Arabidopsis DET1 degrades HFR1 but stabilizes PIF1 to precisely regulate seed germination

PubMed Central

Shi, Hui; Wang, Xin; Mo, Xiaorong; Tang, Chao; Zhong, Shangwei; Deng, Xing Wang

2015-01-01

Seed is an essential propagation organ and a critical strategy adopted by terrestrial flowering plants to colonize the land. The ability of seeds to accurately respond to light is vital for plant survival. However, the underlying mechanism is largely unknown. In this study, we reveal a circuit of triple feed-forward loops adopted by Arabidopsis seeds to exclusively repress germination in dark conditions and precisely initiate germination under diverse light conditions. We identify that de-etiolated 1 (DET1), an evolutionarily conserved protein, is a central repressor of light-induced seed germination. Genetic analysis demonstrates that DET1 functions upstream of long hypocotyl in far-red 1 (HFR1) and phytochrome interacting factor 1 (PIF1), the key positive and negative transcription regulators in seed germination. We further find that DET1 and constitutive photomorphogenic 10 (COP10) target HFR1 for protein degradation by assembling a COP10–DET1–damaged DNA binding protein 1–cullin4 E3 ligase complex. Moreover, DET1 and COP10 directly interact with and promote the protein stability of PIF1. Computational modeling reveals that phytochrome B (phyB)–DET1–HFR1–PIF1 and phyB–DET1–Protease–PIF1 are new signaling pathways, independent of the previously identified phyB-PIF1 pathway, respectively mediating the rapid and time-lapse responses to light irradiation. The model-simulated results are highly consistent with their experimental validations, suggesting that our mathematical model captures the essence of Arabidopsis seed germination networks. Taken together, this study provides a comprehensive molecular framework for light-regulated seed germination, improving our understanding of how plants respond to changeable environments. PMID:25775589

ADAPT

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

Reynolds, John; Jankovsky, Zachary; Metzroth, Kyle G

2018-04-04

The purpose of the ADAPT code is to generate Dynamic Event Trees (DET) using a user specified set of simulators. ADAPT can utilize any simulation tool which meets a minimal set of requirements. ADAPT is based on the concept of DET which uses explicit modeling of the deterministic dynamic processes that take place during a nuclear reactor plant system (or other complex system) evolution along with stochastic modeling. When DET are used to model various aspects of Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA), all accident progression scenarios starting from an initiating event are considered simultaneously. The DET branching occurs at user specifiedmore » times and/or when an action is required by the system and/or the operator. These outcomes then decide how the dynamic system variables will evolve in time for each DET branch. Since two different outcomes at a DET branching may lead to completely different paths for system evolution, the next branching for these paths may occur not only at separate times, but can be based on different branching criteria. The computational infrastructure allows for flexibility in ADAPT to link with different system simulation codes, parallel processing of the scenarios under consideration, on-line scenario management (initiation as well as termination), analysis of results, and user friendly graphical capabilities. The ADAPT system is designed for a distributed computing environment; the scheduler can track multiple concurrent branches simultaneously. The scheduler is modularized so that the DET branching strategy can be modified (e.g. biasing towards the worst-case scenario/event). Independent database systems store data from the simulation tasks and the DET structure so that the event tree can be constructed and analyzed later. ADAPT is provided with a user-friendly client which can easily sort through and display the results of an experiment, precluding the need for the user to manually inspect individual simulator runs.« less

Identification of anaerobic threshold by analysis of heart rate variability during discontinuous dynamic and resistance exercise protocols in healthy older men.

PubMed

Simões, Rodrigo Polaquini; Castello-Simões, Viviane; Mendes, Renata Gonçalves; Archiza, Bruno; Dos Santos, Daniel Augusto; Bonjorno, José Carlos; de Oliveira, Claudio Ricardo; Catai, Aparecida Maria; Arena, Ross; Borghi-Silva, Audrey

2014-03-01

The purposes of this study were to determine anaerobic threshold (AT) during discontinuous dynamic and resistive exercise protocols by analysing of heart rate variability (HRV) and blood lactate (BL) in healthy elderly subjects and compare the cardiovascular, metabolic and autonomic variables obtained from these two forms of exercise. Fourteen elderly (70 ± 4 years) apparently healthy males underwent the following tests: (i) incremental ramp test on cycle ergometer, (ii) one repetition maximum (1RM) leg press at 45°, (iii) a discontinuous exercise test on a cycle ergometer (DET-C) protocol and (iv) a resistance exercise leg press (DET-L) protocol. Heart rate, blood pressure and BL were obtained during each increment of exercise intensity. No significant differences (P>0·05) were found between methods of AT determination (BL and HRV) nor the relative intensity corresponding to AT (30% of maximum intensity) between the types of exercise (DET-C and DET-L). Furthermore, no significant differences (P>0·05) were found between the DET-C and DET-L in relation to HRV, however, the DET-L provided higher values of systolic blood pressure and BL (P<0·05) from the intensity corresponding to AT. We conclude that HRV was effective in determination of AT, and the parasympathetic modulation responses obtained during dynamic and resistive exercise protocols were similar when compared at the same relative intensity. However, DET-L resulted in higher values of blood pressure and BL at workloads beyond AT. © 2013 Scandinavian Society of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Deoxyelephantopin ameliorates lipopolysaccharides (LPS)-induced memory impairments in rats: Evidence for its anti-neuroinflammatory properties.

PubMed

Andy, Shathiswaran N; Pandy, Vijayapandi; Alias, Zazali; Kadir, Habsah Abdul

2018-08-01

Neuroinflammation is a critical pathogenic mechanism of most neurodegenerative disorders especially, Alzheimer's disease (AD). Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) are known to induce neuroinflammation which is evident from significant upsurge of pro-inflammatory mediators in in vitro BV-2 microglial cells and in vivo animal models. In present study, we investigated anti-neuroinflammatory properties of deoxyelephantopin (DET) isolated from Elephantopus scaber in LPS-induced neuroinflammatory rat model. In this study, DET (0.625. 1.25 and 2.5 mg/kg, i.p.) was administered in rats for 21 days and those animals were challenged with single injection of LPS (250 μg/kg, i.p.) for 7 days. Cognitive and behavioral assessment was carried out for 7 days followed by molecular assessment on brain hippocampus. Statistical significance was analyzed with one-way analysis of variance followed by Dunnett's test to compare the treatment groups with the control group. DET ameliorated LPS-induced neuroinflammation by suppressing major pro-inflammatory mediators such as iNOS and COX-2. Furthermore, DET enhanced the anti-inflammatory cytokines and concomitantly suppressed the pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokine production. DET treatment also reversed LPS-induced behavioral and memory deficits and attenuated LPS-induced elevation of the expression of AD markers. DET improved synaptic-functionality via enhancing the activity of pre- and post-synaptic markers, like PSD-95 and SYP. DET also prevented LPS-induced apoptotic neurodegeneration via inhibition of PARP-1, caspase-3 and cleaved caspase-3. Overall, our studies suggest DET can prevent neuroinflammation-associated memory impairment and neurodegeneration and it could be developed as a therapeutic agent for the treatment of neuroinflammation-mediated and neurodegenerative disorders, such as AD. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The electrochemical behavior of a FAD dependent glucose dehydrogenase with direct electron transfer subunit by immobilization on self-assembled monolayers.

PubMed

Lee, Inyoung; Loew, Noya; Tsugawa, Wakako; Lin, Chi-En; Probst, David; La Belle, Jeffrey T; Sode, Koji

2018-06-01

Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) is a vital technology for diabetes patients by providing tight glycemic control. Currently, many commercially available CGM sensors use glucose oxidase (GOD) as sensor element, but this enzyme is not able to transfer electrons directly to the electrode without oxygen or an electronic mediator. We previously reported a mutated FAD dependent glucose dehydrogenase complex (FADGDH) capable of direct electron transfer (DET) via an electron transfer subunit without involving oxygen or a mediator. In this study, we investigated the electrochemical response of DET by controlling the immobilization of DET-FADGDH using 3 types of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) with varying lengths. With the employment of DET-FADGDH and SAM, high current densities were achieved without being affected by interfering substances such as acetaminophen and ascorbic acid. Additionally, the current generated from DET-FADGDH electrodes decreased with increasing length of SAM, suggesting that the DET ability can be affected by the distance between the enzyme and the electrode. These results indicate the feasibility of controlling the immobilization state of the enzymes on the electrode surface. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

DET/MPS - THE GSFC ENERGY BALANCE PROGRAM, DIRECT ENERGY TRANSFER/MULTIMISSION SPACECRAFT MODULAR POWER SYSTEM (DEC VAX VMS VERSION)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jagielski, J. M.

1994-01-01

The DET/MPS programs model and simulate the Direct Energy Transfer and Multimission Spacecraft Modular Power System in order to aid both in design and in analysis of orbital energy balance. Typically, the DET power system has the solar array directly to the spacecraft bus, and the central building block of MPS is the Standard Power Regulator Unit. DET/MPS allows a minute-by-minute simulation of the power system's performance as it responds to various orbital parameters, focusing its output on solar array output and battery characteristics. While this package is limited in terms of orbital mechanics, it is sufficient to calculate eclipse and solar array data for circular or non-circular orbits. DET/MPS can be adjusted to run one or sequential orbits up to about one week, simulated time. These programs have been used on a variety of Goddard Space Flight Center spacecraft projects. DET/MPS is written in FORTRAN 77 with some VAX-type extensions. Any FORTRAN 77 compiler that includes VAX extensions should be able to compile and run the program with little or no modifications. The compiler must at least support free-form (or tab-delineated) source format and 'do do-while end-do' control structures. DET/MPS is available for three platforms: GSC-13374, for DEC VAX series computers running VMS, is available in DEC VAX Backup format on a 9-track 1600 BPI tape (standard distribution) or TK50 tape cartridge; GSC-13443, for UNIX-based computers, is available on a .25 inch streaming magnetic tape cartridge in UNIX tar format; and GSC-13444, for Macintosh computers running AU/X with either the NKR FORTRAN or AbSoft MacFORTRAN II compilers, is available on a 3.5 inch 800K Macintosh format diskette. Source code and test data are supplied. The UNIX version of DET requires 90K of main memory for execution. DET/MPS was developed in 1990. A/UX and Macintosh are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. VMS, DEC VAX and TK50 are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation. UNIX is a registered trademark of AT&T Bell Laboratories.

DET/MPS - THE GSFC ENERGY BALANCE PROGRAM, DIRECT ENERGY TRANSFER/MULTIMISSION SPACECRAFT MODULAR POWER SYSTEM (UNIX VERSION)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jagielski, J. M.

1994-01-01

The DET/MPS programs model and simulate the Direct Energy Transfer and Multimission Spacecraft Modular Power System in order to aid both in design and in analysis of orbital energy balance. Typically, the DET power system has the solar array directly to the spacecraft bus, and the central building block of MPS is the Standard Power Regulator Unit. DET/MPS allows a minute-by-minute simulation of the power system's performance as it responds to various orbital parameters, focusing its output on solar array output and battery characteristics. While this package is limited in terms of orbital mechanics, it is sufficient to calculate eclipse and solar array data for circular or non-circular orbits. DET/MPS can be adjusted to run one or sequential orbits up to about one week, simulated time. These programs have been used on a variety of Goddard Space Flight Center spacecraft projects. DET/MPS is written in FORTRAN 77 with some VAX-type extensions. Any FORTRAN 77 compiler that includes VAX extensions should be able to compile and run the program with little or no modifications. The compiler must at least support free-form (or tab-delineated) source format and 'do do-while end-do' control structures. DET/MPS is available for three platforms: GSC-13374, for DEC VAX series computers running VMS, is available in DEC VAX Backup format on a 9-track 1600 BPI tape (standard distribution) or TK50 tape cartridge; GSC-13443, for UNIX-based computers, is available on a .25 inch streaming magnetic tape cartridge in UNIX tar format; and GSC-13444, for Macintosh computers running AU/X with either the NKR FORTRAN or AbSoft MacFORTRAN II compilers, is available on a 3.5 inch 800K Macintosh format diskette. Source code and test data are supplied. The UNIX version of DET requires 90K of main memory for execution. DET/MPS was developed in 1990. A/UX and Macintosh are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. VMS, DEC VAX and TK50 are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation. UNIX is a registered trademark of AT&T Bell Laboratories.

DET/MPS - THE GSFC ENERGY BALANCE PROGRAM, DIRECT ENERGY TRANSFER/MULTIMISSION SPACECRAFT MODULAR POWER SYSTEM (MACINTOSH A/UX VERSION)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jagielski, J. M.

1994-01-01

The DET/MPS programs model and simulate the Direct Energy Transfer and Multimission Spacecraft Modular Power System in order to aid both in design and in analysis of orbital energy balance. Typically, the DET power system has the solar array directly to the spacecraft bus, and the central building block of MPS is the Standard Power Regulator Unit. DET/MPS allows a minute-by-minute simulation of the power system's performance as it responds to various orbital parameters, focusing its output on solar array output and battery characteristics. While this package is limited in terms of orbital mechanics, it is sufficient to calculate eclipse and solar array data for circular or non-circular orbits. DET/MPS can be adjusted to run one or sequential orbits up to about one week, simulated time. These programs have been used on a variety of Goddard Space Flight Center spacecraft projects. DET/MPS is written in FORTRAN 77 with some VAX-type extensions. Any FORTRAN 77 compiler that includes VAX extensions should be able to compile and run the program with little or no modifications. The compiler must at least support free-form (or tab-delineated) source format and 'do do-while end-do' control structures. DET/MPS is available for three platforms: GSC-13374, for DEC VAX series computers running VMS, is available in DEC VAX Backup format on a 9-track 1600 BPI tape (standard distribution) or TK50 tape cartridge; GSC-13443, for UNIX-based computers, is available on a .25 inch streaming magnetic tape cartridge in UNIX tar format; and GSC-13444, for Macintosh computers running AU/X with either the NKR FORTRAN or AbSoft MacFORTRAN II compilers, is available on a 3.5 inch 800K Macintosh format diskette. Source code and test data are supplied. The UNIX version of DET requires 90K of main memory for execution. DET/MPS was developed in 1990. A/UX and Macintosh are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. VMS, DEC VAX and TK50 are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation. UNIX is a registered trademark of AT&T Bell Laboratories.

Direct Electron Transfer of Enzymes in a Biologically Assembled Conductive Nanomesh Enzyme Platform.

PubMed

Lee, Seung-Woo; Lee, Ki-Young; Song, Yong-Won; Choi, Won Kook; Chang, Joonyeon; Yi, Hyunjung

2016-02-24

Nondestructive assembly of a nanostructured enzyme platform is developed in combination of the specific biomolecular attraction and electrostatic coupling for highly efficient direct electron transfer (DET) of enzymes with unprecedented applicability and versatility. The biologically assembled conductive nanomesh enzyme platform enables DET-based flexible integrated biosensors and DET of eight different enzyme with various catalytic activities. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Elective single embryo transfer with cryopreservation improves the outcome and diminishes the costs of IVF/ICSI.

PubMed

Veleva, Zdravka; Karinen, Petri; Tomás, Candido; Tapanainen, Juha S; Martikainen, Hannu

2009-07-01

Although elective single embryo transfer (eSET) minimizes the multiple birth rate after in vitro fertilization (IVF)/intra cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), there remain concerns in many countries that it is less effective and more expensive than conventional double embryo transfer (DET). We compared the clinical outcome achieved in the years 1995-1999, in which eSET was rarely used (4.2% of women, DET period) with that of the years 2000-2004, in which eSET was more widely used (46.2%, eSET period). In the DET period, 826 women had 1359 fresh embryo cycles followed by 589 frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) cycles. In the eSET period, 684 women had 1027 fresh and 683 FET cycles. The cumulative term live birth rate/woman was the primary clinical outcome measure. An incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of a term live birth was also calculated based on hospital charges and medication prices of IVF/ICSI treatment. The cumulative pregnancy rate/oocytes pickup (38.2 versus 33.1%, P = 0.01), cumulative live birth rate/oocytes pickup (28.0 versus 22.5%, P = 0.002) and cumulative live birth rate/woman (41.7 versus 36.6%, P = 0.04) were all higher in the eSET period than in the DET period. The cumulative multiple birth rate was significantly lower in the eSET period than in the DET period (8.9 versus 19.6%, P < 0.0001). A term live birth in the eSET period was 19 889 euros less expensive than in the DET period. This study shows that eSET with cryopreservation is more effective and less expensive than DET and should be adopted as a treatment of choice.

Family as a Total Package: Restoring and Enhancing Psychological Health for Citizen Soldiers and Families

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-03-01

En Co (‐) (Sapper) Festus 220 EN Co (HORIZ) Co I, 27 R&R Bn (RSP) Ft. Leonard Wood HQ , 35 En Bde Co C, 1/106  Avn HHC, Det 1, 1/106  Avn Det 1, Co D...1/106  Avn Det 1, Co E, 1/106  Avn 7 Civil Support Team (WMD) HQ, 140 Regt (RTI) 2 Bn, 140 Regt (RTI)(GS) Fredericktown  Det 1, 1138 En Co (Sapper...735 QM Co Co B (‐), 1/134  Avn 229 Med Bn (Multifunction) 138 FSC, 1/138 In Det 40, OSACOM Co F, 27 R&R Bn (RSP) Jefferson City  Ike Skelton Training

Evidence for a Ustilago maydis Steroid 5α-Reductase by Functional Expression in Arabidopsis det2-1 Mutants1

PubMed Central

Basse, Christoph W.; Kerschbamer, Christine; Brustmann, Markus; Altmann, Thomas; Kahmann, Regine

2002-01-01

We have identified a gene (udh1) in the basidiomycete Ustilago maydis that is induced during the parasitic interaction with its host plant maize (Zea mays). udh1 encodes a protein with high similarity to mammalian and plant 5α-steroid reductases. Udh1 differs from those of known 5α-steroid reductases by six additional domains, partially predicted to be membrane-spanning. A fusion protein of Udh1 and the green fluorescent protein provided evidence for endoplasmic reticulum localization in U. maydis. The function of the Udh1 protein was demonstrated by complementing Arabidopsis det2-1 mutants, which display a dwarf phenotype due to a mutation in the 5α-steroid reductase encoding DET2 gene. det2-1 mutant plants expressing either the udh1 or the DET2 gene controlled by the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter differed from wild-type Columbia plants by accelerated stem growth, flower and seed development and a reduction in size and number of rosette leaves. The accelerated growth phenotype of udh1 transgenic plants was stably inherited and was favored under reduced light conditions. Truncation of the N-terminal 70 amino acids of the Udh1 protein abolished the ability to restore growth in det2-1 plants. Our results demonstrate the existence of a 5α-steroid reductase encoding gene in fungi and suggest a common ancestor between fungal, plant, and mammalian proteins. PMID:12068114

Evidence for a Ustilago maydis steroid 5alpha-reductase by functional expression in Arabidopsis det2-1 mutants.

PubMed

Basse, Christoph W; Kerschbamer, Christine; Brustmann, Markus; Altmann, Thomas; Kahmann, Regine

2002-06-01

We have identified a gene (udh1) in the basidiomycete Ustilago maydis that is induced during the parasitic interaction with its host plant maize (Zea mays). udh1 encodes a protein with high similarity to mammalian and plant 5alpha-steroid reductases. Udh1 differs from those of known 5alpha-steroid reductases by six additional domains, partially predicted to be membrane-spanning. A fusion protein of Udh1 and the green fluorescent protein provided evidence for endoplasmic reticulum localization in U. maydis. The function of the Udh1 protein was demonstrated by complementing Arabidopsis det2-1 mutants, which display a dwarf phenotype due to a mutation in the 5alpha-steroid reductase encoding DET2 gene. det2-1 mutant plants expressing either the udh1 or the DET2 gene controlled by the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter differed from wild-type Columbia plants by accelerated stem growth, flower and seed development and a reduction in size and number of rosette leaves. The accelerated growth phenotype of udh1 transgenic plants was stably inherited and was favored under reduced light conditions. Truncation of the N-terminal 70 amino acids of the Udh1 protein abolished the ability to restore growth in det2-1 plants. Our results demonstrate the existence of a 5alpha-steroid reductase encoding gene in fungi and suggest a common ancestor between fungal, plant, and mammalian proteins.

Transfer of more than two embryos, regardless of the age of the female partner, is not beneficial for neither the mothers nor the babies: lessons from the Latin American Registry of Assisted Reproductive Techniques.

PubMed

Schwarze, Juan Enrique; Crosby, Javier

2017-02-01

ART has helped millions of infertile couples worldwide to overcome their childlessness. These successes have been accompanied by an increase in multiple deliveries, and perinatal complications associated. The explanation for this complication is the transfer of more than one embryo, to increase the odds of delivery. Our objective was to compare the outcome of elective dual embryo transfer (eDET) to that of the transfer of more than two embryos without embryo cryopreservation (TET), terms of delivery rate and multiple delivery. We analyzed the data registered by 155 clinics members of the RLA: 11,024 eDET and 10,634 TET. The delivery rate was significantly higher when eDET was performed than when TET was performed (40.24% and 26.98%, p < 0.001). Also, the ratio of twin deliveries was higher in eDET (25.80% and 20.56%, p < 0.001). However, the ratio of triplets and more deliveries was higher in TET than in eDET (2.34%and 0.52%, p < 0.001). These findings were consistent across the different age categories of the female partner. Our findings suggest that eDET was associated with a statistically significant better delivery rate per embryo transfer, and lower ratio of triplet-and-higher deliveries, regardless of the woman's age. Therefore, there is no evidence that supports the transfer of more than two embryos.

Direct electrochemistry of glucose oxidase on novel free-standing nitrogen-doped carbon nanospheres@carbon nanofibers composite film.

PubMed

Zhang, Xueping; Liu, Dong; Li, Libo; You, Tianyan

2015-05-06

We have proposed a novel free-standing nitrogen-doped carbon nanospheres@carbon nanofibers (NCNSs@CNFs) composite film with high processability for the investigation of the direct electron transfer (DET) of glucose oxidase (GOx) and the DET-based glucose biosensing. The composites were simply prepared by controlled thermal treatment of electrospun polypyrrole nanospheres doped polyacrylonitrile nanofibers (PPyNSs@PAN NFs). Without any pretreatment, the as-prepared material can directly serve as a platform for GOx immobilization. The cyclic voltammetry of immobilized GOx showed a pair of well-defined redox peaks in O2-free solution, indicating the DET of GOx. With the addition of glucose, the anodic peak current increased, while the cathodic peak current decreased, which demonstrated the DET-based bioelectrocatalysis. The detection of glucose based on the DET of GOx was achieved, which displayed high sensitivity, stability and selectivity, with a low detection limit of 2 μM and wide linear range of 12-1000 μM. These results demonstrate that the as-obtained NCNSs@CNFs can serve as an ideal platform for the construction of the third-generation glucose biosensor.

Direct Electrochemistry of Glucose Oxidase on Novel Free-Standing Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Nanospheres@Carbon Nanofibers Composite Film

PubMed Central

Zhang, Xueping; Liu, Dong; Li, Libo; You, Tianyan

2015-01-01

We have proposed a novel free-standing nitrogen-doped carbon nanospheres@carbon nanofibers (NCNSs@CNFs) composite film with high processability for the investigation of the direct electron transfer (DET) of glucose oxidase (GOx) and the DET-based glucose biosensing. The composites were simply prepared by controlled thermal treatment of electrospun polypyrrole nanospheres doped polyacrylonitrile nanofibers (PPyNSs@PAN NFs). Without any pretreatment, the as-prepared material can directly serve as a platform for GOx immobilization. The cyclic voltammetry of immobilized GOx showed a pair of well-defined redox peaks in O2-free solution, indicating the DET of GOx. With the addition of glucose, the anodic peak current increased, while the cathodic peak current decreased, which demonstrated the DET-based bioelectrocatalysis. The detection of glucose based on the DET of GOx was achieved, which displayed high sensitivity, stability and selectivity, with a low detection limit of 2 μM and wide linear range of 12–1000 μM. These results demonstrate that the as-obtained NCNSs@CNFs can serve as an ideal platform for the construction of the third-generation glucose biosensor. PMID:25943704

Subchronic Oral Toxicity of the Insect Repellent N,N-Diethyl-m-Toluamide (m-DET), September 1978 - May 1979.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-02-08

4 O. TIR.EP---- ... S T EOFREPORT PERIOO COVERED Subchronic Oral Toxicity of the Insect Repellent N , N -Diethyl-m-Tolumide (m-DET y Special,%udyj.... r...PROVING 811l1111 MI 211 PHASE 5 p1~ SUBCHRONIC ORAL TOXICITY STUDY OF THE INSECT REPELLENT N , N -DIETHYL-M-TOLUAMIDE (M-DET) 75-51-0034-80 SEPTEMBER 1978...DOWNGRAOING SCHEDULE to. DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT (of this Repoet) N . TIsB doclunent has bei-, n approved, or pub Lic releLsn cmwd sale; iLa d(-ributfon

Perinatal outcomes among singletons after assisted reproductive technology with single-embryo or double-embryo transfer versus no assisted reproductive technology.

PubMed

Martin, Angela S; Chang, Jeani; Zhang, Yujia; Kawwass, Jennifer F; Boulet, Sheree L; McKane, Patricia; Bernson, Dana; Kissin, Dmitry M; Jamieson, Denise J

2017-04-01

To examine outcomes of singleton pregnancies conceived without assisted reproductive technology (non-ART) compared with singletons conceived with ART by elective single-embryo transfer (eSET), nonelective single-embryo transfer (non-eSET), and double-embryo transfer with the establishment of 1 (DET -1) or ≥2 (DET ≥2) early fetal heartbeats. Retrospective cohort using linked ART surveillance data and vital records from Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Connecticut. Not applicable. Singleton live-born infants. None. Preterm birth (PTB <37 weeks), very preterm birth (VPTB <32 weeks), small for gestational age birth weight (<10th percentile), low birth weight (LBW <2,500 g), very low birth weight (VLBW <1,500 g), 5-minute Apgar score <7, and neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission. After controlling for maternal characteristics and employing a weighted propensity score approach, we found that singletons conceived after eSET were less likely to have a 5-minute Apgar <7 (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.33; 95% CI, 0.15-0.69) compared with non-ART singletons. There were no differences among outcomes between non-ART and non-eSET infants. We found that PTB, VPTB, LBW, and VLBW were more likely among DET -1 and DET ≥2 compared with non-ART infants, with the odds being higher for DET ≥2 (PTB aOR 1.58; 95% CI, 1.09-2.29; VPTB aOR 2.46; 95% CI, 1.20-5.04; LBW aOR 2.17; 95% CI, 1.24-3.79; VLBW aOR 3.67; 95% CI, 1.38-9.77). Compared with non-ART singletons, singletons born after eSET and non-eSET did not have increased risks whereas DET -1 and DET ≥2 singletons were more likely to have adverse perinatal outcomes. Copyright © 2017 American Society for Reproductive Medicine. All rights reserved.

Minimising twins in in vitro fertilisation: a modelling study assessing the costs, consequences and cost-utility of elective single versus double embryo transfer over a 20-year time horizon.

PubMed

Scotland, G S; McLernon, D; Kurinczuk, J J; McNamee, P; Harrild, K; Lyall, H; Rajkhowa, M; Hamilton, M; Bhattacharya, S

2011-08-01

To assess the cumulative costs and consequences of double embryo transfer (DET) or elective single embryo transfer (eSET) in women commencing in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment aged 32, 36 and 39 years. Microsimulation model. Three assisted reproduction centres in Scotland. A total of 6153 women undergoing treatment at one of three Scottish IVF clinics, between January 1997 and June 2007. A microsimulation model, populated using data inputs derived from a large clinical data set and published literature, was developed to compare the costs and consequences of using eSET or DET over multiple treatment cycles. Disability-free live births; twin pregnancy rate; women's quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs); health service costs. Not only did DET produce a higher cumulative live birth rate compared with eSET for women of all three ages, but also a higher twin pregnancy rate. Compared with eSET, DET ranged from costing an additional £ 27,356 per extra live birth in women commencing treatment aged 32 years, to costing £ 15,539 per extra live birth in 39-year-old women. DET cost ∼ £ 28,300 and ∼ £ 20,300 per additional QALY in women commencing treatment aged 32 and 39 years, respectively. Considering the high twin pregnancy rate associated with DET, coupled with uncertainty surrounding QALY gains, eSET is likely to be the preferred option for most women aged ≤ 36 years. The cost-effectiveness of DET improves with age, and may be considered cost-effective in some groups of older women. The decision may best be considered on a case-by-case basis for women aged 37-39 years. © 2011 The Authors BJOG An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology © 2011 RCOG.

Local and Systemic Inflammation May Mediate Diesel Engine Exhaust-Induced Lung Function Impairment in a Chinese Occupational Cohort.

PubMed

Wang, Haitao; Duan, Huawei; Meng, Tao; Yang, Mo; Cui, Lianhua; Bin, Ping; Dai, Yufei; Niu, Yong; Shen, Meili; Zhang, Liping; Zheng, Yuxin; Leng, Shuguang

2018-04-01

Diesel exhaust (DE) as the major source of vehicle-emitted particle matter in ambient air impairs lung function. The objectives were to assess the contribution of local (eg, the fraction of exhaled nitric oxide [FeNO] and serum Club cell secretory protein [CC16]) and systemic (eg, serum C-reaction protein [CRP] and interleukin-6 [IL-6]) inflammation to DE-induced lung function impairment using a unique cohort of diesel engine testers (DETs, n = 137) and non-DETs (n = 127), made up of current and noncurrent smokers. Urinary metabolites, FeNO, serum markers, and spirometry were assessed. A 19% reduction in CC16 and a 94% increase in CRP were identified in DETs compared with non-DETs (all p values <10-4), which were further corroborated by showing a dose-response relationship with internal dose for DE exposure (all p values <.04) and a time-course relationship with DE exposure history (all p values <.005). Mediation analysis showed that 43% of the difference in FEV1 between DETs and non-DETs can be explained by circulating CC16 and CRP (permuted p < .001). An inverse dose-dependent relationship between FeNO and internal dose for cigarette smoke was identified (p = .0003). A range of 95% lower bounds of benchmark dose of 1.0261-1.4513 μg phenanthrols/g creatinine in urine as an internal dose was recommended for regulatory risk assessment. Local and systemic inflammation may be key processes that contribute to the subsequent development of obstructive lung disease in DE-exposed populations.

Transfer of more than two embryos, regardless of the age of the female partner, is not beneficial for neither the mothers nor the babies: lessons from the Latin American Registry of Assisted Reproductive Techniques

PubMed Central

Schwarze, Juan Enrique; Crosby, Javier

2017-01-01

Objective ART has helped millions of infertile couples worldwide to overcome their childlessness. These successes have been accompanied by an increase in multiple deliveries, and perinatal complications associated. The explanation for this complication is the transfer of more than one embryo, to increase the odds of delivery. Our objective was to compare the outcome of elective dual embryo transfer (eDET) to that of the transfer of more than two embryos without embryo cryopreservation (TET), terms of delivery rate and multiple delivery. Methods We analyzed the data registered by 155 clinics members of the RLA: 11,024 eDET and 10,634 TET. Results The delivery rate was significantly higher when eDET was performed than when TET was performed (40.24% and 26.98%, p < 0.001). Also, the ratio of twin deliveries was higher in eDET (25.80% and 20.56%, p < 0.001). However, the ratio of triplets and more deliveries was higher in TET than in eDET (2.34%and 0.52%, p < 0.001). These findings were consistent across the different age categories of the female partner. Conclusion Our findings suggest that eDET was associated with a statistically significant better delivery rate per embryo transfer, and lower ratio of triplet-and-higher deliveries, regardless of the woman’s age. Therefore, there is no evidence that supports the transfer of more than two embryos. PMID:28333027

Influence of robust optimization in intensity-modulated proton therapy with different dose delivery techniques

PubMed Central

Liu, Wei; Li, Yupeng; Li, Xiaoqiang; Cao, Wenhua; Zhang, Xiaodong

2012-01-01

Purpose: The distal edge tracking (DET) technique in intensity-modulated proton therapy (IMPT) allows for high energy efficiency, fast and simple delivery, and simple inverse treatment planning; however, it is highly sensitive to uncertainties. In this study, the authors explored the application of DET in IMPT (IMPT-DET) and conducted robust optimization of IMPT-DET to see if the planning technique’s sensitivity to uncertainties was reduced. They also compared conventional and robust optimization of IMPT-DET with three-dimensional IMPT (IMPT-3D) to gain understanding about how plan robustness is achieved. Methods: They compared the robustness of IMPT-DET and IMPT-3D plans to uncertainties by analyzing plans created for a typical prostate cancer case and a base of skull (BOS) cancer case (using data for patients who had undergone proton therapy at our institution). Spots with the highest and second highest energy layers were chosen so that the Bragg peak would be at the distal edge of the targets in IMPT-DET using 36 equally spaced angle beams; in IMPT-3D, 3 beams with angles chosen by a beam angle optimization algorithm were planned. Dose contributions for a number of range and setup uncertainties were calculated, and a worst-case robust optimization was performed. A robust quantification technique was used to evaluate the plans’ sensitivity to uncertainties. Results: With no uncertainties considered, the DET is less robust to uncertainties than is the 3D method but offers better normal tissue protection. With robust optimization to account for range and setup uncertainties, robust optimization can improve the robustness of IMPT plans to uncertainties; however, our findings show the extent of improvement varies. Conclusions: IMPT’s sensitivity to uncertainties can be improved by using robust optimization. They found two possible mechanisms that made improvements possible: (1) a localized single-field uniform dose distribution (LSFUD) mechanism, in which the optimization algorithm attempts to produce a single-field uniform dose distribution while minimizing the patching field as much as possible; and (2) perturbed dose distribution, which follows the change in anatomical geometry. Multiple-instance optimization has more knowledge of the influence matrices; this greater knowledge improves IMPT plans’ ability to retain robustness despite the presence of uncertainties. PMID:22755694

Insulin detemir attenuates food intake, body weight gain and fat mass gain in diet-induced obese Sprague-Dawley rats.

PubMed

Rojas, J M; Printz, R L; Niswender, K D

2011-07-04

Initiation and intensification of insulin therapy commonly causes weight gain, a barrier to therapy. A contrasting body of evidence indicates that insulin functions as an adiposity negative feedback signal and reduces food intake, weight gain and adiposity via action in the central nervous system. Basal insulin analogs, detemir (Det) and glargine (Glar), have been associated with less hypoglycemia compared with neutral protamine hagedorn insulin, and Det with less weight gain, especially in patients with higher body mass index (BMI). We sought to determine whether insulin therapy per se causes body weight and fat mass gain when delivered via a clinically relevant subcutaneous (SC) route in the absence of hypoglycemia and glycosuria in non-diabetic lean and diet-induced obese rats. Rats were exposed to either a low-fat diet (LFD; 13.5% fat) or high-fat diet (HFD; 60% fat), and received Det (0.5 U kg(-1)), Glar (0.2 U kg(-1)) or vehicle (Veh) SC once daily for 4 weeks. These dosages of insulin were equipotent in rats with respect to blood-glucose concentration and did not induce hypoglycemia. As predicted by current models of energy homeostasis, neither insulin Det nor Glar therapy affected food intake and weight gain in LFD rats. Det treatment significantly attenuated food intake, body weight gain and fat mass gain relative to the Glar and Veh in high-fat fed animals, mirroring observations in humans. That neither insulin group gained excess weight, suggests weight gain with SC basal insulin therapy may not be inevitable. Our data further suggest that Det possesses a unique property to attenuate the development of obesity associated with a HFD.

Basal Insulin Regimens for Adults with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: A Cost-Utility Analysis.

PubMed

Dawoud, Dalia; Fenu, Elisabetta; Higgins, Bernard; Wonderling, David; Amiel, Stephanie A

2017-12-01

To assess the cost-effectiveness of basal insulin regimens for adults with type 1 diabetes mellitus in England. A cost-utility analysis was conducted in accordance with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence reference case. The UK National Health Service and personal and social services perspective was used and a 3.5% discount rate was applied for both costs and outcomes. Relative effectiveness estimates were based on a systematic review of published trials and a Bayesian network meta-analysis. The IMS CORE Diabetes Model was used, in which net monetary benefit (NMB) was calculated using a threshold of £20,000 per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gained. A wide range of sensitivity analyses were conducted. Insulin detemir (twice daily) [iDet (bid)] had the highest mean QALY gain (11.09 QALYs) and NMB (£181,456) per patient over the model time horizon. Compared with the lowest cost strategy (insulin neutral protamine Hagedorn once daily), it had an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of £7844/QALY gained. Insulin glargine (od) [iGlarg (od)] and iDet (od) were ranked as second and third, with NMBs of £180,893 and £180,423, respectively. iDet (bid) remained the most cost-effective treatment in all the sensitivity analyses performed except when high doses were assumed (>30% increment compared with other regimens), where iGlarg (od) ranked first. iDet (bid) is the most cost-effective regimen, providing the highest QALY gain and NMB. iGlarg (od) and iDet (od) are possible options for those for whom the iDet (bid) regimen is not acceptable or does not achieve required glycemic control. Copyright © 2017 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Complex multiple antibiotic and mercury resistance region derived from the r-det of NR1 (R100).

PubMed

Partridge, Sally R; Hall, Ruth M

2004-11-01

The sequence of the 45.2-kb multidrug and mercury resistance region of pRMH760, a large plasmid from a clinical isolate of Klebsiella pneumoniae collected in 1997 in Australia, was completed. Most of the modules found in the resistance determinant (r-det), or Tn2670, region of NR1 (also known as R100), isolated from a Shigella flexneri strain in Japan in the late 1950s, were present in pRMH760 but in a different configuration. The location was also different, with the Tn2670-derived region flanked by the transposition module of Tn1696 and a mercury resistance module almost identical to one found in the plasmid pDU1358. This arrangement is consistent with a three-step process. First, the r-det was circularized via homologous recombination between the IS1 elements and reincorporated at a new location, possibly in a different plasmid, via homologous recombination between the 5'-conserved (5'-CS) or 3'-CS of the In34 integron in the r-det and the same region of a second class 1 integron in a Tn1696 relative. Subsequently, resolvase-mediated recombination between the res sites in the r-det and a second mercury resistance transposon removed one end of the Tn1696-like transposon and part of the second transposon. Other events occurring within the r-det-derived portion have also contributed to the formation of the pRMH760 resistance region. Tn2 or a close relative that includes the bla(TEM-1b) gene had moved into the Tn21 mercury resistance module with subsequent deletion of the adjacent sequence, and all four 38-bp inverted repeats corresponding to Tn21 family transposon termini have been interrupted by an IS4321-like element.

A Simple Method for Computing Resistance Distance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bapat, Ravindra B.; Gutmana, Ivan; Xiao, Wenjun

2003-10-01

The resistance distance ri j between two vertices vi and vj of a (connected, molecular) graph G is equal to the effective resistance between the respective two points of an electrical network, constructed so as to correspond to G, such that the resistance of any edge is unity. We show how rij can be computed from the Laplacian matrix L of the graph G: Let L(i) and L(i, j) be obtained from L by deleting its i-th row and column, and by deleting its i-th and j-th rows and columns, respectively. Then rij = detL(i, j)/detL(i).

50 CFR 216.217 - Requirements for monitoring and reporting.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... summarizes the required mitigation and monitoring survey modes, duration and zones for all blasting scenarios... blast scenario shown in Table 1. Table 1. Blast Categories, Mitigation Scenarios, Survey and Time...) Species Delineation Zone Mitgation Scenario Impact Zone Radius Pre Det Surface Survey (min) Pre Det Aerial...

50 CFR 216.217 - Requirements for monitoring and reporting.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... summarizes the required mitigation and monitoring survey modes, duration and zones for all blasting scenarios... blast scenario shown in Table 1. Table 1. Blast Categories, Mitigation Scenarios, Survey and Time...) Species Delineation Zone Mitgation Scenario Impact Zone Radius Pre Det Surface Survey (min) Pre Det Aerial...

50 CFR 216.217 - Requirements for monitoring and reporting.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... summarizes the required mitigation and monitoring survey modes, duration and zones for all blasting scenarios... blast scenario shown in Table 1. Table 1. Blast Categories, Mitigation Scenarios, Survey and Time...) Species Delineation Zone Mitgation Scenario Impact Zone Radius Pre Det Surface Survey (min) Pre Det Aerial...

Balanced cell proliferation and expansion is essential for flowering stem growth control.

PubMed

Ferjani, Ali; Hanai, Kenya; Gunji, Shizuka; Maeda, Saori; Sawa, Shinichiro; Tsukaya, Hirokazu

2015-01-01

The postembryonic development of aboveground plant organs relies on a continuous supply of cells from the shoot apical meristem. Previous studies of developmental regulation in leaves and flowers have revealed the crucial role of coordinated cell proliferation and differentiation during organogenesis. However, the importance of this coordination has not been examined in flowering stems. Very recently, we attempted to identify regulatory factors that maintain flowering stem integrity. We found that the increased cell number in clavata (clv) mutants and the decreased cell size in de-etiolated (det)3-1 resulted in flowering stems that were thicker and thinner, respectively, than in wild-type (WT) plants. Interestingly, in the cell proliferation- and cell expansion-defective double mutant clv det3-1, the flowering stems often exhibited severe cracking, resulting in exposure of their inner tissues. In this study, further quantification of the cellular phenotypes in the cotyledons and leaves revealed no differences between det3-1 and clv3 det3-1. Together, the above findings suggest that the clv3 mutation in a det3-1 background primarily affects flowering stems, while its effect on other organs is likely negligible. We propose that the coordination between cell proliferation and differentiation is not only important during leaf development, but also plays a role in the growth control of Arabidopsis flowering stems.

Cost-effectiveness of seven IVF strategies: results of a Markov decision-analytic model.

PubMed

Fiddelers, Audrey A A; Dirksen, Carmen D; Dumoulin, John C M; van Montfoort, Aafke P A; Land, Jolande A; Janssen, J Marij; Evers, Johannes L H; Severens, Johan L

2009-07-01

A selective switch to elective single embryo transfer (eSET) in IVF has been suggested to prevent complications of fertility treatment for both mother and infants. We compared seven IVF strategies concerning their cost-effectiveness using a Markov model. The model was based on a three IVF-attempts time horizon and a societal perspective using real world strategies and data, comparing seven IVF strategies, concerning costs, live births and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs). In order to increase pregnancy probability, one cycle of eSET + one cycle of standard treatment policy [STP, i.e. eSET in patients <38 years of age with at least one good quality embryo and double embryo transfer (DET) in the remainder of patients] + one cycle of DET have an ICER of 16,593 euro compared with three cycles of eSET. Furthermore, three STP cycles have an ICER of 17,636 euro compared with one cycle of eSET + one cycle of STP + one cycle of DET, and three DET cycles have an ICER of 26,729 euro compared with three cycles STP. Our study shows that in patients qualifying for IVF treatment, combining several transfer policies was not cost-effective. A choice has to be made between three cycles of eSET, STP or DET. It depends, however, on society's willingness to pay which strategy is to be preferred from a cost-effectiveness point of view.

Threshold Corrosion Fatigue of Welded Shipbuilding Steels.

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-01-01

8. J. C. Walter, E. Olbjorn, 0. Allstad and G. Elde, "Safety Against Corrosion Fatigue Offshore," Publication No. 94, Det Norske Ventas , Horik...Offshore. Publication No;. 94;, Det Norske Ventas , Horik, Norway, April 1976. 18. C. E. Jaske, D. Broek, J. E. Slater, W. E. Anderson. Corrosion Fatigue

76 FR 42163 - Pipeline Safety: Issuance of Draft Decision on Det Norske Veritas (USA), Inc.'s Petition for...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-07-18

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket No. PHMSA-2011-0075] Pipeline Safety: Issuance of Draft Decision on Det Norske Veritas (USA), Inc.'s...: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), DOT. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: This notice...

75 FR 14333 - Airworthiness Directives; Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica S.A. (EMBRAER) Model ERJ 170 and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-03-25

... Secondary Power Distribution Assemblies (SPDAs) the message ``RECIRC SMK DET FAIL'' is displayed in the... the distribution of power and responsibilities among the various levels of government. For the reasons...] controller cards and both Secondary Power Distribution Assemblies (SPDAs) the message ``RECIRC SMK DET FAIL...

Randomized single versus double embryo transfer: obstetric and paediatric outcome and a cost-effectiveness analysis.

PubMed

Kjellberg, Ann Thurin; Carlsson, Per; Bergh, Christina

2006-01-01

Transfer of several embryos after IVF results in a high multiple birth rate associated with increased morbidity and high costs for the neonatal care. In a previous randomized trial we demonstrated that a single embryo transfer (SET) strategy, including one fresh single embryo transfer and, if no live birth, one additional frozen-thawed SET, resulted in a live-birth rate that was not substantially lower than after double embryo transfer (DET) but markedly reduced the multiple birth rate. We compared costs for maternal health care and productivity losses and paediatric costs for the SET and DET strategies. In addition, maternal and paediatric outcomes between the two groups were compared. The SET strategy resulted in lower average total costs from treatment until 6 months after delivery. There were a few more deliveries with at least one live-born child in the DET group. The incremental cost per extra delivery in the DET alternative was high, 71 940. The rates of prematurely born and low birthweight children were significantly lower with the SET strategy. There were also markedly fewer maternal and paediatric complications in the SET group. The SET strategy is superior to the DET strategy, when number of deliveries with at least one live-born child, incremental cost-effectiveness ratio and maternal and paediatric complications are taken into consideration. The findings do not support continuing transfers of two embryos in this group of patients.

Mediatorless glucose biosensor and direct electron transfer type glucose/air biofuel cell enabled with carbon nanodots.

PubMed

Zhao, Mei; Gao, Yue; Sun, Junyong; Gao, Feng

2015-03-03

Utilization of carbon nanodots (CNDs), newcomers to the world of carbonaceous nanomaterials, in the electrochemistry realm has rarely been reported so far. In this study, CNDs were used as immobilization supports and electron carriers to promote direct electron transfer (DET) reactions of glucose oxidase (GOx) and bilirubin oxidase (BOD). At the CNDs electrode entrapped with GOx, a high rate constant (k(s)) of 6.28 ± 0.05 s(-1) for fast DET and an apparent Michaelis-Menten constant (K(M)(app)) as low as 0.85 ± 0.03 mM for affinity to glucose were found. By taking advantage of its excellent direct bioelectrocatalytic performances to glucose oxidation, a DET-based biosensor for glucose detection ranging from 0 to 0.64 mM with a high sensitivity of 6.1 μA mM(-1) and a limit of detection (LOD) of 1.07 ± 0.03 μM (S/N = 3) was proposed. Additionally, the promoted DET of BOD immobilized on CNDs was also observed and effectively catalyzed the reduction of oxygen to water at the onset potential of +0.51 V (vs Ag/AgCl). On the basis of the facilitated DET of these two enzymes at CNDs electrodes, a mediator-free DET-type glucose/air enzymatic biofuel cell (BFC), in which CNDs electrodes entrapped with GOx and BOD were employed for oxidizing glucose at the bioanode and reducing oxygen at the biocathode, respectively, was successfully fabricated. The constructed BFC displayed an open-circuit voltage (OCV) as high as 0.93 V and a maximum power density of 40.8 μW cm(-2) at 0.41 V. These important features of CNDs have implied to be promising materials for immobilizing enzymes and efficient platforms for elaborating bioelectrochemical devices such as biosensors and BFCs.

A comparison of models for estimating potential evapotranspiration for Florida land cover types

USGS Publications Warehouse

Douglas, Ellen M.; Jacobs, Jennifer M.; Sumner, David M.; Ray, Ram L.

2013-01-01

We analyzed observed daily evapotranspiration (DET) at 18 sites having measured DET and ancillary climate data and then used these data to compare the performance of three common methods for estimating potential evapotranspiration (PET): the Turc method (Tc), the Priestley-Taylor method (PT) and the Penman-Monteith method (PM). The sites were distributed throughout the State of Florida and represent a variety of land cover types: open water (3), marshland (4), grassland/pasture (4), citrus (2) and forest (5). Not surprisingly, the highest DET values occurred at the open water sites, ranging from an average of 3.3 mm d-1 in the winter to 5.3 mm d-1 in the spring. DET at the marsh sites was also high, ranging from 2.7 mm d-1 in winter to 4.4 mm d-1 in summer. The lowest DET occurred in the winter and fall seasons at the grass sites (1.3 mm d-1 and 2.0 mm d-1, respectively) and at the forested sites (1.8 mm d-1 and 2.3 mm d-1, respectively). The performance of the three methods when applied to conditions close to PET (Bowen ratio ≤ 1) was used to judge relative merit. Under such PET conditions, annually aggregated Tc and PT methods perform comparably and outperform the PM method, possibly due to the sensitivity of the PM method to the limited transferability of previously determined model parameters. At a daily scale, the PT performance appears to be superior to the other two methods for estimating PET for a variety of land covers in Florida.

Ready to use bioinformatics analysis as a tool to predict immobilisation strategies for protein direct electron transfer (DET).

PubMed

Cazelles, R; Lalaoui, N; Hartmann, T; Leimkühler, S; Wollenberger, U; Antonietti, M; Cosnier, S

2016-11-15

Direct electron transfer (DET) to proteins is of considerable interest for the development of biosensors and bioelectrocatalysts. While protein structure is mainly used as a method of attaching the protein to the electrode surface, we employed bioinformatics analysis to predict the suitable orientation of the enzymes to promote DET. Structure similarity and secondary structure prediction were combined underlying localized amino-acids able to direct one of the enzyme's electron relays toward the electrode surface by creating a suitable bioelectrocatalytic nanostructure. The electro-polymerization of pyrene pyrrole onto a fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) electrode allowed the targeted orientation of the formate dehydrogenase enzyme from Rhodobacter capsulatus (RcFDH) by means of hydrophobic interactions. Its electron relays were directed to the FTO surface, thus promoting DET. The reduction of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD(+)) generating a maximum current density of 1μAcm(-2) with 10mM NAD(+) leads to a turnover number of 0.09electron/s/molRcFDH. This work represents a practical approach to evaluate electrode surface modification strategies in order to create valuable bioelectrocatalysts. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Experimental investigation on the accuracy of plastic scintillators and of the spectrum discrimination method in small photon fields.

PubMed

Papaconstadopoulos, Pavlos; Archambault, Louis; Seuntjens, Jan

2017-02-01

To investigate the accuracy of output factor measurements using a commercial (Exradin W1, SI) and a prototype, "in-house" developed, plastic scintillation dosimeter (PSD) in small photon fields. Repetitive detector-specific output factor OF det measurements were performed in water (parallel to the CAX) using two W1 PSDs (SI), a PTW microLion, a PTW microDiamond and an unshielded diode D1V (SI) to which Monte Carlo calculated corrections factors were applied. Four sets of repetitive measurements were performed with the W1 PSD positioned parallel and perpendicular to the CAX, each set on a different day, and with analytically calculated volume averaging corrections applied. The W1 OF det measurements were compared to measurements using an "in-house" developed PSD in water (CHUQ) and both were validated against a previously commissioned Monte Carlo beam model in small photon fields. The performance of the spectrum discrimination calibration procedure was evaluated under different fiber orientations and wavelength threshold choices and the impact on the respective OF det was reported. For all detectors in the study an excellent agreement was observed down to a field size of 1 × 1 cm 2 . For the smallest field size of 0.5 × 0.5 cm 2 , the W1 PSDs presented OF det readings higher by 3.8 to 5.0% relative to the mean corrected OF det of the rest of the detectors and by 5.8 to 6.1% relative to the CHUQ PSD. The repetitive W1 OF det measurements in water (parallel CAX) were higher by 3.9% relative to the OF det measurements in Solid Water TM (perpendicular CAX) even after volume averaging corrections were applied, indicating a potential fiber orientation dependency in small fields. Uncertainties in jaw and detector repositioning as well as source variations with time were estimated to be less than 0.9% (1 σ) for the W1 under both orientations. The CHUQ PSD agreed with the MC dose calculations in water, for the smallest field size, within 1.1-1.7% before any corrections and within 0.3-0.8% after volume averaging corrections. The spectrum discrimination method provided reproducible Cherenkov spectra under the different calibration set-ups with noisier spectra extracted if the calibration is performed in water and parallel to the CAX. The impact of fiber orientation and wavelength threshold during calibration on OF det was in general minimal. Clinically relevant differences were observed between similar scintillator dosimeters in photon fields smaller than 1 ×  1 cm 2 . Further research on PSDs is needed that can explain the origin of these differences especially related to the Cherenkov spectrum dependencies on the optical fiber technical characteristics. © 2016 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

Does a strategy to promote shared decision-making reduce medical practice variation in the choice of either single or double embryo transfer after in vitro fertilisation? A secondary analysis of a randomised controlled trial.

PubMed

Brabers, Anne E M; van Dijk, Liset; Groenewegen, Peter P; van Peperstraten, Arno M; de Jong, Judith D

2016-05-06

The hypothesis that shared decision-making (SDM) reduces medical practice variations is increasingly common, but no evidence is available. We aimed to elaborate further on this, and to perform a first exploratory analysis to examine this hypothesis. This analysis, based on a limited data set, examined how SDM is associated with variation in the choice of single embryo transfer (SET) or double embryo transfer (DET) after in vitro fertilisation (IVF). We examined variation between and within hospitals. A secondary analysis of a randomised controlled trial. 5 hospitals in the Netherlands. 222 couples (woman aged <40 years) on a waiting list for a first IVF cycle, who could choose between SET and DET (ie, ≥2 embryos available). SDM via a multifaceted strategy aimed to empower couples in deciding how many embryos should be transferred. The strategy consisted of decision aid, support of IVF nurse and the offer of reimbursement for an extra treatment cycle. Control group received standard IVF care. Difference in variation due to SDM in the choice of SET or DET, both between and within hospitals. There was large variation in the choice of SET or DET between hospitals in the control group. Lower variation between hospitals was observed in the group with SDM. Within most hospitals, variation in the choice of SET or DET appeared to increase due to SDM. Variation particularly increased in hospitals where mainly DET was chosen in the control group. Although based on a limited data set, our study gives a first insight that including patients' preferences through SDM results in less variation between hospitals, and indicates another pattern of variation within hospitals. Variation that results from patient preferences could be potentially named the informed patient rate. Our results provide the starting point for further research. NCT00315029; Post-results. 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/

Evaluation of muscle fatigue of wheelchair basketball players with spinal cord injury using recurrence quantification analysis of surface EMG.

PubMed

Uzun, S; Pourmoghaddam, A; Hieronymus, M; Thrasher, T A

2012-11-01

Wheelchair basketball is the most popular exercise activity among individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). The purpose of this study was to investigate muscular endurance and fatigue in wheelchair basketball athletes with SCI using surface electromyography (SEMG) and maximal torque values. SEMG characteristics of 10 wheelchair basketball players (WBP) were compared to 13 able-bodied basketball players and 12 sedentary able-bodied subjects. Participants performed sustained isometric elbow flexion at 50% maximal voluntary contraction until exhaustion. Elbow flexion torque and SEMG signals were recorded from three elbow flexor muscles: biceps brachii longus, biceps brachii brevis and brachioradialis. SEMG signals were clustered into 0.5-s epochs with 50% overlap. Root mean square (RMS) and median frequency (MDF) of SEMG signals were calculated for each muscle and epoch as traditional fatigue monitoring. Recurrence quantification analysis was used to extract the percentage of determinism (%DET) of SEMG signals. The slope of the %DET for basketball players and WBP showed slower increase with time than the sedentary able-bodied control group for three different elbow flexor muscles, while no difference was observed for the slope of the %DET between basketball and WBP. This result indicated that the athletes are less fatigable during the task effort than the nonathletes. Normalized MDF slope decay exhibited similar results between the groups as %DET, while the slope of the normalized RMS failed to show any significant differences among the groups (p > 0.05). MDF and %DET could be useful for the evaluation of muscle fatigue in wheelchair basketball training. No conclusions about special training for WBP could be determined.

Electrostatic interaction between an enzyme and electrodes in the electric double layer examined in a view of direct electron transfer-type bioelectrocatalysis.

PubMed

Sugimoto, Yu; Kitazumi, Yuki; Tsujimura, Seiya; Shirai, Osamu; Yamamoto, Masahiro; Kano, Kenji

2015-01-15

Effects of the electrode poential on the activity of an adsorbed enzyme has been examined by using copper efflux oxidase (CueO) as a model enzyme and by monitoring direct electron transfer (DET)-type bioelectrocatalysis of oxygen reduction. CueO adsorbed on bare Au electrodes at around the point of zero charge (E(pzc)) shows the highest DET activity, and the activity decreases as the adsorption potential (E(ad); at which the enzyme adsorbs) is far from E(pzc). We propose a model to explain the phenomena in which the electrostatic interaction between the enzyme and electrodes in the electric double layer affects the orientation and the stability of the adsorbed enzyme. The self-assembled monolayer of butanethiol on Au electrodes decreases the electric field in the outside of the inner Helmholtz plane and drastically diminishes the E(ad) dependence of the DET activity of CueO. When CueO is adsorbed on bare Au electrodes under open circuit potential and then is held at hold potentials (E(ho)) more positive than E(pzc), the DET activity of the CueO rapidly decreases with the hold time. The strong electric field with positive surface charge density on the metallic electrode (σ(M)) leads to fatal denaturation of the adsorbed CueO. Such denaturation effect is not so serious at E(ho)

A comparison of models for estimating potential evapotranspiration for Florida land cover types

USGS Publications Warehouse

Douglas, E.M.; Jacobs, J.M.; Sumner, D.M.; Ray, R.L.

2009-01-01

We analyzed observed daily evapotranspiration (DET) at 18 sites having measured DET and ancillary climate data and then used these data to compare the performance of three common methods for estimating potential evapotranspiration (PET): the Turc method (Tc), the Priestley-Taylor method (PT) and the Penman-Monteith method (PM). The sites were distributed throughout the State of Florida and represent a variety of land cover types: open water (3), marshland (4), grassland/pasture (4), citrus (2) and forest (5). Not surprisingly, the highest DET values occurred at the open water sites, ranging from an average of 3.3 mm d-1 in the winter to 5.3 mm d-1 in the spring. DET at the marsh sites was also high, ranging from 2.7 mm d-1 in winter to 4.4 mm d-1 in summer. The lowest DET occurred in the winter and fall seasons at the grass sites (1.3 mm d-1 and 2.0 mm d-1, respectively) and at the forested sites (1.8 mm d-1 and 2.3 mm d-1, respectively). The performance of the three methods when applied to conditions close to PET (Bowen ratio ??? 1) was used to judge relative merit. Under such PET conditions, annually aggregated Tc and PT methods perform comparably and outperform the PM method, possibly due to the sensitivity of the PM method to the limited transferability of previously determined model parameters. At a daily scale, the PT performance appears to be superior to the other two methods for estimating PET for a variety of land covers in Florida. ?? 2009 Elsevier B.V.

A comparison of the cost-effectiveness of in vitro fertilization strategies and stimulated intrauterine insemination in a Canadian health economic model.

PubMed

Bhatt, Taimur; Baibergenova, Akerke

2008-05-01

In vitro fertilization (IVF) with single embryo transfer (SET) has been proposed as a means of reducing multiple pregnancies associated with infertility treatment. All existing cost-effectiveness studies of IVF-SET have compared it with IVF with multiple embryo transfer but not with intrauterine insemination with gonadotropin stimulation (sIUI). We conducted a systematic review of studies of cost-effectiveness of IVF-SET versus IVF with double embryo transfer (DET). Further, we developed a health economy model that compared three strategies: (1) IVF-SET, (2) IVF-DET, and (3) sIUI. The decision analysis considered three cycles for each treatment option. IVF treatment was assumed to be a combination of cycles with transfer of fresh and frozen-thawed embryos. Probabilities used to populate the model were taken from published randomized clinical trials and observational studies. Cost estimates were based on average costs of associated procedures in Canada. The results of published studies on the cost-effectiveness of IVF-SET versus IVF-DET were not consistent. In our analysis, IVF-DET proved to be the most cost-effective strategy at $35,144/live birth, followed by sIUI at $66,960/live birth, and IVF-SET at $109,358/live birth. The results were sensitive both to the cost of IVF cycles and to the probability of live birth. This economic analysis showed that IVF-DET was the most cost-effective strategy of the options, and IVF-SET was the least cost-effective. The results in this model were insensitive to various probability inputs and to the costs associated with sIUI and IVF procedures.

Direct electron-transfer conduits constructed at the interface between multicopper oxidase and nanocrystalline semiconductive Fe oxides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakamura, Ryuhei; Kamiya, Kazuhide; Hashimoto, Kazuhito

2010-10-01

Herein, the electron-transfer reactions occurring at the interface between bilirubin oxidase (BOD) and nanocrystalline hematite (α-Fe 2O 3) were characterized. Cyclic voltammograms indicated that BOD has an affinity for hematite surfaces and establishes a direct electron-transfer (DET) conduit between the primary electron acceptor T1 site and the conduction band of α-Fe 2O 3. DET was also confirmed photo-electrochemically, as cathodic photocurrents were generated when a nanocomposite of BOD and α-Fe 2O 3 was illuminated under oxygenated conditions. A proline residue displayed a high-binding affinity for hematite surfaces and is therefore likely part of an orientation-controlled motif which serves to locate BOD at the T1 site at a suitable distance for DET to α-Fe 2O 3.

Development of a glucose sensor employing quick and easy modification method with mediator for altering electron acceptor preference.

PubMed

Hatada, Mika; Loew, Noya; Inose-Takahashi, Yuka; Okuda-Shimazaki, Junko; Tsugawa, Wakako; Mulchandani, Ashok; Sode, Koji

2018-06-01

Enzyme based electrochemical biosensors are divided into three generations according to their type of electron transfer from the cofactors of the enzymes to the electrodes. Although the 3rd generation sensors using direct electron transfer (DET) type enzymes are ideal, the number of enzyme types which possess DET ability is limited. In this study, we report of a glucose sensor using mediator-modified glucose dehydrogenase (GDH), that was fabricated by a new quick-and-easy method using the pre-functionalized amine reactive phenazine ethosulfate (arPES). Thus mediator-modified GDH obtained the ability to transfer electrons to bulky electron acceptors as well as electrodes. The concentration of glucose was successfully measured using electrodes with immobilized PES-modified GDH, without addition of external electron mediators. Therefore, continuous monitoring systems can be developed based on this "2.5th generation" electron transfer principle utilizing quasi-DET. Furthermore, we successfully modified two other diagnostically relevant enzymes, glucoside 3-dehydrogenase and lactate oxidase, with PES. Therefore, various kinds of diagnostic enzymes can achieve quasi-DET ability simply by modification with arPES, suggesting that continuous monitoring systems based on the 2.5th generation principle can be developed for various target molecules. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Millimeter-scale alkalinity measurement in marine sediment using DET probes and colorimetric determination.

PubMed

Metzger, E; Viollier, E; Simonucci, C; Prévot, F; Langlet, D; Jézéquel, D

2013-10-01

Constrained DET (Diffusive Equilibration in Thin films) probes equipped with 75 sampling layers of agarose gel (DGT Research(©)) were used to sample bottom and pore waters in marine sediment with a 2 mm vertical resolution. After retrieval, each piece of hydrogel, corresponding to 25 μL, was introduced into 1 mL of colorimetric reagent (CR) solution consisting of formic acid and bromophenol blue. After the elution/reaction time, absorbance of the latter mixture was read at 590 nm and compared to a calibration curve obtained with the same protocol applied to mini DET probes soaked in sodium hydrogen carbonate standard solutions. This method allows rapid alkalinity determinations for the small volumes of anoxic pore water entrapped into the gel. The method was assessed on organic-rich coastal marine sediments from Thau lagoon (France). Alkalinity values in the overlying waters were in agreement with data obtained by classical sampling techniques. Pore water data showed a progressive increase of alkalinity in the sediment from 2 to 10 mmol kg(-1), corresponding to anaerobic respiration in organic-rich sediments. Moreover, replicates of high-resolution DET profiles showed important lateral heterogeneity at a decimeter scale. This underlines the importance of high-resolution spatial methods for alkalinity profiling in coastal marine systems. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fabrication Process of Silicone-based Dielectric Elastomer Actuators

PubMed Central

Rosset, Samuel; Araromi, Oluwaseun A.; Schlatter, Samuel; Shea, Herbert R.

2016-01-01

This contribution demonstrates the fabrication process of dielectric elastomer transducers (DETs). DETs are stretchable capacitors consisting of an elastomeric dielectric membrane sandwiched between two compliant electrodes. The large actuation strains of these transducers when used as actuators (over 300% area strain) and their soft and compliant nature has been exploited for a wide range of applications, including electrically tunable optics, haptic feedback devices, wave-energy harvesting, deformable cell-culture devices, compliant grippers, and propulsion of a bio-inspired fish-like airship. In most cases, DETs are made with a commercial proprietary acrylic elastomer and with hand-applied electrodes of carbon powder or carbon grease. This combination leads to non-reproducible and slow actuators exhibiting viscoelastic creep and a short lifetime. We present here a complete process flow for the reproducible fabrication of DETs based on thin elastomeric silicone films, including casting of thin silicone membranes, membrane release and prestretching, patterning of robust compliant electrodes, assembly and testing. The membranes are cast on flexible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates coated with a water-soluble sacrificial layer for ease of release. The electrodes consist of carbon black particles dispersed into a silicone matrix and patterned using a stamping technique, which leads to precisely-defined compliant electrodes that present a high adhesion to the dielectric membrane on which they are applied. PMID:26863283

Field Organizations: Unit Status Reporting

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-11-15

3 15 PSYOP DEV DET Detachment CDR 12/8 15 TAC PSYOP DET Detachment CDR 13/8 15 TAC PSYOP team Team leader 5/3 15 UAV TBD TBD 16 MAV/ IAV TBD TBD 16 Fox...AR 600–110 Identification, Surveillance, and Administration of Personnel Infected with Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV) AR 601–210 Regular Army...HIV human immunodeficiency virus HMMWV high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle HO hospitalized/convalescent leave category of personnel non

Li-Yorke Chaos in Hybrid Systems on a Time Scale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akhmet, Marat; Fen, Mehmet Onur

2015-12-01

By using the reduction technique to impulsive differential equations [Akhmet & Turan, 2006], we rigorously prove the presence of chaos in dynamic equations on time scales (DETS). The results of the present study are based on the Li-Yorke definition of chaos. This is the first time in the literature that chaos is obtained for DETS. An illustrative example is presented by means of a Duffing equation on a time scale.

The Current State of Silicone-Based Dielectric Elastomer Transducers.

PubMed

Madsen, Frederikke B; Daugaard, Anders E; Hvilsted, Søren; Skov, Anne L

2016-03-01

Silicone elastomers are promising materials for dielectric elastomer transducers (DETs) due to their superior properties such as high efficiency, reliability and fast response times. DETs consist of thin elastomer films sandwiched between compliant electrodes, and they constitute an interesting class of transducer due to their inherent lightweight and potentially large strains. For the field to progress towards industrial implementation, a leap in material development is required, specifically targeting longer lifetime and higher energy densities to provide more efficient transduction at lower driving voltages. In this review, the current state of silicone elastomers for DETs is summarised and critically discussed, including commercial elastomers, composites, polymer blends, grafted elastomers and complex network structures. For future developments in the field it is essential that all aspects of the elastomer are taken into account, namely dielectric losses, lifetime and the very often ignored polymer network integrity and stability. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Towards single embryo transfer? Modelling clinical outcomes of potential treatment choices using multiple data sources: predictive models and patient perspectives.

PubMed

Roberts, Sa; McGowan, L; Hirst, Wm; Brison, Dr; Vail, A; Lieberman, Ba

2010-07-01

In vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatments involve an egg retrieval process, fertilisation and culture of the resultant embryos in the laboratory, and the transfer of embryos back to the mother over one or more transfer cycles. The first transfer is usually of fresh embryos and the remainder may be cryopreserved for future frozen cycles. Most commonly in UK practice two embryos are transferred (double embryo transfer, DET). IVF techniques have led to an increase in the number of multiple births, carrying an increased risk of maternal and infant morbidity. The UK Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has adopted a multiple birth minimisation strategy. One way of achieving this would be by increased use of single embryo transfer (SET). To collate cohort data from treatment centres and the HFEA; to develop predictive models for live birth and twinning probabilities from fresh and frozen embryo transfers and predict outcomes from treatment scenarios; to understand patients' perspectives and use the modelling results to investigate the acceptability of twin reduction policies. A multidisciplinary approach was adopted, combining statistical modelling with qualitative exploration of patients' perspectives: interviews were conducted with 27 couples at various stages of IVF treatment at both UK NHS and private clinics; datasets were collated of over 90,000 patients from the HFEA registry and nearly 9000 patients from five clinics, both over the period 2000-5; models were developed to determine live birth and twin outcomes and predict the outcomes of policies for selecting patients for SET or DET in the fresh cycle following egg retrieval and fertilisation, and the predictions were used in simulations of treatments; two focus groups were convened, one NHS and one web based on a patient organisation's website, to present the results of the statistical analyses and explore potential treatment policies. The statistical analysis revealed no characteristics that specifically predicted multiple birth outcomes beyond those that predicted treatment success. In the fresh transfer following egg retrieval, SET would lead to a reduction of approximately one-third in the live birth probability compared with DET, a result consistent with the limited data from clinical trials. From the population or clinic perspective, selection of patients based on prognostic indicators might mitigate about half of the loss in live births associated with SET in the initial fresh transfer while achieving a twin rate of 10% or less. Data-based simulations suggested that, if all good-quality embryos are replaced over multiple frozen embryo transfers, repeated SET has the potential to produce more live birth events than repeated DET. However, this would depend on optimising cryopreservation procedures. Universal SET could both reduce the number of twin births and lead to more couples having a child, but at an average cost of one more embryo transfer procedure per egg retrieval. The interview and focus group data suggest that, despite the potential to maintain overall success rates, patients would prefer DET: the potential for twins was seen as positive, while additional transfer procedures can be emotionally, physically and financially draining. For any one transfer, SET has about a one-third loss of success rate relative to DET. This can be only partially mitigated by patient and treatment cycle selection, which may be criticised as unfair as all patients receiving SET will have a lower chance of success than they would with DET. However, considering complete cycles (fresh plus frozen transfers), it is possible for repeat SET to produce more live births than repeat DET. Such a strategy would require support from funders and acceptance by patients of both cryopreservation and the burden of additional transfer cycles. Future work should include development of improved clinical and regulatory database systems, surveys to quantify the extent of patients' beliefs and experiences and develop approaches to meet their information needs, and, ideally, randomised controlled trials comparing policies of repeated SET with repeated DET.

A comparison of N,N-dimethyltryptamine, harmaline, and selected congeners in rats trained with LSD as a discriminative stimulus.

PubMed

Helsley, S; Fiorella, D; Rabin, R A; Winter, J C

1998-05-01

1. A series of N-substituted tryptamines was compared with a series of beta-carbolines in rats trained to discriminate LSD (0.1 mg/kg) from saline. 2. Intermediate levels of substitution were elicited by MDMT (76.4%), DMT (77.9%), and DET (48.7%). 6-F-DET produced 41.3% LSD-appropriate responding at a dose of 6.0 mg/kg but only 4 of 8 subjects completed the test session thus precluding statistical analysis. Bufotenine (25.8%) also failed to substitute. Although none of the tryptamines substituted completely for LSD, the pattern of substitution is consonant with what is known of their activity in humans. MDMT, DMT, and DET are well established in the literature as hallucinogens but the same cannot be said for 6-F-DET and bufotenine. 3. Of the beta-carbolines tested, none substituted for LSD completely and only harmane elicited intermediate substitution (49.5%). No significant generalization of the LSD stimulus to 6-methoxyharmalan, harmaline, or THBC was observed. Thus, in contrast to the tryptamines, scant ability to substitute for LSD was observed in the beta-carbolines tested. 4. Taken together, the present data indicate that the representative tryptamines employed in the present study exhibit greater similarity to the LSD stimulus than do representative beta-carbolines. The receptor interactions responsible for these differences remain to be determined.

Economic evaluations of single- versus double-embryo transfer in IVF.

PubMed

Fiddelers, A A A; Severens, J L; Dirksen, C D; Dumoulin, J C M; Land, J A; Evers, J L H

2007-01-01

Multiple pregnancies lead to complications and induce high costs. The most successful way to decrease multiple pregnancies in IVF is to transfer only one embryo, which might reduce the efficacy of treatment. The objective of this review is to determine which embryo-transfer policy is most cost-effective: elective single-embryo transfer (eSET) or double-embryo transfer (DET). Several databases were searched for (cost* or econ*) and (single embryo* or double embryo* or one embryo* or two embryo* or elect* embryo or multip* embryo*). On the basis of five exclusion criteria, titles and abstracts were screened by two individual reviewers. The remaining papers were read for further selection, and data were extracted from the selected studies. A total of 496 titles were identified through the searches and resulted in the selection of one observational study and three randomized studies. Study characteristics, total costs and probability of live births were extracted. Besides this, cost-effectiveness and incremental cost-effectiveness were derived. It can be concluded that DET is the most expensive strategy. DET is also most effective if performed in one fresh cycle. eSET is only preferred from a cost-effectiveness point of view when performed in good prognosis patients and when frozen/thawed cycles are included. If frozen/thawed cycles are excluded, the choice between eSET and DET depends on how much society is willing to pay for one extra successful pregnancy.

Biomonitoring short- and long-term exposure to the herbicide terbuthylazine in agriculture workers and in the general population using urine and hair specimens.

PubMed

Mercadante, Rosa; Polledri, Elisa; Bertazzi, Pier Alberto; Fustinoni, Silvia

2013-10-01

The aim of this work was to evaluate short-term and long-term exposure to terbuthylazine (TBA) in agriculture workers (AW), rural residents (RR), and urban residents (UR) using urine and hair specimens. Twelve AW, 13 RR, and 17 UR were included in the study. Urine spot samples were collected with two different protocols. AW urine samples were collected before the application season (February, U0), at bedtime on the day of TBA application (March-May, U1), and prior to the next shift on the day after TBA application (U2). RR and UR urine samples were collected on any day during the application season (Ue). Hair samples were collected for all subjects before the application season (February, H0) and at the end of the season (June, H1). TBA and its metabolite desethylterbuthylazine (DET) were measured by liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry detection. DET was exclusively found in urine, while TBA was mostly found in the hair. In the AW, the urinary levels of DET were not detected in the U0 samples, and they increased to median levels of 1.81 and 2.94μg/L in the U1 and U2 samples, respectively (p<0.001). In the RR and UR, DET was not detected in the Ue samples. In the UR, TBA was not detected in the H0 samples, and the median levels of TBA were 0.01ng/mg hair in both the AW and RR. In the H1 samples, the median TBA levels were not detected, 0.01, and 0.08ng/mg hair in the UR, RR, and AW, respectively (p<0.001). Urinary DET and hair TBA are promising candidates for biomonitoring short- and long-term exposure to TBA. The use of this herbicide in agriculture leads to exposure in rural residents. © 2013.

The analgesic effects of intrathecal xylazine and detomidine in sheep and their antagonism with systemic atipamezole.

PubMed

Christina Haerdi-Landerer, M; Schlegel, Urs; Neiger-Aeschbacher, Gina

2005-09-01

To evaluate the analgesic and adverse side effects of intrathecal (IT) xylazine (XYL) and detomidine (DET) and the subsequent effects of two doses of intravenous (IV) atipamezole (ATI). Prospective, randomized, cross-over. Five adult healthy female sheep with mean body mass of 55 +/- 2.3 kg. Material and methods Each sheep underwent four treatments: 1) 50 microg kg(-1) XYL IT and 5 microg kg(-1) ATI IV, 2) 50 microg kg(-1) XYL IT and 2.5 microg kg(-1) ATI IV, 3) 10 microg kg(-1) DET IT and 5 microg kg(-1) ATI IV, 4) 10 microg kg(-1) DET IT and 2.5 microg kg(-1) ATI IV. Pain threshold (TH) was tested by applying pulsed and stepwise incremental direct current to the skin overlying the pastern. The current at the point of foot lift was recorded as the TH. Heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure, arterial oxygen (PO(2)) and carbon dioxide (PCO(2)) tensions were monitored. Outcomes were derived as differences between baseline assessment and measurements after treatment. Two-way anova was used to analyse drug effects, treatment differences between groups were examined with an F-test or Wilcoxon's rank sum test in case of non-parametric data distribution. p was set at 0.05. Both drugs increased the pain TH, caused small increases in PCO(2), and small decreases in HR, the latter was only significant for XYL recipients. Xylazine produced a significantly higher TH, more rapidly and for longer than DET. Atipamezole only significantly affected PaCO(2) in the XYL group 2. The pain TH was not affected in either group after IV ATI. At the doses used, IT XYL, and to a lesser extent DET, induced pastern analgesia. Atipamezole 5 microg kg(-1) IV antagonized some side effects without affecting analgesia. Intrathecal XYL may be useful as an analgesic in sheep. Its safety is increased because IV ATI antagonizes side effects, but not analgesia.

Cost Implications for Subsequent Perinatal Outcomes After IVF Stratified by Number of Embryos Transferred: A Five Year Analysis of Vermont Data.

PubMed

Carpinello, Olivia J; Casson, Peter R; Kuo, Chia-Ling; Raj, Renju S; Sills, E Scott; Jones, Christopher A

2016-06-01

In states in the USA without in vitro fertilzation coverage (IVF) insurance coverage, more embryos are transferred per cycle leading to higher risks of multi-fetal pregnancies and adverse pregnancy outcomes. To determine frequency and cost of selected adverse perinatal complications based on number of embryos transferred during IVF, and calculate incremental cost per IVF live birth. Medical records of patients who conceived with IVF (n = 116) and delivered at >20 weeks gestational age between 2007 and 2011 were evaluated. Gestational age at delivery, low birth weight (LBW) term births, and delivery mode were tabulated. Healthcare costs per cohort, extrapolated costs assuming 100 patients per cohort, and incremental costs per infant delivered were calculated. The highest prematurity and cesarean section rates were recorded after double embryo transfers (DET), while the lowest rates were found in single embryo transfers (SET). Premature singleton deliveries increased directly with number of transferred embryos [6.3 % (SET), 9.1 % (DET) and 10.0 % for ≥3 embryos transferred]. This trend was also noted for rate of cesarean delivery [26.7 % (SET), 36.6 % (DET), and 47.1 % for ≥3 embryos transferred]. The proportion of LBW infants among deliveries after DET and for ≥3 embryos transferred was 3.9 and 9.1 %, respectively. Extrapolated costs per cohort were US$718,616, US$1,713,470 and US$1,227,396 for SET, DET, and ≥3 embryos transferred, respectively. Attempting to improve IVF pregnancy rates by permitting multiple embryo transfers results in sharply increased rates of multiple gestation and preterm delivery. This practice yields a greater frequency of adverse perinatal outcomes and substantially increased healthcare spending. Better efforts to encourage SET are necessary to normalize healthcare expenditures considering the frequency of very high cost sequela associated with IVF where multiple embryo transfers occur.

Installation Restoration Program. Phase 1: Records Search, Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC), Tennessee

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-10-01

Investigations DET 816 (AFOSI) Volunteer Girl Scouts Boy Scouts, Elk River District U.S. Department of Agriculture Tennessee State Game & Fish Commission...FIGURE 34 oa LU a U. ww COOI w LU z 000 Z00 0 z 3-2. ES NGIEERIG-SCENC S° drain AEDC. Hunt and Huckleberry Creeks drain northward toward the Little ...Investigations DET 816 (AFOSI) Volunteer Girl Scouts Boy Scouts, Elk River District U.S. Department of Agricultrue Tennessee State Game & Fish Commission

Aircraft Command in Emergency Situations (ACES). Phase 1: Concept Development

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-04-01

progresses through a sequence of four stages: incipient, smoldeang, flame, and heat ( ASHREA Handbook 1984 Systems, Chapter 38, Fire and Sino’.e Control...CARGO F FCARGO DETI DET 2 1D DET2 Figure 6-9. Synoptic Display Layout for Concept R SMOKE HEATt I I 110 T AFTCARGO ~HEAT VS TIME SMOKE VS TIME HEAVY 7II...Phosphate Road, Suite 110 , North Charleston, SC 29418. Reference 12 Senturia, S. D., "Fabrication and Evaluation of Polymeric Early-Warning Fire Alarm

History of the Hollandia Operation

DTIC Science & Technology

1944-01-01

convoy to reduce the hazard of loss of all of the supplies. The split loading created a considerable problem on the beaches in the effort to locate -and... Pigeon Det Co B (less Det), 442nd Sig Const Bn 993rd QM Service Co 4189th QM Service Co 3522nd QM Trk Co 1 Plat, 2058th QM Trk Co (Avn) 601st QM Graves...deferred. (e) Utilize pigeons insofar as possible, especially for patrol work. (f) 1 Cause radio silence to be observed by all elements of their

The Antiaircraft Journal. Volume 93, Number 5, September-October 1950

DTIC Science & Technology

1950-10-01

in the Korean conflict. Lt. Elliott B. Hill of Texarkana , Texas, platoon leader who first committed his heavily armed half-tracks in the battle of...James R., 2915 22d St., San Francisco, Calif. Murray, Jos., Jr., 2017 Edmunds St., Seattle 8, Wash. Musselwhite, E. 1.., Jr., 4054th ASU, Ht. Btry., AA...C. W., to Stu Det Arty Sch, Ft Sill, Okla. Newton, J. B., to 4107th ASU Det Red River Arsenal, Texarkana , Tex. Norton, H. A., to 31st AAA Brig, Ft

The Lehmer Matrix and Its Recursive Analogue

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-01-01

LU factorization of matrix A by considering det A = det U = ∏n i=1 2i−1 i2 . The nth Catalan number is given in terms of binomial coefficients by Cn...for failing to comply with a collection of information if it does not display a currently valid OMB control number . 1. REPORT DATE 2010 2. REPORT...TYPE 3. DATES COVERED 00-00-2010 to 00-00-2010 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE The Lehmer matrix and its recursive analogue 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b

Gold-Coated M13 Bacteriophage as a Template for Glucose Oxidase Biofuel Cells with Direct Electron Transfer.

PubMed

Blaik, Rita A; Lan, Esther; Huang, Yu; Dunn, Bruce

2016-01-26

Glucose oxidase-based biofuel cells are a promising source of alternative energy for small device applications, but still face the challenge of achieving robust electrical contact between the redox enzymes and the current collector. This paper reports on the design of an electrode consisting of glucose oxidase covalently attached to gold nanoparticles that are assembled onto a genetically engineered M13 bacteriophage using EDC-NHS chemistry. The engineered phage is modified at the pIII protein to attach onto a gold substrate and serves as a high-surface-area template. The resulting "nanomesh" architecture exhibits direct electron transfer (DET) and achieves a higher peak current per unit area of 1.2 mA/cm(2) compared to most other DET attachment schemes. The final enzyme surface coverage on the electrode was calculated to be approximately 4.74 × 10(-8) mol/cm(2), which is a significant improvement over most current glucose oxidase (GOx) DET attachment methods.

Simple flow injection analysis system for simultaneous determination of phenolic antioxidants with multiple pulse amperometric detection at a boron-doped diamond electrode.

PubMed

Medeiros, Roberta Antigo; Lourenção, Bruna Cláudia; Rocha-Filho, Romeu Cardozo; Fatibello-Filho, Orlando

2010-10-15

A method for simultaneous determination of butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) in food was developed that uses multiple pulse amperometry (MPA) with flow injection analysis (FIA). Determination of these phenolic antioxidants was carried out with a cathodically pretreated boron-doped diamond electrode and an aqueous ethanolic (30% ethanol, v/v) 10 mmol L⁻¹ KNO₃ solution (pH(cond) = 1.5) as supporting electrolyte. A dual-potential waveform, at E(det1) = 850 mV/200 ms and E(det2) = 1150 mV/200 ms versus Ag/AgCl (3.0 mol L⁻¹ KCl), was employed. The use of E(det1) or E(det2) caused the oxidation of BHA or of BHA and BHT, respectively; hence, concentration subtraction could be used to determine both species. The respective analytical curves presented good linearity in the investigated concentration range (0.050-3.0 μmol L⁻¹ for BHA and 0.70-70 μmol L⁻¹ for BHT), and the detection limits were 0.030 μmol L⁻¹ for BHA and 0.40 μmol L⁻¹ for BHT. The proposed method, which is simple, quick, and presents good precision and accuracy, was successfully applied in the simultaneous determination of BHA and BHT in commercial mayonnaise samples, with results similar to those obtained by HPLC, at a 95% confidence level.

Development of Compton X-ray spectrometer for high energy resolution single-shot high-flux hard X-ray spectroscopy

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

Kojima, Sadaoki, E-mail: kojima-s@ile.osaka-u.ac.jp, E-mail: sfujioka@ile.osaka-u.ac.jp; Ikenouchi, Takahito; Arikawa, Yasunobu

Hard X-ray spectroscopy is an essential diagnostics used to understand physical processes that take place in high energy density plasmas produced by intense laser-plasma interactions. A bundle of hard X-ray detectors, of which the responses have different energy thresholds, is used as a conventional single-shot spectrometer for high-flux (>10{sup 13} photons/shot) hard X-rays. However, high energy resolution (Δhv/hv < 0.1) is not achievable with a differential energy threshold (DET) X-ray spectrometer because its energy resolution is limited by energy differences between the response thresholds. Experimental demonstration of a Compton X-ray spectrometer has already been performed for obtaining higher energy resolutionmore » than that of DET spectrometers. In this paper, we describe design details of the Compton X-ray spectrometer, especially dependence of energy resolution and absolute response on photon-electron converter design and its background reduction scheme, and also its application to the laser-plasma interaction experiment. The developed spectrometer was used for spectroscopy of bremsstrahlung X-rays generated by intense laser-plasma interactions using a 200 μm thickness SiO{sub 2} converter. The X-ray spectrum obtained with the Compton X-ray spectrometer is consistent with that obtained with a DET X-ray spectrometer, furthermore higher certainly of a spectral intensity is obtained with the Compton X-ray spectrometer than that with the DET X-ray spectrometer in the photon energy range above 5 MeV.« less

Nanomechanical probing of thin-film dielectric elastomer transducers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Osmani, Bekim; Seifi, Saman; Park, Harold S.; Leung, Vanessa; Töpper, Tino; Müller, Bert

2017-08-01

Dielectric elastomer transducers (DETs) have attracted interest as generators, actuators, sensors, and even as self-sensing actuators for applications in medicine, soft robotics, and microfluidics. Their performance crucially depends on the elastic properties of the electrode-elastomer sandwich structure. The compressive displacement of a single-layer DET can be easily measured using atomic force microscopy (AFM) in the contact mode. While polymers used as dielectric elastomers are known to exhibit significant mechanical stiffening for large strains, their mechanical properties when subjected to voltages are not well understood. To examine this effect, we measured the depths of 400 nanoindentations as a function of the applied electric field using a spherical AFM probe with a radius of (522 ± 4) nm. Employing a field as low as 20 V/μm, the indentation depths increased by 42% at a load of 100 nN with respect to the field-free condition, implying an electromechanically driven elastic softening of the DET. This at-a-glance surprising experimental result agrees with related nonlinear, dynamic finite element model simulations. Furthermore, the pull-off forces rose from (23.0 ± 0.4) to (49.0 ± 0.7) nN implying a nanoindentation imprint after unloading. This embossing effect is explained by the remaining charges at the indentation site. The root-mean-square roughness of the Au electrode raised by 11% upon increasing the field from zero to 12 V/μm, demonstrating that the electrode's morphology change is an undervalued factor in the fabrication of DET structures.

DetOx: a program for determining anomalous scattering factors of mixed-oxidation-state species.

PubMed

Sutton, Karim J; Barnett, Sarah A; Christensen, Kirsten E; Nowell, Harriott; Thompson, Amber L; Allan, David R; Cooper, Richard I

2013-01-01

Overlapping absorption edges will occur when an element is present in multiple oxidation states within a material. DetOx is a program for partitioning overlapping X-ray absorption spectra into contributions from individual atomic species and computing the dependence of the anomalous scattering factors on X-ray energy. It is demonstrated how these results can be used in combination with X-ray diffraction data to determine the oxidation state of ions at specific sites in a mixed-valance material, GaCl(2).

P-52 Balloting of Hull and Mechanical Standards

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-05-01

N) 3. We connot allow standards from ASTM to be an excuse for the Industry to go sole source. Unless the vendor whose design Is being used has...safe working load is 400 lbs. vii Nicholas Jerqovich (MARAD) 2. Para 4.1.3. - Recommend that "or capacity" be deleted. 3. Para 5.1.1.6 - Delete " stapler ...material is used for plate? (d) Det.E - is incorrectly drawn. . . . 17. Figs 1 & 2 - (a) Det. "X" & "B" are reversed. . . (b) See Fig.A..... if stapler

Investigation of injury data at a detonator facility

DOE PAGES

Cournoyer, Michael E.; Apodaca, Marylou; Bustamante, Robert A.; ...

2016-05-01

This paper focuses on the collection of injury data; incorporation of this information into a visual format that DET management uses to make decisions to improving operations. Results from this 1 study include of the following: chemical exposure cases have declined because the Hazard Assessment of each DET operation has been formally reviewed; Slip/Trip/Fall factors have decreased due to Slip Simulator training; and work station evaluations have led to fewer injuries with Lift/Push/Pull factors. Rotation of employees, ergonomically friendly balances, automatic powder dispensers, and other equipment procurements will lower ergonomic injuries.

Investigation of injury data at a detonator facility

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

Cournoyer, Michael E.; Apodaca, Marylou; Bustamante, Robert A.

This paper focuses on the collection of injury data; incorporation of this information into a visual format that DET management uses to make decisions to improving operations. Results from this 1 study include of the following: chemical exposure cases have declined because the Hazard Assessment of each DET operation has been formally reviewed; Slip/Trip/Fall factors have decreased due to Slip Simulator training; and work station evaluations have led to fewer injuries with Lift/Push/Pull factors. Rotation of employees, ergonomically friendly balances, automatic powder dispensers, and other equipment procurements will lower ergonomic injuries.

Application of a validated prediction model for in vitro fertilization: comparison of live birth rates and multiple birth rates with 1 embryo transferred over 2 cycles vs 2 embryos in 1 cycle.

PubMed

Luke, Barbara; Brown, Morton B; Wantman, Ethan; Stern, Judy E; Baker, Valerie L; Widra, Eric; Coddington, Charles C; Gibbons, William E; Van Voorhis, Bradley J; Ball, G David

2015-05-01

The purpose of this study was to use a validated prediction model to examine whether single embryo transfer (SET) over 2 cycles results in live birth rates (LBR) comparable with 2 embryos transferred (DET) in 1 cycle and reduces the probability of a multiple birth (ie, multiple birth rate [MBR]). Prediction models of LBR and MBR for a woman considering assisted reproductive technology developed from linked cycles from the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology Clinic Outcome Reporting System for 2006-2012 were used to compare SET over 2 cycles with DET in 1 cycle. The prediction model was based on a woman's age, body mass index (BMI), gravidity, previous full-term births, infertility diagnoses, embryo state, number of embryos transferred, and number of cycles. To demonstrate the effect of the number of embryos transferred (1 or 2), the LBRs and MBRs were estimated for women with a single infertility diagnosis (male factor, ovulation disorders, diminished ovarian reserve, and unexplained); nulligravid; BMI of 20, 25, 30, and 35 kg/m2; and ages 25, 35, and 40 years old by cycle (first or second). The cumulative LBR over 2 cycles with SET was similar to or better than the LBR with DET in a single cycle (for example, for women with the diagnosis of ovulation disorders: 35 years old; BMI, 30 kg/m2; 54.4% vs 46.5%; and for women who are 40 years old: BMI, 30 kg/m(2); 31.3% vs 28.9%). The MBR with DET in 1 cycle was 32.8% for women 35 years old and 20.9% for women 40 years old; with SET, the cumulative MBR was 2.7% and 1.6%, respectively. The application of this validated predictive model demonstrated that the cumulative LBR is as good as or better with SET over 2 cycles than with DET in 1 cycle, while greatly reducing the probability of a multiple birth. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Platinum anti-cancer drugs: Free radical mechanism of Pt-DNA adduct formation and anti-neoplastic effect.

PubMed

Fong, Clifford W

2016-06-01

The literature on the anti-neoplastic effects of Pt drugs provides substantial evidence that free radical may be involved in the formation of Pt-DNA adducts and other cytotoxic effects. The conditions specific to cancerous tumours are more conducive to free radical mechanisms than the commonly accepted hydrolysis nucleophilic-electrophilic mechanism of Pt-DNA adduct formation. Molecular orbital studies of the adiabatic attachment of hydrated electrons to Pt drugs reveal that there is a significant lengthening of the Pt-X bond (where X is Cl, O in cisplatin, carboplatin and some pyrophosphate-Pt drugs but not oxaliplatin) in the anion radical species. This observation is consistent with a dissociative electron transfer (DET) mechanism for the formation of Pt-DNA adducts. A DET reaction mechanism is proposed for the reaction of Pt drugs with guanine which involves a quasi-inner sphere 2 electron transfer process involving a transient intermediate 5 co-ordinated activated anion radical species {R2Pt---Cl(G)(Cl)•}*(-) (where R is an ammine group, and G is guanine) and the complex has an elongated Pt---Cl (or Pt---O) bond. A DET mechanism is also proposed when Pt drugs are activated by reaction with free radicals such as HO•, CO3•(-), O2•(-) but do not react with DNA bases to form adducts, but form Pt-protein adducts with proteins such ezrin, FAS, DR5, TNFR1 etc. The DET mechanism may not occur with oxaliplatin. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Hadronic interactions in the MINOS detectors

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

Kordosky, Michael Alan

2004-08-01

MINOS, the Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search, will study neutrino flavor transformations using a Near detector at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and a Far detector located in the Soudan Underground Laboratory in northern Minnesota. The MINOS collaboration also constructed the CalDet (calibration detector), a smaller version of the Near and Far detectors, to determine the topological and signal response to hadrons, electrons and muons. The detector was exposed to test-beams in the CERN Proton Synchrotron East Hall during 2001-2003, where it collected events at momentum settings between 200 MeV/c and 10 GeV/c. In this dissertation we present results ofmore » the CalDet experiment, focusing on the topological and signal response to hadrons. We briefly describe the MINOS experiment and its iron-scintillator tracking-sampling calorimters as a motivation for the CalDet experiment. We discuss the operation of the CalDet in the beamlines as well as the trigger and particle identification systems used to isolate the hadron sample. The method used to calibrate the MINOS detector is described and validated with test-beam data. The test-beams were simulated to model the muon flux, energy loss upstream of the detector and the kaon background. We describe the procedure used to discriminate between pions and muons on the basis of the event topology. The hadron samples were used to benchmark the existing GEANT3 based hadronic shower codes and determine the detector response and resolution for pions and protons. We conclude with comments on the response to single hadrons and to neutrino induced hadronic showers.« less

Ternary polyplex micelles with PEG shells and intermediate barrier to complexed DNA cores for efficient systemic gene delivery.

PubMed

Li, Junjie; Chen, Qixian; Zha, Zengshi; Li, Hui; Toh, Kazuko; Dirisala, Anjaneyulu; Matsumoto, Yu; Osada, Kensuke; Kataoka, Kazunori; Ge, Zhishen

2015-07-10

Simultaneous achievement of prolonged retention in blood circulation and efficient gene transfection activity in target tissues has always been a major challenge hindering in vivo applications of nonviral gene vectors via systemic administration. Herein, we constructed novel rod-shaped ternary polyplex micelles (TPMs) via complexation between the mixed block copolymers of poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly{N'-[N-(2-aminoethyl)-2-aminoethyl]aspartamide} (PEG-b-PAsp(DET)) and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-b-PAsp(DET) (PNIPAM-b-PAsp(DET)) and plasmid DNA (pDNA) at room temperature, exhibiting distinct temperature-responsive formation of a hydrophobic intermediate layer between PEG shells and pDNA cores through facile temperature increase from room temperature to body temperature (~37 °C). As compared with binary polyplex micelles of PEG-b-PAsp(DET) (BPMs), TPMs were confirmed to condense pDNA into a more compact structure, which achieved enhanced tolerability to nuclease digestion and strong counter polyanion exchange. In vitro gene transfection results demonstrated TPMs exhibiting enhanced gene transfection efficiency due to efficient cellular uptake and endosomal escape. Moreover, in vivo performance evaluation after intravenous injection confirmed that TPMs achieved significantly prolonged blood circulation, high tumor accumulation, and promoted gene expression in tumor tissue. Moreover, TPMs loading therapeutic pDNA encoding an anti-angiogenic protein remarkably suppressed tumor growth following intravenous injection into H22 tumor-bearing mice. These results suggest TPMs with PEG shells and facilely engineered intermediate barrier to inner complexed pDNA have great potentials as systemic nonviral gene vectors for cancer gene therapy. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Characterization of screen-printed electrodes for dielectric elastomer (DE) membranes: influence of screen dimensions and electrode thickness on actuator performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fasolt, Bettina; Hodgins, Micah; Seelecke, Stefan

2016-04-01

Screen printing is used as a method for printing electrodes on silicone thin films for the fabrication of dielectric elastomer transducers (DET). This method can be used to manufacture a multitude of patternable designs for actuator and sensor applications, implementing the same method for prototyping as well as large-scale production. The fabrication of DETs does not only require the development of a flexible, highly conductive electrode material, which adheres to a stretched and unstretched silicone film, but also calls for a thorough understanding of the effects of the different printing parameters. This work studies the influence of screen dimensions (open area, mesh thickness) as well as the influence of multiple-layer- printing on the electrode stiffness, electrical resistance and capacitance as well as actuator performance. The investigation was conducted in a custom-built testing device, which enabled an electro-mechanical characterization of the DET, simultaneously measuring parameters such as strain, voltage, current, force, sheet resistance, capacitance and membrane thickness. Magnified pictures of the electrodes will additionally illustrate the effects of the different printing parameters.

PhyloDet: a scalable visualization tool for mapping multiple traits to large evolutionary trees

PubMed Central

Lee, Bongshin; Nachmanson, Lev; Robertson, George; Carlson, Jonathan M.; Heckerman, David

2009-01-01

Summary: Evolutionary biologists are often interested in finding correlations among biological traits across a number of species, as such correlations may lead to testable hypotheses about the underlying function. Because some species are more closely related than others, computing and visualizing these correlations must be done in the context of the evolutionary tree that relates species. In this note, we introduce PhyloDet (short for PhyloDetective), an evolutionary tree visualization tool that enables biologists to visualize multiple traits mapped to the tree. Availability: http://research.microsoft.com/cue/phylodet/ Contact: bongshin@microsoft.com. PMID:19633096

Transcription Factors Responding to Pb Stress in Maize

PubMed Central

Zhang, Yanling; Ge, Fei; Hou, Fengxia; Sun, Wenting; Zheng, Qi; Zhang, Xiaoxiang; Ma, Langlang; Fu, Jun; He, Xiujing; Peng, Huanwei; Pan, Guangtang; Shen, Yaou

2017-01-01

Pb can damage the physiological function of human organs by entering the human body via food-chain enrichment. Revealing the mechanisms of maize tolerance to Pb is critical for preventing this. In this study, a Pb-tolerant maize inbred line, 178, was used to analyse transcription factors (TFs) expressed under Pb stress based on RNA sequencing data. A total of 464 genes expressed in control check (CK) or Pb treatment samples were annotated as TFs. Among them, 262 differentially expressed transcription factors (DETs) were identified that responded to Pb treatment. Furthermore, the DETs were classified into 4 classes according to their expression patterns, and 17, 12 and 2 DETs were significantly annotated to plant hormone signal transduction, basal transcription factors and base excision repair, respectively. Seventeen DETs were found to participate in the plant hormone signal transduction pathway, where basic leucine zippers (bZIPs) were the most significantly enriched TFs, with 12 members involved. We further obtained 5 Arabidopsis transfer DNA (T-DNA) mutants for 6 of the maize bZIPs, among which the mutants atbzip20 and atbzip47, representing ZmbZIP54 and ZmbZIP107, showed obviously inhibited growth of roots and above-ground parts, compared with wild type. Five highly Pb-tolerant and 5 highly Pb-sensitive in maize lines were subjected to DNA polymorphism and expression level analysis of ZmbZIP54 and ZmbZIP107. The results suggested that differences in bZIPs expression partially accounted for the differences in Pb-tolerance among the maize lines. Our results contribute to the understanding of the molecular regulation mechanisms of TFs in maize under Pb stress. PMID:28927013

Using recurrence plot for determinism analysis of EEG recordings in genetic absence epilepsy rats.

PubMed

Ouyang, Gaoxiang; Li, Xiaoli; Dang, Chuangyin; Richards, Douglas A

2008-08-01

Understanding the transition of brain activity towards an absence seizure is a challenging task. In this paper, we use recurrence quantification analysis to indicate the deterministic dynamics of EEG series at the seizure-free, pre-seizure and seizure states in genetic absence epilepsy rats. The determinism measure, DET, based on recurrence plot, was applied to analyse these three EEG datasets, each dataset containing 300 single-channel EEG epochs of 5-s duration. Then, statistical analysis of the DET values in each dataset was carried out to determine whether their distributions over the three groups were significantly different. Furthermore, a surrogate technique was applied to calculate the significance level of determinism measures in EEG recordings. The mean (+/-SD) DET of EEG was 0.177+/-0.045 in pre-seizure intervals. The DET values of pre-seizure EEG data are significantly higher than those of seizure-free intervals, 0.123+/-0.023, (P<0.01), but lower than those of seizure intervals, 0.392+/-0.110, (P<0.01). Using surrogate data methods, the significance of determinism in EEG epochs was present in 25 of 300 (8.3%), 181 of 300 (60.3%) and 289 of 300 (96.3%) in seizure-free, pre-seizure and seizure intervals, respectively. Results provide some first indications that EEG epochs during pre-seizure intervals exhibit a higher degree of determinism than seizure-free EEG epochs, but lower than those in seizure EEG epochs in absence epilepsy. The proposed methods have the potential of detecting the transition between normal brain activity and the absence seizure state, thus opening up the possibility of intervention, whether electrical or pharmacological, to prevent the oncoming seizure.

Cost-effectiveness of single versus double embryo transfer in IVF in relation to female age.

PubMed

van Loendersloot, Laura L; Moolenaar, Lobke M; van Wely, Madelon; Repping, Sjoerd; Bossuyt, Patrick M; Hompes, Peter G A; van der Veen, Fulco; Mol, Ben Willem J

2017-07-01

To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of single embryo transfer followed by an additional frozen-thawed single embryo transfer, if more embryos are available, as compared to double embryo transfer in relation to female age. We used a decision tree model to evaluate the costs from a healthcare provider perspective and the pregnancy rates of two embryo transfer policies: one fresh single embryo transfer followed by an additional frozen-thawed single embryo transfer, if more embryos are available (strategy I), and double embryo transfer (strategy II). The analysis was performed on an intention-to-treat basis. Sensitivity analyses were carried out to evaluate the robustness of our model and to identify which model parameters had the strongest impact on the results. SET followed by an additional frozen-thawed single embryo transfer if available was dominant, less costly and more effective, over DET in women under 32 years. In women aged 32 or older DET was more effective than SET followed by an additional frozen-thawed single embryo transfer if available but also more costly. SET followed by an additional frozen-thawed single embryo transfer should be the preferred strategy in women under 32 undergoing IVF. The choice for SET followed by an additional frozen-thawed single embryo transfer or DET in women aged 32 or older depends on individual patient preferences and on how much society is willing to pay for an extra child. There is a strong need for a randomized clinical trial comparing the cost and effects of SET followed by an additional frozen-thawed single embryo transfer and DET in the latter category of women. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cellobiose Dehydrogenase Aryl Diazonium Modified Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes: Enhanced Direct Electron Transfer through a Positively Charged Surface

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

One of the challenges in the field of biosensors and biofuel cells is to establish a highly efficient electron transfer rate between the active site of redox enzymes and electrodes to fully access the catalytic potential of the biocatalyst and achieve high current densities. We report on very efficient direct electron transfer (DET) between cellobiose dehydrogenase (CDH) from Phanerochaete sordida (PsCDH) and surface modified single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT). Sonicated SWCNTs were adsorbed on the top of glassy carbon electrodes and modified with aryl diazonium salts generated in situ from p-aminobenzoic acid and p-phenylenediamine, thus featuring at acidic pH (3.5 and 4.5) negative or positive surface charges. After adsorption of PsCDH, both electrode types showed excellent long-term stability and very efficient DET. The modified electrode presenting p-aminophenyl groups produced a DET current density of 500 μA cm−2 at 200 mV vs normal hydrogen reference electrode (NHE) in a 5 mM lactose solution buffered at pH 3.5. This is the highest reported DET value so far using a CDH modified electrode and comes close to electrodes using mediated electron transfer. Moreover, the onset of the electrocatalytic current for lactose oxidation started at 70 mV vs NHE, a potential which is 50 mV lower compared to when unmodified SWCNTs were used. This effect potentially reduces the interference by oxidizable matrix components in biosensors and increases the open circuit potential in biofuel cells. The stability of the electrode was greatly increased compared with unmodified but cross-linked SWCNTs electrodes and lost only 15% of the initial current after 50 h of constant potential scanning. PMID:21417322

Cellobiose dehydrogenase aryl diazonium modified single walled carbon nanotubes: enhanced direct electron transfer through a positively charged surface.

PubMed

Tasca, Federico; Harreither, Wolfgang; Ludwig, Roland; Gooding, John Justin; Gorton, Lo

2011-04-15

One of the challenges in the field of biosensors and biofuel cells is to establish a highly efficient electron transfer rate between the active site of redox enzymes and electrodes to fully access the catalytic potential of the biocatalyst and achieve high current densities. We report on very efficient direct electron transfer (DET) between cellobiose dehydrogenase (CDH) from Phanerochaete sordida (PsCDH) and surface modified single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT). Sonicated SWCNTs were adsorbed on the top of glassy carbon electrodes and modified with aryl diazonium salts generated in situ from p-aminobenzoic acid and p-phenylenediamine, thus featuring at acidic pH (3.5 and 4.5) negative or positive surface charges. After adsorption of PsCDH, both electrode types showed excellent long-term stability and very efficient DET. The modified electrode presenting p-aminophenyl groups produced a DET current density of 500 μA cm(-2) at 200 mV vs normal hydrogen reference electrode (NHE) in a 5 mM lactose solution buffered at pH 3.5. This is the highest reported DET value so far using a CDH modified electrode and comes close to electrodes using mediated electron transfer. Moreover, the onset of the electrocatalytic current for lactose oxidation started at 70 mV vs NHE, a potential which is 50 mV lower compared to when unmodified SWCNTs were used. This effect potentially reduces the interference by oxidizable matrix components in biosensors and increases the open circuit potential in biofuel cells. The stability of the electrode was greatly increased compared with unmodified but cross-linked SWCNTs electrodes and lost only 15% of the initial current after 50 h of constant potential scanning. © 2011 American Chemical Society

Asymptotics of Determinants of Bessel Operators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Basor, Estelle L.; Ehrhardt, Torsten

For aL∞(+)∩L1(+) the truncated Bessel operator Bτ(a) is the integral operator acting on L2[0,τ] with the kernel where Jν stands for the Bessel function with ν>-1. In this paper we determine the asymptotics of the determinant det(I+Bτ(a)) as τ-->∞ for sufficiently smooth functions a for which a(x)≠1 for all x[0,∞). The asymptotic formula is of the form det(I+Bτ(a)) GτE with certain constants G and E, and thus similar to the well-known Szegö-Akhiezer-Kac formula for truncated Wiener-Hopf determinants.

Applied Stochastic Eigen-Analysis

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-02-01

6.4. The companion miatrix C’U’v, with respect to u, of the bivariate polynomnial L,,v given by (6.32). is det(u I - CI) = Luv (u, V)/lný (V) D...for the term u2 vJ in the polynomial Lu, (u, v). Note that the indexing for i and j starts with zero. Operation: Lulv, Luv - L. v MAT’LAF Code function...diet(ui*eye(le igtlh( Cn3))-Ciu3) function LIv3 = lliui.csl2(lnvlil v2, i ) CulI = luv2Cu( luv lu); L 3v =L v X, L2v - det(uI - C ,,), where if ( luvl

Combined Treatment with Interlukin-1 and Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha Antagonists Improve Type 2 Diabetes in Rats.

PubMed

DiK, Burak; Bahcivan, Emre; Eser Faki, Hatice; Uney, Kamil

2018-03-20

In the present study, combined treatment with etanercept and anakinra were tested in the streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Forty male Wistar albino rats were divided into 5 groups; healthy control (HC), diabetic control (DC), diabetic+anakinra (DAT), diabetic+etanercept (DET), and diabetic+etanercept+anakinra (DEAT). HC and DC groups received subcutaneous (sc.) injection with a saline solution, while DAT and DET groups received anakinra (10 mg/kg/day, sc.) or etanercept (10 mg/kg, twice a week, sc.), and DEAT rats received both anakinra and etanercept treatments for 21 days after diabetes has developed. Anakinra and etanercept treatments significantly increased insulin and homeostatic model assessment-β cell function levels and decreased glucose levels compared to the DC group as single (DAT and DET) and combined treatments (DEAT). The thiobarbituric acid reactive substances level was significantly decreased in DAT group. The combine use of etanercept and anakinra can improve insulin and blood glucose in type 2 diabetic rats. The combined treatment of anakinra and etanercept together was more effective than single treatment and might have a potential new treatment strategy and to reduce the mortality and morbidity resulting from diabetes.

About influence of input rate random part of nonstationary queue system on statistical estimates of its macroscopic indicators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Korelin, Ivan A.; Porshnev, Sergey V.

2018-05-01

A model of the non-stationary queuing system (NQS) is described. The input of this model receives a flow of requests with input rate λ = λdet (t) + λrnd (t), where λdet (t) is a deterministic function depending on time; λrnd (t) is a random function. The parameters of functions λdet (t), λrnd (t) were identified on the basis of statistical information on visitor flows collected from various Russian football stadiums. The statistical modeling of NQS is carried out and the average statistical dependences are obtained: the length of the queue of requests waiting for service, the average wait time for the service, the number of visitors entered to the stadium on the time. It is shown that these dependencies can be characterized by the following parameters: the number of visitors who entered at the time of the match; time required to service all incoming visitors; the maximum value; the argument value when the studied dependence reaches its maximum value. The dependences of these parameters on the energy ratio of the deterministic and random component of the input rate are investigated.

Computer-Aided Modeling and Analysis of Power Processing Systems (CAMAPPS), phase 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kim, S.; Lee, J.; Cho, B. H.; Lee, F. C.

1986-01-01

The large-signal behaviors of a regulator depend largely on the type of power circuit topology and control. Thus, for maximum flexibility, it is best to develop models for each functional block a independent modules. A regulator can then be configured by collecting appropriate pre-defined modules for each functional block. In order to complete the component model generation for a comprehensive spacecraft power system, the following modules were developed: solar array switching unit and control; shunt regulators; and battery discharger. The capability of each module is demonstrated using a simplified Direct Energy Transfer (DET) system. Large-signal behaviors of solar array power systems were analyzed. Stability of the solar array system operating points with a nonlinear load is analyzed. The state-plane analysis illustrates trajectories of the system operating point under various conditions. Stability and transient responses of the system operating near the solar array's maximum power point are also analyzed. The solar array system mode of operation is described using the DET spacecraft power system. The DET system is simulated for various operating conditions. Transfer of the software program CAMAPPS (Computer Aided Modeling and Analysis of Power Processing Systems) to NASA/GSFC (Goddard Space Flight Center) was accomplished.

A potential regulation of jet stream behavior by changes in Arctic cirrus cloud formation mechanism and coverage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mejia, J.; Mitchell, D. L.; Garnier, A.; Hosseinpour, F.; Avery, M. A.

2017-12-01

Global retrievals of cirrus cloud effective diameter De and mid-cloud temperature T were used to make the cirrus clouds simulated in CAM5 conform with the retrieved De, with the ice fall speeds in CAM5 calculated from the retrieved De. This was done by developing De-T relationships for six latitude zones. Within each latitude zone, seasonal De-T relationships were developed for cirrus over land and for cirrus over ocean (making 48 De-T relationships in total). The recently developed CALIPSO retrieval algorithm is sensitive to the ice crystal number concentration N, which is also retrieved, and it utilizes radiances from the infrared imaging radiometer and backscatter from the CALIPSO lidar. Retrieved De (N) is largest (lowest) between 30S and 30N latitude; a region dominated by anvil cirrus where pre-existing ice strongly favors heterogeneous ice nucleation (henceforth het). Therefore, the De-T relations for this region are considered representative for cirrus formed via het. Outside this region, retrieved De (N) tended to be considerably smaller (higher), presumably due to homogeneous ice nucleation (henceforth hom). Two CAM5 simulations were performed; one where cirrus cloud De is based on the CALIPSO retrievals and one where De-T for het cirrus is applied globally. Differences in net cloud radiative forcing between runs are believed due to differences in cirrus formation mechanism (hom vs. het). Such differences are typically 1.3 W m-2 in the mid-to-high latitudes in the N. Hemisphere excepting summer. These differences imply differences in cirrus cloud heating rates that affect temperatures in the underlying troposphere, which in turn affect the wind fields. The natural cirrus (mixture of hom and het) tend to trap more heat than the het cirrus. Changes in zonal wind fields between simulations suggest that heating by polar cirrus clouds have modifed meridional temperature gradients and thus zonal winds through the thermal wind balance. These changes in heating by polar cirrus clouds can modify the amplitude and meridional position of the midlatitude jet streams, which can lead to more extreme weather. Moreover, the retrievals indicate a doubling of Arctic cirrus coverage during winter, which will also result in increased heating of the underlying troposphere, likely contributing to this same phenomenon.

Introducing an on-line adaptive procedure for prostate image guided intensity modulate proton therapy.

PubMed

Zhang, M; Westerly, D C; Mackie, T R

2011-08-07

With on-line image guidance (IG), prostate shifts relative to the bony anatomy can be corrected by realigning the patient with respect to the treatment fields. In image guided intensity modulated proton therapy (IG-IMPT), because the proton range is more sensitive to the material it travels through, the realignment may introduce large dose variations. This effect is studied in this work and an on-line adaptive procedure is proposed to restore the planned dose to the target. A 2D anthropomorphic phantom was constructed from a real prostate patient's CT image. Two-field laterally opposing spot 3D-modulation and 24-field full arc distal edge tracking (DET) plans were generated with a prescription of 70 Gy to the planning target volume. For the simulated delivery, we considered two types of procedures: the non-adaptive procedure and the on-line adaptive procedure. In the non-adaptive procedure, only patient realignment to match the prostate location in the planning CT was performed. In the on-line adaptive procedure, on top of the patient realignment, the kinetic energy for each individual proton pencil beam was re-determined from the on-line CT image acquired after the realignment and subsequently used for delivery. Dose distributions were re-calculated for individual fractions for different plans and different delivery procedures. The results show, without adaptive, that both the 3D-modulation and the DET plans experienced delivered dose degradation by having large cold or hot spots in the prostate. The DET plan had worse dose degradation than the 3D-modulation plan. The adaptive procedure effectively restored the planned dose distribution in the DET plan, with delivered prostate D(98%), D(50%) and D(2%) values less than 1% from the prescription. In the 3D-modulation plan, in certain cases the adaptive procedure was not effective to reduce the delivered dose degradation and yield similar results as the non-adaptive procedure. In conclusion, based on this 2D phantom study, by updating the proton pencil beam energy from the on-line image after realignment, this on-line adaptive procedure is necessary and effective for the DET-based IG-IMPT. Without dose re-calculation and re-optimization, it could be easily incorporated into the clinical workflow.

Detomidine and the combination of detomidine and MK-467, a peripheral alpha-2 adrenoceptor antagonist, as premedication in horses anaesthetized with isoflurane.

PubMed

Pakkanen, Soile Ae; Raekallio, Marja R; Mykkänen, Anna K; Salla, Kati M; de Vries, Annemarie; Vuorilehto, Lauri; Scheinin, Mika; Vainio, Outi M

2015-09-01

To investigate MK-467 as part of premedication in horses anaesthetized with isoflurane. Experimental, crossover study with a 14 day wash-out period. Seven healthy horses. The horses received either detomidine (20 μg kg(-1) IV) and butorphanol (20 μg kg(-1) IV) alone (DET) or with MK-467 (200 μg kg(-1) IV; DET + MK) as premedication. Anaesthesia was induced with ketamine (2.2 mg kg(-1) ) and midazolam (0.06 mg kg(-1) ) IV and maintained with isoflurane. Heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP), end-tidal isoflurane concentration, end-tidal carbon dioxide tension, central venous pressure, fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2 ) and cardiac output were recorded. Blood samples were taken for blood gas analysis and to determine plasma drug concentrations. The cardiac index (CI), systemic vascular resistance (SVR), ratio of arterial oxygen tension to inspired oxygen (Pa O2 /FiO2 ) and tissue oxygen delivery (DO2 ) were calculated. Repeated measures anova was applied for HR, CI, MAP, SVR, lactate and blood gas variables. The Student's t-test was used for pairwise comparisons of drug concentrations, induction times and the amount of dobutamine administered. Significance was set at p < 0.05. The induction time was shorter, reduction in MAP was detected, more dobutamine was given and HR and CI were higher after DET+MK, while SVR was higher with DET. Arterial oxygen tension and Pa O2 /FiO2 (40 minutes after induction), DO2 and venous partial pressure of oxygen (40 and 60 minutes after induction) were higher with DET+MK. Plasma detomidine concentrations were reduced in the group receiving MK-467. After DET+MK, the area under the plasma concentration time curve of butorphanol was smaller. MK-467 enhances cardiac function and tissue oxygen delivery in horses sedated with detomidine before isoflurane anaesthesia. This finding could improve patient safety in the perioperative period. The dosage of MK-467 needs to be investigated to minimise the effect of MK-467 on MAP. © 2014 Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists and the American College of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia.

Introducing an on-line adaptive procedure for prostate image guided intensity modulate proton therapy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, M.; Westerly, D. C.; Mackie, T. R.

2011-08-01

With on-line image guidance (IG), prostate shifts relative to the bony anatomy can be corrected by realigning the patient with respect to the treatment fields. In image guided intensity modulated proton therapy (IG-IMPT), because the proton range is more sensitive to the material it travels through, the realignment may introduce large dose variations. This effect is studied in this work and an on-line adaptive procedure is proposed to restore the planned dose to the target. A 2D anthropomorphic phantom was constructed from a real prostate patient's CT image. Two-field laterally opposing spot 3D-modulation and 24-field full arc distal edge tracking (DET) plans were generated with a prescription of 70 Gy to the planning target volume. For the simulated delivery, we considered two types of procedures: the non-adaptive procedure and the on-line adaptive procedure. In the non-adaptive procedure, only patient realignment to match the prostate location in the planning CT was performed. In the on-line adaptive procedure, on top of the patient realignment, the kinetic energy for each individual proton pencil beam was re-determined from the on-line CT image acquired after the realignment and subsequently used for delivery. Dose distributions were re-calculated for individual fractions for different plans and different delivery procedures. The results show, without adaptive, that both the 3D-modulation and the DET plans experienced delivered dose degradation by having large cold or hot spots in the prostate. The DET plan had worse dose degradation than the 3D-modulation plan. The adaptive procedure effectively restored the planned dose distribution in the DET plan, with delivered prostate D98%, D50% and D2% values less than 1% from the prescription. In the 3D-modulation plan, in certain cases the adaptive procedure was not effective to reduce the delivered dose degradation and yield similar results as the non-adaptive procedure. In conclusion, based on this 2D phantom study, by updating the proton pencil beam energy from the on-line image after realignment, this on-line adaptive procedure is necessary and effective for the DET-based IG-IMPT. Without dose re-calculation and re-optimization, it could be easily incorporated into the clinical workflow.

Application of Discrete Guidance and Control Theory to Future Army Modular Missiles.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-09-30

30 April - I May, Dr. Pastrick and Dr. Seltzer-attended the 1980 Tactical Missiles Conference at Eglin Air Force Base. !7 t ’ I 9 * I. - , Ji ...1.7140E+00 P2= 9.0903E- 61 WnTm 1.8221E+00 DET=-1.8519E-03 P1= I.7093E+00 P2= 9.0568E-01 SWrT= 1.850E+00 DET=-1.8416E-03 Piz 1.7055E+00 P2= 9.0290E-01 * WrT...fl-n~-~a~ 4 - - I I I TECHNICAL REPORT T-79-64 I SAMPLED-DATA ANALYSIS IN PARAMETER SPACE S.M. Seltzer Technology Laboratory June 1979 Ji j edet•one

Datasets on hub-height wind speed comparisons for wind farms in California.

PubMed

Wang, Meina; Ullrich, Paul; Millstein, Dev

2018-08-01

This article includes the description of data information related to the research article entitled "The future of wind energy in California: Future projections with the Variable-Resolution CESM"[1], with reference number RENE_RENE-D-17-03392. Datasets from the Variable-Resolution CESM, Det Norske Veritas Germanischer Lloyd Virtual Met, MERRA-2, CFSR, NARR, ISD surface observations, and upper air sounding observations were used for calculating and comparing hub-height wind speed at multiple major wind farms across California. Information on hub-height wind speed interpolation and power curves at each wind farm sites are also presented. All datasets, except Det Norske Veritas Germanischer Lloyd Virtual Met, are publicly available for future analysis.

An adaptive data-driven method for accurate prediction of remaining useful life of rolling bearings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Yanfeng; Cheng, Junsheng; Liu, Yanfei; Li, Xuejun; Peng, Zhihua

2018-06-01

A novel data-driven method based on Gaussian mixture model (GMM) and distance evaluation technique (DET) is proposed to predict the remaining useful life (RUL) of rolling bearings. The data sets are clustered by GMM to divide all data sets into several health states adaptively and reasonably. The number of clusters is determined by the minimum description length principle. Thus, either the health state of the data sets or the number of the states is obtained automatically. Meanwhile, the abnormal data sets can be recognized during the clustering process and removed from the training data sets. After obtaining the health states, appropriate features are selected by DET for increasing the classification and prediction accuracy. In the prediction process, each vibration signal is decomposed into several components by empirical mode decomposition. Some common statistical parameters of the components are calculated first and then the features are clustered using GMM to divide the data sets into several health states and remove the abnormal data sets. Thereafter, appropriate statistical parameters of the generated components are selected using DET. Finally, least squares support vector machine is utilized to predict the RUL of rolling bearings. Experimental results indicate that the proposed method reliably predicts the RUL of rolling bearings.

Dynamic equilibrium behaviour observed on two contrasting tidal flats from daily monitoring of bed-level changes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Zhan; van der Wal, Daphne; Cai, Huayang; van Belzen, Jim; Bouma, Tjeerd J.

2018-06-01

Dynamic equilibrium theory (DET) has been applied to tidal flats to systematically explain intertidal morphological responses to various distributions of bed shear stress (BSS). However, it is difficult to verify this theory with field observations because of the discrepancy between the idealized conceptions of theory and the complex reality of intertidal dynamics. The core relation between intertidal morphodynamics and BSS distribution can be easily masked by noise in complex datasets, leading to conclusions of insufficient field evidence to support DET. In the current study, hydrodynamic and morphodynamic data were monitored daily for one year on two tidal flats with contrasting wave exposures. BSS distribution was obtained by validated numerical models. Tidal flat dynamic equilibrium behaviour and BSS were linked via Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis. We show that the principal morphodynamic modes corresponded well with the respective modes of BSS found at both sites. Tide-induced BSS was the dominant force at both sites, regardless of the level of wave exposure. The overall erosional and steepening trend found at the two flats can be attributed to the prevailing action of tidal forcing and reduced sediment supply. Hence, EOF analysis confirmed that tidal flat morphodynamics are consistent with DET, providing both field and model evidence to support this theory.

RNA-seq Analysis of Early Hepatic Response to Handling and Confinement Stress in Rainbow Trout

PubMed Central

Liu, Sixin; Gao, Guangtu; Palti, Yniv; Cleveland, Beth M.; Weber, Gregory M.; Rexroad, Caird E.

2014-01-01

Fish under intensive rearing conditions experience various stressors which have negative impacts on survival, growth, reproduction and fillet quality. Identifying and characterizing the molecular mechanisms underlying stress responses will facilitate the development of strategies that aim to improve animal welfare and aquaculture production efficiency. In this study, we used RNA-seq to identify transcripts which are differentially expressed in the rainbow trout liver in response to handling and confinement stress. These stressors were selected due to their relevance in aquaculture production. Total RNA was extracted from the livers of individual fish in five tanks having eight fish each, including three tanks of fish subjected to a 3 hour handling and confinement stress and two control tanks. Equal amount of total RNA of six individual fish was pooled by tank to create five RNA-seq libraries which were sequenced in one lane of Illumina HiSeq 2000. Three sequencing runs were conducted to obtain a total of 491,570,566 reads which were mapped onto the previously generated stress reference transcriptome to identify 316 differentially expressed transcripts (DETs). Twenty one DETs were selected for qPCR to validate the RNA-seq approach. The fold changes in gene expression identified by RNA-seq and qPCR were highly correlated (R2 = 0.88). Several gene ontology terms including transcription factor activity and biological process such as glucose metabolic process were enriched among these DETs. Pathways involved in response to handling and confinement stress were implicated by mapping the DETs to reference pathways in the KEGG database. Accession Numbers Raw RNA-seq reads have been submitted to the NCBI Short Read Archive under accession number SRP022881. Customized Perl Scripts All customized scripts described in this paper are available from Dr. Guangtu Gao or the corresponding author. PMID:24558395

Factors Associated with the Use of Elective Single Embryo Transfer And Pregnancy Outcomes in the United States, 2004–2012

PubMed Central

Styer, Aaron K.; Luke, Barbara; Vitek, Wendy; Christianson, Mindy S.; Baker, Valerie L.; Christy, Alicia Y.; Polotsky, Alex J.

2017-01-01

Objective To evaluate factors associated with elective single embryo transfer (eSET) utilization and its effect on assisted reproductive technology (ART) outcomes in the United States. Design Historical cohort Setting Not applicable Patient(s) Fresh IVF cycles of women 18–37 years using autologous oocytes with either one (SET) or two (DET) embryos transferred and reported to the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology Clinic Outcome Reporting System between 2004 and 2012. Cycles were categorized into four groups with[+] or without[−] supernumerary embryos cryopreserved. The SET group with embryos cryopreserved was designated as eSET. Interventions None Main Outcomes Measure(s) The likelihood of eSET utilization, live birth, and singleton non-low birthweight term live birth, modeled using logistic regression. Presented as adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Result(s) The study included 263,375 cycles (21,917 SET[−]cryopreservation, 20,996 SET [+]cryopreservation, 103,371 DET[−]cryopreservation, and 117,091 DET[+]cryopreservation). The utilization of eSET (SET[+]cryopreservation) increased from 1.8% in 2004 to 14.9% in 2012 (aOR 7.66, 95% CI 6.87, 8.53), and was more likely with ART insurance coverage (1.60, 1.54–1.66), Asian race (1.26, 1.20–1.33), uterine factor diagnosis (1.48, 1.37–1.59), retrieval of ≥ 16 oocytes (2.85, 2.55–3.19), and the transfer of day 5–6 embryos (4.23, 4.06–4.40); eSET was less likely in women ages 35–37 years (0.76, 0.73–0.80). Compared to DET cycles, the likelihood of the ideal outcome, term non-low birthweight singleton live birth, was increased 45–52% with eSET. Conclusions Expanding insurance coverage for IVF would facilitate the broader use of eSET, and reduce the morbidity and healthcare costs associated with multiple pregnancies. PMID:26997248

Robust Multiple-Input-Output Communications

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-01-01

3i + 2 JX3H3 X3i+lJ where the diagonal matrices B, are Bx = (i+j)i3 + e B2 = (-l-2j)l3+ jB 2 (147) B3 = (-l -2j)l3 + (l+j)6 + (l +j)B 2 with 0...log2det (l„, + - HH f J (1.65) where p = Px/2cr 2. The channel capacity is then given by C= EH log2detVl„, + ^-HHM (1.66) where the expectation E is...H* ~ [hn hit) (2.4) r (hi2 -h22\\ „ (h.i2 -h\\2\\ Gi - {h22 h-12) G* = {h32 hh ) • Rewrite (2.3) as r = cH + aQ + n

Towards fast, reliable, and manufacturable DEAs: miniaturized motor and Rupert the rolling robot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosset, Samuel; Shea, Herbert

2015-04-01

Dielectric elastomer transducers (DETs) are known for their large strains, low mass and high compliance, making them very attractive for a broad range of applications, from soft robotics to tuneable optics, or energy harvesting. However, 15 years after the first major paper in the field, commercial applications of the technology are still scarce, owing to high driving voltages, short lifetimes, slow response speed, viscoelastic drift, and no optimal solution for the compliant electrodes. At the EPFL's Microsystems for Space Technologies laboratory, we have been working on the miniaturization and manufacturability of DETs for the past 10 years. In the frame of this talk, we present our fabrication processes for high quality thin-_lm silicone membranes, and for patterning compliant electrodes on the sub mm-scale. We use either implantation of gold nano-clusters through a mask, or pad-printing of conductive rubber to precisely shape the electrodes on the dielectric membrane. Our electrodes are compliant, time stable and present strong adhesion to the membrane. The combination of low mechanical- loss elastomers with robust and precisely-defined electrodes allows for the fabrication of very fast actuators that exhibit a long lifetime. We present different applications of our DET fabrication process, such as a soft tuneable lens with a settling time smaller than 175 microseconds, a motor spinning at 1500 rpm, and a self-commutating rolling robot.

Estimating floodwater depths from flood inundation maps and topography

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cohen, Sagy; Brakenridge, G. Robert; Kettner, Albert; Bates, Bradford; Nelson, Jonathan M.; McDonald, Richard R.; Huang, Yu-Fen; Munasinghe, Dinuke; Zhang, Jiaqi

2018-01-01

Information on flood inundation extent is important for understanding societal exposure, water storage volumes, flood wave attenuation, future flood hazard, and other variables. A number of organizations now provide flood inundation maps based on satellite remote sensing. These data products can efficiently and accurately provide the areal extent of a flood event, but do not provide floodwater depth, an important attribute for first responders and damage assessment. Here we present a new methodology and a GIS-based tool, the Floodwater Depth Estimation Tool (FwDET), for estimating floodwater depth based solely on an inundation map and a digital elevation model (DEM). We compare the FwDET results against water depth maps derived from hydraulic simulation of two flood events, a large-scale event for which we use medium resolution input layer (10 m) and a small-scale event for which we use a high-resolution (LiDAR; 1 m) input. Further testing is performed for two inundation maps with a number of challenging features that include a narrow valley, a large reservoir, and an urban setting. The results show FwDET can accurately calculate floodwater depth for diverse flooding scenarios but also leads to considerable bias in locations where the inundation extent does not align well with the DEM. In these locations, manual adjustment or higher spatial resolution input is required.

Integrative Transcript and Metabolite Analysis of Nutritionally Enhanced DE-ETIOLATED1 Downregulated Tomato Fruit[W

PubMed Central

Enfissi, Eugenia M.A.; Barneche, Fredy; Ahmed, Ikhlak; Lichtlé, Christiane; Gerrish, Christopher; McQuinn, Ryan P.; Giovannoni, James J.; Lopez-Juez, Enrique; Bowler, Chris; Bramley, Peter M.; Fraser, Paul D.

2010-01-01

Fruit-specific downregulation of the DE-ETIOLATED1 (DET1) gene product results in tomato fruits (Solanum lycopersicum) containing enhanced nutritional antioxidants, with no detrimental effects on yield. In an attempt to further our understanding of how modulation of this gene leads to improved quality traits, detailed targeted and multilevel omic characterization has been performed. Metabolite profiling revealed quantitative increases in carotenoid, tocopherol, phenylpropanoids, flavonoids, and anthocyanidins. Qualitative differences could also be identified within the phenolics, including unique formation in fruit pericarp tissues. These changes resulted in increased total antioxidant content both in the polar and nonpolar fractions. Increased transcription of key biosynthetic genes is a likely mechanism producing elevated phenolic-based metabolites. By contrast, high levels of isoprenoids do not appear to result from transcriptional regulation but are more likely related to plastid-based parameters, such as increased plastid volume per cell. Parallel metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses reveal the widespread effects of DET1 downregulation on diverse sectors of metabolism and sites of synthesis. Correlation analysis of transcripts and metabolites independently indicated strong coresponses within and between related pathways/processes. Interestingly, despite the fact that secondary metabolites were the most severely affected in ripe tomato fruit, our integrative analyses suggest that the coordinated activation of core metabolic processes in cell types amenable to plastid biogenesis is the main effect of DET1 loss of function. PMID:20435899

Brassinosteroid Regulates Seed Size and Shape in Arabidopsis1[W][OPEN

PubMed Central

Jiang, Wen-Bo; Huang, Hui-Ya; Hu, Yu-Wei; Zhu, Sheng-Wei; Wang, Zhi-Yong; Lin, Wen-Hui

2013-01-01

Seed development is important for agriculture productivity. We demonstrate that brassinosteroid (BR) plays crucial roles in determining the size, mass, and shape of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) seeds. The seeds of the BR-deficient mutant de-etiolated2 (det2) are smaller and less elongated than those of wild-type plants due to a decreased seed cavity, reduced endosperm volume, and integument cell length. The det2 mutant also showed delay in embryo development, with reduction in both the size and number of embryo cells. Pollination of det2 flowers with wild-type pollen yielded seeds of normal size but still shortened shape, indicating that the BR produced by the zygotic embryo and endosperm is sufficient for increasing seed volume but not for seed elongation, which apparently requires BR produced from maternal tissues. BR activates expression of SHORT HYPOCOTYL UNDER BLUE1, MINISEED3, and HAIKU2, which are known positive regulators of seed size, but represses APETALA2 and AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR2, which are negative regulators of seed size. These genes are bound in vivo by the BR-activated transcription factor BRASSINAZOLE-RESISTANT1 (BZR1), and they are known to influence specific processes of integument, endosperm, and embryo development. Our results demonstrate that BR regulates seed size and seed shape by transcriptionally modulating specific seed developmental pathways. PMID:23771896

Evidence of short-range electron transfer of a redox enzyme on graphene oxide electrodes.

PubMed

Martins, Marccus V A; Pereira, Andressa R; Luz, Roberto A S; Iost, Rodrigo M; Crespilho, Frank N

2014-09-07

Direct electron transfer (DET) between redox enzymes and electrode surfaces is of growing interest and an important strategy in the development of biofuel cells and biosensors. Among the nanomaterials utilized at electrode/enzyme interfaces to enhance the electronic communication, graphene oxide (GO) has been identified as a highly promising candidate. It is postulated that GO layers decrease the distance between the flavin cofactor (FAD/FADH2) of the glucose oxidase enzyme (GOx) and the electrode surface, though experimental evidence concerning the distance dependence of the rate constant for heterogeneous electron-transfer (k(het)) has not yet been observed. In this work, we report the experimentally observed DET of the GOx enzyme adsorbed on flexible carbon fiber (FCF) electrodes modified with GO (FCF-GO), where the k(het) between GO and electroactive GOx has been measured at a structurally well-defined interface. The curves obtained from the Marcus theory were used to obtain k(het), by using the model proposed by Chidsey. In agreement with experimental data, this model proved to be useful to systematically probe the dependence of electron transfer rates on distance, in order to provide an empirical basis to understand the origin of interfacial DET between GO and GOx. We also demonstrate that the presence of GO at the enzyme/electrode interface diminishes the activation energy by decreasing the distance between the electrode surface and FAD/FADH2.

[Dmt(1)]DALDA analogues modified with tyrosine analogues at position 1.

PubMed

Cai, Yunxin; Lu, Dandan; Chen, Zhen; Ding, Yi; Chung, Nga N; Li, Tingyou; Schiller, Peter W

2016-08-01

Analogues of [Dmt(1)]DALDA (H-Dmt-d-Arg-Phe-Lys-NH2; Dmt=2',6'-dimethyltyrosine), a potent μ opioid agonist peptide with mitochondria-targeted antioxidant activity were prepared by replacing Dmt with various 2',6'-dialkylated Tyr analogues, including 2',4',6'-trimethyltyrosine (Tmt), 2'-ethyl-6'-methyltyrosine (Emt), 2'-isopropyl-6'-methyltyrosine (Imt) and 2',6'-diethyltyrosine (Det). All compounds were selective μ opioid agonists and the Tmt(1)-, Emt(1) and Det(1)-analogues showed subnanomolar μ opioid receptor binding affinities. The Tmt(1)- and Emt(1)-analogues showed improved antioxidant activity compared to the Dmt(1)-parent peptide in the DPPH radical-scavenging capacity assay, and thus are of interest as drug candidates for neuropathic pain treatment. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

SPINE: SParse eIgengene NEtwork linking gene expression clusters in Dehalococcoides mccartyi to perturbations in experimental conditions

DOE PAGES

Mansfeldt, Cresten B.; Logsdon, Benjamin A.; Debs, Garrett E.; ...

2015-02-25

We present a statistical model designed to identify the effect of experimental perturbations on the aggregate behavior of the transcriptome expressed by the bacterium Dehalococcoides mccartyi strain 195. Strains of Dehalococcoides are used in sub-surface bioremediation applications because they organohalorespire tetrachloroethene and trichloroethene (common chlorinated solvents that contaminate the environment) to non-toxic ethene. However, the biochemical mechanism of this process remains incompletely described. Additionally, the response of Dehalococcoides to stress-inducing conditions that may be encountered at field-sites is not well understood. The constructed statistical model captured the aggregate behavior of gene expression phenotypes by modeling the distinct eigengenes of 100more » transcript clusters, determining stable relationships among these clusters of gene transcripts with a sparse network-inference algorithm, and directly modeling the effect of changes in experimental conditions by constructing networks conditioned on the experimental state. Based on the model predictions, we discovered new response mechanisms for DMC, notably when the bacterium is exposed to solvent toxicity. The network identified a cluster containing thirteen gene transcripts directly connected to the solvent toxicity condition. Transcripts in this cluster include an iron-dependent regulator (DET0096-97) and a methylglyoxal synthase (DET0137). To validate these predictions, additional experiments were performed. Continuously fed cultures were exposed to saturating levels of tetrachloethene, thereby causing solvent toxicity, and transcripts that were predicted to be linked to solvent toxicity were monitored by quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. Twelve hours after being shocked with saturating levels of tetrachloroethene, the control transcripts (encoding for a key hydrogenase and the 16S rRNA) did not significantly change. By contrast, transcripts for DET0137 and DET0097 displayed a 46.8±11.5 and 14.6±9.3 fold up-regulation, respectively, supporting the model. This is the first study to identify transcripts in Dehalococcoides that potentially respond to tetrachloroethene solvent-toxicity conditions that may be encountered near contamination source zones in sub-surface environments.« less

GAMMA-RAY BURST HOST GALAXY SURVEYS AT REDSHIFT z {approx}> 4: PROBES OF STAR FORMATION RATE AND COSMIC REIONIZATION

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

Trenti, Michele; Perna, Rosalba; Levesque, Emily M.

2012-04-20

Measuring the star formation rate (SFR) at high redshift is crucial for understanding cosmic reionization and galaxy formation. Two common complementary approaches are Lyman break galaxy (LBG) surveys for large samples and gamma-ray burst (GRB) observations for sensitivity to SFR in small galaxies. The z {approx}> 4 GRB-inferred SFR is higher than the LBG rate, but this difference is difficult to understand, as both methods rely on several modeling assumptions. Using a physically motivated galaxy luminosity function model, with star formation in dark matter halos with virial temperature T{sub vir} {approx}> 2 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 4} K (M{sub DM} {approx}> 2more » Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 8} M{sub Sun }), we show that GRB- and LBG-derived SFRs are consistent if GRBs extend to faint galaxies (M{sub AB} {approx}< -11). To test star formation below the detection limit L{sub lim} {approx} 0.05L*{sub z=3} of LBG surveys, we propose to measure the fraction f{sub det}(L > L{sub lim}, z) of GRB hosts with L > L{sub lim}. This fraction quantifies the missing star formation fraction in LBG surveys, constraining the mass-suppression scale for galaxy formation, with weak dependence on modeling assumptions. Because f{sub det}(L > L{sub lim}, z) corresponds to the ratio of SFRs derived from LBG and GRB surveys, if these estimators are unbiased, measuring f{sub det}(L > L{sub lim}, z) also constrains the redshift evolution of the GRB production rate per unit mass of star formation. Our analysis predicts significant success for GRB host detections at z {approx} 5 with f{sub det}(L > L{sub lim}, z) {approx} 0.4, but rarer detections at z > 6. By analyzing the upper limits on host galaxy luminosities of six z > 5 GRBs from literature data, we infer that galaxies with M{sub AB} > -15 were present at z > 5 at 95% confidence, demonstrating the key role played by very faint galaxies during reionization.« less

Geometric Verification of Dynamic Wave Arc Delivery With the Vero System Using Orthogonal X-ray Fluoroscopic Imaging.

PubMed

Burghelea, Manuela; Verellen, Dirk; Poels, Kenneth; Gevaert, Thierry; Depuydt, Tom; Tournel, Koen; Hung, Cecilia; Simon, Viorica; Hiraoka, Masahiro; de Ridder, Mark

2015-07-15

The purpose of this study was to define an independent verification method based on on-board orthogonal fluoroscopy to determine the geometric accuracy of synchronized gantry-ring (G/R) rotations during dynamic wave arc (DWA) delivery available on the Vero system. A verification method for DWA was developed to calculate O-ring-gantry (G/R) positional information from ball-bearing positions retrieved from fluoroscopic images of a cubic phantom acquired during DWA delivery. Different noncoplanar trajectories were generated in order to investigate the influence of path complexity on delivery accuracy. The G/R positions detected from the fluoroscopy images (DetPositions) were benchmarked against the G/R angulations retrieved from the control points (CP) of the DWA RT plan and the DWA log files recorded by the treatment console during DWA delivery (LogActed). The G/R rotational accuracy was quantified as the mean absolute deviation ± standard deviation. The maximum G/R absolute deviation was calculated as the maximum 3-dimensional distance between the CP and the closest DetPositions. In the CP versus DetPositions comparison, an overall mean G/R deviation of 0.13°/0.16° ± 0.16°/0.16° was obtained, with a maximum G/R deviation of 0.6°/0.2°. For the LogActed versus DetPositions evaluation, the overall mean deviation was 0.08°/0.15° ± 0.10°/0.10° with a maximum G/R of 0.3°/0.4°. The largest decoupled deviations registered for gantry and ring were 0.6° and 0.4° respectively. No directional dependence was observed between clockwise and counterclockwise rotations. Doubling the dose resulted in a double number of detected points around each CP, and an angular deviation reduction in all cases. An independent geometric quality assurance approach was developed for DWA delivery verification and was successfully applied on diverse trajectories. Results showed that the Vero system is capable of following complex G/R trajectories with maximum deviations during DWA below 0.6°. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Data Presentation on Transportation Agency Websites: Trends and Best Practices

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-05-01

The Division of Research, Innovation and System Information (DRISI) within Californias Department of Transportation (Caltrans) provides solutions and knowledge that improves Californias transportation system. The Division recently sought to det...

Overarching Tactical Wheeled Vehicle Study

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-08-31

RECON CO, FMF (RES ONLY) 1 0 0 10 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 N1441 H&SCO, RECONBN, 4TH MARDIV 1 0 0 18 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 H1173 WPNSCO, INFBN, INFREGT/ MPS1 3 0 0 7...4TH MARDIV 6 24 144 0 0 5 30 3 18 2 12 H1121 HQCO, INFREGT/ MPS1 1 12 12 0 0 8 8 4 4 1 1 H1172 H&SCO, INFBN, INFREGT/ MPS1 3 10 30 0 0 5 15 3 9 1 3...1 1 1 0 0 0 0 B3381 DENTALCO, 3D DENTALBN, CSSG-3 (HI) 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 H1023 DET, SERVCO, HQBN/ MPS1 1 23 23 0 0 0 0 H1024 DET, MPCO, HQBN/ MPS1 1 0 0 0

Integrand-level reduction of loop amplitudes by computational algebraic geometry methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yang

2012-09-01

We present an algorithm for the integrand-level reduction of multi-loop amplitudes of renormalizable field theories, based on computational algebraic geometry. This algorithm uses (1) the Gröbner basis method to determine the basis for integrand-level reduction, (2) the primary decomposition of an ideal to classify all inequivalent solutions of unitarity cuts. The resulting basis and cut solutions can be used to reconstruct the integrand from unitarity cuts, via polynomial fitting techniques. The basis determination part of the algorithm has been implemented in the Mathematica package, BasisDet. The primary decomposition part can be readily carried out by algebraic geometry softwares, with the output of the package BasisDet. The algorithm works in both D = 4 and D = 4 - 2 ɛ dimensions, and we present some two and three-loop examples of applications of this algorithm.

Synthesis and characterization of two novel chiral-type formate frameworks templated by protonated diethylamine and ammonium cations

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

Mączka, Mirosław, E-mail: m.maczka@int.pan.wroc.pl; Gągor, Anna; Hanuza, Jerzy

2017-01-15

Two novel formate frameworks templated by ammonium and diethylammonium (DEtA{sup +}) cations have been synthesized. Chemical analysis as well as optical, Raman and IR studies showed partial substitution of nickel ions by Cr(III) or Fe(III). X-ray diffraction revealed that these compounds crystallize in the chiral-type structure of P6{sub 3}22 symmetry. The oxygen atoms from formate ligands form octahedral coordination around the metal centers and the octahedra are bridged by the formate groups in the anti-anti mode configuration forming the hexagonal structure with large channels expanding along the c direction. The channels are filled with disordered DEtA{sup +} and NH{sub 4}{supmore » +} ions and they show unusual compression with the c/a ratio of only 0.862 and 0.852 for the iron- and chromium-containing compound, respectively. Magnetic studies revealed that the both compounds order magnetically at low temperatures but the ordering temperature is significantly higher for the iron compound (37 K) compared to the chromium analogue (26 K). - Graphical abstract: Temperature dependence of magnetization M of DEtAFeNi showing magnetic order at 37 K. - Highlights: • Two novel chiral formates of P6{sub 3}22 symmetry were synthesized. • The structures contain strongly compressed hexagonal channels filled with disordered cations. • The obtained compounds exhibit magnetic order at low temperatures. • Raman, IR and absorption spectra prove incorporation of Cr(III) and Fe(III) in the frameworks.« less

On-line solid phase extraction using the Prospekt-2 coupled with a liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometer for the determination of dextromethorphan, dextrorphan and guaifenesin in human plasma.

PubMed

Kuhlenbeck, Debbie L; Eichold, Thomas H; Hoke, Steven H; Baker, Timothy R; Mensen, Robert; Wehmeyer, Kenneth R

2005-01-01

An on-line liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) procedure, using the Prospekt- 2 system, was developed and used for the determination of the levels of the active ingredients of cough/cold medications in human plasma matrix. The experimental configuration allows direct plasma injection by performing on- line solid phase extraction (SPE) on small cartridge columns prior to elution of the analyte(s) onto the analytical column and subsequent MS/MS detection. The quantitative analysis of three analytes with differing polarities, dextromethorphan (DEX), dextrorphan (DET) and guaifenesin (GG) in human plasma presented a significant challenge. Using stable-isotope-labeled internal standards for each analyte, the Prospekt-2 on-line methodology was evaluated for sensitivity, suppression, accuracy, precision, linearity, analyst time, analysis time, cost, carryover and ease of use. The lower limit of quantitation for the on-line SPE procedure for DEX, DET and GG was 0.05, 0.05 and 5.0 ng mL(-1), respectively, using a 0.1 mL sample volume. The linear range for DEX and DET was 0.05-50 ng mL(-1) and was 5-5,000 ng mL(-1) for GG. Accuracy and precision data for five different levels of QC samples were collected over three separate days. Accuracy ranged from 90% to 112% for all three analytes, while the precision, as measured by the %RSD, ranged from 1.5% to 16.0%

pH-sensitive multi-PEGylated block copolymer as a bioresponsive pDNA delivery vector.

PubMed

Lai, Tsz Chung; Bae, Younsoo; Yoshida, Takayuki; Kataoka, Kazunori; Kwon, Glen S

2010-11-01

A reversibly-PEGylated diblock copolymer, poly(aspartate-hydrazide-poly(ethylene glycol))-block-poly(aspartate-diaminoethane) (p[Asp(Hyd-PEG)]-b-p[Asp(DET)]) was reported here for enhanced gene transfection and colloidal stability. The diblock copolymer possessed a unique architecture based on a poly(aspartamide) backbone. The first block, p[Asp(Hyd)], was used for multi-PEG conjugations, and the second block, p[Asp(DET)], was used for DNA condensation and endosomal escape. p[Asp(Hyd-PEG)]-b-p[Asp(DET)] was synthesized and characterized by (1)H-NMR. Polyplexes were formed by mixing the synthesized polymers and pDNA. The polyplex size, ζ-potential, and in vitro transfection efficiency were determined by dynamic light scattering, ζ-potential measurements, and luciferase assays, respectively. pH-dependent release of PEG from the polymer was monitored by cationic-exchange chromatography. The polyplexes were 70-90 nm in size, and the surface charge was effectively shielded by a PEG layer. The transfection efficiency of the reversibly PEGylated polyplexes was confirmed to be comparable to that of the non-PEGylated counterparts and 1,000 times higher than that of the irreversibly PEGylated polyplexes. PEG release was demonstrated to be pH-sensitive. Fifty percent of the PEG was released within 30 min at pH 5, while the polymer incubated at pH 7.4 could still maintain 50% of PEG after 8 h. The reversibly PEGylated polyplexes were shown to maintain polyplex stability without compromising transfection efficiency.

Dissipation dynamics of terbuthylazine in soil during the maize growing season.

PubMed

Stipičević, Sanja; Mendaš, Gordana; Dvoršćak, Marija; Fingler, Sanja; Galzina, Natalija; Barić, Klara

2017-12-20

Ever since terbuthylazine (TBA) replaced atrazine in herbicide crop treatment, its much greater persistence has raised considerable environmental concern. The aim of our field experiment was to establish the dissipation dynamics of TBA and its degradation product desethylterbuthylazine (DET) in soil over five months of maize growth. We applied TBA as part of pre-emergent treatment in the regular and double-the-regular amounts. Soil samples were collected periodically at the following depths: 0-10 cm, 10-20 cm, 20-30 cm, and 30-50 cm. For TBA and DET soil residue analysis we used microwave-assisted extraction with methanol, followed by HPLC-UV/DAD. Regardless of the application rate, more than 80 % of the applied TBA dissipated from the first 50 cm of soil in the two months after herbicide application and 120 mm of rainfall. Three months later (at maize harvest), less than 4 % of total TBA remained in the soil, mostly in the top 20 cm rich with organic carbon on which TBA is likelier to adsorb. The loss of TBA from soil coincided with the rise in DET, especially the top soil layers, during the periods of low rainfall and highest soil temperatures. This points to biodegradation as the main route of TBA dissipation in humic soils. The applied amount had no significant effect on TBA dissipation in the top (humic) layers, but in the layers with less than 1 % of organic carbon, it was higher when the doublethe- regular dose was applied.

Membraneless enzymatic ethanol/O2 fuel cell: Transitioning from an air-breathing Pt-based cathode to a bilirubin oxidase-based biocathode

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aquino Neto, Sidney; Milton, Ross D.; Hickey, David P.; De Andrade, Adalgisa R.; Minteer, Shelley D.

2016-08-01

The bioelectrooxidation of ethanol was investigated in a fully enzymatic membraneless ethanol/O2 biofuel cell assembly using hybrid bioanodes containing multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)-decorated gold metallic nanoparticles with either a pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ)-dependent alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) enzyme or a nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+)-dependent ADH enzyme. The biofuel cell anode was prepared with the PQQ-dependent enzyme and designed using either a direct electron transfer (DET) architecture or via a mediated electron transfer (MET) configuration through a redox polymer, 1,1‧-dimethylferrocene-modified linear polyethyleneimine (FcMe2-C3-LPEI). In the case of the bioanode containing the NAD+-dependent enzyme, only the mediated electron transfer mechanism was employed using an electropolymerized methylene green film to regenerate the NAD+ cofactor. Regardless of the enzyme being employed at the anode, a bilirubin oxidase-based biocathode prepared within a DET architecture afforded efficient electrocatalytic oxygen reduction in an ethanol/O2 biofuel cell. The power curves showed that DET-based bioanodes via the PQQ-dependent ADH still lack high current densities, whereas the MET architecture furnished maximum power density values as high as 226 ± 21 μW cm-2. Considering the complete membraneless enzymatic biofuel cell with the NAD+-dependent ADH-based bioanode, power densities as high as 111 ± 14 μW cm-2 were obtained. This shows the advantage of PQQ-dependent ADH for membraneless ethanol/O2 biofuel cell applications.

Mechanism of p-substituted phenol oxidation at a Ti4O7 reactive electrochemical membrane.

PubMed

Zaky, Amr M; Chaplin, Brian P

2014-05-20

This research investigated the removal mechanisms of p-nitrophenol, p-methoxyphenol, and p-benzoquinone at a porous Ti4O7 reactive electrochemical membrane (REM) under anodic polarization. Cross-flow filtration experiments and density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicated that p-benzoquinone removal was primarily due to reaction with electrochemically formed OH(•), while the dominant removal mechanism of p-nitrophenol and p-methoxyphenol was a function of the anodic potential. At low anodic potentials (1.7-1.8 V/SHE), p-nitrophenol and p-methoxyphenol were removed primarily by an electrochemical adsorption/polymerization mechanism on the REM. Increasing anodic potentials (1.9-3.2 V/SHE) resulted in the electroassisted adsorption mechanism contributing far less to p-methoxyphenol removal compared to p-nitrophenol. DFT calculations indicated that an increase in anodic potential resulted in a shift in p-methoxyphenol removal from a 1e(-) direct electron transfer (DET) reaction that resulted in radical formation and significant adsorption/polymerization, to a 2e(-) DET reaction that formed nonadsorbing products (i.e., p-benzoquinone). However, the anodic potentials were too low for the 2e(-) DET reaction to be thermodynamically favorable for p-nitrophenol. The decreased COD adsorption for p-nitrophenol at higher anodic potentials was attributed to reaction of soluble/adsorbed organics with OH(•). These results provide the first mechanistic explanation for p-substituted phenolic compound removal during advanced electrochemical oxidation processes.

Improvement of the in vivo cellular repopulation of decellularized cardiovascular tissues by a detergent-free, non-proteolytic, actin-disassembling regimen.

PubMed

Assmann, Alexander; Struß, Marc; Schiffer, Franziska; Heidelberg, Friederike; Munakata, Hiroshi; Timchenko, Elena V; Timchenko, Pavel E; Kaufmann, Tim; Huynh, Khon; Sugimura, Yukiharu; Leidl, Quentin; Pinto, Antonio; Stoldt, Volker R; Lichtenberg, Artur; Akhyari, Payam

2017-12-01

Low immunogenicity and high repopulation capacity are crucial determinants for the functional and structural performance of acellular cardiovascular implants. The present study evaluates a detergent-free, non-proteolytic, actin-disassembling regimen (BIO) for decellularization of heart valve and vessel grafts, particularly focusing on their bio-functionality. Rat aortic conduits (rAoC; n = 89) and porcine aortic valve samples (n = 106) are decellularized using detergents (group DET) or the BIO regimen. BIO decellularization results in effective elimination of cellular proteins and significantly improves removal of DNA as compared with group DET, while the extracellular matrix (ECM) structure as well as mechanical properties are preserved. The architecture of rAoC in group BIO allows for improved bio-functionalization with fibronectin (FN) in a standardized rat implantation model: BIO treatment significantly increases speed and amount of autologous medial cellular repopulation in vivo (p < 0.001) and decreases the formation of hyperplastic intima (p < 0.001) as compared with FN-coated DET-decellularized grafts. Moreover, there are no signs of infiltration with inflammatory cells. The present biological, detergent-free, non-proteolytic regimen balances effective decellularization and ECM preservation in cardiovascular grafts, and provides optimized bio-functionality. Additionally, this study implies that the actin-disassembling regimen may be a promising approach for bioengineering of acellular scaffolds from other muscular tissues, as for example myocardium or intestine. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Patient and cycle characteristics predicting high pregnancy rates with single-embryo transfer: an analysis of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology outcomes between 2004 and 2013.

PubMed

Mersereau, Jennifer; Stanhiser, Jamie; Coddington, Charles; Jones, Tiffany; Luke, Barbara; Brown, Morton B

2017-11-01

To analyze factors associated with high live birth rate and low multiple birth rate in fresh and frozen-thawed assisted reproductive technology (ART) cycles. Retrospective cohort analysis. Not applicable. The study population included 181,523 women undergoing in vitro fertilization with autologous fresh first cycles, 27,033 with fresh first oocyte donor cycles, 37,658 with fresh second cycles, and 35,446 with frozen-thawed second cycles. None. Live birth rate and multiple birth rate after single-embryo transfer (SET) and double embryo transfer (DET) were measured, in addition to cycle characteristics. In patients with favorable prognostic factors, including younger maternal age, transfer of a blastocyst, and additional embryos cryopreserved, the gain in the live birth rate from SET to DET was approximately 10%-15%; however, the multiple birth rate increased from approximately 2% to greater than 49% in both autologous and donor fresh and frozen-thawed transfer cycles. This study reports a 10%-15% reduction in live birth rate and a 47% decrement in multiple birth rate with SET compared with DET in the setting of favorable patient prognostic factors. Our findings present an opportunity to increase the rate of SET across the United States and thereby reduce the multiple birth rate and its associated poor perinatal outcomes with assisted reproductive technology pregnancies. Copyright © 2017 American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cost-effectiveness of embryo transfer strategies: a decision analytic model using long-term costs and consequences of singletons and multiples born as a consequence of IVF.

PubMed

van Heesch, M M J; van Asselt, A D I; Evers, J L H; van der Hoeven, M A H B M; Dumoulin, J C M; van Beijsterveldt, C E M; Bonsel, G J; Dykgraaf, R H M; van Goudoever, J B; Koopman-Esseboom, C; Nelen, W L D M; Steiner, K; Tamminga, P; Tonch, N; Torrance, H L; Dirksen, C D

2016-11-01

What is the cost-effectiveness of elective single embryo transfer (eSET) versus double embryo transfer (DET) strategies from a societal perspective, when applying a time horizon of 1, 5 and 18 years? From a short-term perspective (1 year) it is cost-effective to replace DET with single embryo transfer; however when intermediate- (5 years) and long-term (18 years) costs and consequences are incorporated, DET becomes the most cost-effective strategy, given a ceiling ratio of €20 000 per quality-adjusted life years (QALY) gained. According to previous cost-effectiveness research into embryo transfer strategies, DET is considered cost-effective if society is willing to pay around €20 000 for an extra live birth. However, interpretation of those studies is complicated, as those studies fail to incorporate long-term costs and outcomes and used live birth as a measure of effectiveness instead of QALYs. With this outcome, both multiple and singletons were valued as one live birth, whereas costs of all children of a multiple were incorporated. A Markov model (cycle length: 1 year; time horizon: 1, 5 and 18 years) was developed comparing a maximum of: (i) three cycles of eSET in all patients; (ii) four cycles of eSET in all patients; (iii) five cycles of eSET in all patients; (iv) three cycles of standard treatment policy (STP), i.e. eSET in women <38 years with a good quality embryo, and DET in all other women; and (v) three cycles of DET in all patients. Expected life years (LYs), child QALYs and costs were estimated for all comparators. Input parameters were derived from a retrospective cohort study, in which hospital resource data were collected (n=580) and a parental questionnaire was sent out (431 respondents). Probabilistic sensitivity analysis (5000 iterations) was performed. With a time horizon of 18 years, DETx3 is most effective (0.54 live births, 10.2 LYs and 9.8 QALYs) and expensive (€37 871) per couple starting IVF. Three cycles of eSET are least effective (0.43 live births, 7.1 LYs and 6.8 QALYs) and expensive (€25 563). We assumed that society is willing to pay €20 000 per QALY gained. With a time horizon of 1 year, eSETx3 was the most cost-effective embryo transfer strategy with a probability of being cost-effective of 99.9%. With a time horizon of 5 or 18 years, DETx3 was most cost-effective, with probabilities of being cost-effective of 77.3 and 93.2%, respectively. This is the first study to use QALYs generated by the children in the economic evaluation of embryo transfer strategies. There remains some disagreement on whether QALYs generated by new life should be used in economic evaluations of fertility treatment. A further limitation is that treatment ends when it results in live birth and that only child QALYs were considered as measure of effectiveness. The results for the time horizon of 18 years might be less solid, as the data beyond the age of 8 years are based on extrapolation. The current Markov model indicates that when child QALYs are used as measure of outcome it is not cost-effective on the long term to replace DET with single embryo transfer strategies. However, for a balanced approach, a family-planning perspective would be preferable, including additional treatment cycles for couples who wish to have another child. Furthermore, the analysis should be extended to include QALYs of family members. This study was supported by a research grant (grant number 80-82310-98-09094) from the Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw). There are no conflicts of interest in connection with this article. Not applicable. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Transcriptional profiling of mouse and human livers at different life stages

EPA Science Inventory

In the presence offoreign compounds,metabolichomeostasis oftheorganismismaintained by the liver's ability to detoxify and eliminate these xenobiotics. This is accomplished, in part, by the expression ofxenobiotic metabolizing enzymes (XMEs), which metabolize xenobiotics and det...

Performance-based brake testers : round robin study

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2000-11-01

In the early 1990s, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration initiated research to evaluate various types of performance-based brake testing technologies for application to commercial vehicle inspections. The purpose of the research was to det...

Gestational surrogacy in Australia 2004-2011: treatment, pregnancy and birth outcomes.

PubMed

Wang, Alex Y; Dill, Sandra K; Bowman, Mark; Sullivan, Elizabeth A

2016-06-01

Information on gestational surrogacy arrangement and outcomes is limited in Australia. This national population study investigates the epidemiology of gestational surrogacy arrangement in Australia: treatment procedures, pregnancy and birth outcomes. A retrospective study was conducted of 169 intended parents cycles and 388 gestational carrier cycles in Australia in 2004-2011. Demographics were compared between intended parents and gestational carrier cycles. Pregnancy and birth outcomes were compared by number of embryos transferred. Over half (54%) intended parents cycles were in women aged <35 years compared to 38% of gestational carrier cycles. About 77% of intended parents cycles were of nulliparous women compared to 29% of gestational carrier cycles. Of the 360 embryo transfer cycles, 91% had cryopreserved embryos transferred and 69% were single-embryo transfer (SET) cycles. The rates of clinical pregnancy and live delivery were 26% and 19%, respectively. There were no differences in rates of clinical pregnancy and live delivery between SET cycles (27% and 19%) and double-embryo transfer (DET) cycles (25% and 19%). Five of 22 deliveries following DET were twin deliveries compared to none of 48 deliveries following SET. There were 73 liveborn babies following gestational surrogacy treatment, including 9 liveborn twins. Of these, 22% (16) were preterm and 14% (10) were low birthweight. Preterm birth was 13% for liveborn babies following SET, lower than the 31% or liveborn babies following DET. To avoid adverse outcomes for both carriers and babies, SET should be advocated in all gestational surrogacy arrangements. © 2016 The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Prescribing of asthma drugs for children 2004-2015.

PubMed

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

2018-02-20

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

Decline of forest interior conditions in the conterminous United States

EPA Science Inventory

Forest fragmentation threatens the sustainability of forest interior environments, thereby endangering subordinate ecological attributes and functions. We analyzed the spatial patterns of forest disturbance and recovery for the conterminous United States from 2001 to 2006 to det...

CONTAMINANTS AND REMEDIAL OPTIONS AT WOOD PRESERVING SITES

EPA Science Inventory

This document provides information that facilitates characterization of the site and selection of treatment technologies at wood preserving sites, to meet the regulations’ acceptable cleanup levels. It does not provide risk-assessment information or policy guidance related to det...

Issues pertaining to the permeability characteristics of coarsegraded Superpave mixes

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2002-07-01

In order to evaluate the relationships between in-place air voids, lift thickness, and permeability, 23 on-going HMA construction projects were visited and field permeability tests conducted. Field permeability tests were conducted at 15 randomly det...

Research notes : bridge washing to reduce salt.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2005-10-01

The Oregon Department of Transportation investigated periodic bridge washing as a way to possibly remove chloride from the concrete and stop further uptake of chloride ions. Washing trials were conducted over a 4-year period on concrete blocks to det...

Nonlinear analysis of electromyogram following gait training with myoelectrically triggered neuromuscular electrical stimulation in stroke survivors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dutta, Anirban; Khattar, Bhawna; Banerjee, Alakananda

2012-12-01

Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) facilitates ambulatory function after paralysis by activating the muscles of the lower extremities. The NMES-assisted stepping can either be triggered by a heel-switch (switch-trigger), or by an electromyogram (EMG)-based gait event detector (EMG-trigger). The command sources—switch-trigger or EMG-trigger—were presented to each group of six chronic (>6 months post-stroke) hemiplegic stroke survivors. The switch-trigger group underwent transcutaneous NMES-assisted gait training for 1 h, five times a week for 2 weeks, where the stimulation of the tibialis anterior muscle of the paretic limb was triggered with a heel-switch detecting heel-rise of the same limb. The EMG-trigger group underwent transcutaneous NMES-assisted gait training of the same duration and frequency where the stimulation was triggered with surface EMG from medial gastrocnemius (MG) of the paretic limb in conjunction with a heel-switch detecting heel-rise of the same limb. During the baseline and post-intervention surface EMG assessment, a total of 10 s of surface EMG was recorded from bilateral MG muscle while the subjects tried to stand steady on their toes. A nonlinear tool—recurrence quantification analysis (RQA)—was used to analyze the surface EMG. The objective of this study was to find the effect of NMES-assisted gait training with switch-trigger or EMG-trigger on two RQA parameters—the percentage of recurrence (%Rec) and determinism (%Det), which were extracted from surface EMG during fatiguing contractions of the paretic muscle. The experimental results showed that during fatiguing contractions, (1) %Rec and %Det have a higher initial value for paretic muscle than the non-paretic muscle, (2) the rate of change in %Rec and %Det was negative for the paretic muscle but positive for the non-paretic muscle, (3) the rate of change in %Rec and %Det significantly increased from baseline for the paretic muscle after EMG-triggered NMES-assisted gait training. Therefore, the study showed an improvement in paretic muscle function during a fatiguing task following gait training with EMG-triggered NMES. This study also showed that RQA parameters—%Rec and %Det—were sensitive to changes in paretic/non-paretic muscle properties due to gait training and can be used for non-invasive muscle monitoring in stroke survivors undergoing rehabilitation.

75 FR 69682 - Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Approval of Det Norske Veritas Healthcare for Deeming Authority...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-11-15

... to ensure drugs and biologicals are administered by and under the supervision of a registered nurse...), DNVHC revised its standards to ensure all drugs and biologicals are administered under the orders of a...

Dielectric properties of agricultural materials and their application

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

This book is prepared as a comprehensive source of information on dielectric properties of agricultural materials for scientific researchers and engineers involved in practical application of radio-frequency and microwave energy for potential problem solutions. Dielectric properties of materials det...

Heterogeneous regional signal control : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-03-12

The goal of this project is to develop a comprehensive framework with a set of models to improve multi-modal traffic signal control, by incorporating advanced floating sensor data (e.g. GPS data, etc.) and traditional fixed sensor data (e.g. loop det...

A comparison of the morphological and physiochemical characteristics of ten carambola cultivars

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Carambola (Averrhoa carambola L.) was grown on a Krome gravely loam soil (Loamy-skeletal, carbonic, hyperthermic Lithic Udorthents) in Miami, FL. Carambola morphological characteristics were determined by measuring fruit length, diameter and weight. Carambola physiochemical characteristics were det...

27 CFR 555.125 - Records maintained by permittees.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

...; (iii) Manufacturer's marks of identification; (iv) Quantity (applicable quantity units, such as pounds... (dyn), blasting agents (ba), detonators (det), display fireworks (df), etc., and size (length and... nonlicensees or nonpermittees as prescribed in § 555.126. (5) The regional director (compliance) may authorize...

27 CFR 555.125 - Records maintained by permittees.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

...; (iii) Manufacturer's marks of identification; (iv) Quantity (applicable quantity units, such as pounds... (dyn), blasting agents (ba), detonators (det), display fireworks (df), etc., and size (length and... nonlicensees or nonpermittees as prescribed in § 555.126. (5) The regional director (compliance) may authorize...

Factors affecting the performance of bridge decks in Virginia.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1991-01-01

A detailed examination was made of 34 bridge decks, 11 to 30 years old, containing uncoated reinforcing steel. These bridges are located throughout Virginia. Cores were taken from each to evaluate the quality of the concrete with the objective of det...

Terbuthylazine and desethylterbuthylazine: Recent occurrence, mobility and removal techniques.

PubMed

Tasca, Andrea Luca; Puccini, Monica; Fletcher, Ashleigh

2018-07-01

The herbicide terbuthylazine (TBA) has displaced atrazine in most of EU countries, becoming one of the most regularly used pesticides and, therefore, frequently detected in natural waters. The affinity of TBA for soil organic matter suggests prolonged contamination; degradation leads to the release of the metabolite desethylterbuthylazine (DET), which has higher water solubility and binds more weakly to organic matter compared to the parent compound, resulting in higher associated risk for contamination of groundwater resources. Additionally, TBA and DET are chemicals of emerging concern because of their persistence and toxicity towards aquatic organisms; moreover, they are known to have significant endocrine disruption capacity to wildlife and humans. Conventional treatments applied during drinking water production do not lead to the complete removal of these chemicals; activated carbon provides the greatest efficiency, whereas ozonation can generate by-products with comparable oestrogenic activity to atrazine. Hydrogen peroxide alone is ineffective to degrade TBA, while UV/H 2 O 2 advanced oxidation and photocatalysis are the most effective processes for oxidation of TBA. It has been determined that direct photolysis gives the highest degradation efficiency of all UV/H 2 O 2 treatments, while most of the photocatalytic degradation is attributed to OH radicals, and TiO 2 solar-photocatalytic ozonation can lead to almost complete TBA removal in ∼30 min. Constructed wetlands provide a valuable buffer capacity, protecting downstream surface waters from contaminated runoff. TBA and DET occurrence are summarized and removal techniques are critically evaluated and compared, to provide the reader with a comprehensive guide to state-of-the-art TBA removal and potential future treatments. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Differences in Acute Ischemic Stroke Quality of Care and Outcomes by Primary Stroke Center Certification Organization.

PubMed

Man, Shumei; Cox, Margueritte; Patel, Puja; Smith, Eric E; Reeves, Mathew J; Saver, Jeffrey L; Bhatt, Deepak L; Xian, Ying; Schwamm, Lee H; Fonarow, Gregg C

2017-02-01

Primary stroke center (PSC) certification was established to identify hospitals providing evidence-based care for stroke patients. The numbers of PSCs certified by Joint Commission (JC), Healthcare Facilities Accreditation Program, Det Norske Veritas, and State-based agencies have significantly increased in the past decade. This study aimed to evaluate whether PSCs certified by different organizations have similar quality of care and in-hospital outcomes. The study population consisted of acute ischemic stroke patients who were admitted to PSCs participating in Get With The Guidelines-Stroke between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2012. Measures of care quality and outcomes were compared among the 4 different PSC certifications. A total of 477 297 acute ischemic stroke admissions were identified from 977 certified PSCs (73.8% JC, 3.7% Det Norske Veritas, 1.2% Healthcare Facilities Accreditation Program, and 21.3% State-based). Composite care quality was generally similar among the 4 groups of hospitals, although State-based PSCs underperformed JC PSCs in a few key measures, including intravenous tissue-type plasminogen activator use. The rates of tissue-type plasminogen activator use were higher in JC and Det Norske Veritas (9.0% and 9.8%) and lower in State and Healthcare Facilities Accreditation Program certified hospitals (7.1% and 5.9%) (P<0.0001). Door-to-needle times were significantly longer in Healthcare Facilities Accreditation Program hospitals. State PSCs had higher in-hospital risk-adjusted mortality (odds ratio 1.23, 95% confidence intervals 1.07-1.41) compared with JC PSCs. Among Get With The Guidelines-Stroke hospitals with PSC certification, acute ischemic stroke quality of care and outcomes may differ according to which organization provided certification. These findings may have important implications for further improving systems of care. © 2016 American Heart Association, Inc.

FluDetWeb: an interactive web-based system for the early detection of the onset of influenza epidemics.

PubMed

Conesa, David; López-Quílez, Antonio; Martínez-Beneito, Miguel Angel; Miralles, María Teresa; Verdejo, Francisco

2009-07-29

The early identification of influenza outbreaks has became a priority in public health practice. A large variety of statistical algorithms for the automated monitoring of influenza surveillance have been proposed, but most of them require not only a lot of computational effort but also operation of sometimes not-so-friendly software. In this paper, we introduce FluDetWeb, an implementation of a prospective influenza surveillance methodology based on a client-server architecture with a thin (web-based) client application design. Users can introduce and edit their own data consisting of a series of weekly influenza incidence rates. The system returns the probability of being in an epidemic phase (via e-mail if desired). When the probability is greater than 0.5, it also returns the probability of an increase in the incidence rate during the following week. The system also provides two complementary graphs. This system has been implemented using statistical free-software (R and WinBUGS), a web server environment for Java code (Tomcat) and a software module created by us (Rdp) responsible for managing internal tasks; the software package MySQL has been used to construct the database management system. The implementation is available on-line from: http://www.geeitema.org/meviepi/fludetweb/. The ease of use of FluDetWeb and its on-line availability can make it a valuable tool for public health practitioners who want to obtain information about the probability that their system is in an epidemic phase. Moreover, the architecture described can also be useful for developers of systems based on computationally intensive methods.

FluDetWeb: an interactive web-based system for the early detection of the onset of influenza epidemics

PubMed Central

2009-01-01

Background The early identification of influenza outbreaks has became a priority in public health practice. A large variety of statistical algorithms for the automated monitoring of influenza surveillance have been proposed, but most of them require not only a lot of computational effort but also operation of sometimes not-so-friendly software. Results In this paper, we introduce FluDetWeb, an implementation of a prospective influenza surveillance methodology based on a client-server architecture with a thin (web-based) client application design. Users can introduce and edit their own data consisting of a series of weekly influenza incidence rates. The system returns the probability of being in an epidemic phase (via e-mail if desired). When the probability is greater than 0.5, it also returns the probability of an increase in the incidence rate during the following week. The system also provides two complementary graphs. This system has been implemented using statistical free-software (ℝ and WinBUGS), a web server environment for Java code (Tomcat) and a software module created by us (Rdp) responsible for managing internal tasks; the software package MySQL has been used to construct the database management system. The implementation is available on-line from: http://www.geeitema.org/meviepi/fludetweb/. Conclusion The ease of use of FluDetWeb and its on-line availability can make it a valuable tool for public health practitioners who want to obtain information about the probability that their system is in an epidemic phase. Moreover, the architecture described can also be useful for developers of systems based on computationally intensive methods. PMID:19640304

Regional Analysis of Energy, Water, Land and Climate Interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tidwell, V. C.; Averyt, K.; Harriss, R. C.; Hibbard, K. A.; Newmark, R. L.; Rose, S. K.; Shevliakova, E.; Wilson, T.

2014-12-01

Energy, water, and land systems interact in many ways and are impacted by management and climate change. These systems and their interactions often differ in significant ways from region-to-region. To explore the coupled energy-water-land system and its relation to climate change and management a simple conceptual model of demand, endowment and technology (DET) is proposed. A consistent and comparable analysis framework is needed as climate change and resource management practices have the potential to impact each DET element, resource, and region differently. These linkages are further complicated by policy and trade agreements where endowments of one region are used to meet demands in another. This paper reviews the unique DET characteristics of land, energy and water resources across the United States. Analyses are conducted according to the eight geographic regions defined in the 2014 National Climate Assessment. Evident from the analyses are regional differences in resources endowments in land (strong East-West gradient in forest, cropland and desert), water (similar East-West gradient), and energy. Demands likewise vary regionally reflecting differences in population density and endowment (e.g., higher water use in West reflecting insufficient precipitation to support dryland farming). The effect of technology and policy are particularly evident in differences in the energy portfolios across the eight regions. Integrated analyses that account for the various spatial and temporal differences in regional energy, water and land systems are critical to informing effective policy requirements for future energy, climate and resource management. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.

Transcriptomic Profiling of Extracellular RNAs Present in Cerebrospinal Fluid Identifies Differentially Expressed Transcripts in Parkinson’s Disease

PubMed Central

Hossein-nezhad, Arash; Fatemi, Roya Pedram; Ahmad, Rili; Peskind, Elaine R.; Zabetian, Cyrus P.; Hu, Shu-Ching; Shi, Min; Wahlestedt, Claes; Zhang, Jing; Faghihi, Mohammad Ali

2016-01-01

Background: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a debilitating neurological disorder for which prognostic and diagnostic biomarkers are lacking. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is an accessible body fluid that comes into direct contact with the central nervous system (CNS) and acts as a nuclease-free repository where RNA transcripts shed by brain tissues can reside for extended periods of time. Objective: We studied the RNA species present in the CSF of PD patients to identify novel diagnostic biomarkers. Methods: Small volumes of CSF from 27 PD patients and 30 healthy age- and sex-matched controls were used for RNA extraction followed by next-generation sequencing (RNA-seq) using the Illumina platform. CSF contains a number of fragmented RNA species that were individually sequenced and analyzed. Comparing PD to control subjects, we observed a pool of dysregulated sequencing tags that were further analyzed and validated by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Results: A total of 201 differentially expressed sequencing tags (DETs), including 92 up-regulated and 109 down-regulated DETs were identified. We validated the following DETs by real time PCR in the patient samples: Dnmt1, Ezh2, CCR3, SSTR5,PTPRC, UBC, NDUFV2, BMP7, SCN9, SCN9 antisense (AC010127.3), and long noncoding RNAs AC079630 and UC001lva.4 (close to the LRRK2 gene locus), as potential PD biomarkers. Conclusions: The CSF is a unique environment that contains many species of RNA. Our work demonstrates that CSF can potentially be used to identify biomarkers for the detection and tracking of disease progression and evaluation of therapeutic outcomes. PMID:26889637

26. Plutonium Recovery From Contaminated Materials, Architectural Elevations, Sections & ...

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

26. Plutonium Recovery From Contaminated Materials, Architectural Elevations, Sections & Dets., Building 232-Z, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, Hanford Atomic Products Operation, General Electric Company, Dwg. No. H-2-23106, 1959. - Plutonium Finishing Plant, Waste Incinerator Facility, 200 West Area, Richland, Benton County, WA

27 CFR 555.122 - Records maintained by licensed importers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... quantity units, such as pounds of explosives, number of detonators, number of display fireworks, etc.). (5) Description (dynamite (dyn), blasting agents (ba), detonators (det), display fireworks (df), etc.) and size... identification. (4) Quantity (applicable quantity units, such as pounds of explosives, number of detonators...

27 CFR 555.122 - Records maintained by licensed importers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... quantity units, such as pounds of explosives, number of detonators, number of display fireworks, etc.). (5) Description (dynamite (dyn), blasting agents (ba), detonators (det), display fireworks (df), etc.) and size... identification. (4) Quantity (applicable quantity units, such as pounds of explosives, number of detonators...

Widening Participation in University Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rissman, Barbara; Carrington, Suzanne; Bland, Derek

2013-01-01

This paper reports how one Australian university and the Queensland Department of Education and Training (DET) are working together to increase the number of school students from low socio-economic backgrounds enrolling in undergraduate university degrees. This innovative program involves university lecturers and school teachers working together…

A SINGLE GENOTYPE OF ENCEPHALITOZOON INTESTIINALIS INFECTS FREE-RANGING GORILLAS AND PEOPLE SHARING THEIR HABITATS, UGANDA

EPA Science Inventory

For conservation purposes and due to ecotourism free-ranging gorillas of Uganda have been habituated to humans, and molecular epidemiology evidence indicates that this habituation might have enhanced transmission of anthropozoonotic pathogens. Microsporidian spores have been det...

Soil carbon dynamics of tree plantings for woody biomass feedstock

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Agroforestry practices are being considered for their bioenergy potential as the wood could be harvested for direct combustion, cellulose to ethanol conversion, or pyrolysis to bio-oils. The objective of this project was to use spatially-distributed soil sampling and soil profile descriptions to det...

Fluorescence polarization immunoassays for rapid, accurate and sensitive determination of mycotoxins

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPIA) is a type of homogeneous assay. For low molecular weight antigens, such as mycotoxins, it is based on the competition between an unlabeled antigen and its fluorescent-labeled derivative (tracer) for an antigen-specific antibody. The antigen content is det...

CHARACTERIZING THE PIPE WALL DEMAND FOR FREE CHLORINE IN METALLIC PIPES

EPA Science Inventory

As water moves through distribution system water quality deterioration can take place in the bulk phase or through interactions at the pipe wall. These transformations can be physical, chemical or microbiological in nature. Perhaps one of the most serious aspects of quality det...

Electromagnetic Environment Measurements of PRT Systems at "TRANSPO 72" : Volume VI

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1974-01-01

An X-Y plot is made of the radiated electromagnetic signals and noise between 1 KHz and 50KHz at each of the four Personalized Rapid Transit (PRT) sites at Dulles International Airport. The PRT Systems were operated simultaneously in an effort to det...

Computational fluid dynamics applications to improve crop production systems

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD), numerical analysis and simulation tools of fluid flow processes have emerged from the development stage and become nowadays a robust design tool. It is widely used to study various transport phenomena which involve fluid flow, heat and mass transfer, providing det...

Generation of a Composite Grid for Turbine Flows and Consideration of a Numerical Scheme.

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-11-01

section (a) Grids on blade-to-blade surface. WIWcr fb eatv r.t35eaiy aiso lsnbaet-baesrae Figure~~~~~~~~ 4. "eo’ycotuso.4det-ld urae(rmtre-ieso5 .2lcdcmp

Control of reflection cracking in a fabric-reinforced overlay on jointed portland cement concrete pavement.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1982-01-01

A study of the installation and three-year performance evaluation of a fabric-reinforced bituminous concrete overlay of a jointed concrete pavement is reported. The fabric, a polypropylene in an asphaltic mastic, was shown to act as a significant det...

Skill/Knowledge Commonalities in Selected Electronics Specialties.

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-10-01

Maintenance Specialist 241 19 30750 Telecomunications Systems Control Specialist 498 35 30950A Missile Det and Warning Radar Specialistc 18 30 309506... Telecomunications Systems Control Specialist 59 ( 5) 125 (10) 259 (21) :. aNumbers in parenthesis are percentage of total possible (1,257). bBased on principles

Polyplex micelle installing intracellular self-processing functionalities without free catiomers for safe and efficient systemic gene therapy through tumor vasculature targeting.

PubMed

Chen, Qixian; Osada, Kensuke; Ge, Zhishen; Uchida, Satoshi; Tockary, Theofilus A; Dirisala, Anjaneyulu; Matsui, Akitsugu; Toh, Kazuko; Takeda, Kaori M; Liu, Xueying; Nomoto, Takahiro; Ishii, Tekihiko; Oba, Makoto; Matsumoto, Yu; Kataoka, Kazunori

2017-01-01

Both efficiency and safety profiles are crucial for promotion of gene delivery systems towards practical applications. A promising template system was previously developed based on block catiomer of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-b-poly{N'-[N-(2-aminoethyl)-2-aminoehtyl]aspartamide}-cholesteryl [PEG-PAsp(DET)-cholesteryl] with strategies of ligand conjugation at the α-terminus for specific affinity to the targeted cells and cholesteryl conjugation at the ω-terminus for structural stabilization to obtain systemic retention. Aiming for advocating this formulation towards practical applications, in the current study, the binding profile of this polymer to plasmid DNA (pDNA) was carefully studied to address an issue of toxicity origin. Quantification of free polymer composition confirmed that the toxicity mainly results from unbound polymer and polyplex micelle itself has negligible toxicity. This evaluation allowed for identifying an optimal condition to prepare safe polyplex micelles for systemic application that possess maximal polymer-binding but exclude free polymers. The identified polyplex micelles then faced a drawback of limited transfection efficiency due to the absence of free polymer, which is an acknowledged tendency found in various synthetic gene carriers. Thus, series of functional components was strategically compiled to improve the transfection efficiency such as attachment of cyclic (Arg-Gly-Asp) (cRGD) peptide as a ligand onto the polyplex micelles to facilitate cellular uptake, use of endosome membrane disruptive catiomer of PAsp(DET) for facilitating endosome escape along with use of the conjugated cholesteryl group to amplify the effect of PAsp(DET) on membrane disruption, so as to obtain efficient transfection. The mechanistic investigation respecting the appreciated pH dependent protonation behavior of PAsp(DET) permitted to depict an intriguing scenario how the block catiomers manage to escape from the endosome entrapment in response to the pH gradient. Subsequent systemic application to the pancreatic tumor demonstrated a capability of vascular targeting mediated by the cRGD ligand, which was directly confirmed based on in situ confocal laser scanning microscopy observation. Encouraging this result, the vascular targeting to transfect a secretable anti-angiogenic gene was attempted to treat the intractable pancreatic tumor with anticipation that the strategy could circumvent the intrinsic physiological barriers derived from hypovascular and fibrotic characters. The obtained therapeutic efficiency demonstrates promising utilities of the proposed formulation as a safe systemic gene delivery carrier in practical use. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

27 CFR 555.123 - Records maintained by licensed manufacturers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... marks of identification. (3) Quantity (applicable quantity units, such as pounds of explosives, number...), blasting agents (ba), detonators (det), display fireworks (df), etc.) and size (length and diameter or... or brand name of manufacturer or name of importer, as applicable, if acquired other than by his own...

27 CFR 555.123 - Records maintained by licensed manufacturers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... marks of identification. (3) Quantity (applicable quantity units, such as pounds of explosives, number...), blasting agents (ba), detonators (det), display fireworks (df), etc.) and size (length and diameter or... or brand name of manufacturer or name of importer, as applicable, if acquired other than by his own...

Elementary Teachers' Views about Teaching Design, Engineering, and Technology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hsu, Ming-Chien; Purzer, Senay; Cardella, Monica E.

2011-01-01

While there is a growing interest in infusing engineering into elementary classrooms, very little is known about how well positioned elementary teachers are to teach engineering. This study examined elementary teachers' perceptions of and familiarity with design,engineering, and technology (DET). We collected data from 192 elementary teachers…

Counsellors' Attitudes towards Disability Equality Training (DET)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parkinson, Gill

2006-01-01

This paper explores the attitudes and conceptions held by trainee and practising counsellors towards people with disabilities. Awareness of counsellors' own views of disability and impairment can complicate the counsellor-client relationship when the latter is seen primarily from a deficiency model perspective or self-defined model of disability,…

CHARACTERIZATION OF OZONE EMISSIONS FROM AIR CLEANERS EQUIPPED WITH OZONE GENERATORS AND SENSOR AND FEEDBACK CONTROL CIRCUITRY

EPA Science Inventory

The paper give results of a characterization of ozone emissions from air cleaners equipped with ozone generators and sensor and feedback control circuitry. Ozone emission rates of several consumer appliances, marketed as indoor air treatment or air purification systems, were det...

Computational studies on the excited state properties of citrinin and application in fluorescence analysis

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Citrinin is a mycotoxin of increasing concern that is produced by fungi associated with maize, red yeast rice, and other agricultural commodities. A comprehensive time-dependent density functional study on the excited state properties of citrinin was conducted to identify parameters for reliable det...

Effects of nozzle spray angle on droplet size and velocity

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Spray applicators have many choices in selecting a spray nozzle to make an application of an agricultural product. They must balance flowrate, spray pressure, and nozzle type and setup to deliver their agrochemical in the right droplet size for their particular needs. Studies were conducted to det...

Characterizing "Adversity" of Pathology Findings in Nonclinical Toxicity Studies: Results from the 4th ESTP International Expert Workshop.

EPA Science Inventory

The identification of adverse health effects has a central role in the development and risk/safety assessment of chemical entities and pharmaceuticals. There is currently a need for better alignment in the toxicologic pathology community regarding how nonclinical adversity is det...

Field monitoring of the I-295 bridge over the James River : instrumentation installation and construction period studies : interim report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1988-01-01

This report reviews the various techniques considered for instrumenting the Rte. 1-295 cable-stayed bridge over the James River near Richmond, Virginia. From this review an instrumentation plan is developed to meet the following objectives: 1. to det...

Identification of a hybrid PKS-NRPS required for the biosynthesis of NG-391 in Metarhizium anisopliae var. anisopliae

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A 19,818 kb genomic region harboring six predicted ORFs was identified in M. anisopliae ARSEF 2575. ORF4, putatively encoding a hybrid polyketide synthase-nonribosomal peptide synthetase (PKS-NRPS) was targeted using Agrobacterium-mediated gene knockout. Homologous recombinants failed to produce det...

An Assessment of the Effects of the Endocrine Disrupting Chemical 17ß-Trenbolone on Japanese Medaka Fish in a Multigenerational Exposure

EPA Science Inventory

Presently the research emphasis for endocrine disrupting chemicals has been on the development of short-term screening assays. However, assessing effect concentrations of the most sensitive developmental stages impacted in longer-term and multi-generation tests remains to be det...

The view from above: The potential of aerial surveillance in identifying CWD infected herds.

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Background/Introduction. Large mammals such as domestic cattle and red deer have been reported to align themselves with the magnetic North Pole. Since chronic wasting disease (CWD) affects the behavior of infected cervids, it may be possible to estimate the infection rate, at a herd level, by det...

Measured soil water evaporation as a function of the square root of time and reference ET

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is a drought-adapted crop with a short growing season that reduces irrigation requirements and makes it ideal for regions with limited irrigation water supplies. Our objectives were a) to evaluate the yield potential of sunflower under deficit irrigation and b) det...

77 FR 51537 - Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Continued Approval of Det Norske Veritas Healthcare's (DNVHC's...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-24

... continued recognition as a national accrediting organization for hospitals that wish to participate in the... effective September 26, 2012, through September 26, 2018. DATES: This final notice is effective September 26... accreditation by an approved national accrediting organization (AO) that all applicable Medicare conditions are...

To Free the Spirit? Motivation and Engagement of Indigenous Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Munns, Geoff; Martin, Andrew; Craven, Rhonda

2008-01-01

This article directly responds to issues impacting on the social and academic outcomes of Indigenous students that were identified in the recent review of Aboriginal Education conducted by the New South Wales Department of Education and Training (NSW DET) in partnership with New South Wales Aboriginal Education Consultative Group (NSW AECG). Not…

Preparing Teachers for Rural Appointments: Lessons from Australia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lock, Graeme

2008-01-01

Education authorities continue to experience difficulty in recruiting and retaining teachers in rural and remote schools. In Western Australia (WA), a state noted for its vastness and number of schools located in rural and remote settings, a scheme developed by the Western Australian Department of Education and Training (DET) and the WA Chamber of…

Development of digital instructional modules for transportation engineers overviewing the fundamentals of how to obtain soil properties in practice.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-12-01

The work completed in this project created a series of online lab modules that : transportation professionals could use as a reference to learn how to conduct, how to : interpret, and the applications of geotechnical lab tests used in practice to det...

Pre-Service Teachers' Literacy Self-Efficacy and Literacy Competence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bostock, Louise; Boon, Helen

2012-01-01

The impetus for the study reported in this paper was Queensland's poor performance on 2008's NAPLAN testing, the Queensland Education Performance Review (Department of Education and Training, [DET]2009b) that followed and the subsequent adoption of pre-registration tests for aspiring Primary and Early Childhood teachers (Queensland College of…

Sediment Pore Water Ammonium and Phosphate Concentrations in Choctawhatchee Bay as?Determined by the Diffusive Equilibration in Thin Films (DET) Technique

EPA Science Inventory

Choctawhatchee Bay (CB) is a large estuarine ecosystem in northwest Florida that provides quality of life and economic benefits to local residents. The CB watershed is largely forested, but with significant agriculture in its northern part and intense residential and commercial ...

In-situ exposure of fish for biomarker experimentation at Department of Water Resources (DWR) real-time monitoring sites

EPA Science Inventory

For decades, the field of aquatic toxicology has assessed the health of water bodies using, primarily, laboratory based static-renewal toxicity tests. In recent years, there has been a push to supplement traditinal toxicity tests with experiments using molecular biomarkers to det...

The first use of a HPLC system at a Louisiana Sugarcane Factory: What it can do for you

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Alma Plantation sugarcane factory established and operated the first High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) system in Louisiana in 2015. Although many HPLC systems exist, the factory opted for a ThermoFisherTM ion chromatography (anion exchange) system with integrated pulsed amperometric det...

Indigenous Students' Increasing Risk of Grade Repetition in Early Schooling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, Robyn

2012-01-01

The current study considers grade repetition rates in the early years of school, Preparatory (Prep) to Year 3, in Queensland state schools, of which there is a significant gap in the Australian research literature. Data accessed from the Queensland Government's Department of Education and Training (DET), shows that particular groups of students…

Synthesis and Investigation of Advanced Energetic Materials Based on Bispyrazolylmethanes.

PubMed

Fischer, Dennis; Gottfried, Jennifer L; Klapötke, Thomas M; Karaghiosoff, Konstantin; Stierstorfer, Jörg; Witkowski, Tomasz G

2016-12-23

Herein we present the preparation and characterization of three new bispyrazolyl-based energetic compounds with great potential as explosive materials. The reaction of sodium 4-amino-3,5-dinitropyrazolate (5) with dimethyl iodide yielded bis(4-amino-3,5-dinitropyrazolyl)methane (6), which is a secondary explosive with high heat resistance (T dec =310 °C). The oxidation of this compound afforded bis(3,4,5-trinitropyrazolyl)methane (7), which is a combined nitrogen- and oxygen-rich secondary explosive with very high theoretical and estimated experimental detonation performance (V det (theor)=9304 m s -1 versus V det (exp)=9910 m s -1 ) in the range of that of CL-20. Also, the thermal stability (T dec =205 °C) and sensitivities of 7 are auspicious. The reaction of 6 with in situ generated nitrous acid yielded the primary explosive bis(4-diazo-5-nitro-3-oxopyrazolyl)methane (8), which showed superior properties to those of currently used diazodinitrophenol (DDNP). © 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Brassinosteroid control of sex determination in maize.

PubMed

Hartwig, Thomas; Chuck, George S; Fujioka, Shozo; Klempien, Antje; Weizbauer, Renate; Potluri, Devi Prasad V; Choe, Sunghwa; Johal, Gurmukh S; Schulz, Burkhard

2011-12-06

Brassinosteroids (BRs) are plant hormones that regulate growth and development. They share structural similarities with animal steroids, which are decisive factors of sex determination. BRs are known to regulate morphogenesis and environmental stress responses, but their involvement in sex determination in plants has been only speculative. We show that BRs control sex determination in maize revealed through characterization of the classical dwarf mutant nana plant1 (na1), which also feminizes male flowers. na1 plants carry a loss-of-function mutation in a DET2 homolog--a gene in the BR biosynthetic pathway. The mutant accumulates the DET2-specific substrate (24R)-24-methylcholest-4-en-3-one with a concomitant decrease of downstream BR metabolites. Treatment of wild-type maize plants with BR biosynthesis inhibitors completely mimicked both dwarf and tasselseed phenotypes of na1 mutants. Tissue-specific na1 expression in anthers throughout their development supports the hypothesis that BRs promote masculinity of the male inflorescence. These findings suggest that, in the monoecious plant maize, BRs have been coopted to perform a sex determination function not found in plants with bisexual flowers.

Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic analysis comparing diverse effects of detomidine, medetomidine, and dexmedetomidine in the horse: a population analysis.

PubMed

Grimsrud, K N; Ait-Oudhia, S; Durbin-Johnson, B P; Rocke, D M; Mama, K R; Rezende, M L; Stanley, S D; Jusko, W J

2015-02-01

The present study characterizes the pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) relationships of the α2-adrenergic receptor agonists detomidine (DET), medetomidine (MED) and dexmedetomidine (DEX) in parallel groups of horses from in vivo data after single bolus doses. Head height (HH), heart rate (HR), and blood glucose concentrations were measured over 6 h. Compartmental PK and minimal physiologically based PK (mPBPK) models were applied and incorporated into basic and extended indirect response models (IRM). Population PK/PD analysis was conducted using the Monolix software implementing the stochastic approximation expectation maximization algorithm. Marked reductions in HH and HR were found. The drug concentrations required to obtain inhibition at half-maximal effect (IC50 ) were approximately four times larger for DET than MED and DEX for both HH and HR. These effects were not gender dependent. Medetomidine had a greater influence on the increase in glucose concentration than DEX. The developed models demonstrate the use of mechanistic and mPBPK/PD models for the analysis of clinically obtainable in vivo data. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic analysis comparing diverse effects of detomidine, medetomidine, and dexmedetomidine in the horse: a population analysis

PubMed Central

Grimsrud, K. N.; Ait-Oudhia, S.; Durbin-Johnson, B. P.; Rocke, D. M.; Mama, K. R.; Rezende, M. L.; Stanley, S. D.; Jusko, W. J.

2014-01-01

The present study characterizes the pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) relationships of the α2-adrenergic receptor agonists detomidine (DET), medetomidine (MED) and dexmedetomidine (DEX) in parallel groups of horses from in vivo data after single bolus doses. Head height (HH), heart rate (HR), and blood glucose concentrations were measured over 6 h. Compartmental PK and minimal physiologically based PK (mPBPK) models were applied and incorporated into basic and extended indirect response models (IRM). Population PK/PD analysis was conducted using the Monolix software implementing the stochastic approximation expectation maximization algorithm. Marked reductions in HH and HR were found. The drug concentrations required to obtain inhibition at half-maximal effect (IC50) were approximately four times larger for DET than MED and DEX for both HH and HR. These effects were not gender dependent. Medetomidine had a greater influence on the increase in glucose concentration than DEX. The developed models demonstrate the use of mechanistic and mPBPK/PD models for the analysis of clinically obtainable in vivo data. PMID:25073816

Basal Insulin Regimens for Adults with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis.

PubMed

Dawoud, Dalia; O'Mahony, Rachel; Wonderling, David; Cobb, Jill; Higgins, Bernard; Amiel, Stephanie A

2018-02-01

To assess the relative efficacy and safety of basal insulin regimens in adults with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). A systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis (NMA) of randomized controlled trials comparing two or more basal insulin regimens were conducted. The following basal insulin regimens were included: Neutral Protamine Hagedorn (iNPH) (once [od], twice [bid], and four times daily [qid]), insulin detemir (iDet) (od and bid), insulin glargine 100 IU (iGlarg) (od), and insulin degludec (iDegl) (od). We searched the following databases: MEDLINE via OVID, Embase via OVID, and the Cochrane Library (Wiley). Study quality was appraised using Cochrane risk-of-bias checklist for randomized controlled trials. Two outcomes (change in hemoglobin A 1c [HbA 1c ] and rate of severe/major hypoglycemia [SH]) were analyzed. Network inconsistency was assessed using Bucher and chi-square tests. Thirty studies met the eligibility criteria. Twenty-five were included in the HbA 1c network and 16 in the SH network. All studies were of moderate quality. No network inconsistency was evident in the HbA 1c network. Of the seven regimens of interest, iDet (bid) had the highest probability of being best (mean change in HbA 1c -0.48; 95% credible interval -0.69 to -0.29). In contrast, the SH network demonstrated both considerable uncertainty and significant network inconsistency (χ 2 test, P = 0.003). Of the specified frequency regimens, iDet (bid) had the highest probability of being the best basal insulin regimen in terms of reduction in HbA 1c . Ranking of the regimens in terms of the SH rate was highly uncertain and no clear conclusion could be made. Copyright © 2018 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

DETERMINATE and LATE FLOWERING are two TERMINAL FLOWER1/CENTRORADIALIS homologs that control two distinct phases of flowering initiation and development in pea.

PubMed

Foucher, Fabrice; Morin, Julie; Courtiade, Juliette; Cadioux, Sandrine; Ellis, Noel; Banfield, Mark J; Rameau, Catherine

2003-11-01

Genes in the TERMINAL FLOWER1 (TFL1)/CENTRORADIALIS family are important key regulatory genes involved in the control of flowering time and floral architecture in several different plant species. To understand the functions of TFL1 homologs in pea, we isolated three TFL1 homologs, which we have designated PsTFL1a, PsTFL1b, and PsTFL1c. By genetic mapping and sequencing of mutant alleles, we demonstrate that PsTFL1a corresponds to the DETERMINATE (DET) gene and PsTFL1c corresponds to the LATE FLOWERING (LF) gene. DET acts to maintain the indeterminacy of the apical meristem during flowering, and consistent with this role, DET expression is limited to the shoot apex after floral initiation. LF delays the induction of flowering by lengthening the vegetative phase, and allelic variation at the LF locus is an important component of natural variation for flowering time in pea. The most severe class of alleles flowers early and carries either a deletion of the entire PsTFL1c gene or an amino acid substitution. Other natural and induced alleles for LF, with an intermediate flowering time phenotype, present no changes in the PsTFL1c amino acid sequence but affect LF transcript level in the shoot apex: low LF transcript levels are correlated with early flowering, and high LF transcript levels are correlated with late flowering. Thus, different TFL1 homologs control two distinct aspects of plant development in pea, whereas a single gene, TFL1, performs both functions in Arabidopsis. These results show that different species have evolved different strategies to control key developmental transitions and also that the genetic basis for natural variation in flowering time may differ among plant species.

Sedative and antinociceptive effects of different combinations of detomidine and methadone in standing horses.

PubMed

Gozalo-Marcilla, Miguel; Luna, Stelio Pl; Crosignani, Nadia; Filho, José Np Puoli; Possebon, Fábio S; Pelligand, Ludovic; Taylor, Polly M

2017-09-01

To evaluate intravenous (IV) detomidine with methadone in horses to identify a combination which provides sedation and antinociception without adverse effects. Randomized, placebo-controlled, blinded, crossover. A group of eight adult healthy horses aged (mean ± standard deviation) 7 ± 2 years and 372 ± 27 kg. A total of six treatments were administered IV: saline (SAL); detomidine (5 μg kg -1 ; DET); methadone (0.2 mg kg -1 ; MET) alone or combined with detomidine [2.5 (MLD), 5 (MMD) or 10 (MHD) μg kg -1 ]. Thermal, mechanical and electrical nociceptive thresholds were measured, and sedation, head height above ground (HHAG), cardiopulmonary variables and intestinal motility were evaluated at 5, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90, 120 and 180 minutes. Normal data were analyzed by mixed-model analysis of variance and non-normal by Kruskal-Wallis (p < 0.05). Nociceptive thresholds in horses administered methadone with the higher doses of detomidine (MMD, MHD) were increased above baseline to a greater degree and for longer duration (MMD: 15-30 minutes, MHD: 30-60 minutes) than in horses administered low dose with methadone or detomidine alone (MLD, DET: 5-15 minutes). No increases in nociceptive thresholds were recorded in SAL or MET. Compared with baseline, HHAG was lower for 30 minutes in MMD and DET, and for 45 minutes in MHD. No significant sedation was observed in SAL, MET or MLD. Intestinal motility was reduced for 75 minutes in MHD and for 30 minutes in all other treatments. Methadone (0.2 mg kg -1 ) potentiated the antinociception produced by detomidine (5 μg kg -1 ), with minimal sedative effects. Detomidine (5 μg kg -1 ) with methadone (0.2 mg kg -1 ) produced antinociception without the adverse effects of higher doses of detomidine. Copyright © 2017 Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists and American College of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A STUDY TO DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF USING A GROUND-PENETRATING RADAR FOR MORE EFFECTIVE REMEDIATION OF SUBSURFACE CONTAMINATION

EPA Science Inventory

A study was conducted (1) to assess the capability of groundpenetrating radar (GPR) to identify natural subsurface features, detect man-made objects burled in the soil, and both detect and define the extent of contaminated soil or ground water due to a toxic spill, and (2) to det...

76 FR 65891 - Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Reform of Hospital and Critical Access Hospital Conditions of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-24

... accreditation organizations approved by CMS as having standards and survey procedures that are at least... Accreditation Program (AOA/HFAP), and Det Norske Veritas Healthcare (DNV) (See 42 CFR part 488, Survey and...-10) issued on October 24, 2008 ( http://www.cms.gov/SurveyCertificationGenInfo/downloads/SCLetter09...

Evaluation of 3M molecular detection system and ANSR pathogen detection system for rapid detection of salmonella from egg products

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) is a novel simple detection technology that amplifies DNA with high speed, efficiency, and specificity under isothermal conditions. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of 3M Molecular Detection System (MDS) and ANSR Pathogen Det...

Detection of low-concentration host mRNA transcripts in Malawian children at risk for environmental enteropathy

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Transcriptomic analysis of fecal samples is an emerging method for the diagnosis of gastrointestinal pathology because it is noninvasive and requires minute volumes of analyte; however, detection of mRNA in low copy numbers in human stool is challenging. Our objective was to develop a method for det...

Sediment Pore Water Ammonium Concentrations in Old Tampa Bay as Determined by the Diffusive Equilibration in Thin Films (DET) Technique

EPA Science Inventory

Increased nitrogen loading, associated with rapid human population growth, was thought to be a major driver of Tampa Bay water quality degradation in the decades immediately after the Second World War. Improvements in wastewater treatment in the early 1980s led to marked reductio...

76 FR 7856 - Proposed Data Collections Submitted for Public Comment and Recommendations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-02-11

... study methodology in selected AI/AN communities that currently use the Eagle Books as well as the DETS... discussion (focus) groups with children: One group with younger children (grades K-1) and one group with older children (grades 2-4); (v) Two discussion (focus) groups with parents: One group with parents of...

WASTE MINIMIZATION AUDIT REPORT: CASE STUDIES OF MINIMIZATION OF SOLVENT WASTES AND ELECTROPLATING WASTES AT A DOD (DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE) INSTALLATION

EPA Science Inventory

The report results of a waste minimization audit carried out in 1987 at a tank reconditioning facility operated by the DOD. The audit team developed recommendations for reducing the generation FOO6 wastewater treatment sludge, and FOO2, and FOO4 solvent wastes. In addition to det...

The Antiaircraft Journal. Volume 92, Number 3, May-June 1949

DTIC Science & Technology

1949-06-01

Ft. Sill, Okla. Daley, Edward J., to 4051st STU Det Arty Sch, Ft. Sill, Okla. Dalton, Joseph R., to Marianas- Bonins Comd, Guam. Darden, Harry 1., to...AAA and GM Br, Ft. Bliss, Tex. Edwards, Dave W., to 4052d ASU AAA and GM Cen, Ft. Bliss, Tex. Eiler, Donald 1., to US Army Caribbean, Quarry Heights

Deductive Reasoning to Teach Newton's Law of Motion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Han Su; Park, Jongwon

2013-01-01

Finding out about and then understanding the forces acting on a moving object, based on a description of the change in motion of this object, is an important part of the conceptual understanding of Newton's law of motion. Using Hempel's deductive-normative model for scientific explanation, we developed a deductive explanation task (DET),…

The Antiaircraft Journal. Volume 93, Number 3, May-June 1950

DTIC Science & Technology

1950-06-01

unification. Keep an eye peeled for the revised manuals. 1. Grid inte11lal is in meters. 2. Coordinates are expressed without parentheses, deci- mals, and...Joint Long Range Pr Gr Banana River NAS Sta, Cocoa, Fla. Mancuso, S. J., to Stu Det Hq Second Army, Univ of Pa, Phila, Pa, Marshall, J. E., to 4052d ASV

Air Force Global Weather Central System Architecture Study. Final System/Subsystem Summary Report. Volume 2. Requirements Compilation and Analysis. Part 3. Characteristics Summaries and Network Analysis

DTIC Science & Technology

1976-03-01

DB DC DCT DDB DET DF DFS DML DMS DMSP DOD DS DSARC DT EDB EDS EG ESSA ETAC EWO Control and Reporting Post Cathode Ray Tube...National and Aviation Meteorological Facsimile Network NC - Network Control NCA - National Command Authority NCAR - National Center for Atmospheric

Using a lipidomics approach for nutritional phenotyping in response to a test meal containing gamma-linolenic acid

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Plasma fatty acids are derived from preformed sources in the diet and de novo synthesis through the action of desaturase and elongase enzymes. This study was designed to examine the elongation of 18:3n6 into 20:3n6 over an eight-hour period using both targeted gas chromatography–flame ionization det...

Special Advanced Studies for Pollution Prevention. Delivery Order 0058: The Monitor - Summer 1999

DTIC Science & Technology

2000-04-01

Deputy Plant 4 IPT Mr. Alex Briskin Plant 6 IPT Mr. Andy Jeffers Plant 44 IPT Mr. John Stallings Plant 42 IPT Mr. Dave Martin ( Maddox ) Det 1, AFP 42 Lt...Laboratory, WPAFB, OH Yvonne Watson (702) 318-4668 e-mail: watsony@saic.com 17-19 Aug 99 Summer PEWG Meeting, Pratt & Whitney, Montreal, Canada Bob Bondaurk

GIS-MODELED INDICATORS OF MOBILE SOURCE EMISSIONS AND ADVERSE HEALTH EFFECTS AMONG CHILDREN IN EL PASO, TEXAS, USA

EPA Science Inventory

The El Paso Children's Health Study has been a major collaborative effort by NHEERL and NERL scientists to examine the role of mobile source emissions in the development of allergies and asthma among 4th and 5th grade children in El Paso, TX. The purpose of this study was to det...

A mutant in the CsDET2 gene leads to a systemic brassinosteriod deficiency and super compact phenotype in cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The plant hormone brassinosteroids (BR) plays important roles in the development of plant architecture. Deficiecny of BR in plant may result in extreme dwarfism. Most cucumbers have an indeterminate growth habit, and dwarfism may have it value in manipulation of plant architecture and improve produc...

Structural Modulation from 1D Chain to 3D Framework: Improved Thermostability, Insensitivity, and Energies of Two Nitrogen-Rich Energetic Coordination Polymers.

PubMed

Guo, Zhaoqi; Wu, Yunlong; Deng, Chongqing; Yang, Guoping; Zhang, Jiangong; Sun, Zhihua; Ma, Haixia; Gao, Chao; An, Zhongwei

2016-11-07

Two new energetic coordination polymers (CPs) [Pb(BT)(H 2 O) 3 ] n (1) and [Pb 3 (DOBT) 3 (H 2 O) 2 ] n ·(4H 2 O) n (2) with 1D and 3D structures were synthesized by employing two rational designed ligands, 1H,1'H-5,5'-bitetrazole (H 2 BT) and 1H,1'H-[5,5'-bitetrazole]-1,1'-diol ligands (DHBT), respectively. Thermal analyses and sensitivity tests show that the 3D architecture reinforces the network of 2 which has higher thermal stability and lower sensitivity than that of 1. Through oxygen-bomb combustion calorimetry the molar enthalpy of formation of 2 is derived to be much higher than that of 1 as well as the reported CPs. Herein, more importantly, the heats of detonation (ΔH det ) were calculated according to the decomposition products of TG-DSC-MS-FTIR simultaneous analyses for the first time. The calculated results show that ΔH det of 2 is 23% higher than that of 1. This research demonstrates that 3D energetic CP with outstanding energetic properties can be obtained through efficient and reasonable design.

Recurrence Quantification Analysis of Sentence-Level Speech Kinematics.

PubMed

Jackson, Eric S; Tiede, Mark; Riley, Michael A; Whalen, D H

2016-12-01

Current approaches to assessing sentence-level speech variability rely on measures that quantify variability across utterances and use normalization procedures that alter raw trajectory data. The current work tests the feasibility of a less restrictive nonlinear approach-recurrence quantification analysis (RQA)-via a procedural example and subsequent analysis of kinematic data. To test the feasibility of RQA, lip aperture (i.e., the Euclidean distance between lip-tracking sensors) was recorded for 21 typically developing adult speakers during production of a simple utterance. The utterance was produced in isolation and in carrier structures differing just in length or in length and complexity. Four RQA indices were calculated: percent recurrence (%REC), percent determinism (%DET), stability (MAXLINE), and stationarity (TREND). Percent determinism (%DET) decreased only for the most linguistically complex sentence; MAXLINE decreased as a function of linguistic complexity but increased for the longer-only sentence; TREND decreased as a function of both length and linguistic complexity. This research note demonstrates the feasibility of using RQA as a tool to compare speech variability across speakers and groups. RQA offers promise as a technique to assess effects of potential stressors (e.g., linguistic or cognitive factors) on the speech production system.

Coherent scattering from semi-infinite non-Hermitian potentials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmed, Zafar; Ghosh, Dona; Kumar, Sachin

2018-02-01

When two identical (coherent) beams are injected at a semi-infinite non-Hermitian medium from left and right, we show that both reflection (rL,rR) and transmission (tL,tR) amplitudes are nonreciprocal. In a parametric domain, there exists spectral singularity (SS) at a real energy E =E*=k*2 and the determinant of the time-reversed two port scattering matrix, i.e., |det(S (-k ) ) |=| tL(-k ) tR(-k ) -rL(-k ) rR(-k ) | , vanishes sharply at k =k* , displaying the phenomenon of coherent perfect absorption (CPA). In the complementary parametric domain, the potential becomes either left or right reflectionless at E =Ez . We rule out the existence of invisibility despite rR(Ei) =0 and tR(Ei) =1 but T (Ei)≠1 , in this avenue. We present two simple exactly solvable models where expressions for E*, Ez, Ei, and parametric conditions on the potential have been obtained in explicit and simple forms. Earlier, the phenomena of SS and CPA have been found to occur only in the scattering complex potentials which are spatially localized (vanish asymptotically) and have tL=tR .

Recurrence Quantification Analysis of Sentence-Level Speech Kinematics

PubMed Central

Tiede, Mark; Riley, Michael A.; Whalen, D. H.

2016-01-01

Purpose Current approaches to assessing sentence-level speech variability rely on measures that quantify variability across utterances and use normalization procedures that alter raw trajectory data. The current work tests the feasibility of a less restrictive nonlinear approach—recurrence quantification analysis (RQA)—via a procedural example and subsequent analysis of kinematic data. Method To test the feasibility of RQA, lip aperture (i.e., the Euclidean distance between lip-tracking sensors) was recorded for 21 typically developing adult speakers during production of a simple utterance. The utterance was produced in isolation and in carrier structures differing just in length or in length and complexity. Four RQA indices were calculated: percent recurrence (%REC), percent determinism (%DET), stability (MAXLINE), and stationarity (TREND). Results Percent determinism (%DET) decreased only for the most linguistically complex sentence; MAXLINE decreased as a function of linguistic complexity but increased for the longer-only sentence; TREND decreased as a function of both length and linguistic complexity. Conclusions This research note demonstrates the feasibility of using RQA as a tool to compare speech variability across speakers and groups. RQA offers promise as a technique to assess effects of potential stressors (e.g., linguistic or cognitive factors) on the speech production system. PMID:27824987

Dynamic Event Tree advancements and control logic improvements

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

Alfonsi, Andrea; Rabiti, Cristian; Mandelli, Diego

The RAVEN code has been under development at the Idaho National Laboratory since 2012. Its main goal is to create a multi-purpose platform for the deploying of all the capabilities needed for Probabilistic Risk Assessment, uncertainty quantification, data mining analysis and optimization studies. RAVEN is currently equipped with three different sampling categories: Forward samplers (Monte Carlo, Latin Hyper Cube, Stratified, Grid Sampler, Factorials, etc.), Adaptive Samplers (Limit Surface search, Adaptive Polynomial Chaos, etc.) and Dynamic Event Tree (DET) samplers (Deterministic and Adaptive Dynamic Event Trees). The main subject of this document is to report the activities that have been donemore » in order to: start the migration of the RAVEN/RELAP-7 control logic system into MOOSE, and develop advanced dynamic sampling capabilities based on the Dynamic Event Tree approach. In order to provide to all MOOSE-based applications a control logic capability, in this Fiscal Year an initial migration activity has been initiated, moving the control logic system, designed for RELAP-7 by the RAVEN team, into the MOOSE framework. In this document, a brief explanation of what has been done is going to be reported. The second and most important subject of this report is about the development of a Dynamic Event Tree (DET) sampler named “Hybrid Dynamic Event Tree” (HDET) and its Adaptive variant “Adaptive Hybrid Dynamic Event Tree” (AHDET). As other authors have already reported, among the different types of uncertainties, it is possible to discern two principle types: aleatory and epistemic uncertainties. The classical Dynamic Event Tree is in charge of treating the first class (aleatory) uncertainties; the dependence of the probabilistic risk assessment and analysis on the epistemic uncertainties are treated by an initial Monte Carlo sampling (MCDET). From each Monte Carlo sample, a DET analysis is run (in total, N trees). The Monte Carlo employs a pre-sampling of the input space characterized by epistemic uncertainties. The consequent Dynamic Event Tree performs the exploration of the aleatory space. In the RAVEN code, a more general approach has been developed, not limiting the exploration of the epistemic space through a Monte Carlo method but using all the forward sampling strategies RAVEN currently employs. The user can combine a Latin Hyper Cube, Grid, Stratified and Monte Carlo sampling in order to explore the epistemic space, without any limitation. From this pre-sampling, the Dynamic Event Tree sampler starts its aleatory space exploration. As reported by the authors, the Dynamic Event Tree is a good fit to develop a goal-oriented sampling strategy. The DET is used to drive a Limit Surface search. The methodology that has been developed by the authors last year, performs a Limit Surface search in the aleatory space only. This report documents how this approach has been extended in order to consider the epistemic space interacting with the Hybrid Dynamic Event Tree methodology.« less

Comparative Analysis of a High Bypass Turbofan Using a Pulsed Detonation Combustor

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-03-01

Thrust Specific Fuel Consumption . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 xiii List of Abbreviations Abbreviation Page PDE Pulsed Detonation Engine...past ten years to develop pulsed det- onation engines ( PDE ) as a means of aircraft propulsion. Detonation combustion holds the promise of a more...aviation engine, and detonation creates more of it than previous aircraft engines. It is hoped that a marriage of the PDE with traditional

Web-Based Naval Fleet Logistics Information System

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-12-01

Ship AOR Area of Responsibility ATG Assistant Training Group B2B Business to business Beach DET Beach Detachment CHT Collection and Holding...operationalize supply domain. While the initiatives did not specify a Web-based information system concept, business to business ( B2B ) information...cost more per pound to deliver and frequently cause delays compared to the commercial freight companies . Military personnel traveling overseas are

Agreement on Water and a Watered-Down Agreement: The Political Ecology of Contested Coastal Development in Down East, North Carolina

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Campbell, Lisa M.; Meletis, Zoe A.

2011-01-01

In 2006, land use planning emerged as a contested issue in the rural area known as "Down East", Carteret County, in eastern North Carolina, USA. Down East is experiencing a transition from a commercial fishing to an amenity economy and concerns about related changes led to the formation of "Down East Tomorrow" (DET), a…

Effects of Harmonics on EMI/RFI Filters Operating Under Nonlinear Loading Conditions

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-05-01

and used a form factor of 1.1 1), the correct rms current is really 19 Arm, (1.9 times 10 Aav ) For many distorted waveforms encountered in power...112) ATTN DET 0I1 79906 ATTN SDSSE-HE An. E~gioer. AEDC Arm. Off-. Aberdeen Proving Ground Ariold A. Forv Staton. TN 37389 US Army HSC US A..v Engr

Operation Arctic Heat Case and Exercise for Advanced Contingency Contracting

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-04-30

hOme early fOr repa1rs ~r belno ttilll’lmcd by lii tugi:IOM, !hereby ~no a kw ~raptts In dli! t>aNy ttfaiF. A ~~an C- 130 Svj)et ~Iii::$ m lllt! iry ...and procedures for return of all rental items; (ii) Det ermine which contract s require forma l termination for convenience actions and init iate

Total synthesis of Ivorenolide A following a base-induced elimination protocol.

PubMed

Mohapatra, Debendra K; Umamaheshwar, Gonela; Rao, R Nageshwar; Rao, T Srinivasa; R, Sudheer Kumar; Yadav, Jhillu S

2015-02-20

A concise and stereocontrolled first total synthesis of Ivorenolide A (1) is reported in 16 longest linear steps with a 13.4% overall yield starting from (+)-diethyl tartrate (DET). Key features are base-induced elimination protocol for the construction of chiral propargyl alcohols in both fragments, Pd-catalyzed cross-coupling of terminal acetylenes, and Shiina's 2-methyl-6-nitrobezoic anhydride (MNBA) mediated macrolactonization.

Behavioral Effects of Acute Aerosol Exposure to N, N-Diethy-Meta-toluamide (M-Det), January - February 1979

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-02-01

MRAD 8SIThIJC11OM REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE BEXPORE COUP1LzTDE Fe6w 109FORTNUMBIA5. GOVY &CC91146OW NO0 1. * CSIFNT S CAT ALOG MNSummE 4. TIVL flo) TYP...introducing variables due to leftover pheromones and other odors. The sensor counted vibrations (e.j., tremors), nonambulatory movements (e.g., grooming

Double exposure technique for 45nm node and beyond

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hsu, Stephen; Park, Jungchul; Van Den Broeke, Douglas; Chen, J. Fung

2005-11-01

The technical challenges in using F2 lithography for the 45nm node, along with the insurmountable difficulties in EUV lithography, has driven the semiconductor chipmaker into the low k1 lithography era under the pressure of ever decreasing feature sizes. Extending lithography towards lower k1 puts heavy demand on the resolution enhancement technique (RET), exposure tool, and the need for litho friendly design. Hyper numerical aperture (NA) exposure tools, immersion, and double exposure techniques (DET's) are the promising methods to extend lithography manufacturing to the 45nm node at k1 factors below 0.3. Scattering bars (SB's) have become an integral part of the lithography process as chipmakers move to production at ever lower k1 factors. To achieve better critical dimension (CD) control, polarization is applied to enhance the image contrast in the preferential imaging orientation, which increases the risk of SB printability. The optimum SB width is approximately (0.20 ~ 0.25)*(λ/NA). When the SB width becomes less than the exposure wavelength on the 4X mask, Kirchhoff's scalar theory under predicts the SB intensity. The optical weighting factor of the SB increases (Figure 1b) and the SB's become more susceptible to printing. Meanwhile, under hyper NA conditions, the effectiveness of "subresolution" SB's is significantly diminished. A full-sized scattering bars (FSB) scheme becomes necessary. Double exposure methods, such as using ternary 6% attenuated PSM (attPSM) for DDL, are good imaging solutions that can reach and likely go beyond the 45nm node. Today DDL, using binary chrome masks, is capable of printing 65 nm device patterns. In this work, we investigate the use of DET with 6% attPSM masks to target 45nm node device. The SB scalability and printability issues can be taken cared of by using "mutual trimming", i.e., with the combined energy from the two exposures. In this study, we share our findings of using DET to pattern a 45nm node device design with polarization and immersion. We also explore other double patterning methods which in addition to having two exposures, incorporates double coat/developing/etch processing to break the 0.25 k1 barrier.

A comparison of different synchronization measures in electroencephalogram during propofol anesthesia.

PubMed

Liang, Zhenhu; Ren, Ye; Yan, Jiaqing; Li, Duan; Voss, Logan J; Sleigh, Jamie W; Li, Xiaoli

2016-08-01

Electroencephalogram (EEG) synchronization is becoming an essential tool to describe neurophysiological mechanisms of communication between brain regions under general anesthesia. Different synchronization measures have their own properties to reflect the changes of EEG activities during different anesthetic states. However, the performance characteristics and the relations of different synchronization measures in evaluating synchronization changes during propofol-induced anesthesia are not fully elucidated. Two-channel EEG data from seven volunteers who had undergone a brief standardized propofol anesthesia were then adopted to calculate eight synchronization indexes. We computed the prediction probability (P K ) of synchronization indexes with Bispectral Index (BIS) and propofol effect-site concentration (C eff ) to quantify the ability of the indexes to predict BIS and C eff . Also, box plots and coefficient of variation were used to reflect the different synchronization changes and their robustness to noise in awake, unconscious and recovery states, and the Pearson correlation coefficient (R) was used for assessing the relationship among synchronization measures, BIS and C eff . Permutation cross mutual information (PCMI) and determinism (DET) could predict BIS and follow C eff better than nonlinear interdependence (NI), mutual information based on kernel estimation (KerMI) and cross correlation. Wavelet transform coherence (WTC) in α and β frequency bands followed BIS and C eff better than that in other frequency bands. There was a significant decrease in unconscious state and a significant increase in recovery state for PCMI and NI, while the trends were opposite for KerMI, DET and WTC. Phase synchronization based on phase locking value (PSPLV) in δ, θ, α and γ1 frequency bands dropped significantly in unconscious state, whereas it had no significant synchronization in recovery state. Moreover, PCMI, NI, DET correlated closely with each other and they had a better robustness to noise and higher correlation with BIS and C eff than other synchronization indexes. Propofol caused EEG synchronization changes during the anesthetic period. Different synchronization measures had individual properties in evaluating synchronization changes in different anesthetic states, which might be related to various forms of neural activities and neurophysiological mechanisms under general anesthesia.

Coral-zooxanthellae meta-transcriptomics reveals integrated response to pollutant stress.

PubMed

Gust, Kurt A; Najar, Fares Z; Habib, Tanwir; Lotufo, Guilherme R; Piggot, Alan M; Fouke, Bruce W; Laird, Jennifer G; Wilbanks, Mitchell S; Rawat, Arun; Indest, Karl J; Roe, Bruce A; Perkins, Edward J

2014-07-12

Corals represent symbiotic meta-organisms that require harmonization among the coral animal, photosynthetic zooxanthellae and associated microbes to survive environmental stresses. We investigated integrated-responses among coral and zooxanthellae in the scleractinian coral Acropora formosa in response to an emerging marine pollutant, the munitions constituent, 1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5 triazine (RDX; 5 day exposures to 0 (control), 0.5, 0.9, 1.8, 3.7, and 7.2 mg/L, measured in seawater). RDX accumulated readily in coral soft tissues with bioconcentration factors ranging from 1.1 to 1.5. Next-generation sequencing of a normalized meta-transcriptomic library developed for the eukaryotic components of the A. formosa coral holobiont was leveraged to conduct microarray-based global transcript expression analysis of integrated coral/zooxanthellae responses to the RDX exposure. Total differentially expressed transcripts (DET) increased with increasing RDX exposure concentrations as did the proportion of zooxanthellae DET relative to the coral animal. Transcriptional responses in the coral demonstrated higher sensitivity to RDX compared to zooxanthellae where increased expression of gene transcripts coding xenobiotic detoxification mechanisms (i.e. cytochrome P450 and UDP glucuronosyltransferase 2 family) were initiated at the lowest exposure concentration. Increased expression of these detoxification mechanisms was sustained at higher RDX concentrations as well as production of a physical barrier to exposure through a 40% increase in mucocyte density at the maximum RDX exposure. At and above the 1.8 mg/L exposure concentration, DET coding for genes involved in central energy metabolism, including photosynthesis, glycolysis and electron-transport functions, were decreased in zooxanthellae although preliminary data indicated that zooxanthellae densities were not affected. In contrast, significantly increased transcript expression for genes involved in cellular energy production including glycolysis and electron-transport pathways was observed in the coral animal. Transcriptional network analysis for central energy metabolism demonstrated highly correlated responses to RDX among the coral animal and zooxanthellae indicative of potential compensatory responses to lost photosynthetic potential within the holobiont. These observations underscore the potential for complex integrated responses to RDX exposure among species comprising the coral holobiont and highlight the need to understand holobiont-species interactions to accurately assess pollutant impacts.

Review of technology for Arctic offshore oil and gas recovery. Appendices

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

Sackinger, W. M.

1980-06-06

This volume contains appendices of the following: US Geological Survey Arctic operating orders, 1979; Det Noske Vertas', rules for the design, construction and inspection of offshore technology, 1977; Alaska Oil and Gas Association, industry research projects, March 1980; Arctic Petroleum Operator's Association, industry research projects, January 1980; selected additional Arctic offshore bibliography on sea ice, icebreakers, Arctic seafloor conditions, ice-structures, frost heave and structure icing.

Nonlinear Thermoelastic Effects in Surface Mechanics.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-01-01

remaining quartic polynomial generated by det(A) .0 is presumed to not yield real roots (real characteristics) associated with elastic waves because...0253 UNCLASSIFIED NL NONINEAR THEMLOEIASTIC EFF’ECTS IN SUFC MECHANICS D T ICX2 ) J.1. PFirin General Electric Company. JUN 1 8 8 Schenectady, New York...f - Generalized analytic functions Ei Lagrangian strain components lk - Generalized Cauchy kernels, Eq. (1I) E - Young’s modulus, Pa ulk

Development of High-Speed IV-VI Photodiodes

DTIC Science & Technology

1976-06-01

is not yet an adequate theoretical analysis. However, early experimental results indicated that collection efficienclea near unitv are attainable...82171~$* te g w w ( I .f 1 INTRODUCTION 2 EXPERIMENTAL 3 JUNCTION CAPACITANCE 4 THE PINCHED-OFF PHOTODIODE 4.1 Genaral Considerations 4.2...developed by Ford Research Staff. The essential references to this previous work and to new experimental detVKji are given In Section 2 of the

Marine Corps Private Cloud Computing Environment Strategy

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-05-15

leveraging economies of scale through the MCEITS PCCE, the Marine Corps will measure consumed IT resources more effectively, increase or decrease...flexible broad network access, resource pooling, elastic provisioning and measured services. By leveraging economies of scale the Marine Corps will be able...IaaS SaaS / IaaS 1 1 LCE I ACE Dets I I I I ------------------~ GIG / CJ Internet Security Boundary MCEN I DISN r :------------------ MCEN

"One Step Ahead and Two Steps Back": Meeting Special Education and Inclusive Challenges in the Context of Poverty (Case Study in the Context of Republic of Moldova)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kalinnikova Magnusson, Liya

2016-01-01

The research experience is based on outputs from the international project ["Human resources in poverty and disability: family perspective" (Moldova and Ukraine): 348-2011-7346 [2012-2014], funded by the Vetenskapsrådet, Sweden. During the last 20 years, Moldavian and Ukrainian societies have been developing inclusive infrastructures,…

DoD STINFO Manager Training Course STINFO Documentation

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-05-01

nawcws2.wsmr.army.mil PENNSYLVANIA ONR Manufacturing Technology Det Carderock Div NAVSURFWARCEN Attn: Philip M. Broudy (Code 20) John Bozewicz (Code 911...Available NTIS; 91N33013.) AD-A252 069 11 Pinelli, Thomas E.; Madeline Henderson; Ann P. Bishop; and Philip Doty. Chronology of Selected Literature...Mindy L Kotler . "Japanese Tech- nological Innovation: Implications for Large Commercial Aircraft and Knowledge Diffusion." Paper presented at the

1981 Annual Typhoon Report

DTIC Science & Technology

1995-01-01

Determination of reconnais- sance requirements for tropical cyclone surveillance and assignment of appropriate priorities. 4. In depth post- analysis of all...obtained by the Satellite Selective Reconnaissance Program network of stations. The personnel of Det 1, lWW, co -located with JTWC at Nimitz Hill, Guam...various programs. Manual streamline analysis of the 500 mb level is accomplished on the 00002 and 1200Z data. This analysis is used to dcli- eye/center

Cyber-Enabled Unconventional Warfare: The Convergence of Cyberspace, Social Mobilization, and Special Warfare

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-12-01

10945/31295; Roger Hilsman, American Guerrilla: My War behind Japanese Lines (Nebraska: Potomac Books, 1990); Derek Jones, “Ending the Debate...them in the war against the Japanese . Through the use of UW techniques, Detachment 101 was able to identify, recruit, indoctrinate, and... Japanese enemy. Through these proxy forces, DET 101 was able to inflict severe causalities while sustaining minimal losses to its own force (the

Analysis of spacecraft battery charger systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Seong J.; Cho, Bo H.

In spacecraft battery charger systems, switching regulators are widely used for bus voltage regulation, charge current regulation, and peak power tracking. Small-signal dynamic characteristics of the battery charging subsystem of direct energy transfer (DET) and peak power tracking (PPT) systems are analyzed to facilitate design of the control loop for optimum performance and stability. Control loop designs of the charger in various modes of operation are discussed. Analyses are verified through simulations. It is shown that when the charger operates in the bus voltage regulation mode, the control-to-voltage transfer function has a negative DC gain and two LHP zeros in both the DET and PPT systems. The control-to-inductor current transfer function also has a negative DC gain and a RHP zero. Thus, in the current-mode control, the current loop can no longer be used to stabilize the system. When the system operates in the charge current regulation mode, the charger operates with a fixed duty cycle which is determined by the regulated bus voltage and the battery voltage. Without an input filter, the converter becomes a first-order system. When the peak power tracker is inactive, the operating point of the solar array output moves to the voltage source region. Thus, the solar array behaves as a stiff voltage source to a constant power load.

Training the Antifragile Athlete: A Preliminary Analysis of Neuromuscular Training Effects on Muscle Activation Dynamics.

PubMed

Kiefer, Adam W; Myer, Gregory D

2015-10-01

Athletic injuries typically occur when the stable, emergent coordination between behavioral processes breaks down due to external noise, or variability. A physiological system that operates at an optimal point on a spectrum of rigidity and flexibility may be better prepared to handle extreme external variability, and the purpose of the current experiment was to examine whether targeted neuromuscular training resulted in changes to the rigidity and flexibility of the gluteal muscle tonus signal as measured with electromyography prior to the landing phase of a drop vertical jump task. 10 adolescent female athletes who participated in a targeted 10-week neuromuscular training program and 6 controls participated, and their tonus dynamics were examined with recurrence quantification analysis prior to training and after the 10-week program. The dependent measures, percent laminarity (%LAM) and percent determinism (%DET) were hypothesized to decrease following training, and were submitted to a one tailed mixed-model ANOVA. The training group exhibited a decrease in %LAM and %DET after training compared to pre-training and controls. The present findings indicate increased metaflexibility (i.e., greater intermittency and an increase in internal randomness) in tonus dynamics following neuromuscular training, and have important implications for the prevention of musculoskeletal injury in sport, specifically within the context of external noise and antifragility.

A Holistic Approach to Understanding the Desorption of Phosphorus in Soils.

PubMed

Menezes-Blackburn, Daniel; Zhang, Hao; Stutter, Marc; Giles, Courtney D; Darch, Tegan; George, Timothy S; Shand, Charles; Lumsdon, David; Blackwell, Martin; Wearing, Catherine; Cooper, Patricia; Wendler, Renate; Brown, Lawrie; Haygarth, Philip M

2016-04-05

The mobility and resupply of inorganic phosphorus (P) from the solid phase were studied in 32 soils from the UK. The combined use of diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT), diffusive equilibration in thin films (DET) and the "DGT-induced fluxes in sediments" model (DIFS) were adapted to explore the basic principles of solid-to-solution P desorption kinetics in previously unattainable detail. On average across soil types, the response time (Tc) was 3.6 h, the desorption rate constant (k-1) was 0.0046 h(-1), and the desorption rate was 4.71 nmol l(-1) s(-1). While the relative DGT-induced inorganic P flux responses in the first hour is mainly a function of soil water retention and % Corg, at longer times it is a function of the P resupply from the soil solid phase. Desorption rates and resupply from solid phase were fundamentally influenced by P status as reflected by their high correlation with P concentration in FeO strips, Olsen, NaOH-EDTA and water extracts. Soil pH and particle size distribution showed no significant correlation with the evaluated mobility and resupply parameters. The DGT and DET techniques, along with the DIFS model, were considered accurate and practical tools for studying parameters related to soil P desorption kinetics.

Characterising infant inter-breath interval patterns during active and quiet sleep using recurrence plot analysis.

PubMed

Terrill, Philip I; Wilson, Stephen J; Suresh, Sadasivam; Cooper, David M

2009-01-01

Breathing patterns are characteristically different between active and quiet sleep states in infants. It has been previously identified that breathing dynamics are governed by a non-linear controller which implies the need for a nonlinear analytical tool. Further, it has been shown that quantified nonlinear variables are different between adult sleep states. This study aims to determine whether a nonlinear analytical tool known as recurrence plot analysis can characterize breath intervals of active and quiet sleep states in infants. Overnight polysomnograms were obtained from 32 healthy infants. The 6 longest periods each of active and quiet sleep were identified and a software routine extracted inter-breath interval data for recurrence plot analysis. Determinism (DET), laminarity (LAM) and radius (RAD) values were calculated for an embedding dimension of 4, 6, 8 and 16, and fixed recurrence of 0.5, 1, 2, 3.5 and 5%. Recurrence plots exhibited characteristically different patterns for active and quiet sleep. Active sleep periods typically had higher values of RAD, DET and LAM than for quiet sleep, and this trend was invariant to a specific choice of embedding dimension or fixed recurrence. These differences may provide a basis for automated sleep state classification, and the quantitative investigation of pathological breathing patterns.

Intrathecal injection of a therapeutic gene-containing polyplex to treat spinal cord injury.

PubMed

Hayakawa, Kentaro; Uchida, Satoshi; Ogata, Toru; Tanaka, Sakae; Kataoka, Kazunori; Itaka, Keiji

2015-01-10

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a serious clinical problem that suddenly deprives patients of neurologic function and drastically diminishes their quality of life. Gene introduction has the potential to be effective for various pathological states of SCI because various proteins can be produced just by modifying nucleic acid sequences. In addition, the sustainable protein expression allows to maintain its concentration at an effective level at the target site in the spinal cord. Here we propose an approach using a polyplex system composed of plasmid DNA (pDNA) and a cationic polymer, poly{N'-[N-(2-aminoethyl)-2-aminoethyl]aspartamide} [PAsp(DET)], that has high capacity to promote endosome escape and the long-term safety by self-catalytically degrading within a few days. We applied brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)-expressing pDNA for SCI treatment by intrathecal injection of PAsp(DET)/pDNA polyplex. A single administration of polyplex for experimental SCI provided sufficient therapeutic effects including prevention of neural cell death and enhancement of motor function recovery. This lasted for a few weeks after SCI, demonstrating the capability of this system to express BDNF in a safe and responsible manner for treatment of various pathological states in SCI. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

PôDET: A Centre for Earth Dynamical Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hestroffer, D.; Deleflie, F.

2013-11-01

The monitoring of the Earth space environment has gained some importance these last decades, in particular at the European level, partly because the phenomenon which origin come from space can have socio-economic consequences; and also because our understanding of those phenomenon - their associated prediction and risks - is still limited. For instance, the Space Situational Awareness programme (SSA) at ESA has set up in 2013 a centre and network for aspects connected to space debris (SST), to space weather (SW), and to near-Earth objects (NEO). At IMCCE, the Pôle sur la dynamique de l'environnement terrestre} (PODET, \\url{podet.imcce.fr}) for the Earth dynamical environment is studying effects and prediction for natural and artificial objects gravitating in the Earth vicinity. These studies englobe near-Earth objects, asteroids, comets, meteoroids, meteorite streams, and space debris. For all object types that are concerned, a general scheme of a functional analysis has been developed. It encompasses data acquisition with dedicated observations--essentially astrometric--or database queries, orbit determination or adjustment, prediction and ephemerides, and eventually impact probability computation and data dissemination. We develop here the general context of this action, the PôDET project, its scientific objectives, interaction with other disciplines, and the development in progress for dedicated tools.

Generalized Equations and Their Solutions in the (S, 0) ⊕ (0, S) Representations of the Lorentz Group

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dvoeglazov, V. V.

2017-05-01

We present three explicit examples of generalizations in relativistic quantum mechanics. First of all, we discuss the generalized spin-1/2 equations for neutrinos. They have been obtained by means of the Gersten-Sakurai method for derivations of arbitrary-spin relativistic equations. Possible physical consequences are discussed. Next, it is easy to check that both Dirac algebraic equation {Det}(\\hat{p}-m)=0 and {Det}(\\hat{p}+m)=0 for u- and v- 4-spinors have solutions with {p}0=+/- {E}p=+/- \\sqrt{{p}2+{m}2}. The same is true for higher-spin equations. Meanwhile, every book considers the equality p0 = Ep for both u- and v- spinors of the (1/2, 0) ⊕ (0, 1/2)) representation only, thus applying the Dirac-Feynman-Stueckelberg procedure for elimination of the negative-energy solutions. The recent Ziino works (and, independently, the articles of several others) show that the Fock space can be doubled. We re-consider this possibility on the quantum field level for both S = 1/2 and higher spin particles. The third example is: we postulate the non-commutativity of 4-momenta, and we derive the mass splitting in the Dirac equation. Some applications are discussed.

The ESPAT tool: a general-purpose DSS shell for solving stochastic optimization problems in complex river-aquifer systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Macian-Sorribes, Hector; Pulido-Velazquez, Manuel; Tilmant, Amaury

2015-04-01

Stochastic programming methods are better suited to deal with the inherent uncertainty of inflow time series in water resource management. However, one of the most important hurdles in their use in practical implementations is the lack of generalized Decision Support System (DSS) shells, usually based on a deterministic approach. The purpose of this contribution is to present a general-purpose DSS shell, named Explicit Stochastic Programming Advanced Tool (ESPAT), able to build and solve stochastic programming problems for most water resource systems. It implements a hydro-economic approach, optimizing the total system benefits as the sum of the benefits obtained by each user. It has been coded using GAMS, and implements a Microsoft Excel interface with a GAMS-Excel link that allows the user to introduce the required data and recover the results. Therefore, no GAMS skills are required to run the program. The tool is divided into four modules according to its capabilities: 1) the ESPATR module, which performs stochastic optimization procedures in surface water systems using a Stochastic Dual Dynamic Programming (SDDP) approach; 2) the ESPAT_RA module, which optimizes coupled surface-groundwater systems using a modified SDDP approach; 3) the ESPAT_SDP module, capable of performing stochastic optimization procedures in small-size surface systems using a standard SDP approach; and 4) the ESPAT_DET module, which implements a deterministic programming procedure using non-linear programming, able to solve deterministic optimization problems in complex surface-groundwater river basins. The case study of the Mijares river basin (Spain) is used to illustrate the method. It consists in two reservoirs in series, one aquifer and four agricultural demand sites currently managed using historical (XIV century) rights, which give priority to the most traditional irrigation district over the XX century agricultural developments. Its size makes it possible to use either the SDP or the SDDP methods. The independent use of surface and groundwater can be examined with and without the aquifer. The ESPAT_DET, ESPATR and ESPAT_SDP modules were executed for the surface system, while the ESPAT_RA and the ESPAT_DET modules were run for the surface-groundwater system. The surface system's results show a similar performance between the ESPAT_SDP and ESPATR modules, with outperform the one showed by the current policies besides being outperformed by the ESPAT_DET results, which have the advantage of the perfect foresight. The surface-groundwater system's results show a robust situation in which the differences between the module's results and the current policies are lower due the use of pumped groundwater in the XX century crops when surface water is scarce. The results are realistic, with the deterministic optimization outperforming the stochastic one, which at the same time outperforms the current policies; showing that the tool is able to stochastically optimize river-aquifer water resources systems. We are currently working in the application of these tools in the analysis of changes in systems' operation under global change conditions. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: This study has been partially supported by the IMPADAPT project (CGL2013-48424-C2-1-R) with Spanish MINECO (Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad) funds.

GEODSS Tracking Results on Asteroid 2012 DA14

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-06-12

PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER 5e. TASK NUMBER 5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) Air...Force Space Command,Det 3, 21st Operations Group (OG),Maui,HI,96753 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER 9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME...they performed utilizing known cases of this occurrence, they had concluded that a Natural Earth Satellite (NES) of 1meter diameter should be

Acceleration of Ligament Healing with Cellular Attractants

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-07-01

major cause of morbidity in the armed forces. type VI collagen is a haptotactic cell attractant. We have shown that type VI collagen with bound...heparin/FGF-2 or hyaluronan or fibronectin promotes migration of canine ACL and DET cells. Insertion of type VI collagen into a wound in the canine...1984). Type I collagen is known to be the predominant fibrillar collagen in the meniscus. Smaller amounts of type II collagen are also present. In

Exercise Desert Rock VII. Operation Order Number 1. Army, Camp Desert Rock, Nevada

DTIC Science & Technology

1957-05-11

te locetod at the rear of the serial. Vehic ’es * td ii break down durirG the mov ant to Uhe observer area will be pushed to the side of the road ni...26th TC Bn,Hq & IHq co 2d TC Truck Co (Peo) 38th TC Co (Hv) 351st TC Co (Red) TC Provisional Aircraft Uaint Det DESE,t- ROCK PROJECTS Project 50.3

Diesel Engine Technology Update

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-07-01

AFWAL-TR-87-20 54 83-021-DET DIESEL ENGINE TECHNOLOGY UPDATE Kaupert, Andrew W., Lt. Col. USAFR Air Force Reserves Detroit Detachment 2 Ann Arbor, MI...sponsored adiabatic turbocompound diesel engine . One goal was the use of no water or air cooling for the engine to enable the minimized heat transfer from...sector with severe • impact on the stationary engine segment of the marketplace. The effect of this proposed legislation on Air Force fuel quality is

Army 86 Cost Sensitivity Analysis Verification.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-09-01

NIGHT VIS SI AN/TAS-6 11 P21220 (Z50154) P-A DET SYS AN/USQ-70 24 QUANTITY LINE ITEM NUMBER NOMENCLATURE 26 Q16110 RADAR SET AN/PPS- SALP 54 Q16173...4 W/IMG 48 N04982 NIGHT VIS SI AN/TAS-4 55 NOSOSO NIGHT VIS SI AN/TAS-6 13 P21220 (Z50154) P-A BET SYS AN/USQ-70 -6 Q16110 RADAR SET AN/PPS- SALP 36

Human Factors Issues in the Use of Virtual and Augmented Reality for Military Purposes - USA

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-12-01

and provide a means of output, MOVES has built a prototype system and continues research into the artificial intelligence and other factors required...role in any attempt to create automaton warriors. Indeed game-theoretic notions have been utilized in applications of artificial intelligence to...Review Board at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). AFRL was notified that DIA will sponsor DTNG for Certification and Accreditation. Det 4 is expected

Monte Carlo-based diode design for correction-less small field dosimetry.

PubMed

Charles, P H; Crowe, S B; Kairn, T; Knight, R T; Hill, B; Kenny, J; Langton, C M; Trapp, J V

2013-07-07

Due to their small collecting volume, diodes are commonly used in small field dosimetry. However, the relative sensitivity of a diode increases with decreasing small field size. Conversely, small air gaps have been shown to cause a significant decrease in the sensitivity of a detector as the field size is decreased. Therefore, this study uses Monte Carlo simulations to look at introducing air upstream to diodes such that they measure with a constant sensitivity across all field sizes in small field dosimetry. Varying thicknesses of air were introduced onto the upstream end of two commercial diodes (PTW 60016 photon diode and PTW 60017 electron diode), as well as a theoretical unenclosed silicon chip using field sizes as small as 5 mm × 5 mm. The metric D(w,Q)/D(Det,Q) used in this study represents the ratio of the dose to a point of water to the dose to the diode active volume, for a particular field size and location. The optimal thickness of air required to provide a constant sensitivity across all small field sizes was found by plotting D(w,Q)/D(Det,Q) as a function of introduced air gap size for various field sizes, and finding the intersection point of these plots. That is, the point at which D(w,Q)/D(Det,Q) was constant for all field sizes was found. The optimal thickness of air was calculated to be 3.3, 1.15 and 0.10 mm for the photon diode, electron diode and unenclosed silicon chip, respectively. The variation in these results was due to the different design of each detector. When calculated with the new diode design incorporating the upstream air gap, k(f(clin),f(msr))(Q(clin),Q(msr)) was equal to unity to within statistical uncertainty (0.5%) for all three diodes. Cross-axis profile measurements were also improved with the new detector design. The upstream air gap could be implanted on the commercial diodes via a cap consisting of the air cavity surrounded by water equivalent material. The results for the unclosed silicon chip show that an ideal small field dosimetry diode could be created by using a silicon chip with a small amount of air above it.

Innovative Strategies for Breast Cancer Immunotherapy

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-01

NOTES 14. ABSTRACT In our grant application, we detected HERV-K viral particles by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in sera from an...samples: electron edia. In These vi edia was cells. In T activity ivity was ncer patie BC), or c raction A (BC or D or DCIS p as comp d in...pl on was la infectious compared i activity was =20). RT ac raction A (fr DCIS patien east tissues ( ed uninvolve s used to det patient plasm ntrol

Heterogeneous VM Replication: A New Approach to Intrusion Detection, Active Response and Recovery in Cloud Data Centers

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-08-17

from the same execution history, and cost-effective active response by proactively setting up standby VM replicas: migration from a compromised VM...the guest OSes system call code to be reused inside a “shadowed” portion of the context of the out-of- guest inspection program. Besides...by the rootkits in cloud environments. RootkitDet detects rootkits by identifying suspicious code region in the kernel space of guest OSes through

1977 Annual Typhoon Report

DTIC Science & Technology

1995-01-01

George T. McKaige, USN *CAPT Frederick P. Milwer, USAF CAPT Alan W. Hassebrock, USAF CAPT Charles P. Guard , USAF CAPT”John D. Shewchuk, USAF ENS Edward...Det 1, lWW - USAF 1977 ANNUAL TYPHOON REPORT *Departed during 1977 season FRONTCOVER: ln&a.tedphoztogzaphof a - tmJ -A.toZmb.iaZatAn o.ulh a M dtig -&A...ships provide day and night coverage in the JTWC area of responsibility. Interpretation of this satellite imagery pro- vides cyclone positions, and for

Differentially expressed transcripts in stomach of Penaeus monodon in response to AHPND infection.

PubMed

Soonthornchai, Wipasiri; Chaiyapechara, Sage; Klinbunga, Sirawut; Thongda, Wilawan; Tangphatsornruang, Sithichoke; Yoocha, Thippawan; Jarayabhand, Padermsak; Jiravanichpaisal, Pikul

2016-12-01

Acute Hepatopancreatic Necrosis Disease (AHPND) is an emerging disease in aquacultured shrimp caused by a pathogenic strain of Vibrio parahaemolyticus. As with several pathogenic bacteria, colonization of the stomach appeared to be the initial step of the infection for AHPND-causing Vibrio. To understand the immune responses in the stomach of black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon), differentially expressed transcripts (DETs) in the stomach during V. parahaemolyticus strain 3HP (VP3HP) infection was examined using Ion Torrent sequencing. From the total 42,998 contigs obtained, 1585 contigs representing 1513 unigenes were significantly differentially expressed with 1122 and 391 unigenes up- and down-regulated, respectively. Among the DETs, there were 141 immune-related unigenes in 10 functional categories: antimicrobial peptide, signal transduction pathway, proPO system, oxidative stress, proteinases/proteinase inhibitors, apoptotic tumor-related protein, pathogen recognition immune regulator, blood clotting system, adhesive protein and heat shock protein. Expression profiles of 20 of 22 genes inferred from RNA sequencing were confirmed with the results from qRT-PCR. Additionally, a novel isoform of anti-lipopolysaccharide factor, PmALF7 whose transcript was induced in the stomach after challenge with VP3HP was discovered. This study provided a fundamental information on the molecular response in the shrimp stomach during the AHPND infection that would be beneficial for future research. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impact of infertility characteristics and treatment modalities on singleton pregnancies after assisted reproduction.

PubMed

Poikkeus, P; Unkila-Kallio, L; Vilska, S; Repokari, L; Punamäki, R-L; Aitokallio-Tallberg, A; Sinkkonen, J; Almqvist, F; Tulppala, M; Tiitinen, A

2006-07-01

Obstetric and neonatal outcomes of assisted reproduction and control singletons were evaluated after taking into account treatment characteristics and infertility background. The elective single embryo transfer (eSET) group (n = 45) was compared with the compulsory single embryo transfer (cSET; n = 52), double embryo transfer (DET; n = 227) and control (n = 304) groups. Infertility-related prognostic factors for neonatal outcomes were also analysed. Data were collected with structured questionnaires at gestational week 20 and 8 weeks after delivery. Spontaneous onset of delivery was more typical of the eSET group than of cSET and DET groups (68.9 versus 52.0%, P = 0.02). Mean (+/-SD) gestation at birth (39.3 +/- 1.6 weeks) and mean birth weight (3,470 +/- 505 g) of eSET singletons were comparable with other assisted reproduction groups, but gestational duration was lower than in the eSET group than in the control group (39.9 +/- 1.4; P < 0.05). However, numbers of preterm births and low birth weight infants were similar between groups. History of induced abortion increased risk of preterm birth (OR 4.5 and 95% CI 1.2-17.1) in assisted reproduction singletons. A small though clinically unimportant difference in gestational age at birth and birth weight between assisted reproduction and control singletons was found regardless of the number of embryos transferred.

Amperometric glucose biosensor based on glucose oxidase dispersed in multiwalled carbon nanotubes/graphene oxide hybrid biocomposite.

PubMed

Palanisamy, Selvakumar; Cheemalapati, Srikanth; Chen, Shen-Ming

2014-01-01

An amperometric glucose biosensor based on enhanced and fast direct electron transfer (DET) of glucose oxidase (GOx) at enzyme dispersed multiwalled carbon nanotubes/graphene oxide (MWCNT/GO) hybrid biocomposite was developed. The fabricated hybrid biocomposite was characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman and infrared spectroscopy (IR). The TEM image of hybrid biocomposite reveals that a thin layer of GOx was covered on the surface of MWCNT/GO hybrid composite. IR results validate that the hybrid biocomposite was formed through the electrostatic interactions between GOx and MWCNT/GO hybrid composite. Further, MWCNT/GO hybrid composite has also been characterized by TEM and UV-visible spectroscopy. A pair of well-defined redox peak was observed for GOx immobilized at the hybrid biocomposite electrode than that immobilized at the MWCNT modified electrode. The electron transfer rate constant (Ks) of GOx at the hybrid biocomposite was calculated to be 11.22s(-1). The higher Ks value revealed that fast DET of GOx occurred at the electrode surface. Moreover, fabricated biosensor showed a good sensitivity towards glucose oxidation over a linear range 0.05-23.2mM. The limit of detection (LOD) was estimated to be 28μM. The good features of the proposed biosensor could be used for the accurate detection of glucose in the biological samples. © 2013.

Cyclopropyl conjugation and ketyl anions: when do things begin to fall apart?

PubMed

Tanko, J M; Li, Xiangzhong; Chahma, M'hamed; Jackson, Woodward F; Spencer, Jared N

2007-04-11

Results pertaining to the electrochemical reduction of 1,2-diacetylcyclopropane (5), 1-acetyl-2-phenylcyclopropane (6), 1-acetyl-2-benzoylcyclopropane (7), and 1,2-dibenzoylcyclopropane (8) are reported. While 6*- exists as a discrete species, the barrier to ring opening is very small (<1 kcal/mol) and the rate constant for ring opening is >10(7) s(-1). For 7 and 8, the additional resonance stabilization afforded by the benzoyl moieties results in significantly lower rate constants for ring opening, on the order of 10(5)-10(6) s(-1). Electron transfer to 8 serves to initiate an unexpected vinylcyclopropane --> cyclopentene type rearrangement, which occurs via a radical ion chain mechanism. The results for reduction of 5 are less clear-cut: The experimental results suggest that the reduction is unexceptional, with a symmetry coefficient alpha

Stability of thermostable alkaline protease from Bacillus licheniformis RP1 in commercial solid laundry detergent formulations.

PubMed

Sellami-Kamoun, Alya; Haddar, Anissa; Ali, Nedra El-Hadj; Ghorbel-Frikha, Basma; Kanoun, Safia; Nasri, Moncef

2008-01-01

The stability of crude extracellular protease produced by Bacillus licheniformis RP1, isolated from polluted water, in various solid laundry detergents was investigated. The enzyme had an optimum pH and temperature at pH 10.0-11.0 and 65-70 degrees C. Enzyme activity was inhibited by PMSF, suggesting that the preparation contains a serine-protease. The alkaline protease showed extreme stability towards non-ionic (5% Tween 20% and 5% Triton X-100) and anionic (0.5% SDS) surfactants, which retained 100% and above 73%, respectively, of its initial activity after preincubation 60 min at 40 degrees C. The RP1 protease showed excellent stability and compatibility with a wide range of commercial solid detergents at temperatures from 40 to 50 degrees C, suggesting its further application in detergent industry. The enzyme retained 95% of its initial activity with Ariel followed by Axion (94%) then Dixan (93.5%) after preincubation 60 min at 40 degrees C in the presence of 7 mg/ml of detergents. In the presence of Nadhif and New Det, the enzyme retained about 83.5% of the original activity. The effects of additives such as maltodextrin, sucrose and PEG 4000 on the stability of the enzyme during spray-drying and during subsequent storage in New Det detergent were also examined. All additives tested enhanced stability of the enzyme.

Glucose oxidase/cellulose-carbon nanotube composite paper as a biocompatible bioelectrode for biofuel cells.

PubMed

Won, Keehoon; Kim, Young-Hoo; An, Seulji; Lee, Hye Jung; Park, Saerom; Choi, Yong-Keun; Kim, Ji Hyeon; Hwang, Hak-In; Kim, Hyung Joo; Kim, Hyungsup; Lee, Sang Hyun

2013-11-01

Biofuel cells are devices for generating electrical energy directly from chemical energy of renewable biomass using biocatalysts such as enzymes. Efficient electrical communication between redox enzymes and electrodes is essential for enzymatic biofuel cells. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been recognized as ideal electrode materials because of their high electrical conductivity, large surface area, and inertness. Electrodes consisting entirely of CNTs, which are known as CNT paper, have high surface areas but are typically weak in mechanical strength. In this study, cellulose (CL)-CNT composite paper was fabricated as electrodes for enzymatic biofuel cells. This composite electrode was prepared by vacuum filtration of CNTs followed by reconstitution of cellulose dissolved in ionic liquid, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate. Glucose oxidase (GOx), which is a redox enzyme capable of oxidizing glucose as a renewable fuel using oxygen, was immobilized on the CL-CNT composite paper. Cyclic voltammograms revealed that the GOx/CL-CNT paper electrode showed a pair of well-defined peaks, which agreed well with that of FAD/FADH2, the redox center of GOx. This result clearly shows that the direct electron transfer (DET) between the GOx and the composite electrode was achieved. However, this DET was dependent on the type of CNTs. It was also found that the GOx immobilized on the composite electrode retained catalytic activity for the oxidation of glucose.

Interactions of trace metals with hydrogels and filter membranes used in DET and DGT techniques.

PubMed

Garmo, Oyvind A; Davison, William; Zhang, Hao

2008-08-01

Equilibrium partitioning of trace metals between bulk solution and hydrogels/filter was studied. Under some conditions, trace metal concentrations were higher in the hydrogels or filter membranes compared to bulk solution (enrichment). In synthetic soft water, enrichment of cationic trace metals in polyacrylamide hydrogels decreased with increasing trace metal concentration. Enrichment was little affected by Ca and Mg in the concentration range typically encountered in natural freshwaters, indicating high affinity but low capacity binding of trace metals to solid structure in polyacrylamide gels. The apparent binding strength decreased in the sequence: Cu > Pb > Ni approximately to Cd approximately to Co and a low concentration of cationic Cu eliminated enrichment of weakly binding trace metal cations. The polyacrylamide gels also had an affinity for fulvic acid and/or its trace metal complexes. Enrichment of cationic Cd in agarose gel and hydrophilic polyethersulfone filter was independent of concentration (10 nM to 5 microM) but decreased with increasing Ca/ Mg concentration and ionic strength, suggesting that it is mainly due to electrostatic interactions. However, Cu and Pb were enriched even after equilibration in seawater, indicating that these metals additionally bind to sites within the agarose gel and filter. Compared to the polyacrylamide gels, agarose gel had a lower affinity for metal-fulvic complexes. Potential biases in measurements made with the diffusive equilibration in thin-films (DET) technique, identified by this work, are discussed.

The effects of body posture and temperament on heart rate variability in dairy cows.

PubMed

Frondelius, Lilli; Järvenranta, Kirsi; Koponen, Taija; Mononen, Jaakko

2015-02-01

Reactivity of cattle affects many aspects of animal production (e.g. reduced milk and meat production). Animals have individual differences in temperament and emotional reactivity, and these differences can affect how animals react to stressful and fear-eliciting events. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a good indicator of stress and balance of the autonomous nervous system, and low parasympathetic activity is connected with higher emotional reactivity. The study had two specific aims: (1) to compare HRV in dairy cows for standing and lying postures (no earlier results available), and (2) to assess whether dairy cows' emotional reactivity is connected to their HRV values. Eighteen dairy cows were subjected twice to a handling test (HT): morning (HT1) and afternoon (HT2), to evaluate emotional reactivity (avoidance score, AS). HRV was measured during HT (standing). HRV baseline values, both standing and lying down, were measured one week before HTs. HRV was analyzed with time and frequency domain analyses and with the Recurrence Quantification Analysis (RQA). Heart rate (HR), low-frequency/high-frequency band ratio (LH/HF), % determinism (%DET) and longest diagonal line segment in the recurrence plot (Lmax) were higher (p<0.05) while the cows were standing than when lying down, whereas the root mean square of successive R-R intervals (RMSSD) (p<0.05) and power of the high-frequency band (HF) (p<0.1) were higher while the animals were lying down. HR, the standard deviation of all interbeat intervals (SDNN), RMSSD, HF, power of the low-frequency band (LF), % recurrence (%REC), %DET, Shannon entropy (p<0.05), and HF (p<0.1) were higher during the handling test compared to standing baseline values. AS (i.e. tendency to avoid handling) correlated positively with SDNN (r=0.48, p<0.05), RMSSD (r=0.54, p<0.05), HF, RMSSD (r=0.46, p<0.1) and LF (r=0.57, p<0.05), and negatively with %DET (r=-0.53, p<0.05), entropy (r=-0.60, p<0.05) and Lmax (r=-0.55, p<0.05) in the baseline HRV measurements. AS correlated positively with SDNN (r=0.43, p<0.1) and HF (r=0.53, p<0.05) during HT. Some HRV parameters (HR, LF, %REC, %DET) indicated that the handling test may have caused stress to the experimental cows, although some HRV results (SDNN, RMSSD, HF, entropy) were controversial. The correlations between HRV variables and AS suggest that the emotional reactivity of the cow can be assessed from the baseline values of the HRV. It is debatable, however, whether the handling test used in the present study was a good method of causing mild stress in dairy cattle, since it may have even induced a positive emotional state. The posture of the cow affected HRV values as expected (based on results from other species), so that while standing a shift towards more sympathetic dominance was evident. Our results support the idea that linear (time and frequency domain) and non-linear (RQA) methods measuring HRV complement each other, but further research is needed for better understanding of the connection between temperament and HRV. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Caltech MURI Center for Quantum Networks

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-05-31

the code. Thus the dimension of the code space is n5uPfAu5detD , ~64! where PfA denotes the Pfaffian, the square root of the deter- minant of the...material properties, such as bulk ab- sorption and surface scattering. However, as one moves to very small spheres with radius a&10 mm, the intrinsic...1550 nm, which yields a quality factor of Qbulk;3.8310 11. The quality factor due to surface scattering Qs.s. and ab- sorption by adsorbed water Qw has

USCG Oily Water Separator System Cartridge Usage Data Survey

DTIC Science & Technology

1976-03-01

where a separate system is installed). 3. What spaces that have bilge water are not piped? Non- oily spaces. 4. Is existing ships piping used...NO. 4305.2/12 00 CO o ÄS! USC6 OILY WATER SEPARATOR SYSTEM CARTRIDGE USAGE DATA SURVEY ROBERT L. SKEWES U. S. CfAST GUARD (6-DET-l) OFFIU... Oily Water Separator Systems installed were surveyed. These cutters range in size from 65 foot river buoy tenders to 378 foot high endurance

Stress Indices and Flexibility Factors for 90-Degree Piping Elbows with Straight Pipe Extensions.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-02-01

Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee (March 1972). 5. The M.W. Kellogg Company , Design of Piping Systems, Second Edition, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York (1964...FLEXIBILITY FACTORS FOR 90-DEGREE PIPING ELBOWS WITH STRAIGHT PIPE EXTENSIONS 6. PERFORMING OrG. REPORT NUMBER = 7. AUTHOR(e S . CONTRACT OR GRANT NUMBER(e...UNCLASSIFIED S /N 0102-LF-014-6601 SECURITY CLAUIFICAION OF THII PAGE (Sie. Det Shtee.E) SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF THIS PACE (When Does Sat* .*) (Block 20

AFRRI (Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute) Reports, July, August, September 1989.

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-11-01

ippticatnpusit Maged. ineintr -det ic tent rat’ J tier oit l 3 3, Bank ,. W J. Hisiiilig% and citinparati.e tirganilig% A te’. atlas 31-12. 11)𔄁...concentrations of Leu-Leu-OMe (Tbl 1). Mini- he euthanized on day 19 posttransplant due to an accidental, mal CFt ,-(NI growth was observed with 10’ Leu-leu...phospholipid which provides the arachidlonic acid required for syn- veilswtth rgana m baeealsteacvtdga- thesis of prostaglandins and other eicosanoids (1-5

Experience of Soviet Medicine in a Great Patriotic War 1941-1945. Part 1 (Opyt Soveskoy Meditsimy v Velikoy Otechestvennoy Voyne 1941-1945),

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-04-15

in the kidney. Certain light/world tc the etiology of stone-education can spill the study of structure and chemical composition of the ramoved or...det=ct Ita h !cccccus aureis, it is thinner/less frequent than the ProteIs vu ca!E, which cause alkaline fermentation of urine. DOC = 80116005 PAGE Page...possible to reveal insignificant damages. However, in the additional photograph, made under such conditions, when central light bean is perpendicular

Performance Evaluation of Distributed Systems with Unbalanced Flows: An Analysis of the INFOPLEX Data Storage Hierarchy.

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-07-01

34. - . . ’-... " " " ". ’ UNCLASSIFIED SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF T0IS PAGE (lhen Det £ntered) REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE READ INSTRUCTIONS...RUMERODF PAGES 267 14 MONITORING AGENCY NAME & ADDRESS(II dillerent from Controllind Office) IS. SECURITY CLASS. (o this report) UNCLASSIFIED ISa...lower storage level. This is the basis for the mapping of the PIL3 read operation and workloads into a queueing netowrk model. S PAGE 135 REFERENCE

Crossed Signals on the Battlefield

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-04-13

408th Signal Detachment (Repro) from Fort Totten , NY went to SWA, where it printed operations orders and the propaganda materials for the psychological...RC counterparts may also follow this pattern. Brigadier General(P) Joe Turner, the new commander of the 335th, and his deputy, Brigadier General Tommy ...404th Sig Waterloo, 11-417H 11-669L F, McCoy, New MTOE. Co IA (177) (240) WI 941010 (Area) 408th Sig FT Totten , 11-507L Det NY (9) (Repro) 410th Sig

Jensen-Bregman LogDet Divergence for Efficient Similarity Computations on Positive Definite Tensors

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-05-02

function of Legendre-type on int(domS) [29]. From (7) the following properties of dφ(x, y) are apparent: strict convexity in x; asym- metry; non ...tensor imaging. An important task in all of these applications is to compute the distance between covariance matrices using a (dis)similarity function ...important task in all of these applications is to compute the distance between covariance matrices using a (dis)similarity function , for which the natural

National Guard and Reserve Equipment Report for Fiscal Year 2013 (NGRER FY 2013)

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-02-01

MTOEs and modernization of equipment; 2-11 however, the net result has been a more ready and modern force, prepared for utilization as an...projections for cascades to the ARNG through FY 2015. 3. Funding for New and Displaced Equipment Training New Equipment Training ( NET )/Displaced Equipment...Training (DET) funding is dependent on the amount of new equipment scheduled to be received. In FY 2011, the ARNG received $79.6M in NET funding to

Dominance of Plasmonic Resonant Energy Transfer over Direct Electron Transfer in Substantially Enhanced Water Oxidation Activity of BiVO4 by Shape-Controlled Au Nanoparticles.

PubMed

Lee, Mi Gyoung; Moon, Cheon Woo; Park, Hoonkee; Sohn, Woonbae; Kang, Sung Bum; Lee, Sanghan; Choi, Kyoung Jin; Jang, Ho Won

2017-10-01

The performance of plasmonic Au nanostructure/metal oxide heterointerface shows great promise in enhancing photoactivity, due to its ability to confine light to the small volume inside the semiconductor and modify the interfacial electronic band structure. While the shape control of Au nanoparticles (NPs) is crucial for moderate bandgap semiconductors, because plasmonic resonance by interband excitations overlaps above the absorption edge of semiconductors, its critical role in water splitting is still not fully understood. Here, first, the plasmonic effects of shape-controlled Au NPs on bismuth vanadate (BiVO 4 ) are studied, and a largely enhanced photoactivity of BiVO 4 is reported by introducing the octahedral Au NPs. The octahedral Au NP/BiVO 4 achieves 2.4 mA cm -2 at the 1.23 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode, which is the threefold enhancement compared to BiVO 4 . It is the highest value among the previously reported plasmonic Au NPs/BiVO 4 . Improved photoactivity is attributed to the localized surface plasmon resonance; direct electron transfer (DET), plasmonic resonant energy transfer (PRET). The PRET can be stressed over DET when considering the moderate bandgap semiconductor. Enhanced water oxidation induced by the shape-controlled Au NPs is applicable to moderate semiconductors, and shows a systematic study to explore new efficient plasmonic solar water splitting cells. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Simultaneous determination of dextromethorphan, dextrorphan, and guaifenesin in human plasma using semi-automated liquid/liquid extraction and gradient liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Eichhold, Thomas H; McCauley-Myers, David L; Khambe, Deepa A; Thompson, Gary A; Hoke, Steven H

2007-01-17

A method for the simultaneous determination of dextromethorphan (DEX), dextrorphan (DET), and guaifenesin (GG) in human plasma was developed, validated, and applied to determine plasma concentrations of these compounds in samples from six clinical pharmacokinetic (PK) studies. Semi-automated liquid handling systems were used to perform the majority of the sample manipulation including liquid/liquid extraction (LLE) of the analytes from human plasma. Stable-isotope-labeled analogues were utilized as internal standards (ISTDs) for each analyte to facilitate accurate and precise quantification. Extracts were analyzed using gradient liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Use of semi-automated LLE with LC-MS/MS proved to be a very rugged and reliable approach for analysis of more than 6200 clinical study samples. The lower limit of quantification was validated at 0.010, 0.010, and 1.0 ng/mL of plasma for DEX, DET, and GG, respectively. Accuracy and precision of quality control (QC) samples for all three analytes met FDA Guidance criteria of +/-15% for average QC accuracy with coefficients of variation less than 15%. Data from the thorough evaluation of the method during development, validation, and application are presented to characterize selectivity, linearity, over-range sample analysis, accuracy, precision, autosampler carry-over, ruggedness, extraction efficiency, ionization suppression, and stability. Pharmacokinetic data are also provided to illustrate improvements in systemic drug and metabolite concentration-time profiles that were achieved by formulation optimization.

Inhibition of Dengue Virus Entry into Target Cells Using Synthetic Antiviral Peptides

PubMed Central

Alhoot, Mohammed Abdelfatah; Rathinam, Alwin Kumar; Wang, Seok Mui; Manikam, Rishya; Sekaran, Shamala Devi

2013-01-01

Despite the importance of DENV as a human pathogen, there is no specific treatment or protective vaccine. Successful entry into the host cells is necessary for establishing the infection. Recently, the virus entry step has become an attractive therapeutic strategy because it represents a barrier to suppress the onset of the infection. Four putative antiviral peptides were designed to target domain III of DENV-2 E protein using BioMoDroid algorithm. Two peptides showed significant inhibition of DENV when simultaneously incubated as shown by plaque formation assay, RT-qPCR, and Western blot analysis. Both DET4 and DET2 showed significant inhibition of virus entry (84.6% and 40.6% respectively) using micromolar concentrations. Furthermore, the TEM images showed that the inhibitory peptides caused structural abnormalities and alteration of the arrangement of the viral E protein, which interferes with virus binding and entry. Inhibition of DENV entry during the initial stages of infection can potentially reduce the viremia in infected humans resulting in prevention of the progression of dengue fever to the severe life-threatening infection, reduce the infected vector numbers, and thus break the transmission cycle. Moreover these peptides though designed against the conserved region in DENV-2 would have the potential to be active against all the serotypes of dengue and might be considered as Hits to begin designing and developing of more potent analogous peptides that could constitute as promising therapeutic agents for attenuating dengue infection. PMID:23630436

Dynamics of heart rate variability analysed through nonlinear and linear dynamics is already impaired in young type 1 diabetic subjects.

PubMed

Souza, Naiara M; Giacon, Thais R; Pacagnelli, Francis L; Barbosa, Marianne P C R; Valenti, Vitor E; Vanderlei, Luiz C M

2016-10-01

Autonomic diabetic neuropathy is one of the most common complications of type 1 diabetes mellitus, and studies using heart rate variability to investigate these individuals have shown inconclusive results regarding autonomic nervous system activation. Aims To investigate the dynamics of heart rate in young subjects with type 1 diabetes mellitus through nonlinear and linear methods of heart rate variability. We evaluated 20 subjects with type 1 diabetes mellitus and 23 healthy control subjects. We obtained the following nonlinear indices from the recurrence plot: recurrence rate (REC), determinism (DET), and Shanon entropy (ES), and we analysed indices in the frequency (LF and HF in ms2 and normalised units - nu - and LF/HF ratio) and time domains (SDNN and RMSSD), through analysis of 1000 R-R intervals, captured by a heart rate monitor. There were reduced values (p<0.05) for individuals with type 1 diabetes mellitus compared with healthy subjects in the following indices: DET, REC, ES, RMSSD, SDNN, LF (ms2), and HF (ms2). In relation to the recurrence plot, subjects with type 1 diabetes mellitus demonstrated lower recurrence and greater variation in their plot, inter-group and intra-group, respectively. Young subjects with type 1 diabetes mellitus have autonomic nervous system behaviour that tends to randomness compared with healthy young subjects. Moreover, this behaviour is related to reduced sympathetic and parasympathetic activity of the autonomic nervous system.

Incompressible inelasticity as an essential ingredient for the validity of the kinematic decomposition F =FeFi

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reina, Celia; Conti, Sergio

2017-10-01

The multiplicative decomposition of the total deformation F =FeFi between an elastic (Fe) and an inelastic component (Fi) is standard in the modeling of many irreversible processes such as plasticity, growth, thermoelasticity, viscoelasticty or phase transformations. The heuristic argument for such kinematic assumption is based on the chain rule for the compatible scenario (CurlFi = 0) where the individual deformation tensors are gradients of deformation mappings, i.e. F = D φ = D (φe ∘φi) = (Dφe) ∘φi (Dφi) =FeFi . Yet, the conditions for its validity in the general incompatible case (CurlFi ≠ 0) has so far remained uncertain. We show in this paper that detFi = 1 and CurlFi bounded are necessary and sufficient conditions for the validity of F =FeFi for a wide range of inelastic processes. In particular, in the context of crystal plasticity, we demonstrate via rigorous homogenization from discrete dislocations to the continuum level in two dimensions, that the volume preserving property of the mechanistics of dislocation glide, combined with a finite dislocation density, is sufficient to deliver F =FeFp at the continuum scale. We then generalize this result to general two-dimensional inelastic processes that may be described at a lower dimensional scale via a multiplicative decomposition while exhibiting a finite density of incompatibilities. The necessity of the conditions detFi = 1 and CurlFi bounded for such systems is demonstrated via suitable counterexamples.

An economic assessment of embryo diagnostics (Dx) - the costs of introducing non-invasive embryo diagnostics into IVF standard treatment practices.

PubMed

Fugel, Hans-Joerg; Connolly, Mark; Nuijten, Mark

2014-10-09

New techniques in assessing oocytes and embryo quality are currently explored to improve pregnancy and delivery rates per embryo transfer. While a better understanding of embryo quality could help optimize the existing "in vitro fertilization" (IVF) therapy schemes, it is essential to address the economic viability of such technologies in the healthcare setting. An Embryo-Dx economic model was constructed to assess the cost-effectiveness of 3 different IVF strategies from a payer's perspective; it compares Embryo-Dx with single embryo transfer (SET) to elective single embryo transfer (eSET) and to double embryo transfer (DET) treatment practices. The introduction of a new non-invasive embryo technology (Embryo-Dx) associated with a cost up to €460 is cost-effective compared to eSET and DET based on the cost per live birth. The model assumed that Embryo-Dx will improve ongoing pregnancy rate/realize an absolute improvement in live births of 9% in this case. This study shows that improved embryo diagnosis combined with SET may have the potential to reduce the cost per live birth per couple treated in IVF treatment practices. The results of this study are likely more sensitive to changes in the ongoing pregnancy rate and consequently the live birth rate than the diagnosis costs. The introduction of a validated Embryo-Dx technology will further support a move towards increased eSET procedures in IVF clinical practice and vice versa.

Epidural anesthesia and postoperatory analgesia with alpha-2 adrenergic agonists and lidocaine for ovariohysterectomy in bitches

PubMed Central

Pohl, Virgínia H.; Carregaro, Adriano B.; Lopes, Carlize; Gehrcke, Martielo I.; Muller, Daniel C.M.; Garlet, Clarissa D.

2012-01-01

The aim of this study was to determine the viability and cardiorespiratory effects of the association of epidural alpha-2 adrenergic agonists and lidocaine for ovariohysterectomy (OH) in bitches. Forty-two bitches were spayed under epidural anesthesia with 2.5 mg/kg body weight (BW) of 1% lidocaine with adrenaline (CON) or in association with 0.25 mg/kg BW of xylazine (XYL), 10 μg/kg BW of romifidine (ROM), 30 μg/kg BW of detomidine (DET), 2 μg/kg BW of dexmedetomidine (DEX), or 5 μg/kg BW of clonidine (CLO). Heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (fR) and arterial pressures were monitored immediately before and every 10 min after the epidural procedure. Blood gas and pH analysis were done before, and at 30 and 60 min after the epidural procedure. Animals were submitted to isoflurane anesthesia if they presented a slightest sign of discomfort during the procedure. Time of sensory epidural block and postoperative analgesia were evaluated. All animals in CON and DEX, 5 animals in ROM and CLO, 4 animals in XYL, and 3 in DET required supplementary isoflurane. All groups, except CLO, showed a decrease in HR. There was an increase in arterial pressures in all groups. Postoperative analgesia lasted the longest in XYL. None of the protocols were totally efficient to perform the complete procedure of OH; however, xylazine provided longer postoperative analgesia than the others. PMID:23277701

A simple biofuel cell cathode with human red blood cells as electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction.

PubMed

Ayato, Yusuke; Sakurai, Kenichiro; Fukunaga, Saori; Suganuma, Takuya; Yamagiwa, Kiyofumi; Shiroishi, Hidenobu; Kuwano, Jun

2014-05-15

A red blood cell (RBC) from human exhibited direct electron transfer (DET) activity on a bare indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode. A formal potential of -0.152 V vs. a silver-silver chloride saturated potassium chloride (Ag|AgCl|KCl(satd.)) was estimated for the human RBC (type AB) from a pair of redox peaks at around 0.089 and -0.215 V (vs. Ag|AgCl|KCl(satd.)) on cyclic voltammetric (CV) measurements in a phosphate buffered saline (PBS; 39 mM; pH 7.4) solution. The results agreed well with those of a redox couple for iron-bearing heme groups in hemoglobin molecules (HbFe(II)/HbFe(III)) on the bare ITO electrodes, indicated that DET active species were hemoglobin (Hb) molecules encapsulated by a phospholipid bilayer membrane of the human RBC. The quantity of electrochemically active Hb in the human RBC was estimated to be 30 pmol cm(-2). In addition, the human RBC exhibited oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity in the dioxygen (O2) saturated PBS solution at the negative potential from ca. -0.15 V (vs. Ag|AgCl|KCl(satd.)). A single cell test proved that a biofuel cell (BFC) with an O2|RBC|ITO cathode showed the open-circuit voltage (OCV) of ca. 0.43 V and the maximum power density of ca. 0.68 μW cm(-2). © 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Forces involved in bacterial adhesion to hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces.

PubMed

Boks, Niels P; Norde, Willem; van der Mei, Henny C; Busscher, Henk J

2008-10-01

Using a parallel-plate flow chamber, the hydrodynamic shear forces to prevent bacterial adhesion (F(prev)) and to detach adhering bacteria (F(det)) were evaluated for hydrophilic glass, hydrophobic, dimethyldichlorosilane (DDS)-coated glass and six different bacterial strains, in order to test the following three hypotheses. 1. A strong hydrodynamic shear force to prevent adhesion relates to a strong hydrodynamic shear force to detach an adhering organism. 2. A weak hydrodynamic shear force to detach adhering bacteria implies that more bacteria will be stimulated to detach by passing an air-liquid interface (an air bubble) through the flow chamber. 3. DLVO (Derjaguin, Landau, Verwey, Overbeek) interactions determine the characteristic hydrodynamic shear forces to prevent adhesion and to detach adhering micro-organisms as well as the detachment induced by a passing air-liquid interface. F(prev) varied from 0.03 to 0.70 pN, while F(det) varied from 0.31 to over 19.64 pN, suggesting that after initial contact, strengthening of the bond occurs. Generally, it was more difficult to detach bacteria from DDS-coated glass than from hydrophilic glass, which was confirmed by air bubble detachment studies. Calculated attractive forces based on the DLVO theory (F(DLVO)) towards the secondary interaction minimum were higher on glass than on DDS-coated glass. In general, all three hypotheses had to be rejected, showing that it is important to distinguish between forces acting parallel (hydrodynamic shear) and perpendicular (DLVO, air-liquid interface passages) to the substratum surface.

Lie-Santilli isoapproach to the unification of gravity and electromagnetism

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

Animalu, A.O.E.

1996-06-01

The author reviews the problem of Einstein`s original proposal for the unification of gravity and electromagnetism in space-time differential geometry along the lines of the recent contributions by A.A. Logunov, R.M. Santilli, D.F. Lopez and others. The author presents a new method of unification based on the Lie-Santilli isotopic theory whereby the unified field tensor g = (g{sub {mu}{nu}}) is constructed from the symmetric Riemannian gravitational tensor, g = (g{mu}{nu}), and the antisymmetric electromagnetic field tensor F = (F{sub {mu}{nu}}) via an isotopic lifting g {yields} {cflx g} = Fg of the type of Lax pairing, where det F {ne}more » 0, the unified field {cflx g} satisfies Logunov-Santilli equations while g and F are treated as Lax pair. Because of Santilli`s isotopic equivalence between Minkowskian and Riemannian geometries, the author infers that in the Minkowskian limit F = f, g = {eta}, the metric {eta} satisfies Lax`s equation of motion {partial_derivative}{eta}/{partial_derivative}t = f{eta} {minus} {eta}f which insures the conservation of the eigenvalues of g. The invariance of the electromagnetic group of transformations (F) in Minkowski space is determined by the eigenvalue equations, det (F{sub {mu}{nu}}){minus}{lambda}{eta}{sub {mu}{nu}} = 0, from which the author deduces a Lie-isotopic {open_quotes}extended{close_quotes} relativity principle. A wave equation for a spin-2 particle in the unified field is derived, and the experimental consequences of the theory are discussed.« less

TGMS in Rapeseed (Brassica napus) Resulted in Aberrant Transcriptional Regulation, Asynchronous Microsporocyte Meiosis, Defective Tapetum, and Fused Sexine

PubMed Central

Liu, Xi-Qiong; Liu, Zhi-Quan; Yu, Cheng-Yu; Dong, Jun-Gang; Hu, Sheng-Wu; Xu, Ai-Xia

2017-01-01

The thermo-sensitive genic male sterility (TGMS) line SP2S is a spontaneous rapeseed mutation with several traits that are favorable for the production of two-line hybrids. To uncover the key cellular events and genetic regulation associated with TGMS expression, a combined study using cytological observation, transcriptome profiling, and gene expression analysis was conducted for SP2S and its near-isogenic line SP2F grown under warm conditions. Asynchronous microsporocyte meiosis and abnormal tapetal plastids and elaioplasts were demonstrated in the anther of SP2S. The tetrad microspore did not undergo mitosis before the cytoplasm degenerated. Delayed degradation of the tetrad wall, which led to tetrad microspore aggregation, resulted in postponement of sexine (outer layer of pollen exine) formation and sexine fusion in the tetrad. The nexine (foot layer of exine) was also absent. The delay of tetrad wall degradation and abnormality of the exine structure suggested that the defective tapetum lost important functions. Based on transcriptomic comparisons between young flower buds of SP2S and SP2F plants, a total of 465 differentially expressed transcripts (DETs) were identified, including 303 up-regulated DETs and 162 down-regulated DETs in SP2S. Several genes encoding small RNA degrading nuclease 2, small RNA 2′-O-methyltransferase, thioredoxin reductase 2, regulatory subunit A alpha isoform of serine/threonine-protein phosphatase 2A, glycine rich protein 1A, transcription factor bHLH25, leucine-rich repeat receptor kinase At3g14840 like, and fasciclin-like arabinogalactan proteins FLA19 and FLA20 were greatly depressed in SP2S. Interestingly, a POLLENLESS3-LIKE 2 gene encoding the Arabidopsis MS5 homologous protein, which is necessary for microsporocyte meiosis, was down-regulated in SP2S. Other genes that were up-regulated in SP2S encoded glucanase A6, ethylene-responsive transcription factor 1A-like, pollen-specific SF3, stress-associated endoplasmic reticulum protein 2, WRKY transcription factors and pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) protein At1g07590. The tapetum-development-related genes, including BnEMS1, BnDYT1, and BnAMS, were slightly up-regulated in 3-mm-long flower buds or their anthers, and their downstream genes, BnMS1 and BnMYB80, which affect callose dissolution and exine formation, were greatly up-regulated in SP2S. This aberrant genetic regulation corresponded well with the cytological abnormalities. The results suggested that expression of TGMS associates with complex transcriptional regulation. PMID:28775729

StreakDet data processing and analysis pipeline for space debris optical observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Virtanen, Jenni; Flohrer, Tim; Muinonen, Karri; Granvik, Mikael; Torppa, Johanna; Poikonen, Jonne; Lehti, Jussi; Santti, Tero; Komulainen, Tuomo; Naranen, Jyri

We describe a novel data processing and analysis pipeline for optical observations of space debris. The monitoring of space object populations requires reliable acquisition of observational data, to support the development and validation of space debris environment models, the build-up and maintenance of a catalogue of orbital elements. In addition, data is needed for the assessment of conjunction events and for the support of contingency situations or launches. The currently available, mature image processing algorithms for detection and astrometric reduction of optical data cover objects that cross the sensor field-of-view comparably slowly, and within a rather narrow, predefined range of angular velocities. By applying specific tracking techniques, the objects appear point-like or as short trails in the exposures. However, the general survey scenario is always a “track before detect” problem, resulting in streaks, i.e., object trails of arbitrary lengths, in the images. The scope of the ESA-funded StreakDet (Streak detection and astrometric reduction) project is to investigate solutions for detecting and reducing streaks from optical images, particularly in the low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) domain, where algorithms are not readily available yet. For long streaks, the challenge is to extract precise position information and related registered epochs with sufficient precision. Although some considerations for low-SNR processing of streak-like features are available in the current image processing and computer vision literature, there is a need to discuss and compare these approaches for space debris analysis, in order to develop and evaluate prototype implementations. In the StreakDet project, we develop algorithms applicable to single images (as compared to consecutive frames of the same field) obtained with any observing scenario, including space-based surveys and both low- and high-altitude populations. The proposed processing pipeline starts from the segmentation of the acquired image (i.e., the extraction of all sources), followed by the astrometric and photometric characterization of the candidate streaks, and ends with orbital validation of the detected streaks. A central concept of the pipeline is streak classification which guides the actual characterization process by aiming to identify the interesting sources and to filter out the uninteresting ones, as well as by allowing the tailoring of algorithms for specific streak classes (e.g. point-like vs. long, disintegrated streaks). To validate the single-image detections, the processing is finalized by orbital analysis, resulting in preliminary orbital classification (Earth-bound vs. non-Earth-bound orbit) for the detected streaks.

Transcriptome analysis of sweet orange trees infected with 'Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus' and two strains of Citrus Tristeza Virus.

PubMed

Fu, Shimin; Shao, Jonathan; Zhou, Changyong; Hartung, John S

2016-05-11

Huanglongbing (HLB) and tristeza, are diseases of citrus caused by a member of the α-proteobacteria, 'Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus' (CaLas), and Citrus tristeza virus (CTV) respectively. HLB is a devastating disease, but CTV strains vary from very severe to very mild. Both CaLas and CTV are phloem-restricted. The CaLas-B232 strain and CTV-B6 cause a wide range of severe and similar symptoms. The mild strain CTV-B2 doesn't induce significant symptoms or damage to plants. Transcriptome profiles obtained through RNA-seq revealed 611, 404 and 285 differentially expressed transcripts (DETs) after infection with CaLas-B232, CTV-B6 and CTV-B2. These DETs were components of a wide range of pathways involved in circadian rhythm, cell wall modification and cell organization, as well as transcription factors, transport, hormone response and secondary metabolism, signaling and stress response. The number of transcripts that responded to both CTV-B6 and CaLas-B232 was much larger than the number of transcripts that responded to both strains of CTV or to both CTV-B2 and CaLas-B232. A total of 38 genes were assayed by RT-qPCR and the correlation coefficients between Gfold and RT-qPCR were 0.82, 0.69, 0.81 for sweet orange plants infected with CTV-B2, CTV-B6 and CaLas-B232, respectively. The number and composition of DETs reflected the complexity of symptoms caused by the pathogens in established infections, although the leaf tissues sampled were asymptomatic. There were greater similarities between the sweet orange in response to CTV-B6 and CaLas-B232 than between the two CTV strains, reflecting the similar physiological changes caused by both CTV-B6 and CaLas-B232. The circadian rhythm system of plants was perturbed by all three pathogens, especially by CTV-B6, and the ion balance was also disrupted by all three pathogens, especially by CaLas-B232. Defense responses related to cell wall modification, transcriptional regulation, hormones, secondary metabolites, kinases and stress were activated by all three pathogens but with different patterns. The transcriptome profiles of Citrus sinensis identified host genes whose expression is affected by the presence of a pathogen in the phloem without producing symptoms (CTV-B2), and host genes whose expression leads to induction of symptoms in the plant (CTV-B6, CaLas-B232).

CANTRAC. Volume 1. Catalog of Navy Training Courses. Introductory, General Information and Quota Control Notes. Revision

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-01-01

pore ".*l u-itb 4’Pomo4*tv. bowwr there Is a $s to eight Wtrth or’ wa~ tuIA4 PotrM Uor two Ue4r.0- quarters. aI4 a * cw to throe Wot~th wltlAt portod or...Combatant Missile (Hydrofoil) Squadron TWO , MLSG, Key West, FL .. ......... ................ 211 PART 12 - COMNAVAIRLANT AND COMNAVAIRPAC General Information...COMNAVMEDCOM Navy School of Health Sciences, San Diego DET, Oakland, CA . . . . 253 Navy Disease Vector Ecology and Control Center, Alameda, CA . . 254 Naval

Dust Erosion Performance of Candidate Motorcase Thermal Protection Materials.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-03-10

Effects 21 3.1.2 Debris Shielding 22 3.1.3 Heating 22 3.1.3,1 Kinetic Energy Deposition 22 3.1.3.2 Convective Heating 24 3.1.4 Particle Velocity 32 3.1.5...29 13 Kinetic energy method comparison: 14-deg angle 3014 Kinetic energy method comparison: 30-deg angle 31 15 Convective heating in DET 32 16...Convective heating model comparison (po = 300 psi) 33 17 AEDC run 3 data trace 33 J. 18 Influence of surface temperature on erosion 35 V 19 Influence of

An Analysis of Coherent Digital Receivers in the Presence of Colored Noise Interference.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-06-01

115 6.4 Pe for Det-erministic Jamnmers, JSR = 0.01, E0.3---------------------------------------------116 6.5 Pe for Deterministic Jamnmers, JSR = 0.1...k k where h p(t) and hhi(t) are the particular and homogeneous solutions, respectively, to a differential equation derived from the Fredholm I...yields 2 2D(s2)c (s) = N(s ) (3.4)c Multiplication by s corresponds to differentiation with respect to t in the time domain. So, Eq. (3.4) becomes D(p 2)K

Analysis of the Perceived Adequacy of Air Force Civil Engineering Prime Beef Training

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-09-01

P.9 0); - I 6Q ANALYSIS OF THE PERCEIUED ADEOUACY OF AIR FORCE CIUIL ENGINEER!NG PRIME BEEF TRAINING THESIS William C. Morris Captain, USAF AFIT...Ohio TIWA docm=ent La 1;;, Ow psl• c relm’,-j and owme;d _! i8U0- ________IS____rft* 85 11 05 04 AFIT/SEM/DET/BE ANALYSIS OF THE PERCEIVED ADEQUACY...distribution unlimited L * The contents of the document are technically accurate, and 6 no sensitive items, detrimental ideas, or deleterious information are

The Role and Values of Combat Leadership in Modern Warfare: Can Combat Leadership and Personal Leadership Skills be Replaced by Modern Technology?

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-04-29

lett for en kompanisjef a m ~tte forholde seg til s ~ mye at kjernefunksjonen hans scm era lede kompaniet forsvinner eller blir sekundcert. Operasjoner p...the personal relationship that existed between the officers within the Annored brigade (Appendix A ~ S ). 13 Mission command is based upon personal...A208 Norway Colonel CO Telemark Muligheten til a snake med underlagte s ]efer. Man ma ha Push to talk samband Norwegian Battalion sam gj(llr det

Measurement of Surface Strains from a Composite Hydrofoil using Fibre Bragg Grating Sensing Arrays

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-07-01

Gratings for Structural Fatigue Testing of Military Aircraft. Claire Davis, Silvia Tejedor, Ivan Grabovac, James Kopczyk, and Travis Nuyens. Photonic...puticarion Reduxtt ~ Techrdogy for opWnum prCICE.ld!ses. It !here is 10 be a delay between lh’! pretreeiJOOnt and boncfiOQ ol alurrinil.l’n, tte ...enable bonding 10 be delsyed lor ~ 102 Meks wi\\ho!.J det.eriora!ion d tte p ecreeted sllface. The carect apPic:stion of ~ 112 shluld no! alter 1he

MDA Ice Detection and Measurement Camera Development and Validation for NASA-KSC (2004-2007)

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-08-17

various densities, ice formed on metals, and ice made from Atlantic Ocean salt water that may be more representative of ice formed in the salt air... clam squ den app det n). a. d b. h so that they enough to support the Kaman sensor head without crushing. Some th throughout this process is... clam s, may be considered compensated for by the extra ice that can form on the edge of the test el. In such a case where there is no ice extending

A New Method of Absorption-Phase Nanotomography for 3D Observation of Mineral-Organic-Water Textiles and its Application to Pristine Carbonaceous Chondrites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tsuchiyama, A.; Nakato, A.; Matsuno, J.; Sugimoto, M.; Uesugi, K.; Takeuchi, A.; Nakano, T.; Vaccaro, E.; Russel, S.; Nakamura-Messenger, K.;

In situ Observation of Direct Electron Transfer Reaction of Cytochrome c Immobilized on ITO Electrode Modified with 11-{2-[2-(2-Methoxyethoxy)ethoxy]ethoxy}undecylphosphonic Acid Self-assembled Monolayer Film by Electrochemical Slab Optical Waveguide Spectroscopy.

PubMed

Matsuda, Naoki; Okabe, Hirotaka; Omura, Ayako; Nakano, Miki; Miyake, Koji

2017-01-01

To immobilize cytochrome c (cyt.c) on an ITO electrode while keeping its direct electron transfer (DET) functionality, the ITO electrode surface was modified with 11-{2-[2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethoxy]ethoxy}undecylphosphonic acid (CH 3 O (CH 2 CH 2 O) 3 C 11 H 22 PO(OH) 2 , M-EG 3 -UPA) self-assembled monolayer (SAM) film. After a 100-times washing process to exchange a phosphate buffer saline solution surrounding cyt.c and ITO electrode to a fresh one, an in situ observation of visible absorption spectral change with slab optical waveguide (SOWG) spectroscopy showed that 87.7% of the cyt.c adsorbed on the M-EG 3 -UPA modified ITO electrode remained on the ITO electrode. The SOWG absorption spectra corresponding to oxidized and reduced cyt.c were observed with setting the ITO electrode potential at 0.3 and -0.3 V vs. Ag/AgCl, respectively, while probing the DET reaction between cyt.c and ITO electrode occurred. The amount of cyt.c was evaluated to be about 19.4% of a monolayer coverage based on the coulomb amount in oxidation and reduction peaks on cyclic voltammetry (CV) data. The CV peak current maintained to be 83.4% compared with the initial value for a M-EG 3 -UPA modified ITO electrode after 60 min continuous scan with 0.1 V/s between 0.3 and -0.3 V vs. Ag/AgCl.

A general description of detachment for multidimensional modelling of biofilms.

PubMed

Xavier, Joao de Bivar; Picioreanu, Cristian; van Loosdrecht, Mark C M

2005-09-20

A general method for describing biomass detachment in multidimensional biofilm modelling is introduced. Biomass losses from processes acting on the entire surface of the biofilm, such as erosion, are modelled using a continuous detachment speed function F(det). Discrete detachment events, i.e. sloughing, are implicitly derived from simulations. The method is flexible to allow F(det) to take several forms, including expressions dependent on any state variables such as the local biofilm density. This methodology for biomass detachment was integrated with multidimensional (2D and 3D) particle-based multispecies biofilm models by using a novel application of the level set method. Application of the method is illustrated by trends in the dynamics of biofilms structure and activity derived from simulations performed on a simple model considering uniform biomass (case study I) and a model discriminating biomass composition in heterotrophic active mass, extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and inert mass (case study II). Results from case study I demonstrate the effect of applied detachment forces as a fundamental factor influencing steady-state biofilm activity and structure. Trends from experimental observations reported in literature were correctly described. For example, simulation results indicated that biomass sloughing is reduced when erosion forces are increased. Case study II illustrates the application of the detachment methodology to systems with non-uniform biomass composition. Simulations carried out at different bulk concentrations of substrate show changes in biofilm structure (in terms of shape, density and spatial distribution of biomass components) and activity (in terms of oxygen and substrate consumption) as a consequence of either oxygen-limited or substrate-limited growth. (c) 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Recurrence quantification analysis applied to spatiotemporal pattern analysis in high-density mapping of human atrial fibrillation.

PubMed

Zeemering, Stef; Bonizzi, Pietro; Maesen, Bart; Peeters, Ralf; Schotten, Ulrich

2015-01-01

Spatiotemporal complexity of atrial fibrillation (AF) patterns is often quantified by annotated intracardiac contact mapping. We introduce a new approach that applies recurrence plot (RP) construction followed by recurrence quantification analysis (RQA) to epicardial atrial electrograms, recorded with a high-density grid of electrodes. In 32 patients with no history of AF (aAF, n=11), paroxysmal AF (PAF, n=12) and persistent AF (persAF, n=9), RPs were constructed using a phase space electrogram embedding dimension equal to the estimated AF cycle length. Spatial information was incorporated by 1) averaging the recurrence over all electrodes, and 2) by applying principal component analysis (PCA) to the matrix of embedded electrograms and selecting the first principal component as a representation of spatial diversity. Standard RQA parameters were computed on the constructed RPs and correlated to the number of fibrillation waves per AF cycle (NW). Averaged RP RQA parameters showed no correlation with NW. Correlations improved when applying PCA, with maximum correlation achieved between RP threshold and NW (RR1%, r=0.68, p <; 0.001) and RP determinism (DET, r=-0.64, p <; 0.001). All studied RQA parameters based on the PCA RP were able to discriminate between persAF and aAF/PAF (DET persAF 0.40 ± 0.11 vs. 0.59 ± 0.14/0.62 ± 0.16, p <; 0.01). RP construction and RQA combined with PCA provide a quick and reliable tool to visualize dynamical behaviour and to assess the complexity of contact mapping patterns in AF.

Pelvic fracture urethral injury in males—mechanisms of injury, management options and outcomes

PubMed Central

Barratt, Rachel C.; Bernard, Jason; Mundy, Anthony R.

2018-01-01

Pelvic fracture urethral injury (PFUI) management in male adults and children is controversial. The jury is still out on the best way to manage these injuries in the short and long-term to minimise complications and optimise outcomes. There is also little in the urological literature about pelvic fractures themselves, their causes, grading systems, associated injuries and the mechanism of PFUI. A review of pelvic fracture and male PFUI literature since 1757 was performed to determine pelvic fracture classification, associated injuries and, PFUI classification and management. The outcomes of; suprapubic catheter (SPC) insertion alone, primary open surgical repair (POSR), delayed primary open surgical repair (DPOSR), primary open realignment (POR), primary endoscopic realignment (PER), delayed endoscopic treatment (DET) and delayed urethroplasty (DU) in male adults and children in all major series have been reviewed and collated for rates of restricture (RS), erectile dysfunction (ED) and urinary incontinence (UI). For SPC, POSR, DPOSR, POR, PER, DET and DU; (I) mean RS rate was 97.9%, 53.9%, 18%, 58.3%, 62.0%, 80.2%, 14.4%; (II) mean ED rate was 25.6%, 22.5%, 71%, 37.2%, 23.6%, 31.9%, 12.7%; (III) mean UI rate was 6.7%, 13.6%, 0%, 14.5%, 4.1%, 4.1%, 6.8%; (IV) mean FU in months was 46.3, 29.4, 12, 61, 31.4, 31.8, 54.9. For males with PFUI restricture and new onset ED is lowest following DU whilst UI is lowest following DPOSR. On balance DU offers the best overall outcomes and should be the treatment of choice for PFUI. PMID:29644168

Pelvic fracture urethral injury in males-mechanisms of injury, management options and outcomes.

PubMed

Barratt, Rachel C; Bernard, Jason; Mundy, Anthony R; Greenwell, Tamsin J

2018-03-01

Pelvic fracture urethral injury (PFUI) management in male adults and children is controversial. The jury is still out on the best way to manage these injuries in the short and long-term to minimise complications and optimise outcomes. There is also little in the urological literature about pelvic fractures themselves, their causes, grading systems, associated injuries and the mechanism of PFUI. A review of pelvic fracture and male PFUI literature since 1757 was performed to determine pelvic fracture classification, associated injuries and, PFUI classification and management. The outcomes of; suprapubic catheter (SPC) insertion alone, primary open surgical repair (POSR), delayed primary open surgical repair (DPOSR), primary open realignment (POR), primary endoscopic realignment (PER), delayed endoscopic treatment (DET) and delayed urethroplasty (DU) in male adults and children in all major series have been reviewed and collated for rates of restricture (RS), erectile dysfunction (ED) and urinary incontinence (UI). For SPC, POSR, DPOSR, POR, PER, DET and DU; (I) mean RS rate was 97.9%, 53.9%, 18%, 58.3%, 62.0%, 80.2%, 14.4%; (II) mean ED rate was 25.6%, 22.5%, 71%, 37.2%, 23.6%, 31.9%, 12.7%; (III) mean UI rate was 6.7%, 13.6%, 0%, 14.5%, 4.1%, 4.1%, 6.8%; (IV) mean FU in months was 46.3, 29.4, 12, 61, 31.4, 31.8, 54.9. For males with PFUI restricture and new onset ED is lowest following DU whilst UI is lowest following DPOSR. On balance DU offers the best overall outcomes and should be the treatment of choice for PFUI.

Long-term cryopreservation of decellularised oesophagi for tissue engineering clinical application.

PubMed

Urbani, Luca; Maghsoudlou, Panagiotis; Milan, Anna; Menikou, Maria; Hagen, Charlotte Klara; Totonelli, Giorgia; Camilli, Carlotta; Eaton, Simon; Burns, Alan; Olivo, Alessandro; De Coppi, Paolo

2017-01-01

Oesophageal tissue engineering is a therapeutic alternative when oesophageal replacement is required. Decellularised scaffolds are ideal as they are derived from tissue-specific extracellular matrix and are non-immunogenic. However, appropriate preservation may significantly affect scaffold behaviour. Here we aim to prove that an effective method for short- and long-term preservation can be applied to tissue engineered products allowing their translation to clinical application. Rabbit oesophagi were decellularised using the detergent-enzymatic treatment (DET), a combination of deionised water, sodium deoxycholate and DNase-I. Samples were stored in phosphate-buffered saline solution at 4°C (4°C) or slow cooled in medium with 10% Me2SO at -1°C/min followed by storage in liquid nitrogen (SCM). Structural and functional analyses were performed prior to and after 2 and 4 weeks and 3 and 6 months of storage under each condition. Efficient decellularisation was achieved after 2 cycles of DET as determined with histology and DNA quantification, with preservation of the ECM. Only the SCM method, commonly used for cell storage, maintained the architecture and biomechanical properties of the scaffold up to 6 months. On the contrary, 4°C method was effective for short-term storage but led to a progressive distortion and degradation of the tissue architecture at the following time points. Efficient storage allows a timely use of decellularised oesophagi, essential for clinical translation. Here we describe that slow cooling with cryoprotectant solution in liquid nitrogen vapour leads to reliable long-term storage of decellularised oesophageal scaffolds for tissue engineering purposes.

OncomiR Addiction Is Generated by a miR-155 Feedback Loop in Theileria-Transformed Leukocytes

PubMed Central

Medjkane, Souhila; Perichon, Martine; Yin, Qinyan; Flemington, Erik; Weitzman, Matthew D.; Weitzman, Jonathan B.

2013-01-01

The intracellular parasite Theileria is the only eukaryote known to transform its mammalian host cells. We investigated the host mechanisms involved in parasite-induced transformation phenotypes. Tumour progression is a multistep process, yet ‘oncogene addiction’ implies that cancer cell growth and survival can be impaired by inactivating a single gene, offering a rationale for targeted molecular therapies. Furthermore, feedback loops often act as key regulatory hubs in tumorigenesis. We searched for microRNAs involved in addiction to regulatory loops in leukocytes infected with Theileria parasites. We show that Theileria transformation involves induction of the host bovine oncomiR miR-155, via the c-Jun transcription factor and AP-1 activity. We identified a novel miR-155 target, DET1, an evolutionarily-conserved factor involved in c-Jun ubiquitination. We show that miR-155 expression led to repression of DET1 protein, causing stabilization of c-Jun and driving the promoter activity of the BIC transcript containing miR-155. This positive feedback loop is critical to maintain the growth and survival of Theileria-infected leukocytes; transformation is reversed by inhibiting AP-1 activity or miR-155 expression. This is the first demonstration that Theileria parasites induce the expression of host non-coding RNAs and highlights the importance of a novel feedback loop in maintaining the proliferative phenotypes induced upon parasite infection. Hence, parasite infection drives epigenetic rewiring of the regulatory circuitry of host leukocytes, placing miR-155 at the crossroads between infection, regulatory circuits and transformation. PMID:23637592

Assessing peristomal skin changes in ostomy patients: validation of the Ostomy Skin Tool.

PubMed

Jemec, G B; Martins, L; Claessens, I; Ayello, E A; Hansen, A S; Poulsen, L H; Sibbald, R G

2011-02-01

Peristomal skin problems are common and are treated by a variety of health professionals. Clear and consistent communication among these professionals is therefore particularly important. The Ostomy Skin Tool (OST) is a new assessment instrument for the extent and severity of peristomal skin conditions. Formal tests of reliability and validity are necessary for its use in clinical practice, research, and education. To estimate inter- and intra nurse assessment variability of the OST and validity by comparison to a 'gold standard' (GS) defined by an expert panel. Thirty photographs of peristomal skin were presented twice to 20 ostomy care nurses--10 from Denmark (DK) and 10 from Spain (ES)--to determine intra- and inter nurse assessment variability. The same photographs were presented to an international group of experts (dermatologist and ostomy care nurses), to establish a GS for comparison and validation of the results. A high intra-nurse assessment agreement, κ=0·84, was found with no differences in the intra-nurse assessments from the two groups of nurses (DK and ES). The inter-nurse assessment agreement was 'moderate to good', κ=0·54, with the agreement between the experts higher, κ=0·70. A high correlation between the scores from the nurses and the GS were seen in the lower part of the two scales [Discoloration, Erosion, Tissue overgrowth (DET) score<7)]. The study supported the validity of the OST. It is suggested that a categorical scale can be used to illustrate the severity of the DET scores. © 2011 The Authors. BJD © 2011 British Association of Dermatologists.

Hydroacoustic Evaluation of Juvenile Salmonid Passage and Distribution at Detroit Dam, 2011

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

Khan, Fenton; Royer, Ida M.; Johnson, Gary E.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory evaluated juvenile salmonid passage and distribution at Detroit Dam (DET) on the North Santiam River, Oregon for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to provide data to support decisions on long-term measures to enhance downstream passage at DET and others dams in USACE’s Willamette Valley Project. This study was conducted in response to regulatory requirements necessitated by the listing of Upper Willamette River Spring Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and Upper Willamette River steelhead (O. mykiss) as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The goal of the study was to provide information of juvenile salmonid passagemore » and distribution at DET from February 2011 through February 2012. The results of the hydroacoustic study provide new and, in some cases, first-ever data on passage estimates, run timing, distributions, and relationships between fish passage and environmental variables at the dam. This information will inform management decisions on the design and development of surface passage and collection devices to help restore Chinook salmon populations in the North Santiam River watershed above DET. During the entire study period, an estimated total of 182,526 smolt-size fish (±4,660 fish, 95% CI) passed through turbine penstock intakes. Run timing peaked in winter and early spring months. Passage rates were highest during late fall, winter and early spring months and low during summer. Horizontal distribution for hours when both turbine units were operated simultaneously indicated Unit 2 passed almost twice as much fish as Unit 1. Diel distribution for smolt-size fish during the study period was fairly uniform, indicating fish were passing the turbines at all times of the day. A total of 5,083 smolt-size fish (± 312 fish, 95% CI) were estimated passed via the spillway when it was open between June 23 and September 27, 2011. Daily passage was low at the spillway during the June-August period, and increased somewhat in September 2011. When the spillway was operated simultaneously with the turbines, spillway efficiency (efficiency is estimated as spillway passage divided by total project passage) was 0.72 and effectiveness (fish:flow ratio—proportion fish passage at a route (e.g., spillway) divided by proportion water through that route out of the total project) was 2.69. That is, when the spillway was open, 72% of the fish passing the dam used the spillway and 28% passed into the turbine penstocks. Diel distribution for smolt-size fish at the spillway shows a distinct peak in passage between mid-morning and mid-afternoon and low passage at night. We estimated that 23,339 smolt-size fish (± 572 fish, 95% CI) passed via the Regulating Outlet (RO) when it was open from October 29 through November 12, 2011, January 2-6, and January 20 through February 3, 2012. During the October–November period, RO passage peaked at 1,086 fish on November 5, with a second peak on November 7 (1,075 fish). When the RO was operated simultaneously with the turbines, RO efficiency was 0.33 and effectiveness was 0.89. In multiple regression analyses, a relatively parsimonious model was selected that predicted the observed fish passage data well. The best model included forebay temperature at depth, forebay elevation, total discharge, hours of daylight, and the operation period. The vertical distribution of fish in the forebay near the face of the dam where the transducers sampled showed fish were generally distributed throughout the water column during all four operational periods. During the refill and full pool periods, vertical distribution was bi-modal with surface-layer and mid-water modes. Patterns for day and night distributions were variable. Fish were distributed above and below the thermocline when it was present (full pool and drawdown periods).« less

Definition Study of a Coordinated Group of Experiments to Measure and Monitor the in situ Plasma and Electromagnetic Environment of a Polar Orbiting Space Shuttle.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-09-01

instruments should be included in the SACS package: Mass Spectrometer - The ion/neutral quadrupole mass spectrometer obtains composition measurements of...contamination. The preferred direction is into the RAM. The field-of-view is _ 200 and t ie mass range is 1 to 64 AMU.- Energetic Particle Deteotors...Dimensions Dimensions Weight Item Stowed (cm) Deployed (cm) (kg) Ejected Recovery Mass Spectrometer N/A 15x7x7 bxbx6 12.7 N/A N/A Energetic Particle Det N

Transition Region for Corner Cracks at Holes.

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-12-01

that ca<tastrophic failures are not caused by cracks ormin;i I i g f ro.m fast ener ho I es . This philosophy was introduced by \\;Lood aind im, l12...form throusgh- * hi fininit~ 1w b ouindaries of this reuiion is .1 , t nd rk . i’ It he l .iSclissed inT det ail in i r , -n Iv, rm ed u r es o(r (I ,i...or these results dealing strictly wi th part-t brougil c:ac k fat i que life pr-edictions in 1979, (see Chang [301). Peterson andl Vroman [31 1

Cloud Geometry Analysis of the Smoke Week III Obscuration Trials.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-01-01

GRAPIC 1LJu 4 Cf . .444,44 44- 0. 15, 25, TltME( SErs AOEDET. . **** *HEI HT0F CENTER OP MASS ABOVE DET. PT 42 SMOKE III EVENT # 07 1313 Z 08-12-80 STATION...PORTION OF CLOUD ATMOSPHEdIC SCIENCES LABORATORY WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M. 119 CLI-J000000 ) .0 0 1a 40 M M M MMMMMMMM ul zo w -ZIxJ z z w 0 L- CF ... CF -R (CPT James M. Watson) Dugway, UT 84022 Port Sill, OK 73503 Commander Commandant US Army Dugway Proving Ground US Army Field Artillery School ATTN

Branch-and-Bound algorithm applied to uncertainty quantification of a Boiling Water Reactor Station Blackout

DOE PAGES

Nielsen, Joseph; Tokuhiro, Akira; Hiromoto, Robert; ...

2015-11-13

Evaluation of the impacts of uncertainty and sensitivity in modeling presents a significant set of challenges in particular to high fidelity modeling. Computational costs and validation of models creates a need for cost effective decision making with regards to experiment design. Experiments designed to validate computation models can be used to reduce uncertainty in the physical model. In some cases, large uncertainty in a particular aspect of the model may or may not have a large impact on the final results. For example, modeling of a relief valve may result in large uncertainty, however, the actual effects on final peakmore » clad temperature in a reactor transient may be small and the large uncertainty with respect to valve modeling may be considered acceptable. Additionally, the ability to determine the adequacy of a model and the validation supporting it should be considered within a risk informed framework. Low fidelity modeling with large uncertainty may be considered adequate if the uncertainty is considered acceptable with respect to risk. In other words, models that are used to evaluate the probability of failure should be evaluated more rigorously with the intent of increasing safety margin. Probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) techniques have traditionally been used to identify accident conditions and transients. Traditional classical event tree methods utilize analysts’ knowledge and experience to identify the important timing of events in coordination with thermal-hydraulic modeling. These methods lack the capability to evaluate complex dynamic systems. In these systems, time and energy scales associated with transient events may vary as a function of transition times and energies to arrive at a different physical state. Dynamic PRA (DPRA) methods provide a more rigorous analysis of complex dynamic systems. Unfortunately DPRA methods introduce issues associated with combinatorial explosion of states. This study presents a methodology to address combinatorial explosion using a Branch-and-Bound algorithm applied to Dynamic Event Trees (DET), which utilize LENDIT (L – Length, E – Energy, N – Number, D – Distribution, I – Information, and T – Time) as well as a set theory to describe system, state, resource, and response (S2R2) sets to create bounding functions for the DET. The optimization of the DET in identifying high probability failure branches is extended to create a Phenomenological Identification and Ranking Table (PIRT) methodology to evaluate modeling parameters important to safety of those failure branches that have a high probability of failure. The PIRT can then be used as a tool to identify and evaluate the need for experimental validation of models that have the potential to reduce risk. Finally, in order to demonstrate this methodology, a Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) Station Blackout (SBO) case study is presented.« less

Det Norske Veritas rule philosophy with regard to gas turbines for marine propulsion

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

Martin, P.

1999-04-01

This paper is mainly based on Det Norske Veritas (DNV) Rules of January 1996, Part 4, Chapter 2, Section 4 -- Gas Turbines, and is intended to at least open the dialogue between the gas turbine industry and DNV. There is a need for design approval and manufacturing inspection process systematic and testing procedures to match the standards of the industry. The role and expectations imposed by owners, the authorities, insurance agencies, etc. needs to be understood. These expectations often have technical implications that may go against the normal procedures and practices of the gas turbine industry, and could havemore » cost impacts. The question of DNV acceptance criteria has been asked many times, with respect to gas turbines. DNV relies a great deal on the manufacturer to provide the basis for the design criteria, manufacturing, and testing criteria of the gas turbine. However, DNV adds its knowledge and experience to this, and checks that the documentation presented by the manufacturer is technically acceptable. Generally, a high level of the state-of-the-art theoretical documentation is required to support the design of modern gas turbines. A proper understanding of the rule philosophy of DNV could prove to be useful in developing better gas turbines systems, which fulfill the rule requirements, and at the same time save resources such as money and time. It is important for gas turbine manufacturers to understand the intent of the rules since it is the intent that needs to be fulfilled. Further, the rules do have the principle of equivalence, which means that there is full freedom in how one fulfills the intent of the rules, as long as DNV accepts the solution.« less

Sustainable growth of Dehalococcoides mccartyi 195 by corrinoid salvaging and remodeling in defined lactate-fermenting consortia.

PubMed

Men, Yujie; Seth, Erica C; Yi, Shan; Allen, Robert H; Taga, Michiko E; Alvarez-Cohen, Lisa

2014-04-01

Corrinoids are essential cofactors of reductive dehalogenases in Dehalococcoides mccartyi, an important bacterium in bioremediation, yet sequenced D. mccartyi strains do not possess the complete pathway for de novo corrinoid biosynthesis. Pelosinus sp. and Desulfovibrio sp. have been detected in dechlorinating communities enriched from contaminated groundwater without exogenous cobalamin corrinoid. To investigate the corrinoid-related interactions among key members of these communities, we constructed consortia by growing D. mccartyi strain 195 (Dhc195) in cobalamin-free, trichloroethene (TCE)- and lactate-amended medium in cocultures with Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough (DvH) or Pelosinus fermentans R7 (PfR7) and with both in tricultures. Only the triculture exhibited sustainable dechlorination and cell growth when a physiological level of 5,6-dimethylbenzimidazole (DMB), the lower ligand of cobalamin, was provided. In the triculture, DvH provided hydrogen while PfR7 provided corrinoids to Dhc195, and the initiation of dechlorination and Dhc195 cell growth was highly dependent on the growth of PfR7. Corrinoid analysis indicated that Dhc195 imported and remodeled the phenolic corrinoids produced by PfR7 into cobalamin in the presence of DMB. Transcriptomic analyses of Dhc195 showed the induction of the CbiZ-dependent corrinoid-remodeling pathway and BtuFCD corrinoid ABC transporter genes during corrinoid salvaging and remodeling. In contrast, another operon annotated to encode a putative iron/cobalamin ABC transporter (DET1174-DET1176) was induced when cobalamin was exogenously provided. Interestingly, a global upregulation of phage-related genes was observed when PfR7 was present. These findings provide insights into both the gene regulation of corrinoid salvaging and remodeling in Dhc195 when it is grown without exogenous cobalamin and microbe-to-microbe interactions in dechlorinating microbial communities.

Electrospraying and ultraviolet light curing of nanometer-thin polydimethylsiloxane membranes for low-voltage dielectric elastomer transducers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Osmani, Bekim; Töpper, Tino; Siketanc, Matej; Kovacs, Gabor M.; Müller, Bert

2017-04-01

Dielectric elastomer transducers (DETs) have attracted interest as actuators, sensors, and even as self-sensing actuators for applications in medicine, soft robotics, and microfluidics. To reach strains of more than 10 %, they currently require operating voltages of several hundred volts. In medical applications for artificial muscles, however, their operation is limited to a very few tens of volts, which implies high permittivity materials and thin-film structures. Such micro- or nanostructures can be prepared using electro-spraying, a cost-effective technique that allows upscaling using multiple nozzles for the fabrication of silicone films down to nanometer thickness. Deposition rates of several micrometers per hour have already been reached. It has been recently demonstrated that such membranes can be fabricated by electro-spraying and subsequent ultraviolet light irradiation. Herein, we introduce a relatively fast deposition of a dimethyl silicone copolymer fluid that contains mercaptopropyl side chains in addition to the methyl groups. Its elastic modulus was tuned with the irradiation dose of the 200 W Hg-Xe lamp. We also investigated the formation of elastomer films, using polymer concentrations in ethyl acetate of 1, 2, 5 and 10 vol%. After curing, the surface roughness was measured by means of atomic force microscopy. This instrument also enabled us to determine the average elastic modulus out of, for example, 400 nanoindentation measurements, using a spherical tip with a radius of 500 nm. The elastomer films were cured for a period of less than one minute, a speed that makes it feasible to combine electro-spraying and in situ curing in a single process step for fabricating low-voltage, multilayer DETs.

Is there a chronic sleep stage-dependent linear and nonlinear cardiac autonomic impairment in obstructive sleep apnea?

PubMed

Trimer, R; Mendes, R G; Costa, F S M; Sampaio, L M M; Delfino, A; Arena, R; Aletti, F; Ferrario, M; Borghi-Silva, A

2014-05-01

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a respiratory disorder that has the potential to negatively impact heart rate variability (HRV) during the sleep cycle. However, it is uncertain whether there is a chronic sleep stage-dependent linear and nonlinear cardiac autonomic impairment in OSA. The aim of this study was to perform HRV analysis in apnea-free samples as well as during stage 2 and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep in mild and moderate OSA (MiOSA and MOSA, respectively) subjects as well as health controls (NonOSA). This study included 20 MiOSA (37 ± 14 years), 20 MOSA (39 ± 8 years), and 18 NonOSA (36 ± 8 years) subjects. Subjects underwent in-laboratory overnight polysomnography with electrocardiography recording. HRV indices were obtained by analyzing the R-R intervals (RRis) in 5-min apnea-free samples by the linear frequency domain [low frequency (LF), high frequency (HF) and LF/HF], Poincaré plot [standard deviation (SD1) and (SD2)], recurrence plot [mean line length (Lmean)], recurrence rate (REC), determinism (DET), and Shannon entropy (ShanEn). The MOSA group presented with higher LF, LF/HF, and DET indices compared to NonOSA as well as a lower parasympathetic index (HF), suggesting sympathetic hyperactivity in MOSA subjects. Interestingly, MiOSA subjects failed to show the expected linear HRV difference between sleep stages, as observed in NonOSA, which may represent an early onset of autonomic impairment at this stage of OSA. In OSA patients, there is a chronic sleep stage-dependent impairment of linear and nonlinear cardiac autonomic modulation. Interestingly, this impairment may be identifiable during the early stages of the disease.

Simultaneous in vivo comparison of water-filled and air-filled pressure measurement catheters: Implications for good urodynamic practice.

PubMed

Gammie, A; Abrams, P; Bevan, W; Ellis-Jones, J; Gray, J; Hassine, A; Williams, J; Hashim, H

2016-11-01

This study aimed to evaluate whether the pressure readings obtained from air-filled catheters (AFCs) are the same as the readings from simultaneously inserted water-filled catheters (WFCs). It also aimed to make any possible recommendations for the use of AFCs to conform to International Continence Society (ICS) Good Urodynamic Practices (GUP). Female patients undergoing urodynamic studies in a single center had water-filled and air-filled catheters simultaneously measuring abdominal and intravesical pressure during filling with saline and during voiding. The pressures recorded by each system at each event during the test were compared using paired t-test and Bland-Altman analyses. 62 patients were recruited, of whom 51 had pressures that could be compared during filling, and 23 during voiding. On average, the pressures measured by the two systems were not significantly different during filling and at maximum flow, but the values for a given patient were found to differ by up to 10 cmH 2 O. This study shows that AFCs and WFCs cannot be assumed to register equal values of pressure. It has further shown that even when the p det readings are compared with their value at the start of a test, a divergence of values of up to 10 cmH 2 O remains. If AFCs are used, care must be taken to compensate for any p det variations that occur during patient movement. Before AFCs are adopted, new normal values for resting pressures need to be developed to allow good quality AFC pressure readings to be made. Neurourol. Urodynam. 35:926-933, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Bladder outlet obstruction in women: definition and characteristics.

PubMed

Groutz, A; Blaivas, J G; Chaikin, D C

2000-01-01

The prevalence of bladder outlet obstruction in women is unknown and most probably has been underestimated. Moreover, there are no standard definitions for the diagnosis of bladder outlet obstruction in women. Our study was conducted to define as well as to examine the clinical and urodynamic characteristics of bladder outlet obstruction among women referred for evaluation of voiding symptoms. Bladder outlet obstruction was defined as a persistent, low, maximum "free" flow rate of <12 mL/s in repeated non-invasive uroflow studies, combined with high detrusor pressure at a maximum flow (p(det.Q)(max) >20 cm H(2)O) during detrusor pressure-uroflow studies. A urodynamic database of 587 consecutive women identified 38 (6.5%) women with bladder outlet obstruction. The mean age of the patients was 63.9 +/- 17.5 years. The mean maximum "free" flow, voided volume, and residual urinary volume were 9.4 +/-3.9 mL/s, 144. 9 +/- 72.7 mL, and 86.1 +/- 98.8 mL, respectively. The mean p(det. Q)(max) was 37.2 +/- 19.2 cm H(2)O. Previous anti-incontinence surgery and severe genital prolapse were the most common etiologies, accounting for half of the cases. Other, less common, etiologies included urethral stricture (13%), primary bladder neck obstruction (8%), learned voiding dysfunction (5%), and detrusor external sphincter dyssynergia (5%). Symptomatology was defined as mixed obstructive and irritative in 63% of the patients, isolated irritative in 29%, and isolated obstructive in other 8%. In conclusion, bladder outlet obstruction in women appears to be more common than was previously recognized, occurring in 6.5% of our patients. Micturition symptoms relevant to bladder outlet obstruction are non-specific, and a full urodynamic evaluation is essential in making the correct diagnosis and formulating a treatment plan.

Solar Array Power Conditioning for a Spinning Satellite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Luca, Antonio; Chirulli, Giovanni

2008-09-01

The conditioning of the output power from a solar array can mainly be achieved by the adoption of DET or MPPT based architecture. There are several factors that can orientate the choice of the system designer towards one solution or the other; some of them maybe inherent to the mission derived requirements (Illumination levels, EMC cleanliness, etc.), others come directly from a careful assessment of performances and losses of both power conditioner and solar array.Definition of the criteria on which basis the final choice is justified is important as they have to guarantee a clear determination of the available versus the required power in all those mission conditions identifiable as design drivers for the overall satellite system both in terms of mass and costs.Such criteria cannot just be simple theoretical enunciations of principles; nor the meticulous definition of them on a case by case basis for different types of missions as neither option gives a guarantee of being conclusive.The aim of this paper is then to suggest assessment steps and guidelines that can be considered generically valid for any mission case, starting from the exposition of the trade off activity performed in order to choose the power conditioning solution for a spinning satellite having unregulated power bus architecture. Calculations and numerical simulations have been made in order to establish the needed solar array surface in case of adoption of a DET or MPPT solution, taking into account temperature and illumination levels on the solar cells, as well as power losses and inefficiencies from the solar generator to the main power bus, in different mission phases. Particular attention has been taken in order to correctly evaluate the thermal effects on the rest of the spacecraft as function of the adopted power system regulation.

The Relationship between Nutrition in Infancy and Cognitive Performance during Adolescence

PubMed Central

Nyaradi, Anett; Oddy, Wendy H.; Hickling, Siobhan; Li, Jianghong; Foster, Jonathan K.

2015-01-01

Objectives: In this study, we aimed to investigate the long-term associations between breastfeeding duration during infancy, diet quality as measured by a diet score at 1 year of age, and cognitive performance during adolescence. Methods: Participants (n = 717) were recruited from the West Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study, a prospective longitudinal study of 2868 children and their families based in Perth, WA, Australia. Breastfeeding duration and an early diet score at age 1 year were used as the main predictor variables, while a computerized cognitive battery (CogState) was used to assess adolescents’ cognitive performance at 17 years. The diet score, which has seven food group components, was based on a 24-h recall questionnaire completed by the mother at 1 year of age. A higher diet score represents a better, more nutritious eating pattern. Associations between breastfeeding duration, diet score, and cognitive performance were assessed in multivariable regression models. Results: Higher diet scores at 1 year representing better diet quality were significantly associated with faster reaction times in cognitive performance at 17 years [Detection Task (DET): β = −0.004, 95% CI: −0.008; 0.000, p = 0.036; Identification Task (IDN): β = −0.004, 95% CI: −0.008; 0.000, p = 0.027]. Breastfeeding duration (≥4 months) was also significantly associated with a shorter reaction time, but only for males (DET: β = −0.026, 95% CI: −0.046; −0.006, p = 0.010). Conclusion: Nutrition in early childhood may have a long-term association with fundamental cognitive processing speed, which is likely to be related to enhanced brain development in the first year of life. PMID:26082928

Cost-effectiveness analysis of different embryo transfer strategies in England.

PubMed

Dixon, S; Faghih Nasiri, F; Ledger, W L; Lenton, E A; Duenas, A; Sutcliffe, P; Chilcott, J B

2008-05-01

The objective of this study was to assess the cost-effectiveness of different embryo transfer strategies for a single cycle when two embryos are available, and taking the NHS cost perspective. Cost-effectiveness model. Five in vitro fertilisation (IVF) centres in England between 2003/04 and 2004/05. Women with two embryos available for transfer in three age groups (<30, 30-35 and 36-39 years). A decision analytic model was constructed using observational data collected from a sample of fertility centres in England. Costs and adverse outcomes are estimated up to 5 years after the birth. Incremental cost per live birth was calculated for different embryo transfer strategies and for three separate age groups: less than 30, 30-35 and 36-39 years. Premature birth, neonatal intensive care unit admissions and days, cerebral palsy and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios. Single fresh embryo transfer (SET) plus frozen single embryo transfer (fzSET) is the more costly in terms of IVF costs, but the lower rates of multiple births mean that in terms of total costs, it is less costly than double embryo transfer (DET). Adverse events increase when moving from SET to SET+fzSET to DET. The probability of SET+fzSET being cost-effective decreases with age. When SET is included in the analysis, SET+fzSET no longer becomes a cost-effective option at any threshold value for all age groups studied. The analyses show that the choice of embryo transfer strategy is a function of four factors: the age of the mother, the relevance of the SET option, the value placed on a live birth and the relative importance placed on adverse outcomes. For each patient group, the choice of strategy is a trade-off between the value placed on a live birth and cost.

Observations on the Characteristics of the Exchange Flow in the Daranelles Strait

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-11-09

the Aegean section. For the three-layer exchange, the flow was critical with respect to internal modes when det Mð Þ ¼ h2 F42 r F21 F22 1 r... F22 F23 ¼ 0 [Smeed, 2000]. Fi is the Froude number for the ith layer, r = (r2 r1)/(r3 r1), and h is the nondimensional depth of the...channel. It has been shown by Lane-Serff et al. [2000] that at a control the second internal mode is critical if F21 þ F22 < r, while the first internal

Aircraft Alerting Systems Standardization Study. Volume I. Candidate System Validation and Time-Critical Display Evaluation.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-01-01

SELCAL FLT ALT ATNI AUO ALT BRK CANSELCAL OVSO CALL CONTRL ALRT _ I7CT be SPLR b 0 11CALL Figure 5.4.4-1 Pilot’s Response Panel Figure 5.4.4-2 Flight...Galley bus off 27 GLY BUS OFF A RP ELEC CYCLE SWITCH Utility bus off 28 UTIL BUS OFF A RP ELEC CYCLE SWITCH Right engine 29 R ENG HYD PUMP A RP HYD...CYCLE SWITCH hydraulic pump Left engine 30 L ENG FIRE DET A RP FIRE RP FIRE fire detector Left brake overheat 31 L BRAKE OVHT A RP BRK RP BRK Right

Environmental Baseline Survey for Proposed Land Use Permit Modification for Expansion of the Dynamic Explosive Test Site (DETS) 9940 Main Complex Parking Lot.

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

Peek, Dennis W.

The approach was to perform a document search, supplemented by a visual site inspection, to identify potential environmental contamination associated with the property. Factors evaluated included hazardous substances; petroleum products and derivatives; environmental restoration sites; areas of concern; storage tanks; oil/water separators; grease traps; wash racks; waste tanks; pesticides; military munitions/ordnance; medical or bio-hazardous waste; radioactive waste; solid/municipal waste; indoor air quality; groundwater; wastewater treatment, collection, and disposal/discharge; drinking water quality; utilities; asbestos; polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs); radon; lead-based paint; cultural resources; floodplains; and natural/biological resources.

Insights into dissociative electron transfer in esterified shikonin semiquinones by in situ ESR/UV-Vis spectroelectrochemistry.

PubMed

Armendáriz-Vidales, G; Frontana, C

2015-11-21

In this work, electrogenerated anion and dianion species from shikonin and its ester derivative isovalerylshikonin were characterized by means of ESR/UV-Vis spectroelectrochemistry. Analysis of the spectra supported the proposal that stepwise dissociative electron transfer (DET) takes place during the second reduction process of the esterified compound. Quantum chemical calculations were performed for validating the occurrence of this mechanistic pathway and for obtaining thermodynamic information on the electron transfer process; ΔG(cleavage)(0) was estimated to be -0.45 eV, considering that the two possible products of the overall reaction scheme are both a quinone and carboxylate anions.

A Method for Determining Spiral-Bevel Gear Tooth Geometry for Finite Element Analysis

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-08-01

to0itated Ins.pecttion aind Pceci.i’i (;Irtdtite Lit Spiral Betel pp 1i7 33;4. Gear.. NA.SA- CR 4083.AASCONI FR 87 -C’ 1 1,I98-1 4 ((taint. SB H...ti-io..n. NASA 1t) 27115. A .NSC( (Nt IR [,It\\. 1ii. 1... ei al, Nietlid 1h1 irCiciteatin Lit Spiral Betel Gear.. W%’itl 86 (’-42. 1987. C𔃻...P.C , Silrlace Geiiiitetr. ’I StraiLght lintl Spiril A.SM1 ilpaper X4-DET:- 169. Oct. 1984 Betel Gear... j NCIec trait.. Nutittlat. Dc... .o iIlt

First measurement of the νμ charged-current cross section on a water target without pions in the final state

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abe, K.; Amey, J.; Andreopoulos, C.; Antonova, M.; Aoki, S.; Ariga, A.; Ashida, Y.; Ban, S.; Barbi, M.; Barker, G. J.; Barr, G.; Barry, C.; Batkiewicz, M.; Berardi, V.; Berkman, S.; Bhadra, S.; Bienstock, S.; Blondel, A.; Bolognesi, S.; Bordoni, S.; Boyd, S. B.; Brailsford, D.; Bravar, A.; Bronner, C.; Buizza Avanzini, M.; Calland, R. G.; Campbell, T.; Cao, S.; Cartwright, S. L.; Catanesi, M. G.; Cervera, A.; Chappell, A.; Checchia, C.; Cherdack, D.; Chikuma, N.; Christodoulou, G.; Coleman, J.; Collazuol, G.; Coplowe, D.; Cudd, A.; Dabrowska, A.; De Rosa, G.; Dealtry, T.; Denner, P. F.; Dennis, S. R.; Densham, C.; Di Lodovico, F.; Dolan, S.; Drapier, O.; Duffy, K. E.; Dumarchez, J.; Dunne, P.; Emery-Schrenk, S.; Ereditato, A.; Feusels, T.; Finch, A. J.; Fiorentini, G. A.; Friend, M.; Fujii, Y.; Fukuda, D.; Fukuda, Y.; Garcia, A.; Giganti, C.; Gizzarelli, F.; Golan, T.; Gonin, M.; Hadley, D. R.; Haegel, L.; Haigh, J. T.; Hansen, D.; Harada, J.; Hartz, M.; Hasegawa, T.; Hastings, N. C.; Hayashino, T.; Hayato, Y.; Hillairet, A.; Hiraki, T.; Hiramoto, A.; Hirota, S.; Hogan, M.; Holeczek, J.; Hosomi, F.; Huang, K.; Ichikawa, A. K.; Ikeda, M.; Imber, J.; Insler, J.; Intonti, R. A.; Ishida, T.; Ishii, T.; Iwai, E.; Iwamoto, K.; Izmaylov, A.; Jamieson, B.; Jiang, M.; Johnson, S.; Jonsson, P.; Jung, C. K.; Kabirnezhad, M.; Kaboth, A. C.; Kajita, T.; Kakuno, H.; Kameda, J.; Karlen, D.; Katori, T.; Kearns, E.; Khabibullin, M.; Khotjantsev, A.; Kim, H.; Kim, J.; King, S.; Kisiel, J.; Knight, A.; Knox, A.; Kobayashi, T.; Koch, L.; Koga, T.; Koller, P. P.; Konaka, A.; Kormos, L. L.; Koshio, Y.; Kowalik, K.; Kudenko, Y.; Kurjata, R.; Kutter, T.; Lagoda, J.; Lamont, I.; Lamoureux, M.; Lasorak, P.; Laveder, M.; Lawe, M.; Licciardi, M.; Lindner, T.; Liptak, Z. J.; Litchfield, R. P.; Li, X.; Longhin, A.; Lopez, J. P.; Lou, T.; Ludovici, L.; Lu, X.; Magaletti, L.; Mahn, K.; Malek, M.; Manly, S.; Maret, L.; Marino, A. D.; Martin, J. F.; Martins, P.; Martynenko, S.; Maruyama, T.; Matveev, V.; Mavrokoridis, K.; Ma, W. Y.; Mazzucato, E.; McCarthy, M.; McCauley, N.; McFarland, K. S.; McGrew, C.; Mefodiev, A.; Metelko, C.; Mezzetto, M.; Minamino, A.; Mineev, O.; Mine, S.; Missert, A.; Miura, M.; Moriyama, S.; Morrison, J.; Mueller, Th. A.; Nakadaira, T.; Nakahata, M.; Nakamura, K. G.; Nakamura, K.; Nakamura, K. D.; Nakanishi, Y.; Nakayama, S.; Nakaya, T.; Nakayoshi, K.; Nantais, C.; Nielsen, C.; Nishikawa, K.; Nishimura, Y.; Novella, P.; Nowak, J.; O'Keeffe, H. M.; Okumura, K.; Okusawa, T.; Oryszczak, W.; Oser, S. M.; Ovsyannikova, T.; Owen, R. A.; Oyama, Y.; Palladino, V.; Palomino, J. L.; Paolone, V.; Patel, N. D.; Paudyal, P.; Pavin, M.; Payne, D.; Petrov, Y.; Pickering, L.; Pinzon Guerra, E. S.; Pistillo, C.; Popov, B.; Posiadala-Zezula, M.; Poutissou, J.-M.; Pritchard, A.; Przewlocki, P.; Quilain, B.; Radermacher, T.; Radicioni, E.; Ratoff, P. N.; Rayner, M. A.; Reinherz-Aronis, E.; Riccio, C.; Rondio, E.; Rossi, B.; Roth, S.; Ruggeri, A. C.; Rychter, A.; Sakashita, K.; Sánchez, F.; Scantamburlo, E.; Scholberg, K.; Schwehr, J.; Scott, M.; Seiya, Y.; Sekiguchi, T.; Sekiya, H.; Sgalaberna, D.; Shah, R.; Shaikhiev, A.; Shaker, F.; Shaw, D.; Shiozawa, M.; Shirahige, T.; Smy, M.; Sobczyk, J. T.; Sobel, H.; Steinmann, J.; Stewart, T.; Stowell, P.; Suda, Y.; Suvorov, S.; Suzuki, A.; Suzuki, S. Y.; Suzuki, Y.; Tacik, R.; Tada, M.; Takeda, A.; Takeuchi, Y.; Tamura, R.; Tanaka, H. K.; Tanaka, H. A.; Thakore, T.; Thompson, L. F.; Tobayama, S.; Toki, W.; Tomura, T.; Tsukamoto, T.; Tzanov, M.; Vagins, M.; Vallari, Z.; Vasseur, G.; Vilela, C.; Vladisavljevic, T.; Wachala, T.; Walter, C. W.; Wark, D.; Wascko, M. O.; Weber, A.; Wendell, R.; Wilking, M. J.; Wilkinson, C.; Wilson, J. R.; Wilson, R. J.; Wret, C.; Yamada, Y.; Yamamoto, K.; Yanagisawa, C.; Yano, T.; Yen, S.; Yershov, N.; Yokoyama, M.; Yuan, T.; Yu, M.; Zalewska, A.; Zalipska, J.; Zambelli, L.; Zaremba, K.; Ziembicki, M.; Zimmerman, E. D.; Zito, M.; T2K Collaboration

2018-01-01

This paper reports the first differential measurement of the charged-current interaction cross section of νμ on water with no pions in the final state. This flux-averaged measurement has been made using the T2K experiment's off-axis near detector, and is reported in doubly differential bins of muon momentum and angle. The flux-averaged total cross section in a restricted region of phase space was found to be σ =(0.95 ±0.08 (stat) ±0.06 (det syst)±0.04 (model syst)±0.08 (flux ))×10-38 cm2/n .

Toxic Hazards in Aviation.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-04-01

TM T7M T7T2M Skin Leiomyoma (B) 0/170 1/161 0/146 0/147 Squamous Cell Carcinoma (P) 0/170 1/161 0/146 0/147 Trichoepithelioma (B) 0/170 1/161 0/146 0...The activity’ Is expressed as~I OT 1’,. 4C ~i- ’outined Iln Figure l, egend. W, ENFO TM ,miue Bi8-1 TOXICITE DES GAZ OE DECOMiPOSITION THERIQgUE DES...ntWest que tdc 7 p. cent lorsqtion passe de 1 ’air ht ut) inlanqe bi 1 p). cent tie [C02?. I ’ aoiqment at ion det I at fr~tilerrice reap irat oi re

Modeling of Electrical Cable Failure in a Dynamic Assessment of Fire Risk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bucknor, Matthew D.

Fires at a nuclear power plant are a safety concern because of their potential to defeat the redundant safety features that provide a high level of assurance of the ability to safely shutdown the plant. One of the added complexities of providing protection against fires is the need to determine the likelihood of electrical cable failure which can lead to the loss of the ability to control or spurious actuation of equipment that is required for safe shutdown. A number of plants are now transitioning from their deterministic fire protection programs to a risk-informed, performance based fire protection program according to the requirements of National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 805. Within a risk-informed framework, credit can be taken for the analysis of fire progression within a fire zone that was not permissible within the deterministic framework of a 10 CFR 50.48 Appendix R safe shutdown analysis. To perform the analyses required for the transition, plants need to be able to demonstrate with some level of assurance that cables related to safe shutdown equipment will not be compromised during postulated fire scenarios. This research contains the development of new cable failure models that have the potential to more accurately predict electrical cable failure in common cable bundle configurations. Methods to determine the thermal properties of the new models from empirical data are presented along with comparisons between the new models and existing techniques used in the nuclear industry today. A Dynamic Event Tree (DET) methodology is also presented which allows for the proper treatment of uncertainties associated with fire brigade intervention and its effects on cable failure analysis. Finally a shielding analysis is performed to determine the effects on the temperature response of a cable bundle that is shielded from a fire source by an intervening object such as another cable tray. The results from the analyses demonstrate that models of similar complexity to existing cable failure techniques and tuned to empirical data can better approximate the temperature response of a cables located in tightly packed cable bundles. The new models also provide a way to determine the conditions insides a cable bundle which allows for separate treatment of cables on the interior of the bundle from cables on the exterior of the bundle. The results from the DET analysis show that the overall assessed probability of cable failure can be significantly reduced by more realistically accounting for the influence that the fire brigade has on a fire progression scenario. The shielding analysis results demonstrate a significant reduction in the temperature response of a shielded versus a non-shielded cable bundle; however the computational cost of using a fire progression model that can capture these effects may be prohibitive for performing DET analyses with currently available computational fluid dynamics models and computational resources.

In Situ Shear Wave Measurements for Evaluating Dynamic Soil Properties at the Bannister Federal Complex, Kansas City, Missouri.

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-11-01

SO0400 DE OPTH ORILLED INTO ROCKS IN~IEO U 5 PCO #1TOTAL &EPT" o OfILE ELEVATION DET ELO CLASINICATION OF NATCSIALS WCORE sxWt aR REAKS ECOV. SA" PLEC ...34. ah.- Is.M HE.rl veA -6 r s-o 5.m NAME ice OFOPLEP4 TOTAL. PUMOE CORE boxes * IPEICTION OF MOLE IT~E PPEE c~vm~g" 0814fwce bse. P"" WEN. SL ATE MOLE 1...DRILLED NTO RO= SW TOWTM. acoRE ECOVERty FOR @Mo*D -s S. TOTAL. DEPTH Of HOLE __; ; ELEVAYSON DEPTH LjEOCH CLAWSHFCATIOCOF MATERIALS as CORE Box on 0EMARKS

[Anesthesiological systems "Polinarkon-Vita" with microprocessor for artificial lung ventilation apparatuses and monitoring].

PubMed

Trushin, A I; Uliakov, G I; Reĭderman, E N

2005-01-01

The anesthesiological systems Polinarkon-Vita for adults and children are described. These systems were developed at VNIIMP-VITA, Ltd. on the basis of basic model of the anesthesiological system Polinarkon-E-Vita. The following new important units of the fifth generation apparatuses for inhalation anesthesia (IA) are described: Anestezist-4 monocomponent evaporator for liquid anesthetics (enfluran and isofluran); Diana, Diana-Det, and Elan-NR apparatuses for mechanical lung ventilation (MLV); dosimeters of medical gases, etc. These systems implement monitoring of vitally important functions of patient and parameters of IN and MLV. The anesthesiological systems Polinarkon-Vita are recommended for medical practice and commercially available from VNIIMP-VITA, Ltd. as small lots.

Solar bus regulator and battery charger for IMP's H, I, and J

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Paulkovich, J.

1972-01-01

Interplanetary Monitoring Probe (IMP) spacecrafts H, I, and J utilize a direct energy transfer (DET) type of power system operating from a solar array source. A shunt type of regulator prevents the bus voltage from exceeding a preset voltage level. The power system utilizes a single differential amplifier with dual outputs to control the battery charge/shunt regulator and the discharge regulator. A two-voltage level, current limited, series charger and a current sensor control battery state of charge of the silver-cadmium battery pack. Premature termination of the battery charge is prevented by a power available gate that also initiates charge current to the battery upon availability of excess power.

Increasing Space Situational Awareness for NEOs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hestroffer, Daniel J. G. J.; Eggl, Siegfried; Thuillot, William

2015-05-01

Over the past years, Europe has strengthened its commitment to foster space situational awareness. Apart from the current efforts in tracking space weather, artificial satellites and space debris, Near Earth Asteroid threat assessment is a key task. NEOshield has been part of this European effort. We will give an overview over national projects and European programs with French participation such as PoDET, ESTERS, FRIPON, NEOShield, Gaia-FUN-SSO and Stardust. Future plans regarding Near Earth Object threat assessment and mitigation are described. The role of the IMCCE in this framework is discussed using the example of the post mitigation impact risk analyis of Gravity Tractor and Kinetic Impactor based asteroid deflection demonstration mission designs.

Metal-Matrix Composites and Porous Materials: Constitute Models, Microstructure Evolution and Applications

DTIC Science & Technology

2000-02-23

eonomical to rotate the stress and the c strain once rather than having to rotate 4th order tensors like c Amat, Bmat , MHS etc. whose...nu2,sigyO real*8 deps(3,3),eps_plastic,dep_plas,dumd(6,6) real*8 det,kll,dphidf,phil,phi2,ftest real*8 el212,e2323,el313,pil212,pi2323,pil313, bmat ...pi2323-f*pi2323 el313=pil313-f*pil313 spath=.true. call Btensor(a,b,c,ad,bd,cd,f,mul,kl,mu2,k2, Bmat ) do 41 i=l,3 do 42 j=l,6 Bmat (i,j)=0.0 42

Sensory trigeminal ULF-TENS stimulation reduces HRV response to experimentally induced arithmetic stress: A randomized clinical trial.

PubMed

Monaco, Annalisa; Cattaneo, Ruggero; Ortu, Eleonora; Constantinescu, Marian Vladimir; Pietropaoli, Davide

2017-05-01

Ultra Low Frequency Transcutaneous Electric Nervous Stimulation (ULF-TENS) is extensively used for pain relief and for the diagnosis and treatment of temporomandibular disorders (TMD). In addition to its local effects, ULF-TENS acts on the autonomic nervous system (ANS), with particular reference to the periaqueductal gray (PAG), promoting the release of endogenous opioids and modulating descending pain systems. It has been suggested that the PAG participates in the coupling between the emotional stimulus and the appropriate behavioral autonomic response. This function is successfully investigated by HRV. Therefore, our goal is to investigate the effects of trigeminal ULF-TENS stimulation on autonomic behavior in terms of HRV and respiratory parameters during an experimentally-induced arithmetic stress test in healthy subjects. Thirty healthy women between 25 and 35years of age were enrolled and randomly assigned to either the control (TENS stimulation off) or test group (TENS stimulation on). Heart (HR, LF, HF, LF/HF ratio, DET, RMSSD, PNN50, RR) and respiratory (BR) rate were evaluated under basal, T1 (TENS off/on), and stress (mathematical task) conditions. Results showed that HRV parameters and BR significantly changed during the arithmetic stress paradigm (p<0.01). Independently of stress conditions, TENS and control group could be discriminated only by non-linear HRV data, namely RR and DET (p=0.038 and p=0.027, respectively). During the arithmetic task, LF/HF ratio was the most sensitive parameter to discriminate between groups (p=0.019). Our data suggest that trigeminal sensory ULF-TENS reduces the autonomic response in terms of HRV and BR during acute mental stress in healthy subjects. Future directions of our work aim at applying the HRV and BR analysis, with and without TENS stimulation, to individuals with dysfunctional ANS among those with TMD. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The impact of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase polymorphisms on responses to first-line nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor-based therapy in HIV-1-infected adults.

PubMed

Mackie, Nicola E; Dunn, David T; Dolling, David; Garvey, Lucy; Harrison, Linda; Fearnhill, Esther; Tilston, Peter; Sabin, Caroline; Geretti, Anna M

2013-09-10

HIV-1 genetic variability may influence antiretroviral therapy (ART) outcomes. The study aim was to determine the impact of polymorphisms in regions known to harbor major nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) resistance mutations (codons 90-108, 135-138, 179-190, 225-348) on virologic responses to first-line NNRTI-based ART. Reverse transcriptase sequences from ART-naive individuals who commenced efavirenz (EFV) or nevirapine (NVP) with at least two nucleos(t)ide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) without major drug resistance mutations were analyzed. The impact of polymorphisms on week 4 viral load decrease and time to virologic failure was measured over a median 97 weeks. Among 4528 patients, most were infected with HIV-1 subtype B (67%) and commenced EFV-based ART (84%). Overall, 2598 (57%) had at least one polymorphism, most frequently at codons 90, 98, 101, 103, 106, 135, 138, 179, and 238. Virologic failure rates were increased in patients with two (n = 597) or more than two (n = 72) polymorphisms [adjusted hazard ratio 1.43; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.07-1.92; P = 0.016]. Polymorphisms associated with virologic failure occurred at codons 90 (mostly V90I), 98 (mostly A98S), and 103 (mostly K103R), with adjusted hazard ratios of 1.78 (1.15-2.73; P = 0.009), 1.55 (1.16-2.08; P = 0.003), and 1.75 (1.00-3.05: P = 0.049), respectively. Polymorphisms at codon 179, especially V179D/E/T, predicted reduced week 4 responses (P = 0.001) but not virologic failure. The occurrence of multiple polymorphisms, though uncommon, was associated with a small increase in the risk of NNRTI treatment failure; significant effects were seen with polymorphisms at codon 90, 98, and 103. The mechanisms underlying the slower suppression seen with V179D/E/T deserve further investigation.

Diurnal shifts in co-distributions of sulfide and iron(II) and profiles of phosphate and ammonium in the rhizosphere of Zostera capricorni

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pagès, Anaïs; Welsh, David T.; Robertson, David; Panther, Jared G.; Schäfer, Jörg; Tomlinson, Rodger B.; Teasdale, Peter R.

2012-12-01

High resolution, two dimensional distributions of porewater iron(II) and sulfide were measured, using colourimetric DET (diffusive equilibration in a thin film) and DGT (diffusive gradients in a thin film) techniques, respectively, in Zostera capricorni colonised sediments under both light and dark conditions. Low resolution depth profiles of ammonium and phosphate were measured using conventional DET and DGT methods, respectively. Porewater iron(II) and sulfide distributions showed a high degree of spatial heterogeneity under both light and dark conditions, and distributions were characterised by a complex mosaic of sediment zones dominated by either iron(II) or sulfide. However, there was a clear shift in overall redox conditions between light and dark conditions. During light deployments, iron(II) and sulfide concentrations were generally low throughout the rhizosphere, apart from a few distinct "hotspots" of high concentration. Whereas during dark deployments, high concentrations of iron(II) were sometimes measured in the near surface sediments and sulfide depth distributions migrated towards the sediment surface. Profiles of porewater ammonium and phosphate demonstrated an increase in ammonium concentrations under dark compared to light conditions. Surprisingly, despite the large changes in iron(II) distributions between light and dark conditions, phosphate profiles remained similar, indicating that adsorption/release of phosphate by iron(III) hydr(oxide) mineral formation and reduction was not a major factor regulating porewater phosphate concentrations in these sediments or that phosphate uptake by the seagrass roots persisted during the dark period. Overall, the results demonstrate that the photosynthetic activity of the seagrass played a significant role in regulating sulfide, iron(II) and ammonium concentrations in the rhizosphere, due to rates of radial oxygen loss and ammonium uptake by the roots and rhizomes being lower under dark compared to light conditions. This cyclic production and reduction of iron(III) hydr(oxides) in the rhizosphere may act as a buffering system preventing sulfide accumulation.

Direct and mediated electrochemistry of peroxidase and its electrocatalysis on a variety of screen-printed carbon electrodes: amperometric hydrogen peroxide and phenols biosensor.

PubMed

Chekin, Fereshteh; Gorton, Lo; Tapsobea, Issa

2015-01-01

This study compares the behaviour of direct and mediated electrochemistry of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) immobilised on screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCEs), screen-printed carbon electrodes modified with carboxyl-functionalised multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT-SPCEs) and screen-printed carbon electrodes modified with carboxyl-functionalised single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNT-SPCEs). The techniques of cyclic voltammetry and amperometry in the flow mode were used to characterise the properties of the HRP immobilised on screen-printed electrodes. From measurements of the mediated and mediatorless currents of hydrogen peroxide reduction at the HRP-modified electrodes, it was concluded that the fraction of enzyme molecules in direct electron transfer (DET) contact with the electrode varies substantially for the different electrodes. It was observed that the screen-printed carbon electrodes modified with carbon nanotubes (MWCNT-SPCEs and SWCNT-SPCEs) demonstrated a substantially higher percentage (≈100 %) of HRP molecules in DET contact than the screen-printed carbon electrodes (≈60 %). The HRP-modified electrodes were used for determination of hydrogen peroxide in mediatorless mode. The SWCNT-SPCE gave the lowest detection limit (0.40 ± 0.09 μM) followed by MWCNT-SPCE (0.48 ± 0.07 μM) and SPCE (0.98 ± 0.2 μM). These modified electrodes were additionally developed for amperometric determination of phenolic compounds. It was found that the SWCNT-SPCE gave a detection limit for catechol of 110.2 ± 3.6 nM, dopamine of 640.2 ± 9.2 nM, octopamine of 3341 ± 15 nM, pyrogallol of 50.10 ± 2.9 nM and 3,4-dihydroxy-L-phenylalanine of 980.7 ± 8.7 nM using 50 μM H2O2 in the flow carrier.

A Novel Plant Sesquiterpene Lactone Derivative, DETD-35, Suppresses BRAFV600E Mutant Melanoma Growth and Overcomes Acquired Vemurafenib Resistance in Mice.

PubMed

Feng, Jia-Hua; Nakagawa-Goto, Kyoko; Lee, Kuo-Hsiung; Shyur, Lie-Fen

2016-06-01

Acquired resistance to vemurafenib develops through reactivation of RAF/MEK/ERK signaling or bypass mechanisms. Recent combination therapies such as a MEK inhibitor combined with vemurafenib show improvement in major clinical end points, but the percentage of patients with adverse toxic events is higher than with vemurafenib monotherapy and most patients ultimately relapse. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop new antimelanoma drugs and/or adjuvant agents for vemurafenib therapy. In this study, we created a novel semiorganically modified derivative, DETD-35, from deoxyelephantopin (DET), a plant sesquiterpene lactone demonstrated as an anti-inflammatory and anti-mammary tumor agent. Our results show that DETD-35 inhibited proliferation of a panel of melanoma cell lines, including acquired vemurafenib resistance A375 cells (A375-R) established in this study, with superior activities to DET and no cytotoxicity to normal melanocytes. DETD-35 suppressed tumor growth and reduced tumor mass as effectively as vemurafenib in A375 xenograft study. Furthermore, DETD-35 also reduced tumor growth in both acquired (A375-R) and intrinsic (A2058) vemurafenib resistance xenograft models, where vemurafenib showed no antitumor activity. Notably, the combination of DETD-35 and vemurafenib exhibited the most significant effects in both in vitro and in vivo xenograft studies due to synergism of the compound and the drug. Mechanistic studies suggested that DETD-35 overcame acquired vemurafenib resistance at least in part through deregulating MEK-ERK, Akt, and STAT3 signaling pathways and promoting apoptosis of cancer cells. Overall, our results suggest that DETD-35 may be useful as a therapeutic or adjuvant agent against BRAF(V600E) mutant and acquired vemurafenib resistance melanoma. Mol Cancer Ther; 15(6); 1163-76. ©2016 AACR. ©2016 American Association for Cancer Research.

Malfunction Investigation of the XM935 Point Detonating Fuze

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-04-01

1 PSK* UNCHANGED FUMLY AR! 2 PSM UNCHANGED FULLY ARMED 3 OK PS4 UNCHANGD 4 CK P24 UNC DNGED 5 PSK (more than S.Q. Det Edge Visible FuLLY AP1M other...Continued) F= NO. DRC NO. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 3 PSK UNCH UNCH UNCE SEE SQ UNCH UNCH UNCH UNCH UN1H 4 PS4 UNCH SKH E SQ UNCH tNCH UNCH UNCH U2 L!CH...EDGE 5 PS UNCH tCH SE SQ UNCH MMH UNCH UNCH UWCH WECH 6 P4M UNCH UNCH Q SEE SQ EDGE 7 PSK UNCH UNCH SEE SO WXC EDGE a P UNCP L4 UNCH SC E SQ 9 PS4 UNCX

FAST Spacecraft Battery Design and Performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jung, David S.; Rao, Gopalakrishna; Ahmad, Anisa

1997-01-01

The Fast Auroral Snapshot (FAST) Explorer spacecraft is to study the physical processes that produce the aurora borealis and aurora australis. It is a unique plasma physics experiment that will take fundamental measurements of the magnetic and electrical fields. This investigation will add significantly to our understanding of the near-earth space environments and its effect. The FAST has a 1 year requirement and 3-year goal for its mission life in low earth orbit. The FAST power power system topology is a Direct Energy Transfer (DET) system based on the SAMPEX design. The FAST flight battery supplies power to the satellite during pre-launch operations, the launch phase, the eclipse periods for all mission phases, and when the load is about 50 watts.

Nonlinear Burning Stability of Solid Propellants.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-12-31

de f()dO dX dO dX - dx d o d do d 20"--- - f( e ) 2- dX dX dX dX2 Therefore, the steady thermal profile for the same nondimensio- nal temperature...PF ,) C ( e ) de -H )-(1-r )Fo+q (0 gis 0 -C c o out s At the crossing of qg,s(P,R) with qg,s(P,Fo,®_ ), steady solutions R(P, Fo,1 ) vs qg,s are singled...PAGE (Wbrm Dets Entered) Is.-7 *0*" UNCLASSIFIED . " E C U R ITV C L A S S IF IC A T IO N O F T 0 IS P A G rwhI e D o ra E m, -- 20. Continued

Determination of the k{sub Q{sub c{sub l{sub i{sub n,Q{sub m{sub s{sub r}{sup f{sub c}{sub l}{sub i}{sub n},f{sub m}{sub s}{sub r}}}}}}}}} correction factors for detectors used with an 800 MU/min CyberKnife{sup ®} system equipped with fixed collimators and a study of detector response to small photon beams using a Monte Carlo method

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

Moignier, C., E-mail: cyril.moignier@free.fr; Huet, C.; Makovicka, L.

Purpose: In a previous work, output ratio (OR{sub det}) measurements were performed for the 800 MU/min CyberKnife{sup ®} at the Oscar Lambret Center (COL, France) using several commercially available detectors as well as using two passive dosimeters (EBT2 radiochromic film and micro-LiF TLD-700). The primary aim of the present work was to determine by Monte Carlo calculations the output factor in water (OF{sub MC,w}) and the k{sub Q{sub c{sub l{sub i{sub n,Q{sub m{sub s{sub r}{sup f{sub c}{sub l}{sub i}{sub n},f{sub m}{sub s}{sub r}}}}}}}}} correction factors. The secondary aim was to study the detector response in small beams using Monte Carlomore » simulation. Methods: The LINAC head of the CyberKnife{sup ®} was modeled using the PENELOPE Monte Carlo code system. The primary electron beam was modeled using a monoenergetic source with a radial gaussian distribution. The model was adjusted by comparisons between calculated and measured lateral profiles and tissue-phantom ratios obtained with the largest field. In addition, the PTW 60016 and 60017 diodes, PTW 60003 diamond, and micro-LiF were modeled. Output ratios with modeled detectors (OR{sub MC,det}) and OF{sub MC,w} were calculated and compared to measurements, in order to validate the model for smallest fields and to calculate k{sub Q{sub c{sub l{sub i{sub n,Q{sub m{sub s{sub r}{sup f{sub c}{sub l}{sub i}{sub n},f{sub m}{sub s}{sub r}}}}}}}}} correction factors, respectively. For the study of the influence of detector characteristics on their response in small beams; first, the impact of the atomic composition and the mass density of silicon, LiF, and diamond materials were investigated; second, the material, the volume averaging, and the coating effects of detecting material on the detector responses were estimated. Finally, the influence of the size of silicon chip on diode response was investigated. Results: Looking at measurement ratios (uncorrected output factors) compared to the OF{sub MC,w}, the PTW 60016, 60017 and Sun Nuclear EDGE diodes systematically over-responded (about +6% for the 5 mm field), whereas the PTW 31014 Pinpoint chamber systematically under-responded (about −12% for the 5 mm field). OR{sub det} measured with the SFD diode and PTW 60003 diamond detectors were in good agreement with OF{sub MC,w} except for the 5 mm field size (about −7.5% for the diamond and +3% for the SFD). A good agreement with OF{sub MC,w} was obtained with the EBT2 film and micro-LiF dosimeters (deviation less than 1.4% for all fields investigated). k{sub Q{sub c{sub l{sub i{sub n,Q{sub m{sub s{sub r}{sup f{sub c}{sub l}{sub i}{sub n},f{sub m}{sub s}{sub r}}}}}}}}} correction factors for several detectors used in this work have been calculated. The impact of atomic composition on the dosimetric response of detectors was found to be insignificant, unlike the mass density and size of the detecting material. Conclusions: The results obtained with the passive dosimeters showed that they can be used for small beam OF measurements without correction factors. The study of detector response showed that OR{sub det} is depending on the mass density, the volume averaging, and the coating effects of the detecting material. Each effect was quantified for the PTW 60016 and 60017 diodes, the micro-LiF, and the PTW 60003 diamond detectors. None of the active detectors used in this work can be recommended as a reference for small field dosimetry, but an improved diode detector with a smaller silicon chip coated with tissue-equivalent material is anticipated (by simulation) to be a reliable small field dosimetric detector in a nonequilibrium field.« less

The assessment of low probability containment failure modes using dynamic PRA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brunett, Acacia Joann

Although low probability containment failure modes in nuclear power plants may lead to large releases of radioactive material, these modes are typically crudely modeled in system level codes and have large associated uncertainties. Conventional risk assessment techniques (i.e. the fault-tree/event-tree methodology) are capable of accounting for these failure modes to some degree, however, they require the analyst to pre-specify the ordering of events, which can vary within the range of uncertainty of the phenomena. More recently, dynamic probabilistic risk assessment (DPRA) techniques have been developed which remove the dependency on the analyst. Through DPRA, it is now possible to perform a mechanistic and consistent analysis of low probability phenomena, with the timing of the possible events determined by the computational model simulating the reactor behavior. The purpose of this work is to utilize DPRA tools to assess low probability containment failure modes and the driving mechanisms. Particular focus is given to the risk-dominant containment failure modes considered in NUREG-1150, which has long been the standard for PRA techniques. More specifically, this work focuses on the low probability phenomena occurring during a station blackout (SBO) with late power recovery in the Zion Nuclear Power Plant, a Westinghouse pressurized water reactor (PWR). Subsequent to the major risk study performed in NUREG-1150, significant experimentation and modeling regarding the mechanisms driving containment failure modes have been performed. In light of this improved understanding, NUREG-1150 containment failure modes are reviewed in this work using the current state of knowledge. For some unresolved mechanisms, such as containment loading from high pressure melt ejection and combustion events, additional analyses are performed using the accident simulation tool MELCOR to explore the bounding containment loads for realistic scenarios. A dynamic treatment in the characterization of combustible gas ignition is also presented in this work. In most risk studies, combustion is treated simplistically in that it is assumed an ignition occurs if the gas mixture achieves a concentration favorable for ignition under the premise that an adequate ignition source is available. However, the criteria affecting ignition (such as the magnitude, location and frequency of the ignition sources) are complicated. This work demonstrates a technique for characterizing the properties of an ignition source to determine a probability of ignition. The ignition model developed in this work and implemented within a dynamic framework is utilized to analyze the implications and risk significance of late combustion events. This work also explores the feasibility of using dynamic event trees (DETs) with a deterministic sampling approach to analyze low probability phenomena. The flexibility of this approach is demonstrated through the rediscretization of containment fragility curves used in construction of the DET to show convergence to a true solution. Such a rediscretization also reduces the computational burden introduced through extremely fine fragility curve discretization by subsequent refinement of fragility curve regions of interest. Another advantage of the approach is the ability to perform sensitivity studies on the cumulative distribution functions (CDFs) used to determine branching probabilities without the need for rerunning the simulation code. Through review of the NUREG-1150 containment failure modes using the current state of knowledge, it is found that some failure modes, such as Alpha and rocket, can be excluded from further studies; other failure modes, such as failure to isolate, bypass, high pressure melt ejection (HPME), combustion-induced failure and overpressurization are still concerns to varying degrees. As part of this analysis, scoping studies performed in MELCOR show that HPME and the resulting direct containment heating (DCH) do not impose a significant threat to containment integrity. Additional scoping studies regarding the effect of recovery actions on in-vessel hydrogen generation show that reflooding a partially degraded core do not significantly affect hydrogen generation in-vessel, and the NUREG-1150 assumption that insufficient hydrogen is generated in-vessel to produce an energetic deflagration is confirmed. The DET analyses performed in this work show that very late power recovery produces the potential for very energetic combustion events which are capable of failing containment with a non-negligible probability, and that containment cooling systems have a significant impact on core concrete attack, and therefore combustible gas generation ex-vessel. Ultimately, the overall risk of combustion-induced containment failure is low, but its conditional likelihood can have a significant effect on accident mitigation strategies. It is also shown in this work that DETs are particularly well suited to examine low probability events because of their ability to rediscretize CDFs and observe solution convergence.

Comparative transcriptome analysis reveals carbohydrate and lipid metabolism blocks in Brassica napus L. male sterility induced by the chemical hybridization agent monosulfuron ester sodium.

PubMed

Li, Zhanjie; Cheng, Yufeng; Cui, Jianmin; Zhang, Peipei; Zhao, Huixian; Hu, Shengwu

2015-03-17

Chemical hybridization agents (CHAs) are often used to induce male sterility for the production of hybrid seeds. We previously discovered that monosulfuron ester sodium (MES), an acetolactate synthase (ALS) inhibitor of the herbicide sulfonylurea family, can induce rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) male sterility at approximately 1% concentration required for its herbicidal activity. To find some clues to the mechanism of MES inducing male sterility, the ultrastructural cytology observations, comparative transcriptome analysis, and physiological analysis on carbohydrate content were carried out in leaves and anthers at different developmental stages between the MES-treated and mock-treated rapeseed plants. Cytological analysis revealed that the plastid ultrastructure was abnormal in pollen mother cells and tapetal cells in male sterility anthers induced by MES treatment, with less material accumulation in it. However, starch granules were observed in chloroplastids of the epidermis cells in male sterility anthers. Comparative transcriptome analysis identified 1501 differentially expressed transcripts (DETs) in leaves and anthers at different developmental stages, most of these DETs being localized in plastid and mitochondrion. Transcripts involved in metabolism, especially in carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, and cellular transport were differentially expressed. Pathway visualization showed that the tightly regulated gene network for metabolism was reprogrammed to respond to MES treatment. The results of cytological observation and transcriptome analysis in the MES-treated rapeseed plants were mirrored by carbohydrate content analysis. MES treatment led to decrease in soluble sugars content in leaves and early stage buds, but increase in soluble sugars content and decrease in starch content in middle stage buds. Our integrative results suggested that carbohydrate and lipid metabolism were influenced by CHA-MES treatment during rapeseed anther development, which might responsible for low concentration MES specifically inducing male sterility. A simple action model of CHA-MES inducing male sterility in B. napus was proposed. These results will help us to understand the mechanism of MES inducing male sterility at low concentration, and might provide some potential targets for developing new male sterility inducing CHAs and for genetic manipulation in rapeseed breeding.

Use of ssq rotational invariant of magnetotelluric impedances for estimating informative properties for galvanic distortion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rung-Arunwan, T.; Siripunvaraporn, W.; Utada, H.

2017-06-01

Several useful properties and parameters—a model of the regional mean one-dimensional (1D) conductivity profile, local and regional distortion indicators, and apparent gains—were defined in our recent paper using two rotational invariants (det: determinant and ssq: sum of squared elements) from a set of magnetotelluric (MT) data obtained by an array of observation sites. In this paper, we demonstrate their characteristics and benefits through synthetic examples using 1D and three-dimensional (3D) models. First, a model of the regional mean 1D conductivity profile is obtained using the average ssq impedance with different levels of galvanic distortion. In contrast to the Berdichevsky average using the average det impedance, the average ssq impedance is shown to yield a reliable estimate of the model of the regional mean 1D conductivity profile, even when severe galvanic distortion is contained in the data. Second, the local and regional distortion indicators were found to indicate the galvanic distortion as expressed by the splitting and shear parameters and to quantify their strengths in individual MT data and in the dataset as a whole. Third, the apparent gain was also shown to be a good approximation of the site gain, which is generally claimed to be undeterminable without external information. The model of the regional mean 1D profile could be used as an initial or a priori model in higher-dimensional inversions. The local and regional distortion indicators and apparent gains could be used to examine the existence and to guess the strength of the galvanic distortion. Although these conclusions were derived from synthetic tests using the Groom-Bailey distortion model, additional tests with different distortion models indicated that these conclusions are not strongly dependent on the choice of distortion model. These galvanic-distortion-related parameters would also assist in judging if a proper treatment is needed for the galvanic distortion when an MT dataset is given. Hence, this information derived from the dataset would be useful in MT data analysis and inversion.

Transcriptome Analysis of Salicylic Acid Treatment in Rehmannia glutinosa Hairy Roots Using RNA-seq Technique for Identification of Genes Involved in Acteoside Biosynthesis

PubMed Central

Wang, Fengqing; Zhi, Jingyu; Zhang, Zhongyi; Wang, Lina; Suo, Yanfei; Xie, Caixia; Li, Mingjie; Zhang, Bao; Du, Jiafang; Gu, Li; Sun, Hongzheng

2017-01-01

Rehmannia glutinosa is a common bulk medicinal material that has been widely used in China due to its active ingredients. Acteoside, one of the ingredients, has antioxidant, antinephritic, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, immunomodulatory, and neuroprotective effects, is usually selected as a quality-control component for R. glutinosa herb in the Chinese Pharmacopeia. The acteoside biosynthesis pathway in R. glutinosa has not yet been clearly established. Herein, we describe the establishment of a genetic transformation system for R. glutinosa mediated by Agrobacterium rhizogenes. We screened the optimal elicitors that markedly increased acteoside accumulation in R. glutinosa hairy roots. We found that acteoside accumulation dramatically increased with the addition of salicylic acid (SA); the optimal SA dose was 25 μmol/L for hairy roots. RNA-seq was applied to analyze the transcriptomic changes in hairy roots treated with SA for 24 h in comparison with an untreated control. A total of 3,716, 4,018, and 2,715 differentially expressed transcripts (DETs) were identified in 0 h-vs.-12 h, 0 h-vs.-24 h, and 12 h-vs.-24 h libraries, respectively. KEGG pathway-based analysis revealed that 127 DETs were enriched in “phenylpropanoid biosynthesis.” Of 219 putative unigenes involved in acteoside biosynthesis, 54 were found to be up-regulated at at least one of the time points after SA treatment. Selected candidate genes were analyzed by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) in hairy roots with SA, methyl jasmonate (MeJA), AgNO3 (Ag+), and putrescine (Put) treatment. All genes investigated were up-regulated by SA treatment, and most candidate genes were weakly increased by MeJA to some degree. Furthermore, transcription abundance of eight candidate genes in tuberous roots of the high-acteoside-content (HA) cultivar QH were higher than those of the low-acteoside-content (LA) cultivar Wen 85-5. These results will pave the way for understanding the molecular basis of acteoside biosynthesis in R. glutinosa, and can serve as a basis for future validation studies. PMID:28567046

Indication of Cognitive Change and Associated Risk Factor after Thoracic Surgery in the Elderly: A Pilot Study.

PubMed

Kulason, Kay; Nouchi, Rui; Hoshikawa, Yasushi; Noda, Masafumi; Okada, Yoshinori; Kawashima, Ryuta

2017-01-01

Background: This pilot study investigated the effects of partial pulmonary lobectomy lung surgery on cognitive functions of elderly Japanese patients. It is recognized that elderly patients undergoing surgery have increased risk of Postoperative Cognitive Decline (POCD), a condition in which learning, memory, and processing speed is greatly reduced after surgery. Since elderly patients are more likely to exhibit symptoms of POCD, the incidence is increasing as the population receiving surgery is aging. Methods: Cognitive function was measured for all subjects ( n = 12) before and after surgery using three different cognitive tests: Mini-Mental Status Exam-Japanese (MMSE-J), Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB), and a computerized Cogstate Brief Battery (CBB). Changes in these measures indicate changes in cognitive function. In addition, the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), and the 5-item Quality of Life questionnaire (QOL-5) were administered at each time point to measure mental and emotional state. Changes in outcome measures were analyzed via Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Exploratory correlation analysis was conducted using Spearman's rho. Results: Data show a decline in detection (DET; p = 0.045) and identification (IDN; p = 0.038). Spearman's correlation coefficient show a significant correlation between postoperative DET scores and postoperative IDN scores (ρ = 0.78, p = 0.005), a significant correlation between change in IDN and baseline GHQ-12 scores (ρ = -0.595, p = 0.027), and a significant correlation between change in one-back (OBK) scores and duration of anesthesia (ρ = -0.72, p = 0.012). Discussion: This was the first report to examine cognitive decline after major thoracic surgery in Japanese patients. Previous studies have evidenced that POCD is a common phenomenon after surgery, and that age is a major risk factor. The CCB measured significant change in two cognitive domains: attention and psycomotor function. This study clarified that decline in cognition is detectable in certain measures after thoracic surgery in the elderly Japanese patient population. Additionally, longer anesthetic exposure may negatively impact attention and working memory, and preoperative mental wellbeing is a possible predictor of POCD. These preliminary results have important implications and support the need for future studies.

Surface Soil Moisture Memory Estimated from Models and SMAP Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Q.; Mccoll, K. A.; Li, C.; Lu, H.; Akbar, R.; Pan, M.; Entekhabi, D.

2017-12-01

Soil moisture memory(SMM), which is loosely defined as the time taken by soil to forget an anomaly, has been proved to be important in land-atmosphere interaction. There are many metrics to calculate the SMM timescale, for example, the timescale based on the time-series autocorrelation, the timescale ignoring the soil moisture time series and the timescale which only considers soil moisture increment. Recently, a new timescale based on `Water Cycle Fraction' (Kaighin et al., 2017), in which the impact of precipitation on soil moisture memory is considered, has been put up but not been fully evaluated in global. In this study, we compared the surface SMM derived from SMAP observations with that from land surface model simulations (i.e., the SMAP Nature Run (NR) provided by the Goddard Earth Observing System, version 5) (Rolf et al., 2014). Three timescale metrics were used to quantify the surface SMM as: T0 based on the soil moisture time series autocorrelation, deT0 based on the detrending soil moisture time series autocorrelation, and tHalf based on the Water Cycle Fraction. The comparisons indicate that: (1) there are big gaps between the T0 derived from SMAP and that from NR (2) the gaps get small for deT0 case, in which the seasonality of surface soil moisture was removed with a moving average filter; (3) the tHalf estimated from SMAP is much closer to that from NR. The results demonstrate that surface SMM can vary dramatically among different metrics, while the memory derived from land surface model differs from the one from SMAP observation. tHalf, with considering the impact of precipitation, may be a good choice to quantify surface SMM and have high potential in studies related to land atmosphere interactions. References McColl. K.A., S.H. Alemohammad, R. Akbar, A.G. Konings, S. Yueh, D. Entekhabi. The Global Distribution and Dynamics of Surface Soil Moisture, Nature Geoscience, 2017 Reichle. R., L. Qing, D.L. Gabrielle, A. Joe. The "SMAP_Nature_v03" Data Product, 2014

JDet: interactive calculation and visualization of function-related conservation patterns in multiple sequence alignments and structures.

PubMed

Muth, Thilo; García-Martín, Juan A; Rausell, Antonio; Juan, David; Valencia, Alfonso; Pazos, Florencio

2012-02-15

We have implemented in a single package all the features required for extracting, visualizing and manipulating fully conserved positions as well as those with a family-dependent conservation pattern in multiple sequence alignments. The program allows, among other things, to run different methods for extracting these positions, combine the results and visualize them in protein 3D structures and sequence spaces. JDet is a multiplatform application written in Java. It is freely available, including the source code, at http://csbg.cnb.csic.es/JDet. The package includes two of our recently developed programs for detecting functional positions in protein alignments (Xdet and S3Det), and support for other methods can be added as plug-ins. A help file and a guided tutorial for JDet are also available.

Stolen twin: fascination and curiosity/twin research reports: evolution of sleep length; dental treatment of craniopagus twins; cryopreserved double embryo transfer; gender options in multiple pregnancy/current events: appendectomy in one twin; autistic twin marathon runners; 3D facial recognition; twin biathletes.

PubMed

Segal, Nancy L

2014-02-01

The story of her allegedly stolen twin brother in Armenia is recounted by a 'singleton twin' living in the United States. The behavioral consequences and societal implications of this loss are considered. This case is followed by twin research reports on the evolution of sleep length, dental treatment of craniopagus conjoined twins, cryopreserved double embryo transfer (DET), and gender options in multiple pregnancy. Current events include the diagnosis of appendectomy in one identical twin, the accomplishments of autistic twin marathon runners, the power of three-dimensional (3D) facial recognition, and the goals of twin biathletes heading to the 2014 Sochi Olympics in Russia.

Yellow Sea Mine Hunting Using the Navy’s CASS/GRAB Model

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-05-01

f15fe eeapoiaey5 ad o h otso 04 t.Y .a. L ion leo 210. 210 £igure 14. Februarv GDEM 4 hr a. Rock Botton at 37.5 N 123.0 E and a Source Depth= 25 .a...SinlLcsscnor 2zs47 * .... ... lt- . . .... ° 1 . ,, . ....... . . ........ lot ýto0 a. Figre2I FbruryGDM ~r G’ae•Botoma•.•..N 230Eand a Source Dpt 2-5 ft. a...1m • GDEM for a G ave4 B0to a 38 0.350Nt;J0 n So7 re Det,0 125ft a.RyTae0n3?Sga Ecs odm M30 aw -, .3 m- a n.03 3.b. 0.00~~~~ co?50.007 S• •r, • • •, • l

Generalized minimal principle for rotor filaments.

PubMed

Dierckx, Hans; Wellner, Marcel; Bernus, Olivier; Verschelde, Henri

2015-05-01

To a reaction-diffusion medium with an inhomogeneous anisotropic diffusion tensor D, we add a fourth spatial dimension such that the determinant of the diffusion tensor is constant in four dimensions. We propose a generalized minimal principle for rotor filaments, stating that the scroll wave filament strives to minimize its surface area in the higher-dimensional space. As a consequence, stationary scroll wave filaments in the original 3D medium are geodesic curves with respect to the metric tensor G=det(D)D(-1). The theory is confirmed by numerical simulations for positive and negative filament tension and a model with a non-stationary spiral core. We conclude that filaments in cardiac tissue with positive tension preferentially reside or anchor in regions where cardiac cells are less interconnected, such as portions of the cardiac wall with a large number of cleavage planes.

United States Army Combat Units of the War in the Republic of Vietnam: 1966-73. A Preliminary List

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-04-01

COMt , USASLPCCP # CHt CR8 -12 124 THANS UK 8 TRANS GP F1U .±18 125 ATC 210 CUT AVN EN BNH 23d 12b S.I UN - 25 INF CIV CCI. 22b 126 TRANS CGCL 4 TRANS... AGUST 63 UNIT APO UIC ADCON OPCON ARRIVAL COMo0060 EN DET MNT EC 96384 WBEK B4S B05 11 APR 66 5 0060 OD CO AMMO DS-GS .96491. .W61C, ",BOY BOY 19 NOV 66 5...TML COMT OP q6291 WFRT CJI CJT 01 OCT 66 5 0!ý-12 TC OtET TML S%/C JI 9)631ý? WFRIJ CKY CKY 01 NCT 66 051:? TC CO LT TRK 5T 9649? WFP7 FR6 FR6 PN

Towards Determination of Visual Requirements for Augmented Reality Displays and Virtual Environments for the Airport Tower

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ellis, Stephen R.

2006-01-01

The visual requirements for augmented reality or virtual environments displays that might be used in real or virtual towers are reviewed wi th respect to similar displays already used in aircraft. As an example of the type of human performance studies needed to determine the use ful specifications of augmented reality displays, an optical see-thro ugh display was used in an ATC Tower simulation. Three different binocular fields of view (14 deg, 28 deg, and 47 deg) were examined to det ermine their effect on subjects# ability to detect aircraft maneuveri ng and landing. The results suggest that binocular fields of view much greater than 47 deg are unlikely to dramatically improve search perf ormance and that partial binocular overlap is a feasible display tech nique for augmented reality Tower applications.

Mesure du Deplacement de Frequence au Maximum de la Raie P20 un Laser CO2 a Ondes Guidees (Measurement of the Frequency Shift at the Peak of the P20 Line of a CO2 Waveguide Laser),

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-06-01

VINCENT ET AL . UNCLASSIFIED JUN 86 DREV-4419/86 F/G 28/5 NI iiiimEEmmomEEI 111-25 W1.6 * AD-A170 318 WIAI iLL. f.Pf I)E V jP ’)MEN, fFIlA 4 H l t A 4...triangulaires Hewlett-Packard, modale 3310B (OSC. 1), dont le signal est amplifi6 par un amplificateur haute ten- sion Lansing, modale 80.315 (PZT AL ...CLASSIFICATION 3 PT AL O.G AL CONTROLE * OSC’ I V-~ ----- GAZ 05; C. - - SPEC-. I -_ _ - - 0 G. -ET SYNC 2 REF. - L - BP -- CSPEC 2 - DET. PYR1C - " VDET

Effects of audio compression in automatic detection of voice pathologies.

PubMed

Sáenz-Lechón, Nicolás; Osma-Ruiz, Víctor; Godino-Llorente, Juan I; Blanco-Velasco, Manuel; Cruz-Roldán, Fernando; Arias-Londoño, Julián D

2008-12-01

This paper investigates the performance of an automatic system for voice pathology detection when the voice samples have been compressed in MP3 format and different binary rates (160, 96, 64, 48, 24, and 8 kb/s). The detectors employ cepstral and noise measurements, along with their derivatives, to characterize the voice signals. The classification is performed using Gaussian mixtures models and support vector machines. The results between the different proposed detectors are compared by means of detector error tradeoff (DET) and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, concluding that there are no significant differences in the performance of the detector when the binary rates of the compressed data are above 64 kb/s. This has useful applications in telemedicine, reducing the storage space of voice recordings or transmitting them over narrow-band communications channels.

Modeling and Simulation of Offshore Wind Power Platform for 5 MW Baseline NREL Turbine.

PubMed

Roni Sahroni, Taufik

2015-01-01

This paper presents the modeling and simulation of offshore wind power platform for oil and gas companies. Wind energy has become the fastest growing renewable energy in the world and major gains in terms of energy generation are achievable when turbines are moved offshore. The objective of this project is to propose new design of an offshore wind power platform. Offshore wind turbine (OWT) is composed of three main structures comprising the rotor/blades, the tower nacelle, and the supporting structure. The modeling analysis was focused on the nacelle and supporting structure. The completed final design was analyzed using finite element modeling tool ANSYS to obtain the structure's response towards loading conditions and to ensure it complies with guidelines laid out by classification authority Det Norske Veritas. As a result, a new model of the offshore wind power platform for 5 MW Baseline NREL turbine was proposed.

Modeling and Simulation of Offshore Wind Power Platform for 5 MW Baseline NREL Turbine

PubMed Central

Roni Sahroni, Taufik

2015-01-01

This paper presents the modeling and simulation of offshore wind power platform for oil and gas companies. Wind energy has become the fastest growing renewable energy in the world and major gains in terms of energy generation are achievable when turbines are moved offshore. The objective of this project is to propose new design of an offshore wind power platform. Offshore wind turbine (OWT) is composed of three main structures comprising the rotor/blades, the tower nacelle, and the supporting structure. The modeling analysis was focused on the nacelle and supporting structure. The completed final design was analyzed using finite element modeling tool ANSYS to obtain the structure's response towards loading conditions and to ensure it complies with guidelines laid out by classification authority Det Norske Veritas. As a result, a new model of the offshore wind power platform for 5 MW Baseline NREL turbine was proposed. PMID:26550605

Recurrence plots of discrete-time Gaussian stochastic processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramdani, Sofiane; Bouchara, Frédéric; Lagarde, Julien; Lesne, Annick

2016-09-01

We investigate the statistical properties of recurrence plots (RPs) of data generated by discrete-time stationary Gaussian random processes. We analytically derive the theoretical values of the probabilities of occurrence of recurrence points and consecutive recurrence points forming diagonals in the RP, with an embedding dimension equal to 1. These results allow us to obtain theoretical values of three measures: (i) the recurrence rate (REC) (ii) the percent determinism (DET) and (iii) RP-based estimation of the ε-entropy κ(ε) in the sense of correlation entropy. We apply these results to two Gaussian processes, namely first order autoregressive processes and fractional Gaussian noise. For these processes, we simulate a number of realizations and compare the RP-based estimations of the three selected measures to their theoretical values. These comparisons provide useful information on the quality of the estimations, such as the minimum required data length and threshold radius used to construct the RP.

Investigation of complexity dynamics in a DC glow discharge magnetized plasma using recurrence quantification analysis

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

Mitra, Vramori; Sarma, Bornali; Sarma, Arun

Recurrence is an ubiquitous feature which provides deep insights into the dynamics of real dynamical systems. A suitable tool for investigating recurrences is recurrence quantification analysis (RQA). It allows, e.g., the detection of regime transitions with respect to varying control parameters. We investigate the complexity of different coexisting nonlinear dynamical regimes of the plasma floating potential fluctuations at different magnetic fields and discharge voltages by using recurrence quantification variables, in particular, DET, L{sub max}, and Entropy. The recurrence analysis reveals that the predictability of the system strongly depends on discharge voltage. Furthermore, the persistent behaviour of the plasma time seriesmore » is characterized by the Detrended fluctuation analysis technique to explore the complexity in terms of long range correlation. The enhancement of the discharge voltage at constant magnetic field increases the nonlinear correlations; hence, the complexity of the system decreases, which corroborates the RQA analysis.« less

Cross-Spectrum PM Noise Measurement, Thermal Energy, and Metamaterial Filters.

PubMed

Gruson, Yannick; Giordano, Vincent; Rohde, Ulrich L; Poddar, Ajay K; Rubiola, Enrico

2017-03-01

Virtually all commercial instruments for the measurement of the oscillator PM noise make use of the cross-spectrum method (arXiv:1004.5539 [physics.ins-det], 2010). High sensitivity is achieved by correlation and averaging on two equal channels, which measure the same input, and reject the background of the instrument. We show that a systematic error is always present if the thermal energy of the input power splitter is not accounted for. Such error can result in noise underestimation up to a few decibels in the lowest-noise quartz oscillators, and in an invalid measurement in the case of cryogenic oscillators. As another alarming fact, the presence of metamaterial components in the oscillator results in unpredictable behavior and large errors, even in well controlled experimental conditions. We observed a spread of 40 dB in the phase noise spectra of an oscillator, just replacing the output filter.

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

Catala-Perez, Juan

SciBooNE is a neutrino scattering experiment located in the Booster Neutrino Beam at Fermilab. It collected data from June 2007 to August 2008 to accurately measure muon neutrino and anti-neutrino cross sections on carbon around 1 GeV neutrino energy. In this thesis we present the results on the measurement of the muon neutrino cross section resulting in a μ - plus a single π 0 final state (CC- π 0 channel). The present work will show the steps taken to achieve this result: from the reconstruction improvements to the background extraction. The flux-averaged CC - π 0 production cross sectionmore » measurement obtained in this thesis < σCC- π 0 > Φ = (5.6 ± 1.9 fit ± 0.7 beam ± 0.5 int - 0.7 det) × 10 -40 cm 2/N at an average energy of 0.89 GeV is found to agree well both with the expectation from the Monte Ca« less

Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Spacecraft Lithium Ion Battery Micro-Cycling Investigation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dakermanji, George; Lee, Leonine; Spitzer, Thomas

2016-01-01

The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) spacecraft was jointly developed by NASA and JAXA. It is a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) spacecraft launched on February 27, 2014. The power system is a Direct Energy Transfer (DET) system designed to support 1950 watts orbit average power. The batteries use SONY 18650HC cells and consist of three 8s by 84p batteries operated in parallel as a single battery. During instrument integration with the spacecraft, large current transients were observed in the battery. Investigation into the matter traced the cause to the Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) phased array radar which generates cyclical high rate current transients on the spacecraft power bus. The power system electronics interaction with these transients resulted in the current transients in the battery. An accelerated test program was developed to bound the effect, and to assess the impact to the mission.

Characteristics from Recycled of Zinc Anode used as a Corrosion Preventing Material on Board Ship

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barokah, B.; Semin, S.; Kaligis, D. D.; Huwae, J.; Fanani, M. Z.; Rompas, P. T. D.

2018-02-01

The objective of this research is to obtain the values of chemical composition, electrochemical potential and electrochemical efficiency. Methods used were experiment with physical tests conducted in metallurgical laboratory and DNV-RP-B401 cathode protection design DNV (Det Norske Veritas) standard. The results showed that the composition of chemical as Zinc (Zn), Aluminium, Cadmium, Plumbumb, Copper and Indium is suitable of standard. The values of electrochemical potential and electrochemical efficiency were respectively. However it can be concluded that the normal meaning of recycled zinc anode with increasing melting temperature can produce zinc anode better than original zinc anode and can be used as cathode protection on board ships. This research can assist in the management of used zinc anode waste, the supply of zinc anodes for consumers at relatively low prices, and recommendations of using zinc anodes for the prevention of corrosion on board ship.

Hybrid biobattery based on arylated carbon nanotubes and laccase.

PubMed

Stolarczyk, Krzysztof; Sepelowska, Małgorzata; Lyp, Dominika; Zelechowska, Kamila; Biernat, Jan F; Rogalski, Jerzy; Farmer, Kevin D; Roberts, Ken N; Bilewicz, Renata

2012-10-01

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) were covalently modified with anthracene and anthraquinone and used for the construction of cathodes for biocatalytic reduction of dioxygen. The nanotubes with aromatic groups casted onto the electrode increased the working surface of the electrode and enabled efficient direct electron transfer (DET) between the enzyme and the electrode. The aryl groups enter the hydrophobic pocket of the T1 center of laccase responsible for exchanging electrons with the substrate. Glassy carbon electrode covered with arylated SWCNT and coated with a layer of neutralized Nafion containing laccase was found to be a very efficient cathode in the hybrid battery. Zn wire covered with a Nafion film served as the anode. The cell parameters were determined: power density was 2 mW/cm(2) and the open circuit potential was 1.5 V. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Insights on the Feasibility, Modeling and Field Testing of Cirrus Cloud Thinning from Satellite Remote Sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mitchell, D. L.; Garnier, A.; Mejia, J.; Avery, M. A.; Erfani, E.

2016-12-01

To date, it is not clear whether the climate intervention method known as cirrus cloud thinning (CCT) can be viable since it requires cirrus clouds to form through homogeneous ice nucleation (henceforth hom) and some recent GCM studies predict cirrus are formed primarily through heterogeneous ice nucleation (henceforth het). A new CALIPSO infrared retrieval method has been developed for single-layer cirrus cloud that measures the temperature dependence of their layer-averaged number concentration N, effective diameter De and ice water content for optical depths (OD) between 0.3 and 3.0. Based on N, the prevailing ice nucleation mechanism (hom or het) can be estimated as a function of temperature, season, latitude and surface type. These satellite results indicate that seeding cirrus clouds at high latitudes during winter may produce significant global surface cooling. This is because hom often appears to dominate over land during winter north of 30°N latitude while the same appears true for most of the Southern Hemisphere (south of 30°S) during all seasons. Moreover, the sampled cirrus cloud frequency of occurrence in the Arctic is at least twice as large during winter relative to other seasons, while frequency of occurrence in the Antarctic peaks in the spring and is second-highest during winter. During Arctic winter, a combination of frequent hom cirrus, maximum cirrus coverage and an extreme or absent sun angle produces the maximum seasonal cirrus net radiative forcing (warming). Thus a reduction in OD and coverage (via CCT) for these cirrus clouds could yield a significant net cooling effect. From these CALIPSO retrievals, De-T relationships are generated as a function of season, latitude and surface type (land vs. ocean). These will be used in CAM5 to estimate De and the ice fall speed, from which the cirrus radiative forcing will be estimated during winter north of 30°latitude, where hom cirrus are common. Another CAM5 simulation will replace the hom cirrus De-T relationships with those corresponding to het cirrus (at similar latitudes). In this way the potential cooling from CCT in the Northern Hemisphere will be estimated. If a field campaign was ever conducted for testing the efficacy of CCT, this CALIPSO retrieval could be used to help determine whether the seeded hom cirrus were transformed into het cirrus.

Indication of Cognitive Change and Associated Risk Factor after Thoracic Surgery in the Elderly: A Pilot Study

PubMed Central

Kulason, Kay; Nouchi, Rui; Hoshikawa, Yasushi; Noda, Masafumi; Okada, Yoshinori; Kawashima, Ryuta

2017-01-01

Background: This pilot study investigated the effects of partial pulmonary lobectomy lung surgery on cognitive functions of elderly Japanese patients. It is recognized that elderly patients undergoing surgery have increased risk of Postoperative Cognitive Decline (POCD), a condition in which learning, memory, and processing speed is greatly reduced after surgery. Since elderly patients are more likely to exhibit symptoms of POCD, the incidence is increasing as the population receiving surgery is aging. Methods: Cognitive function was measured for all subjects (n = 12) before and after surgery using three different cognitive tests: Mini-Mental Status Exam-Japanese (MMSE-J), Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB), and a computerized Cogstate Brief Battery (CBB). Changes in these measures indicate changes in cognitive function. In addition, the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), and the 5-item Quality of Life questionnaire (QOL-5) were administered at each time point to measure mental and emotional state. Changes in outcome measures were analyzed via Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Exploratory correlation analysis was conducted using Spearman’s rho. Results: Data show a decline in detection (DET; p = 0.045) and identification (IDN; p = 0.038). Spearman’s correlation coefficient show a significant correlation between postoperative DET scores and postoperative IDN scores (ρ = 0.78, p = 0.005), a significant correlation between change in IDN and baseline GHQ-12 scores (ρ = -0.595, p = 0.027), and a significant correlation between change in one-back (OBK) scores and duration of anesthesia (ρ = -0.72, p = 0.012). Discussion: This was the first report to examine cognitive decline after major thoracic surgery in Japanese patients. Previous studies have evidenced that POCD is a common phenomenon after surgery, and that age is a major risk factor. The CCB measured significant change in two cognitive domains: attention and psycomotor function. This study clarified that decline in cognition is detectable in certain measures after thoracic surgery in the elderly Japanese patient population. Additionally, longer anesthetic exposure may negatively impact attention and working memory, and preoperative mental wellbeing is a possible predictor of POCD. These preliminary results have important implications and support the need for future studies. PMID:29259553

KSC Center Director Bridges accepts an ISO 9001 certificate from DNV

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1998-01-01

Center Director Roy Bridges displays the ISO 9001 certificate he was awarded by Det Norske Veritas (DNV), Inc., an international ISO certification organization, at a ceremony at KSC. Dalton Lyon of DNV made the presentation, which included a 2000th ISO Certificate Plaque. ISO 9001 comprises the most detailed, comprehensive set of standard requirements for quality programs established by the International Standards Organization. The presentation followed a successful independent audit by DNV of the KSC Management System in May of this year. The third-party auditors examined about 20 elements of KSC's system, including management responsibility, design control, documentation, test and inspection, and corrective action procedures. DNV found that KSC met or exceeded the stringent quality standards in all areas. KSC will use this certification as a tool to improve an already world-class team. All NASA centers are required by NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin to be ISO 9001 registered by September 1999. NASA is the first federal agency to seek the quality certification.

Graphene versus Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes for Electrochemical Glucose Biosensing

PubMed Central

Zheng, Dan; Vashist, Sandeep Kumar; Dykas, Michal Marcin; Saha, Surajit; Al-Rubeaan, Khalid; Lam, Edmond; Luong, John H.T.; Sheu, Fwu-Shan

2013-01-01

A simple procedure was developed for the fabrication of electrochemical glucose biosensors using glucose oxidase (GOx), with graphene or multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Graphene and MWCNTs were dispersed in 0.25% 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) and drop cast on 1% KOH-pre-treated glassy carbon electrodes (GCEs). The EDC (1-ethyl-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide)-activated GOx was then bound covalently on the graphene- or MWCNT-modified GCE. Both the graphene- and MWCNT-based biosensors detected the entire pathophysiological range of blood glucose in humans, 1.4–27.9 mM. However, the direct electron transfer (DET) between GOx and the modified GCE’s surface was only observed for the MWCNT-based biosensor. The MWCNT-based glucose biosensor also provided over a four-fold higher current signal than its graphene counterpart. Several interfering substances, including drug metabolites, provoked negligible interference at pathological levels for both the MWCNT- and graphene-based biosensors. However, the former was more prone to interfering substances and drug metabolites at extremely pathological concentrations than its graphene counterpart. PMID:28809354

Graphene versus Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes for Electrochemical Glucose Biosensing.

PubMed

Zheng, Dan; Vashist, Sandeep Kumar; Dykas, Michal Marcin; Saha, Surajit; Al-Rubeaan, Khalid; Lam, Edmond; Luong, John H T; Sheu, Fwu-Shan

2013-03-14

: A simple procedure was developed for the fabrication of electrochemical glucose biosensors using glucose oxidase (GOx), with graphene or multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Graphene and MWCNTs were dispersed in 0.25% 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) and drop cast on 1% KOH-pre-treated glassy carbon electrodes (GCEs). The EDC (1-ethyl-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide)-activated GOx was then bound covalently on the graphene- or MWCNT-modified GCE. Both the graphene- and MWCNT-based biosensors detected the entire pathophysiological range of blood glucose in humans, 1.4-27.9 mM. However, the direct electron transfer (DET) between GOx and the modified GCE's surface was only observed for the MWCNT-based biosensor. The MWCNT-based glucose biosensor also provided over a four-fold higher current signal than its graphene counterpart. Several interfering substances, including drug metabolites, provoked negligible interference at pathological levels for both the MWCNT- and graphene-based biosensors. However, the former was more prone to interfering substances and drug metabolites at extremely pathological concentrations than its graphene counterpart.

Interfacial electron transfer of glucose oxidase on poly(glutamic acid)-modified glassy carbon electrode and glucose sensing.

PubMed

Zhou, Xuechou; Tan, Bingcan; Zheng, Xinyu; Kong, Dexian; Li, Qinglu

2015-11-15

The interfacial electron transfer of glucose oxidase (GOx) on a poly(glutamic acid)-modified glassy carbon electrode (PGA/GCE) was investigated. The redox peaks measured for GOx and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) are similar, and the anodic peak of GOx does not increase in the presence of glucose in a mediator-free solution. These indicate that the electroactivity of GOx is not the direct electron transfer (DET) between GOx and PGA/GCE and that the observed electroactivity of GOx is ascribed to free FAD that is released from GOx. However, efficient electron transfer occurred if an appropriate mediator was placed in solution, suggesting that GOx is active. The PGA/GCE-based biosensor showed wide linear response in the range of 0.5-5.5 mM with a low detection limit of 0.12 mM and high sensitivity and selectivity for measuring glucose. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Electrochemical behaviors of wax-coated Li powder/Li 4Ti 5O 12 cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Han Eol; Seong, Il Won; Yoon, Woo Young

The wax-coated Li powder specimen was effectively synthesized using the drop emulsion technique (DET). The wax layer on the powder was verified by SEM, Focused Ion Beam (FIB), EDX and XPS. The porosity of a sintered wax-coated Li electrode was measured by linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) and compared with that of a bare, i.e., un-coated Li electrode. The electrochemical behavior of the wax-coated Li powder anode cell was examined by the impedance analysis and cyclic testing methods. The cyclic behavior of the wax-coated Li powder anode with the Li 4Ti 5O 12 (LTO) cathode cell was examined at a constant current density of 0.35 mA cm -2 with the cut-off voltages of 1.2-2.0 V at 25 °C. Over 90% of the initial capacity of the cell remained even after the 300th cycle. The wax-coated Li powder was confirmed to be a stable anode material.

Reversible chemical restraint of free-range cattle with a concentrated combination of tiletamine-zolazepam, ketamine, and detomidine.

PubMed

Re, Michela; Blanco-Murcia, Francisco J; San Miguel, José Maria; Gómez de Segura, Ignacio A

2013-10-01

The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of a concentrated combination of tiletamine-zolazepam [TZ, 0.53 mg/kg body weight (BW)], ketamine (Ket, 0.53 mg/kg BW), and detomidine (Det, 0.04 mg/kg BW) in the immobilization of free-range cattle for clinical procedures. The combination was administered intramuscularly to 53 animals. Anesthesia was reversed with the α2-adrenoceptor antagonist atipamezole. Locoregional anesthesia was provided with lidocaine when required. The TZKD combination induced suitable immobilization for minor surgical procedures or medical treatments. Anesthetic onset was rapid, taking a mean of 6.1 min [standard deviation (SD) 2.8 min]. The duration of anesthesia depended on the time of administration of the antagonist; the animals recovered in the standing position in 12.9 ± 8.9 min after the administration of atipamezole. The quality of anesthesia and analgesia were satisfactory. In conclusion, this TZKD combination can be used for both immobilization and minor surgical procedures in free-range cattle.

Recurrence quantification analysis of heart rate variability and respiratory flow series in patients on weaning trials.

PubMed

Arcentales, Andrés; Giraldo, Beatriz F; Caminal, Pere; Benito, Salvador; Voss, Andreas

2011-01-01

Autonomic nervous system regulates the behavior of cardiac and respiratory systems. Its assessment during the ventilator weaning can provide information about physio-pathological imbalances. This work proposes a non linear analysis of the complexity of the heart rate variability (HRV) and breathing duration (T(Tot)) applying recurrence plot (RP) and their interaction joint recurrence plot (JRP). A total of 131 patients on weaning trials from mechanical ventilation were analyzed: 92 patients with successful weaning (group S) and 39 patients that failed to maintain spontaneous breathing (group F). The results show that parameters as determinism (DET), average diagonal line length (L), and entropy (ENTR), are statistically significant with RP for T(Tot) series, but not with HRV. When comparing the groups with JRP, all parameters have been relevant. In all cases, mean values of recurrence quantification analysis are higher in the group S than in the group F. The main differences between groups were found on the diagonal and vertical structures of the joint recurrence plot.

Optimization of separation and online sample concentration of N,N-dimethyltryptamine and related compounds using MEKC.

PubMed

Wang, Man-Juing; Tsai, Chih-Hsin; Hsu, Wei-Ya; Liu, Ju-Tsung; Lin, Cheng-Huang

2009-02-01

The optimal separation conditions and online sample concentration for N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and related compounds, including alpha-methyltryptamine (AMT), 5-methoxy-AMT (5-MeO-AMT), N,N-diethyltryptamine (DET), N,N-dipropyltryptamine (DPT), N,N-dibutyltryptamine (DBT), N,N-diisopropyltryptamine (DiPT), 5-methoxy-DMT (5-MeO-DMT), and 5-methoxy-N,N-DiPT (5-MeO-DiPT), using micellar EKC (MEKC) with UV-absorbance detection are described. The LODs (S/N = 3) for MEKC ranged from 1.0 1.8 microg/mL. Use of online sample concentration methods, including sweeping-MEKC and cation-selective exhaustive injection-sweep-MEKC (CSEI-sweep-MEKC) improved the LODs to 2.2 8.0 ng/mL and 1.3 2.7 ng/mL, respectively. In addition, the order of migration of the nine tryptamines was investigated. A urine sample, obtained by spiking urine collected from a human volunteer with DMT, was also successfully examined.

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

Christie, H.B.

This is about the comprehensive guide to Norwegian oil and gas activities, very useful to anyone in the industry. Material includes political guidelines, control institutions, work possibilities and licenses, working environment law, employer and employee organizations, national insurance, taxes, communication, rescue operations and standby. Contents: Oil and the economy; Petroleum technology research; Responsibilities of different authorities; The Labour Inspection Directorate; The Health Directorate Offshore Office; The Coastal Directorate; Helicopter traffic; The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate; The Maritime Directorate; Det norske Veritas; The Norwegian Waterways and Electricity Board; The State Institute for Radiation Hygiene; The State Explosive Inspection; Work possibilities in themore » North Sea; Working environment legislation on the Continental Shelf; Collective bargaining agreements, labor conflicts and the right to organize; Taxation Rules; National health insurance and the petroleum activity; Occupational injuries on the Norwegian Continental Shelf; Company insurances; The private pension scheme; Other types of insuracne common among oil companies; The rescue service in Norway; Oganizations within the oil industry offshore and onshore; and Law of aliens admission to the Kindgom.« less

A Robust Image Watermarking in the Joint Time-Frequency Domain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Öztürk, Mahmut; Akan, Aydın; Çekiç, Yalçın

2010-12-01

With the rapid development of computers and internet applications, copyright protection of multimedia data has become an important problem. Watermarking techniques are proposed as a solution to copyright protection of digital media files. In this paper, a new, robust, and high-capacity watermarking method that is based on spatiofrequency (SF) representation is presented. We use the discrete evolutionary transform (DET) calculated by the Gabor expansion to represent an image in the joint SF domain. The watermark is embedded onto selected coefficients in the joint SF domain. Hence, by combining the advantages of spatial and spectral domain watermarking methods, a robust, invisible, secure, and high-capacity watermarking method is presented. A correlation-based detector is also proposed to detect and extract any possible watermarks on an image. The proposed watermarking method was tested on some commonly used test images under different signal processing attacks like additive noise, Wiener and Median filtering, JPEG compression, rotation, and cropping. Simulation results show that our method is robust against all of the attacks.

Representations of abstract grammatical feature agreement in young children.

PubMed

Melançon, Andréane; Shi, Rushen

2015-11-01

A fundamental question in language acquisition research is whether young children have abstract grammatical representations. We tested this question experimentally. French-learning 30-month-olds were first taught novel word-object pairs in the context of a gender-marked determiner (e.g., un MASC ravole 'a ravole'). Test trials presented the objects side-by-side while one of them was named in new phrases containing other determiners and an adjective (e.g., le MASC joli ravole MASC 'the pretty ravole'). The gender agreement between the new determiner and the non-adjacent noun was manipulated in different test trials (e.g., le MASC __ravole MASC; *la FEM __ravole MASC). We found that online comprehension of the named target was facilitated in gender-matched trials but impeded in gender-mismatched trials. That is, children assigned the determiner genders to the novel nouns during word learning. They then processed the non-adjacent gender agreement between the two categories (Det, Noun) during test. The results demonstrate abstract featural representation and grammatical productivity in young children.

KSC-98pc907

NASA Image and Video Library

1998-08-11

Center Director Roy Bridges displays the ISO 9001 certificate he was awarded by Det Norske Veritas (DNV), Inc., an international ISO certification organization, at a ceremony at KSC. Dalton Lyon of DNV made the presentation, which included a 2000th ISO Certificate Plaque. ISO 9001 comprises the most detailed, comprehensive set of standard requirements for quality programs established by the International Standards Organization. The presentation followed a successful independent audit by DNV of the KSC Management System in May of this year. The third-party auditors examined about 20 elements of KSC's system, including management responsibility, design control, documentation, test and inspection, and corrective action procedures. DNV found that KSC met or exceeded the stringent quality standards in all areas. KSC will use this certification as a tool to improve an already world-class team. All NASA centers are required by NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin to be ISO 9001 registered by September 1999. NASA is the first federal agency to seek the quality certification

KSC-98pc908

NASA Image and Video Library

1998-08-11

Center Director Roy Bridges (right) displays the 2000th ISO Certificate Plaque he was given by Dalton Lyon (left) of Det Norske Veritas (DNV), Inc., an international ISO certification organization, at a ceremony at KSC. The plaque is a representation of the ISO 9001 certification awarded to KSC by DNV. ISO 9001 comprises the most detailed, comprehensive set of standard requirements for quality programs established by the International Standards Organization. The presentation followed a successful independent audit by DNV of the KSC Management System in May of this year. The third-party auditors examined about 20 elements of KSC's system, including management responsibility, design control, documentation, test and inspection, and corrective action procedures. DNV found that KSC met or exceeded the stringent quality standards in all areas. KSC will use this certification as a tool to improve an already worldclass team. All NASA centers are required by NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin to be ISO 9001 registered by September 1999. NASA is the first federal agency to seek the quality certification

In Vitro Fertilization and Multiple Pregnancies

PubMed Central

2006-01-01

Executive Summary Objective The objective of this health technology policy assessment was to determine the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of IVF for infertility treatment, as well as the role of IVF in reducing the rate of multiple pregnancies. Clinical Need: Target Population and Condition Typically defined as a failure to conceive after a year of regular unprotected intercourse, infertility affects 8% to 16% of reproductive age couples. The condition can be caused by disruptions at various steps of the reproductive process. Major causes of infertility include abnormalities of sperm, tubal obstruction, endometriosis, ovulatory disorder, and idiopathic infertility. Depending on the cause and patient characteristics, management options range from pharmacologic treatment to more advanced techniques referred to as assisted reproductive technologies (ART). ART include IVF and IVF-related procedures such as intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and, according to some definitions, intra-uterine insemination (IUI), also known as artificial insemination. Almost invariably, an initial step in ART is controlled ovarian stimulation (COS), which leads to a significantly higher rate of multiple pregnancies after ART compared with that following natural conception. Multiple pregnancies are associated with a broad range of negative consequences for both mother and fetuses. Maternal complications include increased risk of pregnancy-induced hypertension, pre-eclampsia, polyhydramnios, gestational diabetes, fetal malpresentation requiring Caesarean section, postpartum haemorrhage, and postpartum depression. Babies from multiple pregnancies are at a significantly higher risk of early death, prematurity, and low birth weight, as well as mental and physical disabilities related to prematurity. Increased maternal and fetal morbidity leads to higher perinatal and neonatal costs of multiple pregnancies, as well as subsequent lifelong costs due to disabilities and an increased need for medical and social support. The Technology Being Reviewed IVF was first developed as a method to overcome bilateral Fallopian tube obstruction. The procedure includes several steps: (1) the woman’s egg is retrieved from the ovaries; (2) exposed to sperm outside the body and fertilized; (3) the embryo(s) is cultured for 3 to 5 days; and (4) is transferred back to the uterus. IFV is considered to be one of the most effective treatments for infertility today. According to data from the Canadian Assisted Reproductive Technology Registry, the average live birth rate after IVF in Canada is around 30%, but there is considerable variation in the age of the mother and primary cause of infertility. An important advantage of IVF is that it allows for the control of the number of embryos transferred. An elective single embryo transfer in IVF cycles adopted in many European countries was shown to significantly reduce the risk of multiple pregnancies while maintaining acceptable birth rates. However, when number of embryos transferred is not limited, the rate of IVF-associated multiple pregnancies is similar to that of other treatments involving ovarian stimulation. The practice of multiple embryo transfer in IVF is often the result of pressures to increase success rates due to the high costs of the procedure. The average rate of multiple pregnancies resulting from IVF in Canada is currently around 30%. An alternative to IVF is IUI. In spite of reported lower success rates of IUI (pregnancy rates per cycle range from 8.7% to 17.1%) it is generally attempted before IVF due to its lower invasiveness and cost. Two major drawbacks of IUI are that it cannot be used in cases of bilateral tubal obstruction and it does not allow much control over the risk of multiple pregnancies compared with IVF. The rate of multiple pregnancies after IUI with COS is estimated to be about 21% to 29%. Ontario Health Insurance Plan Coverage Currently, the Ontario Health Insurance Plan covers the cost of IVF for women with bilaterally blocked Fallopian tubes only, in which case it is funded for 3 cycles, excluding the cost of drugs. The cost of IUI is covered except for preparation of the sperm and drugs used for COS. Diffusion of Technology According to Canadian Assisted Reproductive Technology Registry data, in 2004 there were 25 infertility clinics across Canada offering IVF and 7,619 IVF cycles performed. In Ontario, there are 13 infertility clinics with about 4,300 IVF cycles performed annually. Literature Review Royal Commission Report on Reproductive Technologies The 1993 release of the Royal Commission report on reproductive technologies, Proceed With Care, resulted in the withdrawal of most IVF funding in Ontario, where prior to 1994 IVF was fully funded. Recommendations of the Commission to withdraw IVF funding were largely based on findings of the systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published before 1990. The review showed IVF effectiveness only in cases of bilateral tubal obstruction. As for nontubal causes of infertility, there was not enough evidence to establish whether IVF was effective or not. Since the field of reproductive technology is constantly evolving, there have been several changes since the publication of the Royal Commission report. These changes include: increased success rates of IVF; introduction of ICSI in the early 1990’s as a treatment for male factor infertility; and improved embryo implantation rates allowing for the transfer of a single embryo to avoid multiple pregnancies after IVF. Studies After the Royal Commission Report: Review Strategy Three separate literature reviews were conducted in the following areas: clinical effectiveness of IVF, cost-effectiveness of IVF, and outcomes of single embryo transfer (SET) in IVF cycles. Clinical effectiveness of IVF: RCTs or meta-analyses of RCTs that compared live birth rates after IVF versus alternative treatments, where the cause of infertility was clearly stated or it was possible to stratify the outcome by the cause of infertility. Cost effectiveness of IVF: All relevant economic studies comparing IVF to alternative methods of treatment were reviewed Outcomes of IVF with SET: RCTs or meta-analyses of RCTs that compared live birth rates and multiple birth rates associated with transfer of single versus double embryos. OVID MEDLINE, MEDLINE In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, the International Agency for Health Technology Assessment database, and websites of other health technology assessment agencies were searched using specific subject headings and keywords to identify relevant studies. Summary of Findings Comparative Clinical Effectiveness of IVF Overall, there is a lack of well composed RCTs in this area and considerable diversity in both definition and measurement of outcomes exists between trials. Many studies used fertility or pregnancy rates instead of live birth rates. Moreover, the denominator for rate calculation varied from study to study (e.g. rates were calculated per cycle started, per cycle completed, per couple, etc...). Nevertheless, few studies of sufficient quality were identified and categorized by the cause of infertility and existing alternatives to IVF. The following are the key findings: A 2005 meta-analysis demonstrated that, in patients with idiopathic infertility, IVF was clearly superior to expectant management, but there were no statistically significant differences in live birth rates between IVF and IUI, nor between IVF and gamete-intra-Fallopian transfer. A subset of data from a 2000 study showed no significant differences in pregnancy rates between IVF and IUI for moderate male factor infertility. In patients with moderate male factor infertility, standard IVF was also compared with ICSI in a 2002 meta-analysis. All studies included in the meta-analysis showed superior fertilization rates with ICSI, and the pooled risk ratio for oocyte fertilization was 1.9 (95% Confidence Interval 1.4-2.5) in favour of ICSI. Two other RCTs in this area published after the 2002 meta-analysis had similar results and further confirmed these findings. There were no RCTs comparing IVF with ICSI in patients with severe male factor infertility, mainly because based on the expert opinion, ICSI might only be an effective treatment for severe male factor infertility. Cost-Effectiveness of IVF Five economic evaluations of IVF were found, including one comprehensive systematic review of 57 health economic studies. The studies compared cost-effectiveness of IVF with a number of alternatives such as observation, ovarian stimulation, IUI, tubal surgery, varicocelectomy, etc... The cost-effectiveness of IVF was analyzed separately for different types of infertility. Most of the reviewed studies concluded that due to the high cost, IVF has a less favourable cost-effectiveness profile compared with alternative treatment options. Therefore, IVF was not recommended as the first line of treatment in the majority of cases. The only two exceptions were bilateral tubal obstruction and severe male factor infertility, where an immediate offer of IVF/ICSI might the most cost-effective option. Clinical Outcomes After Single Versus Double Embryo Transfer Strategies of IVF Since the SET strategy has been more widely adopted in Europe, all RCT outcomes of SET were conducted in European countries. The major study in this area was a large 2005 meta-analysis, followed by two other published RCTs. All of these studies reached similar conclusions: Although a single SET cycle results in lower birth rates than a single double embryo transfer (DET) cycle, the cumulative birth rate after 2 cycles of SET (fresh + frozen-thawed embryos) was comparable to the birth rate after a single DET cycle (~40%). SET was associated with a significant reduction in multiple births compared with DET (0.8% vs. 33.1% respectively in the largest RCT). Most trials on SET included women younger than 36 years old with a sufficient number of embryos available for transfer that allowed for selection of the top quality embryo(s). A 2006 RCT, however, compared SET and DET strategies in an unselected group of patients without restrictions on the woman’s age or embryo quality. This study demonstrated that SET could be applied to older women. Estimate of the Target Population Based on results of the literature review and consultations with experts, four categories of infertile patients who may benefit from increased access to IVF/ICSI were identified: Patients with severe male factor infertility, where IVF should be offered in conjunction with ICSI; Infertile women with serious medical contraindications to multiple pregnancy, who should be offered IVF-SET; Infertile patients who want to avoid the risk of multiple pregnancy and thus opt for IVF-SET; and Patients who failed treatment with IUI and wish to try IVF. Since, however, the latter indication does not reflect any new advances in IVF technology that would alter existing policy, it was not considered in this analysis. Economic Analysis Economic Review: Cost–Effectiveness of SET Versus DET Conclusions of published studies on cost-effectiveness of SET versus DET were not consistent. While some studies found that SET strategy is more cost-effective due to avoidance of multiple pregnancies, other studies either did not find any significant differences in cost per birth between SET and DET, or favoured DET as a more cost-effective option. Ontario-Based Economic Analysis An Ontario-based economic analysis compared cost per birth using three treatment strategies: IUI, IVF-SET, and IVF-DET. A decision-tree model assumed three cycles for each treatment option. Two separate models were considered; the first included only fresh cycles of IVF, while the second had a combination of fresh and frozen cycles. Even after accounting for cost-savings due to avoidance of multiple pregnancies (only short-term complications), IVF-SET was still associated with a highest cost per birth. The approximate budget impact to cover the first three indications for IVF listed above (severe male factor infertility, women with medical contraindications to multiple pregnancy, and couples who wish to avoid the risk of multiple pregnancy) is estimated at $9.8 to $12.8 million (Cdn). Coverage of only first two indications, namely, ICSI in patients with severe male factor infertility and infertile women with serious medical contraindications to multiple pregnancy, is estimated at $3.8 to $5.5 million Cdn. Other Considerations International data shows that both IVF utilization and the average number of embryos transferred in IVF cycles are influenced by IVF funding policy. The success of the SET strategy in European countries is largely due to the fact that IVF treatment is subsidized by governments. Surveys of patients with infertility demonstrated that a significant proportion (~40%) of patients not only do not mind having multiple babies, but consider twins being an ideal outcome of infertility treatment. A women’s age may impose some restrictions on the implementation of a SET strategy. Conclusions and Recommendations A review of published studies has demonstrated that IVF-SET is an effective treatment for infertility that avoids multiple pregnancies. However, results of an Ontario-based economic analysis shows that cost savings associated with a reduction in multiple pregnancies after IVF-SET does not justify the cost of universal IVF-SET coverage by the province. Moreover, the province currently funds IUI, which has been shown to be as effective as IVF for certain types of infertility and is significantly less expensive. In patients with severe male factor infertility, IVF in conjunction with ICSI may be the only effective treatment. Thus, 2 indications where additional IVF access should be considered include: IVF/ICSI for patients with severe male factor infertility IVF-SET in infertile women with serious medical contraindications to multiple pregnancy PMID:23074488

3-D-Observation of Matrix of MIL 090657 Meteorite by Absorption-Phase Tomography

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miyama, Sugimoto; Tsuchiyama, Akira; Matsuno, Junya; Miyake, Akira; Nakano, Tsukasa; Uesugi, Kentaro; Takeuchi, Akihisa; Takigawa, Aki; Takayama, Akiko; Nakamura-Messenger, Keiko;

An experimental distributed microprocessor implementation with a shared memory communications and control medium

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mejzak, R. S.

1980-01-01

The distributed processing concept is defined in terms of control primitives, variables, and structures and their use in performing a decomposed discrete Fourier transform (DET) application function. The design assumes interprocessor communications to be anonymous. In this scheme, all processors can access an entire common database by employing control primitives. Access to selected areas within the common database is random, enforced by a hardware lock, and determined by task and subtask pointers. This enables the number of processors to be varied in the configuration without any modifications to the control structure. Decompositional elements of the DFT application function in terms of tasks and subtasks are also described. The experimental hardware configuration consists of IMSAI 8080 chassis which are independent, 8 bit microcomputer units. These chassis are linked together to form a multiple processing system by means of a shared memory facility. This facility consists of hardware which provides a bus structure to enable up to six microcomputers to be interconnected. It provides polling and arbitration logic so that only one processor has access to shared memory at any one time.

KSC Center Director Bridges accepts an ISO 9001 certification plaque from DNV

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1998-01-01

Center Director Roy Bridges (right) displays the 2000th ISO Certificate Plaque he was given by Dalton Lyon (left) of Det Norske Veritas (DNV), Inc., an international ISO certification organization, at a ceremony at KSC. The plaque is a representation of the ISO 9001 certification awarded to KSC by DNV. ISO 9001 comprises the most detailed, comprehensive set of standard requirements for quality programs established by the International Standards Organization. The presentation followed a successful independent audit by DNV of the KSC Management System in May of this year. The third-party auditors examined about 20 elements of KSC's system, including management responsibility, design control, documentation, test and inspection, and corrective action procedures. DNV found that KSC met or exceeded the stringent quality standards in all areas. KSC will use this certification as a tool to improve an already world- class team. All NASA centers are required by NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin to be ISO 9001 registered by September 1999. NASA is the first federal agency to seek the quality certification.

Method of Generating X-Ray Diffraction Data for Integral Detection of Twin Defects in Super-Hetero-Epitaxial Materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Park, Yeonjoon (Inventor); Choi, Sang Hyouk (Inventor); King, Glen C. (Inventor); Elliott, James R. (Inventor)

2009-01-01

A method provides X-ray diffraction (XRD) data suitable for integral detection of a twin defect in a strained or lattice-matched epitaxial material made from components having crystal structures having symme try belonging to different space groups. The material is mounted in a n X-ray diffraction (XRD) system. In one embodiment, the XRD system's goniometer angle Omega is set equal to (Theta(sub B)-Beta) where The ta(sub B) is a Bragg angle for a designated crystal plane of the allo y that is disposed at a non-perpendicular orientation with respect to the {111) crystal plane, and Beta is the angle between the designate d crystal plane and a { 111 } crystal plane of one of the epitaxial components. The XRD system's detector angle is set equal to (Theta(su b B)+Beta). The material can be rotated through an angle of azimuthal rotation Phi about the axis aligned with the material. Using the det ector, the intensity of the X-ray diffraction is recorded at least at the angle at which the twin defect occurs.

The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Spacecraft Power System Design and Orbital Performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dakermanji, George; Burns, Michael; Lee, Leonine; Lyons, John; Kim, David; Spitzer, Thomas; Kercheval, Bradford

2016-01-01

The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) spacecraft was jointly developed by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). It is a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) spacecraft launched on February 27, 2014. The spacecraft is in a circular 400 Km altitude, 65 degrees inclination nadir pointing orbit with a three year basic mission life. The solar array consists of two sun tracking wings with cable wraps. The panels are populated with triple junction cells of nominal 29.5% efficiency. One axis is canted by 52 degrees to provide power to the spacecraft at high beta angles. The power system is a Direct Energy Transfer (DET) system designed to support 1950 Watts orbit average power. The batteries use SONY 18650HC cells and consist of three 8s x 84p batteries operated in parallel as a single battery. The paper describes the power system design details, its performance to date and the lithium ion battery model that was developed for use in the energy balance analysis and is being used to predict the on-orbit health of the battery.

The good work--a Swedish trade union vision in the shadow of lean production.

PubMed

Johansson, Jan; Abrahamsson, Lena

2009-07-01

"The Good Work" (Det goda arbetet) was established as a highly praised and established concept in the Swedish working life debate in the middle of the 1980s. In this paper, we are going to discuss the concept in relation to the massive introduction of lean production in Swedish industry. The aim of this paper is to restore the theory of the good work into the industrial society of today. We will search for a model for 'good work' in balance between the demands from production and good conditions for a learning environment. The theoretical base for this paper will be found in both organisational research and research on production technology systems. We identify three strong trends in Swedish industrial companies giving both pitfalls and possibilities for the good work; the learning focus as a way to increase productivity and improve working conditions; Lean Production in most cases imply narrow short-cyclic work tasks; and the global market that reduces national discretion. As a result, we formulate a new set of criteria for "the good work".

Reversible chemical restraint of free-range cattle with a concentrated combination of tiletamine–zolazepam, ketamine, and detomidine

PubMed Central

Re, Michela; Blanco-Murcia, Francisco J.; San Miguel, José Maria; Gómez de Segura, Ignacio A.

2013-01-01

The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of a concentrated combination of tiletamine–zolazepam [TZ, 0.53 mg/kg body weight (BW)], ketamine (Ket, 0.53 mg/kg BW), and detomidine (Det, 0.04 mg/kg BW) in the immobilization of free-range cattle for clinical procedures. The combination was administered intramuscularly to 53 animals. Anesthesia was reversed with the α2-adrenoceptor antagonist atipamezole. Locoregional anesthesia was provided with lidocaine when required. The TZKD combination induced suitable immobilization for minor surgical procedures or medical treatments. Anesthetic onset was rapid, taking a mean of 6.1 min [standard deviation (SD) 2.8 min]. The duration of anesthesia depended on the time of administration of the antagonist; the animals recovered in the standing position in 12.9 ± 8.9 min after the administration of atipamezole. The quality of anesthesia and analgesia were satisfactory. In conclusion, this TZKD combination can be used for both immobilization and minor surgical procedures in free-range cattle. PMID:24124271

Comparison of algorithms to quantify muscle fatigue in upper limb muscles based on sEMG signals.

PubMed

Kahl, Lorenz; Hofmann, Ulrich G

2016-11-01

This work compared the performance of six different fatigue detection algorithms quantifying muscle fatigue based on electromyographic signals. Surface electromyography (sEMG) was obtained by an experiment from upper arm contractions at three different load levels from twelve volunteers. Fatigue detection algorithms mean frequency (MNF), spectral moments ratio (SMR), the wavelet method WIRM1551, sample entropy (SampEn), fuzzy approximate entropy (fApEn) and recurrence quantification analysis (RQA%DET) were calculated. The resulting fatigue signals were compared considering the disturbances incorporated in fatiguing situations as well as according to the possibility to differentiate the load levels based on the fatigue signals. Furthermore we investigated the influence of the electrode locations on the fatigue detection quality and whether an optimized channel set is reasonable. The results of the MNF, SMR, WIRM1551 and fApEn algorithms fell close together. Due to the small amount of subjects in this study significant differences could not be found. In terms of disturbances the SMR algorithm showed a slight tendency to out-perform the others. Copyright © 2016 IPEM. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Transcription factor Etv5 is essential for the maintenance of alveolar type II cells.

PubMed

Zhang, Zhen; Newton, Kim; Kummerfeld, Sarah K; Webster, Joshua; Kirkpatrick, Donald S; Phu, Lilian; Eastham-Anderson, Jeffrey; Liu, Jinfeng; Lee, Wyne P; Wu, Jiansheng; Li, Hong; Junttila, Melissa R; Dixit, Vishva M

2017-04-11

Alveolar type II (AT2) cell dysfunction contributes to a number of significant human pathologies including respiratory distress syndrome, lung adenocarcinoma, and debilitating fibrotic diseases, but the critical transcription factors that maintain AT2 cell identity are unknown. Here we show that the E26 transformation-specific (ETS) family transcription factor Etv5 is essential to maintain AT2 cell identity. Deletion of Etv5 from AT2 cells produced gene and protein signatures characteristic of differentiated alveolar type I (AT1) cells. Consistent with a defect in the AT2 stem cell population, Etv5 deficiency markedly reduced recovery following bleomycin-induced lung injury. Lung tumorigenesis driven by mutant KrasG12D was also compromised by Etv5 deficiency. ERK activation downstream of Ras was found to stabilize Etv5 through inactivation of the cullin-RING ubiquitin ligase CRL4 COP1/DET1 that targets Etv5 for proteasomal degradation. These findings identify Etv5 as a critical output of Ras signaling in AT2 cells, contributing to both lung homeostasis and tumor initiation.

Origin of the Giant Honeycomb Network of Quinones on Cu(111)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Einstein, T. L.; Kim, Kwangmoo; Wyrick, Jon; Cheng, Zhihai; Bartels, Ludwig; Berland, Kristian; Hyldgaard, Per

2011-03-01

We discuss the factors that lead to the amazing regular giant honeycomb network formed by quinones on Cu(111). Using a related lattice gas model with many characteristic energies, we can reproduce many experimental features. These models require a long-range attraction, which can be attributed to indirect interactions mediated by the Shockley surface state of Cu(111). However, Wyrick's preceding talk gave evidence that the network self-selects for the size of the pore rather than for the periodicity of the superstructure, suggesting that confined states are the key ingredient. We discuss this phenomenon in terms of the magic numbers of 2D quantum dots. We also report calculations of the effects of anthraquinones (AQ) in modifying the surface states by considering a superlattice of AQ chains with various separations. We discuss implications of these results for tuning the electronic states and, thence, superstructures. Supported by (TLE) NSF CHE 07-50334 & UMD MRSEC DMR 05-20471, (JW & LB) NSF CHE NSF CHE 07-49949, (KB & PH) Swedish Vetenskapsrådet VR 621-2008-4346.

Response of the Shockley surface state on Cu(111) to an external electrical field: A density-functional theory study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berland, Kristian; Hyldgaard, Per; Einstein, T. L.

2011-03-01

We study the response of the Cu(111) Shockley surface state to an external electrical field E by combining a density-functional theory calculation for a finite slab geometry with an analysis of the Kohn-Sham wavefunctions to obtain a well-converged characterization. We find that the surface state displays isotropic dispersion, quadratic until the Fermi wave vector but with a significant quartic contribution beyond. We find that the shift in band minimum and effective mass depend linearly on E. Most change in electrostatic potential profile, and charge transfer occurs outside the outermost copper atoms, and most of the screening is due to bulk electrons. Our analysis is facilitated by a method used to decouple the Kohn-Sham states due to the finite slab geometry, using a rotation in Hilbert space. We discuss applications to tuning the Fermi wavelength and so the many patterns attributed to metallic surface states. Supported by (KB and PH) Swedish Vetenskapsrådet VR 621-2008-4346 and (TLE) NSF CHE 07-50334 & UMD MRSEC DMR 05-20471.

Learning a Mahalanobis Distance-Based Dynamic Time Warping Measure for Multivariate Time Series Classification.

PubMed

Mei, Jiangyuan; Liu, Meizhu; Wang, Yuan-Fang; Gao, Huijun

2016-06-01

Multivariate time series (MTS) datasets broadly exist in numerous fields, including health care, multimedia, finance, and biometrics. How to classify MTS accurately has become a hot research topic since it is an important element in many computer vision and pattern recognition applications. In this paper, we propose a Mahalanobis distance-based dynamic time warping (DTW) measure for MTS classification. The Mahalanobis distance builds an accurate relationship between each variable and its corresponding category. It is utilized to calculate the local distance between vectors in MTS. Then we use DTW to align those MTS which are out of synchronization or with different lengths. After that, how to learn an accurate Mahalanobis distance function becomes another key problem. This paper establishes a LogDet divergence-based metric learning with triplet constraint model which can learn Mahalanobis matrix with high precision and robustness. Furthermore, the proposed method is applied on nine MTS datasets selected from the University of California, Irvine machine learning repository and Robert T. Olszewski's homepage, and the results demonstrate the improved performance of the proposed approach.

KSC-98pc909

NASA Image and Video Library

1998-08-11

Center Director Roy Bridges speaks to KSC employees at the ISO certification ceremony held at the Training Auditorium. Bridges was presented an ISO 9001 certificate and plaque awarded to KSC by Det Norske Veritas (DNV), Inc., an international ISO certification organization. ISO 9001 comprises the most detailed, comprehensive set of standard requirements for quality programs established by the International Standards Organization. The presentation followed a successful independent audit by DNV of the KSC Management System in May of this year. The third-party auditors examined about 20 elements of KSC's system, including management responsibility, design control, documentation, test and inspection, and corrective action procedures. DNV found that KSC met or exceeded the stringent quality standards in all areas. KSC will use this certification as a tool to improve an already worldclass team. All NASA centers are required by NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin to be ISO 9001 registered by September 1999. NASA is the first federal agency to seek the quality certification. Next to Bridges is Heidi Hollingsworth, with the Center for Independent Living, who uses American Sign Language for any hearing-impaired employees in the audience

The Future of Wind Energy in California: Future Projections in Variable-Resolution CESM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, M.; Ullrich, P. A.; Millstein, D.; Collier, C.

2017-12-01

This study focuses on the wind energy characterization and future projection at five primary wind turbine sites in California. Historical (1980-2000) and mid-century (2030-2050) simulations were produced using the Variable-Resolution Community Earth System Model (VR-CESM) to analyze the trends and variations in wind energy under climate change. Datasets from Det Norske Veritas Germanischer Llyod (DNV GL), MERRA-2, CFSR, NARR, as well as surface observational data were used for model validation and comparison. Significant seasonal wind speed changes under RCP8.5 were detected from several wind farm sites. Large-scale patterns were then investigated to analyze the synoptic-scale impact on localized wind change. The agglomerative clustering method was applied to analyze and group different wind patterns. The associated meteorological background of each cluster was investigated to analyze the drivers of different wind patterns. This study improves the characterization of uncertainty around the magnitude and variability in space and time of California's wind resources in the near future, and also enhances understanding of the physical mechanisms related to the trends in wind resource variability.

Nutrition management methods effective in increasing weight, survival time and functional status in ALS patients: a systematic review.

PubMed

Kellogg, Jaylin; Bottman, Lindsey; Arra, Erin J; Selkirk, Stephen M; Kozlowski, Frances

2018-02-01

Poor prognosis and decreased survival time correlate with the nutritional status of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Various studies were reviewed which assessed weight, body mass index (BMI), survival time and ALS functional rating scale revised (ALSFRS-R) in order to determine the best nutrition management methods for this patient population. A systematic review was conducted using CINAHL, Medline, and PubMed, and various search terms in order to determine the most recent clinical trials and observational studies that have been conducted concerning nutrition and ALS. Four articles met criteria to be included in the review. Data were extracted from these articles and were inputted into the Data Extraction Tool (DET) provided by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND). Results showed that nutrition supplementation does promote weight stabilisation or weight gain in individuals with ALS. Given the low risk and low cost associated with intervention, early and aggressive nutrition intervention is recommended. This systematic review shows that there is a lack of high quality evidence regarding the efficacy of any dietary interventions for promoting survival in ALS or slowing disease progression; therefore more research is necessary related to effects of nutrition interventions.

Operational space weather product development and validation at the joint SMC-AFRL Rapid Prototyping Center

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quigley, S.

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL/VSB) and Detachment 11, Space &Missile Systems Center (SMC, Det 11/CIT) have combined efforts to design, develop, test, and implement graphical products for the Air Force's space weather operations center. These products are generated to analyze, specify, and forecast the effects of the near-earth space environment on Department of Defense systems and communications. Jointly-developed products that have been, or will soon be added to real-time operations include: 1) the Operational Space Environment Network Display (OpSEND) suit - a set of four products that address HF communication, UHF satellite communication scintillation, radar auroral clutter, and GP S single- frequency errors; 2) a solar radio background and burst effects (SoRBE) product suite; and C) a meteor effects (ME) product suite. The RPC is also involved in a rather substantial "V&V" effort to produce multiple operational product verifications and validations, with an added end goal of a generalized validation software package. The presentation will provide a general overview of the RPC and each of the products mentioned above, to include background science, operational history, inputs, outputs, dissemination, and customer uses for each.

Strategies for "wiring" redox-active proteins to electrodes and applications in biosensors, biofuel cells, and nanotechnology.

PubMed

Nöll, Tanja; Nöll, Gilbert

2011-07-01

In this tutorial review the basic approaches to establish electrochemical communication between redox-active proteins and electrodes are elucidated and examples for applications in electrochemical biosensors, biofuel cells and nanotechnology are presented. The early stage of protein electrochemistry is described giving a short overview over electron transfer (ET) between electrodes and proteins, followed by a brief introduction into experimental procedures for studying proteins at electrodes and possible applications arising thereof. The article starts with discussing the electrochemistry of cytochrome c, the first redox-active protein, for which direct reversible ET was obtained, under diffusion controlled conditions and after adsorption to electrodes. Next, examples for the electrochemical study of redox enzymes adsorbed on electrodes and modes of immobilization are discussed. Shortly the experimental approach for investigating redox-active proteins adsorbed on electrodes is outlined. Possible applications of redox enzymes in electrochemical biosensors and biofuel cells working by direct ET (DET) and mediated ET (MET) are presented. Furthermore, the reconstitution of redox active proteins at electrodes using molecular wire-like units in order to "wire" the proteins to the electrode surface and possible applications in nanotechnology are discussed.

KSC Center Director Bridges addresses the audience at an ISO 9001 certification ceremony

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1998-01-01

Center Director Roy Bridges speaks to KSC employees at the ISO certification ceremony held at the Training Auditorium. Bridges was presented an ISO 9001 certificate and plaque awarded to KSC by Det Norske Veritas (DNV), Inc., an international ISO certification organization. ISO 9001 comprises the most detailed, comprehensive set of standard requirements for quality programs established by the International Standards Organization. The presentation followed a successful independent audit by DNV of the KSC Management System in May of this year. The third-party auditors examined about 20 elements of KSC's system, including management responsibility, design control, documentation, test and inspection, and corrective action procedures. DNV found that KSC met or exceeded the stringent quality standards in all areas. KSC will use this certification as a tool to improve an already world- class team. All NASA centers are required by NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin to be ISO 9001 registered by September 1999. NASA is the first federal agency to seek the quality certification. Next to Bridges is Heidi Hollingsworth, with the Center for Independent Living, who uses American Sign Language for any hearing-impaired employees in the audience.

[Cormorbidity in multiple sclerosis and its therapeutic approach].

PubMed

Estruch, Bonaventura Casanova

2014-12-01

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a long-term chronic disease, in which intercurrent processes develop three times more frequently in affected individuals than in persons without MS. Knowledge of the comorbidity of MS, its definition and measurement (Charlson index) improves patient management. Acting on comorbid conditions delays the progression of disability, which is intimately linked to the number of concurrent processes and with health states and habits. Moreover, the presence of comorbidities delays the diagnosis of MS, which in turn delays the start of treatment. The main comorbidity found in MS includes other autoimmune diseases (thyroiditis, systemic lupus erythematosus, or pemphigus) but can also include general diseases, such as asthma or osteomuscular alterations, and, in particular, psychiatric disturbances. All these alterations should be evaluated with multidimensional scales (Disability Expectancy Table, DET), which allow more accurate determination of the patient's real clinical course and quality of life. These scales also allow identification of how MS, concurrent and intercurrent processes occurring during the clinical course, and the treatment provided affect patients with MS. An overall approach to patients' health status helps to improve quality of life. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Dendrite Suppression by Synergistic Combination of Solid Polymer Electrolyte Crosslinked with Natural Terpenes and Lithium-Powder Anode for Lithium-Metal Batteries.

PubMed

Shim, Jimin; Lee, Jae Won; Bae, Ki Yoon; Kim, Hee Joong; Yoon, Woo Young; Lee, Jong-Chan

2017-05-22

Lithium-metal anode has fundamental problems concerning formation and growth of lithium dendrites, which prevents practical applications of next generation of high-capacity lithium-metal batteries. The synergistic combination of solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) crosslinked with naturally occurring terpenes and lithium-powder anode is promising solution to resolve the dendrite issues by substituting conventional liquid electrolyte/separator and lithium-foil anode system. A series of SPEs based on polysiloxane crosslinked with natural terpenes are prepared by facile thiol-ene click reaction under mild condition and the structural effect of terpene crosslinkers on electrochemical properties is studied. Lithium powder with large surface area is prepared by droplet emulsion technique (DET) and used as anode material. The effect of the physical state of electrolyte (solid/liquid) and morphology of lithium-metal anode (powder/foil) on dendrite growth behavior is systematically studied. The synergistic combination of SPE and lithium-powder anode suggests an effective solution to suppress the dendrite growth owing to the formation of a stable solid-electrolyte interface (SEI) layer and delocalized current density. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Detection of burst suppression patterns in EEG using recurrence rate.

PubMed

Liang, Zhenhu; Wang, Yinghua; Ren, Yongshao; Li, Duan; Voss, Logan; Sleigh, Jamie; Li, Xiaoli

2014-01-01

Burst suppression is a unique electroencephalogram (EEG) pattern commonly seen in cases of severely reduced brain activity such as overdose of general anesthesia. It is important to detect burst suppression reliably during the administration of anesthetic or sedative agents, especially for cerebral-protective treatments in various neurosurgical diseases. This study investigates recurrent plot (RP) analysis for the detection of the burst suppression pattern (BSP) in EEG. The RP analysis is applied to EEG data containing BSPs collected from 14 patients. Firstly we obtain the best selection of parameters for RP analysis. Then, the recurrence rate (RR), determinism (DET), and entropy (ENTR) are calculated. Then RR was selected as the best BSP index one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multiple comparison tests. Finally, the performance of RR analysis is compared with spectral analysis, bispectral analysis, approximate entropy, and the nonlinear energy operator (NLEO). ANOVA and multiple comparison tests showed that the RR could detect BSP and that it was superior to other measures with the highest sensitivity of suppression detection (96.49%, P = 0.03). Tracking BSP patterns is essential for clinical monitoring in critically ill and anesthetized patients. The purposed RR may provide an effective burst suppression detector for developing new patient monitoring systems.

Convolution Comparison Pattern: An Efficient Local Image Descriptor for Fingerprint Liveness Detection

PubMed Central

Gottschlich, Carsten

2016-01-01

We present a new type of local image descriptor which yields binary patterns from small image patches. For the application to fingerprint liveness detection, we achieve rotation invariant image patches by taking the fingerprint segmentation and orientation field into account. We compute the discrete cosine transform (DCT) for these rotation invariant patches and attain binary patterns by comparing pairs of two DCT coefficients. These patterns are summarized into one or more histograms per image. Each histogram comprises the relative frequencies of pattern occurrences. Multiple histograms are concatenated and the resulting feature vector is used for image classification. We name this novel type of descriptor convolution comparison pattern (CCP). Experimental results show the usefulness of the proposed CCP descriptor for fingerprint liveness detection. CCP outperforms other local image descriptors such as LBP, LPQ and WLD on the LivDet 2013 benchmark. The CCP descriptor is a general type of local image descriptor which we expect to prove useful in areas beyond fingerprint liveness detection such as biological and medical image processing, texture recognition, face recognition and iris recognition, liveness detection for face and iris images, and machine vision for surface inspection and material classification. PMID:26844544

Automatic identification of informative regions with epigenomic changes associated to hematopoiesis

PubMed Central

Carrillo-de-Santa-Pau, Enrique; Pancaldi, Vera; Were, Felipe; Martin-Subero, Ignacio

2017-01-01

Abstract Hematopoiesis is one of the best characterized biological systems but the connection between chromatin changes and lineage differentiation is not yet well understood. We have developed a bioinformatic workflow to generate a chromatin space that allows to classify 42 human healthy blood epigenomes from the BLUEPRINT, NIH ROADMAP and ENCODE consortia by their cell type. This approach let us to distinguish different cells types based on their epigenomic profiles, thus recapitulating important aspects of human hematopoiesis. The analysis of the orthogonal dimension of the chromatin space identify 32,662 chromatin determinant regions (CDRs), genomic regions with different epigenetic characteristics between the cell types. Functional analysis revealed that these regions are linked with cell identities. The inclusion of leukemia epigenomes in the healthy hematological chromatin sample space gives us insights on the healthy cell types that are more epigenetically similar to the disease samples. Further analysis of tumoral epigenetic alterations in hematopoietic CDRs points to sets of genes that are tightly regulated in leukemic transformations and commonly mutated in other tumors. Our method provides an analytical approach to study the relationship between epigenomic changes and cell lineage differentiation. Method availability: https://github.com/david-juan/ChromDet. PMID:28934481

Cosmological implications of the transition from the false vacuum to the true vacuum state

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stachowski, Aleksander; Szydłowski, Marek; Urbanowski, Krzysztof

2017-06-01

We study cosmology with running dark energy. The energy density of dark energy is obtained from the quantum process of transition from the false vacuum state to the true vacuum state. We use the Breit-Wigner energy distribution function to model the quantum unstable systems and obtain the energy density of the dark energy parametrization ρ _ {de}(t). We also use Krauss and Dent's idea linking properties of the quantum mechanical decay of unstable states with the properties of the observed Universe. In the cosmological model with this parametrization there is an energy transfer between dark matter and dark energy. The intensity of this process, measured by a parameter α , distinguishes two scenarios. As the Universe starts from the false vacuum state, for the small value of α (0<α <0.4) it goes through an intermediate oscillatory (quantum) regime of the density of dark energy, while for α > 0.4 the density of the dark energy jumps down. In both cases the present value of the density of dark energy is reached. From a statistical analysis we find this model to be in good agreement with the astronomical data and practically indistinguishable from the Λ CDM model.

Deep feature extraction and combination for synthetic aperture radar target classification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amrani, Moussa; Jiang, Feng

2017-10-01

Feature extraction has always been a difficult problem in the classification performance of synthetic aperture radar automatic target recognition (SAR-ATR). It is very important to select discriminative features to train a classifier, which is a prerequisite. Inspired by the great success of convolutional neural network (CNN), we address the problem of SAR target classification by proposing a feature extraction method, which takes advantage of exploiting the extracted deep features from CNNs on SAR images to introduce more powerful discriminative features and robust representation ability for them. First, the pretrained VGG-S net is fine-tuned on moving and stationary target acquisition and recognition (MSTAR) public release database. Second, after a simple preprocessing is performed, the fine-tuned network is used as a fixed feature extractor to extract deep features from the processed SAR images. Third, the extracted deep features are fused by using a traditional concatenation and a discriminant correlation analysis algorithm. Finally, for target classification, K-nearest neighbors algorithm based on LogDet divergence-based metric learning triplet constraints is adopted as a baseline classifier. Experiments on MSTAR are conducted, and the classification accuracy results demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-art methods.

Redesign and Validation of Sisom, an Interactive Assessment and Communication Tool for Children With Cancer

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Background Children with cancer undergo intensive and long treatment periods that expose them and their families to a number of difficult physical, mental, and social challenges. Empowering children by actively involving them in their care can help them to cope with these challenges. It can, however, be difficult for children to be involved and talk about their illness experiences in a “traditional” conversation with health care professionals, especially for younger children. Sisom (Norwegian acronym “Si det som det er” or “Tell it how it is”) is an interactive computer-based assessment and communication tool to give children (aged 6-12 years) with cancer a “voice” in their care. Because of technological advances and widespread use of mobile devices Sisom had to be redesigned to better meet the needs of children of today. Objective To redesign Sisom for use on mobile devices and to validate and adapt it for use in a Swedish population of children with cancer. Methods A user-experience design was used. Content adaptation included forward-backward translation by Swedish and Norwegian translators. Healthy children (n=5), children with experiences of cancer treatment (n=5) and their parents (n=5), and pediatric nurses (n=2) were then involved in culturally adapting Sisom to the Swedish context. The iterative low- and high-fidelity evaluation was supported by a think aloud method, semistructured interviews, and drawings to capture children’s views of Sisom. The redesign and evaluation continued until no further changes or improvements were identified by the participants or the researchers. Results Children, parents, and pediatric nurses offered many suggestions for improvements to the original version in terms of content, aesthetics, and usability of Sisom. The most significant change that emerged through user input was a modification that entailed not using problem-focused statements in the assessment items. The parents and pediatric nurses considered the revised assessment items to be general and less diagnosis specific. The evaluation of aesthetics resulted in brighter colors and more positive and exciting details in the animations. The evaluation of usability included improvements of the verbal instructions on how to navigate in Sisom 2, and also that the answers to assessment items in Sisom 2 should be saved to provide the children with the option to pause and to continue answering the remaining assessment items at a later stage. Conclusions Overall, this paper describes the process of using user-experience design with children in order to redesign and validate an interactive assessment and communication tool and how the outcomes of this process resulted in a new version, Sisom 2. All participants confirmed the usability and qualities of using the final version. Future research should be directed toward the implementation of Sisom 2 in clinical practice and to evaluate outcomes from individual and organizational levels. PMID:27343004

Direct electron transfer of glucose oxidase and biosensing for glucose based on PDDA-capped gold nanoparticle modified graphene/multi-walled carbon nanotubes electrode.

PubMed

Yu, Yanyan; Chen, Zuanguang; He, Sijing; Zhang, Beibei; Li, Xinchun; Yao, Meicun

2014-02-15

In this work, poly (diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA)-capped gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) functionalized graphene (G)/multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) nanocomposites were fabricated. Based on the electrostatic attraction, the G/MWCNTs hybrid material can be decorated with AuNPs uniformly and densely. The new hierarchical nanostructure can provide a larger surface area and a more favorable microenvironment for electron transfer. The AuNPs/G/MWCNTs nanocomposite was used as a novel immobilization platform for glucose oxidase (GOD). Direct electron transfer (DET) was achieved between GOD and the electrode. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), UV-vis spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry (CV) were used to characterize the electrochemical biosensor. The glucose biosensor fabricated based on GOD electrode modified with AuNPs/G/MWCNTs demonstrated satisfactory analytical performance with high sensitivity (29.72mAM(-1)cm(-2)) and low limit of detection (4.8 µM). The heterogeneous electron transfer rate constant (ΚS) and the apparent Michaelis-Menten constant (Km) of GOD were calculated to be 11.18s(-1) and 2.09 mM, respectively. With satisfactory selectivity, reproducibility, and stability, the nanostructure we proposed offered an alternative for electrode fabricating and glucose biosensing. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A new dose of maximal-intensity interval training in hypoxia to improve body composition and hemoglobin and hematocrit levels: a pilot study.

PubMed

Camacho-Cardenosa, Marta; Camacho-Cardenosa, Alba; Martínez Guardado, Ismael; Marcos-Serrano, Marta; Timon, Rafael; Olcina, Guillermo

2017-01-01

This pilot study had the aim to determine the effects of a new dose of maximal-intensity interval training in hypoxia in active adults. Twenty-four university student volunteers were randomly assigned to three groups: hypoxia group, normoxia group or control group. The eight training sessions consisted of 2 sets of 5 repeated sprints of 10 seconds with a recovery of 20 seconds between sprints and a recovery period of 10 minutes between sets. Body composition was measured following standard procedures. A blood sample was taken for an immediate hematocrit (HCT) and hemoglobin (Hb) concentration assessment. An all-out 3-ute test was performed to evaluate ventilation parameters and power. HCT and Hb were significantly higher for the hypoxia group in Post- and Det- (P=0.01; P=0.03). Fat mass percentage was significantly lower for the hypoxia group in both assessments (P=0.05; P=0.05). The hypoxia group underwent a significant increase in mean power after the recovery period. A new dose of 8 sessions of maximal-intensity interval training in hypoxia is enough to decrease the percentage of fat mass and to improve HCT and Hb parameters and mean muscle power in healthy and active adults.

Improving M-SBL for Joint Sparse Recovery Using a Subspace Penalty

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ye, Jong Chul; Kim, Jong Min; Bresler, Yoram

2015-12-01

The multiple measurement vector problem (MMV) is a generalization of the compressed sensing problem that addresses the recovery of a set of jointly sparse signal vectors. One of the important contributions of this paper is to reveal that the seemingly least related state-of-art MMV joint sparse recovery algorithms - M-SBL (multiple sparse Bayesian learning) and subspace-based hybrid greedy algorithms - have a very important link. More specifically, we show that replacing the $\\log\\det(\\cdot)$ term in M-SBL by a rank proxy that exploits the spark reduction property discovered in subspace-based joint sparse recovery algorithms, provides significant improvements. In particular, if we use the Schatten-$p$ quasi-norm as the corresponding rank proxy, the global minimiser of the proposed algorithm becomes identical to the true solution as $p \\rightarrow 0$. Furthermore, under the same regularity conditions, we show that the convergence to a local minimiser is guaranteed using an alternating minimization algorithm that has closed form expressions for each of the minimization steps, which are convex. Numerical simulations under a variety of scenarios in terms of SNR, and condition number of the signal amplitude matrix demonstrate that the proposed algorithm consistently outperforms M-SBL and other state-of-the art algorithms.

Asymptotic Behavior of Solutions of Systems of Neutral and Convolution Equations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Basit, Bolis; Günzler, Hans

1998-10-01

Suppose J=[α, ∞) for someα∈R or J=R and letXbe a Banach space. We study asymptotic behavior of solutions on J of neutral system of equations with values inX. This reduces to questions concerning the behavior of solutions of convolution equations (*)H∗Ω=b, whereH=(Hj, k) is anr×rmatrix,Hj, k∈D‧L1,b=(bj) andbj∈D‧(R, X), for 1⩽j, k⩽r. We prove that ifΩis a bounded uniformly continuous solution of (*) withbfrom some translation invariant suitably closed class A, thenΩbelongs to A, provided, for example, that det Hhas countably many zeros on R andc0⊄X. In particular, ifbis (asymptotically) almost periodic, almost automorphic or recurrent,Ωis too. Our results extend theorems of Bohr, Neugebauer, Bochner, Doss, Basit, and Zhikov and also, certain theorems of Fink, Madych, Staffans, and others. Also, we investigate bounded solutions of (*). This leads to an extension of the known classes of almost periodicity to larger classes called mean-classes. We explore mean-classes and prove that bounded solutions of (*) belong to mean-classes provided certain conditions hold. These results seem new even for the simplest difference equationΩ(t+1)-Ω(t)=b(t) with J=X=R andbStepanoff almost periodic.

Outcomes following neonatal cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

PubMed

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

2018-05-29

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

Ab-initio Calculation of Optoelectronic and Structural Properties of Cubic Lithium Oxide (Li2O)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ziegler, Joshua; Polin, Daniel; Malozovsky, Yuriy; Bagayoko, Diola

Using the Bagayoko, Zhao, and Williams (BZW) method, as enhanced by Ekuma and Franklin (BZW-EF), we performed ab-initio, density functional theory (DFT) calculations of optoelectronic, transport, and bulk properties of Li2S. In so doing, we avoid ``band gap'' and problems plaguing many DET calculations [AIP Advances 4, 127104 (2014)]. We employed a local density approximation (LDA) potential and the linear combination of atomic orbitals (LCAO). With the BZW-EF method, our results possess the full, physical content of DFT and agree with available, corresponding experimental ones. In particular, we found a room temperature indirect band gap of 6.659 eV that compares favorably with experimental values ranging from 5 to 7.99 eV. We also calculated total and partial density of states (DOS and PDOS), effective masses of charge carriers, the equilibrium lattice constant, and the bulk modulus. Acknowledgments: This work was funded in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Louisiana Board of Regents, through LASiGMA [Award Nos. EPS- 1003897, NSF (2010-15)-RII-SUBR] and NSF HRD-1002541, the US Department of Energy - National, Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) (Award Nos. DE-NA0001861 and DE- NA0002630), LaSPACE, and LONI-SUBR.

Validation of Satellite Snow Cover Maps in North America and Norway

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hall, Dorothy K.; Solberg, Rune; Riggs, George A.

2002-01-01

Satellite-derived snow maps from NASA's Earth Observing System Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) have been produced since February of 2000. The global maps are available daily at 500-m resolution, and at a climate-modeling grid (CMG) resolution of 1/20 deg (approximately 5.6 km). We compared the 8-day composite CMG MODIS-derived global maps from November 1,2001, through March 21,2002, and daily CMG maps from February 26 - March 5,2002, with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Interactive Multisensor Snow and Ice Mapping System (IMS) 25-km resolution maps for North America. For the Norwegian study area, national snow maps, based on synoptic measurements as well as visual interpretation of AVHRR images, published by the Det Norske Meteorologiske Institutt (Norwegian Meteorological Institute) (MI) maps, as well as Landsat ETM+ images were compared with the MODIS maps. The MODIS-derived maps agreed over most areas with the IMS or MI maps, however, there are important areas of disagreement between the maps, especially when the 8-day composite maps were used. It is concluded that MODIS daily CMG maps should be studied for validation purposes rather than the 8-day composite maps, despite the limitations imposed by cloud obscuration when using the daily maps.

Are the measurements of water-filled and air-charged catheters the same in urodynamics?

PubMed

Digesu, G Alessandro; Derpapas, Alexandros; Robshaw, Penny; Vijaya, Gopalan; Hendricken, Caroline; Khullar, Vik

2014-01-01

The aim of our study was to compare air-charged and water-filled catheters simultaneously in the measurement of the intravesical, abdominal and detrusor pressure during urodynamic investigations. Consecutive women with lower urinary tract symptoms, referred for urodynamics were prospectively studied. Readings of intravesical pressure (p(ves)), abdominal pressure (p(abd)) and detrusor pressure (p(det)), recorded by both the air-charged and water-filled catheters, were displayed simultaneously and compared at the end of filling, on standing, on sitting prior to voiding and at the maximum involuntary detrusor contraction. The signals (pressures) recorded by both types of catheter were compared using the Bland-Altman plot and paired samples t test. Twenty women with a mean age of 49 (range 36-72) were recruited. One patient with normal urodynamics was excluded in view of the poor quality trace. At each of the four comparison points, the air-charged catheters consistently produced higher mean pressures than the water-filled catheters. There were wide variations in the difference between the readings produced by the two types of catheter. Pressures measured using air-charged catheters are not comparable with water-filled catheters and are therefore not interchangeable. Caution must be used when comparing urodynamic parameters using air-charged and water-filled catheters.

Gd-DTPA-loaded polymer-metal complex micelles with high relaxivity for MR cancer imaging.

PubMed

Mi, Peng; Cabral, Horacio; Kokuryo, Daisuke; Rafi, Mohammad; Terada, Yasuko; Aoki, Ichio; Saga, Tsuneo; Takehiko, Ishii; Nishiyama, Nobuhiro; Kataoka, Kazunori

2013-01-01

Nanodevices for magnetic resonance imaging of cancer were self-assembled to core-shell micellar structures by metal complex formation of K(2)PtCl(6) with diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid gadolinium (III) dihydrogen (Gd-DTPA), a T(1)-contrast agent, and poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly{N-[N'-(2-aminoethyl)-2-aminoethyl]aspartamide} (PEG-b-PAsp(DET)) copolymer in aqueous solution. Gd-DTPA-loaded polymeric micelles (Gd-DTPA/m) showed a hydrodynamic diameter of 45 nm and a core size of 22 nm. Confining Gd-DTPA inside the core of the micelles increased the relaxivity of Gd-DTPA more than 13 times (48 mM(-1) s(-1)). In physiological conditions Gd-DTPA/m sustainedly released Gd-DTPA, while the Pt(IV) complexes remain bound to the polymer. Gd-DTPA/m extended the circulation time in plasma and augmented the tumor accumulation of Gd-DTPA leading to successful contrast enhancement of solid tumors. μ-Synchrotron radiation-X-ray fluorescence results confirmed that Gd-DTPA was delivered to the tumor site by the micelles. Our study provides a facile strategy for incorporating contrast agents, dyes and bioactive molecules into nanodevices for developing safe and efficient drug carriers for clinical application. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Improved Brain Expression of Anti-Amyloid β scFv by Complexation of mRNA Including a Secretion Sequence with PEG-based Block Catiomer.

PubMed

Perche, Federico; Uchida, Satoshi; Akiba, Hiroki; Lin, Chin-Yu; Ikegami, Masaru; Dirisala, Anjaneyulu; Nakashima, Toshihiro; Itaka, Keiji; Tsumoto, Kohei; Kataoka, Kazunori

2017-01-01

The ever-increasing number of people living with Alzheimer's disease urges to develop more effective therapies. Despite considerable success, anti-Alzheimer immunotherapy still faces the challenge of intracerebral and intracellular delivery. This work introduces in situ production of anti-amyloid beta (Aβ) antibody after intracerebral injection of PEG-PAsp(DET)/mRNA polyplexes as a novel immunotherapy approach and a safer alternative compared to high systemic antibodies doses or administration of adenovirus encoding anti- Aβ antibodies. We used mRNA encoding three different Aβ-specific scFV with a secretion signal for passive immunotherapy. scFv contained a 6xHis-tag for immuno-detection. The secretion signal from IL2 (IL2ss) was added to allow extracellular engagement of senile plaques. Aβ affinity of scFv was measured by surface plasmon resonance. To allow intracellular delivery, scFv were administered as polyplexes formed with our smart copolymer polyethylene glycol-poly[N'-[N-(2-aminoethyl)-2-aminoethyl] aspartamide] [PEG-PAsp (DET)]. We evaluated scFv expression in cellulo by Western blot and ELISA, their ability to disaggregate amyloid aggregates by thioflavine T assay. Moreover, in vivo expression and therapeutic activity were evaluated in a murine amyloidosis model, by anti-6xHis-tag ELISA and anti- Aβ ELISA, respectively. The selected anti-amyloid beta scFv showed affinity towards Aβ and disaggregated Aβ fibers in vitro. Whereas both DNA and mRNA transfection led to scFV expression in cancer cells, only mRNA led to detectable scFv expression in primary neurons. In addition, the use of IL2ss increased by 3.4-fold scFv secretion by primary neurons over mRNA polyplexes devoid of secretion signal. In vivo, a 3 to 11- fold of intracranial scFv levels was measured for mRNA compared to DNA polyplexes and higher in vivo scFv levels were obtained with mRNA containing IL2ss over non-secreted mRNA. Intracranial injection of anti-Aβ mRNA polyplexes with IL2ss resulted in 40 % Aβ decrease in an acute amyloidosis model; with no decrease detected with control scFv mRNA nor DNA polyplexes. However, no Aβ decrease was detected in a more challenging transgenic model of Alzheimer's disease. Our results introduce a concerted approach not only for Alzheimer's disease treatment but also for immunotherapy against neurological diseases. The effectivity of our platform required the intracranial delivery of anti-Aβ scFv as mRNA not DNA, as mRNA with an IL2ss secretion sequence to favor engagement of Aβ in the amyloidosis model, complexation with a smart copolymer for efficient transfection of primary neurons and to achieve detectable mRNA expression in the brain during 48h. Amyloid burden decrease in an acute amyloidosis model was only achieved when these three factors (mRNA coding scFv, smart copolymer, IL2ss) were integrated into a single formulation. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

The Arabidopsis dwarf1 Mutant Is Defective in the Conversion of 24-Methylenecholesterol to Campesterol in Brassinosteroid Biosynthesis1

PubMed Central

Choe, Sunghwa; Dilkes, Brian P.; Gregory, Brian D.; Ross, Amanda S.; Yuan, Heng; Noguchi, Takahiro; Fujioka, Shozo; Takatsuto, Suguru; Tanaka, Atsushi; Yoshida, Shigeo; Tax, Frans E.; Feldmann, Kenneth A.

1999-01-01

Since the isolation and characterization of dwarf1-1 (dwf1-1) from a T-DNA insertion mutant population, phenotypically similar mutants, including deetiolated2 (det2), constitutive photomorphogenesis and dwarfism (cpd), brassinosteroid insensitive1 (bri1), and dwf4, have been reported to be defective in either the biosynthesis or the perception of brassinosteroids. We present further characterization of dwf1-1 and additional dwf1 alleles. Feeding tests with brassinosteroid-biosynthetic intermediates revealed that dwf1 can be rescued by 22α-hydroxycampesterol and downstream intermediates in the brassinosteroid pathway. Analysis of the endogenous levels of brassinosteroid intermediates showed that 24-methylenecholesterol in dwf1 accumulates to 12 times the level of the wild type, whereas the level of campesterol is greatly diminished, indicating that the defective step is in C-24 reduction. Furthermore, the deduced amino acid sequence of DWF1 shows significant similarity to a flavin adenine dinucleotide-binding domain conserved in various oxidoreductases, suggesting an enzymatic role for DWF1. In support of this, 7 of 10 dwf1 mutations directly affected the flavin adenine dinucleotide-binding domain. Our molecular characterization of dwf1 alleles, together with our biochemical data, suggest that the biosynthetic defect in dwf1 results in reduced synthesis of bioactive brassinosteroids, causing dwarfism. PMID:10069828

Direct electron transfer of glucose oxidase and dual hydrogen peroxide and glucose detection based on water-dispersible carbon nanotubes derivative.

PubMed

Chen, Hsiao-Chien; Tu, Yi-Ming; Hou, Chung-Che; Lin, Yu-Chen; Chen, Ching-Hsiang; Yang, Kuang-Hsuan

2015-03-31

A water-dispersible multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) derivative, MWCNTs-1-one-dihydroxypyridine (MWCNTs-Py) was synthesis via Friedel-Crafts chemical acylation. Raman spectra demonstrated the conjugated level of MWCNTs-Py was retained after this chemical modification. MWCNTs-Py showed dual hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and glucose detections without mutual interference by adjusting pH value. It was sensitive to H2O2 in acidic solution and displayed the high performances of sensitivity, linear range, response time and stability; meanwhile it did not respond to H2O2 in neutral solution. In addition, this positively charged MWCNTs-Py could adsorb glucose oxidase (GOD) by electrostatic attraction. MWCNTs-Py-GOD/GC electrode showed the direct electron transfer (DET) of GOD with a pair of well-defined redox peaks, attesting the bioactivity of GOD was retained due to the non-destroyed immobilization. The high surface coverage of active GOD (3.5×10(-9) mol cm(-2)) resulted in exhibiting a good electrocatalytic activity toward glucose. This glucose sensor showed high sensitivity (68.1 μA mM(-1) cm(-2)) in a linear range from 3 μM to 7 mM in neutral buffer solution. The proposed sensor could distinguish H2O2 and glucose, thus owning high selectivity and reliability. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Improving the performance of lactate/oxygen biofuel cells using a microfluidic design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Escalona-Villalpando, Ricardo A.; Reid, Russell C.; Milton, Ross D.; Arriaga, L. G.; Minteer, Shelley D.; Ledesma-García, Janet

2017-02-01

Lactate/O2 biofuel cells (BFC) can have high theoretical energy densities due to high solubility and high fuel energy density; however, they are rarely studied in comparison to glucose BFCs. In this paper, lactate oxidase (LOx) was coupled with a ferrocene-based redox polymer (dimethylferrocene-modified linear polyethylenimine, FcMe2-LPEI) as the bioanode and laccase (Lc) connected to pyrene-anthracene modified carbon nanotubes (PyrAn-MWCNT) to facilitate the direct electron transfer (DET) at the biocathode. Both electrodes were evaluated in two BFC configurations using different concentrations of lactate, in the range found in sweat (0-40 mM). A single compartment BFC evaluated at pH 5.6 provided an open circuit potential (OCP) of 0.68 V with a power density of 61.2 μWcm-2. On the other hand, a microfluidic BFC operating under the same conditions resulted in an OCP of 0.67 V, although an increase in the power density, increasing to 305 μW cm-2, was observed. Upon changing the pH to 7.4 in only the anolyte, its performance was further increased to 0.73 V and 404 μW cm-2, respectively. This work reports the first microfluidic lactate/oxygen enzymatic BFC and shows the importance of microfluidic flow in high performing BFCs where lactate is utilized as the fuel and O2 is the final electron acceptor.

Solitons on Noncommutative Torus as Elliptic Calogero-Gaudin Models, Branes and Laughlin Wave Functions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hou, Bo-Yu; Peng, Dan-Tao; Shi, Kang-Jie; Yue, Rui-Hong

For the noncommutative torus T, in the case of the noncommutative parameter θ = (Z)/(n), we construct the basis of Hilbert space Hn in terms of θ functions of the positions zi of n solitons. The wrapping around the torus generates the algebra An, which is the Zn × Zn Heisenberg group on θ functions. We find the generators g of a local elliptic su(n), which transform covariantly by the global gauge transformation of An. By acting on Hn we establish the isomorphism of An and g. We embed this g into the L-matrix of the elliptic Gaudin and Calogero-Moser models to give the dynamics. The moment map of this twisted cotangent sunT) bundle is matched to the D-equation with the Fayet-Illiopoulos source term, so the dynamics of the noncommutative solitons become that of the brane. The geometric configuration (k, u) of the spectral curve det|L(u) - k| = 0 describes the brane configuration, with the dynamical variables zi of the noncommutative solitons as the moduli T⊗ n/Sn. Furthermore, in the noncommutative Chern-Simons theory for the quantum Hall effect, the constrain equation with quasiparticle source is identified also with the moment map equation of the noncommutative sunT cotangent bundle with marked points. The eigenfunction of the Gaudin differential L-operators as the Laughlin wave function is solved by Bethe ansatz.

Assisted reproductive techniques in Latin America: The Latin American Registry, 2014

PubMed Central

Zegers-Hochschild, Fernando; Schwarze, Juan Enrique; Crosby, Javier A.; Musri, Carolina; Urbina, Maria Teresa

2017-01-01

Multinational data on assisted reproduction techniques undertaken in 2014 were collected from 159 institutions in 15 countries in Latin America. Treatments included IVF/ ICSI, FET, OD, PGD and fertility preservation (FP). 41.34% of IVF/ICSI cycles were performed in women aged 35 to 39 years and 23.35% in women aged 40 and older. After removing cases with total freezing, delivery rate per oocyte retrieval was 25.05% for ICSI and 27.41% for IVF. Multiple births included 20.78% twins and 0.92 % triplets and over. In OD, twins reached 28.93% and triplets 1.07 %. Preterm deliveries reached 16.4% in singletons, 55.02% in twins and 76% in triplets. Perinatal mortality in 18,162 births was 23 per 1000 in singletons, 35 per 1000 in twins, and 36 per 1000 in high-order multiples. Elective single embryo transfer (eSET) represented only 2.63 % of fresh transfers, with a delivery rate of 32.15% per transfer. Elective double embryo transfer (eDET) represented 23.74% of transfers, with a delivery rate of 41.03% per transfer. Among babies born during this period 11,373 (62.6%) were singletons; 6,398 (35.2%) twins, and 391 (2.2%), triplets and more. Given the effect of multiple births on prematurity, morbidity and perinatal mortality, reinforcing the existing trend of reducing the number of embryos transferred is mandatory PMID:28837023

Dual gas-diffusion membrane- and mediatorless dihydrogen/air-breathing biofuel cell operating at room temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xia, Hong-qi; So, Keisei; Kitazumi, Yuki; Shirai, Osamu; Nishikawa, Koji; Higuchi, Yoshiki; Kano, Kenji

2016-12-01

A membraneless direct electron transfer (DET)-type dihydrogen (H2)/air-breathing biofuel cell without any mediator was constructed wherein bilirubin oxidase from Myrothecium verrucaria (BOD) and membrane-bound [NiFe] hydrogenase from Desulfovibrio vulgaris Miyazaki F (MBH) were used as biocatalysts for the cathode and the anode, respectively, and Ketjen black-modified water proof carbon paper (KB/WPCC) was used as an electrode material. The KB/WPCC surface was modified with 2-aminobenzoic acid and p-phenylenediamine, respectively, to face the positively charged electron-accepting site of BOD and the negatively charged electron-donating site of MBH to the electrode surface. A gas-diffusion system was employed for the electrodes to realize high-speed substrate supply. As result, great improvement in the current density of O2 reduction with BOD and H2 reduction with MBH were realized at negatively and postively charged surfaces, respectively. Gas diffusion system also suppressed the oxidative inactivation of MBH at high electrode potentials. Finally, based on the improved bioanode and biocathode, a dual gas-diffusion membrane- and mediatorless H2/air-breathing biofuel cell was constructed. The maximum power density reached 6.1 mW cm-2 (at 0.72 V), and the open circuit voltage was 1.12 V using 1 atm of H2 gas as a fuel at room temperature and under passive and quiescent conditions.

Relationship between treatment persistence and A1C trends among patients with type 2 diabetes newly initiating basal insulin

PubMed Central

Xie, Lin; Pan, Chunshen; Wang, Yuexi; Vaidya, Neel; Ye, Fen; Preblick, Ronald; Meneghini, Luigi

2018-01-01

This study examines the relationship between glycated haemoglobin (A1C) levels and treatment persistence with, or time to discontinuation of, basal insulin in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) newly initiating insulin. Claims data were extracted from the Optum Clinformatics database from January 2010 to June 2015. Adult patients with T2D initiating insulin glargine 100 U/mL (Gla‐100) or insulin detemir (DET) with ≥1 A1C measurement during 12‐month baseline and 18‐month follow‐up periods were included. Patients with a refill gap of >90 days were considered non‐persistent; otherwise, patients were considered persistent with insulin. The main outcome was A1C, measured closest to the end of each quarter during the follow‐up period. A total of 3993 of 109 934 patients met the inclusion criteria (43.0% persistent; 57.0% non‐persistent). Persistent patients were older (54.7 vs 52.7 years; P < .001), were more likely to be male (59.4% vs 54.4%; P = .002), and had significantly lower mean unadjusted A1C values at 18 months (8.26% vs 8.60%; P < .001) and quarterly. Only 43.0% of adults initiating basal insulin persisted with treatment for 18 months, with earlier discontinuation associated with higher A1C. PMID:29278460

Medical abortions performed by specialists in private practice.

PubMed

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

2018-05-29

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

In-Situ Probing Plasmonic Energy Transfer in Cu(In, Ga)Se2 Solar Cells by Ultrabroadband Femtosecond Pump-Probe Spectroscopy.

PubMed

Chen, Shih-Chen; Wu, Kaung-Hsiung; Li, Jia-Xing; Yabushita, Atsushi; Tang, Shih-Han; Luo, Chih Wei; Juang, Jenh-Yih; Kuo, Hao-Chung; Chueh, Yu-Lun

2015-12-18

In this work, we demonstrated a viable experimental scheme for in-situ probing the effects of Au nanoparticles (NPs) incorporation on plasmonic energy transfer in Cu(In, Ga)Se2 (CIGS) solar cells by elaborately analyzing the lifetimes and zero moment for hot carrier relaxation with ultrabroadband femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy. The signals of enhanced photobleach (PB) and waned photoinduced absorption (PIA) attributable to surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of Au NPs were in-situ probed in transient differential absorption spectra. The results suggested that substantial carriers can be excited from ground state to lower excitation energy levels, which can reach thermalization much faster with the existence of SPR. Thus, direct electron transfer (DET) could be implemented to enhance the photocurrent of CIGS solar cells. Furthermore, based on the extracted hot carrier lifetimes, it was confirmed that the improved electrical transport might have been resulted primarily from the reduction in the surface recombination of photoinduced carriers through enhanced local electromagnetic field (LEMF). Finally, theoretical calculation for resonant energy transfer (RET)-induced enhancement in the probability of exciting electron-hole pairs was conducted and the results agreed well with the enhanced PB peak of transient differential absorption in plasmonic CIGS film. These results indicate that plasmonic energy transfer is a viable approach to boost high-efficiency CIGS solar cells.

Unraveling the origin of the Appalachian gametophyte, Vittaria appalachiana.

PubMed

Pinson, Jerald B; Schuettpelz, Eric

2016-04-01

Ferns and lycophytes are distinct among plants in producing two free-living life stages: a long-lived sporophyte phase and a (usually) short-lived gametophyte phase. Notably, however, some species have perennial, vegetatively reproducing gametophytes. Vittaria appalachiana is one of just three species in which mature sporophytes are unknown. It has a wide range throughout the Appalachian Mountains and Plateau, where it reproduces asexually via gemmae. The origin of V. appalachiana, however, has long been a mystery, with most previous studies suggesting it may have resulted from hybridization of two closely related Vittaria species (V. graminifolia and V. lineata). A four-gene plastid data set including 32 samples of six Vittaria species, plus samples of five outgroup species, was analyzed to uncover phylogenetic relationships. Additional analyses of nuclear DET1 gene sequences allowed for the examination of hypotheses involving a hybrid origin for V. appalachiana. In the plastid phylogeny, V. appalachiana is well supported as monophyletic, but is embedded within V. graminifolia. With the exception of a single aberrant allele, this result is mirrored in the nuclear tree. Through analyses of plastid and nuclear data sets, this study demonstrates that a hybrid origin for V. appalachiana is unlikely. Instead, it appears that this species emerged from within the V. graminifolia lineage. Further work is needed to fully elucidate the genetic structure within this group. © 2016 Botanical Society of America.

Mammalian evolution: timing and implications from using the LogDeterminant transform for proteins of differing amino acid composition.

PubMed

Penny, D; Hasegawa, M; Waddell, P J; Hendy, M D

1999-03-01

We explore the tree of mammalian mtDNA sequences, using particularly the LogDet transform on amino acid sequences, the distance Hadamard transform, and the Closest Tree selection criterion. The amino acid composition of different species show significant differences, even within mammals. After compensating for these differences, nearest-neighbor bootstrap results suggest that the tree is locally stable, though a few groups show slightly greater rearrangements when a large proportion of the constant sites are removed. Many parts of the trees we obtain agree with those on published protein ML trees. Interesting results include a preference for rodent monophyly. The detection of a few alternative signals to those on the optimal tree were obtained using the distance Hadamard transform (with results expressed as a Lento plot). One rearrangement suggested was the interchange of the position of primates and rodents on the optimal tree. The basic stability of the tree, combined with two calibration points (whale/cow and horse/rhinoceros), together with a distant secondary calibration from the mammal/bird divergence, allows inferences of the times of divergence of putative clades. Allowing for sampling variances due to finite sequence length, most major divergences amongst lineages leading to modern orders, appear to occur well before the Cretaceous/Tertiary (K/T) boundary. Implications arising from these early divergences are discussed, particularly the possibility of competition between the small dinosaurs and the new mammal clades.

Field recovery of layered tektites in northeast Thailand

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

Wasson, J.T.; Pitakpaivan, K.; Putthapiban, P.

The authors recovered Australasian tektites in place throughout a 40 X 130 km region in northeast Thailand extending from the Laotian border westward to a line connecting Na Pho Klang in the northeast through Det Udom to Nam Yun in the south. With two exceptions, in sites near the western edge of this region, all fragments are layered (muong-Nong-type) tektites. It appears that large layered tektites are mainly found by rice farmers in fields that were forested until the recent past. The presence of layered tektites in this 40 X 130 km area implies that impact melt that fell inmore » these areas was hot enough to flow if it was deposited on a sloping surface. The absence of splash-form tektites from the region indicates that the layer was still molten when masses having shapes (teardrops, dumbbells, etc.) produced by spinning reached the ground. To account for this and to allow time for the melt to flow a few tens of centimeters requires that the atmosphere remained hot (>2300 K) for a few minutes. Tektites that are in place are almost always associated with a widespread 10-cm to meter-thick layer of laterite. In two cases (one involving layered, one involving splash-form tektites), where accurate stratigraphic control demonstrated that the tektites were still in section, they were sited on top of the laterite layer just below a layer of aeolian sand. 27 refs., 1 fig., 1 tab.« less

Prevalence and differential host-specificity of two avian blood parasite genera in the Australo-Papuan region

USGS Publications Warehouse

Beadell, J.S.; Gering, E.; Austin, J.; Dumbacher, J.P.; Peirce, M.A.; Pratt, T.K.; Atkinson, C.T.; Fleischer, R.C.

2004-01-01

The degree to which widespread avian blood parasites in the genera Plasmodium and Haemoproteus pose a threat to novel hosts depends in part on the degree to which they are constrained to a particular host or host family. We examined the host distribution and host-specificity of these parasites in birds from two relatively understudied and isolated locations: Australia and Papua New Guinea. Using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), we detected infection in 69 of 105 species, representing 44% of individuals surveyed (n = 428). Across host families, prevalence of Haemoproteus ranged from 13% (Acanthizidae) to 56% (Petroicidae) while prevalence of Plasmodium ranged from 3% (Petroicidae) to 47% (Ptilonorhynchidae). We recovered 78 unique mitochondrial lineages from 155 sequences. Related lineages of Haemoproteus were more likely to derive from the same host family than predicted by chance at shallow (average LogDet genetic distance = 0, n = 12, P = 0.001) and greater depths (average distance = 0.014, n = 11, P < 0.001) within the parasite phylogeny. Within two major Haemoproteus subclades identified in a maximum likelihood phylogeny, host-specificity was evident up to parasite genetic distances of 0.029 and 0.007 based on logistic regression. We found no significant host relationship among lineages of Plasmodium by any method of analysis. These results support previous evidence of strong host-family specificity in Haemoproteus and suggest that lineages of Plasmodium are more likely to form evolutionarily-stable associations with novel hosts.

Stamina pistilloida, the Pea ortholog of Fim and UFO, is required for normal development of flowers, inflorescences, and leaves.

PubMed

Taylor, S; Hofer, J; Murfet, I

2001-01-01

Isolation and characterization of two severe alleles at the Stamina pistilloida (Stp) locus reveals that Stp is involved in a wide range of developmental processes in the garden pea. The most severe allele, stp-4, results in flowers consisting almost entirely of sepals and carpels. Production of ectopic secondary flowers in stp-4 plants suggests that Stp is involved in specifying floral meristem identity in pea. The stp mutations also reduce the complexity of the compound pea leaf, and primary inflorescences often terminate prematurely in an aberrant sepaloid flower. In addition, stp mutants were shorter than their wild-type siblings due to a reduction in cell number in their internodes. Fewer cells were also found in the epidermis of the leaf rachis of stp mutants. Examination of the effects of stp-4 in double mutant combinations with af, tl, det, and veg2-2-mutations known to influence leaf, inflorescence, and flower development in pea-suggests that Stp function is independent of these genes. A synergistic interaction between weak mutant alleles at Stp and Uni indicated that these two genes act together, possibly to regulate primordial growth. Molecular analysis revealed that Stp is the pea homolog of the Antirrhinum gene Fimbriata (Fim) and of UNUSUAL FLORAL ORGANS (UFO) from Arabidopsis. Differences between Fim/UFO and Stp mutant phenotypes and expression patterns suggest that expansion of Stp activity into the leaf was an important step during evolution of the compound leaf in the garden pea.

Ultrasensitive dual probe immunosensor for the monitoring of nicotine induced-brain derived neurotrophic factor released from cancer cells.

PubMed

Akhtar, Mahmood H; Hussain, Khalil K; Gurudatt, N G; Chandra, Pranjal; Shim, Yoon-Bo

2018-09-30

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) was detected in the extracellular matrix of neuronal cells using a dual probe immunosensor (DPI), where one of them was used as a working and another bioconjugate loading probe. The working probe was fabricated by covalently immobilizing capture anti-BDNF (Cap Ab) on the gold nanoparticles (AuNPs)/conducting polymer composite layer. The bioconjugate probe was modified by drop casting a bioconjugate particles composed of conducting polymer self-assembled AuNPs, immobilized with detection anti-BDNF (Det Ab) and toluidine blue O (TBO). Each sensor layer was characterized using the surface analysis and electrochemical methods. Two modified probes were precisely faced each other to form a microfluidic channel structure and the gap between inside modified surfaces was about 19 µm. At optimized conditions, the DPI showed a linear dynamic range from 4.0 to 600.0 pg/ml with a detection limit of 1.5 ± 0.012 pg/ml. Interference effect of IgG, arginine, glutamine, serine, albumin, and fibrinogene were examined and stability of the developed biosensor was also investigated. The reliability of the DPI sensor was evaluated by monitoring the extracellular release of BDNF using exogenic activators (ethanol, K + , and nicotine) in neuronal and non-neuronal cells. In addition, the effect of nicotine onto neuroblastoma cancer cells (SH-SY5Y) was studied in detail. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An evaluation of long-term preservation methods for brown bear (Ursus arctos) faecal DNA samples

USGS Publications Warehouse

Murphy, M.A.; Waits, L.P.; Kendall, K.C.; Wasser, S.K.; Higbee, J.A.; Bogden, R.

2002-01-01

Relatively few large-scale faecal DNA studies have been initiated due to difficulties in amplifying low quality and quantity DNA template. To improve brown bear faecal DNA PCR amplification success rates and to determine post collection sample longevity, five preservation methods were evaluated: 90% ethanol, DETs buffer, silica-dried, oven-dried stored at room temperature, and oven-dried stored at -20??C. Preservation effectiveness was evaluated for 50 faecal samples by PCR amplification of a mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) locus (???146 bp) and a nuclear DNA (nDNA) locus (???200 bp) at time points of one week, one month, three months and six months. Preservation method and storage time significantly impacted mtDNA and nDNA amplification success rates. For mtDNA, all preservation methods had ??? 75% success at one week, but storage time had a significant impact on the effectiveness of the silica preservation method. Ethanol preserved samples had the highest success rates for both mtDNA (86.5%) and nDNA (84%). Nuclear DNA amplification success rates ranged from 26-88%, and storage time had a significant impact on all methods but ethanol. Preservation method and storage time should be important considerations for researchers planning projects utilizing faecal DNA. We recommend preservation of faecal samples in 90% ethanol when feasible, although when collecting in remote field conditions or for both DNA and hormone assays a dry collection method may be advantageous.

Correlative controls of senescence and plant death in Arabidopsis thaliana (Brassicaceae).

PubMed

Noodén, L D; Penney, J P

2001-11-01

Like most monocarpic plants, longevity of Arabidopsis thaliana plants is controlled by the reproductive structures; however, they appear to work differently from most dicots studied. Neither male- and female-sterility mutations (ms1-1 and bell1, respectively) nor surgical removal of the stems with inflorescences (bolts) at various stages significantly increased the longevity of individual rosette leaves, yet the mutants and treated plants lived 20-50 d longer, measured by the death of the last rosette and/or the last cauline leaf. A series of growth mutations (clv2-4, clv3-2, det3, vam1 enh, and dark green) also increased plant longevity by 20-30 d but did not delay the overall development of the plants. The mutations prolonged plant life through the production of new leaves and stems with inflorescences (bolts) rather than by extending leaf longevity. In growing stems, the newly-formed leaves may induce senescence in the older leaves; however, removal of the younger leaves did not significantly increase the life of the older leaves on the compressed stems of Arabidopsis. Since plants that produce more bolts also live longer, the reproductive load (dry weight) of the bolts did not seem to drive leaf or whole plant senescence here. The developing reproductive structures caused the death of the plant by preventing regeneration of leaves and bolts, which are green and presumably photosynthetic. They also exerted a correlative control (repression) on the development of additional reproductive structures.

Recurrence quantification analysis and support vector machines for golf handicap and low back pain EMG classification.

PubMed

Silva, Luís; Vaz, João Rocha; Castro, Maria António; Serranho, Pedro; Cabri, Jan; Pezarat-Correia, Pedro

2015-08-01

The quantification of non-linear characteristics of electromyography (EMG) must contain information allowing to discriminate neuromuscular strategies during dynamic skills. There are a lack of studies about muscle coordination under motor constrains during dynamic contractions. In golf, both handicap (Hc) and low back pain (LBP) are the main factors associated with the occurrence of injuries. The aim of this study was to analyze the accuracy of support vector machines SVM on EMG-based classification to discriminate Hc (low and high handicap) and LBP (with and without LPB) in the main phases of golf swing. For this purpose recurrence quantification analysis (RQA) features of the trunk and the lower limb muscles were used to feed a SVM classifier. Recurrence rate (RR) and the ratio between determinism (DET) and RR showed a high discriminant power. The Hc accuracy for the swing, backswing, and downswing were 94.4±2.7%, 97.1±2.3%, and 95.3±2.6%, respectively. For LBP, the accuracy was 96.9±3.8% for the swing, and 99.7±0.4% in the backswing. External oblique (EO), biceps femoris (BF), semitendinosus (ST) and rectus femoris (RF) showed high accuracy depending on the laterality within the phase. RQA features and SVM showed a high muscle discriminant capacity within swing phases by Hc and by LBP. Low back pain golfers showed different neuromuscular coordination strategies when compared with asymptomatic. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cinnamate-4-hydroxylase expression in arabidopsis. Regulation in response to development and the environment

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

Bell-Lelong, D.A.; Cusumano, J.C.; Meyer, K.

1997-03-01

Cinnamate-r-hydroxylase (C4H) is the first Cyt P450-dependent monooxygenase of the phenylpropanoid pathway. To study the expression of this gene in Arabidopsis thaliana, a C4H cDNA clone from the Arabidopsis expressed sequence tag database was identified and used to isolate its corresponding genomic clone. The entire C4H coding sequence plus 2.9 kb of its promoter were isolated on a 5.4-kb HindIII fragment of this cosmid. Inspection of the promoter sequence revealed the presence of a number of putative regulatory motifs previously identified in the promoters of other phenylpropanoid pathway genes. The expression of C4H was analyzed by RNA blot hybridization analysismore » and in transgenic Arabidopsis carrying a C4H-{beta}-glucuronidase transcriptional fusion. C4H message accumulation was light-dependent, but was detectable even in dark-grown seedlings. Consistent with these data, C4H mRNA was accumulated to light-grown levels in etiolated det1-1 mutant seedlings. C4H is widely expressed in various Arabidopsis tissues, particularly in roots and cells undergoing lignification. The C4H-driven {beta}-glucuronidase expression accurately reflected the tissue-specificity and wound-inducibility of the C4H promoter indicated by RNA blot hybridization analysis. A modest increase in C4H expression was observed in the tt8 mutant of Arabidopsis. 77 refs., 5 figs.« less

Synthesis of oxide and spinel nanocrystals for use in solid state lighting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Foley, Megan Elizabeth

In this dissertation, microwave chemistry is employed to synthesize a variety of different crystalline nanoparticles (NPs). This introduction will describe the structures, properties and applications of the NPs studied within the dissertation, with a main focus being on ligand sensitization for the goal of enhanced luminescence. The use of metal acetylacetonate complexes to make Europium (III) doped Ytrrium (Y2O3) NPs is explored, where the acetylacetonate acts both as a source of oxygen for the synthesis of Y2O3, as well as an organic chromophore acting as an "antenna" for the absorption of light and subsequent excitation transfer to the incorporated Europium (III) (Chapter 2). Other host materials are investigated by method of metal acetylacetonate decomposition to synthesize a variety of different nanospinels, having the general formula AB2X4, with sulfide variants made by decomposition of diethyldithiocarbamate, (Chapter 3). The antenna ligand thenoyltrifluoroacetone (tta), which is known to undergo a Dexter energy transfer (DET) mechanism to efficiently sensitize Europium (III) emission, is used to determine the distance of energy transfer in Europium (III) doped nanospinels by passivating the surface of the nanospinel with a tta (Chapter 4). A variety of ligands are explored in order to optimize the sensitization efficiency in relation to the difference in energy between the singlet and triplet levels of the ligands versus the 5D0 and 5D4 energy levels of Europium (III) and Terbium (III) respectively (Chapter 5).

An open-source framework for analyzing N-electron dynamics. II. Hybrid density functional theory/configuration interaction methodology.

PubMed

Hermann, Gunter; Pohl, Vincent; Tremblay, Jean Christophe

2017-10-30

In this contribution, we extend our framework for analyzing and visualizing correlated many-electron dynamics to non-variational, highly scalable electronic structure method. Specifically, an explicitly time-dependent electronic wave packet is written as a linear combination of N-electron wave functions at the configuration interaction singles (CIS) level, which are obtained from a reference time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) calculation. The procedure is implemented in the open-source Python program detCI@ORBKIT, which extends the capabilities of our recently published post-processing toolbox (Hermann et al., J. Comput. Chem. 2016, 37, 1511). From the output of standard quantum chemistry packages using atom-centered Gaussian-type basis functions, the framework exploits the multideterminental structure of the hybrid TDDFT/CIS wave packet to compute fundamental one-electron quantities such as difference electronic densities, transient electronic flux densities, and transition dipole moments. The hybrid scheme is benchmarked against wave function data for the laser-driven state selective excitation in LiH. It is shown that all features of the electron dynamics are in good quantitative agreement with the higher-level method provided a judicious choice of functional is made. Broadband excitation of a medium-sized organic chromophore further demonstrates the scalability of the method. In addition, the time-dependent flux densities unravel the mechanistic details of the simulated charge migration process at a glance. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

pH-dependent electron transfer reaction and direct bioelectrocatalysis of the quinohemoprotein pyranose dehydrogenase

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

Takeda, Kouta; Matsumura, Hirotoshi; Ishida, Takuya

A pyranose dehydrogenase from Coprinopsis cinerea (CcPDH) is an extracellular quinohemoeprotein, which consists a b-type cytochrome domain, a pyrroloquinoline-quinone (PQQ) domain, and a family 1-type carbohydrate-binding module. The electron transfer reaction of CcPDH was studied using some electron acceptors and a carbon electrode at various pH levels. Phenazine methosulfate (PMS) reacted directly at the PQQ domain, whereas cytochrome c (cyt c) reacted via the cytochrome domain of intact CcPDH. Thus, electrons are transferred from reduced PQQ in the catalytic domain of CcPDH to heme b in the N-terminal cytochrome domain, which acts as a built-in mediator and transfers electron tomore » a heterogenous electron transfer protein. The optimal pH values of the PMS reduction (pH 6.5) and the cyt c reduction (pH 8.5) differ. The catalytic currents for the oxidation of L-fucose were observed within a range of pH 4.5 to 11. Bioelectrocatalysis of CcPDH based on direct electron transfer demonstrated that the pH profile of the biocatalytic current was similar to the reduction activity of cyt c characters. - Highlights: • pH dependencies of activity were different for the reduction of cyt c and DCPIP. • DET-based bioelectrocatalysis of CcPDH was observed. • The similar pH-dependent profile was found with cyt c and electrode. • The present results suggested that IET reaction of CcPDH shows pH dependence.« less

Monte Carlo simulation of induction time and metastable zone width; stochastic or deterministic?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kubota, Noriaki

2018-03-01

The induction time and metastable zone width (MSZW) measured for small samples (say 1 mL or less) both scatter widely. Thus, these two are observed as stochastic quantities. Whereas, for large samples (say 1000 mL or more), the induction time and MSZW are observed as deterministic quantities. The reason for such experimental differences is investigated with Monte Carlo simulation. In the simulation, the time (under isothermal condition) and supercooling (under polythermal condition) at which a first single crystal is detected are defined as the induction time t and the MSZW ΔT for small samples, respectively. The number of crystals just at the moment of t and ΔT is unity. A first crystal emerges at random due to the intrinsic nature of nucleation, accordingly t and ΔT become stochastic. For large samples, the time and supercooling at which the number density of crystals N/V reaches a detector sensitivity (N/V)det are defined as t and ΔT for isothermal and polythermal conditions, respectively. The points of t and ΔT are those of which a large number of crystals have accumulated. Consequently, t and ΔT become deterministic according to the law of large numbers. Whether t and ΔT may stochastic or deterministic in actual experiments should not be attributed to change in nucleation mechanisms in molecular level. It could be just a problem caused by differences in the experimental definition of t and ΔT.

A simple fitness proxy for structured populations with continuous traits, with case studies on the evolution of haplo-diploids and genetic dimorphisms.

PubMed

Metz, J A J; Leimar, O

2011-03-01

For structured populations in equilibrium with everybody born equal, ln(R (0)) is a useful fitness proxy for evolutionarily steady strategy (ESS) and most adaptive dynamics calculations, with R (0) the average lifetime number of offspring in the clonal and haploid cases, and half the average lifetime number of offspring fathered or mothered for Mendelian diploids. When individuals have variable birth states, as is, for example, the case in spatial models, R (0) is itself an eigenvalue, which usually cannot be expressed explicitly in the trait vectors under consideration. In that case, Q(Y| X):=-det (I-L(Y| X)) can often be used as fitness proxy, with L the next-generation matrix for a potential mutant characterized by the trait vector Y in the (constant) environment engendered by a resident characterized by X. If the trait space is connected, global uninvadability can be determined from it. Moreover, it can be used in all the usual local calculations like the determination of evolutionarily singular trait vectors and their local invadability and attractivity. We conclude with three extended case studies demonstrating the usefulness of Q: the calculation of ESSs under haplo-diploid genetics (I), of evolutionarily steady genetic dimorphisms (ESDs) with a priori proportionality of macro- and micro-gametic outputs (an assumption that is generally made but the fulfilment of which is a priori highly exceptional) (II), and of ESDs without such proportionality (III). These case studies should also have some interest in their own right for the spelled out calculation recipes and their underlying modelling methodology.

Genome sequence analysis of predicted polyprenol reductase gene from mangrove plant kandelia obovata

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Basyuni, M.; Sagami, H.; Baba, S.; Oku, H.

2018-03-01

It has been previously reported that dolichols but not polyprenols were predominated in mangrove leaves and roots. Therefore, the occurrence of larger amounts of dolichol in leaves of mangrove plants implies that polyprenol reductase is responsible for the conversion of polyprenol to dolichol may be active in mangrove leaves. Here we report the early assessment of probably polyprenol reductase gene from genome sequence of mangrove plant Kandelia obovata. The functional assignment of the gene was based on a homology search of the sequences against the non-redundant (nr) peptide database of NCBI using Blastx. The degree of sequence identity between DNA sequence and known polyprenol reductase was confirmed using the Blastx probability E-value, total score, and identity. The genome sequence data resulted in three partial sequences, termed c23157 (700 bp), c23901 (960 bp), and c24171 (531 bp). The c23157 gene showed the highest similarity (61%) to predicted polyprenol reductase 2- like from Gossypium raimondii with E-value 2e-100. The second gene was c23901 to exhibit high similarity (78%) to the steroid 5-alpha-reductase Det2 from J. curcas with E-value 2e-140. Furthermore, the c24171 gene depicted highest similarity (79%) to the polyprenol reductase 2 isoform X1 from Jatropha curcas with E- value 7e-21.The present study suggested that the c23157, c23901, and c24171, genes may encode predicted polyprenol reductase. The c23157, c23901, c24171 are therefore the new type of predicted polyprenol reductase from K. obovata.

Prevalence of 185delAG and 5382insC mutations in BRCA1, and 6174delT in BRCA2 in women of Ashkenazi Jewish origin in southern Brazil

PubMed Central

Dillenburg, Crisle Vignol; Bandeira, Isabel Cristina; Tubino, Taiana Valente; Rossato, Luciana Grazziotin; Dias, Eleonora Souza; Bittelbrunn, Ana Cristina; Leistner-Segal, Sandra

2012-01-01

Certain mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are frequent in the Ashkenazi Jewish population. Several factors contribute to this increased frequency, including consanguineous marriages and an event known as a “bottleneck”, which occurred in the past and caused a drastic reduction in the genetic variability of this population. Several studies were performed over the years in an attempt to elucidate the role of BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes in susceptibility to breast cancer. The aim of this study was to estimate the carrier frequency of certain common mutations in the BRCA1 (185delAG and 5382insC) and BRCA2 (6174delT) genes in an Ashkenazi Jewish population from Porto Alegre, Brazil. Molecular analyses were done by PCR followed by RFLP (ACRS). The carrier frequencies for BRCA1 185delAG and 5382insC were 0.78 and 0 respectively, and 0.4 for the BRCA2 6174deT mutation. These findings are similar to those of some prior studies but differ from others, possibly due to excluding individuals with a personal or family history of cancer. Our sample was drawn from the community group and included individuals with or without a family or personal history of cancer. Furthermore, increased dispersion among Ashkenazi subpopulations may be the result of strong genetic drift and/or admixture. It is therefore necessary to consider the effects of local admixture on the mismatch distributions of various Jewish populations. PMID:23055798

Prevalence of 185delAG and 5382insC mutations in BRCA1, and 6174delT in BRCA2 in women of Ashkenazi Jewish origin in southern Brazil.

PubMed

Dillenburg, Crisle Vignol; Bandeira, Isabel Cristina; Tubino, Taiana Valente; Rossato, Luciana Grazziotin; Dias, Eleonora Souza; Bittelbrunn, Ana Cristina; Leistner-Segal, Sandra

2012-07-01

Certain mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are frequent in the Ashkenazi Jewish population. Several factors contribute to this increased frequency, including consanguineous marriages and an event known as a "bottleneck", which occurred in the past and caused a drastic reduction in the genetic variability of this population. Several studies were performed over the years in an attempt to elucidate the role of BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes in susceptibility to breast cancer. The aim of this study was to estimate the carrier frequency of certain common mutations in the BRCA1 (185delAG and 5382insC) and BRCA2 (6174delT) genes in an Ashkenazi Jewish population from Porto Alegre, Brazil. Molecular analyses were done by PCR followed by RFLP (ACRS). The carrier frequencies for BRCA1 185delAG and 5382insC were 0.78 and 0 respectively, and 0.4 for the BRCA2 6174deT mutation. These findings are similar to those of some prior studies but differ from others, possibly due to excluding individuals with a personal or family history of cancer. Our sample was drawn from the community group and included individuals with or without a family or personal history of cancer. Furthermore, increased dispersion among Ashkenazi subpopulations may be the result of strong genetic drift and/or admixture. It is therefore necessary to consider the effects of local admixture on the mismatch distributions of various Jewish populations.

Efficacy of peripheral lidocaine application (neural therapy) in the treatment of neurogenic detrusor overactivity in multiple sclerosis patients.

PubMed

Tamam, Yusuf; Özdemir, Hasan Hüseyin; Gedik, Abdullah; Tamam, Cüneyt; Nazlıkul, Hüseyin

2017-09-01

Many agents and treatments are used in the treatment of neurogenic detrusor overactivity (NDO) in MS patients, but no study has been conducted on the use of peripheric lidocaine (neural therapy-NT) on MS patients. We evaluated the effects of local administration of lidocaine on NDO in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients. For each patient local anesthetic lidocaine was injected at each session. Sessions were held once a week for 5 weeks. At each session, Th 10-L1, urogenital segment intradermal injections, Frankenhauser, and sacral epidural injections were given. The patients had clinical and urodynamic assessment 1 month before and 3, 9, and 12 months after NT. In addition, multiple sclerosis quality of life inventory (MSQL-54) and bladder control scale (BLCS) was performed for patients. Twenty-eight patients were included in the study (8 males, 20 females). The patients' average age was 31.7 ± 8.1 years. The injection therapy significantly improved volume at first involuntary bladder contraction (FCV), maximal detrusor pression during filling (P det. max.), maximal cystometric bladder capacity (MCC) after 3 months. Also, the MSQL-54 and BLCS scores were improved with treatment. However, these improvements reached a maximum 3 months after treatment, but from the 9 month a regression was seen in the parameters, and after 12 months the findings were seen to be slightly above their basal levels. These results suggest that NDO treatment in MS patients could be an effective treatment which is easy and has very few side effects, and is cost effective. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Estimation of distributional parameters for censored trace level water quality data. 1. Estimation Techniques

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

Gilliom, R.J.; Helsel, D.R.

1986-02-01

A recurring difficulty encountered in investigations of many metals and organic contaminants in ambient waters is that a substantial portion of water sample concentrations are below limits of detection established by analytical laboratories. Several methods were evaluated for estimating distributional parameters for such censored data sets using only uncensored observations. Their reliabilities were evaluated by a Monte Carlo experiment in which small samples were generated from a wide range of parent distributions and censored at varying levels. Eight methods were used to estimate the mean, standard deviation, median, and interquartile range. Criteria were developed, based on the distribution of uncensoredmore » observations, for determining the best performing parameter estimation method for any particular data det. The most robust method for minimizing error in censored-sample estimates of the four distributional parameters over all simulation conditions was the log-probability regression method. With this method, censored observations are assumed to follow the zero-to-censoring level portion of a lognormal distribution obtained by a least squares regression between logarithms of uncensored concentration observations and their z scores. When method performance was separately evaluated for each distributional parameter over all simulation conditions, the log-probability regression method still had the smallest errors for the mean and standard deviation, but the lognormal maximum likelihood method had the smallest errors for the median and interquartile range. When data sets were classified prior to parameter estimation into groups reflecting their probable parent distributions, the ranking of estimation methods was similar, but the accuracy of error estimates was markedly improved over those without classification.« less

Stamina pistilloida, the Pea Ortholog of Fim and UFO, Is Required for Normal Development of Flowers, Inflorescences, and Leaves

PubMed Central

Taylor, Scott; Hofer, Julie; Murfet, Ian

2001-01-01

Isolation and characterization of two severe alleles at the Stamina pistilloida (Stp) locus reveals that Stp is involved in a wide range of developmental processes in the garden pea. The most severe allele, stp-4, results in flowers consisting almost entirely of sepals and carpels. Production of ectopic secondary flowers in stp-4 plants suggests that Stp is involved in specifying floral meristem identity in pea. The stp mutations also reduce the complexity of the compound pea leaf, and primary inflorescences often terminate prematurely in an aberrant sepaloid flower. In addition, stp mutants were shorter than their wild-type siblings due to a reduction in cell number in their internodes. Fewer cells were also found in the epidermis of the leaf rachis of stp mutants. Examination of the effects of stp-4 in double mutant combinations with af, tl, det, and veg2-2—mutations known to influence leaf, inflorescence, and flower development in pea—suggests that Stp function is independent of these genes. A synergistic interaction between weak mutant alleles at Stp and Uni indicated that these two genes act together, possibly to regulate primordial growth. Molecular analysis revealed that Stp is the pea homolog of the Antirrhinum gene Fimbriata (Fim) and of UNUSUAL FLORAL ORGANS (UFO) from Arabidopsis. Differences between Fim/UFO and Stp mutant phenotypes and expression patterns suggest that expansion of Stp activity into the leaf was an important step during evolution of the compound leaf in the garden pea. PMID:11158527

RECONCILIATION OF WAITING TIME STATISTICS OF SOLAR FLARES OBSERVED IN HARD X-RAYS

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

Aschwanden, Markus J.; McTiernan, James M., E-mail: aschwanden@lmsal.co, E-mail: jimm@ssl.berkeley.ed

2010-07-10

We study the waiting time distributions of solar flares observed in hard X-rays with ISEE-3/ICE, HXRBS/SMM, WATCH/GRANAT, BATSE/CGRO, and RHESSI. Although discordant results and interpretations have been published earlier, based on relatively small ranges (<2 decades) of waiting times, we find that all observed distributions, spanning over 6 decades of waiting times ({Delta}t {approx} 10{sup -3}-10{sup 3} hr), can be reconciled with a single distribution function, N({Delta}t) {proportional_to} {lambda}{sub 0}(1 + {lambda}{sub 0{Delta}}t){sup -2}, which has a power-law slope of p {approx} 2.0 at large waiting times ({Delta}t {approx} 1-1000 hr) and flattens out at short waiting times {Delta}t {approx}

Design and verification of a pangenome microarray oligonucleotide probe set for Dehalococcoides spp.

PubMed

Hug, Laura A; Salehi, Maryam; Nuin, Paulo; Tillier, Elisabeth R; Edwards, Elizabeth A

2011-08-01

Dehalococcoides spp. are an industrially relevant group of Chloroflexi bacteria capable of reductively dechlorinating contaminants in groundwater environments. Existing Dehalococcoides genomes revealed a high level of sequence identity within this group, including 98 to 100% 16S rRNA sequence identity between strains with diverse substrate specificities. Common molecular techniques for identification of microbial populations are often not applicable for distinguishing Dehalococcoides strains. Here we describe an oligonucleotide microarray probe set designed based on clustered Dehalococcoides genes from five different sources (strain DET195, CBDB1, BAV1, and VS genomes and the KB-1 metagenome). This "pangenome" probe set provides coverage of core Dehalococcoides genes as well as strain-specific genes while optimizing the potential for hybridization to closely related, previously unknown Dehalococcoides strains. The pangenome probe set was compared to probe sets designed independently for each of the five Dehalococcoides strains. The pangenome probe set demonstrated better predictability and higher detection of Dehalococcoides genes than strain-specific probe sets on nontarget strains with <99% average nucleotide identity. An in silico analysis of the expected probe hybridization against the recently released Dehalococcoides strain GT genome and additional KB-1 metagenome sequence data indicated that the pangenome probe set performs more robustly than the combined strain-specific probe sets in the detection of genes not included in the original design. The pangenome probe set represents a highly specific, universal tool for the detection and characterization of Dehalococcoides from contaminated sites. It has the potential to become a common platform for Dehalococcoides-focused research, allowing meaningful comparisons between microarray experiments regardless of the strain examined.

Acceleration of linear stationary iterative processes in multiprocessor computers. II

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

Romm, Ya.E.

1982-05-01

For pt.I, see Kibernetika, vol.18, no.1, p.47 (1982). For pt.I, see Cybernetics, vol.18, no.1, p.54 (1982). Considers a reduced system of linear algebraic equations x=ax+b, where a=(a/sub ij/) is a real n*n matrix; b is a real vector with common euclidean norm >>>. It is supposed that the existence and uniqueness of solution det (0-a) not equal to e is given, where e is a unit matrix. The linear iterative process converging to x x/sup (k+1)/=fx/sup (k)/, k=0, 1, 2, ..., where the operator f translates r/sup n/ into r/sup n/. In considering implementation of the iterative process (ip) inmore » a multiprocessor system, it is assumed that the number of processors is constant, and are various values of the latter investigated; it is assumed in addition, that the processors perform elementary binary arithmetic operations of addition and multiestimates only include the time of execution of arithmetic operations. With any paralleling of individual iteration, the execution time of the ip is proportional to the number of sequential steps k+1. The author sets the task of reducing the number of sequential steps in the ip so as to execute it in a time proportional to a value smaller than k+1. He also sets the goal of formulating a method of accelerated bit serial-parallel execution of each successive step of the ip, with, in the modification sought, a reduced number of steps in a time comparable to the operation time of logical elements. 6 references.« less

Simultaneous quantification of soil phosphorus labile pool and desorption kinetics using DGTs and 3D-DIFS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Menezes-Blackburn, Daniel; Sun, Jiahui; Lehto, Niklas; Zhang, Hao; Stutter, Marc; Giles, Courtney D.; Darch, Tegan; George, Timothy S.; Shand, Charles; Lumsdon, David; Blackwell, Martin; Wearing, Catherine; Cooper, Patricia; Wendler, Renate; Brown, Lawrie; Haygarth, Philip M.

2017-04-01

The phosphorus (P) labile pool and desorption kinetics were simultaneously evaluated in ten representative UK soils using the technique of Diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT). The DGT-induced fluxes in soil and sediments model (DIFS) was fitted to the time series of DGT deployment (1h to 240h). The desorbable P concentration (labile P) was obtained by multiplying the fitted Kd by the soil solution P concentration obtained using Diffusive Equilibration in Thin Films (DET) devices. The labile P was then compared to several soil P extracts including Olsen P, Resin P, FeO-P and water extractable P, in order to assess if these analytical procedures can be used to represent the labile P across different soils. The Olsen P, commonly used as a representation of the soil labile P pool, overestimated the desorbable P concentration by a seven fold factor. The use of this approach for the quantification of soil P desorption kinetics parameters was somewhat unprecise, showing a wide range of equally valid solutions for the response of the system P equilibration time (Tc). Additionally, the performance of different DIFS model versions (1D, 2D and 3D) was compared. Although these models had a good fit to experimental DGT time series data, the fitted parameters showed a poor agreement between different model versions. The limitations of the DIFS model family are associated with the assumptions taken in the modelling approach and the 3D version is here considered to be the most precise among them.

Risk Based Inspection Methodology and Software Applied to Atmospheric Storage Tanks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Topalis, P.; Korneliussen, G.; Hermanrud, J.; Steo, Y.

2012-05-01

A new risk-based inspection (RBI) methodology and software is presented in this paper. The objective of this work is to allow management of the inspections of atmospheric storage tanks in the most efficient way, while, at the same time, accident risks are minimized. The software has been built on the new risk framework architecture, a generic platform facilitating efficient and integrated development of software applications using risk models. The framework includes a library of risk models and the user interface is automatically produced on the basis of editable schemas. This risk-framework-based RBI tool has been applied in the context of RBI for above-ground atmospheric storage tanks (AST) but it has been designed with the objective of being generic enough to allow extension to the process plants in general. This RBI methodology is an evolution of an approach and mathematical models developed for Det Norske Veritas (DNV) and the American Petroleum Institute (API). The methodology assesses damage mechanism potential, degradation rates, probability of failure (PoF), consequence of failure (CoF) in terms of environmental damage and financial loss, risk and inspection intervals and techniques. The scope includes assessment of the tank floor for soil-side external corrosion and product-side internal corrosion and the tank shell courses for atmospheric corrosion and internal thinning. It also includes preliminary assessment for brittle fracture and cracking. The data are structured according to an asset hierarchy including Plant, Production Unit, Process Unit, Tag, Part and Inspection levels and the data are inherited / defaulted seamlessly from a higher hierarchy level to a lower level. The user interface includes synchronized hierarchy tree browsing, dynamic editor and grid-view editing and active reports with drill-in capability.

Diclofenac Salts, VIII. Effect of the Counterions on the Permeation through Porcine Membrane from Aqueous Saturated Solutions.

PubMed

Fini, Adamo; Bassini, Glenda; Monastero, Annamaria; Cavallari, Cristina

2012-09-12

The following bases: monoethylamine (EtA), diethylamine (DEtA), triethylamine (TEtA), monoethanolamine (MEA), diethanolamine (DEA), triethanolamine (TEA), pyrrolidine (Py), piperidine (Pp), morpholine (M), piperazine (Pz) and their N-2-hydroxyethyl (HE) analogs were employed to prepare 14 diclofenac salts. The salts were re-crystallized from water in order to obtain forms that are stable in the presence of water. Vertical Franz-type cells with a diffusional surface area of 9.62 cm2 were used to study the permeation of these diclofenac salts from their saturated solutions through an internal pig ear membrane. The receptor compartments of the cells contained 100 mL of phosphate buffer (pH 7.4); a saturated solution (5 mL) of each salt was placed in the donor compartment, thermostated at 37 °C. Aliquots were withdrawn at predetermined time intervals over 8 h and then immediately analyzed by HPLC. Fluxes were determined by plotting the permeated amount, normalized for the membrane surface area versus time. Permeation coefficients were obtained dividing the flux values J by the concentration of the releasing phase-that is, water solubility of each salt. Experimental results show that fluxes could be measured when diclofenac salts with aliphatic amines are released from a saturated aqueous solution. Different chemical species (acid, anion, ion pairs) contribute to permeation of the anti-inflammatory agent even though ion-pairs could be hypothesized to operate to a greater extent. Permeation coefficients were found higher when the counterion contains a ring; while hydroxy groups alone do not appear to play an important role, the ring could sustain permeation, disrupting the organized domains of the membrane.

Hubble's View of the Polar Ring of Arp 230

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-01-30

This Picture of the Week shows Arp 230, also known as IC 51, observed by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Arp 230 is a galaxy of an uncommon or peculiar shape, and is therefore part of the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies produced by Halton Arp. Its irregular shape is thought to be the result of a violent collision with another galaxy sometime in the past. The collision could also be held responsible for the formation of the galaxy’s polar ring. The outer ring surrounding the galaxy consists of gas and stars and rotates over the poles of the galaxy. It is thought that the orbit of the smaller of the two galaxies that created Arp 230 was perpendicular to the disk of the second, larger galaxy when they collided. In the process of merging the smaller galaxy would have been ripped apart and may have formed the polar ring structure astronomers can observe today. Arp 230 is quite small for a lenticular galaxy, so the two original galaxies forming it must both have been smaller than the Milky Way. A lenticular galaxy is a galaxy with a prominent central bulge and a disk, but no clear spiral arms. They are classified as intermediate between an elliptical galaxy and a spiral galaxy. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, Acknowledgement: Flickr user Det58 NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

Grand Swirls from NASA's Hubble

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-06-06

This new Hubble image shows NGC 1566, a beautiful galaxy located approximately 40 million light-years away in the constellation of Dorado (The Dolphinfish). NGC 1566 is an intermediate spiral galaxy, meaning that while it does not have a well-defined bar-shaped region of stars at its center — like barred spirals — it is not quite an unbarred spiral either. The small but extremely bright nucleus of NGC 1566 is clearly visible in this image, a telltale sign of its membership of the Seyfert class of galaxies. The centers of such galaxies are very active and luminous, emitting strong bursts of radiation and potentially harboring supermassive black holes that are many millions of times the mass of the sun. NGC 1566 is not just any Seyfert galaxy; it is the second brightest Seyfert galaxy known. It is also the brightest and most dominant member of the Dorado Group, a loose concentration of galaxies that together comprise one of the richest galaxy groups of the southern hemisphere. This image highlights the beauty and awe-inspiring nature of this unique galaxy group, with NGC 1566 glittering and glowing, its bright nucleus framed by swirling and symmetrical lavender arms. This image was taken by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) in the near-infrared part of the spectrum. European Space Agency Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, Acknowledgement: Flickr user Det58 NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

Factors affecting genotyping success in giant panda fecal samples.

PubMed

Zhu, Ying; Liu, Hong-Yi; Yang, Hai-Qiong; Li, Yu-Dong; Zhang, He-Min

2017-01-01

Fecal samples play an important role in giant panda conservation studies. Optimal preservation conditions and choice of microsatellites for giant panda fecal samples have not been established. In this study, we evaluated the effect of four factors (namely, storage type (ethanol (EtOH), EtOH -20 °C, 2-step storage medium, DMSO/EDTA/Tris/salt buffer (DETs) and frozen at -20 °C), storage time (one, three and six months), fragment length, and repeat motif of microsatellite loci) on the success rate of microsatellite amplification, allelic dropout (ADO) and false allele (FA) rates from giant panda fecal samples. Amplification success and ADO rates differed between the storage types. Freezing was inferior to the other four storage methods based on the lowest average amplification success and the highest ADO rates ( P < 0.05). The highest microsatellite amplification success was obtained from either EtOH or the 2-step storage medium at three storage time points. Storage time had a negative effect on the average amplification of microsatellites and samples stored in EtOH and the 2-step storage medium were more stable than the other three storage types. We only detected the effect of repeat motif on ADO and FA rates. The lower ADO and FA rates were obtained from tri- and tetra-nucleotide loci. We suggest that freezing should not be used for giant panda fecal preservation in microsatellite studies, and EtOH and the 2-step storage medium should be chosen on priority for long-term storage. We recommend candidate microsatellite loci with longer repeat motif to ensure greater genotyping success for giant panda fecal studies.

Definition of normality of pressure-flow parameters based on observations in asymptomatic men.

PubMed

Rosario, Derek J; Woo, Henry H; Chapple, Christopher R

2008-01-01

Clinical nomograms for differentiating obstructed from unobstructed voiding and poor detrusor contractility from normal contractility have traditionally been drawn on the basis of symptomatic response to outflow tract surgery or on urodynamic changes in men with LUTS before and after surgery. The aim of this study was to examine pressure-flow parameters in asymptomatic male volunteers before age-related changes in the lower urinary tract had taken place and to assess detrusor contractility and outflow conditions during physiological bladder filling against clinically used pressure-flow nomograms. Thirty-seven healthy male subjects between the ages of 18 and 40 years volunteered to undergo AUM. A total of 66 fill-void cycles in 25 individuals were evaluable. Mean p(det.Qmax) for the group was 53 +/- 3 cmH(2)O with a mean Q(max) of 24 +/- 2 ml sec(-1). URA of 21 cmH(2)O defined the upper border of normality for the outflow condition. Schäfer's OCO showed the most consistent relationship between estimated urethral pressure at minimal flow and true measured urethral closure pressure. From a clinical perspective, the linear nomograms (ICS and Schäfer) are more easily accessible with the ICS BOOI and obstruction index being the simplest to calculate manually. Minimal differences found between these urodynamic nomograms confirm the clinical value of recommending a single method to facilitate future comparisons between studies. An upper limit of normality for the male outflow condition can be defined by an URA of 21 cmH(2)O, AGN of 40 cmH(2)O or OCO of 1. Results above these reference values should be considered abnormal in this age group and where identified in a different age-group should be explained by physiological or pathophysiological events.

Factors affecting genotyping success in giant panda fecal samples

PubMed Central

Zhu, Ying; Liu, Hong-Yi; Yang, Hai-Qiong; Li, Yu-Dong

2017-01-01

Fecal samples play an important role in giant panda conservation studies. Optimal preservation conditions and choice of microsatellites for giant panda fecal samples have not been established. In this study, we evaluated the effect of four factors (namely, storage type (ethanol (EtOH), EtOH −20 °C, 2-step storage medium, DMSO/EDTA/Tris/salt buffer (DETs) and frozen at −20 °C), storage time (one, three and six months), fragment length, and repeat motif of microsatellite loci) on the success rate of microsatellite amplification, allelic dropout (ADO) and false allele (FA) rates from giant panda fecal samples. Amplification success and ADO rates differed between the storage types. Freezing was inferior to the other four storage methods based on the lowest average amplification success and the highest ADO rates (P < 0.05). The highest microsatellite amplification success was obtained from either EtOH or the 2-step storage medium at three storage time points. Storage time had a negative effect on the average amplification of microsatellites and samples stored in EtOH and the 2-step storage medium were more stable than the other three storage types. We only detected the effect of repeat motif on ADO and FA rates. The lower ADO and FA rates were obtained from tri- and tetra-nucleotide loci. We suggest that freezing should not be used for giant panda fecal preservation in microsatellite studies, and EtOH and the 2-step storage medium should be chosen on priority for long-term storage. We recommend candidate microsatellite loci with longer repeat motif to ensure greater genotyping success for giant panda fecal studies. PMID:28560107

SOS2 Promotes Salt Tolerance in Part by Interacting with the Vacuolar H+-ATPase and Upregulating Its Transport Activity▿

PubMed Central

Batelli, Giorgia; Verslues, Paul E.; Agius, Fernanda; Qiu, Quansheng; Fujii, Hiroaki; Pan, Songqin; Schumaker, Karen S.; Grillo, Stefania; Zhu, Jian-Kang

2007-01-01

The salt overly sensitive (SOS) pathway is critical for plant salt stress tolerance and has a key role in regulating ion transport under salt stress. To further investigate salt tolerance factors regulated by the SOS pathway, we expressed an N-terminal fusion of the improved tandem affinity purification tag to SOS2 (NTAP-SOS2) in sos2-2 mutant plants. Expression of NTAP-SOS2 rescued the salt tolerance defect of sos2-2 plants, indicating that the fusion protein was functional in vivo. Tandem affinity purification of NTAP-SOS2-containing protein complexes and subsequent liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis indicated that subunits A, B, C, E, and G of the peripheral cytoplasmic domain of the vacuolar H+-ATPase (V-ATPase) were present in a SOS2-containing protein complex. Parallel purification of samples from control and salt-stressed NTAP-SOS2/sos2-2 plants demonstrated that each of these V-ATPase subunits was more abundant in NTAP-SOS2 complexes isolated from salt-stressed plants, suggesting that the interaction may be enhanced by salt stress. Yeast two-hybrid analysis showed that SOS2 interacted directly with V-ATPase regulatory subunits B1 and B2. The importance of the SOS2 interaction with the V-ATPase was shown at the cellular level by reduced H+ transport activity of tonoplast vesicles isolated from sos2-2 cells relative to vesicles from wild-type cells. In addition, seedlings of the det3 mutant, which has reduced V-ATPase activity, were found to be severely salt sensitive. Our results suggest that regulation of V-ATPase activity is an additional key function of SOS2 in coordinating changes in ion transport during salt stress and in promoting salt tolerance. PMID:17875927

Chromoplast-specific carotenoid-associated protein appears to be important for enhanced accumulation of carotenoids in hp1 tomato fruits.

PubMed

Kilambi, Himabindu Vasuki; Kumar, Rakesh; Sharma, Rameshwar; Sreelakshmi, Yellamaraju

2013-04-01

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) high-pigment mutants with lesions in diverse loci such as DNA Damage-Binding Protein1 (high pigment1 [hp1]), Deetiolated1 (hp2), Zeaxanthin Epoxidase (hp3), and Intense pigment (Ip; gene product unknown) exhibit increased accumulation of fruit carotenoids coupled with an increase in chloroplast number and size. However, little is known about the underlying mechanisms exaggerating the carotenoid accumulation and the chloroplast number in these mutants. A comparison of proteome profiles from the outer pericarp of hp1 mutant and wild-type (cv Ailsa Craig) fruits at different developmental stages revealed at least 72 differentially expressed proteins during ripening. Hierarchical clustering grouped these proteins into three clusters. We found an increased abundance of chromoplast-specific carotenoid-associated protein (CHRC) in hp1 fruits at red-ripe stage that is also reflected in its transcript level. Western blotting using CHRC polyclonal antibody from bell pepper (Capsicum annuum) revealed a 2-fold increase in the abundance of CHRC protein in the red-ripe stage of hp1 fruits compared with the wild type. CHRC levels in hp2 were found to be similar to that of hp1, whereas hp3 and Ip showed intermediate levels to those in hp1, hp2, and wild-type fruits. Both CHRC and carotenoids were present in the isolated plastoglobules. Overall, our results suggest that loss of function of DDB1, DET1, Zeaxanthin Epoxidase, and Ip up-regulates CHRC levels. Increase in CHRC levels may contribute to the enhanced carotenoid content in these high-pigment fruits by assisting in the sequestration and stabilization of carotenoids.

Chromoplast-Specific Carotenoid-Associated Protein Appears to Be Important for Enhanced Accumulation of Carotenoids in hp1 Tomato Fruits1[C][W][OA

PubMed Central

Kilambi, Himabindu Vasuki; Kumar, Rakesh; Sharma, Rameshwar; Sreelakshmi, Yellamaraju

2013-01-01

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) high-pigment mutants with lesions in diverse loci such as DNA Damage-Binding Protein1 (high pigment1 [hp1]), Deetiolated1 (hp2), Zeaxanthin Epoxidase (hp3), and Intense pigment (Ip; gene product unknown) exhibit increased accumulation of fruit carotenoids coupled with an increase in chloroplast number and size. However, little is known about the underlying mechanisms exaggerating the carotenoid accumulation and the chloroplast number in these mutants. A comparison of proteome profiles from the outer pericarp of hp1 mutant and wild-type (cv Ailsa Craig) fruits at different developmental stages revealed at least 72 differentially expressed proteins during ripening. Hierarchical clustering grouped these proteins into three clusters. We found an increased abundance of chromoplast-specific carotenoid-associated protein (CHRC) in hp1 fruits at red-ripe stage that is also reflected in its transcript level. Western blotting using CHRC polyclonal antibody from bell pepper (Capsicum annuum) revealed a 2-fold increase in the abundance of CHRC protein in the red-ripe stage of hp1 fruits compared with the wild type. CHRC levels in hp2 were found to be similar to that of hp1, whereas hp3 and Ip showed intermediate levels to those in hp1, hp2, and wild-type fruits. Both CHRC and carotenoids were present in the isolated plastoglobules. Overall, our results suggest that loss of function of DDB1, DET1, Zeaxanthin Epoxidase, and Ip up-regulates CHRC levels. Increase in CHRC levels may contribute to the enhanced carotenoid content in these high-pigment fruits by assisting in the sequestration and stabilization of carotenoids. PMID:23400702

Diclofenac Salts, VIII. Effect of the Counterions on the Permeation through Porcine Membrane from Aqueous Saturated Solutions

PubMed Central

Fini, Adamo; Bassini, Glenda; Monastero, Annamaria; Cavallari, Cristina

2012-01-01

The following bases: monoethylamine (EtA), diethylamine (DEtA), triethylamine (TEtA), monoethanolamine (MEA), diethanolamine (DEA), triethanolamine (TEA), pyrrolidine (Py), piperidine (Pp), morpholine (M), piperazine (Pz) and their N-2-hydroxyethyl (HE) analogs were employed to prepare 14 diclofenac salts. The salts were re-crystallized from water in order to obtain forms that are stable in the presence of water. Vertical Franz-type cells with a diffusional surface area of 9.62 cm2 were used to study the permeation of these diclofenac salts from their saturated solutions through an internal pig ear membrane. The receptor compartments of the cells contained 100 mL of phosphate buffer (pH 7.4); a saturated solution (5 mL) of each salt was placed in the donor compartment, thermostated at 37 °C. Aliquots were withdrawn at predetermined time intervals over 8 h and then immediately analyzed by HPLC. Fluxes were determined by plotting the permeated amount, normalized for the membrane surface area versus time. Permeation coefficients were obtained dividing the flux values J by the concentration of the releasing phase—that is, water solubility of each salt. Experimental results show that fluxes could be measured when diclofenac salts with aliphatic amines are released from a saturated aqueous solution. Different chemical species (acid, anion, ion pairs) contribute to permeation of the anti-inflammatory agent even though ion-pairs could be hypothesized to operate to a greater extent. Permeation coefficients were found higher when the counterion contains a ring; while hydroxy groups alone do not appear to play an important role, the ring could sustain permeation, disrupting the organized domains of the membrane. PMID:24300300

Internal loading of phosphorus in western Lake Erie

USGS Publications Warehouse

Matisoff, Gerald; Kaltenberg, Eliza M.; Steely, Rebecca L.; Hummel, Stephanie K.; Seo, Jinyu; Gibbons, Kenneth J.; Bridgeman, Thomas B.; Seo, Youngwoo; Behbahani, Mohsen; James, William F.; Johnson, Laura; Doan, Phuong; Dittrich, Maria; Evans, Mary Anne; Chaffin, Justin D.

2016-01-01

This study applied eight techniques to obtain estimates of the diffusive flux of phosphorus (P) from bottom sediments throughout the western basin of Lake Erie. The flux was quantified from both aerobic and anaerobic incubations of whole cores; by monitoring the water encapsulated in bottom chambers; from pore water concentration profiles measured with a phosphate microelectrode, a diffusive equilibrium in thin films (DET) hydrogel, and expressed pore waters; and from mass balance and biogeochemical diagenetic models. Fluxes under aerobic conditions at summertime temperatures averaged 1.35 mg P/m2/day and displayed spatial variability on scales as small as a centimeter. Using two different temperature correction factors, the flux was adjusted to mean annual temperature yielding average annual fluxes of 0.43–0.91 mg P/m2/day and a western basin-wide total of 378–808 Mg P/year as the diffusive flux from sediments. This is 3–7% of the 11,000 Mg P/year International Joint Commission (IJC) target load for phosphorus delivery to Lake Erie from external sources. Using these average aerobic fluxes, the sediment contributes 3.0–6.3 μg P/L as a background internal contribution that represents 20–42% of the IJC Target Concentration of 15 μg P/L for the western basin. The implication is that this internal diffusive recycling of P is unlikely to trigger cyanobacterial blooms by itself but is sufficiently large to cause blooms when combined with external loads. This background flux may be also responsible for delayed response of the lake to any decrease in the external loading.

Onset of normal and inverse homoclinic bifurcation in a double plasma system near a plasma fireball

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

Mitra, Vramori; Sarma, Bornali; Sarma, Arun

Plasma fireballs are generated due to a localized discharge and appear as a luminous glow with a sharp boundary, which suggests the presence of a localized electric field such as electrical sheath or double layer structure. The present work reports the observation of normal and inverse homoclinic bifurcation phenomena in plasma oscillations that are excited in the presence of fireball in a double plasma device. The controlling parameters for these observations are the ratio of target to source chamber (n{sub T}/n{sub S}) densities and applied electrode voltage. Homoclinic bifurcation is noticed in the plasma potential fluctuations as the system evolvesmore » from narrow to long time period oscillations and vice versa with the change of control parameter. The dynamical transition in plasma fireball is demonstrated by spectral analysis, recurrence quantification analysis (RQA), and statistical measures, viz., skewness and kurtosis. The increasing trend of normalized variance reflects that enhancing n{sub T}/n{sub S} induces irregularity in plasma dynamics. The exponential growth of the time period is strongly indicative of homoclinic bifurcation in the system. The gradual decrease of skewness and increase of kurtosis with the increase of n{sub T}/n{sub S} also reflect growing complexity in the system. The visual change of recurrence plot and gradual enhancement of RQA variables DET, L{sub max}, and ENT reflects the bifurcation behavior in the dynamics. The combination of RQA and spectral analysis is a clear evidence that homoclinic bifurcation occurs due to the presence of plasma fireball with different density ratios. However, inverse bifurcation takes place due to the change of fireball voltage. Some of the features observed in the experiment are consistent with a model that describes the dynamics of ionization instabilities.« less

Arabidopsis cop8 and fus4 mutations define the same gene that encodes subunit 4 of the COP9 signalosome.

PubMed Central

Serino, G; Tsuge, T; Kwok, S; Matsui, M; Wei, N; Deng, X W

1999-01-01

The pleiotropic constitutive photomorphogenic/deetiolated/fusca (cop/det/fus) mutants of Arabidopsis exhibit features of light-grown seedlings when grown in the dark. Cloning and biochemical analysis of COP9 have revealed that it is a component of a multiprotein complex, the COP9 signalosome (previously known as the COP9 complex). Here, we compare the immunoaffinity and the biochemical purification of the COP9 signalosome from cauliflower and confirm its eight-subunit composition. Molecular cloning of subunit 4 of the complex revealed that it is a proteasome-COP9 complex-eIF3 domain protein encoded by a gene that maps to chromosome 5, near the chromosomal location of the cop8 and fus4 mutations. Genetic complementation tests showed that the cop8 and fus4 mutations define the same locus, now designated as COP8. Molecular analysis of the subunit 4-encoding gene in both cop8 and fus4 mutants identified specific molecular lesions, and overexpression of the subunit 4 cDNA in a cop8 mutant background resulted in complete rescue of the mutant phenotype. Thus, we conclude that COP8 encodes subunit 4 of the COP9 signalosome. Examination of possible molecular interactions by using the yeast two-hybrid assay indicated that COP8 is capable of strong self-association as well as interaction with COP9, FUS6/COP11, FUS5, and Arabidopsis JAB1 homolog 1, the latter four proteins being previously defined subunits of the Arabidopsis COP9 signalosome. A comparative sequence analysis indicated that COP8 is highly conserved among multicellular eukaryotes and is also similar to a subunit of the 19S regulatory particle of the 26S proteasome. PMID:10521526

Vorticity and symplecticity in multi-symplectic, Lagrangian gas dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Webb, G. M.; Anco, S. C.

2016-02-01

The Lagrangian, multi-dimensional, ideal, compressible gas dynamic equations are written in a multi-symplectic form, in which the Lagrangian fluid labels, m i (the Lagrangian mass coordinates) and time t are the independent variables, and in which the Eulerian position of the fluid element {x}={x}({m},t) and the entropy S=S({m},t) are the dependent variables. Constraints in the variational principle are incorporated by means of Lagrange multipliers. The constraints are: the entropy advection equation S t = 0, the Lagrangian map equation {{x}}t={u} where {u} is the fluid velocity, and the mass continuity equation which has the form J=τ where J={det}({x}{ij}) is the Jacobian of the Lagrangian map in which {x}{ij}=\\partial {x}i/\\partial {m}j and τ =1/ρ is the specific volume of the gas. The internal energy per unit volume of the gas \\varepsilon =\\varepsilon (ρ ,S) corresponds to a non-barotropic gas. The Lagrangian is used to define multi-momenta, and to develop de Donder-Weyl Hamiltonian equations. The de Donder-Weyl equations are cast in a multi-symplectic form. The pullback conservation laws and the symplecticity conservation laws are obtained. One class of symplecticity conservation laws give rise to vorticity and potential vorticity type conservation laws, and another class of symplecticity laws are related to derivatives of the Lagrangian energy conservation law with respect to the Lagrangian mass coordinates m i . We show that the vorticity-symplecticity laws can be derived by a Lie dragging method, and also by using Noether’s second theorem and a fluid relabelling symmetry which is a divergence symmetry of the action. We obtain the Cartan-Poincaré form describing the equations and we discuss a set of differential forms representing the equation system.

Airborne pollutant concentrations and health risks in selected Apulia region (IT) areas: preliminary results from the Jonico-Salentino project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buccolieri, Riccardo; Genga, Alessandra; De Donno, Antonella; Siciliano, Tiziana; Siciliano, Maria; Serio, Francesca; Grassi, Tiziana; Rispoli, Gennaro; Cavaiola, Mattia; Lionello, Piero

2017-04-01

The Jonico-Salentino project (PJS) is a multidisciplinary study funded by Apulia Region (Det. N. 188_RU - 10/11/2015) aiming to assess health risk of people living in the cities of Lecce, Brindisi and Taranto. Citizens are exposed to emissions from industrial sources, biomass burning, vehicular, naval and air traffic, as well as from natural radioactive sources (radon). In this context, this work presents some preliminary results obtained by the Unit of University of Salento (Lecce) during an experimental campaign carried out in the study areas. The campaign is devoted to (i) sample particulate matter (PM), (ii) measure micro-meteorological variables and (iii) evaluate exposure levels of residents to main pollutants. Specifically, PM is sampled using a low volume sampler, while meteorological variables (wind speed components and direction temperature, relative humidity, precipitation and global solar radiation) are measured by advanced instrumentation such as ultrasonic anemometers which allows for the estimation of turbulence fluxes. The early effects of exposure to air pollutants is evaluated by the frequency of micronucleus (a biomarker of DNA damage) in exfoliated buccal cells collected using a soft-bristled toothbrush from oral mucosa of primary school children enrolled in the study. PM concentration data collected during the campaign are characterised from a chemical and morphological point of view; the analysis of different groups of particles allows identifying different natural and anthropogenic emission sources. This is done in conjunction to the investigation of the influence of local meteorology to elucidate the contribution of specific types of sources on final concentration levels. Finally, all data are used to assess the health risk of people living in the study areas as consequence of exposure to airborne pollutants.

Visual detection of Potato Leafroll virus by loop-mediated isothermal amplification of DNA with the GeneFinder™ dye.

PubMed

Almasi, Mohammad Amin; Erfan Manesh, Maryam; Jafary, Hossein; Dehabadi, Seyed Mohammad Hosseini

2013-09-01

The most common virus affecting potatoes in the field worldwide is Potato Leafroll virus (PLRV), belonging to the family Luteoviridae, genius Plerovirus. There are several molecular methods to detect PLRV including polymerase chain reaction (PCR), Multiplex AmpliDet RNA and double antibody sandwich ELISA (DAS-ELISA). But these techniques take a long time for 3h to two days, requiring sophisticated tools. The aim of this study was to reduce the time required to detect PLRV, using a newly designed loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) technique requiring only an ordinary water bath or thermoblock. PLRV RNA was extracted from overall 80 infected naturally potato leaves. A set of six novel primers for the LAMP reaction was designed according to the highly conserved sequence of the viral coat protein (CP) gene. LAMP was carried out under isothermal conditions, applying the Bst DNA polymerase enzyme; the LAMP products were detected visually using the GeneFinder™ florescence dye. A positive result using the GeneFinder™ dye was a color change from the original orange to green. Results confirmed LAMP with GeneFinder™ provides a rapid and safe assay for detection of PLRV. Since with other molecular methods, equipping laboratories with a thermocycler or expensive detector systems is unavoidable, this assay was found to be a simple, cost-effective molecular method that has the potential to replace other diagnostic methods in primary laboratories without the need for expensive equipment or specialized techniques. It can also be considered as a reliable alternative viral detection system in further investigations. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Carcinogenesis: alterations in reciprocal interactions of normal functional structure of biologic systems.

PubMed

Davydyan, Garri

2015-12-01

The evolution of biologic systems (BS) includes functional mechanisms that in some conditions may lead to the development of cancer. Using mathematical group theory and matrix analysis, previously, it was shown that normally functioning BS are steady functional structures regulated by three basis regulatory components: reciprocal links (RL), negative feedback (NFB) and positive feedback (PFB). Together, they form an integrative unit maintaining system's autonomy and functional stability. It is proposed that phylogenetic development of different species is implemented by the splitting of "rudimentary" characters into two relatively independent functional parts that become encoded in chromosomes. The functional correlate of splitting mechanisms is RL. Inversion of phylogenetic mechanisms during ontogenetic development leads cell differentiation until cells reach mature states. Deterioration of reciprocal structure in the genome during ontogenesis gives rise of pathological conditions characterized by unsteadiness of the system. Uncontrollable cell proliferation and invasive cell growth are the leading features of the functional outcomes of malfunctioning systems. The regulatory element responsible for these changes is RL. In matrix language, pathological regulation is represented by matrices having positive values of diagonal elements ( TrA  > 0) and also positive values of matrix determinant ( detA  > 0). Regulatory structures of that kind can be obtained if the negative entry of the matrix corresponding to RL is replaced with the positive one. To describe not only normal but also pathological states of BS, a unit matrix should be added to the basis matrices representing RL, NFB and PFB. A mathematical structure corresponding to the set of these four basis functional patterns (matrices) is a split quaternion (coquaternion). The structure and specific role of basis elements comprising four-dimensional linear space of split quaternions help to understand what changes in mechanism of cell differentiation may lead to cancer development.

14,15-EET induces the infiltration and tumor-promoting function of neutrophils to trigger the growth of minimal dormant metastases

PubMed Central

Luo, Chao; Wang, Yu; Li, Dong; Shu, Yu; Wang, Shan-Shan; Qin, Jian; Li, Yong-Chao; Zou, Jiu-Ming; Tian, De-An; Zhang, Gui-Mei; Feng, Zuo-Hua

2016-01-01

Infiltrating neutrophils are known to promote in thedevelopment of tumor. However, it is unclear whether and how neutrophils areinvolved in triggering the growth of dormant metastases. Here we show that14,15-epoxyeicosatrienoic acid (14,15-EET) can trigger the growth of dormantmicrometastases by inducing neutrophilic infiltration and converting neutrophilfunction. 14,15-EET triggered neutrophil infiltration in metastatic lesions byactivating STAT3 and JNK pathways to induce the expression of human IL-8 andmurine CXCL15 in corresponding tumor cells. The continuous expression ofhIL-8/mCXCL15 was maintained by the sustained and enhanced activation of JNKpathway. 14,15-EET up-regulated miR-155 expression by activating STAT3 and JNKpathways. miR-155 in turn down-regulated the expression of SHIP1 and DET1, thusaugmenting the activation of JNK and c-Jun. Moreover, the function ofneutrophils was converted from tumor-suppressing to tumor-promoting by14,15-EET in vivo. By inducing the production of G-CSF/IL-6 in vivo, 14,15-EET induced the enhancement of STAT3 activation in neutrophilsto increase MMP-9 expression and decrease TRAIL expression. Neutrophil-derivedMMP-9 was required for 14,15-EET to induce angiogenesis during the growth ofdormant micrometastases. Depleting neutrophils or inhibiting hIL-8/mCXCL15up-regulation resulted in the failure of 14,15-EET to promote the developmentof micrometastases. These findings reveal a mechanism through which theinfiltration and tumor-promoting function of neutrophils could be induced totrigger the growth of dormant metastases, which might be a driving force forthe tumor recurrence based on dormant metastases. PMID:27270316

Microstructure of warm rolling and pearlitic transformation of ultrafine-grained GCr15 steel

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

Sun, Jun-Jie; Lian, Fu-Liang; Liu, Hong-Ji

2014-09-15

Pearlitic transformation mechanisms have been investigated in ultra-fine grained GCr15 steel. The ultrafine-grained steel, whose grain size was less than 1 μm, was prepared by thermo-mechanical treatment at 873 K and then annealing at 923 K for 2 h. Pearlitic transformation was conducted by reheating the ultra-fine grained samples at 1073 K and 1123 K for different periods of time and then cooling in air. Scanning electron microscope observation shows that normal lamellar pearlite, instead of granular cementite and ferrite, cannot be formed when the grain size is approximately less than 4(± 0.6) μm, which yields a critical grain sizemore » for normal lamellar pearlitic transformations in this chromium alloyed steel. The result confirms that grain size has a great influence on pearlitic transformation by increasing the diffusion rate of carbon atoms in the ultra-fine grained steel, and the addition of chromium element doesn't change this pearlitic phase transformation rule. Meanwhile, the grain growth rate is reduced by chromium alloying, which is beneficial to form fine grains during austenitizing, thus it facilitating pearlitic transformation by divorced eutectoid transformation. Moreover, chromium element can form a relatively high gradient in the frontier of the undissolved carbide, which promotes carbide formation in the frontier of the undissolved carbide, i.e., chromium promotes divorced eutectoid transformation. - Highlights: • Ultrafine-grained GCr15 steel was obtained by warm rolling and annealing technology. • Reduction of grain size makes pearlite morphology from lamellar to granular. • Adding Cr does not change normal pearlitic phase transformation rule in UFG steel. • Cr carbide resists grain growth and facilitates pearlitic transformation by DET.« less

The use of nuclear muprobe techniques to study the chemistry of lacustrine sediments and particles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grime, G. W.; Davison, W.

1993-05-01

The Oxford SPM has been used in two novel studies of lake chemistry: (a) The distribution of dissolved iron in sediment pore waters close to the sediment/water interface has been measured using the novel technique of diffusive equilibration in a thin film (DET). In this technique, which has a spatial resolution of < 1 mm, much less than that of competing techniques (1 cm), a thin layer of polyacrylamide gel is inserted into the sediment and after the rapid equilibration with the pore water, the gel is dried and fixed. The distribution of trace elements can then be measured using mubeam PIXE. Preliminary results have shown for the first time a subsurface maximum of Fe consistent with current theories of Fe dynamics. This paper presents some results obtained using the technique and discusses the limits on resolution and sensitivity, (b) Individual suspended lake particles (predominantly iron oxides and sulphides) have been analysed using point mubeam RBS and PIXE. Of particular interest in this study is the oxidation state of iron rich particles, so RBS with a 1 μm beam was used to determine the Fe: O stoichiometry of single particles. The particles were filtered from a depth of 14 m in Esthwaite Water in the English Lake District and handled in anoxic conditions until evacuation in the SPM sample chamber. Two distinct compositions of iron oxide were determined in clusters of about 5 μm diameter. Analysis by PIXE revealed that FeS was uniformly distributed in the particulate material and that it also contained elevated levels of Cu and Zn. This study was the first to demonstrate directly that discrete clusters of iron oxides are present in black particulate material which is commonly considered to comprise iron sulphides.

Applying DNA Barcodes to Identify Closely Related Species of Ferns: A Case Study of the Chinese Adiantum (Pteridaceae)

PubMed Central

Wen, Jun; Ebihara, Atsushi; Li, De-Zhu

2016-01-01

DNA barcoding is a fast-developing technique to identify species by using short and standard DNA sequences. Universal selection of DNA barcodes in ferns remains unresolved. In this study, five plastid regions (rbcL, matK, trnH-psbA, trnL-F and rps4-trnS) and eight nuclear regions (ITS, pgiC, gapC, LEAFY, ITS2, IBR3_2, DET1, and SQD1_1) were screened and evaluated in the fern genus Adiantum from China and neighboring areas. Due to low primer universality (matK) and/or the existence of multiple copies (ITS), the commonly used barcodes matK and ITS were not appropriate for Adiantum. The PCR amplification rate was extremely low in all nuclear genes except for IBR3_2. rbcL had the highest PCR amplification rate (94.33%) and sequencing success rate (90.78%), while trnH-psbA had the highest species identification rate (75%). With the consideration of discriminatory power, cost-efficiency and effort, the two-barcode combination of rbcL+ trnH-psbA seems to be the best choice for barcoding Adiantum, and perhaps basal polypod ferns in general. The nuclear IBR3_2 showed 100% PCR amplification success rate in Adiantum, however, it seemed that only diploid species could acquire clean sequences without cloning. With cloning, IBR3_2 can successfully distinguish cryptic species and hybrid species from their related species. Because hybridization and allopolyploidy are common in ferns, we argue for including a selected group of nuclear loci as barcodes, especially via the next-generation sequencing, as it is much more efficient to obtain single-copy nuclear loci without the cloning procedure. PMID:27603700

Direct electrochemistry and intramolecular electron transfer of ascorbate oxidase confined on L-cysteine self-assembled gold electrode.

PubMed

Patil, Bhushan; Kobayashi, Yoshiki; Fujikawa, Shigenori; Okajima, Takeyoshi; Mao, Lanqun; Ohsaka, Takeo

2014-02-01

A direct electrochemistry and intramolecular electron transfer of multicopper oxidases are of a great importance for the fabrication of these enzyme-based bioelectrochemical-devices. Ascorbate oxidase from Acremonium sp. (ASOM) has been successfully immobilized via a chemisorptive interaction on the l-cysteine self-assembled monolayer modified gold electrode (cys-SAM/AuE). Thermodynamics and kinetics of adsorption of ASOM on the cys-SAM/AuE were studied using cyclic voltammetry. A well-defined redox wave centered at 166±3mV (vs. Ag│AgCl│KCl(sat.)) was observed in 5.0mM phosphate buffer solution (pH7.0) at the fabricated ASOM electrode, abbreviated as ASOM/cys-SAM/AuE, confirming a direct electrochemistry, i.e., a direct electron transfer (DET) between ASOM and cys-SAM/AuE. The direct electrochemistry of ASOM was further confirmed by taking into account the chemical oxidation of ascorbic acid (AA) by O2 via an intramolecular electron transfer in the ASOM as well as the electrocatalytic oxidation of AA at the ASOM/cys-SAM/AuE. Thermodynamics and kinetics of the adsorption of ASOM on the cys-SAM/AuE have been elaborated along with its direct electron transfer at the modified electrodes on the basis of its intramolecular electron transfer and electrocatalytic activity towards ascorbic acid oxidation and O2 reduction. ASOM saturated surface area was obtained as 2.41×10(-11)molcm(-2) with the apparent adsorption coefficient of 1.63×10(6)Lmol(-1). The ASOM confined on the cys-SAM/AuE possesses its essential enzymatic function. © 2013.

Comparative immunohistochemical characterization of interstitial cells in the urinary bladder of human, guinea pig and pig.

PubMed

Steiner, Clara; Gevaert, Thomas; Ganzer, Roman; De Ridder, Dirk; Neuhaus, Jochen

2018-05-01

Interstitial cells (ICs) are thought to play a functional role in urinary bladder. Animal models are commonly used to elucidate bladder physiology and pathophysiology. However, inter-species comparative studies on ICs are rare. We therefore analyzed ICs and their distribution in the upper lamina propria (ULP), the deeper lamina propria (DLP) and the detrusor muscular layer (DET) of human, guinea pig (GP) and pig. Paraffin slices were examined by immunohistochemistry and 3D confocal immunofluorescence of the mesenchymal intermediate filament vimentin (VIM), alpha-smooth muscle actin (αSMA), platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRα) and transient receptor potential cation channel A1 (TRPA1). Image stacks were processed for analysis using Huygens software; quantitative analysis was performed with Fiji macros. ICs were identified by immunoreactivity for VIM (excluding blood vessels). In all species ≥ 75% of ULP ICs were VIM + /PDGFRα + and ≥ 90% were VIM + /TRPA1 + . In human and pig ≥ 74% of ULP ICs were VIM + /αSMA + , while in GP the percentage differed significantly with only 37% VIM + /αSMA + ICs. Additionally, over 90% of αSMA + ICs were also TRPA1 + and PDGFRα + in human, GP and pig. In all three species, TRPA1 + and PDGFRα + ICs point to an active role for these cells in bladder physiology, regarding afferent signaling processes and signal modification. We hypothesize that decline in αSMA-positivity in GP reflects adaptation of bladder histology to smaller bladder size. In our experiments, pig bladder proved to be highly comparable to human urinary bladder and seems to provide safer interpretation of experimental findings than GP.

Deposition and transport of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in porous media: lab-scale experiments and model analysis.

PubMed

Kwon, Kyu-Sang; Kim, Song-Bae; Choi, Nag-Choul; Kim, Dong-Ju; Lee, Soonjae; Lee, Sang-Hyup; Choi, Jae-Woo

2013-01-01

In this study, the deposition and transport of Pseudomonas aeruginosa on sandy porous materials have been investigated under static and dynamic flow conditions. For the static experiments, both equilibrium and kinetic batch tests were performed at a 1:3 and 3:1 soil:solution ratio. The batch data were analysed to quantify the deposition parameters under static conditions. Column tests were performed for dynamic flow experiments with KCl solution and bacteria suspended in (1) deionized water, (2) mineral salt medium (MSM) and (3) surfactant + MSM. The equilibrium distribution coefficient (K(d)) was larger at a 1:3 (2.43 mL g(-1)) than that at a 3:1 (0.28 mL g(-1)) soil:solution ratio. Kinetic batch experiments showed that the reversible deposition rate coefficient (k(att)) and the release rate coefficient (k(det)) at a soil:solution ratio of 3:1 were larger than those at a 1:3 ratio. Column experiments showed that an increase in ionic strength resulted in a decrease in peak concentration of bacteria, mass recovery and tailing of the bacterial breakthrough curve (BTC) and that the presence of surfactant enhanced the movement of bacteria through quartz sand, giving increased mass recovery and tailing. Deposition parameters under dynamic condition were determined by fitting BTCs to four different transport models, (1) kinetic reversible, (2) two-site, (3) kinetic irreversible and (4) kinetic reversible and irreversible models. Among these models, Model 4 was more suitable than the others since it includes the irreversible sorption term directly related to the mass loss of bacteria observed in the column experiment. Applicability of the parameters obtained from the batch experiments to simulate the column breakthrough data is evaluated.

AN ADA LINEAR ALGEBRA PACKAGE MODELED AFTER HAL/S

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Klumpp, A. R.

1994-01-01

This package extends the Ada programming language to include linear algebra capabilities similar to those of the HAL/S programming language. The package is designed for avionics applications such as Space Station flight software. In addition to the HAL/S built-in functions, the package incorporates the quaternion functions used in the Shuttle and Galileo projects, and routines from LINPAK that solve systems of equations involving general square matrices. Language conventions in this package follow those of HAL/S to the maximum extent practical and minimize the effort required for writing new avionics software and translating existent software into Ada. Valid numeric types in this package include scalar, vector, matrix, and quaternion declarations. (Quaternions are fourcomponent vectors used in representing motion between two coordinate frames). Single precision and double precision floating point arithmetic is available in addition to the standard double precision integer manipulation. Infix operators are used instead of function calls to define dot products, cross products, quaternion products, and mixed scalar-vector, scalar-matrix, and vector-matrix products. The package contains two generic programs: one for floating point, and one for integer. The actual component type is passed as a formal parameter to the generic linear algebra package. The procedures for solving systems of linear equations defined by general matrices include GEFA, GECO, GESL, and GIDI. The HAL/S functions include ABVAL, UNIT, TRACE, DET, INVERSE, TRANSPOSE, GET, PUT, FETCH, PLACE, and IDENTITY. This package is written in Ada (Version 1.2) for batch execution and is machine independent. The linear algebra software depends on nothing outside the Ada language except for a call to a square root function for floating point scalars (such as SQRT in the DEC VAX MATHLIB library). This program was developed in 1989, and is a copyrighted work with all copyright vested in NASA.

Constraints on deviations from ΛCDM within Horndeski gravity

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

Bellini, Emilio; Cuesta, Antonio J.; Jimenez, Raul

2016-02-01

Recent anomalies found in cosmological datasets such as the low multipoles of the Cosmic Microwave Background or the low redshift amplitude and growth of clustering measured by e.g., abundance of galaxy clusters and redshift space distortions in galaxy surveys, have motivated explorations of models beyond standard ΛCDM. Of particular interest are models where general relativity (GR) is modified on large cosmological scales. Here we consider deviations from ΛCDM+GR within the context of Horndeski gravity, which is the most general theory of gravity with second derivatives in the equations of motion. We adopt a parametrization in which the four additional Horndeskimore » functions of time α{sub i}(t) are proportional to the cosmological density of dark energy Ω{sub DE}(t). Constraints on this extended parameter space using a suite of state-of-the art cosmological observations are presented for the first time. Although the theory is able to accommodate the low multipoles of the Cosmic Microwave Background and the low amplitude of fluctuations from redshift space distortions, we find no significant tension with ΛCDM+GR when performing a global fit to recent cosmological data and thus there is no evidence against ΛCDM+GR from an analysis of the value of the Bayesian evidence ratio of the modified gravity models with respect to ΛCDM, despite introducing extra parameters. The posterior distribution of these extra parameters that we derive return strong constraints on any possible deviations from ΛCDM+GR in the context of Horndeski gravity. We illustrate how our results can be applied to a more general frameworks of modified gravity models.« less

Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment of Pharmaceutical Products.

PubMed

Eissa, Mostafa Essam

2017-01-01

Monitoring of microbiological quality in the pharmaceutical industry is an important criterion that is required to justify safe product release to the drug market. Good manufacturing practice and efficient control on bioburden level of product components are critical parameters that influence the microbiological cleanliness of medicinal products. However, because microbial dispersion through the samples follows Poisson distribution, the rate of detection of microbiologically defective samples lambda (λ) decreases when the number of defective units per batch decreases. When integrating a dose-response model of infection (P inf ) of a specific objectionable microbe with a contamination module, the overall probability of infection from a single batch of pharmaceutical product can be estimated. The combination of P inf with detectability chance of the test (P det ) will yield a value that could be used as a quantitative measure of the possibility of passing contaminated batch units of product with a certain load of a specific pathogen and infecting the final consumer without being detected in the firm. The simulation study can be used to assess the risk of contamination and infection from objectionable microorganisms for sterile and non-sterile products. LAY ABSTRACT: Microbial contamination of pharmaceutical products is a global problem that may lead to infection and possibly death. While reputable pharmaceutical companies strive to deliver microbiologically safe products, it would be helpful to apply an assessment system for the current risk associated with pharmaceutical batches delivered to the drug market. The current methodology may be helpful also in determining the degree of improvement or deterioration on the batch processing flow until reaching the final consumer. Moreover, the present system is flexible and can be applied to other industries such as food, cosmetics, or medical devices manufacturing and processing fields to assess the microbiological risk of the processed and manufactured batch. © PDA, Inc. 2017.

Comparative study of chaotic features in hourly wind speed using recurrence quantification analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adeniji, A. E.; Olusola, O. I.; Njah, A. N.

2018-02-01

Due to the shortage in electricity supply in Nigeria, there is a need to improve the alternative power generation from wind energy by analysing the wind speed data available in some parts of the country, for a better understanding of its underlying dynamics for the purpose of good prediction and modelling. The wind speed data used in this study were collected over a period of two years by National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) from five different stations in the tropics namely; Abuja (7050'02.09"N and 6004'29.97"E), Akungba (6059'05.40"N and 5035'52.23"E), Nsukka (6051'28.14"N and 7024'28.15"E), Port Harcourt (4047'05.41"N and 6059'30.62"E), and Yola (9017'33.58"N and 12023'26.69"E). In this paper, recurrence plot (RP) and recurrence quantification analysis (RQA) are applied to investigate a non-linear deterministic dynamical process and non-stationarity in hourly wind speed data from the study areas. Using RQA for each month of the two years, it is observed that wind speed data for the wet months exhibit higher chaoticity than that of the dry months for all the stations, due to strong and weak monsoonal effect during the wet and dry seasons respectively. The results show that recurrence techniques are able to identify areas and periods for which the harvest of wind energy for power generation is good (high predictability) and poor (low predictability) in the study areas. This work also validates the RQA measures (Lmax, DET and ENT) used and establishes that they are similar/related as they give similar results for the dynamical characterization of the wind speed data.

Supplemental Environmental Baseline Survey for Proposed Land Use Permit Modification for Expansion of the Dynamic Explosive Test Site (DETS) 9940 Main Complex Parking Lot

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

Peek, Dennis W.

The “subject property” is comprised of a parcel of land within the Kirtland Military Reservation, Bernalillo County, New Mexico, as shown on the map in Appendix B of this document. The land requirement for the parking lot addition to the 9940 Main Complex is approximately 2.7 acres. The scope of this Supplemental Environmental Baseline Survey (SEBS) is for the parking lot addition land transfer only. For details on the original 9940 Main Complex see Environmental Baseline Survey, Land Use Permit Request for the 9940 Complex PERM/0-KI-00-0001, August 21, 2003, and for details on the 9940 Complex Expansion see Environmental Baselinemore » Survey, Proposed Land Use Permit Expansion for 9940 DETS Complex, June 24, 2009. The 2.7-acre parcel of land for the new parking lot, which is the subject of this EBS (also referred to as the “subject property”), is adjacent to the southwest boundary of the original 12.3- acre 9940 Main Complex. No testing is known to have taken place on the subject property site. The only activity known to have taken place was the burial of overhead utility lines in 2014. Adjacent to the subject property, the 9940 Main Complex was originally a 12.3-acre site used by the Department of Energy (DOE) under a land use permit from the United States Air Force (USAF). Historical use of the site, dating from 1964, included arming, fusing, and firing of explosives and testing of explosives systems components. In the late 1970s and early 1980s experiments at the 9940 Main Complex shifted toward reactor safety issues. From 1983 to 1988, fuel coolant interaction (FCI) experiments were conducted, as were experiments with conventional high explosives (HE). Today, the land is used for training of the Nuclear Emergency Response community and for research on energetic materials. In 2009, the original complex was expanded to include four additional 20-acre areas: 9940 Training South, 9940 Training East, T-Range 6, and Training West Landing Zone. The proposed use of the subject property is for the purpose of adding a parking lot to serve the increase in customer vehicles that is occurring as the 9940 Main Complex is more heavily utilized, and as the 2009 Expansion areas come online as operational training facilities. The subject property would be used only for parking, not for testing or training activities. The parking lot would have a gravel surface. Current and future work at the 9940 Main Complex involves arming, fuzing, and firing of explosives and the testing of explosive systems components in both terrestrial and aquatic settings. It also involves specialized training activities for a variety of first responder customers, both DOE and non-DOE agencies. The approach was to perform a document search, supplemented by a visual site inspection, to identify potential environmental contamination associated with the property. Factors evaluated included hazardous substances; petroleum products and derivatives; environmental restoration sites; areas of concern; storage tanks; oil/water separators; grease traps; wash racks; waste tanks; pesticides; military munitions/ordnance; medical or bio-hazardous waste; radioactive waste; solid/municipal waste; indoor air quality; groundwater; wastewater treatment, collection, and disposal/discharge; drinking water quality; utilities; asbestos; polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs); radon; lead-based paint; cultural resources; floodplains; and natural/biological resources. Each of these factors is evaluated separately in Section 5, Findings for Subject Property. The property categorization for this subject property would be considered Category 1- “An area or real property where no storage, release, or disposal of hazardous substances or petroleum products or their derivatives has occurred into the environment or structures or disposed on the subject property (including no migration of these substances from adjacent properties).” There appears to be sufficient information to categorize the subject property and it appears that no further effort needs to be made to obtain additional information. There are no findings of an adverse nature on the subject property itself or from adjacent properties. It is recommended that the proposed transfer of the subject property from the USAF to DOE proceed.« less

Modified natural cycle versus controlled ovarian hyperstimulation IVF: a cost-effectiveness evaluation of three simulated treatment scenarios.

PubMed

Groen, Henk; Tonch, Nino; Simons, Arnold H M; van der Veen, Fulco; Hoek, Annemieke; Land, Jolande A

2013-12-01

Can modified natural cycle IVF or ICSI (MNC) be a cost-effective alternative for controlled ovarian hyperstimulation IVF or ICSI (COH)? The comparison of simulated scenarios indicates that a strategy of three to six cycles of MNC with minimized medication is a cost-effective alternative for one cycle of COH with strict application of single embryo transfer (SET). MNC is cheaper per cycle than COH but also less effective in terms of live birth rate (LBR). However, strict application of SET in COH cycles reduces effectiveness and up to three MNC cycles can be performed at the same costs as one COH cycle. The cost-effectiveness of MNC versus COH was evaluated in three simulated treatment scenarios: three cycles of MNC versus one cycle of COH with SET or double embryo transfer (DET) and subsequent transfer of cryopreserved embryos (Scenario 1); six cycles of MNC versus one cycle of COH with strictly SET and subsequent transfer of cryopreserved embryos (Scenario 2); six cycles of MNC with minimized medication (hCG ovulation trigger only) versus one cycle of COH with SET or DET and subsequent transfer of cryopreserved embryos (Scenario 3). We used baseline data obtained from two retrospective cohorts of consecutive patients (2005-2008) undergoing MNC in the University Medical Center Groningen (n = 499, maximum six cycles per patient) or their first COH cycle with subsequent transfer of cryopreserved embryos in the Academic Medical Center Amsterdam (n = 392). Data from 1994 MNC cycles (958 MNC-IVF and 1036 MNC-ICSI) and 392 fresh COH cycles (one per patient, 196 COH-IVF and 196 COH-ICSI) with subsequent transfer of cryopreserved embryos (n = 72 and n = 94 in MNC and COH cycles, respectively) in ovulatory, subfertile women <36 years of age served as baseline for the three simulated scenarios. To compare the scenarios, the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was calculated, defined as the ratio of the difference in IVF costs up to 6 weeks postpartum to the difference in LBR. Live birth was the primary outcome measure and was defined as the birth of at least one living child after a gestation of ≥25 weeks. In the baseline data, MNC was not cost-effective, as COH dominated MNC with a higher cumulative LBR (27.0 versus 24.0%) and lower cost per patient (€3694 versus €5254). The simulations showed that in scenario 1 three instead of six cycles lowered the costs of MNC to below the level of COH (€3390 versus €3694, respectively), but also lowered the LBR per patient (from 24.0 to 16.2%, respectively); Scenario 2: COH with strict SET was less effective than six cycles MNC (LBR 17.5 versus 24.0%, respectively), but also less expensive per patient (€2908) than MNC (€5254); Scenario 3: improved the cost-effectiveness of MNC but COH still dominated MNC when medication was minimized in terms of costs, i.e. €855 difference in favor of COH and 3% difference in LBR in favor of COH (ICER: €855/-3.0%). Owing to the retrospective nature of the study, the analyses required some assumptions, for example regarding the costs of pregnancy and delivery, which had to be based on the literature rather than on individual data. Furthermore, costs of IVF treatment were based on tariffs and not on actual costs. Although this may limit the external generalizability of the results, the limitations will influence both treatments equally, and would therefore not bias the comparison of MNC versus COH. The combined results suggest that MNC with minimized medication might be a cost-effective alternative for COH with strict SET. The scenarios reflect realistic alternatives for daily clinical practice. A preference for MNC depends on the willingness to trade off effectiveness in terms of LBR against the benefits of a milder stimulation regimen, including a very low rate of multiple pregnancies and hyperstimulation syndrome and ensuing lower costs per live birth. The study was supported by research grants from Merck Serono and Ferring Pharmaceuticals. The authors declare no conflicts of interest. Not applicable.

Anxiolytic effects of phosphodiesterase-2 inhibitors associated with increased cGMP signaling.

PubMed

Masood, Anbrin; Huang, Ying; Hajjhussein, Hassan; Xiao, Lan; Li, Hao; Wang, Wei; Hamza, Adel; Zhan, Chang-Guo; O'Donnell, James M

2009-11-01

Phosphodiesterase (PDE)-2 is a component of the nitric-oxide synthase (NOS)/guanylyl cyclase signaling pathway in the brain. Given recent evidence that pharmacologically induced changes in NO-cGMP signaling can affect anxiety-related behaviors, the effects of the PDE2 inhibitors (2-(3,4-dimethoxybenzyl)-7-det-5-methylimidazo-[5,1-f][1,2,4]triazin-4(3H)-one) (Bay 60-7550) and 3-(8-methoxy-1-methyl-2-oxo-7-phenyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[e][1,4]diazepin-5-yl)benzamide (ND7001), as well as modulators of NO, were assessed on cGMP signaling in neurons and on the behavior of mice in the elevated plus-maze, hole-board, and open-field tests, well established procedures for the evaluation of anxiolytics. Bay 60-7550 (1 microM) and ND7001 (10 microM) increased basal and N-methyl-d-aspartate- or detanonoate-stimulated cGMP in primary cultures of rat cerebral cortical neurons; Bay 60-7550, but not ND7001, also increased cAMP. Increased cGMP signaling, either by administration of the PDE2 inhibitors Bay 60-7550 (0.5, 1, and 3 mg/kg) or ND7001 (1 mg/kg), or the NO donor detanonoate (0.5 mg/kg), antagonized the anxiogenic effects of restraint stress on behavior in the three tests. These drugs also produced anxiolytic effects on behavior in nonstressed mice in the elevated plus-maze and hole-board tests; these effects were antagonized by the guanylyl cyclase inhibitor 1H-[1,2,4]oxadiazolo[4,3-a]quinoxalin-1-one (20 mg/kg). By contrast, the NOS inhibitor N(omega)-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (50 mg/kg), which reduces cGMP signaling, produced anxiogenic effects similar to restraint stress. Overall, the present behavioral and neurochemical data suggest that PDE2 may be a novel pharmacological target for the development of drugs for the treatment of anxiety disorders.

An Evaluation of DOE-EM Public Participation Programs

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

Bradbury, Judith A.; Branch, Kristi M.; Malone, Elizabeth L.

This report evaluates the scope and effectiveness of the public participation pr ograms, including Site-Specific Advisory Boards (SSABs), at seven U.S. Departmen t of Energy (DOE) sites: Fernald, Hanford, Los Alamos, Nevada, Oak Ridge, Paduc ah, and Savannah River. The primary purpose of the study is to assist both DOE Field and Headquarters managers in reviewing and understanding lessons learned o ver the past decade concerning public participation programs administered by the DOE Office of Environmental Management (EM). The evaluation provides a snapsh ot of selected EM public participation programs at a particular point of time. It is based onmore » interviews and site visits conducted between January and June 200 2- a time of change within the program. The study focuses on public participati on programs that incorporate a variety of activities and address a wide range of individual site activities and decisions. It uses the Acceptability Diamond as an evaluative framework to answer questions about stakeholders' experiences wit h, and assessment of, DOE-EM's public participation programs. The Acceptability Diamond, which was developed by researchers from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in previous research, identifies four program dimensions - substanti ve issues, decision-making process, relationships, and accountability - that det ermine the effectiveness of an agency's interactions with local communities. Es sentially, a public participation program may be deemed effective to the extent that it provides for open disclosure and addresses all four acceptability dimens ions in ways that are appropriate and effective for a particular community and s ituation. This framework provides a guide for agencies to 1) set objectives, 2) design public participation and oversight programs, and 3) set criteria for eva luating program effectiveness. In the current study, where the framework is use d as a means of assessing program effectiveness, the focus is on stakeholders' p erspectives of public participation: on the nature of DOE-EM's public disclosure and the four interrelated dimensions of DOE-EM's interactions with its neighbor ing communities« less

Move! - a deep Ocean Underwater Robot for Bio-Geochemical Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Waldmann, C.; Epping, E.; Move! Team

2003-04-01

Within the framework of the binationally funded project MOVE! the partners from the Netherlands and Germany are pursuing the development of a versatile, autonomous vehicle for benthic research. The system acts as a modular platform for different scientific sensors and by moving on the sea floor will allow for taking measurements at defined locations. By combining acoustical navigation methods with other new position tracking devices an accurate positioning can be achieved. Both the vehicle subsystems and the scientific sensors will be powered by a dedicated energy source. The scientific application lies in the area of multidisciplinary studies (physics, chemistry, sedimentology and biology) with an emphasis on element cycling in marine sediments and benthic boundary layer from coastal areas to deep sea. Application of the vehicle should enable timed monitoring and experimentation to study temporal dynamics in forcing and effects, and allow for multiple sites to be studied in a single area to cover spatial variability. Typical experiments would require (1) enclosing an area of sediment and overlying water to monitor the chemical exchange between sediment and water to study the actual base line activities (2) manipulation of the sediment-overlying water by adding dissolved substances or particulate substances (food+ inert tracers) and the subsequent monitoring of overlying water chemistry (oxygen, DIC, pH, nitrate, ammonium, silicate) in order to assess biological responses to chemical disturbances. Sediments should be recovered after the experiment. (3)The monitoring of pore water chemistry by use of microelectrodes and HR-DET probes baseline and after addition in preceding chamber experiment (requires careful repositioning with high accuracy or a combined chamber-profiling unit) (4) Injection of labeled organic and inorganic substrates in the sediment and recovery of sediment cores in order to measure specific activities and to disentangle trophic relationships within sediments. The presentation will explain details of the design concept and how the envisaged scientific goals will be reached.

Heterogeneity in c-jun gene expression in normal and malignant cells exposed to either ionizing radiation or hydrogen peroxide

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

Collart, F.R.; Horio, M.; Huberman, E.

1995-05-01

We investigated the role of reactive oxygen intermediates and protein kinase C in the induction of expression of the c-jun gene in human ML-2 leukemic cells and normal human DET-551 fibroblasts by comparing the effects of exposure to either ionizing radiation or H{sub 2}O{sub 2} in the presence or absence of appropriate inhibitors. In these cell types, the radiation-and H{sub 2}O{sub 2}-mediated increase in c-jun mRNA levels could be prevented by pretreatment of the cells with N-acetylcysteine, and antioxidant, or H7, an inhibitor of protein kinase C and protein kinase A, but not by HA1004, a specific inhibitor of proteinmore » kinase A and G. These results suggest a role for protein kinase C and reactive oxygen intermediates in the induction of c-jun gene expression in both normal and tumor cells. We also investigated potential differences in c-jun gene expression induced by radiation or H{sub 2}O{sub 2} in normal and tumor cells by examining steady-state c-jun mRNA levels in a number of human fibroblast, leukemia, melanoma, sarcoma and carcinoma cell types. We observed heterogeneity in the steady-state level of c-jun mRNA in both the untreated normal and tumor cells and in such cells exposed to ionizing radiation or to H{sub 2}O{sub 2}. Exposure to radiation produced a varied response which ranged from little or no induction to an increase in the steady-state level of the c-jun mRNA of more than two orders of magnitude. Exposure to H{sub 2}O{sub 2} gave a pattern similar to that of ionizing radiation. The basis for the differential induction in response to these agents may be attributable to either cell lineage or genetic heterogeneity or a combination of these two parameters. 30 refs., 7 figs., 1 tab.« less

Longitudinal Cognitive Profiles in Diabetes: Results From the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center's Uniform Data.

PubMed

Sano, Mary; Zhu, Carolyn W; Grossman, Hillel; Schimming, Corbett

2017-10-01

Diabetes is a risk factor for the development of cognitive impairment and possibly for accelerated progression to Alzheimer disease (AD) and other dementias, though the trajectory of cognitive decline in general and in specfic cognitive domains by diabetes is unclear. Using the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center's Uniform Data Det (NACC-UDS) to identify cohorts of elders with normal cognition (N = 7,663) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI, N = 4,114), we compared overall cognitive composite and domain specific sub-scores and their progression over time between diabetic and non-diabetic subjects. Diabetes was more common among those with MCI (14.7%) than among subjects who were cognitively normal (11.7%). In subjects who were cognitively normal, baseline cognitive composite scores, attention, and executive function sub-scores were lower in diabetics than non-diabetics (by 0.098, 0.066, and 0.015 points, respectively). Over time, cognitive composite score showed subtle worsening in non-diabetics (0.025 points every 6 months), with an additional worsening of 0.01 points every 6 months in diabetics compared to non-diabetics. In the MCI groups, baseline cognitive composite as well as attention and executive domain sub-scores were lower in diabetics than non-diabetics (by 0.078, 0.092, and 0.032 points, respectively). Over time, cognitive composite (by 0.103 points every 6 months) and all domain specific sub-scores showed subtle worsening in non-diabetics, but diabetics had significantly slower worsening than non-diabetics on both cognitive composite (by 0.028 points) and domain specific sub-scores. Among elders, diabetes may be associated with lower cognitive performance, primarily in non-memory domains. However it is not associated with continued worsening, suggesting a static deficit with minimal memory involvement. This data suggest that diabetes may contribute more to a vascular profile of cognitive impairment than a profile more typical of AD. Published 2017. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Structural and Biochemical Characterization of Organotin and Organolead Compounds Binding to the Organomercurial Lyase MerB Provide New Insights into Its Mechanism of Carbon–Metal Bond Cleavage

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

Wahba, Haytham M.; Stevenson, Michael J.; Mansour, Ahmed

2017-01-03

The organomercurial lyase MerB has the unique ability to cleave carbon–Hg bonds, and structural studies indicate that three residues in the active site (C96, D99, and C159 in E. coli MerB) play important roles in the carbon–Hg bond cleavage. However, the role of each residue in carbon–metal bond cleavage has not been well-defined. To do so, we have structurally and biophysically characterized the interaction of MerB with a series of organotin and organolead compounds. Studies with two known inhibitors of MerB, dimethyltin (DMT) and triethyltin (TET), reveal that they inhibit by different mechanisms. In both cases the initial binding ismore » to D99, but DMT subsequently binds to C96, which induces a conformation change in the active site. In contrast, diethyltin (DET) is a substrate for MerB and the SnIV product remains bound in the active site in a coordination similar to that of HgII following cleavage of organomercurial compounds. The results with analogous organolead compounds are similar in that trimethyllead (TML) is not cleaved and binds only to D99, whereas diethyllead (DEL) is a substrate and the PbIV product remains bound in the active site. Binding and cleavage is an exothermic reaction, while binding to D99 has negligible net heat flow. These results show that initial binding of organometallic compounds to MerB occurs at D99 followed, in some cases, by cleavage and loss of the organic moieties and binding of the metal ion product to C96, D99, and C159. The N-terminus of MerA is able to extract the bound PbVI but not the bound SnIV. These results suggest that MerB could be utilized for bioremediation applications, but certain organolead and organotin compounds may present an obstacle by inhibiting the enzyme.« less

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

Yuan, Bing; Bernstein, Elliot R., E-mail: erb@lamar.colostate.edu

Unimolecular decomposition of nitrogen-rich energetic molecules 1,2-bis(1H-tetrazol-1-yl)ethane (1-DTE), 1,2-bis(1H-tetrazol-5-yl)ethane (5-DET), N,N-bis(1H-tetrazol-5-yl)amine (BTA), and 5,5’-bis(tetrazolyl)hydrazine (BTH) has been explored via 283 nm two photon laser excitation. The maximum absorption wavelength in the UV-vis spectra of all four materials is around 186–222 nm. The N{sub 2} molecule, with a cold rotational temperature (<30 K), is observed as an initial decomposition product from the four molecules, subsequent to UV excitation. Initial decomposition mechanisms for these four electronically excited isolated molecules are explored at the complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) level. Potential energy surface calculations at the CASSCF(12,8)/6-31G(d) level illustrate that conical intersectionsmore » play an essential role in the decomposition mechanism. The tetrazole ring opens on the S{sub 1} excited state and through conical intersections (S{sub 1}/S{sub 0}){sub CI}, N{sub 2} product is formed on the ground state potential energy surface without rotational excitation. The tetrazole rings of all four energetic molecules open at the N1—N2 ring bond with the lowest energy barrier: the C—N bond opening has higher energy barrier than that for any of the N—N ring bonds. Therefore, the tetrazole rings open at their N—N bonds to release N{sub 2}. The vibrational temperatures of N{sub 2} product from all four energetic materials are hot based on theoretical calculations. The different groups (CH{sub 2}—CH{sub 2}, NH—NH, and NH) joining the tetrazole rings can cause apparent differences in explosive behavior of 1-DTE, 5-DTE, BTA, and BTH. Conical intersections, non-Born-Oppenheimer interactions, and dynamics are the key features for excited electronic state chemistry of organic molecules, in general, and energetic molecules, in particular.« less

Streak detection and analysis pipeline for space-debris optical images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Virtanen, Jenni; Poikonen, Jonne; Säntti, Tero; Komulainen, Tuomo; Torppa, Johanna; Granvik, Mikael; Muinonen, Karri; Pentikäinen, Hanna; Martikainen, Julia; Näränen, Jyri; Lehti, Jussi; Flohrer, Tim

2016-04-01

We describe a novel data-processing and analysis pipeline for optical observations of moving objects, either of natural (asteroids, meteors) or artificial origin (satellites, space debris). The monitoring of the space object populations requires reliable acquisition of observational data, to support the development and validation of population models and to build and maintain catalogues of orbital elements. The orbital catalogues are, in turn, needed for the assessment of close approaches (for asteroids, with the Earth; for satellites, with each other) and for the support of contingency situations or launches. For both types of populations, there is also increasing interest to detect fainter objects corresponding to the small end of the size distribution. The ESA-funded StreakDet (streak detection and astrometric reduction) activity has aimed at formulating and discussing suitable approaches for the detection and astrometric reduction of object trails, or streaks, in optical observations. Our two main focuses are objects in lower altitudes and space-based observations (i.e., high angular velocities), resulting in long (potentially curved) and faint streaks in the optical images. In particular, we concentrate on single-image (as compared to consecutive frames of the same field) and low-SNR detection of objects. Particular attention has been paid to the process of extraction of all necessary information from one image (segmentation), and subsequently, to efficient reduction of the extracted data (classification). We have developed an automated streak detection and processing pipeline and demonstrated its performance with an extensive database of semisynthetic images simulating streak observations both from ground-based and space-based observing platforms. The average processing time per image is about 13 s for a typical 2k-by-2k image. For long streaks (length >100 pixels), primary targets of the pipeline, the detection sensitivity (true positives) is about 90% for both scenarios for the bright streaks (SNR > 1), while in the low-SNR regime, the sensitivity is still 50% at SNR = 0.5 .

A Probabilistic Approach to Network Event Formation from Pre-Processed Waveform Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kohl, B. C.; Given, J.

2017-12-01

The current state of the art for seismic event detection still largely depends on signal detection at individual sensor stations, including picking accurate arrivals times and correctly identifying phases, and relying on fusion algorithms to associate individual signal detections to form event hypotheses. But increasing computational capability has enabled progress toward the objective of fully utilizing body-wave recordings in an integrated manner to detect events without the necessity of previously recorded ground truth events. In 2011-2012 Leidos (then SAIC) operated a seismic network to monitor activity associated with geothermal field operations in western Nevada. We developed a new association approach for detecting and quantifying events by probabilistically combining pre-processed waveform data to deal with noisy data and clutter at local distance ranges. The ProbDet algorithm maps continuous waveform data into continuous conditional probability traces using a source model (e.g. Brune earthquake or Mueller-Murphy explosion) to map frequency content and an attenuation model to map amplitudes. Event detection and classification is accomplished by combining the conditional probabilities from the entire network using a Bayesian formulation. This approach was successful in producing a high-Pd, low-Pfa automated bulletin for a local network and preliminary tests with regional and teleseismic data show that it has promise for global seismic and nuclear monitoring applications. The approach highlights several features that we believe are essential to achieving low-threshold automated event detection: Minimizes the utilization of individual seismic phase detections - in traditional techniques, errors in signal detection, timing, feature measurement and initial phase ID compound and propagate into errors in event formation, Has a formalized framework that utilizes information from non-detecting stations, Has a formalized framework that utilizes source information, in particular the spectral characteristics of events of interest, Is entirely model-based, i.e. does not rely on a priori's - particularly important for nuclear monitoring, Does not rely on individualized signal detection thresholds - it's the network solution that matters.

Transcriptome-Mining for Single-Copy Nuclear Markers in Ferns

PubMed Central

Rothfels, Carl J.; Larsson, Anders; Li, Fay-Wei; Sigel, Erin M.; Huiet, Layne; Burge, Dylan O.; Ruhsam, Markus; Graham, Sean W.; Stevenson, Dennis W.; Wong, Gane Ka-Shu; Korall, Petra; Pryer, Kathleen M.

2013-01-01

Background Molecular phylogenetic investigations have revolutionized our understanding of the evolutionary history of ferns—the second-most species-rich major group of vascular plants, and the sister clade to seed plants. The general absence of genomic resources available for this important group of plants, however, has resulted in the strong dependence of these studies on plastid data; nuclear or mitochondrial data have been rarely used. In this study, we utilize transcriptome data to design primers for nuclear markers for use in studies of fern evolutionary biology, and demonstrate the utility of these markers across the largest order of ferns, the Polypodiales. Principal Findings We present 20 novel single-copy nuclear regions, across 10 distinct protein-coding genes: ApPEFP_C, cryptochrome 2, cryptochrome 4, DET1, gapCpSh, IBR3, pgiC, SQD1, TPLATE, and transducin. These loci, individually and in combination, show strong resolving power across the Polypodiales phylogeny, and are readily amplified and sequenced from our genomic DNA test set (from 15 diploid Polypodiales species). For each region, we also present transcriptome alignments of the focal locus and related paralogs—curated broadly across ferns—that will allow researchers to develop their own primer sets for fern taxa outside of the Polypodiales. Analyses of sequence data generated from our genomic DNA test set reveal strong effects of partitioning schemes on support levels and, to a much lesser extent, on topology. A model partitioned by codon position is strongly favored, and analyses of the combined data yield a Polypodiales phylogeny that is well-supported and consistent with earlier studies of this group. Conclusions The 20 single-copy regions presented here more than triple the single-copy nuclear regions available for use in ferns. They provide a much-needed opportunity to assess plastid-derived hypotheses of relationships within the ferns, and increase our capacity to explore aspects of fern evolution previously unavailable to scientific investigation. PMID:24116189

Exploring the heat-responsive chaperones and microsatellite markers associated with terminal heat stress tolerance in developing wheat.

PubMed

Kumar, Ranjeet R; Goswami, Suneha; Shamim, Mohammad; Dubey, Kavita; Singh, Khushboo; Singh, Shweta; Kala, Yugal K; Niraj, Ravi R K; Sakhrey, Akshay; Singh, Gyanendra P; Grover, Monendra; Singh, Bhupinder; Rai, Gyanendra K; Rai, Anil K; Chinnusamy, Viswanathan; Praveen, Shelly

2017-11-01

Global warming is a major threat for agriculture and food security, and in many cases the negative impacts are already apparent. Wheat is one of the most important staple food crops and is highly sensitive to the heat stress (HS) during reproductive and grain-filling stages. Here, whole transcriptome analysis of thermotolerant wheat cv. HD2985 was carried out at the post-anthesis stage under control (22 ± 3 °C) and HS-treated (42 °C, 2 h) conditions using Illumina Hiseq and Roche GS-FLX 454 platforms. We assembled ~24 million (control) and ~23 million (HS-treated) high-quality trimmed reads using different assemblers with optimal parameters. De novo assembly yielded 52,567 (control) and 59,658 (HS-treated) unigenes. We observed 785 transcripts to be upregulated and 431 transcripts to be downregulated under HS; 78 transcripts showed >10-fold upregulation such as HSPs, metabolic pathway-related genes, etc. Maximum number of upregulated genes was observed to be associated with processes such as HS-response, protein-folding, oxidation-reduction and photosynthesis. We identified 2008 and 2483 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) markers from control and HS-treated samples; 243 SSRs were observed to be overlying on stress-associated genes. Polymorphic study validated four SSRs to be heat-responsive in nature. Expression analysis of identified differentially expressed transcripts (DETs) showed very high fold increase in the expression of catalytic chaperones (HSP26, HSP17, and Rca) in contrasting wheat cvs. HD2985 and HD2329 under HS. We observed positive correlation between RNA-seq and qRT-PCR expression data. The present study culminated in greater understanding of the heat-response of tolerant genotype and has provided good candidate genes for the marker development and screening of wheat germplasm for thermotolerance.

Design and experimental testing of air slab caps which convert commercial electron diodes into dual purpose, correction-free diodes for small field dosimetry

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

Charles, P. H., E-mail: paulcharles111@gmail.com; Cranmer-Sargison, G.; Thwaites, D. I.

2014-10-15

Purpose: Two diodes which do not require correction factors for small field relative output measurements are designed and validated using experimental methodology. This was achieved by adding an air layer above the active volume of the diode detectors, which canceled out the increase in response of the diodes in small fields relative to standard field sizes. Methods: Due to the increased density of silicon and other components within a diode, additional electrons are created. In very small fields, a very small air gap acts as an effective filter of electrons with a high angle of incidence. The aim was tomore » design a diode that balanced these perturbations to give a response similar to a water-only geometry. Three thicknesses of air were placed at the proximal end of a PTW 60017 electron diode (PTWe) using an adjustable “air cap”. A set of output ratios (OR{sub Det}{sup f{sub c}{sub l}{sub i}{sub n}}) for square field sizes of side length down to 5 mm was measured using each air thickness and compared to OR{sub Det}{sup f{sub c}{sub l}{sub i}{sub n}} measured using an IBA stereotactic field diode (SFD). k{sub Q{sub c{sub l{sub i{sub n,Q{sub m{sub s{sub r}{sup f{sub c}{sub l}{sub i}{sub n},f{sub m}{sub s}{sub r}}}}}}}}} was transferred from the SFD to the PTWe diode and plotted as a function of air gap thickness for each field size. This enabled the optimal air gap thickness to be obtained by observing which thickness of air was required such that k{sub Q{sub c{sub l{sub i{sub n,Q{sub m{sub s{sub r}{sup f{sub c}{sub l}{sub i}{sub n},f{sub m}{sub s}{sub r}}}}}}}}} was equal to 1.00 at all field sizes. A similar procedure was used to find the optimal air thickness required to make a modified Sun Nuclear EDGE detector (EDGEe) which is “correction-free” in small field relative dosimetry. In addition, the feasibility of experimentally transferring k{sub Q{sub c{sub l{sub i{sub n,Q{sub m{sub s{sub r}{sup f{sub c}{sub l}{sub i}{sub n},f{sub m}{sub s}{sub r}}}}}}}}} values from the SFD to unknown diodes was tested by comparing the experimentally transferred k{sub Q{sub c{sub l{sub i{sub n,Q{sub m{sub s{sub r}{sup f{sub c}{sub l}{sub i}{sub n},f{sub m}{sub s}{sub r}}}}}}}}} values for unmodified PTWe and EDGEe diodes to Monte Carlo simulated values. Results: 1.0 mm of air was required to make the PTWe diode correction-free. This modified diode (PTWe{sub air}) produced output factors equivalent to those in water at all field sizes (5–50 mm). The optimal air thickness required for the EDGEe diode was found to be 0.6 mm. The modified diode (EDGEe{sub air}) produced output factors equivalent to those in water, except at field sizes of 8 and 10 mm where it measured approximately 2% greater than the relative dose to water. The experimentally calculated k{sub Q{sub c{sub l{sub i{sub n,Q{sub m{sub s{sub r}{sup f{sub c}{sub l}{sub i}{sub n},f{sub m}{sub s}{sub r}}}}}}}}} for both the PTWe and the EDGEe diodes (without air) matched Monte Carlo simulated results, thus proving that it is feasible to transfer k{sub Q{sub c{sub l{sub i{sub n,Q{sub m{sub s{sub r}{sup f{sub c}{sub l}{sub i}{sub n},f{sub m}{sub s}{sub r}}}}}}}}} from one commercially available detector to another using experimental methods and the recommended experimental setup. Conclusions: It is possible to create a diode which does not require corrections for small field output factor measurements. This has been performed and verified experimentally. The ability of a detector to be “correction-free” depends strongly on its design and composition. A nonwater-equivalent detector can only be “correction-free” if competing perturbations of the beam cancel out at all field sizes. This should not be confused with true water equivalency of a detector.« less

Solar Radio Burst Effects and Meteor Effects: Operational Products Under Development at the Joint SMC-AFRL Rapid Prototyping Center

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quigley, S.

2002-05-01

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL/VSB) and Detachment 11, Space & Missile Systems Center (SMC, Det 11/CIT) have combined efforts to design, develop, test, and implement graphical products for the Air Force's space weather operations center. These products are generated to analyze, specify, and forecast the effects of the near-earth space environment on Department of Defense systems and communications. Jointly-developed products that will be added to real-time operations in the near future include a solar radio background and burst effects (SoRBE) product suite, and a meteor effects (ME) product suite. The SoRBE product addresses the effect of background and event-level solar radio output on operational DoD systems. Strong bursts of radio wave emissions given off by the sun during solar ``events'' can detrimentally affect radar and satellite communication systems that have operational receiving geometries within the field of view of the sun. For some systems, even the background radiation from the sun can produce effects. The radio frequency interference (RFI) of interest occurs on VHF, UHF, and SHF frequency bands, usually lasting several minutes during a solar flare. While such effects are limited in time and area (typically a few degrees in viewing angle), they can be quite severe in magnitude. The result can be a significant lack in a radar system's ability to detect and/or track an object, and loss of a communication system's ability to receive satellite signals. The ME product will address the detrimental effects of meteors on operational DoD systems. These include impacts on satellites, visible trail observations, and radar clutter. While certain types of individual meteors can produce system effects, the initial ME product will address the more generalized range of meteor shower activity and associated affects. These effects can result in damage to satellites, incorrect assessment of satellite sensor observations, and false target returns on radar systems. For both of these products, we describe the background science and operational history; along with product inputs, outputs, dissemination, and customer uses.

Phosphorus losses from agricultural land to natural waters are reduced by immobilization in iron-rich sediments of drainage ditches.

PubMed

Baken, Stijn; Verbeeck, Mieke; Verheyen, Dries; Diels, Jan; Smolders, Erik

2015-03-15

Redox reactions involving iron (Fe) strongly affect the mobility of phosphorus (P) and its migration from agricultural land to freshwater. We studied the transfer of P from groundwater to open drainage ditches in an area where, due to Fe(II) rich groundwater, the sediments of these ditches contain accumulated Fe oxyhydroxides. The average P concentrations in the groundwater feeding two out of three studied drainage ditches exceeded environmental limits for freshwaters by factors 11 and 16, but after passing through the Fe-rich sediments, the P concentrations in the ditch water were below these limits. In order to identify the processes which govern Fe and P mobility in these systems, we used diffusive equilibration in thin films (DET) to measure the vertical concentration profiles of P and Fe in the sediment pore water and in the ditchwater. The Fe concentrations in the sediment pore water ranged between 10 and 200 mg L(-1) and exceeded those in the inflowing groundwater by approximately one order of magnitude, due to reductive dissolution of Fe oxyhydroxides in the sediment. The dissolved P concentrations only marginally increased between groundwater and sediment pore water. In the poorly mixed ditchwater, the dissolved Fe concentrations decreased towards the water surface due to oxidative precipitation of fresh Fe oxyhydroxides, and the P concentrations decreased more sharply than those of Fe. These observations support the view that the dynamics of Fe and P are governed by reduction reactions in the sediment and by oxidation reactions in the ditchwater. In the sediment, reductive dissolution of P-containing Fe oxyhydroxides causes more efficient solubilization of Fe than of P, likely because P is buffered by adsorption on residual Fe oxyhydroxides. Conversely, in the ditchwater, oxidative precipitation causes more efficient immobilization of P than of Fe, due to ferric phosphate formation. The combination of these processes yields a natural and highly efficient sink for P. It is concluded that, in Fe-rich systems, the fate of P at the sediment-water interface is determined by reduction and oxidation of Fe. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Catalogue of Radio Stars (Wendker, 2001)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wendker, H. J.

2015-06-01

The first version of this catalogue was published in Abh.Hamburger Sternw. 1978, Vol.10, p 1ff. (CDS Catalogue II/129). A second version was published in 1987 (1987A&AS...69...87W) and microfiches (CDS Catalogue II/147). A third version was published 1995A&AS..109..177W (CDS Catalogue II/199). The basic concept of the earlier versions is preserved (in file "catalog.txt"), namely one entry per star per frequency per paper. Space is now provided, however, to add more informations. These may be of technical or astronomical nature. Usually month and year of observation and the number of independent data points or length of monitoring session are given. In the file "catalog.txt", all radio data are preceded by a header which contains information on the star or stellar system. (Note, that a physical stellar system is regarded as one single entry and that comments pertaining to individual components are found directly behind the observational data). Stellar data like names, position, proper motion, magnitudes and spectroscopic types are given in fixed format in a self-explanatory fashion. It is tried to have typical values from commonly available references. It is not intended to compete here with other compilations. These header informations are collected when the star is entered for the first time. They are only changed when new values are available while additional radio references are added. An arbitrarily expandable section for unformatted text finishes the header. Finally, the units of the radio data remain in MHz (column#1) and mJy (columns #2. and #3). All coordinates refer to epoch and equinox 1950.0 (e.g. B1950). This is a so-called merged version e.g. all stars, those detected at least once and those with upper limits only, are listed in order of ascending right ascension. The detected stars are marked with a "D" in the outermost right hand column in lines 1 to 5 ('D' in column "Det" of the file "stars.dat"). The last updating occurred on 2001-Mar-06. In this version stars have new running numbers. (4 data files).

Optimal Hydrophobicity in Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization-Based Protein Mimics Required for siRNA Internalization.

PubMed

deRonde, Brittany M; Posey, Nicholas D; Otter, Ronja; Caffrey, Leah M; Minter, Lisa M; Tew, Gregory N

2016-06-13

Exploring the role of polymer structure for the internalization of biologically relevant cargo, specifically siRNA, is of critical importance to the development of improved delivery reagents. Herein, we report guanidinium-rich protein transduction domain mimics (PTDMs) based on a ring-opening metathesis polymerization scaffold containing tunable hydrophobic moieties that promote siRNA internalization. Structure-activity relationships using Jurkat T cells and HeLa cells were explored to determine how the length of the hydrophobic block and the hydrophobic side chain compositions of these PTDMs impacted siRNA internalization. To explore the hydrophobic block length, two different series of diblock copolymers were synthesized: one series with symmetric block lengths and one with asymmetric block lengths. At similar cationic block lengths, asymmetric and symmetric PTDMs promoted siRNA internalization in the same percentages of the cell population regardless of the hydrophobic block length; however, with 20 repeat units of cationic charge, the asymmetric block length had greater siRNA internalization, highlighting the nontrivial relationships between hydrophobicity and overall cationic charge. To further probe how the hydrophobic side chains impacted siRNA internalization, an additional series of asymmetric PTDMs was synthesized that featured a fixed hydrophobic block length of five repeat units that contained either dimethyl (dMe), methyl phenyl (MePh), or diphenyl (dPh) side chains and varied cationic block lengths. This series was further expanded to incorporate hydrophobic blocks consisting of diethyl (dEt), diisobutyl (diBu), and dicyclohexyl (dCy) based repeat units to better define the hydrophobic window for which our PTDMs had optimal activity. High-performance liquid chromatography retention times quantified the relative hydrophobicities of the noncationic building blocks. PTDMs containing the MePh, diBu, and dPh hydrophobic blocks were shown to have superior siRNA internalization capabilities compared to their more and less hydrophobic counterparts, demonstrating a critical window of relative hydrophobicity for optimal internalization. This better understanding of how hydrophobicity impacts PTDM-induced internalization efficiencies will help guide the development of future delivery reagents.

Homoacetogenesis in Deep-Sea Chloroflexi, as Inferred by Single-Cell Genomics, Provides a Link to Reductive Dehalogenation in Terrestrial Dehalococcoidetes

PubMed Central

Sewell, Holly L.; Kaster, Anne-Kristin

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT The deep marine subsurface is one of the largest unexplored biospheres on Earth and is widely inhabited by members of the phylum Chloroflexi. In this report, we investigated genomes of single cells obtained from deep-sea sediments of the Peruvian Margin, which are enriched in such Chloroflexi. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis placed two of these single-cell-derived genomes (DscP3 and Dsc4) in a clade of subphylum I Chloroflexi which were previously recovered from deep-sea sediment in the Okinawa Trough and a third (DscP2-2) as a member of the previously reported DscP2 population from Peruvian Margin site 1230. The presence of genes encoding enzymes of a complete Wood-Ljungdahl pathway, glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, a Rhodobacter nitrogen fixation (Rnf) complex, glyosyltransferases, and formate dehydrogenases in the single-cell genomes of DscP3 and Dsc4 and the presence of an NADH-dependent reduced ferredoxin:NADP oxidoreductase (Nfn) and Rnf in the genome of DscP2-2 imply a homoacetogenic lifestyle of these abundant marine Chloroflexi. We also report here the first complete pathway for anaerobic benzoate oxidation to acetyl coenzyme A (CoA) in the phylum Chloroflexi (DscP3 and Dsc4), including a class I benzoyl-CoA reductase. Of remarkable evolutionary significance, we discovered a gene encoding a formate dehydrogenase (FdnI) with reciprocal closest identity to the formate dehydrogenase-like protein (complex iron-sulfur molybdoenzyme [CISM], DET0187) of terrestrial Dehalococcoides/Dehalogenimonas spp. This formate dehydrogenase-like protein has been shown to lack formate dehydrogenase activity in Dehalococcoides/Dehalogenimonas spp. and is instead hypothesized to couple HupL hydrogenase to a reductive dehalogenase in the catabolic reductive dehalogenation pathway. This finding of a close functional homologue provides an important missing link for understanding the origin and the metabolic core of terrestrial Dehalococcoides/Dehalogenimonas spp. and of reductive dehalogenation, as well as the biology of abundant deep-sea Chloroflexi. PMID:29259088

Internal loading of phosphorus in a sedimentation pond of a treatment wetland: effect of a phytoplankton crash.

PubMed

Palmer-Felgate, Elizabeth J; Mortimer, Robert J G; Krom, Michael D; Jarvie, Helen P; Williams, Richard J; Spraggs, Rachael E; Stratford, Charlie J

2011-05-01

Sedimentation ponds are widely believed to act as a primary removal process for phosphorus (P) in nutrient treatment wetlands. High frequency in-situ P, ammonium (NH(4)(+)) and dissolved oxygen measurements, alongside occasional water quality measurements, assessed changes in nutrient concentrations and productivity in the sedimentation pond of a treatment wetland between March and June. Diffusive equilibrium in thin films (DET) probes were used to measure in-situ nutrient and chemistry pore-water profiles. Diffusive fluxes across the sediment-water interface were calculated from the pore-water profiles, and dissolved oxygen was used to calculate rates of primary productivity and respiration. The sedimentation pond was a net sink for total P (TP), soluble reactive P (SRP) and NH(4)(+) in March, but became subject to a net internal loading of TP, SRP and NH(4)(+) in May, with SRP concentrations increasing by up to 41μM (1300μl(-1)). Reductions in chlorophyll a and dissolved oxygen concentrations also occurred at this time. The sediment changed from a small net sink of SRP in March (average diffusive flux: -8.2μmolm(-2)day(-1)) to a net source of SRP in June (average diffusive flux: +1324μmolm(-2)day(-1)). A diurnal pattern in water column P concentrations, with maxima in the early hours of the morning, and minima in the afternoon, occurred during May. The diurnal pattern and release of SRP from the sediment were attributed to microbial degradation of diatom biomass, causing reduction of the dissolved oxygen concentration and leading to redox-dependent release of P from the sediment. In June, 2.7mol-Pday(-1) were removed by photosynthesis and 23mol-Pday(-1) were supplied by respiration in the lake volume. SRP was also released through microbial respiration within the water column, including the decomposition of algal matter. It is imperative that consideration to internal recycling is given when maintaining sedimentation ponds, and before the installation of new ponds designed to treat nutrient waste. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Production of long-term global water vapor and liquid water data set using ultra-fast methods to assimilate multi-satellite and radiosonde observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vonderhaar, T. H.; Reinke, Donald L.; Randel, David L.; Stephens, Graeme L.; Combs, Cynthia L.; Greenwald, Thomas J.; Ringerud, Mark A.; Wittmeyer, Ian L.

1993-01-01

During the next decade, many programs and experiments under the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) will utilize present day and future data sets to improve our understanding of the role of moisture in climate, and its interaction with other variables such as clouds and radiation. An important element of GEWEX will be the GEWEX Water Vapor Project (GVaP), which will eventually initiate a routine, real-time assimilation of the highest quality, global water vapor data sets including information gained from future data collection systems, both ground and space based. The comprehensive global water vapor data set being produced by METSAT Inc. uses a combination of ground-based radiosonde data, and infrared and microwave satellite retrievals. This data is needed to provide the desired foundation from which future GEWEX-related research, such as GVaP, can build. The first year of this project was designed to use a combination of the best available atmospheric moisture data including: radiosonde (balloon/acft/rocket), HIRS/MSU (TOVS) retrievals, and SSM/I retrievals, to produce a one-year, global, high resolution data set of integrated column water vapor (precipitable water) with a horizontal resolution of 1 degree, and a temporal resolution of one day. The time period of this pilot product was to be det3ermined by the availability of all the input data sets. January 1988 through December 1988 were selected. In addition, a sample of vertically integrated liquid water content (LWC) was to be produced with the same temporal and spatial parameters. This sample was to be produced over ocean areas only. Three main steps are followed to produce a merged water vapor and liquid water product. Input data from Radiosondes, TOVS, and SSMI/I is quality checked in steps one and two. Processing is done in step two to generate individual total column water vapor and liquid water data sets. The third step, and final processing task, involves merging the individual output products to produce the integrated water vapor product. A final quality control is applied to the merged data sets.