Novel targets of the CbrAB/Crc carbon catabolite control system revealed by transcript abundance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

PubMed

Sonnleitner, Elisabeth; Valentini, Martina; Wenner, Nicolas; Haichar, Feth el Zahar; Haas, Dieter; Lapouge, Karine

2012-01-01

The opportunistic human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa is able to utilize a wide range of carbon and nitrogen compounds, allowing it to grow in vastly different environments. The uptake and catabolism of growth substrates are organized hierarchically by a mechanism termed catabolite repression control (Crc) whereby the Crc protein establishes translational repression of target mRNAs at CA (catabolite activity) motifs present in target mRNAs near ribosome binding sites. Poor carbon sources lead to activation of the CbrAB two-component system, which induces transcription of the small RNA (sRNA) CrcZ. This sRNA relieves Crc-mediated repression of target mRNAs. In this study, we have identified novel targets of the CbrAB/Crc system in P. aeruginosa using transcriptome analysis in combination with a search for CA motifs. We characterized four target genes involved in the uptake and utilization of less preferred carbon sources: estA (secreted esterase), acsA (acetyl-CoA synthetase), bkdR (regulator of branched-chain amino acid catabolism) and aroP2 (aromatic amino acid uptake protein). Evidence for regulation by CbrAB, CrcZ and Crc was obtained in vivo using appropriate reporter fusions, in which mutation of the CA motif resulted in loss of catabolite repression. CbrB and CrcZ were important for growth of P. aeruginosa in cystic fibrosis (CF) sputum medium, suggesting that the CbrAB/Crc system may act as an important regulator during chronic infection of the CF lung.

A Novel Method of Case Representation and Retrieval in CBR for E-Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Khamparia, Aditya; Pandey, Babita

2017-01-01

In this paper we have discussed a novel method which has been developed for representation and retrieval of cases in case based reasoning (CBR) as a part of e-learning system which is based on various student features. In this approach we have integrated Artificial Neural Network (ANN) with Data mining (DM) and CBR. ANN is used to find the…

The Greater Involvement of People Living with AIDS principle: theory versus practice in Ontario's HIV/AIDS community-based research sector.

PubMed

Travers, R; Wilson, M G; Flicker, S; Guta, A; Bereket, T; McKay, C; van der Meulen, A; Cleverly, S; Dickie, M; Globerman, J; Rourke, S B

2008-07-01

Drawing on the Greater Involvement of People with HIV/AIDS (GIPA) principle, the HIV/AIDS movement began to "democratize" research in Canada in the mid-1990s. To date, there is little evidence about the success of the community-based research (CBR) movement in relation to the implementation of GIPA. We draw on findings from a larger study examining barriers and facilitating factors in relation to HIV-related CBR in Ontario, Canada. An online survey was completed by 39 senior managers in Ontario AIDS service organizations (ASOs). Twenty-five in-depth, semi-structured interviews were then conducted to further explore the survey findings. Survey respondents reported that, compared to researchers and frontline service providers, people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) tended to be the least involved in all stages (input, process and outcome) of CBR projects. AIDS service organizations with a mandate that included serving rural and urban communities reported even lower levels of PLWHA involvement in CBR. Qualitative data reveal complex barriers that make meaningful PLWHA engagement in CBR difficult, including: HIV-related stigma; health-related challenges; "credentialism"; lack of capacity to engage in research; other issues taking priority; and mistrust of researchers. Facilitating factors included valuing lived experience; training and mentoring opportunities; financial compensation; trust building; and accommodating PLWHA's needs. While there is strong support for the GIPA principles in theory, practice lags far behind.

Research of Litchi Diseases Diagnosis Expertsystem Based on Rbr and Cbr

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Bing; Liu, Liqun

To conquer the bottleneck problems existing in the traditional rule-based reasoning diseases diagnosis system, such as low reasoning efficiency and lack of flexibility, etc.. It researched the integrated case-based reasoning (CBR) and rule-based reasoning (RBR) technology, and put forward a litchi diseases diagnosis expert system (LDDES) with integrated reasoning method. The method use data mining and knowledge obtaining technology to establish knowledge base and case library. It adopt rules to instruct the retrieval and matching for CBR, and use association rule and decision trees algorithm to calculate case similarity.The experiment shows that the method can increase the system's flexibility and reasoning ability, and improve the accuracy of litchi diseases diagnosis.

Intelligent design of permanent magnet synchronous motor based on CBR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Cong; Fan, Beibei

2018-05-01

Aiming at many problems in the design process of Permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM), such as the complexity of design process, the over reliance on designers' experience and the lack of accumulation and inheritance of design knowledge, a design method of PMSM Based on CBR is proposed in order to solve those problems. In this paper, case-based reasoning (CBR) methods of cases similarity calculation is proposed for reasoning suitable initial scheme. This method could help designers, by referencing previous design cases, to make a conceptual PMSM solution quickly. The case retain process gives the system self-enrich function which will improve the design ability of the system with the continuous use of the system.

Multimodal hybrid reasoning methodology for personalized wellbeing services.

PubMed

Ali, Rahman; Afzal, Muhammad; Hussain, Maqbool; Ali, Maqbool; Siddiqi, Muhammad Hameed; Lee, Sungyoung; Ho Kang, Byeong

2016-02-01

A wellness system provides wellbeing recommendations to support experts in promoting a healthier lifestyle and inducing individuals to adopt healthy habits. Adopting physical activity effectively promotes a healthier lifestyle. A physical activity recommendation system assists users to adopt daily routines to form a best practice of life by involving themselves in healthy physical activities. Traditional physical activity recommendation systems focus on general recommendations applicable to a community of users rather than specific individuals. These recommendations are general in nature and are fit for the community at a certain level, but they are not relevant to every individual based on specific requirements and personal interests. To cover this aspect, we propose a multimodal hybrid reasoning methodology (HRM) that generates personalized physical activity recommendations according to the user׳s specific needs and personal interests. The methodology integrates the rule-based reasoning (RBR), case-based reasoning (CBR), and preference-based reasoning (PBR) approaches in a linear combination that enables personalization of recommendations. RBR uses explicit knowledge rules from physical activity guidelines, CBR uses implicit knowledge from experts׳ past experiences, and PBR uses users׳ personal interests and preferences. To validate the methodology, a weight management scenario is considered and experimented with. The RBR part of the methodology generates goal, weight status, and plan recommendations, the CBR part suggests the top three relevant physical activities for executing the recommended plan, and the PBR part filters out irrelevant recommendations from the suggested ones using the user׳s personal preferences and interests. To evaluate the methodology, a baseline-RBR system is developed, which is improved first using ranged rules and ultimately using a hybrid-CBR. A comparison of the results of these systems shows that hybrid-CBR outperforms the modified-RBR and baseline-RBR systems. Hybrid-CBR yields a 0.94% recall, a 0.97% precision, a 0.95% f-score, and low Type I and Type II errors. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A study of the effectiveness of the use of gypsum and volcanic ash against the stability of clay soil in terms of UCT and CBR values

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roesyanto; Iskandar, R.; Hastuty, IP; Lubis, AIU

2018-02-01

Soil stabilization is an effort to improve engineering properties of soil. The conventional soil stabilization is by adding additives to the soil such as Portland cement, lime, and bitumen. The clay stabilization research was done by adding gypsum and volcanic ash. The research purposes were to find out the value of engineering properties of clay due to the addition of 2% gypsum and 2% - 15% volcanic ash. The soil was classified as Clay - Low Plasticity (CL) based on USCS and was classified as A-7-6 (10) based on AASHTO classification system. The UCT values of original soil and original soil plus 2% gypsum were 1.40 kg/cm2 and 1.66 kg/cm2 respectively. The CBR soaked and unsoaked values of original soil were 4.44% and 6.28% correspondingly. Meanwhile, CBR soaked and CBR unsoaked values of original soil plus 2% gypsum were 6.74% and 8.02% respectively. The research results showed that the additives materials of gypsum and volcanic ash improved the engineering properties of clay. The UCT result from the stabilized soil by 2% gypsum and 10% volcanic ash gave value of 2.79 kg/cm2 (increased 99.28% from original soil). For CBR test, the most effective mixture were in variation of 2% gypsum and 9% volcanic ash which gave value of 9.07% (104.27% increase from original soil) for CBR soaked and 10.29% (63.85% increase from original soil) for CBR unsoaked. The stabilized soil with 2% gypsum and 9% volcanic ash was classified as CL based on USCS and was classified as A-6 (4) based on AASHTO classification system.

Expert consensus on best evaluative practices in community-based rehabilitation.

PubMed

Grandisson, Marie; Thibeault, Rachel; Hébert, Michèle; Cameron, Debra

2016-01-01

The objective of this study was to generate expert consensus on best evaluative practices for community-based rehabilitation (CBR). This consensus includes key features of the evaluation process and methods, and discussion of whether a shared framework should be used to report findings and, if so, which framework should play this role. A Delphi study with two predefined rounds was conducted. Experts in CBR from a wide range of geographical areas and disciplinary backgrounds were recruited to complete the questionnaires. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses were performed to generate the recommendations for best practices in CBR evaluation. A panel of 42 experts reached consensus on 13 recommendations for best evaluative practices in CBR. In regard to the critical qualities of sound CBR evaluation processes, panellists emphasized that these processes should be inclusive, participatory, empowering and respectful of local cultures and languages. The group agreed that evaluators should consider the use of mixed methods and participatory tools, and should combine indicators from a universal list of CBR indicators with locally generated ones. The group also agreed that a common framework should guide CBR evaluations, and that this framework should be a flexible combination between the CBR Matrix and the CBR Principles. An expert panel reached consensus on key features of best evaluative practices in CBR. Knowledge transfer initiatives are now required to develop guidelines, tools and training opportunities to facilitate CBR program evaluations. CBR evaluation processes should strive to be inclusive, participatory, empowering and respectful of local cultures and languages. CBR evaluators should strongly consider using mixed methods, participatory tools, a combination of indicators generated with the local community and with others from a bank of CBR indicators. CBR evaluations should be situated within a shared, but flexible, framework. This shared framework could combine the CBR Matrix and the CBR Principles.

Safety Early Warning Research for Highway Construction Based on Case-Based Reasoning and Variable Fuzzy Sets

PubMed Central

Liu, Yan; Xu, Zhen-Jun

2013-01-01

As a high-risk subindustry involved in construction projects, highway construction safety has experienced major developments in the past 20 years, mainly due to the lack of safe early warnings in Chinese construction projects. By combining the current state of early warning technology with the requirements of the State Administration of Work Safety and using case-based reasoning (CBR), this paper expounds on the concept and flow of highway construction safety early warnings based on CBR. The present study provides solutions to three key issues, index selection, accident cause association analysis, and warning degree forecasting implementation, through the use of association rule mining, support vector machine classifiers, and variable fuzzy qualitative and quantitative change criterion modes, which fully cover the needs of safe early warning systems. Using a detailed description of the principles and advantages of each method and by proving the methods' effectiveness and ability to act together in safe early warning applications, effective means and intelligent technology for a safe highway construction early warning system are established. PMID:24191134

Safety early warning research for highway construction based on case-based reasoning and variable fuzzy sets.

PubMed

Liu, Yan; Yi, Ting-Hua; Xu, Zhen-Jun

2013-01-01

As a high-risk subindustry involved in construction projects, highway construction safety has experienced major developments in the past 20 years, mainly due to the lack of safe early warnings in Chinese construction projects. By combining the current state of early warning technology with the requirements of the State Administration of Work Safety and using case-based reasoning (CBR), this paper expounds on the concept and flow of highway construction safety early warnings based on CBR. The present study provides solutions to three key issues, index selection, accident cause association analysis, and warning degree forecasting implementation, through the use of association rule mining, support vector machine classifiers, and variable fuzzy qualitative and quantitative change criterion modes, which fully cover the needs of safe early warning systems. Using a detailed description of the principles and advantages of each method and by proving the methods' effectiveness and ability to act together in safe early warning applications, effective means and intelligent technology for a safe highway construction early warning system are established.

Technical Description of Urban Microscale Modeling System: Component 1 of CRTI Project 02-0093RD

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-03-01

0093RD which involved (1) development and implementation of a com- putational fluid dynamics model for the simulation of urban flow in an arbitrary...resource will serve as a nation-wide general problem- solving tool for first-responders involved with CBR incidents in the urban environment and...predictions with experimental data obtained from a comprehensive full-scale urban field experiment conducted in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in July 2003 (Joint

Problem-Solving Software

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

CBR Express software solves problems by adapting sorted solutions to new problems specified by a user. It is applicable to a wide range of situations. The technology was originally developed by Inference Corporation for Johnson Space Center's Advanced Software Development Workstation. The project focused on the reuse of software designs, and Inference used CBR as part of the ACCESS prototype software. The commercial CBR Express is used as a "help desk" for customer support, enabling reuse of existing information when necessary. It has been adopted by several companies, among them American Airlines, which uses it to solve reservation system software problems.

Wireless control system for two-axis linear oscillating motion applying CBR technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuzyakov, O. N.; Andreeva, M. A.

2018-03-01

The paper presents the aspects of elaborating a movement control system. The system is to implement determination of movement characteristics of the object controlled, which performs an oscillating linear motion in a two-axis direction. The system has an electronic-optical principle of action: light receivers are attached to a controlled object, and a laser light emitter is attached to a static construction. While the object performs movement along the construction, the light emitter signal is registered by light receivers, based on which determination of the object position and characteristic of its movement are performed. An algorithm of system implementation is elaborated. Signal processing is performed on the basis of the case-based reasoning method. The system is to be used in machine-building industry in controlling relative displacement of the dynamic object or its assembly.

Improving end of life care: an information systems approach to reducing medical errors.

PubMed

Tamang, S; Kopec, D; Shagas, G; Levy, K

2005-01-01

Chronic and terminally ill patients are disproportionately affected by medical errors. In addition, the elderly suffer more preventable adverse events than younger patients. Targeting system wide "error-reducing" reforms to vulnerable populations can significantly reduce the incidence and prevalence of human error in medical practice. Recent developments in health informatics, particularly the application of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques such as data mining, neural networks, and case-based reasoning (CBR), presents tremendous opportunities for mitigating error in disease diagnosis and patient management. Additionally, the ubiquity of the Internet creates the possibility of an almost ideal network for the dissemination of medical information. We explore the capacity and limitations of web-based palliative information systems (IS) to transform the delivery of care, streamline processes and improve the efficiency and appropriateness of medical treatment. As a result, medical error(s) that occur with patients dealing with severe, chronic illness and the frail elderly can be reduced.The palliative model grew out of the need for pain relief and comfort measures for patients diagnosed with cancer. Applied definitions of palliative care extend this convention, but there is no widely accepted definition. This research will discuss the development life cycle of two palliative information systems: the CONFER QOLP management information system (MIS), currently used by a community-based palliative care program in Brooklyn, New York, and the CAREN case-based reasoning prototype. CONFER is a web platform based on the idea of "eCare". CONFER uses XML (extensible mark-up language), a W3C-endorced standard mark up to define systems data. The second system, CAREN, is a CBR prototype designed for palliative care patients in the cancer trajectory. CBR is a technique, which tries to exploit the similarities of two situations and match decision-making to the best-known precedent cases. The prototype uses the opensource CASPIAN shell developed by the University of Aberystwyth, Wales and is available by anonymous FTP. We will discuss and analyze the preliminary results we have obtained using this CBR tool. Our research suggests that automated information systems can be used to improve the quality of care at the end of life and disseminate expert level 'know how' to palliative care clinicians. We will present how our CBR prototype can be successfully deployed, capable of securely transferring information using a Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) and using a JAVA CBR engine.

Tat-CBR1 inhibits inflammatory responses through the suppressions of NF-κB and MAPK activation in macrophages and TPA-induced ear edema in mice

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

Kim, Young Nam; Kim, Dae Won; Jo, Hyo Sang

Human carbonyl reductase 1 (CBR1) plays a crucial role in cell survival and protects against oxidative stress response. However, its anti-inflammatory effects are not yet clearly understood. In this study, we examined whether CBR1 protects against inflammatory responses in macrophages and mice using a Tat-CBR1 protein which is able to penetrate into cells. The results revealed that purified Tat-CBR1 protein efficiently transduced into Raw 264.7 cells and inhibited lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E{sub 2} (PGE{sub 2}) expression levels. In addition, Tat-CBR1 protein leads to decreased pro-inflammatory cytokine expression through suppression of nuclear transcription factor-kappaB (NF-κB)more » and mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation. Furthermore, Tat-CBR1 protein inhibited inflammatory responses in 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA)-induced skin inflammation when applied topically. These findings indicate that Tat-CBR1 protein has anti-inflammatory properties in vitro and in vivo through inhibition of NF-κB and MAPK activation, suggesting that Tat-CBR1 protein may have potential as a therapeutic agent against inflammatory diseases. - Highlights: • Transduced Tat-CBR1 reduces LPS-induced inflammatory mediators and cytokines. • Tat-CBR1 inhibits MAPK and NF-κB activation. • Tat-CBR1 ameliorates inflammation response in vitro and in vivo. • Tat-CBR1 may be useful as potential therapeutic agent for inflammation.« less

Clay stabilization by using gypsum and paddy husk ash with reference to UCT and CBR value

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roesyanto; Iskandar, R.; Hastuty, I. P.; Dianty, W. O.

2018-02-01

Clays that have low shear strength need to be stabilized in order to meet the technical requirements to serve as a subgrade material. One of the usual soil stabilization methods is by adding chemicals such as Portland cement, lime, and bitumen. The clay stabilization research was done by adding gypsum and paddy husk ash. The research goals were to find out the value of engineering properties of clay due to the addition of 2% gypsum and 2% - 15% paddy husk ash. The soil was classified as Clay - Low Plasticity (CL) based on USCS and was classified as A-7-6 (10) based on AASHTO classification system. The UCT value of original soil was 1.41 kg/cm2. While the CBR soaked and unsoaked values of original soil were 4.41% and 6.23% respectively. The research results showed the addition of paddy husk ash decreased the value of unconfined compressive strength as well as CBR. The stabilized soil by 2% gypsum and 0% paddy husk ash gave maximum UCT value of 1.67 kg/cm2, while the maximum value of CBR were found 6.71% for CBR soaked and 8.00% for CBR unsoaked. The addition of paddy husk ash did not alter the soil classification according to AASHTO or USCS, even degrade the engineering properties of original soil.

A Case-Based Reasoning Method with Rank Aggregation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Jinhua; Du, Jiao; Hu, Jian

2018-03-01

In order to improve the accuracy of case-based reasoning (CBR), this paper addresses a new CBR framework with the basic principle of rank aggregation. First, the ranking methods are put forward in each attribute subspace of case. The ordering relation between cases on each attribute is got between cases. Then, a sorting matrix is got. Second, the similar case retrieval process from ranking matrix is transformed into a rank aggregation optimal problem, which uses the Kemeny optimal. On the basis, a rank aggregation case-based reasoning algorithm, named RA-CBR, is designed. The experiment result on UCI data sets shows that case retrieval accuracy of RA-CBR algorithm is higher than euclidean distance CBR and mahalanobis distance CBR testing.So we can get the conclusion that RA-CBR method can increase the performance and efficiency of CBR.

A case-based reasoning tool for breast cancer knowledge management with data mining concepts and techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Demigha, Souâd.

2016-03-01

The paper presents a Case-Based Reasoning Tool for Breast Cancer Knowledge Management to improve breast cancer screening. To develop this tool, we combine both concepts and techniques of Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) and Data Mining (DM). Physicians and radiologists ground their diagnosis on their expertise (past experience) based on clinical cases. Case-Based Reasoning is the process of solving new problems based on the solutions of similar past problems and structured as cases. CBR is suitable for medical use. On the other hand, existing traditional hospital information systems (HIS), Radiological Information Systems (RIS) and Picture Archiving Information Systems (PACS) don't allow managing efficiently medical information because of its complexity and heterogeneity. Data Mining is the process of mining information from a data set and transform it into an understandable structure for further use. Combining CBR to Data Mining techniques will facilitate diagnosis and decision-making of medical experts.

A Novel indole compound that inhibits Pseudomonas aeruginosa growth by targeting MreB is a substrate for MexAB-OprM.

PubMed

Robertson, Gregory T; Doyle, Timothy B; Du, Qun; Duncan, Leonard; Mdluli, Khisimuzi E; Lynch, A Simon

2007-10-01

Drug efflux systems contribute to the intrinsic resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to many antibiotics and biocides and hamper research focused on the discovery and development of new antimicrobial agents targeted against this important opportunistic pathogen. Using a P. aeruginosa PAO1 derivative bearing deletions of opmH, encoding an outer membrane channel for efflux substrates, and four efflux pumps belonging to the resistance nodulation/cell division class including mexAB-oprM, we identified a small-molecule indole-class compound (CBR-4830) that is inhibitory to growth of this efflux-compromised strain. Genetic studies established MexAB-OprM as the principal pump for CBR-4830 and revealed MreB, a prokaryotic actin homolog, as the proximal cellular target of CBR-4830. Additional studies establish MreB as an essential protein in P. aeruginosa, and efflux-compromised strains treated with CBR-4830 transition to coccoid shape, consistent with MreB inhibition or depletion. Resistance genetics further suggest that CBR-4830 interacts with the putative ATP-binding pocket in MreB and demonstrate significant cross-resistance with A22, a structurally unrelated compound that has been shown to promote rapid dispersion of MreB filaments in vivo. Interestingly, however, ATP-dependent polymerization of purified recombinant P. aeruginosa MreB is blocked in vitro in a dose-dependent manner by CBR-4830 but not by A22. Neither compound exhibits significant inhibitory activity against mutant forms of MreB protein that bear mutations identified in CBR-4830-resistant strains. Finally, employing the strains and reagents prepared and characterized during the course of these studies, we have begun to investigate the ability of analogues of CBR-4830 to inhibit the growth of both efflux-proficient and efflux-compromised P. aeruginosa through specific inhibition of MreB function.

Babbling in children with neurodevelopmental disability and validity of a simplified way of measuring canonical babbling ratio.

PubMed

Nyman, Anna; Lohmander, Anette

2018-01-01

Babbling is an important precursor to speech, but has not yet been thoroughly investigated in children with neurodevelopmental disabilities. Canonical babbling ratio (CBR) is a commonly used but time-consuming measure for quantifying babbling. The aim of this study was twofold: to validate a simplified version of the CBR (CBR UTTER ), and to use this measure to determine if early precursors to speech and language development could be detected in children with different neurodevelopmental disabilities. Two different data sets were used. In Part I, CBR UTTER was compared to two other CBR measures using previously obtained phonetic transcriptions of 3571 utterances from 38 audio recordings of 12-18 month old children with and without cleft palate. In CBR UTTER , number of canonical utterances was divided by total number of utterances. In CBR syl , number of canonical syllables was divided by total number of syllables. In CBR utt , number of canonical syllables was divided by total number of utterances. High agreement was seen between CBR UTTER and CBR syl , suggesting CBR UTTER as an alternative. In Part II, babbling in children with neurodevelopmental disability was examined. Eighteen children aged 12-22 months with Down syndrome, cerebral palsy or developmental delay were audio-video recorded during interaction with a parent. Recordings were analysed by observation of babbling, consonant production, calculation of CBR UTTER , and compared to data from controls. The study group showed significantly lower occurrence of all variables, except for of plosives. The long-term relevance of the findings for the speech and language development of the children needs to be investigated.

Interaction between graviception and carotid baroreflex function in humans during parabolic flight-induced microgravity.

PubMed

Ogoh, Shigehiko; Marais, Michaël; Lericollais, Romain; Denise, Pierre; Raven, Peter B; Normand, Hervé

2018-05-10

The aim of the present study was to assess carotid baroreflex (CBR) during acute changes in otolithic activity in humans. To address this question, we designed a set of experiments to identify the modulatory effects of microgravity on CBR function at a tilt angle of -2{degree sign}, which was identified to minimize changes in central blood volume during parabolic flight. During parabolic flight at 0g and 1g, CBR function curves were modelled from the heart rate (HR) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) responses to rapid pulse trains of neck pressure (NP) and neck suction (NS) ranging from +40 to -80 Torr; CBR control of HR (carotid-HR) and MAP (carotid-MAP) baroreflex function curves, respectively. The maximal gain (G max ) of both carotid-HR and carotid-MAP baroreflex function curves were augmented during microgravity compared to 1g (carotid-HR, -0.53 to -0.80 beats/min/mmHg, P<0.05; carotid-MAP, -0.24 to -0.30 mmHg/mmHg, P<0.05). These findings suggest that parabolic flight-induced acute change of otolithic activity may modify CBR function and identifies that the vestibular system contributes to blood pressure regulation under fluctuations in gravitational forces.

Rough case-based reasoning system for continues casting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Su, Wenbin; Lei, Zhufeng

2018-04-01

The continuous casting occupies a pivotal position in the iron and steel industry. The rough set theory and the CBR (case based reasoning, CBR) were combined in the research and implementation for the quality assurance of continuous casting billet to improve the efficiency and accuracy in determining the processing parameters. According to the continuous casting case, the object-oriented method was applied to express the continuous casting cases. The weights of the attributes were calculated by the algorithm which was based on the rough set theory and the retrieval mechanism for the continuous casting cases was designed. Some cases were adopted to test the retrieval mechanism, by analyzing the results, the law of the influence of the retrieval attributes on determining the processing parameters was revealed. A comprehensive evaluation model was established by using the attribute recognition theory. According to the features of the defects, different methods were adopted to describe the quality condition of the continuous casting billet. By using the system, the knowledge was not only inherited but also applied to adjust the processing parameters through the case based reasoning method as to assure the quality of the continuous casting and improve the intelligent level of the continuous casting.

Carbonyl reduction of mequindox by chicken and porcine cytosol and cloned carbonyl reductase 1.

PubMed

Tang, Xianqing; Mu, Peiqiang; Wu, Jun; Jiang, Jun; Zhang, Caihui; Zheng, Ming; Deng, Yiqun

2012-04-01

Mequindox (MEQ) is a novel synthetic quinoxaline 1,4-dioxides derivative, which is widely used as a veterinary drug and animal feed additive. However, the metabolic mechanism of MEQ is rarely reported. The N-oxide reduction mechanism of MEQ was reported in our previous work. In this article, the toxicity and the reduction of the carbonyl of MEQ were studied. The 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium assays demonstrated that the carbonyl-reduced MEQ, 2-isoethanol MEQ was much less toxic than MEQ. High-performance liquid chromatography analysis showed that the cytosol extracts of chicken and pig livers were able to reduce MEQ to 2-isoethanol MEQ and the reaction was NADPH-dependent. Further study via enzyme-inhibitory experiment revealed that carbonyl reductase 1 (CBR1) participated in this metabolism. The enzyme activity analysis showed that both chicken CBR1 (cCBR1) and porcine CBR1 (pCBR1) were capable of catalyzing the carbonyl reduction of MEQ and its N-oxide reductive metabolite, 1-deoxymequindox. By comparison of the kinetic constants, we observed that the activity of cCBR1 was higher than pCBR1 to MEQ and the standard substrate of CBR1, menadione. On the other hand, both CBR1s exhibited higher activity to 1-deoxymequindox than MEQ. Mutation analysis suggested that the difference of amino acid at position 141/142 may be one possible reason that caused the activity difference between cCBR1 and pCBR1. Thus far, CBR1 was first reported to participate in the carbonyl reduction of MEQ. Our results will be helpful to recognize the metabolic pathways of quinoxaline drugs deeply and to provide a theoretical basis for controlling the negative effects of these drugs.

AM2 3-4 Alternate Lay Pattern Evaluation

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-09-01

the target CBR of 6 was achieved. The results of the CBR, moisture, and density tests during construction ( pretest ) and after trafficking ( posttest ...lift to verify that the target CBR of 6 had been reasonably achieved. If the average pretest CBR of a lift differed from the target value by more...for both test items are shown in Table 3. The posttest in situ CBR, moisture, and density measurements were used to determine the depth of

Case-based Reasoning for Automotive Engine Performance Tune-up

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vong, C. M.; Huang, H.; Wong, P. K.

2010-05-01

The automotive engine performance tune-up is greatly affected by the calibration of its electronic control unit (ECU). The ECU calibration is traditionally done by trial-and-error method. This traditional method consumes a large amount of time and money because of a large number of dynamometer tests. To resolve this problem, case based reasoning (CBR) is employed, so that an existing and effective ECU setup can be adapted to fit another similar class of engines. The adaptation procedure is done through a more sophisticated step called case-based adaptation (CBA) [1, 2]. CBA is an effective knowledge management tool, which can interactively learn the expert adaptation knowledge. The paper briefly reviews the methodologies of CBR and CBA. Then the application to ECU calibration is described via a case study. With CBR and CBA, the efficiency of calibrating an ECU can be enhanced. A prototype system has also been developed to verify the usefulness of CBR in ECU calibration.

Algorithme intelligent d'optimisation d'un design structurel de grande envergure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dominique, Stephane

The implementation of an automated decision support system in the field of design and structural optimisation can give a significant advantage to any industry working on mechanical designs. Indeed, by providing solution ideas to a designer or by upgrading existing design solutions while the designer is not at work, the system may reduce the project cycle time, or allow more time to produce a better design. This thesis presents a new approach to automate a design process based on Case-Based Reasoning (CBR), in combination with a new genetic algorithm named Genetic Algorithm with Territorial core Evolution (GATE). This approach was developed in order to reduce the operating cost of the process. However, as the system implementation cost is quite expensive, the approach is better suited for large scale design problem, and particularly for design problems that the designer plans to solve for many different specification sets. First, the CBR process uses a databank filled with every known solution to similar design problems. Then, the closest solutions to the current problem in term of specifications are selected. After this, during the adaptation phase, an artificial neural network (ANN) interpolates amongst known solutions to produce an additional solution to the current problem using the current specifications as inputs. Each solution produced and selected by the CBR is then used to initialize the population of an island of the genetic algorithm. The algorithm will optimise the solution further during the refinement phase. Using progressive refinement, the algorithm starts using only the most important variables for the problem. Then, as the optimisation progress, the remaining variables are gradually introduced, layer by layer. The genetic algorithm that is used is a new algorithm specifically created during this thesis to solve optimisation problems from the field of mechanical device structural design. The algorithm is named GATE, and is essentially a real number genetic algorithm that prevents new individuals to be born too close to previously evaluated solutions. The restricted area becomes smaller or larger during the optimisation to allow global or local search when necessary. Also, a new search operator named Substitution Operator is incorporated in GATE. This operator allows an ANN surrogate model to guide the algorithm toward the most promising areas of the design space. The suggested CBR approach and GATE were tested on several simple test problems, as well as on the industrial problem of designing a gas turbine engine rotor's disc. These results are compared to other results obtained for the same problems by many other popular optimisation algorithms, such as (depending of the problem) gradient algorithms, binary genetic algorithm, real number genetic algorithm, genetic algorithm using multiple parents crossovers, differential evolution genetic algorithm, Hookes & Jeeves generalized pattern search method and POINTER from the software I-SIGHT 3.5. Results show that GATE is quite competitive, giving the best results for 5 of the 6 constrained optimisation problem. GATE also provided the best results of all on problem produced by a Maximum Set Gaussian landscape generator. Finally, GATE provided a disc 4.3% lighter than the best other tested algorithm (POINTER) for the gas turbine engine rotor's disc problem. One drawback of GATE is a lesser efficiency for highly multimodal unconstrained problems, for which he gave quite poor results with respect to its implementation cost. To conclude, according to the preliminary results obtained during this thesis, the suggested CBR process, combined with GATE, seems to be a very good candidate to automate and accelerate the structural design of mechanical devices, potentially reducing significantly the cost of industrial preliminary design processes.

Toward translational incremental similarity-based reasoning in breast cancer grading

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tutac, Adina E.; Racoceanu, Daniel; Leow, Wee-Keng; Müller, Henning; Putti, Thomas; Cretu, Vladimir

2009-02-01

One of the fundamental issues in bridging the gap between the proliferation of Content-Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) systems in the scientific literature and the deficiency of their usage in medical community is based on the characteristic of CBIR to access information by images or/and text only. Yet, the way physicians are reasoning about patients leads intuitively to a case representation. Hence, a proper solution to overcome this gap is to consider a CBIR approach inspired by Case-Based Reasoning (CBR), which naturally introduces medical knowledge structured by cases. Moreover, in a CBR system, the knowledge is incrementally added and learned. The purpose of this study is to initiate a translational solution from CBIR algorithms to clinical practice, using a CBIR/CBR hybrid approach. Therefore, we advance the idea of a translational incremental similarity-based reasoning (TISBR), using combined CBIR and CBR characteristics: incremental learning of medical knowledge, medical case-based structure of the knowledge (CBR), image usage to retrieve similar cases (CBIR), similarity concept (central for both paradigms). For this purpose, three major axes are explored: the indexing, the cases retrieval and the search refinement, applied to Breast Cancer Grading (BCG), a powerful breast cancer prognosis exam. The effectiveness of this strategy is currently evaluated over cases provided by the Pathology Department of Singapore National University Hospital, for the indexing. With its current accuracy, TISBR launches interesting perspectives for complex reasoning in future medical research, opening the way to a better knowledge traceability and a better acceptance rate of computer-aided diagnosis assistance among practitioners.

Nitrogen removal and nitrate leaching for two perennial, sod-based forage systems receiving dairy effluent.

PubMed

Woodard, Kenneth R; French, Edwin C; Sweat, Lewin A; Graetz, Donald A; Sollenberger, Lynn E; Macoon, Bisoondat; Portier, Kenneth M; Rymph, Stuart J; Wade, Brett L; Prine, Gordon M; Van Horn, Harold H

2003-01-01

In northern Florida, year-round forage systems are used in dairy effluent sprayfields to reduce nitrate leaching. Our purpose was to quantify forage N removal and monitor nitrate N (NO3(-)-N) concentration below the rooting zone for two perennial, sod-based, triple-cropping systems over four 12-mo cycles (1996-2000). The soil is an excessively drained Kershaw sand (thermic, uncoated Typic Quartzip-samment). Effluent N rates were 500, 690, and 910 kg ha(-1) per cycle. Differences in N removal between a corn (Zea mays L.)-bermudagrass (Cynodon spp.)-rye (Secale cereale L.) system (CBR) and corn-perennial peanut (Arachis glabrata Benth.)-rye system (CPR) were primarily related to the performance of the perennial forages. Nitrogen removal of corn (125-170 kg ha(-1)) and rye (62-90 kg ha(-1)) was relatively stable between systems and among cycles. The greatest N removal was measured for CBR in the first cycle (408 kg ha(-1)), with the bermudagrass removing an average of 191 kg N ha(-1). In later cycles, N removal for bermudagrass declined because dry matter (DM) yield declined. Yield and N removal of perennial peanut increased over the four cycles. Nitrate N concentrations below the rooting zone were lower for CBR than CPR in the first two cycles, but differences were inconsistent in the latter two. The CBR system maintained low NO3(-)-N leaching in the first cycle when the bermudagrass was the most productive; however, it was not a sustainable system for long-term prevention of NO3(-)-N leaching due to declining bermudagrass yield in subsequent cycles. For CPR, effluent N rates > or = 500 kg ha(-1) yr(-1) have the potential to negatively affect ground water quality.

Improving real-time efficiency of case-based reasoning for medical diagnosis.

PubMed

Park, Yoon-Joo

2014-01-01

Conventional case-based reasoning (CBR) does not perform efficiently for high volume dataset because of case-retrieval time. Some previous researches overcome this problem by clustering a case-base into several small groups, and retrieve neighbors within a corresponding group to a target case. However, this approach generally produces less accurate predictive performances than the conventional CBR. This paper suggests a new case-based reasoning method called the Clustering-Merging CBR (CM-CBR) which produces similar level of predictive performances than the conventional CBR with spending significantly less computational cost.

Building a case-based diet recommendation system without a knowledge engineer.

PubMed

Khan, Abdus Salam; Hoffmann, Achim

2003-02-01

We present a new approach to the effective development of menu construction systems that allow to automatically construct a menu that is strongly tailored to the individual requirements and food preferences of a client. In hospitals and other health care institutions dietitians develop diets for clients which need to change their eating habits. Many clients have special needs in regards to their medical conditions, cultural backgrounds, or special levels of nutrient requirements for better recovery from diseases or surgery, etc. Existing computer support for this task is insufficient-many diets are not specifically tailored for the client's needs or require substantial time of a dietitian to be manually developed. Our approach is based on case-based reasoning, an artificial intelligence technique that finds increasing entry into industrial practice. Our approach goes beyond the traditional case-based reasoning (CBR) approach by allowing an incremental improvement of the system's competency during routine use of the system. The improvement of the system takes place through a direct expert user-system interaction while the expert is accomplishing their tasks of constructing a diet for a given client. Whenever the system performs unsatisfactorily, the expert will need to modify the system-produced diet 'manually', i.e. by entering the desired modifications into the system. Our implemented system, menu construction using an incremental knowledge acquisition system (MIKAS), asks the expert for simple explanations for each of the manual actions he/she takes and incorporates the explanations automatically into its knowledge base (KB) so that the system will perform these manually conducted actions automatically at the next occasion. We present MIKAS and discuss the results of our case study. While still being a prototype, the senior clinical dietitian involved in our evaluation studies judges the approach to have considerable potential to improve the daily routine of hospital dietitians as well as to improve the average quality of the dietary advice given to patients within the limited available time for dietary consultations. Our approach opens up a new avenue towards building highly specialised CBR systems in a more cost-effective way. Hence, our approach promises to allow a significantly more widespread development and practical deployment of CBR systems in a large variety of application domains including many medical applications.

Clay Stabilization Using the Ash of Mount Sinabung in Terms of the Value of California Bearing Ratio (CBR)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hastuty, I. P.; Roesyanto, R.; Napitupulu, S. M. A.

2018-02-01

Most areas in Indonesia consist of clay soils with high plasticity so that to meet technical requirements the soil needs improvement, which is known as soil stabilization.There are three ways of soil stabilization process, i.e. mechanical, physical and chemical. In this study, chemical stabilization was performed, that was by adding stabilizing agents to the soil. The stabilizing agent used was the ash of Mount Sinabung. Since 2010 until now, Sinabung Mountain is still experiencing eruption that produces a lot of volcanic ash and it inconveniences the environment. So, it is expected that this research will be able to optimize the utilization of Sinabung ash. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the addition of Mount Sinabung ash to CBR (California Bearing Ratio) value, to determine the effect of the curing time of one day and fourteen days mixture on the CBR value, and to find the mixed content with effective curing time to produce the largest CBR value. Based on this study, the soil type CL (Clay - Low Plasticity) was obtained, based on the classification of USCS (Unified Soil Classification System) and categorized as A-6 (6) based on the classification of AASHTO (American Association of State Highway and Transportation officials) with the most effective mixed stabilizer material which was the variation of 10% Mount Sinabung ash with fourteen days of curing time. The CBR value resulted from the mixture of 10% Sinabung ash that was cured within fourteen days was 8.95%. By the increase of the content of the Sinabung ash, the CBR value always improved to the level of 10%, Sinabung ash then decreased and became constant at the mixture of higher volcanic ash mixture but remained above the CBR value of the original soil.

CBR/TIC Filter Design and Evaluation

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-12-29

CBR/TIC Filters Aged CK Filter Life Predicitions.................................................................. 29 Figure 30. CBR/TIC Filters...potting adhesive. Neoprene rubber face gaskets are adhered to each end of the particulate filter for airtight sealing. Figure 16. CBR/TIC HEPA...attached with adhesive to the bottom end cover and is spaced by the compression pads on the top end. EPDM foam compression pads are placed on top

A systematic review on how to conduct evaluations in community-based rehabilitation.

PubMed

Grandisson, Marie; Hébert, Michèle; Thibeault, Rachel

2014-01-01

Community-based rehabilitation (CBR) must prove that it is making a significant difference for people with disabilities in low- and middle-income countries. Yet, evaluation is not a common practice and the evidence for its effectiveness is fragmented and largely insufficient. The objective of this article was to review the literature on best practices in program evaluation in CBR in relation to the evaluative process, the frameworks, and the methods of data collection. A systematic search was conducted on five rehabilitation databases and the World Health Organization website with keywords associated with CBR and program evaluation. Two independent researchers selected the articles. Twenty-two documents were included. The results suggest that (1) the evaluative process needs to be conducted in close collaboration with the local community, including people with disabilities, and to be followed by sharing the findings and taking actions, (2) many frameworks have been proposed to evaluate CBR but no agreement has been reached, and (3) qualitative methodologies have dominated the scene in CBR so far, but their combination with quantitative methods has a lot of potential to better capture the effectiveness of this strategy. In order to facilitate and improve evaluations in CBR, there is an urgent need to agree on a common framework, such as the CBR matrix, and to develop best practice guidelines based on the literature available and consensus among a group of experts. These will need to demonstrate a good balance between community development and standards for effective evaluations. Implications for Rehabilitation In the quest for evidence of the effectiveness of community-based rehabilitation (CBR), a shared program evaluation framework would better enable the combination of findings from different studies. The evaluation of CBR programs should always include sharing findings and taking action for the sake of the local community. Although qualitative methodologies have dominated the scene in CBR and remain highly relevant, there is also a call for the inclusion of quantitative indicators in order to capture the progress made by people participating in CBR programs. The production of best practice guidelines for evaluation in CBR could foster accountable and empowering program evaluations that are congruent with the principles at the heart of CBR and the standards for effective evaluations.

A systematic review on how to conduct evaluations in community-based rehabilitation

PubMed Central

Hébert, Michèle; Thibeault, Rachel

2014-01-01

Purpose Community-based rehabilitation (CBR) must prove that it is making a significant difference for people with disabilities in low- and middle-income countries. Yet, evaluation is not a common practice and the evidence for its effectiveness is fragmented and largely insufficient. The objective of this article was to review the literature on best practices in program evaluation in CBR in relation to the evaluative process, the frameworks, and the methods of data collection. Method A systematic search was conducted on five rehabilitation databases and the World Health Organization website with keywords associated with CBR and program evaluation. Two independent researchers selected the articles. Results Twenty-two documents were included. The results suggest that (1) the evaluative process needs to be conducted in close collaboration with the local community, including people with disabilities, and to be followed by sharing the findings and taking actions, (2) many frameworks have been proposed to evaluate CBR but no agreement has been reached, and (3) qualitative methodologies have dominated the scene in CBR so far, but their combination with quantitative methods has a lot of potential to better capture the effectiveness of this strategy. Conclusions In order to facilitate and improve evaluations in CBR, there is an urgent need to agree on a common framework, such as the CBR matrix, and to develop best practice guidelines based on the literature available and consensus among a group of experts. These will need to demonstrate a good balance between community development and standards for effective evaluations. Implications for Rehabilitation In the quest for evidence of the effectiveness of community-based rehabilitation (CBR), a shared program evaluation framework would better enable the combination of findings from different studies. The evaluation of CBR programs should always include sharing findings and taking action for the sake of the local community. Although qualitative methodologies have dominated the scene in CBR and remain highly relevant, there is also a call for the inclusion of quantitative indicators in order to capture the progress made by people participating in CBR programs. The production of best practice guidelines for evaluation in CBR could foster accountable and empowering program evaluations that are congruent with the principles at the heart of CBR and the standards for effective evaluations. PMID:23614357

A CBR-Based and MAHP-Based Customer Value Prediction Model for New Product Development

PubMed Central

Zhao, Yu-Jie; Luo, Xin-xing; Deng, Li

2014-01-01

In the fierce market environment, the enterprise which wants to meet customer needs and boost its market profit and share must focus on the new product development. To overcome the limitations of previous research, Chan et al. proposed a dynamic decision support system to predict the customer lifetime value (CLV) for new product development. However, to better meet the customer needs, there are still some deficiencies in their model, so this study proposes a CBR-based and MAHP-based customer value prediction model for a new product (C&M-CVPM). CBR (case based reasoning) can reduce experts' workload and evaluation time, while MAHP (multiplicative analytic hierarchy process) can use actual but average influencing factor's effectiveness in stimulation, and at same time C&M-CVPM uses dynamic customers' transition probability which is more close to reality. This study not only introduces the realization of CBR and MAHP, but also elaborates C&M-CVPM's three main modules. The application of the proposed model is illustrated and confirmed to be sensible and convincing through a stimulation experiment. PMID:25162050

A CBR-based and MAHP-based customer value prediction model for new product development.

PubMed

Zhao, Yu-Jie; Luo, Xin-xing; Deng, Li

2014-01-01

In the fierce market environment, the enterprise which wants to meet customer needs and boost its market profit and share must focus on the new product development. To overcome the limitations of previous research, Chan et al. proposed a dynamic decision support system to predict the customer lifetime value (CLV) for new product development. However, to better meet the customer needs, there are still some deficiencies in their model, so this study proposes a CBR-based and MAHP-based customer value prediction model for a new product (C&M-CVPM). CBR (case based reasoning) can reduce experts' workload and evaluation time, while MAHP (multiplicative analytic hierarchy process) can use actual but average influencing factor's effectiveness in stimulation, and at same time C&M-CVPM uses dynamic customers' transition probability which is more close to reality. This study not only introduces the realization of CBR and MAHP, but also elaborates C&M-CVPM's three main modules. The application of the proposed model is illustrated and confirmed to be sensible and convincing through a stimulation experiment.

BDNF and AMPA receptors in the cNTS modulate the hyperglycemic reflex after local carotid body NaCN stimulation.

PubMed

Cuéllar, R; Montero, S; Luquín, S; García-Estrada, J; Melnikov, V; Virgen-Ortiz, A; Lemus, M; Pineda-Lemus, M; de Álvarez-Buylla, E

2017-07-01

The application of sodium cyanide (NaCN) to the carotid body receptors (CBR) (CBR stimulation) induces rapid blood hyperglycemia and an increase in brain glucose retention. The commissural nucleus tractus solitarius (cNTS) is an essential relay nucleus in this hyperglycemic reflex; it receives glutamatergic afferents (that also release brain derived neurotrophic factor, BDNF) from the nodose-petrosal ganglia that relays CBR information. Previous work showed that AMPA in NTS blocks hyperglycemia and brain glucose retention after CBR stimulation. In contrast, BDNF, which attenuates glutamatergic AMPA currents in NTS, enhances these glycemic responses. Here we investigated the combined effects of BDNF and AMPA (and their antagonists) in NTS on the glycemic responses to CBR stimulation. Microinjections of BDNF plus AMPA into the cNTS before CBR stimulation in anesthetized rats, induced blood hyperglycemia and an increase in brain arteriovenous (a-v) of blood glucose concentration difference, which we infer is due to increased brain glucose retention. By contrast, the microinjection of the TrkB antagonist K252a plus AMPA abolished the glycemic responses to CBR stimulation similar to what is observed after AMPA pretreatments. In BDNF plus AMPA microinjections preceding CBR stimulation, the number of c-fos immunoreactive cNTS neurons increased. In contrast, in the rats microinjected with K252a plus AMPA in NTS, before CBR stimulation, c-fos expression in cNTS decreased. The expression of AMPA receptors GluR2/3 did not change in any of the studied groups. These results indicate that BDNF in cNTS plays a key role in the modulation of the hyperglycemic reflex initiated by CBR stimulation. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Electronic-projecting Moire method applying CBR-technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuzyakov, O. N.; Lapteva, U. V.; Andreeva, M. A.

2018-01-01

Electronic-projecting method based on Moire effect for examining surface topology is suggested. Conditions of forming Moire fringes and their parameters’ dependence on reference parameters of object and virtual grids are analyzed. Control system structure and decision-making subsystem are elaborated. Subsystem execution includes CBR-technology, based on applying case base. The approach related to analysing and forming decision for each separate local area with consequent formation of common topology map is applied.

Practice guidelines for program evaluation in community-based rehabilitation.

PubMed

Grandisson, Marie; Hébert, Michèle; Thibeault, Rachel

2017-06-01

This paper proposes practice guidelines to evaluate community-based rehabilitation (CBR) programs. These were developed through a rigorous three-phase research process including a literature review on good practices in CBR program evaluation, a field study during which a South Africa CBR program was evaluated, and a Delphi study to generate consensus among a highly credible panel of CBR experts from a wide range of backgrounds and geographical areas. The 10 guidelines developed are summarized into a practice model highlighting key features of sound CBR program evaluation. They strongly indicate that sound CBR evaluations are those that give a voice and as much control as possible to the most affected groups, embrace the challenge of diversity, and foster use of evaluation processes and findings through a rigorous, collaborative and empowering approach. The practice guidelines should facilitate CBR evaluation decisions in respect to facilitating an evaluation process, using frameworks and designing methods. Implications for rehabilitation Ten practice guidelines provide guidance to facilitate sound community-based rehabilitation (CBR) program evaluation decisions. Key indications of good practice include: • being as participatory and empowering as possible; • ensuring that all, including the most affected, have a real opportunity to share their thoughts; • highly considering mixed methods and participatory tools; • adapting to fit evaluation context, local culture and language(s); • defining evaluation questions and reporting findings using shared CBR language when possible, which the framework offered may facilitate.

Developing new scenarios for water allocation negotiations: a case study of the Euphrates River Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jarkeh, Mohammad Reza; Mianabadi, Ameneh; Mianabadi, Hojjat

2016-10-01

Mismanagement and uneven distribution of water may lead to or increase conflict among countries. Allocation of water among trans-boundary river neighbours is a key issue in utilization of shared water resources. The bankruptcy theory is a cooperative Game Theory method which is used when the amount of demand of riparian states is larger than total available water. In this study, we survey the application of seven methods of Classical Bankruptcy Rules (CBRs) including Proportional (CBR-PRO), Adjusted Proportional (CBR-AP), Constrained Equal Awards (CBR-CEA), Constrained Equal Losses (CBR-CEL), Piniles (CBR-Piniles), Minimal Overlap (CBR-MO), Talmud (CBR-Talmud) and four Sequential Sharing Rules (SSRs) including Proportional (SSR-PRO), Constrained Equal Awards (SSR-CEA), Constrained Equal Losses (SSR-CEL) and Talmud (SSR-Talmud) methods in allocation of the Euphrates River among three riparian countries: Turkey, Syria and Iraq. However, there is not a certain documented method to find more equitable allocation rule. Therefore, in this paper, a new method is established for choosing the most appropriate allocating rule which seems to be more equitable than other allocation rules to satisfy the stakeholders. The results reveal that, based on the new propose model, the CBR-AP seems to be more equitable to allocate the Euphrates River water among Turkey, Syria and Iraq.

Do community-based rehabilitation programmes promote the participation of persons with disabilities? A case control study from Mandya District, in India.

PubMed

Biggeri, Mario; Deepak, Sunil; Mauro, Vincenzo; Trani, Jean-Francois; Kumar, Jayanth; Ramasamy, Parthipan

2014-01-01

In this paper, we measure the effectiveness of Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) programmes in promoting the well-being of people with disabilities and removing the barriers to their participation in family and community decision-making processes. To evaluate the impact of the CBR programme, we use data from a large-scale control study in Karnataka, India. Propensity score matching is used to evaluate the impacts on disabled persons after 2, 4 and 7 years of entering the CBR. The theoretical framework for the analysis is based on the CBR guidelines, which are combined with the International Classification of Functionings (ICF), the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (UN CRPD) and Amartya Sen's capability approach. CBR has a positive impact on the well-being of persons with disabilities participating in the programme and particularly on their participation within the family and the society at large. CBR programmes have a multidimensional and positive impact on individual and collective capabilities; on individual, agency and social empowerment. Implications for Rehabilitation Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) can make a lasting difference in the life of persons with disabilities. CBR improves participation and inclusion of persons with disabilities in the family and in the community.

Opportune Landing Site CBR and Low-Density Laboratory Database

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-05-01

Program Opportune Landing Site CBR and Low- Density Laboratory Database Larry S. Danyluk, Sally A. Shoop, Rosa T. Affleck, and Wendy L. Wieder...Opportune Landing Site Program ERDC/CRREL TR-08-9 May 2008 Opportune Landing Site CBR and Low- Density Laboratory Database Larry S. Danyluk, Sally A...reproduce in-situ density , moisture, and CBR values and therefore do not accurately repre- sent the complete range of these values measured in the field

CBR1 rs9024 genotype status impacts the bioactivation of loxoprofen in human liver.

PubMed

Lombraña, Adolfo Quiñones; Li, Nasi; Del Solar, Virginia; Ekin Atilla-Gokcumen, G; Blanco, Javier G

2018-05-31

Loxoprofen is an anti-inflammatory drug that requires bioactivation into the trans-OH metabolite to exert pharmacological activity. Evidence suggests that carbonyl reductase 1 (CBR1) is important during the bioactivation of loxoprofen. Here, we examined the impact of the functional single nucleotide polymorphism CBR1 rs9024 on the bioactivation of loxoprofen in a collection of human liver samples. The synthesis ratios of trans-OH loxoprofen/cis-OH loxoprofen were 33% higher in liver cytosols from donors homozygous for the CBR1 rs9024 G allele in comparison to the ratios in samples from donors with heterozygous GA genotypes. Complementary studies examined the impact of CBR1 rs9024 on the bioactivation of loxoprofen in lymphoblastoid cell lines. CBR1 rs9024 genotype status impacts the synthesis of the bioactive trans-OH metabolite of loxoprofen in human liver. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Performance Prediction Relationships for AM2 Airfield Matting Developed from Full-Scale Accelerated Testing and Laboratory Experimentation

DTIC Science & Technology

2018-01-01

work, the prevailing methods used to predict the performance of AM2 were based on the CBR design procedure for flexible pavements using a small number...suitable for design and evaluation frameworks currently used for airfield pavements and matting systems. DISCLAIMER: The contents of this report...methods used to develop the equivalency curves equated the mat-surfaced area to an equivalent thickness of flexible pavement using the CBR design

Knowledge acquisition for case-based reasoning systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Riesbeck, Christopher K.

1988-01-01

Case-based reasoning (CBR) is a simple idea: solve new problems by adapting old solutions to similar problems. The CBR approach offers several potential advantages over rule-based reasoning: rules are not combined blindly in a search for solutions, solutions can be explained in terms of concrete examples, and performance can improve automatically as new problems are solved and added to the case library. Moving CBR for the university research environment to the real world requires smooth interfaces for getting knowledge from experts. Described are the basic elements of an interface for acquiring three basic bodies of knowledge that any case-based reasoner requires: the case library of problems and their solutions, the analysis rules that flesh out input problem specifications so that relevant cases can be retrieved, and the adaptation rules that adjust old solutions to fit new problems.

In Vitro Evaluation of CBR-2092, a Novel Rifamycin-Quinolone Hybrid Antibiotic: Microbiology Profiling Studies with Staphylococci and Streptococci ▿

PubMed Central

Robertson, Gregory T.; Bonventre, Eric J.; Doyle, Timothy B.; Du, Qun; Duncan, Leonard; Morris, Timothy W.; Roche, Eric D.; Yan, Dalai; Lynch, A. Simon

2008-01-01

We present data from antimicrobial assays performed in vitro that pertain to the potential clinical utility of a novel rifamycin-quinolone hybrid antibiotic, CBR-2092, for the treatment of infections mediated by gram-positive cocci. The MIC90s for CBR-2092 against 300 clinical isolates of staphylococci and streptococci ranged from 0.008 to 0.5 μg/ml. Against Staphylococcus aureus, CBR-2092 exhibited prolonged postantibiotic effects (PAEs) and sub-MIC effects (SMEs), with values of 3.2, 6.5, and >8.5 h determined for the PAE (3× MIC), SME (0.12× MIC), and PAE-SME (3× MIC/0.12× MIC) periods, respectively. Studies of genetically defined mutants of S. aureus indicate that CBR-2092 is not a substrate for the NorA or MepA efflux pumps. In minimal bactericidal concentration and time-kill studies, CBR-2092 exhibited bactericidal activity against staphylococci that was retained against rifampin- or intermediate quinolone-resistant strains, with apparent paradoxical cidal characteristics against rifampin-resistant strains. In spontaneous resistance studies, CBR-2092 exhibited activity consistent with balanced contributions from its composite pharmacophores, with a mutant prevention concentration of 0.12 μg/ml and a resistance frequency of <10−12 determined at 1 μg/ml in agar for S. aureus. Similarly, CBR-2092 suppressed the emergence of preexisting rifamycin resistance in time-kill studies undertaken at a high cell density. In studies of the intracellular killing of S. aureus, CBR-2092 exhibited prolonged bactericidal activity that was superior to the activities of moxifloxacin, rifampin, and a cocktail of moxifloxacin and rifampin. Overall, CBR-2092 exhibited promising activity in a range of antimicrobial assays performed in vitro that pertain to properties relevant to the effective treatment of serious infections mediated by gram-positive cocci. PMID:18443106

A scoping review of 10 years of published literature on community-based rehabilitation.

PubMed

Cleaver, Shaun; Nixon, Stephanie

2014-01-01

To identify the characteristics of peer-reviewed literature on community-based rehabilitation (CBR) in low- and middle-income countries published in English from 2003 to 2012. This scoping review involved a systematic search of electronic databases using specific keyword/subject heading combinations. Journal articles were included if they were published in English, used "CBR" as related to rehabilitation with persons with disabilities and not limited to high-income countries (HICs). Data were charted according to both pre-determined and emergent categories. A subset of articles was charted by two reviewers to ensure reliability of variables. A total of 114 articles were included. Fifty-two articles presented empirical research and 49 were published in one of two journals. The articles represented CBR activity in 26 specific countries, although only two of these were in Europe and only one was in the Americas. Authors were predominantly affiliated at universities and in HICs. This scoping review identified and characterized a large pool of literature on CBR, facilitating its incorporation into research and practice. Future research should examine the engagement of persons with disabilities in creating CBR literature, and analysis of literature in languages other than English. Implications for Rehabilitation Community-based rehabilitation (CBR) has been promoted as a rehabilitation strategy of choice in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), but it has been critiqued for lack of an evidence base. A large number (114) of peer-reviewed articles were published on CBR between 2003 and 2012. Just under half of these articles (45%) presented empirical research, indicating that the evidence base for CBR is growing but will benefit from continued, rigorous inquiry. Furthermore, researchers from LMICs appear to be largely under-represented in published CBR research, flagging the need to support LMIC partners to share their CBR research in peer-reviewed journals.

Localization of CiCBR in the invertebrate chordate Ciona intestinalis: evidence of an ancient role for cannabinoid receptors as axonal regulators of neuronal signalling.

PubMed

Egertová, Michaela; Elphick, Maurice R

2007-06-01

CiCBR is a G-protein-coupled receptor in the sea-squirt Ciona intestinalis and the first ortholog of vertebrate CB(1) and CB(2) cannabinoid receptors to be identified in an invertebrate (Elphick et al. [2003] Gene 302:95-101). Here we have used Western blotting and immunocytochemistry to examine expression of CiCBR in adult Ciona, employing novel antibodies to the C-terminal tail of CiCBR. Consistent with the expected mass for CiCBR, a approximately 47-kDa band was detected in Ciona membranes, and immunocytochemical analysis of serial sections of Ciona revealed intense immunoreactivity in the cerebral ganglion localised in a dense meshwork of fibers in the neuropile. Accordingly, Western blot analysis of neural complex homogenates revealed the presence of a approximately 47-kDa band. CiCBR immunoreactivity was also observed in axons exiting the ganglion in the anterior and posterior nerves, and analysis of whole-mount preparations revealed that these axons project over the interior surface of the oral and atrial siphons. Isolated CiCBR-immunoreactive axons not associated with the anterior and posterior nerves were observed projecting through the cortical layer of the cerebral ganglion. Central and peripheral CiCBR-immunoreactive fibers were studded with intensely stained varicosities, indicative of a role for CiCBR in regulation of axonal release of neurotransmitters, neuromodulators, or neurohormones. Collectively, our data suggest that the well-established role that the CB(1) receptor has as an axonal regulator of neurotransmitter release in mammals may have originated with ancestral-type cannabinoid receptors in invertebrate chordates before the emergence of CB(1)- and CB(2)-type receptors in vertebrates. (c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

An emancipatory research on CBR and the barriers faced by persons with disabilities.

PubMed

Deepak, Sunil; Kumar, Jayanth; Ramasamy, Parthipan; Griffo, Giampiero

2014-01-01

Abstract Purpose: The aim of this research was to understand the barriers faced by persons with disabilities in their daily lives and the role of CBR projects in overcoming them. A group of persons with disabilities involved in CBR activities was identified and trained in participatory research methodologies. Research was carried out, with support from a scientific advisory group, through sharing of life stories in residential meetings focusing on specific themes. These meetings were attended by 368 persons with disabilities. The barriers identified ranged from isolation, neglect, abuse and violence to lack of access to social, health, education and livelihood opportunities. People faced their first barriers in their own families. Families also played an important role in overcoming some barriers at the individual level. CBR projects assisted people in overcoming barriers mainly by providing information, by facilitating access to existing support and by helping persons in communities to take collective action against the barriers. The research also stimulated DPOs and CBR projects to identify some gaps in tackling the barriers and to start action to overcome them. CBR projects can play a role in overcoming some barriers faced by persons with disabilities. Emancipatory research yields rich data, facilitates ownership and possibly future sustainability. Implications for Rehabilitation Community-based rehabilitation (CBR) programmes can promote mainstreaming and helping in overcoming some barriers faced by persons with disabilities in the communities. CBR programmes can facilitate collective action by persons with disabilities in overcoming barriers to inclusion and participation. Participatory research approaches such as emancipatory research can play a role in understanding disability issues and at the same time, help CBR programmes to identify gaps and strengthen activities.

The complex Chukchi Borderland region as part of the Arctic Alaska extended margin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saltus, R.; Hutchinson, D. R.; Miller, E. L.

2017-12-01

The Chukchi Borderland region (CBR; includes the Chukchi Plateau and its surrounding component elevations) is a physiographically complex and somewhat enigmatic seafloor high adjacent to the broad Chukchi Shelf in the Alaska/Chukotka quadrant of the Amerasian Basin beneath the Arctic Ocean. The CBR includes several physiographic sub-components including the relatively high-standing Northwind Ridge and Northwind Plain as well as a lower-standing northern region (here called the North Chukchi Component Elevation or NCCE) that consists of several un-named knolls, ramps, and benches. The CBR shows numerous N-S physiographic features including ridges and escarpments related to extension. The CBR adjoins the Chukchi Shelf to the south, abuts the Canada Basin to the east, and is separated on the west and north from the Mendeleev and Alpha Ridges by the Chukchi Plain, the Mendeleev Plain, and the Nautilus Basin. Available geophysical data, comparative physiography/geomorphology, and geologic analysis show that the CBR is continuous with Arctic Alaska and the adjoining Chukchi Shelf. CBR, Arctic Alaska, and the Chukchi Shelf share common early Paleozoic basement elements as well as Ellesmerian and younger cover sequences. The CBR owes its complex physiographic and structural character to its central location relative to the multiple extensional domains associated with the multi-stage rift formation of the Amerasian Basin, large igneous province-influenced volcanism associated with the Alpha and Mendeleev regions on the north and west, and hyper-extension of continental crust to the east in the deep Canada Basin. The CBR is often portrayed as an independent tectonic element within Arctic tectonic reconstructions, but we argue that models for the formation of the Amerasian Basin should include the CBR as an integral component of the Arctic Alaska microplate.

The Student Experience of Community-Based Research: An Autoethnography

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ingman, Benjamin C.

2016-01-01

This autoethnography provides a description and thematic illustration of the student experience of a community-based research (CBR) course and partnership. Through evaluating personal experiences with CBR, the author identified three qualities of meaningful CBR experiences: trust, indeterminacy, and emotion. These qualities are explored, and…

Community-Based Research Assessments: Some Principles and Practices.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marullo, Sam; Cooke, Deanna; Willis, Jason; Rollins, Alexandra; Burke, Jacqueline; Bonilla, Paul; Waldref, Vanessa

2003-01-01

Examines benefits and challenges of undertaking assessments in community-based research (CBR). Such assessments are compared and contrasted to more traditional research processes. Further, the challenges of integrating CBR assessments into an ongoing social change initiative are analyzed. Five principles to guide CBR assessments are articulated. A…

Antimicrobial Resources for Disinfection of Potable Water Systems for Future Spacecraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morford, Megan A.; Birmele, Michele; Roberts, Michael S.

2012-01-01

As human exploration adventures beyond low earth orbit, life support systems will require more innovation and research to become self-sustaining and durable. One major concern about future space travel is the ability to store and decontaminate water for consumption and hygiene. This project explores materials and technologies for possible use in future water systems without requiring point-of-use (POU) filtering or chemical additives such as iodine or silver that require multiple doses to remain effective. This experimentation tested the efficacy of a variety of antimicrobial materials against biofilm formation in a high shear CDC Biofilm Reactor (CBR) and some materials in a low shear Drip Flow Reactor (DFR) which(also utilizes ultra violet light emitting diodes (UVLEDs) as an antimicrobial resource. Most materials were tested in the CBR using the ASTM E 2562-07 1method involving the Pseudomonas aeruginosa and coupon samples that vary in their antimicrobial coatings and surface layer topographies. In a controlled environmental chamber (CEC), the CBR underwent a batch phase, continuous flow phase (CFP), and a harvest before analysis. The DFR portion of this experimentation was performed in order to assess the antimicrobial capabilities of ultraviolet-A LEDs (UV-A) in potable water systems. The ASTM E 2647-08 was modified in order to incorporate UV-A LEDs and to operate as a closed, re-circulating system. The modified DFR apparatus that was utilized contains 4 separate channels each of which contain 2 UV-A LEDs (1 chamber is masked off to serve as a control) and each channel is equipped with its own reservoir and peristaltic pump head. The 10 DFR runs discussed in this report include 4 initial experimental runs that contained blank microscope slides to test the UVA LEDs alone, 2 that incorporated solid silver coupons, 2 that utilized titanium dioxide (Ti02) coupons as a photocatalyst, and 2 runs that utilized silver coated acrylic slides. Both the CBR and DFR experiments were analyzed for microbial content via heterotrophic plate counts (HPC) and acridine orange direct counts (AODC). Ofthe materials used in the CBR, only two materials performed as antiicrobials under high shear conditions (a reduction of 5 or more logs) showing a>7 log reduction in viable microbes.

Community-Based Approaches for Individuals with Mental Handicap: An African Experience.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brouilette, Ron; Mariga, Lilian

This booklet addresses issues concerning community-based rehabilitation (CBR) services for people with mental handicaps, especially in Africa. The first section explains CBR services, with subsections on overcoming exclusion, a definition, normalization and community participation, family participation, CBR and mental handicap projects in Africa,…

Molecular imaging of human tumor cells that naturally overexpress type 2 cannabinoid receptors using a quinolone-based near-infrared fluorescent probe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Zhiyuan; Shao, Pin; Zhang, Shaojuan; Ling, Xiaoxi; Bai, Mingfeng

2014-07-01

Cannabinoid CB2 receptors (CB2R) hold promise as therapeutic targets for treating diverse diseases, such as cancers, neurodegenerative diseases, pain, inflammation, osteoporosis, psychiatric disorders, addiction, and immune disorders. However, the fundamental role of CBR in the regulation of diseases remains unclear, largely due to a lack of reliable imaging tools for the receptors. The goal of this study was to develop a CBR-targeted molecular imaging probe and evaluate the specificity of the probe using human tumor cells that naturally overexpress CBR. To synthesize the CBR-targeted probe (NIR760-Q), a conjugable CBR ligand based on the quinolone structure was first prepared, followed by bioconjugation with a near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent dye, NIR760. In vitro fluorescence imaging and competitive binding studies showed higher uptake of NIR760-Q than free NIR760 dye in Jurkat human acute T-lymphoblastic leukemia cells. In addition, the high uptake of NIR760-Q was significantly inhibited by the blocking agent, 4-quinolone-3-carboxamide, indicating specific binding of NIR760-Q to the target receptors. These results indicate that the NIR760-Q has potential in diagnostic imaging of CBR positive cancers and elucidating the role of CBR in the regulation of disease progression.

Community based rehabilitation: Does it really improve the level of productivity among persons with physical disabilities?

PubMed

Moniruzzaman; Saha, Palash Chandra; Habib, Md Monjurul

2015-01-01

The Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) is a common approach to work with disable people to improve their quality of life by improving the level of productivity and integrating them into society. But the effectiveness of CBR varies by country to country. The aim of the study was to find out whether CBR programs really improved the level of productivity among persons with physical disabilities. A cross-sectional study was conducted among equal number of respondents (n=51) from each CBR coverage and non-coverage areas from two different upazilla (sub-districts) located 40 km away from the capital city of Bangladesh. Respondents were selected purposively and data were collected by face to face interviews. Willer's (1994) version of the Community Integration Questionnaire (CIQ) was used to measure the level of productivity among adult with physical disabilities. The mean score of total productivity integration in CBR coverage and non-coverage areas were 4.3 ± 2.4 and 4.5 ± 2.2 respectively. This difference was statistically non-significant (p=0.602).The levels of productivity integration between CBR coverage and non-coverage areas varied only 2-4% (p=0.793). The mean score of productivity integration and levels of productivity were not different significantly in CBR coverage and non-coverage areas.

Estimation of the monthly average daily solar radiation using geographic information system and advanced case-based reasoning.

PubMed

Koo, Choongwan; Hong, Taehoon; Lee, Minhyun; Park, Hyo Seon

2013-05-07

The photovoltaic (PV) system is considered an unlimited source of clean energy, whose amount of electricity generation changes according to the monthly average daily solar radiation (MADSR). It is revealed that the MADSR distribution in South Korea has very diverse patterns due to the country's climatic and geographical characteristics. This study aimed to develop a MADSR estimation model for the location without the measured MADSR data, using an advanced case based reasoning (CBR) model, which is a hybrid methodology combining CBR with artificial neural network, multiregression analysis, and genetic algorithm. The average prediction accuracy of the advanced CBR model was very high at 95.69%, and the standard deviation of the prediction accuracy was 3.67%, showing a significant improvement in prediction accuracy and consistency. A case study was conducted to verify the proposed model. The proposed model could be useful for owner or construction manager in charge of determining whether or not to introduce the PV system and where to install it. Also, it would benefit contractors in a competitive bidding process to accurately estimate the electricity generation of the PV system in advance and to conduct an economic and environmental feasibility study from the life cycle perspective.

Framework for the mapping of the monthly average daily solar radiation using an advanced case-based reasoning and a geostatistical technique.

PubMed

Lee, Minhyun; Koo, Choongwan; Hong, Taehoon; Park, Hyo Seon

2014-04-15

For the effective photovoltaic (PV) system, it is necessary to accurately determine the monthly average daily solar radiation (MADSR) and to develop an accurate MADSR map, which can simplify the decision-making process for selecting the suitable location of the PV system installation. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a framework for the mapping of the MADSR using an advanced case-based reasoning (CBR) and a geostatistical technique. The proposed framework consists of the following procedures: (i) the geographic scope for the mapping of the MADSR is set, and the measured MADSR and meteorological data in the geographic scope are collected; (ii) using the collected data, the advanced CBR model is developed; (iii) using the advanced CBR model, the MADSR at unmeasured locations is estimated; and (iv) by applying the measured and estimated MADSR data to the geographic information system, the MADSR map is developed. A practical validation was conducted by applying the proposed framework to South Korea. It was determined that the MADSR map developed through the proposed framework has been improved in terms of accuracy. The developed MADSR map can be used for estimating the MADSR at unmeasured locations and for determining the optimal location for the PV system installation.

[Reflections on community-based rehabilitation strategy (CBR): the experience of a CBR program in Bolivia].

PubMed

Díaz-Aristizabal, Urko; Sanz-Victoria, Silvia; Sahonero-Daza, Milton; Ledesma-Ocampo, Sandra; Cachimuel-Vinueza, Mesías; Torrico, Marisabel

2012-01-01

Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) is a strategy for community development endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Labor Office (ILO) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It is designed to promote rehabilitation, equal opportunity and social inclusion of Disabled Persons (DP) in their home communities by fostering cooperation among disabled individuals, their families, and other concerned social actors, it encourages community leadership and full social participation by DP through multi-sector cooperation. This article explores the historical antecedents and basic features of CBR strategy through an analysis of a directed culture change initiative developed by a foundation in the Cochabamba administrative region of Bolivia. Especially in intercultural environments, certain aspects of the socio-cultural context may determine whether CBR programs succeed or fail.

Do observed or perceived characteristics of the neighborhood environment mediate associations between neighborhood poverty and cumulative biological risk?

PubMed Central

Schulz, Amy J.; Mentz, Graciela; Lachance, Laurie; Zenk, Shannon N.; Johnson, Jonetta; Stokes, Carmen; Mandell, Rebecca

2013-01-01

Objective To examine contributions of observed and perceived neighborhood characteristics in explaining associations between neighborhood poverty and cumulative biological risk (CBR) in an urban community. Methods Multilevel regression analyses were conducted using cross-sectional data from a probability sample survey (n=919), and observational and census data. Dependent variable: CBR. Independent variables: Neighborhood disorder, deterioration and characteristics; perceived neighborhood social environment, physical environment, and neighborhood environment. Covariates: Neighborhood and individual demographics, health-related behaviors. Results Observed and perceived indicators of neighborhood conditions were significantly associated with CBR, after accounting for both neighborhood and individual level socioeconomic indicators. Observed and perceived neighborhood environmental conditions mediated associations between neighborhood poverty and CBR. Conclusions Findings were consistent with the hypothesis that neighborhood conditions associated with economic divestment mediate associations between neighborhood poverty and CBR. PMID:24100238

A prototype case-based reasoning human assistant for space crew assessment and mission management

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Owen, Robert B.; Holland, Albert W.; Wood, Joanna

1993-01-01

We present a prototype human assistant system for space crew assessment and mission management. Our system is based on case episodes from American and Russian space missions and analog environments such as polar stations and undersea habitats. The general domain of small groups in isolated and confined environments represents a near ideal application area for case-based reasoning (CBR) - there are few reliable rules to follow, and most domain knowledge is in the form of cases. We define the problem domain and outline a unique knowledge representation system driven by conflict and communication triggers. The prototype system is able to represent, index, and retrieve case studies of human performance. We index by social, behavioral, and environmental factors. We present the problem domain, our current implementation, our research approach for an operational system, and prototype performance and results.

The advanced cosmic microwave explorer - A millimeter-wave telescope and stabilized platform

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Meinhold, P. R.; Chingcuanco, A. O.; Gundersen, J. O.; Schuster, J. A.; Seiffert, M. D.; Lubin, P. M.; Morris, D.; Villela, T.

1993-01-01

We have developed and flown a 1 m diameter Gregorian telescope system for measurements of anisotropy in the Cosmic Background Radiation (CBR). The telescope is incorporated in a balloon-borne stabilized platform with arcminute stabilization capability. To date, the system has flown four times and observed from the ground at the South Pole twice. The telescope has used both coherent and incoherent detectors. We describe the development of the telescope, pointing platform, and one of the receivers employed in making measurements of the CBR. Performance of the system during the first flight and operation on the ground at the South Pole are described, and the quality of the South Pole as a millimeter wave observing site is discussed.

Cytochrome b5 Reductase 1 Triggers Serial Reactions that Lead to Iron Uptake in Plants.

PubMed

Oh, Young Jun; Kim, Hanul; Seo, Sung Hee; Hwang, Bae Geun; Chang, Yoon Seok; Lee, Junho; Lee, Dong Wook; Sohn, Eun Ju; Lee, Sang Joon; Lee, Youngsook; Hwang, Inhwan

2016-04-04

Rhizosphere acidification is essential for iron (Fe) uptake into plant roots. Plasma membrane (PM) H(+)-ATPases play key roles in rhizosphere acidification. However, it is not fully understood how PM H(+)-ATPase activity is regulated to enhance root Fe uptake under Fe-deficient conditions. Here, we present evidence that cytochrome b5 reductase 1 (CBR1) increases the levels of unsaturated fatty acids, which stimulate PM H(+)-ATPase activity and thus lead to rhizosphere acidification. CBR1-overexpressing (CBR1-OX) Arabidopsis thaliana plants had higher levels of unsaturated fatty acids (18:2 and 18:3), higher PM H(+)-ATPase activity, and lower rhizosphere pH than wild-type plants. By contrast, cbr1 loss-of-function mutant plants showed lower levels of unsaturated fatty acids and lower PM H(+)-ATPase activity but higher rhizosphere pH. Reduced PM H(+)-ATPase activity in cbr1 could be restored in vitro by addition of unsaturated fatty acids. Transcript levels of CBR1, fatty acids desaturase2 (FAD2), and fatty acids desaturase3 (FAD3) were increased under Fe-deficient conditions. We propose that CBR1 has a crucial role in increasing the levels of unsaturated fatty acids, which activate the PM H(+)-ATPase and thus reduce rhizosphere pH. This reaction cascade ultimately promotes root Fe uptake. Copyright © 2016 The Author. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effect of carbon tetrabromide on the morphology of GaAs nanowires.

PubMed

Salehzadeh, O; Watkins, S P

2011-04-22

Carbon is a commonly used p-type dopant in planar III-V semiconductors, however its use in nanowire (NW) growth has been much less reported. In this work we show that the morphology of gold assisted GaAs NWs can be strongly modified by the presence of CBr(4) vapor during growth by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy. GaAs NWs were grown under conditions which result in strong tapering and lateral growth at low growth temperatures by the use of triethylgallium (TEGa) instead of the more usual precursor, trimethylgallium (TMGa). Under these conditions, NWs grown in the presence of CBr(4) exhibit higher axial and lower radial growth rates, and negligible tapering compared with NWs grown in the absence of CBr(4) under the same conditions. We attribute this primarily to the suppression of the 2d growth rate by CBr(4), which enhances the axial growth rate of the nanowires. NWs grown with CBr(4) show stacking-fault-free zincblende structure, while the NWs grown without CBr(4) show a high density of stacking faults. This work underlines the striking effects which precursor chemistry can have on nanowire morphology.

A ternary metal binding site in the C2 domain of phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C-delta1.

PubMed

Essen, L O; Perisic, O; Lynch, D E; Katan, M; Williams, R L

1997-03-11

We have determined the crystal structures of complexes of phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C-delta1 from rat with calcium, barium, and lanthanum at 2.5-2.6 A resolution. Binding of these metal ions is observed in the active site of the catalytic TIM barrel and in the calcium binding region (CBR) of the C2 domain. The C2 domain of PLC-delta1 is a circularly permuted topological variant (P-variant) of the synaptotagmin I C2A domain (S-variant). On the basis of sequence analysis, we propose that both the S-variant and P-variant topologies are present among other C2 domains. Multiple adjacent binding sites in the C2 domain were observed for calcium and the other metal/enzyme complexes. The maximum number of binding sites observed was for the calcium analogue lanthanum. This complex shows an array-like binding of three lanthanum ions (sites I-III) in a crevice on one end of the C2 beta-sandwich. Residues involved in metal binding are contained in three loops, CBR1, CBR2, and CBR3. Sites I and II are maintained in the calcium and barium complexes, whereas sites II and III coincide with a binary calcium binding site in the C2A domain of synaptotagmin I. Several conformers for CBR1 are observed. The conformation of CBR1 does not appear to be strictly dependent on metal binding; however, metal binding may stabilize certain conformers. No significant structural changes are observed for CBR2 or CBR3. The surface of this ternary binding site provides a cluster of freely accessible liganding positions for putative phospholipid ligands of the C2 domain. It may be that the ternary metal binding site is also a feature of calcium-dependent phospholipid binding in solution. A ternary metal binding site might be a conserved feature among C2 domains that contain the critical calcium ligands in their CBR's. The high cooperativity of calcium-mediated lipid binding by C2 domains described previously is explained by this novel type of calcium binding site.

Observation of Dihalide Elimination Upon Electron Attachment to Oxalyl Chloride and Oxalyl Bromide, 300-550 K

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-05-10

fragment CC120 and bromine The positive ion chemistry of oxalyl chloride has been analog CBrO. Total energies, enthalpies, and zero-point energy ( ZPE ...that Ar+ reacting with oxalyl bromide produced System G3a G2 b 70% CBrO+ and 30% Br+. trants-C2C1202(C2h, Ag) ZPE 0.019 93 0.019 93 COMPUTATIONAL...secondary ZPE 0.01708 0.01708 ions were carried out using the G3 compound method, pri- Total energy (0 K) -1146.717 00 -1145.904 66 marily in order to

Application of woven tires waste as soft clay subgrade reinforcement for preventing highway structural failure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Apriyono, Arwan; Sumiyanto, Gusmawan, Dadan Deri

2017-03-01

This study presents the application of woven waste tires as soft clay subgrade reinforcement for preventing highway structural failure, reducing construction cost and minimizing environmental hazards associated with the increasingly large amount of waste tires in Indonesia. To his end, we performed experiments using five stripe distance variations of woven tires - i.e. 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5 and 4 cm. Five soft clay samples were made and each was reinforced using each of these woven tires. The California Bearing Ratio (CBR) test was conducted on each softclay sample and the CBR value was determined from the stress on the displacement of 0.10 and 0.20 inch. The correlation between CBR value and strip distance was used to infer the optimum woven tires strip distance, indicated by the largest CBR value. The result suggests that the strip distance of 3 cm is optimum with corresponding CBR value of ˜20%, which is 115% increase compared to softclay without reinforcement.

Role of central command in carotid baroreflex resetting in humans during static exercise

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ogoh, S.; Wasmund, W. L.; Keller, D. M.; O-Yurvati, A.; Gallagher, K. M.; Mitchell, J. H.; Raven, P. B.

2002-01-01

The purpose of the experiments was to examine the role of central command in the exercise-induced resetting of the carotid baroreflex. Eight subjects performed 30 % maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) static knee extension and flexion with manipulation of central command (CC) by patellar tendon vibration (PTV). The same subjects also performed static knee extension and flexion exercise without PTV at a force development that elicited the same ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) as those observed during exercise with PTV in order to assess involvement of the exercise pressor reflex. Carotid baroreflex (CBR) function curves were modelled from the heart rate (HR) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) responses to rapid changes in neck pressure and suction during steady state static exercise. Knee extension exercise with PTV (decreased CC activation) reset the CBR-HR and CBR-MAP to a lower operating pressure (P < 0.05) and knee flexion exercise with PTV (increased CC activation) reset the CBR-HR and CBR-MAP to a higher operating pressure (P < 0.05). Comparison between knee extension and flexion exercise at the same RPE with and without PTV found no difference in the resetting of the CBR-HR function curves (P > 0.05) suggesting the response was determined primarily by CC activation. However, the CBR-MAP function curves were reset to operating pressures determined by both exercise pressor reflex (EPR) and central command activation. Thus the physiological response to exercise requires CC activation to reset the carotid-cardiac reflex but requires either CC or EPR to reset the carotid-vasomotor reflex.

Outcomes and impact of community-based rehabilitation programmes in Chinese communities.

PubMed

Chung, Eva Y; Packer, Tanya L

2017-04-01

To identify the most common and most valued outcomes of community-based rehabilitation (CBR) in Chinese communities and to map these to the CBR evaluation framework. A multiple, embedded case study design was used. Four CBR programmes in China met the criteria for inclusion and participated. Data collection, via participant "story telling", followed the procedures of the most significant change technique (MSC) over a period for five months. Content analysis with thematic coding was used to detect the common significant changes described in "top-rated" stories and in the entire pool of stories. Meta-analysis using the CBR framework was carried out to enrich the understanding of programme outcomes. A total of 101 stories were collected in the two rounds of story collection from the four programmes. Aggregated results demonstrated that, across all programmes, 78.21% of stories focused on changes in people with disabilities, 9.9% described aspects of programme development, 8.91% reported on outcomes related to CBR workers, and only 2.97% were focused on advocacy. When mapped against the elements of the CBR framework the MSCs among these four programmes were (1) psychosocial changes, (2) increased family participation and (3) improved physical functioning. CBR practice in Chinese communities remains orientated towards an approach of functional rehabilitation rather than community-based inclusive development. Implications for rehabilitation Community-based rehabilitation is a strategy for community-based inclusive development. Commonly reported significant outcomes of community-based rehabilitation programmes in China focus on changes in psychosocial and physical status of people with disabilities and family participation. Community-based rehabilitation in China continues to focus on traditional rehabilitation. New efforts and directions are needed to also include goals of equity and community inclusion. Further efforts to promote the use of CBR guideline with the goal of facilitating inclusion and equal participation are strongly recommended.

Decolorization of acid, disperse and reactive dyes by Trametes versicolor CBR43.

PubMed

Yang, Seung-Ok; Sodaneath, Hong; Lee, Jung-In; Jung, Hyekyeng; Choi, Jin-Hee; Ryu, Hee Wook; Cho, Kyung-Suk

2017-07-29

The mycoremediation has been considered as a promising method for decolorizing dye wastewater. To explore new bioresource for mycoremediation, a new white-rot fungus that could decolorize various dyes commonly used in textile industries was isolated, and its ligninolytic enzyme activity and decolorization capacity were characterized. The isolated CBR43 was identified as Trametes versicolor based on the morphological properties of its fruit body and spores, as well as through partial 18S rDNA gene sequences. Isolated CBR43 displayed high activities of laccase and Mn-dependent peroxidase, whereas its lignin peroxidase activity was relatively low. These ligninolytic enzyme activities in potato dextrose broth (PDB) medium were enhanced by the addition of yeast extract (1-10 g L -1 ). In particular, lignin peroxidase activity was increased more than 5 times in the PDB medium amended with 10 g L -1 of yeast extract. The CBR43 decolorized more than 90% of 200 mg L -1 acid dyes (red 114, blue 62 and black 172) and reactive dyes (red 120, blue 4, orange 16 and black 5) within 6 days in the PDB medium. CBR43 decolorized 67% of 200 mg L -1 acid orange 7 within 9 days. The decolorization efficiencies for disperse dyes (red 1, orange 3 and black 1) were 51-80% within 9 days. The CBR43 could effectively decolorize high concentrations of acid blue 62 and acid black 172 (500-700 mg L -1 ). The maximum dye decolorization rate was obtained at 28°C, pH 5, and 150 rpm in the PDB medium. T. versicolor CBR43 had high laccase and Mn-dependent peroxidase activities, and could decolorize a wide variety of dyes such as acid, disperse and reactive textile dyes. This fungus had decolorizing activities of azo-type dyes as well as anthraquinone-type dyes. T. versicolor CBR43 is one of promising bioresources for the decolorization of textile wastewater including various dyes.

Mechanism for CARMIL Protein Inhibition of Heterodimeric Actin-capping Protein*

PubMed Central

Kim, Taekyung; Ravilious, Geoffrey E.; Sept, David; Cooper, John A.

2012-01-01

Capping protein (CP) controls the polymerization of actin filaments by capping their barbed ends. In lamellipodia, CP dissociates from the actin cytoskeleton rapidly, suggesting the possible existence of an uncapping factor, for which the protein CARMIL (capping protein, Arp2/3 and myosin-I linker) is a candidate. CARMIL binds to CP via two motifs. One, the CP interaction (CPI) motif, is found in a number of unrelated proteins; the other motif is unique to CARMILs, the CARMIL-specific interaction motif. A 115-aa CARMIL fragment of CARMIL with both motifs, termed the CP-binding region (CBR), binds to CP with high affinity, inhibits capping, and causes uncapping. We wanted to understand the structural basis for this function. We used a collection of mutants affecting the actin-binding surface of CP to test the possibility of a steric-blocking model, which remained open because a region of CBR was not resolved in the CBR/CP co-crystal structure. The CP actin-binding mutants bound CBR normally. In addition, a CBR mutant with all residues of the unresolved region changed showed nearly normal binding to CP. Having ruled out a steric blocking model, we tested an allosteric model with molecular dynamics. We found that CBR binding induces changes in the conformation of the actin-binding surface of CP. In addition, ∼30-aa truncations on the actin-binding surface of CP decreased the affinity of CBR for CP. Thus, CARMIL promotes uncapping by binding to a freely accessible site on CP bound to a filament barbed end and inducing a change in the conformation of the actin-binding surface of CP. PMID:22411988

Effect of sex and ovarian hormones on carotid baroreflex resetting and function during dynamic exercise in humans

PubMed Central

Kim, Areum; Deo, Shekhar H.; Fisher, James P.

2012-01-01

To date, no studies have examined whether there are either sex- or ovarian hormone-related alterations in arterial baroreflex resetting and function during dynamic exercise. Thus we studied 16 young men and 18 young women at rest and during leg cycling at 50% heart rate (HR) reserve. In addition, 10 women were studied at three different phases of the menstrual cycle. Five-second pulses of neck pressure (NP) and neck suction (NS) from +40 to −80 Torr were applied to determine full carotid baroreflex (CBR) stimulus response curves. An upward and rightward resetting of the CBR function curve was observed during exercise in all groups with a similar magnitude of CBR resetting for mean arterial pressure (MAP) and HR between sexes (P > 0.05) and at different phases of the menstrual cycle (P > 0.05). For CBR control of MAP, women exhibited augmented pressor responses to NP at rest and exercise during mid-luteal compared with early and late follicular phases. For CBR control of HR, there was a greater bradycardic response to NS in women across all menstrual cycle phases with the operating point (OP) located further away from centering point (CP) on the CBR-HR curve during rest (OP-CP; in mmHg: −13 ± 3 women vs. −3 ± 3 men; P < 0.05) and exercise (in mmHg: −31 ± 2 women vs. −15 ± 3 men; P < 0.05). Collectively, these findings suggest that sex and fluctuations in ovarian hormones do not influence exercise resetting of the baroreflex. However, women exhibited greater CBR control of HR during exercise, specifically against acute hypertension, an effect that was present throughout the menstrual cycle. PMID:22267388

THE SCATTERING OF K AND Cs BY SEVERAL COMPOUNDS.

DTIC Science & Technology

The nonreactive scattering of K from C10H16, (CH3)3CBr, SiCl4 , Cl2, Br2, I2, ICl, (CN)2C=C(CN)2, and Cs from HBr has been studied in experiments with... SiCl4 , and Cs + HBr and also from the supernumerary rainbows for K + C10H16 and (CH3)3CBr. An optical model analysis on K+(CH3)3CBr and Cs + HBr

An ontological case base engineering methodology for diabetes management.

PubMed

El-Sappagh, Shaker H; El-Masri, Samir; Elmogy, Mohammed; Riad, A M; Saddik, Basema

2014-08-01

Ontology engineering covers issues related to ontology development and use. In Case Based Reasoning (CBR) system, ontology plays two main roles; the first as case base and the second as domain ontology. However, the ontology engineering literature does not provide adequate guidance on how to build, evaluate, and maintain ontologies. This paper proposes an ontology engineering methodology to generate case bases in the medical domain. It mainly focuses on the research of case representation in the form of ontology to support the case semantic retrieval and enhance all knowledge intensive CBR processes. A case study on diabetes diagnosis case base will be provided to evaluate the proposed methodology.

Stabilization of Black Cotton Soil Using Micro-fine Slag

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shukla, Rajesh Prasad; Parihar, Niraj Singh

2016-09-01

This work presents the results of laboratory tests conducted on black cotton soil mixed with micro-fine slag. Different proportions of micro-fine slag, i.e., 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15 % were mixed with the black cotton soil to improve soil characteristics. The improvement in the characteristics of stabilized soil was assessed by evaluating the changes in the physical and strength parameters of the soil, namely, the Atterberg limits, free swell, the California Bearing Ratio (CBR), compaction parameters and Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS). The mixing of micro-fine slag decreases the liquid limit, plasticity index and Optimum Moisture Contents (OMC) of the soil. Micro-fine slag significantly increases the plastic limit, UCS and CBR of the soil up to 6-7 % mixing, but mixing of more slag led to decrease in the UCS and CBR of the soil. The unsoaked CBR increased by a substantial amount unlike soaked CBR value. The swell potential of the soil is reduced from medium to very low. The optimum amount of micro-fine slag is found to be approximately 6-7 % by the weight of the soil.

Ontology-Based Method for Fault Diagnosis of Loaders.

PubMed

Xu, Feixiang; Liu, Xinhui; Chen, Wei; Zhou, Chen; Cao, Bingwei

2018-02-28

This paper proposes an ontology-based fault diagnosis method which overcomes the difficulty of understanding complex fault diagnosis knowledge of loaders and offers a universal approach for fault diagnosis of all loaders. This method contains the following components: (1) An ontology-based fault diagnosis model is proposed to achieve the integrating, sharing and reusing of fault diagnosis knowledge for loaders; (2) combined with ontology, CBR (case-based reasoning) is introduced to realize effective and accurate fault diagnoses following four steps (feature selection, case-retrieval, case-matching and case-updating); and (3) in order to cover the shortages of the CBR method due to the lack of concerned cases, ontology based RBR (rule-based reasoning) is put forward through building SWRL (Semantic Web Rule Language) rules. An application program is also developed to implement the above methods to assist in finding the fault causes, fault locations and maintenance measures of loaders. In addition, the program is validated through analyzing a case study.

Ontology-Based Method for Fault Diagnosis of Loaders

PubMed Central

Liu, Xinhui; Chen, Wei; Zhou, Chen; Cao, Bingwei

2018-01-01

This paper proposes an ontology-based fault diagnosis method which overcomes the difficulty of understanding complex fault diagnosis knowledge of loaders and offers a universal approach for fault diagnosis of all loaders. This method contains the following components: (1) An ontology-based fault diagnosis model is proposed to achieve the integrating, sharing and reusing of fault diagnosis knowledge for loaders; (2) combined with ontology, CBR (case-based reasoning) is introduced to realize effective and accurate fault diagnoses following four steps (feature selection, case-retrieval, case-matching and case-updating); and (3) in order to cover the shortages of the CBR method due to the lack of concerned cases, ontology based RBR (rule-based reasoning) is put forward through building SWRL (Semantic Web Rule Language) rules. An application program is also developed to implement the above methods to assist in finding the fault causes, fault locations and maintenance measures of loaders. In addition, the program is validated through analyzing a case study. PMID:29495646

Characterization of endocannabinoids and related acylethanolamides in the synovial fluid of dogs with osteoarthritis: a pilot study.

PubMed

Valastro, Carmela; Campanile, Debora; Marinaro, Mariarosaria; Franchini, Delia; Piscitelli, Fabiana; Verde, Roberta; Di Marzo, Vincenzo; Di Bello, Antonio

2017-11-06

Cannabis-based drugs have been shown to be effective in inflammatory diseases. A number of endocannabinoids including N- arachidonoylethanolamide (anandamide, AEA) and 2-arachidonyl glycerol (2-AG) with activity at the cannabinoid receptors (CBR) CBR1 and CBR2, have been identified. Other structurally related endogenous fatty acid compounds such as oleoylethanolamide (OEA) and palmitoyl ethanolamide (PEA) have been identified in biological tissues. These compounds do not bind to CBR but might be involved in facilitating the actions of directly acting endocannabinoids and thus are commonly termed "entourage" compounds due to their ability to modulate the endocannabinoid system. The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of endocannabinoids and entourage compounds in the synovial fluid of dogs with osteoarthritis subjected to arthrotomy of the knee joint. Cytokines and cytology were studied as well. AEA, 2-AG, OEA and PEA were all present in the synovial fluid of arthritic knees and in the contralateral joints; in addition, a significant increase of OEA and 2AG levels were noted in SF from OA knees when compared to the contralateral joints. The identification and quantification of endocannabinoids and entourage compounds levels in synovial fluids from dogs with OA of the knee is reported for the first time. Our data are instrumental for future studies involving a greater number of dogs. Cannabinoids represent an emerging and innovative pharmacological tool for the treatment of OA and further studies are warranted to evaluate the effectiveness of cannabinoids in veterinary medicine.

Water System Security and Resilience in Homeland Security Research

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

EPA's water security research provides tools needed to improve infrastructure security and to recover from an attack or contamination incident involving chemical, biological, or radiological (CBR) agents or weapons.

Sinorhizobium meliloti CtrA Stability Is Regulated in a CbrA-Dependent Manner That Is Influenced by CpdR1

PubMed Central

Schallies, Karla B.; Sadowski, Craig; Meng, Julia; Chien, Peter

2015-01-01

ABSTRACT CbrA is a DivJ/PleC-like histidine kinase of DivK that is required for cell cycle progression and symbiosis in the alphaproteobacterium Sinorhizobium meliloti. Loss of cbrA results in increased levels of CtrA as well as its phosphorylation. While many of the known Caulobacter crescentus regulators of CtrA phosphorylation and proteolysis are phylogenetically conserved within S. meliloti, the latter lacks the PopA regulator that is required for CtrA degradation in C. crescentus. In order to investigate whether CtrA proteolysis occurs in S. meliloti, CtrA stability was assessed. During exponential growth, CtrA is unstable and therefore likely to be degraded in a cell cycle-regulated manner. Loss of cbrA significantly increases CtrA stability, but this phenotype is restored to that of the wild type by constitutive ectopic expression of a CpdR1 variant that cannot be phosphorylated (CpdR1D53A). Addition of CpdR1D53A fully suppresses cbrA mutant cell cycle defects, consistent with regulation of CtrA stability playing a key role in mediating proper cell cycle progression in S. meliloti. Importantly, the cbrA mutant symbiosis defect is also suppressed in the presence of CpdR1D53A. Thus, regulation of CtrA stability by CbrA and CpdR1 is associated with free-living cell cycle outcomes and symbiosis. IMPORTANCE The cell cycle is a fundamental process required for bacterial growth, reproduction, and developmental differentiation. Our objective is to understand how a two-component signal transduction network directs cell cycle events during free-living growth and host colonization. The Sinorhizobium meliloti nitrogen-fixing symbiosis with plants is associated with novel cell cycle events. This study identifies a link between the regulated stability of an essential response regulator, free-living cell cycle progression, and symbiosis. PMID:25897034

Neighborhood Disadvantage and Cumulative Biological Risk Among a Socioeconomically Diverse Sample of African American Adults: An Examination in the Jackson Heart Study.

PubMed

Barber, Sharrelle; Hickson, DeMarc A; Kawachi, Ichiro; Subramanian, S V; Earls, Felton

2016-09-01

Neighborhoods characterized by disadvantage influence multiple risk factors for chronic disease and are considered potential drivers of racial and ethnic health inequities in the USA. The objective of the present study was to examine the relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and cumulative biological risk (CBR) and the extent to which the association differs by individual income and education among a large, socioeconomically diverse sample of African American adults. Data from the baseline examination of the Jackson Heart Study (2000-2004) were used for the analyses. The sample consisted of African American adults ages 21-85 with complete, geocoded data on CBR biomarkers and behavioral covariates (n = 4410). Neighborhood disadvantage was measured using a composite score of socioeconomic indicators from the 2000 US Census. Eight biomarkers representing cardiovascular, metabolic, inflammatory, and neuroendocrine systems were used to create a CBR score. We fit two-level linear regression models with random intercepts and included cross-level interaction terms between neighborhood disadvantage and individual socioeconomic status (SES). Living in a disadvantaged neighborhood was associated with greater CBR after covariate adjustment (B = 0.18, standard error (SE) 0.07, p < 0.05). Interactions showed a weaker association for individuals with ≤high school education but were not statistically significant. Disadvantaged neighborhoods contribute to poor health among African American adults via cumulative biological risk. Policies directly addressing the socioeconomic conditions of these environments should be considered as viable options to reduce disease risk in this group and mitigate racial/ethnic health inequities.

Neighborhood Disadvantage and Cumulative Biological Risk Among a Socioeconomically Diverse Sample of African American Adults: An Examination in the Jackson Heart Study

PubMed Central

Barber, Sharrelle; Hickson, DeMarc A.; Kawachi, Ichiro; Subramanian, S.V.; Earls, Felton

2015-01-01

Objectives Neighborhoods characterized by disadvantage influence multiple risk factors for chronic disease and are considered potential drivers of racial and ethnic health inequities in the United States. The objective of the present study was to examine the relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and cumulative biological risk (CBR) and the extent to which the association differs by individual income and education among a large, socio-economically diverse sample of African American adults. Methods Data from the baseline examination of the Jackson Heart Study (2000-2004) were used for the analyses. The sample consisted of African American adults ages 21-85 with complete, geocoded data on CBR biomarkers and behavioral covariates (n=4,410). Neighborhood disadvantage was measured using a composite score of socioeconomic indicators from the 2000 US Census. Eight biomarkers representing cardiovascular, metabolic, inflammatory, and neuroendocrine systems were used to create a CBR score. We fit two-level linear regression models with random intercepts and included cross-level interaction terms between neighborhood disadvantage and individual SES. Results Living in a disadvantaged neighborhood was associated with greater CBR after covariate adjustment (B=0.18, SE: 0.07, p<0.05). Interactions showed a weaker association for individuals with ≤ high school education, but were not statistically significant. Conclusion Disadvantaged neighborhoods contribute to poor health among African American adults via cumulative biological risk. Policies directly addressing the socioeconomic conditions of these environments should be considered as viable options to reduce disease risk in this group and mitigate racial/ethnic health inequities. PMID:27294737

The DivJ, CbrA and PleC system controls DivK phosphorylation and symbiosis in Sinorhizobium meliloti

PubMed Central

Pini, Francesco; Frage, Benjamin; Ferri, Lorenzo; De Nisco, Nicole J.; Mohapatra, Saswat S.; Taddei, Lucilla; Fioravanti, Antonella; Dewitte, Frederique; Galardini, Marco; Brilli, Matteo; Villeret, Vincent; Bazzicalupo, Marco; Mengoni, Alessio; Walker, Graham C.; Becker, Anke; Biondi, Emanuele G.

2013-01-01

SUMMARY Sinorhizobium meliloti is a soil bacterium that invades the root nodules it induces on Medicago sativa, whereupon it undergoes an alteration of its cell cycle and differentiates into nitrogen-fixing, elongated and polyploid bacteroid with higher membrane permeability. In Caulobacter crescentus, a related alphaproteobacterium, the principal cell cycle regulator, CtrA, is inhibited by the phosphorylated response regulator DivK. The phosphorylation of DivK depends on the histidine kinase DivJ, while PleC is the principal phosphatase for DivK. Despite the importance of the DivJ in C. crescentus, the mechanistic role of this kinase has never been elucidated in other Alphaproteobacteria. We show here that the histidine kinases DivJ together with CbrA and PleC participate in a complex phosphorylation system of the essential response regulator DivK in S. meliloti. In particular, DivJ and CbrA are involved in DivK phosphorylation and in turn CtrA inactivation, thereby controlling correct cell cycle progression and the integrity of the cell envelope. In contrast, the essential PleC presumably acts as a phosphatase of DivK. Interestingly, we found that a DivJ mutant is able to elicit nodules and enter plant cells, but fails to establish an effective symbiosis suggesting that proper envelope and/or low CtrA levels are required for symbiosis. PMID:23909720

Determining high-quality critical body residues for multiple species and chemicals by applying improved experimental design and data interpretation concepts.

PubMed

van der Heijden, Stephan A; Hermens, Joop L M; Sinnige, Theo L; Mayer, Philipp; Gilbert, Dorothea; Jonker, Michiel T O

2015-02-03

Ecotoxicological effect data are generally expressed as effective concentrations in the external exposure medium and do thus not account for differences in chemical uptake, bioavailability, and metabolism, which can introduce substantial data variation. The Critical Body Residue (CBR) concept provides clear advantages, because it links effects directly to the internal exposure. Using CBRs instead of external concentrations should therefore reduce variability. For compounds that act via narcosis even a constant CBR has been proposed. Despite the expected uniformity, CBR values for these compounds still show large variability, possibly due to biased and inconsistent experimental testing. In the present study we tested whether variation in CBR data can be substantially reduced when using an improved experimental design and avoiding confounding factors. The aim was to develop and apply a well-defined test protocol for accurately and precisely measuring CBR data, involving improved (passive) dosing, sampling, and processing of organisms. The chemicals 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene, 1,2,3,4-tetrachlorobenzene, 2,3,4-trichloroaniline, 2,3,5,6-tetrachloroaniline, 4-chloro-3-methylphenol, pentylbenzene, pyrene, and bromophos-methyl were tested on Lumbriculus variegatus (California blackworm), Hyalella azteca (scud), and Poecilia reticulata (guppy), which yielded a high-quality database of 348 individual CBR values. Medians of CBR values ranged from 2.1 to 16.1 mmol/kg wet weight (ww) within all combinations of chemicals and species, except for the insecticide bromophos-methyl, for which the median was 1.3 mmol/kg ww. The new database thus covers about one log unit, which is considerably less than in existing databases. Medians differed maximally by a factor of 8.4 between the 7 chemicals but within one species, and by a factor of 2.6 between the three species but for individual chemicals. Accounting for the chemicals' internal distribution to different partitioning domains and relating effects to estimated concentrations in the target compartment (i.e., membrane lipids) was expected to but did not decrease the overall variability, likely because the surrogate partition coefficients for membrane lipid, storage lipid, protein, and carbohydrate that were used as input parameters did not sufficiently represent the actual partitioning processes. The results of this study demonstrate that a well-designed test setup can produce CBR data that are highly uniform beyond chemical and biological diversity.

Double-jeopardy: The joint impact of neighborhood disadvantage and low social cohesion on cumulative risk of disease among African American men and women in the Jackson Heart Study.

PubMed

Barber, Sharrelle; Hickson, DeMarc A; Kawachi, Ichiro; Subramanian, S V; Earls, Felton

2016-03-01

Few studies have examined the joint impact of neighborhood disadvantage and low social cohesion on health. Moreover, no study has considered the joint impact of these factors on a cumulative disease risk profile among a large sample of African American adults. Using data from the Jackson Heart Study, we examined the extent to which social cohesion modifies the relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and cumulative biological risk (CBR)-a measure of accumulated risk across multiple physiological systems. Our analysis included 4408 African American women and men ages 21-85 residing in the Jackson, MS Metropolitan Area. We measured neighborhood disadvantage using a composite score of socioeconomic indicators from the 2000 US Census and social cohesion was assessed using a 5-item validated scale. Standardized z-scores of biomarkers representing cardiovascular, metabolic, inflammatory, and neuroendocrine systems were combined to create a CBR score. We used two-level linear regression models with random intercepts adjusting for socio-demographic and behavioral covariates in the analysis. A three-way interaction term was included to examine whether the relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and CBR differed by levels of social cohesion and gender. The interaction between neighborhood disadvantage, social cohesion and gender was statistically significant (p = 0.05) such that the association between living in a disadvantaged neighborhood and CBR was strongest for men living in neighborhoods with low levels of social cohesion (B = 0.63, SE: 0.32). In gender-specific models, we found a statistically significant interaction between neighborhood disadvantage and social cohesion for men (p = 0.05) but not for women (p = 0.50). Neighborhoods characterized by high levels of economic disadvantage and low levels of social cohesion contribute to higher cumulative risk of disease among African American men. This suggests that they may face a unique set of challenges that put them at greater risk in these settings. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Double-Jeopardy: The Joint Impact of Neighborhood Disadvantage and Low Social Cohesion on Cumulative Risk of Disease Among African American Men and Women in the Jackson Heart Study

PubMed Central

Barber, Sharrelle; Hickson, DeMarc A.; Kawachi, Ichiro; Subramanian, S.V.; Earls, Felton

2016-01-01

Objectives Few studies have examined the joint impact of neighborhood disadvantage and low social cohesion on health. Moreover, no study has considered the joint impact of these factors on a cumulative disease risk profile among a large sample of African American adults. Using data from the Jackson Heart Study, we examined the extent to which social cohesion modifies the relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and cumulative biological risk (CBR)—a measure of accumulated risk across multiple physiological systems. Methods Our analysis included 4,408 African American women and men ages 21–85 residing in the Jackson, MS Metropolitan Area. We measured neighborhood disadvantage using a composite score of socioeconomic indicators from the 2000 US Census and social cohesion was assessed using a 5-item validated scale. Standardized z-scores of biomarkers representing cardiovascular, metabolic, inflammatory, and neuroendocrine systems were combined to create a CBR score. We used two-level linear regression models with random intercepts adjusting for socio-demographic and behavioral covariates in the analysis. A three-way interaction term was included to examine whether the relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and CBR differed by levels of social cohesion and gender. Results The interaction between neighborhood disadvantage, social cohesion and gender was statistically significant (p=0.05) such that the association between living in a disadvantaged neighborhood and CBR was strongest for men living in neighborhoods with low levels of social cohesion (B=0.63, SE: 0.32). In gender-specific models, we found a statistically significant interaction between neighborhood disadvantage and social cohesion for men (p=0.05) but not for women (p=0.50). Conclusion Neighborhoods characterized by high levels of economic disadvantage and low levels of social cohesion contribute to higher cumulative risk of disease among African American men. This suggests that they may face a unique set of challenges that put them at greater risk in these settings. PMID:26894941

Studies of pilocarpine:carbomer intermolecular interactions.

PubMed

Zoppi, Ariana; Linck, Yamila Garro; Monti, Gustavo A; Genovese, Diego B; Jimenez Kairuz, Alvaro F; Manzo, Rubén H; Longhi, Marcela R

2012-05-10

The interactions between pilocarpine (PIL) and the anionic polyelectrolyte carbomer (CBR) were investigated. The effects of the chemical interactions on the chemical stability of the drug also were evaluated. The binary system was characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance techniques, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermal analysis. The experiments showed that the complex, prepared by freeze-drying, is a solid amorphous form different from its precursors, thereby offering an interesting alternative for the preparation of extended release matrices. The solution stability of PIL was studied at pH 7 and 8, at 70 °C. The PIL solution stability was evaluated alone and in the presence of CBR. Results indicated that the drug in the presence of the polymer is 3.3 and 3.5 times more stable, at pH 7 and pH 8, respectively, than the drug without CBR. The activation energy and the frequency factor, according to Arrhenius plot, were estimated to be 13.9 ± 0.4 and 14.8 ± 0.5 kcalmol(-1), and 6.1 ± 0.3 and 7.6 ± 0.3, with and without the polymer, respectively. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Delivery of risperidone from gels across porcine skin in vitro and in vivo in rabbits.

PubMed

Ning, Yuming; Chen, Xiaojin; Yu, Zhenwei; Liang, Wenquan; Li, Fanzhu

2018-05-01

The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a transdermal delivery system for RIS using hydrogels. First, the effects of different concentrations of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose and Carbomer 934 (CBR) on RIS permeation were investigated in porcine skin. The optimized formulation was chosen as the base gel to screen for penetration enhancers. The pharmacokinetics of the optimized RIS formulation was then studied in vitro in rabbits. A formulation with 0.5% CBR showed the highest RIS permeation and was selected as the base gel. RIS permeation was further increased by incorporation of Azone, lauryl alcohol, or menthol, and the enhancing effects of the three were dose-dependent. When each enhancer combined with propylene glycol (PG) a synergistic effect was found. A combination of 6% menthol and 6% PG exhibited highest RIS in vitro penetration rate and showed a high efficiency in vivo, with a relative bioavailability of 131.53% compared with intragastric administration. These findings showed that 1% RIS in 0.5% CBR, containing a combination of 6% menthol and 6% PG, can deliver doses of RIS that are therapeutically relevant for treating patients with schizophrenia.

MDS/AML del(11)(q14) Share Common Morphological Features Despite Different Chromosomal Breakpoints.

PubMed

Dambruoso, Irene; Invernizzi, Rosangela; Boni, Marina; Zappatore, Rita; Giardini, Ilaria; Cavigliano, Maria Paola; Rocca, Barbara; Calvello, Celeste; Bastia, Raffaella; Caresana, Marilena; Pasi, Francesca; Nano, Rosanna; Bernasconi, Paolo

2017-02-01

In myelodysplatic syndromes and acute myeloid leukemia (MDS/AML) deletion of the 11q14 region is a rare chromosomal defect (incidence: 0.6-1.0%), included within the intermediate risk criteria by the International Prognostic Scoring System. No fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) study has yet been performed to identify a common breakpoint region (CBR). In our study through FISH with bacterial artificial chromosomes and commercial probes, we analyzed seven patients with MDS/AML harboring 11q14 deletion on conventional cytogenetic analysis. FISH revealed deletions in five patients and amplifications in two. Three patients with deletion carried a CBR, two had a deletion involving a more centromeric breakpoint. These five patients exhibited multilineage dysplasia, blast cells with large round nuclei, loose chromatin, small and abundant nucleoli, and vacuolated cytoplasm with very thin Auer bodies. In conclusion, the morphological features which occur independently of the extent of the deletion are of multilineage dysplasia in MDS and leukemic blasts strongly reactive to peroxidase in AML; despite the variable size of the deleted area, some patients harbor a CBR. Copyright© 2017, International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.

Laboratory investigation of TerraZyme as a soil stabilizer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yusoff, Siti Aimi Nadia Mohd; Azmi, Mastura; Ramli, Harris; Bakar, Ismail; Wijeyesekera, D. C.; Zainorabidin, Adnan

2017-10-01

In this study, a laboratory investigation was conducted to examine the performance of TerraZyme on different soil types. Laterite and kaolin were treated with 2% and 5% TerraZyme to determine changes in the soils' geotechnical properties. The obtained results were analysed and investigated in terms of compaction, Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS) and California Bearing Ratio (CBR). The changes in geotechnical properties of the stabilised and unstabilised soils were monitored after curing periods of 0, 7, 15, 21 and 30 days. Changes in compaction properties, UCS and CBR were observed. It was found that laterite with 5% TerraZyme gave a higher maximum dry density (MDD) and decreased the optimum moisture content (OMC). For kaolin, a different TerraZyme percentage did not show any effect on both MDD and OMC. For strength properties, it was found that 2% TerraZyme showed the greatest change in UCS over a 30-day curing period. The CBR value of stabilised kaolin with 2% TerraZyme gave a higher CBR value than the kaolin treated with 5% TerraZyme. It was also found that laterite treated with TerraZyme gave a higher CBR value. Lastly, it can be concluded that TerraZyme is not suitable for stabilising kaolin; TerraZyme requires a cohesive soil to achieve a better performance.

Design of Knowledge Management System for Diabetic Complication Diseases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fiarni, Cut

2017-01-01

This paper examines how to develop a Model for Knowledge Management System (KMS) for diabetes complication diseases. People with diabetes have a higher risk of developing a series of serious health problems. Each patient has different condition that could lead to different disease and health problem. But, with the right information, patient could have early detection so the health risk could be minimized and avoided. Hence, the objective of this research is to propose a conceptual framework that integrates social network model, Knowledge Management activities, and content based reasoning (CBR) for designing such a diabetes health and complication disease KMS. The framework indicates that the critical knowledge management activities are in the process to find similar case and the index table for algorithm to fit the framework for the social media. With this framework, KMS developers can work with healthcare provider to easily identify the suitable IT associated with the CBR process when developing a diabetes KMS.

Effect of mixing geopolymer and peat on bearing capacity in Ogan Komering Ilir (OKI) by California bearing ratio (CBR) test

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raharja, Danang S.; Hadiwardoyo, Sigit P.; Rahayu, Wiwik; Zain, Nasuhi

2017-06-01

Geopolymer is binder material that consists of solid material and the activator solution. Geopolymer material has successfully replaced cement in the manufacture of concrete with aluminosilicate bonding system. Geopolymer concrete has properties similar to cement concrete with high compressive strength, low shrinkage value, relatively low creep value, as well as acid-resistant. Based on these, the addition of polymers in peat soils is expected to improve the bearing capacity of peat soils. A study on the influence of geopolymer addition in peat soils was done by comparing before and after the peat soil was mixed with geopolymer using CBR (California Bearing Ratio) test in unsoaked and soaked conditions. 10% mixture content of the peat dry was used, weighted with a variety of curing time 4 hours, 5 days, and 10 days. There were two methods of mixing: first, peat was mixed with fly ash geopolymer activators and mixed solution (waterglass, NaOH, water), and second, peat was mixed with fly ash and mixed geopolymer (waterglass, NaOH, water, fly ash). Changes were observed in specific gravity, dry density, acidity (pH), and the microscopic structure with Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). Curing time did not significantly affect the CBR value. It even shows a tendency to decline with longer curing time. The first type mixture obtained CBR value of: 5.4% for 4 hours curing, 4.6% for 5 days curing and 3.6% for 10 days curing. The second type mixture obtained CBR value of: 6.1% for 4 hours curing, 5.2% for 5 days curing and 5.2% for 10 days curing. Furthermore, the specific gravity value, dry density, pH near neutral and swelling percentage increased. From both variants, the second type mixture shows better results than the first type mixture. The results of SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy) show the structure of the peat which became denser with the fly ash particles filling the peat microporous. Also, the reaction of fly ash with geopolymer is indicated by the solid agglomerates that are larger than normal fly ash particle size.

A panel of Trypanosoma brucei strains tagged with blue and red-shifted luciferases for bioluminescent imaging in murine infection models.

PubMed

Van Reet, Nick; Van de Vyver, Hélène; Pyana, Patient Pati; Van der Linden, Anne Marie; Büscher, Philippe

2014-08-01

Genetic engineering with luciferase reporter genes allows monitoring Trypanosoma brucei (T.b.) infections in mice by in vivo bioluminescence imaging (BLI). Until recently, luminescent T.b. models were based on Renilla luciferase (RLuc) activity. Our study aimed at evaluating red-shifted luciferases for in vivo BLI in a set of diverse T.b. strains of all three subspecies, including some recently isolated from human patients. We transfected T.b. brucei, T.b. rhodesiense and T.b. gambiense strains with either RLuc, click beetle red (CBR) or Photinus pyralis RE9 (PpyRE9) luciferase and characterised their in vitro luciferase activity, growth profile and drug sensitivity, and their potential for in vivo BLI. Compared to RLuc, the red-shifted luciferases, CBR and PpyRE9, allow tracking of T.b. brucei AnTaR 1 trypanosomes with higher details on tissue distribution, and PpyRE9 allows detection of the parasites with a sensitivity of at least one order of magnitude higher than CBR luciferase. With CBR-tagged T.b. gambiense LiTaR1, T.b. rhodesiense RUMPHI and T.b. gambiense 348 BT in an acute, subacute and chronic infection model respectively, we observed differences in parasite tropism for murine tissues during in vivo BLI. Ex vivo BLI on the brain confirmed central nervous system infection by all luminescent strains of T.b. brucei AnTaR 1, T.b. rhodesiense RUMPHI and T.b. gambiense 348 BT. We established a genetically and phenotypically diverse collection of bioluminescent T.b. brucei, T.b. gambiense and T.b. rhodesiense strains, including drug resistant strains. For in vivo BLI monitoring of murine infections, we recommend trypanosome strains transfected with red-shifted luciferase reporter genes, such as CBR and PpyRE9. Red-shifted luciferases can be detected with a higher sensitivity in vivo and at the same time they improve the spatial resolution of the parasites in the entire body due to the better kinetics of their substrate D-luciferin.

A Panel of Trypanosoma brucei Strains Tagged with Blue and Red-Shifted Luciferases for Bioluminescent Imaging in Murine Infection Models

PubMed Central

Van Reet, Nick; Van de Vyver, Hélène; Pyana, Patient Pati; Van der Linden, Anne Marie; Büscher, Philippe

2014-01-01

Background Genetic engineering with luciferase reporter genes allows monitoring Trypanosoma brucei (T.b.) infections in mice by in vivo bioluminescence imaging (BLI). Until recently, luminescent T.b. models were based on Renilla luciferase (RLuc) activity. Our study aimed at evaluating red-shifted luciferases for in vivo BLI in a set of diverse T.b. strains of all three subspecies, including some recently isolated from human patients. Methodology/Principal findings We transfected T.b. brucei, T.b. rhodesiense and T.b. gambiense strains with either RLuc, click beetle red (CBR) or Photinus pyralis RE9 (PpyRE9) luciferase and characterised their in vitro luciferase activity, growth profile and drug sensitivity, and their potential for in vivo BLI. Compared to RLuc, the red-shifted luciferases, CBR and PpyRE9, allow tracking of T.b. brucei AnTaR 1 trypanosomes with higher details on tissue distribution, and PpyRE9 allows detection of the parasites with a sensitivity of at least one order of magnitude higher than CBR luciferase. With CBR-tagged T.b. gambiense LiTaR1, T.b. rhodesiense RUMPHI and T.b. gambiense 348 BT in an acute, subacute and chronic infection model respectively, we observed differences in parasite tropism for murine tissues during in vivo BLI. Ex vivo BLI on the brain confirmed central nervous system infection by all luminescent strains of T.b. brucei AnTaR 1, T.b. rhodesiense RUMPHI and T.b. gambiense 348 BT. Conclusions/Significance We established a genetically and phenotypically diverse collection of bioluminescent T.b. brucei, T.b. gambiense and T.b. rhodesiense strains, including drug resistant strains. For in vivo BLI monitoring of murine infections, we recommend trypanosome strains transfected with red-shifted luciferase reporter genes, such as CBR and PpyRE9. Red-shifted luciferases can be detected with a higher sensitivity in vivo and at the same time they improve the spatial resolution of the parasites in the entire body due to the better kinetics of their substrate D-luciferin. PMID:25144573

The stability of clay using Portland cement and calsium carbide residue with California bearing ratio (cbr) value

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Puji Hastuty, Ika; Roesyanto; Novia Sari, Intan; Simanjuntak, Oberlyn

2018-03-01

Clay is a type of soil which is often used for stabilization. This is caused by its properties which are very hard in dry conditions and plastic in the medium content of water. However, at a higher level of water, clay will be cohesive and very lenient causing a large volume change due to the influence of water and also causing the soil to expand and shrink for a short period of time. These are the reasons why stabilization is needed in order to increase bearing capacity value of the clay. Stabilization is one of the ways to the conditon of soil that has the poor index properties, for example by adding chemical material to the soil. One of the chemical materials than can be added to the soil is calsium carbide residue. The purpose of this research is to know the fixation of index properties as the effect of adding 2% PC and calsium carbide residue to the clay, and to know the bearing capacity value of CBR (California Bearing Ratio) as the effect of adding the stabilization agent and to know the optimum content of adding calsium carbide residue. The result of the research shows that the usage of 2% cement in the soil that has CBR value 5,76%, and adding 2% cement and 9% calsium carbide residue with a period of curing 14 days has the lagerst of CBR value that is 9,95%. The unsoaked CBR value shows the increase of CBR value upto the mixture content of calsium carbide residue 9% and, decreases at the mixture content of calsium carbide residue 10% and 11%.

Unified modeling language and design of a case-based retrieval system in medical imaging.

PubMed Central

LeBozec, C.; Jaulent, M. C.; Zapletal, E.; Degoulet, P.

1998-01-01

One goal of artificial intelligence research into case-based reasoning (CBR) systems is to develop approaches for designing useful and practical interactive case-based environments. Explaining each step of the design of the case-base and of the retrieval process is critical for the application of case-based systems to the real world. We describe herein our approach to the design of IDEM--Images and Diagnosis from Examples in Medicine--a medical image case-based retrieval system for pathologists. Our approach is based on the expressiveness of an object-oriented modeling language standard: the Unified Modeling Language (UML). We created a set of diagrams in UML notation illustrating the steps of the CBR methodology we used. The key aspect of this approach was selecting the relevant objects of the system according to user requirements and making visualization of cases and of the components of the case retrieval process. Further evaluation of the expressiveness of the design document is required but UML seems to be a promising formalism, improving the communication between the developers and users. Images Figure 6 Figure 7 PMID:9929346

Unified modeling language and design of a case-based retrieval system in medical imaging.

PubMed

LeBozec, C; Jaulent, M C; Zapletal, E; Degoulet, P

1998-01-01

One goal of artificial intelligence research into case-based reasoning (CBR) systems is to develop approaches for designing useful and practical interactive case-based environments. Explaining each step of the design of the case-base and of the retrieval process is critical for the application of case-based systems to the real world. We describe herein our approach to the design of IDEM--Images and Diagnosis from Examples in Medicine--a medical image case-based retrieval system for pathologists. Our approach is based on the expressiveness of an object-oriented modeling language standard: the Unified Modeling Language (UML). We created a set of diagrams in UML notation illustrating the steps of the CBR methodology we used. The key aspect of this approach was selecting the relevant objects of the system according to user requirements and making visualization of cases and of the components of the case retrieval process. Further evaluation of the expressiveness of the design document is required but UML seems to be a promising formalism, improving the communication between the developers and users.

49. Environmental equipment room, cbr filter at left, ventilation control ...

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

49. Environmental equipment room, cbr filter at left, ventilation control panel in center, brine chiller controls at right, looking southeast - Ellsworth Air Force Base, Delta Flight, Launch Control Facility, County Road CS23A, North of Exit 127, Interior, Jackson County, SD

Cost-sensitive case-based reasoning using a genetic algorithm: application to medical diagnosis.

PubMed

Park, Yoon-Joo; Chun, Se-Hak; Kim, Byung-Chun

2011-02-01

The paper studies the new learning technique called cost-sensitive case-based reasoning (CSCBR) incorporating unequal misclassification cost into CBR model. Conventional CBR is now considered as a suitable technique for diagnosis, prognosis and prescription in medicine. However it lacks the ability to reflect asymmetric misclassification and often assumes that the cost of a positive diagnosis (an illness) as a negative one (no illness) is the same with that of the opposite situation. Thus, the objective of this research is to overcome the limitation of conventional CBR and encourage applying CBR to many real world medical cases associated with costs of asymmetric misclassification errors. The main idea involves adjusting the optimal cut-off classification point for classifying the absence or presence of diseases and the cut-off distance point for selecting optimal neighbors within search spaces based on similarity distribution. These steps are dynamically adapted to new target cases using a genetic algorithm. We apply this proposed method to five real medical datasets and compare the results with two other cost-sensitive learning methods-C5.0 and CART. Our finding shows that the total misclassification cost of CSCBR is lower than other cost-sensitive methods in many cases. Even though the genetic algorithm has limitations in terms of unstable results and over-fitting training data, CSCBR results with GA are better overall than those of other methods. Also the paired t-test results indicate that the total misclassification cost of CSCBR is significantly less than C5.0 and CART for several datasets. We have proposed a new CBR method called cost-sensitive case-based reasoning (CSCBR) that can incorporate unequal misclassification costs into CBR and optimize the number of neighbors dynamically using a genetic algorithm. It is meaningful not only for introducing the concept of cost-sensitive learning to CBR, but also for encouraging the use of CBR in the medical area. The result shows that the total misclassification costs of CSCBR do not increase in arithmetic progression as the cost of false absence increases arithmetically, thus it is cost-sensitive. We also show that total misclassification costs of CSCBR are the lowest among all methods in four datasets out of five and the result is statistically significant in many cases. The limitation of our proposed CSCBR is confined to classify binary cases for minimizing misclassification cost because our proposed CSCBR is originally designed to classify binary case. Our future work extends this method for multi-classification which can classify more than two groups. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Growth, chamber building rate and reproduction time of Palaeonummulites venosus (Foraminifera) under natural conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kinoshita, Shunichi; Eder, Wolfgang; Wöger, Julia; Hohenegger, Johann; Briguglio, Antonino

2017-12-01

We investigated the symbiont-bearing benthic foraminifer Palaeonummulites venosus to determine the chamber building rate (CBR), test diameter increase rate (DIR), reproduction time and longevity using the `natural laboratory' approach. This is based on the decomposition of monthly obtained frequency distributions of chamber number and test diameter into normally distributed components. Test measurements were taken using MicroCT. The shift of the mean and standard deviation of component parameters during the 15-month investigation period was used to calculate Michaelis-Menten functions applied to estimate the averaged CBR and DIR under natural conditions. The individual dates of birth were estimated using the inverse averaged CBR and the inverse DIR fitted by the individual chamber number or the individual test diameter at the sampling date. Distributions of frequencies and densities (i.e., frequency divided by sediment weight) based on both CBR and DIR revealed continuous reproduction throughout the year with two peaks, a stronger one in June determined as the onset of the summer generation (generation 1) and a weaker one in November determined as the onset of the winter generation (generation 2). This reproduction scheme explains the presence of small and large specimens in the same sample. Longevity, calculated as the maximum difference in days between the individual's birth date and the sampling date, is approximately 1.5 yr, an estimation obtained by using both CBR and DIR.

The expression of the genes involved in leucine catabolism of Pseudomonas aeruginosa is controlled by the transcriptional regulator LiuR and by the CbrAB/Crc system.

PubMed

Díaz-Pérez, Alma Laura; Núñez, Cinthia; Meza Carmen, Victor; Campos-García, Jesús

2018-05-19

Pseudomonas aeruginosa metabolizes leucine through the leucine/isovalerate utilization pathway, whose enzymes are encoded in the liuRABCDE gene cluster (liu). In this study, we investigated the role of the LiuR protein in the liu cluster regulation. Our results indicated that liu expression is regulated at the transcriptional level by LiuR. Mobility shift assays using purified recombinant His-tagged LiuR showed that it was able to bind at the promoter region of liuR, in a dose-dependent manner. Results revealed that expression of the liu operon is subjected to carbon catabolite repression control (CCR); protein LiuD was strongly expressed in the presence of leucine, but it was repressed in the presence of glucose or succinate. Furthermore, this CCR control was dependent on LiuR as in the liuR - mutant the LiuD protein was strongly expressed in all the carbon sources tested. In agreement with this result, in the absence of the Crc protein, LiuD was expressed independently of the carbon source used, whereas in a cbrB - mutant its expression was severely impaired. The results indicated that the liu cluster is subjected to a coordinated transcriptional and translational regulation by the LiuR repressor and by the CbrAB/Crc system, respectively, in response to the available carbon source. Copyright © 2018 Institut Pasteur. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Improving Navy Recruit Confidence Expectancies and Knowledge in a Simulated Chemical Warfare Environment

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-06-27

Hamman, HTSC D. M. Trefsger, ENCS J. E. Pernice, and their supporting personnel at the Damage Control and Firefighting School. 9 %S NTSC TR88-010 EXECUTIVE...standard training group served as the control condition; here, no changes were made to the usual training procedure. The no-film group was included as...an additional control in this research because, at the time of implementation, the CBR-D training program was being conducted without showing film MN

Development of decision support systems for real-time freeway traffic routing : volume II.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1998-01-01

Real-time traffic flow routing is a promising approach to alleviating congestion. Existing approaches to developing real-time routing strategies, however, have limitations. This study explored the potential for using case-based reasoning (CBR), an em...

Learning material recommendation based on case-based reasoning similarity scores

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masood, Mona; Mokmin, Nur Azlina Mohamed

2017-10-01

A personalized learning material recommendation is important in any Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS). Case-based Reasoning (CBR) is an Artificial Intelligent Algorithm that has been widely used in the development of ITS applications. This study has developed an ITS application that applied the CBR algorithm in the development process. The application has the ability to recommend the most suitable learning material to the specific student based on information in the student profile. In order to test the ability of the application in recommending learning material, two versions of the application were created. The first version displayed the most suitable learning material and the second version displayed the least preferable learning material. The results show the application has successfully assigned the students to the most suitable learning material.

Investigation of a bearingless helicopter rotor concept having a composite primary structure

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bielawa, R. L.; Cheney, M. C., Jr.; Novak, R. C.

1976-01-01

Experimental and analytical investigations were conducted to evaluate a bearingless helicopter rotor concept (CBR) made possible through the use of the specialized nonisotropic properties of composite materials. The investigation was focused on four principal areas which were expected to answer important questions regarding the feasibility of this concept. First, an examination of material properties was made to establish moduli, ultimate strength, and fatigue characteristics of unidirectional graphite/epoxy, the composite material selected for this application. The results confirmed the high bending modulus and strengths and low shear modulus expected of this material, and demonstrated fatigue properties in torsion which make this material ideally suited for the CBR application. Second, a dynamically scaled model was fabricated and tested in the low speed wind tunnel to explore the aeroelastic characteristics of the CBR and to explore various concepts relative to the method of blade pitch control. Two basic control configurations were tested, one in which pitch flap coupling could occur and another which eliminated all coupling. It was found that both systems could be operated successfully at simulated speeds of 180 knots; however, the configuration with coupling present revealed a potential for undesirable aeroelastic response. The uncoupled configuration behaved generally as a conventional hingeless rotor and was stable for all conditions tested.

Learning from Cross-Border Reproduction

PubMed Central

Millbank, Jenni; Karpin, Isabel; Stuhmcke, Anita

2017-01-01

Abstract Drawing upon the preliminary findings of an Australian empirical project on cross-border reproduction (CBR), this article argues that regulators and policymakers could learn from the experiences of those who travel overseas in order to access fertility treatment and surrogacy. It makes four principal observations. First, the distinction between so-called ‘altruistic’ and ‘commercial’ gamete donation and surrogacy is increasingly unsustainable and is not experienced as meaningful by many participants in CBR. Secondly, the status of the law in CBR is profoundly equivocal; for participants it is often there and not there at the same time. Thirdly, self-sourced information, from the internet and more specifically social media such as Facebook, is now the principal source of information and peer support for reproductive travellers. Fourthly, and relatedly, domestic reproductive services providers are often sidestepped. If one of the goals of regulation is to minimise the risk of harm to participants, it is not clear that it is currently achieving this aim, and this article argues that any reforms will only work if they are more responsive to the reality of CBR. PMID:28073821

Learning from Cross-Border Reproduction.

PubMed

Jackson, Emily; Millbank, Jenni; Karpin, Isabel; Stuhmcke, Anita

2017-02-01

Drawing upon the preliminary findings of an Australian empirical project on cross-border reproduction (CBR), this article argues that regulators and policymakers could learn from the experiences of those who travel overseas in order to access fertility treatment and surrogacy. It makes four principal observations. First, the distinction between so-called 'altruistic' and 'commercial' gamete donation and surrogacy is increasingly unsustainable and is not experienced as meaningful by many participants in CBR. Secondly, the status of the law in CBR is profoundly equivocal; for participants it is often there and not there at the same time. Thirdly, self-sourced information, from the internet and more specifically social media such as Facebook, is now the principal source of information and peer support for reproductive travellers. Fourthly, and relatedly, domestic reproductive services providers are often sidestepped. If one of the goals of regulation is to minimise the risk of harm to participants, it is not clear that it is currently achieving this aim, and this article argues that any reforms will only work if they are more responsive to the reality of CBR. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

Neural blockade during exercise augments central command's contribution to carotid baroreflex resetting

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Querry, R. G.; Smith, S. A.; Stromstad, M.; Ide, K.; Raven, P. B.; Secher, N. H.

2001-01-01

This investigation was designed to determine central command's role on carotid baroreflex (CBR) resetting during exercise. Nine volunteer subjects performed static and rhythmic handgrip exercise at 30 and 40% maximal voluntary contraction (MVC), respectively, before and after partial axillary neural blockade. Stimulus-response curves were developed using the neck pressure-neck suction technique and a rapid pulse train protocol (+40 to -80 Torr). Regional anesthesia resulted in a significant reduction in MVC. Heart rate (HR) and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) were used as indexes of central command and were elevated during exercise at control force intensity after induced muscle weakness. The CBR function curves were reset vertically with a minimal lateral shift during control exercise and exhibited a further parallel resetting during exercise with neural blockade. The operating point was progressively reset to coincide with the centering point of the CBR curve. These data suggest that central command was a primary mechanism in the resetting of the CBR during exercise. However, it appeared that central command modulated the carotid-cardiac reflex proportionately more than the carotid-vasomotor reflex.

An improved model for provision of rural community-based health rehabilitation services in Vhembe District, Limpopo Province of South Africa

PubMed Central

Netshandama, Vhonani O.; Francis, Joseph

2016-01-01

Background In 1991, Riakona Community Rehabilitation Programme initiated community-based rehabilitation (CBR) in the Vhembe District of Limpopo Province. Subsequently, the South African government adopted the programme. Aim The aim of the study was to suggest an improvement in the model of providing CBR services. Setting The study was conducted in six rehabilitation centres located in hospitals in the Vhembe District in Limpopo Province of South Africa. Method A mixed-mode research design with qualitative and quantitative elements was used to conduct the study. Content analysis, the chi-square test for Goodness of Fit and the Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney non-parametric tests were conducted. Results The key determinants of client satisfaction with the services that the community rehabilitation workers rendered included provision of assistive devices and the adoption of a holistic approach to their work. Overall, satisfaction per domain for each one of the five domains of satisfaction scored less than 90%. More than 80% of clients were satisfied with empathy (83%) and assurance (80%) domains. Tangibles, reliability and responsiveness domains had scores of 78%, 72% and 67%, respectively. These results, together with the reasoning map of conceptual framework description, were used as the building blocks of the CBR model. Conclusion The improved CBR model is useful for putting the programme into practice. This is particularly so for the CBR managers in the districts of the Limpopo Province. PMID:27380835

Sleep-mediated heart rate variability after bilateral carotid body tumor resection.

PubMed

Niemeijer, Nicolasine D; Corssmit, Eleonora P M; Reijntjes, Robert H A M; Lammers, Gert Jan; van Dijk, J Gert; Thijs, Roland D

2015-04-01

The carotid bodies are thought to play an important role in sleep-dependent autonomic changes. Patients who underwent resection of bilateral carotid body tumors have chronically attenuated baroreflex sensitivity. These subjects provide a unique opportunity to investigate the role of the baroreflex during sleep. One-night ambulatory polysomnography (PSG) recording. Participants' homes. Nine patients with bilateral carotid body tumor resection (bCBR) (four women, mean age 50.4 ± 7.2 years) and nine controls matched for age, gender, and body mass index. N/A. Sleep parameters were obtained from PSG. Heart rate (HR) and its variability were calculated using 30-s epochs. In bCBR patients, HR was slightly but not significantly increased during wake and all sleep stages. The effect of sleep on HR was similar for patients and controls. Low frequency (LF) power of the heart rate variability spectrum was significantly lower in bCBR patients in active wakefulness, sleep stage 1 and REM sleep. No differences were found between patients and controls for high frequency (HF) power and the LF/HF ratio. Bilateral carotid body tumor resection (bCBR) is associated with decreased low frequency power during sleep, suggesting impaired baroreflex function. Despite this, sleep-related heart rate changes were similar between bCBR patients and controls. These findings suggest that the effects of sleep on heart rate are predominantly generated through central, non-baroreflex mediated pathways. © 2015 Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC.

Governing Well in Community-Based Research: Lessons from Canada's HIV Research Sector on Ethics, Publics and the Care of the Self.

PubMed

Guta, Adrian; Murray, Stuart J; Strike, Carol; Flicker, Sarah; Upshur, Ross; Myers, Ted

2017-11-01

In this paper, we extend Michel Foucault's final works on the 'care of the self' to an empirical examination of research practice in community-based research (CBR). We use Foucault's 'morality of behaviors' to analyze interview data from a national sample of Canadian CBR practitioners working with communities affected by HIV. Despite claims in the literature that ethics review is overly burdensome for non-traditional forms of research, our findings suggest that many researchers using CBR have an ambivalent but ultimately productive relationship with institutional research ethics review requirements. They understand and use prescribed codes, but adapt them in practice to account for the needs of participating community members, members of their research teams and the larger communities with whom they work. Complying with ethics protocols was seen as only the beginning, a minimum standard; our research suggests that the real ethical work happens in the field, where CBR practitioners encounter community members in diverse public roles and must forge ethical consensus across communities. CBR represents an ethical terrain in which practitioners challenge themselves to work differently, and as a result they care for themselves-and others-in ways that often resist the propensity for domination through public health research. '…there are different ways to "conduct oneself" morally, different ways for the acting individual to operate, not just as an agent, but as an ethical subject of action.' (Foucault, 1985: 26).

A Bridge from Optical to Infrared Galaxies: Explaining Local Properties, Predicting Galaxy Counts and the Cosmic Background Radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Totani, T.; Takeuchi, T. T.

2001-12-01

A new model of infrared galaxy counts and the cosmic background radiation (CBR) is developed by extending a model for optical/near-infrared galaxies. Important new characteristics of this model are that mass scale dependence of dust extinction is introduced based on the size-luminosity relation of optical galaxies, and that the big grain dust temperature T dust is calculated based on a physical consideration for energy balance, rather than using the empirical relation between T dust and total infrared luminosity L IR found in local galaxies, which has been employed in most of previous works. Consequently, the local properties of infrared galaxies, i.e., optical/infrared luminosity ratios, L IR-T dust correlation, and infrared luminosity function are outputs predicted by the model, while these have been inputs in a number of previous models. Our model indeed reproduces these local properties reasonably well. Then we make predictions for faint infrared counts (in 15, 60, 90, 170, 450, and 850 μ m) and CBR by this model. We found considerably different results from most of previous works based on the empirical L IR-T dust relation; especially, it is shown that the dust temperature of starbursting primordial elliptical galaxies is expected to be very high (40--80K). This indicates that intense starbursts of forming elliptical galaxies should have occurred at z ~ 2--3, in contrast to the previous results that significant starbursts beyond z ~ 1 tend to overproduce the far-infrared (FIR) CBR detected by COBE/FIRAS. On the other hand, our model predicts that the mid-infrared (MIR) flux from warm/nonequilibrium dust is relatively weak in such galaxies making FIR CBR, and this effect reconciles the prima facie conflict between the upper limit on MIR CBR from TeV gamma-ray observations and the COBE\\ detections of FIR CBR. The authors thank the financial support by the Japan Society for Promotion of Science.

The clustering-based case-based reasoning for imbalanced business failure prediction: a hybrid approach through integrating unsupervised process with supervised process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Hui; Yu, Jun-Ling; Yu, Le-An; Sun, Jie

2014-05-01

Case-based reasoning (CBR) is one of the main forecasting methods in business forecasting, which performs well in prediction and holds the ability of giving explanations for the results. In business failure prediction (BFP), the number of failed enterprises is relatively small, compared with the number of non-failed ones. However, the loss is huge when an enterprise fails. Therefore, it is necessary to develop methods (trained on imbalanced samples) which forecast well for this small proportion of failed enterprises and performs accurately on total accuracy meanwhile. Commonly used methods constructed on the assumption of balanced samples do not perform well in predicting minority samples on imbalanced samples consisting of the minority/failed enterprises and the majority/non-failed ones. This article develops a new method called clustering-based CBR (CBCBR), which integrates clustering analysis, an unsupervised process, with CBR, a supervised process, to enhance the efficiency of retrieving information from both minority and majority in CBR. In CBCBR, various case classes are firstly generated through hierarchical clustering inside stored experienced cases, and class centres are calculated out by integrating cases information in the same clustered class. When predicting the label of a target case, its nearest clustered case class is firstly retrieved by ranking similarities between the target case and each clustered case class centre. Then, nearest neighbours of the target case in the determined clustered case class are retrieved. Finally, labels of the nearest experienced cases are used in prediction. In the empirical experiment with two imbalanced samples from China, the performance of CBCBR was compared with the classical CBR, a support vector machine, a logistic regression and a multi-variant discriminate analysis. The results show that compared with the other four methods, CBCBR performed significantly better in terms of sensitivity for identifying the minority samples and generated high total accuracy meanwhile. The proposed approach makes CBR useful in imbalanced forecasting.

Combination of blood flow asymmetry in the cerebral and cerebellar hemispheres on brain perfusion SPECT predicts 5-year outcome in patients with symptomatic unilateral major cerebral artery occlusion.

PubMed

Nomura, Jun-ichi; Ogasawara, Kuniaki; Saito, Hideo; Terasaki, Kazunori; Matsumoto, Yoshiyasu; Takahashi, Yoshihiro; Ogasawara, Yasushi; Saura, Hiroaki; Yoshida, Koji; Sato, Yuiko; Kubo, Yoshitaka; Ogawa, Akira

2014-03-01

Misery perfusion increases the risk of stroke recurrence in patients with symptomatic major cerebral artery occlusion. The ratio of brain perfusion contralateral-to-affected asymmetry in the cerebellar hemisphere to brain perfusion affected-to-contralateral asymmetry in the cerebral hemisphere (CblPR/CbrPR) indicates affected-to-contralateral asymmetry of oxygen extraction fraction (OEF) in the cerebral hemisphere. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether the CblPR/CbrPR on brain perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) predicts 5-year outcomes in patients with symptomatic unilateral occlusion of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) or internal carotid artery (ICA). Brain perfusion was assessed using N-isopropyl-p-[123I]-iodoamphetamine (123I-IMP) SPECT in 70 patients. A region of interest (ROI) was manually placed in the bilateral MCA territories and in the bilateral cerebellar hemispheres, and the CblPR/CbrPR was calculated. All patients were prospectively followed for 5 years. The primary end points were stroke recurrence or death. A total of 17 patients exhibited the primary end points, 11 of whom experienced subsequent ipsilateral strokes. Multivariate analysis revealed that only high CblPR/CbrPR was significantly associated with the development of the primary end point or subsequent ipsilateral strokes (95% confidential limits [CIs], 1.130-3.145; P  =  0.0114 or 95% CIs, 2.558-5.140; P  =  0.0045, respectively). The CblPR/CbrPR provided 65% (11/17) or 91% (10/11) sensitivity and 88% (47/53) or 88% (52/59) specificity in predicting the primary end point or subsequent ipsilateral strokes, respectively. The CblPR/CbrPR on brain perfusion SPECT predicts 5-year outcomes in patients with symptomatic unilateral occlusion of the MCA or ICA.

78 FR 31985 - Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel; Before the Licensing Board: G. Paul Bollwerk, III...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-28

... authorizes the operation of CBR's existing in situ uranium recovery (ISR) facility near Crawford, Nebraska... operate a satellite ISR facility, the Marsland Expansion Area (MEA) site, which is located in Dawes County, Nebraska, some eleven miles to the southeast of CBR's Crawford central processing facility. In response to...

Environmental and Geotechnical Assessment of the Steel Slags as a Material for Road Structure.

PubMed

Sas, Wojciech; Głuchowski, Andrzej; Radziemska, Maja; Dzięcioł, Justyna; Szymański, Alojzy

2015-07-30

Slags are the final solid wastes from the steel industry. Their production from waste and associated materials is a proper implementation of the basic objectives and principles of the waste management. This study aims to investigate the chemical and selected significant geotechnical parameters of steel slag as the alternative materials used in road construction. These investigations are strongly desired for successful application in engineering. Young's modules E , and resilient modules M r showed that their values corresponding with requirements for subbase (principal or auxiliary) and riding surface as well. Tested mechanical properties were conducted in soaked and un-soaked (optimal moisture content) conditions. The designated high content of chromium and zinc are strongly associated with the internal crystal structure of steel slag. The results do not lead to threats when they are applied in roads' structures. Mechanical characterization was obtained by performing California bearing ratio (CBR) tests for steel slag in fixed compaction and moisture content conditions. Moreover, cyclic loading of steel slag was conducted with the application of cyclic California bearing ratio (cCBR) apparatus to characterization of this material as a controlled low-strength material. Finally, field studies that consist of static load plate VSS tests were presented.

HAZARDOUS MATERIALS IN AQUATIC ENVIRONMENTS OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER BASIN

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

John A. McLachlan

In December 1992, the CBR was awarded a five-year grant of $25M from the US Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM) to study pollution in the Mississippi River system. The ''Hazardous Materials in Aquatic Environments of the Mississippi River Basin'' project was an interdisciplinary, collaborative research and education project aimed at elucidating the nature and magnitude of toxic materials that contaminate aquatic environments. This project funded 15 collaborative cluster multi-year projects and 41 one-year initiation projects out of 165 submitted research proposals. This project was carried out by 134 research and technical support faculty from Xavier University (Schoolmore » of Arts and Sciences, and College of Pharmacy) and Tulane University (Schools of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Engineering, Medicine, and Public Health and Tropical Medicine), and 173 publications and 140 presentations were produced. More than 100 graduate and undergraduate students were trained through these collaborative cluster and initiation research projects. Nineteen Tulane graduate students received partial funding to conduct their own competitively-chosen research projects, and 28 Xavier undergraduate LIFE Scholars and 30 LIFE Interns were supported with DOE funding to conduct their mentored research projects. Studies in this project have defined: (1) the complex interactions that occur during the transport of contaminants, (2) the actual and potential impact on ecological systems and health, and (3) the mechanisms through which these impacts might be remediated. The bayou and spoil banks of Bayou Trepagnier were mapped and analyzed in terms of risks associated with the levels of hydrocarbons and metals at specific sample sites. Data from contaminated sample sites have been incorporated into a large database and used in GIS analyses to track the fate and transport of heavy metals from spoil banks into the surrounding marsh. These data are crucial to understanding how heavy metals move through wetlands environments. These data, coupled with plume characterization data, indicate that Bayou Trepagnier is a model system for understanding how wetlands populations of fish, amphibians, and plants respond to long-term hydrocarbon and metals contamination. The CBR has fifteen years of experience in developing model aquatic ecosystems for evaluating environmental problems relevant to DOE cleanup activities. Using biotechnology screens and biomarkers of exposure, this project supports other CBR research demonstrating that chemicals in the environment can signal/alter the development of species in aquatic ecosystems, and show detrimental impacts on community, population, and the ecosystem, including human health. CBR studies funded through this grant have resulted in private sector investments, international collaborations, development of new technologies, and substantial new knowledge concerning the effects of hazardous materials on human and ecosystem health. Through the CBR, Tulane and Xavier Universities partnered with DOE-EM to lay groundwork for an effective research agenda that has become part of the DOE long term stewardship science and technology program and institutional management of the DOE complex.« less

Demonstration of a tool for automatic learning and re-use of knowledge in the activated sludge process.

PubMed

Comas, J; Rodríguez-Roda, I; Poch, M; Gernaey, K V; Rosen, C; Jeppsson, U

2006-01-01

Wastewater treatment plant operators encounter complex operational problems related to the activated sludge process and usually respond to these by applying their own intuition and by taking advantage of what they have learnt from past experiences of similar problems. However, previous process experiences are not easy to integrate in numerical control, and new tools must be developed to enable re-use of plant operating experience. The aim of this paper is to investigate the usefulness of a case-based reasoning (CBR) approach to apply learning and re-use of knowledge gained during past incidents to confront actual complex problems through the IWA/COST Benchmark protocol. A case study shows that the proposed CBR system achieves a significant improvement of the benchmark plant performance when facing a high-flow event disturbance.

Effective Team Performance in Military Environments. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hogan, Robert; And Others

Identification of psychological factors influencing team performance in the chemical, biological, and radiological defense (CBR-D) environment were identified by a system for task classification: (1) combining Herold's task demands and Holland's taxonomy of work environments and (2) describing the development and evaluation of team tasks. This…

Case-Based Reasoning in Mixed Paradigm Settings and with Learning

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-04-30

Learning Prototypical Cases OFF-BROADWAY, MCI and RMHC -* are three CBR-ML systems that learn case prototypes. We feel that methods that enable the...at Irvine Machine Learning Repository, including heart disease and breast cancer databases. OFF-BROADWAY, MCI and RMHC -* made the following notable

Internet Use among Community-Based Rehabilitation Workers in Bosnia and Herzegovina: A Cross-Sectional Survey

PubMed Central

Balogh, Robert; Cole, Donald; Jakovic, Djenana; Landry, Michel D.

2011-01-01

ABSTRACT Purpose: The Internet may be one way to support and improve rehabilitation practice and service delivery in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) such as Bosnia and Herzegovina. Little information exists on use of the Internet to enhance the practice and professional development of community-based rehabilitation (CBR) workers in LMICs. The purpose of this study was to assess the patterns of and barriers to Internet use by CBR workers in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Methods: Participants were CBR workers (physiotherapists, physiatrists, and technicians) from Bosnia and Herzegovina who attended a conference or workshop in 2005. A cross-sectional questionnaire was administered in the local language to assess Internet use. Descriptive results were summarized in tables. Bivariate and multiple logistic regressions were used to assess factors associated with Internet use. Results: A total of 33% of respondents had never used the Internet. Common barriers to Internet use included “not enough time” (24%), “no access” (23%), and “lack of skill” (18%). Participants with higher levels of education had greater odds of using the Internet than physiotherapy school graduates (odds ratio=7.6, p=0.016) and had greater odds of using the Internet to obtain medical, rehabilitation, or health information (odds ratio=5.8, p=0.028). Conclusions: Improving CBR workers' access to the Internet and their proficiency in using it may enable them to obtain valuable rehabilitation-related information and enhance communication among CBR workers, potentially translating into improved rehabilitation services for people with disabilities in LMICs. PMID:22942523

Governing Well in Community-Based Research: Lessons from Canada’s HIV Research Sector on Ethics, Publics and the Care of the Self

PubMed Central

Guta, Adrian; Murray, Stuart J; Strike, Carol; Flicker, Sarah; Upshur, Ross; Myers, Ted

2017-01-01

Abstract In this paper, we extend Michel Foucault’s final works on the ‘care of the self’ to an empirical examination of research practice in community-based research (CBR). We use Foucault’s ‘morality of behaviors’ to analyze interview data from a national sample of Canadian CBR practitioners working with communities affected by HIV. Despite claims in the literature that ethics review is overly burdensome for non-traditional forms of research, our findings suggest that many researchers using CBR have an ambivalent but ultimately productive relationship with institutional research ethics review requirements. They understand and use prescribed codes, but adapt them in practice to account for the needs of participating community members, members of their research teams and the larger communities with whom they work. Complying with ethics protocols was seen as only the beginning, a minimum standard; our research suggests that the real ethical work happens in the field, where CBR practitioners encounter community members in diverse public roles and must forge ethical consensus across communities. CBR represents an ethical terrain in which practitioners challenge themselves to work differently, and as a result they care for themselves—and others—in ways that often resist the propensity for domination through public health research. ‘…there are different ways to “conduct oneself” morally, different ways for the acting individual to operate, not just as an agent, but as an ethical subject of action.’ (Foucault, 1985: 26) PMID:29731810

Emerging medical informatics with case-based reasoning for aiding clinical decision in multi-agent system.

PubMed

Shen, Ying; Colloc, Joël; Jacquet-Andrieu, Armelle; Lei, Kai

2015-08-01

This research aims to depict the methodological steps and tools about the combined operation of case-based reasoning (CBR) and multi-agent system (MAS) to expose the ontological application in the field of clinical decision support. The multi-agent architecture works for the consideration of the whole cycle of clinical decision-making adaptable to many medical aspects such as the diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, therapeutic monitoring of gastric cancer. In the multi-agent architecture, the ontological agent type employs the domain knowledge to ease the extraction of similar clinical cases and provide treatment suggestions to patients and physicians. Ontological agent is used for the extension of domain hierarchy and the interpretation of input requests. Case-based reasoning memorizes and restores experience data for solving similar problems, with the help of matching approach and defined interfaces of ontologies. A typical case is developed to illustrate the implementation of the knowledge acquisition and restitution of medical experts. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

CBR Models and Training Viable for India. Proceedings of the Workshop (Chennai, India, March 3-5, 1997).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spastics Society, Tamil Nadu (India).

This report describes the proceedings of a three-day workshop on community-based rehabilitation (CBR) models and training in India. The workshop included 72 professionals from India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Sessions and papers from the workshop are summarized and address the following topics: (1) a training module for the…

Carotid baroreflex regulation of sympathetic nerve activity during dynamic exercise in humans

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fadel, P. J.; Ogoh, S.; Watenpaugh, D. E.; Wasmund, W.; Olivencia-Yurvati, A.; Smith, M. L.; Raven, P. B.

2001-01-01

We sought to determine whether carotid baroreflex (CBR) control of muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) was altered during dynamic exercise. In five men and three women, 23.8 +/- 0.7 (SE) yr of age, CBR function was evaluated at rest and during 20 min of arm cycling at 50% peak O(2) uptake using 5-s periods of neck pressure and neck suction. From rest to steady-state arm cycling, mean arterial pressure (MAP) was significantly increased from 90.0 +/- 2.7 to 118.7 +/- 3.6 mmHg and MSNA burst frequency (microneurography at the peroneal nerve) was elevated by 51 +/- 14% (P < 0.01). However, despite the marked increases in MAP and MSNA during exercise, CBR-Delta%MSNA responses elicited by the application of various levels of neck pressure and neck suction ranging from +45 to -80 Torr were not significantly different from those at rest. Furthermore, estimated baroreflex sensitivity for the control of MSNA at rest was the same as during exercise (P = 0.74) across the range of neck chamber pressures. Thus CBR control of sympathetic nerve activity appears to be preserved during moderate-intensity dynamic exercise.

Combining knowledge discovery from databases (KDD) and case-based reasoning (CBR) to support diagnosis of medical images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stranieri, Andrew; Yearwood, John; Pham, Binh

1999-07-01

The development of data warehouses for the storage and analysis of very large corpora of medical image data represents a significant trend in health care and research. Amongst other benefits, the trend toward warehousing enables the use of techniques for automatically discovering knowledge from large and distributed databases. In this paper, we present an application design for knowledge discovery from databases (KDD) techniques that enhance the performance of the problem solving strategy known as case- based reasoning (CBR) for the diagnosis of radiological images. The problem of diagnosing the abnormality of the cervical spine is used to illustrate the method. The design of a case-based medical image diagnostic support system has three essential characteristics. The first is a case representation that comprises textual descriptions of the image, visual features that are known to be useful for indexing images, and additional visual features to be discovered by data mining many existing images. The second characteristic of the approach presented here involves the development of a case base that comprises an optimal number and distribution of cases. The third characteristic involves the automatic discovery, using KDD techniques, of adaptation knowledge to enhance the performance of the case based reasoner. Together, the three characteristics of our approach can overcome real time efficiency obstacles that otherwise mitigate against the use of CBR to the domain of medical image analysis.

Retreatment Predictions in Odontology by means of CBR Systems.

PubMed

Campo, Livia; Aliaga, Ignacio J; De Paz, Juan F; García, Alvaro Enrique; Bajo, Javier; Villarubia, Gabriel; Corchado, Juan M

2016-01-01

The field of odontology requires an appropriate adjustment of treatments according to the circumstances of each patient. A follow-up treatment for a patient experiencing problems from a previous procedure such as endodontic therapy, for example, may not necessarily preclude the possibility of extraction. It is therefore necessary to investigate new solutions aimed at analyzing data and, with regard to the given values, determine whether dental retreatment is required. In this work, we present a decision support system which applies the case-based reasoning (CBR) paradigm, specifically designed to predict the practicality of performing or not performing a retreatment. Thus, the system uses previous experiences to provide new predictions, which is completely innovative in the field of odontology. The proposed prediction technique includes an innovative combination of methods that minimizes false negatives to the greatest possible extent. False negatives refer to a prediction favoring a retreatment when in fact it would be ineffective. The combination of methods is performed by applying an optimization problem to reduce incorrect classifications and takes into account different parameters, such as precision, recall, and statistical probabilities. The proposed system was tested in a real environment and the results obtained are promising.

Retreatment Predictions in Odontology by means of CBR Systems

PubMed Central

Campo, Livia; Aliaga, Ignacio J.; García, Alvaro Enrique; Villarubia, Gabriel; Corchado, Juan M.

2016-01-01

The field of odontology requires an appropriate adjustment of treatments according to the circumstances of each patient. A follow-up treatment for a patient experiencing problems from a previous procedure such as endodontic therapy, for example, may not necessarily preclude the possibility of extraction. It is therefore necessary to investigate new solutions aimed at analyzing data and, with regard to the given values, determine whether dental retreatment is required. In this work, we present a decision support system which applies the case-based reasoning (CBR) paradigm, specifically designed to predict the practicality of performing or not performing a retreatment. Thus, the system uses previous experiences to provide new predictions, which is completely innovative in the field of odontology. The proposed prediction technique includes an innovative combination of methods that minimizes false negatives to the greatest possible extent. False negatives refer to a prediction favoring a retreatment when in fact it would be ineffective. The combination of methods is performed by applying an optimization problem to reduce incorrect classifications and takes into account different parameters, such as precision, recall, and statistical probabilities. The proposed system was tested in a real environment and the results obtained are promising. PMID:26884749

Thermophilic bio-hydrogen production from corn-bran residue pretreated by calcined-lime mud from papermaking process.

PubMed

Zhang, Jishi; Zhang, Junjie; Zang, Lihua

2015-12-01

This study investigated the use of calcined-lime mud from papermaking process (CLMP) pretreatment to improve fermentative hydrogen yields from corn-bran residue (CBR). CBR samples were pretreated with different concentrations (0-15 g/L) of CLMP at 55°C for 48 h, prior to the thermophilic fermentation with heat-treated anaerobic sludge inoculum. The maximum hydrogen yield (MHY) of 338.91 ml/g-VS was produced from the CBR pretreated with 10 g/L CLMP, with the corresponding lag-phase time of 8.24h. Hydrogen yield increments increased from 27.76% to 48.07%, compared to the control. The CLMP hydrolyzed more cellulose, which provided adequate substrates for hydrogen production. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

78 FR 7431 - Cbr Systems, Inc.; Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-02-01

... include any sensitive personal information, like anyone's Social Security number, date of birth, driver's... limited to, the following: name, address, email address, telephone number, date of birth, Social Security... collects personal information, such as fathers' Social Security numbers, and the company collects...

An advanced artificial intelligence tool for menu design.

PubMed

Khan, Abdus Salam; Hoffmann, Achim

2003-01-01

The computer-assisted menu design still remains a difficult task. Usually knowledge that aids in menu design by a computer is hard-coded and because of that a computerised menu planner cannot handle the menu design problem for an unanticipated client. To address this problem we developed a menu design tool, MIKAS (menu construction using incremental knowledge acquisition system), an artificial intelligence system that allows the incremental development of a knowledge-base for menu design. We allow an incremental knowledge acquisition process in which the expert is only required to provide hints to the system in the context of actual problem instances during menu design using menus stored in a so-called Case Base. Our system incorporates Case-Based Reasoning (CBR), an Artificial Intelligence (AI) technique developed to mimic human problem solving behaviour. Ripple Down Rules (RDR) are a proven technique for the acquisition of classification knowledge from expert directly while they are using the system, which complement CBR in a very fruitful way. This combination allows the incremental improvement of the menu design system while it is already in routine use. We believe MIKAS allows better dietary practice by leveraging a dietitian's skills and expertise. As such MIKAS has the potential to be helpful for any institution where dietary advice is practised.

Nonadiabatic effects in C-Br bond scission in the photodissociation of bromoacetyl chloride

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Valero, Rosendo; Truhlar, Donald G.

2006-11-01

Bromoacetyl chloride photodissociation has been interpreted as a paradigmatic example of a process in which nonadiabatic effects play a major role. In molecular beam experiments by Butler and co-workers [J. Chem. Phys. 95, 3848 (1991); J. Chem. Phys. 97, 355 (1992)], BrCH2C(O )Cl was prepared in its ground electronic state (S0) and excited with a laser at 248nm to its first excited singlet state (S1). The two main ensuing photoreactions are the ruptures of the C-Cl bond and of the C-Br bond. A nonadiabatic model was proposed in which the C-Br scission is strongly suppressed due to nonadiabatic recrossing at the barrier formed by the avoided crossing between the S1 and S2 states. Recent reduced-dimensional dynamical studies lend support to this model. However, another interpretation that has been given for the experimental results is that the reduced probability of C-Br scission is a consequence of incomplete intramolecular energy redistribution. To provide further insight into this problem, we have studied the energetically lowest six singlet electronic states of bromoacetyl chloride by using an ab initio multiconfigurational perturbative electronic structure method. Stationary points (minima and saddle points) and minimum energy paths have been characterized on the S0 and S1 potential energy surfaces. The fourfold way diabatization method has been applied to transform five adiabatic excited electronic states to a diabatic representation. The diabatic potential energy matrix of the first five excited singlet states has been constructed along several cuts of the potential energy hypersurfaces. The thermochemistry of the photodissociation reactions and a comparison with experimental translational energy distributions strongly suggest that nonadiabatic effects dominate the C-Br scission, but that the reaction proceeds along the energetically allowed diabatic pathway to excited-state products instead of being nonadiabatically suppressed. This conclusion is also supported by the low values of the diabatic couplings on the C-Br scission reaction path. The methodology established in the present study will be used for the construction of global potential energy surfaces suitable for multidimensional dynamics simulations to test these preliminary interpretations.

A Bridge from Optical to Infrared Galaxies: Explaining Local Properties and Predicting Galaxy Counts and the Cosmic Background Radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Totani, Tomonori; Takeuchi, Tsutomu T.

2002-05-01

We give an explanation for the origin of various properties observed in local infrared galaxies and make predictions for galaxy counts and cosmic background radiation (CBR) using a new model extended from that for optical/near-infrared galaxies. Important new characteristics of this study are that (1) mass scale dependence of dust extinction is introduced based on the size-luminosity relation of optical galaxies and that (2) the large-grain dust temperature Tdust is calculated based on a physical consideration for energy balance rather than by using the empirical relation between Tdust and total infrared luminosity LIR found in local galaxies, which has been employed in most previous works. Consequently, the local properties of infrared galaxies, i.e., optical/infrared luminosity ratios, LIR-Tdust correlation, and infrared luminosity function are outputs predicted by the model, while these have been inputs in a number of previous models. Our model indeed reproduces these local properties reasonably well. Then we make predictions for faint infrared counts (in 15, 60, 90, 170, 450, and 850 μm) and CBR using this model. We found results considerably different from those of most previous works based on the empirical LIR-Tdust relation; especially, it is shown that the dust temperature of starbursting primordial elliptical galaxies is expected to be very high (40-80 K), as often seen in starburst galaxies or ultraluminous infrared galaxies in the local and high-z universe. This indicates that intense starbursts of forming elliptical galaxies should have occurred at z~2-3, in contrast to the previous results that significant starbursts beyond z~1 tend to overproduce the far-infrared (FIR) CBR detected by COBE/FIRAS. On the other hand, our model predicts that the mid-infrared (MIR) flux from warm/nonequilibrium dust is relatively weak in such galaxies making FIR CBR, and this effect reconciles the prima facie conflict between the upper limit on MIR CBR from TeV gamma-ray observations and the COBE detections of FIR CBR. The intergalactic optical depth of TeV gamma rays based on our model is also presented.

Classifying Drivers' Cognitive Load Using EEG Signals.

PubMed

Barua, Shaibal; Ahmed, Mobyen Uddin; Begum, Shahina

2017-01-01

A growing traffic safety issue is the effect of cognitive loading activities on traffic safety and driving performance. To monitor drivers' mental state, understanding cognitive load is important since while driving, performing cognitively loading secondary tasks, for example talking on the phone, can affect the performance in the primary task, i.e. driving. Electroencephalography (EEG) is one of the reliable measures of cognitive load that can detect the changes in instantaneous load and effect of cognitively loading secondary task. In this driving simulator study, 1-back task is carried out while the driver performs three different simulated driving scenarios. This paper presents an EEG based approach to classify a drivers' level of cognitive load using Case-Based Reasoning (CBR). The results show that for each individual scenario as well as using data combined from the different scenarios, CBR based system achieved approximately over 70% of classification accuracy.

Analysis of ballistic transport in nanoscale devices by using an accelerated finite element contact block reduction approach

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

Li, H.; Li, G., E-mail: gli@clemson.edu

2014-08-28

An accelerated Finite Element Contact Block Reduction (FECBR) approach is presented for computational analysis of ballistic transport in nanoscale electronic devices with arbitrary geometry and unstructured mesh. Finite element formulation is developed for the theoretical CBR/Poisson model. The FECBR approach is accelerated through eigen-pair reduction, lead mode space projection, and component mode synthesis techniques. The accelerated FECBR is applied to perform quantum mechanical ballistic transport analysis of a DG-MOSFET with taper-shaped extensions and a DG-MOSFET with Si/SiO{sub 2} interface roughness. The computed electrical transport properties of the devices obtained from the accelerated FECBR approach and associated computational cost as amore » function of system degrees of freedom are compared with those obtained from the original CBR and direct inversion methods. The performance of the accelerated FECBR in both its accuracy and efficiency is demonstrated.« less

Coarse-grained Brownian ratchet model of membrane protrusion on cellular scale.

PubMed

Inoue, Yasuhiro; Adachi, Taiji

2011-07-01

Membrane protrusion is a mechanochemical process of active membrane deformation driven by actin polymerization. Previously, Brownian ratchet (BR) was modeled on the basis of the underlying molecular mechanism. However, because the BR requires a priori load that cannot be determined without information of the cell shape, it cannot be effective in studies in which resultant shapes are to be solved. Other cellular-scale models describing the protrusion have also been suggested for modeling a whole cell; however, these models were not developed on the basis of coarse-grained physics representing the underlying molecular mechanism. Therefore, to express the membrane protrusion on the cellular scale, we propose a novel mathematical model, the coarse-grained BR (CBR), which is derived on the basis of nonequilibrium thermodynamics theory. The CBR can reproduce the BR within the limit of the quasistatic process of membrane protrusion and can estimate the protrusion velocity consistently with an effective elastic constant that represents the state of the energy of the membrane. Finally, to demonstrate the applicability of the CBR, we attempt to perform a cellular-scale simulation of migrating keratocyte in which the proposed CBR is used for the membrane protrusion model on the cellular scale. The results show that the experimentally observed shapes of the leading edge are well reproduced by the simulation. In addition, The trend of dependences of the protrusion velocity on the curvature of the leading edge, the temperature, and the substrate stiffness also agreed with the other experimental results. Thus, the CBR can be considered an appropriate cellular-scale model to express the membrane protrusion on the basis of its underlying molecular mechanism.

Thermodynamic properties of gaseous fluorocarbons and isentropic equilibrium expansions of two binary mixtures of fluorocarbons and argon

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Talcott, N. A., Jr.

1977-01-01

Equations and computer code are given for the thermodynamic properties of gaseous fluorocarbons in chemical equilibrium. In addition, isentropic equilibrium expansions of two binary mixtures of fluorocarbons and argon are included. The computer code calculates the equilibrium thermodynamic properties and, in some cases, the transport properties for the following fluorocarbons: CCl2F, CCl2F2, CBrF3, CF4, CHCl2F, CHF3, CCL2F-CCl2F, CCLF2-CClF2, CF3-CF3, and C4F8. Equilibrium thermodynamic properties are tabulated for six of the fluorocarbons(CCl3F, CCL2F2, CBrF3, CF4, CF3-CF3, and C4F8) and pressure-enthalpy diagrams are presented for CBrF3.

Reformulation of the CBR Procedure, Report 2: Design, Construction, and Behavior Under Traffic of the Pavement Test Sections

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-12-01

shows the clay moisture- density curve. The design subgrade CBR values selected for the test section construction were 4%, 10%, and 15%. The high...9  Figure 7. Subgrade moisture- density curve...view of Hangar 4. (a) (b) The in situ soil was a lean clay (loess) deposit, and the depth to the groundwater table was approximately 6 ft

Return on investment of public health interventions: a systematic review

PubMed Central

Masters, Rebecca; Anwar, Elspeth; Collins, Brendan; Cookson, Richard; Capewell, Simon

2017-01-01

Background Public sector austerity measures in many high-income countries mean that public health budgets are reducing year on year. To help inform the potential impact of these proposed disinvestments in public health, we set out to determine the return on investment (ROI) from a range of existing public health interventions. Methods We conducted systematic searches on all relevant databases (including MEDLINE; EMBASE; CINAHL; AMED; PubMed, Cochrane and Scopus) to identify studies that calculated a ROI or cost-benefit ratio (CBR) for public health interventions in high-income countries. Results We identified 2957 titles, and included 52 studies. The median ROI for public health interventions was 14.3 to 1, and median CBR was 8.3. The median ROI for all 29 local public health interventions was 4.1 to 1, and median CBR was 10.3. Even larger benefits were reported in 28 studies analysing nationwide public health interventions; the median ROI was 27.2, and median CBR was 17.5. Conclusions This systematic review suggests that local and national public health interventions are highly cost-saving. Cuts to public health budgets in high income countries therefore represent a false economy, and are likely to generate billions of pounds of additional costs to health services and the wider economy. PMID:28356325

Inhibition of KATP channel activity augments baroreflex-mediated vasoconstriction in exercising human skeletal muscle

PubMed Central

Keller, David Melvin; Ogoh, Shigehiko; Greene, Shane; Olivencia-Yurvati, A; Raven, Peter B

2004-01-01

In the present investigation we examined the role of ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channel activity in modulating carotid baroreflex (CBR)-induced vasoconstriction in the vasculature of the leg. The CBR control of mean arterial pressure (MAP) and leg vascular conductance (LVC) was determined in seven subjects (25 ± 1 years, mean ± s.e.m.) using the variable-pressure neck collar technique at rest and during one-legged knee extension exercise. The oral ingestion of glyburide (5 mg) did not change mean arterial pressure (MAP) at rest (86 versus 89 mmHg, P > 0.05), but did appear to increase MAP during exercise (87 versus 92 mmHg, P = 0.053). However, the CBR–MAP function curves were similar at rest before and after glyburide ingestion. The CBR-mediated decrease in LVC observed at rest (∼39%) was attenuated during exercise in the exercising leg (∼15%, P < 0.05). Oral glyburide ingestion partially restored CBR-mediated vasoconstriction in the exercising leg (∼40% restoration, P < 0.05) compared to control exercise. These findings indicate that KATP channel activity modulates sympathetic vasoconstriction in humans and may prove to be an important mechanism by which functional sympatholysis operates in humans during exercise. PMID:15345750

Prediction model for the return to work of workers with injuries in Hong Kong.

PubMed

Xu, Yanwen; Chan, Chetwyn C H; Lo, Karen Hui Yu-Ling; Tang, Dan

2008-01-01

This study attempts to formulate a prediction model of return to work for a group of workers who have been suffering from chronic pain and physical injury while also being out of work in Hong Kong. The study used Case-based Reasoning (CBR) method, and compared the result with the statistical method of logistic regression model. The database of the algorithm of CBR was composed of 67 cases who were also used in the logistic regression model. The testing cases were 32 participants who had a similar background and characteristics to those in the database. The methods of setting constraints and Euclidean distance metric were used in CBR to search the closest cases to the trial case based on the matrix. The usefulness of the algorithm was tested on 32 new participants, and the accuracy of predicting return to work outcomes was 62.5%, which was no better than the 71.2% accuracy derived from the logistic regression model. The results of the study would enable us to have a better understanding of the CBR applied in the field of occupational rehabilitation by comparing with the conventional regression analysis. The findings would also shed light on the development of relevant interventions for the return-to-work process of these workers.

Environmental and Geotechnical Assessment of the Steel Slags as a Material for Road Structure

PubMed Central

Sas, Wojciech; Głuchowski, Andrzej; Radziemska, Maja; Dzięcioł, Justyna; Szymański, Alojzy

2015-01-01

Slags are the final solid wastes from the steel industry. Their production from waste and associated materials is a proper implementation of the basic objectives and principles of the waste management. This study aims to investigate the chemical and selected significant geotechnical parameters of steel slag as the alternative materials used in road construction. These investigations are strongly desired for successful application in engineering. Young’s modules E, and resilient modules Mr showed that their values corresponding with requirements for subbase (principal or auxiliary) and riding surface as well. Tested mechanical properties were conducted in soaked and un-soaked (optimal moisture content) conditions. The designated high content of chromium and zinc are strongly associated with the internal crystal structure of steel slag. The results do not lead to threats when they are applied in roads’ structures. Mechanical characterization was obtained by performing California bearing ratio (CBR) tests for steel slag in fixed compaction and moisture content conditions. Moreover, cyclic loading of steel slag was conducted with the application of cyclic California bearing ratio (cCBR) apparatus to characterization of this material as a controlled low-strength material. Finally, field studies that consist of static load plate VSS tests were presented. PMID:28793477

Knowledge-light adaptation approaches in case-based reasoning for radiotherapy treatment planning.

PubMed

Petrovic, Sanja; Khussainova, Gulmira; Jagannathan, Rupa

2016-03-01

Radiotherapy treatment planning aims at delivering a sufficient radiation dose to cancerous tumour cells while sparing healthy organs in the tumour-surrounding area. It is a time-consuming trial-and-error process that requires the expertise of a group of medical experts including oncologists and medical physicists and can take from 2 to 3h to a few days. Our objective is to improve the performance of our previously built case-based reasoning (CBR) system for brain tumour radiotherapy treatment planning. In this system, a treatment plan for a new patient is retrieved from a case base containing patient cases treated in the past and their treatment plans. However, this system does not perform any adaptation, which is needed to account for any difference between the new and retrieved cases. Generally, the adaptation phase is considered to be intrinsically knowledge-intensive and domain-dependent. Therefore, an adaptation often requires a large amount of domain-specific knowledge, which can be difficult to acquire and often is not readily available. In this study, we investigate approaches to adaptation that do not require much domain knowledge, referred to as knowledge-light adaptation. We developed two adaptation approaches: adaptation based on machine-learning tools and adaptation-guided retrieval. They were used to adapt the beam number and beam angles suggested in the retrieved case. Two machine-learning tools, neural networks and naive Bayes classifier, were used in the adaptation to learn how the difference in attribute values between the retrieved and new cases affects the output of these two cases. The adaptation-guided retrieval takes into consideration not only the similarity between the new and retrieved cases, but also how to adapt the retrieved case. The research was carried out in collaboration with medical physicists at the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, City Hospital Campus, UK. All experiments were performed using real-world brain cancer patient cases treated with three-dimensional (3D)-conformal radiotherapy. Neural networks-based adaptation improved the success rate of the CBR system with no adaptation by 12%. However, naive Bayes classifier did not improve the current retrieval results as it did not consider the interplay among attributes. The adaptation-guided retrieval of the case for beam number improved the success rate of the CBR system by 29%. However, it did not demonstrate good performance for the beam angle adaptation. Its success rate was 29% versus 39% when no adaptation was performed. The obtained empirical results demonstrate that the proposed adaptation methods improve the performance of the existing CBR system in recommending the number of beams to use. However, we also conclude that to be effective, the proposed adaptation of beam angles requires a large number of relevant cases in the case base. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An approach to estimate body dimensions through constant body ratio benchmarks.

PubMed

Chao, Wei-Cheng; Wang, Eric Min-Yang

2010-12-01

Building a new anthropometric database is a difficult and costly job that requires considerable manpower and time. However, most designers and engineers do not know how to convert old anthropometric data into applicable new data with minimal errors and costs (Wang et al., 1999). To simplify the process of converting old anthropometric data into useful new data, this study analyzed the available data in paired body dimensions in an attempt to determine constant body ratio (CBR) benchmarks that are independent of gender and age. In total, 483 CBR benchmarks were identified and verified from 35,245 ratios analyzed. Additionally, 197 estimation formulae, taking as inputs 19 easily measured body dimensions, were built using 483 CBR benchmarks. Based on the results for 30 recruited participants, this study determined that the described approach is more accurate and cost-effective than alternative techniques. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

California Bearing Ratio (CBR) test on stabilization of clay with lime addition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hastuty, I. P.; Roesyanto; Limbong, M. N.; Oberlyn, S. J.

2018-02-01

Clay is a type of soil with particles of certain minerals giving plastic properties when mixed with water. Soil has an important role in a construction, besides as a building material in a wide variety of civil engineering works, soil is also used as supporting foundation of the building. Basic properties of clay are rock-solid in dry and plastic with medium water content. In high water content, clay becomes sticky like (cohesive) and soften. Therefore, clay stabilization is necessary to repair soil’s mechanical properties. In this research, lime is use as a stabilizer that contains the Ca+ element to bond bigger particles. Lime used is slaked lime Ca(OH)2. Clay used has liquid limitation (LL) value of 47.33%, plasticity index of 29.88% and CBR value 6.29. The results explain about 10% lime mixture variation gives the optimum stabilized clay with CBR value of 8.75%.

Tulane/Xavier University hazardous materials in aquatic environments of the Mississippi River Basin. Annual technical report, January 1--December 31, 1995

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

NONE

1996-05-02

Tulane and Xavier Universities have singled out the environment as a major strategic focus for research and training for now and beyond the year 2000. In 1989, the Tulane/Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental Research (CBR) was established as the umbrella organization which coordinates environmental research at both universities. In December, 1992, the Tulane/Xavier CBR was awarded a five year grant to study pollution in the Mississippi River system. The Hazardous Materials in Aquatic Environments of the Mississippi River Basin project is a broad research and education program aimed at elucidating the nature and magnitude of toxic materials that contaminate aquatic environmentsmore » of the Mississippi River Basin. Studies include defining the complex interactions that occur during the transport of contaminants, the actual and potential impact on ecological systems and health, and the mechanisms through which these impacts might be remediated. The Mississippi River Basin represents a model system for analyzing and solving contamination problems that are found in aquatic systems world-wide. Summaries which describe objectives, goals, and accomplishments are included on ten collaborative cluster projects, two education projects, and six initiation projects. Selected papers are indexed separately for inclusion in the Energy Science and Technology Database.« less

Development of a web-based video management and application processing system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chan, Shermann S.; Wu, Yi; Li, Qing; Zhuang, Yueting

2001-07-01

How to facilitate efficient video manipulation and access in a web-based environment is becoming a popular trend for video applications. In this paper, we present a web-oriented video management and application processing system, based on our previous work on multimedia database and content-based retrieval. In particular, we extend the VideoMAP architecture with specific web-oriented mechanisms, which include: (1) Concurrency control facilities for the editing of video data among different types of users, such as Video Administrator, Video Producer, Video Editor, and Video Query Client; different users are assigned various priority levels for different operations on the database. (2) Versatile video retrieval mechanism which employs a hybrid approach by integrating a query-based (database) mechanism with content- based retrieval (CBR) functions; its specific language (CAROL/ST with CBR) supports spatio-temporal semantics of video objects, and also offers an improved mechanism to describe visual content of videos by content-based analysis method. (3) Query profiling database which records the `histories' of various clients' query activities; such profiles can be used to provide the default query template when a similar query is encountered by the same kind of users. An experimental prototype system is being developed based on the existing VideoMAP prototype system, using Java and VC++ on the PC platform.

A community of citizens: disability rehabilitation in the Palestinian transition to statehood.

PubMed

Giacaman, R

2001-09-20

It has been widely argued that community based programmes offer considerable advantages to the classical institutional forms of health and rehabilitation services delivery. With about 10 years of experience in operating community based rehabilitation projects (CBR) for the disabled, the Palestinian experience points to potentially serious problems relating to the conception and operationalization of such programmes in real life situations. Of importance is the issue of the impact of communal care on the already burdened lives of women, especially when such care is expected to be voluntary in nature. Caretaking in the Palestinian context, especially of the disabled, elderly and the sick, is a pre-defined sex linked role dictated by a patriarchal society and system of policy making that excludes women from economic and social life. The voluntary care aspect entailed in the CBR conception and practice, can and does contribute further to the exclusion of women not only from the labour force, but from most other aspects of life as well. This represents an apparent contradiction between the needs of two excluded groups, the disabled and women. The other problematic entailed in the communal model of caring for the disabled is the strategic and operational bias focusing on community, to the exclusion of the notion of social rights of all citizens, and the role and duty of state structures in the fulfilment of the disabled basic needs. Such an approach can only relegate the disabled rights back to their original place as charity. On the other hand, when CBR projects are operated holistically, in the context of social movements existing within power relation and with a broader democratic agenda engaging different groups-including a disability movement-as is currently taking place in Palestine, CBR projects can also turn into a mobilizing force for the social rights of all excluded groups. Thus the question is not merely one of governmental involvement as opposed to the involvement of non-governmental organizations and charitable societies in community based projects. Rather, it is a question of the right to a decent life for all, in dignity and security, that citizenship and statehood promise, but have yet to deliver in many developing countries, especially in Palestine.

Effect of Crc and Hfq proteins on the transcription, processing, and stability of the Pseudomonas putida CrcZ sRNA

PubMed Central

Hernández-Arranz, Sofía; Sánchez-Hevia, Dione; Rojo, Fernando; Moreno, Renata

2016-01-01

In Pseudomonas putida, the Hfq and Crc proteins regulate the expression of many genes in response to nutritional and environmental cues, by binding to mRNAs that bear specific target motifs and inhibiting their translation. The effect of these two proteins is antagonized by the CrcZ and CrcY small RNAs (sRNAs), the levels of which vary greatly according to growth conditions. The crcZ and crcY genes are transcribed from promoters PcrcZ and PcrcY, respectively, a process that relies on the CbrB transcriptional activator and the RpoN σ factor. Here we show that crcZ can also be transcribed from the promoter of the immediate upstream gene, cbrB, a weak constitutive promoter. The cbrB-crcZ transcript was processed to render a sRNA very similar in size to the CrcZ produced from promoter PcrcZ. The processed sRNA, termed CrcZ*, was able to antagonize Hfq/Crc because, when provided in trans, it relieved the deregulated Hfq/Crc-dependent hyperrepressing phenotype of a ΔcrcZΔcrcY strain. CrcZ* may help in attaining basal levels of CrcZ/CrcZ* that are sufficient to protect the cell from an excessive Hfq/Crc-dependent repression. Since a functional sRNA can be produced from PcrcZ, an inducible strong promoter, or by cleavage of the cbrB-crcZ mRNA, crcZ can be considered a 3′-untranslated region of the cbrB-crcZ mRNA. In the absence of Hfq, the processed form of CrcZ was not observed. In addition, we show that Crc and Hfq increase CrcZ stability, which supports the idea that these proteins can form a complex with CrcZ and protect it from degradation by RNases. PMID:27777366

Effect of Crc and Hfq proteins on the transcription, processing, and stability of the Pseudomonas putida CrcZ sRNA.

PubMed

Hernández-Arranz, Sofía; Sánchez-Hevia, Dione; Rojo, Fernando; Moreno, Renata

2016-12-01

In Pseudomonas putida, the Hfq and Crc proteins regulate the expression of many genes in response to nutritional and environmental cues, by binding to mRNAs that bear specific target motifs and inhibiting their translation. The effect of these two proteins is antagonized by the CrcZ and CrcY small RNAs (sRNAs), the levels of which vary greatly according to growth conditions. The crcZ and crcY genes are transcribed from promoters PcrcZ and PcrcY, respectively, a process that relies on the CbrB transcriptional activator and the RpoN σ factor. Here we show that crcZ can also be transcribed from the promoter of the immediate upstream gene, cbrB, a weak constitutive promoter. The cbrB-crcZ transcript was processed to render a sRNA very similar in size to the CrcZ produced from promoter PcrcZ The processed sRNA, termed CrcZ*, was able to antagonize Hfq/Crc because, when provided in trans, it relieved the deregulated Hfq/Crc-dependent hyperrepressing phenotype of a ΔcrcZΔcrcY strain. CrcZ* may help in attaining basal levels of CrcZ/CrcZ* that are sufficient to protect the cell from an excessive Hfq/Crc-dependent repression. Since a functional sRNA can be produced from PcrcZ, an inducible strong promoter, or by cleavage of the cbrB-crcZ mRNA, crcZ can be considered a 3'-untranslated region of the cbrB-crcZ mRNA. In the absence of Hfq, the processed form of CrcZ was not observed. In addition, we show that Crc and Hfq increase CrcZ stability, which supports the idea that these proteins can form a complex with CrcZ and protect it from degradation by RNases. © 2016 Hernández-Arranz et al.; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press for the RNA Society.

The effectiveness of community-based rehabilitation programmes: an impact evaluation of a quasi-randomised trial.

PubMed

Mauro, Vincenzo; Biggeri, Mario; Deepak, Sunil; Trani, Jean-Francois

2014-11-01

Community-based rehabilitation (CBR) programmes have been described as highly effective means of promoting the rights and opportunities of persons with disabilities (PwD). Although CBR is often the main way in which PwD in low-income and middle-income countries access rehabilitation services, there is little literature providing rigorous evaluation of their impact on people's well-being. Data were collected in the Mandya and Ramanagar districts (Karnataka state, India), between December 2009 and May 2010. In total 2540 PwD were interviewed using stratified random sampling: 1919 CBR beneficiaries (who joined the programme between 1997 and 2009) and 621 persons who were living in villages not covered by the programme. We controlled for the systematic differences between people joining and not joining the programme using the propensity score matching method controlling for covariates at individual and village level. We evaluated the impact of the programme on the subgroups of PwD who are disadvantaged on the dimensions of interest: access to pensions, use of aid appliances, access to paid jobs and improvement in personal-practical autonomy after 4 and 7 years of joining the CBR. We observed a positive and significant impact of the programme on access to services, rights and opportunities of PwD. The results indicate that compared with the control group access to pensions and allowances, aid appliances, access to paid jobs and personal-practical autonomy increased by 29.7%, 9.4%, 12.3% and 36.2%, respectively, after 7 years. The CBR programme analysed has a positive impact on access to services and the well-being of PwD who are particularly deprived on outcomes of interest. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Case-Based Multi-Sensor Intrusion Detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schwartz, Daniel G.; Long, Jidong

2009-08-01

Multi-sensor intrusion detection systems (IDSs) combine the alerts raised by individual IDSs and possibly other kinds of devices such as firewalls and antivirus software. A critical issue in building a multi-sensor IDS is alert-correlation, i.e., determining which alerts are caused by the same attack. This paper explores a novel approach to alert correlation using case-based reasoning (CBR). Each case in the CBR system's library contains a pattern of alerts raised by some known attack type, together with the identity of the attack. Then during run time, the alert streams gleaned from the sensors are compared with the patterns in the cases, and a match indicates that the attack described by that case has occurred. For this purpose the design of a fast and accurate matching algorithm is imperative. Two such algorithms were explored: (i) the well-known Hungarian algorithm, and (ii) an order-preserving matching of our own device. Tests were conducted using the DARPA Grand Challenge Problem attack simulator. These showed that the both matching algorithms are effective in detecting attacks; but the Hungarian algorithm is inefficient; whereas the order-preserving one is very efficient, in fact runs in linear time.

Autonomous Distributed Congestion Control Scheme in WCDMA Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmad, Hafiz Farooq; Suguri, Hiroki; Choudhary, Muhammad Qaisar; Hassan, Ammar; Liaqat, Ali; Khan, Muhammad Umer

Wireless technology has become widely popular and an important means of communication. A key issue in delivering wireless services is the problem of congestion which has an adverse impact on the Quality of Service (QoS), especially timeliness. Although a lot of work has been done in the context of RRM (Radio Resource Management), the deliverance of quality service to the end user still remains a challenge. Therefore there is need for a system that provides real-time services to the users through high assurance. We propose an intelligent agent-based approach to guarantee a predefined Service Level Agreement (SLA) with heterogeneous user requirements for appropriate bandwidth allocation in QoS sensitive cellular networks. The proposed system architecture exploits Case Based Reasoning (CBR) technique to handle RRM process of congestion management. The system accomplishes predefined SLA through the use of Retrieval and Adaptation Algorithm based on CBR case library. The proposed intelligent agent architecture gives autonomy to Radio Network Controller (RNC) or Base Station (BS) in accepting, rejecting or buffering a connection request to manage system bandwidth. Instead of simply blocking the connection request as congestion hits the system, different buffering durations are allocated to diverse classes of users based on their SLA. This increases the opportunity of connection establishment and reduces the call blocking rate extensively in changing environment. We carry out simulation of the proposed system that verifies efficient performance for congestion handling. The results also show built-in dynamism of our system to cater for variety of SLA requirements.

Efficient synthesis of a (S)-fluoxetine intermediate using carbonyl reductase coupled with glucose dehydrogenase.

PubMed

Tang, Yunping; Zhang, Guomei; Wang, Zheng; Liu, Dan; Zhang, Linglu; Zhou, Yafeng; Huang, Ju; Yu, Fangmiao; Yang, Zuisu; Ding, Guofang

2018-02-01

(S)-3-chloro-1-phenyl-1-propanol ((S)-CPPO) is an important chiral intermediate predominantly used in the synthesis of the chiral side chain of (S)-fluoxetine. In this study, carbonyl reductase (CBR) from Novosphingobium aromaticivorans was successfully expressed in recombinant E. coli. The enzymatic activity of the recombinant CBR was significantly increased to 1875 U/mL in the fed-batch fermentation in a 10 L fermenter and recombinant CBR was then purified and characterized. By regenerating NADH with glucose dehydrogenase, 100 g/L 3-chloro-1-phenyl-1-propanone (3-CPP) was successfully converted to (S)-CPPO with a conversion of 100% and ee value of 99.6% after 12 h at 30 °C in PBS buffer (pH 7.0), which are the highest reported to date for the bio-production of (S)-CPPO and presented great potential for green production of (S)-CPPO at industrial scale. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

X-ray Birefringence: A New Strategy for Determining Molecular Orientation in Materials.

PubMed

Palmer, Benjamin A; Edwards-Gau, Gregory R; Morte-Ródenas, Anabel; Kariuki, Benson M; Lim, Gin Keat; Harris, Kenneth D M; Dolbnya, Igor P; Collins, Stephen P

2012-11-01

While the phenomenon of birefringence is well-established in the case of visible radiation and is exploited in many fields (e.g., through the use of the polarizing optical microscope), the analogous phenomenon for X-rays has been a virtually neglected topic. Here, we demonstrate the scope and potential for exploiting X-ray birefringence to determine the orientational properties of specific types of bonds in solids. Specifically, orientational characteristics of C-Br bonds in the bromocyclohexane/thiourea inclusion compound are elucidated from X-ray birefringence measurements at energies close to the bromine K-edge, revealing inter alia the changes in the orientational distribution of the C-Br bonds associated with a low-temperature order-disorder phase transition. From fitting a theoretical model to the experimental data, reliable quantitative information on the orientational properties of the C-Br bonds is determined. The experimental strategy reported here represents the basis of a new approach for gaining insights into the orientational properties of molecules in anisotropic materials.

Establishing a laboratory model of dental unit waterlines bacterial biofilms using a CDC biofilm reactor.

PubMed

Yoon, Hye Young; Lee, Si Young

2017-11-01

In this study, a laboratory model to reproduce dental unit waterline (DUWL) biofilms was developed using a CDC biofilm reactor (CBR). Bacteria obtained from DUWLs were filtered and cultured in Reasoner's 2A (R2A) for 10 days, and were subsequently stored at -70°C. This stock was cultivated on R2A in batch mode. After culturing for five days, the bacteria were inoculated into the CBR. Biofilms were grown on polyurethane tubing for four days. Biofilm accumulation and thickness was 1.3 × 10 5  CFU cm -2 and 10-14 μm respectively, after four days. Bacteria in the biofilms included cocci and rods of short and medium lengths. In addition, 38 bacterial genera were detected in biofilms. In this study, the suitability and reproducibility of the CBR model for DUWL biofilm formation were demonstrated. The model provides a foundation for the development of bacterial control methods for DUWLs.

Case-Based Capture and Reuse of Aerospace Design Rationale

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leake, David B.

1998-01-01

The goal of this project is to apply artificial intelligence techniques to facilitate capture and reuse of aerospace design rationale. The project applies case-based reasoning (CBR) and concept mapping (CMAP) tools to the task of capturing, organizing, and interactively accessing experiences or "cases" encapsulating the methods and rationale underlying expert aerospace design. As stipulated in the award, Indiana University and Ames personnel are collaborating on performance of research and determining the direction of research, to assure that the project focuses on high-value tasks. In the first five months of the project, we have made two visits to Ames Research Center to consult with our NASA collaborators, to learn about the advanced aerospace design tools being developed there, and to identify specific needs for intelligent design support. These meetings identified a number of task areas for applying CBR and concept mapping technology. We jointly selected a first task area to focus on: Acquiring the convergence criteria that experts use to guide the selection of useful data from a set of numerical simulations of high-lift systems. During the first funding period, we developed two software systems. First, we have adapted a CBR system developed at Indiana University into a prototype case-based reasoning shell to capture and retrieve information about design experiences, with the sample task of capturing and reusing experts' intuitive criteria for determining convergence (work conducted at Indiana University). Second, we have also adapted and refined existing concept mapping tools that will be used to clarify and capture the rationale underlying those experiences, to facilitate understanding of the expert's reasoning and guide future reuse of captured information (work conducted at the University of West Florida). The tools we have developed are designed to be the basis for a general framework for facilitating tasks within systems developed by the Advanced Design Technologies Testbed (ADTT) project at ARC. The tenets of our framework are (1) that the systems developed should leverage a designer's knowledge, rather than attempting to replace it; (2) that learning and user feedback must play a central role, so that the system can adapt to how it is used, and (3) that the learning and feedback processes must be as natural and as unobtrusive as possible. In the second funding period we will extend our current work, applying the tools to capturing higher-level design rationale.

Carotid baroreflex control of leg vasculature in exercising and non-exercising skeletal muscle in humans

PubMed Central

Melvin Keller, David; Fadel, Paul J; Ogoh, Shigehiko; Matthew Brothers, Robert; Hawkins, Megan; Olivencia-Yurvati, Al; Raven, Peter B

2004-01-01

Carotid baroreflex (CBR) function was examined in five men and three women (25 ± 1 years) using the variable-pressure neck collar technique at rest and during dynamic, one-legged knee extension exercise at 7 W and 25 W. The CBR exhibited control of leg vascular conductance (LVC) at rest and during exercise in both an exercising leg (EL) and a non-exercising leg (NEL) across a wide range of pressures from +40 Torr neck pressure (NP) to −80 Torr neck suction (NS). Specifically, increases in LVC (% change) in response to NS were no different across −20 to −80 Torr in either EL or NEL compared to rest, P > 0.05. However, CBR-mediated decreases in percentage LVC in response to NP were attenuated in EL at both 7 W (16 ± 1%) and 25 W (12 ± 1%) compared to rest (40 ± 3%; P < 0.05) as well as compared to responses in the NEL (36 ± 6% at 7 W and 36 ± 7% at 25 W; P < 0.05). This decrease in vascular responsiveness in EL was associated with a reduction in the gain of the percentage muscle sympathetic nerve activity (%MSNA)–%LVC relationship compared to rest (P < 0.05). Collectively, these data indicate that, despite a clear attenuation of the vascular response to MSNA in the exercising leg, CBR-mediated changes in mean arterial pressure were no different between rest and exercise. PMID:15388778

Return on investment of public health interventions: a systematic review.

PubMed

Masters, Rebecca; Anwar, Elspeth; Collins, Brendan; Cookson, Richard; Capewell, Simon

2017-08-01

Public sector austerity measures in many high-income countries mean that public health budgets are reducing year on year. To help inform the potential impact of these proposed disinvestments in public health, we set out to determine the return on investment (ROI) from a range of existing public health interventions. We conducted systematic searches on all relevant databases (including MEDLINE; EMBASE; CINAHL; AMED; PubMed, Cochrane and Scopus) to identify studies that calculated a ROI or cost-benefit ratio (CBR) for public health interventions in high-income countries. We identified 2957 titles, and included 52 studies. The median ROI for public health interventions was 14.3 to 1, and median CBR was 8.3. The median ROI for all 29 local public health interventions was 4.1 to 1, and median CBR was 10.3. Even larger benefits were reported in 28 studies analysing nationwide public health interventions; the median ROI was 27.2, and median CBR was 17.5. This systematic review suggests that local and national public health interventions are highly cost-saving. Cuts to public health budgets in high income countries therefore represent a false economy, and are likely to generate billions of pounds of additional costs to health services and the wider economy. 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/.

CABINS: Case-based interactive scheduler

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miyashita, Kazuo; Sycara, Katia

1992-01-01

In this paper we discuss the need for interactive factory schedule repair and improvement, and we identify case-based reasoning (CBR) as an appropriate methodology. Case-based reasoning is the problem solving paradigm that relies on a memory for past problem solving experiences (cases) to guide current problem solving. Cases similar to the current case are retrieved from the case memory, and similarities and differences of the current case to past cases are identified. Then a best case is selected, and its repair plan is adapted to fit the current problem description. If a repair solution fails, an explanation for the failure is stored along with the case in memory, so that the user can avoid repeating similar failures in the future. So far we have identified a number of repair strategies and tactics for factory scheduling and have implemented a part of our approach in a prototype system, called CABINS. As a future work, we are going to scale up CABINS to evaluate its usefulness in a real manufacturing environment.

Case-based reasoning emulation of persons for wheelchair navigation.

PubMed

Peula, Jose Manuel; Urdiales, Cristina; Herrero, Ignacio; Fernandez-Carmona, Manuel; Sandoval, Francisco

2012-10-01

Testing is a key stage in system development, particularly in systems such as a wheelchair, in which the final user is typically a disabled person. These systems have stringent safety requirements, requiring major testing with many different individuals. The best would be to have the wheelchair tested by many different end users, as each disability affects driving skills in a different way. Unfortunately, from a practical point of view it is difficult to engage end users as beta testers. Hence, testing often relies on simulations. Naturally, these simulations need to be as realistic as possible to make the system robust and safe before real tests can be accomplished. This work presents a tool to automatically test wheelchairs through realistic emulation of different wheelchair users. Our approach is based on extracting meaningful data from real users driving a power wheelchair autonomously. This data is then used to train a case-based reasoning (CBR) system that captures the specifics of the driver via learning. The resulting case-base is then used to emulate the driving behavior of that specific person in more complex situations or when a new assistive algorithm needs to be tested. CBR returns user's motion commands appropriate for each specific situation to add the human component to shared control systems. The proposed system has been used to emulate several power wheelchair users presenting different disabilities. Data to create this emulation was obtained from previous wheelchair navigation experiments with 35 volunteer in-patients presenting different degrees of disability. CBR was trained with a limited number of scenarios for each volunteer. Results proved that: (i) emulated and real users returned similar paths in the same scenario (maximum and mean path deviations are equal to 23 and 10cm, respectively) and similar efficiency; (ii) we established the generality of our approach taking a new path not present in the training traces; (iii) the emulated user is more realistic - path and efficiency are less homogeneous and smooth - than potential field approaches; and (iv) the system adequately emulates in-patients - maximum and mean path deviations are equal to 19 and 8.3cm approximately and efficiencies are similar - with specific disabilities (apraxia and dementia) obtaining different behaviors during emulation for each of the in-patients, as expected. The proposed system adequately emulates the driving behavior of people with different disabilities in indoor scenarios. This approach is suitable to emulate real users' driving behaviors for early testing stages of assistive navigation systems. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Advanced Agent Program: Cup-Burner Testing of Selected Tropodegradable Candidates.

DTIC Science & Technology

1996-01-01

3 I1-Bromo-3,3,3- trifluoropropene -- 123 3xfB 1 CH 2 ...CBrCF3 2 -Bromo-3,3 , 3 - trifluoropropene 1514-82-5 1242zfB 1 CH 2 =CHCBrF 2 3 -Bromo-3,3-difluoropropene 420-90-6 1 343fzbB 1 CH2=CHCC1FCBrF 2 4-Bromo- 3 ...IUPAC Name CHBr=CHCF 3 1 -Bromo-3,3,3- trifluoropropene CH 2 =CBrCF3 2 -Bromo-3,3,3- trifluoropropene CH 2 =CHCBrF2 3 -Bromo-3,3-difluoropropene CH 2

CBR-D Tactical Decision Aid (DECAID) Identification and Analysis of Predictive Human Performance Models and Data Bases for Use in a Commander’s CBR-D Decision Aid (DECAID)

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-10-15

the activities required before, during and after chemical/conventional combat situations. m The objective of this study is to assist in the development...Ainsworth, 1., July 1971. Effects of a 48 hour period of sustained activity on tank crew performance. Human Resources Research Organization, Alexandria, Va...This report gives the results of a 48 hour field experiment conducted to determine the effects of sustained activity on the performance of a tank

Automatic Satellite Telemetry Analysis for SSA using Artificial Intelligence Techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stottler, R.; Mao, J.

In April 2016, General Hyten, commander of Air Force Space Command, announced the Space Enterprise Vision (SEV) (http://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/719941/hyten-announces-space-enterprise-vision/). The SEV addresses increasing threats to space-related systems. The vision includes an integrated approach across all mission areas (communications, positioning, navigation and timing, missile warning, and weather data) and emphasizes improved access to data across the entire enterprise and the ability to protect space-related assets and capabilities. "The future space enterprise will maintain our nation's ability to deliver critical space effects throughout all phases of conflict," Hyten said. Satellite telemetry is going to become available to a new audience. While that telemetry information should be valuable for achieving Space Situational Awareness (SSA), these new satellite telemetry data consumers will not know how to utilize it. We were tasked with applying AI techniques to build an infrastructure to process satellite telemetry into higher abstraction level symbolic space situational awareness and to initially populate that infrastructure with useful data analysis methods. We are working with two organizations, Montana State University (MSU) and the Air Force Academy, both of whom control satellites and therefore currently analyze satellite telemetry to assess the health and circumstances of their satellites. The design which has resulted from our knowledge elicitation and cognitive task analysis is a hybrid approach which combines symbolic processing techniques of Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) and Behavior Transition Networks (BTNs) with current Machine Learning approaches. BTNs are used to represent the process and associated formulas to check telemetry values against anticipated problems and issues. CBR is used to represent and retrieve BTNs that represent an investigative process that should be applied to the telemetry in certain circumstances. Machine Learning is used to learn normal patterns of telemetry, learn pre-mission simulated telemetry patterns that represent known problems, and detect both pre-trained known and unknown abnormalities in real-time. The operational system is currently being implemented and applied to real satellite telemetry data. This paper presents the design, examples, and results of the first version as well as planned future work.

Aerobic Exercise Training Improves Orthostatic Tolerance in Aging Humans.

PubMed

Xu, Diqun; Wang, Hong; Chen, Shande; Ross, Sarah; Liu, Howe; Olivencia-Yurvati, Albert; Raven, Peter B; Shi, Xiangrong

2017-04-01

This study was designed to test the hypothesis that aerobic exercise training of the elderly will increase aerobic fitness without compromising orthostatic tolerance (OT). Eight healthy sedentary volunteers (67.0 ± 1.7 yr old, four women) participated in 1 yr of endurance exercise training (stationary bicycle and/or treadmill) program at the individuals' 65%-75% of HRpeak. Peak O2 uptake (V˙O2peak) and HRpeak were determined by a maximal exercise stress test using a bicycle ergometer. Carotid baroreceptor reflex (CBR) control of HR and mean arterial pressure (MAP) were assessed by a neck pressure-neck suction protocol. Each subject's maximal gain (Gmax), or sensitivity, of the CBR function curves were derived from fitting their reflex HR and MAP responses to the corresponding neck pressure-neck suction stimuli using a logistic function curve. The subjects' OT was assessed using lower-body negative pressure (LBNP) graded to -50 mm Hg; the sum of the product of LBNP intensity and time (mm Hg·min) was calculated as the cumulative stress index. Training increased V˙O2peak (before vs after: 22.8 ± 0.92 vs 27.9 ± 1.33 mL·min·kg, P < 0.01) and HRpeak (154 ± 4 vs 159 ± 3 bpm, P < 0.02) and decreased resting HR (65 ± 5 vs 59 ± 5 bpm, P < 0.02) and MAP (99 ± 2 vs 87 ± 2 mm Hg, P < 0.05). CBR stimulus-response curves identified a leftward shift with an increase in CBR-HR Gmax (from -0.13 ± 0.02 to -0.27 ± 0.04 bpm·mm Hg, P = 0.01). Cumulative stress index was increased from 767 ± 68 mm Hg·min pretraining to 946 ± 44 mm Hg·min posttraining (P < 0.05). Aerobic exercise training improved the aerobic fitness and OT in elderly subjects. An improved OT is likely associated with an enhanced CBR function that has been reset to better maintain cerebral perfusion and cerebral tissue oxygenation during LBNP.

Improvement of Characteristics of Clayey Soil Mixed with Randomly Distributed Natural Fibers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maity, J.; Chattopadhyay, B. C.; Mukherjee, S. P.

2017-11-01

In subgrade construction for flexible road pavement, properties of clayey soils available locally can be improved by providing randomly distributed fibers in the soil. The fibers added in subgrade constructions are expected to provide better compact interlocking system between the fiber and the soil grain, greater resistance to deformation and quicker dissipation of pore water pressure, thus helping consolidation and strengthening. Many natural fibers like jute, coir, sabai grass etc. which are economical and eco-friendly, are grown in abundance in India. If suitable they can be used as additive material in the subgrade soil to result in increase in strength and decrease in deformability. Such application will also reduce the cost of construction of roads, by providing lesser thickness of pavement layer. In this paper, the efficacy of using natural jute, coir or sabai grass fibers with locally available clayey soil has been studied. A series of Standard Proctor test, Soaked and Unsoaked California Bearing Ratio (CBR) test, and Unconfined Compressive Strength test were done on locally available clayey soil mixed with different types of natural fiber for various length and proportion to study the improvement of strength properties of fiber-soil composites placed at optimum moisture content. From the test results, it was observed that there was a substantial increase in CBR value for the clayey soil when mixed with increasing percentage of all three types of randomly distributed natural fibers up to 2% of the dry weight of soil. The CBR attains maximum value when the length for all types of fibers mixed with the clay taken in this study, attains a value of 10 mm.

A qualitative study: Barriers and support for participation for children with disabilities.

PubMed

Hansen, Anne Marie Witchger; Siame, Musonde; van der Veen, Judith

2014-01-01

This qualitative-exploratory study examined the barriers to participation amongst children with disabilities in Lusaka, Zambia, from the mothers' perspective. The objectives of this study were to understand how mothers of children with physical and cognitive disabilities who engaged their children in community-based rehabilitation (CBR) services in Lusaka, Zambia, perceived and described (1) the level of support they received and the barriers they encountered in terms of their child's meaningful social participation; (2) the use and awareness of these barriers to identify and pursue advocacy strategies; and (3) hopes for their child's future. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with each mother in her home. Results: Findings revealed both support and barriers to the child's social participation in relationship to their family, friends and community. Support also came from the CBR programme and mothers' personal resourcefulness. Mothers identified their child's school, their immediate environment and financial burdens as barriers to participation as well as their own personal insecurities and fears. Strategies to overcome barriers included internal and external actions. The mothers involved in the study hope their child's abilities will improve with continued CBR services. Some mothers described a bleak future for their child due to a lack of acceptance and access to education. The findings of this study suggest the significant role the mother of a child with a disability plays in her child's social participation. Recommendations include enhancing CBR programming for families, especially for mothers, and advocating on behalf of children with disabilities and their families to attract the attention of policy makers.

The relationship between changes in functional cardiac parameters following anthracycline therapy and carbonyl reductase 3 and glutathione S transferase Pi polymorphisms.

PubMed

Volkan-Salanci, Bilge; Aksoy, Hakan; Kiratli, Pınar Özgen; Tülümen, Erol; Güler, Nilüfer; Öksüzoglu, Berna; Tokgözoğlu, Lale; Erbaş, Belkıs; Alikaşifoğlu, Mehmet

2012-10-01

The aim of this prospective clinical study is to evaluate the relationship between changes in functional cardiac parameters following anthracycline therapy and carbonyl reductase 3 (CBR3p.V244M) and glutathione S transferase Pi (GSTP1p.I105V) polymorphisms. Seventy patients with normal cardiac function and no history of cardiac disease scheduled to undergo anthracycline chemotherapy were included in the study. The patients' cardiac function was evaluated by gated blood pool scintigraphy and echocardiography before and after chemotherapy, as well as 1 year following therapy. Gene polymorphisms were genotyped in 70 patients using TaqMan probes, validated by DNA sequencing. A deteriorating trend was observed in both systolic and diastolic parameters from GG to AA in CBR3p.V244M polymorphism. Patients with G-allele carriers of GSTP1p.I105V polymorphism were common (60%), with significantly decreased PFR compared to patiens with AA genotype. Variants of CBR3 and GSTP1 enzymes may be associated with changes in short-term functional cardiac parameters.

Improved motion correction in PROPELLER by using grouped blades as reference.

PubMed

Liu, Zhe; Zhang, Zhe; Ying, Kui; Yuan, Chun; Guo, Hua

2014-03-01

To develop a robust reference generation method for improving PROPELLER (Periodically Rotated Overlapping ParallEL Lines with Enhanced Reconstruction) reconstruction. A new reference generation method, grouped-blade reference (GBR), is proposed for calculating rotation angle and translation shift in PROPELLER. Instead of using a single-blade reference (SBR) or combined-blade reference (CBR), our method classifies blades by their relative correlations and groups similar blades together as the reference to prevent inconsistent data from interfering the correction process. Numerical simulations and in vivo experiments were used to evaluate the performance of GBR for PROPELLER, which was further compared with SBR and CBR in terms of error level and computation cost. Both simulation and in vivo experiments demonstrate that GBR-based PROPELLER provides better correction for random motion or bipolar motion comparing with SBR or CBR. It not only produces images with lower error level but also needs less iteration steps to converge. A grouped-blade for reference selection was investigated for PROPELLER MRI. It helps to improve the accuracy and robustness of motion correction for various motion patterns. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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

Bae, Brian; Nayak, Dhananjaya; Ray, Ananya

RNA polymerase inhibitors like the CBR class that target the enzyme’s complex catalytic center are attractive leads for new antimicrobials. The catalysis by RNA polymerase involves multiple rearrangements of bridge helix, trigger loop, and active-center side chains that isomerize the triphosphate of bound NTP and two Mg 2+ ions from a preinsertion state to a reactive configuration. CBR inhibitors target a crevice between the N-terminal portion of the bridge helix and a surrounding cap region within which the bridge helix is thought to rearrange during the nucleotide addition cycle. Here, we report crystal structures of CBR inhibitor/Escherichia coli RNA polymerasemore » complexes as well as biochemical tests that establish two distinct effects of the inhibitors on the RNA polymerase catalytic site. One effect involves inhibition of trigger-loop folding via the F loop in the cap, which affects both nucleotide addition and hydrolysis of 3'-terminal dinucleotides in certain backtracked complexes. The second effect is trigger-loop independent, affects only nucleotide addition and pyrophosphorolysis, and may involve inhibition of bridge-helix movements that facilitate reactive triphosphate alignment.« less

Effect of fertility on secondary sex ratio and twinning rate in Sweden, 1749-1870.

PubMed

Fellman, Johan; Eriksson, Aldur W

2015-02-01

We analyzed the effect of total fertility rate (TFR) and crude birth rate (CBR) on the number of males per 100 females at birth, also called the secondary sex ratio (SR), and on the twinning rate (TWR). Earlier studies have noted regional variations in TWR and racial differences in the SR. Statistical analyses have shown that comparisons between SRs demand large data sets because random fluctuations in moderate data are marked. Consequently, reliable results presuppose national birth data. Here, we analyzed historical demographic data and their regional variations between counties in Sweden. We built spatial models for the TFR in 1860 and the CBR in 1751-1870, and as regressors we used geographical coordinates for the provincial capitals of the counties. For both variables, we obtained significant spatial variations, albeit of different patterns and power. The SR among the live-born in 1749-1869 and the TWR in 1751-1860 showed slight spatial variations. The influence of CBR and TFR on the SR and TWR was examined and statistical significant effects were found.

High-resolution mapping of D16Led-1, Gart, Gas-r, Cbr, Pcp-4, and Erg on distal mouse chromosome 16

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

Mjaatvedt, A.E.; Citron, M.P.; Reeves, R.H.

1993-08-01

More than 500 backcross progeny from four inter-subspecific backcrosses were typed for six markers on distal mouse chromosome 16. Five of these represented genes that mapped within the Sod-1 to Ets-2 interval, which was shown previously to contain the weaver (wv) gene. The map order, including previously mapped reference markers, is (cen)-D16H21S16-D16Led-1-App-Sod-1-Gart-Gas-4-Cbr-wv-Pep-4-Erg-Ets-2. This gene order recapitulates the order of the genes on human chromosome 21 where known. Two of these markers further define the region containing the weaver gene to a 3.9-cM segment between Cbr and Pcp-4. In addition, Pep-4 was localized to human chromosome 21 by the presence ofmore » a human-specific restriction fragment in WAV-17, a mouse-human somatic cell hybrid with human chromosome 31 as the only human contribution. 26 refs., 3 figs., 3 tabs.« less

Tulane/Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental Research; project: hazardous materials in aquatic environments; subproject: biomarkers and risk assessment in Bayou Trepagnier, LA

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

Ide, C.

1996-12-31

Tulane and Xavier Universities have singled out the environment as a major strategic focus for research and training for now and beyond the year 2000. the Tulane/Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental Research (CBR) was established in 1989 as the umbrella organization to coordinate environmental research at both universities. CBR projects funded by the DOE under the Hazardous Materials in Aquatic Environments grant are defining the following: (1) the complex interactions that occur during the transport of contaminants through wetlands environments, (2) the actual and potential impact of contaminants on ecological systems and health, (3) the mechanisms and new technologies through whichmore » these impacts might be remediated, and (4) new programs aimed at educating and training environmental workers of the future. The subproject described in this report, `Biomarkers and Risk Assessment in Bayou Trepagnier, LN`, is particularly relevant to the US Department of Energy`s Environmental Restoration and Waste Management program aimed at solving problems related to hazard monitoring and clean-up prioritization at sites with aquatic pollution problems in the DOE complex.« less

A Hybrid Approach Using Case-Based Reasoning and Rule-Based Reasoning to Support Cancer Diagnosis: A Pilot Study.

PubMed

Saraiva, Renata M; Bezerra, João; Perkusich, Mirko; Almeida, Hyggo; Siebra, Clauirton

2015-01-01

Recently there has been an increasing interest in applying information technology to support the diagnosis of diseases such as cancer. In this paper, we present a hybrid approach using case-based reasoning (CBR) and rule-based reasoning (RBR) to support cancer diagnosis. We used symptoms, signs, and personal information from patients as inputs to our model. To form specialized diagnoses, we used rules to define the input factors' importance according to the patient's characteristics. The model's output presents the probability of the patient having a type of cancer. To carry out this research, we had the approval of the ethics committee at Napoleão Laureano Hospital, in João Pessoa, Brazil. To define our model's cases, we collected real patient data at Napoleão Laureano Hospital. To define our model's rules and weights, we researched specialized literature and interviewed health professional. To validate our model, we used K-fold cross validation with the data collected at Napoleão Laureano Hospital. The results showed that our approach is an effective CBR system to diagnose cancer.

AM2 Opposite Lay Evaluation

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-06-01

locations on every 6-in. compacted lift to verify that the target CBR of 6 had been reasonably achieved. If the average pretest CBR of a lift...116.3 87.6 32.7 27.2 5.7 - 30 in. 117.5 88.9 32.0 32.6 6.2 - Posttest F-15E Item Surface 120.0 92.1 30.3 27.6 9.6 2.9 Pretest C-17 Item Surface...gauge data examples are presented in groups based on their comparable locations on the F-15E and C-17 test items. In each plot, the x-axis

The Pharmacological Inhibition of Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolase Prevents Excitotoxic Damage in the Rat Striatum: Possible Involvement of CB1 Receptors Regulation.

PubMed

Aguilera-Portillo, Gabriela; Rangel-López, Edgar; Villeda-Hernández, Juana; Chavarría, Anahí; Castellanos, Pilar; Elmazoglu, Zubeyir; Karasu, Çimen; Túnez, Isaac; Pedraza, Gibrán; Königsberg, Mina; Santamaría, Abel

2018-05-25

The endocannabinoid system (ECS) actively participates in several physiological processes within the central nervous system. Among such, its involvement in the downregulation of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAr) through a modulatory input at the cannabinoid receptors (CBr) has been established. After its production via the kynurenine pathway (KP), quinolinic acid (QUIN) can act as an excitotoxin through the selective overactivation of NMDAr, thus participating in the onset and development of neurological disorders. In this work, we evaluated whether the pharmacological inhibition of fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) by URB597, and the consequent increase in the endogenous levels of anandamide, can prevent the excitotoxic damage induced by QUIN. URB597 (0.3 mg/kg/day × 7 days, administered before, during and after the striatal lesion) exerted protective effects on the QUIN-induced motor (asymmetric behavior) and biochemical (lipid peroxidation and protein carbonylation) alterations in rats. URB597 also preserved the structural integrity of the striatum and prevented the neuronal loss (assessed as microtubule-associated protein-2 and glutamate decarboxylase localization) induced by QUIN (1 μL intrastriatal, 240 nmol/μL), while modified the early localization patterns of CBr1 (CB1) and NMDAr subunit 1 (NR1). Altogether, these findings support the concept that the pharmacological manipulation of the endocannabinoid system plays a neuroprotective role against excitotoxic insults in the central nervous system.

A qualitative study: Barriers and support for participation for children with disabilities

PubMed Central

Siame, Musonde; van der Veen, Judith

2014-01-01

Background This qualitative–exploratory study examined the barriers to participation amongst children with disabilities in Lusaka, Zambia, from the mothers’ perspective. Objectives The objectives of this study were to understand how mothers of children with physical and cognitive disabilities who engaged their children in community-based rehabilitation (CBR) services in Lusaka, Zambia, perceived and described (1) the level of support they received and the barriers they encountered in terms of their child’s meaningful social participation; (2) the use and awareness of these barriers to identify and pursue advocacy strategies; and (3) hopes for their child’s future. Methods Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with each mother in her home. Results: Findings revealed both support and barriers to the child’s social participation in relationship to their family, friends and community. Support also came from the CBR programme and mothers’ personal resourcefulness. Mothers identified their child’s school, their immediate environment and financial burdens as barriers to participation as well as their own personal insecurities and fears. Strategies to overcome barriers included internal and external actions. The mothers involved in the study hope their child’s abilities will improve with continued CBR services. Some mothers described a bleak future for their child due to a lack of acceptance and access to education. Conclusion The findings of this study suggest the significant role the mother of a child with a disability plays in her child’s social participation. Recommendations include enhancing CBR programming for families, especially for mothers, and advocating on behalf of children with disabilities and their families to attract the attention of policy makers. PMID:28730000

Bioactivation of loxoprofen to a pharmacologically active metabolite and its disposition kinetics in human skin.

PubMed

Sawamura, Ryoko; Sakurai, Hidetaka; Wada, Naoya; Nishiya, Yumi; Honda, Tomoyo; Kazui, Miho; Kurihara, Atsushi; Shinagawa, Akira; Izumi, Takashi

2015-09-01

Loxoprofen (LX) is a prodrug-type non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug which is used not only as an oral drug but also as a transdermal formulation. As a pharmacologically active metabolite, the trans-alcohol form of LX (trans-OH form) is generated after oral administration to humans. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the generation of the trans-OH form in human in vitro skin and to identify the predominant enzyme for its generation. In the permeation and metabolism study using human in vitro skin, both the permeation of LX and the formation of the trans-OH form increased in a time- and dose-dependent manner after the application of LX gel to the skin. In addition, the characteristics of permeation and metabolism of both LX and the trans-OH form were examined by a mathematical pharmacokinetic model. The K m value was calculated to be 10.3 mm in the human in vitro skin. The predominant enzyme which generates the trans-OH form in human whole skin was identified to be carbonyl reductase 1 (CBR1) by immunodepletion using the anti-human CBR1 antibody. The results of the enzyme kinetic study using the recombinant human CBR1 protein demonstrated that the K m and V max values were 7.30 mm and 402 nmol/min/mg protein, respectively. In addition, it was found that no unknown metabolites were generated in the human in vitro skin. This is the first report in which LX is bioactivated to the trans-OH form in human skin by CBR1. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Measuring leprosy-related stigma - a pilot study to validate a toolkit of instruments.

PubMed

Rensen, Carin; Bandyopadhyay, Sudhakar; Gopal, Pala K; Van Brakel, Wim H

2011-01-01

Stigma negatively affects the quality of life of leprosy-affected people. Instruments are needed to assess levels of stigma and to monitor and evaluate stigma reduction interventions. We conducted a validation study of such instruments in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, India. Four instruments were tested in a 'Community Based Rehabilitation' (CBR) setting, the Participation Scale, Internalised Scale of Mental Illness (ISMI) adapted for leprosy-affected persons, Explanatory Model Interview Catalogue (EMIC) for leprosy-affected and non-affected persons and the General Self-Efficacy (GSE) Scale. We evaluated the following components of validity, construct validity, internal consistency, test-retest reproducibility and reliability to distinguish between groups. Construct validity was tested by correlating instrument scores and by triangulating quantitative and qualitative findings. Reliability was evaluated by comparing levels of stigma among people affected by leprosy and community controls, and among affected people living in CBR project areas and those in non-CBR areas. For the Participation, ISMI and EMIC scores significant differences were observed between those affected by leprosy and those not affected (p = 0.0001), and between affected persons in the CBR and Control group (p < 0.05). The internal consistency of the instruments measured with Cronbach's α ranged from 0.83 to 0.96 and was very good for all instruments. Test-retest reproducibility coefficients were 0.80 for the Participation score, 0.70 for the EMIC score, 0.62 for the ISMI score and 0.50 for the GSE score. The construct validity of all instruments was confirmed. The Participation and EMIC Scales met all validity criteria, but test-retest reproducibility of the ISMI and GSE Scales needs further evaluation with a shorter test-retest interval and longer training and additional adaptations for the latter.

Modified Light Duty AM2 Capability Assessment

DTIC Science & Technology

The Modified Light -Duty AM2 matting was designed specifically for lightweight, remote-piloted aircraft (RPA) applications. An in- depth study was... Ratio (CBR) of 6. To understand the full potential of the Modified Light -Duty AM2, a full- scale evaluation was performed with contingency C-17 and...stir welding for use in fabrication of the lightweight RPA matting in conjunction with a full- scale test on the Modified Light -Duty AM2 matting system

Retrieval evaluation and distance learning from perceived similarity between endomicroscopy videos.

PubMed

André, Barbara; Vercauteren, Tom; Buchner, Anna M; Wallace, Michael B; Ayache, Nicholas

2011-01-01

Evaluating content-based retrieval (CBR) is challenging because it requires an adequate ground-truth. When the available groundtruth is limited to textual metadata such as pathological classes, retrieval results can only be evaluated indirectly, for example in terms of classification performance. In this study we first present a tool to generate perceived similarity ground-truth that enables direct evaluation of endomicroscopic video retrieval. This tool uses a four-points Likert scale and collects subjective pairwise similarities perceived by multiple expert observers. We then evaluate against the generated ground-truth a previously developed dense bag-of-visual-words method for endomicroscopic video retrieval. Confirming the results of previous indirect evaluation based on classification, our direct evaluation shows that this method significantly outperforms several other state-of-the-art CBR methods. In a second step, we propose to improve the CBR method by learning an adjusted similarity metric from the perceived similarity ground-truth. By minimizing a margin-based cost function that differentiates similar and dissimilar video pairs, we learn a weight vector applied to the visual word signatures of videos. Using cross-validation, we demonstrate that the learned similarity distance is significantly better correlated with the perceived similarity than the original visual-word-based distance.

Acetylcholinesterase and acetylcholine receptor. Final report, 1 April 1992-30 September 1995

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

Cohen, S.G.

1995-10-01

1 Bromo-214Cpinacolone (34CbrPin) inactivates AcChEs, from T. nobiliana labeling Cys 231, and E. electricus labeling His-440, and possibly Trp-435 and Asn-533. 14Cphenacyl bromide, (14CphABr) inactivates, labeling Cys-231 and His-550 in T. nobiliana, and His-550 in E. electricus. Five sequenced peptides in T. nobiliana, are identical with those from T. califomica. Four peptides from E. electricus show 77 - 96% homology. Inactivations by BrPin or PhABr exclude 3Hdfp; inactivation by DFP does not exclude 14CbrPin or 14CphABr. In studies with 14CbrPin, 5-trimethylammonio-2-pentanone was the preferred protecting agent; with 14CphABr, 3-trimethylammonioacetophenone was used with T. nobiliana, phenyltrimethylammonium ion with E. electricus. N-Methylacridiniummore » protects E. electricus against PhABr, but accelerates inactivation of T. nobiliana. Acetylcholine protects E. electricus against PhABr, indicating that His-550 marks the site at which the binding of high concentration of the substrate inhibits its own hydrolysis, possibly important in its action as a neurotransmitter. Photolysis of pivalophenone leading to benzoyl and tert-butyl radicals, inactivates the enzymes. Protection is offered by radical scavenging thiols.« less

The influence of using quicklime and volcanic ash as stabilizing materials in clay viewed from CBR value

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hastuty, Ika Puji; Sofyan, Tri Alby; Roesyanto

2017-11-01

The condition of the soil in Indonesia in varied, viewed from its bearing capacity. The soil is one of the materials which plays a very important role in a construction or foundation so that it is very necessary to have soil with its adequate technical properties. In reality, often founding inadequate soil properties such as in its compressibility, permeability, and plasticity. The objective of the research was to find out the physical properties, technical properties, CBR value, and stabilization of clay by adding quicklime and volcanic ash as stabilizing materials. The mixing combination is 2%, 4% quicklime, and 2%-24% volcanic ash. The value of Water Content for original soil was 34.33% and Specific Gravity original soil was 2.65. The result of the research showed that the stabilizing materials from quicklime and volcanic ash could improve the physical and mechanical properties of clay. The value of Atterberg Limits decreased from 29.88% to 11.33% in the variation of 4% Q+24% VA, while the most maximal value of CBR was found in the variation of 4% Q+8% VA at 9.01%.

Simulating clefts in pumpkin balloons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baginski, Frank; Brakke, Kenneth

2010-02-01

The geometry of a large axisymmetric balloon with positive differential pressure, such as a sphere, leads to very high film stresses. These stresses can be significantly reduced by using a tendon re-enforced lobed pumpkin-like shape. A number of schemes have been proposed to achieve a cyclically symmetric pumpkin shape, including the constant bulge angle (CBA) design, the constant bulge radius (CBR) design, CBA/CBR hybrids, and NASA’s recent constant stress (CS) design. Utilizing a hybrid CBA/CBR pumpkin design, Flight 555-NT in June 2006 formed an S-cleft and was unable to fully deploy. In order to better understand the S-cleft phenomenon, a series of inflation tests involving four 27-m diameter 200-gore pumpkin balloons were conducted in 2007. One of the test vehicles was a 1/3-scale mockup of the Flight 555-NT balloon. Using an inflation procedure intended to mimic ascent, the 1/3-scale mockup developed an S-cleft feature strikingly similar to the one observed in Flight 555-NT. Our analysis of the 1/3-scale mockup found it to be unstable. We compute asymmetric equilibrium configurations of this balloon, including shapes with an S-cleft feature.

The Pacor 2 expert system: A case-based reasoning approach to troubleshooting

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sary, Charisse

1994-01-01

The Packet Processor 2 (Pacor 2) Data Capture Facility (DCF) acquires, captures, and performs level-zero processing of packet telemetry for spaceflight missions that adhere to communication services recommendations established by the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS). A major goal of this project is to reduce life-cycle costs. One way to achieve this goal is to increase automation. Through automation, using expert systems, and other technologies, staffing requirements will remain static, which will enable the same number of analysts to support more missions. Analysts provide packet telemetry data evaluation and analysis services for all data received. Data that passes this evaluation is forwarded to the Data Distribution Facility (DDF) and released to scientists. Through troubleshooting, data that fails this evaluation is dumped and analyzed to determine if its quality can be improved before it is released. This paper describes a proof-of-concept prototype that troubleshoots data quality problems. The Pacor 2 expert system prototype uses the case-based reasoning (CBR) approach to development, an alternative to a rule-based approach. Because Pacor 2 is not operational, the prototype has been developed using cases that describe existing troubleshooting experience from currently operating missions. Through CBR, this experience will be available to analysts when Pacor 2 becomes operational. As Pacor 2 unique experience is gained, analysts will update the case base. In essence, analysts are training the system as they learn. Once the system has learned the cases most likely to recur, it can serve as an aide to inexperienced analysts, a refresher to experienced analysts for infrequently occurring problems, or a training tool for new analysts. The Expert System Development Methodology (ESDM) is being used to guide development.

Homeland Security Research Improves the Nation's Ability to ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Technical Brief Homeland Security (HS) Research develops data, tools, and technologies to minimize the impact of accidents, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, and other incidents that can result in toxic chemical, biological or radiological (CBR) contamination. HS Research develops ways to detect contamination, sampling strategies, sampling and analytical methods, cleanup methods, waste management approaches, exposure assessment methods, and decision support tools (including water system models). These contributions improve EPA’s response to a broad range of environmental disasters.

Arterial baroreflex control of sympathetic nerve activity during acute hypotension: effect of fitness

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fadel, P. J.; Stromstad, M.; Hansen, J.; Sander, M.; Horn, K.; Ogoh, S.; Smith, M. L.; Secher, N. H.; Raven, P. B.

2001-01-01

We examined arterial baroreflex control of muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) during abrupt decreases in mean arterial pressure (MAP) and evaluated whether endurance training alters baroreflex function. Acute hypotension was induced nonpharmacologically in 14 healthy subjects, of which 7 were of high fitness (HF) and 7 were of average fitness (AF), by releasing a unilateral arterial thigh cuff after 9 min of resting ischemia under two conditions: control, which used aortic and carotid baroreflex (ABR and CBR, respectively) deactivation; and suction, which used ABR deactivation alone. The application of neck suction to counteract changes in carotid sinus transmural pressure during cuff release significantly attenuated the MSNA response (which increased 134 +/- 32 U/14 s) compared with control (which increased 195 +/- 43 U/14 s) and caused a greater decrease in MAP (19 +/- 2 vs. 15 +/- 2 mmHg; P < 0.05). Furthermore, during both trials, the HF subjects exhibited a greater decrease in MAP compared with AF subjects despite an augmented baroreflex control of MSNA. These data indicate that the CBR contributes importantly to the MSNA response during acute systemic hypotension. Additionally, we suggest that an impaired control of vascular reactivity hinders blood pressure regulation in HF subjects.

Arterial baroreflex control of sympathetic nerve activity during acute hypotension: effect of fitness.

PubMed

Fadel, P J; Stromstad, M; Hansen, J; Sander, M; Horn, K; Ogoh, S; Smith, M L; Secher, N H; Raven, P B

2001-06-01

We examined arterial baroreflex control of muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) during abrupt decreases in mean arterial pressure (MAP) and evaluated whether endurance training alters baroreflex function. Acute hypotension was induced nonpharmacologically in 14 healthy subjects, of which 7 were of high fitness (HF) and 7 were of average fitness (AF), by releasing a unilateral arterial thigh cuff after 9 min of resting ischemia under two conditions: control, which used aortic and carotid baroreflex (ABR and CBR, respectively) deactivation; and suction, which used ABR deactivation alone. The application of neck suction to counteract changes in carotid sinus transmural pressure during cuff release significantly attenuated the MSNA response (which increased 134 +/- 32 U/14 s) compared with control (which increased 195 +/- 43 U/14 s) and caused a greater decrease in MAP (19 +/- 2 vs. 15 +/- 2 mmHg; P < 0.05). Furthermore, during both trials, the HF subjects exhibited a greater decrease in MAP compared with AF subjects despite an augmented baroreflex control of MSNA. These data indicate that the CBR contributes importantly to the MSNA response during acute systemic hypotension. Additionally, we suggest that an impaired control of vascular reactivity hinders blood pressure regulation in HF subjects.

Acquisition of business intelligence from human experience in route planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bello Orgaz, Gema; Barrero, David F.; R-Moreno, María D.; Camacho, David

2015-04-01

The logistic sector raises a number of highly challenging problems. Probably one of the most important ones is the shipping planning, i.e. plan the routes that the shippers have to follow to deliver the goods. In this article, we present an artificial intelligence-based solution that has been designed to help a logistic company to improve its routes planning process. In order to achieve this goal, the solution uses the knowledge acquired by the company drivers to propose optimised routes. Hence, the proposed solution gathers the experience of the drivers, processes it and optimises the delivery process. The solution uses data mining to extract knowledge from the company information systems and prepares it for analysis with a case-based reasoning (CBR) algorithm. The CBR obtains critical business intelligence knowledge from the drivers experience that is needed by the planner. The design of the routes is done by a genetic algorithm that, given the processed information, optimises the routes following several objectives, such as minimise the distance or time. Experimentation shows that the proposed approach is able to find routes that improve, on average, the routes made by the human experts.

Laboratory study on subgrade soil stabilization using RBI grade 81

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cynthia, J. Bernadette; Kamalambikai, B.; Prasanna Kumar, R.; Dharini, K.

2017-07-01

The present study investigates the effect of reinforcing the sub grade soils with RBI 81 material. A soil nearby was collected and preliminary tests were conducted to classify the soil and it was found from the results that the sample collected was a poorly graded clay. Subsequently Tests such as Proctor Compaction, CBR, and UCC were conducted to study the various engineering properties of the identified soil. In addition to the above tests were also conducted on the soil by reinforcing with varying percentages of RBI 81. From the analysis of test results it was found that this material (RBI 81) will significantly improve the CBR value of the soil.

Testing for the Gaussian nature of cosmological density perturbations through the three-point temperature correlation function

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Luo, Xiaochun; Schramm, David N.

1993-01-01

One of the crucial aspects of density perturbations that are produced by the standard inflation scenario is that they are Gaussian where seeds produced by topological defects tend to be non-Gaussian. The three-point correlation function of the temperature anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CBR) provides a sensitive test of this aspect of the primordial density field. In this paper, this function is calculated in the general context of various allowed non-Gaussian models. It is shown that the Cosmic Background Explorer and the forthcoming South Pole and balloon CBR anisotropy data may be able to provide a crucial test of the Gaussian nature of the perturbations.

How do carers of disabled children cope? The Ugandan perspective.

PubMed

Hartley, S; Ojwang, P; Baguwemu, A; Ddamulira, M; Chavuta, A

2005-03-01

Community-based rehabilitation (CBR) was recommended by the World Health Organization in 1989 as the strategy for improving the quality of life of disabled people and their families, which should be built on local knowledge and practices. In Uganda, there is no documentation on how services relate to local knowledge. There is a need for increased knowledge and understanding of how family members cope with their disabled children to provide the basis for future service development. A qualitative phenomenological design was used to develop an in-depth understanding of how Ugandan families cope with their disabled children in their own communities. Data were collected from 52 families with children with disabilities from five impairment groups, through interviews and observations in three districts of Uganda, one urban, two rural. There are many children with disabilities who are included, loved and cared for by their families. A lot of time and money is spent on seeking a cure. The extended family systems are breaking down and the main burden of caring for a disabled family member generally falls on one, sometimes two, female carers. Male members act as gatekeepers, controlling the key decisions concerning the child and the associated resources. CBR should move the focus of their services away from the disabled individual towards the whole family. It is important to provide accurate information about causes and prevention of impairments, the realities of a cure, support and respite for the female carers, and opportunities for the involvement of fathers. This methodology is a practical mechanism for collecting data that have the potential to positively influence and guide the development of CBR practice in the locality. At a conceptual level the data support the philosophy of inclusion, social integration, the importance of trust and respect, and utilizing a holistic approach. These are eminently transferable to other settings.

Female Literacy Rate is a Better Predictor of Birth Rate and Infant Mortality Rate in India.

PubMed

Saurabh, Suman; Sarkar, Sonali; Pandey, Dhruv K

2013-01-01

Educated women are known to take informed reproductive and healthcare decisions. These result in population stabilization and better infant care reflected by lower birth rates and infant mortality rates (IMRs), respectively. Our objective was to study the relationship of male and female literacy rates with crude birth rates (CBRs) and IMRs of the states and union territories (UTs) of India. The data were analyzed using linear regression. CBR and IMR were taken as the dependent variables; while the overall literacy rates, male, and female literacy rates were the independent variables. CBRs were inversely related to literacy rates (slope parameter = -0.402, P < 0.001). On multiple linear regression with male and female literacy rates, a significant inverse relationship emerged between female literacy rate and CBR (slope = -0.363, P < 0.001), while male literacy rate was not significantly related to CBR (P = 0.674). IMR of the states were also inversely related to their literacy rates (slope = -1.254, P < 0.001). Multiple linear regression revealed a significant inverse relationship between IMR and female literacy (slope = -0.816, P = 0.031), whereas male literacy rate was not significantly related (P = 0.630). Female literacy is relatively highly important for both population stabilization and better infant health.

Coincidence of synteny breakpoints with malignancy-related deletions on human chromosome 3

PubMed Central

Kost-Alimova, Maria; Kiss, Hajnalka; Fedorova, Ludmila; Yang, Ying; Dumanski, Jan P.; Klein, George; Imreh, Stefan

2003-01-01

We have found previously that during tumor growth intact human chromosome 3 transferred into tumor cells regularly looses certain 3p regions, among them the ≈1.4-Mb common eliminated region 1 (CER1) at 3p21.3. Fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis of 12 mouse orthologous loci revealed that CER1 splits into two segments in mouse and therefore contains a murine/human conservation breakpoint region (CBR). Several breaks occurred in tumors within the region surrounding the CBR, and this sequence has features that characterize unstable chromosomal regions: deletions in yeast artificial chromosome clones, late replication, gene and segment duplications, and pseudogene insertions. Sequence analysis of the entire 3p12-22 revealed that other cancer-associated deletions (regions eliminated from monochromosomal hybrids carrying an intact chromosome 3 during tumor growth and homozygous deletions found in human tumors) colocalized nonrandomly with murine/human CBRs and were characterized by an increased number of local gene duplications and murine/human conservation mismatches (single genes that do not match into the conserved chromosomal segment). The CBR within CER1 contains a simple tandem TATAGA repeat capable of forming a 40-bp-long secondary hairpin-like structure. This repeat is nonrandomly localized within the other tumor-associated deletions and in the vicinity of 3p12-22 CBRs. PMID:12738884

Differential baroreflex control of heart rate in sedentary and aerobically fit individuals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, S. A.; Querry, R. G.; Fadel, P. J.; Welch-O'Connor, R. M.; Olivencia-Yurvati, A.; Shi, X.; Raven, P. B.

2000-01-01

PURPOSE: We compared arterial, aortic, and carotid-cardiac baroreflex sensitivity in eight average fit (maximal oxygen uptake, VO2max = 42.2+/-1.9 mL x kg(-1) x min(-1)) and eight high fit (VO2max = 61.9+/-2.2 mL x kg(-1) x min(-1)) healthy young adults. METHODS: Arterial and aortic (ABR) baroreflex functions were assessed utilizing hypo- and hyper-tensive challenges induced by graded bolus injections of sodium nitroprusside (SN) and phenylephrine (PE), respectively. Carotid baroreflex (CBR) sensitivity was determined using ramped 5-s pulses of both pressure and suction delivered to the carotid sinus via a neck chamber collar, independent of drug administration. RESULTS: During vasoactive drug injection, mean arterial pressure (MAP) was similarly altered in average fit (AF) and high fit (HF) groups. However, the heart rate (HR) response range of the arterial baroreflex was significantly attenuated (P < 0.05) in HF (31+/-4 beats x min(-1)) compared with AF individuals (46+/-4 beats x min(-1)). When sustained neck suction and pressure were applied to counteract altered carotid sinus pressure during SN and PE administration, isolating the ABR response, the response range remained diminished (P < 0.05) in the HF population (24+/-3 beats x min(-1)) compared with the AF group (41+/-4 beats x min(-1)). During CBR perturbation, the HF (14+/-1 beats-min(-1)) and AF (16+/-1 beats-min(-1)) response ranges were similar. The arterial baroreflex response range was significantly less than the simple sum of the CBR and ABR (HF, 38+/-3 beats x min(-1) and AF, 57+/-4 beats x min(-1)) in both fitness groups. CONCLUSIONS: These data confirm that reductions in arterial-cardiac reflex sensitivity are mediated by diminished ABR function. More importantly, these data suggest that the integrative relationship between the ABR and CBR contributing to arterial baroreflex control of HR is inhibitory in nature and not altered by exercise training.

A phase 2 study of the oral mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor, everolimus, in patients with recurrent endometrial carcinoma.

PubMed

Slomovitz, Brian M; Lu, Karen H; Johnston, Taren; Coleman, Robert L; Munsell, Mark; Broaddus, Russell R; Walker, Cheryl; Ramondetta, Lois M; Burke, Thomas W; Gershenson, David M; Wolf, Judith

2010-12-01

Dysregulation of phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) and the gene that encodes the p110α catalytic subunit of phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K), PIK3CA, are the most common mutations in endometrial carcinoma (EC). Loss of PTEN or activation of PIK3CA results in constitutive activation of AKT, which leads to up-regulation of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). Everolimus is an oral rapamycin analog that acts by selectively inhibiting mTOR. A single-institution, open-labeled, phase 2 study of everolimus in patients with measurable recurrent EC who had failed at least 1 and no more than 2 prior chemotherapeutic regimens was performed. Everolimus was administered at a dose of 10 mg orally daily for 28-day cycles. Patients were treated until disease progression or toxicity. The primary endpoint was clinical benefit response (CBR), defined as a confirmed complete or partial response or prolonged stable disease (SD) (≥8 weeks). Inclusion was limited to patients with endometrioid histology. A total of 35 patients were enrolled (median age, 58 years; range, 38-81 years). A total of 81 cycles were administered. Twelve of 28 (43%) evaluable patients had not developed disease progression at the time of the first objective evaluation (8 weeks). All these patients had SD (median, 4.5 cycles; range, 2-10 cycles). Six of the 28 (21%) patients had a confirmed CBR at 20 weeks of therapy. Patients with CBR discontinued treatment because of toxicity (6 patients), disease progression (5 patients), and noncompliance (1 patient). Seven patients were unevaluable after receiving ≤1 cycle because of toxicity (5 patients) or noncompliance (2 patients). The most common drug-related toxicities were fatigue, anemia, pain, lymphopenia, and nausea. Everolimus demonstrated encouraging single-agent CBR in pretreated patients with recurrent endometrioid EC. Future studies will evaluate this agent in combination with hormonal and/or cytotoxic therapy. Copyright © 2010 American Cancer Society.

The NHV rehabilitation services program improves long-term physical functioning in survivors of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake: a longitudinal quasi experiment.

PubMed

Zhang, Xia; Reinhardt, Jan D; Gosney, James E; Li, Jianan

2013-01-01

Long-term disability following natural disasters significantly burdens survivors and the impacted society. Nevertheless, medical rehabilitation programming has been historically neglected in disaster relief planning. 'NHV' is a rehabilitation services program comprised of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) (N), local health departments (H), and professional rehabilitation volunteers (V) which aims to improve long-term physical functioning in survivors of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the NHV program. 510 of 591 enrolled earthquake survivors participated in this longitudinal quasi-experimental study (86.3%). The early intervention group (NHV-E) consisted of 298 survivors who received institutional-based rehabilitation (IBR) followed by community-based rehabilitation (CBR); the late intervention group (NHV-L) was comprised of 101 survivors who began rehabilitation one year later. The control group of 111 earthquake survivors did not receive IBR/CBR. Physical functioning was assessed using the Barthel Index (BI). Data were analyzed with a mixed-effects Tobit regression model. Physical functioning was significantly increased in the NHV-E and NHV-L groups at follow-up but not in the control group after adjustment for gender, age, type of injury, and time to measurement. We found significant effects of both NHV (11.14, 95% CI 9.0-13.3) and sponaneaous recovery (5.03; 95% CI 1.73-8.34). The effect of NHV-E (11.3, 95% CI 9.0-13.7) was marginally greater than that of NHV-L (10.7, 95% CI 7.9-13.6). It could, however, not be determined whether specific IBR or CBR program components were effective since individual component exposures were not evaluated. Our analysis shows that the NHV improved the long-term physical functioning of Sichuan earthquake survivors with disabling injuries. The comprehensive rehabilitation program benefitted the individual and society, rehabilitation services in China, and international rehabilitation disaster relief planning. Similar IBR/CBR programs should therefore be considered for future large-scale rehabilitation disaster relief efforts.

Towards a computational- and algorithmic-level account of concept blending using analogies and amalgams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Besold, Tarek R.; Kühnberger, Kai-Uwe; Plaza, Enric

2017-10-01

Concept blending - a cognitive process which allows for the combination of certain elements (and their relations) from originally distinct conceptual spaces into a new unified space combining these previously separate elements, and enables reasoning and inference over the combination - is taken as a key element of creative thought and combinatorial creativity. In this article, we summarise our work towards the development of a computational-level and algorithmic-level account of concept blending, combining approaches from computational analogy-making and case-based reasoning (CBR). We present the theoretical background, as well as an algorithmic proposal integrating higher-order anti-unification matching and generalisation from analogy with amalgams from CBR. The feasibility of the approach is then exemplified in two case studies.

Proposed reference models for CO2 and halogenated hydrocarbons

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fabian, P.

1989-01-01

The vertical distribution of carbon dioxide, halocarbons and their sink products, HCl and HF, have become available, mainly by means of balloon measurements. Most measurements were made at northern mid-latutudes, but some constituents were measured at tropical latitudes and in the Southern Hemisphere as well. An attempt is made here to combine the available data for presentation of reference models for CO2, CCl4 CCl3F, CCl2F2, CClF3, CF4, CCl2F-CClF2, CClF2-CClF2, CClF2-CF3, CF3-CF3, CH3Cl, CHClF2, CH3-CCl3, CBrClF2, CBrF3, HCl and HF.

Analysis of caries status development in relation to socio-economic variables using a case-based system.

PubMed

Swedberg, Y; Norén, J G

2001-01-01

The aim of this study was to detect, using case-based reasoning (CBR) induction methods in time series analysis, how measurable socio-economical adjustments were related to the caries status development. The study concerned the year classes leaving the organised dental care for the time period 1987-95, and had received dental care at the Public Dental Service of Göteborg. The results, as presented by a caries incidence index, indicated that at least one socioeconomical factor, individuals seeking employment, was of importance for the caries status development, a factor with an increase of considerable proportions since 1990. The findings indicated that the other socio-economic variables used did not have the same importance for the caries status development. One feasible explanation is that these factors reflect more upon the social family situation than the economical. If the caries status reflects the social situation of the individual more than the economical, this argument will elucidate the reasoning. Using CBR for the analysis of relationships between oral disease and parameters possibly influencing health development has proven to be a valuable tool and complement to more traditional statistical methods. The analysis can make relationships explicit through the hierarchic knowledge trees and also show redundant information, attributes not appearing in the trees.

A study on gaseous extinguishing agent sensing with a simple measurement method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guan, Yu; Lu, Song; Yuan, Wei; Qian, Hanjie

2018-03-01

As research on the concentration distribution for evaluating the effectiveness of a gas fire extinguisher system is quite important, the proper sensing technology is necessary. Here, a simple method used for measuring the concentration of agent is introduced, and the manufacture of the sensing part is described clearly. The sensing unit is composed of a pressure reducing structure and pressure sensor element. The detection was achieved by sensing the change of pressure difference caused by gas flow. In order to verify the theory and characterize the sensing performance, two types of fire extinguishing agents, bromotrifluoromethane (CBrF3) and heptafluoropropane (C3HF7), were used in the experiments. The results showed a high sensitivity from 0 to 100%, good repeatability and fast response/recovery time. Furthermore, the effect of operating temperature, humidity and geometric structure on the response were investigated. Measurements showed, for CBrF3, that the temperature had a linear impact on the response and the influence of humidity in the sensor was negligible. Through the analysis of the geometry parameter, it was found that the sensing performance could be greatly improved through adjusting the geometry structure. This technique provides a low-cost and highly reliable sensor for the detection of gaseous extinguishing agent that can be easily fabricated.

Female Literacy Rate is a Better Predictor of Birth Rate and Infant Mortality Rate in India

PubMed Central

Saurabh, Suman; Sarkar, Sonali; Pandey, Dhruv K.

2013-01-01

Background: Educated women are known to take informed reproductive and healthcare decisions. These result in population stabilization and better infant care reflected by lower birth rates and infant mortality rates (IMRs), respectively. Materials and Methods: Our objective was to study the relationship of male and female literacy rates with crude birth rates (CBRs) and IMRs of the states and union territories (UTs) of India. The data were analyzed using linear regression. CBR and IMR were taken as the dependent variables; while the overall literacy rates, male, and female literacy rates were the independent variables. Results: CBRs were inversely related to literacy rates (slope parameter = −0.402, P < 0.001). On multiple linear regression with male and female literacy rates, a significant inverse relationship emerged between female literacy rate and CBR (slope = −0.363, P < 0.001), while male literacy rate was not significantly related to CBR (P = 0.674). IMR of the states were also inversely related to their literacy rates (slope = −1.254, P < 0.001). Multiple linear regression revealed a significant inverse relationship between IMR and female literacy (slope = −0.816, P = 0.031), whereas male literacy rate was not significantly related (P = 0.630). Conclusion: Female literacy is relatively highly important for both population stabilization and better infant health. PMID:26664840

QUBIC in Argentina

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

García, B.; Harari, D.; Etchegoyen, A.; Medina, M. C.; Romero, G. E.; Qubic Collaboration

2017-10-01

QUBIC (QU Bolometric Interferometer for Cosmology) is an experimental cosmology project to measure the modes in the polarization of the cosmic background radiation (CBR), the fossil relic that reveals the properties at the Universe 380,000 years after the Planck Era. Discovery of the CBR in 1964 and measurement of tiny temperature anisotropies in 1992 were major breakthroughs in our understanding of the Universe. The next challenge is to measure the polarization of the CBR accurately enough to detect modes that would reveal the existence of primordial gravitational waves produced in the first stages of the Planck Era and probe inflation theory, that assumes an accelerated expansion during the first seconds. The mode signal is however extremely weak and its measurement requires complex instruments. The QUBIC collaboration has developed the concept of interferometric bolometry, that brings together the sensitivity of bolometric detectors with the control of systematic effects provided by interferometry. QUBIC is an international collaboration involving several universities and laboratories in France, Italy, United Kingdom and USA. Recently, Argentina has suggested Alto Chorrillo (Salta), as candidate site for the installation of the experiment, next to the LLAMA site. Here we describe the scientific objectives and the main features of the experiment and we detail the process through which the international collaboration decided to install in Argentina its first module as well as the challenges for our country in this project.

Diagnosis and Prognosis of the Arbovirus-Dengue using Intelligent Algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiji, G. Wiselin; Lakshmi, V. Selva; Lakshmi, K. Vathsala; Priya, S. Shunmuga

2016-06-01

Dengue is the most common and widespread arthropod-borne viral infection in the world. It was carried by mosquitoes and this disease used to be called break-bone fever. Dengue is a quite dangerous febrile disease transmitted by aedus aegypti mosquito that can even cause death. In this paper, we proposed new fusion architecture to support the diagnosis of Arbovirus-Dengue. The architecture combines features of platelets and Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) technology together to facilitate medical diagnosis. Along with these features and platelet count, CBR is incorporated which contains symptoms of the disease and platelet count. Experiments on a set of 10 images yielded a balanced accuracy of 86.95 %. This was a superior diagnosis performance in comparison with the state-of-the-art works.

Expert system for web based collaborative CAE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hou, Liang; Lin, Zusheng

2006-11-01

An expert system for web based collaborative CAE was developed based on knowledge engineering, relational database and commercial FEA (Finite element analysis) software. The architecture of the system was illustrated. In this system, the experts' experiences, theories and typical examples and other related knowledge, which will be used in the stage of pre-process in FEA, were categorized into analysis process and object knowledge. Then, the integrated knowledge model based on object-oriented method and rule based method was described. The integrated reasoning process based on CBR (case based reasoning) and rule based reasoning was presented. Finally, the analysis process of this expert system in web based CAE application was illustrated, and an analysis example of a machine tool's column was illustrated to prove the validity of the system.

Bandwidth reduction for video-on-demand broadcasting using secondary content insertion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Golynski, Alexander; Lopez-Ortiz, Alejandro; Poirier, Guillaume; Quimper, Claude-Guy

2005-01-01

An optimal broadcasting scheme under the presence of secondary content (i.e. advertisements) is proposed. The proposed scheme works both for movies encoded in a Constant Bit Rate (CBR) or a Variable Bit Rate (VBR) format. It is shown experimentally that secondary content in movies can make Video-on-Demand (VoD) broadcasting systems more efficient. An efficient algorithm is given to compute the optimal broadcasting schedule with secondary content, which in particular significantly improves over the best previously known algorithm for computing the optimal broadcasting schedule without secondary content.

Improving Shipboard Decision Making in the CBR-D (Chemical/Biological Radiological Defense) Environment: Concepts of Use for and Functional Description of a Decision Aid/Training System (DECAID)

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-08-19

take place over the period of several days. Decisions regarding MOPP level or resource allocation made on day I may have no immediate impact, but a...present -- conditions, and manage a resource library to assist the DCA in making decisions under conditions of uncertainty. Several areas of utilization are...students work through a scenario, the device couid then display the consequences of those decisions or provide optimal decision recommendations

Defense Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR). Volume 4. Defense Agency Projects, Abstracts of Phase 1 Awards from FY 1989 SBIR Solicitation

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-04-01

EXPLOSIVE ACTIVITY . FINDINGS AND MEASUREMENTS FROM EACH IMAGE WILL BE COMBINED IN A GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION DATA BASE . VARIOUS IMAGE AND MAP PROJECTS WILL BE...PROPOSAL OF LAND MINES DETECTION BY A NUCLEAR ACTIVATION METHOD IS BASED ON A NEW EXTREMELY INTENSE, COMPACT PULSED SOURCE OF 14.1 MeV NEUTRONS (WITH A...CONVENTIONAL KNOWLEDGE- BASED SYSTEMS TOPIC# 38 OFFICE: PM/SBIR IDENT#: 33862 CASE- BASED REASONING (CBR) REPRESENTS A POWERFUL NEW PARADIGM FOR BUILDING EXPERT

Report on the 2015 US Environmental Protection Agency ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Report The 2015 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) International Decontamination Research and Development Conference brought together scientists, practitioners, and policymakers related to chemical, biological, and radiological (CBR) remediation.

Alternative materials for subgrade modification

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2001-10-01

This study examines the laboratory and field performance of two alternative materials used for the modification of unstable (CBR<6) subgrade soils. Modification is temporarily enhancing subgrade : stability to improve the constructability of successi...

Kinetics of the Br2-CH3CHO Photochemical Chain Reaction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nicovich, J. M.; Shackelford, C. J.; Wine, P. H.

1997-01-01

Time-resolved resonance fluorescence spectroscopy was employed in conjunction with laser flash photolysis of Br2 to study the kinetics of the two elementary steps in the photochemical chain reaction nBr2 + nCH3CHO + hv yields nCH3CBrO + nHBr. In the temperature range 255-400 K, the rate coefficient for the reaction Br((sup 2)P(sub 3/2)) + CH3CHO yields CH3CO + HBr is given by the Arrhenius expression k(sub 6)(T) = (1.51 +/- 0.20) x 10(exp -11) exp(-(364 +/- 41)/T)cu cm/(molecule.s). At 298 K, the reaction CH3CO + Br2 yields CH3CBrO + Br proceeds at a near gas kinetic rate, k(sub 7)(298 K) = (1.08 +/- 0.38) x 10(exp -10)cu cm/(molecule.s).

[Comparative data on the formation of complement-binding and hemagglutinating antibodies to penicillin].

PubMed

Sluvko, A L

1976-10-01

Comparative data on production of complement-binding and hemagglutinating antibodies in the process of the antigenic effect of benzylpenicillin under experimental conditions are presented. 30 rabbit antisera and 3 sera of intact animals were studied. The hemagglutinating antibodies were determined in 19 antisera, high and reliable titers of the antipenicillin hemagglutinating antibodies being found only in 8 antisera. The antipenicillin complement-binding antibodies using complex antibiotic antibodies were also found in 19 antisera. The process of antibody production was more pronounced in the complement-binding reaction (CBR). Both types of the antibodies were detected simultaneously in 14 antisera. It is concluded that the CBR with the use of the penicillin complex antigenes on the stroma of the erythrocytes and in combination with the blood serum is a rather sensitive reaction for detection of antipenicillin antibodies.

CBR anisotropy from primordial gravitational waves in inflationary cosmologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allen, Bruce; Koranda, Scott

1994-09-01

We examine stochastic temperature fluctuations of the cosmic background radiation (CBR) arising via the Sachs-Wolfe effect from gravitational wave perturbations produced in the early Universe. These temperature fluctuations are described by an angular correlation function C(γ). A new (more concise and general) derivation of C(γ) is given, and evaluated for inflationary-universe cosmologies. This yields standard results for angles γ greater than a few degrees, but new results for smaller angles, because we do not make standard long-wavelength approximations to the gravitational wave mode functions. The function C(γ) may be expanded in a series of Legendre polynomials; we use numerical methods to compare the coefficients of the resulting expansion in our exact calculation with standard (approximate) results. We also report some progress towards finding a closed form expression for C(γ).

Big Bang Titanic: New Dark Energy (Vacuum Gravity) Cosmic Model Emerges Upon Falsification of The Big Bang By Disproof of Its Central Assumptions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gentry, Robert

2011-04-01

Physicists who identify the big bang with the early universe should have first noted from Hawking's A Brief History of Time, p. 42, that he ties Hubble's law to Doppler shifts from galaxy recession from a nearby center, not to bb's unvalidated and thus problematical expansion redshifts. Our PRL submission LJ12135 describes such a model, but in it Hubble's law is due to Doppler and vacuum gravity effects, the 2.73K CBR is vacuum gravity shifted blackbody cavity radiation from an outer galactic shell, and its (1 + z)-1 dilation and (M,z) relations closely fit high-z SNe Ia data; all this strongly implies our model's vacuum energy is the elusive dark energy. We also find GPS operation's GR effects falsify big bang's in-flight expansion redshift paradigm, and hence the big bang, by showing λ changes occur only at emission. Surprisingly we also discover big bang's CBR prediction is T < 2x10-8 K, not the observed 2.73K. So instead of the 2.73K affirming the big bang as cosmologists claim, it actually disproves it, to which the DAE's response is most enigmatic -- namely, CBR photons expand dλ/dt > 0, while galactic photons shrink dλ/dt < 0. Contrary to a PRL editor's claim, the above results show LJ12135 fits PRL guidelines for papers that replace established theories. For details see alphacosmos.net.

Targeting mTOR pathway in gynecological malignancies: Biological rationale and systematic review of published data.

PubMed

Kassem, Loay; Abdel-Rahman, Omar

2016-12-01

mTOR inhibitors are widely used in different malignancies with several trials testing their efficacy and safety in gynecological malignancies. We aimed to review the current evidence that support the expansion of using such drugs in the treatment of advanced gynecological cancers. A comprehensive systematic review of literature has been conducted to include prospective trials that used everolimus, temsirolimus or ridaforolimus in the management of gynecological cancers and have available efficacy and toxicity results. A total of 23 studies including 980 patients were considered eligible for our review. Our review included 16 phase II and 7 phase I studies with the majority of patients having uterine cancers. Regarding Endometrial cancer, the CBR ranged from 21% to 60% and median PFS from 2.8 months to 7.3 months. In Ovarian cancers, CBR ranged from 24% to 50% and median PFS from 3.2 months to 5.9 months. In the single phase II study in cervical cancer the CBR was 61% and median PFS was 3.5 months. The toxicity profile was consistent with what was observed previously in other malignancies with fatigue, mucositis, and hematological toxicities being the most common adverse events observed. mTOR inhibitors seem to be a promising option in the second line management of advanced gynecological cancers with best safety and efficacy outcomes when given as a single agent or in combination with hormonal treatment. More research is needed for better patient selection. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Utilization of community-based rehabilitation services for incurably blind persons in a rural population of southern India.

PubMed

Vijayakumar, Valaguru; Datta, Dipankar; Karthika, Arumugam; Thulasiraj, Ravilla D; Nirmalan, Praveen K

2003-09-01

To identify barriers in utilisation of community based rehabilitation (CBR) services for incurably blind persons in rural South India. A community-based rehabilitation programme for incurably blind persons was initiated in Theni district of southern Tamil Nadu in south India. After door-to-door enumeration and preliminary ocular screening by trained workers at the village, identified blind persons were categorised as either curable or incurable by an ophthalmologist. Trained workers provided rehabilitation, including mobility training (OM), training to perform activities of daily living (ADL), and economic rehabilitation for the incurably blind in their respective villages. Of the 460,984 persons surveyed, 400 (0.09%) were certified as incurably blind including 156 (39.00%) persons blind from birth. Social rehabilitation was provided for 268 (67.00%) incurably blind persons. Economic rehabilitation was provided to 96 persons, and integrated education to 22 children. Nearly one-fifth (n=68, 17.00%) of incurably blind persons refused the services provided. The major reasons for refusal included old age and other illnesses (41.18%), and multiple handicaps (19.12%). Twenty-seven (6.75%) persons had either migrated or died, and 29 (7.25%) persons were already able to function independently. Although CBR programmes provide useful services to the incurably blind, a better understanding of barriers is required to improve service utilisation. Developing a standardised data collection format for every CBR programme can result in the creation of a national database of ophthalmic diseases.

Evaluation of Faun MLC-70 Trackway Mat System Under Simulated F-15 Traffic

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-05-01

stronger soils. Results of traffic tests presented herein include individual mat panel properties, pretest and posttest sub- grade soil conditions, subgrade...strength of the subgrade had changed during the evaluation. The average pretest and posttest CBR measurements for each item are shown in Table 3... Pretest A1 25.2 50 A2 33.3 60 A3 30.9 35 Posttest A1 12.5 10 -12.7 -40 A2 18.5 15 -14.8 -45 A3 12.8 30 -18.1 -5 2.3.1.2 Mat

Reuse of polyethylene waste in road construction.

PubMed

Raju, S S S V Gopala; Murali, M; Rengaraju, V R

2007-01-01

The cost of construction of flexible pavements depends on thickness of the pavement layers. The thickness of pavement mainly depends on the strength of the subgrade. By suitable improvement to the strength of the subgrade, considerable saving in the scarce resources and economy can be achieved. Because of their lightweight, easy handling, non-breakable and corrosion free nature, polyethylene have surpassed all other materials in utility. But polyethylene waste has been a matter of concern to environmentalists as it is non-biodegradable. In this investigation, an attempt has been made to study the improvement of California Bearing Ratio (CBR) value of soils stabilized with waste polyethylene bags. This alternative material is mixed in different proportions to the gravel and clay to determine the improvement ofCBR value. Use of the waste polyethylene bags observed to have a significant impact on the strength and economy in pavement construction, when these are available locally in large quantities.

Testing Lorentz Invariance with Neutrinos from Ultrahigh Energy Cosmic Ray Interactions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Scully, Sean T.; Stecker, Floyd W.

2010-01-01

We have previously shown that a very small amount of Lorentz invariance violation (UV), which suppresses photomeson interactions of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) with cosmic background radiation (CBR) photons, can produce a spectrum of cosmic rays that is consistent with that currently observed by the Pierre Auger Observatory (PAO) and HiRes experiments. Here, we calculate the corresponding flux of high energy neutrinos generated by the propagation of UHECR protons through the CBR in the presence of UV. We find that UV produces a reduction in the flux of the highest energy neutrinos and a reduction in the energy of the peak of the neutrino energy flux spectrum, both depending on the strength of the UV. Thus, observations of the UHE neutrino spectrum provide a clear test for the existence and amount of UV at the highest energies. We further discuss the ability of current and future proposed detectors make such observations.

The prediction of breast cancer biopsy outcomes using two CAD approaches that both emphasize an intelligible decision process

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

Elter, M.; Schulz-Wendtland, R.; Wittenberg, T.

2007-11-15

Mammography is the most effective method for breast cancer screening available today. However, the low positive predictive value of breast biopsy resulting from mammogram interpretation leads to approximately 70% unnecessary biopsies with benign outcomes. To reduce the high number of unnecessary breast biopsies, several computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) systems have been proposed in the last several years. These systems help physicians in their decision to perform a breast biopsy on a suspicious lesion seen in a mammogram or to perform a short term follow-up examination instead. We present two novel CAD approaches that both emphasize an intelligible decision process to predictmore » breast biopsy outcomes from BI-RADS findings. An intelligible reasoning process is an important requirement for the acceptance of CAD systems by physicians. The first approach induces a global model based on decison-tree learning. The second approach is based on case-based reasoning and applies an entropic similarity measure. We have evaluated the performance of both CAD approaches on two large publicly available mammography reference databases using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, bootstrap sampling, and the ANOVA statistical significance test. Both approaches outperform the diagnosis decisions of the physicians. Hence, both systems have the potential to reduce the number of unnecessary breast biopsies in clinical practice. A comparison of the performance of the proposed decision tree and CBR approaches with a state of the art approach based on artificial neural networks (ANN) shows that the CBR approach performs slightly better than the ANN approach, which in turn results in slightly better performance than the decision-tree approach. The differences are statistically significant (p value <0.001). On 2100 masses extracted from the DDSM database, the CRB approach for example resulted in an area under the ROC curve of A(z)=0.89{+-}0.01, the decision-tree approach in A(z)=0.87{+-}0.01, and the ANN approach in A(z)=0.88{+-}0.01.« less

Full-length genome analysis of two genetically distinct variants of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus in Thailand.

PubMed

Cheun-Arom, Thaniwan; Temeeyasen, Gun; Tripipat, Thitima; Kaewprommal, Pavita; Piriyapongsa, Jittima; Sukrong, Suchada; Chongcharoen, Wanchai; Tantituvanont, Angkana; Nilubol, Dachrit

2016-10-01

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) has continued to cause sporadic outbreaks in Thailand since 2007 and a pandemic variant containing an insertion and deletion in the spike gene was responsible for outbreaks. In 2014, there were further outbreaks of the disease occurring within four months of each other. In this study, the full-length genome sequences of two genetically distinct PEDV isolates from the outbreaks were characterized. The two PEDV isolates, CBR1/2014 and EAS1/2014, were 28,039 and 28,033 nucleotides in length and showed 96.2% and 93.6% similarities at nucleotide and amino acid levels respectively. In total, we have observed 1048 nucleotide substitutions throughout the genome. Compared to EAS1/2014, CBR1/2014 has 2 insertions of 4 ((56)GENQ(59)) and 1 ((140)N) amino acid positions 56-59 and 140, and 2 deletions of 2 ((160)DG(161)) and 1 ((1199)Y) amino acid positions 160-161 and 1199. The phylogenetic analysis based on full-length genome of CBR1/2014 isolate has grouped the virus with the pandemic variants. In contrast, EAS1/2014 isolate was grouped with CV777, LZC and SM98, a classical variant. Our findings demonstrated the emergence of EAS1/2014, a classical variant which is novel to Thailand and genetically distinct from the currently circulating endemic variants. This study warrants further investigations into molecular epidemiology and genetic evolution of the PEDV in Thailand. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The interdependence of perceived confession voluntariness and case evidence.

PubMed

Greenspan, Rachel; Scurich, Nicholas

2016-12-01

The current research investigated the mechanisms by which perceptions of confession evidence both influence and are influenced by perceptions of other case evidence using the theoretical framework of coherence-based reasoning (CBR). CBR posits that ambiguity and uncertainty are eschewed by artificially imposing consistency between pieces of evidence through bidirectional reasoning: Inferences about evidence lead to a preferred verdict, which in turn radiates backward to influence the perception of evidence. Two studies tested the CBR account with regard to confessions. An online sample of participants evaluated confession and nonconfession evidence at pretest and posttest. Study 1 revealed that, during pretest, participants (N = 119) deemed the evidence independent and nonprobative and the confession to be voluntary. However, at posttest, in the context of a criminal trial, participants considered the same evidence interrelated and highly inculpatory or exculpatory, depending on their verdict. Moreover, participants who voted to convict deemed the confession substantially voluntary, whereas participants who voted to acquit deemed it involuntary. Study 2 experimentally manipulated the strength of the nonconfession evidence in an effort to push participants (N = 127) toward a particular verdict. The same patterns of results emerged but were conditional on the strength of the nonconfession evidence: Strong case evidence caused the confession to be perceived as more voluntary, despite the fact that the confession was held constant. These findings replicate the coherence effect in a new domain and suggest that judges conducting harmless error analysis or making admissibility decisions might underappreciate the impact of confession evidence on jurors' verdicts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Geotechnical assessment of road failure and slope monitoring along Nsukka-Adoru-Idah highway, Southeastern Nigeria.

PubMed

Maduka, Raphael Iweanya; Igwe, Ogbonnaya; Ayogu, Nnadozie Onyekachi; Ayogu, Chinero Nneka; Nwachukwu, Martin

2017-01-01

The quality of highway pavement is greatly influenced by the subgrade materials, the general geology of the area, and the materials used for construction. Investigation into the 75-km Nsukka-Adoru-Idah highway revealed that the pavement was underlain by three lithological units-Imo, Nsukka, and Ajali formations. The geotechnical evaluation carried out in the study includes the particle size distribution, Atterberg limit, specific gravity, compaction tests, and California bearing ratio (CBR). The base course has clay/silt (7-14%), fine sand (1-4%), medium sand (6-13%), and coarse sand (65-86%), while the subgrade presented clay/silt (74-82%), fine sand (6-9%), medium sand (10-17%), and coarse sand (1-3%). The average specific gravity results for the studied base course and subgrades are 2.58 and 2.52. Liquid limit (LL) result ranges from 27 to 60%, while plastic limit (PL) ranges between 17 and 24%, and plasticity index (PI) ranges from 5 to 39%. The maximum dry density (MDD) result ranges from 1.70 to 2.10 mg/m 3 , while the optimum moisture content (OMC) for the samples ranges between 14.1 and 18.0%. The CBR result for soaked and unsoaked samples ranges from 37 to 74 and 48 to 83%, respectively. The low unsoaked CBR (<80%) and high Atterberg limits (LL > 30% and PI > 12%) failed the stipulated Nigerian standard, signifying the need for stabilization. A geotechnical model of a highway road cut generated a factor of safety of 1.45, indicating possibility of slope failure.

A viewpoint-based case-based reasoning approach utilising an enterprise architecture ontology for experience management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martin, Andreas; Emmenegger, Sandro; Hinkelmann, Knut; Thönssen, Barbara

2017-04-01

The accessibility of project knowledge obtained from experiences is an important and crucial issue in enterprises. This information need about project knowledge can be different from one person to another depending on the different roles he or she has. Therefore, a new ontology-based case-based reasoning (OBCBR) approach that utilises an enterprise ontology is introduced in this article to improve the accessibility of this project knowledge. Utilising an enterprise ontology improves the case-based reasoning (CBR) system through the systematic inclusion of enterprise-specific knowledge. This enterprise-specific knowledge is captured using the overall structure given by the enterprise ontology named ArchiMEO, which is a partial ontological realisation of the enterprise architecture framework (EAF) ArchiMate. This ontological representation, containing historical cases and specific enterprise domain knowledge, is applied in a new OBCBR approach. To support the different information needs of different stakeholders, this OBCBR approach has been built in such a way that different views, viewpoints, concerns and stakeholders can be considered. This is realised using a case viewpoint model derived from the ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010 standard. The introduced approach was implemented as a demonstrator and evaluated using an application case that has been elicited from a business partner in the Swiss research project.

A Design of Product Collaborative Online Configuration Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xiaoguo; Zheng, Jin; Zeng, Qian

According to the actual needs of mass customization, the personalization of product and its collaborative design, the paper analyzes and studies the working mechanism of modular-based product configuration technology and puts forward an information model of modular product family. Combined with case-based reasoning techniques (CBR) and the constraint satisfaction problem solving techniques (CSP), we design and study the algorithm for product configuration, and analyze its time complexity. A car chassis is made as the application object, we provide a prototype system of online configuration. Taking advantage of this system, designers can make appropriate changes on the existing programs in accordance with the demand. This will accelerate all aspects of product development and shorten the product cycle. Also the system will provide a strong technical support for enterprises to improve their market competitiveness.

Detailed modeling of the atmospheric degradation mechanism of very-short lived brominated species

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krysztofiak, G.; Catoire, V.; Poulet, G.; Marécal, V.; Pirre, M.; Louis, F.; Canneaux, S.; Josse, B.

2012-11-01

Detailed chemical reaction schemes for the atmospheric degradations of the very short-lived species (VSLS) bromoform (CHBr3) and dibromomethane (CH2Br2) have been established. These degradation schemes have been implemented in the meteorological/tracer transport model CATT-BRAMS used in the present case as pseudo one-dimensional model with chemistry of CH4, CO, HOx, NOx, NOy and Ox. They include the main possible reactions of the intermediate brominated peroxy radicals RO2 (with R = CH2Br, CHBr2 and CBr3) for which the most likely reaction pathways with HO2 have been found using ab initio computational calculations. The full degradation schemes have been run for two well-defined realistic scenarios, “clean” atmosphere and “moderately” NOy-polluted atmosphere, as representative of a tropical coastal region where these VSLS natural emissions are expected to be important. The Henry's law constants of the brominated organics products have been estimated by using the Bond Contribution Method (BCM; Meylan and Howard, 1991) or the Molecular Connectivity Index (MCI; Nirmalakhandan and Speece, 1988). Using these constants, the least soluble species formed from the VSLS degradation are found to be CBr2O, CHBrO, CBr3O2NO2, CHBr2O2NO2, BrO, BrONO2 and HOBr, which leads those to be potentially transported into the tropical tropopause layer (TTL) in case of deep convection and contribute to stratospheric bromine additionally to the original substances. For bromoform and dibromomethane degradation, the moderate NOy pollution increases the production of the least soluble species and thus approximately doubles the bromine quantity potentially able to reach the TTL (from 22.5% to 43% for CHBr3 and from 8.8% to 20.2% for CH2Br2). The influence of the reactions of the RO2 radicals with HO2, CH3O2 and NO2 on the nature and abundance of the stable intermediate and end-products has been tested for CHBr3 degradation. As a result, the reactions of the RO2 radicals with NO2 have no impact. Taking into account the reaction between RO2 and CH3O2 and modifying the branching ratios of the reaction between RO2 and HO2 lead to a small impact on the bromoform degradation by slightly decreasing (by 10%) the bromine quantity potentially able to reach the TTL. As a final point, in contrast to CHBr3, CH2Br2 degradation produces negligible quantities of organics species and the effects of pollution increase only the inorganic species production. By taking into account the results of these tests, new simplified degradation schemes for CHBr3 and CH2Br2 are proposed.

Subgrade evaluation based on theoretical concepts.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1971-01-01

Evaluations of pavement soil subgrades for the purpose of design are mostly based on empirical methods such as the CBR, California soil resistance method, etc. The need for the application of theory and the evaluation of subgrade strength in terms of...

Alternative materials for the modification and stabilization of unstable subgrade soils

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1997-05-01

This study examines two lime by-products and two fly ashes for treatment of unstable (CBR<6) subgrade soils. The treatment methods include both modification and stabilization. Modification is temporily enhancing subgrade stability to improve construc...

The role of hormonal therapy in patients with relapsed high-grade ovarian carcinoma: a retrospective series of tamoxifen and letrozole.

PubMed

George, Angela; McLachlan, Jennifer; Tunariu, Nina; Della Pepa, Chiara; Migali, Cristina; Gore, Martin; Kaye, Stan; Banerjee, Susana

2017-06-30

Hormonal therapy is used as a treatment option in high-grade ovarian carcinoma (HGOC), but the role and choice of treatment remains unclear. Agents used include tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors. Our aim was to evaluate the efficacy of tamoxifen (T) and letrozole (L) in HGOC in clinical practice and investigate factors influencing clinical outcome. A retrospective review of patients with relapsed HGOC treated with either tamoxifen or letrozole at the Royal Marsden Hospital between 2007 and 2012 was performed. The primary endpoint of the study was objective response rate (ORR). Secondary endpoints included CA125 response, clinical benefit rate (CBR) and duration of response. Platinum-sensitivity and ER-status were evaluated as predictors of treatment response. 97 patients were included (43 T, 54 L); median age 63 years (20-92); 91% high-grade serous; median number of lines of prior chemotherapy 3 (1-8); 60% platinum-resistant, 40% platinum-sensitive; 52% ER + ve, 1% ER-ve, 47% unknown. 14 patients (6 T, 8 L) achieved a partial response, with ORR (RECIST) of 14% (T) and 15% (L). The CBR for ≥3 months was 65% (22/43) for tamoxifen and 56% (22/54) for letrozole. There was no significant difference in ORR (p = 0.99) or CBR (p = 0.14) between tamoxifen and letrozole. 22 patients (23%) had a CA-125 response with hormonal therapy (10 T - 23% and 12 L - 22%). ORR did not differ by platinum sensitivity (p = 0.42); or ER-status (positive vs unknown, p = 0.12). Responders to letrozole had longer durations of response than responders to tamoxifen (26 vs 11.5 months, p = 0.03), but equivalent disease stability duration (9.6 vs 7.2 months respectively, p = 0.11). Within the constraints of a retrospective study, we identified that patients treated with letrozole had a significantly longer duration of response than those treated with tamoxifen. Treatment with either tamoxifen or letrozole is a rational treatment option for patients with ER + ve HGOC, with equivalent ORR, CBR and disease stability.

Two small RNAs, CrcY and CrcZ, act in concert to sequester the Crc global regulator in Pseudomonas putida, modulating catabolite repression.

PubMed

Moreno, Renata; Fonseca, Pilar; Rojo, Fernando

2012-01-01

The Crc protein is a translational repressor that recognizes a specific target at some mRNAs, controlling catabolite repression and co-ordinating carbon metabolism in pseudomonads. In Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the levels of free Crc protein are controlled by CrcZ, a sRNA that sequesters Crc, acting as an antagonist. We show that, in Pseudomonas putida, the levels of free Crc are controlled by CrcZ and by a novel 368 nt sRNA named CrcY. CrcZ and CrcY, which contain six potential targets for Crc, were able to bind Crc specifically in vitro. The levels of CrcZ and CrcY were low under conditions generating a strong catabolite repression, and increased strongly when catabolite repression was absent. Deletion of either crcZ or crcY had no effect on catabolite repression, but the simultaneous absence of both sRNAs led to constitutive catabolite repression that compromised growth on some carbon sources. Overproduction of CrcZ or CrcY significantly reduced repression. We propose that CrcZ and CrcY act in concert, sequestering and modulating the levels of free Crc according to metabolic conditions. The CbrA/CbrB two-component system activated crcZ transcription, but had little effect on crcY. CrcY was detected in P. putida, Pseudomonas fluorescens and Pseudomonas syringae, but not in P. aeruginosa. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Community-Based Rehabilitation: Reaching the Unreached.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Toole, Brian

1988-01-01

This paper examines the magnitude of the problem of disability facing developing countries; the traditional response to this challenge and its ineffectiveness; the emergence of community-based rehabilitation (CBR); its underlying assumptions and effectiveness in terms of staff training, interagency partnerships, and parental and community…

Developing an economical and reliable test for measuring the resilient modulus and Poisson's ratio of subgrade.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-11-01

The resilient modulus and Poissons ratio of base and sublayers in highway use are : important parameters in design and quality control process. The currently used techniques : include CBR (California Bearing Ratio) test, resilient modulus test,...

Change in the structures, dynamics and disease-related mortality rates of the population of Qatari nationals: 2007-2011.

PubMed

Al-Thani, Mohamed H; Sadoun, Eman; Al-Thani, Al-Anoud; Khalifa, Shamseldin A; Sayegh, Suzan; Badawi, Alaa

2014-12-01

Developing effective public health policies and strategies for interventions necessitates an assessment of the structure, dynamics, disease rates and causes of death in a population. Lately, Qatar has undertaken development resurgence in health and economy that resulted in improving the standard of health services and health status of the entire Qatari population (i.e., Qatari nationals and non-Qatari residents). No study has attempted to evaluate the population structure/dynamics and recent changes in disease-related mortality rates among Qatari nationals. The present study examines the population structure/dynamics and the related changes in the cause-specific mortality rates and disease prevalence in the Qatari nationals. This is a retrospective, analytic descriptive analysis covering a period of 5years (2007-2011) and utilizes a range of data sources from the State of Qatar including the population structure, disease-related mortality rates, and the prevalence of a range of chronic and infectious diseases. Factors reflecting population dynamics such as crude death (CDR), crude birth (CBR), total fertility (TFR) and infant mortality (IMR) rates were also calculated. The Qatari nationals is an expansive population with an annual growth rate of ∼4% and a stable male:female ratio. The CDR declined by 15% within the study period, whereas the CBR was almost stable. The total disease-specific death rate, however, was decreased among the Qatari nationals by 23% due to the decline in mortality rates attributed to diseases of the blood and immune system (43%), nervous system (44%) and cardiovascular system (41%). There was a high prevalence of a range of chronic diseases, whereas very low frequencies of the infectious diseases within the study population. Public health strategies, approaches and programs developed to reduce disease burden and the related death, should be tailored to target the population of Qatari nationals which exhibits characteristics that vary from the entire Qatari population. Crown Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Layer coefficients for NHDOT pavement materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Janoo, Vincent C.

1994-09-01

In 1992, the New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT) experimented with the use of reclaimed asphalt concrete as a base course material, identified by NHDOT as reclaimed stabilized base (RSB). The RSB and a control test section were placed on Interstate 93 between exits 18 and 19. The RSB test section was designed to the same structural number (SN) as the control. To evaluate the structural capacity of these test sections, the U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) conducted deflection tests using a Dynatest 8000 falling weight deflectometer (FWD). Preliminary analysis of the results by NHDOT personnel showed higher deflection in the reclaimed asphalt concrete test sections. The explanation was that the layer coefficient used for the RSB layer in the design was probably incorrect. A total of 10 test sections constituting the base course materials used by NHDOT were built near Bow, New Hampshire. CRREL evaluated and estimated the layer coefficients of the base course materials. The test program was developed to characterize the material in more than one way. Tests were conducted with the heavy weight deflectometer (HWD), dynamic cone penetrometer (DCP) and the Clegg hammer. In situ California bearing ratio (CBR) tests were also conducted. The deflection from the HWD were used with the WESDEF back calculation program to determine the layer moduli. The moduli were than used with the AASHTO Design Guide to calculate the layer coefficients. The layer coefficients were also determined with the method proposed by Rohde. The CBR values from the Clegg hammer, in situ CBR and DCP tests were also used in the relationships in the HDM model to determine the layer coefficients.

Uncemented total hip arthroplasty in octogenarian and nonagenarian patients.

PubMed

Toro, Giuseppe; Bothorel, Hugo; Saffarini, Mo; Jacquot, Laurent; Chouteau, Julien; Rollier, Jean-Charles

2018-06-02

While uncemented THA has proven benefits over cemented THA, the use of uncemented components in the elderly remains controversial. The purpose of this study was to compare functional outcomes and complication rates of uncemented THA in patients aged > 80 to patients aged < 80, and determine factors that independently influence functional outcomes. The authors evaluated 411 consecutive uncemented THAs at a follow-up of 3.1 ± 0.9 years (range 1.8-5.2), using the Oxford hip score (OHS), EuroQol 5 Dimensions (EQ-5D) score, and noting any complications. The series was divided into two age groups: elderly group (> 80, n = 142) and control group (< 80, n = 269). Uni- and multi-variable regressions were performed to test associations between outcomes and patient age, BMI, American Society of Anaesthesiologists (ASA) score, canal bone ratio (CBR) and canal flare index (CFI). The elderly group had femora with higher CBR (p < 0.001) and lower CFI (p = 0.002). The clinical scores were significantly worse for the elderly group, with a higher OHS (p = 0.039) and a lower EQ-5D score (p = 0.009), but there were no significant differences in overall complications rates (p = 0.500). Periprosthetic fractures were observed in three elderly patients (2.1%), compared to none of the younger patients (p = 0.041). Multi-variable regressions revealed that OHS was not correlated with any of the variables, while EQ-5D score was significantly associated with BMI (p = 0.015), ASA score (p = 0.024) and CBR (p = 0.019). Clinical outcomes of uncemented THA do not depend on patient age per se, but on more specific preoperative characteristics such as ASA score, BMI and bone quality/morphology.

LCCC 1025: a phase II study of everolimus, trastuzumab, and vinorelbine to treat progressive HER2-positive breast cancer brain metastases.

PubMed

Van Swearingen, Amanda E D; Siegel, Marni B; Deal, Allison M; Sambade, Maria J; Hoyle, Alan; Hayes, D Neil; Jo, Heejoon; Little, Paul; Dees, Elizabeth Claire; Muss, Hyman; Jolly, Trevor; Zagar, Timothy M; Patel, Nirali; Miller, C Ryan; Parker, Joel S; Smith, J Keith; Fisher, Julie; Shah, Nikita; Nabell, Lisle; Nanda, Rita; Dillon, Patrick; Abramson, Vandana; Carey, Lisa A; Anders, Carey K

2018-06-25

HER2 + breast cancer (BC) is an aggressive subtype with high rates of brain metastases (BCBM). Two-thirds of HER2 + BCBM demonstrate activation of the PI3K/mTOR pathway driving resistance to anti-HER2 therapy. This phase II study evaluated everolimus (E), a brain-permeable mTOR inhibitor, trastuzumab (T), and vinorelbine (V) in patients with HER2 + BCBM. Eligible patients had progressive HER2 + BCBM. The primary endpoint was intracranial response rate (RR); secondary objectives were CNS clinical benefit rate (CBR), extracranial RR, time to progression (TTP), overall survival (OS), and targeted sequencing of tumors from enrolled patients. A two-stage design distinguished intracranial RR of 5% versus 20%. 32 patients were evaluable for toxicity, 26 for efficacy. Intracranial RR was 4% (1 PR). CNS CBR at 6 mos was 27%; at 3 mos 65%. Median intracranial TTP was 3.9 mos (95% CI 2.2-5). OS was 12.2 mos (95% CI 0.6-20.2). Grade 3-4 toxicities included neutropenia (41%), anemia (16%), and stomatitis (16%). Mutations in TP53 and PIK3CA were common in BCBM. Mutations in the PI3K/mTOR pathway were not associated with response. ERBB2 amplification was higher in BCBM compared to primary BC; ERBB2 amplification in the primary BC trended toward worse OS. While intracranial RR to ETV was low in HER2 + BCBM patients, one-third achieved CNS CBR; TTP/OS was similar to historical control. No new toxicity signals were observed. Further analysis of the genomic underpinnings of BCBM to identify tractable prognostic and/or predictive biomarkers is warranted. (NCT01305941).

Impact of metal artifact reduction software on image quality of gemstone spectral imaging dual-energy cerebral CT angiography after intracranial aneurysm clipping.

PubMed

Dunet, Vincent; Bernasconi, Martine; Hajdu, Steven David; Meuli, Reto Antoine; Daniel, Roy Thomas; Zerlauth, Jean-Baptiste

2017-09-01

We aimed to assess the impact of metal artifact reduction software (MARs) on image quality of gemstone spectral imaging (GSI) dual-energy (DE) cerebral CT angiography (CTA) after intracranial aneurysm clipping. This retrospective study was approved by the institutional review board, which waived patient written consent. From January 2013 to September 2016, single source DE cerebral CTA were performed in 45 patients (mean age: 60 ± 9 years, male 9) after intracranial aneurysm clipping and reconstructed with and without MARs. Signal-to-noise (SNR), contrast-to-noise (CNR), and relative CNR (rCNR) ratios were calculated from attenuation values measured in the internal carotid artery (ICA) and middle cerebral artery (MCA). Volume of clip and artifacts and relative clip blurring reduction (rCBR) ratios were also measured at each energy level with/without MARs. Variables were compared between GSI and GSI-MARs using the paired Wilcoxon signed-rank test. MARs significantly reduced metal artifacts at all energy levels but 130 and 140 keV, regardless of clips' location and number. The optimal rCBR was obtained at 110 and 80 keV, respectively, on GSI and GSI-MARs images, with up to 96% rCNR increase on GSI-MARs images. The best compromise between metal artifact reduction and rCNR was obtained at 70-75 and 65-70 keV for GSI and GSI-MARs images, respectively, with up to 15% rCBR and rCNR increase on GSI-MARs images. MARs significantly reduces metal artifacts on DE cerebral CTA after intracranial aneurysm clipping regardless of clips' location and number. It may be used to reduce radiation dose while increasing CNR.

aCGH-MAS: Analysis of aCGH by means of Multiagent System

PubMed Central

Benito, Rocío; Bajo, Javier; Rodríguez, Ana Eugenia; Abáigar, María

2015-01-01

There are currently different techniques, such as CGH arrays, to study genetic variations in patients. CGH arrays analyze gains and losses in different regions in the chromosome. Regions with gains or losses in pathologies are important for selecting relevant genes or CNVs (copy-number variations) associated with the variations detected within chromosomes. Information corresponding to mutations, genes, proteins, variations, CNVs, and diseases can be found in different databases and it would be of interest to incorporate information of different sources to extract relevant information. This work proposes a multiagent system to manage the information of aCGH arrays, with the aim of providing an intuitive and extensible system to analyze and interpret the results. The agent roles integrate statistical techniques to select relevant variations and visualization techniques for the interpretation of the final results and to extract relevant information from different sources of information by applying a CBR system. PMID:25874203

40. Perimeter acquisition radar building room #510B, chemical, biological, and ...

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

40. Perimeter acquisition radar building room #510B, chemical, biological, and radiological (CBR) air filter room no. 1 - Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex, Perimeter Acquisition Radar Building, Limited Access Area, between Limited Access Patrol Road & Service Road A, Nekoma, Cavalier County, ND

Investigation of furfural biodegradation in a continuous inflow cyclic biological reactor.

PubMed

Moussavi, Gholamreza; Leili, Mostafa; Nadafi, Kazem

2016-01-01

The performance of a continuous inflow cyclic biological reactor (CBR) containing moving media was investigated for the degradation of high concentrations of furfural. The effects of hydraulic retention time (HRT) and furfural initial concentrations (loading rate), as main operating parameters, on the bioreactor performance were studied. The results indicated that the CBR could remove over 98% of furfural and 71% of its chemical oxygen demand (COD) at inlet furfural concentrations up to 1,200 mg L(-1) (2.38 g L(-1) d(-1)), a 6-h cycle time and HRT of 12.1 h. The removal efficiency decreased slightly from 98 to 94% when HRT decreased from 12.1 to 10.5 h. The average removal efficiency of furfural and COD during the 345-day operational period under steady-state conditions were 97.7% and 82.1%, respectively. The efficiency also increased approximately 17.2% after addition of synthetic polyurethane cubes as moving media at a filling ratio of 10%.

THE BIRTH RATE OF SNe Ia FROM HYBRID CONe WHITE DWARFS

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

Meng, Xiangcun; Podsiadlowski, Philipp, E-mail: xiangcunmeng@ynao.ac.cn

Considering the uncertainties of the C-burning rate (CBR) and the treatment of convective boundaries, Chen et al. found that there is a regime where it is possible to form hybrid CONe white dwarfs (WDs), i.e., ONe WDs with carbon-rich cores. As these hybrid WDs can be as massive as 1.30 M {sub ☉}, not much mass needs to be accreted for these objects to reach the Chandrasekhar limit and to explode as Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). We have investigated their contribution to the overall SN Ia birth rate and found that such SNe Ia tend to be relatively youngmore » with typical time delays between 0.1 and 1 Gyr, where some may be as young as 30 Myr. SNe Ia from hybrid CONe WDs may contribute several percent to all SNe Ia, depending on the common-envelope ejection efficiency and the CBR. We suggest that these SNe Ia may produce part of the 2002cx-like SN Ia class.« less

Community based rehabilitation: a strategy for peace-building

PubMed Central

Boyce, William; Koros, Michael; Hodgson, Jennifer

2002-01-01

Background Certain features of peace-building distinguish it from peacekeeping, and make it an appropriate strategy in dealing with vertical conflict and low intensity conflict. However, some theorists suggest that attempts, through peace-building, to impose liberal values upon non-democratic cultures are misguided and lack an ethical basis. Discussion We have been investigating the peace-building properties of community based approaches to disability in a number of countries. This paper describes the practice and impact of peace-building through Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) strategies in the context of armed conflict. The ethical basis for peace-building through practical community initiatives is explored. A number of benefits and challenges to using CBR strategies for peace-building purposes are identified. Summary During post-conflict reconstruction, disability is a powerful emotive lever that can be used to mobilize cooperation between factions. We suggest that civil society, in contrast to state-level intervention, has a valuable role in reducing the risks of conflict through community initiatives. PMID:12417012

Tests of Halon 1301 test gas simulants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carhart, H. W.; Leonard, J. T.; Dinenno, P. J.; Starchville, M. D.; Forssell, E. W.; Wong, J. T.

1989-02-01

All new and retrofit installations of Halon 1301 (CBrF3) total flooding fire protection systems in shipboard machinery spaces require full acceptance discharge test. It is desirable to use a suitable simulant test gas in these tests in view of current and future regulation of Halon 1301. Sulfur hexafluoride, SF6, and chlorodifluromethane R-22, were identified as candidate simulants on the basis of their similarity in physical properties to Halon 1301. These two candidates were then evaluated on the basis of leakage from an enclosure. SF6 was determined to be an excellent simulant for Halon 1301 when considering leakage from an enclosure. Further testing of SF6 and R-22 is planned for other important aspects of Halon 1301 systems, i.e., flow hydraulics, initial mixing.

Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR): Problems and Possibilities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Toole, Brian

1987-01-01

The institution-based model for providing services to individuals with disabilities has limitations in both developing and developed countries. The community-based rehabilitation model was positively evaluated by the World Health Organization as an alternative approach, but the evaluation is questioned on methodological and philosophical grounds.…

Chronic stress in Lizards: Studies on the Behavior and Benzodiazepine Receptors in Liolaemus koslowskyi and Cnemidophorus tergolaevigatus.

PubMed

Soloaga, Alejandra; Pueta, Mariana; Cruz, Félix Benjamín; Kembro, Jackelyn Melissa; Marin, Raul Hector

2016-12-01

Behavioral and physiological adaptive responses of animals facing chronic exposure to a single stressor may allow them to overcome its negative effects for future exposures to similar stressful situations. At chemical level, the GABA A /benzodiazepine complex is considered one of the main receptor systems involved in the modulation of stress-induced responses. Here, we describe the behavioral responses of two different lizard species, Liolaemus koslowskyi and Cnemidophorus tergolaevigatus exposed to three potential chronic stressful treatments: (a) high temperature, (b) forced swimming, and (c) simulated predator. Additionally, we aimed to determine in those lizards whether the central-type benzodiazepine receptor (CBR; an allosteric modulator site of the GABA A receptor) is related to adaptive responses to those stressful stimulations. Our results revealed that the simulated predator was the stress condition that showed the largest difference in behavioral responses between the two species, resembling previously described strategies in nature. The basal affinity of CBRs (obtained from undisturbed animals) showed differences between both species, and the simulated predator was the only stressor that altered the affinity of CBRs. L. koslowskyi CBRs showed a decreased receptor affinity, whereas C. tergolaevigatus showed an increased receptor affinity in comparison to their respective control groups. We show for the first time the effects of different types of stressors upon behavioral responses and CBR biochemical parameters in two lizard species. Our findings suggest a potential GABA/benzodiazepine role in the ability of lizards to cope with a repeated exposure to a stressful (e.g., predator) condition. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Community Based Rehabilitation: Information Accumulation & Exchange. South Asian Research Notes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miles, M.

This paper reviews research and evaluates information gathered on disabilities and service development in South Asia, especially India and Pakistan. The concept of "community-based rehabilitation" (CBR), which stresses the need for rehabilitation efforts rooted in the context of local cultural concepts, is discussed. The paper emphasizes…

Wide Area Recovery and Resiliency Program (WARRP) Knowledge Enhancement Events: CBR Workshop After Action Report

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-01-01

Laboratories Walker Ray Walker Engineering Solutions, LLC Williams Patricia Denver Office of Emergency Management Wood- Zika Annmarie Lawrence Livermore...llnl.gov AnnMarie Wood- Zika woodzika1@llnl.gov Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Ann Lesperance ann.lesperance@pnnl.gov Jessica Sandusky

Applying Case-Based Reasoning in Knowledge Management to Support Organizational Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Feng-Kwei

2006-01-01

Research and practice in human performance technology (HPT) has recently accelerated the search for innovative approaches to supplement or replace traditional training interventions for improving organizational performance. This article examines a knowledge management framework built upon the theories and techniques of case-based reasoning (CBR)…

Case-Based Policy and Goal Recognition

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-30

or noisy. Ontanón et al. [8] use case-based reasoning (CBR) to model human driving vehicle control behaviors and skill level to reduce teen crash...Snodgrass, S., Bonfiglio, D., Winston, F.K., McDonald, C., Gonzalez, A.J.: Case-based prediction of teen driver behavior and skill. In: Pro- ceedings

Protection of Department of Defense Facilities from Airborne CBR Threats: An Annotated Bibliography

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-09-01

resistance. The use and control of smoke or isolation dampers plays a key role, along with the definition of smoke control zones and sandwich ...educational facilities; and other areas of public assembly such as stadiums, coliseums, and vehicle tunnels and subways . This scope also pertains to

THREaD Mapper Studio: a novel, visual web server for the estimation of genetic linkage maps

PubMed Central

Cheema, Jitender; Ellis, T. H. Noel; Dicks, Jo

2010-01-01

The estimation of genetic linkage maps is a key component in plant and animal research, providing both an indication of the genetic structure of an organism and a mechanism for identifying candidate genes associated with traits of interest. Because of this importance, several computational solutions to genetic map estimation exist, mostly implemented as stand-alone software packages. However, the estimation process is often largely hidden from the user. Consequently, problems such as a program crashing may occur that leave a user baffled. THREaD Mapper Studio (http://cbr.jic.ac.uk/threadmapper) is a new web site that implements a novel, visual and interactive method for the estimation of genetic linkage maps from DNA markers. The rationale behind the web site is to make the estimation process as transparent and robust as possible, while also allowing users to use their expert knowledge during analysis. Indeed, the 3D visual nature of the tool allows users to spot features in a data set, such as outlying markers and potential structural rearrangements that could cause problems with the estimation procedure and to account for them in their analysis. Furthermore, THREaD Mapper Studio facilitates the visual comparison of genetic map solutions from third party software, aiding users in developing robust solutions for their data sets. PMID:20494977

Agricultural Drought Transition Periods In the United States Corn Belt Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schiraldi, Nicholas J.

Agricultural drought in the U.S. Corn Belt region (CBR) has tremendous global socioeconomic implications. Unfortunately, the weather and climate factors that contribute to transition events toward or away from such droughts, and how well those factors are predicted, are poorly understood. This dissertation focuses on the atmospheric circulation signals associated with agricultural drought transitions periods in the CBR that evolve over 20 and 60 days, and how well those circulation signals are predicted on seasonal to sub-seasonal time scales. Results show that amplification of an intraseasonal Rossby wave train across the Pacific Ocean into North America, which occurs coincident with intraseasonal tropical convection on its equatorward side, triggers these transition events, not shifts in the low frequency base state. This result is confirmed through composite analysis, trajectory analysis and a vertically integrated moisture budget. Trajectory analysis reveals similar source regions for air parcels associated with drought development and breakdown, but with a shift toward more parcels originating over the Gulf of Mexico during transitions away from drought. The primary result from the vertically integrated moisture budget demonstrates that advection and convergence of moisture on intraseasonal time scales dominates during these transitions. The primary conclusion drawn is that weather events are the primary driver of agricultural drought transitions occurring over 20 and 60 days. The seasonal to sub-seasonal hindcast dataset is used to investigate the prediction of the low frequency, intraseasonal and synoptic circulation patterns associated with 20 and 60-day drought transition periods. The forecast models assessed are the European Centre for Medium Range Prediction (ECMWF), National Center for Environment Prediction Climate Forecast System (NCEP) and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM). Results demonstrate that ECMWF and NCEP are not skillful in predicting the patterns associated with 20-day agricultural drought onset and decay, but have some skill during 60-day agricultural drought onset and decay events at lead F360-F480. BoM was not skillful in predicting the circulation patterns associated with either type of drought transition. Finally, a regression model is used to predict 30-day forward looking standardized precipitation anomalies in the CBR, which leverages lowpass and intraseasonal filtered geopotential height anomalies at 200 hPa as predictors. The statistical model is more skillful than climatology in predicting 1 to 30, through 27 to 57 day standardized precipitation anomalies during July, as measured by root mean square error. The regression model also is skillful in predicting the directional skew (above or below normal) of the forward looking standardized precipitation anomalies.

Prepare Your School for Chemical, Biological, and Radiological Threats

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sechena, Ruth

2005-01-01

Recent accidents highlight that chemical, biological, and radiological (CBR) agent exposure risk isn't just about terrorism. In this article, the author, a parent and public health physician, wrestles with the fact that total protection from CBRs is probably not feasible in her son's or in the majority of American schools. Capital investments, for…

Evaluation of AM2 2 1 Lay Pattern Over a 25 CBR Subgrade

DTIC Science & Technology

2018-04-30

penetrometer in shallow pavement applications. Designation : D 6951. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM International. ____. 2010. Standard test method for...Department of the Army position unless so designated by other authorized documents. DESTROY THIS REPORT WHEN NO LONGER NEEDED. DO NOT RETURN IT TO...27 Figure 3.21. Surveying designated cross section

Factors influencing the, selection of state office furniture

Treesearch

R. Bruce Anderson; R. Bruce Anderson

1973-01-01

Evaluation of the factors influencing the selection of office furniture by nine state governments shows that quality and purchase price have the most important influence on the purchase decision. The intended use of the furniture and the purchasing regulations of the states were key f8CbrS in the use of wood furniture.

Evaluating an Arachis hypogaea x Arachis diogoi interspecific hybrid derived population for multiple disease resistance

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) crop in North Carolina is subject to yield and quality loss from a number of diseases including Cylindrocladium black rot (CBR) caused by Cylindrocladium parasiticum, early leaf spot (ELS) caused by Cercospora arachidicola, late leaf spot (LLS) caused by Cercosporidi...

Formation and Characterization of Silver Nanoparticle Composite with Poly(p-Br/F-phenylsilane).

PubMed

Roh, Sung-Hee; Noh, Ji Eun; Woo, Hee-Gweon; Cho, Myong-Shik; Sohn, Honglae

2015-02-01

The one-pot production and structural characterization of composites of silver nanoparticles with poly(p-Br/F-phenylsilane), Br/F-PPS, have been performed. The conversion of Ag+ ions to stable Ag0 nanoparticles is mediated by the copolymer Br/F-PPS having both possibly reactive Si-H bonds in the polymer backbone and C-Br bonds in the substituents along with relatively inert C-F bonds. Transmission electron microscopy and field emission scanning electron microscopy analyses show the formation of the composites where silver nanoparticles (less than 30 nm of size) are well dispersed over the Br/F-PPS matrix. X-ray diffraction patterns are consistent with that for face-centered-cubic typed silver. The polymer solubility in toluene implys that the cleavage of C-Br bond and the Si-F dative bonding may not be occurred appreciably at ambient temperature. Nonetheless, thermogravimetric analysis data suggest that some sort of cross-linking could take place at high temperature. Most of the silver particles undergo macroscopic aggregation without Br/F-PPS, which indicates that the polysilane is necessary for stabilizing the silver nanoparticles.

In silico, in vitro and in vivo analyses of dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibitory activity and the antidiabetic effect of sodium caseinate hydrolysate.

PubMed

Hsieh, Cheng-Hong; Wang, Tzu-Yuan; Hung, Chuan-Chuan; Jao, Chia-Ling; Hsieh, You-Liang; Wu, Si-Xian; Hsu, Kuo-Chiang

2016-02-01

The frequency (A), a novel in silico parameter, was developed by calculating the ratio of the number of truncated peptides with Xaa-proline and Xaa-alanine to all peptide fragments from a protein hydrolyzed with a specific protease. The highest in vitro DPP-IV inhibitory activity (72.7%) was observed in the hydrolysate of sodium caseinate by bromelain (Cas/BRO), and the constituent proteins of bovine casein also had relatively high A values (0.10-0.17) with BRO hydrolysis. 1CBR (the <1 kDa fraction of Cas/BRO) showed the greatest in vitro DPP-IV inhibitory activity of 77.5% and was used for in vivo test by high-fat diet-fed and low-dose streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. The daily administration of 1CBR for 6 weeks was effective to improve glycaemic control in diabetic rats. The results indicate that the novel in silico method has the potential as a screening tool to predict dietary proteins to generate DPP-IV inhibitory and antidiabetic peptides.

Dynamic heterogeneity in an orientational glass.

PubMed

Caballero, Nirvana B; Zuriaga, Mariano; Tamarit, Josep Lluís; Serra, Pablo

2017-11-14

The family of compounds CBr n Cl 4-n has been proven helpful in unraveling microscopic mechanisms responsible for glassy behavior. Some of the family members show translational ordered phases with minimal disorder which appears to reveal glassy features, thus deserving special attention in the search for universal glass anomalies. In this work, we studied CBrCl 3 dynamics by performing extensive molecular dynamics simulations. Molecules of this compound perform reorientational discrete jumps, where the atoms exchange equivalent positions among each other revealing a cage-orientational jump motion fully comparable to the cage-rototranslational jump motion in supercooled liquids. Correlation times were calculated from rotational autocorrelation functions showing good agreement with previous reported dielectric results. From mean waiting and persistence times calculated directly from trajectory results, we are able to explain which microscopic mechanisms lead to characteristic times associated with α- and β-relaxation times measured experimentally. We found that two nonequivalent groups of molecules have a longer characteristic time than the other two nonequivalent groups, both of them belonging to the asymmetric unit of the monoclinic (C2/c) lattice.

Comparison of performance of various tumour response criteria in assessment of regorafenib activity in advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumours after failure of imatinib and sunitinib.

PubMed

Shinagare, Atul B; Jagannathan, Jyothi P; Kurra, Vikram; Urban, Trinity; Manola, Judith; Choy, Edwin; Demetri, George D; George, Suzanne; Ramaiya, Nikhil H

2014-03-01

To compare performance of various tumour response criteria (TRCs) in assessment of regorafenib activity in patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST) with prior failure of imatinib and sunitinib. Twenty participants in a phase II trial received oral regorafenib (median duration 47 weeks; interquartile range (IQR) 24-88) with computed tomography (CT) imaging at baseline and every two months thereafter. Tumour response was prospectively determined on using Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumours (RECIST) 1.1, and retrospectively reassessed for comparison per RECIST 1.0, World Health Organization (WHO) and Choi criteria, using the same target lesions. Clinical benefit rate [CBR; complete or partial response (CR or PR) or stable disease (SD)≥16 weeks] and progression-free survival (PFS) were compared between various TRCs using kappa statistics. Performance of TRCs in predicting overall survival (OS) was compared by comparing OS in groups with progression-free intervals less than or greater than 20 weeks by each TRC using c-statistics. PR was more frequent by Choi (90%) than RECIST 1.1, RECIST 1.0 and WHO (20% each), however, CBR was similar between various TRCs (overall CBR 85-90%, 95-100% agreement between all TRC pairs). PFS per RECIST 1.0 was similar to RECIST 1.1 (median 44 weeks versus 58 weeks), and shorter for WHO (median 34 weeks) and Choi (median 24 weeks). With RECIST 1.1, RECIST 1.0 and WHO, there was moderate concordance between PFS and OS (c-statistics 0.596-0.679). Choi criteria had less favourable concordance (c-statistic 0.506). RECIST 1.1 and WHO performed somewhat better than Choi criteria as TRC for response evaluation in patients with advanced GIST after prior failure on imatinib and sunitinib. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Efficacy of fulvestrant in the treatment of postmenopausal women with endocrine-resistant advanced breast cancer in routine clinical practice.

PubMed

Blancas, I; Fontanillas, M; Conde, V; Lao, J; Martínez, E; Sotelo, M J; Jaen, A; Bayo, J L; Carabantes, F; Illarramendi, J J; Gordon, M M; Cruz, J; García-Palomo, A; Mendiola, C; Pérez-Ruiz, E; Bofill, J S; Baena-Cañada, J M; Jáñez, N M; Esquerdo, G; Ruiz-Borrego, M

2018-07-01

This study aimed to describe the efficacy of fulvestrant 500 mg in postmenopausal women with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive advanced/metastatic breast cancer who had disease progression after receiving anti-estrogen therapy in clinical practice, getting real-world data. Multicenter, retrospective, observational study conducted in Spain. Postmenopausal women with locally advanced/metastatic ER-positive breast cancer who received treatment with fulvestrant 500 mg after progression with a previous anti-estrogen therapy were eligible. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS); secondary endpoints were overall survival (OS), clinical benefit rate (CBR), duration of clinical benefit (DoCB), and safety profile. A total of 263 women were evaluated (median age, 65.8 years). At a median follow-up of 21.5 months, median PFS and OS were 10.6 and 43.2 months, respectively. PFS according to 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and ≥ 4th lines were 11.5, 10.6, 9.9, and 8.5 months, respectively (p = 0.0245). PFS in patients with visceral involvement was 10 months vs 10.6 months in patients without visceral involvement (p = 0.6604), 9.6 months in patients with high Ki67 vs 10 months in patients with low Ki67 (p = 0.7224), and 10.2 months in HER2+ patients vs 10.3 months in HER2- patients (p = 0.6809). The CBR was 56.5% and the DoCB was 18.4 months. The most frequently adverse events were injection site pain (10.3%) and musculoskeletal disorders (7.6%). Fulvestrant 500 mg administered in clinical practice was shown to be effective (PFS, 10.6 months; CBR, 56.5%) and well tolerated, in accordance with previous trials.

Chlorophyll b degradation by chlorophyll b reductase under high-light conditions.

PubMed

Sato, Rei; Ito, Hisashi; Tanaka, Ayumi

2015-12-01

The light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b binding protein complex of photosystem II (LHCII) is the main antenna complex of photosystem II (PSII). Plants change their LHCII content depending on the light environment. Under high-light conditions, the content of LHCII should decrease because over-excitation damages the photosystem. Chlorophyll b is indispensable for accumulating LHCII, and chlorophyll b degradation induces LHCII degradation. Chlorophyll b degradation is initiated by chlorophyll b reductase (CBR). In land plants, NON-YELLOW COLORING 1 (NYC1) and NYC1-Like (NOL) are isozymes of CBR. We analyzed these mutants to determine their functions under high-light conditions. During high-light treatment, the chlorophyll a/b ratio was stable in the wild-type (WT) and nol plants, and the LHCII content decreased in WT plants. The chlorophyll a/b ratio decreased in the nyc1 and nyc1/nol plants, and a substantial degree of LHCII was retained in nyc1/nol plants after the high-light treatment. These results demonstrate that NYC1 degrades the chlorophyll b on LHCII under high-light conditions, thus decreasing the LHCII content. After the high-light treatment, the maximum quantum efficiency of the PSII photochemistry was lower in nyc1 and nyc1/nol plants than in WT and nol plants. A larger light-harvesting system would damage PSII in nyc1 and nyc1/nol plants. The fluorescence spectroscopy of the leaves indicated that photosystem I was also damaged by the excess LHCII in nyc1/nol plants. These observations suggest that chlorophyll b degradation by NYC1 is the initial reaction for the optimization of the light-harvesting capacity under high-light conditions.

Development of Training Materials for Community Based Rehabilitation Workers in Guyana.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Toole, Brian; McConkey, Roy

1995-01-01

This paper describes video training packages that have been developed in Guyana as part of Hopeful Steps, a program which uses the Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) model of service delivery for training rehabilitation workers and volunteers and now serves children with disabilities and their families in five rural regions of the country. (DB)

Creating Interactive Web-Based Environments to Scaffold Creative Reasoning and Meaningful Learning: From Physics to Products

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jou, Min; Chuang, Chien-Pen; Wu, Yu-Shiang

2010-01-01

With the evolution of the surrounding world market, engineers have to propose innovations in products and processes. Industrial innovation frequently results from an improved understanding of basic physics. In this paper, an approach to accelerate inventive preliminary design is presented. This method combines the main advantages of CBR (Case…

A Theoretical Study of Landing Mat Behavior

DTIC Science & Technology

1969-07-01

deflection pattern was pronouncedly unsy’metrical. The soil properties rcported, which were use., lor the meat- scil moLe!, r’ay represent a strongjer sub...OF THE AVERAGE WATER CONTENT (PERCENT) C AND THE AVERAGE DRY UNIT WEIGHT OF THE TOP 18 INCHES OF SCIL . C LtSW * AVERAGE C.BR. VALUE FOR THE TOP IB

Community-Based Research, Race, and the Public Work of Democracy: Lessons from Whitman College

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Apostolidis, Paul

2013-01-01

This practice story tells of one professor's discovery and conduct of community-based research (CBR) at a leading liberal arts college. Originating through collaborations with an immigrant meatpacking workers' union, Whitman College's program on The State of the State for Washington Latinos has earned national recognition since its founding in…

MX Siting Investigation. Geotechnical Evaluation. Verification Study - Lake Valley, Nevada. Volume I. Synthesis.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-07-31

attitudes, topo- graphic slopes, evidence of erosional features such as pedi - ments, and the presence or absence of young volcanic rocks. 1 jb. Depth...subgrade, subbase, or 4’ EIM mom ! E-TR-27-LV-J A-34 base. Parameters used to make these qualitative assessments were characteristics related to CBR, frost

Guide to Community-Based Rehabilitation Services. Guides for Special Education No. 8.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Toole, Brian John

This booklet is intended as an introductory guide to community-based rehabilitation (CBR) services in developing nations. The first section examines the magnitude of the problem; the failure of existing services to meet this challenge; and the need for a model appropriate to developing countries. The second section briefly describes the CBR…

Discovering relevance knowledge in data: a growing cell structures approach.

PubMed

Azuaje, F; Dubitzky, W; Black, N; Adamson, K

2000-01-01

Both information retrieval and case-based reasoning systems rely on effective and efficient selection of relevant data. Typically, relevance in such systems is approximated by similarity or indexing models. However, the definition of what makes data items similar or how they should be indexed is often nontrivial and time-consuming. Based on growing cell structure artificial neural networks, this paper presents a method that automatically constructs a case retrieval model from existing data. Within the case-based reasoning (CBR) framework, the method is evaluated for two medical prognosis tasks, namely, colorectal cancer survival and coronary heart disease risk prognosis. The results of the experiments suggest that the proposed method is effective and robust. To gain a deeper insight and understanding of the underlying mechanisms of the proposed model, a detailed empirical analysis of the models structural and behavioral properties is also provided.

Intelligent Case Based Decision Support System for Online Diagnosis of Automated Production System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ben Rabah, N.; Saddem, R.; Ben Hmida, F.; Carre-Menetrier, V.; Tagina, M.

2017-01-01

Diagnosis of Automated Production System (APS) is a decision-making process designed to detect, locate and identify a particular failure caused by the control law. In the literature, there are three major types of reasoning for industrial diagnosis: the first is model-based, the second is rule-based and the third is case-based. The common and major limitation of the first and the second reasonings is that they do not have automated learning ability. This paper presents an interactive and effective Case Based Decision Support System for online Diagnosis (CB-DSSD) of an APS. It offers a synergy between the Case Based Reasoning (CBR) and the Decision Support System (DSS) in order to support and assist Human Operator of Supervision (HOS) in his/her decision process. Indeed, the experimental evaluation performed on an Interactive Training System for PLC (ITS PLC) that allows the control of a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), simulating sensors or/and actuators failures and validating the control algorithm through a real time interactive experience, showed the efficiency of our approach.

Sulfur Mustard Penetration of Thermoplastic Elastomers

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-10-01

blend of polypropylene and finely dispersed, highly vulcanised EPDM rubber [4]. However its exact composition is a trade secret. The Santoprene grade... rubber or silicone rubber . Compared to thermoplastic elastomers, these thermosetting elastomers are expensive and difficult to process. Therefore a...the last few decades, CBR respirators have generally been manufactured from either butyl rubber (as in the British and Australian S10), or silicone

Conservative Belief and Rationality

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-10-03

mail: halpern@cs.cornell.edu, rafael@cs.cornell.edu October 3, 2012 Abstract Brandenburger and Dekel have shown that common belief of rationality (CBR...for public release; distribution unlimited 13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES Games and Economic Behavior?13 14. ABSTRACT Brandenburger and Dekel have shown...themselves in a position to which they initially assigned probability 0. Tan and Werlang [1988] and Brandenburger and Dekel [1987] show that common

A Scalable Multimedia Streaming Scheme with CBR-Transmission of VBR-Encoded Videos over the Internet

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kabir, Md. H.; Shoja, Gholamali C.; Manning, Eric G.

2006-01-01

Streaming audio/video contents over the Internet requires large network bandwidth and timely delivery of media data. A streaming session is generally long and also needs a large I/O bandwidth at the streaming server. A streaming server, however, has limited network and I/O bandwidth. For this reason, a streaming server alone cannot scale a…

Effect of corn- and soybean hull-based creep feed and backgrounding diets on lifelong performance and carcass traits of calves from pasture and rangeland conditions

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Three separate studies were conducted to investigate the life-long effect of creep feeding, creep feeding energy source (soybean hulls, SC, or corn, CC) and interactive effects of creep feed with backgrounding dietary energy source (soybean hulls, SBR, or corn, CBR) on calf growth performance, carca...

The Mathematics of Motion, Sensors, and the Introduction of Function to Eight Graders in Brazil.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Borba, Marcelo C.; Scheffer, Nilce Fatima

This paper describes how 8th grade students are using CBR, a motion detector linked to a graphing calculator, as a way of generating mathematical ideas regarding the motions concepts that surround their action. Students were previously introduced to the calculators in the classroom and teaching experiments were then carried out afterwards with a…

Stereocontrolled generation of nucleophilic (Z)- or (E)-α-fluoroalkenylchromium reagents via carbon-fluorine bond activation: highly stereoselective synthesis of (E)- or (Z)-β-fluoroallylic alcohols.

PubMed

Nihei, Takashi; Yokotani, Saya; Ishihara, Takashi; Konno, Tsutomu

2014-02-14

Highly nucleophilic (Z)- or (E)-α-fluoroalkenylchromium species could be generated in a stereoselective manner via C-F bond activation of CBrF2-containing molecules, and they reacted smoothly with various aldehydes to give (E)- or (Z)-β-fluoroallylic alcohol derivatives in high yields, respectively.

76 FR 56873 - American Railroad Group Transportation Services, LLC d/b/a ARG Trans-Continuance in Control...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-09-14

... Group Transportation Services, LLC d/b/a ARG Trans--Continuance in Control Exemption--Coos Bay Railroad Operating Company, LLC d/b/a Coos Bay Rail Link American Railroad Group Transportation Services, LLC d/b/a...) to continue in control of Coos Bay Railroad Operating Company, LLC d/b/a Coos Bay Rail Link (CBR...

Air quality and climate benefits of long-distance electricity transmission in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Wei; Yuan, Jiahai; Zhao, Yu; Lin, Meiyun; Zhang, Qiang; Victor, David G.; Mauzerall, Denise L.

2017-06-01

China is the world’s top carbon emitter and suffers from severe air pollution. It has recently made commitments to improve air quality and to peak its CO2 emissions by 2030. We examine one strategy that can potentially address both issues—utilizing long-distance electricity transmission to bring renewable power to the polluted eastern provinces. Based on an integrated assessment using state-of-the-science atmospheric modeling and recent epidemiological evidence, we find that transmitting a hybrid of renewable (60%) and coal power (40%) (Hybrid-by-wire) reduces 16% more national air-pollution-associated deaths and decreases three times more carbon emissions than transmitting only coal-based electricity. Moreover, although we find that transmitting coal power (Coal-by-Wire, CbW) is slightly more effective at reducing air pollution impacts than replacing old coal power plants with newer cleaner ones in the east (Coal-by-Rail, CbR) (CbW achieves a 6% greater reduction in national total air-pollution-related mortalities than CbR), both coal scenarios have approximately the same carbon emissions. We thus demonstrate that coordinating transmission planning with renewable energy deployment is critical to maximize both local air quality benefits and global climate benefits.

Synthesis and characterization of silver nanoparticle composite with poly(p-Br-phenylsilane).

PubMed

Kim, Myoung-Hee; Lee, Jun; Mo, Soo-Yong; Woo, Hee-Gweon; Yang, Kap Seung; Kim, Bo-Hye; Lee, Byeong-Gweon; Sohn, Honglae

2012-05-01

The one-pot synthesis and characterization of silver nanoparticle-poly(p-Br-phenylsilane) composites have been carried out. The conversion of silver(+1) salt to stable silver(0) nanoparticles is promoted by poly(p-Br-phenylsilane), Br-PPS possessing both possible reactive Si-H bonds in the polymer backbone and C-Br bonds in the substituents. The composites were characterized using XRD, TEM, FE-SEM, and solid-state UV-vis analytical techniques. TEM and FE-SEM data show the formation of the composites where large number of silver nanoparticles (less than 30 nm of size) are well dispersed throughout the Br-PPS matrix. XRD patterns are consistent with that for fcc-typed silver. The elemental analysis for Br atom and the polymer solubility confirm that the cleavage of C-Br bond and the Si-Br dative bonding were not occurred appreciably at ambient temperature. Nonetheless, TGA data suggest that some sort of cross-linking was occurred at high temperature. The size and processability of such nanoparticles depend on the ratio of metal to Br-PPS. In the absence of Br-PPS, most of the silver particles undergo macroscopic aggregation, which indicates that the polysilane is necessary for stabilizing the silver nanoparticles.

Phase II trial of everolimus in patients with previously treated recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

PubMed

Geiger, Jessica L; Bauman, Julie E; Gibson, Michael K; Gooding, William E; Varadarajan, Prakash; Kotsakis, Athanasios; Martin, Daniel; Gutkind, Jorge Silvio; Hedberg, Matthew L; Grandis, Jennifer R; Argiris, Athanassios

2016-12-01

Patients with recurrent/metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) demonstrate aberrant activation of the phosphotidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway. We examined the efficacy of everolimus, an mTOR inhibitor, in patients with recurrent or metastatic HNSCC. This single-arm phase II study enrolled biomarker-unselected patients with recurrent or metastatic HNSCC who failed at least 1 prior therapy. Everolimus was administered until progressive disease or unacceptable toxicity. Primary endpoint was clinical benefit rate (CBR). Secondary endpoints included progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and evaluation of tissue and serum biomarkers related to the PIK3CA pathway. Seven of 9 patients treated in the first stage were evaluable. No objective responses were seen; CBR was 28%. Three patients discontinued everolimus because of toxicity. Median PFS and OS were 1.5 and 4.5 months, respectively. No activating PI3K mutations were identified in available tumor tissue. Everolimus was not active as monotherapy in unselected patients with recurrent/metastatic HNSCC. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 38: 1759-1764, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

2004 Election Implications of Censorship of Disproof Of Big Bang Cosmology (BBC)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gentry, Robert

2004-05-01

I discover BBC is falsified because it predicts a CBR value differing vastly from 2.7K (CERN-EXT 2003-022). This result confirms my earlier ten-paper-disproof of BBC and discovery of the Cosmic Center Universe (CCU) model that explains the Hubble relation, 2.7K CBR, and six other observations. For 3 years LANL, NSF, and Cornell have perpetuated a Watergate-type activity suppressing release of these papers on the LANL/NSF/Cornell arXiv (www.orionfdn.org). I ask liberty-conscious Congressmen to investigate this blatant denial of First Amendment rights and NAS's 1984 Freedom of Inquiry mandate to protect scientists who challenge accepted dogma. I also ask Christian Congressmen to investigate religious discrimination exercised against my discoveries by evolutionists who greatly fear retribution when Christians in Congress and elsewhere learn the new CCU model and my other discoveries (www.halos.com) match the Fourth of the Ten Commandments (TCs) claim that "In six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested the 7th day." (Ex. 20:11) Such inquiry will insure the TCs will be an explosive focal issue in the 2004 Presidential race.

Experimental Studies on Geocells and Mat Systems for Stabilization of Unpaved Shoulders and Temporary Roads

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Jun

Geosynthetics have been used to improve the performance of geomaterials, especially when weak soil exists in roadway applications. In this study, two types of geosynthetic materials, geocell and a mat system, were studied for their applications for unpaved roads and shoulders. The study of geocell was focused on its application for unpaved shoulders. The ability of geocell to improve different geomaterials over intermediate strength subgrade and its possible effect on vegetation were investigated. The study of the mat system was focused on investigating the performance of the mat system over soft and intermediate subgrade with different strengths under cyclic loading to simulate temporary roadway conditions. In the study of geocell for the application for unpaved shoulders, six large scale plate loading tests were conducted on a single type of geocell on target 5% CBR subgrade to investigate the benefits of geocell reinforcement on different base course and topsoil combinations. Different base course and topsoil combinations were investigated including: 200-mm thick unreinforced aggregate, 200-mm thick soil-aggregate mixture (50% aggregate and 50% top soil) with and without geocell reinforcement, 200-mm thick geocell-reinforced topsoil, 50-mm thick aggregate over 150-mm soil-aggregate mixture (50% aggregate and 50% top soil), and 50-mm thick top soil over 150-mm thick geocell-reinforced soil-aggregate mixture (50% aggregate and 50% top soil). Earth pressure cells were install at the interface between subgrade and base course to monitor the load distribution. The cyclic plate loading tests showed that geocell effectively reduced the permanent deformation and the geocell-reinforced soil-aggregate mixture slightly outperformed the unreinforced aggregate at the same thickness. The plate loading tests also suggested the topsoil cover resulted in large permanent deformations. A one-year long outdoor field vegetation test was conducted on base courses with different combinations of aggregate and topsoil including: 200-mm thick unreinforced topsoil, 200-mm thick soil-aggregate mixture (50% aggregate and 50% topsoil), 50-mm thick aggregate over 150-mm soil-aggregate mixture (50% aggregate and 50% topsoil), and 50-mm thick topsoil over 150-mm reinforced soil-aggregate mixture (50% aggregate and 50% topsoil) to investigate the possible effect of geocell on shoulder vegetation established mainly by tall fescue grass and perennial ryegrass. One control (unreinforced) section and one geocell-reinforced section were prepared for each base course combination with a surface area of 1.5 m by 1.5 m. During the one-year test period, soil moisture temperature and volumetric moisture content were monitored. Weather data, such as precipitation and air temperature, were obtain from the nearby weather station at the Lawrence airport. Vegetation growth was evaluated by grass leaf blade length, root length, and grass density. Vegetation biomass was obtained at the end of the test. The test results showed no definite evidence of geocell influencing the vegetation in unpaved shoulders. In the study of the mat system, six large-scale cyclic plate loading tests were conducted on a single type of polyethylene mat system with anchorage to study its performance over soft and intermediate subgrade with the CBR ranging from 1% to 4%. For the comparison purposes, test sections with and without the mat system were prepared and evaluated. For the test section with 1% CBR subgrade, an aggregate base course was used for the test section without the mat system to enable the cyclic plate loading test. The size of the mat system under the investigation was 1.92 m by 1.92 m. A cyclic load at the magnitude of 40 kN was applied through a 300 mm diameter loading plate with a thin rubber pad to simulate a vehicle tire. Earth pressure cells were installed at the interface between the mat system and the subgrade to monitor the load distribution. Loading plate displacements were measured by the displacement transducer inside the actuator. Test results concluded that the mat system was more effective over the intermediate subgrade than the soft subgrade and when large permanent deformations were allowed.

"When I Grow up I Would Like to Be …": Factors Affecting Career Choice of Community Disability Workers in Southern Africa

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rule, Sarah; Kahonde, Callista; Lorenzo, Theresa

2015-01-01

The effectiveness of community based rehabilitation (CBR) programmes depends on the calibre of staff recruited and employed. Therefore, this study aimed to understand how the life experiences of community disability workers (CDWs) in Malawi, Botswana and South Africa influenced their choice of career. A life history approach was used to gather…

A Framework of Combining Case-Based Reasoning with a Work Breakdown Structure for Estimating the Cost of Online Course Production Projects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

He, Wu

2014-01-01

Currently, a work breakdown structure (WBS) approach is used as the most common cost estimation approach for online course production projects. To improve the practice of cost estimation, this paper proposes a novel framework to estimate the cost for online course production projects using a case-based reasoning (CBR) technique and a WBS. A…

Chemical, Biological, and Radiological (CBR) Contamination Survivability, Large Item Interiors

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-08-03

e.g., mud, grease, etc.). m. Pretest (baseline) and posttest (30 days after the first contamination and/or other defined long-term time interval...procedures used. f. Description of SUT-interior materials of construction, paint type, and surface condition (pretest and posttest ), including...difficult to decontaminate or allow liquid to penetrate. g. Pretest and posttest ME functional performance characteristics (when measured) used as

Surface Chemistry of CWAs for Decon Enabling Sciences

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-11-04

representing the formation of a hydrogen-bonded mode. Characteristic modes of the sarin molecule itself are also observed. These experimental results show...Triangle Park, NC 27709-2211 surface science, CWA, uptake, decomposition, decontamination, filtration , XPS, FTIR, TPD, MS, UHV REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE 11...Karwacki, Team Leader CBR Filtration Research and Technology Directorate at ECBC. Through this collaboration, we have established a facility for the study

Urban Area Recovery Planning with Chemical, Biological, and Radiological Hazards: Lessons Learned from Seattle and Denver

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-11-01

Urban Area Recovery Planning with CBR Hazards: Lessons Learned from Seattle and Denver 16 THE PUGET SOUND CATASTROPHIC DISASTER COORDINATION...PLAN – TRANSPORTATION RECOVERY ANNEX The Puget Sound Transportation Recovery Annex supplements the Puget Sound Regional Catastrophic Coordination... Puget Sound Region after a catastrophic incident. This Annex addresses transportation issues in Island, King, Kitsap, Mason, Pierce, Skagit, Snohomish

Medical Countermeasure Product Development - Alternatives Paper

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-04-01

Maritime Research Laboratory of the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) in 1995 as a Research Scientist. In January 1997 he was promoted... biosecurity role to supply to the Government and the World Health Organisation (WHO). In the future there may be circumstances where there is no... standards to solve national priority CBR or infectious disease threats. The PPP may enable Government to: • access and grow product development

Effectiveness and safety of tegafur-gimeracil-oteracil potassium (TS-1) for metastatic breast cancer: a single-center retrospective study.

PubMed

Ishizuna, Kazuo; Ninomiya, Jun; Ogawa, Toshihisa; Kojima, Makoto; Tsuji, Eiichi; Kawashima, Miho; Nozaki, Miwako; Yamagishi, Hidetsugu; Ueda, Yoshihiko

2014-12-01

Tegafur-gimeracil-oteracil potassium (TS-1)is a drug that is used mainly as a third-line treatment or beyond for metastatic breast cancer(MBC). However, there is still insufficient evidence on its clinical effectiveness, and there are very few reports on clinical research using TS-1 up front. In this report, we examined the effectiveness and safety of TS-1 therapy for MBC. The subjects were 46 patients with MBC who were treated with TS-1 between January 2005 and January 2013. These patients were retrospectively examined. The objective response rate to TS-1 therapy was 30.4%, clinical benefit rate (CBR)was 50.0%, and the median time to treatment failure was 10.7 months. When examined by site, the CBR was high locally (46.2%), in the lymph nodes (40.7%), in the bone (42.9%), and in the lungs and pleura (44.8%). However it was low in the liver(30.0%). The relationship was examined between clinicopathological factors and the effectiveness of TS-1 therapy. The objective response rate (ORR) was significantly higher for patients with disease-free interval (DFI) of 2 years or more (p=0.039), TS-1 therapy used as third-line treatment or earlier (p=0.022), negative HER2 status (p=0.020), and no history of capecitabine (CAP)therapy (p=0.049). The CBR was significantly higher for patients with no visceral metastasis (p=0.032), TS-1 used as third-line treatment or earlier (p=0.019), negative HER2 status (p= 0.045), no history of CAP therapy (p=0.006), and no history of tegafur-uracil/doxifluridine therapy (p=0.031). Multivariate analysis showed that DFI of 2 years or more (p=0.035, odds ratio:0.104)was an independent predictor of effectiveness assessed by ORR. There were only 4 patients in whom the treatment was discontinued due to adverse event, and TS-1 was generally well tolerated. TS-1 was highly effective and well tolerated by patients with MBC. Its up-front use might enable the maintenance of satisfactory QOL and the enhancement of its clinical effectiveness.

Cardiovascular function following reduced aerobic activity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Raven, P. B.; Welch-O'Connor, R. M.; Shi, X.; Blomqvist, C. G. (Principal Investigator)

1998-01-01

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that a sustained reduction of physical activity (deconditioning) would alter the cardiovascular regulatory function. METHODS: Nineteen young, healthy volunteers participated in physical deconditioning for a period of 8 wk. Before (pre) and following (post) physical deconditioning, the responses of heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP, measured by Finapres), central venous pressure (CVP), stroke volume (SV, Doppler), and forearm blood flow (FBF, plethysmography) were determined during lower body negative pressure (LBNP). The carotid baroreflex (CBR) function was assessed using a train of pulsatile neck pressure (NP) and suction, and the aortic baroreflex control of HR was assessed during steady-state phenylephrine (PE) infusion superimposed by LBNP and NP to counteract the PE increased CVP and carotid sinus pressure, respectively. RESULTS: Active physical deconditioning significantly decreased maximal oxygen uptake (-7%) and LBNP tolerance (-13%) without a change in baseline hemodynamics. Plasma volume (-3% at P = 0.135), determined by Evans Blue dilution, and blood volume (-4% at P = 0.107) were not significantly altered. During LBNP -20 to -50 torr, there was a significantly greater drop of SV per unit decrease in CVP in the post- (14.7 +/- 1.6%/mm Hg) than predeconditioning (11.2 +/- 0.7%/mm Hg) test accompanied by a greater tachycardia. Deconditioning increased the aortic baroreflex sensitivity (pre vs post: -0.61 +/- 0.12 vs -0.84 +/- 0.14 bpm.mm-1 Hg, P = 0.009) and the slope of forearm vascular resistance (calculated from [MAP-CVP]/FBF) to CVP (-2.75 +/- 0.26 vs -4.94 +/- 0.97 PRU/mm Hg, P = 0.086). However, neither the CBR-HR (-0.28 +/- 0.03 VS -0.39 +/- 0.10 bpm.mm-1 Hg) nor the CBR-MAP (-0.37 +/- 0.16 vs -0.25 +/- 0.07 mm Hg/mm Hg) gains were statistically different between pre- and postdeconditioning. CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that the functional modification of the cardiac pressure-volume relationship resulted in the reduced LBNP tolerance, despite the accentuated aortic and cardiopulmonary baroreflex function following deconditioning.

Identification of an NADH-Cytochrome b5 Reductase Gene from an Arachidonic Acid-Producing Fungus, Mortierella alpina 1S-4, by Sequencing of the Encoding cDNA and Heterologous Expression in a Fungus, Aspergillus oryzae

PubMed Central

Sakuradani, Eiji; Kobayashi, Michihiko; Shimizu, Sakayu

1999-01-01

Based on the sequence information for bovine and yeast NADH-cytochrome b5 reductases (CbRs), a DNA fragment was cloned from Mortierella alpina 1S-4 after PCR amplification. This fragment was used as a probe to isolate a cDNA clone with an open reading frame encoding 298 amino acid residues which show marked sequence similarity to CbRs from other sources, such as yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), bovine, human, and rat CbRs. These results suggested that this cDNA is a CbR gene. The results of a structural comparison of the flavin-binding β-barrel domains of CbRs from various species and that of the M. alpina enzyme suggested that the overall barrel-folding patterns are similar to each other and that a specific arrangement of three highly conserved amino acid residues (i.e., arginine, tyrosine, and serine) plays a role in binding with the flavin (another prosthetic group) through hydrogen bonds. The corresponding genomic gene, which was also cloned from M. alpina 1S-4 by means of a hybridization method with the above probe, had four introns of different sizes. These introns had GT at the 5′ end and AG at the 3′ end, according to a general GT-AG rule. The expression of the full-length cDNA in a filamentous fungus, Aspergillus oryzae, resulted in an increase (4.7 times) in ferricyanide reduction activity involving the use of NADH as an electron donor in the microsomes. The M. alpina CbR was purified by solubilization of microsomes with cholic acid sodium salt, followed by DEAE-Sephacel, Mono-Q HR 5/5, and AMP-Sepharose 4B affinity column chromatographies; there was a 645-fold increase in the NADH-ferricyanide reductase specific activity. The purified CbR preferred NADH over NADPH as an electron donor. This is the first report of an analysis of this enzyme in filamentous fungi. PMID:10473389

Life cycle assessment based environmental impact estimation model for pre-stressed concrete beam bridge in the early design phase

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

Kim, Kyong Ju, E-mail: kjkim@cau.ac.kr; Yun, Won Gun, E-mail: ogun78@naver.com; Cho, Namho, E-mail: nhc51@cau.ac.kr

The late rise in global concern for environmental issues such as global warming and air pollution is accentuating the need for environmental assessments in the construction industry. Promptly evaluating the environmental loads of the various design alternatives during the early stages of a construction project and adopting the most environmentally sustainable candidate is therefore of large importance. Yet, research on the early evaluation of a construction project's environmental load in order to aid the decision making process is hitherto lacking. In light of this dilemma, this study proposes a model for estimating the environmental load by employing only the mostmore » basic information accessible during the early design phases of a project for the pre-stressed concrete (PSC) beam bridge, the most common bridge structure. Firstly, a life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted on the data from 99 bridges by integrating the bills of quantities (BOQ) with a life cycle inventory (LCI) database. The processed data was then utilized to construct a case based reasoning (CBR) model for estimating the environmental load. The accuracy of the estimation model was then validated using five test cases; the model's mean absolute error rates (MAER) for the total environmental load was calculated as 7.09%. Such test results were shown to be superior compared to those obtained from a multiple-regression based model and a slab area base-unit analysis model. Henceforth application of this model during the early stages of a project is expected to highly complement environmentally friendly designs and construction by facilitating the swift evaluation of the environmental load from multiple standpoints. - Highlights: • This study is to develop the model of assessing the environmental impacts on LCA. • Bills of quantity from completed designs of PSC Beam were linked with the LCI DB. • Previous cases were used to estimate the environmental load of new case by CBR model. • CBR model produces more accurate estimations (7.09%) than other conventional models. • This study supports decision making process in the early stage of a new construction case.« less

Estradiol-17β, prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and the prostaglandin E2 receptor are involved in PGE2 positive feedback loop in the porcine endometrium

PubMed Central

Waclawik, Agnieszka; Jabbour, Henry N.; Blitek, Agnieszka; Ziecik, Adam J.

2009-01-01

Before implantation, the porcine endometrium and trophoblast synthesize elevated amounts of luteoprotective prostaglandin E2 (PGE2). We hypothesized that embryo signal, estradiol-17β (E2) and PGE2 modulate expression of key enzymes in PG synthesis: prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase-2 (PTGS2), PGE synthase (mPGES-1), PGF synthase (PGFS), and prostaglandin 9-ketoreductase (CBR1); as well as PGE2 receptor (PTGER2 and 4) expression and signaling within the endometrium. We determinated the site of action of PGE2 in endometrium during the estrous cycle and pregnancy. Endometrial tissue explants obtained from gilts (n=6) on days 11-12 of the estrous cycle were treated with vehicle (control), PGE2 (100 nM), E2 (1-100 nM) or phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (100 nM, positive control). E2 increased PGE2 secretion through elevating expression of mPGES-1 mRNA and PTGS2 and mPGES-1 protein in endometrial explants. By contrast, E2 decreased PGFS and CBR1 protein expression. E2 also stimulated PTGER2 but not PTGER4 protein content. PGE2 enhanced mPGES-1 and PTGER2 mRNA as well as PTGS2, mPGES-1 and PTGER2 protein expression. PGE2 had no effect on PGFS, CBR1 and PTGER4 expression and PGF2α release. Treatment of endometrial tissue with PGE2 increased cAMP production. Co-treatment with PTGER2 antagonist (AH6809) but not PTGER4 antagonist (GW 627368X) inhibited significantly PGE2-mediated cAMP production. PTGER2 protein was localized in luminal and glandular epithelium and blood vessels of endometrium, and was significantly up-regulated on days 11-12 of pregnancy. Our results suggest that E2, prevents luteolysis through enzymatic modification of PG synthesis and that E2, PGE2 and endometrial PTGER2 are involved in PGE2 positive feedback loop in porcine endometrium. PMID:19359378

Estradiol-17beta, prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), and the PGE2 receptor are involved in PGE2 positive feedback loop in the porcine endometrium.

PubMed

Waclawik, Agnieszka; Jabbour, Henry N; Blitek, Agnieszka; Ziecik, Adam J

2009-08-01

Before implantation, the porcine endometrium and trophoblast synthesize elevated amounts of luteoprotective prostaglandin estradiol-17beta (E(2)) (PGE(2)). We hypothesized that embryo signal, E(2), and PGE(2) modulate expression of key enzymes in PG synthesis: PG-endoperoxide synthase-2 (PTGS2), microsomal PGE synthase (mPGES-1), PGF synthase (PGFS), and PG 9-ketoreductase (CBR1) as well as PGE(2) receptor (PTGER2 and -4) expression and signaling within the endometrium. We determined the site of action of PGE(2) in endometrium during the estrous cycle and pregnancy. Endometrial tissue explants obtained from gilts (n = 6) on d 11-12 of the estrous cycle were treated with vehicle (control), PGE(2) (100 nM), E(2) (1-100 nm), or phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (100 nm, positive control). E(2) increased PGE(2) secretion through elevating expression of mPGES-1 mRNA and PTGS2 and mPGES-1 protein in endometrial explants. By contrast, E(2) decreased PGFS and CBR1 protein expression. E(2) also stimulated PTGER2 but not PTGER4 protein content. PGE(2) enhanced mPGES-1 and PTGER2 mRNA as well as PTGS2, mPGES-1, and PTGER2 protein expression. PGE(2) had no effect on PGFS, CBR1, and PTGER4 expression and PGF(2alpha) release. Treatment of endometrial tissue with PGE(2) increased cAMP production. Cotreatment with PTGER2 antagonist (AH6809) but not PTGER4 antagonist (GW 627368X) inhibited significantly PGE(2)-mediated cAMP production. PTGER2 protein was localized in luminal and glandular epithelium and blood vessels of endometrium and was significantly up-regulated on d 11-12 of pregnancy. Our results suggest that E(2) prevents luteolysis through enzymatic modification of PG synthesis and that E(2), PGE(2), and endometrial PTGER2 are involved in a PGE(2) positive feedback loop in porcine endometrium.

Hazardous materials in aquatic environments of the Mississippi River Basin. Annual technical report, 30 December 1992--29 December 1993

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

Not Available

1993-12-31

Tulane and Xavier Universities have singled out the environment as a major strategic focus for research and training for now and beyond the year 2000. In 1989, the Tulane/Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental Research (CBR) was established as the umbrella organization which coordinates environmental research at both universities. In December, 1992, the Tulane/Xavier DBR was awarded a five year grant to study pollution in the Mississippi River system. The ``Hazardous Materials in Aquatic Environments of the Mississippi River Basin`` project is a broad research and education program aimed at elucidating the nature and magnitude of toxic materials that contaminate aquatic environmentsmore » of the Mississippi River Basin. Studies include defining the complex interactions that occur during the transport of contaminants, the actual and potential impact on ecological systems and health, and the mechanisms through which these impacts might be remediated. The Mississippi River Basin represents a model system for analyzing and solving contamination problems that are found in aquatic systems world-wide. Individual papers have been processed separately for inclusion in the appropriate data bases.« less

Video Transmission for Third Generation Wireless Communication Systems

PubMed Central

Gharavi, H.; Alamouti, S. M.

2001-01-01

This paper presents a twin-class unequal protected video transmission system over wireless channels. Video partitioning based on a separation of the Variable Length Coded (VLC) Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) coefficients within each block is considered for constant bitrate transmission (CBR). In the splitting process the fraction of bits assigned to each of the two partitions is adjusted according to the requirements of the unequal error protection scheme employed. Subsequently, partitioning is applied to the ITU-T H.263 coding standard. As a transport vehicle, we have considered one of the leading third generation cellular radio standards known as WCDMA. A dual-priority transmission system is then invoked on the WCDMA system where the video data, after being broken into two streams, is unequally protected. We use a very simple error correction coding scheme for illustration and then propose more sophisticated forms of unequal protection of the digitized video signals. We show that this strategy results in a significantly higher quality of the reconstructed video data when it is transmitted over time-varying multipath fading channels. PMID:27500033

Early Development of a Hazardous Chemical Protective Ensemble.

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-10-01

Insuff. Cyanides ( Sodium , Potassium, Sol’n) -- 5 Butyl Cyanogen Bromide CBR 2 Insuff. Cyanogen Chloride CCL NR Insuff. Cyclohexane --- 6 Butyl...SPILLED SUBSTANCES ANNUAL RECOMMENDED ALTERNATE COMPOUND CHRIS CODE NO. OF SPILLS MATERIAL MATERIALS Dimethyl Sulfate DSL 4 Insuff. Ethyl Acrylate EAC 38...Tetrachloride STC 2 Insuff. Sodium Hydroxide (sol’n or dry) SHD 193 Butyl Sulfuric Acid SFA 426 CPE Tetrahydrofuran THF 13 None Titanium Tetrachloride TTT

Evaluation of Catalyst Activity - Detoxification of Chemical Warfare Agents Under Oxidation and Hydrolysis Conditions

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-08-15

Report August 15, 2006 CUBRC Contract No.: 6774 Prime Contract No.: W911-NF-05-C-0041 Subcontract No.:CBR05.1 Submitted to: TDA... CUBRC Approval: 8/15/06 David J. Mangino – Director, Life Sciences Date CUBRC 2 of 40 Contents 1. SUMMARY...POSSIBLE HYDROLYSIS DEGRADATION PRODUCTS – MASS SPECTRA ............36 CUBRC 3 of 40 1. SUMMARY Potential catalysts for the

Chemical, Biological, and Radiological (CBR) Contamination Survivability, Small Items of Equipment

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-06-22

thickness (number of coats), paint condition, and surface cleanliness (mud, grease, and other). j. Pretest (baseline) and posttest (30 days after...survivability testing of small items of mission-essential (ME) Army materiel. Small items, for example , include personal gear, small arms, radios...their effects. An example would be the age of the paint on the surface (aged, new, etc.). f. The only current mechanism for converting agent mass

Chemical, Biological, and Radiological (CBR) Contamination Survivability: Large Item Interiors

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-06-22

materials of construction, paint type, and surface condition ( pretest and posttest ), including cleanliness (mud, grease, etc.). Photographs should be...35 g. Pretest and posttest ME functional performance characteristics (when measured) used as the measure of the SUT’s mission performance before and...materials and their finishes will be reported in a form that can be compared with pretest and posttest hardness functional performance data. 6.2 Chemical

Extending Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) Approaches to Semi-automated Network Alert Reporting

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-04-01

connecting to the domain is likely infected with malware, or may have been exposed to malicious code. -- Detailed Information: The Sourcefire VRT ...to be generated by malware. After applying an extensive whitelist, the VRT pulls out the most commonly visited domains and adds them to its...malicious software. The VRT recommends ClamAV for Windows 3.0. 39 -- Contributors: Sourcefire Vulnerability Research Team -- Additional

Food deprivation modulates gamma-aminobutyric acid receptors and peripheral benzodiazepine binding sites in rats.

PubMed

Weizman, A; Bidder, M; Fares, F; Gavish, M

1990-12-03

The effect of 5 days of food deprivation followed by 5 days of refeeding on gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptors, central benzodiazepine receptors (CBR), and peripheral benzodiazepine binding sites (PBzS) was studied in female Sprague-Dawley rats. Starvation induced a decrease in the density of PBzS in peripheral organs: adrenal (35%; P less than 0.001), kidney (33%; P less than 0.01), and heart (34%; P less than 0.001). Restoration of [3H]PK 11195 binding to normal values was observed in all three organs after 5 days of refeeding. The density of PBzS in the ovary, pituitary, and hypothalamus was not affected by starvation. Food deprivation resulted in a 35% decrease in cerebellar GABA receptors (P less than 0.01), while CBR in the hypothalamus and cerebral cortex remained unaltered. The changes in PBzS observed in the heart and kidney may be related to the long-term metabolic stress associated with starvation and to the functional changes occurring in these organs. The down-regulation of the adrenal PBzS is attributable to the suppressive effect of hypercortisolemia on pituitary ACTH release. The reduction in cerebellar GABA receptors may be an adaptive response to food deprivation stress and may be relevant to the proaggressive effect of hunger.

Micelle-Triggered β-Hairpin to α-Helix Transition in a 14-Residue Peptide from a Choline-Binding Repeat of the Pneumococcal Autolysin LytA

PubMed Central

Zamora-Carreras, Héctor; Maestro, Beatriz; Strandberg, Erik; Ulrich, Anne S; Sanz, Jesús M; Jiménez, M Ángeles

2015-01-01

Choline-binding modules (CBMs) have a ββ-solenoid structure composed of choline-binding repeats (CBR), which consist of a β-hairpin followed by a short linker. To find minimal peptides that are able to maintain the CBR native structure and to evaluate their remaining choline-binding ability, we have analysed the third β-hairpin of the CBM from the pneumococcal LytA autolysin. Circular dichroism and NMR data reveal that this peptide forms a highly stable native-like β-hairpin both in aqueous solution and in the presence of trifluoroethanol, but, strikingly, the peptide structure is a stable amphipathic α-helix in both zwitterionic (dodecylphosphocholine) and anionic (sodium dodecylsulfate) detergent micelles, as well as in small unilamellar vesicles. This β-hairpin to α-helix conversion is reversible. Given that the β-hairpin and α-helix differ greatly in the distribution of hydrophobic and hydrophilic side chains, we propose that the amphipathicity is a requirement for a peptide structure to interact and to be stable in micelles or lipid vesicles. To our knowledge, this “chameleonic” behaviour is the only described case of a micelle-induced structural transition between two ordered peptide structures. PMID:25917218

Effect of addition of GGBS and lime in soil stabilisation for stabilising local village roads in Thanjavur region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saravanan, R.; Udhayakumar, T.; Dinesh, S.; Venkatasubramanian, C.; Muthu, D.

2017-07-01

Construction of pavements uses various filling materials and due to the cost factor, the local soil is used for pavement construction. The strength of the soil is improved by stabilisation. This stabilisation increases the load bearing capacities of soil for heavy wheeled vehicle traffic. GGBS, silica fume, rice husk are the basic waste materials used as a waste material, which improves the quality of soil and reduces the cost of pavements. In this study, a detailed investigation is made on the Ground Granulated Blast-furnace Slag (GGBS), activated by lime, in the stabilisation of low bearing capacity sand and clay soils collected from Thanjavur district (Budalur, Sengipatti, Vallam and Palliahgraharam villages). The tests are carried out as per Indian Standards. The test procedures separated into two phases, namely Stage-I and Stage-II. In Stage-I the soil tests include soil type, particle size distribution, soil index properties, standard proctor tests, shear tests and CBR test. In Stage-II the soil tests include shear tests and CBR test for the suitable required proportions of GGBS along with lime in the collected soil samples. The test results from stage-I and stage-II are compared and from the study, it is inferred that the application of GGBS is a useful material for soil stabilisation.

Specificity and kinetics of haloalkane dehalogenase.

PubMed

Schanstra, J P; Kingma, J; Janssen, D B

1996-06-21

Haloalkane dehalogenase converts halogenated alkanes to their corresponding alcohols. The active site is buried inside the protein and lined with hydrophobic residues. The reaction proceeds via a covalent substrate-enzyme complex. This paper describes a steady-state and pre-steady-state kinetic analysis of the conversion of a number of substrates of the dehalogenase. The kinetic mechanism for the "natural" substrate 1,2-dichloroethane and for the brominated analog and nematocide 1,2-dibromoethane are given. In general, brominated substrates had a lower Km, but a similar kcat than the chlorinated analogs. The rate of C-Br bond cleavage was higher than the rate of C-Cl bond cleavage, which is in agreement with the leaving group abilities of these halogens. The lower Km for brominated compounds therefore originates both from the higher rate of C-Br bond cleavage and from a lower Ks for bromo-compounds. However, the rate-determining step in the conversion (kcat) of 1, 2-dibromoethane and 1,2-dichloroethane was found to be release of the charged halide ion out of the active site cavity, explaining the different Km but similar kcat values for these compounds. The study provides a basis for the analysis of rate-determining steps in the hydrolysis of various environmentally important substrates.

Human performance and physiological function during a 24-hr exposure to 1 percent bromotrifluoromethane (Halon 1301)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Calkins, D. S.; Degioanni, J. J.; Tan, M. N.; Davis, J. R.; Pierson, D. L.

1993-01-01

Performance and physiological measurements were obtained from four pairs of men exposed for 24 hr to 1 percent (10,000 ppm) Halon 1301 (CBrF3) and to air with order counterbalanced using a double-blind protocol. Cognitive and motor performance was assessed before, during, and after the exposures, using seven scales of the Automated Portable Testing System, which produced 13 measures of performance. Halon inhalation induced decrements in 2 of the 13 measures, but actual and estimated magnitudes of the decrements were no greater than 5 percent of baseline values. Physiological data obtained before, during, and after the exposures revealed significant changes during Halon inhalation for 6 of the 52 variables assessed; however, all physiological values remained within clinically acceptable limits. No cardiovascular effects were noted. This study demonstrated that exposure to 1 percent Halon 1301 for 24 hr can produce minor disturbance of central nervous system function as assessed by cognitive tasks.

Case-Based Capture and Reuse of Aerospace Design Rationale

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leake, David B.

2001-01-01

The goal of this project was to apply artificial intelligence techniques to facilitate capture and reuse of aerospace design rationale. The project combined case-based reasoning (CBR) and concept maps (CMaps) to develop methods for capturing, organizing, and interactively accessing records of experiences encapsulating the methods and rationale underlying expert aerospace design, in order to bring the captured knowledge to bear to support future reasoning. The project's results contribute both principles and methods for effective design-aiding systems that aid capture and access of useful design knowledge. The project has been guided by the tenets that design-aiding systems must: (1) Leverage a designer's knowledge, rather than attempting to replace it; (2) Be able to reflect different designers' differing conceptualizations of the design task, and to clarify those conceptualizations to others; (3) Include capabilities to capture information both by interactive knowledge modeling and during normal use; and (4) Integrate into normal designer tasks as naturally and unobtrusive as possible.

Space station Simulation Computer System (SCS) study for NASA/MSFC. Volume 1: Overview and summary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1989-01-01

NASA's Space Station Freedom Program (SSFP) planning efforts have identified a need for a payload training simulator system to serve as both a training facility and as a demonstrator to validate operational concepts. The envisioned Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Payload Training Complex (PTC) required to meet this need will train the space station payload scientists, station scientists, and ground controllers to operate the wide variety of experiments that will be onboard the Space Station Freedom. The Simulation Computer System (SCS) is the computer hardware, software, and workstations that will support the Payload Training Complex at MSFC. The purpose of this SCS study is to investigate issues related to the SCS, alternative requirements, simulator approaches, and state-of-the-art technologies to develop candidate concepts and designs. This study was performed August 1988 to October 1989. Thus, the results are based on the SSFP August 1989 baseline, i.e., pre-Langley configuration/budget review (C/BR) baseline. Some terms, e.g., combined trainer, are being redefined. An overview of the study activities and a summary of study results are given here.

TOP 08-2-111B Chemical, Biological, and Radiological (CBR) Contamination Survivability, Small Items of Equipment

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-03-16

e.g., mud, grease, and other). j. Pretest (baseline) and posttest (30 days after the first contamination and/or other defined long-term time...item surface condition (pretest and posttest ), materials of construction, paint type, and surface cleanliness (e.g., mud, grease, decontamination...penetrate. h. Pretest and posttest ME functional performance characteristics used as the measure of the test item’s mission performance before

Reformulation of the CBR Procedure. Report 1: Basic Report

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-04-01

originate a superior method of compaction control, the modified density test associated with the name of Ralph R. Proctor . In time, Porter was able to...enough for the subsoil moisture to equalize. Colonel Bragdon in the South Atlantic Division was to choose an airstrip built on sandy clay , a fairly good...subsoil; Colonel Scott in the Southwestern Division, one of lean black clay , a rather poor foundation; Colonel Elliott in the Upper Mississippi

Enhancing the NS-2 Network Simulator for Near Real-Time Control Feedback and Distributed Simulation

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-03-21

Communication Mediator, see mediator Constant Bit Rate, see cbr Emulation, 8 Georgia Tech Network Simulator, see GT- NetS Globlal Mobile Information ...PAGE Form ApprovedOMB No. 0704–0188 The public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response...for reducing this burden to Department of Defense, Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports (0704–0188

Hazardous materials in aquatic environments of the Mississippi River Basin. Annual technical report, December 30, 1992--December 29, 1993

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

Not Available

1993-12-31

Tulane and Xavier Universities have singled out the environment as a major strategic focus for research and training for now and by the year 2000. In December, 1992, the Tulane/Xavier CBR was awarded a five year grant to study pollution in the Mississippi River system. The ``Hazardous Materials in Aquatic Environments of the Mississippi River Basin`` project is a broad research and education program aimed at elucidating the nature and magnitude of toxic materials that contaminate aquatic environments of the Mississippi River Basin. Studies include defining the complex interactions that occur during the transport of contaminants, the actual and potentialmore » impact on ecological systems and health, and the mechanisms through which these impacts might be remediated. The Mississippi River Basin represents a model system for analyzing and solving contamination problems that are found in aquatic systems world-wide. These research and education projects are particularly relevant to the US Department of Energy`s programs aimed at addressing aquatic pollution problems associated with DOE National Laboratories. First year funding supported seven collaborative cluster projects and twelve initiation projects. This report summarizes research results for period December 1992--December 1993.« less

Executive Summary Geotechnical Siting Investigations FY 81.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-11-30

and dolomites of Cambrian to Ordovician age, and 3) the Ely Springs, Laketown, Sevy and Simonson dolomites , and the Guilmette Formation of Ordovician to...deposits. o A test well in southern Coyote Spring Valley that penetrated fractured carbonate rock was pumped by Ertec for 30 days at a rate of 3400 gpm...tire type, tire pressure , and wheel load for the prototype MX missile transporter. 6.4.2.2 CBR Versus CPT Correlation Studies Field and laboratory

Comparative functional characterization of the CSR-1 22G-RNA pathway in Caenorhabditis nematodes

PubMed Central

Tu, Shikui; Wu, Monica Z.; Wang, Jie; Cutter, Asher D.; Weng, Zhiping; Claycomb, Julie M.

2015-01-01

As a champion of small RNA research for two decades, Caenorhabditis elegans has revealed the essential Argonaute CSR-1 to play key nuclear roles in modulating chromatin, chromosome segregation and germline gene expression via 22G-small RNAs. Despite CSR-1 being preserved among diverse nematodes, the conservation and divergence in function of the targets of small RNA pathways remains poorly resolved. Here we apply comparative functional genomic analysis between C. elegans and Caenorhabditis briggsae to characterize the CSR-1 pathway, its targets and their evolution. C. briggsae CSR-1-associated small RNAs that we identified by immunoprecipitation-small RNA sequencing overlap with 22G-RNAs depleted in cbr-csr-1 RNAi-treated worms. By comparing 22G-RNAs and target genes between species, we defined a set of CSR-1 target genes with conserved germline expression, enrichment in operons and more slowly evolving coding sequences than other genes, along with a small group of evolutionarily labile targets. We demonstrate that the association of CSR-1 with chromatin is preserved, and show that depletion of cbr-csr-1 leads to chromosome segregation defects and embryonic lethality. This first comparative characterization of a small RNA pathway in Caenorhabditis establishes a conserved nuclear role for CSR-1 and highlights its key role in germline gene regulation across multiple animal species. PMID:25510497

New insights into differential baroreflex control of heart rate in humans

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fadel, P. J.; Stromstad, M.; Wray, D. W.; Smith, S. A.; Raven, P. B.; Secher, N. H.

2003-01-01

Recent data indicate that bilateral carotid sinus denervation in patients results in a chronic impairment in the rapid reflex control of blood pressure during orthostasis. These findings are inconsistent with previous human experimental investigations indicating a minimal role for the carotid baroreceptor-cardiac reflex in blood pressure control. Therefore, we reexamined arterial baroreflex [carotid (CBR) and aortic baroreflex (ABR)] control of heart rate (HR) using newly developed methodologies. In 10 healthy men, 27 +/- 1 yr old, an abrupt decrease in mean arterial pressure (MAP) was induced nonpharmacologically by releasing a unilateral arterial thigh cuff (300 Torr) after 9 min of resting leg ischemia under two conditions: 1) ABR and CBR deactivation (control) and 2) ABR deactivation. Under control conditions, cuff release decreased MAP by 13 +/- 1 mmHg, whereas HR increased 11 +/- 2 beats/min. During ABR deactivation, neck suction was gradually applied to maintain carotid sinus transmural pressure during the initial 20 s after cuff release (suction). This attenuated the increase in HR (6 +/- 1 beats/min) and caused a greater decrease in MAP (18 +/- 2 mmHg, P < 0.05). Furthermore, estimated cardiac baroreflex responsiveness (DeltaHR/DeltaMAP) was significantly reduced during suction compared with control conditions. These findings suggest that the carotid baroreceptors contribute more importantly to the reflex control of HR than previously reported in healthy individuals.

Assessing the strength of cardiac and sympathetic baroreflex controls via transfer entropy during orthostatic challenge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Porta, Alberto; Marchi, Andrea; Bari, Vlasta; De Maria, Beatrice; Esler, Murray; Lambert, Elisabeth; Baumert, Mathias

2017-05-01

The study assesses the strength of the causal relation along baroreflex (BR) in humans during an incremental postural challenge soliciting the BR. Both cardiac BR (cBR) and sympathetic BR (sBR) were characterized via BR sequence approaches from spontaneous fluctuations of heart period (HP), systolic arterial pressure (SAP), diastolic arterial pressure (DAP) and muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA). A model-based transfer entropy method was applied to quantify the strength of the coupling from SAP to HP and from DAP to MSNA. The confounding influences of respiration were accounted for. Twelve young healthy subjects (20-36 years, nine females) were sequentially tilted at 0°, 20°, 30° and 40°. We found that (i) the strength of the causal relation along the cBR increases with tilt table inclination, while that along the sBR is unrelated to it; (ii) the strength of the causal coupling is unrelated to the gain of the relation; (iii) transfer entropy indexes are significantly and positively associated with simplified causality indexes derived from BR sequence analysis. The study proves that causality indexes are complementary to traditional characterization of the BR and suggests that simple markers derived from BR sequence analysis might be fruitfully exploited to estimate causality along the BR. This article is part of the themed issue `Mathematical methods in medicine: neuroscience, cardiology and pathology'.

QoS mapping algorithm for ETE QoS provisioning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Jian J.; Foster, Gerry

2002-08-01

End-to-End (ETE) Quality of Service (QoS) is critical for next generation wireless multimedia communication systems. To meet the ETE QoS requirements, Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) requires not only meeting the 3GPP QoS requirements [1-2] but also mapping external network QoS classes to UMTS QoS classes. There are four Quality of Services (QoS) classes in UMTS; they are Conversational, Streaming, Interactive and Background. There are eight QoS classes for LAN in IEEE 802.1 (one reserved). ATM has four QoS categories. They are Constant Bit Rate (CBR) - highest priority, short queue for strict Cell Delay Variation (CDV), Variable Bit Rate (VBR) - second highest priority, short queues for real time, longer queues for non-real time, Guaranteed Frame Rate (GFR)/ Unspecified Bit Rate (UBR) with Minimum Desired Cell Rate (MDCR) - intermediate priority, dependent on service provider UBR/ Available Bit Rate (ABR) - lowest priority, long queues, large delay variation. DiffServ (DS) has six-bit DS codepoint (DSCP) available to determine the datagram's priority relative to other datagrams and therefore, up to 64 QoS classes are available from the IPv4 and IPv6 DSCP. Different organisations have tried to solve the QoS issues from their own perspective. However, none of them has a full picture for end-to-end QoS classes and how to map them among all QoS classes. Therefore, a universal QoS needs to be created and a new set of QoS classes to enable end-to-end (ETE) QoS provisioning is required. In this paper, a new set of ETE QoS classes is proposed and a mappings algorithm for different QoS classes that are proposed by different organisations is given. With our proposal, ETE QoS mapping and control can be implemented.

Demonstration of CBR Modeling and Simulation Tool (CBRSim) Capabilities. Installation Technology Transfer Program

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-04-01

Capabilities Co ns tr uc tio n En gi ne er in g R es ea rc h La bo ra to ry Kathy L. Simunich, Timothy K. Perkins, David M. Bailey, David Brown, and...inversion height in convective condition is estimated with a one- dimensional model of the atmospheric boundary layer based on the Drie- donks slab model...tool and its capabilities. Installation geospatial data, in CAD format, were obtained for select buildings, roads, and topographic features in

Index cost estimate based BIM method - Computational example for sports fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zima, Krzysztof

2017-07-01

The paper presents an example ofcost estimation in the early phase of the project. The fragment of relative database containing solution, descriptions, geometry of construction object and unit cost of sports facilities was shown. The Index Cost Estimate Based BIM method calculationswith use of Case Based Reasoning were presented, too. The article presentslocal and global similarity measurement and example of BIM based quantity takeoff process. The outcome of cost calculations based on CBR method was presented as a final result of calculations.

Step by Step': A Community Based Rehabilitation Project with Disabled Children in Guyana. Bilingual Version = Pas a pas: Un project de readaptation a base communautaire pour les enfants handicapes en Guyane. Version bilingue. Notes, Comments...No. 189.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Toole, Brian

The document, in both English and French, describes a 2-year project in Guyana based on the principle of community-based rehabilitation (CBR), which stresses training local community residents as supervisors to provide training of rehabilitation workers and direct services to children with disabilities living in rural areas. The program provided…

CBR Operations in Cold Weather: A Bibliography. Volume 1

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-11-01

JOHNSTON R C SWAMP OAK TEST DATA DOD/DROLS ; HANNEMANN M M D ANALYSIS. 514727L ;HALLANGER N L ;KROTH J R ;WESTLAKE WILFRED J ; HAMILTON WILLIAM M 1953...E 1963 HANNA ALFRED E; SIMULATED COLD WEATHER DOD/DROLS RADIOLOGICAL DECONTAMINATION 296248 OF RECOVERY EQUIPMENT. HANNEMANN M M D 1967 JOHNSTON R C...SWAMP OAK TEST DATA DOD/DROLS ; HANNEMANN M M D ANALYSIS. 514727L ;HALLANGER N L ;KROTH J R ;WESTLAKE WILFRED J : 37 HELLBERG E N 1961 TAYLOR D

Human performance and physiological function during a 24-hr exposure to 1% bromotrifluoromethane (Halon 1301)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Calkins, D. S.; Degioanni, J. J.; Tan, M. N.; Davis, J. R.; Pierson, D. L.

1993-01-01

Performance and physiological measurements were obtained from four pairs of men exposed for 24 hr to 1% (10,000 ppm) Halon 1301 (bromotrifluoromethane, CBrF3) and to air with order counterbalanced using a double-blind protocol. Cognitive and motor performance was assessed before, during, and after the exposures using seven scales of the Automated Portable Testing System, which produced 13 measures of performance. Halon inhalation induced decrements in 2 of the 13 measures, but actual and estimated magnitudes of the decrements were no greater than 5% of baseline values. Physiological data were obtained before, during, and after the exposures from clinical chemistry analyses of blood and urine samples, pulmonary function tests, and monitoring of vital signs. Significant change during Halon inhalation was observed for 6 of the 52 variables assessed; however, all physiological values remained within clinically acceptable limits. No cardiovascular effects were noted. This study demonstrated that exposure to 1% Halon 1301 for 24 hr can produce minor disturbance of central nervous system function as assessed by cognitive tasks.

Comparative functional characterization of the CSR-1 22G-RNA pathway in Caenorhabditis nematodes.

PubMed

Tu, Shikui; Wu, Monica Z; Wang, Jie; Cutter, Asher D; Weng, Zhiping; Claycomb, Julie M

2015-01-01

As a champion of small RNA research for two decades, Caenorhabditis elegans has revealed the essential Argonaute CSR-1 to play key nuclear roles in modulating chromatin, chromosome segregation and germline gene expression via 22G-small RNAs. Despite CSR-1 being preserved among diverse nematodes, the conservation and divergence in function of the targets of small RNA pathways remains poorly resolved. Here we apply comparative functional genomic analysis between C. elegans and Caenorhabditis briggsae to characterize the CSR-1 pathway, its targets and their evolution. C. briggsae CSR-1-associated small RNAs that we identified by immunoprecipitation-small RNA sequencing overlap with 22G-RNAs depleted in cbr-csr-1 RNAi-treated worms. By comparing 22G-RNAs and target genes between species, we defined a set of CSR-1 target genes with conserved germline expression, enrichment in operons and more slowly evolving coding sequences than other genes, along with a small group of evolutionarily labile targets. We demonstrate that the association of CSR-1 with chromatin is preserved, and show that depletion of cbr-csr-1 leads to chromosome segregation defects and embryonic lethality. This first comparative characterization of a small RNA pathway in Caenorhabditis establishes a conserved nuclear role for CSR-1 and highlights its key role in germline gene regulation across multiple animal species. © The Author(s) 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Suppression of F1 Male-Specific Lethality in Caenorhabditis Hybrids by cbr-him-8.

PubMed

Ragavapuram, Vaishnavi; Hill, Emily Elaine; Baird, Scott Everet

2015-12-31

Haldane's Rule and Darwin's Corollary to Haldane's Rule are the observations that heterogametic F1 hybrids are frequently less fit than their homogametic siblings, and that asymmetric results are often obtained from reciprocal hybrid crosses. In Caenorhabditis, Haldane's Rule and Darwin's Corollary have been observed in several hybrid crosses, including crosses of Caenorhabditis briggsae and C. nigoni. Fertile F1 females are obtained from reciprocal crosses. However, F1 males obtained from C. nigoni mothers are sterile and F1 males obtained from C. briggsae die during embryogenesis. We have identified cbr-him-8 as a recessive maternal-effect suppressor of F1 hybrid male-specific lethality in this combination of species. This result implicates epigenetic meiotic silencing in the suppression of F1 male-specific lethality. It is also shown that F1 males bearing a C. briggsae X chromosome are fertile. When crossed to C. briggsae hermaphrodites or F1 females derived from C. briggsae hermaphrodites, viable F2 and backcross (B2) progeny were obtained. Sibling males that possessed a C. nigoni X chromosome were sterile. Therefore, the sterility of F1 males bearing a C. nigoni X chromosome must result from dysgenic interactions between the X chromosome of C. nigoni and the autosomes of C. briggsae. The fertility of F1 males bearing a C. briggsae X chromosome provides an opportunity to identify C. nigoni loci that prevent spermatogenesis, and hence hermaphroditic reproduction, in diplo-X hybrids. Copyright © 2016 Ragavapuram et al.

Suppression of F1 Male-Specific Lethality in Caenorhabditis Hybrids by cbr-him-8

PubMed Central

Ragavapuram, Vaishnavi; Hill, Emily Elaine; Baird, Scott Everet

2015-01-01

Haldane’s Rule and Darwin’s Corollary to Haldane’s Rule are the observations that heterogametic F1 hybrids are frequently less fit than their homogametic siblings, and that asymmetric results are often obtained from reciprocal hybrid crosses. In Caenorhabditis, Haldane’s Rule and Darwin’s Corollary have been observed in several hybrid crosses, including crosses of Caenorhabditis briggsae and C. nigoni. Fertile F1 females are obtained from reciprocal crosses. However, F1 males obtained from C. nigoni mothers are sterile and F1 males obtained from C. briggsae die during embryogenesis. We have identified cbr-him-8 as a recessive maternal-effect suppressor of F1 hybrid male-specific lethality in this combination of species. This result implicates epigenetic meiotic silencing in the suppression of F1 male-specific lethality. It is also shown that F1 males bearing a C. briggsae X chromosome are fertile. When crossed to C. briggsae hermaphrodites or F1 females derived from C. briggsae hermaphrodites, viable F2 and backcross (B2) progeny were obtained. Sibling males that possessed a C. nigoni X chromosome were sterile. Therefore, the sterility of F1 males bearing a C. nigoni X chromosome must result from dysgenic interactions between the X chromosome of C. nigoni and the autosomes of C. briggsae. The fertility of F1 males bearing a C. briggsae X chromosome provides an opportunity to identify C. nigoni loci that prevent spermatogenesis, and hence hermaphroditic reproduction, in diplo-X hybrids. PMID:26721896

The global regulator Crc plays a multifaceted role in modulation of type III secretion system in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

PubMed Central

Dong, Yi-Hu; Zhang, Xi-Fen; Zhang, Lian-Hui

2013-01-01

The opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa utilizes type III secretion system (T3SS) to translocate effector proteins into eukaryotic host cells that subvert normal host cell functions to the benefit of the pathogen, and results in serious infections. T3SS in P. aeruginosa is controlled by a complex system of regulatory mechanisms and signaling pathways. In this study, we described that Crc, an RNA-binding protein, exerts a positive impact on T3SS in P. aeruginosa, as evidenced by promoter activity assays of several key T3SS genes, transcriptomics, RT-PCR, and immunoblotting in crc mutant. We further demonstrated that the regulatory function of Crc on the T3SS was mediated through the T3SS master regulator ExsA and linked to the Cbr/Crc signaling system. Expression profiling of the crc mutant revealed a downregulation of flagship T3SS genes as well as 16 other genes known to regulate T3SS gene expression in P. aeruginosa. On the basis of these data, we proposed that Crc may exert multifaceted control on the T3SS through various pathways, which may serve to fine-tune this virulence mechanism in response to environmental changes and nutrient sources. PMID:23292701

Towards case-based medical learning in radiological decision making using content-based image retrieval

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Radiologists' training is based on intensive practice and can be improved with the use of diagnostic training systems. However, existing systems typically require laboriously prepared training cases and lack integration into the clinical environment with a proper learning scenario. Consequently, diagnostic training systems advancing decision-making skills are not well established in radiological education. Methods We investigated didactic concepts and appraised methods appropriate to the radiology domain, as follows: (i) Adult learning theories stress the importance of work-related practice gained in a team of problem-solvers; (ii) Case-based reasoning (CBR) parallels the human problem-solving process; (iii) Content-based image retrieval (CBIR) can be useful for computer-aided diagnosis (CAD). To overcome the known drawbacks of existing learning systems, we developed the concept of image-based case retrieval for radiological education (IBCR-RE). The IBCR-RE diagnostic training is embedded into a didactic framework based on the Seven Jump approach, which is well established in problem-based learning (PBL). In order to provide a learning environment that is as similar as possible to radiological practice, we have analysed the radiological workflow and environment. Results We mapped the IBCR-RE diagnostic training approach into the Image Retrieval in Medical Applications (IRMA) framework, resulting in the proposed concept of the IRMAdiag training application. IRMAdiag makes use of the modular structure of IRMA and comprises (i) the IRMA core, i.e., the IRMA CBIR engine; and (ii) the IRMAcon viewer. We propose embedding IRMAdiag into hospital information technology (IT) infrastructure using the standard protocols Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) and Health Level Seven (HL7). Furthermore, we present a case description and a scheme of planned evaluations to comprehensively assess the system. Conclusions The IBCR-RE paradigm incorporates a novel combination of essential aspects of diagnostic learning in radiology: (i) Provision of work-relevant experiences in a training environment integrated into the radiologist's working context; (ii) Up-to-date training cases that do not require cumbersome preparation because they are provided by routinely generated electronic medical records; (iii) Support of the way adults learn while remaining suitable for the patient- and problem-oriented nature of medicine. Future work will address unanswered questions to complete the implementation of the IRMAdiag trainer. PMID:22032775

Towards case-based medical learning in radiological decision making using content-based image retrieval.

PubMed

Welter, Petra; Deserno, Thomas M; Fischer, Benedikt; Günther, Rolf W; Spreckelsen, Cord

2011-10-27

Radiologists' training is based on intensive practice and can be improved with the use of diagnostic training systems. However, existing systems typically require laboriously prepared training cases and lack integration into the clinical environment with a proper learning scenario. Consequently, diagnostic training systems advancing decision-making skills are not well established in radiological education. We investigated didactic concepts and appraised methods appropriate to the radiology domain, as follows: (i) Adult learning theories stress the importance of work-related practice gained in a team of problem-solvers; (ii) Case-based reasoning (CBR) parallels the human problem-solving process; (iii) Content-based image retrieval (CBIR) can be useful for computer-aided diagnosis (CAD). To overcome the known drawbacks of existing learning systems, we developed the concept of image-based case retrieval for radiological education (IBCR-RE). The IBCR-RE diagnostic training is embedded into a didactic framework based on the Seven Jump approach, which is well established in problem-based learning (PBL). In order to provide a learning environment that is as similar as possible to radiological practice, we have analysed the radiological workflow and environment. We mapped the IBCR-RE diagnostic training approach into the Image Retrieval in Medical Applications (IRMA) framework, resulting in the proposed concept of the IRMAdiag training application. IRMAdiag makes use of the modular structure of IRMA and comprises (i) the IRMA core, i.e., the IRMA CBIR engine; and (ii) the IRMAcon viewer. We propose embedding IRMAdiag into hospital information technology (IT) infrastructure using the standard protocols Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) and Health Level Seven (HL7). Furthermore, we present a case description and a scheme of planned evaluations to comprehensively assess the system. The IBCR-RE paradigm incorporates a novel combination of essential aspects of diagnostic learning in radiology: (i) Provision of work-relevant experiences in a training environment integrated into the radiologist's working context; (ii) Up-to-date training cases that do not require cumbersome preparation because they are provided by routinely generated electronic medical records; (iii) Support of the way adults learn while remaining suitable for the patient- and problem-oriented nature of medicine. Future work will address unanswered questions to complete the implementation of the IRMAdiag trainer.

Suitability Measurement and Analysis for El Centro Naval Air Facility OLS. Opportune Landing Site Program

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-10-01

western corner and at a few other sample locations. For most of the RAS the surface layer CBR values are in the teens , with a few less than 10 and...from vandalism . Carl offered that we can tie in with weather station near the Range Control, Building 5000, and weather station in Target Area 103. We...to some degree. We noted that if we were to select this OLS, the instrumenta- tion may be destroyed or vandalized . This was a potential site and

Casuist BDI-Agent: A New Extended BDI Architecture with the Capability of Ethical Reasoning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Honarvar, Ali Reza; Ghasem-Aghaee, Nasser

Since the intelligent agent is developed to be cleverer, more complex, and yet uncontrollable, a number of problems have been recognized. The capability of agents to make moral decisions has become an important question, when intelligent agents have developed more autonomous and human-like. We propose Casuist BDI-Agent architecture which extends the power of BDI architecture. Casuist BDI-Agent architecture combines CBR method in AI and bottom up casuist approach in ethics in order to add capability of ethical reasoning to BDI-Agent.

MX Siting Investigation. Geotechnical Report. Volume IIB. Gila Bend Group and White Sands Missile Range Extension.

DTIC Science & Technology

1976-05-07

are: (1) portions of the San Andrea* systaft 11n greater than 100 nm to the northwest; (2) the Agua -640 Slanc fut lying approximately __nm to the...Ratio values, both in- situ and recompacted, (CBRI Avert- * can Society for Testing and Materials, Designation D 1863),, AASHO classifications (Appendix...it is estimated that a value of 10 to 20 is reasonable for in- situ material (VA.p 19701. . CBR value of greater than 20 and on the order of 30 abhold

Bayesian Inversion of Concentration Data for an Unknown Number of Contaminant Sources

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-06-01

répondre aux urgences et celle de leur gestion rétrospective dirigée contre des incidents ter- roristes comprenant la dissémination secrète d’agent CBR...d’intervention d’urgence avancé pour la prédiction et l’évaluation des risques CBRN en mi- lieu urbain). Cette composante a été incorporée dans le...computationally efficient methodology for de - termination of the likelihood function for the problem, based on an adjoint representation of the source–receptor

A FRET-Based Method for Probing the Conformational Behavior of an Intrinsically Disordered Repeat Domain from Bordetella pertussis Adenylate Cyclase

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-10-22

ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR( S ) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER 5e. TASK NUMBER 5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME( S ) AND ADDRESS(ES...MONITORING AGENCY NAME( S ) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSOR/MONITOR’S ACRONYM( S ) 11. SPONSOR/MONITOR’S REPORT NUMBER( S ) 12. DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY STATEMENT...fusion protein C*-BR( S )-Y* expression vector pET/C*-CyaA1488-1680-Y*, nonfluorescent CFP expression vector pET/CFP*, and the maltose binding protein-RTX

Vibrational and reorientationl relaxation in liquid tert-butyl bromide and tert-butyl bromide- d9

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Szostak, R.; Hawranek, J. P.

1992-12-01

The vibrational and reorientational correlation functions of the ν s(CBr) mode in liquid tert-butyl bromide (TBBr) and in its deuterated analogue (TBBr- d9) were determined from Raman bandshapes. The Kubo product δτ m obtained by fitting the Rothschild equation to experimental data amounts to 0.36-0.45 for the studied bands, which indicates a fairly fast modulation regime in these systems. The approximation of experimental rotational correlation functions with the help of the J-diffusion model yields values of 0.11-0.12ps for the angular momentum correlation time. The second-order rotational correlation times (1.7-2.0ps) agree well with the NMR results of D.W. Aksnes, K. Ramstad and O.P. Björlykke, Magn. Reson. Chem., 25 (1987) 1063. Selected bandshape parameters for δ(CCC) in both compounds, ϱ(CH 3) in TBBr and ν s(CC) in TBBR- d9 were also quoted.

Ibrutinib alone or with dexamethasone for relapsed or relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma: phase 2 trial results.

PubMed

Richardson, Paul G; Bensinger, William I; Huff, Carol Ann; Costello, Caitlin L; Lendvai, Nikoletta; Berdeja, Jesus G; Anderson, Larry D; Siegel, David S; Lebovic, Daniel; Jagannath, Sundar; Laubach, Jacob P; Stockerl-Goldstein, Keith E; Kwei, Long; Clow, Fong; Elias, Laurence; Salman, Zeena; Graef, Thorsten; Bilotti, Elizabeth; Vij, Ravi

2018-03-01

Novel therapies with unique new targets are needed for patients who are relapsed/refractory to current treatments for multiple myeloma. Ibrutinib is a first-in-class, once-daily, oral covalent inhibitor of Bruton tyrosine kinase, which is overexpressed in the myeloma stem cell population. This study examined various doses of ibrutinib ± low-dose dexamethasone in patients who received ≥2 prior lines of therapy, including an immunomodulatory agent. Daily ibrutinib ± weekly dexamethasone 40 mg was assessed in 4 cohorts using a Simon 2-stage design. The primary objective was clinical benefit rate (CBR; ≥minimal response); secondary objectives included safety. Patients (n = 92) received a median of 4 prior regimens. Ibrutinib + dexamethasone produced the highest CBR (28%) in Cohort 4 (840 mg + dexamethasone; n = 43), with median duration of 9·2 months (range, 3·0-14·7). Progression-free survival was 4·6 months (range, 0·4-17·3). Grade 3-4 haematological adverse events included anaemia (16%), thrombocytopenia (11%), and neutropenia (2%); grade 3-4 non-haematological adverse events included pneumonia (7%), syncope (3%) and urinary tract infection (3%). Ibrutinib + dexamethasone produced notable responses in this heavily pre-treated population. The encouraging efficacy, coupled with the favourable safety and tolerability profile of ibrutinib, supports its further evaluation as part of combination treatment. © 2018 The Authors. British Journal of Haematology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

[Effects, safety and cost-benefit analysis of Down syndrome screening in first trimester].

PubMed

Shengmou, Lin; Min, Chen; Chenhong, Wang; Shengli, Li; Jiansheng, Xie; Hui, Yuan; Dinghao, Lin; Xiaoxia, Wu; Wei, Wang; Hongyun, Zhang; Haiyan, Tang

2014-05-01

To investigate the effects, safety and cost-benefit analysis of Down syndrome screening in first trimester. From January 2009 to December 2012, 43 729 pregnant women undergoing 3 methods of Down syndrome traditional screening strategies in Shenzhen Maternity and Child Healthcare Hospital were studied retrospectively, including in 17 502 cases in pregnancy associated plasma protein A (PAPP-A) and free β-hCG measured biochemistry screening, 14 080 cases in nuchal translucency (NT) screening and 12 147 cases in combined screening, meanwhile, 7 389 cases on non-invasive fetal trisomy test (NIFTY) were performed in Huada Gene Research Institute(BGI). The effects and safety of four screening strategies were assessed throughout a decision tree. The economical characters of each screening strategy were compared by cost-effectiveness analysis as well as cost-benefit analysis. (1) The effects of four strategies are: NIFTY > combined screening > NT screening > biochemistry screening. (2) The safety of four strategies are: NIFTY > combined screening > NT screening > biochemistry screening. (3) Cost-effectiveness analysis and cost-benefit analysis:the biochemistry screening has lowest cost-effectiveness ratio (CER) and highest cost-benefit ratio (CBR), which performed a better economical efficiency. The incremental CER of three traditional screening strategies are all less than the economical burden of Down syndrome.NIFTY has highest CER and negative net present value (NPV), NPV would be positive and CBR would be more than 1 if the price of NIFTY reduce to 1 434 Yuan. Combined screening possess best screening efficiency, while biochemistry screening was demonstrated more economical in traditional screening.NIFTY is the future of Down syndrome screening.

A Heuristic Model of Primordial Chemical Evolution in the Reionization Era

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McArdle, Ryan T.; Stancil, Phillip C.

2017-06-01

We develop a model of the evolution of the chemical composition of the early Universe under the influence of Population III (Pop III) stars. Solving rate equations for primordial atomic and molecular species subject to the Cosmic Background Radiation (CBR), we predict the fractional abundances of these species as a function of redshift (z). The CBR, however, eventually becomes negligible after the first stars become active. To extend the recombination era model (Gay et al. 2011), we simulate the formation of many stars from a cloud of a given mass, constrained by the Initial Mass Function (IMF), and assign to each star a mass appropriate lifetime, effective temperature, and radius (Schaerer 2002). We randomly distribute the stars across a parcel of gas with the number being controlled by the star formation rate as a function of z (Hartwig et al. 2015). Runs of our chemistry code are then spawned for each star in parallel once a star turns on. We model the propagation of the radiation front as it expands and ionizes the surrounding region, until the star has lived its lifetime. Taking the average of the data sets produce by the collection of stars in the region, we are able to obtain a prediction of the evolution of the chemical composition of the entire modeled region from the Recombination era into the Reionization era.Gay, C., et al. 2011, ApJ, 735, 44Hartwig, T., et al. 2015, MNRAS, 447, 3892Schaerer, D. 2002, A&A, 382, 28The work of RTM was partially supported by a UGA Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities Award.

Negative argininosuccinate synthetase expression in melanoma tumours may predict clinical benefit from arginine-depleting therapy with pegylated arginine deiminase

PubMed Central

Feun, L G; Marini, A; Walker, G; Elgart, G; Moffat, F; Rodgers, S E; Wu, C J; You, M; Wangpaichitr, M; Kuo, M T; Sisson, W; Jungbluth, A A; Bomalaski, J; Savaraj, N

2012-01-01

Background: Arginine-depleting therapy with pegylated arginine deiminase (ADI-PEG20) was reported to have activity in advanced melanoma in early phase I–II trial, and clinical trials are currently underway in other cancers. However, the optimal patient population who benefit from this treatment is unknown. Methods: Advanced melanoma patients with accessible tumours had biopsy performed before the start of treatment with ADI-PEG20 and at the time of progression or relapse when amenable to determine whether argininosuccinate synthetase (ASS) expression in tumour was predictive of response to ADI-PEG20. Results: Twenty-seven of thirty-eight patients treated had melanoma tumours assessable for ASS staining before treatment. Clinical benefit rate (CBR) and longer time to progression were associated with negative expression of tumour ASS. Only 1 of 10 patients with ASS-positive tumours (ASS+) had stable disease, whereas 4 of 17 (24%) had partial response and 5 had stable disease, when ASS expression was negative (ASS−), giving CBR rates of 52.9 vs 10%, P=0.041. Two responding patients with negative ASS expression before therapy had rebiopsy after tumour progression and the ASS expression became positive. The survival of ASS− patients receiving at least four doses at 320 IU m−2 was significantly better than the ASS+ group at 26.5 vs 8.5 months, P=0.024. Conclusion: ADI-PEG20 is safe and the drug is only efficacious in melanoma patients whose tumour has negative ASS expression. Argininosuccinate synthetase tumour positivity is associated with drug resistance and tumour progression. PMID:22472884

ATM traffic experiments: A laboratory study of service interaction, loss fairness and loss characteristics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Helvik, B. E.; Stol, N.

1995-04-01

A reference measurement scenario is defined, where an ATM switch (OCTOPUS) is offered traffic from three source types representing the traffic resulting from typical services to be carried by an ATM network. These are high quality video (HQTV), high speed data (HSD) and constant bitrate transfer (CBR). In addition to be typical, these have widely different characteristics. Detailed definitions for these, and other actual source types, are made and entered into the Synthetic Traffic Generator (STG) database. Recommended traffic mixes of these sources are also made. Based on the above, laboratory measurements are carried out to study how the various kinds of traffic influence each other, how fairly the loss is distributed over services and connections, and what are the loss characteristics experienced. (Due to a software error detected in the measurement equipment after the work was concluded, the measurements are carried out with a HSD source with a load less 'aggressive' than intended.) The main findings are: Cell loss is very unfairly distributed among the various connections. During a loss burst, which occurs less frequently than the duration of a typical connection, affects mainly one or a few connections; Cell loss is unfairly distributed among the services. The ratios in the range from HSD: HQTV: CBR = 5 : 1 : 0.85 are observed, and unfairness increases with decreasing load burstiness; The loss characteristics vary during a loss burst, from one burst to the next and between services. Hence, it does not seem feasible to use 'typical-loss-statistics' to study the impairments on various services. In addition some supplementing work is reported.

The Drosophila carbonyl reductase sniffer is an efficient 4-oxonon-2-enal (4ONE) reductase.

PubMed

Martin, Hans-Jörg; Ziemba, Marta; Kisiela, Michael; Botella, José A; Schneuwly, Stephan; Maser, Edmund

2011-05-30

Studies with the fruit-fly Drosophila melanogaster demonstrated that the enzyme sniffer prevented oxidative stress-induced neurodegeneration. Mutant flies overexpressing sniffer had significantly extended life spans in a 99.5% oxygen atmosphere compared to wild-type flies. However, the molecular mechanism of this protection remained unclear. Sequence analysis and database searches identified sniffer as a member of the short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase superfamily with a 27.4% identity to the human enzyme carbonyl reductase type I (CBR1). As CBR1 catalyzes the reduction of the lipid peroxidation products 4HNE and 4ONE, we tested whether sniffer is able to metabolize these lipid derived aldehydes by carbonyl reduction. To produce recombinant enzyme, the coding sequence of sniffer was amplified from a cDNA-library, cloned into a bacterial expression vector and the His-tagged protein was purified by Ni-chelate chromatography. We found that sniffer catalyzed the NADPH-dependent carbonyl reduction of 4ONE (K(m)=24±2 μM, k(cat)=500±10 min(-1), k(cat)/K(m)=350 s(-1) mM(-1)) but not that of 4HNE. The reaction product of 4ONE reduction by sniffer was mainly 4HNE as shown by HPLC- and GC/MS analysis. Since 4HNE, though still a potent electrophile, is less neurotoxic and protein reactive than 4ONE, one mechanism by which sniffer exerts its neuroprotective effects in Drosophila after oxidative stress may be enzymatic reduction of 4ONE. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Efficacy of Exemestane in Korean Patients with Metastatic Breast Cancer after Failure of Nonsteroidal Aromatase Inhibitors

PubMed Central

Lee, June Koo; Lee, Daewon; Kim, Ji-Yeon; Lim, Yoojoo; Lee, Eunyoung; Moon, Hyeong-Gon; Kim, Tae-Yong; Han, Sae-Won; Oh, Do-Youn; Lee, Se-Hoon; Han, Wonshik; Kim, Dong-Wan; Kim, Tae-You; Noh, Dong-Young

2013-01-01

Purpose Exemestane has shown good efficacy and tolerability in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer. However, clinical outcomes in Korean patients have not yet been reported. Methods Data on 112 postmenopausal women with metastatic breast cancer were obtained retrospectively. Clinicopathological characteristics and treatment history were extracted from medical records. All patients received 25 mg exemestane daily until objective disease progression. Progression-free survival (PFS) was the primary endpoint, and secondary endpoints were overall survival (OS), objective response rate (ORR), and clinical benefit rate (CBR=complete response+partial response+stable disease for 6 months). Results The median age of the subjects was 55 years (range, 28-76 years). Exemestane treatment resulted in a median PFS of 5.7 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.4-7.0 months) and median OS of 21.9 months (95% CI, 13.6-30.3 months). ORR was 6.4% and CBR was 46.4% for the 110 patients with evaluable lesions. Symptomatic visceral disease was independently associated with shorter PFS (hazard ratio, 3.611; 95% CI, 1.904-6.848; p<0.001), compared with bone-dominant disease in a multivariate analysis of PFS after adjusting for age, hormone receptor, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, Ki-67 status, dominant metastasis site, and sensitivity to nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor (AI) treatment. Sensitivity to previous nonsteroidal AI treatment was not associated with PFS, suggesting no cross-resistance between exemestane and nonsteroidal AIs. Conclusion Exemestane was effective in postmenopausal Korean women with hormone receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer who failed previous nonsteroidal AI treatment. PMID:23593084

Effect of kaolin addition on the performance of controlled low-strength material using industrial waste incineration bottom ash.

PubMed

Naganathan, Sivakumar; Razak, Hashim Abdul; Hamid, Siti Nadzriah Abdul

2010-09-01

Incineration of industrial waste produces large quantities of bottom ash which are normally sent to secured landfill, but is not a sustainable solution. Use of bottom ash in engineering applications will contribute to sustainability and generate revenue. One way of using the industrial waste incineration bottom ash is in controlled low-strength material (CLSM). Use of bottom ash in CLSM has problems related to bleeding and excessive strength development and so an additive has to be used to control bleeding and strength development. The main objective of this research is to study the effect of kaolin addition on the performance of CLSM made using industrial waste incineration bottom ash. CLSM mixes were made with bottom ash, cement, and refined kaolin. Various tests were performed on the CLSM in fresh and hardened states including compressive strength, water absorption, California bearing ratio (CBR) and the tests for concentration of leachable substances on the bleed and leachate. The compressive strength of CLSM tested ranged from 0.11 to 9.86 MPa. CBR values ranged from 6 to 46, and water absorption values from 12 to 36%. It was shown that the addition of kaolin delayed the initial setting time of CLSM mixtures, reduced bleeding, lowered the compressive strength, and increased the values of water absorption, sorption, and initial surface absorption. The CLSM tested did not have corrosivity. It was shown that the hardened CLSM was non hazardous, and the addition of kaolin increased the concentration of heavy metals and salts in the bleed and leachate.

[Health economic evaluation of a 23 value pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccination pilot programme among elderly chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients in China].

PubMed

Qiu, Y P; Zhao, K; Li, X; Shi, L W; Guo, W D; Qi, X R; Sui, B Y; Zhou, R M

2016-12-06

Objective: From the perspective of health economics, to evaluate 23 pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccination programme among chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patient. Methods: In the pilot counties of the project of integrated care pathway for COPD patient (Hanbin district of Hanzhong city in Shanxi Province, Qianjian district of Qingqing city, Huandao district of Qindao city in Shangdong Province, Wen county of Jiaozuo city in Henan Province), information of insurance participants of New Rural Cooperative Medical System (NRCS) was collected by local NRCM information system, which included general information as well as records of medical care and medical fee. Nonprobability sampling method was applied to select a total of 860 objects, who were over 60 years old with local household registration, hospitalized within one recent year due to COPD acute exacerbation, and without vaccination of 23 voluntary pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine within 3 years. A quasi-experimental design without control group was adopted. Objects were vaccinated with 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine from January to December in 2013, then were followed up from January in 2014 for one year. Data of effectiveness and medical cost was collected by self-designed questionnaire and (Chinese version). Paired rank sum test applied to test the difference of quality of life, number and direct medical cost of treatment (including outpatient treatment and hospitalization) due to COPD acute exacerbation, one year before and after intervention. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) and cost-benefit ratio (CBR) of the programme were calculated. Results: By January 2014, eight hundred sixty objects were vaccinated. By January 2015, seven hundred eighty eight objects were followed up, with 72 cases withdrawed (8.4%). On average, COPD patients reduced 1.12±2.51 treatments due to acute exacerbation, including 0.28±2.09 outpatient treatments and 0.85±1.15 hospitalizations. Total medical cost was saved by 3 610.21 per capita yuan, including outpatient cost of 241.41 yuan and hospitalization cost of 269.82 yuan; Quality of life was gained by 0.03 QALY gain per capita. The ICER was dominant and CBR was 12.00. Conclusion: COPD patients vaccinated with 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine within one year reduced treatments due to acute exacerbation. The vaccination was cost effective and cost saving , and we suggest the vaccine should be covered in the public health program or health insurance scheme in conditional region.

Efficacy and safety of palbociclib in combination with letrozole as first-line treatment of ER-positive, HER2-negative, advanced breast cancer: expanded analyses of subgroups from the randomized pivotal trial PALOMA-1/TRIO-18.

PubMed

Finn, Richard S; Crown, John P; Ettl, Johannes; Schmidt, Marcus; Bondarenko, Igor M; Lang, Istvan; Pinter, Tamas; Boer, Katalin; Patel, Ravindranath; Randolph, Sophia; Kim, Sindy T; Huang, Xin; Schnell, Patrick; Nadanaciva, Sashi; Bartlett, Cynthia Huang; Slamon, Dennis J

2016-06-28

Palbociclib is an oral small-molecule inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinases 4 and 6. In the randomized, open-label, phase II PALOMA-1/TRIO-18 trial, palbociclib in combination with letrozole improved progression-free survival (PFS) compared with letrozole alone as first-line treatment of estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative, advanced breast cancer (20.2 months versus 10.2 months; hazard ratio (HR) = 0.488, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.319-0.748; one-sided p = 0.0004). Grade 3-4 neutropenia was the most common adverse event (AE) in the palbociclib + letrozole arm. We now present efficacy and safety analyses based on several specific patient and tumor characteristics, and present in detail the clinical patterns of neutropenia observed in the palbociclib + letrozole arm of the overall safety population. Postmenopausal women (n = 165) with ER+, HER2-negative, advanced breast cancer who had not received any systemic treatment for their advanced disease were randomized 1:1 to receive either palbociclib in combination with letrozole or letrozole alone. Treatment continued until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, consent withdrawal, or death. The primary endpoint was PFS. We now analyze the difference in PFS for the treatment populations by subgroups, including age, histological type, history of prior neoadjuvant/adjuvant systemic treatment, and sites of distant metastasis, using the Kaplan-Meier method. HR and 95 % CI are derived from a Cox proportional hazards regression model. A clinically meaningful improvement in median PFS and clinical benefit response (CBR) rate was seen with palbociclib + letrozole in every subgroup evaluated. Grade 3-4 neutropenia was the most common AE with palbociclib + letrozole in all subgroups. Analysis of the frequency of neutropenia by grade during the first six cycles of treatment showed that there was a downward trend in Grade 3-4 neutropenia over time. Among those who experienced Grade 3-4 neutropenia, 71.7 % had no overlapping infections of any grade and none had overlapping Grade 3-4 infections. The magnitude of clinical benefit seen with the addition of palbociclib to letrozole in improving both median PFS and CBR rate is consistent in nearly all subgroups analyzed, and consistent with that seen in the overall study population. The safety profile of the combination treatment in all subgroups was also comparable to that in the overall safety population of the study.

Morphostructural characterization of the Charco basin and its surrounding areas in the Chihuahua segment of north Mexican Basin and Range Province

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Troiani, Francesco; Menichetti, Marco

2014-05-01

The Chihuahua Basin and Range (CBR) is the eastern branch of the northern Mexican Basin and Range Province that, from a morphostructural point of view, presently is one amongst the lesser-known zones of the southern portion of the North America Basin and Range Province. The study area covers an approximately 800 km2-wide portion of the CBR and encompasses the fault-bounded Charco basin and its surrounding areas. The bedrock of the area pertains to the large siliceous-igneous province of the Sierra Madre Occidental and consists of volcanoclastic rocks including Oligocene dacite, rhyolite, rhyolitic tuffs, and polimitic conglomerates. The region is characterized by a series of NW-SE oriented valleys delimited by tilted monoclinal blocks bounded by high angle, SW-dipping, normal faults. Abrupt changes in elevation, alternating between narrow faulted mountain chains and flat arid valleys or basins are the main morphological elements of the area. The valleys correspond to structural grabens filled with Plio-Pleistocene continental sediments. These grabens are about 10 km wide, while the extensional fault system extend over a distance of more than 15 km. The mountain ranges are in most cases continuous over distances that range from 10 to 70 km including different branches of the extensional and transfer faults. The morphogenesis is mainly erosive in character: erosional landforms (such as rocky scarps, ridges, strath-terraces, erosional pediment, reverse slopes, landslide scar zones, litho-structural flat surfaces) dominate the landscape. In contrast, Quaternary depositional landforms are mainly concentrated within the flat valleys or basins. The Quaternary deposits consist of wide alluvial fans extending to the foot of the main ridges, fluvial and debris-slope deposits. The morphostructural characterization of the area integrated different methodologies, including: i) geomorphological and structural field analyses; ii) remote sensing and geo-morphometric investigations based on aerial photos and Digital Elevation Models (a 28x28 m DEM and high-resolution LIDAR dataset in key sites), and iii) geophysical investigations (high resolution reflection seismic profiling combined with refraction seismic tomography). The main outputs of this research are as follows: i) the Charco basin master-faults and their conjugate extensional system were geometrically characterized and their main associated landforms mapped and described; ii) the morphostratigraphic correlations amongst both deformed and tectonically unaffected Quaternary deposits revealed that the Charco basin master fault has been inactive over the Holocene; iii) the main extensional fault system is associated with conjugate faults, oriented approximately SSW-NNE, that segmented the Charco basin master faults and favored the deposition of the most recent piedmont fans along the eastern margin of the basin; iv) the local morphostructures had played a dominant influence on the Quaternary evolution of both drainage network and relief landforms.

COBE limits on explosive structure formation scenarios

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Levin, Janna J.; Freese, Katherine; Spergle, David N.

1992-01-01

The Compton y-distortion that would result from an epoch of explosions at moderate redshifts is estimated and compared to recent measurements of the CBR spectrum made by the COBE satellite. The temperature anisotropy on large angular scales is estimated, and it is found that in general the limits on the overall spectral distortion are more constraining than those on the temperature anisotropy. It is found that most of the y-distortion is produced during the early, noncosmological phase of bubble evolution. An expression is obtained for the y-distortion including the effects of Compton cooling. The implications of the findings are discussed.

The Concentration Probability Density Function With Implications for Probabilistic Modeling of Chemical Warfare Agent Detector Responses for Source Reconstruction

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-05-01

efforts de gestion rétroactive des situations d’urgence actuelles comportant l’mission cachée d’agents chi- miques, biologiques et radiologiques (CBR...Sa Majesté la Reine (en droit du Canada), telle que représentée par le ministre de la Défense nationale, 2008 Original signed by E. Yee Original...context of the source reconstruction problem. DRDC Suffield TR 2008-077 i Résumé On a étudié les relations entre des moments variés de

A first principles prediction of the crystal structure of C6Br2ClFH2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Misquitta, Alston J.; Welch, Gareth W. A.; Stone, Anthony J.; Price, Sarah L.

2008-04-01

We have constructed an intermolecular potential for the 1,3-dibromo-2-chloro-5-fluorobenzene molecule from first principles using SAPT(DFT) interaction energy calculations and the Williams-Stone-Misquitta method for obtaining molecular properties in distributed form. This molecule was included in the fourth Blind Test of crystal structure prediction organised by the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre. Using our potential, we have predicted the crystal structure of CBrClFH and found the lowest energy solution to be in excellent agreement with the experimentally observed crystal when it was subsequently revealed.

The chemical bonds effect of anthocyanin and chlorophyll dyes on TiO2 for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahliha, A. H.; Nurosyid, F.; Supriyanto, A.; Kusumaningsih, T.

2017-11-01

Anthocyanin and chlorophyll dyes have been blended as the photosensitizer of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell (DSSC). The results study showed the effect of chemical bond dyes on TiO2 and the efficiency of DSSC. Ratio blend of the anthocyanin and chlorophyll dyes are 1:1. The absorbance of dyes and TiO2 were characterized using UV-Vis Spectrophotometer. The chemical bonds contained in TiO2-dyes were characterized using FT-IR spectrophotometer. The efficiency of DSSC was calculated using I-V meter. The absorption spectra of chlorophyll: anthocyanin blend dye solutions and TiO2 films can increase after the dye adsorption. Absorbance characterization of anthocyanin and chlorophyll dye blend solutions showed three peaks at the wavelength of 412 nm; 535.5 nm; and 656.5 nm. Absorbance characterization of spinach before being blend with anthocyanin dyes solutions showed two peaks at the wavelength of 431 nm and 665.5 nm. The absorption spectra of TiO2 films can increase after the dyes adsorption at the wavelength of 400 nm. FT-IR spectra of TiO2 founded the functional groups C-Br, C=C, and O-H. The functional groups founded in anthocyanin: chlorophyll dye blended on the surface of TiO2 are C-Br, C-O, O-H, C-H, C=C, C=O, and O-H. The result showed that the greatest efficiency of 0.0544% at dye red cabbage-spinach. Adsorption blends of anthocyanin and chlorophyll dyes on the surface of TiO2 can be used as the photosensitizer for DSSC.

Evidence for concerted ring opening and C-Br bond breaking in UV-excited bromocyclopropane.

PubMed

Pandit, Shubhrangshu; Preston, Thomas J; King, Simon J; Vallance, Claire; Orr-Ewing, Andrew J

2016-06-28

Photodissociation of gaseous bromocyclopropane via its A-band continuum has been studied at excitation wavelengths ranging from 230 nm to 267 nm. Velocity-map images of ground-state bromine atoms (Br), spin-orbit excited bromine atoms (Br(∗)), and C3H5 hydrocarbon radicals reveal the kinetic energies of these various photofragments. Both Br and Br(∗) atoms are predominantly generated via repulsive excited electronic states in a prompt photodissociation process in which the hydrocarbon co-fragment is a cyclopropyl radical. However, the images obtained at the mass of the hydrocarbon radical fragment identify a channel with total kinetic energy greater than that deduced from the Br and Br(∗) images, and with a kinetic energy distribution that exceeds the energetic limit for Br + cyclopropyl radical products. The velocity-map images of these C3H5 fragments have lower angular anisotropies than measured for Br and Br(∗), indicating molecular restructuring during dissociation. The high kinetic energy C3H5 signals are assigned to allyl radicals generated by a minor photochemical pathway which involves concerted C-Br bond dissociation and cyclopropyl ring-opening following single ultraviolet (UV)-photon absorption. Slow photofragments also contribute to the velocity map images obtained at the C3H5 radical mass, but the corresponding slow Br atoms are not observed. These features in the images are attributed to C3H5 (+) from the photodissociation of the C3H5Br(+) molecular cation following two-photon ionization of the parent compound. This assignment is confirmed by 118-nm vacuum ultraviolet ionization studies that prepare the molecular cation in its ground electronic state prior to UV photodissociation.

Membrane Association of the PTEN Tumor Suppressor: Electrostatic Interaction with Phos-phatidylserine-Containing Bilayers and Regulatory Role of the C-Terminal Tail

PubMed Central

Shenoy, Siddharth S.; Nanda, Hirsh; Lösche, Mathias

2012-01-01

The phosphatidylinositolphosphate phosphatase PTEN is the second most frequently mutated protein in human tumors. Its membrane association, allosteric activation and membrane dissociation are poorly understood. We recently reported PTEN binding affinities to membranes of different compositions and a preliminary investigation of the protein-membrane complex with neutron reflectometry (NR). Here we use NR to validate molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of the protein and study conformational differences of the protein in solution and on anionic membranes. NR shows that full-length PTEN binds to such membranes roughly in the conformation and orientation suggested by the crystal structure of a truncated PTEN protein, in contrast with a recently presented model which suggested that membrane binding depends critically on the SUMOylation of the CBR3 loop of PTEN’s C2 domain. Our MD simulations confirm that PTEN is peripherally bound to the bilayer surface and show slight differences of the protein structure in solution and in the membrane-bound state, where the protein body flattens against the bilayer surface. PTEN’s C2 domain binds phosphatidylserine (PS) tightly through its CBR3 loop, and its phosphatase domain also forms electrostatic interactions with PS. NR and MD results show consistently that PTEN’s unstructured, anionic C-terminal tail is repelled from the bilayer surface. In contrast, this tail is tightly tugged against the C2 domain in solution, partially obstructing the membrane-binding interface of the protein. Arresting the C-terminal tail in this conformation by phosphorylation may provide a control mechanism for PTEN’s membrane binding and activity. PMID:23073177

Leakage current analysis for dislocations in Na-flux GaN bulk single crystals by conductive atomic force microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamachi, T.; Takeuchi, S.; Tohei, T.; Imanishi, M.; Imade, M.; Mori, Y.; Sakai, A.

2018-04-01

The mechanisms associated with electrical conduction through individual threading dislocations (TDs) in a Na-flux GaN crystal grown with a multipoint-seed-GaN technique were investigated by conductive atomic force microscopy (C-AFM). To focus on individual TDs, dislocation-related etch pits (DREPs) were formed on the Na-flux GaN surface by wet chemical etching, after which microscopic Pt electrodes were locally fabricated on the DREPs to form conformal contacts to the Na-flux GaN crystal, using electron beam assisted deposition. The C-AFM data clearly demonstrate that the leakage current flows through the individual TD sites. It is also evident that the leakage current and the electrical conduction mechanism vary significantly based on the area within the Na-flux GaN crystal where the TDs are formed. These regions include the c-growth sector (cGS) in which the GaN grows in the [0001 ] direction on top of the point-seed with a c-plane growth front, the facet-growth sector (FGS) in which the GaN grows with {10 1 ¯ 1 } facets on the side of the cGS, the boundary region between the cGS and FGS (BR), and the coalescence boundary region between FGSs (CBR). The local current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of the specimen demonstrate space charge limited current conduction and conduction related to band-like trap states associated with TDs in the FGS, BR, and CBR. A detailed analysis of the I-V data indicates that the electrical conduction through TDs in the cGS may proceed via the Poole-Frenkel emission mechanism.

Vibrational, NMR spectrum and orbital analysis of 3,3',5,5'-tetrabromobisphenol A: a combined experimental and computational study.

PubMed

Qiu, Shanshan; Wei, Jin; Pan, Feng; Liu, Jingping; Zhang, Aiqian

2013-03-15

In the present work, the experimental and theoretical studies on the structure, vibrations, NMR and HOMO-LUMO analysis of 3,3',5,5'-tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) are presented. The FT-IR (400-4000 cm(-1)) and FT-Raman (100-4000 cm(-1)) spectra of TBBPA were recorded. The molecular geometry, vibrational frequencies were calculated by using density functional theory (DFT) method with the 6-31G(d) basis set. The optimized geometric properties, scaled vibrational wavenumbers, IR intensities, Raman activities show good agreement with the experimental data. The assigned vibrational modes of the IR and Raman spectra were compared with the corresponding properties of the polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). Comparative analysis indicated that the red shift of C-Br vibration could probably be ascribed to the further electronic density equalization due to the p-π conjugation between O atom and the benzene. The natural bonding orbital (NBO) analysis demonstrated that the intermolecular hyperconjugative interactions are mainly formed by the orbital overlap between σ (O-H), σ(*) (C-C), π (C-C), π(*) (C-C) bond orbitals. Compared to the higher E((2)) value (33.65-34.82 kcal/mol) originated from LP(2)O to π(*) (C-C), the one (E((2)): 8.23-9.73 kcal/mol) from LP(3)Br and π(*) (C-C) contributes to the preferential tendency of C-Br breakage to the C-O breakage in the transformation. The calculated NMR results obtained on the 6-31G(d) level proves good agreement with the experimental data (r(2)=0.999). Analysis of isosurface of the related orbital shows that all the main excitation exhibit π-π(*) character localized on the benzene rings. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Membrane association of the PTEN tumor suppressor: electrostatic interaction with phosphatidylserine-containing bilayers and regulatory role of the C-terminal tail.

PubMed

Shenoy, Siddharth S; Nanda, Hirsh; Lösche, Mathias

2012-12-01

The phosphatidylinositolphosphate phosphatase PTEN is the second most frequently mutated protein in human tumors. Its membrane association, allosteric activation and membrane dissociation are poorly understood. We recently reported PTEN binding affinities to membranes of different compositions (Shenoy et al., 2012, PLoS ONE 7, e32591) and a preliminary investigation of the protein-membrane complex with neutron reflectometry (NR). Here we use NR to validate molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of the protein and study conformational differences of the protein in solution and on anionic membranes. NR shows that full-length PTEN binds to such membranes roughly in the conformation and orientation suggested by the crystal structure of a truncated PTEN protein, in contrast with a recently presented model which suggested that membrane binding depends critically on the SUMOylation of the CBR3 loop of PTEN's C2 domain. Our MD simulations confirm that PTEN is peripherally bound to the bilayer surface and show slight differences of the protein structure in solution and in the membrane-bound state, where the protein body flattens against the bilayer surface. PTEN's C2 domain binds phosphatidylserine (PS) tightly through its CBR3 loop, and its phosphatase domain also forms electrostatic interactions with PS. NR and MD results show consistently that PTEN's unstructured, anionic C-terminal tail is repelled from the bilayer surface. In contrast, this tail is tightly tugged against the C2 domain in solution, partially obstructing the membrane-binding interface of the protein. Arresting the C-terminal tail in this conformation by phosphorylation may provide a control mechanism for PTEN's membrane binding and activity. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Long term exposure to low dose neurotoxic pesticides affects hatching, viability and cholinesterase activity of Artemia sp.

PubMed

Gambardella, Chiara; Nichino, Daniela; Iacometti, Camillo; Ferrando, Sara; Falugi, Carla; Faimali, Marco

2018-03-01

The brine shrimp Artemia was used as a model organism to test toxicity of several neuroactive pesticides (chlorpyrifos (CLP), chlorpyrifos oxon (CLP ox), diazinon (DZN), carbaryl (CBR)) following exposure to far below than lethal doses. Cysts were exposed to the pesticides in order to test a scenario similar to actual coastal environment contamination, by analyzing different responses. Cysts were rehydrated in water containing the pesticides at concentrations ranging from 10 -11 to 10 -5  M, for 72, 96 and 192 h, respectively. For these exposure times, morpho-functional and biochemical parameters, such as hatching speed and viability were investigated in the larvae together with cholinesterase (ChE) activity quantification and histochemical localization. Finally, ChE inhibition was also compared with conventional selective ChE inhibitors. Results showed that CLP ox and CBR caused a significant dose-dependent decrease in hatching speed, followed by high percentages of larval death, while CLP and DZN were responsible for irregular hatching patterns. In addition, the pesticides mostly caused larval death some days post-hatching, whereas this effect was negligible for the specific ChE inhibitors, suggesting that part of pesticide toxicity may be due to molecules other than the primary target. ChE activity was observed in the protocerebrum lobes, linked to the development of pair eyes. Such activity was inhibited in larvae exposed to all pesticides. When compared to conventional selective inhibitors of ChE activities, this inhibition demonstrated that the selected pesticides mainly affect acetylcholinesterase and, to a lesser extent, pseudocholinesterases. In conclusion, the brine shrimp is a good model to test the environmental toxicity of long term exposure to cholinergic pesticides, since changes in hatching speed, viability and ChE activity were observed. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Activity of megestrol acetate in postmenopausal women with advanced breast cancer after nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor failure: a phase II trial.

PubMed

Bines, J; Dienstmann, R; Obadia, R M; Branco, L G P; Quintella, D C; Castro, T M; Camacho, P G; Soares, F A; Costa, M E F

2014-04-01

As novel treatments carry substantial price tags and are mostly cost-prohibitive in low- and middle-income countries, there is an urgent need to develop alternatives, such as off-patent drugs. Megestrol acetate (MA) has a longstanding history in the treatment of breast cancer, but recently it is being used less often due to the advent of newer agents. This two-stage phase II trial evaluated the antitumor activity and toxicity of MA in postmenopausal women with hormone-sensitive advanced breast cancer who had experienced disease progression on a third-generation nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor (NSAI). Eligible patients had metastatic breast cancer treated with a NSAI with at least 6-month progression-free survival (PFS), or relapse after ≥1 year on adjuvant NSAI. Patients received MA at a single daily oral dose of 160 mg. Primary end point was clinical benefit rate (CBR). Forty-eight patients were enrolled. The CBR was 40% [95% confidence interval (CI) 25% to 55%], and the median duration of clinical benefit was 10.0 (95% CI 8.0-14.2) months. The median PFS was 3.9 (95% CI 3.0-4.8) months. The most common grade 3 adverse events were anemia (2%), dyspnea (2%), fatigue (2%), musculoskeletal pain (4%), deep vein thrombosis (10%), and weight gain (2%). This is the first study to prospectively evaluate the efficacy and safety of MA in postmenopausal women with hormone-sensitive disease progressing on a NSAI. MA has demonstrated activity and acceptable tolerability in this setting, and therefore remains a reasonable treatment option in a cost-sensitive environment. These results also provide the background for further evaluation of progestins in the treatment of breast cancer. local trial number, related to the approval by the IRB: CEP 108/06.

Efficacy of combination chemotherapy using irinotecan and nedaplatin for patients with recurrent and refractory endometrial carcinomas: preliminary analysis and literature review.

PubMed

Miyamoto, Morikazu; Takano, Masashi; Kuwahara, Mika; Soyama, Hiroaki; Kato, Kento; Matuura, Hiroko; Sakamoto, Takahiro; Takasaki, Kazuki; Aoyama, Tadashi; Yoshikawa, Tomoyuki; Furuya, Kenichi

2018-01-01

We aimed to retrospectively evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of an irinotecan hydrochloride (CPT) and nedaplatin (N) combination therapy for recurrent and refractory endometrial carcinoma, administered based on UGT1A1 genotype. Between 2009 and 2017, 21 patients who received CPT-N therapy for recurrent endometrial carcinoma as second- or third-line chemotherapy at our hospital were identified. The CPT-N regimen included 40-70 mg/m 2 of CPT-11 on days 1, 8, and 15, and 50 mg/m 2 of nedaplatin on day 1, q4 weeks. The median patient age was 63 years. The number of prior chemotherapeutic regimens ranged from 1 to 2. Two patients had prior pelvic irradiation. The response rate [ratio of complete remission (CR) to partial remission (PR)] of CPT-N therapy was 3 of 21 (14.3%), and clinical benefit rate (CBR) [the combined percentages of CR, PR, and stable disease (SD)] was 9 of 21 (42.8%). Toxicities included grade 3 neutropenia [4 (19.0%) cases], grade 3 febrile neutropenia [2 (9.5%) cases], and grade 3 diarrhea [3 (14.3%) cases]; all resolved with conservative treatment. Patients with a wild-type UGT1A1 status received higher doses of CPT-11 (p = 0.048) and had similar RR and CBR compared to those with a UGT1A1*6 and *28 status. There were no significant differences in frequencies of hematological or non-hematological toxicities, regardless of UGT1A1 status. The CPT-N regimen for recurrent and refractory endometrial carcinoma had tolerable side effects and significant efficacy. This regimen is a viable treatment option for endometrial carcinoma.

Arylation, alkenylation, and alkylation of 2-halopyridine N-oxides with grignard reagents: a solution to the problem of C2/C6 regioselective functionalization of pyridine derivatives.

PubMed

Zhang, Song; Liao, Lian-Yan; Zhang, Fang; Duan, Xin-Fang

2013-03-15

A facile arylation, alkenylation, and alkylation of functionalized 2-halopyridine N-oxides with various Grignard reagents was developed. It represented a highly efficient and selective C-H bond functionalization of pyridine derivatives in the presence of reactive C-Cl or C-Br bonds. Using Cl or Br as a blocking group, C2/C6 site-controllable functionalization of pyridine derivatives has been achieved. Various pyridine compounds can be prepared as illustrated in the total syntheses of Onychine, dielsine, and PARP-1 inhibitor GPI 16539.

Physiological sensor signals classification for healthcare using sensor data fusion and case-based reasoning.

PubMed

Begum, Shahina; Barua, Shaibal; Ahmed, Mobyen Uddin

2014-07-03

Today, clinicians often do diagnosis and classification of diseases based on information collected from several physiological sensor signals. However, sensor signal could easily be vulnerable to uncertain noises or interferences and due to large individual variations sensitivity to different physiological sensors could also vary. Therefore, multiple sensor signal fusion is valuable to provide more robust and reliable decision. This paper demonstrates a physiological sensor signal classification approach using sensor signal fusion and case-based reasoning. The proposed approach has been evaluated to classify Stressed or Relaxed individuals using sensor data fusion. Physiological sensor signals i.e., Heart Rate (HR), Finger Temperature (FT), Respiration Rate (RR), Carbon dioxide (CO2) and Oxygen Saturation (SpO2) are collected during the data collection phase. Here, sensor fusion has been done in two different ways: (i) decision-level fusion using features extracted through traditional approaches; and (ii) data-level fusion using features extracted by means of Multivariate Multiscale Entropy (MMSE). Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) is applied for the classification of the signals. The experimental result shows that the proposed system could classify Stressed or Relaxed individual 87.5% accurately compare to an expert in the domain. So, it shows promising result in the psychophysiological domain and could be possible to adapt this approach to other relevant healthcare systems.

Coherent two-dimensional terahertz-terahertz-Raman spectroscopy.

PubMed

Finneran, Ian A; Welsch, Ralph; Allodi, Marco A; Miller, Thomas F; Blake, Geoffrey A

2016-06-21

We present 2D terahertz-terahertz-Raman (2D TTR) spectroscopy, the first technique, to our knowledge, to interrogate a liquid with multiple pulses of terahertz (THz) light. This hybrid approach isolates nonlinear signatures in isotropic media, and is sensitive to the coupling and anharmonicity of thermally activated THz modes that play a central role in liquid-phase chemistry. Specifically, by varying the timing between two intense THz pulses, we control the orientational alignment of molecules in a liquid, and nonlinearly excite vibrational coherences. A comparison of experimental and simulated 2D TTR spectra of bromoform (CHBr3), carbon tetrachloride (CCl4), and dibromodichloromethane (CBr2Cl2) shows previously unobserved off-diagonal anharmonic coupling between thermally populated vibrational modes.

Monoglyceride lipase deficiency affects hepatic cholesterol metabolism and lipid-dependent gut transit in ApoE−/− mice

PubMed Central

Vujic, Nemanja; Korbelius, Melanie; Leopold, Christina; Duta-Mare, Madalina; Rainer, Silvia; Schlager, Stefanie; Goeritzer, Madeleine; Kolb, Dagmar; Eichmann, Thomas O.; Diwoky, Clemens; Zimmer, Andreas; Zimmermann, Robert; Lass, Achim; Radovic, Branislav; Kratky, Dagmar

2017-01-01

Monoglyceride lipase (MGL) hydrolyzes monoglycerides (MGs) to glycerol and fatty acids. Among various MG species MGL also degrades 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), the most abundant endocannabinoid and potent activator of cannabinoid receptors (CBR) 1 and 2. MGL-knockout (−/−) mice exhibit pronounced 2-AG accumulation, but lack central cannabimimetic effects due to CB1R desensitization. We have previously shown that MGL affects plaque stability in apolipoprotein E (ApoE)−/− mice, an established animal model for dyslipidemia and atherosclerosis. In the current study, we investigated functional consequences of MGL deficiency on lipid and energy metabolism in ApoE/MGL double knockout (DKO) mice. MGL deficiency affected hepatic cholesterol metabolism by causing increased cholesterol elimination via the biliary pathway. Moreover, DKO mice exhibit lipid-triggered delay in gastric emptying without major effects on overall triglyceride and cholesterol absorption. The observed phenotype of DKO mice is likely not a consequence of potentiated CB1R signaling but rather dependent on the activation of alternative signaling pathways. We conclude that MGL deficiency causes complex metabolic changes including cholesterol metabolism and regulation of gut transit independent of the endocannabinoid system. PMID:28380440

Monoglyceride lipase deficiency affects hepatic cholesterol metabolism and lipid-dependent gut transit in ApoE-/- mice.

PubMed

Vujic, Nemanja; Korbelius, Melanie; Leopold, Christina; Duta-Mare, Madalina; Rainer, Silvia; Schlager, Stefanie; Goeritzer, Madeleine; Kolb, Dagmar; Eichmann, Thomas O; Diwoky, Clemens; Zimmer, Andreas; Zimmermann, Robert; Lass, Achim; Radovic, Branislav; Kratky, Dagmar

2017-05-16

Monoglyceride lipase (MGL) hydrolyzes monoglycerides (MGs) to glycerol and fatty acids. Among various MG species MGL also degrades 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), the most abundant endocannabinoid and potent activator of cannabinoid receptors (CBR) 1 and 2. MGL-knockout (-/-) mice exhibit pronounced 2-AG accumulation, but lack central cannabimimetic effects due to CB1R desensitization. We have previously shown that MGL affects plaque stability in apolipoprotein E (ApoE)-/- mice, an established animal model for dyslipidemia and atherosclerosis. In the current study, we investigated functional consequences of MGL deficiency on lipid and energy metabolism in ApoE/MGL double knockout (DKO) mice. MGL deficiency affected hepatic cholesterol metabolism by causing increased cholesterol elimination via the biliary pathway. Moreover, DKO mice exhibit lipid-triggered delay in gastric emptying without major effects on overall triglyceride and cholesterol absorption. The observed phenotype of DKO mice is likely not a consequence of potentiated CB1R signaling but rather dependent on the activation of alternative signaling pathways. We conclude that MGL deficiency causes complex metabolic changes including cholesterol metabolism and regulation of gut transit independent of the endocannabinoid system.

Modelling the Longevity of Dental Restorations by means of a CBR System

PubMed Central

Aliaga, Ignacio J.; Vera, Vicente; García, Alvaro E.

2015-01-01

The lifespan of dental restorations is limited. Longevity depends on the material used and the different characteristics of the dental piece. However, it is not always the case that the best and longest lasting material is used since patients may prefer different treatments according to how noticeable the material is. Over the last 100 years, the most commonly used material has been silver amalgam, which, while very durable, is somewhat aesthetically displeasing. Our study is based on the collection of data from the charts, notes, and radiographic information of restorative treatments performed by Dr. Vera in 1993, the analysis of the information by computer artificial intelligence to determine the most appropriate restoration, and the monitoring of the evolution of the dental restoration. The data will be treated confidentially according to the Organic Law 15/1999 on 13 December on the Protection of Personal Data. This paper also presents a clustering technique capable of identifying the most significant cases with which to instantiate the case-base. In order to classify the cases, a mixture of experts is used which incorporates a Bayesian network and a multilayer perceptron; the combination of both classifiers is performed with a neural network. PMID:25866792

Conducting an inventory of informal community-based resources for children with physical disabilities: enhancing access and creating professional linkages.

PubMed

Rosenberg, A E

2000-01-01

This article describes the process involved in conducting a sample inventory of community-based sports, recreation/leisure, and arts resources that include children with physical disabilities in Monroe County, New York. The inventory instrument, Community Resource Inventory for Children with Physical Disabilities, was designed to examine organizational or group capacity to provide activities for children with physical disabilities. The inventory was administered by phone to organizations and groups identified as meeting the definition of a community-based resource. One hundred and six CBR informants were interviewed, each reporting one or two recreational activities provided at their site. The activities included arts, sports, or leisure offerings, with a total of 127 activities identified in the sample. The results of the study support the premise that community-based resources are receptive to providing activities for children with physical disabilities and to potential collaboration with therapists. Numerous barriers exixts, however, including environmental inaccessibility, lack of personnel training, and including environmental inaccesssbility, lack of personnel training, and costs of participation. The results suggest several educational and system-based changes that may promote future collaborative efforts between therapists and community-based organizations.

Neratinib Efficacy and Circulating Tumor DNA Detection of HER2 Mutations in HER2 Nonamplified Metastatic Breast Cancer.

PubMed

Ma, Cynthia X; Bose, Ron; Gao, Feng; Freedman, Rachel A; Telli, Melinda L; Kimmick, Gretchen; Winer, Eric; Naughton, Michael; Goetz, Matthew P; Russell, Christy; Tripathy, Debu; Cobleigh, Melody; Forero, Andres; Pluard, Timothy J; Anders, Carey; Niravath, Polly Ann; Thomas, Shana; Anderson, Jill; Bumb, Caroline; Banks, Kimberly C; Lanman, Richard B; Bryce, Richard; Lalani, Alshad S; Pfeifer, John; Hayes, Daniel F; Pegram, Mark; Blackwell, Kimberly; Bedard, Philippe L; Al-Kateb, Hussam; Ellis, Matthew J C

2017-10-01

Purpose: Based on promising preclinical data, we conducted a single-arm phase II trial to assess the clinical benefit rate (CBR) of neratinib, defined as complete/partial response (CR/PR) or stable disease (SD) ≥24 weeks, in HER2 mut nonamplified metastatic breast cancer (MBC). Secondary endpoints included progression-free survival (PFS), toxicity, and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) HER2 mut detection. Experimental Design: Tumor tissue positive for HER2 mut was required for eligibility. Neratinib was administered 240 mg daily with prophylactic loperamide. ctDNA sequencing was performed retrospectively for 54 patients (14 positive and 40 negative for tumor HER2 mut ). Results: Nine of 381 tumors (2.4%) sequenced centrally harbored HER2 mut (lobular 7.8% vs. ductal 1.6%; P = 0.026). Thirteen additional HER2 mut cases were identified locally. Twenty-one of these 22 HER2 mut cases were estrogen receptor positive. Sixteen patients [median age 58 (31-74) years and three (2-10) prior metastatic regimens] received neratinib. The CBR was 31% [90% confidence interval (CI), 13%-55%], including one CR, one PR, and three SD ≥24 weeks. Median PFS was 16 (90% CI, 8-31) weeks. Diarrhea (grade 2, 44%; grade 3, 25%) was the most common adverse event. Baseline ctDNA sequencing identified the same HER2 mut in 11 of 14 tumor-positive cases (sensitivity, 79%; 90% CI, 53%-94%) and correctly assigned 32 of 32 informative negative cases (specificity, 100%; 90% CI, 91%-100%). In addition, ctDNA HER2 mut variant allele frequency decreased in nine of 11 paired samples at week 4, followed by an increase upon progression. Conclusions: Neratinib is active in HER2 mut , nonamplified MBC. ctDNA sequencing offers a noninvasive strategy to identify patients with HER2 mut cancers for clinical trial participation. Clin Cancer Res; 23(19); 5687-95. ©2017 AACR . ©2017 American Association for Cancer Research.

Changing maternity leave policy: short-term effects on fertility rates and demographic variables in Germany.

PubMed

Thyrian, Jochen René; Fendrich, Konstanze; Lange, Anja; Haas, Johannes-Peter; Zygmunt, Marek; Hoffmann, Wolfgang

2010-08-01

Changes in reproductive behaviour and decreasing fertility rates have recently led to policy actions that attempt to counteract these developments. Evidence on the efficacy of such policy interventions, however, is limited. The present analysis examines fertility rates and demographic variables of a population in Germany in response to new maternity leave regulations, which were introduced in January 2007. As part of a population-based survey of neonates in Pomerania (SNiP), all births in the study region from the period 23 months prior to January 1st, 2007 until 23 months afterwards were examined. Crude Birth Rates (CBR) per month, General Fertility Rates (GFR) per month, parity and sociodemographic variables were compared using bivariate techniques. Logistic regression analysis was performed. No statistically significant difference in the CBR or GFR after Jan. 1st, 2007 was found. There were statistically significant differences in other demographic variables, however. The proportion of mothers who (a) were employed full-time before pregnancy; (b) came from a higher socioeconomic status; and (c) had higher income levels all increased after January 1st, 2007. The magnitude of these effects was higher in multigravid women. Forward stepwise logistic regression found an odds ratio of 1.79 for women with a family income of more than 3000 euro to give birth after the new law was introduced. This is the first analysis of population-based data that examines fertility rates and sociodemographic variables in response to new legal regulations. No short-term effects on birth rates were detected, but there was a differential effect on the subgroup of multigravidae. The focus of this policy was to provide financial support, which is certainly important, but the complexity of having a child suggests that attitudinal and motivational aspects also need to be taken into account. Furthermore, these analyses were only able to evaluate the short-term consequences of the policy; further studies are needed to assess for different, long-term effects. (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Critical body-residues for lethal and sublethal effects of sediment-associated PAH on benthic copepods

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

Lotufo, G.R.

1995-12-31

Adult females of the meiobenthic copepod Schizopera knabeni were exposed to sediment-associated fluoranthene for 3, 6, 12, 24, 96, and 240 h. Sediment concentrations ranged from 25 to 1,661 nmol (5--336 {micro}g)/gdw and the TOC was 1.5%. Body burden increased to an apparent steady state after only 6 h. Elimination half-lives were 4.6 and 3.2 h in uncontaminated water and sediment, respectively. Toxic effects were only detected after 240 h as increased mortality and decreased offspring production. Significant mortality was observed only at the highest concentration; the LC50 was 1,011 nmol (204 {micro}g)/dgw. In contrast, offspring production was decreased atmore » much lower concentrations, yielding an IC25 value of 148 nmol (30 {micro}g)/dgw. Lethal critical body residue (CBR) was determined as a 10-d LD50 of 15.5 {micro}mol/g dry tissue. By measuring PAH concentrations in the body and eggs of females, CBRs for reproductive output were determined as IC25 values of 2 and 3.1 {micro}mol/gdw, respectively. PAH sublethal effects on feeding rate were also investigated Adult copepods were exposed to {sup 14}C sediment-associated fluoranthene for 24 h were fed {sup 3}H-labeled algae for 3 h. Ingestion rate was significantly decreased at tissue concentrations as low as 1 {micro}mol/gdw and yielded an IC25 value of 0.6 {micro}mol/gdw. Similar findings were obtained using another species of estuarine copepod, Coullana sp. Non-polar narcotic compounds such as PAH cause a nonspecific disturbance of the functioning of cell membrane which results in decreased overall activity. Measurement of CBR associated with decreased feeding is proposed as a direct method to quantify sublethal narcotizing effects of organic compounds.« less

Efficacy and safety of trabectedin or dacarbazine in patients with advanced uterine leiomyosarcoma after failure of anthracycline-based chemotherapy: Subgroup analysis of a phase 3, randomized clinical trial.

PubMed

Hensley, Martee L; Patel, Shreyaskumar R; von Mehren, Margaret; Ganjoo, Kristen; Jones, Robin L; Staddon, Arthur; Rushing, Daniel; Milhem, Mohammed; Monk, Bradley; Wang, George; McCarthy, Sharon; Knoblauch, Roland E; Parekh, Trilok V; Maki, Robert G; Demetri, George D

2017-09-01

Trabectedin demonstrated significantly improved disease control in leiomyosarcoma and liposarcoma patients in a global phase 3 trial (NCT01343277). A post hoc analysis was conducted to assess the efficacy and safety of trabectedin or dacarbazine in women with uterine leiomyosarcoma (uLMS), the largest subgroup of enrolled patients (40%). Of 577 patients randomized 2:1 to receive trabectedin 1.5mg/m 2 by 24-hour IV infusion or dacarbazine 1g/m 2 by 20-120-minute IV infusion once every three weeks, 232 had uLMS (trabectedin: 144; dacarbazine: 88). The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS); secondary endpoints were progression-free survival (PFS), objective response rate (ORR), clinical benefit rate (CBR: complete responses+partial responses+stable disease [SD] for at least 18weeks), duration of response (DOR), and safety. PFS for trabectedin was 4.0months compared with 1.5months for dacarbazine (hazard ratio [HR]=0.57; 95% CI 0.41-0.81; P=0.0012). OS was similar (trabectedin 13.4months vs. dacarbazine 12.9months, HR=0.89; 95% CI 0.65-1.24; P=0.51) between groups. ORR was 11% with trabectedin vs. 9% with dacarbazine (P=0.82). CBR for trabectedin was 31% vs. 18% with dacarbazine (P=0.05); median DOR was 6.5months for trabectedin vs. 4.1months for dacarbazine (P=0.32). Grade 3/4 treatment-emergent adverse events observed in ≥10% of patients in the trabectedin group included transient aminotransferase (aspartate/alanine) elevations, anemia, leukopenia, and thrombocytopenia. In this post hoc subset analysis of patients with uLMS who had received prior anthracycline therapy, trabectedin treatment resulted in significantly longer PFS versus dacarbazine, with an acceptable safety profile. There was no difference in OS. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

A phase II trial of regorafenib in patients with metastatic and/or a unresectable gastrointestinal stromal tumor harboring secondary mutations of exon 17.

PubMed

Yeh, Chun-Nan; Chen, Ming-Huang; Chen, Yen-Yang; Yang, Ching-Yao; Yen, Chueh-Chuan; Tzen, Chin-Yuan; Chen, Li-Tzong; Chen, Jen-Shi

2017-07-04

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are caused by the constitutive activation of KIT or platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRA) mutations. Imatinib selectively inhibits KIT and PDGFR, leading to disease control for 80%-90% of patients with metastatic GIST. Imatinib resistance can occur within a median of 2-3 years due to secondary mutations in KIT. According to preclinical studies, both imatinib and sunitinib are ineffective against exon 17 mutations. However, the treatment efficacy of regorafenib for patients with GIST with exon 17 mutations is still unknown. Documented patients with GIST with exon 17 mutations were enrolled in this study. Patients received 160 mg of oral regorafenib daily on days 1-21 of a 28-day cycle. The primary end point of this trial was the clinical benefit rate (CBR; i.e., complete or partial response [PR], as well as stable disease [SD]) at 16 weeks. The secondary end points of this study included progression free survival (PFS), overall survival, and safety. Between June 2014 to May 2016, 18 patients were enrolled (15 of which were eligible for response evaluation). The CBR at 16 weeks was 93.3% (14 of 15; 6 PR and 8 SD). The median PFS was 22.1 months. The most common grade 3 toxicities were hand-and-foot skin reactions (10 of 18; 55.6%), followed by hypertension (5 of 18; 27.8%). Regorafenib significantly prolonged PFS in patients with advanced GIST harboring secondary mutations of exon 17. A phase III trial of regorafenib versus placebo is warranted. This trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov in November 2015, number NCT02606097.Key message: This phase II trial was conducted to assess the efficacy and safety of regorafenib in patients with GIST with exon 17 mutations. The results provide strong evidence that regorafenib significantly prolonged PFS in patients with advanced GIST harboring secondary mutations of exon 17.

Sex hormones reduce NNK detoxification through inhibition of short-chain dehydrogenases/reductases and aldo-keto reductases in vitro.

PubMed

Stapelfeld, Claudia; Maser, Edmund

2017-10-01

Carbonyl reduction is an important metabolic pathway for endogenous and xenobiotic substances. The tobacco specific nitrosamine 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK, nicotine-derived nitrosamine ketone) is classified as carcinogenic to humans (IARC, Group 1) and considered to play the most important role in tobacco-related lung carcinogenesis. Detoxification of NNK through carbonyl reduction is catalyzed by members of the AKR- and the SDR-superfamilies which include AKR1B10, AKR1C1, AKR1C2, AKR1C4, 11β-HSD1 and CBR1. Because some reductases are also involved in steroid metabolism, five different hormones were tested for their inhibitory effect on NNK carbonyl reduction. Two of those hormones were estrogens (estradiol and ethinylestradiol), another two hormones belong to the gestagen group (progesterone and drospirenone) and the last tested hormone was an androgen (testosterone). Furthermore, one of the estrogens (ethinylestradiol) and one of the gestagens (drospirenone) are synthetic hormones, used as hormonal contraceptives. Five of six NNK reducing enzymes (AKR1B10, AKR1C1, AKR1C2, AKR1C4 and 11β-HSD1) were significantly inhibited by the tested sex hormones. Only NNK reduction catalyzed by CBR1 was not significantly impaired. In the case of the other five reductases, gestagens had remarkably stronger inhibitory effects at a concentration of 25 μM (progesterone: 66-88% inhibition; drospirenone: 26-87% inhibition) in comparison to estrogens (estradiol: 17-51% inhibition; ethinylestradiol: 14-79% inhibition) and androgens (14-78% inhibition). Moreover, in most cases the synthetic hormones showed a greater ability to inhibit NNK reduction than the physiologic derivatives. These results demonstrate that male and female sex hormones have different inhibitory potentials, thus indicating that there is a varying detoxification capacity of NNK in men and women which could result in a different risk for developing lung cancer. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Surface Engineering of Bromine-Based Plasma Polymer Films: A Step toward High Thiol Density Containing Organic Coatings.

PubMed

Thiry, Damien; Pouyanne, Matthias; Cossement, Damien; Hemberg, Axel; Snyders, Rony

2018-06-18

Nowadays, the development of synthetic methods regarding the fabrication of -SH containing organic coatings continues to attract a considerable attention. Among the potential techniques, the plasma polymerization appears as one of the most promising method but the difficulty to control the chemical composition of the layers is highly limiting. In this context, in this work, we report on an original method combining dry and wet chemistry approaches in view of selectively incorporating -SH functions in organic coatings. Our strategy is based on the (i) synthesis of a bromine-containing plasma polymer film, followed by (ii) a selective grafting of dithiol-based molecule on C-Br bond. Investigating the plasma polymerization process has revealed that, in our experimental window, the load of energy in the discharge has little influence on the chemical composition as well as on the cross-linking degree of the layers. This behavior is explained by considering the concomitant influence of the gas-phase reactions and the supply of energy to the growing film through ion bombardment. With regard to the functionalization strategy, based on comparative X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements, it has been unambiguously demonstrated that a selective reaction between propanedithiol and the C-Br bond acting as the reactive center takes place resulting in the removing of the bromine atom and the incorporation of -SH groups in the PPF. Depending on the grafting reaction duration, the relative proportion of carbon bearing the -SH group is found to evolve from 4 to 6%. On the other hand, the dissolution of unbounded bromine-based species in the liquid medium during the grafting procedure is also evidenced. The whole set of our results clearly demonstrates the attractiveness of our strategy paving the way for new development in the fabrication of -SH-rich-containing organic thin films.

Behavioral Determinants of Cannabinoid Self-Administration in Old World Monkeys.

PubMed

John, William S; Martin, Thomas J; Nader, Michael A

2017-06-01

Reinforcing effects of Δ 9 -tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary active ingredient in marijuana, as assessed with self-administration (SA), has only been established in New World primates (squirrel monkeys). The objective of this study was to investigate some experimental factors that may enhance intravenous SA of THC and the cannabinoid receptor (CBR) agonist CP 55 940 in Old World monkeys (rhesus and cynomolgus), a species that has been used extensively in biomedical research. In one experiment, male rhesus monkeys (N=9) were trained to respond under a fixed-ratio 10 schedule of food presentation. The effects of CP 55 940 (1.0-10 μg/kg, i.v.) and THC (3.0-300 μg/kg, i.v.) on food-maintained responding and body temperature were determined in these subjects prior to giving them access to self-administer each drug. Both drugs dose-dependently decreased food-maintained responding. CP 55 940 (0.001-3.0 μg/kg) functioned as a reinforcer in three monkeys, whereas THC (0.01-10 μg/kg) did not have reinforcing effects in any subject. CP 55 940 was least potent to decrease food-maintained responding in the monkeys in which CP 55 940 functioned as a reinforcer. Next, THC was administered daily to monkeys until tolerance developed to rate-decreasing effects. When THC SA was reexamined, it functioned as a reinforcer in three monkeys. In a group of cocaine-experienced male cynomolgus monkeys (N=4), THC SA was examined under a second-order schedule of reinforcement; THC functioned as reinforcer in two monkeys. These data suggest that SA of CBR agonists may be relatively independent of their rate-decreasing effects in Old World monkeys. Understanding individual differences in vulnerability to THC SA may lead to novel treatment strategies for marijuana abuse.

A phase II, multicenter, single-arm trial of eribulin as first- or second-line chemotherapy for HER2-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer: evaluation of efficacy, safety, and patient-reported outcomes.

PubMed

Kimura, Kosei; Iwamoto, Mitsuhiko; Tanaka, Satoru; Yamamoto, Daigo; Yoshidome, Katsuhide; Ogura, Hiroyuki; Terasawa, Risa; Matsunami, Nobuki; Takahashi, Yuko; Nitta, Toshikatsu; Morimoto, Takashi; Fujioka, Hiroya; Kawaguchi, Kanako; Uchiyama, Kazuhisa

2018-05-01

Although eribulin is a suitable option for early-line treatment of metastatic breast cancer (MBC), data on first- or second-line use of eribulin for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative MBC are still limited. Therefore, we conducted a phase II trial to investigate the efficacy and safety of eribulin for first- or second-line chemotherapy for HER2-negative MBC. We performed a phase II, open-label, single-arm, multicenter study in Japan. Eligible patients were women with histologically confirmed HER2-negative MBC without chemotherapy or only one chemotherapy line for MBC. The primary endpoint was the overall response rate (ORR) and the secondary endpoints included the clinical benefit rate (ORR + stable disease for 6 months; CBR), progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), duration of response (DOR), safety, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). A total of 35 patients with HER2-negative MBC were enrolled between March 2013 and February 2017 (data cut-off July 31, 2017). The ORR was 37.1% (95% CI 21.1-53.2%). The CBR was 54.3% (95% CI 37.8-70.8%). The median PFS was 6.2 months (95% CI 2.7-9.4 months) and median OS was 21.4 months (95% CI 11.5-32.9 months). Common grade 3/4 adverse events were neutropenia (42.9%) but febrile neutropenia (2.9%). Although the majority of non-hematological adverse events were mild in severity, one patient died of pneumonitis. In HRQoL analysis, eribulin appeared to maintain HRQoL of many patients. Eribulin as first- or second-line chemotherapy is effective and has manageable toxicity for patients with HER2-negative MBC.

Carotid Baroreflex Function During Prolonged Exercise

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Raven, P. B.

1999-01-01

Astronauts are often required to work (exercise) at moderate to high intensities for extended periods while performing extra-vehicular activities (EVA). Although the physiologic responses associated with prolonged exercise have been documented, the mechanisms involved in blood pressure regulation under these conditions have not yet been fully elucidated. An understanding of this issue is pertinent to the ability of humans to perform work in microgravity and complies with the emphasis of NASA's Space Physiology and Countermeasures Program. Prolonged exercise at a constant workload is know to result in a progressive decrease in mean arterial pressure (MAP) concomitant with a decrease in stroke volume and a compensatory increase in heart rate. The continuous decrease in MAP during the exercise, which is related to the thermoregulatory redistribution of circulating blood volume to the cutaneous circulation, raises the question as to whether there is a loss of baroreflex regulation of arterial blood pressure. We propose that with prolongation of the exercise to 60 minutes, progressive increases on central command reflect a progressive upward resetting of the carotid baroreflex (CBR) such that the operating point of the CBR is shifted to a pressure below the threshold of the reflex rendering it ineffectual in correcting the downward drift in MAP. In order to test this hypothesis, experiments have been designed to uncouple the global hemodynamic response to prolonged exercise from the central command mediated response via: (1) continuous maintenance of cardiac filling volume by intravenous infusion of a dextran solution; and (2) whole body surface cooling to counteract thermoregulatory cutaneous vasodialation. As the type of work (exercise) performed by astronauts is inherently arm and upper body dependent, we will also examine the physiologic responses to prolonged leg cycling and arm ergometry exercise in the supine positions with and without level lower body negative pressure (-10 torr) to mimic spaceflight- related decreases in cardiac filling volumes.

A phase III, open label, randomized multicenter controlled trial of oral versus intravenous treosulfan in heavily pretreated recurrent ovarian cancer: a study of the North-Eastern German Society of Gynecological Oncology (NOGGO).

PubMed

Sehouli, Jalid; Tomè, Oliver; Dimitrova, Desislava; Camara, Oumar; Runnebaum, Ingo Bernhard; Tessen, Hans Werner; Rautenberg, Beate; Chekerov, Radoslav; Muallem, Mustafa Zelal; Lux, Michael Patrick; Trarbach, Tanja; Gitsch, Gerald

2017-03-01

In recurrent ovarian cancer (ROC), there is a high demand on effective therapies with a mild toxicity profile. Treosulfan is an alkylating agent approved as oral (p.o.) and intravenous (i.v.) formulation for the treatment of recurrent ovarian cancer. Data on safety and efficacy for either formulation are rare. For the first time we conducted a randomized phase III study comparing both formulations in women with ROC. Patients having received at least two previous lines of chemotherapy were randomly assigned to one of two treatment arms: treosulfan i.v. 7000 mg/m 2 d1 q4w or treosulfan p.o. 600 mg/m 2 d1-28 q8w. Primary endpoint was safety regarding hematological and gastrointestinal toxicity grade III/IV, secondary endpoints were other toxicities, clinical benefit rate (CBR), time to progression (TTP), overall survival (OS) and quality of life. 250 patients were treated with treosulfan i.v. (128) or treosulfan p.o. (122). In general treosulfan therapy was well tolerated in both treatment arms. Leukopenia grade III/IV occurred significantly more frequently in the p.o. arm (3.9% i.v. arm, 14.8% p.o. arm, p = 0.002). Other toxicities were similar in both arms. CBR was comparable between arms (41.4% i.v. arm, 36.9% p.o. arm). No difference in TTP (3.7 months i.v. arm, 3.5 months p.o. arm) or OS (13.6 months i.v. arm, 10.4 months p.o. arm, p = 0.087) occurred. Given the safety and efficacy results treosulfan is an acceptable option for heavily pretreated OC patients. Regarding the toxicity profile the i.v. application was better tolerated with less grade III and IV toxicities.

The global regulator Crc plays a multifaceted role in modulation of type III secretion system in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

PubMed

Dong, Yi-Hu; Zhang, Xi-Fen; Zhang, Lian-Hui

2013-02-01

The opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa utilizes type III secretion system (T3SS) to translocate effector proteins into eukaryotic host cells that subvert normal host cell functions to the benefit of the pathogen, and results in serious infections. T3SS in P. aeruginosa is controlled by a complex system of regulatory mechanisms and signaling pathways. In this study, we described that Crc, an RNA-binding protein, exerts a positive impact on T3SS in P. aeruginosa, as evidenced by promoter activity assays of several key T3SS genes, transcriptomics, RT-PCR, and immunoblotting in crc mutant. We further demonstrated that the regulatory function of Crc on the T3SS was mediated through the T3SS master regulator ExsA and linked to the Cbr/Crc signaling system. Expression profiling of the crc mutant revealed a downregulation of flagship T3SS genes as well as 16 other genes known to regulate T3SS gene expression in P. aeruginosa. On the basis of these data, we proposed that Crc may exert multifaceted control on the T3SS through various pathways, which may serve to fine-tune this virulence mechanism in response to environmental changes and nutrient sources. © 2012 The Authors. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Design of Road Pavement Using Recycled Aggregate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Remišová, Eva; Decký, Martin; Mikolaš, Milan; Hájek, Matej; Kovalčík, Luboš; Mečár, Martin

2016-10-01

The presented article gives special attention to codified clauses of the road construction law, the relevant clauses of the standards and technical regulations to design and control the quality of recycled aggregate constructions. The article also presents the authors’ suggestions to design of earth constructions and pavements of roads according to the Slovak technical standards, technical regulations and objectively determined results of research and development of road infrastructure. The article presents a comparison of the mechanical characteristics measurements of the structural layers of road pavements built from the recycled and natural aggregate. It also presents correlation functions of results obtained from in situ and in laboratory CBR (Californian Bearing Ratio) measuring, representing the world's most widely used control method of bearing capacity of mentioned construction layers.

Tetraperchlorate of methane

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schack, C. J.

1972-01-01

The preparation of the tetraperchlorate of methane (TPM) was attempted. Displacement of halogen from carbon tetrahalides was accomplished with either CCl4 or CBr4 using the halogen perchlorates, ClOClO3, and BOClO3. Although the displacement process was successful, the generated carbon perchlorate intermediates were not isolated. Instead, these species decomposed to COCl2, CO2, and Cl2O7. The vigorous displacement reaction that often occurred required moderation. Fluorocarbon solvents and chlorine perchlorate were successfully tested for compatibility, permitting their use in these synthetic reactions. While the sought for moderating effect was obtained, the net result of the displacement of halogen from CX sub 4 substrates was the same as before. Thus only CO2, COCl2, and Cl2O7 were isolated.

Reaction between aminoalkyl radicals and akyl halides: Dehalogenation by electron transfer?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lalevée, J.; Fouassier, J. P.; Blanchard, N.; Ingold, K. U.

2011-07-01

Aminoalkyl radicals, such as Et2NCrad HCH3, have low oxidation potentials and are therefore powerful reducing agents. We have found that Et2NCrad HCH3 reacts with CCl4 and CBr4 in di-tert-butyl peroxide with bimolecular rate constants (measured by LFP) close, or equal, to the diffusion-controlled limit. For the less reactive halide, CH2Br2, the reaction rate is increased substantially by the addition of acetonitrile as a co-solvent. It is tentatively concluded that these reactions occur by electron-transfer from the aminoalkyl to the organohalide with formation of the iminium ion, Et2N+dbnd CHCH3 (NMR detection), halide ion and a halomethyl radical, e.g., rad CCl3 and rad CHCl2 (ESR, spin-trapping detection).

A Fast and Easily-Realized Concentration Sensor for Binary Gas Mixtures and Its Design Analysis.

PubMed

Guan, Yu; Lu, Song; Zhang, Dan; Hu, Yang; Yuan, Wei

2018-04-19

A low-cost and easily-realized sensing device used for the detection of gas mixtures at different concentrations is presented. Its sensing part includes a small critical nozzle, a laminar structure, and a differential pressure sensor. When gas flows through the laminar structure, there is a pressure drop between both ends of it, and for different components of gas, the pressure drop is different. Based on this feature, the concentration detection is achieved. Concentration tests for two types of fire extinguishing agents CBrF₃ and C₃HF₇ are presented. The results show the characteristics of fast response/recovery time, high accuracy, and good repeatability. Based on the theoretical analysis, the effects of the design parameters on the sensing performance to concentration detection are discussed in detail.

"That land means everything to us as Anishinaabe….": Environmental dispossession and resilience on the North Shore of Lake Superior.

PubMed

Tobias, Joshua K; Richmond, Chantelle A M

2014-09-01

This article shares results of a community-based (CBR) study that qualitatively examined the perceived health impacts of environmental dispossession among Elders in two Anishinaabe communities in Ontario, Canada. Through in-depth interviews, Elders (n=46) recounted changes in health and well-being, specifically that related to reduced access to traditional foods and decreased capacity to participate in, and share knowledge of, land-based practices. Elders discussed the ways in which they have remained resilient to these changes in their ways of living. With a greater purpose of proposing solutions that will improve contemporary patterns of Indigenous health, this research underscores the importance of engaging theoretically in concepts of environmental dispossession and resilience. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Recent Advances in Ring-Opening Functionalization of Cycloalkanols by C-C σ-Bond Cleavage.

PubMed

Wu, Xinxin; Zhu, Chen

2018-06-01

Cycloalkanols prove to be privileged precursors for the synthesis of distally substituted alkyl ketones and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) by virtue of cleavage of their cyclic C-C bonds. Direct functionalization of cyclobutanols to build up other chemical bonds (e. g., C-F, C-Cl, C-Br, C-N, C-S, C-Se, C-C, etc.) has been achieved by using the ring-opening strategy. Mechanistically, the C-C cleavage of cyclobutanols can be involved in two pathways: (a) transition-metal catalyzed β-carbon elimination; (b) radical-mediated 'radical clock'-type ring opening. The recent advances of our group for the ring-opening functionalization of tertiary cycloalkanols are described in this account. © 2018 The Chemical Society of Japan & Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Some transition metal complexes derived from mono- and di-ethynyl perfluorobenzenes.

PubMed

Armitt, David J; Bruce, Michael I; Gaudio, Maryka; Zaitseva, Natasha N; Skelton, Brian W; White, Allan H; Le Guennic, Boris; Halet, Jean-François; Fox, Mark A; Roberts, Rachel L; Hartl, Frantisek; Low, Paul J

2008-12-21

Transition metal alkynyl complexes containing perfluoroaryl groups have been prepared directly from trimethylsilyl-protected mono- and di-ethynyl perfluoroarenes by simple desilylation/metallation reaction sequences. Reactions between Me(3)SiC[triple bond, length as m-dash]CC(6)F(5) and RuCl(dppe)Cp' [Cp' = Cp, Cp*] in the presence of KF in MeOH give the monoruthenium complexes Ru(C[triple bond, length as m-dash]CC(6)F(5))(dppe)Cp' [Cp' = Cp (); Cp* ()], which are related to the known compound Ru(C[triple bond, length as m-dash]CC(6)F(5))(PPh(3))(2)Cp (). Treatment of Me(3)SiC[triple bond, length as m-dash]CC(6)F(5) with Pt(2)(mu-dppm)(2)Cl(2) in the presence of NaOMe in MeOH gave the bis(alkynyl) complex Pt(2)(mu-dppm)(2)(C[triple bond, length as m-dash]CC(6)F(5))(2) (). The Pd(0)/Cu(i)-catalysed reactions between Au(C[triple bond, length as m-dash]CC(6)F(5))(PPh(3)) and Mo( identical withCBr)(CO)(2)Tp* [Tp* = hydridotris(3.5-dimethylpyrazoyl)borate], Co(3)(mu(3)-CBr)(mu-dppm)(CO)(7) or IC[triple bond, length as m-dash]CFc [Fc = (eta(5)-C(5)H(4))FeCp] afford Mo( identical withCC[triple bond, length as m-dash]CC(6)F(5))(CO)(2)Tp* (), Co(3)(mu(3)-CC[triple bond, length as m-dash]CC(6)F(5))(mu-dppm)(CO)(7) () and FcC[triple bond, length as m-dash]CC[triple bond, length as m-dash]CC(6)F(5) (), respectively. The diruthenium complexes 1,4-{Cp'(PP)RuC[triple bond, length as m-dash]C}(2)C(6)F(4) [(PP)Cp' = (PPh(3))(2)Cp (); (dppe)Cp (); (dppe)Cp* ()] are prepared from 1,4-(Me(3)SiC[triple bond, length as m-dash]C)(2)C(6)F(4) in a manner similar to that described for the monoruthenium complexes -. The non-fluorinated complexes 1,4-{Cp'(PP)RuC[triple bond, length as m-dash]C}(2)C(6)H(4) [(PP)Cp' = (PPh(3))(2)Cp (); (dppe)Cp (); (dppe)Cp* ()], prepared for comparison, are obtained from 1,4-(Me(3)SiC[triple bond, length as m-dash]C)(2)C(6)H(4). Spectro-electrochemical studies of the ruthenium aryl and arylene alkynyl complexes - and -, together with DFT-based computational studies on suitable model systems, indicate that perfluorination of the aromatic ring has little effect on the electronic structures of these compounds, and that the frontier orbitals have appreciable diethynylphenylene character. Molecular structure determinations are reported for the fluoroaromatic complexes , , , and .

Living GenoChemetics by hyphenating synthetic biology and synthetic chemistry in vivo.

PubMed

Sharma, Sunil V; Tong, Xiaoxue; Pubill-Ulldemolins, Cristina; Cartmell, Christopher; Bogosyan, Emma J A; Rackham, Emma J; Marelli, Enrico; Hamed, Refaat B; Goss, Rebecca J M

2017-08-09

Marrying synthetic biology with synthetic chemistry provides a powerful approach toward natural product diversification, combining the best of both worlds: expediency and synthetic capability of biogenic pathways and chemical diversity enabled by organic synthesis. Biosynthetic pathway engineering can be employed to insert a chemically orthogonal tag into a complex natural scaffold affording the possibility of site-selective modification without employing protecting group strategies. Here we show that, by installing a sufficiently reactive handle (e.g., a C-Br bond) and developing compatible mild aqueous chemistries, synchronous biosynthesis of the tagged metabolite and its subsequent chemical modification in living culture can be achieved. This approach can potentially enable many new applications: for example, assay of directed evolution of enzymes catalyzing halo-metabolite biosynthesis in living cells or generating and following the fate of tagged metabolites and biomolecules in living systems. We report synthetic biological access to new-to-nature bromo-metabolites and the concomitant biorthogonal cross-coupling of halo-metabolites in living cultures.Coupling synthetic biology and chemical reactions in cells is a challenging task. The authors engineer bacteria capable of generating bromo-metabolites, develop a mild Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reaction compatible with cell growth and carry out the cross-coupling chemistry in live cell cultures.

Pulse radiolysis studies of the reactions of bromine atoms and dimethyl sulfoxide bromine atom complexes with alcohols

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sumiyoshi, Takashi; Fujiyoshi, Ryoko; Katagiri, Miho; Sawamura, Sadashi

2007-05-01

Dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO)-Br complexes were generated by pulse radiolysis of DMSO/bromomethane mixtures and the formation mechanism and spectral characteristics of the formed complexes were investigated in detail. The rate constant for the reaction of bromine atoms with DMSO and the extinction coefficient of the complex were obtained to be 4.6×10 9 M -1 s -1 and 6300 M -1 cm -1 at the absorption maximum of 430 nm. Rate constants for the reaction of bromine atoms with a series of alcohols were determined in CBrCl 3 solutions applying a competitive kinetic method using the DMSO-Br complex as the reference system. The obtained rate constants were ˜10 8 M -1 s -1, one or two orders larger than those reported for highly polar solvents. Rate constants of DMSO-Br complexes with alcohols were determined to be ˜ 10 7 M -1 s -1. A comparison of the reactivities of Br atoms and DMSO-Br complexes with those of chlorine atoms and chlorine atom complexes which are ascribed to hydrogen abstracting reactants strongly indicates that hydrogen abstraction from alcohols is not the rate determining step in the case of Br atoms and DMSO-Br complexes.

A trans-acting leader RNA from a Salmonella virulence gene

PubMed Central

Choi, Eunna; Han, Yoontak; Cho, Yong-Joon; Nam, Daesil; Lee, Eun-Jin

2017-01-01

Bacteria use flagella to move toward nutrients, find its host, or retract from toxic substances. Because bacterial flagellum is one of the ligands that activate the host innate immune system, its synthesis should be tightly regulated during host infection, which is largely unknown. Here, we report that a bacterial leader mRNA from the mgtCBR virulence operon in the intracellular pathogen Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium binds to the fljB coding region of mRNAs in the fljBA operon encoding the FljB phase 2 flagellin, a main component of bacterial flagella and the FljA repressor for the FliC phase 1 flagellin, and degrades fljBA mRNAs in an RNase E-dependent fashion during infection. A nucleotide substitution of the fljB flagellin gene that prevents the mgtC leader RNA-mediated down-regulation increases the fljB-encoded flagellin synthesis, leading to a hypermotile phenotype inside macrophages. Moreover, the fljB nucleotide substitution renders Salmonella hypervirulent, indicating that FljB-based motility must be compromised in the phagosomal compartment where Salmonella resides. This suggests that this pathogen promotes pathogenicity by producing a virulence protein and limits locomotion by a trans-acting leader RNA from the same virulence gene during infection. PMID:28874555

Disaster preparedness in an Australian urban trauma center: staff knowledge and perceptions.

PubMed

Corrigan, Ellen; Samrasinghe, Iromi

2012-10-01

A substantial barrier to improving disaster preparedness in Australia is a lack of prescriptive national guidelines based on individual hospital capabilities. A recent literature review revealed that only one Australian hospital has published data regarding its current preparedness level. To establish baseline levels of disaster knowledge, preparedness, and willingness to respond to a disaster among one hospital's staff, and thus enable the implementation of national disaster preparedness guidelines based on realistic capabilities of individual hospitals. An anonymous questionnaire was distributed to individuals and departments that play key roles in the hospital's external disaster response. Questions concerned prior education and experience specific to disasters, general preparedness knowledge, perceived preparedness of themselves and their department, and willingness to respond to a disaster from a conventional and/or chemical, biological, or radiological incident. Responses were received from 140 individuals representing nine hospital departments. Eighty-three participants (59.3%) had previously received disaster education; 53 (37.9%) had attended a disaster simulation drill, and 18 (12.9%) had responded to an actual disaster. The average disaster preparedness knowledge score was 3.57 out of 10. The majority of respondents rated themselves as "not really" prepared and were "unsure" of their respective departments' level of preparedness. Most respondents indicated a willingness to participate in both a conventional incident involving burns and/or physical trauma, and an incident involving chemical, biological or radiological (CBR) weapons. Australian hospital staff are under-prepared to respond to a disaster because of a lack of education, insufficient simulation exercises, and limited disaster experience. The absence of specific national standards and guidelines through which individual hospitals can develop their capabilities further compounds the poverty in preparedness.

Successful engagement: CBM's holistic approach to the work in the area of ear care, deafness, hard of hearing and deafblindness.

PubMed

Tesni, Sian; Santana-Hernández, Diego

2014-09-01

CBM is an international Christian development organisation, committed to improving the quality of life of persons with disabilities in disadvantaged societies. CBM aims at achieving this in partnership with local organisations and in cooperation with stakeholders at regional and international levels. This article aims at sharing CBM's holistic approach for successful engagement in the work area of ear care, deafness, hard of hearing and deafblindness. Review of CBM supporting documents, including strategies, position papers, technical guidelines, criteria of success and information related to partners, centres of excellence and model projects. Description of how partner programmes use participatory methods of planning and implementation, involving persons with disabilities and the community. Recommendations on how to develop national or sub-national strategies to impact the lives, and advocate with governments for the rights and inclusion, of persons with disabilities. CBM's holistic approach to work in the area of ear care; deafness; hard of hearing and deafblindness includes intervention at all levels of health care provision, Education, CBR and Audiological, Speech Therapy and other interdisciplinary services. This article presents CBM's core principles and shares specific strategic planning and results, together with lessons learnt while searching a sustainable engagement for field work. Rehabilitation, in its widest conception, should be approached as a multidisciplinary strategy, and developed in close cooperation with other local, national and international agencies. CBM is positioned in a strategic point from where it can play a key role in the facilitation of an international forum for agencies and stakeholders to reach a consensus to decrease the burden of ear disease and hearing loss, through early intervention and re/habilitation.

Potential benefits of long-distance electricity transmission in China for air quality and climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, W.; Mauzerall, D. L.; Yuan, J.; Zhao, Y.; Lin, M.; Zhang, Q.

2015-12-01

China is expanding west-to-east long-distance electricity transmission capacity with the aim of reducing eastern coal power production and resulting air pollution. In addition to coal power, this new grid capacity can be used to transport renewable-generated electricity with resulting climate co-benefits. Here we use an integrated assessment to evaluate the air quality and climate benefits of twelve proposed transmission lines in China, and compare two energy-by-wire strategies that transmit 1) only coal power (Coal-by-wire, CbW) or 2) combined renewable plus coal power (Renewable and coal-by-wire, (RE+C)bW), with 3) the current practice of transporting coal by rail for conversion to electricity near eastern demand centers (Coal-by-rail, CbR). Based on a regional atmospheric chemistry model, WRF-Chem, electricity transmission through the proposed lines leads to 2-3 μg/m3 (2-7%) reduction in the annual mean concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the eastern provinces relative to 2010 levels, roughly ~1 μg/m3 greater than the reduction achieved in CbR where dirty coal units are locally replaced with efficient ones. Although the eastern air quality improvement is similar irrespective of the fuel source to power the lines, adding coal generation results in up to 3% increase in annual mean PM2.5 levels in some exporting provinces, whereas such increase is not observed when most added capacity is renewable-based. Counting both the economic value of reduced carbon emissions and the health-related air quality benefits can significantly improve the cost-effectiveness of transmitting both renewable and coal power. Comparing (RE+C)bW with the two coal-based options, we find not only 20% larger reduction in air-pollution-related deaths, but also three times greater reduction in CO2 emissions. Our study hence demonstrates the significance of coordinating renewable energy planning with transmission planning to simultaneously tackle air pollution and climate change in China and globally.

Cannabinoid receptor activation correlates with the proapoptotic action of the β2-adrenergic agonist (R,R')-4-methoxy-1-naphthylfenoterol in HepG2 hepatocarcinoma cells.

PubMed

Paul, Rajib K; Ramamoorthy, Anuradha; Scheers, Jade; Wersto, Robert P; Toll, Lawrence; Jimenez, Lucita; Bernier, Michel; Wainer, Irving W

2012-10-01

Inhibition of cell proliferation by fenoterol and fenoterol derivatives in 1321N1 astrocytoma cells is consistent with β(2)-adrenergic receptor (β(2)-AR) stimulation. However, the events that result in fenoterol-mediated control of cell proliferation in other cell types are not clear. Here, we compare the effect of the β(2)-AR agonists (R,R')-fenoterol (Fen) and (R,R')-4-methoxy-1-naphthylfenoterol (MNF) on signaling and cell proliferation in HepG2 hepatocarcinoma cells by using Western blotting and [(3)H]thymidine incorporation assays. Despite the expression of β(2)-AR, no cAMP accumulation was observed when cells were stimulated with isoproterenol or Fen, although the treatment elicited both mitogen-activated protein kinase and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt activation. Unexpectedly, isoproterenol and Fen promoted HepG2 cell growth, but MNF reduced proliferation together with increased apoptosis. The mitogenic responses of Fen were attenuated by 3-(isopropylamino)-1-[(7-methyl-4-indanyl)oxy]butan-2-ol (ICI 118,551), a β(2)-AR antagonist, whereas those of MNF were unaffected. Because of the coexpression of β(2)-AR and cannabinoid receptors (CBRs) and their impact on HepG2 cell proliferation, these Gα(i)/Gα(o)-linked receptors may be implicated in MNF signaling. Cell treatment with (R)-(+)-[2,3-dihydro-5-methyl-3-(4-morpholinylmethyl)pyrrolo[1,2,3-de]-1,4-benzoxazin-6-yl]-1-napthalenylmethanone (WIN 55,212-2), a synthetic agonist of CB(1)R and CB(2)R, led to growth inhibition, whereas inverse agonists of these receptors blocked MNF mitogenic responses without affecting Fen signaling. MNF responses were sensitive to pertussis toxin. The β(2)-AR-deficient U87MG cells were refractory to Fen, but responsive to the antiproliferative actions of MNF and WIN 55,212-2. The data indicate that the presence of the naphthyl moiety in MNF results in functional coupling to the CBR pathway, providing one of the first examples of a dually acting β(2)-AR-CBR ligand.

Cannabinoid Receptor Activation Correlates with the Proapoptotic Action of the β2-Adrenergic Agonist (R,R′)-4-Methoxy-1-Naphthylfenoterol in HepG2 Hepatocarcinoma CellsS⃞

PubMed Central

Paul, Rajib K.; Ramamoorthy, Anuradha; Scheers, Jade; Wersto, Robert P.; Toll, Lawrence; Jimenez, Lucita; Wainer, Irving W.

2012-01-01

Inhibition of cell proliferation by fenoterol and fenoterol derivatives in 1321N1 astrocytoma cells is consistent with β2-adrenergic receptor (β2-AR) stimulation. However, the events that result in fenoterol-mediated control of cell proliferation in other cell types are not clear. Here, we compare the effect of the β2-AR agonists (R,R′)-fenoterol (Fen) and (R,R′)-4-methoxy-1-naphthylfenoterol (MNF) on signaling and cell proliferation in HepG2 hepatocarcinoma cells by using Western blotting and [3H]thymidine incorporation assays. Despite the expression of β2-AR, no cAMP accumulation was observed when cells were stimulated with isoproterenol or Fen, although the treatment elicited both mitogen-activated protein kinase and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt activation. Unexpectedly, isoproterenol and Fen promoted HepG2 cell growth, but MNF reduced proliferation together with increased apoptosis. The mitogenic responses of Fen were attenuated by 3-(isopropylamino)-1-[(7-methyl-4-indanyl)oxy]butan-2-ol (ICI 118,551), a β2-AR antagonist, whereas those of MNF were unaffected. Because of the coexpression of β2-AR and cannabinoid receptors (CBRs) and their impact on HepG2 cell proliferation, these Gαi/Gαo-linked receptors may be implicated in MNF signaling. Cell treatment with (R)-(+)-[2,3-dihydro-5-methyl-3-(4-morpholinylmethyl)pyrrolo[1,2,3-de]-1,4-benzoxazin-6-yl]-1-napthalenylmethanone (WIN 55,212-2), a synthetic agonist of CB1R and CB2R, led to growth inhibition, whereas inverse agonists of these receptors blocked MNF mitogenic responses without affecting Fen signaling. MNF responses were sensitive to pertussis toxin. The β2-AR-deficient U87MG cells were refractory to Fen, but responsive to the antiproliferative actions of MNF and WIN 55,212-2. The data indicate that the presence of the naphthyl moiety in MNF results in functional coupling to the CBR pathway, providing one of the first examples of a dually acting β2-AR-CBR ligand. PMID:22776956

Palbociclib as single agent or in combination with the endocrine therapy received before disease progression for estrogen receptor-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer: TREnd trial.

PubMed

Malorni, L; Curigliano, G; Minisini, A M; Cinieri, S; Tondini, C A; D'Hollander, K; Arpino, G; Bernardo, A; Martignetti, A; Criscitiello, C; Puglisi, F; Pestrin, M; Sanna, G; Moretti, E; Risi, E; Biagioni, C; McCartney, A; Boni, L; Buyse, M; Migliaccio, I; Biganzoli, L; Di Leo, A

2018-06-11

The activity of palbociclib as a single agent in advanced breast cancer has not been extensively studied, with the only available clinical data limited to heavily pre-treated patients. Pre-clinical data suggests palbociclib may partially reverse endocrine resistance, though this hypothesis has not been evaluated in previous clinical studies. This phase II, open-label, multi-center study examined the activity of palbociclib monotherapy, as well as palbociclib given in combination with the same endocrine therapy (ET) that was received prior to disease progression, in post-menopausal women with moderately pre-treated, estrogen receptor-positive, HER2 negative advanced breast cancer. Eligible women with advanced disease which had progressed on one or two prior ETs were randomized 1:1 to receive either palbociclib alone, or palbociclib in combination with the ET as previously received. Primary endpoint was clinical benefit rate (CBR); secondary endpoints included progression-free survival (PFS). Between October 2012 and July 2016, a total of 115 patients were randomized. The CBR was 54% (95% CI 41.5 - 63.7) for combination therapy, and 60% (95% CI 47.8 - 72.9) for monotherapy. Median PFS was 10.8 months (95% CI 5.6 - 12.7) for combination therapy, and 6.5 months (95% CI, 5.4 to 8.5) for monotherapy (hazard ratio [HR] 0.69; 95% CI 0.4 - 1.1, exploratory P-value = 0.12). Exploratory analyses revealed the PFS advantage for combination therapy was seen in the subgroup of patients who received prior ET for >6 months (HR 0.53; 95% CI 0.3 - 0.9, exploratory P-value = 0.02), but not in those who received prior ET for ≤6 months. Palbociclib has clinical activity as a single agent in women with moderately pre-treated, oestrogen receptor-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer. Palbociclib may have potential to reverse endocrine resistance in patients with a history of previous durable response to ET. NCT02549430.

Fixed dose-rate gemcitabine infusion as first-line treatment for advanced-stage carcinoma of the pancreas and biliary tree.

PubMed

Gelibter, Alain; Malaguti, Paola; Di Cosimo, Serena; Bria, Emilio; Ruggeri, Enzo Maria; Carlini, Paolo; Carboni, Fabio; Ettorre, Giuseppe Maria; Pellicciotta, Mario; Giannarelli, Diana; Terzoli, Edmondo; Cognetti, Francesco; Milella, Michele

2005-09-15

Gemcitabine infusion at the fixed dose rate of 10 mg/m(2) per minute (FDR-gemcitabine) has pharmacokinetic advantages and may result in improved therapeutic efficacy. Between April 2002 and September 2003, 40 patients with advanced-stage pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC; n = 27) or biliary tree carcinoma (BTC; n = 13) were treated with weekly FDR-gemcitabine (1000 mg/m(2)). The primary end point was the response rate. The secondary end points were progression-free and overall survival (PFS and OS), tumor marker response, and clinical benefit response (CBR). The overall response rate (ORR) on an intent-to-treat basis was 15% (95% confidence interval [95% CI], 4-26%). A positive CBR was obtained in 14 of 29 (48%) patients. Seventeen of 25 (68%) patients had a reduction in carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9) of > 25%. The median time to treatment failure and the median PFS were 17 weeks (95% CI, 13-22 weeks) and 19 weeks (95% CI, 15-23 weeks), respectively. The median OS was 40 weeks (95% CI, 36-45 weeks) and the 1-year actuarial survival rate was 25.8%. Multivariate analysis showed that a performance status score of 0-1 at study entry and locally advanced disease were the only independent predictors of longer PFS and OS, whereas a reduction in CA 19-9 serum levels > 75% was an independent predictor of longer PFS, but had no impact on OS. Toxicity was mild with Grade 3-4 neutropenia (according to the National Cancer Institute-Common Toxicity Criteria [version 2.0]) in 18 of 427 treatment weeks (4.2%), and Grade 3 anemia and thrombocytopenia in 6 of 427 treatment weeks (1.4%) and 9 of 427 treatment weeks (2.1%), respectively, and asymptomatic Grade 3-4 transaminase elevation in 21 of 427 treatment weeks (4.9%). FDR-gemcitabine at the weekly dose of 1000 mg/m(2) demonstrated promising activity, despite negligible toxicity, in patients with advanced-stage PDAC and BTC. Copyright 2005 American Cancer Society.

Randomized controlled trial of toremifene 120 mg compared with exemestane 25 mg after prior treatment with a non-steroidal aromatase inhibitor in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer.

PubMed

Yamamoto, Yutaka; Ishikawa, Takashi; Hozumi, Yasuo; Ikeda, Masahiko; Iwata, Hiroji; Yamashita, Hiroko; Toyama, Tatsuya; Chishima, Takashi; Saji, Shigehira; Yamamoto-Ibusuki, Mutsuko; Iwase, Hirotaka

2013-05-16

After the failure of a non-steroidal aromatase inhibitor (nsAI) for postmenopausal patients with metastatic breast cancer (mBC), it is unclear which of various kinds of endocrine therapy is the most appropriate. A randomized controlled trial was performed to compare the efficacy and safety of daily toremifene 120 mg (TOR120), a selective estrogen receptor modulator, and exemestane 25 mg (EXE), a steroidal aromatase inhibitor. The primary end point was the clinical benefit rate (CBR). The secondary end points were objective response rate (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS) and toxicity. Initially, a total of 91 women was registered in the study and randomly assigned to either TOR120 (n = 46) or EXE (n = 45) from October 2008 to November 2011. Three of the 46 patients in the TOR120 arm were not received treatment, 2 patients having withdrawn from the trial by their preference and one having been dropped due to administration of another SERM. When analyzed after a median observation period of 16.9 months, the intention-to-treat analysis showed that there were no statistical difference between TOR120 (N = 46) and EXE (n = 45) in terms of CBR (41.3% vs. 26.7%; P = 0.14), ORR (10.8% vs. 2.2%; P = 0.083), and OS (Hazard ratio, 0.60; P = 0.22). The PFS of TOR120 was longer than that of EXE, the difference being statistically significant (Hazard ratio, 0.61, P = 0.045). The results in treatment-received cohort (N = 88) were similar to those in ITT cohort. Both treatments were well-tolerated with no severe adverse events, although the treatment of 3 of 43 women administered TOR120 was stopped after a few days because of nausea, general fatigue, hot flush and night sweating. TOR120, as a subsequent endocrine therapy for mBC patients who failed non-steroidal AI treatment, could potentially be more beneficial than EXE. UMIN000001841.

Randomized controlled trial of toremifene 120 mg compared with exemestane 25 mg after prior treatment with a non-steroidal aromatase inhibitor in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background After the failure of a non-steroidal aromatase inhibitor (nsAI) for postmenopausal patients with metastatic breast cancer (mBC), it is unclear which of various kinds of endocrine therapy is the most appropriate. A randomized controlled trial was performed to compare the efficacy and safety of daily toremifene 120 mg (TOR120), a selective estrogen receptor modulator, and exemestane 25 mg (EXE), a steroidal aromatase inhibitor. The primary end point was the clinical benefit rate (CBR). The secondary end points were objective response rate (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS) and toxicity. Methods Initially, a total of 91 women was registered in the study and randomly assigned to either TOR120 (n = 46) or EXE (n = 45) from October 2008 to November 2011. Three of the 46 patients in the TOR120 arm were not received treatment, 2 patients having withdrawn from the trial by their preference and one having been dropped due to administration of another SERM. Results When analyzed after a median observation period of 16.9 months, the intention-to-treat analysis showed that there were no statistical difference between TOR120 (N = 46) and EXE (n = 45) in terms of CBR (41.3% vs. 26.7%; P = 0.14), ORR (10.8% vs. 2.2%; P = 0.083), and OS (Hazard ratio, 0.60; P = 0.22). The PFS of TOR120 was longer than that of EXE, the difference being statistically significant (Hazard ratio, 0.61, P = 0.045). The results in treatment-received cohort (N = 88) were similar to those in ITT cohort. Both treatments were well-tolerated with no severe adverse events, although the treatment of 3 of 43 women administered TOR120 was stopped after a few days because of nausea, general fatigue, hot flush and night sweating. Conclusions TOR120, as a subsequent endocrine therapy for mBC patients who failed non-steroidal AI treatment, could potentially be more beneficial than EXE. Trial registration number UMIN000001841 PMID:23679192

Health effects from long-range transported contaminants in Arctic top predators: An integrated review based on studies of polar bears and relevant model species.

PubMed

Sonne, Christian

2010-07-01

The aim of this review is to provide a thorough overview of the health effects from the complexed biomagnified mixture of long-range transported industrial organochlorines (OCs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) and mercury (Hg) on polar bear (Ursus maritimus) health. Multiple scientific studies of polar bears indicate negative relationships between exposure to these contaminants and health parameters; however, these are all of a correlative nature and do not represent true cause-and-effects. Therefore, information from controlled studies of farmed Norwegian Arctic foxes (Vulpes lagopus) and housed East and West Greenland sledge dogs (Canis familiaris) were included as supportive weight of evidence in the clarification of contaminant exposure and health effects in polar bears. The review showed that hormone and vitamin concentrations, liver, kidney and thyroid gland morphology as well as reproductive and immune systems of polar bears are likely to be influenced by contaminant exposure. Furthermore, exclusively based on polar bear contaminant studies, bone density reduction and neurochemical disruption and DNA hypomethylation of the brain stem seemed to occur. The range of tissue concentration, at which these alterations were observed in polar bears, were ca. 1-70,000 ng/g lw for OCs (blood plasma concentrations of some PCB metabolites even higher), ca. 1-1000 ng/g lw for PBDEs and for PFCs and Hg 114-3052 ng/g ww and 0.1-50 microg/g ww, respectively. Similar concentrations were found in farmed foxes and housed sledge dogs while the lack of dose response designs did not allow an estimation of threshold levels for oral exposure and accumulated tissue concentrations. Nor was it possible to pinpoint a specific group of contaminants being more important than others nor analyze their interactions. For East Greenland polar bears the corresponding daily SigmaOC and SigmaPBDE oral exposure was estimated to be 35 and 0.34 microg/kg body weight, respectively. Furthermore, PFC concentrations, at which population effect levels could occur, are likely to be reached around year 2012 for the East Greenland polar bear subpopulation if current increasing temporal trends continue. Such proposed reproductive population effects were supported by physiological based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modelling of critical body residues (CBR) with risk quotients >or=1 for SigmaPCB, dieldrin, SigmaPFC and SigmaOHC (organohalogen contaminant). The estimated daily TEQ for East Greenland polar bears and East Greenland sledge dogs were 32-281-folds above WHO SigmaTEQ guidelines for humans. Compared to human tolerable daily intake (TDI), these were exceeded for PCBs, dieldrin, chlordanes and SigmaHCH in East Greenland polar bears. Comparisons like these should be done with caution, but together with the CBR modelling and T-score estimations, these were the only available tools for polar bear risk evaluation. In conclusion, polar bears seem to be susceptible to contaminant induced stress that may have an overall sub-clinical impact on their health and population status via impacts on their immune and reproductive systems. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Solidification/stabilization of dredged marine sediments for road construction.

PubMed

Wang, Dong Xing; Abriak, Nor Edine; Zentar, Rachid; Xu, WeiYa

2012-01-01

Cement/lime-based solidification is an environmentally sound solution for the management of dredged marine sediments, instead of traditional solutions such as immersion. Based on the mineralogical composition and physical characteristics of Dunkirk sediments, the effects of cement and lime are assessed through Atterberg limits, modified Proctor compaction, unconfined compressive strength and indirect tensile strength tests. The variation of Atterberg limits and the improvement in strength are discussed at different binder contents. The potential of sediments solidified with cement or lime for road construction is evaluated through a proposed methodology from two aspects: I-CBR value and material classification. The test results show the feasibility of solidified dredged sediments for beneficial use as a material in road construction. Cement is superior to lime in terms of strength improvement, and adding 6% cement is an economic and reasonable method to stabilize fine sediments.

Oleamide restores sleep in adult rats that were subjected to maternal separation.

PubMed

Reyes Prieto, Nidia M; Romano López, Antonio; Pérez Morales, Marcel; Pech, Olivia; Méndez-Díaz, Mónica; Ruiz Contreras, Alejandra E; Prospéro-García, Oscar

2012-12-01

Maternal separation (MS) induces a series of changes in rats' behavior; among them a reduction in spontaneous sleep. One potentially impaired system is the endocannabinoid system (eCBs), since it contributes to generate sleep. To investigate if there are situations early in life that affect the eCBs, which would contribute to make rats vulnerable to suffering insomnia, we studied the rodent model of MS. Rats were separated from their mothers for 3h-periods daily, from postnatal day (PND) 2 to PND 16. Once they gained 250g of body weight (adult rats), they were implanted with electrodes to record the sleep-waking cycle (SWC). MS rats and non-MS (NMS) siblings were assigned to one of the following groups: vehicle, oleamide (OLE, an agonist of the cannabinoid receptor 1, CB1R), OLE+AM251 (an antagonist of the CB1R) and AM251 alone. Expression of the CBR1 receptor was also analyzed in the frontal cortex (FCx) and in the hippocampus (HIP) of both NMS and MS rats. Results indicated that MS induced a reduction in both non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep with the consequent increase in waking (W) as compared to NMS siblings. OLE normalized the SWC, and AM251 blocked such an effect. CB1R expression was reduced in the FCx and in the HIP of MS rats. Our results indicate that MS reduces sleep and CB1R expression and OLE improves sleep in adult rats. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Multi-stage ranking of emergency technology alternatives for water source pollution accidents using a fuzzy group decision making tool.

PubMed

Qu, Jianhua; Meng, Xianlin; You, Hong

2016-06-05

Due to the increasing number of unexpected water source pollution events, selection of the most appropriate disposal technology for a specific pollution scenario is of crucial importance to the security of urban water supplies. However, the formulation of the optimum option is considerably difficult owing to the substantial uncertainty of such accidents. In this research, a multi-stage technical screening and evaluation tool is proposed to determine the optimal technique scheme, considering the areas of pollutant elimination both in drinking water sources and water treatment plants. In stage 1, a CBR-based group decision tool was developed to screen available technologies for different scenarios. Then, the threat degree caused by the pollution was estimated in stage 2 using a threat evaluation system and was partitioned into four levels. For each threat level, a corresponding set of technique evaluation criteria weights was obtained using Group-G1. To identify the optimization alternatives corresponding to the different threat levels, an extension of TOPSIS, a multi-criteria interval-valued trapezoidal fuzzy decision making technique containing the four arrays of criteria weights, to a group decision environment was investigated in stage 3. The effectiveness of the developed tool was elaborated by two actual thallium-contaminated scenarios associated with different threat levels. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of corn cob ash on lime stabilized lateritic soil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nnochiri, Emeka Segun

2018-03-01

This study assesses the effects of Corn Cob Ash (CCA) on lime-stabilized lateritic soil. Preliminary tests were carried out on the natural soil sample for purpose of identification and classification. Lime being the main stabilizing material was thoroughly mixed with the soil sample to determine the optimum lime requirement of the sample as a basis for evaluating the effects of the CCA. The optimum lime requirement was 10%. The CCA was thereafter added to the lime stabilized soil in varying proportions of 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10%. Unsoaked CBR increased from 83% at 0% CCA to highest value of 94% at 4% CCA. Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS) values increased from 1123kN/m2 at 0% CCA to highest value of 1180kN/m2 at 4% CCA. It was therefore concluded that CCA can serve as a good complement for lime stabilization in lateritic soil.

Modified sequential extraction for biochar and petroleum coke: Metal release potential and its environmental implications.

PubMed

von Gunten, Konstantin; Alam, Md Samrat; Hubmann, Magdalena; Ok, Yong Sik; Konhauser, Kurt O; Alessi, Daniel S

2017-07-01

A modified Community Bureau of Reference (CBR) sequential extraction method was tested to assess the composition of untreated pyrogenic carbon (biochar) and oil sands petroleum coke. Wood biochar samples were found to contain lower concentrations of metals, but had higher fractions of easily mobilized alkaline earth and transition metals. Sewage sludge biochar was determined to be less recalcitrant and had higher total metal concentrations, with most of the metals found in the more resilient extraction fractions (oxidizable, residual). Petroleum coke was the most stable material, with a similar metal distribution pattern as the sewage sludge biochar. The applied sequential extraction method represents a suitable technique to recover metals from these materials, and is a valuable tool in understanding the metal retaining and leaching capability of various biochar types and carbonaceous petroleum coke samples. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Preparation of gold nanoparticles by surfactant-promoted reductive reaction without extra reducing agent.

PubMed

Tang, Junqi; Huang, Jiamin; Man, Shi-Qing

2013-02-15

Cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) has been extensively applied in the solution-phase synthesis of many types of colloidal nanoparticles. However, the uses of CTAB were mainly considered as template or capping agents to form controllable shape and protect the product from agglomeration. Here it was discovered that CATB could serve as a very mild reductant to reduce gold salt precursors preparing gold nanoparticles (GNPs) at base environment. CTAB acted as the reducing agent suffering a partial degradation and forming CTA macro radicals. FTIR proved the formation of CCl and/or CBr bond after CTAB degraded. The characterization of synthesized GNPs was examined by UV-Vis spectra, TEM and XRD. Several factors affecting the process of reaction, such as the amount of NaOH, the molar ratio of CTAB and HAuCl(4), the reaction temperature, the effect of light and oxygen, and stirring were discussed. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ir-Catalyzed, Silyl-Directed, peri-Borylation of C-H Bonds in Fused Polycyclic Arenes and Heteroarenes.

PubMed

Su, Bo; Hartwig, John F

2018-05-20

peri-Disubstituted naphthalenes exhibit interesting physical properties and unique chemical reactivity, due to the parallel arrangement of the bonds to the two peri-disposed substituents. Regioselective installation of a functional group at the position peri to 1-substituted naphthalenes is challenging due to the steric interaction between the existing substituent and the position at which the second one would be installed. We report an iridium-catalyzed borylation of the C-H bond peri to a silyl group in naphthalenes and analogous polyaromatic hydrocarbons. The reaction occurs under mild conditions with wide functional group tolerance. The silyl group and the boryl group in the resulting products are precursors to a range of functional groups bound to the naphthalene ring through C-C, C-O, C-N, C-Br and C-Cl bonds. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Anomalous heat transfer in two polymorphs of para-bromobenzophenone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Romantsova, O. O.; Horbatenko, Yu. V.; Krivchikov, A. I.; Korolyuk, O. A.; Vdovichenko, G. A.; Zloba, D. I.; Pyshkin, O. S.

2017-03-01

The thermal conductivity of a polycrystalline sample of monoclinic polymorph of para-bromobenzophenone in the T = 3-320 K temperature range was measured using steady-state linear heat flow. The temperature dependences of thermal conductivity are presented as the sum of two independent contributions: a contribution that corresponds to the thermal conductivity of an orientationally ordered crystal structure, and a new additional thermally activated contribution that manifests itself above 130 K. A comparison is made with the data on the thermal conductivity of a single crystal triclinic polymorph of para-bromobenzophenone. It is established that the contribution corresponding to the thermal conductivity of the orientationally ordered crystal structure depends on the molecular crystal packing, and the characteristic activation energy of the thermal activation contribution, which is caused by the intramolecular vibrations of the C-Br bond, does not depend on the grain size or on the structure of the sample.

Absolute Rayleigh scattering cross sections of gases and freons of stratospheric interest in the visible and ultraviolet regions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

SHARDANAND; Rao, A. D. P.

1977-01-01

The laboratory measurements of absolute Rayleigh scattering cross sections as a function wavelength are reported for gas molecules He, Ne, Ar, N2, H2, O2, CO2, CH4 and for vapors of most commonly used freons CCl2F2, CBrF3, CF4, and CHClf2. These cross sections are determined from the measurements of photon scattering at an angle of 54 deg 44 min which yield the absolute values independent of the value of normal depolarization ratios. The present results show that in the spectral range 6943-3638A deg, the values of the Rayleigh scattering cross section can be extrapolated from one wavelength to the other using 1/lambda (4) law without knowing the values of the polarizabilities. However, such an extrapolation can not be done in the region of shorter wavelengths.

Molecular relaxation processes of 2-bromopropane in solutions from IR ν(C-Br) band shape analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bratu, I.; Grecu, R.; Constantinescu, R.; Iliescu, T.

1998-03-01

The infrared (C-Br) stretching band profile of 2-bromopropane in pure liquid and in solution was studied. The frequency shifts, described by the Buckingham equation, account for the influence of the polarity and polarizability of the solvents. To evaluate the importance of the last term in the Buckingham equation, which describes the mutual influence of these two effects, a linear multidimensional regression analysis was done. The correlation factor increased when the cross term was considered. The concentration dependence of the FWHH (full width at half height) can be related to the vibrational relaxation processes, among them vibrational dephasing being the most important. More information about mechanisms responsible for the vibrational bandshape can be obtained from the correlation function Φ( t). As a result of modelling the experimental CF with Kubo-Rothschild's model, the modulation of the vibrational frequencies is found to be of intermediate type.

A phase II trial of abiraterone acetate plus prednisone in patients with triple-negative androgen receptor positive locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer (UCBG 12-1).

PubMed

Bonnefoi, H; Grellety, T; Tredan, O; Saghatchian, M; Dalenc, F; Mailliez, A; L'Haridon, T; Cottu, P; Abadie-Lacourtoisie, S; You, B; Mousseau, M; Dauba, J; Del Piano, F; Desmoulins, I; Coussy, F; Madranges, N; Grenier, J; Bidard, F C; Proudhon, C; MacGrogan, G; Orsini, C; Pulido, M; Gonçalves, A

2016-05-01

Several expression array studies identified molecular apocrine breast cancer (BC) as a subtype that expresses androgen receptor (AR) but not estrogen receptor α. We carried out a multicentre single-arm phase II trial in women with AR-positive, estrogen, progesterone receptor and HER2-negative (triple-negative) metastatic or inoperable locally advanced BC to assess the efficacy and safety of abiraterone acetate (AA) plus prednisone. Patients with a metastatic or locally advanced, centrally reviewed, triple-negative and AR-positive (≥10% by immunohistochemistry, IHC) BC were eligible. Any number of previous lines of chemotherapy was allowed. AA (1000 mg) was administered once a day with prednisone (5 mg) twice a day until disease progression or intolerance. The primary end point was clinical benefit rate (CBR) at 6 months defined as the proportion of patients presenting a complete response (CR), partial response (PR) or stable disease (SD) ≥6 months. Secondary end points were objective response rate (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS) and safety. One hundred and forty-six patients from 27 centres consented for IHC central review. Of the 138 patients with sufficient tissue available, 53 (37.6%) were AR-positive and triple-negative, and 34 of them were included from July 2013 to December 2014. Thirty patients were eligible and evaluable for the primary end point. The 6-month CBR was 20.0% [95% confidence interval (CI) 7.7%-38.6%], including 1 CR and 5 SD ≥6 months, 5 of them still being under treatment at the time of analysis (6.4+, 9.2+, 14.5+, 17.6+, 23.4+ months). The ORR was 6.7% (95% CI 0.8%-22.1%). The median PFS was 2.8 months (95% CI 1.7%-5.4%). Fatigue, hypertension, hypokalaemia and nausea were the most common drug-related adverse events; the majority of them being grade 1 or 2. AA plus prednisone treatment is beneficial for some patients with molecular apocrine tumours and five patients are still on treatment. NCT01842321. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society for Medical Oncology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Quantifying regional cerebral blood flow by N-isopropyl-P-[I-123]iodoamphetamine (IMP) using a ring type single-photon emission computed tomography system

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

Takahashi, N.; Odano, I.; Ohkubo, M.

1994-05-01

We developed a more accurate quantitative measurement of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) with the microsphere model using N-isopropyl-p-[I-123] iodoamphetamine (IMP) and a ring type single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) system. SPECT studies were performed in 17 patients with brain diseases. A dose of 222 MBq (6 mCi) of [I-123]IMP was injected i.v., at the same time a 5 min period of arterial blood withdrawal was begun. SPECT data were acquired from 25 min to 60 min after tracer injection. For obtaining the brain activity concentration at 5 min after IMP injection, total brain counts collections and one minutemore » period short time SPECT studies were performed at 5, 20, and 60 min. Measurement of the values of rCBF was calculated using short time SPECT images at 5 min (rCBF), static SPECT images corrected with total cerebral counts (rCBF{sub Ct}.) and those corrected with reconstructed counts on short time SPECT images (rCBF{sub Cb}). There was a good relationship (r=0.69) between rCBF and rCBF{sub Ct}, however, rCBF{sub Ct} tends to be underestimated in high flow areas and overestimated in low flow areas. There was better relationship between rCBF and rCBF{sub Cb}(r=0.92). The overestimation and underestimation shown in rCBF{sub Ct} was considered to be due to the correction of reconstructed counts using a total cerebral time activity curve, because of the kinetic behavior of [I-123]IMP was different in each region. We concluded that more accurate rCBF values could be obtained using the regional time activity curves.« less

Users' perspectives on the provision of assistive technologies in Bangladesh: awareness, providers, costs and barriers.

PubMed

Borg, Johan; Östergren, Per-Olof

2015-07-01

The purpose of this work was to contribute to a better understanding of challenges and solutions to equitable provision of assistive technologies in resource limited environments by (i) describing sources of awareness, types of providers and costs of assistive technologies; (ii) describing common reasons for not possessing assistive technologies; and (iii) comparing these sources, providers, costs and reasons among younger and older men and women living in urban and rural settings. Descriptive and analytic statistics were used to analyze cross-sectional data from a total sample of 581 hearing aid users, wheelchair users, individuals with hearing impairments not using hearing aids and individuals with ambulatory impairments not using wheelchairs living in eight districts of Bangladesh. Major sources of awareness, types of providers and costs paid varied between users of different types of assistive technology. Lack of affordability was the main reason for not possessing assistive technology. Outcome differences were found between younger and older groups, men and women, and literate and illiterate respondents, while no differences related to place of living were identified. Age, gender, type of impairment and socioeconomic status need to be considered when planning and implementing equitable provision of assistive technologies. Implications for Rehabilitation Provision of assistive technologies needs to be made affordable as lack of affordability was the major reason for not possessing such technologies. To ensure equitable provision of assistive technology, services ought to consider age, gender, impairment and socioeconomic status of their target groups. This includes offering a range of products of different sizes provided by culturally appropriate personnel at affordable cost, which to many may be at no or reduced cost. To cater to the assistive technology needs among the most vulnerable groups, assistive technology providers may learn from CBR strategies, such as, awareness raising and service delivery at community level, the use of local resources, collaboration and coordination, and the consideration of cultural factors.

The impact of toceranib, piroxicam and thalidomide with or without hypofractionated radiation therapy on clinical outcome in dogs with inflammatory mammary carcinoma.

PubMed

Rossi, F; Sabattini, S; Vascellari, M; Marconato, L

2018-05-27

In dogs, inflammatory mammary carcinoma is a clinicopathological entity characterized by rapid progression and aggressive behavior from onset of disease. Reported median survival time is short, with no effective treatment options. The aims of this prospective, noncontrolled clinical trial were to investigate outcome variables and safety profile of toceranib, thalidomide and piroxicam with or without hypofractionated radiation therapy in dogs with measurable histologically confirmed inflammatory mammary carcinoma that underwent a complete staging. Eighteen dogs were enrolled: 14 received medical treatment, and 4 were treated with hypofractionated radiation therapy and medical therapy. Overall, median time to progression was 34 days and median survival time was 109 days. In dogs treated with medical therapy, overall response rate was 21%, and clinical benefit rate (CBR) was 64%; median time to progression was 28 days and median survival time was 59 days. In dogs receiving medical therapy and undergoing radiation therapy, overall response rate and clinical benefit rate were 100%, with significantly longer time to progression (156 days) and survival time (180 days). Overall, treatment was well tolerated, with mild gastrointestinal and dermatological adverse events. Although the optimal treatment to this disease remains uncertain, the current approach consisting of systemic anti-angiogenic drugs with or without hypofractionated radiation therapy, provided clinical benefit in a significant proportion of dogs and should, therefore, be further explored. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Applying CBR to machine tool product configuration design oriented to customer requirements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Pengjia; Gong, Yadong; Xie, Hualong; Liu, Yongxian; Nee, Andrew Yehching

2017-01-01

Product customization is a trend in the current market-oriented manufacturing environment. However, deduction from customer requirements to design results and evaluation of design alternatives are still heavily reliant on the designer's experience and knowledge. To solve the problem of fuzziness and uncertainty of customer requirements in product configuration, an analysis method based on the grey rough model is presented. The customer requirements can be converted into technical characteristics effectively. In addition, an optimization decision model for product planning is established to help the enterprises select the key technical characteristics under the constraints of cost and time to serve the customer to maximal satisfaction. A new case retrieval approach that combines the self-organizing map and fuzzy similarity priority ratio method is proposed in case-based design. The self-organizing map can reduce the retrieval range and increase the retrieval efficiency, and the fuzzy similarity priority ratio method can evaluate the similarity of cases comprehensively. To ensure that the final case has the best overall performance, an evaluation method of similar cases based on grey correlation analysis is proposed to evaluate similar cases to select the most suitable case. Furthermore, a computer-aided system is developed using MATLAB GUI to assist the product configuration design. The actual example and result on an ETC series machine tool product show that the proposed method is effective, rapid and accurate in the process of product configuration. The proposed methodology provides a detailed instruction for the product configuration design oriented to customer requirements.

Design of Composite Structures Using Knowledge-Based and Case Based Reasoning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lambright, Jonathan Paul

1996-01-01

A method of using knowledge based and case based reasoning to assist designers during conceptual design tasks of composite structures was proposed. The cooperative use of heuristics, procedural knowledge, and previous similar design cases suggests a potential reduction in design cycle time and ultimately product lead time. The hypothesis of this work is that the design process of composite structures can be improved by using Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) and Knowledge-Based (KB) reasoning in the early design stages. The technique of using knowledge-based and case-based reasoning facilitates the gathering of disparate information into one location that is easily and readily available. The method suggests that the inclusion of downstream life-cycle issues into the conceptual design phase reduces potential of defective, and sub-optimal composite structures. Three industry experts were interviewed extensively. The experts provided design rules, previous design cases, and test problems. A Knowledge Based Reasoning system was developed using the CLIPS (C Language Interpretive Procedural System) environment and a Case Based Reasoning System was developed using the Design Memory Utility For Sharing Experiences (MUSE) xviii environment. A Design Characteristic State (DCS) was used to document the design specifications, constraints, and problem areas using attribute-value pair relationships. The DCS provided consistent design information between the knowledge base and case base. Results indicated that the use of knowledge based and case based reasoning provided a robust design environment for composite structures. The knowledge base provided design guidance from well defined rules and procedural knowledge. The case base provided suggestions on design and manufacturing techniques based on previous similar designs and warnings of potential problems and pitfalls. The case base complemented the knowledge base and extended the problem solving capability beyond the existence of limited well defined rules. The findings indicated that the technique is most effective when used as a design aid and not as a tool to totally automate the composites design process. Other areas of application and implications for future research are discussed.

Method and Mechanisms of Soil Stabilization Using Electric Arc Furnace Dust

PubMed Central

Al-Amoudi, Omar S. Baghabra; Al-Homidy, Abdullah A.; Maslehuddin, Mohammed; Saleh, Tawfik A.

2017-01-01

This paper reports the method and mechanism for improving the strength of marl and desert sand utilizing electric arc furnace dust (EAFD), an industrial by-product, in lieu of cement or lime. EAFD was used in conjunction with a small quantity (2%) of cement. The mechanical properties and durability characteristics of marl and sand mixed with 2% cement plus 5-, 10-, 20- or 30%-EAFD, by weight of the soil, were evaluated. The soil-cement-EAFD mixtures were used to determine their unconfined compressive strength (UCS), soaked California Bearing Ratio (CBR) and durability. The risk of leaching of toxic heavy metals, such as lead and cadmium, from the stabilized soils to the groundwater was also investigated. The mechanisms of stabilization of the selected soils due to the use of EAFD along with a small quantity of cement are also elucidated. The usage of 20 to 30% EAFD with 2% cement was noted to considerably improve the mechanical properties and durability of both marl and sand. PMID:28452346

Decision Tree based Prediction and Rule Induction for Groundwater Trichloroethene (TCE) Pollution Vulnerability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, J.; Yoo, K.

2013-12-01

For groundwater resource conservation, it is important to accurately assess groundwater pollution sensitivity or vulnerability. In this work, we attempted to use data mining approach to assess groundwater pollution vulnerability in a TCE (trichloroethylene) contaminated Korean industrial site. The conventional DRASTIC method failed to describe TCE sensitivity data with a poor correlation with hydrogeological properties. Among the different data mining methods such as Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Multiple Logistic Regression (MLR), Case Base Reasoning (CBR), and Decision Tree (DT), the accuracy and consistency of Decision Tree (DT) was the best. According to the following tree analyses with the optimal DT model, the failure of the conventional DRASTIC method in fitting with TCE sensitivity data may be due to the use of inaccurate weight values of hydrogeological parameters for the study site. These findings provide a proof of concept that DT based data mining approach can be used in predicting and rule induction of groundwater TCE sensitivity without pre-existing information on weights of hydrogeological properties.

Real-time motion-based H.263+ frame rate control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Hwangjun; Kim, JongWon; Kuo, C.-C. Jay

1998-12-01

Most existing H.263+ rate control algorithms, e.g. the one adopted in the test model of the near-term (TMN8), focus on the macroblock layer rate control and low latency under the assumptions of with a constant frame rate and through a constant bit rate (CBR) channel. These algorithms do not accommodate the transmission bandwidth fluctuation efficiently, and the resulting video quality can be degraded. In this work, we propose a new H.263+ rate control scheme which supports the variable bit rate (VBR) channel through the adjustment of the encoding frame rate and quantization parameter. A fast algorithm for the encoding frame rate control based on the inherent motion information within a sliding window in the underlying video is developed to efficiently pursue a good tradeoff between spatial and temporal quality. The proposed rate control algorithm also takes the time-varying bandwidth characteristic of the Internet into account and is able to accommodate the change accordingly. Experimental results are provided to demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed scheme.

Is there a common orientational order for the liquid phase of tetrahedral molecules?

PubMed

Rey, Rossend

2009-08-14

The title question is addressed with molecular dynamics simulations for a broad set of molecules: methane (CH4), neopentane (C(CH3)4), carbon tetrafluoride (CF4), carbon tetrachloride (CCl4), silicon tetrachloride (SiCl4), vanadium tetrachloride (VCl4), tin tetrachloride (SnCl4), carbon tetrabromide (CBr4), and tin tetraiodide (SnI4). In all cases the sequence of most populated relative orientations, for increasing distances, is found to be identical: The closest distances correspond to face-to-face followed by a dominant role of edge-to-face, while for larger distances the main configuration is edge-to-edge. The corner-to-face configuration plays an almost negligible role. The range of orientational order is also similar, with remnants of orientational correlation discernible up to the fourth solvation shell. The equivalence does not only hold in the qualitative terms just stated but is also quantitative to a large extent once the center-center distance is properly scaled.

Is there a common orientational order for the liquid phase of tetrahedral molecules?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rey, Rossend

2009-08-01

The title question is addressed with molecular dynamics simulations for a broad set of molecules: methane (CH4), neopentane (C(CH3)4), carbon tetrafluoride (CF4), carbon tetrachloride (CCl4), silicon tetrachloride (SiCl4), vanadium tetrachloride (VCl4), tin tetrachloride (SnCl4), carbon tetrabromide (CBr4), and tin tetraiodide (SnI4). In all cases the sequence of most populated relative orientations, for increasing distances, is found to be identical: The closest distances correspond to face-to-face followed by a dominant role of edge-to-face, while for larger distances the main configuration is edge-to-edge. The corner-to-face configuration plays an almost negligible role. The range of orientational order is also similar, with remnants of orientational correlation discernible up to the fourth solvation shell. The equivalence does not only hold in the qualitative terms just stated but is also quantitative to a large extent once the center-center distance is properly scaled.

Remote C-H Activation of Quinolines through Copper-Catalyzed Radical Cross-Coupling.

PubMed

Xu, Jun; Shen, Chao; Zhu, Xiaolei; Zhang, Pengfei; Ajitha, Manjaly J; Huang, Kuo-Wei; An, Zhongfu; Liu, Xiaogang

2016-03-18

Achieving site selectivity in carbon-hydrogen (C-H) functionalization reactions is a formidable challenge in organic chemistry. Herein, we report a novel approach to activating remote C-H bonds at the C5 position of 8-aminoquinoline through copper-catalyzed sulfonylation under mild conditions. Our strategy shows high conversion efficiency, a broad substrate scope, and good toleration with different functional groups. Furthermore, our mechanistic investigations suggest that a single-electron-transfer process plays a vital role in generating sulfonyl radicals and subsequently initiating C-S cross-coupling. Importantly, our copper-catalyzed remote functionalization protocol can be expanded for the construction of a variety of chemical bonds, including C-O, C-Br, C-N, C-C, and C-I. These findings provide a fundamental insight into the activation of remote C-H bonds, while offering new possibilities for rational design of drug molecules and optoelectronic materials requiring specific modification of functional groups. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Method and Mechanisms of Soil Stabilization Using Electric Arc Furnace Dust

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Al-Amoudi, Omar S. Baghabra; Al-Homidy, Abdullah A.; Maslehuddin, Mohammed; Saleh, Tawfik A.

2017-04-01

This paper reports the method and mechanism for improving the strength of marl and desert sand utilizing electric arc furnace dust (EAFD), an industrial by-product, in lieu of cement or lime. EAFD was used in conjunction with a small quantity (2%) of cement. The mechanical properties and durability characteristics of marl and sand mixed with 2% cement plus 5-, 10-, 20- or 30%-EAFD, by weight of the soil, were evaluated. The soil-cement-EAFD mixtures were used to determine their unconfined compressive strength (UCS), soaked California Bearing Ratio (CBR) and durability. The risk of leaching of toxic heavy metals, such as lead and cadmium, from the stabilized soils to the groundwater was also investigated. The mechanisms of stabilization of the selected soils due to the use of EAFD along with a small quantity of cement are also elucidated. The usage of 20 to 30% EAFD with 2% cement was noted to considerably improve the mechanical properties and durability of both marl and sand.

Solidification of Dredged Sludge by Hydraulic Ash-Slag Cementitious Materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Shu-Jing; Qin, Ying; Hwang, Jiann-Yang

Solidification treatment is used to treat hazardous wastes for disposal and to remediate the contaminated land. It is an increasingly popular technology for redevelopment of brown fields since treated wastes can often be left on-site, which can improve the site's soil for subsequent construction. In order to find home for the dredged sludge from the Pearl River Estuary Channel in China, the potential uses of treated dredged sludge by solidification treatment as valuable structural fill was investigated. Structure fills were prepared under various formula and curing conditions. Modulus of elasticity was detemined at 7 days, 14 days and 28 days with different types of load application. Atterberg limit, compactibility and CBR values are reported. The relationship between the microstructure and engineering properties of treated sludge are examined. The results clearly show the technical benefits by stabilizing soft soils with Hydraulic ash-slag cementitious materials. XRD and DTA-TG tests were carried out on certain samples to characterize the hydraulic compounds formed.

An RNA motif advances transcription by preventing Rho-dependent termination

PubMed Central

Sevostyanova, Anastasia; Groisman, Eduardo A.

2015-01-01

The transcription termination factor Rho associates with most nascent bacterial RNAs as they emerge from RNA polymerase. However, pharmacological inhibition of Rho derepresses only a small fraction of these transcripts. What, then, determines the specificity of Rho-dependent transcription termination? We now report the identification of a Rho-antagonizing RNA element (RARE) that hinders Rho-dependent transcription termination. We establish that RARE traps Rho in an inactive complex but does not prevent Rho binding to its recruitment sites. Although translating ribosomes normally block Rho access to an mRNA, inefficient translation of an open reading frame in the leader region of the Salmonella mgtCBR operon actually enables transcription of its associated coding region by favoring an RNA conformation that sequesters RARE. The discovery of an RNA element that inactivates Rho signifies that the specificity of nucleic-acid binding proteins is defined not only by the sequences that recruit these proteins but also by sequences that antagonize their activity. PMID:26630006

Spectroscopic investigations on the orientation of 1,4-dibromonaphthalene on silver nanoparticles.

PubMed

Geetha, K; Umadevi, M; Sathe, G V; Erenler, R

2013-12-01

Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) have been prepared by solution combustion method with glycine as fuel. Silver nanoparticles were characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM) and UV-visible spectroscopy. The prepared silver nanoparticles exhibit cubic crystalline structure with grain size of 59 nm. HRTEM image shows that the silver nanoparticles have strain and four-fold symmetry formed by twinning in the crystal structure. The optical adsorption spectrum shows that the surface plasmon resonance peak of silver is observed at 380 nm. The orientation of 1,4-dibromonaphthlaene (1,4-DBrN) on silver nanoparticles has been inferred from nRs and SERS spectral features. The absence of a C-H stretching vibrations, the observed high intense C-H out-of-plane bending modes and high intense C-Br stretching vibration suggest that the 1,4-DBrN molecule may be adsorbed in a 'stand-on' orientation to the surface. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Detection methods for atoms and radicals in the gas phase

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hack, W.

This report lists atoms and free radicals in the gas phase which are of interest for environmental and flame chemistry and have been detected directly. The detection methods which have been used are discussed with respect to their range of application, specificity and sensitivity. In table 1, detection methods for the five atoms of group IV (C, Si, Ge, Sn, Pb) and about 60 radicals containing at least one atom of group IV are summarized (CH, Cd, Cf, CC1, CBr, Cn, Cs, CSe, CH2, CD2, Chf, Cdf, CHC1, CHBr, CF2, CC12, CBr2, CFC1, CFBr, CH3, CD3, CF3, CH2F, CH2C1, CH2Br, CHF2, CHC12, CHBr2, Hco, Fco, CH30, CD30, CH2OH, CH3S, Nco, CH4N, CH302, CF302; C2, C2N, C2H, C20, C2HO, C2H3, C2F3, C2H5, C2HsO, C2H4OH, CH3CO, CD3CO, C2H3O, C2H502, CH3COO2, C2H4N, C2H6N, C3; Si, SiF, SiF2, SiO, SiC, Si2; Ge, GeC, GeO, GeF, GeF2, GeCl2, Sn, SnF, SnO, SnF2, Pb, PbF, PbF2, PbO, PbS). In table 2 detection methods for about 25 other atoms and 60 radicals are listed: (H, D, O, O2, Oh, Od, HO2, DO2, F, Ci, Br, I, Fo, Cio, BrO, Io, FO2, C1O2, Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, N, N3, Nh, Nd, Nf, Nci, NBr, NH2, ND2, Nhd, Nhf, NF2, NC12, N2H3, No, NO2, NO3, Hno, Dno, P, Ph, Pd, Pf, Pci, PH2, PD2, PF2, Po, As, AsO, AsS, Sb, Bi, S, S2, Sh, Sd, Sf, SF2, So, Hso, Dso, Sn, Se, Te, Se2, SeH, SeD, SeF, SeO, SeS, SeN, TeH, TeO, Bh, BH2, Bo, Bn, B02, Cd, Hg, UF5). The tables also cite some recent kinetic applications of the various methods.

Increase of fecundity by probiotic administration in zebrafish (Danio rerio).

PubMed

Gioacchini, Giorgia; Maradonna, Francesca; Lombardo, Francesco; Bizzaro, Davide; Olivotto, Ike; Carnevali, Oliana

2010-12-01

It is well known established that reproduction is sensitive to the state of energy reserves, and that there is a balance between energy homeostasis and fertility. In this view, this study examined the effects of the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus, as a feed additive, on zebrafish (Danio rerio) fecundity. Ten days of probiotic treatment modulate the gene expression of neuropeptide hormones and metabolic signals, such as kiss1, kiss2 and leptin both at the CNS level and at the peripheral level. The increase in fecundity brought about by the probiotic was demonstrated by the higher number of ovulated eggs in vivo and by the higher germinal vesicle breakdown rate obtained with the in vitro maturation assay. The increase in oocyte maturation was associated with increased transcription of genes coding for signals which induce the maturation phase, such as lhcgr, cbr1l, and paqr8 genes, concomitant with a decreased transcription of genes coding for local factors which prevent oocyte maturation, such as tgfb1, gdf9, and bmp15. In conclusion, all these findings highlight the action of L. rhamnosus both on the endocrine system and at the local level by inducing oocyte maturation. The significance of the results herein obtained underlined the importance of diet in the reproductive process, supporting the hypothesis that feed additives can improve fecundity. Considering that the zebrafish has been clearly established as a vertebrate model for biomedical research, these results support the potentiality of feed additives such as probiotics, frequently used in the human diet, as a new technology to improve reproduction in all vertebrates, including humans.

Estimating persistence of brominated and chlorinated organic pollutants in air, water, soil, and sediments with the QSPR-based classification scheme.

PubMed

Puzyn, T; Haranczyk, M; Suzuki, N; Sakurai, T

2011-02-01

We have estimated degradation half-lives of both brominated and chlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PBDDs and PCDDs), furans (PBDFs and PCDFs), biphenyls (PBBs and PCBs), naphthalenes (PBNs and PCNs), diphenyl ethers (PBDEs and PCDEs) as well as selected unsubstituted polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in air, surface water, surface soil, and sediments (in total of 1,431 compounds in four compartments). Next, we compared the persistence between chloro- (relatively well-studied) and bromo- (less studied) analogs. The predictions have been performed based on the quantitative structure-property relationship (QSPR) scheme with use of k-nearest neighbors (kNN) classifier and the semi-quantitative system of persistence classes. The classification models utilized principal components derived from the principal component analysis of a set of 24 constitutional and quantum mechanical descriptors as input variables. Accuracies of classification (based on an external validation) were 86, 85, 87, and 75% for air, surface water, surface soil, and sediments, respectively. The persistence of all chlorinated species increased with increasing halogenation degree. In the case of brominated organic pollutants (Br-OPs), the trend was the same for air and sediments. However, we noticed that the opposite trend for persistence in surface water and soil. The results suggest that, due to high photoreactivity of C-Br chemical bonds, photolytic processes occurring in surface water and soil are able to play significant role in transforming and removing Br-OPs from these compartments. This contribution is the first attempt of classifying together Br-OPs and Cl-OPs according to their persistence, in particular, environmental compartments.

The role of occupational therapists in the contexts of a natural disaster: a scoping review.

PubMed

Jeong, Yunwha; Law, Mary; DeMatteo, Carol; Stratford, Paul; Kim, Hwan

2016-08-01

To identify and inform the experience and roles of occupational therapists (OTs) in the contexts of a natural disaster. This scoping review was conducted via five steps: (1) identify the research question, (2) identify relevant academic articles published between 2000 and 2014 in English, (3) select articles based on the inclusion criteria, (4) chart the data and (5) collate, summarise, and report the results of the selected articles. The results were presented using descriptive numerical and thematic analyses. OTs can prepare a plan for evacuation of people with disabilities and their accommodation before a disaster occurs. Immediately after a disaster, they can provide emergency services for injuries and provide education and training in coping skills for psychological distress via a community-based rehabilitation approach. Consistent services for survivors' mental health and for building the OTs' capacity as part of disaster management are focussed on in the recovery phase. The potential roles of OTs across the spectrum of a natural disaster were identified via this scoping review. This review will help OTs to become involved in a disaster management system for vulnerable groups across the three phases of preparedness to, respond to and recovery from a disaster. Implication for Rehabilitation Occupational therapists can be involved in disaster management to prepare for, respond to and recover from a natural disaster. Consistent services for psychological distress are needed for people affected by a disaster to return to normalcy. Community-based rehabilitation (CBR) is an important approach to help a wider group of people respond to a natural disaster in a timely manner.

Providers' perceptions of the implementation of a performance measurement system for substance abuse treatment: A process evaluation of the Service Quality Measures initiative.

PubMed

Myers, Bronwyn; Williams, Petal Petersen; Johnson, Kim; Govender, Rajen; Manderscheid, Ron; Koch, J Randy

2016-02-22

In South Africa, concerns exist about the quality of substance abuse treatment. We developed a performance measurement system, known as the Service Quality Measures (SQM) initiative, to monitor the quality of treatment and assess efforts to improve quality of care. In 2014, the SQM system was implemented at six treatment sites to evaluate how implementation protocols could be improved in preparation for wider roll-out. To describe providers' perceptions of the feasibility and acceptability of implementing the SQM system, including barriers to and facilitators of implementation. We conducted 15 in-depth interviews (IDIs) with treatment providers from six treatment sites (two sites in KwaZulu-Natal and four in the Western Cape). Providers were asked about their experiences in implementing the system, the perceived feasibility of the system, and barriers to implementation. All IDIs were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. A framework approach was used to analyse the data. Providers reported that the SQM system was feasible to implement and acceptable to patients and providers. Issues identified through the IDIs included a perceived lack of clarity about sequencing of key elements in the implementation of the SQM system, questions on integration of the system into clinical care pathways, difficulties in tracking patients through the system, and concerns about maximising patient participation in the process. Findings suggest that the SQM system is feasible to implement and acceptable to providers, but that some refinements to the implementation protocols are needed to maximise patient participation and the likelihood of sustained implementation.

Risk assessment for enterprise resource planning (ERP) system implementations: a fault tree analysis approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zeng, Yajun; Skibniewski, Miroslaw J.

2013-08-01

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) system implementations are often characterised with large capital outlay, long implementation duration, and high risk of failure. In order to avoid ERP implementation failure and realise the benefits of the system, sound risk management is the key. This paper proposes a probabilistic risk assessment approach for ERP system implementation projects based on fault tree analysis, which models the relationship between ERP system components and specific risk factors. Unlike traditional risk management approaches that have been mostly focused on meeting project budget and schedule objectives, the proposed approach intends to address the risks that may cause ERP system usage failure. The approach can be used to identify the root causes of ERP system implementation usage failure and quantify the impact of critical component failures or critical risk events in the implementation process.

Design and Implementation of the PMS Module for ’Argos’

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-12-01

designing , and implementing a fully workable Planned Maintenance System (PMS). This implementation demonstrates both the capabilities and benefits such a...analyzing, designing , and implementing a fully workable Planned Maintenance System (PMS). This implementation demonstrates both the capabilities and... design and implementation. PMS is the system developed by the navy to provide each ship, department, and supervisor with the tools needed to plan

Agency responses to a system-driven implementation of multiple evidence-based practices in children's mental health services.

PubMed

Regan, Jennifer; Lau, Anna S; Barnett, Miya; Stadnick, Nicole; Hamilton, Alison; Pesanti, Keri; Bando, Lillian; Brookman-Frazee, Lauren

2017-09-19

Large mental health systems are increasingly using fiscal policies to encourage the implementation of multiple evidence-based practices (EBPs). Although many implementation strategies have been identified, little is known about the types and impacts of strategies that are used by organizations within implementation as usual. This study examined organizational-level responses to a fiscally-driven, rapid, and large scale EBP implementation in children's mental health within the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health. Qualitative methods using the principles of grounded theory were used to characterize the responses of 83 community-based agencies to the implementation effort using documentation from site visits conducted 2 years post reform. Findings indicated that agencies perceived the rapid system-driven implementation to have both positive and negative organizational impacts. Identified challenges were primarily related to system implementation requirements rather than to characteristics of specific EBPs. Agencies employed a variety of implementation strategies in response to the system-driven implementation, with agency size associated with implementation strategies used. Moderate- and large-sized agencies were more likely than small agencies to have employed systematic strategies at multiple levels (i.e., organization, therapist, client) to support implementation. These findings are among the first to characterize organizational variability in response to system-driven implementation and suggest ways that implementation interventions might be tailored by organizational characteristics.

Second-order reconstruction of the inflationary potential

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liddle, Andrew R.; Turner, Michael S.

1994-01-01

To first order in the deviation from scale invariance the inflationary potential and its first two derivatives can be expressed in terms of the spectral indices of the scalar and tensor perturbations, n and n(sub T), and their contributions to the variance of the quadrupole CBR temperature anisotropy, S and T. In addition, there is a 'consistency relation' between these quantities: n(sub T) = (-1/ 7)(T/S). We derive the second-order expressions for the inflationary potential and its first two derivatives and the first-order expression for its third derivative, in terms, of n, n(sub T), S, T, and dn/d ln gamma. We also obtain the second-order consistency relation, n(sub T) = (-1/7)(T/S)(1 + 0.11(T/S) + 0.15(n-1)). As an example we consider the exponential potential, the only known case where exact analytic solutions for the perturbation spectra exist. We reconstruct the potential via Taylor expansion (with coefficients calculated at both first and second order), and introduce the Pade approximate as a greatly improved alternative.

Assessment of optimal control mechanism complexity by experimental landscape Hessian analysis: fragmentation of CH2BrI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xing, Xi; Rey-de-Castro, Roberto; Rabitz, Herschel

2014-12-01

Optimally shaped femtosecond laser pulses can often be effectively identified in adaptive feedback quantum control experiments, but elucidating the underlying control mechanism can be a difficult task requiring significant additional analysis. We introduce landscape Hessian analysis (LHA) as a practical experimental tool to aid in elucidating control mechanism insights. This technique is applied to the dissociative ionization of CH2BrI using shaped fs laser pulses for optimization of the absolute yields of ionic fragments as well as their ratios for the competing processes of breaking the C-Br and C-I bonds. The experimental results suggest that these nominally complex problems can be reduced to a low-dimensional control space with insights into the control mechanisms. While the optimal yield for some fragments is dominated by a non-resonant intensity-driven process, the optimal generation of other fragments maa difficult task requiring significant additionaly be explained by a non-resonant process coupled to few level resonant dynamics. Theoretical analysis and modeling is consistent with the experimental observations.

Looking for the new preparations for antibacterial therapy III. New antimicrobial agents from the quinolones group in clinical trials.

PubMed

Karpiuk, Izabela; Tyski, Stefan

2013-01-01

There is an essential need for searching for the new compounds effective in the treatment of infections caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria. This paper is the third part of a series associated with the exploration of new antibacterial agents and it discusses the compounds belonging to the group of quinolones and substances possessing a hybrid structure composed of the quinolone molecule and other compounds. Eleven new substances at the stage of clinical trials are presented. Three of them belong to the group of non-fluorinated quinolone (nemonoxacin, ozenoxacin and KRP-AM 1977X), while six are the quinolones containing fluorine atom at 6 position of the carbon atom in the quinoline ring (zabofloxacin, finafloxacin, delafloxacin, JNJ-Q2, WCK771 and KPI-10). The remaining two compounds possess a hybrid construction composed of the quinolone structure and other molecules (cadazolid and CBR-2092). There is a chance in the near future, that the presented compounds can extend the range of existing antibacterial drugs and provide an alternative to currently available medicinal products.

Carbon Tetrachloride at Hepatotoxic Levels Blocks Reversibly Gap Junctions between Rat Hepatocytes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saez, J. C.; Bennett, M. V. L.; Spray, D. C.

1987-05-01

Electrical coupling and dye coupling between pairs of rat hepatocytes were reversibly reduced by brief exposure to halogenated methanes (CBrCl3, CCl4, and CHCl3). The potency of different halomethanes in uncoupling hepatocytes was comparable to their hepatotoxicity in vivo, and the rank order was the same as that of their tendency to form free radicals. The effect of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) on hepatocytes was substantially reduced by prior treatment with SKF 525A, an inhibitor of cytochrome P-450, and by exposure to the reducing reagent β -mercaptoethanol. Halomethane uncoupling occurred with or without extracellular calcium and did not change intracellular concentrations of calcium and hydrogen ions or the phosphorylation state of the main gap-junctional protein. Thus the uncoupling appears to depend on cytochrome P-450 oxidative metabolism in which free radicals are generated and may result from oxidation of the gap-junctional protein or of a regulatory molecule that leads to closure of gap-junctional channels. Decreases in junctional conductance may be a rapid cellular response to injury that protects healthy cells by uncoupling them from unhealthy ones.

Surface enhanced Raman spectral studies of 2-bromo-1,4-naphthoquinone.

PubMed

Geetha, K; Umadevi, M; Sathe, G V; Vanelle, P; Terme, T; Khoumeri, O

2015-03-05

Silver nanoparticles have been synthesized by a simple and inexpensive solution combustion method with urea as fuel. The structural and morphology of the silver nanoparticles were investigated through X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) and Energy Dispersion Spectra (EDS) techniques. Structural and morphological results confirmed the nanocrystalline nature of the silver nanoparticles. Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations were also performed to study the ground and excited state behavior of 2-bromo-1,4-naphthoquinone (2-BrNQ) and 2-BrNQ on silver nanoparticles. Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) spectra of 2-BrNQ adsorbed on silver nanoparticles were investigated. The CO, CH in-plane bending and CBr stretching modes were enhanced in SERS spectrum with respect to normal Raman spectrum. The spectral analysis reveals that the 2-BrNQ adsorbed 'stand-on' orientation on the silver surface. Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations are also performed to study the vibrational features of 2-BrNQ molecule and 2-BrNQ molecule on silver surface. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dynamic heterogeneity in an orientational glass

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caballero, Nirvana B.; Zuriaga, Mariano; Tamarit, Josep Lluís; Serra, Pablo

2017-11-01

The family of compounds CBrnCl4-n has been proven helpful in unraveling microscopic mechanisms responsible for glassy behavior. Some of the family members show translational ordered phases with minimal disorder which appears to reveal glassy features, thus deserving special attention in the search for universal glass anomalies. In this work, we studied CBrCl3 dynamics by performing extensive molecular dynamics simulations. Molecules of this compound perform reorientational discrete jumps, where the atoms exchange equivalent positions among each other revealing a cage-orientational jump motion fully comparable to the cage-rototranslational jump motion in supercooled liquids. Correlation times were calculated from rotational autocorrelation functions showing good agreement with previous reported dielectric results. From mean waiting and persistence times calculated directly from trajectory results, we are able to explain which microscopic mechanisms lead to characteristic times associated with α- and β-relaxation times measured experimentally. We found that two nonequivalent groups of molecules have a longer characteristic time than the other two nonequivalent groups, both of them belonging to the asymmetric unit of the monoclinic (C2/c) lattice.

Health economics evaluation of a gastric cancer early detection and treatment program in China.

PubMed

Li, Dan; Yuan, Yuan; Sun, Li-Ping; Fang, Xue; Zhou, Bao-Sen

2014-01-01

To use health economics methodology to assess the screening program on gastric cancer in Zhuanghe, China, so as to provide the basis for health decision on expanding the program of early detection and treatment. The expense of an early detection and treatment program for gastric cancer in patients found by screening, and also costs of traditional treatment in a hospital of Zhuanghe were assessed. Three major techniques of medical economics, namely cost-effective analysis (CEA), cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and cost-utility analysis (CUA), were used to assess the screening program. RESULTS from CEA showed that investing every 25, 235 Yuan on screening program in Zhuanghe area, one gastric cancer patient could be saved. Data from CUA showed that it was cost 1, 370 Yuan per QALY saved. RESULTS from CBA showed that: the total cost was 1,945,206 Yuan with a benefit as 8,669,709 Yuan and an CBR of 4.46. The early detection and treatment program of gastric cancer appears economic and society-beneficial. We suggest that it should be carry out in more high risk areas for gastric cancer.

Behavioural sensitivity of a key Southern Ocean species (Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba) to p,p'-DDE exposure.

PubMed

Poulsen, Anita H; Kawaguchi, So; King, Catherine K; King, Robert A; Bengtson Nash, Susan M

2012-01-01

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) have been frequently measured throughout the Southern Ocean food web for which little information is available to assess the potential risks of POP exposure. The current study evaluated the toxicological sensitivity of a key Southern Ocean species, Antarctic krill, to aqueous exposure of p,p'-dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethylene (p,p'-DDE). Behavioural endpoints were used as indicators of sublethal toxicity. Immediate behavioural responses (partial immobility and tail flicking) most likely reflect neurotoxicity, while the p,p'-DDE body residue causing a median level of sublethal toxicity in Antarctic krill following 96h exposure (IEC50(sublethal toxicity)=3.9±0.21mmol/kg lipid weight) is comparable to those known to cause sublethal narcosis in temperate aquatic species. Critical body residues (CBRs) were more reproducible across tests than effective seawater concentrations. These findings support the concept of the CBR approach, that effective tissue residues are comparable across species and geographical ranges despite differences in environmental factors. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Airborne gas chromatograph for in situ measurements of long-lived species in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elkins, J. W.; Fahey, D. W.; Gilligan, J. M.; Dutton, G. S.; Baring, T. J.; Volk, C. M.; Dunn, R. E.; Myers, R. C.; Montzka, S. A.; Wamsley, P. R.; Hayden, A. H.; Butler, J. H.; Thompson, T. M.; Swanson, T. H.; Dlugokencky, E. J.; Novelli, P. C.; Hurst, D. F.; Lobert, J. M.; Ciciora, S. J.; McLaughlin, R. J.; Thompson, T. L.; Winkler, R. H.; Fraser, P. J.; Steele, L. P.; Lucarelli, M. P.

A new instrument, the Airborne Chromatograph for Atmospheric Trace Species IV (ACATS-IV), for measuring long-lived species in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere is described. Using an advanced approach to gas chromatography and electron capture detection, the instrument can detect low levels of CFC-11 (CCl3F), CFC-12 (CCl2F2), CFC-113 (CCl2F-CClF2), methyl chloroform (CH3CCl3), carbon tetrachloride (CCl4), nitrous oxide (N2O), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), Halon-1211 (CBrClF2), hydrogen (H2), and methane (CH4) acquired in ambient samples every 180 or 360 s. The instrument operates fully-automated onboard the NASA ER-2 high-altitude aircraft on flights lasting up to 8 hours or more in duration. Recent measurements include 24 successful flights covering a broad latitude range (70°S-61°N) during the Airborne Southern Hemisphere Ozone Experiment/Measurements for Assessing the Effects of Stratospheric Aircraft (ASHOE/MAESA) campaign in 1994.

Effect of Lime on characteristics of consolidation, strength, swelling and plasticity of fine grained soil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Estabragh, A. R.; Bordbar, A. T.; Parsaee, B.; Eskandari, Gh.

2009-04-01

Using Lime as an additive material to clayey soil is one of the best effective technique in building the soil structures to get some purposes such as soil stabilization, soil reinforcement and decreasing soil swelling. In this research the effect of Lime on geotechnical characteristics of a clayey soil was investigated. Soil specimen types used in this study were consisted of clayey soil as the control treatment and clay mixed with different weight fractions of lime, 4, 6, 8 & 10 percent. Some experiments such as CBR, atterburg limits, compaction, consolidation and swelling was conducted on specimens. Results revealed that adding lime to soil would change its physical and mechanical properties. Adding lime increase the compression strength and consolidation coefficient and decrease swelling potential and maximum dry density. According to the results, Atterburg experiments show that presence of lime in soil increase the liquid limit of low plasticity soil and decrease the liquid limit of high plasticity soil, but totally it decreases the plasticity index of soils. Key words: soil stabilization, lime, compression strength, swelling, atterburg limits, compaction

Effects of Palm Kernel Shell Ash on Lime-Stabilized Lateritic Soil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nnochiri, Emeka Segun; Ogundipe, Olumide M.; Oluwatuyi, Opeyemi E.

2017-09-01

The research investigated the effects of palm kernel shell ash (PKSA) on lime-stabilized lateritic soil. Preliminary tests were performed on three soil samples, i.e., L1, L2 and L3 for identification; the results showed that L1 was A-7-6, L2 was A-7-6, and L3 was A-7-6. The optimum amount of lime for each of the soil samples was achieved. The optimum amount for L1 was 10%, for L2, 8% and for L3, 10%; at these values they recorded the lowest plasticity indexes. The further addition of PKSA was performed by varying the amount of PKSA and lime added to each of the soil samples. The addition of 4% PKSA+ 6% lime, the addition of 4% PKSA + 4% lime, and the addition of 4% PKSA + 6% lime increased the California Bearing Ratio (CBR) to the highest values for L1, L2 and L3 from 8.20%. It was concluded that PKSA can be a suitable complement for lime stabilization in lateritic soil.

Graphite intercalation compound with iodine as the major intercalant

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hung, Ching-Cheh; Kucera, Donald

1992-01-01

Halogenated CBr(sub x)I(sub y) (1 less than y/x less than 10) was made by exposing graphite materials with interplanar spacing in the 3.35 to 3.41 A range to either pure Br2 or an I2-Br2 mixture, and then to iodine vapor containing a small amount of Br2. The electrical resistivity of this product is from 3 to 6.5 times the pristine value. The presence of a small amount of isoprene rubber in the reaction significantly increased the iodine to bromine ratio in the product. In this reaction, rubber is known to generate HBr and to slowly remove bromine from the vapor. The halogenation generally caused a 22 to 25 percent weight increase. The halogens were found uniformly distributed in the product interior. However, although the surface contains very little iodine, it has high concentrations of bromine and oxygen. It is believed that the high concentrations of bromine and oxygen in this surface cause the halogenated fiber to be more resistant to fluorine attack during subsequent fluorination to fabricate graphite fluoride fibers.

40 CFR 35.929-3 - Implementation of the user charge system.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Implementation of the user charge... Water Act § 35.929-3 Implementation of the user charge system. (a) When a grantee's user charge system is approved, implementation of the approved system shall become a condition of the grant. (b) The...

40 CFR 35.929-3 - Implementation of the user charge system.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Implementation of the user charge... Water Act § 35.929-3 Implementation of the user charge system. (a) When a grantee's user charge system is approved, implementation of the approved system shall become a condition of the grant. (b) The...

40 CFR 35.929-3 - Implementation of the user charge system.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Implementation of the user charge... Water Act § 35.929-3 Implementation of the user charge system. (a) When a grantee's user charge system is approved, implementation of the approved system shall become a condition of the grant. (b) The...

40 CFR 35.929-3 - Implementation of the user charge system.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Implementation of the user charge... Water Act § 35.929-3 Implementation of the user charge system. (a) When a grantee's user charge system is approved, implementation of the approved system shall become a condition of the grant. (b) The...

40 CFR 35.928-3 - Implementation of the industrial cost recovery system.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Implementation of the industrial cost...-Clean Water Act § 35.928-3 Implementation of the industrial cost recovery system. (a) When a grantee's industrial cost recovery system is approved, implementation of the approved system shall become a condition...

Investigating and Learning Lessons from Early Experiences of Implementing ePrescribing Systems into NHS Hospitals: A Questionnaire Study

PubMed Central

Cresswell, Kathrin; Coleman, Jamie; Slee, Ann; Williams, Robin; Sheikh, Aziz

2013-01-01

Background ePrescribing systems have significant potential to improve the safety and efficiency of healthcare, but they need to be carefully selected and implemented to maximise benefits. Implementations in English hospitals are in the early stages and there is a lack of standards guiding the procurement, functional specifications, and expected benefits. We sought to provide an updated overview of the current picture in relation to implementation of ePrescribing systems, explore existing strategies, and identify early lessons learned. Methods A descriptive questionnaire-based study, which included closed and free text questions and involved both quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data generated. Results We obtained responses from 85 of 108 NHS staff (78.7% response rate). At least 6% (n = 10) of the 168 English NHS Trusts have already implemented ePrescribing systems, 2% (n = 4) have no plans of implementing, and 34% (n = 55) are planning to implement with intended rapid implementation timelines driven by high expectations surrounding improved safety and efficiency of care. The majority are unclear as to which system to choose, but integration with existing systems and sophisticated decision support functionality are important decisive factors. Participants highlighted the need for increased guidance in relation to implementation strategy, system choice and standards, as well as the need for top-level management support to adequately resource the project. Although some early benefits were reported by hospitals that had already implemented, the hoped for benefits relating to improved efficiency and cost-savings remain elusive due to a lack of system maturity. Conclusions Whilst few have begun implementation, there is considerable interest in ePrescribing systems with ambitious timelines amongst those hospitals that are planning implementations. In order to ensure maximum chances of realising benefits, there is a need for increased guidance in relation to implementation strategy, system choice and standards, as well as increased financial resources to fund local activities. PMID:23335961

Facilitating Ambulatory Electronic Health Record System Implementation: Evidence from a Qualitative Study

PubMed Central

Hefner, Jennifer; Robbins, Julie; Huerta, Timothy R.

2013-01-01

Background. Ambulatory care practices have increasing interest in leveraging the capabilities of electronic health record (EHR) systems, but little information is available documenting how organizations have successfully implemented these systems. Objective. To characterize elements of successful electronic health record (EHR) system implementation and to synthesize the key informants' perspectives about successful implementation practices. Methods. Key informant interviews and focus groups were conducted with a purposive sample of individuals from US healthcare organizations identified for their success with ambulatory EHR implementation. Rigorous qualitative data analyses used both deductive and inductive methods. Results. Participants identified personal and system-related barriers, at both the individual and organization levels, including poor computer skills, productivity losses, resistance to change, and EHR system failure. Implementation success was reportedly facilitated by careful planning and consistent communication throughout distinct stages of the implementation process. A significant element of successful implementation was an emphasis on optimization, both during “go-live” and, subsequently, when users had more experience with the system. Conclusion. Successful EHR implementation requires both detailed planning and clear mechanisms to deal with unforeseen or unintended consequences. Focusing on user buy-in early and including plans for optimization can facilitate greater success. PMID:24228257

Mixed methods for implementation research: application to evidence-based practice implementation and staff turnover in community-based organizations providing child welfare services.

PubMed

Aarons, Gregory A; Fettes, Danielle L; Sommerfeld, David H; Palinkas, Lawrence A

2012-02-01

Many public sector service systems and provider organizations are in some phase of learning about or implementing evidence-based interventions. Child welfare service systems represent a context where implementation spans system, management, and organizational concerns. Research utilizing mixed methods that combine qualitative and quantitative design, data collection, and analytic approaches are particularly well suited to understanding both the process and outcomes of dissemination and implementation efforts in child welfare systems. This article describes the process of using mixed methods in implementation research and provides an applied example of an examination of factors impacting staff retention during an evidence-based intervention implementation in a statewide child welfare system. The authors integrate qualitative data with previously published quantitative analyses of job autonomy and staff turnover during this statewide implementation project in order to illustrate the utility of mixed method approaches in providing a more comprehensive understanding of opportunities and challenges in implementation research.

Mixed Methods for Implementation Research: Application to Evidence-Based Practice Implementation and Staff Turnover in Community Based Organizations Providing Child Welfare Services

PubMed Central

Aarons, Gregory A.; Fettes, Danielle L.; Sommerfeld, David H.; Palinkas, Lawrence

2013-01-01

Many public sector services systems and provider organizations are in some phase of learning about or implementing evidence-based interventions. Child welfare service systems represent a context where implementation spans system, management, and organizational concerns. Research utilizing mixed methods that combine qualitative and quantitative design, data collection, and analytic approaches are particularly well-suited to understanding both the process and outcomes of dissemination and implementation efforts in child welfare systems. This paper describes the process of using mixed methods in implementation research and provides an applied example of an examination of factors impacting staff retention during an evidence-based intervention implementation in a statewide child welfare system. We integrate qualitative data with previously published quantitative analyses of job autonomy and staff turnover during this statewide implementation project in order to illustrate the utility of mixed method approaches in providing a more comprehensive understanding of opportunities and challenges in implementation research. PMID:22146861

Framework for Evaluating Educational Systemic Initiatives.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ikegulu, T. Nelson

This paper describes the implementation of the Holistic Systemic Evaluation (HSE), a component of an Education Systemic Initiative's strategic management. The HSE provides general guidance for the implementation and continual improvement of an Education Systemic Initiative Reform (ESIR). The implementation of the education system initiative plan:…

Integrating evidence-based practices for increasing cancer screenings in safety net health systems: a multiple case study using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research.

PubMed

Liang, Shuting; Kegler, Michelle C; Cotter, Megan; Emily, Phillips; Beasley, Derrick; Hermstad, April; Morton, Rentonia; Martinez, Jeremy; Riehman, Kara

2016-08-02

Implementing evidence-based practices (EBPs) to increase cancer screenings in safety net primary care systems has great potential for reducing cancer disparities. Yet there is a gap in understanding the factors and mechanisms that influence EBP implementation within these high-priority systems. Guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR), our study aims to fill this gap with a multiple case study of health care safety net systems that were funded by an American Cancer Society (ACS) grants program to increase breast and colorectal cancer screening rates. The initiative funded 68 safety net systems to increase cancer screening through implementation of evidence-based provider and client-oriented strategies. Data are from a mixed-methods evaluation with nine purposively selected safety net systems. Fifty-two interviews were conducted with project leaders, implementers, and ACS staff. Funded safety net systems were categorized into high-, medium-, and low-performing cases based on the level of EBP implementation. Within- and cross-case analyses were performed to identify CFIR constructs that influenced level of EBP implementation. Of 39 CFIR constructs examined, six distinguished levels of implementation. Two constructs were from the intervention characteristics domain: adaptability and trialability. Three were from the inner setting domain: leadership engagement, tension for change, and access to information and knowledge. Engaging formally appointed internal implementation leaders, from the process domain, also distinguished level of implementation. No constructs from the outer setting or individual characteristics domain differentiated systems by level of implementation. Our study identified a number of influential CFIR constructs and illustrated how they impacted EBP implementation across a variety of safety net systems. Findings may inform future dissemination efforts of EBPs for increasing cancer screening in similar settings. Moreover, our analytic approach is similar to previous case studies using CFIR and hence could facilitate comparisons across studies.

Software architecture for intelligent image processing using Prolog

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, Andrew C.; Batchelor, Bruce G.

1994-10-01

We describe a prototype system for interactive image processing using Prolog, implemented by the first author on an Apple Macintosh computer. This system is inspired by Prolog+, but differs from it in two particularly important respects. The first is that whereas Prolog+ assumes the availability of dedicated image processing hardware, with which the Prolog system communicates, our present system implements image processing functions in software using the C programming language. The second difference is that although our present system supports Prolog+ commands, these are implemented in terms of lower-level Prolog predicates which provide a more flexible approach to image manipulation. We discuss the impact of the Apple Macintosh operating system upon the implementation of the image-processing functions, and the interface between these functions and the Prolog system. We also explain how the Prolog+ commands have been implemented. The system described in this paper is a fairly early prototype, and we outline how we intend to develop the system, a task which is expedited by the extensible architecture we have implemented.

Strengthening the regulatory system through the implementation and use of a quality management system.

PubMed

Eisner, Reinhold; Patel, Rakeshkumar

2017-04-20

Quality management systems (QMS), based on ISO 9001 requirements, are applicable to government service organizations such as Health Canada's Biologics and Genetic Therapies Directorate (BGTD). This communication presents the process that the BGTD followed since the early 2000s to implement a quality management system and describes how the regulatory system was improved as a result of this project. BGTD undertook the implementation of a quality management system based on ISO 9001 and containing aspects of ISO 17025 with the goal of strengthening the regulatory system through improvements in the people, processes, and services of the organization. We discuss the strategy used by BGTD to implement the QMS and the benefits that were realized from the various stages of implementation. The eight quality principals upon which the QMS standards of the ISO 9000 series are based were used by senior management as a framework to guide QMS implementation.

System Issues Related to Implementing on the Internet

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mackey, William; Bagg, Thomas C., III

1999-01-01

Implementing capabilities on the World Wide Web should never be taken lightly. A good systems engineer is able to examine such implementations from all points of view, including political, legal, security, access, technical deployment, and quality. The evacuation discussed in this paper was conducted to ensure that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was proceeding in a correct direction by implementing RECALL a Lessons Learned System on the Web and, subsequently, did so successfully. The systems approach extended well beyond technical implementation to several issue that are not often addressed by an implementation team. The resulting evaluation increased the team's sensitivity to such issues and, in fact, the authors believe that the evaluation provided as much benefit as the system itself.

Participatory System Dynamics Modeling: Increasing Stakeholder Engagement and Precision to Improve Implementation Planning in Systems.

PubMed

Zimmerman, Lindsey; Lounsbury, David W; Rosen, Craig S; Kimerling, Rachel; Trafton, Jodie A; Lindley, Steven E

2016-11-01

Implementation planning typically incorporates stakeholder input. Quality improvement efforts provide data-based feedback regarding progress. Participatory system dynamics modeling (PSD) triangulates stakeholder expertise, data and simulation of implementation plans prior to attempting change. Frontline staff in one VA outpatient mental health system used PSD to examine policy and procedural "mechanisms" they believe underlie local capacity to implement evidence-based psychotherapies (EBPs) for PTSD and depression. We piloted the PSD process, simulating implementation plans to improve EBP reach. Findings indicate PSD is a feasible, useful strategy for building stakeholder consensus, and may save time and effort as compared to trial-and-error EBP implementation planning.

Environmental analysis of endocrine disrupting effects from hydrocarbon contaminants in the ecosystem. 1998 annual progress report

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

McLachlan, J.

1998-06-01

'The objective of this project is to determine how environmental contaminants, namely hydrocarbons, can act as hormones or anti-hormones (i.e., environmental hormones) in different species present in aquatic ecosystems. Species of particular focus are those which can serve as sentinel species (e.g., amphibians) and, thus, provide early warning signals for more widespread impacts on an ecosystem and its wildlife and human inhabitants. This reports the progress of 1.5 years of a three-year grant awarded to the Tulane/Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental Research (CBR). A growing body of evidence suggests that chemicals in the environment can disrupt the endocrine system of animalsmore » (i.e., wildlife and humans) and adversely impact the development of these species. Because of the multitude of known endocrine-disrupting chemicals and the numerous industrial and government sectors producing these chemicals, almost every federal agency has initiated research on the endocrine effects of chemicals relevant to their operations. This study represents the Department of Energy (DOE) Basic Energy Sciences'' only research on the impacts of endocrine-disrupting chemicals. The activities employed by this project to determine these impacts include development of biotechnology screens (in vitro), animal screens (in vivo), and other analyses of aquatic ecosystem biomarkers of exposure. The results from this study can elucidate how chemicals in the environment, including those from DOE activities, can signal (and alter) the development of a number of species in aquatic ecosystems. These signals can have detrimental impacts not only on an organismal level, but also on community, population, and entire ecosystem levels, including humans.'« less

Using intersectionality to explore experiences of disability and HIV among women and men in Zambia.

PubMed

Yoshida, Karen; Hanass-Hancock, Jill; Nixon, Stephanie; Bond, Virginia

2014-01-01

Little is known about the experiences of people with disabilities (PWD) who live with HIV. Existing research largely assumes a "double burden" approach, which views HIV as doubling the load for people already burdened by disability. Intersectionality (a dynamic process of converging systems of relationships) offers an alternative approach for understanding differences in experience. This study uses an intersectional approach to explore the experiences of PWD in Zambia who have become HIV-positive. We conducted semi-structured, in depth interviews with 21 PWD who live with HIV in Zambia (12 women, 9 men). Participants had various impairments (visual, hearing, mobility, intellectual). Interviews were conducted to meet participants' accessibility preferences. Our intersectional analysis demonstrates the dynamic and situational emergent meanings and consequences for PWD who are living with HIV related to: (1) meanings of HIV and disability linked with time and trajectory; (2) oppression and negotiation related to accessing health services and (3) social roles and relationships. Three case studies illustrate these circumstances. Intersectionality offers a complementary approach for examining the complex interrelationship among HIV, disability, gender and time among PWD living with HIV. Findings illustrate directions for improved services and policies for this important group. Rehabilitation services need to take a cross-disability (multiple disabilities) approach working with people living with HIV and disability. Rehabilitation, as illustrated by a CBR approach, needs to include services that will facilitate not only health, but education, jobs and housing for people living with HIV and disability. Rehabilitation needs to make more direct connections with Zambia social service sector to help address the fluctuating experience of living with HIV and disability.

Palmitoyl Serine: An Endogenous Neuroprotective Endocannabinoid-Like Entity After Traumatic Brain Injury.

PubMed

Mann, Aniv; Smoum, Reem; Trembovler, Victoria; Alexandrovich, Alexander; Breuer, Aviva; Mechoulam, Raphael; Shohami, Esther

2015-06-01

The endocannabinoid (eCB) system helps recovery following traumatic brain injury (TBI). Treatment with 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), a cerebral eCB ligand, was found to ameliorate the secondary damage. Interestingly, the fatty acid amino acid amide (FAAA) N-arachidonoyl-L-serine (AraS) exerts similar eCB dependent neuroprotective. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of the FAAA palmitoyl-serine (PalmS) following TBI. We utilized the TBI model in mice to examine the therapeutic potential of PalmS, injected 1 h following closed head injury (CHI). We followed the functional recovery of the injured mice for 28 days post-CHI, and evaluated cognitive and motor function, lesion volume, cytokines levels, molecular signaling, and infarct volume at different time points after CHI. PalmS treatment led to a significant improvement of the neurobehavioral outcome of the treated mice, compared with vehicle. This effect was attenuated in the presence of eCBR antagonists and in CB2-/- mice, compared to controls. Unexpectedly, treatment with PalmS did not affect edema and lesion volume, TNFα and IL1β levels, anti-apoptotic mechanisms, nor did it exert improvement in cognitive and motor function. Finally, co-administration of PalmS, AraS and 2-AG, did not enhance the effect of the individual drugs. We suggest that the neuroprotective action of PalmS is mediated by indirect activation of the eCB receptors following TBI. One such mechanism may involve receptor palmitoylation which has been reported to result in structural stabilization of the receptors and to an increase in their activity. Further research is required in order to establish this assumption.

Implementation of Local Wellness Policies in Schools: Role of School Systems, School Health Councils, and Health Disparities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hager, Erin R.; Rubio, Diana S.; Eidel, G. Stewart; Penniston, Erin S.; Lopes, Megan; Saksvig, Brit I.; Fox, Renee E.; Black, Maureen M.

2016-01-01

Background: Written local wellness policies (LWPs) are mandated in school systems to enhance opportunities for healthy eating/activity. LWP effectiveness relies on school-level implementation. We examined factors associated with school-level LWP implementation. Hypothesized associations included system support for school-level implementation and…

Telephone system operations evaluation : before AOS implementation

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1999-01-01

This study provides a detailed baseline analysis of telephone system performance before AOS : implementation. By the time of the preparation of this report, the phone system component of : AOS had not been implemented.

Food safety systems in a small dairy factory: implementation, major challenges, and assessment of systems' performances.

PubMed

Cusato, Sueli; Gameiro, Augusto H; Corassin, Carlos H; Sant'ana, Anderson S; Cruz, Adriano G; Faria, José de Assis F; de Oliveira, Carlos Augusto F

2013-01-01

The present study describes the implementation of a food safety system in a dairy processing plant located in the State of São Paulo, Brazil, and the challenges found during the process. In addition, microbiological indicators have been used to assess system's implementation performance. The steps involved in the implementation of a food safety system included a diagnosis of the prerequisites, implementation of the good manufacturing practices (GMPs), sanitation standard operating procedures (SSOPs), training of the food handlers, and hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP). In the initial diagnosis, conformity with 70.7% (n=106) of the items analyzed was observed. A total of 12 critical control points (CCPs) were identified: (1) reception of the raw milk, (2) storage of the raw milk, (3 and 4) reception of the ingredients and packaging, (5) milk pasteurization, (6 and 7) fermentation and cooling, (8) addition of ingredients, (9) filling, (10) storage of the finished product, (11) dispatching of the product, and (12) sanitization of the equipment. After implementation of the food safety system, a significant reduction in the yeast and mold count was observed (p<0.05). The main difficulties encountered for the implementation of food safety system were related to the implementation of actions established in the flow chart and to the need for constant training/adherence of the workers to the system. Despite this, the implementation of the food safety system was shown to be challenging, but feasible to be reached by small-scale food industries.

Flight elements: Fault detection and fault management

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lum, H.; Patterson-Hine, A.; Edge, J. T.; Lawler, D.

1990-01-01

Fault management for an intelligent computational system must be developed using a top down integrated engineering approach. An approach proposed includes integrating the overall environment involving sensors and their associated data; design knowledge capture; operations; fault detection, identification, and reconfiguration; testability; causal models including digraph matrix analysis; and overall performance impacts on the hardware and software architecture. Implementation of the concept to achieve a real time intelligent fault detection and management system will be accomplished via the implementation of several objectives, which are: Development of fault tolerant/FDIR requirement and specification from a systems level which will carry through from conceptual design through implementation and mission operations; Implementation of monitoring, diagnosis, and reconfiguration at all system levels providing fault isolation and system integration; Optimize system operations to manage degraded system performance through system integration; and Lower development and operations costs through the implementation of an intelligent real time fault detection and fault management system and an information management system.

Community Readiness Within Systems of Care: The Validity and Reliability of the System of Care Readiness and Implementation Measurement Scale (SOC-RIMS).

PubMed

Rosas, Scott R; Behar, Lenore B; Hydaker, William M

2016-01-01

Establishing a system of care requires communities to identify ways to successfully implement strategies and support positive outcomes for children and their families. Such community transformation is complex and communities vary in terms of their readiness for implementing sustainable community interventions. Assessing community readiness and guiding implementation, specifically for the funded communities implementing a system of care, requires a well-designed tool with sound psychometric properties. This scale development study used the results of a previously published concept mapping study to create, administer, and assess the psychometric characteristics of the System of Care Readiness and Implementation Measurement Scale (SOC-RIMS). The results indicate the SOC-RIMS possesses excellent internal consistency characteristics, measures clearly discernible dimensions of community readiness, and demonstrates the target constructs exist within a broad network of content. The SOC-RIMS can be a useful part of a comprehensive assessment in communities where system of care practices, principles, and philosophies are implemented and evaluated.

Evaluation criteria for district health management information systems: lessons from the Ministry of Health, Kenya.

PubMed

Odhiambo-Otieno, George W

2005-01-01

There has been no comprehensive evaluation of the district health management information systems (DHMISs) since the establishment of these systems by the Ministry of Health (MoH), in Kenya. This is partly due to lack of defined criteria for evaluating the systems. The objective of this study is to design evaluation criteria for assessing the viability, sustainability and ultimate contribution of DHMIS in the management of the district health system (DHS) in Kenya. This descriptive cross-sectional study was undertaken in three DHSs in Kenya. Empirical evidence was collected through interviews, complemented by a comprehensive review of relevant literature, reports and operational manuals of various health information systems in Kenya. A set of evaluation criteria for DHMISs in Kenya was designed for each of the three phases of implementation: phase one-pre-implementation evaluation criteria (categorized as policy and objectives, technical feasibility, financial viability, political viability and administrative operability) to be applied at the design stage; phase two-concurrent (operational) implementation evaluation criteria to be applied during implementation of the new system; phase three-post-implementation evaluation criteria (classified as internal-quality of information; external-resources and managerial support; ultimate-systems impact) to be applied after operating the implemented system for at least 3 years. In designing a DHMIS model there is need to have built-in these three sets of evaluation criteria which should be used in a phased manner. Pre-implementation evaluation criteria should be used to evaluate the system's viability before more resources are committed to its implementation; concurrent (operational) implementation evaluation criteria should be used to ascertain the status of the on-going implementation with the view to either fine-tune or abandon it altogether before more resources are used on it; and post-implementation evaluation criteria should be used to assess its overall effectiveness (if it has achieved its hypothesized benefits) towards the management of DHS.

Characteristics of Local Health Departments Associated with Implementation of Electronic Health Records and Other Informatics Systems.

PubMed

Shah, Gulzar H; Leider, Jonathon P; Castrucci, Brian C; Williams, Karmen S; Luo, Huabin

2016-01-01

Assessing local health departments' (LHDs') informatics capacities is important, especially within the context of broader, systems-level health reform. We assessed a nationally representative sample of LHDs' adoption of information systems and the factors associated with adoption and implementation by examining electronic health records, health information exchange, immunization registry, electronic disease reporting system, and electronic laboratory reporting. We used data from the National Association of County and City Health Officials' 2013 National Profile of LHDs. We performed descriptive statistics and multinomial logistic regression for the five implementation-oriented outcome variables of interest, with three levels of implementation (implemented, plan to implement, and no activity). Independent variables included infrastructural and financial capacity and other characteristics associated with informatics capacity. Of 505 LHDs that responded to the survey, 69 (13.5%) had implemented health information exchanges, 122 (22.2%) had implemented electronic health records, 245 (47.5%) had implemented electronic laboratory reporting, 368 (73.0%) had implemented an electronic disease reporting system, and 416 (83.8%) had implemented an immunization registry. LHD characteristics associated with health informatics adoption included provision of greater number of clinical services, greater per capita public health expenditures, health information systems specialists on staff, larger population size, decentralized governance system, one or more local boards of health, metropolitan jurisdiction, and top executive with more years in the job. Many LHDs lack health informatics capacity, particularly in smaller, rural jurisdictions. Cross-jurisdictional sharing, investment in public health informatics infrastructure, and additional training may help address these shortfalls.

Use of the Equity Implementation Model to Review Clinical System Implementation Efforts

PubMed Central

Lauer, Thomas W.; Joshi, Kailash; Browdy, Thomas

2000-01-01

This paper presents the equity implementation model (EIM) in the context of a case that describes the implementation of a medical scheduling system. The model is based on equity theory, a well-established theory in the social sciences that has been tested in hundreds of experimental and field studies. The predictions of equity theory have been supported in organizational, societal, family, and other social settings. Thus, the EIM helps provide a theory-based understanding for collecting and reviewing users' reactions to, and acceptance or rejection of, a new technology or system. The case study (implementation of a patient scheduling and appointment setting system in a large health maintenance organization) illustrates how the EIM can be used to examine users' reactions to the implementation of a new system. PMID:10641966

Evaluation criteria for the district health management information systems: lessons from the Ministry of Health, Kenya.

PubMed

Odhiambo-Otieno, George W; Odero, Wilson W O

2005-03-01

The District Health Management Information Systems (DHMISs) were established by the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Kenya more than two decades ago. Since then, no comprehensive evaluation has been undertaken. This can partly be attributed to lack of defined criteria for evaluating them. To propose evaluation criteria for assessing the design, implementation and impact of DHMIS in the management of the District Health System (DHS) in Kenya. A descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in three DHSs in Kenya: Bungoma, Murang'a and Uasin Gishu districts. Data was collected through focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and documents' review. The respondents, purposely selected from the Ministry of Health headquarters and the three DHS districts, included designers, managers and end-users of the systems. A set of evaluation criteria for DHMISs was identified for each of the three phases of implementation: pre-implementation evaluation criteria (categorised as policy and objectives, technical feasibility, financial viability, political viability and administrative operability) to be applied at the design stage; concurrent implementation evaluation criteria to be applied during implementation of the new system; and post-implementation evaluation criteria (classified as internal - quality of information; external - resources and managerial support; ultimate - systems impact) to be applied after implementation of the system for at least three years. In designing a DHMIS model there is need to have built-in these three sets of evaluation criteria which should be used in a phased manner. Pre-implementation evaluation criteria should be used to evaluate the system's viability before more resources are committed to it; concurrent (operational) - implementation evaluation criteria should be used to monitor the process; and post-implementation evaluation criteria should be applied to assess the system's effectiveness.

Implementation of enterprise resource planning systems: a user perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reitsma, E.; Hilletofth, P.; Mukhtar, U.

2018-04-01

The purpose of this study is to evaluate critical success factors (CSFs) for the implementation of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system from a user perspective. Users play a vital role when implementing an ERP system, but their perspective has been neglected in the literature. A better understanding of their perspective promises to contribute to the design of more effective ERP systems, its implementation, and management. In order to identify the user perspective, a survey was conducted within three Pakistani companies that recently have implemented a new ERP system. The questionnaire was developed based on thirteen CSFs deduced from literature. Based on each CSF’s level of importance, they are ranked in order of importance and divided into three groups: most important, important and not important. Findings reveal that users believe that management should prioritize the following four CSFs when implementing an ERP system: education and training, strategic decision-making, communication, and business process alignment.

Initial Implementation Indicators From a Statewide Rollout of SafeCare Within a Child Welfare System

PubMed Central

Whitaker, Daniel J.; Ryan, Kerry A.; Wild, Robert C.; Self-Brown, Shannon; Lutzker, John R.; Shanley, Jenelle R.; Edwards, Anna M.; McFry, Erin A.; Moseley, Colby N.; Hodges, Amanda E.

2013-01-01

There is a strong movement toward implementation of evidence-based practices (EBP) in child welfare systems. The SafeCare parenting model is one of few parent-training models that addresses child neglect, the most common form of maltreatment. Here, the authors describe initial findings from a statewide effort to implement the EBP, SafeCare®, into a state child welfare system. A total of 50 agencies participated in training, with 295 individuals entering training to implement SafeCare. Analyses were conducted to describe the trainee sample, describe initial training and implementation indicators, and to examine correlates of initial training performance and implementation indicators. The quality of SafeCare uptake during training and implementation was high with trainees performing very well on training quizzes and role-plays, and demonstrating high fidelity when implementing SafeCare in the field (performing over 90% of expected behaviors). However, the quantity of implementation was generally low, with relatively few providers (only about 25%) implementing the model following workshop training. There were no significant predictors of training or implementation performance, once corrections for multiple comparisons were applied. The Discussion focuses on challenges to large-scale system-wide implementation of EBP. PMID:22146860

21 CFR 111.55 - What are the requirements to implement a production and process control system?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... production and process control system? 111.55 Section 111.55 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION... to Establish a Production and Process Control System § 111.55 What are the requirements to implement a production and process control system? You must implement a system of production and process...

Design requirements for SRB production control system. Volume 4: Implementation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1981-01-01

The implementation plan which is presented was developed to provide the means for the successful implementation of the automated production control system. There are three factors which the implementation plan encompasses: detailed planning; phased implementation; and user involvement. The plan is detailed to the task level in terms of necessary activities as the system is developed, refined, installed, and tested. These tasks are scheduled, on a preliminary basis, over a two-and-one-half-year time frame.

From Programs to Systems: Deploying Implementation Science and Practice for Sustained Real World Effectiveness in Services for Children and Families.

PubMed

Ghate, Deborah

2016-01-01

The transfer of knowledge of effective practice, especially into "usual care" settings, remains challenging. This article argues that to close this gap we need to recognize the particular challenges of whole-system improvement. We need to move beyond a limited focus on individual programs and experimental research on their effectiveness. The rapidly developing field of implementation science and practice (ISP) provides a particular lens and a set of important constructs that can helpfully accelerate progress. A review of selected key constructs and distinctive features of ISP, including recognizing invisible system infrastructure, co-construction involving active collaboration between stakeholders, and attention to active implementation, supports for providers beyond education and training. Key aspects of an implementation lens likely to be most helpful in sustaining effectiveness include assisting innovators to identify and accommodate the architecture of existing systems, understand the implementation process as a series of distinct but nonlinear stages, identify implementation outcomes as prerequisites for treatment outcomes, and analyse implementation challenges using frameworks of implementation drivers. In complex adaptive systems, how services are implemented may matter more than their specific content, and how services align and adapt to local context may determine their sustained usefulness. To improve implementation-relevant research, we need better process evaluation and cannot rely on experimental methods that do not capture complex systemic contexts. Deployment of an implementation lens may perhaps help to avoid future "rigor mortis," enabling more productively flexible and integrative approaches to both program design and evaluation.

Fault-tolerant software - Experiment with the sift operating system. [Software Implemented Fault Tolerance computer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brunelle, J. E.; Eckhardt, D. E., Jr.

1985-01-01

Results are presented of an experiment conducted in the NASA Avionics Integrated Research Laboratory (AIRLAB) to investigate the implementation of fault-tolerant software techniques on fault-tolerant computer architectures, in particular the Software Implemented Fault Tolerance (SIFT) computer. The N-version programming and recovery block techniques were implemented on a portion of the SIFT operating system. The results indicate that, to effectively implement fault-tolerant software design techniques, system requirements will be impacted and suggest that retrofitting fault-tolerant software on existing designs will be inefficient and may require system modification.

Expanding Learning and Social Interaction through Intelligent Systems Design: Implementing a Reputation and Recommender System for the Claremont Conversation Online

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thoms, Brian

2009-01-01

In this dissertation I examine the design, construction and implementation of an online blog ratings and user recommender system for the Claremont Conversation Online (CCO). In line with constructivist learning models and practical information systems (IS) design, I implemented a blog ratings system (a system that can be extended to allow for…

PC-based Multiple Information System Interface (PC/MISI) detailed design and implementation plan

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dominick, Wayne D. (Editor); Hall, Philip P.

1985-01-01

The design plan for the personal computer multiple information system interface (PC/MISI) project is discussed. The document is intended to be used as a blueprint for the implementation of the system. Each component is described in the detail necessary to allow programmers to implement the system. A description of the system data flow and system file structures is given.

The Impact of Implementing a Demand Forecasting System into a Low-Income Country’s Supply Chain

PubMed Central

Mueller, Leslie E.; Haidari, Leila A.; Wateska, Angela R.; Phillips, Roslyn J.; Schmitz, Michelle M.; Connor, Diana L.; Norman, Bryan A.; Brown, Shawn T.; Welling, Joel S.; Lee, Bruce Y.

2016-01-01

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the potential impact and value of applications (e.g., ordering levels, storage capacity, transportation capacity, distribution frequency) of data from demand forecasting systems implemented in a lower-income country’s vaccine supply chain with different levels of population change to urban areas. MATERIALS AND METHODS Using our software, HERMES, we generated a detailed discrete event simulation model of Niger’s entire vaccine supply chain, including every refrigerator, freezer, transport, personnel, vaccine, cost, and location. We represented the introduction of a demand forecasting system to adjust vaccine ordering that could be implemented with increasing delivery frequencies and/or additions of cold chain equipment (storage and/or transportation) across the supply chain during varying degrees of population movement. RESULTS Implementing demand forecasting system with increased storage and transport frequency increased the number of successfully administered vaccine doses and lowered the logistics cost per dose up to 34%. Implementing demand forecasting system without storage/transport increases actually decreased vaccine availability in certain circumstances. DISCUSSION The potential maximum gains of a demand forecasting system may only be realized if the system is implemented to both augment the supply chain cold storage and transportation. Implementation may have some impact but, in certain circumstances, may hurt delivery. Therefore, implementation of demand forecasting systems with additional storage and transport may be the better approach. Significant decreases in the logistics cost per dose with more administered vaccines support investment in these forecasting systems. CONCLUSION Demand forecasting systems have the potential to greatly improve vaccine demand fulfillment, and decrease logistics cost/dose when implemented with storage and transportation increases direct vaccines. Simulation modeling can demonstrate the potential health and economic benefits of supply chain improvements. PMID:27219341

The impact of implementing a demand forecasting system into a low-income country's supply chain.

PubMed

Mueller, Leslie E; Haidari, Leila A; Wateska, Angela R; Phillips, Roslyn J; Schmitz, Michelle M; Connor, Diana L; Norman, Bryan A; Brown, Shawn T; Welling, Joel S; Lee, Bruce Y

2016-07-12

To evaluate the potential impact and value of applications (e.g. adjusting ordering levels, storage capacity, transportation capacity, distribution frequency) of data from demand forecasting systems implemented in a lower-income country's vaccine supply chain with different levels of population change to urban areas. Using our software, HERMES, we generated a detailed discrete event simulation model of Niger's entire vaccine supply chain, including every refrigerator, freezer, transport, personnel, vaccine, cost, and location. We represented the introduction of a demand forecasting system to adjust vaccine ordering that could be implemented with increasing delivery frequencies and/or additions of cold chain equipment (storage and/or transportation) across the supply chain during varying degrees of population movement. Implementing demand forecasting system with increased storage and transport frequency increased the number of successfully administered vaccine doses and lowered the logistics cost per dose up to 34%. Implementing demand forecasting system without storage/transport increases actually decreased vaccine availability in certain circumstances. The potential maximum gains of a demand forecasting system may only be realized if the system is implemented to both augment the supply chain cold storage and transportation. Implementation may have some impact but, in certain circumstances, may hurt delivery. Therefore, implementation of demand forecasting systems with additional storage and transport may be the better approach. Significant decreases in the logistics cost per dose with more administered vaccines support investment in these forecasting systems. Demand forecasting systems have the potential to greatly improve vaccine demand fulfilment, and decrease logistics cost/dose when implemented with storage and transportation increases. Simulation modeling can demonstrate the potential health and economic benefits of supply chain improvements. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Implementation and evaluation of the Sacramento Regional Transportation Management Center Weather Alert Notification System.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-08-01

This report presents the results of an evaluation of Caltrans District 3 Regional Transportation Management Centers (RTMC) implementation of a weather alert notification system. This alert system was selected for implementation from among several ...