Influence of Resin Duct Size and Number on Oleoresin Flow in the Southern Pines

Treesearch

John D. Hodges; William W. Elam; Donald R. Bluhm

1981-01-01

The number of radial resin ducts was significantly higher in slash pines than in loblolly, longleaf, or shortleaf. Average width of resin ducts was less in shortleaf than in the other three species. Flow rate of oleoresin was not correlated with size or number of resin ducts for any of the four species.

Classification of rollovers according to crash severity.

PubMed

Digges, K; Eigen, A

2006-01-01

NASS/CDS 1995-2004 was used to classify rollovers according to severity. The rollovers were partitioned into two classes - rollover as the first event and rollover preceded by an impact with a fixed or non-fixed object. The populations of belted and unbelted were examined separately and combined. The average injury rate for the unbelted was five times that for the belted. Approximately 21% of the severe injuries suffered by belted occupants were in crashes with harmful events prior to the rollover that produced severe damage to the vehicle. This group carried a much higher injury risk than the average. A planar damage measure in addition to the rollover measure was required to adequately capture the crash severity of this population. For rollovers as the first event, approximately 1% of the serious injuries to belted occupants occurred during the first quarter-turn. Rollovers that were arrested during the 1 ( st ) quarter-turn carried a higher injury rate than average. The number of quarter-turns were grouped in various ways including the number of times the vehicle roof faces the ground (number of vehicle inversions). The number of vehicle inversions was found to be a statistically significant injury predictor for 78% of the belted and unbelted populations with MAIS 3+F injuries in rollovers. The remaining 22% required crash severity metrics in addition to the number of vehicle inversions.

Classification of Rollovers According to Crash Severity

PubMed Central

Digges, K.; Eigen, A.

2006-01-01

NASS/CDS 1995–2004 was used to classify rollovers according to severity. The rollovers were partitioned into two classes – rollover as the first event and rollover preceded by an impact with a fixed or non-fixed object. The populations of belted and unbelted were examined separately and combined. The average injury rate for the unbelted was five times that for the belted. Approximately 21% of the severe injuries suffered by belted occupants were in crashes with harmful events prior to the rollover that produced severe damage to the vehicle. This group carried a much higher injury risk than the average. A planar damage measure in addition to the rollover measure was required to adequately capture the crash severity of this population. For rollovers as the first event, approximately 1% of the serious injuries to belted occupants occurred during the first quarter-turn. Rollovers that were arrested during the 1st quarter-turn carried a higher injury rate than average. The number of quarter-turns were grouped in various ways including the number of times the vehicle roof faces the ground (number of vehicle inversions). The number of vehicle inversions was found to be a statistically significant injury predictor for 78% of the belted and unbelted populations with MAIS 3+F injuries in rollovers. The remaining 22% required crash severity metrics in addition to the number of vehicle inversions. PMID:16968634

Quality of life and use of health care resources among patients with chronic depression

PubMed Central

Villoro, Renata; Merino, María; Hidalgo-Vega, Alvaro

2016-01-01

Purpose This study estimates the health-related quality of life and the health care resource utilization of patients diagnosed with chronic depression (CD) in Spain. Patients and methods We used the Spanish National Health Survey 2011–2012, a cross-sectional survey representative at the national level, that selects people aged between 18 and 64 years (n=14,691). We estimated utility indices through the EuroQol five-dimensional descriptive system questionnaire included in the survey. We calculated percentage use of health care resources (medical visits, hospitalizations, emergency services, and drug consumption) and average number of resources used when available. A systematic comparison was made between people diagnosed with CD and other chronic conditions (OCCs). The chi-square test, Mann–Whitney U-test, and Kruskal–Wallis test were used to determine the statistical significance of differences between comparison groups. Multivariate analyses (Poisson regression, logistic regression, and linear regression) were also carried out to assess the relationship between quality of life and consumption of health care resources. Results Approximately, 6.1% of the subjects aged between 18 and 64 years were diagnosed with CD (average age 48.3±11 years, 71.7% females). After controlling for age, sex, and total number of comorbidities, a diagnosis of CD reduced utility scores by 0.09 (P<0.05) vs OCCs, and increased the average number of hospitalizations by 15%, the average number of days at hospital by 51%, and the average number of visits to emergency services by 15% (P<0.05). CD also increased the average number of visits to secondary care by 14% and visits to general practitioners by 4%. People with CD had a higher probability of consuming drugs than people with OCCs (odds ratio [OR]: 1.24, P<0.05), but only 38.6% took antidepressants. Conclusion People with CD had significantly lower health-related quality of life than people with OCCs. CD was associated with increased hospital length of stay and involved a higher consumption of emergency services and drugs than OCCs. PMID:27713651

45 CFR 402.31 - Determination of allocations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... based on the State's eligible legalized alien population, with 49 percent based upon the number of eligible legalized aliens in a State relative to the number of such aliens in all States, and 1 percent to States which have higher-than-average ratios of eligible legalized aliens to total population relative to...

45 CFR 402.31 - Determination of allocations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... based on the State's eligible legalized alien population, with 49 percent based upon the number of eligible legalized aliens in a State relative to the number of such aliens in all States, and 1 percent to States which have higher-than-average ratios of eligible legalized aliens to total population relative to...

45 CFR 402.31 - Determination of allocations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... based on the State's eligible legalized alien population, with 49 percent based upon the number of eligible legalized aliens in a State relative to the number of such aliens in all States, and 1 percent to States which have higher-than-average ratios of eligible legalized aliens to total population relative to...

Is Managing Academics "Women's Work"? Exploring the Glass Cliff in Higher Education Management

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peterson, Helen

2016-01-01

Sweden is among the countries with the highest per cent of women university Vice Chancellors in Europe. In "She Figures 2012" the average proportion of female Vice Chancellors in the 27 European Union countries is estimated to be 10 per cent. In Sweden the number is much higher: 43 per cent. Swedish higher education management has…

Statistical effects related to low numbers of reacting molecules analyzed for a reversible association reaction A + B = C in ideally dispersed systems: An apparent violation of the law of mass action

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

Szymanski, R., E-mail: rszymans@cbmm.lodz.pl; Sosnowski, S.; Maślanka, Ł.

2016-03-28

Theoretical analysis and computer simulations (Monte Carlo and numerical integration of differential equations) show that the statistical effect of a small number of reacting molecules depends on a way the molecules are distributed among the small volume nano-reactors (droplets in this study). A simple reversible association A + B = C was chosen as a model reaction, enabling to observe both thermodynamic (apparent equilibrium constant) and kinetic effects of a small number of reactant molecules. When substrates are distributed uniformly among droplets, all containing the same equal number of substrate molecules, the apparent equilibrium constant of the association is highermore » than the chemical one (observed in a macroscopic—large volume system). The average rate of the association, being initially independent of the numbers of molecules, becomes (at higher conversions) higher than that in a macroscopic system: the lower the number of substrate molecules in a droplet, the higher is the rate. This results in the correspondingly higher apparent equilibrium constant. A quite opposite behavior is observed when reactant molecules are distributed randomly among droplets: the apparent association rate and equilibrium constants are lower than those observed in large volume systems, being the lower, the lower is the average number of reacting molecules in a droplet. The random distribution of reactant molecules corresponds to ideal (equal sizes of droplets) dispersing of a reaction mixture. Our simulations have shown that when the equilibrated large volume system is dispersed, the resulting droplet system is already at equilibrium and no changes of proportions of droplets differing in reactant compositions can be observed upon prolongation of the reaction time.« less

Status of lipids and the frequency diseases of cardiovascular origin in smokers according to the length period of smoking and a number of cigarettes smoked daily

PubMed Central

Bišanović, Senaida; Mehić, Bakir; Sivić, Suad

2011-01-01

Cigarette smoking affects all phases of atherosclerosis from endothelial dysfunction to acute occlusive clinical events. The problem is, whether the length of the period of cigarette smoking has a more reflection to the status of lipids and illnesses of cardiovascular system or the bigger number of smoked cigarettes in a shorter time-period? The observed sample has constituted of two groups of smokers, both gender, age 25-64 years old. The first group consisted of 210 examinees divided in 7 subgroups according to a number of years they have been smoking. The second group consisted of 150 examinees, which was divided in 5 subgroups, according to average number of cigarettes smoked daily. The average values of serum cholesterol (6.98 vs. 6.13 mmol/L), triglycerides (3.15 vs. 3.13 mmol/L) and LDL-cholesterol (3.80 vs. 3.64 mmol/L) were always higher in a group of smokers according to a number of daily smoked cigarettes. Average value of smoking consumption period was higher in a group of smokers according to the length of smoking consumption period than in a group of smokers according to a number of cigarettes smoked daily (20.34 y vs. 13.55 y.). Hypertension (72% vs. 30.9%), angina pectoris (44.6% vs. 20.4%), CHD (30.6% vs. 22.8%) and myocardial infarction (16% vs. 11.4%) appeared much more in the group of smokers according to a number of cigarettes smoked daily. More reflection to the status of lipids and illnesses of cardiovascular system has the bigger number of smoked cigarettes daily than the length of the period of cigarette smoking. PMID:21342142

Medical expenditures in division I collegiate athletics: an analysis by sport and gender.

PubMed

Kaeding, Christopher C; Borchers, James; Oman, Janine; Pedroza, Angela

2014-09-01

Medical expenses for collegiate athletics include providing a training room with its supplies, equipment, personnel costs, and insurance coverage. Additional expenses beyond the training room include imaging, diagnostic testing, specialty consultations, and surgeries. We hypothesized that there would be no difference in average expenses or number of claims between male and female athletes over a 5-year period. Prospective patient cohort. A sports medicine center serving athletes in Big 10 Conference intercollegiate sports. All medical claims and charges for 36 varsity teams were analyzed from 2005 to 2010. The teams were categorized into 3 groups: female-only teams, male-only teams, and coed teams. Analysis of sports with corresponding male and female teams was also performed. Claims and charges for medical care for 36 intercollegiate athletic teams over 5 years. Individual team claims and charges were stable over the study period. In 11 of the 14 sex-matched sports, the female teams had higher average annual charges. After normalizing for roster size in the sex-matched sports, females had 0.97 more average annual claims (P < 0.01) and $1459 higher annual charges (P = 0.001) than their male counterparts. The charges per claim were similar between the sexes. The 5 teams with the highest average annual charges were football, wrestling, softball, women's crew, and men's lacrosse. When normalized for roster size, the 5 sports with the highest average annual charges per athlete were softball, women's diving, men's basketball, wrestling, and men's gymnastics. Charges per claim were similar between the sex-matched sports, but the female sports had a higher number of annual claims per athlete and thus higher total charges per athlete/year. Football had the highest average annual total charges as a team, but when normalized for roster size football charges per athlete/year were similar to those of other sports.

Local Mass and Heat Transfer on a Turbine Blade Tip

DOE PAGES

Jin, P.; Goldstein, R. J.

2003-01-01

Locmore » al mass and heat transfer measurements on a simulated high-pressure turbine blade-tip surface are conducted in a linear cascade with a nonmoving tip endwall, using a naphthalene sublimation technique. The effects of tip clearance (0.86–6.90% of chord) are investigated at various exit Reynolds numbers (4–7 × 10 5 ) and turbulence intensities (0.2 and 12.0%). The mass transfer on the tip surface is significant along its pressure edge at the smallest tip clearance. At the two largest tip clearances, the separation bubble on the tip surface can cover the whole width of the tip on the second half of the tip surface. The average mass-transfer rate is highest at a tip clearance of 1.72% of chord. The average mass-transfer rate on the tip surface is four and six times as high as on the suction and the pressure surface, respectively. A high mainstream turbulence level of 12.0% reduces average mass-transfer rates on the tip surface, while the higher mainstream Reynolds number generates higher local and average mass-transfer rates on the tip surface.« less

Putting the "Boy Crisis" in Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sadowski, Michael

2010-01-01

Girls have been posting higher reading scores than boys for decades, but other trends suggest they may also have surpassed boys in overall academic performance. Girls have higher high school grade-point averages, are more widely represented as school valedictorians, and attend and graduate from college in greater numbers than boys. All this has…

Basic Trends in the Development of Professional Higher Education in Armenia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aslanyan, Anna L.

2005-01-01

The subject of this investigation is the composition and distribution of students of Armenian educational institutions and their partition in the state and private sectors of higher education. The study examines the general rise of educational institutions, particularly private ones, where the average number of students is considerably less than…

A transgenic study on affecting potato tuber yield by expressing the rice sucrose transporter genes OsSUT5Z and OsSUT2M.

PubMed

Sun, Aijun; Dai, Yan; Zhang, Xinsheng; Li, Chunmin; Meng, Kun; Xu, Honglin; Wei, Xiaoli; Xiao, Guifang; Ouwerkerk, Pieter B F; Wang, Mei; Zhu, Zhen

2011-07-01

In many plants, sucrose transporters are essential for both sucrose exports from sources and imports into sinks, indicating a function in assimilate partitioning. To investigate whether sucrose transporters can improve the yield of starch plant, potato plants (Solanum tuberosum L. cv. Désirée) were transformed with cDNAs of the rice sucrose transporter genes OsSUT5Z and OsSUT2M under the control of a tuber-specific, class-I patatin promoter. Compared to the controls, the average fructose content of OsSUT5Z transgenic tubers significantly increased. However, the content of the sugars and starch in the OsSUT2M transgenic potato tubers showed no obvious difference. Correspondingly, the average tuber yield, average number of tubers per plant and average weight of single tuber showed no significant difference in OsSUT2M transgenic tubers with controls. In the OsSUT5Z transgenic lines, the average tuber yield per plant was 1.9-fold higher than the controls, and the average number of tubers per plant increased by more than 10 tubers on average, whereas the average weight of a single tuber did not increase significantly. These results suggested that the average number of tubers per plant showed more contribution than the average weight of a single tuber to the tuber yield per plant. © 2011 Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Particulate pollution in different housing types in a UK suburban location.

PubMed

Nasir, Zaheer Ahmad; Colbeck, Ian

2013-02-15

To investigate the levels of particulate pollution in residential built environments measurements of PM(10), PM(2.5), and PM(1) and concentrations were made between 2004 and 2008 in various residencies in a UK suburban location. Measurements were carried out in three different residential settings (Types I, II and III). In type I non-smoking living rooms, the highest 24-hour mean concentrations were found in summer. When smoking took place in type I residences, the concentrations of PM(10), PM(2.5) and PM(1), during the winter were almost double those in summer. In type II houses the concentrations were higher in the houses with open plan kitchens than in those with separate kitchens. In type III houses, mean concentrations were significantly higher in wood heated living rooms than those using central heating. In kitchens, cooking resulted in substantially higher concentrations of particulate matter with levels above those in smoking living rooms in winter. The hourly maximum values of number concentration were considerably higher in smoking rooms than non-smoking ones. Cooking resulted in increased number concentrations, with the average hourly maximum concentration of 179,110 #/cm(3). Particle mass and number emission rates were determined for a number of activities. In kitchens grilling had the highest average number emission rate, followed by boiling and frying. The results clearly highlight the impact of different forms of dwelling and their use and management by occupants on the levels of particulate matter in naturally ventilated residential built environments. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of loading on unintentional lifting velocity declines during single sets of repetitions to failure during upper and lower extremity muscle actions.

PubMed

Izquierdo, M; González-Badillo, J J; Häkkinen, K; Ibáñez, J; Kraemer, W J; Altadill, A; Eslava, J; Gorostiaga, E M

2006-09-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of different loads on repetition speed during single sets of repetitions to failure in bench press and parallel squat. Thirty-six physical active men performed 1-repetition maximum in a bench press (1 RM (BP)) and half squat position (1 RM (HS)), and performed maximal power-output continuous repetition sets randomly every 10 days until failure with a submaximal load (60 %, 65 %, 70 %, and 75 % of 1RM, respectively) during bench press and parallel squat. Average velocity of each repetition was recorded by linking a rotary encoder to the end part of the bar. The values of 1 RM (BP) and 1 RM (HS) were 91 +/- 17 and 200 +/- 20 kg, respectively. The number of repetitions performed for a given percentage of 1RM was significantly higher (p < 0.001) in half squat than in bench press performance. Average repetition velocity decreased at a greater rate in bench press than in parallel squat. The significant reductions observed in the average repetition velocity (expressed as a percentage of the average velocity achieved during the initial repetition) were observed at higher percentage of the total number of repetitions performed in parallel squat (48 - 69 %) than in bench press (34 - 40 %) actions. The major finding in this study was that, for a given muscle action (bench press or parallel squat), the pattern of reduction in the relative average velocity achieved during each repetition and the relative number of repetitions performed was the same for all percentages of 1RM tested. However, relative average velocity decreased at a greater rate in bench press than in parallel squat performance. This would indicate that in bench press the significant reductions observed in the average repetition velocity occurred when the number of repetitions was over one third (34 %) of the total number of repetitions performed, whereas in parallel squat it was nearly one half (48 %). Conceptually, this would indicate that for a given exercise (bench press or squat) and percentage of maximal dynamic strength (1RM), the pattern of velocity decrease can be predicted over a set of repetitions, so that a minimum repetition threshold to ensure maximal speed performance is determined.

Common Ground on Curbing Campus Drinking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carothers, Robert L.; Wood, Mark D.; Cohen, Frances

2006-01-01

In the early 1990s, the University of Rhode Island (URI) had a reputation as the number one party school in America, and data showed that the number of URI students engaging in binge drinking was significantly higher than the national average. In order to salvage its reputation and the health of its students, administrators undertook a campus…

Numerical study for forced MHD convection heat transfer of a nanofluid in a square cavity with a cylinder of constant heat flux

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hassanpour, Amin; Ranjbar, A. A.; Sheikholeslami, M.

2018-02-01

In this research, flow and forced convection heat transfer of a water-copper nanofluid in the presence of magnetic field is studied. The walls of the square ventilation cavity are insulated. The dominating equations are solved by implementing the finite-volume method (FVM) using the Semi-Implicit Method for Pressure-Linked Equations (SIMPLE) algorithm. The effects of Hartmann number, nanoparticles volume fraction and Reynolds number on the flow and heat transfer characteristics were examined. The results demonstrate that increasing Reynolds and Hartmann numbers lead to increase the average Nusselt number. By evaluating the geometrical parameters, it was found that the size and number of vortices in the flow field decrease by increasing the inlet width. Besides, the increase of the average Nusselt number occurs with the increase of the inlet width. Moreover, it has been observed that the effect of the Hartmann number is more pronounced for higher Reynolds numbers.

Characterization of gizzards and grits of wild cranes found dead at Izumi Plain in Japan

PubMed Central

UEGOMORI, Mima; HARAGUCHI, Yuko; OBI, Takeshi; TAKASE, Kozo

2018-01-01

We analyzed the gizzards, and grits retained in the gizzards of 41 cranes that migrated to the Izumi Plain during the winter of 2015/2016 and died there, either due to accident or disease. These included 31 Hooded Cranes (Grus monacha) and 10 White-naped Cranes (G. vipio). We determined body weight, gizzard weight, total grit weight and number per gizzard, and size, shape, and surface roundness of the grits. Average gizzard weights were 92.4 g for Hooded Cranes and 97.1 g for White-naped Cranes, and gizzard weight positively correlated with body weight in both species. Average total grit weights per gizzard were 19.7 g in Hooded Cranes and 25.7 g in White-naped Cranes, and were significantly higher in the latter. Average percentages of body weight to grit weight were 0.8% in Hooded Cranes and 0.5% in White-naped Cranes. Average grit number per gizzard was 693.5 in Hooded Cranes and 924.2 in White-naped Cranes, and were significantly higher in the latter. The average grit size was 2.8 mm in both species. No differences were found in the shape and surface roundness of grits between the two species. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study on the grits retained in the gizzards of Hooded and White-naped Cranes. PMID:29503349

Characterization of gizzards and grits of wild cranes found dead at Izumi Plain in Japan.

PubMed

Uegomori, Mima; Haraguchi, Yuko; Obi, Takeshi; Takase, Kozo

2018-04-18

We analyzed the gizzards, and grits retained in the gizzards of 41 cranes that migrated to the Izumi Plain during the winter of 2015/2016 and died there, either due to accident or disease. These included 31 Hooded Cranes (Grus monacha) and 10 White-naped Cranes (G. vipio). We determined body weight, gizzard weight, total grit weight and number per gizzard, and size, shape, and surface roundness of the grits. Average gizzard weights were 92.4 g for Hooded Cranes and 97.1 g for White-naped Cranes, and gizzard weight positively correlated with body weight in both species. Average total grit weights per gizzard were 19.7 g in Hooded Cranes and 25.7 g in White-naped Cranes, and were significantly higher in the latter. Average percentages of body weight to grit weight were 0.8% in Hooded Cranes and 0.5% in White-naped Cranes. Average grit number per gizzard was 693.5 in Hooded Cranes and 924.2 in White-naped Cranes, and were significantly higher in the latter. The average grit size was 2.8 mm in both species. No differences were found in the shape and surface roundness of grits between the two species. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study on the grits retained in the gizzards of Hooded and White-naped Cranes.

Particles exposure while sitting at bus stops of hot and humid Singapore

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Velasco, Erik; Tan, Sok Huang

2016-10-01

Transport microenvironments represent hotspots of personal exposure to airborne toxics, particularly of ultrafine particles. Thus, a large exposure may be experienced during daily commuting trips. Amongst these microenvironments, bus stops are critical because of the commuters' close proximity to fresh fumes rich in particles emitted by passing, idling and accelerating buses and motor vehicles, in general. Standing at a bus stop may represent a period of disproportionately high exposure and it is, therefore, essential to know the number, chemical composition and physical characteristics of such particles for a proper public health assessment and design of mobility strategies. On this account, a set of portable and battery operated sensors were used to evaluate a number of properties of the traffic particles to which thousands of citizens are daily exposed at bus stops of Singapore. In terms of fine particles, the exposure concentration was on average 1.5-3 times higher than the mean concentration at ambient level reported by the local authorities. On average 60% of those particles corresponded to black carbon. An important presence of particle-bound polycyclic aromatics was observed. The particle number concentration and active surface area were effective metrics to quantify ultrafine particles, as expected both showed strong correlations. The number of particles at bus stops was on average 3.5 times higher than at ambient level. The most alarming issue was probably the size of the particles. Assuming spherical particles, a median of 27 nm was estimated based on the active surface area and particle number data. Particles of this size form the nucleation mode, which is related to harmful health effects.

Comparison of CFD Predictions with Shuttle Global Flight Thermal Imagery and Discrete Surface Measurements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wood, William A.; Kleb, William L.; Tang, chun Y.; Palmer, Grant E.; Hyatt, Andrew J.; Wise, Adam J.; McCloud, Peter L.

2010-01-01

Surface temperature measurements from the STS-119 boundary-layer transition experiment on the space shuttle orbiter Discovery provide a rare opportunity to assess turbulent CFD models at hypersonic flight conditions. This flight data was acquired by on-board thermocouples and by infrared images taken off-board by the Hypersonic Thermodynamic Infrared Measurements (HYTHIRM) team, and is suitable for hypersonic CFD turbulence assessment between Mach 6 and 14. The primary assessment is for the Baldwin-Lomax and Cebeci-Smith algebraic turbulence models in the DPLR and LAURA CFD codes, respectively. A secondary assessment is made of the Shear-Stress Transport (SST) two-equation turbulence model in the DPLR code. Based upon surface temperature comparisons at eleven thermocouple locations, the algebraic-model turbulent CFD results average 4% lower than the measurements for Mach numbers less than 11. For Mach numbers greater than 11, the algebraic-model turbulent CFD results average 5% higher than the three available thermocouple measurements. Surface temperature predictions from the two SST cases were consistently 3 4% higher than the algebraic-model results. The thermocouple temperatures exhibit a change in trend with Mach number at about Mach 11; this trend is not reflected in the CFD results. Because the temperature trends from the turbulent CFD simulations and the flight data diverge above Mach 11, extrapolation of the turbulent CFD accuracy to higher Mach numbers is not recommended.

It's a family affair

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harris, Margaret

2010-07-01

Maths students whose PhD supervisors have a higher-than-average number of protégés are more likely to follow in their mentor's footsteps - but only if they do their PhDs early in the mentor's career.

Natural convection in a vertical plane channel: DNS results for high Grashof numbers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kiš, P.; Herwig, H.

2014-07-01

The turbulent natural convection of a gas ( Pr = 0.71) between two vertical infinite walls at different but constant temperatures is investigated by means of direct numerical simulation for a wide range of Grashof numbers (6.0 × 106 > Gr > 1.0 × 103). The maximum Grashof number is almost one order of magnitude higher than those of computations reported in the literature so far. Results for the turbulent transport equations are presented and compared to previous studies with special attention to the study of Verteegh and Nieuwstadt (Int J Heat Fluid Flow 19:135-149, 1998). All turbulence statistics are available on the TUHH homepage (http://www.tu-harburg.de/tt/dnsdatabase/dbindex.en.html). Accuracy considerations are based on the time averaged balance equations for kinetic and thermal energy. With the second law of thermodynamics Nusselt numbers can be determined by evaluating time averaged wall temperature gradients as well as by a volumetric time averaged integration. Comparing the results of both approaches leads to a direct measure of the physical consistency.

Ovulation Statuses of Surrogate Gilts Are Associated with the Efficiency of Excellent Pig Cloning.

PubMed

Huan, Yanjun; Hu, Kui; Xie, Bingteng; Shi, Yongqian; Wang, Feng; Zhou, Yang; Liu, Shichao; Huang, Bo; Zhu, Jiang; Liu, Zhongfeng; He, Yilong; Li, Jingyu; Kong, Qingran; Liu, Zhonghua

2015-01-01

Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is an assisted reproductive technique that can produce multiple copies of excellent livestock. However, low cloning efficiency limits the application of SCNT. In this study, we systematically investigated the major influencing factors related to the overall cloning efficiency in pigs. Here, 13620 cloned embryos derived from excellent pigs were transferred into 79 surrogate gilts, and 119 live cloned piglets were eventually generated. During cloning, group of cloned embryos derived from excellent Landrace or Large white pigs presented no significant differences of cleavage and blastocyst rates, blastocyst cell numbers, surrogate pregnancy and delivery rates, average numbers of piglets born and alive and cloning efficiencies, and group of 101-150, 151-200 or 201-250 cloned embryos transferred per surrogate also displayed a similar developmental efficiency. When estrus stage of surrogate gilts was compared, group of embryo transfer on Day 2 of estrus showed significantly higher pregnancy rate, delivery rate, average number of piglets born, average alive piglet number or cloning efficiency than group on Day 1, Day 3, Day 4 or Day 5, respectively (P<0.05). And, in comparison with the preovulation and postovulation groups, group of surrogate gilts during periovulation displayed a significantly higher overall cloning efficiency (P<0.05). Further investigation of surrogate estrus stage and ovulation status displayed that ovulation status was the real factor underlying estrus stage to determine the overall cloning efficiency. And more, follicle puncture for preovulation, not transfer position shallowed for preovulation or deepened for postovulation, significantly improved the average number of piglets alive and cloning efficiency (P<0.05). In conclusion, our results demonstrated that ovulation status of surrogate gilts was the fundamental factor determining the overall cloning efficiency of excellent pigs, and follicle puncture, not transfer position change, improved cloning efficiency. This work would have important implications in preserving and breeding excellent livestock and improving the overall cloning efficiency.

Ovulation Statuses of Surrogate Gilts Are Associated with the Efficiency of Excellent Pig Cloning

PubMed Central

Huan, Yanjun; Hu, Kui; Xie, Bingteng; Shi, Yongqian; Wang, Feng; Zhou, Yang; Liu, Shichao; Huang, Bo; Zhu, Jiang; Liu, Zhongfeng; He, Yilong; Li, Jingyu; Kong, Qingran; Liu, Zhonghua

2015-01-01

Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is an assisted reproductive technique that can produce multiple copies of excellent livestock. However, low cloning efficiency limits the application of SCNT. In this study, we systematically investigated the major influencing factors related to the overall cloning efficiency in pigs. Here, 13620 cloned embryos derived from excellent pigs were transferred into 79 surrogate gilts, and 119 live cloned piglets were eventually generated. During cloning, group of cloned embryos derived from excellent Landrace or Large white pigs presented no significant differences of cleavage and blastocyst rates, blastocyst cell numbers, surrogate pregnancy and delivery rates, average numbers of piglets born and alive and cloning efficiencies, and group of 101–150, 151–200 or 201–250 cloned embryos transferred per surrogate also displayed a similar developmental efficiency. When estrus stage of surrogate gilts was compared, group of embryo transfer on Day 2 of estrus showed significantly higher pregnancy rate, delivery rate, average number of piglets born, average alive piglet number or cloning efficiency than group on Day 1, Day 3, Day 4 or Day 5, respectively (P<0.05). And, in comparison with the preovulation and postovulation groups, group of surrogate gilts during periovulation displayed a significantly higher overall cloning efficiency (P<0.05). Further investigation of surrogate estrus stage and ovulation status displayed that ovulation status was the real factor underlying estrus stage to determine the overall cloning efficiency. And more, follicle puncture for preovulation, not transfer position shallowed for preovulation or deepened for postovulation, significantly improved the average number of piglets alive and cloning efficiency (P<0.05). In conclusion, our results demonstrated that ovulation status of surrogate gilts was the fundamental factor determining the overall cloning efficiency of excellent pigs, and follicle puncture, not transfer position change, improved cloning efficiency. This work would have important implications in preserving and breeding excellent livestock and improving the overall cloning efficiency. PMID:26565717

Need for higher fuel burnup at the Hatch Plant

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

Beckhman, J.T.

1996-03-01

Hatch is a BWR 4 and has been in operation for some time. The first unit became commercial about 1975. Obtaining higher burnups, or higher average discharge exposures, is nothing new at Hatch. Since we have started, the discharge exposure of the plant has increased. Now, of course, we are not approaching the numbers currently being discussed but, the average discharge exposure has increased from around 20,000 MWD/MTU in the early to mid-1980s to 34,000 MWD/MTU in 1994, I am talking about batch average values. There are also peak bundle and peak rod values. You will have to make themore » conversions if you think in one way or the other because I am talking in batch averages. During Hatch`s operating history we have had some problems with fuel failure. Higher burnup fuel raises a concern about how much fuel failure you are going to have. Fuel failure is, of course, an economic issue with us. Back in the early 1980s, we had a problem with crud-induced localized corrosion, known as CILC. We have gotten over that, but we had some times when it was up around 27 fuel failures a year. That is not a pleasant time to live through because it is not what you want from an economic viewpoint or any other. We have gotten that down. We have had some fuel failures recently, but they have not been related to fuel burnup or to corrosion. In fact, the number of failures has decreased from the early 1980s to the 90s even though burnup increased during that time. The fuel failures are more debris-related-type failures. In addition to increasing burnups, utilities are actively evaluating or have already incorporated power uprate and longer fuel cycles (e.g., 2-year cycles). The goal is to balance out the higher power density, longer cycles, higher burnup, and to have no leakers. Why do we as an industry want to have higher burnup fuel? That is what I want to tell you a little bit about.« less

Atmospheric pressure fluctuations in the far infrasound range and emergency transport events coded as circulatory system diseases.

PubMed

Didyk, L A; Gorgo, Yu P; Dirckx, J J J; Bogdanov, V B; Buytaert, J A N; Lysenko, V A; Didyk, N P; Vershygora, A V; Erygina, V T

2008-09-01

This study examines whether a relation exists between rapid atmospheric pressure fluctuations, attributed to the far infrasound frequency range (APF), and a number of emergency transport events coded as circulatory system diseases (EEC). Over an entire year, the average integral amplitudes of APF in the range of periods from 3 s to 120 s over each hour (HA) were measured. Daily dynamics of HA averaged over the year revealed a wave shape with smooth increase from night to day followed by decrease from day to night. The total daily number of EEC within the city of Kiev, Ukraine, was related to the daily mean of HA (DHA) and to the ratio of HA averaged over the day time to HA averaged over the night time (Rdn), and was checked for confounding effects of classical meteorological variables through non-parametric regression algorithms. The number of EEC were significantly higher on days with high DHA (3.72-11.07 Pa, n = 87) compared to the low DHA (0.7-3.62 Pa, n = 260, p = 0.01), as well at days with low Rdn (0.21-1.64, n = 229) compared to the high Rdn (1.65-7.2, n = 118, p = 0.03). A difference between DHA and Rdn effects on the emergency events related to different categories of circulatory diseases points to a higher sensitivity of rheumatic and cerebro-vascular diseases to DHA, and ischaemic and hypertensive diseases to Rdn. Results suggest that APF could be considered as a meteorotropic factor capable of influencing circulatory system diseases.

Fertility desires of married Tibetan women of childbearing age in Tibet.

PubMed

Chen, H

1997-08-01

This article presents findings from a 1995 survey of fertility intentions, among married women of childbearing age, in urban and rural Tibet Autonomous Region, China. The survey was conducted by the Population Research Institute of the University of Tibet. The sample included 857 women, of whom 59.2% were aged 20-34 years. Women desired 2-3 births. About 55% desired 2 children, 10% desired 1 child, 23% desired 3 children, and 11% desired 4 or more children. Tibetan women still believe that children are important for supporting aging parents and to continue the family line. A few still believe in the traditional view that God decides the number of children. Educational status was associated with average current births. Women with higher education had fewer births. Herdsmen, with an average annual income per capita of 400 yuan, had the highest average number of children of 2.71. Government employees, who had an annual per capita income of 2000 yuan, had the lowest average number of children of 1.70. 569 women said that the sex of the child was not an issue. 250 women preferred boys to girls due to the harsh local natural environment and finances. 72.23% of women hoped that their children would receive higher education and be useful to society. 89% of women were satisfied with the present family planning (FP) policy in Tibet. The interviewers recommend that the government give FP policy publicity priority and improve the quality of FP services. Improvements should include stronger health institutions, training of health care providers, quality technical services, and better natural environment and socioeconomic conditions.

Atmospheric pressure fluctuations in the far infrasound range and emergency transport events coded as circulatory system diseases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Didyk, L. A.; Gorgo, Yu. P.; Dirckx, J. J. J.; Bogdanov, V. B.; Buytaert, J. A. N.; Lysenko, V. A.; Didyk, N. P.; Vershygora, A. V.; Erygina, V. T.

2008-09-01

This study examines whether a relation exists between rapid atmospheric pressure fluctuations, attributed to the far infrasound frequency range (APF), and a number of emergency transport events coded as circulatory system diseases (EEC). Over an entire year, the average integral amplitudes of APF in the range of periods from 3 s to 120 s over each hour (HA) were measured. Daily dynamics of HA averaged over the year revealed a wave shape with smooth increase from night to day followed by decrease from day to night. The total daily number of EEC within the city of Kiev, Ukraine, was related to the daily mean of HA (DHA) and to the ratio of HA averaged over the day time to HA averaged over the night time (Rdn), and was checked for confounding effects of classical meteorological variables through non-parametric regression algorithms. The number of EEC were significantly higher on days with high DHA (3.72 11.07 Pa, n = 87) compared to the low DHA (0.7 3.62 Pa, n = 260, p = 0.01), as well at days with low Rdn (0.21 1.64, n = 229) compared to the high Rdn (1.65 7.2, n = 118, p = 0.03). A difference between DHA and Rdn effects on the emergency events related to different categories of circulatory diseases points to a higher sensitivity of rheumatic and cerebro-vascular diseases to DHA, and ischaemic and hypertensive diseases to Rdn. Results suggest that APF could be considered as a meteorotropic factor capable of influencing circulatory system diseases.

Maternal Dominance and the Sex of a Baby.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akande, Adebowale

1999-01-01

Administered the Simple Adjective Test to 35 black South-African women in early pregnancy to explore association of maternal dominance and male births. Responses revealed that above-average dominance in mothers may be linked to higher number of male births. (LBT)

Costs and outcomes associated with IVF using recombinant FSH.

PubMed

Ledger, W; Wiebinga, C; Anderson, P; Irwin, D; Holman, A; Lloyd, A

2009-09-01

Cost and outcome estimates based on clinical trial data may not reflect usual clinical practice, yet they are often used to inform service provision and budget decisions. To expand understanding of assisted reproduction treatment in clinical practice, an economic evaluation of IVF/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) data from a single assisted conception unit (ACU) in England was performed. A total of 1418 IVF/ICSI cycles undertaken there between October 2001 and January 2006 in 1001 women were analysed. The overall live birth rate was 22% (95% CI: 19.7-24.2), with the 30- to 34-year age group achieving the highest rate (28%). The average recombinant FSH (rFSH) dose/cycle prescribed was 1855 IU. Average cost of rFSH/cycle was 646 pound(SD: 219 pound), and average total cost/cycle was 2932 pound (SD: 422 pound). Economic data based on clinical trials informing current UK guidance assumes higher doses of rFSH dose/cycle (1750-2625 IU), higher average cost of drugs/cycle (1179 pound), and higher average total cost/cycle (3266 pound). While the outcomes in this study matched UK averages, total cost/cycle was lower than those cited in UK guidelines. Utilizing the protocols and (lower) rFSH dosages reported in this study may enable other ACU to provide a greater number of IVF/ICSI cycles to patients within given budgets.

Measurement of the atmospheric aerosol particle size distribution in a highly polluted mega-city in Southeast Asia (Dhaka-Bangladesh)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salam, Abdus; Mamoon, Hassan Al; Ullah, Md. Basir; Ullah, Shah M.

2012-11-01

Aerosol particle size distribution was measured with an aerodynamic particle sizer (APS) spectrometer continuously from January 21 to April 24, 2006 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Particles number, surface and mass distributions data were stored automatically with Aerosol Instrument Manager (AIM) software on average every half an hour in a computer attached to the APS. The grand total average of number, surface and mass concentrations were 8.2 × 103 ± 7.8 × 103 particles cm-3, 13.3 × 103 ± 11.8 × 103 μm2 cm-3 and 3.04 ± 2.10 mg m-3, respectively. Fine particles with diameter smaller than 1.0 μm aerodynamic diameter (AD) dominated the number concentration, accounted for 91.7% of the total particles indicating vehicular emissions were dominating in Dhaka air either from fossil fuel burning or compressed natural gas (CNGs). The surface and mass concentrations between 0.5 and 1.0 μm AD were about 56.0% and 26.4% of the total particles, respectively. Remarkable seasonal differences were observed between winter and pre-monsoon seasons with the highest monthly average in January and the lowest in April. Aerosol particles in winter were 3.79 times higher for number, 3.15 times for surface and 2.18 times for mass distributions than during the pre-monsoon season. Weekends had lower concentrations than weekdays due to less vehicular traffic in the streets. Aerosol particles concentrations were about 15.0% (ranging from 9.4% to 17.3%) higher during traffic peak hours (6:00am-8:00pm) than off hours (8:00pm-6:00am). These are the first aerosol size distribution measurements with respect to number, surface and mass concentrations in real time at Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Association of Air Pollution Exposures With High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol and Particle Number: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.

PubMed

Bell, Griffith; Mora, Samia; Greenland, Philip; Tsai, Michael; Gill, Ed; Kaufman, Joel D

2017-05-01

The relationship between air pollution and cardiovascular disease may be explained by changes in high-density lipoprotein (HDL). We examined the cross-sectional relationship between air pollution and both HDL cholesterol and HDL particle number in the MESA Air study (Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis Air Pollution). Study participants were 6654 white, black, Hispanic, and Chinese men and women aged 45 to 84 years. We estimated individual residential ambient fine particulate pollution exposure (PM 2.5 ) and black carbon concentrations using a fine-scale likelihood-based spatiotemporal model and cohort-specific monitoring. Exposure periods were averaged to 12 months, 3 months, and 2 weeks prior to examination. HDL cholesterol and HDL particle number were measured in the year 2000 using the cholesterol oxidase method and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, respectively. We used multivariable linear regression to examine the relationship between air pollution exposure and HDL measures. A 0.7×10 - 6 m - 1 higher exposure to black carbon (a marker of traffic-related pollution) averaged over a 1-year period was significantly associated with a lower HDL cholesterol (-1.68 mg/dL; 95% confidence interval, -2.86 to -0.50) and approached significance with HDL particle number (-0.55 mg/dL; 95% confidence interval, -1.13 to 0.03). In the 3-month averaging time period, a 5 μg/m 3 higher PM 2.5 was associated with lower HDL particle number (-0.64 μmol/L; 95% confidence interval, -1.01 to -0.26), but not HDL cholesterol (-0.05 mg/dL; 95% confidence interval, -0.82 to 0.71). These data are consistent with the hypothesis that exposure to air pollution is adversely associated with measures of HDL. © 2017 American Heart Association, Inc.

Downstream migration of recently transformed sea lampreys before and after treatment of a Lake Michigan tributary with a lampricide

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hodges, John W.

1972-01-01

After the Pere Marquette River was treated with a lampricide in May 1964, the number of recently transformed sea lampreys (Petromyzon marinus) collected in the water-intake structure of a chemical plant near the mouth of the stream dropped 99.5%, from 13,913 (average for 1962-63 and 1963-64) to 76 (average for the next four migration seasons). Average length of the lampreys caught increased markedly after the treatment. In five of the six migration seasons, the catch of downstream migrants was higher in the fall than in the spring.

The statistical average of optical properties for alumina particle cluster in aircraft plume

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Jingying; Bai, Lu; Wu, Zhensen; Guo, Lixin

2018-04-01

We establish a model for lognormal distribution of monomer radius and number of alumina particle clusters in plume. According to the Multi-Sphere T Matrix (MSTM) theory, we provide a method for finding the statistical average of optical properties for alumina particle clusters in plume, analyze the effect of different distributions and different detection wavelengths on the statistical average of optical properties for alumina particle cluster, and compare the statistical average optical properties under the alumina particle cluster model established in this study and those under three simplified alumina particle models. The calculation results show that the monomer number of alumina particle cluster and its size distribution have a considerable effect on its statistical average optical properties. The statistical average of optical properties for alumina particle cluster at common detection wavelengths exhibit obvious differences, whose differences have a great effect on modeling IR and UV radiation properties of plume. Compared with the three simplified models, the alumina particle cluster model herein features both higher extinction and scattering efficiencies. Therefore, we may find that an accurate description of the scattering properties of alumina particles in aircraft plume is of great significance in the study of plume radiation properties.

40 CFR 610.11 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) ENERGY POLICY FUEL ECONOMY RETROFIT... provide higher fuel economy than would have resulted with the automobile as originally equipped, as...) “Fuel economy” means the average number of miles traveled by an automobile per gallon of gasoline (or...

An International Comparison of the Effect of Policy Shifts to Organ Donation following Cardiocirculatory Death (DCD) on Donation Rates after Brain Death (DBD) and Transplantation Rates

PubMed Central

Bendorf, Aric; Kelly, Patrick J.; Kerridge, Ian H.; McCaughan, Geoffrey W.; Myerson, Brian; Stewart, Cameron; Pussell, Bruce A.

2013-01-01

During the past decade an increasing number of countries have adopted policies that emphasize donation after cardiocirculatory death (DCD) in an attempt to address the widening gap between the demand for transplantable organs and the availability of organs from donation after brain death (DBD) donors. In order to examine how these policy shifts have affected overall deceased organ donor (DD) and DBD rates, we analyzed deceased donation rates from 82 countries from 2000–2010. On average, overall DD, DBD and DCD rates have increased over time, with the proportion of DCD increasing 0.3% per year (p = 0.01). Countries with higher DCD rates have, on average, lower DBD rates. For every one-per million population (pmp) increase in the DCD rate, the average DBD rate decreased by 1.02 pmp (95% CI: 0.73, 1.32; p<0.0001). We also found that the number of organs transplanted per donor was significantly lower in DCD when compared to DBD donors with 1.51 less transplants per DCD compared to DBD (95% CI: 1.23, 1.79; p<0.001). Whilst the results do not infer a causal relationship between increased DCD and decreased DBD rates, the significant correlation between higher DCD and lower DBD rates coupled with the reduced number of organs transplanted per DCD donor suggests that a national policy focus on DCD may lead to an overall reduction in the number of transplants performed. PMID:23667452

An international comparison of the effect of policy shifts to organ donation following cardiocirculatory death (DCD) on donation rates after brain death (DBD) and transplantation rates.

PubMed

Bendorf, Aric; Kelly, Patrick J; Kerridge, Ian H; McCaughan, Geoffrey W; Myerson, Brian; Stewart, Cameron; Pussell, Bruce A

2013-01-01

During the past decade an increasing number of countries have adopted policies that emphasize donation after cardiocirculatory death (DCD) in an attempt to address the widening gap between the demand for transplantable organs and the availability of organs from donation after brain death (DBD) donors. In order to examine how these policy shifts have affected overall deceased organ donor (DD) and DBD rates, we analyzed deceased donation rates from 82 countries from 2000-2010. On average, overall DD, DBD and DCD rates have increased over time, with the proportion of DCD increasing 0.3% per year (p = 0.01). Countries with higher DCD rates have, on average, lower DBD rates. For every one-per million population (pmp) increase in the DCD rate, the average DBD rate decreased by 1.02 pmp (95% CI: 0.73, 1.32; p<0.0001). We also found that the number of organs transplanted per donor was significantly lower in DCD when compared to DBD donors with 1.51 less transplants per DCD compared to DBD (95% CI: 1.23, 1.79; p<0.001). Whilst the results do not infer a causal relationship between increased DCD and decreased DBD rates, the significant correlation between higher DCD and lower DBD rates coupled with the reduced number of organs transplanted per DCD donor suggests that a national policy focus on DCD may lead to an overall reduction in the number of transplants performed.

Infectious disease control using contact tracing in random and scale-free networks

PubMed Central

Kiss, Istvan Z; Green, Darren M; Kao, Rowland R

2005-01-01

Contact tracing aims to identify and isolate individuals that have been in contact with infectious individuals. The efficacy of contact tracing and the hierarchy of traced nodes—nodes with higher degree traced first—is investigated and compared on random and scale-free (SF) networks with the same number of nodes N and average connection K. For values of the transmission rate larger than a threshold, the final epidemic size on SF networks is smaller than that on corresponding random networks. While in random networks new infectious and traced nodes from all classes have similar average degrees, in SF networks the average degree of nodes that are in more advanced stages of the disease is higher at any given time. On SF networks tracing removes possible sources of infection with high average degree. However a higher tracing effort is required to control the epidemic than on corresponding random networks due to the high initial velocity of spread towards the highly connected nodes. An increased latency period fails to significantly improve contact tracing efficacy. Contact tracing has a limited effect if the removal rate of susceptible nodes is relatively high, due to the fast local depletion of susceptible nodes. PMID:16849217

JPRS Report, China.

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-06-16

290,000 in 1988 to over 324,000 in 1990, an increase of 11.87 percent. The average annual rate of growth was 2.27 percent, much higher than the...population growth rate. The number of hired cadres increased by 31,200 in 1988-1990, but the total number of employees decreased by 0.32 percent over...1. Trade: Growth of Exports + Curbing of Imports + Technology Imports - 2. Nontrade: Growth of Tourism + Increase in Overseas Remittance

Death and Disability in Patients with Sleep Apnea - A Meta-analysis

PubMed Central

Fonseca, Maria Inês Pires; Pereira, Telmo; Caseiro, Paulo

2015-01-01

Background Several studies have been attempting to ascertain the risks of Sleep Apnea Syndrome (SAS) and its morbidity and mortality. Objective The main objective was to verify whether SAS increases the risk of death; the secondary objective was to evaluate its morbidity in relation to cardiovascular disease and the number of days hospitalized. Methods A systematic review and a meta-analysis were performed of the published literature. The research focused on studies comparing the number of deaths in patients with untreated SAS and in patients with non-SAS. Results The meta-analysis was based on 13 articles, corresponding to a total of 13394 participants divided into two groups (non-SAS = 6631; SAS = 6763). The meta-analysis revealed a clear association of SAS with the occurrence of fatal events, where the presence of SAS corresponded to a 61% higher risk of total mortality (OR=1.61; CI: 1.43 - 1.81; p < 0.00001), while the risk of death from cardiac causes was 2.52 times higher in these patients (OR = 2.52; IC: 1.80 - 3.52; p < 0.00001). Similar results were obtained for mortality from other causes (OR = 1.68; CI: 1.08 - 2.61; p = 0.02). Resembling results were obtained in the remaining outcomes: non-fatal cardiovascular events were higher in the SAS group (OR = 2.46; IC: 1.80 - 3.36; p < 0.00001), the average number of days hospitalized was also higher in the SAS group (IV = 18.09; IC: 13.34 - 22.84; p < 0.00001). Conclusion The results show that untreated SAS significantly increases the risk of death, cardiovascular events and the average number of days hospitalized. PMID:25409880

Developing Louisiana crash reduction factors : [tech summary].

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-10-01

Although, like the rest of the country, Louisiana has made great strides in reducing the number of crashes, particularly : fatal crashes, in recent years, our fatal crash rate of 1.56 is still higher than the national average of 1.10 in 2010. The vis...

Short-Term Exposure to Air Pollution and Digital Vascular Function

PubMed Central

Ljungman, Petter L.; Wilker, Elissa H.; Rice, Mary B.; Schwartz, Joel; Gold, Diane R.; Koutrakis, Petros; Vita, Joseph A.; Mitchell, Gary F.; Vasan, Ramachandran S.; Benjamin, Emelia J.; Mittleman, Murray A.; Hamburg, Naomi M.

2014-01-01

We investigated associations between ambient air pollution and microvessel function measured by peripheral arterial tonometry between 2003 and 2008 in the Framingham Heart Study Offspring and Third Generation Cohorts. We measured particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 µm (PM2.5), black carbon, sulfates, particle number, nitrogen oxides, and ozone by using fixed monitors, and we determined moving averages for 1–7 days preceding vascular testing. We examined associations between these exposures and hyperemic response to ischemia and baseline pulse amplitude, a measure of arterial tone (n = 2,369). Higher short-term exposure to air pollutants, including PM2.5, black carbon, and particle number was associated with higher baseline pulse amplitude. For example, higher 3-day average PM2.5 exposure was associated with 6.3% higher baseline pulse amplitude (95% confidence interval: 2.0, 10.9). However, there were no consistent associations between the air pollution exposures assessed and hyperemic response. Our findings in a community-based sample exposed to relatively low pollution levels suggest that short-term exposure to ambient particulate pollution is not associated with vasodilator response, but that particulate air pollution is associated with baseline pulse amplitude, suggesting potentially adverse alterations in baseline vascular tone or compliance. PMID:25100647

Dental practice during a world cruise: characterisation of oral health at sea.

PubMed

Sobotta, Bernhard A J; John, Mike T; Nitschke, Ina

2006-01-01

To describe oral health of passengers and crew attending the dental service aboard during a two months world cruise. In a retrospective, descriptive epidemiologic study design the routine documentation of all dental treatment provided at sea was analysed after the voyage. Subjects were n = 57 passengers (3.5 % of 1619) with a mean age of 71 (+/- 9.8) years and n =56 crew (5.6 % of 999) with a mean age of 37 (+/- 12.0) years. Age, gender, nationality, number of natural teeth and implants were extracted. The prosthetic status was described by recording the number of teeth replaced by fixed prosthesis and number of teeth replaced by removable prosthesis. Oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) was measured using the 14-item Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) and characterised by the OHIP sum score. Women attended for treatment more often than men. Passengers had a mean number of 20 natural teeth plus substantial fixed and removable prosthodontics. Crew had a mean of 26 teeth. British crew and Australian passengers attended the dental service above average. Crew tended to have a higher average OHIP-14 sum score than passengers indicating an increased rate of perceived problems. Emergency patients from both crew and passengers have a higher sum score than patients attending for routine treatment. In passengers the average number of teeth appears to be higher than that of an age matched population of industrialized countries. However, the passengers' socioeconomic status was higher which has an effect on this finding. Socioeconomic factors also serve to explain the high standard of prosthetic care in passengers. Crew in general present with less sophisticated prosthetic devices. This is in line with their different socioeconomic status and origin from developing countries. The level of dental fees aboard in comparison to treatment costs in home countries may explain some of the differences in attendance. Passengers have enjoyed high standards of prosthetic care in the past and will expect a similarly high standard from ship based facilities. The ease of access to quality dental care may explain the relatively low level of perceived problems as characterised by oral health-related quality of life scores. The dental officer aboard has to be prepared to care for very varied diagnostic and treatment needs.

Long-term dynamics of winter and summer annual communities in the Chihuahuan Desert

USGS Publications Warehouse

Guo, Q.; Brown, J.H.; Valone, T.J.

2002-01-01

Using 15 years of census data from permanent quadrats, this paper compared the characteristics and temporal dynamics of these two distinct, spatially coexistent but temporally segregated communities. Although the total number of summer annual species recorded during our 15 years observation was higher than winter annuals, the average number of species observed each year was higher in the winter community. The winter community exhibited lower temporal variation in total plant abundance and populations of individual species, lower species turnover rate and higher evenness than the summer community. The higher seasonal species diversity (i.e., number of species observed in each season) in winters rather than the overall special pool (over 15 yrs) may be responsible for the greater community stability of winter annuals. The difference in long-term community dynamics between the two communities of annuals plants are likely due to the differences in total species pool, life history traits (e.g., seed size), and seasonal climatic regimes.

Indoor tanning facility density in eighty U.S. cities.

PubMed

Palmer, Richard C; Mayer, Joni A; Woodruff, Susan I; Eckhardt, Laura; Sallis, James F

2002-06-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the number of tanning facilities in select U.S. cities. The twenty most populated cities from each of 4 U.S. regions were selected for the sample. For each city, data on the number of tanning facilities, climate, and general demographic profile were collected. Data for state tanning facility legislation also were collected. A tanning facility density variable was created by dividing the city's number of facilities by its population size. The 80 cities had an average of 50 facilities each. Results of linear regression analysis indicated that higher density was significantly associated with colder climate, lower median income, and higher proportion of Whites. These data indicate that indoor tanning facilities are prevalent in the environments of U.S. urban-dwellers. Cities having the higher density profile may be logical targets for interventions promoting less or safer use of these facilities.

Enhancing and generalizing the two-level screening approach incorporating the Highway Safety Manual (HSM) methods, phase 2 [summary].

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-05-01

University of Central Florida researchers : developed a novel method to locate hotspots : and hot zones, locations where a higher than : average number of collisions take place and : which should be prioritized for investigation : and intervention by...

Summer Staff Salaries Studied.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henderson, Karla; And Others

1988-01-01

Reports 1987 camp staff salaries, based on survey of 500 randomly selected camps. Analyzes average weekly and seasonal salaries according to staff position and number of camps with position. Staff salaries are consistent nationally with private independent camps paying higher salaries for some positions than agency or church camps. (CS)

[How representative is the healthcare assessment website Zorgkaart Nederland? The evaluation of medical specialists by patients in the Netherlands].

PubMed

Stehmann, Tijs A; Goudriaan, W A Alexander; In 't Veen, J C C M Hans; Kollen, Boudewijn J; Verheyen, C C P M Kees

2016-01-01

To describe the number of ratings and the corresponding scores given to medical specialists on the Dutch healthcare assessment website 'Zorgkaart Nederland.nl', and evaluation of this website as tool for evaluation of quality. Explorative descriptive study. In July 2015, data were gathered from the public section of the healthcare assessment website 'ZorgkaartNederland.nl'. The number of specialists, the mean ratings per department (group mark), the number of evaluations, the number of medical specialists without a rating and the number of specialists with at least 9 ratings were registered per speciality, per hospital. Outcomes measures were the median number of ratings per speciality and the group score. Data were analysed using descriptive and non-parametric statistics. Each month, 763,000 unique visitors access ZorgkaartNederland.nl; on average, 0.08% of these registers a vote. There were 15,337 medical specialists, spread across 97 hospitals and 2,060 specialities on ZorgkaartNederland.nl, with a total of 45,548 evaluations. Of these, 6,682 (43.4%) specialists were not rated, and 1.165 (7.6%) had ≥ 9 ratings. Additionally, 327 (15.9%) departments were unrated. Surgical departments were evaluated more often, and their grades were significantly higher, than those of non-surgical departments. The website ZorgkaartNederland.nl shows ratings for 56.6% of all medical specialists. When the lower limit of at least 9 evaluations per specialist introduced by ZorgkaartNederland.nl was applied, only the grades for 7.6% of all specialists are valid. On average, 0.08% of unique visitors cast a vote. Surgical specialities have a higher number of evaluations and a higher score than non-surgical ones. ZorgkaartNederland.nl in its current form does not constitute a valid tool for evaluation of the quality of medical specialist care in the Netherlands. This article provides recommendations for improvement.

Risk markers for disappearance of pediatric Web resources

PubMed Central

Hernández-Borges, Angel A.; Jiménez-Sosa, Alejandro; Torres-Álvarez de Arcaya, Maria L.; Macías-Cervi, Pablo; Gaspar-Guardado, Maria A.; Ruíz-Rabaza, Ana

2005-01-01

Objectives: The authors sought to find out whether certain Webometric indexes of a sample of pediatric Web resources, and some tests based on them, could be helpful predictors of their disappearance. Methods: The authors performed a retrospective study of a sample of 363 pediatric Websites and pages they had followed for 4 years. Main measurements included: number of resources that disappeared, number of inbound links and their annual increment, average daily visits to the resources in the sample, sample compliance with the quality criteria of 3 international organizations, and online time of the Web resources. Results: On average, 11% of the sample disappeared annually. However, 13% of these were available again at the end of follow up. Disappearing and surviving Websites did not show differences in the variables studied. However, surviving Web pages had a higher number of inbound links and higher annual increment in inbound links. Similarly, Web pages that survived showed higher compliance with recognized sets of quality criteria than those that disappeared. A subset of 14 quality criteria whose compliance accounted for 90% of the probability of online permanence was identified. Finally, a progressive increment of inbound links was found to be a marker of good prognosis, showing high specificity and positive predictive value (88% and 94%, respectively). Conclusions: The number of inbound links and annual increment of inbound links could be useful markers of the permanence probability for pediatric Web pages. Strategies that assure the Web editors' awareness of their Web resources' popularity could stimulate them to improve the quality of their Websites. PMID:16059427

[Distributions of the numbers of monitoring stations in the surveillance of infectious diseases in Japan].

PubMed

Murakami, Y; Hashimoto, S; Taniguchi, K; Nagai, M

1999-12-01

To describe the characteristics of monitoring stations for the infectious disease surveillance system in Japan, we compared the distributions of the number of monitoring stations in terms of population, region, size of medical institution, and medical specialty. The distributions of annual number of reported cases in terms of the type of diseases, the size of medical institution, and medical specialty were also compared. We conducted a nationwide survey of the pediatrics stations (16 diseases), ophthalmology stations (3 diseases) and the stations of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) (5 diseases) in Japan. In the survey, we collected the data of monitoring stations and the annual reported cases of diseases. We also collected the data on the population, served by the health center where the monitoring stations existed, from the census. First, we compared the difference between the present number of monitoring stations and the current standard established by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MHW). Second, we compared the distribution of all medical institutions in Japan and the monitoring stations in terms of the size of the medical institution. Third, we compared the average number of annual reported cases of diseases in terms of the size of medical institution and the medical specialty. In most health centers, the number of monitoring stations achieved the current standard of MHW, while a few health centers had no monitoring station, although they had a large population. Most prefectures also achieved the current standard of MHW, but some prefectures were well below the standard. Among pediatric stations, the sampling proportion of large hospitals was higher than other categories. Among the ophthalmology stations, the sampling proportion of hospitals was higher than other categories. Among the STD stations, the sampling proportion of clinics of obstetrics and gynecology was lower than other categories. Except for some diseases, it made little difference in the average number of annual reported cases of diseases in terms of the type of medical institution. Among STD, there was a great difference in the average number of annual reported cases of diseases in terms of medical specialty.

Deciphering the Long-Term Trend of Atlantic Basin Intense Hurricanes: More Active Versus Less Active During the Present Epoch

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, Robert M.

1998-01-01

During the interval of 1944-1997, 120 intense hurricanes (i.e., those of category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane damage potential scale) were observed in the Atlantic basin, having an annual frequency of 0-7 events per year, being more active prior to the mid 1960's than thereafter (hence a possible two-state division: more active versus less active), and being preferentially lower during El Nino years as compared to non-El Nino years. Because decadal averages of the frequency of intense hurricanes closely resemble those of average temperature anomalies for northern hemispheric and global standards and of the average temperature at the Armagh Observatory (Northern Ireland), a proxy for climatic change, it is inferred that the long-term trends of the annual frequency of intense hurricanes and temperature may be statistically related. Indeed, on the basis of 4- and 10-yr moving averages, one finds that there exists strong linear associations between the annual frequency of intense hurricanes in the Atlantic basin and temperature (specially, when temperature slightly leads). Because the long-term leading trends of temperature are now decidedly upward, beginning about the mid 1980's, it is inferred that the long-term consequential trends of the annual frequency of intense hurricanes should now also be upward, having begun near 1990, suggesting that a return to the more active state probably has already occurred. However, because of the anomalous El Nino activity of the early to mid 1990's, the switch from the less active to the more active state essentially went unnoticed (a marked increase in the number of intense hurricanes was not observed until the 1995 and 1996 hurricane seasons, following the end of the anomalous El Nino activity). Presuming that a return to the more active state has, indeed, occurred, one expects the number of seasonal intense hurricanes during the present epoch (continuing through about 2012) to usually be higher than average (i.e., greater than or equal to 2), except during El Nino-related seasons when the number usually will be less than average.

Administrator turnover and quality of care in nursing homes.

PubMed

Castle, N G

2001-12-01

In this article, I examine the association between turnover of nursing home administrators and five important quality of care outcomes. The data came from a survey of 420 nursing facilities and the 1999 On-line Survey, Certification, and Reporting System. Using multivariate logistic regression analyses, I looked at the effects of turnover of administrators in nursing homes belonging to chain organizations and in nursing homes not belonging to chain organizations. I found the average annual turnover rate of administrators to be 43%. The multivariate logistic regression analyses show that in nursing homes belonging to chains, administrator turnover is associated with a higher than average proportion of residents who were catheterized, had pressure ulcers, and were given psychoactive drugs and with a higher than average number of quality-of-care deficiencies. In nursing homes not belonging to chains I found that turnover of administrators is associated with a higher than average proportion of residents who were restrained, were catheterized, had pressure ulcers, and were given psychoactive drugs. There is a need to improve understanding of how and why better outcomes are achieved in some nursing homes. This investigation serves to focus attention on nursing home administrators. I believe this study provides preliminary evidence that the turnover of administrators may have an important association with quality of care in nursing homes.

Effects of parental number and duration of the breeding period on the effective population size and genetic diversity of a captive population of the endangered Tokyo bitterling Tanakia tanago (Teleostei: Cyprinidae).

PubMed

Kubota, Hitoshi; Watanabe, Katsutoshi

2012-01-01

The maintenance of genetic diversity is one of the chief concerns in the captive breeding of endangered species. Using microsatellite and mtDNA markers, we examined the effects of two key variables (parental number and duration of breeding period) on effective population size (N(e) ) and genetic diversity of offspring in an experimental breeding program for the endangered Tokyo bitterling, Tanakia tanago. Average heterozygosity and number of alleles of offspring estimated from microsatellite data increased with parental number in a breeding aquarium, and exhibited higher values for a long breeding period treatment (9 weeks) compared with a short breeding period (3 weeks). Haplotype diversity in mtDNA of offspring decreased with the reduction in parental number, and this tendency was greater for the short breeding period treatment. Genetic estimates of N(e) obtained with two single-sample estimation methods were consistently higher for the long breeding period treatment with the same number of parental fish. Average N(e) /N ratios were ranged from 0.5 to 1.4, and were high especially in the long breeding period with small and medium parental number treatments. Our results suggest that the spawning intervals of females and alternative mating behaviors of males influence the effective size and genetic diversity of offspring in bitterling. To maintain the genetic diversity of captive T. tanago, we recommend that captive breeding programs should be conducted for a sufficiently long period with an optimal level of parental density, as well as using an adequate number of parents. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Potential air pollutant emission from private vehicles based on vehicle route

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huboyo, H. S.; Handayani, W.; Samadikun, B. P.

2017-06-01

Air emissions related to the transportation sector has been identified as the second largest emitter of ambient air quality in Indonesia. This is due to large numbers of private vehicles commuting within the city as well as inter-city. A questionnaire survey was conducted in Semarang city involving 711 private vehicles consisting of cars and motorcycles. The survey was conducted in random parking lots across the Semarang districts and in vehicle workshops. Based on the parking lot survey, the average distance private cars travelled in kilometers (VKT) was 17,737 km/year. The machine start-up number of cars during weekdays; weekends were on average 5.19 and 3.79 respectively. For motorcycles the average of kilometers travelled was 27,092 km/year. The machine start-up number of motorcycles during weekdays and weekends were on average 5.84 and 3.98, respectively. The vehicle workshop survey showed the average kilometers travelled to be 9,510 km/year for motorcycles, while for private cars the average kilometers travelled was 21,347 km/year. Odometer readings for private cars showed a maximum of 3,046,509 km and a minimum of 700 km. Meanwhile, for motorcycles, odometer readings showed a maximum of 973,164 km and a minimum of roughly 54.24 km. Air pollutant emissions on East-West routes were generally higher than those on South-North routes. Motorcycles contribute significantly to urban air pollution, more so than cars. In this study, traffic congestion and traffic volume contributed much more to air pollution than the impact of fluctuating terrain.

Effects of household dynamics on resource consumption and biodiversity.

PubMed

Liu, Jianguo; Daily, Gretchen C; Ehrlich, Paul R; Luck, Gary W

2003-01-30

Human population size and growth rate are often considered important drivers of biodiversity loss, whereas household dynamics are usually neglected. Aggregate demographic statistics may mask substantial changes in the size and number of households, and their effects on biodiversity. Household dynamics influence per capita consumption and thus biodiversity through, for example, consumption of wood for fuel, habitat alteration for home building and associated activities, and greenhouse gas emissions. Here we report that growth in household numbers globally, and particularly in countries with biodiversity hotspots (areas rich in endemic species and threatened by human activities), was more rapid than aggregate population growth between 1985 and 2000. Even when population size declined, the number of households increased substantially. Had the average household size (that is, the number of occupants) remained static, there would have been 155 million fewer households in hotspot countries in 2000. Reduction in average household size alone will add a projected 233 million additional households to hotspot countries during the period 2000-15. Rapid increase in household numbers, often manifested as urban sprawl, and resultant higher per capita resource consumption in smaller households pose serious challenges to biodiversity conservation.

Short-term exposure to air pollution and digital vascular function.

PubMed

Ljungman, Petter L; Wilker, Elissa H; Rice, Mary B; Schwartz, Joel; Gold, Diane R; Koutrakis, Petros; Vita, Joseph A; Mitchell, Gary F; Vasan, Ramachandran S; Benjamin, Emelia J; Mittleman, Murray A; Hamburg, Naomi M

2014-09-01

We investigated associations between ambient air pollution and microvessel function measured by peripheral arterial tonometry between 2003 and 2008 in the Framingham Heart Study Offspring and Third Generation Cohorts. We measured particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 µm (PM2.5), black carbon, sulfates, particle number, nitrogen oxides, and ozone by using fixed monitors, and we determined moving averages for 1-7 days preceding vascular testing. We examined associations between these exposures and hyperemic response to ischemia and baseline pulse amplitude, a measure of arterial tone (n = 2,369). Higher short-term exposure to air pollutants, including PM2.5, black carbon, and particle number was associated with higher baseline pulse amplitude. For example, higher 3-day average PM2.5 exposure was associated with 6.3% higher baseline pulse amplitude (95% confidence interval: 2.0, 10.9). However, there were no consistent associations between the air pollution exposures assessed and hyperemic response. Our findings in a community-based sample exposed to relatively low pollution levels suggest that short-term exposure to ambient particulate pollution is not associated with vasodilator response, but that particulate air pollution is associated with baseline pulse amplitude, suggesting potentially adverse alterations in baseline vascular tone or compliance. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The association between religious homogamy and reproduction

PubMed Central

Fieder, Martin; Huber, Susanne

2016-01-01

Individuals more strongly affiliated to religion have on average more children than less religious ones. Here, based on census data of 3 658 650 women aged 46–60 years from 32 countries provided by IPUMS International and data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (n = 2400 women, aged 53–57 years), we show that religious homogamy is also associated with higher reproduction in terms of a higher number of children and a lower chance of remaining childless. We argue that, together with the relationship between general religious intensity and number of children, religious homogamy has reproductive consequences. These may impact future demographic developments and could have also played a role in the biological evolution of humans. PMID:27412283

[Algorithm for taking into account the average annual background of air pollution in the assessment of health risks].

PubMed

Fokin, M V

2013-01-01

State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education "I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University" of the Ministry of Health care and Social Development, Moscow, Russian Federation. The assessment of health risks from air pollution with emissions from industrial facilities, without the average annual background of air pollution does not meet sanitary legislation. However Russian Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring issues official certificates for a limited number of areas covered by the observations of the full program on the stationary points. Questions of accounting average background air pollution in the evaluation of health risks from exposure to emissions from industrial facilities are considered.

Sex-linked strategies of human reproductive behavior.

PubMed

Jaffe, K; Urribarri, D; Chacon, G C; Diaz, G; Torres, A; Herzog, G

1993-01-01

We present data on fertility characteristics in the Venezuelan population for each sex separately, allowing a detailed comparative analysis of the variance in fertility between males and females. We show that the fertility distribution for both sexes is discontinuous, that the average female has a larger number of offspring per individual than the average male, and that highly fertile males outnumber highly fertile females so that the total number of offspring produced by males and females is balanced. Results indicate that a few males are responsible for a relative higher fertility of the average female and that interactions between polyandric females with monogamic and polygynic males are common. Among the Yanomami, a relatively unacculturated hunter-gatherer-horticulturist tribe, similar differences in fertility distribution of both sexes are apparent. The data suggest that human populations contain statistically distinct subpopulations, with different reproductive strategies, suggesting the existence of complex interactions among human populations which are not evident from the study of individuals or groups.

Introductory Psychology Textbooks: An Objective Analysis and Update.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Griggs, Richard A.; Jackson, Sherri L.; Christopher, Andrew N.; Marek, Pam

1999-01-01

Explores changes in the introductory psychology textbook market through an analysis of edition, author, length, and content coverage of the volumes that comprise the current market. Finds a higher edition average, a decrease in the number of authors, an increase in text pages, and a focus on developmental psychology and sensation/perception. (CMK)

Diversity for cooking time in Andean dry bean

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A diversity panel of 250 dry bean lines from the Andean gene pool was evaluated for cooking time. Cooking time ranged from 17 to 90 min with an average of 36 min. A faster cooking time was also correlated with a number of other seed characteristics, most notably, higher levels of boron and potassium...

[Distribution and changes in species composition and abundance of ichthyoplankton in the Yangtze estuary].

PubMed

Zhang, Heng; Yang, Sheng-Long; Meng, Hai-Xing

2012-06-01

Based on four surveys of eggs and larvae in the Yangtze estuary in 2005 (April and November) and 2006 (April and September), combined with the historical data of the wetland in 1990 (September) and 1991 (March), we analyzed seasonal changes in fish species composition and quantity of ichthyoplankton. Thirty-six species of egg and larvae were collected and marine fish species were the highest represented ecological guild. Average fish species and average abundance in spring were lower than in autumn for every survey. The total number of eggs in brackish water was higher than in fresh water, but the total number of larvae and juveniles in brackish water was lower. The abundance of eggs and larvae during from 2005 to 2006 in both spring and autumn was higher compared to those from 1990 to 1991. Obvious differences in species composition in September between 1990 and 2006 were found, especially for Erythroculter ilishaeformis and Neosalanx taihuensis. Fish species composition and quantity within the ichthyoplankton community has obviously changed in the Yangtze estuary over the last 20 years.

Mercury and methylmercury in reservoirs in Indiana

USGS Publications Warehouse

Risch, Martin R.; Fredericksen, Amanda L.

2015-01-01

Methylmercury (reported as Hg) in fish-tissue samples collected for the State fish consumption advisory program was used to describe MeHg food-web accumulation and magnification in the reservoirs. The highest percentages of fish-tissue samples with Hg concentrations that exceeded the criterion of 0.30 milligram per kilogram for protection of human health were from Monroe Lake (38 percent) and Patoka Lake (33 percent). A review of the number and size of fish species caught from these two reservoirs resulted in two implications for fish consumption by humans. First, the highest numbers of fish harvested for potential human consumption were species more likely to have MeHg concentrations lower than the human-health criterion (crappie, bluegill, and catfish). Second, although largemouth bass were likely to have MeHg concentrations higher than the human-health criterion, they were caught and released more often than they were harvested. However, the average size largemouth bass (in both reservoirs) and above-average size walleye (in Monroe Lake) that were harvested for potential human consumption were likely to have MeHg concentrations higher than the human-health criterion.

Validating the use of smartphone-based accelerometers for performance assessment in a simulated neurosurgical task.

PubMed

Jensen Ang, Wei Jie; Hopkins, Michael Edward; Partridge, Roland; Hennessey, Iain; Brennan, Paul Martin; Fouyas, Ioannis; Hughes, Mark Antony

2014-03-01

Reductions in working hours affect training opportunities for surgeons. Surgical simulation is increasingly proposed to help bridge the resultant training gap. For simulation training to translate effectively into the operating theater, acquisition of technical proficiency must be objectively assessed. Evaluating "economy of movement" is one way to achieve this. We sought to validate a practical and economical method of assessing economy of movement during a simulated task. We hypothesized that accelerometers, found in smartphones, provide quantitative, objective feedback when attached to a neurosurgeon's wrists. Subjects (n = 25) included consultants, senior registrars, junior registrars, junior doctors, and medical students. Total resultant acceleration (TRA), average resultant acceleration, and movements with acceleration >0.6g (suprathreshold acceleration events) were recorded while subjects performed a simulated dural closure task. Students recorded an average TRA 97.0 ± 31.2 ms higher than senior registrars (P = .03) and 103 ± 31.2 ms higher than consultants (P = .02). Similarly, junior doctors accrued an average TRA 181 ± 31.2 ms higher than senior registrars (P < .001) and 187 ± 31.2 ms higher than consultants (P < .001). Significant correlations were observed between surgical outcome (as measured by quality of dural closure) and both TRA (r = .44, P < .001) and number of suprathreshold acceleration events (r = .33, P < .001). TRA (219 ± 66.6 ms; P = .01) and number of suprathreshold acceleration events (127 ± 42.5; P = .02) dropped between the first and fourth trials for junior doctors, suggesting procedural learning. TRA was 45.4 ± 17.1 ms higher in the dominant hand for students (P = .04) and 57.2 ± 17.1 ms for junior doctors (P = .005), contrasting with even TRA distribution between hands (acquired ambidexterity) in senior groups. Data from smartphone-based accelerometers show construct validity as an adjunct for assessing technical performance during simulation training.

Secular trends in impact factor of neonatology publications over a 10-year period.

PubMed

Marom, Ronella; Mimouni, Francis B; Cohen, Shlomi; Lubetzky, Ronit; Mandel, Dror

2012-10-01

  To test the hypotheses that published randomized clinical trials (RCTs) in neonatology with negative results (NR) are more likely to be published in journals with lower impact factor (IF) than those with positive results (PR); that there is an increase in the number of yearly published RCTs; that studies with large sample sizes are likely to be published in journals with higher IF.   We used all English-written RCTs registered in MEDLINE between 1/1/2001-31/12/2010 in the field of neonatology. Each RCT was classified as having a PR or NR. IF of each journal was determined for the year of publication.   We identified 329 RCTs. Yearly number of RCTs varied between 19 and 46, with no significant consistent linear increase over the years. There was no significant change over the years in average IF or in average patient size. IF and sample size of the studies were not significantly higher in studies with PR than in studies with NR.   The number of RCTs per year in the field of neonatology has stabilized in the past 10 years, and RCTs with positive or negative results are published in journals of similar IF. © 2012 The Author(s)/Acta Paediatrica © 2012 Foundation Acta Paediatrica.

Computer simulation radiation damages in condensed matters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kupchishin, A. I.; Kupchishin, A. A.; Voronova, N. A.; Kirdyashkin, V. I.; Gyngazov, V. A.

2016-02-01

As part of the cascade-probability method were calculated the energy spectra of primary knocked-out atoms and the concentration of radiation-induced defects in a number of metals irradiated by electrons. As follows from the formulas, the number of Frenkel pairs at a given depth depends on three variables having certain physical meaning: firstly, Cd (Ea h) is proportional to the average energy of the considered depth of the PKA (if it is higher, than the greater number of atoms it will displace); secondly is inversely proportional to the path length λ2 for the formation of the PKA (if λ1 is higher than is the smaller the probability of interaction) and thirdly is inversely proportional to Ed. In this case calculations are in satisfactory agreement with the experimental data (for example, copper and aluminum).

Top 100 Most-cited Articles on Pituitary Adenoma: A Bibliometric Analysis.

PubMed

Guo, Xiaopeng; Gao, Lu; Wang, Zihao; Feng, Chenzhe; Xing, Bing

2018-06-02

Many articles have been published on pituitary adenomas. Bibliometric analyses are helpful for determining the most impactful studies within a field. To identify the top 100 most-cited articles on pituitary adenomas using the bibliometric analysis method. We searched the Thomson Reuters Web of Science on March 31, 2018. Articles were listed in descending order by the total citation (TC) number, and the most-cited articles on pituitary adenomas were identified and analyzed. The most-cited articles were published between 1970 and 2014, with 1999 as the most prolific year. Growth hormone-secreting pituitary adenoma was the most commonly studied tumor subtype (43%), and in clinical studies, treatment options and follow-up were the most important research focuses (62%). The average number of TCs was 326, and the average number of annual citations (ACs) was 17. More review articles were published in the last decade, and the average number of ACs was higher for this decade than for previous decades. Twenty-one articles were recognized as "Citation Classics" with a TC number>400. Twenty-five journals published the top 100 works; the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism published the most articles (25%). The most articles (43%) were published in the United States. S. Melmed authored the greatest number of publications (14%). Departments of Medicine (32%) and Endocrinology (32%) contributed to the largest number of articles. This study identified the research focuses and trends regarding pituitary adenoma and provides key references for investigators in guiding future pituitary adenoma research. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Targeted Approach to Overcoming Treatment Resistance in Advanced Prostate Cancer

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-09-01

estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data ...identify analogs with higher efficacy and less toxicity. Initial results identified a small number of compounds, some of them entirely novel, that should... small  number  of  compounds,  some  of  them  entirely  novel,   that  should  be  followed  up  on  in  subsequent

A study of altitude-constrained supersonic cruise transport concepts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tice, David C.; Martin, Glenn L.

1992-01-01

The effect of restricting maximum cruise altitude on the mission performance of two supersonic transport concepts across a selection of cruise Mach numbers is studied. Results indicate that a trapezoidal wing concept can be competitive with an arrow wing depending on the altitude and Mach number constraints imposed. The higher wing loading of trapezoidal wing configurations gives them an appreciably lower average cruise altitude than the lower wing loading of the arrow wing configurations, and this advantage increases as the maximum allowable cruise altitude is reduced.

Study of Liquid Breakup Process in Solid Rocket Motor Nozzle

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-02-16

liquid film flow with the gas flow. The rate of the wave breakup was characterized by introducing Breakup-length, Ohnesorge Number (Oh) and Weber Number... liquid film that flows along the wall of a strraight test channel while a relatively higher-speed gas moves over it. We have used an unsteady-flow...Reynolds- Averaged Navier-Stokes code (URANS) to investigate the interaction of the liquid film flow with the gas flow. The rate of the wave breakup was

Analysis of economic determinants of fertility in Iran: a multilevel approach.

PubMed

Moeeni, Maryam; Pourreza, Abolghasem; Torabi, Fatemeh; Heydari, Hassan; Mahmoudi, Mahmood

2014-08-01

During the last three decades, the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) in Iran has fallen considerably; from 6.5 per woman in 1983 to 1.89 in 2010. This paper analyzes the extent to which economic determinants at the micro and macro levels are associated with the number of children in Iranian households. Household data from the 2010 Household Expenditure and Income Survey (HEIS) is linked to provincial data from the 2010 Iran Multiple-Indicator Demographic and Health Survey (IrMIDHS), the National Census of Population and Housing conducted in 1986, 1996, 2006 and 2011, and the 1985-2010 Iran statistical year books. Fertility is measured as the number of children in each household. A random intercept multilevel Poisson regression function is specified based on a collective model of intra-household bargaining power to investigate potential determinants of the number of children in Iranian households. Ceteris paribus (other things being equal), probability of having more children drops significantly as either real per capita educational expenditure or real total expenditure of each household increase. Both the low- and the high-income households show probabilities of having more children compared to the middle-income households. Living in provinces with either higher average amount of value added of manufacturing establishments or lower average rate of house rent is associated to higher probability of having larger number of children. Higher levels of gender gap indices, resulting in household's wife's limited power over household decision-making, positively affect the probability of having more children. Economic determinants at the micro and macro levels, distribution of intra-household bargaining power between spouses and demographic covariates determined fertility behavior of Iranian households.

Analysis of economic determinants of fertility in Iran: a multilevel approach

PubMed Central

Moeeni, Maryam; Pourreza, Abolghasem; Torabi, Fatemeh; Heydari, Hassan; Mahmoudi, Mahmood

2014-01-01

Background: During the last three decades, the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) in Iran has fallen considerably; from 6.5 per woman in 1983 to 1.89 in 2010. This paper analyzes the extent to which economic determinants at the micro and macro levels are associated with the number of children in Iranian households. Methods: Household data from the 2010 Household Expenditure and Income Survey (HEIS) is linked to provincial data from the 2010 Iran Multiple-Indicator Demographic and Health Survey (IrMIDHS), the National Census of Population and Housing conducted in 1986, 1996, 2006 and 2011, and the 1985–2010 Iran statistical year books. Fertility is measured as the number of children in each household. A random intercept multilevel Poisson regression function is specified based on a collective model of intra-household bargaining power to investigate potential determinants of the number of children in Iranian households. Results: Ceteris paribus (other things being equal), probability of having more children drops significantly as either real per capita educational expenditure or real total expenditure of each household increase. Both the low- and the high-income households show probabilities of having more children compared to the middle-income households. Living in provinces with either higher average amount of value added of manufacturing establishments or lower average rate of house rent is associated to higher probability of having larger number of children. Higher levels of gender gap indices, resulting in household’s wife’s limited power over household decision-making, positively affect the probability of having more children. Conclusion: Economic determinants at the micro and macro levels, distribution of intra-household bargaining power between spouses and demographic covariates determined fertility behavior of Iranian households. PMID:25197678

Effect of rib angle on local heat/mass transfer distribution in a two-pass rib-roughened channel

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chandra, P. R.; Han, J. C.; Lau, S. C.

1987-01-01

The naphthalene sublimation technique is used to investigate the heat transfer characteristics of turbulent air flow in a two-pass channel. A test section that resembles the internal cooling passages of gas turbine airfoils is employed. The local Sherwood numbers on the ribbed walls were found to be 1.5-6.5 times those for a fully developed flow in a smooth square duct. Depending on the rib angle-of-attack and the Reynolds number, the average ribbed-wall Sherwood numbers were 2.5-3.5 times higher than the fully developed values.

Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes Studies of Low Reynolds Number Effects on the Losses in a Low Pressure Turbine

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dorney, Daniel J.

1996-01-01

Experimental data from jet-engine tests have indicated that unsteady blade-row interaction effects can have a significant impact on the efficiency of low-pressure turbine stages. Measured turbine efficiencies at takeoff can be as much as two points higher than those at cruise conditions. Preliminary studies indicate that Reynolds number effects may contribute to the lower efficiencies at cruise conditions. In the current study, numerical experiments have been performed to quantify the Reynolds number dependence of unsteady wake/separation bubble interaction on the performance of a low-pressure turbine.

African American college students excelling in the sciences: College and postcollege outcomes in the Meyerhoff Scholars Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maton, Kenneth I.; Hrabowski, Freeman A., III; Schmitt, Carol L.

2000-09-01

This paper describes and assesses the effectiveness of the Meyerhoff Scholars Program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). The Program is designed to increase the number of underrepresented minorities who pursue graduate and professional degrees in science and engineering. Until 1996 the program admitted African American students exclusively, and the current study focuses only on students from that group. The Meyerhoff students have achieved higher grade point averages, graduated in science and engineering at higher rates, and gained admittance to graduate schools at higher rates than multiple current and historical comparison samples. Student survey and interview data revealed that a number of program components were viewed as being especially important contributors to students' academic success: Program Community, Study Groups, Summer Bridge Program, Financial Support, Program Staff, and Research Internships and Mentors.

Periodontal status and selected parameters of oral condition of Poles aged 65 to 74 years.

PubMed

Konopka, Tomasz; Dembowska, Elżbieta; Pietruska, Małgorzata; Dymalski, Paweł; Górska, Renata

2015-01-01

The goal of this study was the evaluation of the periodontal health by means of CPI score in inhabitants of big and small cities in the age range from 65 to 74 and making comparison with previous Polish and European studies from XXI century. Also an average number of natural teeth, the edentulous persons percentage, the percentage of people with oral function maintenance and prevalence of oral mucosal diseases were evaluated. There were also attempts to evaluate essential behaviours related to the oral health and the percentage of people that are treated with use of non-reimbursed or reimbursed services. Studies were conducted in 5 big cities: Warszawa, Szczecin, Wrocław, Białystok and Toruń, as well as in 4 towns, such as Oława, Police, Łobez and Ełk. From sampling 7400 people aged from 65 to 74 years for the study reported only 807 people. In the mouth evaluated CPI score, number of natural teeth and prevalence of pathological lesions on cavity mucosa. Answers for questions on selected attitudes and health-seeking behaviours related to the oral health and the range of dental treatment were also analysed. Distribution of values of CPI codes in the whole group was as follows: CPI0-1.2%, CPI1-9.4%, CPI2-16.6%, CPI3-21.8%, CPI4-19.7% and the number of people excluded from examinations (1 tooth in the sextant or edentulous 31.3%). The state of the periodontium was worse in big cities and in men. An average number of teeth was 13.7 and was higher in big cities and in men. The percentage of edentulous persons was 28.9% and was higher in towns and in woman. The percentage of people with oral function maintenance was 25.15% and was higher in big cities and in men. The most three common pathologies of the oral cavity were leukoplakia and leukokeratosis that were found in 10.5% of examined people, candidiasis 5.82% and lichen planus 2.2%. The state of the periodontium of Poles at the age from 65 to 74 has not been improved in XXI century, but also does not significantly differ from an average European level. An average number of remaining teeth of Poles at this age has increased, but remains under a European average; also the prevalence of edentulism has decreased, but still remains one of the highest in Europe. The percentage of people with oral function maintenance is very low, thus needs for prosthetic treatment and rehabilitation of masticatory ability remain high. Precancerous lesions in the oral cavity are quite common in this age group. Health-seeking behaviours related to the oral health of older Poles are inadequate and result from a low level of knowledge on dental prophylaxis.

Proportion of recovered waterfowl bands reported

USGS Publications Warehouse

Geis, A.D.; Atwood, E.L.

1961-01-01

Data from the annual mail survey of waterfowl hunters in the United States were used to estimate the total numbers of banded waterfowl that were shot. These estimates were compared with Banding Office records to estimate the proportion of recovered bands that was reported. On the average, about two banded birds were recovered for each one reported. The proportion reported was higher for some areas and for some species than for others. The proportion reported was higher when more of the reports came through employees of conservation agencies.

In−Vitro and In−Vivo Noise Analysis for Optical Neural Recording

PubMed Central

Foust, Amanda J.; Schei, Jennifer L.; Rojas, Manuel J.; Rector, David M.

2008-01-01

Laser diodes (LD) are commonly used for optical neural recordings in chronically recorded animals and humans, primarily due to their brightness and small size. However, noise introduced by LDs may counteract the benefits of brightness when compared to low−noise light emitting diodes (LEDs). To understand noise sources in optical recordings, we systematically compared instrument and physiological noise profiles in two recording paradigms. A better understanding of noise sources will help improve optical recordings and make them more practical with fewer averages. We stimulated lobster nerves and rat cortex, then compared the root mean square (RMS) noise and signal−to−noise ratios (SNRs) of data obtained with LED, superluminescent diode (SLD) and LD illumination for different numbers of averages. The LED data exhibited significantly higher SNRs in fewer averages than LD data in all recordings. In the absence of tissue, LED noise increased linearly with intensity, while LD noise increased sharply in the transition to lasing and settled to noise levels significantly higher than the LED’s, suggesting that speckle noise contributed to the LD’s higher noise and lower SNRs. Our data recommend low coherence and portable light sources for in−vivo chronic neural recording applications. PMID:19021365

A comparison of two hospital districts with low and high figures in the compulsory care of minors: an ecological study.

PubMed

Siponen, Ulla; Välimäki, Maritta; Kaivosoja, Matti; Marttunen, Mauri; Kaltiala-Heino, Riittakerttu

2011-08-01

The last decade in Finland has seen a vast increase both in involuntary psychiatric treatment of adolescents and in the numbers of adolescents taken into care under the Child Welfare Act. Moreover, the variation in figures between different hospital districts is remarkable. The reasons for this are not known, but it cannot be due to variation in the epidemiology of mental disorders in minors. The aim of the study was to explore features associated with compulsory care of adolescents at regional level by comparing two hospital districts clearly differing in this regard. The characteristics of involuntarily treated adolescents and adolescents taken into care, the resources and structures of adolescent psychiatric services and child welfare services, and the environmental factors associated with adolescent well-being and adaptation, such as indicators of social deprivation of families were all considered. For the present study, 2 out of the 22 hospital districts in Finland were selected, one using compulsory psychiatric care and taking into care of 13-17-year olds above and the other below the average in Finland. Register data on patient characteristics, services, and social deprivation were used. Absolute and population adjusted figures (95% confidence intervals) from the variables are given. The differences in incidences between health care districts were compared using Poisson regression analysis. Proportions of divorces, single parent families, social exclusion and outpatient mental health service use, and detoxification treatment use of adults were higher in the health care district with above average coercion figures than in the area with below average coercion figures. The numbers of adolescent psychiatric outpatient visits were higher in the health care district with coercion figures below average despite the fact that the number of positions in adolescent outpatient services was lower than in the health care district with above average coercion figures. Factors other than the characteristics of the adolescents themselves are associated with use of compulsory care on them, although an ecological study design cannot establish causality.

[Analysis of the articles published in Chinese Journal of Applied Physiology between 2000 and 2006].

PubMed

Wang, Wei-Qiu; Pang, Xiang-Juan

2008-08-01

To analyze the characteristics of publications of Chinese Journal of Applied Physiology between 2000 and 2006, evaluate the academic level and the popularity of the issues, and supplying an evidence for the journal reform. With CNKI and manpower search, by use of literature metrology, a comprehensive analysis of the publications of Chinese Journal of Applied Physiology between 2000 and 2006 was made. The number of articles published form 2000 to 2006 in Chinese Journal of Applied Physiology was 968, The average number of each issue is 34.57, the average page of each article is 3.11, in the columns, the article about original articles was top of rank (66.22% of the total). In the quotation, the quotation increase year by year (100% in 2004-2006), the number of English quotation is very more (76.52% in average). In the time lag, the longest is 510 days, the shortest if 60 days, the average is 196.51 days. In the fund support, the level is increase by fund support, the article number by fund support is increase too, It is 97 in 2005. In the authors' professional positions and academic degrees, the authors' level is more and more higher. In the authors column, Beijing's author is the top of rank, has 162 persons (16.74% of the total). The Chinese Journal of Applied Physiology has published high quality articles. It is the one of the most important information resource for the physiological research and the most important medical journal.

Tomographic PIV of flow through ordered thin porous media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Larsson, I. A. Sofia; Lundström, T. Staffan; Lycksam, Henrik

2018-06-01

Pressure-driven flow in a model of a thin porous medium is investigated using tomographic particle image velocimetry. The solid parts of the porous medium have the shape of vertical cylinders placed on equal interspatial distance from each other. The array of cylinders is confined between two parallel plates, meaning that the permeability is a function of the diameter and height of the cylinders, as well as their interspatial distance. Refractive index matching is applied to enable measurements without optical distortion and a dummy cell is used for the calibration of the measurements. The results reveal that the averaged flow field changes substantially as Reynolds number increases, and that the wakes formed downstream the cylinders contain complex, three-dimensional vortex structures hard to visualize with only planar measurements. An interesting observation is that the time-averaged velocity maximum changes position as Reynolds number increases. For low Reynolds number flow, the maximum is in the middle of the channel, while, for the higher Reynolds numbers investigated, two maxima appear closer to each bounding lower and upper wall.

Effect of a rotor wake on heat transfer from a circular cylinder

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simoneau, R. J.; Morehouse, K. A.; Vanfossen, G. J.; Behning, F. P.

1984-01-01

The effect of a rotor wake on heat transfer to a downstream stator was investigated. The rotor was modeled with a spoked wheel of 24 circular pins 1.59 mm in diameter. One of the stator pins was electrically heated in the midspan region and circumferentially averaged heat transfer coefficients were obtained. The experiment was run in an annular flow wind tunnel using air at ambient temperature and pressure. Reynolds numbers based on stator cylinder diameter ranged from .001 to .00001. Rotor blade passing frequencies ranged from zero to 2500 Hz. Stationary grids were used to vary the rotor inlet turbulence from one to four percent. The rotor-stator spacings were one and two stator pin diameters. In addition to the heat transfer coefficients, turbulence spectra and ensemble averaged wake profiles were measured. At the higher Reynolds numbers, which is the primary range of interest for turbulent heat transfer, the rotor wakes increased Nusselt number from 10 to 45 percent depending on conditions. At lower Reynolds numbers the effect was as much as a factor of two.

Death of Reference or Birth of a New Marketing Age?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henry, Jo

2011-01-01

Reference transactions in academic libraries have been on the decline since mid-1990. The Academic Library Survey from the National Center for Education Statistics shows an average drop of 25% in reference use from 1996-2004 with higher numbers at some institutions such as the University of Maryland which plummeted 47% (Martell, 2008). The…

Indigenous Australians' Access to Higher Education: A Catholic University's Response

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carpenter, Peter G.; McMullen, Gabrielle L.

2006-01-01

Australia's Indigenous peoples represent 2.5% of the national population but this number is increasing at a faster rate than the national average of other demographic groups. The history of the Indigenous peoples is one of dispossession and displacement, and a loss of cultures and languages. Access to and participation in education at all levels,…

Office Review: Managing Successful Change in an Overwork Culture

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Child, Christine; Lander, Rachel

2008-01-01

The increase in student numbers and the decline in the average unit of resource since the 1990s together with the changes brought about by rising student expectations are familiar circumstances to anyone working in higher education. The authors perceive this as part of the move towards a consumer culture in the public sector. This paper gives an…

Our Graduates: More Than a Product. Class of 1988.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Muzeroll, Terry

A study was conducted at Connecticut's Middlesex Community College (MxCC) to develop a profile of the college's 1988 graduates in terms of program area, age, sex, student status, attendance patterns, and grade point average (GPA). Study findings about the 272 graduates included the following: (1) the number of graduates was higher in 1988 than in…

GROUP COUNSELING-PLUS--INCREASING SCHOOL SUCCESS OF JUNIOR COLLEGE STUDENTS.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DESSENT, SHIRLEY C.

TO TEST THE HYPOTHESIS THAT STUDENTS ON ACADEMIC PROBATION WHO RECEIVED SUPPORT AND INSIGHT FROM A GROUP WOULD OBTAIN HIGHER GRADE POINT AVERAGES THAN THOSE WITHOUT SUCH AN EXPERIENCE, THE RECORDS OF AN EXPERIMENTAL GROUP OF 30 PROBATIONARY STUDENTS WERE MATCHED ON THE BASIS OF AGE, SEX, AND NUMBER OF UNITS TAKEN, MARITAL STATUS OF PARENTS,…

Local heat/mass transfer and pressure drop in a two-pass rib-roughened channel for turbine airfoil cooling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Han, J. C.; Chandra, P. R.

1987-01-01

The heat transfer characteristics of turbulent air flow in a multipass channel were studied via the naphthalene sublimation technique. The naphthalene-coated test section, consisting of two straight, square channels joined by a 180 deg turn, resembled the internal cooling passages of gas turbine airfoils. The top and bottom surfaces of the test channel were roughened by rib turbulators. The rib height-to-hydraulic diameter ratio (e/D) were 0.063 and 0.094, and the rib pitch-to-height ratio (P/e) were 10 and 20. The local heat/mass transfer coefficients on the roughened top wall and on the smooth divider and side walls of the test channel were determined for three Reynolds numbers of 15, 30, and 60, thousand, and for three angles of attack (alpha) of 90, 60, and 45 deg. Results showed that the local Sherwood numbers on the ribbed walls were 1.5 to 6.5 times those for a fully developed flow in a smooth square duct. The average ribbed-wall Sherwood numbers were 2.5 to 3.5 times higher than the fully developed values, depending on the rib angle of attack and the Reynolds number. The results also indicated that, before the turn, the heat/mass transfer coefficients in the cases of alpha = 60 and 45 deg were higher than those in the case of alpha=90 deg. However, after the turn, the heat/mass transfer coefficients in the oblique-rib cases were lower than those in the transverse rib case. Correlations for the average Sherwood number ratios for individual channel surfaces and for the overall Sherwood number ratios are reported. Correlations for the fully developed friction factors and for the loss coefficients are also provided.

Decomposing variation in dairy profitability: the impact of output, inputs, prices, labour and management.

PubMed

Wilson, P

2011-08-01

The UK dairy sector has undergone considerable structural change in recent years, with a decrease in the number of producers accompanied by an increased average herd size and increased concentrate use and milk yields. One of the key drivers to producers remaining in the industry is the profitability of their herds. The current paper adopts a holistic approach to decomposing the variation in dairy profitability through an analysis of net margin data explained by physical input-output measures, milk price variation, labour utilization and managerial behaviours and characteristics. Data are drawn from the Farm Business Survey (FBS) for England in 2007/08 for 228 dairy enterprises. Average yields are 7100 litres/cow/yr, from a herd size of 110 cows that use 0·56 forage ha/cow/yr and 43·2 labour h/cow/yr. An average milk price of 22·57 pence per litre (ppl) produced milk output of £1602/cow/yr, which after accounting for calf sales, herd replacements and quota leasing costs, gave an average dairy output of £1516/cow/yr. After total costs of £1464/cow/yr this left an economic return of £52/cow/yr (0·73 ppl) net margin profit. There is wide variation in performance, with the most profitable (as measured by net margin per cow) quartile of producers achieving 2000 litres/cow/yr more than the least profitable quartile, returning a net margin of £335/cow/yr compared to a loss of £361/cow/yr for the least profitable. The most profitable producers operate larger, higher yielding herds and achieve a greater milk price for their output. In addition, a significantly greater number of the most profitable producers undertake financial benchmarking within their businesses and operate specialist dairy farms. When examining the full data set, the most profitable enterprises included significantly greater numbers of organic producers. The most profitable tend to have a greater reliance on independent technical advice, but this finding is not statistically significant. Decomposing the variation in net margin performance between the most and least profitable groups, an approximate ratio of 65:23:12 is observed for higher yields: lower costs: higher milk price. This result indicates that yield differentials are the key performance driver in dairy profitability. Lower costs per cow are dominated by the significantly lower cost of farmer and spouse labour per cow of the most profitable group, flowing directly from the upper quartile expending 37·7 labour h/cow/yr in comparison with 58·8 h/cow/yr for the lower quartile. The upper quartile's greater milk price is argued to be achieved through contract negotiations and higher milk quality, and this accounts for 0·12 of the variation in net margin performance. The average economic return to the sample of dairy enterprises in this survey year was less than £6000/farm/yr. However, the most profitable quartile returned an average economic return of approximately £50 000 per farm/yr. Structural change in the UK dairy sector is likely to continue with the least profitable and typically smaller dairy enterprises being replaced by a smaller number of expanding dairy production units.

Decomposing variation in dairy profitability: the impact of output, inputs, prices, labour and management

PubMed Central

WILSON, P.

2011-01-01

SUMMARY The UK dairy sector has undergone considerable structural change in recent years, with a decrease in the number of producers accompanied by an increased average herd size and increased concentrate use and milk yields. One of the key drivers to producers remaining in the industry is the profitability of their herds. The current paper adopts a holistic approach to decomposing the variation in dairy profitability through an analysis of net margin data explained by physical input–output measures, milk price variation, labour utilization and managerial behaviours and characteristics. Data are drawn from the Farm Business Survey (FBS) for England in 2007/08 for 228 dairy enterprises. Average yields are 7100 litres/cow/yr, from a herd size of 110 cows that use 0·56 forage ha/cow/yr and 43·2 labour h/cow/yr. An average milk price of 22·57 pence per litre (ppl) produced milk output of £1602/cow/yr, which after accounting for calf sales, herd replacements and quota leasing costs, gave an average dairy output of £1516/cow/yr. After total costs of £1464/cow/yr this left an economic return of £52/cow/yr (0·73 ppl) net margin profit. There is wide variation in performance, with the most profitable (as measured by net margin per cow) quartile of producers achieving 2000 litres/cow/yr more than the least profitable quartile, returning a net margin of £335/cow/yr compared to a loss of £361/cow/yr for the least profitable. The most profitable producers operate larger, higher yielding herds and achieve a greater milk price for their output. In addition, a significantly greater number of the most profitable producers undertake financial benchmarking within their businesses and operate specialist dairy farms. When examining the full data set, the most profitable enterprises included significantly greater numbers of organic producers. The most profitable tend to have a greater reliance on independent technical advice, but this finding is not statistically significant. Decomposing the variation in net margin performance between the most and least profitable groups, an approximate ratio of 65:23:12 is observed for higher yields: lower costs: higher milk price. This result indicates that yield differentials are the key performance driver in dairy profitability. Lower costs per cow are dominated by the significantly lower cost of farmer and spouse labour per cow of the most profitable group, flowing directly from the upper quartile expending 37·7 labour h/cow/yr in comparison with 58·8 h/cow/yr for the lower quartile. The upper quartile's greater milk price is argued to be achieved through contract negotiations and higher milk quality, and this accounts for 0·12 of the variation in net margin performance. The average economic return to the sample of dairy enterprises in this survey year was less than £6000/farm/yr. However, the most profitable quartile returned an average economic return of approximately £50 000 per farm/yr. Structural change in the UK dairy sector is likely to continue with the least profitable and typically smaller dairy enterprises being replaced by a smaller number of expanding dairy production units. PMID:22505774

Characteristic Trend Analysis of Cancer Patients Hospitalized in Shanxi Tumor Hospital for the First Time during 2001 and 2010.

PubMed

Zhang, Wen-Li; Wang, Yan; Han, Cun-Zhi

2015-01-01

To observe and analyze the characteristic trend of cancer patients hospitalized for the first time in Shanxi Tumor Hospital from 2001 to 2010, clinical data including case number, age, gender, and frequency of different tumor occurrences were collected and statistically analyzed. (i) From 2001 to 2010, the number of cancer patients hospitalized for the first time increased by 1.3-fold; (ii) The patient overall average age also increased from 51.8 to 54.4, for males from 55.5 to 58.7 and females from 48.4 to 51.1, respectively. (iii) Male patients accounted for 43-48% and females accounted for 52-57% of the total. The percentage of female patients was higher than that of male patients in every year and showed an upward trend over the years, while that of the males showed a downward trend (χ2 =7.031, p=0.008); (iv) Among the top 6 most common cancers, lung, cervical, esophageal, colorectal and breast cancers tended to increase over the years (p<0.05), but not gastric cancer (p=0.423). (i) The number of cancer patients hospitalized for the first time during the past 10 years increased year by year, and was higher for female than male; (ii) the average age of patients increased year after year and was greater for male than female; (iii) the number of patients with lung cancer, cervical cancer, esophageal cancer, colorectal cancer and breast cancer increased over years.

Vapor-pressure osmometric study of the molecular weight and aggregation tendency of a reference-soil fulvic acid

USGS Publications Warehouse

Marinsky, J.A.; Reddy, M.M.

1990-01-01

The molecular weight and aggregation tendency of a reference-soil fulvic acid in Armadale horizon Bh were determined by vapor-pressure osmometry using tetrahydrofuran and water as solvents. With tetrahydrofuran, number-average molecular weight values of 767 ?? 34 and 699 ?? 8 daltons were obtained from two separate sets of measurements. Two sets of measurements with water also yielded values within this range (754 ?? 70 daltons) provided that the fulvic acid concentration in water did not exceed 7 mg ml-1; at higher concentrations (9.1-13.7 mg ml-1) a number-average molecular weight of 956 ?? 25 daltons was resolved, providing evidence of molecular aggregation. Extension of these studies to 80% neutralized fulvic acid showed that a sizeable fraction of the sodium counter ion is not osmotically active.

Number of Radiation Oncologists in Korea, Adequate or Surplus?

PubMed Central

2006-01-01

Purpose The purpose of this research is to discern and address the issues related to the radiation oncology manpower supply and its distribution. Materials and Methods The statistical data of the Annual Report of the Korea Central Cancer Registry (KCCR) from 1997 to 2002 and the Annual Report of the Korean Society of Radiation Oncology (KOSTRO) from 1997 to 2004 were used to predict the status of the human resources in 2015. The estimated demand and supply were calculated with the Microsoft Excel® program (Microsoft, Redmond, WA). Results The demand for radiation oncologists is estimated to be 161 in 2015 and about 4.9 radiation oncologists will be in demand annually. In contrast, an average of 15 new radiation oncologists will be supplied annually so that the accumulated surplus of radiation oncologists until 2015 is estimated to be 74.1. The main reason for the surplus comes from the discrepancy between the increased number of radiation therapy patients and the need for radiation oncologists. When there is an increase of 1,000 radiation therapy patients, the demand for radiation oncologists increases only by 2.4. This phenomenon is especially evident in the top 10 hospitals where the average number of radiation therapy patients per radiation oncologist is 341, which is 58% higher than the average number (215) of other 46 hospitals. Conclusion To prevent a surplus and to maintain the quality of management, the number of radiation therapy patients per radiation oncologist should be limited. Furthermore, coordinate control of the number of residency positions should be seriously considered. PMID:19771261

[Epidemiological study of intestinal helminthiasis in the island of Tortuga (Haiti). II. Evaluation of the parasite count by means of the Kato method].

PubMed

Raccurt, C; Vial, P; Pierre-Louis, J M

1977-01-01

Results of the numbering of T. trichiura, A. lumbricoides et N. americanus eggs found in the stool, taken from a representative sample of the population of Tortuga island, shows the importance of parasital load borne by people attacked by the parasites. Those who produce the greatest number of eggs for a gram of faeces are young children. For adults, the evolution of the parasital load follow that of the prevalence, for each Nematodes, with an increase of the average number of eggs of A. lumbricoides per gram of faeces for adults aged 30 to 44, and of the average number of N. amercanus per gram of faeces for adults aged 45 to 59. Moreover women adults show a higher number of parasites than men. Farmers from villages within the interior of the island who are more often attacked than those from the coast, also bear a parasital load which is twice as high. Victims less than 5 years old and more than 30, particularly women, whose faeces are richest in eggs, seem to present the greatest danger for the transmission of ascaridiosis and necatorosis in Toruga Island.

Associations between IVF outcomes and essential trace elements measured in follicular fluid and urine: a pilot study.

PubMed

Ingle, Mary E; Bloom, Michael S; Parsons, Patrick J; Steuerwald, Amy J; Kruger, Pamela; Fujimoto, Victor Y

2017-02-01

A hypothesis-generating pilot study exploring associations between essential trace elements measured in follicular fluid (FF) and urine and in vitro fertilization (IVF) endpoints. We recruited 58 women undergoing IVF between 2007 and 2008, and measured cobalt, chromium, copper, manganese, molybdenum, and zinc in FF (n = 46) and urine (n = 45) by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). We used multivariable regression models to assess the impact of FF and urine trace elements on IVF outcomes, adjusted for age, body mass index, race, and cigarette smoking. Trace elements were mostly present at lower concentrations in FF than in urine. The average number of oocytes retrieved was positively associated with higher urine cobalt, chromium, copper, and molybdenum concentrations. FF chromium and manganese were negatively associated with the proportion of mature oocytes, yet urine manganese had a positive association. FF zinc was inversely associated with average oocyte fertilization. Urine trace elements were significant positive predictors for the total number of embryos generated. FF copper predicted lower embryo fragmentation while urine copper was associated with higher embryo cell number and urine manganese with higher embryo fragmentation. No associations were detected for implantation, pregnancy, or live birth. Our results suggest the importance of trace elements in both FF and urine for intermediate, although not necessarily clinical, IVF endpoints. The results differed using FF or urine biomarkers of exposure, which may have implications for the design of clinical and epidemiologic investigations. These initial findings will form the basis of a more definitive future study.

Convergence Studies of Mass Transport in Disks with Gravitational Instabilities. I. The Constant Cooling Time Case

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Michael, Scott; Steiman-Cameron, Thomas Y.; Durisen, Richard H.; Boley, Aaron C.

2012-02-01

We conduct a convergence study of a protostellar disk, subject to a constant global cooling time and susceptible to gravitational instabilities (GIs), at a time when heating and cooling are roughly balanced. Our goal is to determine the gravitational torques produced by GIs, the level to which transport can be represented by a simple α-disk formulation, and to examine fragmentation criteria. Four simulations are conducted, identical except for the number of azimuthal computational grid points used. A Fourier decomposition of non-axisymmetric density structures in cos (mphi), sin (mphi) is performed to evaluate the amplitudes Am of these structures. The Am , gravitational torques, and the effective Shakura & Sunyaev α arising from gravitational stresses are determined for each resolution. We find nonzero Am for all m-values and that Am summed over all m is essentially independent of resolution. Because the number of measurable m-values is limited to half the number of azimuthal grid points, higher-resolution simulations have a larger fraction of their total amplitude in higher-order structures. These structures act more locally than lower-order structures. Therefore, as the resolution increases the total gravitational stress decreases as well, leading higher-resolution simulations to experience weaker average gravitational torques than lower-resolution simulations. The effective α also depends upon the magnitude of the stresses, thus αeff also decreases with increasing resolution. Our converged αeff is consistent with predictions from an analytic local theory for thin disks by Gammie, but only over many dynamic times when averaged over a substantial volume of the disk.

Variation of airborne bacteria and fungi at Emperor Qin's Terra-Cotta Museum, Xi'an, China, during the "Oct. 1" gold week period of 2006.

PubMed

Chen, Yi-Ping; Cui, Ying; Dong, Jun-Gang

2010-02-01

To stimulate the national economy, a so-called "gold week" comprising May Day and National Day has been put in force by the government, and the first golden-week holiday began on October 1, 1999. Statistical data show that about 15,000 visitors were received each day by Emperor Qin's Terra-Cotta Museum during just such a gold week period. To evaluate the effects of tourism on indoor air, airborne samples were collected by the sedimentation plate method for 5 min during the "Oct. 1" gold week period of 2006, and both composition and changes of airborne bacteria and fungi in indoor/outdoor air in the museums were investigated. Airborne microbes were simultaneously collected by means of gravitational sedimentation on open Petri dishes. Three parallel samples were collected at the same time each day, and samples were subsequently incubated in the lab. Microbiology media were prepared before each experiment by a professional laboratory. Concentrations were calculated and presented as average data of colony-forming units per cubic meter of air (CFU/m(3)). The results show that (1) 13 bacterial genera and eight genera of fungi were identified from indoor and outdoor air at Emperor Qin's Terra-Cotta Museum during "Oct. 1" gold week in 2006. The bacterial groups occupied 61%, the fungi groups occupied 36%, and others occupied 3% of the total number of isolated microorganism genera. (2) As for the comparison of indoor and outdoor samples, the average concentrations of fungi were higher during the afternoon (13:00) than for the morning (09:00). The average concentrations of bacteria in indoor air were higher during the afternoon (13:00) than for the morning (9:00), and in outdoor air, they were lower during the afternoon (13:00) than for the morning (9:00). (3) The average concentrations of five dominant groups of bacteria and three dominant groups of fungi were higher during the afternoon (13:00) than for the morning (9:00) in the indoor air, but the average concentrations of fungi were higher and those of bacteria were lower during the afternoon than for the morning, for outdoor air. (4) As for the comparison of indoor samples, the bacterial daily concentrations and fungal daily concentrations were higher during the afternoon (13:00) than those for the mornings (9:00) over the 10 days. For the comparison of outdoor samples, the bacterial concentration was lower, and the fungal concentrations were higher during the afternoon (13:00) than those for the morning (9:00) over the 10 days. The results also show that the numbers of airborne bacteria and fungi had a daily character in indoor air and were higher in the afternoon. The airborne microbe concentrations were found to be similar to residential indoor values from other reports; the indoor museum maximum of microbial concentrations was 90 CFU/m(3) and did not exceed the Chinese indoor bioaerosol guideline. However, microorganisms may fall on the surface of display items as a result of particle sedimentation and would, as such, be capable of degrading objects by way of their secretions, e.g., enzymes and organic acids. Therefore, the right steps should be taken to prevent any deterioration in the quality of displayed artifacts. The results show that museum air was affected by human activity; therefore, it is imperative that the number of visitors be strictly limited and that windows be opened regularly to avoid air pollution. The data provide a significant scientific basis for indoor air quality control and museum scientific management. It is recommended that the number of visitors be strictly limited.

Assessing the impact of biomedical research in academic institutions of disparate sizes

PubMed Central

2009-01-01

Background The evaluation of academic research performance is nowadays a priority issue. Bibliometric indicators such as the number of publications, total citation counts and h-index are an indispensable tool in this task but their inherent association with the size of the research output may result in rewarding high production when evaluating institutions of disparate sizes. The aim of this study is to propose an indicator that may facilitate the comparison of institutions of disparate sizes. Methods The Modified Impact Index (MII) was defined as the ratio of the observed h-index (h) of an institution over the h-index anticipated for that institution on average, given the number of publications (N) it produces i.e. (α and β denote the intercept and the slope, respectively, of the line describing the dependence of the h-index on the number of publications in log10 scale). MII values higher than 1 indicate that an institution performs better than the average, in terms of its h-index. Data on scientific papers published during 2002–2006 and within 36 medical fields for 219 Academic Medical Institutions from 16 European countries were used to estimate α and β and to calculate the MII of their total and field-specific production. Results From our biomedical research data, the slope β governing the dependence of h-index on the number of publications in biomedical research was found to be similar to that estimated in other disciplines (≈0.4). The MII was positively associated with the average number of citations/publication (r = 0.653, p < 0.001), the h-index (r = 0.213, p = 0.002), the number of publications with ≥ 100 citations (r = 0.211, p = 0.004) but not with the number of publications (r = -0.020, p = 0.765). It was the most highly associated indicator with the share of country-specific government budget appropriations or outlays for research and development as % of GDP in 2004 (r = 0.229) followed by the average number of citations/publication (r = 0.153) whereas the corresponding correlation coefficient for the h-index was close to 0 (r = 0.029). MII was calculated for first 10 top-ranked European universities in life sciences and biomedicine, as provided by Times Higher Education ranking system, and their total and field-specific performance was compared. Conclusion The MII should complement the use of h-index when comparing the research output of institutions of disparate sizes. It has a conceptual interpretation and, with the data provided here, can be computed for the total research output as well as for field-specific publication sets of institutions in biomedicine. PMID:19480665

Assessing the impact of biomedical research in academic institutions of disparate sizes.

PubMed

Sypsa, Vana; Hatzakis, Angelos

2009-05-29

The evaluation of academic research performance is nowadays a priority issue. Bibliometric indicators such as the number of publications, total citation counts and h-index are an indispensable tool in this task but their inherent association with the size of the research output may result in rewarding high production when evaluating institutions of disparate sizes. The aim of this study is to propose an indicator that may facilitate the comparison of institutions of disparate sizes. The Modified Impact Index (MII) was defined as the ratio of the observed h-index (h) of an institution over the h-index anticipated for that institution on average, given the number of publications (N) it produces i.e. MII = h/10alphaNbeta (alpha and beta denote the intercept and the slope, respectively, of the line describing the dependence of the h-index on the number of publications in log10 scale). MII values higher than 1 indicate that an institution performs better than the average, in terms of its h-index. Data on scientific papers published during 2002-2006 and within 36 medical fields for 219 Academic Medical Institutions from 16 European countries were used to estimate alpha and beta and to calculate the MII of their total and field-specific production. From our biomedical research data, the slope beta governing the dependence of h-index on the number of publications in biomedical research was found to be similar to that estimated in other disciplines ( approximately 0.4). The MII was positively associated with the average number of citations/publication (r = 0.653, p < 0.001), the h-index (r = 0.213, p = 0.002), the number of publications with > or = 100 citations (r = 0.211, p = 0.004) but not with the number of publications (r = -0.020, p = 0.765). It was the most highly associated indicator with the share of country-specific government budget appropriations or outlays for research and development as % of GDP in 2004 (r = 0.229) followed by the average number of citations/publication (r = 0.153) whereas the corresponding correlation coefficient for the h-index was close to 0 (r = 0.029). MII was calculated for first 10 top-ranked European universities in life sciences and biomedicine, as provided by Times Higher Education ranking system, and their total and field-specific performance was compared. The MII should complement the use of h-index when comparing the research output of institutions of disparate sizes. It has a conceptual interpretation and, with the data provided here, can be computed for the total research output as well as for field-specific publication sets of institutions in biomedicine.

The effect of morphometric atlas selection on multi-atlas-based automatic brachial plexus segmentation.

PubMed

Van de Velde, Joris; Wouters, Johan; Vercauteren, Tom; De Gersem, Werner; Achten, Eric; De Neve, Wilfried; Van Hoof, Tom

2015-12-23

The present study aimed to measure the effect of a morphometric atlas selection strategy on the accuracy of multi-atlas-based BP autosegmentation using the commercially available software package ADMIRE® and to determine the optimal number of selected atlases to use. Autosegmentation accuracy was measured by comparing all generated automatic BP segmentations with anatomically validated gold standard segmentations that were developed using cadavers. Twelve cadaver computed tomography (CT) atlases were included in the study. One atlas was selected as a patient in ADMIRE®, and multi-atlas-based BP autosegmentation was first performed with a group of morphometrically preselected atlases. In this group, the atlases were selected on the basis of similarity in the shoulder protraction position with the patient. The number of selected atlases used started at two and increased up to eight. Subsequently, a group of randomly chosen, non-selected atlases were taken. In this second group, every possible combination of 2 to 8 random atlases was used for multi-atlas-based BP autosegmentation. For both groups, the average Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), Jaccard index (JI) and Inclusion index (INI) were calculated, measuring the similarity of the generated automatic BP segmentations and the gold standard segmentation. Similarity indices of both groups were compared using an independent sample t-test, and the optimal number of selected atlases was investigated using an equivalence trial. For each number of atlases, average similarity indices of the morphometrically selected atlas group were significantly higher than the random group (p < 0,05). In this study, the highest similarity indices were achieved using multi-atlas autosegmentation with 6 selected atlases (average DSC = 0,598; average JI = 0,434; average INI = 0,733). Morphometric atlas selection on the basis of the protraction position of the patient significantly improves multi-atlas-based BP autosegmentation accuracy. In this study, the optimal number of selected atlases used was six, but for definitive conclusions about the optimal number of atlases and to improve the autosegmentation accuracy for clinical use, more atlases need to be included.

Short-term Lost Productivity per Victim: Intimate Partner Violence, Sexual Violence, or Stalking.

PubMed

Peterson, Cora; Liu, Yang; Kresnow, Marcie-Jo; Florence, Curtis; Merrick, Melissa T; DeGue, Sarah; Lokey, Colby N

2018-07-01

The purpose of this study is to estimate victims' lifetime short-term lost productivity because of intimate partner violence, sexual violence, or stalking. U.S. nationally representative data from the 2012 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey were used to estimate a regression-adjusted average per victim (female and male) and total population number of cumulative short-term lost work and school days (or lost productivity) because of victimizations over victims' lifetimes. Victims' lost productivity was valued using a U.S. daily production estimate. Analysis was conducted in 2017. Non-institutionalized adults with some lifetime exposure to intimate partner violence, sexual violence, or stalking (n=6,718 respondents; survey-weighted n=130,795,789) reported nearly 741 million lost productive days because of victimizations by an average of 2.5 perpetrators per victim. The adjusted per victim average was 4.9 (95% CI=3.9, 5.9) days, controlling for victim, perpetrator, and violence type factors. The estimated societal cost of this short-term lost productivity was $730 per victim, or $110 billion across the lifetimes of all victims (2016 USD). Factors associated with victims having a higher number of lost days included a higher number of perpetrators and being female, as well as sexual violence, physical violence, or stalking victimization by an intimate partner perpetrator, stalking victimization by an acquaintance perpetrator, and sexual violence or stalking victimization by a family member perpetrator. Short-term lost productivity represents a minimum economic valuation of the immediate negative effects of intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and stalking. Victims' lost productivity affects family members, colleagues, and employers. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Investigation of thermo-fluid behavior of mixed convection heat transfer of different dimples-protrusions wall patterns to heat transfer enhancement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sobhani, M.; Behzadmehr, A.

2018-05-01

This study is a numerical investigation of the effect of improving heat transfer namely, modified rough (dimples and protrusions) surfaces on the mixed convective heat transfer of a turbulent flow in a horizontal tube. The effects of different dimples-protrusions arrangements on the improving the thermal performance of a rough tube are investigated at various Richardson numbers. Three dimensional governing equations are discretized by the finite-volume technique. Based on the obtained results the dimples-protrusions arrangements are modified to find a suitable configuration for which heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop to be balanced. Modified dimples-protrusions arrangements that shows higher performance is presented. Its average thermal performance 18% and 11% is higher than the other arrangements. In addition, the results show that roughening a smooth tube is more effective at the higher Richardson number.

Food web structure and the evolution of ecological communities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quince, Christopher; Higgs, Paul G.; McKane, Alan J.

Simulations of the coevolution of many interacting species are performed using the Webworld model. The model has a realistic set of predator-prey equations that describe the population dynamics of the species for any structure of the food web. The equations account for competition between species for the same resources, and for the diet choice of predators between alternative prey according to an evolutionarily stable strategy. The set of species present undergoes long-term evolution d ue to speciation and extinction events. We summarize results obtained on the macro-evolutionary dynamics of speciations and extinctions, and on the statistical properties of the food webs that are generated by the model. Simulations begin from small numbers of species and build up to larger webs with relatively constant species number on average. The rate of origination and extinction of species are relatively high, but remain roughly balanced throughout the simulations. When a 'parent' species undergoes sp eciation, the 'child' species usually adds to the same trophic level as the parent. The chance of the child species surviving is significantly higher if the parent is on the second or third trophic level than if it is on the first level, most likely due to a wider choice of possible prey for species on higher levels. Addition of a new species sometimes causes extinction of existing species. The parent species has a high probability of extinction because it has strong competition with the new species. Non-pa rental competitors of the new species also have a significantly higher extinction probability than average, as do prey of the new species. Predators of the new species are less likely than average to become extinct.

Associations between quality indicators of internal medicine residency training programs

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Several residency program characteristics have been suggested as measures of program quality, but associations between these measures are unknown. We set out to determine associations between these potential measures of program quality. Methods Survey of internal medicine residency programs that shared an online ambulatory curriculum on hospital type, faculty size, number of trainees, proportion of international medical graduate (IMG) trainees, Internal Medicine In-Training Examination (IM-ITE) scores, three-year American Board of Internal Medicine Certifying Examination (ABIM-CE) first-try pass rates, Residency Review Committee-Internal Medicine (RRC-IM) certification length, program director clinical duties, and use of pharmaceutical funding to support education. Associations assessed using Chi-square, Spearman rank correlation, univariate and multivariable linear regression. Results Fifty one of 67 programs responded (response rate 76.1%), including 29 (56.9%) community teaching and 17 (33.3%) university hospitals, with a mean of 68 trainees and 101 faculty. Forty four percent of trainees were IMGs. The average post-graduate year (PGY)-2 IM-ITE raw score was 63.1, which was 66.8 for PGY3s. Average 3-year ABIM-CE pass rate was 95.8%; average RRC-IM certification was 4.3 years. ABIM-CE results, IM-ITE results, and length of RRC-IM certification were strongly associated with each other (p < 0.05). PGY3 IM-ITE scores were higher in programs with more IMGs and in programs that accepted pharmaceutical support (p < 0.05). RRC-IM certification was shorter in programs with higher numbers of IMGs. In multivariable analysis, a higher proportion of IMGs was associated with 1.17 years shorter RRC accreditation. Conclusions Associations between quality indicators are complex, but suggest that the presence of IMGs is associated with better performance on standardized tests but decreased duration of RRC-IM certification. PMID:21651768

Long-term study of urban ultrafine particles and other pollutants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yungang; Hopke, Philip K.; Chalupa, David C.; Utell, Mark J.

2011-12-01

Continuous measurements of number size distributions of ultrafine particles (UFPs) and other pollutants (PM 2.5, SO 2, CO and O 3) have been performed in Rochester, New York since late November 2001. The 2002-2009 average number concentrations of particles in three size ranges (10-50 nm, 50-100 nm and 100-500 nm) were 4730 cm -3, 1838 cm -3, and 1073 cm -3, respectively. The lowest annual average number concentrations of particles in 10-50 nm and 50-100 nm were observed during 2008-2009. The lowest monthly average number concentration of 10-50 nm particles was observed in July and the highest in February. The daily patterns of 10-50 nm particles had two peaks at early morning (7-8 AM) and early afternoon (2 PM). There was a distinct declining trend in the peak number concentrations from 2002-2005 to 2008-2009. Large reductions in SO 2 concentrations associated with northerly winds between 2007 and 2009 were observed. The most significant annual decrease in the frequency of morning particle nucleation was observed from 2005 to 2007. The monthly variation in the morning nucleation events showed a close correlation with number concentrations of 10-50 nm particles ( r = 0.89). The frequency of the local SO 2-related nucleation events was much higher before 2006. All of these results suggest significant impacts of highway traffic and industrial sources. The decrease in particle number concentrations and particle nucleation events likely resulted from a combination of the U.S. EPA 2007 Heavy-Duty Highway Rule implemented on October 1, 2006, the closure of a large coal-fired power plant in May 2008, and the reduction of Eastman Kodak emissions.

Accuracy of the raw-data-based effective atomic numbers and monochromatic CT numbers for contrast medium with a dual-energy CT technique.

PubMed

Kawahara, Daisuke; Ozawa, Shuichi; Yokomachi, Kazushi; Tanaka, Sodai; Higaki, Toru; Fujioka, Chikako; Suzuki, Tatsuhiko; Tsuneda, Masato; Nakashima, Takeo; Ohno, Yoshimi; Nagata, Yasushi

2018-02-01

To evaluate the accuracy of raw-data-based effective atomic number (Z eff ) values and monochromatic CT numbers for contrast material of varying iodine concentrations, obtained using dual-energy CT. We used a tissue characterization phantom and varying concentrations of iodinated contrast medium. A comparison between the theoretical values of Z eff and that provided by the manufacturer was performed. The measured and theoretical monochromatic CT numbers at 40-130 keV were compared. The average difference between the Z eff values of lung (inhale) inserts in the tissue characterization phantom was 81.3% and the average Z eff difference was within 8.4%. The average difference between the Z eff values of the varying concentrations of iodinated contrast medium was within 11.2%. For the varying concentrations of iodinated contrast medium, the differences between the measured and theoretical monochromatic CT values increased with decreasing monochromatic energy. The Z eff and monochromatic CT numbers in the tissue characterization phantom were reasonably accurate. The accuracy of the raw-data-based Z eff values was higher than that of image-based Z eff values in the tissue-equivalent phantom. The accuracy of Z eff values in the contrast medium was in good agreement within the maximum SD found in the iodine concentration range of clinical dynamic CT imaging. Moreover, the optimum monochromatic energy for human tissue and iodinated contrast medium was found to be 70 keV. Advances in knowledge: The accuracy of the Z eff values and monochromatic CT numbers of the contrast medium created by raw-data-based, dual-energy CT could be sufficient in clinical conditions.

Distribution and Downward Movement of Pasteuria penetrans in Field Soil.

PubMed

Cetintas, R; Dickson, D W

2005-06-01

Endospores of Pasteuria penetrans were evaluated for their vertical distribution in field soil and their downward movement through soil in the laboratory. In the field trial, the number of endospores attached to second-stage juveniles (J2) of Meloidogyne arenaria race 1 varied greatly in different soil depths. There were higher percentages of J2 with endospores attached in former weed fallow plots during the first 3 years of growing peanut than in former bahiagrass and rhizomal peanut plots (P 0.05). In laboratory trials, P. penetrans endospores were observed to move throughout the soil through the percolation of water. After one application of water, some endospores were detected 25 to 37.5 cm deep. Endospores were present at the greatest depth, 37.5 to 50 cm, after the third application of water. These results indicate that rain or water applications by irrigation are likely to move endospores to deeper levels of the soil, but the majority of endospores remain in the upper 0-to-30-cm depth.

Comparison of application of various crossovers in solving inhomogeneous minimax problem modified by Goldberg model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kobak, B. V.; Zhukovskiy, A. G.; Kuzin, A. P.

2018-05-01

This paper considers one of the classical NP complete problems - an inhomogeneous minimax problem. When solving such large-scale problem, there appear difficulties in obtaining an exact solution. Therefore, let us propose getting an optimum solution in an acceptable time. Among a wide range of genetic algorithm models, let us choose the modified Goldberg model, which earlier was successfully used by authors in solving NP complete problems. The classical Goldberg model uses a single-point crossover and a singlepoint mutation, which somewhat decreases the accuracy of the obtained results. In the article, let us propose using a full two-point crossover with various mutations previously researched. In addition, the work studied the necessary probability to apply it to the crossover in order to obtain results that are more accurate. Results of the computation experiment showed that the higher the probability of a crossover, the higher the quality of both the average results and the best solutions. In addition, it was found out that the higher the values of the number of individuals and the number of repetitions, the closer both the average results and the best solutions to the optimum. The paper shows how the use of a full two-point crossover increases the accuracy of solving an inhomogeneous minimax problem, while the time for getting the solution increases, but remains polynomial.

Problems in Comprehensive Ambulatory Health Care for High-Risk Adolescents.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fielding, Jon E., Ed.

This volume contains 21 articles on aspects held to be important for delivering comprehensive health care to young adults who are at higher than average risk levels for a number of health and health-related problems; choice of topics for the articles is based on experience gained in directing the health program for the Job Corps. Most of the…

Changes in stem quality of young thinned hardwoods

Treesearch

David L. Sonderman; David L. Sonderman

1986-01-01

Describes changes in limb-related defects on 18-year-old, even-aged hardwoods 6 years after thinning. Stocking levels of 30, 45, and 60 percent were studied. There were fewer defects per square foot of surface area in the higher stocking plots than in the lower stocking plots. The average number of live limbs decreased 83 percent in the unthinned plots and increased...

Survey of drug use by the elderly and possible impact of drugs on nutritional status.

PubMed

Chen, L H; Liu, S; Newell, M E; Barnes, K

1985-01-01

The drug consumption of institutionalized and noninstitutionalized elderly in the central Kentucky area was surveyed. The 259 subjects above age 60 were randomly selected and consisted of 122 institutionalized and 137 noninstitutionalized subjects. Individual data on age, sex, drug intake, dosage, and health status were recorded. The drugs taken were categorized by their pharmacological action, and the number of subjects on each drug was recorded. Institutionalized elderly subjects had a significantly higher drug intake (average 5.2 drugs a day) than noninstitutionalized elderly subjects (average 1.6 drugs a day). A consistent increase was found in the average number of drugs used with increasing age. The results also showed that the medications most frequently used were drugs used for cardiovascular disease, for the central nervous system, and for constipation. Aspirin and Tylenol were also commonly used. Institutionalized elderly subjects had especially high intakes of these drugs. The possible impact of these drugs on the nutritional status of the elderly was discussed. Some medications for long-term use may exert serious adverse effects on the nutritional status.

HIV prevention costs and their predictors: evidence from the ORPHEA Project in Kenya

PubMed Central

Galárraga, Omar; Wamai, Richard G; Sosa-Rubí, Sandra G; Mugo, Mercy G; Contreras-Loya, David; Bautista-Arredondo, Sergio; Nyakundi, Helen; Wang’ombe, Joseph K

2017-01-01

Abstract We estimate costs and their predictors for three HIV prevention interventions in Kenya: HIV testing and counselling (HTC), prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) and voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC). As part of the ‘Optimizing the Response of Prevention: HIV Efficiency in Africa’ (ORPHEA) project, we collected retrospective data from government and non-governmental health facilities for 2011–12. We used multi-stage sampling to determine a sample of health facilities by type, ownership, size and interventions offered totalling 144 sites in 78 health facilities in 33 districts across Kenya. Data sources included key informants, registers and time-motion observation methods. Total costs of production were computed using both quantity and unit price of each input. Average cost was estimated by dividing total cost per intervention by number of clients accessing the intervention. Multivariate regression methods were used to analyse predictors of log-transformed average costs. Average costs were $7 and $79 per HTC and PMTCT client tested, respectively; and $66 per VMMC procedure. Results show evidence of economies of scale for PMTCT and VMMC: increasing the number of clients per year by 100% was associated with cost reductions of 50% for PMTCT, and 45% for VMMC. Task shifting was associated with reduced costs for both PMTCT (59%) and VMMC (54%). Costs in hospitals were higher for PMTCT (56%) in comparison to non-hospitals. Facilities that performed testing based on risk factors as opposed to universal screening had higher HTC average costs (79%). Lower VMMC costs were associated with availability of male reproductive health services (59%) and presence of community advisory board (52%). Aside from increasing production scale, HIV prevention costs may be contained by using task shifting, non-hospital sites, service integration and community supervision. PMID:29029086

Retinal specializations and visual ecology in an animal with an extremely elaborate pupil shape: The Little skate Leucoraja (Raja) erinacea Mitchell, 1825.

PubMed

Jinson, S Terrell; Liebich, Jan; Senft, Stephen L; Mäthger, Lydia M

2018-05-14

Investigating retinal specializations offers insights into eye functionality. Using retinal wholemount techniques, we investigated the distribution of retinal ganglion cells in the Little skate Leucoraja erinacea by (1) dye-backfilling into the optic nerve prior to retinal wholemounting; (2) Nissl-staining of retinal wholemounts. Retinas were examined for regional specializations (higher numbers) of ganglion cells that would indicate higher visual acuity in those areas. Total ganglion cell number were low compared to other elasmobranchs (backfilled: average 49,713 total ganglion cells, average peak cell density 1,315 ganglion cells mm -2 ; Nissl-stained: average 47,791 total ganglion cells, average peak cell density 1,319 ganglion cells mm -2 ). Ganglion cells fit into three size categories: small (5-20µm); medium (20-30µm); large: (≥ 30µm), and they were not homogeneously distributed across the retina. There was a dorsally located horizontal visual streak with increased ganglion cell density; additionally, there were approximately 3 local maxima in ganglion cell distribution (potential areae centrales) within this streak in which densities were highest. Using computerized tomography (CT) and micro-CT, geometrical dimensions of the eye were obtained. Combined with ganglion cell distributions, spatial resolving power was determined to be between 1.21 to 1.37 cycles per degree. Additionally, photoreceptor sizes across different retinal areas varied; photoreceptors were longest within the horizontal visual streak. Variations in the locations of retinal specializations appear to be related to the animal's anatomy: shape of the head and eyes, position of eyes, location of tapetum, and shape of pupil, as well as the visual demands associated with lifestyle and habitat type. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging as an Adjunct to Mammography for Breast Cancer Screening in Women at Less Than High Risk for Breast Cancer: A Health Technology Assessment

PubMed Central

Nikitovic-Jokic, Milica; Holubowich, Corinne

2016-01-01

Background Screening with mammography can detect breast cancer early, before clinical symptoms appear. Some cancers, however, are not captured with mammography screening alone. Among women at high risk for breast cancer, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been suggested as a safe adjunct (supplemental) screening tool that can detect breast cancers missed on screening mammography, potentially reducing the number of deaths associated with the disease. However, the use of adjunct screening tests may also increase the number of false-positive test results, which may lead to unnecessary follow-up testing, as well as patient stress and anxiety. We investigated the benefits and harms of MRI as an adjunct to mammography compared with mammography alone for screening women at less than high risk (average or higher than average risk) for breast cancer. Methods We searched Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE), Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD) Health Technology Assessment Database, and National Health Service (NHS) Economic Evaluation Database, from January 2002 to January 2016, for evidence of effectiveness, harms, and diagnostic accuracy. Only studies evaluating the use of screening breast MRI as an adjunct to mammography in the specified populations were included. Results No studies in women at less than high risk for breast cancer met our inclusion criteria. Conclusions It remains uncertain if the use of adjunct screening breast MRI in women at less than high risk (average or higher than average risk) for breast cancer will reduce breast cancer–related mortality without significant increases in unnecessary follow-up testing and treatment. PMID:27990198

Factors influencing piglet pre-weaning mortality in 47 commercial swine herds in Thailand.

PubMed

Nuntapaitoon, Morakot; Tummaruk, Padet

2018-01-01

The present study aims to determine the occurrence of piglet pre-weaning mortality in commercial swine herds in Thailand in relation to piglet, sow, and environmental factors. Data were collected from the database of the computerized recording system from 47 commercial swine herds in Thailand. The raw data were carefully scrutinized for accuracy. Litters with a lactation length < 16 days or >28 days were excluded. In total, 199,918 litters from 74,088 sows were included in the analyses. Piglet pre-weaning mortality at the individual sow level was calculated as piglet pre-weaning mortality (%) = (number of littermate pigs - number of piglets at weaning) / number of littermate pigs. Litters were classified according to sow parity numbers (1, 2-5, and 6-9), average birth weight of the piglets (0.80-1.29, 1.30-1.79, 1.80-2.50 kg), number of littermate pigs (5-7, 8-10, 11-12, and 13-15 piglets), and size of the herd (small, medium, and large). Pearson correlations were conducted to analyze the associations between piglet pre-weaning mortality and reproductive parameters. Additionally, a general linear model procedure was performed to analyze the various factors influencing piglet pre-weaning mortality. On average, piglet pre-weaning mortality was 11.2% (median = 9.1%) and varied among herds from 4.8 to 19.2%. Among all the litters, 62.1, 18.1, and 19.8% of the litters had a piglet pre-weaning mortality rate of 0-10, 11-20, and greater than 20%, respectively. As the number of littermate pigs increased, piglet pre-weaning mortality also increased (r = 0.390, P < 0.001). Litters with 13-16 littermate pigs had a higher piglet pre-weaning mortality than litters with 5-7, 8-10, and 11-12 littermate pigs (20.8, 7.8, 7.2, and 11.2%, respectively; P < 0.001). Piglet pre-weaning mortality in large-sized herds was higher than that in small- and medium-sized herds (13.6, 10.6, and 11.2%, respectively; P < 0.001). Interestingly, in all categories of herd size, piglet pre-weaning mortality was increased almost two times when the number of littermates increased from 11-12 to 13-16 piglets. Furthermore, piglets with birth weights of 0.80-1.29 kg in large-sized herds had a higher risk of mortality than those in small- and medium-sized herds (15.3, 10.9, and 12.2%, respectively, P < 0.001). In conclusion, in commercial swine herds in the tropics, piglet pre-weaning mortality averaged 11.2% and varied among herds from 4.8 to 19.2%. The litters with 13-16 littermate pigs had piglet pre-weaning mortality of up to 20.8%. Piglets with low birth weight (0.80-1.29 kg) had a higher risk of pre-weaning mortality. Management strategies for reducing piglet pre-weaning mortality in tropical climates should be emphasized in litters with a high number of littermate pigs, low piglet birth weights, and large herd sizes.

Accurate Determination of Coulombic Efficiency for Lithium Metal Anodes and Lithium Metal Batteries

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

Adams, Brian D.; Zheng, Jianming; Ren, Xiaodi

Lithium (Li) metal is an ideal anode material for high energy density batteries. However, its low Coulombic efficiency (CE) and formation of dendrites during the plating and stripping processes has hindered its applications in rechargeable Li metal batteries. The accurate measurement of Li CE is a critical factor to predict the cycle life of Li metal batteries, but the measurement of Li CE is affected by various factors that often leads to conflicting values reported in the literature. Here, we investigate various factors that affect the measurement of Li CE and propose a more accurate method of determining Li CE.more » It was also found that the capacity used for cycling greatly affects the stabilization cycles and the average CE. A higher cycling capacity leads to a shorter number of stabilization cycles and higher average CE. With a proper high-concentration ether-based electrolyte, Li metal can be cycled with a high average CE of 99.5 % for over 100 cycles at a high capacity of 6 mAh cm-2 suitable for practical applications.« less

Emotion episodes during psychotherapy sessions among women newly diagnosed with gynecological cancers.

PubMed

Myers Virtue, Shannon; Manne, Sharon L; Darabos, Kathleen; Heckman, Carolyn J; Ozga, Melissa; Kissane, David; Rubin, Stephen; Rosenblum, Norman

2015-09-01

The aim of this study was to describe emotion episodes during early and late psychotherapy sessions among women newly diagnosed with gynecological cancer and to examine whether the total number of emotion episodes during early and later sessions was associated with baseline psychological distress, dispositional emotion expressivity, and patient-rated therapeutic progress. The study utilized data from an ongoing study examining the efficacy of two psychotherapy interventions, a coping and communication intervention and a supportive counseling intervention, for women diagnosed with gynecological cancer. Emotion episode coding was completed for the first and sixth psychotherapy sessions for each patient randomized to receive psychotherapy (N = 173). Patients completed baseline survey measures of psychological distress and dispositional emotional expressivity and post-session ratings of therapeutic progress. The average number of emotion episodes was 7.4 in the first session and 5.2 episodes in the sixth session. In both sessions, the majority of emotion episodes contained only negative emotions and focused on a cancer-related topic. A higher number of emotion episodes in the first session was associated with higher psychological distress reported in the baseline survey (p = 0.02). A higher number of emotion episodes in the sixth session was associated with a higher number of emotion episodes in the first session (p < 0.001) and higher patient-rated progress as rated in the sixth session (p = 0.016). The findings highlight the importance of expressed emotions, particularly negative emotions about cancer-related topics, in therapeutic progress during psychotherapy among women diagnosed with gynecological cancer. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Microsatellite marker analysis of the genetic variability in Hanoverian Hounds.

PubMed

Lüpke, L; Distl, O

2005-04-01

Genetic variability of the dog breed Hanoverian Hound was analysed using a set of 16 microsatellites. The sample of 92 dogs was representative for the total current population [n=334, inbreeding coefficient 9.2%, relationship coefficient 11.2%] with respect to the level and distribution of the inbreeding and relationship coefficients. All microsatellites used were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The average number of alleles was 6.4. The average observed heterozygosity (H(O)) was slightly higher than the expected heterozygosity (H(E)). Dinucleotide microsatellites exhibited lower polymorphism information content (PIC) than tetranucleotide microsatellites (0.52 versus 0.66). The average PIC was 0.61. The individual inbreeding coefficient was negatively related to the average H(O) of all microsatellites, whereas the proportion of genes from introducing of Hanoverian Hounds from abroad showed no relationships to H(O). We found that the genetic variability in the Hanoverian Hounds analysed here was unexpectedly higher than that previously published for dog breeds of similar population size. Even in dog breeds of larger population size heterogyzosity was seldom higher than that observed here. The rather high genetic variability as quantified by polymorphic microsatellites in Hanoverian Hounds may be due to a large genetic variation in the founder animals of this breed and to the fact that this genetic diversity could be maintained despite genetic bottlenecks experienced by this breed in the 1920s and 1950s and despite the presence of high inbreeding and relationship coefficients for more than 50 years.

The impact of drought on the association between food security and mental health in a nationally representative Australian sample.

PubMed

Friel, Sharon; Berry, Helen; Dinh, Huong; O'Brien, Léan; Walls, Helen L

2014-10-24

The association between food insecurity and mental health is established. Increasingly, associations between drought and mental health and drought and food insecurity have been observed in a number of countries. The impact of drought on the association between food insecurity and mental health has received little attention. Population-based study using data from a nationally representative panel survey of Australian adults in which participants report behaviour, health, social, economic and demographic information annually. Exposure to drought was modelled using annual rainfall data during Australia's 'Big Dry'. Regression modelling examined associations between drought and three indicative measures of food insecurity and mental health, controlling for confounding factors. People who reported missing meals due to financial stress reported borderline moderate/high distress levels. People who consumed below-average levels of core foods reported more distress than those who consumed above the average level, while people consuming discretionary foods above the average level reported greater distress than those consuming below the threshold. In all drought exposure categories, people missing meals due to cost reported higher psychological distress than those not missing meals. Compared to drought-unadjusted psychological distress levels, in most drought categories, people consuming higher-than-average discretionary food levels reported higher levels of distress. Exposure to drought moderates the association between measures of food insecurity and psychological distress, generally increasing the distress level. Climate adaptation strategies that consider social, nutrition and health impacts are needed.

The effect of tip speed ratio on a vertical axis wind turbine at high Reynolds numbers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parker, Colin M.; Leftwich, Megan C.

2016-05-01

This work visualizes the flow surrounding a scaled model vertical axis wind turbine at realistic operating conditions. The model closely matches geometric and dynamic properties—tip speed ratio and Reynolds number—of a full-size turbine. The flow is visualized using particle imaging velocimetry (PIV) in the midplane upstream, around, and after (up to 4 turbine diameters downstream) the turbine, as well as a vertical plane behind the turbine. Time-averaged results show an asymmetric wake behind the turbine, regardless of tip speed ratio, with a larger velocity deficit for a higher tip speed ratio. For the higher tip speed ratio, an area of averaged flow reversal is present with a maximum reverse flow of -0.04U_∞. Phase-averaged vorticity fields—achieved by syncing the PIV system with the rotation of the turbine—show distinct structures form from each turbine blade. There were distinct differences in results by tip speed ratios of 0.9, 1.3, and 2.2 of when in the cycle structures are shed into the wake—switching from two pairs to a single pair of vortices being shed—and how they convect into the wake—the middle tip speed ratio vortices convect downstream inside the wake, while the high tip speed ratio pair is shed into the shear layer of the wake. Finally, results show that the wake structure is much more sensitive to changes in tip speed ratio than to changes in Reynolds number.

Safety modeling of urban arterials in Shanghai, China.

PubMed

Wang, Xuesong; Fan, Tianxiang; Chen, Ming; Deng, Bing; Wu, Bing; Tremont, Paul

2015-10-01

Traffic safety on urban arterials is influenced by several key variables including geometric design features, land use, traffic volume, and travel speeds. This paper is an exploratory study of the relationship of these variables to safety. It uses a comparatively new method of measuring speeds by extracting GPS data from taxis operating on Shanghai's urban network. This GPS derived speed data, hereafter called Floating Car Data (FCD) was used to calculate average speeds during peak and off-peak hours, and was acquired from samples of 15,000+ taxis traveling on 176 segments over 18 major arterials in central Shanghai. Geometric design features of these arterials and surrounding land use characteristics were obtained by field investigation, and crash data was obtained from police reports. Bayesian inference using four different models, Poisson-lognormal (PLN), PLN with Maximum Likelihood priors (PLN-ML), hierarchical PLN (HPLN), and HPLN with Maximum Likelihood priors (HPLN-ML), was used to estimate crash frequencies. Results showed the HPLN-ML models had the best goodness-of-fit and efficiency, and models with ML priors yielded estimates with the lowest standard errors. Crash frequencies increased with increases in traffic volume. Higher average speeds were associated with higher crash frequencies during peak periods, but not during off-peak periods. Several geometric design features including average segment length of arterial, number of lanes, presence of non-motorized lanes, number of access points, and commercial land use, were positively related to crash frequencies. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Experimental study of the oscillating flow characteristics for a regenerator in a pulse tube cryocooler

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ju, Yonglin; Jiang, Yan; Zhou, Yuan

A dynamic experimental apparatus was designed and constructed to investigate oscillating flow characteristics in a regenerator subjected to a periodically reversing flow established by means of a self-made linear compressor. Detailed experimental data of oscillating pressure drops and phase shift characteristics for regenerators in a high frequency pulse tube cryocooler with an operating frequency of 50 Hz were given. The correlation equations for the maximum and cycle-averaged friction factors in terms of Reynolds numbers and dimensionless distance X were obtained. It was found that the value of the cycle-averaged pressure drop in the oscillating flow across the regenerator is two to three times higher than that of a steady flow at the same Reynolds numbers based on the cross-sectional mean velocity. In addition, the relationship of the phase shifts between the velocity and pressure wave is also discussed.

School adjustment in sixth graders: parenting transitions, family climate, and peer norm effects.

PubMed

Kurdek, L A; Fine, M A; Sinclair, R J

1995-04-01

This study examined whether sixth graders' (mean age = 11.86 years) adjustment to the school context (assessed by grades, achievement scores, and disruptive behavior) was affected by factors from both the family context (represented by students' reports of the number of parenting transitions experienced as well as current levels of supervision, acceptance, autonomy granting, and conflict in the family) and the peer context (represented by students' perceptions of peer norms supporting academic excellence). School adjustment was related to the number of parenting transitions experienced, family climate, and peer norms as well as to higher-order relations involving family climate and peer norms such that (a) high grade point averages occurred at only moderate levels of family supervision, (b) achievement scores were positively related to supervision at only low levels of family autonomy granting, and (c) grade point average was positively related to peer norms at only high levels of family acceptance.

Influence of Averaging Preprocessing on Image Analysis with a Markov Random Field Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sakamoto, Hirotaka; Nakanishi-Ohno, Yoshinori; Okada, Masato

2018-02-01

This paper describes our investigations into the influence of averaging preprocessing on the performance of image analysis. Averaging preprocessing involves a trade-off: image averaging is often undertaken to reduce noise while the number of image data available for image analysis is decreased. We formulated a process of generating image data by using a Markov random field (MRF) model to achieve image analysis tasks such as image restoration and hyper-parameter estimation by a Bayesian approach. According to the notions of Bayesian inference, posterior distributions were analyzed to evaluate the influence of averaging. There are three main results. First, we found that the performance of image restoration with a predetermined value for hyper-parameters is invariant regardless of whether averaging is conducted. We then found that the performance of hyper-parameter estimation deteriorates due to averaging. Our analysis of the negative logarithm of the posterior probability, which is called the free energy based on an analogy with statistical mechanics, indicated that the confidence of hyper-parameter estimation remains higher without averaging. Finally, we found that when the hyper-parameters are estimated from the data, the performance of image restoration worsens as averaging is undertaken. We conclude that averaging adversely influences the performance of image analysis through hyper-parameter estimation.

Speed ratio but cabin temperature positively correlated with increased heart rates among professional drivers during car races.

PubMed

Yanagida, Ryo; Takahashi, Kiichi; Miura, Masaru; Nomura, Masahiro; Ogawa, Yojiro; Aoki, Ken; Iwasaki, Ken-Ichi

2016-11-01

The present study measures heart rate (HR) on a number of professional race-car drivers during actual car races through annual seasons to test hypotheses that faster relative speed and higher cabin temperature would induce higher HR. Heart rates in fifteen male drivers (31.2 ± 5.5 years old) were obtained by chest-strap sensors during official-professional 13 races. Average HR was calculated while the driver was racing from the start to the end of each race. The average HR during races was 164.5 ± 15.1 beats min -1 and the average amount of time each driver spent driving per race was 54.2 ± 13.7 min. Average HR significantly and positively correlated with mean speed ratio (P < 0.001), but not with the average cabin temperatures (P = 0.533, range 25.6-41.8 °C) by the multiple linear regression analysis. Both average HR and mean speed ratio were significantly lower under wet, than dry conditions (151.9 ± 16.5 vs. 168.3 ± 12.5 beats min -1 , 86.9 ± 4.4 vs. 93.4 ± 1.5 %). The cardiovascular system of drivers is considerably stressed at extremely high HR. This high average HR positively correlated with mean speed ratio, suggesting that faster driving speed would induce greater cardiovascular stress to professional drivers during actual races. However, contrary to our hypothesis, cabin temperature was not significantly correlated with average HR. It is speculated that direct body cooling systems used in this professional race category work well against increases in HR by thermal stress under the temperature range found herein.

Food supplement 20070721-GX may increase CD34+ stem cells and telomerase activity.

PubMed

Lin, Po-Cheng; Chiou, Tzyy-Wen; Liu, Po-Yen; Chen, Shee-Ping; Wang, Hsin-I; Huang, Pi-Chun; Lin, Shinn-Zong; Harn, Horng-Jyh

2012-01-01

Few rejuvenation and antiaging markers are used to evaluate food supplements. We measured three markers in peripheral blood to evaluate the antiaging effects of a food supplement containing placental extract. Samples were evaluated for CD34(+) cells, insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1), and telomerase activity, which are all markers related to aging. To control the quality of this food supplement, five active components were monitored. In total, we examined 44 individuals who took the food supplement from 1.2 months to 23 months; the average number of CD34(+) cells was almost 6-fold higher in the experimental group compared with the control group. Food supplement intake did not change serum IGF1 levels significantly. Finally, the average telomerase activity was 30% higher in the subjects taking this food supplement. In summary, our results suggest that the placental extract in the food supplement might contribute to rejuvenation and antiaging.

Financial Analysis of Pediatric Resident Physician Primary Care Longitudinal Outpatient Experience.

PubMed

Stipelman, Carole H; Poss, Brad; Stetson, Laura Anne; Boi, Luca; Rogers, Michael; Puzey, Caleb; Koduri, Sri; Kaplan, Robert; Lee, Vivian S; Clark, Edward B

2018-05-16

To determine whether residency training represents a net positive or negative cost to academic medical centers, we analyzed the cost of a residency program and clinical productivity of residents and faculty in outpatient primary care practice with or without residents. Patient volume and revenue data (Current Procedural Terminology codes) from an academic primary care general pediatric clinic were evaluated for faculty clinics (faculty only) and resident teaching clinics (Longitudinal Outpatient Experience [LOE]) with 1-4 residents/faculty. Detailed cost per resident was determined using a departmental financial model that included salary, benefits, faculty and administrative staff effort, non-personnel costs, and institutional GME support. The LOE clinics had greater mean number of patient visits (11.6 vs 6.8) than faculty clinics per faculty member. In the LOE clinic, the number of patient visits per clinic was directly proportional to the number of residents per faculty. The cost for each resident was $250 per clinic ($112 per resident, $88 per medical assistant per resident, and $50 per room per resident). When factoring in clinic costs and faculty supervision time, the LOE clinic (average 3.5 residents with one supervising faculty) had greater average cost (+$687.00) and revenue (+$319.45) and lower operating margin (revenue minus cost, -$367.55) than faculty clinic (one faculty member). Pediatric resident LOE clinic had a greater average number of patient visits and revenue per faculty member but higher costs and lower operating margin than faculty clinic. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

[Evaluation of cadmium, mercury and lead intake with reproduced weekly food rations].

PubMed

Marzec, Z; Buliński, R

1991-01-01

In Lublin, Olsztyn, Poznań, Warszawa and Wrocław, weekly food rations characteristic of families other than those of manual workers, with medium incomes, were reproduced. Food rations comprised ca. 90 food products whose average weekly intakes were established consistently with the results of questionnaires of the Chief Census Bureau. Namely, from these results we calculated and prepared the average weekly food rations (from 11 470 g to 14 732 g), in which cadmium, mercury and lead were assayed by the ASA method. These average food rations afforded weekly intakes of 105-147 micrograms Cd, 441-931 micrograms Pb and 50.5-119.0 micrograms Hg. According to these results, the average food rations from the above-mentioned cities are moderately contaminated with the heavy metals tested, because in no case 50% of the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) were exceeded. The present results are lower than those obtained in the same year for families of manual workers; this is probably due to the fact that in the families of manual workers, as compared with other families, the weight of meals is usually higher. It is noteworthy that in the cities with greater numbers of industrial plants the contents of the metals tested, particularly of mercury and lead, in food are higher.

Computer Activities for Persons With Dementia.

PubMed

Tak, Sunghee H; Zhang, Hongmei; Patel, Hetal; Hong, Song Hee

2015-06-01

The study examined participant's experience and individual characteristics during a 7-week computer activity program for persons with dementia. The descriptive study with mixed methods design collected 612 observational logs of computer sessions from 27 study participants, including individual interviews before and after the program. Quantitative data analysis included descriptive statistics, correlational coefficients, t-test, and chi-square. Content analysis was used to analyze qualitative data. Each participant averaged 23 sessions and 591min for 7 weeks. Computer activities included slide shows with music, games, internet use, and emailing. On average, they had a high score of intensity in engagement per session. Women attended significantly more sessions than men. Higher education level was associated with a higher number of different activities used per session and more time spent on online games. Older participants felt more tired. Feeling tired was significantly correlated with a higher number of weeks with only one session attendance per week. More anticholinergic medications taken by participants were significantly associated with a higher percentage of sessions with disengagement. The findings were significant at p < .05. Qualitative content analysis indicated tailoring computer activities appropriate to individual's needs and functioning is critical. All participants needed technical assistance. A framework for tailoring computer activities may provide guidance on developing and maintaining treatment fidelity of tailored computer activity interventions among persons with dementia. Practice guidelines and education protocols may assist caregivers and service providers to integrate computer activities into homes and aging services settings. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

[Pharmacoeconomy of diabetes mellitus--trends in the Czech Republic].

PubMed

Horák, P

2009-04-01

Since 2002, we found relatively stable number of diabetes mellitus cases among clients of General Health Insurance Company of the Czech Republic. This means, after calculating incidence rate with respect to decline in total numbers of insured during the same period, a 6% increase in real incidence rate. On the doctors side, outpatient, mostly private diabetologists have about the same capacity of their offices, 2.9 physicians (WTE)/100 000 citizens over the last years. Analysis of costs and volume of services provided, clearly demonstrate, that diabetology is medical specialization of a great importance not only from the point of view of number of patients and services provided but also of its influence on the overall health care costs. Data show not only higher average expenses for treatment of patients with diabetes mellitus compared to average expenses incurred for treatments of all other diagnoses, but show also a crucial relationship of costs with presence or absence of diabetes mellitus complications. Money spend by the medical insurance system and also and more importantly health profit to patients can thus be substantially influenced via improvements in organization of care, via higher involvement, compliance of patients to the treatment and to necessary change in their lifestyles and last but not least via increase in quality of care. Cost control can be achieved by strengthening the role of pharmacoeconomics in decisions making processes of health insurance companies, importance of which is demonstrated on the past developments on drug market in the Czech Republic. General Health Insurance Company will target these goals in coming years and in its business plans will also include expected increases of costs for organization of care and for higher renumeration of physicians as well.

Fibrin clot structure is affected by levels of particulate air pollution exposure in patients with venous thrombosis.

PubMed

Pan, Xiaoxi; Gong, Yun Yun; Martinelli, Ida; Angelici, Laura; Favero, Chiara; Bertazzi, Pier Alberto; Mannucci, Pier M; Ariëns, Robert A S; Routledge, Michael N

2016-01-01

Particulate air pollution is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and thrombosis. Long-term exposure to particulate matter with a diameter<10μm (PM10) has been associated with an increased risk of venous thrombosis. The aim of this study was to investigate whether or not particulate air pollution alters fibrin clot structure and thus modulates thrombosis risk. We investigated fibrin polymerization by turbidity (maximum absorbance mOD), clot structure by confocal microscopy (fibre number per μm) and fibrin pore size by permeability (Ks×10(-10)cm(2)) in 103 patients with deep vein thrombosis and 121 healthy controls, for whom levels of air pollution exposure had been recorded. Exposure groups were defined by mean PM10 concentrations over the 730days before the event. We found a higher average number of fibres per clot area in patients than controls, but no difference in Ks or fibre thickness. When the two groups were divided into high or low exposure to PM10, a significantly denser fibrin clot network structure with thicker fibres (higher maximum absorbance, p<0.05), decreased permeability (lower Ks value, p<0.05) and higher average fibre numbers per clot area (p<0.05) was observed in patients in the high exposure group compared to those with low exposure. There were no significant differences in fibrin clot structure between the two exposure levels in healthy subjects. PM10 levels are associated with altered fibrin clot structure in patients with deep vein thrombosis but not in controls, suggesting that air pollution may trigger differences in fibrin clot structure only in patients predisposed to thrombotic disease. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Measurements of ultrafine particles and other vehicular pollutants inside school buses in South Texas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Qunfang; Zhu, Yifang

2010-01-01

Increasing evidence has demonstrated toxic effects of vehicular emitted ultrafine particles (UFPs, diameter < 100 nm), with the highest human exposure usually occurring on and near roadways. Children are particularly at risk due to immature respiratory systems and faster breathing rates. In this study, children's exposure to in-cabin air pollutants, especially UFPs, was measured inside four diesel-powered school buses. Two 1990 and two 2006 model year diesel-powered school buses were selected to represent the age extremes of school buses in service. Each bus was driven on two routine bus runs to study school children's exposure under different transportation conditions in South Texas. The number concentration and size distribution of UFPs, total particle number concentration, PM 2.5, PM 10, black carbon (BC), CO, and CO 2 levels were monitored inside the buses. The average total particle number concentrations observed inside the school buses ranged from 7.3 × 10 3 to 3.4 × 10 4 particles cm -3, depending on engine age and window position. When the windows were closed, the in-cabin air pollutants were more likely due to the school buses' self-pollution. The 1990 model year school buses demonstrated much higher air pollutant concentrations than the 2006 model year ones. When the windows were open, the majority of in-cabin air pollutants came from the outside roadway environment with similar pollutant levels observed regardless of engine ages. The highest average UFP concentration was observed at a bus transfer station where approximately 27 idling school buses were queued to load or unload students. Starting-up and idling generated higher air pollutant levels than the driving state. Higher in-cabin air pollutant concentrations were observed when more students were on board.

Purifying capability, enzyme activity, and nitrification potentials in December in integrated vertical flow constructed wetland with earthworms and different substrates.

PubMed

Xu, Defu; Gu, Jiaru; Li, Yingxue; Zhang, Yu; Howard, Alan; Guan, Yidong; Li, Jiuhai; Xu, Hui

2016-01-01

The response of purifying capability, enzyme activity, nitrification potentials, and total number of bacteria in the rhizosphere in December to wetland plants, substrates, and earthworms was investigated in integrated vertical flow constructed wetlands (IVFCW). The removal efficiency of total nitrogen (TN), NH4-N, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and total phosphorus (TP) was increased when earthworms were added into IVFCW. A significantly average removal efficiency of N in IVFCW that employed river sand as substrate and in IVFCW that employed a mixture of river sand and Qing sand as substrate was not found. However, the average removal efficiency of P was higher in IVFCW with a mixture of river sand and Qing sand as substrate than in IVFCW with river sand as substrate. Invertase activity in December was higher in IVFCW that used a mixture of river sand and Qing sand as substrate than in IVFCW which used only river sand as substrate. However, urease activity, nitrification potential, and total number of bacteria in December was higher in IVFCW that employed river sand as substrate than in IVFCW with a mixture of river sand and Qing sand as substrate. The addition of earthworms into the integrated vertical flow constructed wetland increased the above-ground biomass, enzyme activity (catalase, urease, and invertase), nitrification potentials, and total number of bacteria in December. The above-ground biomass of wetland plants was significantly positively correlated with urease and nitrification potentials (p < 0.01). The addition of earthworms into IVFCW increased enzyme activity and nitrification potentials in December, which resulted in improving purifying capability.

How Higher Education Shuts the Door on the Racial Poverty Gap.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, 2003

2003-01-01

For the past 35 years, U.S. Blacks on average have been three times as likely as Whites to live below the poverty line. A large factor in the overall black poverty gap is the huge number of black children being raised in poverty. However, but the poverty gap shrinks when college-educated blacks are compared to college-educated whites. (SM)

International Briefing 27: Training and Development in Peru

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Talleri, Andres Velarde; Llinas-Audet, Xavier; Escardibul, Josep-Oriol

2013-01-01

Peru is in the central, western part of South America. It is the third largest country in South America and number 20 in the world. It is the country with the fourth highest population in South America. In 2010, the gross domestic product (GDP) of Peru was 154 billion USD, and its rate of growth was 8.8% (higher than the average for the region for…

Self-reporting of internal medicine house staff work hours.

PubMed

Saunders, David L; Kehoe, Kimberly C; Rinehart, Vivian H; Berg, Benjamin W

2005-01-01

The 80-hour workweek became a reality for residency programs nationwide on July 1, 2003. In this review of administrative data, we examine the self-reporting of work hours by a cohort of Internal Medicine residents. Data was collected from 27 residents in training at Tripler Army Medical Center over a 4 month period from September 1 to December 31 2002. House staff reported their hours on a daily basis by responding to an email message, as well as on a monthly basis utilizing the Army's UCAPERs (Uniform Chart of Account Personnel System) mandatory monthly workload tracking system. Data from the two separate reporting systems was compared for accuracy, completeness and internal consistency. Compliance with daily reporting was variable (67-97% with overall compliance rate of 86%) but lower when compared with the mandatory military monthly reporting system (95-100%). There were large differences in reporting of average weekly work hours among individual residents when monthly reporting was compared to daily reporting of data with higher averages with monthly data reporting. Weekly totals averaged nearly 12 hours higher when reported monthly compared to reporting on a daily basis (p < 0.0001). A total of 18 residents reported that they worked more than 80 hours per week during one month using monthly data, while only 7 reported that they averaged more than 80 hours with the daily reporting data. When average weekly hours reported on a daily basis were compared with the total number of inpatient days worked over the four month period using a simple regression model, there was a significant relationship with average hours increasing with increasing number of inpatient days worked (adjusted R square = 0. 19, p = 0.01). Little internal consistency was found in the comparison of daily versus monthly work hour reporting, indicating that self-reporting may not provide accurate data. Complying with the 80-hour workweek is crucial for residency programs to maintain accreditation, and thus programs will need a way to accurately capture consistent resident work hour data. Further studies are indicated to determine the most accurate way of assessing house staff work hours.

Prospective Associations Between Intervention Components and Website Engagement in a Publicly Available Physical Activity Website: The Case of 10,000 Steps Australia

PubMed Central

Corry, Kelly; Van Itallie, Anetta; Vandelanotte, Corneel; Caperchione, Cristina; Mummery, W Kerry

2012-01-01

Background Effectiveness of and engagement with website-delivered physical activity interventions is moderate at best. Increased exposure to Internet interventions is reported to increase their effectiveness; however, there is a lack of knowledge about which specific intervention elements are able to maintain website engagement. Objective To prospectively study the associations of website engagement and exposure to intervention components for a publicly available physical activity website (10,000 Steps Australia). Methods Between June and July 2006 a total of 348 members of 10,000 Steps completed a Web-based survey to collect demographic characteristics. Website engagement was subsequently assessed over a 2-year period and included engagement data on website components; individual challenges, team challenges, and virtual walking buddies; and indicators of website engagement (average steps logged, days logging steps, and active users). Results On average participants logged steps on 169 (SD 228.25) days. Over a 2-year period this equated to an average of 1.6 logons per week. Binary logistic regression showed that individuals who participated in individual challenges were more likely to achieve an average of 10,000 steps per day (odds ratio [OR] = 2.80, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.45–5.40), log steps on a higher than average number of days (OR = 6.81, 95% CI 2.87–13.31), and remain an active user (OR = 4.36, 95% CI 2.17–8.71). Additionally, those using virtual walking buddies (OR = 5.83, 95% CI 1.27–26.80) and of older age logged steps on a higher than average number of days. No significant associations were found for team challenges. Conclusions Overall engagement with the 10,000 Steps website was high, and the results demonstrate the relative effectiveness of interactive components to enhance website engagement. However, only exposure to the interactive individual challenge feature was positively associated with all website engagement indicators. More research is needed to examine the influence of intervention components on website engagement, as well as the relationship between website engagement and physical activity change. PMID:22260810

Predicting Solar Cycle 24 Using a Geomagnetic Precursor Pair

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pesnell, W. Dean

2014-01-01

We describe using Ap and F(10.7) as a geomagnetic-precursor pair to predict the amplitude of Solar Cycle 24. The precursor is created by using F(10.7) to remove the direct solar-activity component of Ap. Four peaks are seen in the precursor function during the decline of Solar Cycle 23. A recurrence index that is generated by a local correlation of Ap is then used to determine which peak is the correct precursor. The earliest peak is the most prominent but coincides with high levels of non-recurrent solar activity associated with the intense solar activity of October and November 2003. The second and third peaks coincide with some recurrent activity on the Sun and show that a weak cycle precursor closely following a period of strong solar activity may be difficult to resolve. A fourth peak, which appears in early 2008 and has recurrent activity similar to precursors of earlier solar cycles, appears to be the "true" precursor peak for Solar Cycle 24 and predicts the smallest amplitude for Solar Cycle 24. To determine the timing of peak activity it is noted that the average time between the precursor peak and the following maximum is approximately equal to 6.4 years. Hence, Solar Cycle 24 would peak during 2014. Several effects contribute to the smaller prediction when compared with other geomagnetic-precursor predictions. During Solar Cycle 23 the correlation between sunspot number and F(10.7) shows that F(10.7) is higher than the equivalent sunspot number over most of the cycle, implying that the sunspot number underestimates the solar-activity component described by F(10.7). During 2003 the correlation between aa and Ap shows that aa is 10 % higher than the value predicted from Ap, leading to an overestimate of the aa precursor for that year. However, the most important difference is the lack of recurrent activity in the first three peaks and the presence of significant recurrent activity in the fourth. While the prediction is for an amplitude of Solar Cycle 24 of 65 +/- 20 in smoothed sunspot number, a below-average amplitude for Solar Cycle 24, with maximum at 2014.5+/-0.5, we conclude that Solar Cycle 24 will be no stronger than average and could be much weaker than average.

Evaluation of inbreeding in laying hens by applying optimum genetic contribution and gene flow theory.

PubMed

König, S; Tsehay, F; Sitzenstock, F; von Borstel, U U; Schmutz, M; Preisinger, R; Simianer, H

2010-04-01

Due to consistent increases of inbreeding of on average 0.95% per generation in layer populations, selection tools should consider both genetic gain and genetic relationships in the long term. The optimum genetic contribution theory using official estimated breeding values for egg production was applied for 3 different lines of a layer breeding program to find the optimal allocations of hens and sires. Constraints in different scenarios encompassed restrictions related to additive genetic relationships, the increase of inbreeding, the number of selected sires and hens, and the number of selected offspring per mating. All these constraints enabled higher genetic gain up to 10.9% at the same level of additive genetic relationships or in lower relationships at the same gain when compared with conventional selection schemes ignoring relationships. Increases of inbreeding and genetic gain were associated with the number of selected sires. For the lowest level of the allowed average relationship at 10%, the optimal number of sires was 70 and the estimated breeding value for egg production of the selected group was 127.9. At the highest relationship constraint (16%), the optimal number of sires decreased to 15, and the average genetic value increased to 139.7. Contributions from selected sires and hens were used to develop specific mating plans to minimize inbreeding in the following generation by applying a simulated annealing algorithm. The additional reduction of average additive genetic relationships for matings was up to 44.9%. An innovative deterministic approach to estimate kinship coefficients between and within defined selection groups based on gene flow theory was applied to compare increases of inbreeding from random matings with layer populations undergoing selection. Large differences in rates of inbreeding were found, and they underline the necessity to establish selection tools controlling long-term relationships. Furthermore, it was suggested to use optimum genetic contribution theory for conservation schemes or, for example, the experimental line in our study.

For numerical differentiation, dimensionality can be a blessing!

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderssen, Robert S.; Hegland, Markus

Finite difference methods, such as the mid-point rule, have been applied successfully to the numerical solution of ordinary and partial differential equations. If such formulas are applied to observational data, in order to determine derivatives, the results can be disastrous. The reason for this is that measurement errors, and even rounding errors in computer approximations, are strongly amplified in the differentiation process, especially if small step-sizes are chosen and higher derivatives are required. A number of authors have examined the use of various forms of averaging which allows the stable computation of low order derivatives from observational data. The size of the averaging set acts like a regularization parameter and has to be chosen as a function of the grid size h. In this paper, it is initially shown how first (and higher) order single-variate numerical differentiation of higher dimensional observational data can be stabilized with a reduced loss of accuracy than occurs for the corresponding differentiation of one-dimensional data. The result is then extended to the multivariate differentiation of higher dimensional data. The nature of the trade-off between convergence and stability is explicitly characterized, and the complexity of various implementations is examined.

An Economic Analysis of Pigeonpea Seed Production Technology and Its Adoption Behavior: Indian Context.

PubMed

Pal, Govind; Channanamchery, Radhika; Singh, R K; Kethineni, Udaya Bhaskar; Ram, H; Prasad, S Rajendra

2016-01-01

The present study was based on primary data collected from 100 farmers in Gulbarga district of Karnataka, India, during the agricultural year 2013-2014. Study shows that average land holding size of pigeonpea seed farmers was higher in comparison to grain farmers and district average. The study illustrates a ratio of 32 : 68 towards fixed and variable costs in pigeonpea certified seed production with a total cost of ₹ 39436 and the gross and net returns were ₹ 73300 and ₹ 33864 per hectare, respectively. The total cost of cultivation, gross return, and net return in pigeonpea seed production were higher by around 23, 32, and 44 percent than grain production, respectively. Hence, production of certified seed has resulted in a win-win situation for the farmers with higher yield and increased returns. The decision of the farmer on adoption of seed production technology was positively influenced by his education, age, land holding, irrigated land, number of crops grown, and extension contacts while family size was influencing negatively. Higher yield and profitability associated with seed production can be effectively popularized among farmers, resulting in increased certified seed production.

Sexual behaviour and sexual and reproductive health education: a cross-sectional study in Romania.

PubMed

Rada, Cornelia

2014-06-23

Up-to-date, genuine sexual and reproductive health (SRH) education programmes have been possible in Romania only since communism collapsed in 1990. Since 2006, Romania has had no national strategy in this field. Under current global circumstances (high labour mobility, internationally mixed marriages), issues previously considered solely national have become worldwide concerns. In 2011-2012, 1215 respondents homogeneously distributed on background, gender, educational level and age group (18-74) were sampled. This article uses a 96-item questionnaire about family and SRH, presenting results on nine items: first intercourse (FI), virginity, knowing first sexual partner, safe sex, number of sexual partners and sexual education. The data were analysed using Pearson chi-square tests and latent class analysis. Some participants (7.2%) engaged in FI at age 15 or earlier. The average age at FI was lower for men (18.08), for individuals with a lower education level (18.07) and for those in rural areas (18.27), compared with that for women, those with more education and those in urban areas, respectively. The average age at FI was over 2.5 years lower for people aged 18-24 (16.99) than for those aged 60-74 (p < 0.001). More than 60% were not married or partnered with their FI partner, and 17.8% engaged in FI less than a month after meeting their partner. Less than one-fourth practiced safe sex at FI, with higher proportions for the urban sample, those with an average level of education and those aged 18-35 (p < 0.001). Higher average numbers of sexual partners were found among men (6.56, compared with 2.37 among women), in urban areas (5.07, compared with 3.75 in rural areas) and among those with higher levels of education (p < 0.005). On average, subjects first received information on SRH at 15.39 years of age, with only 10% listing the school, doctors or medics as a source. Unsafe sex, early initiation of sexual activity and poor SRH education from schools, experts and parents require a multidisciplinary approach within prevention programmes, especially among the populations at risk: rural residents, those with low levels of education and youth.

Sexual behaviour and sexual and reproductive health education: a cross-sectional study in Romania

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Up-to-date, genuine sexual and reproductive health (SRH) education programmes have been possible in Romania only since communism collapsed in 1990. Since 2006, Romania has had no national strategy in this field. Under current global circumstances (high labour mobility, internationally mixed marriages), issues previously considered solely national have become worldwide concerns. Methods In 2011–2012, 1215 respondents homogeneously distributed on background, gender, educational level and age group (18–74) were sampled. This article uses a 96-item questionnaire about family and SRH, presenting results on nine items: first intercourse (FI), virginity, knowing first sexual partner, safe sex, number of sexual partners and sexual education. The data were analysed using Pearson chi-square tests and latent class analysis. Results Some participants (7.2%) engaged in FI at age 15 or earlier. The average age at FI was lower for men (18.08), for individuals with a lower education level (18.07) and for those in rural areas (18.27), compared with that for women, those with more education and those in urban areas, respectively. The average age at FI was over 2.5 years lower for people aged 18–24 (16.99) than for those aged 60–74 (p < 0.001). More than 60% were not married or partnered with their FI partner, and 17.8% engaged in FI less than a month after meeting their partner. Less than one-fourth practiced safe sex at FI, with higher proportions for the urban sample, those with an average level of education and those aged 18–35 (p < 0.001). Higher average numbers of sexual partners were found among men (6.56, compared with 2.37 among women), in urban areas (5.07, compared with 3.75 in rural areas) and among those with higher levels of education (p < 0.005). On average, subjects first received information on SRH at 15.39 years of age, with only 10% listing the school, doctors or medics as a source. Conclusions Unsafe sex, early initiation of sexual activity and poor SRH education from schools, experts and parents require a multidisciplinary approach within prevention programmes, especially among the populations at risk: rural residents, those with low levels of education and youth. PMID:24957900

A visualization study on two-phase gravity drainage in porous media by using magnetic resonance imaging.

PubMed

Teng, Ying; Liu, Yu; Jiang, Lanlan; Song, Yongchen; Zhao, Jiafei; Zhang, Yi; Wang, Dayong

2016-09-01

Gravity drainage characteristics are important to improve our understanding of gas-liquid or liquid-liquid two-phase flow in porous media. Stable or unstable displacement fronts that controlled by the capillary force, viscous force, gravitational force, etc., are relevant features of immiscible two-phase flow. In this paper, three dimensionless parameters, namely, the gravity number, the capillary number and the Bond number, were used to describe the effect of the above mentioned forces on two-phase drainage features, including the displacement front and final displacing-phase saturation. A series of experiments on the downward displacement of a viscous fluid by a less viscous fluid in a vertical vessel that is filled with quartz beads are performed by using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The experimental results indicate that the wetting properties at both high and low capillary numbers exert remarkable control on the fluid displacement. When the contact angle is lower than 90°, i.e., the displaced phase is the wetting phase, the average velocity Vf of the interface of the two phases (displacement front velocity) is observably lower than when the displaced phase is the non-wetting phase (contact angle higher than 90°). The results show that a fingering phenomenon occurs when the gravity number G is less than the critical gravity number G'=Δμ/μg. Moreover, the higher Bond number results in higher final displacing-phase saturation, whereas the capillary number has an opposite effect. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Relationship between ambient temperature and humidity and visits to mental health emergency departments in Québec.

PubMed

Vida, Stephen; Durocher, Martin; Ouarda, Taha B M J; Gosselin, Pierre

2012-11-01

This study examined whether the number of emergency department visits for "mental and psychosocial problems" varies with temperature or humidity. The number of visits in three geographic areas of Québec were examined as a function of temperature and humidity by using routinely collected May-September data for 1995-2007 (N=347,552 visits). Data for two age groups (under age 65 and age 65 and older) were examined. Incidence rate ratios for mean temperature and humidity were estimated by using Poisson regression and generalized additive models. The number of visits tended to increase with increasing mean temperature. At 22.5 °C (72.5 °F) and 25 °C (77.0 °F), the number was usually significantly higher than average. Visits increased with humidity in the younger age group. Results suggest increased use of emergency departments for mental and psychosocial problems with higher mean temperature and humidity, especially in metropolitan areas and in southern Québec. Climate change may make this effect increasingly important.

Review of Ophthalmology Medical Professional Liability Claims in the United States from 2006 through 2015.

PubMed

Thompson, Atalie C; Parikh, P Divya; Lad, Eleonora M

2018-05-01

To describe characteristics of closed medical professional liability (MPL) claims against ophthalmologists in the United States. Retrospective analysis of MPL claims from 2006-2015. Data were obtained from the Physician Insurers Association of America (PIAA) Data Sharing Project (DSP). Comparison was made between ophthalmology and all healthcare specialties for physician demographics, prevalence and costs associated with closed claims, and resolution of claims. The most prevalent chief medical factor, presenting medical condition, operative procedure, outcomes, and resolution of ophthalmology claims were compared between the 2006-2010 and 2011-2015 periods. From 2006-2015, 90 743 MPL claims were closed: 2.6% (2325/90 743) of closed claims and 2.2% (564/24 670) of all paid claims were against ophthalmologists. Retrospective analysis of MPL claims captured by the PIAA DSP over a 10-year period. Subspecialty pertaining to the claim, number of claims closed and paid, indemnity paid, allocated loss adjustment expenses, chief medical factor, presenting medical condition, operative procedure, outcome, and resolution. Only 24% of closed claims against ophthalmologists resulted in payment. Two-thirds were dropped, withdrawn, or dismissed. Ninety percent of claims that received a verdict were favorable toward the ophthalmologist. Cataract and cornea surgeries were the most prevalent and most costly operative procedures, accounting for 50% of all claims and $47 641 376 and $32 570 148 in total paid indemnity, respectively. Average indemnity was higher for corneal procedures ($304 476) than vitreoretinal procedures ($270 141) or oculoplastic procedures on the eyelid ($222 471) or orbit and eyeball ($183 467). The prevalence and cost of claims related to endophthalmitis declined from 2006-2010 (n = 38/1160 [3.3%]; average indemnity, $516 875) period to the 2011-2015 (n = 26/1165 [2.2%]; average indemnity, $247 083) period. Average indemnity paid ($280 227 vs. $335 578) and amount spent on legal defense ($41 450 vs. $46 391) was slightly lower among ophthalmologists compared with all healthcare specialties, respectively. Ophthalmology has a relatively low number of malpractice claims reported compared with other healthcare specialties and shows less spending on average indemnity and defense. Further studies are needed to investigate the reasons for the higher prevalence of claims related to cataract and corneal surgeries and the higher average indemnity paid for corneal procedures relative to vitreoretinal or oculoplastic procedures. Copyright © 2018 American Academy of Ophthalmology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[A családorvosok alvási apnoéval kapcsolatos ismeretei és attitűdjei. Megvalósul-e az OSAS szűrése a járművezetők egészségi alkalmasságának vizsgálata során?

PubMed

Csatlós, Dalma; Ferenci, Tamás; Kalabay, László; László, Andrea; Hargittay, Csenge; Márkus, Bernadett; Szakács, Zoltán; Torzsa, Péter

2017-03-30

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) without treatment can cause serious cardiovascular, cardiorespiratory, neurological and other complications. Family physicians have an important role in recognizing the disease. The aim of the study is to assess the knowledge and attitude of family physicians related to sleep apnea. Whether OSAS screening is realized during the general medical checkup for drivers. In the cross-sectional study we used a validated OSAKA questionnaire in mandatory continuous medical education courses, supplemented with four additional questions. 116 family physicians and 103 family medicine residents filled out the questionnaire. Hungarian family physicians, especially male doctors lack the adequate knowledge of sleep apnea. The average score of female physicians was significantly higher than that of males (13.4±1.8 vs. 11.7±2.6, p=0.005). The more specializations the doctor has, the higher the score. Zero or one special examination holders reached 12.5±2.3 points, two special examination holders 12.7±2.2 points. three or four special examination holders reached 14.0±2.1 (p=0.05). Residents' average score was 12.1±2.4 points, which is higher than that of family doctors (p=0.012). Female residents also had higher average points than male residents (12.6±2.0 vs. 11.3±2.7; p=0.008). The size, location and type of the practice or the doctor's age did not show any statistically significant correlation with the number of points achieved. According to our regression analysis, corrected to variables in the model, we found correlation between gender and medical knowledge, but there was no correlation between age, number of specialities, body mass index and the theoretical knowledge of the doctors. In terms of attitude female GPs had higher average scores than male GPs (3.5±0.6 vs. 2.9±0.6, p<0.001). Despite the modification of the 13/1992 regulation only 39% of the practices carried out regularly the required OSAS screening as part of the medical examination for a driving licence. Despite the high prevalence and clinical importance of OSAS, GPs often do not recognize sleep apnea and they have difficulty in treating their patients for this problem.

Numerical study of mixed convection heat transfer enhancement in a channel with active flow modulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Billah, Md. Mamun; Khan, Md Imran; Rahman, Mohammed Mizanur; Alam, Muntasir; Saha, Sumon; Hasan, Mohammad Nasim

2017-06-01

A numerical study of steady two dimensional mixed convention heat transfer phenomena in a rectangular channel with active flow modulation is carried out in this investigation. The flow in the channel is modulated via a rotating cylinder placed at the center of the channel. In this study the top wall of the channel is subjected to an isothermal low temperature while a discrete isoflux heater is positioned on the lower wall. The fluid flow under investigation is assumed to have a Prandtl number of 0.71 while the Reynolds No. and the Grashof No. are varied in wide range for four different situations such as: i) plain channel with no cylinder, ii) channel with stationary cylinder, iii) channel with clockwise rotating cylinder and iv) channel with counter clockwise rotating cylinder. The results obtained in this study are presented in terms of the distribution of streamlines, isotherms in the channel while the heat transfer process from the heat source is evaluated in terms of the local Nusselt number, average Nusselt number. The outcomes of this study also indicate that the results are strongly dependent on the type of configuration and direction of rotation of the cylinder and that the average Nusselt number value rises with an increase in Reynolds and Grashof numbers but the correlation between these parameters at higher values of Reynolds and Grashof numbers becomes weak.

Desiccation resistance in tropical insects: causes and mechanisms underlying variability in a Panama ant community.

PubMed

Bujan, Jelena; Yanoviak, Stephen P; Kaspari, Michael

2016-09-01

Desiccation resistance, the ability of an organism to reduce water loss, is an essential trait in arid habitats. Drought frequency in tropical regions is predicted to increase with climate change, and small ectotherms are often under a strong desiccation risk. We tested hypotheses regarding the underexplored desiccation potential of tropical insects. We measured desiccation resistance in 82 ant species from a Panama rainforest by recording the time ants can survive desiccation stress. Species' desiccation resistance ranged from 0.7 h to 97.9 h. We tested the desiccation adaptation hypothesis, which predicts higher desiccation resistance in habitats with higher vapor pressure deficit (VPD) - the drying power of the air. In a Panama rainforest, canopy microclimates averaged a VPD of 0.43 kPa, compared to a VPD of 0.05 kPa in the understory. Canopy ants averaged desiccation resistances 2.8 times higher than the understory ants. We tested a number of mechanisms to account for desiccation resistance. Smaller insects should desiccate faster given their higher surface area to volume ratio. Desiccation resistance increased with ant mass, and canopy ants averaged 16% heavier than the understory ants. A second way to increase desiccation resistance is to carry more water. Water content was on average 2.5% higher in canopy ants, but total water content was not a good predictor of ant desiccation resistance or critical thermal maximum (CT max), a measure of an ant's thermal tolerance. In canopy ants, desiccation resistance and CT max were inversely related, suggesting a tradeoff, while the two were positively correlated in understory ants. This is the first community level test of desiccation adaptation hypothesis in tropical insects. Tropical forests do contain desiccation-resistant species, and while we cannot predict those simply based on their body size, high levels of desiccation resistance are always associated with the tropical canopy.

The effect of the number of transferred embryos, the interval between nuclear transfer and embryo transfer, and the transfer pattern on pig cloning efficiency.

PubMed

Rim, Chol Ho; Fu, Zhixin; Bao, Lei; Chen, Haide; Zhang, Dan; Luo, Qiong; Ri, Hak Chol; Huang, Hefeng; Luan, Zhidong; Zhang, Yan; Cui, Chun; Xiao, Lei; Jong, Ui Myong

2013-12-01

To improve the efficiency of producing cloned pigs, we investigated the influence of the number of transferred embryos, the culturing interval between nuclear transfer (NT) and embryo transfer, and the transfer pattern (single oviduct or double oviduct) on cloning efficiency. The results demonstrated that transfer of either 150-200 or more than 200NT embryos compared to transfer of 100-150 embryos resulted in a significantly higher pregnancy rate (48 ± 16, 50 ± 16 vs. 29 ± 5%, p<0.05) and average litter size (4.1 ± 2.3, 7 ± 3.6 vs. 2.5 ± 0.5). In vitro culture of reconstructed embryos for a longer time (40 h vs. 20 h) resulted in higher (p<0.05) pregnancy rate (44 ± 9 vs. 31 ± 3%) and delivery rate (44 ± 9 vs. 25 ± 9%). Furthermore, double oviductal transfer dramatically increased pregnancy rate (83 ± 6 vs. 27+8%, p<0.05), delivery rate (75 ± 2 vs. 27+8%, p<0.05) and average litter size (6.5 ± 2.8 vs. 2.6 ± 1.2) compared to single oviductal transfer. Our study demonstrated that an improvement in pig cloning efficiency is achieved by adjusting the number and in vitro culture time of reconstructed embryos as well as the embryo transfer pattern. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Shear thinning effects on blood flow in straight and curved tubes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cherry, Erica M.; Eaton, John K.

2013-07-01

Simulations were performed to determine the magnitude and types of errors one can expect when approximating blood in large arteries as a Newtonian fluid, particularly in the presence of secondary flows. This was accomplished by running steady simulations of blood flow in straight and curved tubes using both Newtonian and shear-thinning viscosity models. In the shear-thinning simulations, the viscosity was modeled as a shear rate-dependent function fit to experimental data. Simulations in straight tubes were modeled after physiologically relevant arterial flows, and flow parameters for the curved tube simulations were chosen to examine a variety of secondary flow strengths. The diameters ranged from 1 mm to 10 mm and the Reynolds numbers from 24 to 1500. Pressure and velocity data are reported for all simulations. In the straight tube simulations, the shear-thinning flows had flattened velocity profiles and higher pressure gradients compared to the Newtonian simulations. In the curved tube flows, the shear-thinning simulations tended to have blunted axial velocity profiles, decreased secondary flow strengths, and decreased axial vorticity compared to the Newtonian simulations. The cross-sectionally averaged pressure drops in the curved tubes were higher in the shear-thinning flows at low Reynolds number but lower at high Reynolds number. The maximum deviation in secondary flow magnitude averaged over the cross sectional area was 19% of the maximum secondary flow and the maximum deviation in axial vorticity was 25% of the maximum vorticity.

[Reproduction characteristics and Crow's index in different groups of Yevpatoria population].

PubMed

Atramentova, L A; Meshcheryakova, I P; Filipsova, O V

2013-12-01

According to the obstetric history of Yevpatoria residents of postreproductive age, the parameters of the dif- ferential fertility as components of the natural selection (index Crow) in Slavic (Russian and Ukrainian) and non-Slavic individuals have been calculated. It is shown that, in the studied population, in one generation, the index of total selection decreased from 0.3 to 0.32 by reducing the value Im. For Slavic females, the average number of pregnancies is 5.26, while the number of offspring is 1.75, and the index of total selection equals 0.31. For non-Slavic women, these ratings were 4.84, 2.09, and 0.46. In non-Slavic women, natural reproductive losses occur more frequently than in Slavic women, which may be associated with inbreeding, the level of which is usually higher in members of the Muslim faith. The average number of adverse pregnancy outcomes in the non-Slavic families is 0.759, while for Slavic families, it is 0.503. Reproductive problems were observed in 36.4% of Slavic families and 44.8% of non-Slavic families. The index of total selection in non-Slavs (0.46) is 1.5 times higher than in Slavs (0.31). The difference is due to the selection component, coupled with differential fertility (0.36 and 0.23, respectively). Interethnic differences in the rate of natural increase can change the ethnic and denominational composition of the city, leading to an increase in the Muslim component.

Dietary supplementation of l-arginine and chromium picolinate in sows during gestation affects the muscle fibre characteristics but not the performance of their progeny.

PubMed

Shi, Zhan; Song, Wentao; Sun, Yuecheng; Wang, Liansheng; Shi, Baoming; Shan, Anshan; Bi, Zhongpeng

2018-01-01

The present study investigated the effects of dietary supplementation of l-arginine and chromium picolinate (CrP) in sows during gestation on muscle fibre characteristics, performance and carcass characteristics of their progeny. Sixty healthy sows were randomly divided into four groups as a 2 × 2 factorial experiment design: one group received the control diet, another received the control diet + 10 g kg -1 l-arginine, the third group received the control diet + 400 ppb CrP, and the fourth group received the control diet + 10 g kg -1 l-arginine and 400 ppb CrP. The results showed that sows fed the diet supplemented with CrP produced progeny with higher muscle fibre numbers at birth, weaning and slaughter compared to sows fed the control diet. For mean fibre areas, the same result was found at weaning. For progeny of sows fed diets supplemented with l-arginine, only higher muscle fibre numbers at slaughter was observed. Almost no differences were observed regarding average daily gains, average daily feed intake, gain-to-feed ratios, carcass and meat traits. The results of the present study indicate that dietary supplementation of l-arginine and particularly CrP in sows during gestation alters muscle fibre numbers in their offspring, although not their performance or carcass characteristics. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Thermal Characteristics and Structure of Fully-Modulated, Turbulent Diffusion Flames in Microgravity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hermanson, J. C.; Johari, H.; Stocker, D. P.; Hegde, U. G.

2003-01-01

Turbulent jet diffusion flames are studied in microgravity and normal gravity under fully-modulated conditions for a range of injection times and a 50% duty cycle. Diluted ethylene was injected through a 2-mm nozzle at a Reynolds number of 5,000 into an open duct, with a slow oxidizer co-flow. Microgravity tests are conducted in NASA's 2.2 Second Drop Tower. Flames with short injection times and high duty cycle exhibit a marked increase in the ensemble-averaged flame length due to the removal of buoyancy. The cycle-averaged centerline temperature profile reveals higher temperatures in the microgravity flames, especially at the flame tip where the difference is about 200 K. In addition, the cycle-averaged measurements of flame radiation were about 30% to 60% greater in microgravity than in normal gravity.

Birds have primate-like numbers of neurons in the forebrain

PubMed Central

Olkowicz, Seweryn; Kocourek, Martin; Lučan, Radek K.; Porteš, Michal; Fitch, W. Tecumseh; Herculano-Houzel, Suzana; Němec, Pavel

2016-01-01

Some birds achieve primate-like levels of cognition, even though their brains tend to be much smaller in absolute size. This poses a fundamental problem in comparative and computational neuroscience, because small brains are expected to have a lower information-processing capacity. Using the isotropic fractionator to determine numbers of neurons in specific brain regions, here we show that the brains of parrots and songbirds contain on average twice as many neurons as primate brains of the same mass, indicating that avian brains have higher neuron packing densities than mammalian brains. Additionally, corvids and parrots have much higher proportions of brain neurons located in the pallial telencephalon compared with primates or other mammals and birds. Thus, large-brained parrots and corvids have forebrain neuron counts equal to or greater than primates with much larger brains. We suggest that the large numbers of neurons concentrated in high densities in the telencephalon substantially contribute to the neural basis of avian intelligence. PMID:27298365

Sex differences in intellectual performance: analysis of a large cohort of competitive chess players.

PubMed

Chabris, Christopher F; Glickman, Mark E

2006-12-01

Only 1% of the world's chess grandmasters are women. This underrepresentation is unlikely to be caused by discrimination, because chess ratings objectively reflect competitive results. Using data on the ratings of more than 250,000 tournament players over 13 years, we investigated several potential explanations for the male domination of elite chess. We found that (a) the ratings of men are higher on average than those of women, but no more variable; (b) matched boys and girls improve and drop out at equal rates, but boys begin chess competition in greater numbers and at higher performance levels than girls; and (c) in locales where at least 50% of the new young players are girls, their initial ratings are not lower than those of boys. We conclude that the greater number of men at the highest levels in chess can be explained by the greater number of boys who enter chess at the lowest levels.

The influence of incubation time on adenovirus quantitation in A549 cells by most probable number.

PubMed

Cashdollar, Jennifer L; Huff, Emma; Ryu, Hodon; Grimm, Ann C

2016-11-01

Cell culture based assays used to detect waterborne viruses typically call for incubating the sample for at least two weeks in order to ensure that all the culturable virus present is detected. Historically, this estimate was based, at least in part, on the length of time used for detecting poliovirus. In this study, we have examined A549 cells infected with human adenovirus type 2, and have found that a three week incubation of virus infected cells results in a higher number of detected viruses by quantal assay than what is seen after two weeks of incubation, with an average 955% increase in Most Probable Number (MPN) from 2 weeks to 3 weeks. This increase suggests that the extended incubation time is essential for accurately estimating viral titer, particularly for slow-growing viruses, UV treated samples, or samples with low titers of virus. In addition, we found that for some UV-treated samples, there was no detectable MPN at 2 weeks, but after 3 weeks, MPN values were obtained. For UV-treated samples, the average increase in MPN from 2 weeks to 3 weeks was 1401%, while untreated samples averaged a change in MPN of 674%, leading us to believe that the UV-damaged viral DNA may be able to be repaired such that viral replication then occurs. Published by Elsevier B.V.

[Outpatient medical attention demand due to diabetes mellitus in the health primary care].

PubMed

Vázquez-Martínez, José Luis; Mercadillo-Pérez, María Guadalupe; Celis-Quintal, Juan Germán

2011-01-01

Outpatient visits for medical attention because of Diabetes mellitus in the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social became very important for the magnitude that it represents. There is a clear increasing tendency for the coming years. The available data indicates a higher frequency and increased demand of women. Higher number of patients is observed between 40 and 59 years old. However, earlier age groups present considerable amount of cases. Having the number of patients allows knowing the average of consultations per patient, this parameter allows having an estimate of the follow up by the physician and it must be part of the evaluation of the medical attention programs. Diabetes mellitus is strongly associated with obesity, this condition affects a high percentage of diabetic patients in the Institution and weight loss must be encouraged.

Correlation of neutrophil/lymphocyte and platelet/lymphocyte ratio with visual acuity and macular thickness in age-related macular degeneration

PubMed Central

Sengul, Elvan Alper; Artunay, Ozgur; Kockar, Alev; Afacan, Ceyda; Rasier, Rifat; Gun, Palmet; Yalcin, Nazli Gul; Yuzbasioglu, Erdal

2017-01-01

AIM To investigate the place of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) in the diagnosis of and prognosis for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD). METHODS One hundred AMD patients and 100 healthy controls were included in the study. Blood samples were obtained from the venous blood, which is used for routine analysis, and these samples were subjected to complete blood count. NLR was defined as the neutrophil count divided by the number of lymphocytes, and PLR was defined as the platelet count divided by the number of lymphocytes. RESULTS No statistically significant difference was observed between the two groups under consideration in terms of demographic features (P>0.05). The average NLR in the patient group was found to be significantly higher than that in the healthy control group (P<0.05). The average PLR was significantly higher in the patient group as compared to the control group (P<0.05). As best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) increased, both NLR and PLR decreased (significant negative correlations at 49.8% and 63.0%, respectively), whereas as central macular thickness (CMT) increased, both NLR and PLR increased (significant positive correlations at 59.3% and 70.0%, respectively). CONCLUSION NLR and PLR levels are higher among neovascular AMD patients as compared to healthy control group. NLR and PLR levels were found to be inversely proportional to BCVA and directly proportional to CMT. PMID:28546933

Reproductive success of Macrotermes bellicosus (Isoptera, Macrotermitinae) in two neighbouring habitats.

PubMed

Korb, Judith; Linsenmair, Karl Eduard

1999-02-01

The fungus-cultivating, mound-building termite Macrotermes bellicosus can reach high densities in African savannah habitats, whereas in forests it is comparatively rare and is only found in relatively open areas. Earlier studies in the Comoé National Park (Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa) suggested that this might be because ambient temperatures are lower in the forest than the savannah. Therefore, forests seem to be suboptimal habitats. During 3 consecutive years we measured relevant fitness parameters in both habitats to test this hypothesis. Colonies in the savannah had higher reproductive outputs. They reproduced annually, producing high numbers of offspring (alates), whereas forest colonies reproduced on average only once every 3 years and even then only low numbers of alates were produced. Annual growth of mound height, which can be regarded as an indicator of colony growth, varied considerably between individual colonies and years. Nevertheless, in two years the growth rate of mounds in the shrub savannah was higher than that of mounds in the gallery forest. Unexpectedly, survival probability as calculated by Kaplan Meier analysis was much lower for colonies in the shrub savannah than for colonies in the gallery forest. Using these data in a computer simulation we calculated lifetime reproductive success (LRS) for an average colony in both habitats. As LRS was much higher for colonies in the shrub savannah than in the gallery forest, these results confirmed our suggestion that the forest is a suboptimal habitat for M. bellicosus.

The incidence and aetiology of clinical bovine mastitis on 14 farms in Northland, New Zealand.

PubMed

Petrovski, K R; Heuer, C; Parkinson, T J; Williamson, N B

2009-04-01

To estimate the incidence of clinical mastitis and the frequency of isolation of mastitis-causing organisms from clinical cases in one lactation season (July 2005 to May 2006) on 14 dairy farms from the Northland region of New Zealand. Cases of clinical mastitis were determined by trained farm personnel who recorded the identity of affected cows. Pooled milk samples from affected quarter(s) were aseptically collected by the farm personnel, for microbiology. Mean numbers of affected cows and quarters were compared at the population and farm level per 305 cow-days-at-risk (DAR). One or more cases of clinical mastitis occurred in 559/3,765 (14.8%) lactating cows. The average incidence of clinical mastitis was 0.19 cases per 305 DAR. The incidence in rear quarters (56.2%) was 1.3 times (p=0.027) that of front quarters (43.8%). The incidence of clinical mastitis and numbers of affected quarters were significantly influenced by the stage of lactation (higher in early lactation), age (higher in older cows) and farm. At the cow level, the most common isolates were Staphylococcus aureus (23.7%) and Streptococcus uberis (23.3%). No causative organisms were identified in 19.9% of the samples. Each cow had an average of 1.8 quarters affected during a case of clinical mastitis. This study demonstrated a higher incidence of staphylococcal clinical mastitis on dairy farms from Northland than has been reported in other regions of New Zealand.

Assisted reproductive technology in Japan: a summary report of 1992-2014 by the Ethics Committee, Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

PubMed

Irahara, Minoru; Kuwahara, Akira; Iwasa, Takeshi; Ishikawa, Tomonori; Ishihara, Osamu; Kugu, Koji; Sawa, Rintaro; Banno, Kouji; Saito, Hidekazu

2017-04-01

The Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology implemented a registry report system for the clinical practice of assisted reproductive technology in 1986. The aggregated results from 1992 to 2014 are reported herein. The total number of registered treatments was 393 745 cycles, of which 66 550 were pregnancy cycles and 46 008 were cycles with a live birth. Compared to the number of registered treatments in 2008, when the cycle-based registry was newly introduced, there was a 2.07-fold increase in the total number of treatments and a 2.25-fold increase in the number of cycles with a live birth. As the average age of patients who receive assisted reproductive technology has become markedly higher year by year, the most common age of those patients who received assisted reproductive technology in 2014 was 40 years. The total numbers of both assisted reproductive technology treatments and assisted reproductive technology live births are likely to be higher in the future. In addition, the trend toward aging patients seems to be continuing into the future.

Trends in Authorship Characteristics in The American Journal of Sports Medicine, 1994 to 2014.

PubMed

Schrock, John B; Kraeutler, Matthew J; McCarty, Eric C

2016-07-01

Trends in author qualifications, the number of authors per article, and the internationalization of author groups in sports medicine journals have not been widely investigated. To examine trends in authorship characteristics in a single prominent sports medicine journal. Systematic review. Articles published in The American Journal of Sports Medicine (AJSM) in 1994, 2004, and 2014 were reviewed. For each article, the academic degree(s) of the first and last author, the total number of authors, the country of the author group, and academic institution status were recorded. A total of 708 articles met the inclusion criteria: 129 in 1994, 244 in 2004, and 335 in 2014. There were significant differences in the proportion of first authors with an MD degree (80% in 1994, 75% in 2004, 67% in 2014; P = .01), a dual MD/PhD degree (4.7% in 1994, 6.2% in 2004, 9.3% in 2014; P < .001), and a bachelor's degree (0% in 1994, 0% in 2004, 3.9% in 2014; P < .001). The proportion of last authors with an MD/PhD significantly increased over the 2 decades studied (7% in 1994, 13% in 2004, 17% in 2014; P = .01). The mean number of authors per article also significantly increased (3.8 in 1994, 4.3 in 2004, 5.8 in 2014; P < .0001). The proportion of articles published by an international group and the proportion of articles published by an academic institution increased over the 20-year span as well (both P < .0001). Within the past 2 decades, there has been a significant increase in the average number of authors per article in AJSM, as well as a higher proportion of international groups and academic institutions publishing in the journal. More nonphysicians are publishing in AJSM, with a significantly higher percentage of first authors with a bachelor's degree as their highest degree. This is likely due to a combination of a general increased interest in research as well as increased competition among medical students. These factors have likely led to larger research groups and thus a significantly higher average number of authors per article. © 2016 The Author(s).

Deposition velocity of ultrafine particles measured with the Eddy-Correlation Method over the Nansen Ice Sheet (Antarctica)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Contini, D.; Donateo, A.; Belosi, F.; Grasso, F. M.; Santachiara, G.; Prodi, F.

2010-08-01

This work reports an analysis of the concentration, size distribution, and deposition velocity of atmospheric particles over snow and iced surfaces on the Nansen Ice Sheet (Antarctica). Measurements were performed using the eddy-correlation method at a remote site during the XXII Italian expedition of the National Research Program in Antarctica (PNRA) in 2006. The measurement system was based on a condensation particle counter (CPC) able to measure particles down to 9 nm in diameter with a 50% efficiency and a Differential Mobility Particle Sizer for evaluating particle size distributions from 11 to 521 nm diameter in 39 channels. A method based on postprocessing with digital filters was developed to take into account the effect of the slow time response of the CPC. The average number concentration was 1338 cm-3 (median, 978 cm-3; interquartile range, 435-1854 cm-3). Higher concentrations were observed at low wind velocities. Results gave an average deposition velocity of 0.47 mm/s (median, 0.19 mm/s; interquartile range, -0.21 -0.88 mm/s). Deposition increased with the friction velocity and was on average 0.86 mm/s during katabatic wind characterized by velocities higher than 4 m/s. Observed size distributions generally presented two distinct modes, the first at approximately 15-20 nm and the second (representing on average 70% of the total particles) at 60-70 nm. Under strong-wind conditions, the second mode dominated the average size distribution.

Spatial distribution of parasitism on Phyllocnistis citrella Stainton, 1856 (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) in citrus orchards.

PubMed

Jahnke, S M; Redaelli, L R; Diefenbach, L M G; Efrom, C F

2008-11-01

Many species of microhymenopterous parasitoids have been registered on Phyllocnistis citrella, the citrus leafminer. The present study aimed to identify the spatial distribution pattern of the native and introduced parasitoids of P. citrella in two citrus orchards in Montenegro, RS. The new shoots from 24 randomly selected trees in each orchard were inspected at the bottom (0-1.5 m) and top (1.5-2.5 m) stratum and had their position relative to the quadrants (North, South, East and West) registered at every 15 days from July/2002 to June/2003. The leaves with pupae were collected and kept isolated until the emergence of parasitoids or of the leaf miner; so, the sampling was biased towards parasitoids that emerge in the host pupal phase. The horizontal spatial distribution was evaluated testing the fitness of data to the Poisson and negative binomial distributions. In Montenegrina, there was no significant difference in the number of parasitoids and in the mean number of pupae found in the top and bottom strata (chi2 = 0.66; df = 1; P > 0.05) (chi2 = 0.27; df =1; P > 0.05), respectively. In relation to the quadrants, the highest average numbers of the leafminer pupae and of parasitoids were registered at the East quadrant (chi2 = 11.81; df = 3; P < 0.05), (chi2 = 10.36; df = 3; P < 0.05). In the Murcott orchard, a higher number of parasitoids was found at the top stratum (63.5%) (chi2 = 7.24; df =1 P < 0.05), the same occurring with the average number of P. citrella pupae (62.9%) (chi2 = 6.66; df = 1; P < 0.05). The highest number of parasitoids and of miners was registered at the North quadrant (chi2 = 19. 29; df = 3; P < 0.05), (chi2 = 4.39; df = 3; P < 0.05). In both orchards, there was no difference between the numbers of shoots either relative to the strata as well as to the quadrants. As the number of shoots did not varied much relative to the quadrants, it is possible that the higher number of miners and parasitoids in the East and West quadrants would be influenced by the higher solar exposure of these quadrants. The data of the horizontal spatial distribution of the parasitism fit to the negative binomial distribution in all sampling occasions, indicating an aggregated pattern.

Alaska's changing fire regime--implications for the vulnerability of its boreal forests

Treesearch

Eric S. Kasischke; David L. Verbyla; T. Scott Rupp; A. David McGuire; Karen A. Murphy; Randi Jandt; Jennifer L. Barnes; Elizabeth E. Hoy; Paul A. Duffy; Monika Calef; Merritt R. Turetsky

2010-01-01

A synthesis was carried out to examine Alaska's boreal forest fire regime. During the 2000s, an average of 767 000 ha×year-1 burned, 50% higher than in any previous decade since the 1940s. Over the past 60 years, there was a decrease in the number of lightning-ignited fires, an increase in extreme lightning-ignited fire events, an increase...

Transition Control with Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasmas

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-01-01

release; distribution is unlimited. of transition is observed . For higher applied body forces, the transition delay effect is enhanced, but care has...REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Form Approved OMB No. 0704-0188 Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 ...currently valid OMB control number. PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR FORM TO THE ABOVE ADDRESS. 1 . REPORT DATE (DD-MM-YYYY) 3 January 2013 2. REPORT TYPE

Educational Credentials in Australia: Average Positional Value in Decline. Centre for the Study of Higher Education Research Working Papers, 93.4.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marginson, Simon

Since the 1960s there has been a major expansion in the number of people in Australia holding post school educational credentials and the proportion of the full time work force with those credentials. The penalties of not holding credentials, in terms of the incidence and duration of unemployment, are increasingly severe. At the same time, there…

Optimal Scheduling of Time-Shiftable Electric Loads in Expeditionary Power Grids

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-01

NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA THESIS OPTIMAL SCHEDULING OF TIME-SHIFTABLE ELECTRIC LOADS IN EXPEDITIONARY POWER GRIDS by John G...to 09-25-2015 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE OPTIMAL SCHEDULING OF TIME-SHIFTABLE ELECTRIC LOADS IN EXPEDI- TIONARY POWER GRIDS 5. FUNDING NUMBERS 6. AUTHOR(S...eliminate unmanaged peak demand, reduce generator peak-to-average power ratios, and facilitate a persistent shift to higher fuel efficiency. Using

Sperm competition games: the risk model can generate higher sperm allocation to virgin females.

PubMed

Ball, M A; Parker, G A

2007-03-01

We examine the risk model in sperm competition games for cases where female fertility increases significantly with sperm numbers (sperm limitation). Without sperm competition, sperm allocation increases with sperm limitation. We define 'average risk' as the probability q that females in the population mate twice, and 'perceived risk' as the information males gain about the sperm competition probability with individual females. If males obtain no information from individual females, sperm numbers increase with q unless sperm limitation is high and one of the two competing ejaculates is strongly disfavoured. If males can distinguish between virgin and mated females, greater sperm allocation to virgins is favoured by high sperm limitation, high q, and by the second male's ejaculate being disfavoured. With high sperm limitation, sperm allocation to virgins increases and to mated females decreases with q at high q levels. With perfect information about female mating pattern, sperm allocation (i) to virgins that will mate again exceeds that to mated females and to virgins that will mate only once, (ii) to virgins that mate only once exceeds that for mated females if q is high and there is high second male disadvantage and (iii) to each type of female can decrease with q if sperm limitation is high, although the average allocation increases at least across low q levels. In general, higher sperm allocation to virgins is favoured by: strong disadvantage to the second ejaculate, high sperm limitation, high average risk and increased information (perceived risk). These conditions may apply in a few species, especially spiders.

Exploring the relationship between patient call-light use rate and nurse call-light response time in acute care settings.

PubMed

Tzeng, Huey-Ming; Larson, Janet L

2011-03-01

Patient call-light usage and nurse responsiveness to call lights are two intertwined concepts that could affect patients' safety during hospital stays. Little is known about the relationship between call-light usage and call-light response time. Consequently, this exploratory study examined the relationship between the patient-initiated call-light use rate and the nursing staff's average call-light response time in a Michigan community hospital. It used hospital archived data retrieved from the call-light tracking system for the period from February 2007 through June 2008. Curve estimation regression and multiple regression analyses were conducted. The results showed that the call-light response time was not affected by the total nursing hours or RN hours. The nurse call-light response time was longer when the patient call-light use rate was higher and the average length of stay was shorter. It is likely that a shorter length of stay contributes to the nursing care activity level on the unit because it is associated with a higher frequency of patient admissions/discharges and treatment per patient-day. This suggests that the nursing care activity level on the unit and number of call-light alarms could affect nurse call-light response time, independently of the number of nurses available to respond.

C-reactive protein and chitinase 3-like protein 1 as biomarkers of spatial redistribution of retinal blood vessels on digital retinal photography in patients with diabetic retinopathy.

PubMed

Cekić, Sonja; Cvetković, Tatjana; Jovanović, Ivan; Jovanović, Predrag; Pesić, Milica; Stanković Babić, Gordana; Milenković, Svetislav; Risimić, Dijana

2014-08-20

The aim of the study was to investigate the correlation between the levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and chitinase 3-like protein 1 (YKL-40) in blood samples with morpohometric parameters of retinal blood vessels in patients with diabetic retinopathy. Blood laboratory examination of 90 patients included the measurement of glycemia, HbA1C, total cholesterol, LDL-C, HDL-C, triglycerides and CRP. Levels of YKL-40 were detected and measured in serum by ELISA (Micro VueYKL-40 EIA Kit, Quidel Corporation, San Diego, USA). YKL-40 correlated positively with diameter and negatively with number of retinal blood vessels. The average number of the blood vessels per retinal zone was significantly higher in the group of patients with mild non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy than in the group with severe form in the optic disc and all five retinal zones. The average outer diameter of the evaluated retinal zones and optic disc vessels was significantly higher in the group with severe compared to the group with mild diabetic retinopathy. Morphological analysis of the retinal vessels on digital fundus photography and correlation with YKL-40 may be valuable for the follow-up of diabetic retinopathy.

Melatonin Promotes Superovulation in Sika Deer (Cervus nippon)

PubMed Central

Wang, Liang; Zhuo, Zhi-Yong; Shi, Wen-Qing; Tan, Dun-Xian; Gao, Chao; Tian, Xiu-Zhi; Zhang, Lu; Zhou, Guang-Bin; Zhu, Shi-En; Yun, Peng; Liu, Guo-Shi

2014-01-01

In this study, the effects of melatonin (MT) on superovulation and reproductive hormones (melatonin, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH) and PRL) were investigated in female sika deer. Different doses (40 or 80 mg/animal) of melatonin were subcutaneously implanted into deer before the breeding season. Exogenous melatonin administration significantly elevated the serum FSH levels at the time of insemination compared with levels in control animals. During superovulation, the serum LH levels in donor sika deer reached their highest values (7.1 ± 2.04 ng/mL) at the point of insemination, compared with the baseline levels (4.98 ± 0.07 ng/mL) in control animals. This high level of LH was sustained until the day of embryo recovery. In contrast, the serum levels of PRL in the 80 mg of melatonin-treated group were significantly lower than those of control deer. The average number of corpora lutea in melatonin-treated deer was significantly higher than that of the control (p < 0.05). The average number of embryos in the deer treated with 40 mg of melatonin was higher than that of the control; however, this increase did not reach significant difference (p > 0.05), which may be related to the relatively small sample size. In addition, embryonic development in melatonin-treated groups was delayed. PMID:25007067

Melatonin promotes superovulation in sika deer (Cervus nippon).

PubMed

Wang, Liang; Zhuo, Zhi-Yong; Shi, Wen-Qing; Tan, Dun-Xian; Gao, Chao; Tian, Xiu-Zhi; Zhang, Lu; Zhou, Guang-Bin; Zhu, Shi-En; Yun, Peng; Liu, Guo-Shi

2014-07-08

In this study, the effects of melatonin (MT) on superovulation and reproductive hormones (melatonin, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH) and PRL) were investigated in female sika deer. Different doses (40 or 80 mg/animal) of melatonin were subcutaneously implanted into deer before the breeding season. Exogenous melatonin administration significantly elevated the serum FSH levels at the time of insemination compared with levels in control animals. During superovulation, the serum LH levels in donor sika deer reached their highest values (7.1±2.04 ng/mL) at the point of insemination, compared with the baseline levels (4.98±0.07 ng/mL) in control animals. This high level of LH was sustained until the day of embryo recovery. In contrast, the serum levels of PRL in the 80 mg of melatonin-treated group were significantly lower than those of control deer. The average number of corpora lutea in melatonin-treated deer was significantly higher than that of the control (p<0.05). The average number of embryos in the deer treated with 40 mg of melatonin was higher than that of the control; however, this increase did not reach significant difference (p>0.05), which may be related to the relatively small sample size. In addition, embryonic development in melatonin-treated groups was delayed.

Reaction Dynamics of Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer from Reduced ZnO Nanocrystals.

PubMed

Braten, Miles N; Gamelin, Daniel R; Mayer, James M

2015-10-27

The creation of systems that efficiently interconvert chemical and electrical energies will be aided by understanding proton-coupled electron transfers at solution-semiconductor interfaces. Steps in developing that understanding are described here through kinetic studies of reactions of photoreduced colloidal zinc oxide (ZnO) nanocrystals (NCs) with the nitroxyl radical TEMPO. These reactions proceed by proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) to give the hydroxylamine TEMPOH. They occur on the submillisecond to seconds time scale, as monitored by stopped-flow optical spectroscopy. Under conditions of excess TEMPO, the reactions are multiexponential in character. One of the contributors to this multiexponential kinetics may be a distribution of reactive proton sites. A graphical overlay method shows the reaction to be first order in [TEMPO]. Different electron concentrations in otherwise identical NC samples were achieved by three different methods: differing photolysis times, premixing with an unphotolyzed sample, or prereaction with TEMPO. The reaction velocities were consistently higher for NCs with higher numbers of electrons. For instance, NCs with an average of 2.6 e(-)/NC reacted faster than otherwise identical samples containing ≤1 e(-)/NC. Surprisingly, NC samples with the same average number of electrons but prepared in different ways often had different reaction profiles. These results show that properties beyond electron content determine PCET reactivity of the particles.

Study of parameters and entrainment of a jet in cross-flow arrangement with transition at two low Reynolds numbers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cárdenas, Camilo; Denev, Jordan A.; Suntz, Rainer; Bockhorn, Henning

2012-10-01

Investigation of the mixing process is one of the main issues in chemical engineering and combustion and the configuration of a jet into a cross-flow (JCF) is often employed for this purpose. Experimental data are gained for the symmetry plane in a JCF-arrangement of an air flow using a combination of particle image velocimetry (PIV) with laser-induced fluorescence (LIF). The experimental data with thoroughly measured boundary conditions are complemented with direct numerical simulations, which are based on idealized boundary conditions. Two similar cases are studied with a fixed jet-to-cross-flow velocity ratio of 3.5 and variable cross-flow Reynolds numbers equal to 4,120 and 8,240; in both cases the jet issues from the pipe at laminar conditions. This leads to a laminar-to-turbulent transition, which depends on the Reynolds number and occurs quicker for the case with higher Reynolds number in both experiments and simulations as well. It was found that the Reynolds number only slightly affects the jet trajectory, which in the case with the higher Reynolds number is slightly deeper. It is attributed to the changed boundary layer shape of the cross-flow. Leeward streamlines bend toward the jet and are responsible for the strong entrainment of cross-flow fluid into the jet. Velocity components are compared for the two Reynolds numbers at the leeward side at positions where strongest entrainment is present and a pressure minimum near the jet trajectory is found. The numerical simulations showed that entrainment is higher for the case with the higher Reynolds number. The latter is attributed to the earlier transition in this case. Fluid entrainment of the jet in cross-flow is more than twice stronger than for a similar flow of a jet issuing into a co-flowing stream. This comparison is made along the trajectory of the two jets at a distance of 5.5 jet diameters downstream and is based on the results from the direct numerical simulations and recently published experiments of a straight jet into a co-flow. Mixing is further studied by means of second-order statistics of the passive scalar variance and the Reynolds fluxes. Windward and leeward sides of the jet exhibit different signs for the time-averaged streamwise Reynolds flux < v x ' c'>. The large coherent structures which contribute to this effect are investigated by means of timely correlated instantaneous PIV-LIF camera snapshots and their contribution to the average statistics of < v x ' c'> are discussed. The discussion on mixing capabilities of the jet in cross-flow is supported by simulation results showing the instantaneous three-dimensional coherent structures defined in terms of the pressure fluctuations.

Force production and time-averaged flow structure around thin, non-slender delta wings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tu, Han; Green, Melissa

2017-11-01

Experimental force measurement and time-averaged three dimensional flow visualization of low Reynolds number baseline cases have been carried out on a steady flat plate delta wing. Current data will serve as steady reference for future unsteady flow and actuation cases. The comprehensive study will compare force production in highly unsteady environments, which is necessary to consider in unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) control strategies. Force measurements are carried out at angles of attack 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 degrees. The coefficient of drag increases with angle of attack, while the coefficient of lift reaches a maximum value at 20 degrees. Time-averaged flow visualization conducted at angles of attack of 20, 25 and 30 degrees shows vortices with larger magnitude that persist farther into wake are generated at higher angles of attack. These results compare analogously with similar steady baseline experiment results of high Reynolds number conducted by collaborators. This work was supported by the Office of Naval Research under ONR Award No. N00014-16-1-2732. We also acknowledge the collaborative support of Dr. David Rival and Mr. Matthew Marzanek at Queen's University.

Relationship between intraprostatic tracer deposits and sentinel lymph node mapping in prostate cancer patients.

PubMed

Buckle, Tessa; Brouwer, Oscar R; Valdés Olmos, Renato A; van der Poel, Henk G; van Leeuwen, Fijs W B

2012-07-01

Intraprostatic injection of the hybrid tracer indocyanine green (ICG)-(99m)Tc-nanocolloid enables both preoperative sentinel node (SN) identification and intraoperative visualization of the SN. Relating the fluorescence deposits in embedded prostate tissue specimens to the preoperatively detected SNs also provides the opportunity to study the influence of their placement on lymphatic drainage pattern. Nineteen patients with prostate carcinoma scheduled for robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy and lymph node (LN) dissection were included. ICG-(99m)Tc-nanocolloid was injected intraprostatically, guided by ultrasound. SN biopsy was performed using a combination of radioguidance and fluorescence guidance. Tracer distribution was visualized in paraffin-embedded prostate samples using ex vivo fluorescence imaging. This distribution was correlated to the number and location of the SNs identified on preoperative lymphoscintigraphy and SPECT/CT. ICG-(99m)Tc-nanocolloid helped guide surgical excision of the SNs. Ex vivo fluorescence imaging revealed a large variation in the locations of intraprostatic tracer deposits among patients. Tracer deposits in the peripheral zone correlated with a higher number of visualized LNs than deposits in the central zone (on average, 4.7 vs. 2.4 LNs per patient). Furthermore, tracer deposits in the mid gland correlated with a higher number of visualized LNs than deposits near the base or apex of the prostate (on average, 6 vs. 3.5 LNs per patient). The hybrid nature of the tracer not only enables surgical guidance but also provides an opportunity to study the correlation between the location of tracer deposits within the prostate and the number and location of preoperatively visualized SNs. These data suggest that the location at which a tracer deposit is placed influences the lymphatic drainage pattern.

Gastrointestinal nematode infection in beef cattle of different genetic groups in Brazil.

PubMed

Oliveira, M C S; Alencar, M M; Chagas, A C S; Giglioti, R; Oliveira, H N

2009-12-23

Resistance to natural infection by gastrointestinal nematodes was compared in 67 female calves of the following genetic groups: Nelore (NX); 1/2 Senepol+1/2 Nelore (SN); and 1/2 Aberdeen Angus+1/2 Nelore (AN). The NX (n=26), SN (n=23) and AN (n=18) animals were monitored for 14 months, during which they remained without treatment, allowed to graze in a tropical environment. Eggs per gram of feces (EPG), coprocultures and packed cell volume (PCV) were carried out monthly. No significant effects of the interaction between the genetic groups and month/year of collection and the genetic group on the EPG were found, but there was a significant influence of the month of collection (P<0.01). The monthly PCV measurements did not differ for the animals of the three genetic groups and there was no association found between the EPG and PCV. The animals of the SN and NX groups showed similar numbers of EPG with results zero, while for the AN group these numbers were significantly lower (P<0.05). Although the NX group had a large number of EPG with results zero, it also contained many animals with high counts, meaning this group had higher averages during the entire study period. The following nematode genera were found in the coprocultures: Haemonchus, Cooperia, Oesophagostomum and Trichostrongylus, the latter in smallest proportion. There was no significant difference between the genetic groups for averages of all parasites identified, except Cooperia, which were present in higher numbers in the animals of the NX group (P<0.05). The results obtained in this experiment suggest that the use of Bos taurus x Bos indicus crossbreeds can be a good strategy to reduce the use of chemical control in Brazil.

Soil Texture and Cultivar Effects on Rice (Oryza sativa, L.) Grain Yield, Yield Components and Water Productivity in Three Water Regimes.

PubMed

Dou, Fugen; Soriano, Junel; Tabien, Rodante E; Chen, Kun

2016-01-01

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of water regime/soil condition (continuous flooding, saturated, and aerobic), cultivar ('Cocodrie' and 'Rondo'), and soil texture (clay and sandy loam) on rice grain yield, yield components and water productivity using a greenhouse trial. Rice grain yield was significantly affected by soil texture and the interaction between water regime and cultivar. Significantly higher yield was obtained in continuous flooding than in aerobic and saturated soil conditions but the latter treatments were comparable to each other. For Rondo, its grain yield has decreased with soil water regimes in the order of continuous flooding, saturated and aerobic treatments. The rice grain yield in clay soil was 46% higher than in sandy loam soil averaged across cultivar and water regime. Compared to aerobic condition, saturated and continuous flooding treatments had greater panicle numbers. In addition, panicle number in clay soil was 25% higher than in sandy loam soil. The spikelet number of Cocodrie was 29% greater than that of Rondo, indicating that rice cultivar had greater effect on spikelet number than soil type and water management. Water productivity was significantly affected by the interaction of water regime and cultivar. Compared to sandy loam soil, clay soil was 25% higher in water productivity. Our results indicated that cultivar selection and soil texture are important factors in deciding what water management option to practice.

Effect of land cover change on runoff curve number estimation in Iowa, 1832-2001

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wehmeyer, Loren L.; Weirich, Frank H.; Cuffney, Thomas F.

2011-01-01

Within the first few decades of European-descended settlers arriving in Iowa, much of the land cover across the state was transformed from prairie and forest to farmland, patches of forest, and urbanized areas. Land cover change over the subsequent 126 years was minor in comparison. Between 1832 and 1859, the General Land Office conducted a survey of the State of Iowa to aid in the disbursement of land. In 1875, an illustrated atlas of the State of Iowa was published, and in 2001, the US Geological Survey National Land Cover Dataset was compiled. Using these three data resources for classifying land cover, the hydrologic impact of the land cover change at three points in time over a period of 132+ years is presented in terms of the effect on the area-weighted average curve number, a term commonly used to predict peak runoff from rainstorms. In the four watersheds studied, the area-weighted average curve number associated with the first 30 years of settlement increased from 61·4 to 77·8. State-wide mapped forest area over this same period decreased 19%. Over the next 126 years, the area-weighted average curve number decreased to 76·7, despite an additional forest area reduction of 60%. This suggests that degradation of aquatic resources (plants, fish, invertebrates, and habitat) arising from hydrologic alteration was likely to have been much higher during the 30 years of initial settlement than in the subsequent period of 126 years in which land cover changes resulted primarily from deforestation and urbanization. 

Contingent association between the size of the social support network and osteoporosis among Korean elderly women

PubMed Central

Seo, Da Hea; Kim, Kyoung Min; Lee, Eun Young; Kim, Hyeon Chang; Kim, Chang Oh; Youm, Yoosik; Rhee, Yumie

2017-01-01

Objective To investigate the association between the number of personal ties (or the size of the social support network) and the incidence of osteoporosis among older women in Korea. Methods Data from the Korean Urban Rural Elderly Study were used. Bone density was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry at the lumbar spine (L1–L4) and femur neck. T-score, the standardized bone density compared with what is normally expected in a healthy young adult, was measured and the presence of osteoporosis was determined, if the T-score was < -2.5. The social support network size was measured by self-responses (number of confidants and spouse). Results Of the 1,846 participants, 44.9% were diagnosed with osteoporosis. The association between the social support network size and the incidence of osteoporosis was curvilinear in both bivariate and multivariate analyses. Having more people in one’s social support network size was associated with lower risk of osteoporosis until it reached around four. Increasing the social support network size beyond four, in contrast, was associated with a higher risk of osteoporosis. This association was contingent on the average intimacy level of the social network. At the highest average intimacy level (“extremely close”), increasing the number of social support network members from one to six was associated with linear decrease in the predicted probability of osteoporosis from 45% to 30%. However, at the lowest average intimacy level (“not very close”), the predicted probability of osteoporosis dramatically increased from 48% to 80% as the size of the social network increased from one to six. Conclusion Our results show that maintaining a large and intimate social support network is associated with a lower risk of osteoporosis among elderly Korean women, while a large but less-intimate social relationship is associated with a higher risk. PMID:28700637

Analysis of insulin pump settings in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus.

PubMed

Lau, Yu Ning; Korula, Sophy; Chan, Albert K; Heels, Kristine; Krass, Ines; Ambler, Geoffrey

2016-08-01

To characterize current insulin pump settings used in young patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and to assess their relationship to glycemic control. This retrospective study included patients aged <18 yr old with T1DM >1 yr using a Medtronic pump device. Pump data including number of blood glucose (BG) tests per day, basal and bolus insulin parameters, carbohydrate ratio (CR), and insulin sensitivity factors (ISFs) were averaged over 14 d for statistical analyses. Anthropometric data and recent glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) were recorded. A total of 292 patients (144 males and 148 females) were included in the study. Participants had a median age (interquartile range, IQR) of 12.9 yr (10.0-15.1 yr) and pump duration of 2.8 yr (1.5-4.2 yr). No significant differences in median HbA1c (IQR) were observed in preschool [n = 14; HbA1c 7.8% (7.3-8.3%)], prepubertal [n = 105; HbA1c 8.1% (7.7-8.9%)], and adolescent subjects [n = 173; HbA1c 8.4% (7.7-9.0%)]. Adolescents took significantly fewer boluses and BG tests per day compared with younger children (p < 0.05). Age-specific diurnal variation in basal insulin delivery was noted. Additionally, stronger carbohydrate cover and weaker corrections were used in real-life compared with theoretical 500 and 100 rules, respectively. Lower HbA1c was associated with higher number of daily boluses, greater number of BG tests per day, lower average CR/500 rule ratio, and higher average ISF/100 rule ratio adjusted for age (R(2) = 0.22; p < 0.01). Insulin pump therapy requires continuous adjustments and glycemic targets are achieved by a minority. We believe this is the first study in pediatric cohort looking at association between CR and ISF with glycemic control. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Adoption and Use of Digital Technologies among General Dental Practitioners in the Netherlands

PubMed Central

van der Zande, Marieke M.; Gorter, Ronald C.; Aartman, Irene H. A.; Wismeijer, Daniel

2015-01-01

Objectives To investigate (1) the degree of digital technology adoption among general dental practitioners, and to assess (2) which personal and practice factors are associated with technology use. Methods A questionnaire was distributed among a stratified sample of 1000 general dental practitioners in the Netherlands, to measure the use of fifteen administrative, communicative, clinical and diagnostic technologies, as well as personal factors and dental practice characteristics. Results The response rate was 31.3%; 65.1% replied to the questionnaire on paper and 34.9% online. Each specific digital technology was used by between 93.2% and 6.8% of the dentists. Administrative technologies were generally used by more dentists than clinical technologies. Dentists had adopted an average number of 6.3±2.3 technologies. 22.5% were low technology users (0 to 4 technologies), 46.2% were intermediate technology users (5 to 7 technologies) and 31.3% were high technology users (8 to12 technologies). High technology users more frequently had a specialization (p<0.001), were younger on average (p=0.024), and worked more hours per week (p=0.003) than low technology users, and invested more hours per year in professional activities (p=0.026) than intermediate technology users. High technology use was also more common for dentists working in practices with a higher average number of patients per year (p<0.001), with more dentists working in the practice (p<0.001) and with more staff (p<0.001). Conclusion With few exceptions, all dentists use some or a substantial number of digital technologies. Technology use is associated with various patterns of person-specific factors, and is higher when working in larger dental practices. The findings provide insight into the current state of digital technology adoption in dental practices. Further exploration why some dentists are more reluctant to adopt technologies than others is valuable for the dental profession’s agility in adjusting to technological developments. PMID:25811594

Contingent association between the size of the social support network and osteoporosis among Korean elderly women.

PubMed

Lee, Seungwon; Seo, Da Hea; Kim, Kyoung Min; Lee, Eun Young; Kim, Hyeon Chang; Kim, Chang Oh; Youm, Yoosik; Rhee, Yumie

2017-01-01

To investigate the association between the number of personal ties (or the size of the social support network) and the incidence of osteoporosis among older women in Korea. Data from the Korean Urban Rural Elderly Study were used. Bone density was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry at the lumbar spine (L1-L4) and femur neck. T-score, the standardized bone density compared with what is normally expected in a healthy young adult, was measured and the presence of osteoporosis was determined, if the T-score was < -2.5. The social support network size was measured by self-responses (number of confidants and spouse). Of the 1,846 participants, 44.9% were diagnosed with osteoporosis. The association between the social support network size and the incidence of osteoporosis was curvilinear in both bivariate and multivariate analyses. Having more people in one's social support network size was associated with lower risk of osteoporosis until it reached around four. Increasing the social support network size beyond four, in contrast, was associated with a higher risk of osteoporosis. This association was contingent on the average intimacy level of the social network. At the highest average intimacy level ("extremely close"), increasing the number of social support network members from one to six was associated with linear decrease in the predicted probability of osteoporosis from 45% to 30%. However, at the lowest average intimacy level ("not very close"), the predicted probability of osteoporosis dramatically increased from 48% to 80% as the size of the social network increased from one to six. Our results show that maintaining a large and intimate social support network is associated with a lower risk of osteoporosis among elderly Korean women, while a large but less-intimate social relationship is associated with a higher risk.

A multilevel study on the association of observer-assessed working conditions with depressive symptoms among female eldercare workers from 56 work units in 10 care homes in Denmark

PubMed Central

Jakobsen, Louise M; Jorgensen, Anette F B; Thomsen, Birthe L; Greiner, Birgit A; Rugulies, Reiner

2015-01-01

Objectives Eldercare workers in Denmark have a higher prevalence of poor psychological health than other occupational groups. We examined the association between working conditions assessed by trained observers and depressive symptoms assessed by self-report in a study of female Danish eldercare workers. Methods Working conditions were observed based on action regulation theory and defined as (1) regulation requirements, a workplace resource providing opportunity for decision-making and skill development and (2) barriers for task completion. We examined the associations of individual and work unit averaged working conditions with depressive symptoms in a sample of 95 individually observed eldercare workers. Further, we examined the association of work unit averaged working conditions with depressive symptoms in a sample of 205 care workers, including both observed and non-observed individuals. We used regression models that allowed for correlations within work units and care homes and adjusted these models for demographics, job characteristics and stressful life events. Results Higher levels of regulation requirements were associated with lower depressive symptoms at the individual level (p=0.04), but not at the workplace level. Barriers were not associated with depressive symptoms at the individual level. At the workplace level, a higher number of qualitatively different barriers (p=0.04) and a higher number of barriers for equipment use (p=0.03) were associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms in the age and cohabitation adjusted model, however statistical significance was lost in the fully adjusted model. Conclusions Low level of regulation requirements was associated with a high level of depressive symptoms. The study highlights the importance of examining both individual and workplace levels of working conditions. PMID:26560058

Influence of wind speed averaging on estimates of dimethylsulfide emission fluxes

DOE PAGES

Chapman, E. G.; Shaw, W. J.; Easter, R. C.; ...

2002-12-03

The effect of various wind-speed-averaging periods on calculated DMS emission fluxes is quantitatively assessed. Here, a global climate model and an emission flux module were run in stand-alone mode for a full year. Twenty-minute instantaneous surface wind speeds and related variables generated by the climate model were archived, and corresponding 1-hour-, 6-hour-, daily-, and monthly-averaged quantities calculated. These various time-averaged, model-derived quantities were used as inputs in the emission flux module, and DMS emissions were calculated using two expressions for the mass transfer velocity commonly used in atmospheric models. Results indicate that the time period selected for averaging wind speedsmore » can affect the magnitude of calculated DMS emission fluxes. A number of individual marine cells within the global grid show DMS emissions fluxes that are 10-60% higher when emissions are calculated using 20-minute instantaneous model time step winds rather than monthly-averaged wind speeds, and at some locations the differences exceed 200%. Many of these cells are located in the southern hemisphere where anthropogenic sulfur emissions are low and changes in oceanic DMS emissions may significantly affect calculated aerosol concentrations and aerosol radiative forcing.« less

HOSPITALIZATIONS FOR CHOLECYSTITIS AND CHOLELITHIASIS IN THE STATE OF RIO GRANDE DO SUL, BRAZIL

PubMed Central

NUNES, Emeline Caldana; ROSA, Roger dos Santos; BORDIN, Ronaldo

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT Background: The cholelithiasis is disease of surgical resolution with about 60,000 hospitalizations per year in the Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS - Brazilian National Health System) of the Rio Grande do Sul state. Aim: To describe the profile of hospitalizations for cholecystitis and cholelithiasis performed by the SUS of Rio Grande do Sul state, 2011-2013. Methods: Hospital Information System data from the National Health System through morbidity list for cholelithiasis and cholecystitis (ICD-10 K80-K81). Variables studied were sex, age, number of hospitalizations and approved Hospitalization Authorizations (AIH), total amount and value of hospital services generated, days and average length of stay, mortality, mortality and case fatality ratio, from health regions of the Rio Grande do Sul. Results: During 2011-2013 there were 60,517 hospitalizations for cholecystitis and cholelithiasis, representing 18.86 hospitalizations per 10,000 inhabitants/year, most often in the age group from 60 to 69 years (41.34 admissions per 10,000 inhabitants/year) and female (27.72 hospitalizations per 10,000 inhabitants/year). The fatality rate presented an inverse characteristic: 13.52 deaths per 1,000 admissions/year for males, compared with 7.12 deaths per 1,000 admissions/year in females. The state had an average total amount spent and value of hospital services of R$ 16,244,050.60 and R$ 10,890,461.31, respectively. The health region "Capital/Gravataí Valley" exhibit the highest total expenditure and hospital services, and the largest number of deaths, and average length of stay. Conclusion: The hospitalization and lethality coefficients, the deaths, the length of stay and spending related to admissions increased from 50 years old. Females had a higher frequency and higher values ​​spent on hospitalization, while the male higher coefficient of mortality and mean hospital stay. PMID:27438030

Short-term variability and long-term change in the composition of the littoral zone fish community in Spirit Lake, Iowa

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pierce, C.L.; Sexton, M.D.; Pelham, M.E.; Larscheid, J.G.

2001-01-01

We assessed short-term variability and long-term change in the composition of the littoral fish community in Spirit Lake, Iowa. Fish were sampled in several locations at night with large beach seines during spring, summer and fall of 1995-1998. Long-term changes were inferred from comparison with a similar study conducted over 70 y earlier in Spirit Lake. We found 26 species in the littoral zone. The number of species per sample ranged from 4 to 18, averaging 11.8. The average number of species per sample was higher at stations with greater vegetation density. A distinct seasonal pattern was evident in the number of species collected per sample in most years, increasing steadily from spring to fall. Patterns of variability within our 1995-1998 study period suggest that: (1) numerous samples are necessary to adequately characterize a littoral fish community, (2) sampling should be done when vegetation and young-of-year densities are highest and (3) sampling during a single year is inadequate to reveal the full community. The number of native species has declined by approximately 25% over the last 70 y. A coincident decline in littoral vegetation and associated habitat changes during the same period are likely causes of the long-term community change.

Does Alcohol Contribute to College Men's Sexual Assault Perpetration? Between- and Within-Person Effects Over Five Semesters.

PubMed

Testa, Maria; Cleveland, Michael J

2017-01-01

The current longitudinal study was designed to consider the time-varying effects of men's heavy episodic drinking (HED) and drinking setting attendance on college sexual assault perpetration. Freshman men (N = 992) were recruited in their first semester and completed online measures at the end of their first five semesters. Using multilevel models, we examined whether men with higher frequency HED (or party or bar attendance) were more likely to perpetrate sexual assault (between-person, Level 2 effect) and whether sexual assault perpetration was more likely in semesters in which HED (or party or bar attendance) was higher than each individual's average (within-person, Level 1 effect). The between-person effect of HED on sexual assault was not significant after accounting for the between-person effects of antisocial behavior, impersonal sex orientation, and low self-control. The within-person effect of HED on sexual assault perpetration was not significant. However, models substituting frequency of party attendance or bar attendance revealed both between- and within-person effects. The odds of sexual assault were increased for men with higher bar and party attendance than the sample as a whole, and in semesters in which party or bar attendance was higher than their own average. Supplemental analyses suggested that these drinking setting effects were explained by hookups, with sexual assault perpetration more likely in semesters in which the number of hookups exceeded one's own average. Findings point toward the importance of drinking contexts, rather than drinking per se, as predictors of college men's sexual assault perpetration.

Daughters increase longevity of fathers, but daughters and sons equally reduce longevity of mothers.

PubMed

Jasienska, Grazyna; Nenko, Ilona; Jasienski, Michal

2006-01-01

Reproduction is energetically and physiologically expensive, and an individual investing resources into producing offspring should suffer costs such as deterioration in health condition and possibly shorter life span. Since the energetic and nutritional demands of pregnancy and breastfeeding render reproductive costs much higher in women than in men, women with a large number of children should show signs of deterioration in condition, while men with large families should not. However, whether reproductive costs reduce longevity in women is still questionable, and in men this issue has not been adequately addressed. In addition, since sons are energetically more expensive to produce than daughters, having sons should have a more pronounced negative impact on maternal longevity than having daughters. Here we document a striking disparity in the impact of children on the life span of mothers and fathers in a Polish rural population. We show for the first time that number of daughters was positively related to a longer life span of their fathers, increasing their longevity on average by 74 weeks per daughter born, while number of sons did not have a significant effect on paternal longevity. In contrast, in women, the number of daughters and number of sons reduced maternal longevity and did so to the same extent, on average by 95 weeks per son or daughter, indicating that for women, the costs of having sons and daughters are similar.

An analysis of reported cases of leishmaniasis in the southern Ecuadorian Amazon region, 1986-2012.

PubMed

Olalla, Hector R; Velez, Lenin N; Kato, Hirotomo; Hashiguchi, Kazue; Caceres, Abraham G; Gomez, Eduardo A; Zambrano, Flavio C; Romero-Álvarez, Daniel A; Guevara, Angel G; Hashiguchi, Yoshihisa

2015-06-01

An analysis of reported cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) was performed using the data registered in the southern Ecuadorian Amazon region during 27 years from 1986 to 2012. The cases/subjects with both the suspected CL lesions and the amastigote-positive results were recruited for the analysis. The yearly occurrence of cases showed a markedly higher number during the six years, 1988 and 1993. After 1994 when the insecticide spraying campaign using helicopter in 1993-1994, the number dropped remarkably. Then, the yearly occurrence gradually fluctuated from 101 cases in 1996 to 11 in 2009, maintaining a low number of cases after the campaign. The monthly occurrence of cases showed a markedly high number during March and August, suggesting a correlation to the rainy season (months) in the areas. A statistical significance was found between the monthly average number of the CL case and the average precipitation (p=0.01474). It was suggested that the time of transmission of CL would depend on the rainy seasons at each endemic area of Ecuador, which has a diverse climatic feature depending on the geographic regions. Such information at given leishmaniasis-endemic areas of Ecuador would be important for the future planning of the disease control. Molecular analysis and characterization of clinical samples revealed the presence of Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Characterization of complex networks by higher order neighborhood properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andrade, R. F. S.; Miranda, J. G. V.; Pinho, S. T. R.; Lobão, T. P.

2008-01-01

A concept of higher order neighborhood in complex networks, introduced previously [Phys. Rev. E 73, 046101 (2006)], is systematically explored to investigate larger scale structures in complex networks. The basic idea is to consider each higher order neighborhood as a network in itself, represented by a corresponding adjacency matrix, and to settle a plenty of new parameters in order to obtain a best characterization of the whole network. Usual network indices are then used to evaluate the properties of each neighborhood. The identification of high order neighborhoods is also regarded as intermediary step towards the evaluation of global network properties, like the diameter, average shortest path between node, and network fractal dimension. Results for a large number of typical networks are presented and discussed.

Musculoskeletal disorder costs and medical claim filing in the US retail trade sector.

PubMed

Bhattacharya, Anasua; Leigh, J Paul

2011-01-01

The average costs of Musculoskeletal Disorder (MSD) and odds ratios for filing medical claims related to MSD were examined. The medical claims were identified by ICD 9 codes for four US Census regions within retail trade. Large private firms' medical claims data from Thomson Reuters Inc. MarketScan databases for the years 2003 through 2006 were used. Average costs were highest for claims related to lumbar region (ICD 9 Code: 724.02) and number of claims were largest for low back syndrome (ICD 9 Code: 724.2). Whereas the odds of filing an MSD claim did not vary greatly over time, average costs declined over time. The odds of filing claims rose with age and were higher for females and southerners than men and non-southerners. Total estimated national medical costs for MSDs within retail trade were $389 million (2007 USD).

Influence of catalyst packing configuration on the discharge characteristics of dielectric barrier discharge reactors: A numerical investigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gadkari, Siddharth; Gu, Sai

2018-06-01

A two-dimensional numerical fluid model is developed for studying the influence of packing configurations on dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) characteristics. Discharge current profiles and time averaged electric field strength, electron number density, and electron temperature distributions are compared for the three DBD configurations, plain DBD with no packing, partially packed DBD, and fully packed DBD. The results show that a strong change in discharge behaviour occurs when a DBD is fully packed as compared to partial packing or no packing. While the average electric field strength and electron temperature of a fully packed DBD are higher relative to the other DBD configurations, the average electron density is substantially lower and may impede the DBD reactor performance under certain operating conditions. Possible scenarios of the synergistic effect of the combination of plasma with catalysis are also discussed.

Improving Arterial Spin Labeling by Using Deep Learning.

PubMed

Kim, Ki Hwan; Choi, Seung Hong; Park, Sung-Hong

2018-05-01

Purpose To develop a deep learning algorithm that generates arterial spin labeling (ASL) perfusion images with higher accuracy and robustness by using a smaller number of subtraction images. Materials and Methods For ASL image generation from pair-wise subtraction, we used a convolutional neural network (CNN) as a deep learning algorithm. The ground truth perfusion images were generated by averaging six or seven pairwise subtraction images acquired with (a) conventional pseudocontinuous arterial spin labeling from seven healthy subjects or (b) Hadamard-encoded pseudocontinuous ASL from 114 patients with various diseases. CNNs were trained to generate perfusion images from a smaller number (two or three) of subtraction images and evaluated by means of cross-validation. CNNs from the patient data sets were also tested on 26 separate stroke data sets. CNNs were compared with the conventional averaging method in terms of mean square error and radiologic score by using a paired t test and/or Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Results Mean square errors were approximately 40% lower than those of the conventional averaging method for the cross-validation with the healthy subjects and patients and the separate test with the patients who had experienced a stroke (P < .001). Region-of-interest analysis in stroke regions showed that cerebral blood flow maps from CNN (mean ± standard deviation, 19.7 mL per 100 g/min ± 9.7) had smaller mean square errors than those determined with the conventional averaging method (43.2 ± 29.8) (P < .001). Radiologic scoring demonstrated that CNNs suppressed noise and motion and/or segmentation artifacts better than the conventional averaging method did (P < .001). Conclusion CNNs provided superior perfusion image quality and more accurate perfusion measurement compared with those of the conventional averaging method for generation of ASL images from pair-wise subtraction images. © RSNA, 2017.

The Spots and Activity of Stars in the Beehive Cluster Observed by the Kepler Space Telescope (K2)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Savanov, I. S.; Kalinicheva, E. S.; Dmitrienko, E. S.

2018-05-01

The spottedness parameters S (the fraction of the visible surface of the star occupied by spots) characterizing the activity of 674 stars in the Beehive Cluster (age 650 Myr) are estimated, together with variations of this parameter as a function of the rotation period, Rossby number Ro and other characteristics of the stars. The activity of the stars in this cluster is lower than the activity of stars in the younger Pleiades (125 Myr). The average S value for the Beehive Cluster stars is 0.014, while Pleiades stars have the much higher average value 0.052. The activity parameters of 61 solar-type stars in the Beehive Cluster, similar Hyades stars (of about the same age), and stars in the younger Pleiades are compared. The average S value of such objects in the Beehive Cluster is 0.014± 0.008, nearly coincident with the estimate obtained for solar-type Hyades stars. The rotation periods of these objects are 9.1 ± 3.4 day, on average, in agreement with the average rotation period of the Hyades stars (8.6 d ). Stars with periods exceeding 3-4 d are more numerous in the Beehive Cluster than in the Pleiades, and their periods have a larger range, 3-30 d . The characteristic dependence with a kink at Ro (saturation) = 0.13 is not observed in the S-Rossby number diagram for the Beehive and Hyades stars, only a clump of objects with Rossby numbers Ro > 0.7. The spottedness data for the Beehive Cluster and Hyades stars are in good agreement with the S values for dwarfs with ages of 600-700 Myr. This provides evidence for the reliability of the results of gyrochronological calibrations. The data for the Beehive and Pleiades stars are used to analyze variations in the spot-forming activity for a large number of stars of the same age that are members of a single cluster. A joint consideration of the data for two clusters can be used to draw conclusions about the time evolution of the activity of stars of different masses (over a time interval of the order of 500 Myr).

An Estimate of North Atlantic Basin Tropical Cyclone Activity for 2008

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, Robert M.

2008-01-01

The statistics of North Atlantic basin tropical cyclones for the interval 1945-2007 are examined and estimates are given for the frequencies of occurrence of the number of tropical cyclones, number of hurricanes, number of major hurricanes, number of category 4/5 hurricanes, and number of U.S. land-falling hurricanes for the 2008 hurricane season. Also examined are the variations of peak wind speed, average peak wind speed per storm, lowest pressure, average lowest pressure per storm, recurrence rate and duration of extreme events (El Nino and La Nina), the variation of 10-yr moving averages of parametric first differences, and the association of decadal averages of frequencies of occurrence of North Atlantic basin tropical cyclones against decadal averages of Armagh Observatory, Northern Ireland, annual mean temperature (found to be extremely important for number of tropical cyclones and number of hurricanes). Because the 2008 hurricane season seems destined to be one that is non-El Nino-related and is a post-1995 season, estimates of the frequencies of occurrence for the various subsets of storms should be above long-term averages.

Exposure to fine particulate, black carbon, and particle number concentration in transportation microenvironments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morales Betancourt, R.; Galvis, B.; Balachandran, S.; Ramos-Bonilla, J. P.; Sarmiento, O. L.; Gallo-Murcia, S. M.; Contreras, Y.

2017-05-01

This research determined intake dose of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), equivalent black carbon (eBC), and number of sub-micron particles (Np) for commuters in Bogotá, Colombia. Doses were estimated through measurements of exposure concentration, a surrogate of physical activity, as well as travel times and speeds. Impacts of travel mode, traffic load, and street configuration on dose and exposure were explored. Three road segments were selected because of their different traffic loads and composition, and dissimilar street configuration. The transport modes considered include active modes (walking and cycling) and motorized modes (bus, car, taxi, and motorcycle). Measurements were performed simultaneously in the available modes at each road segment. High average eBC concentrations were observed throughout the campaign, ranging from 20 to 120 μgm-3 . Commuters in motorized modes experienced significantly higher exposure concentrations than pedestrians and bicyclists. The highest average concentrations of PM2.5, eBC , and Np were measured inside the city's Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system vehicles. Pedestrians and bicycle users in an open street configuration were exposed to the lowest average concentrations of PM2.5 and eBC , six times lower than those experienced by commuters using the BRT in the same street segment. Pedestrians experienced the highest particulate matter intake dose in the road segments studied, despite being exposed to lower concentrations than commuters in motorized modes. Average potential dose of PM2.5 and eBC per unit length traveled were nearly three times higher for pedestrians in a street canyon configuration compared to commuters in public transport. Slower travel speed and elevated inhalation rates dominate PM dose for pedestrians. The presence of dedicated bike lanes on sidewalks has a significant impact on reducing the exposure concentration for bicyclists compared to those riding in mixed traffic lanes. This study proposes a simple method to perform loading effect correction for measurements of black carbon using multiple portable aethalometers.

Birdshot Retinochoroidopathy: Differences in Clinical Characteristics between Patients with Early and Late Age of Onset.

PubMed

Silpa-Archa, Sukhum; Cao, Jennifer H; Boonsopon, Sutasinee; Lee, Joan; Preble, Janine M; Foster, C Stephen

2017-10-01

To describe differences in the clinical characteristics of birdshot retinochoroidopathy (BSRC) patients diagnosed early and later in life. This is a retrospective cohort study. Age was primarily analyzed and 50 years of age at diagnosis was selected as a cut-off point. A total of 144 patients (288 eyes) were included; 68 with early-onset and 76 with late-onset BSRC. The younger group had a statistically significant higher rate of more severe iritis (p = 0.04); an average number of non-steroidal immunosuppressants and biologic agents (NSIB) (p = 0.04); and a prolonged time to initiation of NSIB (p = 0.01). There were only four patients (3%) who had >0.5+ cells in the anterior chamber. Patients with early-onset BSRC carried a higher risk for anterior segment inflammation, had a more prolonged delay to initiation of treatment with NSIB, and required a greater number of NSIBs to achieve remission.

Unsteady free convection flow past a semi-infinite vertical plate with constant heat flux in water based nanofluids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Narahari, Marneni

2018-04-01

The unsteady free convective flow of nanofluids past a semi-infinite vertical plate with uniform heat flux has been investigated numerically. An implicit finite difference technique of Crank-Nicolson scheme has been employed to solve the governing partial differential equations. Five different types of water based nanofluids containing Cu, Ag, Al2O3, CuO and TiO2 nanoparticles are considered to study the fluid flow characteristics with various time and solid volume fraction parameters. It is found that the local as well as the average Nusselt number for nanofluids is higher than the pure fluid (water). The local skin-friction is higher for pure fluid as compared to the nanofluids. The present numerical results obtained for local Nusselt number are validated with the previously published correlation results for a limiting case and it is found that the results are in good agreement.

HIGHER PARENTAL PERCEPTIONS OF WEALTH ASSOCIATED WITH THE BIRTH OF MORE SONS IN AN AUSTRALIAN POPULATION.

PubMed

Behie, A M; O'Donnell, M H

2017-09-20

Many industrialized nations are currently experiencing a decline in average secondary sex ratio (SSR) resulting in fewer boys being born relative to girls. While many potential factors may explain the decline in the birth of males relative to females, it seems most studies support the idea that male offspring are produced less often when environmental conditions are poor owing to males being more susceptible to loss in harsh environments. This study investigates the maternal factors that are associated with the sex of offspring in a cohort of the Australian population. It found that greater parental perceptions of wealth were significantly associated with an increase in the number of sons produced. These results suggest that male offspring are born at increased numbers to women with higher available resources, which may reflect the fact that male offspring are more vulnerable in poor environments.

Computational study of the effect of Reynolds number and motion trajectory asymmetry on the aerodynamics of a pitching airfoil at low Reynolds number

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hammer, Patrick R.

It is well established that natural flyers flap their wings to sustain flight due to poor performance of steady wing aerodynamics at low Reynolds number. Natural flyers also benefit from the propulsive force generated by flapping. Unsteady airfoils allow for simplified study of flapping wing aerodynamics. Limited previous work has suggested that both the Reynolds number and motion trajectory asymmetry play a non-negligible role in the resulting forces and wake structure of an oscillating airfoil. In this work, computations are performed to on this topic for a NACA 0012 airfoil purely pitching about its quarter-chord point. Two-dimensional computations are undertaken using the high-order, extensively validated FDL3DI Navier-Strokes solver developed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The Reynolds number range of this study is 2,000-22,000, reduced frequencies as high as 16 are considered, and the pitching amplitude varies from 2° to 10°. In order to simulate the incompressible limit with the current compressible solver, freestream Mach numbers as low as 0.005 are used. The wake structure is accurately resolved using an overset grid approach. The results show that the streamwise force depends on Reynolds number such that the drag-to-thrust crossover reduced frequency decreases with increasing Reynolds number at a given amplitude. As the amplitude increases, the crossover reduced frequency decreases at a given Reynolds number. The crossover frequency data show good collapse for all pitching amplitudes considered when expressed as the Strouhal number based on trailing edge-amplitude for different Reynolds numbers. Appropriate scaling causes the thrust data to become nearly independent of Reynolds number and amplitude. An increase in propulsive efficiency is observed as the Reynolds number increases while less dependence is seen in the peak-to-peak lift and drag amplitudes. Reynolds number dependence is also seen for the wake structure. The crossover reduced frequency to produce a switch in the wake vortex configuration from von Karman (drag) to reverse von Karman (thrust) patterns decreases as the Reynolds number increases. As the pitching amplitude increases, more complex structures form in the wake, particularly at the higher Reynolds numbers considered. Although both the transverse and streamwise spacing depend on amplitude, the vortex array aspect ratio is nearly amplitude independent for each Reynolds number. Motion trajectory asymmetry produces a non-zero average lift and a decrease in average drag. Decomposition of the lift demonstrates that the majority of the average lift is a result of the component from average vortex (circulatory) lift. The average lift is positive at low reduced frequency, but as the reduced frequency increases at a given motion asymmetry, an increasing amount of negative lift occurs over a greater portion of the oscillation cycle, and eventually causes a switch in the sign of the lift. The maximum value, minimum value, and peak-to-peak amplitude of the lift and drag increase with increasing reduced frequency and asymmetry. The wake structure becomes complex with an asymmetric motion trajectory. A faster pitch-up produces a single positive vortex and one or more negative vortices, the number of which depends on the reduced frequency and asymmetry. When the airfoil motion trajectory is asymmetric, the vortex trajectories and properties in the wake exhibit asymmetric behavior.

Appalachian basin bituminous coal: sulfur content and potential sulfur dioxide emissions of coal mined for electrical power generation: Chapter G.5 in Coal and petroleum resources in the Appalachian basin: distribution, geologic framework, and geochemical character

USGS Publications Warehouse

Trippi, Michael H.; Ruppert, Leslie F.; Attanasi, E.D.; Milici, Robert C.; Freeman, P.A.

2014-01-01

Data from 157 counties in the Appalachian basin of average sulfur content of coal mined for electrical power generation from 1983 through 2005 show a general decrease in the number of counties where coal mining has occurred and a decrease in the number of counties where higher sulfur coals (>2 percent sulfur) were mined. Calculated potential SO2 emissions (assuming no post-combustion SO2 removal) show a corresponding decrease over the same period of time.

An evaluation of self-reported mobile phone use compared to billing records among a group of engineers and scientists.

PubMed

Shum, Mona; Kelsh, Michael A; Sheppard, Asher R; Zhao, Ke

2011-01-01

Most epidemiologic studies of potential health impacts of mobile phones rely on self-reported information, which can lead to exposure misclassification. We compared self-reported questionnaire data among 60 participants, and phone billing records over a 3-year period (2002-2004). Phone usage information was compared by the calculation of the mean and median number of calls and duration of use, as well as correlation coefficients and associated P-values. Average call duration from self-reports was slightly lower than billing records (2.1 min vs. 2.8 min, P = 0.01). Participants reported a higher number of average daily calls than billing records (7.9 vs. 4.1, P = 0.002). Correlation coefficients for average minutes per day of mobile phone use and average number of calls per day were relatively high (R = 0.71 and 0.69, respectively, P < 0.001). Information reported at the monthly level tended to be more accurate than estimates of weekly or daily use. Our findings of modest correlations between self-reported mobile phone usage and billing records and substantial variability in recall are consistent with previous studies. However, the direction of over- and under-reporting was not consistent with previous research. We did not observe increased variability over longer periods of recall or a pattern of lower accuracy among older age groups compared with younger groups. Study limitations included a relatively small sample size, low participation rates, and potential limited generalizability. The variability within studies and non-uniformity across studies indicates that estimation of the frequency and duration of phone use by questionnaires should be supplemented with subscriber records whenever practical. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

New benchmarks for costs and cost-efficiency of school-based feeding programs in food-insecure areas.

PubMed

Gelli, Aulo; Cavallero, Andrea; Minervini, Licia; Mirabile, Mariana; Molinas, Luca; de la Mothe, Marc Regnault

2011-12-01

School feeding is a popular intervention that has been used to support the education, health and nutrition of school children. Although the benefits of school feeding are well documented, the evidence on the costs of such programs is remarkably thin. Address the need for systematic estimates of the cost of different school feeding modalities, and of the determinants of the considerable cost variation among countries. WFP project data, including expenditures and number of schoolchildren covered, were collected for 78 projects in 62 countries through project reports and validated through WFP Country Office records. Yearly project costs per schoolchild were standardized over a set number of feeding days and the amount of energy provided by the average ration. Output metrics, such as tonnage, calories, and micronutrient content, were used to assess the cost-efficiency of the different delivery mechanisms. The standardized yearly average school feeding cost per child, not including school-level costs, was US$48. The yearly costs per child were lowest at US$23 for biscuit programs reaching school-going children and highest at US$75 for take-home rations programs reaching families of schoolgoing children. The average cost of programs combining on-site meals with extra take-home rations for children from vulnerable households was US$61. Commodity costs were on average 58% of total costs and were highest for biscuit and take-home rations programs (71% and 68%, respectively). Fortified biscuits provided the most cost-efficient option in terms of micronutrient delivery, whereas take-home rations were more cost-efficient in terms of food quantities delivered. Both costs and effects should be considered carefully when designing school feeding interventions. The average costs of school feeding estimated here are higher than those found in earlier studies but fall within the range of costs previously reported. Because this analysis does not include school-level costs, these findings highlight the higher nontransfer costs for programs delivering cooked meals in schools than for other school feeding modalities. The benchmarks presented here reflect the centralized WFP implementation model, which is not always relevant in terms of government school feeding programs, particularly those procuring within national boundaries using "home-grown" approaches.

Ecological study of road traffic injuries in the eastern Mediterranean region: country economic level, road user category and gender perspectives.

PubMed

Sengoelge, Mathilde; Laflamme, Lucie; El-Khatib, Ziad

2018-02-13

The Eastern Mediterranean region has the second highest number of road traffic injury mortality rates after the African region based on 2013 data, with road traffic injuries accounting for 27% of the total injury mortality in the region. Globally the number of road traffic deaths has plateaued despite an increase in motorization, but it is uncertain whether this applies to the Region. This study investigated the regional trends in both road traffic injury mortality and morbidity and examined country-based differences considering on income level, categories of road users, and gender distribution. Register-based ecological study linking data from Global Burden of Disease Study with the United Nations Statistics Division for population and World Bank definition for country income level. Road traffic injury mortality rates and disability-adjusted life years were compiled for all ages at country level in 1995, 2005, 2015 and combined for a regional average (n = 22) and a global average (n = 122). The data were stratified by country economic level, road user category and gender. Road traffic injury mortality rates in the Region were higher than the global average for all three reference years but suggest a downward trend. In 2015 mortality rates were more than twice as high in low and high income countries compared to global income averages and motor vehicle occupants had a 3-fold greater mortality than the global average. Severe injuries decreased by more than half for high/middle income countries but remained high for low income countries; three times higher for males than females. Despite a potential downward trend, inequalities in road traffic injury mortality and morbidity burden remain high in the Eastern Mediterranean region. Action needs to be intensified and targeted to implement and enforce safety measures that prevent and mitigate severe motor vehicle crashes in high income countries especially and invest in efforts to promote public, active transport for vulnerable road users in the resource poor countries of the Region.

Observed ozone exceedances in Italy: statistical analysis and modelling in the period 2002-2015

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Falasca, Serena; Curci, Gabriele; Candeloro, Luca; Conte, Annamaria; Ippoliti, Carla

2017-04-01

Local ambient air quality is strongly influenced by anthropogenic emissions and meteorological conditions. The year 2015 is considered by NASA scientists as one of the hottest at the global scale since 1880. Furthermore, in Europe it was the first summer after the introduction of Euro6 regulation, the latest emission standard for passenger vehicles. The goal of this study is twofold: (1) the investigation of the impact of the heat wave occurred in the summer of 2015 on ozone levels and (2) the exploration of the weight of temperature as driver of high-level ozone events with respect to other variables. We performed a quantitative examination of the ozone seasons (May-September) for the period 2002-2015 using ozone concentration and weather data from 24 stations across Italy. The number of exceedances of limit values set by the European directive was calculated for each year, and compared with the trend of ozone concentration and temperature. Furthermore, the data were grouped in clusters of consecutive days of ozone exceedances in order to characterize the duration and the intensity of high ozone events. Finally, we developed a multivariate logistic regression model to investigate the role of a set of independent variables (meteorological, and temporal variables, altitude, number of inhabitants, vehicle emission standard) on the probability of exceedances. Results show that 2015 is one of the hottest years after 2003. During the period 2002-2015, the average number of exceedances per station of the daily maximum 8-hour average is often higher than the limit established by the European directive (25 per year). The highest number of exceedances was 65 per station, reached in 2003. The Po Valley is confirmed as a hot spot for pollution, with more frequent exceedances and a higher sensitivity to temperature, especially at urban sites. Ozone events in 2015 were fewer than recent years, but of longer duration (on average 4 days against 3 days), and with similar mean concentrations. On the other hand, high-temperature events have similar duration and higher mean temperature with respect to recent years, pointing out that temperature is not the only driver of high-ozone events. The statistical model confirms a significant impact of the meteorological variables (positive for temperature and pressure, negative for humidity and wind speed) on the probability of ozone events. Significant predictors are also the altitude (negative) and the number of inhabitants (positive). The decreasing observed recent trend is explained by the introduction of the Euro regulations, rather than natural variability. However, we find an inversion of trend for the more recent period under Euro6 (from September 2014), but we cautionary wait a confirmation from additional data at least for the year 2016.

Vagal Regulation, Cortisol, and Sleep Disruption in Women with Metastatic Breast Cancer

PubMed Central

Palesh, Oxana; Zeitzer, Jamie M.; Conrad, Ansgar; Giese-Davis, Janine; Mustian, Karen M.; Popek, Varinia; Nga, Karen; Spiegel, David

2008-01-01

Study Objectives: To determine the relationship between hypothalamic pituitary axis (HPA) dysregulation, vagal functioning, and sleep problems in women with metastatic breast cancer. Design: Sleep was assessed by means of questionnaires and wrist actigraphy for 3 consecutive nights. The ambulatory, diurnal variation in salivary cortisol levels was measured at 5 time points over 2 days. Vagal regulation was assessed via respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSATF) during the Trier Social Stress Task. Participants: Ninety-nine women (54.6 ± 9.62 years) with metastatic breast cancer. Results: Longer nocturnal wake episodes (r = 0.21, p = 0.04, N = 91) were associated with a flatter diurnal cortisol slope. Sleep disruption was also associated with diminished RSATF. Higher RSA baseline scores were significantly correlated with higher sleep efficiency (r = 0.39, p = 0.001, N = 68) and correspondingly lower levels of interrupted sleep (waking after sleep onset, WASO; r = −0.38, p = 0.002, N = 68), lower average length of nocturnal wake episodes (r = −0.43, p < 0.001, N = 68), and a lower self-reported number of hours of sleep during a typical night (r = −0.27, p = 0.02, N = 72). Higher RSA AUC was significantly related to higher sleep efficiency (r = 0.45, p < 0.001, N = 64), and a correspondingly lower number of wake episodes (r = −0.27, p = 0.04, N = 64), lower WASO (r = −0.40, p = 0.001, N = 64), and with lower average length of nocturnal wake episodes (r = −0.41, p = 0.001, N = 64). While demographics, disease severity, and psychological variables all explained some portion of the development of sleep disruption, 4 of the 6 sleep parameters examined (sleep efficiency, WASO, mean number of waking episodes, average length of waking episode) were best explained by RSA. Conclusions: These data provide preliminary evidence for an association between disrupted nocturnal sleep and reduced RSA the subsequent day, confirming an association between disrupted nocturnal sleep and flattened diurnal cortisol rhythm in women with metastatic breast cancer. They suggest that the stress-buffering effects of sleep may be associated with improved parasympathetic tone and normalized cortisol patterns during the day. Citation: Palesh O; Zeitzer JM; Conrad A; Giese-Davis J; Mustian KM; Popek V; Nga K; Spiegel D. Vagal regulation, cortisol, and sleep disruption in women with metastatic breast cancer. J Clin Sleep Med 2008;4(5):441–449. PMID:18853702

Analysis of Modeling Assumptions used in Production Cost Models for Renewable Integration Studies

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

Stoll, Brady; Brinkman, Gregory; Townsend, Aaron

2016-01-01

Renewable energy integration studies have been published for many different regions exploring the question of how higher penetration of renewable energy will impact the electric grid. These studies each make assumptions about the systems they are analyzing; however the effect of many of these assumptions has not been yet been examined and published. In this paper we analyze the impact of modeling assumptions in renewable integration studies, including the optimization method used (linear or mixed-integer programming) and the temporal resolution of the dispatch stage (hourly or sub-hourly). We analyze each of these assumptions on a large and a small systemmore » and determine the impact of each assumption on key metrics including the total production cost, curtailment of renewables, CO2 emissions, and generator starts and ramps. Additionally, we identified the impact on these metrics if a four-hour ahead commitment step is included before the dispatch step and the impact of retiring generators to reduce the degree to which the system is overbuilt. We find that the largest effect of these assumptions is at the unit level on starts and ramps, particularly for the temporal resolution, and saw a smaller impact at the aggregate level on system costs and emissions. For each fossil fuel generator type we measured the average capacity started, average run-time per start, and average number of ramps. Linear programming results saw up to a 20% difference in number of starts and average run time of traditional generators, and up to a 4% difference in the number of ramps, when compared to mixed-integer programming. Utilizing hourly dispatch instead of sub-hourly dispatch saw no difference in coal or gas CC units for either start metric, while gas CT units had a 5% increase in the number of starts and 2% increase in the average on-time per start. The number of ramps decreased up to 44%. The smallest effect seen was on the CO2 emissions and total production cost, with a 0.8% and 0.9% reduction respectively when using linear programming compared to mixed-integer programming and 0.07% and 0.6% reduction, respectively, in the hourly dispatch compared to sub-hourly dispatch.« less

Higher mortality rates amongst emergency patients admitted to hospital at weekends reflect a lower probability of admission.

PubMed

Meacock, Rachel; Anselmi, Laura; Kristensen, Søren Rud; Doran, Tim; Sutton, Matt

2017-01-01

Objective Patients admitted as emergencies to hospitals at the weekend have higher death rates than patients admitted on weekdays. This may be because the restricted service availability at weekends leads to selection of patients with greater average severity of illness. We examined volumes and rates of hospital admissions and deaths across the week for patients presenting to emergency services through two routes: (a) hospital Accident and Emergency departments, which are open throughout the week; and (b) services in the community, for which availability is more restricted at weekends. Method Retrospective observational study of all 140 non-specialist acute hospital Trusts in England analyzing 12,670,788 Accident and Emergency attendances and 4,656,586 emergency admissions (940,859 direct admissions from primary care and 3,715,727 admissions through Accident and Emergency) between April 2013 and February 2014.Emergency attendances and admissions to hospital and deaths in any hospital within 30 days of attendance or admission were compared for weekdays and weekends. Results Similar numbers of patients attended Accident and Emergency on weekends and weekdays. There were similar numbers of deaths amongst patients attending Accident and Emergency on weekend days compared with weekdays (378.0 vs. 388.3). Attending Accident and Emergency at the weekend was not associated with a significantly higher probability of death (risk-adjusted OR: 1.010). Proportionately fewer patients who attended Accident and Emergency at weekend were admitted to hospital (27.5% vs. 30.0%) and it is only amongst the subset of patients attending Accident and Emergency who were selected for admission to hospital that the probability of dying was significantly higher at the weekend (risk-adjusted OR: 1.054). The average volume of direct admissions from services in the community was 61% lower on weekend days compared to weekdays (1317 vs. 3404). There were fewer deaths following direct admission on weekend days than weekdays (35.9 vs. 80.8). The mortality rate was significantly higher at weekends amongst direct admissions (risk-adjusted OR: 1.212) due to the proportionately greater reduction in admissions relative to deaths. Conclusions There are fewer deaths following hospital admission at weekends. Higher mortality rates at weekends are found only amongst the subset of patients who are admitted. The reduced availability of primary care services and the higher Accident and Emergency admission threshold at weekends mean fewer and sicker patients are admitted at weekends than during the week. Extending services in hospitals and in the community at weekends may increase the number of emergency admissions and therefore lower mortality, but may not reduce the absolute number of deaths.

Bibliometric Indicators of Russian Journals by JCR-Science Edition, 1995-2010.

PubMed

Libkind, A N; Markusova, V A; Mindeli, L E

2013-07-01

A representative empirical bibliometric analysis of Russian journals included in the Journal Citation Reports-Science Edition (JCR-SE) for the time period 1995-2010 was conducted at the macro level (excluding the subject categories). It was found that the growth in the number of articles covered by JCR (a 1.8-fold increase compared to 1995) is ahead of the growth rates of Russian publications (1.2-fold increase). Hence, the share of Russian articles covered by JCR-SE was down from 2.5% in 1995 to 1.7% in 2010. It was determined that the number of articles published in an average Russian journal reduced by 20% as compared to the number of articles in an average journal of the full data set. These facts could partly shed light on the question why Russian research performance is staggering (approximately 30,000 articles per year), although the coverage of Russian journals has expanded to 150 titles. Over the past 15 years, a twofold increase in the impact factor of the Russian journals has been observed, which is higher than that for the full data set of journals (a 1.4-fold increase). Measures to improve the quality of Russian journals are proposed.

[Cervicobrachial disorders in school-lunch female cooks].

PubMed

Amano, M; Yatsuki, K; Umeda, G

1987-09-01

To clarify the relationship between the cervicobrachial disorders in the school-lunch female cooks and number of lunch, 15 elementary school-lunch cooks of O town whose quorum were observed by the standard of the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture and 19 cooks of M town whose quorum was one more than the standard were examined medically and their work conditions were also investigated. Results were as follows: 1) There were significantly (p less than 0.01) more cooks medically classified as "Normal (A)" in M town than in O town. Conversely, cooks classified as "Need therapy (C)" were more numerous in O town (p less than 0.01) than in M town (p less than 0.05). 2) In clinical findings prevalence rates such as median nerve extension test, cinesalgia in the neck, tenderness (flexor tendon of the lst finger of the hand, trapezius muscle, rhomboid muscle, teres minor muscle, brachioradial muscle) were higher in O town cooks than in M town cooks significantly (p less than 0.05). Complaint rates of the subjective symptoms or activities of daily living such as "pain in the neck," "pain in the arms," "want to lie down at free time" were higher in O town cooks than those in M town cooks significantly (p less than 0.05). 3) Average numbers of lunch and classes per cook were 137 lunch and 3.3 classes for O town cooks, and 114 and 2.9 for M town cooks, respectively. The average number of lunch of two towns were significantly different (p less than 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Natural convection of Al2O3-water nanofluid in a wavy enclosure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leonard, Mitchell; Mozumder, Aloke K.; Mahmud, Shohel; Das, Prodip K.

2017-06-01

Natural convection heat transfer and fluid flow inside enclosures filled with fluids, such as air, water or oil, have been extensively analysed for thermal enhancement and optimisation due to their applications in many engineering problems, including solar collectors, electronic cooling, lubrication technologies, food processing and nuclear reactors. In comparison, little effort has been given to the problem of natural convection inside enclosures filled with nanofluids, while the addition of nanoparticles into a fluid base to alter thermal properties can be a feasible solution for many heat transfer problems. In this study, the problem of natural convection heat transfer and fluid flow inside a wavy enclosure filled with Al2O3-water nanofluid is investigated numerically using ANSYS-FLUENT. The effects of surface waviness and aspect ratio of the wavy enclosure on the heat transfer and fluid flow are analysed for various concentrations of Al2O3 nanoparticles in water. Flow fields and temperature fields are investigated and heat transfer rate is examined for different values of Rayleigh number. Results show that heat transfer within the enclosure can be enhanced by increasing surface waviness, aspect ratio or nanoparticles volume fraction. Changes in surface waviness have little effect on the heat transfer rate at low Rayleigh numbers, but when Ra ≥ 105 heat transfer increases with the increase of surface waviness from zero to higher values. Increasing the aspect ratio causes an increase in heat transfer rate, as the Rayleigh number increases the effect of changing aspect ratio is more apparent with the greatest heat transfer enhancement seen at higher Rayleigh numbers. Nanoparticles volume fraction has a little effect on the average Nusselt number at lower Rayleigh numbers when Ra ≥ 105 average Nusselt number increases with the increase of volume fraction. These findings provide insight into the heat transfer effects of using Al2O3-water nanofluid as a heat transfer medium and the effects of changing geometrical parameters, which will help in developing novel geometries with enhanced and controlled heat-transfer for solar collectors, electronic cooling, and food processing industries.

Technical Note: Modification of the standard gain correction algorithm to compensate for the number of used reference flat frames in detector performance studies

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

Konstantinidis, Anastasios C.; Olivo, Alessandro; Speller, Robert D.

2011-12-15

Purpose: The x-ray performance evaluation of digital x-ray detectors is based on the calculation of the modulation transfer function (MTF), the noise power spectrum (NPS), and the resultant detective quantum efficiency (DQE). The flat images used for the extraction of the NPS should not contain any fixed pattern noise (FPN) to avoid contamination from nonstochastic processes. The ''gold standard'' method used for the reduction of the FPN (i.e., the different gain between pixels) in linear x-ray detectors is based on normalization with an average reference flat-field. However, the noise in the corrected image depends on the number of flat framesmore » used for the average flat image. The aim of this study is to modify the standard gain correction algorithm to make it independent on the used reference flat frames. Methods: Many publications suggest the use of 10-16 reference flat frames, while other studies use higher numbers (e.g., 48 frames) to reduce the propagated noise from the average flat image. This study quantifies experimentally the effect of the number of used reference flat frames on the NPS and DQE values and appropriately modifies the gain correction algorithm to compensate for this effect. Results: It is shown that using the suggested gain correction algorithm a minimum number of reference flat frames (i.e., down to one frame) can be used to eliminate the FPN from the raw flat image. This saves computer memory and time during the x-ray performance evaluation. Conclusions: The authors show that the method presented in the study (a) leads to the maximum DQE value that one would have by using the conventional method and very large number of frames and (b) has been compared to an independent gain correction method based on the subtraction of flat-field images, leading to identical DQE values. They believe this provides robust validation of the proposed method.« less

Retrofit Weight-Loss Outcomes at 6, 12, and 24 Months and Characteristics of 12-Month High Performers: A Retrospective Analysis.

PubMed

Painter, Stefanie; Ditsch, Gary; Ahmed, Rezwan; Hanson, Nicholas Buck; Kachin, Kevin; Berger, Jan

2016-08-22

Obesity is the leading cause of preventable death costing the health care system billions of dollars. Combining self-monitoring technology with personalized behavior change strategies results in clinically significant weight loss. However, there is a lack of real-world outcomes in commercial weight-loss program research. Retrofit is a personalized weight management and disease-prevention solution. This study aimed to report Retrofit's weight-loss outcomes at 6, 12, and 24 months and characterize behaviors, age, and sex of high-performing participants who achieved weight loss of 10% or greater at 12 months. A retrospective analysis was performed from 2011 to 2014 using 2720 participants enrolled in a Retrofit weight-loss program. Participants had a starting body mass index (BMI) of >25 kg/m² and were at least 18 years of age. Weight measurements were assessed at 6, 12, and 24 months in the program to evaluate change in body weight, BMI, and percentage of participants who achieved 5% or greater weight loss. A secondary analysis characterized high-performing participants who lost ≥10% of their starting weight (n=238). Characterized behaviors were evaluated, including self-monitoring through weigh-ins, number of days wearing an activity tracker, daily step count average, and engagement through coaching conversations via Web-based messages, and number of coaching sessions attended. Average weight loss at 6 months was -5.55% for male and -4.86% for female participants. Male and female participants had an average weight loss of -6.28% and -5.37% at 12 months, respectively. Average weight loss at 24 months was -5.03% and -3.15% for males and females, respectively. Behaviors of high-performing participants were assessed at 12 months. Number of weigh-ins were greater in high-performing male (197.3 times vs 165.4 times, P=.001) and female participants (222 times vs 167 times, P<.001) compared with remaining participants. Total activity tracker days and average steps per day were greater in high-performing females (304.7 vs 266.6 days, P<.001; 8380.9 vs 7059.7 steps, P<.001, respectively) and males (297.1 vs 255.3 days, P<.001; 9099.3 vs 8251.4 steps, P=.008, respectively). High-performing female participants had significantly more coaching conversations via Web-based messages than remaining female participants (341.4 vs 301.1, P=.03), as well as more days with at least one such electronic message (118 vs 108 days, P=.03). High-performing male participants displayed similar behavior. Participants on the Retrofit program lost an average of -5.21% at 6 months, -5.83% at 12 months, and -4.09% at 24 months. High-performing participants show greater adherence to self-monitoring behaviors of weighing in, number of days wearing an activity tracker, and average number of steps per day. Female high performers have higher coaching engagement through conversation days and total number of coaching conversations.

Factors governing particle number emissions in a waste-to-energy plant.

PubMed

Ozgen, Senem; Cernuschi, Stefano; Giugliano, Michele

2015-05-01

Particle number concentration and size distribution measurements were performed on the stack gas of a waste-to-energy plant which co-incinerates municipal solid waste, sewage sludge and clinical waste in two lines. Average total number of particles was found to be 4.0·10(5)cm(-3) and 1.9·10(5)cm(-3) for the line equipped with a wet flue gas cleaning process and a dry cleaning system, respectively. Ultrafine particles (dp<100nm) accounted for about 97% of total number concentration for both lines, whereas the nanoparticle (dp<50nm) contribution differed slightly between the lines (87% and 84%). The experimental data is explored statistically through some multivariate pattern identifying methods such as factor analysis and cluster analysis to help the interpretation of the results regarding the origin of the particles in the flue gas with the objective of determining the factors governing the particle number emissions. The higher moisture of the flue gas in the wet cleaning process was found to increase the particle number emissions on average by a factor of about 2 due to increased secondary formation of nanoparticles through nucleation of gaseous precursors such as sulfuric acid, ammonia and water. The influence of flue gas dilution and cooling monitored through the variation of the sampling conditions also confirms the potential effect of the secondary new particle formation in increasing the particle number emissions. This finding shows the importance of reporting the experimental conditions in detail to enable the comparison and interpretation of particle number emissions. Regarding the fuel characteristics no difference was observed in terms of particle number concentration and size distributions between the clinical waste feed and the municipal solid waste co-incineration with sludge. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impact of heat treatments on the fatigue resistance of different rotary nickel-titanium instruments.

PubMed

Braga, Lígia Carolina Moreira; Faria Silva, Ana Cristina; Buono, Vicente Tadeu Lopes; de Azevedo Bahia, Maria Guiomar

2014-09-01

The aim of this study was to assess the influence of M-Wire (Dentsply Tulsa Dental Specialties, Tulsa, OK) and controlled memory technologies on the fatigue resistance of rotary nickel-titanium (NiTi) files by comparing files made using these 2 technologies with conventional NiTi files. Files with a similar cross-sectional design and diameter were chosen for the study: new 30/.06 files of the EndoWave (EW; J. Morita Corp, Osaka, Japan), HyFlex (HF; Coltene/Whaledent, Inc, Cuyahoga Falls, OH), ProFile Vortex (PV; Dentsply Tulsa Dental Specialties, Tulsa, OK), and Typhoon (TYP; Clinician's Choice Dental Products, New Milford, CT) systems together with ProTaper Universal F2 instruments (PTU F2; Dentsply Maillefer, Ballaigues, Switzerland). The compositions and transformation temperatures of the instruments were analyzed using x-ray energy-dispersive spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry, whereas the mean file diameter values at 3 mm from the tip (D3) were measured using image analysis software. The average number of cycles to failure was determined using a fatigue test device. X-ray energy-dispersive spectroscopy analysis showed that, on average, all the instruments exhibited the same chemical composition, namely, 51% Ni-49% Ti. The PV, TYP, and HF files exhibited increased transformation temperatures. The PTU F2, PV, and TYP files had similar D3 values, which were less than those of the EW and HF files. The average number of cycles to failure values were 150% higher for the TYP files compared with the PV files and 390% higher for the HF files compared with the EW files. M-Wire and controlled memory technologies increase the fatigue resistance of rotary NiTi files. Copyright © 2014 American Association of Endodontists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Microplastics and mesoplastics in fish from coastal and fresh waters of China.

PubMed

Jabeen, Khalida; Su, Lei; Li, Jiana; Yang, Dongqi; Tong, Chunfu; Mu, Jingli; Shi, Huahong

2017-02-01

Plastic pollution is a growing global concern. In the present study, we investigated plastic pollution in 21 species of sea fish and 6 species of freshwater fish from China. All of the species were found to ingest micro- or mesoplastics. The average abundance of microplastics varied from 1.1 to 7.2 items by individual and 0.2-17.2 items by gram. The average abundance of mesoplastics varied from 0.2 to 3.0 items by individual and 0.1-3.9 items by gram. Microplastics were abundant in 26 species, accounting for 55.9-92.3% of the total number of plastics items in each species. Thamnaconus septentrionalis contained the highest abundance of microplastics (7.2 items/individual). The average abundance of plastics in sea benthopelagic fishes was significantly higher than in freshwater benthopelagic fishes by items/individual. The plastics were dominanted by fiber in shape, transparent in color and cellophane in composition. The proportion of plastics in the stomach to the intestines showed great variation in different species, ranging from 0.5 to 1.9 by items/individual. The stomach of Harpodon nehereus and intestines of Pampus cinereus contained the highest number of plastics, (3.3) and (2.7), respectively, by items/individual. Our results suggested that plastic pollution was widespread in the investigated fish species and showed higher abundance in comparison with worldwide studies. The ingestion of plastics in fish was closely related to the habitat and gastrointestinal tract structure. We highly recommend that the entire gastrointestinal tract and digestion process be used in future investigations of plastic pollution in fish. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Average of delta: a new quality control tool for clinical laboratories.

PubMed

Jones, Graham R D

2016-01-01

Average of normals is a tool used to control assay performance using the average of a series of results from patients' samples. Delta checking is a process of identifying errors in individual patient results by reviewing the difference from previous results of the same patient. This paper introduces a novel alternate approach, average of delta, which combines these concepts to use the average of a number of sequential delta values to identify changes in assay performance. Models for average of delta and average of normals were developed in a spreadsheet application. The model assessed the expected scatter of average of delta and average of normals functions and the effect of assay bias for different values of analytical imprecision and within- and between-subject biological variation and the number of samples included in the calculations. The final assessment was the number of patients' samples required to identify an added bias with 90% certainty. The model demonstrated that with larger numbers of delta values, the average of delta function was tighter (lower coefficient of variation). The optimal number of samples for bias detection with average of delta was likely to be between 5 and 20 for most settings and that average of delta outperformed average of normals when the within-subject biological variation was small relative to the between-subject variation. Average of delta provides a possible additional assay quality control tool which theoretical modelling predicts may be more valuable than average of normals for analytes where the group biological variation is wide compared with within-subject variation and where there is a high rate of repeat testing in the laboratory patient population. © The Author(s) 2015.

A preliminary investigation of high dose ion irradiation response of a lanthana-bearing nanostructured ferritic steel processed via spark plasma sintering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pasebani, Somayeh; Charit, Indrajit; Guria, Ankan; Wu, Yaqiao; Burns, Jatuporn; Butt, Darryl P.; Cole, James I.; Shao, Lin

2017-11-01

A nanostructured ferritic steel with nominal composition of Fe-14Cr-1Ti-0.3Mo-0.5La2O3 (wt.%) was irradiated with Fe+2 ions at 475 °C for 100, 200, 300 and 400 dpa. Grain coarsening was observed for the samples irradiated for 200-400 dpa resulting in an increase of the average grain size from 152 nm to 620 nm. Growth of submicron grains at higher radiation doses is due to decreased pinning effect imparted by Cr-O rich nanoparticles (NPs) that underwent coarsening via Ostwald ripening. Dislocation density consistently increased with increasing irradiation dose at 300 and 400 dpa. The mean radius of lanthanum-containing nanoclusters (NCs) decreased and their number density increased above 200 dpa, which is likely due to solutes ejection caused by ballistic dissolution and irradiation-enhanced diffusion. Chromium, titanium, oxygen and lanthanum content of nanoclusters irradiated at 200 dpa and higher got reduced by almost half the initial value. The reduction in size of the nanoclusters accompanied with their higher number density and higher dislocation density led to significant radiation hardening with increasing irradiation dose.

Improvement of mass transfer characteristics and productivities of inclined tubular photobioreactors by installation of internal static mixers.

PubMed

Ugwu, C U; Ogbonna, J C; Tanaka, H

2002-04-01

The feasibility of improving mass transfer characteristics of inclined tubular photobioreactors by installation of static mixers was investigated. The mass transfer characteristics of the tubular photobioreactor varied depending on the type (shape) and the number of static mixers. The volumetric oxygen transfer coefficient ( k(L)a) and gas hold up of the photobioreactor with internal static mixers were significantly higher than those of the photobioreactor without static mixers. The k(L)a and gas hold up increased with the number of static mixers but the mixing time became longer due to restricted liquid flow through the static mixers. By installing the static mixers, the liquid flow changed from plug flow to turbulent mixing so that cells were moved between the surface and bottom of the photobioreactor. In outdoor culture of Chlorella sorokiniana, the photobioreactor with static mixers gave higher biomass productivities irrespective of the standing biomass concentration and solar radiation. The effectiveness of the static mixers (average percentage increase in the productivities of the photobioreactor with static mixers over the productivities obtained without static mixers) was higher at higher standing biomass concentrations and on cloudy days (solar radiation below 6 MJ m(-2) day(-1)).

Resource utilization in primary repair of cleft palate.

PubMed

Owusu, James A; Liu, Meixia; Sidman, James D; Scott, Andrew R

2013-03-01

To estimate the current incidence of cleft palate in the United States and to determine national variations in resource utilization for primary repair of cleft palate. Retrospective analysis of a national, pediatric database (2009 Kids Inpatient Database). Patients aged 3 and below admitted for cleft palate repair were selected, using ICD-9 codes for cleft palate and procedure code for primary (initial) repair of cleft palate. A number of demographic variables were analyzed, and hospital charges were considered as a measure of resource utilization. Primary repair of cleft palate was performed on 1,943 patients. The estimated incidence was 0.11% with male to female ratio of 1.2:1. Regional incidence ranged from 0.09% (Northeast) to 0.12% (Midwest). The mean age at surgery was 13.4 months. The average length of stay was 1.9 days. The average total charge nationwide was $22,982, ranging from $17,972 (South) to $25,671 (Northeast). Average charge in a teaching institution was $4,925 higher than for nonteaching institutions. The strongest predictor of charge was length of stay, increasing charge by $7,663 for every additional hospital day (P < 0.01). National variations exist in resource utilization for primary repair of cleft palate, with higher charges in Northeastern states and teaching hospitals. The strongest predictor of increased resource use was length of stay, which was significantly higher at teaching institutions. Copyright © 2012 The American Laryngological, Rhinological, and Otological Society, Inc.

How Many Is Too Many? On the Relationship between Research Productivity and Impact

PubMed Central

Larivière, Vincent; Costas, Rodrigo

2016-01-01

Over the last few decades, the institutionalisation of quantitative research evaluations has created incentives for scholars to publish as many papers as possible. This paper assesses the effects of such incentives on individual researchers’ scientific impact, by analysing the relationship between their number of articles and their proportion of highly cited papers. In other words, does the share of an author’s top 1% most cited papers increase, remain stable, or decrease as his/her total number of papers increase? Using a large dataset of disambiguated researchers (N = 28,078,476) over the 1980–2013 period, this paper shows that, on average, the higher the number of papers a researcher publishes, the higher the proportion of these papers are amongst the most cited. This relationship is stronger for older cohorts of researchers, while decreasing returns to scale are observed for recent cohorts. On the whole, these results suggest that for established researchers, the strategy of publishing as many papers as possible did not yield lower shares of highly cited publications, but such a pattern is not always observed for younger scholars. PMID:27682366

Compressible Boundary Layer Predictions at High Reynolds Number using Hybrid LES/RANS Methods

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Choi, Jung-Il; Edwards, Jack R.; Baurle, Robert A.

2008-01-01

Simulations of compressible boundary layer flow at three different Reynolds numbers (Re(sub delta) = 5.59x10(exp 4), 1.78x10(exp 5), and 1.58x10(exp 6) are performed using a hybrid large-eddy/Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes method. Variations in the recycling/rescaling method, the higher-order extension, the choice of primitive variables, the RANS/LES transition parameters, and the mesh resolution are considered in order to assess the model. The results indicate that the present model can provide good predictions of the mean flow properties and second-moment statistics of the boundary layers considered. Normalized Reynolds stresses in the outer layer are found to be independent of Reynolds number, similar to incompressible turbulent boundary layers.

Identifying genes that extend life span using a high-throughput screening system.

PubMed

Chen, Cuiying; Contreras, Roland

2007-01-01

We developed a high-throughput functional genomic screening system that allows identification of genes prolonging lifespan in the baker's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The method is based on isolating yeast mother cells with a higher than average number of cell divisions as indicated by the number of bud scars on their surface. Fluorescently labeled wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) was used for specific staining of chitin, a major component of bud scars. The critical new steps in our bud-scar-sorting system are the use of small microbeads, which allows successive rounds of purification and regrowth of the mother cells (M-cell), and utilization of flow cytometry to sort and isolate cells with a longer lifespan based on the number of bud scars specifically labeled with WGA.

Family functioning in the families of psychiatric patients: a comparison with nonclinical families.

PubMed

Trangkasombat, Umaporn

2006-11-01

To examine family functioning in the families of psychiatric patients. Families of psychiatric patients and nonclinical families were compared. There were 60 families in each group. The instrument included a semistructured interview of family functioning and the Chulalongkorn Family Inventory (CFI), a self-report questionnaire designed to assess the perception of one's family. From the assessment by semistructured interview, 83.3% of psychiatric families and 45.0% of nonclinical families were found to be dysfunctional in at least one dimension. The difference was statistically significant (p < 0.001). The average number of dysfunctional dimensions in the psychiatric families was significantly higher than in the nonclinical control group, 3.5 +/- 1.9 and 0.98 +/- 1.5 respectively, p < 0.0001. The CFI scores of the psychiatric families were significantly lower than the control group, reflecting poor family functioning. The dysfunctions were mostly in the following dimensions: problem-solving, communication, affective responsiveness, affective involvement, and behavior control. Psychiatric families faced more psychosocial stressors and the average number of stressors was higher than the control families, 88.3% vs. 56.7% and 4.2 +/- 2.7 vs. 1.3 +/- 1.47 stressors respectively, p < 0.0001. Family functioning of psychiatric patients was less healthy than the nonclinical control. The present study underlined the significance of family assessment and family intervention in the comprehensive care of psychiatric patients.

[Worker exposure to ultrafine particles during carbon black treatment].

PubMed

Mikołajczyk, Urszula; Bujak-Pietrek, Stella; Szadkowska-Stańczyk, Irena

2015-01-01

The aim of the project was to assess the exposure of workers to ultrafine particles released during handling and packing of carbon black. The assessment included the results of the measurements performed in a carbon black handling plant before, during, and after work shift. The number concentration of particles within the dimension range 10-1000 nm and 10-100 nm was assayed by a condensation particle counter (CPC). The mass concentration of particles was determined by a DustTrak II DRX aerosol concentration monitor. The surface area concentration of the particles potentially deposited in the alveolar (A) and tracheo-bronchial (TB) regions was estimated by an AeroTrak 9000 nanoparticle monitor. An average mass concentration of particles during the process was 6-fold higher than that before its start, while a 3-fold increase in the average number concentration of particles within the dimension range 10-1000 nm and 10-100 nm was observed during the process. At the same time a 4-fold increase was found in the surface area concentration of the particles potentially deposited in the A and TB regions. During the process of carbon black handling and packing a significantly higher values of each of the analysed parameters, characterizing the exposure to ultrafine particles, were noted. This work is available in Open Access model and licensed under a CC BY-NC 3.0 PL license.

Determinants of psychogeriatric inpatient length of stay and direct medical costs: a 6-year longitudinal study using a national database in Taiwan.

PubMed

Liu, Chin-Ming; Li, Chu-Shiu; Liu, Chwen-Chi; Tu, Chu-Chin

2012-08-01

This research examined factors related to the average length of hospital stay (LOS) and average direct medical costs (DMC) for 2291 psychogeriatric inpatients (aged 65 and over) admitted for the first time to a psychiatric ward in 2002. Hospitalization claim data of these inpatients were traced for the subsequent 6 years (2002-2007) from the dataset of Taiwan's National Health Insurance program. Analysis was carried out using the t-test, χ(2) -test and zero truncated Tobit regression. Mean LOS and mean DMC were significantly different according to sex, psychiatric diagnosis, institution type, ownership type, and number of hospitalizations, but age was the exception. Both LOS and DMC exhibited downward U-shape for the number of hospitalizations. Factors significantly associated with longer LOS and higher DMC were: male sex; schizophrenic and delusional disorders (compared with dementia); and public institution (compared with private hospital). Compared with dementia, organic mental and anxiety disorders had significantly shorter LOS, and affective disorders had shorter LOS but higher DMC. Community and psychiatric hospitals (compared with general hospital) significantly influenced LOS but not DMC. Our results can be used as a reference for providers and policymakers to improve psychiatric care efficiency and carry out National Health Insurance financial reform for psychogeriatric inpatients. © 2012 The Authors. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences © 2012 Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology.

Outpatient health care utilization of suicide decedents in their last year of life.

PubMed

Liu, Hui-Li; Chen, Lih-Hwa; Huang, Shiuh-Ming

2012-08-01

The characteristics of health care utilization during the last year of life by Taiwanese who died by suicide were analyzed. The degree of health services utilization was evaluated by extracting the data of National Health Insurance (NHI) outpatient cohort records in 2006. A total of 4,406 fatal suicide cases were matched with the 17,587,901 subjects in the NHI beneficiary registry file. Rate of visit of the suicide decedents for all NHI outpatient services during their last year before death was 85%, and that for mental disorders service only was 30.2%. Average number of visits per person-year of the suicide decedents was 24.5 visits per year, two times higher than that of the survivors. The average numbers of visits (ANV) of male suicide decedents who used the mental disorders services was increased 6.8 times compared to that for all survivors. The increase in female decedents, in contrast, was 2.7 times. The increase in ANV for 15-24 age group was 14.6 times, significantly higher than that for the other age groups (<4 times). Effective prediction or prevention of potential suicides through increased awareness and surveillance of medical care resource utilization is possible, especially for male and young adult patients under mental disorder health care. © 2012 The American Association of Suicidology.

Growth and Flowering Responses of Cut Chrysanthemum Grown under Restricted Root Volume to Irrigation Frequency

PubMed Central

Taweesak, Viyachai; Lee Abdullah, Thohirah; Hassan, Siti Aishah; Kamarulzaman, Nitty Hirawaty; Wan Yusoff, Wan Abdullah

2014-01-01

Influences of irrigation frequency on the growth and flowering of chrysanthemum grown under restricted root volume were tested. Chrysanthemum cuttings (Chrysanthemum morifolium “Reagan White”) were grown in seedling tray which contained coconut peat in volumes of 73 and 140 cm3. Plants were irrigated with drip irrigation at irrigation frequencies of 4 (266 mL), 6 (400 mL), and 8 (533 mL) times/day to observe their growth and flowering performances. There was interaction between irrigation frequency and substrate volume on plant height of chrysanthemum. Plants grown in 140 cm3 substrates and irrigated 6 times/day produced the tallest plant of 109.25 cm. Plants irrigated 6 and 8 times/day had significantly higher level of phosphorus content in their leaves than those plants irrigated 4 times/day. The total leaf area, number of internodes, leaf length, and leaf width of chrysanthemums grown in 140 cm3 substrate were significantly higher than those grown in 73 cm3 substrate. The numbers of flowers were affected by both irrigation frequencies and substrate volumes. Chrysanthemums irrigated 8 times/day had an average of 19.56 flowers while those irrigated 4 times/day had an average of 16.63 flowers. Increasing irrigation frequency can improve the growth and flowering of chrysanthemums in small substrate volumes. PMID:25478586

The effect of latitudinal gradient on the species diversity of Chinese litter-dwelling thrips

PubMed Central

Wang, Jun; Tong, Xiaoli; Wu, Donghui

2014-01-01

Abstract To understand the global distribution patterns of litter-dwelling thrips, a total 150 leaf litter samples were collected from 6 natural reserves located in three climatic regions, temperate, subtropical and tropical. The results showed the relative abundance of Thysanoptera was over 3.0% in 4 natural reserves from subtropical and tropical zone, and reached 5.9% in one tropical reserve, only less than Acarina and Collembola. In contrast it was only 0.3% in the warm temperate natural reserves, and no thrips were collected in a mid temperate reserve. The order on the average species numbers per plot of litter thrips was tropic > subtropics > temperate (n=25, p<0.05). Mean density of litter thrips per plots in the tropics and subtropics was significantly higher than that in the temperate region (n=25, p<0.05), but the average density was not significantly different between tropical and subtropical zones (n=25, p>0.05). The diversity of litter thrips in the tropics and subtropics was much higher than that in the temperate area based on comparsions of Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H’), Pielou eveness index (J), and Simpson dominance index (D). All of these results indicated that litter-dwelling thrips lived mainly in tropical and subtropical regions; meanwhile, species number and relative abundance increased with decreasing latitude. PMID:25061351

Variation in human fungiform taste bud densities among regions and subjects.

PubMed

Miller, I J

1986-12-01

Taste sensitivity is known to vary among regions of the tongue and between subjects. The distribution of taste buds on the human tongue is examined in this report to determine if interregional and intersubject variation of taste bud density might account for some of the variation in human taste sensitivity. The subjects were ten males, aged 22-80 years, who died from acute trauma or an acute cardiovascular episode. Specimens were obtained as anatomical gifts or from autopsy. A sample of tissue about 1 cm2 was taken from the tongue tip and midlateral region; frozen sections were prepared for light microscopy; and serial sections were examined by light microscopy to count the taste buds. The average taste bud (tb) density on the tongue tip was 116 tb/cm2 with a range from 3.6 to 514 among subjects. The number of gustatory papillae on the tip averaged 24.5 papillae/cm2 with a range from 2.4 to 80. Taste bud density in the midregion averaged 25.2 tb/cm2 (range: 0-85.9), and the mean number of gustatory papillae was 8.25/cm2 (range: 0-28). The mean number of taste buds per papilla was 3.8 +/- 2.2 (s.d.) on the tip and 2.6 +/- 1.5 (s.d.) on the midregion. Subjects with the highest taste bud densities on the tip also had the highest densities in the midregion and the highest number of taste buds per papilla. Taste bud density was 4.6 times higher on the tip than the midregion, which probably accounts for some of the regional difference in taste sensitivity.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Experimental study on heat transfer performance of fin-tube exchanger and PSHE for waste heat recovery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Ting; Bae, Kyung Jin; Kwon, Oh Kyung

2018-02-01

In this paper, heat transfer characteristics of fin-tube heat exchanger and primary surface heat exchanger (PSHE) used in waste heat recovery were investigated experimentally. The flow in the fin-tube heat exchanger is cross flow and in PSHE counter flow. The variations of friction factor and Colburn j factor with air mass flow rate, and Nu number with Re number are presented. Various comparison methods are used to evaluate heat transfer performance, and the results show that the heat transfer rate of the PSHE is on average 17.3% larger than that of fin-tube heat exchanger when air mass flow rate is ranging from 1.24 to 3.45 kg/min. However, the PSHE causes higher pressure drop, and the fin-tube heat exchanger has a wider application range which leads to a 31.7% higher value of maximum heat transfer rate compared to that of the PSHE. Besides, under the same fan power per unit frontal surface, a higher heat transfer rate value is given in the fin-tube heat exchanger.

Effect of the ultrasound-Fenton oxidation process with the addition of a chelating agent on the removal of petroleum-based contaminants from soil.

PubMed

Li, Ying; Li, Fangmin; Li, Fanxiu; Yuan, Fuqian; Wei, Pingfang

2015-12-01

The effects of ultrasonic irradiation, the chelating agent modified Fenton reaction, and a combination of ultrasound and the Fenton method in removing petroleum contaminants from a soil were studied. The results showed that the contaminant removal rate of the Fenton treatment combined with an oxalic acid chelating agent was 55.6% higher than that without a chelating agent. The average removal rate of the contaminants using the ultrasound-Fenton treatment was 59.0% higher than that without ultrasonic treatment. A combination of ultrasound and an Fe(2+)/Fe(3+)-oxalate complex-modified Fenton reagent resulted in significantly higher removal rates of n-alkanes (C(n)H(2n+2), n < 28), isoprenoid hydrocarbons, aromatic hydrocarbons, and saturated polycyclic terpenes compared with the ultrasound treatment alone or the Fenton method. The Fenton reaction and the ultrasound-Fenton treatment can unselectively remove multiple components of residual hydrocarbons and a number of benzene rings in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The chemistry of the heterocyclic compounds and the position and number of substituents can affect the degradation process.

Correspondence between evoked vocal responses and auditory thresholds in Pleurodema thaul (Amphibia; Leptodactylidae).

PubMed

Penna, Mario; Velásquez, Nelson; Solís, Rigoberto

2008-04-01

Thresholds for evoked vocal responses and thresholds of multiunit midbrain auditory responses to pure tones and synthetic calls were investigated in males of Pleurodema thaul, as behavioral thresholds well above auditory sensitivity have been reported for other anurans. Thresholds for evoked vocal responses to synthetic advertisement calls played back at increasing intensity averaged 43 dB RMS SPL (range 31-52 dB RMS SPL), measured at the subjects' position. Number of pulses increased with stimulus intensities, reaching a plateau at about 18-39 dB above threshold and decreased at higher intensities. Latency to call followed inverse trends relative to number of pulses. Neural audiograms yielded an average best threshold in the high frequency range of 46.6 dB RMS SPL (range 41-51 dB RMS SPL) and a center frequency of 1.9 kHz (range 1.7-2.6 kHz). Auditory thresholds for a synthetic call having a carrier frequency of 2.1 kHz averaged 44 dB RMS SPL (range 39-47 dB RMS SPL). The similarity between thresholds for advertisement calling and auditory thresholds for the advertisement call indicates that male P. thaul use the full extent of their auditory sensitivity in acoustic interactions, likely an evolutionary adaptation allowing chorusing activity in low-density aggregations.

Gender differences in drug use and expenditures in a privately insured population of older adults.

PubMed

Correa-de-Araujo, Rosaly; Miller, G Edward; Banthin, Jessica S; Trinh, Yen

2005-01-01

We examine gender differences in use and expenditures for prescription drugs among Medicare and privately insured older adults aged 65 and over, using data on a nationally representative sample of prescription drug purchases collected for the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Household Component. Overall, women spent about $1,178 for drugs, about 17% more than the $1,009 in average expenditures by men. Older women constituted 50.7% of the population and had average annual aggregate expenditures for prescribed medicines of $6.93 billion compared to $5.77 billion for men. Women were more likely than men to use drugs from a number of therapeutic classes-analgesics, hormones and psychotherapeutic agents-and therapeutic subclasses-thyroid drugs, COX-2 inhibitors and anti-depressants. Women also had higher average prescriptions per user for a number of therapeutic classes-hormones, psychotherapeutic agents and analgesics-and therapeutic subclasses-anti-diabetic drugs and beta blockers. Prescribed medications are, arguably, the most important healthcare technology in preventing illness, disability, and death in older adults. It is critical that older women and men have proper access to prescribed medicines. Given the financial vulnerability of this priority population, particularly women, the expanded drug coverage available under the Medicare Modernization Act is of particular relevance in meeting this goal.

Monitoring butterflies using counts of puddling males: A case study of the Rajah Brooke's Birdwing (Trogonoptera brookiana albescens)

PubMed Central

Kirton, Laurence G.; Yusoff, Norma-Rashid

2017-01-01

The Rajah Brooke's Birdwing, Trogonoptera brookiana, is a large, iconic butterfly that is facing heavy commercial exploitation and habitat loss. Males of some subspecies exhibit puddling behavior. A method of conservation monitoring was developed for subspecies albescens in Ulu Geroh, Peninsular Malaysia, where the males consistently puddle in single-species aggregations at stable geothermal springs, reaching well over 300 individuals when the population is at its highest. Digital photography was used to conduct counts of numbers of males puddling. The numbers of birdwings puddling were significantly correlated with counts of birdwings in flight, but were much higher. The numbers puddling during the peak hour were correlated with numbers puddling throughout the day and could be predicted using the numbers puddling at an alternative hour, enabling flexibility in the time of counts. Average counts for three images taken at each puddle at three peak hours between 1400–1600 hours over 2–3 days were used as a monthly population index. The numbers puddling were positively associated with higher relative humidity and brightness during monitoring hours. Monthly counts of birdwings from monitoring of puddles over a period of two years are presented. The minimum effort required for a monitoring program using counts of puddling males is discussed, as well as the potential of using the method to monitor other species of puddling butterflies. PMID:29232405

Monitoring butterflies using counts of puddling males: A case study of the Rajah Brooke's Birdwing (Trogonoptera brookiana albescens).

PubMed

Phon, Chooi-Khim; Kirton, Laurence G; Norma-Rashid, Yusoff

2017-01-01

The Rajah Brooke's Birdwing, Trogonoptera brookiana, is a large, iconic butterfly that is facing heavy commercial exploitation and habitat loss. Males of some subspecies exhibit puddling behavior. A method of conservation monitoring was developed for subspecies albescens in Ulu Geroh, Peninsular Malaysia, where the males consistently puddle in single-species aggregations at stable geothermal springs, reaching well over 300 individuals when the population is at its highest. Digital photography was used to conduct counts of numbers of males puddling. The numbers of birdwings puddling were significantly correlated with counts of birdwings in flight, but were much higher. The numbers puddling during the peak hour were correlated with numbers puddling throughout the day and could be predicted using the numbers puddling at an alternative hour, enabling flexibility in the time of counts. Average counts for three images taken at each puddle at three peak hours between 1400-1600 hours over 2-3 days were used as a monthly population index. The numbers puddling were positively associated with higher relative humidity and brightness during monitoring hours. Monthly counts of birdwings from monitoring of puddles over a period of two years are presented. The minimum effort required for a monitoring program using counts of puddling males is discussed, as well as the potential of using the method to monitor other species of puddling butterflies.

75 years of dryland science: Trends and gaps in arid ecology literature.

PubMed

Greenville, Aaron C; Dickman, Chris R; Wardle, Glenda M

2017-01-01

Growth in the publication of scientific articles is occurring at an exponential rate, prompting a growing need to synthesise information in a timely manner to combat urgent environmental problems and guide future research. Here, we undertake a topic analysis of dryland literature over the last 75 years (8218 articles) to identify areas in arid ecology that are well studied and topics that are emerging. Four topics-wetlands, mammal ecology, litter decomposition and spatial modelling, were identified as 'hot topics' that showed higher than average growth in publications from 1940 to 2015. Five topics-remote sensing, climate, habitat and spatial, agriculture and soils-microbes, were identified as 'cold topics', with lower than average growth over the survey period, but higher than average numbers of publications. Topics in arid ecology clustered into seven broad groups on word-based similarity. These groups ranged from mammal ecology and population genetics, broad-scale management and ecosystem modelling, plant ecology, agriculture and ecophysiology, to populations and paleoclimate. These patterns may reflect trends in the field of ecology more broadly. We also identified two broad research gaps in arid ecology: population genetics, and habitat and spatial research. Collaborations between population genetics and ecologists and investigations of ecological processes across spatial scales would contribute profitably to the advancement of arid ecology and to ecology more broadly.

Resource utilization in primary repair of cleft lip.

PubMed

Owusu, James A; Liu, Meixia; Sidman, James D; Scott, Andrew R

2013-03-01

To determine national variations in resource utilization for primary repair of cleft lip, identify patient and institutional factors associated with high resource use, and estimate the current incidence of cleft lip in the United States. Retrospective analysis of a national, pediatric database (2009 Kids' Inpatient Database [KID]). Patients aged 1 year and younger were selected using international classification of disease codes for cleft lip and procedure codes for cleft lip repair. A number of demographic variables were analyzed, and hospital charges were considered as a measure of resource utilization. There were 1318 patients identified. The national incidence was 0.09%, with a male to female ratio of 1.8:1. Regional incidence varied from 0.07% (Northeast) to 0.10% (West). The mean age at surgery was 4.2 months. The average length of stay was 1.4 days. The national average hospital charge was $20,147, ranging from $14,635 (South) to $23,663 (West). Teaching hospitals charge an average of $9764 higher than nonteaching hospitals. The strongest predictor of charge was length of stay, increasing charge by $8102 for every additional hospital day (P < .01). Regional variations exist in resource utilization for primary cleft lip repair. Resource use is higher in the West and among teaching hospitals.

The effect of lack of insurance, poverty and paediatrician supply on immunization rates among children 19-35 months of age in the United States.

PubMed

Becton, James L; Cheng, Lee; Nieman, Linda Z

2008-04-01

Previous studies found that the increasing number of paediatricians in the United States was associated with improved childhood immunization coverage, while the increasing poverty level and the lack of health insurance reduced access to health care. We evaluated whether changes in the number of paediatricians, poverty level and health insurance affected national childhood immunization coverage in the state levels of the United States. Data were collected primarily from the US National Immunization Surveys, series 4:3:1:3:3 from years 1995 and 2003. Ordinal logistic regression analysis was used to analyse the relationships among variables. Over 8 years studied, immunization coverage increased for children aged 19-35 months from 52.3% to 79.8% in the 50 states. The average number of paediatricians per 1000 births increased 28.7% while the percentage of children without health insurance declined 15.6%, and the percentage of children who lived in poverty level declined 17.3%. In 1995, the states with higher immunization coverage were associated with higher numbers of paediatricians [odds ratio (OR), 32.73; 95% confidence interval (CI), 5.96-179.77]. In 2003, the higher numbers of paediatricians still played a role in the increased immunization coverage (OR, 4.69; 95% CI, 1.01-21.78); however, the higher rate of uninsured children in 2003 had an even greater effect upon immunization coverage. Compared with states with lower rates of uninsured children, states with intermediate and higher rates of uninsured children had sixfold (OR, 0.16; 95% CI, 0.03-0.81) and 16-fold (OR, 0.06; 95% CI, 0.01-0.40) decreased childhood immunization coverage, respectively. Between 1995 and 2003 in the United States, the lack of health insurance became more prominent than the supply of paediatricians in affecting immunization coverage for children aged 19-35 months. Future improvements in insurance coverage for children will likely lead to greater immunization coverage.

Convective Cloud Towers and Precipitation Initiation, Frequency and Intensity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vant-hull, B.; Mahani, S. E.; Autones, F.; Rabin, R.; Mecikalski, J. R.; Khanbilvardi, R.

2012-12-01

: Geosynchronous satellite retrieval of precipitation is desirable because it would provide continuous observation throughout most of the globe in regions where radar data is not available. In the current work the distribution of precipitation rates is examined as a function of cloud tower area and cloud top temperature. A thunderstorm tracking algorithm developed at Meteo-France is used to track cumulus towers that are matched up with radar data at 5 minute 1 km resolution. It is found that roughly half of the precipitation occurs in the cloud mass that surrounds the towers, and when a tower is first detected the precipitation is already in progress 50% of the time. The average density of precipitation per area is greater as the towers become smaller and colder, yet the averaged shape of the precipitation intensity distribution is remarkably constant in all convective situations with cloud tops warmer than 220 K. This suggests that on average all convective precipitation events look the same, unaffected by the higher frequency of occurrence per area inside the convective towers. Only once the cloud tops are colder than 220 K does the precipitation intensity distribution become weighted towards higher instantaneous intensities. Radar precipitation shown in shades of green to blue, lightning in orange; black diamonds are coldest points in each tower. Ratio of number of pixels of given precipitation inside versus outside the convective towers, for various average cloud top temperatures. A flat plot indicates the distribution of rainfall inside and outside the towers has the same shape.

Associations between air pollution and perceived stress: the Veterans Administration Normative Aging Study.

PubMed

Mehta, Amar J; Kubzansky, Laura D; Coull, Brent A; Kloog, Itai; Koutrakis, Petros; Sparrow, David; Spiro, Avron; Vokonas, Pantel; Schwartz, Joel

2015-01-27

There is mixed evidence suggesting that air pollution may be associated with increased risk of developing psychiatric disorders. We aimed to investigate the association between air pollution and non-specific perceived stress, often a precursor to development of affective psychiatric disorders. This longitudinal analysis consisted of 987 older men participating in at least one visit for the Veterans Administration Normative Aging Study between 1995 and 2007 (n = 2,244 visits). At each visit, participants were administered the 14-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), which quantifies stress experienced in the previous week. Scores ranged from 0-56 with higher scores indicating increased stress. Differences in PSS score per interquartile range increase in moving average (1, 2, and 4-weeks) of air pollution exposures were estimated using linear mixed-effects regression after adjustment for age, race, education, physical activity, anti-depressant medication use, seasonality, meteorology, and day of week. We also evaluated effect modification by season (April-September and March-October for warm and cold season, respectively). Fine particles (PM2.5), black carbon (BC), nitrogen dioxide, and particle number counts (PNC) at moving averages of 1, 2, and 4-weeks were associated with higher perceived stress ratings. The strongest associations were observed for PNC; for example, a 15,997 counts/cm(3) interquartile range increase in 1-week average PNC was associated with a 3.2 point (95%CI: 2.1-4.3) increase in PSS score. Season modified the associations for specific pollutants; higher PSS scores in association with PM2.5, BC, and sulfate were observed mainly in colder months. Air pollution was associated with higher levels of perceived stress in this sample of older men, particularly in colder months for specific pollutants.

Does Alcohol Contribute to College Men’s Sexual Assault Perpetration? Between-and Within-Person Effects Over Five Semesters

PubMed Central

Testa, Maria; Cleveland, Michael J.

2017-01-01

Objective: The current longitudinal study was designed to consider the time-varying effects of men’s heavy episodic drinking (HED) and drinking setting attendance on college sexual assault perpetration. Method: Freshman men (N = 992) were recruited in their first semester and completed online measures at the end of their first five semesters. Using multilevel models, we examined whether men with higher frequency HED (or party or bar attendance) were more likely to perpetrate sexual assault (between-person, Level 2 effect) and whether sexual assault perpetration was more likely in semesters in which HED (or party or bar attendance) was higher than each individual’s average (within-person, Level 1 effect). Results: The between-person effect of HED on sexual assault was not significant after accounting for the between-person effects of antisocial behavior, impersonal sex orientation, and low self-control. The within-person effect of HED on sexual assault perpetration was not significant. However, models substituting frequency of party attendance or bar attendance revealed both between- and within-person effects. The odds of sexual assault were increased for men with higher bar and party attendance than the sample as a whole, and in semesters in which party or bar attendance was higher than their own average. Supplemental analyses suggested that these drinking setting effects were explained by hookups, with sexual assault perpetration more likely in semesters in which the number of hookups exceeded one’s own average. Conclusions: Findings point toward the importance of drinking contexts, rather than drinking per se, as predictors of college men’s sexual assault perpetration. PMID:27936357

Sedimentological regimes for turbidity currents: Depth-averaged theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Halsey, Thomas C.; Kumar, Amit; Perillo, Mauricio M.

2017-07-01

Turbidity currents are one of the most significant means by which sediment is moved from the continents into the deep ocean; their properties are interesting both as elements of the global sediment cycle and due to their role in contributing to the formation of deep water oil and gas reservoirs. One of the simplest models of the dynamics of turbidity current flow was introduced three decades ago, and is based on depth-averaging of the fluid mechanical equations governing the turbulent gravity-driven flow of relatively dilute turbidity currents. We examine the sedimentological regimes of a simplified version of this model, focusing on the role of the Richardson number Ri [dimensionless inertia] and Rouse number Ro [dimensionless sedimentation velocity] in determining whether a current is net depositional or net erosional. We find that for large Rouse numbers, the currents are strongly net depositional due to the disappearance of local equilibria between erosion and deposition. At lower Rouse numbers, the Richardson number also plays a role in determining the degree of erosion versus deposition. The currents become more erosive at lower values of the product Ro × Ri, due to the effect of clear water entrainment. At higher values of this product, the turbulence becomes insufficient to maintain the sediment in suspension, as first pointed out by Knapp and Bagnold. We speculate on the potential for two-layer solutions in this insufficiently turbulent regime, which would comprise substantial bedload flow with an overlying turbidity current.

Patients with multiple traumatic amputations: An analysis of operation enduring freedom joint theatre trauma registry data.

PubMed

Godfrey, Brandon W; Martin, Ashley; Chestovich, Paul J; Lee, Gordon H; Ingalls, Nichole K; Saldanha, Vilas

2017-01-01

Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) are the primary wounding mechanism for casualties in Operation Enduring Freedom. Patients can sustain devastating traumatic amputations, which are unlike injuries seen in the civilian trauma sector. This is a database analysis of the largest patient registry of multiple traumatic amputations. The Joint Theater Trauma Registry was queried for patients with a traumatic amputation from 2009 to 2012. Data obtained included the Injury Severity Score (ISS), Glasgow Coma Score (GCS), blood products, transfer from theatre, and complications including DVT, PE, infection (Acinetobacter and fungal), acute renal failure, and rhabdomyolysis. Comparisons were made between number of major amputations (1-4) and specific outcomes using χ 2 and Pearson's rank test, and multivariable logistic regression was performed for 30-day survival. Significance was considered with p<0.05. We identified 720 military personnel with at least one traumatic amputation: 494 single, 191 double, 32 triple, and 3 quad amputees. Average age was 24.3 years (18-46), median ISS 24 (9-66), and GCS 15 (3-15). Tranexamic acid (TXA) was administered in 164 patients (23%) and tourniquets were used in 575 (80%). Both TXA and tourniquet use increased with increasing number of amputations (p<0.001). Average transfusion requirements (in units) were packed red blood cells (PRBC) 18.6 (0-142), fresh frozen plasma (FFP) 17.3 (0-128), platelets 3.6 (0-26), and cryoprecipitate 5.6 (0-130). Transfusion of all blood products increased with the number of amputations (p<0.001). All complications tested increased with the number of amputations except Acinetobacter infection, coagulopathy, and compartment syndrome. Transfer to higher acuity facilities was achieved in 676 patients (94%). Traumatic amputations from blast injuries require significant blood product transfusion, which increases with the number of amputations. Most complications also increase with the number of amputations. Despite high injury severity, 94% of traumatic amputation patients who are alive upon admission to a role II/III facility will survive to transfer to facilities with higher acuity care. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Quantum Requirement for Photosynthesis in Chlorophyll-Deficient Plants with Unusual Lamellar Structures

PubMed Central

Schmid, Georg H.; Gaffron, Hans

1967-01-01

Neither an over-all deficiency of chlorophyll, nor an increased enzymatic capacity for maximal rates, nor an unusual lamellar structure was found to change the number of quanta required for the evolution of one molecule of oxygen in healthy aurea mutants of tobacco. The average minimal quantum number remains 10 (efficiency 0.1) as in many algae and typical higher plants. Most of the time the optimal efficiency depends on the availability of some far-red radiation, particularly in the blue region of the spectrum where blue light alone is rather inefficient. These results fit an explanation offered earlier in connection with the hydrogen or acetate photometabolism of algae in far-red light. PMID:19873573

Children exposure to indoor ultrafine particles in urban and rural school environments.

PubMed

Cavaleiro Rufo, João; Madureira, Joana; Paciência, Inês; Slezakova, Klara; Pereira, Maria do Carmo; Aguiar, Lívia; Teixeira, João Paulo; Moreira, André; Oliveira Fernandes, Eduardo

2016-07-01

Extended exposure to ultrafine particles (UFPs) may lead to consequences in children due to their increased susceptibility when compared to older individuals. Since children spend in average 8 h/day in primary schools, assessing the number concentrations of UFPs in these institutions is important in order to evaluate the health risk for children in primary schools caused by indoor air pollution. Thus, the purpose of this study was to assess and determine the sources of indoor UFP number concentrations in urban and rural Portuguese primary schools. Indoor and outdoor ultrafine particle (UFP) number concentrations were measured in six urban schools (US) and two rural schools (RS) located in the north of Portugal, during the heating season. The mean number concentrations of indoor UFPs were significantly higher in urban schools than in rural ones (10.4 × 10(3) and 5.7 × 10(3) pt/cm(3), respectively). Higher UFP levels were associated with higher squared meters per student, floor levels closer to the ground, chalk boards, furniture or floor covering materials made of wood and windows with double-glazing. Indoor number concentrations of ultrafine-particles were inversely correlated with indoor CO2 levels. In the present work, indoor and outdoor concentrations of UFPs in public primary schools located in urban and rural areas were assessed, and the main sources were identified for each environment. The results not only showed that UFP pollution is present in augmented concentrations in US when compared to RS but also revealed some classroom/school characteristics that influence the concentrations of UFPs in primary schools.

Identifying the Safety Factors over Traffic Signs in State Roads using a Panel Quantile Regression Approach.

PubMed

Šarić, Željko; Xu, Xuecai; Duan, Li; Babić, Darko

2018-06-20

This study intended to investigate the interactions between accident rate and traffic signs in state roads located in Croatia, and accommodate the heterogeneity attributed to unobserved factors. The data from 130 state roads between 2012 and 2016 were collected from Traffic Accident Database System maintained by the Republic of Croatia Ministry of the Interior. To address the heterogeneity, a panel quantile regression model was proposed, in which quantile regression model offers a more complete view and a highly comprehensive analysis of the relationship between accident rate and traffic signs, while the panel data model accommodates the heterogeneity attributed to unobserved factors. Results revealed that (1) low visibility of material damage (MD) and death or injured (DI) increased the accident rate; (2) the number of mandatory signs and the number of warning signs were more likely to reduce the accident rate; (3)average speed limit and the number of invalid traffic signs per km exhibited a high accident rate. To our knowledge, it's the first attempt to analyze the interactions between accident consequences and traffic signs by employing a panel quantile regression model; by involving the visibility, the present study demonstrates that the low visibility causes a relatively higher risk of MD and DI; It is noteworthy that average speed limit corresponds with accident rate positively; The number of mandatory signs and the number of warning signs are more likely to reduce the accident rate; The number of invalid traffic signs per km are significant for accident rate, thus regular maintenance should be kept for a safer roadway environment.

Turbulence measurements of high shear flow fields in a turbomachine seal configuration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morrison, Gerald L.; Deotte, Robert E., Jr.; Thames, H. Davis, III.

1992-01-01

The mean velocity and Reynolds stress tensor throughout a whirling annular seal are presented. The data was collected with a three dimensional laser Doppler velocimeter using phase averaging. Two axial flow conditions (Re = 12,000 and 24,000) were studied at one shaft speed (Ta = 6,600). The eccentricity and whirl ratios were 50 and 100 percent, respectively. There is a region of high axial momentum in this region is higher in the low Reynolds number case due to an axial recirculation zone that occurs on the suction side of the rotor at the inlet. The recirculation zone does not occur in the high Reynolds number case. At both Reynolds numbers, there is a recirculation zone on the rotor surface in the pressure side of the inlet. This recirculation zone extends from 20 to 200 degrees rotor zenith in the tangential direction, and is one third of a clearance wide radially. The high Reynolds number recirculation zone is 1.5 mean clearances long, while the low Reynolds number zone extends 2 mean clearances downstream. When compared to previous studies, it is apparent that the tangential momentum is no greater for a seal with whirl than for one without if other parameters are constant. Areas of high tangential momentum occur in the clearance where the axial momentum is low. Average exit plane tangential velocities in the high Reynolds number case are 1.5 times greater than those in the other flow case. These results are in general agreement with predictions made by other investigators.

Experimental energy consumption of Frame Slotted ALOHA and Distributed Queuing for data collection scenarios.

PubMed

Tuset-Peiro, Pere; Vazquez-Gallego, Francisco; Alonso-Zarate, Jesus; Alonso, Luis; Vilajosana, Xavier

2014-07-24

Data collection is a key scenario for the Internet of Things because it enables gathering sensor data from distributed nodes that use low-power and long-range wireless technologies to communicate in a single-hop approach. In this kind of scenario, the network is composed of one coordinator that covers a particular area and a large number of nodes, typically hundreds or thousands, that transmit data to the coordinator upon request. Considering this scenario, in this paper we experimentally validate the energy consumption of two Medium Access Control (MAC) protocols, Frame Slotted ALOHA (FSA) and Distributed Queuing (DQ). We model both protocols as a state machine and conduct experiments to measure the average energy consumption in each state and the average number of times that a node has to be in each state in order to transmit a data packet to the coordinator. The results show that FSA is more energy efficient than DQ if the number of nodes is known a priori because the number of slots per frame can be adjusted accordingly. However, in such scenarios the number of nodes cannot be easily anticipated, leading to additional packet collisions and a higher energy consumption due to retransmissions. Contrarily, DQ does not require to know the number of nodes in advance because it is able to efficiently construct an ad hoc network schedule for each collection round. This kind of a schedule ensures that there are no packet collisions during data transmission, thus leading to an energy consumption reduction above 10% compared to FSA.

Effect of Sb content on the physical properties of Ge-Se-Te chalcogenide glasses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vashist, Priyanka; Anjali, Patial, Balbir Singh; Thakur, Nagesh

2018-05-01

In the present study, the bulk as-(Se80Te20)94-xGe6Sbx (x = 0, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8) glasses were synthesized using melt quenching technique. The physical properties viz coordination number, lone pair of electrons, number of constraints, glass transition temperature, mean bond energy, cohesive energy, electro-negativity and average heat of atomization of the investigated composition are reported and discussed. It is inferred that on increasing Sb content; average coordination number, average number of constraints, mean bond energy, cohesive energy and glass transition temperature increases but lone pair of electrons, average heat of atomization and deviation of stoichiometry decreases.

Comparison of heuristic and cognitive walkthrough usability evaluation methods for evaluating health information systems.

PubMed

Khajouei, Reza; Zahiri Esfahani, Misagh; Jahani, Yunes

2017-04-01

There are several user-based and expert-based usability evaluation methods that may perform differently according to the context in which they are used. The objective of this study was to compare 2 expert-based methods, heuristic evaluation (HE) and cognitive walkthrough (CW), for evaluating usability of health care information systems. Five evaluators independently evaluated a medical office management system using HE and CW. We compared the 2 methods in terms of the number of identified usability problems, their severity, and the coverage of each method. In total, 156 problems were identified using the 2 methods. HE identified a significantly higher number of problems related to the "satisfaction" attribute ( P  = .002). The number of problems identified using CW concerning the "learnability" attribute was significantly higher than those identified using HE ( P  = .005). There was no significant difference between the number of problems identified by HE, based on different usability attributes ( P  = .232). Results of CW showed a significant difference between the number of problems related to usability attributes ( P  < .0001). The average severity of problems identified using CW was significantly higher than that of HE ( P  < .0001). This study showed that HE and CW do not differ significantly in terms of the number of usability problems identified, but they differ based on the severity of problems and the coverage of some usability attributes. The results suggest that CW would be the preferred method for evaluating systems intended for novice users and HE for users who have experience with similar systems. However, more studies are needed to support this finding. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com

[Descriptive analysis of work and trends in anaesthesiology from 2005 to 2006: quantitative and qualitative aspects of effects and evaluation of anaesthesia].

PubMed

Majstorović, Branislava M; Simić, Snezana; Milaković, Branko D; Vucović, Dragan S; Aleksić, Valentina V

2010-01-01

In anaesthesiology, economic aspects have been insufficiently studied. The aim of this paper was the assessment of rational choice of the anaesthesiological services based on the analysis of the scope, distribution, trend and cost. The costs of anaesthesiological services were counted based on "unit" prices from the Republic Health Insurance Fund. Data were analysed by methods of descriptive statistics and statistical significance was tested by Student's t-test and chi2-test. The number of general anaesthesia was higher and average time of general anaesthesia was shorter, without statistical significance (t-test, p = 0.436) during 2006 compared to the previous year. Local anaesthesia was significantly higher (chi2-test, p = 0.001) in relation to planned operation in emergency surgery. The analysis of total anaesthesiological procedures revealed that a number of procedures significantly increased in ENT and MFH surgery, and ophthalmology, while some reduction was observed in general surgery, orthopaedics and trauma surgery and cardiovascular surgery (chi2-test, p = 0.000). The number of analgesia was higher than other procedures (chi2-test, p = 0.000). The structure of the cost was 24% in neurosurgery, 16% in digestive (general) surgery,14% in gynaecology and obstetrics, 13% in cardiovascular surgery and 9% in emergency room. Anaesthesiological services costs were the highest in neurosurgery, due to the length anaesthesia, and digestive surgery due to the total number of general anaesthesia performed. It is important to implement pharmacoeconomic studies in all departments, and to separate the anaesthesia services for emergency and planned operations. Disproportions between the number of anaesthesia, surgery interventions and the number of patients in surgical departments gives reason to design relation database.

Collegiate ACL Injury Rates Across 15 Sports: National Collegiate Athletic Association Injury Surveillance System Data Update (2004-2005 Through 2012-2013).

PubMed

Agel, Julie; Rockwood, Todd; Klossner, David

2016-11-01

To present data on the rate of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in 15 collegiate sports from 2004 to 2005 through 2012 to 2013 updating the 1988-1989 to 2003-2004 data. Prospectively designed descriptive epidemiology study. National Collegiate Athletic Association Schools. National Collegiate Athletic Association School athletes. Injury rate by year and sport. Most ACL injuries to women occurred by a noncontact mechanism (60%) versus a contact mechanism for men (59%). The highest average annual rate of ACL injury for men was found in football (0.17 per 1000 athlete-exposure [A-E]). The highest average annual rate of ACL injury for women was found in lacrosse (0.23 per 1000 A-E). There were statistically significant increases in average annual injury rate for men's (P = 0.04) and women's soccer (P = 0.01) and a statistically significant decrease in women's gymnastics over the 9 years (=0.009). Controlling for exposures, there were statistically significant increases in the average annual number of injuries for men's and women's basketball, ice hockey, field hockey, football, and volleyball and a decrease in the average annual number of injuries for baseball and women's gymnastics. Women continue to sustain ACL injuries at higher rates than men in the comparable sports of soccer, basketball, and lacrosse. Anterior cruciate ligament injury rates continue to rise in men's and women's soccer. Some sports have shown absolute increases in ACL rates, which persist even after exposure rates are taken into account. Despite extensive research and development of prevention programs before and during the time of this study, very few sports showed a reduction in ACL injury rates in this data set.

RELATIONSHIPs among Geomagnetic storms, interplanetary shocks, magnetic clouds, and SUNSPOT NUMBER during 1995-2012

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berdichevsky, D. B.; Lepping, R. P.; Wu, C. C.

2015-12-01

During 1995-2012 Wind recorded 168 magnetic clouds (MCs), 197 magnetic cloud-like structures (MCLs), and 358 interplanetary (IP) shocks. Ninety four MCs and 56 MCLs had upstream shock waves. The following features are found: (i) Averages of solar wind speed, interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), duration (<Δt>), strength of Bzmin, and intensity of the associated geomagnetic storm/activity (Dstmin) for MCs with upstream shock waves (MCSHOCK) are higher (or stronger) than those averages for the MCs without upstream shock waves (MCNO-SHOCK). (ii) The <Δt> of MCSHOCK events (≈19.6 hr) is 9% longer than that for MCNO-SHOCK events (≈17.9 hr). (iii) For the MCSHOCK events, the average duration of the sheath (<ΔtSHEATH>) is 12.1 hrs. These findings could be very useful for space weather predictions, i.e. IP shocks driven by MCs are expected to arrive at Wind (or at 1 AU) about ~12 hours ahead of the front of the MCs on average. (iv) The occurrence frequency of IP shocks is well associated with sunspot number (SSN). The average intensity of geomagnetic storms measured by for MCSHOCK and MCNOSHOCK events is -102 and -31 nT, respectively. The is -78, -70, and -35 nT for the 358 IP shocks, 168 MCs, and 197 MCLs, respectively. These results imply that IP shocks, when they occur with MCs/MCLs, must play an important role in the strength of geomagnetic storms. We speculate as to why this is so. Yearly occurrence frequencies of MCSHOCK and IP shocks are well correlated with solar activity (e.g., SSN). Choosing the right Dstmin estimating formula for predicting the intensity of MC-associated geomagnetic storms is crucial for space weather predictions.

Weather conditions influence the number of psychiatric emergency room patients

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brandl, Eva Janina; Lett, Tristram A.; Bakanidze, George; Heinz, Andreas; Bermpohl, Felix; Schouler-Ocak, Meryam

2017-12-01

The specific impact of weather factors on psychiatric disorders has been investigated only in few studies with inconsistent results. We hypothesized that meteorological conditions influence the number of cases presenting in a psychiatric emergency room as a measure of mental health conditions. We analyzed the number of patients consulting the emergency room (ER) of a psychiatric hospital in Berlin, Germany, between January 1, 2008, and December 31, 2014. A total of N = 22,672 cases were treated in the ER over the study period. Meteorological data were obtained from a publicly available data base. Due to collinearity among the meteorological variables, we performed a principal component (PC) analysis. Association of PCs with the daily number of patients was analyzed with autoregressive integrated moving average model. Delayed effects were investigated using Granger causal modeling. Daily number of patients in the ER was significantly higher in spring and summer compared to fall and winter (p < 0.001). Three PCs explained 76.8% percent of the variance with PC1 loading mostly on temperature, PC2 on cloudiness and low pressure, and PC3 on windiness. PC1 and PC2 showed strong association with number of patients in the emergency room (p < 0.010) indicating higher patient numbers on warmer and on cloudy days. Further, PC1, PC2, and PC3 predicted the number of patients presenting in the emergency room for up to 7 days (p < 0.050). A secondary analysis revealed that the effect of temperature on number of patients was mostly due to lower patient numbers on cold days. Although replication of our findings is required, our results suggest that weather influences the number of psychiatric patients consulting the emergency room. In particular, our data indicate lower patient numbers during very cold temperatures.

Weather conditions influence the number of psychiatric emergency room patients

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brandl, Eva Janina; Lett, Tristram A.; Bakanidze, George; Heinz, Andreas; Bermpohl, Felix; Schouler-Ocak, Meryam

2018-05-01

The specific impact of weather factors on psychiatric disorders has been investigated only in few studies with inconsistent results. We hypothesized that meteorological conditions influence the number of cases presenting in a psychiatric emergency room as a measure of mental health conditions. We analyzed the number of patients consulting the emergency room (ER) of a psychiatric hospital in Berlin, Germany, between January 1, 2008, and December 31, 2014. A total of N = 22,672 cases were treated in the ER over the study period. Meteorological data were obtained from a publicly available data base. Due to collinearity among the meteorological variables, we performed a principal component (PC) analysis. Association of PCs with the daily number of patients was analyzed with autoregressive integrated moving average model. Delayed effects were investigated using Granger causal modeling. Daily number of patients in the ER was significantly higher in spring and summer compared to fall and winter ( p < 0.001). Three PCs explained 76.8% percent of the variance with PC1 loading mostly on temperature, PC2 on cloudiness and low pressure, and PC3 on windiness. PC1 and PC2 showed strong association with number of patients in the emergency room ( p < 0.010) indicating higher patient numbers on warmer and on cloudy days. Further, PC1, PC2, and PC3 predicted the number of patients presenting in the emergency room for up to 7 days ( p < 0.050). A secondary analysis revealed that the effect of temperature on number of patients was mostly due to lower patient numbers on cold days. Although replication of our findings is required, our results suggest that weather influences the number of psychiatric patients consulting the emergency room. In particular, our data indicate lower patient numbers during very cold temperatures.

Detection of retinal lesions in diabetic retinopathy: comparative evaluation of 7-field digital color photography versus red-free photography.

PubMed

Venkatesh, Pradeep; Sharma, Reetika; Vashist, Nagender; Vohra, Rajpal; Garg, Satpal

2015-10-01

Red-free light allows better detection of vascular lesions as this wavelength is absorbed by hemoglobin; however, the current gold standard for the detection and grading of diabetic retinopathy remains 7-field color fundus photography. The goal of this study was to compare the ability of 7-field fundus photography using red-free light to detect retinopathy lesions with corresponding images captured using standard 7-field color photography. Non-stereoscopic standard 7-field 30° digital color fundus photography and 7-field 30° digital red-free fundus photography were performed in 200 eyes of 103 patients with various grades of diabetic retinopathy ranging from mild to moderate non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy to proliferative diabetic retinopathy. The color images (n = 1,400) were studied with corresponding red-free images (n = 1,400) by one retina consultant (PV) and two senior residents training in retina. The various retinal lesions [microaneurysms, hemorrhages, hard exudates, soft exudates, intra-retinal microvascular anomalies (IRMA), neovascularization of the retina elsewhere (NVE), and neovascularization of the disc (NVD)] detected by all three observers in each of the photographs were noted followed by determination of agreement scores using κ values (range 0-1). Kappa coefficient was categorized as poor (≤0), slight (0.01-0.20), fair (0.2 -0.40), moderate (0.41-0.60), substantial (0.61-0.80), and almost perfect (0.81-1). The number of lesions detected by red-free images alone was higher for all observers and all abnormalities except hard exudates. Detection of IRMA was especially higher for all observers with red-free images. Between image pairs, there was substantial agreement for detection of hard exudates (average κ = 0.62, range 0.60-0.65) and moderate agreement for detection of hemorrhages (average κ = 0.52, range 0.45-0.58), soft exudates (average κ = 0.51, range 0.42-0.61), NVE (average κ = 0.47, range 0.39-0.53), and NVD (average κ = 0.51, range 0.45-0.54). Fair agreement was noted for detection of microaneurysms (average κ = 0.29, range 0.20-0.39) and IRMA (average κ = 0.23, range 0.23-0.24). Inter-observer agreement with color images was substantial for hemorrhages (average κ = 0.72), soft exudates (average κ = 0.65), and NVD (average κ = 0.65); moderate for microaneurysms (average κ = 0.42), NVE (average κ = 0.44), and hard exudates (average κ = 0.59) and fair for IRMA (average κ = 0.21). Inter-observer agreement with red-free images was substantial for hard exudates (average κ = 0.63) and moderate for detection of hemorrhages (average κ = 0.56), SE (average κ = 0.60), IRMA (average κ = 0.50), NVE (average κ = 0.44), and NVD (average κ = 0.45). Digital red-free photography has a higher level of detection ability for all retinal lesions of diabetic retinopathy. More advanced grades of retinopathy are likely to be detected earlier with red-free imaging because of its better ability to detect IRMA, NVE, and NVD. Red-free monochromatic imaging of the retina is a more effective and less costly alternative for detection of vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy.

[Increased occurrence of nuclear cataract in the calf after erection of a mobile phone base station].

PubMed

Hässig, M; Jud, F; Spiess, B

2012-02-01

We examined and monitored a dairy farm in which a large number of calves were born with nuclear cataracts after a mobile phone base station had been erected in the vicinity of the barn. Calves showed a 3.5 times higher risk for heavy cataract if born there compared to Swiss average. All usual causes such as infection or poisoning, common in Switzerland, could be excluded. The real cause of the increased incidence of cataracts remains unknown.

Quantitative analysis of drainage obtained from aerial photographs and RBV/LANDSAT images

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dejesusparada, N. (Principal Investigator); Formaggio, A. R.; Epiphanio, J. C. N.; Filho, M. V.

1981-01-01

Data obtained from aerial photographs (1:60,000) and LANDSAT return beam vidicon imagery (1:100,000) concerning drainage density, drainage texture, hydrography density, and the average length of channels were compared. Statistical analysis shows that significant differences exist in data from the two sources. The highly drained area lost more information than the less drained area. In addition, it was observed that the loss of information about the number of rivers was higher than that about the length of the channels.

Fertility differentials according to females' education, employment and family planning adoption in rural Bangladesh.

PubMed

Bhuyan, K C

1996-01-01

This study examines differential fertility in 16 contiguous villages of both Savar and Dhamrai upazila in Dhaka district, Bangladesh. The sample includes 890 couples. Levels of female education were positively correlated with family planning use. 50.6% of housewives with a secondary or higher education used contraception. 59.8% of employed women with a secondary or higher education used contraception. 21.6% of illiterate women used contraception. Fertility declined with an increase in educational level. Child mortality increased fertility regardless of educational level or contraceptive usage. The average number of children ever born differed significantly between contraceptive and noncontraceptive users who did not work. Fertility between working and nonworking women did not differ significantly. Fertility was higher throughout the life cycle among adopters and nonadopters who had husbands that were laborers. Multivariate analysis reveals that fertility was highly significantly affected by duration of marriage and desired number of children. Differences in fertility between working and nonworking individuals was insignificantly related to differences in socioeconomic factors. The impact of socioeconomic factors on the fertility of adopter and nonadopter women was significantly different. Regression findings show that duration of marriage, desired number of children, and spouse's occupation had the strongest impact on fertility. Significant changes in impacts were due to changes in female education and contraceptive usage. Duration of marriage and desired number of children did not have the same level of impact among educated women and illiterate women. Income had a negative effect on the fertility of contraceptive users.

Statistics on China's 1996 social development.

PubMed

1997-04-01

1996 statistics released by China's State Statistical Bureau reflect the level of social development. Statistics are provided on education, health, population, income, employment, housing, social welfare, and environmental degradation. The number of higher education institutions declined slightly between 1995 and 1996. In 1996 there were 1032 universities and colleges and 1138 adult education higher learning institutions. The number of students enrolled in universities and colleges increased by 40,000 to 966,000. The total university population numbered 3.02 million in 1996. Increases in students occurred in adult education and graduate schools. Secondary vocational education expanded to 10.1 million students, or 56.8% of all senior middle school students. The 50.48 million junior middle school students represent an enrollment rate of 82.4%. The 136.15 million primary school students represent a 98.8% enrollment rate. About 4.07 million adults gained literacy. Preventive health work and rural public health work were strengthened in 1996. The birth rate in 1996 was 16.98/1000. The death rate was 6.56/1000. The 1996 end-of-the-year population was 1.22389 billion, an increase of 12.68 million over 1995. 29.4% were urban residents. The average family size was 3.70. 26.4% were children aged 0-14 years, and 9.4% were aged over 65 years. The average annual disposable income per capita was 4839 yuan for urban residents, 6235 yuan in provincial capital cities, and 1926 yuan for rural residents. Rural residents received the highest increase in income (9%) at constant prices. 688.5 million people were employed, of which 149.6 million were urban workers. The labor force increased by 9 million people during the year. 360 million sq. m of new buildings were added in urban areas in 1996; 760 million sq. m were added in rural areas.

Patterns of antibacterials use in intensive care units.

PubMed

Santos, Edilson Floriano Dos; Lauria-Pires, Liana

2010-06-01

To know and compare the patterns of antimicrobials use in intensive care units (ICUs) based on the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical/Defined Daily Dose (ATC/DDD) system. a prospective cohort study was conducted in three medical-surgical intensive care units, two of them in public hospitals and one in a private hospital. Simple random, independent samples of patients admitted from 10/2004 to 09/2005 to the selected intensive care units were used. The antibiotics use was assessed using the ATC/DDD system. The amount of antibacterials used in each intensive care unit, in grams, was transformed in daily defined dose (DDD). The number of DDDs was divided by the number of patient-days, multiplied by one thousand, to obtain the average density of consumption (DC) per thousand patient-days (DDD1000). 1,728 patients-days and 2,918.6 DDDs were examined in the three intensive care units, corresponding to an average density of consumption of 1,689.0 DDD1000. The median number of DDDs of antibiotics use in the public hospitals’ intensive care units was significantly higher (p=0.002) versus the private hospital’s intensive care unit. The consumption of antibiotics in the private hospital’s intensive care unit (DC=2,191.7 DDD1000) was significantly higher (p<0.001) versus the intensive care units of public hospitals (1,499.5 DDD1000). The most used antibiotics groups in the three intensive care units were 3rd generation cephalosporins, penicillins/betalactamases inhibitors, carbapenems and fluorquinolones. The pattern of antibiotics use in the three examined intensive care units was not uniform. The private hospital’s intensive care unit used a significantly larger amount versus the public hospitals’ intensive care units. Nevertheless, the most used antibiotics groups were similar in the three intensive care units.

An Empirical Analysis of Life Jacket Effectiveness in Recreational Boating.

PubMed

Viauroux, Christelle; Gungor, Ali

2016-02-01

This article gives a measure of life jacket (LJ) effectiveness in U.S. recreational boating. Using the U.S. Coast Guard's Boating Accident Report Database from 2008 to 2011, we find that LJ wear is one of the most important determinants influencing the number of recreational boating fatalities, together with the number of vessels involved, and the type and engine of the vessel(s). We estimate a decrease in the number of deceased per vessel of about 80% when the operator wears their LJs compared to when they do not. The odds of dying are 86% higher than average if the accident involves a canoe or kayak, but 80% lower than average when more than one vessel is involved in the accident and 34% lower than average when the operator involved in the accident has more than 100 hours of boating experience. Interestingly, we find that LJ effectiveness decreases significantly as the length of the boat increases and decreases slightly as water temperature increases. However, it increases slightly as the operator's age increases. We find that between 2008 and 2011, an LJ regulation that requires all operators to wear their LJs-representing a 20% increase in wear rate-would have saved 1,721 (out of 3,047) boaters or 1,234 out of 2,185 drowning victims. The same policy restricted to boats 16-30 feet in length would have saved approximately 778 victims. Finally, we find that such a policy would reduce the percentage of drowning victims compared to other causes of death. © 2015 Society for Risk Analysis.

On the conservative nature of intragenic recombination

PubMed Central

Drummond, D. Allan; Silberg, Jonathan J.; Meyer, Michelle M.; Wilke, Claus O.; Arnold, Frances H.

2005-01-01

Intragenic recombination rapidly creates protein sequence diversity compared with random mutation, but little is known about the relative effects of recombination and mutation on protein function. Here, we compare recombination of the distantly related β-lactamases PSE-4 and TEM-1 to mutation of PSE-4. We show that, among β-lactamase variants containing the same number of amino acid substitutions, variants created by recombination retain function with a significantly higher probability than those generated by random mutagenesis. We present a simple model that accurately captures the differing effects of mutation and recombination in real and simulated proteins with only four parameters: (i) the amino acid sequence distance between parents, (ii) the number of substitutions, (iii) the average probability that random substitutions will preserve function, and (iv) the average probability that substitutions generated by recombination will preserve function. Our results expose a fundamental functional enrichment in regions of protein sequence space accessible by recombination and provide a framework for evaluating whether the relative rates of mutation and recombination observed in nature reflect the underlying imbalance in their effects on protein function. PMID:15809422

On the conservative nature of intragenic recombination.

PubMed

Drummond, D Allan; Silberg, Jonathan J; Meyer, Michelle M; Wilke, Claus O; Arnold, Frances H

2005-04-12

Intragenic recombination rapidly creates protein sequence diversity compared with random mutation, but little is known about the relative effects of recombination and mutation on protein function. Here, we compare recombination of the distantly related beta-lactamases PSE-4 and TEM-1 to mutation of PSE-4. We show that, among beta-lactamase variants containing the same number of amino acid substitutions, variants created by recombination retain function with a significantly higher probability than those generated by random mutagenesis. We present a simple model that accurately captures the differing effects of mutation and recombination in real and simulated proteins with only four parameters: (i) the amino acid sequence distance between parents, (ii) the number of substitutions, (iii) the average probability that random substitutions will preserve function, and (iv) the average probability that substitutions generated by recombination will preserve function. Our results expose a fundamental functional enrichment in regions of protein sequence space accessible by recombination and provide a framework for evaluating whether the relative rates of mutation and recombination observed in nature reflect the underlying imbalance in their effects on protein function.

Archaeal community dynamics and abiotic characteristics in a mesophilic anaerobic co-digestion process treating fruit and vegetable processing waste sludge with chopped fresh artichoke waste.

PubMed

Ros, M; Franke-Whittle, I H; Morales, A B; Insam, H; Ayuso, M; Pascual, J A

2013-05-01

This study evaluated the feasibility of obtaining methane in anaerobic digestion (AD) from the waste products generated by the processing of fruit and vegetables. During the first phase (0-55 d) of the AD using sludge from fruit and vegetable processing, an average value of 244±88 L kg(-1) dry matter d(-1)of biogas production was obtained, and methane content reached 65% of the biogas. Co-digestion with chopped fresh artichoke wastes in a second phase (55-71 d) enhanced biogas production, and resulted in an average value of 354±68 L kg(-1) dry matter d(-1), with higher methane content (more than 70%). The archaeal community involved in methane production was studied using the ANAEROCHIP microarray and real-time PCR. Results indicated that species of Methanosaeta and Methanosarcina were important during the AD process. Methanosarcina numbers increased after the addition of chopped fresh artichoke, while Methanosaeta numbers decreased. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Estimated rate of agricultural injury: the Korean Farmers’ Occupational Disease and Injury Survey

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Objectives This study estimated the rate of agricultural injury using a nationwide survey and identified factors associated with these injuries. Methods The first Korean Farmers’ Occupational Disease and Injury Survey (KFODIS) was conducted by the Rural Development Administration in 2009. Data from 9,630 adults were collected through a household survey about agricultural injuries suffered in 2008. We estimated the injury rates among those whose injury required an absence of more than 4 days. Logistic regression was performed to identify the relationship between the prevalence of agricultural injuries and the general characteristics of the study population. Results We estimated that 3.2% (±0.00) of Korean farmers suffered agricultural injuries that required an absence of more than 4 days. The injury rates among orchard farmers (5.4 ± 0.00) were higher those of all non-orchard farmers. The odds ratio (OR) for agricultural injuries was significantly lower in females (OR: 0.45, 95% CI = 0.45–0.45) compared to males. However, the odds of injury among farmers aged 50–59 (OR: 1.53, 95% CI = 1.46–1.60), 60–69 (OR: 1.45, 95% CI = 1.39–1.51), and ≥70 (OR: 1.94, 95% CI = 1.86–2.02) were significantly higher compared to those younger than 50. In addition, the total number of years farmed, average number of months per year of farming, and average hours per day of farming were significantly associated with agricultural injuries. Conclusions Agricultural injury rates in this study were higher than rates reported by the existing compensation insurance data. Males and older farmers were at a greater risk of agriculture injuries; therefore, the prevention and management of agricultural injuries in this population is required. PMID:24808945

Effect of high fibre diets formulated with different fibrous ingredients on performance, nutrient digestibility and faecal microbiota of weaned piglets.

PubMed

Yu, Cangyou; Zhang, Shihai; Yang, Qing; Peng, Qian; Zhu, Jinlong; Zeng, Xiangfang; Qiao, Shiyan

2016-08-01

The aim of the experiment on 180 weaned piglets (8.9 kg body weight) was to investigate the influence of high fibre diets formulated with different fibrous ingredients on performance, nutrient digestibility, diarrhoea incidence and numbers of faecal microbiota. The dietary treatments included a Control diet and five high fibre diets formulated with different fibre sources including wheat bran, soybean hulls, naked oat hulls, palm kernel expeller and bamboo fibre. The high fibre diets averaged 14.6% neutral detergent fibre with different non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) components and were fed ad libitum for 28 d. Faecal samples were collected during the last 3 d of the experiment and the apparent total tract digestibility of nutrients and fibre components were determined. Pigs fed the Control and wheat bran diets had a higher (p ≤ 0.05) average daily gain (ADG) than pigs fed the palm kernel expeller and bamboo meal diets. The reduced ADG for pigs appeared to be related to reductions in the digestibility of gross energy and dry matter, respectively. The feed-to-gain ratio was significantly higher (p ≤ 0.05) for pigs fed the fibre diets. The digestibility of NSP components was different among the treatments. The diarrhoea incidence was not affected by treatments. The abundance of faecal bifidobacteria was significantly higher (p ≤ 0.05) for pigs fed the wheat bran diet than for pigs fed the bamboo meal diet. It was concluded that the diets formulated with different fibre sources when fed to weaned piglets have different effects on pig performance, nutrient digestibility and numbers of faecal microbiota. The wheat bran diet rich in arabinoxylans enabled a better performance than the other tested diets with fibre addition.

Estimated rate of agricultural injury: the Korean Farmers' Occupational Disease and Injury Survey.

PubMed

Chae, Hyeseon; Min, Kyungdoo; Youn, Kanwoo; Park, Jinwoo; Kim, Kyungran; Kim, Hyocher; Lee, Kyungsuk

2014-01-01

This study estimated the rate of agricultural injury using a nationwide survey and identified factors associated with these injuries. The first Korean Farmers' Occupational Disease and Injury Survey (KFODIS) was conducted by the Rural Development Administration in 2009. Data from 9,630 adults were collected through a household survey about agricultural injuries suffered in 2008. We estimated the injury rates among those whose injury required an absence of more than 4 days. Logistic regression was performed to identify the relationship between the prevalence of agricultural injuries and the general characteristics of the study population. We estimated that 3.2% (±0.00) of Korean farmers suffered agricultural injuries that required an absence of more than 4 days. The injury rates among orchard farmers (5.4 ± 0.00) were higher those of all non-orchard farmers. The odds ratio (OR) for agricultural injuries was significantly lower in females (OR: 0.45, 95% CI = 0.45-0.45) compared to males. However, the odds of injury among farmers aged 50-59 (OR: 1.53, 95% CI = 1.46-1.60), 60-69 (OR: 1.45, 95% CI = 1.39-1.51), and ≥70 (OR: 1.94, 95% CI = 1.86-2.02) were significantly higher compared to those younger than 50. In addition, the total number of years farmed, average number of months per year of farming, and average hours per day of farming were significantly associated with agricultural injuries. Agricultural injury rates in this study were higher than rates reported by the existing compensation insurance data. Males and older farmers were at a greater risk of agriculture injuries; therefore, the prevention and management of agricultural injuries in this population is required.

Socio-demographic and economics factors associated with suicide mortality in Iran, 2001-2010: application of a decomposition model.

PubMed

Haghparast-Bidgoli, Hassan; Rinaldi, Giulia; Shahnavazi, Hossein; Bouraghi, Hamid; Kiadaliri, Aliasghar A

2018-06-14

Suicide is a major global health problem, especially among youth. Suicide is known to be associated with a variety of social, economic, political and religious factors, vary across geographical and cultural regions. The current study aimed to investigate the effects of socioeconomic factors on suicide mortality rate across different regions in Iran. The data on distribution of population and socio-economic factors (such as unemployment rate, divorce rate, urbanization rate, average household expenditure etc.) at province level were obtained from the Statistical Centre of Iran and the National Organization for Civil Registration. The data on the annual number of deaths caused by suicide in each province was extracted from the published reports of the Iranian Forensic Medicine Organization. We used a decomposition model to distinguish between spatial and temporal variation in suicide mortality. The average rate of suicide mortality was 5.5 per 100,000 population over the study period. Across the provinces (spatial variation), suicide mortality rate was positively associated with household expenditure and the proportion of people aged 15-24 and older than 65 years and was negatively associated with the proportion of literate people. Within the provinces (temporal variation), higher divorce rate was associated with higher suicide mortality. By excluding the outlier provinces, the results showed that in addition to the proportion of people aged 15-24 and older than 65, divorce and unemployment rates were also significant predictors of spatial variation in suicide mortality while divorce rate was associated with higher suicide mortality within provinces. The findings indicate that both spatial and temporal variations in suicide mortality rates across the provinces and over time are determined by a number of socio-economic factors. The study provides information that can be of importance in developing preventive strategies.

Assessment of Lead Exposure Risk in Locksmiths

PubMed Central

Kondrashov, Vladislav; McQuirter, Joseph L.; Miller, Melba; Rothenberg, Stephen J.

2005-01-01

Exposure to lead has been well recognized in a number of work environments, but little is known about lead exposure associated with machining brass keys containing lead. The brass that is widely used for key manufacturing usually contains 1.5% – 2.5 % of lead. Six (6) licensed locksmiths and 6 case-matched controls successfully completed the pilot study to assess the prevalence of increased body lead burden of professional locksmiths. We measured both Blood Lead (atomic absorption spectrometry), bone-lead (KXRF) and had each subject complete a health and lead exposure risk questionnaire. One locksmith had not cut keys during the past two years, therefore this subject and case-matched control was excluded from the blood lead analysis only. The average blood-lead concentration (±SEM) for the 5 paired subjects was 3.1 (± 0.4) μg/dL and 2.2 (± 0.3) μg /dL for controls. Bone measurements, including all 6 paired subjects, showed tibia lead concentration (±SEM) for locksmiths and controls was 27.8 (± 2.3) μg /g and 13.7 (± 3.3) μg /g, respectively; average calcaneus lead concentration for locksmiths and controls was 31.9 (± 3.7) μg /g and 22.6 (± 4.1) μg /g, respectively: The t-test shows a significantly higher tibia lead (p<0.05) and blood lead (p<0.05) for locksmiths than for their matched controls, but no significant difference for calcaneus lead (p>0.10). Given that the mean tibia bone lead concentration was 13.1μg/g higher in locksmiths than in their matched controls, this average difference in the two groups would translate to an OR of increased hypertension in locksmiths of between 1.1 and 2.3, based on the published literature. Even with the very small number of subjects participating in this pilot study, we were able to demonstrate that locksmiths had significantly higher current exposure to lead (blood lead concentration) and significantly higher past exposure to lead (tibia lead concentration) than their age, sex and ethnically matched controls. Additional research is needed to fully identify the prevalence and associated risk factors for occupational exposure of lead in this previously understudied profession. PMID:16705814

Scaup migration patterns in North Dakota relative to temperatures and water conditions

USGS Publications Warehouse

Austin, J.E.; Granfors, D.A.; Johnson, M.A.; Kohn, S.C.

2002-01-01

Greater (Aythya marila) and lesser scaup (A. affinis) have protracted spring migrations. Migrants may still be present on southern breeding areas when the annual Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Surveys (WBPHS) are being conducted. Understanding factors affecting the chronology and rate of spring migration is important for the interpretation of data from annual population surveys. We describe the general temporal pattern of scaup numbers in south-central North Dakota in spring, examine the relationships between scaup numbers and measures of local water conditions and spring temperatures, and assess timing of the WBPHS relative to numbers of scaup occurring in the study area in late May. Scaup were counted weekly on a 95-km, 400-m-wide transect from late March through May, 1957-1999. Average numbers of scaup per count were positively associated with numbers of seasonal, semipermanent, and total ponds. Average minimum daily ambient temperatures showed a trend of increasing temperatures over the 43 years, and dates of peak scaup counts became progressively earlier. Weeks of early migration usually had higher temperatures than weeks of delayed migration. The relationship between temperature and timing of migration was strongest during the second and third weeks of April, which is A# 1 week before numbers peak (median date = 19 Apr). Trends in sex and pair ratios were not consistent among years. Counts in late May-early June indicated considerable annual variability in the magnitude of late migrants. Scaup numbers during this period seemed to stabilize in only 5 of the 19 years when 2 or more surveys were conducted after the WBPHS. These findings corroborate concerns regarding the accuracy of the WBPHS for representing breeding populations of scaup and the possibility of double-counting scaup in some years.

Population equations for degree-heterogenous neural networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kähne, M.; Sokolov, I. M.; Rüdiger, S.

2017-11-01

We develop a statistical framework for studying recurrent networks with broad distributions of the number of synaptic links per neuron. We treat each group of neurons with equal input degree as one population and derive a system of equations determining the population-averaged firing rates. The derivation rests on an assumption of a large number of neurons and, additionally, an assumption of a large number of synapses per neuron. For the case of binary neurons, analytical solutions can be constructed, which correspond to steps in the activity versus degree space. We apply this theory to networks with degree-correlated topology and show that complex, multi-stable regimes can result for increasing correlations. Our work is motivated by the recent finding of subnetworks of highly active neurons and the fact that these neurons tend to be connected to each other with higher probability.

Retrofit Weight-Loss Outcomes at 6, 12, and 24 Months and Characteristics of 12-Month High Performers: A Retrospective Analysis

PubMed Central

Hanson, Nicholas Buck; Kachin, Kevin; Berger, Jan

2016-01-01

Background Obesity is the leading cause of preventable death costing the health care system billions of dollars. Combining self-monitoring technology with personalized behavior change strategies results in clinically significant weight loss. However, there is a lack of real-world outcomes in commercial weight-loss program research. Objective Retrofit is a personalized weight management and disease-prevention solution. This study aimed to report Retrofit’s weight-loss outcomes at 6, 12, and 24 months and characterize behaviors, age, and sex of high-performing participants who achieved weight loss of 10% or greater at 12 months. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed from 2011 to 2014 using 2720 participants enrolled in a Retrofit weight-loss program. Participants had a starting body mass index (BMI) of >25 kg/m² and were at least 18 years of age. Weight measurements were assessed at 6, 12, and 24 months in the program to evaluate change in body weight, BMI, and percentage of participants who achieved 5% or greater weight loss. A secondary analysis characterized high-performing participants who lost ≥10% of their starting weight (n=238). Characterized behaviors were evaluated, including self-monitoring through weigh-ins, number of days wearing an activity tracker, daily step count average, and engagement through coaching conversations via Web-based messages, and number of coaching sessions attended. Results Average weight loss at 6 months was −5.55% for male and −4.86% for female participants. Male and female participants had an average weight loss of −6.28% and −5.37% at 12 months, respectively. Average weight loss at 24 months was −5.03% and −3.15% for males and females, respectively. Behaviors of high-performing participants were assessed at 12 months. Number of weigh-ins were greater in high-performing male (197.3 times vs 165.4 times, P=.001) and female participants (222 times vs 167 times, P<.001) compared with remaining participants. Total activity tracker days and average steps per day were greater in high-performing females (304.7 vs 266.6 days, P<.001; 8380.9 vs 7059.7 steps, P<.001, respectively) and males (297.1 vs 255.3 days, P<.001; 9099.3 vs 8251.4 steps, P=.008, respectively). High-performing female participants had significantly more coaching conversations via Web-based messages than remaining female participants (341.4 vs 301.1, P=.03), as well as more days with at least one such electronic message (118 vs 108 days, P=.03). High-performing male participants displayed similar behavior. Conclusions Participants on the Retrofit program lost an average of −5.21% at 6 months, −5.83% at 12 months, and −4.09% at 24 months. High-performing participants show greater adherence to self-monitoring behaviors of weighing in, number of days wearing an activity tracker, and average number of steps per day. Female high performers have higher coaching engagement through conversation days and total number of coaching conversations. PMID:27549134

The effect of inlet boundary conditions in image-based CFD modeling of aortic flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Madhavan, Sudharsan; Kemmerling, Erica Cherry

2016-11-01

CFD of cardiovascular flow is a growing and useful field, but simulations are subject to a number of sources of uncertainty which must be quantified. Our work focuses on the uncertainty introduced by the selection of inlet boundary conditions in an image-based, patient-specific model of the aorta. Specifically, we examined the differences between plug flow, fully developed parabolic flow, linear shear flows, skewed parabolic flow profiles, and Womersley flow. Only the shape of the inlet velocity profile was varied-all other parameters were held constant between simulations, including the physiologically realistic inlet flow rate waveform and outlet flow resistance. We found that flow solutions with different inlet conditions did not exhibit significant differences beyond 1 . 75 inlet diameters from the aortic root. Time averaged wall shear stress (TAWSS) was also calculated. The linear shear velocity boundary condition solution exhibited the highest spatially averaged TAWSS, about 2 . 5 % higher than the fully developed parabolic velocity boundary condition, which had the lowest spatially averaged TAWSS.

Effects of Non-metallic Inclusions on Hot Ductility of High Manganese TWIP Steels Containing Different Aluminum Contents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yu-Nan; Yang, Jian; Wang, Rui-Zhi; Xin, Xiu-Ling; Xu, Long-Yun

2016-06-01

The characteristics of inclusions in Fe-16Mn- xAl-0.6C ( x = 0.002, 0.033, 0.54, 2.10 mass pct) steels have been investigated and their effects on hot ductility of the high manganese TWIP steels have been discussed. Ductility is very poor in the steel containing 0.54 mass pct aluminum, which is lower than 20 pct in the temperature range of 873 K to 1473 K (600 °C to 1200 °C). For the steels containing 0.002 and 2.10 mass pct aluminum, ductility is higher than 40 pct in the same temperature range. The hot ductility of steel containing 0.033 mass pct aluminum is higher than 30 pct throughout the temperature range under examination. With increasing aluminum content, the main inclusions in the steels change along the route of MnO/(MnO + MnS) → MnS/(Al2O3 + MnS) → AlN/(Al2O3 + MnS)/(MgAl2O4 + MnS) → AlN. The thermodynamic results of inclusion types calculated with FactSage software are in agreement with the experimental observation results. The inclusions in the steels containing 0.002 mass pct aluminum do not deteriorate the hot ductility. MnS inclusions whose average size, number density, and volume ratio are 1.12 μm, 15.62 mm-2, and 2.51 × 10-6 in the steel containing 0.033 mass pct aluminum reduce the ductility. In the steel containing 0.54 mass pct aluminum, AlN inclusions whose average size, number density, and volume ratio are 0.878 μm, 16.28 mm-2 and 2.82 × 10-6 can precipitate at the austenite grain boundaries, prevent dynamic recrystallization and deteriorate the hot ductility. On the contrary, in the steel containing 2.10 mass pct aluminum, the average size, number density and volume ratio of AlN inclusions change to 2.418 μm, 35.95 mm-2, and 2.55 × 10-5. They precipitate in the matrix, which do not inhibit dynamic recrystallization and thereby do not lead to poor hot ductility.

A Study of the Effects of Electrode Number and Decoding Algorithm on Online EEG-Based BCI Behavioral Performance

PubMed Central

Meng, Jianjun; Edelman, Bradley J.; Olsoe, Jaron; Jacobs, Gabriel; Zhang, Shuying; Beyko, Angeliki; He, Bin

2018-01-01

Motor imagery–based brain–computer interface (BCI) using electroencephalography (EEG) has demonstrated promising applications by directly decoding users' movement related mental intention. The selection of control signals, e.g., the channel configuration and decoding algorithm, plays a vital role in the online performance and progressing of BCI control. While several offline analyses report the effect of these factors on BCI accuracy for a single session—performance increases asymptotically by increasing the number of channels, saturates, and then decreases—no online study, to the best of our knowledge, has yet been performed to compare for a single session or across training. The purpose of the current study is to assess, in a group of forty-five subjects, the effect of channel number and decoding method on the progression of BCI performance across multiple training sessions and the corresponding neurophysiological changes. The 45 subjects were divided into three groups using Laplacian Filtering (LAP/S) with nine channels, Common Spatial Pattern (CSP/L) with 40 channels and CSP (CSP/S) with nine channels for online decoding. At the first training session, subjects using CSP/L displayed no significant difference compared to CSP/S but a higher average BCI performance over those using LAP/S. Despite the average performance when using the LAP/S method was initially lower, but LAP/S displayed improvement over first three sessions, whereas the other two groups did not. Additionally, analysis of the recorded EEG during BCI control indicates that the LAP/S produces control signals that are more strongly correlated with the target location and a higher R-square value was shown at the fifth session. In the present study, we found that subjects' average online BCI performance using a large EEG montage does not show significantly better performance after the first session than a smaller montage comprised of a common subset of these electrodes. The LAP/S method with a small EEG montage allowed the subjects to improve their skills across sessions, but no improvement was shown for the CSP method. PMID:29681792

A Study of the Effects of Electrode Number and Decoding Algorithm on Online EEG-Based BCI Behavioral Performance.

PubMed

Meng, Jianjun; Edelman, Bradley J; Olsoe, Jaron; Jacobs, Gabriel; Zhang, Shuying; Beyko, Angeliki; He, Bin

2018-01-01

Motor imagery-based brain-computer interface (BCI) using electroencephalography (EEG) has demonstrated promising applications by directly decoding users' movement related mental intention. The selection of control signals, e.g., the channel configuration and decoding algorithm, plays a vital role in the online performance and progressing of BCI control. While several offline analyses report the effect of these factors on BCI accuracy for a single session-performance increases asymptotically by increasing the number of channels, saturates, and then decreases-no online study, to the best of our knowledge, has yet been performed to compare for a single session or across training. The purpose of the current study is to assess, in a group of forty-five subjects, the effect of channel number and decoding method on the progression of BCI performance across multiple training sessions and the corresponding neurophysiological changes. The 45 subjects were divided into three groups using Laplacian Filtering (LAP/S) with nine channels, Common Spatial Pattern (CSP/L) with 40 channels and CSP (CSP/S) with nine channels for online decoding. At the first training session, subjects using CSP/L displayed no significant difference compared to CSP/S but a higher average BCI performance over those using LAP/S. Despite the average performance when using the LAP/S method was initially lower, but LAP/S displayed improvement over first three sessions, whereas the other two groups did not. Additionally, analysis of the recorded EEG during BCI control indicates that the LAP/S produces control signals that are more strongly correlated with the target location and a higher R-square value was shown at the fifth session. In the present study, we found that subjects' average online BCI performance using a large EEG montage does not show significantly better performance after the first session than a smaller montage comprised of a common subset of these electrodes. The LAP/S method with a small EEG montage allowed the subjects to improve their skills across sessions, but no improvement was shown for the CSP method.

[Effectiveness of individual supported employment for people with severe mental disorders].

PubMed

Rodríguez Pulido, Francisco; Caballero Estebaranz, Nayra; Tallo Aldana, Elena; Méndez Abad, Manuel E; Hernández Álvarez-Sotomayor, M Carmen; López Reig, Susana; Vílchez de León, Patricia Inés; González-Dávila, Enrique

2017-07-13

To assess the effectiveness of an individual placement and support (IPS) strategy in people with severe mental disorders in Tenerife Island (Spain). Patients of Community Mental Health Services with severe mental disorders were randomly assigned to two groups. One of them received IPS (n=124), and the control group (n=75) was advised in the usual job search. Patients were followed up for an average of 3.4 years and an analysis was made of how many patients worked at least one day, working hours, wages, the number of contracts and the number of hospital admissions. Non-parametric methods were used to compare the results (Mann-Whitney U test). The percentage of patients who worked at least one day was 99% in the IPS group compared with 75% in the control group; they worked on average 30.1 weeks per year vs 7.4; the monthly salary was € 777.9 vs € 599.9; the number of contracts per person was 3.89 vs 4.85, and hospital admissions were 0.19 vs 2.1. The IPS strategy is effective for the labour integration of people with severe mental illness getting them to work longer, have higher wages and fewer hospital admissions. Copyright © 2017 SESPAS. All rights reserved.

Postmenopausal weight status, body composition and body fat distribution in relation to parameters of menstrual and reproductive history.

PubMed

Kirchengast, S; Gruber, D; Sator, M; Huber, J

1999-10-24

In the present study the association between menstrual and reproductive history patterns and weight status, fat distribution and body composition during postmenopause was tested. In 106 healthy postmenopausal women ranging in age from 48 to 58 years (x = 53.7 year) the weight status was classified according to the recommendations of the WHO. Additionally body composition was estimated by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry and fat distribution was calculated using the fat distribution index. Weight status, body composition and fat distribution were correlated with self-reported parameters of menstrual and reproductive history (age at menarche, average cycle length, number of births, age at first and last birth, average pregnancy weight gain, age at menopause). It was shown that number of births, age at first birth and pregnancy weight gain were related significantly to the postmenopausal weight status, body composition and fat distribution. An early first birth a low number of births and a high weight gain during pregnancies can be assumed as risk factors for overweight, a higher amount of adipose tissue, android fat patterning and therefore for the development of the metabolic syndrome during postmenopause. In contrast no adverse effect of menstrual and reproductive parameters on postmenopausal bone mass was found.

Bibliometric Indicators of Russian Journals by JCR-Science Edition, 1995-2010

PubMed Central

Libkind, A.N.; Markusova, V.A.; Mindeli, L.E.

2013-01-01

A representative empirical bibliometric analysis of Russian journals included in the Journal Citation Reports-Science Edition (JCR-SE) for the time period 1995–2010 was conducted at the macro level (excluding the subject categories). It was found that the growth in the number of articles covered by JCR (a 1.8-fold increase compared to 1995) is ahead of the growth rates of Russian publications (1.2-fold increase). Hence, the share of Russian articles covered by JCR-SE was down from 2.5% in 1995 to 1.7% in 2010. It was determined that the number of articles published in an average Russian journal reduced by 20% as compared to the number of articles in an average journal of the full data set. These facts could partly shed light on the question why Russian research performance is staggering (approximately 30,000 articles per year), although the coverage of Russian journals has expanded to 150 titles. Over the past 15 years, a twofold increase in the impact factor of the Russian journals has been observed, which is higher than that for the full data set of journals (a 1.4-fold increase). Measures to improve the quality of Russian journals are proposed. PMID:24303198

Temporal distribution of blood donations in three Brazilian blood centers and its repercussion on the blood supply

PubMed Central

Oliveira, Claudia Di Lorenzo; de Almeida-Neto, Cesar; Liu, Emily Jing; Sabino, Ester Cerdeira; Leão, Silvana Carneiro; Loureiro, Paula; Wright, David; Custer, Brian; Gonçalez, Thelma Therezinha; Capuani, Ligia; Busch, Michael; Proietti, Anna Bárbara de Freitas Carneiro

2013-01-01

Background Seasonal distribution of blood donation hinders efforts to provide a safe and adequate blood supply leading to chronic and persistent shortages. This study examined whether holidays, geographical area and donation type (community versus replacement) has any impact on the fluctuation of donations. Methods The numbers of blood donations from 2007 through 2010 in three Brazilian Retrovirus Epidemiological Donor Study II (REDS-II) participating centers were analyzed according to the week of donation. The weeks were classified as holiday or non-holiday. To compare donations performed during holiday versus non-holiday weeks, tabulations and descriptive statistics for weekly donations by blood center were examined and time series analysis was conducted. Results The average weekly number of donations varied according to the blood center and type of week. The average number of donations decreased significantly during Carnival and Christmas and increased during the Brazilian National Donor Week. The fluctuation was more pronounced in Recife and Belo Horizonte when compared to São Paulo and higher among community donors. Conclusion National bank holidays affect the blood supply by reducing available blood donations. Blood banks should take into account these oscillations in order to plan local campaigns, aiming at maintaining the blood supply at acceptable levels. PMID:24106441

Hardness characteristic of dental porcelain synthesized from Indonesian natural sand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gunawan, J.; Taufik, D.; Takarini, V.; Hasratiningsih, Z.; Ramelan, A.

2018-02-01

Porcelain has been one of dental biomaterials which can be used to restore tooth structure. Veneer and jacket crown were the examples of dental porcelain restoration. Since wear resistance is related to the strength on its surface, then Vickers Hardness Test of the synthesized porcelain was applied subsequently. If the porcelain hardness number is too high, it should be considered that an abrasion of the opposing teeth could occur. On previous research, dental porcelain had been successfully synthesized from Indonesian natural sand. In this experiment, 5 samples were prepared from a mixture of 65w/o Pangaribuan feldspar, 25w/o Belitung silica, 5w/o Sukabumi kaolinite, and 5w/o potassium salt. This synthesized porcelain samples were invested on 5 cm diameter resin each. A kilogram of load was placed on top of each sample for 10 seconds on 7 different indented areas using ZwickRoell Indentec ZHVμ Micro Vickers. The average hardness number of synthesized dental porcelain made from Indonesian natural sand was 936.06 VHN which was higher than the average hardness number of porcelain restoration. In conclusion of the hardness test, synthesized dental porcelain made from Indonesian natural sand can potentially be used as a core, which shall support hardness and strength of the crown restoration.

Temporal distribution of blood donations in three Brazilian blood centers and its repercussion on the blood supply.

PubMed

Oliveira, Claudia Di Lorenzo; de Almeida-Neto, Cesar; Liu, Emily Jing; Sabino, Ester Cerdeira; Leão, Silvana Carneiro; Loureiro, Paula; Wright, David; Custer, Brian; Gonçalez, Thelma Therezinha; Capuani, Ligia; Busch, Michael; Proietti, Anna Bárbara de Freitas Carneiro

2013-01-01

Seasonal distribution of blood donation hinders efforts to provide a safe and adequate blood supply leading to chronic and persistent shortages. This study examined whether holidays, geographical area and donation type (community versus replacement) has any impact on the fluctuation of donations. The numbers of blood donations from 2007 through 2010 in three Brazilian Retrovirus Epidemiological Donor Study II (REDS-II) participating centers were analyzed according to the week of donation. The weeks were classified as holiday or non-holiday. To compare donations performed during holiday versus non-holiday weeks, tabulations and descriptive statistics for weekly donations by blood center were examined and time series analysis was conducted. The average weekly number of donations varied according to the blood center and type of week. The average number of donations decreased significantly during Carnival and Christmas and increased during the Brazilian National Donor Week. The fluctuation was more pronounced in Recife and Belo Horizonte when compared to São Paulo and higher among community donors. National bank holidays affect the blood supply by reducing available blood donations. Blood banks should take into account these oscillations in order to plan local campaigns, aiming at maintaining the blood supply at acceptable levels.

[Relationship between the Expression of α-syn and Neuronal Apoptosis in Brain Cortex of Acute Alcoholism Rats].

PubMed

Li, F; Zhang, Y; Ma, S L

2016-12-01

To observe the changes of expression of α-synuclein （α-syn） and neuronal apoptosis in brain cortex of acute alcoholism rats and to explore the mechanism of the damage caused by ethanol to the neurons. The model of acute alcoholism rat was established by 50% alcohol gavage. The α-syn and caspase-3 were detected by immunohistochemical staining and imaging analysis at 1 h, 3 h, 6 h and 12 h after acute alcoholism. The number of positive cell and mean of optical density were detected and the trend change was analyzed. The variance analysis and t -test were also performed. The number of α-syn positive cell and average optical density in brain cortex of acute alcoholism rat increased significantly and peaked at 6 hour with a following slight decrease at 12 h, but still higher than the groups at 1 h and 3 h. Within 12 hours after poisoning, the number of caspase-3 positive cell and average optical density in brain cortex of rats gradually increased. The abnormal aggregation of α-syn caused by brain edema and hypoxia may participate the early stage of neuronal apoptosis in brain cortex after acute alcoholism. Copyright© by the Editorial Department of Journal of Forensic Medicine

Polychaeta (Annelida) associated with Thalassia testudinum in the northeastern coastal waters of Venezuela.

PubMed

Liñero Arana, Ildefonso; Díaz Díaz, Oscar

2006-09-01

Seasonal variations of polychaetes in a Thalassia testudinum bed were studied from June 2000 to April 2001 in Chacopata, northeastern Venezuela. Eight replicate samples were taken monthly with a 15 cm diameter core and the sediment was passed through a 0.5 mm mesh sieve. A total of 1,013 specimens, belonging to 35 species, was collected. The monthly density ranged from 387 ind/m2 (September) to 1,735 ind/m2 in May (x = 989+/-449 ind/m2). Species richness was lowest in August and September (8) and highest (25) in April (x = 18.00+/-5.29). The shoot density of Thalassia showed an average of 284+/-77.60 shoots/m2, with extreme values in February (164) and May (422). Species diversity ranged from 1.25 in August and 3.33 bits/ind in December (x = 2.47+/-0.64). Significant positive correlations were detected among the number of Thalassia shoots, polychaete abundance and species richness, as well as among species richness, polychaete abundance and species diversity. Species number and average density were found within the intervals of mean values reported in similar studies. The higher number of species and organisms obtained in March-April and June-July can be attributed to the recruitment correlated with the regional up-welling.

Characterization of air pollutant concentrations, fleet emission factors, and dispersion near a North Carolina interstate freeway across two seasons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saha, Provat K.; Khlystov, Andrey; Snyder, Michelle G.; Grieshop, Andrew P.

2018-03-01

We present field measurement data and modeling of multiple traffic-related air pollutants during two seasons at a site adjoining Interstate 40, near Durham, North Carolina. We analyze spatial-temporal and seasonal trends and fleet-average pollutant emission factors and use our data to evaluate a line source dispersion model. Month-long measurement campaigns were performed in summer 2015 and winter 2016. Data were collected at a fixed near-road site located within 10 m from the highway edge, an upwind background site and, under favorable meteorological conditions, along downwind perpendicular transects. Measurements included the size distribution, chemical composition, and volatility of submicron particles, black carbon (BC), nitrogen oxides (NOx), meteorological conditions and traffic activity data. Results show strong seasonal and diurnal differences in spatial distribution of traffic sourced pollutants. A strong signature of vehicle emissions was observed within 100-150 m from the highway edge with significantly higher concentrations during morning. Substantially higher concentrations and less-sharp near-road gradients were observed in winter for many species. Season-specific fleet-average fuel-based emission factors for NO, NOx, BC, and particle number (PN) were derived based on up- and down-wind roadside measurements. The campaign-average NOx and PN emission factors were 20% and 300% higher in winter than summer, respectively. These results suggest that the combined effect of higher emissions and their slower downwind dispersion in winter dictate the observed higher downwind concentrations and wider highway influence zone in winter for several species. Finally, measurements of traffic data, emission factors, and pollutant concentrations were integrated to evaluate a line source dispersion model (R-LINE). The dispersion model captured the general trends in the spatial and temporal patterns in near-road concentrations. However, there was a tendency for the model to under-predict concentrations near the road in the mornings and over-predict concentrations in the evenings.

Pulsed Polarimetry and magnetic sensing on the Magnetized Shock Experiment (MSX)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, R. J.; Hutchinson, T. M.; Weber, T. E.; Taylor, S. F.; Hsu, S. C.

2014-10-01

MSX is uniquely positioned to generate the conditions for collision-less magnetized supercritical shocks with Alvenic Mach numbers (MA) of the order 10 and higher. Significant operational strides have been made in forming plasmas over wide parameter ranges: (Te + Ti) of 10-200 eV, average neof 5-60×10+21 m-3, speeds up to 150 km/s and fields up to 1T with a highest plasma flow MA of 5 to date. The MSX plasma is unique in regards to large plasma size of 10 cm and average β higher than 0.8 making the FRC and the magnetized shock structure candidates for the application of Pulsed Polarimetry, a polarization sensitive Lidar technique. The shock dynamics are presently being investigated using internal probes, interferometry and imaging. Internal probe results and an assessment of the shock parameters will dictate the use of the UW pulsed polarimeter system in which internal ne, Teand B are to be measured. Recent results will be presented. Supported by DOE Office of Fusion Energy Sciences Funding DE-FOA-0000755.

Measurements in discrete hole film cooling behavior with periodic freestream unsteadiness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fan, Danyang; Borup, Daniel D.; Elkins, Christopher J.; Eaton, John K.

2018-03-01

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques were used to investigate a discrete, 30°-inclined round jet in crossflow subjected to periodic freestream unsteadiness. The freestream perturbations were generated by an oscillating airfoil upstream of the jet. The experiment operated at a Strouhal number of 0.014, channel Reynolds number of 25,000, hole Reynolds number of 2900, and jet blowing ratio of unity. 3D phase locked velocity measurements were obtained over the entire channel using magnetic resonance velocimetry (MRV). 3D time-averaged temperature measurements were acquired using magnetic resonance thermometry (MRT), along with phase-locked temperature measurements in the 2D centerplane of the channel and jet. The freestream flow just upstream of the jet was characterized by streamwise velocities ranging from 0.88 U_ {bulk} to 1.23 U_ {bulk} and wall-normal velocities from -0.11 U_ {bulk} to 0.02 U_ {bulk}. Flow inside the hole was observed to be insensitive to the freestream fluctuations, as velocities and temperatures in the hole remained largely unchanged throughout the cycle. Outside the hole, changes to the streamwise velocity produced an oscillating jet blowing ratio that led to the lengthening and shortening of the counter-rotating vortex pair (CVP) as well as a varying degree of coolant separation from the film cooled wall. During one portion of the cycle, downwashing freestream flow (i.e., flow with negative wall-normal velocities) promoted strong re-attachment and lateral spreading of the jet. Mean, spanwise-averaged film cooling effectiveness values were compared to those of an earlier experiment with a steady freestream and identical geometry, Reynolds number, and blowing ratio. Film cooling performance in the near-hole region was higher with steady freestream flow. However, at downstream locations, the downward transport of coolant by the periodic downwashing flow led to a higher mean surface effectiveness than in the steady case.

Change in genetic size of small-closed populations: Lessons from a domestic mammal population.

PubMed

Ghafouri-Kesbi, Farhad

2010-10-01

The aim of this study was to monitor changes in genetic size of a small-closed population of Iranian Zandi sheep, by using pedigree information from animals born between 1991 and 2005. The genetic size was assessed by using measures based on the probability of identity-by-descend of genes (coancestry, f, and effective population size, N(e) ), as well as measures based on probability of gene origin (effective number of founders, f(e) , effective number of founder genomes, f(g) , and effective number of non-founder genomes, f(ne) ). Average coancestry, or the degree of genetic similarity of individuals, increased from 0.81% to 1.44% during the period 1993 to 2005, at the same time that N(e) decreased from 263 to 93. The observed trend for f(e) was irregular throughout the experiment in a way that f(e) was 68, 87, 77, 92, and 80 in 1993, 1996, 1999, 2002, and 2005, respectively. Simultaneously, f(g) , the most informative effective number, decreased from 61 to 35. The index of genetic diversity (GD) which was obtained from estimates of f(g) , decreased about 2% throughout the period studied. In addition, a noticeable reduction was observed in the estimates of f(ne) from 595 in 1993 to 61 in 2005. The higher than 1 ratio of f(e) to f(g) indicated the presence of bottlenecks and genetic drift in the development of this population of Zandi sheep. From 1993 to 1999, f(ne) was much higher than f(e) , thereby indicating that with respect to loss of genetic diversity, the unequal contribution of founders was more important than the random genetic drift in non-founder generations. Subsequently, random genetic drift in non-founder generations was the major reason for f(e) > f(ne) . The minimization of average coancestry in new reproductive individuals was recommended as a means of preserving the population against a further loss in genetic diversity.

The effect of airsacculitis on bird weights, uniformity, fecal contamination, processing errors, and populations of Campylobacter spp. and Escherichia coli.

PubMed

Russell, S M

2003-08-01

A study was conducted to determine if the presence of airsacculitis in broiler chickens contributes to loss of saleable yield, lack of uniformity, fecal contamination, processing errors, and increases in populations of pathogenic and indicator bacteria. In a commercial processing facility, groups of carcasses from airsacculitis (AS)-positive (ASP) and airsacculitis-negative (ASN) flocks were selected from the line and weighed, evaluated for cut or torn areas on the digestive tracts, and assessed for Campylobacter and Escherichia coli counts. Additionally, fecal contamination was monitored and recorded. The presence of AS reduced (P < or = 0.05) carcass weight averages in two of five repetitions. Although not significantly different in repetitions 1, 4, and 5, the means were higher for ASN flocks. The net loss averaged over five repetitions was 84 g/carcass, equating to a loss of 14,686.9 k (32,379 lb) of chicken meat for one growout house per year as the result of AS infection. ASP carcasses had higher (P < or = 0.05) fecal contamination in four of five repetitions. The number of total digestive tract cuts or tears were much higher on ASP carcasses at 42, 49, 37, 60, and 59% as compared to 14, 12, 17, 24, and 16% for ASN carcasses in repetitions 1 to 5, respectively. In three of the five replications, the presence of AS in the flocks increased (P < or = 0.05) the number of Campylobacter recovered from broiler carcasses. Hence, there appears to be a relationship between the presence of AS and Campylobacter-positive carcasses. Escherichia coli counts for ASP flocks were significantly higher than ASN flocks in repetitions 1 and 3. In repetition 5, E. coli numbers were significantly lower for the AS flock. These data differ from previous unpublished data from two separate pilot studies that demonstrated that E. coli counts for ASP flocks are significantly higher than ASN flocks. This difference may be attributed to the fact that in the pilot studies visibly infected carcasses were sampled, and in this study healthy birds that had passed inspection were sampled within an ASP flock. Because flocks of chickens showing signs of AS have lower weights, more fecal contamination, more processing errors, and higher levels of Campylobacter spp., broiler companies should emphasize control of AS in the flocks as a means of preventing subsequent food-borne bacterial infection.

Strategic 3-hydroxy-2-butanone release in the dominant male lobster cockroach, Nauphoeta cinerea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Shu-Chun; Yang, Rou-Ling; Ho, Hsiao-Yung; Chou, Szu-Ying; Kou, Rong

2007-11-01

In the lobster cockroach Nauphoete cinerea, the dominant subordinate hierarchy formed via the agonistic interactions is unstable, and changes in rank order are common. Our previous results showed that in the first encounter fight during initial rank formation, microgram levels of 3H-2B are released by the aggressive posture (AP)-adopting dominant male. In the present study, the pattern of daily pheromone (3H-2B) release during the domination period and on the day of rank switch, rank duration, and rank switch frequency were investigated in three-male groups and six-male groups to examine the effect of higher frequency of agonistic encounters. The results showed that, in the three-male groups (50-day observation period), daily 3H-2B release rate was not constant, but fluctuated, the average duration of dominant rank was 16.6 ± 2.0 days, rank switch occurred in 58.8% of groups, and the frequency of rank switching (average number of rank switches/group/50 days) was 1.4 ± 0.2. For the six-male groups (30-day observation period), the daily 3H-2B release rate also fluctuated, but the duration of dominant rank was significantly shorter at 4.2 ± 0.6 days, rank switch occurred in 100% of groups, and the frequency of rank switching (average number of rank switches/group/30 days) was significantly higher at 6.9 ± 0.6. The results for both sets of male groups showed that as a new rank formed (either on the first encounter day or on the day of rank switching), the dominant status was significantly associated with a higher 3H-2B release rate. In the animal kingdom, fighting usually involves communication or the exchange of signals, and the results of this study indicated that the fluctuating daily 3H-2B release rate adopted by the dominants is a kind of strategic release and the 3H-2B release rate is a signal used to determine dominance.

Hierarchical group testing for multiple infections.

PubMed

Hou, Peijie; Tebbs, Joshua M; Bilder, Christopher R; McMahan, Christopher S

2017-06-01

Group testing, where individuals are tested initially in pools, is widely used to screen a large number of individuals for rare diseases. Triggered by the recent development of assays that detect multiple infections at once, screening programs now involve testing individuals in pools for multiple infections simultaneously. Tebbs, McMahan, and Bilder (2013, Biometrics) recently evaluated the performance of a two-stage hierarchical algorithm used to screen for chlamydia and gonorrhea as part of the Infertility Prevention Project in the United States. In this article, we generalize this work to accommodate a larger number of stages. To derive the operating characteristics of higher-stage hierarchical algorithms with more than one infection, we view the pool decoding process as a time-inhomogeneous, finite-state Markov chain. Taking this conceptualization enables us to derive closed-form expressions for the expected number of tests and classification accuracy rates in terms of transition probability matrices. When applied to chlamydia and gonorrhea testing data from four states (Region X of the United States Department of Health and Human Services), higher-stage hierarchical algorithms provide, on average, an estimated 11% reduction in the number of tests when compared to two-stage algorithms. For applications with rarer infections, we show theoretically that this percentage reduction can be much larger. © 2016, The International Biometric Society.

Hierarchical group testing for multiple infections

PubMed Central

Hou, Peijie; Tebbs, Joshua M.; Bilder, Christopher R.; McMahan, Christopher S.

2016-01-01

Summary Group testing, where individuals are tested initially in pools, is widely used to screen a large number of individuals for rare diseases. Triggered by the recent development of assays that detect multiple infections at once, screening programs now involve testing individuals in pools for multiple infections simultaneously. Tebbs, McMahan, and Bilder (2013, Biometrics) recently evaluated the performance of a two-stage hierarchical algorithm used to screen for chlamydia and gonorrhea as part of the Infertility Prevention Project in the United States. In this article, we generalize this work to accommodate a larger number of stages. To derive the operating characteristics of higher-stage hierarchical algorithms with more than one infection, we view the pool decoding process as a time-inhomogeneous, finite-state Markov chain. Taking this conceptualization enables us to derive closed-form expressions for the expected number of tests and classification accuracy rates in terms of transition probability matrices. When applied to chlamydia and gonorrhea testing data from four states (Region X of the United States Department of Health and Human Services), higher-stage hierarchical algorithms provide, on average, an estimated 11 percent reduction in the number of tests when compared to two-stage algorithms. For applications with rarer infections, we show theoretically that this percentage reduction can be much larger. PMID:27657666

Pulsatile Flow Across a Cylinder--An Investigation of Flow in a Total Artificial Lung

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Yu-Chun

2005-11-01

The effect of pulsatility on flow across a single cylinder has been examined experimentally using particle image velocimetry. This work is motivated by the ongoing development of a total artificial lung (TAL), a device which would serve as a bridge to lung transplant. The prototype TAL consists of hollow microfibers through which oxygen-rich gas flows and blood flows around. Flow through the device is provided entirely by right heart and, therefore, is puslatile. The Peclet number of the flow is large and consequently the development of secondary flow affects the resulting gas exchange. The effects of frequency and average flow rate of pulsatile flow around a cylinder were investigated experimentally in a water tunnel and some of the results were compared with preliminary numerical results. Vortices developed behind the cylinder at lower Reynolds numbers in pulsatile flow than steady flow. The results indicate that there are critical values of the Reynolds number between 3 to 5 and Stokes numbers of 0.22, below which vortices were not observed. The findings suggest that higher Stokes and Reynolds numbers within the device could enhance vortex formation. However, this enhanced gas exchange could be at the expense of higher device resistance and increased likelihood of blood trauma. Intelligent TAL design will require consideration of these effects. This work is supported by NIH grant HL69420.

The relationship of Polish students' height, weight and BMI with some socioeconomic variables.

PubMed

Krzyzanowska, Monika; Umławska, Wioleta

2010-09-01

The aim of this study was to assess the variation in student body height, weight and BMI in relation to several socioeconomic factors. Data (collected in 1998) were obtained through a structured questionnaire from 2800 students (1023 men and 1777 women) from Wrocław Universities, Poland. Information on students' age, reported height and weight and their place of residence prior to starting university, the number of siblings and parents' education were collected. Students with mothers or fathers with higher education had, on average, higher mean heights, but after correcting for other socioeconomic variables only place of residence showed a significant association with height and BMI, with those living in medium or large urban centres having a higher mean height and those living in small or medium urban areas having a lower mean BMI.

[CHALLENGING THE OPTIMAL NUMBER OF RETRIEVED OOCYTES AND ITS IMPACT ON PREGNANCY AND LIVE BIRTH RATES IN IVF/ICSI CYCLES].

PubMed

Blais, Idit; Lahav-Baratz, Shirly; Koifman, Mara; Wiener-Megnazi, Zofnat; Auslender, Ron; Dirnfeld, Martha

2015-06-01

Large numbers of retrieved oocytes are associated with higher chances of having cryopreservation of embryos. However, the process entailed exposes women to increased risk for ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. Furthermore, mild ovary stimulation protocols are more patient-friendly and with less adverse effects. Only limited reports exist on the significance of the number of retrieved oocytes achieved in a single stimulation cycle. To investigate the optimal number of retrieved oocytes to achieve pregnancy and live birth. This retrospective analysis included 1590 IVF cycles. Oocytes maturation, fertilization, cleavage, as well as pregnancy and live birth rates were analyzed according to the number of retrieved oocytes. Oocyte maturation, fertilization and cleavage rates were lower in cycles with more than 10 retrieved oocytes compared with other groups. Live birth rates were highest when the number of retrieved oocytes was 11-15. Retrieval of more than 15 oocytes was not associated with a significant increase in chances of conception and birth. The better oocyte quality with 10 or less oocytes retrieved could be the result of a possible interference with the natural selection, or the minimized exposure of growing follicles to the potentially negative effects of ovarian stimulation. Although the average number of available embryos was higher when more than 10 oocytes were retrieved, achievement of more than 15 oocytes did not improve IVF outcome in terms of pregnancy and delivery rates. Analysis of 1590 IVF cycles including the frozen-thawed transfers shows that the best outcomes were achieved with an optimal number of 11-15 oocytes.

[The prevalence of Enterobius vermicularis in schoolchildren and affecting factors].

PubMed

Giray, Hatice; Keskinoğlu, Pembe

2006-01-01

This study was carried out in order to determine the factors affecting the presence of Enterobius vermicularis in schoolchildren. This investigation was a cross-sectional and analytic study. The dependent variable was the presence of parasites and the independent variables were the characteristics of the children, families, houses, toilets and drinking water. A stool specimen was taken in the morning using the cellophane tape method, and examined the same day by microscopy. Data were evaluated using the Chi square test and logistic regression analysis and p < 0.05 was accepted as being statistically significant. There were 529 students in the kindergarten and 1-5 classes in the Isikkent and Sait Guzelcan primary schools in the region of the Isikkent Health Center in Izmir. However specimens could only be obtained from 477 (90.2%) students. The mean age of children was 8.6+/-2.0 years. The number of residents in their homes averaged 5.4+/-2.0, the average number of children in the homes was 3.2+/-1.9 and 290 (60.8%) houses were single dwellings. The source for piped water in 404 houses (84.7%) was the city network, and there were modern sanitary facilities (toilets) in 377 (70.6%) houses. Enterobius vermicularis was found in 209 (43.8%) children. According to logistic regression analyses, the rate of Enterobius vermicularis was found to be 3.05 times higher in students from the Sait Guzelcan primary school, if there were more than 6 residents in the home 2.05 times even higher and 2.02 times still higher if there were no sanitary facilities at his/her home. When there was a history of parasites in the family, the risk was significantly decreased. The prevalence of Enterobius vermicularis in schoolchildren was higher in slum areas, in crowded homes and in those that lacked modern sanitary facilities.

The relationship between social capital and quality management systems in European hospitals: a quantitative study.

PubMed

Hammer, Antje; Arah, Onyebuchi A; Dersarkissian, Maral; Thompson, Caroline A; Mannion, Russell; Wagner, Cordula; Ommen, Oliver; Sunol, Rosa; Pfaff, Holger

2013-01-01

Strategic leadership is an important organizational capability and is essential for quality improvement in hospital settings. Furthermore, the quality of leadership depends crucially on a common set of shared values and mutual trust between hospital management board members. According to the concept of social capital, these are essential requirements for successful cooperation and coordination within groups. We assume that social capital within hospital management boards is an important factor in the development of effective organizational systems for overseeing health care quality. We hypothesized that the degree of social capital within the hospital management board is associated with the effectiveness and maturity of the quality management system in European hospitals. We used a mixed-method approach to data collection and measurement in 188 hospitals in 7 European countries. For this analysis, we used responses from hospital managers. To test our hypothesis, we conducted a multilevel linear regression analysis of the association between social capital and the quality management system score at the hospital level, controlling for hospital ownership, teaching status, number of beds, number of board members, organizational culture, and country clustering. The average social capital score within a hospital management board was 3.3 (standard deviation: 0.5; range: 1-4) and the average hospital score for the quality management index was 19.2 (standard deviation: 4.5; range: 0-27). Higher social capital was associated with higher quality management system scores (regression coefficient: 1.41; standard error: 0.64, p=0.029). The results suggest that a higher degree of social capital exists in hospitals that exhibit higher maturity in their quality management systems. Although uncontrolled confounding and reverse causation cannot be completely ruled out, our new findings, along with the results of previous research, could have important implications for the work of hospital managers and the design and evaluation of hospital quality management systems.

The Relationship between Social Capital and Quality Management Systems in European Hospitals: A Quantitative Study

PubMed Central

Hammer, Antje; Arah, Onyebuchi A.; DerSarkissian, Maral; Thompson, Caroline A.; Mannion, Russell; Wagner, Cordula; Ommen, Oliver; Sunol, Rosa; Pfaff, Holger

2013-01-01

Background Strategic leadership is an important organizational capability and is essential for quality improvement in hospital settings. Furthermore, the quality of leadership depends crucially on a common set of shared values and mutual trust between hospital management board members. According to the concept of social capital, these are essential requirements for successful cooperation and coordination within groups. Objectives We assume that social capital within hospital management boards is an important factor in the development of effective organizational systems for overseeing health care quality. We hypothesized that the degree of social capital within the hospital management board is associated with the effectiveness and maturity of the quality management system in European hospitals. Methods We used a mixed-method approach to data collection and measurement in 188 hospitals in 7 European countries. For this analysis, we used responses from hospital managers. To test our hypothesis, we conducted a multilevel linear regression analysis of the association between social capital and the quality management system score at the hospital level, controlling for hospital ownership, teaching status, number of beds, number of board members, organizational culture, and country clustering. Results The average social capital score within a hospital management board was 3.3 (standard deviation: 0.5; range: 1-4) and the average hospital score for the quality management index was 19.2 (standard deviation: 4.5; range: 0-27). Higher social capital was associated with higher quality management system scores (regression coefficient: 1.41; standard error: 0.64, p=0.029). Conclusion The results suggest that a higher degree of social capital exists in hospitals that exhibit higher maturity in their quality management systems. Although uncontrolled confounding and reverse causation cannot be completely ruled out, our new findings, along with the results of previous research, could have important implications for the work of hospital managers and the design and evaluation of hospital quality management systems. PMID:24392027

A multilevel study on the association of observer-assessed working conditions with depressive symptoms among female eldercare workers from 56 work units in 10 care homes in Denmark.

PubMed

Jakobsen, Louise M; Jorgensen, Anette F B; Thomsen, Birthe L; Greiner, Birgit A; Rugulies, Reiner

2015-11-11

Eldercare workers in Denmark have a higher prevalence of poor psychological health than other occupational groups. We examined the association between working conditions assessed by trained observers and depressive symptoms assessed by self-report in a study of female Danish eldercare workers. Working conditions were observed based on action regulation theory and defined as (1) regulation requirements, a workplace resource providing opportunity for decision-making and skill development and (2) barriers for task completion. We examined the associations of individual and work unit averaged working conditions with depressive symptoms in a sample of 95 individually observed eldercare workers. Further, we examined the association of work unit averaged working conditions with depressive symptoms in a sample of 205 care workers, including both observed and non-observed individuals. We used regression models that allowed for correlations within work units and care homes and adjusted these models for demographics, job characteristics and stressful life events. Higher levels of regulation requirements were associated with lower depressive symptoms at the individual level (p=0.04), but not at the workplace level. Barriers were not associated with depressive symptoms at the individual level. At the workplace level, a higher number of qualitatively different barriers (p=0.04) and a higher number of barriers for equipment use (p=0.03) were associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms in the age and cohabitation adjusted model, however statistical significance was lost in the fully adjusted model. Low level of regulation requirements was associated with a high level of depressive symptoms. The study highlights the importance of examining both individual and workplace levels of working conditions. 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/

Prognostic impact of intestinal wall thickening in hospitalized patients with heart failure.

PubMed

Ikeda, Yuki; Ishii, Shunsuke; Fujita, Teppei; Iida, Yuichiro; Kaida, Toyoji; Nabeta, Takeru; Maekawa, Emi; Yanagisawa, Tomoyoshi; Koitabashi, Toshimi; Takeuchi, Ichiro; Inomata, Takayuki; Ako, Junya

2017-03-01

Intestine-cardiovascular relationship has been increasingly recognized as a key factor in patients with heart disease. We aimed to identify the relationships among intestinal wall edema, cardiac function, and adverse clinical events in hospitalized heart failure (HF) patients. Abdominal computed tomographic images of 168 hospitalized HF patients were retrospectively investigated for identification of average colon wall thickness (CWT) from the ascending to sigmoid colon. Relationships between average CWT and echocardiographic parameters, blood sampling data, and primary outcomes including readmission for deteriorated HF and all-cause mortality were evaluated. Among the echocardiographic parameters, lower left ventricular diastolic function was correlated with higher average CWT. In multivariate analysis, higher logarithmic C-reactive protein level, lower estimated glomerular filtration rate, lower peripheral blood lymphocyte count, higher E/E' ratio, and extremely higher/lower defecation frequency were independently correlated with higher average CWT. Multivariate Cox-hazard analysis demonstrated that higher average CWT was independently related to higher incidence of primary outcomes. In hospitalized HF patients, increased CWT was associated with lower cardiac performance, and predicted poorer long-term clinical outcomes. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Health-based risk neutralization in private disability insurance

PubMed Central

Buitenhuis, Jan; Brouwer, Sandra; van der Klink, Jac J.L.; de Boer, Michiel R.

2016-01-01

Background: Exclusions are used by insurers to neutralize higher than average risks of sickness absence (SA). However, differentiating risk groups according to one’s medical situation can be seen as discrimination against people with health problems in violation of a 2006 United Nations convention. The objective of this study is to investigate whether the risk of SA of insured persons with exclusions added to their insurance contract differs from the risk of persons without exclusions. Methods: A dynamic cohort of 15 632 applicants for private disability insurance at a company insuring only college and university educated self-employed in the Netherlands. Mean follow-up was 8.94 years. Duration and number of SA periods were derived from insurance data to calculate the hazard of SA periods and of recurrence of SA periods. Results: Self-employed with an exclusion added to their insurance policy experienced a higher hazard of one or more periods of SA and on average more SA days than self-employed without an exclusion. Conclusion: Persons with an exclusion had a higher risk of SA than persons without an exclusion. The question to what extent an individual should benefit from being less vulnerable to disease and SA must be addressed in a larger societal context, taking other aspects of health inequality and solidarity into account as well. PMID:27371668

Social problem-solving, perceived stress, negative life events, depression and life satisfaction in psoriasis.

PubMed

Eskin, M; Savk, E; Uslu, M; Küçükaydoğan, N

2014-11-01

Psoriasis is a chronic dermatosis which may cause significant impairment of the patient's quality of life. The purpose of this study was to investigate the social problem-solving skills, perceived stress, negative life events, depression and life satisfaction in psoriasis patients. Data were gathered by means of questionnaires and clinical evaluations from 51 psoriatic patients and 51 matched healthy controls. Average disease duration was 16.47 years and average Psoriasis Area and Severity Index score was 3.67. Compared with the controls, the patients displayed lower social problem-solving skills. They displayed higher negative problem orientation and impulsive-careless problem-solving style scores than the controls. Patients tended also to show more avoidant problem-solving style and lower life satisfaction than controls. There was no difference between psoriatic patients and controls in terms of depression, perceived stress and negative life events. Higher social problem-solving skills were associated with lower depression, perceived stress and fewer numbers of negative life events but higher level of life satisfaction. The patient group largely included mild and moderate psoriatic cases. The findings of the study suggest that problem-solving training or therapy may be a suitable option for alleviating levels of psychological distress in patients suffering from psoriasis. © 2014 European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.

Measuring the Evolution of Ontology Complexity: The Gene Ontology Case Study

PubMed Central

Dameron, Olivier; Bettembourg, Charles; Le Meur, Nolwenn

2013-01-01

Ontologies support automatic sharing, combination and analysis of life sciences data. They undergo regular curation and enrichment. We studied the impact of an ontology evolution on its structural complexity. As a case study we used the sixty monthly releases between January 2008 and December 2012 of the Gene Ontology and its three independent branches, i.e. biological processes (BP), cellular components (CC) and molecular functions (MF). For each case, we measured complexity by computing metrics related to the size, the nodes connectivity and the hierarchical structure. The number of classes and relations increased monotonously for each branch, with different growth rates. BP and CC had similar connectivity, superior to that of MF. Connectivity increased monotonously for BP, decreased for CC and remained stable for MF, with a marked increase for the three branches in November and December 2012. Hierarchy-related measures showed that CC and MF had similar proportions of leaves, average depths and average heights. BP had a lower proportion of leaves, and a higher average depth and average height. For BP and MF, the late 2012 increase of connectivity resulted in an increase of the average depth and average height and a decrease of the proportion of leaves, indicating that a major enrichment effort of the intermediate-level hierarchy occurred. The variation of the number of classes and relations in an ontology does not provide enough information about the evolution of its complexity. However, connectivity and hierarchy-related metrics revealed different patterns of values as well as of evolution for the three branches of the Gene Ontology. CC was similar to BP in terms of connectivity, and similar to MF in terms of hierarchy. Overall, BP complexity increased, CC was refined with the addition of leaves providing a finer level of annotations but decreasing slightly its complexity, and MF complexity remained stable. PMID:24146805

Epidemiologic Measures for Quantifying the Incidence of Concussion in National Collegiate Athletic Association Sports.

PubMed

Kerr, Zachary Y; Roos, Karen G; Djoko, Aristarque; Dalton, Sara L; Broglio, Steven P; Marshall, Stephen W; Dompier, Thomas P

2017-03-01

Injury rates compare the relative frequency of sport-related concussions across groups. However, they may not be intuitive to policy makers, parents, or coaches in understanding the likelihood of concussion. To describe 4 measures of incidence (athlete-based rate, athlete-based risk, team-based rate, and team-based risk) during the 2011-2012 through 2014-2015 academic years.  Descriptive epidemiology study. Aggregate injury and exposure data collected from the National Collegiate Athletic Association Injury Surveillance Program in 13 sports (men's baseball, basketball, football, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and wrestling and women's basketball, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, and volleyball). Collegiate student-athletes. Sport-related concussion data from the National Collegiate Athletic Association Injury Surveillance Program during the 2011-2012 through 2014-2015 academic years were analyzed. We calculated concussion rates per 1000 athlete-exposures (AEs), concussion risk, average number of concussions per team, and percentage of teams with at least 1 concussion. During the 2011-2012 through 2014-2015 academic years, 1485 concussions were sustained by 1410 student-athletes across 13 sports. Concussion rates ranged from 0.09/1000 AEs in men's baseball to 0.89/1000 AEs in men's wrestling. Concussion risk ranged from 0.74% in men's baseball to 7.92% in men's wrestling. The average ± SD number of concussions per team ranged from 0.25 ± 0.43 in men's baseball to 5.63 ± 5.36 in men's football. The percentage of teams with a concussion ranged from 24.5% in men's baseball to 80.6% in men's football.   Although men's wrestling had a higher concussion rate and risk, men's football had the largest average number of concussions per team and the largest percentage of teams with at least 1 concussion. The risk of concussion, average number of concussions per team, and percentage of teams with concussions may be more intuitive measures of incidence for decision makers. Calculating these additional measures is feasible within existing injury surveillance programs, and this method can be applied to other injury types.

Epidemiologic Measures for Quantifying the Incidence of Concussion in National Collegiate Athletic Association Sports

PubMed Central

Kerr, Zachary Y.; Roos, Karen G.; Djoko, Aristarque; Dalton, Sara L.; Broglio, Steven P.; Marshall, Stephen W.; Dompier, Thomas P.

2017-01-01

Context: Injury rates compare the relative frequency of sport-related concussions across groups. However, they may not be intuitive to policy makers, parents, or coaches in understanding the likelihood of concussion. Objective: To describe 4 measures of incidence (athlete-based rate, athlete-based risk, team-based rate, and team-based risk) during the 2011–2012 through 2014–2015 academic years. Design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Setting: Aggregate injury and exposure data collected from the National Collegiate Athletic Association Injury Surveillance Program in 13 sports (men's baseball, basketball, football, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and wrestling and women's basketball, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, and volleyball). Patients or Other Participants: Collegiate student-athletes. Main Outcome Measure(s): Sport-related concussion data from the National Collegiate Athletic Association Injury Surveillance Program during the 2011–2012 through 2014–2015 academic years were analyzed. We calculated concussion rates per 1000 athlete-exposures (AEs), concussion risk, average number of concussions per team, and percentage of teams with at least 1 concussion. Results: During the 2011–2012 through 2014–2015 academic years, 1485 concussions were sustained by 1410 student-athletes across 13 sports. Concussion rates ranged from 0.09/1000 AEs in men's baseball to 0.89/1000 AEs in men's wrestling. Concussion risk ranged from 0.74% in men's baseball to 7.92% in men's wrestling. The average ± SD number of concussions per team ranged from 0.25 ± 0.43 in men's baseball to 5.63 ± 5.36 in men's football. The percentage of teams with a concussion ranged from 24.5% in men's baseball to 80.6% in men's football. Conclusions: Although men's wrestling had a higher concussion rate and risk, men's football had the largest average number of concussions per team and the largest percentage of teams with at least 1 concussion. The risk of concussion, average number of concussions per team, and percentage of teams with concussions may be more intuitive measures of incidence for decision makers. Calculating these additional measures is feasible within existing injury surveillance programs, and this method can be applied to other injury types. PMID:27331336

Survey on air pollution and cardiopulmonary mortality in shiraz from 2011 to 2012: an analytical-descriptive study.

PubMed

Dehghani, Mansooreh; Anushiravani, Amir; Hashemi, Hassan; Shamsedini, Narges

2014-06-01

Expanding cities with rapid economic development has resulted in increased energy consumption leading to numerous environmental problems for their residents. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between air pollution and mortality rate due to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases in Shiraz. This is an analytical cross-sectional study in which the correlation between major air pollutants (including carbon monoxide [CO], sulfur dioxide [SO2], nitrogen dioxide [NO2] and particle matter with a diameter of less than 10 μ [PM10]) and climatic parameters (temperature and relative humidity) with the number of those whom expired from cardiopulmonary disease in Shiraz from March 2011 to January 2012 was investigated. Data regarding the concentration of air pollutants were determined by Shiraz Environmental Organization. Information about climatic parameters was collected from the database of Iran's Meteorological Organization. The number of those expired from cardiopulmonary disease in Shiraz were provided by the Department of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. We used non-parametric correlation test to analyze the relationship between these parameters. The results demonstrated that in all the recorded data, the average monthly pollutants standard index (PSI) values of PM10 were higher than standard limits, while the average monthly PSI value of NO2 were lower than standard. There was no significant relationship between the number of those expired from cardiopulmonary disease and the air pollutant (P > 0.05). Air pollution can aggravate chronic cardiopulmonary disease. In the current study, one of the most important air pollutants in Shiraz was the PM10 component. Mechanical processes, such as wind blowing from neighboring countries, is the most important parameter increasing PM10 in Shiraz to alarming conditions. The average monthly variation in PSI values of air pollutants such as NO2, CO, and SO2 were lower than standard limits. Moreover, there was no significant correlation between the average monthly variation in PSI of NO2, CO, PM10, and SO2 and the number of those expired from cardiopulmonary disease in Shiraz.

Seasonal patterns of predation for gray wolves in the multi-prey system of Yellowstone National Park.

PubMed

Metz, Matthew C; Smith, Douglas W; Vucetich, John A; Stahler, Daniel R; Peterson, Rolf O

2012-05-01

1. For large predators living in seasonal environments, patterns of predation are likely to vary among seasons because of related changes in prey vulnerability. Variation in prey vulnerability underlies the influence of predators on prey populations and the response of predators to seasonal variation in rates of biomass acquisition. Despite its importance, seasonal variation in predation is poorly understood. 2. We assessed seasonal variation in prey composition and kill rate for wolves Canis lupus living on the Northern Range (NR) of Yellowstone National Park. Our assessment was based on data collected over 14 winters (1995-2009) and five spring-summers between 2004 and 2009. 3. The species composition of wolf-killed prey and the age and sex composition of wolf-killed elk Cervus elaphus (the primary prey for NR wolves) varied among seasons. 4. One's understanding of predation depends critically on the metric used to quantify kill rate. For example, kill rate was greatest in summer when quantified as the number of ungulates acquired per wolf per day, and least during summer when kill rate was quantified as the biomass acquired per wolf per day. This finding contradicts previous research that suggests that rates of biomass acquisition for large terrestrial carnivores tend not to vary among seasons. 5. Kill rates were not well correlated among seasons. For example, knowing that early-winter kill rate is higher than average (compared with other early winters) provides little basis for anticipating whether kill rates a few months later during late winter will be higher or lower than average (compared with other late winters). This observation indicates how observing, for example, higher-than-average kill rates throughout any particular season is an unreliable basis for inferring that the year-round average kill rate would be higher than average. 6. Our work shows how a large carnivore living in a seasonal environment displays marked seasonal variation in predation because of changes in prey vulnerability. Patterns of wolf predation were influenced by the nutritional condition of adult elk and the availability of smaller prey (i.e. elk calves, deer). We discuss how these patterns affect our overall understanding of predator and prey population dynamics. © 2012 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology © 2012 British Ecological Society.

Work–family conflict as a risk factor for sickness absence

PubMed Central

Jansen, N W H; Kant, IJ; van Amelsvoort, L G P M; Kristensen, T S; Swaen, G M H; Nijhuis, F J N

2006-01-01

Objectives (1) To study both cross‐sectional and prospective relationships between work–family conflict and sickness absence from work; (2) to explore the direction of the relationships between the different types of conflict (work–home interference and home–work interference) and sickness absence; and (3) to explore gender differences in the above relationships. Methods Data from the Maastricht Cohort Study were used with six months of follow up (5072 men and 1015 women at T6). Work–family conflict was measured with the Survey Work–Home Interference Nijmegen (SWING). Sickness absence was assessed objectively through individual record linkage with the company registers on sickness absence. Results In the cross‐sectional analyses, high levels of work–family conflict, work–home interference, and home–work interference were all associated with a higher odds of being absent at the time of completing the questionnaire, after controlling for age and long term disease. Differences in average number of absent days between cases and non‐cases of work–home interference were significant for men and most pronounced in women, where the average number of absent days over six months follow up was almost four days higher in women with high versus low–medium work–home interference. Conclusions A clear relation between work–family conflict and sickness absence was shown. Additionally, the direction of work–family conflict was associated with a different sickness absence pattern. Sickness absence should be added to the list of adverse outcomes for employees struggling to combine their work and family life. PMID:16698806

Dengue forecasting in São Paulo city with generalized additive models, artificial neural networks and seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average models.

PubMed

Baquero, Oswaldo Santos; Santana, Lidia Maria Reis; Chiaravalloti-Neto, Francisco

2018-01-01

Globally, the number of dengue cases has been on the increase since 1990 and this trend has also been found in Brazil and its most populated city-São Paulo. Surveillance systems based on predictions allow for timely decision making processes, and in turn, timely and efficient interventions to reduce the burden of the disease. We conducted a comparative study of dengue predictions in São Paulo city to test the performance of trained seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average models, generalized additive models and artificial neural networks. We also used a naïve model as a benchmark. A generalized additive model with lags of the number of cases and meteorological variables had the best performance, predicted epidemics of unprecedented magnitude and its performance was 3.16 times higher than the benchmark and 1.47 higher that the next best performing model. The predictive models captured the seasonal patterns but differed in their capacity to anticipate large epidemics and all outperformed the benchmark. In addition to be able to predict epidemics of unprecedented magnitude, the best model had computational advantages, since its training and tuning was straightforward and required seconds or at most few minutes. These are desired characteristics to provide timely results for decision makers. However, it should be noted that predictions are made just one month ahead and this is a limitation that future studies could try to reduce.

Survey of Italian human milk banks.

PubMed

De Nisi, Giuseppe; Moro, Guido E; Arslanoglu, Sertac; Ambruzzi, Amalia M; Biasini, Augusto; Profeti, Claudio; Tonetto, Paola; Bertino, Enrico

2015-05-01

At present, the Italian Association of Donor Human Milk Banks (Associazione Italiana Banche del Latte Umano Donato, AIBLUD) consists of 31 milk banks, whose management is based on Italian Guidelines. In 2013, AIBLUD performed a systematic survey to collect data on the activities of banks operating in Italy in the years previous to this date. The purpose of this survey was to evaluate the operational procedures of Italian Human Milk Banks in order to identify both areas of strength and room for improvement. A questionnaire was utilized to obtain national data from the 28 banks active in the year 2012 in order to evaluate the number of donors, volume of human milk collected, and other information relating to the period 2007 to 2012. In all, 89% of the banks (25/28) responded to the survey. Data received primarily concerned the number of donors, volume of milk collected, and average amount of milk from each donor in the period 2007 to 2012. It was evident that in 2012 human milk banks collected a higher volume of milk than in 2007. Further, the average amount of milk from each donor was higher. Most of the milk banks were following the Italian Guidelines for traceability, control of donors, bacteriological checks, method of pasteurization, storage, thawing, type of containers, and utilization of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points system. This survey identified both areas of strength and room for improvement in the Italian human milk banks. © The Author(s) 2015.

Work-family conflict as a risk factor for sickness absence.

PubMed

Jansen, N W H; Kant, I J; van Amelsvoort, L G P M; Kristensen, T S; Swaen, G M H; Nijhuis, F J N

2006-07-01

(1) To study both cross-sectional and prospective relationships between work-family conflict and sickness absence from work; (2) to explore the direction of the relationships between the different types of conflict (work-home interference and home-work interference) and sickness absence; and (3) to explore gender differences in the above relationships. Data from the Maastricht Cohort Study were used with six months of follow up (5072 men and 1015 women at T6). Work-family conflict was measured with the Survey Work-Home Interference Nijmegen (SWING). Sickness absence was assessed objectively through individual record linkage with the company registers on sickness absence. In the cross-sectional analyses, high levels of work-family conflict, work-home interference, and home-work interference were all associated with a higher odds of being absent at the time of completing the questionnaire, after controlling for age and long term disease. Differences in average number of absent days between cases and non-cases of work-home interference were significant for men and most pronounced in women, where the average number of absent days over six months follow up was almost four days higher in women with high versus low-medium work-home interference. A clear relation between work-family conflict and sickness absence was shown. Additionally, the direction of work-family conflict was associated with a different sickness absence pattern. Sickness absence should be added to the list of adverse outcomes for employees struggling to combine their work and family life.

Object Kinetic Monte Carlo Simulations of Radiation Damage In Bulk Tungsten

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nandipati, Giridhar; Setyawan, Wahyu; Heinisch, Howard; Roche, Kenneth; Kurtz, Richard; Wirth, Brian

2015-11-01

Results are presented for the evolution of radiation damage in bulk tungsten investigated using the object KMC simulation tool, KSOME, as a function of dose, dose rate and primary knock-on atom (PKA) energies in the range of 10 to 100 keV, at temperatures of 300, 1025 and 2050 K. At 300 K, the number density of vacancies changes minimally with dose rate while the number density of vacancy clusters slightly decreases with dose rate indicating that larger clusters are formed at higher dose rates. Although the average vacancy cluster size increases slightly, the vast majority exists as mono-vacancies. At 1025 K void lattice formation was observed at all dose rates for cascades below 60 keV and at lower dose rates for higher PKA energies. After the appearance of initial features of the void lattice, vacancy cluster density increased minimally while the average vacancy cluster size increases rapidly with dose. At 2050 K, no accumulation of defects was observed over a broad range of dose rates for all PKA energies studied in this work. Further comparisons of results of irradiation simulations at various dose rates and PKA spectra, representative of the High Flux Isotope Reactor and future fusion relevant irradiation facilities will be discussed. The U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) and Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) has supported this study through the SciDAC-3 program.

Randomized Trial of Thymectomy in Myasthenia Gravis

PubMed Central

Wolfe, G.I.; Kaminski, H.J.; Aban, I.B.; Minisman, G.; Kuo, H.-C.; Marx, A.; Ströbel, P.; Mazia, C.; Oger, J.; Cea, J.G.; Heckmann, J.M.; Evoli, A.; Nix, W.; Ciafaloni, E.; Antonini, G.; Witoonpanich, R.; King, J.O.; Beydoun, S.R.; Chalk, C.H.; Barboi, A.C.; Amato, A.A.; Shaibani, A.I.; Katirji, B.; Lecky, B.R.F.; Buckley, C.; Vincent, A.; Dias-Tosta, E.; Yoshikawa, H.; Waddington-Cruz, M.; Pulley, M.T.; Rivner, M.H.; Kostera-Pruszczyk, A.; Pascuzzi, R.M.; Jackson, C.E.; Ramos, G.S. Garcia; Verschuuren, J.J.G.M.; Massey, J.M.; Kissel, J.T.; Werneck, L.C.; Benatar, M.; Barohn, R.J.; Tandan, R.; Mozaffar, T.; Conwit, R.; Odenkirchen, J.; Sonett, J.R.; Jaretzki, A.; Newsom-Davis, J.; Cutter, G.R.

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND Thymectomy has been a mainstay in the treatment of myasthenia gravis, but there is no conclusive evidence of its benefit. We conducted a multicenter, randomized trial comparing thymectomy plus prednisone with prednisone alone. METHODS We compared extended transsternal thymectomy plus alternate-day prednisone with alternate-day prednisone alone. Patients 18 to 65 years of age who had generalized nonthymomatous myasthenia gravis with a disease duration of less than 5 years were included if they had Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America clinical class II to IV disease (on a scale from I to V, with higher classes indicating more severe disease) and elevated circulating concentrations of acetylcholine-receptor antibody. The primary outcomes were the time-weighted average Quantitative Myasthenia Gravis score (on a scale from 0 to 39, with higher scores indicating more severe disease) over a 3-year period, as assessed by means of blinded rating, and the time-weighted average required dose of prednisone over a 3-year period. RESULTS A total of 126 patients underwent randomization between 2006 and 2012 at 36 sites. Patients who underwent thymectomy had a lower time-weighted average Quantitative Myasthenia Gravis score over a 3-year period than those who received prednisone alone (6.15 vs. 8.99, P<0.001); patients in the thymectomy group also had a lower average requirement for alternate-day prednisone (44 mg vs. 60 mg, P<0.001). Fewer patients in the thymectomy group than in the prednisone-only group required immunosuppression with azathioprine (17% vs. 48%, P<0.001) or were hospitalized for exacerbations (9% vs. 37%, P<0.001). The number of patients with treatment-associated complications did not differ significantly between groups (P=0.73), but patients in the thymectomy group had fewer treatment-associated symptoms related to immunosuppressive medications (P<0.001) and lower distress levels related to symptoms (P=0.003). CONCLUSIONS Thymectomy improved clinical outcomes over a 3-year period in patients with nonthymomatous myasthenia gravis. (Funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and others; MGTX ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00294658.) PMID:27509100

Randomized Trial of Thymectomy in Myasthenia Gravis.

PubMed

Wolfe, Gil I; Kaminski, Henry J; Aban, Inmaculada B; Minisman, Greg; Kuo, Hui-Chien; Marx, Alexander; Ströbel, Philipp; Mazia, Claudio; Oger, Joel; Cea, J Gabriel; Heckmann, Jeannine M; Evoli, Amelia; Nix, Wilfred; Ciafaloni, Emma; Antonini, Giovanni; Witoonpanich, Rawiphan; King, John O; Beydoun, Said R; Chalk, Colin H; Barboi, Alexandru C; Amato, Anthony A; Shaibani, Aziz I; Katirji, Bashar; Lecky, Bryan R F; Buckley, Camilla; Vincent, Angela; Dias-Tosta, Elza; Yoshikawa, Hiroaki; Waddington-Cruz, Márcia; Pulley, Michael T; Rivner, Michael H; Kostera-Pruszczyk, Anna; Pascuzzi, Robert M; Jackson, Carlayne E; Garcia Ramos, Guillermo S; Verschuuren, Jan J G M; Massey, Janice M; Kissel, John T; Werneck, Lineu C; Benatar, Michael; Barohn, Richard J; Tandan, Rup; Mozaffar, Tahseen; Conwit, Robin; Odenkirchen, Joanne; Sonett, Joshua R; Jaretzki, Alfred; Newsom-Davis, John; Cutter, Gary R

2016-08-11

Thymectomy has been a mainstay in the treatment of myasthenia gravis, but there is no conclusive evidence of its benefit. We conducted a multicenter, randomized trial comparing thymectomy plus prednisone with prednisone alone. We compared extended transsternal thymectomy plus alternate-day prednisone with alternate-day prednisone alone. Patients 18 to 65 years of age who had generalized nonthymomatous myasthenia gravis with a disease duration of less than 5 years were included if they had Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America clinical class II to IV disease (on a scale from I to V, with higher classes indicating more severe disease) and elevated circulating concentrations of acetylcholine-receptor antibody. The primary outcomes were the time-weighted average Quantitative Myasthenia Gravis score (on a scale from 0 to 39, with higher scores indicating more severe disease) over a 3-year period, as assessed by means of blinded rating, and the time-weighted average required dose of prednisone over a 3-year period. A total of 126 patients underwent randomization between 2006 and 2012 at 36 sites. Patients who underwent thymectomy had a lower time-weighted average Quantitative Myasthenia Gravis score over a 3-year period than those who received prednisone alone (6.15 vs. 8.99, P<0.001); patients in the thymectomy group also had a lower average requirement for alternate-day prednisone (44 mg vs. 60 mg, P<0.001). Fewer patients in the thymectomy group than in the prednisone-only group required immunosuppression with azathioprine (17% vs. 48%, P<0.001) or were hospitalized for exacerbations (9% vs. 37%, P<0.001). The number of patients with treatment-associated complications did not differ significantly between groups (P=0.73), but patients in the thymectomy group had fewer treatment-associated symptoms related to immunosuppressive medications (P<0.001) and lower distress levels related to symptoms (P=0.003). Thymectomy improved clinical outcomes over a 3-year period in patients with nonthymomatous myasthenia gravis. (Funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and others; MGTX ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00294658.).

Comparative Study of Convective Heat Transfer Performance of Steam and Air Flow in Rib Roughened Channels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Chao; Ji, Yongbin; Ge, Bing; Zang, Shusheng; Chen, Hua

2018-04-01

A comparative experimental study of heat transfer characteristics of steam and air flow in rectangular channels roughened with parallel ribs was conducted by using an infrared camera. Effects of Reynolds numbers and rib angles on the steam and air convective heat transfer have been obtained and compared with each other for the Reynolds number from about 4,000 to 15,000. For all the ribbed channels the rib pitch to height ratio (p/e) is 10, and the rib height to the channel hydraulic diameter ratio is 0.078, while the rib angles are varied from 90° to 45°. Based on experimental results, it can be found that, even though the heat transfer distributions of steam and air flow in the ribbed channels are similar to each other, the steam flow can obtain higher convective heat transfer enhancement capability, and the heat transfer enhancement of both the steam and air becomes greater with the rib angle deceasing from 90° to 45°. At Reynolds number of about 12,000, the area-averaged Nusselt numbers of the steam flow is about 13.9%, 14.2%, 19.9% and 23.9% higher than those of the air flow for the rib angles of 90°, 75°, 60° and 45° respectively. With the experimental results the correlations for Nusselt number in terms of Reynolds number and rib angle for the steam and air flow in the ribbed channels were developed respectively.

First Report on a Randomized Investigation of Antimicrobial Resistance in Fecal Indicator Bacteria from Livestock, Poultry, and Humans in Tanzania.

PubMed

Katakweba, Abdul A S; Muhairwa, Amandus P; Lupindu, Athumani M; Damborg, Peter; Rosenkrantz, Jesper T; Minga, Uswege M; Mtambo, Madundo M A; Olsen, John E

2018-04-01

This study provides an estimate of antimicrobial resistance in intestinal indicator bacteria from humans (n = 97) and food animals (n = 388) in Tanzania. More than 70% of all fecal samples contained tetracycline (TE), sulfamethoxazole (STX), and ampicillin (AMP)-resistant coliforms, while cefotaxime (CTX)-resistant coliforms were observed in 40% of all samples. The average Log 10 colony forming units/g of CTX-resistant coliforms in samples from humans were 2.20. Of 390 Escherichia coli tested, 66.4% were resistant to TE, 54.9% to STX, 54.9% to streptomycin, and 36.4% to CTX. Isolates were commonly (65.1%) multiresistant. All CTX-resistant isolates contained bla CTX-M gene type. AMP- and vancomycin-resistant enterococci were rare, and the average concentrations in positive samples were low (log 10 0.9 and 0.4, respectively). A low-to-moderate resistance (2.1-15%) was detected in 240 enterococci isolates to the drugs tested, except for rifampicin resistance (75.2% of isolates). The average number of sulII gene copies varied between Log 10 5.37 and 5.68 with no significant difference between sample source, while cattle had significantly higher number of tetW genes than humans. These findings, based on randomly obtained samples, will be instrumental in designing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) intervention strategies for Tanzania.

Use and abuse of medication during 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil: a retrospective survey

PubMed Central

Vaso, Martin; Weber, Alexis; Tscholl, Philippe M; Junge, Astrid; Dvorak, Jiri

2015-01-01

Objective To examine the use of medication of top-level male players during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil. Design Retrospective survey. Participants/information 736 top level players. Setting The teams’ physicians disclosed a list of the medications used by each player within 72 h before each match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil. Outcome measures Average number of medications used per player per match or during the tournament; average number and percentage of players using at least one medication per match or during the tournament. Results 67.0% of all players took various types of medication during the tournament. The most used medications during the tournament were non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), by 54.2% of all players, followed by analgaesics (12.6%); β-2 agonists were only used by 0.5%. On average, 0.8 medications per player were used before each match. More players were reported taking medications during the knockout round than during the qualification round (0.36±0.48 vs 0.49±0.50, p<0.001). Players from the South American and Asian Confederations took twice as many medications per match as players from the African Confederation (1.17±1.55 and 1.01±1.26 vs 0.48±0.69, both p<0.001). Conclusions There was high use of NSAIDs during the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Although the intake of NSAIDs per match (0.35±0.46 vs 0.31±0.48, p<0.01) in the 2014 FIFA World Cup decreased compared to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the average use was still higher than in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and the average number of all used medications per player remained the same level as 4 years prior, with all its implications for the player's health. More efforts need to be undertaken worldwide in order to reduce the administration of medications in sports, through continuous education for players, starting from a young age, as well as for doctors and paramedics. PMID:26359283

Effects of temporal averaging on short-term irradiance variability under mixed sky conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lohmann, Gerald M.; Monahan, Adam H.

2018-05-01

Characterizations of short-term variability in solar radiation are required to successfully integrate large numbers of photovoltaic power systems into the electrical grid. Previous studies have used ground-based irradiance observations with a range of different temporal resolutions and a systematic analysis of the effects of temporal averaging on the representation of variability is lacking. Using high-resolution surface irradiance data with original temporal resolutions between 0.01 and 1 s from six different locations in the Northern Hemisphere, we characterize the changes in representation of temporal variability resulting from time averaging. In this analysis, we condition all data to states of mixed skies, which are the most potentially problematic in terms of local PV power volatility. Statistics of clear-sky index k* and its increments Δk*τ (i.e., normalized surface irradiance and changes therein over specified intervals of time) are considered separately. Our results indicate that a temporal averaging time scale of around 1 s marks a transition in representing single-point irradiance variability, such that longer averages result in substantial underestimates of variability. Higher-resolution data increase the complexity of data management and quality control without appreciably improving the representation of variability. The results do not show any substantial discrepancies between locations or seasons.

Organization and quantification of the elements in the intertubular space in the adult jaguar testis (Panthera onca, LINNAEUS, 1758).

PubMed

Azevedo, Maria Helena Ferreira; Paula, Tarcízio Antônio Rego; Balarini, Maytê Koch; Matta, Sérgio Luiz Pinto; Peixoto, Juliano Vogas; Guião Leite, Flaviana Lima; Rossi, João Luis; da Costa, Eduardo Paulino

2008-12-01

The endocrine portion of mammal testicle is represented by Leydig cells which, together with connective cells, leukocytes, blood and lymphatic vessels, form the intertubular space. The arrangement and proportion of these components vary in the different species of mammals and form mechanisms that keep the testosterone level--the main product of the Leydig cell--two to three times higher in the interstitial fluid than in the testicular blood vessels and 40-250 times higher in these than in the peripheral blood. Marked differences are observed among animal species regarding the abundance of Leydig cells, loose connective tissue, development degree and location of the lymphatic vessels and their topographical relationship with seminiferous tubules. In the jaguar about 13% of the testicular parenchyma is occupied by Leydig cells, 8.3% by connective tissue and 0.3% by lymphatic vessels. Although included in standard II, as described in the literature, concerning the arrangement of the intertubular space, the jaguar has grouped lymphatic vessels in the intertubular space instead of isolated ones. In the jaguar the average volume of the Leydig cell was 2386 microm3 and its average nuclear diameter was 7.7 microm. A great quantity of 2.3 microm diameter lipidic drops was observed in the Leydig cell cytoplasm of the jaguar. The Leydig cells in the jaguar occupy an average 0.0036% of the body weight and the average number per gram of testicle was within the range for most mammals: between 20 and 40 million.

Use of scan overlap redundancy to enhance multispectral aircraft scanner data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lindenlaub, J. C.; Keat, J.

1973-01-01

Two criteria were suggested for optimizing the resolution error versus signal-to-noise-ratio tradeoff. The first criterion uses equal weighting coefficients and chooses n, the number of lines averaged, so as to make the average resolution error equal to the noise error. The second criterion adjusts both the number and relative sizes of the weighting coefficients so as to minimize the total error (resolution error plus noise error). The optimum set of coefficients depends upon the geometry of the resolution element, the number of redundant scan lines, the scan line increment, and the original signal-to-noise ratio of the channel. Programs were developed to find the optimum number and relative weights of the averaging coefficients. A working definition of signal-to-noise ratio was given and used to try line averaging on a typical set of data. Line averaging was evaluated only with respect to its effect on classification accuracy.

75 years of dryland science: Trends and gaps in arid ecology literature

PubMed Central

Dickman, Chris R.; Wardle, Glenda M.

2017-01-01

Growth in the publication of scientific articles is occurring at an exponential rate, prompting a growing need to synthesise information in a timely manner to combat urgent environmental problems and guide future research. Here, we undertake a topic analysis of dryland literature over the last 75 years (8218 articles) to identify areas in arid ecology that are well studied and topics that are emerging. Four topics—wetlands, mammal ecology, litter decomposition and spatial modelling, were identified as ‘hot topics’ that showed higher than average growth in publications from 1940 to 2015. Five topics—remote sensing, climate, habitat and spatial, agriculture and soils-microbes, were identified as ‘cold topics’, with lower than average growth over the survey period, but higher than average numbers of publications. Topics in arid ecology clustered into seven broad groups on word-based similarity. These groups ranged from mammal ecology and population genetics, broad-scale management and ecosystem modelling, plant ecology, agriculture and ecophysiology, to populations and paleoclimate. These patterns may reflect trends in the field of ecology more broadly. We also identified two broad research gaps in arid ecology: population genetics, and habitat and spatial research. Collaborations between population genetics and ecologists and investigations of ecological processes across spatial scales would contribute profitably to the advancement of arid ecology and to ecology more broadly. PMID:28384186

[Usefulness of SCL-90-R and SIMS inventories for the detection of mental health malingering at workplace].

PubMed

Loskin, Ulises E; Bertone, Matías S; López-Regueira, Joaquín

2017-03-01

Mental illness is a common cause of work leave. This situation has a negative impact on labor productivity and costs, and may contribute to con?icts affecting workplace environment. The purpose of this investigation is to describe the evaluation results of a total of 89 cases on sick leave for psychological and psychiatric reasons, and to test the convergent validity of scales in the "Positive Symptom Total" (PST) and "Positive Symptom Distress" (PSDI) of the Symptom Checklist Revised (SCL-90-R) by means of the Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptomatology (SIMS). Taking a score higher than 16 in the SIMS as the cut-off point, the analysis focused on whether PST and PSDI scales presented differences in average between malingers and non-malingers. From the total number of cases, 66 were found to be likely cases of malingered mental illness, with different averages in PST (77.02) and PSDI (2.71). Statistical correlation tests allowed to objectify convergent validity and statistical signifcance between the PSDI and PST scales of the inventory SCL-90-R and the SIMS inventory, with a higher average in PSDI scale (0.617) as compared with PST scale (0.413) in Spearman's rho. The results of the investigation confrm the usefulness of both instruments for the assessment of mental illness malingering in employers on sick leave due to mental disorders.

Variability of chlorination by-product occurrence in water of indoor and outdoor swimming pools.

PubMed

Simard, Sabrina; Tardif, Robert; Rodriguez, Manuel J

2013-04-01

Swimming is one of the most popular aquatic activities. Just like natural water, public pool water may contain microbiological and chemical contaminants. The purpose of this study was to study the presence of chemical contaminants in swimming pools, in particular the presence of disinfection by-products (DBPs) such as trihalomethanes (THMs), haloacetic acids (HAAs) and inorganic chloramines (CAMi). Fifty-four outdoor and indoor swimming pools were investigated over a period of one year (monthly or bi-weekly sampling, according to the type of pool) for the occurrence of DBPs. The results showed that DBP levels in swimming pools were greater than DBP levels found in drinking water, especially for HAAs. Measured concentrations of THMs (97.9 vs 63.7 μg/L in average) and HAAs (807.6 vs 412.9 μg/L in average) were higher in outdoor pools, whereas measured concentrations of CAMi (0.1 vs 0.8 mg/L in average) were higher in indoor pools. Moreover, outdoor pools with heated water contained more DBPs than unheated pools. Finally, there was significant variability in tTHM, HAA9 and CAMi levels in pools supplied by the same municipal drinking water network, suggesting that individual pool characteristics (number of swimmers) and management strategies play a major role in DBP formation. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ecological and evolutionary consequences of benthic community stasis in the very deep sea (>1500 m)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Buzas, Martin A.; Hayek, Lee-Ann C.; Culver, Stephen J.; Hayward, Bruce W.; Osterman, Lisa E.

2014-01-01

An enigma of deep-sea biodiversity research is that the abyss with its low productivity and densities appears to have a biodiversity similar to that of shallower depths. This conceptualization of similarity is based mainly on per-sample estimates (point diversity, within-habitat, or α-diversity). Here, we use a measure of between-sample within-community diversity (β1H) to examine benthic foraminiferal diversity between 333 stations within 49 communties from New Zealand, the South Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, the Norwegian Sea, and the Arctic. The communities are grouped into two depth categories: 200–1500 m and >1500 m. β1H diversity exhibits no evidence of regional differences. Instead, higher values at shallower depths are observed worldwide. At depths of >1500 m the average β1H is zero, indicating stasis or no biodiversity gradient. The difference in β1H-diversity explains why, despite species richness often being greater per sample at deeper depths, the total number of species is greater at shallower depths. The greater number of communities and higher rate of evolution resulting in shorter species durations at shallower depths is also consistent with higher β1H values.

Lattice Boltzmann simulations of liquid CO2 displacing water in a 2D heterogeneous micromodel at reservoir pressure conditions.

PubMed

Chen, Yu; Li, Yaofa; Valocchi, Albert J; Christensen, Kenneth T

2018-05-01

We employed the color-fluid lattice Boltzmann multiphase model to simulate liquid CO 2 displacing water documented in experiments in a 2D heterogeneous micromodel at reservoir pressure conditions. The main purpose is to investigate whether lattice Boltzmann simulation can reproduce the CO 2 invasion patterns observed in these experiments for a range of capillary numbers. Although the viscosity ratio used in the simulation matches the experimental conditions, the viscosity of the fluids in the simulation is higher than that of the actual fluids used in the experiments. Doing so is required to enhance numerical stability, and is a common strategy employed in the literature when using the lattice Boltzmann method to simulate CO 2 displacing water. The simulations reproduce qualitatively similar trends of changes in invasion patterns as the capillary number is increased. However, the development of secondary CO 2 pathways, a key feature of the invasion patterns in the simulations and experiments, is found to occur at a much higher capillary number in the simulations compared with the experiments. Additional numerical simulations were conducted to investigate the effect of the absolute value of viscosity on the invasion patterns while maintaining the viscosity ratio and capillary number fixed. These results indicate that the use of a high viscosity (which significantly reduces the inertial effect in the simulations) suppresses the development of secondary CO 2 pathways, leading to a different fluid distribution compared with corresponding experiments at the same capillary number. Therefore, inertial effects are not negligible in drainage process with liquid CO 2 and water despite the low Reynolds number based on the average velocity, as the local velocity can be much higher due to Haines jump events. These higher velocities, coupled with the low viscosity of CO 2 , further amplifies the inertial effect. Therefore, we conclude that caution should be taken when using proxy fluids that only rely on the capillary number and viscosity ratio in both experiment and simulation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[Community traits of soil fauna in forestlands converted from cultivated lands in limestone red soil region of Ruichang, Jiangxi Province of China].

PubMed

Li, Tao; Liu, Yuan-Qiug; Guo, Sheng-Mao; Ke, Guo-Qing; Zhang, Zhao; Xiao, Xu-Bao; Liu, Wu

2012-04-01

This paper studied the variations of the community composition and individuals' number of soil fauna in limestone red soil region of Ruichang, Jiangxi Province after six years of converting cultivated lands into forestlands. Three converted forestlands, including the lands of mixed multiple-species forest, bamboo-broadleaved forest, and tree-seedling integration, were selected as test objects, with cultivated lands as the comparison. A total of 34 orders, 17 classes, and 6 phyla of soil fauna were observed in the converted forestlands. The dominant group was Nematoda, accounting for 86.7% of the total, whereas Acarina, Enchytraeidae, and Collembola were the common groups. In the cultivated lands, soil fauna had 21 orders, 10 classes, and 5 phyla. The dominant group was also Nematoda, accounting 86.7% of the total, and Acarina and Enchytraeidae were the common groups. In the converted forestlands, the group number of rare species was greater than that in the cultivated lands (30 vs. 18), and, except in winter, the group number and average density were significantly higher than those in the cultivated lands (P < 0.05). The vertical distribution of soil fauna in the soil profiles showed an obvious surface accumulation, which was more apparent in converted forestlands than in cultivated lands, and the individuals' number had significant differences between the surface (0-5 cm) layer and the 5-10 cm and 10-15 cm layers (P < 0.01) for both the converted forestlands and the cultivated lands. The group number of soil fauna in the converted forestlands had a seasonal variation ranked in the order of summer > autumn > spring > winter, and there was a significant difference between summer-autumn and spring-winter. The average density of the soil fauna also had a seasonal variation but ranked as autumn > summer > spring > winter, and the differences among the seasons were significant (P < 0.05). The biodiversity index of soil fauna was significantly higher in converted forestlands than in cultivated lands, and was the highest in mixed multiple-species forestland and the least in tree-seedling integration land.

[Systematic Review of the Methodology Quality in Lung Cancer Screening Guidelines].

PubMed

Li, Jiang; Su, Kai; Li, Fang; Tang, Wei; Huang, Yao; Wang, Le; Huang, Huiyao; Shi, Jufang; Dai, Min

2016-10-20

Lung cancer is the most common malignancy and screening can decrease the mortality. High quality screening guideline is necessary and important for effective work. Our study is to review and evaluate the basic characteristics and methodology quality of the current global lung cancer screening guidelines so as to provide useful information for domestic study in the future. Electronic searches were done in English and Chinese databases including PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase, CNKI, CBM, Wanfang, and some cancer official websites. Articles were screened according to the predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria by two researchers. The quality of guidelines was assessed by AGREE II. At last, a total of 11 guidelines with methodology were included. The guidelines were issued mainly by USA (81%). Canada and China developed one, respectively. As for quality, the average score in the "Scale and objective" of all guidelines was 80, the average score in the "Participants" was 52, the average score in the "rigorism" was 50, the average score in the "clarity" was 76, the average score in the "application" was 43 and the average score in the "independence" was 59. The highest average score was found in 2013 and 2015. Canada guideline had higher quality in six domains. 7 guidelines were evaluated as A level. The number of clinical guidelines showed an increasing trend. Most guidelines were issued by developed countries with heavy burden. Multi-country contribution to one guideline was another trend. Evidence-based methodology was accepted globally in the guideline development.

7 CFR 786.106 - Determination of losses incurred.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... of the dairy operation's average number of cows in the dairy herd and actual commercial production... cow determined according to the following: (1) The average of annual marketed production during the base period calendar years of 2003 and 2004, divided by; (2) The average number of cows in the dairy...

Comparative Analysis of the Number and Structure of the Complexes of Microscopic Fungi in Tundra and Taiga Soils in the North of the Kola Peninsula

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Korneikova, M. V.

2018-01-01

The number, biomass, length of fungal mycelium, and species diversity of microscopic fungi have been studied in soils of the tundra and taiga zones in the northern part of the Kola Peninsula: Al-Fe-humus podzols (Albic Podzols), podburs (Entic Podzols), dry peaty soils (Folic Histosols), low-moor peat soils (Sapric Histosols), and soils of frost bare spots (Cryosols). The number of cultivated microscopic fungi in tundra soils varied from 8 to 328 thousand CFU/g, their biomass averaged 1.81 ± 0.19 mg/g, and the length of fungal mycelium averaged 245 ± 25 m/g. The number of micromycetes in taiga soils varied from 80 to 350 thousand CFU/g, the number of fungal propagules in some years reached 600 thousand CFU/g; the fungal biomass varied from 0.23 to 6.2 mg/g, and the length of fungal mycelium varied from 32 to 3900 m/g. Overall, 36 species of fungi belonging to 16 genera, 13 families, and 8 orders were isolated from tundra soils. The species diversity of microscopic fungi in taiga soils was significantly higher: 87 species belonging to 31 genera, 21 families, and 11 orders. Fungi from the Penicillium genus predominated in both natural zones and constituted 38-50% of the total number of isolated species. The soils of tundra and taiga zones were characterized by their own complexes of micromycetes; the similarity of their species composition was about 40%. In soils of the tundra zone, Mortierella longicollis, Penicillium melinii, P. raistrickii, and P. simplicissimum predominated; dominant fungal species in soils of the taiga zone were represented by M. longicollis, P. decumbens, P. implicatum, and Umbelopsis isabellina.

Estimating Marine Aerosol Particle Volume and Number from Maritime Aerosol Network Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sayer, A. M.; Smirnov, A.; Hsu, N. C.; Munchak, L. A.; Holben, B. N.

2012-01-01

As well as spectral aerosol optical depth (AOD), aerosol composition and concentration (number, volume, or mass) are of interest for a variety of applications. However, remote sensing of these quantities is more difficult than for AOD, as it is more sensitive to assumptions relating to aerosol composition. This study uses spectral AOD measured on Maritime Aerosol Network (MAN) cruises, with the additional constraint of a microphysical model for unpolluted maritime aerosol based on analysis of Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) inversions, to estimate these quantities over open ocean. When the MAN data are subset to those likely to be comprised of maritime aerosol, number and volume concentrations obtained are physically reasonable. Attempts to estimate surface concentration from columnar abundance, however, are shown to be limited by uncertainties in vertical distribution. Columnar AOD at 550 nm and aerosol number for unpolluted maritime cases are also compared with Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data, for both the present Collection 5.1 and forthcoming Collection 6. MODIS provides a best-fitting retrieval solution, as well as the average for several different solutions, with different aerosol microphysical models. The average solution MODIS dataset agrees more closely with MAN than the best solution dataset. Terra tends to retrieve lower aerosol number than MAN, and Aqua higher, linked with differences in the aerosol models commonly chosen. Collection 6 AOD is likely to agree more closely with MAN over open ocean than Collection 5.1. In situations where spectral AOD is measured accurately, and aerosol microphysical properties are reasonably well-constrained, estimates of aerosol number and volume using MAN or similar data would provide for a greater variety of potential comparisons with aerosol properties derived from satellite or chemistry transport model data.

Stable isotope studies of nicotine kinetics and bioavailability

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

Benowitz, N.L.; Jacob, P. 3d.; Denaro, C.

1991-03-01

The stable isotope-labeled compound 3',3'-dideuteronicotine was used to investigate the disposition kinetics of nicotine in smokers, the systemic absorption of nicotine from cigarette smoke, and the bioavailability of nicotine ingested as oral capsules. Blood levels of labeled nicotine could be measured for 9 hours after a 30-minute intravenous infusion. Analysis of disposition kinetics in 10 healthy men revealed a multiexponential decline after the end of an infusion, with an elimination half-life averaging 203 minutes. This half-life was longer than that previously reported, indicating the presence of a shallow elimination phase. Plasma clearance averaged 14.6 ml/min/kg. The average intake of nicotinemore » per cigarette was 2.29 mg. A cigarette smoke-monitoring system that directly measured particulate matter in smoke was evaluated in these subjects. Total particulate matter, number of puffs on the cigarette, total puff volume, and time of puffing correlated with the intake of nicotine from smoking. The oral bioavailability of nicotine averaged 44%. This bioavailability is higher than expected based on the systemic clearance of nicotine and suggests that there may be significant extrahepatic metabolism of nicotine.« less

Mental health care and average happiness: strong effect in developed nations.

PubMed

Touburg, Giorgio; Veenhoven, Ruut

2015-07-01

Mental disorder is a main cause of unhappiness in modern society and investment in mental health care is therefore likely to add to average happiness. This prediction was checked in a comparison of 143 nations around 2005. Absolute investment in mental health care was measured using the per capita number of psychiatrists and psychologists working in mental health care. Relative investment was measured using the share of mental health care in the total health budget. Average happiness in nations was measured with responses to survey questions about life-satisfaction. Average happiness appeared to be higher in countries that invest more in mental health care, both absolutely and relative to investment in somatic medicine. A data split by level of development shows that this difference exists only among developed nations. Among these nations the link between mental health care and happiness is quite strong, both in an absolute sense and compared to other known societal determinants of happiness. The correlation between happiness and share of mental health care in the total health budget is twice as strong as the correlation between happiness and size of the health budget. A causal effect is likely, but cannot be proved in this cross-sectional analysis.

Latin American Clinical Epidemiology Network Series - Paper 6: The influence of alcohol in traffic accidents and health care costs of it in Bogotá-Colombia.

PubMed

Gómez-Restrepo, Carlos; Naranjo-Lujan, Salomé; Rondón, Martín; Acosta, Andrés; Maldonado, Patricia; Arango Villegas, Carlos; Hurtado, Jaime; Hernández, Juan Carlos; Angarita, María Del Pilar; Peña, Marcela; Saavedra, Miguel Ángel; Quitian, Hoover

2017-06-01

In Colombia, some studies have estimated medical costs associated to traffic accidents. It is required to assess results by city or region and determine the influence of variables such as alcohol consumption. The main objective of this study was to identify health care costs associated to traffic accidents in Bogota and determine whether alcohol consumption can increase them. Cross-sectional costs study conducted in patients over 18 years treated in the emergency rooms of six different hospitals in Bogota, Colombia. The average total cost of medical care per patient was 628 USD, in Bogota-Colombia. The average cost per accident was estimated at 1,349 USD. On average, the total cost for health care for patients with positive blood alcohol level was 1.8 times higher than those who did not consume alcohol. The indirect costs were on average 115.3 USD per injured person. Numbers are expressed in 2011 U.S. dollars. Alcohol consumption increases the risk of traffic accidents and direct medical health costs. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Disparities in the prevalence of comorbidities among US adults by state Medicaid expansion status.

PubMed

Akinyemiju, Tomi; Jha, Megha; Moore, Justin Xavier; Pisu, Maria

2016-07-01

About 92% of US older adults have at least one chronic disease or medical condition and 77% have at least two. Low-income and uninsured adults in particular experience a higher burden of comorbidities, and the Medicaid expansion provision of the Affordable Care Act was designed to improve access to healthcare in this population group. However, a significant number of US states have declined expansion. The purpose of this study is to determine the distribution of low-income and uninsured adults in expanded versus non-expanded states, and evaluate the prevalence of comorbidities in both groups. Data from the 2013 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) dataset was analyzed, and Medicaid expansion status was assessed from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services report on State Medicaid and CHIP Income Eligibility Standards. Next, age adjusted mean number of comorbidities between expanded and non-expanded states was compared, with adjustment for socio-demographic differences. Expanded states had a higher proportion of adults with income of at least $50,000 per year (39.6% vs. 35.5%, p<0.01) and a lower proportion of individuals with no health insurance coverage (15.2% vs. 20.3%, p<0.01) compared with non-expanded states. Among the uninsured, there was a higher proportion of obese (31.6% vs. 26.9%, p<001), and higher average number of comorbidities (1.62 vs. 1.52, p<0.01) in non-expanded states compared to expanded states. Overall, the prevalence of comorbidities was higher among BRFSS participants in states that did not expand Medicaid compared with those in expanded states. States without Medicaid expansion have a greater proportion of poor, uninsured adults with more chronic diseases and conditions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Structural characteristics of the online social networks of maltreated youth and offline sexual risk behavior.

PubMed

Negriff, Sonya; Valente, Thomas W

2018-02-07

Maltreated youth are at risk for exposure to online sexual content and high-risk sexual behavior, yet characteristics of their online social networks have not been examined as a potential source of vulnerability. The aims of the current study were: 1) to test indicators of size (number of friends) and fragmentation (number of connections between friends) of maltreated young adults' online networks as predictors of intentional and unintentional exposure to sexual content and offline high-risk sexual behavior and 2) to test maltreatment as a moderator of these associations. Participants were selected from a longitudinal study on the effects of child maltreatment (n = 152; Mean age 21.84 years). Data downloaded from Facebook were used to calculate network variables of size (number of friends), density (connections between friends), average degree (average number of connections for each friend), and percent isolates (those not connected to others in the network). Self-reports of intentional and unintentional exposure to online sexual content and offline high-risk sexual behavior were the outcome variables. Multiple-group path modeling showed that only for the maltreated group having a higher percent of isolates in the network predicted intentional exposure to online sexual content and offline high-risk sexual behavior. An implication of this finding is that the composition of the Facebook network may be used as a risk indicator for individuals with child-welfare documented maltreatment experiences. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Real-Time Ultrafine Aerosol Measurements from Wastewater Treatment Facilities.

PubMed

Piqueras, P; Li, F; Castelluccio, V; Matsumoto, M; Asa-Awuku, A

2016-10-18

Airborne particle emissions from wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) have been associated with health repercussions but particulate quantification studies are scarce. In this study, particulate matter (PM) number concentrations and size distributions in the ultrafine range (7-300 nm) were measured from two different sources: a laboratory-scale aerobic bioreactor and the activated sludge aeration basins at Orange County Sanitation District (OCSD). The relationships between wastewater parameters (total organic carbon (TOC), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and total suspended solids (TSS)), aeration flow rate and particle concentrations were also explored. A significant positive relationship was found between particle concentration and WWTP variables (COD: r(10) = 0.876, p <.001, TOC: r(10) = 0.664, p <.05, TSS: r(10) = 0.707, p <.05, aeration flow rate: r(8) = 0.988, p <.0001). A theoretical model was also developed from empirical data to compare real world WWTP aerosol number emission fluxes with laboratory data. Aerosol number fluxes at OCSD aerated basins (9.8 × 10 4 lbs/min·cm 2 ) and the bioreactor (7.95 × 10 4 lbs/min·cm 2 ) were calculated and showed a relatively small difference (19%). The ultrafine size distributions from both systems were consistent, with a mode of ∼48 nm. The average mass concentration (7.03 μg/cm 3 ) from OCSD was relatively small compared to other urban sources. However, the in-tank average number concentration of airborne particles (14 480 lbs/cm 3 ) was higher than background ambient concentrations.

Queueing system analysis of multi server model at XYZ insurance company in Tasikmalaya city

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muhajir, Ahmad; Binatari, Nikenasih

2017-08-01

Queueing theory or waiting line theory is a theory that deals with the queue process from the customer comes, queue to be served, served and left on service facilities. Queue occurs because of a mismatch between the numbers of customers that will be served with the available number of services, as an example at XYZ insurance company in Tasikmalaya. This research aims to determine the characteristics of the queue system which then to optimize the number of server in term of total cost. The result shows that the queue model can be represented by (M/M/4):(GD/∞/∞), where the arrivals are Poisson distributed while the service time is following exponential distribution. The probability of idle customer service is 2,39% of the working time, the average number of customer in the queue is 3 customers, the average number of customer in a system is 6 customers, the average time of a customer spent in the queue is 15,9979 minutes, the average time a customer spends in the system is 34,4141 minutes, and the average number of busy customer servicer is 3 server. The optimized number of customer service is 5 servers, and the operational cost has minimum cost at Rp 4.323.

The Role of Resource Density on Energy Allocation in the Neotropical Termite Nasutitermes aff. coxipoensis (Termitidae: Nasutitermitinae).

PubMed

Cristaldo, P F; Almeida, C S; Cruz, N G; Ribeiro, E J M; Rocha, M L C; Santos, A A; Santana, A S; Araújo, A P A

2018-06-01

Organisms acquire energy from environment and must allocate it among different life traits (growth, maintenance and reproduction). Social insects must manage the energy allocation to various levels such as colony growth and caste functions. Here, we addressed the question of whether resource density affects the energy allocation to the number of individuals and caste functions as well as nest's growth rate in the Neotropical termite Nasutitermes aff. coxipoensis (Homgren) (Termitidae: Nasutitermitinae). In a manipulative field experiment, colonies of N. aff. coxipoensis, with known volume, were maintained in plots with three different resource's density (0.32, 0.64 and 1.92 baits/m 2 ) over 3 months. After this period, the number of individuals as well as the caste identity and nest volume were measured. Surprisingly, our results showed that colonies reared in the extremes of resource's density (0.32 and 1.92 baits/m 2 ) produced a higher number of individuals compared with colonies reared with intermediate resource density (0. 64 baits/m 2 ). The mean number of workers increased linearly with resource density; however, the average number of immature was higher in colonies reared with 0.32 baits/m 2 compared with colonies reared with 0.64 and 1.92 baits/m 2 . No significant differences of resource density were observed in the mean number of soldiers, worker/soldier ratio as well as in the nest's growth rate. In conclusion, the resource's density seems to play an important role in determining the investment of energy in the number of individuals and caste in N. aff. coxipoensis colonies.

Reconfiguration and Search of Social Networks

PubMed Central

Zhang, Lianming; Peng, Aoyuan

2013-01-01

Social networks tend to exhibit some topological characteristics different from regular networks and random networks, such as shorter average path length and higher clustering coefficient, and the node degree of the majority of social networks obeys exponential distribution. Based on the topological characteristics of the real social networks, a new network model which suits to portray the structure of social networks was proposed, and the characteristic parameters of the model were calculated. To find out the relationship between two people in the social network, and using the local information of the social network and the parallel mechanism, a hybrid search strategy based on k-walker random and a high degree was proposed. Simulation results show that the strategy can significantly reduce the average number of search steps, so as to effectively improve the search speed and efficiency. PMID:24574861

Time-resolved study of the electron temperature and number density of argon metastable atoms in argon-based dielectric barrier discharges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Desjardins, E.; Laurent, M.; Durocher-Jean, A.; Laroche, G.; Gherardi, N.; Naudé, N.; Stafford, L.

2018-01-01

A combination of optical emission spectroscopy and collisional-radiative modelling is used to determine the time-resolved electron temperature (assuming Maxwellian electron energy distribution function) and number density of Ar 1s states in atmospheric pressure Ar-based dielectric barrier discharges in presence of either NH3 or ethyl lactate. In both cases, T e values were higher early in the discharge cycle (around 0.8 eV), decreased down to about 0.35 eV with the rise of the discharge current, and then remained fairly constant during discharge extinction. The opposite behaviour was observed for Ar 1s states, with cycle-averaged values in the 1017 m-3 range. Based on these findings, a link was established between the discharge ionization kinetics (and thus the electron temperature) and the number density of Ar 1s state.

A comparison of sea lice, Caligus rogercresseyi, fecundity in four areas in southern Chile.

PubMed

Bravo, S; Erranz, F; Lagos, C

2009-01-01

A survey was carried out between March 2006 and February 2007 on the fecundity of Caligus rogercresseyi in four areas of Region X (Lat 42 degrees S) in Chile. An average length of 4.83 +/- 0.4 mm for gravid females and 4.78 +/- 0.56 mm for males was recorded from the four areas, with no significant differences in length between sexes. Although females were largest in spring and summer, egg strings were longer and there were higher number of eggs per string in winter. The lowest salinity values were recorded in the Hornopirén area, which had the largest gravid females and the highest number of eggs per string during the study. The number of lice treatments showed no influence on the fecundity rate in the four areas. Prevalence and abundance of C. rogercresseyi were influenced by salinity and temperature.

Breeding of Djungarian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus): influence of parity and litter size on weaning success and offspring sex ratio.

PubMed

Lerchl, A

1995-04-01

The reproduction of 368 breeding pairs of Djungarian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus) has been recorded and evaluated during 5 consecutive years. Three-hundred-and-eight pairs (= 83.7%) were successful breeders giving birth to 2113 litters (up to 13 per dam) with a total of 12,591 offspring (mean: 6.0 +/- 2.2 [+/- SD] per litter). One-hundred-and-fifty dams delivered within 25 days after pairing, indicating a breeding success in the first oestrous cycle of 40.8% of all pairs (95% confidence interval: 35.7%-46.0%). The average number of offspring was higher in the 2nd than in the first litter, reaching a maximum in the 3rd (6.8 +/- 2.0), and decreasing thereafter. The loss of offspring (mean: 24.2%) was higher in older parents and influenced by the number of offspring per litter, indicating that experience and stress contribute to breeding success. A small, but significantly higher number of females was recorded only when no loss of offspring occurred until weaning (females: 2.36 +/- 1.75; males: 2.16 +/- 1.63, P < 0.001). There was no indication of a shift of the offspring sex ratio towards favouring females with increased litter numbers, in contrast to the predictions of the Trivers-Willard hypothesis, at least with respect to the species and the breeding conditions as described in this report. Since all breeders were kept under long-day type photoperiods (16L:8D), no signs of seasonality in breeding outcome were noted.

Smartphone-based support system (SoberDiary) coupled with a Bluetooth breathalyser for treatment-seeking alcohol-dependent patients.

PubMed

You, Chuang-Wen; Chen, Yen-Chang; Chen, Chun-Hsin; Lee, Chao-Hui; Kuo, Po-Hsiu; Huang, Ming-Chyi; Chu, Hao-Hua

2017-02-01

Relapse prevention in patients with alcohol dependence (AD) has long been a clinical challenge. It is vital to provide services with minial restrictions for patients to have access to continuous after-treatment care. The study was aimed to examine the benefits of a smartphone application (SoberDiary) coupled to a Bluetooth breathalyser to assist patients recovering from alcohol dependence (AD). This study recruited 38 patients that fulfilled the DSM-IV-TR criteria for AD and who were undergoing an outpatient maintenance program for abstinence. The participants were provided a breathalyser and smartphone-equipped SoberDiary and followed for 12weeks. The participants were divided into highly adherent (HA) and less adherent (LA) groups according to the medium number of reward points they were awarded for using the SoberDiary system throughout the follow-up period based on the average amount of time spent on using the application, the number of function modules they accessed, and the number of BrAC tests they completed each day. 19 of the patients were classified as HA and 19 patients were classified as LA group. Members of the HA group recorded fewer drinking days and drinks consumed per week, a higher cumulative number of abstinence days, a higher abstinence rate, less pronounced anxiety, and superior quality of life. The proposed smartphone-assisted support system coupled with a Bluetooth breathalyser might be a feasible supplement to conventional treatment for AD. Higher SoberDiary compliance appears to be associated with better clinical outcomes. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Evolving landscape of low-energy nuclear physics publications

DOE PAGES

Pritychenko, B.

2016-10-01

Evolution of low-energy nuclear physics publications over the last 120 years has been analyzed using nuclear physics databases. An extensive study of Nuclear Science References, Experimental Nuclear Reaction Data (EXFOR), and Evaluated Nuclear Structure Data File (ENSDF) contents provides a unique picture of refereed and non-refereed nuclear physics references. Significant fractional contributions of non-refereed reports, private communications and conference proceedings in EXFOR and ENSDF databases in the 1970’s reflect extensive experimental campaigns and an insufficient number of research journals. This trend has been reversed in recent years because the number of measurements is much lower, while number of journals ismore » higher. In addition, nuclear physics results are mainly published in a limited number of journals, such as Physical Review C and Nuclear Physics A. In the present work, historic publication trends and averages have been extracted and analyzed using nuclear data mining techniques. Lastly, the results of this study and implications are discussed and conclusions presented.« less

Evolving landscape of low-energy nuclear physics publications

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

Pritychenko, B.

Evolution of low-energy nuclear physics publications over the last 120 years has been analyzed using nuclear physics databases. An extensive study of Nuclear Science References, Experimental Nuclear Reaction Data (EXFOR), and Evaluated Nuclear Structure Data File (ENSDF) contents provides a unique picture of refereed and non-refereed nuclear physics references. Significant fractional contributions of non-refereed reports, private communications and conference proceedings in EXFOR and ENSDF databases in the 1970’s reflect extensive experimental campaigns and an insufficient number of research journals. This trend has been reversed in recent years because the number of measurements is much lower, while number of journals ismore » higher. In addition, nuclear physics results are mainly published in a limited number of journals, such as Physical Review C and Nuclear Physics A. In the present work, historic publication trends and averages have been extracted and analyzed using nuclear data mining techniques. Lastly, the results of this study and implications are discussed and conclusions presented.« less

Relationship between neighbor number and vibrational spectra in disordered colloidal clusters with attractive interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yunker, Peter J.; Zhang, Zexin; Gratale, Matthew; Chen, Ke; Yodh, A. G.

2013-03-01

We study connections between vibrational spectra and average nearest neighbor number in disordered clusters of colloidal particles with attractive interactions. Measurements of displacement covariances between particles in each cluster permit calculation of the stiffness matrix, which contains effective spring constants linking pairs of particles. From the cluster stiffness matrix, we derive vibrational properties of corresponding "shadow" glassy clusters, with the same geometric configuration and interactions as the "source" cluster but without damping. Here, we investigate the stiffness matrix to elucidate the origin of the correlations between the median frequency of cluster vibrational modes and average number of nearest neighbors in the cluster. We find that the mean confining stiffness of particles in a cluster, i.e., the ensemble-averaged sum of nearest neighbor spring constants, correlates strongly with average nearest neighbor number, and even more strongly with median frequency. Further, we find that the average oscillation frequency of an individual particle is set by the total stiffness of its nearest neighbor bonds; this average frequency increases as the square root of the nearest neighbor bond stiffness, in a manner similar to the simple harmonic oscillator.

Impulsivity, Sensation Seeking, and Risk-Taking Behaviors among HIV-Positive and HIV-Negative Heroin Dependent Persons

PubMed Central

Paydary, Koosha; Mahin Torabi, Somayeh; SeyedAlinaghi, SeyedAhmad; Noori, Mehri; Noroozi, Alireza; Ameri, Sara; Ekhtiari, Hamed

2016-01-01

Objective. The aim of this study was to compare impulsivity and risky decision making among HIV-positive and negative heroin dependent persons. Methods. We compared different dimensions of impulsivity and risky decision making in two groups of 60 HIV-positive and 60 HIV-negative male heroin dependent persons. Each group was comprised of equal numbers of current (treatment seeker) and former (abstinent) heroin addicts. Data collection tools included Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART), Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS), and Zuckerman Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS). Results. In SSS, comprised of four subscales including thrill and adventure seeking (TAS), experience seeking (ES), disinhibition (DIS), and boredom susceptibility (BS), there was a borderline difference in DIS (P = 0.08) as HIV-positive group scored higher than HIV-negative group. Also, ES and total score were significantly higher among HIV-positive patients. In BART, HIV-positive subjects scored higher in risk taking than HIV-negative subjects as reflected in higher Average Number of puffs in Successful Balloons (ANSB). In BIS, HIV-positive group scored significantly higher in cognitive impulsivity (CI) (P = 0.03) and nonplanning impulsivity (NPI) (P = 0.05) in comparison to HIV-negative group. Also, current heroin addicts scored significantly higher in NPI compared to former addict HIV-negative participants (P = 0.015). IGT did not show any significant difference between groups. Conclusion. Higher levels of impulsivity and risk taking behaviors among HIV-positive heroin addicts will increase serious concerns regarding HIV transmission from this group to other opiate dependents and healthy people. PMID:27051528

Final Environmental Assessment: Consolidated Dining Facility at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-05-01

unemployment rate in New Hanover Township, NJ, is 8.6 percent which is slightly higher than the US 2012 average of 8.1 percent (NCSL, 2012). Job growth in New...Burlington County. According to the State Division of Banking and Insurance, the annual number of foreclosures in Burlington County increased steadily from...1,312 in 2005 to a high of 3,391 in 2009 (NJ Division of Banking , 2011). However, this annual figure represents only 1.9 percent of the total housing

How is impact factor impacting our research?

PubMed

Rawat, Seema

2014-01-01

The impact factor (IF) of an journal is a measure reflecting the average number of citations to recent articles published in the journal. It is frequently used as a proxy for the relative importance of a journal within its field, with journals with higher impact factors deemed to be more important than those with lower ones. However it is not a perfect metric and has its own limitations. Journals are increasingly finding new ways to improve their impact factor by increasing self citation, publishing more review articles. This correspondence discuss the fallacies of the impact factor.

The role of prenatal nutrition assistance on the prevalence of night blindness in pregnant adults.

PubMed

Ribeiro Neves, Paulo Augusto; Ramalho, Andrea; De Carvalho Padilha, Patricia; Saunders, Cláudia

2014-05-01

In developing countries, night blindness is a very common public health problem among pregnant women. Evaluate the effect of the changes occurred on prenatal care concerning prenatal nutritional care on the occurrence of night blindness (XN) in adult pregnant women in public maternity hospital in Rio de Janeiro between 1999-2001 and between 2007-2008. Two cross-sectional studies were conducted, been the first one conducted between 1999-2001 and the second one between 2007-2008. Were studied 402 puerperal women, 225 between 1999-2001 (GI) and 177 between 2007-2008 (GII). The gestational XN was investigated during the immediate puerperium (GI) and during the prenatal/puerperium (GII), diagnosed by the World Health Organization. The study collected sociodemographic, clinical, obstetric, anthropometric and prenatal care information. It verified significant reduce of prevalence of gestational XN (GI = 18.7% e GII = 0.6%, p < 0.001). The occurrence of gestational XN was associated to sanitary conditions, education level, more than six prenatal consultations, miscarriage at last pregnancy, higher average number of deliveries, average number of prenatal care consultations and prenatal nutritional (p < 0.05). There was no association between gestational XN and marital status, skin color, pre-gestational nutritional status, adequacy of gain of total gestational weight, gestational anaemia and average number of pregnancies (p > 0.05). The inclusion of nutritional care in routine prenatal care may have contributed to the reduction of gestational XN. Studies to assess the nutritional intervention in the prevention and treatment of gestational XN at regions at greatest risk are suggested. Copyright AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2014. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.

Genomic Evidence Reveals the Extreme Diversity and Wide Distribution of the Arsenic-Related Genes in Burkholderiales

PubMed Central

Li, Xiangyang; Zhang, Linshuang; Wang, Gejiao

2014-01-01

So far, numerous genes have been found to associate with various strategies to resist and transform the toxic metalloid arsenic (here, we denote these genes as “arsenic-related genes”). However, our knowledge of the distribution, redundancies and organization of these genes in bacteria is still limited. In this study, we analyzed the 188 Burkholderiales genomes and found that 95% genomes harbored arsenic-related genes, with an average of 6.6 genes per genome. The results indicated: a) compared to a low frequency of distribution for aio (arsenite oxidase) (12 strains), arr (arsenate respiratory reductase) (1 strain) and arsM (arsenite methytransferase)-like genes (4 strains), the ars (arsenic resistance system)-like genes were identified in 174 strains including 1,051 genes; b) 2/3 ars-like genes were clustered as ars operon and displayed a high diversity of gene organizations (68 forms) which may suggest the rapid movement and evolution for ars-like genes in bacterial genomes; c) the arsenite efflux system was dominant with ACR3 form rather than ArsB in Burkholderiales; d) only a few numbers of arsM and arrAB are found indicating neither As III biomethylation nor AsV respiration is the primary mechanism in Burkholderiales members; (e) the aio-like gene is mostly flanked with ars-like genes and phosphate transport system, implying the close functional relatedness between arsenic and phosphorus metabolisms. On average, the number of arsenic-related genes per genome of strains isolated from arsenic-rich environments is more than four times higher than the strains from other environments. Compared with human, plant and animal pathogens, the environmental strains possess a larger average number of arsenic-related genes, which indicates that habitat is likely a key driver for bacterial arsenic resistance. PMID:24632831

Experimental study on the nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter emissions from diesel engine retrofitted with particulate oxidation catalyst.

PubMed

Feng, Xiangyu; Ge, Yunshan; Ma, Chaochen; Tan, Jianwei; Yu, Linxiao; Li, Jiaqiang; Wang, Xin

2014-02-15

A particulate oxidation catalyst (POC) was employed to perform experiments on the engine test bench to evaluate the effects on the nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter (PM) emissions from diesel engine. The engine exhaust was sampled from both upstream and downstream of the POC. The results showed that the POC increased the ratios of NO2/NOx significantly in the middle and high loads, the ratio of NO2/nitrogen oxides (NOx) increased 4.5 times on average under all experiment modes with the POC. An engine exhaust particle sizer (EEPS) was used to study the particle number-weighted size distributions and the abnormal particle emissions with the POC. The results indicated that the average reduction rate of particle number (PN) was 61% in the operating range of the diesel engine. At the engine speed of 1,400 r/min, the reduction rates of PN tended to decrease with the larger particle size. In the long time run under the steady mode (520 Nm, 1,200 r/min), abnormal particle emissions after the POC happened seven times in the first hour, and the average PN concentration of these abnormal emission peaks was much higher than that in normal state. The particle emissions of peaks 1-5 equaled the particles emitted downstream of the POC in normal state for 1.9h in number concentration, and for 3.6h in mass concentration. The PN concentrations tended to increase over time in 5h under the steady engine mode and the increase of the PN in the size range of 6.04-14.3 nm was more evident. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The effect of synthetic method and annealing temperature on metal site preference in Al(1-x)Ga(x)FeO3.

PubMed

Walker, James D S; Grosvenor, Andrew P

2013-08-05

Magnetoelectric materials couple both magnetic and electronic properties, making them attractive for use in multifunctional devices. The magnetoelectric AFeO3 compounds (Pna2(1); A = Al, Ga) have received attention as the properties of the system depend on composition as well as the synthetic method used. Al(1-x)Ga(x)FeO3. (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) was synthesized by the sol-gel and coprecipitation methods and studied by X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (XANES). Al L(2,3-), Ga K-, and Fe K-edge XANES spectra were collected to examine how the average metal coordination number (CN) changes with the synthetic method. Al and Fe were found to prefer octahedral sites, while Ga prefers the tetrahedral site. It was found that composition played a larger role in determining site occupancies than synthetic method. Samples made by the sol-gel or ceramic methods (reported previously; Walker, J. D. S.; Grosvenor, A. P. J. Solid State Chem. 2013, 197, 147-153) showed smaller spectral changes than samples made via the coprecipitation method. This is attributed to greater ion mobility in samples synthesized via coprecipitation as the reactants do not have a long-range polymeric or oxide network during synthesis like samples synthesized via the sol-gel or ceramic method. Increasing annealing temperature increases the average coordination number of Al, and to a lesser extent Ga, while the average coordination number of Fe decreases. This study indicates that greater disorder is observed when the Al(1-x)Ga(x)FeO3. compounds have high Al content, and when annealed at higher temperatures.

Trends and Cost of Posterior Cervical Fusions With and Without Recombinant Human Bone Morphogenetic Protein-2 in the US Medicare Population.

PubMed

Myhre, Sue Lynn; Buser, Zorica; Meisel, Hans-Joerg; Brodke, Darrel S; Yoon, S Tim; Wang, Jeffrey C; Park, Jong-Beom; Youssef, Jim A

2017-06-01

Retrospective database review. To analyze and report the trends and cost of posterior cervical fusions (PCFs) with and without off-label recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2) in the Medicare population. Patient records from the PearlDiver database were retrospectively reviewed from January 1, 2005, to December 31, 2012, to distinguish individuals who underwent a PCF with or without rhBMP-2. Total numbers, incidence, age, gender, geographic region, reimbursement, and length of stay were analyzed and summarized. The combined total of non-rhBMP-2 (n = 39 479; 85.51%) and rhBMP-2 PCF (n = 6692; 14.49%) procedures performed between 2005 and 2012 was 46 171. In general, the number of PCFs without rhBMP-2 consistently increased over time, while the number of PCFs with rhBMP-2 had only a slight increase from 2005 to 2012. On average, PCFs without rhBMP-2 were associated with $1197 higher cost than those with rhBMP-2, but the average length of stay was similar (6 days). From 2005 to 2012, the average cost for procedures with and without rhBMP-2 increased by $12 605 and $7291, respectively. The percentage of rhBMP-2 use peaked in 2007 and dwindled until 2010, and declined an additional 2.84% from 2011 to 2012. Multiple age, region, and gender tendencies were observed. To our knowledge, this was the first study to use the PearlDiver database to report incidence and cost trends of PCF procedures. This article provides meaningful trend data on PCFs to surgeons and clinicians, researchers, and patients, as well as functions as a beacon for future research questions.

Lubiprostone increases spontaneous bowel movement frequency and quality of life in patients with chronic idiopathic constipation.

PubMed

Fukudo, Shin; Hongo, Michio; Kaneko, Hiroshi; Takano, Masahiro; Ueno, Ryuji

2015-02-01

Lubiprostone is an activator of the type 2 chloride channel that facilitates spontaneous bowel movement (SBM). We performed phase 3 studies to determine whether lubiprostone increases the frequency of SBM in patients with chronic idiopathic constipation (CIC) in Japan, and whether long-term administration of lubiprostone increases the quality of life of patients with CIC. We performed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial of lubiprostone. Patients with CIC (n = 124) were assigned randomly to groups given placebo (n = 62) or lubiprostone (48 μg/day; n = 62) for 4 weeks. The primary efficacy end point was the change from baseline in the weekly average number of SBMs after 1 week of administration. In a long-term study of efficacy and safety, 209 patients with CIC were given lubiprostone (24 μg twice daily) for 48 weeks. Daily administration of lubiprostone induced a significantly greater change, from baseline, in the weekly average number of SBMs at week 1 (increase of 3.7 ± 2.8), compared with placebo (increase of 1.3 ± 1.8; P < .001). The frequency of SBMs during each week of the study period was significantly higher after subjects began receiving lubiprostone than at baseline (P < .0001 at all weeks). Long-term administration of lubiprostone significantly increased scores from the Short-Form health survey and irritable bowel syndrome quality-of-life questionnaire, compared with baseline. We did not observe any severe adverse reactions to lubiprostone. In phase 3 studies in Japan, lubiprostone increased the weekly average number of SBMs and increased the quality of life of patients with CIC. Clinical Trial Notification of the Japanese Regulatory Authorities: 20-3296 and 20-3300. Copyright © 2015 AGA Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Case study. Health hazards of automotive repair mechanics: thermal and lighting comfort, particulate matter and noise.

PubMed

Loupa, G

2013-01-01

An indoor environmental quality survey was conducted in a small private automotive repair shop during May 2009 (hot season) and February 2010 (cold season). It was established that the detached building, which is naturally ventilated and lit, had all the advantages of the temperate local climate. It provided a satisfactory microclimatic working environment, concerning the thermal and the lighting comfort, without excessive energy consumption for air-conditioning or lighting. Indoor number concentrations of particulate matter (PM) were monitored during both seasons. Their size distributions were strongly affected by the indoor activities and the air exchange rate of the building. During working hours, the average indoor/outdoor (I/O) number concentration ratio was 31 for PM0.3-1 in the hot season and 69 for the cold season. However I/O PM1-10 number concentration ratios were similar, 33 and 32 respectively, between the two seasons. The estimated indoor mass concentration of PM10 for the two seasons was on average 0.68 mg m(-3) and 1.19 mg m(-3), i.e., 22 and 36 times higher than outdoors, during the hot and the cold seasons, respectively. This is indicative that indoor air pollution may adversely affect mechanics' health. Noise levels were highly variable and the average LEX, 8 h of 69.3 dB(A) was below the European Union exposure limit value 87db (A). Noise originated from the use of manual hammers, the revving up of engines, and the closing of car doors or hoods. Octave band analysis indicated that the prevailing noise frequencies were in the area of the maximum ear sensitivity.

Ranibizumab treatment in age-related macular degeneration: a meta-analysis of one-year results.

PubMed

Gerding, H

2014-04-01

Although ranibizumab is widely used in age-related macular degeneration there is no systematic data available on the relation between treatment frequency and functional efficacy within the first 12 months of follow-up. A meta-analysis was performed on available MEDLINE literature. 47 relevant clinical studies (54 case series) could be identified covering 11706 treated eyes. Non-linear and linear regressions were calculated for the relation between treatment frequency and functional outcome (average gain in visual acuity, % of eyes losing less than 15 letters of visual acuity, % of eyes gaining ≥ 15 letters) within the first year of care. Mean improvement of average visual gain was +4.9 ± 3.6 (mean ± 1 standard deviation) letters (case-weighted: 3.3 letters). The average number of ranibizumab injections until month 12 was 6.3 ± 2.0 (case-weighted: 5.9). 92.4 ± 3.9% of eyes (case-weighted: 91.9%) lost less than three lines of visual acuity and 24.5 ± 8.2% (case-weighted: 23.3) gained more than 3 lines within the first year. Analysis of the relation between the number of injections and functional improvement indicated best fit for non-linear equations. A nearly stepwise improvement of functional gain occurred between 6.8 and 7.2 injections/year. A saturation effect of treatment occurred at higher injection frequency. The results of this meta-analysis clearly indicate a non-linear relation between the number of injections and functional gain of ranibizumab within the first 12 months of treatment. Treatment saturation seems to occur at a treatment frequency >7.2 injections within the first 12 months. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

[The importance of Injury Severity Score (ISS) in the management of thoracolumbar burst fracture].

PubMed

Rezende, Rodrigo; Avanzi, Osmar

2009-02-01

There are few publications which relate the injury severity score (ISS) to the thoracolumbar burst fractures. For that reason and for the frequency in which they occur, we have evaluated the severity of the trauma in these patients. We have evaluated 190 burst fractures in the spinal cord according to Denis, using the codes of Abbreviated Injury Scales (AIS) for the calculation of the ISS, which uses the three parts of the human body with major severity. These lesions are a squared number and the results are summed up. Among 190 cases evaluated, the median value of the ISS was 13 and the average was 14,4. Males presented a higher ISS than females. The young adult patients presented an average and a median value of the ISS higher than the old patients. The higher the ISS is, the longer the hospitalization period is, except for the patients with the ISS over 35. The fractures in thoracic level show the ISS higher than the rest. The ISS is directly related to surgical treatment and mortality. The ISS values which were found show that a less severe trauma can cause a burst thoracic or lumbar spinal cord fracture. The value of the ISS has not shown correlation to the sex and the fracture level, but it is proportional to the hospitalization period, the surgical treatment and the mortality rate. This result shows a value which is inversely proportional to the age of the patients.

Investigation of strongyle EPG values in horse mares relative to known age, number positive, and level of egg shedding in field studies on 26 farms in Central Kentucky (2010-2011).

PubMed

Lyons, E T; Tolliver, S C; Kuzmina, T A

2012-06-01

A parasite study was done in 1,300 horse mares on 26 farms in Central Kentucky over a 5-month period in 2010 and 2011. The mares included 1,114 Thoroughbreds (TB) on 24 farms, 64 Standardbreds (SB) on 1 farm, and 122 mixed light horse types (MLH) on 1 farm. The objective of this research was to determine strongyle eggs per gram of feces (EPG) counts for evaluation by known age, number positive, and level of egg shedding by the mares. This was done to establish strongyle EPG profiles for the mares to aid in determining whether antiparasitic treatment was necessary. Eggs found were considered those of small strongyles. (A) For the Thoroughbred mares, (1) 362 (32%) were EPG-positive, and (2) the average (percentage) of EPG-positive mares by year of age was 3-5 (54%), 6-10 (36%), 11-15 (24%), 16-20 (17%), and >20 (21%); (3) EPG average counts were similar for all age categories except for the 6- to 10-year-olds, which were higher; (4) and the average (percentage) of positive mares by 100 units of EPG counts was ≤100 (50%), ≤200 (62%), ≤300 (70%), ≤400 (76%), ≤500 (80%), and >500 (20%). (B) For the Standardbred mares, 31 (48%) were EPG-positive; (2) the average (percentage) of EPG-positive mares by year of age (no >20 sampled) was lowest for the 3-5 and 16-20 categories and highest for the 6-10 and 11-15 groups; (3) EPG average counts by years of age were lowest for 3-5, 11-15, and 16-20 groups and highest for the 6-10 group; and (4) the average (percentage) of positive mares by 100 units of EPGs was 62% for the ≤100 category, 71-84% for ≤200 to ≤400 units, and the highest (97%) for the ≤500 unit. (C) For the mixed light horse type mares: (1) 94 (77%) were EPG-positive, (2) the average (percentage) of EPG-positive mares by age was lowest for the two oldest age groups, higher for the 11 to 15-year-old age group, and highest for the two youngest age groups; (3) EPG average counts by year of age were lowest for the 16-20 group, higher for the 6-10 and >20 groups, and highest for 3-5 and 11-15 groups; (4) the average (percentage) of positive mares by 100 units of EPG counts was lowest for the ≤100 category (23%), increasing about 10% progressively in ≤200 to ≤500 categories, but lower (37%) for the >500 category. (D) For all the three mare types (TB, SB, and MLH), 37% of the mares were EPG-positive, and 63% of the mares were EPG-negative; for the age (years) of positive mares, about one half belonged to the 3-5 category and a progressive decrease was seen for the 6-10, 11-15, and 16-20 groups, and 36% for the >20-year-olds; the mean strongyle EPGs highest range was seen in the 11- to 15-year-olds; the highest mean was in the 6- to 10-year-olds, and the lowest mean in the 3- to 5- and 16- to 20-year-olds. For the grouping of the strongyle EPG values by units of 100, three-fourths were in the ≤500 category, and the lowest percentage was for the >500 category. This research showed the value of strongyle EPG profiling for the mares. It was most useful for TBs where data from a large number of horses showed that over two-thirds were EPG-negative, indicating that there would be no known problem in deciding not to deworm them. While data were not as clear-cut on the SB and MLH mares, several of those which were negative and with "low" EPG values could be excluded from antiparasitic treatment.

Observations on the use of membrane filtration and liquid impingement to collect airborne microorganisms in various atmospheric environments

USGS Publications Warehouse

Griffin, Dale W.; Gonzalez, C.; Teigell, N.; Petrosky, T.; Northup, D.E.; Lyles, M.

2011-01-01

The influence of sample-collection-time on the recovery of culturable airborne microorganisms using a low-flow-rate membrane-filtration unit and a high-flow-rate liquid impinger were investigated. Differences in recoveries were investigated in four different atmospheric environments, one mid-oceanic at an altitude of ~10.0 m, one on a mountain top at an altitude of ~3,000.0 m, one at ~1.0 m altitude in Tallahassee, Florida, and one at ~1.0 m above ground in a subterranean-cave. Regarding use of membrane filtration, a common trend was observed: the shorter the collection period, the higher the recovery of culturable bacteria and fungi. These data also demonstrated that lower culturable counts were common in the more remote mid-oceanic and mountain-top atmospheric environments with bacteria, fungi, and total numbers averaging (by sample time or method categories) <3.0 colony-forming units (CFU) m -3. At the Florida and subterranean sites, the lowest average count noted was 3.5 bacteria CFU m-3, and the highest averaged 140.4 total CFU m-3. When atmospheric temperature allowed use, the high-volume liquid impinger utilized in this study resulted in much higher recoveries, as much as 10?? greater in a number of the categories (bacterial, fungal, and total CFU). Together, these data illustrated that (1) the high-volume liquid impinger is clearly superior to membrane filtration for aeromicrobiology studies if start-up costs are not an issue and temperature permits use; (2) although membrane filtration is more cost friendly and has a 'typically' wider operational range, its limits include loss of cell viability with increased sample time and issues with effectively extracting nucleic acids for community-based analyses; (3) the ability to recover culturable microorganisms is limited in 'extreme' atmospheric environments and thus the use of a 'limited' methodology in these environments must be taken into account; and (4) the atmosphere culls, i.e., everything is not everywhere. ?? 2010 US Government.

Whole-Body Counter(WBC) and food radiocesium contamination surveys in Namie, Fukushima Prefecture.

PubMed

Hosokawa, Yoichiro; Nomura, Kazuki; Tsushima, Eiki; Kudo, Kohsei; Noto, Yuka; Nishizawa, Yoshiko

2017-01-01

This study examined the internal Cs exposure of residents and the Cs present in food products produced in Namie. Whole-body counter (WBC) was used for the measurement of internal exposure per each whole body of examinees. The food products which appeared to be used for consumption, were brought by residents and commercially available food items were excluded. Most of them were wild plants or food items produced by residents. Four years of data from April 2012 to March 2013 (fiscal 2012) and April 2015 to March 2016 (Fiscal 2015) were analyzed and studied. The average radioactivity measured by WBC was approximately 5 Bq for Cs-134, and 20 Bq for Cs-137 and the average committed effective dose was approximately 1 μSv. The average for the residents with detectable radioactivity was 25 μSv, and the human health effects are considered to be extremely low risk. However, the radioactivity of the affected individuals showed a higher value than the theoretical attenuation rate. The majority (83.2%) of individuals exhibiting radioactivity were over 50 years old. The number of food products brought in for detection decreased as the study period progressed, but the number of food products with radioactivity had increased. While the items with a higher detection rate of radioactivity included fruits such as citron and persimmon, shiitake mushrooms exhibited the highest radioactivity. Moreover, the radioactivity of seven items in these 10 items decreased from fiscal 2012 to fiscal 2015. Mushrooms had high radioactivity and were produced over a wide area. We suggest that the elderly try to enjoy life and eat wild plants in moderation while inspecting food products. Therefore, we will continue to work in raising awareness of radiation and its potential presence in food products and thus the continuing necessity of monitoring radioactivity in food in the future.

Whole-Body Counter(WBC) and food radiocesium contamination surveys in Namie, Fukushima Prefecture

PubMed Central

Nomura, Kazuki; Tsushima, Eiki; Kudo, Kohsei; Noto, Yuka; Nishizawa, Yoshiko

2017-01-01

Purpose This study examined the internal Cs exposure of residents and the Cs present in food products produced in Namie. Whole-body counter (WBC) was used for the measurement of internal exposure per each whole body of examinees. Methods The food products which appeared to be used for consumption, were brought by residents and commercially available food items were excluded. Most of them were wild plants or food items produced by residents. Four years of data from April 2012 to March 2013 (fiscal 2012) and April 2015 to March 2016 (Fiscal 2015) were analyzed and studied. Results The average radioactivity measured by WBC was approximately 5 Bq for Cs-134, and 20 Bq for Cs-137 and the average committed effective dose was approximately 1 μSv. The average for the residents with detectable radioactivity was 25 μSv, and the human health effects are considered to be extremely low risk. However, the radioactivity of the affected individuals showed a higher value than the theoretical attenuation rate. The majority (83.2%) of individuals exhibiting radioactivity were over 50 years old. The number of food products brought in for detection decreased as the study period progressed, but the number of food products with radioactivity had increased. While the items with a higher detection rate of radioactivity included fruits such as citron and persimmon, shiitake mushrooms exhibited the highest radioactivity. Moreover, the radioactivity of seven items in these 10 items decreased from fiscal 2012 to fiscal 2015. Mushrooms had high radioactivity and were produced over a wide area. Conclusion We suggest that the elderly try to enjoy life and eat wild plants in moderation while inspecting food products. Therefore, we will continue to work in raising awareness of radiation and its potential presence in food products and thus the continuing necessity of monitoring radioactivity in food in the future. PMID:28334042

CCN production by new particle formation in the free troposphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rose, Clémence; Sellegri, Karine; Moreno, Isabel; Velarde, Fernando; Ramonet, Michel; Weinhold, Kay; Krejci, Radovan; Andrade, Marcos; Wiedensohler, Alfred; Ginot, Patrick; Laj, Paolo

2017-01-01

Global models predict that new particle formation (NPF) is, in some environments, responsible for a substantial fraction of the total atmospheric particle number concentration and subsequently contributes significantly to cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations. NPF events were frequently observed at the highest atmospheric observatory in the world, on Chacaltaya (5240 m a.s.l.), Bolivia. The present study focuses on the impact of NPF on CCN population. Neutral cluster and Air Ion Spectrometer and mobility particle size spectrometer measurements were simultaneously used to follow the growth of particles from cluster sizes down to ˜ 2 nm up to CCN threshold sizes set to 50, 80 and 100 nm. Using measurements performed between 1 January and 31 December 2012, we found that 61 % of the 94 analysed events showed a clear particle growth and significant enhancement of the CCN-relevant particle number concentration. We evaluated the contribution of NPF, relative to the transport and growth of pre-existing particles, to CCN size. The averaged production of 50 nm particles during those events was 5072, and 1481 cm-3 for 100 nm particles, with a larger contribution of NPF compared to transport, especially during the wet season. The data set was further segregated into boundary layer (BL) and free troposphere (FT) conditions at the site. The NPF frequency of occurrence was higher in the BL (48 %) compared to the FT (39 %). Particle condensational growth was more frequently observed for events initiated in the FT, but on average faster for those initiated in the BL, when the amount of condensable species was most probably larger. As a result, the potential to form new CCN was higher for events initiated in the BL (67 % against 53 % in the FT). In contrast, higher CCN number concentration increases were found when the NPF process initially occurred in the FT, under less polluted conditions. This work highlights the competition between particle growth and the removal of freshly nucleated particles by coagulation processes. The results support model predictions which suggest that NPF is an effective source of CCN in some environments, and thus may influence regional climate through cloud-related radiative processes.

The reporting of functional outcome instruments in the Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma over a 5-year period.

PubMed

Horwitz, Daniel S; Richard, Raveesh D; Suk, Michael

2014-01-01

Orthopaedic journals, such as the Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma, frequently publish studies reporting functional outcome instruments, but little information has been provided regarding the validity and overall strength of these instruments. This study analyzes the trends in reported functional outcome instruments in articles published in the Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma over a 5-year period and examines the utilization rate, "overall" strength, and validity of these functional outcome instruments for the populations being studied. Articles that were published in the Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma from January 2006 to December 2010 were reviewed, and each article was assigned to 1 of 4 different categories, based on the subspecialty focus and body region. The total number of articles reporting the use of functional outcome instruments, articles with at least 1 functional outcome instrument found in the AO Handbook, and the total number of functional outcome instruments reported were recorded. Each functional outcome instrument was assigned to 1 of 3 categories (generic, nonvalidated, validated), and each validated instrument was also examined to determine whether the category of interest for which it was used was one in which it was previously validated in. A total of 171 articles (34%) of the articles initially reviewed met the inclusion criteria. The average number of articles per year that reported functional outcome instruments was 56% (range, 47%-65%), and the average number of articles that reported at least 1 validated outcome instrument was 51% (range, 44%-61%). The average percentage of validated scores that were appropriately used within the category of interest was 23% (range, 13%-41%). Even though the 56% utilization rate of functional outcome instruments in The Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma is much higher than other journals, it is still low given the importance of measuring and attaining excellent functional outcomes. It is clear that future effort should be given to validating outcome measures for correct evaluation of orthopaedic trauma patients.

Determination and comparison of microbial loads in atmospheres of two hospitals in Izmir, Turkey.

PubMed

Aydin Çakir, Nergüze; Uçar, Füsun Bahriye; Haliki Uztan, Alev; Corbaci, Cengiz; Akpinar, Onur

2013-01-01

Nosocomial infections, also known as hospital-acquired infections, has become one of the most important health problems in health care units worldwide. The presented study aims to determine the average amount of microorganism loads and to show that the atmospheres of the two hospitals can be a potential source regarding nosocomial infections. The effect of surface and floor disinfection processes in the two hospitals and the antibiotic susceptibility of the bacterial isolates were also evaluated. Microorganisms were isolated from air samples collected from different areas (patient wards, corridors, operating theatres and postoperative units) of the two hospitals in Izmir. Sampling was conducted between December 2006 - March 2007. During the 3-month sampling period, the average number of live microorganisms in the air samples collected from second-class environments in the hospital 1 and the hospital 2 was found to be 224.44 and 536.66 cfu/m(3) , respectively. The average number of microorganisms in hospital 2 collected before the disinfection process was higher than those after the disinfection process. However, because of the closure of the air-conditioning system and the hepa filters after the disinfection process, this was reversed in hospital 1. In total, 54 and 42 isolates were obtained from hospital 1 and hospital 2, respectively. 49 isolates from hospital 1 and 35 isolates from hospital 2 were identified as Staphylacoccus sp. The remaining isolates were identified as Aerococcus sp. and Enterococcus sp. Pseudomonas sp. was not determined in the air samples of the two hospitals. It was detected that the microbial loads in the atmospheres of the two hospitals studied varied greatly depending on the number of people in the environment. As the results indicate, the total number of microorganisms in the atmospheres of operating theatres in both hospitals does not pose a threat according to the Air Microbe Index.

The analysis of the market success of FDA approvals by probing top 100 bestselling drugs.

PubMed

Polanski, Jaroslaw; Bogocz, Jacek; Tkocz, Aleksandra

2016-05-01

Target-oriented drug discovery is the main research paradigm of contemporary drug discovery. In target-oriented approaches, we attempt to maximize in vitro drug potency by finding the optimal fit to the target. This can result in a higher molecular complexity, in particular, the higher molecular weight (MW) of the drugs. However, a comparison of the successful developments of pharmaceuticals with the general trends that can be observed in medicinal chemistry resulted in the conclusion that the so-called molecular obesity is an important reason for the attrition rate of drugs. When analyzing the list of top 100 drug bestsellers versus all of the FDA approvals, we discovered that on average lower-complexity (MW, ADMET score) drugs are winners of the top 100 list in terms of numbers but that, especially, up to some optimal MW value, a higher molecular complexity can pay off with higher incomes. This indicates that slim drugs are doing better but that fat drugs are bigger fishes to catch.

The analysis of the market success of FDA approvals by probing top 100 bestselling drugs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Polanski, Jaroslaw; Bogocz, Jacek; Tkocz, Aleksandra

2016-05-01

Target-oriented drug discovery is the main research paradigm of contemporary drug discovery. In target-oriented approaches, we attempt to maximize in vitro drug potency by finding the optimal fit to the target. This can result in a higher molecular complexity, in particular, the higher molecular weight (MW) of the drugs. However, a comparison of the successful developments of pharmaceuticals with the general trends that can be observed in medicinal chemistry resulted in the conclusion that the so-called molecular obesity is an important reason for the attrition rate of drugs. When analyzing the list of top 100 drug bestsellers versus all of the FDA approvals, we discovered that on average lower-complexity (MW, ADMET score) drugs are winners of the top 100 list in terms of numbers but that, especially, up to some optimal MW value, a higher molecular complexity can pay off with higher incomes. This indicates that slim drugs are doing better but that fat drugs are bigger fishes to catch.

Differences between nonprecipitating tropical and trade wind marine shallow cumuli

DOE PAGES

Ghate, Virendra P.; Miller, Mark A.; Zhu, Ping

2015-11-13

In this study, marine nonprecipitating cumulus topped boundary layers (CTBLs) observed in a tropical and in a trade wind region are contrasted based on their cloud macrophysical, dynamical, and radiative structures. Data from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) observational site previously operating at Manus Island, Papua New Guinea, and data collected during the deployment of ARM Mobile Facility at the island of Graciosa, in the Azores, were used in this study. The tropical marine CTBLs were deeper, had higher surface fluxes and boundary layer radiative cooling, but lower wind speeds compared to their trade wind counterparts. The radiative velocity scalemore » was 50%-70% of the surface convective velocity scale at both locations, highlighting the prominent role played by radiation in maintaining turbulence in marine CTBLs. Despite greater thicknesses, the chord lengths of tropical cumuli were on average lower than those of trade wind cumuli, and as a result of lower cloud cover, the hourly averaged (cloudy and clear) liquid water paths of tropical cumuli were lower than the trade wind cumuli. At both locations ~70% of the cloudy profiles were updrafts, while the average amount of updrafts near cloud base stronger than 1 m s –1 was ~22% in tropical cumuli and ~12% in the trade wind cumuli. The mean in-cloud radar reflectivity within updrafts and mean updraft velocity was higher in tropical cumuli than the trade wind cumuli. Despite stronger vertical velocities and a higher number of strong updrafts, due to lower cloud fraction, the updraft mass flux was lower in the tropical cumuli compared to the trade wind cumuli. The observations suggest that the tropical and trade wind marine cumulus clouds differ significantly in their macrophysical and dynamical structures« less

Leprosy in Brazil and its association with characteristics of municipalities: ecological study, 2009-2011.

PubMed

Freitas, Lúcia R S; Duarte, Elisabeth C; Garcia, Leila P

2014-10-01

To analyse the ecological association between the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the Brazilian municipalities and average leprosy incidence rate in the period 2009-2011. An ecological study taking the Brazilian municipalities as its units of analysis. The local empirical Bayes estimation method was used to obtain smoothed incidence rates (SIR) for leprosy. The mean, median, first quartile (Q1) and third quartile (Q3) of the SIR were calculated per 100 000 inhabitants. Hierarchical log-linear negative binomial regression models were used to estimate the incidence rate ratios (IRR). In the period 2009-2011, the average SIR of leprosy in Brazil was 20.2 per 100 000 inhabitants, and the median incidence rate among municipalities was 9.1 per 100 000 inhabitants. Significantly higher adjusted IRR were identified for large municipalities (IRR = 1.67) compared to small municipalities, as well as in municipalities with higher illiteracy rates (IRR = 2.15), more urbanised municipalities (IRR = 1.53), those with greater social inequality as per the Gini index (IRR = 1.26), high percentage of households with inadequate sanitation (IRR = 1.63), higher average number of people per room (IRR = 1.41), high proportions of Family Health Programme coverage (IRR = 1.29), high percentage of household contacts investigated (IRR = 2.30) and those with percentage of cases with grade 2 disability considered to be the medium (IRR = 1.26). In this study, SIR was significantly associated with municipalities with low socio-economic status. Disease control activities need to be focused on these municipalities, and investments need to be made in improving the population's living conditions. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Differences between nonprecipitating tropical and trade wind marine shallow cumuli

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

Ghate, Virendra P.; Miller, Mark A.; Zhu, Ping

In this study, marine nonprecipitating cumulus topped boundary layers (CTBLs) observed in a tropical and in a trade wind region are contrasted based on their cloud macrophysical, dynamical, and radiative structures. Data from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) observational site previously operating at Manus Island, Papua New Guinea, and data collected during the deployment of ARM Mobile Facility at the island of Graciosa, in the Azores, were used in this study. The tropical marine CTBLs were deeper, had higher surface fluxes and boundary layer radiative cooling, but lower wind speeds compared to their trade wind counterparts. The radiative velocity scalemore » was 50%-70% of the surface convective velocity scale at both locations, highlighting the prominent role played by radiation in maintaining turbulence in marine CTBLs. Despite greater thicknesses, the chord lengths of tropical cumuli were on average lower than those of trade wind cumuli, and as a result of lower cloud cover, the hourly averaged (cloudy and clear) liquid water paths of tropical cumuli were lower than the trade wind cumuli. At both locations ~70% of the cloudy profiles were updrafts, while the average amount of updrafts near cloud base stronger than 1 m s –1 was ~22% in tropical cumuli and ~12% in the trade wind cumuli. The mean in-cloud radar reflectivity within updrafts and mean updraft velocity was higher in tropical cumuli than the trade wind cumuli. Despite stronger vertical velocities and a higher number of strong updrafts, due to lower cloud fraction, the updraft mass flux was lower in the tropical cumuli compared to the trade wind cumuli. The observations suggest that the tropical and trade wind marine cumulus clouds differ significantly in their macrophysical and dynamical structures« less

Poststroke Rehabilitation and Restorative Care Utilization: A Comparison Between VA Community Living Centers and VA-contracted Community Nursing Homes.

PubMed

Jia, Huanguang; Pei, Qinglin; Sullivan, Charles T; Cowper Ripley, Diane C; Wu, Samuel S; Bates, Barbara E; Vogel, W Bruce; Bidelspach, Douglas E; Wang, Xinping; Hoffman, Nannette

2016-03-01

Effective poststroke rehabilitation care can speed patient recovery and minimize patient functional disabilities. Veterans affairs (VA) community living centers (CLCs) and VA-contracted community nursing homes (CNHs) are the 2 major sources of institutional long-term care for Veterans with stroke receiving care under VA auspices. This study compares rehabilitation therapy and restorative nursing care among Veterans residing in VA CLCs versus those Veterans in VA-contracted CNHs. Retrospective observational. All Veterans diagnosed with stroke, newly admitted to the CLCs or CNHs during the study period who completed at least 2 Minimum Data Set assessments postadmission. The outcomes were numbers of days for rehabilitation therapy and restorative nursing care received by the Veterans during their stays in CLCs or CNHs as documented in the Minimum Data Set databases. For rehabilitation therapy, the CLC Veterans had lower user rates (75.2% vs. 76.4%, P=0.078) and fewer observed therapy days (4.9 vs. 6.4, P<0.001) than CNH Veterans. However, the CLC Veterans had higher adjusted odds for therapy (odds ratio=1.16, P=0.033), although they had fewer average therapy days (coefficient=-1.53±0.11, P<0.001). For restorative nursing care, CLC Veterans had higher user rates (33.5% vs. 30.6%, P<0.001), more observed average care days (9.4 vs. 5.9, P<0.001), higher adjusted odds (odds ratio=2.28, P<0.001), and more adjusted days for restorative nursing care (coefficient=5.48±0.37, P<0.001). Compared with their counterparts at VA-contracted CNHs, Veterans at VA CLCs had fewer average rehabilitation therapy days (both unadjusted and adjusted), but they were significantly more likely to receive restorative nursing care both before and after risk adjustment.

The role of coherent structures in the generation of noise for subsonic jets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morrison, G. L.

1982-01-01

The coherent structure in high Reynolds number (184,000 to 262,000), Mach number 0.6 to 0.8 axisymmetric cold air jets exhausting at atmospheric pressure was studied. The mean flow and the statistical time averaged turbulence properties were measured. Spectra showed a very broad frequency content which shifted towards the lower frequencies as the flow progressed downstream. Axial wave number measurements indicate that the axial wave number-frequency relationship was the same for a wide range of Mach (0.3 to 2.5) and Reynolds (3,700 to over 200,000) numbers. Measurements of the azimuthal mode numbers show that several modes from n = -3 to +3 exist simultaneously in various quantities that the different frequencies studied. Acoustic measurements were made in the near field of the Mach number 0.6 jet. Sound pressure level contours showed that noise appeared to be radiated from a location near the end of the potential core. Directivity plots revealed that the spectra of this noise shifted towards higher frequencies as the angle from the jet axis increased. It was also found that mid-band excitation frequencies produced an increase in full spectrum noise.

Adaptive Spontaneous Transitions between Two Mechanisms of Numerical Averaging.

PubMed

Brezis, Noam; Bronfman, Zohar Z; Usher, Marius

2015-06-04

We investigated the mechanism with which humans estimate numerical averages. Participants were presented with 4, 8 or 16 (two-digit) numbers, serially and rapidly (2 numerals/second) and were instructed to convey the sequence average. As predicted by a dual, but not a single-component account, we found a non-monotonic influence of set-size on accuracy. Moreover, we observed a marked decrease in RT as set-size increases and RT-accuracy tradeoff in the 4-, but not in the 16-number condition. These results indicate that in accordance with the normative directive, participants spontaneously employ analytic/sequential thinking in the 4-number condition and intuitive/holistic thinking in the 16-number condition. When the presentation rate is extreme (10 items/sec) we find that, while performance still remains high, the estimations are now based on intuitive processing. The results are accounted for by a computational model postulating population-coding underlying intuitive-averaging and working-memory-mediated symbolic procedures underlying analytical-averaging, with flexible allocation between the two.

Clinical evaluation of a medical high dynamic range display

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

Marchessoux, Cedric, E-mail: cedric.marchessoux@ba

Purpose: Recent new medical displays do have higher contrast and higher luminance but do not have a High Dynamic Range (HDR). HDR implies a minimum luminance value close to zero. A medical HDR display prototype based on two Liquid Crystal layers has been developed. The goal of this study is to evaluate the potential clinical benefit of such display in comparison with a low dynamic range (LDR) display. Methods: The study evaluated the clinical performance of the displays in a search and detection task. Eight radiologists read chest x-ray images some of which contained simulated lung nodules. The study usedmore » a JAFROC (Jacknife Free Receiver Operating Characteristic) approach for analyzing FROC data. The calculated figure of merit (FoM) is the probability that a lesion is rated higher than all rated nonlesions on all images. Time per case and accuracy for locating the center of the nodules were also compared. The nodules were simulated using Samei’s model. 214 CR and DR images [half were “healthy images” (chest nodule-free) and half “diseased images”] were used resulting in a total number of nodules equal to 199 with 25 images with 1 nodule, 51 images with 2 nodules, and 24 images with 3 nodules. A dedicated software interface was designed for visualizing the images for each session. For the JAFROC1 statistical analysis, the study is done per nodule category: all nodules, difficult nodules, and very difficult nodules. Results: For all nodules, the averaged FoM{sub HDR} is slightly higher than FoM{sub LDR} with 0.09% of difference. For the difficult nodules, the averaged FoM{sub HDR} is slightly higher than FoM{sub LDR} with 1.38% of difference. The averaged FoM{sub HDR} is slightly higher than FoM{sub LDR} with 0.71% of difference. For the true positive fraction (TPF), both displays (the HDR and the LDR ones) have similar TPF for all nodules, but looking at difficult and very difficult nodules, there are more TP for the HDR display. The true positive fraction has been also computed in function of the local average luminance around the nodules. For the lowest luminance range, there is more than 30% in favor of the HDR display. For the highest luminance range, there is less than 6% in favor of the LDR display. Conclusions: This study shows the potential benefit of using a HDR display in radiology.« less

Isozyme variation and linkage in six conifer species

Treesearch

M. Thompson Conkle

1981-01-01

Isozymes of female gametophyte tissue were analyzed for allelic variation in knobcone, lodgepole, loblolly, Jeffrey, and sugar pines and in Douglas-fir. Linkage was studied in the five pines. The average number of alleles and average herozygosity per enzyme locus were estimated. Knobcone pine ranked lowest among the six species in number of alleles and average...

Reduction in nevus biopsies in patients monitored by total body photography.

PubMed

Truong, Amanda; Strazzulla, Lauren; March, Jordon; Boucher, Kenneth M; Nelson, Kelly C; Kim, Caroline C; Grossman, Douglas

2016-07-01

Total body photography (TBP) can facilitate identification of new and changing lesions. By confirming that particular nevi are stable, TBP may reduce nevus biopsies. We sought to determine the number and rate of nevus biopsies before and after TBP, and the factors associated with increased biopsy rate during monitoring by TBP. We reviewed records of all patients in 2 pigmented lesion clinics (PLCs) who received TBP and had 2 or more follow-up visits over a period of 2 years or longer. Before PLCs and TBP, the mean number of nevus biopsies per patient was 5.92 (589 patients) at a mean rate of 1.62 per year (160 patients). After TBP in PLCs, the same patients averaged 1.56 biopsies at a mean rate of 0.34 per year (P < 2 × 10(-16)). The entire cohort (926 patients) averaged similarly low post-TBP biopsy rates of less than 0.2 per year and per visit. Biopsy rates after TBP were positively correlated with decreased age, male gender, and family history of melanoma, but not nevus number. Some information was not available for some patients. Patients at risk for melanoma experienced a 3.8-fold reduction in nevus biopsies after TBP. Younger male patients with family history of melanoma had higher biopsy rates after TBP. Copyright © 2016 American Academy of Dermatology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Nurse turnover in substance abuse treatment programs affiliated with the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network.

PubMed

Knudsen, Hannah K; Abraham, Amanda J; Roman, Paul M; Studts, Jamie L

2011-04-01

Voluntary nurse turnover, which is costly and disrupts patient care, has not been studied as an organizational phenomenon within substance abuse treatment organizations. In this exploratory study, we examined the frequency and correlates of nurse turnover within treatment programs affiliated with the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network. During face-to-face interviews conducted in 2005-2006, 215 program administrators reported the number of nurses currently employed. Leaders of programs with nursing staff then described the number of nurses who had voluntarily quit in the past year, the degree to which filling vacant nursing positions was difficult, and the average number of days to fill a vacant position. About two thirds of these programs had at least one nurse on staff. In programs with nurses, the average rate of voluntary turnover was 15.0%. Turnover was significantly lower in hospital-based programs and programs offering adolescent treatment but higher in facilities offering residential treatment. Most of the administrators indicated that filling vacant nurse positions was difficult and took more than 2 months to complete. These findings suggest that nurse turnover is a significant issue facing many substance abuse treatment facilities. Efforts to improve retention of the addiction treatment workforce should be expanded to include nursing professionals. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Types of injuries among Polish soldiers and civilian staff in the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th rotation of the Afghan stabilization mission.

PubMed

Ziemba, Radosław

2012-03-01

The Afghan military theatre is specifically marked by guerilla operations and massive use of IEDs (improvised explosive devices) that pose new types of threats for their victims. At the same time, the relevant literature contains only a single, fragmentary analysis on injuries suffered by soldiers serving in the Afghan mission. This is a review of medical reports of the Polish Military Contingent deployed within Operation Enduring Freedom, from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2011; the analysis includes all cases of combat and non-combat injuries in terms of their causes. In the period under analysis, 380 Polish soldiers were reported injured; 87.1% of cases were combat and 12.9% non-combat injuries. The structure of injuries caused as a result of IED explosions was dominated by multiple limb injuries, associated most frequently with severe body cavities/spine injuries. In the case of other incidents, both combat and non-combat, the predominant consequences were single and, most commonly, less severe injuries. The average number of injuries suffered from IED attacks (3.37) was significantly higher than the number of injuries from other attacks (1.16), and higher than the number of non-combat injuries (1.43). IED attacks pose a serious medical problem, considering their high number and the severity of injuries they cause.

Electrode contact configuration and energy consumption in spinal cord stimulation.

PubMed

de Vos, Cecile C; Hilgerink, Marjolein P; Buschman, Hendrik P J; Holsheimer, Jan

2009-12-01

To test the hypothesis that in spinal cord stimulation, an increase in the number of cathodes increases the energy per pulse, contrary to an increase in the number of anodes, which decreases energy consumption per pulse. Patients with an Itrel III (7425; Medtronic, Inc., Minneapolis, MN) implantable pulse generator and a Pisces-Quad (3487A; Medtronic, Inc.) implantable quadripolar lead were selected for this study. A set of 7 standard contact configurations was used for each patient. Resistor network models mimicking these configurations were constructed. The University of Twente's Spinal Cord Stimulation software was used to simulate the effect of these contact configurations on large spinal nerve fibers. To allow a comparison of the measured and modeled energy per pulse, all values were normalized. Both the empirical and the modeling results showed an increase in energy consumption with an increasing number of cathodes. Although the patient data with 1 and 2 cathodes did not differ significantly, energy consumption was significantly higher when 3 cathodes were used instead of 1 or 2 cathodes. The average energy consumption was significantly higher when bipolar stimulation was used instead of monopolar cathodal stimulation. An increasing number of anodes caused a decrease in energy consumption. When the paresthesia area can be covered with several configurations, it will be beneficial for the patient to program a configuration with 1 cathode and either no or multiple anodes.

Impact of storm runoff on Salmonella and Escherichia coli prevalence in irrigation ponds of fresh produce farms in southern Georgia.

PubMed

Harris, C S; Tertuliano, M; Rajeev, S; Vellidis, G; Levy, K

2018-03-01

To examine Salmonella and Escherichia coli in storm runoff and irrigation ponds used by fresh produce growers, and compare Salmonella serovars with those found in cases of human salmonellosis. We collected water before and after rain events at two irrigation ponds on farms in southern Georgia, USA, and collected storm runoff/storm flow within the contributing watershed of each pond. Salmonella and E. coli concentrations were higher in ponds after rain events by an average of 0·46 (P < 0·01) and 0·61 (P < 0·05) log 10 most probable number (MPN) per 100 ml respectively. Salmonella concentrations in storm runoff from fields and forests were not significantly higher than in ponds before rain events, but concentrations in storm flow from streams and ditches were higher by an average of 1·22 log 10 MPN per 100 ml (P < 0·001). Eighteen Salmonella serovars were identified from 155 serotyped isolates, and eight serovars were shared between storm runoff/storm flow and ponds. Seven of the serovars, including five of the shared serovars, were present in cases of human illness in the study region in the same year. However, several serovars most commonly associated with human illness in the study region (e.g. Javiana, Enteritidis, and Montevideo) were not found in any water samples. Salmonella and E. coli concentrations in irrigation ponds were higher, on average, after rain events, but concentrations of Salmonella were low, and the ponds met FDA water quality standards based on E. coli. Some similarities and notable differences were found between Salmonella serovars in water samples and in cases of human illness. This study directly examined storm runoff/storm flow into irrigation ponds and quantified increases in Salmonella and E. coli following rain events, with potential implications for irrigation pond management as well as human health. © 2018 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

Exploring relationships between hospital patient safety culture and Consumer Reports safety scores.

PubMed

Smith, Scott Alan; Yount, Naomi; Sorra, Joann

2017-02-16

A number of private and public companies calculate and publish proprietary hospital patient safety scores based on publicly available quality measures initially reported by the U.S. federal government. This study examines whether patient safety culture perceptions of U.S. hospital staff in a large national survey are related to publicly reported patient safety ratings of hospitals. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (Hospital SOPS) assesses provider and staff perceptions of hospital patient safety culture. Consumer Reports (CR), a U.S. based non-profit organization, calculates and shares with its subscribers a Hospital Safety Score calculated annually from patient experience survey data and outcomes data gathered from federal databases. Linking data collected during similar time periods, we analyzed relationships between staff perceptions of patient safety culture composites and the CR Hospital Safety Score and its five components using multiple multivariate linear regressions. We analyzed data from 164 hospitals, with patient safety culture survey responses from 140,316 providers and staff, with an average of 856 completed surveys per hospital and an average response rate per hospital of 56%. Higher overall Hospital SOPS composite average scores were significantly associated with higher overall CR Hospital Safety Scores (β = 0.24, p < 0.05). For 10 of the 12 Hospital SOPS composites, higher patient safety culture scores were associated with higher CR patient experience scores on communication about medications and discharge. This study found a relationship between hospital staff perceptions of patient safety culture and the Consumer Reports Hospital Safety Score, which is a composite of patient experience and outcomes data from federal databases. As hospital managers allocate resources to improve patient safety culture within their organizations, their efforts may also indirectly improve consumer-focused, publicly reported hospital rating scores like the Consumer Reports Hospital Safety Score.

Emissions factors for gaseous and particulate pollutants from offshore diesel engine vessels in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, F.; Chen, Y.; Tian, C.; Li, J.; Zhang, G.; Matthias, V.

2015-09-01

Shipping emissions have significant influence on atmospheric environment as well as human health, especially in coastal areas and the harbor districts. However, the contribution of shipping emissions on the environment in China still need to be clarified especially based on measurement data, with the large number ownership of vessels and the rapid developments of ports, international trade and shipbuilding industry. Pollutants in the gaseous phase (carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, total volatile organic compounds) and particle phase (particulate matter, organic carbon, elemental carbon, sulfates, nitrate, ammonia, metals) in the exhaust from three different diesel engine power offshore vessels in China were measured in this study. Concentrations, fuel-based and power-based emissions factors for various operating modes as well as the impact of engine speed on emissions were determined. Observed concentrations and emissions factors for carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, total volatile organic compounds, and particulate matter were higher for the low engine power vessel than for the two higher engine power vessels. Fuel-based average emissions factors for all pollutants except sulfur dioxide in the low engine power engineering vessel were significantly higher than that of the previous studies, while for the two higher engine power vessels, the fuel-based average emissions factors for all pollutants were comparable to the results of the previous studies. The fuel-based average emissions factor for nitrogen oxides for the small engine power vessel was more than twice the International Maritime Organization standard, while those for the other two vessels were below the standard. Emissions factors for all three vessels were significantly different during different operating modes. Organic carbon and elemental carbon were the main components of particulate matter, while water-soluble ions and elements were present in trace amounts. Best-fit engine speeds during actual operation should be based on both emissions factors and economic costs.

Relationship between road traffic accidents and conflicts recorded by drive recorders.

PubMed

Lu, Guangquan; Cheng, Bo; Kuzumaki, Seigo; Mei, Bingsong

2011-08-01

Road traffic conflicts can be used to estimate the probability of accident occurrence, assess road safety, or evaluate road safety programs if the relationship between road traffic accidents and conflicts is known. To this end, we propose a model for the relationship between road traffic accidents and conflicts recorded by drive recorders (DRs). DRs were installed in 50 cars in Beijing to collect records of traffic conflicts. Data containing 1366 conflicts were collected in 193 days. The hourly distributions of conflicts and accidents were used to model the relationship between accidents and conflicts. To eliminate time series and base number effects, we defined and used 2 parameters: average annual number of accidents per 10,000 vehicles per hour and average number of conflicts per 10,000 vehicles per hour. A model was developed to describe the relationship between the two parameters. If A(i) = average annual number of accidents per 10,000 vehicles per hour at hour i, and E(i) = average number of conflicts per 10,000 vehicles per hour at hour i, the relationship can be expressed as [Formula in text] (α>0, β>0). The average number of traffic accidents increases as the number of conflicts rises, but the rate of increase decelerates as the number of conflicts increases further. The proposed model can describe the relationship between road traffic accidents and conflicts in a simple manner. According to our analysis, the model fits the present data.

Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes Solutions to Flat Plate Film Cooling Scenarios

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, Perry L.; Shyam, Vikram; Hah, Chunill

2011-01-01

The predictions of several Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes solutions for a baseline film cooling geometry are analyzed and compared with experimental data. The Fluent finite volume code was used to perform the computations with the realizable k-epsilon turbulence model. The film hole was angled at 35 to the crossflow with a Reynolds number of 17,400. Multiple length-to-diameter ratios (1.75 and 3.5) as well as momentum flux ratios (0.125 and 0.5) were simulated with various domains, boundary conditions, and grid refinements. The coolant to mainstream density ratio was maintained at 2.0 for all scenarios. Computational domain and boundary condition variations show the ability to reduce the computational cost as compared to previous studies. A number of grid refinement and coarsening variations are compared for further insights into the reduction of computational cost. Liberal refinement in the near hole region is valuable, especially for higher momentum jets that tend to lift-off and create a recirculating flow. A lack of proper refinement in the near hole region can severely diminish the accuracy of the solution, even in the far region. The effects of momentum ratio and hole length-to-diameter ratio are also discussed.

A Comparative Study of Scientific Publications in Health Care Sciences and Services from Mainland China, Taiwan, Japan, and India (2007–2014)

PubMed Central

Lv, Yipeng; Tang, Bihan; Liu, Xu; Xue, Chen; Liu, Yuan; Kang, Peng; Zhang, Lulu

2015-01-01

In this study, we aimed to compare the quantity and quality of publications in health care sciences and services journals from the Chinese mainland, Taiwan, Japan, and India. Journals in this category of the Science Citation Index Expanded were included in the study. Scientific papers were retrieved from the Web of Science online database. Quality was measured according to impact factor, citation of articles, number of articles published in top 10 journals, and the 10 most popular journals by country (area). In the field of health care sciences and services, the annual incremental rates of scientific articles published from 2007 to 2014 were higher than rates of published scientific articles in all fields. Researchers from the Chinese mainland published the most original articles and reviews and had the highest accumulated impact factors, highest total article citations, and highest average citation. Publications from India had the highest average impact factor. In the field of health care sciences and services, China has made remarkable progress during the past eight years in the annual number and percentage of scientific publications. Yet, there is room for improvement in the quantity and quality of such articles. PMID:26712774

Cooperation and Defection at the Crossroads

PubMed Central

Abramson, Guillermo; Semeshenko, Viktoriya; Iglesias, José Roberto

2013-01-01

We study a simple traffic model with a non-signalized road intersection. In this model the car arriving from the right has precedence. The vehicle dynamics far from the crossing are governed by the rules introduced by Nagel and Paczuski, which define how drivers behave when braking or accelerating. We measure the average velocity of the ensemble of cars and its flow as a function of the density of cars on the roadway. An additional set of rules is defined to describe the dynamics at the intersection assuming a fraction of drivers that do not obey the rule of precedence. This problem is treated within a game-theory framework, where the drivers that obey the rule are cooperators and those who ignore it are defectors. We study the consequences of these behaviors as a function of the fraction of cooperators and defectors. The results show that cooperation is the best strategy because it maximizes the flow of vehicles and minimizes the number of accidents. A rather paradoxical effect is observed: for any percentage of defectors the number of accidents is larger when the density of cars is low because of the higher average velocity. PMID:23610596

Substantial large-scale feedbacks between natural aerosols and climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scott, C. E.; Arnold, S. R.; Monks, S. A.; Asmi, A.; Paasonen, P.; Spracklen, D. V.

2018-01-01

The terrestrial biosphere is an important source of natural aerosol. Natural aerosol sources alter climate, but are also strongly controlled by climate, leading to the potential for natural aerosol-climate feedbacks. Here we use a global aerosol model to make an assessment of terrestrial natural aerosol-climate feedbacks, constrained by observations of aerosol number. We find that warmer-than-average temperatures are associated with higher-than-average number concentrations of large (>100 nm diameter) particles, particularly during the summer. This relationship is well reproduced by the model and is driven by both meteorological variability and variability in natural aerosol from biogenic and landscape fire sources. We find that the calculated extratropical annual mean aerosol radiative effect (both direct and indirect) is negatively related to the observed global temperature anomaly, and is driven by a positive relationship between temperature and the emission of natural aerosol. The extratropical aerosol-climate feedback is estimated to be -0.14 W m-2 K-1 for landscape fire aerosol, greater than the -0.03 W m-2 K-1 estimated for biogenic secondary organic aerosol. These feedbacks are comparable in magnitude to other biogeochemical feedbacks, highlighting the need for natural aerosol feedbacks to be included in climate simulations.

A Comparative Study of Scientific Publications in Health Care Sciences and Services from Mainland China, Taiwan, Japan, and India (2007-2014).

PubMed

Lv, Yipeng; Tang, Bihan; Liu, Xu; Xue, Chen; Liu, Yuan; Kang, Peng; Zhang, Lulu

2015-12-24

In this study, we aimed to compare the quantity and quality of publications in health care sciences and services journals from the Chinese mainland, Taiwan, Japan, and India. Journals in this category of the Science Citation Index Expanded were included in the study. Scientific papers were retrieved from the Web of Science online database. Quality was measured according to impact factor, citation of articles, number of articles published in top 10 journals, and the 10 most popular journals by country (area). In the field of health care sciences and services, the annual incremental rates of scientific articles published from 2007 to 2014 were higher than rates of published scientific articles in all fields. Researchers from the Chinese mainland published the most original articles and reviews and had the highest accumulated impact factors, highest total article citations, and highest average citation. Publications from India had the highest average impact factor. In the field of health care sciences and services, China has made remarkable progress during the past eight years in the annual number and percentage of scientific publications. Yet, there is room for improvement in the quantity and quality of such articles.

Productivity and growth performance of edamame (Glycin Max L Merril) due to the addition of sitokinin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rohmawati, Irma; Ulfah, Maria

2018-05-01

Global market demand towards edamame is quite high, but production of edamame is still very low. Edamame have to increased its production. Many researchers stated that sitokinin effect on the activities of enzymes in metabolic processes of plants. This research aims to analyze response of plant physiological Edamame applied with hormones sitokinin especially in aspects of growth and productivity. The research was carried out in March-May 2017. This study used a Randomized Complete Design method with three treatment factors that is A (unannounced sitokinin hormone), B (hormone siokinin 0.5 mL) C (hormone sitokinin 1 mL) with 5 repetitions. The parameters observed were higher plants, number of leaves, and the weight of the fruit. Research shows that treatment with hormone sitokinin effect on the growth and the production of edamame. The addition of the sitokinin hormones can increase the growth of leaves, stems, and fruit productivity. Results of the study showed treatment C (sitokinin 1 mL) gives signifcant effect. At the age of 48 HST by administering hormones 1 mL, has an average height of 28.8 cm, average number of leaves 15, and heavy weight fruit 17.43 grams.

Fingerprints: A simple method for Screening Hemophilic Patients.

PubMed

Jamalian, M; Mesri, M; Vishteh, H R K; Solhi, H; Salehpour, R

2014-08-01

The present study aims to compare hemophilic patients' fingerprint types with the normal people to help diagnose the disease, particularly new occurrences of the disease. This case-control study was conducted in 2012. Sixty two patients with hemophilia type A and 62 normal healthy people were selected. The type of fingerprint was determined by a forensic specialist who was kept unaware of the participants' group. Using advanced Henry method, the main types of fingerprints were classified as arch, loop, whorl, as well as other types. In the control group, loop type (65%) and in the case group the whorl type (34%) were the most frequent fingerprint type (p < 0.001) and there was a significant difference of fingerprint in each finger between two groups. In addition, the average number of whorl type in the patients with mild disease was significantly higher and the average number of arch and other types of fingerprints was significantly lower than patients with moderate or severe disease. The findings of the present study indicated that not only are the fingerprints of normal and hemophilic people different, but also a difference was observed between hemophilic patients with the mild factor level and patients with moderate or severe one.

The effects of sweep numbers per average and protocol type on the accuracy of the p300-based concealed information test.

PubMed

Dietrich, Ariana B; Hu, Xiaoqing; Rosenfeld, J Peter

2014-03-01

In the first of two experiments, we compared the accuracy of the P300 concealed information test protocol as a function of numbers of trials experienced by subjects and ERP averages analyzed by investigators. Contrary to Farwell et al. (Cogn Neurodyn 6(2):115-154, 2012), we found no evidence that 100 trial based averages are more accurate than 66 or 33 trial based averages (all numbers led to accuracies of 84-94 %). There was actually a trend favoring the lowest trial numbers. The second study compared numbers of irrelevant stimuli recalled and recognized in the 3-stimulus protocol versus the complex trial protocol (Rosenfeld in Memory detection: theory and application of the concealed information test, Cambridge University Press, New York, pp 63-89, 2011). Again, in contrast to expectations from Farwell et al. (Cogn Neurodyn 6(2):115-154, 2012), there were no differences between protocols, although there were more irrelevant stimuli recognized than recalled, and irrelevant 4-digit number group stimuli were neither recalled nor recognized as well as irrelevant city name stimuli. We therefore conclude that stimulus processing in the P300-based complex trial protocol-with no more than 33 sweep averages-is adequate to allow accurate detection of concealed information.

Association of Trajectories of Higher-Level Functional Capacity with Mortality and Medical and Long-Term Care Costs Among Community-Dwelling Older Japanese.

PubMed

Taniguchi, Yu; Kitamura, Akihiko; Nofuji, Yu; Ishizaki, Tatsuro; Seino, Satoshi; Yokoyama, Yuri; Shinozaki, Tomohiro; Murayama, Hiroshi; Mitsutake, Seigo; Amano, Hidenori; Nishi, Mariko; Matsuyama, Yutaka; Fujiwara, Yoshinori; Shinkai, Shoji

2018-03-26

Higher-level functional capacity is crucial component for independent living in later life. We used repeated-measures analysis to identify aging trajectories in higher-level functional capacity. We then determined whether these trajectories were associated with all-cause mortality and examined differences in medical and long-term care costs between trajectories among community-dwelling older Japanese. 2,675 adults aged 65-90 years participated in annual geriatric health assessments and biennial health monitoring surveys during the period from October 2001 through August 2011. The average number of follow-up assessments was 4.0, and the total number of observations was 10,609. Higher-level functional capacity, which correspond to the fourth and fifth sublevels of Lawton's hierarchical model, was assessed with the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology-Index of Competence (TMIG-IC). We identified four distinct trajectory patterns (high-stable, late-onset decreasing, early-onset decreasing, and low-decreasing) on the TMIG-IC through age 65-90 years. As compared with the high-stable trajectory group, participants in the late-onset decreasing, early-onset decreasing, and low-decreasing TMIG-IC trajectory groups had adjusted hazard ratios for mortality of 1.22 (95% confidence interval: 1.01-1.47), 1.90 (1.53-2.36), and 2.87 (2.14-3.84), respectively. Participants with high-stable and late-onset decreasing higher-level functional capacity trajectories had lower mean monthly medical costs and long-term care costs. In contrast, mean total costs were higher for those with low-decreasing trajectories, after excluding the large increase in such costs at the end of life. People with a low-decreasing aging trajectory in higher-level functional capacity had higher risks of death and had high monthly total costs.

Copy Counts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beaumont, Lee R.

1970-01-01

The level of difficulty of straight copy, which is used to measure typewriting speed, is influenced by syllable intensity (the average number of syllables per word), stroke intensity (average number of strokes per word), and high-frequency words. (CH)

Temporal factors in motor-vehicle crash deaths: Ten years later.

PubMed

Weast, Rebecca

2018-06-01

To assess trends in traffic fatalities on several temporal scales: year to year, by month, by day of week, and by time of day, to determine why some times correspond with higher rates of crash deaths, and to assess how these trends relate to age, the role of the deceased, and alcohol consumption. Traffic fatalities were identified using the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) for 1998 through 2014 and assessed for their time of occurrence. Three days that, on average, contained particularly high numbers of crash deaths were then assessed in greater detail, considering the age of the deceased, role of the deceased (vehicle occupant, bicyclist, motorcyclist, or pedestrian), and the blood alcohol content of either the driver (for passenger vehicle occupants) or the deceased. Annual crash fatality totals were much lower in 2014 than in 1998, but the decrease was not steady; a marked drop in crash deaths occurred after 2007 and continued until 2014. On average the most fatalities per day occurred in July and August (116 per day), followed closely by June, September, and October. During the week, the greatest number of fatalities on average occur on weekend days, and during the day the most fatalities tend to occur between the hours of 3p.m. and 7p.m. Holidays like Independence Day and New Year's Day show elevated crash fatalities, and a greater percentage of these crashes involved alcohol, when compared with adjacent days. Certain days and times of year stand out as posing an elevated crash risk, and even with the decrease in average daily fatalities over the past decade, these days and times of year have remained consistent. These results indicate focused areas for continued efforts to reduce fatal crashes. Copyright © 2018 National Safety Council and Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Consumption of New Psychoactive Substances and Methamphetamine.

PubMed

de Matos, Elena Gomes; Hannemann, Tessa-Virginia; Atzendorf, Josefine; Kraus, Ludwig; Piontek, Daniela

2018-01-26

The abuse of new psychoactive substances (NPS) and methamphetamine has severe adverse effects. Here we provide the first report of regional patterns in NPS and methamphetamine consumption in Germany, on the basis of epidemiologic data from six federal states (Bavaria, Hamburg, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony, and Thuringia). Data were derived from the 2015 Epidemiological Survey of Substance Abuse (Epidemiologischer Suchtsurvey) and supplemented with additional cases from the federal states that were studied. The numbers of persons included in the representative samples of persons aged 18 to 64 in each state were 1916 (Bavaria), 1125 (Hamburg), 1151 (Hesse), 2008 (North Rhine-Westphalia), 1897 (Saxony), and 1543 (Thuringia). Potential risk factors for the lifetime prevalence of consumption were studied by logistic regression. The lifetime prevalence of methamphetamine consumption in the individual states ranged from 0.3% (North Rhine-Westphalia) to 2.0% (Saxony). Thuringia and Saxony displayed values that were significantly higher than average. For NPS, the figures ranged from 2.2% (Bavaria) to 3.9% (Hamburg), but multivariate analysis revealed no statistically significant differences between the states. Higher age and higher educational level were associated with lower consumption of NPS and methamphetamine, while smoking and cannabis use were each associated with higher consumption. NPS consumption is equally widespread in all of the federal states studied. Methamphetamine is rarely consumed; its consumption appears to be higher in Saxony and Thuringia. The risk factor analysis reported here should be interpreted cautiously in view of the low case numbers with respect to consumption.

Repeated addiction treatment use in Sweden: a National Register Database study.

PubMed

Grahn, Robert; Chassler, Deborah; Lundgren, Lena

2014-11-01

Sweden has a free, universal addiction treatment system, yet few studies exist examining utilization of treatment in this country. This study identified predisposing, enabling, and need factors associated with history of number of voluntary addiction treatment episodes for a national sample of 12,009 individuals assessed for an alcohol and/or drug use disorder in Sweden. On average, people reported 4.3 prior treatment episodes. Linear regression methods identified that predisposing factors such as older age and being male were associated with more voluntary addiction treatment episodes compared to younger and female clients; a higher Addiction Severity Index (ASI) employment score (an enabling factor) was associated with more voluntary addiction treatment episodes; and need factors including a history of inpatient mental health treatment, a higher ASI psychiatric score, a higher ASI alcohol score, higher levels of illicit drug use, more compulsory addiction treatment episodes, a lower ASI legal score, and a history of criminal justice involvement were all associated with more voluntary addiction treatment episodes compared to their counterparts.. There were no differences in the number of treatment episodes by education or immigrant status. (1) Need is a key factor associated with more treatment use. (2) Further studies are needed to identify gender differences in access/use of treatment. (3) Given multiple treatment histories, Swedish addiction treatment policy should reflect a chronic care model rather than an acute care model.

Edge-preserving image compression for magnetic-resonance images using dynamic associative neural networks (DANN)-based neural networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wan, Tat C.; Kabuka, Mansur R.

1994-05-01

With the tremendous growth in imaging applications and the development of filmless radiology, the need for compression techniques that can achieve high compression ratios with user specified distortion rates becomes necessary. Boundaries and edges in the tissue structures are vital for detection of lesions and tumors, which in turn requires the preservation of edges in the image. The proposed edge preserving image compressor (EPIC) combines lossless compression of edges with neural network compression techniques based on dynamic associative neural networks (DANN), to provide high compression ratios with user specified distortion rates in an adaptive compression system well-suited to parallel implementations. Improvements to DANN-based training through the use of a variance classifier for controlling a bank of neural networks speed convergence and allow the use of higher compression ratios for `simple' patterns. The adaptation and generalization capabilities inherent in EPIC also facilitate progressive transmission of images through varying the number of quantization levels used to represent compressed patterns. Average compression ratios of 7.51:1 with an averaged average mean squared error of 0.0147 were achieved.

Selective remediation of contaminated sites using a two-level multiphase strategy and geostatistics.

PubMed

Saito, Hirotaka; Goovaerts, Pierre

2003-05-01

Selective soil remediation aims to reduce costs by cleaning only the fraction of an exposure unit (EU) necessary to lower the average concentration below the regulatory threshold. This approach requires a prior stratification of each EU into smaller remediation units (RU) which are then selected according to various criteria. This paper presents a geostatistical framework to account for uncertainties attached to both RU and EU average concentrations in selective remediation. The selection of RUs is based on their impact on the postremediation probability for the EU average concentration to exceed the regulatory threshold, which is assessed using geostatistical stochastic simulation. Application of the technique to a set of 600 dioxin concentrations collected at Piazza Road EPA Superfund site in Missouri shows a substantial decrease in the number of RU remediated compared with single phase remediation. The lower remediation costs achieved by the new strategy are obtained to the detriment of a higher risk of false negatives, yet for this data set this risk remains below the 5% rate set by EPA region 7.

Lower Granite Dam Smolt Monitoring Program, 2005-2006 Annual Report.

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

Mensik, Fred; Rapp, Shawn; Ross, Doug

2007-01-01

The 2005 fish collection season at Lower Granite Dam (LGR) was characterized by average water temperatures, below average flows, above average spill, low levels of debris and the record number of smolts collected compared to the previous five years. With the continued release of unclipped supplementation chinook and steelhead above LGR, we cannot accurately distinguish wild chinook, steelhead, and sockeye/kokanee in the sample. For the purposes of this report we will designate fish as clipped and unclipped. This season a total of 13,030,967 juvenile salmonids were collected at LGR. Of these, 12,099,019 were transported to release sites below Bonneville Dam,more » 12,032,623 by barge and 66,396 by truck. An additional 898,235 fish were bypassed to the river due to over-capacity of the raceways, barges or trucks and for research purposes. This was the first season of summer spill at LGR. Spill was initiated at 12:01am June 20 as directed by the ruling set forth by Judge James Redden of the United States District Court (Order CV 01-640-RE). In addition, the Lower Granite project also conducted a summer spill test alternating spill and spill patterns between spill to the gas cap without the removable spillway weir (RSW) and spill with up to 20 kcfs utilizing the RSW. Because of the forecast low flow this year, most hatchery reared subyearling fall chinook were released up to three weeks early. With the unexpected high flows in late May and early June, more than 90% of the subyearling chinook were collected prior to the initiation of the court ordered summer spill program. Collection number fluctuations reflect river flow and project operations for any given year. For example, low flow years (2001, 2004 and 2005) result in higher collection numbers. Court ordered spill throughout the summer migration will directly affect collection of fall subyearling chinook collection numbers. The editors of this report urge the reader to use caution when comparing fish collection numbers between years, considering both annual river flows and annual project operations, because both affect fish migration and collection.« less

Lower Granite Dam Smolt Monitoring Program, Annual Report 2005-2006.

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

Menski, Fred

2007-01-01

The 2005 fish collection season at Lower Granite Dam (LGR) was characterized by average water temperatures, below average flows, above average spill, low levels of debris and the record number of smolts collected compared to the previous five years. With the continued release of unclipped supplementation chinook and steelhead above LGR, we cannot accurately distinguish wild chinook, steelhead, and sockeye/kokanee in the sample. For the purposes of this report we will designate fish as clipped and unclipped. This season a total of 13,030,967 juvenile salmonids were collected at LGR. Of these, 12,099,019 were transported to release sites below Bonneville Dam,more » 12,032,623 by barge and 66,396 by truck. An additional 898,235 fish were bypassed to the river due to over-capacity of the raceways, barges or trucks and for research purposes. This was the first season of summer spill at LGR. Spill was initiated at 12:01am June 20 as directed by the ruling set forth by Judge James Redden of the United States District Court (Order CV 01-640-RE). In addition, the Lower Granite project also conducted a summer spill test alternating spill and spill patterns between spill to the gas cap without the removable spillway weir (RSW) and spill with up to 20 kcfs utilizing the RSW. Because of the forecast low flow this year, most hatchery reared subyearling fall chinook were released up to three weeks early. With the unexpected high flows in late May and early June, more than 90% of the subyearling chinook were collected prior to the initiation of the court ordered summer spill program. Collection number fluctuations reflect river flow and project operations for any given year. For example, low flow years (2001, 2004 and 2005) result in higher collection numbers. Court ordered spill throughout the summer migration will directly affect collection of fall subyearling chinook collection numbers. The editors of this report urge the reader to use caution when comparing fish collection numbers between years, considering both annual river flows and annual project operations, because both affect fish migration and collection.« less

[Influence of meteorological factors on the activity of the adult taiga tick (Ixodes persulcatus Sch., Ixodinae) in St. Petersburg and its environs].

PubMed

Osipova, T N; Grigoryeva, L A; Samoylova, E P; Shapar, A O; Bychkova, E M

2017-01-01

The article deals with influence of meteorolical factors on the activity of the taiga tick Ixodes persulvatus Sch. in St. Petersburg and its environs. The results of correlation analysis of meteorological data (21 index) and data ticks collected in 1980-2012 allowed determining linear dependence between 11 meteorological indices an average amount of ticks. Factor analysis reduced dimentionality down to 3 indices: sum of temperatures higher than +5.0 °C, sum of precipitation higher than 5 mm per year, and Selyaninov hydrothermal coefficient. It was demonstrated that, at the background of the general tendency for the decrease of the average number of active ticks in the studied territories, correlation between the amount of ticks and meteorological indices can significantly vary as in the correlation density, so in the character and in dependence of microclimatic features of the collecting site. When variability of the mean abundance of ticks during years of investigation is low, the methods of collecting can significantly affect the results of the statistical analysis. This fact must be taken in consideration during prognosis of both dates of the beginning of epidemiological season and its intensity.

EBSD Analysis of Relationship Between Microstructural Features and Toughness of a Medium-Carbon Quenching and Partitioning Bainitic Steel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Qiangguo; Huang, Xuefei; Huang, Weigang

2017-12-01

A multiphase microstructure of bainite, martensite and retained austenite in a 0.3C bainitic steel was obtained by a novel bainite isothermal transformation plus quenching and partitioning (B-QP) process. The correlations between microstructural features and toughness were investigated by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), and the results showed that the multiphase microstructure containing approximately 50% bainite exhibits higher strength (1617 MPa), greater elongation (18.6%) and greater impact toughness (103 J) than the full martensite. The EBSD analysis indicated that the multiphase microstructure with a smaller average local misorientation (1.22°) has a lower inner stress concentration possibility and that the first formed bainitic ferrite plates in the multiphase microstructure can refine subsequently generated packets and blocks. The corresponding packet and block average size decrease from 11.9 and 2.3 to 8.4 and 1.6 μm, respectively. A boundary misorientation analysis indicated that the multiphase microstructure has a higher percentage of high-angle boundaries (67.1%) than the full martensite (57.9%) because of the larger numbers and smaller sizes of packets and blocks. The packet boundary obstructs crack propagation more effectively than the block boundary.

Increasing morphological complexity in multiple parallel lineages of the Crustacea

PubMed Central

Adamowicz, Sarah J.; Purvis, Andy; Wills, Matthew A.

2008-01-01

The prospect of finding macroevolutionary trends and rules in the history of life is tremendously appealing, but very few pervasive trends have been found. Here, we demonstrate a parallel increase in the morphological complexity of most of the deep lineages within a major clade. We focus on the Crustacea, measuring the morphological differentiation of limbs. First, we show a clear trend of increasing complexity among 66 free-living, ordinal-level taxa from the Phanerozoic fossil record. We next demonstrate that this trend is pervasive, occurring in 10 or 11 of 12 matched-pair comparisons (across five morphological diversity indices) between extinct Paleozoic and related Recent taxa. This clearly differentiates the pattern from the effects of lineage sorting. Furthermore, newly appearing taxa tend to have had more types of limbs and a higher degree of limb differentiation than the contemporaneous average, whereas those going extinct showed higher-than-average limb redundancy. Patterns of contemporary species diversity partially reflect the paleontological trend. These results provide a rare demonstration of a large-scale and probably driven trend occurring across multiple independent lineages and influencing both the form and number of species through deep time and in the present day. PMID:18347335

Double-winding Wilson loops in SU(N) Yang-Mills theory - A criterion for testing the confinement models -

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsudo, Ryutaro; Kondo, Kei-Ichi; Shibata, Akihiro

2018-03-01

We examine how the average of double-winding Wilson loops depends on the number of color N in the SU(N) Yang-Mills theory. In the case where the two loops C1 and C2 are identical, we derive the exact operator relation which relates the doublewinding Wilson loop operator in the fundamental representation to that in the higher dimensional representations depending on N. By taking the average of the relation, we find that the difference-of-areas law for the area law falloff recently claimed for N = 2 is excluded for N ⩾ 3, provided that the string tension obeys the Casimir scaling for the higher representations. In the case where the two loops are distinct, we argue that the area law follows a novel law (N - 3)A1/(N - 1) + A2 with A1 and A2(A1 < A2) being the minimal areas spanned respectively by the loops C1 and C2, which is neither sum-ofareas (A1 + A2) nor difference-of-areas (A2 - A1) law when (N ⩾ 3). Indeed, this behavior can be confirmed in the two-dimensional SU(N) Yang-Mills theory exactly.

[Influence of low birth weight on the increased risk of post-partum hypertension].

PubMed

Wang, Lijiao; Tian, Qi; Wu, Aiping; Kan, Shuting; Tao, Jie; Dong, Yan; Han, Hongfeng; Gao, Xinying; Zheng, Yao; Chen, Shuohua; Wu, Shouling

2014-07-01

To compare the prevalence of hypertension between low birth weight infant (LBWI) women and non-LBWI women. A retrospective cohort study was applied and 3 172 pregnant women giving births during October 1976 to December 2008 in our hospital and underwent physical check-up between 2010 and 2011 at the Kailuan medical group were included and divided into LBWI group and non-LBWI group by the history of LBWI. Prevalence of hypertension was obtained during the follow-up program. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to assess the relative risk of hypertension. A total number of 3 172 women, with an average age of 42.3 years old were divided into LBWI group (n = 147) and non-LBWI group (n = 3 025), with the average birth weights of their infants were 2.31 kg and 3.39 kg, respectively. The prevalence of hypertension from the follow-up program was significantly higher in LBWI group than that in the non-LBWI group (23.8% vs. 16.9%, P < 0.05). After adjustment for other traditional risk factors, the risk of hypertension in LBWI group was 1.60 (95%CI:1.02-2.53) folds higher than that in the non-LBWI group. Prevalence of hypertension in women with LBWI was higher than that in those women without LBWI. History of LBWI seemed to have had an increased risk to develop hypertension.

Increased frequency of self-fertile isolates in Phytophthora infestans may attribute to their higher fitness relative to the A1 isolates

PubMed Central

Zhu, Wen; Shen, Lin-Lin; Fang, Zhi-Guo; Yang, Li-Na; Zhang, Jia-Feng; Sun, Dan-Li; Zhan, Jiasui

2016-01-01

Knowledge of population dynamics of mating types is important for better understanding pathogen’s evolutionary potential and sustainable management of natural and chemical resources such as host resistances and fungicides. In this study, 2250 Phytophthora infestans isolates sampled from 61 fields across China were assayed for spatiotemporal dynamics of mating type frequency. Self-fertile isolates dominated in ~50% of populations and all but one cropping region with an average frequency of 0.64 while no A2 isolates were detected. Analyses of 140 genotypes consisting of 82 self-fertile and 58 A1 isolates indicated that on average self-fertile isolates grew faster, demonstrated higher aggressiveness and were more tolerant to fungicides than A1 isolates; Furthermore, pattern of association between virulence complexity (defined as the number of differential cultivars on which an isolate can induce disease) and frequency was different in the two mating types. In A1 isolates, virulence complexity was negatively correlated (r = −0.515, p = 0.043) with frequency but this correlation was positive (r = 0.532, p = 0.037) in self-fertile isolates. Our results indicate a quick increase of self-fertile isolates possibly attributable to their higher fitness relative to A1 mating type counterpart in the field populations of P. infestans in China. PMID:27384813

13 CFR 121.106 - How does SBA calculate number of employees?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... average number of employees is used for each of the pay periods during which it has been in business. (4... includes the following principles: (1) The average number of employees of the concern is used (including... pay periods for the preceding completed 12 calendar months. (2) Part-time and temporary employees are...

13 CFR 121.106 - How does SBA calculate number of employees?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... average number of employees is used for each of the pay periods during which it has been in business. (4... includes the following principles: (1) The average number of employees of the concern is used (including... pay periods for the preceding completed 12 calendar months. (2) Part-time and temporary employees are...

Geographical variation and age-related dietary exposure to arsenic in rice from Bangladesh.

PubMed

Islam, Shofiqul; Rahman, Mohammad Mahmudur; Islam, M R; Naidu, Ravi

2017-12-01

An extensive number (965) of rice samples collected by household survey from 73 upazilas (i.e. sub-districts) in Bangladesh was analyzed to determine regional variation, distribution and associated health risks from arsenic (As). No previous study had conducted a study examining such a large number of rice samples. The mean and median concentrations of total As were 126μg/kg and 107μg/kg, respectively, ranging from between 3 and 680μg/kg. Importantly, total As levels of aromatic rice were significantly lower (average 58μg/kg) than non-aromatic rice (average 150μg/kg) and also varied with rice grain size. The variation in As content was dominated by the location (47% among the upazilas, 71% among districts) and rice variety (14%). Inorganic As content in rice grain ranged between 11 and 502μg/kg (n=162) with the highest fraction being 98.6%. The daily intake of inorganic As from rice ranged between 0.38 and 1.92μg/kg BW in different districts. The incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) for individuals due to the consumption of rice varied between 0.57×10 -3 to 2.88×10 -3 in different districts, and 0.54×10 -3 to 2.12×10 -3 in different varieties, higher than the US EPA threshold. The 2-10 age group experiences higher carcinogenic risks than others and females are more susceptible than males. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Predictors of job satisfaction and burnout among tuberculosis management nurses and physicians

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

OBJECTIVES: This study examined job satisfaction, empowerment, job stress, and burnout among tuberculosis management nurses and physicians in public healthcare institutions. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study analyzing survey data collected from 249 nurses and 57 physicians in 105 public health centers, three public tuberculosis hospitals, and one tertiary hospital. The survey questionnaire comprised general characteristics, work-related characteristics, and four index scales (job satisfaction, empowerment, job stress, and burnout). The two-sample t-test was used to estimate the mean differences in the four index scales. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine whether general and work-related characteristics affected the four index scales. RESULTS: The job satisfaction and empowerment scores of the nurses were lower than those of the physicians. Except for the tuberculosis-specialized hospitals alone, the average job satisfaction scores of nurses were higher than those of physicians. Moreover, the nurses reported more job stress and burnout than did the physicians in tuberculosis departments in public healthcare institutions in Korea; in particular, the burnout reported by nurses was significantly higher than that reported by physicians at the National Medical Center. Marital status, nursing position, number of coworkers, the average number of days of overtime work per month, self-rated health, and hospital type were associated with the four index scales. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, nurses were more vulnerable to job stress and burnout than physicians. Reducing the workload of nurses by ensuring the presence of sufficient nursing staff and equipment, as well as by equipping facilities to prevent tuberculosis infections, should be considered priorities. PMID:26971698

Predictors of job satisfaction and burnout among tuberculosis management nurses and physicians.

PubMed

Seo, Hae-Suk; Kim, Hyunjoong; Hwang, Se-Min; Hong, Soo Hyun; Lee, In-Young

2016-01-01

This study examined job satisfaction, empowerment, job stress, and burnout among tuberculosis management nurses and physicians in public healthcare institutions. This was a cross-sectional study analyzing survey data collected from 249 nurses and 57 physicians in 105 public health centers, three public tuberculosis hospitals, and one tertiary hospital. The survey questionnaire comprised general characteristics, work-related characteristics, and four index scales (job satisfaction, empowerment, job stress, and burnout). The two-sample t-test was used to estimate the mean differences in the four index scales. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine whether general and work-related characteristics affected the four index scales. The job satisfaction and empowerment scores of the nurses were lower than those of the physicians. Except for the tuberculosis-specialized hospitals alone, the average job satisfaction scores of nurses were higher than those of physicians. Moreover, the nurses reported more job stress and burnout than did the physicians in tuberculosis departments in public healthcare institutions in Korea; in particular, the burnout reported by nurses was significantly higher than that reported by physicians at the National Medical Center. Marital status, nursing position, number of coworkers, the average number of days of overtime work per month, self-rated health, and hospital type were associated with the four index scales. Overall, nurses were more vulnerable to job stress and burnout than physicians. Reducing the workload of nurses by ensuring the presence of sufficient nursing staff and equipment, as well as by equipping facilities to prevent tuberculosis infections, should be considered priorities.

Distribution of cataract surgical rate and its economic inequality in Iran.

PubMed

Hashemi, Hassan; Rezvan, Farhad; Fotouhi, Akbar; Khabazkhoob, Mehdi; Gilasi, Hamidreza; Etemad, Koroush; Mahdavi, Alireza; Mehravaran, Shiva; Asgari, Soheila

2015-06-01

To determine the distribution of the cataract surgical number per million population per year (CSR), the CSR in the population older than 50 years (CSR 50+) in the provinces of Iran, and their economic inequality in 2010. As part of the cross-sectional 2011 CSR survey, the provincial CSR and CSR 50+ were calculated as the total number of surgeries in major and minor centers divided by the total population and the population older than 50 years in each province. Economic inequality was determined using the average province income, the average urban and rural household incomes, and the percentage of urban and rural population in each province. Tehran and Ilam provinces had the highest and lowest CSR (12,465 vs. 359), respectively. Fars and Ilam provinces had the highest and lowest CSR 50+ (71,381 vs. 2481), respectively. Low CSR (<3000) was detected in 9 provinces where 2.4 to 735.7% increase is needed to reach the minimum required. High CSR (>5000) was observed in 14 provinces (45.2%) where rates were 0.6 to 59.9% higher than the global target. Cataract surgical rate increased at higher economic quintiles. Differences between the first, second, and fifth (poorest) quintiles were statistically significant. The CSR concentration index was 0.1964 (95% confidence interval, 0.0964 to 0.2964). In line with the goals of the Vision 2020 initiative to eliminate cataract blindness, more than 70% of geographic areas in Iran have achieved the minimum CSR of 3000 or more. However, a large gap still exists in less than 30% of areas, mainly attributed to the economic status.

Influenza and immunization: a quantitative study of media coverage in the season of the «Fluad case».

PubMed

Odone, Anna; Chiesa, Valentina; Ciorba, Veronica; Cella, Paola; Pasquarella, Cesira; Signorelli, Carlo

2015-01-01

Seasonal influenza generates serious health and economic losses. In the last influenza season, the report of three deaths originally blamed on the Fluad vaccine drew widespread attention from the media and is likely to have had a major negative impact on vaccine uptake. We quantitatively analyzed media coverage on influenza and immunization-related topics on all published issues of the Italian newspaper ranking first in circulation, over one year. We retrieved relevant key words and articles, reporting on article topic, length, position, and approach to immunization, and on other selected indicators' summary statistics, trends, and correspondence with key events. Selected key words were retrieved 798 times over the study period, 34% specifically focusing on influenza. The average number of influenza-related key words per issue was 96%higher in the four-day «uncertainty» period from when the deaths were first reported to the release of the test results disproving any causal association between the deaths and the vaccine (time frame #1), as compared to the whole study period. Ninety relevant articles were included in the analysis, 51%focusing on influenza, the average number/issue being 97%higher during time frame #1. During time frame #1, articles were also longer and located in the main sections of the newspapers. No articles were published at the launch of the seasonal influenza immunization campaign. We propose an analytic model of media monitoring that could be effectively applied to support health authorities and representatives of the scientific community in conveying health education messages through the media.

Baby-friendly hospital practices and birth costs.

PubMed

Allen, Jessica A; Longenecker, Holly B; Perrine, Cria G; Scanlon, Kelley S

2013-12-01

Hospital practices supportive of breastfeeding can improve breastfeeding rates. There are limited data available on how improved hospital practices are associated with hospital costs. We describe the association between the number of breastfeeding supportive practices a hospital has in place and the cost of an uncomplicated birth. Data from hospitals in 20 states that participated in the 2007 Maternity Practices in Infant Nutrition and Care (mPINC) survey and Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project's (HCUP) State Inpatient Databases (SID) were merged to calculate the average median hospital cost of uncomplicated vaginal and cesarean section births by number of ideal practices from the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding. Linear regression analyses were conducted to estimate change in birth cost for each additional ideal practice in place. Sixty-one percent of hospitals had ideal practice on 3-5 of the 10 steps, whereas 29 percent of hospitals had ideal practice on 6-8. Adjusted analyses of uncomplicated births revealed a higher but nonsignificant increase in any of the birth categories (all births, $19; vaginal, $15; cesarean section, $39) with each additional breastfeeding supportive maternity care practice in place. Our results revealed that the number of breastfeeding supportive practices a hospital has in place is not significantly associated with higher birth costs. Concern for higher birth costs should not be a barrier for improving maternity care practices that support women who choose to breastfeed. © 2013, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2013, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Averaging Principle for the Higher Order Nonlinear Schrödinger Equation with a Random Fast Oscillation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Peng

2018-06-01

This work concerns the problem associated with averaging principle for a higher order nonlinear Schrödinger equation perturbed by a oscillating term arising as the solution of a stochastic reaction-diffusion equation evolving with respect to the fast time. This model can be translated into a multiscale stochastic partial differential equations. Stochastic averaging principle is a powerful tool for studying qualitative analysis of stochastic dynamical systems with different time-scales. To be more precise, under suitable conditions, we prove that there is a limit process in which the fast varying process is averaged out and the limit process which takes the form of the higher order nonlinear Schrödinger equation is an average with respect to the stationary measure of the fast varying process. Finally, by using the Khasminskii technique we can obtain the rate of strong convergence for the slow component towards the solution of the averaged equation, and as a consequence, the system can be reduced to a single higher order nonlinear Schrödinger equation with a modified coefficient.

Averaging Principle for the Higher Order Nonlinear Schrödinger Equation with a Random Fast Oscillation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Peng

2018-04-01

This work concerns the problem associated with averaging principle for a higher order nonlinear Schrödinger equation perturbed by a oscillating term arising as the solution of a stochastic reaction-diffusion equation evolving with respect to the fast time. This model can be translated into a multiscale stochastic partial differential equations. Stochastic averaging principle is a powerful tool for studying qualitative analysis of stochastic dynamical systems with different time-scales. To be more precise, under suitable conditions, we prove that there is a limit process in which the fast varying process is averaged out and the limit process which takes the form of the higher order nonlinear Schrödinger equation is an average with respect to the stationary measure of the fast varying process. Finally, by using the Khasminskii technique we can obtain the rate of strong convergence for the slow component towards the solution of the averaged equation, and as a consequence, the system can be reduced to a single higher order nonlinear Schrödinger equation with a modified coefficient.

Working life tables for females in Canada, 1971.

PubMed

Krishnan, P; Penning, M; Kurian, L

1981-01-01

This paper attempts to construct some working life tables (WLTs) for females in Canada, 1971. Attention is directed to methodological problems in female WLT construction, a suggested methodology, and loss due to mortality. The working life expectancy (WLE), which refers to the average number of years that a person is likely to spend in the labor force during his/her lifetime, reveals the extent of his/her contribution to the national economy. Although working life tables have been prepared for Canadian males, no attempt has been made previously to develop a WLT for the Canadian females. In some countries, such as Canada, the long census questionnaire collects additional pieces of information on labor force participation (LFP), even though the coverage is only on a part (but sizable) of the population. It is suggested that the information on "weeks worked" (Canadian Census wording) can be used to smooth out the bimodality problem in the female LFP. If a working woman works for an entire year, i.e., 52 weeks inclusive of paid holidays and vacation, she is said to contribute 1 woman year of working (or economically active) life to the economy. On the basis of this concept of a woman year of working life, all females who are working full time, part time, and not working can be considered in regard to their respective contributions of working lives to the national economy. An age limit is not indicated in the definition. The number of hours worked per day cumulated for the year and scaled down to the base of 1 woman year of working life would make the analysis more realistic. If the census data on weeks worked are tabulated by single years of age, or age groups for the female population, the average number of weeks worked specific for the various age categories can be computed. Those who are unemployed are taken as contributing zero weeks worked in the computation of the mean. Then the age specific participation rate is obtained as the percent of the average number of weeks worked by females in a given age group to the total number of weeks in a year. From these age specific rates, the probabilities of LFP at an age interval is worked out by averaging 2 consecutive age specific rates. Employing the notion of woman years of working life and utilizing the average number of weeks worked from the 1971 Census of Canada PUST data, a set of age specific participation rates for the Canadian females was developed. With these participation rates, the WLT for the Canadian females is constructed. The WLE for a female in Canada in 1971 attains a maximum of 38.7 years at age 15 and declines with increases in age. A comparison with the males showed that the female WLE was higher in the latter and lower in the early years of life.

Assessing Quality of Care and Elder Abuse in Nursing Homes via Google Reviews.

PubMed

Mowery, Jared; Andrei, Amanda; Le, Elizabeth; Jian, Jing; Ward, Megan

2016-01-01

It is challenging to assess the quality of care and detect elder abuse in nursing homes, since patients may be incapable of reporting quality issues or abuse themselves, and resources for sending inspectors are limited. This study correlates Google reviews of nursing homes with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) inspection results in the Nursing Home Compare (NHC) data set, to quantify the extent to which the reviews reflect the quality of care and the presence of elder abuse. A total of 16,160 reviews were collected, spanning 7,170 nursing homes. Two approaches were tested: using the average rating as an overall estimate of the quality of care at a nursing home, and using the average scores from a maximum entropy classifier trained to recognize indications of elder abuse. The classifier achieved an F-measure of 0.81, with precision 0.74 and recall 0.89. The correlation for the classifier is weak but statistically significant: = 0.13, P < .001, and 95% confidence interval (0.10, 0.16). The correlation for the ratings exhibits a slightly higher correlation: = 0.15, P < .001. Both the classifier and rating correlations approach approximately 0.65 when the effective average number of reviews per provider is increased by aggregating similar providers. These results indicate that an analysis of Google reviews of nursing homes can be used to detect indications of elder abuse with high precision and to assess the quality of care, but only when a sufficient number of reviews are available.

40 CFR Table Jj-1 to Subpart Jj of... - Animal Population Threshold Level Below Which Facilities Are Not Required To Report Emissions...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... Emissions Under Subpart JJ 1 2 Animal group Average annual animal population (Head) 3 Beef 29,300 Dairy 3... groups except dairy, the average annual animal population represents the total number of animals present at the facility. For dairy facilities, the average annual animal population represents the number of...

40 CFR Table Jj-1 to Subpart Jj of... - Animal Population Threshold Level Below Which Facilities Are Not Required To Report Emissions...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... Emissions Under Subpart JJ 1,2 Animal group Average annual animal population (Head) 3 Beef 29,300 Dairy 3... groups except dairy, the average annual animal population represents the total number of animals present at the facility. For dairy facilities, the average annual animal population represents the number of...

Molybdenum, vanadium, and uranium weathering in small mountainous rivers and rivers draining high-standing islands

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gardner, Christopher B.; Carey, Anne E.; Lyons, W. Berry; Goldsmith, Steven T.; McAdams, Brandon C.; Trierweiler, Annette M.

2017-12-01

Rivers draining high standing islands (HSIs) and small mountainous rivers (SMRs) are known to have extremely high sediment fluxes, and can also have high chemical weathering yields, which makes them potentially important contributors to the global riverine elemental flux to the ocean. This work reports on the riverine concentrations, ocean flux, and weathering yields of Molybdenum (Mo), Vanadium (V), and Uranium (U) in a large number of small but geochemically important rivers using 338 river samples from ten lithologically-diverse regions. These redox-sensitive elements are used extensively to infer paleo-redox conditions in the ocean, and Mo and V are also important rock-derived micronutrients used by microorganisms in nitrogen fixation. Unlike in large river systems, in which dissolved Mo has been attributed predominately to pyrite dissolution, Mo concentrations in these rivers did not correlate with sulfate concentrations. V was found to correlate strongly with Si in terrains dominated by silicate rocks, but this trend was not observed in primarily sedimentary regions. Many rivers exhibited much higher V/Si ratios than larger rivers, and rivers draining young Quaternary volcanic rocks in Nicaragua had much higher dissolved V concentrations (mean = 1306 nM) than previously-studied rivers. U concentrations were generally well below the global average with the exception of rivers draining primarily sedimentary lithologies containing carbonates and shales. Fluxes of U and Mo from igneous terrains of intermediate composition are lower than the global average, while fluxes of V from these regions are higher, and up to two orders of magnitude higher in the Nicaragua rivers. Weathering yields of Mo and V in most regions are above the global mean, despite lower than average concentrations measured in some of those systems, indicating that the chemical weathering of these elements are higher in these SMR watersheds than larger drainages. In regions of active boundaries with andesite/dacite lithologies, rivers draining young Pleistocene rocks had higher concentrations than did older Miocene-Pliocene rocks of a similar composition. This work shows that weathering yields of Mo, V, and U from SMRs are slightly higher than from large rivers, and the age of igneous lithologies in these regions exhibits a measurable control on riverine concentrations of these elements.

ERBS fuel addendum: Pollution reduction technology program small jet aircraft engines, phase 3

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bruce, T. W.; Davis, F. G.; Kuhn, T. E.; Mongia, H. C.

1982-01-01

A Model TFE731-2 engine with a low emission, variable geometry combustion system was tested to compare the effects of operating the engine on Commercial Jet-A aviation turbine fuel and experimental referee broad specification (ERBS) fuels. Low power emission levels were essentially identical while the high power NOx emission indexes were approximately 15% lower with the EBRS fuel. The exhaust smoke number was approximately 50% higher with ERBS at the takeoff thrust setting; however, both values were still below the EPA limit of 40 for the Model TFE731 engine. Primary zone liner wall temperature ran an average of 25 K higher with ERBS fuel than with Jet-A. The possible adoption of broadened proprties fuels for gas turbine applications is suggested.

Electromagnetic and Electrohydraulic Shock Wave Lithotripsy-Induced Urothelial Damage: Is There a Difference?

PubMed

Mustafa, Mahmoud; Aburas, Honood; Helo, Fatima M; Qarawi, Lailah

2017-02-01

To evaluate and compare the acute effect of electromagnetic and electrohydraulic extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (SWL) on the urothelial layers of kidney and ureter. Fifty patients, 29 males (58%) and 21 females (42%), with an average age of 51.68 years (range: 37-70) who underwent SWL application in two different centers were included. Twenty-eight patients (56%) were treated with electrohydraulic and 22 (44%) were treated with electromagnetic lithotripsy. Urinary cytologic examinations were done immediately before and after SWL therapy and 10 days later. The average numbers of epithelial cells, red blood cells (RBC), and myocytes were counted under 40 × magnification. There were significant differences in the number of epithelial cells and RBC before and after immediate application of SWL: 1.66 and 14.9 cells/field, (p = 0.001), 5.44 and 113.45 cells/field, respectively (p = 0.001). The number of RBC was significantly higher in patients treated with electromagnetic lithotripsy than those treated with electrohydraulic: 141.9 and 93.4 cells/field, respectively (p = 0.02). No myocyte or basement membrane elements were detected in any of the cytologic examinations. Cytologic examinations done after 10 days of SWL therapy revealed recovery of all abnormal cytologic findings. The acute increments in the number of epithelial cells and RBC after SWL were statistically significant but it was not permanent. SWL-induced urinary urothelial lesion is limited to the mucosal layer and there was no evidence of damage to the basal membrane or muscle layer. Electromagnetic lithotripsy caused high numbers of RBC than the electrohydraulic device on the postimmediate urine cytologic examination.

Numerical study of shock-wave/boundary layer interactions in premixed hydrogen-air hypersonic flows

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yungster, Shaye

1991-01-01

A computational study of shock wave/boundary layer interactions involving premixed combustible gases, and the resulting combustion processes is presented. The analysis is carried out using a new fully implicit, total variation diminishing (TVD) code developed for solving the fully coupled Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations and species continuity equations in an efficient manner. To accelerate the convergence of the basic iterative procedure, this code is combined with vector extrapolation methods. The chemical nonequilibrium processes are simulated by means of a finite-rate chemistry model for hydrogen-air combustion. Several validation test cases are presented and the results compared with experimental data or with other computational results. The code is then applied to study shock wave/boundary layer interactions in a ram accelerator configuration. Results indicate a new combustion mechanism in which a shock wave induces combustion in the boundary layer, which then propagates outwards and downstream. At higher Mach numbers, spontaneous ignition in part of the boundary layer is observed, which eventually extends along the entire boundary layer at still higher values of the Mach number.

Improvements to the George/Castillo Boundary Layer Theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wosnik, Martin; George, William K.; Castillo, Luciano

2000-11-01

George and Castillo (1997)(George WK and Castillo L (1997) Appl.Mech.Rev.), 50, 12/1, 689-729. presented a new theory for Zero Pressure Gradient Turbulent Boundary Layers based on an application of Near-Asymptotics to scaling laws derived from equilibrium similarity to the Reynolds-averaged equations. The resulting overlap velocity profiles retained a dependence on local Reynolds number, the parameters for which had to satisfy the following constraint equation: ln \\varepsilon fracdγd ln δ^+ = fracdln [C_o/C_i] d ln δ^+ where γ is the power exponent, Co and Ci are the coefficients in inner and outer variables respectively. GC considered only the first term in an asymptotic expansion of the exact solution, but higher order terms can be considered with no increase in the number of unknowns. The improved theory is tested against new experimental Zero Pressure Gradient Turbulent Boundary Layer data of Smith (1994), Oesterlund (1999) and Johansson and Castillo (2000). For the friction law, the first order term is sufficient, but for Co and γ the higher order terms improve the fit to the velocity profiles significantly.

Auditory noise increases the allocation of attention to the mouth, and the eyes pay the price: An eye-tracking study.

PubMed

Król, Magdalena Ewa

2018-01-01

We investigated the effect of auditory noise added to speech on patterns of looking at faces in 40 toddlers. We hypothesised that noise would increase the difficulty of processing speech, making children allocate more attention to the mouth of the speaker to gain visual speech cues from mouth movements. We also hypothesised that this shift would cause a decrease in fixation time to the eyes, potentially decreasing the ability to monitor gaze. We found that adding noise increased the number of fixations to the mouth area, at the price of a decreased number of fixations to the eyes. Thus, to our knowledge, this is the first study demonstrating a mouth-eyes trade-off between attention allocated to social cues coming from the eyes and linguistic cues coming from the mouth. We also found that children with higher word recognition proficiency and higher average pupil response had an increased likelihood of fixating the mouth, compared to the eyes and the rest of the screen, indicating stronger motivation to decode the speech.

Auditory noise increases the allocation of attention to the mouth, and the eyes pay the price: An eye-tracking study

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

We investigated the effect of auditory noise added to speech on patterns of looking at faces in 40 toddlers. We hypothesised that noise would increase the difficulty of processing speech, making children allocate more attention to the mouth of the speaker to gain visual speech cues from mouth movements. We also hypothesised that this shift would cause a decrease in fixation time to the eyes, potentially decreasing the ability to monitor gaze. We found that adding noise increased the number of fixations to the mouth area, at the price of a decreased number of fixations to the eyes. Thus, to our knowledge, this is the first study demonstrating a mouth-eyes trade-off between attention allocated to social cues coming from the eyes and linguistic cues coming from the mouth. We also found that children with higher word recognition proficiency and higher average pupil response had an increased likelihood of fixating the mouth, compared to the eyes and the rest of the screen, indicating stronger motivation to decode the speech. PMID:29558514

Numerical study of shock-wave/boundary layer interactions in premixed hydrogen-air hypersonic flows

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yungster, Shaye

1990-01-01

A computational study of shock wave/boundary layer interactions involving premixed combustible gases, and the resulting combustion processes is presented. The analysis is carried out using a new fully implicit, total variation diminishing (TVD) code developed for solving the fully coupled Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations and species continuity equations in an efficient manner. To accelerate the convergence of the basic iterative procedure, this code is combined with vector extrapolation methods. The chemical nonequilibrium processes are simulated by means of a finite-rate chemistry model for hydrogen-air combustion. Several validation test cases are presented and the results compared with experimental data or with other computational results. The code is then applied to study shock wave/boundary layer interactions in a ram accelerator configuration. Results indicate a new combustion mechanism in which a shock wave induces combustion in the boundary layer, which then propagates outwards and downstream. At higher Mach numbers, spontaneous ignition in part of the boundary layer is observed, which eventually extends along the entire boundary layer at still higher values of the Mach number.

Compression of head-related transfer function using autoregressive-moving-average models and Legendre polynomials.

PubMed

Shekarchi, Sayedali; Hallam, John; Christensen-Dalsgaard, Jakob

2013-11-01

Head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) are generally large datasets, which can be an important constraint for embedded real-time applications. A method is proposed here to reduce redundancy and compress the datasets. In this method, HRTFs are first compressed by conversion into autoregressive-moving-average (ARMA) filters whose coefficients are calculated using Prony's method. Such filters are specified by a few coefficients which can generate the full head-related impulse responses (HRIRs). Next, Legendre polynomials (LPs) are used to compress the ARMA filter coefficients. LPs are derived on the sphere and form an orthonormal basis set for spherical functions. Higher-order LPs capture increasingly fine spatial details. The number of LPs needed to represent an HRTF, therefore, is indicative of its spatial complexity. The results indicate that compression ratios can exceed 98% while maintaining a spectral error of less than 4 dB in the recovered HRTFs.

The spreading time in SIS epidemics on networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Zhidong; Van Mieghem, Piet

2018-03-01

In a Susceptible-Infected-Susceptible (SIS) process, we investigate the spreading time Tm, which is the time when the number of infected nodes in the metastable state is first reached, starting from the outbreak of the epidemics. We observe that the spreading time Tm resembles a lognormal-like distribution, though with different deep tails, both for the Markovian and the non-Markovian infection process, which implies that the spreading time can be very long with a relatively high probability. In addition, we show that a stronger virus, with a higher effective infection rate τ or an earlier timing of the infection attempts, does not always lead to a shorter average spreading time E [Tm ] . We numerically demonstrate that the average spreading time E [Tm ] in the complete graph and the star graph scales logarithmically as a function of the network size N for a fixed fraction of infected nodes in the metastable state.

An automatic step adjustment method for average power analysis technique used in fiber amplifiers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Xue-Ming

2006-04-01

An automatic step adjustment (ASA) method for average power analysis (APA) technique used in fiber amplifiers is proposed in this paper for the first time. In comparison with the traditional APA technique, the proposed method has suggested two unique merits such as a higher order accuracy and an ASA mechanism, so that it can significantly shorten the computing time and improve the solution accuracy. A test example demonstrates that, by comparing to the APA technique, the proposed method increases the computing speed by more than a hundredfold under the same errors. By computing the model equations of erbium-doped fiber amplifiers, the numerical results show that our method can improve the solution accuracy by over two orders of magnitude at the same amplifying section number. The proposed method has the capacity to rapidly and effectively compute the model equations of fiber Raman amplifiers and semiconductor lasers.

Arsenic in stream sediments of northern Alabama

USGS Publications Warehouse

Goldhaber, M.B.; Irwin, Elise; Atkins, Brian; Lee, Lopaka; Black, D.D.; Zappia, Humbert; Hatch, Joe; Pashin, Jack; Barwick, L.H.; Cartwright, W.E.; Sanzolone, Rick; Rupert, Leslie; Kolker, Allan; Finkelman, Robert

2001-01-01

OVERVIEW OF ARSENIC IN STREAM SEDIMENTS The overall range of arsenic in the NURE stream sediments was from 0.3 to 44 mg/kg sediment (ppm) As in the sample data set. The mean value was 4.3 ppm with a standard deviation of 4.1 ppm. For comparison, the crustal abundance of arsenic is 1.8 ppm (Taylor, 1964). Shale is higher, with average values of 15 ppm. Coal samples from the entire USGS National Coal Resource Data System coal database (Finkelman, 1994) average 24 ppm arsenic. A study of stream sediments from throughout the U.S. by the USGS NAWQA program reported that the 75th percentile for arsenic in 541 stream sediments was 9.5 ppm (Rice, 1999). Given the relatively low crustal abundance of arsenic, a number of stream-sediment samples in this study may be considered geochemically anomalous in this element.

Microstructure and Properties of (TiB2 + NiTi)/Ti Composite Coating Fabricated by Laser Cladding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Yinghua; Lei, Yongping; Fu, Hanguang; Lin, Jian

2015-10-01

Agglomerated TiB2 particle and network-like structure-reinforced titanium matrix composite coatings were prepared by laser cladding of the Ni + TiB2 + Ti preplaced powders on Ti-6Al-4V alloy. The network-like structure mainly consisted of NiTi and Ni3Ti. Through the experiment, it was found that the size of agglomerated particle gradually decreased with the increase of Ti content, but the number of the network-like structure first increased and then disappeared. In-situ reaction competition mechanism and the formation of network-like structure were discussed. The average micro-hardness gradually decreased with the increase of Ti content, but the average fracture toughness gradually increased. Meanwhile, the wear resistance of the coatings is higher than that of the substrate, but the wear loss of the coatings is gradually increased with the increase of Ti content.

Financing of Tribal Colleges.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Laughlin, Jeanie

In addition to higher education programs, tribal colleges offer welfare-to-work programs, adult education, vocational and agricultural training, and childcare, which makes their costs higher than those of conventional colleges. Most tribal colleges are small, resulting in higher than average per student costs. Tribal colleges charge an average of…

Cluster size dependence of high-order harmonic generation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tao, Y.; Hagmeijer, R.; Bastiaens, H. M. J.; Goh, S. J.; van der Slot, P. J. M.; Biedron, S. G.; Milton, S. V.; Boller, K.-J.

2017-08-01

We investigate high-order harmonic generation (HHG) from noble gas clusters in a supersonic gas jet. To identify the contribution of harmonic generation from clusters versus that from gas monomers, we measure the high-order harmonic output over a broad range of the total atomic number density in the jet (from 3×1016 to 3 × 1018 {{cm}}-3) at two different reservoir temperatures (303 and 363 K). For the first time in the evaluation of the harmonic yield in such measurements, the variation of the liquid mass fraction, g, versus pressure and temperature is taken into consideration, which we determine, reliably and consistently, to be below 20% within our range of experimental parameters. By comparing the measured harmonic yield from a thin jet with the calculated corresponding yield from monomers alone, we find an increased emission of the harmonics when the average cluster size is less than 3000. Using g, under the assumption that the emission from monomers and clusters add up coherently, we calculate the ratio of the average single-atom response of an atom within a cluster to that of a monomer and find an enhancement of around 100 for very small average cluster size (∼200). We do not find any dependence of the cut-off frequency on the composition of the cluster jet. This implies that HHG in clusters is based on electrons that return to their parent ions and not to neighboring ions in the cluster. To fully employ the enhanced average single-atom response found for small average cluster sizes (∼200), the nozzle producing the cluster jet must provide a large liquid mass fraction at these small cluster sizes for increasing the harmonic yield. Moreover, cluster jets may allow for quasi-phase matching, as the higher mass of clusters allows for a higher density contrast in spatially structuring the nonlinear medium.

Studies of Isolated and Non-isolated Photospheric Bright Points in an Active Region Observed by the New Vacuum Solar Telescope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Yanxiao; Xiang, Yongyuan; Erdélyi, Robertus; Liu, Zhong; Li, Dong; Ning, Zongjun; Bi, Yi; Wu, Ning; Lin, Jun

2018-03-01

Properties of photospheric bright points (BPs) near an active region have been studied in TiO λ 7058 Å images observed by the New Vacuum Solar Telescope of the Yunnan Observatories. We developed a novel recognition method that was used to identify and track 2010 BPs. The observed evolving BPs are classified into isolated (individual) and non-isolated (where multiple BPs are observed to display splitting and merging behaviors) sets. About 35.1% of BPs are non-isolated. For both isolated and non-isolated BPs, the brightness varies from 0.8 to 1.3 times the average background intensity and follows a Gaussian distribution. The lifetimes of BPs follow a log-normal distribution, with characteristic lifetimes of (267 ± 140) s and (421 ± 255) s, respectively. Their size also follows log-normal distribution, with an average size of about (2.15 ± 0.74) × 104 km2 and (3.00 ± 1.31) × 104 km2 for area, and (163 ± 27) km and (191 ± 40) km for diameter, respectively. Our results indicate that regions with strong background magnetic field have higher BP number density and higher BP area coverage than regions with weak background field. Apparently, the brightness/size of BPs does not depend on the background field. Lifetimes in regions with strong background magnetic field are shorter than those in regions with weak background field, on average.

Bioinformatics programs are 31-fold over-represented among the highest impact scientific papers of the past two decades.

PubMed

Wren, Jonathan D

2016-09-01

To analyze the relative proportion of bioinformatics papers and their non-bioinformatics counterparts in the top 20 most cited papers annually for the past two decades. When defining bioinformatics papers as encompassing both those that provide software for data analysis or methods underlying data analysis software, we find that over the past two decades, more than a third (34%) of the most cited papers in science were bioinformatics papers, which is approximately a 31-fold enrichment relative to the total number of bioinformatics papers published. More than half of the most cited papers during this span were bioinformatics papers. Yet, the average 5-year JIF of top 20 bioinformatics papers was 7.7, whereas the average JIF for top 20 non-bioinformatics papers was 25.8, significantly higher (P < 4.5 × 10(-29)). The 20-year trend in the average JIF between the two groups suggests the gap does not appear to be significantly narrowing. For a sampling of the journals producing top papers, bioinformatics journals tended to have higher Gini coefficients, suggesting that development of novel bioinformatics resources may be somewhat 'hit or miss'. That is, relative to other fields, bioinformatics produces some programs that are extremely widely adopted and cited, yet there are fewer of intermediate success. jdwren@gmail.com Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Characteristics of construction firms at risk for future workers' compensation claims using administrative data systems, Washington State.

PubMed

Marcum, Jennifer L; Foley, Michael; Adams, Darrin; Bonauto, Dave

2018-06-01

Construction is high-hazard industry, and continually ranks among those with the highest workers' compensation (WC) claim rates in Washington State (WA). However, not all construction firms are at equal risk. We tested the ability to identify those construction firms most at risk for future claims using only administrative WC and unemployment insurance data. We collected information on construction firms with 10-50 average full time equivalent (FTE) employees from the WA unemployment insurance and WC data systems (n=1228). Negative binomial regression was used to test the ability of firm characteristics measured during 2011-2013 to predict time-loss claim rates in the following year, 2014. Claim rates in 2014 varied by construction industry groups, ranging from 0.7 (Land Subdivision) to 4.6 (Foundation, Structure, and Building Construction) claims per 100 FTE. Construction firms with higher average WC premium rates, a history of WC claims, increasing number of quarterly FTE, and lower average wage rates during 2011-2013 were predicted to have higher WC claim rates in 2014. We demonstrate the ability to leverage administrative data to identify construction firms predicted to have future WC claims. This study should be repeated to determine if these results are applicable to other high-hazard industries. Practical Applications: This study identified characteristics that may be used to further refine targeted outreach and prevention to construction firms at risk. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

An investigation into the vector ellipticity of extremely low frequency magnetic fields from appliances in UK homes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ainsbury, Elizabeth A.; Conein, Emma; Henshaw, Denis L.

2005-07-01

Elliptically polarized magnetic fields induce higher currents in the body compared with their plane polarized counterparts. This investigation examines the degree of vector ellipticity of extremely low frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MFs) in the home, with regard to the adverse health effects reportedly associated with ELF-MFs, for instance childhood leukaemia. Tri-axial measurements of the magnitude and phase of the 0-3000 Hz magnetic fields, produced by 226 domestic mains-fed appliances of 32 different types, were carried out in 16 homes in Worcestershire in the summer of 2004. Magnetic field strengths were low, with average (RMS) values of 0.03 ± 0.02 µT across all residences. In contrast, background field ellipticities were high, on average 47 ± 11%. Microwave and electric ovens produced the highest ellipticities: mean respective values of 21 ± 21% and 21 ± 17% were observed 20 cm away from these appliances. There was a negative correlation between field strength and field polarization, which we attribute to the higher relative field contribution close to each individual (single-phase) appliance. The measurements demonstrate that domestic magnetic fields are extremely complex and cannot simply be characterized by traditional measurements such as time-weighted average or peak exposure levels. We conclude that ellipticity should become a relevant metric for future epidemiological studies of health and ELF-MF exposure. This work is supported by the charity CHILDREN with LEUKAEMIA, registered charity number 298405.

Elk monitoring in Lewis and Clark National Historical Park: 2008-2012 synthesis report

USGS Publications Warehouse

Griffin, Paul C.; Jenkins, Kurt J.; Cole, Carla; Clatterbuck, Chris; Boetsch, John; Beirne, Katherine

2014-01-01

tailed P=0.17). Statistical significance of a measure’s trend depends on both the magnitude (i.e., slope) of the observed trend and the number of years the trend continues in the same increasing or decreasing direction. Through simulation modeling we determined how many additional years of surveys would be required to reveal a statistically significant trend, based on the same trends in pellet group density and PAO, and associated variation, observed from 2009-2012. Assuming the same trends persist in the future, simulations indicated that there is a 70% probability that a statistically significant trend would be detected after two more years of conducting pellet group surveys. Relative use by elk during winter, as indexed by elk pellet group density, was generally greatest in the southeast region of the Fort Clatsop unit in or near the large freshwater marsh at the mouth of Colewort Creek and adjacent upland areas. Pellet group density was also higher than average in the north-central forested area, not far from a privately-owned pasture north of the park boundary. This spatial pattern in pellet group densities across the Fort Clatsop unit was consistent across all four years, although specific pellet group densities varied from year to year. Pellet group density declined significantly over time at two points in the southeast of the Fort Clatsop unit, even though pellet group density at those points remained higher than the unit average. Pellet group density increased significantly over time at one point in the north-central region, and at one point in the south-central region of the unit, indicating a slight shift in the distribution of elk use within the Fort Clatsop Unit over the four years. As an index of visitors’ opportunities to see elk in and around the Fort Clatsop Unit, we conducted replicated roadside elk surveys 3-5 times monthly during February, April, June, August, October and December 2008-2012. During each morning of survey, we searched for elk along four routes that totaled 32 km. We examined bimonthly trends in the numbers of elk groups seen, the total number of elk seen, and the observed composition ratios for those six months of the year. The average number of elk groups seen per survey ranged from 0.75 (+/- 0.32 SE) during February to a peak of 1.95 (+/- 0.36 SE) during June. Despite this seasonal variation in numbers of elk groups seen, the average total number of elk seen per morning was less variable. The average ratios of antlered elk to antlerless adult elk (i.e., bulls:cows) and calves to antlerless adult elk (i.e. calves:cows) varied seasonally, with the highest of both average ratios observed in August. We detected no significant trends in the average number of elk groups and total numbers of elk seen per survey from 2008-2012. Similarly, ratios of calves and antlered elk per antlerless elk did not differ over time. Elk groups were frequently seen from January to August in the southeast region of the Fort Clatsop unit, in the vicinity of Colewort Creek. Outside of NPS lands, we observed elk most frequently in open areas near the Astoria regional airport, in the pastures and forests immediately north of the Fort Clatsop unit and, prior to the construction of a residential development, in a pasture northwest of the Fort Clatsop unit. Elk monitoring at Lewis and Clark NHP is still in its initial years and additional monitoring will be required to verify trends that appear to be emerging. For example, the initial monitoring suggested incipient declining trends in both pellet group density and proportion of plots with pellets present, as well as, potentially, a small shift in elk distribution away from a new trail that was recently constructed in the southeast portion of the Fort Clatsop unit. Continued monitoring will aid in determining whether this local change in distribution persists (or, alternatively, resulted from short-term random variation), and whether there will be any positive or negative effect in the northern portion of the unit where a new trail has been constructed. High variability in road counts prevented our ability to find any clear trend in numbers or composition of elk observed in and near Fort Clatsop, but changes in the patterns of observations of elk from roadways suggest that residential development outside the park has reduced the available habitat for elk in some of the areas surveyed, and may have affected spatial use patterns of elk adjacent to some areas of the park. In addition to monitoring future effects of land use changes outside the park, continued monitoring may also prove useful for assessing elk responses to natural succession in forests disturbed by windthrow in December 2007 and to NPS vegetation management activities such as variable density thinning in the forest, trail development, and restoration at Otter Point tidal area and Colewort Creek Slough.

Microsatellite primers for two threatened orchids in Florida: Encyclia tampensis and Cyrtopodium punctatum (Orchidaceae)1

PubMed Central

Weremijewicz, Joanna; Almonte, Jasmin I.; Hilaire, Vanessa S.; Lopez, Frank D.; Lu, Stephen H.; Marrero, Sarah M.; Martinez, Catherine M.; Zarate, Edson A.; Lam, Ana K.; Ferguson, Samantha A. N.; Petrakis, Nicolas Z.; Peeples, Kelsey A.; Taylor, Ebony D.; Leon, Natalie M.; Valdes, Carolina; Hass, Michael; Reeve, Andrew B.; Palow, Danielle T.; Downing, Jason L.

2016-01-01

Premise of the study: The Million Orchid Project at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden is an initiative to propagate native orchids for reintroduction into Miami’s urban landscapes. The aim of this study was to develop microsatellites for Encyclia tampensis and Cyrtopodium punctatum (Orchidaceae). Methods and Results: Ten microsatellites were developed for each species. For E. tampensis sampled from the natural population, allele numbers ranged from one to four, with an average observed heterozygosity (Ho) of 0.314 and average expected heterozygosity (He) of 0.281. For the individuals from cultivation, allele numbers ranged from one to six, with an average Ho of 0.35 and an average He of 0.224. For C. punctatum, allele numbers ranged from one to three, with an average Ho of 0.257 and an average He of 0.272. Conclusions: These microsatellites will be used to assess the genetic diversity of natural and cultivated populations with the intention of guiding genetic breeding under the Million Orchid Project. PMID:27144103

An analytical study of various telecomminication networks using markov models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramakrishnan, M.; Jayamani, E.; Ezhumalai, P.

2015-04-01

The main aim of this paper is to examine issues relating to the performance of various Telecommunication networks, and applied queuing theory for better design and improved efficiency. Firstly, giving an analytical study of queues deals with quantifying the phenomenon of waiting lines using representative measures of performances, such as average queue length (on average number of customers in the queue), average waiting time in queue (on average time to wait) and average facility utilization (proportion of time the service facility is in use). In the second, using Matlab simulator, summarizes the finding of the investigations, from which and where we obtain results and describing methodology for a) compare the waiting time and average number of messages in the queue in M/M/1 and M/M/2 queues b) Compare the performance of M/M/1 and M/D/1 queues and study the effect of increasing the number of servers on the blocking probability M/M/k/k queue model.

Microsatellite primers for two threatened orchids in Florida: Encyclia tampensis and Cyrtopodium punctatum (Orchidaceae).

PubMed

Weremijewicz, Joanna; Almonte, Jasmin I; Hilaire, Vanessa S; Lopez, Frank D; Lu, Stephen H; Marrero, Sarah M; Martinez, Catherine M; Zarate, Edson A; Lam, Ana K; Ferguson, Samantha A N; Petrakis, Nicolas Z; Peeples, Kelsey A; Taylor, Ebony D; Leon, Natalie M; Valdes, Carolina; Hass, Michael; Reeve, Andrew B; Palow, Danielle T; Downing, Jason L

2016-04-01

The Million Orchid Project at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden is an initiative to propagate native orchids for reintroduction into Miami's urban landscapes. The aim of this study was to develop microsatellites for Encyclia tampensis and Cyrtopodium punctatum (Orchidaceae). Ten microsatellites were developed for each species. For E. tampensis sampled from the natural population, allele numbers ranged from one to four, with an average observed heterozygosity (H o) of 0.314 and average expected heterozygosity (H e) of 0.281. For the individuals from cultivation, allele numbers ranged from one to six, with an average H o of 0.35 and an average H e of 0.224. For C. punctatum, allele numbers ranged from one to three, with an average H o of 0.257 and an average H e of 0.272. These microsatellites will be used to assess the genetic diversity of natural and cultivated populations with the intention of guiding genetic breeding under the Million Orchid Project.

Team-Based Learning and Open-Book Quizzes: Determining What Works in an Introductory Geoscience Course

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teed, R.

2008-12-01

Concepts in Geology (EES 345) is an inquiry-based ten-week geoscience course for pre-service elementary and middle-school teachers at Wright State University. For most of them, this is the first and last geoscience class that they take. Required readings are an important part of the class because of the amount of vocabulary and number of concepts that students need to master. It is not possible to spend much class time on lectures that cover the same material, as students are expected to be doing hands-on activities, presentations, discussions, and laboratory exercises applying the material learned from reading. As the instructor, I administer frequent quizzes to encourage students to do the reading and to take notes. The quizzes are 10 multiple-choice questions each and the students are allowed to use a single page of notes. After they complete their quizzes individually, the students gather in groups of three or four and work on the same questions, but are allowed to discuss their answers. This motivates students further to be scrupulous about reading, enables them to help each other overcome mistakes, and helps them work out difficult problems that overwhelmed individuals in the group. The average group scores on in-class, closed- book quizzes are almost always higher than highest average individual score (more than 5% on the average), so even the best-prepared person in the group is managing to learn something from his or her peers. After the all the scores are recorded, I tally the number of correct group and individual answers to each question. If one or more groups gets a question wrong, it's clearly a hard question and worth going over during class time. If more than half of the groups get a question wrong, it is not scored as part of the total. When I used a new text last spring, students found the quizzes overwhelmingly hard. So I let students take the individual quizzes home to answer directly from the book and continued to give group quizzes in class. Students no longer brought notes to the group quizzes. In some groups, all individuals gave identical wrong answers to the same questions (and repeated that answer on the group quiz) indicating probable cooperation on the individual quizzes. The average group scores were no longer significantly higher than the average individual scores, indicating less learning, and the groups still had trouble answering questions involving problem-solving or synthesis or comparison of ideas.

Scaling of Brain Metabolism with a Fixed Energy Budget per Neuron: Implications for Neuronal Activity, Plasticity and Evolution

PubMed Central

Herculano-Houzel, Suzana

2011-01-01

It is usually considered that larger brains have larger neurons, which consume more energy individually, and are therefore accompanied by a larger number of glial cells per neuron. These notions, however, have never been tested. Based on glucose and oxygen metabolic rates in awake animals and their recently determined numbers of neurons, here I show that, contrary to the expected, the estimated glucose use per neuron is remarkably constant, varying only by 40% across the six species of rodents and primates (including humans). The estimated average glucose use per neuron does not correlate with neuronal density in any structure. This suggests that the energy budget of the whole brain per neuron is fixed across species and brain sizes, such that total glucose use by the brain as a whole, by the cerebral cortex and also by the cerebellum alone are linear functions of the number of neurons in the structures across the species (although the average glucose consumption per neuron is at least 10× higher in the cerebral cortex than in the cerebellum). These results indicate that the apparently remarkable use in humans of 20% of the whole body energy budget by a brain that represents only 2% of body mass is explained simply by its large number of neurons. Because synaptic activity is considered the major determinant of metabolic cost, a conserved energy budget per neuron has several profound implications for synaptic homeostasis and the regulation of firing rates, synaptic plasticity, brain imaging, pathologies, and for brain scaling in evolution. PMID:21390261

Economic Value of Instream Flow for Non-Commercial Whitewater Boating Using Recreation Demand and Contingent Valuation Methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loomis, John; McTernan, James

2014-03-01

Whitewater river kayaking and river rafting require adequate instream flows that are often adversely affected by upstream water diversions. However, there are very few studies in the USA of the economic value of instream flow to inform environmental managers. This study estimates the economic value of instream flow to non-commercial kayakers derived using a Travel Cost Method recreation demand model and Contingent Valuation Method (CVM), a type of Contingent Behavior Method (CBM). Data were obtained from a visitor survey administered along the Poudre River in Colorado. In the dichotomous choice CVM willingness to pay (WTP) question, visitors were asked if they would still visit the river if the cost of their trip was Y higher, and the level of Y was varied across the sample. The CVM yielded an estimate of WTP that was sensitive to flows ranging from 55 per person per day at 300 Cubic Feet per Second (CFS) to a maximum 97 per person per day at flows of 1900 CFS. The recreation demand model estimated a boater's number of trips per season. We found the number of trips taken was also sensitive to flow, ranging from as little as 1.63 trips at 300 CFS to a maximum number of 14 trips over the season at 1900 CFS. Thus, there is consistency between peak benefits per trip and number of trips, respectively. With an average of about 100 non-commercial boaters per day, the maximum marginal values per acre foot averages about 220. This value exceeds irrigation water values in this area of Colorado.

Scaling of brain metabolism with a fixed energy budget per neuron: implications for neuronal activity, plasticity and evolution.

PubMed

Herculano-Houzel, Suzana

2011-03-01

It is usually considered that larger brains have larger neurons, which consume more energy individually, and are therefore accompanied by a larger number of glial cells per neuron. These notions, however, have never been tested. Based on glucose and oxygen metabolic rates in awake animals and their recently determined numbers of neurons, here I show that, contrary to the expected, the estimated glucose use per neuron is remarkably constant, varying only by 40% across the six species of rodents and primates (including humans). The estimated average glucose use per neuron does not correlate with neuronal density in any structure. This suggests that the energy budget of the whole brain per neuron is fixed across species and brain sizes, such that total glucose use by the brain as a whole, by the cerebral cortex and also by the cerebellum alone are linear functions of the number of neurons in the structures across the species (although the average glucose consumption per neuron is at least 10× higher in the cerebral cortex than in the cerebellum). These results indicate that the apparently remarkable use in humans of 20% of the whole body energy budget by a brain that represents only 2% of body mass is explained simply by its large number of neurons. Because synaptic activity is considered the major determinant of metabolic cost, a conserved energy budget per neuron has several profound implications for synaptic homeostasis and the regulation of firing rates, synaptic plasticity, brain imaging, pathologies, and for brain scaling in evolution.

Promoting an active form of learning out-of-class via answering online "study questions" leads to higher than expected exam scores in General Biology.

PubMed

Gibson, Susan I

2015-01-01

A rising need for workers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields has fueled interest in improving teaching within STEM disciplines. Numerous studies have demonstrated the benefits of active learning approaches on student learning outcomes. However, many of these studies have been conducted in experimental, rather than real-life class, settings. In addition, most of these studies have focused on in-class active learning exercises. This study tested the effects of answering questions outside of class on exam performance for General Biology students at the University of Minnesota. An online database of 1,020 multiple-choice questions covering material from the first half of the course was generated. Students in seven course sections (with an average of ∼265 students per section) were given unlimited access to the online study questions. These students made extensive use of the online questions, with students answering an average of 1,323 questions covering material from the half of the semester for which the questions were available. After students answered a set of questions, they were shown the correct answers for those questions. More specific feedback describing how to arrive at the correct answer was provided for the 73% of the questions for which the correct answers were not deemed to be self-explanatory. The extent to which access to the online study questions improved student learning outcomes was assessed by comparing the performance on exam questions of students in the seven course sections with access to the online study questions with the performance of students in course sections without access to the online study questions. Student performance was analyzed for a total of 89 different exams questions that were not included in the study questions, but that covered the same material covered by the study questions. Each of these 89 questions was used on one to five exams given to students in course sections that had access to the online study questions and on three to 77 exams given to students in sections that lacked such access. Data from over 1,800 students in sections with access to the online study questions show that those students scored a statistically significant average of 6.6% points higher on the exam questions analyzed than students in sections without access to the study questions. This difference was greater than the average amount necessary to raise students' exam grades by one grade (e.g., from a "B-" to a "B"). In addition, there was a higher correlation between number of questions answered and success on exam questions on material related to the study questions than between number of questions answered and success on exam questions on material unrelated to the study questions. The online study question system required substantial effort to set up, but required minimal effort to maintain and was effective in significantly raising average exam scores for even very large course sections.

Eating disorders among fashion models: a systematic review of the literature.

PubMed

Zancu, Simona Alexandra; Enea, Violeta

2017-09-01

In the light of recent concerns regarding the eating disorders among fashion models and professional regulations of fashion model occupation, an examination of the scientific evidence on this issue is necessary. The article reviews findings on the prevalence of eating disorders and body image concerns among professional fashion models. A systematic literature search was conducted using ProQUEST, EBSCO, PsycINFO, SCOPUS, and Gale Canage electronic databases. A very low number of studies conducted on fashion models and eating disorders resulted between 1980 and 2015, with seven articles included in this review. Overall, results of these studies do not indicate a higher prevalence of eating disorders among fashion models compared to non-models. Fashion models have a positive body image and generally do not report more dysfunctional eating behaviors than controls. However, fashion models are on average slightly underweight with significantly lower BMI than controls, and give higher importance to appearance and thin body shape, and thus have a higher prevalence of partial-syndrome eating disorders than controls. Despite public concerns, research on eating disorders among professional fashion models is extremely scarce and results cannot be generalized to all models. The existing research fails to clarify the matter of eating disorders among fashion models and given the small number of studies, further research is needed.

Can outcomes of dyadic interactions be consistent across contexts among wild zebrafish?

PubMed Central

Roy, Tamal; Bhat, Anuradha

2015-01-01

Winner–loser relations among group-living individuals are often measured by the levels of aggressive interactions between them. These interactions are typically driven by competition for resources such as food and mates. It has been observed in recent studies on zebrafish that dominant males generally have higher total reproductive success than their less aggressive subordinate counterparts. This study aimed to test whether males who monopolized a food resource (winners) also displayed higher levels of aggression than the males who were unsuccessful (losers). Further, the study also tested whether the same ‘winner’ males were also able to monopolize interactions with females during courtship. The results from these experiments showed that while males monopolizing food resources (winners) demonstrated higher levels of agonistic interactions than the losers, the average number of courtship interactions initiated by either of the males (i.e. winners/losers) with a female was not significantly different. A significant relationship was obtained between the number of aggressive interactions and feeding latencies of males in the context of food monopolization. This indicated that there could be a linkage between boldness defined by feeding latency in a novel environment and agonistic responses. The probable role of nature of resources, resource availability and distribution in determining the outcomes of dyadic contests is discussed. PMID:26715992

The fraction of AGNs in major merger galaxies and its luminosity dependence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weigel, Anna K.; Schawinski, Kevin; Treister, Ezequiel; Trakhtenbrot, Benny; Sanders, David B.

2018-05-01

We use a phenomenological model which connects the galaxy and active galactic nucleus (AGN) populations to investigate the process of AGNs triggering through major galaxy mergers at z ˜ 0. The model uses stellar mass functions as input and allows the prediction of AGN luminosity functions based on assumed Eddington ratio distribution functions (ERDFs). We show that the number of AGNs hosted by merger galaxies relative to the total number of AGNs increases as a function of AGN luminosity. This is due to more massive galaxies being more likely to undergo a merger and does not require the assumption that mergers lead to higher Eddington ratios than secular processes. Our qualitative analysis also shows that to match the observations, the probability of a merger galaxy hosting an AGN and accreting at a given Eddington value has to be increased by a factor ˜10 relative to the general AGN population. An additional significant increase of the fraction of high Eddington ratio AGNs among merger host galaxies leads to inconsistency with the observed X-ray luminosity function. Physically our results imply that, compared to the general galaxy population, the AGN fraction among merger galaxies is ˜10 times higher. On average, merger triggering does however not lead to significantly higher Eddington ratios.

[Bee diversity in Tecoma stans (L.) Kunth (Bignoniaceae): importance for pollination and fruit production].

PubMed

Silva, Cláudia I; Augusto, Solange C; Sofia, Silvia H; Moscheta, Ismar S

2007-01-01

Tecoma stans (L.) Kunth is an exotic plant in Brazil, commonly distributed in urban areas, which is considered an invasive species in crop and pasture areas. In this study, the floral biology and the behavior of bees in flowers of T. stans from three urban areas in southeastern Brazil were investigated. In all study sites, T. stans was an important food resource to the Apoidea to 48 species of bees. Centris tarsata Smith and Exomalopsis fulvofasciata Smith (Hymenoptera: Apidae) were the effective pollinators more abundant, while Scaptotrigona depilis Moure (Hymenoptera: Apidae) was the more frequent robber species. The most part of T. stans visitors (87.5%) exploited exclusively nectar, which varied in sugar concentration depending on the day period and flower phase. In all flower stages, higher averages of nectar concentration (26.4% to 32.7%) occurred from 10 am to 2 pm. The presence of osmophore in the petals and protandry were detected. In two urban areas the number of visitors varied significantly during the day. The greatest abundance of pollinators occurred when pollen availability was higher and flowers showed receptive stigma, which could be contributing to the reproductive success of T. stans. The results indicate that the production of fruits increased in plants that received a higher number of effective pollinators.

40 CFR Table 2 to Subpart Uuu of... - Operating Limits for Metal HAP Emissions From Catalytic Cracking Units

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... daily average liquid-to-gas ratio above the limit established in the performance test. 4. Option 3: Ni.... Electrostatic precipitator Maintain the daily average Ni operating value no higher than the limit established...; maintain the monthly rolling average of the equilibrium catalyst Ni concentration no higher than the limit...

40 CFR Table 2 to Subpart Uuu of... - Operating Limits for Metal HAP Emissions From Catalytic Cracking Units

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... daily average liquid-to-gas ratio above the limit established in the performance test. 4. Option 3: Ni.... Electrostatic precipitator Maintain the daily average Ni operating value no higher than the limit established...; maintain the monthly rolling average of the equilibrium catalyst Ni concentration no higher than the limit...

A general moment expansion method for stochastic kinetic models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ale, Angelique; Kirk, Paul; Stumpf, Michael P. H.

2013-05-01

Moment approximation methods are gaining increasing attention for their use in the approximation of the stochastic kinetics of chemical reaction systems. In this paper we derive a general moment expansion method for any type of propensities and which allows expansion up to any number of moments. For some chemical reaction systems, more than two moments are necessary to describe the dynamic properties of the system, which the linear noise approximation is unable to provide. Moreover, also for systems for which the mean does not have a strong dependence on higher order moments, moment approximation methods give information about higher order moments of the underlying probability distribution. We demonstrate the method using a dimerisation reaction, Michaelis-Menten kinetics and a model of an oscillating p53 system. We show that for the dimerisation reaction and Michaelis-Menten enzyme kinetics system higher order moments have limited influence on the estimation of the mean, while for the p53 system, the solution for the mean can require several moments to converge to the average obtained from many stochastic simulations. We also find that agreement between lower order moments does not guarantee that higher moments will agree. Compared to stochastic simulations, our approach is numerically highly efficient at capturing the behaviour of stochastic systems in terms of the average and higher moments, and we provide expressions for the computational cost for different system sizes and orders of approximation. We show how the moment expansion method can be employed to efficiently quantify parameter sensitivity. Finally we investigate the effects of using too few moments on parameter estimation, and provide guidance on how to estimate if the distribution can be accurately approximated using only a few moments.

Carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus dynamics in nine sub-systems of the Sylt-Rømø Bight ecosystem, German Wadden Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baird, Dan; Asmus, Harald; Asmus, Ragnhild

2011-01-01

Flow networks of nine sub-systems consisting of 59 components each of the Sylt-Rømø Bight, German Wadden Sea, were constructed depicting the standing stocks and flows of material and energy within and between the sub-systems. Carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous were used as currencies for each sub-system, thus resulting in 27 network models, which were analyzed by ecological network analytical protocols. Results show substantial variability in the dynamics of these elements within and between the nine sub-systems, which differ in habitat structure, species diversity and in the standing stocks of their constituent living and non-living components. The relationship between the biodiversity and selected information indices and ratios, derived from ecological network analysis, of individual sub-systems is variable and differ substantially between them. Ecosystem properties such as the structure and magnitude of the recycling of these elements, number of cycles, and total sub-system activity were calculated and discussed, highlighting the differences between and complexity of the flow of C, N and P in a coastal marine ecosystem. The average number of cycles increase from 179 for C, to 16,923 and 20,580 for N and P respectively, while the average amount of recycled material, as measured by the Finn Cycling Index (FCI), increase from 17% for C, to 52% for P and to 61% for N. The number of cycles and the FCI vary considerably between the sub-systems for the different elements. The largest number of cycles of all three elements was observed in the muddy sand flat sub-system, but the highest FCIs were computed for both C (32%) and N (85%) in the Arenicola Flats, and in sparse Zostera noltii sea grass beds for P (67%). Indices reflecting on the growth, organization and resilience of the sub-systems also showed considerable variability between and within the inter-tidal ecosystems in the Bight. Indices such as, for example, the relative ascendency ratios increase on average from C to N to P, whereas others, such as the Average Mutual Information and Flow Diversity indices, were found to be higher in the N models than in the C or P ones.

Impact of Pb content on the physical parameters of Se-Te-Pb system

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

Anjali,; Sharma, Raman; Thakur, Nagesh

2015-05-15

In the present study, we have investigated the impact of Pb content on the physical parameters in Se-Te-Pb system via average coordination number, constraints, the fraction of floppy modes, cross-linking density, lone pairs electrons, heat of atomization, mean bond energy, cohesive energy and electronegativity. The bulk samples have been prepared by using melt quenching technique. X-ray diffraction pattern of various samples indicates the amorphous nature of investigated glassy alloys. It is observed that average coordination number, average number of constraints and cross-linking density increase with Pb content. However, lone-pair electrons, floppy modes, average heat of atomization, cohesive energy and meanmore » bond energy are found to decrease with Pb atomic percentage.« less

The number of privately treated tuberculosis cases in India: an estimation from drug sales data.

PubMed

Arinaminpathy, Nimalan; Batra, Deepak; Khaparde, Sunil; Vualnam, Thongsuanmung; Maheshwari, Nilesh; Sharma, Lokesh; Nair, Sreenivas A; Dewan, Puneet

2016-11-01

Understanding the amount of tuberculosis managed by the private sector in India is crucial to understanding the true burden of the disease in the country, and thus globally. In the absence of quality surveillance data on privately treated patients, commercial drug sales data offer an empirical foundation for disease burden estimation. We used a large, nationally representative commercial dataset on sales of 189 anti-tuberculosis products available in India to calculate the amount of anti-tuberculosis treatment in the private sector in 2013-14. We corrected estimates using validation studies that audited prescriptions against tuberculosis diagnosis, and estimated uncertainty using Monte Carlo simulation. To address implications for numbers of patients with tuberculosis, we explored varying assumptions for average duration of tuberculosis treatment and accuracy of private diagnosis. There were 17·793 million patient-months (95% credible interval 16·709 million to 19·841 million) of anti-tuberculosis treatment in the private sector in 2014, twice as many as the public sector. If 40-60% of private-sector tuberculosis diagnoses are correct, and if private-sector tuberculosis treatment lasts on average 2-6 months, this implies that 1·19-5·34 million tuberculosis cases were treated in the private sector in 2014 alone. The midpoint of these ranges yields an estimate of 2·2 million cases, two to three times higher than currently assumed. India's private sector is treating an enormous number of patients for tuberculosis, appreciably higher than has been previously recognised. Accordingly, there is a re-doubled need to address this burden and to strengthen surveillance. Tuberculosis burden estimates in India and worldwide require revision. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Copyright © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY license. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Effects of heavy metal pollution on foraminifers in the Marmara Sea (Balıkesir-Canakkale-Tekirdag, Turkey)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Unal Yumun, Zeki

2017-04-01

ABSTRACT This study aims to investigate the effects of heavy metal pollution on Holocene foraminiferal assemblages in the sediments of Marmara Sea (Balikesir-Canakkale-Tekirdag, Turkey). For this purpose four drilling samples, one from Bandirma (Balikesir/Turkey), two from Erdek Bay (Erdek-Bandirma/Turkey) and one from Tekirdag (Turkey) have been taken. Additionally core samples taken from 43 different locations in the Western Marmara Sea also have been examined. Foraminiferal assemblages were identified and changes in heavy metal concentrations were determined (spatially) in the vertical direction by means of drilling samples; in the vertical direction for geochronology and in the horizontal direction by the areal distribution of the core samples. In this research an average value defined as Pollution Index (PI) was used for the first time in order to summarize the results of geochemical analyses. Within the scope of this method, the pollution index value is obtained by dividing the sum of average value ratios of heavy metal measurement values by the number of measurements. It was observed that the number of individuals and species decreased where the heavy metal measured values (MV) were higher than the pollution index and increased where the heavy metal values were lower than the pollution index when obtained index value was correlated separately with the numbers of foraminifer individuals and species. It was also observed that foraminifera were completely absent in some locations where PI was less than MV. Morphological changes were observed in three foraminifer species, Elphidium crispum, Massilina secans, and Ammonia compacta, in the core samples taken in areas where industrial wastes are discharged into the southern parts of the Marmara Sea. At some locations, between Misakca-Denizkent, and Erdek-Balikesir, Turkey, where the heavy metal density was high it haven't been any foraminifer species were achieved. The pollution index (PI) value measured in this area was higher than the critical value, indicating that heavy metal concentrations affect the habitats of foraminifera.

The influence of body mass index to in-vitro fertilisation treatment outcome, risk of miscarriage and pregnancy outcome.

PubMed

Thum, M Y; El-Sheikhah, A; Faris, R; Parikh, J; Wren, M; Ogunyemi, T; Gafar, A; Abdalla, H

2007-10-01

The aim of this work was to evaluate the effects of extreme body mass index (BMI) on assisted reproductive treatment outcome and pregnancy outcome. This is a descriptive cohort study that evaluated 8,145 consecutive in-vitro fertilisation/intracytoplasmic sperm injection-embryo transfer (IVF/ICSI-ET) cycles in which BMI were known, from July 1997 to June 2005 in an inner London major fertility clinic. The data were collected prospectively and analysed retrospectively on women undergoing IVF/ICSI and ET. Patients' weight and height were established prior to treatment. IVF/ICSI treatment was then started using either a long or an antagonist protocol. Patients were divided into five groups: Group A (BMI < 19); Group B (BMI between 19 and 25.9); Group C (BMI between 26 and 30.9); Group D (BMI between 31 and 35.9); Group E (BMI > 36). The main outcomes measured were number of eggs collected, fertilisation rate, number of embryos available for transfer, pregnancy rate (PR), live-birth rate (LBR) and miscarriage rate (MR). The results showed no significant difference in the average number of days taking follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) for ovarian stimulation, the average amount of gonadotrophin used for stimulation, number of eggs collected and fertilisation rate. The pregnancy rate, miscarriage rate and the live-birth rate were not statistically different between all groups. However, in group E the miscarriage rate was significantly higher and the LBR was statistically lower compared with group B. We concluded that extreme BMI did not affect the super-ovulation outcome fertilisation rate and pregnancy rate. Women with a BMI > 35 had a higher miscarriage rate and hence a lower live-birth rate, but a reasonable pregnancy and live-birth rate can be achieved. For women with a BMI < 20 there was no difference in assisted reproduction treatment (ART) outcome and pregnancy outcome when compared with women with a normal BMI. This information should be used to advise patients who wish to embark on ART with extreme BMI.

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

Zhang, Lin, E-mail: godyalin@163.com; Singh, Uttam, E-mail: uttamsingh@hri.res.in; Pati, Arun K., E-mail: akpati@hri.res.in

Compact expressions for the average subentropy and coherence are obtained for random mixed states that are generated via various probability measures. Surprisingly, our results show that the average subentropy of random mixed states approaches the maximum value of the subentropy which is attained for the maximally mixed state as we increase the dimension. In the special case of the random mixed states sampled from the induced measure via partial tracing of random bipartite pure states, we establish the typicality of the relative entropy of coherence for random mixed states invoking the concentration of measure phenomenon. Our results also indicate thatmore » mixed quantum states are less useful compared to pure quantum states in higher dimension when we extract quantum coherence as a resource. This is because of the fact that average coherence of random mixed states is bounded uniformly, however, the average coherence of random pure states increases with the increasing dimension. As an important application, we establish the typicality of relative entropy of entanglement and distillable entanglement for a specific class of random bipartite mixed states. In particular, most of the random states in this specific class have relative entropy of entanglement and distillable entanglement equal to some fixed number (to within an arbitrary small error), thereby hugely reducing the complexity of computation of these entanglement measures for this specific class of mixed states.« less

Detection of Periodic Leg Movements by Machine Learning Methods Using Polysomnographic Parameters Other Than Leg Electromyography

PubMed Central

Umut, İlhan; Çentik, Güven

2016-01-01

The number of channels used for polysomnographic recording frequently causes difficulties for patients because of the many cables connected. Also, it increases the risk of having troubles during recording process and increases the storage volume. In this study, it is intended to detect periodic leg movement (PLM) in sleep with the use of the channels except leg electromyography (EMG) by analysing polysomnography (PSG) data with digital signal processing (DSP) and machine learning methods. PSG records of 153 patients of different ages and genders with PLM disorder diagnosis were examined retrospectively. A novel software was developed for the analysis of PSG records. The software utilizes the machine learning algorithms, statistical methods, and DSP methods. In order to classify PLM, popular machine learning methods (multilayer perceptron, K-nearest neighbour, and random forests) and logistic regression were used. Comparison of classified results showed that while K-nearest neighbour classification algorithm had higher average classification rate (91.87%) and lower average classification error value (RMSE = 0.2850), multilayer perceptron algorithm had the lowest average classification rate (83.29%) and the highest average classification error value (RMSE = 0.3705). Results showed that PLM can be classified with high accuracy (91.87%) without leg EMG record being present. PMID:27213008

Detection of Periodic Leg Movements by Machine Learning Methods Using Polysomnographic Parameters Other Than Leg Electromyography.

PubMed

Umut, İlhan; Çentik, Güven

2016-01-01

The number of channels used for polysomnographic recording frequently causes difficulties for patients because of the many cables connected. Also, it increases the risk of having troubles during recording process and increases the storage volume. In this study, it is intended to detect periodic leg movement (PLM) in sleep with the use of the channels except leg electromyography (EMG) by analysing polysomnography (PSG) data with digital signal processing (DSP) and machine learning methods. PSG records of 153 patients of different ages and genders with PLM disorder diagnosis were examined retrospectively. A novel software was developed for the analysis of PSG records. The software utilizes the machine learning algorithms, statistical methods, and DSP methods. In order to classify PLM, popular machine learning methods (multilayer perceptron, K-nearest neighbour, and random forests) and logistic regression were used. Comparison of classified results showed that while K-nearest neighbour classification algorithm had higher average classification rate (91.87%) and lower average classification error value (RMSE = 0.2850), multilayer perceptron algorithm had the lowest average classification rate (83.29%) and the highest average classification error value (RMSE = 0.3705). Results showed that PLM can be classified with high accuracy (91.87%) without leg EMG record being present.

Availability of high school extracurricular sports programs and high-risk behaviors.

PubMed

Cohen, Deborah A; Taylor, Stephanie L; Zonta, Michela; Vestal, Katherine D; Schuster, Mark A

2007-02-01

The Surgeon General has called for an expansion of school-based extracurricular sports programs to address the obesity epidemic. However, little is known about the availability of and participation in high school extracurricular sports and how participation in these sports is related to high-risk behaviors. We surveyed Los Angeles County public high schools in 2002 to determine the number of extracurricular sports programs offered and the percentage of students participating in those programs. We used community data on rates of arrests, births, and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among youth to examine associations between risk behaviors and participation in sports programs. The average school offered 14 sports programs, and the average participation rate was 39% for boys and 30% for girls. Smaller schools and schools with higher percentages of disadvantaged students offered fewer programs. The average school offering 13 or fewer programs had 14% of its students participating, while the average school offering 16 or more programs had 31% of its students participating in sports. Controlling for area-level demographics, juvenile arrest rates and teen birth rates, but not STD rates, were lower in areas where schools offered more extracurricular sports. Opportunities for participation in high school extracurricular sports are limited. Future studies should test whether increased opportunities will increase physical activity and impact the increasing overweight problem in youths.

Interactions between visitors and Formosan macaques (Macaca cyclopis) at Shou-Shan Nature Park, Taiwan.

PubMed

Hsu, Minna J; Kao, Chien-Ching; Agoramoorthy, Govindasamy

2009-03-01

Ecotourism involving feeding wildlife has raised public attention and is a controversial issue, especially concerning nonhuman primates. Between July 2002 and April 2005, the behavior of monkeys and tourists was collected through scan samplings, focal samplings and behavior samplings at the Shou-Shan Nature Park located in Taiwan's second largest city--Kaohsiung. In addition, the number of tourists and monkeys was counted in different hours and places within the park. Four hundred visitors were interviewed using a questionnaire to gather data on sex, age, purpose and frequency of visit to the park. The number of tourists was significantly higher during weekends than in weekdays in all locations. Humans dominated in the initiation of interspecies interactions--the overall ratio of human-initiated and monkey-initiated interactions was 2.44:1. Human-monkey conflicts accounted for only 16.4% of the total interactions (n=2,166), and adult human males and adult male macaques participated in higher rates than other age/sex groups in these conflicts. Visitors showed more affiliative behavior (15.9%) than agonistic behavior (8%) toward the macaques. In response to visitors' threat or attack, the Formosan macaques mostly showed submissive behavior with bared teeth, squealed or ran away to avoid confrontation (69.1%)--only few responded with counteraggression (18.7%). This study for the first time provided evidence that food provisioning increased both the frequency and duration of aggression among Formosan macaques (P<0.001). During food provisioning, the average frequency and the duration of agonistic events of macaques were more than 4 times higher compared with those without food provisioning. The average frequency of food provision by tourists was 0.73 times/hr--more than twice the incident that monkeys grabbed the food from tourists (0.34 times/hr). If people refrain from feeding monkeys and destroying the city park's natural vegetation, monkeys can be used to educate public about nature conservation in an urban setting. (c) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Regulated and unregulated emissions from highway heavy-duty diesel engines complying with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 2007 emissions standards.

PubMed

Khalek, Imad A; Bougher, Thomas L; Merritt, Patrick M; Zielinska, Barbara

2011-04-01

As part of the Advanced Collaborative Emissions Study (ACES), regulated and unregulated exhaust emissions from four different 2007 model year U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-compliant heavy-duty highway diesel engines were measured on an engine dynamometer. The engines were equipped with exhaust high-efficiency catalyzed diesel particle filters (C-DPFs) that are actively regenerated or cleaned using the engine control module. Regulated emissions of carbon monoxide, nonmethane hydrocarbons, and particulate matter (PM) were on average 97, 89, and 86% lower than the 2007 EPA standard, respectively, and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) were on average 9% lower. Unregulated exhaust emissions of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) emissions were on, average 1.3 and 2.8 times higher than the NO, emissions reported in previous work using 1998- and 2004-technology engines, respectively. However, compared with other work performed on 1994- to 2004-technology engines, average emission reductions in the range of 71-99% were observed for a very comprehensive list of unregulated engine exhaust pollutants and air toxic contaminants that included metals and other elements, elemental carbon (EC), inorganic ions, and gas- and particle-phase volatile and semi-volatile organic carbon (OC) compounds. The low PM mass emitted from the 2007 technology ACES engines was composed mainly of sulfate (53%) and OC (30%), with a small fraction of EC (13%) and metals and other elements (4%). The fraction of EC is expected to remain small, regardless of engine operation, because of the presence of the high-efficiency C-DPF in the exhaust. This is different from typical PM composition of pre-2007 engines with EC in the range of 10-90%, depending on engine operation. Most of the particles emitted from the 2007 engines were mainly volatile nuclei mode in the sub-30-nm size range. An increase in volatile nanoparticles was observed during C-DPF active regeneration, during which the observed particle number was similar to that observed in emissions of pre-2007 engines. However, on average, when combining engine operation with and without active regeneration events, particle number emissions with the 2007 engines were 90% lower than the particle number emitted from a 2004-technology engine tested in an earlier program.

Statistical relationships between journal use and research output at academic institutions in South Korea.

PubMed

Jung, Youngim; Kim, Jayhoon; So, Minho; Kim, Hwanmin

In this study, we analysed the statistical association between e-journal use and research output at the institution level in South Korea by performing comparative and diachronic analyses, as well as the analysis by field. The datasets were compiled from four different sources: national reports on research output indicators in science fields, two statistics databases on higher education institutions open to the public, and e-journal usage statistics generated by 47 major publishers. Due to the different data sources utilized, a considerable number of missing values appeared in our datasets and various mapping issues required corrections prior to the analysis. Two techniques for handling missing data were applied and the impact of each technique was discussed. In order to compile the institutional data by field, journals were first mapped, and then the statistics were summarized according to subject field. We observed that e-journal use exhibited stronger correlations with the number of publications and the times cited, in contrast to the number of undergraduates, graduates, faculty members and the amount of research funds, and this was the case regardless of the NA handling method or author type. The difference between the maximum correlation for the amount of external research funding with two average indicators and that of the correlation for e-journal use were not significant. Statistically, the accountability of e-journal use for the average times cited per article and the average JIF was quite similar with external research funds. It was found that the number of e-journal articles used had a strong positive correlation (Pearson's correlation coefficients of r  > 0.9, p  < 0.05) with the number of articles published in SCI(E) journals and the times cited regardless of the author type, NA handling method or time period. We also observed that the top-five institutions in South Korea, with respect to the number of publications in SCI(E) journals, were generally across a balanced range of academic activities, while producing significant research output and using published material. Finally, we confirmed that the association of e-journal use with the two quantitative research indicators is strongly positive, even for the analyses by field, with the exception of the Arts and Humanities.

The Statistical Fermi Paradox

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maccone, C.

In this paper is provided the statistical generalization of the Fermi paradox. The statistics of habitable planets may be based on a set of ten (and possibly more) astrobiological requirements first pointed out by Stephen H. Dole in his book Habitable planets for man (1964). The statistical generalization of the original and by now too simplistic Dole equation is provided by replacing a product of ten positive numbers by the product of ten positive random variables. This is denoted the SEH, an acronym standing for “Statistical Equation for Habitables”. The proof in this paper is based on the Central Limit Theorem (CLT) of Statistics, stating that the sum of any number of independent random variables, each of which may be ARBITRARILY distributed, approaches a Gaussian (i.e. normal) random variable (Lyapunov form of the CLT). It is then shown that: 1. The new random variable NHab, yielding the number of habitables (i.e. habitable planets) in the Galaxy, follows the log- normal distribution. By construction, the mean value of this log-normal distribution is the total number of habitable planets as given by the statistical Dole equation. 2. The ten (or more) astrobiological factors are now positive random variables. The probability distribution of each random variable may be arbitrary. The CLT in the so-called Lyapunov or Lindeberg forms (that both do not assume the factors to be identically distributed) allows for that. In other words, the CLT "translates" into the SEH by allowing an arbitrary probability distribution for each factor. This is both astrobiologically realistic and useful for any further investigations. 3. By applying the SEH it is shown that the (average) distance between any two nearby habitable planets in the Galaxy may be shown to be inversely proportional to the cubic root of NHab. This distance is denoted by new random variable D. The relevant probability density function is derived, which was named the "Maccone distribution" by Paul Davies in 2008. 4. A practical example is then given of how the SEH works numerically. Each of the ten random variables is uniformly distributed around its own mean value as given by Dole (1964) and a standard deviation of 10% is assumed. The conclusion is that the average number of habitable planets in the Galaxy should be around 100 million ±200 million, and the average distance in between any two nearby habitable planets should be about 88 light years ±40 light years. 5. The SEH results are matched against the results of the Statistical Drake Equation from reference 4. As expected, the number of currently communicating ET civilizations in the Galaxy turns out to be much smaller than the number of habitable planets (about 10,000 against 100 million, i.e. one ET civilization out of 10,000 habitable planets). The average distance between any two nearby habitable planets is much smaller that the average distance between any two neighbouring ET civilizations: 88 light years vs. 2000 light years, respectively. This means an ET average distance about 20 times higher than the average distance between any pair of adjacent habitable planets. 6. Finally, a statistical model of the Fermi Paradox is derived by applying the above results to the coral expansion model of Galactic colonization. The symbolic manipulator "Macsyma" is used to solve these difficult equations. A new random variable Tcol, representing the time needed to colonize a new planet is introduced, which follows the lognormal distribution, Then the new quotient random variable Tcol/D is studied and its probability density function is derived by Macsyma. Finally a linear transformation of random variables yields the overall time TGalaxy needed to colonize the whole Galaxy. We believe that our mathematical work in deriving this STATISTICAL Fermi Paradox is highly innovative and fruitful for the future.

Apparent diffusion coefficient histogram metrics correlate with survival in diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma: a report from the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium

PubMed Central

Poussaint, Tina Young; Vajapeyam, Sridhar; Ricci, Kelsey I.; Panigrahy, Ashok; Kocak, Mehmet; Kun, Larry E.; Boyett, James M.; Pollack, Ian F.; Fouladi, Maryam

2016-01-01

Background Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is associated with poor survival regardless of therapy. We used volumetric apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) histogram metrics to determine associations with progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) at baseline and after radiation therapy (RT). Methods Baseline and post-RT quantitative ADC histograms were generated from fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) images and enhancement regions of interest. Metrics assessed included number of peaks (ie, unimodal or bimodal), mean and median ADC, standard deviation, mode, skewness, and kurtosis. Results Based on FLAIR images, the majority of tumors had unimodal peaks with significantly shorter average survival. Pre-RT FLAIR mean, mode, and median values were significantly associated with decreased risk of progression; higher pre-RT ADC values had longer PFS on average. Pre-RT FLAIR skewness and standard deviation were significantly associated with increased risk of progression; higher pre-RT FLAIR skewness and standard deviation had shorter PFS. Nonenhancing tumors at baseline showed higher ADC FLAIR mean values, lower kurtosis, and higher PFS. For enhancing tumors at baseline, bimodal enhancement histograms had much worse PFS and OS than unimodal cases and significantly lower mean peak values. Enhancement in tumors only after RT led to significantly shorter PFS and OS than in patients with baseline or no baseline enhancement. Conclusions ADC histogram metrics in DIPG demonstrate significant correlations between diffusion metrics and survival, with lower diffusion values (increased cellularity), increased skewness, and enhancement associated with shorter survival, requiring future investigations in large DIPG clinical trials. PMID:26487690

Team Creative Environment as a Mediator Between CWX and R&D Team Performance and Moderating Boundary Conditions.

PubMed

Bornay-Barrachina, Mar; Herrero, Inés

2018-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate how high-quality dyadic co-worker relationships (CWXs) favour or hinder team performance. Specifically, we examine the role played by CWX, team creative environment, job complexity and task interdependence to achieve higher levels of team performance. We analyse data from 410 individuals belonging to 81 R&D teams in technology sciences to examine the quality of the dyadic relationships between team members under the same supervisor (co-workers) and team performance measured by the number of publications as their research output. Higher levels of team average CWX relationships are positively related to the establishment of a favourable creative team environment, ending into higher levels of team performance. Specifically, the role played by team average CWX in such relationship is stronger when job complexity and task interdependence are also high. Team's output not only depends on the leader and his/her relationships with subordinates but also on quality relationships among team members. CWXs contribute to creative team environments, but they are essential where jobs are complex and tasks are highly dependent. This study provides evidence of the important role played by CWXs in determining a creative environment, irrespective of their leaders. Previous research has provided information about how leader's role affects team outcomes, but the role of dyadic co-worker relationships in a team remains still relatively unknown. Considering job complexity and task interdependence variables, the study provides with a better understanding about how and when high-quality CWXs should be promoted to achieve higher team performance.

The need for higher-order averaging in the stability analysis of hovering, flapping-wing flight.

PubMed

Taha, Haithem E; Tahmasian, Sevak; Woolsey, Craig A; Nayfeh, Ali H; Hajj, Muhammad R

2015-01-05

Because of the relatively high flapping frequency associated with hovering insects and flapping wing micro-air vehicles (FWMAVs), dynamic stability analysis typically involves direct averaging of the time-periodic dynamics over a flapping cycle. However, direct application of the averaging theorem may lead to false conclusions about the dynamics and stability of hovering insects and FWMAVs. Higher-order averaging techniques may be needed to understand the dynamics of flapping wing flight and to analyze its stability. We use second-order averaging to analyze the hovering dynamics of five insects in response to high-amplitude, high-frequency, periodic wing motion. We discuss the applicability of direct averaging versus second-order averaging for these insects.

Storming ahead

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Showstack, Randy

Fourteen tropical storms, nine hurricanes, and four intense hurricanes with winds above 111 mph. That's the forecast for hurricane activity in the Atlantic Basin for the upcoming hurricane season which extends from June 1 through November 30, 1999, according to a Colorado State Hurricane Forecast team led by William Gray, professor of atmospheric science. The forecast supports an earlier report by the team.Hurricane activity, said Gray will be similar to 1998—which yielded 14 tropical storms, 10 hurricanes, and 3 intense storms. These numbers are significantly higher than the long-term statistical averages of 9.3, 5.8, and 2.2, annually.