bin packing problem: Topics by Science.gov

Sample records for bin packing problem

Consistency Check for the Bin Packing Constraint Revisited

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dupuis, Julien; Schaus, Pierre; Deville, Yves

The bin packing problem (BP) consists in finding the minimum number of bins necessary to pack a set of items so that the total size of the items in each bin does not exceed the bin capacity C. The bin capacity is common for all the bins.
A Cost Assessment of the Dayton Public Schools Vehicle Routing Problem

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-03-01

known problems: the Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) and the Bin Packing Problem ( BPP ) (Ralphs, 2003). The VRP has a plethora of real world...well known problems: the Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) and the Bin Packing Problem ( BPP ) (Ralphs, 2003). The VRP has a plethora of real world
Fully Dynamic Bin Packing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ivković, Zoran; Lloyd, Errol L.

Classic bin packing seeks to pack a given set of items of possibly varying sizes into a minimum number of identical sized bins. A number of approximation algorithms have been proposed for this NP-hard problem for both the on-line and off-line cases. In this chapter we discuss fully dynamic bin packing, where items may arrive (Insert) and depart (Delete) dynamically. In accordance with standard practice for fully dynamic algorithms, it is assumed that the packing may be arbitrarily rearranged to accommodate arriving and departing items. The goal is to maintain an approximately optimal solution of provably high quality in a total amount of time comparable to that used by an off-line algorithm delivering a solution of the same quality.
Optimization of heterogeneous Bin packing using adaptive genetic algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sridhar, R.; Chandrasekaran, M.; Sriramya, C.; Page, Tom

2017-03-01

This research is concentrates on a very interesting work, the bin packing using hybrid genetic approach. The optimal and feasible packing of goods for transportation and distribution to various locations by satisfying the practical constraints are the key points in this project work. As the number of boxes for packing can not be predicted in advance and the boxes may not be of same category always. It also involves many practical constraints that are why the optimal packing makes much importance to the industries. This work presents a combinational of heuristic Genetic Algorithm (HGA) for solving Three Dimensional (3D) Single container arbitrary sized rectangular prismatic bin packing optimization problem by considering most of the practical constraints facing in logistic industries. This goal was achieved in this research by optimizing the empty volume inside the container using genetic approach. Feasible packing pattern was achieved by satisfying various practical constraints like box orientation, stack priority, container stability, weight constraint, overlapping constraint, shipment placement constraint. 3D bin packing problem consists of ‘n’ number of boxes being to be packed in to a container of standard dimension in such a way to maximize the volume utilization and in-turn profit. Furthermore, Boxes to be packed may be of arbitrary sizes. The user input data are the number of bins, its size, shape, weight, and constraints if any along with standard container dimension. This user input were stored in the database and encoded to string (chromosomes) format which were normally acceptable by GA. GA operators were allowed to act over these encoded strings for finding the best solution.
Model and algorithm for container ship stowage planning based on bin-packing problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Wei-Ying; Lin, Yan; Ji, Zhuo-Shang

2005-09-01

In a general case, container ship serves many different ports on each voyage. A stowage planning for container ship made at one port must take account of the influence on subsequent ports. So the complexity of stowage planning problem increases due to its multi-ports nature. This problem is NP-hard problem. In order to reduce the computational complexity, the problem is decomposed into two sub-problems in this paper. First, container ship stowage problem (CSSP) is regarded as “packing problem”, ship-bays on the board of vessel are regarded as bins, the number of slots at each bay are taken as capacities of bins, and containers with different characteristics (homogeneous containers group) are treated as items packed. At this stage, there are two objective functions, one is to minimize the number of bays packed by containers and the other is to minimize the number of overstows. Secondly, containers assigned to each bays at first stage are allocate to special slot, the objective functions are to minimize the metacentric height, heel and overstows. The taboo search heuristics algorithm are used to solve the subproblem. The main focus of this paper is on the first subproblem. A case certifies the feasibility of the model and algorithm.
Bin packing problem solution through a deterministic weighted finite automaton

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zavala-Díaz, J. C.; Pérez-Ortega, J.; Martínez-Rebollar, A.; Almanza-Ortega, N. N.; Hidalgo-Reyes, M.

2016-06-01

In this article the solution of Bin Packing problem of one dimension through a weighted finite automaton is presented. Construction of the automaton and its application to solve three different instances, one synthetic data and two benchmarks are presented: N1C1W1_A.BPP belonging to data set Set_1; and BPP13.BPP belonging to hard28. The optimal solution of synthetic data is obtained. In the first benchmark the solution obtained is one more container than the ideal number of containers and in the second benchmark the solution is two more containers than the ideal solution (approximately 2.5%). The runtime in all three cases was less than one second.
Automating the packing heuristic design process with genetic programming.

PubMed

Burke, Edmund K; Hyde, Matthew R; Kendall, Graham; Woodward, John

2012-01-01

The literature shows that one-, two-, and three-dimensional bin packing and knapsack packing are difficult problems in operational research. Many techniques, including exact, heuristic, and metaheuristic approaches, have been investigated to solve these problems and it is often not clear which method to use when presented with a new instance. This paper presents an approach which is motivated by the goal of building computer systems which can design heuristic methods. The overall aim is to explore the possibilities for automating the heuristic design process. We present a genetic programming system to automatically generate a good quality heuristic for each instance. It is not necessary to change the methodology depending on the problem type (one-, two-, or three-dimensional knapsack and bin packing problems), and it therefore has a level of generality unmatched by other systems in the literature. We carry out an extensive suite of experiments and compare with the best human designed heuristics in the literature. Note that our heuristic design methodology uses the same parameters for all the experiments. The contribution of this paper is to present a more general packing methodology than those currently available, and to show that, by using this methodology, it is possible for a computer system to design heuristics which are competitive with the human designed heuristics from the literature. This represents the first packing algorithm in the literature able to claim human competitive results in such a wide variety of packing domains.
A Decomposition Approach for Shipboard Manpower Scheduling

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-01-01

generalizes the bin-packing problem with no conflicts ( BPP ) which is known to be NP-hard (Garey and Johnson 1979). Hence our focus is to obtain a lower...to the BPP ; while the so called constrained packing lower bound also takes conflict constraints into account. Their computational study indicates
Improved Taxation Rate for Bin Packing Games

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kern, Walter; Qiu, Xian

A cooperative bin packing game is a N-person game, where the player set N consists of k bins of capacity 1 each and n items of sizes a 1, ⋯ ,a n . The value of a coalition of players is defined to be the maximum total size of items in the coalition that can be packed into the bins of the coalition. We present an alternative proof for the non-emptiness of the 1/3-core for all bin packing games and show how to improve this bound ɛ= 1/3 (slightly). We conjecture that the true best possible value is ɛ= 1/7.
Augmented neural networks and problem structure-based heuristics for the bin-packing problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kasap, Nihat; Agarwal, Anurag

2012-08-01

In this article, we report on a research project where we applied augmented-neural-networks (AugNNs) approach for solving the classical bin-packing problem (BPP). AugNN is a metaheuristic that combines a priority rule heuristic with the iterative search approach of neural networks to generate good solutions fast. This is the first time this approach has been applied to the BPP. We also propose a decomposition approach for solving harder BPP, in which subproblems are solved using a combination of AugNN approach and heuristics that exploit the problem structure. We discuss the characteristics of problems on which such problem structure-based heuristics could be applied. We empirically show the effectiveness of the AugNN and the decomposition approach on many benchmark problems in the literature. For the 1210 benchmark problems tested, 917 problems were solved to optimality and the average gap between the obtained solution and the upper bound for all the problems was reduced to under 0.66% and computation time averaged below 33 s per problem. We also discuss the computational complexity of our approach.
A lifelong learning hyper-heuristic method for bin packing.

PubMed

Sim, Kevin; Hart, Emma; Paechter, Ben

2015-01-01

We describe a novel hyper-heuristic system that continuously learns over time to solve a combinatorial optimisation problem. The system continuously generates new heuristics and samples problems from its environment; and representative problems and heuristics are incorporated into a self-sustaining network of interacting entities inspired by methods in artificial immune systems. The network is plastic in both its structure and content, leading to the following properties: it exploits existing knowledge captured in the network to rapidly produce solutions; it can adapt to new problems with widely differing characteristics; and it is capable of generalising over the problem space. The system is tested on a large corpus of 3,968 new instances of 1D bin-packing problems as well as on 1,370 existing problems from the literature; it shows excellent performance in terms of the quality of solutions obtained across the datasets and in adapting to dynamically changing sets of problem instances compared to previous approaches. As the network self-adapts to sustain a minimal repertoire of both problems and heuristics that form a representative map of the problem space, the system is further shown to be computationally efficient and therefore scalable.
Bin Packing, Number Balancing, and Rescaling Linear Programs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoberg, Rebecca

This thesis deals with several important algorithmic questions using techniques from diverse areas including discrepancy theory, machine learning and lattice theory. In Chapter 2, we construct an improved approximation algorithm for a classical NP-complete problem, the bin packing problem. In this problem, the goal is to pack items of sizes si ∈ [0,1] into as few bins as possible, where a set of items fits into a bin provided the sum of the item sizes is at most one. We give a polynomial-time rounding scheme for a standard linear programming relaxation of the problem, yielding a packing that uses at most OPT + O(log OPT) bins. This makes progress towards one of the "10 open problems in approximation algorithms" stated in the book of Shmoys and Williamson. In fact, based on related combinatorial lower bounds, Rothvoss conjectures that theta(logOPT) may be a tight bound on the additive integrality gap of this LP relaxation. In Chapter 3, we give a new polynomial-time algorithm for linear programming. Our algorithm is based on the multiplicative weights update (MWU) method, which is a general framework that is currently of great interest in theoretical computer science. An algorithm for linear programming based on MWU was known previously, but was not polynomial time--we remedy this by alternating between a MWU phase and a rescaling phase. The rescaling methods we introduce improve upon previous methods by reducing the number of iterations needed until one can rescale, and they can be used for any algorithm with a similar rescaling structure. Finally, we note that the MWU phase of the algorithm has a simple interpretation as gradient descent of a particular potential function, and we show we can speed up this phase by walking in a direction that decreases both the potential function and its gradient. In Chapter 4, we show that an approximate oracle for Minkowski's Theorem gives an approximate oracle for the number balancing problem, and conversely. Number balancing is the problem of minimizing | 〈a,x〉 | over x ∈ {-1,0,1}n \\ { 0}, given a ∈ [0,1]n. While an application of the pigeonhole principle shows that there always exists x with | 〈a,x〉| ≤ O(√ n/2n), the best known algorithm only guarantees |〈a,x〉| ≤ 2-ntheta(log n). We show that an oracle for Minkowski's Theorem with approximation factor rho would give an algorithm for NBP that guarantees | 〈a,x〉 | ≤ 2-ntheta(1/rho). In particular, this would beat the bound of Karmarkar and Karp provided rho ≤ O(logn/loglogn). In the other direction, we prove that any polynomial time algorithm for NBP that guarantees a solution of difference at most 2√n/2 n would give a polynomial approximation for Minkowski as well as a polynomial factor approximation algorithm for the Shortest Vector Problem.
An Advanced Tabu Search Approach to Solving the Mixed Payload Airlift Load Planning Problem

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-03-01

cargo, and the problem therefore becomes trivial. 3. Shoring: Some cargo requires shoring which is small planks of plywood stacked on top of each...Integer Programming Method In 1989, Kevin Ng examined the bin-packing MPALP for Canada’s C-130 aircraft (Ng 1992). His goal was to move a set of... leadership & ethics [ ] warfighting [ ] international security [ ] doctrine [X] other (specify): Military Airlift
Dynamic bin packing problem

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dikshit, Piyush; Guimaraes, Katia; Ramamurthy, Maya; Agrawala, Ashok K.; Larsen, Ronald L.

1989-01-01

In a previous work we have defined a general architecture model for autonomous systems, which can be mapped easily to describe the functions of any automated system (SDAG-86-01). In this note, we use the model to describe the problem of thermal management in space stations. First we briefly review the architecture, then we present the environment of our application, and finally we detail the specific function for each functional block of the architecture for that environment.
Pack Factor Measurementss for Corn in Grain Storage Bins

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Grain is commonly stored commercially in tall bins, which often are as deep as 35 m (114.8 ft) for tall and narrow concrete bins and about 32 m (105 ft) in diameter for large corrugated steel bins. Grain can support the great pressure without crushing, but it yields somewhat to compaction under its ...
Deployment Optimization for Embedded Flight Avionics Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-11-01

the iterations, the best solution(s) that evolved out from the group is output as the result. Although metaheuristic algorithms are powerful, they...that other design constraints are met—ScatterD uses metaheuristic algorithms to seed the bin-packing algorithm . In particular, metaheuristic ... metaheuristic algorithms to search the design space—and then using bin-packing to allocate software tasks to processors—ScatterD can generate
Reason behind wet pack after steam sterilization and its consequences: An overview from Central Sterile Supply Department of a cancer center in eastern India.

PubMed

Basu, Debabrata

Wet pack after steam sterilization process that means there are surely obtain millions of microorganisms that can breed and multiply rapidly and objects are unsterile and can never be used for further procedure. There are many reasons behind the wet pack occurrences after autoclaving like poor quality of wrapping materials, faulty valves of rigid container, faulty loading and packaging technique, poor steam quality, sterilizer malfunction and may be design related problems in CSSD sterile storage area. Cause of wet pack after steam sterilization processes may occur severe problems because of wasted time and effort, increased work load, increased cost, potentially contaminated instruments, infection risk to the patient, poor patient outcomes and delayed or cancellation of procedures. But such wet pack scenario can be avoided by various methods by using good steam (water) quality, performing periodic maintenance of the Autoclaves, avoidance of sterilizer overloading, allowing adequate post sterilization time to cool down the materials to room temperature, using good quality wrapping materials, properly maintain temperature and humidity of sterile storage area etc. Copyright © 2016 King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Stored grain pack factors for wheat: comparison of three methods to field measurements

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Storing grain in bulk storage units results in grain packing from overbearing pressure, which increases grain bulk density and storage-unit capacity. This study compared pack factors of hard red winter (HRW) wheat in vertical storage bins using different methods: the existing packing model (WPACKING...
Generation of dense granular deposits for porosity analysis: assessment and application of large-scale non-smooth granular dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schruff, T.; Liang, R.; Rüde, U.; Schüttrumpf, H.; Frings, R. M.

2018-01-01

The knowledge of structural properties of granular materials such as porosity is highly important in many application-oriented and scientific fields. In this paper we present new results of computer-based packing simulations where we use the non-smooth granular dynamics (NSGD) method to simulate gravitational random dense packing of spherical particles with various particle size distributions and two types of depositional conditions. A bin packing scenario was used to compare simulation results to laboratory porosity measurements and to quantify the sensitivity of the NSGD regarding critical simulation parameters such as time step size. The results of the bin packing simulations agree well with laboratory measurements across all particle size distributions with all absolute errors below 1%. A large-scale packing scenario with periodic side walls was used to simulate the packing of up to 855,600 spherical particles with various particle size distributions (PSD). Simulation outcomes are used to quantify the effect of particle-domain-size ratio on the packing compaction. A simple correction model, based on the coordination number, is employed to compensate for this effect on the porosity and to determine the relationship between PSD and porosity. Promising accuracy and stability results paired with excellent computational performance recommend the application of NSGD for large-scale packing simulations, e.g. to further enhance the generation of representative granular deposits.
Developing cross entropy genetic algorithm for solving Two-Dimensional Loading Heterogeneous Fleet Vehicle Routing Problem (2L-HFVRP)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paramestha, D. L.; Santosa, B.

2018-04-01

Two-dimensional Loading Heterogeneous Fleet Vehicle Routing Problem (2L-HFVRP) is a combination of Heterogeneous Fleet VRP and a packing problem well-known as Two-Dimensional Bin Packing Problem (BPP). 2L-HFVRP is a Heterogeneous Fleet VRP in which these costumer demands are formed by a set of two-dimensional rectangular weighted item. These demands must be served by a heterogeneous fleet of vehicles with a fix and variable cost from the depot. The objective function 2L-HFVRP is to minimize the total transportation cost. All formed routes must be consistent with the capacity and loading process of the vehicle. Sequential and unrestricted scenarios are considered in this paper. We propose a metaheuristic which is a combination of the Genetic Algorithm (GA) and the Cross Entropy (CE) named Cross Entropy Genetic Algorithm (CEGA) to solve the 2L-HFVRP. The mutation concept on GA is used to speed up the algorithm CE to find the optimal solution. The mutation mechanism was based on local improvement (2-opt, 1-1 Exchange, and 1-0 Exchange). The probability transition matrix mechanism on CE is used to avoid getting stuck in the local optimum. The effectiveness of CEGA was tested on benchmark instance based 2L-HFVRP. The result of experiments shows a competitive result compared with the other algorithm.

Optimization Models for Scheduling of Jobs

PubMed Central

Indika, S. H. Sathish; Shier, Douglas R.

2006-01-01

This work is motivated by a particular scheduling problem that is faced by logistics centers that perform aircraft maintenance and modification. Here we concentrate on a single facility (hangar) which is equipped with several work stations (bays). Specifically, a number of jobs have already been scheduled for processing at the facility; the starting times, durations, and work station assignments for these jobs are assumed to be known. We are interested in how best to schedule a number of new jobs that the facility will be processing in the near future. We first develop a mixed integer quadratic programming model (MIQP) for this problem. Since the exact solution of this MIQP formulation is time consuming, we develop a heuristic procedure, based on existing bin packing techniques. This heuristic is further enhanced by application of certain local optimality conditions. PMID:27274921
Experimental Analysis of Algorithms.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-12-01

solution ratio in the Bin Packing study) were suggested by theoretical analysis. Gnanadesikan and Gustafson [16] note that significantly different sizes...34’ [16] M. Gnanadesikan and H. W. Gustafson. * Properties of Performance Measures. 1985. Summary of poster presentation. Gnanadesikan is at Farleigh
Focusing on the golden ball metaheuristic: an extended study on a wider set of problems.

PubMed

Osaba, E; Diaz, F; Carballedo, R; Onieva, E; Perallos, A

2014-01-01

Nowadays, the development of new metaheuristics for solving optimization problems is a topic of interest in the scientific community. In the literature, a large number of techniques of this kind can be found. Anyway, there are many recently proposed techniques, such as the artificial bee colony and imperialist competitive algorithm. This paper is focused on one recently published technique, the one called Golden Ball (GB). The GB is a multiple-population metaheuristic based on soccer concepts. Although it was designed to solve combinatorial optimization problems, until now, it has only been tested with two simple routing problems: the traveling salesman problem and the capacitated vehicle routing problem. In this paper, the GB is applied to four different combinatorial optimization problems. Two of them are routing problems, which are more complex than the previously used ones: the asymmetric traveling salesman problem and the vehicle routing problem with backhauls. Additionally, one constraint satisfaction problem (the n-queen problem) and one combinatorial design problem (the one-dimensional bin packing problem) have also been used. The outcomes obtained by GB are compared with the ones got by two different genetic algorithms and two distributed genetic algorithms. Additionally, two statistical tests are conducted to compare these results.
Focusing on the Golden Ball Metaheuristic: An Extended Study on a Wider Set of Problems

PubMed Central

Osaba, E.; Diaz, F.; Carballedo, R.; Onieva, E.; Perallos, A.

2014-01-01

Nowadays, the development of new metaheuristics for solving optimization problems is a topic of interest in the scientific community. In the literature, a large number of techniques of this kind can be found. Anyway, there are many recently proposed techniques, such as the artificial bee colony and imperialist competitive algorithm. This paper is focused on one recently published technique, the one called Golden Ball (GB). The GB is a multiple-population metaheuristic based on soccer concepts. Although it was designed to solve combinatorial optimization problems, until now, it has only been tested with two simple routing problems: the traveling salesman problem and the capacitated vehicle routing problem. In this paper, the GB is applied to four different combinatorial optimization problems. Two of them are routing problems, which are more complex than the previously used ones: the asymmetric traveling salesman problem and the vehicle routing problem with backhauls. Additionally, one constraint satisfaction problem (the n-queen problem) and one combinatorial design problem (the one-dimensional bin packing problem) have also been used. The outcomes obtained by GB are compared with the ones got by two different genetic algorithms and two distributed genetic algorithms. Additionally, two statistical tests are conducted to compare these results. PMID:25165742
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Virador, Patrick R.G.

The author performs image reconstruction for a novel Positron Emission Tomography camera that is optimized for breast cancer imaging. This work addresses for the first time, the problem of fully-3D, tomographic reconstruction using a septa-less, stationary, (i.e. no rotation or linear motion), and rectangular camera whose Field of View (FOV) encompasses the entire volume enclosed by detector modules capable of measuring Depth of Interaction (DOI) information. The camera is rectangular in shape in order to accommodate breasts of varying sizes while allowing for soft compression of the breast during the scan. This non-standard geometry of the camera exacerbates two problems:more » (a) radial elongation due to crystal penetration and (b) reconstructing images from irregularly sampled data. Packing considerations also give rise to regions in projection space that are not sampled which lead to missing information. The author presents new Fourier Methods based image reconstruction algorithms that incorporate DOI information and accommodate the irregular sampling of the camera in a consistent manner by defining lines of responses (LORs) between the measured interaction points instead of rebinning the events into predefined crystal face LORs which is the only other method to handle DOI information proposed thus far. The new procedures maximize the use of the increased sampling provided by the DOI while minimizing interpolation in the data. The new algorithms use fixed-width evenly spaced radial bins in order to take advantage of the speed of the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), which necessitates the use of irregular angular sampling in order to minimize the number of unnormalizable Zero-Efficiency Bins (ZEBs). In order to address the persisting ZEBs and the issue of missing information originating from packing considerations, the algorithms (a) perform nearest neighbor smoothing in 2D in the radial bins (b) employ a semi-iterative procedure in order to estimate the unsampled data and (c) mash the in plane projections, i.e. 2D data, with the projection data from the first oblique angles, which are then used to reconstruct the preliminary image in the 3D Reprojection Projection algorithm. The author presents reconstructed images of point sources and extended sources in both 2D and 3D. The images show that the camera is anticipated to eliminate radial elongation and produce artifact free and essentially spatially isotropic images throughout the entire FOV. It has a resolution of 1.50 ± 0.75 mm FWHM near the center, 2.25 ±0.75 mm FWHM in the bulk of the FOV, and 3.00 ± 0.75 mm FWHM near the edge and corners of the FOV.« less
Primal-dual techniques for online algorithms and mechanisms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liaghat, Vahid

An offline algorithm is one that knows the entire input in advance. An online algorithm, however, processes its input in a serial fashion. In contrast to offline algorithms, an online algorithm works in a local fashion and has to make irrevocable decisions without having the entire input. Online algorithms are often not optimal since their irrevocable decisions may turn out to be inefficient after receiving the rest of the input. For a given online problem, the goal is to design algorithms which are competitive against the offline optimal solutions. In a classical offline scenario, it is often common to see a dual analysis of problems that can be formulated as a linear or convex program. Primal-dual and dual-fitting techniques have been successfully applied to many such problems. Unfortunately, the usual tricks come short in an online setting since an online algorithm should make decisions without knowing even the whole program. In this thesis, we study the competitive analysis of fundamental problems in the literature such as different variants of online matching and online Steiner connectivity, via online dual techniques. Although there are many generic tools for solving an optimization problem in the offline paradigm, in comparison, much less is known for tackling online problems. The main focus of this work is to design generic techniques for solving integral linear optimization problems where the solution space is restricted via a set of linear constraints. A general family of these problems are online packing/covering problems. Our work shows that for several seemingly unrelated problems, primal-dual techniques can be successfully applied as a unifying approach for analyzing these problems. We believe this leads to generic algorithmic frameworks for solving online problems. In the first part of the thesis, we show the effectiveness of our techniques in the stochastic settings and their applications in Bayesian mechanism design. In particular, we introduce new techniques for solving a fundamental linear optimization problem, namely, the stochastic generalized assignment problem (GAP). This packing problem generalizes various problems such as online matching, ad allocation, bin packing, etc. We furthermore show applications of such results in the mechanism design by introducing Prophet Secretary, a novel Bayesian model for online auctions. In the second part of the thesis, we focus on the covering problems. We develop the framework of "Disk Painting" for a general class of network design problems that can be characterized by proper functions. This class generalizes the node-weighted and edge-weighted variants of several well-known Steiner connectivity problems. We furthermore design a generic technique for solving the prize-collecting variants of these problems when there exists a dual analysis for the non-prize-collecting counterparts. Hence, we solve the online prize-collecting variants of several network design problems for the first time. Finally we focus on designing techniques for online problems with mixed packing/covering constraints. We initiate the study of degree-bounded graph optimization problems in the online setting by designing an online algorithm with a tight competitive ratio for the degree-bounded Steiner forest problem. We hope these techniques establishes a starting point for the analysis of the important class of online degree-bounded optimization on graphs.
Using heuristic algorithms for capacity leasing and task allocation issues in telecommunication networks under fuzzy quality of service constraints

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huseyin Turan, Hasan; Kasap, Nihat; Savran, Huseyin

2014-03-01

Nowadays, every firm uses telecommunication networks in different amounts and ways in order to complete their daily operations. In this article, we investigate an optimisation problem that a firm faces when acquiring network capacity from a market in which there exist several network providers offering different pricing and quality of service (QoS) schemes. The QoS level guaranteed by network providers and the minimum quality level of service, which is needed for accomplishing the operations are denoted as fuzzy numbers in order to handle the non-deterministic nature of the telecommunication network environment. Interestingly, the mathematical formulation of the aforementioned problem leads to the special case of a well-known two-dimensional bin packing problem, which is famous for its computational complexity. We propose two different heuristic solution procedures that have the capability of solving the resulting nonlinear mixed integer programming model with fuzzy constraints. In conclusion, the efficiency of each algorithm is tested in several test instances to demonstrate the applicability of the methodology.
Predictive Cache Modeling and Analysis

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-11-01

metaheuristic /bin-packing algorithm to optimize task placement based on task communication characterization. Our previous work on task allocation showed...Cache Miss Minimization Technology To efficiently explore combinations and discover nearly-optimal task-assignment algorithms , we extended to our...it was possible to use our algorithmic techniques to decrease network bandwidth consumption by ~25%. In this effort, we adapted these existing
2. DETAIL OF DISCHARGE CHUTES FROM VOGT AUTOMATIC TUBE ICE ...

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

2. DETAIL OF DISCHARGE CHUTES FROM VOGT AUTOMATIC TUBE ICE MACHINE IN SOUTHWEST CORNER OF LEVEL 5; ICE DROPPED INTO HOLDING BIN BEFORE BEING TRANSFERRED TO RAIL CARS OUTSIDE BUILDING (HENRY VOGT MACHINE COMPANY, LOUISVILLE, USA, PATENT NO. 2,200,424 - Rath Packing Company, Cooler Building, Sycamore Street between Elm & Eighteenth Streets, Waterloo, Black Hawk County, IA
Bin Ratio-Based Histogram Distances and Their Application to Image Classification.

PubMed

Hu, Weiming; Xie, Nianhua; Hu, Ruiguang; Ling, Haibin; Chen, Qiang; Yan, Shuicheng; Maybank, Stephen

2014-12-01

Large variations in image background may cause partial matching and normalization problems for histogram-based representations, i.e., the histograms of the same category may have bins which are significantly different, and normalization may produce large changes in the differences between corresponding bins. In this paper, we deal with this problem by using the ratios between bin values of histograms, rather than bin values' differences which are used in the traditional histogram distances. We propose a bin ratio-based histogram distance (BRD), which is an intra-cross-bin distance, in contrast with previous bin-to-bin distances and cross-bin distances. The BRD is robust to partial matching and histogram normalization, and captures correlations between bins with only a linear computational complexity. We combine the BRD with the ℓ1 histogram distance and the χ(2) histogram distance to generate the ℓ1 BRD and the χ(2) BRD, respectively. These combinations exploit and benefit from the robustness of the BRD under partial matching and the robustness of the ℓ1 and χ(2) distances to small noise. We propose a method for assessing the robustness of histogram distances to partial matching. The BRDs and logistic regression-based histogram fusion are applied to image classification. The experimental results on synthetic data sets show the robustness of the BRDs to partial matching, and the experiments on seven benchmark data sets demonstrate promising results of the BRDs for image classification.
A proposal to improve e-waste collection efficiency in urban mining: Container loading and vehicle routing problems - A case study of Poland.

PubMed

Nowakowski, Piotr

2017-02-01

Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), also known as e-waste, is one of the most important waste streams with high recycling potential. Materials used in these products are valuable, but some of them are hazardous. The urban mining approach attempts to recycle as many materials as possible, so efficiency in collection is vital. There are two main methods used to collect WEEE: stationary and mobile, each with different variants. The responsibility of WEEE organizations and waste collection companies is to assure all resources required for these activities - bins, containers, collection vehicles and staff - are available, taking into account cost minimization. Therefore, it is necessary to correctly determine the capacity of containers and number of collection vehicles for an area where WEEE need to be collected. There are two main problems encountered in collection, storage and transportation of WEEE: container loading problems and vehicle routing problems. In this study, an adaptation of these two models for packing and collecting WEEE is proposed, along with a practical implementation plan designed to be useful for collection companies' guidelines for container loading and route optimization. The solutions are presented in the case studies of real-world conditions for WEEE collection companies in Poland. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Crash Simulation of a Vertical Drop Test of a B737 Fuselage Section with Overhead Bins and Luggage

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jackson, Karen E.; Fasanella, Edwin L.

2004-01-01

The focus of this paper is to describe a crash simulation of a 30-ft/s vertical drop test of a Boeing 737 (B737) fuselage section. The drop test of the 10-ft. long fuselage section of a B737 aircraft was conducted in November of 2000 at the FAA Technical Center in Atlantic City, NJ. The fuselage section was outfitted with two different commercial overhead stowage bins. In addition, 3,229-lbs. of luggage were packed in the cargo hold to represent a maximum take-off weight condition. The main objective of the test was to evaluate the response and failure modes of the overhead stowage bins in a narrow-body transport fuselage section when subjected to a severe, but survivable, impact. A secondary objective of the test was to generate experimental data for correlation with the crash simulation. A full-scale 3-dimensional finite element model of the fuselage section was developed and a crash simulation was conducted using the explicit, nonlinear transient dynamic code, MSC.Dytran. Pre-test predictions of the fuselage and overhead bin responses were generated for correlation with the drop test data. A description of the finite element model and an assessment of the analytical/experimental correlation are presented. In addition, suggestions for modifications to the model to improve correlation are proposed.
Comparison of aerosol volume size distributions between column and surface measurements downwind of Seoul, Korea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, J. S.; Choi, Y.; Ghim, Y. S.

2015-12-01

The aerosol volume size distribution is one of the most important parameters in retrieving aerosol optical properties and studying radiative forcing. The column-integrated aerosol volume size distribution for AERONET was obtained from inversion product level 1.5 (22 bins between 0.1 and 30 μm in diameter) from the measurements of CIMEL sunphotometer (CE-318); that for SKYNET was obtained using skyrad.pack V5 (20 bins, 0.02-33 μm) from the measurements of PREDE skyradiometer (POM-02). The aerosol volume size distribution at the surface was measured using a wide range aerosol spectrometer system consisting of a scanning mobility particle scanner (Grimm, Model 5.419; 89 bins, 0.005-0.35 μm) and an optical particle counter (Grimm, Model 1.109; 31 bins, 0.27-34 μm). The measurement was conducted in Yongin, downwind of Seoul, Korea, from April 30 to June 27, 2015. The measurement site is located on the rooftop of a five-story building on the hill (37.34°N, 127.27°E, 167 m above sea level) in the global campus of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. To investigate the discrepancy in effective diameter and fine mode volume fraction, we compared the volume size distributions when the measurement time coincided within 5 minutes because the measurement intervals were different between instruments.
Improving operating room schedules.

PubMed

Li, Fei; Gupta, Diwakar; Potthoff, Sandra

2016-09-01

Operating rooms (ORs) in US hospitals are costly to staff, generate about 70 % of a hospital's revenues, and operate at a staffed-capacity utilization of 60-70 %. Many hospitals allocate blocks of OR time to individual or groups of surgeons as guaranteed allocation, who book surgeries one at a time in their blocks. The booking procedure frequently results in unused time between surgeries. Realizing that this presents an opportunity to improve OR utilization, hospitals manually reschedule surgery start times one or two days before each day of surgical operations. The purpose of rescheduling is to decrease OR staffing costs, which are determined by the number of concurrently staffed ORs. We formulate the rescheduling problem as a variant of the bin-packing problem with interrelated items, which are the surgeries performed by the same surgeon. We develop a lower bound (LB) construction algorithm and prove that the LB is at least (2/3) of the optimal staffing cost. A key feature of our approach is that we allow hospitals to have two shift lengths. Our analytical results form the basis of a branch-and-bound algorithm, which we test on data obtained from three hospitals. Experiments show that rescheduling saves significant staffing costs.
A general parallel sparse-blocked matrix multiply for linear scaling SCF theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Challacombe, Matt

2000-06-01

A general approach to the parallel sparse-blocked matrix-matrix multiply is developed in the context of linear scaling self-consistent-field (SCF) theory. The data-parallel message passing method uses non-blocking communication to overlap computation and communication. The space filling curve heuristic is used to achieve data locality for sparse matrix elements that decay with “separation”. Load balance is achieved by solving the bin packing problem for blocks with variable size.With this new method as the kernel, parallel performance of the simplified density matrix minimization (SDMM) for solution of the SCF equations is investigated for RHF/6-31G ∗∗ water clusters and RHF/3-21G estane globules. Sustained rates above 5.7 GFLOPS for the SDMM have been achieved for (H 2 O) 200 with 95 Origin 2000 processors. Scalability is found to be limited by load imbalance, which increases with decreasing granularity, due primarily to the inhomogeneous distribution of variable block sizes.
Thermal-Aware Test Access Mechanism and Wrapper Design Optimization for System-on-Chips

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Thomas Edison; Yoneda, Tomokazu; Chakrabarty, Krishnendu; Fujiwara, Hideo

Rapid advances in semiconductor manufacturing technology have led to higher chip power densities, which places greater emphasis on packaging and temperature control during testing. For system-on-chips, peak power-based scheduling algorithms have been used to optimize tests under specified power constraints. However, imposing power constraints does not always solve the problem of overheating due to the non-uniform distribution of power across the chip. This paper presents a TAM/Wrapper co-design methodology for system-on-chips that ensures thermal safety while still optimizing the test schedule. The method combines a simplified thermal-cost model with a traditional bin-packing algorithm to minimize test time while satisfying temperature constraints. Furthermore, for temperature checking, thermal simulation is done using cycle-accurate power profiles for more realistic results. Experiments show that even a minimal sacrifice in test time can yield a considerable decrease in test temperature as well as the possibility of further lowering temperatures beyond those achieved using traditional power-based test scheduling.
From belt picking to bin packing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balslev, Ivar; Eriksen, René D.

2002-10-01

We face the problem of computer-vision aided robot grasping of objects with more or less random positions. This field is of vital importance in the further progress in flexible automation of industrial processes, since conventional methods using fixtures and/or vibration bowls are expensive and inflexible. We study various types of disorder: A) visually isolated objects lying in distinct resting modes on a flat homogenous conveyer belt, B) partially occluded objects lying in distinct resting modes on a flat homogenous conveyer belt, C) visually separated objects, unrestricted object-camera pose, and fully surrounded by background, D) partially occluded objects, unrestricted relative orientation, but with a sizeable fraction of their contour detectable using foreground-background separation, E) partially occluded objects with unrestricted pose and no help from foreground-background separation. The cases A), B), and - to some extend - D) are encountered in belt picking, while case E) is true bin picking. Since physical storage of products and components in industry is based on deep containers with many layers of somewhat disordered objects, the belt-picking concept is only the first step for achieving flexible, unsupervised parts feeding. We have developed and tested a generic, fast, and easily trainable system for the cases A) and B). The system is unique because it handles the perspective effects exactly so there is no restriction concerning object dimensions relative to the distance to the camera. We report on a strategy to be used in treating case C) using the principles developed for the cases A-B). We discuss possible strategies to be employed when going all the way to cases of D) and E).
Adaptive, Distributed Control of Constrained Multi-Agent Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bieniawski, Stefan; Wolpert, David H.

2004-01-01

Product Distribution (PO) theory was recently developed as a broad framework for analyzing and optimizing distributed systems. Here we demonstrate its use for adaptive distributed control of Multi-Agent Systems (MASS), i.e., for distributed stochastic optimization using MAS s. First we review one motivation of PD theory, as the information-theoretic extension of conventional full-rationality game theory to the case of bounded rational agents. In this extension the equilibrium of the game is the optimizer of a Lagrangian of the (Probability dist&&on on the joint state of the agents. When the game in question is a team game with constraints, that equilibrium optimizes the expected value of the team game utility, subject to those constraints. One common way to find that equilibrium is to have each agent run a Reinforcement Learning (E) algorithm. PD theory reveals this to be a particular type of search algorithm for minimizing the Lagrangian. Typically that algorithm i s quite inefficient. A more principled alternative is to use a variant of Newton's method to minimize the Lagrangian. Here we compare this alternative to RL-based search in three sets of computer experiments. These are the N Queen s problem and bin-packing problem from the optimization literature, and the Bar problem from the distributed RL literature. Our results confirm that the PD-theory-based approach outperforms the RL-based scheme in all three domains.
Spectral CT Reconstruction with Image Sparsity and Spectral Mean

PubMed Central

Zhang, Yi; Xi, Yan; Yang, Qingsong; Cong, Wenxiang; Zhou, Jiliu

2017-01-01

Photon-counting detectors can acquire x-ray intensity data in different energy bins. The signal to noise ratio of resultant raw data in each energy bin is generally low due to the narrow bin width and quantum noise. To address this problem, here we propose an image reconstruction approach for spectral CT to simultaneously reconstructs x-ray attenuation coefficients in all the energy bins. Because the measured spectral data are highly correlated among the x-ray energy bins, the intra-image sparsity and inter-image similarity are important prior acknowledge for image reconstruction. Inspired by this observation, the total variation (TV) and spectral mean (SM) measures are combined to improve the quality of reconstructed images. For this purpose, a linear mapping function is used to minimalize image differences between energy bins. The split Bregman technique is applied to perform image reconstruction. Our numerical and experimental results show that the proposed algorithms outperform competing iterative algorithms in this context. PMID:29034267
VarBin, a novel method for classifying true and false positive variants in NGS data

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Variant discovery for rare genetic diseases using Illumina genome or exome sequencing involves screening of up to millions of variants to find only the one or few causative variant(s). Sequencing or alignment errors create "false positive" variants, which are often retained in the variant screening process. Methods to remove false positive variants often retain many false positive variants. This report presents VarBin, a method to prioritize variants based on a false positive variant likelihood prediction. Methods VarBin uses the Genome Analysis Toolkit variant calling software to calculate the variant-to-wild type genotype likelihood ratio at each variant change and position divided by read depth. The resulting Phred-scaled, likelihood-ratio by depth (PLRD) was used to segregate variants into 4 Bins with Bin 1 variants most likely true and Bin 4 most likely false positive. PLRD values were calculated for a proband of interest and 41 additional Illumina HiSeq, exome and whole genome samples (proband's family or unrelated samples). At variant sites without apparent sequencing or alignment error, wild type/non-variant calls cluster near -3 PLRD and variant calls typically cluster above 10 PLRD. Sites with systematic variant calling problems (evident by variant quality scores and biases as well as displayed on the iGV viewer) tend to have higher and more variable wild type/non-variant PLRD values. Depending on the separation of a proband's variant PLRD value from the cluster of wild type/non-variant PLRD values for background samples at the same variant change and position, the VarBin method's classification is assigned to each proband variant (Bin 1 to Bin 4). Results To assess VarBin performance, Sanger sequencing was performed on 98 variants in the proband and background samples. True variants were confirmed in 97% of Bin 1 variants, 30% of Bin 2, and 0% of Bin 3/Bin 4. Conclusions These data indicate that VarBin correctly classifies the majority of true variants as Bin 1 and Bin 3/4 contained only false positive variants. The "uncertain" Bin 2 contained both true and false positive variants. Future work will further differentiate the variants in Bin 2. PMID:24266885

An imperialist competitive algorithm for virtual machine placement in cloud computing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jamali, Shahram; Malektaji, Sepideh; Analoui, Morteza

2017-05-01

Cloud computing, the recently emerged revolution in IT industry, is empowered by virtualisation technology. In this paradigm, the user's applications run over some virtual machines (VMs). The process of selecting proper physical machines to host these virtual machines is called virtual machine placement. It plays an important role on resource utilisation and power efficiency of cloud computing environment. In this paper, we propose an imperialist competitive-based algorithm for the virtual machine placement problem called ICA-VMPLC. The base optimisation algorithm is chosen to be ICA because of its ease in neighbourhood movement, good convergence rate and suitable terminology. The proposed algorithm investigates search space in a unique manner to efficiently obtain optimal placement solution that simultaneously minimises power consumption and total resource wastage. Its final solution performance is compared with several existing methods such as grouping genetic and ant colony-based algorithms as well as bin packing heuristic. The simulation results show that the proposed method is superior to other tested algorithms in terms of power consumption, resource wastage, CPU usage efficiency and memory usage efficiency.
Atomic density effects on temperature characteristics and thermal transport at grain boundaries through a proper bin size selection

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

Vo, Truong Quoc; Kim, BoHung, E-mail: muratbarisik@iyte.edu.tr, E-mail: bohungk@ulsan.ac.kr; Barisik, Murat, E-mail: muratbarisik@iyte.edu.tr, E-mail: bohungk@ulsan.ac.kr

2016-05-21

This study focuses on the proper characterization of temperature profiles across grain boundaries (GBs) in order to calculate the correct interfacial thermal resistance (ITR) and reveal the influence of GB geometries onto thermal transport. The solid-solid interfaces resulting from the orientation difference between the (001), (011), and (111) copper surfaces were investigated. Temperature discontinuities were observed at the boundary of grains due to the phonon mismatch, phonon backscattering, and atomic forces between dissimilar structures at the GBs. We observed that the temperature decreases gradually in the GB area rather than a sharp drop at the interface. As a result, threemore » distinct temperature gradients developed at the GB which were different than the one observed in the bulk solid. This behavior extends a couple molecular diameters into both sides of the interface where we defined a thickness at GB based on the measured temperature profiles for characterization. Results showed dependence on the selection of the bin size used to average the temperature data from the molecular dynamics system. The bin size on the order of the crystal layer spacing was found to present an accurate temperature profile through the GB. We further calculated the GB thickness of various cases by using potential energy (PE) distributions which showed agreement with direct measurements from the temperature profile and validated the proper binning. The variation of grain crystal orientation developed different molecular densities which were characterized by the average atomic surface density (ASD) definition. Our results revealed that the ASD is the primary factor affecting the structural disorders and heat transfer at the solid-solid interfaces. Using a system in which the planes are highly close-packed can enhance the probability of interactions and the degree of overlap between vibrational density of states (VDOS) of atoms forming at interfaces, leading to a reduced ITR. Thus, an accurate understanding of thermal characteristics at the GB can be formulated by selecting a proper bin size.« less
Atomic density effects on temperature characteristics and thermal transport at grain boundaries through a proper bin size selection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vo, Truong Quoc; Barisik, Murat; Kim, BoHung

2016-05-01

This study focuses on the proper characterization of temperature profiles across grain boundaries (GBs) in order to calculate the correct interfacial thermal resistance (ITR) and reveal the influence of GB geometries onto thermal transport. The solid-solid interfaces resulting from the orientation difference between the (001), (011), and (111) copper surfaces were investigated. Temperature discontinuities were observed at the boundary of grains due to the phonon mismatch, phonon backscattering, and atomic forces between dissimilar structures at the GBs. We observed that the temperature decreases gradually in the GB area rather than a sharp drop at the interface. As a result, three distinct temperature gradients developed at the GB which were different than the one observed in the bulk solid. This behavior extends a couple molecular diameters into both sides of the interface where we defined a thickness at GB based on the measured temperature profiles for characterization. Results showed dependence on the selection of the bin size used to average the temperature data from the molecular dynamics system. The bin size on the order of the crystal layer spacing was found to present an accurate temperature profile through the GB. We further calculated the GB thickness of various cases by using potential energy (PE) distributions which showed agreement with direct measurements from the temperature profile and validated the proper binning. The variation of grain crystal orientation developed different molecular densities which were characterized by the average atomic surface density (ASD) definition. Our results revealed that the ASD is the primary factor affecting the structural disorders and heat transfer at the solid-solid interfaces. Using a system in which the planes are highly close-packed can enhance the probability of interactions and the degree of overlap between vibrational density of states (VDOS) of atoms forming at interfaces, leading to a reduced ITR. Thus, an accurate understanding of thermal characteristics at the GB can be formulated by selecting a proper bin size.
Binning and filtering: the six-color solution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ashdown, Ian; Robinson, Shane; Salsbury, Marc

2006-08-01

The use of LED backlighting for LCD displays requires careful binning of red, green, and blue LEDs by dominant wavelength to maintain the color gamuts as specified by NTSC, SMPTE, and EBU/ITU standards. This problem also occurs to a lesser extent with RGB and RGBA assemblies for solid-state lighting, where color gamut consistency is required for color-changing luminaires. In this paper, we propose a "six-color solution," based on Grassman's laws, that does not require color binning, but nevertheless guarantees a fixed color gamut that subsumes the color gamuts of carefully-binned RGB assemblies. A further advantage of this solution is that it solves the problem of peak wavelength shifts with varying junction temperatures. The color gamut can thus remain fixed over the full range of LED intensities and ambient temperatures. A related problem occurs with integrated circuit (IC) colorimeters used for optical feedback with LED backlighting and RGB(A) solid-state lighting, wherein it can be difficult to distinguish between peak wavelength shifts and changes in LED intensity. We apply our six-color solution to the design of a novel colorimeter for LEDs that independently measures changes in peak wavelength and intensity. The design is compatible with current manufacturing techniques for tristimulus colorimeter ICs. Together, the six-color solution for LEDs and colorimeters enables less expensive LED backlighting and solid-state lighting systems with improved color stability.
Microstructural characterization of random packings of cubic particles

PubMed Central

Malmir, Hessam; Sahimi, Muhammad; Tabar, M. Reza Rahimi

2016-01-01

Understanding the properties of random packings of solid objects is of critical importance to a wide variety of fundamental scientific and practical problems. The great majority of the previous works focused, however, on packings of spherical and sphere-like particles. We report the first detailed simulation and characterization of packings of non-overlapping cubic particles. Such packings arise in a variety of problems, ranging from biological materials, to colloids and fabrication of porous scaffolds using salt powders. In addition, packing of cubic salt crystals arise in various problems involving preservation of pavements, paintings, and historical monuments, mineral-fluid interactions, CO2 sequestration in rock, and intrusion of groundwater aquifers by saline water. Not much is known, however, about the structure and statistical descriptors of such packings. We have developed a version of the random sequential addition algorithm to generate such packings, and have computed a variety of microstructural descriptors, including the radial distribution function, two-point probability function, orientational correlation function, specific surface, and mean chord length, and have studied the effect of finite system size and porosity on such characteristics. The results indicate the existence of both spatial and orientational long-range order in the packing, which is more distinctive for higher packing densities. The maximum packing fraction is about 0.57. PMID:27725736
A novel methodology to model the cooling processes of packed horticultural produce using 3D shape models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gruyters, Willem; Verboven, Pieter; Rogge, Seppe; Vanmaercke, Simon; Ramon, Herman; Nicolai, Bart

2017-10-01

Freshly harvested horticultural produce require a proper temperature management to maintain their high economic value. Towards this end, low temperature storage is of crucial importance to maintain a high product quality. Optimizing both the package design of packed produce and the different steps in the postharvest cold chain can be achieved by numerical modelling of the relevant transport phenomena. This work presents a novel methodology to accurately model both the random filling of produce in a package and the subsequent cooling process. First, a cultivar-specific database of more than 100 realistic CAD models of apple and pear fruit is built with a validated geometrical 3D shape model generator. To have an accurate representation of a realistic picking season, the model generator also takes into account the biological variability of the produce shape. Next, a discrete element model (DEM) randomly chooses surface meshed bodies from the database to simulate the gravitational filling process of produce in a box or bin, using actual mechanical properties of the fruit. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model is then developed with the final stacking arrangement of the produce to study the cooling efficiency of packages under several conditions and configurations. Here, a typical precooling operation is simulated to demonstrate the large differences between using actual 3D shapes of the fruit and an equivalent spheres approach that simplifies the problem drastically. From this study, it is concluded that using a simplified representation of the actual fruit shape may lead to a severe overestimation of the cooling behaviour.
Pattern formations and optimal packing.

PubMed

Mityushev, Vladimir

2016-04-01

Patterns of different symmetries may arise after solution to reaction-diffusion equations. Hexagonal arrays, layers and their perturbations are observed in different models after numerical solution to the corresponding initial-boundary value problems. We demonstrate an intimate connection between pattern formations and optimal random packing on the plane. The main study is based on the following two points. First, the diffusive flux in reaction-diffusion systems is approximated by piecewise linear functions in the framework of structural approximations. This leads to a discrete network approximation of the considered continuous problem. Second, the discrete energy minimization yields optimal random packing of the domains (disks) in the representative cell. Therefore, the general problem of pattern formations based on the reaction-diffusion equations is reduced to the geometric problem of random packing. It is demonstrated that all random packings can be divided onto classes associated with classes of isomorphic graphs obtained from the Delaunay triangulation. The unique optimal solution is constructed in each class of the random packings. If the number of disks per representative cell is finite, the number of classes of isomorphic graphs, hence, the number of optimal packings is also finite. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Microstructural characterization of random packings of cubic particles

DOE PAGES

Malmir, Hessam; Sahimi, Muhammad; Tabar, M. Reza Rahimi

2016-10-11

Understanding the properties of random packings of solid objects is of critical importance to a wide variety of fundamental scientific and practical problems. The great majority of the previous works focused, however, on packings of spherical and sphere-like particles. We report the first detailed simulation and characterization of packings of non-overlapping cubic particles. Such packings arise in a variety of problems, ranging from biological materials, to colloids and fabrication of porous scaffolds using salt powders. In addition, packing of cubic salt crystals arise in various problems involving preservation of pavements, paintings, and historical monuments, mineral-fluid interactions, CO 2 sequestration inmore » rock, and intrusion of groundwater aquifers by saline water. Not much is known, however, about the structure and statistical descriptors of such packings. We have developed a version of the random sequential addition algorithm to generate such packings, and have computed a variety of microstructural descriptors, including the radial distribution function, two-point probability function, orientational correlation function, specific surface, and mean chord length, and have studied the effect of finite system size and porosity on such characteristics. Here, the results indicate the existence of both spatial and orientational long-range order in the packing, which is more distinctive for higher packing densities.« less
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Islam, Md. Shafiqul, E-mail: shafique@eng.ukm.my; Hannan, M.A., E-mail: hannan@eng.ukm.my; Basri, Hassan

Highlights: • Solid waste bin level detection using Dynamic Time Warping (DTW). • Gabor wavelet filter is used to extract the solid waste image features. • Multi-Layer Perceptron classifier network is used for bin image classification. • The classification performance evaluated by ROC curve analysis. - Abstract: The increasing requirement for Solid Waste Management (SWM) has become a significant challenge for municipal authorities. A number of integrated systems and methods have introduced to overcome this challenge. Many researchers have aimed to develop an ideal SWM system, including approaches involving software-based routing, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Radio-frequency Identification (RFID), or sensormore » intelligent bins. Image processing solutions for the Solid Waste (SW) collection have also been developed; however, during capturing the bin image, it is challenging to position the camera for getting a bin area centralized image. As yet, there is no ideal system which can correctly estimate the amount of SW. This paper briefly discusses an efficient image processing solution to overcome these problems. Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) was used for detecting and cropping the bin area and Gabor wavelet (GW) was introduced for feature extraction of the waste bin image. Image features were used to train the classifier. A Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) classifier was used to classify the waste bin level and estimate the amount of waste inside the bin. The area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves was used to statistically evaluate classifier performance. The results of this developed system are comparable to previous image processing based system. The system demonstration using DTW with GW for feature extraction and an MLP classifier led to promising results with respect to the accuracy of waste level estimation (98.50%). The application can be used to optimize the routing of waste collection based on the estimated bin level.« less
Evaluation of Genetic Algorithm Concepts Using Model Problems. Part 2; Multi-Objective Optimization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holst, Terry L.; Pulliam, Thomas H.

2003-01-01

A genetic algorithm approach suitable for solving multi-objective optimization problems is described and evaluated using a series of simple model problems. Several new features including a binning selection algorithm and a gene-space transformation procedure are included. The genetic algorithm is suitable for finding pareto optimal solutions in search spaces that are defined by any number of genes and that contain any number of local extrema. Results indicate that the genetic algorithm optimization approach is flexible in application and extremely reliable, providing optimal results for all optimization problems attempted. The binning algorithm generally provides pareto front quality enhancements and moderate convergence efficiency improvements for most of the model problems. The gene-space transformation procedure provides a large convergence efficiency enhancement for problems with non-convoluted pareto fronts and a degradation in efficiency for problems with convoluted pareto fronts. The most difficult problems --multi-mode search spaces with a large number of genes and convoluted pareto fronts-- require a large number of function evaluations for GA convergence, but always converge.
The Portable Patient Problem Pack: A Problem-Based Learning Unit

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barrows, Howard S.; Tamblyn, Robyn M.

1977-01-01

The Portable Patient Problem Pack (P4), a method of simulating a patient's problem in a card deck format, is designed to develop the student's problem-solving or diagnostic skills in a manner consistent with the skills of the practicing clinician. Its effectiveness at McMaster University is reported. (LBH)
Problem Based Learning: Use of the Portable Patient Problem Pack (P4).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scheiman, Mitchell; Whittaker, Steve

1991-01-01

The format and production of the portable patient problem pack, a patient simulation method designed for problem-based learning, are described. Clinical and didactic applications and development of materials specifically for optometric education are discussed and additional information for designing optometry-related materials is appended.…
Hoeffding Type Inequalities and their Applications in Statistics and Operations Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daras, Tryfon

2007-09-01

Large Deviation theory is the branch of Probability theory that deals with rare events. Sometimes, these events can be described by the sum of random variables that deviates from its mean more than a "normal" amount. A precise calculation of the probabilities of such events turns out to be crucial in a variety of different contents (e.g. in Probability Theory, Statistics, Operations Research, Statistical Physics, Financial Mathematics e.t.c.). Recent applications of the theory deal with random walks in random environments, interacting diffusions, heat conduction, polymer chains [1]. In this paper we prove an inequality of exponential type, namely theorem 2.1, which gives a large deviation upper bound for a specific sequence of r.v.s. Inequalities of this type have many applications in Combinatorics [2]. The inequality generalizes already proven results of this type, in the case of symmetric probability measures. We get as consequences to the inequality: (a) large deviations upper bounds for exchangeable Bernoulli sequences of random variables, generalizing results proven for independent and identically distributed Bernoulli sequences of r.v.s. and (b) a general form of Bernstein's inequality. We compare the inequality with large deviation results already proven by the author and try to see its advantages. Finally, using the inequality, we solve one of the basic problems of Operations Research (bin packing problem) in the case of exchangeable r.v.s.
Recovering complete and draft population genomes from metagenome datasets

DOE PAGES

Sangwan, Naseer; Xia, Fangfang; Gilbert, Jack A.

2016-03-08

Assembly of metagenomic sequence data into microbial genomes is of fundamental value to improving our understanding of microbial ecology and metabolism by elucidating the functional potential of hard-to-culture microorganisms. Here, we provide a synthesis of available methods to bin metagenomic contigs into species-level groups and highlight how genetic diversity, sequencing depth, and coverage influence binning success. Despite the computational cost on application to deeply sequenced complex metagenomes (e.g., soil), covarying patterns of contig coverage across multiple datasets significantly improves the binning process. We also discuss and compare current genome validation methods and reveal how these methods tackle the problem ofmore » chimeric genome bins i.e., sequences from multiple species. Finally, we explore how population genome assembly can be used to uncover biogeographic trends and to characterize the effect of in situ functional constraints on the genome-wide evolution.« less
Recovering complete and draft population genomes from metagenome datasets

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

Sangwan, Naseer; Xia, Fangfang; Gilbert, Jack A.

Assembly of metagenomic sequence data into microbial genomes is of fundamental value to improving our understanding of microbial ecology and metabolism by elucidating the functional potential of hard-to-culture microorganisms. Here, we provide a synthesis of available methods to bin metagenomic contigs into species-level groups and highlight how genetic diversity, sequencing depth, and coverage influence binning success. Despite the computational cost on application to deeply sequenced complex metagenomes (e.g., soil), covarying patterns of contig coverage across multiple datasets significantly improves the binning process. We also discuss and compare current genome validation methods and reveal how these methods tackle the problem ofmore » chimeric genome bins i.e., sequences from multiple species. Finally, we explore how population genome assembly can be used to uncover biogeographic trends and to characterize the effect of in situ functional constraints on the genome-wide evolution.« less
Barcodes for genomes and applications

PubMed Central

Zhou, Fengfeng; Olman, Victor; Xu, Ying

2008-01-01

Background Each genome has a stable distribution of the combined frequency for each k-mer and its reverse complement measured in sequence fragments as short as 1000 bps across the whole genome, for 1
Breaking the Curse of Cardinality on Bitmap Indexes

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

Wu, Kesheng; Wu, Kesheng; Stockinger, Kurt

2008-04-04

Bitmap indexes are known to be efficient for ad-hoc range queries that are common in data warehousing and scientific applications. However, they suffer from the curse of cardinality, that is, their efficiency deteriorates as attribute cardinalities increase. A number of strategies have been proposed, but none of them addresses the problem adequately. In this paper, we propose a novel binned bitmap index that greatly reduces the cost to answer queries, and therefore breaks the curse of cardinality. The key idea is to augment the binned index with an Order-preserving Bin-based Clustering (OrBiC) structure. This data structure significantly reduces the I/Omore » operations needed to resolve records that cannot be resolved with the bitmaps. To further improve the proposed index structure, we also present a strategy to create single-valued bins for frequent values. This strategy reduces index sizes and improves query processing speed. Overall, the binned indexes with OrBiC great improves the query processing speed, and are 3 - 25 times faster than the best available indexes for high-cardinality data.« less
Construction technique of disposable bin from sludge cake and its environmental risk.

PubMed

Kongmuang, Udomsak; Kiykaew, Duangta; Morioka, Ikuharu

2015-01-01

Now, a lot of researchers have tried to make recycled rigid materials from the sludge cake produced in paper mill industries for the purpose of decreasing its volume. In this study, the researchers tried to make economically a disposable bin and to examine whether it is toxic or not to the outside environment. To make a disposable bin, the researchers used the sludge cake, a plastic basket, as a fixed mold, white cloth or newspaper, as a removable supporter for wrapping around the mold, and latex or plaster, as a binder. The strength of the samples was measured by tensile-stress testing. The water absorption was evaluated by Cobb test. As toxicological tests, leaching test and seed germination test were selected. It was possible to form the disposal bin from the cleaned sludge cake. They seemed safe to carry garbage in the industry judging from the results of tensile-stress testing. Some of them showed less water absorptiveness (higher water resistance) in the results of Cobb test. The results of leaching test showed small values of three heavy metals, lead, nickel and copper, in the leachate. The seed germination test suggested no adverse effects of the bins in the clay and sand on the tomato growth. The results of these tests suggest that the bins have good strength, sufficient water resistance and no toxicological effect on the environment. This new recycled bin has the possibility to solve the environmental and health problems at disposing the sludge cake.
Allocating application to group of consecutive processors in fault-tolerant deadlock-free routing path defined by routers obeying same rules for path selection

DOEpatents

Leung, Vitus J [Albuquerque, NM; Phillips, Cynthia A [Albuquerque, NM; Bender, Michael A [East Northport, NY; Bunde, David P [Urbana, IL

2009-07-21

In a multiple processor computing apparatus, directional routing restrictions and a logical channel construct permit fault tolerant, deadlock-free routing. Processor allocation can be performed by creating a linear ordering of the processors based on routing rules used for routing communications between the processors. The linear ordering can assume a loop configuration, and bin-packing is applied to this loop configuration. The interconnection of the processors can be conceptualized as a generally rectangular 3-dimensional grid, and the MC allocation algorithm is applied with respect to the 3-dimensional grid.
The oligonucleotide frequency derived error gradient and its application to the binning of metagenome fragments

PubMed Central

2009-01-01

Background The characterisation, or binning, of metagenome fragments is an important first step to further downstream analysis of microbial consortia. Here, we propose a one-dimensional signature, OFDEG, derived from the oligonucleotide frequency profile of a DNA sequence, and show that it is possible to obtain a meaningful phylogenetic signal for relatively short DNA sequences. The one-dimensional signal is essentially a compact representation of higher dimensional feature spaces of greater complexity and is intended to improve on the tetranucleotide frequency feature space preferred by current compositional binning methods. Results We compare the fidelity of OFDEG against tetranucleotide frequency in both an unsupervised and semi-supervised setting on simulated metagenome benchmark data. Four tests were conducted using assembler output of Arachne and phrap, and for each, performance was evaluated on contigs which are greater than or equal to 8 kbp in length and contigs which are composed of at least 10 reads. Using both G-C content in conjunction with OFDEG gave an average accuracy of 96.75% (semi-supervised) and 95.19% (unsupervised), versus 94.25% (semi-supervised) and 82.35% (unsupervised) for tetranucleotide frequency. Conclusion We have presented an observation of an alternative characteristic of DNA sequences. The proposed feature representation has proven to be more beneficial than the existing tetranucleotide frequency space to the metagenome binning problem. We do note, however, that our observation of OFDEG deserves further anlaysis and investigation. Unsupervised clustering revealed OFDEG related features performed better than standard tetranucleotide frequency in representing a relevant organism specific signal. Further improvement in binning accuracy is given by semi-supervised classification using OFDEG. The emphasis on a feature-driven, bottom-up approach to the problem of binning reveals promising avenues for future development of techniques to characterise short environmental sequences without bias toward cultivable organisms. PMID:19958473

Solar Radiation Pressure Binning for the Geosynchronous Orbit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hejduk, M. D.; Ghrist, R. W.

2011-01-01

Orbital maintenance parameters for individual satellites or groups of satellites have traditionally been set by examining orbital parameters alone, such as through apogee and perigee height binning; this approach ignored the other factors that governed an individual satellite's susceptibility to non-conservative forces. In the atmospheric drag regime, this problem has been addressed by the introduction of the "energy dissipation rate," a quantity that represents the amount of energy being removed from the orbit; such an approach is able to consider both atmospheric density and satellite frontal area characteristics and thus serve as a mechanism for binning satellites of similar behavior. The geo-synchronous orbit (of broader definition than the geostationary orbit -- here taken to be from 1300 to 1800 minutes in orbital period) is not affected by drag; rather, its principal non-conservative force is that of solar radiation pressure -- the momentum imparted to the satellite by solar radiometric energy. While this perturbation is solved for as part of the orbit determination update, no binning or division scheme, analogous to the drag regime, has been developed for the geo-synchronous orbit. The present analysis has begun such an effort by examining the behavior of geosynchronous rocket bodies and non-stabilized payloads as a function of solar radiation pressure susceptibility. A preliminary examination of binning techniques used in the drag regime gives initial guidance regarding the criteria for useful bin divisions. Applying these criteria to the object type, solar radiation pressure, and resultant state vector accuracy for the analyzed dataset, a single division of "large" satellites into two bins for the purposes of setting related sensor tasking and orbit determination (OD) controls is suggested. When an accompanying analysis of high area-to-mass objects is complete, a full set of binning recommendations for the geosynchronous orbit will be available.
The Search for Peace in Mindanao: Resolving a Wicked Problem

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-03-22

negotiating panel, still led by Mohagher Iqbal, but with new members such as Professor Abhoud Syed Linga and Datu Antonio Kinoc of B‘laan tribe...that the MILF received funds from charitable institutions operated by Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, Osama Bin Laden‘s brother-in-law.53 The MILF has...Crucible: A Reader (Quezon City: CenPeg Publications), 2008, p. 136. 19 7 Hermoso, p. 61. 8 Dato‘ Md Ismael bin Ahmad Khan, ―The International
Time-Bin-Encoded Boson Sampling with a Single-Photon Device.

PubMed

He, Yu; Ding, X; Su, Z-E; Huang, H-L; Qin, J; Wang, C; Unsleber, S; Chen, C; Wang, H; He, Y-M; Wang, X-L; Zhang, W-J; Chen, S-J; Schneider, C; Kamp, M; You, L-X; Wang, Z; Höfling, S; Lu, Chao-Yang; Pan, Jian-Wei

2017-05-12

Boson sampling is a problem strongly believed to be intractable for classical computers, but can be naturally solved on a specialized photonic quantum simulator. Here, we implement the first time-bin-encoded boson sampling using a highly indistinguishable (∼94%) single-photon source based on a single quantum-dot-micropillar device. The protocol requires only one single-photon source, two detectors, and a loop-based interferometer for an arbitrary number of photons. The single-photon pulse train is time-bin encoded and deterministically injected into an electrically programmable multimode network. The observed three- and four-photon boson sampling rates are 18.8 and 0.2 Hz, respectively, which are more than 100 times faster than previous experiments based on parametric down-conversion.
Nonlocal low-rank and sparse matrix decomposition for spectral CT reconstruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niu, Shanzhou; Yu, Gaohang; Ma, Jianhua; Wang, Jing

2018-02-01

Spectral computed tomography (CT) has been a promising technique in research and clinics because of its ability to produce improved energy resolution images with narrow energy bins. However, the narrow energy bin image is often affected by serious quantum noise because of the limited number of photons used in the corresponding energy bin. To address this problem, we present an iterative reconstruction method for spectral CT using nonlocal low-rank and sparse matrix decomposition (NLSMD), which exploits the self-similarity of patches that are collected in multi-energy images. Specifically, each set of patches can be decomposed into a low-rank component and a sparse component, and the low-rank component represents the stationary background over different energy bins, while the sparse component represents the rest of the different spectral features in individual energy bins. Subsequently, an effective alternating optimization algorithm was developed to minimize the associated objective function. To validate and evaluate the NLSMD method, qualitative and quantitative studies were conducted by using simulated and real spectral CT data. Experimental results show that the NLSMD method improves spectral CT images in terms of noise reduction, artifact suppression and resolution preservation.
Visual analytics of large multidimensional data using variable binned scatter plots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hao, Ming C.; Dayal, Umeshwar; Sharma, Ratnesh K.; Keim, Daniel A.; Janetzko, Halldór

2010-01-01

The scatter plot is a well-known method of visualizing pairs of two-dimensional continuous variables. Multidimensional data can be depicted in a scatter plot matrix. They are intuitive and easy-to-use, but often have a high degree of overlap which may occlude a significant portion of data. In this paper, we propose variable binned scatter plots to allow the visualization of large amounts of data without overlapping. The basic idea is to use a non-uniform (variable) binning of the x and y dimensions and plots all the data points that fall within each bin into corresponding squares. Further, we map a third attribute to color for visualizing clusters. Analysts are able to interact with individual data points for record level information. We have applied these techniques to solve real-world problems on credit card fraud and data center energy consumption to visualize their data distribution and cause-effect among multiple attributes. A comparison of our methods with two recent well-known variants of scatter plots is included.
Using fault tree analysis to identify contributing factors to engulfment in flowing grain in on-farm grain bins.

PubMed

Kingman, D M; Field, W E

2005-11-01

Findings reported by researchers at Illinois State University and Purdue University indicated that since 1980, an average of eight individuals per year have become engulfed and died in farm grain bins in the U.S. and Canada and that all these deaths are significant because they are believed to be preventable. During a recent effort to develop intervention strategies and recommendations for an ASAE farm grain bin safety standard, fault tree analysis (FTA) was utilized to identify contributing factors to engulfments in grain stored in on-farm grain bins. FTA diagrams provided a spatial perspective of the circumstances that occurred prior to engulfment incidents, a perspective never before presented in other hazard analyses. The FTA also demonstrated relationships and interrelationships of the contributing factors. FTA is a useful tool that should be applied more often in agricultural incident investigations to assist in the more complete understanding of the problem studied.
Research on NC laser combined cutting optimization model of sheet metal parts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Z. Y.; Zhang, Y. L.; Li, L.; Wu, L. H.; Liu, N. B.

2017-09-01

The optimization problem for NC laser combined cutting of sheet metal parts was taken as the research object in this paper. The problem included two contents: combined packing optimization and combined cutting path optimization. In the problem of combined packing optimization, the method of “genetic algorithm + gravity center NFP + geometric transformation” was used to optimize the packing of sheet metal parts. In the problem of combined cutting path optimization, the mathematical model of cutting path optimization was established based on the parts cutting constraint rules of internal contour priority and cross cutting. The model played an important role in the optimization calculation of NC laser combined cutting.
Restoring a smooth function from its noisy integrals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goulko, Olga; Prokof'ev, Nikolay; Svistunov, Boris

2018-05-01

Numerical (and experimental) data analysis often requires the restoration of a smooth function from a set of sampled integrals over finite bins. We present the bin hierarchy method that efficiently computes the maximally smooth function from the sampled integrals using essentially all the information contained in the data. We perform extensive tests with different classes of functions and levels of data quality, including Monte Carlo data suffering from a severe sign problem and physical data for the Green's function of the Fröhlich polaron.
Genetic Algorithms Applied to Multi-Objective Aerodynamic Shape Optimization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holst, Terry L.

2004-01-01

A genetic algorithm approach suitable for solving multi-objective optimization problems is described and evaluated using a series of aerodynamic shape optimization problems. Several new features including two variations of a binning selection algorithm and a gene-space transformation procedure are included. The genetic algorithm is suitable for finding pareto optimal solutions in search spaces that are defined by any number of genes and that contain any number of local extrema. A new masking array capability is included allowing any gene or gene subset to be eliminated as decision variables from the design space. This allows determination of the effect of a single gene or gene subset on the pareto optimal solution. Results indicate that the genetic algorithm optimization approach is flexible in application and reliable. The binning selection algorithms generally provide pareto front quality enhancements and moderate convergence efficiency improvements for most of the problems solved.
Genetic Algorithms Applied to Multi-Objective Aerodynamic Shape Optimization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holst, Terry L.

2005-01-01

A genetic algorithm approach suitable for solving multi-objective problems is described and evaluated using a series of aerodynamic shape optimization problems. Several new features including two variations of a binning selection algorithm and a gene-space transformation procedure are included. The genetic algorithm is suitable for finding Pareto optimal solutions in search spaces that are defined by any number of genes and that contain any number of local extrema. A new masking array capability is included allowing any gene or gene subset to be eliminated as decision variables from the design space. This allows determination of the effect of a single gene or gene subset on the Pareto optimal solution. Results indicate that the genetic algorithm optimization approach is flexible in application and reliable. The binning selection algorithms generally provide Pareto front quality enhancements and moderate convergence efficiency improvements for most of the problems solved.
An iterative bidirectional heuristic placement algorithm for solving the two-dimensional knapsack packing problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shiangjen, Kanokwatt; Chaijaruwanich, Jeerayut; Srisujjalertwaja, Wijak; Unachak, Prakarn; Somhom, Samerkae

2018-02-01

This article presents an efficient heuristic placement algorithm, namely, a bidirectional heuristic placement, for solving the two-dimensional rectangular knapsack packing problem. The heuristic demonstrates ways to maximize space utilization by fitting the appropriate rectangle from both sides of the wall of the current residual space layer by layer. The iterative local search along with a shift strategy is developed and applied to the heuristic to balance the exploitation and exploration tasks in the solution space without the tuning of any parameters. The experimental results on many scales of packing problems show that this approach can produce high-quality solutions for most of the benchmark datasets, especially for large-scale problems, within a reasonable duration of computational time.
An optimal FFT-based anisotropic power spectrum estimator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hand, Nick; Li, Yin; Slepian, Zachary; Seljak, Uroš

2017-07-01

Measurements of line-of-sight dependent clustering via the galaxy power spectrum's multipole moments constitute a powerful tool for testing theoretical models in large-scale structure. Recent work shows that this measurement, including a moving line-of-sight, can be accelerated using Fast Fourier Transforms (FFTs) by decomposing the Legendre polynomials into products of Cartesian vectors. Here, we present a faster, optimal means of using FFTs for this measurement. We avoid redundancy present in the Cartesian decomposition by using a spherical harmonic decomposition of the Legendre polynomials. With this method, a given multipole of order l requires only 2l+1 FFTs rather than the (l+1)(l+2)/2 FFTs of the Cartesian approach. For the hexadecapole (l = 4), this translates to 40% fewer FFTs, with increased savings for higher l. The reduction in wall-clock time enables the calculation of finely-binned wedges in P(k,μ), obtained by computing multipoles up to a large lmax and combining them. This transformation has a number of advantages. We demonstrate that by using non-uniform bins in μ, we can isolate plane-of-sky (angular) systematics to a narrow bin at 0μ simeq while eliminating the contamination from all other bins. We also show that the covariance matrix of clustering wedges binned uniformly in μ becomes ill-conditioned when combining multipoles up to large values of lmax, but that the problem can be avoided with non-uniform binning. As an example, we present results using lmax=16, for which our procedure requires a factor of 3.4 fewer FFTs than the Cartesian method, while removing the first μ bin leads only to a 7% increase in statistical error on f σ8, as compared to a 54% increase with lmax=4.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hand, Nick; Seljak, Uroš; Li, Yin

Measurements of line-of-sight dependent clustering via the galaxy power spectrum's multipole moments constitute a powerful tool for testing theoretical models in large-scale structure. Recent work shows that this measurement, including a moving line-of-sight, can be accelerated using Fast Fourier Transforms (FFTs) by decomposing the Legendre polynomials into products of Cartesian vectors. Here, we present a faster, optimal means of using FFTs for this measurement. We avoid redundancy present in the Cartesian decomposition by using a spherical harmonic decomposition of the Legendre polynomials. With this method, a given multipole of order ℓ requires only 2ℓ+1 FFTs rather than the (ℓ+1)(ℓ+2)/2 FFTsmore » of the Cartesian approach. For the hexadecapole (ℓ = 4), this translates to 40% fewer FFTs, with increased savings for higher ℓ. The reduction in wall-clock time enables the calculation of finely-binned wedges in P ( k ,μ), obtained by computing multipoles up to a large ℓ{sub max} and combining them. This transformation has a number of advantages. We demonstrate that by using non-uniform bins in μ, we can isolate plane-of-sky (angular) systematics to a narrow bin at 0μ ≅ while eliminating the contamination from all other bins. We also show that the covariance matrix of clustering wedges binned uniformly in μ becomes ill-conditioned when combining multipoles up to large values of ℓ{sub max}, but that the problem can be avoided with non-uniform binning. As an example, we present results using ℓ{sub max}=16, for which our procedure requires a factor of 3.4 fewer FFTs than the Cartesian method, while removing the first μ bin leads only to a 7% increase in statistical error on f σ{sub 8}, as compared to a 54% increase with ℓ{sub max}=4.« less
Multigrid contact detection method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Kejing; Dong, Shoubin; Zhou, Zhaoyao

2007-03-01

Contact detection is a general problem of many physical simulations. This work presents a O(N) multigrid method for general contact detection problems (MGCD). The multigrid idea is integrated with contact detection problems. Both the time complexity and memory consumption of the MGCD are O(N) . Unlike other methods, whose efficiencies are influenced strongly by the object size distribution, the performance of MGCD is insensitive to the object size distribution. We compare the MGCD with the no binary search (NBS) method and the multilevel boxing method in three dimensions for both time complexity and memory consumption. For objects with similar size, the MGCD is as good as the NBS method, both of which outperform the multilevel boxing method regarding memory consumption. For objects with diverse size, the MGCD outperform both the NBS method and the multilevel boxing method. We use the MGCD to solve the contact detection problem for a granular simulation system based on the discrete element method. From this granular simulation, we get the density property of monosize packing and binary packing with size ratio equal to 10. The packing density for monosize particles is 0.636. For binary packing with size ratio equal to 10, when the number of small particles is 300 times as the number of big particles, the maximal packing density 0.824 is achieved.
Improving Simulated Annealing by Recasting it as a Non-Cooperative Game

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wolpert, David; Bandari, Esfandiar; Tumer, Kagan

2001-01-01

The game-theoretic field of COllective INtelligence (COIN) concerns the design of computer-based players engaged in a non-cooperative game so that as those players pursue their self-interests, a pre-specified global goal for the collective computational system is achieved "as a side-effect". Previous implementations of COIN algorithms have outperformed conventional techniques by up to several orders of magnitude, on domains ranging from telecommunications control to optimization in congestion problems. Recent mathematical developments have revealed that these previously developed game-theory-motivated algorithms were based on only two of the three factors determining performance. Consideration of only the third factor would instead lead to conventional optimization techniques like simulated annealing that have little to do with non-cooperative games. In this paper we present an algorithm based on all three terms at once. This algorithm can be viewed as a way to modify simulated annealing by recasting it as a non-cooperative game, with each variable replaced by a player. This recasting allows us to leverage the intelligent behavior of the individual players to substantially improve the exploration step of the simulated annealing. Experiments are presented demonstrating that this recasting improves simulated annealing by several orders of magnitude for spin glass relaxation and bin-packing.
On solving three-dimensional open-dimension rectangular packing problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Junqueira, Leonardo; Morabito, Reinaldo

2017-05-01

In this article, a recently proposed three-dimensional open-dimension rectangular packing problem is considered, in which the objective is to find a minimal volume rectangular container that packs a set of rectangular boxes. The literature has tackled small-sized instances of this problem by means of optimization solvers, position-free mixed-integer programming (MIP) formulations and piecewise linearization approaches. In this study, the problem is alternatively addressed by means of grid-based position MIP formulations, whereas still considering optimization solvers and the same piecewise linearization techniques. A comparison of the computational performance of both models is then presented, when tested with benchmark problem instances and with new instances, and it is shown that the grid-based position MIP formulation can be competitive, depending on the characteristics of the instances. The grid-based position MIP formulation is also embedded with real-world practical constraints, such as cargo stability, and results are additionally presented.
Packing of nonoverlapping cubic particles: Computational algorithms and microstructural characteristics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malmir, Hessam; Sahimi, Muhammad; Tabar, M. Reza Rahimi

2016-12-01

Packing of cubic particles arises in a variety of problems, ranging from biological materials to colloids and the fabrication of new types of porous materials with controlled morphology. The properties of such packings may also be relevant to problems involving suspensions of cubic zeolites, precipitation of salt crystals during CO2 sequestration in rock, and intrusion of fresh water in aquifers by saline water. Not much is known, however, about the structure and statistical descriptors of such packings. We present a detailed simulation and microstructural characterization of packings of nonoverlapping monodisperse cubic particles, following up on our preliminary results [H. Malmir et al., Sci. Rep. 6, 35024 (2016), 10.1038/srep35024]. A modification of the random sequential addition (RSA) algorithm has been developed to generate such packings, and a variety of microstructural descriptors, including the radial distribution function, the face-normal correlation function, two-point probability and cluster functions, the lineal-path function, the pore-size distribution function, and surface-surface and surface-void correlation functions, have been computed, along with the specific surface and mean chord length of the packings. The results indicate the existence of both spatial and orientational long-range order as the the packing density increases. The maximum packing fraction achievable with the RSA method is about 0.57, which represents the limit for a structure similar to liquid crystals.
Random close packing of polydisperse jammed emulsions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brujic, Jasna

2010-03-01

Packing problems are everywhere, ranging from oil extraction through porous rocks to grain storage in silos and the compaction of pharmaceutical powders into tablets. At a given density, particulate systems pack into a mechanically stable and amorphous jammed state. Theoretical frameworks have proposed a connection between this jammed state and the glass transition, a thermodynamics of jamming, as well as geometric modeling of random packings. Nevertheless, a simple underlying mechanism for the random assembly of athermal particles, analogous to crystalline ordering, remains unknown. Here we use 3D measurements of polydisperse packings of emulsion droplets to build a simple statistical model in which the complexity of the global packing is distilled into a local stochastic process. From the perspective of a single particle the packing problem is reduced to the random formation of nearest neighbors, followed by a choice of contacts among them. The two key parameters in the model, the available space around a particle and the ratio of contacts to neighbors, are directly obtained from experiments. Remarkably, we demonstrate that this ``granocentric'' view captures the properties of the polydisperse emulsion packing, ranging from the microscopic distributions of nearest neighbors and contacts to local density fluctuations and all the way to the global packing density. Further applications to monodisperse and bidisperse systems quantitatively agree with previously measured trends in global density. This model therefore reveals a general principle of organization for random packing and lays the foundations for a theory of jammed matter.
Bidispersed Sphere Packing on Spherical Surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Atherton, Timothy; Mascioli, Andrew; Burke, Christopher

Packing problems on spherical surfaces have a long history, originating in the classic Thompson problem of finding the ground state configuration of charges on a sphere. Such packings contain a minimal number of defects needed to accommodate the curvature; this is predictable using the Gauss-Bonnet theorem from knowledge of the topology of the surface and the local symmetry of the ordering. Famously, the packing of spherical particles on a sphere contains a 'scar' transition, where additional defects over those required by topology appear above a certain critical number of particles and self-organize into chains or scars. In this work, we study the packing of bidispersed packings on a sphere, and hence determine the interaction of bidispersity and curvature. The resultant configurations are nearly crystalline for low values of bidispersity and retain scar-like structures; these rapidly become disordered for intermediate values and approach a so-called Appollonian limit at the point where smaller particles can be entirely accommodated within the voids left by the larger particles. We connect our results with studies of bidispersed packings in the bulk and on flat surfaces from the literature on glassy systems and jamming. Supported by a Cottrell Award from the Research Corporation for Science Advancement.
The impact of an efficient collection sites location on the zoning phase in municipal solid waste management

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

Ghiani, Gianpaolo, E-mail: gianpaolo.ghiani@unisalento.it; Manni, Andrea, E-mail: andrea.manni@unisalento.it; Manni, Emanuele, E-mail: emanuele.manni@unisalento.it

2014-11-15

Highlights: • We study the problems of locating collection areas and zoning the service territory in a municipal waste management system. • We investigate the impact that an efficient collection sites location has on the subsequent zoning phase. • On a real-world test case, we show that the proposed approach could allow achieving significant monetary savings. - Abstract: In this paper, we study two decisional problems arising when planning the collection of solid waste, namely the location of collection sites (together with bin allocation) and the zoning of the service territory, and we assess the potential impact that an efficientmore » location has on the subsequent zoning phase. We first propose both an exact and a heuristic approach to locate the unsorted waste collection bins in a residential town, and to decide the capacities and characteristics of the bins to be located at each collection site. A peculiar aspect we consider is that of taking into account the compatibility between the different types of bins when allocating them to collection areas. Moreover, we propose a fast and effective heuristic approach to identify homogeneous zones that can be served by a single collection vehicle. Computational results on data related to a real-life instance show that an efficient location is fundamental in achieving consistent monetary savings, as well as a reduced environmental impact. These reductions are the result of one vehicle less needed to perform the waste collection operations, and an overall traveled distance reduced by about 25% on the average.« less

Reformulation of the covering and quantizer problems as ground states of interacting particles.

PubMed

Torquato, S

2010-11-01

It is known that the sphere-packing problem and the number-variance problem (closely related to an optimization problem in number theory) can be posed as energy minimizations associated with an infinite number of point particles in d-dimensional Euclidean space R(d) interacting via certain repulsive pair potentials. We reformulate the covering and quantizer problems as the determination of the ground states of interacting particles in R(d) that generally involve single-body, two-body, three-body, and higher-body interactions. This is done by linking the covering and quantizer problems to certain optimization problems involving the "void" nearest-neighbor functions that arise in the theory of random media and statistical mechanics. These reformulations, which again exemplify the deep interplay between geometry and physics, allow one now to employ theoretical and numerical optimization techniques to analyze and solve these energy minimization problems. The covering and quantizer problems have relevance in numerous applications, including wireless communication network layouts, the search of high-dimensional data parameter spaces, stereotactic radiation therapy, data compression, digital communications, meshing of space for numerical analysis, and coding and cryptography, among other examples. In the first three space dimensions, the best known solutions of the sphere-packing and number-variance problems (or their "dual" solutions) are directly related to those of the covering and quantizer problems, but such relationships may or may not exist for d≥4 , depending on the peculiarities of the dimensions involved. Our reformulation sheds light on the reasons for these similarities and differences. We also show that disordered saturated sphere packings provide relatively thin (economical) coverings and may yield thinner coverings than the best known lattice coverings in sufficiently large dimensions. In the case of the quantizer problem, we derive improved upper bounds on the quantizer error using sphere-packing solutions, which are generally substantially sharper than an existing upper bound in low to moderately large dimensions. We also demonstrate that disordered saturated sphere packings yield relatively good quantizers. Finally, we remark on possible applications of our results for the detection of gravitational waves.
Reformulation of the covering and quantizer problems as ground states of interacting particles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Torquato, S.

2010-11-01

It is known that the sphere-packing problem and the number-variance problem (closely related to an optimization problem in number theory) can be posed as energy minimizations associated with an infinite number of point particles in d -dimensional Euclidean space Rd interacting via certain repulsive pair potentials. We reformulate the covering and quantizer problems as the determination of the ground states of interacting particles in Rd that generally involve single-body, two-body, three-body, and higher-body interactions. This is done by linking the covering and quantizer problems to certain optimization problems involving the “void” nearest-neighbor functions that arise in the theory of random media and statistical mechanics. These reformulations, which again exemplify the deep interplay between geometry and physics, allow one now to employ theoretical and numerical optimization techniques to analyze and solve these energy minimization problems. The covering and quantizer problems have relevance in numerous applications, including wireless communication network layouts, the search of high-dimensional data parameter spaces, stereotactic radiation therapy, data compression, digital communications, meshing of space for numerical analysis, and coding and cryptography, among other examples. In the first three space dimensions, the best known solutions of the sphere-packing and number-variance problems (or their “dual” solutions) are directly related to those of the covering and quantizer problems, but such relationships may or may not exist for d≥4 , depending on the peculiarities of the dimensions involved. Our reformulation sheds light on the reasons for these similarities and differences. We also show that disordered saturated sphere packings provide relatively thin (economical) coverings and may yield thinner coverings than the best known lattice coverings in sufficiently large dimensions. In the case of the quantizer problem, we derive improved upper bounds on the quantizer error using sphere-packing solutions, which are generally substantially sharper than an existing upper bound in low to moderately large dimensions. We also demonstrate that disordered saturated sphere packings yield relatively good quantizers. Finally, we remark on possible applications of our results for the detection of gravitational waves.
Test Scheduling for Core-Based SOCs Using Genetic Algorithm Based Heuristic Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giri, Chandan; Sarkar, Soumojit; Chattopadhyay, Santanu

This paper presents a Genetic algorithm (GA) based solution to co-optimize test scheduling and wrapper design for core based SOCs. Core testing solutions are generated as a set of wrapper configurations, represented as rectangles with width equal to the number of TAM (Test Access Mechanism) channels and height equal to the corresponding testing time. A locally optimal best-fit heuristic based bin packing algorithm has been used to determine placement of rectangles minimizing the overall test times, whereas, GA has been utilized to generate the sequence of rectangles to be considered for placement. Experimental result on ITC'02 benchmark SOCs shows that the proposed method provides better solutions compared to the recent works reported in the literature.
Learning through Debate during Problem-Based Learning: An Active Learning Strategy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mumtaz, Sadaf; Latif, Rabia

2017-01-01

We explored medical student's views and perceptions of a series of debates conducted during problem-based learning (PBL) practiced as a part of the Spiral curriculum at the Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Saudi Arabia. A series of debates were employed during PBL sessions for second-year female medical students, over the period 2014-2016.…
Machine vision for various manipulation tasks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Domae, Yukiyasu

2017-03-01

Bin-picking, re-grasping, pick-and-place, kitting, etc. There are many manipulation tasks in the fields of automation of factory, warehouse and so on. The main problem of the automation is that the target objects (items/parts) have various shapes, weights and surface materials. In my talk, I will show latest machine vision systems and algorithms against the problem.
Particle packing from an earth science viewpoint

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rogers, C. D. F.; Dijkstra, T. A.; Smalley, I. J.

1994-04-01

Particle packings are relevant to many aspects of the Earth sciences, and there is a long history of the study of packings from an Earth science viewpoint. Packings have also been studied in connection with other subjects and disciplines. Allen (1982) produced a major review which provides a solid base for Earth science related studies. This review complements Allen's work and in particular focuses on advances in the study of random packings over the last ten years. Transitions from packing to packing may be as important as the packings themselves, and possibly easier to model. This paper places emphasis on certain neglected works, in particular Morrow and Graves (1969) and the packing transition envelope, Kahn (1956) and the measurement of packing parameters, Griffiths (1962) on packings in one-dimension, and Getis and Boots (1978) on packings in two dimensions. Certain packing problems are relevant to current areas of study including structure collapse in loess (hydroconsolidation), flowslides in very sensitive soils, wind erosion, jewel quality in opals and the structure and functions of sand dunes. The region where interparticle forces become active (particles < 200 μm) is considered and the implications for packing are examined.
Packing of flexible 2D materials in vesicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zou, Guijin; Yi, Xin; Zhu, Wenpeng; Gao, Huajian

2018-06-01

To understand the mechanics of cellular packing of two-dimensional (2D) materials, we perform systematic molecular dynamics simulations and theoretical analysis to investigate the packing of a flexible circular sheet in a spherical vesicle and the 2D packing problem of a strip in a cylindrical vesicle. Depending on the system dimensions and the bending rigidity ratio between the confined sheet and the vesicle membrane, a variety of packing morphologies are observed, including a conical shape, a shape of three-fold symmetry, a cylindrically curved shape, an axisymmetrically buckled shape, as well as the initial circular shape. A set of buckling analyses lead to phase diagrams of the packing morphologies of the encapsulated sheets. These results may have important implications on the mechanism of intracellular packing and toxicity of 2D materials.
Simulation of passive thermal management system for lithium-ion battery packs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mills, Andrew; Al-Hallaj, Said

A passive thermal management system that uses a phase change material (PCM) is designed and simulated for a lithium-ion (Li-ion) laptop battery pack. The problem of low thermal conductivity of the PCM was significantly improved by impregnating an expanded graphite (EG) matrix with the PCM. The heat generation rate for a commercial 186502.2 Ah Li-ion battery was experimentally measured for various constant power discharges. Simulation of the battery pack, composed of six Li-ion batteries, shows that safe operation of the battery pack during the most extreme case requires the volume of the battery pack be almost doubled to fit sufficient PCM in the pack. Improving the properties of the PCM composite have the potential to significantly reduce the volume increase in comparison to the original battery pack volume.
Optical Extinction Measurements of Dust Density in the GMRO Regolith Test Bin

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lane, J.; Mantovani, J.; Mueller, R.; Nugent, M.; Nick, A.; Schuler, J.; Townsend, I.

2016-01-01

A regolith simulant test bin was constructed and completed in the Granular Mechanics and Regolith Operations (GMRO) Lab in 2013. This Planetary Regolith Test Bed (PRTB) is a 64 sq m x 1 m deep test bin, is housed in a climate-controlled facility, and contains 120 MT of lunar-regolith simulant, called Black Point-1 or BP-1, from Black Point, AZ. One of the current uses of the test bin is to study the effects of difficult lighting and dust conditions on Telerobotic Perception Systems to better assess and refine regolith operations for asteroid, Mars and polar lunar missions. Low illumination and low angle of incidence lighting pose significant problems to computer vision and human perception. Levitated dust on Asteroids interferes with imaging and degrades depth perception. Dust Storms on Mars pose a significant problem. Due to these factors, the likely performance of telerobotics is poorly understood for future missions. Current space telerobotic systems are only operated in bright lighting and dust-free conditions. This technology development testing will identify: (1) the impact of degraded lighting and environmental dust on computer vision and operator perception, (2) potential methods and procedures for mitigating these impacts, (3) requirements for telerobotic perception systems for asteroid capture, Mars dust storms and lunar regolith ISRU missions. In order to solve some of the Telerobotic Perception system problems, a plume erosion sensor (PES) was developed in the Lunar Regolith Simulant Bin (LRSB), containing 2 MT of JSC-1a lunar simulant. PES is simply a laser and digital camera with a white target. Two modes of operation have been investigated: (1) single laser spot - the brightness of the spot is dependent on the optical extinction due to dust and is thus an indirect measure of particle number density, and (2) side-scatter - the camera images the laser from the side, showing beam entrance into the dust cloud and the boundary between dust and void. Both methods must assume a mean particle size in order to extract a number density. The optical extinction measurement yields the product of the 2nd moment of the particle size distribution and the extinction efficiency Qe. For particle sizes in the range of interest (greater than 1 micrometer), Qe approximately equal to 2. Scaling up of the PES single laser and camera system is underway in the PRTB, where an array of lasers penetrate a con-trolled dust cloud, illuminating multiple targets. Using high speed HD GoPro video cameras, the evolution of the dust cloud and particle size density can be studied in detail.
Allocation of solid waste collection bins and route optimisation using geographical information system: A case study of Dhanbad City, India.

PubMed

Khan, D; Samadder, S R

2016-07-01

Collection of municipal solid waste is one of the most important elements of municipal waste management and requires maximum fund allocated for waste management. The cost of collection and transportation can be reduced in comparison with the present scenario if the solid waste collection bins are located at suitable places so that the collection routes become minimum. This study presents a suitable solid waste collection bin allocation method at appropriate places with uniform distance and easily accessible location so that the collection vehicle routes become minimum for the city Dhanbad, India. The network analyst tool set available in ArcGIS was used to find the optimised route for solid waste collection considering all the required parameters for solid waste collection efficiently. These parameters include the positions of solid waste collection bins, the road network, the population density, waste collection schedules, truck capacities and their characteristics. The present study also demonstrates the significant cost reductions that can be obtained compared with the current practices in the study area. The vehicle routing problem solver tool of ArcGIS was used to identify the cost-effective scenario for waste collection, to estimate its running costs and to simulate its application considering both travel time and travel distance simultaneously. © The Author(s) 2016.
See Also:physica status solidi (a)physica status solidi (c)Copyright © 2004 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
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Volume 241, Issue5 (April 2004)

Articles in the Current Issue:

Cover Picture

Horizontal line nodes in superconducting Sr2RuO4

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Litak, G.; Annett, J. F.; Györffy, B. L.; Wysokiski, K. I.

2004-04-01

Superconductivity in Sr2RuO4 is one of the most interesting phenomena in current condensed matter physics, since it is revealed to be a triplet-pairing state. Our Editor's Choice [1] considers an important problem related to the type of order parameter in this material.The position of line nodes on the Fermi surface, as evident from recent measurements, has been determined for various scenarios shown in the cover picture. Using these models, the temperature dependence of heat capacity and penetration depth has been calculated for easy comparison with experiments.The first author, Grzegorz Litak, is assistant professor at Technical University of Lublin and visiting scientist at the Max Planck Institute in Dresden. He is working on the effect of disorder on correlated and exotic superconductors, nonlinear dynamics, and superconductivity in strontium ruthenate.

The Pack Method for Compressive Tests of Thin Specimens of Materials Used in Thin-Wall Structures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Aitchison, C S; Tuckerman, L B

1939-01-01

The strength of modern lightweight thin-wall structures is generally limited by the strength of the compression members. An adequate design of these members requires a knowledge of the compressive stress-strain graph of the thin-wall material. The "pack" method was developed at the National Bureau of Standards with the support of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics to make possible a determination of compressive stress-strain graphs for such material. In the pack test an odd number of specimens are assembled into a relatively stable pack, like a "pack of cards." Additional lateral stability is obtained from lateral supports between the external sheet faces of the pack and outside reactions. The tests seems adequate for many problems in structural research.

Comparison of recycling outcomes in three types of recycling collection units.

PubMed

Andrews, Ashley; Gregoire, Mary; Rasmussen, Heather; Witowich, Gretchen

2013-03-01

Commercial institutions have many factors to consider when implementing an effective recycling program. This study examined the effectiveness of three different types of recycling bins on recycling accuracy by determining the percent weight of recyclable material placed in the recycling bins, comparing the percent weight of recyclable material by type of container used, and examining whether a change in signage increased recycling accuracy. Data were collected over 6 weeks totaling 30 days from 3 different recycling bin types at a Midwest University medical center. Five bin locations for each bin type were used. Bags from these bins were collected, sorted into recyclable and non-recyclable material, and weighed. The percent recyclable material was calculated using these weights. Common contaminates found in the bins were napkins and paper towels, plastic food wrapping, plastic bags, and coffee cups. The results showed a significant difference in percent recyclable material between bin types and bin locations. Bin type 2 was found to have one bin location to be statistically different (p=0.048), which may have been due to lack of a trash bin next to the recycling bin in that location. Bin type 3 had significantly lower percent recyclable material (p<0.001), which may have been due to lack of a trash bin next to the recycling bin and increased contamination due to the combination of commingled and paper into one bag. There was no significant change in percent recyclable material in recycling bins post signage change. These results suggest a signage change may not be an effective way, when used alone, to increase recycling compliance and accuracy. This study showed two or three-compartment bins located next to a trash bin may be the best bin type for recycling accuracy. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Numerical simulation of a shear-thinning fluid through packed spheres

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Hai Long; Moon, Jong Sin; Hwang, Wook Ryol

2012-12-01

Flow behaviors of a non-Newtonian fluid in spherical microstructures have been studied by a direct numerical simulation. A shear-thinning (power-law) fluid through both regular and randomly packed spheres has been numerically investigated in a representative unit cell with the tri-periodic boundary condition, employing a rigorous three-dimensional finite-element scheme combined with fictitious-domain mortar-element methods. The present scheme has been validated for the classical spherical packing problems with literatures. The flow mobility of regular packing structures, including simple cubic (SC), body-centered cubic (BCC), face-centered cubic (FCC), as well as randomly packed spheres, has been investigated quantitatively by considering the amount of shear-thinning, the pressure gradient and the porosity as parameters. Furthermore, the mechanism leading to the main flow path in a highly shear-thinning fluid through randomly packed spheres has been discussed.

Improving Search Algorithms by Using Intelligent Coordinates

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wolpert, David H.; Tumer, Kagan; Bandari, Esfandiar

2004-01-01

We consider algorithms that maximize a global function G in a distributed manner, using a different adaptive computational agent to set each variable of the underlying space. Each agent eta is self-interested; it sets its variable to maximize its own function g (sub eta). Three factors govern such a distributed algorithm's performance, related to exploration/exploitation, game theory, and machine learning. We demonstrate how to exploit alI three factors by modifying a search algorithm's exploration stage: rather than random exploration, each coordinate of the search space is now controlled by a separate machine-learning-based player engaged in a noncooperative game. Experiments demonstrate that this modification improves simulated annealing (SA) by up to an order of magnitude for bin packing and for a model of an economic process run over an underlying network. These experiments also reveal interesting small-world phenomena.

Improving search algorithms by using intelligent coordinates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wolpert, David; Tumer, Kagan; Bandari, Esfandiar

2004-01-01

We consider algorithms that maximize a global function G in a distributed manner, using a different adaptive computational agent to set each variable of the underlying space. Each agent η is self-interested; it sets its variable to maximize its own function gη. Three factors govern such a distributed algorithm’s performance, related to exploration/exploitation, game theory, and machine learning. We demonstrate how to exploit all three factors by modifying a search algorithm’s exploration stage: rather than random exploration, each coordinate of the search space is now controlled by a separate machine-learning-based “player” engaged in a noncooperative game. Experiments demonstrate that this modification improves simulated annealing (SA) by up to an order of magnitude for bin packing and for a model of an economic process run over an underlying network. These experiments also reveal interesting small-world phenomena.

Mapping the distribution of packing topologies within protein interiors shows predominant preference for specific packing motifs

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Mapping protein primary sequences to their three dimensional folds referred to as the 'second genetic code' remains an unsolved scientific problem. A crucial part of the problem concerns the geometrical specificity in side chain association leading to densely packed protein cores, a hallmark of correctly folded native structures. Thus, any model of packing within proteins should constitute an indispensable component of protein folding and design. Results In this study an attempt has been made to find, characterize and classify recurring patterns in the packing of side chain atoms within a protein which sustains its native fold. The interaction of side chain atoms within the protein core has been represented as a contact network based on the surface complementarity and overlap between associating side chain surfaces. Some network topologies definitely appear to be preferred and they have been termed 'packing motifs', analogous to super secondary structures in proteins. Study of the distribution of these motifs reveals the ubiquitous presence of typical smaller graphs, which appear to get linked or coalesce to give larger graphs, reminiscent of the nucleation-condensation model in protein folding. One such frequently occurring motif, also envisaged as the unit of clustering, the three residue clique was invariably found in regions of dense packing. Finally, topological measures based on surface contact networks appeared to be effective in discriminating sequences native to a specific fold amongst a set of decoys. Conclusions Out of innumerable topological possibilities, only a finite number of specific packing motifs are actually realized in proteins. This small number of motifs could serve as a basis set in the construction of larger networks. Of these, the triplet clique exhibits distinct preference both in terms of composition and geometry. PMID:21605466

Making Space: Automated Storage and Retrieval.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tanis, Norman; Ventuleth, Cindy

1987-01-01

Describes a pilot project in automated storage and retrieval of library materials which uses miniload cranes to retrieve bins of materials, and an interface with an online catalog that patrons use to request materials. Savings in space and money and potential problems with the system are discussed. (CLB)

Test and Evaluation of Architecture-Aware Compiler Environment

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-11-01

biology, medicine, social sciences , and security applications. Challenges include extremely large graphs (the Facebook friend network has over...Operations with Temporal Binning ....................................................................... 32 4.12 Memory behavior and Energy per...five challenge problems empirically, exploring their scaling properties, computation and datatype needs, memory behavior , and temporal behavior

Two-stage energy storage equalization system for lithium-ion battery pack

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, W.; Yang, Z. X.; Dong, G. Q.; Li, Y. B.; He, Q. Y.

2017-11-01

How to raise the efficiency of energy storage and maximize storage capacity is a core problem in current energy storage management. For that, two-stage energy storage equalization system which contains two-stage equalization topology and control strategy based on a symmetric multi-winding transformer and DC-DC (direct current-direct current) converter is proposed with bidirectional active equalization theory, in order to realize the objectives of consistent lithium-ion battery packs voltages and cells voltages inside packs by using a method of the Range. Modeling analysis demonstrates that the voltage dispersion of lithium-ion battery packs and cells inside packs can be kept within 2 percent during charging and discharging. Equalization time was 0.5 ms, which shortened equalization time of 33.3 percent compared with DC-DC converter. Therefore, the proposed two-stage lithium-ion battery equalization system can achieve maximum storage capacity between lithium-ion battery packs and cells inside packs, meanwhile efficiency of energy storage is significantly improved.

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Enabling the Discovery of Recurring Anomalies in Aerospace System Problem Reports using High-Dimensional Clustering Techniques

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Srivastava, Ashok, N.; Akella, Ram; Diev, Vesselin; Kumaresan, Sakthi Preethi; McIntosh, Dawn M.; Pontikakis, Emmanuel D.; Xu, Zuobing; Zhang, Yi

2006-01-01

This paper describes the results of a significant research and development effort conducted at NASA Ames Research Center to develop new text mining techniques to discover anomalies in free-text reports regarding system health and safety of two aerospace systems. We discuss two problems of significant importance in the aviation industry. The first problem is that of automatic anomaly discovery about an aerospace system through the analysis of tens of thousands of free-text problem reports that are written about the system. The second problem that we address is that of automatic discovery of recurring anomalies, i.e., anomalies that may be described m different ways by different authors, at varying times and under varying conditions, but that are truly about the same part of the system. The intent of recurring anomaly identification is to determine project or system weakness or high-risk issues. The discovery of recurring anomalies is a key goal in building safe, reliable, and cost-effective aerospace systems. We address the anomaly discovery problem on thousands of free-text reports using two strategies: (1) as an unsupervised learning problem where an algorithm takes free-text reports as input and automatically groups them into different bins, where each bin corresponds to a different unknown anomaly category; and (2) as a supervised learning problem where the algorithm classifies the free-text reports into one of a number of known anomaly categories. We then discuss the application of these methods to the problem of discovering recurring anomalies. In fact the special nature of recurring anomalies (very small cluster sizes) requires incorporating new methods and measures to enhance the original approach for anomaly detection. ?& pant 0-

Octree Bin-to-Bin Fractional-NTC Collisions

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-17

Briefing Charts 3. DATES COVERED (From - To) 24 August 2015 – 17 September 2015 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Octree bin-to-bin fractional -NTC collisions...Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8-98) Prescribed by ANSI Std. 239.18 OCTREE BIN-TO-BIN FRACTIONAL -NTC COLLISIONS Robert Martin ERC INC., SPACECRAFT PROPULSION...AFTC/PA clearance No. TBD ROBERT MARTIN (AFRL/RQRS) DISTRIBUTION A: APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE 1 / 15 OUTLINE 1 BACKGROUND 2 FRACTIONAL COLLISIONS 3 BIN

See Also:Mechanics of Cohesive-frictional MaterialsCopyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Get Sample Copy
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Volume 29, Issue1 (January 2005)
Articles in the Current Issue:
Research Article
Homogenization framework for three-dimensional elastoplastic finite element analysis of a grouted pipe-roofing reinforcement method for tunnelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bae, G. J.; Shin, H. S.; Sicilia, C.; Choi, Y. G.; Lim, J. J.

2005-01-01

This paper deals with the grouted pipe-roofing reinforcement method that is used in the construction of tunnels through weak grounds. This system consists on installing, prior to the excavation of a length of tunnel, an array of pipes forming a kind of umbrella above the area to be excavated. In some cases, these pipes are later used to inject grout to strengthen the ground and connect the pipes.This system has proven to be very efficient in reducing tunnel convergence and water inflow when tunnelling through weak grounds. However, due to the geometrical and mechanical complexity of the problem, existing finite element frameworks are inappropriate to simulate tunnelling using this method.In this paper, a mathematical framework based on a homogenization technique to simulate grouted pipe-roofing reinforced ground and its implementation into a 3-D finite element programme that can consider stage construction situations are presented. The constitutive model developed allows considering the main design parameters of the problem and only requires geometrical and mechanical properties of the constituents. Additionally, the use of a homogenization approach implies that the generation of the finite element mesh can be easily produced and that re-meshing is not required as basic geometrical parameters such as the orientation of the pipes are changed.The model developed is used to simulate tunnelling with the grouted pipe-roofing reinforcement method. From the analyses, the effects of the main design parameters on the elastic and the elastoplastic analyses are considered. Copyright

optBINS: Optimal Binning for histograms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Knuth, Kevin H.

2018-03-01

optBINS (optimal binning) determines the optimal number of bins in a uniform bin-width histogram by deriving the posterior probability for the number of bins in a piecewise-constant density model after assigning a multinomial likelihood and a non-informative prior. The maximum of the posterior probability occurs at a point where the prior probability and the the joint likelihood are balanced. The interplay between these opposing factors effectively implements Occam's razor by selecting the most simple model that best describes the data.

Jamming II: Edwards’ statistical mechanics of random packings of hard spheres

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Ping; Song, Chaoming; Jin, Yuliang; Makse, Hernán A.

2011-02-01

The problem of finding the most efficient way to pack spheres has an illustrious history, dating back to the crystalline arrays conjectured by Kepler and the random geometries explored by Bernal in the 1960s. This problem finds applications spanning from the mathematician’s pencil, the processing of granular materials, the jamming and glass transitions, all the way to fruit packing in every grocery. There are presently numerous experiments showing that the loosest way to pack spheres gives a density of ∼55% (named random loose packing, RLP) while filling all the loose voids results in a maximum density of ∼63%-64% (named random close packing, RCP). While those values seem robustly true, to this date there is no well-accepted physical explanation or theoretical prediction for them. Here we develop a common framework for understanding the random packings of monodisperse hard spheres whose limits can be interpreted as the experimentally observed RLP and RCP. The reason for these limits arises from a statistical picture of jammed states in which the RCP can be interpreted as the ground state of the ensemble of jammed matter with zero compactivity, while the RLP arises in the infinite compactivity limit. We combine an extended statistical mechanics approach ‘a la Edwards’ (where the role traditionally played by the energy and temperature in thermal systems is substituted by the volume and compactivity) with a constraint on mechanical stability imposed by the isostatic condition. We show how such approaches can bring results that can be compared to experiments and allow for an exploitation of the statistical mechanics framework. The key result is the use of a relation between the local Voronoi volumes of the constituent grains (denoted the volume function) and the number of neighbors in contact that permits us to simply combine the two approaches to develop a theory of volume fluctuations in jammed matter. Ultimately, our results lead to a phase diagram that provides a unifying view of the disordered hard sphere packing problem and further sheds light on a diverse spectrum of data, including the RLP state. Theoretical results are well reproduced by numerical simulations that confirm the essential role played by friction in determining both the RLP and RCP limits. The RLP values depend on friction, explaining why varied experimental results can be obtained.

Physics based modeling of a series parallel battery pack for asymmetry analysis, predictive control and life extension

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ganesan, Nandhini; Basu, Suman; Hariharan, Krishnan S.; Kolake, Subramanya Mayya; Song, Taewon; Yeo, Taejung; Sohn, Dong Kee; Doo, Seokgwang

2016-08-01

Lithium-Ion batteries used for electric vehicle applications are subject to large currents and various operation conditions, making battery pack design and life extension a challenging problem. With increase in complexity, modeling and simulation can lead to insights that ensure optimal performance and life extension. In this manuscript, an electrochemical-thermal (ECT) coupled model for a 6 series × 5 parallel pack is developed for Li ion cells with NCA/C electrodes and validated against experimental data. Contribution of the cathode to overall degradation at various operating conditions is assessed. Pack asymmetry is analyzed from a design and an operational perspective. Design based asymmetry leads to a new approach of obtaining the individual cell responses of the pack from an average ECT output. Operational asymmetry is demonstrated in terms of effects of thermal gradients on cycle life, and an efficient model predictive control technique is developed. Concept of reconfigurable battery pack is studied using detailed simulations that can be used for effective monitoring and extension of battery pack life.

Valve leakage inspection, testing, and maintenance process

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

Aikin, J.A.; Reinwald, J.W.

1989-01-01

Atomic Energy of Canada Limited-Research Company (AECL-RC), Chalk River, has more than 50 person-years dedicated toward the leak-free valve. In the early 1970s, the Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories (CRNL) developed valve stem live-loading and recently completed the packing tests for the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)-funded Valve Packing Improvement Study. Current safety concerns with asbestos-based valve packings and the difficulty in removing newer graphite packings prompted CRNL to investigate methods to improve valve repacking procedures. The present practice of valve packing replacement is very labor-intensive, requiring use of hand tools such as corkscrew devices and special packing picks. Use ofmore » water jets to cut or fragment the packing for withdrawal from the stuffing box does improve the process, but removal of the lantern or junk rings is still difficult. To address these problems, AECL-RC has developed a unique valve maintenance process designed to reduce person-rem exposures, the risk of scoring the stem or stuffing box, and maintenance costs and to improve the engineering quality of valve repair.« less

Disrupted Membrane Structure and Intracellular Ca2+ Signaling in Adult Skeletal Muscle with Acute Knockdown of Bin1

PubMed Central

Tjondrokoesoemo, Andoria; Park, Ki Ho; Ferrante, Christopher; Komazaki, Shinji; Lesniak, Sebastian; Brotto, Marco; Ko, Jae-Kyun; Zhou, Jingsong; Weisleder, Noah; Ma, Jianjie

2011-01-01

Efficient intracellular Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) homeostasis in skeletal muscle requires intact triad junctional complexes comprised of t-tubule invaginations of plasma membrane and terminal cisternae of sarcoplasmic reticulum. Bin1 consists of a specialized BAR domain that is associated with t-tubule development in skeletal muscle and involved in tethering the dihydropyridine receptors (DHPR) to the t-tubule. Here, we show that Bin1 is important for Ca2+ homeostasis in adult skeletal muscle. Since systemic ablation of Bin1 in mice results in postnatal lethality, in vivo electroporation mediated transfection method was used to deliver RFP-tagged plasmid that produced short –hairpin (sh)RNA targeting Bin1 (shRNA-Bin1) to study the effect of Bin1 knockdown in adult mouse FDB skeletal muscle. Upon confirming the reduction of endogenous Bin1 expression, we showed that shRNA-Bin1 muscle displayed swollen t-tubule structures, indicating that Bin1 is required for the maintenance of intact membrane structure in adult skeletal muscle. Reduced Bin1 expression led to disruption of t-tubule structure that was linked with alterations to intracellular Ca2+ release. Voltage-induced Ca2+ released in isolated single muscle fibers of shRNA-Bin1 showed that both the mean amplitude of Ca2+ current and SR Ca2+ transient were reduced when compared to the shRNA-control, indicating compromised coupling between DHPR and ryanodine receptor 1. The mean frequency of osmotic stress induced Ca2+ sparks was reduced in shRNA-Bin1, indicating compromised DHPR activation. ShRNA-Bin1 fibers also displayed reduced Ca2+ sparks' amplitude that was attributed to decreased total Ca2+ stores in the shRNA-Bin1 fibers. Human mutation of Bin1 is associated with centronuclear myopathy and SH3 domain of Bin1 is important for sarcomeric protein organization in skeletal muscle. Our study showing the importance of Bin1 in the maintenance of intact t-tubule structure and ([Ca2+]i) homeostasis in adult skeletal muscle could provide mechanistic insight on the potential role of Bin1 in skeletal muscle contractility and pathology of myopathy. PMID:21984944

SPHINX--an algorithm for taxonomic binning of metagenomic sequences.

PubMed

Mohammed, Monzoorul Haque; Ghosh, Tarini Shankar; Singh, Nitin Kumar; Mande, Sharmila S

2011-01-01

Compared with composition-based binning algorithms, the binning accuracy and specificity of alignment-based binning algorithms is significantly higher. However, being alignment-based, the latter class of algorithms require enormous amount of time and computing resources for binning huge metagenomic datasets. The motivation was to develop a binning approach that can analyze metagenomic datasets as rapidly as composition-based approaches, but nevertheless has the accuracy and specificity of alignment-based algorithms. This article describes a hybrid binning approach (SPHINX) that achieves high binning efficiency by utilizing the principles of both 'composition'- and 'alignment'-based binning algorithms. Validation results with simulated sequence datasets indicate that SPHINX is able to analyze metagenomic sequences as rapidly as composition-based algorithms. Furthermore, the binning efficiency (in terms of accuracy and specificity of assignments) of SPHINX is observed to be comparable with results obtained using alignment-based algorithms. A web server for the SPHINX algorithm is available at http://metagenomics.atc.tcs.com/SPHINX/.

MaxBin 2.0: an automated binning algorithm to recover genomes from multiple metagenomic datasets

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

Wu, Yu-Wei; Simmons, Blake A.; Singer, Steven W.

The recovery of genomes from metagenomic datasets is a critical step to defining the functional roles of the underlying uncultivated populations. We previously developed MaxBin, an automated binning approach for high-throughput recovery of microbial genomes from metagenomes. Here, we present an expanded binning algorithm, MaxBin 2.0, which recovers genomes from co-assembly of a collection of metagenomic datasets. Tests on simulated datasets revealed that MaxBin 2.0 is highly accurate in recovering individual genomes, and the application of MaxBin 2.0 to several metagenomes from environmental samples demonstrated that it could achieve two complementary goals: recovering more bacterial genomes compared to binning amore » single sample as well as comparing the microbial community composition between different sampling environments. Availability and implementation: MaxBin 2.0 is freely available at http://sourceforge.net/projects/maxbin/ under BSD license. Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.« less

A Nonlinearity Minimization-Oriented Resource-Saving Time-to-Digital Converter Implemented in a 28 nm Xilinx FPGA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yonggang; Liu, Chong

2015-10-01

Because large nonlinearity errors exist in the current tapped-delay line (TDL) style field programmable gate array (FPGA)-based time-to-digital converters (TDC), bin-by-bin calibration techniques have to be resorted for gaining a high measurement resolution. If the TDL in selected FPGAs is significantly affected by changes in ambient temperature, the bin-by-bin calibration table has to be updated as frequently as possible. The on-line calibration and calibration table updating increase the TDC design complexity and limit the system performance to some extent. This paper proposes a method to minimize the nonlinearity errors of TDC bins, so that the bin-by-bin calibration may not be needed while maintaining a reasonably high time resolution. The method is a two pass approach: By a bin realignment, the large number of wasted zero-width bins in the original TDL is reused and the granularity of the bins is improved; by a bin decimation, the bin size and its uniformity is traded-off, and the time interpolation by the delay line turns more precise so that the bin-by-bin calibration is not necessary. Using Xilinx 28 nm FPGAs, in which the TDL property is not very sensitive to ambient temperature, the proposed TDC achieves approximately 15 ps root-mean-square (RMS) time resolution by dual-channel measurements of time-intervals over the range of operating temperature. Because of removing the calibration and less logic resources required for the data post-processing, the method has bigger multi-channel capability.

Backtracking search algorithm in CVRP models for efficient solid waste collection and route optimization.

PubMed

Akhtar, Mahmuda; Hannan, M A; Begum, R A; Basri, Hassan; Scavino, Edgar

2017-03-01

Waste collection is an important part of waste management that involves different issues, including environmental, economic, and social, among others. Waste collection optimization can reduce the waste collection budget and environmental emissions by reducing the collection route distance. This paper presents a modified Backtracking Search Algorithm (BSA) in capacitated vehicle routing problem (CVRP) models with the smart bin concept to find the best optimized waste collection route solutions. The objective function minimizes the sum of the waste collection route distances. The study introduces the concept of the threshold waste level (TWL) of waste bins to reduce the number of bins to be emptied by finding an optimal range, thus minimizing the distance. A scheduling model is also introduced to compare the feasibility of the proposed model with that of the conventional collection system in terms of travel distance, collected waste, fuel consumption, fuel cost, efficiency and CO 2 emission. The optimal TWL was found to be between 70% and 75% of the fill level of waste collection nodes and had the maximum tightness value for different problem cases. The obtained results for four days show a 36.80% distance reduction for 91.40% of the total waste collection, which eventually increases the average waste collection efficiency by 36.78% and reduces the fuel consumption, fuel cost and CO 2 emission by 50%, 47.77% and 44.68%, respectively. Thus, the proposed optimization model can be considered a viable tool for optimizing waste collection routes to reduce economic costs and environmental impacts. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Adult Numeracy Development: Theory, Research, Practice. Series on Literacy: Research, Policy, and Practice.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gal, Iddo, Ed.

This book contains 16 papers on the theory, research, and practice of adult numeracy development. The following papers are included: "The Numeracy Challenge" (Iddo Gal); "Numeracy, Mathematics, and Adult Learning" (Diane Coben); "Building a Problem-Solving Environment for Teaching Mathematics" (Peter Kloosterman, Bin Hassan Mohamad-Ali, Lynda R.…

Modeling abundance using hierarchical distance sampling

USGS Publications Warehouse

Royle, Andy; Kery, Marc

2016-01-01

In this chapter, we provide an introduction to classical distance sampling ideas for point and line transect data, and for continuous and binned distance data. We introduce the conditional and the full likelihood, and we discuss Bayesian analysis of these models in BUGS using the idea of data augmentation, which we discussed in Chapter 7. We then extend the basic ideas to the problem of hierarchical distance sampling (HDS), where we have multiple point or transect sample units in space (or possibly in time). The benefit of HDS in practice is that it allows us to directly model spatial variation in population size among these sample units. This is a preeminent concern of most field studies that use distance sampling methods, but it is not a problem that has received much attention in the literature. We show how to analyze HDS models in both the unmarked package and in the BUGS language for point and line transects, and for continuous and binned distance data. We provide a case study of HDS applied to a survey of the island scrub-jay on Santa Cruz Island, California.

Too Much Teaching, Not Enough Learning: What Is the Solution?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lujan, Heidi L.; DiCarlo, Stephen E.

2006-01-01

The curriculum is packed with so much content that teachers resort to telling students what they know and students simply commit facts to memory. The packed curriculum leaves little time for students to acquire a deep understanding of the subject or to develop life-long skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, and communication. However,…

The P.E.A.C.E. Pack: A Computerized Online Assessment of School Bullying

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Slee, Phillip T.; Mohyla, Jury

2014-01-01

School bullying is an international problem with harmful outcomes for those involved. This study describes the design and field testing of an innovative computer-based social learning tool for assessing student perceptions of bullying developed for an Australian intervention program called the P.E.A.C.E. Pack. Students rate their peer group…

Brassinosteroids regulate pavement cell growth by mediating BIN2-induced microtubule stabilization.

PubMed

Liu, Xiaolei; Yang, Qin; Wang, Yuan; Wang, Linhai; Fu, Ying; Wang, Xuelu

2018-02-23

Brassinosteroids (BRs), a group of plant steroid hormones, play important roles in regulating plant development. The cytoskeleton also affects key developmental processes and a deficiency in BR biosynthesis or signaling leads to abnormal phenotypes similar to those of microtubule-defective mutants. However, how BRs regulate microtubule and cell morphology remains unknown. Here, using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, we identified tubulin proteins that interact with Arabidopsis BRASSINOSTEROID INSENSITIVE2 (BIN2), a negative regulator of BR responses in plants. In vitro and in vivo pull-down assays confirmed that BIN2 interacts with tubulin proteins. High-speed co-sedimentation assays demonstrated that BIN2 also binds microtubules. The Arabidopsis genome also encodes two BIN2 homologs, BIN2-LIKE 1 (BIL1) and BIL2, which function redundantly with BIN2. In the bin2-3 bil1 bil2 triple mutant, cortical microtubules were more sensitive to treatment with the microtubule-disrupting drug oryzalin than in wild-type, whereas in the BIN2 gain-of-function mutant bin2-1, cortical microtubules were insensitive to oryzalin treatment. These results provide important insight into how BR regulates plant pavement cell and leaf growth by mediating the stabilization of microtubules by BIN2.

The ESCRT-III pathway facilitates cardiomyocyte release of cBIN1-containing microparticles

PubMed Central

Xu, Bing; Fu, Ying; Liu, Yan; Agvanian, Sosse; Wirka, Robert C.; Baum, Rachel; Zhou, Kang; Shaw, Robin M.

2017-01-01

Microparticles (MPs) are cell–cell communication vesicles derived from the cell surface plasma membrane, although they are not known to originate from cardiac ventricular muscle. In ventricular cardiomyocytes, the membrane deformation protein cardiac bridging integrator 1 (cBIN1 or BIN1+13+17) creates transverse-tubule (t-tubule) membrane microfolds, which facilitate ion channel trafficking and modulate local ionic concentrations. The microfold-generated microdomains continuously reorganize, adapting in response to stress to modulate the calcium signaling apparatus. We explored the possibility that cBIN1-microfolds are externally released from cardiomyocytes. Using electron microscopy imaging with immunogold labeling, we found in mouse plasma that cBIN1 exists in membrane vesicles about 200 nm in size, which is consistent with the size of MPs. In mice with cardiac-specific heterozygous Bin1 deletion, flow cytometry identified 47% less cBIN1-MPs in plasma, supporting cardiac origin. Cardiac release was also evidenced by the detection of cBIN1-MPs in medium bathing a pure population of isolated adult mouse cardiomyocytes. In human plasma, osmotic shock increased cBIN1 detection by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and cBIN1 level decreased in humans with heart failure, a condition with reduced cardiac muscle cBIN1, both of which support cBIN1 release in MPs from human hearts. Exploring putative mechanisms of MP release, we found that the membrane fission complex endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRT)-III subunit charged multivesicular body protein 4B (CHMP4B) colocalizes and coimmunoprecipitates with cBIN1, an interaction enhanced by actin stabilization. In HeLa cells with cBIN1 overexpression, knockdown of CHMP4B reduced the release of cBIN1-MPs. Using truncation mutants, we identified that the N-terminal BAR (N-BAR) domain in cBIN1 is required for CHMP4B binding and MP release. This study links the BAR protein superfamily to the ESCRT pathway for MP biogenesis in mammalian cardiac ventricular cells, identifying elements of a pathway by which cytoplasmic cBIN1 is released into blood. PMID:28806752

The ESCRT-III pathway facilitates cardiomyocyte release of cBIN1-containing microparticles.

PubMed

Xu, Bing; Fu, Ying; Liu, Yan; Agvanian, Sosse; Wirka, Robert C; Baum, Rachel; Zhou, Kang; Shaw, Robin M; Hong, TingTing

2017-08-01

Microparticles (MPs) are cell-cell communication vesicles derived from the cell surface plasma membrane, although they are not known to originate from cardiac ventricular muscle. In ventricular cardiomyocytes, the membrane deformation protein cardiac bridging integrator 1 (cBIN1 or BIN1+13+17) creates transverse-tubule (t-tubule) membrane microfolds, which facilitate ion channel trafficking and modulate local ionic concentrations. The microfold-generated microdomains continuously reorganize, adapting in response to stress to modulate the calcium signaling apparatus. We explored the possibility that cBIN1-microfolds are externally released from cardiomyocytes. Using electron microscopy imaging with immunogold labeling, we found in mouse plasma that cBIN1 exists in membrane vesicles about 200 nm in size, which is consistent with the size of MPs. In mice with cardiac-specific heterozygous Bin1 deletion, flow cytometry identified 47% less cBIN1-MPs in plasma, supporting cardiac origin. Cardiac release was also evidenced by the detection of cBIN1-MPs in medium bathing a pure population of isolated adult mouse cardiomyocytes. In human plasma, osmotic shock increased cBIN1 detection by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and cBIN1 level decreased in humans with heart failure, a condition with reduced cardiac muscle cBIN1, both of which support cBIN1 release in MPs from human hearts. Exploring putative mechanisms of MP release, we found that the membrane fission complex endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRT)-III subunit charged multivesicular body protein 4B (CHMP4B) colocalizes and coimmunoprecipitates with cBIN1, an interaction enhanced by actin stabilization. In HeLa cells with cBIN1 overexpression, knockdown of CHMP4B reduced the release of cBIN1-MPs. Using truncation mutants, we identified that the N-terminal BAR (N-BAR) domain in cBIN1 is required for CHMP4B binding and MP release. This study links the BAR protein superfamily to the ESCRT pathway for MP biogenesis in mammalian cardiac ventricular cells, identifying elements of a pathway by which cytoplasmic cBIN1 is released into blood.

Optimizing 4DCBCT projection allocation to respiratory bins.

PubMed

O'Brien, Ricky T; Kipritidis, John; Shieh, Chun-Chien; Keall, Paul J

2014-10-07

4D cone beam computed tomography (4DCBCT) is an emerging image guidance strategy used in radiotherapy where projections acquired during a scan are sorted into respiratory bins based on the respiratory phase or displacement. 4DCBCT reduces the motion blur caused by respiratory motion but increases streaking artefacts due to projection under-sampling as a result of the irregular nature of patient breathing and the binning algorithms used. For displacement binning the streak artefacts are so severe that displacement binning is rarely used clinically. The purpose of this study is to investigate if sharing projections between respiratory bins and adjusting the location of respiratory bins in an optimal manner can reduce or eliminate streak artefacts in 4DCBCT images. We introduce a mathematical optimization framework and a heuristic solution method, which we will call the optimized projection allocation algorithm, to determine where to position the respiratory bins and which projections to source from neighbouring respiratory bins. Five 4DCBCT datasets from three patients were used to reconstruct 4DCBCT images. Projections were sorted into respiratory bins using equispaced, equal density and optimized projection allocation. The standard deviation of the angular separation between projections was used to assess streaking and the consistency of the segmented volume of a fiducial gold marker was used to assess motion blur. The standard deviation of the angular separation between projections using displacement binning and optimized projection allocation was 30%-50% smaller than conventional phase based binning and 59%-76% smaller than conventional displacement binning indicating more uniformly spaced projections and fewer streaking artefacts. The standard deviation in the marker volume was 20%-90% smaller when using optimized projection allocation than using conventional phase based binning suggesting more uniform marker segmentation and less motion blur. Images reconstructed using displacement binning and the optimized projection allocation algorithm were clearer, contained visibly fewer streak artefacts and produced more consistent marker segmentation than those reconstructed with either equispaced or equal-density binning. The optimized projection allocation algorithm significantly improves image quality in 4DCBCT images and provides, for the first time, a method to consistently generate high quality displacement binned 4DCBCT images in clinical applications.

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Cavity method for force transmission in jammed disordered packings of hard particles.

PubMed

Bo, Lin; Mari, Romain; Song, Chaoming; Makse, Hernán A

2014-10-07

The force distribution of jammed disordered packings has always been considered a central object in the physics of granular materials. However, many of its features are poorly understood. In particular, analytic relations to other key macroscopic properties of jammed matter, such as the contact network and its coordination number, are still lacking. Here we develop a mean-field theory for this problem, based on the consideration of the contact network as a random graph where the force transmission becomes a constraint satisfaction problem. We can thus use the cavity method developed in the past few decades within the statistical physics of spin glasses and hard computer science problems. This method allows us to compute the force distribution P(f) for random packings of hard particles of any shape, with or without friction. We find a new signature of jamming in the small force behavior P(f) ∼ f(θ), whose exponent has attracted recent active interest: we find a finite value for P(f = 0), along with θ = 0. Furthermore, we relate the force distribution to a lower bound of the average coordination number z[combining macron](μ) of jammed packings of frictional spheres with coefficient μ. This bridges the gap between the two known isostatic limits z[combining macron]c (μ = 0) = 2D (in dimension D) and z[combining macron]c(μ → ∞) = D + 1 by extending the naive Maxwell's counting argument to frictional spheres. The theoretical framework describes different types of systems, such as non-spherical objects in arbitrary dimensions, providing a common mean-field scenario to investigate force transmission, contact networks and coordination numbers of jammed disordered packings.

Detecting the contagion effect in mass killings; a constructive example of the statistical advantages of unbinned likelihood methods.

PubMed

Towers, Sherry; Mubayi, Anuj; Castillo-Chavez, Carlos

2018-01-01

When attempting to statistically distinguish between a null and an alternative hypothesis, many researchers in the life and social sciences turn to binned statistical analysis methods, or methods that are simply based on the moments of a distribution (such as the mean, and variance). These methods have the advantage of simplicity of implementation, and simplicity of explanation. However, when null and alternative hypotheses manifest themselves in subtle differences in patterns in the data, binned analysis methods may be insensitive to these differences, and researchers may erroneously fail to reject the null hypothesis when in fact more sensitive statistical analysis methods might produce a different result when the null hypothesis is actually false. Here, with a focus on two recent conflicting studies of contagion in mass killings as instructive examples, we discuss how the use of unbinned likelihood methods makes optimal use of the information in the data; a fact that has been long known in statistical theory, but perhaps is not as widely appreciated amongst general researchers in the life and social sciences. In 2015, Towers et al published a paper that quantified the long-suspected contagion effect in mass killings. However, in 2017, Lankford & Tomek subsequently published a paper, based upon the same data, that claimed to contradict the results of the earlier study. The former used unbinned likelihood methods, and the latter used binned methods, and comparison of distribution moments. Using these analyses, we also discuss how visualization of the data can aid in determination of the most appropriate statistical analysis methods to distinguish between a null and alternate hypothesis. We also discuss the importance of assessment of the robustness of analysis results to methodological assumptions made (for example, arbitrary choices of number of bins and bin widths when using binned methods); an issue that is widely overlooked in the literature, but is critical to analysis reproducibility and robustness. When an analysis cannot distinguish between a null and alternate hypothesis, care must be taken to ensure that the analysis methodology itself maximizes the use of information in the data that can distinguish between the two hypotheses. The use of binned methods by Lankford & Tomek (2017), that examined how many mass killings fell within a 14 day window from a previous mass killing, substantially reduced the sensitivity of their analysis to contagion effects. The unbinned likelihood methods used by Towers et al (2015) did not suffer from this problem. While a binned analysis might be favorable for simplicity and clarity of presentation, unbinned likelihood methods are preferable when effects might be somewhat subtle.

Detecting the contagion effect in mass killings; a constructive example of the statistical advantages of unbinned likelihood methods

PubMed Central

Mubayi, Anuj; Castillo-Chavez, Carlos

2018-01-01

Background When attempting to statistically distinguish between a null and an alternative hypothesis, many researchers in the life and social sciences turn to binned statistical analysis methods, or methods that are simply based on the moments of a distribution (such as the mean, and variance). These methods have the advantage of simplicity of implementation, and simplicity of explanation. However, when null and alternative hypotheses manifest themselves in subtle differences in patterns in the data, binned analysis methods may be insensitive to these differences, and researchers may erroneously fail to reject the null hypothesis when in fact more sensitive statistical analysis methods might produce a different result when the null hypothesis is actually false. Here, with a focus on two recent conflicting studies of contagion in mass killings as instructive examples, we discuss how the use of unbinned likelihood methods makes optimal use of the information in the data; a fact that has been long known in statistical theory, but perhaps is not as widely appreciated amongst general researchers in the life and social sciences. Methods In 2015, Towers et al published a paper that quantified the long-suspected contagion effect in mass killings. However, in 2017, Lankford & Tomek subsequently published a paper, based upon the same data, that claimed to contradict the results of the earlier study. The former used unbinned likelihood methods, and the latter used binned methods, and comparison of distribution moments. Using these analyses, we also discuss how visualization of the data can aid in determination of the most appropriate statistical analysis methods to distinguish between a null and alternate hypothesis. We also discuss the importance of assessment of the robustness of analysis results to methodological assumptions made (for example, arbitrary choices of number of bins and bin widths when using binned methods); an issue that is widely overlooked in the literature, but is critical to analysis reproducibility and robustness. Conclusions When an analysis cannot distinguish between a null and alternate hypothesis, care must be taken to ensure that the analysis methodology itself maximizes the use of information in the data that can distinguish between the two hypotheses. The use of binned methods by Lankford & Tomek (2017), that examined how many mass killings fell within a 14 day window from a previous mass killing, substantially reduced the sensitivity of their analysis to contagion effects. The unbinned likelihood methods used by Towers et al (2015) did not suffer from this problem. While a binned analysis might be favorable for simplicity and clarity of presentation, unbinned likelihood methods are preferable when effects might be somewhat subtle. PMID:29742115

Non-negative Matrix Factorization for Self-calibration of Photometric Redshift Scatter in Weak-lensing Surveys

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

Zhang, Le; Yu, Yu; Zhang, Pengjie, E-mail: lezhang@sjtu.edu.cn

Photo- z error is one of the major sources of systematics degrading the accuracy of weak-lensing cosmological inferences. Zhang et al. proposed a self-calibration method combining galaxy–galaxy correlations and galaxy–shear correlations between different photo- z bins. Fisher matrix analysis shows that it can determine the rate of photo- z outliers at a level of 0.01%–1% merely using photometric data and do not rely on any prior knowledge. In this paper, we develop a new algorithm to implement this method by solving a constrained nonlinear optimization problem arising in the self-calibration process. Based on the techniques of fixed-point iteration and non-negativemore » matrix factorization, the proposed algorithm can efficiently and robustly reconstruct the scattering probabilities between the true- z and photo- z bins. The algorithm has been tested extensively by applying it to mock data from simulated stage IV weak-lensing projects. We find that the algorithm provides a successful recovery of the scatter rates at the level of 0.01%–1%, and the true mean redshifts of photo- z bins at the level of 0.001, which may satisfy the requirements in future lensing surveys.« less

Novel features and enhancements in BioBin, a tool for the biologically inspired binning and association analysis of rare variants

PubMed Central

Byrska-Bishop, Marta; Wallace, John; Frase, Alexander T; Ritchie, Marylyn D

2018-01-01

Abstract Motivation BioBin is an automated bioinformatics tool for the multi-level biological binning of sequence variants. Herein, we present a significant update to BioBin which expands the software to facilitate a comprehensive rare variant analysis and incorporates novel features and analysis enhancements. Results In BioBin 2.3, we extend our software tool by implementing statistical association testing, updating the binning algorithm, as well as incorporating novel analysis features providing for a robust, highly customizable, and unified rare variant analysis tool. Availability and implementation The BioBin software package is open source and freely available to users at http://www.ritchielab.com/software/biobin-download Contact mdritchie@geisinger.edu Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. PMID:28968757

Does Your Optical Particle Counter Measure What You Think it Does? Calibration and Refractive Index Correction Methods.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosenberg, Phil; Dean, Angela; Williams, Paul; Dorsey, James; Minikin, Andreas; Pickering, Martyn; Petzold, Andreas

2013-04-01

Optical Particle Counters (OPCs) are the de-facto standard for in-situ measurements of airborne aerosol size distributions and small cloud particles over a wide size range. This is particularly the case on airborne platforms where fast response is important. OPCs measure scattered light from individual particles and generally bin particles according to the measured peak amount of light scattered (the OPC's response). Most manufacturers provide a table along with their instrument which indicates the particle diameters which represent the edges of each bin. It is important to correct the particle size reported by OPCs for the refractive index of the particles being measured, which is often not the same as for those used during calibration. However, the OPC's response is not a monotonic function of particle diameter and obvious problems occur when refractive index corrections are attempted, but multiple diameters correspond to the same OPC response. Here we recommend that OPCs are calibrated in terms of particle scattering cross section as this is a monotonic (usually linear) function of an OPC's response. We present a method for converting a bin's boundaries in terms of scattering cross section into a bin centre and bin width in terms of diameter for any aerosol species for which the scattering properties are known. The relationship between diameter and scattering cross section can be arbitrarily complex and does not need to be monotonic; it can be based on Mie-Lorenz theory or any other scattering theory. Software has been provided on the Sourceforge open source repository for scientific users to implement such methods in their own measurement and calibration routines. As a case study data is presented showing data from Passive Cavity Aerosol Spectrometer Probe (PCASP) and a Cloud Droplet Probe (CDP) calibrated using polystyrene latex spheres and glass beads before being deployed as part of the Fennec project to measure airborne dust in the inaccessible regions of the Sahara.

Standardized Definitions for Code Verification Test Problems

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

Doebling, Scott William

This document contains standardized definitions for several commonly used code verification test problems. These definitions are intended to contain sufficient information to set up the test problem in a computational physics code. These definitions are intended to be used in conjunction with exact solutions to these problems generated using Exact- Pack, www.github.com/lanl/exactpack.

A MAP fixed-point, packing-unpacking routine for the IBM 7094 computer

Treesearch

Robert S. Helfman

1966-01-01

Two MAP (Macro Assembly Program) computer routines for packing and unpacking fixed point data are described. Use of these routines with Fortran IV Programs provides speedy access to quantities of data which far exceed the normal storage capacity of IBM 7000-series computers. Many problems that could not be attempted because of the slow access-speed of tape...

Trans-septal suturing following septoplasty: an alternative for nasal packing.

PubMed

Ghimire, A; Limbu, T R; Bhandari, R

2012-09-01

Septoplasty is one of the most common otorhinolaryngologic surgical procedure. It is customary to place a pack in the nose as a part of nasal surgery to stop bleeding, enhance apposition of mucosal flaps, and stabilize the operated septal cartilage and bones. But nasal packing is not an innocuous procedure. The most common problem encountered by the patients after septoplasty with nasal pack is the pain and discomfort in post operative period. The study has been performed to compare the complications and outcome of septoplasty with or without nasal packing. Forty four patients were randomly allocated into two groups, Group A (n = 21) and Group B (n = 23). In Group A trans-septal suture and in Group B intranasal pack was used following septoplasty. Both groups were compared for postoperative pain, postoperative complications and surgical outcome. Among 44 patients 31 patients were male and 13 patients were female. Most of the patients ie 79.5% were operated for nasal obstruction. Only one patient had postoperative nasal bleeding requiring nasal pack in Group A. Higher Postoperative pain score, longer hospital stay and more complications were observed in Group B patients. No difference was found in patients' satisfaction after the operation. Septoplasty can be safely performed without postoperative nasal packing and is preferred to avoid postoperative pain, discomfort and other complications.

Shuttle car loading system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Collins, E. R., Jr. (Inventor)

1985-01-01

A system is described for loading newly mined material such as coal, into a shuttle car, at a location near the mine face where there is only a limited height available for a loading system. The system includes a storage bin having several telescoping bin sections and a shuttle car having a bottom wall that can move under the bin. With the bin in an extended position and filled with coal the bin sections can be telescoped to allow the coal to drop out of the bin sections and into the shuttle car, to quickly load the car. The bin sections can then be extended, so they can be slowly filled with more while waiting another shuttle car.

Throwing Accuracy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cross, Rod

2018-01-01

A simple throwing task is described to illustrate various aspects of projectile motion. The task was to throw a tennis ball in a waste paper bin about 2 m away. Success depends on skill, but it also depends on the physics of the problem. If the ball is thrown underarm, then success depends primarily on the throw speed, which must be controlled to…

Getting coal to go with the flow

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

Dumbaugh, G.D.

1984-01-01

There are three accepted methods of recovering storage piles. They are surface reclaiming, sub-grade hopper sections or bins, and flat surface storage with ground level ports. In general, the decision to use either approach is a matter of economics, reliability, labor intensity, and other related practical factors. The concept of induced vertical flow of bulk solids was initiated in 1962 with the birth of the bin activator. Its performance was at times questionable until the elusive cycle type operation was finally discovered. This solved the problems of coupling induced vertical flow units with feeders. Surprisingly, an operator in a cementmore » plant was the first to demonstrate this principle of operation in 1965, but it needed at least five more years for it to be fully understood. The storage pile discharger with its drawdown skirt and unique stroke action was developed out of sheer necessity in 1964. However, it was not until 1979 that the railcar discharger was introduced. Frankly, it took that long to recognize a railcar could be temporarily converted to a huge rectangular shaped activated binexclamation Significantly, all induced vertical flow units are designed and operated for the sole purpose of bulk solid storage withdrawal. They have no other function. For many reasons, the successful evolution of the concept of induced vertical flow of bulk solids has been one of more perspiration than of meditation. Armed with time proven application guidelines and cycle type operation to minimize the effects of feeder flow streams, bin activators, activated bins, storage pile dischargers, and railcar dischargers can be applied confidently and predictably.« less

Close packing in curved space by simulated annealing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wille, L. T.

1987-12-01

The problem of packing spheres of a maximum radius on the surface of a four-dimensional hypersphere is considered. It is shown how near-optimal solutions can be obtained by packing soft spheres, modelled as classical particles interacting under an inverse power potential, followed by a subsequent hardening of the interaction. In order to avoid trapping in high-lying local minima, the simulated annealing method is used to optimise the soft-sphere packing. Several improvements over other work (based on local optimisation of random initial configurations of hard spheres) have been found. The freezing behaviour of this system is discussed as a function of particle number, softness of the potential and cooling rate. Apart from their geometric interest, these results are useful in the study of topological frustration, metallic glasses and quasicrystals.

Packing loops into annular cavities.

PubMed

Sobral, T A; Gomes, M A F

2017-02-01

The continuous packing of a flexible rod in two-dimensional cavities yields a countable set of interacting domains that resembles nonequilibrium cellular systems and belongs to a new class of lightweight material. However, the link between the length of the rod and the number of domains requires investigation, especially in the case of non-simply connected cavities, where the number of avoided regions emulates an effective topological temperature. In the present article we report the results of an experiment of injection of a single flexible rod into annular cavities in order to find the total length needed to insert a given number of loops (domains of one vertex). Using an exponential model to describe the experimental data we quite minutely analyze the initial conditions, the intermediary behavior, and the tight packing limit. This method allows the observation of a new fluctuation phenomenon associated with instabilities in the dynamic evolution of the packing process. Furthermore, the fractal dimension of the global pattern enters the discussion under a novel point of view. A comparison with the classical problems of the random close packing of disks and jammed disk packings is made.

Packing loops into annular cavities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sobral, T. A.; Gomes, M. A. F.

2017-02-01

The continuous packing of a flexible rod in two-dimensional cavities yields a countable set of interacting domains that resembles nonequilibrium cellular systems and belongs to a new class of lightweight material. However, the link between the length of the rod and the number of domains requires investigation, especially in the case of non-simply connected cavities, where the number of avoided regions emulates an effective topological temperature. In the present article we report the results of an experiment of injection of a single flexible rod into annular cavities in order to find the total length needed to insert a given number of loops (domains of one vertex). Using an exponential model to describe the experimental data we quite minutely analyze the initial conditions, the intermediary behavior, and the tight packing limit. This method allows the observation of a new fluctuation phenomenon associated with instabilities in the dynamic evolution of the packing process. Furthermore, the fractal dimension of the global pattern enters the discussion under a novel point of view. A comparison with the classical problems of the random close packing of disks and jammed disk packings is made.

SPH Modelling of Sea-ice Pack Dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Staroszczyk, Ryszard

2017-12-01

The paper is concerned with the problem of sea-ice pack motion and deformation under the action of wind and water currents. Differential equations describing the dynamics of ice, with its very distinct mateFfigrial responses in converging and diverging flows, express the mass and linear momentum balances on the horizontal plane (the free surface of the ocean). These equations are solved by the fully Lagrangian method of smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH). Assuming that the ice behaviour can be approximated by a non-linearly viscous rheology, the proposed SPH model has been used to simulate the evolution of a sea-ice pack driven by wind drag stresses. The results of numerical simulations illustrate the evolution of an ice pack, including variations in ice thickness and ice area fraction in space and time. The effects of different initial ice pack configurations and of different conditions assumed at the coast-ice interface are examined. In particular, the SPH model is applied to a pack flow driven by a vortex wind to demonstrate how well the Lagrangian formulation can capture large deformations and displacements of sea ice.

Effect of various binning methods and ROI sizes on the accuracy of the automatic classification system for differentiation between diffuse infiltrative lung diseases on the basis of texture features at HRCT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Namkug; Seo, Joon Beom; Sung, Yu Sub; Park, Bum-Woo; Lee, Youngjoo; Park, Seong Hoon; Lee, Young Kyung; Kang, Suk-Ho

2008-03-01

To find optimal binning, variable binning size linear binning (LB) and non-linear binning (NLB) methods were tested. In case of small binning size (Q <= 10), NLB shows significant better accuracy than the LB. K-means NLB (Q = 26) is statistically significant better than every LB. To find optimal binning method and ROI size of the automatic classification system for differentiation between diffuse infiltrative lung diseases on the basis of textural analysis at HRCT Six-hundred circular regions of interest (ROI) with 10, 20, and 30 pixel diameter, comprising of each 100 ROIs representing six regional disease patterns (normal, NL; ground-glass opacity, GGO; reticular opacity, RO; honeycombing, HC; emphysema, EMPH; and consolidation, CONS) were marked by an experienced radiologist from HRCT images. Histogram (mean) and co-occurrence matrix (mean and SD of angular second moment, contrast, correlation, entropy, and inverse difference momentum) features were employed to test binning and ROI effects. To find optimal binning, variable binning size LB (bin size Q: 4~30, 32, 64, 128, 144, 196, 256, 384) and NLB (Q: 4~30) methods (K-means, and Fuzzy C-means clustering) were tested. For automated classification, a SVM classifier was implemented. To assess cross-validation of the system, a five-folding method was used. Each test was repeatedly performed twenty times. Overall accuracies with every combination of variable ROIs, and binning sizes were statistically compared. In case of small binning size (Q <= 10), NLB shows significant better accuracy than the LB. K-means NLB (Q = 26) is statistically significant better than every LB. In case of 30x30 ROI size and most of binning size, the K-means method showed better than other NLB and LB methods. When optimal binning and other parameters were set, overall sensitivity of the classifier was 92.85%. The sensitivity and specificity of the system for each class were as follows: NL, 95%, 97.9%; GGO, 80%, 98.9%; RO 85%, 96.9%; HC, 94.7%, 97%; EMPH, 100%, 100%; and CONS, 100%, 100%, respectively. We determined the optimal binning method and ROI size of the automatic classification system for differentiation between diffuse infiltrative lung diseases on the basis of texture features at HRCT.

CoMet: a workflow using contig coverage and composition for binning a metagenomic sample with high precision.

PubMed

Herath, Damayanthi; Tang, Sen-Lin; Tandon, Kshitij; Ackland, David; Halgamuge, Saman Kumara

2017-12-28

In metagenomics, the separation of nucleotide sequences belonging to an individual or closely matched populations is termed binning. Binning helps the evaluation of underlying microbial population structure as well as the recovery of individual genomes from a sample of uncultivable microbial organisms. Both supervised and unsupervised learning methods have been employed in binning; however, characterizing a metagenomic sample containing multiple strains remains a significant challenge. In this study, we designed and implemented a new workflow, Coverage and composition based binning of Metagenomes (CoMet), for binning contigs in a single metagenomic sample. CoMet utilizes coverage values and the compositional features of metagenomic contigs. The binning strategy in CoMet includes the initial grouping of contigs in guanine-cytosine (GC) content-coverage space and refinement of bins in tetranucleotide frequencies space in a purely unsupervised manner. With CoMet, the clustering algorithm DBSCAN is employed for binning contigs. The performances of CoMet were compared against four existing approaches for binning a single metagenomic sample, including MaxBin, Metawatt, MyCC (default) and MyCC (coverage) using multiple datasets including a sample comprised of multiple strains. Binning methods based on both compositional features and coverages of contigs had higher performances than the method which is based only on compositional features of contigs. CoMet yielded higher or comparable precision in comparison to the existing binning methods on benchmark datasets of varying complexities. MyCC (coverage) had the highest ranking score in F1-score. However, the performances of CoMet were higher than MyCC (coverage) on the dataset containing multiple strains. Furthermore, CoMet recovered contigs of more species and was 18 - 39% higher in precision than the compared existing methods in discriminating species from the sample of multiple strains. CoMet resulted in higher precision than MyCC (default) and MyCC (coverage) on a real metagenome. The approach proposed with CoMet for binning contigs, improves the precision of binning while characterizing more species in a single metagenomic sample and in a sample containing multiple strains. The F1-scores obtained from different binning strategies vary with different datasets; however, CoMet yields the highest F1-score with a sample comprised of multiple strains.

Conceptual Comparison of Population Based Metaheuristics for Engineering Problems

PubMed Central

Green, Paul

2015-01-01

Metaheuristic algorithms are well-known optimization tools which have been employed for solving a wide range of optimization problems. Several extensions of differential evolution have been adopted in solving constrained and nonconstrained multiobjective optimization problems, but in this study, the third version of generalized differential evolution (GDE) is used for solving practical engineering problems. GDE3 metaheuristic modifies the selection process of the basic differential evolution and extends DE/rand/1/bin strategy in solving practical applications. The performance of the metaheuristic is investigated through engineering design optimization problems and the results are reported. The comparison of the numerical results with those of other metaheuristic techniques demonstrates the promising performance of the algorithm as a robust optimization tool for practical purposes. PMID:25874265

Conceptual comparison of population based metaheuristics for engineering problems.

PubMed

Adekanmbi, Oluwole; Green, Paul

2015-01-01

Metaheuristic algorithms are well-known optimization tools which have been employed for solving a wide range of optimization problems. Several extensions of differential evolution have been adopted in solving constrained and nonconstrained multiobjective optimization problems, but in this study, the third version of generalized differential evolution (GDE) is used for solving practical engineering problems. GDE3 metaheuristic modifies the selection process of the basic differential evolution and extends DE/rand/1/bin strategy in solving practical applications. The performance of the metaheuristic is investigated through engineering design optimization problems and the results are reported. The comparison of the numerical results with those of other metaheuristic techniques demonstrates the promising performance of the algorithm as a robust optimization tool for practical purposes.

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Shapes of the Future

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klee, Victor

1971-01-01

This article presents some easily stated but unsolved geometric problems. The three sections are entitled: Housemoving, Manholes and Fermi Surfaces" (convex figures of constant width), Angels, Pollen Grains and Misanthropes" (packing problems), and The Four-Color Conjecture and Organic Chemistry." (MM)

Subcellular Changes in Bridging Integrator 1 Protein Expression in the Cerebral Cortex During the Progression of Alzheimer Disease Pathology.

PubMed

Adams, Stephanie L; Tilton, Kathy; Kozubek, James A; Seshadri, Sudha; Delalle, Ivana

2016-08-01

Genome-wide association studies have established BIN1 (Bridging Integrator 1) as the most significant late-onset Alzheimer disease (AD) susceptibility locus after APOE We analyzed BIN1 protein expression using automated immunohistochemistry on the hippocampal CA1 region in 19 patients with either no, mild, or moderate-to-marked AD pathology, who had been assessed by Clinical Dementia Rating and CERAD scores. We also examined the amygdala, prefrontal, temporal, and occipital regions in a subset of these patients. In non-demented controls without AD pathology, BIN1 protein was expressed in white matter, glia, particularly oligodendrocytes, and in the neuropil in which the BIN1 signal decorated axons. With increasing severity of AD, BIN1 in the CA1 region showed: 1) sustained expression in glial cells, 2) decreased areas of neuropil expression, and 3) increased cytoplasmic neuronal expression that did not correlate with neurofibrillary tangle load. In patients with AD, both the prefrontal cortex and CA1 showed a decrease in BIN1-immunoreactive (BIN1-ir) neuropil areas and increases in numbers of BIN1-ir neurons. The numbers of CA1 BIN1-ir pyramidal neurons correlated with hippocampal CERAD neuritic plaque scores; BIN1 neuropil signal was absent in neuritic plaques. Our data provide novel insight into the relationship between BIN1 protein expression and the progression of AD-associated pathology and its diagnostic hallmarks. © 2016 American Association of Neuropathologists, Inc. All rights reserved.

See Also:physica status solidi (a)physica status solidi (c)Copyright © 2004 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
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Volume 241, Issue15 (December 2004)
Articles in the Current Issue:
Cover Picture
Quasi-localized low-frequency vibrational modes of disordered solids: Study by single-molecule spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Naumov, A. V.; Vainer, Yu. G.; Bauer, M.; Kador, L.

2004-12-01

Editor's Choice of this issue of physica status solidi (b) is the article [1] by Andrei V. Naumov et al. This paper is Part II (Part I see [2]) of a study on elementary excitations in glasses, presented at the 11th International Conference on Phonon Scattering in Condensed Matter, St. Petersburg, 25-30 July 2004. For his outstanding talk, Naumov received the new physica status solidi Young Researcher Award which was bestowed for the first time at this conference.The cover picture is a sketch of a glass with a single impurity molecule and one hypothetical quasi-localized vibrational mode. The broadening and shift of the chromophore spectral line are caused by the interaction with this mode.Andrei V. Naumov is senior scientific researcher and deputy head of the Molecular Spectroscopy Department of the Institute of Spectroscopy, Troitsk. His main research interests are experimental and theoretical studies of low-temperature dynamics of amorphous solids (glasses, polymers etc.) via high resolution laser selective spectroscopy techniques.The second Editor's Choice is an article by E. A. Eliseev and M. D. Glinchuk [3]. Eugene A. Eliseev is scientific researcher at the Frantsevich Institute for Problems of Materials Science of the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences, Kiev. His research areas are the theory of size and correlation effects in ferroelectric materials as well as modelling of disordered ferroelectrics properties.

Membrane Packing Problems: A short Review on computational Membrane Modeling Methods and Tools

PubMed Central

Sommer, Björn

2013-01-01

The use of model membranes is currently part of the daily workflow for many biochemical and biophysical disciplines. These membranes are used to analyze the behavior of small substances, to simulate transport processes, to study the structure of macromolecules or for illustrative purposes. But, how can these membrane structures be generated? This mini review discusses a number of ways to obtain these structures. First, the problem will be formulated as the Membrane Packing Problem. It will be shown that the theoretical problem of placing proteins and lipids onto a membrane area differ significantly. Thus, two sub-problems will be defined and discussed. Then, different – partly historical – membrane modeling methods will be introduced. And finally, membrane modeling tools will be evaluated which are able to semi-automatically generate these model membranes and thus, drastically accelerate and simplify the membrane generation process. The mini review concludes with advice about which tool is appropriate for which application case. PMID:24688707

Potential fitting biases resulting from grouping data into variable width bins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Towers, S.

2014-07-01

When reading peer-reviewed scientific literature describing any analysis of empirical data, it is natural and correct to proceed with the underlying assumption that experiments have made good faith efforts to ensure that their analyses yield unbiased results. However, particle physics experiments are expensive and time consuming to carry out, thus if an analysis has inherent bias (even if unintentional), much money and effort can be wasted trying to replicate or understand the results, particularly if the analysis is fundamental to our understanding of the universe. In this note we discuss the significant biases that can result from data binning schemes. As we will show, if data are binned such that they provide the best comparison to a particular (but incorrect) model, the resulting model parameter estimates when fitting to the binned data can be significantly biased, leading us to too often accept the model hypothesis when it is not in fact true. When using binned likelihood or least squares methods there is of course no a priori requirement that data bin sizes need to be constant, but we show that fitting to data grouped into variable width bins is particularly prone to produce biased results if the bin boundaries are chosen to optimize the comparison of the binned data to a wrong model. The degree of bias that can be achieved simply with variable binning can be surprisingly large. Fitting the data with an unbinned likelihood method, when possible to do so, is the best way for researchers to show that their analyses are not biased by binning effects. Failing that, equal bin widths should be employed as a cross-check of the fitting analysis whenever possible.

45. VIEW OF UPPER LEVEL CRUSHER ADDITION FROM CRUSHED OXIDIZED ...

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

45. VIEW OF UPPER LEVEL CRUSHER ADDITION FROM CRUSHED OXIDIZED ORE BIN. 18 INCH BELT CONVEYOR BIN FEED, LOWER CENTER, WITH STEPHENS-ADAMSON 25 TON/HR ELEVATOR SPLIT DISCHARGE (OXIDIZED/UNOXIDIZED) IN CENTER. CRUDE ORE BINS AND MACHINE SHOP BEYOND. NOTE TOP OF CRUSHED OXIDIZED ORE BIN IS BELOW TOP OF CRUDE ORE BINS. - Bald Mountain Gold Mill, Nevada Gulch at head of False Bottom Creek, Lead, Lawrence County, SD

Effects of Mixtures on Liquid and Solid Fragment Size Distributions

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-05-01

bins, too few size bins, fixed bin widths, or inadequately- varying bin widths. Overpopulated bins – which typically occur for smaller fragments...2010 C. V. B. Cunningham, The Kuz-Ram Fragmentation Model – 20 Years On, In R. Holmberg et. al., Editors, Proceedings of the 3 rd World ...1992 P. K. Sahoo and T. Riedel, Mean Value Theorems and Functional Equations, World Scientific, 1998 K. A. Sallam, C. Aalburg, G.M. Faeth

BIN1 is reduced and Cav1.2 trafficking is impaired in human failing cardiomyocytes.

PubMed

Hong, Ting-Ting; Smyth, James W; Chu, Kevin Y; Vogan, Jacob M; Fong, Tina S; Jensen, Brian C; Fang, Kun; Halushka, Marc K; Russell, Stuart D; Colecraft, Henry; Hoopes, Charles W; Ocorr, Karen; Chi, Neil C; Shaw, Robin M

2012-05-01

Heart failure is a growing epidemic, and a typical aspect of heart failure pathophysiology is altered calcium transients. Normal cardiac calcium transients are initiated by Cav1.2 channels at cardiac T tubules. Bridging integrator 1 (BIN1) is a membrane scaffolding protein that causes Cav1.2 to traffic to T tubules in healthy hearts. The mechanisms of Cav1.2 trafficking in heart failure are not known. To study BIN1 expression and its effect on Cav1.2 trafficking in failing hearts. Intact myocardium and freshly isolated cardiomyocytes from nonfailing and end-stage failing human hearts were used to study BIN1 expression and Cav1.2 localization. To confirm Cav1.2 surface expression dependence on BIN1, patch-clamp recordings were performed of Cav1.2 current in cell lines with and without trafficking-competent BIN1. Also, in adult mouse cardiomyocytes, surface Cav1.2 and calcium transients were studied after small hairpin RNA-mediated knockdown of BIN1. For a functional readout in intact heart, calcium transients and cardiac contractility were analyzed in a zebrafish model with morpholino-mediated knockdown of BIN1. BIN1 expression is significantly decreased in failing cardiomyocytes at both mRNA (30% down) and protein (36% down) levels. Peripheral Cav1.2 is reduced to 42% by imaging, and a biochemical T-tubule fraction of Cav1.2 is reduced to 68%. The total calcium current is reduced to 41% in a cell line expressing a nontrafficking BIN1 mutant. In mouse cardiomyocytes, BIN1 knockdown decreases surface Cav1.2 and impairs calcium transients. In zebrafish hearts, BIN1 knockdown causes a 75% reduction in calcium transients and severe ventricular contractile dysfunction. The data indicate that BIN1 is significantly reduced in human heart failure, and this reduction impairs Cav1.2 trafficking, calcium transients, and contractility. Copyright © 2012 Heart Rhythm Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

BIN1 is Reduced and Cav1.2 Trafficking is Impaired in Human Failing Cardiomyocytes

PubMed Central

Hong, Ting-Ting; Smyth, James W.; Chu, Kevin Y.; Vogan, Jacob M.; Fong, Tina S.; Jensen, Brian C.; Fang, Kun; Halushka, Marc K.; Russell, Stuart D.; Colecraft, Henry; Hoopes, Charles W.; Ocorr, Karen; Chi, Neil C.; Shaw, Robin M.

2011-01-01

Background Heart failure is a growing epidemic and a typical aspect of heart failure pathophysiology is altered calcium transients. Normal cardiac calcium transients are initiated by Cav1.2 channels at cardiac T-tubules. BIN1 is a membrane scaffolding protein that causes Cav1.2 to traffic to T-tubules in healthy hearts. The mechanisms of Cav1.2 trafficking in heart failure are not known. Objective To study BIN1 expression and its effect on Cav1.2 trafficking in failing hearts. Methods Intact myocardium and freshly isolated cardiomyocytes from non-failing and end-stage failing human hearts were used to study BIN1 expression and Cav1.2 localization. To confirm Cav1.2 surface expression dependence on BIN1, patch clamp recordings were performed of Cav1.2 current in cell lines with and without trafficking competent BIN1. Also, in adult mouse cardiomyocytes, surface Cav1.2 and calcium transients were studied after shRNA mediated knockdown of BIN1. For a functional readout in intact heart, calcium transients and cardiac contractility were analyzed in a zebrafish model with morpholino mediated knockdown of BIN1. Results BIN1 expression is significantly decreased in failing cardiomyocytes at both mRNA (30% down) and protein (36% down) levels. Peripheral Cav1.2 is reduced 42% by imaging and biochemical T-tubule fraction of Cav1.2 is reduced 68%. Total calcium current is reduced 41% in a cell line expressing non-trafficking BIN1 mutant. In mouse cardiomyocytes, BIN1 knockdown decreases surface Cav1.2 and impairs calcium transients. In zebrafish hearts, BIN1 knockdown causes a 75% reduction in calcium transients and severe ventricular contractile dysfunction. Conclusions The data indicate that BIN1 is significantly reduced in human heart failure, and this reduction impairs Cav1.2 trafficking, calcium transients, and contractility. PMID:22138472

Effect of different packaging methods and storage temperature on microbiological and physicochemical quality characteristics of meatball.

PubMed

Yilmaz, I; Demirci, M

2010-06-01

The objective of this research was to determine physicochemical changes and microbiological quality of the different packaged meatball samples. Meatball samples in polystyrene tray were closed with polyethylene film (PS packs), vacuumed and modified atmosphere packaged, (MAP) (65% N(2), 35% CO(2)), and held under refrigerated display (4 °C) for 8, 16 and 16 days for PS packs, vacuum and MAP, respectively. Microbial load, free fatty acids and thiobarbituric acid values of the samples tended to increase with storage time. Bacteria counts of the raw meatball samples increased 2 log cycles at the end of storage compared with initial values. Meatball samples can be stored without any microbiological problem for 7 days at 4 °C. Results from this study suggested that shelf-life assigned to modified-MAP and vacuum-packed meatballs may be appropriate. Meatball samples underwent physical deformation when they were packed before vacuum process. With these negative factors considered, MAP is superior to other two packs methods.

An Amino Acid Code to Define a Protein’s Tertiary Packing Surface

PubMed Central

Fraga, Keith J.; Joo, Hyun; Tsai, Jerry

2015-01-01

One difficult aspect of the protein-folding problem is characterizing the non-specific interactions that define packing in protein tertiary structure. To better understand tertiary structure, this work extends the knob-socket model by classifying the interactions of a single knob residue packed into a set of contiguous sockets, or a pocket made up of 4 or more residues. The knob-socket construct allows for a symbolic two-dimensional mapping of pockets. The two-dimensional mapping of pockets provides a simple method to investigate the variety of pocket shapes in order to understand the geometry of protein tertiary surfaces. The diversity of pocket geometries can be organized into groups of pockets that share a common core, which suggests that some interactions in pockets are ancillary to packing. Further analysis of pocket geometries displays a preferred configuration that is right-handed in α-helices and left-handed in β-sheets. The amino acid composition of pockets illustrates the importance of non-polar amino acids in packing as well as position specificity. As expected, all pocket shapes prefer to pack with hydrophobic knobs; however, knobs are not selective for the pockets they pack. Investigating side-chain rotamer preferences for certain pocket shapes uncovers no strong correlations. These findings allow a simple vocabulary based on knobs and sockets to describe protein tertiary packing that supports improved analysis, design and prediction of protein structure. PMID:26575337

Parallelization of Catalytic Packed-Bed Microchannels with Pressure-Drop Microstructures for Gas-Liquid Multiphase Reactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murakami, Sunao; Ohtaki, Kenichiro; Matsumoto, Sohei; Inoue, Tomoya

2012-06-01

High-throughput and stable treatments are required to achieve the practical production of chemicals with microreactors. However, the flow maldistribution to the paralleled microchannels has been a critical problem in achieving the productive use of multichannel microreactors for multiphase flow conditions. In this study, we newly designed and fabricated a glass four-channel catalytic packed-bed microreactor for the scale-up of gas-liquid multiphase chemical reactions. We embedded microstructures generating high pressure losses at the upstream side of each packed bed, and experimentally confirmed the efficacy of the microstructures in decreasing the maldistribution of the gas-liquid flow to the parallel microchannels.

15. NORTH ELEVATION OF UPPER ORE BIN, CHUTE, AND JAW ...

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

15. NORTH ELEVATION OF UPPER ORE BIN, CHUTE, AND JAW CRUSHER, LOOKING SOUTH FROM END OF CONVEYOR PLATFORM. NOTICE THE THREE ORE BIN CONTROL DOORS, CORRESPONDING TO SEPARATE COMPARTMENTS OF THE BIN. - Skidoo Mine, Park Route 38 (Skidoo Road), Death Valley Junction, Inyo County, CA

BusyBee Web: metagenomic data analysis by bootstrapped supervised binning and annotation

PubMed Central

Kiefer, Christina; Fehlmann, Tobias; Backes, Christina

2017-01-01

Abstract Metagenomics-based studies of mixed microbial communities are impacting biotechnology, life sciences and medicine. Computational binning of metagenomic data is a powerful approach for the culture-independent recovery of population-resolved genomic sequences, i.e. from individual or closely related, constituent microorganisms. Existing binning solutions often require a priori characterized reference genomes and/or dedicated compute resources. Extending currently available reference-independent binning tools, we developed the BusyBee Web server for the automated deconvolution of metagenomic data into population-level genomic bins using assembled contigs (Illumina) or long reads (Pacific Biosciences, Oxford Nanopore Technologies). A reversible compression step as well as bootstrapped supervised binning enable quick turnaround times. The binning results are represented in interactive 2D scatterplots. Moreover, bin quality estimates, taxonomic annotations and annotations of antibiotic resistance genes are computed and visualized. Ground truth-based benchmarks of BusyBee Web demonstrate comparably high performance to state-of-the-art binning solutions for assembled contigs and markedly improved performance for long reads (median F1 scores: 70.02–95.21%). Furthermore, the applicability to real-world metagenomic datasets is shown. In conclusion, our reference-independent approach automatically bins assembled contigs or long reads, exhibits high sensitivity and precision, enables intuitive inspection of the results, and only requires FASTA-formatted input. The web-based application is freely accessible at: https://ccb-microbe.cs.uni-saarland.de/busybee. PMID:28472498

A fresh look at the wolf-pack theory of companion-animal dog social behavior.

PubMed

van Kerkhove, Wendy

2004-01-01

A popular perspective on the social behavior of dogs in multiple-dog households sees the dogs' behavior as reflecting the sociobiological laws of the rigidly structured dominance hierarchy that has been described for wolf packs. This view suggests that aggression problems among dogs are natural expressions of conflict that arise whenever dominance status is in contention. One recommended solution has been for the owner to endorse and enforce a particular dominance hierarchy because, on the wolf pack model, aggression is minimized when the structure of the hierarchy is clear, strong, and stable. This article questions the validity of this perspective on 2 principal grounds. First, because it does not seem to occur in the wild, this article suggests the strong dominance hierarchy that has been described for wolves may be a by-product of captivity. If true, it implies that social behavior--even in wolves--may be a product more of environmental circumstances and contingencies than an instinctive directive. Second, because feral dogs do not exhibit the classic wolf-pack structure, the validity of the canid, social dominance hierarchy again comes into question. This article suggests that behavioral learning theory offers another perspective regarding the behavior of dogs and wolves in the wild or in captivity and offers an effective intervention for aggression problems.

Radar image interpretation techniques applied to sea ice geophysical problems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carsey, F. D.

1983-01-01

The geophysical science problems in the sea ice area which at present concern understanding the ice budget, where ice is formed, how thick it grows and where it melts, and the processes which control the interaction of air-sea and ice at the ice margins is discussed. The science problems relate to basic questions of sea ice: how much is there, thickness, drift rate, production rate, determination of the morphology of the ice margin, storms feeling for the ice, storms and influence at the margin to alter the pack, and ocean response to a storm at the margin. Some of these questions are descriptive and some require complex modeling of interactions between the ice, the ocean, the atmosphere and the radiation fields. All involve measurements of the character of the ice pack, and SAR plays a significant role in the measurements.

Improving operating room efficiency by applying bin-packing and portfolio techniques to surgical case scheduling.

PubMed

Van Houdenhoven, Mark; van Oostrum, Jeroen M; Hans, Erwin W; Wullink, Gerhard; Kazemier, Geert

2007-09-01

An operating room (OR) department has adopted an efficient business model and subsequently investigated how efficiency could be further improved. The aim of this study is to show the efficiency improvement of lowering organizational barriers and applying advanced mathematical techniques. We applied advanced mathematical algorithms in combination with scenarios that model relaxation of various organizational barriers using prospectively collected data. The setting is the main inpatient OR department of a university hospital, which sets its surgical case schedules 2 wk in advance using a block planning method. The main outcome measures are the number of freed OR blocks and OR utilization. Lowering organizational barriers and applying mathematical algorithms can yield a 4.5% point increase in OR utilization (95% confidence interval 4.0%-5.0%). This is obtained by reducing the total required OR time. Efficient OR departments can further improve their efficiency. The paper shows that a radical cultural change that comprises the use of mathematical algorithms and lowering organizational barriers improves OR utilization.

30 CFR 57.16002 - Bins, hoppers, silos, tanks, and surge piles.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Bins, hoppers, silos, tanks, and surge piles... NONMETAL MINES Materials Storage and Handling § 57.16002 Bins, hoppers, silos, tanks, and surge piles. (a) Bins, hoppers, silos, tanks, and surge piles, where loose unconsolidated materials are stored, handled...

30 CFR 56.16002 - Bins, hoppers, silos, tanks, and surge piles.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Bins, hoppers, silos, tanks, and surge piles... MINES Materials Storage and Handling § 56.16002 Bins, hoppers, silos, tanks, and surge piles. (a) Bins, hoppers, silos, tanks, and surge piles, where loose unconsolidated materials are stored, handled or...

19. VIEW OF CRUDE ORE BINS FROM EAST. EAST CRUDE ...

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

19. VIEW OF CRUDE ORE BINS FROM EAST. EAST CRUDE ORE BIN IN FOREGROUND WITH DISCHARGE TO GRIZZLY AT BOTTOM OF VIEW. CONCRETE RETAINING WALL TO LEFT (SOUTH) AND BOTTOM (EAST EDGE OF EAST BIN). - Bald Mountain Gold Mill, Nevada Gulch at head of False Bottom Creek, Lead, Lawrence County, SD

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Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and communication technologies for solid waste bin and truck monitoring system.

PubMed

Hannan, M A; Arebey, Maher; Begum, R A; Basri, Hassan

2011-12-01

This paper deals with a system of integration of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and communication technologies for solid waste bin and truck monitoring system. RFID, GPS, GPRS and GIS along with camera technologies have been integrated and developed the bin and truck intelligent monitoring system. A new kind of integrated theoretical framework, hardware architecture and interface algorithm has been introduced between the technologies for the successful implementation of the proposed system. In this system, bin and truck database have been developed such a way that the information of bin and truck ID, date and time of waste collection, bin status, amount of waste and bin and truck GPS coordinates etc. are complied and stored for monitoring and management activities. The results showed that the real-time image processing, histogram analysis, waste estimation and other bin information have been displayed in the GUI of the monitoring system. The real-time test and experimental results showed that the performance of the developed system was stable and satisfied the monitoring system with high practicability and validity. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A real-time insulation detection method for battery packs used in electric vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tian, Jiaqiang; Wang, Yujie; Yang, Duo; Zhang, Xu; Chen, Zonghai

2018-05-01

Due to the energy crisis and environmental pollution, electric vehicles have become more and more popular. Compared to traditional fuel vehicles, the electric vehicles are integrated with more high-voltage components, which have potential security risks of insulation. The insulation resistance between the chassis and the direct current bus of the battery pack is easily affected by factors such as temperature, humidity and vibration. In order to ensure the safe and reliable operation of the electric vehicles, it is necessary to detect the insulation resistance of the battery pack. This paper proposes an insulation detection scheme based on low-frequency signal injection method. Considering the insulation detector which can be easily affected by noises, the algorithm based on Kalman filter is proposed. Moreover, the battery pack is always in the states of charging and discharging during driving, which will lead to frequent changes in the voltage of the battery pack and affect the estimation accuracy of insulation detector. Therefore the recursive least squares algorithm is adopted to solve the problem that the detection results of insulation detector mutate with the voltage of the battery pack. The performance of the proposed method is verified by dynamic and static experiments.

MBMC: An Effective Markov Chain Approach for Binning Metagenomic Reads from Environmental Shotgun Sequencing Projects.

PubMed

Wang, Ying; Hu, Haiyan; Li, Xiaoman

2016-08-01

Metagenomics is a next-generation omics field currently impacting postgenomic life sciences and medicine. Binning metagenomic reads is essential for the understanding of microbial function, compositions, and interactions in given environments. Despite the existence of dozens of computational methods for metagenomic read binning, it is still very challenging to bin reads. This is especially true for reads from unknown species, from species with similar abundance, and/or from low-abundance species in environmental samples. In this study, we developed a novel taxonomy-dependent and alignment-free approach called MBMC (Metagenomic Binning by Markov Chains). Different from all existing methods, MBMC bins reads by measuring the similarity of reads to the trained Markov chains for different taxa instead of directly comparing reads with known genomic sequences. By testing on more than 24 simulated and experimental datasets with species of similar abundance, species of low abundance, and/or unknown species, we report here that MBMC reliably grouped reads from different species into separate bins. Compared with four existing approaches, we demonstrated that the performance of MBMC was comparable with existing approaches when binning reads from sequenced species, and superior to existing approaches when binning reads from unknown species. MBMC is a pivotal tool for binning metagenomic reads in the current era of Big Data and postgenomic integrative biology. The MBMC software can be freely downloaded at http://hulab.ucf.edu/research/projects/metagenomics/MBMC.html .

Bin-Hash Indexing: A Parallel Method for Fast Query Processing

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

Bethel, Edward W; Gosink, Luke J.; Wu, Kesheng

2008-06-27

This paper presents a new parallel indexing data structure for answering queries. The index, called Bin-Hash, offers extremely high levels of concurrency, and is therefore well-suited for the emerging commodity of parallel processors, such as multi-cores, cell processors, and general purpose graphics processing units (GPU). The Bin-Hash approach first bins the base data, and then partitions and separately stores the values in each bin as a perfect spatial hash table. To answer a query, we first determine whether or not a record satisfies the query conditions based on the bin boundaries. For the bins with records that can not bemore » resolved, we examine the spatial hash tables. The procedures for examining the bin numbers and the spatial hash tables offer the maximum possible level of concurrency; all records are able to be evaluated by our procedure independently in parallel. Additionally, our Bin-Hash procedures access much smaller amounts of data than similar parallel methods, such as the projection index. This smaller data footprint is critical for certain parallel processors, like GPUs, where memory resources are limited. To demonstrate the effectiveness of Bin-Hash, we implement it on a GPU using the data-parallel programming language CUDA. The concurrency offered by the Bin-Hash index allows us to fully utilize the GPU's massive parallelism in our work; over 12,000 records can be simultaneously evaluated at any one time. We show that our new query processing method is an order of magnitude faster than current state-of-the-art CPU-based indexing technologies. Additionally, we compare our performance to existing GPU-based projection index strategies.« less

SU-F-J-135: Tumor Displacement-Based Binning for Respiratory-Gated Time-Independent 5DCT Treatment Planning

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

Yang, L; O’Connell, D; Lee, P

2016-06-15

Purpose: A published 5DCT breathing motion model enables image reconstruction at any user-selected breathing phase, defined by the model as a specific amplitude (v) and rate (f). Generation of reconstructed phase-specific CT scans will be required for time-independent radiation dose distribution simulations. This work answers the question: how many amplitude and rate bins are required to describe the tumor motion with a specific spatial resolution? Methods: 19 lung-cancer patients with 21 tumors were scanned using a free-breathing 5DCT protocol, employing an abdominally positioned pneumatic-bellows breathing surrogate and yielding voxel-specific motion model parameters α and β corresponding to motion as amore » function of amplitude and rate, respectively. Tumor GTVs were contoured on the first (reference) of 25 successive free-breathing fast helical CT image sets. The tumor displacements were binned into widths of 1mm to 5mm in 1mm steps and the total required number of bins recorded. The simulation evaluated the number of bins needed to encompass 100% of the breathing-amplitude and between the 5th and 95th percentile amplitudes to exclude breathing outliers. Results: The mean respiration-induced tumor motion was 9.90mm ± 7.86mm with a maximum of 25mm. The number of bins required was a strong function of the spatial resolution and varied widely between patients. For example, for 2mm bins, between 1–13 amplitude bins and 1–9 rate bins were required to encompass 100% of the breathing amplitude, while 1–6 amplitude bins and 1–3 rate bins were required to encompass 90% of the breathing amplitude. Conclusion: The strong relationship between number of bins and spatial resolution as well as the large variation between patients implies that time-independent radiation dose distribution simulations should be conducted using patient-specific data and that the breathing conditions will have to be carefully considered. This work will lead to the assessment of the dosimetric impact of binning resolution. This study is supported by Siemens Healthcare.« less

Data-driven optimal binning for respiratory motion management in PET.

PubMed

Kesner, Adam L; Meier, Joseph G; Burckhardt, Darrell D; Schwartz, Jazmin; Lynch, David A

2018-01-01

Respiratory gating has been used in PET imaging to reduce the amount of image blurring caused by patient motion. Optimal binning is an approach for using the motion-characterized data by binning it into a single, easy to understand/use, optimal bin. To date, optimal binning protocols have utilized externally driven motion characterization strategies that have been tuned with population-derived assumptions and parameters. In this work, we are proposing a new strategy with which to characterize motion directly from a patient's gated scan, and use that signal to create a patient/instance-specific optimal bin image. Two hundred and nineteen phase-gated FDG PET scans, acquired using data-driven gating as described previously, were used as the input for this study. For each scan, a phase-amplitude motion characterization was generated and normalized using principle component analysis. A patient-specific "optimal bin" window was derived using this characterization, via methods that mirror traditional optimal window binning strategies. The resulting optimal bin images were validated by correlating quantitative and qualitative measurements in the population of PET scans. In 53% (n = 115) of the image population, the optimal bin was determined to include 100% of the image statistics. In the remaining images, the optimal binning windows averaged 60% of the statistics and ranged between 20% and 90%. Tuning the algorithm, through a single acceptance window parameter, allowed for adjustments of the algorithm's performance in the population toward conservation of motion or reduced noise-enabling users to incorporate their definition of optimal. In the population of images that were deemed appropriate for segregation, average lesion SUV max were 7.9, 8.5, and 9.0 for nongated images, optimal bin, and gated images, respectively. The Pearson correlation of FWHM measurements between optimal bin images and gated images were better than with nongated images, 0.89 and 0.85, respectively. Generally, optimal bin images had better resolution than the nongated images and better noise characteristics than the gated images. We extended the concept of optimal binning to a data-driven form, updating a traditionally one-size-fits-all approach to a conformal one that supports adaptive imaging. This automated strategy was implemented easily within a large population and encapsulated motion information in an easy to use 3D image. Its simplicity and practicality may make this, or similar approaches ideal for use in clinical settings. © 2017 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

14 CFR 125.183 - Carriage of cargo in passenger compartments.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... emergency landing conditions applicable to the passenger seats of the airplane in which the bin is installed... bin. (3) The bin may not impose any load on the floor or other structure of the airplane that exceeds the load limitations of that structure. (4) The bin must be attached to the seat tracks or to the...

18. VIEW OF CRUDE ORE BINS FROM WEST. WEST CRUDE ...

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

18. VIEW OF CRUDE ORE BINS FROM WEST. WEST CRUDE ORE BIN AND TRESTLE FROM TWO JOHNS TRAMLINE TO SOUTH, CRUDE ORE BIN IN FOREGROUND. MACHINE SHOP IN BACKGROUND. THE TRAM TO PORTLAND PASSED TO NORTH OF MACHINE SHOP. - Bald Mountain Gold Mill, Nevada Gulch at head of False Bottom Creek, Lead, Lawrence County, SD

4. TROJAN MILL, DETAIL OF CRUDE ORE BINS FROM NORTH, ...

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

4. TROJAN MILL, DETAIL OF CRUDE ORE BINS FROM NORTH, c. 1912. SHOWS TIMBER FRAMING UNDER CONSTRUCTION FOR EAST AND WEST CRUDE ORE BINS AT PREVIOUS LOCATION OF CRUSHER HOUSE, AND SNOW SHED PRESENT OVER SOUTH CRUDE ORE BIN WITH PHASE CHANGE IN SNOW SHED CONSTRUCTION INDICATED AT EAST END OF EAST CRUDE ORE BIN. THIS PHOTOGRAPH IS THE FIRST IMAGE OF THE MACHINE SHOP, UPPER LEFT CORNER. CREDIT JW. - Bald Mountain Gold Mill, Nevada Gulch at head of False Bottom Creek, Lead, Lawrence County, SD

Longitudinal dispersion coefficient depending on superficial velocity of hydrogen isotopes flowing in column packed with zeolite pellets at 77.4 K

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

Kotoh, K.; Graduate School of Engineering, Kyushu University, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka; Kubo, K.

2015-03-15

Authors have been developing a cryogenic pressure swing adsorption system for hydrogen isotope separation. In the problem of its design and operation, it is necessary to predict the concentration profiles developing in packed beds of adsorbent pellets. The profiling is affected by the longitudinal dispersion of gas flowing in packed beds, in addition to the mass transfer resistance in porous media of adsorbent pellets. In this work, an equation is derived for estimating the packed-bed dispersion coefficient of hydrogen isotopes, by analyzing the breakthrough curves of trace D{sub 2} or HD replacing H{sub 2} adsorbed in synthetic zeolite particles packedmore » columns at the liquefied nitrogen temperature 77.4 K. Since specialized for hydrogen isotopes, this equation can be considered to estimate the dispersion coefficients more reliable for the cryogenic hydrogen isotope adsorption process, than the existing equations. (authors)« less

Partitioning and packing mathematical simulation models for calculation on parallel computers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arpasi, D. J.; Milner, E. J.

1986-01-01

The development of multiprocessor simulations from a serial set of ordinary differential equations describing a physical system is described. Degrees of parallelism (i.e., coupling between the equations) and their impact on parallel processing are discussed. The problem of identifying computational parallelism within sets of closely coupled equations that require the exchange of current values of variables is described. A technique is presented for identifying this parallelism and for partitioning the equations for parallel solution on a multiprocessor. An algorithm which packs the equations into a minimum number of processors is also described. The results of the packing algorithm when applied to a turbojet engine model are presented in terms of processor utilization.

The Shad-Fack Transom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crannell, Annalisa

2011-01-01

We provide several constructions, both algebraic and geometric, for determining the ratio of the radii of two circles in an Apollonius-like packing problem. This problem was inspired by the art deco design in the transom window above the Shadek Fackenthal Library door on the Franklin & Marshall College campus.

BinSanity: unsupervised clustering of environmental microbial assemblies using coverage and affinity propagation

PubMed Central

Heidelberg, John F.; Tully, Benjamin J.

2017-01-01

Metagenomics has become an integral part of defining microbial diversity in various environments. Many ecosystems have characteristically low biomass and few cultured representatives. Linking potential metabolisms to phylogeny in environmental microorganisms is important for interpreting microbial community functions and the impacts these communities have on geochemical cycles. However, with metagenomic studies there is the computational hurdle of ‘binning’ contigs into phylogenetically related units or putative genomes. Binning methods have been implemented with varying approaches such as k-means clustering, Gaussian mixture models, hierarchical clustering, neural networks, and two-way clustering; however, many of these suffer from biases against low coverage/abundance organisms and closely related taxa/strains. We are introducing a new binning method, BinSanity, that utilizes the clustering algorithm affinity propagation (AP), to cluster assemblies using coverage with compositional based refinement (tetranucleotide frequency and percent GC content) to optimize bins containing multiple source organisms. This separation of composition and coverage based clustering reduces bias for closely related taxa. BinSanity was developed and tested on artificial metagenomes varying in size and complexity. Results indicate that BinSanity has a higher precision, recall, and Adjusted Rand Index compared to five commonly implemented methods. When tested on a previously published environmental metagenome, BinSanity generated high completion and low redundancy bins corresponding with the published metagenome-assembled genomes. PMID:28289564

9. 5TH FLOOR, INTERIOR DETAIL TO EAST OF SOAP BIN ...

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

9. 5TH FLOOR, INTERIOR DETAIL TO EAST OF SOAP BIN No. 4: UPPER SCREWS MOVED SOAP CHIPS HORIZONTALLY FROM BIN TO BIN; LOWER LEFT-AND RIGHT-HAND SCREWS MOVED CHIPS TO CHUTE LEADING TO 3RD FLOOR SOAP MILLS - Colgate & Company Jersey City Plant, Building No. B-14, 54-58 Grand Street, Jersey City, Hudson County, NJ

13. OBLIQUE VIEW OF UPPER ORE BIN, LOOKING WEST NORTHWEST. ...

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

13. OBLIQUE VIEW OF UPPER ORE BIN, LOOKING WEST NORTHWEST. THIS ORE BIN WAS ADDED IN THE LATE 1930'S. IT IS TRAPAZOIDAL IN SHAPE, WIDER AT THE REAR THAN THE FRONT, AND DIVIDED INTO THREE BINS, EACH WITH ITS OWN CONTROL DOOR (SEE CA-290-15). - Skidoo Mine, Park Route 38 (Skidoo Road), Death Valley Junction, Inyo County, CA

3. EAGLE MILL, DETAIL OF CRUDE ORE BIN FROM NORTH, ...

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

3. EAGLE MILL, DETAIL OF CRUDE ORE BIN FROM NORTH, c. 1908-10. SHOWS EXPOSED CRUSHER HOUSE IN FRONT OF (SOUTH) CRUDE ORE BIN AND SNOW SHED ADDED OVER TRAM TRACKS. NOTE LACK OF EAST OR WEST CRUDE ORE BINS. CREDIT JW. - Bald Mountain Gold Mill, Nevada Gulch at head of False Bottom Creek, Lead, Lawrence County, SD

Loss of Bin1 Promotes the Propagation of Tau Pathology.

PubMed

Calafate, Sara; Flavin, William; Verstreken, Patrik; Moechars, Diederik

2016-10-18

Tau pathology propagates within synaptically connected neuronal circuits, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. BIN1-amphiphysin2 is the second most prevalent genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer's disease. In diseased brains, the BIN1-amphiphysin2 neuronal isoform is downregulated. Here, we show that lowering BIN1-amphiphysin2 levels in neurons promotes Tau pathology propagation whereas overexpression of neuronal BIN1-amphiphysin2 inhibits the process in two in vitro models. Increased Tau propagation is caused by increased endocytosis, given our finding that BIN1-amphiphysin2 negatively regulates endocytic flux. Furthermore, blocking endocytosis by inhibiting dynamin also reduces Tau pathology propagation. Using a galectin-3-binding assay, we show that internalized Tau aggregates damage the endosomal membrane, allowing internalized aggregates to leak into the cytoplasm to propagate pathology. Our work indicates that lower BIN1 levels promote the propagation of Tau pathology by efficiently increasing aggregate internalization by endocytosis and endosomal trafficking. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Mosquito larvicide BinAB revealed by de novo phasing with an X-ray laser

PubMed Central

Colletier, Jacques-Philippe; Sawaya, Michael R.; Gingery, Mari; Rodriguez, Jose A.; Cascio, Duilio; Brewster, Aaron S.; Michels-Clark, Tara; Hice, Robert H.; Coquelle, Nicolas; Boutet, Sébastien; Williams, Garth J.; Messerschmidt, Marc; DePonte, Daniel P.; Sierra, Raymond G.; Laksmono, Hartawan; Koglin, Jason E.; Hunter, Mark S.; Park, Hyun-Woo; Uervirojnangkoorn, Monarin; Bideshi, Dennis K.; Brunger, Axel T.; Federici, Brian A.; Sauter, Nicholas K.; Eisenberg, David S.

2016-01-01

Summary BinAB is a naturally occurring paracrystalline larvicide distributed worldwide to combat the devastating diseases borne by mosquitoes. These crystals are composed of homologous molecules, BinA and BinB, which play distinct roles in the multi-step intoxication process, transforming from harmless, robust crystals, to soluble protoxin heterodimers, to internalized mature toxin, and finally toxic oligomeric pores. The small size of the crystals, 50 unit cells per edge, on average, has impeded structural characterization by conventional means. Here, we report the structure of BinAB solved de novo by serial-femtosecond crystallography at an X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL). The structure reveals tyrosine and carboxylate-mediated contacts acting as pH switches to release soluble protoxin in the alkaline larval midgut. An enormous heterodimeric interface appears responsible for anchoring BinA to receptor-bound BinB for co-internalization. Remarkably, this interface is largely composed of propeptides, suggesting that proteolytic maturation would trigger dissociation of the heterodimer and progression to pore formation. PMID:27680699

On the Mathematical Consequences of Binning Spike Trains.

PubMed

Cessac, Bruno; Le Ny, Arnaud; Löcherbach, Eva

2017-01-01

We initiate a mathematical analysis of hidden effects induced by binning spike trains of neurons. Assuming that the original spike train has been generated by a discrete Markov process, we show that binning generates a stochastic process that is no longer Markov but is instead a variable-length Markov chain (VLMC) with unbounded memory. We also show that the law of the binned raster is a Gibbs measure in the DLR (Dobrushin-Lanford-Ruelle) sense coined in mathematical statistical mechanics. This allows the derivation of several important consequences on statistical properties of binned spike trains. In particular, we introduce the DLR framework as a natural setting to mathematically formalize anticipation, that is, to tell "how good" our nervous system is at making predictions. In a probabilistic sense, this corresponds to condition a process by its future, and we discuss how binning may affect our conclusions on this ability. We finally comment on the possible consequences of binning in the detection of spurious phase transitions or in the detection of incorrect evidence of criticality.

Ellipsoids beat Spheres: Experiments with Candies, Colloids and Crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chaikin, Paul

2006-04-01

How many gumballs fit in the glass sphere of a gumball machine? Scientists have been puzzling over problems like this since the Ancient Greeks. Yet it was only recently proven that the standard way of stacking oranges at a grocery store--with one orange on top of each set of three below--is the densist packing for spheres, with a packing fraction φ˜ 0.74. Random (amorphous) packings of spheres have a lower density, with φ ˜0.64. The density of crystalline and random packings of atoms is intimately related to the melting transition in matter. We have studied the crystal-liquid transition in spherical colloidal systems on earth and in microgravity. The simplest objects to study after spheres are squashed spheres -- ellipsoids. Surprisingly we find that ellipsoids can randomly pack more densely than spheres, up to φ˜0.68 - 0.71 for a shape close to that of M&M's^ Candies, and even approach φ˜0.75 for general ellipsoids. The higher density relates directly to the higher number of neighbors needed to prevent the more asymetric ellipsoid from rotating. We have also found the ellipsoids can be packed in a crystalline array to a density, φ˜.7707 which exceeds the highest previous packing. Our findings provide insights into granular materials, rigidity, crystals and glasses, and they may lead to higher quality ceramic materials.

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A Linear Kernel for Co-Path/Cycle Packing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Zhi-Zhong; Fellows, Michael; Fu, Bin; Jiang, Haitao; Liu, Yang; Wang, Lusheng; Zhu, Binhai

Bounded-Degree Vertex Deletion is a fundamental problem in graph theory that has new applications in computational biology. In this paper, we address a special case of Bounded-Degree Vertex Deletion, the Co-Path/Cycle Packing problem, which asks to delete as few vertices as possible such that the graph of the remaining (residual) vertices is composed of disjoint paths and simple cycles. The problem falls into the well-known class of 'node-deletion problems with hereditary properties', is hence NP-complete and unlikely to admit a polynomial time approximation algorithm with approximation factor smaller than 2. In the framework of parameterized complexity, we present a kernelization algorithm that produces a kernel with at most 37k vertices, improving on the super-linear kernel of Fellows et al.'s general theorem for Bounded-Degree Vertex Deletion. Using this kernel,and the method of bounded search trees, we devise an FPT algorithm that runs in time O *(3.24 k ). On the negative side, we show that the problem is APX-hard and unlikely to have a kernel smaller than 2k by a reduction from Vertex Cover.

Dense crystalline packings of ellipsoids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jin, Weiwei; Jiao, Yang; Liu, Lufeng; Yuan, Ye; Li, Shuixiang

2017-03-01

An ellipsoid, the simplest nonspherical shape, has been extensively used as a model for elongated building blocks for a wide spectrum of molecular, colloidal, and granular systems. Yet the densest packing of congruent hard ellipsoids, which is intimately related to the high-density phase of many condensed matter systems, is still an open problem. We discover an unusual family of dense crystalline packings of self-dual ellipsoids (ratios of the semiaxes α : √{α }:1 ), containing 24 particles with a quasi-square-triangular (SQ-TR) tiling arrangement in the fundamental cell. The associated packing density ϕ exceeds that of the densest known SM2 crystal [ A. Donev et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 255506 (2004), 10.1103/PhysRevLett.92.255506] for aspect ratios α in (1.365, 1.5625), attaining a maximal ϕ ≈0.758 06 ... at α = 93 /64 . We show that the SQ-TR phase derived from these dense packings is thermodynamically stable at high densities over the aforementioned α range and report a phase diagram for self-dual ellipsoids. The discovery of the SQ-TR crystal suggests organizing principles for nonspherical particles and self-assembly of colloidal systems.

7. TROJAN MILL, EXTERIOR FROM NORTHWEST, c. 191828. ADDITIONS FOR ...

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

7. TROJAN MILL, EXTERIOR FROM NORTHWEST, c. 1918-28. ADDITIONS FOR PRIMARY THICKENERS No. 1 AND No. 2, SECONDARY THICKENERS No. 1, No. 2, AND No. 3, AGITATORS, AIR COMPRESSOR, AND PORTLAND FILTERS ARE SHOWN COMPLETE. STAIR ON NORTH SIDE OF CRUDE ORE BINS IS PRESENT AS IS THE LIME BIN ADJACENT TO THE WEST CRUDE ORE BIN, AND THE SNOW SHED ADDED OVER THE TRAMLINE SERVING THE EAST AND WEST CRUDE ORE BINS. ALSO PRESENT IS THE BABBITT HOUSE AND ROCK BIN. CREDIT JW. - Bald Mountain Gold Mill, Nevada Gulch at head of False Bottom Creek, Lead, Lawrence County, SD

SU-F-T-253: Volumetric Comparison Between 4D CT Amplitude and Phase Binning Mode

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

Yang, G; Ma, R; Reyngold, M

2016-06-15

Purpose: Motion artifact in 4DCT images can affect radiation treatment quality. To identify the most robust and accurate binning method, we compare the volume difference between targets delineated on amplitude and phase binned 4DCT scans. Methods: Varian RPM system and CT scanner were used to acquire 4DCTs of a Quasar phantom with embedded cubic and spherical objects having superior-inferior motion. Eight patients’ respiration waveforms were used to drive the phantom. The 4DCT scan was reconstructed into 10 phase and 10 amplitude bins (2 mm slices). A scan of the static phantom was also acquired. For each waveform, sphere and cubemore » volumes were generated automatically on each phase using HU thresholding. Phase (amplitude) ITVs were the union of object volumes over all phase (amplitude) binned images. The sphere and cube volumes measured in the static phantom scan were V{sub sphere}=4.19cc and V{sub cube}=27.0cc. Volume difference (VD) and dice similarity coefficient (DSC) of the ITVs, and mean volume error (MVE) defined as the average target volume percentage difference between each phase image and the static image, were used to evaluate the performance of amplitude and phase binning. Results: Averaged over the eight breathing traces, the VD and DSC of the internal target volume (ITV) between amplitude and phase binning were 3.4%±3.2% (mean ± std) and 95.9%±2.1% for sphere; 2.1%±3.3% and 98.0% ±1.5% for cube, respectively.For all waveforms, the average sphere MVE of amplitude and phase binning was 6.5% ± 5.0% and 8.2%±6.3%, respectively; and the average cube MVE of amplitude and phase binning was 5.7%±3.5%and 12.9%±8.9%, respectively. Conclusion: ITV volume and spatial overlap as assessed by VD and DSC are similar between amplitude and phase binning. Compared to phase binning, amplitude binning results in lower MVE suggesting it is less susceptible to motion artifact.« less

Surface contamination of hazardous drug pharmacy storage bins and pharmacy distributor shipping containers.

PubMed

Redic, Kimberly A; Fang, Kayleen; Christen, Catherine; Chaffee, Bruce W

2018-03-01

Purpose This study was conducted to determine whether there is contamination on exterior drug packaging using shipping totes from the distributor and carousel storage bins as surrogate markers of external packaging contamination. Methods A two-part study was conducted to measure the presence of 5-fluorouracil, ifosfamide, cyclophosphamide, docetaxel and paclitaxel using surrogate markers for external drug packaging. In Part I, 10 drug distributor shipping totes designated for transport of hazardous drugs provided a snapshot view of contamination from regular use and transit in and out of the pharmacy. An additional two totes designated for transport of non-hazardous drugs served as controls. In Part II, old carousel storage bins (i.e. those in use pre-study) were wiped for snapshot view of hazardous drug contamination on storage bins. New carousel storage bins were then put into use for storage of the five tested drugs and used for routine storage and inventory maintenance activities. Carousel bins were wiped at time intervals 0, 8, 16 and 52 weeks to measure surface contamination. Results Two of the 10 hazardous shipping totes were contaminated. Three of the five-old carousel bins were contaminated with cyclophosphamide. One of the old carousel bins was also contaminated with ifosfamide. There were no detectable levels of hazardous drugs on any of the new storage bins at time 0, 8 or 16 weeks. However, at the Week 52, there was a detectable level of 5-FU present in the 5-FU carousel bin. Conclusions Contamination of the surrogate markers suggests that external packaging for hazardous drugs is contaminated, either during the manufacturing process or during routine chain of custody activities. These results demonstrate that occupational exposure may occur due to contamination from shipping totes and storage bins, and that handling practices including use of personal protective equipment is warranted.

Modeling the Collisional-Plastic Stress Transition for Bin Discharge of Granular Material

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

Pannala, Sreekanth; Daw, C Stuart; FINNEY, Charles E A

2009-01-01

We propose a heuristic model for the transition between collisional and frictional/plastic stresses in the flow of granular material. Our approach is based on a physically motivated, nonlinear blending function that produces a weighted average of the limiting stresses, depending on the local void fraction in the flow field. Previously published stress models are utilized to describe the behavior in the collisional (Lun et al., 1984) and quasi-static limits (Schaeffer, 1987 and Syamlal et al., 1993). Sigmoidal and hyperbolic tangent functions are used to mimic the observed smooth yet rapid transition between the collisional and plastic stress zones. We implementmore » our stress transition model in an opensource multiphase flow solver, MFIX (Multiphase Flow with Interphase eXchanges, www.mfix.org) and demonstrate its application to a standard bin discharge problem. The model s effectiveness is illustrated by comparing computational predictions to the experimentally derived Beverloo correlation. With the correct choice of function parameters, the model predicts bin discharge rates within the error margins of the Beverloo correlation and is more accurate than one of the alternative granular stress models proposed in the literature. Although a second granular stress model in the literature is also reasonably consistent with the Beverloo correlation, we propose that our alternative blending function is likely to be more adaptable to situations with more complex solids properties (e.g., sticky solids).« less

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

Zhang, Yaping; Williams, Brent J.; Goldstein, Allen H.

Here, we present a rapid method for apportioning the sources of atmospheric organic aerosol composition measured by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry methods. Here, we specifically apply this new analysis method to data acquired on a thermal desorption aerosol gas chromatograph (TAG) system. Gas chromatograms are divided by retention time into evenly spaced bins, within which the mass spectra are summed. A previous chromatogram binning method was introduced for the purpose of chromatogram structure deconvolution (e.g., major compound classes) (Zhang et al., 2014). Here we extend the method development for the specific purpose of determining aerosol samples' sources. Chromatogram bins are arrangedmore » into an input data matrix for positive matrix factorization (PMF), where the sample number is the row dimension and the mass-spectra-resolved eluting time intervals (bins) are the column dimension. Then two-dimensional PMF can effectively do three-dimensional factorization on the three-dimensional TAG mass spectra data. The retention time shift of the chromatogram is corrected by applying the median values of the different peaks' shifts. Bin width affects chemical resolution but does not affect PMF retrieval of the sources' time variations for low-factor solutions. A bin width smaller than the maximum retention shift among all samples requires retention time shift correction. A six-factor PMF comparison among aerosol mass spectrometry (AMS), TAG binning, and conventional TAG compound integration methods shows that the TAG binning method performs similarly to the integration method. However, the new binning method incorporates the entirety of the data set and requires significantly less pre-processing of the data than conventional single compound identification and integration. In addition, while a fraction of the most oxygenated aerosol does not elute through an underivatized TAG analysis, the TAG binning method does have the ability to achieve molecular level resolution on other bulk aerosol components commonly observed by the AMS.« less

The retrospective binning method improves the consistency of phase binning in respiratory-gated PET/CT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Didierlaurent, D.; Ribes, S.; Batatia, H.; Jaudet, C.; Dierickx, L. O.; Zerdoud, S.; Brillouet, S.; Caselles, O.; Courbon, F.

2012-12-01

This study assesses the accuracy of prospective phase-gated PET/CT data binning and presents a retrospective data binning method that improves image quality and consistency. Respiratory signals from 17 patients who underwent 4D PET/CT were analysed to evaluate the reproducibility of temporal triggers used for the standard phase-based gating method. Breathing signals were reprocessed to implement retrospective PET data binning. The mean and standard deviation of time lags between automatic triggers provided by the Real-time Position Management (RPM, Varian) gating device and inhalation peaks derived from respiratory curves were computed for each patient. The total number of respiratory cycles available for 4D PET/CT according to the binning mode (prospective versus retrospective) was compared. The maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), biological tumour volume (BTV) and tumour trajectory measures were determined from the PET/CT images of five patients. Compared to retrospective binning (RB), prospective gating approach led to (i) a significant loss in breathing cycles (15%) and (ii) the inconsistency of data binning due to temporal dispersion of triggers (average 396 ms). Consequently, tumour characterization could be impacted. In retrospective mode, SUVmax was up to 27% higher, where no significant difference appeared in BTV. In addition, prospective mode gave an inconsistent spatial location of the tumour throughout the bins. Improved consistency with breathing patterns and greater motion amplitude of the tumour centroid were observed with retrospective mode. The detection of the tumour motion and trajectory was improved also for small temporal dispersion of triggers. This study shows that the binning mode could have a significant impact on 4D PET images. The consistency of triggers with breathing signals should be checked before clinical use of gated PET/CT images, and our RB method improves 4D PET/CT image quantification.

The Ellipticity Filter-A Proposed Solution to the Mixed Event Problem in Nuclear Seismic Discrimination

DTIC Science & Technology

1974-09-07

ellipticity filter. The source waveforms are recreated by an inverse transform of those complex ampli- tudes associated with the same azimuth...terms of the three complex data points and the ellipticity. Having solved the equations for all frequency bins, the inverse transform of...Transform of those complex amplitudes associated with Source 1, yielding the signal a (t). Similarly, take the inverse Transform of all

Hard sphere packings within cylinders.

PubMed

Fu, Lin; Steinhardt, William; Zhao, Hao; Socolar, Joshua E S; Charbonneau, Patrick

2016-03-07

Arrangements of identical hard spheres confined to a cylinder with hard walls have been used to model experimental systems, such as fullerenes in nanotubes and colloidal wire assembly. Finding the densest configurations, called close packings, of hard spheres of diameter σ in a cylinder of diameter D is a purely geometric problem that grows increasingly complex as D/σ increases, and little is thus known about the regime for D > 2.873σ. In this work, we extend the identification of close packings up to D = 4.00σ by adapting Torquato-Jiao's adaptive-shrinking-cell formulation and sequential-linear-programming (SLP) technique. We identify 17 new structures, almost all of them chiral. Beyond D ≈ 2.85σ, most of the structures consist of an outer shell and an inner core that compete for being close packed. In some cases, the shell adopts its own maximum density configuration, and the stacking of core spheres within it is quasiperiodic. In other cases, an interplay between the two components is observed, which may result in simple periodic structures. In yet other cases, the very distinction between the core and shell vanishes, resulting in more exotic packing geometries, including some that are three-dimensional extensions of structures obtained from packing hard disks in a circle.

16. Coke 'fines' bin at Furnace D. After delivery to ...

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

16. Coke 'fines' bin at Furnace D. After delivery to the trestle bins, the coke was screened and the coke 'fines' or breeze, were transported by conveyor to the coke fines bins where it was collected and leaded into dump trucks. The coke fines were then sold for fuel to a sinter plant in Lorain, Ohio. - Central Furnaces, 2650 Broadway, east bank of Cuyahoga River, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, OH

Qatar: Background and U.S. Relations

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-11-04

Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Ziad Al Mahmoud Foreign Minister Khalid Bin Mohammed Al Attiyah Minister of Energy and Industry Mohammed bin Saleh al Sada...about voter franchise extension were resolved.5 The Advisory Council would have oversight authority over the Council of Ministers and would be able...Sunni armed groups in Syria has the potential to have a more lasting impact on the region, but has challenged the traditional Qatari preference for

Toward zero waste events: Reducing contamination in waste streams with volunteer assistance.

PubMed

Zelenika, Ivana; Moreau, Tara; Zhao, Jiaying

2018-06-01

Public festivals and events generate a tremendous amount of waste, especially when they involve food and drink. To reduce contamination across waste streams, we evaluated three types of interventions at a public event. In a randomized control trial, we examined the impact of volunteer staff assistance, bin tops, and sample 3D items with bin tops, on the amount of contamination and the weight of the organics, recyclable containers, paper, and garbage bins at a public event. The event was the annual Apple Festival held at the University of British Columbia, which was attended by around 10,000 visitors. We found that contamination was the lowest in the volunteer staff condition among all conditions. Specifically, volunteer staff reduced contamination by 96.1% on average in the organics bin, 96.9% in the recyclable containers bin, 97.0% in the paper bin, and 84.9% in the garbage bin. Our interventions did not influence the weight of the materials in the bins. This finding highlights the impact of volunteers on reducing contamination in waste streams at events, and provides suggestions and implications for waste management for event organizers to minimize contamination in all waste streams to achieve zero waste goals. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

8. EAST ELEVATION OF SKIDOO MILL AND UPPER ORE BIN, ...

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

8. EAST ELEVATION OF SKIDOO MILL AND UPPER ORE BIN, LOOKING WEST FROM ACCESS ROAD. THE ROADWAY ON THIS LEVEL (CENTER) WAS USED FOR UNLOADING ORE BROUGHT ON BURROWS INTO THE ORE BIN AT THE TOP LEVEL OF THE MILL. THE ORE BIN IN THE UPPER LEFT WAS ADDED LATER WHEN ORE WAS BROUGHT TO THE MILL BY TRUCKS. - Skidoo Mine, Park Route 38 (Skidoo Road), Death Valley Junction, Inyo County, CA

Effect of horizontal pick and place locations on shoulder kinematics.

PubMed

Könemann, R; Bosch, T; Kingma, I; Van Dieën, J H; De Looze, M P

2015-01-01

In this study the effects of horizontal bin locations in an order picking workstation on upper arm elevation, trunk inclination and hand use were investigated. Eight subjects moved (self-paced) light or heavy products (0.2 and 3.0 kg) from a central product bin to an inner or outer order bin (at 60 or 150 cm) on the left or right side of the workstation, while movements were recorded. The outer compared to inner bin location resulted in more upper arm elevation and trunk inclination per work cycle, both in terms of number of peak values and in terms of time integrals of angles (which is a dose measure over time). Considering the peak values and time integrals per minute (instead of per work cycle), these effects are reduced, due to the higher cycle times for outer bins. Hand use (left, right or both) was not affected by order bin locations.

Distribution of hybrid entanglement and hyperentanglement with time-bin for secure quantum channel under noise via weak cross-Kerr nonlinearity.

PubMed

Heo, Jino; Kang, Min-Sung; Hong, Chang-Ho; Yang, Hyung-Jin; Choi, Seong-Gon; Hong, Jong-Phil

2017-08-31

We design schemes to generate and distribute hybrid entanglement and hyperentanglement correlated with degrees of freedom (polarization and time-bin) via weak cross-Kerr nonlinearities (XKNLs) and linear optical devices (including time-bin encoders). In our scheme, the multi-photon gates (which consist of XKNLs, quantum bus [qubus] beams, and photon-number-resolving [PNR] measurement) with time-bin encoders can generate hyperentanglement or hybrid entanglement. And we can also purify the entangled state (polarization) of two photons using only linear optical devices and time-bin encoders under a noisy (bit-flip) channel. Subsequently, through local operations (using a multi-photon gate via XKNLs) and classical communications, it is possible to generate a four-qubit hybrid entangled state (polarization and time-bin). Finally, we discuss how the multi-photon gate using XKNLs, qubus beams, and PNR measurement can be reliably performed under the decoherence effect.

Selection of 3013 Containers for Field Surveillance. Fiscal Year 2016 Update

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

Kelly, Elizabeth J.; Berg, John M.; Cheadle, Jesse

2016-04-19

This update is the eighth in a series of reports that document the binning and sample selection of 3013 containers for the Field Surveillance program as part of the Integrated Surveillance Program. This report documents changes made to both the container binning assignments and the sample selection approach. Binning changes documented in this update are a result of changes to the prompt gamma calibration curves and the reassignment of a small number of Hanford items from the Pressure bin to the Pressure and Corrosion (P&C) bin. Field Surveillance sample selection changes are primarily a result of focusing future destructive examinationsmore » (DEs) on the potential for stress corrosion cracking in higher moisture containers in the P&C bin. The decision to focus the Field Surveillance program on higher moisture items is based on findings from both the Shelf-life testing program and DEs.« less

Menu-Driven Solver Of Linear-Programming Problems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Viterna, L. A.; Ferencz, D.

1992-01-01

Program assists inexperienced user in formulating linear-programming problems. A Linear Program Solver (ALPS) computer program is full-featured LP analysis program. Solves plain linear-programming problems as well as more-complicated mixed-integer and pure-integer programs. Also contains efficient technique for solution of purely binary linear-programming problems. Written entirely in IBM's APL2/PC software, Version 1.01. Packed program contains licensed material, property of IBM (copyright 1988, all rights reserved).

Mapping global biodiversity connections with DNA barcodes: Lepidoptera of Pakistan.

PubMed

Ashfaq, Muhammad; Akhtar, Saleem; Rafi, Muhammad Athar; Mansoor, Shahid; Hebert, Paul D N

2017-01-01

Sequences from the DNA barcode region of the mitochondrial COI gene are an effective tool for specimen identification and for the discovery of new species. The Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) (www.boldsystems.org) currently hosts 4.5 million records from animals which have been assigned to more than 490,000 different Barcode Index Numbers (BINs), which serve as a proxy for species. Because a fourth of these BINs derive from Lepidoptera, BOLD has a strong capability to both identify specimens in this order and to support studies of faunal overlap. DNA barcode sequences were obtained from 4503 moths from 329 sites across Pakistan, specimens that represented 981 BINs from 52 families. Among 379 species with a Linnaean name assignment, all were represented by a single BIN excepting five species that showed a BIN split. Less than half (44%) of the 981 BINs had counterparts in other countries; the remaining BINs were unique to Pakistan. Another 218 BINs of Lepidoptera from Pakistan were coupled with the 981 from this study before being compared with all 116,768 BINs for this order. As expected, faunal overlap was highest with India (21%), Sri Lanka (21%), United Arab Emirates (20%) and with other Asian nations (2.1%), but it was very low with other continents including Africa (0.6%), Europe (1.3%), Australia (0.6%), Oceania (1.0%), North America (0.1%), and South America (0.1%). This study indicates the way in which DNA barcoding facilitates measures of faunal overlap even when taxa have not been assigned to a Linnean species.

Mapping global biodiversity connections with DNA barcodes: Lepidoptera of Pakistan

PubMed Central

Akhtar, Saleem; Rafi, Muhammad Athar; Mansoor, Shahid; Hebert, Paul D. N.

2017-01-01

Sequences from the DNA barcode region of the mitochondrial COI gene are an effective tool for specimen identification and for the discovery of new species. The Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) (www.boldsystems.org) currently hosts 4.5 million records from animals which have been assigned to more than 490,000 different Barcode Index Numbers (BINs), which serve as a proxy for species. Because a fourth of these BINs derive from Lepidoptera, BOLD has a strong capability to both identify specimens in this order and to support studies of faunal overlap. DNA barcode sequences were obtained from 4503 moths from 329 sites across Pakistan, specimens that represented 981 BINs from 52 families. Among 379 species with a Linnaean name assignment, all were represented by a single BIN excepting five species that showed a BIN split. Less than half (44%) of the 981 BINs had counterparts in other countries; the remaining BINs were unique to Pakistan. Another 218 BINs of Lepidoptera from Pakistan were coupled with the 981 from this study before being compared with all 116,768 BINs for this order. As expected, faunal overlap was highest with India (21%), Sri Lanka (21%), United Arab Emirates (20%) and with other Asian nations (2.1%), but it was very low with other continents including Africa (0.6%), Europe (1.3%), Australia (0.6%), Oceania (1.0%), North America (0.1%), and South America (0.1%). This study indicates the way in which DNA barcoding facilitates measures of faunal overlap even when taxa have not been assigned to a Linnean species. PMID:28339501

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Untangling taxonomy: a DNA barcode reference library for Canadian spiders.

PubMed

Blagoev, Gergin A; deWaard, Jeremy R; Ratnasingham, Sujeevan; deWaard, Stephanie L; Lu, Liuqiong; Robertson, James; Telfer, Angela C; Hebert, Paul D N

2016-01-01

Approximately 1460 species of spiders have been reported from Canada, 3% of the global fauna. This study provides a DNA barcode reference library for 1018 of these species based upon the analysis of more than 30,000 specimens. The sequence results show a clear barcode gap in most cases with a mean intraspecific divergence of 0.78% vs. a minimum nearest-neighbour (NN) distance averaging 7.85%. The sequences were assigned to 1359 Barcode index numbers (BINs) with 1344 of these BINs composed of specimens belonging to a single currently recognized species. There was a perfect correspondence between BIN membership and a known species in 795 cases, while another 197 species were assigned to two or more BINs (556 in total). A few other species (26) were involved in BIN merges or in a combination of merges and splits. There was only a weak relationship between the number of specimens analysed for a species and its BIN count. However, three species were clear outliers with their specimens being placed in 11-22 BINs. Although all BIN splits need further study to clarify the taxonomic status of the entities involved, DNA barcodes discriminated 98% of the 1018 species. The present survey conservatively revealed 16 species new to science, 52 species new to Canada and major range extensions for 426 species. However, if most BIN splits detected in this study reflect cryptic taxa, the true species count for Canadian spiders could be 30-50% higher than currently recognized. © 2015 The Authors. Molecular Ecology Resources Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Observational study of the visibility of branded tobacco packaging and smoking at outdoor bars/cafes in Wellington, New Zealand.

PubMed

Martin, Natasha; McHugh, Hugh; Murtagh, Jono; Oliver-Rose, Connor; Panesar, Div; Pengelly, Harriet; Rieper, Scott; Schofield, Henry; Singh, Vidit; Speed, Amanda; Strachan, Rhona; Tapsell, Te Kahui; Trafford, Sara; van Ryn, Stefan; Ward, Ethan; Whiting, Rosie; Wilson-van Duin, Merryn; Wu, Zhou; Purdie, Gordon; van der Deen, Frederieke S; Thomson, George; Pearson, Amber L; Wilson, Nick

2014-10-17

To collect data on tobacco brand visibility on packaging on outdoor tables at bars/cafes in a downtown area, prior to a proposed plain packaging law. The study was conducted in the Central Business District of Wellington City in March 2014. Observational data were systematically collected on tobacco packaging visibility and smoking by patrons at 55 bars/cafes with outdoor tables. A total of 19,189 patrons, 1707 tobacco packs and 1357 active smokers were observed. One tobacco pack was visible per 11.0 patrons and the active smoking prevalence was 7.1% (95%CI: 4.9-9.2%), similar to Australian results (8.3%). Eighty percent of packs were positioned face-up (showing the brand), 8% face-down (showing the large pictorial warning), and 12% in other positions. Pack visibility per patron was significantly greater in areas without child patrons (RR=3.1, p<0.0001). Both smoking and pack visibility tended to increase from noon into the evenings on weekends. Inter-observer reliability for key measures in this study was high (Bland-Altman plots). Tobacco branding on packaging was frequently visible because of the way smokers position their packs. These results highlight the residual problem posed by this form of marketing. The results also provide baseline data for the future evaluation of plain packaging if a proposed law is implemented in New Zealand. Other results warrant further research, particularly the reasons for lower pack visibility and smoking when children were present.

Binning in Gaussian Kernel Regularization

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-04-01

OSU-SVM Matlab package, the SVM trained on 966 bins has a comparable test classification rate as the SVM trained on 27,179 samples, but reduces the...71.40%) on 966 randomly sampled data. Using the OSU-SVM Matlab package, the SVM trained on 966 bins has a comparable test classification rate as the...the OSU-SVM Matlab package, the SVM trained on 966 bins has a comparable test classification rate as the SVM trained on 27,179 samples, and reduces

General Khalid Bin Waleed: Understanding the 7th Century Campaign against Sassanid Persian Empire from the Perspective of Operational Art

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-12-06

ABSTRACT This monograph investigates Khalid Bin Waleed’s seventh century (AD 633-634) campaign against the Sassanid Persian Empire in Mesopotamia to...Khalid Bin Waleed’s seventh century (AD 633-634) campaign against the Sassanid Persian Empire in Mesopotamia to trace the evidence that substantiates...Bin Waleed employed characteristics and elements of operational art to defeat the Persian forces in Mesopotamia . He established operational objectives

SeaWiFS technical report series. Volume 32: Level-3 SeaWiFS data products. Spatial and temporal binning algorithms

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hooker, Stanford B. (Editor); Firestone, Elaine R. (Editor); Acker, James G. (Editor); Campbell, Janet W.; Blaisdell, John M.; Darzi, Michael

1995-01-01

The level-3 data products from the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) are statistical data sets derived from level-2 data. Each data set will be based on a fixed global grid of equal-area bins that are approximately 9 x 9 sq km. Statistics available for each bin include the sum and sum of squares of the natural logarithm of derived level-2 geophysical variables where sums are accumulated over a binning period. Operationally, products with binning periods of 1 day, 8 days, 1 month, and 1 year will be produced and archived. From these accumulated values and for each bin, estimates of the mean, standard deviation, median, and mode may be derived for each geophysical variable. This report contains two major parts: the first (Section 2) is intended as a users' guide for level-3 SeaWiFS data products. It contains an overview of level-0 to level-3 data processing, a discussion of important statistical considerations when using level-3 data, and details of how to use the level-3 data. The second part (Section 3) presents a comparative statistical study of several binning algorithms based on CZCS and moored fluorometer data. The operational binning algorithms were selected based on the results of this study.

Rotary Kiln Gasification of Solid Waste for Base Camps

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-10-02

cup after full day run 3.3 Feedstock Handling System Garbage bags containing waste feedstock are placed into feed bin FB-101. Ram feeder RF-102...Environmental Science and Technology using the Factory Talk SCADA software running on a laptop computer. A wireless Ethernet router that is located within the...pyrolysis oil produced required consistent draining from the system during operation and became a liquid waste disposal problem. A 5-hour test run could

A technique for rapid source apportionment applied to ambient organic aerosol measurements from a thermal desorption aerosol gas chromatograph (TAG)

DOE PAGES

Zhang, Yaping; Williams, Brent J.; Goldstein, Allen H.; ...

2016-11-25

Here, we present a rapid method for apportioning the sources of atmospheric organic aerosol composition measured by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry methods. Here, we specifically apply this new analysis method to data acquired on a thermal desorption aerosol gas chromatograph (TAG) system. Gas chromatograms are divided by retention time into evenly spaced bins, within which the mass spectra are summed. A previous chromatogram binning method was introduced for the purpose of chromatogram structure deconvolution (e.g., major compound classes) (Zhang et al., 2014). Here we extend the method development for the specific purpose of determining aerosol samples' sources. Chromatogram bins are arrangedmore » into an input data matrix for positive matrix factorization (PMF), where the sample number is the row dimension and the mass-spectra-resolved eluting time intervals (bins) are the column dimension. Then two-dimensional PMF can effectively do three-dimensional factorization on the three-dimensional TAG mass spectra data. The retention time shift of the chromatogram is corrected by applying the median values of the different peaks' shifts. Bin width affects chemical resolution but does not affect PMF retrieval of the sources' time variations for low-factor solutions. A bin width smaller than the maximum retention shift among all samples requires retention time shift correction. A six-factor PMF comparison among aerosol mass spectrometry (AMS), TAG binning, and conventional TAG compound integration methods shows that the TAG binning method performs similarly to the integration method. However, the new binning method incorporates the entirety of the data set and requires significantly less pre-processing of the data than conventional single compound identification and integration. In addition, while a fraction of the most oxygenated aerosol does not elute through an underivatized TAG analysis, the TAG binning method does have the ability to achieve molecular level resolution on other bulk aerosol components commonly observed by the AMS.« less

A technique for rapid source apportionment applied to ambient organic aerosol measurements from a thermal desorption aerosol gas chromatograph (TAG)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yaping; Williams, Brent J.; Goldstein, Allen H.; Docherty, Kenneth S.; Jimenez, Jose L.

2016-11-01

We present a rapid method for apportioning the sources of atmospheric organic aerosol composition measured by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry methods. Here, we specifically apply this new analysis method to data acquired on a thermal desorption aerosol gas chromatograph (TAG) system. Gas chromatograms are divided by retention time into evenly spaced bins, within which the mass spectra are summed. A previous chromatogram binning method was introduced for the purpose of chromatogram structure deconvolution (e.g., major compound classes) (Zhang et al., 2014). Here we extend the method development for the specific purpose of determining aerosol samples' sources. Chromatogram bins are arranged into an input data matrix for positive matrix factorization (PMF), where the sample number is the row dimension and the mass-spectra-resolved eluting time intervals (bins) are the column dimension. Then two-dimensional PMF can effectively do three-dimensional factorization on the three-dimensional TAG mass spectra data. The retention time shift of the chromatogram is corrected by applying the median values of the different peaks' shifts. Bin width affects chemical resolution but does not affect PMF retrieval of the sources' time variations for low-factor solutions. A bin width smaller than the maximum retention shift among all samples requires retention time shift correction. A six-factor PMF comparison among aerosol mass spectrometry (AMS), TAG binning, and conventional TAG compound integration methods shows that the TAG binning method performs similarly to the integration method. However, the new binning method incorporates the entirety of the data set and requires significantly less pre-processing of the data than conventional single compound identification and integration. In addition, while a fraction of the most oxygenated aerosol does not elute through an underivatized TAG analysis, the TAG binning method does have the ability to achieve molecular level resolution on other bulk aerosol components commonly observed by the AMS.

Convection-diffusion effects in marathon race dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodriguez, E.; Espinosa-Paredes, G.; Alvarez-Ramirez, J.

2014-01-01

In the face of the recent terrorist attack event on the 2013 Boston Marathon, the increasing participation of recreational runners in large marathon races has imposed important logistical and safety issues for organizers and city authorities. An accurate understanding of the dynamics of the marathon pack along the race course can provide important insights for improving safety and performance of these events. On the other hand, marathon races can be seen as a model of pedestrian movement under confined conditions. This work used data of the 2011 Chicago Marathon event for modeling the dynamics of the marathon pack from the corral zone to the finish line. By considering the marathon pack as a set of particles moving along the race course, the dynamics are modeled as a convection-diffusion partial differential equation with position-dependent mean velocity and diffusion coefficient. A least-squares problem is posed and solved with optimization techniques for fitting field data from the 2011 Chicago Marathon. It was obtained that the mean pack velocity decreases while the diffusion coefficient increases with distance. This means that the dispersion rate of the initially compact marathon pack increases as the marathon race evolves along the race course.

Baby Carriage: Infants Walking with Loads

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garciaguirre, Jessie S.; Adolph, Karen E.; Shrout, Patrick E.

2007-01-01

Maintaining balance is a central problem for new walkers. To examine how infants cope with the additional balance control problems induced by load carriage, 14-month-olds were loaded with 15% of their body weight in shoulder-packs. Both symmetrical and asymmetrical loads disrupted alternating gait patterns and caused less mature footfall patterns.…

De novo phasing with X-ray laser reveals mosquito larvicide BinAB structure [A potent binary mosquito larvicide revealed by de novo phasing with an X-ray free-electron laser

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

Colletier, Jacques -Philippe; Sawaya, Michael R.; Gingery, Mari

BinAB is a naturally occurring paracrystalline larvicide distributed worldwide to combat the devastating diseases borne by mosquitoes. These crystals are composed of homologous molecules, BinA and BinB, which play distinct roles in the multi-step intoxication process, transforming from harmless, robust crystals, to soluble protoxin heterodimers, to internalized mature toxin, and finally to toxic oligomeric pores. The small size of the crystals—50 unit cells per edge, on average—has impeded structural characterization by conventional means. Here we report the structure of Lysinibacillus sphaericus BinAB solved de novo by serial-femtosecond crystallography at an X-ray free-electron laser. The structure reveals tyrosine- and carboxylate-mediated contactsmore » acting as pH switches to release soluble protoxin in the alkaline larval midgut. An enormous heterodimeric interface appears to be responsible for anchoring BinA to receptor-bound BinB for co-internalization. Furthermore, this interface is largely composed of propeptides, suggesting that proteolytic maturation would trigger dissociation of the heterodimer and progression to pore formation.« less

De novo phasing with X-ray laser reveals mosquito larvicide BinAB structure [A potent binary mosquito larvicide revealed by de novo phasing with an X-ray free-electron laser

DOE PAGES

Colletier, Jacques -Philippe; Sawaya, Michael R.; Gingery, Mari; ...

2016-09-28

BinAB is a naturally occurring paracrystalline larvicide distributed worldwide to combat the devastating diseases borne by mosquitoes. These crystals are composed of homologous molecules, BinA and BinB, which play distinct roles in the multi-step intoxication process, transforming from harmless, robust crystals, to soluble protoxin heterodimers, to internalized mature toxin, and finally to toxic oligomeric pores. The small size of the crystals—50 unit cells per edge, on average—has impeded structural characterization by conventional means. Here we report the structure of Lysinibacillus sphaericus BinAB solved de novo by serial-femtosecond crystallography at an X-ray free-electron laser. The structure reveals tyrosine- and carboxylate-mediated contactsmore » acting as pH switches to release soluble protoxin in the alkaline larval midgut. An enormous heterodimeric interface appears to be responsible for anchoring BinA to receptor-bound BinB for co-internalization. Furthermore, this interface is largely composed of propeptides, suggesting that proteolytic maturation would trigger dissociation of the heterodimer and progression to pore formation.« less

37. VIEW NORTH FROM EAST CRUDE ORE BIN TO CRUSHER ...

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

37. VIEW NORTH FROM EAST CRUDE ORE BIN TO CRUSHER ADDITION AND CRUSHED OXIDIZED ORE BIN. VISIBLE ARE DINGS MAGNETIC PULLEY (CENTER), THE 100-TON STEEL CRUSHED UNOXIDIZED ORE BIN, AND UPPER PORTION OF THE STEPHENS-ADAMSON 25 TON/HR BUCKET ELEVATOR. THE UPPER TAILINGS POND LIES BEYOND THE MILL WITH THE UPPER TAILINGS DAM UNDER THE GRAVEL ROAD IN THE UPPER RIGHT CORNER. - Bald Mountain Gold Mill, Nevada Gulch at head of False Bottom Creek, Lead, Lawrence County, SD

Controlled irrigation of a structured packing as a method for increasing the efficiency of liquid mixture separation in the distillation column

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pavlenko, A. N.; Zhukov, V. E.; Pecherkin, N. I.; Nazarov, A. D.; Li, X.; Li, H.; Gao, X.; Sui, H.

2017-09-01

The use of modern structured packing in the distillation columns allows much more even distribution of the liquid film over the packing surface, but it does not completely solve the problem of uniform distribution of flow parameters over the entire height of the packing. Negative stratification of vapor along the packing height caused by different densities of vapor mixture components and higher temperature in the lower part of the column leads to formation of large-scale maldistributions of temperature and mixture composition over the column cross-section even under the conditions of uniform irrigation of packing with liquid. In these experiments, the idea of compensatory action of liquid distributor on the large-scale maldistribution of mixture composition over the column cross-section was implemented. The experiments were carried out in the distillation column with the diameter of 0.9 m on 10 layers of the Mellapak 350Y packing with the total height of 2.1 m. The mixture of R-21 and R-114 was used as the working mixture. To irrigate the packing, the liquid distributorr with 126 independently controlled solenoid valves overlapping the holes with the diameter of 5 mm, specially designed by the authors, was used. Response of the column to the action of liquid distributor was observed in real time according to the indications of 3 groups of thermometers mounted in 3 different cross-sections of the column. The experiments showed that the minimal correction of the drip point pattern in the controlled liquid distributor can significantly affect the pattern of flow parameter distribution over the cross-section and height of the mass transfer surface and increase separation efficiency of the column within 20%.

The cyclic-di-GMP phosphodiesterase BinA negatively regulates cellulose-containing biofilms in Vibrio fischeri.

PubMed

Bassis, Christine M; Visick, Karen L

2010-03-01

Bacteria produce different types of biofilms under distinct environmental conditions. Vibrio fischeri has the capacity to produce at least two distinct types of biofilms, one that relies on the symbiosis polysaccharide Syp and another that depends upon cellulose. A key regulator of biofilm formation in bacteria is the intracellular signaling molecule cyclic diguanylate (c-di-GMP). In this study, we focused on a predicted c-di-GMP phosphodiesterase encoded by the gene binA, located directly downstream of syp, a cluster of 18 genes critical for biofilm formation and the initiation of symbiotic colonization of the squid Euprymna scolopes. Disruption or deletion of binA increased biofilm formation in culture and led to increased binding of Congo red and calcofluor, which are indicators of cellulose production. Using random transposon mutagenesis, we determined that the phenotypes of the DeltabinA mutant strain could be disrupted by insertions in genes in the bacterial cellulose biosynthesis cluster (bcs), suggesting that cellulose production is negatively regulated by BinA. Replacement of critical amino acids within the conserved EAL residues of the EAL domain disrupted BinA activity, and deletion of binA increased c-di-GMP levels in the cell. Together, these data support the hypotheses that BinA functions as a phosphodiesterase and that c-di-GMP activates cellulose biosynthesis. Finally, overexpression of the syp regulator sypG induced binA expression. Thus, this work reveals a mechanism by which V. fischeri inhibits cellulose-dependent biofilm formation and suggests that the production of two different polysaccharides may be coordinated through the action of the cellulose inhibitor BinA.

Sensitivity of a Cloud-Resolving Model to the Bulk and Explicit Bin Microphysical Schemes. Part 1; Validations with a PRE-STORM Case

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Li, Xiao-Wen; Tao, Wei-Kuo; Khain, Alexander P.; Simpson, Joanne; Johnson, Daniel E.

2004-01-01

A cloud-resolving model is used to study sensitivities of two different microphysical schemes, one is the bulk type, and the other is an explicit bin scheme, in simulating a mid-latitude squall line case (PRE-STORM, June 10-11, 1985). Simulations using different microphysical schemes are compared with each other and also with the observations. Both the bulk and bin models reproduce the general features during the developing and mature stage of the system. The leading convective zone, the trailing stratiform region, the horizontal wind flow patterns, pressure perturbation associated with the storm dynamics, and the cool pool in front of the system all agree well with the observations. Both the observations and the bulk scheme simulation serve as validations for the newly incorporated bin scheme. However, it is also shown that, the bulk and bin simulations have distinct differences, most notably in the stratiform region. Weak convective cells exist in the stratiform region in the bulk simulation, but not in the bin simulation. These weak convective cells in the stratiform region are remnants of the previous stronger convections at the leading edge of the system. The bin simulation, on the other hand, has a horizontally homogeneous stratiform cloud structure, which agrees better with the observations. Preliminary examinations of the downdraft core strength, the potential temperature perturbation, and the evaporative cooling rate show that the differences between the bulk and bin models are due mainly to the stronger low-level evaporative cooling in convective zone simulated in the bulk model. Further quantitative analysis and sensitivity tests for this case using both the bulk and bin models will be presented in a companion paper.

Haystack, a web-based tool for metabolomics research

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LCMS) has become a widely used technique in metabolomics research for differential profiling, the broad screening of biomolecular constituents across multiple samples to diagnose phenotypic differences and elucidate relevant features. However, a significant limitation in LCMS-based metabolomics is the high-throughput data processing required for robust statistical analysis and data modeling for large numbers of samples with hundreds of unique chemical species. Results To address this problem, we developed Haystack, a web-based tool designed to visualize, parse, filter, and extract significant features from LCMS datasets rapidly and efficiently. Haystack runs in a browser environment with an intuitive graphical user interface that provides both display and data processing options. Total ion chromatograms (TICs) and base peak chromatograms (BPCs) are automatically displayed, along with time-resolved mass spectra and extracted ion chromatograms (EICs) over any mass range. Output files in the common .csv format can be saved for further statistical analysis or customized graphing. Haystack's core function is a flexible binning procedure that converts the mass dimension of the chromatogram into a set of interval variables that can uniquely identify a sample. Binned mass data can be analyzed by exploratory methods such as principal component analysis (PCA) to model class assignment and identify discriminatory features. The validity of this approach is demonstrated by comparison of a dataset from plants grown at two light conditions with manual and automated peak detection methods. Haystack successfully predicted class assignment based on PCA and cluster analysis, and identified discriminatory features based on analysis of EICs of significant bins. Conclusion Haystack, a new online tool for rapid processing and analysis of LCMS-based metabolomics data is described. It offers users a range of data visualization options and supports non-biased differential profiling studies through a unique and flexible binning function that provides an alternative to conventional peak deconvolution analysis methods. PMID:25350247

Haystack, a web-based tool for metabolomics research.

PubMed

Grace, Stephen C; Embry, Stephen; Luo, Heng

2014-01-01

Liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LCMS) has become a widely used technique in metabolomics research for differential profiling, the broad screening of biomolecular constituents across multiple samples to diagnose phenotypic differences and elucidate relevant features. However, a significant limitation in LCMS-based metabolomics is the high-throughput data processing required for robust statistical analysis and data modeling for large numbers of samples with hundreds of unique chemical species. To address this problem, we developed Haystack, a web-based tool designed to visualize, parse, filter, and extract significant features from LCMS datasets rapidly and efficiently. Haystack runs in a browser environment with an intuitive graphical user interface that provides both display and data processing options. Total ion chromatograms (TICs) and base peak chromatograms (BPCs) are automatically displayed, along with time-resolved mass spectra and extracted ion chromatograms (EICs) over any mass range. Output files in the common .csv format can be saved for further statistical analysis or customized graphing. Haystack's core function is a flexible binning procedure that converts the mass dimension of the chromatogram into a set of interval variables that can uniquely identify a sample. Binned mass data can be analyzed by exploratory methods such as principal component analysis (PCA) to model class assignment and identify discriminatory features. The validity of this approach is demonstrated by comparison of a dataset from plants grown at two light conditions with manual and automated peak detection methods. Haystack successfully predicted class assignment based on PCA and cluster analysis, and identified discriminatory features based on analysis of EICs of significant bins. Haystack, a new online tool for rapid processing and analysis of LCMS-based metabolomics data is described. It offers users a range of data visualization options and supports non-biased differential profiling studies through a unique and flexible binning function that provides an alternative to conventional peak deconvolution analysis methods.

DETAIL VIEW OF LOWER TRAM TERMINAL, SECONDARY ORE BIN, CRUSHER ...

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

DETAIL VIEW OF LOWER TRAM TERMINAL, SECONDARY ORE BIN, CRUSHER FOUNDATION, AND BALL MILL FOUNDATIONS, LOOKING NORTH NORTHWEST. ORE FROM THE MINES WAS DUMPED FROM THE TRAM BUCKETS INTO THE PRIMARY ORE BIN UNDER THE TRAM TERMINAL. A SLIDING CONTROL DOOR INTRODUCED THE INTO THE JAW CRUSHER (FOUNDATIONS,CENTER). THE CRUSHED ORE WAS THEN CONVEYED INTO THE SECONDARY ORE BIN AT CENTER LEFT. A HOLE IN THE FLOOR OF THE ORE BIN PASSED ORE ONTO ANOTHER CONVEYOR THAT BROUGHT IT OUT TO THE BALL MILL(FOUNDATIONS,CENTER BOTTOM). THIS SYSTEM IS MOST LIKELY NOT THE ORIGINAL SET UP, PROBABLY INSTALLED IN THE MINE'S LAST OCCUPATION IN THE EARLY 1940s. - Keane Wonder Mine, Park Route 4 (Daylight Pass Cutoff), Death Valley Junction, Inyo County, CA

T'ai Chi

MedlinePlus

... who practice it wear a martial arts training uniform. T'ai chi is usually practiced barefoot or ... health problem. Is your schedule jam-packed with school, work, and social activities? Here are a few ...

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25. DETAIL OF STRUCTURAL TIMBERS, ORE BIN, AND STAIRWAY TO ...

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

25. DETAIL OF STRUCTURAL TIMBERS, ORE BIN, AND STAIRWAY TO TOP FLOOR OF MILL, LOOKING SOUTH FROM SECOND FLOOR OF MILL. PORTION OF ORE BIN ON RIGHT, STAIRS ON LEFT. - Skidoo Mine, Park Route 38 (Skidoo Road), Death Valley Junction, Inyo County, CA

14. Interior view, grain tanks (bins). Barrel view of tunnel ...

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

14. Interior view, grain tanks (bins). Barrel view of tunnel for load-out belt conveyor system located below tanks. Square, numbered spouts gravity-feed grain from overhead bins onto belt. - Saint Anthony Elevator No. 3, 620 Malcom Avenue, Southeast, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, MN

MARS-MD: rejection based image domain material decomposition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bateman, C. J.; Knight, D.; Brandwacht, B.; McMahon, J.; Healy, J.; Panta, R.; Aamir, R.; Rajendran, K.; Moghiseh, M.; Ramyar, M.; Rundle, D.; Bennett, J.; de Ruiter, N.; Smithies, D.; Bell, S. T.; Doesburg, R.; Chernoglazov, A.; Mandalika, V. B. H.; Walsh, M.; Shamshad, M.; Anjomrouz, M.; Atharifard, A.; Vanden Broeke, L.; Bheesette, S.; Kirkbride, T.; Anderson, N. G.; Gieseg, S. P.; Woodfield, T.; Renaud, P. F.; Butler, A. P. H.; Butler, P. H.

2018-05-01

This paper outlines image domain material decomposition algorithms that have been routinely used in MARS spectral CT systems. These algorithms (known collectively as MARS-MD) are based on a pragmatic heuristic for solving the under-determined problem where there are more materials than energy bins. This heuristic contains three parts: (1) splitting the problem into a number of possible sub-problems, each containing fewer materials; (2) solving each sub-problem; and (3) applying rejection criteria to eliminate all but one sub-problem's solution. An advantage of this process is that different constraints can be applied to each sub-problem if necessary. In addition, the result of this process is that solutions will be sparse in the material domain, which reduces crossover of signal between material images. Two algorithms based on this process are presented: the Segmentation variant, which uses segmented material classes to define each sub-problem; and the Angular Rejection variant, which defines the rejection criteria using the angle between reconstructed attenuation vectors.

Exenatide once weekly versus daily basal insulin as add-on treatment to metformin with or without a sulfonylurea: a retrospective pooled analysis in patients with poor glycemic control.

PubMed

Grimm, Michael; Li, Yan; Brunell, Steven C; Blase, Erich

2013-09-01

Basal insulin (b-INS) is typically the add-on treatment of choice for patients with poor glycemic control (ie, glycated hemoglobin [HbA1c] level ≥ 8.5%), but it is unclear whether b-INS is the best option. In this post hoc analysis, the efficacy and tolerability of exenatide once weekly (EQW) were compared with those of b-INS in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and a baseline HbA1c level 8.5% who were undergoing treatment with metformin ± a sulfonylurea. Data were pooled from two 26-week, randomized, controlled trials (EQW vs insulin glargine and EQW vs insulin detemir [EQW, N = 137; b-INS, N = 126]). Treatment with either EQW or b-INS for 26 weeks was associated with significant improvements in HbA1c level compared with baseline, although patients treated with EQW experienced a significantly greater decrease in HbA1c level than those treated with b-INS (least squares [LS] mean ± SE: -2.0% ± 0.08% vs -1.6% ± 0.08%; P = 0.0008). Treatment with EQW was associated with a weight loss of 2.4 kg ± 0.23 kg (LS mean ± SE), whereas treatment with b-INS was associated with a weight gain of 2.0 kg ± 0.24 kg (LS mean difference between groups, -4.4 kg ± 0.33; P < 0.0001). Patients in the EQW group were significantly more likely to achieve the composite endpoint of an HbA1c level < 7.0%, no weight gain, and no hypoglycemic events (defined as a blood glucose level < 54 mg/dL requiring self-treatment or assistance to resolve) than patients in the b-INS group (33.6% vs 3.2%; P < 0.0001). The exposure-adjusted hypoglycemic event rates were 0.08 and 0.37 events per patient-year in the EQW and b-INS groups, respectively. Gastrointestinal adverse events occurred at a higher rate in patients who underwent EQW treatment than those who were treated with b-INS. These results show that EQW treatment was associated with significantly greater improvement in HbA1c level compared with b-INS treatment among patients with poor glycemic control, with the added benefits of weight loss (vs weight gain with b-INS therapy) and a lower incidence of hypoglycemic events. These results suggest that EQW is an alternative treatment to b-INS for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and a baseline HbA1c level ≥ 8.5%.

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Volume 28, Issue12 (October 2004)
Articles in the Current Issue:
Research Article
Modelling poroelastic hollow cylinder experiments with realistic boundary conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jourine, S.; Valkó, P. P.; Kronenberg, A. K.

2004-10-01

A general poroelastic solution for axisymmetrical plane strain problems with time dependent boundary conditions is developed in Laplace domain. Time-domain results are obtained using numerical inversion of the Laplace transform. Previously published solutions can be considered as special cases of the proposed solution. In particular, we could reproduce numerical results for solid and hollow poroelastic cylinders with suddenly applied load/pressure (Rice and Cleary, Rev. Geophys. Space Phys. 1976; 14:227; Schmitt, Tait and Spann, Int. J. Rock Mech. Min. Sci. 1993; 30:1057; Cui and Abousleiman, ASCE J. Eng. Mech. 2001; 127:391).The new solution is used to model laboratory tests on thick-walled hollow cylinders of Berea sandstone subjected to intensive pressure drawdown. In the experiments, pressure at the inner boundary of the hollow cylinder is observed to decline exponentially with a decay constant of 3-5 1/s.It is found that solutions with idealized step-function type inner boundary conditions overestimate the induced tensile radial stresses considerably. Although basic poroelastic phenomena can be modelled properly at long time following a stepwise change in pressure, realistic time varying boundary conditions predict actual rock behaviour better at early time. Experimentally observed axial stresses can be matched but appear to require different values for α and than are measured at long time.The proposed solution can be used to calculate the stress and pore pressure distributions around boreholes under infinite/finite boundary conditions. Prospective applications include investigating the effect of gradually changing pore pressure, modelling open-hole cavity completions, and describing the phenomenon of wellbore collapse (bridging) during oil or gas blowouts. Copyright

A novel approach to find and optimize bin locations and collection routes using a geographic information system.

PubMed

Erfani, Seyed Mohammad Hassan; Danesh, Shahnaz; Karrabi, Seyed Mohsen; Shad, Rouzbeh

2017-07-01

One of the major challenges in big cities is planning and implementation of an optimized, integrated solid waste management system. This optimization is crucial if environmental problems are to be prevented and the expenses to be reduced. A solid waste management system consists of many stages including collection, transfer and disposal. In this research, an integrated model was proposed and used to optimize two functional elements of municipal solid waste management (storage and collection systems) in the Ahmadabad neighbourhood located in the City of Mashhad - Iran. The integrated model was performed by modelling and solving the location allocation problem and capacitated vehicle routing problem (CVRP) through Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The results showed that the current collection system is not efficient owing to its incompatibility with the existing urban structure and population distribution. Application of the proposed model could significantly improve the storage and collection system. Based on the results of minimizing facilities analyses, scenarios with 100, 150 and 180 m walking distance were considered to find optimal bin locations for Alamdasht, C-metri and Koohsangi. The total number of daily collection tours was reduced to seven as compared to the eight tours carried out in the current system (12.50% reduction). In addition, the total number of required crews was minimized and reduced by 41.70% (24 crews in the current collection system vs 14 in the system provided by the model). The total collection vehicle routing was also optimized such that the total travelled distances during night and day working shifts was cut back by 53%.

Automated packing systems: review of industrial implementations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Whelan, Paul F.; Batchelor, Bruce G.

1993-08-01

A rich theoretical background to the problems that occur in the automation of material handling can be found in operations research, production engineering, systems engineering and automation, more specifically machine vision, literature. This work has contributed towards the design of intelligent handling systems. This paper will review the application of these automated material handling and packing techniques to industrial problems. The discussion will also highlight the systems integration issues involved in these applications. An outline of one such industrial application, the automated placement of shape templates on to leather hides, is also discussed. The purpose of this system is to arrange shape templates on a leather hide in an efficient manner, so as to minimize the leather waste, before they are automatically cut from the hide. These pieces are used in the furniture and car manufacturing industries for the upholstery of high quality leather chairs and car seats. Currently this type of operation is semi-automated. The paper will outline the problems involved in the full automation of such a procedure.

A Comprehensive Expedient Methods Field Manual.

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-09-01

structures. " Revetments may be constructed of sandbags, sod blocks , and other expedients [17:933." Bunkers are emplacements with overhead protective...Lapland Fence............................. 75 19. Hardening: Dimensional Timber (Soil Bin) Revetment ............................................. 76...20. Hardening: Log Bulkhead (Soil Bin) Revetment ... 77 21. Hardening: Landing Mat Bulkhead (Soil Bin) Revetment

Calculating Soil Wetness, Evapotranspiration and Carbon Cycle Processes Over Large Grid Areas Using a New Scaling Technique

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sellers, Piers

2012-01-01

Soil wetness typically shows great spatial variability over the length scales of general circulation model (GCM) grid areas (approx 100 km ), and the functions relating evapotranspiration and photosynthetic rate to local-scale (approx 1 m) soil wetness are highly non-linear. Soil respiration is also highly dependent on very small-scale variations in soil wetness. We therefore expect significant inaccuracies whenever we insert a single grid area-average soil wetness value into a function to calculate any of these rates for the grid area. For the particular case of evapotranspiration., this method - use of a grid-averaged soil wetness value - can also provoke severe oscillations in the evapotranspiration rate and soil wetness under some conditions. A method is presented whereby the probability distribution timction(pdf) for soil wetness within a grid area is represented by binning. and numerical integration of the binned pdf is performed to provide a spatially-integrated wetness stress term for the whole grid area, which then permits calculation of grid area fluxes in a single operation. The method is very accurate when 10 or more bins are used, can deal realistically with spatially variable precipitation, conserves moisture exactly and allows for precise modification of the soil wetness pdf after every time step. The method could also be applied to other ecological problems where small-scale processes must be area-integrated, or upscaled, to estimate fluxes over large areas, for example in treatments of the terrestrial carbon budget or trace gas generation.

Fast and flexible 3D object recognition solutions for machine vision applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Effenberger, Ira; Kühnle, Jens; Verl, Alexander

2013-03-01

In automation and handling engineering, supplying work pieces between different stages along the production process chain is of special interest. Often the parts are stored unordered in bins or lattice boxes and hence have to be separated and ordered for feeding purposes. An alternative to complex and spacious mechanical systems such as bowl feeders or conveyor belts, which are typically adapted to the parts' geometry, is using a robot to grip the work pieces out of a bin or from a belt. Such applications are in need of reliable and precise computer-aided object detection and localization systems. For a restricted range of parts, there exists a variety of 2D image processing algorithms that solve the recognition problem. However, these methods are often not well suited for the localization of randomly stored parts. In this paper we present a fast and flexible 3D object recognizer that localizes objects by identifying primitive features within the objects. Since technical work pieces typically consist to a substantial degree of geometric primitives such as planes, cylinders and cones, such features usually carry enough information in order to determine the position of the entire object. Our algorithms use 3D best-fitting combined with an intelligent data pre-processing step. The capability and performance of this approach is shown by applying the algorithms to real data sets of different industrial test parts in a prototypical bin picking demonstration system.

Predictors and outcome of tetanus in newborns in slum areas of Karachi City: a case control study.

PubMed

Sohaila, Arjumand; Shafiq, Yasir; Azim, Shazia; Baloch, Benazir; Akhtar, Ali Syed Muhammad; Tikmani, Shiyam Sunder; Brown, Nick

2015-08-07

Tetanus in newborns, is an under-reported public health problem and a major cause of mortality in developing countries. This study aimed to determine the predictors and outcome of tetanus in newborn infants in the slums of Bin-Qasim town, Karachi, Pakistan. We conducted a case-control study at primary health care centers of slums of Bin-Qasim town, area located adjacent to Bin Qasim seaport in Karachi, from January 2003 to December 2013. Cases were infants aged ≤30 days with tetanus, as defined by the World Health Organization. Controls were newborn infants aged ≤30 days without Tetanus, who were referred for a checkup or minor illnesses. The case to control ratio was 1:2. We analyzed 26 cases and 52 controls. The case fatality was 70.8%. We identified four independent predictors of Tetanus in newborns: maternal education (only religious education with no formal education OR 51.95; 95% CI 3.69-731), maternal non-vaccination (OR 24.55; 95% CI 1.01-131.77), lack of a skilled birth attendant (OR 44.00; 95% CI 2.30-840.99), and delivery at home (OR 11.54; 95% CI 1.01-131.77). We identified several potentially modifiable socio-demographic risk factors for Tetanus in newborns, including maternal education and immunization status, birth site, and lack of a skilled birth attendant. Prioritization of these risk factors could be useful for planning preventive and cost-effective measures.

Suppression of Prostate Tumor Progression by Bin 1

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-02-01

experiment). The full protocol was approved by IACUC review. Cohort A. Castration + Testostrone propionate s.c. + MNU i.v. Cohort B. Castration... Testostrone propionate s.c. + MNU i.v. + testosterone pellet Strain 1. mosaic Bin1 flox)/KO  Strain 2. Bin1 flox/+ (control for strain 1) Strain

Bioinformatics and Astrophysics Cluster (BinAc)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krüger, Jens; Lutz, Volker; Bartusch, Felix; Dilling, Werner; Gorska, Anna; Schäfer, Christoph; Walter, Thomas

2017-09-01

BinAC provides central high performance computing capacities for bioinformaticians and astrophysicists from the state of Baden-Württemberg. The bwForCluster BinAC is part of the implementation concept for scientific computing for the universities in Baden-Württemberg. Community specific support is offered through the bwHPC-C5 project.

EFFECTS OF NUMBER AND LOCATION OF BINS ON PLASTIC RECYCLING AT A UNIVERSITY

PubMed Central

O'Connor, Ryan T; Lerman, Dorothea C; Fritz, Jennifer N; Hodde, Henry B

2010-01-01

The proportion of plastic bottles that consumers placed in appropriate recycling receptacles rather than trash bins was examined across 3 buildings on a university campus. We extended previous research on interventions to increase recycling by controlling the number of recycling receptacles across conditions and by examining receptacle location without the use of posted signs. Manipulating the appearance or number of recycling bins in common areas did not increase recycling. Consumers recycled substantially more plastic bottles when the recycling bins were located in classrooms. PMID:21541154

Effects of number and location of bins on plastic recycling at a university.

PubMed

O'Connor, Ryan T; Lerman, Dorothea C; Fritz, Jennifer N; Hodde, Henry B

2010-01-01

The proportion of plastic bottles that consumers placed in appropriate recycling receptacles rather than trash bins was examined across 3 buildings on a university campus. We extended previous research on interventions to increase recycling by controlling the number of recycling receptacles across conditions and by examining receptacle location without the use of posted signs. Manipulating the appearance or number of recycling bins in common areas did not increase recycling. Consumers recycled substantially more plastic bottles when the recycling bins were located in classrooms.

BinMag: Widget for comparing stellar observed with theoretical spectra

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kochukhov, O.

2018-05-01

BinMag examines theoretical stellar spectra computed with Synth/SynthMag/Synmast/Synth3/SME spectrum synthesis codes and compare them to observations. An IDL widget program, BinMag applies radial velocity shift and broadening to the theoretical spectra to account for the effects of stellar rotation, radial-tangential macroturbulence, instrumental smearing. The code can also simulate spectra of spectroscopic binary stars by appropriate coaddition of two synthetic spectra. Additionally, BinMag can be used to measure equivalent width, fit line profile shapes with analytical functions, and to automatically determine radial velocity and broadening parameters. BinMag interfaces with the Synth3 (ascl:1212.010) and SME (ascl:1202.013) codes, allowing the user to determine chemical abundances and stellar atmospheric parameters from the observed spectra.

Effects of empty bins on image upscaling in capsule endoscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rukundo, Olivier

2017-07-01

This paper presents a preliminary study of the effect of empty bins on image upscaling in capsule endoscopy. The presented study was conducted based on results of existing contrast enhancement and interpolation methods. A low contrast enhancement method based on pixels consecutiveness and modified bilinear weighting scheme has been developed to distinguish between necessary empty bins and unnecessary empty bins in the effort to minimize the number of empty bins in the input image, before further processing. Linear interpolation methods have been used for upscaling input images with stretched histograms. Upscaling error differences and similarity indices between pairs of interpolation methods have been quantified using the mean squared error and feature similarity index techniques. Simulation results demonstrated more promising effects using the developed method than other contrast enhancement methods mentioned.

The volatile compound BinBase mass spectral database.

PubMed

Skogerson, Kirsten; Wohlgemuth, Gert; Barupal, Dinesh K; Fiehn, Oliver

2011-08-04

Volatile compounds comprise diverse chemical groups with wide-ranging sources and functions. These compounds originate from major pathways of secondary metabolism in many organisms and play essential roles in chemical ecology in both plant and animal kingdoms. In past decades, sampling methods and instrumentation for the analysis of complex volatile mixtures have improved; however, design and implementation of database tools to process and store the complex datasets have lagged behind. The volatile compound BinBase (vocBinBase) is an automated peak annotation and database system developed for the analysis of GC-TOF-MS data derived from complex volatile mixtures. The vocBinBase DB is an extension of the previously reported metabolite BinBase software developed to track and identify derivatized metabolites. The BinBase algorithm uses deconvoluted spectra and peak metadata (retention index, unique ion, spectral similarity, peak signal-to-noise ratio, and peak purity) from the Leco ChromaTOF software, and annotates peaks using a multi-tiered filtering system with stringent thresholds. The vocBinBase algorithm assigns the identity of compounds existing in the database. Volatile compound assignments are supported by the Adams mass spectral-retention index library, which contains over 2,000 plant-derived volatile compounds. Novel molecules that are not found within vocBinBase are automatically added using strict mass spectral and experimental criteria. Users obtain fully annotated data sheets with quantitative information for all volatile compounds for studies that may consist of thousands of chromatograms. The vocBinBase database may also be queried across different studies, comprising currently 1,537 unique mass spectra generated from 1.7 million deconvoluted mass spectra of 3,435 samples (18 species). Mass spectra with retention indices and volatile profiles are available as free download under the CC-BY agreement (http://vocbinbase.fiehnlab.ucdavis.edu). The BinBase database algorithms have been successfully modified to allow for tracking and identification of volatile compounds in complex mixtures. The database is capable of annotating large datasets (hundreds to thousands of samples) and is well-suited for between-study comparisons such as chemotaxonomy investigations. This novel volatile compound database tool is applicable to research fields spanning chemical ecology to human health. The BinBase source code is freely available at http://binbase.sourceforge.net/ under the LGPL 2.0 license agreement.

The volatile compound BinBase mass spectral database

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Volatile compounds comprise diverse chemical groups with wide-ranging sources and functions. These compounds originate from major pathways of secondary metabolism in many organisms and play essential roles in chemical ecology in both plant and animal kingdoms. In past decades, sampling methods and instrumentation for the analysis of complex volatile mixtures have improved; however, design and implementation of database tools to process and store the complex datasets have lagged behind. Description The volatile compound BinBase (vocBinBase) is an automated peak annotation and database system developed for the analysis of GC-TOF-MS data derived from complex volatile mixtures. The vocBinBase DB is an extension of the previously reported metabolite BinBase software developed to track and identify derivatized metabolites. The BinBase algorithm uses deconvoluted spectra and peak metadata (retention index, unique ion, spectral similarity, peak signal-to-noise ratio, and peak purity) from the Leco ChromaTOF software, and annotates peaks using a multi-tiered filtering system with stringent thresholds. The vocBinBase algorithm assigns the identity of compounds existing in the database. Volatile compound assignments are supported by the Adams mass spectral-retention index library, which contains over 2,000 plant-derived volatile compounds. Novel molecules that are not found within vocBinBase are automatically added using strict mass spectral and experimental criteria. Users obtain fully annotated data sheets with quantitative information for all volatile compounds for studies that may consist of thousands of chromatograms. The vocBinBase database may also be queried across different studies, comprising currently 1,537 unique mass spectra generated from 1.7 million deconvoluted mass spectra of 3,435 samples (18 species). Mass spectra with retention indices and volatile profiles are available as free download under the CC-BY agreement (http://vocbinbase.fiehnlab.ucdavis.edu). Conclusions The BinBase database algorithms have been successfully modified to allow for tracking and identification of volatile compounds in complex mixtures. The database is capable of annotating large datasets (hundreds to thousands of samples) and is well-suited for between-study comparisons such as chemotaxonomy investigations. This novel volatile compound database tool is applicable to research fields spanning chemical ecology to human health. The BinBase source code is freely available at http://binbase.sourceforge.net/ under the LGPL 2.0 license agreement. PMID:21816034

A novel aliasing-free subband information fusion approach for wideband sparse spectral estimation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luo, Ji-An; Zhang, Xiao-Ping; Wang, Zhi

2017-12-01

Wideband sparse spectral estimation is generally formulated as a multi-dictionary/multi-measurement (MD/MM) problem which can be solved by using group sparsity techniques. In this paper, the MD/MM problem is reformulated as a single sparse indicative vector (SIV) recovery problem at the cost of introducing an additional system error. Thus, the number of unknowns is reduced greatly. We show that the system error can be neglected under certain conditions. We then present a new subband information fusion (SIF) method to estimate the SIV by jointly utilizing all the frequency bins. With orthogonal matching pursuit (OMP) leveraging the binary property of SIV's components, we develop a SIF-OMP algorithm to reconstruct the SIV. The numerical simulations demonstrate the performance of the proposed method.

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Further theoretical studies of modified cyclone separator as a diesel soot particulate emission arrester.

PubMed

Mukhopadhyay, N; Bose, P K

2009-10-01

Soot particulate emission reduction from diesel engine is one of the most emerging problems associated with the exhaust pollution. Diesel particulate filters (DPF) hold out the prospects of substantially reducing regulated particulate emissions but the question of the reliable regeneration of filters still remains a difficult hurdle to overcome. Many of the solutions proposed to date suffer from design complexity, cost, regeneration problem and energy demands. This study presents a computer aided theoretical analysis for controlling diesel soot particulate emission by cyclone separator--a non contact type particulate removal system considering outer vortex flow, inner vortex flow and packed ceramic fiber filter at the end of vortex finder tube. Cyclone separator with low initial cost, simple construction produces low back pressure and reasonably high collection efficiencies with reduced regeneration problems. Cyclone separator is modified by placing a continuous ceramic packed fiber filter placed at the end of the vortex finder tube. In this work, the grade efficiency model of diesel soot particulate emission is proposed considering outer vortex, inner vortex and the continuous ceramic packed fiber filter. Pressure drop model is also proposed considering the effect of the ceramic fiber filter. Proposed model gives reasonably good collection efficiency with permissible pressure drop limit of diesel engine operation. Theoretical approach is predicted for calculating the cut size diameter considering the effect of Cunningham molecular slip correction factor. The result shows good agreements with existing cyclone and DPF flow characteristics.

SNR improvement for hyperspectral application using frame and pixel binning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rehman, Sami Ur; Kumar, Ankush; Banerjee, Arup

2016-05-01

Hyperspectral imaging spectrometer systems are increasingly being used in the field of remote sensing for variety of civilian and military applications. The ability of such instruments in discriminating finer spectral features along with improved spatial and radiometric performance have made such instruments a powerful tool in the field of remote sensing. Design and development of spaceborne hyper spectral imaging spectrometers poses lot of technological challenges in terms of optics, dispersion element, detectors, electronics and mechanical systems. The main factors that define the type of detectors are the spectral region, SNR, dynamic range, pixel size, number of pixels, frame rate, operating temperature etc. Detectors with higher quantum efficiency and higher well depth are the preferred choice for such applications. CCD based Si detectors serves the requirement of high well depth for VNIR band spectrometers but suffers from smear. Smear can be controlled by using CMOS detectors. Si CMOS detectors with large format arrays are available. These detectors generally have smaller pitch and low well depth. Binning technique can be used with available CMOS detectors to meet the large swath, higher resolution and high SNR requirements. Availability of larger dwell time of satellite can be used to bin multiple frames to increase the signal collection even with lesser well depth detectors and ultimately increase the SNR. Lab measurements reveal that SNR improvement by frame binning is more in comparison to pixel binning. Effect of pixel binning as compared to the frame binning will be discussed and degradation of SNR as compared to theoretical value for pixel binning will be analyzed.

Generalized index for spatial data sets as a measure of complete spatial randomness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hackett-Jones, Emily J.; Davies, Kale J.; Binder, Benjamin J.; Landman, Kerry A.

2012-06-01

Spatial data sets, generated from a wide range of physical systems can be analyzed by counting the number of objects in a set of bins. Previous work has been limited to equal-sized bins, which are inappropriate for some domains (e.g., circular). We consider a nonequal size bin configuration whereby overlapping or nonoverlapping bins cover the domain. A generalized index, defined in terms of a variance between bin counts, is developed to indicate whether or not a spatial data set, generated from exclusion or nonexclusion processes, is at the complete spatial randomness (CSR) state. Limiting values of the index are determined. Using examples, we investigate trends in the generalized index as a function of density and compare the results with those using equal size bins. The smallest bin size must be much larger than the mean size of the objects. We can determine whether a spatial data set is at the CSR state or not by comparing the values of a generalized index for different bin configurations—the values will be approximately the same if the data is at the CSR state, while the values will differ if the data set is not at the CSR state. In general, the generalized index is lower than the limiting value of the index, since objects do not have access to the entire region due to blocking by other objects. These methods are applied to two applications: (i) spatial data sets generated from a cellular automata model of cell aggregation in the enteric nervous system and (ii) a known plant data distribution.

Meta-analysis of 32 genome-wide linkage studies of schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Ng, MYM; Levinson, DF; Faraone, SV; Suarez, BK; DeLisi, LE; Arinami, T; Riley, B; Paunio, T; Pulver, AE; Irmansyah; Holmans, PA; Escamilla, M; Wildenauer, DB; Williams, NM; Laurent, C; Mowry, BJ; Brzustowicz, LM; Maziade, M; Sklar, P; Garver, DL; Abecasis, GR; Lerer, B; Fallin, MD; Gurling, HMD; Gejman, PV; Lindholm, E; Moises, HW; Byerley, W; Wijsman, EM; Forabosco, P; Tsuang, MT; Hwu, H-G; Okazaki, Y; Kendler, KS; Wormley, B; Fanous, A; Walsh, D; O’Neill, FA; Peltonen, L; Nestadt, G; Lasseter, VK; Liang, KY; Papadimitriou, GM; Dikeos, DG; Schwab, SG; Owen, MJ; O’Donovan, MC; Norton, N; Hare, E; Raventos, H; Nicolini, H; Albus, M; Maier, W; Nimgaonkar, VL; Terenius, L; Mallet, J; Jay, M; Godard, S; Nertney, D; Alexander, M; Crowe, RR; Silverman, JM; Bassett, AS; Roy, M-A; Mérette, C; Pato, CN; Pato, MT; Roos, J Louw; Kohn, Y; Amann-Zalcenstein, D; Kalsi, G; McQuillin, A; Curtis, D; Brynjolfson, J; Sigmundsson, T; Petursson, H; Sanders, AR; Duan, J; Jazin, E; Myles-Worsley, M; Karayiorgou, M; Lewis, CM

2009-01-01

A genome scan meta-analysis (GSMA) was carried out on 32 independent genome-wide linkage scan analyses that included 3255 pedigrees with 7413 genotyped cases affected with schizophrenia (SCZ) or related disorders. The primary GSMA divided the autosomes into 120 bins, rank-ordered the bins within each study according to the most positive linkage result in each bin, summed these ranks (weighted for study size) for each bin across studies and determined the empirical probability of a given summed rank (PSR) by simulation. Suggestive evidence for linkage was observed in two single bins, on chromosomes 5q (142-168 Mb) and 2q (103-134 Mb). Genome-wide evidence for linkage was detected on chromosome 2q (119-152 Mb) when bin boundaries were shifted to the middle of the previous bins. The primary analysis met empirical criteria for ‘aggregate’ genome-wide significance, indicating that some or all of 10 bins are likely to contain loci linked to SCZ, including regions of chromosomes 1, 2q, 3q, 4q, 5q, 8p and 10q. In a secondary analysis of 22 studies of European-ancestry samples, suggestive evidence for linkage was observed on chromosome 8p (16-33 Mb). Although the newer genome-wide association methodology has greater power to detect weak associations to single common DNA sequence variants, linkage analysis can detect diverse genetic effects that segregate in families, including multiple rare variants within one locus or several weakly associated loci in the same region. Therefore, the regions supported by this meta-analysis deserve close attention in future studies. PMID:19349958

Altered Splicing of the BIN1 Muscle-Specific Exon in Humans and Dogs with Highly Progressive Centronuclear Myopathy

PubMed Central

Böhm, Johann; Vasli, Nasim; Maurer, Marie; Cowling, Belinda; Shelton, G. Diane; Kress, Wolfram; Toussaint, Anne; Prokic, Ivana; Schara, Ulrike; Anderson, Thomas James; Weis, Joachim; Tiret, Laurent; Laporte, Jocelyn

2013-01-01

Amphiphysin 2, encoded by BIN1, is a key factor for membrane sensing and remodelling in different cell types. Homozygous BIN1 mutations in ubiquitously expressed exons are associated with autosomal recessive centronuclear myopathy (CNM), a mildly progressive muscle disorder typically showing abnormal nuclear centralization on biopsies. In addition, misregulation of BIN1 splicing partially accounts for the muscle defects in myotonic dystrophy (DM). However, the muscle-specific function of amphiphysin 2 and its pathogenicity in both muscle disorders are not well understood. In this study we identified and characterized the first mutation affecting the splicing of the muscle-specific BIN1 exon 11 in a consanguineous family with rapidly progressive and ultimately fatal centronuclear myopathy. In parallel, we discovered a mutation in the same BIN1 exon 11 acceptor splice site as the genetic cause of the canine Inherited Myopathy of Great Danes (IMGD). Analysis of RNA from patient muscle demonstrated complete skipping of exon 11 and BIN1 constructs without exon 11 were unable to promote membrane tubulation in differentiated myotubes. Comparative immunofluorescence and ultrastructural analyses of patient and canine biopsies revealed common structural defects, emphasizing the importance of amphiphysin 2 in membrane remodelling and maintenance of the skeletal muscle triad. Our data demonstrate that the alteration of the muscle-specific function of amphiphysin 2 is a common pathomechanism for centronuclear myopathy, myotonic dystrophy, and IMGD. The IMGD dog is the first faithful model for human BIN1-related CNM and represents a mammalian model available for preclinical trials of potential therapies. PMID:23754947

Uncertainty in Modeling Dust Mass Balance and Radiative Forcing from Size Parameterization

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

Zhao, Chun; Chen, Siyu; Leung, Lai-Yung R.

2013-11-05

This study examines the uncertainties in simulating mass balance and radiative forcing of mineral dust due to biases in the aerosol size parameterization. Simulations are conducted quasi-globally (180oW-180oE and 60oS-70oN) using the WRF24 Chem model with three different approaches to represent aerosol size distribution (8-bin, 4-bin, and 3-mode). The biases in the 3-mode or 4-bin approaches against a relatively more accurate 8-bin approach in simulating dust mass balance and radiative forcing are identified. Compared to the 8-bin approach, the 4-bin approach simulates similar but coarser size distributions of dust particles in the atmosphere, while the 3-mode pproach retains more finemore » dust particles but fewer coarse dust particles due to its prescribed og of each mode. Although the 3-mode approach yields up to 10 days longer dust mass lifetime over the remote oceanic regions than the 8-bin approach, the three size approaches produce similar dust mass lifetime (3.2 days to 3.5 days) on quasi-global average, reflecting that the global dust mass lifetime is mainly determined by the dust mass lifetime near the dust source regions. With the same global dust emission (~6000 Tg yr-1), the 8-bin approach produces a dust mass loading of 39 Tg, while the 4-bin and 3-mode approaches produce 3% (40.2 Tg) and 25% (49.1 Tg) higher dust mass loading, respectively. The difference in dust mass loading between the 8-bin approach and the 4-bin or 3-mode approaches has large spatial variations, with generally smaller relative difference (<10%) near the surface over the dust source regions. The three size approaches also result in significantly different dry and wet deposition fluxes and number concentrations of dust. The difference in dust aerosol optical depth (AOD) (a factor of 3) among the three size approaches is much larger than their difference (25%) in dust mass loading. Compared to the 8-bin approach, the 4-bin approach yields stronger dust absorptivity, while the 3-mode approach yields weaker dust absorptivity. Overall, on quasi-global average, the three size parameterizations result in a significant difference of a factor of 2~3 in dust surface cooling (-1.02~-2.87 W m-2) and atmospheric warming (0.39~0.96 W m-2) and in a tremendous difference of a factor of ~10 in dust TOA cooling (-0.24~-2.20 W m-2). An uncertainty of a factor of 2 is quantified in dust emission estimation due to the different size parameterizations. This study also highlights the uncertainties in modeling dust mass and number loading, deposition fluxes, and radiative forcing resulting from different size parameterizations, and motivates further investigation of the impact of size parameterizations on modeling dust impacts on air quality, climate, and ecosystem.« less

Low-Temperature Effects on the Design and Performance of Composting of Explosives-Contaminated Soils

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-03-01

7 7. Aerated bins used in field composting tests on dairy manure ............................. 10 8. Typical temperature developed...during bin compostiag of dairy manure under conditions of constant airflow and optimum moisture ................. 10 9. Effect of agitation on the...temperature profile during bin composting of dairy manure

16 CFR 1301.6 - Test conditions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 16 Commercial Practices 2 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Test conditions. 1301.6 Section 1301.6... UNSTABLE REFUSE BINS § 1301.6 Test conditions. (a) The refuse bin shall be empty and have its lids or covers in a position which would most adversely affect the stability of the bin when tested. (b) The...

16 CFR 1301.6 - Test conditions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 16 Commercial Practices 2 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Test conditions. 1301.6 Section 1301.6... UNSTABLE REFUSE BINS § 1301.6 Test conditions. (a) The refuse bin shall be empty and have its lids or covers in a position which would most adversely affect the stability of the bin when tested. (b) The...

16 CFR 1301.6 - Test conditions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 16 Commercial Practices 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Test conditions. 1301.6 Section 1301.6... UNSTABLE REFUSE BINS § 1301.6 Test conditions. (a) The refuse bin shall be empty and have its lids or covers in a position which would most adversely affect the stability of the bin when tested. (b) The...

90. Photographic copy of plan of bins, section of boot, ...

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

90. Photographic copy of plan of bins, section of boot, and photograph of construction originally published in Plans of Grain Elevators (Chicago; Grain Dealers Journal, 1918), p.53. PLAN OF BINS; SECTION OF BOOT; VIEW OF CONSTRUCTION LOOKING NORTHWEST - Northwestern Consolidated Elevator "A", 119 Fifth Avenue South, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, MN

Increasing donations to supermarket food-bank bins using proximal prompts.

PubMed

Farrimond, Samantha J; Leland, Louis S

2006-01-01

There has been little research into interventions to increase participation in donating items to food-bank bins. In New Zealand, there has been an increased demand from food banks (Stewart, 2002). This study demonstrated that point-of-sale prompts can be an effective method of increasing donations to a supermarket food-bank bin.

64. NORTH WALL OF CRUSHED OXIDIZED ORE BIN. THE PRIMARY ...

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

64. NORTH WALL OF CRUSHED OXIDIZED ORE BIN. THE PRIMARY MILL FEEDS AT BOTTOM. MILL SOLUTION TANKS WERE TO THE LEFT (EAST) AND BARREN SOLUTION TANK TO THE RIGHT (WEST) OR THE CRUSHED ORE BIN. - Bald Mountain Gold Mill, Nevada Gulch at head of False Bottom Creek, Lead, Lawrence County, SD

Shapes on a plane: Evaluating the impact of projection distortion on spatial binning

USGS Publications Warehouse

Battersby, Sarah E.; Strebe, Daniel “daan”; Finn, Michael P.

2017-01-01

One method for working with large, dense sets of spatial point data is to aggregate the measure of the data into polygonal containers, such as political boundaries, or into regular spatial bins such as triangles, squares, or hexagons. When mapping these aggregations, the map projection must inevitably distort relationships. This distortion can impact the reader’s ability to compare count and density measures across the map. Spatial binning, particularly via hexagons, is becoming a popular technique for displaying aggregate measures of point data sets. Increasingly, we see questionable use of the technique without attendant discussion of its hazards. In this work, we discuss when and why spatial binning works and how mapmakers can better understand the limitations caused by distortion from projecting to the plane. We introduce equations for evaluating distortion’s impact on one common projection (Web Mercator) and discuss how the methods used generalize to other projections. While we focus on hexagonal binning, these same considerations affect spatial bins of any shape, and more generally, any analysis of geographic data performed in planar space.

Intrication temporelle et communication quantique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bussieres, Felix

Quantum communication is the art of transferring a quantum state from one place to another and the study of tasks that can be accomplished with it. This thesis is devoted to the development of tools and tasks for quantum communication in a real-world setting. These were implemented using an underground optical fibre link deployed in an urban environment. The technological and theoretical innovations presented here broaden the range of applications of time-bin entanglement through new methods of manipulating time-bin qubits, a novel model for characterizing sources of photon pairs, new ways of testing non-locality and the design and the first implementation of a new loss-tolerant quantum coin-flipping protocol. Manipulating time-bin qubits. A single photon is an excellent vehicle in which a qubit, the fundamental unit of quantum information, can be encoded. In particular, the time-bin encoding of photonic qubits is well suited for optical fibre transmission. Before this thesis, the applications of quantum communication based on the time-bin encoding were limited due to the lack of methods to implement arbitrary operations and measurements. We have removed this restriction by proposing the first methods to realize arbitrary deterministic operations on time-bin qubits as well as single qubit measurements in an arbitrary basis. We applied these propositions to the specific case of optical measurement-based quantum computing and showed how to implement the feedforward operations, which are essential to this model. This therefore opens new possibilities for creating an optical quantum computer, but also for other quantum communication tasks. Characterizing sources of photon pairs. Experimental quantum communication requires the creation of single photons and entangled photons. These two ingredients can be obtained from a source of photon pairs based on non-linear spontaneous processes. Several tasks in quantum communication require a precise knowledge of the properties of the source being used. We developed and implemented a fast and simple method to characterize a source of photon pairs. This method is well suited for a realistic setting where experimental conditions, such as channel transmittance, may fluctuate, and for which the characterization of the source has to be done in real time. Testing the non-locality of time-bin entanglement. Entanglement is a resource needed for the realization of many important tasks in quantum communication. It also allows two physical systems to be correlated in a way that cannot be explained by classical physics; this manifestation of entanglement is called non-locality. We built a source of time-bin entangled photonic qubits and characterized it with the new methods implementing arbitrary single qubit measurements that we developed. This allowed us to reveal the non-local nature of our source of entanglement in ways that were never implemented before. It also opens the door to study previously untested features of non-locality using this source. Theses experiments were performed in a realistic setting where quantum (non-local) correlations were observed even after transmission of one of the entangled qubits over 12.4 km of an underground optical fibre. Flipping quantum coins. Quantum coin-flipping is a quantum cryptographic primitive proposed in 1984, that is when the very first steps of quantum communication were being taken, where two players alternate in sending classical and quantum information in order to generate a shared random bit. The use of quantum information is such that a potential cheater cannot force the outcome to his choice with certainty. Classically, however, one of the players can always deterministically choose the outcome. Unfortunately, the security of all previous quantum coin-flipping protocols is seriously compromised in the presence of losses on the transmission channel, thereby making this task impractical. We found a solution to this problem and obtained the first loss-tolerant quantum coin-flipping protocol whose security is independent of the amount of the losses. We have also experimentally demonstrated our loss-tolerant protocol using our source of time-bin entanglement combined with our arbitrary single qubit measurement methods. This experiment took place in a realistic setting where qubits travelled over an underground optical fibre link. This new task thus joins quantum key distribution as a practical application of quantum communication. Keywords. quantum communication, photonics, time-bin encoding, source of photon pairs, heralded single photon source, entanglement, non-locality, time-bin entanglement, hybrid entanglement, quantum network, quantum cryptography, quantum coin-flipping, measurement-based quantum computation, telecommunication, optical fibre, nonlinear optics.

An 18-ps TDC using timing adjustment and bin realignment methods in a Cyclone-IV FPGA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Guiping; Xia, Haojie; Dong, Ning

2018-05-01

The method commonly used to produce a field-programmable gate array (FPGA)-based time-to-digital converter (TDC) creates a tapped delay line (TDL) for time interpolation to yield high time precision. We conduct timing adjustment and bin realignment to implement a TDC in the Altera Cyclone-IV FPGA. The former tunes the carry look-up table (LUT) cell delay by changing the LUT's function through low-level primitives according to timing analysis results, while the latter realigns bins according to the timing result obtained by timing adjustment so as to create a uniform TDL with bins of equivalent width. The differential nonlinearity and time resolution can be improved by realigning the bins. After calibration, the TDC has a 18 ps root-mean-square timing resolution and a 45 ps least-significant bit resolution.

Political orientation moderates worldview defense in response to Osama bin Laden’s death

PubMed Central

Chopik, William J.; Konrath, Sara H.

2016-01-01

The current study examines Americans’ psychological responses to Osama bin Laden’s death. We tracked changes in how different participants responded to dissimilar others from the night of bin Laden’s death for five weeks. Liberal participants reported lower worldview defense (i.e., a defensive reaction to uphold one’s cultural worldview) immediately after bin Laden’s death but then returned to similar levels as their conservative counterparts over time. Conservative participants reported greater worldview defense during each point of the study and did not significantly change over time. These temporal differences between liberals and conservatives were only present in the year of bin Laden’s death and not one year prior before. The current findings demonstrate that liberals and conservatives may react differently after major societal events in predictable ways considering their moral foundations. PMID:28239251

Use of nonpathogenic, green fluorescent protein-marked Escherichia coli Biotype I cultures to evaluate the self-cleansing capabilities of a commercial beef grinding system after a contamination event.

PubMed

Wages, Jennifer A; Williams, Jennifer; Adams, Jacquelyn; George, Bruce; Oxford, Eric; Zelenka, Dan

2014-11-01

Inoculated beef trim containing a cocktail of green fluorescent protein-marked Escherichia coli biotype I cultures as surrogates for E. coli O157:H7 was introduced into two large, commercial grinding facilities capable of producing 180,000 kg of ground product in 1 day. Three repetitions were performed over 3 days. Sampling occurred at three different points within the process: postprimary grind, postsecondary grind-blender, and postpackaging. Resulting data show that, as the inoculated meat passes through the system, the presence of the marked surrogate quickly diminishes. The depletion rates are directly related to the amount of product in kilograms (represented by time) that has passed through the system, but these rates vary with each step of the process. The primary grinder appears to rid itself of the contaminant the most quickly; in all repetitions, the contaminant was not detected within 5 min of introduction of the contaminated combo bin into the system, which in all cases, was prior to the introduction of a second combo bin and within 1,800 kg of product. After the blending step and subsequent secondary grinding, the contaminant was detected in product produced from both the parent combo and the combo bin added directly after the parent combo bin; however, for those days on which three combo bins (approximately 2,700 kg) were available for sampling, the contaminant was not detected from product representing the third combo bin. Similarly, at the packaging step, the contaminant was detected in the product produced by both the parent and second combo bins; however, on those days when a third combo bin was available for sampling (repetitions 2 and 3), the contaminant was not detected from product produced from the third combo bin.

Small cell ovarian carcinoma: genomic stability and responsiveness to therapeutics.

PubMed

Gamwell, Lisa F; Gambaro, Karen; Merziotis, Maria; Crane, Colleen; Arcand, Suzanna L; Bourada, Valerie; Davis, Christopher; Squire, Jeremy A; Huntsman, David G; Tonin, Patricia N; Vanderhyden, Barbara C

2013-02-21

The biology of small cell ovarian carcinoma of the hypercalcemic type (SCCOHT), which is a rare and aggressive form of ovarian cancer, is poorly understood. Tumourigenicity, in vitro growth characteristics, genetic and genomic anomalies, and sensitivity to standard and novel chemotherapeutic treatments were investigated in the unique SCCOHT cell line, BIN-67, to provide further insight in the biology of this rare type of ovarian cancer. The tumourigenic potential of BIN-67 cells was determined and the tumours formed in a xenograft model was compared to human SCCOHT. DNA sequencing, spectral karyotyping and high density SNP array analysis was performed. The sensitivity of the BIN-67 cells to standard chemotherapeutic agents and to vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) and the JX-594 vaccinia virus was tested. BIN-67 cells were capable of forming spheroids in hanging drop cultures. When xenografted into immunodeficient mice, BIN-67 cells developed into tumours that reflected the hypercalcemia and histology of human SCCOHT, notably intense expression of WT-1 and vimentin, and lack of expression of inhibin. Somatic mutations in TP53 and the most common activating mutations in KRAS and BRAF were not found in BIN-67 cells by DNA sequencing. Spectral karyotyping revealed a largely normal diploid karyotype (in greater than 95% of cells) with a visibly shorter chromosome 20 contig. High density SNP array analysis also revealed few genomic anomalies in BIN-67 cells, which included loss of heterozygosity of an estimated 16.7 Mb interval on chromosome 20. SNP array analyses of four SCCOHT samples also indicated a low frequency of genomic anomalies in the majority of cases. Although resistant to platinum chemotherapeutic drugs, BIN-67 cell viability in vitro was reduced by > 75% after infection with oncolytic viruses. These results show that SCCOHT differs from high-grade serous carcinomas by exhibiting few chromosomal anomalies and lacking TP53 mutations. Although BIN-67 cells are resistant to standard chemotherapeutic agents, their sensitivity to oncolytic viruses suggests that their therapeutic use in SCCOHT should be considered.

Stand Alone Battery Thermal Management System

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

Brodie, Brad

The objective of this project is research, development and demonstration of innovative thermal management concepts that reduce the cell or battery weight, complexity (component count) and/or cost by at least 20%. The project addresses two issues that are common problems with current state of the art lithium ion battery packs used in vehicles; low power at cold temperatures and reduced battery life when exposed to high temperatures. Typically, battery packs are “oversized” to satisfy the two issues mentioned above. The first phase of the project was spent making a battery pack simulation model using AMEsim software. The battery pack usedmore » as a benchmark was from the Fiat 500EV. FCA and NREL provided vehicle data and cell data that allowed an accurate model to be created that matched the electrical and thermal characteristics of the actual battery pack. The second phase involved using the battery model from the first phase and evaluate different thermal management concepts. In the end, a gas injection heat pump system was chosen as the dedicated thermal system to both heat and cool the battery pack. Based on the simulation model. The heat pump system could use 50% less energy to heat the battery pack in -20°C ambient conditions, and by keeping the battery cooler at hot climates, the battery pack size could be reduced by 5% and still meet the warranty requirements. During the final phase, the actual battery pack and heat pump system were installed in a test bench at DENSO to validate the simulation results. Also during this phase, the system was moved to NREL where testing was also done to validate the results. In conclusion, the heat pump system can improve “fuel economy” (for electric vehicle) by 12% average in cold climates. Also, the battery pack size, or capacity, could be reduced 5%, or if pack size is kept constant, the pack life could be increased by two years. Finally, the total battery pack and thermal system cost could be reduced 5% only if the system is integrated with the vehicle cabin air conditioning system. The reason why we were not able to achieve the 20% reduction target is because of the natural decay of the battery cell due to the number of cycles. Perhaps newer battery chemistries that are not so sensitive to cycling would have more potential for reducing the battery size due to thermal issues.« less

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Characterisation of RPLC columns packed with porous sub-2 microm particles.

PubMed

Petersson, Patrik; Euerby, Melvin R

2007-08-01

Eight commercially available sub-2 microm octadecyl silane columns (C18 columns) have been characterised by the Tanaka protocol. The columns can be grouped into two groups that display large differences in selectivity and peak shape due to differences in hydrophobicity, degree of surface coverage and silanol activity. Measurements of particle size distributions were made using automated microscopy and electrical sensing zone measurements. Only a weak correlation could be found between efficiency and particle size. Large differences in column backpressure were observed. These differences are not related to particle size distribution. A more likely explanation is differences in packing density. In order to take full advantage of 100-150 mm columns packed with sub-2 microm particles, it is often necessary to employ not only an elevated pressure but also an elevated temperature. A comparison between columns packed with sub-2, 3 and 5 microm versions of the same packing indicates potential method transferability problems for several of the columns due to selectivity differences. Currently, the best alternative for fast high-resolution LC is the use of sub-2 microm particles in combination with elevated pressure and temperature. However, as shown in this study additional efforts are needed to improve transferability as well as column performance.

Indexing Volumetric Shapes with Matching and Packing

PubMed Central

Koes, David Ryan; Camacho, Carlos J.

2014-01-01

We describe a novel algorithm for bulk-loading an index with high-dimensional data and apply it to the problem of volumetric shape matching. Our matching and packing algorithm is a general approach for packing data according to a similarity metric. First an approximate k-nearest neighbor graph is constructed using vantage-point initialization, an improvement to previous work that decreases construction time while improving the quality of approximation. Then graph matching is iteratively performed to pack related items closely together. The end result is a dense index with good performance. We define a new query specification for shape matching that uses minimum and maximum shape constraints to explicitly specify the spatial requirements of the desired shape. This specification provides a natural language for performing volumetric shape matching and is readily supported by the geometry-based similarity search (GSS) tree, an indexing structure that maintains explicit representations of volumetric shape. We describe our implementation of a GSS tree for volumetric shape matching and provide a comprehensive evaluation of parameter sensitivity, performance, and scalability. Compared to previous bulk-loading algorithms, we find that matching and packing can construct a GSS-tree index in the same amount of time that is denser, flatter, and better performing, with an observed average performance improvement of 2X. PMID:26085707

Method of multiplexed analysis using ion mobility spectrometer

DOEpatents

Belov, Mikhail E [Richland, WA; Smith, Richard D [Richland, WA

2009-06-02

A method for analyzing analytes from a sample introduced into a Spectrometer by generating a pseudo random sequence of a modulation bins, organizing each modulation bin as a series of submodulation bins, thereby forming an extended pseudo random sequence of submodulation bins, releasing the analytes in a series of analyte packets into a Spectrometer, thereby generating an unknown original ion signal vector, detecting the analytes at a detector, and characterizing the sample using the plurality of analyte signal subvectors. The method is advantageously applied to an Ion Mobility Spectrometer, and an Ion Mobility Spectrometer interfaced with a Time of Flight Mass Spectrometer.

Three-Dimensional Modeling of the Brain's ECS by Minimum Configurational Energy Packing of Fluid Vesicles

PubMed Central

Nandigam, Ravi K.; Kroll, Daniel M.

2007-01-01

The extracellular space of the brain is the heterogeneous porous medium formed by the spaces between the brain cells. Diffusion in this interstitial space is the mechanism by which glucose and oxygen are delivered to the brain cells from the vascular system. It is also a medium for the transport of certain informational substances between the cells (called volume transmission), and for drug delivery. This work involves three-dimensional modeling of the extracellular space as void space in close-packed arrays of fluid membrane vesicles. These packings are generated by minimizing the configurational energy using a Monte Carlo procedure. Both regular and random packs of vesicles are considered. A random walk algorithm is then used to compute the geometric tortuosities, and the results are compared with published experimental data. For the random packings, it is found that although the absolute values for the tortuosities differ, the dependence of the tortuosity on pore volume fraction is very similar to that observed in experiment. The tortuosities we measure are larger than those computed in previous studies of packings of convex polytopes, and modeling improvements, which require higher resolution studies and an improved modeling of brain cell shapes and mechanical properties, could help resolve remaining discrepancies between model simulations and experiment. It is also shown that the specular reflection scheme is the appropriate technique for implementing zero-flux boundary conditions in random walk simulations commonly encountered in diffusion problems. PMID:17307830

Three-dimensional modeling of the brain's ECS by minimum configurational energy packing of fluid vesicles.

PubMed

Nandigam, Ravi K; Kroll, Daniel M

2007-05-15

The extracellular space of the brain is the heterogeneous porous medium formed by the spaces between the brain cells. Diffusion in this interstitial space is the mechanism by which glucose and oxygen are delivered to the brain cells from the vascular system. It is also a medium for the transport of certain informational substances between the cells (called volume transmission), and for drug delivery. This work involves three-dimensional modeling of the extracellular space as void space in close-packed arrays of fluid membrane vesicles. These packings are generated by minimizing the configurational energy using a Monte Carlo procedure. Both regular and random packs of vesicles are considered. A random walk algorithm is then used to compute the geometric tortuosities, and the results are compared with published experimental data. For the random packings, it is found that although the absolute values for the tortuosities differ, the dependence of the tortuosity on pore volume fraction is very similar to that observed in experiment. The tortuosities we measure are larger than those computed in previous studies of packings of convex polytopes, and modeling improvements, which require higher resolution studies and an improved modeling of brain cell shapes and mechanical properties, could help resolve remaining discrepancies between model simulations and experiment. It is also shown that the specular reflection scheme is the appropriate technique for implementing zero-flux boundary conditions in random walk simulations commonly encountered in diffusion problems.

An ultra-high-density bin map facilitates high-throughput QTL mapping of horticultural traits in pepper (Capsicum annuum).

PubMed

Han, Koeun; Jeong, Hee-Jin; Yang, Hee-Bum; Kang, Sung-Min; Kwon, Jin-Kyung; Kim, Seungill; Choi, Doil; Kang, Byoung-Cheorl

2016-04-01

Most agricultural traits are controlled by quantitative trait loci (QTLs); however, there are few studies on QTL mapping of horticultural traits in pepper (Capsicum spp.) due to the lack of high-density molecular maps and the sequence information. In this study, an ultra-high-density map and 120 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from a cross between C. annuum'Perennial' and C. annuum'Dempsey' were used for QTL mapping of horticultural traits. Parental lines and RILs were resequenced at 18× and 1× coverage, respectively. Using a sliding window approach, an ultra-high-density bin map containing 2,578 bins was constructed. The total map length of the map was 1,372 cM, and the average interval between bins was 0.53 cM. A total of 86 significant QTLs controlling 17 horticultural traits were detected. Among these, 32 QTLs controlling 13 traits were major QTLs. Our research shows that the construction of bin maps using low-coverage sequence is a powerful method for QTL mapping, and that the short intervals between bins are helpful for fine-mapping of QTLs. Furthermore, bin maps can be used to improve the quality of reference genomes by elucidating the genetic order of unordered regions and anchoring unassigned scaffolds to linkage groups. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Kazusa DNA Research Institute.

Evaluation Program for Secondary Spacecraft Cells: Synchronous Orbit Testing of Sealed Nickel Cadmium Cells

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Harkness, J. D.

1977-01-01

Performance data concerning sealed nickel-cadmium cells operating under a synchronous orbit regime are presented. A space satellite maintaining a position over a fixed point on earth as the earth rotates on its axis and revolves about the sun was simulated. Results include: (1) exposure to synchronous orbit testing at a temperature of 40 C yields less than 6 years of life; (2) performance at -20 C presents a low capacity problem; (3) the capacity check, performed at the middle of each show period, provides a temporary red reconditioning effect on the cells in that the end-of-discharge voltages are higher, for approximately 7 to 10 days, following the capacity check than they were 7 to 10 days prior to the capacity check; (4) all the test packs at -20 C and 40 C have either failed or were discontinued because of low capacity; and (5) test packs at temperatures of 0 C and 10 C have delivered the best capacity during life and packs tested at 20 C showed better life capability than packs tested at -20 C and 40 C.

Packing a Box with Bricks.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jepsen, Charles H.

1991-01-01

Presented are solutions to variations of a combinatorics problem from a recent International Mathematics Olympiad. In particular, the matrix algebra solution illustrates an interaction among the undergraduate areas of geometry, combinatorics, linear algebra, and group theory. (JJK)

40 CFR 1037.520 - Modeling CO2 emissions to show compliance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

...) AIR POLLUTION CONTROLS CONTROL OF EMISSIONS FROM NEW HEAVY-DUTY MOTOR VEHICLES Test and Modeling..., expressed in m2 and rounded to two decimal places. Where we allow you to group multiple configurations... bin based on the drag area bin of an equivalent high-roof tractor. If the high-roof tractor is in Bin...

40 CFR 1037.520 - Modeling CO2 emissions to show compliance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

...) AIR POLLUTION CONTROLS CONTROL OF EMISSIONS FROM NEW HEAVY-DUTY MOTOR VEHICLES Test and Modeling... to two decimal places. Where we allow you to group multiple configurations together, measure the drag... the drag area bin of an equivalent high-roof tractor. If the high-roof tractor is in Bin I or Bin II...

40 CFR 1037.520 - Modeling CO2 emissions to show compliance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

...) AIR POLLUTION CONTROLS CONTROL OF EMISSIONS FROM NEW HEAVY-DUTY MOTOR VEHICLES Test and Modeling... to two decimal places. Where we allow you to group multiple configurations together, measure the drag... the drag area bin of an equivalent high-roof tractor. If the high-roof tractor is in Bin I or Bin II...

A compost bin for handling privy wastes: its fabrication and use

Treesearch

R.E. Leonard; S.C. Fay

1978-01-01

A 24-ft3 (6.8-m3) fiberglass bin was constructed and tested for its effectiveness in composting privy wastes. A mixture of ground hardwood bark and raw sewage was used for composting. Temperatures in excess of 60°C for 36 hours were produced in the bin by aerobic, thermophilic composting. This temperature is...

Development of a Novel Therapeutic Paradigm Utilizing a Mammary Gland-Targeted, Bin-1 Knockout Mouse Model

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-03-01

Cell. Biol. 23, 4295 (Jun, 2003). Bin1 Ablation in Mammary Gland Delays Tissue Remodeling and Drives Cancer Progression Mee Young Chang, 1...Basu A, et al. Bin1 functionally interacts with Myc in cells and inhibits cell proliferation by multiple mechanisms. Oncogene 1999;18:3564–73. 5. Pineda

Causes of Students' Violence at Al-Hussein Bin Talal University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alrawwad, Theeb M.; Alrfooh, Atif Eid

2014-01-01

This study aimed at identifying the causes of students' violence from the student's point of view, and also aimed at investigating the proper solutions to reduce the spread of violence at Al-Hussein Bin Talal University. The study sample consisted of (906) male and female students from Al-Hussein Bin Talal University, who have enrolled the summer…

Conservative Bin-to-Bin Fractional Collisions

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-06-28

BIN FRACTIONAL COLLISIONS Robert Martin ERC INC., SPACECRAFT PROPULSION BRANCH AIR FORCE RESEARCH LABORATORY EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, CA USA 30th...IMPORTANCE OF COLLISION PHYSICS Important Collisions in Spacecraft Propulsion : Discharge and Breakdown in FRC Collisional Radiative Cooling/Ionization...UNLIMITED; PA #16326 3 / 18 IMPORTANCE OF COLLISION PHYSICS Important Collisions in Spacecraft Propulsion : Discharge and Breakdown in FRC Collisional

Development and preliminary evaluation of a new bin filler for apple harvesting and and infield sorting

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The bin filler, which is used for filling the fruit container or bin with apples coming from the sorting system, plays a critical role for the self-propelled apple harvest and infield sorting (HIS) machine that is being developed in our laboratory. Two major technical challenges in developing the bi...

Development of a new bin filler for apple harvesting and infield sorting with a review of existing technologies

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The bin filler, which receives apples from the sorting system and then places them in the bin evenly without causing bruise damage, plays a critical role for the self-propelled apple harvest and infield sorting (HIS) machine that is being developed in our laboratory. Two major technical challenges ...

A Software Assurance Framework for Mitigating the Risks of Malicious Software in Embedded Systems Used in Aircraft

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-09-01

to show cryptographic signature # generation on a UNIX system # SHA=/bin/ sha256 CSDB=/tmp/csdb CODEBASE=. touch "$CSDB" find "$CODEBASE" -type f...artifacts generated earlier. 81 #! /bin/sh # # Demo program to show cryptographic signature # verification on a UNIX system # SHA=/bin/ sha256 CSDB=/tmp

Increasing Donations to Supermarket Food-Bank Bins Using Proximal Prompts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farrimond, Samantha J.; Leland, Louis S., Jr.

2006-01-01

There has been little research into interventions to increase participation in donating items to food-bank bins. In New Zealand, there has been an increased demand from food banks (Stewart, 2002). This study demonstrated that point-of-sale prompts can be an effective method of increasing donations to a supermarket food-bank bin. (Contains 1…

14. OBLIQUE VIEW OF UPPER ORE BIN AND LOADING DECK, ...

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

14. OBLIQUE VIEW OF UPPER ORE BIN AND LOADING DECK, LOOKING WEST. DETAIL OF SUPPORTING TIMBERS. THE LOCATION OF THIS ORE BIN IN RELATION TO THE MILL CAN BE SEEN IN MANY OF THE MILL OVERVIEWS. (CA-290-4 THROUGH CA-290-8). - Skidoo Mine, Park Route 38 (Skidoo Road), Death Valley Junction, Inyo County, CA

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Optimizing and evaluating the reconstruction of Metagenome-assembled microbial genomes.

PubMed

Papudeshi, Bhavya; Haggerty, J Matthew; Doane, Michael; Morris, Megan M; Walsh, Kevin; Beattie, Douglas T; Pande, Dnyanada; Zaeri, Parisa; Silva, Genivaldo G Z; Thompson, Fabiano; Edwards, Robert A; Dinsdale, Elizabeth A

2017-11-28

Microbiome/host interactions describe characteristics that affect the host's health. Shotgun metagenomics includes sequencing a random subset of the microbiome to analyze its taxonomic and metabolic potential. Reconstruction of DNA fragments into genomes from metagenomes (called metagenome-assembled genomes) assigns unknown fragments to taxa/function and facilitates discovery of novel organisms. Genome reconstruction incorporates sequence assembly and sorting of assembled sequences into bins, characteristic of a genome. However, the microbial community composition, including taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity may influence genome reconstruction. We determine the optimal reconstruction method for four microbiome projects that had variable sequencing platforms (IonTorrent and Illumina), diversity (high or low), and environment (coral reefs and kelp forests), using a set of parameters to select for optimal assembly and binning tools. We tested the effects of the assembly and binning processes on population genome reconstruction using 105 marine metagenomes from 4 projects. Reconstructed genomes were obtained from each project using 3 assemblers (IDBA, MetaVelvet, and SPAdes) and 2 binning tools (GroopM and MetaBat). We assessed the efficiency of assemblers using statistics that including contig continuity and contig chimerism and the effectiveness of binning tools using genome completeness and taxonomic identification. We concluded that SPAdes, assembled more contigs (143,718 ± 124 contigs) of longer length (N50 = 1632 ± 108 bp), and incorporated the most sequences (sequences-assembled = 19.65%). The microbial richness and evenness were maintained across the assembly, suggesting low contig chimeras. SPAdes assembly was responsive to the biological and technological variations within the project, compared with other assemblers. Among binning tools, we conclude that MetaBat produced bins with less variation in GC content (average standard deviation: 1.49), low species richness (4.91 ± 0.66), and higher genome completeness (40.92 ± 1.75) across all projects. MetaBat extracted 115 bins from the 4 projects of which 66 bins were identified as reconstructed metagenome-assembled genomes with sequences belonging to a specific genus. We identified 13 novel genomes, some of which were 100% complete, but show low similarity to genomes within databases. In conclusion, we present a set of biologically relevant parameters for evaluation to select for optimal assembly and binning tools. For the tools we tested, SPAdes assembler and MetaBat binning tools reconstructed quality metagenome-assembled genomes for the four projects. We also conclude that metagenomes from microbial communities that have high coverage of phylogenetically distinct, and low taxonomic diversity results in highest quality metagenome-assembled genomes.

COCACOLA: binning metagenomic contigs using sequence COmposition, read CoverAge, CO-alignment and paired-end read LinkAge.

PubMed

Lu, Yang Young; Chen, Ting; Fuhrman, Jed A; Sun, Fengzhu

2017-03-15

The advent of next-generation sequencing technologies enables researchers to sequence complex microbial communities directly from the environment. Because assembly typically produces only genome fragments, also known as contigs, instead of an entire genome, it is crucial to group them into operational taxonomic units (OTUs) for further taxonomic profiling and down-streaming functional analysis. OTU clustering is also referred to as binning. We present COCACOLA, a general framework automatically bin contigs into OTUs based on sequence composition and coverage across multiple samples. The effectiveness of COCACOLA is demonstrated in both simulated and real datasets in comparison with state-of-art binning approaches such as CONCOCT, GroopM, MaxBin and MetaBAT. The superior performance of COCACOLA relies on two aspects. One is using L 1 distance instead of Euclidean distance for better taxonomic identification during initialization. More importantly, COCACOLA takes advantage of both hard clustering and soft clustering by sparsity regularization. In addition, the COCACOLA framework seamlessly embraces customized knowledge to facilitate binning accuracy. In our study, we have investigated two types of additional knowledge, the co-alignment to reference genomes and linkage of contigs provided by paired-end reads, as well as the ensemble of both. We find that both co-alignment and linkage information further improve binning in the majority of cases. COCACOLA is scalable and faster than CONCOCT, GroopM, MaxBin and MetaBAT. The software is available at https://github.com/younglululu/COCACOLA . fsun@usc.edu. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

Simulation and study of small numbers of random events

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shelton, R. D.

1986-01-01

Random events were simulated by computer and subjected to various statistical methods to extract important parameters. Various forms of curve fitting were explored, such as least squares, least distance from a line, maximum likelihood. Problems considered were dead time, exponential decay, and spectrum extraction from cosmic ray data using binned data and data from individual events. Computer programs, mostly of an iterative nature, were developed to do these simulations and extractions and are partially listed as appendices. The mathematical basis for the compuer programs is given.

Vicarious revenge and the death of Osama bin Laden.

PubMed

Gollwitzer, Mario; Skitka, Linda J; Wisneski, Daniel; Sjöström, Arne; Liberman, Peter; Nazir, Syed Javed; Bushman, Brad J

2014-05-01

Three hypotheses were derived from research on vicarious revenge and tested in the context of the assassination of Osama bin Laden in 2011. In line with the notion that revenge aims at delivering a message (the "message hypothesis"), Study 1 shows that Americans' vengeful desires in the aftermath of 9/11 predicted a sense of justice achieved after bin Laden's death, and that this effect was mediated by perceptions that his assassination sent a message to the perpetrators to not "mess" with the United States. In line with the "blood lust hypothesis," his assassination also sparked a desire to take further revenge and to continue the "war on terror." Finally, in line with the "intent hypothesis," Study 2 shows that Americans (but not Pakistanis or Germans) considered the fact that bin Laden was killed intentionally more satisfactory than the possibility of bin Laden being killed accidentally (e.g., in an airplane crash).

Garbage monitoring system using IoT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anitha, A.

2017-11-01

Nowadays certain actions are taken to improve the level of cleanliness in the country. People are getting more active in doing all the things possible to clean their surroundings. Various movements are also started by the government to increase cleanliness. We will try to build a system which will notify the corporations to empty the bin on time. In this system, we will put a sensor on top of the garbage bin which will detect the total level of garbage inside it according to the total size of the bin. When the garbage will reach the maximum level, a notification will be sent to the corporation's office, then the employees can take further actions to empty the bin. This system will help in cleaning the city in a better way. By using this system people do not have to check all the systems manually but they will get a notification when the bin will get filled.

Deterministically swapping frequency-bin entanglement from photon-photon to atom-photon hybrid systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ou, Bao-Quan; Liu, Chang; Sun, Yuan; Chen, Ping-Xing

2018-02-01

Inspired by the recent developments of the research on the atom-photon quantum interface and energy-time entanglement between single-photon pulses, we are motivated to study the deterministic protocol for the frequency-bin entanglement of the atom-photon hybrid system, which is analogous to the frequency-bin entanglement between single-photon pulses. We show that such entanglement arises naturally in considering the interaction between a frequency-bin entangled single-photon pulse pair and a single atom coupled to an optical cavity, via straightforward atom-photon phase gate operations. Its anticipated properties and preliminary examples of its potential application in quantum networking are also demonstrated. Moreover, we construct a specific quantum entanglement witness tool to detect such extended frequency-bin entanglement from a reasonably general set of separable states, and prove its capability theoretically. We focus on the energy-time considerations throughout the analysis.

A Natural Component-Based Oxygen Indicator with In-Pack Activation for Intelligent Food Packaging.

PubMed

Won, Keehoon; Jang, Nan Young; Jeon, Junsu

2016-12-28

Intelligent food packaging can provide consumers with reliable and correct information on the quality and safety of packaged foods. One of the key constituents in intelligent packaging is a colorimetric oxygen indicator, which is widely used to detect oxygen gas involved in food spoilage by means of a color change. Traditional oxygen indicators consisting of redox dyes and strong reducing agents have two major problems: they must be manufactured and stored under anaerobic conditions because air depletes the reductant, and their components are synthetic and toxic. To address both of these serious problems, we have developed a natural component-based oxygen indicator characterized by in-pack activation. The conventional oxygen indicator composed of synthetic and artificial components was redesigned using naturally occurring compounds (laccase, guaiacol, and cysteine). These natural components were physically separated into two compartments by a fragile barrier. Only when the barrier was broken were all of the components mixed and the function as an oxygen indicator was begun (i.e., in-pack activation). Depending on the component concentrations, the natural component-based oxygen indicator exhibited different response times and color differences. The rate of the color change was proportional to the oxygen concentration. This novel colorimetric oxygen indicator will contribute greatly to intelligent packaging for healthier and safer foods.

Periodic homogenization and consistent estimates of transport parameters through sphere and polyhedron packings in the whole porosity range.

PubMed

Boutin, Claude; Geindreau, Christian

2010-09-01

This paper presents a study of transport parameters (diffusion, dynamic permeability, thermal permeability, trapping constant) of porous media by combining the homogenization of periodic media (HPM) and the self-consistent scheme (SCM) based on a bicomposite spherical pattern. The link between the HPM and SCM approaches is first established by using a systematic argument independent of the problem under consideration. It is shown that the periodicity condition can be replaced by zero flux and energy through the whole surface of the representative elementary volume. Consequently the SCM solution can be considered as a geometrical approximation of the local problem derived through HPM for materials such that the morphology of the period is "close" to the SCM pattern. These results are then applied to derive the estimates of the effective diffusion, the dynamic permeability, the thermal permeability and the trapping constant of porous media. These SCM estimates are compared with numerical HPM results obtained on periodic arrays of spheres and polyhedrons. It is shown that SCM estimates provide good analytical approximations of the effective parameters for periodic packings of spheres at porosities larger than 0.6, while the agreement is excellent for periodic packings of polyhedrons in the whole range of porosity.

16 CFR § 1301.6 - Test conditions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 16 Commercial Practices 2 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Test conditions. Â§ 1301.6 Section Â§ 1301.6... UNSTABLE REFUSE BINS § 1301.6 Test conditions. (a) The refuse bin shall be empty and have its lids or covers in a position which would most adversely affect the stability of the bin when tested. (b) The...

29 CFR 1917.49 - Spouts, chutes, hoppers, bins, and associated equipment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... the entry; and (2) The power supply to the equipment carrying the cargo to the bin shall be turned off... been notified of the entry; (2) The power supply to the equipment carrying the cargo to the bin is... adjustments are made to a power shovel, wire, or associated equipment, the power supply to the shovel shall be...

29 CFR 1917.49 - Spouts, chutes, hoppers, bins, and associated equipment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... the entry; and (2) The power supply to the equipment carrying the cargo to the bin shall be turned off... been notified of the entry; (2) The power supply to the equipment carrying the cargo to the bin is... adjustments are made to a power shovel, wire, or associated equipment, the power supply to the shovel shall be...

DETAIL OVERHEAD VIEW OF SECONDARY ORE BIN. CONVEYOR PLATFORM,TRAM TRESTLE, ...

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

DETAIL OVERHEAD VIEW OF SECONDARY ORE BIN. CONVEYOR PLATFORM,TRAM TRESTLE, AND LOADING PLATFORM. LOOKING SOUTHWEST. THE HOLE IN THE ORE BIN FLOOR CAN BE SEEN, AND BALL MILL FOUNDATION AT LOWER LEFT CORNER. SEE CA-291-47(CT) FOR IDENTICAL COLOR TRANSPARENCY. - Keane Wonder Mine, Park Route 4 (Daylight Pass Cutoff), Death Valley Junction, Inyo County, CA

DETAIL OVERHEAD VIEW OF SECONDARY ORE BIN, CONVEYOR PLATFORM TRAM ...

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

DETAIL OVERHEAD VIEW OF SECONDARY ORE BIN, CONVEYOR PLATFORM TRAM TRESTLE, AND LOADING PLATFORM, LOOKING SOUTHWEST. THE HOLE IN THE ORE BIN FLOOR CAN BE SEEN, AND BALL MILL FOUNDATION AT LOWER LEFT CORNER. SEE CA-291-13 FOR IDENTICAL B&W NEGATIVE. - Keane Wonder Mine, Park Route 4 (Daylight Pass Cutoff), Death Valley Junction, Inyo County, CA

19 CFR 19.29 - Sealing of bins or other bonded space.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... Bonded for the Storage of Wheat § 19.29 Sealing of bins or other bonded space. The outlets to all bins or other space bonded for the storage of imported wheat shall be sealed by affixing locks or in bond seals... which will effectively prevent the removal of, or access to, the wheat in the bonded space except under...

Time-frequency analysis-based time-windowing algorithm for the inverse synthetic aperture radar imaging of ships

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Peng; Zhang, Xi; Sun, Weifeng; Dai, Yongshou; Wan, Yong

2018-01-01

An algorithm based on time-frequency analysis is proposed to select an imaging time window for the inverse synthetic aperture radar imaging of ships. An appropriate range bin is selected to perform the time-frequency analysis after radial motion compensation. The selected range bin is that with the maximum mean amplitude among the range bins whose echoes are confirmed to be contributed by a dominant scatter. The criterion for judging whether the echoes of a range bin are contributed by a dominant scatter is key to the proposed algorithm and is therefore described in detail. When the first range bin that satisfies the judgment criterion is found, a sequence composed of the frequencies that have the largest amplitudes in every moment's time-frequency spectrum corresponding to this range bin is employed to calculate the length and the center moment of the optimal imaging time window. Experiments performed with simulation data and real data show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, and comparisons between the proposed algorithm and the image contrast-based algorithm (ICBA) are provided. Similar image contrast and lower entropy are acquired using the proposed algorithm as compared with those values when using the ICBA.

Fungal volatiles associated with moldy grain in ventilated and non-ventilated bin-stored wheat.

PubMed

Sinha, R N; Tuma, D; Abramson, D; Muir, W E

1988-01-01

The fungal odor compounds 3-methyl-1-butanol, 1-octen-3-ol and 3-octanone were monitored in nine experimental bins in Winnipeg, Manitoba containing a hard red spring wheat during the autumn, winter and summer seasons of 1984-85. Quality changes were associated with seed-borne microflora and moisture content in both ventilated and non-ventilated bins containing wheat of 15.6 and 18.2% initial moisture content. All three odor compounds occurred in considerably greater amounts in bulk wheat in non-ventilated than in ventilated bins, particularly in those with wheat having 18.2% moisture content. The presence of these compounds usually coincided with infection of the seeds by the fungi Alternaria alternata (Fr.) Keissler, Aspergillus repens DeBarry, A. versicolor (Vuill.) Tiraboschi, Penicillium crustosum Thom, P. oxalicum Currie and Thom, P. aurantiogriesum Dierckx, and P. citrinum Thom. High production of all three odor compounds in damp wheat stored in non-ventilated bins was associated with heavy fungal infection of the seeds and reduction in seed germinability. High initial moisture content of the harvested grain accelerated the production of all three fungal volatiles in non-ventilated bins.

LEGO Materials.

PubMed

Talapin, Dmitri V

2008-06-01

Two papers in this issue report important developments in the field of inorganic nanomaterials. Chen and O'Brien discuss self-assembly of semiconductor nanocrystals into binary nanoparticle superlattices (BNSLs). They show that simple geometrical principles based on maximizing the packing density can determine BNSL symmetry in the absence of cohesive electrostatic interactions. This finding highlights the role of entropy as the driving force for ordering nanoparticles. The other paper, by Weller and co-workers, addresses an important problem related to device integration of nanoparticle assemblies. They employ the Langmuir-Blodgett technique to prepare long-range ordered monolayers of close-packed nanocrystals and transfer them to different substrates.

Physical and Chemical Properties of Coal Bottom Ash (CBA) from Tanjung Bin Power Plant

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Izzati Raihan Ramzi, Nurul; Shahidan, Shahiron; Zulkhairi Maarof, Mohamad; Ali, Noorwirdawati

2016-11-01

The objective of this study is to determine the physical and chemical characteristics of Coal Bottom Ash (CBA) obtained from Tanjung Bin Power Plant Station and compare them with the characteristics of natural river sand (as a replacement of fine aggregates). Bottom ash is the by-product of coal combustion during the electricity generating process. However, excess bottom ash production due to the high production of electricity in Malaysia has caused several environmental problems. Therefore, several tests have been conducted in order to determine the physical and chemical properties of bottom ash such as specific gravity, density, particle size distribution, Scanning Electron Microscopic (SEM) and X- Ray Fluorescence (XRF) in the attempt to produce sustainable material from waste. The results indicated that the natural fine aggregate and coal bottom ash have very different physical and chemical properties. Bottom ash was classified as Class C ash. The porous structure, angular and rough texture of bottom ash affected its specific gravity and particle density. From the tests, it was found that bottom ash is recommended to be used in concrete as a replacement for fine aggregates.

Sensitivity of alpine and subalpine lakes to acidification from atmospheric deposition in Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nanus, Leora; Campbell, Donald H.; Williams, Mark W.

2005-01-01

The sensitivity of 400 lakes in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks to acidification from atmospheric deposition of nitrogen and sulfur was estimated based on statistical relations between acid-neutralizing capacity concentrations and basin characteristics to aid in the design of a long-term monitoring plan for Outstanding Natural Resource Waters. Acid-neutralizing capacity concentrations that were measured at 52 lakes in Grand Teton and 23 lakes in Yellowstone during synoptic surveys were used to calibrate the statistical models. Three acid-neutralizing capacity concentration bins (bins) were selected that are within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency criteria of sensitive to acidification; less than 50 microequivalents per liter (?eq/L) (0-50), less than 100 ?eq/L (0-100), and less than 200 ?eq/L (0-200). The development of discrete bins enables resource managers to have the ability to change criteria based on the focus of their study. Basin-characteristic information was derived from Geographic Information System data sets. The explanatory variables that were considered included bedrock type, basin slope, basin aspect, basin elevation, lake area, basin area, inorganic nitrogen deposition, sulfate deposition, hydrogen ion deposition, basin precipitation, soil type, and vegetation type. A logistic regression model was developed and applied to lake basins greater than 1 hectare in Grand Teton (n = 106) and Yellowstone (n = 294). A higher percentage of lakes in Grand Teton than in Yellowstone were predicted to be sensitive to atmospheric deposition in all three bins. For Grand Teton, 7 percent of lakes had a greater than 60-percent probability of having acid-neutralizing capacity concentrations in the 0-50 bin, 36 percent of lakes had a greater than 60-percent probability of having acid-neutralizing capacity concentrations in the 0-100 bin, and 59 percent of lakes had a greater than 60-percent probability of having acid-neutralizing capacity concentrations in the 0-200 bin. The elevation of the lake outlet and the area of the basin with northeast aspects were determined to be statistically significant and were used as the explanatory variables in the multivariate logistic regression model for the 0-100 bin. For Yellowstone, results indicated that 13 percent of lakes had a greater than 60-percent probability of having acid-neutralizing capacity concentrations in the 0-100 bin, and 27 percent of lakes had a greater than 60-percent probability of having acid-neutralizing capacity concentrations in the 0-200 bin. Only the elevation of the lake outlet was determined to be statistically significant and was used as the explanatory variable for the 0-100 bin. The lakes that exceeded 60-percent probability of having an acid-neutralizing capacity concentration in the 0-100 bin, and therefore had the greatest sensitivity to acidification from atmospheric deposition, are located at elevations greater than 2,790 meters in Grand Teton, and greater than 2,590 meters in Yellowstone.

Conical wave propagation and diffraction in two-dimensional hexagonally packed granular lattices

DOE PAGES

Chong, C.; Kevrekidis, P. G.; Ablowitz, M. J.; ...

2016-01-25

We explore linear and nonlinear mechanisms for conical wave propagation in two-dimensional lattices in the realm of phononic crystals. As a prototypical example, a statically compressed granular lattice of spherical particles arranged in a hexagonal packing configuration is analyzed. Upon identifying the dispersion relation of the underlying linear problem, the resulting diffraction properties are considered. Analysis both via a heuristic argument for the linear propagation of a wave packet and via asymptotic analysis leading to the derivation of a Dirac system suggests the occurrence of conical diffraction. This analysis is valid for strong precompression, i.e., near the linear regime. Formore » weak precompression, conical wave propagation is still possible, but the resulting expanding circular wave front is of a nonoscillatory nature, resulting from the complex interplay among the discreteness, nonlinearity, and geometry of the packing. Lastly, the transition between these two types of propagation is explored.« less

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Data on crystal organization in the structure of the Fab fragment from the NIST reference antibody, RM 8671.

PubMed

Gallagher, D T; Karageorgos, I; Hudgens, J W; Galvin, C V

2018-02-01

The reported data describe the crystallization, crystal packing, structure determination and twinning of the unliganded Fab (antigen-binding fragment) from the NISTmAb (standard reference material 8671). The raw atomic coordinates are available as Protein Data Bank structure 5K8A and biological aspects are described in the article, (Karageorgos et al., 2017) [1]. Crystal data show that the packing is unique, and show the basis for the crystal's twinned growth. Twinning is a common and often serious problem in protein structure determination by x-ray crystallography [2]. In the present case the twinning is due to a small deviation (about 0.3 nm) from 4-fold symmetry in the primary intermolecular interface. The deviation produces pseudosymmetry, generating slightly different conformations of the protein, and alternating strong and weak forms of key packing interfaces throughout the lattice.

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

Singleton, Jr., Robert; Israel, Daniel M.; Doebling, Scott William

For code verification, one compares the code output against known exact solutions. There are many standard test problems used in this capacity, such as the Noh and Sedov problems. ExactPack is a utility that integrates many of these exact solution codes into a common API (application program interface), and can be used as a stand-alone code or as a python package. ExactPack consists of python driver scripts that access a library of exact solutions written in Fortran or Python. The spatial profiles of the relevant physical quantities, such as the density, fluid velocity, sound speed, or internal energy, are returnedmore » at a time specified by the user. The solution profiles can be viewed and examined by a command line interface or a graphical user interface, and a number of analysis tools and unit tests are also provided. We have documented the physics of each problem in the solution library, and provided complete documentation on how to extend the library to include additional exact solutions. ExactPack’s code architecture makes it easy to extend the solution-code library to include additional exact solutions in a robust, reliable, and maintainable manner.« less

Benefits of a Hospital Two-Bin Kanban System

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-09-01

Reader : Michael Dixon THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK i REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Form Approved OMB No. 0704–0188 Public reporting burden for...Approved by: Nedialko Dimitrov Thesis Advisor Rachel Silvestrini Co-Advisor Michael Dixon Second Reader Robert F. Dell Chair...stocks split between primary (in front) and secondary bins (directly behind). RFID tags are placed on the front of each bin. Photos taken at WRNMMC

Evaluation of five sampling methods for Liposcelis entomophila (Enderlein) and L. decolor (Pearman) (Psocoptera: Liposcelididae) in steel bins containing wheat

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

An evaluation of five sampling methods for studying psocid population levels was conducted in two steel bins containing 32.6 metric tonnes of wheat in Manhattan, KS. Psocids were sampled using a 1.2-m open-ended trier, corrugated cardboard refuges placed on the underside of the bin hatch or the surf...

SeaQuaKE: Sea-optimized Quantum Key Exchange

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-01-01

of photon pairs in both polarization [3] and time-bin [4] degrees of freedom simultaneously. Entanglement analysis components in both the...greater throughput per entangled photon pair compared to alternative sources that encode in only a Photon -pair source Time-bin entanglement ...Polarization Entanglement & Pair Generation Hyperentangled Photon Pair Source •Wavelength availability • Power • Pulse rate Time-bin Mux • Waveguide vs

A Simple Heat of Crystallization Experiment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

De Nevers, Noel

1991-01-01

A demonstration used in a heat and material balances class that explains how a reusable heat pack works is described. An initial homework problem or exam question is provided with its solution. A discussion of the solution is included. (KR)

See Also:physica status solidi (a)physica status solidi (c)Copyright © 2004 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
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Volume 241, Issue13 (November 2004)
Articles in the Current Issue:
Rapid Research Note
Strong Eu emission of annealed Y2O3:Eu nanotube and nano-sized crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sekita, Masami; Iwanaga, Kenichi; Hamasuna, Tomomi; Mohri, Shinji; Uota, Masafumi; Yada, Mitsunori; Kijima, Tsuyoshi

2004-11-01

We have observed a drastic increase of the Eu3+ emission intensity by annealing nanotubes and nano-sized hexagonal-mesostructured crystals of the Y2O3:Eu system together with bulk samples. It is found that there are three Eu3+ sites in all samples. Stark splitting schemes are proposed for the three homogeneous sites.

See Also:physica status solidi (b)physica status solidi (c)Copyright © 2004 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
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Volume 201, Issue13 (October 2004)
Articles in the Current Issue:
Rapid Research Note
Scintillation properties of lead tungstate crystals doped with the monovalent ion lithium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Yanlin; Seo, Hyo Jin; Zhu, Wenliang

2004-10-01

Lithium-doped PbWO4 crystals have been grown by the Czochralski method. Optical absorbance, X-ray excited luminescence, light yield measurements and X-ray pulsed excited decays have been investigated. Li+ doping has a very good uniformity and could enhance the luminescence of PbWO4, give some contributions to the fast decay components.

Microbial survey of ready-to-eat salad ingredients sold at retail reveals the occurrence and the persistence of Listeria monocytogenes Sequence Types 2 and 87 in pre-packed smoked salmon.

PubMed

Chau, Man Ling; Aung, Kyaw Thu; Hapuarachchi, Hapuarachchige Chanditha; Lee, Pei Sze Valarie; Lim, Pei Ying; Kang, Joanne Su Lin; Ng, Youming; Yap, Hooi Ming; Yuk, Hyun-Gyun; Gutiérrez, Ramona Alikiiteaga; Ng, Lee Ching

2017-02-28

As the preparation of salads involves extensive handling and the use of uncooked ingredients, they are particularly vulnerable to microbial contamination. This study aimed to determine the microbial safety and quality of pre-packed salads and salad bar ingredients sold in Singapore, so as to identify public health risks that could arise from consuming salads and to determine areas for improvement in the management of food safety. The most frequently encountered organism in pre-packed salad samples was B. cereus, particularly in pasta salads (33.3%, 10/30). The most commonly detected organism in salad bar ingredients was L. monocytogenes, in particular seafood ingredients (44.1%, 15/34), largely due to contaminated smoked salmon. Further investigation showed that 21.6% (37/171) of the pre-packed smoked salmon sold in supermarkets contained L. monocytogenes. Significantly higher prevalence of L. monocytogenes and higher Standard Plate Count were detected in smoked salmon at salad bars compared to pre-packed smoked salmon in supermarkets, which suggested multiplication of the organism as the products move down the supply chain. Further molecular analysis revealed that L. monocytogenes Sequence Type (ST) 2 and ST87 were present in a particular brand of pre-packed salmon products over a 4-year period, implying a potential persistent contamination problem at the manufacturing level. Our findings highlighted a need to improve manufacturing and retail hygiene processes as well as to educate vulnerable populations to avoid consuming food prone to L. monocytogenes contamination.

Parameter dependence of the MCNP electron transport in determining dose distributions.

PubMed

Reynaert, N; Palmans, H; Thierens, H; Jeraj, R

2002-10-01

In this paper, a detailed study of the electron transport in MCNP is performed, separating the effects of the energy binning technique on the energy loss rate, the scattering angles, and the sub-step length as a function of energy. As this problem is already well known, in this paper we focus on the explanation as to why the default mode of MCNP can lead to large deviations. The resolution dependence was investigated as well. An error in the MCNP code in the energy binning technique in the default mode (DBCN 18 card = 0) was revealed, more specific in the updating of cross sections when a sub-step is performed corresponding to a high-energy loss. This updating error is not present in the ITS mode (DBCN 18 card = 1) and leads to a systematically lower dose deposition rate in the default mode. The effect is present for all energies studied (0.5-10 MeV) and depends on the geometrical resolution of the scoring regions and the energy grid resolution. The effect of the energy binning technique is of the same order of that of the updating error for energies below 2 MeV, and becomes less important for higher energies. For a 1 MeV point source surrounded by homogeneous water, the deviation of the default MCNP results at short distances attains 9% and remains approximately the same for all energies. This effect could be corrected by removing the completion of an energy step each time an electron changes from an energy bin during a sub-step. Another solution consists of performing all calculations in the ITS mode. Another problem is the resolution dependence, even in the ITS mode. The higher the resolution is chosen (the smaller the scoring regions) the faster the energy is deposited along the electron track. It is proven that this is caused by starting a new energy step when crossing a surface. The resolution effect should be investigated for every specific case when calculating dose distributions around beta sources. The resolution should not be higher than 0.85*(1-EFAC)*CSDA, where EFAC is the energy loss per energy step and CSDA a continuous slowing down approximation range. This effect could as well be removed by determining the cross sections for energy loss and multiple scattering at the average energy of an energy step and by sampling the cross sections for each sub-step. Overall, we conclude that MCNP cannot be used without a caution due to possible errors in the electron transport. When care is taken, it is possible to obtain correct results that are in agreement with other Monte Carlo codes.

Volatile compounds and odor preferences of ground beef added with garlic and red wine, and irradiated with charcoal pack

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Kyung Haeng; Yun, Hyejeong; Lee, Ju Woon; Ahn, Dong Uk; Lee, Eun Joo; Jo, Cheorun

2012-08-01

Irradiation is the most efficient non-thermal technology for improving hygienic quality and extending the shelf-life of food products. One of the adverse effects of food irradiation, however, is off-flavor production, which significantly affects the sensory preferences for certain foods. In this study, garlic (5%, w/w) and red wine (1:1, w/w) were added to ground beef to increase the radiation sensitivity of pathogens and improve meat odor/flavor. Samples were irradiated at 0 or 5 kGy in the presence of charcoal pack. SPME-GC-MS analysis was performed to measure the changes in the volatile compounds and sensory characteristics of the samples. The amount of total volatile compounds produced from ground beef was greater when the sample was irradiated. When garlic and red wine were added to the ground beef, the amount of volatile compounds significantly increased, and the amount of volatile compounds increased even further after irradiation. However, when the samples were irradiated with charcoal pack, the amount of volatile compounds decreased significantly. Sensory evaluation indicated that charcoal pack significantly increased the odor preferences for both irradiated and non-irradiated ground beef added with garlic. These results indicated that addition of charcoal pack to ground beef could reduce off-odor problems induced by irradiation, and this effect was consistent even when certain additives such as garlic and red wine were added.

Measured Black Carbon Deposition on the Sierra Nevada Snow Pack and Implication for Snow Pack Retreat

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

Hadley, O.L.; Corrigan, C.E.; Kirchstetter, T.W.

2010-01-12

Modeling studies show that the darkening of snow and ice by black carbon deposition is a major factor for the rapid disappearance of arctic sea ice, mountain glaciers and snow packs. This study provides one of the first direct measurements for the efficient removal of black carbon from the atmosphere by snow and its subsequent deposition to the snow packs of California. The early melting of the snow packs in the Sierras is one of the contributing factors to the severe water problems in California. BC concentrations in falling snow were measured at two mountain locations and in rain atmore » a coastal site. All three stations reveal large BC concentrations in precipitation, ranging from 1.7 ng/g to 12.9 ng/g. The BC concentrations in the air after the snow fall were negligible suggesting an extremely efficient removal of BC by snow. The data suggest that below cloud scavenging, rather than ice nuclei, was the dominant source of BC in the snow. A five-year comparison of BC, dust, and total fine aerosol mass concentrations at multiple sites reveals that the measurements made at the sampling sites were representative of large scale deposition in the Sierra Nevada. The relative concentration of iron and calcium in the mountain aerosol indicates that one-quarter to one-third of the BC may have been transported from Asia.« less

Homogenized modeling methodology for 18650 lithium-ion battery module under large deformation

PubMed Central

Tang, Liang; Cheng, Pengle

2017-01-01

Effective lithium-ion battery module modeling has become a bottleneck for full-size electric vehicle crash safety numerical simulation. Modeling every single cell in detail would be costly. However, computational accuracy could be lost if the module is modeled by using a simple bulk material or rigid body. To solve this critical engineering problem, a general method to establish a computational homogenized model for the cylindrical battery module is proposed. A single battery cell model is developed and validated through radial compression and bending experiments. To analyze the homogenized mechanical properties of the module, a representative unit cell (RUC) is extracted with the periodic boundary condition applied on it. An elastic–plastic constitutive model is established to describe the computational homogenized model for the module. Two typical packing modes, i.e., cubic dense packing and hexagonal packing for the homogenized equivalent battery module (EBM) model, are targeted for validation compression tests, as well as the models with detailed single cell description. Further, the homogenized EBM model is confirmed to agree reasonably well with the detailed battery module (DBM) model for different packing modes with a length scale of up to 15 × 15 cells and 12% deformation where the short circuit takes place. The suggested homogenized model for battery module makes way for battery module and pack safety evaluation for full-size electric vehicle crashworthiness analysis. PMID:28746390

Homogenized modeling methodology for 18650 lithium-ion battery module under large deformation.

PubMed

Tang, Liang; Zhang, Jinjie; Cheng, Pengle

2017-01-01

Effective lithium-ion battery module modeling has become a bottleneck for full-size electric vehicle crash safety numerical simulation. Modeling every single cell in detail would be costly. However, computational accuracy could be lost if the module is modeled by using a simple bulk material or rigid body. To solve this critical engineering problem, a general method to establish a computational homogenized model for the cylindrical battery module is proposed. A single battery cell model is developed and validated through radial compression and bending experiments. To analyze the homogenized mechanical properties of the module, a representative unit cell (RUC) is extracted with the periodic boundary condition applied on it. An elastic-plastic constitutive model is established to describe the computational homogenized model for the module. Two typical packing modes, i.e., cubic dense packing and hexagonal packing for the homogenized equivalent battery module (EBM) model, are targeted for validation compression tests, as well as the models with detailed single cell description. Further, the homogenized EBM model is confirmed to agree reasonably well with the detailed battery module (DBM) model for different packing modes with a length scale of up to 15 × 15 cells and 12% deformation where the short circuit takes place. The suggested homogenized model for battery module makes way for battery module and pack safety evaluation for full-size electric vehicle crashworthiness analysis.

Penalized Weighted Least-Squares Approach to Sinogram Noise Reduction and Image Reconstruction for Low-Dose X-Ray Computed Tomography

PubMed Central

Wang, Jing; Li, Tianfang; Lu, Hongbing; Liang, Zhengrong

2006-01-01

Reconstructing low-dose X-ray CT (computed tomography) images is a noise problem. This work investigated a penalized weighted least-squares (PWLS) approach to address this problem in two dimensions, where the WLS considers first- and second-order noise moments and the penalty models signal spatial correlations. Three different implementations were studied for the PWLS minimization. One utilizes a MRF (Markov random field) Gibbs functional to consider spatial correlations among nearby detector bins and projection views in sinogram space and minimizes the PWLS cost function by iterative Gauss-Seidel algorithm. Another employs Karhunen-Loève (KL) transform to de-correlate data signals among nearby views and minimizes the PWLS adaptively to each KL component by analytical calculation, where the spatial correlation among nearby bins is modeled by the same Gibbs functional. The third one models the spatial correlations among image pixels in image domain also by a MRF Gibbs functional and minimizes the PWLS by iterative successive over-relaxation algorithm. In these three implementations, a quadratic functional regularization was chosen for the MRF model. Phantom experiments showed a comparable performance of these three PWLS-based methods in terms of suppressing noise-induced streak artifacts and preserving resolution in the reconstructed images. Computer simulations concurred with the phantom experiments in terms of noise-resolution tradeoff and detectability in low contrast environment. The KL-PWLS implementation may have the advantage in terms of computation for high-resolution dynamic low-dose CT imaging. PMID:17024831

Dereplication, Aggregation and Scoring Tool (DAS Tool) v1.0

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

SIEBER, CHRISTIAN

Communities of uncultivated microbes are critical to ecosystem function and microorganism health, and a key objective of metagenomic studies is to analyze organism-specific metabolic pathways and reconstruct community interaction networks. This requires accurate assignment of genes to genomes, yet existing binning methods often fail to predict a reasonable number of genomes and report many bins of low quality and completeness. Furthermore, the performance of existing algorithms varies between samples and biotypes. Here, we present a dereplication, aggregation and scoring strategy, DAS Tool, that combines the strengths of a flexible set of established binning algorithms. DAS Tools applied to a constructedmore » community generated more accurate bins than any automated method. Further, when applied to samples of different complexity, including soil, natural oil seeps, and the human gut, DAS Tool recovered substantially more near-complete genomes than any single binning method alone. Included were three genomes from a novel lineage . The ability to reconstruct many near-complete genomes from metagenomics data will greatly advance genome-centric analyses of ecosystems.« less

Project Worm Bin.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGuire, Daniel C.

1987-01-01

Describes a project centering around earthworm activity in a compost bin. Includes suggestions for exercises involving biological and conservation concepts, gardening skills, and dramatical presentations. (ML)

Qatar: Background and U.S. Relations

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-01-30

Industry Mohammed bin Saleh al Sada Minister of State for Defense Affairs MG Hamad bin Ali Al Attiyah Chief of Staff, Qatari Armed Forces MG Ghanim bin...May 2008 after concerns about voter franchise extension were resolved.5 The Advisory Council would have oversight authority over the Council of...have a more lasting impact on the region, but has challenged the traditional Qatari preference for remaining engaged with all sides in regional

Afghanistan, the Taliban, and Osama bin Laden: The Background to September 11

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Social Education, 2011

2011-01-01

On May 1, 2011, a group of U.S. soldiers boarded helicopters at a base in Afghanistan, hoping to find a man named Osama bin Laden. Bin Laden, the leader of the al Qaeda terrorist network, was responsible for a number of terrorist attacks around the world, including those of September 11, 2001, that killed nearly 3,000 people in the United States.…

Validating the operational bias and hypothesis of universal exponent in landslide frequency-area distribution.

PubMed

Huang, Jr-Chuan; Lee, Tsung-Yu; Teng, Tse-Yang; Chen, Yi-Chin; Huang, Cho-Ying; Lee, Cheing-Tung

2014-01-01

The exponent decay in landslide frequency-area distribution is widely used for assessing the consequences of landslides and with some studies arguing that the slope of the exponent decay is universal and independent of mechanisms and environmental settings. However, the documented exponent slopes are diverse and hence data processing is hypothesized for this inconsistency. An elaborated statistical experiment and two actual landslide inventories were used here to demonstrate the influences of the data processing on the determination of the exponent. Seven categories with different landslide numbers were generated from the predefined inverse-gamma distribution and then analyzed by three data processing procedures (logarithmic binning, LB, normalized logarithmic binning, NLB and cumulative distribution function, CDF). Five different bin widths were also considered while applying LB and NLB. Following that, the maximum likelihood estimation was used to estimate the exponent slopes. The results showed that the exponents estimated by CDF were unbiased while LB and NLB performed poorly. Two binning-based methods led to considerable biases that increased with the increase of landslide number and bin width. The standard deviations of the estimated exponents were dependent not just on the landslide number but also on binning method and bin width. Both extremely few and plentiful landslide numbers reduced the confidence of the estimated exponents, which could be attributed to limited landslide numbers and considerable operational bias, respectively. The diverse documented exponents in literature should therefore be adjusted accordingly. Our study strongly suggests that the considerable bias due to data processing and the data quality should be constrained in order to advance the understanding of landslide processes.

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PhyloPythiaS+: a self-training method for the rapid reconstruction of low-ranking taxonomic bins from metagenomes.

PubMed

Gregor, Ivan; Dröge, Johannes; Schirmer, Melanie; Quince, Christopher; McHardy, Alice C

2016-01-01

Background. Metagenomics is an approach for characterizing environmental microbial communities in situ, it allows their functional and taxonomic characterization and to recover sequences from uncultured taxa. This is often achieved by a combination of sequence assembly and binning, where sequences are grouped into 'bins' representing taxa of the underlying microbial community. Assignment to low-ranking taxonomic bins is an important challenge for binning methods as is scalability to Gb-sized datasets generated with deep sequencing techniques. One of the best available methods for species bins recovery from deep-branching phyla is the expert-trained PhyloPythiaS package, where a human expert decides on the taxa to incorporate in the model and identifies 'training' sequences based on marker genes directly from the sample. Due to the manual effort involved, this approach does not scale to multiple metagenome samples and requires substantial expertise, which researchers who are new to the area do not have. Results. We have developed PhyloPythiaS+, a successor to our PhyloPythia(S) software. The new (+) component performs the work previously done by the human expert. PhyloPythiaS+ also includes a new k-mer counting algorithm, which accelerated the simultaneous counting of 4-6-mers used for taxonomic binning 100-fold and reduced the overall execution time of the software by a factor of three. Our software allows to analyze Gb-sized metagenomes with inexpensive hardware, and to recover species or genera-level bins with low error rates in a fully automated fashion. PhyloPythiaS+ was compared to MEGAN, taxator-tk, Kraken and the generic PhyloPythiaS model. The results showed that PhyloPythiaS+ performs especially well for samples originating from novel environments in comparison to the other methods. Availability. PhyloPythiaS+ in a virtual machine is available for installation under Windows, Unix systems or OS X on: https://github.com/algbioi/ppsp/wiki.

Weighted Statistical Binning: Enabling Statistically Consistent Genome-Scale Phylogenetic Analyses

PubMed Central

Bayzid, Md Shamsuzzoha; Mirarab, Siavash; Boussau, Bastien; Warnow, Tandy

2015-01-01

Because biological processes can result in different loci having different evolutionary histories, species tree estimation requires multiple loci from across multiple genomes. While many processes can result in discord between gene trees and species trees, incomplete lineage sorting (ILS), modeled by the multi-species coalescent, is considered to be a dominant cause for gene tree heterogeneity. Coalescent-based methods have been developed to estimate species trees, many of which operate by combining estimated gene trees, and so are called "summary methods". Because summary methods are generally fast (and much faster than more complicated coalescent-based methods that co-estimate gene trees and species trees), they have become very popular techniques for estimating species trees from multiple loci. However, recent studies have established that summary methods can have reduced accuracy in the presence of gene tree estimation error, and also that many biological datasets have substantial gene tree estimation error, so that summary methods may not be highly accurate in biologically realistic conditions. Mirarab et al. (Science 2014) presented the "statistical binning" technique to improve gene tree estimation in multi-locus analyses, and showed that it improved the accuracy of MP-EST, one of the most popular coalescent-based summary methods. Statistical binning, which uses a simple heuristic to evaluate "combinability" and then uses the larger sets of genes to re-calculate gene trees, has good empirical performance, but using statistical binning within a phylogenomic pipeline does not have the desirable property of being statistically consistent. We show that weighting the re-calculated gene trees by the bin sizes makes statistical binning statistically consistent under the multispecies coalescent, and maintains the good empirical performance. Thus, "weighted statistical binning" enables highly accurate genome-scale species tree estimation, and is also statistically consistent under the multi-species coalescent model. New data used in this study are available at DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1411146, and the software is available at https://github.com/smirarab/binning. PMID:26086579

Warpage analysis in injection moulding process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hidayah, M. H. N.; Shayfull, Z.; Nasir, S. M.; Fathullah, M.; Hazwan, M. H. M.

2017-09-01

This study was concentrated on the effects of process parameters in plastic injection moulding process towards warpage problem by using Autodesk Moldflow Insight (AMI) software for the simulation. In this study, plastic dispenser of dental floss has been analysed with thermoplastic material of Polypropylene (PP) used as the moulded material and details properties of 80 Tonne Nessei NEX 1000 injection moulding machine also has been used in this study. The variable parameters of the process are packing pressure, packing time, melt temperature and cooling time. Minimization of warpage obtained from the optimization and analysis data from the Design Expert software. Integration of Response Surface Methodology (RSM), Center Composite Design (CCD) with polynomial models that has been obtained from Design of Experiment (DOE) is the method used in this study. The results show that packing pressure is the main factor that will contribute to the formation of warpage in x-axis and y-axis. While in z-axis, the main factor is melt temperature and packing time is the less significant among the four parameters in x, y and z-axes. From optimal processing parameter, the value of warpage in x, y and z-axis have been optimised by 21.60%, 26.45% and 24.53%, respectively.

Knowledge-driven binning approach for rare variant association analysis: application to neuroimaging biomarkers in Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Kim, Dokyoon; Basile, Anna O; Bang, Lisa; Horgusluoglu, Emrin; Lee, Seunggeun; Ritchie, Marylyn D; Saykin, Andrew J; Nho, Kwangsik

2017-05-18

Rapid advancement of next generation sequencing technologies such as whole genome sequencing (WGS) has facilitated the search for genetic factors that influence disease risk in the field of human genetics. To identify rare variants associated with human diseases or traits, an efficient genome-wide binning approach is needed. In this study we developed a novel biological knowledge-based binning approach for rare-variant association analysis and then applied the approach to structural neuroimaging endophenotypes related to late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD). For rare-variant analysis, we used the knowledge-driven binning approach implemented in Bin-KAT, an automated tool, that provides 1) binning/collapsing methods for multi-level variant aggregation with a flexible, biologically informed binning strategy and 2) an option of performing unified collapsing and statistical rare variant analyses in one tool. A total of 750 non-Hispanic Caucasian participants from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) cohort who had both WGS data and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were used in this study. Mean bilateral cortical thickness of the entorhinal cortex extracted from MRI scans was used as an AD-related neuroimaging endophenotype. SKAT was used for a genome-wide gene- and region-based association analysis of rare variants (MAF (minor allele frequency) < 0.05) and potential confounding factors (age, gender, years of education, intracranial volume (ICV) and MRI field strength) for entorhinal cortex thickness were used as covariates. Significant associations were determined using FDR adjustment for multiple comparisons. Our knowledge-driven binning approach identified 16 functional exonic rare variants in FANCC significantly associated with entorhinal cortex thickness (FDR-corrected p-value < 0.05). In addition, the approach identified 7 evolutionary conserved regions, which were mapped to FAF1, RFX7, LYPLAL1 and GOLGA3, significantly associated with entorhinal cortex thickness (FDR-corrected p-value < 0.05). In further analysis, the functional exonic rare variants in FANCC were also significantly associated with hippocampal volume and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Aβ 1-42 (p-value < 0.05). Our novel binning approach identified rare variants in FANCC as well as 7 evolutionary conserved regions significantly associated with a LOAD-related neuroimaging endophenotype. FANCC (fanconi anemia complementation group C) has been shown to modulate TLR and p38 MAPK-dependent expression of IL-1β in macrophages. Our results warrant further investigation in a larger independent cohort and demonstrate that the biological knowledge-driven binning approach is a powerful strategy to identify rare variants associated with AD and other complex disease.

Efficient visibility-driven medical image visualisation via adaptive binned visibility histogram.

PubMed

Jung, Younhyun; Kim, Jinman; Kumar, Ashnil; Feng, David Dagan; Fulham, Michael

2016-07-01

'Visibility' is a fundamental optical property that represents the observable, by users, proportion of the voxels in a volume during interactive volume rendering. The manipulation of this 'visibility' improves the volume rendering processes; for instance by ensuring the visibility of regions of interest (ROIs) or by guiding the identification of an optimal rendering view-point. The construction of visibility histograms (VHs), which represent the distribution of all the visibility of all voxels in the rendered volume, enables users to explore the volume with real-time feedback about occlusion patterns among spatially related structures during volume rendering manipulations. Volume rendered medical images have been a primary beneficiary of VH given the need to ensure that specific ROIs are visible relative to the surrounding structures, e.g. the visualisation of tumours that may otherwise be occluded by neighbouring structures. VH construction and its subsequent manipulations, however, are computationally expensive due to the histogram binning of the visibilities. This limits the real-time application of VH to medical images that have large intensity ranges and volume dimensions and require a large number of histogram bins. In this study, we introduce an efficient adaptive binned visibility histogram (AB-VH) in which a smaller number of histogram bins are used to represent the visibility distribution of the full VH. We adaptively bin medical images by using a cluster analysis algorithm that groups the voxels according to their intensity similarities into a smaller subset of bins while preserving the distribution of the intensity range of the original images. We increase efficiency by exploiting the parallel computation and multiple render targets (MRT) extension of the modern graphical processing units (GPUs) and this enables efficient computation of the histogram. We show the application of our method to single-modality computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and multi-modality positron emission tomography-CT (PET-CT). In our experiments, the AB-VH markedly improved the computational efficiency for the VH construction and thus improved the subsequent VH-driven volume manipulations. This efficiency was achieved without major degradation in the VH visually and numerical differences between the AB-VH and its full-bin counterpart. We applied several variants of the K-means clustering algorithm with varying Ks (the number of clusters) and found that higher values of K resulted in better performance at a lower computational gain. The AB-VH also had an improved performance when compared to the conventional method of down-sampling of the histogram bins (equal binning) for volume rendering visualisation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Effectiveness of the Curriculum Biography of the Prophet in the Development of Social Intelligence Skills of Al-Hussein Bin Talal University Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-Khateeb, Omar; Alrub, Mohammad Abo

2015-01-01

This study aimed to find out how the effectiveness of the curriculum biography of the Prophet in the development of social intelligence skills of Al-Hussein Bin Talal University students and the study sample consisted of 365 students from Al-Hussein Bin Talal University for the first semester 2014-2015 students were selected in accessible manner.…

Nuclear Terrorism: Assessing the Threat, Developing a Response

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-01-01

these weapons fit within bin Laden’s worldview: Since the late 1980s and certainly since 1991, bin Laden has seen the United States as the principal...leaders and its current senior managers, including bin Laden, Zawahiri, and their key lieutenants; > A number of affiliated groups or “ franchises ...source of danger appears to have shifted toward the independent and quasi-independent franchises as well as local extremists.73 As a result of this

Ain't No Neuroscience Mountain High Enough: Experiences of a Neurogardener.

PubMed

Abdullah, Jafri Malin

2015-01-01

16 years have passed since the idea was mooted in 1999 by five neurosurgeons in the corridors of Hotel Perdana, Kota Bharu. They were Dato' Dr Johari Siregar Bin Adnan, Dato' Professor Dr Ahmad Zubaidi Abdul Latif , Dr Azmin Kass Bin Rosman, Dato' Dr Mohammed Saffari Bin Mohammed Haspani and Professor Dato' Dr Jafri Malin Abdullah. They initiated the beginning of the first programme in Neurosurgery in Malaysia. The rest is history.

Fundamental Limits of Delay and Security in Device-to-Device Communication

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-01-01

systematic MDS (maximum distance separable) codes and random binning strategies that achieve a Pareto optimal delayreconstruction tradeoff. The erasure MD...file, and a coding scheme based on erasure compression and Slepian-Wolf binning is presented. The coding scheme is shown to provide a Pareto optimal...ble) codes and random binning strategies that achieve a Pareto optimal delay- reconstruction tradeoff. The erasure MD setup is then used to propose a

SOUTH ELEVATION OF GOLD HILL MILL, LOOKING NORTH. THE PRIMARY ...

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

SOUTH ELEVATION OF GOLD HILL MILL, LOOKING NORTH. THE PRIMARY ORE BIN IS A CENTER, WITH A JAW CRUSHER JUST TO THE RIGHT. A CONVEYOR (MISSING) WAS USED TO CARRY CRUSHED ORE UP AND INTO THE SECONDARY ORE BIN. THE STONE RAMP TO THE LEFT OF THE ORE BIN WAS USED TO DRIVE TRUCKS UP TO DUMPING LEVEL. - Gold Hill Mill, Warm Spring Canyon Road, Death Valley Junction, Inyo County, CA

Adjacent bin stability evaluating for feature description

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nie, Dongdong; Ma, Qinyong

2018-04-01

Recent study improves descriptor performance by accumulating stability votes for all scale pairs to compose the local descriptor. We argue that the stability of a bin depends on the differences across adjacent pairs more than the differences across all scale pairs, and a new local descriptor is composed based on the hypothesis. A series of SIFT descriptors are extracted from multiple scales firstly. Then the difference value of the bin across adjacent scales is calculated, and the stability value of a bin is calculated based on it and accumulated to compose the final descriptor. The performance of the proposed method is evaluated with two popular matching datasets, and compared with other state-of-the-art works. Experimental results show that the proposed method performs satisfactorily.

See Also:physica status solidi (a)physica status solidi (c)Copyright © 2004 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
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Volume 241, Issue12 (October 2004)
Articles in the Current Issue:
Rapid Research Note
Dielectric and optical studies of phase transitions in [(CH3)2NH2]5Cd2CuCl11 crystal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elyashevskyy, Yu.; Dacko, S.; Kosturek, B.; Czapla, Z.; Kapustyanik, V. B.

2004-10-01

Single crystals of [(CH3)2 NH2]5Cd2CuCl11 have been grown and their dielectric and optical properties have been studied. Electric permittivity, losses and linear optic birefringence measurements have shown that the obtained new crystal is isomorphous with the original one - [(CH3)2 NH2]5Cd3Cl11. Phase transitions were observed at 175 K (continuous) and 120 K (first order). It means that partial replacing of cadmium atoms by copper ones does not change the structure and the heavy Cd2CuCl11-2 anions do not influence significantly the interaction of dimethylammonium cations.

Packing optimization for automated generation of complex system's initial configurations for molecular dynamics and docking.

PubMed

Martínez, José Mario; Martínez, Leandro

2003-05-01

Molecular Dynamics is a powerful methodology for the comprehension at molecular level of many chemical and biochemical systems. The theories and techniques developed for structural and thermodynamic analyses are well established, and many software packages are available. However, designing starting configurations for dynamics can be cumbersome. Easily generated regular lattices can be used when simple liquids or mixtures are studied. However, for complex mixtures, polymer solutions or solid adsorbed liquids (for example) this approach is inefficient, and it turns out to be very hard to obtain an adequate coordinate file. In this article, the problem of obtaining an adequate initial configuration is treated as a "packing" problem and solved by an optimization procedure. The initial configuration is chosen in such a way that the minimum distance between atoms of different molecules is greater than a fixed tolerance. The optimization uses a well-known algorithm for box-constrained minimization. Applications are given for biomolecule solvation, many-component mixtures, and interfaces. This approach can reduce the work of designing starting configurations from days or weeks to few minutes or hours, in an automated fashion. Packing optimization is also shown to be a powerful methodology for space search in docking of small ligands to proteins. This is demonstrated by docking of the thyroid hormone to its nuclear receptor. Copyright 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem 24: 819-825, 2003

Throwing accuracy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cross, Rod

2018-05-01

A simple throwing task is described to illustrate various aspects of projectile motion. The task was to throw a tennis ball in a waste paper bin about 2 m away. Success depends on skill, but it also depends on the physics of the problem. If the ball is thrown underarm, then success depends primarily on the throw speed, which must be controlled to within about 2%. The launch angle can be chosen within a wide range. If the ball is thrown overarm, then the launch angle is just as important as the throw speed.

Direct Comparison of Respiration-Correlated Four-Dimensional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Reconstructed Using Concurrent Internal Navigator and External Bellows.

PubMed

Li, Guang; Wei, Jie; Olek, Devin; Kadbi, Mo; Tyagi, Neelam; Zakian, Kristen; Mechalakos, James; Deasy, Joseph O; Hunt, Margie

2017-03-01

To compare the image quality of amplitude-binned 4-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging (4DMRI) reconstructed using 2 concurrent respiratory (navigator and bellows) waveforms. A prospective, respiratory-correlated 4DMRI scanning program was used to acquire T2-weighted single-breath 4DMRI images with internal navigator and external bellows. After a 10-second training waveform of a surrogate signal, 2-dimensional MRI acquisition was triggered at a level (bin) and anatomic location (slice) until the bin-slice table was completed for 4DMRI reconstruction. The bellows signal was always collected, even when the navigator trigger was used, to retrospectively reconstruct a bellows-rebinned 4DMRI. Ten volunteers participated in this institutional review board-approved 4DMRI study. Four scans were acquired for each subject, including coronal and sagittal scans triggered by either navigator or bellows, and 6 4DMRI images (navigator-triggered, bellows-rebinned, and bellows-triggered) were reconstructed. The simultaneously acquired waveforms and resulting 4DMRI quality were compared using signal correlation, bin/phase shift, and binning motion artifacts. The consecutive bellows-triggered 4DMRI scan was used for indirect comparison. Correlation coefficients between the navigator and bellows signals were found to be patient-specific and inhalation-/exhalation-dependent, ranging from 0.1 to 0.9 because of breathing irregularities (>50% scans) and commonly observed bin/phase shifts (-1.1 ± 0.6 bin) in both 1-dimensional waveforms and diaphragm motion extracted from 4D images. Navigator-triggered 4DMRI contained many fewer binning motion artifacts at the diaphragm than did the bellows-rebinned and bellows-triggered 4DMRI scans. Coronal scans were faster than sagittal scans because of the fewer slices and higher achievable acceleration factors. Navigator-triggered 4DMRI contains substantially fewer binning motion artifacts than bellows-rebinned and bellows-triggered 4DMRI, primarily owing to the deviation of the external from the internal surrogate. The present study compared 2 concurrent surrogates during the same 4DMRI scan and their resulting 4DMRI quality. The navigator-triggered 4DMRI scanning protocol should be preferred to the bellows-based, especially for coronal scans, for clinical respiratory motion simulation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Validating the Operational Bias and Hypothesis of Universal Exponent in Landslide Frequency-Area Distribution

PubMed Central

Huang, Jr-Chuan; Lee, Tsung-Yu; Teng, Tse-Yang; Chen, Yi-Chin; Huang, Cho-Ying; Lee, Cheing-Tung

2014-01-01

The exponent decay in landslide frequency-area distribution is widely used for assessing the consequences of landslides and with some studies arguing that the slope of the exponent decay is universal and independent of mechanisms and environmental settings. However, the documented exponent slopes are diverse and hence data processing is hypothesized for this inconsistency. An elaborated statistical experiment and two actual landslide inventories were used here to demonstrate the influences of the data processing on the determination of the exponent. Seven categories with different landslide numbers were generated from the predefined inverse-gamma distribution and then analyzed by three data processing procedures (logarithmic binning, LB, normalized logarithmic binning, NLB and cumulative distribution function, CDF). Five different bin widths were also considered while applying LB and NLB. Following that, the maximum likelihood estimation was used to estimate the exponent slopes. The results showed that the exponents estimated by CDF were unbiased while LB and NLB performed poorly. Two binning-based methods led to considerable biases that increased with the increase of landslide number and bin width. The standard deviations of the estimated exponents were dependent not just on the landslide number but also on binning method and bin width. Both extremely few and plentiful landslide numbers reduced the confidence of the estimated exponents, which could be attributed to limited landslide numbers and considerable operational bias, respectively. The diverse documented exponents in literature should therefore be adjusted accordingly. Our study strongly suggests that the considerable bias due to data processing and the data quality should be constrained in order to advance the understanding of landslide processes. PMID:24852019

Insights into the central pathways involved in the emetic and behavioural responses to exendin-4 in the ferret.

PubMed

Lu, Zengbing; Yeung, Chi-Kong; Lin, Ge; Yew, David T W; Andrews, P L R; Rudd, John A

2017-01-01

GLP-1 receptor agonists are utilised for the treatment of Type-2 diabetes but can be associated with undesirable effects of nausea and vomiting. To investigate the role of GLP-1 receptors in mechanisms of emesis, behaviours indicative of nausea (BIN) and food intake in the ferret. Exendin-4 (10 and 30nmol, i.c.v.) induced emesis, inhibited food intake, and increased the frequency of BIN. Increases in c-Fos in the brainstem, midbrain and forebrain occurred in animals exhibiting emesis; no activation of the brainstem occurred in animals not vomiting. Exendin-4 (10nmol, i.c.v.) when preceded by i.c.v. saline (15μl), was not emetic but induced BIN and inhibited food intake; exendin (9-39) (100nmol) reduced BIN only. c-Fos showed that consistent with the absence of emesis in saline/exendin-4 treated animals there was no increase in c-Fos in the brainstem, but it increased in midbrain and forebrain nuclei. Excepting the amygdala, exendin (9-39) was without efffect on the increases in c-Fos. Analysis of c-Fos data showed a positive linear relationship between midbrain and forebrain areas irrespective of the occurrence of emesis induced by exendin-4. In contrast, brainstem and midbrain c-Fos levels were positively correlated, but only in animals with emesis. The brainstem is critical for exendin-4-induced emesis but suppression of food intake and BIN involves more rostral brain sites. Exendin-4-induced BIN and c-Fos activation of the amygdala are sensitive to exendin (9-39), whereas the suppression of food intake is not implicating separate control mechanisms for emesis and BIN. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Barcoding snakeheads (Teleostei, Channidae) revisited: Discovering greater species diversity and resolving perpetuated taxonomic confusions

PubMed Central

Conte-Grand, Cecilia; Britz, Ralf; Dahanukar, Neelesh; Raghavan, Rajeev; Pethiyagoda, Rohan; Tan, Heok Hui; Hadiaty, Renny K.; Yaakob, Norsham S.

2017-01-01

Snakehead fishes of the family Channidae are predatory freshwater teleosts from Africa and Asia comprising 38 valid species. Snakeheads are important food fishes (aquaculture, live food trade) and have been introduced widely with several species becoming highly invasive. A channid barcode library was recently assembled by Serrao and co-workers to better detect and identify potential and established invasive snakehead species outside their native range. Comparing our own recent phylogenetic results of this taxonomically confusing group with those previously reported revealed several inconsistencies that prompted us to expand and improve on previous studies. By generating 343 novel snakehead coxI sequences and combining them with an additional 434 coxI sequences from GenBank we highlight several problems with previous efforts towards the assembly of a snakehead reference barcode library. We found that 16.3% of the channid coxI sequences deposited in GenBank are based on misidentifications. With the inclusion of our own data we were, however, able to solve these cases of perpetuated taxonomic confusion. Different species delimitation approaches we employed (BIN, GMYC, and PTP) were congruent in suggesting a potentially much higher species diversity within snakeheads than currently recognized. In total, 90 BINs were recovered and within a total of 15 currently recognized species multiple BINs were identified. This higher species diversity is mostly due to either the incorporation of undescribed, narrow range, endemics from the Eastern Himalaya biodiversity hotspot or the incorporation of several widespread species characterized by deep genetic splits between geographically well-defined lineages. In the latter case, over-lumping in the past has deflated the actual species numbers. Further integrative approaches are clearly needed for providing a better taxonomic understanding of snakehead diversity, new species descriptions and taxonomic revisions of the group. PMID:28931084

Dynamic Histogram Analysis To Determine Free Energies and Rates from Biased Simulations.

PubMed

Stelzl, Lukas S; Kells, Adam; Rosta, Edina; Hummer, Gerhard

2017-12-12

We present an algorithm to calculate free energies and rates from molecular simulations on biased potential energy surfaces. As input, it uses the accumulated times spent in each state or bin of a histogram and counts of transitions between them. Optimal unbiased equilibrium free energies for each of the states/bins are then obtained by maximizing the likelihood of a master equation (i.e., first-order kinetic rate model). The resulting free energies also determine the optimal rate coefficients for transitions between the states or bins on the biased potentials. Unbiased rates can be estimated, e.g., by imposing a linear free energy condition in the likelihood maximization. The resulting "dynamic histogram analysis method extended to detailed balance" (DHAMed) builds on the DHAM method. It is also closely related to the transition-based reweighting analysis method (TRAM) and the discrete TRAM (dTRAM). However, in the continuous-time formulation of DHAMed, the detailed balance constraints are more easily accounted for, resulting in compact expressions amenable to efficient numerical treatment. DHAMed produces accurate free energies in cases where the common weighted-histogram analysis method (WHAM) for umbrella sampling fails because of slow dynamics within the windows. Even in the limit of completely uncorrelated data, where WHAM is optimal in the maximum-likelihood sense, DHAMed results are nearly indistinguishable. We illustrate DHAMed with applications to ion channel conduction, RNA duplex formation, α-helix folding, and rate calculations from accelerated molecular dynamics. DHAMed can also be used to construct Markov state models from biased or replica-exchange molecular dynamics simulations. By using binless WHAM formulated as a numerical minimization problem, the bias factors for the individual states can be determined efficiently in a preprocessing step and, if needed, optimized globally afterward.

Self-calibration method without joint iteration for distributed small satellite SAR systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Qing; Liao, Guisheng; Liu, Aifei; Zhang, Juan

2013-12-01

The performance of distributed small satellite synthetic aperture radar systems degrades significantly due to the unavoidable array errors, including gain, phase, and position errors, in real operating scenarios. In the conventional method proposed in (IEEE T Aero. Elec. Sys. 42:436-451, 2006), the spectrum components within one Doppler bin are considered as calibration sources. However, it is found in this article that the gain error estimation and the position error estimation in the conventional method can interact with each other. The conventional method may converge to suboptimal solutions in large position errors since it requires the joint iteration between gain-phase error estimation and position error estimation. In addition, it is also found that phase errors can be estimated well regardless of position errors when the zero Doppler bin is chosen. In this article, we propose a method obtained by modifying the conventional one, based on these two observations. In this modified method, gain errors are firstly estimated and compensated, which eliminates the interaction between gain error estimation and position error estimation. Then, by using the zero Doppler bin data, the phase error estimation can be performed well independent of position errors. Finally, position errors are estimated based on the Taylor-series expansion. Meanwhile, the joint iteration between gain-phase error estimation and position error estimation is not required. Therefore, the problem of suboptimal convergence, which occurs in the conventional method, can be avoided with low computational method. The modified method has merits of faster convergence and lower estimation error compared to the conventional one. Theoretical analysis and computer simulation results verified the effectiveness of the modified method.

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Ain’t No Neuroscience Mountain High Enough: Experiences of a Neurogardener

PubMed Central

ABDULLAH, Jafri Malin

2015-01-01

16 years have passed since the idea was mooted in 1999 by five neurosurgeons in the corridors of Hotel Perdana, Kota Bharu. They were Dato’ Dr Johari Siregar Bin Adnan, Dato’ Professor Dr Ahmad Zubaidi Abdul Latif , Dr Azmin Kass Bin Rosman, Dato’ Dr Mohammed Saffari Bin Mohammed Haspani and Professor Dato’ Dr Jafri Malin Abdullah. They initiated the beginning of the first programme in Neurosurgery in Malaysia. The rest is history. PMID:26715890

Time-Resolved and Spectroscopic Three-Dimensional Optical Breast Tomography

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-04-01

Appendix 1. Each raw image was then cropped to select out the information-rich region, and binned to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio. All the binned...component analysis, near infrared (NIR) imaging, optical mammography , optical imaging using independent component analysis (OPTICA). I. INTRODUCTION N EAR...merging 5 × 5 pixels into one to enhance the SNR, resulting in a total of 352 images of 54 × 55 pixels each. All the binned images corresponding to

The United States Strategy in East Asia-Pacific-Implications for Australia’s Defenses

DTIC Science & Technology

1996-01-01

Mohamed Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak , "Towards Cooperative Security and Regional Stability, the Malaysian View." The Army and the Future. Ed. David Horner...repair and maintenance of warships on a commercial basis. See The Hon. Datuk Seri Mohamed Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak , 132. Times says that Jakarta...Cambridge University Press, 1965. The Hon. Datuk Seri Mohamed Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak . "Towards Cooperative Security and Regional Stability: The

OVERVIEW OF UPPER TRAM TERMINAL, TRAM TRESTLE, AND PRIMARY ORE ...

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

OVERVIEW OF UPPER TRAM TERMINAL, TRAM TRESTLE, AND PRIMARY ORE BIN, LOOKING NORTHEAST. REMAINS OF A BLACKSMITH'S FORGE AND WORK CAN BE SEEN JUST BELOW THE ORE BIN (SEE CA-291-32 FOR DETAIL). ROCK FOUNDATIONS LOCATED JUST ABOVE THE ORE BIN AND ALONG THE FIRST RIDGELINE ARE TENT PADS. SEE CA-291-24 FOR IDENTICAL B&W NEGATIVE. - Keane Wonder Mine, Park Route 4 (Daylight Pass Cutoff), Death Valley Junction, Inyo County, CA

OVERVIEW OF UPPER TRAM TERMINAL, TRAM TRESTLE, AND PRIMARY ORE ...

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

OVERVIEW OF UPPER TRAM TERMINAL, TRAM TRESTLE, AND PRIMARY ORE BIN, LOOKING NORTHEAST. REMAINS OF A BLACKSMITH'S FORGE AND WORK CAN BE SEEN JUST BELOW THE ORE BIN (SEE CA-291-32 FOR DETAIL). ROCK FOUNDATIONS LOCATED JUST ABOVE THE ORE BIN AND ALONG THE FIRST RIDGELINE ARE TENT PADS. SEE CA-291-49 (CT) FOR IDENTICAL COLOR TRANSPARENCY. - Keane Wonder Mine, Park Route 4 (Daylight Pass Cutoff), Death Valley Junction, Inyo County, CA

Development of a two-dimensional binning model for N{sub 2}–N relaxation in hypersonic shock conditions

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

Zhu, Tong, E-mail: tongzhu2@illinois.edu; Levin, Deborah A., E-mail: deblevin@illinois.edu; Li, Zheng, E-mail: zul107@psu.edu

2016-08-14

A high fidelity internal energy relaxation model for N{sub 2}–N suitable for use in direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) modeling of chemically reacting flows is proposed. A novel two-dimensional binning approach with variable bin energy resolutions in the rotational and vibrational modes is developed for treating the internal mode of N{sub 2}. Both bin-to-bin and state-specific relaxation cross sections are obtained using the molecular dynamics/quasi-classical trajectory (MD/QCT) method with two potential energy surfaces as well as the state-specific database of Jaffe et al. The MD/QCT simulations of inelastic energy exchange between N{sub 2} and N show that there is amore » strong forward-preferential scattering behavior at high collision velocities. The 99 bin model is used in homogeneous DSMC relaxation simulations and is found to be able to recover the state-specific master equation results of Panesi et al. when the Jaffe state-specific cross sections are used. Rotational relaxation energy profiles and relaxation times obtained using the ReaxFF and Jaffe potential energy surfaces (PESs) are in general agreement but there are larger differences between the vibrational relaxation times. These differences become smaller as the translational temperature increases because the difference in the PES energy barrier becomes less important.« less

Markov chain Monte Carlo linkage analysis: effect of bin width on the probability of linkage.

PubMed

Slager, S L; Juo, S H; Durner, M; Hodge, S E

2001-01-01

We analyzed part of the Genetic Analysis Workshop (GAW) 12 simulated data using Monte Carlo Markov chain (MCMC) methods that are implemented in the computer program Loki. The MCMC method reports the "probability of linkage" (PL) across the chromosomal regions of interest. The point of maximum PL can then be taken as a "location estimate" for the location of the quantitative trait locus (QTL). However, Loki does not provide a formal statistical test of linkage. In this paper, we explore how the bin width used in the calculations affects the max PL and the location estimate. We analyzed age at onset (AO) and quantitative trait number 5, Q5, from 26 replicates of the general simulated data in one region where we knew a major gene, MG5, is located. For each trait, we found the max PL and the corresponding location estimate, using four different bin widths. We found that bin width, as expected, does affect the max PL and the location estimate, and we recommend that users of Loki explore how their results vary with different bin widths.

Host-selected mutations converging on a global regulator drive an adaptive leap towards symbiosis in bacteria

PubMed Central

Sabrina Pankey, M; Foxall, Randi L; Ster, Ian M; Perry, Lauren A; Schuster, Brian M; Donner, Rachel A; Coyle, Matthew; Cooper, Vaughn S; Whistler, Cheryl A

2017-01-01

Host immune and physical barriers protect against pathogens but also impede the establishment of essential symbiotic partnerships. To reveal mechanisms by which beneficial organisms adapt to circumvent host defenses, we experimentally evolved ecologically distinct bioluminescent Vibrio fischeri by colonization and growth within the light organs of the squid Euprymna scolopes. Serial squid passaging of bacteria produced eight distinct mutations in the binK sensor kinase gene, which conferred an exceptional selective advantage that could be demonstrated through both empirical and theoretical analysis. Squid-adaptive binK alleles promoted colonization and immune evasion that were mediated by cell-associated matrices including symbiotic polysaccharide (Syp) and cellulose. binK variation also altered quorum sensing, raising the threshold for luminescence induction. Preexisting coordinated regulation of symbiosis traits by BinK presented an efficient solution where altered BinK function was the key to unlock multiple colonization barriers. These results identify a genetic basis for microbial adaptability and underscore the importance of hosts as selective agents that shape emergent symbiont populations. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.24414.001 PMID:28447935

[Massive haemoperitoneum due to traumatic rupture of multifocal hepatocarcinoma in the right hepatic lobe. Case report].

PubMed

Spaziani, E; Briganti, M; Saltarelli, A; Iozzino, M; Notarianni, E; Cianni, R; Di Filippo, A; Picchio, M; Ceci, F; Gammardella, P; De Angelis, F; Nardecchia, G; Cipriani, B; Nicodemi, S; Stagnitti, F

2009-01-01

Abdominal blunt trauma is the main cause of death in people younger than 40 years old. The liver injury still represents a challenging problem. Isolated hepatic injury is rare and it occurs more frequentely in polytraumatizated patients and causes massive haemoperitoneum. The Authors report a case of a 83 years-old woman admitted to Emergency Department for syncope due to an active bleeding arising from a rupture of a right hepatic lobe unsuspected tumor. The computer tomography (CT) scans showed a clear pattern of liver laceration of the VI segment with contrast enhancement spreading in the surrounding tissues, and detected a multifocal hepatocarcinoma located in the VI, VII and VIII segments. Patient's haemodinamically unstable conditions suggested an urgent laparotomy. An accurate perihepatic packing with sterile-drape were successfully employed to control liver hemorrage. Temporary abdominal closure, followed by hepatic arteriography and the right hepatic artery embolization, completed the damage control. Re-exploration laparotomy after 72 hours confirmed the definitive haemostasis and the pack removal was performed without complications. CT plays a leading role in the diagnosis of liver damage. The patient's haemodynamic status is the principal criterion determining conservative or operative therapy in blunt liver injury. The early perihepatic packing followed by artheriographic embolization to stop liver hemorrhage showed efficacy and safety for the patient. The packing performed with sterile-drape is able to avoid removal complications and 72 hours timing for the pack removal is effective to avoid re-bleeding.

An approach to defect inspection for packing presswork with virtual orientation points and threshold template image

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hao, Xiangyang; Liu, Songlin; Zhao, Fulai; Jiang, Lixing

2015-05-01

The packing presswork is an important factor of industrial product, especially for the luxury commodities such as cigarettes. In order to ensure the packing presswork to be qualified, the products should be inspected and unqualified one be picked out piece by piece with the vision-based inspection method, which has such advantages as no-touch inspection, high efficiency and automation. Vision-based inspection of packing presswork mainly consists of steps as image acquisition, image registration and defect inspection. The registration between inspected image and reference image is the foundation and premise of visual inspection. In order to realize rapid, reliable and accurate image registration, a registration method based on virtual orientation points is put forward. The precision of registration between inspected image and reference image can reach to sub pixels. Since defect is without fixed position, shape, size and color, three measures are taken to improve the inspection effect. Firstly, the concept of threshold template image is put forward to resolve the problem of variable threshold of intensity difference. Secondly, the color difference is calculated by comparing each pixel with the adjacent pixels of its correspondence on reference image to avoid false defect resulted from color registration error. Thirdly, the strategy of image pyramid is applied in the inspection algorithm to enhance the inspection efficiency. Experiments show that the related algorithm is effective to defect inspection and it takes 27.4 ms on average to inspect a piece of cigarette packing presswork.

Production Scheduling of Sequenced Tapes for Printed Circuit Pack Assembly.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-07-09

detail. L j 6 The subject matter of this thesis is inspired directly from their technical report. The goals of this research are twofold: 1) Test their...The subject matter of the following chapters describes a heuristic approach to another variation of the sequenced tape production scheduling problem...assignment problem, comprise the subject matter of Chapter 5. It is sufficient to note that the three definitions of the term common correspond to the

Global Summary MGS TES Data and Mars-Gram Validation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Justus, C.; Johnson, D.; Parker, Nelson C. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

Mars Global Reference Atmospheric Model (Mars-GRAM 2001) is an engineering-level Mars atmosphere model widely used for many Mars mission applications. From 0-80 km, it is based on NASA Ames Mars General Circulation Model (MGCM), while above 80 km it is based on University of Arizona Mars Thermospheric General Circulation Model. Mars-GRAM 2001 and MGCM use surface topograph$ from Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiting Laser Altimeter (MOLA). Validation studies are described comparing Mars-GRAM with a global summary data set of Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) data. TES averages and standard deviations were assembled from binned TES data which covered surface to approx. 40 km, over more than a full Mars year (February, 1999 - June, 2001, just before start of a Mars global dust storm). TES data were binned in 10-by-10 degree latitude-longitude bins (i.e. 36 longitude bins by 19 latitude bins), 12 seasonal bins (based on 30 degree increments of Ls angle). Bin averages and standard deviations were assembled at 23 data levels (temperature at 21 pressure levels, plus surface temperature and surface pressure). Two time-of day bins were used: local time near 2 or 14 hours local time). Two dust optical depth bins wereused: infrared optical depth either less than or greater than 0.25 (which corresponds to visible optical depth either less than or greater than about 0.5). For interests in aerocapture and precision entry and landing, comparisons focused on atmospheric density. TES densities versus height were computed from TES temperature versus pressure, using assumptions of perfect gas law and hydrostatics. Mars-GRAM validation studies used density ratio (TES/Mars-GRAM) evaluated at data bin center points in space and time. Observed average TES/Mars-GRAM density ratios were generally 1+/-0.05, except at high altitudes (15-30 km, depending on season) and high latitudes (> 45 deg N), or at most altitudes in the southern hemisphere at Ls approx. 90 and 180deg). Compared to TES averages for a given latitude and season, TES data had average density standard deviation about the mean of approx. 65-10.5% (varying with height) for all data, or approx. 5-12%, depending on time of day and dust optical depth. Average standard deviation of TES/Mars-GRAM density ratio was 8.9% for local time 2 hours and 7.1% for local time 14 hours. Thus standard deviation of observed TES/Mars-GRAM density ratio, evaluated at matching positions and times, is about the same as the standard deviation of TES data about the TES mean value at a given position and season.

Reliability evaluation of hermetic dual in-line flat microcircuit packages

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, G. M.; Conaway, L. K.

1977-01-01

The relative strengths and weaknesses of 35 commonly used hermetic flat and dual in-line packages were determined and used to rank each of the packages according to a numerical weighting scheme for package attributes. The list of attributes included desirable features in five major areas: lead and lead seal, body construction, body materials, lid and lid seal, and marking. The metal flat pack and multilayer integral ceramic flat pack and DIP received the highest rankings, and the soft glass Cerdip and Cerpak types received the lowest rankings. Loss of package hermeticity due to lead and lid seal problems was found to be the predominant failure mode from the literature/data search. However, environmental test results showed that lead and lid seal failures due to thermal stressing was only a problem with the hard glass (Ceramic) body DIP utilizing a metal lid and/or bottom. Insufficient failure data were generated for the other package types tested to correlate test results with the package ranking.

Allan Variance Calculation for Nonuniformly Spaced Input Data

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-01-01

τ (tau). First, the set of gyro values is partitioned into bins of duration τ. For example, if the sampling duration τ is 2 sec and there are 4,000...Variance Calculation For each value of τ, the conventional AV calculation partitions the gyro data sets into bins with approximately τ / Δt...value of Δt. Therefore, a new way must be found to partition the gyro data sets into bins. The basic concept behind the modified AV calculation is

Resource conservation and recovery act draft hazardous waste facility permit: Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). Attachments: Volume 4 of 4

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

Not Available

1993-08-01

Volume IV contains the following attachments for Module IV: VOC monitoring plan for bin-room tests (Appendix D12); bin emission control and VOC monitoring system drawings; bin scale test room ventilation drawings; WIPP supplementary roof support system, underground storage area, room 1, panel 1, DOE/WIPP 91-057; and WIPP supplementary roof support system, room 1, panel 1, geotechnical field data analysis bi-annual report, DOE/WIPP 92-024.

Body packing and intra-vaginal body pushing of cocaine: A case report.

PubMed

Wankhade, Vishwajit Kishor; Chikhalkar, B G

2018-03-01

Drug trafficking is an international problem. The prevalence of drug trafficking and newer concealing methods has been ever increasing. Body packing is described as using the abdominal or pelvic cavity for concealing illegal drugs. Body pushers smuggle illicit drugs by inserting them into rectum or vagina. These cases are either presented to the emergency departments as Body Packer Syndrome or as asymptomatic cases for observation, detained for alleged possession of contraband substances. We report a unique case of an asymptomatic white female who was detained at Mumbai International Airport under suspicion and brought to hospital for observation. X ray and CT scan examination revealed 7 wrapped packets in gastrointestinal track and 1 large packet in vagina. A case of female body packer using multiple modalities of concealment especially in vagina is rare in India so it is becomes imperative to present this case in the light of body packing and body pushing of contraband substances. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Immobilized polysaccharide derivatives: chiral packing materials for efficient HPLC resolution.

PubMed

Ikai, Tomoyuki; Yamamoto, Chiyo; Kamigaito, Masami; Okamoto, Yoshio

2007-01-01

Polysaccharide-based chiral packing materials (CPMs) for high-performance liquid chromatography have frequently been used not only to determine the enantiomeric excess of chiral compounds but also to preparatively resolve a wide range of racemates. However, these CPMs can be used with only a limited number of solvents as mobile phases because some organic solvents, such as tetrahydrofuran, chloroform, and so on, dissolve or swell the polysaccharide derivatives coated on a support, e.g., silica gel, and destroy their packed columns. The limitation of mobile phase selection is sometimes a serious problem for the efficient analytical and preparative resolution of enantiomers. This defect can be resolved by the immobilization of the polysaccharide derivatives onto silica gel. Efficient immobilizations have been attained through the radical copolymerization of the polysaccharide derivatives bearing small amounts of polymerizable residues and also through the polycondensation of the polysaccharide derivatives containing a few percent of 3-(triethoxysilyl)propyl residue. (c) 2007 The Japan Chemical Journal Forum and Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Numerical simulation of ozone concentration profile and flow characteristics in paddy bulks.

PubMed

Pandiselvam, Ravi; Chandrasekar, Veerapandian; Thirupathi, Venkatachalam

2017-08-01

Ozone has shown the potential to control stored product insect pests. The high reactivity of ozone leads to special problems when it passes though an organic medium such as stored grains. Thus, there is a need for a simulation study to understand the concentration profile and flow characteristics of ozone in stored paddy bulks as a function of time. Simulation of ozone concentration through the paddy grain bulks was explained by applying the principle of the law of conservation along with a continuity equation. A higher ozone concentration value was observed at regions near the ozone diffuser whereas a lower concentration value was observed at regions away from the ozone diffuser. The relative error between the experimental and predicted ozone concentration values for the entire bin geometry was less than 42.8%. The simulation model described a non-linear change of ozone concentration in stored paddy bulks. Results of this study provide a valuable source for estimating the parameters needed for effectively designing a storage bin for fumigation of paddy grains in a commercial scale continuous-flow ozone fumigation system. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Bayesian modelling of uncertainties of Monte Carlo radiative-transfer simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beaujean, Frederik; Eggers, Hans C.; Kerzendorf, Wolfgang E.

2018-07-01

One of the big challenges in astrophysics is the comparison of complex simulations to observations. As many codes do not directly generate observables (e.g. hydrodynamic simulations), the last step in the modelling process is often a radiative-transfer treatment. For this step, the community relies increasingly on Monte Carlo radiative transfer due to the ease of implementation and scalability with computing power. We consider simulations in which the number of photon packets is Poisson distributed, while the weight assigned to a single photon packet follows any distribution of choice. We show how to estimate the statistical uncertainty of the sum of weights in each bin from the output of a single radiative-transfer simulation. Our Bayesian approach produces a posterior distribution that is valid for any number of packets in a bin, even zero packets, and is easy to implement in practice. Our analytic results for large number of packets show that we generalize existing methods that are valid only in limiting cases. The statistical problem considered here appears in identical form in a wide range of Monte Carlo simulations including particle physics and importance sampling. It is particularly powerful in extracting information when the available data are sparse or quantities are small.

Solid waste management in Kolkata, India: practices and challenges.

PubMed

Hazra, Tumpa; Goel, Sudha

2009-01-01

This paper presents an overview of current solid waste management (SWM) practices in Kolkata, India and suggests solutions to some of the major problems. More than 2920ton/d of solid waste are generated in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) area and the budget allocation for 2007-2008 was Rs. 1590 million (US$40 million), which amounts to Rs. 265/cap-y (US$6.7/cap-d) on SWM. This expenditure is insufficient to provide adequate SWM services. Major deficiencies were found in all elements of SWM. Despite 70% of the SWM budget being allocated for collection, collection efficiency is around 60-70% for the registered residents and less than 20% for unregistered residents (slum dwellers). The collection process is deficient in terms of manpower and vehicle availability. Bin capacity provided is adequate but locations were found to be inappropriate, thus contributing to the inefficiency of the system. At this time, no treatment is provided to the waste and waste is dumped on open land at Dhapa after collection. Lack of suitable facilities (equipment and infrastructure) and underestimates of waste generation rates, inadequate management and technical skills, improper bin collection, and route planning are responsible for poor collection and transportation of municipal solid wastes.

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Leveraging multi-layer imager detector design to improve low-dose performance for megavoltage cone-beam computed tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Yue-Houng; Rottmann, Joerg; Fueglistaller, Rony; Myronakis, Marios; Wang, Adam; Huber, Pascal; Shedlock, Daniel; Morf, Daniel; Baturin, Paul; Star-Lack, Josh; Berbeco, Ross

2018-02-01

While megavoltage cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) using an electronic portal imaging device (EPID) provides many advantages over kilovoltage (kV) CBCT, clinical adoption is limited by its high doses. Multi-layer imager (MLI) EPIDs increase DQE(0) while maintaining high resolution. However, even well-designed, high-performance MLIs suffer from increased electronic noise from each readout, degrading low-dose image quality. To improve low-dose performance, shift-and-bin addition (ShiBA) imaging is proposed, leveraging the unique architecture of the MLI. ShiBA combines hardware readout-binning and super-resolution concepts, reducing electronic noise while maintaining native image sampling. The imaging performance of full-resolution (FR); standard, aligned binned (BIN); and ShiBA images in terms of noise power spectrum (NPS), electronic NPS, modulation transfer function (MTF), and the ideal observer signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)—the detectability index (d‧)—are compared. The FR 4-layer readout of the prototype MLI exhibits an electronic NPS magnitude 6-times higher than a state-of-the-art single layer (SLI) EPID. Although the MLI is built on the same readout platform as the SLI, with each layer exhibiting equivalent electronic noise, the multi-stage readout of the MLI results in electronic noise 50% higher than simple summation. Electronic noise is mitigated in both BIN and ShiBA imaging, reducing its total by ~12 times. ShiBA further reduces the NPS, effectively upsampling the image, resulting in a multiplication by a sinc2 function. Normalized NPS show that neither ShiBA nor BIN otherwise affects image noise. The LSF shows that ShiBA removes the pixilation artifact of BIN images and mitigates the effect of detector shift, but does not quantifiably improve the MTF. ShiBA provides a pre-sampled representation of the images, mitigating phase dependence. Hardware binning strategies lower the quantum noise floor, with 2 × 2 implementation reducing the dose at which DQE(0) degrades by 10% from 0.01 MU to 0.004 MU, representing 20% improvement in d‧.

SU-F-J-224: Impact of 4D PET/CT On PERCIST Classification of Lung and Liver Metastases in NSLC and Colorectal Cancer

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

Meier, J; Lopez, B; Mawlawi, O

2016-06-15

Purpose: To quantify the impact of 4D PET/CT on PERCIST metrics in lung and liver tumors in NSCLC and colorectal cancer patients. Methods: 32 patients presenting lung or liver tumors of 1–3 cm size affected by respiratory motion were scanned on a GE Discovery 690 PET/CT. The bed position with lesion(s) affected by motion was acquired in a 12 minute PET LIST mode and unlisted into 8 bins with respiratory gating. Three different CT maps were used for attenuation correction: a clinical helical CT (CT-clin), an average CT (CT-ave), and an 8-phase 4D CINE CT (CT-cine). All reconstructions were 3Dmore » OSEM, 2 iterations, 24 subsets, 6.4 Gaussian filtration, 192×192 matrix, non-TOF, and non-PSF. Reconstructions using CT-clin and CT-ave used only 3 out of the 12 minutes of the data (clinical protocol); all 12 minutes were used for the CT-cine reconstruction. The percent change of SUVbw-peak and SUVbw-max was calculated between PET-CTclin and PET-CTave. The same percent change was also calculated between PET-CTclin and PET-CTcine in each of the 8 bins and in the average of all bins. A 30% difference from PET-CTclin classified lesions as progressive metabolic disease (PMD) using maximum bin value and the average of eight bin values. Results: 30 lesions in 25 patients were evaluated. Using the bin with maximum SUVbw-peak and SUVbw-max difference, 4 and 13 lesions were classified as PMD, respectively. Using the average bin values for SUVbw-peak and SUVbw-max, 3 and 6 lesions were classified as PMD, respectively. Using PET-CTave values for SUVbw-peak and SUVbw-max, 4 and 3 lesions were classified as PMD, respectively. Conclusion: These results suggest that response evaluation in 4D PET/CT is dependent on SUV measurement (SUVpeak vs. SUVmax), number of bins (single or average), and the CT map used for attenuation correction.« less

Occurrence of Penicillium verrucosum, ochratoxin A, ochratoxin B and citrinin in on-farm stored winter wheat from the Canadian Great Lakes Region

PubMed Central

Miller, J. David; Schaafsma, Arthur W.

2017-01-01

The occurrence of P. verrucosum and ochratoxin A (OTA) were surveyed for 3 and 4 years, respectively. A total of 250 samples was collected from an average of 30 farms during the 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 winter seasons. Most storage bins surveyed were typically 11 m high round bins made of corrugated, galvanized steel, with flat-bottoms and conical roofs. Samples of clumped grain contained the most P. verrucosum (p<0.05, n = 10) followed by samples taken from the first load (n = 24, mean = 147±87 CFU/g) and last load (n = 17, mean = 101±77 CFU/g). Five grain samples (2.2%) tested positive for OTA, citrinin and OTB at concentrations of 14.7±7.9, 4.9±1.9 and 1.2±0.7 ng/g, with only three samples exceeding 5 ng/g. Grain samples positive for OTA were related to moisture resulting from either condensation or migrating moist warm air in the bin or areas where precipitation including snow entered the bin. Bins containing grain and clumps contaminated with OTA were studied in detail. A number of statistically-significant risk factors for OTA contamination were identified. These included 1) grain clumps accumulated around or directly under manhole openings, 2) debris and residue of old grain or grain clumps collected from the bin walls or left on storage floor and augers and 3) grain clumps accumulated around side doors. Even when grain enters storage below the 14.5% threshold of moisture, condensation and moisture migration occurs in hotspots in modern corrugated steel storage bins. Hot spots of OTA contamination were most often in areas affected by moisture migration due to inadequate aeration and exposure to moisture from precipitation or condensation. Further, we found that the nature of the condensation affects the nature and distribution of small and isolated areas with high incidence of toxin contamination and/or P. verrucosum prevalence in the grain bins examined. PMID:28749978

Occurrence of Penicillium verrucosum, ochratoxin A, ochratoxin B and citrinin in on-farm stored winter wheat from the Canadian Great Lakes Region.

PubMed

Limay-Rios, Victor; Miller, J David; Schaafsma, Arthur W

2017-01-01

The occurrence of P. verrucosum and ochratoxin A (OTA) were surveyed for 3 and 4 years, respectively. A total of 250 samples was collected from an average of 30 farms during the 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 winter seasons. Most storage bins surveyed were typically 11 m high round bins made of corrugated, galvanized steel, with flat-bottoms and conical roofs. Samples of clumped grain contained the most P. verrucosum (p<0.05, n = 10) followed by samples taken from the first load (n = 24, mean = 147±87 CFU/g) and last load (n = 17, mean = 101±77 CFU/g). Five grain samples (2.2%) tested positive for OTA, citrinin and OTB at concentrations of 14.7±7.9, 4.9±1.9 and 1.2±0.7 ng/g, with only three samples exceeding 5 ng/g. Grain samples positive for OTA were related to moisture resulting from either condensation or migrating moist warm air in the bin or areas where precipitation including snow entered the bin. Bins containing grain and clumps contaminated with OTA were studied in detail. A number of statistically-significant risk factors for OTA contamination were identified. These included 1) grain clumps accumulated around or directly under manhole openings, 2) debris and residue of old grain or grain clumps collected from the bin walls or left on storage floor and augers and 3) grain clumps accumulated around side doors. Even when grain enters storage below the 14.5% threshold of moisture, condensation and moisture migration occurs in hotspots in modern corrugated steel storage bins. Hot spots of OTA contamination were most often in areas affected by moisture migration due to inadequate aeration and exposure to moisture from precipitation or condensation. Further, we found that the nature of the condensation affects the nature and distribution of small and isolated areas with high incidence of toxin contamination and/or P. verrucosum prevalence in the grain bins examined.

See Also:physica status solidi (b)physica status solidi (c)Copyright © 2004 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
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Volume 201, Issue14 (November 2004)
Articles in the Current Issue:
Rapid Research Note
Highly (001)-textured WS2-x films prepared by reactive radio frequency magnetron sputtering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ellmer, K.; Mientus, R.; Seeger, S.; Weiß, V.

2004-11-01

Highly (001)-oriented WS2-x films were grown onto oxidized silicon substrates by reactive magnetron sputtering from a metallic tungsten target in argon-hydrogen sulfide mixtures. The best films with respect to the van-der-Waals orientation, i.e. with the (001) planes parallel to the substrate surface, were grown by excitation of the plasma with radio frequency of 27.12 MHz. These films exhibit the largest grains and the lowest film strain. It is shown that this effect is not due to the lower deposition rate at this high excitation frequency. Instead it was found that the lower DC voltage at the sputtering target is advantageous for the film growth since the bombardment of the growing film by highly energetic particles is avoided by this type of plasma excitation.

See Also:physica status solidi (b)physica status solidi (c)Copyright © 2004 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
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Volume 201, Issue12 (September 2004)
Articles in the Current Issue:
Rapid Research Note
Effects of high dose proton irradiation on the electrical performance of ZnO Schottky diodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khanna, Rohit; Ip, K.; Allums, K. K.; Baik, K.; Abernathy, C. R.; Pearton, S. J.; Heo, Y. W.; Norton, D. P.; Ren, F.; Dwivedi, R.; Fogarty, T. N.; Wilkins, R.

2004-09-01

The preparation and characterization of terbium doped zinc aluminate photoluminescent films obtained by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis deposition process are described. Variations on doping concentrations in the start spraying solution and substrate temperatures were studied. XRD measurements on these films showed that the crystalline structure depends on the substrate temperature. For an excitation wavelength of 242 nm, all the photoluminescence spectra show peaks located at 488 nm, 546 nm, 589 nm and 621 nm. The photoluminescence intensity reaches values practically constant for the samples deposited at substrate temperatures higher than 400 °C. In this case, concentration quenching of the photoluminescence appears at doping concentrations greater than 0.93 atomic percent into the films. The surface morphology characteristics of the films deposited on glass and silicon substrates, as a function of the deposition temperature, are presented.

Glimpse: Sparsity based weak lensing mass-mapping tool

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lanusse, F.; Starck, J.-L.; Leonard, A.; Pires, S.

2018-02-01

Glimpse, also known as Glimpse2D, is a weak lensing mass-mapping tool that relies on a robust sparsity-based regularization scheme to recover high resolution convergence from either gravitational shear alone or from a combination of shear and flexion. Including flexion allows the supplementation of the shear on small scales in order to increase the sensitivity to substructures and the overall resolution of the convergence map. To preserve all available small scale information, Glimpse avoids any binning of the irregularly sampled input shear and flexion fields and treats the mass-mapping problem as a general ill-posed inverse problem, regularized using a multi-scale wavelet sparsity prior. The resulting algorithm incorporates redshift, reduced shear, and reduced flexion measurements for individual galaxies and is made highly efficient by the use of fast Fourier estimators.

Wolf howling and its role in territory maintenance

USGS Publications Warehouse

Harrington, F.H.; Mech, L.D.

1979-01-01

An experimental study of the role of howling in wolf territory maintenance was conducted in the Superior National Forest, Minnesota. Vocal replies and behaviour of radio-collared wolves in response to human howls were analyzed for eight packs and 10 lone wolves during a 2-year period. Reply rate varied significantly throughout the year. A mid-winter increase was correlated with the breeding season, especially for groups containing breeding animals (alpha male or alpha female). A second, longer increase in reply rate started in midsummer, peaked about August, and declined to a low in early winter. The decline in autumn howling response occurred sooner in a pack whose pups developed faster. Through the year, the howling reply rate was significantly higher among all packs and lone wolves attending prey kills. The more food remaining at a kill, the higher the reply rate was. For wolves separated from their pack, the howling reply rate was dependent on their age and social role. Among adults, only alpha males ever replied alone, and their reply rate, and number of howls per session, exceeded those of other animals. Alpha males sometimes approached during howling sessions, whereas other adults usually retreated. Younger animals replied more often as pups than as yearlings, and then only during their first 7 months, after which they replied little more than most adults. Finally, larger packs replied more often than smaller packs. Specific behaviours noted during howling sessions, including movements away from the howler, indicated that howling was related to interpack agonism. In addition, three of the major factors influencing reply rate also significantly affect the level of agonism toward pack strangers : pack size, social role, and breeding season. The other two factors, kills and pups, are both important pack resources necessitating exclusive occupancy of a site. The high reply rates at sites containing kills or pups constitute strong circumstantial evidence that howling is important in territory maintenance. During howling sessions, wolves usually remained near their original site after replying, or retreated if they remained silent. This difference apparently was related to the problem of avoiding both accidental and deliberate encounters, and to cost/benefit considerations at the wolves' location. Howling was considered most effective in mediating avoidance in two situations : when two packs approached a common area of overlap, and when a pack returned to an area little used for weeks, in which scent posts would have lost effectiveness in deterring strangers. Both scent-marking and howling apparently are important in spacing. However, they differ in their roles and are complementary, with scent-marking being long-term and site-specific, and howling being immediate and long-range. Finally, lone wolves which do not possess territories, rarely replied, sharing the 'low-profile' behaviour expected of surplus animals in a territorial population.

30. Looking to Huber Breaker (left), Retail Coal Storage Bins ...

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

30. Looking to Huber Breaker (left), Retail Coal Storage Bins (center), and Power Plant (right) Photograph taken by George Harven - Huber Coal Breaker, 101 South Main Street, Ashley, Luzerne County, PA

26. FIRST LEVEL, VIEW OF TRANSFER CHUTES FROM BIN NUMBERS ...

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

26. FIRST LEVEL, VIEW OF TRANSFER CHUTES FROM BIN NUMBERS 28 AND 32 LEADING TO OUT LEG; LOOKING SOUTHEAST - Northwestern Consolidated Elevator "A", 119 Fifth Avenue South, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, MN

5. Foreground: ore bridges, ore/coke/limestone bins, Detroit River; background: stock ...

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

5. Foreground: ore bridges, ore/coke/limestone bins, Detroit River; background: stock house on left, stripper building, BOF. Looking south/southwest - Rouge Steel Company, 3001 Miller Road, Dearborn, MI

Neural noise and movement-related codes in the macaque supplementary motor area.

PubMed

Averbeck, Bruno B; Lee, Daeyeol

2003-08-20

We analyzed the variability of spike counts and the coding capacity of simultaneously recorded pairs of neurons in the macaque supplementary motor area (SMA). We analyzed the mean-variance functions for single neurons, as well as signal and noise correlations between pairs of neurons. All three statistics showed a strong dependence on the bin width chosen for analysis. Changes in the correlation structure of single neuron spike trains over different bin sizes affected the mean-variance function, and signal and noise correlations between pairs of neurons were much smaller at small bin widths, increasing monotonically with the width of the bin. Analyses in the frequency domain showed that the noise between pairs of neurons, on average, was most strongly correlated at low frequencies, which explained the increase in noise correlation with increasing bin width. The coding performance was analyzed to determine whether the temporal precision of spike arrival times and the interactions within and between neurons could improve the prediction of the upcoming movement. We found that in approximately 62% of neuron pairs, the arrival times of spikes at a resolution between 66 and 40 msec carried more information than spike counts in a 200 msec bin. In addition, in 19% of neuron pairs, inclusion of within (11%)- or between-neuron (8%) correlations in spike trains improved decoding accuracy. These results suggest that in some SMA neurons elements of the spatiotemporal pattern of activity may be relevant for neural coding.

The Impact of Aerosols on Cloud and Precipitation Processes: Cloud-Resolving Model Simulations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tao, Wei-Kuo; Li, X.; Khain, A.; Simpson, S.; Johnson, D.; Remer, L.

2004-01-01

Cloud microphysics is inevitably affected by the smoke particle (CCN, cloud condensation nuclei) size distributions below the clouds. Therefore, size distributions parameterized as spectral bin microphysics are needed to explicitly study the effects of atmospheric aerosol concentration on cloud development, rainfall production, and rainfall rates for convective clouds. Recently, two detailed spectral-bin microphysical schemes were implemented into the Goddard Cumulus Ensembel (GCE) model. The formulation for the explicit spectral-bin microphysical processes is based on solving stochastic kinetic equations for the size distribution functions of water droplets (i.e., cloud droplets and raindrops), and several types of ice particles [i.e. pristine ice crystals (columnar and plate-like), snow (dendrites and aggregates), graupel and frozen drops/hail]. Each type is described by a special size distribution function containing many categories (i.e. 33 bins). Atmospheric aerosols are also described using number density size distribution functions. A spectral-bin microphysical model is very expensive from a computational point of view and has only been implemented into the 2D version of the GCE at the present time. The model is tested by studying the evolution of deep tropical clouds in the west Pacific warm pool region and in the mid-latitude continent with different concentrations of CCN: a low "c1ean"concentration and a high "dirty" concentration. In addition, differences and similarities between bulk microphysics and spectral-bin microphysical schemes will be examined and discussed.

The Impact of Aerosols on Cloud and Precipitation Processes: Cloud-resolving Model Simulations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tao, Wei-Kuo; Li, X.; Khain, A.; Simpson, S.; Johnson, D.; Remer, L.

2004-01-01

Cloud microphysics is inevitably affected by the smoke particle (CCN, cloud condensation nuclei) size distributions below the clouds. Therefore, size distributions parameterized as spectral bin microphysics are needed to explicitly study the effects of atmospheric aerosol concentration on cloud development, r d a U production, and rainfall rates for convective clouds. Recently, two detailed spectral-bin microphysical schemes were implemented into the Goddard Cumulus Ensembe1 (GCE) model. The formulation for the explicit spectral-bin microphysical processes is based on solving stochastic kinetic equations for the size distribution functions of water droplets (i.e., cloud droplets and raindrops), and several types of ice particles [i.e. pristine ice crystals (columnar and platelike), snow (dendrites and aggregates), graupel and frozen drops/hail]. Each type is described by a special size distribution function containing many categories (i.e. 33 bins). Atmospheric aerosols are also described using number density size-distribution functions. A spectral-bin microphysical model is very expensive from a computational point of view and has only been implemented into the 2D version of the GCE at the present time. The model is tested by studying the evolution of deep tropical clouds in the west Pacific warm pool region and in the mid-latitude continent with different concentrations of CCN: a low "c1ean"concentration and a high "dirty" concentration. In addition, differences and similarities between bulk microphysics and spectral-bin microphysical schemes will be examined and discussed.

Mathematical modeling as a tool to investigate the design and operation of the zymotis packed-bed bioreactor for solid-state fermentation.

PubMed

Mitchell, D A; von Meien, O F

2000-04-20

Zymotis bioreactors for solid-state fermentation (SSF) are packed-bed bioreactors with internal cooling plates. This design has potential to overcome the problem of heat removal, which is one of the main challenges in SSF. In ordinary packed-bed bioreactors, which lack internal plates, large axial temperature gradients arise, leading to poor microbial growth in the end of the bed near the air outlet. The Zymotis design is suitable for SSF processes in which the substrate bed must be maintained static, but little is known about how to design and operate Zymotis bioreactors. We use a two-dimensional heat transfer model, describing the growth of Aspergillus niger on a starchy substrate, to provide guidelines for the optimum design and operation of Zymotis bioreactors. As for ordinary packed-beds, the superficial velocity of the process air is a key variable. However, the Zymotis design introduces other important variables, namely, the spacing between the internal cooling plates and the temperature of the cooling water. High productivities can be achieved at large scale, but only if small spacings between the cooling plates are used, and if the cooling water temperature is varied during the fermentation in response to bed temperatures. Copyright 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Anaerobic digestion of olive mill wastewaters in biofilm reactors packed with granular activated carbon and "Manville" silica beads.

PubMed

Bertin, Lorenzo; Berselli, Sara; Fava, Fabio; Petrangeli-Papini, Marco; Marchetti, Leonardo

2004-01-01

Anaerobic digestion is one of the most promising technologies for disposing olive mill wastewaters (OMWs). The process is generally carried out in the conventional contact bioreactors, which however are often unable to efficiently remove OMW phenolic compounds, that therefore occur in the effluents. The possibility of mitigating this problem by employing an anaerobic OMW-digesting microbial consortium passively immobilized in column reactors packed with granular activated carbon (GAC) or "Manville" silica beads (SB) was here investigated. Under batch conditions, both GAC- and SB-packed-bed biofilm reactors exhibited OMW COD and phenolic compound removal efficiencies markedly higher (from 60% to 250%) than those attained in a parallel anaerobic dispersed growth reactor developed with the same inoculum; GAC-reactor exhibited COD and phenolic compound depletion yields higher by 62% and 78%, respectively, than those achieved with the identically configured SB-biofilm reactor. Both biofilm reactors also mediated an extensive OMW remediation under continuous conditions, where GAC-reactor was much more effective than the corresponding SB-one, and showed a tolerance to high and variable organic loads along with a volumetric productivity in terms of COD and phenolic compound removal significantly higher than those averagely displayed by most of the conventional and packed-bed laboratory-scale reactors previously proposed for the OMW digestion.

Problems experienced by older people when opening medicine packaging.

PubMed

Philbert, Daphne; Notenboom, Kim; Bouvy, Marcel L; van Geffen, Erica C G

2014-06-01

Medicine packages can cause problems in daily practice, especially among older people. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of problems experienced by older people when opening medicine packaging and to investigate how patients manage these problems. A convenience sample of 30 community pharmacies participated in this study. They selected a systematic sample of 30 patients over 65 years old with a recent omeprazole prescription, and a questionnaire was administered by telephone for at least 10 patients per pharmacy. A total of 317 patients completed the questionnaire. They received their omeprazole in a bottle (n = 179, 56.5%), push-through blister pack (n = 102, 32.2%) or peel-off blister pack (n = 36, 11.4%). Some 28.4% of all patients experienced one or more problems with opening their omeprazole packaging; most problems occurred with peel-off blisters (n = 24, 66.7% of all respondents using peel-off blisters), followed by push-through blisters (n = 34, 33.3%) and finally bottles (n = 32, 17.9%). The risk of experiencing problems with peel-off blisters and push-through blisters was higher [relative risk 3.7 (95% confidence interval 2.5-5.5) and 1.9 (1.2-2.8), respectively] than the risk of experiencing problems with opening bottles. Two-thirds of respondents reported management strategies for their problems. Most were found for problems opening bottles (n = 24, 75%), followed by push-through blisters (n = 24, 70.6%) and peel-off blisters (n = 14, 58.3%). One in four patients over 65 experienced difficulties opening their omeprazole packaging and not all of them reported a management strategy for their problems. Manufacturers are advised to pay more attention to the user-friendliness of product packaging. In addition, it is important that pharmacy staff clearly instruct patients on how to open their medicine packaging, or assist them in choosing the most appropriate packaging. © 2013 Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

On the packing measure of the Sierpinski gasket

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Llorente, Marta; Mera, M. Eugenia; Morán, Manuel

2018-06-01

We show that the s-dimensional packing measure P s (S) of the Sierpinski gasket S, where is the similarity dimension of S, satisfies . The formula presented in theorem 6 enables the achievement of the above measure bounds for this non-totally disconnected set as it shows that the symmetries of the Sierpinski gasket can be exploited to simplify the density characterization of P s obtained in Morán (2005 Nonlinearity 18 559–70) for self-similar sets satisfying the so-called open set condition. Thanks to the reduction obtained in theorem 6 we are able to handle the problem of computability of P s (S) with a suitable algorithm.

Heated Debates: Hot-Water Immersion or Ice Packs as First Aid for Cnidarian Envenomations?

PubMed

Wilcox, Christie L; Yanagihara, Angel A

2016-04-01

Cnidarian envenomations are an important public health problem, responsible for more deaths than shark attacks annually. For this reason, optimization of first-aid care is essential. According to the published literature, cnidarian venoms and toxins are heat labile at temperatures safe for human application, which supports the use of hot-water immersion of the sting area(s). However, ice packs are often recommended and used by emergency personnel. After conducting a systematic review of the evidence for the use of heat or ice in the treatment of cnidarian envenomations, we conclude that the majority of studies to date support the use of hot-water immersion for pain relief and improved health outcomes.

See Also:Mechanics of Cohesive-frictional MaterialsCopyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Get Sample Copy
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Volume 28, Issue5 (25 April 2004)
Articles in the Current Issue:
Research Article
Softening, localization and stabilization: capture of discontinuous solutions in J2 plasticity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cervera, M.; Chiumenti, M.; Agelet de Saracibar, C.

2004-04-01

This paper exploits the concept of stabilization techniques to improve the behaviour of mixed linear/linear simplicial elements (triangles and tetrahedra) in incompressible or nearly incompressible situations. Elasto-J2-plastic constitutive behaviour has been considered with linear and exponential softening. Two different stabilization methods are used to attain global stability of the corresponding discrete finite element formulation. Implementation and computational aspects are also discussed, showing that a robust application of the proposed formulation is feasible. Numerical examples show that the formulation derived is free of volumetric locking and spurious oscillations of the pressure. The results obtained do not suffer from spurious mesh-size or mesh-bias dependence, comparing very favourably with those obtained with the standard, non-stabilized, approaches. Copyright

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Exploiting jet binning to identify the initial state of high-mass resonances

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ebert, Markus A.; Liebler, Stefan; Moult, Ian; Stewart, Iain W.; Tackmann, Frank J.; Tackmann, Kerstin; Zeune, Lisa

2016-09-01

If a new high-mass resonance is discovered at the Large Hadron Collider, model-independent techniques to identify the production mechanism will be crucial to understand its nature and effective couplings to Standard Model particles. We present a powerful and model-independent method to infer the initial state in the production of any high-mass color-singlet system by using a tight veto on accompanying hadronic jets to divide the data into two mutually exclusive event samples (jet bins). For a resonance of several hundred GeV, the jet binning cut needed to discriminate quark and gluon initial states is in the experimentally accessible range of several tens of GeV. It also yields comparable cross sections for both bins, making this method viable already with the small event samples available shortly after a discovery. Theoretically, the method is made feasible by utilizing an effective field theory setup to compute the jet cut dependence precisely and model independently and to systematically control all sources of theoretical uncertainties in the jet binning, as well as their correlations. We use a 750 GeV scalar resonance as an example to demonstrate the viability of our method.

Monitoring household waste recycling centres performance using mean bin weight analyses.

PubMed

Maynard, Sarah; Cherrett, Tom; Waterson, Ben

2009-02-01

This paper describes a modelling approach used to investigate the significance of key factors (vehicle type, compaction type, site design, temporal effects) in influencing the variability in observed nett amenity bin weights produced by household waste recycling centres (HWRCs). This new method can help to quickly identify sites that are producing significantly lighter bins, enabling detailed back-end analyses to be efficiently targeted and best practice in HWRC operation identified. Tested on weigh ticket data from nine HWRCs across West Sussex, UK, the model suggests that compaction technique, vehicle type, month and site design explained 76% of the variability in the observed nett amenity weights. For each factor, a weighting coefficient was calculated to generate a predicted nett weight for each bin transaction and three sites were subsequently identified as having similar characteristics but returned significantly different mean nett bin weights. Waste and site audits were then conducted at the three sites to try and determine the possible sources of the remaining variability. Significant differences were identified in the proportions of contained waste (bagged), wood, and dry recyclables entering the amenity waste stream, particularly at one site where significantly less contaminated waste and dry recyclables were observed.

Surgical Technical Evidence Review of Hip Fracture Surgery Conducted for the AHRQ Safety Program for Improving Surgical Care and Recovery.

PubMed

Siletz, Anaar; Childers, Christopher P; Faltermeier, Claire; Singer, Emily S; Hu, Q Lina; Ko, Clifford Y; Kates, Stephen L; Maggard-Gibbons, Melinda; Wick, Elizabeth

2018-01-01

Enhanced recovery pathways (ERPs) have been shown to improve patient outcomes in a variety of contexts. This review summarizes the evidence and defines a protocol for perioperative care of patients with hip fracture and was conducted for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality safety program for improving surgical care and recovery. Perioperative care was divided into components or "bins." For each bin, a semisystematic review of the literature was conducted using MEDLINE with priority given to systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and randomized controlled trials. Observational studies were included when higher levels of evidence were not available. Existing guidelines for perioperative care were also incorporated. For convenience, the components of care that are under the auspices of anesthesia providers will be reported separately. Recommendations for an evidence-based protocol were synthesized based on review of this evidence. Eleven bins were identified. Preoperative risk factor bins included nutrition, diabetes mellitus, tobacco use, and anemia. Perioperative management bins included thromboprophylaxis, timing of surgery, fluid management, drain placement, early mobilization, early alimentation, and discharge criteria/planning. This review provides the evidence basis for an ERP for perioperative care of patients with hip fracture.

Assembling and auditing a comprehensive DNA barcode reference library for European marine fishes.

PubMed

Oliveira, L M; Knebelsberger, T; Landi, M; Soares, P; Raupach, M J; Costa, F O

2016-12-01

A large-scale comprehensive reference library of DNA barcodes for European marine fishes was assembled, allowing the evaluation of taxonomic uncertainties and species genetic diversity that were otherwise hidden in geographically restricted studies. A total of 4118 DNA barcodes were assigned to 358 species generating 366 Barcode Index Numbers (BIN). Initial examination revealed as much as 141 BIN discordances (more than one species in each BIN). After implementing an auditing and five-grade (A-E) annotation protocol, the number of discordant species BINs was reduced to 44 (13% grade E), while concordant species BINs amounted to 271 (78% grades A and B) and 14 other had insufficient data (grade D). Fifteen species displayed comparatively high intraspecific divergences ranging from 2·6 to 18·5% (grade C), which is biologically paramount information to be considered in fish species monitoring and stock assessment. On balance, this compilation contributed to the detection of 59 European fish species probably in need of taxonomic clarification or re-evaluation. The generalized implementation of an auditing and annotation protocol for reference libraries of DNA barcodes is recommended. © 2016 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

Nonlinear histogram binning for quantitative analysis of lung tissue fibrosis in high-resolution CT data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zavaletta, Vanessa A.; Bartholmai, Brian J.; Robb, Richard A.

2007-03-01

Diffuse lung diseases, such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), can be characterized and quantified by analysis of volumetric high resolution CT scans of the lungs. These data sets typically have dimensions of 512 x 512 x 400. It is too subjective and labor intensive for a radiologist to analyze each slice and quantify regional abnormalities manually. Thus, computer aided techniques are necessary, particularly texture analysis techniques which classify various lung tissue types. Second and higher order statistics which relate the spatial variation of the intensity values are good discriminatory features for various textures. The intensity values in lung CT scans range between [-1024, 1024]. Calculation of second order statistics on this range is too computationally intensive so the data is typically binned between 16 or 32 gray levels. There are more effective ways of binning the gray level range to improve classification. An optimal and very efficient way to nonlinearly bin the histogram is to use a dynamic programming algorithm. The objective of this paper is to show that nonlinear binning using dynamic programming is computationally efficient and improves the discriminatory power of the second and higher order statistics for more accurate quantification of diffuse lung disease.

The binned bispectrum estimator: template-based and non-parametric CMB non-Gaussianity searches

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

Bucher, Martin; Racine, Benjamin; Tent, Bartjan van, E-mail: bucher@apc.univ-paris7.fr, E-mail: benjar@uio.no, E-mail: vantent@th.u-psud.fr

2016-05-01

We describe the details of the binned bispectrum estimator as used for the official 2013 and 2015 analyses of the temperature and polarization CMB maps from the ESA Planck satellite. The defining aspect of this estimator is the determination of a map bispectrum (3-point correlation function) that has been binned in harmonic space. For a parametric determination of the non-Gaussianity in the map (the so-called f NL parameters), one takes the inner product of this binned bispectrum with theoretically motivated templates. However, as a complementary approach one can also smooth the binned bispectrum using a variable smoothing scale in ordermore » to suppress noise and make coherent features stand out above the noise. This allows one to look in a model-independent way for any statistically significant bispectral signal. This approach is useful for characterizing the bispectral shape of the galactic foreground emission, for which a theoretical prediction of the bispectral anisotropy is lacking, and for detecting a serendipitous primordial signal, for which a theoretical template has not yet been put forth. Both the template-based and the non-parametric approaches are described in this paper.« less

Gap Crossings: Not Just a Tactical Problem

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-12-01

5 Operations. As the keystone ’How to Fight Manual,’ it marked a significant departure from previous editions of FM 100-5, one ofwhjch was the... African Brigade would conceal the arrival of other troops, behind !14th Brigade would fo llow with the 71h Division headquarters. 89 Brigade, on pack...delay the British forces. The mines caused minimal problems for the engineers and elephant units to clear. The 89 Brigade seized Pauk on 28 January

15. CAR DUMP BUILDING, DETAIL SHOWING GRATES OVER COAL BINS ...

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

15. CAR DUMP BUILDING, DETAIL SHOWING GRATES OVER COAL BINS AND CABLES UNDER CAR DUMP CONTROL HOUSE - Pennsylvania Railroad, Canton Coal Pier, Clinton Street at Keith Avenue (Canton area), Baltimore, Independent City, MD

SUGAR BIN WITH EAST WALL OF CRUSHING MILL TO ITS ...

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

SUGAR BIN WITH EAST WALL OF CRUSHING MILL TO ITS RIGHT. CONVEYOR FROM BOILING HOUSE ABOVE. VIEW FROM THE NORTHEAST - Kekaha Sugar Company, Sugar Mill Building, 8315 Kekaha Road, Kekaha, Kauai County, HI

31. Panoramic shot, Huber Breaker (left), Retail Coal Storage Bins ...

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

31. Panoramic shot, Huber Breaker (left), Retail Coal Storage Bins (center), Boney Elevator (right) Photographs taken by Joseph E.B. Elliot - Huber Coal Breaker, 101 South Main Street, Ashley, Luzerne County, PA

50. VIEW OF CRUSHER ADDITION FROM EAST. SHOWS 100TON STEEL ...

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

50. VIEW OF CRUSHER ADDITION FROM EAST. SHOWS 100-TON STEEL UNOXIDIZED ORE BIN, STEPHENS-ADAMSON 15 TON/HR INCLINED BUCKET ELEVATOR, AND DUST COLLECTION BIN IN UPPER RIGHT QUADRANT. THE ROD MILL CIRCUIT STOOD IN FRONT OF THE BUCKET ELEVATOR AND BEHIND THE BAKER COOLER (LEFT CENTER). MILL SOLUTION TANKS WERE IN FRONT OF THE CRUSHED OXIDIZED ORE BIN (CENTER), AND THE MILL FLOOR WAS THE NEXT LEVEL DOWN (RIGHT). - Bald Mountain Gold Mill, Nevada Gulch at head of False Bottom Creek, Lead, Lawrence County, SD

41. VIEW NORTH OF UPPER LEVEL OF CRUSHER ADDITION. DINGS ...

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

41. VIEW NORTH OF UPPER LEVEL OF CRUSHER ADDITION. DINGS MAGNETIC PULLEY AT CENTER. ALSO SHOWS 100-TON CRUSHED UNOXIDIZED ORE BIN (RIGHT), PULLEY FORM 18 INCH BELT CONVEYOR CRUSHED OXIDIZED ORE BIN FEED AND STEPHENSADAMSON 25 TON/HR BUCKET ELEVATOR (UPPER CENTER). THE UPPER PORTION OF THE SAMPLING ELEVATOR IS ABOVE THE MAGNETIC PULLEY (CENTER LEFT) WITH THE ROUTE OF THE 16 INCH BELT CONVEYOR FINES FEED TO CRUSHED OXIDIZED ORE BIN TO ITS LEFT. - Bald Mountain Gold Mill, Nevada Gulch at head of False Bottom Creek, Lead, Lawrence County, SD

HWSTD High Water Speed Technology Demonstrator - Power Pack - Conceptual Design Study

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-04-22

splitter box with mounting equipment to be developed and built in collaboration with the German firm, "Zahnradfabrik Friedrichshafen " (ZF). This...collaboration with the German firm,"Zahnradfabrik Friedrichshafen " (ZF). This is a proposed option with regard to saving interface problems and additional

76 FR 43731 - Notice of Permit Emergency Provision Under the Antarctic Conservation Act of 1978 (Pub. L. 95-541)

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-07-21

... plastic air force pallets and placed in a storage berm. At the time of packing, all containers were sound... problems. If SPoT proceeded as planned they would have been in the field late in the season when many of...

Why Do We Keep Catching the Common Cold?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gillen, Alan L.; Mayor, Heather D.

1995-01-01

Describes activities for biology teachers that will stimulate discussions on virus structure, cell biology, rhino viruses, and new trends in treating the common cold. Provides opportunity for inquiry and problem solving in exercises that emphasize an understanding of how common cold viruses might pack inside nasal epithelial cells. (14 references)…

Computation of reliable textural indices from multimodal brain MRI: suggestions based on a study of patients with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goya-Outi, Jessica; Orlhac, Fanny; Calmon, Raphael; Alentorn, Agusti; Nioche, Christophe; Philippe, Cathy; Puget, Stéphanie; Boddaert, Nathalie; Buvat, Irène; Grill, Jacques; Frouin, Vincent; Frouin, Frederique

2018-05-01

Few methodological studies regarding widely used textural indices robustness in MRI have been reported. In this context, this study aims to propose some rules to compute reliable textural indices from multimodal 3D brain MRI. Diagnosis and post-biopsy MR scans including T1, post-contrast T1, T2 and FLAIR images from thirty children with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) were considered. The hybrid white stripe method was adapted to standardize MR intensities. Sixty textural indices were then computed for each modality in different regions of interest (ROI), including tumor and white matter (WM). Three types of intensity binning were compared : constant bin width and relative bounds; constant number of bins and relative bounds; constant number of bins and absolute bounds. The impact of the volume of the region was also tested within the WM. First, the mean Hellinger distance between patient-based intensity distributions decreased by a factor greater than 10 in WM and greater than 2.5 in gray matter after standardization. Regarding the binning strategy, the ranking of patients was highly correlated for 188/240 features when comparing with , but for only 20 when comparing with , and nine when comparing with . Furthermore, when using or texture indices reflected tumor heterogeneity as assessed visually by experts. Last, 41 features presented statistically significant differences between contralateral WM regions when ROI size slightly varies across patients, and none when using ROI of the same size. For regions with similar size, 224 features were significantly different between WM and tumor. Valuable information from texture indices can be biased by methodological choices. Recommendations are to standardize intensities in MR brain volumes, to use intensity binning with constant bin width, and to define regions with the same volumes to get reliable textural indices.

Development of an aerosol microphysical module: Aerosol Two-dimensional bin module for foRmation and Aging Simulation (ATRAS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsui, H.; Koike, M.; Kondo, Y.; Fast, J. D.; Takigawa, M.

2014-09-01

Number concentrations, size distributions, and mixing states of aerosols are essential parameters for accurate estimations of aerosol direct and indirect effects. In this study, we develop an aerosol module, designated the Aerosol Two-dimensional bin module for foRmation and Aging Simulation (ATRAS), that can explicitly represent these parameters by considering new particle formation (NPF), black carbon (BC) aging, and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) processes. A two-dimensional bin representation is used for particles with dry diameters from 40 nm to 10 μm to resolve both aerosol sizes (12 bins) and BC mixing states (10 bins) for a total of 120 bins. The particles with diameters between 1 and 40 nm are resolved using additional eight size bins to calculate NPF. The ATRAS module is implemented in the WRF-Chem model and applied to examine the sensitivity of simulated mass, number, size distributions, and optical and radiative parameters of aerosols to NPF, BC aging, and SOA processes over East Asia during the spring of 2009. The BC absorption enhancement by coating materials is about 50% over East Asia during the spring, and the contribution of SOA processes to the absorption enhancement is estimated to be 10-20% over northern East Asia and 20-35% over southern East Asia. A clear north-south contrast is also found between the impacts of NPF and SOA processes on cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations: NPF increases CCN concentrations at higher supersaturations (smaller particles) over northern East Asia, whereas SOA increases CCN concentrations at lower supersaturations (larger particles) over southern East Asia. The application of ATRAS in East Asia also shows that the impact of each process on each optical and radiative parameter depends strongly on the process and the parameter in question. The module can be used in the future as a benchmark model to evaluate the accuracy of simpler aerosol models and examine interactions between NPF, BC aging, and SOA processes under different meteorological conditions and emissions.

Data Parallel Bin-Based Indexing for Answering Queries on Multi-Core Architectures

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

Gosink, Luke; Wu, Kesheng; Bethel, E. Wes

2009-06-02

The multi-core trend in CPUs and general purpose graphics processing units (GPUs) offers new opportunities for the database community. The increase of cores at exponential rates is likely to affect virtually every server and client in the coming decade, and presents database management systems with a huge, compelling disruption that will radically change how processing is done. This paper presents a new parallel indexing data structure for answering queries that takes full advantage of the increasing thread-level parallelism emerging in multi-core architectures. In our approach, our Data Parallel Bin-based Index Strategy (DP-BIS) first bins the base data, and then partitionsmore » and stores the values in each bin as a separate, bin-based data cluster. In answering a query, the procedures for examining the bin numbers and the bin-based data clusters offer the maximum possible level of concurrency; each record is evaluated by a single thread and all threads are processed simultaneously in parallel. We implement and demonstrate the effectiveness of DP-BIS on two multi-core architectures: a multi-core CPU and a GPU. The concurrency afforded by DP-BIS allows us to fully utilize the thread-level parallelism provided by each architecture--for example, our GPU-based DP-BIS implementation simultaneously evaluates over 12,000 records with an equivalent number of concurrently executing threads. In comparing DP-BIS's performance across these architectures, we show that the GPU-based DP-BIS implementation requires significantly less computation time to answer a query than the CPU-based implementation. We also demonstrate in our analysis that DP-BIS provides better overall performance than the commonly utilized CPU and GPU-based projection index. Finally, due to data encoding, we show that DP-BIS accesses significantly smaller amounts of data than index strategies that operate solely on a column's base data; this smaller data footprint is critical for parallel processors that possess limited memory resources (e.g., GPUs).« less

A Transcontinental Challenge — A Test of DNA Barcode Performance for 1,541 Species of Canadian Noctuoidea (Lepidoptera)

PubMed Central

Zahiri, Reza; Lafontaine, J. Donald; Schmidt, B. Christian; deWaard, Jeremy R.; Zakharov, Evgeny V.; Hebert, Paul D. N.

2014-01-01

This study provides a first, comprehensive, diagnostic use of DNA barcodes for the Canadian fauna of noctuoids or “owlet” moths (Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea) based on vouchered records for 1,541 species (99.1% species coverage), and more than 30,000 sequences. When viewed from a Canada-wide perspective, DNA barcodes unambiguously discriminate 90% of the noctuoid species recognized through prior taxonomic study, and resolution reaches 95.6% when considered at a provincial scale. Barcode sharing is concentrated in certain lineages with 54% of the cases involving 1.8% of the genera. Deep intraspecific divergence exists in 7.7% of the species, but further studies are required to clarify whether these cases reflect an overlooked species complex or phylogeographic variation in a single species. Non-native species possess higher Nearest-Neighbour (NN) distances than native taxa, whereas generalist feeders have lower NN distances than those with more specialized feeding habits. We found high concordance between taxonomic names and sequence clusters delineated by the Barcode Index Number (BIN) system with 1,082 species (70%) assigned to a unique BIN. The cases of discordance involve both BIN mergers and BIN splits with 38 species falling into both categories, most likely reflecting bidirectional introgression. One fifth of the species are involved in a BIN merger reflecting the presence of 158 species sharing their barcode sequence with at least one other taxon, and 189 species with low, but diagnostic COI divergence. A very few cases (13) involved species whose members fell into both categories. Most of the remaining 140 species show a split into two or three BINs per species, while Virbia ferruginosa was divided into 16. The overall results confirm that DNA barcodes are effective for the identification of Canadian noctuoids. This study also affirms that BINs are a strong proxy for species, providing a pathway for a rapid, accurate estimation of animal diversity. PMID:24667847

New Measurements of the Particle Size Distribution of Apollo 11 Lunar Soil 10084

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McKay, D.S.; Cooper, B.L.; Riofrio, L.M.

2009-01-01

We have initiated a major new program to determine the grain size distribution of nearly all lunar soils collected in the Apollo program. Following the return of Apollo soil and core samples, a number of investigators including our own group performed grain size distribution studies and published the results [1-11]. Nearly all of these studies were done by sieving the samples, usually with a working fluid such as Freon(TradeMark) or water. We have measured the particle size distribution of lunar soil 10084,2005 in water, using a Microtrac(TradeMark) laser diffraction instrument. Details of our own sieving technique and protocol (also used in [11]). are given in [4]. While sieving usually produces accurate and reproducible results, it has disadvantages. It is very labor intensive and requires hours to days to perform properly. Even using automated sieve shaking devices, four or five days may be needed to sieve each sample, although multiple sieve stacks increases productivity. Second, sieving is subject to loss of grains through handling and weighing operations, and these losses are concentrated in the finest grain sizes. Loss from handling becomes a more acute problem when smaller amounts of material are used. While we were able to quantitatively sieve into 6 or 8 size fractions using starting soil masses as low as 50mg, attrition and handling problems limit the practicality of sieving smaller amounts. Third, sieving below 10 or 20microns is not practical because of the problems of grain loss, and smaller grains sticking to coarser grains. Sieving is completely impractical below about 5- 10microns. Consequently, sieving gives no information on the size distribution below approx.10 microns which includes the important submicrometer and nanoparticle size ranges. Finally, sieving creates a limited number of size bins and may therefore miss fine structure of the distribution which would be revealed by other methods that produce many smaller size bins.

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12. Interior view, grain tanks (bins). Profile view of overhead ...

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

12. Interior view, grain tanks (bins). Profile view of overhead (fill) conveyor gallery bridge extending through tops of tanks just below roofs. - Saint Anthony Elevator No. 3, 620 Malcom Avenue, Southeast, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, MN

VIEW OF MILL FROM KEKAHA ROAD, WITH SUGAR BIN, CANE ...

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

VIEW OF MILL FROM KEKAHA ROAD, WITH SUGAR BIN, CANE CLEANING PLANT AND CRUSHING MILL TO THE FORE. VIEW FROM THE EAST - Kekaha Sugar Company, Sugar Mill Building, 8315 Kekaha Road, Kekaha, Kauai County, HI

53. VIEW OF CRUSHED OXIDIZED ORE BIN FROM EAST. SHOWS ...

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

53. VIEW OF CRUSHED OXIDIZED ORE BIN FROM EAST. SHOWS ACCESS STAIR TO FEED LEVEL; DUST COLLECTOR ON LEFT. - Bald Mountain Gold Mill, Nevada Gulch at head of False Bottom Creek, Lead, Lawrence County, SD

6. Detail of interior bin wall section, during demolition. Shows ...

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

6. Detail of interior bin wall section, during demolition. Shows alternating courses of channel tile with steel bands and largers hollow tile. - Saint Anthony Elevator No. 3, 620 Malcom Avenue, Southeast, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, MN

MetaBAT, an efficient tool for accurately reconstructing single genomes from complex microbial communities

DOE PAGES

Kang, Dongwan D.; Froula, Jeff; Egan, Rob; ...

2015-01-01

Grouping large genomic fragments assembled from shotgun metagenomic sequences to deconvolute complex microbial communities, or metagenome binning, enables the study of individual organisms and their interactions. Because of the complex nature of these communities, existing metagenome binning methods often miss a large number of microbial species. In addition, most of the tools are not scalable to large datasets. Here we introduce automated software called MetaBAT that integrates empirical probabilistic distances of genome abundance and tetranucleotide frequency for accurate metagenome binning. MetaBAT outperforms alternative methods in accuracy and computational efficiency on both synthetic and real metagenome datasets. Lastly, it automatically formsmore » hundreds of high quality genome bins on a very large assembly consisting millions of contigs in a matter of hours on a single node. MetaBAT is open source software and available at https://bitbucket.org/berkeleylab/metabat.« less

Interference Cognizant Network Scheduling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hall, Brendan (Inventor); Bonk, Ted (Inventor); DeLay, Benjamin F. (Inventor); Varadarajan, Srivatsan (Inventor); Smithgall, William Todd (Inventor)

2017-01-01

Systems and methods for interference cognizant network scheduling are provided. In certain embodiments, a method of scheduling communications in a network comprises identifying a bin of a global timeline for scheduling an unscheduled virtual link, wherein a bin is a segment of the timeline; identifying a pre-scheduled virtual link in the bin; and determining if the pre-scheduled and unscheduled virtual links share a port. In certain embodiments, if the unscheduled and pre-scheduled virtual links don't share a port, scheduling transmission of the unscheduled virtual link to overlap with the scheduled transmission of the pre-scheduled virtual link; and if the unscheduled and pre-scheduled virtual links share a port: determining a start time delay for the unscheduled virtual link based on the port; and scheduling transmission of the unscheduled virtual link in the bin based on the start time delay to overlap part of the scheduled transmission of the pre-scheduled virtual link.

On the Security of a Two-Factor Authentication and Key Agreement Scheme for Telecare Medicine Information Systems.

PubMed

Arshad, Hamed; Teymoori, Vahid; Nikooghadam, Morteza; Abbassi, Hassan

2015-08-01

Telecare medicine information systems (TMISs) aim to deliver appropriate healthcare services in an efficient and secure manner to patients. A secure mechanism for authentication and key agreement is required to provide proper security in these systems. Recently, Bin Muhaya demonstrated some security weaknesses of Zhu's authentication and key agreement scheme and proposed a security enhanced authentication and key agreement scheme for TMISs. However, we show that Bin Muhaya's scheme is vulnerable to off-line password guessing attacks and does not provide perfect forward secrecy. Furthermore, in order to overcome the mentioned weaknesses, we propose a new two-factor anonymous authentication and key agreement scheme using the elliptic curve cryptosystem. Security and performance analyses demonstrate that the proposed scheme not only overcomes the weaknesses of Bin Muhaya's scheme, but also is about 2.73 times faster than Bin Muhaya's scheme.

Native conflict awared layout decomposition in triple patterning lithography using bin-based library matching method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ke, Xianhua; Jiang, Hao; Lv, Wen; Liu, Shiyuan

2016-03-01

Triple patterning (TP) lithography becomes a feasible technology for manufacturing as the feature size further scale down to sub 14/10 nm. In TP, a layout is decomposed into three masks followed with exposures and etches/freezing processes respectively. Previous works mostly focus on layout decomposition with minimal conflicts and stitches simultaneously. However, since any existence of native conflict will result in layout re-design/modification and reperforming the time-consuming decomposition, the effective method that can be aware of native conflicts (NCs) in layout is desirable. In this paper, a bin-based library matching method is proposed for NCs detection and layout decomposition. First, a layout is divided into bins and the corresponding conflict graph in each bin is constructed. Then, we match the conflict graph in a prebuilt colored library, and as a result the NCs can be located and highlighted quickly.

Improved packing of protein side chains with parallel ant colonies.

PubMed

Quan, Lijun; Lü, Qiang; Li, Haiou; Xia, Xiaoyan; Wu, Hongjie

2014-01-01

The accurate packing of protein side chains is important for many computational biology problems, such as ab initio protein structure prediction, homology modelling, and protein design and ligand docking applications. Many of existing solutions are modelled as a computational optimisation problem. As well as the design of search algorithms, most solutions suffer from an inaccurate energy function for judging whether a prediction is good or bad. Even if the search has found the lowest energy, there is no certainty of obtaining the protein structures with correct side chains. We present a side-chain modelling method, pacoPacker, which uses a parallel ant colony optimisation strategy based on sharing a single pheromone matrix. This parallel approach combines different sources of energy functions and generates protein side-chain conformations with the lowest energies jointly determined by the various energy functions. We further optimised the selected rotamers to construct subrotamer by rotamer minimisation, which reasonably improved the discreteness of the rotamer library. We focused on improving the accuracy of side-chain conformation prediction. For a testing set of 442 proteins, 87.19% of X1 and 77.11% of X12 angles were predicted correctly within 40° of the X-ray positions. We compared the accuracy of pacoPacker with state-of-the-art methods, such as CIS-RR and SCWRL4. We analysed the results from different perspectives, in terms of protein chain and individual residues. In this comprehensive benchmark testing, 51.5% of proteins within a length of 400 amino acids predicted by pacoPacker were superior to the results of CIS-RR and SCWRL4 simultaneously. Finally, we also showed the advantage of using the subrotamers strategy. All results confirmed that our parallel approach is competitive to state-of-the-art solutions for packing side chains. This parallel approach combines various sources of searching intelligence and energy functions to pack protein side chains. It provides a frame-work for combining different inaccuracy/usefulness objective functions by designing parallel heuristic search algorithms.

The effect of postal questionnaire burden on response rate and answer patterns following admission to intensive care: a randomised controlled trial.

PubMed

Hatch, Robert; Young, Duncan; Barber, Vicki; Harrison, David A; Watkinson, Peter

2017-03-27

The effects of postal questionnaire burden on return rates and answers given are unclear following treatment on an intensive care unit (ICU). We aimed to establish the effects of different postal questionnaire burdens on return rates and answers given. Design: A parallel group randomised controlled trial. We assigned patients by computer-based randomisation to one of two questionnaire packs (Group A and Group B). Patients from 26 ICUs in the United Kingdom. Patients who had received at least 24 h of level 3 care and were 16 years of age or older. Patients did not know that there were different questionnaire burdens. The study included 18,490 patients. 12,170 were eligible to be sent a questionnaire pack at 3 months. We sent 12,105 questionnaires (6112 to group A and 5993 to group B). The Group A pack contained demographic and EuroQol group 5 Dimensions 3 level (EQ-5D-3 L) questionnaires, making four questionnaire pages. The Group B pack also contained the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Score (HADS) and the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Check List-Civilian (PCL-C) questionnaires, making eight questionnaire pages in total. Questionnaire return rate 3 months after ICU discharge by group. In group A, 2466/6112 (40.3%) participants responded at 3 months. In group B 2315/ 5993 (38.6%) participants responded (difference 1.7% CI for difference 0-3.5% p = 0.053). Group A reported better functionality than group B in the EQ-5D-3 L mobility (41% versus 37% reporting no problems p = 0.003) and anxiety/depression (59% versus 55% reporting no problems p = 0.017) domains. In survivors of intensive care, questionnaire burden had no effect on return rates. However, questionnaire burden affected answers to the same questionnaire (EQ-5D-3 L). ISRCTN69112866 (assigned 02/05/2006).

The 6-PACK programme to decrease fall-related injuries in acute hospitals: protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial.

PubMed

Barker, Anna; Brand, Caroline; Haines, Terry; Hill, Keith; Brauer, Sandy; Jolley, Damien; Botti, Mari; Cumming, Robert; Livingston, Patricia M; Sherrington, Cathie; Zavarsek, Silva; Morello, Renata; Kamar, Jeannette

2011-08-01

In-hospital fall-related injuries are a source of personal harm, preventable hospitalisation costs, and access block through increased length of stay. Despite increased fall prevention awareness and activity over the last decade, rates of reported fall-related fractures in hospitals appear not to have decreased. This cluster randomised controlled trial (RCT) aims to determine the efficacy of the 6-PACK programme for preventing fall-related injuries, and its generalisability to other acute hospitals. 24 acute medical and surgical wards from six to eight hospitals throughout Australia will be recruited for the study. Wards will be matched by type and fall-related injury rates, then randomly allocated to the 6-PACK intervention (12 wards) or usual care control group (12 wards). The 6-PACK programme includes a nine-item fall risk assessment and six nursing interventions: 'falls alert' sign; supervision of patients in the bathroom; ensuring patient's walking aids are within reach; establishment of a toileting regime; use of a low-low bed; and use of bed/chair alarm. Intervention wards will be supported by a structured implementation strategy. The primary outcomes are fall and fall-related injury rates 12 months following 6-PACK implementation. This study will involve approximately 16,000 patients, and as such is planned to be the largest hospital fall prevention RCT to be undertaken and the first to be powered for the important outcome of fall-related injuries. If effective, there is potential to implement the programme widely as part of daily patient care in acute hospital wards where fall-related injuries are a problem.

An examination of the impact of Olson’s extinction on tetrapods from Texas

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

It has been suggested that a transition between a pelycosaurian-grade synapsid dominated fauna of the Cisuralian (early Permian) and the therapsid dominated fauna of the Guadalupian (middle Permian) was accompanied by, and possibly driven by, a mass extinction dubbed Olson’s Extinction. However, this interpretation of the record has recently been criticised as being a result of inappropriate time-binning strategies: calculating species richness within international stages or substages combines extinctions occurring throughout the late Kungurian stage into a single event. To address this criticism, I examine the best record available for the time of the extinction, the tetrapod-bearing formations of Texas, at a finer stratigraphic scale than those previously employed. Species richness is calculated using four different time-binning schemes: the traditional Land Vertebrate Faunachrons (LVFs); a re-definition of the LVFs using constrained cluster analysis; individual formations treated as time bins; and a stochastic approach assigning specimens to half-million-year bins. Diversity is calculated at the genus and species level, both with and without subsampling, and extinction rates are also inferred. Under all time-binning schemes, both at the genus and species level, a substantial drop in diversity occurs during the Redtankian LVF. Extinction rates are raised above background rates throughout this time, but the biggest peak occurs in the Choza Formation (uppermost Redtankian), coinciding with the disappearance from the fossil record of several of amphibian clades. This study, carried out at a finer stratigraphic scale than previous examinations, indicates that Olson’s Extinction is not an artefact of the method used to bin data by time in previous analyses.

Hidden diversity revealed by genome-resolved metagenomics of iron-oxidizing microbial mats from Lō'ihi Seamount, Hawai'i.

PubMed

Fullerton, Heather; Hager, Kevin W; McAllister, Sean M; Moyer, Craig L

2017-08-01

The Zetaproteobacteria are ubiquitous in marine environments, yet this class of Proteobacteria is only represented by a few closely-related cultured isolates. In high-iron environments, such as diffuse hydrothermal vents, the Zetaproteobacteria are important members of the community driving its structure. Biogeography of Zetaproteobacteria has shown two ubiquitous operational taxonomic units (OTUs), yet much is unknown about their genomic diversity. Genome-resolved metagenomics allows for the specific binning of microbial genomes based on genomic signatures present in composite metagenome assemblies. This resulted in the recovery of 93 genome bins, of which 34 were classified as Zetaproteobacteria. Form II ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase genes were recovered from nearly all the Zetaproteobacteria genome bins. In addition, the Zetaproteobacteria genome bins contain genes for uptake and utilization of bioavailable nitrogen, detoxification of arsenic, and a terminal electron acceptor adapted for low oxygen concentration. Our results also support the hypothesis of a Cyc2-like protein as the site for iron oxidation, now detected across a majority of the Zetaproteobacteria genome bins. Whole genome comparisons showed a high genomic diversity across the Zetaproteobacteria OTUs and genome bins that were previously unidentified by SSU rRNA gene analysis. A single lineage of cosmopolitan Zetaproteobacteria (zOTU 2) was found to be monophyletic, based on cluster analysis of average nucleotide identity and average amino acid identity comparisons. From these data, we can begin to pinpoint genomic adaptations of the more ecologically ubiquitous Zetaproteobacteria, and further understand their environmental constraints and metabolic potential.

Toward zero waste: composting and recycling for sustainable venue based events.

PubMed

Hottle, Troy A; Bilec, Melissa M; Brown, Nicholas R; Landis, Amy E

2015-04-01

This study evaluated seven different waste management strategies for venue-based events and characterized the impacts of event waste management via waste audits and the Waste Reduction Model (WARM). The seven waste management scenarios included traditional waste handling methods (e.g. recycle and landfill) and management of the waste stream via composting, including purchasing where only compostable food service items were used during the events. Waste audits were conducted at four Arizona State University (ASU) baseball games, including a three game series. The findings demonstrate a tradeoff among CO2 equivalent emissions, energy use, and landfill diversion rates. Of the seven waste management scenarios assessed, the recycling scenarios provide the greatest reductions in CO2 eq. emissions and energy use because of the retention of high value materials but are compounded by the difficulty in managing a two or three bin collection system. The compost only scenario achieves complete landfill diversion but does not perform as well with respect to CO2 eq. emissions or energy. The three game series was used to test the impact of staffed bins on contamination rates; the first game served as a baseline, the second game employed staffed bins, and the third game had non staffed bins to determine the effect of staffing on contamination rates. Contamination rates in both the recycling and compost bins were tracked throughout the series. Contamination rates were reduced from 34% in the first game to 11% on the second night (with the staffed bins) and 23% contamination rates at the third game. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Convection Fingerprints on the Vertical Profiles of Q1 and Q2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, C.; Lin, H.; Chou, C.

2013-12-01

Different types of tropical convection left their fingerprints on vertical structures of apparent heat source (Q1) and apparent moisture sink (Q2). Profile of deep convection on condensation heating and drying has been well-documented, yet direct assessment of shallow convection remains to be explored. Shallow convection prevails over subtropical ocean, where large-scale subsidence is primarily balanced by radiative cooling and moistening due to surface evaporation instead of moist convection. In this study a united framework is designed to investigate the vertical structures of tropical marine convections in three reanalysis data, including ERA-Interim, MERRA, and CFSR. It starts by sorting and binning data from the lightest to the heaviest rain. Then the differences between two neighboring bins are used to examine the direct effects for precipitation change, in light of the fact that non-convective processes would change slowly from bin to bin. It is shown that all three reanalyses reveal the shallow convective processes in light rain bins, featured by re-evaporating and detraining at the top of boundary layer and lower free troposphere. For heavy rain bins, three reanalyses mainly differ in their numbers and altitudes of heating and drying peaks, implying no universal agreement has been reached on partitioning of cloud populations. Coherent variations in temperature, moisture, and vertical motion are also discussed. This approach permits a systematical survey and comparison of tropical convection in GCM-type models, and preliminary studies of three reanalyses suggest certain degree of inconsistency in simulated convective feedback to large-scale heat and moisture budgets.

VIEW OF INTERIOR SPACE WITH ANODIZING TANK AND LIQUID BIN ...

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

VIEW OF INTERIOR SPACE WITH ANODIZING TANK AND LIQUID BIN STORAGE TANK IN FOREGROUND, FACING NORTH. - Douglas Aircraft Company Long Beach Plant, Aircraft Parts Receiving & Storage Building, 3855 Lakewood Boulevard, Long Beach, Los Angeles County, CA

OVERALL VIEW OF THE MILL WITH SUGAR BIN LEFT OF ...

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

OVERALL VIEW OF THE MILL WITH SUGAR BIN LEFT OF CENTER, CLEANING PLANT TO RIGHT, SEED TREATMENT PLANT TO LEFT. VIEW FROM THE EAST - Kekaha Sugar Company, Sugar Mill Building, 8315 Kekaha Road, Kekaha, Kauai County, HI

55. VIEW OF ROASTER ADDITION FROM NORTH. ELEVATOR/ORE BIN ADDITION ...

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

55. VIEW OF ROASTER ADDITION FROM NORTH. ELEVATOR/ORE BIN ADDITION TO RIGHT (WEST) WITH BAKER COOLER IN FRONT. - Bald Mountain Gold Mill, Nevada Gulch at head of False Bottom Creek, Lead, Lawrence County, SD

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

Singleton, Jr., Robert

This report documents the implementation of several related 1D heat flow problems in the verification package ExactPack [1]. In particular, the planar sandwich class defined in Ref. [2], as well as the classes PlanarSandwichHot, PlanarSandwichHalf, and other generalizations of the planar sandwich problem, are defined and documented here. A rather general treatment of 1D heat flow is presented, whose main results have been implemented in the class Rod1D. All planar sandwich classes are derived from the parent class Rod1D.

Public acceptance of management actions and judgments of responsibility for the wolves of the southern Greater Yellowstone Area: Report to Grand Teton National Park

USGS Publications Warehouse

Taylor, Jonathan G.; Johnson, S. Shea; Shelby, Lori B.

2005-01-01

Introduction Wolves of Grand Teton National Park and the Greater Yellowstone Area Gray wolves (Canis lupus) appeared in Grand Teton National Park (GRTE) in October of 1998, two years after being reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park (YNP). Since that time, five packs have been within the GRTE borders - Gros Ventre Pack, Nez Perce Pack, Yellowstone Delta Pack, Teton Pack, and Green River Pack (Table 1). Wolves in the Greater Yellowstone Area are increasing and spreading out geographically (USFWS and others, 2004). This dispersion was demonstrated recently by the death of a 2-year-old female wolf from the Swan Lake pack on I-70 in Colorado (June 7, 2004; http://mountain-prairie.USFWS.gov/pressrel /04-43.htm). The organization of wolf packs in the GYA is dynamic and highly structured. In 2003, for example, a wolf from the Teton Pack joined with the Green River Pack, and several young wolves left the Teton Pack and moved south (USFWS and others, 2004). Pack size (averaging five to ten members) is dependent on hunting efficiency, which depends on prey size, type, and density. Each pack defends home ranges of several hundred square miles. The social structure of the pack is based on a breeding pair (an alpha male and female). Other wolves in the pack can be categorized as betas (males and/or females second in rank to the alphas), subordinates, pups, and occasional omegas (outcasts). Because generally only the alpha pair breeds, subordinate wolves of reproductive age must disperse from their packs and form new associations in order to breed. (http://www.nps.gov/grte/wolf/biolo.htm). The reintroduced wolves are classified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) as "nonessential experimental" under section 10(j) of the Endangered Species Act. The recovery criteria for the GYA wolves were met in 2002 for removing the wolves from the Endangered Species List (30 or more breeding pairs). Currently, the USFWS manages wolf populations in the GYA until delisting occurs. After delisting, state Fish and Wildlife Services in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming will be responsible for managing wolves. Each state must submit a wolf management plan to the USFWS which then must be approved before management shifts occur. As of this writing, the process of delisting the wolves in the state of Wyoming is ongoing. However, the reclassification of wolves nationwide was completed on April 1, 2003. Wolves outside of YNP changed in status from endangered to threatened. The wolves classified in the experimental nonessential population did not change in status (USFWS and others, 2004). This classification of experimental nonessential population allows for flexibility in management decisions concerning the wolves (Smith and others, 2004). For example, control actions in the GYA included trapping and radio-collaring four wolves; intensive monitoring; increasing riders on grazing allotments; harassing wolves with rubber bullets, cracker shells, and lights; moving livestock to different pastures; and issuing four shoot on-sight permits. When non-lethal control methods were not effective, wolves were killed in an attempt to prevent further livestock depredations (USFWS and others, 2004; Table 1). At the same time that wolf numbers are rising, human population statistics in the GRTE area are also rising. The population of Teton County, Wyoming in 1990 was just over 11,000 people; today that number has increased to approximately 19,000 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2005). park visitation for GRTE has been substantial over the last several years with an average visitation of 2.5 million visitors (NPS, 2004a). Furthermore, land ownership surrounding GRTE and the establishment of grazing rights within park boundaries are problem areas for wolf-human interactions due to livestock depredation. With increasing numbers of visitors, residents, and livestock it is reasonable to assume that conflicts are going to increase also. In 1950, GRTE was expanded to in

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AxonPacking: An Open-Source Software to Simulate Arrangements of Axons in White Matter

PubMed Central

Mingasson, Tom; Duval, Tanguy; Stikov, Nikola; Cohen-Adad, Julien

2017-01-01

HIGHLIGHTS AxonPacking: Open-source software for simulating white matter microstructure.Validation on a theoretical disk packing problem.Reproducible and stable for various densities and diameter distributions.Can be used to study interplay between myelin/fiber density and restricted fraction. Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) can provide parameters that describe white matter microstructure, such as the fiber volume fraction (FVF), the myelin volume fraction (MVF) or the axon volume fraction (AVF) via the fraction of restricted water (fr). While already being used for clinical application, the complex interplay between these parameters requires thorough validation via simulations. These simulations required a realistic, controlled and adaptable model of the white matter axons with the surrounding myelin sheath. While there already exist useful algorithms to perform this task, none of them combine optimisation of axon packing, presence of myelin sheath and availability as free and open source software. Here, we introduce a novel disk packing algorithm that addresses these issues. The performance of the algorithm is tested in term of reproducibility over 50 runs, resulting density, and stability over iterations. This tool was then used to derive multiple values of FVF and to study the impact of this parameter on fr and MVF in light of the known microstructure based on histology sample. The standard deviation of the axon density over runs was lower than 10−3 and the expected hexagonal packing for monodisperse disks was obtained with a density close to the optimal density (obtained: 0.892, theoretical: 0.907). Using an FVF ranging within [0.58, 0.82] and a mean inter-axon gap ranging within [0.1, 1.1] μm, MVF ranged within [0.32, 0.44] and fr ranged within [0.39, 0.71], which is consistent with the histology. The proposed algorithm is implemented in the open-source software AxonPacking (https://github.com/neuropoly/axonpacking) and can be useful for validating diffusion models as well as for enabling researchers to study the interplay between microstructure parameters when evaluating qMRI methods. PMID:28197091

Defense.gov Special Report: The Demise of Osama bin Laden

Science.gov Websites

official said. Story | Transcript Bin Laden's Death May Impact Afghanistan SEYMOUR-JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE -Johnson Air Force Base, N.C. Story Leaders Honor 9/11 Victims at Ground Zero WASHINGTON, May 5, 2011

5. Detail of bin wall, showing the thinner exterior wall ...

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

5. Detail of bin wall, showing the thinner exterior wall next to the inner wall with its alternating courses of channel tile and hollow tile. - Saint Anthony Elevator No. 3, 620 Malcom Avenue, Southeast, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, MN

Reconfigurable generation and measurement of mutually unbiased bases for time-bin qudits

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

Lukens, Joseph M.; Islam, Nurul T.; Lim, Charles Ci Wen

Here, we propose a method for implementing mutually unbiased generation and measurement of time-bin qudits using a cascade of electro-optic phase modulator–coded fiber Bragg grating pairs. Our approach requires only a single spatial mode and can switch rapidly between basis choices. We obtain explicit solutions for dimensions d = 2, 3, and 4 that realize all d + 1 possible mutually unbiased bases and analyze the performance of our approach in quantum key distribution. Given its practicality and compatibility with current technology, our approach provides a promising springboard for scalable processing of high-dimensional time-bin states.

Reconfigurable generation and measurement of mutually unbiased bases for time-bin qudits

DOE PAGES

Lukens, Joseph M.; Islam, Nurul T.; Lim, Charles Ci Wen; ...

2018-03-12

Here, we propose a method for implementing mutually unbiased generation and measurement of time-bin qudits using a cascade of electro-optic phase modulator–coded fiber Bragg grating pairs. Our approach requires only a single spatial mode and can switch rapidly between basis choices. We obtain explicit solutions for dimensions d = 2, 3, and 4 that realize all d + 1 possible mutually unbiased bases and analyze the performance of our approach in quantum key distribution. Given its practicality and compatibility with current technology, our approach provides a promising springboard for scalable processing of high-dimensional time-bin states.

A novel algorithm for fast and efficient multifocus wavefront shaping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fayyaz, Zahra; Nasiriavanaki, Mohammadreza

2018-02-01

Wavefront shaping using spatial light modulator (SLM) is a popular method for focusing light through a turbid media, such as biological tissues. Usually, in iterative optimization methods, due to the very large number of pixels in SLM, larger pixels are formed, bins, and the phase value of the bins are changed to obtain an optimum phase map, hence a focus. In this study an efficient optimization algorithm is proposed to obtain an arbitrary map of focus utilizing all the SLM pixels or small bin sizes. The application of such methodology in dermatology, hair removal in particular, is explored and discussed

Tensor network states in time-bin quantum optics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lubasch, Michael; Valido, Antonio A.; Renema, Jelmer J.; Kolthammer, W. Steven; Jaksch, Dieter; Kim, M. S.; Walmsley, Ian; García-Patrón, Raúl

2018-06-01

The current shift in the quantum optics community towards experiments with many modes and photons necessitates new classical simulation techniques that efficiently encode many-body quantum correlations and go beyond the usual phase-space formulation. To address this pressing demand we formulate linear quantum optics in the language of tensor network states. We extensively analyze the quantum and classical correlations of time-bin interference in a single fiber loop. We then generalize our results to more complex time-bin quantum setups and identify different classes of architectures for high-complexity and low-overhead boson sampling experiments.

Reconfigurable generation and measurement of mutually unbiased bases for time-bin qudits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lukens, Joseph M.; Islam, Nurul T.; Lim, Charles Ci Wen; Gauthier, Daniel J.

2018-03-01

We propose a method for implementing mutually unbiased generation and measurement of time-bin qudits using a cascade of electro-optic phase modulator-coded fiber Bragg grating pairs. Our approach requires only a single spatial mode and can switch rapidly between basis choices. We obtain explicit solutions for dimensions d = 2, 3, and 4 that realize all d + 1 possible mutually unbiased bases and analyze the performance of our approach in quantum key distribution. Given its practicality and compatibility with current technology, our approach provides a promising springboard for scalable processing of high-dimensional time-bin states.

Mycoflora and aflatoxin production in pigeon pea stored in jute sacks and iron bins.

PubMed

Bankole, S A; Eseigbe, D A; Enikuomehin, O A

The mycoflora, moisture content and aflatoxin contamination of pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millisp) stored in jute sacks and iron bins were determined at monthly intervals for a year. The predominant fungi on freshly harvested seeds were Alternaria spp., Botryodiplodia theobromae, Fusarium spp. and Phoma spp. These fungi gradually disappeared from stored seeds with time and by 5-6 months, most were not isolated. The fungi that succeeded the initially dominant ones were mainly members of the general Aspergillus, Penicillium and Rhizopus. Population of these fungi increased up to the end of one year storage. Higher incidence of mycoflora and Aspergillus flavus were recorded in jute-sack samples throughout the storage period. The moisture content of stored seeds was found to fluctuate with the prevailing weather conditions, being low during the dry season and slightly high during the wet season. The stored seeds were free of aflatoxins for 3 and 5 months in jute sacks and iron bins respectively. The level of aflatoxins detected in jute-sack storage system was considerably higher than that occurring in the iron bin system. Of 196 isolates of A. flavus screened, 48% were toxigenic in liquid culture (54% from jute sacks and 41% from iron bins).

Accelerating Sequences in the Presence of Metal by Exploiting the Spatial Distribution of Off-Resonance

PubMed Central

Smith, Matthew R.; Artz, Nathan S.; Koch, Kevin M.; Samsonov, Alexey; Reeder, Scott B.

2014-01-01

Purpose To demonstrate feasibility of exploiting the spatial distribution of off-resonance surrounding metallic implants for accelerating multispectral imaging techniques. Theory Multispectral imaging (MSI) techniques perform time-consuming independent 3D acquisitions with varying RF frequency offsets to address the extreme off-resonance from metallic implants. Each off-resonance bin provides a unique spatial sensitivity that is analogous to the sensitivity of a receiver coil, and therefore provides a unique opportunity for acceleration. Methods Fully sampled MSI was performed to demonstrate retrospective acceleration. A uniform sampling pattern across off-resonance bins was compared to several adaptive sampling strategies using a total hip replacement phantom. Monte Carlo simulations were performed to compare noise propagation of two of these strategies. With a total knee replacement phantom, positive and negative off-resonance bins were strategically sampled with respect to the B0 field to minimize aliasing. Reconstructions were performed with a parallel imaging framework to demonstrate retrospective acceleration. Results An adaptive sampling scheme dramatically improved reconstruction quality, which was supported by the noise propagation analysis. Independent acceleration of negative and positive off-resonance bins demonstrated reduced overlapping of aliased signal to improve the reconstruction. Conclusion This work presents the feasibility of acceleration in the presence of metal by exploiting the spatial sensitivities of off-resonance bins. PMID:24431210

Surgical Technical Evidence Review of Hip Fracture Surgery Conducted for the AHRQ Safety Program for Improving Surgical Care and Recovery

PubMed Central

Siletz, Anaar; Faltermeier, Claire; Singer, Emily S.; Hu, Q. Lina; Ko, Clifford Y.; Kates, Stephen L.; Maggard-Gibbons, Melinda; Wick, Elizabeth

2018-01-01

Background: Enhanced recovery pathways (ERPs) have been shown to improve patient outcomes in a variety of contexts. This review summarizes the evidence and defines a protocol for perioperative care of patients with hip fracture and was conducted for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality safety program for improving surgical care and recovery. Study Design: Perioperative care was divided into components or “bins.” For each bin, a semisystematic review of the literature was conducted using MEDLINE with priority given to systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and randomized controlled trials. Observational studies were included when higher levels of evidence were not available. Existing guidelines for perioperative care were also incorporated. For convenience, the components of care that are under the auspices of anesthesia providers will be reported separately. Recommendations for an evidence-based protocol were synthesized based on review of this evidence. Results: Eleven bins were identified. Preoperative risk factor bins included nutrition, diabetes mellitus, tobacco use, and anemia. Perioperative management bins included thromboprophylaxis, timing of surgery, fluid management, drain placement, early mobilization, early alimentation, and discharge criteria/planning. Conclusions: This review provides the evidence basis for an ERP for perioperative care of patients with hip fracture. PMID:29844947

4D CT amplitude binning for the generation of a time-averaged 3D mid-position CT scan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kruis, Matthijs F.; van de Kamer, Jeroen B.; Belderbos, José S. A.; Sonke, Jan-Jakob; van Herk, Marcel

2014-09-01

The purpose of this study was to develop a method to use amplitude binned 4D-CT (A-4D-CT) data for the construction of mid-position CT data and to compare the results with data created from phase-binned 4D-CT (P-4D-CT) data. For the latter purpose we have developed two measures which describe the regularity of the 4D data and we have tried to correlate these measures with the regularity of the external respiration signal. 4D-CT data was acquired for 27 patients on a combined PET-CT scanner. The 4D data were reconstructed twice, using phase and amplitude binning. The 4D frames of each dataset were registered using a quadrature-based optical flow method. After registration the deformation vector field was repositioned to the mid-position. Since amplitude-binned 4D data does not provide temporal information, we corrected the mid-position for the occupancy of the bins. We quantified the differences between the two mid-position datasets in terms of tumour offset and amplitude differences. Furthermore, we measured the standard deviation of the image intensity over the respiration after registration (σregistration) and the regularity of the deformation vector field (\\overline{\\Delta |J|} ) to quantify the quality of the 4D-CT data. These measures were correlated to the regularity of the external respiration signal (σsignal). The two irregularity measures, \\overline{\\Delta |J|} and σregistration, were dependent on each other (p < 0.0001, R2 = 0.80 for P-4D-CT, R2 = 0.74 for A-4D-CT). For all datasets amplitude binning resulted in lower \\overline{\\Delta |J|} and σregistration and large decreases led to visible quality improvements in the mid-position data. The quantity of artefact decrease was correlated to the irregularity of the external respiratory signal. The average tumour offset between the phase and amplitude binned mid-position without occupancy correction was 0.42 mm in the caudal direction (10.6% of the amplitude). After correction this was reduced to 0.16 mm in caudal direction (4.1% of the amplitude). Similar relative offsets were found at the diaphragm. We have devised a method to use amplitude binned 4D-CT to construct motion model and generate a mid-position planning CT for radiotherapy treatment purposes. We have decimated the systematic offset of this mid-position model with a motion model derived from P-4D-CT. We found that the A-4D-CT led to a decrease of local artefacts and that this decrease was correlated to the irregularity of the external respiration signal.

Heated Debates: Hot-Water Immersion or Ice Packs as First Aid for Cnidarian Envenomations?

PubMed Central

Wilcox, Christie L.; Yanagihara, Angel A.

2016-01-01

Cnidarian envenomations are an important public health problem, responsible for more deaths than shark attacks annually. For this reason, optimization of first-aid care is essential. According to the published literature, cnidarian venoms and toxins are heat labile at temperatures safe for human application, which supports the use of hot-water immersion of the sting area(s). However, ice packs are often recommended and used by emergency personnel. After conducting a systematic review of the evidence for the use of heat or ice in the treatment of cnidarian envenomations, we conclude that the majority of studies to date support the use of hot-water immersion for pain relief and improved health outcomes. PMID:27043628

GlobiPack v. 1.0

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

Bartlett, Roscoe

2010-03-31

GlobiPack contains a small collection of optimization globalization algorithms. These algorithms are used by optimization and various nonlinear equation solver algorithms.Used as the line-search procedure with Newton and Quasi-Newton optimization and nonlinear equation solver methods. These are standard published 1-D line search algorithms such as are described in the book Nocedal and Wright Numerical Optimization: 2nd edition, 2006. One set of algorithms were copied and refactored from the existing open-source Trilinos package MOOCHO where the linear search code is used to globalize SQP methods. This software is generic to any mathematical optimization problem where smooth derivatives exist. There is nomore » specific connection or mention whatsoever to any specific application, period. You cannot find more general mathematical software.« less

Case history of Yakin Field: its development and sand control

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

Sawolo, N.; Krueger, R.F.; Maly, G.P.

1982-01-01

This study deals with the development of the Yakin Field in E. Kalimantan, Indonesia, with emphasis on the sand control methods used. Implementation of an effective sand control program insured the successful development of this field. Gravel packed wells had substantially lower production decline rates than the initial completions without gravel packs. Control of sand production also has been demonstrated by the lack of sand problems during the 4-1/2 yr since the sand control program was initiated. During this time there have been no failures of submersible pumps that were associated with sand production. The successful sand control program wasmore » achieved by a well coordinated and cooperative effort of drilling, reservoir engineering, production research, and service company personnel.« less

Scoring of Side-Chain Packings: An Analysis of Weight Factors and Molecular Dynamics Structures.

PubMed

Colbes, Jose; Aguila, Sergio A; Brizuela, Carlos A

2018-02-26

The protein side-chain packing problem (PSCPP) is a central task in computational protein design. The problem is usually modeled as a combinatorial optimization problem, which consists of searching for a set of rotamers, from a given rotamer library, that minimizes a scoring function (SF). The SF is a weighted sum of terms, that can be decomposed in physics-based and knowledge-based terms. Although there are many methods to obtain approximate solutions for this problem, all of them have similar performances and there has not been a significant improvement in recent years. Studies on protein structure prediction and protein design revealed the limitations of current SFs to achieve further improvements for these two problems. In the same line, a recent work reported a similar result for the PSCPP. In this work, we ask whether or not this negative result regarding further improvements in performance is due to (i) an incorrect weighting of the SFs terms or (ii) the constrained conformation resulting from the protein crystallization process. To analyze these questions, we (i) model the PSCPP as a bi-objective combinatorial optimization problem, optimizing, at the same time, the two most important terms of two SFs of state-of-the-art algorithms and (ii) performed a preprocessing relaxation of the crystal structure through molecular dynamics to simulate the protein in the solvent and evaluated the performance of these two state-of-the-art SFs under these conditions. Our results indicate that (i) no matter what combination of weight factors we use the current SFs will not lead to better performances and (ii) the evaluated SFs will not be able to improve performance on relaxed structures. Furthermore, the experiments revealed that the SFs and the methods are biased toward crystallized structures.

Development of an implementation plan for the 6-PACK falls prevention programme as part of a randomised controlled trial: protocol for a series of preimplementation studies.

PubMed

Barker, Anna L; Morello, Renata T; Ayton, Darshini R; Hill, Keith D; Landgren, Fiona S; Brand, Caroline A

2016-12-01

Inhospital falls cause morbidity, staff burden and increased healthcare costs. It is unclear if the persistent problem of inhospital falls is due to the use of ineffective interventions or their suboptimal implementation. The 6-PACK programme appears to reduce fall injuries and a randomised controlled trial (RCT) was undertaken to confirm effects. This paper describes the protocol for the preimplementation studies that aimed to identify moderators of the effective use of the 6-PACK programme to inform the development of an implementation plan to be applied in the RCT. The 6-PACK project included five preimplementation studies: (1) a profile of safety climate; (2) review of current falls prevention practice; (3) epidemiology of inhospital falls; (4) acceptability of the 6-PACK programme; and (5) barriers and enablers to implementation of the 6-PACK programme. The Theoretical Domain Framework that includes 12 behaviour change domains informed the design of these studies that involved 540 staff and 8877 patients from 24 wards from six Australian hospitals. Qualitative and quantitative methods were applied with data collected via: structured bedside observation; daily nurse unit manager verbal report of falls; audit of medical records, incident reporting and hospital administrative data; surveys of ward nurses; focus groups with ward nurses; and key informant interviews with senior staff. Information on contextual, system, intervention, patient and provider level factors is critical to the development of an implementation plan. Information gained from these studies was used to develop a plan applied in the RCT that addressed the barriers and harnessed enablers. The RCT is registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, number ACTRN12611000332921. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

6-PACK programme to decrease fall injuries in acute hospitals: cluster randomised controlled trial

PubMed Central

Morello, Renata T; Wolfe, Rory; Brand, Caroline A; Haines, Terry P; Hill, Keith D; Brauer, Sandra G; Botti, Mari; Cumming, Robert G; Livingston, Patricia M; Sherrington, Catherine; Zavarsek, Silva; Lindley, Richard I; Kamar, Jeannette

2016-01-01

Objective To evaluate the effect of the 6-PACK programme on falls and fall injuries in acute wards. Design Cluster randomised controlled trial. Setting Six Australian hospitals. Participants All patients admitted to 24 acute wards during the trial period. Interventions Participating wards were randomly assigned to receive either the nurse led 6-PACK programme or usual care over 12 months. The 6-PACK programme included a fall risk tool and individualised use of one or more of six interventions: “falls alert” sign, supervision of patients in the bathroom, ensuring patients’ walking aids are within reach, a toileting regimen, use of a low-low bed, and use of a bed/chair alarm. Main outcome measures The co-primary outcomes were falls and fall injuries per 1000 occupied bed days. Results During the trial, 46 245 admissions to 16 medical and eight surgical wards occurred. As many people were admitted more than once, this represented 31 411 individual patients. Patients’ characteristics and length of stay were similar for intervention and control wards. Use of 6-PACK programme components was higher on intervention wards than on control wards (incidence rate ratio 3.05, 95% confidence interval 2.14 to 4.34; P<0.001). In all, 1831 falls and 613 fall injuries occurred, and the rates of falls (incidence rate ratio 1.04, 0.78 to 1.37; P=0.796) and fall injuries (0.96, 0.72 to 1.27; P=0.766) were similar in intervention and control wards. Conclusions Positive changes in falls prevention practice occurred following the introduction of the 6-PACK programme. However, no difference was seen in falls or fall injuries between groups. High quality evidence showing the effectiveness of falls prevention interventions in acute wards remains absent. Novel solutions to the problem of in-hospital falls are urgently needed. Trial registration Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12611000332921. PMID:26813674

Root Cause Assessment of Pressure Drop Rise of a Packed Bed of Lithium Hydroxide in the International Space Station Trace Contaminant Control System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Aguilera, Tatiana; Perry, Jay L.

2009-01-01

The trace contaminant control system (TCCS) located in the International Space Station s (ISS) U.S. laboratory module employs physical adsorption, thermal catalytic oxidation, and chemical adsorption to remove trace chemical contamination produced by equipment offgassing and anthropogenic sources from the cabin atmosphere. The chemical adsorption stage, consisting of a packed bed of granular lithium hydroxide (LiOH), is located after the thermal catalytic oxidation stage and is designed to remove acid gas byproducts that may be formed in the upstream oxidation stage. While in service on board the ISS, the LiOH bed exhibited a change in flow resistance that leading to flow control difficulties in the TCCS. Post flight evaluation revealed LiOH granule size attrition among other changes. An experimental program was employed to investigate mechanisms hypothesized to contribute to the change in the packed bed s flow resistance. Background on the problem is summarized, including a discussion of likely mechanisms. The experimental program is described, results are presented, and implications for the future are discussed.

Granular compaction by fluidization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tariot, Alexis; Gauthier, Georges; Gondret, Philippe

2017-06-01

How to arrange a packing of spheres is a scientific question that aroused many fundamental works since a long time from Kepler's conjecture to Edward's theory (S. F. Edwards and R.B.S Oakeshott. Theory of powders. Physica A, 157: 1080-1090, 1989), where the role traditionally played by the energy in statistical problems is replaced by the volume for athermal grains. We present experimental results on the compaction of a granular pile immersed in a viscous fluid when submited to a continuous or bursting upward flow. An initial fluidized bed leads to a well reproduced initial loose packing by the settling of grains when the high enough continuous upward flow is turned off. When the upward flow is then turned on again, we record the dynamical evolution of the bed packing. For a low enough continuous upward flow, below the critical velocity of fluidization, a slow compaction dynamics is observed. Strikingly, a slow compaction can be also observed in the case of "fluidization taps" with bursts of fluid velocity higher than the critical fluidization velocity. The different compaction dynamics is discussed when varying the different control parameters of these "fluidization taps".

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77 FR 16158 - Current Good Manufacturing Practice in Manufacturing, Processing, Packing, or Holding of Drugs...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-20

... ``cut'' from a sheet or roll of labels--is used. Persistent problems with drug product mislabeling and... believe that development and use of advanced code scanning equipment has made many current electronic... and other advanced scanning techniques have made current electronic systems reliable to the 100...

CORRECTION FOR THE IMPACTS OF COVARIANCE BETWEEN CONCENTRATION AND DEPOSITION VELOCITY OR CASTNET HNO, DEPOSITION ESTIMATES

EPA Science Inventory

The covariance between hourly concentration (C) and deposition velocity (V) for various atmospheric; species may act to bias the, deposition (D) computed from the product of the weekly average C and 'V. This is a potential problem for the CASTNet filter pack (FP) species, nitric ...

CORRECTION FACTORS FOR COVARIANCE BETWEEN CONCENTRATION AND DEPOSITION VELOCITY ON CASTNET HNO3 DEPOSITION ESTIMATES

EPA Science Inventory

The covariance between hourly concentration (C) and deposition velocity (V) for various atmospheric; species may act to bias the, deposition (D) computed from the product of the weekly average C and 'V. This is a potential problem for the CASTNet filter pack (FP) species, nitric...

Parent Meetings: Bypassing the Dance of Blame

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Orphal, Dave

2012-01-01

At their worst, parent meetings (especially when they focus on a problem) are packed with defensiveness, frustration, guilt, and fear for parents, teachers, and students. All parties want to "get it over with." But by sharpening their facilitation skills, teachers can keep a parent meeting from degenerating into a dance of blame. This article…

Unit: Where Humans Came From, Inspection Pack, First Trial Print.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Australian Science Education Project, Toorak, Victoria.

"Where Humans Came From" is a set of materials designed for use by students (aged 15-16) to assist them in investigating the problem posed in the title. The student book briefly outlines the essential features of four explanations of human origin: special creation (Judeo-Christian, Greek, Australian Aboriginal, American Indian accounts);…

Modified atmosphere packaging and vacuum packaging for long period chilled storage of dry-cured Iberian ham.

PubMed

Parra, V; Viguera, J; Sánchez, J; Peinado, J; Espárrago, F; Gutierrez, J I; Andrés, A I

2010-04-01

Dry-cured Iberian ham slices were stored under vacuum and under four different modified atmospheres (60/40=60%N(2)+40%CO(2); 70/30=70%N(2)+30%CO(2); 80/20=80%N(2)+20%CO(2); argon=70%argon+30%CO(2)) at 4+/-1 degrees C during 120 days. Gas composition, moisture content, pH, colour, pigment content, and lipid stability were measured, as well as sensory and microbial analysis were carried out throughout storage. A loss of intensity of red colour (a(*)-values) was observed during storage in ham slices (P<0.05). Consistently, MbFe(II)NO content also decreased throughout storage (P>0.05). Slices of ham packed in 40%CO(2) (60/40) and 30%CO(2) (70/30) showed lower a(*)-values than the rest of the batches after 60 days (P<0.05), though differences were not evident after 120 days (P>0.05). TBARs values showed an upward trend during the storage of packaged slices (P<0.05). Vacuum-packed slices showed the lowest TBARs values and those packed with 40%CO(2), the highest. Sensory attributes did not vary significantly (P>0.05) throughout storage under refrigeration and packed either in vacuum or in modified atmospheres. No safety problems were detected in relation to the microbial quality in any case. 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Increase of hole-drilling speed by using packs of laser pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gorny, Sergey G.; Grigoriev, A. M.; Lopota, Vitaliy A.; Turichin, Gleb A.

1999-09-01

For realization of the optimum mode of hole drilling the packs of laser pulses of high intensity were used, when average level of intensity of radiation is not too high, that reduces specific energy of destruction, and the peak intensity is reasonably great, that the pulse of pressure of effect at evaporation has completely deleted the liquid from the zone of processing. The high peak intensity of radiation permits in this case to place a target not in focus of a optical system, creating on its surface the image with the help of masks. It permits to receive in metal plates the holes of any section, to execute marking of surfaces and deep engraving of sample material with the help of laser. With the using of focused radiation the cutting of thin materials can be executed without a auxiliary gas. The condition of melt replacement is excess of power of recoil pressure above the power of viscous forces and forces of inertia. The decision of the hydrodynamic problem permits to evaluate the necessary parameters of laser radiation, frequency and longitude of packs of pulses which provide increases of process speed in several times. The conducted experiments confirm the indicated theoretical analysis of process of removing of the material under action of packs of pulses of laser radiation. The given process is realized in laser technological installations for holes drilling and marks of materials.

Thermal Runaway in Jammed Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lechman, Jeremy; Yarrington, Cole; Bolintineanu, Dan

2017-06-01

The study of thermal explosion has a long history. Names such as Semenov and Frank-Kamenetskii are associated with classical model descriptions under particular assumptions. In this talk we revisit this problem with particular focus on the latter's model for conduction dominated thermal transport and Arrenhius-type reaction chemistry. We extend this description to the case of inhomogeneous microstructure generated by packing mono-sized spheres via a well-defined ``Jamming'' protocol. With these material structures in hand, we recast the Frank-Kamenetskii problem into a reduced-order network form for conduction in particle packs. With this model we can efficiently investigate the variability of the time to ignition due to the random microstructure. Additionally, we propose a modal decomposition and stability analysis of the model akin to stability of linear systems. We highlight the physical insights this approach can give with respect to questions of material dependent performance variability. Sandia National Laboratories is a multiprogram laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed-Martin Company, for the U. S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under Contract No. DE-AC04-94AL85000.

35. Coal Fuel Elevator (diagonal in center), Fuel Elevator (left), ...

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

35. Coal Fuel Elevator (diagonal in center), Fuel Elevator (left), Fuel Storage Bins (center), and Power Plant (far center), and Retail Coal Storage Bins (right) Photograph taken by George Harven - Huber Coal Breaker, 101 South Main Street, Ashley, Luzerne County, PA

34. Coal Fuel Elevator (diagonal in foreground), Fuel Elevator (left), ...

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

34. Coal Fuel Elevator (diagonal in foreground), Fuel Elevator (left), Fuel Storage Bins (center), and Power Plant (far center), and Retail Coal Storage Bins (right) Photograph taken by George Harven - Huber Coal Breaker, 101 South Main Street, Ashley, Luzerne County, PA

9. EMPIRE STATE MINE, BOTTOM ORE BIN/SHOOT. TIN ROOF OF ...

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

9. EMPIRE STATE MINE, BOTTOM ORE BIN/SHOOT. TIN ROOF OF SOUTHERN MOST BUILDING AND UPPER ORE SHOOT VISIBLE. CAMERA POINTED EAST-NORTHEAST. - Florida Mountain Mining Sites, Empire State Mine, West side of Florida Mountain, Silver City, Owyhee County, ID

Oximeter reliability in a subzero environment.

PubMed

Macnab, A J; Smith, M; Phillips, N; Smart, P

1996-11-01

Pulse oximeters optimize care in the pre-hospital setting. As British Columbia ambulance teams often provide care in subzero temperatures, we conducted a study to determine the reliability of 3 commercially-available portable oximeters in a subzero environment. We hypothesized that there is no significant difference between SaO2 readings obtained using a pulse oximeter at room temperature and a pulse oximeter operating at sub-zero temperatures. Subjects were stable normothermic children in intensive care on Hewlett Packard monitors (control unit) at room temperature. The test units were packed in dry ice in an insulated bin (temperature - 15 degrees C to -30 degrees C) and their sensors placed on the subjects, contralateral to the control sensors. Data were collected simultaneously from test and control units immediately following validation of control unit values by co-oximetry (blood gas). No data were unacceptable. Two units (Propaq 106EC and Nonin 8500N) functioned well to < -15 degrees C, providing data comparable to those obtained from the control unit (p < 0.001). The Siemens Micro O2 did not function at the temperatures tested. Monitor users who require equipment to function in subzero environments (military, Coast Guard, Mountain Rescue) should ensure that function is reliable, and could test units using this method.

Random Walk Graph Laplacian-Based Smoothness Prior for Soft Decoding of JPEG Images.

PubMed

Liu, Xianming; Cheung, Gene; Wu, Xiaolin; Zhao, Debin

2017-02-01

Given the prevalence of joint photographic experts group (JPEG) compressed images, optimizing image reconstruction from the compressed format remains an important problem. Instead of simply reconstructing a pixel block from the centers of indexed discrete cosine transform (DCT) coefficient quantization bins (hard decoding), soft decoding reconstructs a block by selecting appropriate coefficient values within the indexed bins with the help of signal priors. The challenge thus lies in how to define suitable priors and apply them effectively. In this paper, we combine three image priors-Laplacian prior for DCT coefficients, sparsity prior, and graph-signal smoothness prior for image patches-to construct an efficient JPEG soft decoding algorithm. Specifically, we first use the Laplacian prior to compute a minimum mean square error initial solution for each code block. Next, we show that while the sparsity prior can reduce block artifacts, limiting the size of the overcomplete dictionary (to lower computation) would lead to poor recovery of high DCT frequencies. To alleviate this problem, we design a new graph-signal smoothness prior (desired signal has mainly low graph frequencies) based on the left eigenvectors of the random walk graph Laplacian matrix (LERaG). Compared with the previous graph-signal smoothness priors, LERaG has desirable image filtering properties with low computation overhead. We demonstrate how LERaG can facilitate recovery of high DCT frequencies of a piecewise smooth signal via an interpretation of low graph frequency components as relaxed solutions to normalized cut in spectral clustering. Finally, we construct a soft decoding algorithm using the three signal priors with appropriate prior weights. Experimental results show that our proposal outperforms the state-of-the-art soft decoding algorithms in both objective and subjective evaluations noticeably.

Reliability and validity of the faculty evaluation instrument used at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences: Results from the Haematology Course.

PubMed

Al-Eidan, Fahad; Baig, Lubna Ansari; Magzoub, Mohi-Eldin; Omair, Aamir

2016-04-01

To assess reliability and validity of evaluation tool using Haematology course as an example. The cross-sectional study was conducted at King Saud Bin Abdul Aziz University of Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 2012, while data analysis was completed in 2013. The 27-item block evaluation instrument was developed by a multidisciplinary faculty after a comprehensive literature review. Validity of the questionnaire was confirmed using principal component analysis with varimax rotation and Kaiser normalisation. Identified factors were combined to get the internal consistency reliability of each factor. Student's t-test was used to compare mean ratings between male and female students for the faculty and block evaluation. Of the 116 subjects in the study, 80(69%) were males and 36(31%) were females. Reliability of the questionnaire was Cronbach's alpha 0.91. Factor analysis yielded a logically coherent 7 factor solution that explained 75% of the variation in the data. The factors were group dynamics in problem-based learning (alpha0.92), block administration (alpha 0.89), quality of objective structured clinical examination (alpha 0.86), block coordination (alpha 0.81), structure of problem-based learning (alpha 0.84), quality of written exam (alpha 0.91), and difficulty of exams (alpha0.41). Female students' opinion on depth of analysis and critical thinking was significantly higher than that of the males (p=0.03). The faculty evaluation tool used was found to be reliable, but its validity, as assessed through factor analysis, has to be interpreted with caution as the responders were less than the minimum required for factor analysis.

Evaluation of Cloud Microphysics Simulated using a Meso-Scale Model Coupled with a Spectral Bin Microphysical Scheme through Comparison with Observation Data by Ship-Borne Doppler and Space-Borne W-Band Radars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Iguchi, T.; Nakajima, T.; Khain, A. P.; Saito, K.; Takemura, T.; Okamoto, H.; Nishizawa, T.; Tao, W.-K.

2012-01-01

Equivalent radar reflectivity factors (Ze) measured by W-band radars are directly compared with the corresponding values calculated from a three-dimensional non-hydrostatic meso-scale model coupled with a spectral-bin-microphysical (SBM) scheme for cloud. Three case studies are the objects of this research: one targets a part of ship-borne observation using 95 GHz Doppler radar over the Pacific Ocean near Japan in May 2001; other two are aimed at two short segments of space-borne observation by the cloud profiling radar on CloudSat in November 2006. The numerical weather prediction (NWP) simulations reproduce general features of vertical structures of Ze and Doppler velocity. A main problem in the reproducibility is an overestimation of Ze in ice cloud layers. A frequency analysis shows a strong correlation between ice water contents (IWC) and Ze in the simulation; this characteristic is similar to those shown in prior on-site studies. From comparing with the empirical correlations by the prior studies, the simulated Ze is overestimated than the corresponding values in the studies at the same IWC. Whereas the comparison of Doppler velocities suggests that large-size snowflakes are necessary for producing large velocities under the freezing level and hence rules out the possibility that an overestimation of snow size causes the overestimation of Ze. Based on the results of several sensitivity tests, we conclude that the source of the overestimation is a bias in the microphysical calculation of Ze or an overestimation of IWC. To identify the source of the problems needs further validation research with other follow-up observations.

BInGaN alloys nearly lattice-matched to GaN for high-power high-efficiency visible LEDs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Williams, Logan; Kioupakis, Emmanouil

2017-11-01

InGaN-based visible light-emitting diodes (LEDs) find commercial applications for solid-state lighting and displays, but lattice mismatch limits the thickness of InGaN quantum wells that can be grown on GaN with high crystalline quality. Since narrower wells operate at a higher carrier density for a given current density, they increase the fraction of carriers lost to Auger recombination and lower the efficiency. The incorporation of boron, a smaller group-III element, into InGaN alloys is a promising method to eliminate the lattice mismatch and realize high-power, high-efficiency visible LEDs with thick active regions. In this work, we apply predictive calculations based on hybrid density functional theory to investigate the thermodynamic, structural, and electronic properties of BInGaN alloys. Our results show that BInGaN alloys with a B:In ratio of 2:3 are better lattice matched to GaN compared to InGaN and, for indium fractions less than 0.2, nearly lattice matched. Deviations from Vegard's law appear as bowing of the in-plane lattice constant with respect to composition. Our thermodynamics calculations demonstrate that the solubility of boron is higher in InGaN than in pure GaN. Varying the Ga mole fraction while keeping the B:In ratio constant enables the adjustment of the (direct) gap in the 1.75-3.39 eV range, which covers the entire visible spectrum. Holes are strongly localized in non-bonded N 2p states caused by local bond planarization near boron atoms. Our results indicate that BInGaN alloys are promising for fabricating nitride heterostructures with thick active regions for high-power, high-efficiency LEDs.

RELEASE OF DRIED RADIOACTIVE WASTE MATERIALS TECHNICAL BASIS DOCUMENT

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

KOZLOWSKI, S.D.

2007-05-30

This technical basis document was developed to support RPP-23429, Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis for the Demonstration Bulk Vitrification System (PDSA) and RPP-23479, Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis for the Contact-Handled Transuranic Mixed (CH-TRUM) Waste Facility. The main document describes the risk binning process and the technical basis for assigning risk bins to the representative accidents involving the release of dried radioactive waste materials from the Demonstration Bulk Vitrification System (DBVS) and to the associated represented hazardous conditions. Appendices D through F provide the technical basis for assigning risk bins to the representative dried waste release accident and associated represented hazardous conditionsmore » for the Contact-Handled Transuranic Mixed (CH-TRUM) Waste Packaging Unit (WPU). The risk binning process uses an evaluation of the frequency and consequence of a given representative accident or represented hazardous condition to determine the need for safety structures, systems, and components (SSC) and technical safety requirement (TSR)-level controls. A representative accident or a represented hazardous condition is assigned to a risk bin based on the potential radiological and toxicological consequences to the public and the collocated worker. Note that the risk binning process is not applied to facility workers because credible hazardous conditions with the potential for significant facility worker consequences are considered for safety-significant SSCs and/or TSR-level controls regardless of their estimated frequency. The controls for protection of the facility workers are described in RPP-23429 and RPP-23479. Determination of the need for safety-class SSCs was performed in accordance with DOE-STD-3009-94, Preparation Guide for US. Department of Energy Nonreactor Nuclear Facility Documented Safety Analyses, as described below.« less

Temporal binning of time-correlated single photon counting data improves exponential decay fits and imaging speed

PubMed Central

Walsh, Alex J.; Sharick, Joe T.; Skala, Melissa C.; Beier, Hope T.

2016-01-01

Time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) enables acquisition of fluorescence lifetime decays with high temporal resolution within the fluorescence decay. However, many thousands of photons per pixel are required for accurate lifetime decay curve representation, instrument response deconvolution, and lifetime estimation, particularly for two-component lifetimes. TCSPC imaging speed is inherently limited due to the single photon per laser pulse nature and low fluorescence event efficiencies (<10%) required to reduce bias towards short lifetimes. Here, simulated fluorescence lifetime decays are analyzed by SPCImage and SLIM Curve software to determine the limiting lifetime parameters and photon requirements of fluorescence lifetime decays that can be accurately fit. Data analysis techniques to improve fitting accuracy for low photon count data were evaluated. Temporal binning of the decays from 256 time bins to 42 time bins significantly (p<0.0001) improved fit accuracy in SPCImage and enabled accurate fits with low photon counts (as low as 700 photons/decay), a 6-fold reduction in required photons and therefore improvement in imaging speed. Additionally, reducing the number of free parameters in the fitting algorithm by fixing the lifetimes to known values significantly reduced the lifetime component error from 27.3% to 3.2% in SPCImage (p<0.0001) and from 50.6% to 4.2% in SLIM Curve (p<0.0001). Analysis of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide–lactate dehydrogenase (NADH-LDH) solutions confirmed temporal binning of TCSPC data and a reduced number of free parameters improves exponential decay fit accuracy in SPCImage. Altogether, temporal binning (in SPCImage) and reduced free parameters are data analysis techniques that enable accurate lifetime estimation from low photon count data and enable TCSPC imaging speeds up to 6x and 300x faster, respectively, than traditional TCSPC analysis. PMID:27446663

Solid waste management in Kolkata, India: Practices and challenges

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

Hazra, Tumpa; Goel, Sudha

2009-01-15

This paper presents an overview of current solid waste management (SWM) practices in Kolkata, India and suggests solutions to some of the major problems. More than 2920 ton/d of solid waste are generated in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) area and the budget allocation for 2007-2008 was Rs. 1590 million (US$40 million), which amounts to Rs. 265/cap-y (US$6.7/cap-d) on SWM. This expenditure is insufficient to provide adequate SWM services. Major deficiencies were found in all elements of SWM. Despite 70% of the SWM budget being allocated for collection, collection efficiency is around 60-70% for the registered residents and less thanmore » 20% for unregistered residents (slum dwellers). The collection process is deficient in terms of manpower and vehicle availability. Bin capacity provided is adequate but locations were found to be inappropriate, thus contributing to the inefficiency of the system. At this time, no treatment is provided to the waste and waste is dumped on open land at Dhapa after collection. Lack of suitable facilities (equipment and infrastructure) and underestimates of waste generation rates, inadequate management and technical skills, improper bin collection, and route planning are responsible for poor collection and transportation of municipal solid wastes.« less

DEEP ATTRACTOR NETWORK FOR SINGLE-MICROPHONE SPEAKER SEPARATION.

PubMed

Chen, Zhuo; Luo, Yi; Mesgarani, Nima

2017-03-01

Despite the overwhelming success of deep learning in various speech processing tasks, the problem of separating simultaneous speakers in a mixture remains challenging. Two major difficulties in such systems are the arbitrary source permutation and unknown number of sources in the mixture. We propose a novel deep learning framework for single channel speech separation by creating attractor points in high dimensional embedding space of the acoustic signals which pull together the time-frequency bins corresponding to each source. Attractor points in this study are created by finding the centroids of the sources in the embedding space, which are subsequently used to determine the similarity of each bin in the mixture to each source. The network is then trained to minimize the reconstruction error of each source by optimizing the embeddings. The proposed model is different from prior works in that it implements an end-to-end training, and it does not depend on the number of sources in the mixture. Two strategies are explored in the test time, K-means and fixed attractor points, where the latter requires no post-processing and can be implemented in real-time. We evaluated our system on Wall Street Journal dataset and show 5.49% improvement over the previous state-of-the-art methods.

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SONG China project - participating in the global network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Licai; Xin, Yu; Zhang, Xiaobin; Li, Yan; Jiang, Xiaojun; Wang, Guomin; Wang, Kun; Zhou, Jilin; Yan, Zhengzhou; Luo, Zhiquan

2013-01-01

SONG (Stellar Observations Network Goup) is a low-cost ground based international collaboration aimed at two cutting edge problems in contemporary astrophysics in the time-domain: 1) Direct diagnostics of the internal structure of stars and 2) looking for and studying extra solar planets, possibly in the habitable zone. The general plan is to set up a network of 1m telescopes uniformly distributed in geographic latitude (in both hemispheres). China jointed the collaboration (initiated by Danish astronomers) at the very beginning. In addition to SONG's original plan (http://song.phys.au.dk), the Chinese team proposed a parallel photometry subnet work in the northern hemisphere, namely 50BiN (50cm Binocular Network, previously known as mini-SONG), to enable a large field photometric capability for the network, therefore maximising the potential of the network platform. The network will be able to produce nearly continuous time series observations of a number of selected objects with high resolution spectroscopy (SONG) and accurate photometry (50BiN), and to produce ultra-high accuracy photometry in dense field to look for micro-lensing events caused by planetary systems. This project has great synergy with Chinese Astronomical activities in Antarctica (Dome A), and other similar networks (e.g. LCOGT). The plan and current status of the project are overviewed in this poster.

Explicit simulation of ice particle habits in a Numerical Weather Prediction Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hashino, Tempei

2007-05-01

This study developed a scheme for explicit simulation of ice particle habits in Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) Models. The scheme is called Spectral Ice Habit Prediction System (SHIPS), and the goal is to retain growth history of ice particles in the Eulerian dynamics framework. It diagnoses characteristics of ice particles based on a series of particle property variables (PPVs) that reflect history of microphysieal processes and the transport between mass bins and air parcels in space. Therefore, categorization of ice particles typically used in bulk microphysical parameterization and traditional bin models is not necessary, so that errors that stem from the categorization can be avoided. SHIPS predicts polycrystals as well as hexagonal monocrystals based on empirically derived habit frequency and growth rate, and simulates the habit-dependent aggregation and riming processes by use of the stochastic collection equation with predicted PPVs. Idealized two dimensional simulations were performed with SHIPS in a NWP model. The predicted spatial distribution of ice particle habits and types, and evolution of particle size distributions showed good quantitative agreement with observation This comprehensive model of ice particle properties, distributions, and evolution in clouds can be used to better understand problems facing wide range of research disciplines, including microphysics processes, radiative transfer in a cloudy atmosphere, data assimilation, and weather modification.

Variation in temperature and mechanical properties of asphaltic concrete due to storage in surge bins.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1973-03-01

The Louisiana Department of Highways specifications on asphaltic concrete allow the contractors to use silos or surge bins for storage of asphaltic concrete mixtures. However, the maximum allowable storage time of the hot mix, if the contractor elect...

13. Interior view, grain tanks (bins). Barrel view of overhead ...

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

13. Interior view, grain tanks (bins). Barrel view of overhead (fill) conveyor gallery bridge extending through tops of tanks just below roofs. Grain tripper straddles belt conveyor at mid-view. - Saint Anthony Elevator No. 3, 620 Malcom Avenue, Southeast, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, MN

Building with integral solar-heat storage--Starkville, Mississippi

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1981-01-01

Column supporting roof also houses rock-storage bin of solar-energy system supplying more than half building space heating load. Conventional heaters supply hot water. Since bin is deeper and narrower than normal, individual pebble size was increased to keep airflow resistance at minimum.

31. VIEW FROM SOUTHWEST TO CORNER WHERE SAMPLING/CRUSHING ADDITIONS ABUT ...

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

31. VIEW FROM SOUTHWEST TO CORNER WHERE SAMPLING/CRUSHING ADDITIONS ABUT CRUSHED OXIDIZED ORE BIN. INTACT BARREN SOLUTION TANK VISIBLE IN FRONT OF CRUSHED ORE BIN. - Bald Mountain Gold Mill, Nevada Gulch at head of False Bottom Creek, Lead, Lawrence County, SD

Entanglement between a Photonic Time-Bin Qubit and a Collective Atomic Spin Excitation.

PubMed

Farrera, Pau; Heinze, Georg; de Riedmatten, Hugues

2018-03-09

Entanglement between light and matter combines the advantage of long distance transmission of photonic qubits with the storage and processing capabilities of atomic qubits. To distribute photonic states efficiently over long distances several schemes to encode qubits have been investigated-time-bin encoding being particularly promising due to its robustness against decoherence in optical fibers. Here, we demonstrate the generation of entanglement between a photonic time-bin qubit and a single collective atomic spin excitation (spin wave) in a cold atomic ensemble, followed by the mapping of the atomic qubit onto another photonic qubit. A magnetic field that induces a periodic dephasing and rephasing of the atomic excitation ensures the temporal distinguishability of the two time bins and plays a central role in the entanglement generation. To analyze the generated quantum state, we use largely imbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometers to perform projective measurements in different qubit bases and verify the entanglement by violating a Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt Bell inequality.

Entanglement between a Photonic Time-Bin Qubit and a Collective Atomic Spin Excitation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farrera, Pau; Heinze, Georg; de Riedmatten, Hugues

2018-03-01

Entanglement between light and matter combines the advantage of long distance transmission of photonic qubits with the storage and processing capabilities of atomic qubits. To distribute photonic states efficiently over long distances several schemes to encode qubits have been investigated—time-bin encoding being particularly promising due to its robustness against decoherence in optical fibers. Here, we demonstrate the generation of entanglement between a photonic time-bin qubit and a single collective atomic spin excitation (spin wave) in a cold atomic ensemble, followed by the mapping of the atomic qubit onto another photonic qubit. A magnetic field that induces a periodic dephasing and rephasing of the atomic excitation ensures the temporal distinguishability of the two time bins and plays a central role in the entanglement generation. To analyze the generated quantum state, we use largely imbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometers to perform projective measurements in different qubit bases and verify the entanglement by violating a Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt Bell inequality.

Coagulation algorithms with size binning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Statton, David M.; Gans, Jason; Williams, Eric

1994-01-01

The Smoluchowski equation describes the time evolution of an aerosol particle size distribution due to aggregation or coagulation. Any algorithm for computerized solution of this equation requires a scheme for describing the continuum of aerosol particle sizes as a discrete set. One standard form of the Smoluchowski equation accomplishes this by restricting the particle sizes to integer multiples of a basic unit particle size (the monomer size). This can be inefficient when particle concentrations over a large range of particle sizes must be calculated. Two algorithms employing a geometric size binning convention are examined: the first assumes that the aerosol particle concentration as a function of size can be considered constant within each size bin; the second approximates the concentration as a linear function of particle size within each size bin. The output of each algorithm is compared to an analytical solution in a special case of the Smoluchowski equation for which an exact solution is known . The range of parameters more appropriate for each algorithm is examined.

Pearson-type goodness-of-fit test with bootstrap maximum likelihood estimation.

PubMed

Yin, Guosheng; Ma, Yanyuan

2013-01-01

The Pearson test statistic is constructed by partitioning the data into bins and computing the difference between the observed and expected counts in these bins. If the maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) of the original data is used, the statistic generally does not follow a chi-squared distribution or any explicit distribution. We propose a bootstrap-based modification of the Pearson test statistic to recover the chi-squared distribution. We compute the observed and expected counts in the partitioned bins by using the MLE obtained from a bootstrap sample. This bootstrap-sample MLE adjusts exactly the right amount of randomness to the test statistic, and recovers the chi-squared distribution. The bootstrap chi-squared test is easy to implement, as it only requires fitting exactly the same model to the bootstrap data to obtain the corresponding MLE, and then constructs the bin counts based on the original data. We examine the test size and power of the new model diagnostic procedure using simulation studies and illustrate it with a real data set.

An adaptive-binning method for generating constant-uncertainty/constant-significance light curves with Fermi -LAT data

DOE PAGES

Lott, B.; Escande, L.; Larsson, S.; ...

2012-07-19

Here, we present a method enabling the creation of constant-uncertainty/constant-significance light curves with the data of the Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT). The adaptive-binning method enables more information to be encapsulated within the light curve than with the fixed-binning method. Although primarily developed for blazar studies, it can be applied to any sources. Furthermore, this method allows the starting and ending times of each interval to be calculated in a simple and quick way during a first step. The reported mean flux and spectral index (assuming the spectrum is a power-law distribution) in the interval are calculated via the standard LATmore » analysis during a second step. In the absence of major caveats associated with this method Monte-Carlo simulations have been established. We present the performance of this method in determining duty cycles as well as power-density spectra relative to the traditional fixed-binning method.« less

Retrieval System for Calcined Waste for the Idaho Cleanup Project - 12104

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

Eastman, Randy L.; Johnston, Beau A.; Lower, Danielle E.

This paper describes the conceptual approach to retrieve radioactive calcine waste, hereafter called calcine, from stainless steel storage bins contained within concrete vaults. The retrieval system will allow evacuation of the granular solids (calcine) from the storage bins through the use of stationary vacuum nozzles. The nozzles will use air jets for calcine fluidization and will be able to rotate and direct the fluidization or displacement of the calcine within the bin. Each bin will have a single retrieval system installed prior to operation to prevent worker exposure to the high radiation fields. The addition of an articulated camera armmore » will allow for operations monitoring and will be equipped with contingency tools to aid in calcine removal. Possible challenges (calcine bridging and rat-holing) associated with calcine retrieval and transport, including potential solutions for bin pressurization, calcine fluidization and waste confinement, are also addressed. The Calcine Disposition Project has the responsibility to retrieve, treat, and package HLW calcine. The calcine retrieval system has been designed to incorporate the functions and technical characteristics as established by the retrieval system functional analysis. By adequately implementing the highest ranking technical characteristics into the design of the retrieval system, the system will be able to satisfy the functional requirements. The retrieval system conceptual design provides the means for removing bulk calcine from the bins of the CSSF vaults. Top-down vacuum retrieval coupled with an articulating camera arm will allow for a robust, contained process capable of evacuating bulk calcine from bins and transporting it to the processing facility. The system is designed to fluidize, vacuum, transport and direct the calcine from its current location to the CSSF roof-top transport lines. An articulating camera arm, deployed through an adjacent access riser, will work in conjunction with the retrieval nozzle to aid in calcine fluidization, remote viewing, clumped calcine breaking and recovery from off-normal conditions. As the design of the retrieval system progresses from conceptual to preliminary, increasing attention will be directed toward detailed design and proof-of- concept testing. (authors)« less

Computation of reliable textural indices from multimodal brain MRI: suggestions based on a study of patients with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma.

PubMed

Goya-Outi, Jessica; Orlhac, Fanny; Calmon, Raphael; Alentorn, Agusti; Nioche, Christophe; Philippe, Cathy; Puget, Stéphanie; Boddaert, Nathalie; Buvat, Irène; Grill, Jacques; Frouin, Vincent; Frouin, Frederique

2018-05-10

Few methodological studies regarding widely used textural indices robustness in MRI have been reported. In this context, this study aims to propose some rules to compute reliable textural indices from multimodal 3D brain MRI. Diagnosis and post-biopsy MR scans including T1, post-contrast T1, T2 and FLAIR images from thirty children with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) were considered. The hybrid white stripe method was adapted to standardize MR intensities. Sixty textural indices were then computed for each modality in different regions of interest (ROI), including tumor and white matter (WM). Three types of intensity binning were compared [Formula: see text]: constant bin width and relative bounds; [Formula: see text] constant number of bins and relative bounds; [Formula: see text] constant number of bins and absolute bounds. The impact of the volume of the region was also tested within the WM. First, the mean Hellinger distance between patient-based intensity distributions decreased by a factor greater than 10 in WM and greater than 2.5 in gray matter after standardization. Regarding the binning strategy, the ranking of patients was highly correlated for 188/240 features when comparing [Formula: see text] with [Formula: see text], but for only 20 when comparing [Formula: see text] with [Formula: see text], and nine when comparing [Formula: see text] with [Formula: see text]. Furthermore, when using [Formula: see text] or [Formula: see text] texture indices reflected tumor heterogeneity as assessed visually by experts. Last, 41 features presented statistically significant differences between contralateral WM regions when ROI size slightly varies across patients, and none when using ROI of the same size. For regions with similar size, 224 features were significantly different between WM and tumor. Valuable information from texture indices can be biased by methodological choices. Recommendations are to standardize intensities in MR brain volumes, to use intensity binning with constant bin width, and to define regions with the same volumes to get reliable textural indices.

Explicit Cloud Nucleation from Arbitrary Mixtures of Aerosol Types and Sizes Using an Ultra-Efficient In-Line Aerosol Bin Model in High-Resolution Simulations of Hurricanes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walko, R. L.; Ashby, T.; Cotton, W. R.

2017-12-01

The fundamental role of atmospheric aerosols in the process of cloud droplet nucleation is well known, and there is ample evidence that the concentration, size, and chemistry of aerosols can strongly influence microphysical, thermodynamic, and ultimately dynamic properties and evolution of clouds and convective systems. With the increasing availability of observation- and model-based environmental representations of different types of anthropogenic and natural aerosols, there is increasing need for models to be able to represent which aerosols nucleate and which do not in supersaturated conditions. However, this is a very complex process that involves competition for water vapor between multiple aerosol species (chemistries) and different aerosol sizes within each species. Attempts have been made to parameterize the nucleation properties of mixtures of different aerosol species, but it is very difficult or impossible to represent all possible mixtures that may occur in practice. As part of a modeling study of the impact of anthropogenic and natural aerosols on hurricanes, we developed an ultra-efficient aerosol bin model to represent nucleation in a high-resolution atmospheric model that explicitly represents cloud- and subcloud-scale vertical motion. The bin model is activated at any time and location in a simulation where supersaturation occurs and is potentially capable of activating new cloud droplets. The bins are populated from the aerosol species that are present at the given time and location and by multiple sizes from each aerosol species according to a characteristic size distribution, and the chemistry of each species is represented by its absorption or adsorption characteristics. The bin model is integrated in time increments that are smaller than that of the atmospheric model in order to temporally resolve the peak supersaturation, which determines the total nucleated number. Even though on the order of 100 bins are typically utilized, this leads only to a 10 or 20% increase in overall computational cost due to the efficiency of the bin model. This method is highly versatile in that it automatically accommodates any possible number and mixture of different aerosol species. Applications of this model to simulations of Typhoon Nuri will be presented.

Development of an aerosol microphysical module: Aerosol Two-dimensional bin module for foRmation and Aging Simulation (ATRAS)

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

Matsui, H.; Koike, Makoto; Kondo, Yutaka

2014-09-30

Number concentrations, size distributions, and mixing states of aerosols are essential parameters for accurate estimation of aerosol direct and indirect effects. In this study, we developed an aerosol module, designated Aerosol Two-dimensional bin module for foRmation and Aging Simulation (ATRAS), that can represent these parameters explicitly by considering new particle formation (NPF), black carbon (BC) aging, and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) processes. A two-dimensional bin representation is used for particles with dry diameters from 40 nm to 10 µm to resolve both aerosol size (12 bins) and BC mixing state (10 bins) for a total of 120 bins. The particlesmore » with diameters from 1 to 40 nm are resolved using an additional 8 size bins to calculate NPF. The ATRAS module was implemented in the WRF-chem model and applied to examine the sensitivity of simulated mass, number, size distributions, and optical and radiative parameters of aerosols to NPF, BC aging and SOA processes over East Asia during the spring of 2009. BC absorption enhancement by coating materials was about 50% over East Asia during the spring, and the contribution of SOA processes to the absorption enhancement was estimated to be 10 – 20% over northern East Asia and 20 – 35% over southern East Asia. A clear north-south contrast was also found between the impacts of NPF and SOA processes on cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations: NPF increased CCN concentrations at higher supersaturations (smaller particles) over northern East Asia, whereas SOA increased CCN concentrations at lower supersaturations (larger particles) over southern East Asia. Application of ATRAS to East Asia also showed that the impact of each process on each optical and radiative parameter depended strongly on the process and the parameter in question. The module can be used in the future as a benchmark model to evaluate the accuracy of simpler aerosol models and examine interactions between NPF, BC aging, and SOA processes under different meteorological conditions and emissions.« less

A Framework to Develop Persuasive Smart Environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lobo, Pedro; Romão, Teresa; Dias, A. Eduardo; Danado, José Carlos

This paper presents a framework for the creation of context-sensitive persuasive applications. The framework allows the authoring of new persuasive smart environments producing the appropriate feedback to the users based on different sensors spread throughout the environment to capture contextual information. Using this framework, we created an application, Smart Bins, aimed at promoting users' behavioural changes regarding the recycling of waste materials. Furthermore, to evaluate the usability of our authoring tool, we performed user tests to analyze if developers could successfully create the Smart Bins application using the framework. A description of the Smart Bins application, as well as the results of the user tests, are also presented in this paper.

High-visibility time-bin entanglement for testing chained Bell inequalities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tomasin, Marco; Mantoan, Elia; Jogenfors, Jonathan; Vallone, Giuseppe; Larsson, Jan-Åke; Villoresi, Paolo

2017-03-01

The violation of Bell's inequality requires a well-designed experiment to validate the result. In experiments using energy-time and time-bin entanglement, initially proposed by Franson in 1989, there is an intrinsic loophole due to the high postselection. To obtain a violation in this type of experiment, a chained Bell inequality must be used. However, the local realism bound requires a high visibility in excess of 94.63% in the time-bin entangled state. In this work, we show how such a high visibility can be reached in order to violate a chained Bell inequality with six, eight, and ten terms.

A Psychological Profile of Osama bin Laden.

PubMed

Ross, Colin A

2015-01-01

Understanding Osama bin Laden's personal history illuminates his motivation, inner conflicts, decisions and behaviors. His relationships with his mother, father, country and religion set the stage for his conflicted choices as an adolescent and then as an adult. Although only a cursory psychological profile is possible based on public domain information, the profile constructed here could be useful in setting future foreign policy. Perhaps the crucial mistake in U.S. foreign policy was abandoning bin Laden as an asset when Russian forces were expelled from Afghanistan in 1989: this act by the U.S. set the stage for the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001.

Longitudinal acceleration tests of overhead luggage bins and auxiliary fuel tank in a transport airplane airframe section

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1999-06-01

This report contains the description and test results of overhead stowage bin calibrations and longitudinal impact testing of a 10-foot transport airframe section conducted at the Transportation Research Center Inc. (TRC). The purpose of the tests wa...

Image quality in thoracic 4D cone-beam CT: A sensitivity analysis of respiratory signal, binning method, reconstruction algorithm, and projection angular spacing

PubMed Central

Shieh, Chun-Chien; Kipritidis, John; O’Brien, Ricky T.; Kuncic, Zdenka; Keall, Paul J.

2014-01-01

Purpose: Respiratory signal, binning method, and reconstruction algorithm are three major controllable factors affecting image quality in thoracic 4D cone-beam CT (4D-CBCT), which is widely used in image guided radiotherapy (IGRT). Previous studies have investigated each of these factors individually, but no integrated sensitivity analysis has been performed. In addition, projection angular spacing is also a key factor in reconstruction, but how it affects image quality is not obvious. An investigation of the impacts of these four factors on image quality can help determine the most effective strategy in improving 4D-CBCT for IGRT. Methods: Fourteen 4D-CBCT patient projection datasets with various respiratory motion features were reconstructed with the following controllable factors: (i) respiratory signal (real-time position management, projection image intensity analysis, or fiducial marker tracking), (ii) binning method (phase, displacement, or equal-projection-density displacement binning), and (iii) reconstruction algorithm [Feldkamp–Davis–Kress (FDK), McKinnon–Bates (MKB), or adaptive-steepest-descent projection-onto-convex-sets (ASD-POCS)]. The image quality was quantified using signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), contrast-to-noise ratio, and edge-response width in order to assess noise/streaking and blur. The SNR values were also analyzed with respect to the maximum, mean, and root-mean-squared-error (RMSE) projection angular spacing to investigate how projection angular spacing affects image quality. Results: The choice of respiratory signals was found to have no significant impact on image quality. Displacement-based binning was found to be less prone to motion artifacts compared to phase binning in more than half of the cases, but was shown to suffer from large interbin image quality variation and large projection angular gaps. Both MKB and ASD-POCS resulted in noticeably improved image quality almost 100% of the time relative to FDK. In addition, SNR values were found to increase with decreasing RMSE values of projection angular gaps with strong correlations (r ≈ −0.7) regardless of the reconstruction algorithm used. Conclusions: Based on the authors’ results, displacement-based binning methods, better reconstruction algorithms, and the acquisition of even projection angular views are the most important factors to consider for improving thoracic 4D-CBCT image quality. In view of the practical issues with displacement-based binning and the fact that projection angular spacing is not currently directly controllable, development of better reconstruction algorithms represents the most effective strategy for improving image quality in thoracic 4D-CBCT for IGRT applications at the current stage. PMID:24694143

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A DNA Barcode Library for North American Pyraustinae (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea: Crambidae).

PubMed

Yang, Zhaofu; Landry, Jean-François; Hebert, Paul D N

2016-01-01

Although members of the crambid subfamily Pyraustinae are frequently important crop pests, their identification is often difficult because many species lack conspicuous diagnostic morphological characters. DNA barcoding employs sequence diversity in a short standardized gene region to facilitate specimen identifications and species discovery. This study provides a DNA barcode reference library for North American pyraustines based upon the analysis of 1589 sequences recovered from 137 nominal species, 87% of the fauna. Data from 125 species were barcode compliant (>500bp, <1% n), and 99 of these taxa formed a distinct cluster that was assigned to a single BIN. The other 26 species were assigned to 56 BINs, reflecting frequent cases of deep intraspecific sequence divergence and a few instances of barcode sharing, creating a total of 155 BINs. Two systems for OTU designation, ABGD and BIN, were examined to check the correspondence between current taxonomy and sequence clusters. The BIN system performed better than ABGD in delimiting closely related species, while OTU counts with ABGD were influenced by the value employed for relative gap width. Different species with low or no interspecific divergence may represent cases of unrecognized synonymy, whereas those with high intraspecific divergence require further taxonomic scrutiny as they may involve cryptic diversity. The barcode library developed in this study will also help to advance understanding of relationships among species of Pyraustinae.

BinQuasi: a peak detection method for ChIP-sequencing data with biological replicates.

PubMed

Goren, Emily; Liu, Peng; Wang, Chao; Wang, Chong

2018-04-19

ChIP-seq experiments that are aimed at detecting DNA-protein interactions require biological replication to draw inferential conclusions, however there is no current consensus on how to analyze ChIP-seq data with biological replicates. Very few methodologies exist for the joint analysis of replicated ChIP-seq data, with approaches ranging from combining the results of analyzing replicates individually to joint modeling of all replicates. Combining the results of individual replicates analyzed separately can lead to reduced peak classification performance compared to joint modeling. Currently available methods for joint analysis may fail to control the false discovery rate at the nominal level. We propose BinQuasi, a peak caller for replicated ChIP-seq data, that jointly models biological replicates using a generalized linear model framework and employs a one-sided quasi-likelihood ratio test to detect peaks. When applied to simulated data and real datasets, BinQuasi performs favorably compared to existing methods, including better control of false discovery rate than existing joint modeling approaches. BinQuasi offers a flexible approach to joint modeling of replicated ChIP-seq data which is preferable to combining the results of replicates analyzed individually. Source code is freely available for download at https://cran.r-project.org/package=BinQuasi, implemented in R. pliu@iastate.edu or egoren@iastate.edu. Supplementary material is available at Bioinformatics online.

Genetic dissection and fine mapping of a novel dt gene associated with determinate growth habit in sesame.

PubMed

Zhang, Yanxin; Wang, Linhai; Gao, Yuan; Li, Donghua; Yu, Jingyin; Zhou, Rong; Zhang, Xiurong

2018-06-14

As an important oil crop, growth habit of sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is naturally indeterminate, which brings about asynchronous maturity of capsules and causes loss of yield. The genetic basis of determinate growth habit in sesame was investigated by classical genetic analysis through multiple populations, results revealed that it was controlled by an unique recessive gene. The genotyping by sequencing (GBS) approach was employed for high-throughput SNP identification and genotyping in the F 2 population, then a high density bin map was constructed, the map was 1086.403 cM in length, which consisted of 1184 bins (13,679 SNPs), with an average of 0.918 cM between adjacent bins. Based on bin mapping in conjunction with SSR markers analysis in targeted region, the novel sesame determinacy gene was mapped on LG09 in a genome region of 41 kb. This study dissected genetic basis of determinate growth habit in sesame, constructed a new high-density bin map and mapped a novel determinacy gene. Results of this study demonstrate that we employed an optimized approach to get fine-accuracy, high-resolution and high-efficiency mapping result in sesame. The findings provided important foundation for sesame determinacy gene cloning and were expected to be applied in breeding for cultivars suited to mechanized production.

Evaluation of KIM-1 as an early biomarker of snakebite-induced AKI in mice.

PubMed

Dantas, Rodrigo Tavares; Sampaio, Tiago Lima; Lima, Dânya Bandeira; Bezerra de Menezes, Ramon Róseo Paula Pessoa; Canuto, Jader Almeida; Toyama, Marcos Hikari; Evangelista, Janaína Serra Azul Monteiro; Martins, Alice Maria Costa

2018-06-14

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is one of the most important complications of bothropic poisoning and its early identification remains challenging. The nephrotoxicity of Bothrops insularis venom (BinsV) was previously described by our research group. In this study, we continued to evaluate the effect of BinsV on kidney function in mice and LLC-MK2 proximal tubule cells, evaluating KIM-1 protein as an early AKI biomarker. Male Swiss mice were inoculated with BinsV intramuscularly and observed for 24 h in a metabolic cage model. Urine and blood were collected for biochemical analyses and the kidneys were examined for oxide-reducing balance and submitted to histological analysis. LLC-MK2 cells incubated with BinsV were assessed for cell viability and cell death mechanism by flow cytometry. Histological analysis of the kidneys indicated AKI and the oxide-reducing analyses demonstrated a decreasing in reduced glutathione (GSH) levels and an increasing on Malondialdehyde (MDA) levels. BinsV was cytotoxic to LLC-MK2 and the cytometry analyses suggested necrosis. Within 24 h after the envenomation, urinary creatinine did not increase, but the urinary levels of KIM-1 increased. In conclusion, we found AKI evidence in the kidney tissue and the increase in the KIM-1 levels suggest it can be used as an early AKI biomarker. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

The Impact of Aerosols on Cloud and Precipitation Processes: Cloud-Resolving Model Simulations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tao, Wei-Kuo; Li, X.; Khain, A.; Simpson, S.

2004-01-01

Cloud microphysics are inevitably affected by the smoke particle (CCN, cloud condensation nuclei) size distributions below the clouds. Therefore, size distributions parameterized as spectral bin microphysics are needed to explicitly study the effects of atmospheric aerosol concentration on cloud development, rainfall production, and rainfall rates for convective clouds. Recently, two detailed spectral-bin microphysical schemes were implemented into the Goddard Cumulus Ensemble (GCE) model. The formulation for the explicit spectral-bin microphysical processes is based on solving stochastic kinetic equations for the size distribution functions of water droplets (i.e., cloud droplets and raindrops), and several types of ice particles (i.e., pristine ice crystals (columnar and plate-like), snow (dendrites and aggregates), graupel and frozen drops/hail). Each type is described by a special size distribution function containing many categories (i.e. 33 bins). Atmospheric aerosols are also described using number density size-distribution functions. A spectral-bin microphysical model is very expensive from a computational point of view and has only been implemented into the 2D version of the GCE at the present time. The model is tested by studying the evolution of deep cloud systems in the west Pacific warm pool region, in the sub-tropics (Florida) and in the mid-latitude using identical thermodynamic conditions but with different concentrations of CCN: a low 'clean' concentration and a high 'dirty' concentration.

KiDS-450: the tomographic weak lensing power spectrum and constraints on cosmological parameters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Köhlinger, F.; Viola, M.; Joachimi, B.; Hoekstra, H.; van Uitert, E.; Hildebrandt, H.; Choi, A.; Erben, T.; Heymans, C.; Joudaki, S.; Klaes, D.; Kuijken, K.; Merten, J.; Miller, L.; Schneider, P.; Valentijn, E. A.

2017-11-01

We present measurements of the weak gravitational lensing shear power spectrum based on 450 ° ^2 of imaging data from the Kilo Degree Survey. We employ a quadratic estimator in two and three redshift bins and extract band powers of redshift autocorrelation and cross-correlation spectra in the multipole range 76 ≤ ℓ ≤ 1310. The cosmological interpretation of the measured shear power spectra is performed in a Bayesian framework assuming a ΛCDM model with spatially flat geometry, while accounting for small residual uncertainties in the shear calibration and redshift distributions as well as marginalizing over intrinsic alignments, baryon feedback and an excess-noise power model. Moreover, massive neutrinos are included in the modelling. The cosmological main result is expressed in terms of the parameter combination S_8 ≡ σ _8 √{Ω_m/0.3} yielding S8 = 0.651 ± 0.058 (three z-bins), confirming the recently reported tension in this parameter with constraints from Planck at 3.2σ (three z-bins). We cross-check the results of the three z-bin analysis with the weaker constraints from the two z-bin analysis and find them to be consistent. The high-level data products of this analysis, such as the band power measurements, covariance matrices, redshift distributions and likelihood evaluation chains are available at http://kids.strw.leidenuniv.nl.

Single-Cell-Genomics-Facilitated Read Binning of Candidate Phylum EM19 Genomes from Geothermal Spring Metagenomes

PubMed Central

Becraft, Eric D.; Dodsworth, Jeremy A.; Murugapiran, Senthil K.; Ohlsson, J. Ingemar; Briggs, Brandon R.; Kanbar, Jad; De Vlaminck, Iwijn; Quake, Stephen R.; Dong, Hailiang; Hedlund, Brian P.

2015-01-01

The vast majority of microbial life remains uncatalogued due to the inability to cultivate these organisms in the laboratory. This “microbial dark matter” represents a substantial portion of the tree of life and of the populations that contribute to chemical cycling in many ecosystems. In this work, we leveraged an existing single-cell genomic data set representing the candidate bacterial phylum “Calescamantes” (EM19) to calibrate machine learning algorithms and define metagenomic bins directly from pyrosequencing reads derived from Great Boiling Spring in the U.S. Great Basin. Compared to other assembly-based methods, taxonomic binning with a read-based machine learning approach yielded final assemblies with the highest predicted genome completeness of any method tested. Read-first binning subsequently was used to extract Calescamantes bins from all metagenomes with abundant Calescamantes populations, including metagenomes from Octopus Spring and Bison Pool in Yellowstone National Park and Gongxiaoshe Spring in Yunnan Province, China. Metabolic reconstruction suggests that Calescamantes are heterotrophic, facultative anaerobes, which can utilize oxidized nitrogen sources as terminal electron acceptors for respiration in the absence of oxygen and use proteins as their primary carbon source. Despite their phylogenetic divergence, the geographically separate Calescamantes populations were highly similar in their predicted metabolic capabilities and core gene content, respiring O2, or oxidized nitrogen species for energy conservation in distant but chemically similar hot springs. PMID:26637598

16 CFR 1301.2 - Purpose.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 16 Commercial Practices 2 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Purpose. 1301.2 Section 1301.2 Commercial Practices CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY ACT REGULATIONS BAN OF UNSTABLE REFUSE BINS § 1301.2 Purpose. The purpose of this rule is to ban those refuse bins which come under the scope...

16 CFR 1301.2 - Purpose.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 16 Commercial Practices 2 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Purpose. 1301.2 Section 1301.2 Commercial Practices CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY ACT REGULATIONS BAN OF UNSTABLE REFUSE BINS § 1301.2 Purpose. The purpose of this rule is to ban those refuse bins which come under the scope...

16 CFR 1301.2 - Purpose.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 16 Commercial Practices 2 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Purpose. 1301.2 Section 1301.2 Commercial Practices CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY ACT REGULATIONS BAN OF UNSTABLE REFUSE BINS § 1301.2 Purpose. The purpose of this rule is to ban those refuse bins which come under the scope...

16 CFR 1301.2 - Purpose.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 16 Commercial Practices 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Purpose. 1301.2 Section 1301.2 Commercial Practices CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY ACT REGULATIONS BAN OF UNSTABLE REFUSE BINS § 1301.2 Purpose. The purpose of this rule is to ban those refuse bins which come under the scope...

40 CFR Table 3 to Subpart Ttttt of... - Initial Compliance With Emission Limits

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... CATEGORIES (CONTINUED) National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Primary Magnesium...), did not exceed 200 lbs/hr. 2. Each magnesium chloride storage bin scrubber stack a. The average mass flow of hydrochloric acid from the control system applied to the magnesium chloride storage bins...

40 CFR Table 3 to Subpart Ttttt of... - Initial Compliance With Emission Limits

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... CATEGORIES (CONTINUED) National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Primary Magnesium...), did not exceed 200 lbs/hr. 2. Each magnesium chloride storage bin scrubber stack a. The average mass flow of hydrochloric acid from the control system applied to the magnesium chloride storage bins...

40 CFR Table 3 to Subpart Ttttt of... - Initial Compliance With Emission Limits

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... CATEGORIES (CONTINUED) National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Primary Magnesium...), did not exceed 200 lbs/hr. 2. Each magnesium chloride storage bin scrubber stack a. The average mass flow of hydrochloric acid from the control system applied to the magnesium chloride storage bins...

40 CFR Table 3 to Subpart Ttttt of... - Initial Compliance With Emission Limits

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... CATEGORIES (CONTINUED) National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Primary Magnesium...), did not exceed 200 lbs/hr. 2. Each magnesium chloride storage bin scrubber stack a. The average mass flow of hydrochloric acid from the control system applied to the magnesium chloride storage bins...

DOSIMETRY MODELING OF INHALED FORMALDEHYDE: BINNING NASAL FLUX PREDICTIONS FOR QUANTITATIVE RISK ASSESSMENT

EPA Science Inventory

Dosimetry Modeling of Inhaled Formaldehyde: Binning Nasal Flux Predictions for Quantitative Risk Assessment. Kimbell, J.S., Overton, J.H., Subramaniam, R.P., Schlosser, P.M., Morgan, K.T., Conolly, R.B., and Miller, F.J. (2001). Toxicol. Sci. 000, 000:000.

Interspecies e...

16 CFR 1301.6 - Test conditions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 16 Commercial Practices 2 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Test conditions. 1301.6 Section 1301.6 Commercial Practices CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY ACT REGULATIONS BAN OF UNSTABLE REFUSE BINS § 1301.6 Test conditions. (a) The refuse bin shall be empty and have its lids or...

16 CFR 1301.7 - Test procedures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 16 Commercial Practices 2 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Test procedures. 1301.7 Section 1301.7 Commercial Practices CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY ACT REGULATIONS BAN OF UNSTABLE REFUSE BINS § 1301.7 Test procedures. (a) The refuse bin shall be tested by applying forces as...

3. DRAINING & DRYING BUILDING, REINFORCED CONCRETE MUSHROOM COLUMNS WITH ...

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

3. DRAINING & DRYING BUILDING, REINFORCED CONCRETE MUSHROOM COLUMNS WITH DROP PANELS SUPPORTING DRAINING BINS (IRON VALVES OF DRAINING BINS ARE EMBEDDED IN THE CEILING), VIEW LOOKING WEST - Mill "C" Complex, Sand Draining & Drying Building, South of Dee Bennet Road, near Illinois River, Ottawa, La Salle County, IL

DETAIL VIEW OF FILTER PRESS REMAINS, BOILER, SECONDARY ORE BIN, ...

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

DETAIL VIEW OF FILTER PRESS REMAINS, BOILER, SECONDARY ORE BIN, TRAM TRESTLE AND WATER TANK, LOOKING NORTHWEST. HIS VIEW IS TAKEN FROM THE THIRD LEVEL OF THE MILL, NEARBY THE BLACKSMITH'S FORGE. - Keane Wonder Mine, Park Route 4 (Daylight Pass Cutoff), Death Valley Junction, Inyo County, CA

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