Statistical characteristics of locally generated ESF during equinoctial months over Sanya

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meng, Xing; Fang, Hanxian; Li, Guozhu; Weng, Libin

2018-05-01

Understanding the local generation rate of equatorial spread-F (ESF) is important for forecasting ionospheric scintillation. Using the GPS ionospheric scintillation/TEC and VHF radar data during March-April and September-October from 2010 to 2014, the occurrence of ionospheric scintillation, TEC fast fluctuation, and backscatter plume were studied. Through analyzing the simultaneous occurrence of ionospheric scintillation, TEC fast fluctuation and backscatter plume, the local generation rate of ESF over Sanya was investigated. The results show that the monthly generation rate varies between 0% and 68%. A significant equinoctial asymmetry of local generation rate of ESF can be found in 2010, 2013 and 2014. The local generation rate of ESF increases from 2010 to 2014 during March-April, while it does not have similar trend during September-October. The plasma vertical drift influenced by solar activity has a significant impact on the monthly generation rate. The equinoctial asymmetry of plasma vertical drift may contribute a lot to the equinoctial asymmetry of the generation rate of ESF.

Deterministic prediction of post-sunset ESF based on the strength and asymmetry of EIA from ground based TEC measurements: Preliminary results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thampi, Smitha V.; Ravindran, Sudha; Pant, Tarun Kumar; Devasia, C. V.; Sreelatha, P.; Sridharan, R.

2006-07-01

This paper provides the first observations of EIA asymmetry by receiving beacon transmissions onboard low earth orbiting satellites from a single station ground-based receiver. The EIA strength and asymmetry are derived from the latitudinal profiles of TEC obtained from a radio beacon receiver at Trivandrum (8.5°N, 77°E, diplat ~0.5°N). These two parameters, obtained well ahead of the onset time of ESF, are shown to have a definite role on the subsequent ESF activity. In the present paper, both these factors are combined to define a new `threshold parameter' for the generation of ESF. It has been shown that this parameter can define the state of the `background ionosphere' conducive for the generation of ESF irregularities much prior to its onset.

The effects of the pre-reversal ExB drift, the EIA asymmetry, and magnetic activity on the equatorial spread F during solar maximum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, C.-C.; Liu, J.-Y.; Reinisch, B. W.; Chen, W.-S.; Chu, F.-D.

2005-03-01

We use a digisonde at Jicamarca and a chain of GPS receivers on the west side of South America to investigate the effects of the pre-reversal enhancement (PRE) in ExB drift, the asymmetry (Ia) of equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA), and the magnetic activity (Kp) on the generation of equatorial spread F (ESF). Results show that the ESF appears frequently in summer (November, December, January, and February) and equinoctial (March, April, September, and October) months, but rarely in winter (May, June, July, and August) months. The seasonal variation in the ESF is associated with those in the PRE ExB drift and Ia. The larger ExB drift (>20m/s) and smaller |Ia| (<0.3) in summer and equinoctial months provide a preferable condition to development the ESF. Conversely, the smaller ExB drift and larger |Ia| are responsible for the lower ESF occurrence in winter months. Regarding the effects of magnetic activity, the ESF occurrence decreases with increasing Kp in the equinoctial and winter months, but not in the summer months. Furthermore, the larger and smaller ExB drifts are presented under the quiet (Kp<3) and disturbed (Kp≥3) conditions, respectively. These results indicate that the suppression in ESF and the decrease in ExB drifts are mainly caused by the decrease in the eastward electric field.

A seasonal study on the role of h'F/meridional winds in influencing the development of ESF irregularities over Indian sector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sreekumar, Sreeba; Sripathi, S.

2017-08-01

In this paper, we present the seasonal variation of nighttime thermospheric meridional winds over Hyderabad as derived using dual ionosonde observations located at Tirunelveli (8.7°N, 77.7°E, Dip Lat = 0.3°N), an equatorial station and Hyderabad (17.38°N, 78.45°E, Dip Lat = 12°N), a low latitude station, respectively, over the period of April-December 2013 using h'F data as discussed in (Sreekumar and Sripathi, 2016). The calculated winds has been compared with HWM14 wind model. The results show that trends of the derived winds from the ionosonde h'F data matches well with model wind near to midnight hours in all the seasons. However, some dissimilarities were observed during early night hours. Especially, the poleward winds during early night hours for different seasons were not well reproduced by the model. Later, the study is extended to understand the role of meridional winds in causing the variability of ESF occurrence vis a vis h'F. The histogram analysis of h'F vs wind values just before ESF onset reveals that the most probable combination of wind and h'F on the ESF days are centered around 350 km and 50 m/s. Additionally, we also performed Superposed Epoch Analysis (SEA) based on longer and shorter duration ESF events. The analysis reveals the distinct differences in the longer and shorter duration ESF events of Summer and Autumn equinox where the values of h'F as well as meridional winds where such that a steep change in reduction of poleward winds prior to ESF onset supported the longer duration ESF events in both seasons. However, this steep reduction is not so significant for the shorter duration ESF events indicating that meridional winds could play a crucial role in extending the spread F durations in longer duration events. The observations clearly demonstrate the reduction of poleward wind velocities during vernal equinox as compared to Autumn equinox, where larger poleward winds were present around ESF onset times. These observations are consistent with the equinoctial asymmetry as seen during year 2013 where more number of ESF occurrences were observed during vernal equinox as compared to Autumn equinox. Additionally on seasonal basis, analysis of the significance of meridional wind magnitudes during scintillation and non scintillation days were performed. The result suggests that non scintillation days were characterized with larger poleward wind magnitudes than scintillation days during vernal equinox and summer season. However, such a trend was not seen in the Autumn equinox season. This might indicate the possible role of poleward meridional wind in reducing the number of scintillation occurences during this season in addition to weakening of PRE height.

Solar activity variations of equatorial spread F occurrence and sustenance during different seasons over Indian longitudes: Empirical model and causative mechanisms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Madhav Haridas, M. K.; Manju, G.; Arunamani, T.

2018-05-01

A comprehensive analysis using nearly two decades of ionosonde data is carried out on the seasonal and solar cycle variations of Equatorial Spread F (ESF) irregularities over magnetic equatorial location Trivandrum (8.5°N, 77°E). The corresponding Rayleigh Taylor (RT) instability growth rates (γ) are also estimated. A seasonal pattern of ESF occurrence and the corresponding γ is established for low solar (LSA), medium solar (MSA) and high solar (HSA) activity periods. For LSA, it is seen that the γ maximizes during post sunset time with comparable magnitudes for autumnal equinox (AE), vernal equinox (VE) and winter solstice (WS), while for summer solstice (SS) it maximizes in the post-midnight period. Concurrent responses are seen in the ESF occurrence pattern. For MSA, γ maximizes during post-sunset for VE followed by WS and AE while SS maximises during post-midnight period. The ESF occurrence for MSA is highest for VE (80%), followed by AE (70%), WS (60%) and SS (50%). In case of HSA, maximum γ occurs for VE followed by AE, WS and SS. The concurrent ESF occurrence maximizes for VE and AE (90%), WS and SS at 70%. The solar cycle variation of γ is examined. γ shows a linear variation with F10.7 cm flux. Further, ESF percentage occurrence and duration show an exponential and linear variation respectively with γ. An empirical model on the solar activity dependence of ESF occurrence and sustenance time over Indian longitudes is arrived at using the database spanning two solar cycles for the first time.

A Primer on a Domestic Catastrophic Disaster Response for the Joint Logistics Enterprise

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-04-30

USACE U.S. Army Corp of Engineers USDA U.S. Department of Agriculture USGS U.S. Geological Survey USNORTHCOM U.S. Northern Command 1...Medical Services  ESF #9: Search and Rescue  ESF #10: Oil and Hazardous Materials Response  ESF #11: Agriculture and Natural Resources...commodities (e.g., fuel, food and agriculture , communications) [7]. The NRF encourages local, state, and federal agencies to build relationships

Evaluation of a nontoxic rigid polymer as connecting bar in external skeletal fixators.

PubMed

Störk, Christoph K; Canivet, Philippe; Baidak, Alexandre A; Balligand, Marc H

2003-01-01

To investigate the mechanical characteristics of a nontoxic, low-cost, rigid polymer (RP) and to compare the structural and mechanical properties of a full-frame external skeletal fixator (ESF) with either RP connecting bars, polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) connecting bars, or stainless-steel (SS) clamps and connecting bars. In vitro mechanical evaluation. Mechanical properties were assessed using an in vitro bone fracture model with a bilateral uniplanar ESF (type II). Identical ESF were built with connecting bars using RP (n = 8), PMMA (n = 8), and SS connecting bars and clamps (System Meynard; n = 3). Nondestructive mechanical tests were performed in uniaxial compression (AC) and craniocaudal (CC) 4-point bending, as well as fatigue AC. Composite stiffness for each specimen and for each loading mode was calculated from 6 replicate measures using the slope of the load displacement curve at small displacements. RP, PMMA, and SS ESF constructs yielded mean +/- SD composite stiffness values of 227 +/- 15, 381 +/- 30, and 394 +/- 9 N/mm in AC and of 35 +/- 2, 24 +/- 2, and 15 +/- 0 N/mm in CC, respectively. Structural and mechanical properties of RP are satisfactorily rigid and fatigue resistant for its use as a connecting bar in ESF. RP connecting bars in an ESF are a reliable, versatile, nontoxic and inexpensive option for the veterinary surgeon. Copyright 2003 by The American College of Veterinary Surgeons

Postoperative complications associated with external skeletal fixators in cats.

PubMed

Beever, Lee; Giles, Kirsty; Meeson, Richard

2017-07-01

The objective of this study was to quantify complications associated with external skeletal fixators (ESFs) in cats and to identify potential risk factors. A retrospective review of medical records and radiographs following ESF placement was performed. Case records of 140 cats were reviewed; fixator-associated complications (FACs) occurred in 19% of cats. The region of ESF placement was significantly associated with complication development. Complications developed most frequently in the femur (50%), tarsus (35%) and radius/ulna (33%). Superficial pin tract infection (SPTI) and implant failure accounted for 45% and 41% of all FACs, respectively. SPTI occurred more frequently in the femur, humerus and tibia, with implant failure more frequent in the tarsus. No association between breed, age, sex, weight, fracture type (open vs closed), ESF classification, number of pins per bone segment, degree of fracture load sharing, and the incidence or type of FAC was identified. No association between region of placement, breed, age, sex, weight, fracture type (open vs closed), ESF classification, number of pins per bone segment, fracture load sharing and the time to complication development was identified. Complication development is not uncommon in cats following ESF placement. The higher complication rate in the femur, tarsus and radius/ulna should be considered when reviewing options for fracture management. However, cats appear to have a lower rate of pin tract infections than dogs.

Prediction of post-sunset ESF based on the strength and asymmetry of EIA from ground based TEC measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thampi, S. V.; Ravindran, S.; Devasia, C. V.; Pant, T. K.; Sreelatha, P.; Sridharan, R.

The Coherent Radio Beacon Experiment (CRABEX) is aimed at investigating the equatorial ionospheric processes like the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA) and Equatorial Spread F (ESF) and their inter relationships. As a part of CRABEX program, a network of six stations covering the region from Trivandrum (8.5°N) to Nainital (29.3°N) is set up along the 77-78° E meridian. These ground receivers basically measure the slant Total Electron Content (TEC) along the line of sight from the Low Earth Orbiting satellites (NIMS). These simultaneous TEC measurements are inverted to obtain the tomographic image of the latitudinal distribution of electron densities in the meridional plane. In this paper, the tomographic images of the equatorial ionosphere along the 77-78°E meridian are presented. The crest intensities in the southern and northern hemispheres also show significant differences with seasons, showing the variability in the EIA asymmetry. The evening images give an indication of the prevailing electrodynamical conditions on different days, preceding the occurrence/non-occurrence of ESF. Apart from this, the single station TEC measurements from the Trivandrum station itself is used to estimate the EIA strength and asymmetry. Since this station is situated at the trough of the EIA, right over the dip equator, the latitudinal gradients on both northern (N) and southern (S) sides can be used to compute the EIA strength and asymmetry. These two parameters, obtained well ahead of the onset time of ESF, are shown to have a definite role on the subsequent ESF activity. Hence, both these factors are combined to define a new `forecast parameter' for the generation of ESF. It has been shown that this parameter can uniquely define the state of the `background ionosphere' conducive for the generation of ESF irregularities as early as 1600 IST. A critical value for the `forecast parameter' has been identified such that when the estimated value for `forecast parameter' exceeds it, the ESF is seen to occur. It is also observed that this critical value varies with season. All these aspects are studied in detail and the results are presented.

Validation of the Concurrent Atomistic-Continuum Method on Screw Dislocation/Stacking Fault Interactions

DOE PAGES

Xu, Shuozhi; Xiong, Liming; Chen, Youping; ...

2017-04-26

Dislocation/stacking fault interactions play an important role in the plastic deformation of metallic nanocrystals and polycrystals. These interactions have been explored in atomistic models, which are limited in scale length by high computational cost. In contrast, multiscale material modeling approaches have the potential to simulate the same systems at a fraction of the computational cost. In this paper, we validate the concurrent atomistic-continuum (CAC) method on the interactions between a lattice screw dislocation and a stacking fault (SF) in three face-centered cubic metallic materials—Ni, Al, and Ag. Two types of SFs are considered: intrinsic SF (ISF) and extrinsic SF (ESF).more » For the three materials at different strain levels, two screw dislocation/ISF interaction modes (annihilation of the ISF and transmission of the dislocation across the ISF) and three screw dislocation/ESF interaction modes (transformation of the ESF into a three-layer twin, transformation of the ESF into an ISF, and transmission of the dislocation across the ESF) are identified. Here, our results show that CAC is capable of accurately predicting the dislocation/SF interaction modes with greatly reduced DOFs compared to fully-resolved atomistic simulations.« less

Validation of the Concurrent Atomistic-Continuum Method on Screw Dislocation/Stacking Fault Interactions

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

Xu, Shuozhi; Xiong, Liming; Chen, Youping

Dislocation/stacking fault interactions play an important role in the plastic deformation of metallic nanocrystals and polycrystals. These interactions have been explored in atomistic models, which are limited in scale length by high computational cost. In contrast, multiscale material modeling approaches have the potential to simulate the same systems at a fraction of the computational cost. In this paper, we validate the concurrent atomistic-continuum (CAC) method on the interactions between a lattice screw dislocation and a stacking fault (SF) in three face-centered cubic metallic materials—Ni, Al, and Ag. Two types of SFs are considered: intrinsic SF (ISF) and extrinsic SF (ESF).more » For the three materials at different strain levels, two screw dislocation/ISF interaction modes (annihilation of the ISF and transmission of the dislocation across the ISF) and three screw dislocation/ESF interaction modes (transformation of the ESF into a three-layer twin, transformation of the ESF into an ISF, and transmission of the dislocation across the ESF) are identified. Here, our results show that CAC is capable of accurately predicting the dislocation/SF interaction modes with greatly reduced DOFs compared to fully-resolved atomistic simulations.« less

The postsunset vertical plasma drift during geomagnetic storms and its effects on the generation of equatorial spread F

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, C.

2017-12-01

We will present two distinct phenomena related to the postsunset vertical plasma drift and equatorial spread F (ESF) observed by the Communication/Navigation Outage Forecasting System satellite over six years. The first phenomenon is the behavior of the prereversal enhancement (PRE) of the vertical plasma drift during geomagnetic storms. Statistically, storm-time disturbance dynamo electric fields cause the PRE to decrease from 30 to 0 m/s when Dst changes from -60 to -100 nT, but the PRE does not show obvious variations when Dst varies from 0 to -60 nT. The observations show that the storm activities affect the evening equatorial ionosphere only for Dst < -60 nT and that the dynamo electric field becomes dominant during the storm recovery phase. The second phenomenon is the relationship between the PRE and the generation of ESF. It is found that the occurrence of large-amplitude ESF irregularities is well correlated with the PRE and that the occurrence of small-amplitude ESF irregularities does not show a clear pattern at low solar activity but is anti-correlated with large-amplitude irregularities and the PRE at moderate solar activity. That is, the months and longitudes with high occurrence probability of large-amplitude irregularities are exactly those with low occurrence probability of small-amplitude irregularities, and vice versa. The generation of large-amplitude ESF irregularities is controlled by the PRE, and the generation of small-amplitude ESF irregularities may be caused by gravity waves and other disturbances, rather than by the PRE.

2017 ESF in Thailand

Cancer.gov

The Embassy Science Fellow (ESF) program provides U.S. embassies access to the expertise of U.S. government officers in science and technology fields. U.S. embassies request Fellows to assist on science, technology, environment or health issues and related policy development and collaboration.

Electrospun Fiber Pads of Cellulose Acetate and Essential Oils with Antimicrobial Activity.

PubMed

Liakos, Ioannis L; Holban, Alina Maria; Carzino, Riccardo; Lauciello, Simone; Grumezescu, Alexandru Mihai

2017-04-12

The method of electrospinning was used to create nanofibers made of cellulose acetate (CA) and essential oils (EOs). CA polymer at 15% w / v was dissolved in acetone and then 1% or 5% v / v of EOs was added to the polymer solution. The utilized essential oils were rosemary and oregano oils. Then, the CA/EOs in acetone solution were electrospun, creating micro/nanofibers, approximately 700-1500 nm in diameter. Raman spectroscopy was used to detect the attachment of the EOs in the CA electrospun fibers (ESFs). Scanning electron microscopy was used to study the morphology, topography and dimensions of the ESFs. The formed CA/EOs ESFs are found to have good antimicrobial properties against three common microbial species, frequently found in difficult to treat infections: Bacteria species Staphylococcus aureus , Escherichia coli and the yeast Candida albicans . ESFs with 5% v / v oregano oil with respect to the initial solution, showed the best antimicrobial and anti-biofilm effects due to the potency of this EO against bacteria and fungi, especially for Escherichia coli and Candida albicans . This work describes an effective and simple method to prepare CA/EOs ESFs and opens up many new applications of micro/nanofibers such as improved antimicrobial wound dressings, anti-biofilm surfaces, sensors and packaging alternatives.

ESF-X: a low-cost modular experiment computer for space flight experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sell, Steven; Zapetis, Joseph; Littlefield, Jim; Vining, Joanne

2004-08-01

The high cost associated with spaceflight research often compels experimenters to scale back their research goals significantly purely for budgetary reasons; among experiment systems, control and data collection electronics are a major contributor to total project cost. ESF-X was developed as an architecture demonstration in response to this need: it is a highly capable, radiation-protected experiment support computer, designed to be configurable on demand to each investigator's particular experiment needs, and operational in LEO for missions lasting up to several years (e.g., ISS EXPRESS) without scheduled service or maintenance. ESF-X can accommodate up to 255 data channels (I/O, A/D, D/A, etc.), allocated per customer request, with data rates up to 40kHz. Additionally, ESF-X can be programmed using the graphical block-diagram based programming languages Simulink and MATLAB. This represents a major cost saving opportunity for future investigators, who can now obtain a customized, space-qualified experiment controller at steeply reduced cost compared to 'new' design, and without the performance compromises associated with using preexisting 'generic' systems. This paper documents the functional benchtop prototype, which utilizes a combination of COTS and space-qualified components, along with unit-gravity-specific provisions appropriate to laboratory environment evaluation of the ESF-X design concept and its physical implementation.

The role of amoebocytes in endotoxin-mediated coagulation in the innate immunity of Achatina fulica snails.

PubMed

Biswas, C; Mandal, C

1999-02-01

Achatina amoebocyte lysate (AAL) derived from amoebocytes of Achatina fulica was activated by Gram-negative bacterial endotoxins in a time-dependent manner resulting in gel formation/coagulation. The activation and maximum proliferation of amoebocytes was observed 40 min after intramuscular injection (20 microg/snail) of endotoxin. Endotoxin-mediated proteolytic activity of AAL towards a serine-protease-specific chromogenic substrate was maximum at pH 8.0, 37 degrees C and within 15 min in a divalent-cation-dependent manner. The AAL activity induced by the endotoxin was directly dependent on the endotoxin concentration, showed a high specificity and saturated at higher endotoxin concentrations. An endotoxin-sensitive factor (ESF) was purified from AAL to apparent homogeneity by single-step affinity chromatography on a heparin-Sepharose 4B column. Native ESF of molecular weight 140 000 was composed of two identical subunits of molecular weight 70 000 attached through non-covalent association. A strong binding to endotoxin (Escherichia coli 055:B5) was exhibited by ESF with a 40-fold higher biological activity than AAL. The ESF was shown to have a unique Phe-Ile active site with regard to its alternate activation by alpha-chymotrypsin instead of endotoxin. The ESF was characterized as a serine protease type as evidenced by potent inhibition with specific inhibitors.

June Solstice Equatorial Spread F in the American Sector: A Numerical Assessment of Linear Stability Aided by Incoherent Scatter Radar Measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhan, Weijia; S. Rodrigues, Fabiano

2018-01-01

Previous studies have suggested that weakening downward plasma drifts can produce favorable conditions for the ionospheric Generalized Rayleigh-Taylor (GRT) instability and explain the occurrence of postmidnight equatorial spread F (ESF). We evaluated this hypothesis using numerical simulations aided by measurements and attempted to explain ESF events observed in the American sector during June solstice, low solar flux conditions. We analyzed plasma drifts and ESF measurements made by the incoherent scatter radar of the Jicamarca Radio Observatory (11.95° S, 76.87° W, ˜1° dip). We found adequate measurements during a prototypical, quiet time event on 4-5 June 2008 when the downward drifts weakened and a fully developed ESF appeared. The measured drifts were used as input for the SAMI2 model. SAMI2 reproduced an "apparent" uplift of the ionosphere based on h'F measurements that was consistent with expectations and observations. SAMI2 also provided parameters for estimation of the flux tube linear growth rates of GRT instability associated with the weakening drift event. We found that the weakening drifts did produce unstable conditions with positive growth rates. The growth rates, however, were slower than those obtained for typical, premidnight ESF events and those obtained for similar drift conditions in other longitude sectors. We show, however, that departures in the wind pattern, from climatological model predictions, can produce favorable conditions for instability development. Following the hypothesis of Huba and Krall (2013) and using SAMI2 simulations, we show that equatorward winds, when combined with weakening drifts, could have contributed to the unstable conditions responsible for the postmidnight ESF events.

Creating a Cadre of Fellowship-Trained Medical Educators, Part II: A Formal Needs Assessment to Structure Postgraduate Fellowships in Medical Education Scholarship and Leadership.

PubMed

Jordan, Jaime; Yarris, Lalena M; Santen, Sally A; Guth, Todd A; Rougas, Steven; Runde, Daniel P; Coates, Wendy C

2017-08-01

Education leaders at the 2012 Academic Emergency Medicine Consensus Conference on education research proposed that dedicated postgraduate education scholarship fellowships (ESFs) might provide an effective model for developing future faculty as scholars. A formal needs assessment was performed to understand the training gap and inform the development of ESFs. A mixed-methods needs assessment was conducted of four emergency medicine national stakeholder groups in 2013: department chairs; faculty education/research leaders; existing education fellowship directors; and current education fellows/graduates. Descriptive statistics were reported for quantitative data. Qualitative data from semistructured interviews and free-text responses were analyzed using a thematic approach. Participants were 11/15 (73%) education fellowship directors, 13/20 (65%) fellows/graduates, 106/239 (44%) faculty education/research leaders, and a convenience sample of 26 department chairs. Department chairs expected new education faculty to design didactics (85%) and teach clinically (96%). Faculty education/research leaders thought new faculty were inadequately prepared for job tasks (83.7%) and that ESFs would improve the overall quality of education research (91.1%). Fellowship directors noted that ESFs provide skills, mentorship, and protected time for graduates to become productive academicians. Current fellows/graduates reported pursing an ESF to develop skills in teaching and research methodology. Stakeholder groups uniformly perceived a need for training in education theory, clinical teaching, and education research. These findings support dedicated, deliberate training in these areas. Establishment of a structure for scholarly pursuits prior to assuming a full-time position will effectively prepare new faculty. These findings may inform the development, implementation, and curricula of ESFs.

Modified slanted-edge method for camera modulation transfer function measurement using nonuniform fast Fourier transform technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duan, Yaxuan; Xu, Songbo; Yuan, Suochao; Chen, Yongquan; Li, Hongguang; Da, Zhengshang; Gao, Limin

2018-01-01

ISO 12233 slanted-edge method experiences errors using fast Fourier transform (FFT) in the camera modulation transfer function (MTF) measurement due to tilt angle errors in the knife-edge resulting in nonuniform sampling of the edge spread function (ESF). In order to resolve this problem, a modified slanted-edge method using nonuniform fast Fourier transform (NUFFT) for camera MTF measurement is proposed. Theoretical simulations for images with noise at a different nonuniform sampling rate of ESF are performed using the proposed modified slanted-edge method. It is shown that the proposed method successfully eliminates the error due to the nonuniform sampling of the ESF. An experimental setup for camera MTF measurement is established to verify the accuracy of the proposed method. The experiment results show that under different nonuniform sampling rates of ESF, the proposed modified slanted-edge method has improved accuracy for the camera MTF measurement compared to the ISO 12233 slanted-edge method.

Hepatotoxicity Induced by Sophora flavescens and Hepatic Accumulation of Kurarinone, a Major Hepatotoxic Constituent of Sophora flavescens in Rats.

PubMed

Jiang, Peng; Zhang, Xiuwen; Huang, Yutong; Cheng, Nengneng; Ma, Yueming

2017-10-25

Our previous study showed that kurarinone was the main hepatotoxic ingredient of Sophora flavescens , accumulating in the liver. This study characterized the mechanism of Sophora flavescens extract (ESF) hepatotoxicity and hepatic accumulation of kurarinone. ESF impaired hepatic function and caused fat accumulation in the liver after oral administration (1.25 and 2.5 g/kg for 14 days in rats). Serum metabolomics evaluation based on high-resolution mass spectrometry was conducted and real-time PCR was used to determine the expression levels of CPT-1, CPT-2, PPAR-α, and LCAD genes. Effects of kurarinone on triglyceride levels were evaluated in HL-7702 cells. Tissue distribution of kurarinone and kurarinone glucuronides was analyzed in rats receiving ESF (2.5 g/kg). Active uptake of kurarinone and kurarinone glucuronides was studied in OAT2-, OATP1B1-, OATP2B1-, and OATP1B3-transfected HEK293 cells. Our results revealed that after oral administration of ESF in rats, kurarinone glucuronides were actively transported into hepatocytes by OATP1B3 and hydrolyzed into kurarinone, which inhibited fatty acid β-oxidation through the reduction of l-carnitine and the inhibition of PPAR-α pathway, ultimately leading to lipid accumulation and liver injury. These findings contribute to understanding hepatotoxicity of kurarinone after oral administration of ESF.

Synthesis, Bioconjugation and Stability Studies of [18 F] Ethenesulfonyl Fluoride.

PubMed

Zhang, Bo; Pascali, Giancarlo; Wyatt, Naomi; Matesic, Lidia; Klenner, Mitchell A; Sia, Tiffany R; Guastella, Adam J; Massi, Massimiliano; Robinson, Andrea J; Fraser, Benjamin H

2018-06-20

Fluorine-18 labelled prosthetic groups (PGs) are often necessary for radiolabelling sensitive biological molecules such as peptides and proteins. Several shortcomings, however, often diminish the final yield of radiotracer. In an attempt to provide higher yielding and operationally efficient tools for radiolabelling biological molecules, we describe herein the first radiochemical synthesis of [ 18 F] ethenesulfonylfluoride ([ 18 F] ESF) and its Michael conjugation with amino acids and proteins. The synthesis of [ 18 F] ESF was optimised using a microfluidic reactor under both carrier-added (c.a.) and no-carrier-added (n.c.a.) conditions, affording, in a straightforward procedure, 30-50% radiochemical yield (RCY) for c.a. [ 18 F] ESF and 60-70% RCY for n.c.a. [ 18 F] ESF. The conjugation reactions were performed at room temperature using 10 mg/mL precursor in aqueous/organic solvent mixtures for 15 min. The radiochemical stability of the final conjugates was evaluated in injectable formulation and rat serum, and resulted strongly substrate dependent and generally poor in rat serum. Therefore, in this work we have optimised a straightforward synthesis of [ 18 F] ESF and its Michael conjugation with model compounds, without requiring chromatographic purification. However, given the general low stability of the final products, further studies will be required for improving conjugate stability, before assessing the use of this PG for PET imaging. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

The ESF and New Technology Training for Unemployed Women.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brine, Jacky

The European Social Fund's (ESF's) emphasis on new technology training increased throughout the 1980s, but in the 1990s this emphasis disappears from policies toward "socially excluded" groups, including long-term unemployed women. Women are segregated into certain occupations and then further segregated by a hierarchical division that…

Excessive Exoergicity Reduces Singlet Exciton Fission Efficiency of Heteroacenes in Solutions.

PubMed

Zhang, You-Dan; Wu, Yishi; Xu, Yanqing; Wang, Qiang; Liu, Ke; Chen, Jian-Wei; Cao, Jing-Jing; Zhang, Chunfeng; Fu, Hongbing; Zhang, Hao-Li

2016-06-01

The energy difference between a singlet exciton and twice of a triplet exciton, ΔESF, provides the thermodynamic driving force for singlet exciton fission (SF). This work reports a systematic investigation on the effect of ΔESF on SF efficiency of five heteroacenes in their solutions. The low-temperature, near-infrared phosphorescence spectra gave the energy levels of the triplet excitons, allowing us to identify the values of ΔESF, which are -0.58, -0.34, -0.31, -0.32, and -0.34 eV for the thiophene, benzene, pyridine, and two tetrafluorobenzene terminated molecules, respectively. Corresponding SF efficiencies of the five heteroacenes in 0.02 M solutions were determined via femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy to be 117%, 124%, 140%, 132%, and 135%, respectively. This result reveals that higher ΔESF is not, as commonly expected, always beneficial for higher SF efficiency in solution phase. On the contrary, excessive exoergicity results in reduction of SF efficiency in the heteroacenes due to the promotion of other competitive exciton relaxation pathways. Therefore, it is important to optimize thermodynamic driving force when designing organic materials for high SF efficiency.

Effects of bombesin on erythropoietin production in the anaesthetized dog.

PubMed

Melchiorri, P; Sopranzi, N; Roseghini, M

1976-08-01

Bombesin, a tetradecapeptide isolated from the skin of some European discoglossid frogs, has been reported previously to reduce renal blood flow and glomerular filtration rate and to increase plasma renin activity in anaesthetized dogs. In the present study bombesin was infused intravenously in anaesthetized dogs at dose levels of 3, 6 and 12 ng/kg/min for 6 h and renal blood flow, glomerular filtration rate, oxygen consumption, oxygen extraction by the kidney tissue, as well as plasma erythropoietin levels (ESF) and plasma renin activity were measured. Plasma levels of ESF increased during bombesin infusion only when renal blood flow was reduced to a level of 1 ml/g/min or less. In this situation glomerular filtration was blocked, renal oxygen consumption was decreased to 10% of normal and oxygen extraction by the kidney was increased by 2 times. No correlation was found between plasma renin activity and ESF concentrations during bombesin infusion. It is concluded that the stimulant action of bombesin on ESF production is a consequence of the renal hypoxia induced by the reduction in renal blood flow.

Hindcasting of Equatorial Spread F Using Seasonal Empirical Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aswathy, R. P.; Manju, G.

2018-02-01

The role of gravity waves in modulating equatorial spread F (ESF) day-to-day variability is investigated using ionosonde data at Trivandrum (geographic coordinates, 8.5°N, 77°E; mean geomagnetic latitude -0.3°N) a magnetic equatorial location. A novel empirical model that incorporates the combined effects of electrodynamics and gravity waves in modulating ESF occurrence during autumnal equinox season was presented by Aswathy and Manju (2017). In the present study, the height variations of the requisite gravity wave seed perturbations for ESF are examined for the vernal equinoxes, summer solstices, and winter solstices of different years. Subsequently, the empirical model, incorporating the electrodynamical effects and the gravity wave modulation, valid for each of the seasons is developed. Accordingly, for each season, the threshold curve may be demarcated provided the solar flux index (F10.7) is known. The empirical models are validated using the data for high, moderate, and low solar activity years corresponding to each season. In the next stage, this model is to be fine tuned to facilitate the prediction of ESF well before its onset.

Seasonal dependence of the "forecast parameter" based on the EIA characteristics for the prediction of Equatorial Spread F (ESF)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thampi, S. V.; Ravindran, S.; Pant, T. K.; Devasia, C. V.; Sridharan, R.

2008-06-01

In an earlier study, Thampi et al. (2006) have shown that the strength and asymmetry of Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA), obtained well ahead of the onset time of Equatorial Spread F (ESF) have a definite role on the subsequent ESF activity, and a new "forecast parameter" has been identified for the prediction of ESF. This paper presents the observations of EIA strength and asymmetry from the Indian longitudes during the period from August 2005 March 2007. These observations are made using the line of sight Total Electron Content (TEC) measured by a ground-based beacon receiver located at Trivandrum (8.5° N, 77° E, 0.5° N dip lat) in India. It is seen that the seasonal variability of EIA strength and asymmetry are manifested in the latitudinal gradients obtained using the relative TEC measurements. As a consequence, the "forecast parameter" also displays a definite seasonal pattern. The seasonal variability of the EIA strength and asymmetry, and the "forecast parameter" are discussed in the present paper and a critical value for has been identified for each month/season. The likely "skill factor" of the new parameter is assessed using the data for a total of 122 days, and it is seen that when the estimated value of the "forecast parameter" exceeds the critical value, the ESF is seen to occur on more than 95% of cases.

Space Weather Now-Casting for Area-Denied Locations: Testing All-Sky-Imaging Applications at Geomagnetic Conjugate Points.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baumgardner, J. L.; Mendillo, M.; Martinis, C. R.; Hickey, D. A.; Wroten, J.

2017-12-01

We explore the concept of using an all-sky-imager (ASI) in one hemisphere to provide now-casting of ionospheric perturbations in the opposite hemisphere. The specific example deals with low-latitude plasma instabilities known as equatorial spread-F (ESF) that depend on geomagnetic field controlled electrodynamics. ASI observations of 630.0 nm airglow from 300 km exhibit regions of low emission ("airglow depletions") that correlate highly with ESF patterns of radiowave disruptions, e.g., from GPS satellites. For both oceanographic and geopolitical reasons, there are vast regions of the globe that cannot be used for ground-based now-casting of local ESF effects. For such area-denied locations, it is possible for observations of airglow depletions from the opposite hemisphere to be used to specify both local and conjugate location environmental impacts. We use fifteen months of ASI observations from the El Leoncito Observatory (Argentina) to predict simultaneous conditions at its trans-equatorial geomagnetic conjugate point in Villa de Leyva (Colombia)—validated by independent ASI observations at that location. We find the success rate of conjugate point now-casting to be greater than 95% for large-scale ESF occurrence patterns. For a different pair of stations at higher magnetic latitudes, three years of observations from the Arecibo Observatory (Puerto Rico) were used to make ESF now-casting at its conjugate point in Mercedes (Argentina) with a 85% success rate.

Hemoglobin switching in sheep and goats. VI. Commitment of erythroid colony-forming cells to the synthesis of betaC globin

PubMed Central

1976-01-01

Bone marrow from mature goats and sheep was cultured in plasma clots, and three erythropoietin (ESF)-dependent responses-growth (colony formation), differentiation (globin production), and initiation of hemoglobin C (alpha2beta2C) synthesis--were quantitated. ESF concentrations below 0.01 U/ml supported colony growth and adult hemoglobin production in cultures of goat marrow, while maximal hemoglobin C synthesis (70%), as measured between 72 and 96 h in culture, required a 100-fold higher ESF concentration. Sheep marrow was cultured in a medium enriched to enhance growth and to permit complete maturation of colonies. These colonies active in hemoglobin synthesis between 24 and 96 h produced mainly adult hemoglobin, and only between 96 and 120 h did sheep colonies develop which produced mainly hemoglobin C (up to 70%). A similar heterogeneity may exist among goat colonies. Thus, when goat bone marrow was fractionated by unit gravity sedimentation, more hemoglobin C synthesis was observed in colonies derived from cells of intermediate sedimentation velocity than in colonies derived from the most rapidly sedimenting cells. Brief exposure of sheep (in vivo) and goat (in vitro) bone marrow to a high ESF concentration committed precursor cells to the generation of colonies which, even at low ESF concentration, produced hemoglobin C. Committment to hemoglobin phenotype appears to be an early and probably irreversible event in the development of an erythroid cell. PMID:993267

Clinical Comparison of Conventional and Mobile Endockscope Videocystoscopy Using an Air or Fluid Medium.

PubMed

Dutta, Rahul; Yoon, Renai; Patel, Roshan M; Spradling, Kyle; Okhunov, Zhamshid; Sohn, William; Lee, Hak J; Landman, Jaime; Clayman, Ralph V

2017-06-01

To compare conventional videocystoscopy (CVC) with a novel and affordable (approximately $45) mobile cystoscopy system, the Endockscope (ES). We evaluated the ES system using both fluid (Endockscope-Fluid [ES-F]) and air (Endockscope-Air [ES-A]) to fill the bladder in an effort to expand the global range of flexible cystoscopy. The ES system comprised a portable 1000 lumen LED self-contained cordless light source and a three-dimensional printed adaptor that connects a mobile phone to a flexible fiber-optic cystoscope. Patients undergoing in-office cystoscopic evaluation for either stent removal or bladder cancer surveillance received three examinations: conventional, ES-F, and ES-A cystoscopy. Videos of each examination were recorded and analyzed by expert endoscopists for image quality/resolution, brightness, color quality, sharpness, overall quality, and whether or not they were acceptable for diagnostic purposes. Six of the 10 patients for whom the conventional videos were 100% acceptable for diagnostic purposes were included in our analysis. The conventional videos scored higher on every metric relative to both the ES-F and ES-A videos (p < 0.05). There was no difference between ES-F and ES-A videos on any metric. Fifty-two percent and 44% of the ES-F and ES-A videos, respectively, were considered acceptable for diagnostic purposes (p = 0.384). The ES mobile cystoscopy system may be a reasonable option in settings where electricity, sterile fluid irrigant, or access to CVC equipment is unavailable.

The European Social Fund: A Very Specific Case Instrument of HRD Policy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tome, Eduardo

2013-01-01

Purpose: This paper aims to review the intervention of the European Social Fund (ESF) as an instrument of human resource development (HRD) policies in the European labor market. Design/methodology/approach: The paper uses an economic background, and reviews the official documents produced by the ESF during its history to try to define its economic…

The European Social Fund: Changing Approaches to VET

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Welbers, Gerhard

2011-01-01

Since its creation in 1958, the European Social Fund (ESF) has played a major role in supporting the development of vocational training in the Member States. However, compared to other, more recently launched, EU programmes and initiatives in the area of education and training, the ESF has not made a significant contribution to the debate about…

Plant-based plume-scale mapping of tritium contamination in desert soils

USGS Publications Warehouse

Andraski, Brian J.; Stonestrom, David A.; Michel, R.L.; Halford, K.J.; Radyk, J.C.

2005-01-01

Plant-based techniques were tested for field-scale evaluation of tritium contamination adjacent to a low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) facility in the Amargosa Desert, Nevada. Objectives were to (i) characterize and map the spatial variability of tritium in plant water, (ii) develop empirical relations to predict and map subsurface contamination from plant-water concentrations, and (iii) gain insight into tritium migration pathways and processes. Plant sampling [creosote bush, Larrea tridentata (Sessé & Moc. ex DC.) Coville] required one-fifth the time of soil water vapor sampling. Plant concentrations were spatially correlated to a separation distance of 380 m; measurement uncertainty accounted for <0.1% of the total variability in the data. Regression equations based on plant tritium explained 96 and 90% of the variation in root-zone and sub-root-zone soil water vapor concentrations, respectively. The equations were combined with kriged plant-water concentrations to map subsurface contamination. Mapping showed preferential lateral movement of tritium through a dry, coarse-textured layer beneath the root zone, with concurrent upward movement through the root zone. Analysis of subsurface fluxes along a transect perpendicular to the LLRW facility showed that upward diffusive-vapor transport dominates other transport modes beneath native vegetation. Downward advective-liquid transport dominates at one endpoint of the transect, beneath a devegetated road immediately adjacent to the facility. To our knowledge, this study is the first to document large-scale subsurface vapor-phase tritium migration from a LLRW facility. Plant-based methods provide a noninvasive, cost-effective approach to mapping subsurface tritium migration in desert areas.

Characterization and reclamation assessment for the Central Shops Diesel Storage Facility, Savannah River Site, Aiken, South Carolina

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

Fliermans, C.B.; Hazen, T.C.; Bledsoe, H.

1993-10-01

The contamination of subsurface terrestrial environments by organic contaminants is a global phenomenon. The remediation of such environments requires innovative assessment techniques and strategies for successful clean-ups. Central Shops Diesel Storage Facility at Savannah River Site was characterized to determine the extent of subsurface diesel fuel contamination using innovative approaches and effective bioremediation techniques for clean-up of the contaminant plume have been established.

Spatial characteristics of early successional habitat across the Upper Great Lakes states

Treesearch

Brian G. Tavernia; Mark D. Nelson; James D. Garner; Charles H. (Hobie) Perry

2016-01-01

Creation and management of early successional forest (ESF) is needed to halt and reverse declines of bird species dependent on pioneering plant species or young forests. ESF-dependent bird species require specific structural forest classes and are sensitive to forest age (a surrogate for forest structure), patch size, proximity to patch edges, and the juxtaposition of...

V&V Plan for FPGA-based ESF-CCS Using System Engineering Approach.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maerani, Restu; Mayaka, Joyce; El Akrat, Mohamed; Cheon, Jung Jae

2018-02-01

Instrumentation and Control (I&C) systems play an important role in maintaining the safety of Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) operation. However, most current I&C safety systems are based on Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) hardware, which is difficult to verify and validate, and is susceptible to software common cause failure. Therefore, a plan for the replacement of the PLC-based safety systems, such as the Engineered Safety Feature - Component Control System (ESF-CCS), with Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) is needed. By using a systems engineering approach, which ensures traceability in every phase of the life cycle, from system requirements, design implementation to verification and validation, the system development is guaranteed to be in line with the regulatory requirements. The Verification process will ensure that the customer and stakeholder’s needs are satisfied in a high quality, trustworthy, cost efficient and schedule compliant manner throughout a system’s entire life cycle. The benefit of the V&V plan is to ensure that the FPGA based ESF-CCS is correctly built, and to ensure that the measurement of performance indicators has positive feedback that “do we do the right thing” during the re-engineering process of the FPGA based ESF-CCS.

Effect of a screen with flaps and straw on behaviour, stress response, productive performance and meat quality in indoor feedlot lambs.

PubMed

Aguayo-Ulloa, L A; Pascual-Alonso, M; Olleta, J L; Sañudo, C; Miranda-de la Lama, G C; María, G A

2015-07-01

We analysed the effect of a modified pen using a wooden screen with flaps and cereal straw as forage and bedding, on behaviour, stress response, performance and meat quality variables of lambs housed in feedlots. Sixty male lambs were placed in enriched (ESF) or conventional (CO) pens (3 pens/treatment, 10 lambs/pen). The CO environment was barren. The ESF lambs showed a great preference for the provided items, which encouraged more natural and richer behaviour, reducing stereotypies and lamb aggressions, and increasing affiliations (P ≤ 0.05), which improves group cohesion. However, ESF lambs also developed a more natural coping style to the handling, evidenced by the higher cortisol levels (65.4 vs. 43.8 nmol/L) and a higher eye temperature as response to the reactivity test (38.1 vs. 37.8 °C). The ESF lambs had a higher (P ≤ 0.05) slaughter weight (27.2 vs. 26.3 kg), conformation score (7.38 vs. 6.07) and pH 24 (5.63 vs. 5.56) but lower cooking losses (12.9 vs. 14.9%) than CO lambs. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Subsurface Flow and Transport Laboratory: A New Department of Energy User's Facility for Intermediate-Scale Experimentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wietsma, T. W.; Oostrom, M.; Foster, N. S.

2003-12-01

Intermediate-scale experiments (ISEs) for flow and transport are a valuable tool for simulating subsurface features and conditions encountered in the field at government and private sites. ISEs offer the ability to study, under controlled laboratory conditions, complicated processes characteristic of mixed wastes and heterogeneous subsurface environments, in multiple dimensions and at different scales. ISEs may, therefore, result in major cost savings if employed prior to field studies. A distinct advantage of ISEs is that researchers can design physical and/or chemical heterogeneities in the porous media matrix that better approximate natural field conditions and therefore address research questions that contain the additional complexity of processes often encountered in the natural environment. A new Subsurface Flow and Transport Laboratory (SFTL) has been developed for ISE users in the Environmental Spectroscopy & Biogeochemistry Facility in the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). The SFTL offers a variety of columns and flow cells, a new state-of-the-art dual-energy gamma system, a fully automated saturation-pressure apparatus, and analytical equipment for sample processing. The new facility, including qualified staff, is available for scientists interested in collaboration on conducting high-quality flow and transport experiments, including contaminant remediation. Close linkages exist between the SFTL and numerical modelers to aid in experimental design and interpretation. This presentation will discuss the facility and outline the procedures required to submit a proposal to use this unique facility for research purposes. The W. R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a national scientific user facility, is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Biological and Environmental Research and located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Child morbidity and mortality associated with alternative policy responses to the economic crisis in Brazil: A nationwide microsimulation study.

PubMed

Rasella, Davide; Basu, Sanjay; Hone, Thomas; Paes-Sousa, Romulo; Ocké-Reis, Carlos Octávio; Millett, Christopher

2018-05-01

Since 2015, a major economic crisis in Brazil has led to increasing poverty and the implementation of long-term fiscal austerity measures that will substantially reduce expenditure on social welfare programmes as a percentage of the country's GDP over the next 20 years. The Bolsa Família Programme (BFP)-one of the largest conditional cash transfer programmes in the world-and the nationwide primary healthcare strategy (Estratégia Saúde da Família [ESF]) are affected by fiscal austerity, despite being among the policy interventions with the strongest estimated impact on child mortality in the country. We investigated how reduced coverage of the BFP and ESF-compared to an alternative scenario where the level of social protection under these programmes is maintained-may affect the under-five mortality rate (U5MR) and socioeconomic inequalities in child health in the country until 2030, the end date of the Sustainable Development Goals. We developed and validated a microsimulation model, creating a synthetic cohort of all 5,507 Brazilian municipalities for the period 2017-2030. This model was based on the longitudinal dataset and effect estimates from a previously published study that evaluated the effects of poverty, the BFP, and the ESF on child health. We forecast the economic crisis and the effect of reductions in BFP and ESF coverage due to current fiscal austerity on the U5MR, and compared this scenario with a scenario where these programmes maintain the levels of social protection by increasing or decreasing with the size of Brazil's vulnerable populations (policy response scenarios). We used fixed effects multivariate regression models including BFP and ESF coverage and accounting for secular trends, demographic and socioeconomic changes, and programme duration effects. With the maintenance of the levels of social protection provided by the BFP and ESF, in the most likely economic crisis scenario the U5MR is expected to be 8.57% (95% CI: 6.88%-10.24%) lower in 2030 than under fiscal austerity-a cumulative 19,732 (95% CI: 10,207-29,285) averted under-five deaths between 2017 and 2030. U5MRs from diarrhoea, malnutrition, and lower respiratory tract infections are projected to be 39.3% (95% CI: 36.9%-41.8%), 35.8% (95% CI: 31.5%-39.9%), and 8.5% (95% CI: 4.1%-12.0%) lower, respectively, in 2030 under the maintenance of BFP and ESF coverage, with 123,549 fewer under-five hospitalisations from all causes over the study period. Reduced coverage of the BFP and ESF will also disproportionately affect U5MR in the most vulnerable areas, with the U5MR in the poorest quintile of municipalities expected to be 11.0% (95% CI: 8.0%-13.8%) lower in 2030 under the maintenance of BFP and ESF levels of social protection than under fiscal austerity, compared to no difference in the richest quintile. Declines in health inequalities over the last decade will also stop under a fiscal austerity scenario: the U5MR concentration index is expected to remain stable over the period 2017-2030, compared to a 13.3% (95% CI: 5.6%-21.8%) reduction under the maintenance of BFP and ESF levels of protection. Limitations of our analysis are the ecological nature of the study, uncertainty around future macroeconomic scenarios, and potential changes in other factors affecting child health. A wide range of sensitivity analyses were conducted to minimise these limitations. The implementation of fiscal austerity measures in Brazil can be responsible for substantively higher childhood morbidity and mortality than expected under maintenance of social protection-threatening attainment of Sustainable Development Goals for child health and reducing inequality.

Mechanical testing of a steel-reinforced epoxy resin bar and clamp for external skeletal fixation of long-bone fractures in cats.

PubMed

Leitch, B J; Worth, A J

2018-05-01

To provide veterinarians with confidence when using a commercially available epoxy resin in external skeletal fixators (ESF), testing was conducted to determine exothermia during curing of the epoxy resin compared to polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), the hardness of the epoxy resin as a bar over 16 weeks, and the strength of the epoxy resin bar compared with metal clamps in similarly constructed Type 1a ESF constructs simulating the repair of feline long bone fractures. Exothermia of the epoxy resin during curing was tested against PMMA with surface temperatures recorded over the first 15 minutes of curing, using four samples of each product. The hardness of 90 identical epoxy resin bars was tested by subjecting them to cyclic loads (1,000 cycles of 20.5 N, every 7 days) over a 16-week period and impact testing 10 bars every 2 weeks. Ten bars that were not subjected to cyclic loads were impact tested at 0 weeks and another 10 at 16 weeks. Strength of the epoxy resin product, as a bar and clamp composite, was tested against metal SK and Kirschner-Ehmer (KE) clamps and bars in Type 1a, tied-in intramedullary pin, ESF constructs with either 90° or 75° pin placement, subjected to compressive and bending loads to 75 N. The maximum temperature during curing of the epoxy resin (min 39.8, max 43.0)°C was less than the PMMA (min 85.2, max 98.5)°C (p<0.001). There was no change in hardness of the epoxy resin bars over the 16 weeks of cyclic loading (p=0.58). There were no differences between the median strength of the epoxy resin, SK or KE ESF constructs in compression or bending when tested to 75 N (p>0.05). Stiffness of constructs with 75° pin placement was greater for SK than epoxy resin constructs in compression (p=0.046), and was greater for KE than epoxy resin constructs in bending (p=0.033). The epoxy resin tested was found to be less exothermic than PMMA; bars made from the epoxy resin showed durability over an expected fracture healing timeframe and had mechanical strength characteristics comparable to metal bar and clamp ESF constructs. The epoxy resin ESF construct tested in this study can be considered a suitable replacement for SK or KE ESF constructs in the treatment of feline long-bone fractures, in terms of mechanical strength.

Testing the time-scale dependence of delayed interactions: A heat wave during the egg stage shapes how a pesticide interacts with a successive heat wave in the larval stage.

PubMed

Janssens, Lizanne; Tüzün, Nedim; Stoks, Robby

2017-11-01

Under global change organisms are exposed to multiple, potentially interacting stressors. Especially interactions between successive stressors are poorly understood and recently suggested to depend on their timing of exposure. We particularly need studies assessing the impact of exposure to relevant stressors at various life stages and how these interact. We investigated the single and combined impacts of a heat wave (mild [25 °C] and extreme [30 °C]) during the egg stage, followed by successive exposure to esfenvalerate (ESF) and a heat wave during the larval stage in damselflies. Each stressor caused mortality. The egg heat wave and larval ESF exposure had delayed effects on survival, growth and lipid peroxidation (MDA). This resulted in deviations from the prediction that stressors separated by a long time interval would not interact: the egg heat wave modulated the interaction between the stressors in the larval stage. Firstly, ESF caused delayed mortality only in larvae that had been exposed to the extreme egg heat wave and this strongly depended upon the larval heat wave treatment. Secondly, ESF only increased MDA in larvae not exposed to the egg heat wave. We found little support for the prediction that when there is limited time between stressors, synergistic interactions should occur. The intermediate ESF concentration only caused delayed mortality when combined with the larval heat wave, and the lowest ESF concentrations only increased oxidative damage when followed by the mild larval heat wave. Survival selection mitigated the interaction patterns between successive stressors that are individually lethal, and therefore should be included in a predictive framework for the time-scale dependence of the outcome of multistressor studies with pollutants. The egg heat wave shaping the interaction pattern between successive pesticide exposure and a larval heat wave highlights the connectivity between the concepts of 'heat-induced pesticide sensitivity' and 'pesticide-induced heat sensitivity'. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Toxicity of effluents from gasoline stations oil-water separators to early life stages of zebrafish Danio rerio.

PubMed

Alves, Romulo Nepomuceno; Mariz, Célio Freire; Paulo, Driele Ventura de; Carvalho, Paulo S M

2017-07-01

Used petroleum hydrocarbons and gasoline stations runoff are significant sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) to aquatic ecosystems. Samples of the final effluent of oil-water-separators were collected at gasoline stations in the metropolitan region of Recife, Brazil, before release to sewage or rainwater systems. Effluent soluble fractions (ESF) were prepared and bioassays were performed according to the Fish Embryo Toxicity Test. The test involved exposing zebrafish Danio rerio embryos to dilutions of the ESFs for 96 h, with daily examination of lethality and sublethal morphological effects integrated through the General Morphology Score (GMS), based on the achievement of developmental hallmarks. Frequencies of abnormalities were recorded after exposures. ESF LC50-96h (lethal concentration to 50% of exposed embryos) in the most toxic effluent achieved 8.9% (v/v), equivalent to 11 μg phenanthrene equivalents L -1 . GMS scores indicated significantly delayed embryo-larval development at ESF dilutions of 10% and 20% from effluents of all gas stations. Major abnormalities detected after the 96 h exposure included the presence of a yolk sac not fully absorbed coupled with the lack of an inflated swim bladder, lack of both pectoral fins, and the failure to develop a protruding mouth. Effective equivalent PAH concentrations that induce a 50% frequency of larvae without an inflated swim bladder (EC50) were 4.9 μg phenanthrene L -1 , 21.8 μg naphthalene L -1 , and 34.1 μg chrysene L -1 . This study shows that PAHs in ESFs from gas stations oil water separators are toxic to zebrafish, contributing to the toxicity of urban storm waters. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Large Reductions In Amenable Mortality Associated With Brazil's Primary Care Expansion And Strong Health Governance.

PubMed

Hone, Thomas; Rasella, Davide; Barreto, Mauricio; Atun, Rifat; Majeed, Azeem; Millett, Christopher

2017-01-01

Strong health governance is key to universal health coverage. However, the relationship between governance and health system performance is underexplored. We investigated whether expansion of the Brazilian Estratégia de Saúde da Família (ESF; family health strategy), a community-based primary care program, reduced amenable mortality (mortality avoidable with timely and effective health care) and whether this association varied by municipal health governance. Fixed-effects longitudinal regression models were used to identify the relationship between ESF coverage and amenable mortality rates in 1,622 municipalities in Brazil over the period 2000-12. Municipal health governance was measured using indicators from a public administration survey, and the resulting scores were used in interactions. Overall, increasing ESF coverage from 0 percent to 100 percent was associated with a reduction of 6.8 percent in rates of amenable mortality, compared with no increase in ESF coverage. The reductions were 11.0 percent for municipalities with the highest governance scores and 4.3 percent for those with the lowest scores. These findings suggest that strengthening local health governance may be vital for improving health services effectiveness and health outcomes in decentralized health systems. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

The antibacterial activity of syringopicroside, its metabolites and natural analogues from Syringae Folium.

PubMed

Zhou, Zhengyuan; Han, Na; Liu, Zhihui; Song, Zehai; Wu, Peng; Shao, Jingxuan; Zhang, Jia Ming; Yin, Jun

2016-04-01

In the present study, the in vitro antibacterial activity of an effective fraction (ESF) from Syringae Folium (SF) on Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was evaluated and then its in vivo activity was evaluated by using the MRSA-infected mouse peritonitis model. The ESF showed a significant in vitro and in vivo activity on decreasing the Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MICs) and increasing the survival rate of mouse from 42.8% to 100%. Six iridoid glucosides (IGs) of ESF were characterized by UPLC-TOF-MS method and also isolated by column chromatography. Most of them showed in vitro anti MRSA activity. Syringopicroside (Sy), the major compound of IGs, was found to increase the survival rate from 42.8% to 92.8% of the MRSA-infected mouse, which revealed Sy is also the main active components of ESF. In order to know why the effect of oral administration of SF is better than its injections in clinic and the metabolites of Sy, seven metabolites of Sy were isolated from rat urine and identified on the basis of NMR and MS spectra. Most of metabolites possessed stronger in vitro anti-MRSA activity than that of Sy, which furtherly proved the clinical result. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Subsurface Contamination Control

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

Y. Yuan

There are two objectives of this report, ''Subsurface Contamination Control''. The first is to provide a technical basis for recommending limiting radioactive contamination levels (LRCL) on the external surfaces of waste packages (WP) for acceptance into the subsurface repository. The second is to provide an evaluation of the magnitude of potential releases from a defective WP and the detectability of the released contents. The technical basis for deriving LRCL has been established in ''Retrieval Equipment and Strategy for Wp on Pallet'' (CRWMS M and O 2000g, 6.3.1). This report updates the derivation by incorporating the latest design information of themore » subsurface repository for site recommendation. The derived LRCL on the external surface of WPs, therefore, supercede that described in CRWMS M and O 2000g. The derived LRCL represent the average concentrations of contamination on the external surfaces of each WP that must not be exceeded before the WP is to be transported to the subsurface facility for emplacement. The evaluation of potential releases is necessary to control the potential contamination of the subsurface repository and to detect prematurely failed WPs. The detection of failed WPs is required in order to provide reasonable assurance that the integrity of each WP is intact prior to MGR closure. An emplaced WP may become breached due to manufacturing defects or improper weld combined with failure to detect the defect, by corrosion, or by mechanical penetration due to accidents or rockfall conditions. The breached WP may release its gaseous and volatile radionuclide content to the subsurface environment and result in contaminating the subsurface facility. The scope of this analysis is limited to radioactive contaminants resulting from breached WPs during the preclosure period of the subsurface repository. This report: (1) documents a method for deriving LRCL on the external surfaces of WP for acceptance into the subsurface repository; (2) provides a table of derived LRCL for nuclides of radiological importance; (3) Provides an as low as is reasonably achievable (ALARA) evaluation of the derived LRCL by comparing potential onsite and offsite doses to documented ALARA requirements; (4) Provides a method for estimating potential releases from a defective WP; (5) Provides an evaluation of potential radioactive releases from a defective WP that may become airborne and result in contamination of the subsurface facility; and (6) Provides a preliminary analysis of the detectability of a potential WP leak to support the design of an airborne release monitoring system.« less

Uranium-series disequilibrium in tuffs from Yucca Mountain, Nevada, as evidence of pore-fluid flow over the last million years

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gascoyne, M.; Miller, N.H.; Neymark, L.A.

2002-01-01

Samples of tuff from boreholes drilled into fault zones in the Exploratory Studies Facility (ESF) and relatively unfractured rock of the Cross Drift tunnels, at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, have been analysed by U-series methods. This work is part of a project to verify the finding of fast flow-paths through the tuff to ESF level, indicated by the presence of 'bomb' 36Cl in pore fluids. Secular radioactive equilibrium in the U decay series, (i.e. when the radioactivity ratios 234U/238U, 230Th/234U and 226Ra/230Th all equal 1.00) might be expected if the tuff samples have not experienced radionuclide loss due to rock-water interaction occurring within the last million years. However, most fractured and unfractured samples were found to have a small deficiency of 234U (weighted mean 234U/238U=0.95??0.01) and a small excess of 230Th (weighted mean 230Th/234U 1.10??0.02). The 226Ra/230Th ratios are close to secular equilibrium (weighted mean = 0.94??0.07). These data indicate that 234U has been removed from the rock samples in the last ???350 ka, probably by pore fluids. Within the precision of the measurement, it would appear that 226Ra has not been mobilized and removed from the tuff, although there may be some localised 226Ra redistribution as suggested by a few ratio values that are significantly different from 1.0. Because both fractured and unfractured tuffs show approximately the same deficiency of 234U, this indicates that pore fluids are moving equally through fractured and unfractured rock, More importantly, fractured rock appears not to be a dominant pathway for groundwater flow (otherwise the ratio would be more strongly affected and the Th and Ra isotopic ratios would likely also show disequilibrium). Application of a simple mass-balance model suggests that surface infiltration rate is over an order of magnitude greater than the rate indicated by other infiltration models and that residence time of pore fluids at ESF level is about 400 a. Processes of U sorption, precipitation and re-solution are believed to be occurring and would account for these anomalous results but have not been included in the model. Despite the difficulties, the U-series data suggest that fractured rock, specifically the Sundance and Drill Hole Wash faults, are not preferred flow paths for groundwater flowing through the Topopah Spring tuff and, by implication, rapid-flow, within 50 a, from the surface to the level of the ESF is improbable. ?? 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Perfect Model for the Perfect Storm: Creating an Effective State to Grassroots Comprehensive Public Health and Medical Strategic Communication Model

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-12-01

Public Health Emergency Activations 2004–2013 ...................................54 Table 3. MS ESF-8/What, Who, and Why...trainings, activations , etc. Additionally, the MS public health districts have ESF-8 databases of contacts that have been built over the years from...entities together to discuss the formalization of a state-level healthcare coalition. During this meeting, two primary activities occurred that were

Random Evolutionary Dynamics Driven by Fitness and House-of-Cards Mutations: Sampling Formulae

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huillet, Thierry E.

2017-07-01

We first revisit the multi-allelic mutation-fitness balance problem, especially when mutations obey a house of cards condition, where the discrete-time deterministic evolutionary dynamics of the allelic frequencies derives from a Shahshahani potential. We then consider multi-allelic Wright-Fisher stochastic models whose deviation to neutrality is from the Shahshahani mutation/selection potential. We next focus on the weak selection, weak mutation cases and, making use of a Gamma calculus, we compute the normalizing partition functions of the invariant probability densities appearing in their Wright-Fisher diffusive approximations. Using these results, generalized Ewens sampling formulae (ESF) from the equilibrium distributions are derived. We start treating the ESF in the mixed mutation/selection potential case and then we restrict ourselves to the ESF in the simpler house-of-cards mutations only situation. We also address some issues concerning sampling problems from infinitely-many alleles weak limits.

Bomb-Pulse Chlorine-36 at the Proposed Yucca Mountain Repository Horizon: An Investigation of Previous Conflicting Results and Collection of New Data

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

Cizdziel, James

2006-07-31

Previous studies Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) found elevated ratios of chlorine-36 to total chloride (36Cl/Cl) in samples of rock collected from the Exploratory Studies Facility (ESF) at Yucca Mountain (YM). The data were interpreted as an indication that fluids containing “bomb-pulse” 36Cl reached the repository horizon in the ~50 years since the peak period of above-ground nuclear testing. Due to the significance of 36Cl data to conceptual models of unsaturated zone flow, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) implemented a study to validate the LANL findings. The USGS drilled new boreholes at select locations across zones where bomb-pulse ratiosmore » had previously been identified. The drill cores were analyzed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Because consensus was not reached between the USGS/LLNL and LANL on several fundamental points including the presence or absence of bomb-pulse 36Cl, an evaluation by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), was initiated. The overall objectives of the UNLV study were to investigate the source of the validation study’s conflicting results, and to obtain additional data on bomb-pulse isotopes at the repository horizon. UNLV engaged in discussions with previous investigators, reviewed reports, and analyzed archived samples. UNLV also collected new samples of rock from the ESF, soil profiles from the surface of YM, and samples of seep water from inside the ESF. Samples were analyzed for 36Cl/Cl ratios, and 99Tc and 129I in select samples. A column experiment was conducted mimicking the passage of bomb-pulse 36Cl through YM tuff. The work faced several obstacles including an extended shutdown of the tunnel. Only one sample yielded a background corrected 36Cl/Cl ratio that was higher than the accepted bomb-pulse threshold (1250 x 10-15). Specimen 01034214 obtained from the Drill Hole Wash fault (19+33) had a ratio of 1590 ± 80 (1σ) x10-15, whereas the other separate sample from this fault zone yielded 1160 ± 50 (1σ) x 10-15. Three samples collected from Alcove 6 averaged 490 ± 100 (1σ) x10-15; a sample from Sundance Fault resulted in a ratio of 920 ± 60 (1σ) x10-15, and a sample from the Bow Ridge Fault produced 530 ± 20 (1σ) x10-15. The results are significant because: 1) they tend to be lower than LANL data for comparable samples, albeit in agreement with the range of data produced in the area, and 2) they show that a bomb-pulse 36Cl/Cl ratio was measured in rock collected at the repository horizon level by a second and independent group of investigators (UNLV). Because of time UNLV was not able to replicate the results, and these few data points are insufficient to draw major and definitive conclusions. Leachates of soil samples collected from the surface above the ESF yielded several ratios with bomb-pulse 36Cl, particularly for samples encompassing the wetting front. Soil samples collected above the south ramp, where there was limited soil coverage due to a large amount of rock outcrop, had relatively large ratios ranging from 2170 ± 110 (1σ) x10-15 to 5670 ± 350 (1σ) x10-15. Soil samples from profiles from above the north ramp ranged from 820 ± 70 (1σ) x10-15 to 2390 ± 160 (1σ) x10-15, which compare favorably with previous measurements near the site. Water seepage into the ESF south ramp and 36Cl standards made from NIST material were also analyzed. The standards were produced to have nominal 36Cl/Cl ratios (10-15) of 500, 2,500 and 10,000 and the results showed good agreement with the calculated ratios. The seepage samples ranged between 680 ± 40 (1σ) x10-15 to 1110 ± 40 (1σ) x10-15, consistent with that found for modern meteoric water, with a small bomb-pulse component. Bomb-pulse 36Cl may not have been incorporated in this fast-path water because the surface above the infiltration zone consists mostly of outcrop and the flow pathways have probably mostly been leached. 99Tc was measured in five of nine leaches of ESF rock but poor analytical recoveries and lack of data overlap with 36Cl limit interpretations of these data. The detection capability of the ICP-MS was insufficient for measuring 129I without preconcentration, and detection by AMS may be preferable. Experiments were conducted using bromide instead of chloride as a carrier, which is advantageous because it may eliminate the need for blank subtraction. ESF samples prepared using bromide had 36Cl/Cl ratios (x10-15) with acceptable levels of uncertainty (1σ): 720 ± 30 and 1250 ± 90 for Bow Ridge and Drill Hole Wash Faults, respectively. The result for the latter is noteworthy because it constitutes a second detection of a 36Cl/Cl bomb-pulse ratio at the site, albeit from a non-Q measurement. The source of the conflicting results between USGS/LLNL and LANL could not be determined. There was no evidence that the different AMS facilities were a source of the discrepancy between the results.« less

Geophysical Monitoring of Two types of Subsurface Injection

EPA Science Inventory

Nano-scale particles of zero-valent iron (ZVI) were injected into the subsurface at the 100-D area of the DOE Hanford facility. The intent of this iron injection was to repair a gap in the existing in-situ redox manipulation barrier located at the site. A number of geophysical me...

Child morbidity and mortality associated with alternative policy responses to the economic crisis in Brazil: A nationwide microsimulation study

PubMed Central

Paes-Sousa, Romulo; Ocké-Reis, Carlos Octávio; Millett, Christopher

2018-01-01

Background Since 2015, a major economic crisis in Brazil has led to increasing poverty and the implementation of long-term fiscal austerity measures that will substantially reduce expenditure on social welfare programmes as a percentage of the country’s GDP over the next 20 years. The Bolsa Família Programme (BFP)—one of the largest conditional cash transfer programmes in the world—and the nationwide primary healthcare strategy (Estratégia Saúde da Família [ESF]) are affected by fiscal austerity, despite being among the policy interventions with the strongest estimated impact on child mortality in the country. We investigated how reduced coverage of the BFP and ESF—compared to an alternative scenario where the level of social protection under these programmes is maintained—may affect the under-five mortality rate (U5MR) and socioeconomic inequalities in child health in the country until 2030, the end date of the Sustainable Development Goals. Methods and findings We developed and validated a microsimulation model, creating a synthetic cohort of all 5,507 Brazilian municipalities for the period 2017–2030. This model was based on the longitudinal dataset and effect estimates from a previously published study that evaluated the effects of poverty, the BFP, and the ESF on child health. We forecast the economic crisis and the effect of reductions in BFP and ESF coverage due to current fiscal austerity on the U5MR, and compared this scenario with a scenario where these programmes maintain the levels of social protection by increasing or decreasing with the size of Brazil’s vulnerable populations (policy response scenarios). We used fixed effects multivariate regression models including BFP and ESF coverage and accounting for secular trends, demographic and socioeconomic changes, and programme duration effects. With the maintenance of the levels of social protection provided by the BFP and ESF, in the most likely economic crisis scenario the U5MR is expected to be 8.57% (95% CI: 6.88%–10.24%) lower in 2030 than under fiscal austerity—a cumulative 19,732 (95% CI: 10,207–29,285) averted under-five deaths between 2017 and 2030. U5MRs from diarrhoea, malnutrition, and lower respiratory tract infections are projected to be 39.3% (95% CI: 36.9%–41.8%), 35.8% (95% CI: 31.5%–39.9%), and 8.5% (95% CI: 4.1%–12.0%) lower, respectively, in 2030 under the maintenance of BFP and ESF coverage, with 123,549 fewer under-five hospitalisations from all causes over the study period. Reduced coverage of the BFP and ESF will also disproportionately affect U5MR in the most vulnerable areas, with the U5MR in the poorest quintile of municipalities expected to be 11.0% (95% CI: 8.0%–13.8%) lower in 2030 under the maintenance of BFP and ESF levels of social protection than under fiscal austerity, compared to no difference in the richest quintile. Declines in health inequalities over the last decade will also stop under a fiscal austerity scenario: the U5MR concentration index is expected to remain stable over the period 2017–2030, compared to a 13.3% (95% CI: 5.6%–21.8%) reduction under the maintenance of BFP and ESF levels of protection. Limitations of our analysis are the ecological nature of the study, uncertainty around future macroeconomic scenarios, and potential changes in other factors affecting child health. A wide range of sensitivity analyses were conducted to minimise these limitations. Conclusions The implementation of fiscal austerity measures in Brazil can be responsible for substantively higher childhood morbidity and mortality than expected under maintenance of social protection—threatening attainment of Sustainable Development Goals for child health and reducing inequality. PMID:29787574

Laboratory- and community-based health outcomes in people with transtibial amputation using crossover and energy-storing prosthetic feet: A randomized crossover trial

PubMed Central

Morgan, Sara J.; McDonald, Cody L.; Halsne, Elizabeth G.; Cheever, Sarah M.; Salem, Rana; Kramer, Patricia A.

2018-01-01

Contemporary prosthetic feet are generally optimized for either daily or high-level activities. Prosthesis users, therefore, often require multiple prostheses to participate in activities that span a range of mobility. Crossover feet (XF) are designed to increase the range of activities that can be performed with a single prosthesis. However, little evidence exists to guide clinical prescription of XF relative to traditional energy storing feet (ESF). The objective of this study was to assess the effects of XF and ESF on health outcomes in people with transtibial amputation. A randomized crossover study was conducted to assess changes in laboratory-based (endurance, perceived exertion, walking performance) and community-based (step activity and self-reported mobility, fatigue, balance confidence, activity restrictions, and satisfaction) outcomes. Twenty-seven participants were fit with XF and ESF prostheses with standardized sockets, interfaces, and suspensions. Participants were not blinded to the intervention, and wore each prosthesis for one month while their steps were counted with an activity monitor. After each accommodation period, participants returned for data collection. Endurance and perceived exertion were measured with the Six-Minute Walk Test and Borg-CR100, respectively. Walking performance was measured using an electronic walkway. Self-reported mobility, fatigue, balance confidence, activity restrictions, and satisfaction were measured with survey instruments. Participants also reported foot preferences upon conclusion of the study. Differences between feet were assessed with a crossover analysis. While using XF, users experienced improvements in most community-based outcomes, including mobility (p = .001), fatigue (p = .001), balance confidence (p = .005), activity restrictions (p = .002), and functional satisfaction (p < .001). Participants also exhibited longer sound side steps in XF compared to ESF (p < .001). Most participants (89%) reported an overall preference for XF; others (11%) reported no preference. Results indicate that XF may be a promising alternative to ESF for people with transtibial amputation who engage in a range of mobility activities. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02440711 PMID:29414988

New aspects of the ionospheric irregularities observed with the Equatorial Atmosphere Radar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fukao, S.

2003-04-01

Coherent radar observations of 3-m equatorial spread F (ESF) irregularities have been conducted with the Equatorial Atmosphere Radar (EAR) in the West Pacific (0.2oS, 100.32oW; geomagnetic latitude 10.63oS) since November 2002. The EAR has a peak output power of 100~kW and a circular antenna array approximately 110~m in diameter. An active phased-array antenna system enables it to view perpendicular to the geomagnetic field in a fan-shaped altitude-longitude sector which extends over 600~km at the altitude of 500~km. The purpose of this paper is to present some preliminary results obtained with this radar. First, the EAR observed that ESF irregularities with east-west scale sizes of 100-500~km usually appeared after sunset and traversed with a speed of the order of 100 m/s from west to east. They considerably changed their shapes, but the shapes of well-matured irregularities are, in general, quite similar to those inferred from altitude-time sections obtained simultaneously. Second, a tiny structure born within the sector was followed during its growth, and the growth rate was estimated to be 7x10-3/sec, the same order of magnitude as that of the gravitational Rayleigh-Taylor instability. Third, plasma bubbles as tall as 800~km in altitude (their maximum apex altitude is about 1300~km) appeared without being accompanied by any upwelling below which is usually observed at other longitudes. This result indicates that the ESF irregularities are first generated at the equator and rapidly rise upward involving higher latitude regions connected with the same geomagnetic field lines. Finally, an intense ESF irregularity was observed after sunrise, which moved first toward the pole and then disappeared to the west. Its growth rate is similar to the nocturnal irregularity. It will be interesting to investigate these new aspects of the ESF irregularities in this longitude for elucidation of their generation mechanism.

Effect of Streamflow Forecast Uncertainty on Real-Time Reservoir Operation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, T.; Cai, X.; Yang, D.

2010-12-01

Various hydrological forecast products have been applied to real-time reservoir operation, including deterministic streamflow forecast (DSF), DSF-based probabilistic streamflow forecast (DPSF), and ensemble streamflow forecast (ESF), which represent forecast uncertainty in the form of deterministic forecast error, deterministic forecast error-based uncertainty distribution, and ensemble forecast errors, respectively. Compared to previous studies that treat these forecast products as ad hoc inputs for reservoir operation models, this paper attempts to model the uncertainties involved in the various forecast products and explores their effect on real-time reservoir operation decisions. In hydrology, there are various indices reflecting the magnitude of streamflow forecast uncertainty; meanwhile, few models illustrate the forecast uncertainty evolution process. This research introduces Martingale Model of Forecast Evolution (MMFE) from supply chain management and justifies its assumptions for quantifying the evolution of uncertainty in streamflow forecast as time progresses. Based on MMFE, this research simulates the evolution of forecast uncertainty in DSF, DPSF, and ESF, and applies the reservoir operation models (dynamic programming, DP; stochastic dynamic programming, SDP; and standard operation policy, SOP) to assess the effect of different forms of forecast uncertainty on real-time reservoir operation. Through a hypothetical single-objective real-time reservoir operation model, the results illustrate that forecast uncertainty exerts significant effects. Reservoir operation efficiency, as measured by a utility function, decreases as the forecast uncertainty increases. Meanwhile, these effects also depend on the type of forecast product being used. In general, the utility of reservoir operation with ESF is nearly as high as the utility obtained with a perfect forecast; the utilities of DSF and DPSF are similar to each other but not as efficient as ESF. Moreover, streamflow variability and reservoir capacity can change the magnitude of the effects of forecast uncertainty, but not the relative merit of DSF, DPSF, and ESF. Schematic diagram of the increase in forecast uncertainty with forecast lead-time and the dynamic updating property of real-time streamflow forecast

Researchers Mine Information from Next-Generation Subsurface Flow Simulations

DOE PAGES

Gedenk, Eric D.

2015-12-01

A research team based at Virginia Tech University leveraged computing resources at the US Department of Energy's (DOE's) Oak Ridge National Laboratory to explore subsurface multiphase flow phenomena that can't be experimentally observed. Using the Cray XK7 Titan supercomputer at the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, the team took Micro-CT images of subsurface geologic systems and created two-phase flow simulations. The team's model development has implications for computational research pertaining to carbon sequestration, oil recovery, and contaminant transport.

40 CFR 264.251 - Design and operating requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... any migration of wastes out of the pile into the adjacent subsurface soil or ground water or surface water at any time during the active life (including the closure period) of the waste pile. The liner may... adjacent subsurface soil or ground water or surface water) during the active life of the facility. The...

40 CFR 264.251 - Design and operating requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... any migration of wastes out of the pile into the adjacent subsurface soil or ground water or surface water at any time during the active life (including the closure period) of the waste pile. The liner may... adjacent subsurface soil or ground water or surface water) during the active life of the facility. The...

40 CFR 264.251 - Design and operating requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... any migration of wastes out of the pile into the adjacent subsurface soil or ground water or surface... adjacent subsurface soil or ground water or surface water) during the active life of the facility. The... attenuative capacity and thickness of the liners and soils present between the pile and ground water or...

40 CFR 264.251 - Design and operating requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... any migration of wastes out of the pile into the adjacent subsurface soil or ground water or surface... adjacent subsurface soil or ground water or surface water) during the active life of the facility. The... attenuative capacity and thickness of the liners and soils present between the pile and ground water or...

40 CFR 264.251 - Design and operating requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... any migration of wastes out of the pile into the adjacent subsurface soil or ground water or surface... adjacent subsurface soil or ground water or surface water) during the active life of the facility. The... attenuative capacity and thickness of the liners and soils present between the pile and ground water or...

Trichloroethylene (TCE) in tree cores to complement a subsurface investigation on residential property near a former electroplating facility.

PubMed

Wilcox, Jeffrey D; Johnson, Kathy M

2016-10-01

Tree cores were collected and analyzed for trichloroethylene (TCE) on a private property between a former electroplating facility in Asheville, North Carolina (USA), and a contaminated wetland/spring complex. TCE was detected in 16 of 31 trees, the locations of which were largely consistent with a "plume core" delineated by a more detailed subsurface investigation nearly 2 years later. Concentrations in tree cores and nearby soil borings were not correlated, perhaps due to heterogeneities in both geologic and tree root structure, spatial and temporal variability in transpiration rates, or interferences caused by other contaminants at the site. Several tree cores without TCE provided evidence for significantly lower TCE concentrations in shallow groundwater along the margins of the contaminated spring complex in an area with limited accessibility. This study demonstrates that tree core analyses can complement a more extensive subsurface investigation, particularly in residential or ecologically sensitive areas.

Identifying 2 prenylflavanones as potential hepatotoxic compounds in the ethanol extract of Sophora flavescens.

PubMed

Yu, Qianqian; Cheng, Nengneng; Ni, Xiaojun

2013-11-01

Zhixue capsule is a prescription for hemorrhoid commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine. This drug was recalled by the State Food and Drug Administration in 2008 because of severe adverse hepatic reactions. Zhixue capsule is composed of ethanol extracts of Cortex Dictamni (ECD) and Sophora flavescens (ESF). In our preliminary study, we observed the hepatotoxic effects of ESF on rat primary hepatocytes. However, ECD did not exhibit hepatotoxicity at the same concentration range. In this study, ESF was evaluated for its potential hepatotoxic effects on rats. Bioassay-guided isolation was used to identify the material basis for hepatotoxicity. Treatment with 1.25 g/kg and 2.5 g/kg ESF significantly elevated the alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase levels in the serum. The changes in the levels of transaminases were supported by the remarkable fatty degeneration of liver histopathology. Further investigations using bioassay-guided isolation and analysis indicated that prenylated flavanones accounted for the positive hepatotoxic results. Two isolated compounds were identified, kurarinone and sophoraflavanone G, using nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry techniques. These compounds have potent toxic effects on primary rat hepatocytes (with IC50 values of 29.9 μM and 16.5 μM) and human HL-7702 liver cells (with IC50 values of 48.2 μM and 40.3 μM), respectively. Consequently, the hepatotoxic constituents of S. flavescens were determined to be prenylated flavanones, kurarinone, and sophoraflavanone G. © 2013 Institute of Food Technologists®

Association between expansion of primary healthcare and racial inequalities in mortality amenable to primary care in Brazil: A national longitudinal analysis.

PubMed

Hone, Thomas; Rasella, Davide; Barreto, Mauricio L; Majeed, Azeem; Millett, Christopher

2017-05-01

Universal health coverage (UHC) can play an important role in achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 10, which addresses reducing inequalities, but little supporting evidence is available from low- and middle-income countries. Brazil's Estratégia de Saúde da Família (ESF) (family health strategy) is a community-based primary healthcare (PHC) programme that has been expanding since the 1990s and is the main platform for delivering UHC in the country. We evaluated whether expansion of the ESF was associated with differential reductions in mortality amenable to PHC between racial groups. Municipality-level longitudinal fixed-effects panel regressions were used to examine associations between ESF coverage and mortality from ambulatory-care-sensitive conditions (ACSCs) in black/pardo (mixed race) and white individuals over the period 2000-2013. Models were adjusted for socio-economic development and wider health system variables. Over the period 2000-2013, there were 281,877 and 318,030 ACSC deaths (after age standardisation) in the black/pardo and white groups, respectively, in the 1,622 municipalities studied. Age-standardised ACSC mortality fell from 93.3 to 57.9 per 100,000 population in the black/pardo group and from 75.7 to 49.2 per 100,000 population in the white group. ESF expansion (from 0% to 100%) was associated with a 15.4% (rate ratio [RR]: 0.846; 95% CI: 0.796-0.899) reduction in ACSC mortality in the black/pardo group compared with a 6.8% (RR: 0.932; 95% CI: 0.892-0.974) reduction in the white group (coefficients significantly different, p = 0.012). These differential benefits were driven by greater reductions in mortality from infectious diseases, nutritional deficiencies and anaemia, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease in the black/pardo group. Although the analysis is ecological, sensitivity analyses suggest that over 30% of black/pardo deaths would have to be incorrectly coded for the results to be invalid. This study is limited by the use of municipal-aggregate data, which precludes individual-level inference. Omitted variable bias, where factors associated with ESF expansion are also associated with changes in mortality rates, may have influenced our findings, although sensitivity analyses show the robustness of the findings to pre-ESF trends and the inclusion of other municipal-level factors that could be associated with coverage. PHC expansion is associated with reductions in racial group inequalities in mortality in Brazil. These findings highlight the importance of investment in PHC to achieve the SDGs aimed at improving health and reducing inequalities.

Achievements and opportunities from ESF Research Networking Programme: Natural molecular structures as drivers and tracers of terrestrial C fluxes, and COST Action 639: Greenhouse gas budget of soils under changing climate and land use

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boeckx, P.; Rasse, D.; Jandl, R.

2009-04-01

One of the activities of the European Science Foundation (ESF, www.esf.org) is developing European scale Research Networking Programmes (RNPs). RNPs lay the foundation for nationally funded research groups to address major scientific and research infrastructure issues, in order to advance the frontiers of existing science. MOLTER (www.esf.org/molter or www.molter.no) is such an RNP. MOLTER stands for "Natural molecular structures as drivers and tracers of terrestrial C fluxes" aims at stimulating the use of isotopic and organic chemistry to study carbon stabilization and biogeochemistry in terrestrial ecosystems and soils in particular. The understanding of the formation, stabilization and decomposition of complex organic compounds in the environment is currently being revolutionized by advanced techniques in identification, quantification, and origin tracing of functional groups and individual molecules. MOLTER focuses on five major research themes: - Molecular composition and turnover time of soil organic matter; - Plant molecular structures as drivers of C stabilisation in soils; - Fire transformations of plant and soil molecular structures - Molecular markers in soils; - Dissolved organic molecules in soils: origin, functionality and transport. These research themes are covered via the following activities: - Organisation of international conferences; - Organisation of specific topical workshops; - Organisation of summer schools for PhD students; - Short- and long-term exchange grants for scientists. MOLTER is supported by research funding or performing agencies from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The ESF is also the implementing agency of COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology, www.cost.esf.org), one of the longest-running European instruments supporting cooperation among scientists and researchers across Europe. COST Action 639 "Greenhouse gas budget of soils under changing climate and land use" (BurnOut) (www.cost.esf.org/domains_actions/essem/Actions/changing_climate or bfw.ac.at/rz/bfwcms.web?dok=5906) BurnOut aims at improving the management of greenhouse gas emissions from European soils under different regimes of ecosystem disturbances and land-use change. This will allow the identification of soil and site conditions (hot spots) that are vulnerable to greenhouse gas emissions. The specific objectives are: - Identification of hot spots of greenhouse gas emissions from soils; - Identification of soil and site conditions that are vulnerable to GHG emissions; - Development of an advanced greenhouse gas reporting concept across different of land forms, land use and land use changes; - Communication of policy relevant GHG reporting concepts; Burnout covers the following activities: - Organisation of specific topical workshops; - Short-term scientific visits for scientists. Participating countries in BurnOut are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, Russian Federation, and Bosnia Herzegovina. During this oral presentation, possible lines of cooperation, opportunities and recent achievements will be exemplified and the audience will be invited to contribute their views on these initiatives.

Identification and characteristics of patients with palliative care needs in Brazilian primary care.

PubMed

Marcucci, Fernando C I; Cabrera, Marcos A S; Perilla, Anamaria Baquero; Brun, Marilia Maroneze; de Barros, Eder Marcos L; Martins, Vanessa M; Rosenberg, John P; Yates, Patsy

2016-06-01

The Brazilian healthcare system offers universal coverage but lacks information about how patients with PC needs are serviced by its primary care program, Estratégia Saúde da Família (ESF). Cross-sectional study in community settings. Patients in ESF program were screened using a Palliative Care Screening Tool (PCST). Included patients were assessed with Karnofsky Performance Scale (KPS), Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS) and Palliative Care Outcome Scale (POS). Patients with PC needs are accessing the ESF program regardless of there being no specific PC support provided. From 238 patients identified, 73 (43 women, 30 men) were identified as having a need for PC, and the mean age was 77.18 (95 % Confidence Interval = ±2,78) years, with non-malignant neurologic conditions, such as dementia and cerebrovascular diseases, being the most common (53 % of all patients). Chronic conditions (2 or more years) were found in 70 % of these patients, with 71 % scoring 50 or less points in the KPS. Overall symptom intensity was low, with the exception of some cases with moderate and high score, and POS average score was 14.16 points (minimum = 4; maximum = 28). Most patients received medication and professional support through the primary care units, but limitations of services were identified, including lack of home visits and limited multi-professional approaches. Patients with PC needs were identified in ESF program. Basic health care support is provided but there is a lack of attention to some specific needs. PC policies and professional training should be implemented to improve this area.

Impact of Stratospheric Sudden Warming on the Occurrence of the Equatorial Spread-F

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jose, Lijo; Vineeth, C.; Pant, T. K.

2017-12-01

This study presents the influence of stratospheric sudden warming (SSW) events in modulating the start time of the equatorial spread-F (ESF) through enhanced planetary wave (PW) activity during the winter months of the SSW years. The analysis based on the data from a digital ionosonde and proton precession magnetometer over Trivandrum (8.5°N, 77°E, 0.5°N dip lat.) revealed that the PWs of quasi-16 day periodicity influence the start time of the ESF to a significant extent during the SSW years. On the other hand, during a normal year such effect is not very evidently present. It has been observed that the quasi-16 day wave propagates to ionospheric dynamo region from the atmosphere below and modifies the electrodynamical processes like the equatorial electrojet and prereversal enhancement, which is more pronounced during both the SSW periods. Such a modification in the electrodynamics can modulate the equatorial plasma fountain and influence the F region neutral dynamics, which in turn can affect the occurrence of ESF by modifying the seeding conditions.

Seminal plasma induces global transcriptomic changes associated with cell migration, proliferation and viability in endometrial epithelial cells and stromal fibroblasts.

PubMed

Chen, Joseph C; Johnson, Brittni A; Erikson, David W; Piltonen, Terhi T; Barragan, Fatima; Chu, Simon; Kohgadai, Nargis; Irwin, Juan C; Greene, Warner C; Giudice, Linda C; Roan, Nadia R

2014-06-01

How does seminal plasma (SP) affect the transcriptome of human primary endometrial epithelial cells (eEC) and stromal fibroblasts (eSF)? Exposure of eEC and eSF to SP in vitro increases expression of genes and secreted proteins associated with cellular migration, proliferation, viability and inhibition of cell death. Studies in both humans and animals suggest that SP can access and induce physiological changes in the upper female reproductive tract (FRT), which may participate in promoting reproductive success. This is a cross sectional study involving control samples versus treatment. SP (pooled from twenty donors) was first tested for dose- and time-dependent cytotoxic effects on eEC and eSF (n = 4). As exposure of eEC or eSF to 1% SP for 6 h proved to be non-toxic, a second set of eEC/eSF samples (n = 4) was treated under these conditions for transcriptome, protein and functional analysis. With a third set of samples (n = 3), we further compared the transcriptional response of the cells to SP versus fresh semen. eEC and eSF were isolated from endometrial biopsies from women of reproductive age undergoing benign gynecologic procedures and maintained in vitro. RNA was isolated and processed for microarray studies to analyze global transcriptomic changes. Secreted factors in conditioned media from SP-treated cells were analyzed by Luminex and for the ability to stimulate migration of CD14+ monocytes and CD4+ T cells. Pathway identifications were determined using the Z-scoring system in Ingenuity Pathways Analysis (Z scores ≥|1.5|). SP induced transcriptomic changes (P < 0.05) associated with promoting leukocyte and endothelial cell recruitment, and proliferation of eEC and eSF. Cell viability pathways were induced, while those associated with cell death were suppressed (P < 0.05). SP and fresh semen induced similar sets of pathways, suggesting that SP can model the signaling effects of semen in the endometrium. SP also induced secretion of pro-inflammatory and pro-chemotactic cytokines, as well as pro-angiogenic and proliferative growth factors (P < 0.05) in both eEC and eSF. Finally, functional assays revealed that conditioned media from SP-treated eEC and eSF significantly increased (P < 0.05) chemotaxis of CD14+ monocytes and CD4+ T cells. This study is limited to in vitro analyses of the effects of SP on endometrial cells. In addition, the measured response to SP was conducted in the absence of the ovarian hormones estradiol and progesterone, as well as epithelial-stromal paracrine signaling. While this study focused on establishing the baseline cellular response of endometrial cells to SP, future work should assess how hormone signaling in the presence of appropriate paracrine interactions affects SP-induced genes in these cells. The results of this study support previous findings that SP and semen contain bioactive factors capable of eliciting chemotactic responses in the uterus, which can lead to recruitment of leukocytes to the endometrium. Future directions will explore if similar changes in gene expression do indeed occur after coitus in vivo, and how the signaling cascades initiated by SP in the endometrium can affect reproductive success, female reproductive health and susceptibility to sexually transmitted diseases. The gene list provided by the transcriptome analysis reported here should prove a valuable resource for understanding the response of the upper FRT to SP exposure. This project was supported by NIH AI083050-04 (W.C.G./L.C.G.); NIH U54HD 055764 (L.C.G.); NIH 1F32HD074423-02 (J.C.C.); DOD W81XWH-11-1-0562 (W.C.G.); NIH 5K12-DK083021-04, NIH 1K99AI104262-01A1, The UCSF Hellman Award (N.R.R.). The authors have nothing to disclose.

Association between expansion of primary healthcare and racial inequalities in mortality amenable to primary care in Brazil: A national longitudinal analysis

PubMed Central

Rasella, Davide; Millett, Christopher

2017-01-01

Background Universal health coverage (UHC) can play an important role in achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 10, which addresses reducing inequalities, but little supporting evidence is available from low- and middle-income countries. Brazil’s Estratégia de Saúde da Família (ESF) (family health strategy) is a community-based primary healthcare (PHC) programme that has been expanding since the 1990s and is the main platform for delivering UHC in the country. We evaluated whether expansion of the ESF was associated with differential reductions in mortality amenable to PHC between racial groups. Methods and findings Municipality-level longitudinal fixed-effects panel regressions were used to examine associations between ESF coverage and mortality from ambulatory-care-sensitive conditions (ACSCs) in black/pardo (mixed race) and white individuals over the period 2000–2013. Models were adjusted for socio-economic development and wider health system variables. Over the period 2000–2013, there were 281,877 and 318,030 ACSC deaths (after age standardisation) in the black/pardo and white groups, respectively, in the 1,622 municipalities studied. Age-standardised ACSC mortality fell from 93.3 to 57.9 per 100,000 population in the black/pardo group and from 75.7 to 49.2 per 100,000 population in the white group. ESF expansion (from 0% to 100%) was associated with a 15.4% (rate ratio [RR]: 0.846; 95% CI: 0.796–0.899) reduction in ACSC mortality in the black/pardo group compared with a 6.8% (RR: 0.932; 95% CI: 0.892–0.974) reduction in the white group (coefficients significantly different, p = 0.012). These differential benefits were driven by greater reductions in mortality from infectious diseases, nutritional deficiencies and anaemia, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease in the black/pardo group. Although the analysis is ecological, sensitivity analyses suggest that over 30% of black/pardo deaths would have to be incorrectly coded for the results to be invalid. This study is limited by the use of municipal-aggregate data, which precludes individual-level inference. Omitted variable bias, where factors associated with ESF expansion are also associated with changes in mortality rates, may have influenced our findings, although sensitivity analyses show the robustness of the findings to pre-ESF trends and the inclusion of other municipal-level factors that could be associated with coverage. Conclusions PHC expansion is associated with reductions in racial group inequalities in mortality in Brazil. These findings highlight the importance of investment in PHC to achieve the SDGs aimed at improving health and reducing inequalities. PMID:28557989

Disturbance dynamo effects over low-latitude F region: A study by network of VHF spaced receivers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kakad, B.; Surve, G.; Tiwari, P.; Yadav, V.; Bhattacharyya, A.

2017-05-01

Generation of equatorial spread F (ESF) irregularities resulting from magnetic disturbance is known for past few decades. However, better prediction models for this phenomenon are still lacking. Magnetic storms also affects the F region plasma drifts. In this work we examined variability in (i) occurrence of such freshly generated ESF and (ii) low-latitude F region zonal plasma drifts over Indian longitude. For this purpose simultaneous observations of amplitude scintillations on 251 MHz signal, recorded by a network of spaced receivers located at low-latitude stations, are utilized. Observational stations are situated such that it longitudinally (latitudinally) covers an area of 5.6° (13°). Here effect of disturbance dynamo (DD) electric field at low-latitude F region and its variability are studied for three magnetic storms occurring in 2011. These magnetic storms are having nearly similar type characteristics except their start time. We find that as time difference (i.e., ΔT) between local sunset and start of magnetic activity decreases, the DD effects seen at low-latitude F region zonal irregularity drift around midnight becomes stronger. For a given magnetic storm the DD effect on F region zonal irregularity drifts is found to be only marginally stronger at dip equator in comparison to off-equatorial stations. Although effect of DD on F region zonal irregularity drifts are felt simultaneously, generation of fresh ESF is variable within a smaller longitudinal belt of 5.6°. It is attributed to the presence of LSWS at the bottomside of F region, as initiation of ESF is highly likely (unlikely) in the vicinity of crest (trough) of such LSWS.

Methods of producing transportation fuel

DOEpatents

Nair, Vijay [Katy, TX; Roes, Augustinus Wilhelmus Maria [Houston, TX; Cherrillo, Ralph Anthony [Houston, TX; Bauldreay, Joanna M [Chester, GB

2011-12-27

Systems, methods, and heaters for treating a subsurface formation are described herein. At least one method for producing transportation fuel is described herein. The method for producing transportation fuel may include providing formation fluid having a boiling range distribution between -5.degree. C. and 350.degree. C. from a subsurface in situ heat treatment process to a subsurface treatment facility. A liquid stream may be separated from the formation fluid. The separated liquid stream may be hydrotreated and then distilled to produce a distilled stream having a boiling range distribution between 150.degree. C. and 350.degree. C. The distilled liquid stream may be combined with one or more additives to produce transportation fuel.

Prototype Engineered Barrier System Field Test (PEBSFT); Final report

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

Ramirez, A.L.; Buscheck, T.; Carlson, R.

1991-08-01

This final report represents a summary of data and interpretations obtained from the Prototype Engineered Barrier System Field Test (PEBSFT) performed in G-Tunnel within the Nevada Test Site. The PEBSFT was conducted to evaluate the applicability of measurement techniques, numerical models, and procedures developed for future field tests that will be conducted in the Exploratory Studies Facilities (ESF) at Yucca Mountain. The primary objective of the test was to provide a basis for determining whether tests planned for the ESF have the potential to be successful. Chapter 1 on high frequency electromagnetic tomography discusses the rock mass electromagnetic permittivity andmore » attenuation rate changes that were measured to characterize the water distribution in the near field of a simulated waste container. The data are used to obtain quantitative estimates of how the moisture content in the rock mass changes during heating and to infer properties of the spatial variability of water distribution, leading to conclusions about the role of fractures in the system. Chapter 2 discusses the changes in rock moisture content detected by the neutron logging probe. Chapter 3 permeability tests discusses the characterization of the in-situ permeability of the fractured tuff around the borehole. The air permeability testing apparatus, the testing procedures, and the data analysis are presented. Chapter 4 describes the moisture collection system installed in the heater borehole to trap and measure the moisture volumes. Chapter 5 describes relative humidity measurements made with the thermocouple psychrometer and capacitance sensors. Chapter 6 discusses gas pressure measurements in the G-Tunnel, addressing the calibration and installation of piezoresistive-gaged transducers. Chapter 7 describes the calibration and installation of thermocouples for temperature measurements. Chapter 8 discusses the results of the PEBSFT.« less

Method for Implementing Subsurface Solid Derived Concentration Guideline Levels (DCGL) - 12331

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

Lively, J.W.

2012-07-01

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and other federal agencies currently approve the Multi-Agency Radiation Site Survey and Investigation Manual (MARSSIM) as guidance for licensees who are conducting final radiological status surveys in support of decommissioning. MARSSIM provides a method to demonstrate compliance with the applicable regulation by comparing residual radioactivity in surface soils with derived concentration guideline levels (DCGLs), but specifically discounts its applicability to subsurface soils. Many sites and facilities undergoing decommissioning contain subsurface soils that are potentially impacted by radiological constituents. In the absence of specific guidance designed to address the derivation of subsurface soil DCGLs andmore » compliance demonstration, decommissioning facilities have attempted to apply DCGLs and final status survey techniques designed specifically for surface soils to subsurface soils. The decision to apply surface soil limits and surface soil compliance metrics to subsurface soils typically results in significant over-excavation with associated cost escalation. MACTEC, Inc. has developed the overarching concepts and principles found in recent NRC decommissioning guidance in NUREG 1757 to establish a functional method to derive dose-based subsurface soil DCGLs. The subsurface soil method developed by MACTEC also establishes a rigorous set of criterion-based data evaluation metrics (with analogs to the MARSSIM methodology) that can be used to demonstrate compliance with the developed subsurface soil DCGLs. The method establishes a continuum of volume factors that relate the size and depth of a volume of subsurface soil having elevated concentrations of residual radioactivity with its ability to produce dose. The method integrates the subsurface soil sampling regime with the derivation of the subsurface soil DCGL such that a self-regulating optimization is naturally sought by both the responsible party and regulator. This paper describes the concepts and basis used by MACTEC to develop the dose-based subsurface soil DCGL method. The paper will show how MACTEC's method can be used to demonstrate that higher concentrations of residual radioactivity in subsurface soils (as compared with surface soils) can meet the NRC's dose-based regulations. MACTEC's method has been used successfully to obtain the NRC's radiological release at a site with known radiological impacts to subsurface soils exceeding the surface soil DCGL, saving both time and cost. Having considered the current NRC guidance for consideration of residual radioactivity in subsurface soils during decommissioning, MACTEC has developed a technically based approach to the derivation of and demonstration of compliance with subsurface soil DCGLs for radionuclides. In fact, the process uses the already accepted concepts and metrics approved for surface soils as the foundation for deriving scaling factors used to calculate subsurface soil DCGLs that are at least equally protective of the decommissioning annual dose standard. Each of the elements identified for consideration in the current NRC guidance is addressed in this proposed method. Additionally, there is considerable conservatism built into the assumptions and techniques used to arrive at subsurface soil scaling factors and DCGLs. The degree of conservatism embodied in the approach used is such that risk managers and decision makers approving and using subsurface soil DCGLs derived in accordance with this method can be confident that the future exposures will be well below permissible and safe levels. The technical basis for the method can be applied to a broad variety of sites with residual radioactivity in subsurface soils. Given the costly nature of soil surveys, excavation, and disposal of soils as low-level radioactive waste, MACTEC's method for deriving and demonstrating compliance with subsurface soil DCGLs offers the possibility of significant cost savings over the traditional approach of applying surface soil DCGLs to subsurface soils. Furthermore, while yet untested, MACTEC believes that the concepts and methods embodied in this approach could readily be applied to other types of contamination found in subsurface soils. (author)« less

Conference Report: ESF-COST High-Level Research Conference Natural Products Chemistry, Biology and Medicine III.

PubMed

Catino, Arthur

2010-12-01

Natural Products Chemistry, Biology and Medicine III was the third conference in a series of events sponsored by the European Science Foundation (ESF) and the European Cooperation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research (COST). Scientists came together from within and outside the EU to present cutting-edge developments in chemical synthesis. Research areas included the synthesis of natural products, methods development, isolation/structural elucidation and chemical biology. As our capacity to produce new chemotherapeutic agents relies on chemical synthesis, this year's conference has never been so timely. This report highlights several of the scientific contributions presented during the meeting.

Space weather at Low Latitudes: Considerations to improve its forecasting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chau, J. L.; Goncharenko, L.; Valladares, C. E.; Milla, M. A.

2013-05-01

In this work we present a summary of space weather events that are unique to low-latitude regions. Special emphasis will be devoted to events that occur during so-called quiet (magnetically) conditions. One of these events is the occurrence of nighttime F-region irregularities, also known Equatorial Spread F (ESF). When such irregularities occur navigation and communications systems get disrupted or perturbed. After more than 70 years of studies, many features of ESF irregularities (climatology, physical mechanisms, longitudinal dependence, time dependence, etc.) are well known, but so far they cannot be forecast on time scales of minutes to hours. We present a summary of some of these features and some of the efforts being conducted to contribute to their forecasting. In addition to ESF, we have recently identified a clear connection between lower atmospheric forcing and the low latitude variability, particularly during the so-called sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) events. During SSW events and magnetically quiet conditions, we have observed changes in total electron content (TEC) that are comparable to changes that occur during strong magnetically disturbed conditions. We present results from recent events as well as outline potential efforts to forecast the ionospheric effects during these events.

[The economic-financial sustainability of the Family Health Strategy in large municipalities].

PubMed

Portela, Gustavo Zoio; Ribeiro, José Mendes

2011-03-01

The universalization of basic care and commitment budget of the Ministry of Health with the Family Health Strategy (ESF) through new systematic financing incentives have been highlighted in the Brazilian health policy scenario. One of the great problems observed is the expansion of the strategy for large urban centres. This paper studies the economic-financial sustainability of ESF in Brazilian municipalities of more than 100 thousand inhabitants according to some selected indicators, considering the geographical region to which they belong, their population size and participation in Project for the Expansion and Consolidation Family Health (Proesf). Municipalities belonging to the Southeast region, more developed of the country, have on average better economic-financial performance, but lower average values of coverage of ESF. Municipalities from the North and Northeast, with the lowest average for economic-financial sustainability indicators, were the ones that made more effort to developments in the period. Thus, we observed the dynamics between bigger fiscal capacity and budgetary commitment with the Health Sector for biggest municipalities and in more economically developed regions, and greater vulnerability and dependence of federative transferences for municipalities with less people, in less developed areas.

3-D Reconstructions of Subsurface Pleistocene Basalt Flows from Paleomagnetic Inclination Data and 40Ar/39Ar Ages in the Southern Part of the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho (USA)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hodges, M. K.; Champion, D. E.; Turrin, B. D.; Swisher, C. C.

2012-12-01

The U. S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, is mapping the distribution of basalt flows and sedimentary interbeds at the Idaho National Laboratory in three dimensions to provide data for refining numerical models of groundwater flow and contaminant transport in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer. Paleomagnetic inclination and polarity data from basalt samples from 47 coreholes are being used to create a three-dimensional (3-D) model of the subsurface of the southern part of the INL. Surface and sub-surface basalt flows can be identified in individual cores and traced in three dimensions on the surface and in the subsurface for distances of more than 20 km using a combination of paleomagnetic, stratigraphic, and 40Ar/39Ar data. Eastern Snake River Plain olivine tholeiite basalts have K2O contents of 0.2 to 1.0 weight per cent. In spite of the low-K content, high-precision 40Ar/39Ar ages were obtained by applying a protocol that employs short irradiation times (minimizing interferences from Ca derived 36Ar), frequent measurement of various size atmospheric Ar pipettes to monitor and correct for temporal variation, and signal size dependent nonlinearity in spectrometer mass bias, resulting in age dates with resolution generally between 2 to 10% of the age. 3-D models of subsurface basalt flows are being used to: (1) Estimate eruption volumes; (2) locate the approximate vent areas and extent of sub-surface flows; and (3) Help locate high and low transmissivity zones. Results indicate that large basalt eruptions (>3 km3) occurred at and near the Central Facilities Area between 637 ka and 360 ka; at and near the Radioactive Waste Management Complex before 540 ka; and north of the Naval Reactors Facility at about 580 ka. Since about 360 ka, large basalt flows have erupted along the Arco-Big Southern Butte Volcanic Rift Zone and the Axial Volcanic Zone, and flowed northerly towards the Central Facilities Area. Basalt eruptions shifted the course of the Big Lost River from a more southerly course to its present one.

3-D reconstructions of subsurface Pleistocene basalt flows from paleomagnetic inclination data and 40Ar/39Ar ages in the southern part of the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho (USA)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hodges, Mary K. V.; Champion, Duane E.; Turrin, B.D.; Swisher, C. C.

2012-01-01

The U. S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, is mapping the distribution of basalt flows and sedimentary interbeds at the Idaho National Laboratory in three dimensions to provide data for refining numerical models of groundwater flow and contaminant transport in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer. Paleomagnetic inclination and polarity data from basalt samples from 47 coreholes are being used to create a three-dimensional (3-D) model of the subsurface of the southern part of the INL. Surface and sub-surface basalt flows can be identified in individual cores and traced in three dimensions on the surface and in the subsurface for distances of more than 20 km using a combination of paleomagnetic, stratigraphic, and 40Ar/39Ar data. Eastern Snake River Plain olivine tholeiite basalts have K2O contents of 0.2 to 1.0 weight per cent. In spite of the low-K content, high-precision 40Ar/39Ar ages were obtained by applying a protocol that employs short irradiation times (minimizing interferences from Ca derived 36Ar), frequent measurement of various size atmospheric Ar pipettes to monitor and correct for temporal variation, and signal size dependent nonlinearity in spectrometer mass bias, resulting in age dates with resolution generally between 2 to 10% of the age. 3-D models of subsurface basalt flows are being used to: (1) Estimate eruption volumes; (2) locate the approximate vent areas and extent of sub-surface flows; and (3) Help locate high and low transmissivity zones. Results indicate that large basalt eruptions (>3 km3) occurred at and near the Central Facilities Area between 637 ka and 360 ka; at and near the Radioactive Waste Management Complex before 540 ka; and north of the Naval Reactors Facility at about 580 ka. Since about 360 ka, large basalt flows have erupted along the Arco-Big Southern Butte Volcanic Rift Zone and the Axial Volcanic Zone, and flowed northerly towards the Central Facilities Area. Basalt eruptions shifted the course of the Big Lost River from a more southerly course to its present one.

Tracer Transport Along a Vertical Fault Located in Welded Tuffs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salve, R.; Liu, H.; Hu, Q.

2002-12-01

A near-vertical fault that intercepts the fractured welled tuff formation in the underground Exploratory Studies Facility (ESF) at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, has provided a unique opportunity to evaluate important hydrological parameters associated with faults (e.g., flow velocity, matrix diffusion, fault-fracture-matrix interactions). Alcove 8, which intersects the fault is located in the cross drift of the ESF, has been excavated for liquid releases through this fault and a network of fractures. Located 25 m below Alcove 8 in the main drift of the ESF, Niche 3 which also intercepts the fault, serves as the site for monitoring the wetting front and for collecting seepage following liquid releases in Alcove 8. To investigate the importance of matrix diffusion and the extent of area subject to fracture-matrix interactions, we released a mix of conservative tracers (pentafluorobenzoic acid [PFBA] and lithium bromide [LiBr]) along the fault. The ceiling of Niche 3 was blanketed with an array of trays to capture seepage, and seepage rates were continuously monitored by a water collection system connected to the trays. Additionally, a water sampling device, the passive-discreet water sampler (PDWS), was connected to three of the collections trays in Niche 3 into which water was seeping. The PDWS, designed to isolate continuous seepage from each tray into discreet samples for chemical analysis, remained connected to the trays over a period of three months. During this time, all water that seeped into the three trays was captured sequentially into sampling bottles and analyzed for concentrations of PFBA and LiBr. Water released along the fault initially traveled the 25 m vertical distance over a period of 36 days (at a velocity ~0.7 m/day). The seepage recovered in Niche 3 was less than 10% of the injected water with significant spatial and temporal fluctuations in seepage rates. Along a fast flow path, the benzoic tracer (PFBA) and LiBr were first detected ~12 days after they were released into the fault. Along slower flow paths the tracers appeared ~ two weeks later, with PFBA preceding the LiB. The differing travel times of the two conservative tracers suggests the impact of matrix diffusion in the transport process. This work was supported by the Director, Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, U.S. Department of Energy, through Memorandum Purchase Order EA9013MC5X between Bechtel SAIC Company, LLC, and the Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). The support is provided to Berkeley Lab through the U.S. Department of Energy Contract No. DE-AC03-76SF00098.

Bomb-Pulse Chlorine-36 At The Proposed Yucca Mountain Repository Horizon: An Investigation Of Previous Conflicting Results And Collection Of New Data

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

J. Cizdziel

2006-07-28

Previous studies by scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) found elevated ratios of chlorine-36 to total chloride ({sup 36}Cl/Cl) in samples of rock collected from the Exploratory Studies Facility (ESF) and the Enhanced Characterization of the Repository Block (ECRB) at Yucca Mountain as the tunnels were excavated. The data were interpreted as an indication that fluids containing 'bomb-pulse' {sup 36}Cl reached the repository horizon in the {approx}50 years since the peak period of above-ground nuclear testing. Moreover, the data support the concept that so-called fast pathways for infiltration not only exist but are active, possibly through a combination ofmore » porous media, faults and/or other geologic features. Due to the significance of {sup 36}Cl data to conceptual models of unsaturated zone flow and transport, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) was requested by the Department of Energy (DOE) to design and implement a study to validate the LANL findings. The USGS chose to drill new boreholes at select locations across zones where bomb-pulse ratios had previously been identified. The drill cores were analyzed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) for {sup 36}Cl/Cl using both active and passive leaches, with the USGS/LLNL concluding that the active leach extracted too much rock-Cl and the passive leach did not show bomb-pulse ratios. Because consensus was not reached between the USGS/LLNL and LANL on several fundamental points, including the conceptual strategy for sampling, interpretation and use of tritium ({sup 3}H) data, and the importance and interpretation of blanks, in addition to the presence or absence of bomb-pulse {sup 36}Cl, an evaluation by an independent entity, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), using new samples was initiated. This report is the result of that study. The overall objectives of the UNLV study were to investigate the source or sources of the conflicting results from the previous validation study, and to obtain additional data to determine whether or not there are bomb-pulse isotopes at the repository horizon. To that en4 we have engaged in discussions with previous investigators, reviewed reports, and analyzed archived samples. We have also collected new samples of rock from the ESF, soil profiles from the surface of Yucca Mountain, and opportunistic samples of seep water from inside the south ramp of the ESF.« less

Seminal plasma induces global transcriptomic changes associated with cell migration, proliferation and viability in endometrial epithelial cells and stromal fibroblasts

PubMed Central

Chen, Joseph C.; Johnson, Brittni A.; Erikson, David W.; Piltonen, Terhi T.; Barragan, Fatima; Chu, Simon; Kohgadai, Nargis; Irwin, Juan C.; Greene, Warner C.; Giudice, Linda C.; Roan, Nadia R.

2014-01-01

STUDY QUESTION How does seminal plasma (SP) affect the transcriptome of human primary endometrial epithelial cells (eEC) and stromal fibroblasts (eSF)? SUMMARY ANSWER Exposure of eEC and eSF to SP in vitro increases expression of genes and secreted proteins associated with cellular migration, proliferation, viability and inhibition of cell death. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY Studies in both humans and animals suggest that SP can access and induce physiological changes in the upper female reproductive tract (FRT), which may participate in promoting reproductive success. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION This is a cross sectional study involving control samples versus treatment. SP (pooled from twenty donors) was first tested for dose- and time-dependent cytotoxic effects on eEC and eSF (n = 4). As exposure of eEC or eSF to 1% SP for 6 h proved to be non-toxic, a second set of eEC/eSF samples (n = 4) was treated under these conditions for transcriptome, protein and functional analysis. With a third set of samples (n = 3), we further compared the transcriptional response of the cells to SP versus fresh semen. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS eEC and eSF were isolated from endometrial biopsies from women of reproductive age undergoing benign gynecologic procedures and maintained in vitro. RNA was isolated and processed for microarray studies to analyze global transcriptomic changes. Secreted factors in conditioned media from SP-treated cells were analyzed by Luminex and for the ability to stimulate migration of CD14+ monocytes and CD4+ T cells. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE Pathway identifications were determined using the Z-scoring system in Ingenuity Pathways Analysis (Z scores ≥|1.5|). SP induced transcriptomic changes (P < 0.05) associated with promoting leukocyte and endothelial cell recruitment, and proliferation of eEC and eSF. Cell viability pathways were induced, while those associated with cell death were suppressed (P < 0.05). SP and fresh semen induced similar sets of pathways, suggesting that SP can model the signaling effects of semen in the endometrium. SP also induced secretion of pro-inflammatory and pro-chemotactic cytokines, as well as pro-angiogenic and proliferative growth factors (P < 0.05) in both eEC and eSF. Finally, functional assays revealed that conditioned media from SP-treated eEC and eSF significantly increased (P < 0.05) chemotaxis of CD14+ monocytes and CD4+ T cells. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION This study is limited to in vitro analyses of the effects of SP on endometrial cells. In addition, the measured response to SP was conducted in the absence of the ovarian hormones estradiol and progesterone, as well as epithelial-stromal paracrine signaling. While this study focused on establishing the baseline cellular response of endometrial cells to SP, future work should assess how hormone signaling in the presence of appropriate paracrine interactions affects SP-induced genes in these cells. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS The results of this study support previous findings that SP and semen contain bioactive factors capable of eliciting chemotactic responses in the uterus, which can lead to recruitment of leukocytes to the endometrium. Future directions will explore if similar changes in gene expression do indeed occur after coitus in vivo, and how the signaling cascades initiated by SP in the endometrium can affect reproductive success, female reproductive health and susceptibility to sexually transmitted diseases. The gene list provided by the transcriptome analysis reported here should prove a valuable resource for understanding the response of the upper FRT to SP exposure. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S) This project was supported by NIH AI083050-04 (W.C.G./L.C.G.); NIH U54HD 055764 (L.C.G.); NIH 1F32HD074423-02 (J.C.C.); DOD W81XWH-11-1-0562 (W.C.G.); NIH 5K12-DK083021-04, NIH 1K99AI104262-01A1, The UCSF Hellman Award (N.R.R.). The authors have nothing to disclose. PMID:24626806

Surface and subsurface microgravity data in the vicinity of Sanford Underground Research Facility, Lead, South Dakota

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kennedy, Jeffrey R.; Koth, Karl R.; Carruth, Rob

2015-01-01

Absolute gravity data were collected at 32 stations in the vicinity of the Sanford Underground Research Facility from 2007 through 2014 for the purpose of monitoring groundwater storage change during dewatering of the former Homestake gold mine in the Black Hills of South Dakota, the largest and deepest underground mine in North America. Eight underground stations are at depths from 300 feet below land surface to 4,850 feet below land surface. Surface stations were located using Global Positioning System observations, and subsurface stations were located on the basis of maps constructed from survey measurements made while the mine was in operation. Gravity varies widely at many stations; however, no consistent temporal trends are present across all stations during the 7-year period of data collection.

Effects of fuel cetane number on the structure of diesel spray combustion: An accelerated Eulerian stochastic fields method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jangi, Mehdi; Lucchini, Tommaso; Gong, Cheng; Bai, Xue-Song

2015-09-01

An Eulerian stochastic fields (ESF) method accelerated with the chemistry coordinate mapping (CCM) approach for modelling spray combustion is formulated, and applied to model diesel combustion in a constant volume vessel. In ESF-CCM, the thermodynamic states of the discretised stochastic fields are mapped into a low-dimensional phase space. Integration of the chemical stiff ODEs is performed in the phase space and the results are mapped back to the physical domain. After validating the ESF-CCM, the method is used to investigate the effects of fuel cetane number on the structure of diesel spray combustion. It is shown that, depending of the fuel cetane number, liftoff length is varied, which can lead to a change in combustion mode from classical diesel spray combustion to fuel-lean premixed burned combustion. Spray combustion with a shorter liftoff length exhibits the characteristics of the classical conceptual diesel combustion model proposed by Dec in 1997 (http://dx.doi.org/10.4271/970873), whereas in a case with a lower cetane number the liftoff length is much larger and the spray combustion probably occurs in a fuel-lean-premixed mode of combustion. Nevertheless, the transport budget at the liftoff location shows that stabilisation at all cetane numbers is governed primarily by the auto-ignition process.

[Assessment of the technology of care relations in the health services: perception of the elderly included in the family health strategy in Bambuí, Brazil].

PubMed

Santos, Wagner Jorge dos; Giacomin, Karla Cristina; Firmo, Josélia Oliveira Araújo

2014-08-01

In the health field, technologies of care relations are in the scope of the worker-user encounter, implying intersubjectivity with the development of relationships between subjects, resulting in action. Evaluation studies synthesize knowledge produced on the consequences of using these technologies for society. This anthropological study aims to understand the perception of the elderly regarding the resolution capability and effectiveness of the acts produced in health care relationships in the context of the Family Health Strategy (ESF). The group studied consisted of 57 elderly residents in Bambui, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The model of signs, meanings and actions was used for collecting and analyzing data and the semi-structured interview was applied as a research technique. Elderly individuals assess resolution capability and effectiveness of the acts of care in the ESF as negative, with relation to the quality of user and professional interaction. The ESF is not effective and the desired change in the health care model has not occurred in practice. It repeats the centrality of the medical-drug-procedure model that treats the disease rather than the patient, perceiving old age as a disease and illness as being related to aging.

An optimized knife-edge method for on-orbit MTF estimation of optical sensors using powell parameter fitting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Lu; Gao, Kun; Gong, Chen; Zhu, Zhenyu; Guo, Yue

2017-08-01

On-orbit Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) is an important indicator to evaluate the performance of the optical remote sensors in a satellite. There are many methods to estimate MTF, such as pinhole method, slit method and so on. Among them, knife-edge method is quite efficient, easy-to-use and recommended in ISO12233 standard for the wholefrequency MTF curve acquisition. However, the accuracy of the algorithm is affected by Edge Spread Function (ESF) fitting accuracy significantly, which limits the range of application. So in this paper, an optimized knife-edge method using Powell algorithm is proposed to improve the ESF fitting precision. Fermi function model is the most popular ESF fitting model, yet it is vulnerable to the initial values of the parameters. Considering the characteristics of simple and fast convergence, Powell algorithm is applied to fit the accurate parameters adaptively with the insensitivity to the initial parameters. Numerical simulation results reveal the accuracy and robustness of the optimized algorithm under different SNR, edge direction and leaning angles conditions. Experimental results using images of the camera in ZY-3 satellite show that this method is more accurate than the standard knife-edge method of ISO12233 in MTF estimation.

Yucca Mountain Project Subsurface Facilities Design

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

A. Linden; R.S. Saunders; R.J. Boutin

2002-11-19

Four units of the Topopah Springs formation (volcanic tuff) are considered for the proposed repository: the upper lithophysal, the middle non-lithophysal, the lower lithophysal, and the lower non-lithophysal. Yucca Mountain was recently designated the site for a proposed repository to dispose of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. Work is proceeding to advance the design of subsurface facilities to accommodate emplacing waste packages in the proposed repository. This paper summarized recent progress in the design of subsurface layout of the proposed repository. The original Site Recommendation (SR) concept for the subsurface design located the repository largely within the lowermore » lithophysal zone (approximately 73%) of the Topopah The Site Recommendation characterized area suitable for emplacement consisted of the primary upper block, the lower block and the southern upper block extension. The primary upper block accommodated the mandated 70,000 metric tons of heavy metal (MTHM) at a 1.45 kW/m hear heat load. Based on further study of the Site Recommendation concept, the proposed repository siting area footprint was modified to make maximum use of available site characterization data, and thus, reduce uncertainties associated with performance assessment. As a result of this study, a modified repository footprint has been proposed and is presently being review for acceptance by the DOE. A panel design concept was developed to reduce overall costs and reduce the overall emplacement schedule. This concept provides flexibility to adjust the proposed repository subsurface layout with time, as it makes it unnecessary to ''commit'' to development of a large single panel at the earliest stages of construction. A description of the underground layout configuration and influencing factors that affect the layout configuration are discussed in the report.« less

Chemolithotrophy in the continental deep subsurface: Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF), USA

PubMed Central

Osburn, Magdalena R.; LaRowe, Douglas E.; Momper, Lily M.; Amend, Jan P.

2014-01-01

The deep subsurface is an enormous repository of microbial life. However, the metabolic capabilities of these microorganisms and the degree to which they are dependent on surface processes are largely unknown. Due to the logistical difficulty of sampling and inherent heterogeneity, the microbial populations of the terrestrial subsurface are poorly characterized. In an effort to better understand the biogeochemistry of deep terrestrial habitats, we evaluate the energetic yield of chemolithotrophic metabolisms and microbial diversity in the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in the former Homestake Gold Mine, SD, USA. Geochemical data, energetic modeling, and DNA sequencing were combined with principle component analysis to describe this deep (down to 8100 ft below surface), terrestrial environment. SURF provides access into an iron-rich Paleoproterozoic metasedimentary deposit that contains deeply circulating groundwater. Geochemical analyses of subsurface fluids reveal enormous geochemical diversity ranging widely in salinity, oxidation state (ORP 330 to −328 mV), and concentrations of redox sensitive species (e.g., Fe2+ from near 0 to 6.2 mg/L and Σ S2- from 7 to 2778μg/L). As a direct result of this compositional buffet, Gibbs energy calculations reveal an abundance of energy for microorganisms from the oxidation of sulfur, iron, nitrogen, methane, and manganese. Pyrotag DNA sequencing reveals diverse communities of chemolithoautotrophs, thermophiles, aerobic and anaerobic heterotrophs, and numerous uncultivated clades. Extrapolated across the mine footprint, these data suggest a complex spatial mosaic of subsurface primary productivity that is in good agreement with predicted energy yields. Notably, we report Gibbs energy normalized both per mole of reaction and per kg fluid (energy density) and find the later to be more consistent with observed physiologies and environmental conditions. Further application of this approach will significantly expand our understanding of the deep terrestrial biosphere. PMID:25429287

Mechanical evaluation of external skeletal fixator-intramedullary pin tie-in configurations applied to cadaveral humeri from red-tailed hawks (Buteo jamaicensis).

PubMed

Van Wettere, Arnaud J; Redig, Patrick T; Wallace, Larry J; Bourgeault, Craig A; Bechtold, Joan E

2009-12-01

Use of external skeletal fixator-intramedullary pin (ESF-IM) tie-in fixators is an adjustable and effective method of fracture fixation in birds. The objective of this study was to determine the contribution of each of the following parameters to the compressive and torsional rigidity of an ESF-IM pin tie-in applied to avian bones with an osteotomy gap: (1) varying the fixation pin position in the proximal bone segment and (2) increasing the number of fixation pins in one or both bone segments. ESF-IM pin tie-in constructs were applied to humeri harvested from red-tailed hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) (n=24) that had been euthanatized for clinical reasons. Constructs with a variation in the placement of the proximal fixation pin and with 2, 3, or 4 fixation pins applied to avian bone with an osteotomy gap were loaded to a defined displacement in torque and axial compression. Response variables were determined from resulting load-displacement curves (construct stiffness, load at 1-mm displacement). Increasing the number of fixation pins from 1 to 2 per bone segment significantly increased the stiffness in torque (110%) and compression (60%), and the safe load in torque (107%) and compression (50%). Adding a fixation pin to the distal bone segment to form a 3-pin fixator significantly increased the stiffness (27%) and safe load (20%) in torque but not in axial compression. In the configuration with 2 fixation pins, placing the proximal pin distally in the proximal bone segment significantly increased the stiffness in torque (28%), and the safe load in torque (23%) and in axial compression (32%). Results quantified the relative importance of specific parameters affecting the rigidity of ESF-IM pin tie-in constructs as applied to unstable bone fracture models in birds.

Environmental Assessment for the Replacement of Water Reservoirs

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-03-25

Intensive extraction of groundwater does not occur at Travis because of poor water- bearing subsurface geology. Intensive extraction SECTION 3.0...largest contiguous estuarine marsh and the largest wetland in the continental United States (CH2M HILL, 2001). Suisun Marsh drains into Grizzly and...and other support facilities. • Community (Commercial) – Uses include the exchange, commissary, banking, dining facilities, eating

ESF EUROCORES Programmes In Geosciences And Environmental Sciences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jonckheere, I. G.

2007-12-01

In close cooperation with its Member Organisations, the European Science Foundation (ESF) has launched since late 2003 a series of European Collaborative Research (EUROCORES) Programmes. Their aim is to enable researchers in different European countries to develop cooperation and scientific synergy in areas where European scale and scope are required in a global context. The EUROCORES Scheme provides an open, flexible and transparent framework that allows national science funding and science performing agencies to join forces to support excellent European-led research, following a selection among many science-driven suggestions for new Programmes themes submitted by the scientific community. The EUROCORES instrument represents the first large scale attempt of national research (funding) agencies to act together against fragmentation, asynchronicity and duplication of research (funding) within Europe. There are presently 7 EUROCORES Programmes specifically dealing with cutting edge science in the fields of Earth, Climate and Environmental Sciences. The EUROCORES Programmes consist of a number of international, multidisciplinary collaborative research projects running for 3-4 years, selected through independent peer review. Under the overall responsibility of the participating funding agencies, those projects are coordinated and networked together through the scientific guidance of a Scientific Committee, with the support of a Programme Coordinator, responsible at ESF for providing planning, logistics, and the integration and dissemination of science. Strong links are aimed for with other major international programmes and initiatives worldwide. In this framework, linkage to IYPE would be of major interest for the scientific communities involved. Each Programme mobilises 5 to 13 million Euros in direct science funding from 9 to 27 national agencies from 8 to 20 countries. Additional funding for coordination, networking and dissemination is allocated by the ESF through these distinctive research initiatives, to build on the national research efforts and contribute to the capacity building, in relation with typically about 15-20 post-doc positions and/or PhD studentships supported nationally within each Programme. Typical networking activities are topical workshops, open sessions in a larger conference, Programme conference, (summer / winter) schools, exchange visits across projects or programmes. Overall, EUROCORES Programmes are supported by more than 60 national agencies from 30 countries and by the European Science Foundation (ESF) with support by the European Commission, DG Research (Sixth Framework Programme, contract ERAS-CT-2003-980409). In the framework of AGU, a series of present EUROCORES Programmes in the field of Geosciences and Environmental Sciences are presented (e.g., EuroDIVERSITY, EuroDEEP, EUROMARGINS, EuroCLIMATE, and EuroMinScI).

Gravity wave control on ESF day-to-day variability: An empirical approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aswathy, R. P.; Manju, G.

2017-06-01

The gravity wave control on the daily variation in nighttime ionization irregularity occurrence is studied using ionosonde data for the period 2002-2007 at magnetic equatorial location Trivandrum. Recent studies during low solar activity period have revealed that the seed perturbations should have the threshold amplitude required to trigger equatorial spread F (ESF), at a particular altitude and that this threshold amplitude undergoes seasonal and solar cycle changes. In the present study, the altitude variation of the threshold seed perturbations is examined for autumnal equinox of different years. Thereafter, a unique empirical model, incorporating the electrodynamical effects and the gravity wave modulation, is developed. Using the model the threshold curve for autumnal equinox season of any year may be delineated if the solar flux index (F10.7) is known. The empirical model is validated using the data for high, moderate, and low solar epochs in 2001, 2004, and 1995, respectively. This model has the potential to be developed further, to forecast ESF incidence, if the base height of ionosphere is in the altitude region where electrodynamics controls the occurrence of ESF. ESF irregularities are harmful for communication and navigation systems, and therefore, research is ongoing globally to predict them. In this context, this study is crucial for evolving a methodology to predict communication as well as navigation outages.