Sample records for finding minimum-diameter clique

  1. cWINNOWER algorithm for finding fuzzy dna motifs

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Liang, S.; Samanta, M. P.; Biegel, B. A.

    2004-01-01

    The cWINNOWER algorithm detects fuzzy motifs in DNA sequences rich in protein-binding signals. A signal is defined as any short nucleotide pattern having up to d mutations differing from a motif of length l. The algorithm finds such motifs if a clique consisting of a sufficiently large number of mutated copies of the motif (i.e., the signals) is present in the DNA sequence. The cWINNOWER algorithm substantially improves the sensitivity of the winnower method of Pevzner and Sze by imposing a consensus constraint, enabling it to detect much weaker signals. We studied the minimum detectable clique size qc as a function of sequence length N for random sequences. We found that qc increases linearly with N for a fast version of the algorithm based on counting three-member sub-cliques. Imposing consensus constraints reduces qc by a factor of three in this case, which makes the algorithm dramatically more sensitive. Our most sensitive algorithm, which counts four-member sub-cliques, needs a minimum of only 13 signals to detect motifs in a sequence of length N = 12,000 for (l, d) = (15, 4). Copyright Imperial College Press.

  2. Markov Dynamics as a Zooming Lens for Multiscale Community Detection: Non Clique-Like Communities and the Field-of-View Limit

    PubMed Central

    Schaub, Michael T.; Delvenne, Jean-Charles; Yaliraki, Sophia N.; Barahona, Mauricio

    2012-01-01

    In recent years, there has been a surge of interest in community detection algorithms for complex networks. A variety of computational heuristics, some with a long history, have been proposed for the identification of communities or, alternatively, of good graph partitions. In most cases, the algorithms maximize a particular objective function, thereby finding the ‘right’ split into communities. Although a thorough comparison of algorithms is still lacking, there has been an effort to design benchmarks, i.e., random graph models with known community structure against which algorithms can be evaluated. However, popular community detection methods and benchmarks normally assume an implicit notion of community based on clique-like subgraphs, a form of community structure that is not always characteristic of real networks. Specifically, networks that emerge from geometric constraints can have natural non clique-like substructures with large effective diameters, which can be interpreted as long-range communities. In this work, we show that long-range communities escape detection by popular methods, which are blinded by a restricted ‘field-of-view’ limit, an intrinsic upper scale on the communities they can detect. The field-of-view limit means that long-range communities tend to be overpartitioned. We show how by adopting a dynamical perspective towards community detection [1], [2], in which the evolution of a Markov process on the graph is used as a zooming lens over the structure of the network at all scales, one can detect both clique- or non clique-like communities without imposing an upper scale to the detection. Consequently, the performance of algorithms on inherently low-diameter, clique-like benchmarks may not always be indicative of equally good results in real networks with local, sparser connectivity. We illustrate our ideas with constructive examples and through the analysis of real-world networks from imaging, protein structures and the power grid, where a multiscale structure of non clique-like communities is revealed. PMID:22384178

  3. A tool for filtering information in complex systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tumminello, M.; Aste, T.; Di Matteo, T.; Mantegna, R. N.

    2005-07-01

    We introduce a technique to filter out complex data sets by extracting a subgraph of representative links. Such a filtering can be tuned up to any desired level by controlling the genus of the resulting graph. We show that this technique is especially suitable for correlation-based graphs, giving filtered graphs that preserve the hierarchical organization of the minimum spanning tree but containing a larger amount of information in their internal structure. In particular in the case of planar filtered graphs (genus equal to 0), triangular loops and four-element cliques are formed. The application of this filtering procedure to 100 stocks in the U.S. equity markets shows that such loops and cliques have important and significant relationships with the market structure and properties. This paper was submitted directly (Track II) to the PNAS office.Abbreviations: MST, minimum spanning tree; PMFG, Planar Maximally Filtered Graph; r-clique, clique of r elements.

  4. cWINNOWER Algorithm for Finding Fuzzy DNA Motifs

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Liang, Shoudan

    2003-01-01

    The cWINNOWER algorithm detects fuzzy motifs in DNA sequences rich in protein-binding signals. A signal is defined as any short nucleotide pattern having up to d mutations differing from a motif of length l. The algorithm finds such motifs if multiple mutated copies of the motif (i.e., the signals) are present in the DNA sequence in sufficient abundance. The cWINNOWER algorithm substantially improves the sensitivity of the winnower method of Pevzner and Sze by imposing a consensus constraint, enabling it to detect much weaker signals. We studied the minimum number of detectable motifs qc as a function of sequence length N for random sequences. We found that qc increases linearly with N for a fast version of the algorithm based on counting three-member sub-cliques. Imposing consensus constraints reduces qc, by a factor of three in this case, which makes the algorithm dramatically more sensitive. Our most sensitive algorithm, which counts four-member sub-cliques, needs a minimum of only 13 signals to detect motifs in a sequence of length N = 12000 for (l,d) = (15,4).

  5. The Path Resistance Method for Bounding the Smallest Nontrivial Eigenvalue of a Laplacian

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Guattery, Stephen; Leighton, Tom; Miller, Gary L.

    1997-01-01

    We introduce the path resistance method for lower bounds on the smallest nontrivial eigenvalue of the Laplacian matrix of a graph. The method is based on viewing the graph in terms of electrical circuits; it uses clique embeddings to produce lower bounds on lambda(sub 2) and star embeddings to produce lower bounds on the smallest Rayleigh quotient when there is a zero Dirichlet boundary condition. The method assigns priorities to the paths in the embedding; we show that, for an unweighted tree T, using uniform priorities for a clique embedding produces a lower bound on lambda(sub 2) that is off by at most an 0(log diameter(T)) factor. We show that the best bounds this method can produce for clique embeddings are the same as for a related method that uses clique embeddings and edge lengths to produce bounds.

  6. Structure Matters: The Role of Clique Hierarchy in the Relationship Between Adolescent Social Status and Aggression and Prosociality.

    PubMed

    Pattiselanno, Kim; Dijkstra, Jan Kornelis; Steglich, Christian; Vollebergh, Wilma; Veenstra, René

    2015-12-01

    Peer cliques form an important context for the social development of adolescents. Although clique members are often similar in social status, also within cliques, status differences exist. How differences in social status between clique members are related to behaviors of its individual members is rather unknown. This study examined to what extent the relationship of individual social status (i.e., perceived popularity) with aggression and prosocial behavior depends on the level of internal clique hierarchy. The sample consists of 2674 adolescents (49.8% boys), with a mean age of 14.02. We focused specifically on physical and relational aggression, and practical and emotional support, because these behaviors have shown to be of great importance for social relationships and social standing among adolescents. The internal status hierarchy of cliques was based on the variation in individual social status between clique members (i.e., clique hierarchization) and the structure of status scores within a clique (pyramid shape, inverted pyramid, or equal distribution of social status scores) (i.e., clique status structure). The results showed that differences in aggressive and prosocial behaviors were particularly moderated by clique status structure: aggression was stronger related to individual social status in (girls') cliques where the clique status structure reflected an inverted pyramid with relatively more high status adolescents within the clique than low status peers, and prosocial behavior showed a significant relationship with individual social status, again predominantly in inverted pyramid structured (boys' and girls') cliques. Furthermore, these effects differed by types of gender cliques: the associations were found in same gender but not mixed-gender cliques. The findings stress the importance of taking into account internal clique characteristics when studying adolescent social status in relationship to aggression and prosociality.

  7. An impatient evolutionary algorithm with probabilistic tabu search for unified solution of some NP-hard problems in graph and set theory via clique finding.

    PubMed

    Guturu, Parthasarathy; Dantu, Ram

    2008-06-01

    Many graph- and set-theoretic problems, because of their tremendous application potential and theoretical appeal, have been well investigated by the researchers in complexity theory and were found to be NP-hard. Since the combinatorial complexity of these problems does not permit exhaustive searches for optimal solutions, only near-optimal solutions can be explored using either various problem-specific heuristic strategies or metaheuristic global-optimization methods, such as simulated annealing, genetic algorithms, etc. In this paper, we propose a unified evolutionary algorithm (EA) to the problems of maximum clique finding, maximum independent set, minimum vertex cover, subgraph and double subgraph isomorphism, set packing, set partitioning, and set cover. In the proposed approach, we first map these problems onto the maximum clique-finding problem (MCP), which is later solved using an evolutionary strategy. The proposed impatient EA with probabilistic tabu search (IEA-PTS) for the MCP integrates the best features of earlier successful approaches with a number of new heuristics that we developed to yield a performance that advances the state of the art in EAs for the exploration of the maximum cliques in a graph. Results of experimentation with the 37 DIMACS benchmark graphs and comparative analyses with six state-of-the-art algorithms, including two from the smaller EA community and four from the larger metaheuristics community, indicate that the IEA-PTS outperforms the EAs with respect to a Pareto-lexicographic ranking criterion and offers competitive performance on some graph instances when individually compared to the other heuristic algorithms. It has also successfully set a new benchmark on one graph instance. On another benchmark suite called Benchmarks with Hidden Optimal Solutions, IEA-PTS ranks second, after a very recent algorithm called COVER, among its peers that have experimented with this suite.

  8. Understanding the Scalability of Bayesian Network Inference using Clique Tree Growth Curves

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mengshoel, Ole Jakob

    2009-01-01

    Bayesian networks (BNs) are used to represent and efficiently compute with multi-variate probability distributions in a wide range of disciplines. One of the main approaches to perform computation in BNs is clique tree clustering and propagation. In this approach, BN computation consists of propagation in a clique tree compiled from a Bayesian network. There is a lack of understanding of how clique tree computation time, and BN computation time in more general, depends on variations in BN size and structure. On the one hand, complexity results tell us that many interesting BN queries are NP-hard or worse to answer, and it is not hard to find application BNs where the clique tree approach in practice cannot be used. On the other hand, it is well-known that tree-structured BNs can be used to answer probabilistic queries in polynomial time. In this article, we develop an approach to characterizing clique tree growth as a function of parameters that can be computed in polynomial time from BNs, specifically: (i) the ratio of the number of a BN's non-root nodes to the number of root nodes, or (ii) the expected number of moral edges in their moral graphs. Our approach is based on combining analytical and experimental results. Analytically, we partition the set of cliques in a clique tree into different sets, and introduce a growth curve for each set. For the special case of bipartite BNs, we consequently have two growth curves, a mixed clique growth curve and a root clique growth curve. In experiments, we systematically increase the degree of the root nodes in bipartite Bayesian networks, and find that root clique growth is well-approximated by Gompertz growth curves. It is believed that this research improves the understanding of the scaling behavior of clique tree clustering, provides a foundation for benchmarking and developing improved BN inference and machine learning algorithms, and presents an aid for analytical trade-off studies of clique tree clustering using growth curves.

  9. Road networks as collections of minimum cost paths

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wegner, Jan Dirk; Montoya-Zegarra, Javier Alexander; Schindler, Konrad

    2015-10-01

    We present a probabilistic representation of network structures in images. Our target application is the extraction of urban roads from aerial images. Roads appear as thin, elongated, partially curved structures forming a loopy graph, and this complex layout requires a prior that goes beyond standard smoothness and co-occurrence assumptions. In the proposed model the network is represented as a union of 1D paths connecting distant (super-)pixels. A large set of putative candidate paths is constructed in such a way that they include the true network as much as possible, by searching for minimum cost paths in the foreground (road) likelihood. Selecting the optimal subset of candidate paths is posed as MAP inference in a higher-order conditional random field. Each path forms a higher-order clique with a type of clique potential, which attracts the member nodes of cliques with high cumulative road evidence to the foreground label. That formulation induces a robust PN -Potts model, for which a global MAP solution can be found efficiently with graph cuts. Experiments with two road data sets show that the proposed model significantly improves per-pixel accuracies as well as the overall topological network quality with respect to several baselines.

  10. Uncovering the overlapping community structure of complex networks by maximal cliques

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Junqiu; Wang, Xingyuan; Cui, Yaozu

    2014-12-01

    In this paper, a unique algorithm is proposed to detect overlapping communities in the un-weighted and weighted networks with considerable accuracy. The maximal cliques, overlapping vertex, bridge vertex and isolated vertex are introduced. First, all the maximal cliques are extracted by the algorithm based on the deep and bread searching. Then two maximal cliques can be merged into a larger sub-graph by some given rules. In addition, the proposed algorithm successfully finds overlapping vertices and bridge vertices between communities. Experimental results using some real-world networks data show that the performance of the proposed algorithm is satisfactory.

  11. Quantum speedup in solving the maximal-clique problem

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chang, Weng-Long; Yu, Qi; Li, Zhaokai; Chen, Jiahui; Peng, Xinhua; Feng, Mang

    2018-03-01

    The maximal-clique problem, to find the maximally sized clique in a given graph, is classically an NP-complete computational problem, which has potential applications ranging from electrical engineering, computational chemistry, and bioinformatics to social networks. Here we develop a quantum algorithm to solve the maximal-clique problem for any graph G with n vertices with quadratic speedup over its classical counterparts, where the time and spatial complexities are reduced to, respectively, O (√{2n}) and O (n2) . With respect to oracle-related quantum algorithms for the NP-complete problems, we identify our algorithm as optimal. To justify the feasibility of the proposed quantum algorithm, we successfully solve a typical clique problem for a graph G with two vertices and one edge by carrying out a nuclear magnetic resonance experiment involving four qubits.

  12. Finding Maximum Cliques on the D-Wave Quantum Annealer

    DOE PAGES

    Chapuis, Guillaume; Djidjev, Hristo; Hahn, Georg; ...

    2018-05-03

    This work assesses the performance of the D-Wave 2X (DW) quantum annealer for finding a maximum clique in a graph, one of the most fundamental and important NP-hard problems. Because the size of the largest graphs DW can directly solve is quite small (usually around 45 vertices), we also consider decomposition algorithms intended for larger graphs and analyze their performance. For smaller graphs that fit DW, we provide formulations of the maximum clique problem as a quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (QUBO) problem, which is one of the two input types (together with the Ising model) acceptable by the machine, andmore » compare several quantum implementations to current classical algorithms such as simulated annealing, Gurobi, and third-party clique finding heuristics. We further estimate the contributions of the quantum phase of the quantum annealer and the classical post-processing phase typically used to enhance each solution returned by DW. We demonstrate that on random graphs that fit DW, no quantum speedup can be observed compared with the classical algorithms. On the other hand, for instances specifically designed to fit well the DW qubit interconnection network, we observe substantial speed-ups in computing time over classical approaches.« less

  13. Finding Maximum Cliques on the D-Wave Quantum Annealer

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

    Chapuis, Guillaume; Djidjev, Hristo; Hahn, Georg

    This work assesses the performance of the D-Wave 2X (DW) quantum annealer for finding a maximum clique in a graph, one of the most fundamental and important NP-hard problems. Because the size of the largest graphs DW can directly solve is quite small (usually around 45 vertices), we also consider decomposition algorithms intended for larger graphs and analyze their performance. For smaller graphs that fit DW, we provide formulations of the maximum clique problem as a quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (QUBO) problem, which is one of the two input types (together with the Ising model) acceptable by the machine, andmore » compare several quantum implementations to current classical algorithms such as simulated annealing, Gurobi, and third-party clique finding heuristics. We further estimate the contributions of the quantum phase of the quantum annealer and the classical post-processing phase typically used to enhance each solution returned by DW. We demonstrate that on random graphs that fit DW, no quantum speedup can be observed compared with the classical algorithms. On the other hand, for instances specifically designed to fit well the DW qubit interconnection network, we observe substantial speed-ups in computing time over classical approaches.« less

  14. Social Network Centrality and Leadership Status

    PubMed Central

    Lansford, Jennifer E.; Costanzo, Philip R.; Grimes, Christina; Putallaz, Martha; Miller, Shari; Malone, Patrick S.

    2009-01-01

    Seventh-grade students (N = 324) completed social cognitive maps to identify peer groups and peer group leaders, sociometric nominations to describe their peers’ behaviors, and questionnaires to assess their own behaviors. Peer group members resembled one another in levels of direct and indirect aggression and substance use; girls’ cliques were more behaviorally homogenous than were boys’ cliques. On average, leaders (especially if they were boys) were perceived as engaging in more problem behaviors than were nonleaders. In girls’ cliques, peripheral group members were more similar to their group leader on indirect aggression than were girls who were more central to the clique. Peer leaders perceived themselves as being more able to influence peers but did not differ from nonleaders in their perceived susceptibility to peer influence. The findings contribute to our understanding of processes through which influence may occur in adolescent peer groups. PMID:19763241

  15. A tool for filtering information in complex systems

    PubMed Central

    Tumminello, M.; Aste, T.; Di Matteo, T.; Mantegna, R. N.

    2005-01-01

    We introduce a technique to filter out complex data sets by extracting a subgraph of representative links. Such a filtering can be tuned up to any desired level by controlling the genus of the resulting graph. We show that this technique is especially suitable for correlation-based graphs, giving filtered graphs that preserve the hierarchical organization of the minimum spanning tree but containing a larger amount of information in their internal structure. In particular in the case of planar filtered graphs (genus equal to 0), triangular loops and four-element cliques are formed. The application of this filtering procedure to 100 stocks in the U.S. equity markets shows that such loops and cliques have important and significant relationships with the market structure and properties. PMID:16027373

  16. A tool for filtering information in complex systems.

    PubMed

    Tumminello, M; Aste, T; Di Matteo, T; Mantegna, R N

    2005-07-26

    We introduce a technique to filter out complex data sets by extracting a subgraph of representative links. Such a filtering can be tuned up to any desired level by controlling the genus of the resulting graph. We show that this technique is especially suitable for correlation-based graphs, giving filtered graphs that preserve the hierarchical organization of the minimum spanning tree but containing a larger amount of information in their internal structure. In particular in the case of planar filtered graphs (genus equal to 0), triangular loops and four-element cliques are formed. The application of this filtering procedure to 100 stocks in the U.S. equity markets shows that such loops and cliques have important and significant relationships with the market structure and properties.

  17. Clique Relaxations in Biological and Social Network Analysis Foundations and Algorithms

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2015-10-26

    study of clique relaxation models arising in biological and social networks. This project examines the elementary clique-defining properties... elementary clique-defining properties inherently exploited in the available clique relaxation models and pro- poses a taxonomic framework that not...analyzes the elementary clique-defining properties implicitly exploited in the available clique relaxation models and proposes a taxonomic framework that

  18. Research on Some Bus Transport Networks with Random Overlapping Clique Structure

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yang, Xu-Hua; Wang, Bo; Wang, Wan-Liang; Sun, You-Xian

    2008-11-01

    On the basis of investigating the statistical data of bus transport networks of three big cities in China, we propose that each bus route is a clique (maximal complete subgraph) and a bus transport network (BTN) consists of a lot of cliques, which intensively connect and overlap with each other. We study the network properties, which include the degree distribution, multiple edges' overlapping time distribution, distribution of the overlap size between any two overlapping cliques, distribution of the number of cliques that a node belongs to. Naturally, the cliques also constitute a network, with the overlapping nodes being their multiple links. We also research its network properties such as degree distribution, clustering, average path length, and so on. We propose that a BTN has the properties of random clique increment and random overlapping clique, at the same time, a BTN is a small-world network with highly clique-clustered and highly clique-overlapped. Finally, we introduce a BTN evolution model, whose simulation results agree well with the statistical laws that emerge in real BTNs.

  19. Quantum Clique Gossiping.

    PubMed

    Li, Bo; Li, Shuang; Wu, Junfeng; Qi, Hongsheng

    2018-02-09

    This paper establishes a framework of quantum clique gossiping by introducing local clique operations to networks of interconnected qubits. Cliques are local structures in complex networks being complete subgraphs, which can be used to accelerate classical gossip algorithms. Based on cyclic permutations, clique gossiping leads to collective multi-party qubit interactions. We show that at reduced states, these cliques have the same acceleration effects as their roles in accelerating classical gossip algorithms. For randomized selection of cliques, such improved rate of convergence is precisely characterized. On the other hand, the rate of convergence at the coherent states of the overall quantum network is proven to be decided by the spectrum of a mean-square error evolution matrix. Remarkably, the use of larger quantum cliques does not necessarily increase the speed of the network density aggregation, suggesting quantum network dynamics is not entirely decided by its classical topology.

  20. Understanding the Scalability of Bayesian Network Inference Using Clique Tree Growth Curves

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mengshoel, Ole J.

    2010-01-01

    One of the main approaches to performing computation in Bayesian networks (BNs) is clique tree clustering and propagation. The clique tree approach consists of propagation in a clique tree compiled from a Bayesian network, and while it was introduced in the 1980s, there is still a lack of understanding of how clique tree computation time depends on variations in BN size and structure. In this article, we improve this understanding by developing an approach to characterizing clique tree growth as a function of parameters that can be computed in polynomial time from BNs, specifically: (i) the ratio of the number of a BN s non-root nodes to the number of root nodes, and (ii) the expected number of moral edges in their moral graphs. Analytically, we partition the set of cliques in a clique tree into different sets, and introduce a growth curve for the total size of each set. For the special case of bipartite BNs, there are two sets and two growth curves, a mixed clique growth curve and a root clique growth curve. In experiments, where random bipartite BNs generated using the BPART algorithm are studied, we systematically increase the out-degree of the root nodes in bipartite Bayesian networks, by increasing the number of leaf nodes. Surprisingly, root clique growth is well-approximated by Gompertz growth curves, an S-shaped family of curves that has previously been used to describe growth processes in biology, medicine, and neuroscience. We believe that this research improves the understanding of the scaling behavior of clique tree clustering for a certain class of Bayesian networks; presents an aid for trade-off studies of clique tree clustering using growth curves; and ultimately provides a foundation for benchmarking and developing improved BN inference and machine learning algorithms.

  1. Correlation filtering in financial time series (Invited Paper)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Aste, T.; Di Matteo, Tiziana; Tumminello, M.; Mantegna, R. N.

    2005-05-01

    We apply a method to filter relevant information from the correlation coefficient matrix by extracting a network of relevant interactions. This method succeeds to generate networks with the same hierarchical structure of the Minimum Spanning Tree but containing a larger amount of links resulting in a richer network topology allowing loops and cliques. In Tumminello et al.,1 we have shown that this method, applied to a financial portfolio of 100 stocks in the USA equity markets, is pretty efficient in filtering relevant information about the clustering of the system and its hierarchical structure both on the whole system and within each cluster. In particular, we have found that triangular loops and 4 element cliques have important and significant relations with the market structure and properties. Here we apply this filtering procedure to the analysis of correlation in two different kind of interest rate time series (16 Eurodollars and 34 US interest rates).

  2. Predicting disease-related proteins based on clique backbone in protein-protein interaction network.

    PubMed

    Yang, Lei; Zhao, Xudong; Tang, Xianglong

    2014-01-01

    Network biology integrates different kinds of data, including physical or functional networks and disease gene sets, to interpret human disease. A clique (maximal complete subgraph) in a protein-protein interaction network is a topological module and possesses inherently biological significance. A disease-related clique possibly associates with complex diseases. Fully identifying disease components in a clique is conductive to uncovering disease mechanisms. This paper proposes an approach of predicting disease proteins based on cliques in a protein-protein interaction network. To tolerate false positive and negative interactions in protein networks, extending cliques and scoring predicted disease proteins with gene ontology terms are introduced to the clique-based method. Precisions of predicted disease proteins are verified by disease phenotypes and steadily keep to more than 95%. The predicted disease proteins associated with cliques can partly complement mapping between genotype and phenotype, and provide clues for understanding the pathogenesis of serious diseases.

  3. Empirical Study of User Preferences Based on Rating Data of Movies

    PubMed Central

    Zhao, YingSi; Shen, Bo

    2016-01-01

    User preference plays a prominent role in many fields, including electronic commerce, social opinion, and Internet search engines. Particularly in recommender systems, it directly influences the accuracy of the recommendation. Though many methods have been presented, most of these have only focused on how to improve the recommendation results. In this paper, we introduce an empirical study of user preferences based on a set of rating data about movies. We develop a simple statistical method to investigate the characteristics of user preferences. We find that the movies have potential characteristics of closure, which results in the formation of numerous cliques with a power-law size distribution. We also find that a user related to a small clique always has similar opinions on the movies in this clique. Then, we suggest a user preference model, which can eliminate the predictions that are considered to be impracticable. Numerical results show that the model can reflect user preference with remarkable accuracy when data elimination is allowed, and random factors in the rating data make prediction error inevitable. In further research, we will investigate many other rating data sets to examine the universality of our findings. PMID:26735847

  4. Empirical Study of User Preferences Based on Rating Data of Movies.

    PubMed

    Zhao, YingSi; Shen, Bo

    2016-01-01

    User preference plays a prominent role in many fields, including electronic commerce, social opinion, and Internet search engines. Particularly in recommender systems, it directly influences the accuracy of the recommendation. Though many methods have been presented, most of these have only focused on how to improve the recommendation results. In this paper, we introduce an empirical study of user preferences based on a set of rating data about movies. We develop a simple statistical method to investigate the characteristics of user preferences. We find that the movies have potential characteristics of closure, which results in the formation of numerous cliques with a power-law size distribution. We also find that a user related to a small clique always has similar opinions on the movies in this clique. Then, we suggest a user preference model, which can eliminate the predictions that are considered to be impracticable. Numerical results show that the model can reflect user preference with remarkable accuracy when data elimination is allowed, and random factors in the rating data make prediction error inevitable. In further research, we will investigate many other rating data sets to examine the universality of our findings.

  5. Finite-size scaling of clique percolation on two-dimensional Moore lattices

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dong, Jia-Qi; Shen, Zhou; Zhang, Yongwen; Huang, Zi-Gang; Huang, Liang; Chen, Xiaosong

    2018-05-01

    Clique percolation has attracted much attention due to its significance in understanding topological overlap among communities and dynamical instability of structured systems. Rich critical behavior has been observed in clique percolation on Erdős-Rényi (ER) random graphs, but few works have discussed clique percolation on finite dimensional systems. In this paper, we have defined a series of characteristic events, i.e., the historically largest size jumps of the clusters, in the percolating process of adding bonds and developed a new finite-size scaling scheme based on the interval of the characteristic events. Through the finite-size scaling analysis, we have found, interestingly, that, in contrast to the clique percolation on an ER graph where the critical exponents are parameter dependent, the two-dimensional (2D) clique percolation simply shares the same critical exponents with traditional site or bond percolation, independent of the clique percolation parameters. This has been corroborated by bridging two special types of clique percolation to site percolation on 2D lattices. Mechanisms for the difference of the critical behaviors between clique percolation on ER graphs and on 2D lattices are also discussed.

  6. Multiple-hopping trajectories near a rotating asteroid

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shen, Hong-Xin; Zhang, Tian-Jiao; Li, Zhao; Li, Heng-Nian

    2017-03-01

    We present a study of the transfer orbits connecting landing points of irregular-shaped asteroids. The landing points do not touch the surface of the asteroids and are chosen several meters above the surface. The ant colony optimization technique is used to calculate the multiple-hopping trajectories near an arbitrary irregular asteroid. This new method has three steps which are as follows: (1) the search of the maximal clique of candidate target landing points; (2) leg optimization connecting all landing point pairs; and (3) the hopping sequence optimization. In particular this method is applied to asteroids 433 Eros and 216 Kleopatra. We impose a critical constraint on the target landing points to allow for extensive exploration of the asteroid: the relative distance between all the arrived target positions should be larger than a minimum allowed value. Ant colony optimization is applied to find the set and sequence of targets, and the differential evolution algorithm is used to solve for the hopping orbits. The minimum-velocity increment tours of hopping trajectories connecting all the landing positions are obtained by ant colony optimization. The results from different size asteroids indicate that the cost of the minimum velocity-increment tour depends on the size of the asteroids.

  7. Fixation probability on clique-based graphs

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Choi, Jeong-Ok; Yu, Unjong

    2018-02-01

    The fixation probability of a mutant in the evolutionary dynamics of Moran process is calculated by the Monte-Carlo method on a few families of clique-based graphs. It is shown that the complete suppression of fixation can be realized with the generalized clique-wheel graph in the limit of small wheel-clique ratio and infinite size. The family of clique-star is an amplifier, and clique-arms graph changes from amplifier to suppressor as the fitness of the mutant increases. We demonstrate that the overall structure of a graph can be more important to determine the fixation probability than the degree or the heat heterogeneity. The dependence of the fixation probability on the position of the first mutant is discussed.

  8. Peer Clique Participation of Victimized Children: Characteristics and Implications for Victimization over a School Year

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zarbatany, Lynne; Tremblay, Paul F.; Ellis, Wendy E.; Chen, Xinyin; Kinal, Megan; Boyko, Lisa

    2017-01-01

    This study examined aspects of peer clique participation that mitigated victimization by peers over a school year. Participants were 1,033 children age 8-14 years (M[subscript age] = 11.81; 444 boys and 589 girls), including 128 (66 boys) victimized children. Cliques (N = 162) and clique participation were assessed by using the Social Cognitive…

  9. Early Adolescent Depressive Symptoms: Prediction from Clique Isolation, Loneliness, and Perceived Social Acceptance

    PubMed Central

    Witvliet, Miranda; Brendgen, Mara; van Lier, Pol A. C.; Vitaro, Frank

    2010-01-01

    This study examined whether clique isolation predicted an increase in depressive symptoms and whether this association was mediated by loneliness and perceived social acceptance in 310 children followed from age 11–14 years. Clique isolation was identified through social network analysis, whereas depressive symptoms, loneliness, and perceived social acceptance were assessed using self ratings. While accounting for initial levels of depressive symptoms, peer rejection, and friendlessness at age 11 years, a high probability of being isolated from cliques from age 11 to 13 years predicted depressive symptoms at age 14 years. The link between clique isolation and depressive symptoms was mediated by loneliness, but not by perceived social acceptance. No sex differences were found in the associations between clique isolation and depressive symptoms. These results suggest that clique isolation is a social risk factor for the escalation of depressive symptoms in early adolescence. Implications for research and prevention are discussed. PMID:20499155

  10. Overlapping Modularity at the Critical Point of k-Clique Percolation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tóth, Bálint; Vicsek, Tamás; Palla, Gergely

    2013-05-01

    One of the most remarkable social phenomena is the formation of communities in social networks corresponding to families, friendship circles, work teams, etc. Since people usually belong to several different communities at the same time, the induced overlaps result in an extremely complicated web of the communities themselves. Thus, uncovering the intricate community structure of social networks is a non-trivial task with great potential for practical applications, gaining a notable interest in the recent years. The Clique Percolation Method (CPM) is one of the earliest overlapping community finding methods, which was already used in the analysis of several different social networks. In this approach the communities correspond to k-clique percolation clusters, and the general heuristic for setting the parameters of the method is to tune the system just below the critical point of k-clique percolation. However, this rule is based on simple physical principles and its validity was never subject to quantitative analysis. Here we examine the quality of the partitioning in the vicinity of the critical point using recently introduced overlapping modularity measures. According to our results on real social and other networks, the overlapping modularities show a maximum close to the critical point, justifying the original criteria for the optimal parameter settings.

  11. Flow motifs reveal limitations of the static framework to represent human interactions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rocha, Luis E. C.; Blondel, Vincent D.

    2013-04-01

    Networks are commonly used to define underlying interaction structures where infections, information, or other quantities may spread. Although the standard approach has been to aggregate all links into a static structure, some studies have shown that the time order in which the links are established may alter the dynamics of spreading. In this paper, we study the impact of the time ordering in the limits of flow on various empirical temporal networks. By using a random walk dynamics, we estimate the flow on links and convert the original undirected network (temporal and static) into a directed flow network. We then introduce the concept of flow motifs and quantify the divergence in the representativity of motifs when using the temporal and static frameworks. We find that the regularity of contacts and persistence of vertices (common in email communication and face-to-face interactions) result on little differences in the limits of flow for both frameworks. On the other hand, in the case of communication within a dating site and of a sexual network, the flow between vertices changes significantly in the temporal framework such that the static approximation poorly represents the structure of contacts. We have also observed that cliques with 3 and 4 vertices containing only low-flow links are more represented than the same cliques with all high-flow links. The representativity of these low-flow cliques is higher in the temporal framework. Our results suggest that the flow between vertices connected in cliques depend on the topological context in which they are placed and in the time sequence in which the links are established. The structure of the clique alone does not completely characterize the potential of flow between the vertices.

  12. Maximal clique enumeration with data-parallel primitives

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

    Lessley, Brenton; Perciano, Talita; Mathai, Manish

    The enumeration of all maximal cliques in an undirected graph is a fundamental problem arising in several research areas. We consider maximal clique enumeration on shared-memory, multi-core architectures and introduce an approach consisting entirely of data-parallel operations, in an effort to achieve efficient and portable performance across different architectures. We study the performance of the algorithm via experiments varying over benchmark graphs and architectures. Overall, we observe that our algorithm achieves up to a 33-time speedup and 9-time speedup over state-of-the-art distributed and serial algorithms, respectively, for graphs with higher ratios of maximal cliques to total cliques. Further, we attainmore » additional speedups on a GPU architecture, demonstrating the portable performance of our data-parallel design.« less

  13. Bipartite entangled stabilizer mutually unbiased bases as maximum cliques of Cayley graphs

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

    Dam, Wim van; Howard, Mark; Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106

    2011-07-15

    We examine the existence and structure of particular sets of mutually unbiased bases (MUBs) in bipartite qudit systems. In contrast to well-known power-of-prime MUB constructions, we restrict ourselves to using maximally entangled stabilizer states as MUB vectors. Consequently, these bipartite entangled stabilizer MUBs (BES MUBs) provide no local information, but are sufficient and minimal for decomposing a wide variety of interesting operators including (mixtures of) Jamiolkowski states, entanglement witnesses, and more. The problem of finding such BES MUBs can be mapped, in a natural way, to that of finding maximum cliques in a family of Cayley graphs. Some relationships withmore » known power-of-prime MUB constructions are discussed, and observables for BES MUBs are given explicitly in terms of Pauli operators.« less

  14. Bipartite entangled stabilizer mutually unbiased bases as maximum cliques of Cayley graphs

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    van Dam, Wim; Howard, Mark

    2011-07-01

    We examine the existence and structure of particular sets of mutually unbiased bases (MUBs) in bipartite qudit systems. In contrast to well-known power-of-prime MUB constructions, we restrict ourselves to using maximally entangled stabilizer states as MUB vectors. Consequently, these bipartite entangled stabilizer MUBs (BES MUBs) provide no local information, but are sufficient and minimal for decomposing a wide variety of interesting operators including (mixtures of) Jamiołkowski states, entanglement witnesses, and more. The problem of finding such BES MUBs can be mapped, in a natural way, to that of finding maximum cliques in a family of Cayley graphs. Some relationships with known power-of-prime MUB constructions are discussed, and observables for BES MUBs are given explicitly in terms of Pauli operators.

  15. Bully Victimization: Selection and Influence Within Adolescent Friendship Networks and Cliques.

    PubMed

    Lodder, Gerine M A; Scholte, Ron H J; Cillessen, Antonius H N; Giletta, Matteo

    2016-01-01

    Adolescents tend to form friendships with similar peers and, in turn, their friends further influence adolescents' behaviors and attitudes. Emerging work has shown that these selection and influence processes also might extend to bully victimization. However, no prior work has examined selection and influence effects involved in bully victimization within cliques, despite theoretical account emphasizing the importance of cliques in this regard. This study examined selection and influence processes in adolescence regarding bully victimization both at the level of the entire friendship network and the level of cliques. We used a two-wave design (5-month interval). Participants were 543 adolescents (50.1% male, Mage = 15.8) in secondary education. Stochastic actor-based models indicated that at the level of the larger friendship network, adolescents tended to select friends with similar levels of bully victimization as they themselves. In addition, adolescent friends influenced each other in terms of bully victimization over time. Actor Parter Interdependence models showed that similarities in bully victimization between clique members were not due to selection of clique members. For boys, average clique bully victimization predicted individual bully victimization over time (influence), but not vice versa. No influence was found for girls, indicating that different mechanisms may underlie friend influence on bully victimization for girls and boys. The differences in results at the level of the larger friendship network versus the clique emphasize the importance of taking the type of friendship ties into account in research on selection and influence processes involved in bully victimization.

  16. An Examination of Adolescent Clique Language in a Suburban Secondary School.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Leona, Matteo H.

    1978-01-01

    Through a survey and in-depth interviews, three major cliques were identified at a middle income suburban high school near Boston. "Jocks,""motorheads," and "fleabags" were groupings based, respectively, on common interests in sports, cars, and drugs. Each clique is described in terms of appearance, general…

  17. Popularity in the Peer Group and Victimization within Friendship Cliques during Early Adolescence

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Closson, Leanna M.; Watanabe, Lori

    2018-01-01

    Victimization has been primarily studied within the broader peer group, leaving other potentially important contexts, such as friendship cliques, unexplored. This study examined the role of popularity in identifying protective factors that buffer against victimization within early adolescents' (N = 387) friendship cliques. Previously identified…

  18. Estimating landscape carrying capacity through maximum clique analysis

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Donovan, Therese; Warrington, Greg; Schwenk, W. Scott; Dinitz, Jeffrey H.

    2012-01-01

    Habitat suitability (HS) maps are widely used tools in wildlife science and establish a link between wildlife populations and landscape pattern. Although HS maps spatially depict the distribution of optimal resources for a species, they do not reveal the population size a landscape is capable of supporting--information that is often crucial for decision makers and managers. We used a new approach, "maximum clique analysis," to demonstrate how HS maps for territorial species can be used to estimate the carrying capacity, N(k), of a given landscape. We estimated the N(k) of Ovenbirds (Seiurus aurocapillus) and bobcats (Lynx rufus) in an 1153-km2 study area in Vermont, USA. These two species were selected to highlight different approaches in building an HS map as well as computational challenges that can arise in a maximum clique analysis. We derived 30-m2 HS maps for each species via occupancy modeling (Ovenbird) and by resource utilization modeling (bobcats). For each species, we then identified all pixel locations on the map (points) that had sufficient resources in the surrounding area to maintain a home range (termed a "pseudo-home range"). These locations were converted to a mathematical graph, where any two points were linked if two pseudo-home ranges could exist on the landscape without violating territory boundaries. We used the program Cliquer to find the maximum clique of each graph. The resulting estimates of N(k) = 236 Ovenbirds and N(k) = 42 female bobcats were sensitive to different assumptions and model inputs. Estimates of N(k) via alternative, ad hoc methods were 1.4 to > 30 times greater than the maximum clique estimate, suggesting that the alternative results may be upwardly biased. The maximum clique analysis was computationally intensive but could handle problems with < 1500 total pseudo-home ranges (points). Given present computational constraints, it is best suited for species that occur in clustered distributions (where the problem can be broken into several, smaller problems), or for species with large home ranges relative to grid scale where resampling the points to a coarser resolution can reduce the problem to manageable proportions.

  19. Early Adolescent Depressive Symptoms: Prediction from Clique Isolation, Loneliness, and Perceived Social Acceptance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Witvliet, Miranda; Brendgen, Mara; van Lier, Pol A. C.; Koot, Hans M.; Vitaro, Frank

    2010-01-01

    This study examined whether clique isolation predicted an increase in depressive symptoms and whether this association was mediated by loneliness and perceived social acceptance in 310 children followed from age 11-14 years. Clique isolation was identified through social network analysis, whereas depressive symptoms, loneliness, and perceived…

  20. MSClique: Multiple Structure Discovery through the Maximum Weighted Clique Problem.

    PubMed

    Sanroma, Gerard; Penate-Sanchez, Adrian; Alquézar, René; Serratosa, Francesc; Moreno-Noguer, Francesc; Andrade-Cetto, Juan; González Ballester, Miguel Ángel

    2016-01-01

    We present a novel approach for feature correspondence and multiple structure discovery in computer vision. In contrast to existing methods, we exploit the fact that point-sets on the same structure usually lie close to each other, thus forming clusters in the image. Given a pair of input images, we initially extract points of interest and extract hierarchical representations by agglomerative clustering. We use the maximum weighted clique problem to find the set of corresponding clusters with maximum number of inliers representing the multiple structures at the correct scales. Our method is parameter-free and only needs two sets of points along with their tentative correspondences, thus being extremely easy to use. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our method in multiple-structure fitting experiments in both publicly available and in-house datasets. As shown in the experiments, our approach finds a higher number of structures containing fewer outliers compared to state-of-the-art methods.

  1. Revealing the ISO/IEC 9126-1 Clique Tree for COTS Software Evaluation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Morris, A. Terry

    2007-01-01

    Previous research has shown that acyclic dependency models, if they exist, can be extracted from software quality standards and that these models can be used to assess software safety and product quality. In the case of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software, the extracted dependency model can be used in a probabilistic Bayesian network context for COTS software evaluation. Furthermore, while experts typically employ Bayesian networks to encode domain knowledge, secondary structures (clique trees) from Bayesian network graphs can be used to determine the probabilistic distribution of any software variable (attribute) using any clique that contains that variable. Secondary structures, therefore, provide insight into the fundamental nature of graphical networks. This paper will apply secondary structure calculations to reveal the clique tree of the acyclic dependency model extracted from the ISO/IEC 9126-1 software quality standard. Suggestions will be provided to describe how the clique tree may be exploited to aid efficient transformation of an evaluation model.

  2. Impacts of clustering on interacting epidemics.

    PubMed

    Wang, Bing; Cao, Lang; Suzuki, Hideyuki; Aihara, Kazuyuki

    2012-07-07

    Since community structures in real networks play a major role for the epidemic spread, we therefore explore two interacting diseases spreading in networks with community structures. As a network model with community structures, we propose a random clique network model composed of different orders of cliques. We further assume that each disease spreads only through one type of cliques; this assumption corresponds to the issue that two diseases spread inside communities and outside them. Considering the relationship between the susceptible-infected-recovered (SIR) model and the bond percolation theory, we apply this theory to clique random networks under the assumption that the occupation probability is clique-type dependent, which is consistent with the observation that infection rates inside a community and outside it are different, and obtain a number of statistical properties for this model. Two interacting diseases that compete the same hosts are also investigated, which leads to a natural generalization of analyzing an arbitrary number of infectious diseases. For two-disease dynamics, the clustering effect is hypersensitive to the cohesiveness and concentration of cliques; this illustrates the impacts of clustering and the composition of subgraphs in networks on epidemic behavior. The analysis of coexistence/bistability regions provides significant insight into the relationship between the network structure and the potential epidemic prevalence. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Tricriticality in the q-neighbor Ising model on a partially duplex clique.

    PubMed

    Chmiel, Anna; Sienkiewicz, Julian; Sznajd-Weron, Katarzyna

    2017-12-01

    We analyze a modified kinetic Ising model, a so-called q-neighbor Ising model, with Metropolis dynamics [Phys. Rev. E 92, 052105 (2015)PLEEE81539-375510.1103/PhysRevE.92.052105] on a duplex clique and a partially duplex clique. In the q-neighbor Ising model each spin interacts only with q spins randomly chosen from its whole neighborhood. In the case of a duplex clique the change of a spin is allowed only if both levels simultaneously induce this change. Due to the mean-field-like nature of the model we are able to derive the analytic form of transition probabilities and solve the corresponding master equation. The existence of the second level changes dramatically the character of the phase transition. In the case of the monoplex clique, the q-neighbor Ising model exhibits a continuous phase transition for q=3, discontinuous phase transition for q≥4, and for q=1 and q=2 the phase transition is not observed. On the other hand, in the case of the duplex clique continuous phase transitions are observed for all values of q, even for q=1 and q=2. Subsequently we introduce a partially duplex clique, parametrized by r∈[0,1], which allows us to tune the network from monoplex (r=0) to duplex (r=1). Such a generalized topology, in which a fraction r of all nodes appear on both levels, allows us to obtain the critical value of r=r^{*}(q) at which a tricriticality (switch from continuous to discontinuous phase transition) appears.

  4. Singing together or apart: The effect of competitive and cooperative singing on social bonding within and between sub-groups of a university Fraternity

    PubMed Central

    Pearce, Eiluned; Launay, Jacques; van Duijn, Max; Rotkirch, Anna; David-Barrett, Tamas; Dunbar, Robin I M

    2016-01-01

    Singing together seems to facilitate social bonding, but it is unclear whether this is true in all contexts. Here we examine the social bonding outcomes of naturalistic singing behaviour in a European university Fraternity composed of exclusive ‘Cliques’: recognised sub-groups of 5-20 friends who adopt a special name and identity. Singing occurs frequently in this Fraternity, both ‘competitively’ (contests between Cliques) and ‘cooperatively’ (multiple Cliques singing together). Both situations were re-created experimentally in order to explore how competitive and cooperative singing affects feelings of closeness towards others. Participants were assigned to teams of four and were asked to sing together with another team either from the same Clique or from a different Clique. Participants (N = 88) felt significantly closer to teams from different Cliques after singing with them compared to before, regardless of whether they cooperated with (singing loudly together) or competed against (trying to singing louder than) the other team. In contrast, participants reported reduced closeness with other teams from their own Clique after competing with them. These results indicate that group singing can increase closeness to less familiar individuals regardless of whether they share a common motivation, but that singing competitively may reduce closeness within a very tight-knit group. PMID:27777494

  5. Obstructions to the realization of distance graphs with large chromatic numbers on spheres of small radii

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

    Kupavskii, A B; Raigorodskii, A M

    2013-10-31

    We investigate in detail some properties of distance graphs constructed on the integer lattice. Such graphs find wide applications in problems of combinatorial geometry, in particular, such graphs were employed to answer Borsuk's question in the negative and to obtain exponential estimates for the chromatic number of the space. This work is devoted to the study of the number of cliques and the chromatic number of such graphs under certain conditions. Constructions of sequences of distance graphs are given, in which the graphs have unit length edges and contain a large number of triangles that lie on a sphere of radius 1/√3more » (which is the minimum possible). At the same time, the chromatic numbers of the graphs depend exponentially on their dimension. The results of this work strengthen and generalize some of the results obtained in a series of papers devoted to related issues. Bibliography: 29 titles.« less

  6. Coping with Cliques

    MedlinePlus

    ... the outside and know that a clique is bullying or intimidating others, let teachers or counselors know ... Teens What Stresses You Out About School? Shyness Cyberbullying Sexual Harassment and Sexual Bullying Dealing With Bullying ...

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

    Menikoff, Ralph

    Previously the SURFplus reactive burn model was calibrated for the TATB based explosive PBX 9502. The calibration was based on fitting Pop plot data, the failure diameter and the limiting detonation speed, and curvature effect data for small curvature. The model failure diameter is determined utilizing 2-D simulations of an unconfined rate stick to find the minimum diameter for which a detonation wave propagates. Here we examine the effect of mesh resolution on an unconfined rate stick with a diameter (10mm) slightly greater than the measured failure diameter (8 to 9 mm).

  8. Finding Hierarchical and Overlapping Dense Subgraphs using Nucleus Decompositions

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

    Seshadhri, Comandur; Pinar, Ali; Sariyuce, Ahmet Erdem

    Finding dense substructures in a graph is a fundamental graph mining operation, with applications in bioinformatics, social networks, and visualization to name a few. Yet most standard formulations of this problem (like clique, quasiclique, k-densest subgraph) are NP-hard. Furthermore, the goal is rarely to nd the \\true optimum", but to identify many (if not all) dense substructures, understand their distribution in the graph, and ideally determine a hierarchical structure among them. Current dense subgraph nding algorithms usually optimize some objective, and only nd a few such subgraphs without providing any hierarchy. It is also not clear how to account formore » overlaps in dense substructures. We de ne the nucleus decomposition of a graph, which represents the graph as a forest of nuclei. Each nucleus is a subgraph where smaller cliques are present in many larger cliques. The forest of nuclei is a hierarchy by containment, where the edge density increases as we proceed towards leaf nuclei. Sibling nuclei can have limited intersections, which allows for discovery of overlapping dense subgraphs. With the right parameters, the nuclear decomposition generalizes the classic notions of k-cores and k-trusses. We give provable e cient algorithms for nuclear decompositions, and empirically evaluate their behavior in a variety of real graphs. The tree of nuclei consistently gives a global, hierarchical snapshot of dense substructures, and outputs dense subgraphs of higher quality than other state-of-theart solutions. Our algorithm can process graphs with tens of millions of edges in less than an hour.« less

  9. Cliques of Neurons Bound into Cavities Provide a Missing Link between Structure and Function.

    PubMed

    Reimann, Michael W; Nolte, Max; Scolamiero, Martina; Turner, Katharine; Perin, Rodrigo; Chindemi, Giuseppe; Dłotko, Paweł; Levi, Ran; Hess, Kathryn; Markram, Henry

    2017-01-01

    The lack of a formal link between neural network structure and its emergent function has hampered our understanding of how the brain processes information. We have now come closer to describing such a link by taking the direction of synaptic transmission into account, constructing graphs of a network that reflect the direction of information flow, and analyzing these directed graphs using algebraic topology. Applying this approach to a local network of neurons in the neocortex revealed a remarkably intricate and previously unseen topology of synaptic connectivity. The synaptic network contains an abundance of cliques of neurons bound into cavities that guide the emergence of correlated activity. In response to stimuli, correlated activity binds synaptically connected neurons into functional cliques and cavities that evolve in a stereotypical sequence toward peak complexity. We propose that the brain processes stimuli by forming increasingly complex functional cliques and cavities.

  10. Multiple Semantic Matching on Augmented N-partite Graph for Object Co-segmentation.

    PubMed

    Wang, Chuan; Zhang, Hua; Yang, Liang; Cao, Xiaochun; Xiong, Hongkai

    2017-09-08

    Recent methods for object co-segmentation focus on discovering single co-occurring relation of candidate regions representing the foreground of multiple images. However, region extraction based only on low and middle level information often occupies a large area of background without the help of semantic context. In addition, seeking single matching solution very likely leads to discover local parts of common objects. To cope with these deficiencies, we present a new object cosegmentation framework, which takes advantages of semantic information and globally explores multiple co-occurring matching cliques based on an N-partite graph structure. To this end, we first propose to incorporate candidate generation with semantic context. Based on the regions extracted from semantic segmentation of each image, we design a merging mechanism to hierarchically generate candidates with high semantic responses. Secondly, all candidates are taken into consideration to globally formulate multiple maximum weighted matching cliques, which complements the discovery of part of the common objects induced by a single clique. To facilitate the discovery of multiple matching cliques, an N-partite graph, which inherently excludes intralinks between candidates from the same image, is constructed to separate multiple cliques without additional constraints. Further, we augment the graph with an additional virtual node in each part to handle irrelevant matches when the similarity between two candidates is too small. Finally, with the explored multiple cliques, we statistically compute pixel-wise co-occurrence map for each image. Experimental results on two benchmark datasets, i.e., iCoseg and MSRC datasets, achieve desirable performance and demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed framework.

  11. Amino-Acid Network Clique Analysis of Protein Mutation Non-Additive Effects: A Case Study of Lysozme.

    PubMed

    Ming, Dengming; Chen, Rui; Huang, He

    2018-05-10

    Optimizing amino-acid mutations in enzyme design has been a very challenging task in modern bio-industrial applications. It is well known that many successful designs often hinge on extensive correlations among mutations at different sites within the enzyme, however, the underpinning mechanism for these correlations is far from clear. Here, we present a topology-based model to quantitively characterize non-additive effects between mutations. The method is based on the molecular dynamic simulations and the amino-acid network clique analysis. It examines if the two mutation sites of a double-site mutation fall into to a 3-clique structure, and associates such topological property of mutational site spatial distribution with mutation additivity features. We analyzed 13 dual mutations of T4 phage lysozyme and found that the clique-based model successfully distinguishes highly correlated or non-additive double-site mutations from those additive ones whose component mutations have less correlation. We also applied the model to protein Eglin c whose structural topology is significantly different from that of T4 phage lysozyme, and found that the model can, to some extension, still identify non-additive mutations from additive ones. Our calculations showed that mutation non-additive effects may heavily depend on a structural topology relationship between mutation sites, which can be quantitatively determined using amino-acid network k -cliques. We also showed that double-site mutation correlations can be significantly altered by exerting a third mutation, indicating that more detailed physicochemical interactions should be considered along with the network clique-based model for better understanding of this elusive mutation-correlation principle.

  12. Detecting independent and recurrent copy number aberrations using interval graphs.

    PubMed

    Wu, Hsin-Ta; Hajirasouliha, Iman; Raphael, Benjamin J

    2014-06-15

    Somatic copy number aberrations SCNAS: are frequent in cancer genomes, but many of these are random, passenger events. A common strategy to distinguish functional aberrations from passengers is to identify those aberrations that are recurrent across multiple samples. However, the extensive variability in the length and position of SCNA: s makes the problem of identifying recurrent aberrations notoriously difficult. We introduce a combinatorial approach to the problem of identifying independent and recurrent SCNA: s, focusing on the key challenging of separating the overlaps in aberrations across individuals into independent events. We derive independent and recurrent SCNA: s as maximal cliques in an interval graph constructed from overlaps between aberrations. We efficiently enumerate all such cliques, and derive a dynamic programming algorithm to find an optimal selection of non-overlapping cliques, resulting in a very fast algorithm, which we call RAIG (Recurrent Aberrations from Interval Graphs). We show that RAIG outperforms other methods on simulated data and also performs well on data from three cancer types from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). In contrast to existing approaches that employ various heuristics to select independent aberrations, RAIG optimizes a well-defined objective function. We show that this allows RAIG to identify rare aberrations that are likely functional, but are obscured by overlaps with larger passenger aberrations. http://compbio.cs.brown.edu/software. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press.

  13. Heterogeneous quantum computing for satellite constellation optimization: solving the weighted k-clique problem

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bass, Gideon; Tomlin, Casey; Kumar, Vaibhaw; Rihaczek, Pete; Dulny, Joseph, III

    2018-04-01

    NP-hard optimization problems scale very rapidly with problem size, becoming unsolvable with brute force methods, even with supercomputing resources. Typically, such problems have been approximated with heuristics. However, these methods still take a long time and are not guaranteed to find an optimal solution. Quantum computing offers the possibility of producing significant speed-up and improved solution quality. Current quantum annealing (QA) devices are designed to solve difficult optimization problems, but they are limited by hardware size and qubit connectivity restrictions. We present a novel heterogeneous computing stack that combines QA and classical machine learning, allowing the use of QA on problems larger than the hardware limits of the quantum device. These results represent experiments on a real-world problem represented by the weighted k-clique problem. Through this experiment, we provide insight into the state of quantum machine learning.

  14. Cooperation, Competition, and the Structure of Student Cliques.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hansell, Stephen; And Others

    Research indicates substantial evidence that, compared with competition, cooperation increases mutual friendliness and contact between individuals. The effects of cooperative and competitive experiences on the structure of student cliques in the classroom were examined. Seven classrooms of fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade students (N=117) were…

  15. Influence of Adolescent Social Cliques on Vocational Identity.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Johnson, John A.; Cheek, Jonathan M.

    While Holland's (1973) theory of personality types and vocational identity is widely used, the theory does not specify the developmental antecedents of the six personality types. To examine the relationship between membership in adolescent social cliques and vocational identity in early adulthood, four groups of college students (N=192)…

  16. Morphology of the Physiological Apical Foramen in Maxillary and Mandibular First Molars

    PubMed Central

    Abarca, J.; Zaror, C.; Monardes, H.; Hermosilla, V.; Muñoz, C.; Cantin, M.

    2015-01-01

    SUMMARY Information regarding the anatomy of the physiological apical foramen is limited. Knowing its diameter and shapes contributes to clinical work, specifically to the cleaning and shaping of the apical third. The aim of this ex vivo study was to determine the minimum and maximum diameters and shape of the physiological apical foramen in the roots of maxillary and mandibular first molars. A descriptive study was conducted on 89 recently extracted first molars. Roots 3–5 mm from the apex were sectioned and prepared for analysis at 40× magnification. The minimum and maximum diameters of each physiological foramen were measured using the program Motic Images plus 2.0 ML. The shape of the foramina, classified as round, oval or irregular, was determined by the difference between the maximum and minimum diameters. A total of 174 physiological foramina were analyzed. The average of the minimum and maximum diameters was between 0.24–0.33 mm in maxillary first molars and between 0.25–0.33 mm in mandibular first molars. In maxillary molars, the most common shape of the foramen was oval (50%), then irregular (32%), then round (18%). In mandibular molars, the oval shape was also the most frequent (59%), followed by irregular (23%) and round (18%). The findings of this study regarding the morphology of physiological apical foramina in first molars make it easier for the operator to choose the appropriately-sized instruments to perform endodontic therapy successfully. PMID:25937698

  17. Morphology of the Physiological Apical Foramen in Maxillary and Mandibular First Molars.

    PubMed

    Abarca, J; Zaror, C; Monardes, H; Hermosilla, V; Muñoz, C; Cantin, M

    2014-06-01

    Information regarding the anatomy of the physiological apical foramen is limited. Knowing its diameter and shapes contributes to clinical work, specifically to the cleaning and shaping of the apical third. The aim of this ex vivo study was to determine the minimum and maximum diameters and shape of the physiological apical foramen in the roots of maxillary and mandibular first molars. A descriptive study was conducted on 89 recently extracted first molars. Roots 3-5 mm from the apex were sectioned and prepared for analysis at 40× magnification. The minimum and maximum diameters of each physiological foramen were measured using the program Motic Images plus 2.0 ML. The shape of the foramina, classified as round, oval or irregular, was determined by the difference between the maximum and minimum diameters. A total of 174 physiological foramina were analyzed. The average of the minimum and maximum diameters was between 0.24-0.33 mm in maxillary first molars and between 0.25-0.33 mm in mandibular first molars. In maxillary molars, the most common shape of the foramen was oval (50%), then irregular (32%), then round (18%). In mandibular molars, the oval shape was also the most frequent (59%), followed by irregular (23%) and round (18%). The findings of this study regarding the morphology of physiological apical foramina in first molars make it easier for the operator to choose the appropriately-sized instruments to perform endodontic therapy successfully.

  18. The Evolution of Children's Friendship Cliques.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hallinan, Maureen T.

    This paper investigates the formation and evolution of friendship cliques among preadolescent youth in elementary and junior high grades 4 through 8. Two sets of data were collected: the first set consisted of cross sectional data from 51 classes (grades 5 through 8); the second set contained sociometric data collected from 11 classes (grades 4…

  19. Changing Neighborhood and Clique Structure in Two Missouri Communities, 1955-66.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lionberger, Herbert F.; Yeh, Chii-jeng

    A study was conducted of two Missouri communities to investigate neighborhood change between 1956 and 1966 and social cliques as possible emerging replacements for neighborhoods. Ozark, in an economically disadvantaged southern part of the State, has experienced drastic farm changes, from general to dairy farming and later to enterprises more…

  20. Project Trust: Breaking down Barriers between Middle School Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Batiuk, Mary Ellen; Boland, James A.; Wilcox, Norma

    2004-01-01

    This paper analyzes the success of a camp retreat weekend called Project Trust involving middle school students and teachers. The goal of the camp is to break down barriers between cliques identified as active in the school. The camp focuses on building team relationships across clique membership and incorporates elements of peace education and…

  1. Sparse cliques trump scale-free networks in coordination and competition

    PubMed Central

    Gianetto, David A.; Heydari, Babak

    2016-01-01

    Cooperative behavior, a natural, pervasive and yet puzzling phenomenon, can be significantly enhanced by networks. Many studies have shown how global network characteristics affect cooperation; however, it is difficult to understand how this occurs based on global factors alone, low-level network building blocks, or motifs are necessary. In this work, we systematically alter the structure of scale-free and clique networks and show, through a stochastic evolutionary game theory model, that cooperation on cliques increases linearly with community motif count. We further show that, for reactive stochastic strategies, network modularity improves cooperation in the anti-coordination Snowdrift game and the Prisoner’s Dilemma game but not in the Stag Hunt coordination game. We also confirm the negative effect of the scale-free graph on cooperation when effective payoffs are used. On the flip side, clique graphs are highly cooperative across social environments. Adding cycles to the acyclic scale-free graph increases cooperation when multiple games are considered; however, cycles have the opposite effect on how forgiving agents are when playing the Prisoner’s Dilemma game. PMID:26899456

  2. Sparse cliques trump scale-free networks in coordination and competition

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gianetto, David A.; Heydari, Babak

    2016-02-01

    Cooperative behavior, a natural, pervasive and yet puzzling phenomenon, can be significantly enhanced by networks. Many studies have shown how global network characteristics affect cooperation; however, it is difficult to understand how this occurs based on global factors alone, low-level network building blocks, or motifs are necessary. In this work, we systematically alter the structure of scale-free and clique networks and show, through a stochastic evolutionary game theory model, that cooperation on cliques increases linearly with community motif count. We further show that, for reactive stochastic strategies, network modularity improves cooperation in the anti-coordination Snowdrift game and the Prisoner’s Dilemma game but not in the Stag Hunt coordination game. We also confirm the negative effect of the scale-free graph on cooperation when effective payoffs are used. On the flip side, clique graphs are highly cooperative across social environments. Adding cycles to the acyclic scale-free graph increases cooperation when multiple games are considered; however, cycles have the opposite effect on how forgiving agents are when playing the Prisoner’s Dilemma game.

  3. Young Children's Cliques: A Study on Processes of Peer Acceptance and Cliques Aggregation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brighi, Antonella; Mazzanti, Chiara; Guarini, Annalisa; Sansavini, Alessandra

    2015-01-01

    A considerable amount of research has examined the link between children's peer acceptance, which refers to the degree of likability within the peer group, social functioning and emotional wellbeing, at a same age and in a long term perspective, pointing out to the contribution of peer acceptance for mental wellbeing. Our study proposes a…

  4. Communities as cliques

    PubMed Central

    Fried, Yael; Kessler, David A.; Shnerb, Nadav M.

    2016-01-01

    High-diversity species assemblages are very common in nature, and yet the factors allowing for the maintenance of biodiversity remain obscure. The competitive exclusion principle and May’s complexity-diversity puzzle both suggest that a community can support only a small number of species, turning the spotlight on the dynamics of local patches or islands, where stable and uninvadable (SU) subsets of species play a crucial role. Here we map the question of the number of different possible SUs a community can support to the geometric problem of finding maximal cliques of the corresponding graph. This enables us to solve for the number of SUs as a function of the species richness in the regional pool, N, showing that the growth of this number is subexponential in N, contrary to long-standing wisdom. To understand the dynamics under noise we examine the relaxation time to an SU. Symmetric systems relax rapidly, whereas in asymmetric systems the relaxation time grows much faster with N, suggesting an excitable dynamics under noise. PMID:27759102

  5. Steiner trees and spanning trees in six-pin soap films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dutta, Prasun; Khastgir, S. Pratik; Roy, Anushree

    2010-02-01

    The problem of finding minimum (local as well as absolute) path lengths joining given points (or terminals) on a plane is known as the Steiner problem. The Steiner problem arises in finding the minimum total road length joining several towns and cities. We study the Steiner tree problem using six-pin soap films. Experimentally, we observe spanning trees as well as Steiner trees partly by varying the pin diameter. We propose a possibly exact expression for the length of a spanning tree or a Steiner tree, which fails mysteriously in certain cases.

  6. Clustering Qualitative Data Based on Binary Equivalence Relations: Neighborhood Search Heuristics for the Clique Partitioning Problem

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brusco, Michael J.; Kohn, Hans-Friedrich

    2009-01-01

    The clique partitioning problem (CPP) requires the establishment of an equivalence relation for the vertices of a graph such that the sum of the edge costs associated with the relation is minimized. The CPP has important applications for the social sciences because it provides a framework for clustering objects measured on a collection of nominal…

  7. Considering Popular Fiction and Library Practices of Recommendation: The Literary Status of "The Clique" and Its Historical Progenitors

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pattee, Amy

    2008-01-01

    The Clique, a contemporary popular series for girls, has been criticized in the popular and professional media but includes thematic content similar to some of the more lauded mid-nineteenth-century domestic fiction for girls. By making a formal comparison of this popular series with domestic fiction for girls (much of which is now considered…

  8. The Use of British Nursery Rhymes and Contemporary Technology as Venues for Creating and Expressing Hidden Literacies throughout Time by Children, Adolescents, and Adults

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hazlett, Lisa A.

    2009-01-01

    Power and status are captivating, especially the desire for social status and its commensurate authority and security. Cliques, smaller clusters within larger peer groups sharing similar views, behaviors, and attitudes, are a means of attaining societal power. Because cliques are typically composed of the disenfranchised holding views different…

  9. Co-Workers' Perceptions of an Employee with Severe Disabilities: An Analysis of Social Interactions in a Work Setting.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yan, Xiaoyan; And Others

    1993-01-01

    This study explains the methodology of clique analysis and presents a study in which the use of clique analysis demonstrated that an employee with severe disabilities was perceived by co-workers as socially involved in the work setting at levels comparable to others in such areas as greetings and small talk, work-related conversation, and personal…

  10. A graph theoretic approach to scene matching

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ranganath, Heggere S.; Chipman, Laure J.

    1991-01-01

    The ability to match two scenes is a fundamental requirement in a variety of computer vision tasks. A graph theoretic approach to inexact scene matching is presented which is useful in dealing with problems due to imperfect image segmentation. A scene is described by a set of graphs, with nodes representing objects and arcs representing relationships between objects. Each node has a set of values representing the relations between pairs of objects, such as angle, adjacency, or distance. With this method of scene representation, the task in scene matching is to match two sets of graphs. Because of segmentation errors, variations in camera angle, illumination, and other conditions, an exact match between the sets of observed and stored graphs is usually not possible. In the developed approach, the problem is represented as an association graph, in which each node represents a possible mapping of an observed region to a stored object, and each arc represents the compatibility of two mappings. Nodes and arcs have weights indicating the merit or a region-object mapping and the degree of compatibility between two mappings. A match between the two graphs corresponds to a clique, or fully connected subgraph, in the association graph. The task is to find the clique that represents the best match. Fuzzy relaxation is used to update the node weights using the contextual information contained in the arcs and neighboring nodes. This simplifies the evaluation of cliques. A method of handling oversegmentation and undersegmentation problems is also presented. The approach is tested with a set of realistic images which exhibit many types of sementation errors.

  11. Clique-based data mining for related genes in a biomedical database.

    PubMed

    Matsunaga, Tsutomu; Yonemori, Chikara; Tomita, Etsuji; Muramatsu, Masaaki

    2009-07-01

    Progress in the life sciences cannot be made without integrating biomedical knowledge on numerous genes in order to help formulate hypotheses on the genetic mechanisms behind various biological phenomena, including diseases. There is thus a strong need for a way to automatically and comprehensively search from biomedical databases for related genes, such as genes in the same families and genes encoding components of the same pathways. Here we address the extraction of related genes by searching for densely-connected subgraphs, which are modeled as cliques, in a biomedical relational graph. We constructed a graph whose nodes were gene or disease pages, and edges were the hyperlink connections between those pages in the Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) database. We obtained over 20,000 sets of related genes (called 'gene modules') by enumerating cliques computationally. The modules included genes in the same family, genes for proteins that form a complex, and genes for components of the same signaling pathway. The results of experiments using 'metabolic syndrome'-related gene modules show that the gene modules can be used to get a coherent holistic picture helpful for interpreting relations among genes. We presented a data mining approach extracting related genes by enumerating cliques. The extracted gene sets provide a holistic picture useful for comprehending complex disease mechanisms.

  12. The Feasibility of Two Screws Anterior Fixation for Type II Odontoid Fracture Among Arabs.

    PubMed

    Marwan, Yousef; Kombar, Osama Rabie; Al-Saeed, Osama; Aleidan, Aljarrah; Samir, Ahmed; Esmaeel, Ali

    2016-06-01

    Retrospective, cross-sectional study. To evaluate the feasibility of two screws anterior fixation of the odontoid process among Arab adults. Anterior screw fixation is the treatment of choice for type II odontoid fractures. In order to perform the procedure safely, the diameter of the odontoid process should be wide enough to allow for the placement of one or two screws. A retrospective review of 156 computed tomography scans of the cervical spine was done. The included patients were Arabs, adults (at least 18 years old), and had no evidence of upper cervical spine trauma, deformity, infection, tumor, or surgery. The minimum external transverse diameter (METD), minimum internal transverse diameter (MITD), minimum external anteroposterior diameter (MEAD), and minimum internal anteroposterior diameter (MIAD) of the odontoid process were measured. A P value of ≤0.05 was considered as the cutoff level of statistical significance. Our study included 94 (60.3%) males and 62 (39.7%) females. The mean age of the subjects was 37.8 ± 16.9 years (range 18-85). The mean values of the METD, MITD, MEAD, and MIAD were 8.7 ± 1.0 mm, 6.0 ± 1.1 mm, 10.3 ± 1.0 mm, and 7.4 ± 1.1 mm, respectively. Men had larger diameters compared to women. This was statistically significant for METD (P = 0.035) and MEAD (P < 0.001). The METD was <9.0 mm in 95 (60.9%) subjects, while the MITD was <8.0 mm in 153 (98.1%) subjects. These findings were not significantly different between males and females. Two screws anterior fixation of type II odontoid fracture is not feasible among the majority of Arabs. 3.

  13. Replicator equations, maximal cliques, and graph isomorphism.

    PubMed

    Pelillo, M

    1999-11-15

    We present a new energy-minimization framework for the graph isomorphism problem that is based on an equivalent maximum clique formulation. The approach is centered around a fundamental result proved by Motzkin and Straus in the mid-1960s, and recently expanded in various ways, which allows us to formulate the maximum clique problem in terms of a standard quadratic program. The attractive feature of this formulation is that a clear one-to-one correspondence exists between the solutions of the quadratic program and those in the original, combinatorial problem. To solve the program we use the so-called replicator equations--a class of straightforward continuous- and discrete-time dynamical systems developed in various branches of theoretical biology. We show how, despite their inherent inability to escape from local solutions, they nevertheless provide experimental results that are competitive with those obtained using more elaborate mean-field annealing heuristics.

  14. Efficient Deployment of Key Nodes for Optimal Coverage of Industrial Mobile Wireless Networks

    PubMed Central

    Li, Xiaomin; Li, Di; Dong, Zhijie; Hu, Yage; Liu, Chengliang

    2018-01-01

    In recent years, industrial wireless networks (IWNs) have been transformed by the introduction of mobile nodes, and they now offer increased extensibility, mobility, and flexibility. Nevertheless, mobile nodes pose efficiency and reliability challenges. Efficient node deployment and management of channel interference directly affect network system performance, particularly for key node placement in clustered wireless networks. This study analyzes this system model, considering both industrial properties of wireless networks and their mobility. Then, static and mobile node coverage problems are unified and simplified to target coverage problems. We propose a novel strategy for the deployment of clustered heads in grouped industrial mobile wireless networks (IMWNs) based on the improved maximal clique model and the iterative computation of new candidate cluster head positions. The maximal cliques are obtained via a double-layer Tabu search. Each cluster head updates its new position via an improved virtual force while moving with full coverage to find the minimal inter-cluster interference. Finally, we develop a simulation environment. The simulation results, based on a performance comparison, show the efficacy of the proposed strategies and their superiority over current approaches. PMID:29439439

  15. 100 mm diameter rod laser amplifiers made of different Nd:glasses

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shaykin, A. A.; Kuzmin, A. A.; Shaikin, I. A.; Potemkin, A. K.; Arbuzov, V. I.; Hu, Lili; Wen, Lei; Khazanov, Е A.

    2018-03-01

    We measured the dependence of the weak signal gain of 100 mm diameter rod amplifiers on pump energy and transverse coordinates for four neodymium glass grades. The highest gain was obtained in N31-05 (China), and the highest radial gain uniformity in KGSS-0180 glass (Russia). The data obtained enable the optimal glass grade to be chosen for each specific problem by finding a compromise between maximum output energy and minimum distortion of beam profile.

  16. Modeling the Webgraph: How Far We Are

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Donato, Debora; Laura, Luigi; Leonardi, Stefano; Millozzi, Stefano

    The following sections are included: * Introduction * Preliminaries * WebBase * In-degree and out-degree * PageRank * Bipartite cliques * Strongly connected components * Stochastic models of the webgraph * Models of the webgraph * A multi-layer model * Large scale simulation * Algorithmic techniques for generating and measuring webgraphs * Data representation and multifiles * Generating webgraphs * Traversal with two bits for each node * Semi-external breadth first search * Semi-external depth first search * Computation of the SCCs * Computation of the bow-tie regions * Disjoint bipartite cliques * PageRank * Summary and outlook

  17. Listing All Maximal Cliques in Sparse Graphs in Near-optimal Time

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2011-01-01

    523 10 Arabisopsis thaliana 1745 3098 71 12 Drosophila melanogaster 7282 24894 176 12 Homo Sapiens 9527 31182 308 12 Schizosaccharomyces pombe 2031...clusters of actors [6,14,28,40] and may be used as features in exponential random graph models for statistical analysis of social networks [17,19,20,44,49...29. R. Horaud and T. Skordas. Stereo correspondence through feature grouping and maximal cliques. IEEE Trans. Patt. An. Mach. Int. 11(11):1168–1180

  18. Feasibility of utilizing small diameter southern pine for biomass in the Virginia Coastal Plain

    Treesearch

    Nathan C. Hanzelka; M. Chad Bolding; Scott M. Barrett; Jay Sullivan

    2016-01-01

    New or retrofitted wood-fired energy plants have increased demand for woody biomass in the stateof Virginia. Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) commonly serves as a feedstock for these energy plants. Pulpwood conventionally requires a minimum diameter of 4 inches diameter at breast height (DBH) for merchantability, whereas a minimum merchantable diameter...

  19. 7 CFR 51.311 - Marking requirements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... STANDARDS) United States Standards for Grades of Apples Marking Requirements § 51.311 Marking requirements... minimum diameter of apples packed in a closed container shall be indicated on the container. For apple... varieties, the minimum diameter and minimum weight of apples packed in a closed container shall be indicated...

  20. 7 CFR 51.311 - Marking requirements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... STANDARDS) United States Standards for Grades of Apples Marking Requirements § 51.311 Marking requirements... minimum diameter of apples packed in a closed container shall be indicated on the container. For apple... varieties, the minimum diameter and minimum weight of apples packed in a closed container shall be indicated...

  1. 7 CFR 51.311 - Marking requirements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... STANDARDS) United States Standards for Grades of Apples Marking Requirements § 51.311 Marking requirements... minimum diameter of apples packed in a closed container shall be indicated on the container. For apple... varieties, the minimum diameter and minimum weight of apples packed in a closed container shall be indicated...

  2. Origin of hyperbolicity in brain-to-brain coordination networks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tadić, Bosiljka; Andjelković, Miroslav; Šuvakov, Milovan

    2018-02-01

    Hyperbolicity or negative curvature of complex networks is the intrinsic geometric proximity of nodes in the graph metric space, which implies an improved network function. Here, we investigate hidden combinatorial geometries in brain-to-brain coordination networks arising through social communications. The networks originate from correlations among EEG signals previously recorded during spoken communications comprising of 14 individuals with 24 speaker-listener pairs. We find that the corresponding networks are delta-hyperbolic with delta_max=1 and the graph diameter D=3 in each brain. While the emergent hyperbolicity in the two-brain networks satisfies delta_max/D/2 < 1 and can be attributed to the topology of the subgraph formed around the cross-brains linking channels. We identify these subgraphs in each studied two-brain network and decompose their structure into simple geometric descriptors (triangles, tetrahedra and cliques of higher orders) that contribute to hyperbolicity. Considering topologies that exceed two separate brain networks as a measure of coordination synergy between the brains, we identify different neuronal correlation patterns ranging from weak coordination to super-brain structure. These topology features are in qualitative agreement with the listener’s self-reported ratings of own experience and quality of the speaker, suggesting that studies of the cross-brain connector networks can reveal new insight into the neural mechanisms underlying human social behavior.

  3. World scientific collaboration in coronary heart disease research.

    PubMed

    Yu, Qi; Shao, Hongfang; He, Peifeng; Duan, Zhiguang

    2013-08-10

    Coronary heart disease (CHD) will continue to exert a heavy burden for countries all over the world. Scientific collaboration has become the only choice for progress in biomedicine. Unfortunately, there is a scarcity of scientific publications about scientific collaboration in CHD research. This study examines collaboration behaviors across multiple collaboration types in the CHD research. 294,756 records about CHD were retrieved from Web of Science. Methods such as co-authorship, social network analysis, connected component, cliques, and betweenness centrality were used in this study. Collaborations have increased at the author, institution and country/region levels in CHD research over the past three decades. 3000 most collaborative authors, 572 most collaborative institutions and 52 countries/regions are extracted from their corresponding collaboration network. 766 cliques are found in the most collaborative authors. 308 cliques are found in the most collaborative institutions. Western countries/regions represent the core of the world's collaboration. The United States ranks first in terms of number of multi-national publications, while Hungary leads in the ranking measured by their proportion of collaborative output. The rate of economic development in the countries/regions also affects the multi-national collaboration behavior. Collaborations among countries/regions need to be encouraged in the CHD research. The visualization of overlapping cliques in the most collaborative authors and institutions are considered "skeleton" of the collaboration network. Eastern countries/regions should strengthen cooperation with western countries/regions in the CHD research. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. 49 CFR 179.300-6 - Thickness of plates.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ....037 Where: d = inside diameter in inches; E = 1.0 welded joint efficiency; P = minimum required bursting pressure in psig; S = minimum tensile strength of plate material in p.s.i. as prescribed in § 179... −d 2) where: d = inside diameter in inches; D = outside diameter in inches; p = tank test pressure in...

  5. Diameter-Constrained Steiner Tree

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ding, Wei; Lin, Guohui; Xue, Guoliang

    Given an edge-weighted undirected graph G = (V,E,c,w), where each edge e ∈ E has a cost c(e) and a weight w(e), a set S ⊆ V of terminals and a positive constant D 0, we seek a minimum cost Steiner tree where all terminals appear as leaves and its diameter is bounded by D 0. Note that the diameter of a tree represents the maximum weight of path connecting two different leaves in the tree. Such problem is called the minimum cost diameter-constrained Steiner tree problem. This problem is NP-hard even when the topology of Steiner tree is fixed. In present paper we focus on this restricted version and present a fully polynomial time approximation scheme (FPTAS) for computing a minimum cost diameter-constrained Steiner tree under a fixed topology.

  6. Predictive variables for the biological behaviour of basal cell carcinoma of the face: relevance of morphometry of the nuclei.

    PubMed

    Appel, T; Bierhoff, E; Appel, K; von Lindern, J-J; Bergé, S; Niederhagen, B

    2003-06-01

    We did a morphometric analysis of 130 histological sections of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) of the face to find out whether morphometric variables in the structure of the nuclei of BCC cells could serve as predictors of the biological behaviour. We considered the following variables: maximum and minimum diameters, perimeter, nuclear area and five form factors that characterise and quantify the shape of a structure (axis ratio, shape factor, nuclear contour index, nuclear roundness and circumference ratio). We did a statistical analysis of primary and recurring tumours and four histology-based groups (multifocal superficial BCCs, nodular BCCs, sclerosing BCCs and miscellaneous forms) using a two-sided t test for independent samples. Multifocal superficial BCCs showed significantly smaller values for the directly measured variables (maximum and minimum diameters, perimeter and nuclear area). Morphometry could not distinguish between primary and recurring tumours.

  7. Visual Odometry Based on Structural Matching of Local Invariant Features Using Stereo Camera Sensor

    PubMed Central

    Núñez, Pedro; Vázquez-Martín, Ricardo; Bandera, Antonio

    2011-01-01

    This paper describes a novel sensor system to estimate the motion of a stereo camera. Local invariant image features are matched between pairs of frames and linked into image trajectories at video rate, providing the so-called visual odometry, i.e., motion estimates from visual input alone. Our proposal conducts two matching sessions: the first one between sets of features associated to the images of the stereo pairs and the second one between sets of features associated to consecutive frames. With respect to previously proposed approaches, the main novelty of this proposal is that both matching algorithms are conducted by means of a fast matching algorithm which combines absolute and relative feature constraints. Finding the largest-valued set of mutually consistent matches is equivalent to finding the maximum-weighted clique on a graph. The stereo matching allows to represent the scene view as a graph which emerge from the features of the accepted clique. On the other hand, the frame-to-frame matching defines a graph whose vertices are features in 3D space. The efficiency of the approach is increased by minimizing the geometric and algebraic errors to estimate the final displacement of the stereo camera between consecutive acquired frames. The proposed approach has been tested for mobile robotics navigation purposes in real environments and using different features. Experimental results demonstrate the performance of the proposal, which could be applied in both industrial and service robot fields. PMID:22164016

  8. Markov models for fMRI correlation structure: Is brain functional connectivity small world, or decomposable into networks?

    PubMed

    Varoquaux, G; Gramfort, A; Poline, J B; Thirion, B

    2012-01-01

    Correlations in the signal observed via functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), are expected to reveal the interactions in the underlying neural populations through hemodynamic response. In particular, they highlight distributed set of mutually correlated regions that correspond to brain networks related to different cognitive functions. Yet graph-theoretical studies of neural connections give a different picture: that of a highly integrated system with small-world properties: local clustering but with short pathways across the complete structure. We examine the conditional independence properties of the fMRI signal, i.e. its Markov structure, to find realistic assumptions on the connectivity structure that are required to explain the observed functional connectivity. In particular we seek a decomposition of the Markov structure into segregated functional networks using decomposable graphs: a set of strongly-connected and partially overlapping cliques. We introduce a new method to efficiently extract such cliques on a large, strongly-connected graph. We compare methods learning different graph structures from functional connectivity by testing the goodness of fit of the model they learn on new data. We find that summarizing the structure as strongly-connected networks can give a good description only for very large and overlapping networks. These results highlight that Markov models are good tools to identify the structure of brain connectivity from fMRI signals, but for this purpose they must reflect the small-world properties of the underlying neural systems. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. The persistence of cliques in the post-communist state. The case of deniability in drug reimbursement policy in Poland.

    PubMed

    Ozierański, Piotr; King, Lawrence

    2016-06-01

    This article explores a key question in political sociology: Can post-communist policy-making be described with classical theories of the Western state or do we need a theory of the specificity of the post-communist state? In so doing, we consider Janine Wedel's clique theory, concerned with informal social actors and processes in post-communist transition. We conducted a case study of drug reimbursement policy in Poland, using 109 stakeholder interviews, official documents and media coverage. Drawing on 'sensitizing concepts' from Wedel's theory, especially the notion of 'deniability', we developed an explanation of why Poland's reimbursement policy combined suboptimal outcomes, procedural irregularities with limited accountability of key stakeholders. We argue that deniability was created through four main mechanisms: (1) blurred boundaries between different types of state authority allowing for the dispersion of blame for controversial policy decisions; (2) bridging different sectors by 'institutional nomads', who often escaped existing conflicts of interest regulations; (3) institutional nomads' 'flexible' methods of influence premised on managing roles and representations; and (4) coordination of resources and influence by elite cliques monopolizing exclusive policy expertise. Overall, the greatest power over drug reimbursement was often associated with lowest accountability. We suggest, therefore, that the clique theory can be generalized from its home domain of explanation in foreign aid and privatizations to more technologically advanced policies in Poland and other post-communist countries. This conclusion is not identical, however, with arguing the uniqueness of the post-communist state. Rather, we show potential for using Wedel's account to analyse policy-making in Western democracies and indicate scope for its possible integration with the classical theories of the state. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2016.

  10. The Private Lives of Minerals: Social Network Analysis Applied to Mineralogy and Petrology

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hazen, R. M.; Morrison, S. M.; Fox, P. A.; Golden, J. J.; Downs, R. T.; Eleish, A.; Prabhu, A.; Li, C.; Liu, C.

    2016-12-01

    Comprehensive databases of mineral species (rruff.info/ima) and their geographic localities and co-existing mineral assemblages (mindat.org) reveal patterns of mineral association and distribution that mimic social networks, as commonly applied to such varied topics as social media interactions, the spread of disease, terrorism networks, and research collaborations. Applying social network analysis (SNA) to common assemblages of rock-forming igneous and regional metamorphic mineral species, we find patterns of cohesion, segregation, density, and cliques that are similar to those of human social networks. These patterns highlight classic trends in lithologic evolution and are illustrated with sociograms, in which mineral species are the "nodes" and co-existing species form "links." Filters based on chemistry, age, structural group, and other parameters highlight visually both familiar and new aspects of mineralogy and petrology. We quantify sociograms with SNA metrics, including connectivity (based on the frequency of co-occurrence of mineral pairs), homophily (the extent to which co-existing mineral species share compositional and other characteristics), network closure (based on the degree of network interconnectivity), and segmentation (as revealed by isolated "cliques" of mineral species). Exploitation of large and growing mineral data resources with SNA offers promising avenues for discovering previously hidden trends in mineral diversity-distribution systematics, as well as providing new pedagogical approaches to teaching mineralogy and petrology.

  11. The discovery of structural form

    PubMed Central

    Kemp, Charles; Tenenbaum, Joshua B.

    2008-01-01

    Algorithms for finding structure in data have become increasingly important both as tools for scientific data analysis and as models of human learning, yet they suffer from a critical limitation. Scientists discover qualitatively new forms of structure in observed data: For instance, Linnaeus recognized the hierarchical organization of biological species, and Mendeleev recognized the periodic structure of the chemical elements. Analogous insights play a pivotal role in cognitive development: Children discover that object category labels can be organized into hierarchies, friendship networks are organized into cliques, and comparative relations (e.g., “bigger than” or “better than”) respect a transitive order. Standard algorithms, however, can only learn structures of a single form that must be specified in advance: For instance, algorithms for hierarchical clustering create tree structures, whereas algorithms for dimensionality-reduction create low-dimensional spaces. Here, we present a computational model that learns structures of many different forms and that discovers which form is best for a given dataset. The model makes probabilistic inferences over a space of graph grammars representing trees, linear orders, multidimensional spaces, rings, dominance hierarchies, cliques, and other forms and successfully discovers the underlying structure of a variety of physical, biological, and social domains. Our approach brings structure learning methods closer to human abilities and may lead to a deeper computational understanding of cognitive development. PMID:18669663

  12. Computational social network modeling of terrorist recruitment.

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

    Berry, Nina M.; Turnley, Jessica Glicken; Smrcka, Julianne D.

    2004-10-01

    The Seldon terrorist model represents a multi-disciplinary approach to developing organization software for the study of terrorist recruitment and group formation. The need to incorporate aspects of social science added a significant contribution to the vision of the resulting Seldon toolkit. The unique addition of and abstract agent category provided a means for capturing social concepts like cliques, mosque, etc. in a manner that represents their social conceptualization and not simply as a physical or economical institution. This paper provides an overview of the Seldon terrorist model developed to study the formation of cliques, which are used as the majormore » recruitment entity for terrorist organizations.« less

  13. Phase transitions in the q -voter model with noise on a duplex clique

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chmiel, Anna; Sznajd-Weron, Katarzyna

    2015-11-01

    We study a nonlinear q -voter model with stochastic noise, interpreted in the social context as independence, on a duplex network. To study the role of the multilevelness in this model we propose three methods of transferring the model from a mono- to a multiplex network. They take into account two criteria: one related to the status of independence (LOCAL vs GLOBAL) and one related to peer pressure (AND vs OR). In order to examine the influence of the presence of more than one level in the social network, we perform simulations on a particularly simple multiplex: a duplex clique, which consists of two fully overlapped complete graphs (cliques). Solving numerically the rate equation and simultaneously conducting Monte Carlo simulations, we provide evidence that even a simple rearrangement into a duplex topology may lead to significant changes in the observed behavior. However, qualitative changes in the phase transitions can be observed for only one of the considered rules: LOCAL&AND. For this rule the phase transition becomes discontinuous for q =5 , whereas for a monoplex such behavior is observed for q =6 . Interestingly, only this rule admits construction of realistic variants of the model, in line with recent social experiments.

  14. Extracting Communities from Complex Networks by the k-Dense Method

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Saito, Kazumi; Yamada, Takeshi; Kazama, Kazuhiro

    To understand the structural and functional properties of large-scale complex networks, it is crucial to efficiently extract a set of cohesive subnetworks as communities. There have been proposed several such community extraction methods in the literature, including the classical k-core decomposition method and, more recently, the k-clique based community extraction method. The k-core method, although computationally efficient, is often not powerful enough for uncovering a detailed community structure and it produces only coarse-grained and loosely connected communities. The k-clique method, on the other hand, can extract fine-grained and tightly connected communities but requires a substantial amount of computational load for large-scale complex networks. In this paper, we present a new notion of a subnetwork called k-dense, and propose an efficient algorithm for extracting k-dense communities. We applied our method to the three different types of networks assembled from real data, namely, from blog trackbacks, word associations and Wikipedia references, and demonstrated that the k-dense method could extract communities almost as efficiently as the k-core method, while the qualities of the extracted communities are comparable to those obtained by the k-clique method.

  15. Seeding for pervasively overlapping communities

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lee, Conrad; Reid, Fergal; McDaid, Aaron; Hurley, Neil

    2011-06-01

    In some social and biological networks, the majority of nodes belong to multiple communities. It has recently been shown that a number of the algorithms specifically designed to detect overlapping communities do not perform well in such highly overlapping settings. Here, we consider one class of these algorithms, those which optimize a local fitness measure, typically by using a greedy heuristic to expand a seed into a community. We perform synthetic benchmarks which indicate that an appropriate seeding strategy becomes more important as the extent of community overlap increases. We find that distinct cliques provide the best seeds. We find further support for this seeding strategy with benchmarks on a Facebook network and the yeast interactome.

  16. 7 CFR 51.308 - Methods of sampling and calculation of percentages.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ..., CERTIFICATION, AND STANDARDS) United States Standards for Grades of Apples Methods of Sampling and Calculation... where the minimum diameter of the smallest apple does not vary more than 1/2 inch from the minimum diameter of the largest apple, percentages shall be calculated on the basis of count. (b) In all other...

  17. 7 CFR 51.308 - Methods of sampling and calculation of percentages.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ..., CERTIFICATION, AND STANDARDS) United States Standards for Grades of Apples Methods of Sampling and Calculation... where the minimum diameter of the smallest apple does not vary more than 1/2 inch from the minimum diameter of the largest apple, percentages shall be calculated on the basis of count. (b) In all other...

  18. 7 CFR 51.308 - Methods of sampling and calculation of percentages.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ..., CERTIFICATION, AND STANDARDS) United States Standards for Grades of Apples Methods of Sampling and Calculation... where the minimum diameter of the smallest apple does not vary more than 1/2 inch from the minimum diameter of the largest apple, percentages shall be calculated on the basis of count. (b) In all other...

  19. 7 CFR 51.1995 - U.S. No. 1.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ...) Well formed; and, (2) Clean and bright. (3) Free from: (i) Blanks; and, (ii) Broken or split shells. (4... minimum diameter, minimum and maximum diameters, or in accordance with one of the size classifications in Table I. Table I Size classifications Maximum size—Will pass through a round opening of the following...

  20. CFD-DEM modeling the effect of column size and bed height on minimum fluidization velocity in micro fluidized beds with Geldart B particles

    DOE PAGES

    Xu, Yupeng; Li, Tingwen; Musser, Jordan; ...

    2017-06-07

    The fluidization behavior of Geldart B particles in micro fluidized beds is investigated numerically using Computational Fluid Dynamics coupled with Discrete Element Method (CFD-DEM) available in the open-source Multiphase Flow with Interphase eXchanges (MFIX) code. The effects of different bed inner diameters (D) of 8 mm, 12 mm, 16 mm and various initial static bed heights (H) were examined. It is found that both decreasing the column diameter and increasing the bed height in a micro fluidized bed increases the minimum fluidization velocity (Umf). The observed overshoot in pressure drop that occurs before the onset of fluidization decreases in magnitudemore » with increasing column diameter, however there is less sensitivity to bed height. Overall, the numerical results agree qualitatively with existing theoretical correlations and experimental studies. The simulations show that both column diameter and particle-wall friction contribute to the variation in minimum fluidization velocity. Finally, these two factors are coupled and hard to separate. The detailed influences of wall friction on minimum fluidization velocity are then investigated for a prescribed column diameter of 8 mm by varying the wall friction from 0 to 0.4.« less

  1. CFD-DEM modeling the effect of column size and bed height on minimum fluidization velocity in micro fluidized beds with Geldart B particles

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

    Xu, Yupeng; Li, Tingwen; Musser, Jordan

    The fluidization behavior of Geldart B particles in micro fluidized beds is investigated numerically using Computational Fluid Dynamics coupled with Discrete Element Method (CFD-DEM) available in the open-source Multiphase Flow with Interphase eXchanges (MFIX) code. The effects of different bed inner diameters (D) of 8 mm, 12 mm, 16 mm and various initial static bed heights (H) were examined. It is found that both decreasing the column diameter and increasing the bed height in a micro fluidized bed increases the minimum fluidization velocity (Umf). The observed overshoot in pressure drop that occurs before the onset of fluidization decreases in magnitudemore » with increasing column diameter, however there is less sensitivity to bed height. Overall, the numerical results agree qualitatively with existing theoretical correlations and experimental studies. The simulations show that both column diameter and particle-wall friction contribute to the variation in minimum fluidization velocity. Finally, these two factors are coupled and hard to separate. The detailed influences of wall friction on minimum fluidization velocity are then investigated for a prescribed column diameter of 8 mm by varying the wall friction from 0 to 0.4.« less

  2. Generalized epidemic process on modular networks.

    PubMed

    Chung, Kihong; Baek, Yongjoo; Kim, Daniel; Ha, Meesoon; Jeong, Hawoong

    2014-05-01

    Social reinforcement and modular structure are two salient features observed in the spreading of behavior through social contacts. In order to investigate the interplay between these two features, we study the generalized epidemic process on modular networks with equal-sized finite communities and adjustable modularity. Using the analytical approach originally applied to clique-based random networks, we show that the system exhibits a bond-percolation type continuous phase transition for weak social reinforcement, whereas a discontinuous phase transition occurs for sufficiently strong social reinforcement. Our findings are numerically verified using the finite-size scaling analysis and the crossings of the bimodality coefficient.

  3. Community Detection in Complex Networks via Clique Conductance.

    PubMed

    Lu, Zhenqi; Wahlström, Johan; Nehorai, Arye

    2018-04-13

    Network science plays a central role in understanding and modeling complex systems in many areas including physics, sociology, biology, computer science, economics, politics, and neuroscience. One of the most important features of networks is community structure, i.e., clustering of nodes that are locally densely interconnected. Communities reveal the hierarchical organization of nodes, and detecting communities is of great importance in the study of complex systems. Most existing community-detection methods consider low-order connection patterns at the level of individual links. But high-order connection patterns, at the level of small subnetworks, are generally not considered. In this paper, we develop a novel community-detection method based on cliques, i.e., local complete subnetworks. The proposed method overcomes the deficiencies of previous similar community-detection methods by considering the mathematical properties of cliques. We apply the proposed method to computer-generated graphs and real-world network datasets. When applied to networks with known community structure, the proposed method detects the structure with high fidelity and sensitivity. When applied to networks with no a priori information regarding community structure, the proposed method yields insightful results revealing the organization of these complex networks. We also show that the proposed method is guaranteed to detect near-optimal clusters in the bipartition case.

  4. Mathematical properties and bounds on haplotyping populations by pure parsimony.

    PubMed

    Wang, I-Lin; Chang, Chia-Yuan

    2011-06-01

    Although the haplotype data can be used to analyze the function of DNA, due to the significant efforts required in collecting the haplotype data, usually the genotype data is collected and then the population haplotype inference (PHI) problem is solved to infer haplotype data from genotype data for a population. This paper investigates the PHI problem based on the pure parsimony criterion (HIPP), which seeks the minimum number of distinct haplotypes to infer a given genotype data. We analyze the mathematical structure and properties for the HIPP problem, propose techniques to reduce the given genotype data into an equivalent one of much smaller size, and analyze the relations of genotype data using a compatible graph. Based on the mathematical properties in the compatible graph, we propose a maximal clique heuristic to obtain an upper bound, and a new polynomial-sized integer linear programming formulation to obtain a lower bound for the HIPP problem. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. 7 CFR 51.308 - Methods of sampling and calculation of percentages.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... Grades of Apples Methods of Sampling and Calculation of Percentages § 51.308 Methods of sampling and... weigh ten pounds or less, or in any container where the minimum diameter of the smallest apple does not vary more than 1/2 inch from the minimum diameter of the largest apple, percentages shall be calculated...

  6. 7 CFR 51.308 - Methods of sampling and calculation of percentages.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... Grades of Apples Methods of Sampling and Calculation of Percentages § 51.308 Methods of sampling and... weigh ten pounds or less, or in any container where the minimum diameter of the smallest apple does not vary more than 1/2 inch from the minimum diameter of the largest apple, percentages shall be calculated...

  7. Determination of Shapes of Boattail Bodies of Revolution for Minimum Wave Drag

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Adams, Mac C.

    1951-01-01

    By use of an approximate equation for the wave drag of slender bodies of revolution in a supersonic flow field, the optimum shapes of certain boattail bodies are determined for minimum wave drag. The properties of three specific families of bodies are determined, the first family consisting of bodies having a given length and base area and a contour passing through a prescribed point between the nose and base, the second family having fixed length, base area, and maximum area, and the third family having given length, volume, and base area. The method presented is easily generalized to determine minimum-wave-drag profile shapes which have contours that must pass through any prescribed number of points. According to linearized theory, the optimum profiles are found to have infinite slope at the nose but zero radius of curvature so that the bodies appear to have pointed noses, a zero slope at the body base, and no variation of wave drag with Mach number. For those bodies having a specified intermediate.diameter (that is, location and magnitude given), the maximum body diameter is shown to be larger, in general, than the specified diameter. It is also shown that, for bodies having a specified maximum diameter, the location of the maximum diameter is not arbitrary but is determined from the ratio of base diameter to maximum diameter.

  8. Classification of Kiwifruit Grades Based on Fruit Shape Using a Single Camera

    PubMed Central

    Fu, Longsheng; Sun, Shipeng; Li, Rui; Wang, Shaojin

    2016-01-01

    This study aims to demonstrate the feasibility for classifying kiwifruit into shape grades by adding a single camera to current Chinese sorting lines equipped with weight sensors. Image processing methods are employed to calculate fruit length, maximum diameter of the equatorial section, and projected area. A stepwise multiple linear regression method is applied to select significant variables for predicting minimum diameter of the equatorial section and volume and to establish corresponding estimation models. Results show that length, maximum diameter of the equatorial section and weight are selected to predict the minimum diameter of the equatorial section, with the coefficient of determination of only 0.82 when compared to manual measurements. Weight and length are then selected to estimate the volume, which is in good agreement with the measured one with the coefficient of determination of 0.98. Fruit classification based on the estimated minimum diameter of the equatorial section achieves a low success rate of 84.6%, which is significantly improved using a linear combination of the length/maximum diameter of the equatorial section and projected area/length ratios, reaching 98.3%. Thus, it is possible for Chinese kiwifruit sorting lines to reach international standards of grading kiwifruit on fruit shape classification by adding a single camera. PMID:27376292

  9. Functional cliques in the amygdala and related brain networks driven by fear assessment acquired during movie viewing.

    PubMed

    Kinreich, Sivan; Intrator, Nathan; Hendler, Talma

    2011-01-01

    One of the greatest challenges involved in studying the brain mechanisms of fear is capturing the individual's unique instantaneous experience. Brain imaging studies to date commonly sacrifice valuable information regarding the individual real-time conscious experience, especially when focusing on elucidating the amygdala's activity. Here, we assumed that by using a minimally intrusive cue along with applying a robust clustering approach to probe the amygdala, it would be possible to rate fear in real time and to derive the related network of activation. During functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning, healthy volunteers viewed two excerpts from horror movies and were periodically auditory cued to rate their instantaneous experience of "I'm scared." Using graph theory and community mathematical concepts, data-driven clustering of the fear-related functional cliques in the amygdala was performed guided by the individually marked periods of heightened fear. Individually tailored functions derived from these amygdala activation cliques were subsequently applied as general linear model predictors to a whole-brain analysis to reveal the correlated networks. Our results suggest that by using a localized robust clustering approach, it is possible to probe activation in the right dorsal amygdala that is directly related to individual real-time emotional experience. Moreover, this fear-evoked amygdala revealed two opposing networks of co-activation and co-deactivation, which correspond to vigilance and rest-related circuits, respectively.

  10. Interval Graph Limits

    PubMed Central

    Diaconis, Persi; Holmes, Susan; Janson, Svante

    2015-01-01

    We work out a graph limit theory for dense interval graphs. The theory developed departs from the usual description of a graph limit as a symmetric function W (x, y) on the unit square, with x and y uniform on the interval (0, 1). Instead, we fix a W and change the underlying distribution of the coordinates x and y. We find choices such that our limits are continuous. Connections to random interval graphs are given, including some examples. We also show a continuity result for the chromatic number and clique number of interval graphs. Some results on uniqueness of the limit description are given for general graph limits. PMID:26405368

  11. Coming Out

    MedlinePlus

    ... about them. They're afraid they'll face bullying, harassment, discrimination, or even violence. Their families don' ... Use Anti-Gay Language? Sexual Harassment and Sexual Bullying Dealing With Bullying Coping With Cliques Transgender People ...

  12. Vascular Assessment for Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement: Intravascular Ultrasound Compared With Computed Tomography.

    PubMed

    Essa, Essa; Makki, Nader; Bittenbender, Peter; Capers, Quinn; George, Barry; Rushing, Gregory; Crestanello, Juan; Boudoulas, Konstantinos Dean; Lilly, Scott M

    2016-12-01

    Assessment of the femoral and iliac arteries is essential prior to transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). It is critical for establishing candidacy for a femoral approach, and can help predict vascular complications. Although computed tomography angiography (CTA) is the standard imaging modality, it has limitations. This study compared CTA with intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) in patients undergoing TAVR evaluation. Fifteen patients undergoing pre-TAVR coronary angiography and hemodynamic assessment were recruited. Following coronary angiography, patients underwent distal aortography, bilateral iliac and femoral arteriography, and IVUS assessment. Vascular tortuosity, minimum lumen diameter, and cross-sectional area were obtained and the findings were compared with those obtained from CTA. Correlation between IVUS and CTA was strong for minimum luminal diameter (r=0.62). Concordance was also strong between CTA and invasive iliofemoral angiography for assessment of tortuosity (r=0.75). Utilizing Bland-Altman analysis, vessel diameters obtained by IVUS were consistently greater than those obtained by CTA. The angiography and IVUS strategy was associated with a lower overall mean contrast utilization (29 cc vs 100 cc; P<.001), reduced mean radiation exposure (527 mGy vs 998 mGy; P=.045), and no significant difference in mean test duration (13.3 minutes vs 10 minutes; P=.12). For femoral and iliac arterial assessment prior to TAVR, IVUS is a viable alternative to CTA with comparable accuracy, and the potential for less contrast use and less radiation exposure. IVUS is also a valuable adjunct to CTA in patients with borderline femoral access diameters or considerable CTA artifacts.

  13. Electron microscopic quantification of collagen fibril diameters in the rabbit medial collateral ligament: a baseline for comparison.

    PubMed

    Frank, C; Bray, D; Rademaker, A; Chrusch, C; Sabiston, P; Bodie, D; Rangayyan, R

    1989-01-01

    To establish a normal baseline for comparison, thirty-one thousand collagen fibril diameters were measured in calibrated transmission electron (TEM) photomicrographs of normal rabbit medial collateral ligaments (MCL's). A new automated method of quantitation was used to compare statistically fibril minimum diameter distributions in one midsubstance location in both MCL's from six animals at 3 months of age (immature) and three animals at 10 months of age (mature). Pooled results demonstrate that rabbit MCL's have statistically different (p less than 0.001) mean minimum diameters at these two ages. Interanimal differences in mean fibril minimum diameters were also significant (p less than 0.001) and varied by 20% to 25% in both mature and immature animals. Finally, there were significant differences (p less than 0.001) in mean diameters and distributions from side-to-side in all animals. These mean left-to-right differences were less than 10% in all mature animals but as much as 62% in some immature animals. Statistical analysis of these data demonstrate that animal-to-animal comparisons using these protocols require a large number of animals with appropriate numbers of fibrils being measured to detect small intergroup differences. With experiments which compare left to right ligaments, far fewer animals are required to detect similarly small differences. These results demonstrate the necessity for rigorous control of sampling, an extensive normal baseline and statistically confirmed experimental designs in any TEM comparisons of collagen fibril diameters.

  14. Apparatus and method for classifying fuel pellets for nuclear reactor

    DOEpatents

    Wilks, Robert S.; Sternheim, Eliezer; Breakey, Gerald A.; Sturges, Jr., Robert H.; Taleff, Alexander; Castner, Raymond P.

    1984-01-01

    Control for the operation of a mechanical handling and gauging system for nuclear fuel pellets. The pellets are inspected for diameters, lengths, surface flaws and weights in successive stations. The control includes, a computer for commanding the operation of the system and its electronics and for storing and processing the complex data derived at the required high rate. In measuring the diameter, the computer enables the measurement of a calibration pellet, stores that calibration data and computes and stores diameter-correction factors and their addresses along a pellet. To each diameter measurement a correction factor is applied at the appropriate address. The computer commands verification that all critical parts of the system and control are set for inspection and that each pellet is positioned for inspection. During each cycle of inspection, the measurement operation proceeds normally irrespective of whether or not a pellet is present in each station. If a pellet is not positioned in a station, a measurement is recorded, but the recorded measurement indicates maloperation. In measuring diameter and length a light pattern including successive shadows of slices transverse for diameter or longitudinal for length are projected on a photodiode array. The light pattern is scanned electronically by a train of pulses. The pulses are counted during the scan of the lighted diodes. For evaluation of diameter the maximum diameter count and the number of slices for which the diameter exceeds a predetermined minimum is determined. For acceptance, the maximum must be less than a maximum level and the minimum must exceed a set number. For evaluation of length, the maximum length is determined. For acceptance, the length must be within maximum and minimum limits.

  15. Development of welded metal bellows having minimum effective diameter change

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Henschel, J. K.; Stevens, J. B.; Harvey, A. C.; Howland, J. S.; Rhee, S. S.

    1972-01-01

    A program of analysis, design, and fabrication was conducted to develop welded metal bellows having a minimum change in effective diameter for cryogenic turbomachinery face seal applications. Linear analysis of the principle types of bellows provided identification of concepts capable of meeting basic operation requirements. For the 6-inch (.152 m) mean diameter, 1.5-inch free length bellows studied, nonlinear analysis showed that opposed and nested toroidal bellows plates stiffened by means of alternating stiffener rings were capable of maintaining constant effective diameter within 0.3% and 0.1% respectively under the operating conditions of interest. Changes in effective diameter were due principally to bellows axial deflection with pressure differential having a lesser influence. Fabrication problems associated with joining the thin bellows plates to the relatively heavy stiffener rings were encountered and precluded assembly and testing of a bellows core. Fabrication problems are summarized and recommended fabrication methods for future effort are presented.

  16. Sensitivity of 30-cm mercury bombardment ion thruster characteristics to accelerator grid design

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rawlin, V. K.

    1978-01-01

    The design of ion optics for bombardment thrusters strongly influences overall performance and lifetime. The operation of a 30 cm thruster with accelerator grid open area fractions ranging from 43 to 24 percent, was evaluated and compared with experimental and theoretical results. Ion optics properties measured included the beam current extraction capability, the minimum accelerator grid voltage to prevent backstreaming, ion beamlet diameter as a function of radial position on the grid and accelerator grid hole diameter, and the high energy, high angle ion beam edge location. Discharge chamber properties evaluated were propellant utilization efficiency, minimum discharge power per beam amp, and minimum discharge voltage.

  17. Compressive Network Analysis

    PubMed Central

    Jiang, Xiaoye; Yao, Yuan; Liu, Han; Guibas, Leonidas

    2014-01-01

    Modern data acquisition routinely produces massive amounts of network data. Though many methods and models have been proposed to analyze such data, the research of network data is largely disconnected with the classical theory of statistical learning and signal processing. In this paper, we present a new framework for modeling network data, which connects two seemingly different areas: network data analysis and compressed sensing. From a nonparametric perspective, we model an observed network using a large dictionary. In particular, we consider the network clique detection problem and show connections between our formulation with a new algebraic tool, namely Randon basis pursuit in homogeneous spaces. Such a connection allows us to identify rigorous recovery conditions for clique detection problems. Though this paper is mainly conceptual, we also develop practical approximation algorithms for solving empirical problems and demonstrate their usefulness on real-world datasets. PMID:25620806

  18. Alternative Parameterizations for Cluster Editing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Komusiewicz, Christian; Uhlmann, Johannes

    Given an undirected graph G and a nonnegative integer k, the NP-hard Cluster Editing problem asks whether G can be transformed into a disjoint union of cliques by applying at most k edge modifications. In the field of parameterized algorithmics, Cluster Editing has almost exclusively been studied parameterized by the solution size k. Contrastingly, in many real-world instances it can be observed that the parameter k is not really small. This observation motivates our investigation of parameterizations of Cluster Editing different from the solution size k. Our results are as follows. Cluster Editing is fixed-parameter tractable with respect to the parameter "size of a minimum cluster vertex deletion set of G", a typically much smaller parameter than k. Cluster Editing remains NP-hard on graphs with maximum degree six. A restricted but practically relevant version of Cluster Editing is fixed-parameter tractable with respect to the combined parameter "number of clusters in the target graph" and "maximum number of modified edges incident to any vertex in G". Many of our results also transfer to the NP-hard Cluster Deletion problem, where only edge deletions are allowed.

  19. Role of macular hole angle in macular hole closure.

    PubMed

    Chhablani, Jay; Khodani, Mitali; Hussein, Abdullah; Bondalapati, Sailaja; Rao, Harsha B; Narayanan, Raja; Sudhalkar, Aditya

    2015-12-01

    To evaluate correlation of various spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) parameters including macular hole angle as well as various indices with anatomical and visual outcomes after idiopathic macular hole repair surgery. Retrospective study of 137 eyes of 137 patients who underwent idiopathic macular hole repair surgery between January 2008 and January 2014 was performed. Various qualitative parameters such as presence of vitreomacular traction, epiretinal membrane and cystic edges at the macular hole as well as quantitative parameters such as maximum diameter on the apex of the hole, minimum diameter between edges, nasal and temporal vertical height, longest base diameter and macular hole angle between the retinal edge and the retinal pigment epithelium were noted. Indices including hole form factor, Macular Hole Index (MHI), Diameter Hole Index and Tractional Hole Index (THI) were calculated. Univariate and multivariate regression analysis was performed separately for final visual acuity (VA) and type of closure as dependent variable in relation to SD-OCT parameters as independent variables. On multivariate regression only minimum diameter between edges (p≤0.01) and longest base diameter (p≤0.03) were correlated significantly with both, type 1 closure and final VA. Among the indices, significant correlation of MHI (p=0.009) was noted with type of closure and that of THI with final VA (p=0.017). Our study shows no significant correlation between macular hole angle and hole closure. Minimum diameter between the edges and longest diameter of the hole are best predictors of hole closure and postoperative VA. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

  20. 7 CFR 51.1216 - Size requirements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ...) The numerical count or a count-size based on equivalent tray pack size designations or the minimum... numerical count is not shown the minimum diameter shall be plainly stamped, stenciled, or otherwise marked...

  1. 7 CFR 51.1216 - Size requirements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ...) The numerical count or a count-size based on equivalent tray pack size designations or the minimum... numerical count is not shown the minimum diameter shall be plainly stamped, stenciled, or otherwise marked...

  2. Structural Transitions in Densifying Networks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lambiotte, R.; Krapivsky, P. L.; Bhat, U.; Redner, S.

    2016-11-01

    We introduce a minimal generative model for densifying networks in which a new node attaches to a randomly selected target node and also to each of its neighbors with probability p . The networks that emerge from this copying mechanism are sparse for p <1/2 and dense (average degree increasing with number of nodes N ) for p ≥1/2 . The behavior in the dense regime is especially rich; for example, individual network realizations that are built by copying are disparate and not self-averaging. Further, there is an infinite sequence of structural anomalies at p =2/3 , 3/4 , 4/5 , etc., where the N dependences of the number of triangles (3-cliques), 4-cliques, undergo phase transitions. When linking to second neighbors of the target can occur, the probability that the resulting graph is complete—all nodes are connected—is nonzero as N →∞ .

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

    Hamilton, Kathleen E.; Humble, Travis S.

    Using quantum annealing to solve an optimization problem requires minor embedding a logic graph into a known hardware graph. We introduce the minor set cover (MSC) of a known graph GG : a subset of graph minors which contain any remaining minor of the graph as a subgraph, in an effort to reduce the complexity of the minor embedding problem. Any graph that can be embedded into GG will be embeddable into a member of the MSC. Focusing on embedding into the hardware graph of commercially available quantum annealers, we establish the MSC for a particular known virtual hardware, whichmore » is a complete bipartite graph. Furthermore, we show that the complete bipartite graph K N,N has a MSC of N minors, from which K N+1 is identified as the largest clique minor of K N,N. In the case of determining the largest clique minor of hardware with faults we briefly discussed this open question.« less

  4. Visual attention: low-level and high-level viewpoints

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stentiford, Fred W. M.

    2012-06-01

    This paper provides a brief outline of the approaches to modeling human visual attention. Bottom-up and top-down mechanisms are described together with some of the problems that they face. It has been suggested in brain science that memory functions by trading measurement precision for associative power; sensory inputs from the environment are never identical on separate occasions, but the associations with memory compensate for the differences. A graphical representation for image similarity is described that relies on the size of maximally associative structures (cliques) that are found to reflect between pairs of images. This is applied to the recognition of movie posters, the location and recognition of characters, and the recognition of faces. The similarity mechanism is shown to model popout effects when constraints are placed on the physical separation of pixels that correspond to nodes in the maximal cliques. The effect extends to modeling human visual behaviour on the Poggendorff illusion.

  5. Higher-order clustering in networks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yin, Hao; Benson, Austin R.; Leskovec, Jure

    2018-05-01

    A fundamental property of complex networks is the tendency for edges to cluster. The extent of the clustering is typically quantified by the clustering coefficient, which is the probability that a length-2 path is closed, i.e., induces a triangle in the network. However, higher-order cliques beyond triangles are crucial to understanding complex networks, and the clustering behavior with respect to such higher-order network structures is not well understood. Here we introduce higher-order clustering coefficients that measure the closure probability of higher-order network cliques and provide a more comprehensive view of how the edges of complex networks cluster. Our higher-order clustering coefficients are a natural generalization of the traditional clustering coefficient. We derive several properties about higher-order clustering coefficients and analyze them under common random graph models. Finally, we use higher-order clustering coefficients to gain new insights into the structure of real-world networks from several domains.

  6. Computer Model for Sizing Rapid Transit Tunnel Diameters

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1976-01-01

    A computer program was developed to assist the determination of minimum tunnel diameters for electrified rapid transit systems. Inputs include vehicle shape, walkway location, clearances, and track geometrics. The program written in FORTRAN IV calcul...

  7. Selective control of small versus large diameter axons using infrared laser light (Conference Presentation)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lothet, Emilie H.; Shaw, Kendrick M.; Horn, Charles C.; Lu, Hui; Wang, Yves T.; Jansen, E. Duco; Chiel, Hillel J.; Jenkins, Michael W.

    2016-03-01

    Sensory information is conveyed to the central nervous system via small diameter unmyelinated fibers. In general, smaller diameter axons have slower conduction velocities. Selective control of such fibers could create new clinical treatments for chronic pain, nausea in response to chemo-therapeutic agents, or hypertension. Electrical stimulation can control axonal activity, but induced axonal current is proportional to cross-sectional area, so that large diameter fibers are affected first. Physiologically, however, synaptic inputs generally affect small diameter fibers before large diameter fibers (the size principle). A more physiological modality that first affected small diameter fibers could have fewer side effects (e.g., not recruiting motor axons). A novel mathematical analysis of the cable equation demonstrates that the minimum length along the axon for inducing block scales with the square root of axon diameter. This implies that the minimum length along an axon for inhibition will scale as the square root of axon diameter, so that lower radiant exposures of infrared light will selectively affect small diameter, slower conducting fibers before those of large diameter. This prediction was tested in identified neurons from the marine mollusk Aplysia californica. Radiant exposure to block a neuron with a slower conduction velocity (B43) was consistently lower than that needed to block a faster conduction velocity neuron (B3). Furthermore, in the vagus nerve of the musk shrew, lower radiant exposure blocked slow conducting fibers before blocking faster conducting fibers. Infrared light can selectively control smaller diameter fibers, suggesting many novel clinical treatments.

  8. Nanohole and dot patterning processes on quartz substrate by R-θ electron beam lithography and nanoimprinting

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Watanabe, Tsuyoshi; Taniguchi, Kazutake; Suzuki, Kouta; Iyama, Hiromasa; Kishimoto, Shuji; Sato, Takashi; Kobayashi, Hideo

    2016-06-01

    Fine hole and dot patterns with bit pitches (bp’s) of less than 40 nm were fabricated in the circular band area of a quartz substrate by R-θ electron beam lithography (EBL), reactive ion etching (RIE), and nanoimprinting. These patterning processes were studied to obtain minimum pitch sizes of hole and dot patterns without pattern collapse. The patterning on the circular band was aimed to apply these patterning processes to future high-density bit-patterned media (BPM) for hard disk drive (HDD) and permanent memory for the long life archiving of digital data. In hole patterning, a minimum-22-nm-bp and 8.2-nm-diameter pattern (1.3 Tbit/in.2) was obtained on a quartz substrate by optimizing the R-θ EBL and RIE processes. Dot patterns were replicated on another quartz substrate by nanoimprinting using a hole-patterned quartz substrate as a master mold followed by RIE. In dot patterning, a minimum-30-nm-bp and 18.5-nm-diameter pattern (0.7 Tbit/in.2) was obtained by introducing new descum conditions. It was observed that the minimum bp of successful patterning increased as the fabrication process proceeded, i.e., from 20 nm bp in the first EBL process to 30 nm bp in the last quartz dot patterning process. From the measured diameters of the patterns, it was revealed that pattern collapse was apt to occur when the value of average diameter plus 3 sigma of diameter was close to the bp. It was suggested that multiple fabrication processes caused the degradation of pattern quality; therefore, hole patterning is more suitable than dot patterning for future applications owing to the lower quality degradation by its simple fabrication process.

  9. Network analysis of the COSMOS galaxy field

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    de Regt, R.; Apunevych, S.; von Ferber, C.; Holovatch, Yu; Novosyadlyj, B.

    2018-07-01

    The galaxy data provided by COSMOS survey for 1°×1° field of sky are analysed by methods of complex networks. Three galaxy samples (slices) with redshifts ranging within intervals 0.88÷0.91, 0.91÷0.94, and 0.94÷0.97 are studied as two-dimensional projections for the spatial distributions of galaxies. We construct networks and calculate network measures for each sample, in order to analyse the network similarity of different samples, distinguish various topological environments, and find associations between galaxy properties (colour index and stellar mass) and their topological environments. Results indicate a high level of similarity between geometry and topology for different galaxy samples and no clear evidence of evolutionary trends in network measures. The distribution of local clustering coefficient C manifests three modes which allow for discrimination between stand-alone singlets and dumbbells (0 ≤ C ≤ 0.1), intermediately packed (0.1 < C < 0.9) and clique (0.9 ≤ C ≤ 1) like galaxies. Analysing astrophysical properties of galaxies (colour index and stellar masses), we show that distributions are similar in all slices, however weak evolutionary trends can also be seen across redshift slices. To specify different topological environments, we have extracted selections of galaxies from each sample according to different modes of C distribution. We have found statistically significant associations between evolutionary parameters of galaxies and selections of C: the distribution of stellar mass for galaxies with interim C differs from the corresponding distributions for stand-alone and clique galaxies, and this difference holds for all redshift slices. The colour index realizes somewhat different behaviour.

  10. Network analysis of the COSMOS galaxy field

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    de Regt, R.; Apunevych, S.; Ferber, C. von; Holovatch, Yu; Novosyadlyj, B.

    2018-03-01

    The galaxy data provided by COSMOS survey for 1° × 1° field of sky are analysed by methods of complex networks. Three galaxy samples (slices) with redshifts ranging within intervals 0.88÷0.91, 0.91÷0.94 and 0.94÷0.97 are studied as two-dimensional projections for the spatial distributions of galaxies. We construct networks and calculate network measures for each sample, in order to analyse the network similarity of different samples, distinguish various topological environments, and find associations between galaxy properties (colour index and stellar mass) and their topological environments. Results indicate a high level of similarity between geometry and topology for different galaxy samples and no clear evidence of evolutionary trends in network measures. The distribution of local clustering coefficient C manifests three modes which allow for discrimination between stand-alone singlets and dumbbells (0 ≤ C ≤ 0.1), intermediately packed (0.1 < C < 0.9) and clique (0.9 ≤ C ≤ 1) like galaxies. Analysing astrophysical properties of galaxies (colour index and stellar masses), we show that distributions are similar in all slices, however weak evolutionary trends can also be seen across redshift slices. To specify different topological environments we have extracted selections of galaxies from each sample according to different modes of C distribution. We have found statistically significant associations between evolutionary parameters of galaxies and selections of C: the distribution of stellar mass for galaxies with interim C differ from the corresponding distributions for stand-alone and clique galaxies, and this difference holds for all redshift slices. The colour index realises somewhat different behaviour.

  11. The Galactic Club or Galactic Cliques? Exploring the limits of interstellar hegemony and the Zoo Hypothesis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Forgan, Duncan H.

    2017-10-01

    The Zoo solution to Fermi's Paradox proposes that extraterrestrial intelligences (ETIs) have agreed to not contact the Earth. The strength of this solution depends on the ability for ETIs to come to agreement, and establish/police treaties as part of a so-called `Galactic Club'. These activities are principally limited by the causal connectivity of a civilization to its neighbours at its inception, i.e. whether it comes to prominence being aware of other ETIs and any treaties or agreements in place. If even one civilization is not causally connected to the other members of a treaty, then they are free to operate beyond it and contact the Earth if wished, which makes the Zoo solution `soft'. We should therefore consider how likely this scenario is, as this will give us a sense of the Zoo solution's softness, or general validity. We implement a simple toy model of ETIs arising in a Galactic Habitable Zone, and calculate the properties of the groups of culturally connected civilizations established therein. We show that for most choices of civilization parameters, the number of culturally connected groups is >1, meaning that the Galaxy is composed of multiple Galactic Cliques rather than a single Galactic Club. We find in our models for a single Galactic Club to establish interstellar hegemony, the number of civilizations must be relatively large, the mean civilization lifetime must be several millions of years, and the inter-arrival time between civilizations must be a few million years or less.

  12. An Amino Acid Code for β-sheet Packing Structure

    PubMed Central

    Joo, Hyun; Tsai, Jerry

    2014-01-01

    To understand the relationship between protein sequence and structure, this work extends the knob-socket model in an investigation of β-sheet packing. Over a comprehensive set of β-sheet folds, the contacts between residues were used to identify packing cliques: sets of residues that all contact each other. These packing cliques were then classified based on size and contact order. From this analysis, the 2 types of 4 residue packing cliques necessary to describe β-sheet packing were characterized. Both occur between 2 adjacent hydrogen bonded β-strands. First, defining the secondary structure packing within β-sheets, the combined socket or XY:HG pocket consists of 4 residues i,i+2 on one strand and j,j+2 on the other. Second, characterizing the tertiary packing between β-sheets, the knob-socket XY:H+B consists of a 3 residue XY:H socket (i,i+2 on one strand and j on the other) packed against a knob B residue (residue k distant in sequence). Depending on the packing depth of the knob B residue, 2 types of knob-sockets are found: side-chain and main-chain sockets. The amino acid composition of the pockets and knob-sockets reveal the sequence specificity of β-sheet packing. For β-sheet formation, the XY:HG pocket clearly shows sequence specificity of amino acids. For tertiary packing, the XY:H+B side-chain and main-chain sockets exhibit distinct amino acid preferences at each position. These relationships define an amino acid code for β-sheet structure and provide an intuitive topological mapping of β-sheet packing. PMID:24668690

  13. Analysis of lumbar pedicle morphology in degenerative spines using multiplanar reconstruction computed tomography: what can be the reliable index for optimal pedicle screw diameter?

    PubMed

    Makino, Takahiro; Kaito, Takashi; Fujiwara, Hiroyasu; Yonenobu, Kazuo

    2012-08-01

    The measurement of transverse pedicle width is still recommended for selecting a screw diameter despite being weakly correlated with the minimum pedicle diameter, except in the upper lumbar spine. The purpose of this study was to reveal the difference between the minimum pedicle diameter and conventional transverse or sagittal pedicle width in degenerative lumbar spines. A total of 50 patients with degenerative lumbar disorders without spondylolysis or lumbar scoliosis of >10° who preoperatively underwent helical CT scans were included. The DICOM data of the scans were reconstructed by imaging software, and the transverse pedicle width (TPW), sagittal pedicle width (SPW), minimum pedicle diameter (MPD), and the cephalocaudal inclination of the pedicles were measured. The mean TPW/SPW/MPD values were 5.46/11.89/5.09 mm at L1, 5.76/10.44/5.39 mm at L2, 7.25/10.23/6.52 mm at L3, 9.01/9.36/6.83 mm at L4, and 12.86/8.95/7.36 mm at L5. There were significant differences between the TPW and MPD at L3, L4, and L5 (p < 0.01) and between the SPW and MPD at all levels (p < 0.01). The MPD was significantly smaller than the TPW and SPW at L3, L4, and L5. The actual measurements of the TPW were not appropriate for use as a direct index for the optimal pedicle screw diameter at these levels. Surgeons should be careful in determining pedicle screw diameter based on plain CT scans especially in the lower lumbar spine.

  14. 50 CFR 665.165 - Size restrictions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... its base to its most distal extremity. The stem diameter of a living coral specimen shall be determined by measuring the greatest diameter of the stem at a point no less than 1 inch (2.54 cm) from the... from any precious coral permit area must have attained either a minimum stem diameter of 1 inch (2.54...

  15. 50 CFR 665.265 - Size restrictions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... its base to its most distal extremity. The stem diameter of a living coral specimen shall be determined by measuring the greatest diameter of the stem at a point no less than 1 inch (2.54 cm) from the... from any precious coral permit area must have attained either a minimum stem diameter of 1 inch (2.54...

  16. Variation of the pressure limits of flame propagation with tube diameter for propane-air mixtures

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Belles, Frank E; Simon, Dorothy M

    1951-01-01

    An investigation was made of the variation of the pressure limits of flame propagation with tube diameter for quiescent propane with tube diameter for quiescent propane-air mixtures. Pressure limits were measured in glass tubes of six different inside diameters, with a precise apparatus. Critical diameters for flame propagation were calculated and the effect of pressure was determined. The critical diameters depended on the pressure to the -0.97 power for stoichiometric mixtures. The pressure dependence decreased with decreasing propane concentration. Critical diameters were related to quenching distance, flame speeds, and minimum ignition energy.

  17. Studies of dished accelerator grids for 30-cm ion thrusters

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rawlin, V. K.

    1973-01-01

    Eighteen geometrically different sets of dished accelerator grids were tested on five 30-cm thrusters. The geometric variation of the grids included the grid-to-grid spacing, the screen and accelerator hole diameters and thicknesses, the screen and accelerator open area fractions, ratio of dish depth to dish diameter, compensation, and aperture shape. In general, the data taken over a range of beam currents for each grid set included the minimum total accelerating voltage required to extract a given beam current and the minimum accelerator grid voltage required to prevent electron backstreaming.

  18. 29 CFR 1917.121 - Spiral stairways.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 26.67 cm) in height; (3) Minimum loading capability shall be 100 pounds per square foot (4.79kN), and... shall be a minimum of 11/4 inches (3.18 cm) in outside diameter; and (5) Vertical clearance shall be at...

  19. 7 CFR 51.311 - Marking requirements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... (INSPECTION, CERTIFICATION, AND STANDARDS) United States Standards for Grades of Apples Marking Requirements...), grade, and the numerical count or minimum diameter of apples packed in a closed container shall be indicated on the container. For apple lots utilizing the combined diameter/weight designations for Red...

  20. 7 CFR 51.311 - Marking requirements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... (INSPECTION, CERTIFICATION, AND STANDARDS) United States Standards for Grades of Apples Marking Requirements...), grade, and the numerical count or minimum diameter of apples packed in a closed container shall be indicated on the container. For apple lots utilizing the combined diameter/weight designations for Red...

  1. Optimal fractal tree-like microchannel networks with slip for laminar-flow-modified Murray's law.

    PubMed

    Jing, Dalei; Song, Shiyu; Pan, Yunlu; Wang, Xiaoming

    2018-01-01

    The fractal tree-like branched network is an effective channel design structure to reduce the hydraulic resistance as compared with the conventional parallel channel network. In order for a laminar flow to achieve minimum hydraulic resistance, it is believed that the optimal fractal tree-like channel network obeys the well-accepted Murray's law of β m = N -1/3 (β m is the optimal diameter ratio between the daughter channel and the parent channel and N is the branching number at every level), which is obtained under the assumption of no-slip conditions at the channel wall-liquid interface. However, at the microscale, the no-slip condition is not always reasonable; the slip condition should indeed be considered at some solid-liquid interfaces for the optimal design of the fractal tree-like channel network. The present work reinvestigates Murray's law for laminar flow in a fractal tree-like microchannel network considering slip condition. It is found that the slip increases the complexity of the optimal design of the fractal tree-like microchannel network to achieve the minimum hydraulic resistance. The optimal diameter ratio to achieve minimum hydraulic resistance is not only dependent on the branching number, as stated by Murray's law, but also dependent on the slip length, the level number, the length ratio between the daughter channel and the parent channel, and the diameter of the channel. The optimal diameter ratio decreases with the increasing slip length, the increasing level number and the increasing length ratio between the daughter channel and the parent channel, and decreases with decreasing channel diameter. These complicated relations were found to become relaxed and simplified to Murray's law when the ratio between the slip length and the diameter of the channel is small enough.

  2. Echocolor Doppler morpho-functional study of the jugulo-subclavian confluence in chronic cerebro-spinal venous insufficiency and multiple sclerosis patients.

    PubMed

    Mandolesi, Sandro; d'Alessandro, Aldo; Desogus, Antonello Ignazio; Ciccone, Marco Matteo; Zito, Annapaola; Stammegna, Immacolata; Niglio, Tarcisio; Orsini, Augusto; Mandolesi, Dimitri; d'Alessandro, Alessandro; Revelli, Luca

    2017-01-01

    The aim of this work is to measure the mean diameter of the confluence jugulo- subclavian, the impact of different types of jugular confluences and the correlation between the types of confluences and the Valsalva maneuver (jugular reflux) in subjects with Chronic Cerebro-Spinal Venous Insufficiency (CCSVI) and Multiple Sclerosis. We investigated by Echo-Color-Doppler (ECD) 103 subjects (67 F 36M) of mean age 45 ± 12 years (a minimum of 22 to a maximum of 79 years, with a median of 44 and a modal value 42 years), mean EDSS of 4.7 and average disease duration of 12 years. The 103 right jugular veins investigated had an average diameter of 8.4 ± 2.4 mm (minimum 4.0, maximum 14.9 mm; median 7.9; modal value 7.6 mm). Three form types were found: 56 cylindrical, 29 conical and 18 funnel. Valsalva maneuver was positive in 30 patients. The 103 left jugular investigated had an average diameter of 8.9 ± 2.4 mm (minimum 2.8, maximum 14.4 mm; median of 8.8; modal value 8.7 mm). The form types were found: 42 cylindrical, 45 conical and 16 funnel. Valsalva maneuver was positive in 30 patients. The mean diameter of the jugular veins was 8.7 mm. Internal jugular veins with cylindrical morphology have a diameter smaller than other forms; this difference is statistically significant. The different morphology of the jugular vein confluence does not increase the possibility of a reflux because the positive Valsalva maneuvers are not statistically significant when compared to the various types. CCSVI, EchoColorDoppler Map, Jugulo-Subclavian Confluence Diameter.

  3. Many-to-Many Multicast Routing Schemes under a Fixed Topology

    PubMed Central

    Ding, Wei; Wang, Hongfa; Wei, Xuerui

    2013-01-01

    Many-to-many multicast routing can be extensively applied in computer or communication networks supporting various continuous multimedia applications. The paper focuses on the case where all users share a common communication channel while each user is both a sender and a receiver of messages in multicasting as well as an end user. In this case, the multicast tree appears as a terminal Steiner tree (TeST). The problem of finding a TeST with a quality-of-service (QoS) optimization is frequently NP-hard. However, we discover that it is a good idea to find a many-to-many multicast tree with QoS optimization under a fixed topology. In this paper, we are concerned with three kinds of QoS optimization objectives of multicast tree, that is, the minimum cost, minimum diameter, and maximum reliability. All of three optimization problems are distributed into two types, the centralized and decentralized version. This paper uses the dynamic programming method to devise an exact algorithm, respectively, for the centralized and decentralized versions of each optimization problem. PMID:23589706

  4. Office Politics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Storm, Paula; Kelly, Robert; deVries, Susann

    2008-01-01

    People and organizations are inherently political. Library workplace environments have zones of tension and dynamics just like any corporation, often leading to the formation of political camps. These different cliques influence productivity and work-related issues and, at worst, give meetings the feel of the Camp David negotiations. Politics are…

  5. Identifying the minor set cover of dense connected bipartite graphs via random matching edge sets

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hamilton, Kathleen E.; Humble, Travis S.

    2017-04-01

    Using quantum annealing to solve an optimization problem requires minor embedding a logic graph into a known hardware graph. In an effort to reduce the complexity of the minor embedding problem, we introduce the minor set cover (MSC) of a known graph G: a subset of graph minors which contain any remaining minor of the graph as a subgraph. Any graph that can be embedded into G will be embeddable into a member of the MSC. Focusing on embedding into the hardware graph of commercially available quantum annealers, we establish the MSC for a particular known virtual hardware, which is a complete bipartite graph. We show that the complete bipartite graph K_{N,N} has a MSC of N minors, from which K_{N+1} is identified as the largest clique minor of K_{N,N}. The case of determining the largest clique minor of hardware with faults is briefly discussed but remains an open question.

  6. Identifying the minor set cover of dense connected bipartite graphs via random matching edge sets

    DOE PAGES

    Hamilton, Kathleen E.; Humble, Travis S.

    2017-02-23

    Using quantum annealing to solve an optimization problem requires minor embedding a logic graph into a known hardware graph. We introduce the minor set cover (MSC) of a known graph GG : a subset of graph minors which contain any remaining minor of the graph as a subgraph, in an effort to reduce the complexity of the minor embedding problem. Any graph that can be embedded into GG will be embeddable into a member of the MSC. Focusing on embedding into the hardware graph of commercially available quantum annealers, we establish the MSC for a particular known virtual hardware, whichmore » is a complete bipartite graph. Furthermore, we show that the complete bipartite graph K N,N has a MSC of N minors, from which K N+1 is identified as the largest clique minor of K N,N. In the case of determining the largest clique minor of hardware with faults we briefly discussed this open question.« less

  7. 3D Markov Process for Traffic Flow Prediction in Real-Time.

    PubMed

    Ko, Eunjeong; Ahn, Jinyoung; Kim, Eun Yi

    2016-01-25

    Recently, the correct estimation of traffic flow has begun to be considered an essential component in intelligent transportation systems. In this paper, a new statistical method to predict traffic flows using time series analyses and geometric correlations is proposed. The novelty of the proposed method is two-fold: (1) a 3D heat map is designed to describe the traffic conditions between roads, which can effectively represent the correlations between spatially- and temporally-adjacent traffic states; and (2) the relationship between the adjacent roads on the spatiotemporal domain is represented by cliques in MRF and the clique parameters are obtained by example-based learning. In order to assess the validity of the proposed method, it is tested using data from expressway traffic that are provided by the Korean Expressway Corporation, and the performance of the proposed method is compared with existing approaches. The results demonstrate that the proposed method can predict traffic conditions with an accuracy of 85%, and this accuracy can be improved further.

  8. 3D Markov Process for Traffic Flow Prediction in Real-Time

    PubMed Central

    Ko, Eunjeong; Ahn, Jinyoung; Kim, Eun Yi

    2016-01-01

    Recently, the correct estimation of traffic flow has begun to be considered an essential component in intelligent transportation systems. In this paper, a new statistical method to predict traffic flows using time series analyses and geometric correlations is proposed. The novelty of the proposed method is two-fold: (1) a 3D heat map is designed to describe the traffic conditions between roads, which can effectively represent the correlations between spatially- and temporally-adjacent traffic states; and (2) the relationship between the adjacent roads on the spatiotemporal domain is represented by cliques in MRF and the clique parameters are obtained by example-based learning. In order to assess the validity of the proposed method, it is tested using data from expressway traffic that are provided by the Korean Expressway Corporation, and the performance of the proposed method is compared with existing approaches. The results demonstrate that the proposed method can predict traffic conditions with an accuracy of 85%, and this accuracy can be improved further. PMID:26821025

  9. Clique of Functional Hubs Orchestrates Population Bursts in Developmentally Regulated Neural Networks

    PubMed Central

    Luccioli, Stefano; Ben-Jacob, Eshel; Barzilai, Ari; Bonifazi, Paolo; Torcini, Alessandro

    2014-01-01

    It has recently been discovered that single neuron stimulation can impact network dynamics in immature and adult neuronal circuits. Here we report a novel mechanism which can explain in neuronal circuits, at an early stage of development, the peculiar role played by a few specific neurons in promoting/arresting the population activity. For this purpose, we consider a standard neuronal network model, with short-term synaptic plasticity, whose population activity is characterized by bursting behavior. The addition of developmentally inspired constraints and correlations in the distribution of the neuronal connectivities and excitabilities leads to the emergence of functional hub neurons, whose stimulation/deletion is critical for the network activity. Functional hubs form a clique, where a precise sequential activation of the neurons is essential to ignite collective events without any need for a specific topological architecture. Unsupervised time-lagged firings of supra-threshold cells, in connection with coordinated entrainments of near-threshold neurons, are the key ingredients to orchestrate population activity. PMID:25255443

  10. Multitemporal observations of identical active dust devils on Mars with the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) and Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Reiss, D.; Zanetti, M.; Neukum, G.

    2011-09-01

    Active dust devils were observed in Syria Planum in Mars Observer Camera - Wide Angle (MOC-WA) and High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) imagery acquired on the same day with a time delay of ˜26 min. The unique operating technique of the HRSC allowed the measurement of the traverse velocities and directions of motion. Large dust devils observed in the HRSC image could be retraced to their counterparts in the earlier acquired MOC-WA image. Minimum lifetimes of three large (avg. ˜700 m in diameter) dust devils are ˜26 min, as inferred from retracing. For one of these large dust devil (˜820 m in diameter) it was possible to calculate a minimum lifetime of ˜74 min based on the measured horizontal speed and the length of its associated dust devil track. The comparison of our minimum lifetimes with previous published results of minimum and average lifetimes of small (˜19 m in diameter, avg. min. lifetime of ˜2.83 min) and medium (˜185 m in diameter, avg. min. lifetime of ˜13 min) dust devils imply that larger dust devils on Mars are active for much longer periods of time than smaller ones, as it is the case for terrestrial dust devils. Knowledge of martian dust devil lifetimes is an important parameter for the calculation of dust lifting rates. Estimates of the contribution of large dust devils (>300-1000 m in diameter) indicate that they may contribute, at least regionally, to ˜50% of dust entrainment by dust devils into the atmosphere compared to the dust devils <300 m in diameter given that the size-frequency distribution follows a power-law. Although large dust devils occur relatively rarely and the sediment fluxes are probably lower compared to smaller dust devils, their contribution to the background dust opacity by dust devils on Mars could be at least regionally large due to their longer lifetimes and ability of dust lifting into high atmospheric layers.

  11. Inferring gene ontologies from pairwise similarity data

    PubMed Central

    Kramer, Michael; Dutkowski, Janusz; Yu, Michael; Bafna, Vineet; Ideker, Trey

    2014-01-01

    Motivation: While the manually curated Gene Ontology (GO) is widely used, inferring a GO directly from -omics data is a compelling new problem. Recognizing that ontologies are a directed acyclic graph (DAG) of terms and hierarchical relations, algorithms are needed that: analyze a full matrix of gene–gene pairwise similarities from -omics data;infer true hierarchical structure in these data rather than enforcing hierarchy as a computational artifact; andrespect biological pleiotropy, by which a term in the hierarchy can relate to multiple higher level terms. Methods addressing these requirements are just beginning to emerge—none has been evaluated for GO inference. Methods: We consider two algorithms [Clique Extracted Ontology (CliXO), LocalFitness] that uniquely satisfy these requirements, compared with methods including standard clustering. CliXO is a new approach that finds maximal cliques in a network induced by progressive thresholding of a similarity matrix. We evaluate each method’s ability to reconstruct the GO biological process ontology from a similarity matrix based on (a) semantic similarities for GO itself or (b) three -omics datasets for yeast. Results: For task (a) using semantic similarity, CliXO accurately reconstructs GO (>99% precision, recall) and outperforms other approaches (<20% precision, <20% recall). For task (b) using -omics data, CliXO outperforms other methods using two -omics datasets and achieves ∼30% precision and recall using YeastNet v3, similar to an earlier approach (Network Extracted Ontology) and better than LocalFitness or standard clustering (20–25% precision, recall). Conclusion: This study provides algorithmic foundation for building gene ontologies by capturing hierarchical and pleiotropic structure embedded in biomolecular data. Contact: tideker@ucsd.edu PMID:24932003

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

    PubMed Central

    2011-01-01

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

  13. Investigating Patterns of Participation in an Online Support Group for Problem Drinking: a Social Network Analysis.

    PubMed

    Urbanoski, Karen; van Mierlo, Trevor; Cunningham, John

    2017-10-01

    This study contributes to emerging literature on online health networks by modeling communication patterns between members of a moderated online support group for problem drinking. Using social network analysis, we described members' patterns of joint participation in threads, parsing out the role of site moderators, and explored differences in member characteristics by network position. Posts made to the online support group of Alcohol Help Centre during 2013 were structured as a two-mode network of members (n = 205) connected via threads (n = 506). Metrics included degree centrality, clique membership, and tie strength. The network consisted of one component and no cliques of members, although most made few posts and a small number communicated only with the site's moderators. Highly active members were older and tended to have started posting prior to 2013. The distribution of members across threads varied from threads containing posts by one member to others that connected multiple members. Moderators accounted for sizable proportions of the connectivity between both members and threads. After 5 years of operation, the AHC online support group appears to be fairly cohesive and stable, in the sense that there were no isolated subnetworks comprised of specific types of members or devoted to specific topics. Participation and connectedness at the member-level was varied, however, and tended to be low on average. The moderators were among the most central in the network, although there were also members who emerged as central and dedicated contributors to the online discussions across topics. Study findings highlight a number of areas for consideration by online support group developers and managers.

  14. Re-Introduction of Transmembrane Serine Residues Reduce the Minimum Pore Diameter of Channelrhodopsin-2

    PubMed Central

    Richards, Ryan; Dempski, Robert E.

    2012-01-01

    Channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) is a microbial-type rhodopsin found in the green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Under physiological conditions, ChR2 is an inwardly rectifying cation channel that permeates a wide range of mono- and divalent cations. Although this protein shares a high sequence homology with other microbial-type rhodopsins, which are ion pumps, ChR2 is an ion channel. A sequence alignment of ChR2 with bacteriorhodopsin, a proton pump, reveals that ChR2 lacks specific motifs and residues, such as serine and threonine, known to contribute to non-covalent interactions within transmembrane domains. We hypothesized that reintroduction of the eight transmembrane serine residues present in bacteriorhodopsin, but not in ChR2, will restrict the conformational flexibility and reduce the pore diameter of ChR2. In this work, eight single serine mutations were created at homologous positions in ChR2. Additionally, an endogenous transmembrane serine was replaced with alanine. We measured kinetics, changes in reversal potential, and permeability ratios in different alkali metal solutions using two-electrode voltage clamp. Applying excluded volume theory, we calculated the minimum pore diameter of ChR2 constructs. An analysis of the results from our experiments show that reintroducing serine residues into the transmembrane domain of ChR2 can restrict the minimum pore diameter through inter- and intrahelical hydrogen bonds while the removal of a transmembrane serine results in a larger pore diameter. Therefore, multiple positions along the intracellular side of the transmembrane domains contribute to the cation permeability of ChR2. PMID:23185520

  15. Predicting minimum habitat characteristics for the Indiana bat in the Champlain Valley

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Watrous, K.S.; Donovan, T.M.; Mickey, R.M.; Darling, S.R.; Hicks, A.C.; Von Oettingen, S. L.

    2006-01-01

    Predicting potential habitat across a landscape for rare species is extremely challenging. However, partitioned Mahalanobis D2 methods avoid pitfalls commonly encountered when surveying rare species by using data collected only at known species locations. Minimum habitat requirements are then determined by examining a principal components analysis to find consistent habitat characteristics across known locations. We used partitioned D 2 methods to examine minimum habitat requirements of Indiana bats (Myotis sodalis) in the Champlain Valley of Vermont and New York, USA, across 7 spatial scales and map potential habitat for the species throughout the same area. We radiotracked 24 female Indiana bats to their roost trees and across their nighttime foraging areas to collect habitat characteristics at 7 spatial scales: 1) roost trees, 2) 0.1-ha circular plots surrounding the roost trees, 3) home ranges, and 4-7) 0.5-km, 1-km, 2-km, and 3-km buffers surrounding the roost tree. Roost trees (n = 50) typically were tall, dead, large-diameter trees with exfoliating bark, located at low elevations and close to water. Trees surrounding roosts typically were smaller in diameter and shorter in height, but they had greater soundness than the roost trees. We documented 14 home ranges in areas of diverse, patchy land cover types that were close to water with east-facing aspects. Across all landscape extents, area of forest within roost-tree buffers and the aspect across those buffers were the most consistent features. Predictive maps indicated that suitable habitat ranged from 4.7-8.1% of the area examined within the Champlain Valley. These habitat models further understanding of Indiana bat summer habitat by indicating minimum habitat characteristics at multiple scales and can be used to aid management decisions by highlighting potential habitat. Nonetheless, information on juvenile production and recruitment is lacking; therefore, assessments of Indiana bat habitat quality in the region are still incomplete.

  16. 7 CFR 51.320 - Diameter.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... Standards for Grades of Apples Definitions § 51.320 Diameter. When measuring for minimum size, “diameter” means the greatest dimension of the apple measured at right angles to a line from stem to blossom end. When measuring for maximum size, “diameter” means the smallest dimension of the apple determined by...

  17. 7 CFR 51.320 - Diameter.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... Standards for Grades of Apples Definitions § 51.320 Diameter. When measuring for minimum size, “diameter” means the greatest dimension of the apple measured at right angles to a line from stem to blossom end. When measuring for maximum size, “diameter” means the smallest dimension of the apple determined by...

  18. 7 CFR 51.320 - Diameter.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ..., CERTIFICATION, AND STANDARDS) United States Standards for Grades of Apples Definitions § 51.320 Diameter. When measuring for minimum size, “diameter” means the greatest dimension of the apple measured at right angles to... dimension of the apple determined by passing the apple through a round opening in any position. U.S...

  19. 7 CFR 51.320 - Diameter.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ..., CERTIFICATION, AND STANDARDS) United States Standards for Grades of Apples Definitions § 51.320 Diameter. When measuring for minimum size, “diameter” means the greatest dimension of the apple measured at right angles to... dimension of the apple determined by passing the apple through a round opening in any position. U.S...

  20. 7 CFR 51.320 - Diameter.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... Standards for Grades of Apples Definitions § 51.320 Diameter. When measuring for minimum size, “diameter” means the greatest dimension of the apple measured at right angles to a line from stem to blossom end. When measuring for maximum size, “diameter” means the smallest dimension of the apple determined by...

  1. 7 CFR 51.1859 - Size.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... cherry tomatoes and Pyriforme type tomatoes commonly referred to as pear shaped tomatoes, and other... Standards for Fresh Tomatoes 1 Size § 51.1859 Size. (a) The size of tomatoes packed in any standard type... measurement for minimum diameter shall be the largest diameter of the tomato measured at right angles to a...

  2. 7 CFR 51.1859 - Size.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... cherry tomatoes and Pyriforme type tomatoes commonly referred to as pear shaped tomatoes, and other... Standards for Fresh Tomatoes 1 Size § 51.1859 Size. (a) The size of tomatoes packed in any standard type... measurement for minimum diameter shall be the largest diameter of the tomato measured at right angles to a...

  3. 7 CFR 51.2952 - Size specifications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... specifications. Size shall be specified in accordance with the facts in terms of one of the following classifications: (a) Mammoth size. Mammoth size means walnuts of which not over 12 percent, by count, pass through... foregoing classifications, size of walnuts may be specified in terms of minimum diameter, or minimum and...

  4. 7 CFR 51.2952 - Size specifications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... specifications. Size shall be specified in accordance with the facts in terms of one of the following classifications: (a) Mammoth size. Mammoth size means walnuts of which not over 12 percent, by count, pass through... foregoing classifications, size of walnuts may be specified in terms of minimum diameter, or minimum and...

  5. Paradoxical Inequalities: Adolescent Peer Relations in Indian Secondary Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Milner, Murray, Jr.

    2013-01-01

    Peer relationships in secondary schools in two different cultural areas of India are compared. A general theory of status relations and a specification of the distinctive cultural features of each area are used to explain the observed differences in peer inequality, clique formation, petty deviance, putdowns, fashion consciousness, romantic…

  6. Incorporating Covariates into Stochastic Blockmodels

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sweet, Tracy M.

    2015-01-01

    Social networks in education commonly involve some form of grouping, such as friendship cliques or teacher departments, and blockmodels are a type of statistical social network model that accommodate these grouping or blocks by assuming different within-group tie probabilities than between-group tie probabilities. We describe a class of models,…

  7. Teenage Social Relationships: Effect on Social Adjustment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wyche, Yolandria; McGahey, James Todd; Jenkins, Marvin

    2017-01-01

    High school female students often have challenges transitioning to high school. There are many possible obstacles that exist but some female students may experience difficulties with maintaining interpersonal relationship with their female peers. It is very common for high school settings to have various types of social cliques that exist. In some…

  8. NEEDED RESEARCH ON DIFFUSION WITHIN EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    JAIN, NEMI C.; ROGERS, EVERETT M.

    IN SPITE OF THE VOLUME OF RESEARCH ATTENTION DEVOTED TO THE DIFFUSION OF INNOVATIONS, RELATIVELY LITTLE EMPHASIS HAS BEEN PLACED UPON DIFFUSION WITHIN ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES. METHODOLOGICALLY, RELATIONAL ANALYSIS IN WHICH THE UNIT OF ANALYSIS IS A TWO-PERSON INTERACTING PAIR, A MULTIPLE PERSON COMMUNICATION CHAIN, OR CLIQUES OR SUBSYSTEMS IS…

  9. The provision of clearances accuracy in piston - cylinder mating

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Glukhov, V. I.; Shalay, V. V.

    2017-08-01

    The paper is aimed at increasing the quality of the pumping equipment in oil and gas industry. The main purpose of the study is to stabilize maximum values of productivity and durability of the pumping equipment based on the selective assembly of the cylinder-piston kinematic mating by optimization criterion. It is shown that the minimum clearance in the piston-cylinder mating is formed by maximum material dimensions. It is proved that maximum material dimensions are characterized by their own laws of distribution within the tolerance limits for the diameters of the cylinder internal mirror and the outer cylindrical surface of the piston. At that, their dispersion zones should be divided into size groups with a group tolerance equal to half the tolerance for the minimum clearance. The techniques for measuring the material dimensions - the smallest cylinder diameter and the largest piston diameter according to the envelope condition - are developed for sorting them into size groups. Reliable control of the dimensions precision ensures optimal minimum clearances of the piston-cylinder mating in all the size groups of the pumping equipment, necessary for increasing the equipment productivity and durability during the production, operation and repair processes.

  10. Wood and bark specific gravity of small-diameter, pine-site hardwood in the south

    Treesearch

    F.G. Manwiller

    1979-01-01

    Ten small-diameter trees from each of the 22 species (220 trees) were sampled from throughout the southern United States. Mean SG was determined for stem wood and bark and the whole stem, for branch wood and bark and whole branches (to a minimum diameter of 0.05 in.), and for tree wood and bark and the whole tree. Significant differences were determined a) among the...

  11. Fractal multi-level organisation of human groups in a virtual world.

    PubMed

    Fuchs, Benedikt; Sornette, Didier; Thurner, Stefan

    2014-10-06

    Humans are fundamentally social. They form societies which consist of hierarchically layered nested groups of various quality, size, and structure. The anthropologic literature has classified these groups as support cliques, sympathy groups, bands, cognitive groups, tribes, linguistic groups, and so on. Anthropologic data show that, on average, each group consists of approximately three subgroups. However, a general understanding of the structural dependence of groups at different layers is largely missing. We extend these early findings to a very large high-precision large-scale internet-based social network data. We analyse the organisational structure of a complete, multi-relational, large social multiplex network of a human society consisting of about 400,000 odd players of an open-ended massive multiplayer online game for which we know all about their various group memberships at different layers. Remarkably, the online players' society exhibits the same type of structured hierarchical layers as found in hunter-gatherer societies. Our findings suggest that the hierarchical organisation of human society is deeply nested in human psychology.

  12. Fractal multi-level organisation of human groups in a virtual world

    PubMed Central

    Fuchs, Benedikt; Sornette, Didier; Thurner, Stefan

    2014-01-01

    Humans are fundamentally social. They form societies which consist of hierarchically layered nested groups of various quality, size, and structure. The anthropologic literature has classified these groups as support cliques, sympathy groups, bands, cognitive groups, tribes, linguistic groups, and so on. Anthropologic data show that, on average, each group consists of approximately three subgroups. However, a general understanding of the structural dependence of groups at different layers is largely missing. We extend these early findings to a very large high-precision large-scale internet-based social network data. We analyse the organisational structure of a complete, multi-relational, large social multiplex network of a human society consisting of about 400,000 odd players of an open-ended massive multiplayer online game for which we know all about their various group memberships at different layers. Remarkably, the online players' society exhibits the same type of structured hierarchical layers as found in hunter-gatherer societies. Our findings suggest that the hierarchical organisation of human society is deeply nested in human psychology. PMID:25283998

  13. Fractal multi-level organisation of human groups in a virtual world

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fuchs, Benedikt; Sornette, Didier; Thurner, Stefan

    2014-10-01

    Humans are fundamentally social. They form societies which consist of hierarchically layered nested groups of various quality, size, and structure. The anthropologic literature has classified these groups as support cliques, sympathy groups, bands, cognitive groups, tribes, linguistic groups, and so on. Anthropologic data show that, on average, each group consists of approximately three subgroups. However, a general understanding of the structural dependence of groups at different layers is largely missing. We extend these early findings to a very large high-precision large-scale internet-based social network data. We analyse the organisational structure of a complete, multi-relational, large social multiplex network of a human society consisting of about 400,000 odd players of an open-ended massive multiplayer online game for which we know all about their various group memberships at different layers. Remarkably, the online players' society exhibits the same type of structured hierarchical layers as found in hunter-gatherer societies. Our findings suggest that the hierarchical organisation of human society is deeply nested in human psychology.

  14. An analytical investigation of a conceptual design for the station transverse boom rotary joint structure

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lake, M. S.; Bush, H. G.

    1986-01-01

    A study was conducted to define an annular ring, discrete roller assembly concept for the space station transverse boom rotary joint. The concept was analyzed using closed-form and finite element techniques, to size structural members for a range of joint diameters and to determine necessary equivalent stiffnesses for the roller assemblies. Also, a mass study of the system was conducted to determine its practicality, and maximum loads in the joint were identified. To obtain the optimum balance between high stiffness and low structural mass in the design of the rotary joint, it is necessary to maximize the diameter of the annular ring within operational constraints (i.e., shuttle cargo bay size). Further, a rotary joint designed with the largest possible ring diameter will result in minimum operational loads in both the roller assemblies and the transition truss members while also allowing minimum design stiffnesses for the roller assemblies.

  15. Relationship between fluid bed aerosol generator operation and the aerosol produced

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

    Carpenter, R.L.; Yerkes, K.

    1980-12-01

    The relationships between bed operation in a fluid bed aerosol generator and aerosol output were studied. A two-inch diameter fluid bed aerosol generator (FBG) was constructed using stainless steel powder as a fluidizing medium. Fly ash from coal combustion was aerosolized and the influence of FBG operating parameters on aerosol mass median aerodynamic diameter (MMAD), geometric standard deviation (sigma/sub g/) and concentration was examined. In an effort to extend observations on large fluid beds to small beds using fine bed particles, minimum fluidizing velocities and elutriation constant were computed. Although FBG minimum fluidizing velocity agreed well with calculations, FBG elutriationmore » constant did not. The results of this study show that the properties of aerosols produced by a FBG depend on fluid bed height and air flow through the bed after the minimum fluidizing velocity is exceeded.« less

  16. On the Impact of Intraluminal Thrombus Mechanical Behavior in AAA Passive Mechanics.

    PubMed

    Riveros, Fabián; Martufi, Giampaolo; Gasser, T Christian; Rodriguez-Matas, Jose F

    2015-09-01

    Intraluminal thrombus (ILT) is a pseudo-tissue that develops from coagulated blood, and is found in most abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) of clinically relevant size. A number of studies have suggested that ILT mechanical characteristics may be related to AAA risk of rupture, even though there is still great controversy in this regard. ILT is isotropic and inhomogeneous and may appear as a soft (single-layered) or stiff (multilayered fibrotic) tissue. This paper aims to investigate how ILT constitution and topology influence the magnitude and location of peak wall stress (PWS). In total 21 patient-specific AAAs (diameter 4.2-5.4 cm) were reconstructed from computer tomography images and biomechanically analyzed using state-of-the-art modeling assumptions. Results indicated that PWS correlated stronger with ILT volume (ρ = 0.44, p = 0.05) and minimum thickness of ILT layer (ρ = 0.73, p = 0.001) than with maximum AAA diameter (ρ = 0.05, p = 0.82). On average PWS was 20% (SD 12%) higher for FE models that used soft instead of stiff ILT models (p < 0.001). PWS location strongly correlated with sites of minimum ILT thickness in the section of maximum AAA diameter and was independent from ILT stiffness. In addition, ILT heterogeneity, i.e., the spatial composition of soft and stiff thrombus tissue, can considerably influence stress in the AAA wall. The present study is limited to identification of influential biomechanical factors, and how its findings translate to an AAA rupture risk assessment remains to be explored by clinical studies.

  17. 24 CFR 3280.611 - Vents and venting.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... drain piping for each toilet shall be vented by a 11/2 inch minimum diameter vent or rectangular vent of..., connected to the toilet drain by one of the following methods: (i) A 11/2 inch diameter (min.) individual vent pipe or equivalent directly connected to the toilet drain within the distance allowed in § 3280...

  18. 50 CFR 665.265 - Size restrictions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... measurement taken from its base to its most distal extremity. The stem diameter of a living coral specimen shall be determined by measuring the greatest diameter of the stem at a point no less than 1 inch (2.54... black coral harvested from any precious coral permit area must have attained either a minimum stem...

  19. 50 CFR 665.165 - Size restrictions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... measurement taken from its base to its most distal extremity. The stem diameter of a living coral specimen shall be determined by measuring the greatest diameter of the stem at a point no less than 1 inch (2.54... black coral harvested from any precious coral permit area must have attained either a minimum stem...

  20. 50 CFR 665.465 - Size restrictions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... measurement taken from its base to its most distal extremity. The stem diameter of a living coral specimen shall be determined by measuring the greatest diameter of the stem at a point no less than 1 inch (2.54... black coral harvested from any precious coral permit area must have attained either a minimum stem...

  1. 50 CFR 665.665 - Size restrictions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... line measurement taken from its base to its most distal extremity. The stem diameter of a living coral specimen shall be determined by measuring the greatest diameter of the stem at a point no less than 1 inch.... Live black coral harvested from any precious coral permit area must have attained either a minimum stem...

  2. 50 CFR 665.665 - Size restrictions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... measurement taken from its base to its most distal extremity. The stem diameter of a living coral specimen shall be determined by measuring the greatest diameter of the stem at a point no less than 1 inch (2.54... black coral harvested from any precious coral permit area must have attained either a minimum stem...

  3. 50 CFR 665.265 - Size restrictions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... measurement taken from its base to its most distal extremity. The stem diameter of a living coral specimen shall be determined by measuring the greatest diameter of the stem at a point no less than 1 inch (2.54... black coral harvested from any precious coral permit area must have attained either a minimum stem...

  4. 50 CFR 665.465 - Size restrictions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... measurement taken from its base to its most distal extremity. The stem diameter of a living coral specimen shall be determined by measuring the greatest diameter of the stem at a point no less than 1 inch (2.54... black coral harvested from any precious coral permit area must have attained either a minimum stem...

  5. 50 CFR 665.165 - Size restrictions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... measurement taken from its base to its most distal extremity. The stem diameter of a living coral specimen shall be determined by measuring the greatest diameter of the stem at a point no less than 1 inch (2.54... black coral harvested from any precious coral permit area must have attained either a minimum stem...

  6. 50 CFR 665.165 - Size restrictions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... measurement taken from its base to its most distal extremity. The stem diameter of a living coral specimen shall be determined by measuring the greatest diameter of the stem at a point no less than 1 inch (2.54... black coral harvested from any precious coral permit area must have attained either a minimum stem...

  7. 50 CFR 665.265 - Size restrictions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... measurement taken from its base to its most distal extremity. The stem diameter of a living coral specimen shall be determined by measuring the greatest diameter of the stem at a point no less than 1 inch (2.54... black coral harvested from any precious coral permit area must have attained either a minimum stem...

  8. 50 CFR 665.265 - Size restrictions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... measurement taken from its base to its most distal extremity. The stem diameter of a living coral specimen shall be determined by measuring the greatest diameter of the stem at a point no less than 1 inch (2.54... black coral harvested from any precious coral permit area must have attained either a minimum stem...

  9. 50 CFR 665.465 - Size restrictions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... measurement taken from its base to its most distal extremity. The stem diameter of a living coral specimen shall be determined by measuring the greatest diameter of the stem at a point no less than 1 inch (2.54... black coral harvested from any precious coral permit area must have attained either a minimum stem...

  10. 50 CFR 665.165 - Size restrictions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... measurement taken from its base to its most distal extremity. The stem diameter of a living coral specimen shall be determined by measuring the greatest diameter of the stem at a point no less than 1 inch (2.54... black coral harvested from any precious coral permit area must have attained either a minimum stem...

  11. 50 CFR 665.665 - Size restrictions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... line measurement taken from its base to its most distal extremity. The stem diameter of a living coral specimen shall be determined by measuring the greatest diameter of the stem at a point no less than 1 inch.... Live black coral harvested from any precious coral permit area must have attained either a minimum stem...

  12. 50 CFR 665.665 - Size restrictions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... line measurement taken from its base to its most distal extremity. The stem diameter of a living coral specimen shall be determined by measuring the greatest diameter of the stem at a point no less than 1 inch.... Live black coral harvested from any precious coral permit area must have attained either a minimum stem...

  13. 50 CFR 665.465 - Size restrictions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... measurement taken from its base to its most distal extremity. The stem diameter of a living coral specimen shall be determined by measuring the greatest diameter of the stem at a point no less than 1 inch (2.54... black coral harvested from any precious coral permit area must have attained either a minimum stem...

  14. 50 CFR 665.465 - Size restrictions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... measurement taken from its base to its most distal extremity. The stem diameter of a living coral specimen shall be determined by measuring the greatest diameter of the stem at a point no less than 1 inch (2.54... black coral harvested from any precious coral permit area must have attained either a minimum stem...

  15. 50 CFR 665.665 - Size restrictions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... line measurement taken from its base to its most distal extremity. The stem diameter of a living coral specimen shall be determined by measuring the greatest diameter of the stem at a point no less than 1 inch.... Live black coral harvested from any precious coral permit area must have attained either a minimum stem...

  16. 7 CFR 51.2113 - Size requirements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... of range in count of whole almond kernels per ounce or in terms of minimum, or minimum and maximum diameter. When a range in count is specified, the whole kernels shall be fairly uniform in size, and the average count per ounce shall be within the range specified. Doubles and broken kernels shall not be used...

  17. Factors affecting minimum push and pull forces of manual carts.

    PubMed

    Al-Eisawi, K W; Kerk, C J; Congleton, J J; Amendola, A A; Jenkins, O C; Gaines, W

    1999-06-01

    The minimum forces needed to manually push or pull a 4-wheel cart of differing weights with similar wheel sizes from a stationary state were measured on four floor materials under different conditions of wheel width, diameter, and orientation. Cart load was increased from 0 to 181.4 kg in increments of 36.3 kg. The floor materials were smooth concrete, tile, asphalt, and industrial carpet. Two wheel widths were tested: 25 and 38 mm. Wheel diameters were 51, 102, and 153 mm. Wheel orientation was tested at four levels: F0R0 (all four wheels aligned in the forward direction), F0R90 (the two front wheels, the wheels furthest from the cart handle, aligned in the forward direction and the two rear wheels, the wheels closest to the cart handle, aligned at 90 degrees to the forward direction), F90R0 (the two front wheels aligned at 90 degrees to the forward direction and the two rear wheels aligned in the forward direction), and F90R90 (all four wheels aligned at 90 degrees to the forward direction). Wheel width did not have a significant effect on the minimum push/pull forces. The minimum push/pull forces were linearly proportional to cart weight, and inversely proportional to wheel diameter. The coefficients of rolling friction were estimated as 2.2, 2.4, 3.3, and 4.5 mm for hard rubber wheels rolling on smooth concrete, tile, asphalt, and industrial carpet floors, respectively. The effect of wheel orientation was not consistent over the tested conditions, but, in general, the smallest minimum push/pull forces were measured with all four wheels aligned in the forward direction, whereas the largest minimum push/pull forces were measured when all four wheels were aligned at 90 degrees to the forward direction. There was no significant difference between the push and pull forces when all four wheels were aligned in the forward direction.

  18. The Evaluation of Classroom Social Structure by Three-Way Multidimensional Scaling of Sociometric Data.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Langeheine, Rolf

    1978-01-01

    A three-way multidimensional scaling model is presented as a method for identifying classroom cliques, by simultaneous analysis of three variables (for example, chooser/choosen/criteria). Two scaling models--Carroll and Chang's INDSCAL and Lingoes' PINDIS--are presented and applied to two sets of empirical data. (CP)

  19. Peer Bonds in Urban School Communities: An Exploratory Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Leach, Nicole

    2018-01-01

    The literature identifies three main types of peer associations: cliques, crowds, and dyadic friendships. When schools create learning communities, an additional type of peer association may emerge that is not based on interactions but instead is based on membership in a shared community. The aim of this study is to qualitatively explore the…

  20. Conflicts, Commitments, and Cliques in the University: Moral Seduction as a Threat to Trustee Independence

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bastedo, Michael N.

    2009-01-01

    The ability of trustees to make independent judgments in the best interests of the university is a fundamental characteristic of an effective governing board. Trustee independence is increasingly threatened, however, as the university becomes more deeply embedded in government, industry, networks, and the professions. This topic is investigated…

  1. The Structure of Positive Interpersonal Relations in Small Groups.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Davis, James A.; Leinhardt, Samuel

    The authors sought to test Homans' proposition that small groups inevitably generate a social structure which combines subgroups (cliques) and a ranking system. We present a graph theoretical model of such a structure and prove that a necessary and sufficient condition for its existence is the absence of seven particular triad types. Expected…

  2. Clique-Based Neural Associative Memories with Local Coding and Precoding.

    PubMed

    Mofrad, Asieh Abolpour; Parker, Matthew G; Ferdosi, Zahra; Tadayon, Mohammad H

    2016-08-01

    Techniques from coding theory are able to improve the efficiency of neuroinspired and neural associative memories by forcing some construction and constraints on the network. In this letter, the approach is to embed coding techniques into neural associative memory in order to increase their performance in the presence of partial erasures. The motivation comes from recent work by Gripon, Berrou, and coauthors, which revisited Willshaw networks and presented a neural network with interacting neurons that partitioned into clusters. The model introduced stores patterns as small-size cliques that can be retrieved in spite of partial error. We focus on improving the success of retrieval by applying two techniques: doing a local coding in each cluster and then applying a precoding step. We use a slightly different decoding scheme, which is appropriate for partial erasures and converges faster. Although the ideas of local coding and precoding are not new, the way we apply them is different. Simulations show an increase in the pattern retrieval capacity for both techniques. Moreover, we use self-dual additive codes over field [Formula: see text], which have very interesting properties and a simple-graph representation.

  3. A combined NLP-differential evolution algorithm approach for the optimization of looped water distribution systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zheng, Feifei; Simpson, Angus R.; Zecchin, Aaron C.

    2011-08-01

    This paper proposes a novel optimization approach for the least cost design of looped water distribution systems (WDSs). Three distinct steps are involved in the proposed optimization approach. In the first step, the shortest-distance tree within the looped network is identified using the Dijkstra graph theory algorithm, for which an extension is proposed to find the shortest-distance tree for multisource WDSs. In the second step, a nonlinear programming (NLP) solver is employed to optimize the pipe diameters for the shortest-distance tree (chords of the shortest-distance tree are allocated the minimum allowable pipe sizes). Finally, in the third step, the original looped water network is optimized using a differential evolution (DE) algorithm seeded with diameters in the proximity of the continuous pipe sizes obtained in step two. As such, the proposed optimization approach combines the traditional deterministic optimization technique of NLP with the emerging evolutionary algorithm DE via the proposed network decomposition. The proposed methodology has been tested on four looped WDSs with the number of decision variables ranging from 21 to 454. Results obtained show the proposed approach is able to find optimal solutions with significantly less computational effort than other optimization techniques.

  4. Intraoperative Assessment of Esophagogastric Junction Distensibility During Laparoscopic Heller Myotomy.

    PubMed

    DeHaan, Reece K; Frelich, Matthew J; Gould, Jon C

    2016-04-01

    We sought to characterize the changes in esophagogastric junction (EGJ) distensibility during Heller Myotomy with Dor fundoplication using the EndoFLIP device. Intraoperative distensibility measurements on 14 patients undergoing Heller myotomy with Dor fundoplication were conducted over an 18-month period. Minimum esophageal diameter, cross-sectional areas, and distensibility index were measured at 30 and 40 mL catheter volumes before myotomy, postmyotomy, and following Dor fundoplication. Distensibility index is defined as the narrowest cross-sectional area divided by the corresponding pressure expressed in mm/mm Hg. Heller myotomy was found to lead to significant changes in the distensibility characteristics of the EGJ. Minimum esophageal diameter and EGJ distensibility increased significantly with Heller myotomy.

  5. Processing of high-precision ceramic balls with a spiral V-groove plate

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Feng, Ming; Wu, Yongbo; Yuan, Julong; Ping, Zhao

    2017-03-01

    As the demand for high-performance bearings gradually increases, ceramic balls with excellent properties, such as high accuracy, high reliability, and high chemical durability used, are extensively used for highperformance bearings. In this study, a spiral V-groove plate method is employed in processing high-precision ceramic balls. After the kinematic analysis of the ball-spin angle and enveloped lapping trajectories, an experimental rig is constructed and experiments are conducted to confirm the feasibility of this method. Kinematic analysis results indicate that the method not only allows for the control of the ball-spin angle but also uniformly distributes the enveloped lapping trajectories over the entire ball surface. Experimental results demonstrate that the novel spiral Vgroove plate method performs better than the conventional concentric V-groove plate method in terms of roundness, surface roughness, diameter difference, and diameter decrease rate. Ceramic balls with a G3-level accuracy are achieved, and their typical roundness, minimum surface roughness, and diameter difference are 0.05, 0.0045, and 0.105 μm, respectively. These findings confirm that the proposed method can be applied to high-accuracy and high-consistency ceramic ball processing.

  6. [Which hip articulation bearing for which patient? : Tribology of the future].

    PubMed

    Morlock, M M; Bishop, N; Kaddick, C

    2011-12-01

    Replacement of the hip joint has become an exceptionally successful procedure since the inauguration of the low friction principle by Charnley. Aseptic osteolysis and joint dislocation have been addressed by the development of wear-optimized materials and the introduction of larger heads. As an increase in head diameter against polyethylene causes wear increase, larger hard-on-hard bearings were introduced, which exhibit reduced wear and reduced dislocation risk with increasing head diameter. These findings were derived from standard simulator testing, not sufficiently considering the risk of fluid film breakdown under adverse conditions, which can cause a dramatic increase in wear and friction proportional to the head diameter. Such adverse conditions can occur clinically in patients due to several factors and have caused the presently observed unexpected problems with these new designs. Standardized preclinical testing has to be viewed as a minimum requirement but certainly not as a guarantee for the clinical success of new materials and designs even if the testing is adapted to the current patient requirements, which is presently not the case. The future of tribology lies in the prevention of adverse conditions in patients, the improvement and optimized use of proven existing materials and not in the use of new materials.

  7. Applications of graph theory in protein structure identification

    PubMed Central

    2011-01-01

    There is a growing interest in the identification of proteins on the proteome wide scale. Among different kinds of protein structure identification methods, graph-theoretic methods are very sharp ones. Due to their lower costs, higher effectiveness and many other advantages, they have drawn more and more researchers’ attention nowadays. Specifically, graph-theoretic methods have been widely used in homology identification, side-chain cluster identification, peptide sequencing and so on. This paper reviews several methods in solving protein structure identification problems using graph theory. We mainly introduce classical methods and mathematical models including homology modeling based on clique finding, identification of side-chain clusters in protein structures upon graph spectrum, and de novo peptide sequencing via tandem mass spectrometry using the spectrum graph model. In addition, concluding remarks and future priorities of each method are given. PMID:22165974

  8. Brain Computation Is Organized via Power-of-Two-Based Permutation Logic.

    PubMed

    Xie, Kun; Fox, Grace E; Liu, Jun; Lyu, Cheng; Lee, Jason C; Kuang, Hui; Jacobs, Stephanie; Li, Meng; Liu, Tianming; Song, Sen; Tsien, Joe Z

    2016-01-01

    There is considerable scientific interest in understanding how cell assemblies-the long-presumed computational motif-are organized so that the brain can generate intelligent cognition and flexible behavior. The Theory of Connectivity proposes that the origin of intelligence is rooted in a power-of-two-based permutation logic ( N = 2 i -1), producing specific-to-general cell-assembly architecture capable of generating specific perceptions and memories, as well as generalized knowledge and flexible actions. We show that this power-of-two-based permutation logic is widely used in cortical and subcortical circuits across animal species and is conserved for the processing of a variety of cognitive modalities including appetitive, emotional and social information. However, modulatory neurons, such as dopaminergic (DA) neurons, use a simpler logic despite their distinct subtypes. Interestingly, this specific-to-general permutation logic remained largely intact although NMDA receptors-the synaptic switch for learning and memory-were deleted throughout adulthood, suggesting that the logic is developmentally pre-configured. Moreover, this computational logic is implemented in the cortex via combining a random-connectivity strategy in superficial layers 2/3 with nonrandom organizations in deep layers 5/6. This randomness of layers 2/3 cliques-which preferentially encode specific and low-combinatorial features and project inter-cortically-is ideal for maximizing cross-modality novel pattern-extraction, pattern-discrimination and pattern-categorization using sparse code, consequently explaining why it requires hippocampal offline-consolidation. In contrast, the nonrandomness in layers 5/6-which consists of few specific cliques but a higher portion of more general cliques projecting mostly to subcortical systems-is ideal for feedback-control of motivation, emotion, consciousness and behaviors. These observations suggest that the brain's basic computational algorithm is indeed organized by the power-of-two-based permutation logic. This simple mathematical logic can account for brain computation across the entire evolutionary spectrum, ranging from the simplest neural networks to the most complex.

  9. How can we establish more successful knowledge networks in developing countries? Lessons learnt from knowledge networks in Iran.

    PubMed

    Yazdizadeh, Bahareh; Majdzadeh, Reza; Alami, Ali; Amrolalaei, Sima

    2014-10-29

    Formal knowledge networks are considered among the solutions for strengthening knowledge translation and one of the elements of innovative systems in developing and developed countries. In the year 2000, knowledge networks were established in Iran's health system to organize, lead, empower, and coordinate efforts made by health-related research centers in the country. Since the assessment of a knowledge network is one of the main requirements for its success, the current study was designed in two qualitative and quantitative sections to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the established knowledge networks and to assess their efficiency. In the qualitative section, semi-structured, in-depth interviews were held with network directors and secretaries. The interviews were analyzed through the framework approach. To analyze effectiveness, social network analysis approach was used. That is, by considering the networks' research council members as 'nodes', and the numbers of their joint articles--before and after the network establishments--as 'relations or ties', indices of density, clique, and centrality were calculated for each network. In the qualitative section, non-transparency of management, lack of goals, administrative problems were among the most prevalent issues observed. Currently, the most important challenges are the policies related to them and their management. In the quantitative section, we observed that density and clique indices had risen for some networks; however, the centrality index for the same networks was not as high. Consequently the attribution of density and clique indices to these networks was not possible. Therefore, consolidating and revising policies relevant to the networks and preparing a guide for establishing managing networks could prove helpful. To develop knowledge and technology in a country, networks need to solve the problems they face in management and governance. That is, the first step towards the realization of true knowledge networks in health system.

  10. Method for estimating potential tree-grade distributions for northeastern forest species

    Treesearch

    Daniel A. Yaussy; Daniel A. Yaussy

    1993-01-01

    Generalized logistic regression was used to distribute trees into four potential tree grades for 20 northeastern species groups. The potential tree grade is defined as the tree grade based on the length and amount of clear cuttings and defects only, disregarding minimum grading diameter. The algorithms described use site index and tree diameter as the predictive...

  11. Small-diameter roundwood, strong-post W-beam guardrail systems

    Treesearch

    David Kretschmann; Ronald Faller; John Reid; Jason Hascall; Dean Sicking; John Rohde

    2006-01-01

    Round guardrail posts may provide an important value-added option for small-diameter thinnings. Such posts require minimum processing and are believed to have higher strength for the equivalent rectangular volume. The resulting value-added product may bring a higher return compared to lumber. The obstacles to immediate utilization of ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir...

  12. An integer programming formulation of the parsimonious loss of heterozygosity problem.

    PubMed

    Catanzaro, Daniele; Labbé, Martine; Halldórsson, Bjarni V

    2013-01-01

    A loss of heterozygosity (LOH) event occurs when, by the laws of Mendelian inheritance, an individual should be heterozygote at a given site but, due to a deletion polymorphism, is not. Deletions play an important role in human disease and their detection could provide fundamental insights for the development of new diagnostics and treatments. In this paper, we investigate the parsimonious loss of heterozygosity problem (PLOHP), i.e., the problem of partitioning suspected polymorphisms from a set of individuals into a minimum number of deletion areas. Specifically, we generalize Halldórsson et al.'s work by providing a more general formulation of the PLOHP and by showing how one can incorporate different recombination rates and prior knowledge about the locations of deletions. Moreover, we show that the PLOHP can be formulated as a specific version of the clique partition problem in a particular class of graphs called undirected catch-point interval graphs and we prove its general $({\\cal NP})$-hardness. Finally, we provide a state-of-the-art integer programming (IP) formulation and strengthening valid inequalities to exactly solve real instances of the PLOHP containing up to 9,000 individuals and 3,000 SNPs. Our results give perspectives on the mathematics of the PLOHP and suggest new directions on the development of future efficient exact solution approaches.

  13. Angiographic predictors of 3-year patency of bypass grafts implanted on the right coronary artery system: a prospective randomized comparison of gastroepiploic artery, saphenous vein, and right internal thoracic artery grafts.

    PubMed

    Glineur, David; D'hoore, William; de Kerchove, Laurent; Noirhomme, Philippe; Price, Joel; Hanet, Claude; El Khoury, Gebrine

    2011-11-01

    Saphenous vein, in situ right gastroepiploic artery, and right internal thoracic artery grafts are routinely used to revascularize the right coronary artery. Little is known about the predictive value of objective preoperative angiographic parameters on midterm graft patency. We prospectively enrolled 210 consecutive patients undergoing coronary revascularization. Revascularization of the right coronary artery was randomly performed with the saphenous vein grafts in 81 patients and the right gastroepiploic artery in 92 patients. During the same study period, 37 patients received right coronary artery revascularization with the right internal thoracic artery used in a Y-composite fashion. All patients underwent a protocol-driven coronary angiogram 3 years after surgery. Preoperative angiographic parameters included minimum lumen diameter percent stenosis measured by quantitative angiography. A graft was considered "not functional" with patency scores of 0 to 2 and "functional" with patency scores of 3 or 4. Angiographic follow-up was 100% complete. A significant difference in the distribution of flow patterns was observed in the 3 groups. In multivariate analysis, the use of a saphenous vein graft was associated with superior graft functionality compared with the other conduits (odds ratio, 6.1; 95% confidence interval, 2.4-15). Graft function was negatively influenced by the minimum lumen diameter (odds ratio, 0.11; confidence interval, 0.05-0.25). In the right gastroepiploic artery and right internal thoracic artery groups, the proportion of functional grafts was higher when the minimum lumen diameter was below a threshold value in the third minimum lumen diameter quartile (0.64-1.30 mm). Preoperative angiography predicts graft patency in the right gastroepiploic artery and right internal thoracic artery, whereas the flow pattern in saphenous vein grafts is significantly less influenced by quantitative angiographic parameters. Copyright © 2011 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. Investigation of air flow in open-throat wind tunnels

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jacobs, Eastman N

    1930-01-01

    Tests were conducted on the 6-inch wind tunnel of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics to form a part of a research on open-throat wind tunnels. The primary object of this part of the research was to study a type of air pulsation which has been encountered in open-throat tunnels, and to find the most satisfactory means of eliminating such pulsations. In order to do this it was necessary to study the effects of different variable on all of the important characteristics of the tunnel. This paper gives not only the results of the study of air pulsations and methods of eliminating them, but also the effects of changing the exit-cone diameter and flare and the effects of air leakage from the return passage. It was found that the air pulsations in the 6-inch wind tunnel could be practically eliminated by using a moderately large flare on the exit cone in conjunction with leakage introduced by cutting holes in the exit cone somewhat aft of its minimum diameter.

  15. Click or Clique? Using Educational Technology to Address Students' Anxieties about Peer Evaluation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Walker, Ruth; Barwell, Graham

    2009-01-01

    Peer bias is recognised as a primary factor in negative student perceptions of peer assessment strategies. This study trialled the use of classroom response systems, widely known as clickers, in small seminar classes in order to actively engage students in their subject's assessment process while providing the anonymity that would lessen the…

  16. The Use of Natural Supports To Increase Integration in Supported Employment Settings for Youth in Transition. Final Report.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Storey, Keith

    This final report briefly describes activities of a project which developed and evaluated specific natural support intervention procedures to increase the social integration of employees with severe disabilities using single-subject, clique analysis, and social validation methodologies. The project resulted in the publication of 6 journal articles…

  17. Sociometric Clique Identification. Final Report.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kadushin, Charles

    This report consists of four parts. The first part is a non-technical summary of the basic problem and an attempted solution. The second part is a technical review of the literature and a description of the basic algorithm used in the solution. The third part describes the use of the Sociogram System. The fourth part describes the use of CHAIN, a…

  18. Eye-Rollers, Risk-Takers, and Turn Sharks: Target Students in a Professional Science Education Program

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Martin, Sonya N.; Milne, Catherine; Scantlebury, Kathryn

    2006-01-01

    In classrooms from kindergarten to graduate school, researchers have identified target students as students who monopolize material and human resources. Classroom structures that privilege the voice and actions of target students can cause divisive social dynamics that may generate cliques. This study focuses on the emergence of target students,…

  19. Translations on Red Flag No. 12, 5 December 1977

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1978-01-25

    counterrevolutionary nature, the "gang of four," who were but Jackals in the same lair as the Lin Piao antiparty clique, panicked. The gang did...said that I was an ambitious man daring to think and act. But the class enemies accused me of "wanting to become a golden phoenix and an official

  20. Cliques and Cohesion in a Clinical Psychology Graduate Cohort: A Longitudinal Social Network Analysis

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kunze, Kimberley Annette

    2013-01-01

    To date, no published research has utilized social network analysis (SNA) to analyze graduate cohorts in clinical psychology. The purpose of this research is to determine how issues of likability among students correlate with other measures, such as disclosure, health, spiritual maturity, help in projects, familiarity, and ease of providing…

  1. The Cool vs. The Uncool. Your Middle School Classroom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barnes, Peter

    2005-01-01

    Social cliques start around fourth or fifth grade and get worse through middle school and beyond. The cool vs. the uncool. Nerds, jocks, popular kids and outsiders--students are categorized by their peers and excluded by those different from them. Students who are not part of the "cool" crowd feel isolated and lonely and are often subjected to…

  2. Teenage Behavior: It's Not Biology, Psychology, or Family Values

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Milner, Murray, Jr.

    2006-01-01

    This article examines the explanations behind these questions: (1) Why do American teenagers behave the way they do?; (2) Why are many obsessed with the brands of clothes they wear, their lunchtime seatmates, the parties they are invited to, the latest popular music, the intrigues of school cliques, and who is hooking up with whom?; (3) Why do…

  3. Liaison Roles in the Communication Structure of a Formal Organization: A Pilot Study.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schwartz, Donald F.

    The purpose of this study was first to map the functional communication structure of a 142-member formal organization, then to analyze that structure to identify work groups (Cliques) and interlinking liaison role persons, and finally to describe certain differences between liaison persons and nonliaison members of the work groups as perceived by…

  4. Investigating the use of small-diameter softwood as guardrail posts: static test results

    Treesearch

    David E. Kretschmann; Ron Faller; Jason Hascall; John Reid; Dean Sicking; John Rohde; Dick Shilts; Tim Nelson

    2007-01-01

    Round guardrail posts may provide an important value added option for small-diameter thinnings. Such posts require minimum processing and have been shown to have higher strength compared to the equivalent rectangular volume. The resulting value-added product may bring a higher return compared to lumber. The obstacles to immediate utilization of ponderosa pine and...

  5. Magnetic levitation of condensed hydrogen

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Paine, C. G.; Seidel, G. M.

    1991-01-01

    Liquid and solid molecular hydrogen has been levitated using a pair of small superconducting solenoids. The hydrogen samples, up to 3 mm in dimension, were trapped in a magnetic potential having either a discrete minimum or a minimum in the form of a ring 1 cm in diameter. The hydrogen could be moved about in the magnetic trap by applying an electric field.

  6. 50 CFR 223.207 - Approved TEDs.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... with a minimum outside diameter of 1 inch (2.54 cm) and a minimum wall thickness of 1/8 inch (0.32 cm... the TED frame minus 4 inches (10.2 cm) on both sides of the grid, when measured as a straight line... opening cannot be narrower than the outside width of the grid minus 4 inches (10.2 cm) on both sides of...

  7. 46 CFR 160.062-5 - Markings.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ...″ stainless steel tag of a minimum thickness of 0.032 inches. This tag shall be permanently attached to a hydraulic release with a single stainless steel link made of wire 3/16″ in diameter. This link shall provide... of manufacture with a 2″ by 31/2″ stainless steel tag of a minimum thickness of 0.032 inch. This tag...

  8. 46 CFR 160.062-5 - Markings.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ...″ stainless steel tag of a minimum thickness of 0.032 inches. This tag shall be permanently attached to a hydraulic release with a single stainless steel link made of wire 3/16″ in diameter. This link shall provide... of manufacture with a 2″ by 31/2″ stainless steel tag of a minimum thickness of 0.032 inch. This tag...

  9. 46 CFR 160.062-5 - Markings.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ...″ stainless steel tag of a minimum thickness of 0.032 inches. This tag shall be permanently attached to a hydraulic release with a single stainless steel link made of wire 3/16″ in diameter. This link shall provide... of manufacture with a 2″ by 31/2″ stainless steel tag of a minimum thickness of 0.032 inch. This tag...

  10. Experimental Investigation of Minimum Quantity Lubrication in Meso-scale Milling with Varying Tool Diameter

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yusof, M. Q. M.; Harun, H. N. S. B.; Bahar, R.

    2018-01-01

    Minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) is a method that uses a very small amount of liquid to reduce friction between cutting tool and work piece during machining. The implementation of MQL machining has become a viable alternative to flood cooling machining and dry machining. The overall performance has been evaluated during meso-scale milling of mild steel using different diameter milling cutters. Experiments have been conducted under two different lubrication condition: dry and MQL with variable cutting parameters. The tool wear and its surface roughness, machined surfaces microstructure and surface roughness were observed for both conditions. It was found from the results that MQL produced better results compared to dry machining. The 0.5 mm tool has been selected as the most optimum tool diameter to be used with the lowest surface roughness as well as the least flank wear generation. For the workpiece, it was observed that the cutting temperature possesses crucial effect on the microstructure and the surface roughness of the machined surface and bigger diameter tool actually resulted in higher surface roughness. The poor conductivity of the cutting tool may be one of reasons behind.

  11. Role of long- and short-range hydrophobic, hydrophilic and charged residues contact network in protein’s structural organization

    PubMed Central

    2012-01-01

    Background The three-dimensional structure of a protein can be described as a graph where nodes represent residues and the strength of non-covalent interactions between them are edges. These protein contact networks can be separated into long and short-range interactions networks depending on the positions of amino acids in primary structure. Long-range interactions play a distinct role in determining the tertiary structure of a protein while short-range interactions could largely contribute to the secondary structure formations. In addition, physico chemical properties and the linear arrangement of amino acids of the primary structure of a protein determines its three dimensional structure. Here, we present an extensive analysis of protein contact subnetworks based on the London van der Waals interactions of amino acids at different length scales. We further subdivided those networks in hydrophobic, hydrophilic and charged residues networks and have tried to correlate their influence in the overall topology and organization of a protein. Results The largest connected component (LCC) of long (LRN)-, short (SRN)- and all-range (ARN) networks within proteins exhibit a transition behaviour when plotted against different interaction strengths of edges among amino acid nodes. While short-range networks having chain like structures exhibit highly cooperative transition; long- and all-range networks, which are more similar to each other, have non-chain like structures and show less cooperativity. Further, the hydrophobic residues subnetworks in long- and all-range networks have similar transition behaviours with all residues all-range networks, but the hydrophilic and charged residues networks don’t. While the nature of transitions of LCC’s sizes is same in SRNs for thermophiles and mesophiles, there exists a clear difference in LRNs. The presence of larger size of interconnected long-range interactions in thermophiles than mesophiles, even at higher interaction strength between amino acids, give extra stability to the tertiary structure of the thermophiles. All the subnetworks at different length scales (ARNs, LRNs and SRNs) show assortativity mixing property of their participating amino acids. While there exists a significant higher percentage of hydrophobic subclusters over others in ARNs and LRNs; we do not find the assortative mixing behaviour of any the subclusters in SRNs. The clustering coefficient of hydrophobic subclusters in long-range network is the highest among types of subnetworks. There exist highly cliquish hydrophobic nodes followed by charged nodes in LRNs and ARNs; on the other hand, we observe the highest dominance of charged residues cliques in short-range networks. Studies on the perimeter of the cliques also show higher occurrences of hydrophobic and charged residues’ cliques. Conclusions The simple framework of protein contact networks and their subnetworks based on London van der Waals force is able to capture several known properties of protein structure as well as can unravel several new features. The thermophiles do not only have the higher number of long-range interactions; they also have larger cluster of connected residues at higher interaction strengths among amino acids, than their mesophilic counterparts. It can reestablish the significant role of long-range hydrophobic clusters in protein folding and stabilization; at the same time, it shed light on the higher communication ability of hydrophobic subnetworks over the others. The results give an indication of the controlling role of hydrophobic subclusters in determining protein’s folding rate. The occurrences of higher perimeters of hydrophobic and charged cliques imply the role of charged residues as well as hydrophobic residues in stabilizing the distant part of primary structure of a protein through London van der Waals interaction. PMID:22720789

  12. Is fracture a bigger problem for smaller animals? Force and fracture scaling for a simple model of cutting, puncture and crushing

    PubMed Central

    Choi, Seunghee; Coon, Joshua J.; Goggans, Matthew Scott; Kreisman, Thomas F.; Silver, Daniel M.; Nesson, Michael H.

    2016-01-01

    Many of the materials that are challenging for large animals to cut or puncture are also cut and punctured by much smaller organisms that are limited to much smaller forces. Small organisms can overcome their force limitations by using sharper tools, but one drawback may be an increased susceptibility to fracture. We use simple contact mechanics models to estimate how much smaller the diameter of the tips or edges of tools such as teeth, claws and cutting blades must be in smaller organisms in order for them to puncture or cut the same materials as larger organisms. In order to produce the same maximum stress when maximum force scales as the square of body length, the diameter of the tool region that is in contact with the target material must scale isometrically for punch-like tools (e.g. scorpion stings) on thick targets, and for crushing tools (e.g. molars). For punch-like tools on thin targets, and for cutting blades on thick targets, the tip or edge diameters must be even smaller than expected from isometry in smaller animals. The diameters of a small sample of unworn punch-like tools from a large range of animal sizes are consistent with the model, scaling isometrically or more steeply (positively allometric). In addition, we find that the force required to puncture a thin target using real biological tools scales linearly with tip diameter, as predicted by the model. We argue that, for smaller tools, the minimum energy to fracture the tool will be a greater fraction of the minimum energy required to puncture the target, making fracture more likely. Finally, energy stored in tool bending, relative to the energy to fracture the tool, increases rapidly with the aspect ratio (length/width), and we expect that smaller organisms often have to employ higher aspect ratio tools in order to puncture or cut to the required depth with available force. The extra stored energy in higher aspect ratio tools is likely to increase the probability of fracture. We discuss some of the implications of the suggested scaling rules and possible adaptations to compensate for fracture sensitivity in smaller organisms. PMID:27274804

  13. Vacancy Mediated Mechanism of Nitrogen Substitution in Carbon Nanotubes

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Srivastava, Deepak; Menon, Madhu; Sadanadan, Bindu; Rao, Apparao M.

    2003-01-01

    Nitrogen substitution reaction in a graphene sheet and carbon nanotubes of different diameter are investigated using the generalized tight-binding molecular dynamics method. The formation of a vacancy in curved graphene sheet or a carbon nanotube is found to cause a curvature dependent local reconstruction of the surface. Our simulations and analysis show that vacancy mediated N substitution (rather than N chemisorption) is favored on the surface of nanotubes with diameter larger than 8 nm. This predicted value of the critical minimum diameter for N incorporation is confirmed by experimental results presented.

  14. Thermal Interference Fit Anode Assembly for Cathodic Protection

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2018-02-22

    than an inside diameter of the cylindrical anode, is subject to the low temperature for a minimum of six hours and preferably twenty- four hours to...degrees Fahrenheit after a minimum of six hours and preferably twenty-four hours. The anode 10 is immediately fused to the mounting bolt 20 by hand...degrees Fahrenheit after a minimum of six hours and preferably twenty-four hours. The anode is then hand pressed onto the mounting bolt to bottom out on the non-anodized face in order to form a single fused assembly.

  15. Directed network modules

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Palla, Gergely; Farkas, Illés J.; Pollner, Péter; Derényi, Imre; Vicsek, Tamás

    2007-06-01

    A search technique locating network modules, i.e. internally densely connected groups of nodes in directed networks is introduced by extending the clique percolation method originally proposed for undirected networks. After giving a suitable definition for directed modules we investigate their percolation transition in the Erdos-Rényi graph both analytically and numerically. We also analyse four real-world directed networks, including Google's own web-pages, an email network, a word association graph and the transcriptional regulatory network of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The obtained directed modules are validated by additional information available for the nodes. We find that directed modules of real-world graphs inherently overlap and the investigated networks can be classified into two major groups in terms of the overlaps between the modules. Accordingly, in the word-association network and Google's web-pages, overlaps are likely to contain in-hubs, whereas the modules in the email and transcriptional regulatory network tend to overlap via out-hubs.

  16. How Relations are Built within a SNS World -- Social Network Analysis on Mixi --

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Matsuo, Yutaka; Yasud, Yuki

    Our purpose here is to (1) investigate the structure of the personal networks developed on mixi, a Japanese social networking service (SNS), and (2) to consider the governing mechanism which guides participants of a SNS to form an aggregate network. Our findings are as follows:the clustering coefficient of the network is as high as 0.33 while the characteristic path lenght is as low as 5.5. A network among central users (over 300 edges) consist of two cliques, which seems to be very fragile. Community-affiliation network suggests there are several easy-entry communities which later lead users to more high-entry, unique-theme communities. The analysis on connectedness within a community reveals the importance of real-world interaction. Lastly, we depict a probable image of the entire ecology on {\\\\em mixi} among users and communities, which contributes broadly to social systems on the Web.

  17. Inner-City Youth Development Organizations: Strengthening Programs for Adolescent Girls

    PubMed Central

    Hirsch, Barton J.; Roffman, Jennifer G.; Deutsch, Nancy L.; Flynn, Cathy A.; Loder, Tondra L.; Pagano, Maria E.

    2012-01-01

    The challenges of early adolescence are intensified for girls of color who live in disadvantaged urban communities. One response to the needs of these girls comes from the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA), a youth development organization that has a long-standing presence in inner-city neighborhoods. A gender equity initiative designed to strengthen programming for minority girls at a BGCA affiliate in a major urban center was examined. Drawing on initial qualitative findings, a conceptual framework is presented for understanding the ways in which the clubs can affect urban early adolescent girls’ self-esteem. Several strategic choices confronting this initiative then are considered. The authors emphasize the creation of a “home place” that enables the development of self via organizational responsiveness to girls’ voices, strong bonds between girls and staff, adaptive peer friendship cliques, and the development of programs that fuse the interests of girls and adult staff. PMID:23565020

  18. A diameter growth model for the SRS FIA

    Treesearch

    David Gartner

    2015-01-01

    Changes in the national Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) processing system required the Southern Research Station’s FIA unit to create a diameter growth model to estimate the growth of trees that could not be measured at both ends of a measurement interval. Examples of such trees are trees that have died or been harvested, and trees that grow over the minimum...

  19. What Is a "Good" Social Network for a System?: The Flow of Know-How for Organizational Change. Working Paper #48

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Frank, Kenneth

    2014-01-01

    This study concerns how intra-organizational networks affect the implementation of policies and practices in organizations. In particular, we attend to the role of the informal subgroup or clique in cultivating and distributing locally adapted and integrated knowledge, or know-how. We develop two hypotheses based on the importance of…

  20. Team knowledge representation: a network perspective.

    PubMed

    Espinosa, J Alberto; Clark, Mark A

    2014-03-01

    We propose a network perspective of team knowledge that offers both conceptual and methodological advantages, expanding explanatory value through representation and measurement of component structure and content. Team knowledge has typically been conceptualized and measured with relatively simple aggregates, without fully accounting for differing knowledge configurations among team members. Teams with similar aggregate values of team knowledge may have very different team dynamics depending on how knowledge isolates, cliques, and densities are distributed across the team; which members are the most knowledgeable; who shares knowledge with whom; and how knowledge clusters are distributed. We illustrate our proposed network approach through a sample of 57 teams, including how to compute, analyze, and visually represent team knowledge. Team knowledge network structures (isolation, centrality) are associated with outcomes of, respectively, task coordination, strategy coordination, and the proportion of team knowledge cliques, all after controlling for shared team knowledge. Network analysis helps to represent, measure, and understand the relationship of team knowledge to outcomes of interest to team researchers, members, and managers. Our approach complements existing team knowledge measures. Researchers and managers can apply network concepts and measures to help understand where team knowledge is held within a team and how this relational structure may influence team coordination, cohesion, and performance.

  1. Molecular Sticker Model Stimulation on Silicon for a Maximum Clique Problem

    PubMed Central

    Ning, Jianguo; Li, Yanmei; Yu, Wen

    2015-01-01

    Molecular computers (also called DNA computers), as an alternative to traditional electronic computers, are smaller in size but more energy efficient, and have massive parallel processing capacity. However, DNA computers may not outperform electronic computers owing to their higher error rates and some limitations of the biological laboratory. The stickers model, as a typical DNA-based computer, is computationally complete and universal, and can be viewed as a bit-vertically operating machine. This makes it attractive for silicon implementation. Inspired by the information processing method on the stickers computer, we propose a novel parallel computing model called DEM (DNA Electronic Computing Model) on System-on-a-Programmable-Chip (SOPC) architecture. Except for the significant difference in the computing medium—transistor chips rather than bio-molecules—the DEM works similarly to DNA computers in immense parallel information processing. Additionally, a plasma display panel (PDP) is used to show the change of solutions, and helps us directly see the distribution of assignments. The feasibility of the DEM is tested by applying it to compute a maximum clique problem (MCP) with eight vertices. Owing to the limited computing sources on SOPC architecture, the DEM could solve moderate-size problems in polynomial time. PMID:26075867

  2. Robust Dehaze Algorithm for Degraded Image of CMOS Image Sensors.

    PubMed

    Qu, Chen; Bi, Du-Yan; Sui, Ping; Chao, Ai-Nong; Wang, Yun-Fei

    2017-09-22

    The CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) is a new type of solid image sensor device widely used in object tracking, object recognition, intelligent navigation fields, and so on. However, images captured by outdoor CMOS sensor devices are usually affected by suspended atmospheric particles (such as haze), causing a reduction in image contrast, color distortion problems, and so on. In view of this, we propose a novel dehazing approach based on a local consistent Markov random field (MRF) framework. The neighboring clique in traditional MRF is extended to the non-neighboring clique, which is defined on local consistent blocks based on two clues, where both the atmospheric light and transmission map satisfy the character of local consistency. In this framework, our model can strengthen the restriction of the whole image while incorporating more sophisticated statistical priors, resulting in more expressive power of modeling, thus, solving inadequate detail recovery effectively and alleviating color distortion. Moreover, the local consistent MRF framework can obtain details while maintaining better results for dehazing, which effectively improves the image quality captured by the CMOS image sensor. Experimental results verified that the method proposed has the combined advantages of detail recovery and color preservation.

  3. Coloring geographical threshold graphs

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

    Bradonjic, Milan; Percus, Allon; Muller, Tobias

    We propose a coloring algorithm for sparse random graphs generated by the geographical threshold graph (GTG) model, a generalization of random geometric graphs (RGG). In a GTG, nodes are distributed in a Euclidean space, and edges are assigned according to a threshold function involving the distance between nodes as well as randomly chosen node weights. The motivation for analyzing this model is that many real networks (e.g., wireless networks, the Internet, etc.) need to be studied by using a 'richer' stochastic model (which in this case includes both a distance between nodes and weights on the nodes). Here, we analyzemore » the GTG coloring algorithm together with the graph's clique number, showing formally that in spite of the differences in structure between GTG and RGG, the asymptotic behavior of the chromatic number is identical: {chi}1n 1n n / 1n n (1 + {omicron}(1)). Finally, we consider the leading corrections to this expression, again using the coloring algorithm and clique number to provide bounds on the chromatic number. We show that the gap between the lower and upper bound is within C 1n n / (1n 1n n){sup 2}, and specify the constant C.« less

  4. Comparison of intravascular ultrasound to contrast-enhanced 64-slice computed tomography to assess the significance of angiographically ambiguous coronary narrowings.

    PubMed

    Okabe, Teruo; Weigold, Wm Guy; Mintz, Gary S; Roswell, Robert; Joshi, Subodh; Lee, Sung Yun; Lee, Bongryeol; Steinberg, Daniel H; Roy, Probal; Slottow, Tina L Pinto; Smith, Kimberly; Torguson, Rebecca; Xue, Zhenyi; Satler, Lowell F; Kent, Kenneth M; Pichard, Augusto D; Weissman, Neil J; Lindsay, Joseph; Waksman, Ron

    2008-10-15

    The efficacy of contrast-enhanced multislice computed tomography (MSCT) for assessment of ambiguous lesions is unknown. We compared both quantitative coronary angiography (QCA) and MSCT to the gold standard for a significant stenosis-minimum luminal area (MLA) by intravascular ultrasound (IVUS)-in 51 patients (64 +/- 10 years old, 19 men) with 69 angiographically ambiguous, nonleft main lesions. The MSCT was performed 17 +/- 18 days before IVUS analysis. Overall diameter stenosis by QCAwas 51.0 +/- 9.8%; 39 of 51 patients (76%) eventually underwent revascularization (38 by percutaneous coronary intervention and 1 by coronary artery bypass graft). By univariate analysis, minimum luminal diameter, MLA, lumen visibility by MSCT, and minimum luminal diameter by QCA were significant predictors of MLA by IVUS

  5. Fatigue acceptance test limit criterion for larger diameter rolled thread fasteners

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

    Kephart, A.R.

    1997-05-01

    This document describes a fatigue lifetime acceptance test criterion by which studs having rolled threads, larger than 1.0 inches in diameter, can be assured to meet minimum quality attributes associated with a controlled rolling process. This criterion is derived from a stress dependent, room temperature air fatigue database for test studs having a 0.625 inch diameter threads of Alloys X-750 HTH and direct aged 625. Anticipated fatigue lives of larger threads are based on thread root elastic stress concentration factors which increase with increasing thread diameters. Over the thread size range of interest, a 30% increase in notch stress ismore » equivalent to a factor of five (5X) reduction in fatigue life. The resulting diameter dependent fatigue acceptance criterion is normalized to the aerospace rolled thread acceptance standards for a 1.0 inch diameter, 0.125 inch pitch, Unified National thread with a controlled Root radius (UNR). Testing was conducted at a stress of 50% of the minimum specified material ultimate strength, 80 Ksi, and at a stress ratio (R) of 0.10. Limited test data for fastener diameters of 1.00 to 2.25 inches are compared to the acceptance criterion. Sensitivity of fatigue life of threads to test nut geometry variables was also shown to be dependent on notch stress conditions. Bearing surface concavity of the compression nuts and thread flank contact mismatch conditions can significantly affect the fastener fatigue life. Without improved controls these conditions could potentially provide misleading acceptance data. Alternate test nut geometry features are described and implemented in the rolled thread stud specification, MIL-DTL-24789(SH), to mitigate the potential effects on fatigue acceptance data.« less

  6. Single-beam, dark toroidal optical traps for cold atoms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fatemi, Fredrik K.; Olson, Spencer E.; Bashkansky, Mark; Dutton, Zachary; Terraciano, Matthew

    2007-02-01

    We demonstrate the generation of single-beam dark toroidal optical intensity distributions, which are of interest for neutral atom storage and atom interferometry. We demonstrate experimentally and numerically optical potentials that contain a ring-shaped intensity minimum, bounded in all directions by higher intensity. We use a spatial light modulator to alter the phase of an incident laser beam, and analyze the resulting optical propagation characteristics. For small toroidal traps (< 50 μm diameter), we find an optimal superposition of Laguerre-Gaussian modes that allows the formation of single-beam toroidal traps. We generate larger toroidal bottle traps by focusing hollow beams with toroidal lenses imprinted onto the spatial light modulator.

  7. Ridge sowing of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) in a minimum till system improves the productivity, oil quality, and profitability on a sandy loam soil under an arid climate.

    PubMed

    Sher, Ahmad; Suleman, Muhammad; Qayyum, Abdul; Sattar, Abdul; Wasaya, Allah; Ijaz, Muhammad; Nawaz, Ahmad

    2018-04-01

    Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is a major oilseed crop grown for its edible oil across the globe including Pakistan. In Pakistan, the production of edible oil is less than the required quantity; the situation is being worsened with the increasing population. Thus, there is dire need to grow those sunflower genotypes which perform better under a given set of agronomic practices. In this 2-year study, we compared four sunflower genotypes, viz., Armoni, Kundi, Sinji, and S-278 for their yield potential, oil contents, fatty acid composition, and profitability under three sowing methods, viz., bed sowing, line sowing, and ridge sowing and two tillage system, viz., plow till and minimum till. Among the sunflower genotypes, the genotype Armoni produced the highest plant height, number of leaves, head diameter, 1000-achene weight, and achene yield; the oil contents and oleic acid were the highest in genotype Sinji. Among the sowing methods, the highest number of leaves per plant, head diameter, number of achenes per head, achene yield, and oil contents were recorded in ridge sowing. Among the tillage systems, the highest head diameter 16. 2 cm, 1000-achene weight (57.2 g), achene yield (1.8 t ha -1 ), oil contents (35.2%), and oleic acid (15.2%) were recorded in minimum till sunflower. The highest net benefits and benefit to cost ratio were recorded in minimum till ridge sown Armoni genotype. In conclusion, the genotype Armoni should be grown on ridges to achieve the highest achene yield, oil contents, and net profitability.

  8. Low-Current, Xenon Orificed Hollow Cathode Performance for In-Space Applications

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Domonkos, Matthew T.; Patterson, Michael J.; Gallimore, Alec D.

    2002-01-01

    An experimental investigation of the operating characteristics of 3.2-mm diameter orificed hollow cathodes was conducted to examine low current and low flow rate operation. Cathode power was minimized with an orifice aspect ratio of approximately one and the use of an enclosed keeper. Cathode flow rate requirements were proportional to orifice diameter and the inverse of the orifice length. The minimum power consumption in diode mode was 10-W, and the minimum mass flow rate required for spot-mode emission was approximately 0.08-mg/s. Cathode temperature profiles were obtained using an imaging radiometer and conduction was found to be the dominant heat transfer mechanism from the cathode tube. Orifice plate temperatures were found to be weakly dependent upon the flow rate and strongly dependent upon the current.

  9. Annular ring zoom system using two positive axicons

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dickey, Fred M.; Conner, Jacob D.

    2011-10-01

    The production of an annular ring of light with a variable diameter has applications in laser material processing and machining, particle manipulation, and corneal surgery. This can readily be accomplished using a positive and negative axicon pair. However, negative axicons are very expensive and difficult to obtain with small diameters. In this paper, we present a design of an annular ring zoom system using two positive axicons. One axicon is placed a distance before a primary lens that is greater than some prescribed minimum, and the second axicon is placed after the primary lens. The position of the second axicon determines the ring diameter. The ring diameter can be zoomed from some maximum design size to a zero diameter ring (spot). Experimental results from a developmental system will be presented.

  10. Pore diameter effects on phase behavior of a gas condensate in graphitic one-and two-dimensional nanopores.

    PubMed

    Welch, William R W; Piri, Mohammad

    2016-01-01

    Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed on a hydrocarbon mixture representing a typical gas condensate composed mostly of methane and other small molecules with small fractions of heavier hydrocarbons, representative of mixtures found in tight shale reservoirs. The fluid was examined both in bulk and confined to graphitic nano-scale slits and pores. Numerous widths and diameters of slits and pores respectively were examined under variable pressures at 300 K in order to find conditions in which the fluid at the center of the apertures would not be affected by capillary condensation due to the oil-wet walls. For the bulk fluid, retrograde phase behavior was verified by liquid volumes obtained from Voronoi tessellations. In cases of both one and two-dimensional confinement, for the smallest apertures, heavy molecules aggregated inside the pore space and compression of the gas outside the solid structure lead to decreases in density of the confined fluid. Normal density/pressure relationships were observed for slits having gaps of above 3 nm and pores having diameters above 6 nm. At 70 bar, the minimum gap width at which the fluid could pass through the center of slits without condensation effects was predicted to be 6 nm and the corresponding diameter in pores was predicted to be 8 nm. The models suggest that in nanoscale networks involving pores smaller than these limiting dimensions, capillary condensation should significantly impede transmission of natural gases with similar composition.

  11. Estimation of merchantable bole volume and biomass above sawlog top in the National Forest inventory of the United States

    Treesearch

    Grant M. Domke; Christopher M. Oswalt; Christopher W. Woodall; Jeffery A. Turner

    2013-01-01

    Emerging markets for small-diameter roundwood along with a renewed interest in forest biomass for energy have created a need for estimates of merchantable biomass above the minimum sawlog top diameter for timber species in the national forest inventory of the United States. The Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program of the USDA Forest Service recently adopted the...

  12. Nonlifting wing-body combinations with certain geometric restraints having minimum wave drag at low supersonic speeds

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lomax, Harvard

    1957-01-01

    Several variational problems involving optimum wing and body combinations having minimum wave drag for different kinds of geometrical restraints are analyzed. Particular attention is paid to the effect on the wave drag of shortening the fuselage and, for slender axially symmetric bodies, the effect of fixing the fuselage diameter at several points or even of fixing whole portions of its shape.

  13. Correlations of catalytic combustor performance parameters

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bulzan, D. L.

    1978-01-01

    Correlations for combustion efficiency percentage drop and the minimum required adiabatic reaction temperature necessary to meet emissions goals of 13.6 g CO/kg fuel and 1.64 g HC/kg fuel are presented. Combustion efficiency was found to be a function of the cell density, cell circumference, reactor length, reference velocity, and adiabatic reaction temperature. The percentage pressure drop at an adiabatic reaction temperature of 1450 K was found to be proportional to the reference velocity to the 1.5 power and to the reactor length. It is inversely proportional to the pressure, cell hydraulic diameter, and fractional open area. The minimum required adiabatic reaction temperature was found to increase with reference velocity and decrease with cell circumference, cell density and reactor length. A catalyst factor was introduced into the correlations to account for differences between catalysts. Combustion efficiency, the percentage pressure drop, and the minimum required adiabatic reaction temperature were found to be a function of the catalyst factor. The data was from a 12 cm-diameter test rig with noble metal reactors using propane fuel at an inlet temperature of 800 K.

  14. The minimum record time for PIV measurement in a vessel agitated by a Rushton turbine

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Šulc, Radek; Ditl, Pavel; Fořt, Ivan; Jašíkova, Darina; Kotek, Michal; Kopecký, Václav; Kysela, Bohuš

    In PIV studies published in the literature focusing on the investigation of the flow field in an agitated vessel the record time is ranging from the tenths and the units of seconds. The aim of this work was to determine minimum record time for PIV measurement in a vessel agitated by a Rushton turbine that is necessary to obtain relevant results of velocity field. The velocity fields were measured in a fully baffled cylindrical flat bottom vessel 400 mm in inner diameter agitated by a Rushton turbine 133 mm in diameter using 2-D Time Resolved Particle Image Velocimetry in the impeller Reynolds number range from 50 000 to 189 000. This Re range secures the fully-developed turbulent flow of agitated liquid. Three liquids of different viscosities were used as the agitated liquid. On the basis of the analysis of the radial and axial components of the mean- and fluctuation velocities measured outside the impeller region it was found that dimensionless minimum record time is independent of impeller Reynolds number and is equalled N.tRmin = 103 ± 19.

  15. Morphology, nurse plants, and minimum apical temperatures for young Carnegiea gigantea

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

    Nobel, P.S.

    1980-06-01

    The northern limit of Carnegiea gigantea (Engelm.) Britton and Rose apparently depends on minimum apical temperatures. Diameters, apical spine coverage, and effects of nurse plants on incoming long-wave (infrared (ir)) radiation, all of which affect apical temperatures, were therefore determined for stems of C. gigantea up to 4 m tall at four sites along a north-south transect in Arizona. A simulation model indicated that the increase in diameter accompanying stem growth raised the minimum apical temperature more than 3 C. Thus, plants with the shortest stems would be expected to be the most vulnerable to freezing damage; indeed, freezing damagemore » on stems <0.5 m tall without nurse plants was fairly common at the colder sites. Nurse plants obstructed a greater portion of the sky for C. gigantea at the colder sites; e.g., the effective environmental temperature for ir radiation at such locations was raised more than 10 C for stems under 1 m tall. If the northern limit of C. gigantea reflects wintertime survival of juveniles, nurse plants could extend the range by offering some protection against freezing.« less

  16. Collector Size or Range Independence of SNR in Fixed-Focus Remote Raman Spectrometry.

    PubMed

    Hirschfeld, T

    1974-07-01

    When sensitivity allows, remote Raman spectrometers can be operated at a fixed focus with purely electronic (easily multiplexable) range gating. To keep the background small, the system etendue must be minimized. For a maximum range larger than the hyperfocal one, this is done by focusing the system at roughly twice the minimum range at which etendue matching is still required. Under these conditions the etendue varies as the fourth power of the collector diameter, causing the background shot noise to vary as its square. As the signal also varies with the same power, and background noise is usually limiting in this type instrument, the SNR becomes independent of the collector size. Below this minimum etendue-matched range, the transmission at the limiting aperture grows with the square of the range, canceling the inverse square loss of signal with range. The SNR is thus range independent below the minimum etendue matched range and collector size independent above it, with the location of transition being determined by the system etendue and collector diameter. The range of validity of these outrageousstatements is discussed.

  17. Korean Affairs Report

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1985-06-20

    Public Circle Support 47 SADR Support 48 Saint Lucia Support 49 Swedish Communists Solidarity to Kim Il-song (KCNA, 29 May 85) 50 Briefs ’ War ...and war rackets and respond to our peace proposal for holding North-South parliamentary talks and announcing a joint declaration of nonaggression...counter the new war provocation maneuvers of the U.S. imperialists and the puppet clique, and more powerfully implement the three revolutions—ideological

  18. Social Circles Detection from Ego Network and Profile Information

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2014-12-19

    response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing... algorithm used to infer k-clique communities is expo- nential, which makes this technique unfeasible when treating egonets with a large number of users...atic when considering RBMs. This inconvenient was positively solved implementing a sparsity treatment with the RBM algorithm . (ii) The ground truth was

  19. Life in an Unjust Community: A Hollywood View of High School Moral Life

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Resnick, David

    2008-01-01

    This article analyses the film "Mean girls" (2004) as a window on popular notions of the moral life of American high schools, which straddles Kohlberg's Stage 2 and 3. The film presents loyalty to peer group cliques as a key value, even as it offers an individualist, relativist critique of that loyalty. Gossip is the main transgression in this…

  20. A higher order conditional random field model for simultaneous classification of land cover and land use

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Albert, Lena; Rottensteiner, Franz; Heipke, Christian

    2017-08-01

    We propose a new approach for the simultaneous classification of land cover and land use considering spatial as well as semantic context. We apply a Conditional Random Fields (CRF) consisting of a land cover and a land use layer. In the land cover layer of the CRF, the nodes represent super-pixels; in the land use layer, the nodes correspond to objects from a geospatial database. Intra-layer edges of the CRF model spatial dependencies between neighbouring image sites. All spatially overlapping sites in both layers are connected by inter-layer edges, which leads to higher order cliques modelling the semantic relation between all land cover and land use sites in the clique. A generic formulation of the higher order potential is proposed. In order to enable efficient inference in the two-layer higher order CRF, we propose an iterative inference procedure in which the two classification tasks mutually influence each other. We integrate contextual relations between land cover and land use in the classification process by using contextual features describing the complex dependencies of all nodes in a higher order clique. These features are incorporated in a discriminative classifier, which approximates the higher order potentials during the inference procedure. The approach is designed for input data based on aerial images. Experiments are carried out on two test sites to evaluate the performance of the proposed method. The experiments show that the classification results are improved compared to the results of a non-contextual classifier. For land cover classification, the result is much more homogeneous and the delineation of land cover segments is improved. For the land use classification, an improvement is mainly achieved for land use objects showing non-typical characteristics or similarities to other land use classes. Furthermore, we have shown that the size of the super-pixels has an influence on the level of detail of the classification result, but also on the degree of smoothing induced by the segmentation method, which is especially beneficial for land cover classes covering large, homogeneous areas.

  1. Morphology, surface temperatures, and northern limits of columnar cacti in the Sonoran Desert

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

    Nobel, P.S.

    1980-02-01

    Interspecific morphological differences and intraspecific morphological changes with latitude were evaluated to help examine the distributional ranges of Carnegiea gigantea, Lemaireocereus thurberi, Lophocereus schottii, Pachycereus pecten-aboriginum, and P. pringlei in the Sonoran Desert (US and Mexico). A computer model, which predicted the average surface temperature of the stem within 1/sup 0/C of that measured hourly throughout a 24-h period, was particularly useful in studying the thermal relations of the stem apex, where the lowest surface temperature occurred. Simulated increases in stem diameter raised the minimum apical temperature for C. gigantea and may help account for the extension of its rangemore » to higher latitudes than the other species studied. However, diameter increases led to a slight decrease in minimum apical temperatures for Lophocereus schottii. The immature stems of L. schottii are morphologically distinct from the mature stems, which caused minimum apical temperatures to be 1.6/sup 0/C lower for the immature stems under given environmental conditions; thus, freezing damage to the immature stems could limit the northward extension of the range of this species. As the apical pubescence in the simulations was increased up to the normal amount (10 mm), the minimum apical temperature for the stem of C. gigantea increased 2.4/sup 0/C. Simulated increases in spine shading of the apexalso raised the minimum apical temperatures, again indicating the influence of morphological features on the temperature of the meristematic region.« less

  2. Analysis of vestibular schwannoma size in multiple dimensions: a comparative cohort study of different measurement techniques.

    PubMed

    Varughese, J K; Wentzel-Larsen, T; Vassbotn, F; Moen, G; Lund-Johansen, M

    2010-04-01

    In this volumetric study of the vestibular schwannoma, we evaluated the accuracy and reliability of several approximation methods that are in use, and determined the minimum volume difference that needs to be measured for it to be attributable to an actual difference rather than a retest error. We also found empirical proportionality coefficients for the different methods. DESIGN/SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Methodological study with investigation of three different VS measurement methods compared to a reference method that was based on serial slice volume estimates. These volume estimates were based on: (i) one single diameter, (ii) three orthogonal diameters or (iii) the maximal slice area. Altogether 252 T1-weighted MRI images with gadolinium contrast, from 139 VS patients, were examined. The retest errors, in terms of relative percentages, were determined by undertaking repeated measurements on 63 scans for each method. Intraclass correlation coefficients were used to assess the agreement between each of the approximation methods and the reference method. The tendency for approximation methods to systematically overestimate/underestimate different-sized tumours was also assessed, with the help of Bland-Altman plots. The most commonly used approximation method, the maximum diameter, was the least reliable measurement method and has inherent weaknesses that need to be considered. This includes greater retest errors than area-based measurements (25% and 15%, respectively), and that it was the only approximation method that could not easily be converted into volumetric units. Area-based measurements can furthermore be more reliable for smaller volume differences than diameter-based measurements. All our findings suggest that the maximum diameter should not be used as an approximation method. We propose the use of measurement modalities that take into account growth in multiple dimensions instead.

  3. Securing Cooperative Spectrum Sensing Against Collusive SSDF Attack using XOR Distance Analysis in Cognitive Radio Networks

    PubMed Central

    Feng, Jingyu; Zhang, Man; Xiao, Yun; Yue, Hongzhou

    2018-01-01

    Cooperative spectrum sensing (CSS) is considered as a powerful approach to improve the utilization of scarce spectrum resources. However, if CSS assumes that all secondary users (SU) are honest, it may offer opportunities for attackers to conduct a spectrum sensing data falsification (SSDF) attack. To suppress such a threat, recent efforts have been made to develop trust mechanisms. Currently, some attackers can collude with each other to form a collusive clique, and thus not only increase the power of SSDF attack but also avoid the detection of a trust mechanism. Noting the duality of sensing data, we propose a defense scheme called XDA from the perspective of XOR distance analysis to suppress a collusive SSDF attack. In the XDA scheme, the XOR distance calculation in line with the type of “0” and “1” historical sensing data is used to measure the similarity between any two SUs. Noting that collusive SSDF attackers hold high trust value and the minimum XOR distance, the algorithm to detect collusive SSDF attackers is designed. Meanwhile, the XDA scheme can perfect the trust mechanism to correct collusive SSDF attackers’ trust value. Simulation results show that the XDA scheme can enhance the accuracy of trust evaluation, and thus successfully reduce the power of collusive SSDF attack against CSS. PMID:29382061

  4. Antibacterial abietane-type diterpenoid, taxodone from Metasequoia glyptostroboides Miki ex Hu.

    PubMed

    Bajpai, Vivek K; Kang, Sun Chul

    2010-12-01

    In an attempt to isolate bioactive constituents, ethyl acetate cone extract of Metasequoia glyptostroboides was subjected to a column chromatographic analysis that resulted in isolation of an abietane-type diterpenoid, taxodone. Its structure was elucidated by spectroscopic means. Further, taxodone showed potential antibacterial effect as diameters of zones of inhibition against foodborne pathogenic bacteria, such as Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 19166, Salmonella typhimurium KCTC 2515, S. enteritidis KCTC 2021, Escherichia coli ATCC 8739, E. coli O157:H7 ATCC 43888, Enterobacter aerogenes KCTC 2190, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538 and S. aureus KCTC 1916, were found in the range of 9.4 to 14.2 mm. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) values of taxodone against the employed bacterial pathogens were found in the range of 250 to 1000 and 250 to less than 2000 microg/ml, respectively. Also the compound had a strong antibacterial effect on the viable counts of the tested bacteria. These findings indicate that the bioactive compound taxodone present in M. glyptostroboides could be used as an antibacterial agent in food industry to inhibit the growth of certain important foodborne pathogens.

  5. Diameter modulation of vertically aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes.

    PubMed

    Xiang, Rong; Einarsson, Erik; Murakami, Yoichi; Shiomi, Junichiro; Chiashi, Shohei; Tang, Zikang; Maruyama, Shigeo

    2012-08-28

    We demonstrate wide-range diameter modulation of vertically aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) using a wet chemistry prepared catalyst. In order to ensure compatibility to electronic applications, the current minimum mean diameter of 2 nm for vertically aligned SWNTs is challenged. The mean diameter is decreased to about 1.4 nm by reducing Co catalyst concentrations to 1/100 or by increasing Mo catalyst concentrations by five times. We also propose a novel spectral analysis method that allows one to distinguish absorbance contributions from the upper, middle, and lower parts of a nanotube array. We use this method to quantitatively characterize the slight diameter change observed along the array height. On the basis of further investigation of the array and catalyst particles, we conclude that catalyst aggregation-rather than Ostwald ripening-dominates the growth of metal particles.

  6. Korean Affairs Report, Number 320.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1983-11-03

    search of the Academy of Social Sciences, speaks: [Begin recording] Now, the traitorous puppet clique of Chon Tu-hwan, who was greeted with a bomb...the desperate position of a trouble-maker becoming more delinquent after being foresaken by family and neighbors. For this reason, it is a childish ...business of the current house sitting, unless the ruling party "changes its mind." There appears to be consensus among political observers that

  7. Acceleration of Binding Site Comparisons by Graph Partitioning.

    PubMed

    Krotzky, Timo; Klebe, Gerhard

    2015-08-01

    The comparison of protein binding sites is a prominent task in computational chemistry and has been studied in many different ways. For the automatic detection and comparison of putative binding cavities the Cavbase system has been developed which uses a coarse-grained set of pseudocenters to represent the physicochemical properties of a binding site and employs a graph-based procedure to calculate similarities between two binding sites. However, the comparison of two graphs is computationally quite demanding which makes large-scale studies such as the rapid screening of entire databases hardly feasible. In a recent work, we proposed the method Local Cliques (LC) for the efficient comparison of Cavbase binding sites. It employs a clique heuristic to detect the maximum common subgraph of two binding sites and an extended graph model to additionally compare the shape of individual surface patches. In this study, we present an alternative to further accelerate the LC method by partitioning the binding-site graphs into disjoint components prior to their comparisons. The pseudocenter sets are split with regard to their assigned phyiscochemical type, which leads to seven much smaller graphs than the original one. Applying this approach on the same test scenarios as in the former comprehensive way results in a significant speed-up without sacrificing accuracy. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  8. The Erdős-Rothschild problem on edge-colourings with forbidden monochromatic cliques

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pikhurko, Oleg; Staden, Katherine; Yilma, Zelealem B.

    2017-09-01

    Let $\\mathbf{k} := (k_1,\\dots,k_s)$ be a sequence of natural numbers. For a graph $G$, let $F(G;\\mathbf{k})$ denote the number of colourings of the edges of $G$ with colours $1,\\dots,s$ such that, for every $c \\in \\{1,\\dots,s\\}$, the edges of colour $c$ contain no clique of order $k_c$. Write $F(n;\\mathbf{k})$ to denote the maximum of $F(G;\\mathbf{k})$ over all graphs $G$ on $n$ vertices. This problem was first considered by Erd\\H{o}s and Rothschild in 1974, but it has been solved only for a very small number of non-trivial cases. We prove that, for every $\\mathbf{k}$ and $n$, there is a complete multipartite graph $G$ on $n$ vertices with $F(G;\\mathbf{k}) = F(n;\\mathbf{k})$. Also, for every $\\mathbf{k}$ we construct a finite optimisation problem whose maximum is equal to the limit of $\\log_2 F(n;\\mathbf{k})/{n\\choose 2}$ as $n$ tends to infinity. Our final result is a stability theorem for complete multipartite graphs $G$, describing the asymptotic structure of such $G$ with $F(G;\\mathbf{k}) = F(n;\\mathbf{k}) \\cdot 2^{o(n^2)}$ in terms of solutions to the optimisation problem.

  9. 7 CFR 457.173 - Florida Avocado crop insurance provisions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... a diameter of at least four inches. Crop year. A period beginning with the date insurance attaches... season after set out; and (2) Produced the minimum production per acre as specified in the Special...

  10. Corneal Epithelium Thickness Profile in 614 Normal Chinese Children Aged 7-15 Years Old.

    PubMed

    Ma, Yingyan; He, Xiangui; Zhu, Xiaofeng; Lu, Lina; Zhu, Jianfeng; Zou, Haidong

    2016-03-23

    The purpose of the study is to describe the values and distribution of corneal epithelium thickness (CET) in normal Chinese school-aged children, and to explore associated factors with CET. CET maps were measured by Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography (FD-OCT) in normal Chinese children aged 7 to 15 years old from two randomly selected schools in Shanghai, China. Children with normal intraocular pressure were further examined for cycloplegic autorefraction, corneal curvature radius (CCR) and axial length. Central (2-mm diameter area), para-central (2- to 5-mm diameter area), and peripheral (5- to 6-mm diameter area) CET in the superior, superotemporal, temporal, inferotemporal, inferior, inferonasal, nasal, superonasal cornea; minimum, maximum, range, and standard deviation of CET within the 5-mm diameter area were recorded. The CET was thinner in the superior than in the inferior and was thinner in the temporal than in the nasal. The maximum CET was located in the inferior zone, and the minimum CET was in the superior zone. A thicker central CET was associated with male gender (p = 0.009) and older age (p = 0.037) but not with CCR (p = 0.061), axial length (p = 0.253), or refraction (p = 0.351) in the multiple regression analyses. CCR, age, and gender were correlated with para-central and peripheral CET.

  11. Pulse height response of an optical particle counter to monodisperse aerosols

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wilmoth, R. G.; Grice, S. S.; Cuda, V.

    1976-01-01

    The pulse height response of a right angle scattering optical particle counter has been investigated using monodisperse aerosols of polystyrene latex spheres, di-octyl phthalate and methylene blue. The results confirm previous measurements for the variation of mean pulse height as a function of particle diameter and show good agreement with the relative response predicted by Mie scattering theory. Measured cumulative pulse height distributions were found to fit reasonably well to a log normal distribution with a minimum geometric standard deviation of about 1.4 for particle diameters greater than about 2 micrometers. The geometric standard deviation was found to increase significantly with decreasing particle diameter.

  12. Charged nanoparticle attraction in multivalent salt solution: A classical-fluids density functional theory and molecular dynamics study

    DOE PAGES

    Salerno, K. Michael; Frischknecht, Amalie L.; Stevens, Mark J.

    2016-04-08

    Here, negatively charged nanoparticles (NPs) in 1:1, 1:2, and 1:3 electrolyte solutions are studied in a primitive ion model using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and classical density functional theory (DFT). We determine the conditions for attractive interactions between the like-charged NPs. Ion density profiles and NP–NP interaction free energies are compared between the two methods and are found to be in qualitative agreement. The NP interaction free energy is purely repulsive for monovalent counterions, but can be attractive for divalent and trivalent counterions. Using DFT, the NP interaction free energy for different NP diameters and charges is calculated. The depthmore » and location of the minimum in the interaction depend strongly on the NPs’ charge. For certain parameters, the depth of the attractive well can reach 8–10 k BT, indicating that kinetic arrest and aggregation of the NPs due to electrostatic interactions is possible. Rich behavior arises from the geometric constraints of counterion packing at the NP surface. Layering of counterions around the NPs is observed and, as secondary counterion layers form the minimum of the NP–NP interaction free energy shifts to larger separation, and the depth of the free energy minimum varies dramatically. We find that attractive interactions occur with and without NP overcharging.« less

  13. Spherical Harmonic-based Random Fields Based on Real Particle 3D Data: Improved Numerical Algorithm and Quantitative Comparison to Real Particles

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

    X Liu; E Garboczi; m Grigoriu

    Many parameters affect the cyclone efficiency, and these parameters can have different effects in different flow regimes. Therefore the maximum-efficiency cyclone length is a function of the specific geometry and operating conditions in use. In this study, we obtained a relationship describing the minimum particle diameter or maximum cyclone efficiency by using a theoretical approach based on cyclone geometry and fluid properties. We have compared the empirical predictions with corresponding literature data and observed good agreement. The results address the importance of fluid properties. Inlet and vortex finder cross-sections, cone-apex diameter, inlet Reynolds number and surface roughness are found tomore » be the other important parameters affecting cyclone height. The surface friction coefficient, on the other hand, is difficult to employ in the calculations.We developed a theoretical approach to find the maximum-efficiency heights for cyclones with tangential inlet and we suggested a relation for this height as a function of cyclone geometry and operating parameters. In order to generalize use of the relation, two dimensionless parameters, namely for geometric and operational variables, we defined and results were presented in graphical form such that one can calculate and enter the values of these dimensionless parameters and then can find the maximum efficiency height of his own specific cyclone.« less

  14. A New Method of Stress Measurement Based upon Elastic Deformation of Core Sample with Stress Relief by Drilling

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ito, T.; Funato, A.; Tamagawa, T.; Tezuka, K.; Yabe, Y.; Abe, S.; Ishida, A.; Ogasawara, H.

    2017-12-01

    When rock is cored at depth by drilling, anisotropic expansion occurs with the relief of anisotropic rock stresses, resulting in a sinusoidal variation of core diameter with a period of 180 deg. in the core roll angle. The circumferential variation of core diameter is given theoretically as a function of rock stresses. These new findings can lead various ideas to estimate the rock stress from circumferential variation of core diameter measured after the core retrieving. In the simplest case when a single core sample is only available, the difference between the maximum and minimum components of rock stress in a plane perpendicular to the drilled hole can be estimated from the maximum and minimum core diameters (see the detail in, Funato and Ito, IJRMMS, 2017). The advantages of this method include, (i) much easier measurement operation than those in other in-situ or in-lab estimation methods, and (ii) applicability in high stress environment where stress measurements need pressure for packers or pumping system for the hydro-fracturing methods higher than their tolerance levels. We have successfully tested the method at deep seismogenic zones in South African gold mines, and we are going to apply it to boreholes collared at 3 km depth and intersecting a M5.5 rupture plane several hundred meters below the mine workings in the ICDP project of "Drilling into Seismogenic zones of M2.0 - M5.5 earthquakes in deep South African gold mines" (DSeis) (e.g., http://www.icdp-online.org/projects/world/africa/orkney-s-africa/details/). If several core samples with different orientation are available, all of three principal components of 3D rock stress can be estimated. To realize this, we should have several boreholes drilled in different directions in a rock mass where the stress field is considered to be uniform. It is commonly carried out to dill boreholes in different directions from a mine gallery. Even in a deep borehole drilled vertically from the ground surface, the downhole tool of rotary sidewall coring allows us to take core samples with different orientations at depths of interest from the sidewall of the vertically-drilled borehole. The theoretical relationship between the core expansion and rock stress has been verified through the examination of core samples prepared in laboratory experiments and retrieved field cores.

  15. Biclustering Protein Complex Interactions with a Biclique FindingAlgorithm

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

    Ding, Chris; Zhang, Anne Ya; Holbrook, Stephen

    2006-12-01

    Biclustering has many applications in text mining, web clickstream mining, and bioinformatics. When data entries are binary, the tightest biclusters become bicliques. We propose a flexible and highly efficient algorithm to compute bicliques. We first generalize the Motzkin-Straus formalism for computing the maximal clique from L{sub 1} constraint to L{sub p} constraint, which enables us to provide a generalized Motzkin-Straus formalism for computing maximal-edge bicliques. By adjusting parameters, the algorithm can favor biclusters with more rows less columns, or vice verse, thus increasing the flexibility of the targeted biclusters. We then propose an algorithm to solve the generalized Motzkin-Straus optimizationmore » problem. The algorithm is provably convergent and has a computational complexity of O(|E|) where |E| is the number of edges. It relies on a matrix vector multiplication and runs efficiently on most current computer architectures. Using this algorithm, we bicluster the yeast protein complex interaction network. We find that biclustering protein complexes at the protein level does not clearly reflect the functional linkage among protein complexes in many cases, while biclustering at protein domain level can reveal many underlying linkages. We show several new biologically significant results.« less

  16. Correlations between Community Structure and Link Formation in Complex Networks

    PubMed Central

    Liu, Zhen; He, Jia-Lin; Kapoor, Komal; Srivastava, Jaideep

    2013-01-01

    Background Links in complex networks commonly represent specific ties between pairs of nodes, such as protein-protein interactions in biological networks or friendships in social networks. However, understanding the mechanism of link formation in complex networks is a long standing challenge for network analysis and data mining. Methodology/Principal Findings Links in complex networks have a tendency to cluster locally and form so-called communities. This widely existed phenomenon reflects some underlying mechanism of link formation. To study the correlations between community structure and link formation, we present a general computational framework including a theory for network partitioning and link probability estimation. Our approach enables us to accurately identify missing links in partially observed networks in an efficient way. The links having high connection likelihoods in the communities reveal that links are formed preferentially to create cliques and accordingly promote the clustering level of the communities. The experimental results verify that such a mechanism can be well captured by our approach. Conclusions/Significance Our findings provide a new insight into understanding how links are created in the communities. The computational framework opens a wide range of possibilities to develop new approaches and applications, such as community detection and missing link prediction. PMID:24039818

  17. JPRS Report, East Asia, Korea: Kulloja, No. 2, February 1988.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1989-03-02

    war to make cadres and party members cherish their loyalty to the party and the leader as a firm faith, by intensifying and developing the work of...South Korean puppet clique are ceaselessly continuing their new war provocation maneuvers. The revolutionary duty confronting us and the prevailing...revolutionary cause led by the leader. During the fatherland liberation war , our people who, having inherited that spirit, acted as human bombs to defend

  18. On the Maximum-Weight Clique Problem.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1985-06-01

    hypergeometric distribution", Discrete Math . 25, 285-287 .* CHVATAL, V. (1983), Linear Programming, W.H. Freeman, New York/San Francisco. COOK, S.A. (1971...Annals Discrete Math . 21, 325-356 GROTSCHEL, M., L. LOVASZ, and A. SCHRIJVER ((1984b), "Relaxations of Vertex Packing", Preprint No. 35...de Grenoble. See also N. Sbihi, "Algorithme de recherche d’un stable de cardinalite maximum dans un graphe sans etoile", Discrete Math . 19 (1980), 53

  19. Demonstration and Validation of a Regenerated Cellulose Dialysis Membrane Diffusion Sampler for Monitoring Ground Water Quality and Remediation Progress at DoD Sites for Perchlorate and Explosives Compounds

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-09-01

    Regulatory Council LRL Laboratory reporting level LDPE Low-density polyethylene MDL Minimum detection limit MNA Monitored natural attenuation...consists of a tubular-shaped bag made of flexible low-density polyethylene ( LDPE ) (Vroblesky, 2001a, 2001b). The LDPE tube is heat-sealed on one end...be constructed from small- diameter LDPE tubing that fits into small-diameter wells. These polyethylene diffusion bag (PDB) samplers have been

  20. Demonstration and Validation of a Regenerated Cellulose Dialysis Membrane Diffusion Sampler for Monitoring Ground-Water Quality and Remediation Progress at DoD Site: Perchlorate and Ordnance Compounds

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2011-10-01

    Regulatory Council LDPE low-density polyethylene MDL minimum detection limit NAVFAC ESC Naval Facilities Engineering Command Engineering Service...membrane sampler design consists of a tubular-shaped bag made of flexible low-density polyethylene ( LDPE ) (Vroblesky, 2001a, 2001b). The LDPE tube is...requirements, and can be constructed from small-diameter LDPE tubing that fits into small- 4 diameter wells. These polyethylene diffusion bag

  1. Demonstration and Validation of a Regenerated Cellulose Dialysis Membrane Diffusion Sampler for Monitoring Ground-Water Quality and Remediation Progress at DoD Sites

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-04-01

    LDPE low-density polyethylene LF low-flow purging LRL laboratory reporting level MDL minimum detection limit MNA monitored natural attenuation...shaped bag made of flexible low-density polyethylene ( LDPE ) (Vroblesky, 2001a, 2001b). The LDPE tube is heat-sealed on one end, filled with high...from small- diameter LDPE tubing that fits into small-diameter wells. These PDB samplers have been shown to be useful only for collection of VOCs

  2. Low loss fusion splicing polarization-maintaining photonic crystal fiber and conventional polarization-maintaining fiber

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zuoming, Sun; Ningfang, Song; Jing, Jin; Jingming, Song; Pan, Ma

    2012-12-01

    An efficient and simple method of fusion splicing of a Polarization-Maintaining Photonic Crystal Fiber (PM-PCF) and a conventional Polarization-Maintaining Fiber (PMF) with a low loss of 0.65 dB in experiment is reported. The minimum bending diameter of the joint can reach 2 cm. Theoretical calculation of the splicing loss based on mode field diameters (MFDs) mismatch of the two kinds of fibers is given. All parameters affected the splicing loss were studied.

  3. Microdisk Injection Lasers for the 1.27-μm Spectral Range

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

    Kryzhanovskaya, N. V.; Maximov, M. V.; Blokhin, S. A.

    2016-03-15

    Microdisk injection lasers on GaAs substrates, with a minimum diameter of 15 μm and an active region based on InAs/InGaAs quantum dots, are fabricated. The lasers operate in the continuous-wave mode at room temperature without external cooling. The lasing wavelength is around 1.27 μm at a minimum threshold current of 1.6 mA. The specific thermal resistance is estimated to be 5 × 10–3 °C cm{sup 2}/W.

  4. Data-Driven Packet Loss Estimation for Node Healthy Sensing in Decentralized Cluster.

    PubMed

    Fan, Hangyu; Wang, Huandong; Li, Yong

    2018-01-23

    Decentralized clustering of modern information technology is widely adopted in various fields these years. One of the main reason is the features of high availability and the failure-tolerance which can prevent the entire system form broking down by a failure of a single point. Recently, toolkits such as Akka are used by the public commonly to easily build such kind of cluster. However, clusters of such kind that use Gossip as their membership managing protocol and use link failure detecting mechanism to detect link failures cannot deal with the scenario that a node stochastically drops packets and corrupts the member status of the cluster. In this paper, we formulate the problem to be evaluating the link quality and finding a max clique (NP-Complete) in the connectivity graph. We then proposed an algorithm that consists of two models driven by data from application layer to respectively solving these two problems. Through simulations with statistical data and a real-world product, we demonstrate that our algorithm has a good performance.

  5. Method for identification of rigid domains and hinge residues in proteins based on exhaustive enumeration.

    PubMed

    Sim, Jaehyun; Sim, Jun; Park, Eunsung; Lee, Julian

    2015-06-01

    Many proteins undergo large-scale motions where relatively rigid domains move against each other. The identification of rigid domains, as well as the hinge residues important for their relative movements, is important for various applications including flexible docking simulations. In this work, we develop a method for protein rigid domain identification based on an exhaustive enumeration of maximal rigid domains, the rigid domains not fully contained within other domains. The computation is performed by mapping the problem to that of finding maximal cliques in a graph. A minimal set of rigid domains are then selected, which cover most of the protein with minimal overlap. In contrast to the results of existing methods that partition a protein into non-overlapping domains using approximate algorithms, the rigid domains obtained from exact enumeration naturally contain overlapping regions, which correspond to the hinges of the inter-domain bending motion. The performance of the algorithm is demonstrated on several proteins. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  6. 49 CFR 230.99 - Tender truck axles.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... Tenders Running Gear § 230.99 Tender truck axles. The minimum diameters of axles for various axle loads... wheel seat (in inches) Minimumdiameter of center (in inches) 50000 51/2 73/8 67/16 38000 5 63/4 57/8...

  7. Determination of the manning coefficient from measured bed roughness in natural channels

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Limerinos, John Thomas

    1970-01-01

    This report presents the results of a study to test the hypothesis that basic values of the Manning roughness coefficient of stream channels may be related to (1) some characteristic size of the streambed particles and to (2) the distribution of particle size. These two elements involving particle size can be combined into a single element by weighting characteristic particle sizes. The investigation was confined to channels with coarse bed material to avoid the complication of bed-form roughness that is associated with alluvial channels composed of fine bed material. Fifty current-meter measurements of discharge and appropriate field surveys were made at 11 sites on California streams for the purpose of computing the roughness coefficient, n, by the Manning formula. The test sites were selected to give a wide range in average size of bed material, and the discharge measurements and surveys were made at such times as to provide data covering a suitable range in stream depth. The sites selected were relatively free of the extraneous flow-retarding effects associated with irregular channel conformation and streambank vegetation. The characteristic bed-particle sizes used in the analyses were the 16,- 50,- and 84-percentile sizes as obtained from a cumulative frequency distribution of the diameters of randomly sampled surficial bed material. Separate distributions were computed for the minimum and intermediate values of the three diameters of a particle. The minimum diameters of the streambed particles were used in the study because a particle at rest on the bed invariably has its minimum diameter in the vertical position; this diameter is, therefore, the most representative measure of roughness height. The intermediate diameter was also studied because this is the diameter most easily measurable-either by sieve analysis or by photographic techniques--and--because it is the diameter that had been used in previous studies by other investigators. No significant difference in reliability was found between the results obtained using minimum diameters and those obtained using intermediate diameters. In analyzing the field data, the roughness parameter, n/R1/6 (where R is hydraulic radius), was related to relative smoothness, R/d (where d is a characteristic, or weighted characteristic, particle size). The parameter n/R1/6, rather than n, was used because it is directly proportional to the square root of the Darcy-Weisbach friction factor, f, which is more widely used in theoretical studies of hydraulic friction. If the transformation of n/R1/6 to vf is made, the relations obtained in this study are of a form that is identical with that of the theoretical friction equation obtained by several investigators and that derived from field data by Leopold and Wolman (1957). The constants in the equation vary, of course, with the characteristic particle size used. The relations best fitting the field data for this study were obtained by using either a characteristic particle diameter equal to the 84-percentile size (d84, the size equal to, or exceeding, that of 84 percent of the streambed particles), or a diameter obtained by weighting three characteristic particle sizes (dw, the size obtained by assigning a weight of 0.1 to d16 , a weight of 0.3 to d50 , and a weight of 0.6 to d84). The use of d84 alone gave slightly better results than the use of dw, and, in addition, the use of d84 alone is attractive from a standpoint of simplicity. It is difficult, however, to rationalize the use of d84 alone because of the implication that the distribution of sizes is irrelevant, and it matters not at all whether 84 percent of the bed material is sand or whether it is large cobbles, as long as 16 percent of the material is of greater size. Consequently, the author recommends the use of dw rather than d84 , although there was no unanimity of opinion on this recommendation among his colleagues who reviewed this paper. The reader is free to

  8. Flow and criticality in the open cycle gas core.

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kunze, J. F.; Lofthouse, J. H.

    1971-01-01

    A series of flowing gas experiments using air, argon, and freon has been conducted in Idaho. The purpose is to study methods of obtaining flow patterns which would create maximum possible system reactivity consistent with an acceptably low uranium to coolant-gas loss ratio. These have been conducted on both ?two-dimensional' and truly three-dimensional spherical configurations of diameters 18 to 42 inches. The larger diameter is that proposed for a minimum cost flowing gas critical experiment, and the size extremes make extrapolations to the large 6 and 8 foot diameter configurations more reliable. Results show that large enough inner gas (fuel) volume fractions can be achieved to attain criticality.

  9. Using a slightly tapered optical fiber to attract and transport microparticles.

    PubMed

    Sheu, Fang-Wen; Wu, Hong-Yu; Chen, Sy-Hann

    2010-03-15

    We exploit a fiber puller to transform a telecom single-mode optical fiber with a 125 microm diameter into a symmetric and unbroken slightly tapered optical fiber with a 50 microm diameter at the minimum waist. When the laser light is launched into the optical fiber, we can observe that, due to the evanescent wave of the slightly tapered fiber, the nearby polystyrene microparticles with 10 microm diameters will be attracted onto the fiber surface and roll separately in the direction of light propagation. We have also simulated and compared the optical propulsion effects on the microparticles when the laser light is launched into a slightly tapered fiber and a heavily tapered (subwavelength) fiber, respectively.

  10. High resolution miniaturized stepper ultrasonic motor using differential composite motion.

    PubMed

    Chu, Xiangcheng; Xing, Zengping; Li, Longtu; Gui, Zhilun

    2004-03-01

    Experiments show that there is a limited minimum stepped angle in ultrasonic motors (USM). The research on the minimum angle of stepper USM with 15 mm in diameter and wobbling mode is being carried out. This paper presents a novel way to decrease the minimum stepped angle of USM based on the principle of differential composite motion (DCM), i.e. clockwise and counterclockwise rotation. The prototype was fabricated and experiments proved that this method is useful and also keeps a high torque for a large stepped angle. The stator of the prototype is steel, and rotor is fiberglass, antifriction material or steel. The prototype can operate well over 150 h with a 5 kHz wide frequency band. The minimum stepped angle is 46" using a coventional method while 12" using DCM method proposed in this paper.

  11. Social Network Analysis in Frontier Capital Markets

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2012-06-01

    developed by Watts and Strogatz measures the extent to which clusters or cliques exist in a network [WS98]. The clustering coefficent of each individual...Coefficient Watts- Strogatz 0.8039 0.8222 0.7227 Total Degree Centralization 0.0618 0.0940 0.0612 Betweenness Centralization 0.0909 0.1256 0.0646 Closeness...Fragmentation 0.6099 0.5304 0.5308 Clustering Coefficient Watts- Strogatz 0.5281 0.6607 0.6360 Total Degree Centralization 0.0153 0.0360 0.0171

  12. Beyond the Golden Rule: A Parent's Guide to Preventing and Responding to Prejudice

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Williams, Dana

    2013-01-01

    Whether one is a parent of a 3-year-old who is curious about why a friend's skin is brown, the parent of a 9-year-old who has been called a slur because of his religion, or the parent of a 15-year-old who snubs those outside of her social clique at school, this book is designed to help teach children to honor the differences in themselves and in…

  13. Systematic review of social network analysis in adolescent cigarette smoking behavior.

    PubMed

    Seo, Dong-Chul; Huang, Yan

    2012-01-01

    Social networks are important in adolescent smoking behavior. Previous research indicates that peer context is a major causal factor of adolescent smoking behavior. To date, however, little is known about the influence of peer group structure on adolescent smoking behavior. Studies that examined adolescent social networks with regard to their cigarette smoking behavior were identified through online and manual literature searches. Ten social network analysis studies involving a total of 28,263 adolescents were included in the final review. Of the 10 reviewed studies, 6 identify clique members, liaisons, and isolates as contributing factors to adolescent cigarette smoking. Significantly higher rates of smoking are noted among isolates than clique members or liaisons in terms of peer network structure. Eight of the reviewed studies indicate that peer selection or influence precedes adolescents' smoking behavior and intent to smoke. Such peer selection or influence accounts for a large portion of similarities among smoking adolescents. Adolescents who are identified as isolates are more likely to smoke and engage in risk-taking behaviors than others in the peer network structure. Given that the vast majority of current adult smokers started their smoking habits during adolescence, adolescent smoking prevention efforts will likely benefit from incorporating social network analytic approaches and focusing the efforts on isolates and other vulnerable adolescents from a peer selection and influence perspective. © 2011, American School Health Association.

  14. Area and volume ratios for prediction of visual outcome in idiopathic macular hole.

    PubMed

    Geng, Xing-Yun; Wu, Hui-Qun; Jiang, Jie-Hui; Jiang, Kui; Zhu, Jun; Xu, Yi; Dong, Jian-Cheng; Yan, Zhuang-Zhi

    2017-01-01

    To predict the visual outcome in patients undergoing macular hole surgery by two novel three-dimensional morphological parameters on optical coherence tomography (OCT): area ratio factor (ARF) and volume ratio factor (VRF). A clinical case series was conducted, including 54 eyes of 54 patients with an idiopathic macular hole (IMH). Each patient had an OCT examination before and after surgery. Morphological parameters of the macular hole, such as minimum diameter, base diameter, and height were measured. Then, the macular hole index (MHI), tractional hole index (THI), and hole form factor (HFF) were calculated. Meanwhile, novel postoperative macular hole (MH) factors, ARF and VRF were calculated by three-dimensional morphology. Bivariate correlations were performed to acquire asymptotic significance values between the steady best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) after surgery and 2D/3D arguments of MH by the Pearson method with two-tailed test. All significant factors were analyzed by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis of SPSS software which were responsible for vision recovery. ROC curves analyses were performed to further discuss the different parameters on the prediction of visual outcome. The mean and standard deviation values of patients' age, symptoms duration, and follow-up time were 64.8±8.9y (range: 28-81), 18.6±11.5d (range: 2-60), and 11.4±0.4mo (range: 6-24), respectively. Steady-post-BCVA analyzed with bivariate correlations was found to be significantly correlated with base diameter ( r =0.521, P <0.001), minimum diameter ( r =0.514, P <0.001), MHI ( r =-0.531, P <0.001), THI ( r =-0.386, P =0.004), HFF ( r =-0.508, P <0.001), and ARF ( r =-0.532, P <0.001). Other characteristic parameters such as age, duration of surgery, height, diameter hole index, and VRF were not statistically significant with steady-post-BCVA. According to area under the curve (AUC) values, values of ARF, MHI, HFF, minimum diameter, THI, and base diameter are 0.806, 0.772, 0.750, 0.705, 0.690, and 0.686, respectively. However, Steady-post-BCVA analysis with bivariate correlations for VRF was no statistical significance. Results of ROC curve analysis indicated that the MHI value, HFF, and ARF was greater than 0.427, 1.027 and 1.558 respectively which could correlate with better visual acuity. Compared with MHI and HFF, ARF could effectively express three-dimensional characteristics of macular hole and achieve better sensitivity and specificity. Thus, ARF could be the most effective parameter to predict the visual outcome in macular hole surgery.

  15. Modelling and Optimization of Polycaprolactone Ultrafine-Fibres Electrospinning Process Using Response Surface Methodology

    PubMed Central

    Ruys, Andrew J.

    2018-01-01

    Electrospun fibres have gained broad interest in biomedical applications, including tissue engineering scaffolds, due to their potential in mimicking extracellular matrix and producing structures favourable for cell and tissue growth. The development of scaffolds often involves multivariate production parameters and multiple output characteristics to define product quality. In this study on electrospinning of polycaprolactone (PCL), response surface methodology (RSM) was applied to investigate the determining parameters and find optimal settings to achieve the desired properties of fibrous scaffold for acetabular labrum implant. The results showed that solution concentration influenced fibre diameter, while elastic modulus was determined by solution concentration, flow rate, temperature, collector rotation speed, and interaction between concentration and temperature. Relationships between these variables and outputs were modelled, followed by an optimization procedure. Using the optimized setting (solution concentration of 10% w/v, flow rate of 4.5 mL/h, temperature of 45 °C, and collector rotation speed of 1500 RPM), a target elastic modulus of 25 MPa could be achieved at a minimum possible fibre diameter (1.39 ± 0.20 µm). This work demonstrated that multivariate factors of production parameters and multiple responses can be investigated, modelled, and optimized using RSM. PMID:29562614

  16. Why Isn't the Earth Completely Covered in Water?

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Nuth, Joseph A., III; Rietmeijer, Frans J. M.; Marnocha, Cassandra L.

    2012-01-01

    If protoplanets formed from 10 to 20 kilometer diameter planetesimals in a runaway accretion process prior to their oligarchic growth into the terrestrial planets, it is only logical to ask where these planetesimals may have formed in order to assess the initial composition of the Earth. We have used Weidenschilling's model for the formation of comets (1997) to calculate an efficiency factor for the formation of planetesimals from the solar nebula, then used this factor to calculate the feeding zones that contribute to material contained within 10, 15 and 20 kilometer diameter planetesimals at 1 A.U. as a function of nebular mass. We find that for all reasonable nebular masses, these planetesimals contain a minimum of 3% water as ice by mass. The fraction of ice increases as the planetesimals increase in size and as the nebular mass decreases, since both factors increase the feeding zones from which solids in the final planetesimals are drawn. Is there really a problem with the current accretion scenario that makes the Earth too dry, or is it possible that the nascent Earth lost significant quantities of water in the final stages of accretion?

  17. Measuring Biomass and Carbon Stock in Resprouting Woody Plants

    PubMed Central

    Matula, Radim; Damborská, Lenka; Nečasová, Monika; Geršl, Milan; Šrámek, Martin

    2015-01-01

    Resprouting multi-stemmed woody plants form an important component of the woody vegetation in many ecosystems, but a clear methodology for reliable measurement of their size and quick, non-destructive estimation of their woody biomass and carbon stock is lacking. Our goal was to find a minimum number of sprouts, i.e., the most easily obtainable, and sprout parameters that should be measured for accurate sprout biomass and carbon stock estimates. Using data for 5 common temperate woody species, we modelled carbon stock and sprout biomass as a function of an increasing number of sprouts in an interaction with different sprout parameters. The mean basal diameter of only two to five of the thickest sprouts and the basal diameter and DBH of the thickest sprouts per stump proved to be accurate estimators for the total sprout biomass of the individual resprouters and the populations of resprouters, respectively. Carbon stock estimates were strongly correlated with biomass estimates, but relative carbon content varied among species. Our study demonstrated that the size of the resprouters can be easily measured, and their biomass and carbon stock estimated; therefore, resprouters can be simply incorporated into studies of woody vegetation. PMID:25719601

  18. Analysis of Antarctic Ice-Sheet Mass Balance from ICESat Measurements

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Zwally, H. Jay; Li, Jun; Robbins, John; Saba, Jack L.; Yi, Donghui

    2011-01-01

    If protoplanets formed from 10 to 20 kilometer diameter planetesimals in a runaway accretion process prior to their oligarchic growth into the terrestrial planets, it is only logical to ask where these planetesimals may have formed in order to assess the initial composition of the Earth. We have used Weidenschilling's model for the formation of comets (1997) to calculate an efficiency factor for the formation of planetesimals from the solar nebula, then used this factor to calculate the feeding zones that contribute to material contained within 10, 15 and 20 kilometer diameter planetesimals at 1 A.V. as a function of nebular mass. We find that for all reasonable nebular masses, these planetesimals contain a minimum of 3% water as ice by mass. The fraction of ice increases as the planetesimals increase in size and as the nebular mass decreases, since both factors increase the feeding zones from which solids in the final planetesimals are drawn. Is there really a problem with the current accretion scenario that makes the Earth too dry, or is it possible that the nascent Earth lost significant quantities of water in the final stages of accretion?

  19. Preliminary phytochemical and antibacterial screening of Sesuvium portulacastrum in the United Arab Emirates.

    PubMed

    Al-Azzawi, Amad; Alguboori, Alyaa; Hachim, Mahmoud Y; Najat, M; Al Shaimaa, A; Sad, Maryam

    2012-10-01

    The present study describes the phytochemical profile and antimicrobial activity of Sesuvium portulacastrum. Three extracts of S. portulacastrum obtained by extraction in aqueous, ethanolic and dichloromethane solvents, respectively, were compared for their antimicrobial activity and ethanolic extract further subjected to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis to find out the nature of the compounds responsible for the antimicrobial activity. The antibacterial activities were assessed by measuring the diameter of the inhibition zones, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) values. Compared to the aqueous and dichloromethane extract, the ethanolic extract showed better antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and E. coli, indicating its potential application related to noscomial infections. GC-MS results revealed 22, 23-Dihydrostigmasterol, Benzoic acid, 3,4,5-trihydroxy-(Gallic acid), (2R,3R)-(-)-Epicatechin and Capsaicin in the ethanolic extract to be the molecules responsible for the antimicrobial activity of S. portulacastrum. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on analysis of antimicrobial components from S. portulacastrum in United Arab Emirates (UAE), and our results confer the utility of this plant extract in developing a novel broad spectrum antimicrobial agent.

  20. A stocking guide for eastern white pine

    Treesearch

    James S. Philbrook; James P. Barrett; William B. Leak

    1973-01-01

    A stocking chart for eastern white pine is presented and described. The chart shows basal areas and numbers of trees by mean stand diameter, representing the upper limit in stocking for practical management (A curve) and minimum stocking for full site utilization (B curve).

  1. A model for predicting sulcus-to-sulcus diameter in posterior chamber phakic intraocular lens candidates: correlation between ocular biometric parameters.

    PubMed

    Ghoreishi, Mohammad; Abdi-Shahshahani, Mehdi; Peyman, Alireza; Pourazizi, Mohsen

    2018-02-21

    The aim of this study was to determine the correlation between ocular biometric parameters and sulcus-to-sulcus (STS) diameter. This was a cross-sectional study of preoperative ocular biometry data of patients who were candidates for phakic intraocular lens (IOL) surgery. Subjects underwent ocular biometry analysis, including refraction error evaluation using an autorefractor and Orbscan topography for white-to-white (WTW) corneal diameter and measurement. Pentacam was used to perform WTW corneal diameter and measurements of minimum and maximum keratometry (K). Measurements of STS and angle-to-angle (ATA) were obtained using a 50-MHz B-mode ultrasound device. Anterior optical coherence tomography was performed for anterior chamber depth measurement. Pearson's correlation test and stepwise linear regression analysis were used to find a model to predict STS. Fifty-eight eyes of 58 patients were enrolled. Mean age ± standard deviation of sample was 28.95 ± 6.04 years. The Pearson's correlation coefficient between STS with WTW, ATA, mean K was 0.383, 0.492, and - 0.353, respectively, which was statistically significant (all P < 0.001). Using stepwise linear regression analysis, there is a statistically significant association between STS with WTW (P = 0.011) and mean K (P = 0.025). The standardized coefficient was 0.323 and - 0.284 for WTW and mean K, respectively. The stepwise linear regression analysis equation was: (STS = 9.549 + 0.518 WTW - 0.083 mean K). Based on our result, given the correlation of STS with WTW and mean K and potential of direct and essay measurement of WTW and mean K, it seems that current IOL sizing protocols could be estimating with WTW and mean K.

  2. Effect of Punica granatum L. Flower Water Extract on Five Common Oral Bacteria and Bacterial Biofilm Formation on Orthodontic Wire

    PubMed Central

    VAHID DASTJERDI, Elahe; ABDOLAZIMI, Zahra; GHAZANFARIAN, Marzieh; AMDJADI, Parisa; KAMALINEJAD, Mohammad; MAHBOUBI, Arash

    2014-01-01

    Background: Use of herbal extracts and essences as natural antibacterial compounds has become increasingly popular for the control of oral infectious diseases. Therefore, finding natural antimicrobial products with the lowest side effects seems necessary. The present study sought to assess the effect of Punica granatum L. water extract on five oral bacteria and bacterial biofilm formation on orthodontic wire. Methods: Antibacterial property of P. granatum L. water extract was primarily evaluated in brain heart infusion agar medium using well-plate method. The minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration were determined by macro-dilution method. The inhibitory effect on orthodontic wire bacterial biofilm formation was evaluated using viable cell count in biofilm medium. At the final phase, samples were fixed and analyzed by Scanning Electron Microscopy. Results: The growth inhibition zone diameter was proportional to the extract concentration. The water extract demonstrated the maximum antibacterial effect on Streptococcus sanguinis ATCC 10556 with a minimum inhibitory concentration of 6.25 mg/ml and maximum bactericidal effect on S. sanguinis ATCC 10556 and S. sobrinus ATCC 27607 with minimum bactericidal concentration of 25 mg/ml. The water extract decreased bacterial biofilm formation by S. sanguinis, S. sobrinus, S. salivarius, S. mutans ATCC 35608 and E. faecalis CIP 55142 by 93.7–100%, 40.6–99.9%, 85.2–86.5%, 66.4–84.4% and 35.5–56.3% respectively. Conclusion: Punica granatum L. water extract had significant antibacterial properties against 5 oral bacteria and prevented orthodontic wire bacterial biofilm formation. However, further investigations are required to generalize these results to the clinical setting. PMID:26171362

  3. Gas-driven pump for ground-water samples

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Signor, Donald C.

    1978-01-01

    Observation wells installed for artificial-recharge research and other wells used in different ground-water programs are frequently cased with small-diameter steel pipe. To obtain samples from these small-diameter wells in order to monitor water quality, and to calibrate solute-transport models, a small-diameter pump with unique operating characteristics is required that causes a minimum alternation of samples during field sampling. A small-diameter gas-driven pump was designed and built to obtain water samples from wells of two-inch diameter or larger. The pump is a double-piston type with the following characteristics: (1) The water sample is isolated from the operating gas, (2) no source of electricity is ncessary, (3) operation is continuous, (4) use of compressed gas is efficient, and (5) operation is reliable over extended periods of time. Principles of operation, actual operation techniques, gas-use analyses and operating experience are described. Complete working drawings and a component list are included. Recent modifications and pump construction for high-pressure applications also are described. (Woodard-USGS)

  4. Design and fabrication of a boron reinforced intertank skirt

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Henshaw, J.; Roy, P. A.; Pylypetz, P.

    1974-01-01

    Analytical and experimental studies were performed to evaluate the structural efficiency of a boron reinforced shell, where the medium of reinforcement consists of hollow aluminum extrusions infiltrated with boron epoxy. Studies were completed for the design of a one-half scale minimum weight shell using boron reinforced stringers and boron reinforced rings. Parametric and iterative studies were completed for the design of minimum weight stringers, rings, shells without rings and shells with rings. Computer studies were completed for the final evaluation of a minimum weight shell using highly buckled minimum gage skin. The detail design is described of a practical minimum weight test shell which demonstrates a weight savings of 30% as compared to an all aluminum longitudinal stiffened shell. Sub-element tests were conducted on representative segments of the compression surface at maximum stress and also on segments of the load transfer joint. A 10 foot long, 77 inch diameter shell was fabricated from the design and delivered for further testing.

  5. Sex determination from the radius and ulna in a modern South African sample.

    PubMed

    Barrier, I L O; L'Abbé, E N

    2008-07-18

    With a large number of unidentified skeletal remains found in South Africa, the development of population specific osteometric standards is imperative. Forensic anthropologists need to have access to a variety of techniques to establish accurate demographic profiles from complete, fragmentary and/or commingled remains. No research has been done on the forearm of African samples, even though these bones have been shown to exhibit sexual dimorphism. The purpose of this paper is to develop discriminant function formulae to determine sex from the radius and ulna in a South African population. The sample consisted of 200 male and 200 female skeletons from the Pretoria Bone (University of Pretoria) and Raymond A. Dart (Witwatersrand University) collections. Sixteen standard anthropometric measurements were taken from the radius (9) and ulna (7) and subjected to stepwise and direct discriminant function analysis. Distal breadth, minimum mid-shaft diameter and maximum head diameter were the best discriminators of sex for the radius, while minimum mid-shaft diameter and olecranon breadth were selected for the ulna. Classification accuracy for the forearm ranged from 76 to 86%. The radius and ulna can be considered moderate discriminators for determining sex in a South African group. However, it is advised that these formulae are used in conjunction with additional methods to determine sex.

  6. Dust Cloud Modeling and Propagation Effects for Radar and Communications Codes

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1978-11-01

    particles can be described by a power law probabi 1it Y d i st r i ut i on with a power exponent of 4. Four is a typical value for dust particlIs from...loose unconsolidated soils such as desert alluviun, blust ,eera ted from a nuclear cratering explosion in rock and cohes ive soil s haN pO,,e r exponent ...da p = power law exponent amin = minimum particle diameter in the distribution (cm) a = maximum particle diameter in the distribution (cm).max The log

  7. Study of solid rocket motors for a space shuttle booster. Appendix C: Recovery and reuse 120-inch diameter solid rocket motor boosters

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1972-01-01

    A baseline for a space shuttle configuration utilizing four parallel-burn 120-in. diameter SRMS is presented. Topics discussed include parachute system sequence, recovery system development profile, parachute container, and segment and closure recovery operations. A cost analysis for recovery of the SRM stage is presented. It is concluded that from the standpoint of minimum cost and development, parachutes are the best means of achieving SRM recovery. Major SRM components can be reused safely.

  8. Applications Of Measurement Techniques To Develop Small-Diameter, Undersea Fiber Optic Cables

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kamikawa, Neil T.; Nakagawa, Arthur T.

    1984-12-01

    Attenuation, strain, and optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR) measurement techniques were applied successfully in the development of a minimum-diameter, electro-optic sea floor cable. Temperature and pressure models for excess attenuation in polymer coated, graded-index fibers were investigated analytically and experimentally using these techniques in the laboratory. The results were used to select a suitable fiber for the cable. Measurements also were performed on these cables during predeployment and sea-trial testing to verify laboratory results. Application of the measurement techniques and results are summarized in this paper.

  9. Gas-solid fluidized bed reactors: Scale-up, flow regimes identification and hydrodynamics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zaid, Faraj Muftah

    This research studied the scale-up, flow regimes identification and hydrodynamics of fluidized beds using 6-inch and 18- inch diameter columns and different particles. One of the objectives was to advance the scale-up of gas-solid fluidized bed reactors by developing a new mechanistic methodology for hydrodynamic similarity based on matching the radial or diameter profile of gas phase holdup, since gas dynamics dictate the hydrodynamics of these reactors. This has been successfully achieved. However, the literature reported scale-up methodology based on matching selected dimensionless groups was examined and it was found that it was not easy to match the dimensionless groups and hence, there was some deviation in the hydrodynamics of the studied two different fluidized beds. A new technique based on gamma ray densitometry (GRD) was successfully developed and utilized to on-line monitor the implementation of scale-up, to identify the flow regime, and to measure the radial or diameter profiles of gas and solids holdups. CFD has been demonstrated as a valuable tool to enable the implementation of the newly developed scale-up methodology based on finding the conditions that provide similar or closer radial profile or cross sectional distribution of the gas holdup. As gas velocity increases, solids holdup in the center region of the column decreases in the fully developed region of both 6 inch and 18 inch diameter columns. Solids holdup increased with the increase in the particles size and density. Upflowing particles velocity increased with the gas velocity and became steeper at high superficial gas velocity at all axial heights where the center line velocity became higher than that in the wall region. Smaller particles size and lower density gave larger upflowing particles velocity. Minimum fluidization velocity and transition velocity from bubbly to churn turbulent flow regimes were found to be lower in 18 inch diameter column compared to those obtained in 6 inch diameter column. Also the absolute fluctuation of upflowing particles velocity multiplied by solids holdups vś 3ś as one of the terms for solids mass flux estimation was found to be larger in 18-inch diameter column than that in 6-inch diameter column using same particles size and density.

  10. Substrate Curvature Restricts Spreading and Induces Differentiation of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells.

    PubMed

    Lee, Sang Joo; Yang, Shengyuan

    2017-09-01

    While cells attach, spread, migrate, proliferate, and differentiate in three-dimensional (3D) micromechanical environments, the mechanical factors of these environments influence the shapes, sizes, and adhesion forces of the cells. Here, the authors culture human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) on a unique class of curvature-defined substrates, micro glass ball embedded polyacrylamide gels, prepared with an improved protocol, and investigate the spreading responses of the hMSCs on the glass balls to study the effects of substrate curvature on the spreading of hMSCs. The authors find that, among the used diameters of glass balls, the minimum diameter of a glass ball on which an hMSC can attach and spread is 500 μm. In contrast to the well-spread morphologies with randomly-multiple lamellipodia for the hMSCs growing on the flat glass plates, the morphologies of the hMSCs growing on the glass balls are almost uniformly spindle-shaped with two lamellipodia. The sensitivities of the attachment and spreading morphology of an hMSC to substrate curvature are very different from those of a fibroblast. The RT-PCR analysis reveals that the substrate curvature alone can induce adipogenesis of the hMSCs. These findings imply that substrate curvature has profound effects on stem cell behaviors, and detailed and in-depth studies on these effects and their underlying biophysical mechanisms are necessary. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  11. Testing and Improving Theories of Radiative Transfer for Determining the Mineralogy of Planetary Surfaces

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gudmundsson, E.; Ehlmann, B. L.; Mustard, J. F.; Hiroi, T.; Poulet, F.

    2012-12-01

    Two radiative transfer theories, the Hapke and Shkuratov models, have been used to estimate the mineralogic composition of laboratory mixtures of anhydrous mafic minerals from reflected near-infrared light, accurately modeling abundances to within 10%. For this project, we tested the efficacy of the Hapke model for determining the composition of mixtures (weight fraction, particle diameter) containing hydrous minerals, including phyllosilicates. Modal mineral abundances for some binary mixtures were modeled to +/-10% of actual values, but other mixtures showed higher inaccuracies (up to 25%). Consequently, a sensitivity analysis of selected input and model parameters was performed. We first examined the shape of the model's error function (RMS error between modeled and measured spectra) over a large range of endmember weight fractions and particle diameters and found that there was a single global minimum for each mixture (rather than local minima). The minimum was sensitive to modeled particle diameter but comparatively insensitive to modeled endmember weight fraction. Derivation of the endmembers' k optical constant spectra using the Hapke model showed differences with the Shkuratov-derived optical constants originally used. Model runs with different sets of optical constants suggest that slight differences in the optical constants used significantly affect the accuracy of model predictions. Even for mixtures where abundance was modeled correctly, particle diameter agreed inconsistently with sieved particle sizes and varied greatly for individual mix within suite. Particle diameter was highly sensitive to the optical constants, possibly indicating that changes in modeled path length (proportional to particle diameter) compensate for changes in the k optical constant. Alternatively, it may not be appropriate to model path length and particle diameter with the same proportionality for all materials. Across mixtures, RMS error increased in proportion to the fraction of the darker endmember. Analyses are ongoing and further studies will investigate the effect of sample hydration, permitted variability in particle size, assumed photometric functions and use of different wavelength ranges on model results. Such studies will advance understanding of how to best apply radiative transfer modeling to geologically complex planetary surfaces. Corresponding authors: eyjolfur88@gmail.com, ehlmann@caltech.edu

  12. 7 CFR 51.2836 - Size classifications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Size classifications. 51.2836 Section 51.2836...) Size Classifications § 51.2836 Size classifications. The size of onions may be specified in accordance with one of the following classifications. Size designation Minimum diameter Inches Millimeters Maximum...

  13. 7 CFR 51.2836 - Size classifications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Size classifications. 51.2836 Section 51.2836...) Size Classifications § 51.2836 Size classifications. The size of onions may be specified in accordance with one of the following classifications. Size designation Minimum diameter Inches Millimeters Maximum...

  14. 7 CFR 51.2836 - Size classifications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 2 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Size classifications. 51.2836 Section 51.2836...) Size Classifications § 51.2836 Size classifications. The size of onions may be specified in accordance with one of the following classifications. Size designation Minimum diameter Inches Millimeters Maximum...

  15. The Atacama Compact Array: An Overview

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Iguchi, S.; Wilson, T. L.

    2010-01-01

    When completed, ALMA will comprise a 12-meter diameter antennas array (12-m Array) of a minimum of fifty antennas, and the ACA (Atacama Compact Array), composed of four 12-meter diameter antennas and twelve 7-meter diameter antennas. Out of the fifty antennas of the 12-m Array, one-half are provided by the North American partners of ALMA, the other half by the European partners. The sixteen antennas that will comprise the ACA are provided by the East Asian Partners of ALMA. In the last issue of the ALMA Science Newsletter, we outlined the testing of the prototype ALMA 12-meter diameter antennas and the procurement process for these antennas. In that article, only a short account was given of the antennas for the Atacama Compact Array (ACA). In the following we give an overview of the ACA, starting with an introduction to imaging using interferometers.

  16. Variable diameter CO2 laser ring-cutting system adapted to a zoom microscope for applications on polymer tapes.

    PubMed

    Förster, Erik; Bohnert, Patrick; Kraus, Matthias; Kilper, Roland; Müller, Ute; Buchmann, Martin; Brunner, Robert

    2016-11-20

    This paper presents the conception and implementation of a variable diameter ring-cutting system for a CO2 laser with a working wavelength of 10.6 μm. The laser-cutting system is adapted to an observation zoom microscope for combined use and is applicable for the extraction of small circular areas from polymer films, such as forensic adhesive tapes in a single shot. As an important characteristic for our application, the variable diameter ring-cutting system provides telecentricity in the target area. Ring diameters are continuously tunable between 500 μm and 2 mm. A minimum width of less than 20 μm was found for the ring profile edge. The basic characteristics of the system, including telecentricity, were experimentally evaluated and demonstrated by cutting experiments on different polymer tapes and further exemplary samples.

  17. Translations on North Korea No. 601

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1978-07-13

    Boosting War Fever"] [Text] On 21 June, with the anniversary of the outbreak of the 24 June war just a few days away, the South Korean puppet clique...conducted the puppet farce of shooting matches between ministerial posts of the puppet adminis- tration, thus boosting war fever. At the war racket site...the puppet "prime minister" led the way in openly inciting war , raving about the "threat of southward aggression," the "nation’s stability" and the

  18. Combinatorial Problems of Applied Discrete Mathematics.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1979-12-01

    204 .I (30) 3. Steiner, Combinatorische Aufgabe, Z. Reine Angew. Math. 45 (1853) 18 1—182. (31) IC. Takeuchi, A table of difference sets generating...Assoc. Fr. Ay. Sd . 1 (1900) 122— 123; 2 (1901) 170—203. • (33) R.M. Wilson, Cyclotomy and difference fam ilies in elementary Abelian groups , 3. Number...the differe nt cliques containing either A or B. Let us first introduce the following notations. If A is a vertex in G, then 1(A) denotes the set of

  19. Matching and Vertex Packing: How Hard Are They?

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1991-01-01

    Theory, 29, Ann. Discrete Math ., North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1986. [2] M.D. Plummer, Matching theory - a sampler: from D~nes K~nig to the present...Ser. B, 28, 1980, 284-304. [20i N. Sbihi, Algorithme de recherche d’un stable de cardinalit6 maximum dans un graphe sans 6toile, Discrete Math ., 29...cliques and by finite families of graphs, Discrete Math ., 49, 1984, 45-59. [92] G. Cornu~jols, D. Hartvigsen and W.R. Pulleyblank, Packing subgraphs in

  20. Miniature multicontact connectors

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Holden, D. G.; Robelen, D. B.

    1970-01-01

    Connectors, which have 4 to 9 contacts, are engaged through a hole with a minimum diameter of 0.030 inch. They are constructed of concentric brass and nylon components assembled with a light, firm press-fit. They withstand several thousand mating cycles and each outer contact has a one ampere capacity.

  1. 7 CFR 51.886 - Tolerances.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... institutional (A) For clusters/bunches failing to meet color requirements 10. (B) For clusters/bunches failing to meet requirements for minimum diameter of berries 10. (C) For offsize clusters/bunches 4. (D) For clusters/bunches and berries failing to meet the remaining requirements for the grade 8. Including in (D...

  2. 29 CFR 1910.27 - Fixed ladders.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ...) All rungs shall have a minimum diameter of three-fourths inch for metal ladders, except as covered in... appurtenances shall be painted or otherwise treated to resist corrosion and rusting when location demands... areas under floors, are frequently located in an atmosphere that causes corrosion and rusting. To...

  3. SU-F-18C-01: Minimum Detectability Analysis for Comprehensive Sized Based Optimization of Image Quality and Radiation Dose Across CT Protocols

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

    Smitherman, C; Chen, B; Samei, E

    2014-06-15

    Purpose: This work involved a comprehensive modeling of task-based performance of CT across a wide range of protocols. The approach was used for optimization and consistency of dose and image quality within a large multi-vendor clinical facility. Methods: 150 adult protocols from the Duke University Medical Center were grouped into sub-protocols with similar acquisition characteristics. A size based image quality phantom (Duke Mercury Phantom) was imaged using these sub-protocols for a range of clinically relevant doses on two CT manufacturer platforms (Siemens, GE). The images were analyzed to extract task-based image quality metrics such as the Task Transfer Function (TTF),more » Noise Power Spectrum, and Az based on designer nodule task functions. The data were analyzed in terms of the detectability of a lesion size/contrast as a function of dose, patient size, and protocol. A graphical user interface (GUI) was developed to predict image quality and dose to achieve a minimum level of detectability. Results: Image quality trends with variations in dose, patient size, and lesion contrast/size were evaluated and calculated data behaved as predicted. The GUI proved effective to predict the Az values representing radiologist confidence for a targeted lesion, patient size, and dose. As an example, an abdomen pelvis exam for the GE scanner, with a task size/contrast of 5-mm/50-HU, and an Az of 0.9 requires a dose of 4.0, 8.9, and 16.9 mGy for patient diameters of 25, 30, and 35 cm, respectively. For a constant patient diameter of 30 cm, the minimum detected lesion size at those dose levels would be 8.4, 5, and 3.9 mm, respectively. Conclusion: The designed CT protocol optimization platform can be used to evaluate minimum detectability across dose levels and patient diameters. The method can be used to improve individual protocols as well as to improve protocol consistency across CT scanners.« less

  4. Minimum Wages and Skill Acquisition: Another Look at Schooling Effects.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Neumark, David; Wascher, William

    2003-01-01

    Examines the effects of minimum wage on schooling, seeking to reconcile some of the contradictory results in recent research using Current Population Survey data from the late 1970s through the 1980s. Findings point to negative effects of minimum wages on school enrollment, bolstering the findings of negative effects of minimum wages on enrollment…

  5. Inferring social status and rich club effects in enterprise communication networks.

    PubMed

    Dong, Yuxiao; Tang, Jie; Chawla, Nitesh V; Lou, Tiancheng; Yang, Yang; Wang, Bai

    2015-01-01

    Social status, defined as the relative rank or position that an individual holds in a social hierarchy, is known to be among the most important motivating forces in social behaviors. In this paper, we consider the notion of status from the perspective of a position or title held by a person in an enterprise. We study the intersection of social status and social networks in an enterprise. We study whether enterprise communication logs can help reveal how social interactions and individual status manifest themselves in social networks. To that end, we use two enterprise datasets with three communication channels--voice call, short message, and email--to demonstrate the social-behavioral differences among individuals with different status. We have several interesting findings and based on these findings we also develop a model to predict social status. On the individual level, high-status individuals are more likely to be spanned as structural holes by linking to people in parts of the enterprise networks that are otherwise not well connected to one another. On the community level, the principle of homophily, social balance and clique theory generally indicate a "rich club" maintained by high-status individuals, in the sense that this community is much more connected, balanced and dense. Our model can predict social status of individuals with 93% accuracy.

  6. Applications of harvesting system simulation to timber management and utilization analyses

    Treesearch

    John E. Baumgras; Chris B. LeDoux

    1990-01-01

    Applications of timber harvesting system simulation to the economic analysis of forest management and wood utilization practices are presented. These applications include estimating thinning revenue by stand age, estimating impacts of minimum merchantable tree diameter on harvesting revenue, and evaluating wood utilization alternatives relative to pulpwood quotas and...

  7. Rapid economic analysis of northern hardwood stand improvement options

    Treesearch

    William B. Leak

    1980-01-01

    Data and methodology are provided for projecting basal area, diameter, volumes, and values by product for northern hardwood stands, and for determining the rate of return on stand improvement investments. The method is rapid, requires a minimum amount of information, and should prove useful for on-the-ground economic analyses.

  8. 30 CFR 7.98 - Technical requirements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... the manufacturing process to not more than 250 microinches. (ii) A means shall be provided to ensure...) The minimum thread engagement of fastenings shall be equal to or greater than the nominal diameter of... flame-arresting path shall be finished during the manufacturing process to not more than 250 microinches...

  9. 30 CFR 7.98 - Technical requirements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... the manufacturing process to not more than 250 microinches. (ii) A means shall be provided to ensure...) The minimum thread engagement of fastenings shall be equal to or greater than the nominal diameter of... flame-arresting path shall be finished during the manufacturing process to not more than 250 microinches...

  10. 30 CFR 7.98 - Technical requirements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... the manufacturing process to not more than 250 microinches. (ii) A means shall be provided to ensure...) The minimum thread engagement of fastenings shall be equal to or greater than the nominal diameter of... flame-arresting path shall be finished during the manufacturing process to not more than 250 microinches...

  11. Mini-tapping sugar maples for sap-sugar testing

    Treesearch

    William J. Gabriel

    1982-01-01

    Describes a technique using cannulas, surgical tubing, and small containers to obtain sap samples for use in determining the sugar content of sap in small sugar maple trees. This technique is used on trees directly exposed to the weather, and sets a minimum tappable tree diameter of 1.5 cm.

  12. 29 CFR 1917.42 - Miscellaneous auxiliary gear.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... and Spacing of U-Bolt Wire Rope Clips Improved plow steel, rope diameter (inches/(cm)) Minimum number.... (b) Wire rope and wire rope slings. (1) The employer shall ascertain and adhere to the manufacturer's recommended ratings for wire rope and wire rope slings and shall have such ratings available for inspection...

  13. 46 CFR 173.095 - Towline pull criterion.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... diameter in feet (meters). s=that fraction of the propeller circle cylinder which would be intercepted by... shaft centerline at rudder to towing bitts in feet (meters). Δ=displacement in long tons (metric tons). f=minimum freeboard along the length of the vessel in feet (meters). B=molded beam in feet (meters...

  14. 7 CFR 51.1527 - Standard pack.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... plums or prunes in the top layer of any package shall be reasonably representative in quality and size... minimum diameter, or number of fruit per package, or in accordance with the arrangement of the top layer... peach boxes, lug boxes and small consumer packages. In layer-packed California peach boxes or lug boxes...

  15. 40 CFR 53.40 - General provisions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 50 percent cutpoint of a test sampler shall be determined in a wind tunnel using 10 particle sizes and three wind speeds as specified in table D-2. A minimum of 3 replicate measurements of sampling... sampling effectiveness (percent) versus aerodynamic particle diameter (µm) for each of the three wind...

  16. 40 CFR 53.40 - General provisions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 50 percent cutpoint of a test sampler shall be determined in a wind tunnel using 10 particle sizes and three wind speeds as specified in table D-2. A minimum of 3 replicate measurements of sampling... sampling effectiveness (percent) versus aerodynamic particle diameter (µm) for each of the three wind...

  17. 30 CFR 250.1613 - Diverter systems.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... a minimum number of turns in the vent line(s) downstream of the spool outlet flange, and the radius... system utilizes only one spool outlet, branch lines shall be installed to provide downwind diversion capability, and (2) No spool outlet or diverter line internal diameter shall be less than 10 inches, except...

  18. Genome-wide screen identifies a novel prognostic signature for breast cancer survival

    DOE PAGES

    Mao, Xuan Y.; Lee, Matthew J.; Zhu, Jeffrey; ...

    2017-01-21

    Large genomic datasets in combination with clinical data can be used as an unbiased tool to identify genes important in patient survival and discover potential therapeutic targets. We used a genome-wide screen to identify 587 genes significantly and robustly deregulated across four independent breast cancer (BC) datasets compared to normal breast tissue. Gene expression of 381 genes was significantly associated with relapse-free survival (RFS) in BC patients. We used a gene co-expression network approach to visualize the genetic architecture in normal breast and BCs. In normal breast tissue, co-expression cliques were identified enriched for cell cycle, gene transcription, cell adhesion,more » cytoskeletal organization and metabolism. In contrast, in BC, only two major co-expression cliques were identified enriched for cell cycle-related processes or blood vessel development, cell adhesion and mammary gland development processes. Interestingly, gene expression levels of 7 genes were found to be negatively correlated with many cell cycle related genes, highlighting these genes as potential tumor suppressors and novel therapeutic targets. A forward-conditional Cox regression analysis was used to identify a 12-gene signature associated with RFS. A prognostic scoring system was created based on the 12-gene signature. This scoring system robustly predicted BC patient RFS in 60 sampling test sets and was further validated in TCGA and METABRIC BC data. Our integrated study identified a 12-gene prognostic signature that could guide adjuvant therapy for BC patients and includes novel potential molecular targets for therapy.« less

  19. Genome-wide screen identifies a novel prognostic signature for breast cancer survival

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

    Mao, Xuan Y.; Lee, Matthew J.; Zhu, Jeffrey

    Large genomic datasets in combination with clinical data can be used as an unbiased tool to identify genes important in patient survival and discover potential therapeutic targets. We used a genome-wide screen to identify 587 genes significantly and robustly deregulated across four independent breast cancer (BC) datasets compared to normal breast tissue. Gene expression of 381 genes was significantly associated with relapse-free survival (RFS) in BC patients. We used a gene co-expression network approach to visualize the genetic architecture in normal breast and BCs. In normal breast tissue, co-expression cliques were identified enriched for cell cycle, gene transcription, cell adhesion,more » cytoskeletal organization and metabolism. In contrast, in BC, only two major co-expression cliques were identified enriched for cell cycle-related processes or blood vessel development, cell adhesion and mammary gland development processes. Interestingly, gene expression levels of 7 genes were found to be negatively correlated with many cell cycle related genes, highlighting these genes as potential tumor suppressors and novel therapeutic targets. A forward-conditional Cox regression analysis was used to identify a 12-gene signature associated with RFS. A prognostic scoring system was created based on the 12-gene signature. This scoring system robustly predicted BC patient RFS in 60 sampling test sets and was further validated in TCGA and METABRIC BC data. Our integrated study identified a 12-gene prognostic signature that could guide adjuvant therapy for BC patients and includes novel potential molecular targets for therapy.« less

  20. Cooperation and Contagion in Web-Based, Networked Public Goods Experiments

    PubMed Central

    Suri, Siddharth; Watts, Duncan J.

    2011-01-01

    A longstanding idea in the literature on human cooperation is that cooperation should be reinforced when conditional cooperators are more likely to interact. In the context of social networks, this idea implies that cooperation should fare better in highly clustered networks such as cliques than in networks with low clustering such as random networks. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a series of web-based experiments, in which 24 individuals played a local public goods game arranged on one of five network topologies that varied between disconnected cliques and a random regular graph. In contrast with previous theoretical work, we found that network topology had no significant effect on average contributions. This result implies either that individuals are not conditional cooperators, or else that cooperation does not benefit from positive reinforcement between connected neighbors. We then tested both of these possibilities in two subsequent series of experiments in which artificial seed players were introduced, making either full or zero contributions. First, we found that although players did generally behave like conditional cooperators, they were as likely to decrease their contributions in response to low contributing neighbors as they were to increase their contributions in response to high contributing neighbors. Second, we found that positive effects of cooperation were contagious only to direct neighbors in the network. In total we report on 113 human subjects experiments, highlighting the speed, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness of web-based experiments over those conducted in physical labs. PMID:21412431

  1. Inference of time-delayed gene regulatory networks based on dynamic Bayesian network hybrid learning method

    PubMed Central

    Yu, Bin; Xu, Jia-Meng; Li, Shan; Chen, Cheng; Chen, Rui-Xin; Wang, Lei; Zhang, Yan; Wang, Ming-Hui

    2017-01-01

    Gene regulatory networks (GRNs) research reveals complex life phenomena from the perspective of gene interaction, which is an important research field in systems biology. Traditional Bayesian networks have a high computational complexity, and the network structure scoring model has a single feature. Information-based approaches cannot identify the direction of regulation. In order to make up for the shortcomings of the above methods, this paper presents a novel hybrid learning method (DBNCS) based on dynamic Bayesian network (DBN) to construct the multiple time-delayed GRNs for the first time, combining the comprehensive score (CS) with the DBN model. DBNCS algorithm first uses CMI2NI (conditional mutual inclusive information-based network inference) algorithm for network structure profiles learning, namely the construction of search space. Then the redundant regulations are removed by using the recursive optimization algorithm (RO), thereby reduce the false positive rate. Secondly, the network structure profiles are decomposed into a set of cliques without loss, which can significantly reduce the computational complexity. Finally, DBN model is used to identify the direction of gene regulation within the cliques and search for the optimal network structure. The performance of DBNCS algorithm is evaluated by the benchmark GRN datasets from DREAM challenge as well as the SOS DNA repair network in Escherichia coli, and compared with other state-of-the-art methods. The experimental results show the rationality of the algorithm design and the outstanding performance of the GRNs. PMID:29113310

  2. Cooperation and contagion in web-based, networked public goods experiments.

    PubMed

    Suri, Siddharth; Watts, Duncan J

    2011-03-11

    A longstanding idea in the literature on human cooperation is that cooperation should be reinforced when conditional cooperators are more likely to interact. In the context of social networks, this idea implies that cooperation should fare better in highly clustered networks such as cliques than in networks with low clustering such as random networks. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a series of web-based experiments, in which 24 individuals played a local public goods game arranged on one of five network topologies that varied between disconnected cliques and a random regular graph. In contrast with previous theoretical work, we found that network topology had no significant effect on average contributions. This result implies either that individuals are not conditional cooperators, or else that cooperation does not benefit from positive reinforcement between connected neighbors. We then tested both of these possibilities in two subsequent series of experiments in which artificial seed players were introduced, making either full or zero contributions. First, we found that although players did generally behave like conditional cooperators, they were as likely to decrease their contributions in response to low contributing neighbors as they were to increase their contributions in response to high contributing neighbors. Second, we found that positive effects of cooperation were contagious only to direct neighbors in the network. In total we report on 113 human subjects experiments, highlighting the speed, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness of web-based experiments over those conducted in physical labs.

  3. Inference of time-delayed gene regulatory networks based on dynamic Bayesian network hybrid learning method.

    PubMed

    Yu, Bin; Xu, Jia-Meng; Li, Shan; Chen, Cheng; Chen, Rui-Xin; Wang, Lei; Zhang, Yan; Wang, Ming-Hui

    2017-10-06

    Gene regulatory networks (GRNs) research reveals complex life phenomena from the perspective of gene interaction, which is an important research field in systems biology. Traditional Bayesian networks have a high computational complexity, and the network structure scoring model has a single feature. Information-based approaches cannot identify the direction of regulation. In order to make up for the shortcomings of the above methods, this paper presents a novel hybrid learning method (DBNCS) based on dynamic Bayesian network (DBN) to construct the multiple time-delayed GRNs for the first time, combining the comprehensive score (CS) with the DBN model. DBNCS algorithm first uses CMI2NI (conditional mutual inclusive information-based network inference) algorithm for network structure profiles learning, namely the construction of search space. Then the redundant regulations are removed by using the recursive optimization algorithm (RO), thereby reduce the false positive rate. Secondly, the network structure profiles are decomposed into a set of cliques without loss, which can significantly reduce the computational complexity. Finally, DBN model is used to identify the direction of gene regulation within the cliques and search for the optimal network structure. The performance of DBNCS algorithm is evaluated by the benchmark GRN datasets from DREAM challenge as well as the SOS DNA repair network in Escherichia coli , and compared with other state-of-the-art methods. The experimental results show the rationality of the algorithm design and the outstanding performance of the GRNs.

  4. Numerical calculation of the parameters of the efflux from a helium dewar used for cooling of heat shields in a satellite

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Brendley, K.; Chato, J. C.

    1982-01-01

    The parameters of the efflux from a helium dewar in space were numerically calculated. The flow was modeled as a one dimensional compressible ideal gas with variable properties. The primary boundary conditions are flow with friction and flow with heat transfer and friction. Two PASCAL programs were developed to calculate the efflux parameters: EFFLUZD and EFFLUXM. EFFLUXD calculates the minimum mass flow for the given shield temperatures and shield heat inputs. It then calculates the pipe lengths, diameter, and fluid parameters which satisfy all boundary conditions. Since the diameter returned by EFFLUXD is only rarely of nominal size, EFFLUXM calculates the mass flow and shield heat exchange for given pipe lengths, diameter, and shield temperatures.

  5. BROACHING AND TUBE-INSTALLING APPARATUS

    DOEpatents

    Frantz, C.E.; Cawley, W.E.

    1961-05-16

    An apparatus is given for sizing long holes in graphite bodies. The apparatus comprises a shaft having 3 spiral broach cutting elements and a straight broach cutting element rotatably mounted thereon. The broach cutting elements are keyed to each other in end to end relationship with the straight broach cutting element at one end of the shaft. The spiral broach cutting elements when considered toward the straight broach cutting element increase in diameter and the cutting teeth thereon increase in lead angle. The straight broach cutting element, when considered in the same direction, increases in diameter from the minimum to maximum diameters of the spiral broach cutting elements. No longitudinal movement of the broach cutting elements is permitted on the shsft snd means are provided for the removal of chips from the apparatus.

  6. Venus small volcano classification and description

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Aubele, J. C.

    1993-01-01

    The high resolution and global coverage of the Magellan radar image data set allows detailed study of the smallest volcanoes on the planet. A modified classification scheme for volcanoes less than 20 km in diameter is shown and described. It is based on observations of all members of the 556 significant clusters or fields of small volcanoes located and described by this author during data collection for the Magellan Volcanic and Magmatic Feature Catalog. This global study of approximately 10 exp 4 volcanoes provides new information for refining small volcano classification based on individual characteristics. Total number of these volcanoes was estimated to be 10 exp 5 to 10 exp 6 planetwide based on pre-Magellan analysis of Venera 15/16, and during preparation of the global catalog, small volcanoes were identified individually or in clusters in every C1-MIDR mosaic of the Magellan data set. Basal diameter (based on 1000 measured edifices) generally ranges from 2 to 12 km with a mode of 34 km, and follows an exponential distribution similar to the size frequency distribution of seamounts as measured from GLORIA sonar images. This is a typical distribution for most size-limited natural phenomena unlike impact craters which follow a power law distribution and continue to infinitely increase in number with decreasing size. Using an exponential distribution calculated from measured small volcanoes selected globally at random, we can calculate total number possible given a minimum size. The paucity of edifice diameters less than 2 km may be due to inability to identify very small volcanic edifices in this data set; however, summit pits are recognizable at smaller diameters, and 2 km may represent a significant minimum diameter related to style of volcanic eruption. Guest, et al, discussed four general types of small volcanic edifices on Venus: (1) small lava shields; (2) small volcanic cones; (3) small volcanic domes; and (4) scalloped margin domes ('ticks'). Steep-sided domes or 'pancake domes', larger than 20 km in diameter, were included with the small volcanic domes. For the purposes of this study, only volcanic edifices less than 20 km in diameter are discussed. This forms a convenient cutoff since most of the steep-sided domes ('pancake domes') and scalloped margin domes ('ticks') are 20 to 100 km in diameter, are much less numerous globally than are the smaller diameter volcanic edifices (2 to 3 orders of magnitude lower in total global number), and do not commonly occur in large clusters or fields of large numbers of edifices.

  7. Numerical Simulation of Selecting Model Scale of Cable in Wind Tunnel Test

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Huang, Yifeng; Yang, Jixin

    The numerical simulation method based on computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) provides a possible alternative means of physical wind tunnel test. Firstly, the correctness of the numerical simulation method is validated by one certain example. In order to select the minimum length of the cable as to a certain diameter in the numerical wind tunnel tests, the numerical wind tunnel tests based on CFD are carried out on the cables with several different length-diameter ratios (L/D). The results show that, when the L/D reaches to 18, the drag coefficient is stable essentially.

  8. A network analysis of the Chinese stock market

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Huang, Wei-Qiang; Zhuang, Xin-Tian; Yao, Shuang

    2009-07-01

    In many practical important cases, a massive dataset can be represented as a very large network with certain attributes associated with its vertices and edges. Stock markets generate huge amounts of data, which can be use for constructing the network reflecting the market’s behavior. In this paper, we use a threshold method to construct China’s stock correlation network and then study the network’s structural properties and topological stability. We conduct a statistical analysis of this network and show that it follows a power-law model. We also detect components, cliques and independent sets in this network. These analyses allows one to apply a new data mining technique of classifying financial instruments based on stock price data, which provides a deeper insight into the internal structure of the stock market. Moreover, we test the topological stability of this network and find that it displays a topological robustness against random vertex failures, but it is also fragile to intentional attacks. Such a network stability property would be also useful for portfolio investment and risk management.

  9. A contextual approach to social skills assessment in the peer group: who is the best judge?

    PubMed

    Kwon, Kyongboon; Kim, Elizabeth Moorman; Sheridan, Susan M

    2012-09-01

    Using a contextual approach to social skills assessment in the peer group, this study examined the criterion-related validity of contextually relevant social skills and the incremental validity of peers and teachers as judges of children's social skills. Study participants included 342 (180 male and 162 female) students and their classroom teachers (N = 22) from rural communities. As expected, contextually relevant social skills were significantly related to a variety of social status indicators (i.e., likability, peer- and teacher-assessed popularity, reciprocated friendships, clique centrality) and positive school functioning (i.e., school liking and academic competence). Peer-assessed social skills, not teacher-assessed social skills, demonstrated consistent incremental validity in predicting various indicators of social status outcomes; peer- and teacher-assessed social skills alike showed incremental validity in predicting positive school functioning. The relation between contextually relevant social skills and study outcomes did not vary by child gender. Findings are discussed in terms of the significance of peers in the assessment of children's social skills in the peer group as well as the usefulness of a contextual approach to social skills assessment.

  10. Optimal parallel solution of sparse triangular systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Alvarado, Fernando L.; Schreiber, Robert

    1990-01-01

    A method for the parallel solution of triangular sets of equations is described that is appropriate when there are many right-handed sides. By preprocessing, the method can reduce the number of parallel steps required to solve Lx = b compared to parallel forward or backsolve. Applications are to iterative solvers with triangular preconditioners, to structural analysis, or to power systems applications, where there may be many right-handed sides (not all available a priori). The inverse of L is represented as a product of sparse triangular factors. The problem is to find a factored representation of this inverse of L with the smallest number of factors (or partitions), subject to the requirement that no new nonzero elements be created in the formation of these inverse factors. A method from an earlier reference is shown to solve this problem. This method is improved upon by constructing a permutation of the rows and columns of L that preserves triangularity and allow for the best possible such partition. A number of practical examples and algorithmic details are presented. The parallelism attainable is illustrated by means of elimination trees and clique trees.

  11. Data-Driven Packet Loss Estimation for Node Healthy Sensing in Decentralized Cluster

    PubMed Central

    Fan, Hangyu; Wang, Huandong; Li, Yong

    2018-01-01

    Decentralized clustering of modern information technology is widely adopted in various fields these years. One of the main reason is the features of high availability and the failure-tolerance which can prevent the entire system form broking down by a failure of a single point. Recently, toolkits such as Akka are used by the public commonly to easily build such kind of cluster. However, clusters of such kind that use Gossip as their membership managing protocol and use link failure detecting mechanism to detect link failures cannot deal with the scenario that a node stochastically drops packets and corrupts the member status of the cluster. In this paper, we formulate the problem to be evaluating the link quality and finding a max clique (NP-Complete) in the connectivity graph. We then proposed an algorithm that consists of two models driven by data from application layer to respectively solving these two problems. Through simulations with statistical data and a real-world product, we demonstrate that our algorithm has a good performance. PMID:29360792

  12. Portfolios in Stochastic Local Search: Efficiently Computing Most Probable Explanations in Bayesian Networks

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mengshoel, Ole J.; Roth, Dan; Wilkins, David C.

    2001-01-01

    Portfolio methods support the combination of different algorithms and heuristics, including stochastic local search (SLS) heuristics, and have been identified as a promising approach to solve computationally hard problems. While successful in experiments, theoretical foundations and analytical results for portfolio-based SLS heuristics are less developed. This article aims to improve the understanding of the role of portfolios of heuristics in SLS. We emphasize the problem of computing most probable explanations (MPEs) in Bayesian networks (BNs). Algorithmically, we discuss a portfolio-based SLS algorithm for MPE computation, Stochastic Greedy Search (SGS). SGS supports the integration of different initialization operators (or initialization heuristics) and different search operators (greedy and noisy heuristics), thereby enabling new analytical and experimental results. Analytically, we introduce a novel Markov chain model tailored to portfolio-based SLS algorithms including SGS, thereby enabling us to analytically form expected hitting time results that explain empirical run time results. For a specific BN, we show the benefit of using a homogenous initialization portfolio. To further illustrate the portfolio approach, we consider novel additive search heuristics for handling determinism in the form of zero entries in conditional probability tables in BNs. Our additive approach adds rather than multiplies probabilities when computing the utility of an explanation. We motivate the additive measure by studying the dramatic impact of zero entries in conditional probability tables on the number of zero-probability explanations, which again complicates the search process. We consider the relationship between MAXSAT and MPE, and show that additive utility (or gain) is a generalization, to the probabilistic setting, of MAXSAT utility (or gain) used in the celebrated GSAT and WalkSAT algorithms and their descendants. Utilizing our Markov chain framework, we show that expected hitting time is a rational function - i.e. a ratio of two polynomials - of the probability of applying an additive search operator. Experimentally, we report on synthetically generated BNs as well as BNs from applications, and compare SGSs performance to that of Hugin, which performs BN inference by compilation to and propagation in clique trees. On synthetic networks, SGS speeds up computation by approximately two orders of magnitude compared to Hugin. In application networks, our approach is highly competitive in Bayesian networks with a high degree of determinism. In addition to showing that stochastic local search can be competitive with clique tree clustering, our empirical results provide an improved understanding of the circumstances under which portfolio-based SLS outperforms clique tree clustering and vice versa.

  13. [Upper airway morphology in Down Syndrome patients under dexmedetomidine sedation].

    PubMed

    Subramanyam, Rajeev; Fleck, Robert; McAuliffe, John; Radhakrishnan, Rupa; Jung, Dorothy; Patino, Mario; Mahmoud, Mohamed

    2016-01-01

    Children with Down Syndrome are vulnerable to significant upper airway obstruction due to relative macroglossia and dynamic airway collapse. The objective of this study was to compare the upper airway dimensions of children with Down Syndrome and obstructive sleep apnea with normal airway under dexmedetomidine sedation. IRB approval was obtained. In this retrospective study, clinically indicated dynamic sagittal midline magnetic resonance images of the upper airway were obtained under low (1mcg/kg/h) and high (3mcg/kg/h) dose dexmedetomidine. Airway anteroposterior diameters and sectional areas were measured as minimum and maximum dimensions by two independent observers at soft palate (nasopharyngeal airway) and at base of the tongue (retroglossal airway). Minimum anteroposterior diameter and minimum sectional area at nasopharynx and retroglossal airway were significantly reduced in Down Syndrome compared to normal airway at both low and high dose dexmedetomidine. However, there were no significant differences between low and high dose dexmedetomidine in both Down Syndrome and normal airway. The mean apnea hypopnea index in Down Syndrome was 16±11. Under dexmedetomidine sedation, children with Down Syndrome and obstructive sleep apnea when compared to normal airway children show significant reductions in airway dimensions most pronounced at the narrowest points in the nasopharyngeal and retroglossal airways. Copyright © 2015 Sociedade Brasileira de Anestesiologia. Publicado por Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

  14. Upper airway morphology in Down Syndrome patients under dexmedetomidine sedation.

    PubMed

    Subramanyam, Rajeev; Fleck, Robert; McAuliffe, John; Radhakrishnan, Rupa; Jung, Dorothy; Patino, Mario; Mahmoud, Mohamed

    2016-01-01

    Children with Down Syndrome are vulnerable to significant upper airway obstruction due to relative macroglossia and dynamic airway collapse. The objective of this study was to compare the upper airway dimensions of children with Down Syndrome and obstructive sleep apnea with normal airway under dexmedetomidine sedation. IRB approval was obtained. In this retrospective study, clinically indicated dynamic sagittal midline magnetic resonance images of the upper airway were obtained under low (1mcg/kg/h) and high (3mcg/kg/h) dose dexmedetomidine. Airway anteroposterior diameters and sectional areas were measured as minimum and maximum dimensions by two independent observers at soft palate (nasopharyngeal airway) and at base of the tongue (retroglossal airway). Minimum anteroposterior diameter and minimum sectional area at nasopharynx and retroglossal airway were significantly reduced in Down Syndrome compared to normal airway at both low and high dose dexmedetomidine. However, there were no significant differences between low and high dose dexmedetomidine in both Down Syndrome and normal airway. The mean apnea hypopnea index in Down Syndrome was 16±11. Under dexmedetomidine sedation, children with Down Syndrome and obstructive sleep apnea when compared to normal airway children show significant reductions in airway dimensions most pronounced at the narrowest points in the nasopharyngeal and retroglossal airways. Copyright © 2015 Sociedade Brasileira de Anestesiologia. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

  15. Comparison of in vivo eccentricity and symmetry indices between metallic stents and bioresorbable vascular scaffolds: insights from the ABSORB and SPIRIT trials.

    PubMed

    Brugaletta, Salvatore; Gomez-Lara, Josep; Diletti, Roberto; Farooq, Vasim; van Geuns, Robert Jan; de Bruyne, Bernard; Dudek, Dariusz; Garcia-Garcia, Hector M; Ormiston, John A; Serruys, Patrick W

    2012-02-01

    To compare the geometrical parameters of a bioresorbable vascular scaffold (BVS) with a standard metallic stent. The introduction of polymeric bioresorbable materials in the design of novel coronary scaffolds may affect some geometrical parameters, such as eccentricity and symmetry indices, previously introduced as IVUS criteria for optimal metallic stent deployment. From ABSORB Cohort A, ABSORB Cohort B, SPIRIT I, and SPIRIT II, all patients implanted with BVS 1.0, BVS 1.1, or XIENCE V, respectively and intravascular ultrasound analyses post-implantation were selected. The eccentricity index was calculated frame by frame and expressed as an average per device (minimum diameter/maximum diameter). The symmetry index of the device was reported as ([maximum diameter - minimum diameter]/maximum diameter). Six months major adverse cardiac events (MACE) were analyzed. A total of 242 patients were selected (BVS 1.0: n = 28, BVS 1.1: n = 94, XIENCE V: n = 120). The BVS exhibited a significantly lower eccentricity index (BVS 1.0: 0.83 ± 0.09; BVS 1.1: 0.85 ± 0.08; XIENCE V: 0.90 ± 0.06; P < 0.01) and a significantly higher symmetry index (BVS 1.0: 0.30 ± 0.07; BVS 1.1: 0.31 ± 0.06, XIENCE V 0.26 ± 0.07; P < 0.01) as compared to the XIENCE V. An inverse correlation was found between the symmetry and eccentricity indices for both (BVS r = -0.69, P < 0.01; XIENCE V r = -0.61, P < 0.01). No differences in MACE were detected between the groups according to their geometrical parameters. The introduction of a new polymeric material in the design of BVS resulted in a lower eccentricity index and a higher symmetry index as compared to metallic stents, without detectable impact in MACE, at 6 months. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  16. Chemical Composition and Antibacterial Activity of Essential Oils of Tagetes minuta (Asteraceae) against Selected Plant Pathogenic Bacteria

    PubMed Central

    Wagacha, John M.; Dossaji, Saifuddin F.

    2016-01-01

    The objective of this study was to determine the chemical composition and antibacterial activity of essential oils (EOs) of Tagetes minuta against three phytopathogenic bacteria Pseudomonas savastanoi pv. phaseolicola, Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. phaseoli, and Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. manihotis. The essential oils were extracted using steam distillation method in a modified Clevenger-type apparatus while antibacterial activity of the EOs was evaluated by disc diffusion method. Gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC/MS) was used for analysis of the chemical profile of the EOs. Twenty compounds corresponding to 96% of the total essential oils were identified with 70% and 30% of the identified components being monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes, respectively. The essential oils of T. minuta revealed promising antibacterial activities against the test pathogens with Pseudomonas savastanoi pv. phaseolicola being the most susceptible with mean inhibition zone diameters of 41.83 and 44.83 mm after 24 and 48 hours, respectively. The minimum inhibitory concentrations and minimum bactericidal concentrations of the EOs on the test bacteria were in the ranges of 24–48 mg/mL and 95–190 mg/mL, respectively. These findings provide a scientific basis for the use of T. minuta essential oils as a botanical pesticide for management of phytopathogenic bacteria. PMID:27721831

  17. The role of bioactive substances in controlling foodborne pathogens derived from Metasequoia glyptostroboides Miki ex Hu.

    PubMed

    Bajpai, Vivek K; Na, Minkyun; Kang, Sun Chul

    2010-07-01

    In an attempt to isolate bioactive substances, ethyl acetate cone extract of Metasequoia glyptostroboides was subjected to a column chromatographic analysis that resulted in isolation of an abietane type diterpenoid, taxoquinone. Its structure was elucidated by spectroscopic means. In further, taxoquinone showed potential antibacterial effect as diameters of zones of inhibition against foodborne pathogenic bacteria such as Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 19166, Salmonella typhimurium KCTC 2515, Salmonella enteritidis KCTC 2021, Escherichia coli ATCC 8739, E. coli O157:H7 ATCC 43888, Enterobacter aerogenes KCTC2190, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538 and S. aureus KCTC 1916, which were found in the range of 10.6-15.8mm. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) values of taxoquinone against the employed bacterial pathogens were found in the range of 62.5-250 and 125-500 microg/ml. Also the compound had strong antibacterial effect on the viable counts of the tested bacteria. Further, scanning electron microscopic study demonstrated potential detrimental effect of taxoquinone on the morphology of E. coli ATCC 8739. These findings indicate that bioactive compound taxoquinone present in M. glyptostroboides could be used as a promising antibacterial agent in food industry to inhibit the growth of certain important foodborne pathogens. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. MO-G-17A-02: Computer Simulation Studies for On-Board Functional and Molecular Imaging of the Prostate Using a Robotic Multi-Pinhole SPECT System

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

    Cheng, L; Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC; Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai

    Purpose: To investigate prostate imaging onboard radiation therapy machines using a novel robotic, 49-pinhole Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) system. Methods: Computer-simulation studies were performed for region-of-interest (ROI) imaging using a 49-pinhole SPECT collimator and for broad cross-section imaging using a parallel-hole SPECT collimator. A male XCAT phantom was computersimulated in supine position with one 12mm-diameter tumor added in the prostate. A treatment couch was added to the phantom. Four-minute detector trajectories for imaging a 7cm-diameter-sphere ROI encompassing the tumor were investigated with different parameters, including pinhole focal length, pinhole diameter and trajectory starting angle. Pseudo-random Poisson noise wasmore » included in the simulated projection data, and SPECT images were reconstructed by OSEM with 4 subsets and up to 10 iterations. Images were evaluated by visual inspection, profiles, and Root-Mean- Square-Error (RMSE). Results: The tumor was well visualized above background by the 49-pinhole SPECT system with different pinhole parameters while it was not visible with parallel-hole SPECT imaging. Minimum RMSEs were 0.30 for 49-pinhole imaging and 0.41 for parallelhole imaging. For parallel-hole imaging, the detector trajectory from rightto- left yielded slightly lower RMSEs than that from posterior to anterior. For 49-pinhole imaging, near-minimum RMSEs were maintained over a broader range of OSEM iterations with a 5mm pinhole diameter and 21cm focal length versus a 2mm diameter pinhole and 18cm focal length. The detector with 21cm pinhole focal length had the shortest rotation radius averaged over the trajectory. Conclusion: On-board functional and molecular prostate imaging may be feasible in 4-minute scan times by robotic SPECT. A 49-pinhole SPECT system could improve such imaging as compared to broadcross-section parallel-hole collimated SPECT imaging. Multi-pinhole imaging can be improved by considering pinhole focal length, pinhole diameter, and trajectory starting angle. The project is supported by the NIH grant 5R21-CA156390.« less

  19. A lunar/Martian anchor emplacement system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Clinton, Dustin; Holt, Andrew; Jantz, Erik; Kaufman, Teresa; Martin, James; Weber, Reed

    On the Moon or Mars, it is necessary to have an anchor, or a stable, fixed point able to support the forces necessary to rescue a stuck vehicle, act as a stake for a tent in a Martian gale, act as a fulcrum in the erection of general construction poles, or support tent-like regolith shields. The anchor emplacement system must be highly autonomous. It must supply the energy and stability for anchor deployment. The goal of the anchor emplacement system project is to design and build a prototype anchor and to design a conceptual anchor emplacement system. Various anchors were tested in a 1.3 cubic meter test bed containing decomposed granite. A simulated lunar soil was created by adjusting the moisture and compaction characteristics of the soil. We conducted tests on emplacement torque, amount of force the anchor could withstand before failure, anchor pull out force at various angles, and soil disturbances caused by placing the anchor. A single helix auger anchor performed best in this test bed based on energy to emplace, and the ultimate holding capacity. The anchor was optimized for ultimate holding capacity, minimum emplacement torque, and minimum soil disturbance in sandy soils yielding the following dimensions: helix diameter (4.45 cm), pitch (1.27 cm), blade thickness (0.15 cm), total length (35.56 cm), shaft diameter (0.78 cm), and a weight of 212.62 g. The experimental results showed that smaller diameter, single-helix augers held more force than larger diameter augers for a given depth. The emplacement system consists of a flywheel and a motor for power, sealed in a protective box supported by four legs. The flywheel system was chosen over a gear system based on its increased reliability in the lunar environment.

  20. Susceptibility of Malassezia pachydermatis to aminoglycosides.

    PubMed

    Silva, Freddy Alejandro; Conde-Felipe, Magnolia; Rosario, Inmaculada; Ferrer, Otilia; Real, Fernando; Déniz, Soraya; Acosta, Félix; Padilla, Daniel; Acosta-Hernández, Begoña

    2017-12-01

    Previous studies have evaluated the action of gentamicin against Malassezia pachydermatis. The aim of this study was to evaluate in vitro susceptibility of M. pachydermatis to the aminoglycosides- gentamicin, tobramycin, netilmicin and framycetin. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of gentamicin was determined following methods M27-A3 microdilution and Etest ® . The Etest ® was used to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the tobramycin and netilmicin. The Kirby-Bauer test was used to determine the antibiotic susceptibility to the framycetin. The MIC50 and MIC90 were 8.12 μg/mL and 32.5 μg/mL by microdilution method for gentamicin. The MIC50, determined by the Etest ® , was 8 μg/mL for gentamicin and netilmicin and 64 μg/mL for tobramycin. The MIC90 was 16 and 32 μg/mL for gentamicin and netilmicin respectively. The MIC90 was outside of the detectable limits for tobramycin. To framycetin, 28 strains (40%) of the 70 M. pachydermatis isolates tested showed a diameter of 22 mm, 22 strains (31.42%) showed a diameter of 20 mm, 16 strains showed a diameter of ≤ 18 mm, and only 5.71% of the isolates showed a diameter of ≥ 22 mm. This study provides evidence of high in vitro activity of the aminoglycosides-gentamicin, tobramycin, netilmicin and framycetin against M. pachydermatis. For gentamicin Etest ® showed similar values of MIC50 y MIC90 that the obtained by microdilution method. We considered Etest ® method could be a good method for these calculations with aminoglycosides. © 2017 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

  1. Regression analysis and categorical agreement of fluconazole disk zone diameters and minimum inhibitory concentration by broth microdilution of clinical isolates of Candida.

    PubMed

    Aggarwal, P; Kashyap, B

    2017-06-01

    Rampant use of fluconazole in Candida infections has led to predominance of less susceptible non-albicans Candida over Candida albicans. The aim of the study was to determine if zone diameters around fluconazole disk can be used to estimate the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for clinical isolates of Candida species and vice versa. Categorical agreement between the Clinical & Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) recommended disk diffusion and CLSI broth microdilution method was sought for. Antifungal susceptibility testing by disk diffusion and Broth microdilution was done as per CLSI document M44-S3 and CLSI document M27-S4 for Candida isolates respectively. Regression analysis correlating zone diameters to MIC value was done. Pearson's correlation coefficient was calculated to determine correlation between disk zone diameters and MICs. Candida albicans (33.3%) was clearly outnumbered by other non-albicans species predominantly Candida tropicalis (42.5%) and Candida glabrata (18.4%). Ten percent of the strains were resistant to fluconazole by disk diffusion and 13% by broth microdilution. MIC range for Candida albicans and Candida tropicalis ranged from≤0.25-64μg/ml while that of Candida glabrata ranged from≤0.25-128μg/ml. Categorical agreement between disk diffusion and broth microdilution was 86.8%. Pearson's coefficient of correlation was -0.5975 indicating moderate negative correlation between the two variables. Zone sizes can be used to estimate the MIC values, although with limited accuracy. There should be a constant effort to upgrade the guidelines in view of new clinical data, and laboratories should make an active effort to incorporate them. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  2. A lunar/Martian anchor emplacement system

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Clinton, Dustin; Holt, Andrew; Jantz, Erik; Kaufman, Teresa; Martin, James; Weber, Reed

    1993-01-01

    On the Moon or Mars, it is necessary to have an anchor, or a stable, fixed point able to support the forces necessary to rescue a stuck vehicle, act as a stake for a tent in a Martian gale, act as a fulcrum in the erection of general construction poles, or support tent-like regolith shields. The anchor emplacement system must be highly autonomous. It must supply the energy and stability for anchor deployment. The goal of the anchor emplacement system project is to design and build a prototype anchor and to design a conceptual anchor emplacement system. Various anchors were tested in a 1.3 cubic meter test bed containing decomposed granite. A simulated lunar soil was created by adjusting the moisture and compaction characteristics of the soil. We conducted tests on emplacement torque, amount of force the anchor could withstand before failure, anchor pull out force at various angles, and soil disturbances caused by placing the anchor. A single helix auger anchor performed best in this test bed based on energy to emplace, and the ultimate holding capacity. The anchor was optimized for ultimate holding capacity, minimum emplacement torque, and minimum soil disturbance in sandy soils yielding the following dimensions: helix diameter (4.45 cm), pitch (1.27 cm), blade thickness (0.15 cm), total length (35.56 cm), shaft diameter (0.78 cm), and a weight of 212.62 g. The experimental results showed that smaller diameter, single-helix augers held more force than larger diameter augers for a given depth. The emplacement system consists of a flywheel and a motor for power, sealed in a protective box supported by four legs. The flywheel system was chosen over a gear system based on its increased reliability in the lunar environment.

  3. Developing Large-Scale Bayesian Networks by Composition: Fault Diagnosis of Electrical Power Systems in Aircraft and Spacecraft

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mengshoel, Ole Jakob; Poll, Scott; Kurtoglu, Tolga

    2009-01-01

    This CD contains files that support the talk (see CASI ID 20100021404). There are 24 models that relate to the ADAPT system and 1 Excel worksheet. In the paper an investigation into the use of Bayesian networks to construct large-scale diagnostic systems is described. The high-level specifications, Bayesian networks, clique trees, and arithmetic circuits representing 24 different electrical power systems are described in the talk. The data in the CD are the models of the 24 different power systems.

  4. Moving Bed Granular Bed Filter Development Program. Topical report, September 1994

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

    Haas, J.C.; Prudhomme, J.W.; Wilson, K.W.

    1994-09-01

    Five test arrangements have been designed to support the Granular Bed Filter Development Program as defined in the Test Plan. The first arrangement is a 3.6 ft. diameter half filter, with a glass covering along the cross section to allow visual examination of the granular alumina material passing through the filter. The second test arrangement is a 3.6 ft diameter full size filter having refractory lining to simulate actual surface roughness conditions. The third test arrangement will examine filter geometry scale up by testing a 6.0 ft. diameter full size filter. The fourth Test Arrangement consists of a small 12more » inch diameter fluidizer to measure the minimum fluidization velocity of the 7 m (approx. size) alumina material to be used in the filter assemblies. The last Test Unit is used to evaluation relative abrasion characteristics of potential refractory and ceramic materials to be installed in high abrasion areas in the pneumatic transport piping.« less

  5. Intraspecific scaling laws of vascular trees.

    PubMed

    Huo, Yunlong; Kassab, Ghassan S

    2012-01-07

    A fundamental physics-based derivation of intraspecific scaling laws of vascular trees has not been previously realized. Here, we provide such a theoretical derivation for the volume-diameter and flow-length scaling laws of intraspecific vascular trees. In conjunction with the minimum energy hypothesis, this formulation also results in diameter-length, flow-diameter and flow-volume scaling laws. The intraspecific scaling predicts the volume-diameter power relation with a theoretical exponent of 3, which is validated by the experimental measurements for the three major coronary arterial trees in swine (where a least-squares fit of these measurements has exponents of 2.96, 3 and 2.98 for the left anterior descending artery, left circumflex artery and right coronary artery trees, respectively). This scaling law as well as others agrees very well with the measured morphometric data of vascular trees in various other organs and species. This study is fundamental to the understanding of morphological and haemodynamic features in a biological vascular tree and has implications for vascular disease.

  6. Thermoluminescence of the Films, Nanocomposites, and Solutions of the Silicon Organic Polymer Poly(di- n-hexyl silane)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ostapenko, N. I.; Kerita, O. A.; Ostapenko, Yu. V.

    2018-03-01

    A comparative study of low-temperature thermoluminescence (5-120 K) of silicon organic polymer poly(di-n-hexyl silane) films, nanocomposites (when the polymer is introduced into nanopores of silica MCM-41 and SBA-15 with diameter of pores 2.8 and 10 nm) as well as solutions of polymer in tetrahydrofuran with different concentrations from 10-3 to 10-5 mol/L was carried out. It was shown that it is possible to control the number of charge carrier traps, as well as their energy distribution by changing the diameter of silica nanopores. It is established that maxima and FWHMs of the thermoluminescence curves of nanocomposites significantly depend on the pore diameter of the nanoporous silica. This result agrees with the data obtained in the investigation of polymer solutions. In the nanocomposite with a minimum pore diameter (2.8 nm), the number and depth of the traps as well as dispersion of their energy are significantly reduced compared to their values in the polymer film.

  7. Analysis and sizing of Mars aerobrake structure

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Raju, I. S.; Craft, W. J.

    1993-01-01

    A cone-sphere aeroshell structure for aerobraking into Martian atmosphere is studied. Using this structural configuration, a space frame load-bearing structure is proposed. To generate this structure efficiently and to perform a variety of studies of several configurations, a mesh generator that utilizes only a few configurational parameters is developed. A finite element analysis program that analyzes space frame structures was developed. A sizing algorithm that arrives at a minimum mass configuration was developed and integrated into the finite element analysis program. A typical 135-ft-diam aerobrake configuration was analyzed and sized. The minimum mass obtained in this study using high modulus graphite/epoxy composite material members is compared with the masses obtained from two other aerobrake structures using lightweight erectable tetrahedral truss and part-spherical truss configurations. Excellent agreement for the minimum mass was obtained with the three different aerobrake structures. Also, the minimum mass using the present structure was obtained when the supports were not at the base but at about 75 percent of the base diameter.

  8. Volume and biomass for curlleaf cercocarpus in Nevada

    Treesearch

    David C. Chojnacky

    1984-01-01

    Volume and biomass equations were developed for curlleaf cercocarpus (Cercocarpus ledifolius Nutt.) in the Egan and Schell Mountains near Ely, NV. The equations predict cubic foot volume of wood and bark for variable minimum branch diameters. Wood density factors are given to convert volume predictions to pounds of fiber biomass. The reliability of...

  9. 24 CFR 3280.610 - Drainage systems.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... individually vented. (iii) A 3-inch minimum diameter piping shall be required for water closets. (f) Wet-vented... water seal trap (§ 3280.606(a)). (2) The drainage system shall be designed to provide an adequate... equipped with a water-tight cap or plug matching the drain outlet. The cap or plug shall be permanently...

  10. 24 CFR 3280.610 - Drainage systems.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... individually vented. (iii) A 3-inch minimum diameter piping shall be required for water closets. (f) Wet-vented... water seal trap (§ 3280.606(a)). (2) The drainage system shall be designed to provide an adequate... equipped with a water-tight cap or plug matching the drain outlet. The cap or plug shall be permanently...

  11. Demonstration and Validation of a Regenerated Cellulose Dialysis Membrane Diffusion Sampler for Monitoring Ground Water Quality and Remediation Progress at DoD Sites

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2007-08-30

    ITRC Interstate Technology Regulatory Council LRL Laboratory reporting level LDPE Low-density polyethylene MDL Minimum detection limit MNA...diameter of the well. Another diffusion membrane sampler design consists of a tubular-shaped bag made of flexible low-density polyethylene ( LDPE ...

  12. 16 CFR 1507.4 - Bases.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 16 Commercial Practices 2 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Bases. 1507.4 Section 1507.4 Commercial... § 1507.4 Bases. The base or bottom of fireworks devices that are operated in a standing upright position shall have the minimum horizontal dimensions or the diameter of the base equal to at least one-third of...

  13. 16 CFR 1507.4 - Bases.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 16 Commercial Practices 2 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Bases. 1507.4 Section 1507.4 Commercial... § 1507.4 Bases. The base or bottom of fireworks devices that are operated in a standing upright position shall have the minimum horizontal dimensions or the diameter of the base equal to at least one-third of...

  14. 16 CFR 1512.6 - Requirements for steering system.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... stem insertion mark. The handlebar stem shall contain a permanent ring or mark which clearly indicates the minimum insertion depth of the handlebar stem into the fork assembly. The insertion mark shall not affect the structural integrity of the stem and shall not be less than 21/2 times the stem diameter from...

  15. 16 CFR 1512.6 - Requirements for steering system.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... stem insertion mark. The handlebar stem shall contain a permanent ring or mark which clearly indicates the minimum insertion depth of the handlebar stem into the fork assembly. The insertion mark shall not affect the structural integrity of the stem and shall not be less than 21/2 times the stem diameter from...

  16. 16 CFR 1507.4 - Bases.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 16 Commercial Practices 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Bases. 1507.4 Section 1507.4 Commercial... § 1507.4 Bases. The base or bottom of fireworks devices that are operated in a standing upright position shall have the minimum horizontal dimensions or the diameter of the base equal to at least one-third of...

  17. Vision and the dimensions of nerve fibers.

    PubMed

    Wade, Nicholas J

    2005-12-01

    Vision provided the obvious source of determining the dimensions of nerve fibers when suitable achromatic microscopes were directed at neural tissue in the 1830s. The earlier microscopes of Hooke and Leeuwenhoek were unable to resolve such small structures adequately. However, it was not Hooke's microscope that led to an estimate of the dimensions of nerve fibers, but his experiments on the limits of visual resolution; he determined that a separation of one minute of arc was the minimum that could normally be seen. Descartes had earlier speculated that the retina consisted of the ends of fibers of the optic nerve, and that their size defined the limits of what could be seen. Estimates of the diameters of nerve fibers were made on the basis of human visual acuity by Porterfield in 1738; he calculated the diameters of nerve fibers in the retina as one 7,200th part of an inch (0.0035 mm), based on the resolution of one minute as the minimum visible. In the same year, Jurin questioned the reliability of such estimates because of variations in visual resolution with different stimuli.

  18. Subjective well-being and minimum wages: Evidence from U.S. states.

    PubMed

    Kuroki, Masanori

    2018-02-01

    This paper investigates whether increases in minimum wages are associated with higher life satisfaction by using monthly-level state minimum wages and individual-level data from the 2005-2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. The magnitude I find suggests that a 10% increase in the minimum wage is associated with a 0.03-point increase in life satisfaction for workers without a high school diploma, on a 4-point scale. Contrary to popular belief that higher minimum wages hurt business owners, I find little evidence that higher minimum wages lead to the loss of well-being among self-employed people. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  19. Freeze-drying of silica nanoparticles: redispersibility toward nanomedicine applications.

    PubMed

    Picco, Agustin S; Ferreira, Larissa F; Liberato, Michelle S; Mondo, Gabriela B; Cardoso, Mateus B

    2018-01-01

    To study freeze-drying of silica nanoparticles (SiO 2 NPs) in order to find suitable conditions to produce lyophilized powders with no aggregation after resuspension and storage. SiO 2 NPs were synthesized using a Stöber-based procedure, and characterized by scanning electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering and nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms. SiO 2 NPs hydrodynamic diameters were compared prior and after freeze-drying in the presence/absence of carbohydrate protectants. Glucose was found to be the most suitable protectant against the detrimental effects of lyophilization. The minimum concentration of carbohydrate required to effectively protect SiO 2 NPs from aggregation during freeze-drying is influenced by the nanoparticle's size and texture. Negligible aggregation was observed during storage. Carbohydrates can be used during SiO 2 NPs freeze-drying process to obtain redispersable solids that maintain original sizes without residual aggregation.

  20. Constraints on the diameter and albedo of 2060 Chiron

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Sykes, Mark V.; Walker, Russell G.

    1991-01-01

    Asteroid 2060 Chiron is the largest known object exhibiting cometary activity. Radiometric observations made in 1983 from a ground-based telescope and the IRAS are used to examine the limits on Chiron's diameter and albedo. It is argued that Chiron's surface temperature distribution at that time is best described by an 'isothermal latitude' or 'rapid-rotator' model. Consequently, Chiron has a maximum diameter of 372 kilometers and a minimum geometric albedo of 2.7 percent. This is much bigger and darker than previous estimates, and suggests that gravity may play a significant role in the evolution of gas and dust emissions. It is also found that for large obliquities, surface temperatures can vary dramatically on time scales of a decade, and that such geometry may play a critical role in explaining Chiron's observed photometric behavior since its discovery in 1977.

  1. Constraints on the diameter and albedo of 2060 chiron.

    PubMed

    Sykes, M V; Walker, R G

    1991-02-15

    Asteroid 2060 Chiron is the largest known object exhibiting cometary activity. Radiometric observations made in 1983 from a ground-based telescope and the Infrared Astronomical Satellite are used to examine the limits on Chiron's diameter and albedo. It is argued that Chiron's surface temperature distribution at that time is best described by an "isothermal latitude" or "rapid-rotator" model. Consequently, Chiron has a maximum diameter of 372 kilometers and a minimum geometric albedo of 2.7%. This is much bigger and darker than previous estimates, and suggests that gravity may play a significant role in the evolution of gas and dust emissions. It is also found that for large obliquities, surface temperatures can vary dramatically on time scales of a decade, and that such geometry may play a critical role in explaining Chiron's observed photometric behavior since its discovery in 1977.

  2. Design study of steady-state 30-tesla liquid-neon-cooled magnet

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Prok, G. M.; Brown, G. V.

    1976-01-01

    A design for a 30-tesla, liquid-neon-cooled magnet was reported which is capable of continuous operation. Cooled by nonboiling, forced-convection heat transfer to liquid neon flowing at 2.8 cu m/min in a closed, pressurized heat-transfer loop and structurally supported by a tapered structural ribbon, the tape-wound coils with a high-purity-aluminum conductor will produce over 30 teslas for 1 minute at 850 kilowatts. The magnet will have an inside diameter of 7.5 centimeters and an outside diameter of 54 centimeters. The minimum current density at design field will be 15.7 kA/sq cm.

  3. Note: measurement of extreme-short current pulse duration of runaway electron beam in atmospheric pressure air.

    PubMed

    Tarasenko, V F; Rybka, D V; Burachenko, A G; Lomaev, M I; Balzovsky, E V

    2012-08-01

    This note reports the time-amplitude characteristic of the supershort avalanche electron beam with up to 20 ps time resolution. For the first time it is shown that the electron beam downstream of small-diameter diaphragms in atmospheric pressure air has a complex structure which depends on the interelectrode gap width and cathode design. With a spherical cathode and collimator the minimum duration at half maximum of the supershort avalanche electron beam current pulse was shown to be ~25 ps. The minimum duration at half maximum of one peak in the pulses with two peaks can reach ~25 ps too.

  4. Design optimization and probabilistic analysis of a hydrodynamic journal bearing

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Liniecki, Alexander G.

    1990-01-01

    A nonlinear constrained optimization of a hydrodynamic bearing was performed yielding three main variables: radial clearance, bearing length to diameter ratio, and lubricating oil viscosity. As an objective function a combined model of temperature rise and oil supply has been adopted. The optimized model of the bearing has been simulated for population of 1000 cases using Monte Carlo statistical method. It appeared that the so called 'optimal solution' generated more than 50 percent of failed bearings, because their minimum oil film thickness violated stipulated minimum constraint value. As a remedy change of oil viscosity is suggested after several sensitivities of variables have been investigated.

  5. The formation of continuous opinion dynamics based on a gambling mechanism and its sensitivity analysis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhu, Yueying; Alexandre Wang, Qiuping; Li, Wei; Cai, Xu

    2017-09-01

    The formation of continuous opinion dynamics is investigated based on a virtual gambling mechanism where agents fight for a limited resource. We propose a model with agents holding opinions between -1 and 1. Agents are segregated into two cliques according to the sign of their opinions. Local communication happens only when the opinion distance between corresponding agents is no larger than a pre-defined confidence threshold. Theoretical analysis regarding special cases provides a deep understanding of the roles of both the resource allocation parameter and confidence threshold in the formation of opinion dynamics. For a sparse network, the evolution of opinion dynamics is negligible in the region of low confidence threshold when the mindless agents are absent. Numerical results also imply that, in the presence of economic agents, high confidence threshold is required for apparent clustering of agents in opinion. Moreover, a consensus state is generated only when the following three conditions are satisfied simultaneously: mindless agents are absent, the resource is concentrated in one clique, and confidence threshold tends to a critical value(=1.25+2/ka ; k_a>8/3 , the average number of friends of individual agents). For fixed a confidence threshold and resource allocation parameter, the most chaotic steady state of the dynamics happens when the fraction of mindless agents is about 0.7. It is also demonstrated that economic agents are more likely to win at gambling, compared to mindless ones. Finally, the importance of three involved parameters in establishing the uncertainty of model response is quantified in terms of Latin hypercube sampling-based sensitivity analysis.

  6. Visualizing collaborative electronic health record usage for hospitalized patients with heart failure.

    PubMed

    Soulakis, Nicholas D; Carson, Matthew B; Lee, Young Ji; Schneider, Daniel H; Skeehan, Connor T; Scholtens, Denise M

    2015-03-01

    To visualize and describe collaborative electronic health record (EHR) usage for hospitalized patients with heart failure. We identified records of patients with heart failure and all associated healthcare provider record usage through queries of the Northwestern Medicine Enterprise Data Warehouse. We constructed a network by equating access and updates of a patient's EHR to a provider-patient interaction. We then considered shared patient record access as the basis for a second network that we termed the provider collaboration network. We calculated network statistics, the modularity of provider interactions, and provider cliques. We identified 548 patient records accessed by 5113 healthcare providers in 2012. The provider collaboration network had 1504 nodes and 83 998 edges. We identified 7 major provider collaboration modules. Average clique size was 87.9 providers. We used a graph database to demonstrate an ad hoc query of our provider-patient network. Our analysis suggests a large number of healthcare providers across a wide variety of professions access records of patients with heart failure during their hospital stay. This shared record access tends to take place not only in a pairwise manner but also among large groups of providers. EHRs encode valuable interactions, implicitly or explicitly, between patients and providers. Network analysis provided strong evidence of multidisciplinary record access of patients with heart failure across teams of 100+ providers. Further investigation may lead to clearer understanding of how record access information can be used to strategically guide care coordination for patients hospitalized for heart failure. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association.

  7. Modeling Temporal Variation in Social Network: An Evolutionary Web Graph Approach

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mitra, Susanta; Bagchi, Aditya

    A social network is a social structure between actors (individuals, organization or other social entities) and indicates the ways in which they are connected through various social relationships like friendships, kinships, professional, academic etc. Usually, a social network represents a social community, like a club and its members or a city and its citizens etc. or a research group communicating over Internet. In seventies Leinhardt [1] first proposed the idea of representing a social community by a digraph. Later, this idea became popular among other research workers like, network designers, web-service application developers and e-learning modelers. It gave rise to a rapid proliferation of research work in the area of social network analysis. Some of the notable structural properties of a social network are connectedness between actors, reachability between a source and a target actor, reciprocity or pair-wise connection between actors with bi-directional links, centrality of actors or the important actors having high degree or more connections and finally the division of actors into sub-structures or cliques or strongly-connected components. The cycles present in a social network may even be nested [2, 3]. The formal definition of these structural properties will be provided in Sect. 8.2.1. The division of actors into cliques or sub-groups can be a very important factor for understanding a social structure, particularly the degree of cohesiveness in a community. The number, size, and connections among the sub-groups in a network are useful in understanding how the network, as a whole, is likely to behave.

  8. Climate limits across space and time on European forest structure

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Moreno, A. L. S.; Neumann, M.; Hasenauer, H.

    2017-12-01

    The impact climate has on forests has been extensively studied. However, the large scale effect climate has on forest structures, such as average diameters, heights and basal area are understudied in a spatially explicit manner. The limits, tipping points and thresholds that climate places on forest structures dictate the services a forest may provide, the vulnerability of a forest to mortality and the potential value of the timber there within. The majority of current research either investigates climate impacts on forest pools and fluxes, on a tree physiological scale or on case studies that are used to extrapolate results and potential impacts. A spatially explicit study on how climate affects forest structure over a large region would give valuable information to stakeholders who are more concerned with ecosystem services that cannot be described by pools and fluxes but require spatially explicit information - such as biodiversity, habitat suitability, and market values. In this study, we quantified the limits that climate (maximum, minimum temperature and precipitation) places on 3 forest structures, diameter at breast height, height, and basal area throughout Europe. Our results show clear climatic zones of high and low upper limits for each forest structure variable studied. We also spatially analyzed how climate restricts the potential bio-physical upper limits and creates tipping points of each forest structure variable and which climate factors are most limiting. Further, we demonstrated how the climate change has affected 8 individual forests across Europe and then the continent as a whole. We find that diameter, height and basal area are limited by climate in different ways and that areas may have high upper limits in one structure and low upper limits in another limitted by different climate variables. We also found that even though individual forests may have increased their potential upper limit forest structure values, European forests as a whole have lost, on average, 5.0%, 1.7% and 6.5% in potential mean forest diameter, height and basal area, respectively.

  9. 75 FR 38698 - Irish Potatoes Grown in Colorado; Relaxation of Handling Regulation for Area No. 3

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-07-06

    ...; FV09-948-2 FIR] Irish Potatoes Grown in Colorado; Relaxation of Handling Regulation for Area No. 3... that relaxed the size requirement prescribed under the Colorado potato marketing order. The interim rule provided for the handling of all varieties of potatoes with a minimum diameter of \\3/4\\ inch, if...

  10. Multiple stage miniature stepping motor

    DOEpatents

    Niven, William A.; Shikany, S. David; Shira, Michael L.

    1981-01-01

    A stepping motor comprising a plurality of stages which may be selectively activated to effect stepping movement of the motor, and which are mounted along a common rotor shaft to achieve considerable reduction in motor size and minimum diameter, whereby sequential activation of the stages results in successive rotor steps with direction being determined by the particular activating sequence followed.

  11. 46 CFR 160.062-5 - Markings.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ...″ stainless steel tag of a minimum thickness of 0.032 inches. This tag shall be permanently attached to a hydraulic release with a single stainless steel link made of wire 3/16″ in diameter. This link shall provide... shall be permanently attached to a hydraulic release with a single stainless steel link made of wire 3...

  12. 46 CFR 160.062-5 - Markings.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ...″ stainless steel tag of a minimum thickness of 0.032 inches. This tag shall be permanently attached to a hydraulic release with a single stainless steel link made of wire 3/16″ in diameter. This link shall provide... shall be permanently attached to a hydraulic release with a single stainless steel link made of wire 3...

  13. 16 CFR § 1507.4 - Bases.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 16 Commercial Practices 2 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Bases. § 1507.4 Section § 1507.4... FIREWORKS DEVICES § 1507.4 Bases. The base or bottom of fireworks devices that are operated in a standing upright position shall have the minimum horizontal dimensions or the diameter of the base equal to at...

  14. Single Mode Air-Clad Single Crystal Sapphire Optical Fiber

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

    Hill, Cary; Homa, Dan; Yu, Zhihao

    The observation of single mode propagation in an air-clad single crystal sapphire optical fiber at wavelengths at and above 783 nm is presented for the first time. A high-temperature wet acid etching method was used to reduce the diameter of a 10 cm length of commercially-sourced sapphire fiber from 125 micrometers to 6.5 micrometers, and far-field imaging provided modal information at intervals as the fiber diameter decreased. Modal volume was shown to decrease with decreasing diameter, and single mode behavior was observed at the minimum diameter achieved. While weakly-guiding approximations are generally inaccurate for low modal volume optical fiber withmore » high core-cladding refractive index disparity, consistency between these approximations and experimental results was observed when the effective numerical aperture was measured and substituted for the theoretical numerical aperture in weakly-guiding approximation calculations. With the demonstration of very low modal volume in sapphire at fiber diameters much larger than anticipated by legacy calculations, the resolution of sapphire fiber distributed sensors may be increased and other sensing schemes requiring very low modal volume, such as fiber Bragg gratings, may be realized in extreme environment applications.« less

  15. Estimation and tracking of AP-diameter of the inferior vena cava in ultrasound images using a novel active circle algorithm.

    PubMed

    Karami, Ebrahim; Shehata, Mohamed S; Smith, Andrew

    2018-05-04

    Medical research suggests that the anterior-posterior (AP)-diameter of the inferior vena cava (IVC) and its associated temporal variation as imaged by bedside ultrasound is useful in guiding fluid resuscitation of the critically-ill patient. Unfortunately, indistinct edges and gaps in vessel walls are frequently present which impede accurate estimation of the IVC AP-diameter for both human operators and segmentation algorithms. The majority of research involving use of the IVC to guide fluid resuscitation involves manual measurement of the maximum and minimum AP-diameter as it varies over time. This effort proposes using a time-varying circle fitted inside the typically ellipsoid IVC as an efficient, consistent and novel approach to tracking and approximating the AP-diameter even in the context of poor image quality. In this active-circle algorithm, a novel evolution functional is proposed and shown to be a useful tool for ultrasound image processing. The proposed algorithm is compared with an expert manual measurement, and state-of-the-art relevant algorithms. It is shown that the algorithm outperforms other techniques and performs very close to manual measurement. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Single Mode Air-Clad Single Crystal Sapphire Optical Fiber

    DOE PAGES

    Hill, Cary; Homa, Dan; Yu, Zhihao; ...

    2017-05-03

    The observation of single mode propagation in an air-clad single crystal sapphire optical fiber at wavelengths at and above 783 nm is presented for the first time. A high-temperature wet acid etching method was used to reduce the diameter of a 10 cm length of commercially-sourced sapphire fiber from 125 micrometers to 6.5 micrometers, and far-field imaging provided modal information at intervals as the fiber diameter decreased. Modal volume was shown to decrease with decreasing diameter, and single mode behavior was observed at the minimum diameter achieved. While weakly-guiding approximations are generally inaccurate for low modal volume optical fiber withmore » high core-cladding refractive index disparity, consistency between these approximations and experimental results was observed when the effective numerical aperture was measured and substituted for the theoretical numerical aperture in weakly-guiding approximation calculations. With the demonstration of very low modal volume in sapphire at fiber diameters much larger than anticipated by legacy calculations, the resolution of sapphire fiber distributed sensors may be increased and other sensing schemes requiring very low modal volume, such as fiber Bragg gratings, may be realized in extreme environment applications.« less

  17. Inferring Social Status and Rich Club Effects in Enterprise Communication Networks

    PubMed Central

    Dong, Yuxiao; Tang, Jie; Chawla, Nitesh V.; Lou, Tiancheng; Yang, Yang; Wang, Bai

    2015-01-01

    Social status, defined as the relative rank or position that an individual holds in a social hierarchy, is known to be among the most important motivating forces in social behaviors. In this paper, we consider the notion of status from the perspective of a position or title held by a person in an enterprise. We study the intersection of social status and social networks in an enterprise. We study whether enterprise communication logs can help reveal how social interactions and individual status manifest themselves in social networks. To that end, we use two enterprise datasets with three communication channels — voice call, short message, and email — to demonstrate the social-behavioral differences among individuals with different status. We have several interesting findings and based on these findings we also develop a model to predict social status. On the individual level, high-status individuals are more likely to be spanned as structural holes by linking to people in parts of the enterprise networks that are otherwise not well connected to one another. On the community level, the principle of homophily, social balance and clique theory generally indicate a “rich club” maintained by high-status individuals, in the sense that this community is much more connected, balanced and dense. Our model can predict social status of individuals with 93% accuracy. PMID:25822343

  18. Design and fabrication of engineering model fiber-optics detector

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mcsweeney, A.

    1972-01-01

    The design and fabrication of an annular ring detector consisting of optical fibers terminated with photodetectors is described. The maximum width of each concentric ring has to be small enough to permit the resolution of a Ronchi ruling transform with a dot spacing of 150 microns. A minimum of 100 concentric rings covering a circular area of 2.54 cm diameter also is necessary. A fiber-optic array consisting of approximately 89,000 fibers of 76 microns diameter was fabricated to meet the above requirements. The fibers within a circular area of 2.5 cm diameter were sorted into 168 adjacent rings concentric with the center fiber. The response characteristics of several photodetectors were measured, and the data used to compare their linearity of response and dynamic range. Also, coupling loss measurements were made for three different methods of terminating the optical fibers with a photodetector.

  19. Thermocouple error correction for measuring the flame temperature with determination of emissivity and heat transfer coefficient.

    PubMed

    Hindasageri, V; Vedula, R P; Prabhu, S V

    2013-02-01

    Temperature measurement by thermocouples is prone to errors due to conduction and radiation losses and therefore has to be corrected for precise measurement. The temperature dependent emissivity of the thermocouple wires is measured by the use of thermal infrared camera. The measured emissivities are found to be 20%-40% lower than the theoretical values predicted from theory of electromagnetism. A transient technique is employed for finding the heat transfer coefficients for the lead wire and the bead of the thermocouple. This method does not require the data of thermal properties and velocity of the burnt gases. The heat transfer coefficients obtained from the present method have an average deviation of 20% from the available heat transfer correlations in literature for non-reacting convective flow over cylinders and spheres. The parametric study of thermocouple error using the numerical code confirmed the existence of a minimum wire length beyond which the conduction loss is a constant minimal. Temperature of premixed methane-air flames stabilised on 16 mm diameter tube burner is measured by three B-type thermocouples of wire diameters: 0.15 mm, 0.30 mm, and 0.60 mm. The measurements are made at three distances from the burner tip (thermocouple tip to burner tip/burner diameter = 2, 4, and 6) at an equivalence ratio of 1 for the tube Reynolds number varying from 1000 to 2200. These measured flame temperatures are corrected by the present numerical procedure, the multi-element method, and the extrapolation method. The flame temperatures estimated by the two-element method and extrapolation method deviate from numerical results within 2.5% and 4%, respectively.

  20. Thermocouple error correction for measuring the flame temperature with determination of emissivity and heat transfer coefficient

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hindasageri, V.; Vedula, R. P.; Prabhu, S. V.

    2013-02-01

    Temperature measurement by thermocouples is prone to errors due to conduction and radiation losses and therefore has to be corrected for precise measurement. The temperature dependent emissivity of the thermocouple wires is measured by the use of thermal infrared camera. The measured emissivities are found to be 20%-40% lower than the theoretical values predicted from theory of electromagnetism. A transient technique is employed for finding the heat transfer coefficients for the lead wire and the bead of the thermocouple. This method does not require the data of thermal properties and velocity of the burnt gases. The heat transfer coefficients obtained from the present method have an average deviation of 20% from the available heat transfer correlations in literature for non-reacting convective flow over cylinders and spheres. The parametric study of thermocouple error using the numerical code confirmed the existence of a minimum wire length beyond which the conduction loss is a constant minimal. Temperature of premixed methane-air flames stabilised on 16 mm diameter tube burner is measured by three B-type thermocouples of wire diameters: 0.15 mm, 0.30 mm, and 0.60 mm. The measurements are made at three distances from the burner tip (thermocouple tip to burner tip/burner diameter = 2, 4, and 6) at an equivalence ratio of 1 for the tube Reynolds number varying from 1000 to 2200. These measured flame temperatures are corrected by the present numerical procedure, the multi-element method, and the extrapolation method. The flame temperatures estimated by the two-element method and extrapolation method deviate from numerical results within 2.5% and 4%, respectively.

  1. Common iliac vein stenosis and risk of symptomatic pulmonary embolism: an inverse correlation.

    PubMed

    Chan, Keith T; Popat, Rita A; Sze, Daniel Y; Kuo, William T; Kothary, Nishita; Louie, John D; Hovsepian, David M; Hwang, Gloria L; Hofmann, Lawrence V

    2011-02-01

    To test the hypothesis that a common iliac vein (CIV) stenosis may impair embolization of a large deep venous thrombosis (DVT) to the lungs, decreasing the incidence of a symptomatic pulmonary embolism (PE). Between January 2002 and August 2007, 75 patients diagnosed with unilateral DVT were included in a single-institution case-control study. Minimum CIV diameters were measured 1 cm below the inferior vena cava (IVC) bifurcation on computed tomography (CT) images. A significant stenosis in the CIV ipsilateral to the DVT was defined as having either a diameter 4 mm or less or a greater than 70% reduction in lumen diameter. A symptomatic PE was defined as having symptoms and imaging findings consistent with a PE. The odds of symptomatic PE versus CIV stenosis were assessed using logistic regression models. The associations between thrombus location, stenosis, and symptomatic PE were assessed using a stratified analysis. Of 75 subjects, 49 (65%) presented with symptomatic PE. There were 17 (23%) subjects with a venous lumen 4 mm or less and 12 (16%) subjects with a greater than 70% stenosis. CIV stenosis of 4 mm or less resulted in a decreased odds of a symptomatic PE compared with a lumen greater than 4 mm (odds ratio [OR] 0.17, P = .011), whereas a greater than 70% stenosis increased the odds of DVT involving the CIV (OR 7.1, P = .047). Among patients with unilateral DVT, those with an ipsilateral CIV lumen of 4 mm or less have an 83% lower risk of developing symptomatic PE compared with patients with a CIV lumen greater than 4 mm. Copyright © 2011 SIR. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Large-diameter metal-on-metal total hip arthroplasty: dislocation infrequent but survivorship poor.

    PubMed

    Lombardi, Adolph V; Berend, Keith R; Morris, Michael J; Adams, Joanne B; Sneller, Michael A

    2015-02-01

    Use of large-diameter metal-on-metal (MoM) articulations in THA increased, at least in part, because of the possibility of achieving improved joint stability and excellent wear characteristics in vitro. However, there have been subsequent concerning reports with adverse reactions to metal debris (ARMD), pseudotumors, and systemic complications related to metal ions. The purpose of this study was to determine at a minimum of 2 years' followup (1) the proportion of patients who experienced a dislocation; (2) the short-term survivorship obtained with these implants; (3) the causes of failure and the proportion of patients who developed ARMD; and (4) whether there were any identifiable risk factors for revision. We reviewed the results of 1235 patients who underwent 1440 large-diameter MoM primary THAs at our institution using two acetabular devices from a single manufacturer with minimum 2-year followup. Large-diameter MoM devices were used in 48% (1695 of 3567) of primary THAs during the study period. We generally used these implants in younger, more active, higher-demand patients, in patients considered at higher risk of instability, and in patients with adequate bone stock to achieve stable fixation without use of screws. Clinical records and radiographs were reviewed to determine the incidence and etiology of revision. Patients whose hips were revised were compared with those not revised to identify risk factors; Kaplan-Meier survivorship analysis was performed as was multivariate analysis to account for potential confounding variables when evaluating risk factors. Minimum followup was 2 years (average, 7 years; range, 2-12 years); complete followup was available in 85% of hips (1440 of 1695). Dislocation occurred in one hip overall (<1%; one of 1440). Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed survival free of component revision was 87% at 12 years (95% confidence interval, 84%-90%). The two most common indications for revision were ARMD (48%; 47 of 108 hips revised) and loosening or failure of ingrowth (31%; 34 of 108). Risk factors for component revision were younger age at surgery (relative risk [RR] 0.98 per each increased year; p=0.02), higher cup angle of inclination (RR 1.03 per each increased degree; p=0.04), and female sex (RR 1.67; p=0.03). Large-diameter MoM THAs are associated with a very low dislocation rate, but failure secondary to ARMD and loosening or lack of ingrowth occur frequently. Patients with MoM THA should be encouraged to return for clinical and radiographic followup, and clinicians should maintain a low threshold to perform a systematic evaluation. Early diagnosis and appropriate treatment are recommended to prevent the damaging effects of advanced ARMD. Level IV, Therapeutic study.

  3. A preliminary characterization of parachute wake recontact

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

    Strickland, J.H.; Macha, J.M.

    1989-01-01

    A series of tests was conducted on a 10-ft.-diameter ringslot parachute with a geometric porosity of 20% to establish the conditions under which ''wake recontact'' occurs. The vertical helicopter drop tests covered a range of mass ratios from 0.5 to 3.0 and a range of Froude numbers from 70 to 400. Data consisted of velocity time histories obtained using a laser tracker and diameter time histories obtained from photometric data. A collapse parameter based on the ratio of the maximum parachute diameter to the subsequent minimum diameter was correlated with the mass ratio M/sub R/ and the Froude number Frmore » or equivalently with the initial to final velocity ratio V/sub o//V/sub t/. For large values of V/sub o//V/sub t/ the collapse parameter R/sub c/ appears to be a function of M/sub R/ alone. Non-dimensional opening time and ''collapse time'' data were also correlated with M/sub R/ and V/sub o//V/sub t/. 11 refs., 10 figs., 1 tab.« less

  4. Optimizing the design of nanostructures for improved thermal conduction within confined spaces

    PubMed Central

    2011-01-01

    Maintaining constant temperature is of particular importance to the normal operation of electronic devices. Aiming at the question, this paper proposes an optimum design of nanostructures made of high thermal conductive nanomaterials to provide outstanding heat dissipation from the confined interior (possibly nanosized) to the micro-spaces of electronic devices. The design incorporates a carbon nanocone for conducting heat from the interior to the exterior of a miniature electronic device, with the optimum diameter, D0, of the nanocone satisfying the relationship: D02(x) ∝ x1/2 where x is the position along the length direction of the carbon nanocone. Branched structure made of single-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are shown to be particularly suitable for the purpose. It was found that the total thermal resistance of a branched structure reaches a minimum when the diameter ratio, β* satisfies the relationship: β* = γ-0.25bN-1/k*, where γ is ratio of length, b = 0.3 to approximately 0.4 on the single-walled CNTs, b = 0.6 to approximately 0.8 on the multiwalled CNTs, k* = 2 and N is the bifurcation number (N = 2, 3, 4 ...). The findings of this research provide a blueprint in designing miniaturized electronic devices with outstanding heat dissipation. PACS numbers: 44.10.+i, 44.05.+e, 66.70.-f, 61.48.De PMID:21711953

  5. Designing Pulse Laser Surface Modification of H13 Steel Using Response Surface Method

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Aqida, S. N.; Brabazon, D.; Naher, S.

    2011-01-01

    This paper presents a design of experiment (DOE) for laser surface modification process of AISI H13 tool steel in achieving the maximum hardness and minimum surface roughness at a range of modified layer depth. A Rofin DC-015 diffusion-cooled CO2 slab laser was used to process AISI H13 tool steel samples. Samples of 10 mm diameter were sectioned to 100 mm length in order to process a predefined circumferential area. The parameters selected for examination were laser peak power, overlap percentage and pulse repetition frequency (PRF). The response surface method with Box-Behnken design approach in Design Expert 7 software was used to design the H13 laser surface modification process. Metallographic study and image analysis were done to measure the modified layer depth. The modified surface roughness was measured using two-dimensional surface profilometer. The correlation of the three laser processing parameters and the modified surface properties was specified by plotting three-dimensional graph. The hardness properties were tested at 981 mN force. From metallographic study, the laser modified surface depth was between 37 μm and 150 μm. The average surface roughness recorded from the 2D profilometry was at a minimum value of 1.8 μm. The maximum hardness achieved was between 728 and 905 HV0.1. These findings are significant to modern development of hard coatings for wear resistant applications.

  6. Internal V-Band Clamp

    DOEpatents

    Vaughn, Mark R.; Hafenrichter, Everett S.; Chapa, Agapito C.; Harris, Steven M.; Martinez, Marcus J.; Baty, Roy S.

    2006-02-28

    A system for clamping two tubular members together in an end-to-end relationship uses a split ring with a V-shaped outer rim that can engage a clamping surface on each member. The split ring has a relaxed closed state where the ends of the ring are adjacent and the outside diameter of the split ring is less than the minimum inside diameter of the members at their ends. The members are clamped when the split ring is spread into an elastically stretched position where the ring rim is pressed tightly against the interior surfaces of the members. Mechanisms are provided for removing the spreader so the split ring will return to the relaxed state, releasing the clamped members.

  7. 30 CFR 250.1003 - Installation, testing, and repair requirements for DOI pipelines.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    .... (a)(1) Pipelines greater than 8-5/8 inches in diameter and installed in water depths of less than 200... shall be pressure tested with water at a stabilized pressure of at least 1.25 times the MAOP for at... pressure tested with water or processed natural gas at a minimum stabilized pressure of at least 1.25 times...

  8. Characterizing and contrasting instream and riparian coarse wood in western Montana basins

    Treesearch

    Michael K. Young; Ethan A. Mace; Eric T. Ziegler; Elaine K. Sutherland

    2006-01-01

    The importance of coarse wood to aquatic biota and stream channel structure is widely recognized, yet characterizations of large-scale patterns in coarse wood dimensions and loads are rare. To address these issues, we censused instream coarse wood ( 2 m long and 10 cm minimum diameter) and sampled riparian coarse wood and channel characteristics in and along 13 streams...

  9. 49 CFR 571.139 - Standard No. 139; New pneumatic radial tires for light vehicles.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... breaking away of pieces of the tread or sidewall. Cord means the strands forming the plies in the tire... with a 12-inch or smaller rim diameter, each tire shall have not less than six treadwear indicators... mountain, there must be a six-sided snowflake having a minimum height of one-half the tallest peak...

  10. Modeling Multiplicative Error Variance: An Example Predicting Tree Diameter from Stump Dimensions in Baldcypress

    Treesearch

    Bernard R. Parresol

    1993-01-01

    In the context of forest modeling, it is often reasonable to assume a multiplicative heteroscedastic error structure to the data. Under such circumstances ordinary least squares no longer provides minimum variance estimates of the model parameters. Through study of the error structure, a suitable error variance model can be specified and its parameters estimated. This...

  11. Water sample filtration unit

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Skougstad, M.W.; Scarbro, G.F.

    1968-01-01

    A readily portable, all plastic, pressure filtration unit is described which greatly facilitates rapid micropore membrane field filtration of up to several liters of water with a minimum risk of inorganic chemical alteration or contamination of the sample. The unit accommodates standard 10.2-cm. (4-inch) diameter filters. The storage and carrying case serves as a convenient filter stand for both field and laboratory use.

  12. 77 FR 5502 - Stuyvesant Falls Hydroelectric Project; Notice of Application Ready for Environmental Analysis...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-02-03

    ... Kinderhook Creek; (2) an existing 46-acre impoundment with a normal water surface elevation of 174.3 feet...) minimum flow turbine located adjacent to the intake structure; (5) two existing 7.5-foot-diameter, 2,860..., approximately 144 feet long, 84 feet wide, and 60 feet high; (7) two single-runner Francis turbines, each with a...

  13. Feasibility study of full-reactor gas core demonstration test

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kunze, J. F.; Lofthouse, J. H.; Shaffer, C. J.; Macbeth, P. J.

    1973-01-01

    Separate studies of nuclear criticality, flow patterns, and thermodynamics for the gas core reactor concept have all given positive indications of its feasibility. However, before serious design for a full scale gas core application can be made, feasibility must be shown for operation with full interaction of the nuclear, thermal, and hydraulic effects. A minimum sized, and hence minimum expense, test arrangement is considered for a full gas core configuration. It is shown that the hydrogen coolant scattering effects dominate the nuclear considerations at elevated temperatures. A cavity diameter of somewhat larger than 4 ft (122 cm) will be needed if temperatures high enough to vaporize uranium are to be achieved.

  14. Inert gas thrusters

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kaufman, H. R.

    1976-01-01

    Inert gases are of interest as possible alternatives to the usual electric thruster propellants of mercury and cesium. The multipole discharge chamber investigated was shown capable of low discharge chamber losses and flat ion beam profiles with a minimum of optimization. Minimum discharge losses were 200 to 250 eV/ion for xenon and 300 to 350 eV/ion for argon, while flatness parameters in the plane of the accelerator grid were 0.85 to 0.95. The design used employs low magnetic field strengths, which permits the use of sheet-metal parts. The corner problem of the discharge chamber was resolved with recessed corner anodes, which approximately equalized both the magnetic field above the anodes and the electron currents to these anodes. Argon hollow cathodes were investigated at currents up to about 5 amperes using internal thermionic emitters. Cathode chamber diameter optimized in the 1.0 to 2.5 cm range, while orifices diameter optimized in the 0.5 to 5 mm range. The use of a bias voltage for the internal emitter extended the operating range and facilitated starting. The masses of 15 and 30 cm flight type thrusters were estimated at about 4.2 and 10.8 kg.

  15. Seasonal phenology of the heterotrophic dinoflagellate Noctiluca scintillans (Macartney) in Jiaozhou Bay and adjacent coastal Yellow Sea, China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Weicheng; Sun, Song; Sun, Xiaoxia; Zhang, Fang; Zhang, Guangtao; Zhu, Mingliang

    2017-11-01

    Seasonal variations in numerical abundance, cell diameter and population carbon biomass of the heterotrophic dinoflagellate Noctiluca scintillans were studied for 10 years from 2004 to 2013 in Jiaozhou Bay and adjacent coastal Yellow Sea, China, and their ecological functions were evaluated. In both areas, N. scintillans occurred throughout the year and demonstrated an essentially similar seasonality; the cell abundance increased rapidly from the winter minimum to an annual peak in late spring and early summer, and decreased gradually toward the autumn-winter minimum. The peak abundance differed by years, and there was no consistent trend in long-term numerical variations. The cell diameter also showed a seasonal fluctuation, being larger in spring and early summer than the other seasons. Estimated carbon biomass of N. scintillans population reached to a peak as high as 90.3 mg C/m3, and occasionally exceed over phytoplankton and copepod biomass. Our results demonstrate that N. scintillans in northwestern Yellow Sea displays the seasonal phenology almost identical to the populations in other temperate regions, and play important trophic roles as a heterotroph to interact with sympatric phytoplankton and copepods.

  16. A novel approach to analyzing lung cancer mortality disparities: Using the exposome and a graph-theoretical toolchain

    PubMed Central

    Juarez, Paul D; Hood, Darryl B; Rogers, Gary L; Baktash, Suzanne H; Saxton, Arnold M; Matthews-Juarez, Patricia; Im, Wansoo; Cifuentes, Myriam Patricia; Phillips, Charles A; Lichtveld, Maureen Y; Langston, Michael A

    2017-01-01

    Objectives The aim is to identify exposures associated with lung cancer mortality and mortality disparities by race and gender using an exposome database coupled to a graph theoretical toolchain. Methods Graph theoretical algorithms were employed to extract paracliques from correlation graphs using associations between 2162 environmental exposures and lung cancer mortality rates in 2067 counties, with clique doubling applied to compute an absolute threshold of significance. Factor analysis and multiple linear regressions then were used to analyze differences in exposures associated with lung cancer mortality and mortality disparities by race and gender. Results While cigarette consumption was highly correlated with rates of lung cancer mortality for both white men and women, previously unidentified novel exposures were more closely associated with lung cancer mortality and mortality disparities for blacks, particularly black women. Conclusions Exposures beyond smoking moderate lung cancer mortality and mortality disparities by race and gender. Policy Implications An exposome approach and database coupled with scalable combinatorial analytics provides a powerful new approach for analyzing relationships between multiple environmental exposures, pathways and health outcomes. An assessment of multiple exposures is needed to appropriately translate research findings into environmental public health practice and policy. PMID:29152601

  17. Differential network as an indicator of osteoporosis with network entropy.

    PubMed

    Ma, Lili; Du, Hongmei; Chen, Guangdong

    2018-07-01

    Osteoporosis is a common skeletal disorder characterized by a decrease in bone mass and density. The peak bone mass (PBM) is a significant determinant of osteoporosis. To gain insights into the indicating effect of PBM to osteoporosis, this study focused on characterizing the PBM networks and identifying key genes. One biological data set with 12 monocyte low PBM samples and 11 high PBM samples was derived to construct protein-protein interaction networks (PPINs). Based on clique-merging, module-identification algorithm was used to identify modules from PPINs. The systematic calculation and comparison were performed to test whether the network entropy can discriminate the low PBM network from high PBM network. We constructed 32 destination networks with 66 modules divided from monocyte low and high PBM networks. Among them, network 11 was the only significantly differential one (P<0.05) with 8 nodes and 28 edges. All genes belonged to precursors of osteoclasts, which were related to calcium transport as well as blood monocytes. In conclusion, based on the entropy in PBM PPINs, the differential network appears to be a novel therapeutic indicator for osteoporosis during the bone monocyte progression; these findings are helpful in disclosing the pathogenetic mechanisms of osteoporosis.

  18. Recent Findings Related to Giant Cloud Condensation Nuclei in the Marine Boundary Layer and Impacts on Clouds and Precipitation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sorooshian, Armin; Dadashazar, Hossein; Wang, Zhen; Crosbie, Ewan; Brunke, Michael; Zeng, Xubin; Jonsson, Haflidi; Woods, Roy; Flagan, Richard; Seinfeld, John

    2017-04-01

    This presentation reports on findings from multiple airborne field campaigns off the California coast to understand the sources, nature, and impacts of giant cloud condensation nuclei (GCCN). Aside from sea spray emissions, measurements have revealed that ocean-going ships can be a source of GCCN due to wake and stack emissions off the California coast. Observed particle number concentrations behind 10 ships exceeded those in "control" areas, exhibiting number concentration enhancement ratios (ERs) for minimum threshold diameters of 2, 10, and 20 μm as high as 2.7, 5.5, and 7.5, respectively. The data provide insights into how ER is related to a variety of factors (downwind distance, altitude, ship characteristics such as gross tonnage, length, and beam). The data also provide insight into the extent to which a size distribution parameter and a cloud water chemical measurement can capture the effect of sea salt on marine stratocumulus cloud properties. The two GCCN proxy variables, near-surface particle number concentration for diameter > 5 µm and cloud water chloride concentration, are significantly correlated with each other, and both exhibit expected relationships with other parameters that typically coincide with sea salt emissions. Factors influencing the relationship between these two GCCN proxy measurements will be discussed. When comparing twelve pairs of high and low chloride cloud cases (at fixed liquid water path and cloud drop number concentration), the average drop spectra for high chloride cases exhibit enhanced drop number at diameters exceeding 20 µm, especially above 30 µm. In addition, high chloride cases coincide with enhanced mean columnar R and negative values of precipitation susceptibility. The difference in drop effective radius (re) between high and low chloride conditions decreases with height in cloud, suggesting that some GCCN-produced rain drops precipitate before reaching cloud tops. The sign of cloud responses (i.e., re, R) to perturbations in giant sea salt particle concentration, as evaluated from MERRA-2 reanalysis data, is consistent with the aircraft data.

  19. Improved Cost-Base Design of Water Distribution Networks using Genetic Algorithm

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Moradzadeh Azar, Foad; Abghari, Hirad; Taghi Alami, Mohammad; Weijs, Steven

    2010-05-01

    Population growth and progressive extension of urbanization in different places of Iran cause an increasing demand for primary needs. The water, this vital liquid is the most important natural need for human life. Providing this natural need is requires the design and construction of water distribution networks, that incur enormous costs on the country's budget. Any reduction in these costs enable more people from society to access extreme profit least cost. Therefore, investment of Municipal councils need to maximize benefits or minimize expenditures. To achieve this purpose, the engineering design depends on the cost optimization techniques. This paper, presents optimization models based on genetic algorithm(GA) to find out the minimum design cost Mahabad City's (North West, Iran) water distribution network. By designing two models and comparing the resulting costs, the abilities of GA were determined. the GA based model could find optimum pipe diameters to reduce the design costs of network. Results show that the water distribution network design using Genetic Algorithm could lead to reduction of at least 7% in project costs in comparison to the classic model. Keywords: Genetic Algorithm, Optimum Design of Water Distribution Network, Mahabad City, Iran.

  20. Temperature fluctuation of the Iceland mantle plume through time

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Spice, Holly E.; Fitton, J. Godfrey; Kirstein, Linda A.

    2016-02-01

    The newly developed Al-in-olivine geothermometer was used to find the olivine-Cr-spinel crystallization temperatures of a suite of picrites spanning the spatial and temporal extent of the North Atlantic Igneous Province (NAIP), which is widely considered to be the result of a deep-seated mantle plume. Our data confirm that start-up plumes are associated with a pulse of anomalously hot mantle over a large spatial area before becoming focused into a narrow upwelling. We find that the thermal anomaly on both sides of the province at Baffin Island/West Greenland and the British Isles at ˜61 Ma across an area ˜2000 km in diameter was uniform, with Al-in-olivine temperatures up to ˜300°C above that of average mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) primitive magma. Furthermore, by combining our results with geochemical data and existing geophysical and bathymetric observations, we present compelling evidence for long-term (>107 year) fluctuations in the temperature of the Iceland mantle plume. We show that the plume temperature fell from its initial high value during the start-up phase to a minimum at about 35 Ma, and that the mantle temperature beneath Iceland is currently increasing.

  1. Reducing the rate of early primary hip dislocation by combining a change in surgical technique and an increase in femoral head diameter to 36 mm.

    PubMed

    Ho, Ki Wai Kevin; Whitwell, George S; Young, Steve K

    2012-07-01

    We report how changes to our total hip arthroplasty (THA) surgical practise lead to a decrease in early hip dislocation rates. Group B consisted of 421 consecutive primary THA operations performed via a posterior approach. The operative technique included a meticulous repair of the posterior capsule, alignment of the acetabular cup with the transverse acetabular ligament (TAL) and a 36-mm-diameter femoral head. We compared the dislocation rates and cost implications of this technique to a historical control Group A consisting of 389 patients. The control group had their THA performed with no repair of the capsule, no identification of the TAL and all received a 28-mm-diameter head. Our primary outcome is the rate of early hip dislocation and we hypothesised that we can reduce the rate of early hip dislocation with this new regime. In Group B there were no early dislocations (within 6 months) and two (0.5 %) dislocations within 18 months; minimum follow-up time was 18 months with a range of (18-96 months). This compared to a 1.8 % early dislocation rate and a 2.6 % rate at 18 months in Group A; minimum follow-up time was 60 months with a range of (60-112 months). These results were statistically significant (p = 0.006). We suggest that when primary hip arthroplasty is performed through a posterior approach, a low early dislocation rate can be achieved using the described methods.

  2. Safety of Percutaneous Patent Ductus Arteriosus Closure: An Unselected Multicenter Population Experience

    PubMed Central

    El‐Said, Howaida G.; Bratincsak, Andras; Foerster, Susan R.; Murphy, Joshua J.; Vincent, Julie; Holzer, Ralf; Porras, Diego; Moore, John; Bergersen, Lisa

    2013-01-01

    Background The technique and safety of transcatheter patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) closure have evolved during the past 20 years. We sought to report a multicenter experience of PDA closure with a focus on the rate of adverse events (AE) and a review of institutional practice differences. Methods and Results Outcome data on transcatheter PDA closure were collected at 8 centers prospectively using a multicenter registry (Congenital Cardiac Catheterization Project on Outcome Registry). Between February 2007 and June 2010, 496 PDA closures were recorded using a device in 338 (68%) or coils in 158 (32%). Most patients had an isolated PDA (90%). Fifty percent of patients were between 6 months and 3 years old, with only 40 patients (8%) <6 months old. Median minimum PDA diameter was 2.5 mm (range 1 to 12 mm; IQR 2 to 3 mm) for device closure and 1 mm (range 0.5 to 6 mm; IQR 1 to 2 mm) for coil closure (P<0.001). A device rather than coil was used in patients <3 years, weight <11 kg, and with a PDA minimum diameter >2 mm (all P<0.001). Three of 8 centers exclusively used a device for PDAs with a diameter >1.5 mm. In 9% of cases (n=46), an AE occurred; however, only 11 (2%) were classified as high severity. Younger age was associated with a higher AE rate. Coil‐related AEs were more common than device‐related AEs (10% versus 2%, P<0.001). Conclusions PDA closure in the present era has a very low rate of complications, although these are higher in younger children. Technical intervention‐related events were more common in coil procedures compared with device procedures. For PDAs ≤2.5 mm in diameter, institutional differences in preference for device versus coil exist. PMID:24284214

  3. An analysis of steady/unsteady electroosmotic flows through charged cylindrical nano-channels

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nayak, A. K.

    2013-11-01

    The steady/unsteady electroosmotic flow in an infinitely extended cylindrical channel with diameters ranging from 10 to 100 nm has been investigated. A mixture of (NaCl + H2O) is considered for the numerical calculation of the mass, potential, velocity, and mixing efficiency. Results are obtained for the channel diameters are small, equal, or greater than the electric double layer (EDL) both for steady and unsteady cases. In the present discussion, a symmetrical distribution of mole fractions is considered at the wall interface. Hence, the velocity and potential are symmetrical in nature toward the centerline of the channel, and also identical in nature at maximum and minimum time levels (i.e., at π/2 and 3 π/2 for a periodic function) in the transient case. In case of steady flows, the velocity and potential satisfy the chemical equilibrium condition at the centerline. It is observed that the electric double layer reaches a local equilibrium in the presence of electroosmosis when the channel length is long compared to the characteristic hydraulic diameter and the flow is essentially one-dimensional, which depends only on channel diameter. Comparisons of NP (Nernst Plank) model with PB (Poisson-Boltzmann) model are achieved out for different published results at larger channel diameters.

  4. Fabrication of an Optical Fiber Micro-Sphere with a Diameter of Several Tens of Micrometers.

    PubMed

    Yu, Huijuan; Huang, Qiangxian; Zhao, Jian

    2014-06-25

    A new method to fabricate an integrated optical fiber micro-sphere with a diameter within 100 µm, based on the optical fiber tapering technique and the Taguchi method is proposed. Using a 125 µm diameter single-mode (SM) optical fiber, an optical fiber taper with a cone angle is formed with the tapering technique, and the fabrication optimization of a micro-sphere with a diameter of less than 100 µm is achieved using the Taguchi method. The optimum combination of process factors levels is obtained, and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of three quality evaluation parameters and the significance of each process factors influencing them are selected as the two standards. Using the minimum zone method (MZM) to evaluate the quality of the fabricated optical fiber micro-sphere, a three-dimensional (3D) numerical fitting image of its surface profile and the true sphericity are subsequently realized. From the results, an optical fiber micro-sphere with a two-dimensional (2D) diameter less than 80 µm, 2D roundness error less than 0.70 µm, 2D offset distance between the micro-sphere center and the fiber stylus central line less than 0.65 µm, and true sphericity of about 0.5 µm, is fabricated.

  5. Teaching the Minimum Wage in Econ 101 in Light of the New Economics of the Minimum Wage.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Krueger, Alan B.

    2001-01-01

    Argues that the recent controversy over the effect of the minimum wage on employment offers an opportunity for teaching introductory economics. Examines eight textbooks to determine topic coverage but finds little consensus. Describes how minimum wage effects should be taught. (RLH)

  6. Fired heater for coal liquefaction process

    DOEpatents

    Ying, David H. S.; McDermott, Wayne T.; Givens, Edwin N.

    1985-01-01

    A fired heater for a coal liquefaction process is operated under conditions to maximize the slurry slug frequency and thereby improve the heat transfer efficiency. The operating conditions controlled are (1) the pipe diameter and pipe arrangement, (2) the minimum coal/solvent slurry velocity, (3) the maximum gas superficial velocity, and (4) the range of the volumetric flow velocity ratio of gas to coal/solvent slurry.

  7. Simulating Army-Relevant Spur Gear Contacts with a Ball-on-Disc Tribometer

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2015-09-01

    on Steel Ceramic on Ceramic 23 amount of run in is a parameter that must be considered when simulating gear or bearing contacts, and can even be...minimum track diameters.......................19 Fig. 13 Hertzian contact stress for steel and ceramic contacts ............................21 Fig...14 Contact radius for steel and ceramic contacts .........................................21 Fig. 15 Contact area for steel and ceramic contacts

  8. The role of carbon solubility in Fe-C nano-clusters on the growth of small single-walled carbon nanotubes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Curtarolo, Stefano; Awasthy, Neha; Setyawan, Wahyu; Mora, Elena; Tokune, Toshio; Bolton, Kim; Harutyunyan, Avetik

    2008-03-01

    Various diameters of alumina-supported Fe catalysts are used to grow single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with chemical vapor decomposition. We find that the reduction of the catalyst size requires an increase of the minimum temperature necessary for the growth. We address this phenomenon in terms of solubility of C in Fe nanoclusters and, by using first principles calculations, we devise a simple model to predict the behavior of the phases competing for stability in Fe-C nanoclusters at low temperature. We show that, as a function particles size, there are three scenarios compatible with steady state-, limited- and no-growth of SWCNTs, corresponding to unaffected, reduced and no solubility of C in the particles. The result raises previously unknown concerns about the growth feasibility of small and very-long SWCNTs within the current Fe CVD technology, and suggests new strategies in the search of better catalysts. Research supported by Honda R.I. and NSF.

  9. A Herschel-Resolved Debris Disk Around the Nearby G Star HIP 32480

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Stapelfeldt, K.

    2011-01-01

    The Herschel Space Observatory is providing unprecedented sensitivity and angular resolution in the far-infrared. The DUNES Key Project (DUst around NEarby Stars, PI Carlos Eiroa) has finished its survey of 133 FGK stars within 25 pc of the Sun using the PACS photometer at 100 and 160 microns. We report the detection of a resolved debris ring around HIP 32480, a G0 star 16.5 parsecs distant. The ring is almost 300 AU in diameter and inclined 30 degrees from edge-on. We present a thermal emission model for the system that fits the Spitzer spectroscopy and Herschel images of the system. We find a minimum grainsize of approximately 4 microns in the main ring and a distinct warm dust population interior to it. Faint detached emission features just outside the ring may trace a separate, more distant ring in the system. The non-detection of the ring in archival HST/ACS coronagraphic images limits the dust grain albedo in the ring to be no more than 10%.

  10. A Resolved Debris Disk Around the Nearby G Star HIP 32480

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Stapelfeldt, K. R.; Bryden, G. C.; Marshall, J.; Eiroa, C.; Absil, O.; Mora, A.; Krist, J. E.; Su, K. Y. L.

    2012-01-01

    The Herschel Space Observatory is providing unprecedented sensitivity and angular resolution in the far-infrared. The DUNES Key Project (DUst around NEarby Stars, PI Carlos Eiroa) has finished its survey of 133 FGK stars within 25 pc of the Sun using the PACS photometer at 100 and 160 microns. We report the detection of a resolved debris ring around HIP 32480, a GO star 16.5 parsecs distant. The ring is almost 300 AU in diameter and inclined 30 degrees from edge-on. We present a thermal emission model for the system that fits the Spitzer spectroscopy and Herschel images of the system. We find a minimum grain-size of 4 microns in the main ring and a distinct warm dust population interior to it. Faint detached emission features just outside the ring may trace a separate, more distant ring in the system. The non-detection of the ring in archival HST/ACS coronagraphic images limits the dust grain albedo in the ring to be no more than 10%.

  11. Final bubble lengths for aqueous foam coarsened in a horizontal cylinder

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sebag, V.; Roth, A. E.; Durian, D. J.

    2011-12-01

    We report on length statistics measured for bubbles in the equilibrium bamboo state, achieved by the coarsening of aqueous foam in long cylindrical tubes, such that the soap films are all flat and perpendicular to the axis of the tube. The average bubble length is found to be 0.88 times the tube diameter, independent of variation of the liquid filling fraction by a factor of nearly three. The actual distribution is well-approximated by a shifted Rayleigh form, with a minimum bubble size of 0.28 tube diameters. And, perhaps surprisingly, no correlations are found in the lengths of neighboring bubbles. The observed length distribution agrees with that of Fortes et al. for short bubbles, but not for long bubbles.

  12. Quantitative three-dimensional dynamic imaging of structure and function of the cardiopulmonary and circulatory systems in all regions of the body

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Sturm, R. E.; Ritman, E. L.; Wood, E. H.

    1975-01-01

    The background for, and design of a third generation, general purpose, all electronic spatial scanning system, the DSR is described. Its specified performance capabilities provide dynamic and stop action three dimensional spatial reconstructions of any portion of the body based on a minimum exposure time of 0.01 second for each 28 multiplanar 180 deg scanning set, a maximum scan repetition rate of sixty 28 multiplane scan sets per second, each scan set consisting of a maximum of 240 parallel cross sections of a minimum thickness of 0.9 mm, and encompassing a maximum cylindrical volume about 23 cm in length and up to 38 cm in diameter.

  13. A cellular glass substrate solar concentrator

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bedard, R.; Bell, D.

    1980-01-01

    The design of a second generation point focusing solar concentration is discussed. The design is based on reflective gores fabricated of thin glass mirror bonded continuously to a contoured substrate of cellular glass. The concentrator aperture and structural stiffness was optimized for minimum concentrator cost given the performance requirement of delivering 56 kWth to a 22 cm diameter receiver aperture with a direct normal insolation of 845 watts sq m and an operating wind of 50 kmph. The reflective panel, support structure, drives, foundation and instrumentation and control subsystem designs, optimized for minimum cost, are summarized. The use of cellular glass as a reflective panel substrate material is shown to offer significant weight and cost advantages compared to existing technology materials.

  14. Experimental tests of the effect of rotor diameter ratio and blade number to the cross-flow wind turbine performance

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Susanto, Sandi; Tjahjana, Dominicus Danardono Dwi Prija; Santoso, Budi

    2018-02-01

    Cross-flow wind turbine is one of the alternative energy harvester for low wind speeds area. Several factors that influence the power coefficient of cross-flow wind turbine are the diameter ratio of blades and the number of blades. The aim of this study is to find out the influence of the number of blades and the diameter ratio on the performance of cross-flow wind turbine and to find out the best configuration between number of blades and diameter ratio of the turbine. The experimental test were conducted under several variation including diameter ratio between outer and inner diameter of the turbine and number of blades. The variation of turbine diameter ratio between inner and outer diameter consisted of 0.58, 0.63, 0.68 and 0.73 while the variations of the number of blades used was 16, 20 and 24. The experimental test were conducted under certain wind speed which are 3m/s until 4 m/s. The result showed that the configurations between 0.68 diameter ratio and 20 blade numbers is the best configurations that has power coefficient of 0.049 and moment coefficient of 0.185.

  15. Current trends in stenting for aortic coarctation in Japan: Subanalysis of Japanese Society of Pediatric Interventional Cardiology (JPIC) stent survey.

    PubMed

    Fujii, Takanari; Tomita, Hideshi; Otsuki, Shinichi; Kobayashi, Toshiki; Ono, Yasuo; Yazaki, Satoshi; Kim, Sung-Hae; Nakanishi, Toshio

    2016-02-01

    Stenting for aortic coarctation (CoA) has been accepted as an alternative to surgery for adolescents and adults, but only a few case have been reported in Japan. The purpose of this study was to provide a detailed review of Japanese national data on stenting of CoA. In a subanalysis of the data of the Japanese Society of Pediatric Interventional Cardiology (JPIC), we identified 35 patients with CoA who underwent stenting. We analyzed procedural characteristics including factors that may have contributed to hemodynamic effectiveness, and we compared these parameters between the patients under and over 15 years of age. The mean ratio of balloon diameter/minimum lumen diameter (MLD) before stenting was 1.7 (range, 1.2-4.0), and the mean difference between the balloon diameter and the reference vessel diameter was -0.7 mm (range, -5.0 to +3.0 mm). %MLD/balloon diameter, which was defined as [(balloon diameter - MLD after dilation)/balloon diameter] × 100 predicted achievement of <10 mmHg pressure gradient after stenting. The sensitivity and the specificity of its cut-off of 7% were 93% and 47% (AUC, 0.7), respectively. There was no statistical difference between the two age groups under and over 15 years of age, in terms of selection criteria of stent size, balloon type used for deployment and immediate angiographic and hemodynamic result. Stenting for CoA was clinically effective with few complications in Japan, even in patients not fully grown. © 2015 Japan Pediatric Society.

  16. Being "chill" with teachers and "frozen" by peers in science: overcoming social and educational barriers in a learning community

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kim, Hannah; Scantlebury, Kathryn

    2013-09-01

    This forum discusses the issue of `othering' and how intersectionality is a useful analytical framework for understanding the students' immigrant experiences in, and out of, the science classroom. We use a feminist perspective to discuss Minjung's study because gender is a key aspect of one's identity other aspects such as race, religion, socio-economic status, and age have assumed a significant status in gender studies. Lastly we examine the supports and barriers that cliques can produce and propose the importance of building a learning community in the science classroom to engage all students.

  17. Structural optimization of an alternate design for the Space Shuttle solid rocket booster field joint

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Barthelemy, Jean-Francois M.; Rogers, James L., Jr.; Chang, Kwan J.

    1987-01-01

    A structural optimization procedure is used to determine the shape of an alternate design for the Shuttle's solid rocket booster field joint. In contrast to the tang and clevis design of the existing joint, this alternate design consists of two flanges bolted together. Configurations with 150 studs of 1 1/8 in diameter and 135 studs of 1 3/16 in diameter are considered. Using a nonlinear programming procedure, the joint weight is minimized under constraints on either von Mises or maximum normal stresses, joint opening and geometry. The procedure solves the design problem by replacing it by a sequence of approximate (convex) subproblems; the pattern of contact between the joint halves is determined every few cycles by a nonlinear displacement analysis. The minimum weight design has 135 studs of 1 3/16 in diameter and is designed under constraints on normal stresses. It weighs 1144 lb per joint more than the current tang and clevis design.

  18. [Spatial structural characteristics of natural Populus davidiana - Betula platyphylla secondary forest].

    PubMed

    Shao, Fang-Li; Yu, Xin-Xiao; Song, Si-Ming; Zhao, Yang

    2011-11-01

    This paper analyzed the spatial structural characteristics of natural Populus davidiana - Betula platyphylla secondary forest in a 4 hm2 plot of Mulan Paddock, based on the diameter distribution and the spatial structure parameters mingling degree, neighborhood comparison, and angle index. In the forest, the diameter distribution of the stands presented as an inverse 'J' curve, the average mingling degree was 0.4, with the individuals at weak and zero mingling degree reached 51.6%, and the average mingling degree of P. davidiana and B. platyphylla was 0.25 and 0.39, respectively. The neighborhood comparison based on the diameter at breast height (DBH) and tree height was almost the same, suggesting that the P. davidiana and B. platyphylla were in the transition state from subdominant to middle. The horizontal distribution pattern had a close relation to the minimum measured DBH, being clustered when the DBH was > or = 1 cm and < 6 cm, and random when the DBH was > or = 6 cm.

  19. Erosion of water-based fracturing fluid containing particles in a sudden contraction of horizontal pipe

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cheng, Jiarui; Cao, Yinping; Dou, Yihua; Li, Zhen

    2017-10-01

    A lab experiment was carried out to study the effects of pipe flow rate, particle concentration and pipe inner diameter ratio on proppant erosion of the reducing wall in hydraulic fracturing. The results show that the erosion rate and erosion distribution are different not only in radial direction but also in circumferential direction of the sample. The upper part of sample always has a minimum erosion rate and erosion area. Besides, the erosion rate of reducing wall is most affected by fluid flow velocity, and the erosion area is most sensitive to the change in the diameter ratio. Meanwhile, the erosion rate of reducing wall in crosslinked fracturing fluid is mainly determined by the fluid flowing state due to the high viscosity of the liquid. In general, the increase in flow velocity and diameter ratio not only cause the expansion of erosion-affected flow region in sudden contraction section, but also lead to more particles impact the wall.

  20. New presentation method for magnetic resonance angiography images based on skeletonization

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nystroem, Ingela; Smedby, Orjan

    2000-04-01

    Magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) images are usually presented as maximum intensity projections (MIP), and the choice of viewing direction is then critical for the detection of stenoses. We propose a presentation method that uses skeletonization and distance transformations, which visualizes variations in vessel width independent of viewing direction. In the skeletonization, the object is reduced to a surface skeleton and further to a curve skeleton. The skeletal voxels are labeled with their distance to the original background. For the curve skeleton, the distance values correspond to the minimum radius of the object at that point, i.e., half the minimum diameter of the blood vessel at that level. The following image processing steps are performed: resampling to cubic voxels, segmentation of the blood vessels, skeletonization ,and reverse distance transformation on the curve skeleton. The reconstructed vessels may be visualized with any projection method. Preliminary results are shown. They indicate that locations of possible stenoses may be identified by presenting the vessels as a structure with the minimum radius at each point.

  1. [Individual tree diameter increment model for natural Betula platyphylla forests based on meteorological factors].

    PubMed

    Zhang, Hai Ping; Li, Feng Ri; Dong, Li Hu; Liu, Qiang

    2017-06-18

    Based on the 212 re-measured permanent plots for natural Betula platyphylla fore-sts in Daxing'an Mountains and Xiaoxing'an Mountains and 30 meteorological stations data, an individual tree growth model based on meteorological factors was constructed. The differences of stand and meteorological factors between Daxing'an Mountains and Xiaoxing'an Mountains were analyzed and the diameter increment model including the regional effects was developed by dummy variable approach. The results showed that the minimum temperature (T g min ) and mean precipitation (P g m ) in growing season were the main meteorological factors which affected the diameter increment in the two study areas. T g min and P g m were positively correlated with the diameter increment, but the influence strength of T g min was obviously different between the two research areas. The adjusted coefficient of determination (R a 2 ) of the diameter increment model with meteorological factors was 0.56 and had an 11% increase compared to the one without meteorological factors. It was concluded that meteorological factors could well explain the diameter increment of B. platyphylla. R a 2 of the model with regional effects was 0.59, and increased by 18% compared to the one without regional effects, and effectively solved the incompatible problem of parameters between the two research areas. The validation results showed that the individual tree diameter growth model with regional effect had the best prediction accuracy in estimating the diameter increment of B. platyphylla. The mean error, mean absolute error, mean error percent and mean prediction error percent were 0.0086, 0.4476, 5.8% and 20.0%, respectively. Overall, dummy variable model of individual tree diameter increment based on meteorological factors could well describe the diameter increment process of natural B. platyphylla in Daxing'an Mountains and Xiaoxing'an Mountains.

  2. Formation of Size- and Position-Controlled Nanometer Size Pt Dots on GaAs and InP Substrates by Pulsed Electrochemical Deposition

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sato, Taketomo; Kaneshiro, Chinami; HiroshiOkada, HiroshiOkada; Hasegawa, Hideki

    1999-04-01

    Attempts were made to form regular arrays of size- andposition-controlled Pt-dots on GaAs and InP by combining an insitu electrochemical process with the electron beam (EB)lithography. This utilizes the precipitation of Pt nano-particles atthe initial stage of electrodeposition. First, electrochemicalconditions were optimized in the mode of self-assembled dot arrayformation on unpatterned substrates. Minimum in-plane dot diameters of22 nm and 26 nm on GaAs and InP, respectively, were obtained underthe optimal pulsed mode. Then, Pt dots were selectively formed onpatterned substrates with open circular windows formed by EBlithography, thereby realizing dot-position control. The Pt dot wasfound to have been deposited at the center of each open window, andthe in-plane diameter of the dot could be controlled by the number,width and period of the pulse-waveform applied to substrates. Aminimum diameter of 20 nm was realized in windows with a diameter of100 nm, using a single pulse. Current-voltage (I-V)measurements using an atomic force microscopy (AFM) system with aconductive probe indicated that each Pt dot/n-GaAs contact possessed ahigh Schottky barrier height of about 1 eV.

  3. Enabling laser applications in microelectronics manufacturing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Delmdahl, Ralph; Brune, Jan; Fechner, Burkhard; Senczuk, Rolf

    2016-02-01

    In this experimental study, we report on high-pulse-energy excimer laser drilling into high-performance build-up films which are pivotal in microelectronics manufacturing. Build-up materials ABF-GX13 from Ajinomoto as well as ZS-100 from Zeon Corporation are evaluated with respect to their viability for economic excimer laser-based micro-via formation. Excimer laser mask imaging projection at laser wavelengths of 193, 248 and 308 nm is employed to generate matrices of smaller micro-vias with different diameters and via pitches. High drilling quality is achievable for all excimer laser wavelengths with the fastest ablation rates measured in the case of 248 and 308 nm wavelengths. The presence of glass fillers in build-up films as in the ABF-GX13 material poses some limitations to the minimum achievable via diameter. However, surprisingly good drilling results are obtainable as long as the filler dimensions are well below the diameter of the micro-vias. Sidewall angles of vias are controllable by adjusting the laser energy density and pulse number. In this work, the structuring capabilities of excimer lasers in build-up films as to taper angle variations, attainable via diameters, edge-stop behavior and ablation rates will be elucidated.

  4. Solid rocket motor plume particle size measurements using multiple optical techniques in a probe

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Manser, John R.

    1995-03-01

    An experimental investigation to measure particle size distributions in the plume of sub-scale solid rocket motors was conducted. A phase-Doppler particle analyzer (pDPA) in conjunction with three-wavelength extinction measurements were used in a specially designed particle collection probe in an attempt to determine the entire plume particle size distribution. In addition, a laser ensemble particle sizer was used for comparative data. The PDPA and Malvem distributions agreed in the observed modes near 1 and 4.5 micron diameter (d). Scanning electron microscope (SEM) pictures of collected particles were in good agreement with the measured Malvem Sauter mean diameter (d(sub 32)) of 2.59 micron. Data analysis indicates that less than 3% of the total mass of the particles was contained in particles with diameter d dess than 0.5 micron. Therefore, the PDPA, which can typically measure particles down to a minimum diameter of 0.5 micron with a dynamic range (d(sub max):d(sub min)) of 50:1, can be used by itself to determine the particle size distribution. Multiple wavelength measurements were found to be very sensitive to inaccuracies in the measured transmittances.

  5. Does the Minimum Wage Affect Welfare Caseloads?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Page, Marianne E.; Spetz, Joanne; Millar, Jane

    2005-01-01

    Although minimum wages are advocated as a policy that will help the poor, few studies have examined their effect on poor families. This paper uses variation in minimum wages across states and over time to estimate the impact of minimum wage legislation on welfare caseloads. We find that the elasticity of the welfare caseload with respect to the…

  6. Management implications of long-term tree growth and mortality rates: A modeling study of big-leaf mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) in the Brazilian Amazon

    Treesearch

    C.M. Free; R.M. Landis; J. Grogan; M.D. Schulze; M. Lentini; O. Dunisch; NO-VALUE

    2014-01-01

    Knowledge of tree age-size relationships is essential towards evaluating the sustainability of harvest regulations that include minimum diameter cutting limits and fixed-length cutting cycles. Although many tropical trees form annual growth rings and can be aged from discs or cores, destructive sampling is not always an option for valuable or threatened species. We...

  7. Nuclear reactor melt arrest and coolability device

    DOEpatents

    Theofanous, Theo G.; Dinh, Nam Truc; Wachowiak, Richard M.

    2016-06-14

    Example embodiments provide a Basemat-Internal Melt Arrest and Coolability device (BiMAC) that offers improved spatial and mechanical characteristics for use in damage prevention and risk mitigation in accident scenarios. Example embodiments may include a BiMAC having an inclination of less than 10-degrees from the basemat floor and/or coolant channels of less than 4 inches in diameter, while maintaining minimum safety margins required by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

  8. Survival, growth, and acornet production of artificially regenerated northern red oak on two high-quality mesic sites at year seven

    Treesearch

    Paul P. Kormanik; Shi-Jean Susana Sung; Taryn L. Kormanik; Stanley J. Zarnoch; Catharine D. Cook; Tom Tibbs; Scott E. Schlarbaum

    2006-01-01

    Open-pollinated, half-sib northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.) 1-0 seedlings were grown under an improved nursery protocol. Minimum seedling grading standards for this test were six first-order lateral roots, 8-cm root-collar diameter, and 0.7-m height. At the Brasstown site on a salvage clearcut in North Georgia, we spot-applied glyphosate herbicide...

  9. 49 CFR 178.356-2 - Materials of construction and other requirements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... bottom section and 0.16 g/cc (10 pcf) minimum for top section, except 0.1 g/cc (6.5 pcf) for the... encapsulated by the foam. (d) Vent holes 5 mm (0.2-inch) diameter must be drilled in the outer shell to provide... fusion welding process in accordance with American Welding Society Codes B-3.0 and D-1.0 (IBR, see § 171...

  10. 49 CFR 178.356-2 - Materials of construction and other requirements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... bottom section and 0.16 g/cc (10 pcf) minimum for top section, except 0.1 g/cc (6.5 pcf) for the... encapsulated by the foam. (d) Vent holes 5 mm (0.2-inch) diameter must be drilled in the outer shell to provide... fusion welding process in accordance with American Welding Society Codes B-3.0 and D-1.0 (IBR, see § 171...

  11. 49 CFR 178.356-2 - Materials of construction and other requirements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... bottom section and 0.16 g/cc (10 pcf) minimum for top section, except 0.1 g/cc (6.5 pcf) for the... encapsulated by the foam. (d) Vent holes 5 mm (0.2-inch) diameter must be drilled in the outer shell to provide... fusion welding process in accordance with American Welding Society Codes B-3.0 and D-1.0 (IBR, see § 171...

  12. 49 CFR 178.358-2 - Materials of construction and other requirements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... any joint in the shell. (e) Vent holes 5 mm (0.2-inch) diameter must be drilled in the outer shell to... Society Codes B-3.0 and D-1.0 (IBR, see § 171.7 of this subchapter). Body seams and joints for the liner... 14 cm (5.5-inch) minimum thickness of foam must be provided over the entire liner except where: (1...

  13. Accuracy of tree diameter estimation from terrestrial laser scanning by circle-fitting methods

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Koreň, Milan; Mokroš, Martin; Bucha, Tomáš

    2017-12-01

    This study compares the accuracies of diameter at breast height (DBH) estimations by three initial (minimum bounding box, centroid, and maximum distance) and two refining (Monte Carlo and optimal circle) circle-fitting methods The circle-fitting algorithms were evaluated in multi-scan mode and a simulated single-scan mode on 157 European beech trees (Fagus sylvatica L.). DBH measured by a calliper was used as reference data. Most of the studied circle-fitting algorithms significantly underestimated the mean DBH in both scanning modes. Only the Monte Carlo method in the single-scan mode significantly overestimated the mean DBH. The centroid method proved to be the least suitable and showed significantly different results from the other circle-fitting methods in both scanning modes. In multi-scan mode, the accuracy of the minimum bounding box method was not significantly different from the accuracies of the refining methods The accuracy of the maximum distance method was significantly different from the accuracies of the refining methods in both scanning modes. The accuracy of the Monte Carlo method was significantly different from the accuracy of the optimal circle method in only single-scan mode. The optimal circle method proved to be the most accurate circle-fitting method for DBH estimation from point clouds in both scanning modes.

  14. Spatial bandwidth considerations for optical communication through a free space propagation link.

    PubMed

    Tyler, Glenn A

    2011-12-01

    This Letter concentrates on the transverse limitations imposed by a finite aperture optical propagation link that supports free space optical communication. Here it is assumed that a series of states, which are the spatial component of the message, are sent through the communication channel. The spatial bandwidth of the propagation link expressed as bits per transmitted photon is computed as the product of the average link efficiency times the entropy of the link. To facilitate the evaluation, it is assumed that the transmitted states are minimum energy loss orbital angular momentum states expressed in the form of f(nm)(r)exp(imθ), where the radial function is controlled to ensure that, for each quantum number denoted by the values of n and m, the minimum energy loss is obtained. The results illustrate that the bandwidth in units of bits per transmitted photon is very nearly equal to log(2)(N(2)(f)here log(2)(·) denotes the logarithm in base 2 and the Fresnel number, N(f)=(π/4)D(1)D(2)/(λz), where D(1) is the diameter of the transmitting aperture, D(2) is the diameter of the receiving aperture, λ is the wavelength of the light used, and z is the propagation distance. © 2011 Optical Society of America

  15. Policy Developments: Debate.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ottersten, Eugenia Kazamaki; Steedman, Hilary; Schneeberger, Arthur; Carneiro, Roberto

    2000-01-01

    Three articles debate the findings of a study: "Low-Skilled People on the European Labor Market: Towards a Minimum Learning Platform?" (Ottersen, Steedman); "The Concept of a Minimum Learning Platform Educational Contents and Methods for Improving the Low-Skilled" (Schneeberger); and "Achieving a Minimum Learning Platform…

  16. Gel phantom study of a cryosurgical probe with a thermosiphon effect and liquid nitrogen-cooled aluminum thermal storage blocks

    PubMed Central

    Isoda, Haruo; Takehara, Yasuo; Fujino, Hitoshi; Sone, Kazuya; Suzuki, Takeshi; Tsuzaki, Yoshinari; Miyazaki, Kouji; Fujie, Michio; Sakahara, Harumi; Maekawa, Yasuaki

    2015-01-01

    ABSTRACT Cryosurgery is a minimally invasive treatment for certain types of cancers. Argon-based cryosurgical devices are available at present, however a large compressed gas cylinder with the pressure of 300 atmospheres is needed. To overcome these drawbacks, we developed a new cryosurgical probe measuring about 50 cm in length with separate lumens inside for liquid and gaseous ethylene to be used as a thermosiphon and liquid nitrogen-cooled aluminum thermal storage blocks. The probe needle was 8 cm in length and 3 mm in outer diameter. To investigate the freezing capabilities of our new cryosurgical system we inserted the needle 5cm into a poly-acrylamide gel phantom warmed to 36.5 ℃. Thermal storage blocks made of aluminum, cooled at –196 ℃ in liquid nitrogen, were attached to the condenser of the probe and replaced with thermal storage blocks every 4 to 5 minutes to compensate for warming. We took digital camera images of the ice ball at the needle and measured the temperature in certain locations of the cryoprobe. Ice ball formation started at one minute after cooling. The sizes (longest diameter × minimum diameter) at 10, 20 and 30 minutes after the start of the procedure were 4.5×2.1, 4.5×3.1 and 4.6×3.7 cm, respectively. During the procedure the minimum temperature of the condenser was –85 ℃ and the needle was –65 ℃. This newly developed compact cryosurgical probe with thermosiphon effect and cooled thermal storage blocks created an ice ball that can be used for cryosurgery within 20 minutes. PMID:26412886

  17. Honey Bee as Alternative Medicine to Treat Eleven Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria Causing Urinary Tract Infection during Pregnancy.

    PubMed

    Bouacha, Mabrouka; Ayed, Hayette; Grara, Nedjoud

    2018-04-13

    Medicinal benefits of honey bee have been recognized in the medical community since ancient times as a remedy for many diseases and infections. This study aimed to investigate the in vitro susceptibility of 11 multidrug-resistant bacterial strains, isolated from urinary tract infections of pregnant women, to six honey samples collected from different localities in the east of Algeria. The evaluation of the antibacterial activity was performed by the well method followed by the broth dilution method using two-fold dilutions of each honey sample ranging from 2.5 to 80% (w/v). The results obtained in this study revealed that all tested honeys exhibited potent antibacterial activity against the tested strains. The diameters of inhibition ranged from 19.67 to 53.33 mm, with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) ranging from 2.5 to 40% (w/v) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBCs) varied between 2.5 and 80% (w/v). Gram-positive bacteria were found to be more susceptible than Gram-negative bacteria with diameters ranging from 43.33 to 53.33 mm; MIC and MBC values ranged from 2.5 to 5% (w/v). The P.aeruginosa strain was found to be less susceptible than other strains with inhibitory diameters ranging from 19.67 to 27.33 mm; MICs ranged from 20 to 40% and MBCs ranged from 20 to 80% ( w/v ). This contribution has provided a broad overview of the antibacterial activity of Algerian honey and shown that honey bee has great potential for therapeutic use as an alternative therapy for urinary tract infection treatment which is safe and efficient during pregnancy.

  18. Numerical investigations of the mechanical properties of braided vascular stents.

    PubMed

    Fu, Wenyu; Xia, Qixiao; Yan, Ruobing; Qiao, Aike

    2018-01-01

    Braided stents, such as Pipeline Embolization Device (PED; ev3 Neurovascular, Irvine, CA, USA), are commonly used to treat cerebral aneurysms. However, little information is available on the compression and bending characteristics of such stents. This paper investigates how geometrical parameters of braided stents influence their radial compression and bending characteristics. Six groups of braided stent models with different braiding angles, numbers of wires and wire diameters are constructed. Parametric analyses of these models are conducted using Abaqus/Explicit software. The numerical results of a finite element analysis are validated by comparison with data of theoretical analysis. The results show that the radial stiffness is not uniform along the longitudinal direction of the stent. When the braiding angle increases from 30° to 75°, the minimum radial deformation decreases from 0.85 mm to 0.0325 mm (at a pressure of 500 Pa, for 24 braided wires). When the wire diameter increases from 0.026 mm to 0.052 mm, the minimum radial deformation decreases from 0.65 mm to 0.055 mm (at a pressure of 500 Pa and a braiding angle of 60°, for 24 braided wires). Frictions don't affect stent diameter and its axial length when braided stent is crimping, but the friction must be considered when it is related to the radial pressure required for compression the braided stent. Compared with commonly used intracranial stents, a braided stent with geometrical parameters close to PED stent has a smaller radial stiffness but a considerably greater longitudinal flexibility. The results of this analysis of braided stents can help in the design and selection of flow diverter stents for clinical treatment of cerebral aneurysms.

  19. Corneal refractive power and eccentricity in the 40- to 64-year-old population of Shahroud, Iran.

    PubMed

    Asgari, Soheila; Hashemi, Hassan; Mehravaran, Shiva; Khabazkhoob, Mehdi; Emamian, Mohammad Hassan; Jafarzadehpur, Ebrahim; Shariati, Mohammad; Fotouhi, Akbar

    2013-01-01

    To determine the normal corneal curvature, power, and eccentricity in an Iranian population and their determinants. This report is part of a population-based study conducted in 2009. Of the 5190 participants of the study, Pentacam data from 8532 eyes of 4266 people who met the inclusion criteria for this analysis were used. For each eye, we extracted minimum and maximum keratometry readings, the average of the 2 readings (mean-K), the difference between these 2 parameters (keratometric astigmatism), and corneal eccentricity. The average mean-K, keratometric astigmatism, and eccentricity were 43.73 ± 2.47, 0.90 ± 0.93, and 0.27 ± 0.63 diopter, respectively. Mean-K was directly correlated with age; inversely correlated with body mass index, axial length, white-to-white corneal diameter, and anterior chamber depth; increased at higher amounts of myopia; and was higher in women compared with men. Keratometric astigmatism was significantly higher in women, increased at higher amount of refractive error, but showed no association with other variables. Eccentricity was correlated indirectly with age and white-to-white corneal diameter, and directly with axial length. It increased with myopia. Compared with other studies, the mean corneal power and eccentricity values were lower in this Iranian population sample. Our findings may have implications for clinical interventions, especially refractive surgery. Further studies can identify the causes of such differences in the shape and size of the cornea, which may also be attributable to the choice of the measuring device.

  20. Noise of a model counterrotation propeller with reduced aft rotor diameter at simulated takeoff/approach conditions (F7/A3)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Woodward, Richard P.; Gordon, Eliott B.

    1988-01-01

    A model high-speed advanced counterrotation propeller, F7/A3, was tested in the NASA Lewis Research Center 9 by 15 foot Anechoic Wind Tunnel at simulated takeoff/approach conditions of 0.2 Mach number. Acoustic measurements were taken with an axially translating microphone probe, and with a polar microphone probe which was fixed to the propeller nacelle and could take both sideline and circumferential acoustic surveys. Aerodynamic measurements were also made to establish propeller operating conditions. The propeller was run at two setting angles (front angle/rear angle) of 36.4/43.5 and 41.1/46.4 degrees, forward rotor tip speeds from 165 to 259 m/sec, rotor spacings from 8.48 to 14.99 cm based on pitch change axis separation, and angles of attack to 16 degrees. The aft rotor diameter was 85 percent of the forward rotor diameter to reduce tip vortex-aft rotor interaction as a major interaction noise source. Results are compared with equal diameter F7/A7 data which was previously obtained under similar operating conditions. The aft rotor-alone tone was 7 dB lower for the reduced diameter aft rotor, due to reduced tip speed at constant rpm. Interaction tone levels for the F7/A3 propeller were higher at minimum row spacing and lower at maximum spacing.

  1. Architecture of the global land acquisition system: applying the tools of network science to identify key vulnerabilities

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Seaquist, J. W.; Li Johansson, Emma; Nicholas, Kimberly A.

    2014-11-01

    Global land acquisitions, often dubbed ‘land grabbing’ are increasingly becoming drivers of land change. We use the tools of network science to describe the connectivity of the global acquisition system. We find that 126 countries participate in this form of global land trade. Importers are concentrated in the Global North, the emerging economies of Asia, and the Middle East, while exporters are confined to the Global South and Eastern Europe. A small handful of countries account for the majority of land acquisitions (particularly China, the UK, and the US), the cumulative distribution of which is best described by a power law. We also find that countries with many land trading partners play a disproportionately central role in providing connectivity across the network with the shortest trading path between any two countries traversing either China, the US, or the UK over a third of the time. The land acquisition network is characterized by very few trading cliques and therefore characterized by a low degree of preferential trading or regionalization. We also show that countries with many export partners trade land with countries with few import partners, and vice versa, meaning that less developed countries have a large array of export partnerships with developed countries, but very few import partnerships (dissassortative relationship). Finally, we find that the structure of the network is potentially prone to propagating crises (e.g., if importing countries become dependent on crops exported from their land trading partners). This network analysis approach can be used to quantitatively analyze and understand telecoupled systems as well as to anticipate and diagnose the potential effects of telecoupling.

  2. Controlling drug efficiency by encapsulation into carbon nanotubes: A theoretical study of the antitumor Cisplatin and the anti-HIV TIBO molecules

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bessrour, R.; Belmiloud, Y.; Hosni, Z.; Tangour, B.

    2012-06-01

    From the beginning of last century, Paul Ehrlich, a specialist in the immune system and the Nobel Prize (1908) had raised the possibility of "magic bullets" can directly address, in an organism, drugs in a particular area of the body, sparing all other parts of side effects. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have particular property to cross cell membranes easily. In an effort to optimize the use of CNT as drug nanocarriers, we divided our study into two parts. In the first, our concern was to find the minimum diameter of a single wall CNT can encapsulate an anticancer drug that iscisplatin without altering its geometry in order conserve its therapeutic power. Behavior of one and two Cisplatin(Cp) molecules confined in capped and opened single-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is studied by means of ab-initio calculations. Single molecule binding energies clearly exhibit encapsulation dependence on tube diameters that range from 6.26 Å to 12.04 Å. A weak stabilization energy of the Cp@(11,0) equal to -70 kcal.mol-1 has been obtained corresponding to a CNT's diameter of 8.5Å. We noticed that Cisplatin molecule changes shape when encapsulated into CNTs' whose diameters are less than 7.6 Å. In the presence of a second Cisplatin molecule in the (10,0) CNT, preferred position stays parallel to CNT's axis leading to a linear density of roughly 1588 molecules/μm of CNT's length corresponding to a linear density of 7.9 10-19 g/μm. The 195Pt chemical shift tensors are calculated using GIAO method. NMR calculations reveal that Platinum chemical shift is sensitive to CNT's diameter and is linearly correlated to confinement energy. 195Pt chemical shift measurement may be a direct method to access to the diameter of the encapsulating CNT's and to control the amount of drug molecule transported by this CNT. In the second part, the opposite has been sought is to say how the use of nanotubes with different diameters can control the change in a geometry of an anti-HIV drug that is TIBO molecule to bypass the mutation of the virus which wiped out its therapeutic effect. This work deals with the butterfly conformation control of the anti-HIV TIBO molecule confined into carbon nanotubes (CNT). This theoretical study concerns the variation of some pertinent conformation descriptors such as butterfly angle, wingspan, volume, dipole moment, solvation energy and confinement energy versus carbon nanotube diameters. Obtained results show that it is possible to describe the configurations of actual drugs as 8-Cl or 9-Cl TIBO as the parent molecule TIBO encapsulated in an adequate CNT. Our approach indicates that drug confinement inside CNTs may be a promising way to use a same drug in order to fellow HIV virus mutations.

  3. Supercontinuum generation from 437 to 2850 nm in a tapered fluorotellurite microstructured fiber

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, F.; Jia, Z. X.; Yao, C. F.; Wang, S. B.; Hu, M. L.; Wu, C. F.; Ohishi, Y.; Qin, W. P.; Qin, G. S.

    2016-12-01

    We demonstrated supercontinuum (SC) generation in a tapered fluorotellurite microstructured fiber (MF) with a sub-micrometer core diameter. Fluorotellurite MFs based on TeO2-BaF2-Y2O3 glasses were fabricated by using a rod-in-tube method and a tapered fluorotellurite MF with a minimum core diameter of ~0.65 µm was prepared by employing a tapering system. A 1560 nm femtosecond fiber laser was used as the pumping source. With increasing the peak power of the launched pump laser to ~11 kW, SC light expanding from 437 to 2850 nm was generated in the tapered fluorotellurite MF. In addition, relatively strong blue-shifted dispersive wave at ~489 nm was also observed from the tapered fluorotellurite MF.

  4. Numerical Modeling of Surface and Volumetric Cooling using Optimal T- and Y-shaped Flow Channels

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kosaraju, Srinivas

    2017-11-01

    The layout of T- and V-shaped flow channel networks on a surface can be optimized for minimum pressure drop and pumping power. The results of the optimization are in the form of geometric parameters such as length and diameter ratios of the stem and branch sections. While these flow channels are optimized for minimum pressure drop, they can also be used for surface and volumetric cooling applications such as heat exchangers, air conditioning and electronics cooling. In this paper, an effort has been made to study the heat transfer characteristics of multiple T- and Y-shaped flow channel configurations using numerical simulations. All configurations are subjected to same input parameters and heat generation constraints. Comparisons are made with similar results published in literature.

  5. Overshooting top behavior of three tornado-producing thunderstorms

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Umenhofer, T. A.

    1975-01-01

    The behavior of overshooting tops and jumping cirrus observed in three tornado-producing thunderstorms during the 1974 Learjet Cloud-Truth experiment is discussed. An investigation of temporal changes in the heights of overshooting domes (conglomerations of overshooting tops with diameters less than 1 km) reveals several distinctive features associated with tornadic events. There is a gradual decrease in dome height prior to tornado touchdown. Minimum dome activity occurred 5 min after, 5.5 min before, and at approximately the same time as the tornadic event in the storms observed. In all cases, dramatic dome growth at a rate of 17 to 23 m/sec immediately followed the occurrence of the minimum dome heights. There is evidence that tornado production is insensitive to the pre-touchdown maximum dome heights between 1 and 3 km.

  6. Note: Automated optical focusing on encapsulated devices for scanning light stimulation systems

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

    Bitzer, L. A.; Benson, N., E-mail: niels.benson@uni-due.de; Schmechel, R.

    Recently, a scanning light stimulation system with an automated, adaptive focus correction during the measurement was introduced. Here, its application on encapsulated devices is discussed. This includes the changes an encapsulating optical medium introduces to the focusing process as well as to the subsequent light stimulation measurement. Further, the focusing method is modified to compensate for the influence of refraction and to maintain a minimum beam diameter on the sample surface.

  7. Study of Alternate Material for Pedal Ventilator Kits.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1980-04-01

    to fans with diameters of 36 inches or less, revealed that a shelter ventilation system of minimum cost would require three units with 36-inch...doorways, it was decided, with OCD approval, to develop pre-assembled one and two-operator bicycle ventilator kits utilizing a fan and ducting system of...polypropylene matrix. According to Ford Motor Company, an enthusiastic user, this material hybrid offers large potential savings in direct substitution for glass

  8. NeAT: a toolbox for the analysis of biological networks, clusters, classes and pathways.

    PubMed

    Brohée, Sylvain; Faust, Karoline; Lima-Mendez, Gipsi; Sand, Olivier; Janky, Rekin's; Vanderstocken, Gilles; Deville, Yves; van Helden, Jacques

    2008-07-01

    The network analysis tools (NeAT) (http://rsat.ulb.ac.be/neat/) provide a user-friendly web access to a collection of modular tools for the analysis of networks (graphs) and clusters (e.g. microarray clusters, functional classes, etc.). A first set of tools supports basic operations on graphs (comparison between two graphs, neighborhood of a set of input nodes, path finding and graph randomization). Another set of programs makes the connection between networks and clusters (graph-based clustering, cliques discovery and mapping of clusters onto a network). The toolbox also includes programs for detecting significant intersections between clusters/classes (e.g. clusters of co-expression versus functional classes of genes). NeAT are designed to cope with large datasets and provide a flexible toolbox for analyzing biological networks stored in various databases (protein interactions, regulation and metabolism) or obtained from high-throughput experiments (two-hybrid, mass-spectrometry and microarrays). The web interface interconnects the programs in predefined analysis flows, enabling to address a series of questions about networks of interest. Each tool can also be used separately by entering custom data for a specific analysis. NeAT can also be used as web services (SOAP/WSDL interface), in order to design programmatic workflows and integrate them with other available resources.

  9. Initialization and Restart in Stochastic Local Search: Computing a Most Probable Explanation in Bayesian Networks

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mengshoel, Ole J.; Wilkins, David C.; Roth, Dan

    2010-01-01

    For hard computational problems, stochastic local search has proven to be a competitive approach to finding optimal or approximately optimal problem solutions. Two key research questions for stochastic local search algorithms are: Which algorithms are effective for initialization? When should the search process be restarted? In the present work we investigate these research questions in the context of approximate computation of most probable explanations (MPEs) in Bayesian networks (BNs). We introduce a novel approach, based on the Viterbi algorithm, to explanation initialization in BNs. While the Viterbi algorithm works on sequences and trees, our approach works on BNs with arbitrary topologies. We also give a novel formalization of stochastic local search, with focus on initialization and restart, using probability theory and mixture models. Experimentally, we apply our methods to the problem of MPE computation, using a stochastic local search algorithm known as Stochastic Greedy Search. By carefully optimizing both initialization and restart, we reduce the MPE search time for application BNs by several orders of magnitude compared to using uniform at random initialization without restart. On several BNs from applications, the performance of Stochastic Greedy Search is competitive with clique tree clustering, a state-of-the-art exact algorithm used for MPE computation in BNs.

  10. Incremental k-core decomposition: Algorithms and evaluation

    DOE PAGES

    Sariyuce, Ahmet Erdem; Gedik, Bugra; Jacques-SIlva, Gabriela; ...

    2016-02-01

    A k-core of a graph is a maximal connected subgraph in which every vertex is connected to at least k vertices in the subgraph. k-core decomposition is often used in large-scale network analysis, such as community detection, protein function prediction, visualization, and solving NP-hard problems on real networks efficiently, like maximal clique finding. In many real-world applications, networks change over time. As a result, it is essential to develop efficient incremental algorithms for dynamic graph data. In this paper, we propose a suite of incremental k-core decomposition algorithms for dynamic graph data. These algorithms locate a small subgraph that ismore » guaranteed to contain the list of vertices whose maximum k-core values have changed and efficiently process this subgraph to update the k-core decomposition. We present incremental algorithms for both insertion and deletion operations, and propose auxiliary vertex state maintenance techniques that can further accelerate these operations. Our results show a significant reduction in runtime compared to non-incremental alternatives. We illustrate the efficiency of our algorithms on different types of real and synthetic graphs, at varying scales. Furthermore, for a graph of 16 million vertices, we observe relative throughputs reaching a million times, relative to the non-incremental algorithms.« less

  11. Minimum reporting standards for clinical research on groin pain in athletes

    PubMed Central

    Delahunt, Eamonn; Thorborg, Kristian; Khan, Karim M; Robinson, Philip; Hölmich, Per; Weir, Adam

    2015-01-01

    Groin pain in athletes is a priority area for sports physiotherapy and sports medicine research. Heterogeneous studies with low methodological quality dominate research related to groin pain in athletes. Low-quality studies undermine the external validity of research findings and limit the ability to generalise findings to the target patient population. Minimum reporting standards for research on groin pain in athletes are overdue. We propose a set of minimum reporting standards based on best available evidence to be utilised in future research on groin pain in athletes. Minimum reporting standards are provided in relation to: (1) study methodology, (2) study participants and injury history, (3) clinical examination, (4) clinical assessment and (5) radiology. Adherence to these minimum reporting standards will strengthen the quality and transparency of research conducted on groin pain in athletes. This will allow an easier comparison of outcomes across studies in the future. PMID:26031644

  12. Phase diagrams for an evolutionary prisoner's dilemma game on two-dimensional lattices

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Szabó, György; Vukov, Jeromos; Szolnoki, Attila

    2005-10-01

    The effects of payoffs and noise on the maintenance of cooperative behavior are studied in an evolutionary prisoner’s dilemma game with players located on the sites of different two-dimensional lattices. This system exhibits a phase transition from a mixed state of cooperators and defectors to a homogeneous one where only the defectors remain alive. Using Monte Carlo simulations and the generalized mean-field approximations we have determined the phase boundaries (critical points) separating the two phases on the plane of the temperature (noise) and temptation to choose defection. In the zero temperature limit the cooperation can be sustained only for those connectivity structures where three-site clique percolation occurs.

  13. Analysis of Benthic Foraminiferal Size Change During the Eocene-Oligocene Transition

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zachary, W.; Keating-Bitonti, C.

    2017-12-01

    The Eocene-Oligocene transition is a significant global cooling event with the first growth of continental ice on Antarctica. In the geologic record, the size of fossils can be used to indirectly observe how organisms respond to climate change. For example, organisms tend to be larger in cooler environments as a physiological response to temperature. This major global cooling event should influence organism physiology, resulting in significant size trends observed in the fossil record. Benthic foraminifera are protists and those that grow a carbonate shell are both well-preserved and abundant in marine sediments. Here, we used the foraminiferal fossil record to study the relationship between their size and global cooling. We hypothesize that cooler temperatures across the Eocene-Oligocene boundary promoted shell size increase. To test this hypothesis, we studied benthic foraminifera from 10 deep-sea cores drilled at Ocean Drilling Program Site 744, located in the southern Indian Ocean. We washed sediment samples over a 63-micron sieve and picked foraminifera from a 125-micron sieve. We studied the benthic foraminiferal genus Cibicidoides and its size change across this cooling event. Picked specimens were imaged and we measured the diameter of their shells using "imageJ". Overall, we find that Cibicidoides shows a general trend of increasing size during this transition. In particular, both the median and maximum sizes of Cibicidoides increase from the Eocene into the Oligocene. We also analyzed C. pachyderma and C. mundulus for size trends. Although both species increase in median size across the boundary, only C. pachyderma shows a consistent trend of increasing maximum, median, and minimum shell diameter. After the Eocene-Oligocene boundary, we observe that shell diameter decreases following peak cooling and that foraminiferal sizes remain stable into the early Oligocene. Therefore, the Eocene-Oligocene cooling event appears to have strong influence on shell size.

  14. Optimal design of a gas transmission network: A case study of the Turkish natural gas pipeline network system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gunes, Ersin Fatih

    Turkey is located between Europe, which has increasing demand for natural gas and the geographies of Middle East, Asia and Russia, which have rich and strong natural gas supply. Because of the geographical location, Turkey has strategic importance according to energy sources. To supply this demand, a pipeline network configuration with the optimal and efficient lengths, pressures, diameters and number of compressor stations is extremely needed. Because, Turkey has a currently working and constructed network topology, obtaining an optimal configuration of the pipelines, including an optimal number of compressor stations with optimal locations, is the focus of this study. Identifying a network design with lowest costs is important because of the high maintenance and set-up costs. The quantity of compressor stations, the pipeline segments' lengths, the diameter sizes and pressures at compressor stations, are considered to be decision variables in this study. Two existing optimization models were selected and applied to the case study of Turkey. Because of the fixed cost of investment, both models are formulated as mixed integer nonlinear programs, which require branch and bound combined with the nonlinear programming solution methods. The differences between these two models are related to some factors that can affect the network system of natural gas such as wall thickness, material balance compressor isentropic head and amount of gas to be delivered. The results obtained by these two techniques are compared with each other and with the current system. Major differences between results are costs, pressures and flow rates. These solution techniques are able to find a solution with minimum cost for each model both of which are less than the current cost of the system while satisfying all the constraints on diameter, length, flow rate and pressure. These results give the big picture of an ideal configuration for the future state network for the country of Turkey.

  15. Esophagram findings in cervical esophageal stenosis: A case-controlled quantitative analysis.

    PubMed

    West, Jacob; Kim, Cherine H; Reichert, Zachary; Krishna, Priya; Crawley, Brianna K; Inman, Jared C

    2018-01-04

    Cervical esophageal stenosis is often diagnosed with a qualitative evaluation of a barium esophagram. Although the esophagram is frequently the initial screening exam for dysphagia, a clear objective standard for stenosis has not been defined. In this study, we measured esophagram diameters in order to establish a quantitative standard for defining cervical esophageal stenosis that requires surgical intervention. Single institution case-control study. Patients with clinically significant cervical esophageal stenosis defined by moderate symptoms of dysphagia (Functional Outcome Swallowing Scale > 2 and Functional Oral Intake Scale < 6) persisting for 6 months and responding to dilation treatment were matched with age, sex, and height controls. Both qualitative and quantitative barium esophagram measurements for the upper, mid-, and lower vertebral bodies of C5 through T1 were analyzed in lateral, oblique, and anterior-posterior views. Stenotic patients versus nonstenotic controls showed no significant differences in age, sex, height, body mass index, or ethnicity. Stenosis was most commonly at the sixth cervical vertebra (C 6) lower border and C7 upper border. The mean intraesophageal minimum/maximum ratios of controls and stenotic groups in the lateral view were 0.63 ± 0.08 and 0.36 ± 0.12, respectively (P < 0.0001). Receiver operating characteristic analysis of the minimum/maximum ratios, with a <0.50 ratio delineating stenosis, demonstrated that lateral view measurements had the best diagnostic ability. The sensitivity of the radiologists' qualitative interpretation was 56%. With application of lateral intraesophageal minimum/maximum ratios, we observed improved sensitivity to 94% of the esophagram, detecting clinically significant stenosis. Applying quantitative determinants in esophagram analysis may improve the sensitivity of detecting cervical esophageal stenosis in dysphagic patients who may benefit from surgical therapy. IIIb. Laryngoscope, 2018. © 2018 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

  16. ABSORB II randomized controlled trial: a clinical evaluation to compare the safety, efficacy, and performance of the Absorb everolimus-eluting bioresorbable vascular scaffold system against the XIENCE everolimus-eluting coronary stent system in the treatment of subjects with ischemic heart disease caused by de novo native coronary artery lesions: rationale and study design.

    PubMed

    Diletti, Roberto; Serruys, Patrick W; Farooq, Vasim; Sudhir, Krishnankutty; Dorange, Cecile; Miquel-Hebert, Karine; Veldhof, Susan; Rapoza, Richard; Onuma, Yoshinobu; Garcia-Garcia, Hector M; Chevalier, Bernard

    2012-11-01

    Currently, no data are available on the direct comparison between the Absorb everolimus-eluting bioresorbable vascular scaffold (Absorb BVS) and conventional metallic drug-eluting stents. The ABSORB II study is a randomized, active-controlled, single-blinded, multicenter clinical trial aiming to compare the second-generation Absorb BVS with the XIENCE everolimus-eluting metallic stent. Approximately 501 subjects will be enrolled on a 2:1 randomization basis (Absorb BVS/XIENCE stent) in approximately 40 investigational sites across Europe and New Zealand. Treated lesions will be up to 2 de novo native coronary artery lesions, each located in different major epicardial vessels, all with an angiographic maximal luminal diameter between 2.25 and 3.8 mm as estimated by online quantitative coronary angiography (QCA) and a lesion length of ≤48 mm. Clinical follow-up is planned at 30 and 180 days and at 1, 2, and 3 years. All subjects will undergo coronary angiography, intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and IVUS-virtual histology at baseline (pre-device and post-device implantation) and at 2-year angiographic follow-up. The primary end point is superiority of the Absorb BVS vs XIENCE stent in terms of vasomotor reactivity of the treated segment at 2 years, defined as the QCA quantified change in the mean lumen diameter prenitrate and postnitrate administration. The coprimary end point is the noninferiority (reflex to superiority) of the QCA-derived minimum lumen diameter at 2 years postnitrate minus minimum lumen diameter postprocedure postnitrate by QCA. In addition, all subjects allocated to the Absorb BVS group will undergo multislice computed tomography imaging at 3 years. The ABSORB II randomized controlled trial (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01425281) is designed to compare the safety, efficacy, and performance of Absorb BVS against the XIENCE everolimus-eluting stent in the treatment of de novo native coronary artery lesions. Copyright © 2012 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. A new interferometric study of four exoplanet host stars: θ Cygni, 14 Andromedae, υ Andromedae and 42 Draconis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ligi, R.; Mourard, D.; Lagrange, A. M.; Perraut, K.; Boyajian, T.; Bério, Ph.; Nardetto, N.; Tallon-Bosc, I.; McAlister, H.; ten Brummelaar, T.; Ridgway, S.; Sturmann, J.; Sturmann, L.; Turner, N.; Farrington, C.; Goldfinger, P. J.

    2012-09-01

    Context. Since the discovery of the first exoplanet in 1995 around a solar-type star, the interest in exoplanetary systems has kept increasing. Studying exoplanet host stars is of the utmost importance to establish the link between the presence of exoplanets around various types of stars and to understand the respective evolution of stars and exoplanets. Aims: Using the limb-darkened diameter (LDD) obtained from interferometric data, we determine the fundamental parameters of four exoplanet host stars. We are particularly interested in the F4 main-sequence star, θ Cyg, for which Kepler has recently revealed solar-like oscillations that are unexpected for this type of star. Furthermore, recent photometric and spectroscopic measurements with SOPHIE and ELODIE (OHP) show evidence of a quasi-periodic radial velocity of ~150 days. Models of this periodic change in radial velocity predict either a complex planetary system orbiting the star, or a new and unidentified stellar pulsation mode. Methods: We performed interferometric observations of θ Cyg, 14 Andromedae, υ Andromedae and 42 Draconis for two years with VEGA/CHARA (Mount Wilson, California) in several three-telescope configurations. We measured accurate limb darkened diameters and derived their radius, mass and temperature using empirical laws. Results: We obtain new accurate fundamental parameters for stars 14 And, υ And and 42 Dra. We also obtained limb darkened diameters with a minimum precision of ~1.3%, leading to minimum planet masses of Msini = 5.33 ± 0.57, 0.62 ± 0.09 and 3.79 ± 0.29 MJup for 14 And b, υ And b and 42 Dra b, respectively. The interferometric measurements of θ Cyg show a significant diameter variability that remains unexplained up to now. We propose that the presence of these discrepancies in the interferometric data is caused either by an intrinsic variation of the star or an unknown close companion orbiting around it. Based on interferometric observations with the VEGA/CHARA instrument.Appendix A is available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org

  18. Internal erosion rates of a 10-kW xenon ion thruster

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rawlin, Vincent K.

    1988-01-01

    A 30 cm diameter divergent magnetic field ion thruster, developed for mercury operation at 2.7 kW, was modified and operated with xenon propellant at a power level of 10 kW for 567 h to evaluate thruster performance and lifetime. The major differences between this thruster and its baseline configuration were elimination of the three mercury vaporizers, use of a main discharge cathode with a larger orifice, reduction in discharge baffle diameter, and use of an ion accelerating system with larger acceleration grid holes. Grid thickness measurement uncertainties, combined with estimates of the effects of reactive residual facility background gases gave a minimum screen grid lifetime of 7000 h. Discharge cathode orifice erosion rates were measured with three different cathodes with different initial orifice diameters. Three potential problems were identified during the wear test: the upstream side of the discharge baffle eroded at an unacceptable rate; two of the main cathode tubes experienced oxidation, deformation, and failure; and the accelerator grid impingement current was more than an order of magnitude higher than that of the baseline mercury thruster. The charge exchange ion erosion was not quantified in this test. There were no measurable changes in the accelerator grid thickness or the accelerator grid hole diameters.

  19. A low-cost, high-yield fabrication method for producing optimized biomimetic dry adhesives

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sameoto, D.; Menon, C.

    2009-11-01

    We present a low-cost, large-scale method of fabricating biomimetic dry adhesives. This process is useful because it uses all photosensitive polymers with minimum fabrication costs or complexity to produce molds for silicone-based dry adhesives. A thick-film lift-off process is used to define molds using AZ 9260 photoresist, with a slow acting, deep UV sensitive material, PMGI, used as both an adhesion promoter for the AZ 9260 photoresist and as an undercutting material to produce mushroom-shaped fibers. The benefits to this process are ease of fabrication, wide range of potential layer thicknesses, no special surface treatment requirements to demold silicone adhesives and easy stripping of the full mold if process failure does occur. Sylgard® 184 silicone is used to cast full sheets of biomimetic dry adhesives off 4" diameter wafers, and different fiber geometries are tested for normal adhesion properties. Additionally, failure modes of the adhesive during fabrication are noted and strategies for avoiding these failures are discussed. We use this fabrication method to produce different fiber geometries with varying cap diameters and test them for normal adhesion strengths. The results indicate that the cap diameters relative to post diameters for mushroom-shaped fibers dominate the adhesion properties.

  20. Optical coherence tomography compared with intravascular ultrasound and with angiography to guide coronary stent implantation (ILUMIEN III: OPTIMIZE PCI): a randomised controlled trial.

    PubMed

    Ali, Ziad A; Maehara, Akiko; Généreux, Philippe; Shlofmitz, Richard A; Fabbiocchi, Franco; Nazif, Tamim M; Guagliumi, Giulio; Meraj, Perwaiz M; Alfonso, Fernando; Samady, Habib; Akasaka, Takashi; Carlson, Eric B; Leesar, Massoud A; Matsumura, Mitsuaki; Ozan, Melek Ozgu; Mintz, Gary S; Ben-Yehuda, Ori; Stone, Gregg W

    2016-11-26

    Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is most commonly guided by angiography alone. Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) guidance has been shown to reduce major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) after PCI, principally by resulting in a larger postprocedure lumen than with angiographic guidance. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) provides higher resolution imaging than does IVUS, although findings from some studies suggest that it might lead to smaller luminal diameters after stent implantation. We sought to establish whether or not a novel OCT-based stent sizing strategy would result in a minimum stent area similar to or better than that achieved with IVUS guidance and better than that achieved with angiography guidance alone. In this randomised controlled trial, we recruited patients aged 18 years or older undergoing PCI from 29 hospitals in eight countries. Eligible patients had one or more target lesions located in a native coronary artery with a visually estimated reference vessel diameter of 2·25-3·50 mm and a length of less than 40 mm. We excluded patients with left main or ostial right coronary artery stenoses, bypass graft stenoses, chronic total occlusions, planned two-stent bifurcations, and in-stent restenosis. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1:1; with use of an interactive web-based system in block sizes of three, stratified by site) to OCT guidance, IVUS guidance, or angiography-guided stent implantation. We did OCT-guided PCI using a specific protocol to establish stent length, diameter, and expansion according to reference segment external elastic lamina measurements. All patients underwent final OCT imaging (operators in the IVUS and angiography groups were masked to the OCT images). The primary efficacy endpoint was post-PCI minimum stent area, measured by OCT at a masked independent core laboratory at completion of enrolment, in all randomly allocated participants who had primary outcome data. The primary safety endpoint was procedural MACE. We tested non-inferiority of OCT guidance to IVUS guidance (with a non-inferiority margin of 1·0 mm 2 ), superiority of OCT guidance to angiography guidance, and superiority of OCT guidance to IVUS guidance, in a hierarchical manner. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02471586. Between May 13, 2015, and April 5, 2016, we randomly allocated 450 patients (158 [35%] to OCT, 146 [32%] to IVUS, and 146 [32%] to angiography), with 415 final OCT acquisitions analysed for the primary endpoint (140 [34%] in the OCT group, 135 [33%] in the IVUS group, and 140 [34%] in the angiography group). The final median minimum stent area was 5·79 mm 2 (IQR 4·54-7·34) with OCT guidance, 5·89 mm 2 (4·67-7·80) with IVUS guidance, and 5·49 mm 2 (4·39-6·59) with angiography guidance. OCT guidance was non-inferior to IVUS guidance (one-sided 97·5% lower CI -0·70 mm 2 ; p=0·001), but not superior (p=0·42). OCT guidance was also not superior to angiography guidance (p=0·12). We noted procedural MACE in four (3%) of 158 patients in the OCT group, one (1%) of 146 in the IVUS group, and one (1%) of 146 in the angiography group (OCT vs IVUS p=0·37; OCT vs angiography p=0·37). OCT-guided PCI using a specific reference segment external elastic lamina-based stent optimisation strategy was safe and resulted in similar minimum stent area to that of IVUS-guided PCI. These data warrant a large-scale randomised trial to establish whether or not OCT guidance results in superior clinical outcomes to angiography guidance. St Jude Medical. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. An object-based classification method for automatic detection of lunar impact craters from topographic data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vamshi, Gasiganti T.; Martha, Tapas R.; Vinod Kumar, K.

    2016-05-01

    Identification of impact craters is a primary requirement to study past geological processes such as impact history. They are also used as proxies for measuring relative ages of various planetary or satellite bodies and help to understand the evolution of planetary surfaces. In this paper, we present a new method using object-based image analysis (OBIA) technique to detect impact craters of wide range of sizes from topographic data. Multiresolution image segmentation of digital terrain models (DTMs) available from the NASA's LRO mission was carried out to create objects. Subsequently, objects were classified into impact craters using shape and morphometric criteria resulting in 95% detection accuracy. The methodology developed in a training area in parts of Mare Imbrium in the form of a knowledge-based ruleset when applied in another area, detected impact craters with 90% accuracy. The minimum and maximum sizes (diameters) of impact craters detected in parts of Mare Imbrium by our method are 29 m and 1.5 km, respectively. Diameters of automatically detected impact craters show good correlation (R2 > 0.85) with the diameters of manually detected impact craters.

  2. Optofluidic tuning of multimode interference fiber filters

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Antonio-Lopez, J. E.; May-Arrioja, D. A.; LiKamWa, P.

    2009-05-01

    We report on the optofluidic tuning of MMI-based bandpass filters. It is well known that MMI devices exhibit their highest sensitivity when their diameter (D) is modified, since they have a D2 wavelength dependence. In order to increase the MMF diameter we use a special fiber, called No-Core fiber, which is basically a MMF with a diameter of 125 μm with air as the cover. Therefore, when this No-Core fiber is immersed in liquids with different refractive indexes, as a result of the Goes-Hänchen shift the effective width (fundamental mode width) of the No-Core fiber is increased, and thus the peak wavelength is tuned. A tunability of almost 40 nm in going from air (n=1.333) to ethylene glycol (n=1.434) was easily obtained, with a minimum change in peak transmission, contrast, and bandwidth. Moreover, since replacing the entire liquid can be difficult, the device was placed vertically and the liquid was covering the No-Core fiber in small steps. This provided similar amount of tuning as before, but a more controllable tuning mechanism.

  3. Platform switching: biomechanical evaluation using three-dimensional finite element analysis.

    PubMed

    Tabata, Lucas Fernando; Rocha, Eduardo Passos; Barão, Valentim Adelino Ricardo; Assunção, Wirley Goncalves

    2011-01-01

    The objective of this study was to evaluate, using three-dimensional finite element analysis (3D FEA), the stress distribution in peri-implant bone tissue, implants, and prosthetic components of implant-supported single crowns with the use of the platform-switching concept. Three 3D finite element models were created to replicate an external-hexagonal implant system with peri-implant bone tissue in which three different implant-abutment configurations were represented. In the regular platform (RP) group, a regular 4.1-mm-diameter abutment (UCLA) was connected to regular 4.1-mm-diameter implant. The platform-switching (PS) group was simulated by the connection of a wide implant (5.0 mm diameter) to a regular 4.1-mm-diameter UCLA abutment. In the wide-platform (WP) group, a 5.0-mm-diameter UCLA abutment was connected to a 5.0-mm-diameter implant. An occlusal load of 100 N was applied either axially or obliquely on the models using ANSYS software. Both the increase in implant diameter and the use of platform switching played roles in stress reduction. The PS group presented lower stress values than the RP and WP groups for bone and implant. In the peri-implant area, cortical bone exhibited a higher stress concentration than the trabecular bone in all models and both loading situations. Under oblique loading, higher intensity and greater distribution of stress were observed than under axial loading. Platform switching reduced von Mises (17.5% and 9.3% for axial and oblique loads, respectively), minimum (compressive) (19.4% for axial load and 21.9% for oblique load), and maximum (tensile) principal stress values (46.6% for axial load and 26.7% for oblique load) in the peri-implant bone tissue. Platform switching led to improved biomechanical stress distribution in peri-implant bone tissue. Oblique loads resulted in higher stress concentrations than axial loads for all models. Wide-diameter implants had a large influence in reducing stress values in the implant system.

  4. Forest Products Laboratory research program on small-diameter material.

    Treesearch

    2000-01-01

    Forests in the United States contain a significant amount of small-diameter and underutilized material. These overstocked stands not only increase the risk of insect, disease, fire, and drought damage, but also are costly to remove. Finding economical and marketable uses for small-diameter and underutilized material would alleviate these problems while improving...

  5. Mechanical Design Report DARPA BOSS Program

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2008-03-21

    for system mass and length; tolerances for lens spacing, tilt , and diameter; tolerances for lens to lens concentricity and lens perimeter to focus...binding when the lens is compressed, which could otherwise introduce tilt in the lens surface. Part b is the solid stop against which lens 3 (part...Fixed lens angular ( tilt ) accuracy ±3° Lens concentricity ±0.150mm Temperature range 10-45°C Minimum BFL adjustment ±1.5 mm from design focus

  6. Hydrostatic Bearing Pad Maximum Load and Overturning Conditions for the 70-meter Antenna

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mcginness, H. D.

    1985-01-01

    The reflector diameters of the 64-m antennas were increased to 70-m. In order to evaluate the minimum film thickness of the hydrostatic bearing which supports the antenna weight, it is first necessary to have a good estimation of the maximum operational load on the most heavily loaded bearing pad. The maximum hydrostatic bearing load is shown to be sufficiently small and the ratios of stabilizing to over turning moments are ample.

  7. Cytotoxicity of Ultrasmall Gold Nanoparticles on Planktonic and Biofilm Encapsulated Gram-Positive Staphylococci.

    PubMed

    Boda, Sunil Kumar; Broda, Janine; Schiefer, Frank; Weber-Heynemann, Josefine; Hoss, Mareike; Simon, Ulrich; Basu, Bikramjit; Jahnen-Dechent, Willi

    2015-07-01

    The emergence of multidrug resistant bacteria, especially biofilm-associated Staphylococci, urgently requires novel antimicrobial agents. The antibacterial activity of ultrasmall gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) is tested against two gram positive: S. aureus and S. epidermidis and two gram negative: Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains. Ultrasmall AuNPs with core diameters of 0.8 and 1.4 nm and a triphenylphosphine-monosulfonate shell (Au0.8MS and Au1.4MS) both have minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration of 25 × 10(-6) m [Au]. Disc agar diffusion test demonstrates greater bactericidal activity of the Au0.8MS nanoparticles over Au1.4MS. In contrast, thiol-stabilized AuNPs with a diameter of 1.9 nm (AuroVist) cause no significant toxicity in any of the bacterial strains. Ultrasmall AuNPs cause a near 5 log bacterial growth reduction in the first 5 h of exposure, and incomplete recovery after 21 h. Bacteria show marked membrane blebbing and lysis in biofilm-associated bacteria treated with ultrasmall AuNP. Importantly, a twofold MIC dosage of Au0.8MS and Au1.4MS each cause around 80%-90% reduction in the viability of Staphylococci enveloped in biofilms. Altogether, this study demonstrates potential therapeutic activity of ultrasmall AuNPs as an effective treatment option against staphylococcal infections. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  8. Investigation of Coronal Leakage of Root Fillings after Smear Layer Removal with EDTA or Er,Cr:YSGG Laser through Capillary Flow Porometry

    PubMed Central

    Vergauwen, Tom Edgard Maria; Michiels, Rafaël; Torbeyns, Dries; Meire, Maarten; De Moor, Roeland Jozef Gentil

    2014-01-01

    No studies have been performed evaluating the marginal seal of root fillings after direct exposure of root canal (RC) walls to Er,Cr:YSGG laser irradiation. Therefore, 75 root filled teeth (5 × 15–cold lateral condensation) were analyzed for through-and-through leakage (TTL) using capillary flow porometry (CFP). The cleaning protocol determined the experimental groups: (1) irrigation with NaOCl 2.5% and EDTA 17% or standard protocol (SP), (2) SP + Er,Cr:YSGG lasing (dried RC), (3) NaOCl 2.5% + Er,Cr:YSGG lasing (dried RC), (4) SP + Er,Cr:YSGG lasing (wet RC), and (5) NaOCl 2.5% + Er,Cr:YSGG lasing (wet RC). Groups 6 to 10 consisted of the same filled teeth with resected apices. Resection was performed after the first CFP measurement. CFP was used to assess minimum, mean flow, and maximum pore diameters after 48 h. Statistics were performed using nonparametric tests (P > 0.05). Additional three roots per group were submitted to SEM of the RC walls. TTL was observed in all groups without statistically significant differences between the different groups for minimum, mean, and maximum pore diameter (P > 0.05). In this study, the use of EDTA and/or Er,Cr:YSGG laser did not reduce through-and-through leakage in nonresected and resected roots. PMID:24696685

  9. Particle shape impacts export and fate in the ocean through interactions with the globally abundant appendicularian Oikopleura dioica.

    PubMed

    Conley, Keats R; Sutherland, Kelly R

    2017-01-01

    Marine microbes exhibit highly varied, often non-spherical shapes that have functional significance for essential processes, including nutrient acquisition and sinking rates. There is a surprising absence of data, however, on how cell shape affects grazing, which is crucial for predicting the fate of oceanic carbon. We used synthetic spherical and prolate spheroid microbeads to isolate the effect of particle length-to-width ratios on grazing and fate in the ocean. Here we show that the shape of microbe-sized particles affects predation by the appendicularian Oikopleura dioica, a globally abundant marine grazer. Using incubation experiments, we demonstrate that shape affects how particles are retained in the house and that the minimum particle diameter is the key variable determining how particles are ingested. High-speed videography revealed the mechanism behind these results: microbe-sized spheroids oriented with the long axis parallel to fluid streamlines, matching the speed and tortuosity of spheres of equivalent width. Our results suggest that the minimum particle diameter determines how elongated prey interact with the feeding-filters of appendicularians, which may help to explain the prevalence of ellipsoidal cells in the ocean, since a cell's increased surface-to-volume ratio does not always increase predation. We provide the first evidence that grazing by appendicularians can cause non-uniform export of different shaped particles, thereby influencing particle fate.

  10. Murray's Law in elastin haploinsufficient (Eln+/-) and wild-type (WT) mice.

    PubMed

    Sather, Bradley A; Hageman, Daniel; Wagenseil, Jessica E

    2012-12-01

    Using either the principle of minimum energy or constant shear stress, a relation can be derived that predicts the diameters of branching vessels at a bifurcation. This relation, known as Murray's Law, has been shown to predict vessel diameters in a variety of cardiovascular systems from adult humans to developing chicks. The goal of this study is to investigate Murray's Law in vessels from mice that are haploinsufficient for the elastin protein (Eln+/-). Elastin is one of the major proteins in the blood vessel wall and is organized in concentric rings, known as lamellae, with smooth muscle cells (SMCs) around the vessel lumen. Eln+/- mice have an increased number of lamellae, as well as smaller, thinner vessels. It is possible that due to decreased amounts of elastin available for vessel wall remodeling during development and in adulthood, Eln+/- vessels would not follow Murray's Law. We examined vessel bifurcations in six different physiologic regions, including the brain, heart, epidermis, ceocum (or cecum), testes, and intestines, in Eln+/- mice and wild-type (WT) littermates. All vessels were between 40 and 300 μm in diameter. We found that the diameters of both Eln+/- and WT vessels have an average of 13% error from the diameters predicted by Murray's Law, with no significant differences between genotypes or physiologic regions. The data suggest that vessels are optimized to follow Murray's Law, despite limitations on the proteins available for growth and remodeling of the vessel wall.

  11. Alcohol sensor based on u-bent hetero-structured fiber optic

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Patrialova, Sefi N.; Hatta, Agus M.; Sekartedjo, Sekartedjo

    2016-11-01

    A sensor based on a fiber optic hetero-structure to determine the concentration of alcohol has been proposed. The structure of the sensing probe in this research is a singlemode-multimode-singlemode (SMS) which bent into Ushaped and soon called as SMS u-bent. The SMS structure was chosen to get a higher sensitivity. This research utilizes the principle of multimode interference and evanescent field by modifying the cladding with various alcohol concentration. Testing of the sensor's performance has been done by measuring the sensor's power output response to the length of the SMS fiber optic, bending diameter, and alcohol concentration. Based on the experiment result, the ubent SMS fiber optic with 50 mm bending diameter and 63 mm MMF lenght has the highest sensitivity, 3.87 dB/% and the minimum resolution, 0.26 x 10-3 %.

  12. Synthesis of a large communications aperture using small antennas

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Resch, George M.; Cwik, T. W.; Jamnejad, V.; Logan, R. T.; Miller, R. B.; Rogstad, Dave H.

    1994-01-01

    In this report we compare the cost of an array of small antennas to that of a single large antenna assuming both the array and single large antenna have equal performance and availability. The single large antenna is taken to be one of the 70-m antennas of the Deep Space Network. The cost of the array is estimated as a function of the array element diameter for three different values of system noise temperature corresponding to three different packaging schemes for the first amplifier. Array elements are taken to be fully steerable paraboloids and their cost estimates were obtained from commercial vendors. Array loss mechanisms and calibration problems are discussed. For array elements in the range 3 - 35 m there is no minimum in the cost versus diameter curve for the three system temperatures that were studied.

  13. Performance of a catalytic reactor at simulated gas turbine combustor operating conditions

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Anderson, D. N.; Tacina, R. R.; Mroz, T. S.

    1975-01-01

    The performance of a catalytic reactor 12 cm in diameter and 17 cm long was evaluated at simulated gas turbine combustor operating conditions using premixed propane and air. Inlet temperatures of 600 and 800 K, pressures of 3 and 6 atm, and reference velocities of 9 to 30 m/s were tested. Data were taken for equivalence ratios as high as 0.43. The operating range was limited on the low-temperature side by very poor efficiency; the minimum exit temperature for good performance ranged from 1400 to 1600 K depending on inlet conditions. As exit temperatures were raised above this minimum, emissions of unburned hydrocarbons decreased, carbon monoxide emissions became generally less than 1 g CO/kg fuel, and nitrogen oxides were less than about 0.1 g NO2/kg fuel.

  14. Discovering protein complexes in protein interaction networks via exploring the weak ties effect

    PubMed Central

    2012-01-01

    Background Studying protein complexes is very important in biological processes since it helps reveal the structure-functionality relationships in biological networks and much attention has been paid to accurately predict protein complexes from the increasing amount of protein-protein interaction (PPI) data. Most of the available algorithms are based on the assumption that dense subgraphs correspond to complexes, failing to take into account the inherence organization within protein complex and the roles of edges. Thus, there is a critical need to investigate the possibility of discovering protein complexes using the topological information hidden in edges. Results To provide an investigation of the roles of edges in PPI networks, we show that the edges connecting less similar vertices in topology are more significant in maintaining the global connectivity, indicating the weak ties phenomenon in PPI networks. We further demonstrate that there is a negative relation between the weak tie strength and the topological similarity. By using the bridges, a reliable virtual network is constructed, in which each maximal clique corresponds to the core of a complex. By this notion, the detection of the protein complexes is transformed into a classic all-clique problem. A novel core-attachment based method is developed, which detects the cores and attachments, respectively. A comprehensive comparison among the existing algorithms and our algorithm has been made by comparing the predicted complexes against benchmark complexes. Conclusions We proved that the weak tie effect exists in the PPI network and demonstrated that the density is insufficient to characterize the topological structure of protein complexes. Furthermore, the experimental results on the yeast PPI network show that the proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-art algorithms. The analysis of detected modules by the present algorithm suggests that most of these modules have well biological significance in context of complexes, suggesting that the roles of edges are critical in discovering protein complexes. PMID:23046740

  15. Brain Computation Is Organized via Power-of-Two-Based Permutation Logic

    PubMed Central

    Xie, Kun; Fox, Grace E.; Liu, Jun; Lyu, Cheng; Lee, Jason C.; Kuang, Hui; Jacobs, Stephanie; Li, Meng; Liu, Tianming; Song, Sen; Tsien, Joe Z.

    2016-01-01

    There is considerable scientific interest in understanding how cell assemblies—the long-presumed computational motif—are organized so that the brain can generate intelligent cognition and flexible behavior. The Theory of Connectivity proposes that the origin of intelligence is rooted in a power-of-two-based permutation logic (N = 2i–1), producing specific-to-general cell-assembly architecture capable of generating specific perceptions and memories, as well as generalized knowledge and flexible actions. We show that this power-of-two-based permutation logic is widely used in cortical and subcortical circuits across animal species and is conserved for the processing of a variety of cognitive modalities including appetitive, emotional and social information. However, modulatory neurons, such as dopaminergic (DA) neurons, use a simpler logic despite their distinct subtypes. Interestingly, this specific-to-general permutation logic remained largely intact although NMDA receptors—the synaptic switch for learning and memory—were deleted throughout adulthood, suggesting that the logic is developmentally pre-configured. Moreover, this computational logic is implemented in the cortex via combining a random-connectivity strategy in superficial layers 2/3 with nonrandom organizations in deep layers 5/6. This randomness of layers 2/3 cliques—which preferentially encode specific and low-combinatorial features and project inter-cortically—is ideal for maximizing cross-modality novel pattern-extraction, pattern-discrimination and pattern-categorization using sparse code, consequently explaining why it requires hippocampal offline-consolidation. In contrast, the nonrandomness in layers 5/6—which consists of few specific cliques but a higher portion of more general cliques projecting mostly to subcortical systems—is ideal for feedback-control of motivation, emotion, consciousness and behaviors. These observations suggest that the brain’s basic computational algorithm is indeed organized by the power-of-two-based permutation logic. This simple mathematical logic can account for brain computation across the entire evolutionary spectrum, ranging from the simplest neural networks to the most complex. PMID:27895562

  16. Systems biological approach to investigate the lack of familial link between Down's Syndrome & Neural Tube Disorders.

    PubMed

    Ragunath, Pk; Abhinand, Pa

    2013-01-01

    Systems Biology involves the study of the interactions of biological systems and ultimately their functions. Down's syndrome (DS) is one of the most common genetic disorders which are caused by complete, or occasionally partial, triplication of chromosome 21, characterized by cognitive and language dysfunction coupled with sensory and neuromotor deficits. Neural Tube Disorders (NTDs) are a group of congenital malformations of the central nervous system and neighboring structures related to defective neural tube closure during the first trimester of pregnancy usually occurring between days 18-29 of gestation. Several studies in the past have provided considerable evidence that abnormal folate and methyl metabolism are associated with onset of DS & NTDs. There is a possible common etiological pathway for both NTDs and Down's syndrome. But, various research studies over the years have indicated very little evidence for familial link between the two disorders. Our research aimed at the gene expression profiling of microarray datasets pertaining to the two disorders to identify genes whose expression levels are significantly altered in these conditions. The genes which were 1.5 fold unregulated and having a p-value <0.05 were filtered out and gene interaction network were constructed for both NTDs and DS. The top ranked dense clique for both the disorders were recognized and over representation analysis was carried out for each of the constituent genes. The comprehensive manual analysis of these genes yields a hypothetical understanding of the lack of familial link between DS and NTDs. There were no genes involved with folic acid present in the dense cliques. Only - CBL, EGFR genes were commonly present, which makes the allelic variants of these genes - good candidates for future studies regarding the familial link between DS and NTDs. NTD - Neural Tube Disorders, DS - Down's Syndrome, MTHFR - Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase, MTRR- 5 - methyltetrahydrofolate-homocysteine methyltransferase reductase.

  17. Interferometer for Space Station Windows

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hall, Gregory

    2003-01-01

    Inspection of space station windows for micrometeorite damage would be a difficult task insitu using current inspection techniques. Commercially available optical profilometers and inspection systems are relatively large, about the size of a desktop computer tower, and require a stable platform to inspect the test object. Also, many devices currently available are designed for a laboratory or controlled environments requiring external computer control. This paper presents an approach using a highly developed optical interferometer to inspect the windows from inside the space station itself using a self- contained hand held device. The interferometer would be capable as a minimum of detecting damage as small as one ten thousands of an inch in diameter and depth while interrogating a relatively large area. The current developmental state of this device is still in the proof of concept stage. The background section of this paper will discuss the current state of the art of profilometers as well as the desired configuration of the self-contained, hand held device. Then, a discussion of the developments and findings that will allow the configuration change with suggested approaches appearing in the proof of concept section.

  18. Evidence of Magnetic Inversion in Single Ni Nanoparticles

    DOE PAGES

    Jiang, W.; Gartland, P.; Davidović, D.

    2016-11-08

    Superparamagnetism is an unwanted property of small magnetic particles where the magnetization of the particle flips randomly in time, due to thermal noise. There has been an increased attention in the properties of superparamagnetic particles recently, because of their potential applications in high density storage and medicine. In electron transport through single nanometer scale magnetic particles, the current can also cause the magnetization to flip randomly in time, even at low temperature. Here we show experimental evidence that when the current is then reduced towards zero in the applied magnetic field, the magnetization can reliably freeze about a higher anisotropy-energymore » minimum, where it tends to be inverted with respect to the magnetic field direction. Specifically, we use spin-unpolarized tunneling spectroscopy of discrete levels in single Ni particles 2–4 nm in diameter at mK-temperature, and find that the the magnetic excitation energy at the onset of current decreases when the magnetic field increases, reaching near degeneracy at nonzero magnetic field. We discuss the potential for spintronic applications such as current induced magnetization switching without any spin-polarized leads.« less

  19. Tropical rain forest tree growth and atmospheric carbon dynamics linked to interannual temperature variation during 1984–2000

    PubMed Central

    Clark, D. A.; Piper, S. C.; Keeling, C. D.; Clark, D. B.

    2003-01-01

    During 1984–2000, canopy tree growth in old-growth tropical rain forest at La Selva, Costa Rica, varied >2-fold among years. The trees' annual diameter increments in this 16-yr period were negatively correlated with annual means of daily minimum temperatures. The tree growth variations also negatively covaried with the net carbon exchange of the terrestrial tropics as a whole, as inferred from nearly pole-to-pole measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) interpreted by an inverse tracer–transport model. Strong reductions in tree growth and large inferred tropical releases of CO2 to the atmosphere occurred during the record-hot 1997–1998 El Niño. These and other recent findings are consistent with decreased net primary production in tropical forests in the warmer years of the last two decades. As has been projected by recent process model studies, such a sensitivity of tropical forest productivity to on-going climate change would accelerate the rate of atmospheric CO2 accumulation. PMID:12719545

  20. Evidence of Magnetic Inversion in Single Ni Nanoparticles

    PubMed Central

    Jiang, W.; Gartland, P.; Davidović, D.

    2016-01-01

    Superparamagnetism is an unwanted property of small magnetic particles where the magnetization of the particle flips randomly in time, due to thermal noise. There has been an increased attention in the properties of superparamagnetic particles recently, because of their potential applications in high density storage and medicine. In electron transport through single nanometer scale magnetic particles, the current can also cause the magnetization to flip randomly in time, even at low temperature. Here we show experimental evidence that when the current is then reduced towards zero in the applied magnetic field, the magnetization can reliably freeze about a higher anisotropy-energy minimum, where it tends to be inverted with respect to the magnetic field direction. Specifically, we use spin-unpolarized tunneling spectroscopy of discrete levels in single Ni particles 2–4 nm in diameter at mK-temperature, and find that the the magnetic excitation energy at the onset of current decreases when the magnetic field increases, reaching near degeneracy at nonzero magnetic field. We discuss the potential for spintronic applications such as current induced magnetization switching without any spin-polarized leads. PMID:27824076

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