%, 12%, and 16%, for patients with T1, T2, T3, and T4 disease, respectively (p = 0.11). The use of ENI reduced the 10-year nodal failure rate from 26% to 0% (p = 0.0001). The highest crude rates of nodal relapse among those treated without ENI were found in patients with squamous cell carcinoma (67%), undifferentiated carcinoma (50%), adenocarcinoma (34%), and mucoepidermoid carcinoma (29%). There were no nodal failures observed among patients with adenoid cystic or acinic cell histology. Conclusion: ENI effectively prevents nodal relapses and should be used for select patients at high risk for regional failure.« less

On the correct representation of bending and axial deformation in the absolute nodal coordinate formulation with an elastic line approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gerstmayr, Johannes; Irschik, Hans

2008-12-01

In finite element methods that are based on position and slope coordinates, a representation of axial and bending deformation by means of an elastic line approach has become popular. Such beam and plate formulations based on the so-called absolute nodal coordinate formulation have not yet been verified sufficiently enough with respect to analytical results or classical nonlinear rod theories. Examining the existing planar absolute nodal coordinate element, which uses a curvature proportional bending strain expression, it turns out that the deformation does not fully agree with the solution of the geometrically exact theory and, even more serious, the normal force is incorrect. A correction based on the classical ideas of the extensible elastica and geometrically exact theories is applied and a consistent strain energy and bending moment relations are derived. The strain energy of the solid finite element formulation of the absolute nodal coordinate beam is based on the St. Venant-Kirchhoff material: therefore, the strain energy is derived for the latter case and compared to classical nonlinear rod theories. The error in the original absolute nodal coordinate formulation is documented by numerical examples. The numerical example of a large deformation cantilever beam shows that the normal force is incorrect when using the previous approach, while a perfect agreement between the absolute nodal coordinate formulation and the extensible elastica can be gained when applying the proposed modifications. The numerical examples show a very good agreement of reference analytical and numerical solutions with the solutions of the proposed beam formulation for the case of large deformation pre-curved static and dynamic problems, including buckling and eigenvalue analysis. The resulting beam formulation does not employ rotational degrees of freedom and therefore has advantages compared to classical beam elements regarding energy-momentum conservation.

Scattering on a rectangular potential barrier in nodal-line Weyl semimetals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khokhlov, D. A.; Rakhmanov, A. L.; Rozhkov, A. V.

2018-06-01

We investigate single-particle ballistic scattering on a rectangular barrier in the nodal-line Weyl semimetals. Since the system under study has a crystallographic anisotropy, the scattering properties are dependent on mutual orientation of the crystalline axis and the barrier. To account for the anisotropy, we examine two different barrier orientations. It is demonstrated that, for certain angles of incidence, the incoming particle passes through the barrier with probability of unity. This is a manifestation of the Klein tunneling, a familiar phenomenon in the context of graphene and semimetals with Weyl points. However, the Klein tunneling in the Weyl-ring systems is observed when the angle of incidence differs from 90∘, unlike the cases of graphene and Weyl-point semimetals. The reflectionless transmission also occurs for the so-called "magic angles." The values of the magic angles are determined by geometrical resonances between the barrier width and the de Broglie length of the scattered particle. In addition, we show that under certain conditions the wave function of the transmitted and reflected particles may be a superposition of two plane waves with unequal momenta. Such a feature is a consequence of the nontrivial structure of the isoenergy surfaces of the nodal-line semimetals. Conductance of the barrier is briefly discussed.

Performance of a recoverable tug for planetary missions including use of perigee propulsion and corrections for nodal regression

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Borsody, J.

1976-01-01

Mathematical equations are derived by using the Maximum Principle to obtain the maximum payload capability of a reusable tug for planetary missions. The mathematical formulation includes correction for nodal precession of the space shuttle orbit. The tug performs this nodal correction in returning to this precessed orbit. The sample case analyzed represents an inner planet mission as defined by the declination (fixed) and right ascension of the outgoing asymptote and the mission energy. Payload capability is derived for a typical cryogenic tug and the sample case with and without perigee propulsion. Optimal trajectory profiles and some important orbital elements are also discussed.

48 CFR 36.516 - Quantity surveys.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Quantity surveys. 36.516... CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Contract Clauses 36.516 Quantity surveys. The contracting officer may insert the clause at 52.236-16, Quantity Surveys, in solicitations and contracts when...

48 CFR 36.516 - Quantity surveys.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Quantity surveys. 36.516... CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Contract Clauses 36.516 Quantity surveys. The contracting officer may insert the clause at 52.236-16, Quantity Surveys, in solicitations and contracts when...

48 CFR 36.516 - Quantity surveys.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Quantity surveys. 36.516... CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Contract Clauses 36.516 Quantity surveys. The contracting officer may insert the clause at 52.236-16, Quantity Surveys, in solicitations and contracts when...

48 CFR 36.516 - Quantity surveys.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Quantity surveys. 36.516... CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Contract Clauses 36.516 Quantity surveys. The contracting officer may insert the clause at 52.236-16, Quantity Surveys, in solicitations and contracts when...

48 CFR 36.516 - Quantity surveys.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Quantity surveys. 36.516... CONTRACTING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECT-ENGINEER CONTRACTS Contract Clauses 36.516 Quantity surveys. The contracting officer may insert the clause at 52.236-16, Quantity Surveys, in solicitations and contracts when...

On the Viability of Using Autonomous Three-Component Nodal Geophones to Calculate Teleseismic Ps Receiver Functions with an Application to the Old Faithful Hydrothermal System and the Cascadia Subduction Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ward, K. M.; Lin, F. C.

2017-12-01

Recent advances in seismic data-acquisition technology paired with an increasing interest from the academic passive source seismological community have opened up new scientific targets and imaging possibilities, often referred to as Large-N experiments (large number of instruments). The success of these and other deployments has motivated individual researchers, as well as the larger seismological community, to invest in the next generation of nodal geophones. Although the new instruments have battery life and bandwidth limitations compared to broadband instruments, the relatively low deployment and procurement cost of these new nodal geophones provides an additional novel tool for researchers. Here, we explore the viability of using autonomous three-component nodal geophones to calculate teleseismic Ps receiver functions by comparison of co-located broadband stations and highlight some potential advantages with a dense nodal array deployed around the Upper Geyser basin in Yellowstone National Park. Two key findings from this example include (1) very dense nodal arrays can be used to image small-scale features in the shallow crust that typical broadband station spacing would alias, and (2) nodal arrays with a larger footprint could be used to image deeper features with greater or equal detail as typical broadband deployments but at a reduced deployment cost. The success of the previous example has motivated a larger 2-D line across the Cascadia subduction zone. In the summer of 2017, we deployed 174 nodal geophones with an average site spacing of 750 m. Synthetic tests with dense station spacing ( 1 km) reveal subtler features of the system that is consistent with our preliminary receiver function results from our Cascadia deployment. With the increasing availability of nodal geophones to individual researchers and the successful demonstration that nodal geophones are a viable instrument for receiver function studies, numerous scientific targets can be investigated

Topological insulating phases from two-dimensional nodal loop semimetals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Linhu; Araújo, Miguel A. N.

2016-10-01

Starting from a minimal model for a two-dimensional nodal loop semimetal, we study the effect of chiral mass gap terms. The resulting Dirac loop anomalous Hall insulator's Chern number is the phase-winding number of the mass gap terms on the loop. We provide simple lattice models, analyze the topological phases, and generalize a previous index characterizing topological transitions. The responses of the Dirac loop anomalous Hall and quantum spin Hall insulators to a magnetic field's vector potential are also studied both in weak- and strong-field regimes, as well as the edge states in a ribbon geometry.

Mechanism of polyuria and natriuresis in atrioventricular nodal tachycardia.

PubMed Central

Canepa-Anson, R; Williams, M; Marshall, J; Mitsuoka, T; Lightman, S; Sutton, R

1984-01-01

A woman with tachycardia associated with polyuria was investigated. Electrophysiological analysis showed that the tachycardia was an atrioventricular nodal re-entrant tachycardia. Programmed stimulation was then used to provoke and sustain the tachycardia for 40 minutes. Polyuria, with an appreciable increase in free water clearance, was observed. This was associated with reduction in plasma and urinary arginine vasopressin concentrations. Appreciable natriuresis also developed. These results support the hypothesis that the polyuria with increased free water clearance and the natriuresis occurring during sustained tachycardia in man are due to inhibition of secretion of vasopressin and the release of natriuretic factor. PMID:6434116

Radiation quantities and units

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

Not Available

1980-04-15

This report supersedes ICRU Report 19. Since ICRU Report 19 was published, a number of discussions have taken place between members of the Report Committee on Fundamental Quantities and Units and other workers in the field. Some of these discussions have resulted in the acceptance of certain modifications in the material set out in Report 19 and these modifications are incorporated in the current report. In addition, there has been some expansion and rearrangement of the material in the earlier report. In line, with providing more didactic material and useful source material for other ICRU reports, the general considerations inmore » subsection 1.A of Report 19 have been expanded and placed in a separate subsection. The additional material includes discussions of four terms that are used in this document - quantity, unit, stochastic, and non-stochastic - along with a brief discussion of the mathematical formalism used in ICRU reports. As in ICRU Report 19, the definitions of quantities and units specifically designed for radiation protection (Part B) are separated from those of the general quantities (Part A). The inclusion of the index concept outlined in ICRU Report 25(4) required an extension of Part B.« less

14 CFR 27.1551 - Oil quantity indicator.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Oil quantity indicator. 27.1551 Section 27... § 27.1551 Oil quantity indicator. Each oil quantity indicator must be marked with enough increments to indicate readily and accurately the quantity of oil. ...

14 CFR 29.1551 - Oil quantity indicator.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Oil quantity indicator. 29.1551 Section 29... Placards § 29.1551 Oil quantity indicator. Each oil quantity indicator must be marked with enough increments to indicate readily and accurately the quantity of oil. ...

14 CFR 27.1551 - Oil quantity indicator.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Oil quantity indicator. 27.1551 Section 27... § 27.1551 Oil quantity indicator. Each oil quantity indicator must be marked with enough increments to indicate readily and accurately the quantity of oil. ...

14 CFR 29.1551 - Oil quantity indicator.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Oil quantity indicator. 29.1551 Section 29... Placards § 29.1551 Oil quantity indicator. Each oil quantity indicator must be marked with enough increments to indicate readily and accurately the quantity of oil. ...

14 CFR 27.1551 - Oil quantity indicator.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Oil quantity indicator. 27.1551 Section 27... § 27.1551 Oil quantity indicator. Each oil quantity indicator must be marked with enough increments to indicate readily and accurately the quantity of oil. ...

14 CFR 29.1551 - Oil quantity indicator.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Oil quantity indicator. 29.1551 Section 29... Placards § 29.1551 Oil quantity indicator. Each oil quantity indicator must be marked with enough increments to indicate readily and accurately the quantity of oil. ...

14 CFR 27.1551 - Oil quantity indicator.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Oil quantity indicator. 27.1551 Section 27... § 27.1551 Oil quantity indicator. Each oil quantity indicator must be marked with enough increments to indicate readily and accurately the quantity of oil. ...

The accuracy of less: Natural bounds explain why quantity decreases are estimated more accurately than quantity increases.

PubMed

Chandon, Pierre; Ordabayeva, Nailya

2017-02-01

Five studies show that people, including experts such as professional chefs, estimate quantity decreases more accurately than quantity increases. We argue that this asymmetry occurs because physical quantities cannot be negative. Consequently, there is a natural lower bound (zero) when estimating decreasing quantities but no upper bound when estimating increasing quantities, which can theoretically grow to infinity. As a result, the "accuracy of less" disappears (a) when a numerical or a natural upper bound is present when estimating quantity increases, or (b) when people are asked to estimate the (unbounded) ratio of change from 1 size to another for both increasing and decreasing quantities. Ruling out explanations related to loss aversion, symbolic number mapping, and the visual arrangement of the stimuli, we show that the "accuracy of less" influences choice and demonstrate its robustness in a meta-analysis that includes previously published results. Finally, we discuss how the "accuracy of less" may explain asymmetric reactions to the supersizing and downsizing of food portions, some instances of the endowment effect, and asymmetries in the perception of increases and decreases in physical and psychological distance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

14 CFR 23.1551 - Oil quantity indicator.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Oil quantity indicator. 23.1551 Section 23... Information Markings and Placards § 23.1551 Oil quantity indicator. Each oil quantity indicator must be marked in sufficient increments to indicate readily and accurately the quantity of oil. ...

14 CFR 23.1551 - Oil quantity indicator.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Oil quantity indicator. 23.1551 Section 23... Information Markings and Placards § 23.1551 Oil quantity indicator. Each oil quantity indicator must be marked in sufficient increments to indicate readily and accurately the quantity of oil. ...

14 CFR 23.1551 - Oil quantity indicator.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Oil quantity indicator. 23.1551 Section 23... Information Markings and Placards § 23.1551 Oil quantity indicator. Each oil quantity indicator must be marked in sufficient increments to indicate readily and accurately the quantity of oil. ...

14 CFR 23.1551 - Oil quantity indicator.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Oil quantity indicator. 23.1551 Section 23... Information Markings and Placards § 23.1551 Oil quantity indicator. Each oil quantity indicator must be marked in sufficient increments to indicate readily and accurately the quantity of oil. ...

The General-Use Nodal Network Solver (GUNNS) Modeling Package for Space Vehicle Flow System Simulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Harvey, Jason; Moore, Michael

2013-01-01

The General-Use Nodal Network Solver (GUNNS) is a modeling software package that combines nodal analysis and the hydraulic-electric analogy to simulate fluid, electrical, and thermal flow systems. GUNNS is developed by L-3 Communications under the TS21 (Training Systems for the 21st Century) project for NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), primarily for use in space vehicle training simulators at JSC. It has sufficient compactness and fidelity to model the fluid, electrical, and thermal aspects of space vehicles in real-time simulations running on commodity workstations, for vehicle crew and flight controller training. It has a reusable and flexible component and system design, and a Graphical User Interface (GUI), providing capability for rapid GUI-based simulator development, ease of maintenance, and associated cost savings. GUNNS is optimized for NASA's Trick simulation environment, but can be run independently of Trick.

Universal heat conduction in Ce 1-xYb xCoIn 5: Evidence for robust nodal d-wave superconducting gap

DOE PAGES

Xu, Y.; Petrovic, C.; Dong, J. K.; ...

2016-02-01

In the heavy-fermion superconductor Ce 1-xYb xCoIn 5, Yb doping was reported to cause a possible change from nodal d-wave superconductivity to a fully gapped d-wave molecular superfluid of composite pairs near x ≈ 0.07 (nominal value x nom = 0.2). Here we present systematic thermal conductivity measurements on Ce 1-xYb xCoIn 5 (x = 0.013, 0.084, and 0.163) single crystals. The observed finite residual linear term κ 0/T is insensitive to Yb doping, verifying the universal heat conduction of the nodal d-wave superconducting gap in Ce 1-xYb xCoIn 5. Similar universal heat conduction is also observed in the CeCo(Inmore » 1–yCd y) 5 system. Furthermore, these results reveal a robust nodal d-wave gap in CeCoIn 5 upon Yb or Cd doping.« less

Self-recovery fragile watermarking algorithm based on SPHIT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xin, Li Ping

2015-12-01

A fragile watermark algorithm is proposed, based on SPIHT coding, which can recover the primary image itself. The novelty of the algorithm is that it can tamper location and Self-restoration. The recovery has been very good effect. The first, utilizing the zero-tree structure, the algorithm compresses and encodes the image itself, and then gained self correlative watermark data, so as to greatly reduce the quantity of embedding watermark. Then the watermark data is encoded by error correcting code, and the check bits and watermark bits are scrambled and embedded to enhance the recovery ability. At the same time, by embedding watermark into the latter two bit place of gray level image's bit-plane code, the image after embedded watermark can gain nicer visual effect. The experiment results show that the proposed algorithm may not only detect various processing such as noise adding, cropping, and filtering, but also recover tampered image and realize blind-detection. Peak signal-to-noise ratios of the watermark image were higher than other similar algorithm. The attack capability of the algorithm was enhanced.

Study of flow over object problems by a nodal discontinuous Galerkin-lattice Boltzmann method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Jie; Shen, Meng; Liu, Chen

2018-04-01

The flow over object problems are studied by a nodal discontinuous Galerkin-lattice Boltzmann method (NDG-LBM) in this work. Different from the standard lattice Boltzmann method, the current method applies the nodal discontinuous Galerkin method into the streaming process in LBM to solve the resultant pure convection equation, in which the spatial discretization is completed on unstructured grids and the low-storage explicit Runge-Kutta scheme is used for time marching. The present method then overcomes the disadvantage of standard LBM for depending on the uniform meshes. Moreover, the collision process in the LBM is completed by using the multiple-relaxation-time scheme. After the validation of the NDG-LBM by simulating the lid-driven cavity flow, the simulations of flows over a fixed circular cylinder, a stationary airfoil and rotating-stationary cylinders are performed. Good agreement of present results with previous results is achieved, which indicates that the current NDG-LBM is accurate and effective for flow over object problems.

30 CFR 75.325 - Air quantity.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Air quantity. 75.325 Section 75.325 Mineral... SAFETY STANDARDS-UNDERGROUND COAL MINES Ventilation § 75.325 Air quantity. (a)(1) In bituminous and lignite mines the quantity of air shall be at least 3,000 cubic feet per minute reaching each working face...

30 CFR 75.325 - Air quantity.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Air quantity. 75.325 Section 75.325 Mineral... SAFETY STANDARDS-UNDERGROUND COAL MINES Ventilation § 75.325 Air quantity. (a)(1) In bituminous and lignite mines the quantity of air shall be at least 3,000 cubic feet per minute reaching each working face...

30 CFR 75.325 - Air quantity.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Air quantity. 75.325 Section 75.325 Mineral... SAFETY STANDARDS-UNDERGROUND COAL MINES Ventilation § 75.325 Air quantity. (a)(1) In bituminous and lignite mines the quantity of air shall be at least 3,000 cubic feet per minute reaching each working face...

30 CFR 75.325 - Air quantity.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Air quantity. 75.325 Section 75.325 Mineral... SAFETY STANDARDS-UNDERGROUND COAL MINES Ventilation § 75.325 Air quantity. (a)(1) In bituminous and lignite mines the quantity of air shall be at least 3,000 cubic feet per minute reaching each working face...

30 CFR 75.325 - Air quantity.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Air quantity. 75.325 Section 75.325 Mineral... SAFETY STANDARDS-UNDERGROUND COAL MINES Ventilation § 75.325 Air quantity. (a)(1) In bituminous and lignite mines the quantity of air shall be at least 3,000 cubic feet per minute reaching each working face...

14 CFR 25.1551 - Oil quantity indication.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Oil quantity indication. 25.1551 Section 25... Placards § 25.1551 Oil quantity indication. Each oil quantity indicating means must be marked to indicate the quantity of oil readily and accurately. [Amdt. 25-72, 55 FR 29786, July 20, 1990] ...

14 CFR 25.1551 - Oil quantity indication.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Oil quantity indication. 25.1551 Section 25... Placards § 25.1551 Oil quantity indication. Each oil quantity indicating means must be marked to indicate the quantity of oil readily and accurately. [Amdt. 25-72, 55 FR 29786, July 20, 1990] ...

14 CFR 25.1551 - Oil quantity indication.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Oil quantity indication. 25.1551 Section 25... Placards § 25.1551 Oil quantity indication. Each oil quantity indicating means must be marked to indicate the quantity of oil readily and accurately. [Amdt. 25-72, 55 FR 29786, July 20, 1990] ...

14 CFR 25.1551 - Oil quantity indication.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Oil quantity indication. 25.1551 Section 25... Placards § 25.1551 Oil quantity indication. Each oil quantity indicating means must be marked to indicate the quantity of oil readily and accurately. [Amdt. 25-72, 55 FR 29786, July 20, 1990] ...

Surface and 3D Quantum Hall Effects from Engineering of Exceptional Points in Nodal-Line Semimetals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Molina, Rafael A.; González, José

2018-04-01

We show that, under a strong magnetic field, a 3D nodal-line semimetal is driven into a topological insulating phase in which the electronic transport takes place at the surface of the material. When the magnetic field is perpendicular to the nodal ring, the surface states of the semimetal are transmuted into Landau states which correspond to exceptional points, i.e., branch points in the spectrum of a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian which arise upon the extension to complex values of the momentum. The complex structure of the spectrum then allows us to express the number of zero-energy flat bands in terms of a new topological invariant counting the number of exceptional points. When the magnetic field is parallel to the nodal ring, we find that the bulk states are built from the pairing of surfacelike evanescent waves, giving rise to a 3D quantum Hall effect with a flat level of Landau states residing in parallel 2D slices of the 3D material. The Hall conductance is quantized in either case in units of e2/h , leading in the 3D Hall effect to a number of channels growing linearly with the section of the surface and opening the possibility to observe a macroscopic chiral current at the surface of the material.

Delineation of Internal Mammary Nodal Target Volumes in Breast Cancer Radiation Therapy

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

Jethwa, Krishan R.; Kahila, Mohamed M.; Hunt, Katie N.

Purpose: The optimal clinical target volume for internal mammary (IM) node irradiation is uncertain in an era of increasingly conformal volume-based treatment planning for breast cancer. We mapped the location of gross internal mammary lymph node (IMN) metastases to identify areas at highest risk of harboring occult disease. Methods and Materials: Patients with axial imaging of IMN disease were identified from a breast cancer registry. The IMN location was transferred onto the corresponding anatomic position on representative axial computed tomography images of a patient in the treatment position and compared with consensus group guidelines of IMN target delineation. Results: Themore » IMN location in 67 patients with 130 IMN metastases was mapped. The location was in the first 3 intercostal spaces in 102 of 130 nodal metastases (78%), whereas 18 of 130 IMNs (14%) were located caudal to the third intercostal space and 10 of 130 IMNs (8%) were located cranial to the first intercostal space. Of the 102 nodal metastases within the first 3 intercostal spaces, 54 (53%) were located within the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group consensus volume. Relative to the IM vessels, 19 nodal metastases (19%) were located medially with a mean distance of 2.2 mm (SD, 2.9 mm) whereas 29 (28%) were located laterally with a mean distance of 3.6 mm (SD, 2.5 mm). Ninety percent of lymph nodes within the first 3 intercostal spaces would have been encompassed within a 4-mm medial and lateral expansion on the IM vessels. Conclusions: In women with indications for elective IMN irradiation, a 4-mm medial and lateral expansion on the IM vessels may be appropriate. In women with known IMN involvement, cranial extension to the confluence of the IM vein with the brachiocephalic vein with or without caudal extension to the fourth or fifth interspace may be considered provided that normal tissue constraints are met.« less

A novel microcontroller-based digital instrument for measurement of electrical quantities under non-sinusoidal condition

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

Anaya, O.; Moreno, G.E.L.; Madrigal, M.M.

1999-11-01

In the last years, several definitions of power have been proposed for more accurate measurement of electrical quantities in presence of harmonics pollution on power lines. Nevertheless, only few instruments have been constructed considering these definitions. This paper describes a new microcontroller-based digital instrument, which include definitions based on Harley Transform. The algorithms are fully processed using Fast Hartley Transform (FHT) and 16 bit-microcontroller platform. The constructed prototype was compared with commercial harmonics analyzer instrument.

Transport and optics at the node in a nodal loop semimetal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mukherjee, S. P.; Carbotte, J. P.

2017-06-01

We use a Kubo formalism to calculate both AC conductivity and DC transport properties of a dirty nodal loop semimetal. The optical conductivity as a function of photon energy Ω exhibits an extended flat background σBG as in graphene provided the scattering rate Γ is small as compared to the radius of the nodal ring b (in energy units). Modifications to the constant background arise for Ω ≤Γ and the minimum DC conductivity σDC, which is approached as Ω2/Γ2 as Ω →0 , is found to be proportional to √{Γ/2+b2 }vF with vF the Fermi velocity. For b =0 we recover the known three-dimensional point node Dirac result σDC˜Γ/vF while for b >Γ , σDC becomes independent of Γ (universal) and the ratio σ/DCσBG=8/π2 where all reference to material parameters has dropped out. As b is reduced and becomes of the order Γ , the flat background is lost as the optical response evolves towards that of a three-dimensional point node Dirac semimetal which is linear in Ω for the clean limit. For finite Γ there are modifications from linearity in the photon region Ω ≤Γ . When the chemical potential μ (temperature T ) is nonzero the DC conductivity increases as μ2/Γ2 (T2/Γ2 ) for μ/Γ (T/Γ )≤1 . Such laws apply as well for thermal conductivity and thermopower with coefficients of the quadratic law only slightly modified from their value in the three-dimensional point node Dirac case. However in the μ =T =0 limit both have the same proportionality factor of √{Γ2+b2 } as does σDC. Consequently the Lorentz number is largely unmodified. For larger values of μ >Γ away from the nodal region the conductivity shows a Drude-like contribution about Ω ≊0 which is followed by a dip in the Pauli blocked region Ω ≤2 μ after which it increases to merge with the flat background (two-dimensional graphene like) for μ b .