Assessing the Effectiveness of Increased FIO2for Enhancing Driver's Activation State Using Simulated Monotonous Driving.

PubMed

Yamakoshi, T; Yamakoshi, K; Nogawa, M; Sawada, Y; Rolfe, P; Kusakabe, M

2005-01-01

Lowering of what we term a driver's Activation State (AS) during monotonous driving conditions may increase the risk of an accident. To develop an in-car environment that allows active driving - "Biofee dforward System" - we have investigated the effects of applying a stimulus of increased inspired oxygen fraction (FIO2) supply on a driver's AS, using simulated monotonous driving. We used our previously substantiated index of As derived from beat-by-beat blood pressure (BP) response following an electrical stimulus. We have made physiological measurements including BP and found that the increased FIO2stimulus is effective in enhancing the AS. This finding was also confirmed in terms of the autonomic activity balance as well as the lengthening in time for active, safer, driving.

OPENING REMARKS: SciDAC: Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strayer, Michael

2005-01-01

Good morning. Welcome to SciDAC 2005 and San Francisco. SciDAC is all about computational science and scientific discovery. In a large sense, computational science characterizes SciDAC and its intent is change. It transforms both our approach and our understanding of science. It opens new doors and crosses traditional boundaries while seeking discovery. In terms of twentieth century methodologies, computational science may be said to be transformational. There are a number of examples to this point. First are the sciences that encompass climate modeling. The application of computational science has in essence created the field of climate modeling. This community is now international in scope and has provided precision results that are challenging our understanding of our environment. A second example is that of lattice quantum chromodynamics. Lattice QCD, while adding precision and insight to our fundamental understanding of strong interaction dynamics, has transformed our approach to particle and nuclear science. The individual investigator approach has evolved to teams of scientists from different disciplines working side-by-side towards a common goal. SciDAC is also undergoing a transformation. This meeting is a prime example. Last year it was a small programmatic meeting tracking progress in SciDAC. This year, we have a major computational science meeting with a variety of disciplines and enabling technologies represented. SciDAC 2005 should position itself as a new corner stone for Computational Science and its impact on science. As we look to the immediate future, FY2006 will bring a new cycle to SciDAC. Most of the program elements of SciDAC will be re-competed in FY2006. The re-competition will involve new instruments for computational science, new approaches for collaboration, as well as new disciplines. There will be new opportunities for virtual experiments in carbon sequestration, fusion, and nuclear power and nuclear waste, as well as collaborations with industry and virtual prototyping. New instruments of collaboration will include institutes and centers while summer schools, workshops and outreach will invite new talent and expertise. Computational science adds new dimensions to science and its practice. Disciplines of fusion, accelerator science, and combustion are poised to blur the boundaries between pure and applied science. As we open the door into FY2006 we shall see a landscape of new scientific challenges: in biology, chemistry, materials, and astrophysics to name a few. The enabling technologies of SciDAC have been transformational as drivers of change. Planning for major new software systems assumes a base line employing Common Component Architectures and this has become a household word for new software projects. While grid algorithms and mesh refinement software have transformed applications software, data management and visualization have transformed our understanding of science from data. The Gordon Bell prize now seems to be dominated by computational science and solvers developed by TOPS ISIC. The priorities of the Office of Science in the Department of Energy are clear. The 20 year facilities plan is driven by new science. High performance computing is placed amongst the two highest priorities. Moore's law says that by the end of the next cycle of SciDAC we shall have peta-flop computers. The challenges of petascale computing are enormous. These and the associated computational science are the highest priorities for computing within the Office of Science. Our effort in Leadership Class computing is just a first step towards this goal. Clearly, computational science at this scale will face enormous challenges and possibilities. Performance evaluation and prediction will be critical to unraveling the needed software technologies. We must not lose sight of our overarching goal—that of scientific discovery. Science does not stand still and the landscape of science discovery and computing holds immense promise. In this environment, I believe it is necessary to institute a system of science based performance metrics to help quantify our progress towards science goals and scientific computing. As a final comment I would like to reaffirm that the shifting landscapes of science will force changes to our computational sciences, and leave you with the quote from Richard Hamming, 'The purpose of computing is insight, not numbers'.

Simultaneous classification of Oranges and Apples Using Grover's and Ventura' Algorithms in a Two-qubits System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Manu Pratap; Radhey, Kishori; Kumar, Sandeep

2017-08-01

In the present paper, simultaneous classification of Orange and Apple has been carried out using both Grover's iterative algorithm (Grover 1996) and Ventura's model (Ventura and Martinez, Inf. Sci. 124, 273-296, 2000) taking different superposition of two- pattern start state containing Orange and Apple both, one- pattern start state containing Apple as search state and another one- pattern start state containing Orange as search state. It has been shown that the exclusion superposition is the most suitable two- pattern search state for simultaneous classification of pattern associated with Apples and Oranges and the superposition of phase-invariance are the best choice as the respective search state based on one -pattern start-states in both Grover's and Ventura's methods of classifications of patterns.

Theme section for 36th International Symposium for Remote Sensing of the Environment in Berlin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trinder, John; Waske, Björn

2016-09-01

The International Symposium for Remote Sensing of the Environment (ISRSE) is the longest series of international conferences held on the topic of Remote Sensing, commencing in Ann Arbor, Michigan USA in 1962. While the name of the conference has changed over the years, it is regularly held approximately every 2 years and continues to be one of the leading international conferences on remote sensing. The latest of these conferences, the 36th ISRSE, was held in Berlin, Germany from 11 to 15 May 2015. All complete papers from the conference are available in the ISPRS International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences at http://www.int-arch-photogramm-remote-sens-spatial-inf-sci.net/XL-7-W3/index.html.

Agroinfection-based high-throughput screening reveals specific recognition of INF elicitins in Solanum.

PubMed

Vleeshouwers, Vivianne G A A; Driesprong, Jan-David; Kamphuis, Lars G; Torto-Alalibo, Trudy; Van't Slot, Klaas A E; Govers, Francine; Visser, Richard G F; Jacobsen, Evert; Kamoun, Sophien

2006-11-01

SUMMARY We adapted and optimized the use of the Agrobacterium tumefaciens binary PVX expression system (PVX agroinfection) to screen Solanum plants for response to pathogen elicitors and applied the assay to identify a total of 11 clones of Solanum huancabambense and Solanum microdontum, out of 31 species tested, that respond to the elicitins INF1, INF2A and INF2B of Phytophthora infestans. Prior to this study, response to INF elicitins was only known in Nicotiana spp. within the Solanaceae. The identified S. huancabambense and S. microdontum clones also exhibited hypersensitivity-like cell death following infiltration with purified recombinant INF1, INF2A and INF2B, thereby validating the screening protocol. Comparison of INF elicitin activity revealed that Nicotiana plants responded to significantly lower concentrations than Solanum, suggesting variable levels of sensitivity to INF elicitins. We exploited natural variation in response to INF elicitins in the identified Solanum accessions to evaluate the relationship between INF recognition and late blight resistance. Interestingly, several INF-responsive Solanum plants were susceptible to P. infestans. Also, an S. microdontum xSolanum tuberosum (potato) population that segregates for INF response was generated but failed to identify a measurable contribution of INF response to resistance. These results suggest that in Solanum, INF elicitins are recognized as general elicitors and do not have a measurable contribution to disease resistance.

Modulation of nano-selenium on tetrodotoxin-sensitive voltage-gated sodium currents in rat dorsal root ganglion neurons.

PubMed

Yuan, Huijun; Lan, Tonghan; Lin, Jiarui

2005-01-01

Nano-Selenium, a novel Nano technology production, was demonstrated to be useful in medical and scientific researches. Here, we investigated the effects of Nano-Selenium on tetrodotoxin-sensitive (TTX-S) voltage-dependent Na⁺channels in isolated rat dorsal root ganglion neurons, using whole-cell patch-clamp method. Nano-Selenium irreversibly decreased TTX-S Na⁺current (INa) in a concentration-dependent manner and shifted the maximum of the current/voltage relationship from -67mV to -52mV, without modifying the threshold potential of the current. Nano-Selenium shifted the steady-state activation and inactivation curves to the left. In the contrast of Na2SeO3, the inhibition effect of 1nM Nano-Se was much stronger. The cell treated with 1nM Na2SeO3firstly, still respond to futher addition of 1nM Nano-Selenium. These results prove Nano-Selenium to be a novel antiagonist, acted within the channel pore, not on or near the exterior surface of the channel protein where it would experience the membrane electric field, which possesses a distinct binding site from Na2SeO3.

Safety, immunogenicity and efficacy after switching from reference infliximab to biosimilar SB2 compared with continuing reference infliximab and SB2 in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: results of a randomised, double-blind, phase III transition study

PubMed Central

Choe, Jung-Yoon; Prodanovic, Nenad; Niebrzydowski, Jaroslaw; Staykov, Ivan; Dokoupilova, Eva; Baranauskaite, Asta; Yatsyshyn, Roman; Mekic, Mevludin; Porawska, Wieslawa; Ciferska, Hana; Jedrychowicz-Rosiak, Krystyna; Zielinska, Agnieszka; Lee, Younju; Rho, Young Hee

2018-01-01

Objectives Efficacy, safety and immunogenicity results from the phase III study of SB2, a biosimilar of reference infliximab (INF), were previously reported through 54 weeks. This transition period compared results in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who switched from INF to SB2 with those in patients who maintained treatment with INF or SB2. Methods Patients with moderate to severe RA despite methotrexate treatment were randomised (1:1) to receive SB2 or INF at weeks 0, 2 and 6 and every 8 weeks thereafter until week 46. At week 54, patients previously receiving INF were rerandomised (1:1) to switch to SB2 (INF/SB2 (n=94)) or to continue on INF (INF/INF (n=101)) up to week 70. Patients previously receiving SB2 continued on SB2 (SB2/SB2 (n=201)) up to week 70. Efficacy, safety and immunogenicity were assessed up to week 78. Results Efficacy was sustained and comparable across treatment groups. American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 20 responses between weeks 54 and 78 ranged from 63.5% to 72.3% with INF/SB2, 66.3%%–69.4% with INF/INF and 65.6%–68.3% with SB2/SB2. Treatment-emergent adverse events during this time occurred in 36.2%, 35.6% and 40.3%, respectively, and infusion-related reactions in 3.2%, 2.0% and 3.5%. Among patients who were negative for antidrug antibodies (ADA) up to week 54, newly developed ADAs were reported in 14.6%, 14.9% and 14.1% of the INF/SB2, INF/INF and SB2/SB2 groups, respectively. Conclusions The efficacy, safety and immunogenicity profiles remained comparable among the INF/SB2, INF/INF and SB2/SB2 groups up to week 78, with no treatment-emergent issues or clinically relevant immunogenicity after switching from INF to SB2. Trial registration number NCT01936181; EudraCT number: 2012-005733-37. PMID:29042358

Computer and internet use by persons after traumatic spinal cord injury.

PubMed

Goodman, Naomi; Jette, Alan M; Houlihan, Bethlyn; Williams, Steve

2008-08-01

To determine whether computer and internet use by persons post spinal cord injury (SCI) is sufficiently prevalent and broad-based to consider using this technology as a long-term treatment modality for patients who have sustained SCI. A multicenter cohort study. Twenty-six past and current U.S. regional Model Spinal Cord Injury Systems. Patients with traumatic SCI (N=2926) with follow-up interviews between 2004 and 2006, conducted at 1 or 5 years postinjury. Not applicable. Results revealed that 69.2% of participants with SCI used a computer; 94.2% of computer users accessed the internet. Among computer users, 19.1% used assistive devices for computer access. Of the internet users, 68.6% went online 5 to 7 days a week. The most frequent use for internet was e-mail (90.5%) and shopping sites (65.8%), followed by health sites (61.1%). We found no statistically significant difference in computer use by sex or level of neurologic injury, and no difference in internet use by level of neurologic injury. Computer and internet access differed significantly by age, with use decreasing as age group increased. The highest computer and internet access rates were seen among participants injured before the age of 18. Computer and internet use varied by race: 76% of white compared with 46% of black subjects were computer users (P<.001), and 95.3% of white respondents who used computers used the internet, compared with 87.6% of black respondents (P<.001). Internet use increased with education level (P<.001): eighty-six percent of participants who did not graduate from high school or receive a degree used the internet, while over 97% of those with a college or associate's degree did. While the internet holds considerable potential as a long-term treatment modality after SCI, limited access to the internet by those who are black, those injured after age 18, and those with less education does reduce its usefulness in the short term for these subgroups.

Preface: SciDAC 2009

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simon, Horst

2009-07-01

By almost any measure, the SciDAC community has come a long way since DOE launched the SciDAC program back in 2001. At the time, we were grappling with how to efficiently run applications on terascale systems (the November 2001 TOP500 list was led by DOE's ASCI White IBM system at Lawrence Livermore achieving 7.2 teraflop/s). And the results stemming from the first round of SciDAC projects were summed up in two-page reports. The scientific results were presented at annual meetings, which were by invitation only and typically were attended by about 75 researchers. Fast forward to 2009 and we now have SciDAC Review, a quarterly magazine showcasing the scientific computing contributions of SciDAC projects and related programs, all focused on presenting a comprehensive look at Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing. That is also the motivation behind the annual SciDAC conference that in 2009 was held from June 14-18 in San Diego. The annual conference, which can also be described as a celebration of all things SciDAC, grew out those meetings organized in the early days of the program. In 2005, the meeting was held in San Francisco and attendance was opened up to all members of the SciDAC community. The schedule was also expanded to include a keynote address, plenary speakers and other features found in a conference format. This year marks the fifth such SciDAC conference, which now comprises four days of computational science presentations, multiple poster sessions and, since last year, an evening event showcasing simulations and modeling runs resulting from SciDAC projects. The fifth annual SciDAC conference was remarkable on several levels. The primary purpose, of course, is to showcase the research accomplishments resulting from SciDAC programs in particular and computational science in general. It is these accomplishments, represented in 38 papers and 52 posters, that comprise this set of conference proceedings. These proceedings can stand alone as evidence of the success of DOE's innovative SciDAC efforts. But from the outset, a critical driver for the program was to foster increased collaboration among researchers across disciplines and organizations. In particular, SciDAC wanted to engage scientists at universities in the projects, both to expand the community and to develop the next generation of computational scientists. At the meeting in San Diego, the fruits of this emphasis were clearly visible, from the special poster session highlighting the work of the DOE Computational Science Graduate Fellows, to the informal discussions in hotel hallways, to focused side meetings apart from the main presentations. A highlight of the meeting was the keynote address by Dr Ray Orbach, until recently the DOE Under Secretary for Science and head of the Office of Science. It was during his tenure that the first round of projects matured and the second set of SciDAC projects were launched. And complementing these research projects was Dr Orbach's vision for INCITE, DOE's Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment program, inaugurated in 2003. This program allocated significant HPC resources to scientists tackling high-impact problems, including some of those addressed by SciDAC teams. Together, SciDAC and INCITE are dramatically accelerating the field of computational science. As has been noted before, the SciDAC conference celebrates progress in advancing science through large-scale modeling and simulation. Over 400 people registered to attend this year's talks, poster sessions and tutorials, all spanning the disciplines supported by DOE. While the principal focus was on SciDAC accomplishments, this year's conference also included invited presentations and posters from colleagues whose research is supported by other agencies. At the 2009 meeting we also formalized a developing synergy with the Department of Defense's HPC Users Group Meeting, which has occasionally met in parallel with the SciDAC meeting. But in San Diego, we took the additional steps of organizing a joint poster session and a joint plenary session, further advancing opportunities for broader networking. Throughout the four-day program, attendees at both meetings had the option of sitting in on sessions at either conference. We also included several of the NSF Petascale applications in the program, and have also extended invitations to our computational colleagues in other federal agencies, including the National Science Foundation, NASA, and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, as well as international collaborators to join us in San Diego. In 2009 we also reprised one of the more popular sessions from Seattle in 2008, the Electronic Visualization and Poster Night, during which 29 scientific visualizations were presented on high-resolution large-format displays. The best entries were awarded one of the coveted 'OASCR Awards.' The conference also featured a session about breakthroughs in computational science, based on the 'Breakthrough Report' that was published in 2008, led by Tony Mezzacappa (ORNL). Tony was also the chair of the SciDAC 2005 conference. For the third consecutive year, the conference was followed by a day of tutorials organized by the SciDAC Outreach Center and aimed primarily at students interested in scientific computing. This year, nearly 100 participants attended the tutorials, hosted by the San Diego Supercomputer Center and General Atomics. This outreach to the broader community is really what SciDAC is all about - Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing. Such discoveries are not confined by organizational lines, but rather are often the result of researchers reaching out and collaborating with others, using their combined expertise to push our boundaries of knowledge. I am happy to see that this vision is shared by so many researchers in computational science, who all decided to join SciDAC 2009. While credit for the excellent presentations and posters goes to the teams of researchers, the success of this year's conference is due to the strong efforts and support from members of the 2009 SciDAC Program Committee and Organizing Committee, and I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to them for helping to make the 2009 meeting the largest and most successful to date. Program Committee members were: David Bader, LLNL; Pete Beckman, ANL; John Bell, LBNL; John Boisseau, University of Texas; Paul Bonoli, MIT; Hank Childs, LBNL; Bill Collins, LBNL; Jim Davenport, BNL; David Dean, ORNL; Thom Dunning, NCSA; Peg Folta, LLNL; Glenn Hammond, PNNL; Maciej Haranczyk, LBNL; Robert Harrison, ORNL; Paul Hovland, ANL; Paul Kent, ORNL; Aram Kevorkian, SPAWAR; David Keyes, Columbia University; Kwok Ko, SLAC; Felice Lightstone, LLNL; Bob Lucas, ISI/USC; Paul Mackenzie, Fermilab; Tony Mezzacappa, ORNL; John Negele, MIT; Jeff Nichols, ORNL; Mike Norman, UCSD; Joe Oefelein, SNL; Jeanie Osburn, NRL; Peter Ostroumov, ANL; Valerio Pascucci, University of Utah; Ruth Pordes, Fermilab; Rob Ross, ANL; Nagiza Samatova, ORNL; Martin Savage, University of Washington; Tim Scheibe, PNNL; Ed Seidel, NSF; Arie Shoshani, LBNL; Rick Stevens, ANL; Bob Sugar, UCSB; Bill Tang, PPPL; Bob Wilhelmson, NCSA; Kathy Yelick, NERSC/LBNL; Dave Zachmann, Vista Computational Technology LLC. Organizing Committee members were: Communications: Jon Bashor, LBNL. Contracts/Logistics: Mary Spada and Cheryl Zidel, ANL. Posters: David Bailey, LBNL. Proceedings: John Hules, LBNL. Proceedings Database Developer: Beth Cerny Patino, ANL. Program Committee Liaison/Conference Web Site: Yeen Mankin, LBNL. Tutorials: David Skinner, NERSC/LBNL. Visualization Night: Hank Childs, LBNL; Valerio Pascucci, Chems Touati, Nathan Galli, and Erik Jorgensen, University of Utah. Again, my thanks to all. Horst Simon San Diego, California June 18, 2009

AUU-to-AUG mutation in the initiator codon of the translation initiation factor IF3 abolishes translational autocontrol of its own gene (infC) in vivo.

PubMed Central

Butler, J S; Springer, M; Grunberg-Manago, M

1987-01-01

We previously showed that Escherichia coli translation initiation factor IF3 regulates the expression of its own gene infC at the translational level in vivo. Here we create two alterations in the infC gene and test their effects on translational autocontrol of infC expression in vivo by measuring beta-galactosidase activity expressed from infC-lacZ gene fusions under conditions of up to 4-fold derepression or 3-fold repression of infC expression. Replacement of the infC promoter with the trp promoter deletes 120 nucleotides of the infC mRNA 5' to the translation initiation site without affecting autogenous translational control. Mutation of the unusual AUU initiator codon of infC to the more common AUG initiator codon abolishes translation initiation factor IF3-dependent repression and derepression of infC expression in vivo. These results establish the AUU initiator codon of infC as an essential cis-acting element in autogenous translational control of translation initiation factor IF3 expression in vivo. PMID:2954162

AUU-to-AUG mutation in the initiator codon of the translation initiation factor IF3 abolishes translational autocontrol of its own gene (infC) in vivo.

PubMed

Butler, J S; Springer, M; Grunberg-Manago, M

1987-06-01

We previously showed that Escherichia coli translation initiation factor IF3 regulates the expression of its own gene infC at the translational level in vivo. Here we create two alterations in the infC gene and test their effects on translational autocontrol of infC expression in vivo by measuring beta-galactosidase activity expressed from infC-lacZ gene fusions under conditions of up to 4-fold derepression or 3-fold repression of infC expression. Replacement of the infC promoter with the trp promoter deletes 120 nucleotides of the infC mRNA 5' to the translation initiation site without affecting autogenous translational control. Mutation of the unusual AUU initiator codon of infC to the more common AUG initiator codon abolishes translation initiation factor IF3-dependent repression and derepression of infC expression in vivo. These results establish the AUU initiator codon of infC as an essential cis-acting element in autogenous translational control of translation initiation factor IF3 expression in vivo.

Identifying the binding mode of a molecular scaffold

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chema, Doron; Eren, Doron; Yayon, Avner; Goldblum, Amiram; Zaliani, Andrea

2004-01-01

We describe a method for docking of a scaffold-based series and present its advantages over docking of individual ligands, for determining the binding mode of a molecular scaffold in a binding site. The method has been applied to eight different scaffolds of protein kinase inhibitors (PKI). A single analog of each of these eight scaffolds was previously crystallized with different protein kinases. We have used FlexX to dock a set of molecules that share the same scaffold, rather than docking a single molecule. The main mode of binding is determined by the mode of binding of the largest cluster among the docked molecules that share a scaffold. Clustering is based on our `nearest single neighbor' method [J. Chem. Inf. Comput. Sci., 43 (2003) 208-217]. Additional criteria are applied in those cases in which more than one significant binding mode is found. Using the proposed method, most of the crystallographic binding modes of these scaffolds were reconstructed. Alternative modes, that have not been detected yet by experiments, could also be identified. The method was applied to predict the binding mode of an additional molecular scaffold that was not yet reported and the predicted binding mode has been found to be very similar to experimental results for a closely related scaffold. We suggest that this approach be used as a virtual screening tool for scaffold-based design processes.

Preface: SciDAC 2006

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, William M., Dr.

2006-01-01

The second annual Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing (SciDAC) Conference was held from June 25-29, 2006 at the new Hyatt Regency Hotel in Denver, Colorado. This conference showcased outstanding SciDAC-sponsored computational science results achieved during the past year across many scientific domains, with an emphasis on science at scale. Exciting computational science that has been accomplished outside of the SciDAC program both nationally and internationally was also featured to help foster communication between SciDAC computational scientists and those funded by other agencies. This was illustrated by many compelling examples of how domain scientists collaborated productively with applied mathematicians and computer scientists to effectively take advantage of terascale computers (capable of performing trillions of calculations per second) not only to accelerate progress in scientific discovery in a variety of fields but also to show great promise for being able to utilize the exciting petascale capabilities in the near future. The SciDAC program was originally conceived as an interdisciplinary computational science program based on the guiding principle that strong collaborative alliances between domain scientists, applied mathematicians, and computer scientists are vital to accelerated progress and associated discovery on the world's most challenging scientific problems. Associated verification and validation are essential in this successful program, which was funded by the US Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE OS) five years ago. As is made clear in many of the papers in these proceedings, SciDAC has fundamentally changed the way that computational science is now carried out in response to the exciting challenge of making the best use of the rapid progress in the emergence of more and more powerful computational platforms. In this regard, Dr. Raymond Orbach, Energy Undersecretary for Science at the DOE and Director of the OS has stated: `SciDAC has strengthened the role of high-end computing in furthering science. It is defining whole new fields for discovery.' (SciDAC Review, Spring 2006, p8). Application domains within the SciDAC 2006 conference agenda encompassed a broad range of science including: (i) the DOE core mission of energy research involving combustion studies relevant to fuel efficiency and pollution issues faced today and magnetic fusion investigations impacting prospects for future energy sources; (ii) fundamental explorations into the building blocks of matter, ranging from quantum chromodynamics - the basic theory that describes how quarks make up the protons and neutrons of all matter - to the design of modern high-energy accelerators; (iii) the formidable challenges of predicting and controlling the behavior of molecules in quantum chemistry and the complex biomolecules determining the evolution of biological systems; (iv) studies of exploding stars for insights into the nature of the universe; and (v) integrated climate modeling to enable realistic analysis of earth's changing climate. Associated research has made it quite clear that advanced computation is often the only means by which timely progress is feasible when dealing with these complex, multi-component physical, chemical, and biological systems operating over huge ranges of temporal and spatial scales. Working with the domain scientists, applied mathematicians and computer scientists have continued to develop the discretizations of the underlying equations and the complementary algorithms to enable improvements in solutions on modern parallel computing platforms as they evolve from the terascale toward the petascale regime. Moreover, the associated tremendous growth of data generated from the terabyte to the petabyte range demands not only the advanced data analysis and visualization methods to harvest the scientific information but also the development of efficient workflow strategies which can deal with the data input/output, management, movement, and storage challenges. If scientific discovery is expected to keep apace with the continuing progression from tera- to petascale platforms, the vital alliance between domain scientists, applied mathematicians, and computer scientists will be even more crucial. During the SciDAC 2006 Conference, some of the future challenges and opportunities in interdisciplinary computational science were emphasized in the Advanced Architectures Panel and by Dr. Victor Reis, Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Energy, who gave a featured presentation on `Simulation, Computation, and the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership.' Overall, the conference provided an excellent opportunity to highlight the rising importance of computational science in the scientific enterprise and to motivate future investment in this area. As Michael Strayer, SciDAC Program Director, has noted: `While SciDAC may have started out as a specific program, Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing has become a powerful concept for addressing some of the biggest challenges facing our nation and our world.' Looking forward to next year, the SciDAC 2007 Conference will be held from June 24-28 at the Westin Copley Plaza in Boston, Massachusetts. Chairman: David Keyes, Columbia University. The Organizing Committee for the SciDAC 2006 Conference would like to acknowledge the individuals whose talents and efforts were essential to the success of the meeting. Special thanks go to Betsy Riley for her leadership in building the infrastructure support for the conference, for identifying and then obtaining contributions from our corporate sponsors, for coordinating all media communications, and for her efforts in organizing and preparing the conference proceedings for publication; to Tim Jones for handling the hotel scouting, subcontracts, and exhibits and stage production; to Angela Harris for handling supplies, shipping, and tracking, poster sessions set-up, and for her efforts in coordinating and scheduling the promotional activities that took place during the conference; to John Bui and John Smith for their superb wireless networking and A/V set-up and support; to Cindy Latham for Web site design, graphic design, and quality control of proceedings submissions; and to Pamelia Nixon-Hartje of Ambassador for budget and quality control of catering. We are grateful for the highly professional dedicated efforts of all of these individuals, who were the cornerstones of the SciDAC 2006 Conference. Thanks also go to Angela Beach of the ORNL Conference Center for her efforts in executing the contracts with the hotel, Carolyn James of Colorado State for on-site registration supervision, Lora Wolfe and Brittany Hagen for administrative support at ORNL, and Dami Rich and Andrew Sproles for graphic design and production. We are also most grateful to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, especially Jeff Nichols, and to our corporate sponsors, Data Direct Networks, Cray, IBM, SGI, and Institute of Physics Publishing for their support. We especially express our gratitude to the featured speakers, invited oral speakers, invited poster presenters, session chairs, and advanced architecture panelists and chair for their excellent contributions on behalf of SciDAC 2006. We would like to express our deep appreciation to Lali Chatterjee, Graham Douglas, Margaret Smith, and the production team of Institute of Physics Publishing, who worked tirelessly to publish the final conference proceedings in a timely manner. Finally, heartfelt thanks are extended to Michael Strayer, Associate Director for OASCR and SciDAC Director, and to the DOE program managers associated with SciDAC for their continuing enthusiasm and strong support for the annual SciDAC Conferences as a special venue to showcase the exciting scientific discovery achievements enabled by the interdisciplinary collaborations championed by the SciDAC program.

Safety, immunogenicity and efficacy after switching from reference infliximab to biosimilar SB2 compared with continuing reference infliximab and SB2 in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: results of a randomised, double-blind, phase III transition study.

PubMed

Smolen, Josef S; Choe, Jung-Yoon; Prodanovic, Nenad; Niebrzydowski, Jaroslaw; Staykov, Ivan; Dokoupilova, Eva; Baranauskaite, Asta; Yatsyshyn, Roman; Mekic, Mevludin; Porawska, Wieslawa; Ciferska, Hana; Jedrychowicz-Rosiak, Krystyna; Zielinska, Agnieszka; Lee, Younju; Rho, Young Hee

2018-02-01

Efficacy, safety and immunogenicity results from the phase III study of SB2, a biosimilar of reference infliximab (INF), were previously reported through 54 weeks. This transition period compared results in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who switched from INF to SB2 with those in patients who maintained treatment with INF or SB2. Patients with moderate to severe RA despite methotrexate treatment were randomised (1:1) to receive SB2 or INF at weeks 0, 2 and 6 and every 8 weeks thereafter until week 46. At week 54, patients previously receiving INF were rerandomised (1:1) to switch to SB2 (INF/SB2 (n=94)) or to continue on INF (INF/INF (n=101)) up to week 70. Patients previously receiving SB2 continued on SB2 (SB2/SB2 (n=201)) up to week 70. Efficacy, safety and immunogenicity were assessed up to week 78. Efficacy was sustained and comparable across treatment groups. American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 20 responses between weeks 54 and 78 ranged from 63.5% to 72.3% with INF/SB2, 66.3%%-69.4% with INF/INF and 65.6%-68.3% with SB2/SB2. Treatment-emergent adverse events during this time occurred in 36.2%, 35.6% and 40.3%, respectively, and infusion-related reactions in 3.2%, 2.0% and 3.5%. Among patients who were negative for antidrug antibodies (ADA) up to week 54, newly developed ADAs were reported in 14.6%, 14.9% and 14.1% of the INF/SB2, INF/INF and SB2/SB2 groups, respectively. The efficacy, safety and immunogenicity profiles remained comparable among the INF/SB2, INF/INF and SB2/SB2 groups up to week 78, with no treatment-emergent issues or clinically relevant immunogenicity after switching from INF to SB2. NCT01936181; EudraCT number: 2012-005733-37. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

SciServer: An Online Collaborative Environment for Big Data in Research and Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raddick, Jordan; Souter, Barbara; Lemson, Gerard; Taghizadeh-Popp, Manuchehr

2017-01-01

For the past year, SciServer Compute (http://compute.sciserver.org) has offered access to big data resources running within server-side Docker containers. Compute has allowed thousands of researchers to bring advanced analysis to big datasets like the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and others, while keeping the analysis close to the data for better performance and easier read/write access. SciServer Compute is just one part of the SciServer system being developed at Johns Hopkins University, which provides an easy-to-use collaborative research environment for astronomy and many other sciences.SciServer enables these collaborative research strategies using Jupyter notebooks, in which users can write their own Python and R scripts and execute them on the same server as the data. We have written special-purpose libraries for querying, reading, and writing data. Intermediate results can be stored in large scratch space (hundreds of TBs) and analyzed directly from within Python or R with state-of-the-art visualization and machine learning libraries. Users can store science-ready results in their permanent allocation on SciDrive, a Dropbox-like system for sharing and publishing files.SciServer Compute’s virtual research environment has grown with the addition of task management and access control functions, allowing collaborators to share both data and analysis scripts securely across the world. These features also open up new possibilities for education, allowing instructors to share datasets with students and students to write analysis scripts to share with their instructors. We are leveraging these features into a new system called “SciServer Courseware,” which will allow instructors to share assignments with their students, allowing students to engage with big data in new ways.SciServer has also expanded to include more datasets beyond the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. A part of that growth has been the addition of the SkyQuery component, which allows for simple, fast cross-matching between very large astronomical datasets.Demos, documentation, and more information about all these resources can be found at www.sciserver.org.

Left and right ventricle late remodeling following myocardial infarction in rats.

PubMed

Stefanon, Ivanita; Valero-Muñoz, María; Fernandes, Aurélia Araújo; Ribeiro, Rogério Faustino; Rodríguez, Cristina; Miana, Maria; Martínez-González, José; Spalenza, Jessica S; Lahera, Vicente; Vassallo, Paula F; Cachofeiro, Victoria

2013-01-01

The mechanisms involved in cardiac remodeling in left (LV) and right ventricles (RV) after myocardial infarction (MI) are still unclear. We assayed factors involved in collagen turnover in both ventricles following MI in rats either presenting signs of heart failure (pulmonary congestion and increased LVEDP) or not (INF-HF or INF, respectively). MI was induced in male rats by ligation of the left coronary artery. Four weeks after MI gene expression of collagen I, connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) and lysyl oxidase (LOX), metalloproteinase-2 (MMP2) and tissue inhibitor metalloproteinase-2 (TIMP2) as well as cardiac hemodynamic in both ventricles were evaluated. Ventricular dilatation, hypertrophy and an increase in interstitial fibrosis and myocyte size were observed in the RV and LV from INF-HF animals, whereas only LV dilatation and fibrosis in RV was present in INF. The LV fibrosis in INF-HF was associated with higher mRNA of collagen I, CTGF, TGF-β and LOX expressions than in INF and SHAM animals, while MMP2/TIMP2 mRNA ratio did not change. RV fibrosis in INF and INF-HF groups was associated with an increase in LOX mRNA and a reduction in MMP2/TIMP2 ratio. CTGF mRNA was increased only in the INF-HF group. INF and INF-HF animals presented different patterns of remodeling in both ventricles. In the INF-HF group, fibrosis seems to be consequence of collagen production in LV, and by reductions in collagen degradation in RV of both INF and INF-HF animals.

Effects of Arsenic Trioxide on INF-gamma Gene Expression in MRL/lpr Mice and Human Lupus.

PubMed

Hu, Hongye; Chen, Enjiu; Li, Yongji; Zhu, Xiaochun; Zhang, Ting; Zhu, Xiaofang

2017-11-20

Arsenic trioxide (As2O3; ATO), a traditional Chinese medicine, is used to treat patients with acute promye-locytic leukemia, while its application for treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is still under evaluation. The high expression of INF-gamma (INF-γ) is a primary pathogenic factor in SLE. It is found that ATO can reduce INF-γ expression levels in lupus-prone mice, whereas it is not clear whether ATO has the same effect on SLE patients. Therefore, this study was to investigate the underlying mechanism of the effects of ATO on the expression of INF-γ in splenocytes of MRL/lpr mice and PBMCs of human lupus. The mRNA and protein expression levels of INF-γ were assessed by real-time RT-PCR and ELISA, respectively. The histone acetylation status of the INF-γ promoter and the binding of RNA polymerase II (RNA Pol II) to the INF-γ promoter were detected using a chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) technique. The mRNA and protein expression levels of INF-γ decreased in both splenocytes of MRL/lpr mice and PBMCs of SLE patients with ATO treatment, which were accompanied by reduced histone H4 and H3 acetylation in INF-γ promoter and decreased combination of RNA Pol II to the INF-γ promoter. Therefore, ATO may reduce the expression level of the INF-γ by altering the levels of INF-γ promoter acetylation and the combination of RNA Pol II to the INF-γ promoter in splenocytes of MRL/lpr mice and PBMCs of SLE patients.

Metz: Offensive, Deliberate Attack, MOUT (Military Operations on Urbanized Terrain)

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-05-23

OPPOSING FORCES: US: 3d Army 377th Inf XX Corps 378th Inf 5th Inf Div 379th Inf 90th Inf Div 320th Eng Cbt Bn 95th Inf Div 10th Inf 10th Armored Div 11th...Panzer Bde SYNOPSIS: US XX Corps encircled and reduced Metz as a preliminary for continued attack east by 3d US Army. Excellent example of a Corps...crossings in the north. The 3d Cavalry Regiment also played a major role in combat and in the Corps& deception schemes prior to the battle. The XII

Left and Right Ventricle Late Remodeling Following Myocardial Infarction in Rats

PubMed Central

Stefanon, Ivanita; Valero-Muñoz, María; Fernandes, Aurélia Araújo; Ribeiro, Rogério Faustino; Rodríguez, Cristina; Miana, Maria; Martínez-González, José; Spalenza, Jessica S.; Lahera, Vicente; Vassallo, Paula F.; Cachofeiro, Victoria

2013-01-01

Background The mechanisms involved in cardiac remodeling in left (LV) and right ventricles (RV) after myocardial infarction (MI) are still unclear. We assayed factors involved in collagen turnover in both ventricles following MI in rats either presenting signs of heart failure (pulmonary congestion and increased LVEDP) or not (INF-HF or INF, respectively). Methods MI was induced in male rats by ligation of the left coronary artery. Four weeks after MI gene expression of collagen I, connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) and lysyl oxidase (LOX), metalloproteinase-2 (MMP2) and tissue inhibitor metalloproteinase-2 (TIMP2) as well as cardiac hemodynamic in both ventricles were evaluated. Results Ventricular dilatation, hypertrophy and an increase in interstitial fibrosis and myocyte size were observed in the RV and LV from INF-HF animals, whereas only LV dilatation and fibrosis in RV was present in INF. The LV fibrosis in INF-HF was associated with higher mRNA of collagen I, CTGF, TGF-β and LOX expressions than in INF and SHAM animals, while MMP2/TIMP2 mRNA ratio did not change. RV fibrosis in INF and INF-HF groups was associated with an increase in LOX mRNA and a reduction in MMP2/TIMP2 ratio. CTGF mRNA was increased only in the INF-HF group. Conclusions INF and INF-HF animals presented different patterns of remodeling in both ventricles. In the INF-HF group, fibrosis seems to be consequence of collagen production in LV, and by reductions in collagen degradation in RV of both INF and INF-HF animals. PMID:23741440

49 CFR 176.720 - Requirements for carriage of INF cargo in international transportation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 49 Transportation 2 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Requirements for carriage of INF cargo in... Requirements for carriage of INF cargo in international transportation. In addition to all other applicable requirements of this subchapter, a vessel carrying INF cargo (see § 176.2, under INF cargo definition) in...

49 CFR 176.720 - Requirements for carriage of INF cargo in international transportation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 49 Transportation 2 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Requirements for carriage of INF cargo in... Requirements for carriage of INF cargo in international transportation. In addition to all other applicable requirements of this subchapter, a vessel carrying INF cargo (see § 176.2, under INF cargo definition) in...

49 CFR 176.720 - Requirements for carriage of INF cargo in international transportation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 49 Transportation 2 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Requirements for carriage of INF cargo in... Requirements for carriage of INF cargo in international transportation. In addition to all other applicable requirements of this subchapter, a vessel carrying INF cargo (see § 176.2, under INF cargo definition) in...

49 CFR 176.720 - Requirements for carriage of INF cargo in international transportation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Requirements for carriage of INF cargo in... Requirements for carriage of INF cargo in international transportation. In addition to all other applicable requirements of this subchapter, a vessel carrying INF cargo (see § 176.2, under INF cargo definition) in...

49 CFR 176.720 - Requirements for carriage of INF cargo in international transportation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 49 Transportation 2 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Requirements for carriage of INF cargo in... Requirements for carriage of INF cargo in international transportation. In addition to all other applicable requirements of this subchapter, a vessel carrying INF cargo (see § 176.2, under INF cargo definition) in...

Nitrous Oxide 70% for Procedural Analgosedation in a Pediatric Emergency Department With or Without Intranasal Fentanyl?: Analgesic Efficacy and Adverse Events if Combined With Intranasal Fentanyl.

PubMed

Seiler, Michelle; Landolt, Markus A; Staubli, Georg

2017-07-03

Nitrous oxide 70% (N20 70%) is an excellent medication for procedural analgosedation in a pediatric emergency department. However, its analgesic efficacy remains uncertain for painful procedures; therefore, a combination with intranasal fentanyl (INF), an opioid, was suggested. This study aimed at observing and assessing the analgesic efficacy and rate of adverse events using N20 70% with and without INF. Children who received N20 70% in a tertiary children's hospital emergency department from January 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015 were included in this observational study with prospective data collection. Physicians decided individually whether INF was administered. Medical staff documented the child's behavior during the procedure, adverse events, and satisfaction rate. A total of 442 children were included; 206 (46.6%) received INF. Group differences regarding patient behavior were not statistically significant; however, N20 70% application time was longer in the INF group (P = .02). Nausea was the most frequent adverse event with 13.1% in the INF group versus 8.1% without INF. Inadequate procedural analgosedation was documented only in the INF group, affecting 1.8% of all patients (P = .002). In contrast, anxiety was exclusively observed in the group without INF, which was presumably misjudged pain (P = .03); the satisfaction rate in the INF group was 95.6% compared with 98.7% without INF. Because of the study design and limitations, no conclusions about adding INF to N20 70% can be made. Additional research is needed to investigate the effect of combining N20 70% with INF.

Measuring anxiety after spinal cord injury: Development and psychometric characteristics of the SCI-QOL Anxiety item bank and linkage with GAD-7.

PubMed

Kisala, Pamela A; Tulsky, David S; Kalpakjian, Claire Z; Heinemann, Allen W; Pohlig, Ryan T; Carle, Adam; Choi, Seung W

2015-05-01

To develop a calibrated item bank and computer adaptive test to assess anxiety symptoms in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI), transform scores to the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) metric, and create a statistical linkage with the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)-7, a widely used anxiety measure. Grounded-theory based qualitative item development methods; large-scale item calibration field testing; confirmatory factor analysis; graded response model item response theory analyses; statistical linking techniques to transform scores to a PROMIS metric; and linkage with the GAD-7. Setting Five SCI Model System centers and one Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in the United States. Participants Adults with traumatic SCI. Spinal Cord Injury-Quality of Life (SCI-QOL) Anxiety Item Bank Seven hundred sixteen individuals with traumatic SCI completed 38 items assessing anxiety, 17 of which were PROMIS items. After 13 items (including 2 PROMIS items) were removed, factor analyses confirmed unidimensionality. Item response theory analyses were used to estimate slopes and thresholds for the final 25 items (15 from PROMIS). The observed Pearson correlation between the SCI-QOL Anxiety and GAD-7 scores was 0.67. The SCI-QOL Anxiety item bank demonstrates excellent psychometric properties and is available as a computer adaptive test or short form for research and clinical applications. SCI-QOL Anxiety scores have been transformed to the PROMIS metric and we provide a method to link SCI-QOL Anxiety scores with those of the GAD-7.

Final Report. Institute for Ultralscale Visualization

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

Ma, Kwan-Liu; Galli, Giulia; Gygi, Francois

The SciDAC Institute for Ultrascale Visualization brought together leading experts from visualization, high-performance computing, and science application areas to make advanced visualization solutions for SciDAC scientists and the broader community. Over the five-year project, the Institute introduced many new enabling visualization techniques, which have significantly enhanced scientists’ ability to validate their simulations, interpret their data, and communicate with others about their work and findings. This Institute project involved a large number of junior and student researchers, who received the opportunities to work on some of the most challenging science applications and gain access to the most powerful high-performance computing facilitiesmore » in the world. They were readily trained and prepared for facing the greater challenges presented by extreme-scale computing. The Institute’s outreach efforts, through publications, workshops and tutorials, successfully disseminated the new knowledge and technologies to the SciDAC and the broader scientific communities. The scientific findings and experience of the Institute team helped plan the SciDAC3 program.« less

Endobiliary Stent Position Changes during External-beam Radiotherapy

PubMed Central

Chu, Kwun-Ye; Eccles, Cynthia L.; Brunner, Thomas B.

2015-01-01

Purpose Endobiliary stents can be used as surrogates for pancreatic localization when using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) during external-beam radiotherapy (EBRT). This work reports on interfraction stent position changes during EBRT for locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC). Materials and Methods Six patients with endobiliary stents who underwent EBRT for LAPC were assessed. Measurements from the most superior aspect of the stent (sup stent) and the most inferior aspect of the stent (inf stent) to the most inferior, posterior aspect of the L1 vertebra central spinous process were determined from daily treatment CBCTs and compared with those determined from the planning computed tomography (CT) scan. Changes in stent-L1 measurements were interpreted as changes in relative stent position. Results Three patients showed mean interfraction stent position changes of ≥1 cm when treatment measurements were compared with planning measurements. The sup stent for patient A moved to the right (2.66 ± 2.77 cm) and inferiorly (3.0 ± 3.12 cm), and the inf stent moved to the right (1.92 ± 2.02 cm) inferiorly (3.23 ± 3.34 cm) and posteriorly (1.41 ± 1.43 cm). The inf stent for patient B moved superiorly (2.23 ± 0.49 cm) and posteriorly (1.72 ± 0.59 cm). The sup and inf stent for patient F moved inferiorly (0.98 ± 0.35 cm and 1.21 ± 0.38 cm, respectively). The remaining three patients C, D, and E showed interfraction position changes of <1 cm. Conclusion Endobiliary stent migration and deformation were observed in a small subset of patients. Further investigation is required before confirming their use as surrogates for LAPC target localization during image-guided EBRT. PMID:26090069

May2005 Heavy Quark Phenomenology -- B → ϕK(*) Cpv/polarization, and Collider Implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hou, George Wei-Shu

2005-04-01

The hint for BSM CP violation in B → ϕKS is now more confused, but the ϕK* polarization anomaly seems real. We present a picture based on a flavor-mixed, right-handed "strange-beauty" squark ˜ {sb}1R, driven light by the large ˜ {s}R-˜ {b}_R squark flavor mixing, which carries a unique new CP phase. The ˜ {sb}1R could impact on SϕKS (or alternatively Sη'KS), Bs, mixing, sin 2ΦBs, SKSπ0γ and other b → s transitions, and can be searched for directly at the Tevatron. Whether SM or BSM, a heuristic model is given where transverse ϕK* polarization descends from the gluon helicity of on-shell b → sg.

Resonance Production at Star

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamamoto, Eugene T.

2002-03-01

We present the first measurement of mid-rapidity ϕ vector meson production in Au + Au collisions at RHIC (√ {sNN}= 130\\ GeV) from the STAR detector. For the 11% most central collisions, the slope parameter from an exponential fit to the transverse mass distribution is T= 379 ± 51(stat) ± 45(syst) MeV, the yield dN/dy = 5.73 ± 0.37(stat) ± 0.57(syst) per event and the ratio Nϕ/Nh- is found to be 0.021 ± 0.001(stat) ± 0.004(syst). We currently place the value of the Nϕ/NK- ratio between 0.10 and 0.16. The measured ratios Nϕ/Nh- and Nϕ/NK-, as well as T for the ϕ meson at mid-rapidity do not change for the selected centrality bins.

Mice with mutant Inf2 show impaired podocyte and slit diaphragm integrity in response to protamine-induced kidney injury.

PubMed

Subramanian, Balajikarthick; Sun, Hua; Yan, Paul; Charoonratana, Victoria T; Higgs, Henry N; Wang, Fang; Lai, Ka-Man V; Valenzuela, David M; Brown, Elizabeth J; Schlöndorff, Johannes S; Pollak, Martin R

2016-08-01

Mutations in the INF2 (inverted formin 2) gene, encoding a diaphanous formin family protein that regulates actin cytoskeleton dynamics, cause human focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS). INF2 interacts directly with certain other mammalian diaphanous formin proteins (mDia) that function as RhoA effector molecules. FSGS-causing INF2 mutations impair these interactions and disrupt the ability of INF2 to regulate Rho/Dia-mediated actin dynamics in vitro. However, the precise mechanisms by which INF2 regulates and INF2 mutations impair glomerular structure and function remain unknown. Here, we characterize an Inf2 R218Q point-mutant (knockin) mouse to help answer these questions. Knockin mice have no significant renal pathology or proteinuria at baseline despite diminished INF2 protein levels. INF2 mutant podocytes do show impaired reversal of protamine sulfate-induced foot process effacement by heparin sulfate perfusion. This is associated with persistent podocyte cytoplasmic aggregation, nephrin phosphorylation, and nephrin and podocin mislocalization, as well as impaired recovery of mDia membrane localization. These changes were partially mimicked in podocyte outgrowth cultures, in which podocytes from knockin mice show altered cellular protrusions compared to those from wild-type mice. Thus, in mice, normal INF2 function is not required for glomerular development but normal INF2 is required for regulation of the actin-based behaviors necessary for response to and/or recovery from injury. Copyright © 2016 International Society of Nephrology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Interactions of the interferon system with cellular metabolism

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sonnenfeld, Gerald

1986-01-01

The results of studies concerning the interaction of the interferon (Inf) system with the activities of carcinogens, tumor promoters, and cytochrome P-450 are presented. The results show that the addition of a tumor promoter (TPA or 4-O-methyl-TPA) to a tissue culture enhances virus-induced Inf-gamma production, suggesting a potential value of tumor promoters in the biosynthesis of commercial Inf. On the other hand, the carcinogens were reported to inhibit the induction of Inf-alpha/beta in cultured cells and in intact animals (with no effect on the administered or preformed Inf). The demonstration of a correlation between the carcinogenic potential of a compound and its inhibitive effect on Inf production suggests a possible use of the Inf production assay in the evaluation of the carcinogenicity of chemicals. In addition, it was shown that the induction of Inf-alpha/beta as well as the administration of this Inf depresses the levels of rat liver cytochrome P-450 which is responsible for binding lipophilic drugs, steroids, and carcinogens, thus increasing the toxicity of the respective chemical.

ΔF=2 Processes in the Mssm in Large tan β Limit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosiek, Janusz

2002-03-01

We discuss corrections to ΔMBd, ΔMBs and to the CP violation parameter ɛ in two examples of (generalized) minimal flavour violation models: 2HDM and MSSM in the large tan β limit. We show that for H+ not too heavy, ΔMBs in the MSSM with heavy sparticles can be substantially smaller than in the SM due the charged Higgs box contributions and in particular due to the growing like tan4 β contribution of the double penguin diagrams involving neutral Higgs boson exchanges.

National Computational Infrastructure for Lattice Gauge Theory SciDAC-2 Closeout Report Indiana University Component

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

Gottlieb, Steven Arthur; DeTar, Carleton; Tousaint, Doug

This is the closeout report for the Indiana University portion of the National Computational Infrastructure for Lattice Gauge Theory project supported by the United States Department of Energy under the SciDAC program. It includes information about activities at Indian University, the University of Arizona, and the University of Utah, as those three universities coordinated their activities.

Preface: SciDAC 2007

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keyes, David E.

2007-09-01

It takes a village to perform a petascale computation—domain scientists, applied mathematicians, computer scientists, computer system vendors, program managers, and support staff—and the village was assembled during 24-28 June 2007 in Boston's Westin Copley Place for the third annual Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing (SciDAC) 2007 Conference. Over 300 registered participants networked around 76 posters, focused on achievements and challenges in 36 plenary talks, and brainstormed in two panels. In addition, with an eye to spreading the vision for simulation at the petascale and to growing the workforce, 115 participants—mostly doctoral students and post-docs complementary to the conferees—were gathered on 29 June 2007 in classrooms of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for a full day of tutorials on the use of SciDAC software. Eleven SciDAC-sponsored research groups presented their software at an introductory level, in both lecture and hands-on formats that included live runs on a local BlueGene/L. Computation has always been about garnering insight into the behavior of systems too complex to explore satisfactorily by theoretical means alone. Today, however, computation is about much more: scientists and decision makers expect quantitatively reliable predictions from simulations ranging in scale from that of the Earth's climate, down to quarks, and out to colliding black holes. Predictive simulation lies at the heart of policy choices in energy and environment affecting billions of lives and expenditures of trillions of dollars. It is also at the heart of scientific debates on the nature of matter and the origin of the universe. The petascale is barely adequate for such demands and we are barely established at the levels of resolution and throughput that this new scale of computation affords. However, no scientific agenda worldwide is pushing the petascale frontier on all its fronts as vigorously as SciDAC. The breadth of this conference archive reflects the philosophy of the SciDAC program, which was introduced as a collaboration of all of the program offices in the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in Fall 2001 and was renewed for a second period of five years in Fall 2006, with additional support in certain areas from the DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). All of the projects in the SciDAC portfolio were represented at the conference and most are captured in this volume. In addition, the Organizing Committee incorporated into the technical program a number of computational science highlights from outside of SciDAC, and, indeed, from outside of the United States. As implied by the title, scientific discovery is the driving deliverable of the SciDAC program, spanning the full range of the DOE Office of Science: accelerator design, astrophysics, chemistry and materials science, climate science, combustion, life science, nuclear physics, plasma physics, and subsurface physics. As articulated in the eponymous report that launched SciDAC, the computational challenges of these diverse areas are remarkably common. Each is profoundly multiscale in space and time and therefore continues to benefit at any margin from access to the largest and fastest computers available. Optimality of representation and execution requires adaptive, scalable mathematical algorithms in both continuous (geometrically complex domain) and discrete (mesh and graph) aspects. Programmability and performance optimality require software environments that both manage the intricate details of the underlying hardware and abstract them for scientific users. Running effectively on remote specialized hardware requires transparent workflow systems. Comprehending the petascale data sets generated in such simulations requires automated tools for data exploration and visualization. Archiving and sharing access to this data within the inevitably distributed community of leading scientists requires networked collaborative environments. Each of these elements is a research and development project in its own right. SciDAC does not replace theoretical programs oriented towards long-term basic research, but harvests them for contemporary, complementary state-of-the-art computational campaigns. By clustering researchers from applications and enabling technologies into coordinated, mission-driven projects, SciDAC accomplishes two ends with remarkable effectiveness: (1) it enriches the scientific perspective of both applications and enabling communities through mutual interaction and (2) it leverages between applications solutions and effort encapsulated in software. Though SciDAC is unique, its objective of multiscale science at extreme computational scale is shared and approached through different programmatic mechanisms, notably NNSA's ASC program, NSF's Cyberinfrastructure program, and DoD's CREATE program in the U.S., and RIKEN's computational simulation programs in Japan. Representatives of each of these programs were given the podium at SciDAC 2007 and communication occurred that will be valuable towards the ends of complementarity, leverage, and promulgation of best practices. The 2007 conference was graced with additional welcome program announcements. Michael Strayer announced a new program of postdoctoral research fellowships in the enabling technologies. (The computer science post-docs will be named after the late Professor Ken Kennedy, who briefly led the SciDAC project Center for Scalable Application Development Software (CScADS) until his untimely death in February 2007.) IBM announced its petascale BlueGene/P system on June 26. Meanwhile, at ISC07 in Dresden, the semi-annual posting of a revised Top 500 list on June 27 showed several new Top 10 systems accessible to various SciDAC participants. While SciDAC is dominated in 2007 by the classical scientific pursuit of understanding through reduction to components and isolation of causes and effects, simulation at scale is beginning to offer something even more tantalizing: synthesis and integration of multiple interacting phenomena in complex systems. Indeed, the design-oriented elements of SciDAC, such as accelerator and tokamak modeling, area already emphasizing multiphysics coupling, and climate science has been doing so for years in the coupling of models of the ocean, atmosphere, ice, and land. In one of the panels at SciDAC 2007, leaders of a three-stage `progressive workshop' on exascale simulation for energy and environment (E3), considered prospects for whole-system modeling in a variety of scientific areas within the domain of DOE related to energy, environmental, and global security. Computer vendors were invited to comment on the prospects for delivering exascale computing systems in another panel. The daunting nature of this challenge is summarized with the observation that the peak processing power of the entire Top 500 list of June 2007 is only 0.0052 exaflop/s. It takes the combined power of most of the computers on the internet today worldwide to reach 1 exaflop/s or 1018 floating point operations per second. The program of SciDAC 2007 followed a template honed by its predecessor meetings in San Francisco in 2005 and Denver in 2006. The Boston venue permitted outreach to a number of universities in the immediate region and throughout southern New England, including SciDAC campuses of Boston University, Harvard, and MIT, and a dozen others including most of the Ivy League. Altogether 55 universities, 20 laboratories, 14 private companies, 5 agencies, and 4 countries were represented among the conference and tutorial workshop participants. Approximately 47% of the conference participants were from government laboratories, 37% from universities, 9% from federal program offices, and 7% from industry. Keys to the success of SciDAC 2007 were the informal poster receptions, coffee breaks, working breakfasts and lunches, and even the `Right-brain Night' featuring artistic statements, both reverent and irreverent, by computational scientists, inspired by their work. The organizers thank the sponsors for their generosity in attracting participants to these informal occasions with sumptuous snacks and beverages: AMD, Cray, DataDirect, IBM, SGI, SiCortex, and the Institute of Physics. A conference as logistically complex as SciDAC 2007 cannot possibly and should not be executed primarily by the scientists, themselves. It is a great pleasure to acknowledge the many talented staff that contributed to a productive time for all participants and nearperfect adherence to schedule. Chief among them is Betsy Riley, currently detailed from ORNL to the program office in Germantown, with degrees in mathematics and computer science, but a passion for organizing interdisciplinary scientific programs. Betsy staffed the organizing committee during the year of telecon meetings leading up to the conference and masterminded sponsorship, invitations, and the compilation of the proceedings. Assisting her from ORNL in managing the program were Daniel Pack, Angela Beach, and Angela Fincher. Cynthia Latham of ORNL performed admirably in website and graphic design for all aspects of the online and printed materials of the meeting. John Bui, John Smith, and Missy Smith of ORNL ran their customary tight ship with respect to audio-visual execution and capture, assisted by Eric Ecklund and Keith Quinn of the Westin. Pamelia Nixon-Hartje of Ambassador Services was personally invaluable in getting the most out of the hotel and its staff. We thank Jeff Nichols of ORNL for managing the primary subcontract for the meeting. The SciDAC tutorial program was a joint effort of Professor John Negele of MIT, David Skinner, PI of the SciDAC Outreach Center, and the SciDAC 2007 Chair. Sponsorship from the Outreach Center in the form of travel scholarships for students, and of the local area SciDAC university delegation of BU, Harvard, and MIT for food and facilities is gratefully acknowledged. Of course, the archival success of a scientific meeting rests with the willingness of the presenters to make the extra effort to package their field-leading science in a form suitable for interaction with colleagues from other disciplines rather than fellow specialists. This goal, oft-stated in the run up to the meeting, was achieved to an admirable degree, both in the live presentations and in these proceedings. This effort is its own reward, since it leads to enhanced communication and accelerated scientific progress. Our greatest thanks are reserved for Michael Strayer, Associate Director for OASCR and the Director of SciDAC, for envisioning this celebratory meeting three years ago, and sustaining it with his own enthusiasm, in order to provide a highly visible manifestation of the fruits of SciDAC. He and the other Office of Science program managers in attendance and working in Washington, DC to communicate the opportunities afforded by SciDAC deserve the gratitude of a new virtual scientific village created and cemented under the vision of scientific discovery through advanced computing. David E Keyes Fu Foundation Professor of Applied Mathematics

The Battle of Aschaffenburg: An Example of Late World War 2 Urban Combat in Europe

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-06-02

Division (LTC Abams) German Units - ARMY: Seventh ( Gen . der Inf. Felber) ( Gen . der Inf. Obstfelder, 26 March) CORPS: L)XOII ( Gen . dir Inf. Hahn...4 Armored Division (LTC Abrams) Ist Bn, 104 Infantry (attached to 4 AD) German Units - ARMY: Seventh ( Gen . dir Inf. Obstfelder) CORPS: DOCOII ( Gen ...Haislip) DIVISION: 44 Infantry Division (MG Dean) 45 Infantry Division (MG Fredericks) German Units - ARMY: Seventh ( Gen . dir Inf. Obstfelder) CORPS

Joint symbolic dynamic analysis of cardiorespiratory interactions in patients on weaning trials.

PubMed

Caminal, P; Giraldo, B; Zabaleta, H; Vallverdu, M; Benito, S; Ballesteros, D; Lopez-Rodriguez, L; Esteban, A; Baumert, M; Voss, A

2005-01-01

Assessing autonomic control provides information about patho-physiological imbalances. Measures of variability of the cardiac interbeat duration RR(n) and the variability of the breath duration TTot(n) are sensitive to those changes. The interactions between RR(n) and TTot(n) are complex and strongly non-linear. A study of joint symbolic dynamics is presented as a new short-term non-linear analysis method to investigate these interactions in patients on weaning trials. 78 patients from mechanical ventilation are studied: Group A (patients that failed to maintain spontaneous breathing and were reconnected) and Group B (patients with successful trials). Using the concept of joint symbolic dynamics, cardiac and respiratory changes were transformed into a word series, and the probability of occurrence of each word type was calculated and compared between both groups. Significant differences were found in 13 words, and the most significant pn(Wc010, r010): 0.0041 ± 0.0036 (group A) against 0.0012 ± 0.0024 (group B), p-value = 0.00001. The number of seldom occurring word types (forbidden words) also presents significant differences fwcr: 6.9 ± 6.6 against 13.5 ± 5.3, p-value = 0.00004. Joint symbolic dynamics provides an efficient non-linear representation of cardiorespiratory interactions that offers simple physiological interpretations.

Large-Scale, Parallel, Multi-Sensor Atmospheric Data Fusion Using Cloud Computing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, B. D.; Manipon, G.; Hua, H.; Fetzer, E. J.

2013-12-01

NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) is an ambitious facility for studying global climate change. The mandate now is to combine measurements from the instruments on the 'A-Train' platforms (AIRS, AMSR-E, MODIS, MISR, MLS, and CloudSat) and other Earth probes to enable large-scale studies of climate change over decades. Moving to multi-sensor, long-duration analyses of important climate variables presents serious challenges for large-scale data mining and fusion. For example, one might want to compare temperature and water vapor retrievals from one instrument (AIRS) to another (MODIS), and to a model (MERRA), stratify the comparisons using a classification of the 'cloud scenes' from CloudSat, and repeat the entire analysis over 10 years of data. To efficiently assemble such datasets, we are utilizing Elastic Computing in the Cloud and parallel map/reduce-based algorithms. However, these problems are Data Intensive computing so the data transfer times and storage costs (for caching) are key issues. SciReduce is a Hadoop-like parallel analysis system, programmed in parallel python, that is designed from the ground up for Earth science. SciReduce executes inside VMWare images and scales to any number of nodes in the Cloud. Unlike Hadoop, SciReduce operates on bundles of named numeric arrays, which can be passed in memory or serialized to disk in netCDF4 or HDF5. Figure 1 shows the architecture of the full computational system, with SciReduce at the core. Multi-year datasets are automatically 'sharded' by time and space across a cluster of nodes so that years of data (millions of files) can be processed in a massively parallel way. Input variables (arrays) are pulled on-demand into the Cloud using OPeNDAP URLs or other subsetting services, thereby minimizing the size of the cached input and intermediate datasets. We are using SciReduce to automate the production of multiple versions of a ten-year A-Train water vapor climatology under a NASA MEASURES grant. We will present the architecture of SciReduce, describe the achieved 'clock time' speedups in fusing datasets on our own compute nodes and in the public Cloud, and discuss the Cloud cost tradeoffs for storage, compute, and data transfer. We will also present a concept/prototype for staging NASA's A-Train Atmospheric datasets (Levels 2 & 3) in the Amazon Cloud so that any number of compute jobs can be executed 'near' the multi-sensor data. Given such a system, multi-sensor climate studies over 10-20 years of data could be performed in an efficient way, with the researcher paying only his own Cloud compute bill. SciReduce Architecture

Opening Remarks: SciDAC 2007

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strayer, Michael

2007-09-01

Good morning. Welcome to Boston, the home of the Red Sox, Celtics and Bruins, baked beans, tea parties, Robert Parker, and SciDAC 2007. A year ago I stood before you to share the legacy of the first SciDAC program and identify the challenges that we must address on the road to petascale computing—a road E E Cummins described as `. . . never traveled, gladly beyond any experience.' Today, I want to explore the preparations for the rapidly approaching extreme scale (X-scale) generation. These preparations are the first step propelling us along the road of burgeoning scientific discovery enabled by the application of X- scale computing. We look to petascale computing and beyond to open up a world of discovery that cuts across scientific fields and leads us to a greater understanding of not only our world, but our universe. As part of the President's America Competitiveness Initiative, the ASCR Office has been preparing a ten year vision for computing. As part of this planning the LBNL together with ORNL and ANL hosted three town hall meetings on Simulation and Modeling at the Exascale for Energy, Ecological Sustainability and Global Security (E3). The proposed E3 initiative is organized around four programmatic themes: Engaging our top scientists, engineers, computer scientists and applied mathematicians; investing in pioneering large-scale science; developing scalable analysis algorithms, and storage architectures to accelerate discovery; and accelerating the build-out and future development of the DOE open computing facilities. It is clear that we have only just started down the path to extreme scale computing. Plan to attend Thursday's session on the out-briefing and discussion of these meetings. The road to the petascale has been at best rocky. In FY07, the continuing resolution provided 12% less money for Advanced Scientific Computing than either the President, the Senate, or the House. As a consequence, many of you had to absorb a no cost extension for your SciDAC work. I am pleased that the President's FY08 budget restores the funding for SciDAC. Quoting from Advanced Scientific Computing Research description in the House Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill for FY08, "Perhaps no other area of research at the Department is so critical to sustaining U.S. leadership in science and technology, revolutionizing the way science is done and improving research productivity." As a society we need to revolutionize our approaches to energy, environmental and global security challenges. As we go forward along the road to the X-scale generation, the use of computation will continue to be a critical tool along with theory and experiment in understanding the behavior of the fundamental components of nature as well as for fundamental discovery and exploration of the behavior of complex systems. The foundation to overcome these societal challenges will build from the experiences and knowledge gained as you, members of our SciDAC research teams, work together to attack problems at the tera- and peta- scale. If SciDAC is viewed as an experiment for revolutionizing scientific methodology, then a strategic goal of ASCR program must be to broaden the intellectual base prepared to address the challenges of the new X-scale generation of computing. We must focus our computational science experiences gained over the past five years on the opportunities introduced with extreme scale computing. Our facilities are on a path to provide the resources needed to undertake the first part of our journey. Using the newly upgraded 119 teraflop Cray XT system at the Leadership Computing Facility, SciDAC research teams have in three days performed a 100-year study of the time evolution of the atmospheric CO2 concentration originating from the land surface. The simulation of the El Nino/Southern Oscillation which was part of this study has been characterized as `the most impressive new result in ten years' gained new insight into the behavior of superheated ionic gas in the ITER reactor as a result of an AORSA run on 22,500 processors that achieved over 87 trillion calculations per second (87 teraflops) which is 74% of the system's theoretical peak. Tomorrow, Argonne and IBM will announce that the first IBM Blue Gene/P, a 100 teraflop system, will be shipped to the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility later this fiscal year. By the end of FY2007 ASCR high performance and leadership computing resources will include the 114 teraflop IBM Blue Gene/P; a 102 teraflop Cray XT4 at NERSC and a 119 teraflop Cray XT system at Oak Ridge. Before ringing in the New Year, Oak Ridge will upgrade to 250 teraflops with the replacement of the dual core processors with quad core processors and Argonne will upgrade to between 250-500 teraflops, and next year, a petascale Cray Baker system is scheduled for delivery at Oak Ridge. The multidisciplinary teams in our SciDAC Centers for Enabling Technologies and our SciDAC Institutes must continue to work with our Scientific Application teams to overcome the barriers that prevent effective use of these new systems. These challenges include: the need for new algorithms as well as operating system and runtime software and tools which scale to parallel systems composed of hundreds of thousands processors; program development environments and tools which scale effectively and provide ease of use for developers and scientific end users; and visualization and data management systems that support moving, storing, analyzing, manipulating and visualizing multi-petabytes of scientific data and objects. The SciDAC Centers, located primarily at our DOE national laboratories will take the lead in ensuring that critical computer science and applied mathematics issues are addressed in a timely and comprehensive fashion and to address issues associated with research software lifecycle. In contrast, the SciDAC Institutes, which are university-led centers of excellence, will have more flexibility to pursue new research topics through a range of research collaborations. The Institutes will also work to broaden the intellectual and researcher base—conducting short courses and summer schools to take advantage of new high performance computing capabilities. The SciDAC Outreach Center at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory complements the outreach efforts of the SciDAC Institutes. The Outreach Center is our clearinghouse for SciDAC activities and resources and will communicate with the high performance computing community in part to understand their needs for workshops, summer schools and institutes. SciDAC is not ASCR's only effort to broaden the computational science community needed to meet the challenges of the new X-scale generation. I hope that you were able to attend the Computational Science Graduate Fellowship poster session last night. ASCR developed the fellowship in 1991 to meet the nation's growing need for scientists and technology professionals with advanced computer skills. CSGF, now jointly funded between ASCR and NNSA, is more than a traditional academic fellowship. It has provided more than 200 of the best and brightest graduate students with guidance, support and community in preparing them as computational scientists. Today CSGF alumni are bringing their diverse top-level skills and knowledge to research teams at DOE laboratories and in industries such as Proctor and Gamble, Lockheed Martin and Intel. At universities they are working to train the next generation of computational scientists. To build on this success, we intend to develop a wholly new Early Career Principal Investigator's (ECPI) program. Our objective is to stimulate academic research in scientific areas within ASCR's purview especially among faculty in early stages of their academic careers. Last February, we lost Ken Kennedy, one of the leading lights of our community. As we move forward into the extreme computing generation, his vision and insight will be greatly missed. In memorial to Ken Kennedy, we shall designate the ECPI grants to beginning faculty in Computer Science as the Ken Kennedy Fellowship. Watch the ASCR website for more information about ECPI and other early career programs in the computational sciences. We look to you, our scientists, researchers, and visionaries to take X-scale computing and use it to explode scientific discovery in your fields. We at SciDAC will work to ensure that this tool is the sharpest and most precise and efficient instrument to carve away the unknown and reveal the most exciting secrets and stimulating scientific discoveries of our time. The partnership between research and computing is the marriage that will spur greater discovery, and as Spencer said to Susan in Robert Parker's novel, `Sudden Mischief', `We stick together long enough, and we may get as smart as hell'. Michael Strayer

Microorganism gram-type differentiation based on pyrolysis-mass spectrometry of bacterial Fatty Acid methyl ester extracts.

PubMed

Basile, F; Voorhees, K J; Hadfield, T L

1995-04-01

Curie-point pyrolysis (Py)-mass spectrometry has been used to differentiate 19 microorganisms by Gram type on the basis of the methyl esters of their fatty acid distribution. The mass spectra of gram-negative microorganisms were characterized by the presence of palmitoleic acid (C(inf16:1)) and oleic acid (C(inf18:1)), as well as a higher abundance of palmitic acid (C(inf16:0)) than pentadecanoic acid (C(inf15:0)). For gram-positive microorganisms, a signal of branched C(inf15:0) (isoC(inf15:0) and/or anteisoC(inf15:0)) more intense than that of palmitic acid was observed in the mass spectra. Principal components analysis of these mass spectral data segregated the microorganisms investigated in this study into three discrete clusters that correlated to their gram reactions and pathogenicities. Further tandem mass spectrometric analysis demonstrated that the nature of the C(inf15:0) fatty acid isomer (branched or normal) present in the mass spectrum of each microorganism was important for achieving the classification into three clusters.

Resent Results from Super-Kamiokande

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moriyama, S.

2001-04-01

Results on atmospheric and solar neutrino analyses at Super-Kamiokande are presented. The whole data set of atmospheric neutrino is consistently explained with an assumption of pure νμ-ντ oscillations. The allowed range of parameters is 1.4 × 10-3 < Δm2 < 5 × 10-3 eV2 and sin2 2θ > 0.88 at 90% C.L. On the other hand, we found pure νμ-νsterile oscillations are disfavored with 99% C.L. From solar neutrino data, we obtained 8B neutrino flux ratio to the prediction of the standard solar model to be 0.465±0.005±0.0150.013. The flux difference of daytime and nighttime is 1.3σ. The energy spectrum is consistent with expectations. By examining daytime and nighttime spectra, we found the small mixing angle solutions and vacuum oscillation solutions which satisfy the observed fluxes of solar neutrino experiments are disfavored with 95% C.L. for νe-νactive oscillations. Similarly, νe-νsterile oscillations are also disfavored.

"excess Heat" during Electrolysis in Platinium /K2CO3/ Nickel Light Water System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tian, J.; Jin, L. H.; Weng, Z. K.; Song, B.; Zhao, X. L.; Xiao, Z. J.; Chen, G.; Du, B. Q.

2006-02-01

The characteristic variation of heating coefficients (k = ΔT/ΔP°C/W) of Pt(H)-Ni electrolytic system with K2CO3 and Na2CO3 solutions was studied in both situations of electric and electrolytic heating, respectively. The results in equilibrium revealed that there was an obvious difference of k in electrolytic-heating (Δk ≈ 30°C/W, kK2CO3 > kNa2CO3) between these two systems, whereas there was a little difference of k in electric heating (Δk ≈ 2°C/W, kK2CO3 < kNa2CO3 between them. "Excess heat" of about 2.5 × 104 J was produced during electrolysis of K2CO3 solution over 1 day of electrolysis. The differences of K2CO3 solution after electrolysis in the potential of hydrogen value (ΔpH = 0.15) and in absorbency (ΔA = 0.108) implied that some new Ca2+ might have formed in the electrolytic system.

Assembly and Turnover of Short Actin Filaments by the Formin INF2 and Profilin*

PubMed Central

Gurel, Pinar S.; A, Mu; Guo, Bingqian; Shu, Rui; Mierke, Dale F.; Higgs, Henry N.

2015-01-01

INF2 (inverted formin 2) is a formin protein with unique biochemical effects on actin. In addition to the common formin ability to accelerate actin nucleation and elongation, INF2 can also sever filaments and accelerate their depolymerization. Although we understand key attributes of INF2-mediated severing, we do not understand the mechanism by which INF2 accelerates depolymerization subsequent to severing. Here, we show that INF2 can create short filaments (<60 nm) that continuously turn over actin subunits through a combination of barbed end elongation, severing, and WH2 motif-mediated depolymerization. This pseudo-steady state condition occurs whether starting from actin filaments or monomers. The rate-limiting step of the cycle is nucleotide exchange of ADP for ATP on actin monomers after release from the INF2/actin complex. Profilin addition has two effects: 1) to accelerate filament turnover 6-fold by accelerating nucleotide exchange and 2) to shift the equilibrium toward polymerization, resulting in longer filaments. In sum, our findings show that the combination of multiple interactions of INF2 with actin can work in concert to increase the ATP turnover rate of actin. Depending on the ratio of INF2:actin, this increased flux can result in rapid filament depolymerization or maintenance of short filaments. We also show that high concentrations of cytochalasin D accelerate ATP turnover by actin but through a different mechanism from that of INF2. PMID:26124273

Impact of surgical care improvement project inf-9 on postoperative urinary tract infections: do exemptions interfere with quality patient care?

PubMed

Owen, Rachel M; Perez, Sebastian D; Bornstein, William A; Sweeney, John F

2012-10-01

The Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP) Inf-9 guideline promotes removal of indwelling urinary catheters (IUCs) within 48 hours of surgery. To determine whether a correlation exists between SCIP Inf-9 compliance and postoperative urinary tract infection (UTI) rates and whether an association exists between UTI rates and SCIP Inf-9 exemption status. DESIGN Retrospective case control study. Southeastern academic medical center. American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) and SCIP Inf-9 compliance data were collected prospectively on randomly selected general and vascular surgery inpatients. Monthly UTI rates and SCIP Inf-9 compliance scores were tested for correlation. Complete NSQIP data for all the inpatients with postoperative UTIs were compared with a group of 100 random controls to determine whether an association exists between UTI rates and SCIP Inf-9 exemption status. Postoperative UTI. In 2459 patients reviewed, SCIP Inf-9 compliance increased over time, but this was not correlated with improved monthly UTI rates. Sixty-one of the 69 UTIs (88.4%) were compliant with SCIP Inf-9; however, 49 (71.0%) of these were considered exempt from the guideline and, therefore, the IUC was not removed within 48 hours of surgery. Retrospective review of 100 random controls showed a similar compliance rate (84.0%, P = .43) but a lower rate of exemption (23.5%, P < .001). The odds of developing a postoperative UTI were 8 times higher in patients deemed exempt from SCIP Inf-9 (odds ratio [OR], 7.99; 95% CI, 3.85-16.61). After controlling for differences between the 2 groups, the adjusted ORs slightly increased (OR, 8.34; 95% CI, 3.70-18.76). Most UTIs occurred in patients deemed exempt from SCIP Inf-9. Although compliance rates remain high, practices are not actually improving. Surgical Care Improvement Project Inf-9 guidelines should be modified with fewer exemptions to facilitate earlier removal of IUCs.

Antibody loaded collapsible hyaluronic acid hydrogels for intraocular delivery.

PubMed

Egbu, Raphael; Brocchini, Steve; Khaw, Peng T; Awwad, Sahar

2018-03-01

Injectable gels have the potential to encapsulate drugs for sustained release of protein therapeutics for use in the eye. Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a biodegradable clinically used material and poly N-isopropylacrylamide (pNIPAAM) is a stimuli responsive polymer that can display a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) at physiological conditions. Two gel systems incorporating HA were prepared in the presence of the antibody infliximab (INF): i) 1% and 5% tyramine-substituted HA (HA-Tyr) was enzymatically crosslinked in the presence of INF to form HA-Tyr-INF and ii) NIPAAM was chemically crosslinked in the presence of HA and INF with 1 and 3% poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) to form PEGDA-pNIPAAM-HA-INF. The PEGDA-pNIPAAM-HA-INF hydrogels displayed LCSTs at temperatures ranging from 31.4 ± 0.2 to 35.7 ± 0.3 °C. Although all the gels prepared were injectable, INF-loaded gels with lower crosslinking density (1% PEGDA-pNIPAAM-HA and 1% HA-Tyr) showed lower elastic (G') and viscous (G″) moduli compared to higher crosslinked gels (3% PEGDA-pNIPAAM-HA-INF and 5% HA-Tyr-INF) resulting in differences in swelling ratio (SR). Moduli may be correlated with overall stiffness of the gel. All hydrogels demonstrated sustained release of INF in a two-compartment in vitro outflow model of the human eye called the PK-Eye. The 1% PEGDA-pNIPAAM-HA-INF hydrogel displayed the slowest release (24.9 ± 0.4% INF release by day 9) in phosphate buffered saline (PBS, pH 7.4), which is a better release profile than the free drug alone (tested under the same conditions). These results suggest that PEGDA-pNIPAAM-HA has potential for the continued development of formulations to prolong the intraocular release of proteins. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Interferon-gamma exerts its negative regulatory effect primarily on the earliest stages of murine erythroid progenitor cell development.

PubMed

Wang, C Q; Udupa, K B; Lipschitz, D A

1995-01-01

Interferon-gamma (INF-gamma) has been shown to suppress erythropoiesis and perhaps to contribute to the anemia of chronic disease. In this study we demonstrated that the concentration of INF gamma required to suppress murine burst forming unit-erythroid (BFU-E) growth was significantly less than that required to suppress colony forming unit-erythroid (CFU-E) growth. INF gamma acted at the most primitive step in erythroid progenitor cell differentiation and proliferation, as inhibition was maximal when added at the time of BFU-E culture initiation. Inhibition was progressively less if INF gamma addition was delayed after culture initiation. The effects of INF gamma on BFU-E did not require the presence of interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1 alpha), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF alpha), or granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), as its effects were not neutralized by monoclonal antibodies against IL-1 alpha, TNF alpha, or GM-CSF. This applied whether INF gamma was added to culture with individual antibodies or with a combination of all three antibodies. INF gamma was not required for IL-1 alpha- or TNF alpha-induced suppression of BFU-E, as their effects were not neutralized by a monoclonal anti-INF gamma antibody. In contrast, GM-CSF-induced suppression of BFU-E was negated by the simultaneous addition of anti-INF gamma. We have previously shown that the addition of TNF alpha does not suppress BFU-E growth in cultures from marrow depleted of macrophages. Suppression did occur, however, if a small concentration of INF gamma that does not inhibit and increasing concentration of TNF alpha were added to culture, suggesting a synergistic effect between INF-gamma and TNF alpha. These observations suggest that INF gamma is a potent direct inhibitor of erythroid colony growth in vitro. It exerts its negative regulatory effect primarily on the earliest stages of erythroid progenitor cell differentiation and proliferation, as much higher doses are required to suppress late erythroid cell development. INF gamma is also involved in GM-CSF-induced inhibition of BFU-E colony growth.

Measurement properties of the Spinal Cord Injury-Functional Index (SCI-FI) short forms.

PubMed

Heinemann, Allen W; Dijkers, Marcel P; Ni, Pengsheng; Tulsky, David S; Jette, Alan

2014-07-01

To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Spinal Cord Injury-Functional Index (SCI-FI) short forms (basic mobility, self-care, fine motor, ambulation, manual wheelchair, and power wheelchair) based on internal consistency; correlations between short forms banks, full item bank forms, and a 10-item computer adaptive test version; magnitude of ceiling and floor effects; and test information functions. Cross-sectional cohort study. Six rehabilitation hospitals in the United States. Individuals with traumatic spinal cord injury (N=855) recruited from 6 national Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems facilities. Not applicable. SCI-FI full item bank, 10-item computer adaptive test, and parallel short form scores. The SCI-FI short forms (with separate versions for individuals with paraplegia and tetraplegia) demonstrate very good internal consistency, group-level reliability, excellent correlations between short forms and scores based on the total item bank, and minimal ceiling and floor effects (except ceiling effects for persons with paraplegia on self-care, fine motor, and power wheelchair ability and floor effects for persons with tetraplegia on self-care, fine motor, and manual wheelchair ability). The test information functions are acceptable across the range of scores where most persons in the sample performed. Clinicians and researchers should consider the SCI-FI short forms when computer adaptive testing is not feasible. Copyright © 2014 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Opening Comments: SciDAC 2008

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strayer, Michael

2008-07-01

Welcome to Seattle and the 2008 SciDAC Conference. This conference, the fourth in the series, is a continuation of the PI meetings we first began under SciDAC-1. I would like to start by thanking the organizing committee, and Rick Stevens in particular, for organizing this year's meeting. This morning I would like to look briefly at SciDAC, to give you a brief history of SciDAC and also look ahead to see where we plan to go over the next few years. I think the best description of SciDAC, at least the simulation part, comes from a quote from Dr Ray Orbach, DOE's Under Secretary for Science and Director of the Office of Science. In an interview that appeared in the SciDAC Review magazine, Dr Orbach said, `SciDAC is unique in the world. There isn't any other program like it anywhere else, and it has the remarkable ability to do science by bringing together physical scientists, mathematicians, applied mathematicians, and computer scientists who recognize that computation is not something you do at the end, but rather it needs to be built into the solution of the very problem that one is addressing'. Of course, that is extended not just to physical scientists, but also to biological scientists. This is a theme of computational science, this partnership among disciplines, which goes all the way back to the early 1980s and Ken Wilson. It's a unique thread within the Department of Energy. SciDAC-1, launched around the turn of the millennium, created a new generation of scientific simulation codes. It advocated building out mathematical and computing system software in support of science and a new collaboratory software environment for data. The original concept for SciDAC-1 had topical centers for the execution of the various science codes, but several corrections and adjustments were needed. The ASCR scientific computing infrastructure was also upgraded, providing the hardware facilities for the program. The computing facility that we had at that time was the big 3 teraflop/s center at NERSC and that had to be shared with the programmatic side supporting research across DOE. At the time, ESnet was just slightly over half a gig per sec of bandwidth; and the science being addressed was accelerator science, climate, chemistry, fusion, astrophysics, materials science, and QCD. We built out the national collaboratories from the ASCR office, and in addition we built Integrated Software Infrastructure Centers (ISICs). Of these, three were in applied mathematics, four in computer science (including a performance evaluation research center), and four were collaboratories or Grid projects having to do with data management. For science, there were remarkable breakthroughs in simulation, such as full 3D laboratory scale flame simulation. There were also significant improvements in application codes - from factors of almost 3 to more than 100 - and code improvement as people began to realize they had to integrate mathematics tools and computer science tools into their codes to take advantage of the parallelism of the day. The SciDAC data-mining tool, Sapphire, received a 2006 R&D 100 award. And the community as a whole worked well together and began building a publication record that was substantial. In 2006, we recompeted the program with similar goals - SciDAC-1 was very successful, and we wanted to continue that success and extend what was happening under SciDAC to the broader science community. We opened up the partnership to all of the Offices of Science and the NSF and the NNSA. The goal was to create comprehensive scientific computing software and the infrastructure for the software to enable scientific discovery in the physical, biological, and environmental sciences and take the simulations to an extreme scale, in this case petascale. We would also build out a new generation of data management tools. What we observed during SciDAC-1 was that the data and the data communities - both experimental data from large experimental facilities and observational data, along with simulation data - were expanding at a rate significantly faster than Moore's law. In the past few weeks, the FastBit indexing technology software tool for data analyses and data mining developed under SciDAC's Scientific Data Management project was recognized with an R&D 100 Award, selected by an independent judging panel and editors of R&D Magazine as one of the 100 most technologically significant products introduced into the marketplace over the past year. For SciDAC-2 we had nearly 250 proposals requesting a total of slightly over 1 billion in funding. Of course, we had nowhere near 1 billion. The facilities and the science we ended up with were not significantly different from what we had in SciDAC-1. But we had put in place substantially increased facilities for science. When SciDAC-1 was originally executed with the facilities at NERSC, there was significant impact on the resources at NERSC, because not only did we have an expanding portfolio of programmatic science, but we had the SciDAC projects that also needed to run at NERSC. Suddenly, NERSC was incredibly oversubscribed. With SciDAC-2, we had in place leadership-class computing facilities at Argonne with slightly more than half a petaflop and at Oak Ridge with slightly more than a quarter petaflop with an upgrade planned at the end of this year for a petaflop. And we increased the production computing capacity at NERSC to 104 teraflop/s just so that we would not impact the programmatic research and so that we would have a startup facility for SciDAC. At the end of the summer, NERSC will be at 360 teraflop/s. Both the Oak Ridge system and the principal resource at NERSC are Cray systems; Argonne has a different architecture, an IBM Blue Gene/P. At the same time, ESnet has been built out, and we are on a path where we will have dual rings around the country, from 10 to 40 gigabits per second - a factor of 20 to 80 over what was available during SciDAC-1. The science areas include accelerator science and simulation, astrophysics, climate modeling and simulation, computational biology, fusion science, high-energy physics, petabyte high-energy/ nuclear physics, materials science and chemistry, nuclear physics, QCD, radiation transport, turbulence, and groundwater reactive transport modeling and simulation. They were supported by new enabling technology centers and university-based institutes to develop an educational thread for the SciDAC program. There were four mathematics projects and four computer science projects; and under data management, we see a significant difference in that we are bringing up new visualization projects to support and sustain data-intensive science. When we look at the budgets, we see growth in the budget from just under 60 million for SciDAC-1 to just over 80 for SciDAC-2. Part of the growth is due to bringing in NSF and NNSA as new partners, and some of the growth is due to some program offices increasing their investment in SciDAC, while other program offices are constant or have decreased their investment. This is not a reflection of their priorities per se but, rather, a reflection of the budget process and the difficult times in Washington during the past two years. New activities are under way in SciDAC - the annual PI meeting has turned into what I would describe as the premier interdisciplinary computational science meeting, one of the best in the world. Doing interdisciplinary meetings is difficult because people tend to develop a focus for their particular subject area. But this is the fourth in the series; and since the first meeting in San Francisco, these conferences have been remarkably successful. For SciDAC-2 we also created an outreach magazine, SciDAC Review, which highlights scientific discovery as well as high-performance computing. It's been very successful in telling the non-practitioners what SciDAC and computational science are all about. The other new instrument in SciDAC-2 is an outreach center. As we go from computing at the terascale to computing at the petascale, we face the problem of narrowing our research community. The number of people who are `literate' enough to compute at the terascale is more than the number of those who can compute at the petascale. To address this problem, we established the SciDAC Outreach Center to bring people into the fold and educate them as to how we do SciDAC, how the teams are composed, and what it really means to compute at scale. The resources I have mentioned don't come for free. As part of the HECRTF law of 2005, Congress mandated that the Secretary would ensure that leadership-class facilities would be open to everyone across all agencies. So we took Congress at its word, and INCITE is our instrument for making allocations at the leadership-class facilities at Argonne and Oak Ridge, as well as smaller allocations at NERSC. Therefore, the selected proposals are very large projects that are computationally intensive, that compute at scale, and that have a high science impact. An important feature is that INCITE is completely open to anyone - there is no requirement of DOE Office of Science funding, and proposals are rigorously reviewed for both the science and the computational readiness. In 2008, more than 100 proposals were received, requesting about 600 million processor-hours. We allocated just over a quarter of a billion processor-hours. Astrophysics, materials science, lattice gauge theory, and high energy and nuclear physics were the major areas. These were the teams that were computationally ready for the big machines and that had significant science they could identify. In 2009, there will be a significant increase amount of time to be allocated, over half a billion processor-hours. The deadline is August 11 for new proposals and September 12 for renewals. We anticipate a significant increase in the number of requests this year. We expect you - as successful SciDAC centers, institutes, or partnerships - to compete for and win INCITE program allocation awards. If you have a successful SciDAC proposal, we believe it will make you successful in the INCITE review. We have the expectation that you will among those most prepared and most ready to use the machines and to compute at scale. Over the past 18 months, we have assembled a team to look across our computational science portfolio and to judge what are the 10 most significant science accomplishments. The ASCR office, as it goes forward with OMB, the new administration, and Congress, will be judged by the science we have accomplished. All of our proposals - such as for increasing SciDAC, increasing applied mathematics, and so on - are tied to what have we accomplished in science. And so these 10 big accomplishments are key to establishing credibility for new budget requests. Tony Mezzacappa, who chaired the committee, will also give a presentation on the ranking of these top 10, how they got there, and what the science is all about. Here is the list - numbers 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, and 10 are all SciDAC projects. RankTitle 1Modeling the Molecular Basis of Parkinson's Disease (Tsigelny) 2Discovery of the Standing Accretion Shock Instability and Pulsar Birth Mechanism in a Core-Collapse Supernova Evolution and Explosion (Blondin) 3Prediction and Design of Macromolecular Structures and Functions (Baker) 4Understanding How Lifted Flame Stabilized in a Hot Coflow (Yoo) 5New Insights from LCF-enabled Advanced Kinetic Simulations of Global Turbulence in Fusion Systems (Tang) 6High Transition Temperature Superconductivity: A High-Temperature Superconductive State and a Pairing Mechanism in 2-D Hubbard Model (Scalapino) 7 PETsc: Providing the Solvers for DOE High-Performance Simulations (Smith) 8 Via Lactea II, A Billion Particle Simulation of the Dark Matter Halo of the Milky Way (Madau) 9Probing the Properties of Water through Advanced Computing (Galli) 10First Provably Scalable Maxwell Solver Enables Scalable Electromagnetic Simulations (Kovel) So, what's the future going to look like for us? The office is putting together an initiative with the community, which we call the E3 Initiative. We're looking for a 10-year horizon for what's going to happen. Through the series of town hall meetings, which many of you participated in, we have produced a document on `Transforming Energy, the Environment and Science through simulations at the eXtreme Scale'; it can be found at http://www.science.doe.gov/ascr/ProgramDocuments/TownHall.pdf . We sometimes call it the Exascale initiative. Exascale computing is the gold-ring level of computing that seems just out of reach; but if we work hard and stretch, we just might be able to reach it. We envision that there will be a SciDAC-X, working at the extreme scale, with SciDAC teams that will perform and carry out science in the areas that will have a great societal impact, such as alternative fuels and transportation, combustion, climate, fusion science, high-energy physics, advanced fuel cycles, carbon management, and groundwater. We envision institutes for applied mathematics and computer science that probably will segue into algorithms because, at the extreme scale, we see the distinction between the applied math and the algorithm per se and its implementation in computer science as being inseparable. We envision an INCITE-X with multi-petaflop platforms, perhaps even exaflop computing resources. ESnet will be best in class - our 10-year plan calls for having 400 terabits per second capacity available in dual rings around the country, an enormously fast data communications network for moving large amounts of data. In looking at where we've been and where we are going, we can see that the gigaflops and teraflops era was a regime where we were following Moore's law through advances in clock speed. In the current regime, we're introducing massive parallelism, which I think is exemplified by Intel's announcement of their teraflop chip, where they envision more than a thousand cores on a chip. But in order to reach exascale, extrapolations talk about machines that require 100 megawatts of power in terms of current architectures. It's clearly going to require novel architectures, things we have perhaps not yet envisioned. It is of course an era of challenge. There will be an unpredictable evolution of hardware if we are to reach the exascale; and there will clearly be multilevel heterogeneous parallelism, including multilevel memory hierarchies. We have no idea right now as to the programming models needed to execute at such an extreme scale. We have been incredibly successful at the petascale - we know that already. Managing data and just getting communications to scale is an enormous challenge. And it's not just the extreme scaling. It's the rapid increase in complexity that represents the challenge. Let me end with a metaphor. In previous meetings we have talked about the road to petascale. Indeed, we have seen in hindsight that it was a road well traveled. But perhaps the road to exascale is not a road at all. Perhaps the metaphor will be akin to scaling the south face of K2. That's clearly not something all of us will be able to do, and probably computing at the exascale is not something all of us will do. But if we achieve that goal, perhaps the words of Emily Dickinson will best summarize where we will be. Perhaps in her words, looking backward and down, you will say: I climb the `Hill of Science' I view the landscape o'er; Such transcendental prospect I ne'er beheld before!

Multicast Delayed Authentication For Streaming Synchrophasor Data in the Smart Grid

PubMed Central

Câmara, Sérgio; Anand, Dhananjay; Pillitteri, Victoria; Carmo, Luiz

2017-01-01

Multicast authentication of synchrophasor data is challenging due to the design requirements of Smart Grid monitoring systems such as low security overhead, tolerance of lossy networks, time-criticality and high data rates. In this work, we propose inf -TESLA, Infinite Timed Efficient Stream Loss-tolerant Authentication, a multicast delayed authentication protocol for communication links used to stream synchrophasor data for wide area control of electric power networks. Our approach is based on the authentication protocol TESLA but is augmented to accommodate high frequency transmissions of unbounded length. inf TESLA protocol utilizes the Dual Offset Key Chains mechanism to reduce authentication delay and computational cost associated with key chain commitment. We provide a description of the mechanism using two different modes for disclosing keys and demonstrate its security against a man-in-the-middle attack attempt. We compare our approach against the TESLA protocol in a 2-day simulation scenario, showing a reduction of 15.82% and 47.29% in computational cost, sender and receiver respectively, and a cumulative reduction in the communication overhead. PMID:28736582

Multicast Delayed Authentication For Streaming Synchrophasor Data in the Smart Grid.

PubMed

Câmara, Sérgio; Anand, Dhananjay; Pillitteri, Victoria; Carmo, Luiz

2016-01-01

Multicast authentication of synchrophasor data is challenging due to the design requirements of Smart Grid monitoring systems such as low security overhead, tolerance of lossy networks, time-criticality and high data rates. In this work, we propose inf -TESLA, Infinite Timed Efficient Stream Loss-tolerant Authentication, a multicast delayed authentication protocol for communication links used to stream synchrophasor data for wide area control of electric power networks. Our approach is based on the authentication protocol TESLA but is augmented to accommodate high frequency transmissions of unbounded length. inf TESLA protocol utilizes the Dual Offset Key Chains mechanism to reduce authentication delay and computational cost associated with key chain commitment. We provide a description of the mechanism using two different modes for disclosing keys and demonstrate its security against a man-in-the-middle attack attempt. We compare our approach against the TESLA protocol in a 2-day simulation scenario, showing a reduction of 15.82% and 47.29% in computational cost, sender and receiver respectively, and a cumulative reduction in the communication overhead.

Evaluating the Implementation Barriers of an Intranasal Fentanyl Pain Pathway for Pediatric Long-Bone Fractures.

PubMed

Arnautovic, Tamara; Sommese, Kathryn; Mullan, Paul C; Frazier, Steven Barron; Vazifedan, Turaj; Ramirez, Dana Erikson

2017-12-01

This study aimed to assess physician comfort, knowledge, and implementation barriers regarding the use of intranasal fentanyl (INF) for pain management in patients with long-bone fractures in a pediatric emergency department (ED) with an INF pain pathway. A retrospective chart review was conducted of patients, 3 to 21 years old, in our ED with an International Classification of Diseases-9th Revision code for a long-bone fracture from September 1, 2013, to August 31, 2015. Patients were divided into 4 groups: (1) received INF on the pathway appropriately; (2) "missed opportunities" to receive INF, defined as either INF was ordered and then subsequently canceled (for pain ratings, ≥6/10), or INF was ordered, cancelled, and intravenous (IV) morphine given, or INF was not ordered and a peripheral IV line was placed to give IV morphine as first-line medication; (3) peripheral IV established upon ED arrival; (4) no pain medication required. Additionally, a survey regarding practice habits for pain management was completed to evaluate physician barriers to utilization of the pathway. A total of 1374 patients met the inclusion criteria. Missed opportunities were identified 41% of the time. Neither younger patient age nor more years of physician experience in the ED were associated with increased rates of missed opportunities. The survey (95% response rate) revealed greater comfort with and preference for IV morphine over INF. The high rate of missed opportunities, despite the implementation of an INF pain pathway, indicates the need for further exploration of the barriers to utilization of the INF pain pathway.

Effect of Thermal and Shear Stressors on the Physical Properties, Structural Integrity and Biological Activity of the Anti-TNF-alpha Monoclonal Antibody, Infliximab.

PubMed

Alsaddique, Jihad A; Pabari, Ritesh M; Ramtoola, Zebunnissa

The influence of thermal and shear stressors on the stability of the anti-TNF-α monoclonal antibody (mAb), Infliximab® (INF) was investigated. INF at concentrations of 1, 4 and 10 mg/ml was subjected to thermal stress at temperatures of 25-65°C and to shear force by sonication for 1 and 3 minutes. The stressed samples were analysed for physical properties by particle size, zeta potential, for structural integrity by gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and circular dichroism, INF content by UV spectroscopy and for biological activity by ELISA. Results show no change in physical properties or structural integrity of INF at any concentration tested, when subjected to a temperature of up to 50°C. At 65°C, aggregation and precipitation of INF was observed. When subjected to shear stress, higher concentrations of INF at 4 and 10mg/ml maintained their physical properties and structural integrity. However, the biological activity of INF was found to decrease with increasing temperature and sonication time, and was concentration dependent (ANOVA; p<0.05). Interestingly, lyophilisation of INF at 1mg/ml did not affect its physical properties, structural integrity or its biological activity. These findings have important implications with respect to pharmaceutical processing of INF and mAbs including formulation as polymeric micro and nanoparticle systems for sustained or targeted delivery. These findings also have important implications with respect to the handling and storage of INF and mAbs for clinical use.

Effect of Plant Species and Environmental Conditions on Ice Nucleation Activity of Pseudomonas syringae on Leaves.

PubMed

O'brien, R D; Lindow, S E

1988-09-01

Selected plant species and environmental conditions were investigated for their influences on expression of ice nucleation activity by 15 Pseudomonas syringae strains grown on plants in constant-temperature growth chamber studies. Ice nucleation frequencies (INFs), the fraction of cells that expressed ice nucleation at -5 or -9 degrees C, of individual strains varied greatly, both on plants and in culture. This suggests that the probability of frost injury, which is proportional to the number of ice nuclei on leaf surfaces, is strongly determined by the particular bacterial strains that are present on a leaf surface. The INFs of strains were generally higher when they were grown on plants than when they were grown in culture. In addition, INFs in culture did not correlate closely with INFs on plants, suggesting that frost injury prediction should be based on INF measurements of cells grown on plants rather than in culture. The relative INFs of individual strains varied with plant host and environment. However, none of seven plant species tested optimized the INFs of all 15 strains. Similarly, incubation for 48 h at near 100% relative humidity with short photoperiods did not always decrease the INF when compared with a 72 h, 40% relative humidity, long-photoperiod incubation. Pathogenic strains on susceptible hosts were not associated with higher or lower INFs relative to their INFs on nonsusceptible plant species. The ice nucleation activity of individual bacterial strains on plants therefore appears to be controlled by complex and interacting factors such as strain genotype, environment, and host plant species.

Retention Patterns for Army National Guard Units Attending the National Training Center

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-04-01

which are more difficult, Table 2.1 NTC ROUNDOUT BATTALION SCHEDULE ARNG UNIT STATE DATES 1-108 AR GA 9-22 September 󈨗 2-136 INF (M) MN 19 April-8 May...1984 1-121 INF (M) GA 3-22 October 󈨘 2-121 INF (M) GA 18 March-6 April 󈨙 2-152 AR AL 1-20 June 󈨙 2-120 INF (M) NC 26 June-15 July 󈨙 3-156 INF...roundout unit to the 24th Infantry Division headquartered at Fort Stewart, Georgia. Elements of the unit are located in Tifton , Valdosta, Fitzgerald and

A shielded measurement system for irradiated nuclear fuel measurements

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

Mosby, W.R.; Aumeier, S.E.; Klann, R.T.

1999-07-01

The US Department of Energy (DOE) is driving a transition toward dry storage of irradiated nuclear fuel (INF), toward characterization of INF for final disposition, and toward resumption of measurement-based material control and accountability (MC and A) efforts for INF. For these reasons, the ability to efficiently acquire radiological measurements of INF in a dry environment is important. The DOE has recently developed a guidance document proposing MC and A requirements for INF. The intent of this document is to encourage the direct measurement of INF on inventory within DOE. The guidance document reinforces and clarifies existing material safeguards requirementsmore » as they pertain to INF. Validation of nuclear material contents of non-self-protecting INF must be accomplished by direct measurement, application of validated burnup codes using qualified initial fissile content, burnup data, and age or by other valid means. The fuel units must remain intact with readable identification numbers. INF may be subject to periodic inventories with visual item accountability checks. Quantitative measurements may provide greater assurance of the integrity of INF inventories at a lower cost and with less personnel exposure than visual item accountability checks. Currently, several different approaches are used to measure the radiological attributes of INF. Although these systems are useful for a wide variety of applications, there is currently no relatively inexpensive measurement system that is readily deployable for INF measurements for materials located in dry storage. The authors present the conceptual design of a shielded measurement system (SMS) that could be used for this purpose. The SMS consists of a shielded enclosure designed to house a collection of measurement systems to allow measurements on spent fuel outside of a hot cell. The phase 1 SMS will contain {sup 3}He detectors and ionization chambers to allow for gross neutron and gamma-ray measurements. The phase 2 SMS will be developed by adding additional measurement capabilities to the phase 1 SMS. Planned additions include medium-resolution gamma-ray detectors (CdZnTe or high-pressure Xe), additional {sup 3}He tubes to allow coincidence measurements, and a {sup 252}Cf neutron source and motion control system to allow active neutron interrogation measurements. The phase 2 SMS will be capable of performing more direct measurements of INF properties such as burnup, cooling time, spontaneous fission isotope contents, and total fissile contents.« less

Recombinant interferon alpha 2b for ocular surface squamous neoplasia: An efficient and cost-effective treatment modality in Asian Indian patients

PubMed Central

Kaliki, Swathi; Singh, Swati; Iram, Sadiya; Tripuraneni, Dharani

2016-01-01

Purpose: The purpose was to study the efficacy of interferon alpha 2b (INF α2b) in the treatment of ocular surface squamous neoplasia (OSSN) and analyze its cost-effectiveness in India. Study Design: This was a retrospective study of thirty patients with OSSN treated with topical INF α2b (1 MIU/cc) ± perilesional INF α2b (5 MIU/cc). Results: The tumor involved cornea (n = 9, 30%), conjunctivo-limbal-corneal surface (n = 19, 63%), or bulbar conjunctiva (n = 2, 7%). The mean basal dimension of the tumor was 16 mm. The tumors belonged to Tis (n = 6, 20%) or T3 (n = 24, 80%) based on the American Joint Committee Classification, 7th edition. In the six patients with Tis, three cycles of topical INF α2b were used for immunoprevention. In the remaining 24 patients, INF α2b was advised for immunoreduction, but served as immunotherapy with 100% tumor regression in 22 (92%) cases, and resulted in 95% immunoreduction in 2 (6%) cases. Complete tumor regression by immunotherapy (n = 22) was achieved with a mean number of three topical INF α2b cycles and two perilesional injections. All these 22 patients received three additional topical INF α2b cycles after complete tumor regression. For immunoreduction (n = 2), both patients received six cycles of topical INF α2b which was three perilesional INF α2b injections. The mean total treatment cost per patient with INF α2b was INR 9164 ($US 137). Based on maximum basal diameter of tumor at presentation, the mean total treatment cost per patient with INF α2b was INR 4866 ($US 73) for eyes with microscopic evidence of tumor residue (n = 6), INR 9607 ($US 143) for tumors ≤10 mm (n = 13), and INR 10,985 ($US 164) for tumors >10 mm (n = 11), with two patients needing additional surgical excision for complete tumor control. Conclusion: INF α2b can be used for immunoreduction, immunotherapy, or immunoprevention of OSSN. INF α2b is a cost-effective treatment modality for OSSN at an average total treatment cost of INR 9164 ($US 137) per patient. PMID:27905329

Recombinant interferon alpha 2b for ocular surface squamous neoplasia: An efficient and cost-effective treatment modality in Asian Indian patients.

PubMed

Kaliki, Swathi; Singh, Swati; Iram, Sadiya; Tripuraneni, Dharani

2016-10-01

The purpose was to study the efficacy of interferon alpha 2b (INF α2b) in the treatment of ocular surface squamous neoplasia (OSSN) and analyze its cost-effectiveness in India. This was a retrospective study of thirty patients with OSSN treated with topical INF α2b (1 MIU/cc) ± perilesional INF α2b (5 MIU/cc). The tumor involved cornea (n = 9, 30%), conjunctivo-limbal-corneal surface (n = 19, 63%), or bulbar conjunctiva (n = 2, 7%). The mean basal dimension of the tumor was 16 mm. The tumors belonged to Tis (n = 6, 20%) or T3 (n = 24, 80%) based on the American Joint Committee Classification, 7th edition. In the six patients with Tis, three cycles of topical INF α2b were used for immunoprevention. In the remaining 24 patients, INF α2b was advised for immunoreduction, but served as immunotherapy with 100% tumor regression in 22 (92%) cases, and resulted in 95% immunoreduction in 2 (6%) cases. Complete tumor regression by immunotherapy (n = 22) was achieved with a mean number of three topical INF α2b cycles and two perilesional injections. All these 22 patients received three additional topical INF α2b cycles after complete tumor regression. For immunoreduction (n = 2), both patients received six cycles of topical INF α2b which was three perilesional INF α2b injections. The mean total treatment cost per patient with INF α2b was INR 9164 ($US 137). Based on maximum basal diameter of tumor at presentation, the mean total treatment cost per patient with INF α2b was INR 4866 ($US 73) for eyes with microscopic evidence of tumor residue (n = 6), INR 9607 ($US 143) for tumors ≤10 mm (n = 13), and INR 10,985 ($US 164) for tumors >10 mm (n = 11), with two patients needing additional surgical excision for complete tumor control. INF α2b can be used for immunoreduction, immunotherapy, or immunoprevention of OSSN. INF α2b is a cost-effective treatment modality for OSSN at an average total treatment cost of INR 9164 ($US 137) per patient.

The INF controversy

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

Davis, J.K.; Perry, C.M.; Pfaltzgraff, R.L. Jr.

1989-01-01

This book examines the 1979 dual-track INF deployment decision of the NATO allies, focusing on developments in Britain, the Netherlands, and West Germany, where protest movements sought to pressure their governments to reverse themselves on the INF decision. Assesses the damage to U.S. - European relations resulting from the INF controversy and seek(s) to draw lessons that could prevent future disputes from again seriously disrupting Alliance cohesion.

Discordance between surgical care improvement project adherence and postoperative outcomes: implications for new Joint Commission standards.

PubMed

Chang, Victor; Blackwell, Robert H; Markossian, Talar; Yau, Ryan M; Blanco, Barbara A; Zapf, Matthew A C; Abood, Gerard J; Gupta, Gopal N; Kuo, Paul C; Kothari, Anai N

2017-05-15

Infectious (INF) and venous thromboembolism (VTE) complication rates are targeted by surgical care improvement project (SCIP) INF and SCIP VTE measures. We analyzed how adherence to SCIP INF and SCIP VTE affects targeted postoperative outcomes (wound complication [WC], deep vein thrombosis, and pulmonary embolism [PE]) using all-payer data. A retrospective review (2007-2011) was conducted using Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient Database Florida and Medicare's Hospital Compare. The association between SCIP adherence rates and outcomes across 355 included surgical procedures was measured using multilevel mixed-effects linear regression models. One hundred sixty acute care hospitals and 779,922 patients were included. Over 5 y, SCIP INF-1, -2, and -3 adherence improved by 12.5%, 8.0%, and 20.9%, respectively, whereas postoperative WC rate decreased by 14.8%. When controlling for time, SCIP INF-1 adherence was associated with improvement of postoperative WC rates (β = -0.0044, P = 0.005), whereas SCIP INF-2 adherence was associated with increased WCs (β = 0.0031, P = 0.018). SCIP VTE-1, -2 adherence improved by 14.6% and 20.2%, respectively, whereas postoperative deep vein thrombosis rate increased by 7.1% and postoperative PE rate increased by 3.7%. SCIP VTE-1 and -2 adherence were both associated with increased postoperative PE when controlling for time (SCIP VTE-1: β = 0.0019, P < 0.001; SCIP VTE-2: β = 0.0015, P < 0.001). Readmission analysis found SCIP INF-1 adherence to be associated with improved 30-d WC rates when controlling for patient and hospital characteristics (β = -0.0021, P = 0.032), whereas SCIP INF-3 adherence was associated with increased 30-d WC rates when controlling for time (β = 0.0007, P = 0.04). Only SCIP INF-1 adherence was associated with improved outcomes. The Joint Commission has retired SCIP INF-2, -3, and SCIP VTE-2 and made SCIP INF-1 and VTE-1 reporting optional. Our study supports continued reporting of SCIP INF-1. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Intranasal fluticasone associated with delayed tympanostomy tube placement in children with eustachian tube dysfunction.

PubMed

Crowson, Matthew G; Ryan, Marisa A; Ramprasad, Vaibhav H; Choi, Kevin J; Raynor, Eileen

2017-03-01

Pediatric patient caregivers may prefer to avoid a surgical intervention and request a medical management option for eustachian tube dysfunction (ETD). However, there are limited published data evaluating the efficacy of intranasal fluticasone in the medical management of ETD as an alternative to tympanostomy tube placement. The objectives of this study were to: 1) determine if intranasal fluticasone (INF) prevented tympanostomy tube placement in children with ETD, and 2) describe differences in patient response to INF related to cleft lip and/or palate (CLP) and Down syndrome. Case series with planned chart review at a Tertiary academic hospital. We reviewed pediatric patients treated with INF for ETD. Inclusion criteria included ETD, no prior intranasal or oral steroid therapy, and no prior tympanostomy tube placement. Outcomes included time-to- tympanostomy tube placement with or without INF and therapy compliance. Kaplan-Meier survival analyses with log-rank tests and Fisher's exact tests were used to examine outcome variables. 676 fulfilled inclusion criteria. 393 (58.7%) were male, and 355 (52.5%) Caucasian with mean age of 27.1 months old. 92 (13.6%) had CLP and 46 (6.8%) had Down Syndrome. 266 (39.4%) received INF, and 202 (88.2%) were compliant at their next visit. 474 (70.1%) had tympanostomy tubes placed. Children treated with INF were less likely to have tympanostomy tubes placed than children not treated (52.6% vs. 81.5%; p < 0.0001). Using survival analyses, INF use was associated with significantly longer mean time-to-tympanostomy tube than no INF use (199.4 vs. 133.7 days; p < 0.0001). INF did not reduce time-to-tympanostomy tube in patients with CLP (p = 0.05) or Down Syndrome (p = 0.27). INF significantly reduces the number of children requiring tympanostomy tube placement for ETD. The CLP and Down Syndrome anatomical variants may attenuate INF efficacy. Further in vivo characterization of INF action on eustachian tube tissues will help further substantiate these observations. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A randomised, double-blind, phase III study comparing SB2, an infliximab biosimilar, to the infliximab reference product Remicade in patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis despite methotrexate therapy

PubMed Central

Choe, Jung-Yoon; Prodanovic, Nenad; Niebrzydowski, Jaroslaw; Staykov, Ivan; Dokoupilova, Eva; Baranauskaite, Asta; Yatsyshyn, Roman; Mekic, Mevludin; Porawska, Wieskawa; Ciferska, Hana; Jedrychowicz-Rosiak, Krystyna; Zielinska, Agnieszka; Choi, Jasmine; Rho, Young Hee; Smolen, Josef S

2017-01-01

Objectives To compare the efficacy, safety, immunogenicity and pharmacokinetics (PK) of SB2 to the infliximab reference product (INF) in patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) despite methotrexate therapy. Methods This is a phase III, randomised, double-blind, multinational, multicentre parallel group study. Patients with moderate to severe RA despite methotrexate therapy were randomised in a 1:1 ratio to receive either SB2 or INF of 3 mg/kg. The primary end point was the American College of Rheumatology 20% (ACR20) response at week 30. Inclusion of the 95% CI of the ACR20 response difference within a ±15% margin was required for equivalence. Results 584 subjects were randomised into SB2 (N=291; 290 analysed) or INF (N=293). The ACR20 response at week 30 in the per-protocol set was 64.1% in SB2 versus 66.0% in INF. The adjusted rate difference was −1.88% (95% CI −10.26% to 6.51%), which was within the predefined equivalence margin. Other efficacy outcomes such as ACR50/70, disease activity score measured by 28 joints and European League against Rheumatism response were similar between SB2 and INF. The incidence of treatment-emergent adverse events was comparable (57.6% in SB2 vs 58.0% in INF) as well as the incidence of antidrug antibodies (ADA) to infliximab up to week 30 (55.1% in SB2 vs 49.7% in INF). The PK profile was similar between SB2 and INF. Efficacy, safety and PK by ADA subgroup were comparable between SB2 and INF. Conclusions SB2 was equivalent to INF in terms of ACR20 response at week 30. SB2 was well tolerated with a comparable safety profile, immunogenicity and PK to INF. Trial registration number NCT01936181. PMID:26318384

Larvicidal, pupicidal and adulticidal activities of non-polar solvent extract of Cymbopogon nardus (Linn.) whole plant against a mosquito, Culex quinquefasciatus (Say.).

PubMed

Ilahi, Ikram; Yousafzai, Ali Muhammad

2017-11-01

The present research is aimed to investigate the susceptibility of Cx. quinquefasciatus larvae (2nd and 4th instars), pupae and adults during exposure to various concentrations of C. nardus n-hexane extract. Increase in mortality of larvae and pupae was observed with increase in concentration of the extract solution (R2>0.90). LC50 values of extract for 2nd and 4th instar larvae were 451.8 and 599.6 ppm, respectively. The LC90 values of extract for 2nd and 4th instar larvae were 2519.6 and 3017.7 ppm, respectively. The LC50 and LC90 values of extract during pupicidal activity were 1307.7 and 2257.9 ppm, respectively. During CDC bottle bioassay, mosquito adult knockdown was observed after exposure to various concentrations (0.15% to 1.25%) of C. nardus n-hexane extract. The KDT50 values at highest (1.25%) and lowest (0.15%) concentrations were 100.9 and 184.2 minutes, respectively. After 24 hours exposure period, the highest extract concentration (1.25%) caused 62.5±6.5% mortality. During filter paper impregnation bioassay, the KDT50 value at highest concentration (0.13 mg/cm2) was 94.4 minutes and at lowest concentration (0.017 mg/cm²) was 178.9 minutes. KDT90 values at these concentrations were 176.7 and 290.1 minutes, respectively. After 24 hours of recovery period, the filter papers impregnated with highest extract concentration (0.13mg/cm2) caused 60±8.2% mortality.

An Actin-Dependent Step in Mitochondrial Fission Mediated by the ER-Associated Formin INF2

PubMed Central

Korobova, Farida; Ramabhadran, Vinay; Higgs, Henry N.

2013-01-01

Mitochondrial fission is fundamentally important to cellular physiology. The dynamin-related protein Drp1 mediates fission, and interaction between mitochondrion and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) enhances fission. However, the mechanism for Drp1 recruitment to mitochondria is unclear, although previous results implicate actin involvement. Here, we found that actin polymerization through ER-localized inverted formin 2 (INF2) was required for efficient mitochondrial fission in mammalian cells. INF2 functioned upstream of Drp1. Actin filaments appeared to accumulate between mitochondria and INF2-enriched ER membranes at constriction sites. Thus, INF2-induced actin filaments may drive initial mitochondrial constriction, which allows Drp1-driven secondary constriction. Because INF2 mutations can lead to Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, our results provide a potential cellular mechanism for this disease state. PMID:23349293

Influence of nitric oxide-mediated vasodilation on the blood pressure measured with the tail-cuff method in the rat.

PubMed

Fritz, Mariana; Rinaldi, Gustavo

2007-11-01

Systolic blood pressure (SBP) is frequently measured in rats by the tail cuff method, which usually comprises pulse/flow disappearance and reappearance during cuff inflation (Inf) and deflation (Def), separated by an interval between cycles (IBC). Although Def values are habitually used to estimate SBP, in 58 Wistar rats we found (Def-Inf) to be -6 +/- 1 mmHg, indicating that Def < Inf in most cases. When the IBC was lengthened to 2 min, (Def-Inf) was increased to -17 +/- 2 mmHg, indicating the probable accumulation of a vasodilating metabolite. This increase of (Def-Inf) was prevented by papaverine, indicating its relation to smooth muscle contractility. Adrenergic blockade did not prevent the increase of (Def-Inf), but pretreatment with L-NAME decreased it to -5 +/- 2 mmHg (p < 0.05). Simultaneous measurement of SBP by tail-cuff method and carotid cannulation revealed that the Inf value was the most accurate estimation of intravascular SBP. We conclude that: (1) the Inf value should be taken as representative of SBP, since depending on the duration of suprasystolic compression the Def value can underestimate it, and (2) nitric oxide accumulation due to flow deprivation was the main cause of SBP underestimation by Def values.

[Study of the antitumor activity of alveolar macrophages after transfected human INF-γ gene].

PubMed

Zhou, Fengli; Bi, Xiaogang; Zhang, Tiantuo; Huang, Jing

2011-05-01

Alveolar macrophages (AMs) activated have the antitumor activity. The interferon-γ (INF-γ) is one of the stimulating factors. INF-γ can enhance the immune function of AMs in vitro. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of human INF-γ gene on the antitumor activity of AMs when transfected into the alveolar macrophages (AMs) from the patients with lung cancer in vitro. AMs obtained by brochoalveolar lavage were separated and transfected by INF-γ gene. RT-PCR and ELISA were applied to determine whether the transfection was successful. The levels of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), nitric oxide (NO) and interleukin-1 (IL-1) produced by AMs and the killing activity of AMs against L1210 cells was detected respectively. Both RT-PCR and ELISA demonstrated that human INF-γ gene had been successfully transfected into AMs. When transfected by human INF-γ gene, the levels of TNF-α, NO and IL-1 produced by AMs from the patients with lung cancer and the killing activity of AMs against L1210 cells were significantly higher than those of the control groups. Human INF-γ gene can enhance the antitumor activity of AMs when transfected into AMs from the patients with lung cancer.

Web-Based Dissemination System for the Trusted Computing Exemplar Project

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-06-01

6 3. Fiasco Microkernel ..............................................................................6 4. Apache Web Server...Fiasco Microkernel The next project examined was the Fiasco Microkernel developed by the Dresden University of Technology. This dissemination...System,” 1999, http://www.eros-os.org, Accessed: May 2005. [5] “The Fiasco Microkernel ,” February 2004, http://os.inf.tu-dresden.de/fiasco/, Accessed

INF-gamma rearranges membrane topography of MHC-I and ICAM-1 in colon carcinoma cells.

PubMed

Bacsó, Zsolt; Bene, László; Damjanovich, László; Damjanovich, Sándor

2002-01-18

Flow-cytometric fluorescence energy transfer (FCET) measurements between fluorescently labeled cell surface MHC-I and ICAM-1 molecules indicated similar receptor patterns in the plasma membrane of interferon-gamma (INF-gamma)-treated colon carcinoma cells as those observed earlier at the surface of lymphoid cells. INF-gamma activation significantly increased the density of MHC-I and ICAM-1 proteins in the membrane. This increase in receptor density was accompanied by decreased proximity level of the homo-associated MHC-I receptors. Hetero-association of MHC-I and ICAM-1 molecules was increased by INF-gamma treatment. INF-gamma changed neither hetero- nor homo-association of transferrin receptors. By staining the sphingomyelin/cholesterol-enriched lipid microdomains with fluorescently labeled cholera toxin B subunit, we found an increase in the amount of lipid-raft associated G(M1)-gangliosides due to INF-gamma treatment. Confocal microscopic results and FCET measurements show that MHC-I and ICAM-1 are components of G(M1)-ganglioside containing lipid-rafts and also support an increase in the size of these lipid-rafts upon INF-gamma treatment.

Measuring stigma after spinal cord injury: Development and psychometric characteristics of the SCI-QOL Stigma item bank and short form.

PubMed

Kisala, Pamela A; Tulsky, David S; Pace, Natalie; Victorson, David; Choi, Seung W; Heinemann, Allen W

2015-05-01

To develop a calibrated item bank and computer adaptive test (CAT) to assess the effects of stigma on health-related quality of life in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). Grounded-theory based qualitative item development methods, large-scale item calibration field testing, confirmatory factor analysis, and item response theory (IRT)-based psychometric analyses. Five SCI Model System centers and one Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in the United States. Adults with traumatic SCI. SCI-QOL Stigma Item Bank A sample of 611 individuals with traumatic SCI completed 30 items assessing SCI-related stigma. After 7 items were iteratively removed, factor analyses confirmed a unidimensional pool of items. Graded Response Model IRT analyses were used to estimate slopes and thresholds for the final 23 items. The SCI-QOL Stigma item bank is unique not only in the assessment of SCI-related stigma but also in the inclusion of individuals with SCI in all phases of its development. Use of confirmatory factor analytic and IRT methods provide flexibility and precision of measurement. The item bank may be administered as a CAT or as a 10-item fixed-length short form and can be used for research and clinical applications.

Measuring stigma after spinal cord injury: Development and psychometric characteristics of the SCI-QOL Stigma item bank and short form

PubMed Central

Kisala, Pamela A.; Tulsky, David S.; Pace, Natalie; Victorson, David; Choi, Seung W.; Heinemann, Allen W.

2015-01-01

Objective To develop a calibrated item bank and computer adaptive test (CAT) to assess the effects of stigma on health-related quality of life in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). Design Grounded-theory based qualitative item development methods, large-scale item calibration field testing, confirmatory factor analysis, and item response theory (IRT)-based psychometric analyses. Setting Five SCI Model System centers and one Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in the United States. Participants Adults with traumatic SCI. Main Outcome Measures SCI-QOL Stigma Item Bank Results A sample of 611 individuals with traumatic SCI completed 30 items assessing SCI-related stigma. After 7 items were iteratively removed, factor analyses confirmed a unidimensional pool of items. Graded Response Model IRT analyses were used to estimate slopes and thresholds for the final 23 items. Conclusions The SCI-QOL Stigma item bank is unique not only in the assessment of SCI-related stigma but also in the inclusion of individuals with SCI in all phases of its development. Use of confirmatory factor analytic and IRT methods provide flexibility and precision of measurement. The item bank may be administered as a CAT or as a 10-item fixed-length short form and can be used for research and clinical applications. PMID:26010973

Overview of the Spinal Cord Injury--Quality of Life (SCI-QOL) measurement system.

PubMed

Tulsky, David S; Kisala, Pamela A; Victorson, David; Tate, Denise G; Heinemann, Allen W; Charlifue, Susan; Kirshblum, Steve C; Fyffe, Denise; Gershon, Richard; Spungen, Ann M; Bombardier, Charles H; Dyson-Hudson, Trevor A; Amtmann, Dagmar; Kalpakjian, Claire Z; Choi, Seung W; Jette, Alan M; Forchheimer, Martin; Cella, David

2015-05-01

The Spinal Cord Injury--Quality of Life (SCI-QOL) measurement system was developed to address the shortage of relevant and psychometrically sound patient reported outcome (PRO) measures available for clinical care and research in spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation. Using a computer adaptive testing (CAT) approach, the SCI-QOL builds on the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) and the Quality of Life in Neurological Disorders (Neuro-QOL) initiative. This initial manuscript introduces the background and development of the SCI-QOL measurement system. Greater detail is presented in the additional manuscripts of this special issue. Classical and contemporary test development methodologies were employed. Qualitative input was obtained from individuals with SCI and clinicians through interviews, focus groups, and cognitive debriefing. Item pools were field tested in a multi-site sample (n=877) and calibrated using item response theory methods. Initial reliability and validity testing was performed in a new sample of individuals with traumatic SCI (n=245). Five Model SCI System centers and one Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center across the United States. Adults with traumatic SCI. n/a n/a The SCI-QOL consists of 19 item banks, including the SCI-Functional Index banks, and 3 fixed-length scales measuring physical, emotional, and social aspects of health-related QOL (HRQOL). The SCI-QOL measurement system consists of psychometrically sound measures for individuals with SCI. The manuscripts in this special issue provide evidence of the reliability and initial validity of this measurement system. The SCI-QOL also links to other measures designed for a general medical population.

Establishing Mandatory Academic Degree Guidance for AFROTC (Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps) Rated Officer Accessions

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-04-01

Scientific- Architecture 4% 4% Technical Computer Sci 38% 37% Math 40% 40% Meteorology 6% 6% Physics 12 % 13% Nontechnical Quality Freeflow 2/ Quality...Architecture 4 Computer Sci 48 43 40 Math 30 35 38 Meteorology 6 6 6 Physics 12 12 12 Engineer Electrical 40% 50% 50% Aero Group 25 25 30 Other / 35 25 20...with Technical Degrees by Major Weapon System. . . 12 FIGURE 4 - Pilots with Technical Degrees by Category . . . . . . 13 FIGURE 5 - Regression

(Quasi)-convexification of Barta's (multi-extrema) bounding theorem: Inf_x\\big(\\ssty\\frac{H\\Phi(x)}{\\Phi(x)} \\big) \\le E_gr \\le Sup_x \\big(\\ssty\\frac{H\\Phi(x)}{\\Phi(x)} \\big)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Handy, C. R.

2006-03-01

There has been renewed interest in the exploitation of Barta's configuration space theorem (BCST) (Barta 1937 C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris 204 472) which bounds the ground-state energy, Inf_x\\big({{H\\Phi(x)}\\over {\\Phi(x)}} \\big ) \\leq E_gr \\leq Sup_x \\big({{H\\Phi(x)}\\over {\\Phi(x)}}\\big) , by using any Φ lying within the space of positive, bounded, and sufficiently smooth functions, {\\cal C} . Mouchet's (Mouchet 2005 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 38 1039) BCST analysis is based on gradient optimization (GO). However, it overlooks significant difficulties: (i) appearance of multi-extrema; (ii) inefficiency of GO for stiff (singular perturbation/strong coupling) problems; (iii) the nonexistence of a systematic procedure for arbitrarily improving the bounds within {\\cal C} . These deficiencies can be corrected by transforming BCST into a moments' representation equivalent, and exploiting a generalization of the eigenvalue moment method (EMM), within the context of the well-known generalized eigenvalue problem (GEP), as developed here. EMM is an alternative eigenenergy bounding, variational procedure, overlooked by Mouchet, which also exploits the positivity of the desired physical solution. Furthermore, it is applicable to Hermitian and non-Hermitian systems with complex-number quantization parameters (Handy and Bessis 1985 Phys. Rev. Lett. 55 931, Handy et al 1988 Phys. Rev. Lett. 60 253, Handy 2001 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 34 5065, Handy et al 2002 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 35 6359). Our analysis exploits various quasi-convexity/concavity theorems common to the GEP representation. We outline the general theory, and present some illustrative examples.

Assembling Large, Multi-Sensor Climate Datasets Using the SciFlo Grid Workflow System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, B.; Manipon, G.; Xing, Z.; Fetzer, E.

2009-04-01

NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) is an ambitious facility for studying global climate change. The mandate now is to combine measurements from the instruments on the "A-Train" platforms (AIRS, AMSR-E, MODIS, MISR, MLS, and CloudSat) and other Earth probes to enable large-scale studies of climate change over periods of years to decades. However, moving from predominantly single-instrument studies to a multi-sensor, measurement-based model for long-duration analysis of important climate variables presents serious challenges for large-scale data mining and data fusion. For example, one might want to compare temperature and water vapor retrievals from one instrument (AIRS) to another instrument (MODIS), and to a model (ECMWF), stratify the comparisons using a classification of the "cloud scenes" from CloudSat, and repeat the entire analysis over years of AIRS data. To perform such an analysis, one must discover & access multiple datasets from remote sites, find the space/time "matchups" between instruments swaths and model grids, understand the quality flags and uncertainties for retrieved physical variables, assemble merged datasets, and compute fused products for further scientific and statistical analysis. To meet these large-scale challenges, we are utilizing a Grid computing and dataflow framework, named SciFlo, in which we are deploying a set of versatile and reusable operators for data query, access, subsetting, co-registration, mining, fusion, and advanced statistical analysis. SciFlo is a semantically-enabled ("smart") Grid Workflow system that ties together a peer-to-peer network of computers into an efficient engine for distributed computation. The SciFlo workflow engine enables scientists to do multi-instrument Earth Science by assembling remotely-invokable Web Services (SOAP or http GET URLs), native executables, command-line scripts, and Python codes into a distributed computing flow. A scientist visually authors the graph of operation in the VizFlow GUI, or uses a text editor to modify the simple XML workflow documents. The SciFlo client & server engines optimize the execution of such distributed workflows and allow the user to transparently find and use datasets and operators without worrying about the actual location of the Grid resources. The engine transparently moves data to the operators, and moves operators to the data (on the dozen trusted SciFlo nodes). SciFlo also deploys a variety of Data Grid services to: query datasets in space and time, locate & retrieve on-line data granules, provide on-the-fly variable and spatial subsetting, perform pairwise instrument matchups for A-Train datasets, and compute fused products. These services are combined into efficient workflows to assemble the desired large-scale, merged climate datasets. SciFlo is currently being applied in several large climate studies: comparisons of aerosol optical depth between MODIS, MISR, AERONET ground network, and U. Michigan's IMPACT aerosol transport model; characterization of long-term biases in microwave and infrared instruments (AIRS, MLS) by comparisons to GPS temperature retrievals accurate to 0.1 degrees Kelvin; and construction of a decade-long, multi-sensor water vapor climatology stratified by classified cloud scene by bringing together datasets from AIRS/AMSU, AMSR-E, MLS, MODIS, and CloudSat (NASA MEASUREs grant, Fetzer PI). The presentation will discuss the SciFlo technologies, their application in these distributed workflows, and the many challenges encountered in assembling and analyzing these massive datasets.

Towards Text Copyright Detection Using Metadata in Web Applications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Poulos, Marios; Korfiatis, Nikolaos; Bokos, George

2011-01-01

Purpose: This paper aims to present the semantic content identifier (SCI), a permanent identifier, computed through a linear-time onion-peeling algorithm that enables the extraction of semantic features from a text, and the integration of this information within the permanent identifier. Design/methodology/approach: The authors employ SCI to…

SciSpark: Highly Interactive and Scalable Model Evaluation and Climate Metrics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, B. D.; Mattmann, C. A.; Waliser, D. E.; Kim, J.; Loikith, P.; Lee, H.; McGibbney, L. J.; Whitehall, K. D.

2014-12-01

Remote sensing data and climate model output are multi-dimensional arrays of massive sizes locked away in heterogeneous file formats (HDF5/4, NetCDF 3/4) and metadata models (HDF-EOS, CF) making it difficult to perform multi-stage, iterative science processing since each stage requires writing and reading data to and from disk. We are developing a lightning fast Big Data technology called SciSpark based on ApacheTM Spark. Spark implements the map-reduce paradigm for parallel computing on a cluster, but emphasizes in-memory computation, "spilling" to disk only as needed, and so outperforms the disk-based ApacheTM Hadoop by 100x in memory and by 10x on disk, and makes iterative algorithms feasible. SciSpark will enable scalable model evaluation by executing large-scale comparisons of A-Train satellite observations to model grids on a cluster of 100 to 1000 compute nodes. This 2nd generation capability for NASA's Regional Climate Model Evaluation System (RCMES) will compute simple climate metrics at interactive speeds, and extend to quite sophisticated iterative algorithms such as machine-learning (ML) based clustering of temperature PDFs, and even graph-based algorithms for searching for Mesocale Convective Complexes. The goals of SciSpark are to: (1) Decrease the time to compute comparison statistics and plots from minutes to seconds; (2) Allow for interactive exploration of time-series properties over seasons and years; (3) Decrease the time for satellite data ingestion into RCMES to hours; (4) Allow for Level-2 comparisons with higher-order statistics or PDF's in minutes to hours; and (5) Move RCMES into a near real time decision-making platform. We will report on: the architecture and design of SciSpark, our efforts to integrate climate science algorithms in Python and Scala, parallel ingest and partitioning (sharding) of A-Train satellite observations from HDF files and model grids from netCDF files, first parallel runs to compute comparison statistics and PDF's, and first metrics quantifying parallel speedups and memory & disk usage.

X-ray phase-contrast computed tomography visualizes the microstructure and degradation profile of implanted biodegradable scaffolds after spinal cord injury

PubMed Central

Takashima, Kenta; Hoshino, Masato; Uesugi, Kentaro; Yagi, Naoto; Matsuda, Shojiro; Nakahira, Atsushi; Osumi, Noriko; Kohzuki, Masahiro; Onodera, Hiroshi

2015-01-01

Tissue engineering strategies for spinal cord repair are a primary focus of translational medicine after spinal cord injury (SCI). Many tissue engineering strategies employ three-dimensional scaffolds, which are made of biodegradable materials and have microstructure incorporated with viable cells and bioactive molecules to promote new tissue generation and functional recovery after SCI. It is therefore important to develop an imaging system that visualizes both the microstructure of three-dimensional scaffolds and their degradation process after SCI. Here, X-ray phase-contrast computed tomography imaging based on the Talbot grating interferometer is described and it is shown how it can visualize the polyglycolic acid scaffold, including its microfibres, after implantation into the injured spinal cord. Furthermore, X-ray phase-contrast computed tomography images revealed that degradation occurred from the end to the centre of the braided scaffold in the 28 days after implantation into the injured spinal cord. The present report provides the first demonstration of an imaging technique that visualizes both the microstructure and degradation of biodegradable scaffolds in SCI research. X-ray phase-contrast imaging based on the Talbot grating interferometer is a versatile technique that can be used for a broad range of preclinical applications in tissue engineering strategies. PMID:25537600

Antiferromagnetism and DX2-Y2-WAVE Pairing in the Colored Hubbard Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baier, Tobias; Bick, Eike

2001-08-01

We introduce a new formulation of the 2d Hubbard model on a square lattice (the "colored" Hubbard model). In this formulation interesting physical nonlocal properties as antiferromagnetic or dx2-y2-wave superconducting behavior are included in an explicit way. Analyzing the phase diagram in a mean field approximation numerically, we show that our approach yields results which are in qualitative agreement with experiment.

A randomised, double-blind, phase III study comparing SB2, an infliximab biosimilar, to the infliximab reference product Remicade in patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis despite methotrexate therapy.

PubMed

Choe, Jung-Yoon; Prodanovic, Nenad; Niebrzydowski, Jaroslaw; Staykov, Ivan; Dokoupilova, Eva; Baranauskaite, Asta; Yatsyshyn, Roman; Mekic, Mevludin; Porawska, Wieskawa; Ciferska, Hana; Jedrychowicz-Rosiak, Krystyna; Zielinska, Agnieszka; Choi, Jasmine; Rho, Young Hee; Smolen, Josef S

2017-01-01

To compare the efficacy, safety, immunogenicity and pharmacokinetics (PK) of SB2 to the infliximab reference product (INF) in patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) despite methotrexate therapy. This is a phase III, randomised, double-blind, multinational, multicentre parallel group study. Patients with moderate to severe RA despite methotrexate therapy were randomised in a 1:1 ratio to receive either SB2 or INF of 3 mg/kg. The primary end point was the American College of Rheumatology 20% (ACR20) response at week 30. Inclusion of the 95% CI of the ACR20 response difference within a ±15% margin was required for equivalence. 584 subjects were randomised into SB2 (N=291; 290 analysed) or INF (N=293). The ACR20 response at week 30 in the per-protocol set was 64.1% in SB2 versus 66.0% in INF. The adjusted rate difference was -1.88% (95% CI -10.26% to 6.51%), which was within the predefined equivalence margin. Other efficacy outcomes such as ACR50/70, disease activity score measured by 28 joints and European League against Rheumatism response were similar between SB2 and INF. The incidence of treatment-emergent adverse events was comparable (57.6% in SB2 vs 58.0% in INF) as well as the incidence of antidrug antibodies (ADA) to infliximab up to week 30 (55.1% in SB2 vs 49.7% in INF). The PK profile was similar between SB2 and INF. Efficacy, safety and PK by ADA subgroup were comparable between SB2 and INF. SB2 was equivalent to INF in terms of ACR20 response at week 30. SB2 was well tolerated with a comparable safety profile, immunogenicity and PK to INF. NCT01936181. 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/.

26 CFR 1.1275-7 - Inflation-indexed debt instruments.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

...: OID((n) = AIP(n) × [r + inf(n) + (r × inf(n))] in which, r = yield of the debt instrument as determined under paragraph (e)(3)(i) of this section (adjusted for the length of the accrual period); inf(n...

26 CFR 1.1275-7 - Inflation-indexed debt instruments.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... using the following formula: OID((n) = AIP(n) × [r + inf(n) + (r × inf(n))] in which, r = yield of the... accrual period); inf(n) = percentage change in the value of the reference index for period (n) as...

26 CFR 1.1275-7 - Inflation-indexed debt instruments.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... using the following formula: OID((n) = AIP(n) × [r + inf(n) + (r × inf(n))] in which, r = yield of the... accrual period); inf(n) = percentage change in the value of the reference index for period (n) as...

26 CFR 1.1275-7 - Inflation-indexed debt instruments.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... accrual period (n) is determined by using the following formula: OID((n) = AIP(n) × [r + inf(n) + (r × inf... section (adjusted for the length of the accrual period); inf(n) = percentage change in the value of the...

26 CFR 1.1275-7 - Inflation-indexed debt instruments.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

...: OID((n) = AIP(n) × [r + inf(n) + (r × inf(n))] in which, r = yield of the debt instrument as determined under paragraph (e)(3)(i) of this section (adjusted for the length of the accrual period); inf(n...

Immune and inflammatory biomarkers in cases of bovine perinatal mortality with and without infection in utero.

PubMed

Jawor, Paulina; Stefaniak, Tadeusz; Mee, John F

2017-02-01

The objective of this study was to compare acute-phase protein [serum amyloid A (SAA) and haptoglobin (Hp)] and immunoglobulin G 1 and M concentrations in blood plasma of cases of bovine perinatal mortality due to infection in utero or traumotocia and in unexplained cases. Plasma samples were collected from 110 stillborn calves with bacterial infection (INF_B, n = 16), with viral or parasitic infection (INF_V/P, n = 31) during pregnancy, with lesions of fatal traumotocia (TRAUM, n = 22), and from unexplained deaths (UNEXPL, n = 41). Plasma immunoglobulin and SAA concentrations were measured by ELISA, and Hp concentrations were measured by the guaiacol method and ELISA. Concentrations of SAA in the INF_B group were higher than in the UNEXPL group and tended to be higher than in the INF_V/P group. A reference range (0-29 mg/L) was established for SAA in stillborn calves. Concentrations of Hp tended to be higher in the INF_B group compared with INF_V/P group. Concentrations of IgM tended to be higher in the INF_B group compared with the TRAUM and INF_V/P groups. Concentrations of IgG 1 were numerically, but not significantly, higher in the INF_V/P and INF_B groups compared with the other groups. The results demonstrate upregulation of immune and inflammatory responses in stillborn calves exposed to bacterial infection in utero. The immune-inflammatory parameters did not differ between calves with viral or parasitic infections and traumotocia. These immune-inflammatory profiles did not contribute to the diagnosis of unexplained stillbirth. This is the first report of an elevated acute phase protein response in stillborn calves. Measurement of SAA and IgM concentrations may be used in the diagnosis of bacterial infections in stillborn calves. Copyright © 2017 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Modeling multi-GeV class laser-plasma accelerators with INF&RNO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benedetti, Carlo; Schroeder, Carl; Bulanov, Stepan; Geddes, Cameron; Esarey, Eric; Leemans, Wim

2016-10-01

Laser plasma accelerators (LPAs) can produce accelerating gradients on the order of tens to hundreds of GV/m, making them attractive as compact particle accelerators for radiation production or as drivers for future high-energy colliders. Understanding and optimizing the performance of LPAs requires detailed numerical modeling of the nonlinear laser-plasma interaction. We present simulation results, obtained with the computationally efficient, PIC/fluid code INF&RNO (INtegrated Fluid & paRticle simulatioN cOde), concerning present (multi-GeV stages) and future (10 GeV stages) LPA experiments performed with the BELLA PW laser system at LBNL. In particular, we will illustrate the issues related to the guiding of a high-intensity, short-pulse, laser when a realistic description for both the laser driver and the background plasma is adopted. Work Supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231.

Preface: SciDAC 2005

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mezzacappa, Anthony

2005-01-01

On 26-30 June 2005 at the Grand Hyatt on Union Square in San Francisco several hundred computational scientists from around the world came together for what can certainly be described as a celebration of computational science. Scientists from the SciDAC Program and scientists from other agencies and nations were joined by applied mathematicians and computer scientists to highlight the many successes in the past year where computation has led to scientific discovery in a variety of fields: lattice quantum chromodynamics, accelerator modeling, chemistry, biology, materials science, Earth and climate science, astrophysics, and combustion and fusion energy science. Also highlighted were the advances in numerical methods and computer science, and the multidisciplinary collaboration cutting across science, mathematics, and computer science that enabled these discoveries. The SciDAC Program was conceived and funded by the US Department of Energy Office of Science. It is the Office of Science's premier computational science program founded on what is arguably the perfect formula: the priority and focus is science and scientific discovery, with the understanding that the full arsenal of `enabling technologies' in applied mathematics and computer science must be brought to bear if we are to have any hope of attacking and ultimately solving today's computational Grand Challenge problems. The SciDAC Program has been in existence for four years, and many of the computational scientists funded by this program will tell you that the program has given them the hope of addressing their scientific problems in full realism for the very first time. Many of these scientists will also tell you that SciDAC has also fundamentally changed the way they do computational science. We begin this volume with one of DOE's great traditions, and core missions: energy research. As we will see, computation has been seminal to the critical advances that have been made in this arena. Of course, to understand our world, whether it is to understand its very nature or to understand it so as to control it for practical application, will require explorations on all of its scales. Computational science has been no less an important tool in this arena than it has been in the arena of energy research. From explorations of quantum chromodynamics, the fundamental theory that describes how quarks make up the protons and neutrons of which we are composed, to explorations of the complex biomolecules that are the building blocks of life, to explorations of some of the most violent phenomena in our universe and of the Universe itself, computation has provided not only significant insight, but often the only means by which we have been able to explore these complex, multicomponent systems and by which we have been able to achieve scientific discovery and understanding. While our ultimate target remains scientific discovery, it certainly can be said that at a fundamental level the world is mathematical. Equations ultimately govern the evolution of the systems of interest to us, be they physical, chemical, or biological systems. The development and choice of discretizations of these underlying equations is often a critical deciding factor in whether or not one is able to model such systems stably, faithfully, and practically, and in turn, the algorithms to solve the resultant discrete equations are the complementary, critical ingredient in the recipe to model the natural world. The use of parallel computing platforms, especially at the TeraScale, and the trend toward even larger numbers of processors, continue to present significant challenges in the development and implementation of these algorithms. Computational scientists often speak of their `workflows'. A workflow, as the name suggests, is the sum total of all complex and interlocking tasks, from simulation set up, execution, and I/O, to visualization and scientific discovery, through which the advancement in our understanding of the natural world is realized. For the computational scientist, enabling such workflows presents myriad, signiflcant challenges, and it is computer scientists that are called upon at such times to address these challenges. Simulations are currently generating data at the staggering rate of tens of TeraBytes per simulation, over the course of days. In the next few years, these data generation rates are expected to climb exponentially to hundreds of TeraBytes per simulation, performed over the course of months. The output, management, movement, analysis, and visualization of these data will be our key to unlocking the scientific discoveries buried within the data. And there is no hope of generating such data to begin with, or of scientific discovery, without stable computing platforms and a sufficiently high and sustained performance of scientific applications codes on them. Thus, scientific discovery in the realm of computational science at the TeraScale and beyond will occur at the intersection of science, applied mathematics, and computer science. The SciDAC Program was constructed to mirror this reality, and the pages that follow are a testament to the efficacy of such an approach. We would like to acknowledge the individuals on whose talents and efforts the success of SciDAC 2005 was based. Special thanks go to Betsy Riley for her work on the SciDAC 2005 Web site and meeting agenda, for lining up our corporate sponsors, for coordinating all media communications, and for her efforts in processing the proceedings contributions, to Sherry Hempfling for coordinating the overall SciDAC 2005 meeting planning, for handling a significant share of its associated communications, and for coordinating with the ORNL Conference Center and Grand Hyatt, to Angela Harris for producing many of the documents and records on which our meeting planning was based and for her efforts in coordinating with ORNL Graphics Services, to Angie Beach of the ORNL Conference Center for her efforts in procurement and setting up and executing the contracts with the hotel, and to John Bui and John Smith for their superb wireless networking and A/V set up and support. We are grateful for the relentless efforts of all of these individuals, their remarkable talents, and for the joy of working with them during this past year. They were the cornerstones of SciDAC 2005. Thanks also go to Kymba A'Hearn and Patty Boyd for on-site registration, Brittany Hagen for administrative support, Bruce Johnston for netcast support, Tim Jones for help with the proceedings and Web site, Sherry Lamb for housing and registration, Cindy Lathum for Web site design, Carolyn Peters for on-site registration, and Dami Rich for graphic design. And we would like to express our appreciation to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, especially Jeff Nichols, the Argonne National Laboratory, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and to our corporate sponsors, Cray, IBM, Intel, and SGI, for their support. We would like to extend special thanks also to our plenary speakers, technical speakers, poster presenters, and panelists for all of their efforts on behalf of SciDAC 2005 and for their remarkable achievements and contributions. We would like to express our deep appreciation to Lali Chatterjee, Graham Douglas and Margaret Smith of Institute of Physics Publishing, who worked tirelessly in order to provide us with this finished volume within two months, which is nothing short of miraculous. Finally, we wish to express our heartfelt thanks to Michael Strayer, SciDAC Director, whose vision it was to focus SciDAC 2005 on scientific discovery, around which all of the excitement we experienced revolved, and to our DOE SciDAC program managers, especially Fred Johnson, for their support, input, and help throughout.

Overview of the Spinal Cord Injury – Quality of Life (SCI-QOL) measurement system

PubMed Central

Tulsky, David S.; Kisala, Pamela A.; Victorson, David; Tate, Denise G.; Heinemann, Allen W.; Charlifue, Susan; Kirshblum, Steve C.; Fyffe, Denise; Gershon, Richard; Spungen, Ann M.; Bombardier, Charles H.; Dyson-Hudson, Trevor A.; Amtmann, Dagmar; Z. Kalpakjian, Claire; W. Choi, Seung; Jette, Alan M.; Forchheimer, Martin; Cella, David

2015-01-01

Context/Objective The Spinal Cord Injury – Quality of Life (SCI-QOL) measurement system was developed to address the shortage of relevant and psychometrically sound patient reported outcome (PRO) measures available for clinical care and research in spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation. Using a computer adaptive testing (CAT) approach, the SCI-QOL builds on the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) and the Quality of Life in Neurological Disorders (Neuro-QOL) initiative. This initial manuscript introduces the background and development of the SCI-QOL measurement system. Greater detail is presented in the additional manuscripts of this special issue. Design Classical and contemporary test development methodologies were employed. Qualitative input was obtained from individuals with SCI and clinicians through interviews, focus groups, and cognitive debriefing. Item pools were field tested in a multi-site sample (n = 877) and calibrated using item response theory methods. Initial reliability and validity testing was performed in a new sample of individuals with traumatic SCI (n = 245). Setting Five Model SCI System centers and one Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center across the United States. Participants Adults with traumatic SCI. Interventions n/a Outcome Measures n/a Results The SCI-QOL consists of 19 item banks, including the SCI-Functional Index banks, and 3 fixed-length scales measuring physical, emotional, and social aspects of health-related QOL (HRQOL). Conclusion The SCI-QOL measurement system consists of psychometrically sound measures for individuals with SCI. The manuscripts in this special issue provide evidence of the reliability and initial validity of this measurement system. The SCI-QOL also links to other measures designed for a general medical population. PMID:26010962

Operation of a P300-based brain-computer interface by individuals with cervical spinal cord injury.

PubMed

Ikegami, Shiro; Takano, Kouji; Saeki, Naokatsu; Kansaku, Kenji

2011-05-01

This study evaluates the efficacy of a P300-based brain-computer interface (BCI) with green/blue flicker matrices for individuals with cervical spinal cord injury (SCI). Ten individuals with cervical SCI (age 26-53, all male) and 10 age- and sex-matched able-bodied controls (age 27-52, all male) with no prior BCI experience were asked to input hiragana (Japanese alphabet) characters using the P300 BCI with two distinct types of visual stimuli, white/gray and green/blue, in an 8×10 flicker matrix. Both online and offline performance were evaluated. The mean online accuracy of the SCI subjects was 88.0% for the white/gray and 90.7% for the green/blue flicker matrices. The accuracy of the control subjects was 77.3% and 86.0% for the white/gray and green/blue, respectively. There was a significant difference in online accuracy between the two types of flicker matrix. SCI subjects performed with greater accuracy than controls, but the main effect was not significant. Individuals with cervical SCI successfully controlled the P300 BCI, and the green/blue flicker matrices were associated with significantly higher accuracy than the white/gray matrices. The P300 BCI with the green/blue flicker matrices is effective for use not only in able-bodied subjects, but also in individuals with cervical SCI. Copyright © 2010 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pediatric emergency department triage-based pain guideline utilizing intranasal fentanyl: Effect of implementation.

PubMed

Schoolman-Anderson, Kristin; Lane, Roni D; Schunk, Jeff E; Mecham, Nancy; Thomas, Richard; Adelgais, Kathleen

2018-01-16

Pain management guidelines in the emergency department (ED) may reduce time to analgesia administration (TTA). Intranasal fentanyl (INF) is a safe and effective alternative to intravenous opiates. The effect of an ED pain management guideline providing standing orders for nurse-initiated administration of intranasal fentanyl (INF) is not known. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of a pediatric ED triage-based pain protocol utilizing intranasal fentanyl (INF) on time to analgesia administration (TTA) and patient and parent satisfaction. This was a prospective study of patients 3-17 years with an isolated orthopedic injury presenting to a pediatric ED before and after instituting a triage-based pain guideline allowing for administration of INF by triage nurses. Our primary outcome was median TTA and secondary outcomes included the proportion of patients who received INF for pain, had unnecessary IV placement, and patient and parent satisfaction. We enrolled 132 patients; 72 pre-guideline, 60 post-guideline. Demographics were similar between groups. Median TTA was not different between groups (34.5 min vs. 33 min, p = .7). Utilization of INF increased from 41% pre-guideline to 60% post-guideline (p = .01) and unnecessary IV placement decreased from 24% to 0% (p = .002). Patients and parents preferred the IN route for analgesia administration. A triage-based pain protocol utilizing INF did not reduce TTA, but did result in increased INF use, decreased unnecessary IV placement, and was preferred by patients and parents to IV medication. INF is a viable analgesia alternative for children with isolated extremity injuries. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

OPENING REMARKS: Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strayer, Michael

2006-01-01

Good morning. Welcome to SciDAC 2006 and Denver. I share greetings from the new Undersecretary for Energy, Ray Orbach. Five years ago SciDAC was launched as an experiment in computational science. The goal was to form partnerships among science applications, computer scientists, and applied mathematicians to take advantage of the potential of emerging terascale computers. This experiment has been a resounding success. SciDAC has emerged as a powerful concept for addressing some of the biggest challenges facing our world. As significant as these successes were, I believe there is also significance in the teams that achieved them. In addition to their scientific aims these teams have advanced the overall field of computational science and set the stage for even larger accomplishments as we look ahead to SciDAC-2. I am sure that many of you are expecting to hear about the results of our current solicitation for SciDAC-2. I’m afraid we are not quite ready to make that announcement. Decisions are still being made and we will announce the results later this summer. Nearly 250 unique proposals were received and evaluated, involving literally thousands of researchers, postdocs, and students. These collectively requested more than five times our expected budget. This response is a testament to the success of SciDAC in the community. In SciDAC-2 our budget has been increased to about 70 million for FY 2007 and our partnerships have expanded to include the Environment and National Security missions of the Department. The National Science Foundation has also joined as a partner. These new partnerships are expected to expand the application space of SciDAC, and broaden the impact and visibility of the program. We have, with our recent solicitation, expanded to turbulence, computational biology, and groundwater reactive modeling and simulation. We are currently talking with the Department’s applied energy programs about risk assessment, optimization of complex systems - such as the national and regional electricity grid, carbon sequestration, virtual engineering, and the nuclear fuel cycle. The successes of the first five years of SciDAC have demonstrated the power of using advanced computing to enable scientific discovery. One measure of this success could be found in the President’s State of the Union address in which President Bush identified ‘supercomputing’ as a major focus area of the American Competitiveness Initiative. Funds were provided in the FY 2007 President’s Budget request to increase the size of the NERSC-5 procurement to between 100-150 teraflops, to upgrade the LCF Cray XT3 at Oak Ridge to 250 teraflops and acquire a 100 teraflop IBM BlueGene/P to establish the Leadership computing facility at Argonne. We believe that we are on a path to establish a petascale computing resource for open science by 2009. We must develop software tools, packages, and libraries as well as the scientific application software that will scale to hundreds of thousands of processors. Computer scientists from universities and the DOE’s national laboratories will be asked to collaborate on the development of the critical system software components such as compilers, light-weight operating systems and file systems. Standing up these large machines will not be business as usual for ASCR. We intend to develop a series of interconnected projects that identify cost, schedule, risks, and scope for the upgrades at the LCF at Oak Ridge, the establishment of the LCF at Argonne, and the development of the software to support these high-end computers. The critical first step in defining the scope of the project is to identify a set of early application codes for each leadership class computing facility. These codes will have access to the resources during the commissioning phase of the facility projects and will be part of the acceptance tests for the machines. Applications will be selected, in part, by breakthrough science, scalability, and ability to exercise key hardware and software components. Possible early applications might include climate models; studies of the magnetic properties of nanoparticles as they relate to ultra-high density storage media; the rational design of chemical catalysts, the modeling of combustion processes that will lead to cleaner burning coal, and fusion and astrophysics research. I have presented just a few of the challenges that we look forward to on the road to petascale computing. Our road to petascale science might be paraphrased by the quote from e e cummings, ‘somewhere I have never traveled, gladly beyond any experience . . .’

77 FR 45345 - DOE/Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-07-31

... Recompetition results for Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing (SciDAC) applications Co-design Public... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY DOE/Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory Committee AGENCY: Office of... the Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory Committee (ASCAC). The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub...

Using Scenarios to Design Complex Technology-Enhanced Learning Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Jong, Ton; Weinberger, Armin; Girault, Isabelle; Kluge, Anders; Lazonder, Ard W.; Pedaste, Margus; Ludvigsen, Sten; Ney, Muriel; Wasson, Barbara; Wichmann, Astrid; Geraedts, Caspar; Giemza, Adam; Hovardas, Tasos; Julien, Rachel; van Joolingen, Wouter R.; Lejeune, Anne; Manoli, Constantinos C.; Matteman, Yuri; Sarapuu, Tago; Verkade, Alex; Vold, Vibeke; Zacharia, Zacharias C.

2012-01-01

Science Created by You (SCY) learning environments are computer-based environments in which students learn about science topics in the context of addressing a socio-scientific problem. Along their way to a solution for this problem students produce many types of intermediate products or learning objects. SCY learning environments center the entire…

Influence of Immunogenicity on the Efficacy of Long-Term Treatment with TNFα Blockers in Rheumatoid Arthritis and Spondyloarthritis Patients

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Objective. To analyze the clinical relevance of the levels of TNFα blockers and anti-drug antibodies (anti-drug Ab) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and spondyloarthritis (SpA) treated with adalimumab (ADA), etanercept (ETA), or infliximab (INF) for a prolonged period of time. Methods. Clinical characteristics (disease activity, and adverse events), serum TNFα blockers, and anti-drug Ab levels were evaluated in 62 RA and 81 SpA patients treated with TNFα blockers for a median of 28 months. Results. Anti-ADA Ab were detected in 1 (4.0%) and anti-INF Ab in 14 out of 57 (24.6%) RA and SpA patients. Patient with anti-ADA Ab and 57.1% patients with anti-INF Ab were considered nonresponders to treatment. Anti-ETA Ab were not found in any of 61 ETA treated patients. Anti-ADA and anti-INF Ab levels differ between responders and nonresponders (P > 0.05). Three (5.3%) patients with high serum anti-INF Ab levels developed infusion related reactions. Patients with anti-INF Ab more often required changing to another biologic drug (OR 11.43 (95% CI 1.08–120.93)) and treatment discontinuation (OR 9.28 (95% CI 1.64–52.52)). Conclusion. Patients not responding to treatment had higher serum anti-ADA and anti-INF Ab concentrations. Anti-INF Ab formation is related to increased risk of infusion related reactions, changing to another biologic drug, and treatment discontinuation. PMID:26064930

Generation and characterization of functional mutants in the translation initiation factor IF1 of Escherichia coli.

PubMed

Croitoru, Victor; Bucheli-Witschel, Margarete; Hägg, Peter; Abdulkarim, Farhad; Isaksson, Leif A

2004-02-01

Three protein factors IF1, IF2 and IF3 are involved in the initiation of translation in prokaryotes. No clear function has been assigned to the smallest of these three factors, IF1. Therefore, to investigate the role of this protein in the initiation process in Escherichia coli we have mutated the corresponding gene infA. Because IF1 is essential for cell viability and no mutant selection has so far been described, the infA gene in a plasmid was mutated by site-directed mutagenesis in a strain with a chromosomal infA+ gene, followed by deletion of this infA+ gene. Using this approach, the six arginine residues of IF1 were altered to leucine or aspartate. Another set of plasmid-encoded IF1 mutants with a cold-sensitive phenotype was collected using localized random mutagenesis. All mutants with a mutated infA gene on a plasmid and a deletion of the chromosomal infA copy were viable, except for an R65D alteration. Differences in growth phenotypes of the mutants were observed in both minimal and rich media. Some of the mutated infA genes were successfully recombined into the chromosome thereby replacing the wild-type infA+ allele. Several of these recombinants showed reduced growth rate and a partial cold-sensitive phenotype. This paper presents a collection of IF1 mutants designed for in vivo and in vitro studies on the function of IF1.

Large-Scale, Parallel, Multi-Sensor Atmospheric Data Fusion Using Cloud Computing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, B. D.; Manipon, G.; Hua, H.; Fetzer, E.

2013-05-01

NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) is an ambitious facility for studying global climate change. The mandate now is to combine measurements from the instruments on the "A-Train" platforms (AIRS, AMSR-E, MODIS, MISR, MLS, and CloudSat) and other Earth probes to enable large-scale studies of climate change over decades. Moving to multi-sensor, long-duration analyses of important climate variables presents serious challenges for large-scale data mining and fusion. For example, one might want to compare temperature and water vapor retrievals from one instrument (AIRS) to another (MODIS), and to a model (ECMWF), stratify the comparisons using a classification of the "cloud scenes" from CloudSat, and repeat the entire analysis over 10 years of data. To efficiently assemble such datasets, we are utilizing Elastic Computing in the Cloud and parallel map/reduce-based algorithms. However, these problems are Data Intensive computing so the data transfer times and storage costs (for caching) are key issues. SciReduce is a Hadoop-like parallel analysis system, programmed in parallel python, that is designed from the ground up for Earth science. SciReduce executes inside VMWare images and scales to any number of nodes in the Cloud. Unlike Hadoop, SciReduce operates on bundles of named numeric arrays, which can be passed in memory or serialized to disk in netCDF4 or HDF5. Figure 1 shows the architecture of the full computational system, with SciReduce at the core. Multi-year datasets are automatically "sharded" by time and space across a cluster of nodes so that years of data (millions of files) can be processed in a massively parallel way. Input variables (arrays) are pulled on-demand into the Cloud using OPeNDAP URLs or other subsetting services, thereby minimizing the size of the cached input and intermediate datasets. We are using SciReduce to automate the production of multiple versions of a ten-year A-Train water vapor climatology under a NASA MEASURES grant. We will present the architecture of SciReduce, describe the achieved "clock time" speedups in fusing datasets on our own nodes and in the Cloud, and discuss the Cloud cost tradeoffs for storage, compute, and data transfer. We will also present a concept/prototype for staging NASA's A-Train Atmospheric datasets (Levels 2 & 3) in the Amazon Cloud so that any number of compute jobs can be executed "near" the multi-sensor data. Given such a system, multi-sensor climate studies over 10-20 years of data could be performed in an efficient way, with the researcher paying only his own Cloud compute bill.; Figure 1 -- Architecture.

Experimental realization of quantum cheque using a five-qubit quantum computer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Behera, Bikash K.; Banerjee, Anindita; Panigrahi, Prasanta K.

2017-12-01

Quantum cheques could be a forgery-free way to make transaction in a quantum networked banking system with perfect security against any no-signalling adversary. Here, we demonstrate the implementation of quantum cheque, proposed by Moulick and Panigrahi (Quantum Inf Process 15:2475-2486, 2016), using the five-qubit IBM quantum computer. Appropriate single qubit, CNOT and Fredkin gates are used in an optimized configuration. The accuracy of implementation is checked and verified through quantum state tomography by comparing results from the theoretical and experimental density matrices.

Polar extract of Curcuma longa protects cartilage homeostasis: possible mechanism of action.

PubMed

Velusami, Chandrasekaran Chinampudur; Richard, Edwin Jothie; Bethapudi, Bharathi

2018-01-08

Curcuma longa has been well documented for managing joint inflammation and pain. The present study investigated the effect of polar extract of C. longa (NR-INF-02) on cartilage homeostasis in human articular chondrocytes knee (NHAC-kn) cells to understand its plausible mechanism of action. Dysregulation of cartilage homeostasis was induced by IL-1β and H 2 O 2 . Modulating effects of NR-INF-02 on degradation markers viz., chondrocyte apoptosis, senescence, cytokine, eicosanoids, and cartilage synthesis markers viz., glycosaminoglycans and type II collagen degradation was evaluated in human articular chondrocytes knee (NHAC-kn) cells. Further, the effect of NR-INF-02 on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced expression of NF-kB in RAW264.7 macrophages was investigated. NR-INF-02 significantly attenuated IL-1β-induced chondrocyte cytotoxicity, apoptosis and release of chondrocyte degradation markers such as IL-6, IL-8, COX-2, PGE 2 , TNF-α, ICAM-1 in NHAC-kn cells. Also, NR-INF-02 protected IL-1β-induced damage to synthesis markers such as glycosaminoglycans, type II collagen and further attenuated H 2 O 2 -induced chondrocyte senescence. In addition NR-INF-02 suppressed LPS-induced NF-kB expression in RAW264.7 cells. NR-INF-02 protects cartilage homeostasis by maintaining the balance between synthesis and degradation of cartilage matrix.

Association among metabolic syndrome, inflammation, and survival in prostate cancer.

PubMed

Conteduca, Vincenza; Caffo, Orazio; Galli, Luca; Maugeri, Antonio; Scarpi, Emanuela; Maines, Francesca; Chiuri, Vincenzo Emanuele; Lolli, Cristian; Kinspergher, Stefania; Schepisi, Giuseppe; Santoni, Matteo; Santini, Daniele; Fratino, Lucia; Burgio, Salvatore Luca; Salvi, Samanta; Menna, Cecilia; De Giorgi, Ugo

2018-05-01

Metabolic syndrome (MS) and inflammation (INF) alterations are among the factors involved in cancer progression. The study aimed to assess the relationship between MS and INF and its effect on progression-free/overall survival (PFS/OS) in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) treaed with abiraterone or enzalutamide. We, retrospectively, evaluated patients with mCRPC in 7 Italian Institutes between March 2011 and October 2016. MS was defined by modified adult treatment panel-III criteria. INF was characterized by at least one of these criteria: neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio ≥ 3, elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate or C-reactive protein. Eighty-three of 551 (15.1%) patients met MS criteria at baseline and 34 (6.2%) during treatment. MS patients (MS+) presented a greater INF profile compared to MS- (P<0.0001). Median PFS was 3.7 for MS+ vs. 8.7 months for MS- (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.77; 95% CI: 2.12-3.61; P<0.0001). Median OS was 6.9 and 19 months in MS+ and MS-, respectively (HR = 3.43; 95% CI: 2.56-4.58; P<0.0001). We also demonstrated INF led to shorter PFS and OS (4.5 vs. 8.5 months, HR = 1.48, 95% CI: 1.15-1.90, P = 0.002, and 11.2 vs. 18.8 months, HR =1.66, 95% CI: 1.26-2.18, P = 0.0003, respectively). The combination of MS with INF provided the identification of high-risk prognostic group (MS+/INF+ vs. MS-/INF-) with worse PFS (3.7 vs. 9 months, HR = 2.7, 95% CI: 1.88-3.89, P<0.0001) and OS (6.3 vs. 20.4 months, HR = 4.04, 95% CI: 2.75-5.93, P<0.0001). Multivariable analysis confirmed that MS was independently associated with PFS (HR = 2.07; 95% CI: 1.03-4.18; P = 0.041) and OS (HR = 4.87; 95% CI: 2.36-10.03; P<0.0001). The absence of INF as an independent predictor of survival underlined the correlation between MS/INF. Pretreatment identification of MS and INF alterations might represent an available and easy tool for better prognostication of patients with mCRPC. A prospective evaluation is warranted. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sera from severe trauma patients with pneumonia and without infectious complications have differential effects on neutrophil biology.

PubMed

Relja, B; Taraki, R; Teuben, M P J; Mörs, K; Wagner, N; Wutzler, S; Hildebrand, F; Perl, M; Marzi, I

2016-12-01

Major trauma patients (TP) developing imbalanced immune response are at high risk for infectious post-injury complications including pneumonia. Neutrophils play a central role in the host defense against bacteria and thereby pathogenesis of infections. While there are numerous studies about neutrophil function after trauma, data about their biology in patients who suffer from pneumonia following trauma are sparse. Here, we studied the effect of serum isolated from patients who do and do not develop infection (inf.) on the biology of neutrophils from healthy volunteers. Sera samples from eighteen TP with an injury severity score above 16 were obtained. Nine patients were grouped to no inf. group (TP without pneumonia), and nine to inf. group (TP with pneumonia). Samples were obtained at admission to emergency department (ED), a day prior pneumonia diagnosis (1 d prior inf) or at the day of diagnosis (1 d prior inf). Samples from the equal post-injury days in the corresponding no inf. group were used. Neutrophils from nine healthy volunteers were isolated. Effects for sera isolated from infected and non-infected patients on neutrophil biology were analyzed. Migratory capacity of neutrophils towards TP's serum, their CD11b and CD62L membrane receptor expression and oxidative burst activity after stimulation with TP's serum were determined and compared between groups. Migratory capacity of neutrophils was significantly increased after trauma and persisted during the study period. CD11b expression in all groups was significantly increased. CD62L expression decreased generally in samples from ED and recovered later to baseline. Stratifying no inf. and inf. groups showed significantly decreased migratory capacity, increased CD11b and significantly decreased CD62L expression in the no inf. group. These differences persisted during the complete observational period. ROS production was strongly reduced in the no inf. group compared to the inf. group at later experimental time points. This data indicate that patients at risk for pneumonia development have differentially and early activated neutrophils following trauma compared to patients who are not at risk for post-injury complication. Studies about the differential biology of neutrophils and their immediately after trauma modified activity depending on the post-injury clinical course are warranted, and may deliver predictive or even therapeutic strategies to control inflammation.

Parasitic Nematode-Induced CD4+Foxp3+T Cells Can Ameliorate Allergic Airway Inflammation

PubMed Central

Kang, Shin Ae; Park, Mi-Kyung; Cho, Min Kyoung; Park, Sang Kyun; Jang, Min Seong; Yang, Bo-Gie; Jang, Myoung Ho; Kim, Dong-Hee; Yu, Hak Sun

2014-01-01

Background The recruitment of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+T (Treg) cells is one of the most important mechanisms by which parasites down-regulate the immune system. Methodology/Principal Findings We compared the effects of Treg cells from Trichinella spiralis-infected mice and uninfected mice on experimental allergic airway inflammation in order to understand the functions of parasite-induced Treg cells. After four weeks of T. spiralis infection, we isolated Foxp3-GFP-expressing cells from transgenic mice using a cell sorter. We injected CD4+Foxp3+ cells from T. spiralis-infected [Inf(+)Foxp3+] or uninfected [Inf(-)Foxp3+] mice into the tail veins of C57BL/6 mice before the induction of inflammation or during inflammation. Inflammation was induced by ovalbumin (OVA)-alum sensitization and OVA challenge. The concentrations of the Th2-related cytokines IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13 in the bronchial alveolar lavage fluid and the levels of OVA-specific IgE and IgG1 in the serum were lower in mice that received intravenous application of Inf(+)Foxp3+ cells [IV(inf):+(+) group] than in control mice. Some features of allergic airway inflammation were ameliorated by the intravenous application of Inf(-)Foxp3+ cells [IV(inf):+(-) group], but the effects were less distinct than those observed in the IV(inf):+(+) group. We found that Inf(+)Foxp3+ cells migrated to inflammation sites in the lung and expressed higher levels of Treg-cell homing receptors (CCR5 and CCR9) and activation markers (Klrg1, Capg, GARP, Gzmb, OX40) than did Inf(-)Foxp3+ cells. Conclusion/Significance T. spiralis infection promotes the proliferation and functional activation of Treg cells. Parasite-induced Treg cells migrate to the inflammation site and suppress immune responses more effectively than non-parasite-induced Treg cells. The adoptive transfer of Inf(+)Foxp3+ cells is an effective method for the treatment and prevention of allergic airway diseases in mice and is a promising therapeutic approach for the treatment of allergic airway diseases. PMID:25522145

Families of short interspersed elements in the genome of the oomycete plant pathogen, Phytophthora infestans.

PubMed

Whisson, Stephen C; Avrova, Anna O; Lavrova, Olga; Pritchard, Leighton

2005-04-01

The first known families of tRNA-related short interspersed elements (SINEs) in the oomycetes were identified by exploiting the genomic DNA sequence resources for the potato late blight pathogen, Phytophthora infestans. Fifteen families of tRNA-related SINEs, as well as predicted tRNAs, and other possible RNA polymerase III-transcribed sequences were identified. The size of individual elements ranges from 101 to 392 bp, representing sequences present from low (1) to highly abundant (over 2000) copy number in the P. infestans genome, based on quantitative PCR analysis. Putative short direct repeat sequences (6-14 bp) flanking the elements were also identified for eight of the SINEs. Predicted SINEs were named in a series prefixed infSINE (for infestans-SINE). Two SINEs were apparently present as multimers of tRNA-related units; four copies of a related unit for infSINEr, and two unrelated units for infSINEz. Two SINEs, infSINEh and infSINEi, were typically located within 400 bp of each other. These were also the only two elements identified as being actively transcribed in the mycelial stage of P. infestans by RT-PCR. It is possible that infSINEh and infSINEi represent active retrotransposons in P. infestans. Based on the quantitative PCR estimates of copy number for all of the elements identified, tRNA-related SINEs were estimated to comprise 0.3% of the 250 Mb P. infestans genome. InfSINE-related sequences were found to occur in species throughout the genus Phytophthora. However, seven elements were shown to be exclusive to P. infestans.

Stromal Fibroblasts from the Interface Zone of Triple Negative Breast Carcinomas Induced Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition and its Inhibition by Emodin

PubMed Central

Wang, Hao-Yu; Hung, Chao-Ming; Lin, Ying-Chao; Ho, Chi-Tang; Way, Tzong-Der

2017-01-01

“Triple negative breast cancer” (TNBC) is associated with a higher rate and earlier time of recurrence and worse prognosis after recurrence. In this study, we aimed to examine the crosstalk between fibroblasts and TNBC cells. The fibroblasts were isolated from TNBC patients’ tissue in tumor burden zones, distal normal zones and interface zones. The fibroblasts were indicated as cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), normal zone fibroblasts (NFs) and interface zone fibroblasts (INFs). Our study found that INFs grew significantly faster than NFs and CAFs in vitro. The epithelial BT20 cells cultured with the conditioned medium of INFs (INFs-CM) and CAFs (CAFs-CM) showed more spindle-like shape and cell scattering than cultured with the conditioned medium of NFs (NFs-CM). These results indicated that factors secreted by INFs-CM or CAFs-CM could induce the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) phenotype in BT20 cells. Using an in vitro co-culture model, INFs or CAFs induced EMT and promoted cancer cell migration in BT20 cells. Interestingly, we found that emodin inhibited INFs-CM or CAFs-CM-induced EMT programming and phenotype in BT20 cells. Previous studies reported that CAFs and INFs-secreted TGF-β promoted human breast cancer cell proliferation, here; our results indicated that TGF-β initiated EMT in BT20 cells. Pretreatment with emodin significantly suppressed the TGF-β-induced EMT and cell migration in BT20 cells. These results suggest that emodin may be used as a novel agent for the treatment of TNBC. PMID:28060811

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

Sherrett, R.R.

This study investigates the relationship between NATO's decision to approach the problem created by the intermediate-range nuclear force superiority of the Soviets and the eventual signing of the INF Treaty by the United States and the Soviet Union. The concept presented is that by adopting the dual track decision, (a track for negotiations and a simultaneous track for fielding U.S. INF missiles), the United States was eventually able to conduct arms negotiations from a position of strength. In this way a significant contribution to the INF Treaty negotiation process was made. The study examines the position of each principal priormore » to the dual track decision, examines the role each played in that decision, and looks at the actions taken following the implementation of the dual track decision. The study also presents the nuclear background of NATO, and also examines the INF negotiations in some detail. The conclusions provide the current status of the INF Treaty implementation and outlines some lessons which could be applied to future negotiations of this type. Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces, INF Treaty, GLCM, PIT, Pershing II missiles, Ground Launched Cruise Missiles, Dual Track Decision, Nuclear arms negotiations.« less

Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) negotiations and treaty: An historical case study. Master's thesis

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

Wussler, D.E.

1989-09-01

This thesis performs detailed analysis of the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) negotiations and treaty and compares them with those of the two Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (SALT). The study's objectives were: describe SALT and INF negotiations and the contents of the treaties; analyze US and Soviet goals and strategies during the INF negotiations; determine which goals were or were not attained by both sides, and ascertain reasons for this; and delineate arms control progress and prospects since INF Treaty ratification. The study found that the two SALT treaties did impose ceilings in certain areas of strategic weapons but didmore » not curtail the arms race. Treaty verification methods were criticized as being lax. The US achieved the major goal of ridding Europe of the Soviet SS-20 missile. It had to deploy missiles of its own to make the USSR realize the seriousness of its resolve. The US had total support from NATO in achieving this goal. However, with INF gone, the European conventional forces imbalance looms larger, and the West is fighting to obtain asymmetric conventional cuts.« less

Novel Shear-horizontal Surface Acoustic Wave Based Immunosensors Using SiO2Waveguiding Layers And Flow Injection Analysis.

PubMed

Guo, X S; Chen, Y Q; Yang, X L; Wang, L R

2005-01-01

Surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices based on shear-horizontal (SH) waves can be used as mass-sensitive immunosensors. This paper presents a novel SH-SAW sensor to detect anti-immunoglobulin (IgG) molecules by means of the antibody-antigen binding mechanism. The sensor system comprising dual delay lines was fabricated on 36° Y-X LiTaO3substrate. A SiO2layer was used as love mode waveguiding layers, well as insulating and chemically resistant protective layer. Moreover, flow injection analysis (FIA) method was used for continuous detection the protein molecules. The protein A was immobilized on the optional surface of the gold layer, then coupled with IgG to adsorb the antigens to be measured in the protein solution. The operational frequency of the system changed due to the interaction of antibody-antigen binding. The experimental result demonstrates the sensor has stable frequency response to the mass loading effect of the various anti-IgG concentrations with the sensitivity up to 3.3ng/ml/Hz.

[Simultaneous detection of respiratory viruses and influenza A virus subtypes using multiplex PCR].

PubMed

Ciçek, Candan; Bayram, Nuri; Anıl, Murat; Gülen, Figen; Pullukçu, Hüsnü; Saz, Eylem Ulaş; Telli, Canan; Cok, Gürsel

2014-10-01

This study was conducted to investigate the respiratory viruses and subtyping of influenza A virus when positive by multiplex PCR in patients with flu-like symptoms, after the pandemic caused by influenza A (H1N1)pdm09. Nasopharyngeal swab samples collected from 700 patients (313 female, 387 male; age range: 24 days-94 yrs, median age: 1 yr) between December 2010 - January 2013 with flu-like symptoms including fever, headache, sore throat, rhinitis, cough, myalgia as defined by the World Health Organization were included in the study. Nucleic acid extractions (Viral DNA/RNA Extraction Kit, iNtRON, South Korea) and cDNA synthesis (RevertAid First Strand cDNA Synthesis Kits, Fermentas, USA) were performed according to the manufacturer's protocol. Multiplex amplification of nucleic acids was performed using DPO (dual priming oligonucleotide) primers and RV5 ACE Screening Kit (Seegene, South Korea) in terms of the presence of influenza A (INF-A) virus, influenza B (INF-B) virus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and the other respiratory viruses. PCR products were detected by automated polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis using Screen Tape multiple detection system. Specimens which were positive for viral nucleic acids have been further studied by using specific DPO primers, FluA ACE Subtyping and RV15 Screening (Seegene, South Korea) kits. Four INF-A virus subtypes [human H1 (hH1), human H3 (hH3), swine H1 (sH1), avian H5 (aH5)] and 11 other respiratory viruses [Adenovirus, parainfluenza virus (PIV) types 1-4, human bocavirus (HBoV), human metapneumovirus (HMPV), rhinovirus types A and B, human coronaviruses (HCoV) OC43, 229E/NL63] were investigated with those tests. In the study, 53.6% (375/700) of the patients were found to be infected with at least one virus and multiple respiratory virus infections were detected in 15.7% (59/375) of the positive cases, which were mostly (49/59, 83%) in pediatric patients. RSV and rhinovirus coinfections were the most prevalent (18/29, 62.7%) dual infections. The distribution of 436 respiratory viruses identified from 375 patients were as follows; 189 (43.3%) RSV, 93 (21.4%) rhinovirus, 86 (19.8%) INF-A, seven (1.6%) INF-B, 22 (5%) PIV types 1-3, 14 (3.2%) HMPV, 11 (2.5%) HCoV, nine (2%) HBoV, and five (1.2%) adenovirus. Fifty-five (64%) out of 86 INF-A viruses were subtyped as hH3, 24 (27.9%) were sH1 and seven (8.1%) were hH1. Avian H5 was not detected in any samples. The overall prevalence rates of INF-A, INF-B, RSV and other respiratory viruses were 12%, 1%, 27%, and 14.6%, respectively. RSV was the most prevalent respiratory agent in pediatric (161/313, 51%) cases, while INF-A virus in adult (24/62, 38.7%) patients. Influenza viruses were detected as responsible pathogens in 13.3% (93/700) of the patients with flu-like symptoms. Among the cases, a 1-month-old baby was infected with three virus strains (INF-A hH1+INF-A sH1+HCoV OC43) and a 82-year-old patient was infected with two INF-A virus subtypes (hH3 + sH1). INF-A viruses were mostly detected (79/86) in winter period, from December to March. INF-A virus sH1, was the most prevalent subtype in flu cases till February 2011 (22/86), after replaced by INF-A virus hH3. Beginning from February 2012, a significant increase observed in the cases infected with INF-A virus subtype hH3 (39/86). In conclusion, the identification and surveillance of influenza virus types and subtypes circulating in populations have importance both for epidemiological data and selection of vaccine strains.

Methodology for the development and calibration of the SCI-QOL item banks

PubMed Central

Tulsky, David S.; Kisala, Pamela A.; Victorson, David; Choi, Seung W.; Gershon, Richard; Heinemann, Allen W.; Cella, David

2015-01-01

Objective To develop a comprehensive, psychometrically sound, and conceptually grounded patient reported outcomes (PRO) measurement system for individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). Methods Individual interviews (n = 44) and focus groups (n = 65 individuals with SCI and n = 42 SCI clinicians) were used to select key domains for inclusion and to develop PRO items. Verbatim items from other cutting-edge measurement systems (i.e. PROMIS, Neuro-QOL) were included to facilitate linkage and cross-population comparison. Items were field tested in a large sample of individuals with traumatic SCI (n = 877). Dimensionality was assessed with confirmatory factor analysis. Local item dependence and differential item functioning were assessed, and items were calibrated using the item response theory (IRT) graded response model. Finally, computer adaptive tests (CATs) and short forms were administered in a new sample (n = 245) to assess test-retest reliability and stability. Participants and Procedures A calibration sample of 877 individuals with traumatic SCI across five SCI Model Systems sites and one Department of Veterans Affairs medical center completed SCI-QOL items in interview format. Results We developed 14 unidimensional calibrated item banks and 3 calibrated scales across physical, emotional, and social health domains. When combined with the five Spinal Cord Injury – Functional Index physical function banks, the final SCI-QOL system consists of 22 IRT-calibrated item banks/scales. Item banks may be administered as CATs or short forms. Scales may be administered in a fixed-length format only. Conclusions The SCI-QOL measurement system provides SCI researchers and clinicians with a comprehensive, relevant and psychometrically robust system for measurement of physical-medical, physical-functional, emotional, and social outcomes. All SCI-QOL instruments are freely available on Assessment CenterSM. PMID:26010963

Methodology for the development and calibration of the SCI-QOL item banks.

PubMed

Tulsky, David S; Kisala, Pamela A; Victorson, David; Choi, Seung W; Gershon, Richard; Heinemann, Allen W; Cella, David

2015-05-01

To develop a comprehensive, psychometrically sound, and conceptually grounded patient reported outcomes (PRO) measurement system for individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). Individual interviews (n=44) and focus groups (n=65 individuals with SCI and n=42 SCI clinicians) were used to select key domains for inclusion and to develop PRO items. Verbatim items from other cutting-edge measurement systems (i.e. PROMIS, Neuro-QOL) were included to facilitate linkage and cross-population comparison. Items were field tested in a large sample of individuals with traumatic SCI (n=877). Dimensionality was assessed with confirmatory factor analysis. Local item dependence and differential item functioning were assessed, and items were calibrated using the item response theory (IRT) graded response model. Finally, computer adaptive tests (CATs) and short forms were administered in a new sample (n=245) to assess test-retest reliability and stability. A calibration sample of 877 individuals with traumatic SCI across five SCI Model Systems sites and one Department of Veterans Affairs medical center completed SCI-QOL items in interview format. We developed 14 unidimensional calibrated item banks and 3 calibrated scales across physical, emotional, and social health domains. When combined with the five Spinal Cord Injury--Functional Index physical function banks, the final SCI-QOL system consists of 22 IRT-calibrated item banks/scales. Item banks may be administered as CATs or short forms. Scales may be administered in a fixed-length format only. The SCI-QOL measurement system provides SCI researchers and clinicians with a comprehensive, relevant and psychometrically robust system for measurement of physical-medical, physical-functional, emotional, and social outcomes. All SCI-QOL instruments are freely available on Assessment CenterSM.

Commnity Petascale Project for Accelerator Science And Simulation: Advancing Computational Science for Future Accelerators And Accelerator Technologies

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

Spentzouris, Panagiotis; /Fermilab; Cary, John

The design and performance optimization of particle accelerators are essential for the success of the DOE scientific program in the next decade. Particle accelerators are very complex systems whose accurate description involves a large number of degrees of freedom and requires the inclusion of many physics processes. Building on the success of the SciDAC-1 Accelerator Science and Technology project, the SciDAC-2 Community Petascale Project for Accelerator Science and Simulation (ComPASS) is developing a comprehensive set of interoperable components for beam dynamics, electromagnetics, electron cooling, and laser/plasma acceleration modelling. ComPASS is providing accelerator scientists the tools required to enable the necessarymore » accelerator simulation paradigm shift from high-fidelity single physics process modeling (covered under SciDAC1) to high-fidelity multiphysics modeling. Our computational frameworks have been used to model the behavior of a large number of accelerators and accelerator R&D experiments, assisting both their design and performance optimization. As parallel computational applications, the ComPASS codes have been shown to make effective use of thousands of processors.« less

Infiltration of forest fire and residential wood smoke: an evaluation of air cleaner effectiveness.

PubMed

Barn, Prabjit; Larson, Timothy; Noullett, Melanie; Kennedy, Susan; Copes, Ray; Brauer, Michael

2008-09-01

Communities impacted by fine-particle air pollution (particles with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 microm; PM(2.5)) from forest fires and residential wood burning require effective, evidence-based exposure-reduction strategies. Public health recommendations during smoke episodes typically include advising community members to remain indoors and the use of air cleaners, yet little information is available on the effectiveness of these measures. Our study attempted to address the following objectives: to measure indoor infiltration factor (F(inf)) of PM(2.5) from forest fires/wood smoke, to determine the effectiveness of high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter air cleaners in reducing indoor PM(2.5), and to analyze the home determinants of F(inf) and air cleaner effectiveness (ACE). We collected indoor/outdoor 1-min PM(2.5) averages and 48-h outdoor PM(2.5) filter samples for 21 winter and 17 summer homes impacted by wood burning and forest fire smoke, respectively, during 2004-2005. A portable HEPA filter air cleaner was operated indoors with the filter removed for one of two sampling days. Particle F(inf) and ACE were calculated for each home using a recursive model. We found mean F(inf)+/-SD was 0.27+/-0.18 and 0.61+/-0.27 in winter (n=19) and summer (n=13), respectively, for days when HEPA filters were not used. Lower F(inf)+/-SD values of 0.10+/-0.08 and 0.19+/-0.20 were found on corresponding days when HEPA filters were in place. Mean+/-SD ACE ([F(inf) without filter-F(inf) with filter]/F(inf) without filter) in winter and summer were 55+/-38% and 65+/-35%, respectively. Number of windows and season predicted F(inf) (P<0.001). No significant predictors of ACE were identified. Our findings show that remaining indoors combined with use of air cleaner can effectively reduce PM(2.5) exposure during forest fires and residential wood burning.

[Efficacy, influencing factors and safety of PEG-INF alpha-2a (PEG-INF-2a) in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C: analysis of 89 patients].

PubMed

Ma, Li-na; Chen, Xin-yue; Chen, Jie; Shen, Cheng-li; Wang, Jun-tao

2006-06-01

To investigate the efficacy, influencing factors and safety of PEG-INF alpha-2a (PEG-INF-2a) in the treatment of hepatitis C. Totally 89 patients with hepatitis C were included in this study and 46 patients were treated with PEG-INF-2a (180 microg or 135 microg/week) and RBV 900 mg/d, 43 patients were treated with IFNalpha-2a (5 MIU/qod) and RBV 900 mg/d. The time of treatment was 48 weeks, and all the patients were visited 24 weeks after treatment. There were no significant differences between the two groups in pretreatment HCV-RNA, HCV genotype and other clinical data. The main parameters to evaluate the efficacy were virological and biochemical responses. The side effects were intensively observed. Sustained virological response (SVR) rate in PEG-IFNalpha-2a group was significantly higher than that in IFNalpha-2a group (56.5% and 19.5% respectively, P<0.001). As the patients were divided according to HCV genotype 1 and high virus load, the SVR rate of PEG-INF alpha-2a group was higher than IFNalpha-2a group (P<0.001). However, there was no significant difference between two groups in the patients with non-genotype 1 and low viral load (P=0.664, 0.116). Similar side-effects were observed in PEG-IFNalpha-2a group and IFNalpha-2a group, but the rate of weight decline and the degree of leukocyte decrease were more significant in PEG-INF alpha-2a group than in IFNalpha-2a group (P=0.001). The efficacy of PEG-INF alpha-2a in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C is superior to that of conventional IFNalpha-2a, PEG-INF alpha-2a had good tolerance and safety profiles.

Relation between iron metabolism and antioxidants enzymes and δ-ALA-D activity in rats experimentally infected by Fasciola hepatica.

PubMed

Bottari, Nathieli B; Mendes, Ricardo E; Baldissera, Matheus D; Bochi, Guilherme V; Moresco, Rafael N; Leal, Marta L R; Morsch, Vera M; Schetinger, Maria R C; Christ, Ricardo; Gheller, Larissa; Marques, Éder J; Da Silva, Aleksandro S

2016-06-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the iron metabolism in serum, as well as antioxidant enzymes, in addition to the Delta-Aminolevulinic Acid Dehydratase (δ-ALA-D) activity in the liver of rats experimentally infected by Fasciola hepatica. Thirty male adult rats (Wistar) specific pathogen free were divided into four groups: two uninfected group (CTRL 1 and CTRL 2) with five animals each and two infected groups (INF 1 and INF 2) with 10 animals each. Infection was performed orally with 20 metacercariae at day 1. On day 15 (CTRL 1 and INF 1 groups) and 87 PI (CTRL 2 and INF 2 groups) blood and bone marrow were collected and the animals were subsequently euthanized for liver sampling. Blood was allocated in tubes without anticoagulant for serum acquisition to measure iron, transferrin and unsaturated iron binding capacity (UIBC). δ-ALA-D, superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT) activities were measured in the liver. A decrease in iron, transferrin and UIBC levels was observed in all infected animals compared to control groups (P < 0.05). Furthermore, iron accumulation was observed in bone marrow of infected mice. Infected animals showed an increase in δ-ALA-D activity at 87 post-infection (PI) (INF 2) as well as in SOD activity at days 15 (INF 1) and 87 PI (INF 2). On the other hand, CAT activity was reduced in rats infected by F. hepatica during acute and chronic phase of fasciolosis (INF 1 and INF 2 groups), when moderate (acute) and severe necrosis in the liver histopathology were observed. These results may suggest that oxidative damage to tissues along with antioxidant mechanisms might have taken part in fasciolosis pathogenesis and are also involved in iron deficiency associated to changes in δ-ALA-D activity during chronic phase of disease. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comparing biosimilar SB2 with reference infliximab after 54 weeks of a double-blind trial: clinical, structural and safety results.

PubMed

Smolen, Josef S; Choe, Jung-Yoon; Prodanovic, Nenad; Niebrzydowski, Jaroslaw; Staykov, Ivan; Dokoupilova, Eva; Baranauskaite, Asta; Yatsyshyn, Roman; Mekic, Mevludin; Porawska, Wieskawa; Ciferska, Hana; Jedrychowicz-Rosiak, Krystyna; Zielinska, Agnieszka; Choi, Jasmine; Rho, Young Hee

2017-10-01

SB2 is a biosimilar to the reference infliximab (INF). Similar efficacy, safety and immunogenicity between SB2 and INF up to 30 weeks were previously reported. This report investigates such clinical similarity up to 54 weeks, including structural joint damage. In this phase III, double-blind, parallel-group, multicentre study, patients with moderate to severe RA despite MTX were randomized (1:1) to receive 3 mg/kg of either SB2 or INF at 0, 2, 6 and every 8 weeks thereafter. Dose escalation by 1.5 mg/kg up to a maximum dose of 7.5 mg/kg was allowed after week 30. Efficacy, safety and immunogenicity were measured at each visit up to week 54. Radiographic damage evaluated by modified total Sharp score was measured at baseline and week 54. A total of 584 patients were randomized to receive SB2 (n = 291) or INF (n = 293). The rate of radiographic progression was comparable between SB2 and INF (mean modified total Sharp score difference: SB2, 0.38; INF, 0.37) at 1 year. ACR responses, 28-joint DAS, Clinical Disease Activity Index and Simplified Disease Activity Index were comparable between SB2 and INF up to week 54. The incidence of treatment-emergent adverse events and anti-drug antibodies were comparable between treatment groups. Such comparable trends of efficacy, safety and immunogenicity were consistent from baseline up to 54 weeks. The pattern of dose increment was also comparable between SB2 and INF. SB2 maintained similar efficacy, safety and immunogenicity with INF up to 54 weeks in patients with moderate to severe RA. Radiographic progression was comparable at 1 year. ClinicalTrials.gov (http://clinicaltrials.gov; NCT01936181) and EudraCT (https://www.clinicaltrialsregister.eu; 2012-005733-37). © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology.

Comparing biosimilar SB2 with reference infliximab after 54 weeks of a double-blind trial: clinical, structural and safety results

PubMed Central

Smolen, Josef S.; Choe, Jung-Yoon; Prodanovic, Nenad; Niebrzydowski, Jaroslaw; Staykov, Ivan; Dokoupilova, Eva; Baranauskaite, Asta; Yatsyshyn, Roman; Mekic, Mevludin; Porawska, Wieskawa; Ciferska, Hana; Jedrychowicz-Rosiak, Krystyna; Zielinska, Agnieszka; Choi, Jasmine; Rho, Young Hee

2017-01-01

Abstract Objectives SB2 is a biosimilar to the reference infliximab (INF). Similar efficacy, safety and immunogenicity between SB2 and INF up to 30 weeks were previously reported. This report investigates such clinical similarity up to 54 weeks, including structural joint damage. Methods In this phase III, double-blind, parallel-group, multicentre study, patients with moderate to severe RA despite MTX were randomized (1:1) to receive 3 mg/kg of either SB2 or INF at 0, 2, 6 and every 8 weeks thereafter. Dose escalation by 1.5 mg/kg up to a maximum dose of 7.5 mg/kg was allowed after week 30. Efficacy, safety and immunogenicity were measured at each visit up to week 54. Radiographic damage evaluated by modified total Sharp score was measured at baseline and week 54. Results A total of 584 patients were randomized to receive SB2 (n = 291) or INF (n = 293). The rate of radiographic progression was comparable between SB2 and INF (mean modified total Sharp score difference: SB2, 0.38; INF, 0.37) at 1 year. ACR responses, 28-joint DAS, Clinical Disease Activity Index and Simplified Disease Activity Index were comparable between SB2 and INF up to week 54. The incidence of treatment-emergent adverse events and anti-drug antibodies were comparable between treatment groups. Such comparable trends of efficacy, safety and immunogenicity were consistent from baseline up to 54 weeks. The pattern of dose increment was also comparable between SB2 and INF. Conclusion SB2 maintained similar efficacy, safety and immunogenicity with INF up to 54 weeks in patients with moderate to severe RA. Radiographic progression was comparable at 1 year. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov (http://clinicaltrials.gov; NCT01936181) and EudraCT (https://www.clinicaltrialsregister.eu; 2012-005733-37) PMID:28957563

Implications of the INF (intermediate nuclear force) treaty on NATO strategy. Student report

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

Amend, J.H.

1988-03-01

The INF Treaty has refocused NATO attention on the longstanding concern of the applicability of the current NATO strategy. This study examines the implications of the INF Treaty on the current NATO strategy of Flexible Response. The tenets of Flexible Response include sustainability and escalation control. This study concludes that even prior to the INF Treaty, Flexible Response was not a valid strategy due to lack of sustainability and escalation control. In the absence of a valid Flexible Response Doctrine, NATO strategy reverts to massive Retaliation. Recommendations to alleviate this situation are suggested.

SciSpark: Highly Interactive and Scalable Model Evaluation and Climate Metrics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, B. D.; Palamuttam, R. S.; Mogrovejo, R. M.; Whitehall, K. D.; Mattmann, C. A.; Verma, R.; Waliser, D. E.; Lee, H.

2015-12-01

Remote sensing data and climate model output are multi-dimensional arrays of massive sizes locked away in heterogeneous file formats (HDF5/4, NetCDF 3/4) and metadata models (HDF-EOS, CF) making it difficult to perform multi-stage, iterative science processing since each stage requires writing and reading data to and from disk. We are developing a lightning fast Big Data technology called SciSpark based on ApacheTM Spark under a NASA AIST grant (PI Mattmann). Spark implements the map-reduce paradigm for parallel computing on a cluster, but emphasizes in-memory computation, "spilling" to disk only as needed, and so outperforms the disk-based ApacheTM Hadoop by 100x in memory and by 10x on disk. SciSpark will enable scalable model evaluation by executing large-scale comparisons of A-Train satellite observations to model grids on a cluster of 10 to 1000 compute nodes. This 2nd generation capability for NASA's Regional Climate Model Evaluation System (RCMES) will compute simple climate metrics at interactive speeds, and extend to quite sophisticated iterative algorithms such as machine-learning based clustering of temperature PDFs, and even graph-based algorithms for searching for Mesocale Convective Complexes. We have implemented a parallel data ingest capability in which the user specifies desired variables (arrays) as several time-sorted lists of URL's (i.e. using OPeNDAP model.nc?varname, or local files). The specified variables are partitioned by time/space and then each Spark node pulls its bundle of arrays into memory to begin a computation pipeline. We also investigated the performance of several N-dim. array libraries (scala breeze, java jblas & netlib-java, and ND4J). We are currently developing science codes using ND4J and studying memory behavior on the JVM. On the pyspark side, many of our science codes already use the numpy and SciPy ecosystems. The talk will cover: the architecture of SciSpark, the design of the scientific RDD (sRDD) data structure, our efforts to integrate climate science algorithms in Python and Scala, parallel ingest and partitioning of A-Train satellite observations from HDF files and model grids from netCDF files, first parallel runs to compute comparison statistics and PDF's, and first metrics quantifying parallel speedups and memory & disk usage.

Heavy metal concentrations in the small intestine of red fox (Vulpes vulpes) with and without Echinococcus multilocularis infection.

PubMed

Brožová, Adela; Jankovská, Ivana; Miholová, Daniela; Scháňková, Štěpánka; Truněčková, Jana; Langrová, Iva; Kudrnáčová, Marie; Vadlejch, Jaroslav

2015-02-01

Heavy metal (Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn) levels in red fox small intestine samples with or without Echinococcus multilocularis infection were studied. The red foxes were taken from the open countryside of northwest Bohemia (CR). Red foxes with E. multilocularis infection had lower levels of toxic metals (Cd, Pb); cadmium levels in infected foxes (0.0052 mg/kg) were twice as low as in uninfected foxes (0.0106 mg/kg). This was the same case for lead: 0.0288 mg/kg infected red foxes (inf.) and 0.0413 mg/kg uninfected (uninf.). Conversely, red foxes with E. multilocularis infection yielded higher concentrations in comparison to their uninfected counterparts: Cr (0.0087 mg/kg uninf. and 0.0116 mg/kg inf.), Cu (0.2677 mg/kg uninf. and 0.3205 mg/kg inf.), Fe (6.46 mg/kg uninf. and 10.89 mg/kg inf.), Mn (0.1966 mg/kg uninf. and 0.2029 mg/kg inf.), Ni (0.0415 mg/kg uninf. and 0.064 mg/kg inf.) and Zn (16.71 mg/kg uninf. and 20.25 mg/kg inf). This could support the hypothesis that tapeworms are able to absorb toxic heavy metals from the host body into their tissues, as well as to modify other element concentrations in the host body.

76 FR 59803 - Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-09-27

...,'' covering the ``myriad of computer and telecommunications facilities, including equipment and operating..., Dir. and Professor of Computer Sci. and Pub. Affairs, Princeton Univ. (currently Chief Technologist at... data in the manner of a personal computer. See Electronic Privacy Information Center (``EPIC...

INF (Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces) Treaty and flexible response. Research report

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

Lewis, J.W.

1988-03-01

This paper examines how the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty affects NATO's military strategy of flexible response. A discussion of flexible response strategy is provided as background for the reader. Then, relevant terms of the INF treaty are addressed followed by an assessment of the treaty's impact on the military strategy of the alliance.

A new version of Scilab software package for the study of dynamical systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bordeianu, C. C.; Felea, D.; Beşliu, C.; Jipa, Al.; Grossu, I. V.

2009-11-01

This work presents a new version of a software package for the study of chaotic flows, maps and fractals [1]. The codes were written using Scilab, a software package for numerical computations providing a powerful open computing environment for engineering and scientific applications. It was found that Scilab provides various functions for ordinary differential equation solving, Fast Fourier Transform, autocorrelation, and excellent 2D and 3D graphical capabilities. The chaotic behaviors of the nonlinear dynamics systems were analyzed using phase-space maps, autocorrelation functions, power spectra, Lyapunov exponents and Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy. Various well-known examples are implemented, with the capability of the users inserting their own ODE or iterative equations. New version program summaryProgram title: Chaos v2.0 Catalogue identifier: AEAP_v2_0 Program summary URL:http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/AEAP_v2_0.html Program obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen's University, Belfast, N. Ireland Licensing provisions: Standard CPC licence, http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/licence/licence.html No. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 1275 No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 7135 Distribution format: tar.gz Programming language: Scilab 5.1.1. Scilab 5.1.1 should be installed before running the program. Information about the installation can be found at http://wiki.scilab.org/howto/install/windows. Computer: PC-compatible running Scilab on MS Windows or Linux Operating system: Windows XP, Linux RAM: below 150 Megabytes Classification: 6.2 Catalogue identifier of previous version: AEAP_v1_0 Journal reference of previous version: Comput. Phys. Comm. 178 (2008) 788 Does the new version supersede the previous version?: Yes Nature of problem: Any physical model containing linear or nonlinear ordinary differential equations (ODE). Solution method: Numerical solving of ordinary differential equations for the study of chaotic flows. The chaotic behavior of the nonlinear dynamical system is analyzed using Poincare sections, phase-space maps, autocorrelation functions, power spectra, Lyapunov exponents and Kolmogorov-Sinai entropies. Numerical solving of iterative equations for the study of maps and fractals. Reasons for new version: The program has been updated to use the new version 5.1.1 of Scilab with new graphical capabilities [2]. Moreover, new use cases have been added which make the handling of the program easier and more efficient. Summary of revisions: A new use case concerning coupled predator-prey models has been added [3]. Three new use cases concerning fractals (Sierpinsky gasket, Barnsley's Fern and Tree) have been added [3]. The graphical user interface (GUI) of the program has been reconstructed to include the new use cases. The program has been updated to use Scilab 5.1.1 with the new graphical capabilities. Additional comments: The program package contains 12 subprograms. interface.sce - the graphical user interface (GUI) that permits the choice of a routine as follows 1.sci - Lorenz dynamical system 2.sci - Chua dynamical system 3.sci - Rosler dynamical system 4.sci - Henon map 5.sci - Lyapunov exponents for Lorenz dynamical system 6.sci - Lyapunov exponent for the logistic map 7.sci - Shannon entropy for the logistic map 8.sci - Coupled predator-prey model 1f.sci - Sierpinsky gasket 2f.sci - Barnsley's Fern 3f.sci - Barnsley's Tree Running time: 10 to 20 seconds for problems that do not involve Lyapunov exponents calculation; 60 to 1000 seconds for problems that involve high orders ODE, Lyapunov exponents calculation and fractals. References: C.C. Bordeianu, C. Besliu, Al. Jipa, D. Felea, I. V. Grossu, Comput. Phys. Comm. 178 (2008) 788. S. Campbell, J.P. Chancelier, R. Nikoukhah, Modeling and Simulation in Scilab/Scicos, Springer, 2006. R.H. Landau, M.J. Paez, C.C. Bordeianu, A Survey of Computational Physics, Introductory Computational Science, Princeton University Press, 2008.

[Carotid plaque assessment using inversion recovery T1 weighted-3 dimensions variable refocus flip angle turbo spin echo sampling perfection with application optimized contrast using different angle evolutions black blood imaging].

PubMed

Inoue, Yuji; Yoneyama, Masami; Nakamura, Masanobu; Ozaki, Satoshi; Ito, Kenjiro; Hiura, Mikio

2012-01-01

Vulnerable plaque can be attributed to induction of ischemic symptoms and magnetic resonance imaging of carotid artery is valuable to detect the plaque. Magnetization prepared rapid acquisition with gradient echo (MPRAGE) method could detect hemorrhagic vulnerable plaque as high intensity signal; however, blood flow is not sufficiently masked by this method. The contrast for plaque in T1 weighted image (T1WI) could not be obtained sufficiently with black blood image (BBI) by sampling perfection with application optimized contrast using different angle evolutions (SPACE) method as turbo spin echo (TSE). In addition, an appearance of artifact by slow flow is a problem. Considering these controversial situations in plaque imaging, we examined the modified BBI inversion recovery (IR)-SPACE in which IR was added for SPACE method so that the contrast for plaque in T1WI was optimized. We investigated the application of this method in plaque imaging. As a result of phantom imaging, the contrast for plaque in T1WI was definitely obtained by choosing an appropriate inversion time (TI) for the corresponding repetition time. In clinical cases, blood flow was sufficiently masked by IR-SPACE method and the plaque imaging was clearly obtained in clinical cases to the same extent as MPRAGE method. Since BBI with IR-SPACE method was derived from both IR pulse and flow void effect, this method could obtain the blood flow masking effect definitely. The present study suggested that SPACE method might be applicable to estimate properties of carotid artery plaque.

Mexican Space Weather Service (SCiESMEX)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gonzalez-Esparza, J. A.; De la Luz, V.; Corona-Romero, P.; Mejia-Ambriz, J. C.; Gonzalez, L. X.; Sergeeva, M. A.; Romero-Hernandez, E.; Aguilar-Rodriguez, E.

2017-01-01

Legislative modifications of the General Civil Protection Law in Mexico in 2014 included specific references to space hazards and space weather phenomena. The legislation is consistent with United Nations promotion of international engagement and cooperation on space weather awareness, studies, and monitoring. These internal and external conditions motivated the creation of a space weather service in Mexico. The Mexican Space Weather Service (SCiESMEX in Spanish) (www.sciesmex.unam.mx) was initiated in October 2014 and is operated by the Institute of Geophysics at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM). SCiESMEX became a Regional Warning Center of the International Space Environment Services (ISES) in June 2015. We present the characteristics of the service, some products, and the initial actions for developing a space weather strategy in Mexico. The service operates a computing infrastructure including a web application, data repository, and a high-performance computing server to run numerical models. SCiESMEX uses data of the ground-based instrumental network of the National Space Weather Laboratory (LANCE), covering solar radio burst emissions, solar wind and interplanetary disturbances (by interplanetary scintillation observations), geomagnetic measurements, and analysis of the total electron content (TEC) of the ionosphere (by employing data from local networks of GPS receiver stations).

An accurate and efficient laser-envelope solver for the modeling of laser-plasma accelerators

DOE PAGES

Benedetti, C.; Schroeder, C. B.; Geddes, C. G. R.; ...

2017-10-17

Detailed and reliable numerical modeling of laser-plasma accelerators (LPAs), where a short and intense laser pulse interacts with an underdense plasma over distances of up to a meter, is a formidably challenging task. This is due to the great disparity among the length scales involved in the modeling, ranging from the micron scale of the laser wavelength to the meter scale of the total laser-plasma interaction length. The use of the time-averaged ponderomotive force approximation, where the laser pulse is described by means of its envelope, enables efficient modeling of LPAs by removing the need to model the details ofmore » electron motion at the laser wavelength scale. Furthermore, it allows simulations in cylindrical geometry which captures relevant 3D physics at 2D computational cost. A key element of any code based on the time-averaged ponderomotive force approximation is the laser envelope solver. In this paper we present the accurate and efficient envelope solver used in the code INF & RNO (INtegrated Fluid & paRticle simulatioN cOde). The features of the INF & RNO laser solver enable an accurate description of the laser pulse evolution deep into depletion even at a reasonably low resolution, resulting in significant computational speed-ups.« less

An accurate and efficient laser-envelope solver for the modeling of laser-plasma accelerators

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

Benedetti, C.; Schroeder, C. B.; Geddes, C. G. R.

Detailed and reliable numerical modeling of laser-plasma accelerators (LPAs), where a short and intense laser pulse interacts with an underdense plasma over distances of up to a meter, is a formidably challenging task. This is due to the great disparity among the length scales involved in the modeling, ranging from the micron scale of the laser wavelength to the meter scale of the total laser-plasma interaction length. The use of the time-averaged ponderomotive force approximation, where the laser pulse is described by means of its envelope, enables efficient modeling of LPAs by removing the need to model the details ofmore » electron motion at the laser wavelength scale. Furthermore, it allows simulations in cylindrical geometry which captures relevant 3D physics at 2D computational cost. A key element of any code based on the time-averaged ponderomotive force approximation is the laser envelope solver. In this paper we present the accurate and efficient envelope solver used in the code INF & RNO (INtegrated Fluid & paRticle simulatioN cOde). The features of the INF & RNO laser solver enable an accurate description of the laser pulse evolution deep into depletion even at a reasonably low resolution, resulting in significant computational speed-ups.« less

An accurate and efficient laser-envelope solver for the modeling of laser-plasma accelerators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benedetti, C.; Schroeder, C. B.; Geddes, C. G. R.; Esarey, E.; Leemans, W. P.

2018-01-01

Detailed and reliable numerical modeling of laser-plasma accelerators (LPAs), where a short and intense laser pulse interacts with an underdense plasma over distances of up to a meter, is a formidably challenging task. This is due to the great disparity among the length scales involved in the modeling, ranging from the micron scale of the laser wavelength to the meter scale of the total laser-plasma interaction length. The use of the time-averaged ponderomotive force approximation, where the laser pulse is described by means of its envelope, enables efficient modeling of LPAs by removing the need to model the details of electron motion at the laser wavelength scale. Furthermore, it allows simulations in cylindrical geometry which captures relevant 3D physics at 2D computational cost. A key element of any code based on the time-averaged ponderomotive force approximation is the laser envelope solver. In this paper we present the accurate and efficient envelope solver used in the code INF&RNO (INtegrated Fluid & paRticle simulatioN cOde). The features of the INF&RNO laser solver enable an accurate description of the laser pulse evolution deep into depletion even at a reasonably low resolution, resulting in significant computational speed-ups.

Measuring depression after spinal cord injury: Development and psychometric characteristics of the SCI-QOL Depression item bank and linkage with PHQ-9.

PubMed

Tulsky, David S; Kisala, Pamela A; Kalpakjian, Claire Z; Bombardier, Charles H; Pohlig, Ryan T; Heinemann, Allen W; Carle, Adam; Choi, Seung W

2015-05-01

To develop a calibrated spinal cord injury-quality of life (SCI-QOL) item bank, computer adaptive test (CAT), and short form to assess depressive symptoms experienced by individuals with SCI, transform scores to the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) metric, and create a crosswalk to the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)-9. We used grounded-theory based qualitative item development methods, large-scale item calibration field testing, confirmatory factor analysis, item response theory (IRT) analyses, and statistical linking techniques to transform scores to a PROMIS metric and to provide a crosswalk with the PHQ-9. Five SCI Model System centers and one Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in the United States. Adults with traumatic SCI. Spinal Cord Injury--Quality of Life (SCI-QOL) Depression Item Bank Individuals with SCI were involved in all phases of SCI-QOL development. A sample of 716 individuals with traumatic SCI completed 35 items assessing depression, 18 of which were PROMIS items. After removing 7 non-PROMIS items, factor analyses confirmed a unidimensional pool of items. We used a graded response IRT model to estimate slopes and thresholds for the 28 retained items. The SCI-QOL Depression measure correlated 0.76 with the PHQ-9. The SCI-QOL Depression item bank provides a reliable and sensitive measure of depressive symptoms with scores reported in terms of general population norms. We provide a crosswalk to the PHQ-9 to facilitate comparisons between measures. The item bank may be administered as a CAT or as a short form and is suitable for research and clinical applications.

24 CFR Appendix B to Part 1000 - IHBG Block Grant Formula Mechanisms

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... unit subsidy for Low-Rent units ($2,440*INF). MH+TK = number of Mutual Help and Turnkey III units. HOSUB = national per unit subsidy for Homeownership units ($528*INF). S8 = number of Section 8 units. S8SUB = national per unit subsidy for Section 8 units = ($3,625*INF). AELFMR = greater of AEL Factor or...

24 CFR Appendix B to Part 1000 - IHBG Block Grant Formula Mechanisms

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... unit subsidy for Low-Rent units ($2,440*INF). MH+TK = number of Mutual Help and Turnkey III units. HOSUB = national per unit subsidy for Homeownership units ($528*INF). S8 = number of Section 8 units. S8SUB = national per unit subsidy for Section 8 units = ($3,625*INF). AELFMR = greater of AEL Factor or...

24 CFR Appendix B to Part 1000 - IHBG Block Grant Formula Mechanisms

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... unit subsidy for Low-Rent units ($2,440*INF). MH+TK = number of Mutual Help and Turnkey III units. HOSUB = national per unit subsidy for Homeownership units ($528*INF). S8 = number of Section 8 units. S8SUB = national per unit subsidy for Section 8 units = ($3,625*INF). AELFMR = greater of AEL Factor or...

Measuring pain phenomena after spinal cord injury: Development and psychometric properties of the SCI-QOL Pain Interference and Pain Behavior assessment tools.

PubMed

Cohen, Matthew L; Kisala, Pamela A; Dyson-Hudson, Trevor A; Tulsky, David S

2018-05-01

To develop modern patient-reported outcome measures that assess pain interference and pain behavior after spinal cord injury (SCI). Grounded-theory based qualitative item development; large-scale item calibration field-testing; confirmatory factor analyses; graded response model item response theory analyses; statistical linking techniques to transform scores to the Patient Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS) metric. Five SCI Model Systems centers and one Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in the United States. Adults with traumatic SCI. N/A. Spinal Cord Injury - Quality of Life (SCI-QOL) Pain Interference item bank, SCI-QOL Pain Interference short form, and SCI-QOL Pain Behavior scale. Seven hundred fifty-seven individuals with traumatic SCI completed 58 items addressing various aspects of pain. Items were then separated by whether they assessed pain interference or pain behavior, and poorly functioning items were removed. Confirmatory factor analyses confirmed that each set of items was unidimensional, and item response theory analyses were used to estimate slopes and thresholds for the items. Ultimately, 7 items (4 from PROMIS) comprised the Pain Behavior scale and 25 items (18 from PROMIS) comprised the Pain Interference item bank. Ten of these 25 items were selected to form the Pain Interference short form. The SCI-QOL Pain Interference item bank and the SCI-QOL Pain Behavior scale demonstrated robust psychometric properties. The Pain Interference item bank is available as a computer adaptive test or short form for research and clinical applications, and scores are transformed to the PROMIS metric.

Measurement of GEP/GMP to Q2 = 5.6 GEV2 via Recoil Polarization at Jefferson Lab

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gayou, Olivier

2001-10-01

The measurement of the elastic form factors is a key ingredient to any complete understanding of the internal structure of the nucleons, and ultimately of the strong force. Precise data are essential to impose stringent tests on any QCD-based theory. The electromagnetic interaction provides a unique tool to investigate these form factors. In elastic electron scattering off a proton, the electron interacts with the nucleon exchanging a virtual photon. The electron-photon interaction is fully understood from QED, hence making the hadron vertex the only unknown of the reaction...

Differential Games of inf-sup Type and Isaacs Equations

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

Kaise, Hidehiro; Sheu, S.-J.

2005-06-15

Motivated by the work of Fleming, we provide a general framework to associate inf-sup type values with the Isaacs equations.We show that upper and lower bounds for the generators of inf-sup type are upper and lower Hamiltonians, respectively. In particular, the lower (resp. upper) bound corresponds to the progressive (resp. strictly progressive) strategy. By the Dynamic Programming Principle and identification of the generator, we can prove that the inf-sup type game is characterized as the unique viscosity solution of the Isaacs equation. We also discuss the Isaacs equation with a Hamiltonian of a convex combination between the lower and uppermore » Hamiltonians.« less

Cp Asymmetries of B → ϕK0 and B → η'KS Decays in SUSY Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dutta, Bhaskar; Kim, C. S.; Oh, Sechul; Zhu, Guohuai

2005-04-01

CP asymmetries of B → ϕK and B → η(')K modes are analyzed in the QCD improved factorization framework. The phenomenological parameters are determined from the global fit for the available B → PP and V P modes (without the subprocess b -> sbar {s}s). The possible deviation of sin(2ϕ1)ϕK0, η'Ks from sin(2ϕ1)J/ΨKs and the large branching ratio for B± → η'K± can be simultaneously explained in the context of R-parity conserving SUGRA models and R-parity violating SUSY models.

Cardiac arrhythmia induced by interferon beta-1a.

PubMed

Kastalli, Sarrah; El Aïdli, Sihem; Mourali, Sami; Zaïem, Ahmed; Daghfous, Riadh; Lakhal, Mohamed

2012-04-01

Cardiac adverse effects have never been reported with interferon (INF) beta. We report a case of left bundle branch block in a 35-year-old woman treated with INF beta-1a for multiple sclerosis. Five years after INF therapy, she presented loss of consciousness, retrosternal pains, short breath and lowered tolerance of effort. ECG and Holter 24-h ECG monitoring revealed permanent complete left bundle branch block. Nine months after stopping INF, no abnormalities were found at ECG and echocardiogram examination. © 2011 The Authors Fundamental and Clinical Pharmacology © 2011 Société Française de Pharmacologie et de Thérapeutique.

Intermediate-range nuclear forces (INF) treaty: an operational error

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

Caldwell, W.B.

1988-05-12

The purpose of this paper is to examine the operational impact of the INF treaty and what it means for the future of NATO. At this writing, there is considerable debate going on as to whether or not the US Congress should ratify the INF treaty. The political issues are well known and under careful examination. A critical element that still needs to be addressed is the operational impact of the INF treaty. This area may have been neglected because nuclear weapons are viewed primarily as an element of deterrence. Therefore, their warfighting potential is given only minimal consideration. Thismore » paper begins with a discussion of the historical use of nuclear weapons in NATO's defensive Alliance. It follows through to the decision in 1979 to modernize NATO's nuclear force. This decision resulted in the deployment of the Pershing II and ground-launched cruise missile (GLCM) systems in Europe. The Soviet warfighting concept for Europe is addressed next to place the intermediate-range nuclear forces in their proper perspective. This is followed by a discussion on the operational implications of the INF treaty. The paper concludes by briefly mentioning a few of the defensive proposals for the post-INF period.« less

PHOTOPRODUCTION OF γp → pπ0 η AT ELSA IN BONN

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crede, V.

2003-07-01

The study of nucleon resonances provides important information on many open questions in baryon spectroscopy. The key to any progress is the identification of the effective degrees of freedom leading to a qualitative understanding of strong QCD. The problem of missing resonances predicted by quark models is discussed on the basis of experimental results of the CB-ELSA experiment at the e- accelerator ELSA in Bonn. Resonance production and even cascades of the type N**(∆**) → N*(∆*) → pπ0π0(pπ0η) are observed as well as ηη photoproduction off the proton. Indications for a ∆ resonance around 1900 MeV are seen. The latter is particularly interesting if it had negative parity because a confirmation of this state would be in contradiction with constituent quark models1,5. Both, the quark models using one-gluon exchange and the quark model using instantoninduced forces as short-range residual quark-quark interaction predict the three states ∆5/2- (1930), ∆3/2- (1940) and ∆1/2- (1900) at masses in the 2100 MeV region.

Quasi-hamiltonian quotients as disjoint unions of symplectic manifolds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schaffhauser, Florent

2007-08-01

The main result of this paper is Theorem 2.12 which says that the quotient μ-1({1})/U associated to a quasi-hamiltonian space (M, ω, μ: M → U) has a symplectic structure even when 1 is not a regular value of the momentum map μ. Namely, it is a disjoint union of symplectic manifolds of possibly different dimensions, which generalizes the result of Alekseev, Malkin and Meinrenken in [AMM98]. We illustrate this theorem with the example of representation spaces of surface groups. As an intermediary step, we give a new class of examples of quasi-hamiltonian spaces: the isotropy submanifold MK whose points are the points of M with isotropy group K ⊂ U. The notion of quasi-hamiltonian space was introduced by Alekseev, Malkin and Meinrenken in their paper [AMM98]. The main motivation for it was the existence, under some regularity assumptions, of a symplectic structure on the associated quasi-hamiltonian quotient. Throughout their paper, the analogy with usual hamiltonian spaces is often used as a guiding principle, replacing Lie-algebra-valued momentum maps with Lie-group-valued momentum maps. In the hamiltonian setting, when the usual regularity assumptions on the group action or the momentum map are dropped, Lerman and Sjamaar showed in [LS91] that the quotient associated to a hamiltonian space carries a stratified symplectic structure. In particular, this quotient space is a disjoint union of symplectic manifolds. In this paper, we prove an analogous result for quasi-hamiltonian quotients. More precisely, we show that for any quasi-hamiltonian space (M, ω, μ: M → U), the associated quotient M//U := μ-1({1})/U is a disjoint union of symplectic manifolds (Theorem 2.12): [ mu^{-1}(\\{1\\})/U = bigsqcup_{jin J} (mu^{-1}(\\{1\\})\\cap M_{K_j})/L_{K_j} . ] Here Kj denotes a closed subgroup of U and MKj denotes the isotropy submanifold of type Kj: MKj = {x ∈ M | Ux = Kj}. Finally, LKj is the quotient group LKj = { N}(Kj)/K_j, where { N}(Kj) is the normalizer of Kj in U. As an intermediary step in our study, we show that MKj is a quasi-hamiltonian space when endowed with the (free) action of LKj.

Collaborative Science Using Web Services and the SciFlo Grid Dataflow Engine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, B. D.; Manipon, G.; Xing, Z.; Yunck, T.

2006-12-01

The General Earth Science Investigation Suite (GENESIS) project is a NASA-sponsored partnership between the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, academia, and NASA data centers to develop a new suite of Web Services tools to facilitate multi-sensor investigations in Earth System Science. The goal of GENESIS is to enable large-scale, multi-instrument atmospheric science using combined datasets from the AIRS, MODIS, MISR, and GPS sensors. Investigations include cross-comparison of spaceborne climate sensors, cloud spectral analysis, study of upper troposphere-stratosphere water transport, study of the aerosol indirect cloud effect, and global climate model validation. The challenges are to bring together very large datasets, reformat and understand the individual instrument retrievals, co-register or re-grid the retrieved physical parameters, perform computationally-intensive data fusion and data mining operations, and accumulate complex statistics over months to years of data. To meet these challenges, we have developed a Grid computing and dataflow framework, named SciFlo, in which we are deploying a set of versatile and reusable operators for data access, subsetting, registration, mining, fusion, compression, and advanced statistical analysis. SciFlo leverages remote Web Services, called via Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) or REST (one-line) URLs, and the Grid Computing standards (WS-* &Globus Alliance toolkits), and enables scientists to do multi-instrument Earth Science by assembling reusable Web Services and native executables into a distributed computing flow (tree of operators). The SciFlo client &server engines optimize the execution of such distributed data flows and allow the user to transparently find and use datasets and operators without worrying about the actual location of the Grid resources. In particular, SciFlo exploits the wealth of datasets accessible by OpenGIS Consortium (OGC) Web Mapping Servers & Web Coverage Servers (WMS/WCS), and by Open Data Access Protocol (OpenDAP) servers. The scientist injects a distributed computation into the Grid by simply filling out an HTML form or directly authoring the underlying XML dataflow document, and results are returned directly to the scientist's desktop. Once an analysis has been specified for a chunk or day of data, it can be easily repeated with different control parameters or over months of data. Recently, the Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) Federation sponsored a collaborative activity in which several ESIP members advertised their respective WMS/WCS and SOAP services, developed some collaborative science scenarios for atmospheric and aerosol science, and then choreographed services from multiple groups into demonstration workflows using the SciFlo engine and a Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) workflow engine. For several scenarios, the same collaborative workflow was executed in three ways: using hand-coded scripts, by executing a SciFlo document, and by executing a BPEL workflow document. We will discuss the lessons learned from this activity, the need for standardized interfaces (like WMS/WCS), the difficulty in agreeing on even simple XML formats and interfaces, and further collaborations that are being pursued.

A novel pH-sensitive interferon-β (INF-β) oral delivery system for application in multiple sclerosis.

PubMed

Kondiah, Pierre P D; Tomar, Lomas K; Tyagi, Charu; Choonara, Yahya E; Modi, Girish; du Toit, Lisa C; Kumar, Pradeep; Pillay, Viness

2013-11-18

pH-sensitive microparticles were prepared using trimethyl-chitosan (TMC), poly(ethylene glycol)dimethacrylate (PEGDMA) and methacrylic acid (MAA) by free radical suspension polymerization, for the oral delivery of interferon-β (INF-β). The microparticles were subsequently compressed into a suitable oral tablet formulation. A Box-Behnken experimental design was employed for generating a series of formulations with varying concentrations of TMC (0.05-0.5 g/100 mL) and percentage crosslinker (polyethylene glycol diacrylate) (3-8%, w/w of monomers), for establishment of an optimized TMC-PEGDMA-MAA copolymeric microparticles. For pragmatism, insulin was initially employed as the model peptide for undertaking the preliminary experimentation and the optimized formulation was subsequently evaluated using INF-β. The prepared copolymeric microparticulate system was characterized for its morphological, porositometric and mucoadhesive properties. The optimized microparticles with 0.5 g/100 mL TMC and 3% crosslinker had an INF-β loading efficiency of 53.25%. The in vitro release of INF-β was recorded at 74% and 3% in intestinal (pH 6.8) and gastric (pH 1.2) pH from the oral tablet formulation, respectively. The tablet was further evaluated for plasma concentration of INF-β in the New Zealand White rabbit, and compared to a known subcutaneous formulation. The system showed an astounding effective release profile over 24h with higher INF-β plasma concentrations compared with the subcutaneous injection formulation. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Production of Fumonisin B(inf1) and Moniliformin by Gibberella fujikuroi from Rice from Various Geographic Areas

PubMed Central

Desjardins, A. E.; Plattner, R. D.; Nelson, P. E.

1997-01-01

Gibberella fujikuroi strains isolated from rice in the United States, Asia, and other geographic areas were tested for sexual fertility with members of mating population D and for production of fumonisin B(inf1) and moniliformin in culture. Of the 59 field strains tested, 32 (54%) were able to cross with tester strains of mating population D, but only a few ascospores were produced in most of these crosses. Thirty-four strains produced more than 10 (mu)g of fumonisin B(inf1) per g, but only three strains produced more than 1000 (mu)g/g. Twenty-five strains produced more than 100 (mu)g of moniliformin per g, and 15 produced more than 1,000 (mu)g/g. Seven field strains produced both fumonisin B(inf1) and moniliformin, but none of these strains produced a high level of fumonisin B(inf1) (>1,000 (mu)g/g). However, a genetic cross between a strain that produced fumonisin B(inf1) but no moniliformin and a strain that produced moniliformin but no fumonisin B(inf1) yielded progeny that produced high levels of both toxins. Strains of G. fujikuroi isolated from rice infected with bakanae disease are similar to strains of mating population D isolated from maize in their ability to produce both fumonisins and moniliformin. This finding suggests a potential for contamination of rice with both fumonisins and moniliformin. PMID:16535599

Preface: SciDAC 2008

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stevens, Rick

2008-07-01

The fourth annual Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing (SciDAC) Conference was held June 13-18, 2008, in Seattle, Washington. The SciDAC conference series is the premier communitywide venue for presentation of results from the DOE Office of Science's interdisciplinary computational science program. Started in 2001 and renewed in 2006, the DOE SciDAC program is the country's - and arguably the world's - most significant interdisciplinary research program supporting the development of advanced scientific computing methods and their application to fundamental and applied areas of science. SciDAC supports computational science across many disciplines, including astrophysics, biology, chemistry, fusion sciences, and nuclear physics. Moreover, the program actively encourages the creation of long-term partnerships among scientists focused on challenging problems and computer scientists and applied mathematicians developing the technology and tools needed to address those problems. The SciDAC program has played an increasingly important role in scientific research by allowing scientists to create more accurate models of complex processes, simulate problems once thought to be impossible, and analyze the growing amount of data generated by experiments. To help further the research community's ability to tap into the capabilities of current and future supercomputers, Under Secretary for Science, Raymond Orbach, launched the Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment (INCITE) program in 2003. The INCITE program was conceived specifically to seek out computationally intensive, large-scale research projects with the potential to significantly advance key areas in science and engineering. The program encourages proposals from universities, other research institutions, and industry. During the first two years of the INCITE program, 10 percent of the resources at NERSC were allocated to INCITE awardees. However, demand for supercomputing resources far exceeded available systems; and in 2003, the Office of Science identified increasing computing capability by a factor of 100 as the second priority on its Facilities of the Future list. The goal was to establish leadership-class computing resources to support open science. As a result of a peer reviewed competition, the first leadership computing facility was established at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 2004. A second leadership computing facility was established at Argonne National Laboratory in 2006. This expansion of computational resources led to a corresponding expansion of the INCITE program. In 2008, Argonne, Lawrence Berkeley, Oak Ridge, and Pacific Northwest national laboratories all provided resources for INCITE. By awarding large blocks of computer time on the DOE leadership computing facilities, the INCITE program enables the largest-scale computations to be pursued. In 2009, INCITE will award over half a billion node-hours of time. The SciDAC conference celebrates progress in advancing science through large-scale modeling and simulation. Over 350 participants attended this year's talks, poster sessions, and tutorials, spanning the disciplines supported by DOE. While the principal focus was on SciDAC accomplishments, this year's conference also included invited presentations and posters from DOE INCITE awardees. Another new feature in the SciDAC conference series was an electronic theater and video poster session, which provided an opportunity for the community to see over 50 scientific visualizations in a venue equipped with many high-resolution large-format displays. To highlight the growing international interest in petascale computing, this year's SciDAC conference included a keynote presentation by Herman Lederer from the Max Planck Institut, one of the leaders of DEISA (Distributed European Infrastructure for Supercomputing Applications) project and a member of the PRACE consortium, Europe's main petascale project. We also heard excellent talks from several European groups, including Laurent Gicquel of CERFACS, who spoke on `Large-Eddy Simulations of Turbulent Reacting Flows of Real Burners: Status and Challenges', and Jean-Francois Hamelin from EDF, who presented a talk on `Getting Ready for Petaflop Capacities and Beyond: A Utility Perspective'. Two other compelling addresses gave attendees a glimpse into the future. Tomas Diaz de la Rubia of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory spoke on a vision for a fusion/fission hybrid reactor known as the `LIFE Engine' and discussed some of the materials and modeling challenges that need to be overcome to realize the vision for a 1000-year greenhouse-gas-free power source. Dan Reed from Microsoft gave a capstone talk on the convergence of technology, architecture, and infrastructure for cloud computing, data-intensive computing, and exascale computing (1018 flops/sec). High-performance computing is making rapid strides. The SciDAC community's computational resources are expanding dramatically. In the summer of 2008 the first general purpose petascale system (IBM Cell-based RoadRunner at Los Alamos National Laboratory) was recognized in the top 500 list of fastest machines heralding in the dawning of the petascale era. The DOE's leadership computing facility at Argonne reached number three on the Top 500 and is at the moment the most capable open science machine based on an IBM BG/P system with a peak performance of over 550 teraflops/sec. Later this year Oak Ridge is expected to deploy a 1 petaflops/sec Cray XT system. And even before the scientific community has had an opportunity to make significant use of petascale systems, the computer science research community is forging ahead with ideas and strategies for development of systems that may by the end of the next decade sustain exascale performance. Several talks addressed barriers to, and strategies for, achieving exascale capabilities. The last day of the conference was devoted to tutorials hosted by Microsoft Research at a new conference facility in Redmond, Washington. Over 90 people attended the tutorials, which covered topics ranging from an introduction to BG/P programming to advanced numerical libraries. The SciDAC and INCITE programs and the DOE Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research core program investments in applied mathematics, computer science, and computational and networking facilities provide a nearly optimum framework for advancing computational science for DOE's Office of Science. At a broader level this framework also is benefiting the entire American scientific enterprise. As we look forward, it is clear that computational approaches will play an increasingly significant role in addressing challenging problems in basic science, energy, and environmental research. It takes many people to organize and support the SciDAC conference, and I would like to thank as many of them as possible. The backbone of the conference is the technical program; and the task of selecting, vetting, and recruiting speakers is the job of the organizing committee. I thank the members of this committee for all the hard work and the many tens of conference calls that enabled a wonderful program to be assembled. This year the following people served on the organizing committee: Jim Ahrens, LANL; David Bader, LLNL; Bryan Barnett, Microsoft; Peter Beckman, ANL; Vincent Chan, GA; Jackie Chen, SNL; Lori Diachin, LLNL; Dan Fay, Microsoft; Ian Foster, ANL; Mark Gordon, Ames; Mohammad Khaleel, PNNL; David Keyes, Columbia University; Bob Lucas, University of Southern California; Tony Mezzacappa, ORNL; Jeff Nichols, ORNL; David Nowak, ANL; Michael Papka, ANL; Thomas Schultess, ORNL; Horst Simon, LBNL; David Skinner, LBNL; Panagiotis Spentzouris, Fermilab; Bob Sugar, UCSB; and Kathy Yelick, LBNL. I owe a special thanks to Mike Papka and Jim Ahrens for handling the electronic theater. I also thank all those who submitted videos. It was a highly successful experiment. Behind the scenes an enormous amount of work is required to make a large conference go smoothly. First I thank Cheryl Zidel for her tireless efforts as organizing committee liaison and posters chair and, in general, handling all of my end of the program and keeping me calm. I also thank Gail Pieper for her work in editing the proceedings, Beth Cerny Patino for her work on the Organizing Committee website and electronic theater, and Ken Raffenetti for his work in keeping that website working. Jon Bashor and John Hules did an excellent job in handling conference communications. I thank Caitlin Youngquist for the striking graphic design; Dan Fay for tutorials arrangements; and Lynn Dory, Suzanne Stevenson, Sarah Pebelske and Sarah Zidel for on-site registration and conference support. We all owe Yeen Mankin an extra-special thanks for choosing the hotel, handling contracts, arranging menus, securing venues, and reassuring the chair that everything was under control. We are pleased to have obtained corporate sponsorship from Cray, IBM, Intel, HP, and SiCortex. I thank all the speakers and panel presenters. I also thank the former conference chairs Tony Metzzacappa, Bill Tang, and David Keyes, who were never far away for advice and encouragement. Finally, I offer my thanks to Michael Strayer, without whose leadership, vision, and persistence the SciDAC program would not have come into being and flourished. I am honored to be part of his program and his friend. Rick Stevens Seattle, Washington July 18, 2008

The INF Treaty: Past, present, and future

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

Garrity, P.J.

1988-02-01

This informal paper is intended to provide information to the Los Alamos National Laboratory staff about the recently-signed INF Treaty (formally, the ''Treaty between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Elimination of Their Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles''). It consists of (a) historical background concerning the US/NATO objectives in deploying and negotiating over INF systems; (b) a synopsis of the treaty's provisions with a brief commentary; (c) discussion of the possible impact of the treaty on future American and alliance security policy; and (d) an appendix which contains a summary chronology of eventsmore » relative to INF from 1979 to 1987.« less

Effect of Echinostoma friedi (Trematoda: Echinostomatidae) experimental infection on longevity, growth and fecundity of juvenile Radix peregra (Gastropoda: Lymnaeidae) and Biomphalaria glabrata (Gastropoda: Planorbidae) snails.

PubMed

Muñoz-Antoli, Carla; Marín, Antoni; Toledo, Rafael; Esteban, José-Guillermo

2007-11-01

The effect of Echinostoma friedi experimental infection on longevity, growth and fecundity of two susceptible first intermediate host snails, Radix peregra and Biomphalaria glabrata, was studied to contrast the level of compatibility. 120 R. peregra and 150 B. glabrata snails were used exposed to one, three or five miracidia and divided in three categories: INF (snails exposed and infected); ENI (exposed but not infected) and C (control or not miracidial-exposed snails). R. peregra INF snails' death process starts sooner, but in a prolonged extension, while B. glabrata INF snails have a much shorter life span. The infection and the miracidial exposure are able to reduce R. peregra normal development (stunting). B. glabrata INF snails' growth exceeds that of C snails (gigantism). E. friedi produces a total parasitic castration of R. peregra and B. glabrata INF snails. R. peregra would be considered as the required snail host, while B. glabrata only as an adequate snail host.

INF-γ sensitizes head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cells to chemotherapy-induced apoptosis and necroptosis through up-regulation of Egr-1.

PubMed

Xu, Bei; Shu, Yongqian; Liu, Peng

2014-11-01

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most common cancer worldwide. Acquired resistance to standard chemotherapy accounts for most of treatment failure. Here we demonstrate that Interferon-γ (INF-γ) may up-regulate Egr-1 gene expression in HNSCC cell line SCC-25. Forced expression of Egr-1 sensitizes SCC-25 cells to chemotherapy-induced apoptosis and necroptosis, a novel form of programmed cell death. Egr-1 up-regulation also significantly increases the production of Thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1), a matricellular glycoprotein which has been described to induce cell death in HNSCC. Moreover, INF-γ-induced sensitization of cells to chemotherapy-mediated cell death and TSP-1 production could be markedly abolished by Egr-1 silencing. The present investigation provides the first evidence that INF-γ may sensitize HNSCC cells to chemotherapy-induced apoptosis and necroptosis through up-regulation of Egr-1. These data support the combination use of INF-γ and cytotoxic drugs for HNSCC Therapy.

Russian Compliance with the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty: Background and Issues for Congress

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-01-27

Russian Compliance with the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty: Background and Issues for Congress Amy F. Woolf Specialist in... Nuclear Weapons Policy January 27, 2017 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov R43832 Russian Compliance with the Intermediate Range... Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty Congressional Research Service Summary The United States and Soviet Union signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces

Risk of isolated nodal failure for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with the elective nodal irradiation (ENI) using 3D-conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) techniques--a retrospective analysis.

PubMed

Kepka, Lucyna; Bujko, Krzysztof; Zolciak-Siwinska, Agnieszka

2008-01-01

To estimate retrospectively the rate of isolated nodal failures (INF) in NSCLC patients treated with the elective nodal irradiation (ENI) using 3D-conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT). One hundred and eighty-five patients with I-IIIB stage treated with 3D-CRT in consecutive clinical trials differing in an extent of the ENI were analyzed. According to the extent of the ENI, two groups were distinguished: extended (n = 124) and limited (n = 61) ENI. INF was defined as regional nodal failure occurring without local progression. Cumulative Incidence of INF (CIINF) was evaluated by univariate and multivariate analysis with regard to prognostic factors. With a median follow up of 30 months, the two-year actuarial overall survival was 35%. The two-year CIINF rate was 12%. There were 16 (9%) INF, eight (6%) for extended and eight (13%) for limited ENI. In the univariate analysis bulky mediastinal disease (BMD), left side, higher N stage, and partial response to RT had a significant negative impact on the CIINF. BMD was the only independent predictor of the risk of incidence of the INF (p = 0.001). INF is more likely to occur in case of more advanced nodal status.

Immune-stimulatory and anti-inflammatory activities of Curcuma longa extract and its polysaccharide fraction

PubMed Central

Chandrasekaran, Chinampudur V.; Sundarajan, Kannan; Edwin, Jothie R.; Gururaja, Giligar M.; Mundkinajeddu, Deepak; Agarwal, Amit

2013-01-01

Background: While curcuminoids have been reported to possess diverse biological activities, the anti-inflammatory activity of polar extracts (devoid of curcuminoids) of Curcuma longa (C. longa) has seldom been studied. In this study, we have investigated immune-stimulatory and anti-inflammatory activities of an aqueous based extract of C. longa (NR-INF-02) and its fractions in presence and absence of mitogens. Materials and Methods: Effects of NR-INF-02 (Turmacin™, Natural Remedies Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore, India) on proliferation, nitric oxide (NO), monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1), interleukins (ILs) and prostaglandin (PGE2) levels of mouse splenocytes and mouse macrophage (RAW264.7) cells were determined. Results: NR-INF-02 increased splenocytes number in presence and absence of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or concanavalin A. Treatment of NR-INF-02 showed a significant increase of NO, IL-2, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, interferon (IFN) gamma, tumor necrosis factor (TNF) alpha and MCP-1 production in unstimulated mouse splenocytes and mouse macrophages. Interestingly, NR-INF-02 showed potent inhibitory effect towards release of PGE2 and IL-12 levels in LPS stimulated mouse splenocytes. Further, NR-INF-02 was fractionated into polysaccharide fraction (F1) and mother liquor (F2) to study their immune-modulatory effects. F1 was found to be more potent than F2 toward inhibiting PGE2 and IL-12 in LPS stimulated splenocytes. Conclusion: Present findings revealed the novel anti-inflammatory property of NR-INF-02 and its polysaccharide fraction by inhibiting the secretion of IL-12 and PGE2 in vitro. PMID:23798880

Area under the curve predictions of dalbavancin, a new lipoglycopeptide agent, using the end of intravenous infusion concentration data point by regression analyses such as linear, log-linear and power models.

PubMed

Bhamidipati, Ravi Kanth; Syed, Muzeeb; Mullangi, Ramesh; Srinivas, Nuggehally

2018-02-01

1. Dalbavancin, a lipoglycopeptide, is approved for treating gram-positive bacterial infections. Area under plasma concentration versus time curve (AUC inf ) of dalbavancin is a key parameter and AUC inf /MIC ratio is a critical pharmacodynamic marker. 2. Using end of intravenous infusion concentration (i.e. C max ) C max versus AUC inf relationship for dalbavancin was established by regression analyses (i.e. linear, log-log, log-linear and power models) using 21 pairs of subject data. 3. The predictions of the AUC inf were performed using published C max data by application of regression equations. The quotient of observed/predicted values rendered fold difference. The mean absolute error (MAE)/root mean square error (RMSE) and correlation coefficient (r) were used in the assessment. 4. MAE and RMSE values for the various models were comparable. The C max versus AUC inf exhibited excellent correlation (r > 0.9488). The internal data evaluation showed narrow confinement (0.84-1.14-fold difference) with a RMSE < 10.3%. The external data evaluation showed that the models predicted AUC inf with a RMSE of 3.02-27.46% with fold difference largely contained within 0.64-1.48. 5. Regardless of the regression models, a single time point strategy of using C max (i.e. end of 30-min infusion) is amenable as a prospective tool for predicting AUC inf of dalbavancin in patients.

Differential interactions of the formins INF2, mDia1, and mDia2 with microtubules

PubMed Central

Gaillard, Jeremie; Ramabhadran, Vinay; Neumanne, Emmanuelle; Gurel, Pinar; Blanchoin, Laurent; Vantard, Marylin; Higgs, Henry N.

2011-01-01

A number of cellular processes use both microtubules and actin filaments, but the molecular machinery linking these two cytoskeletal elements remains to be elucidated in detail. Formins are actin-binding proteins that have multiple effects on actin dynamics, and one formin, mDia2, has been shown to bind and stabilize microtubules through its formin homology 2 (FH2) domain. Here we show that three formins, INF2, mDia1, and mDia2, display important differences in their interactions with microtubules and actin. Constructs containing FH1, FH2, and C-terminal domains of all three formins bind microtubules with high affinity (Kd < 100 nM). However, only mDia2 binds microtubules at 1:1 stoichiometry, with INF2 and mDia1 showing saturating binding at approximately 1:3 (formin dimer:tubulin dimer). INF2-FH1FH2C is a potent microtubule-bundling protein, an effect that results in a large reduction in catastrophe rate. In contrast, neither mDia1 nor mDia2 is a potent microtubule bundler. The C-termini of mDia2 and INF2 have different functions in microtubule interaction, with mDia2's C-terminus required for high-affinity binding and INF2's C-terminus required for bundling. mDia2's C-terminus directly binds microtubules with submicromolar affinity. These formins also differ in their abilities to bind actin and microtubules simultaneously. Microtubules strongly inhibit actin polymerization by mDia2, whereas they moderately inhibit mDia1 and have no effect on INF2. Conversely, actin monomers inhibit microtubule binding/bundling by INF2 but do not affect mDia1 or mDia2. These differences in interactions with microtubules and actin suggest differential function in cellular processes requiring both cytoskeletal elements. PMID:21998204

DAPk1 inhibits NF-κB activation through TNF-α and INF-γ-induced apoptosis.

PubMed

Yoo, Heon Jong; Byun, Hyun-Jung; Kim, Boh-Ram; Lee, Ki Hwan; Park, Sang-Yoon; Rho, Seung Bae

2012-07-01

Recent studies have shown DAPk as a molecular modulator induced by the second messenger, responsible for controlling cell destiny decisions, but the detailed mechanism mediating the role of DAPk1 during cell death is still not fully understood. In this present report, we attempted to characterize the effects of TNF-α and INF-γ on DAPk1 in human ovarian carcinoma cell lines, OVCAR-3. Both TNF-α and INF-γ significantly induce DAPk1 levels in a time-dependent manner. At the same time, they both arrested cell cycle progression in the G(0)-G(1) and G2/M phase, down-regulated cyclin D1, CDK4 and NF-κB expression, while also up-regulating p27 and p16 expression. Subsequently, the efficacy of the combined treatment with DAPk1 was investigated. In the presence of DAPk1, TNF-α or INF-γ-induced apoptosis was additively increased, while TNF-α or INF-γ-induced NF-κB activity was inhibited. Conversely, TNF-α or INF-γ-dependent NF-κB activity was further enhanced by the inhibition of DAPk1 with its specific siRNA. The activity of NF-κB was dependent on the level of DAPk1, indicating the requirement of DAPk1 for the activation of NF-κB. Low levels of DAPk1 expression were frequently observed in different human patient's tissue and cancer cell lines compared to normal samples. In addition, over-expression of DAPk1 from either TNF-α or INF-γ-treatment cells suppressed the anti-apoptosis protein XIAP as well as COX-2 and ICAM-1, more than control. Taken together, our data findings suggest that DAPk1 can mediate the pro-apoptotic activity of TNF-α and INF-γ via the NF-κB signaling pathways. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Assembling Large, Multi-Sensor Climate Datasets Using the SciFlo Grid Workflow System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, B. D.; Manipon, G.; Xing, Z.; Fetzer, E.

2008-12-01

NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) is the world's most ambitious facility for studying global climate change. The mandate now is to combine measurements from the instruments on the A-Train platforms (AIRS, AMSR-E, MODIS, MISR, MLS, and CloudSat) and other Earth probes to enable large-scale studies of climate change over periods of years to decades. However, moving from predominantly single-instrument studies to a multi-sensor, measurement-based model for long-duration analysis of important climate variables presents serious challenges for large-scale data mining and data fusion. For example, one might want to compare temperature and water vapor retrievals from one instrument (AIRS) to another instrument (MODIS), and to a model (ECMWF), stratify the comparisons using a classification of the cloud scenes from CloudSat, and repeat the entire analysis over years of AIRS data. To perform such an analysis, one must discover & access multiple datasets from remote sites, find the space/time matchups between instruments swaths and model grids, understand the quality flags and uncertainties for retrieved physical variables, and assemble merged datasets for further scientific and statistical analysis. To meet these large-scale challenges, we are utilizing a Grid computing and dataflow framework, named SciFlo, in which we are deploying a set of versatile and reusable operators for data query, access, subsetting, co-registration, mining, fusion, and advanced statistical analysis. SciFlo is a semantically-enabled ("smart") Grid Workflow system that ties together a peer-to-peer network of computers into an efficient engine for distributed computation. The SciFlo workflow engine enables scientists to do multi-instrument Earth Science by assembling remotely-invokable Web Services (SOAP or http GET URLs), native executables, command-line scripts, and Python codes into a distributed computing flow. A scientist visually authors the graph of operation in the VizFlow GUI, or uses a text editor to modify the simple XML workflow documents. The SciFlo client & server engines optimize the execution of such distributed workflows and allow the user to transparently find and use datasets and operators without worrying about the actual location of the Grid resources. The engine transparently moves data to the operators, and moves operators to the data (on the dozen trusted SciFlo nodes). SciFlo also deploys a variety of Data Grid services to: query datasets in space and time, locate & retrieve on-line data granules, provide on-the-fly variable and spatial subsetting, and perform pairwise instrument matchups for A-Train datasets. These services are combined into efficient workflows to assemble the desired large-scale, merged climate datasets. SciFlo is currently being applied in several large climate studies: comparisons of aerosol optical depth between MODIS, MISR, AERONET ground network, and U. Michigan's IMPACT aerosol transport model; characterization of long-term biases in microwave and infrared instruments (AIRS, MLS) by comparisons to GPS temperature retrievals accurate to 0.1 degrees Kelvin; and construction of a decade-long, multi-sensor water vapor climatology stratified by classified cloud scene by bringing together datasets from AIRS/AMSU, AMSR-E, MLS, MODIS, and CloudSat (NASA MEASUREs grant, Fetzer PI). The presentation will discuss the SciFlo technologies, their application in these distributed workflows, and the many challenges encountered in assembling and analyzing these massive datasets.

SciFlo: Semantically-Enabled Grid Workflow for Collaborative Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yunck, T.; Wilson, B. D.; Raskin, R.; Manipon, G.

2005-12-01

SciFlo is a system for Scientific Knowledge Creation on the Grid using a Semantically-Enabled Dataflow Execution Environment. SciFlo leverages Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) Web Services and the Grid Computing standards (WS-* standards and the Globus Alliance toolkits), and enables scientists to do multi-instrument Earth Science by assembling reusable SOAP Services, native executables, local command-line scripts, and python codes into a distributed computing flow (a graph of operators). SciFlo's XML dataflow documents can be a mixture of concrete operators (fully bound operations) and abstract template operators (late binding via semantic lookup). All data objects and operators can be both simply typed (simple and complex types in XML schema) and semantically typed using controlled vocabularies (linked to OWL ontologies such as SWEET). By exploiting ontology-enhanced search and inference, one can discover (and automatically invoke) Web Services and operators that have been semantically labeled as performing the desired transformation, and adapt a particular invocation to the proper interface (number, types, and meaning of inputs and outputs). The SciFlo client & server engines optimize the execution of such distributed data flows and allow the user to transparently find and use datasets and operators without worrying about the actual location of the Grid resources. The scientist injects a distributed computation into the Grid by simply filling out an HTML form or directly authoring the underlying XML dataflow document, and results are returned directly to the scientist's desktop. A Visual Programming tool is also being developed, but it is not required. Once an analysis has been specified for a granule or day of data, it can be easily repeated with different control parameters and over months or years of data. SciFlo uses and preserves semantics, and also generates and infers new semantic annotations. Specifically, the SciFlo engine uses semantic metadata to understand (infer) what it is doing and potentially improve the data flow; preserves semantics by saving links to the semantics of (metadata describing) the input datasets, related datasets, and the data transformations (algorithms) used to generate downstream products; generates new metadata by allowing the user to add semantic annotations to the generated data products (or simply accept automatically generated provenance annotations); and infers new semantic metadata by understanding and applying logic to the semantics of the data and the transformations performed. Much ontology development still needs to be done but, nevertheless, SciFlo documents provide a substrate for using and preserving more semantics as ontologies develop. We will give a live demonstration of the growing SciFlo network using an example dataflow in which atmospheric temperature and water vapor profiles from three Earth Observing System (EOS) instruments are retrieved using SOAP (geo-location query & data access) services, co-registered, and visually & statistically compared on demand (see http://sciflo.jpl.nasa.gov for more information).

Peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography: Measurement Sensitivity in Persons With and Without Spinal Cord Injury

PubMed Central

Shields, Richard K.; Dudley-Javoroski, Shauna; Boaldin, Kathryn M.; Corey, Trent A.; Fog, Daniel B.; Ruen, Jacquelyn M.

2012-01-01

Objectives To determine (1) the error attributable to external tibia-length measurements by using peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) and (2) the effect these errors have on scan location and tibia trabecular bone mineral density (BMD) after spinal cord injury (SCI). Design Blinded comparison and criterion standard in matched cohorts. Setting Primary care university hospital. Participants Eight able-bodied subjects underwent tibia length measurement. A separate cohort of 7 men with SCI and 7 able-bodied age-matched male controls underwent pQCT analysis. Interventions Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures The projected worst-case tibia-length–measurement error translated into a pQCT slice placement error of ±3mm. We collected pQCT slices at the distal 4% tibia site, 3mm proximal and 3mm distal to that site, and then quantified BMD error attributable to slice placement. Results Absolute BMD error was greater for able-bodied than for SCI subjects (5.87mg/cm3 vs 4.5mg/cm3). However, the percentage error in BMD was larger for SCI than able-bodied subjects (4.56% vs 2.23%). Conclusions During cross-sectional studies of various populations, BMD differences up to 5% may be attributable to variation in limb-length–measurement error. PMID:17023249

Hyperon-Nucleon Interaction and Strangeness Production in PP Collisions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haidenbauer, J.

2002-09-01

A new model for the hyperon-nucleon (ΛN, ΣN) interaction is presented. The model incorporates the standard one-boson exchange contributions of the lowest pseudoscalar and vector meson multiplets with coupling constants fixed by SU(6) symmetry relations. As the main feature of the new model, the exchange of two correlated pions or kaons, both in the scalar-isoscalar (σ) and vector-isovector (ρ) channels, is included. Furthermore, results of a model calculation for the reactions pp → NΛK and pp → NΣK near their thresholds are reported. Special attention is paid to the cross section ratio σpp→pΛK+/σpp→pΣ0K+ which was found to be unexpectedly large in recent experiments.

W + Jet Production at Cdf

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Messina, Andrea

2007-01-01

The cross section for the inclusive production of W bosons in association with jets in pbar {p} collisions at √ {s} = 1.96\\ TeV using the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF II) is presented. The measurement is based on an integrated luminosity of 320 pb-1, and includes events with up to 4 or more jets. In each jet multiplicity sample the differential and cumulative cross sections with respect to the transverse energy of the ith-jet are measured. For W + ≥ 2 jets the differential cross section with respect to the 2-leading jets invariant mass mj1j2 and angular separation ΔRj1j2 is also reported. The data are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo simulations.

Open Quantum Systems and Classical Trajectories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rebolledo, Rolando

2004-09-01

A Quantum Markov Semigroup consists of a family { T} = ({ T}t)_{t ∈ B R+} of normal ω*- continuous completely positive maps on a von Neumann algebra 𝔐 which preserve the unit and satisfy the semigroup property. This class of semigroups has been extensively used to represent open quantum systems. This article is aimed at studying the existence of a { T} -invariant abelian subalgebra 𝔄 of 𝔐. When this happens, the restriction of { T}t to 𝔄 defines a classical Markov semigroup T = (Tt)t ∈ ∝ + say, associated to a classical Markov process X = (Xt)t ∈ ∝ +. The structure (𝔄, T, X) unravels the quantum Markov semigroup { T} , providing a bridge between open quantum systems and classical stochastic processes.

On the Energy of the Minimizers of the Ginzburg-Landau Functional for Exterior Magnetic Fields Between HC2 and HC3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Helffer, Bernard

2011-04-01

Superconductivity for Type II superconductors in external magnetic fields of magnitude between the second and third critical fields is known to be restricted to a narrow boundary region. The profile of the superconducting order parameter in the Ginzburg-Landau model is expected to be governed by an effective one-dimensional model. This is known to be the case for external magnetic fields sufficiently close to the third critical field. In this text we announce such a result on a larger interval of validity. These results have been obtained in collaboration with Soeren Fournais and Mikael Persson and the complete proofs will appear elsewhere.

The Effect of Electroencephalogram (EEG) Reference Choice on Information-Theoretic Measures of the Complexity and Integration of EEG Signals

PubMed Central

Trujillo, Logan T.; Stanfield, Candice T.; Vela, Ruben D.

2017-01-01

Converging evidence suggests that human cognition and behavior emerge from functional brain networks interacting on local and global scales. We investigated two information-theoretic measures of functional brain segregation and integration—interaction complexity CI(X), and integration I(X)—as applied to electroencephalographic (EEG) signals and how these measures are affected by choice of EEG reference. CI(X) is a statistical measure of the system entropy accounted for by interactions among its elements, whereas I(X) indexes the overall deviation from statistical independence of the individual elements of a system. We recorded 72 channels of scalp EEG from human participants who sat in a wakeful resting state (interleaved counterbalanced eyes-open and eyes-closed blocks). CI(X) and I(X) of the EEG signals were computed using four different EEG references: linked-mastoids (LM) reference, average (AVG) reference, a Laplacian (LAP) “reference-free” transformation, and an infinity (INF) reference estimated via the Reference Electrode Standardization Technique (REST). Fourier-based power spectral density (PSD), a standard measure of resting state activity, was computed for comparison and as a check of data integrity and quality. We also performed dipole source modeling in order to assess the accuracy of neural source CI(X) and I(X) estimates obtained from scalp-level EEG signals. CI(X) was largest for the LAP transformation, smallest for the LM reference, and at intermediate values for the AVG and INF references. I(X) was smallest for the LAP transformation, largest for the LM reference, and at intermediate values for the AVG and INF references. Furthermore, across all references, CI(X) and I(X) reliably distinguished between resting-state conditions (larger values for eyes-open vs. eyes-closed). These findings occurred in the context of the overall expected pattern of resting state PSD. Dipole modeling showed that simulated scalp EEG-level CI(X) and I(X) reflected changes in underlying neural source dependencies, but only for higher levels of integration and with highest accuracy for the LAP transformation. Our observations suggest that the Laplacian-transformation should be preferred for the computation of scalp-level CI(X) and I(X) due to its positive impact on EEG signal quality and statistics, reduction of volume-conduction, and the higher accuracy this provides when estimating scalp-level EEG complexity and integration. PMID:28790884

CONSORT: Effects of adding adefovirdipivoxil to peginterferon alfa-2a at different time points on HBeAg-positivepatients: A prospective, randomized study.

PubMed

Zhang, Ka; Cao, Hong; Liang, Jiayi; Shu, Xin; Sun, Haixia; Li, Gang; Xu, Qihuan

2016-08-01

The aims of this study were to compare the efficacy and safety of the addition of adefovir dipivoxil (ADV) (started at different time points) to pegylated interferon alpha-2a (PEG-INF-α2a) and PEG-INF-α2a monotherapy. This prospective, randomized study sought to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the combination of PEG-INF-α2a and ADV at different time points.120 patients were randomized into groups that received PEG-INF-α2a as monotherapy (group A) or in combination with ADV started at week 0 (group B), 12 (group C), or 24 (group D). All patients were followed for 48 weeks. Efficacy and safety analyses were performed. Patients in group a received 135 μg of PEG-INF-α2a by subcutaneous injection once weekly for 48 weeks. Patients in the ADV add-on group received 135 μg of PEG-INF-α2a subcutaneously once weekly and received 10 mg of ADV administered once daily for 48 weeks. HBV DNA, HBsAg, HBeAg, and hepatitis B e antibody levels were determined. Responses were determined at week 12 (ADV add-on), the end of treatment for PEG-INF-α2a (48weeks) and ADV (EOT) and at the end of 96 weeks of follow-up (EOF). The rate of HBV DNA loss were higher in the combination groups than group A at the week 12, week 48, the EOT and EOF (P < 0.05). The rates of HBeAg seroconversion and HBsAg loss were similar among the treatment groups (P>0.05). The alanineaminotransferase (ALT) normalization rate was higher in the combination group than group A only at the EOT (P = 0.007). By the EOF, the patients with ADV added at week 12 achieved higher rates of HBV DNA loss (71.9%), HBeAg seroconversion (50.0%), HBsAg loss (15.6%), and ALT normalization (78.1%). PEG-INF-α2a plus ADV combination therapy is safe and superior to PEG-INF-α2amonotherapyfor decreasing serum HBV DNA and normalizing the ALT level but has no significant impact on the rate of HBeAg seroconversion and HBsAg loss. Adding ADV at week 12 may be an optimal combination strategy.

Methods of editing cloud and atmospheric layer affected pixels from satellite data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nixon, P. R. (Principal Investigator); Wiegand, C. L.; Richardson, A. J.; Johnson, M. P.

1982-01-01

Practical methods of computer screening cloud-contaminated pixels from data of various satellite systems are proposed. Examples are given of the location of clouds and representative landscape features in HCMM spectral space of reflectance (VIS) vs emission (IR). Methods of screening out cloud affected HCMM are discussed. The character of subvisible absorbing-emitting atmospheric layers (subvisible cirrus or SCi) in HCMM data is considered and radiosonde soundings are examined in relation to the presence of SCi. The statistical characteristics of multispectral meteorological satellite data in clear and SCi affected areas are discussed. Examples in TIROS-N and NOAA-7 data from several states and Mexico are presented. The VIS-IR cluster screening method for removing clouds is applied to a 262, 144 pixel HCMM scene from south Texas and northeast Mexico. The SCi that remain after cluster screening are sited out by applying a statistically determined IR limit.

Opening Comments: SciDAC 2009

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strayer, Michael

2009-07-01

Welcome to San Diego and the 2009 SciDAC conference. Over the next four days, I would like to present an assessment of the SciDAC program. We will look at where we've been, how we got to where we are and where we are going in the future. Our vision is to be first in computational science, to be best in class in modeling and simulation. When Ray Orbach asked me what I would do, in my job interview for the SciDAC Director position, I said we would achieve that vision. And with our collective dedicated efforts, we have managed to achieve this vision. In the last year, we have now the most powerful supercomputer for open science, Jaguar, the Cray XT system at the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF). We also have NERSC, probably the best-in-the-world program for productivity in science that the Office of Science so depends on. And the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility offers architectural diversity with its IBM Blue Gene/P system as a counterbalance to Oak Ridge. There is also ESnet, which is often understated—the 40 gigabit per second dual backbone ring that connects all the labs and many DOE sites. In the President's Recovery Act funding, there is exciting news that ESnet is going to build out to a 100 gigabit per second network using new optical technologies. This is very exciting news for simulations and large-scale scientific facilities. But as one noted SciDAC luminary said, it's not all about the computers—it's also about the science—and we are also achieving our vision in this area. Together with having the fastest supercomputer for science, at the SC08 conference, SciDAC researchers won two ACM Gordon Bell Prizes for the outstanding performance of their applications. The DCA++ code, which solves some very interesting problems in materials, achieved a sustained performance of 1.3 petaflops, an astounding result and a mark I suspect will last for some time. The LS3DF application for studying nanomaterials also required the development of a new and novel algorithm to produce results up to 400 times faster than a similar application, and was recognized with a prize for algorithm innovation—a remarkable achievement. Day one of our conference will include examples of petascale science enabled at the OLCF. Although Jaguar has not been officially commissioned, it has gone through its acceptance tests, and during its shakedown phase there have been pioneer applications used for the acceptance tests, and they are running at scale. These include applications in the areas of astrophysics, biology, chemistry, combustion, fusion, geosciences, materials science, nuclear energy and nuclear physics. We also have a whole compendium of science we do at our facilities; these have been documented and reviewed at our last SciDAC conference. Many of these were highlighted in our Breakthroughs Report. One session at this week's conference will feature a cross-section of these breakthroughs. In the area of scalable electromagnetic simulations, the Auxiliary-space Maxwell Solver (AMS) uses specialized finite element discretizations and multigrid-based techniques, which decompose the original problem into easier-to-solve subproblems. Congratulations to the mathematicians on this. Another application on the list of breakthroughs was the authentication of PETSc, which provides scalable solvers used in many DOE applications and has solved problems with over 3 billion unknowns and scaled to over 16,000 processors on DOE leadership-class computers. This is becoming a very versatile and useful toolkit to achieve performance at scale. With the announcement of SIAM's first class of Fellows, we are remarkably well represented. Of the group of 191, more than 40 of these Fellows are in the 'DOE space.' We are so delighted that SIAM has recognized them for their many achievements. In the coming months, we will illustrate our leadership in applied math and computer science by looking at our contributions in the areas of programming models, development and performance tools, math libraries, system software, collaboration, and visualization and data analytics. This is a large and diverse list of libraries. We have asked for two panels, one chaired by David Keyes and composed of many of the nation's leading mathematicians, to produce a report on the most significant accomplishments in applied mathematics over the last eight years, taking us back to the start of the SciDAC program. In addition, we have a similar panel in computer science to be chaired by Kathy Yelick. They are going to identify the computer science accomplishments of the past eight years. These accomplishments are difficult to get a handle on, and I'm looking forward to this report. We will also have a follow-on to our report on breakthroughs in computational science and this will also go back eight years, looking at the many accomplishments under the SciDAC and INCITE programs. This will be chaired by Tony Mezzacappa. So, where are we going in the SciDAC program? It might help to take a look at computational science and how it got started. I go back to Ken Wilson, who made the model and has written on computational science and computational science education. His model was thus: The computational scientist plays the role of the experimentalist, and the math and CS researchers play the role of theorists, and the computers themselves are the experimental apparatus. And that in simulation science, we are carrying out numerical experiments as to the nature of physical and biological sciences. Peter Lax, in the same time frame, developed a report on large-scale computing in science and engineering. Peter remarked, 'Perhaps the most important applications of scientific computing come not in the solution of old problems, but in the discovery of new phenomena through numerical experimentation.' And in the early years, I think the person who provided the most guidance, the most innovation and the most vision for where the future might lie was Ed Oliver. Ed Oliver died last year. Ed did a number of things in science. He had this personality where he knew exactly what to do, but he preferred to stay out of the limelight so that others could enjoy the fruits of his vision. We in the SciDAC program and ASCR Facilities are still enjoying the benefits of his vision. We will miss him. Twenty years after Ken Wilson, Ray Orbach laid out the fundamental premise for SciDAC in an interview that appeared in SciDAC Review: 'SciDAC is unique in the world. There isn't any other program like it anywhere else, and it has the remarkable ability to do science by bringing together physical scientists, mathematicians, applied mathematicians, and computer scientists who recognize that computation is not something you do at the end, but rather it needs to be built into the solution of the very problem that one is addressing. ' As you look at the Lax report from 1982, it talks about how 'Future significant improvements may have to come from architectures embodying parallel processing elements—perhaps several thousands of processors.' And it continues, 'esearch in languages, algorithms and numerical analysis will be crucial in learning to exploit these new architectures fully.' In the early '90s, Sterling, Messina and Smith developed a workshop report on petascale computing and concluded, 'A petaflops computer system will be feasible in two decades, or less, and rely in part on the continual advancement of the semiconductor industry both in speed enhancement and cost reduction through improved fabrication processes.' So they were not wrong, and today we are embarking on a forward look that is at a different scale, the exascale, going to 1018 flops. In 2007, Stevens, Simon and Zacharia chaired a series of town hall meetings looking at exascale computing, and in their report wrote, 'Exascale computer systems are expected to be technologically feasible within the next 15 years, or perhaps sooner. These systems will push the envelope in a number of important technologies: processor architecture, scale of multicore integration, power management and packaging.' The concept of computing on the Jaguar computer involves hundreds of thousands of cores, as do the IBM systems that are currently out there. So the scale of computing with systems with billions of processors is staggering to me, and I don't know how the software and math folks feel about it. We have now embarked on a road toward extreme scale computing. We have created a series of town hall meetings and we are now in the process of holding workshops that address what I call within the DOE speak 'the mission need,' or what is the scientific justification for computing at that scale. We are going to have a total of 13 workshops. The workshops on climate, high energy physics, nuclear physics, fusion, and nuclear energy have been held. The report from the workshop on climate is actually out and available, and the other reports are being completed. The upcoming workshops are on biology, materials, and chemistry; and workshops that engage science for nuclear security are a partnership between NNSA and ASCR. There are additional workshops on applied math, computer science, and architecture that are needed for computing at the exascale. These extreme scale workshops will provide the foundation in our office, the Office of Science, the NNSA and DOE, and we will engage the National Science Foundation and the Department of Defense as partners. We envision a 10-year program for an exascale initiative. It will be an integrated R&D program initially—you can think about five years for research and development—that would be in hardware, operating systems, file systems, networking and so on, as well as software for applications. Application software and the operating system and the hardware all need to be bundled in this period so that at the end the system will execute the science applications at scale. We also believe that this process will have to have considerable investment from the manufacturers and vendors to be successful. We have formed laboratory, university and industry working groups to start this process and formed a panel to look at where SciDAC needs to go to compute at the extreme scale, and we have formed an executive committee within the Office of Science and the NNSA to focus on these activities. We will have outreach to DoD in the next few months. We are anticipating a solicitation within the next two years in which we will compete this bundled R&D process. We don't know how we will incorporate SciDAC into extreme scale computing, but we do know there will be many challenges. And as we have shown over the years, we have the expertise and determination to surmount these challenges.

Selective Vulnerability of Cortical Border Zone to Microembolic Infarct.

PubMed

Bergui, Mauro; Castagno, Davide; D'Agata, Federico; Cicerale, Alessandro; Anselmino, Matteo; Maria Ferrio, Federica; Giustetto, Carla; Halimi, Franck; Scaglione, Marco; Gaita, Fiorenzo

2015-07-01

Endovascular procedures, including atrial fibrillation transcatheter ablation, may cause microembolization of brain arteries. Microemboli often cause small sized and clinically silent cerebral ischemias (SCI). These lesions are clearly visible on early postoperative magnetic resonance diffusion-weighted images. We analyzed SCI distribution in a population of patients submitted to atrial fibrillation transcatheter ablation. Seventy-eight of 927 consecutive patients submitted to atrial fibrillation transcatheter ablation were found positive for acute SCI on a postoperative magnetic resonance. SCI were identified and marked, and their coordinates were transformed from native space into the International Consortium for Brain Mapping/Montreal Neurological Institute space. We then computed the voxel-wise probability distribution map of the SCI using the activation likelihood estimation approach. SCI were more commonly found in the cortex. In supratentorial regions, SCI selectively involved cortical border zone between anterior, middle, and posterior cerebral arteries; in infratentorial regions, distal territory of posteroinferior cerebellar artery. Possible explanations include selective embolization, linked to the vascular anatomy of pial arteries supplying those territories, reduced clearance of emboli in a relatively hypoperfused zone, or a combination of both. This particular distribution of lesions has been reported in both animal models and in patients with microemboli of different sources. A selective vulnerability of cortical border zone to microemboli occurring during atrial fibrillation transcatheter ablation was observed. We hypothesize that such selectivity may apply to microemboli of different sources. © 2015 American Heart Association, Inc.

SGT1 is required in PcINF1/SRC2-1 induced pepper defense response by interacting with SRC2-1

PubMed Central

Liu, Zhi-qin; Liu, Yan-yan; Shi, Lan-ping; Yang, Sheng; Shen, Lei; Yu, Huan-xin; Wang, Rong-zhang; Wen, Jia-yu; Tang, Qian; Hussain, Ansar; Khan, Muhammad Ifnan; Hu, Jiong; Liu, Cai-ling; Zhang, Yang-wen; Cheng, Wei; He, Shui-lin

2016-01-01

PcINF1 was previously found to induce pepper defense response by interacting with SRC2-1, but the underlying mechanism remains uninvestigated. Herein, we describe the involvement of SGT1 in the PcINF1/SRC2-1-induced immunity. SGT1 was observed to be up-regulated by Phytophthora capsici inoculation and synergistically transient overexpression of PcINF1/SRC2-1 in pepper plants. SGT1-silencing compromised HR cell death, blocked H2O2 accumulation, and downregulated HR-associated and hormones-dependent marker genes’ expression triggered by PcINF1/SRC2-1 co-overexpression. The interaction between SRC2-1 and SGT1 was found by the yeast two hybrid system and was further confirmed by bimolecular fluorescence complementation and co-immunoprecipitation analyses. The SGT1/SRC2-1 interaction was enhanced by transient overexpression of PcINF1 and Phytophthora capsici inoculation, and SGT1-silencing attenuated PcINF1/SRC2-1 interaction. Additionally, by modulating subcellular localizations of SRC2-1, SGT1, and the interacting complex of SGT1/SRC2-1, it was revealed that exclusive nuclear targeting of the SGT1/SRC2-1 complex blocks immunity triggered by formation of SGT1/SRC2-1, and a translocation of the SGT1/SRC2-1 complex from the plasma membrane and cytoplasm to the nuclei upon the inoculation of P. capsici. Our data demonstrate that the SGT1/SRC2-1 interaction, and its nucleocytoplasmic partitioning, is involved in pepper’s immunity against P. capsici, thus providing a molecular link between Ca2+ signaling associated SRC2-1 and SGT1-mediated defense signaling. PMID:26898479

A prospective randomized study of Chop versus Chop plus alpha-2B interferon in patients with intermediate and high grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: the International Oncology Study Group NHL1 Study .

PubMed

Giles, F J; Shan, J; Advani, S H; Akan, H; Aydogdu, I; Aziz, Z; Azim, H A; Bapsy, P P; Buyukkececi, F; Chaimongkol, B; Chen, P M; Cheong, S K; Ferhanoglu, B; Hamza, R; Khalid, H M; Intragumtornchai, T; Kim, S W; Kim, S Y; Koc, H; Kumar, L; Kumar, R; Lei, K I; Lekhakula, A; Muthalib, A; Patel, M; Poovalingam, V P; Prayoonwiwat, W; Rana, F; Reksodiputro, A H; Ruff, P; Sagar, T G; Schwarer, A P; Song, H S; Suh, C W; Suharti, C; Supindiman, I; Tee, G Y; Thamprasit, T; Villalon, A H; Wickham, N R; Wong, J E; Yalcin, A; Jootar, S

2000-12-01

The addition of a brief alpha interferon regimen to each CHOP induction cycle, plus one year of alpha interferon thrice weekly maintenance therapy, has no early effect on response rates or survival in patients with Intermediate or High grade cell NHL. The CHOP (Cyclophosphamide, Adriamycin. Vincristine, Prednisone) regimen is the most widely used first-line therapy for patients with Intermediate or High Grade (IG/HG) non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). Alpha 2b interferon (INF) enhances response rates and improves survival in low-grade NHL. The International Oncology Study Group (IOSG) conducted a prospective randomized study comparing CHOP alone or combined with INF in patients with IG/HG-NHL. The primary study aim was to compare the objective response rates in these patient cohorts. Patients with a confirmed diagnosis of measurable NHL of International Working Formulation (IWF) groups D to H histology were randomized to receive CHOP alone or CHOP with 5Mu INF s.c. for 5 days on days 22 to 26 of each 28 day cycle with INF 5 million units (Mu) given three times per week subcutaneously for 52 weeks in those patients who responded to CHOP plus INF. The overall response rates were equivalent in both groups: CHOP alone (214 patients) 81% (complete 55%, partial 26%); CHOP plus INF (221 patients) 80% (complete 54%, partial 26%). At 36 months, the actuarial survival rate was equivalent in both groups. There is no apparent early advantage in terms of response or survival conferred by adding the study INF regimen to CHOP therapy for patients with IG/HG-NHL.

The INF (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces) Controversy: A Confluence of Foreign and Domestic Interests.

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-09-01

AD-R175 303 THE INF (INTERMEDIRTE-RANSE NUCLEAR FORCES) 1/2 CONTROVERSY: A CONFLUENCE OF FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC INTERESTS(U) NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL...on reverse if necessary and identify by block number) F:ELD I GROUP SUB-GROUP INF (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces, NATO, European Nuclear Capability...the United Kingdom, and several non- nuclear members of 14ATO are examined and analyzed. The analysis is concerned with alliance and transnational

Early diagnosis of tuberculosis using an INF-gamma assay in a child with HIV-1 infection and a very low CD4 count.

PubMed

Spyridis, Nikos; Chakraborty, Rana; Sharland, Mike; Heath, Paul T

2007-01-01

An 11-y-old girl diagnosed with HIV-1, presented with prolonged pyrexia and a non-reactive tuberculin skin test. An INF-gamma assay (ELISpot) was positive and led to administration of tuberculosis treatment. Positive cultures for Mycobacterium tuberculosis followed 6 weeks later. INF-gamma assays should be considered as first line investigations in HIV-1 infected subjects when TB is a diagnostic possibility.

Inverted formin 2 in focal adhesions promotes dorsal stress fiber and fibrillar adhesion formation to drive extracellular matrix assembly

PubMed Central

Skau, Colleen T.; Plotnikov, Sergey V.; Doyle, Andrew D.; Waterman, Clare M.

2015-01-01

Actin filaments and integrin-based focal adhesions (FAs) form integrated systems that mediate dynamic cell interactions with their environment or other cells during migration, the immune response, and tissue morphogenesis. How adhesion-associated actin structures obtain their functional specificity is unclear. Here we show that the formin-family actin nucleator, inverted formin 2 (INF2), localizes specifically to FAs and dorsal stress fibers (SFs) in fibroblasts. High-resolution fluorescence microscopy and manipulation of INF2 levels in cells indicate that INF2 plays a critical role at the SF–FA junction by promoting actin polymerization via free barbed end generation and centripetal elongation of an FA-associated actin bundle to form dorsal SF. INF2 assembles into FAs during maturation rather than during their initial generation, and once there, acts to promote rapid FA elongation and maturation into tensin-containing fibrillar FAs in the cell center. We show that INF2 is required for fibroblasts to organize fibronectin into matrix fibers and ultimately 3D matrices. Collectively our results indicate an important role for the formin INF2 in specifying the function of fibrillar FAs through its ability to generate dorsal SFs. Thus, dorsal SFs and fibrillar FAs form a specific class of integrated adhesion-associated actin structure in fibroblasts that mediates generation and remodeling of ECM. PMID:25918420

Pseudorandom Number Generators for Mobile Devices: An Examination and Attempt to Improve Randomness

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-01

Notes in Computer Science (LNCS), Vol. 4341), (Hanoi, Vietnam: Springer, 2006), 260–270. 36 Simon R. Blackburn , “The Linear Complexity of the Self... Blackburn , Simon R. ‘The Linear Complexity of the Self-Shrinking Generator.” IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory, 45 (September 1999). Blum, Leonore, Manuel...afloat when the waters have been rough! xv THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK xvi I. INTRODUCTION When the average man thinks about war and

A head movement image (HMI)-controlled computer mouse for people with disabilities.

PubMed

Chen, Yu-Luen; Chen, Weoi-Luen; Kuo, Te-Son; Lai, Jin-Shin

2003-02-04

This study proposes image processing and microprocessor technology for use in developing a head movement image (HMI)-controlled computer mouse system for the spinal cord injured (SCI). The system controls the movement and direction of the mouse cursor by capturing head movement images using a marker installed on the user's headset. In the clinical trial, this new mouse system was compared with an infrared-controlled mouse system on various tasks with nine subjects with SCI. The results were favourable to the new mouse system. The differences between the new mouse system and the infrared-controlled mouse were reaching statistical significance in each of the test situations (p<0.05). The HMI-controlled computer mouse improves the input speed. People with disabilities need only wear the headset and move their heads to freely control the movement of the mouse cursor.

49 CFR 176.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

..., spillage, or other accident. INF cargo means packaged irradiated nuclear fuel, plutonium or high-level... Irradiated Nuclear Fuel, Plutonium and High-Level Radioactive Wastes on Board Ships” (INF Code) contained in...

Search for a Heavy Neutrino and Right-Handed W of the Left-Right Symmetric Model with Cms Detector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tlisov, Danila

2013-11-01

This work describes the first search for signals from the production of right-handed WR bosons and heavy neutrinos Nℓ (ℓ = e, μ), that arise naturally in the left-right symmetric extension to the Standard Model, with the CMS Experiment at the LHC using the 7 TeV pp collision data collected in 2010 and 2011 corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 240 pb-1. No excess over expectations from Standard Model processes is observed. For models with exact left-right symmetry (the same coupling in the left and right sectors) we exclude the region in the two-dimensional parameter space that extends to (MWR, MNℓ) = (1700 GeV, 600 GeV).

MedEx/J: A One-Scan Simple and Fast NLP Tool for Japanese Clinical Texts.

PubMed

Aramaki, Eiji; Yano, Ken; Wakamiya, Shoko

2017-01-01

Because of recent replacement of physical documents with electronic medical records (EMR), the importance of information processing in the medical field has increased. In light of this trend, we have been developing MedEx/J, which retrieves important Japanese language information from medical reports. MedEx/J executes two tasks simultaneously: (1) term extraction, and (2) positive and negative event classification. We designate this approach as a one-scan approach, providing simplicity of systems and reasonable accuracy. MedEx/J performance on the two tasks is described herein: (1) term extraction (Fβ = 1 = 0.87) and (2) positive-negative classification (Fβ = 1 = 0.63). This paper also presents discussion and explains remaining issues in the medical natural language processing field.

Napoleon’s Cavalry: A Key Element to Decisive Victory

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-05-31

known for their “ panache , daring, and gallantry.”26 Napoleon’s cavalry enjoyed their effectiveness on the battlefield until 1813 when two important...thus rendering the Prussians helpless and in no position to bargain with the victor . Napoleon’s military victory, largely due to his pursuit, had...1813. Imperial Guard 30,000 Inf 8000 Cav 202 Guns II Corps Victor 17,241 Inf 55 Guns III Corps Souham 13,034 Inf 1065 Cav 61 Guns IV Corps Bertrand

Determinants of health knowledge and health perceptions from the perspective of health-related education of patients with spinal cord injury: a systematic review.

PubMed

Tederko, Piotr; Krasuski, Tomasz; Krasuski, Marek; Długołęcka, Alicja; Tarnacka, Beata

2017-06-01

Appropriate health knowledge (HK) and health perceptions (HP) of patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) are linked to health-related behaviors, compliance, the involvement of caregivers and efficacy of prophylaxis, and management of secondary conditions. The significance of factors determining the efficacy of educational interventions in patients with SCI is underestimated. This systematic literature review aims at identification of determinants of HK and HP among patients with SCI. We identified 16 papers with quantitative HK and HP measurements conclusive in the identification of HK and HP determinants in individuals with SCI. Better HK and HP correlated with health condition-related variables (traumatic SCI, history of secondary conditions, except depression), body functions and structures (tetraplegia, incomplete deficit), activities (independence in daily living activities, ability of locomotion on a wheelchair, inability to walk), social and vocational participation, environmental factors (access to a computer with Internet connection, living in a big city, being married, healthcare recently received), and personal factors (younger age among adults, living with SCI for a longer time, younger age at SCI onset, higher educational level, internal locus of control). Limitations encountered included high nonresponse rates among the patients enrolled, and use of heterogeneous and nonvalidated tools. The results of these studies do not cover the entire scope of possible interactions and exclusively apply univariate correlations. The paucity and methodological limitations of studies conclusive in the identification of HK and HP determinants in SCI patients and the development of new approaches to information and education warrant more high-quality research on the basis of multivariate analyses.

Asymmetric bone adaptations to soleus mechanical loading after spinal cord injury

PubMed Central

Dudley-Javoroski, S.; Shields, R.K.

2009-01-01

The purpose of this report is to examine longitudinal bone mineral density (BMD) changes in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) who began unilateral soleus electrical stimulation early after injury. Twelve men with SCI and seven without SCI underwent peripheral quantitative computed tomography assessment of distal tibia BMD. After 4.5 to 6 years of training, average trained limb BMD was 27.5% higher than untrained limb BMD. The training effect was more pronounced in the central core of the tibia cross-section (40.5% between-limb difference). No between-limb difference emerged in the anterior half of the tibia (19.2 mg/cm3 difference, p>0.05). A robust between-limb difference emerged in the posterior half of the tibia (76.1 mg/cm3 difference, p=0.0439). The posterior tibia BMD of one subject remained within the range of non-SCI values for 3.8 years post-SCI. The results support that the constrained orientation of soleus mechanical loads, administered over several years, elicited bone-sparing effects in the posterior tibia. This study provides a demonstration of the bone-protective potential of a carefully controlled dose of mechanical load. The specific orientation of applied mechanical loads may strongly influence the manifestation of BMD adaptations in humans with SCI. PMID:18799855

Open and scalable analytics of large Earth observation datasets: From scenes to multidimensional arrays using SciDB and GDAL

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Appel, Marius; Lahn, Florian; Buytaert, Wouter; Pebesma, Edzer

2018-04-01

Earth observation (EO) datasets are commonly provided as collection of scenes, where individual scenes represent a temporal snapshot and cover a particular region on the Earth's surface. Using these data in complex spatiotemporal modeling becomes difficult as soon as data volumes exceed a certain capacity or analyses include many scenes, which may spatially overlap and may have been recorded at different dates. In order to facilitate analytics on large EO datasets, we combine and extend the geospatial data abstraction library (GDAL) and the array-based data management and analytics system SciDB. We present an approach to automatically convert collections of scenes to multidimensional arrays and use SciDB to scale computationally intensive analytics. We evaluate the approach in three study cases on national scale land use change monitoring with Landsat imagery, global empirical orthogonal function analysis of daily precipitation, and combining historical climate model projections with satellite-based observations. Results indicate that the approach can be used to represent various EO datasets and that analyses in SciDB scale well with available computational resources. To simplify analyses of higher-dimensional datasets as from climate model output, however, a generalization of the GDAL data model might be needed. All parts of this work have been implemented as open-source software and we discuss how this may facilitate open and reproducible EO analyses.

Large-Scale, Multi-Sensor Atmospheric Data Fusion Using Hybrid Cloud Computing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, Brian; Manipon, Gerald; Hua, Hook; Fetzer, Eric

2014-05-01

NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) is an ambitious facility for studying global climate change. The mandate now is to combine measurements from the instruments on the "A-Train" platforms (AIRS, AMSR-E, MODIS, MISR, MLS, and CloudSat) and other Earth probes to enable large-scale studies of climate change over decades. Moving to multi-sensor, long-duration analyses of important climate variables presents serious challenges for large-scale data mining and fusion. For example, one might want to compare temperature and water vapor retrievals from one instrument (AIRS) to another (MODIS), and to a model (ECMWF), stratify the comparisons using a classification of the "cloud scenes" from CloudSat, and repeat the entire analysis over 10 years of data. To efficiently assemble such datasets, we are utilizing Elastic Computing in the Cloud and parallel map-reduce-based algorithms. However, these problems are Data Intensive computing so the data transfer times and storage costs (for caching) are key issues. SciReduce is a Hadoop-like parallel analysis system, programmed in parallel python, that is designed from the ground up for Earth science. SciReduce executes inside VMWare images and scales to any number of nodes in a hybrid Cloud (private eucalyptus & public Amazon). Unlike Hadoop, SciReduce operates on bundles of named numeric arrays, which can be passed in memory or serialized to disk in netCDF4 or HDF5. Multi-year datasets are automatically "sharded" by time and space across a cluster of nodes so that years of data (millions of files) can be processed in a massively parallel way. Input variables (arrays) are pulled on-demand into the Cloud using OPeNDAP URLs or other subsetting services, thereby minimizing the size of the cached input and intermediate datasets. We are using SciReduce to automate the production of multiple versions of a ten-year A-Train water vapor climatology under a NASA MEASURES grant. We will present the architecture of SciReduce, describe the achieved "clock time" speedups in fusing datasets on our own nodes and in the Cloud, and discuss the Cloud cost tradeoffs for storage, compute, and data transfer. We will also present a concept and prototype for staging NASA's A-Train Atmospheric datasets (Levels 2 & 3) in the Amazon Cloud so that any number of compute jobs can be executed "near" the multi-sensor data. Given such a system, multi-sensor climate studies over 10-20 years of data could be perform

INF and IAEA: A comparative analysis of verification strategy

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

Scheinman, L.; Kratzer, M.

1992-07-01

This is the final report of a study on the relevance and possible lessons of Intermediate Range Nuclear Force (INF) verification to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) international safeguards activities.

Generation of Digital Surface Models from satellite photogrammetry: the DSM-OPT service of the ESA Geohazards Exploitation Platform (GEP)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stumpf, André; Michéa, David; Malet, Jean-Philippe

2017-04-01

The continuously increasing fleet of agile stereo-capable very-high resolution (VHR) optical satellites has facilitated the acquisition of multi-view images of the earth surface. Theoretical revisit times have been reduced to less than one day and the highest spatial resolution which is commercially available amounts now to 30 cm/pixel. Digital Surface Models (DSM) and point clouds computed from such satellite stereo-acquisitions can provide valuable input for studies in geomorphology, tectonics, glaciology, hydrology and urban remote sensing The photogrammetric processing, however, still requires significant expertise, computational resources and costly commercial software. To enable a large Earth Science community (researcher and end-users) to process easily and rapidly VHR multi-view images, the work targets the implementation of a fully automatic satellite-photogrammetry pipeline (i.e DSM-OPT) on the ESA Geohazards Exploitation Platform (GEP). The implemented pipeline is based on the open-source photogrammetry library MicMac [1] and is designed for distributed processing on a cloud-based infrastructure. The service can be employed in pre-defined processing modes (i.e. urban, plain, hilly, and mountainous environments) or in an advanced processing mode (i.e. in which expert-users have the possibility to adapt the processing parameters to their specific applications). Four representative use cases are presented to illustrate the accuracy of the resulting surface models and ortho-images as well as the overall processing time. These use cases consisted of the construction of surface models from series of Pléiades images for four applications: urban analysis (Strasbourg, France), landslide detection in mountainous environments (South French Alps), co-seismic deformation in mountain environments (Central Italy earthquake sequence of 2016) and fault recognition for paleo-tectonic analysis (North-East India). Comparisons of the satellite-derived topography to airborne LiDAR topography are discussed. [1] Rupnik, E., Pierrot Deseilligny, M., Delorme, A., and Klinger, Y.: Refined satellite image orientation in the free open-source photogrammetric tools APERO/MICMAC, ISPRS Ann. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci., III-1, 83-90, doi:10.5194/isprs-annals-III-1-83-2016, 2016.

Studies of the 4-JET Rate and of Moments of Event Shape Observables Using Jade Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kluth, S.

2005-04-01

Data from e+e- annihilation into hadrons collected by the JADE experiment at centre-of-mass energies between 14 and 44 GeV were used to study the 4-jet rate using the Durham algorithm as well as the first five moments of event shape observables. The data were compared with NLO QCD predictions, augmented by resummed NLLA calculations for the 4-jet rate, in order to extract values of the strong coupling constant αS. The preliminary results are αS(MZ0) = 0.1169 ± 0.0026 (4-jet rate) and αS(MZ0) = 0.1286 ± 0.0072 (moments) consistent with the world average value. For some of the higher moments systematic deficiencies of the QCD predictions are observed.

Development and calibration of the shielded measurement system for fissile contents measurements on irradiated nuclear fuel in dry storage.

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

Mosby, W. R.; Jensen, B. A.

2002-05-31

In recent years there has been a trend towards storage of Irradiated Nuclear Fuel (INF) in dry conditions rather than in underwater environments. At the same time, the Department of Energy (DOE) has begun encouraging custodians of INF to perform measurements on INF for which no recent fissile contents measurement data exists. INF, in the form of spent fuel from Experimental Breeder Reactor 2 (EBR-II), has been stored in close-fitting, dry underground storage locations at the Radioactive Scrap and Waste Facility (RSWF) at Argonne National Laboratory-West (ANL-W) for many years. In Fiscal Year 2000, funding was obtained from the DOEmore » Office of Safeguards and Security Technology Development Program to develop and prepare for deployment a Shielded Measurement System (SMS) to perform fissile content measurements on INF stored in the RSWF. The SMS is equipped to lift an INF item out of its storage location, perform scanning neutron coincidence and high-resolution gamma-ray measurements, and restore the item to its storage location. The neutron and gamma-ray measurement results are compared to predictions based on isotope depletion and Monte Carlo neutral-particle transport models to provide confirmation of the accuracy of the models and hence of the fissile material contents of the item as calculated by the same models. This paper describes the SMS and discusses the results of the first calibration and validation measurements performed with the SMS.« less

Bank Terminals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1978-01-01

In the photo, employees of the UAB Bank, Knoxville, Tennessee, are using Teller Transaction Terminals manufactured by SCI Systems, Inc., Huntsville, Alabama, an electronics firm which has worked on a number of space projects under contract with NASA. The terminals are part of an advanced, computerized financial transaction system that offers high efficiency in bank operations. The key to the system's efficiency is a "multiplexing" technique developed for NASA's Space Shuttle. Multiplexing is simultaneous transmission of large amounts of data over a single transmission link at very high rates of speed. In the banking application, a small multiplex "data bus" interconnects all the terminals and a central computer which stores information on clients' accounts. The data bus replaces the maze-of wiring that would be needed to connect each terminal separately and it affords greater speed in recording transactions. The SCI system offers banks real-time data management through constant updating of the central computer. For example, a check is immediately cancelled at the teller's terminal and the computer is simultaneously advised of the transaction; under other methods, the check would be cancelled and the transaction recorded at the close of business. Teller checkout at the end of the day, conventionally a time-consuming matter of processing paper, can be accomplished in minutes by calling up a summary of the day's transactions. SCI manufactures other types of terminals for use in the system, such as an administrative terminal that provides an immediate printout of a client's account, and another for printing and recording savings account deposits and withdrawals. SCI systems have been installed in several banks in Tennessee, Arizona, and Oregon and additional installations are scheduled this year.

SciCADE 95: International conference on scientific computation and differential equations

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

NONE

1995-12-31

This report consists of abstracts from the conference. Topics include algorithms, computer codes, and numerical solutions for differential equations. Linear and nonlinear as well as boundary-value and initial-value problems are covered. Various applications of these problems are also included.

An Innovative Infrastructure with a Universal Geo-spatiotemporal Data Representation Supporting Cost-effective Integration of Diverse Earth Science Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuo, K. S.; Rilee, M. L.

2017-12-01

Existing pathways for bringing together massive, diverse Earth Science datasets for integrated analyses burden end users with data packaging and management details irrelevant to their domain goals. The major data repositories focus on archival, discovery, and dissemination of products (files) in a standardized manner. End-users must download and then adapt these files using local resources and custom methods before analysis can proceed. This reduces scientific or other domain productivity, as scarce resources and expertise must be diverted to data processing. The Spatio-Temporal Adaptive Resolution Encoding (STARE) is a unifying scheme encoding geospatial and temporal information for organizing data on scalable computing/storage resources, minimizing expensive data transfers. STARE provides a compact representation that turns set-logic functions, e.g. conditional subsetting, into integer operations, that takes into account representative spatiotemporal resolutions of the data in the datasets, which is needed for data placement alignment of geo-spatiotemporally diverse data on massive parallel resources. Automating important scientific functions (e.g. regridding) and computational functions (e.g. data placement) allows scientists to focus on domain specific questions instead of expending their expertise on data processing. While STARE is not tied to any particular computing technology, we have used STARE for visualization and the SciDB array database to analyze Earth Science data on a 28-node compute cluster. STARE's automatic data placement and coupling of geometric and array indexing allows complicated data comparisons to be realized as straightforward database operations like "join." With STARE-enabled automation, SciDB+STARE provides a database interface, reducing costly data preparation, increasing the volume and variety of integrable data, and easing result sharing. Using SciDB+STARE as part of an integrated analysis infrastructure, we demonstrate the dramatic ease of combining diametrically different datasets, i.e. gridded (NMQ radar) vs. spacecraft swath (TRMM). SciDB+STARE is an important step towards a computational infrastructure for integrating and sharing diverse, complex Earth Science data and science products derived from them.

Preserving transfer independence among individuals with spinal cord injury.

PubMed

Nyland, J; Quigley, P; Huang, C; Lloyd, J; Harrow, J; Nelson, A

2000-11-01

Literature review. Upper extremity (UE) joint degeneration, particularly at the shoulder, detrimentally influences functional independence, quality of life, cardiovascular disease risk, and life expectancy of individuals following spinal cord injury (SCI). This review (1) describes UE use for transfers among individuals with SCI; (2) describes contributing factors associated with UE joint degeneration and loss of transfer independence; (3) summarizes and identifies gaps in existing research; and (4) provides suggestions for future research. Investigations of wheelchair transfer related UE joint and function preservation among individuals with SCI should consider factors including age and length of time from SCI onset, interface between subject-wheelchair, pain, shoulder joint range of motion (ROM) and muscle strength deficiencies or imbalances, exercise capacity and tolerance for the physical strain of activities of daily living (ADL), body mass and composition, previous UE injury or disease history, and transfer techniques. Existing studies of transfers among individuals with SCI have relied on small groups of either asymptomatic or non-impaired subjects, with minimal integration of kinematic, kinetic and electromyographic data. Descriptions of UE joint ROM, forces, and moments produced during transfers are lacking. Biomechanical measurement and computer modeling have provided increasingly accurate tools for acquiring the data needed to guide intervention planning to prevent UE joint degeneration and preserve function among individuals with SCI. The identification of stressful sub-components during transfers will enable intervening clinicians and engineers who design and modify assistive and adaptive devices to better serve individuals with SCI.

Computing Properties of Hadrons, Nuclei and Nuclear Matter from Quantum Chromodynamics (LQCD)

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

Negele, John W.

Building on the success of two preceding generations of Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing (SciDAC) projects, this grant supported the MIT component (P.I. John Negele) of a multi-institutional SciDAC-3 project that also included Brookhaven National Laboratory, the lead laboratory with P. I. Frithjof Karsch serving as Project Director, Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility with P. I. David Richards serving as Co-director, University of Washington with P. I. Martin Savage, University of North Carolina with P. I. Rob Fowler, and College of William and Mary with P. I. Andreas Stathopoulos. Nationally, this multi-institutional project coordinated the software development effort that themore » nuclear physics lattice QCD community needs to ensure that lattice calculations can make optimal use of forthcoming leadership-class and dedicated hardware, including that at the national laboratories, and to exploit future computational resources in the Exascale era.« less

Machine learning methods in chemoinformatics

PubMed Central

Mitchell, John B O

2014-01-01

Machine learning algorithms are generally developed in computer science or adjacent disciplines and find their way into chemical modeling by a process of diffusion. Though particular machine learning methods are popular in chemoinformatics and quantitative structure–activity relationships (QSAR), many others exist in the technical literature. This discussion is methods-based and focused on some algorithms that chemoinformatics researchers frequently use. It makes no claim to be exhaustive. We concentrate on methods for supervised learning, predicting the unknown property values of a test set of instances, usually molecules, based on the known values for a training set. Particularly relevant approaches include Artificial Neural Networks, Random Forest, Support Vector Machine, k-Nearest Neighbors and naïve Bayes classifiers. WIREs Comput Mol Sci 2014, 4:468–481. How to cite this article: WIREs Comput Mol Sci 2014, 4:468–481. doi:10.1002/wcms.1183 PMID:25285160

Safety Evaluation of Turmeric Polysaccharide Extract: Assessment of Mutagenicity and Acute Oral Toxicity

PubMed Central

Velusami, Chandrasekaran Chinampudur; Boddapati, Srinivasa Rao; Hongasandra Srinivasa, Srikanth; Richard, Edwin Jothie; Balasubramanian, Murali

2013-01-01

Curcuma longa Linn. (Zingiberaceae) commonly known as turmeric has long been used for centuries as a spice and household remedy. The present study was carried out to assess the possible mutagenic potential and acute oral toxicity of polysaccharide extract of turmeric rhizome (NR-INF-02) using standard tests. The standard battery of in vitro genotoxicity tests, bacterial reverse mutation test (BRMT), chromosome aberration (CA), and micronucleus (MN) tests were employed to assess the possible mutagenic activity of NR-INF-02 (Turmacin). The results showed no mutagenic effect with NR-INF-02 up to a dose of 5000 µg/mL in BRMT. The results on CA and MN tests revealed the non clastogenic activity of NR-INF-02 in a dose range of 250.36 to 2500 µg/mL with and without metabolic activation (S9). In acute oral toxicity study, NR-INF-02 was found to be safe up to 5 g/kg body weight in Wistar rats. Overall, results indicated that polysaccharide extract of C. longa was found to be genotoxically safe and also exhibited maximum tolerable dose of more than 5 g/kg rat body weight. PMID:24455673

INF and IAEA: A comparative analysis of verification strategy. [Final report

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

Scheinman, L.; Kratzer, M.

1992-07-01

This is the final report of a study on the relevance and possible lessons of Intermediate Range Nuclear Force (INF) verification to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) international safeguards activities.

Senate and INF ratification

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

Jones, D.T.

1992-11-16

The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty represented one of the first major accomplishments of the post-cold war era. In contrast to all arms control agreements which preceded it, INF resulted in the elimination of a whole category of weapons systems. The author describes and analyzes many issues which impinged on the Senate ratification process and stimulated intense political debate. In addition to national and international security questions, these issues involved constitutional, political, jurisdictional, and bureaucratic factors. The author concludes with lessons and recommendations for more expeditious ratification for future agreements.

Statistical Analysis to Develop a Three-Dimensional Surface Model of a Midsize-Male Foot

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-10-31

alignment  of  the  landmarks  was  conducted  to  remove  differences  in   posture,  particularly   rotation  about  the...edge of long underwear cuff at midline of ankle 59 9 CuffInfEdge_MalleolusLateral Interior edge of long underwear cuff superior to lateral malleolus...60 0 CuffInfEdge_AnkleMidline_Posterior Posterior-inferior edge of long underwear cuff at midline of ankle 61 1 CuffInfEdge_MalleolusMedial Interior

Role of Computers in Sci-Tech Libraries.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bichteler, Julie; And Others

1986-01-01

Articles in this theme issue discuss applications of microcomputers in science/technology libraries, a UNIX-based online catalog, online versus print sources, computer-based statistics, and the applicability and implications of the Matheson-Cooper Report on health science centers for science/technology libraries. A bibliography of new reference…

Cookery method and endpoint temperature can affect the Warner-Bratzler shear force, cooking loss, and internal cooked color of beef semimembranosus and infraspinatus steaks.

PubMed

Yancey, J W S; Apple, J K; Wharton, M D

2016-10-01

Steaks from USDA Select inside rounds (Exp. 1) and shoulder clods (Exp. 2) were used to test the interactive effect of cookery method and endpoint temperature on Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF) and internal cooked color. Pairs of 2.5-cm-thick semimembranosus (SM) or infraspinatus (INF) steaks ( = 360/muscle) were cut from each subprimal, labeled, vacuum packaged, and frozen at -30°C in the dark for approximately 60 d before being cooked to 65.5, 71.1, or 76.6°C using 1) a forced-air convection oven (FAC); 2) a forced-air impingement oven (IMP); 3) a gas-fired, open-hearth charbroiler (CHAR); 4) an electric countertop griddle (GRID); or 5) a clam-shell grill (CLAM). Thawed steaks were cooked to their assigned endpoint temperature × cookery method combination, and, after a 5-min cooling period, steaks were weighed to calculate cooking loss percentage and subsequently sliced perpendicular to the cut surface to measure instrumental cooked color. Then, 6 cores were removed for measurement of WBSF. Cooking losses of SM steaks increased ( < 0.05) with each increase in endpoint temperature, whereas INF steaks cooked on a CHAR had the greatest ( < 0.05) cooking losses and cooking INF steaks with the GRID and the CLAM resulted in lesser ( < 0.05) cooking losses than cooking with the FAC and the IMP. Cooking SM steaks on the CHAR resulted in greater ( < 0.05) WBSF values than all other cookery methods when cooked to 65.5 and 76.6°C and greater ( < 0.05) WBSF values than those cooked on the FAC, GRID, and CLAM when cooked to 71.1°C. Shear force values were greater ( < 0.05) for INF steaks cooked to 71.1 and 76.6°C than those cooked to 65.5°C, but INF WBSF values were similar ( = 0.55) among cookery methods. At 65.5°C, FAC-cooked SM steaks were redder ( < 0.05) than those cooked with the GRID and the IMP and, at 71.1°C, CLAM-cooked SM steaks were redder ( < 0.05) than FAC- and IMP-cooked SM steaks; however, a* values were similar ( > 0.05) among cookery methods when cooked to 76.6°C. Redness did not ( > 0.05) differ among INF steaks cooked to 65.5 and 71.1°C with the FAC and the CHAR, whereas internal color of INF steaks cooked in the IMP and the FAC was redder ( < 0.05) than that of INF steaks cooked with the CLAM and the GRID to 76.6°C. Results suggest that endpoint temperature has a greater impact on cooking properties of SM and INF steaks than cookery method, yet it is apparent that internal cooked color of INF and SM steaks react differently to some cookery method-endpoint temperature combinations.

Novel INF2 mutations in an Italian cohort of patients with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, renal failure and Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy.

PubMed

Caridi, Gianluca; Lugani, Francesca; Dagnino, Monica; Gigante, Maddalena; Iolascon, Achille; Falco, Mariateresa; Graziano, Claudio; Benetti, Elisa; Dugo, Mauro; Del Prete, Dorella; Granata, Antonio; Borracelli, Donella; Moggia, Elisabetta; Quaglia, Marco; Rinaldi, Rita; Gesualdo, Loreto; Ghiggeri, Gian Marco

2014-09-01

Mutations of INF2 represent the major cause of familial autosomal dominant (AD) focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS). A few patients present neurological symptoms of Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease but the prevalence of the association has not been assessed yet. We screened 28 families with AD FSGS and identified 8 INF2 mutations in 9 families (32 patients overall), 3 of which were new. Mutations were in all cases localized in the diaphanous-inhibitory domain (DID) of the protein. Clinical features associated with INF2 mutations in our patient cohort included mild proteinuria (1.55 g/L; range 1-2.5) and haematuria as a unique symptom that was recognized at a median age of 21.75 years (range 8-30). Eighteen patients developed end-stage renal disease during their third decade of life; 12 patients presented a creatinine range between 1.2 and 1.5 mg/dL and 2 were healthy at 45 and 54 years of age. CMT was diagnosed in four cases (12.5%); one of these patients presented an already known mutation on exon 2 of INF2, whereas the other patients presented the same mutation on exon 4, a region that was not previously associated with CMT. We confirmed the high incidence of INF2 mutations in families with AD FSGS. The clinical phenotype was mild at the onset of the disease, but evolution to ESRD was frequent. The incidence of CMT has, for the first time, been calculated here to be 12.5% of mutation carriers. Our findings support INF2 gene analysis in families in which renal failure and/or neuro-sensorial defects are inherited following an AD model. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of ERA-EDTA. All rights reserved.

Effect of ginseng polysaccharides and dendritic cells on the balance of Th1/Th2 T helper cells in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

PubMed

Ma, Junjie; Liu, Huiping; Wang, Xiaolong

2014-12-01

To investigate the effect of thorascopic administration.of ginseng polysaccharides (GPS) plus dendritic cells (DC) on T helper cell type 1/T helper cell type 2 (Th1/Th2) balance in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). A total of 96 NSCLC patients were divided evenly into two groups. The control group was treated with DCs alone and the treatment group was treated with DCs plus GPS. After DCs and GPS were administered thoracoscopically, once a week, 4 times for 30 days, the patients' quality of life was measured with the Functional Assessment of Cancer Treatment-Lung (FACT-L) questionnaire before and after treatment. Serum interferon-γ (INF-γ), interleukin-4 (IL-4), IL-2 and IL-5 were examined before and after treatments. The level of Th1 cytokines (INF-γ, IL-2) and the ratio of Th1/Th2 cytokines (INF-γ/IL-4, IL-2/ IL-5) increased in both treatment groups, while Th2 cytokines (IL-4, IL-5) and FACT-L scores decreased (P < 0.01). Furthermore, after treatment Th1 cytokines (INF-γ, IL-2) and the ratio of Th1/Th2 cytokines (INF-γ/IL-4, IL-2/IL-5) were higher in the DCs + GPS group than in the control group (P < 0.05). Conversely, FACT-L scores and Th2 cytokines (IL-4, IL-5) were higher in the control group than in the DCs + GPS group (P < 0.05). The treatment regime of DCs plus GPS had a greater effect on NSCLC patients' immune function as compared with DCs alone. This was evident by increased expression of Th1 cytokines (INF-γ, IL-2) and the ratio of Th1/Th2 (INF-γ/IL-4, IL-2/IL-5), as well as by decreased FACT-L scores and the expression of Th2 cytokines (IL-4, IL-5).

Interferon-alpha in chronic myeloid leukemia revisited: a long-term retrospective study in Central and Northern Moravia.

PubMed

Faber, Edgar; Kuba, Adam; Zapletalova, Jana; Divoka, Martina; Rohon, Peter; Holzerova, Milena; Jarosova, Marie; Indrak, Karel

2013-09-01

We assessed the long-term outcome of consecutive patients in the chronic phase of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) treated with interferon-alpha (INF-α) in Central and Northern Moravia between 1989 and 2006. A retrospective study focused on the response, prognostic factors and side-effects of INF-α. 118 patients (67 males and 51 females, median age 50 years; range 18-71) were analyzed. The median follow-up was 82.6 months (12.4-212.6). Thirty-six patients (30.5%) achieved major cytogenetic response (CyR) in median of 18.3 months (3.7-47.3) and maintained it for a median of 64.0 months (7.0-176.0). Sixty-one patients treated with INF-α for more than 12 months had an overall survival (OS) of 137.0 months (95% CI 117.6-156.4). Eighteen (29.5%) achieved complete CyR (CCyR). 109 patients discontinued the treatment with INF-α because of hematologic or cytogenetic resistance in 53 (48.7%), progression of CML in 31 (28.4%) and intolerance to INF-α in 17 (15.6%) patients. The percentage of peripheral blasts, leukocyte count (>50x10(9)/L), splenomegaly, anemia (Hgb≤110 g/L) and Sokal score had statistical impact on the OS in univariate assessment but only the Sokal score remained significant in multivariate analysis. Additional cytogenetic abnormalities at diagnosis were associated with poor prognosis. In most patients, treatment with INF-α had to be stopped because of a failure to induce response, progression of CML or side-effects but nearly one third of patients treated at least for one year had a long-term benefit from INF-α. The best prognosis was associated with achievement of CCyR and negativity of BCR-ABL in nested RT-PCR.

Washout of heme-containing proteins dramatically improves tetrazolium-based infarct staining.

PubMed

Pitts, Kelly R; Stiko, Ann; Buetow, Bernard; Lott, Fred; Guo, Ping; Virca, Duke; Toombs, Christopher F

2007-01-01

Methods to determine infarct size following ischemia-reperfusion injury include gross staining with triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) and perfusion of colored dyes to demarcate the non-ischemic zone. Infarcted tissue (INF) can typically appear a mottled tan to brownish color, making a border between INF and TTC-positive tissue difficult to discern. Previous work in our lab indicated that following TTC staining, prolonged washing of thick sections dramatically sharpened this boundary. Adult rats underwent 30 min ischemia via LAD ligation and reperfusion/recovery over 24 h. Hearts were then harvested, thick-sectioned, and stained with TTC. Stained sections were stored in PBS at 4 degrees C for up to 3 weeks. Histology on thin sections from infarcted hearts fixed directly after harvest revealed extensive hemorrhage within the INF. However, this hemorrhage is washed out when hearts are stored in PBS for 3 weeks. SDS-PAGE of PBS samples taken at 1, 2, and 3 weeks showed a low molecular weight band appearing over time. Peptide sequencing revealed the presence of several proteins including the heme-containing proteins (HCPs) hemoglobin, cytochrome c, and myoglobin. The loss of HCPs from thick sections to PBS corresponded with the blanching of the previously mottled INF within each section. HPLC analysis of these samples confirmed the loss of HCPs contributes to INF whitening. Further, analysis of infarct size values derived from heart slices with or without HCPs showed a significant decrease in measurement error when values were derived from slices without HCPs. These data suggest that HCPs in the heart tissue contribute to the non-uniform and discolored appearance of the INF, and that washout of these proteins produces an INF more easily distinguished from neighboring non-infarcted tissue. This method greatly reduces the error associated with infarct measurements and improves the analysis of the effects of drug treatments and other interventions designed to impact ischemia reperfusion injury.

Flexible response and the INF (Intermediate-range Nuclear Force) Treaty: what next. Study project

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

Williams, H.A.

1988-03-14

The prospect of the Intermediate-range Nuclear Force (INF) Treaty led the former Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, GEN Bernard Rogers, to claim that NATO would lose weapons vital to the Alliance's defense when Pershing II (PII) and Ground-Launched Cruise Missiles (GLCM) were withdrawn from Europe. Nuclear weapons and the NATO strategy of flexible response are inseparably dependent upon each other. GEN Rogers' comments focus directly on the capability which PII and GLCM provided NATO to strike Soviet territory in event of conflict and if such an escalatory step was deemed necessary. Various sources were researched to determine if the INF Treatymore » will cripple the flexible response strategy; while it should not, certain changes in NATO's approach to defense are suggested. Specifically, conventional and nuclear improvements, the latter within the terms of the INF Treaty, are suggested, as are conventional force reduction negotiations and the Europeanization of NATO.« less

NATO without INF (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces). Research report

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

Modlin, S.L.

1988-05-01

This paper was written in the Winter 1987-1988, during the time of the signing of the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) signed in Washington, D.C. on 8 December 1987. The paper was written to look ahead to the implications that the treaty, assuming congressional ratification without major change, would have on NATO. Discussed are the historical background of NATO and U.S. national interests in maintaining a balance of power in Europe. NATO strategies of massive retaliation, mutual assured destruction and flexible response are surveyed with respect to the political and military decisions to deploy, and negotiate the removal of INF frommore » Europe. The paper addresses the dual-track decision and the results leading to the INF treaty. The implications of the treaty are then discussed, with a renewed look at U.S. national interests, and suggestions for future U.S. involvement with NATO are provided.« less

Emission beyond 4  μm and mid-infrared lasing in a dysprosium-doped indium fluoride (InF3) fiber.

PubMed

Majewski, Matthew R; Woodward, Robert I; Carreé, Jean-Yves; Poulain, Samuel; Poulain, Marcel; Jackson, Stuart D

2018-04-15

Optical emission from rare-earth-doped fluoride fibers has thus far been limited to less than 4 μm. We extend emission beyond this limit by employing an indium fluoride (InF 3 ) glass fiber as the host, which exhibits an increased infrared transparency over commonly used zirconium fluoride (ZBLAN). Near-infrared pumping of a dysprosium-doped InF 3 fiber results in broad emission centered around 4.3 μm, representing the longest emission yet achieved from a fluoride fiber. The first laser emission in an InF 3 fiber is also demonstrated from the 3 μm dysprosium transition. Finally, a frequency domain excited state lifetime measurement comparison between fluoride hosts suggests that multiphonon effects are significantly reduced in indium fluoride fiber, paving the way to more efficient, longer wavelength lasers compared to ZBLAN fibers.

Development and psychometric characteristics of the SCI-QOL Bladder Management Difficulties and Bowel Management Difficulties item banks and short forms and the SCI-QOL Bladder Complications scale.

PubMed

Tulsky, David S; Kisala, Pamela A; Tate, Denise G; Spungen, Ann M; Kirshblum, Steven C

2015-05-01

To describe the development and psychometric properties of the Spinal Cord Injury--Quality of Life (SCI-QOL) Bladder Management Difficulties and Bowel Management Difficulties item banks and Bladder Complications scale. Using a mixed-methods design, a pool of items assessing bladder and bowel-related concerns were developed using focus groups with individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) and SCI clinicians, cognitive interviews, and item response theory (IRT) analytic approaches, including tests of model fit and differential item functioning. Thirty-eight bladder items and 52 bowel items were tested at the University of Michigan, Kessler Foundation Research Center, the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, the University of Washington, Craig Hospital, and the James J. Peters VA Medical Center, Bronx, NY. Seven hundred fifty-seven adults with traumatic SCI. The final item banks demonstrated unidimensionality (Bladder Management Difficulties CFI=0.965; RMSEA=0.093; Bowel Management Difficulties CFI=0.955; RMSEA=0.078) and acceptable fit to a graded response IRT model. The final calibrated Bladder Management Difficulties bank includes 15 items, and the final Bowel Management Difficulties item bank consists of 26 items. Additionally, 5 items related to urinary tract infections (UTI) did not fit with the larger Bladder Management Difficulties item bank but performed relatively well independently (CFI=0.992, RMSEA=0.050) and were thus retained as a separate scale. The SCI-QOL Bladder Management Difficulties and Bowel Management Difficulties item banks are psychometrically robust and are available as computer adaptive tests or short forms. The SCI-QOL Bladder Complications scale is a brief, fixed-length outcomes instrument for individuals with a UTI.

MHC class I, beta2 microglobulin, and the INF-gamma receptor are upregulated in aged motoneurons.

PubMed

Edström, Erik; Kullberg, Susanna; Ming, Yu; Zheng, Huaiyu; Ulfhake, Brun

2004-12-15

During aging, spinal cord motoneurons show characteristic changes including the loss of afferent boutons, a selective process that associates with gliosis and behavioral motor impairment. Evidence suggests that the major histocompatibility complex Class I (MHC I) system may be involved in synaptic plasticity of neurons during development and regeneration. In search of a mechanism governing senescent changes in synaptic connectivity, we report evidence for increased expression of MHC I and beta2 microglobulin (beta2M) in motoneurons and glial-like profiles of 30-month-old rats. The regulatory signal(s) for MHC I expression in normal neurons remains unresolved but among tentative molecules are cytokines such as interferon-gamma (INF-gamma) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha). Interestingly, aged motoneurons, overlapping with those showing increased levels of MHC I, contained increased levels of INF-gamma receptor message. INF-gamma mRNA was detected at low levels in most (8/9) of the aged spinal cords but only infrequently (2/9) in young adult spinal cords; however, the cellular localization of INF-gamma mRNA could not be determined. Our data also indicates that TNF-alpha is upregulated in the senescent spinal cord but that TNF-alpha immunoreactive protein does not associate with motoneurons. We report evidence for an increased expression of MHC I and beta2M in senescent spinal motoneurons and discuss the possibility that this regulation associates with INF-gamma or changes in neurotrophin signaling and neuron activity in senescence. (c) 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Sustaining and Extending the Open Science Grid: Science Innovation on a PetaScale Nationwide Facility (DE-FC02-06ER41436) SciDAC-2 Closeout Report

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

Livny, Miron; Shank, James; Ernst, Michael

Under this SciDAC-2 grant the project’s goal w a s t o stimulate new discoveries by providing scientists with effective and dependable access to an unprecedented national distributed computational facility: the Open Science Grid (OSG). We proposed to achieve this through the work of the Open Science Grid Consortium: a unique hands-on multi-disciplinary collaboration of scientists, software developers and providers of computing resources. Together the stakeholders in this consortium sustain and use a shared distributed computing environment that transforms simulation and experimental science in the US. The OSG consortium is an open collaboration that actively engages new research communities. Wemore » operate an open facility that brings together a broad spectrum of compute, storage, and networking resources and interfaces to other cyberinfrastructures, including the US XSEDE (previously TeraGrid), the European Grids for ESciencE (EGEE), as well as campus and regional grids. We leverage middleware provided by computer science groups, facility IT support organizations, and computing programs of application communities for the benefit of consortium members and the US national CI.« less

Hybrid Equation/Agent-Based Model of Ischemia-Induced Hyperemia and Pressure Ulcer Formation Predicts Greater Propensity to Ulcerate in Subjects with Spinal Cord Injury

PubMed Central

Solovyev, Alexey; Mi, Qi; Tzen, Yi-Ting; Brienza, David; Vodovotz, Yoram

2013-01-01

Pressure ulcers are costly and life-threatening complications for people with spinal cord injury (SCI). People with SCI also exhibit differential blood flow properties in non-ulcerated skin. We hypothesized that a computer simulation of the pressure ulcer formation process, informed by data regarding skin blood flow and reactive hyperemia in response to pressure, could provide insights into the pathogenesis and effective treatment of post-SCI pressure ulcers. Agent-Based Models (ABM) are useful in settings such as pressure ulcers, in which spatial realism is important. Ordinary Differential Equation-based (ODE) models are useful when modeling physiological phenomena such as reactive hyperemia. Accordingly, we constructed a hybrid model that combines ODEs related to blood flow along with an ABM of skin injury, inflammation, and ulcer formation. The relationship between pressure and the course of ulcer formation, as well as several other important characteristic patterns of pressure ulcer formation, was demonstrated in this model. The ODE portion of this model was calibrated to data related to blood flow following experimental pressure responses in non-injured human subjects or to data from people with SCI. This model predicted a higher propensity to form ulcers in response to pressure in people with SCI vs. non-injured control subjects, and thus may serve as novel diagnostic platform for post-SCI ulcer formation. PMID:23696726

Measuring self-esteem after spinal cord injury: Development, validation and psychometric characteristics of the SCI-QOL Self-esteem item bank and short form

PubMed Central

Kalpakjian, Claire Z.; Tate, Denise G.; Kisala, Pamela A.; Tulsky, David S.

2015-01-01

Objective To describe the development and psychometric properties of the Spinal Cord Injury-Quality of Life (SCI-QOL) Self-esteem item bank. Design Using a mixed-methods design, we developed and tested a self-esteem item bank through the use of focus groups with individuals with SCI and clinicians with expertise in SCI, cognitive interviews, and item-response theory- (IRT) based analytic approaches, including tests of model fit, differential item functioning (DIF) and precision. Setting We tested a pool of 30 items at several medical institutions across the United States, including the University of Michigan, Kessler Foundation, the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, the University of Washington, Craig Hospital, and the James J. Peters/Bronx Department of Veterans Affairs hospital. Participants A total of 717 individuals with SCI completed the self-esteem items. Results A unidimensional model was observed (CFI = 0.946; RMSEA = 0.087) and measurement precision was good (theta range between −2.7 and 0.7). Eleven items were flagged for DIF; however, effect sizes were negligible with little practical impact on score estimates. The final calibrated item bank resulted in 23 retained items. Conclusion This study indicates that the SCI-QOL Self-esteem item bank represents a psychometrically robust measurement tool. Short form items are also suggested and computer adaptive tests are available. PMID:26010972

Measuring self-esteem after spinal cord injury: Development, validation and psychometric characteristics of the SCI-QOL Self-esteem item bank and short form.

PubMed

Kalpakjian, Claire Z; Tate, Denise G; Kisala, Pamela A; Tulsky, David S

2015-05-01

To describe the development and psychometric properties of the Spinal Cord Injury-Quality of Life (SCI-QOL) Self-esteem item bank. Using a mixed-methods design, we developed and tested a self-esteem item bank through the use of focus groups with individuals with SCI and clinicians with expertise in SCI, cognitive interviews, and item-response theory-(IRT) based analytic approaches, including tests of model fit, differential item functioning (DIF) and precision. We tested a pool of 30 items at several medical institutions across the United States, including the University of Michigan, Kessler Foundation, the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, the University of Washington, Craig Hospital, and the James J. Peters/Bronx Department of Veterans Affairs hospital. A total of 717 individuals with SCI completed the self-esteem items. A unidimensional model was observed (CFI=0.946; RMSEA=0.087) and measurement precision was good (theta range between -2.7 and 0.7). Eleven items were flagged for DIF; however, effect sizes were negligible with little practical impact on score estimates. The final calibrated item bank resulted in 23 retained items. This study indicates that the SCI-QOL Self-esteem item bank represents a psychometrically robust measurement tool. Short form items are also suggested and computer adaptive tests are available.

Measuring resilience after spinal cord injury: Development, validation and psychometric characteristics of the SCI-QOL Resilience item bank and short form.

PubMed

Victorson, David; Tulsky, David S; Kisala, Pamela A; Kalpakjian, Claire Z; Weiland, Brian; Choi, Seung W

2015-05-01

To describe the development and psychometric properties of the Spinal Cord Injury--Quality of Life (SCI-QOL) Resilience item bank and short form. Using a mixed-methods design, we developed and tested a resilience item bank through the use of focus groups with individuals with SCI and clinicians with expertise in SCI, cognitive interviews, and item-response theory based analytic approaches, including tests of model fit and differential item functioning (DIF). We tested a 32-item pool at several medical institutions across the United States, including the University of Michigan, Kessler Foundation, the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, the University of Washington, Craig Hospital and the James J. Peters/Bronx Department of Veterans Affairs medical center. A total of 717 individuals with SCI completed the Resilience items. A unidimensional model was observed (CFI=0.968; RMSEA=0.074) and measurement precision was good (theta range between -3.1 and 0.9). Ten items were flagged for DIF, however, after examination of effect sizes we found this to be negligible with little practical impact on score estimates. The final calibrated item bank resulted in 21 retained items. This study indicates that the SCI-QOL Resilience item bank represents a psychometrically robust measurement tool. Short form items are also suggested and computer adaptive tests are available.

Measuring resilience after spinal cord injury: Development, validation and psychometric characteristics of the SCI-QOL Resilience item bank and short form

PubMed Central

Victorson, David; Tulsky, David S.; Kisala, Pamela A.; Kalpakjian, Claire Z.; Weiland, Brian; Choi, Seung W.

2015-01-01

Objective To describe the development and psychometric properties of the Spinal Cord Injury - Quality of Life (SCI-QOL) Resilience item bank and short form. Design Using a mixed-methods design, we developed and tested a resilience item bank through the use of focus groups with individuals with SCI and clinicians with expertise in SCI, cognitive interviews, and item-response theory based analytic approaches, including tests of model fit and differential item functioning (DIF). Setting We tested a 32-item pool at several medical institutions across the United States, including the University of Michigan, Kessler Foundation, the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, the University of Washington, Craig Hospital and the James J. Peters/Bronx Department of Veterans Affairs medical center. Participants A total of 717 individuals with SCI completed the Resilience items. Results A unidimensional model was observed (CFI = 0.968; RMSEA = 0.074) and measurement precision was good (theta range between −3.1 and 0.9). Ten items were flagged for DIF, however, after examination of effect sizes we found this to be negligible with little practical impact on score estimates. The final calibrated item bank resulted in 21 retained items. Conclusion This study indicates that the SCI-QOL Resilience item bank represents a psychometrically robust measurement tool. Short form items are also suggested and computer adaptive tests are available. PMID:26010971

Estimation of residential fine particulate matter infiltration in Shanghai, China.

PubMed

Zhou, Xiaodan; Cai, Jing; Zhao, Yan; Chen, Renjie; Wang, Cuicui; Zhao, Ang; Yang, Changyuan; Li, Huichu; Liu, Suixin; Cao, Junji; Kan, Haidong; Xu, Huihui

2018-02-01

Ambient concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) concentration is often used as an exposure surrogate to estimate PM 2.5 health effects in epidemiological studies. Ignoring the potential variations in the amount of outdoor PM 2.5 infiltrating into indoor environments will cause exposure misclassification, especially when people spend most of their time indoors. As it is not feasible to measure the PM 2.5 infiltration factor (F inf ) for each individual residence, we aimed to build models for residential PM 2.5 F inf prediction and to evaluate seasonal F inf variations among residences. We repeated collected paired indoor and outdoor PM 2.5 filter samples for 7 continuous days in each of the three seasons (hot, cold and transitional seasons) from 48 typical homes of Shanghai, China. PM 2.5 -bound sulfur on the filters was measured by X-ray fluorescence for PM 2.5 F inf calculation. We then used stepwise-multiple linear regression to construct season-specific models with climatic variables and questionnaire-based predictors. All models were evaluated by the coefficient of determination (R 2 ) and root mean square error (RMSE) from a leave-one-out-cross-validation (LOOCV). The 7-day mean (±SD) of PM 2.5 F inf across all observations was 0.83 (±0.18). F inf was found higher and more varied in transitional season (12-25 °C) than hot (>25 °C) and cold (<12 °C) seasons. Air conditioning use and meteorological factors were the most important predictors during hot and cold seasons; Floor of residence and building age were the best transitional season predictors. The models predicted 60.0%-68.4% of the variance in 7-day averages of F inf , The LOOCV analysis showed an R 2 of 0.52 and an RMSE of 0.11. Our finding of large variation in residential PM 2.5 F inf between seasons and across residences within season indicated the important source of outdoor-generated PM 2.5 exposure heterogeneity in epidemiologic studies. Our models based on readily available data may potentially improve the accuracy of estimates of the health effects of PM 2.5 exposure. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Tumor aggressiveness and patient outcome in cancer of the pancreas assessed by dynamic 18F-FDG PET/CT.

PubMed

Epelbaum, Ron; Frenkel, Alex; Haddad, Riad; Sikorski, Natalia; Strauss, Ludwig G; Israel, Ora; Dimitrakopoulou-Strauss, Antonia

2013-01-01

This study aimed to assess the role of a quantitative dynamic PET model in pancreatic cancer as a potential index of tumor aggressiveness and predictor of survival. Seventy-one patients with (18)F-FDG-avid adenocarcinoma of the pancreas before treatment were recruited, including 27 with localized tumors (11 underwent pancreatectomy, and 16 had localized nonresectable tumors) and 44 with metastatic disease. Dynamic (18)F-FDG PET images were acquired over a 60-min period, followed by a whole-body PET/CT study. Quantitative data measurements were based on a 2-compartment model, and the following variables were calculated: VB (fractional blood volume in target area), K(1) and k(2) (kinetic membrane transport parameters), k(3) and k(4) (intracellular (18)F-FDG phosphorylation and dephosphorylation parameters, respectively), and (18)F-FDG INF (global (18)F-FDG influx). The single significant variable for overall survival (OS) in patients with localized disease was (18)F-FDG INF. Patients with a high (18)F-FDG INF (>0.033 min(-1)) had a median OS of 6 and 5 mo for nonresectable and resected tumors, respectively, versus 15 and 19 mo for a low (18)F-FDG INF in nonresectable and resected tumors, respectively (P < 0.04). In metastatic disease, multivariate analysis found VB, K(1), and k(3) to be significant variables for OS (P < 0.043, <0.031, and <0.009, respectively). Prognostic factors for OS in the entire group of patients that were significant at multivariate analysis were stage of disease, VB, K(1), and (18)F-FDG INF (P < 0.00035, <0.03, <0.024, and <0.008, respectively). Median OS for all patients with a high (18)F-FDG INF, low VB, and high K(1) was 3 mo, as opposed to 14 mo in patients with a low (18)F-FDG INF, high VB, and low K(1) (P < 0.021), irrespective of stage and resectability. Quantitative (18)F-FDG kinetic parameters measured by dynamic PET in newly diagnosed pancreatic cancer correlated with the aggressiveness of disease. The (18)F-FDG INF was the single most significant variable for OS in patients with localized disease, whether resectable or not.

Compressive mechanical characterization of non-human primate spinal cord white matter.

PubMed

Jannesar, Shervin; Allen, Mark; Mills, Sarah; Gibbons, Anne; Bresnahan, Jacqueline C; Salegio, Ernesto A; Sparrey, Carolyn J

2018-05-02

The goal of developing computational models of spinal cord injury (SCI) is to better understand the human injury condition. However, finite element models of human SCI have used rodent spinal cord tissue properties due to a lack of experimental data. Central nervous system tissues in non human primates (NHP) closely resemble that of humans and therefore, it is expected that material constitutive models obtained from NHPs will increase the fidelity and the accuracy of human SCI models. Human SCI most often results from compressive loading and spinal cord white matter properties affect FE predicted patterns of injury; therefore, the objectives of this study were to characterize the unconfined compressive response of NHP spinal cord white matter and present an experimentally derived, finite element tractable constitutive model for the tissue. Cervical spinal cords were harvested from nine male adult NHPs (Macaca mulatta). White matter biopsy samples (3 mm in diameter) were taken from both lateral columns of the spinal cord and were divided into four strain rate groups for unconfined dynamic compression and stress relaxation (post-mortem <1-hour). The NHP spinal cord white matter compressive response was sensitive to strain rate and showed substantial stress relaxation confirming the viscoelastic behavior of the material. An Ogden 1st order model best captured the non-linear behavior of NHP white matter in a quasi-linear viscoelastic material model with 4-term Prony series. This study is the first to characterize NHP spinal cord white matter at high (>10/sec) strain rates typical of traumatic injury. The finite element derived material constitutive model of this study will increase the fidelity of SCI computational models and provide important insights for transferring pre-clinical findings to clinical treatments. Spinal cord injury (SCI) finite element (FE) models provide an important tool to bridge the gap between animal studies and human injury, assess injury prevention technologies (e.g. helmets, seatbelts), and provide insight into the mechanisms of injury. Although, FE model outcomes depend on the assumed material constitutive model, there is limited experimental data for fresh spinal cords and all was obtained from rodent, porcine or bovine tissues. Central nervous system tissues in non human primates (NHP) more closely resemble humans. This study characterizes fresh NHP spinal cord material properties at high strains rates and large deformations typical of SCI for the first time. A constitutive model was defined that can be readily implemented in finite strain FE analysis of SCI. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Permutation importance: a corrected feature importance measure.

PubMed

Altmann, André; Toloşi, Laura; Sander, Oliver; Lengauer, Thomas

2010-05-15

In life sciences, interpretability of machine learning models is as important as their prediction accuracy. Linear models are probably the most frequently used methods for assessing feature relevance, despite their relative inflexibility. However, in the past years effective estimators of feature relevance have been derived for highly complex or non-parametric models such as support vector machines and RandomForest (RF) models. Recently, it has been observed that RF models are biased in such a way that categorical variables with a large number of categories are preferred. In this work, we introduce a heuristic for normalizing feature importance measures that can correct the feature importance bias. The method is based on repeated permutations of the outcome vector for estimating the distribution of measured importance for each variable in a non-informative setting. The P-value of the observed importance provides a corrected measure of feature importance. We apply our method to simulated data and demonstrate that (i) non-informative predictors do not receive significant P-values, (ii) informative variables can successfully be recovered among non-informative variables and (iii) P-values computed with permutation importance (PIMP) are very helpful for deciding the significance of variables, and therefore improve model interpretability. Furthermore, PIMP was used to correct RF-based importance measures for two real-world case studies. We propose an improved RF model that uses the significant variables with respect to the PIMP measure and show that its prediction accuracy is superior to that of other existing models. R code for the method presented in this article is available at http://www.mpi-inf.mpg.de/ approximately altmann/download/PIMP.R CONTACT: altmann@mpi-inf.mpg.de, laura.tolosi@mpi-inf.mpg.de Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

An Algebraic Approach to the Eigenstates of the Calogero Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ujino, Hideaki

2002-11-01

An algebraic treatment of the eigenstates of the (AN-1-) Calogero model is presented, which provides an algebraic construction of the nonsymmetric orthogonal eigenvectors, symmetrization, antisymmetrization and calculation of square norms in a unified way.

SciSpark: In-Memory Map-Reduce for Earth Science Algorithms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramirez, P.; Wilson, B. D.; Whitehall, K. D.; Palamuttam, R. S.; Mattmann, C. A.; Shah, S.; Goodman, A.; Burke, W.

2016-12-01

We are developing a lightning fast Big Data technology called SciSpark based on ApacheTM Spark under a NASA AIST grant (PI Mattmann). Spark implements the map-reduce paradigm for parallel computing on a cluster, but emphasizes in-memory computation, "spilling" to disk only as needed, and so outperforms the disk-based Apache Hadoop by 100x in memory and by 10x on disk. SciSpark extends Spark to support Earth Science use in three ways: Efficient ingest of N-dimensional geo-located arrays (physical variables) from netCDF3/4, HDF4/5, and/or OPeNDAP URLS; Array operations for dense arrays in scala and Java using the ND4S/ND4J or Breeze libraries; Operations to "split" datasets across a Spark cluster by time or space or both. For example, a decade-long time-series of geo-variables can be split across time to enable parallel "speedups" of analysis by day, month, or season. Similarly, very high-resolution climate grids can be partitioned into spatial tiles for parallel operations across rows, columns, or blocks. In addition, using Spark's gateway into python, PySpark, one can utilize the entire ecosystem of numpy, scipy, etc. Finally, SciSpark Notebooks provide a modern eNotebook technology in which scala, python, or spark-sql codes are entered into cells in the Notebook and executed on the cluster, with results, plots, or graph visualizations displayed in "live widgets". We have exercised SciSpark by implementing three complex Use Cases: discovery and evolution of Mesoscale Convective Complexes (MCCs) in storms, yielding a graph of connected components; PDF Clustering of atmospheric state using parallel K-Means; and statistical "rollups" of geo-variables or model-to-obs. differences (i.e. mean, stddev, skewness, & kurtosis) by day, month, season, year, and multi-year. Geo-variables are ingested and split across the cluster using methods on the sciSparkContext object including netCDFVariables() for spatial decomposition and wholeNetCDFVariables() for time-series. The presentation will cover the architecture of SciSpark, the design of the scientific RDD (sRDD) data structures for N-dim. arrays, results from the three science Use Cases, example Notebooks, lessons learned from the algorithm implementations, and parallel performance metrics.

Conclusion.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnston, Whittle

1990-01-01

Examines the foreign policy of the Reagan administration. Discusses the critics of the Reagan doctrine, focusing on the criticisms launched against his weapons' policies. Analyzes the policy course of the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, outlining goals of the administration during the INF negotiations. Contends that Reagan's…

Draft Genome Sequence of Enterococcus hirae Strain INF E1 Isolated from Cultured Milk.

PubMed

Porcellato, Davide; Ostlie, Hilde M; Skeie, Siv B

2014-07-17

Here, we present the draft genome of Enterococcus hirae INF E1, found as a contaminant in cultured milk and studied for its ability to metabolize milk fat globule membrane glycoconjugates. Copyright © 2014 Porcellato et al.

Drug-specific risk of tuberculosis in patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with anti-TNF therapy: results from the British Society for Rheumatology Biologics Register (BSRBR).

PubMed

Dixon, W G; Hyrich, K L; Watson, K D; Lunt, M; Galloway, J; Ustianowski, A; Symmons, D P M

2010-03-01

The risk of tuberculosis (TB) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is thought to be increased following anti-tumour necrosis factor (anti-TNF) therapy, with a proposed differential risk between the anti-TNF drugs etanercept (ETA), infliximab (INF) and adalimumab (ADA). To compare directly the risk between drugs, to explore time to event, site of infection and the role of ethnicity. Data from the British Society for Rheumatology Biologics Register (BSRBR), a national prospective observational study, were used to compare TB rates in 10 712 anti-TNF treated patients (3913 ETA, 3295 INF, 3504 ADA) and 3232 patients with active RA treated with traditional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs. To April 2008, 40 cases of TB were reported, all in the anti-TNF cohort. The rate of TB was higher for the monoclonal antibodies ADA (144 events/100,000 person-years) and INF (136/100,000 person-years) than for ETA (39/100,000 person-years). After adjustment, the incidence rate ratio compared with ETA-treated patients was 3.1 (95% CI 1.0 to 9.5) for INF and 4.2 (1.4 to 12.4) for ADA. The median time to event was lowest for INF (5.5 months) compared with ETA (13.4 months) and ADA (18.5 months). 13/40 cases occurred after stopping treatment. 25/40 (62%) cases were extrapulmonary, of which 11 were disseminated. Patients of non-white ethnicity had a sixfold increased risk of TB compared with white patients treated with anti-TNF therapy. The rate of TB in patients with RA treated with anti-TNF therapy was three- to fourfold higher in patients receiving INF and ADA than in those receiving ETA.

Co-Encapsulating the Fusogenic Peptide INF7 and Molecular Imaging Probes in Liposomes Increases Intracellular Signal and Probe Retention

PubMed Central

Martin, Erik W.; Li, Changqing; Lu, Wuyuan; Kao, Joseph P. Y.

2015-01-01

Liposomes are promising vehicles to deliver diagnostic and therapeutic agents to cells in vivo. After uptake into cells by endocytosis, liposomes are degraded in the endolysosomal system. Consequently, the encapsulated cargo molecules frequently remain sequestered in endosomal compartments; this limits their usefulness in many applications (e.g. gene delivery). To overcome this, various fusogenic peptides have been developed to facilitate delivery of liposomally-encapsulated molecules into the cytosol. One such peptide is the pH-sensitive influenza-derived peptide INF7. Liposomal delivery of imaging agents is an attractive approach for enabling cell imaging and cell tracking in vivo, but can be hampered by inadequate intracellular accumulation and retention of probes caused by exocytosis (and possible degradation) of endosome-entrapped probes. Such signal loss could be minimized by facilitating escape of probe molecules from endolysosomal compartments into the cytosol. We investigated the ability of co-encapsulated INF7 to release liposomally-delivered rhodamine fluorophores into the cytosol after endosomal acidification/maturation. We co-encapsulated INF7 and fluorescent rhodamine derivatives having vastly different transport properties to show that after endocytosis by CV1 cells, the INF7 peptide is activated by acidic endosomal pH and facilitates efficient release of the fluorescent tracers into the cytosol. Furthermore, we show that INF7-facilitated escape from endosomes markedly enhanced retention of tracers that cannot be actively extruded from the cytosol. Minimizing loss of intracellular probes improves cellular imaging by increasing the signal-to-noise ratio of images and lengthening the time window that imaging can be performed. In particular, this will enhance in vivo electron paramagnetic resonance imaging, an emergent magnetic resonance imaging modality requires exogenous paramagnetic imaging agents and is highly promising for cellular and molecular imaging. PMID:25816348

Can pegylated interferon improve the outcome of polycythemia vera patients?

PubMed

Crisà, Elena; Cerrano, Marco; Beggiato, Eloise; Benevolo, Giulia; Lanzarone, Giuseppe; Manzini, Paola Maria; Borchiellini, Alessandra; Riera, Ludovica; Boccadoro, Mario; Ferrero, Dario

2017-01-13

Pegylated interferon (peg-IFN) was proven by phase II trials to be effective in polycythemia vera (PV); however, it is not clear whether it could improve patient outcome compared to hydroxyurea (HU). Here, we present an observational study on 65 PV patients aged 65 years or younger, who received either peg-IFN (30) or HU (35) according to the physician choice. Median follow-up was 75 months. The two cohorts were comparable for patient and disease characteristics. Eighty-seven percent of the patients treated with peg-INF responded, with a CR rate of 70% as compared to 100 and 49% with HU, respectively. Discontinuation rate was similar in the two groups (20% in peg-IFN vs 17% in HU). JAK2 allele burden was monitored in peg-INF arm only, and a reduction was observed in 88% of the patients. No thrombotic events were observed during peg-IFN treatment compared to three on HU. Disease progression to myelofibrosis or acute myeloid leukemia occurred to a patient only in peg-INF, compared to three in HU. Overall, three second malignancies were observed during the study, two in patients who received HU only, and one in a patient largely treated HU who received also peg-IFN for 3 months. Overall survival was significantly better for peg-IFN patients compared to HU, p = 0.027. Our study, albeit limited by small patient and event number and lack of randomization, confirms the efficacy of peg-INF in PV and shows a significant survival advantage for peg-INF-treated patients. Waiting for confirming data from the ongoing phase III trials, our study can support peg-INF as a first-line treatment option for PV, at least for younger patients.

Recent Results on Singularity Strengths

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nolan, Brien

2002-12-01

In this contribution, we review some recent results on strengths of singularities. In a space-time (M,g), let γ[τ0, 0) → M be an incomplete, inextendible causal geodesic, affinely parametrised by τ, tangent ěc k. Let Jτ1 :=set of Jacobi fields along γ, orthogonal to γ and vanishing at time τ1 ≥ τ0 i.e. ěc ξ ∈ J{τ 1 } iff D2ξa = -Rbcdakbkdξc, gabξakb = 0, and ěc ξ (τ 1 ) = 0. Vτ1(τ) := volume element defined by full set of independent elements of Jτ1 (2-dim for null geodesies, 3-dim for time-like); Vτ1 := ∥Vτ1∥. Definition (Tipler 1977): γ terminates in a gravitationally strong singularity if for all 0 > τ1 ≥ τ0, lim infτ→0- Vτ1(τ) = 0. γ... gravitationally weak ... lim infτ→0- Vτ1(τ) > 0. The interpretation is that at a strong singularity, an extended body, e.g. a gravitational wave detector, is crushed to zero volume by the singularity. Tipler's definition does not take account of the possibility that (i) V → ∞ or (ii) V → finite, non-zero value, but with infinite stretching/crushing in orthogonal directions ('spaghettifying singularity'). Extended definition (Nolan 1999): strong if either V → 0,∞ or if for every τ1, there is an element ěc ξ of Jτ1 satisfying ||ěc ξ || -> 0. Otherwise weak. (Ori 2000): singularity is 'deformationally strong' if either (i) it is Tipler-strong or (ii) for every τ1, there is an element ěc ξ of Jτ1 satisfying ||ěc ξ || -> ∞ . Otherwise, deformationally weak...

InfAcrOnt: calculating cross-ontology term similarities using information flow by a random walk.

PubMed

Cheng, Liang; Jiang, Yue; Ju, Hong; Sun, Jie; Peng, Jiajie; Zhou, Meng; Hu, Yang

2018-01-19

Since the establishment of the first biomedical ontology Gene Ontology (GO), the number of biomedical ontology has increased dramatically. Nowadays over 300 ontologies have been built including extensively used Disease Ontology (DO) and Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO). Because of the advantage of identifying novel relationships between terms, calculating similarity between ontology terms is one of the major tasks in this research area. Though similarities between terms within each ontology have been studied with in silico methods, term similarities across different ontologies were not investigated as deeply. The latest method took advantage of gene functional interaction network (GFIN) to explore such inter-ontology similarities of terms. However, it only used gene interactions and failed to make full use of the connectivity among gene nodes of the network. In addition, all existent methods are particularly designed for GO and their performances on the extended ontology community remain unknown. We proposed a method InfAcrOnt to infer similarities between terms across ontologies utilizing the entire GFIN. InfAcrOnt builds a term-gene-gene network which comprised ontology annotations and GFIN, and acquires similarities between terms across ontologies through modeling the information flow within the network by random walk. In our benchmark experiments on sub-ontologies of GO, InfAcrOnt achieves a high average area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) (0.9322 and 0.9309) and low standard deviations (1.8746e-6 and 3.0977e-6) in both human and yeast benchmark datasets exhibiting superior performance. Meanwhile, comparisons of InfAcrOnt results and prior knowledge on pair-wise DO-HPO terms and pair-wise DO-GO terms show high correlations. The experiment results show that InfAcrOnt significantly improves the performance of inferring similarities between terms across ontologies in benchmark set.

Inhaled methoxyflurane and intranasal fentanyl for prehospital management of visceral pain in an Australian ambulance service.

PubMed

Johnston, Steven; Wilkes, Garry J; Thompson, Jennifer A; Ziman, Mel; Brightwell, Richard

2011-01-01

This study analysed the analgesic effect and changes in vital signs associated with administration of inhaled Methoxyflurane (MTX) and/or intranasal Fentanyl (INF) for prehospital management of visceral pain. A retrospective, observational study reviewing 1024 randomly selected records of patients with presumed visceral pain administered MTX (465), INF (397) or both (162) by the Western Australian Ambulance Service between January 2004 and February 2006. Clinical variables assessed included systolic blood pressure, pulse rate, respiration rate and Glasgow Coma Scale score. Pain was assessed utilising Visual/Verbal Analogue Scale pain scores. Overall effects on vital signs appeared favourable 5 min after use and at hospital arrival with either agent alone or in combination. As sole agents, MTX produced the greatest initial pain scores reduction (2.0 (1.7 to 2.2) vs 1.6 (1.4 to 1.8)) (mean (95% CI), and INF provided greater pain reduction by hospital arrival (3.2 (2.9 to 3.5) vs 2.5 (2.1 to 2.9)). While both agents were effective, INF provided a greater pain score reduction for cardiac (3.0 (2.6 to 3.4) vs 2.3 (1.8 to 2.8)), female (3.4 (2.9 to 4.0) v 2.5 (2.0 to 3.0)) and age 75+ patients (3.2 (2.5 to 3.8) vs 1.8 (1.0 to 2.5)). Combined use of agents was not advantageous. MTX and INF are effective agents for providing visceral pain analgesia in the prehospital setting. While MTX provided a more rapid onset of pain relief, INF provided superior analgesia after subsequent doses and in female, cardiac and older patients.

Molecular characterization of a nosocomial outbreak of influenza B virus in an acute-care hospital setting.

PubMed

Sansone, Martina; Wiman, Åsa; Karlberg, Maria Lind; Brytting, Maria; Bohlin, Lars; Andersson, Lars-Magnus; Westin, Johan; Nordén, Rickard

2018-06-14

To describe a hospital outbreak of influenza B (InfB) virus infection during season 2015/2016 by combining clinical and epidemiological data with molecular methods. Twenty patients diagnosed with InfB from a hospital outbreak during a four-week-period were included. Nasopharyngeal swabs (NPS) positive for InfB by multiplex real-time PCR were sent for lineage typing and whole genome sequencing (WGS). Medical records were retrospectively reviewed for data regarding patient characteristics, localisation, exposure and outcome and assembled into a timeline. In order to find possible connections to the hospital outbreak, all patients with a positive NPS for influenza from the region during an extended time period were also reviewed. All 20 cases of InfB were of subtype B/Yamagata and 17/20 patients could be linked to each other by either shared room or shared ward. WGS was successful or partially successful for 15 of the 17 viral isolates and corroborated the epidemiological link supporting a close relationship. In the main affected ward, 19/75 in-patients were infected with InfB during the outbreak period resulting in an attack rate of 25%. One probable case of influenza-related death was identified. We present evidence that InfB virus may spread within an acute-care hospital and that advanced molecular methods may facilitate assessment of the source and extent of the outbreak. We believe a multifaceted approach including rapid diagnosis, early recognition of outbreak situations, simple rules for patient management and the use of regular infection control measures may efficiently prevent nosocomial transmission of influenza virus. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Corrigendum to ;On the computation of the multidimensional Mittag-Leffler function; [Commun. Nonlinear Sci. Numer. Simulat. 53 (2017) 278-287

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ortigueira, Manuel D.; Lopes, António M.; Machado, J. A. Tenreiro

2018-02-01

In the paper entitled "On the computation of the multidimensional Mittag-Leffler function" there is an error that originates some misleading nomenclature and results. The phrase in Section 2, page 2, three lines after equation (4), should be written as follows:

Stromal fibroblasts derived from mammary gland of bovine with mastitis display inflammation-specific changes

PubMed Central

Chen, Qing; He, Guiliang; Zhang, Wenyao; Xu, Tong; Qi, Hongliang; Li, Jing; Zhang, Yong; Gao, Ming-Qing

2016-01-01

Fibroblasts are predominant components of mammary stromal cells and play crucial roles in the development and involution of bovine mammary gland; however, whether these cells contribute to mastitis has not been demonstrated. Thus, we have undertaken biological and molecular characterization of inflammation-associated fibroblasts (INFs) extracted from bovine mammary glands with clinical mastitis and normal fibroblasts (NFs) from slaughtered dairy cows because of fractured legs during lactation. The functional contributions of INFs to normal epithelial cells were also investigated by using an in vitro co-culture model. We present evidence that the INFs were activated fibroblasts and showed inflammation-related features. Moreover, INFs significantly inhibited the proliferation and β-casein secretion of epithelial cells, as well as upregulated the expression of tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-8 in epithelial cells. These findings indicate that functional alterations can occur in stromal fibroblasts within the bovine mammary gland during mastitis, demonstrating the importance of stromal fibroblasts in bovine mastitis and its treatment. PMID:27272504

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

Garner, W.V.

The problem investigated here is how Soviet perceptions of particular military threats, in this case from NATO's new INF missiles, affect their arms control negotiating policy. This study most closely examines Soviet writings in the 1979-83 period and relies on extensive interviewing, sponsored by IREX, at the Soviet Academy of Sciences Institutes. It attempts to distinguish between Soviet portrayals and real perceptions of the military and political threats from the 1983 INF deployments. It explores how such Soviet assessments interrelate with Soviet military doctrine and broader foreign policy strategies, and how perceptions might differ among Soviet analysts and officials. Itmore » is divided into six chapters: (1) Historical Perspectives; (2) Soviet Threat Portrayals; (3) Evaluating Soviet Threat Portrayals; (4) Soviet Military Doctrine and the INF Threat; (5) Soviet Political-Military Interests at the INF Negotiations; (6) The Soviet Net Assessment. The study finds that Soviet threat portrayals are loosely consistent with Soviet perceptions of the potential threat, especially from an extended-range Pershing missile against their National Command Authorities.« less

Stromal fibroblasts derived from mammary gland of bovine with mastitis display inflammation-specific changes.

PubMed

Chen, Qing; He, Guiliang; Zhang, Wenyao; Xu, Tong; Qi, Hongliang; Li, Jing; Zhang, Yong; Gao, Ming-Qing

2016-06-07

Fibroblasts are predominant components of mammary stromal cells and play crucial roles in the development and involution of bovine mammary gland; however, whether these cells contribute to mastitis has not been demonstrated. Thus, we have undertaken biological and molecular characterization of inflammation-associated fibroblasts (INFs) extracted from bovine mammary glands with clinical mastitis and normal fibroblasts (NFs) from slaughtered dairy cows because of fractured legs during lactation. The functional contributions of INFs to normal epithelial cells were also investigated by using an in vitro co-culture model. We present evidence that the INFs were activated fibroblasts and showed inflammation-related features. Moreover, INFs significantly inhibited the proliferation and β-casein secretion of epithelial cells, as well as upregulated the expression of tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-8 in epithelial cells. These findings indicate that functional alterations can occur in stromal fibroblasts within the bovine mammary gland during mastitis, demonstrating the importance of stromal fibroblasts in bovine mastitis and its treatment.

Energetic Level Scheme of the Stable S=-2 Dihyperon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aslanyan, P. Z.; Shahbazian, B. A.

2001-11-01

The quark and soliton Skyrme-type models predict the two different sets of S=-2 stable dibaryon states. The lowest state of the quark model set is an I=0, Jπ = 0+, MH0 < 2MΛ isosinglet dibaryon, whereas that of solyton Skyrme-type model set is an I=1,Jπ = 0, MH-,H0,H+ ≈ 2370 MeV/c2 isotriplet dibaryon. On photographs of the JINR LHE 2m propane bubble chamber exposed to 10 GeV/c proton beam two groups of events interpreted as S=-2 stable dibaryons were observed [1-7]. Quasi-diffractive process plays the decisive role in dihyperon production. The average life for weak decay of stable dihyperons exceeds 3.3 10-10 s. Several Ξ- hyperons have been registrated in these collisions with an effective cross section of 1300-600 nb. The formally estimated effective cross section for H dibaryon production in propane at a momentum of 10 GeV/c is 100 nb.

Radioactive fallout projections and arms control agreements: INF (Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces) and START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty)

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

Shapiro, C.S.

1988-02-01

Projections of levels of radioactive fallout from a nuclear war are sensitive to assumptions about the structure of the nuclear stockpiles as well as the assumed scenarios for a nuclear war. Recent arms control proposals would change these parameters. This paper examines the implications of the proposed (Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces) INF treaty and (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) START on fallout projections from a major nuclear war. We conclude that the INF reductions are likely to have negligible effects on estimates of global and local fallout, whereas the START reductions could result in reductions in estimates of local fallout that rangemore » from significant to dramatic, depending upon the nature of the reduced strategic forces. Should a major war occur, projections of total fatalities from direct effects of blast, thermal radiation, a nd fallout, and the phenomenon known as nuclear winter, would not be significantly affected by INF and START initiatives as now drafted. 14 refs.« less

Soviet campaign against INF (intermediate-range nuclear forces): strategy, tactics, means. Interim report

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

Alexiev, A.R.

1985-02-01

Beginning in 1979, the Soviet Union mounted a major effort to prevent the deployment of NATO's INF (intermediate-range nuclear forces), which was scheduled to begin in 1983. The campaign failed to achieve its main objective, but it remains an instructive example of the Soviet effort to manipulate domestic trends in Western countries. This Note attempts to provide some insight into Soviet tactics and operational style. It places the INF issue within the framework of Soviet security concepts, reviews Soviet efforts to influence decision-making elites in West Germany against INF and to exacerbate U.S.-European friction within NATO, and analyzes the methodsmore » used by the Soviets in their campaign to co-opt the West German peace movement. The author finds that the campaign waged by the Soviets demonstrated a remarkable organizational and political capability that enabled them and their allies to exploit large numbers of noncommunists in West Germany, and contribute to the growing polarization of West German politics.« less

Anisotropic Properties of Single-Crystalline CeNiGe2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jung, M. H.; Harrison, N.; Lacerda, A. H.; Pagliuso, P. G.; Sarrao, J. L.; Thompson, J. D.

2002-07-01

The anisotropic properties of CeNiGe2 with a layered crystal structure have been studied by measurements of electrical resistivity, magnetic susceptibility and magnetization. It is confirmed that CeNiGe2 undergoes two-step antiferromagnetic transition at TNI = 4 K and TNII = 3 K as reported earlier on polycrystalline samples. CeNiGe2 is found to exhibit highly anisotropic properties with an easy magnetization axis along the longest crystallographic b direction. The magnetization ratio M(H//b)/M(H⊥b) is estimated to be about 15 at 5 T. The in-plane resistivity ρ⊥b(T) shows double maxima typical of that expected when an interplay of crystal-field and Kondo effects plays a role. The low-T maximum at 4 K in ρ⊥b(T) is strongly suppressed with increasing magnetic field. This negative magnetoresistance is a result of the strong reduction of magnetic scattering by the ferromagnetic alignment of Ce magnetic moments.

Fast separation of two trapped ions (Open Access, Publisher’s Version)

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-17

of quantum states and separation of ions in a dual rf ion trapQuantum Inf. Comput . 2 257 [10] KaufmannH, Ruster T, SchmiegelowCT, Schmidt-Kaler F...Ruschhaupt et al. Shortcuts to adiabaticity for an ion in a rotating radially-tight trap M Palmero, Shuo Wang, D Guéry-Odelin et al. Optimal shortcuts for...Kiely, J P L McGuinness, J G Muga et al. Quantum simulations with cold trapped ions Michael Johanning, Andrés F Varón and Christof Wunderlich Quantum

Performance Engineering Research Institute SciDAC-2 Enabling Technologies Institute Final Report

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

Lucas, Robert

2013-04-20

Enhancing the performance of SciDAC applications on petascale systems had high priority within DOE SC at the start of the second phase of the SciDAC program, SciDAC-2, as it continues to do so today. Achieving expected levels of performance on high-end computing (HEC) systems is growing ever more challenging due to enormous scale, increasing architectural complexity, and increasing application complexity. To address these challenges, the University of Southern California?s Information Sciences Institute organized the Performance Engineering Research Institute (PERI). PERI implemented a unified, tripartite research plan encompassing: (1) performance modeling and prediction; (2) automatic performance tuning; and (3) performance engineeringmore » of high profile applications. Within PERI, USC?s primary research activity was automatic tuning (autotuning) of scientific software. This activity was spurred by the strong user preference for automatic tools and was based on previous successful activities such as ATLAS, which automatically tuned components of the LAPACK linear algebra library, and other recent work on autotuning domain-specific libraries. Our other major component was application engagement, to which we devoted approximately 30% of our effort to work directly with SciDAC-2 applications. This report is a summary of the overall results of the USC PERI effort.« less

Longitudinal changes in femur bone mineral density after spinal cord injury: effects of slice placement and peel method

PubMed Central

Dudley-Javoroski, S.

2010-01-01

Summary Surveillance of femur metaphysis bone mineral density (BMD) decline after spinal cord injury (SCI) may be subject to slice placement error of 2.5%. Adaptations to anti-osteoporosis measures should exceed this potential source of error. Image analysis parameters likewise affect BMD output and should be selected strategically in longitudinal studies. Introduction Understanding the longitudinal changes in bone mineral density (BMD) after spinal cord injury (SCI) is important when assessing new interventions. We determined the longitudinal effect of SCI on BMD of the femur metaphysis. To facilitate interpretation of longitudinal outcomes, we (1) determined the BMD difference associated with erroneous peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) slice placement, and (2) determined the effect of operator-selected pQCT peel algorithms on BMD. Methods pQCT images were obtained from the femur metaphysis (12% of length from distal end) of adult subjects with and without SCI. Slice placement errors were simulated at 3 mm intervals and were processed in two ways (threshold-based vs. concentric peel). Results BMD demonstrated a rapid decline over 2 years post-injury. BMD differences attributable to operator-selected peel methods were large (17.3% for subjects with SCI). Conclusions Femur metaphysis BMD declines after SCI in a manner similar to other anatomic sites. Concentric (percentage-based) peel methods may be most appropriate when special sensitivity is required to detect BMD adaptations. Threshold-based methods may be more appropriate when asymmetric adaptations are observed. PMID:19707702

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

Childs, Andrew M.; Center for Theoretical Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139; Leung, Debbie W.

We present unified, systematic derivations of schemes in the two known measurement-based models of quantum computation. The first model (introduced by Raussendorf and Briegel, [Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 5188 (2001)]) uses a fixed entangled state, adaptive measurements on single qubits, and feedforward of the measurement results. The second model (proposed by Nielsen, [Phys. Lett. A 308, 96 (2003)] and further simplified by Leung, [Int. J. Quant. Inf. 2, 33 (2004)]) uses adaptive two-qubit measurements that can be applied to arbitrary pairs of qubits, and feedforward of the measurement results. The underlying principle of our derivations is a variant of teleportationmore » introduced by Zhou, Leung, and Chuang, [Phys. Rev. A 62, 052316 (2000)]. Our derivations unify these two measurement-based models of quantum computation and provide significantly simpler schemes.« less

The Secret Life of Quarks, Final Report for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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

Fowler, Robert J.

This final report summarizes activities and results at the University of North Carolina as part of the the SciDAC-2 Project The Secret Life of Quarks: National Computational Infrastructure for Lattice Quantum Chromodynamics. The overall objective of the project is to construct the software needed to study quantum chromo- dynamics (QCD), the theory of the strong interactions of subatomic physics, and similar strongly coupled gauge theories anticipated to be of importance in the LHC era. It built upon the successful efforts of the SciDAC-1 project National Computational Infrastructure for Lattice Gauge Theory, in which a QCD Applications Programming Interface (QCD API)more » was developed that enables lat- tice gauge theorists to make effective use of a wide variety of massively parallel computers. In the SciDAC-2 project, optimized versions of the QCD API were being created for the IBM Blue- Gene/L (BG/L) and BlueGene/P (BG/P), the Cray XT3/XT4 and its successors, and clusters based on multi-core processors and Infiniband communications networks. The QCD API is being used to enhance the performance of the major QCD community codes and to create new applications. Software libraries of physics tools have been expanded to contain sharable building blocks for inclusion in application codes, performance analysis and visualization tools, and software for au- tomation of physics work flow. New software tools were designed for managing the large data sets generated in lattice QCD simulations, and for sharing them through the International Lattice Data Grid consortium. As part of the overall project, researchers at UNC were funded through ASCR to work in three general areas. The main thrust has been performance instrumentation and analysis in support of the SciDAC QCD code base as it evolved and as it moved to new computation platforms. In support of the performance activities, performance data was to be collected in a database for the purpose of broader analysis. Third, the UNC work was done at RENCI (Renaissance Computing Institute), which has extensive expertise and facilities for scientific data visualization, so we acted in an ongoing consulting and support role in that area.« less

Synergistic induction of apoptosis in primary rat decidual cells by INF-gamma and TNF.

PubMed

Almeida, A; Correia-da-Silva, G; Cepa, M; Bell, S C; Teixeira, N A

2007-03-01

In the rat, in response to blastocyst implantation, stromal cells of the endometrium proliferate and differentiate into decidual cells, forming the decidua. After reaching its maximum development, the decidua undergoes regression. This phenomenon appears to be due to an active process involving apoptosis. As there is sparse knowledge concerning the mechanisms of induction of decidual cell death, the potential role of cytokines present in the uterine environment during pregnancy, such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interferon-gamma (INF-gamma) was explored in primary cultures of rat decidual cells. The effects of these factors upon cellular viability, nuclear morphologic alterations, expression, and enzymatic activities of the effector caspases-3/7 were evaluated. The results obtained demonstrated that in contrast to TNF, which did not induce any alteration, INF-gamma and in association with TNF caused a decrease in cell viability and an increase in the appearance of apoptotic bodies in a time-dependent manner that was augmented in the co-presence of TNF. An increase in caspase-3/7 activities after 12 hr of TNF/INF-gamma treatment was also observed. These findings suggest that INF-gamma expressed in the uterine environment may play an important role in regulating apoptosis through potential synergistic mechanisms with TNF and thereby modulate decidual stability and regression during pregnancy. (c) 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Effects of spinal cord injury-induced changes in muscle activation on foot drag in a computational rat ankle model

PubMed Central

Hillen, Brian K.; Jindrich, Devin L.; Abbas, James J.; Yamaguchi, Gary T.

2015-01-01

Spinal cord injury (SCI) can lead to changes in muscle activation patterns and atrophy of affected muscles. Moderate levels of SCI are typically associated with foot drag during the swing phase of locomotion. Foot drag is often used to assess locomotor recovery, but the causes remain unclear. We hypothesized that foot drag results from inappropriate muscle coordination preventing flexion at the stance-to-swing transition. To test this hypothesis and to assess the relative contributions of neural and muscular changes on foot drag, we developed a two-dimensional, one degree of freedom ankle musculoskeletal model with gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior muscles. Anatomical data collected from sham-injured and incomplete SCI (iSCI) female Long-Evans rats as well as physiological data from the literature were used to implement an open-loop muscle dynamics model. Muscle insertion point motion was calculated with imposed ankle trajectories from kinematic analysis of treadmill walking in sham-injured and iSCI animals. Relative gastrocnemius deactivation and tibialis anterior activation onset times were varied within physiologically relevant ranges based on simplified locomotor electromyogram profiles. No-atrophy and moderate muscle atrophy as well as normal and injured muscle activation profiles were also simulated. Positive moments coinciding with the transition from stance to swing phase were defined as foot swing and negative moments as foot drag. Whereas decreases in activation delay caused by delayed gastrocnemius deactivation promote foot drag, all other changes associated with iSCI facilitate foot swing. Our results suggest that even small changes in the ability to precisely deactivate the gastrocnemius could result in foot drag after iSCI. PMID:25673734

Effects of spinal cord injury-induced changes in muscle activation on foot drag in a computational rat ankle model.

PubMed

Hillen, Brian K; Jindrich, Devin L; Abbas, James J; Yamaguchi, Gary T; Jung, Ranu

2015-04-01

Spinal cord injury (SCI) can lead to changes in muscle activation patterns and atrophy of affected muscles. Moderate levels of SCI are typically associated with foot drag during the swing phase of locomotion. Foot drag is often used to assess locomotor recovery, but the causes remain unclear. We hypothesized that foot drag results from inappropriate muscle coordination preventing flexion at the stance-to-swing transition. To test this hypothesis and to assess the relative contributions of neural and muscular changes on foot drag, we developed a two-dimensional, one degree of freedom ankle musculoskeletal model with gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior muscles. Anatomical data collected from sham-injured and incomplete SCI (iSCI) female Long-Evans rats as well as physiological data from the literature were used to implement an open-loop muscle dynamics model. Muscle insertion point motion was calculated with imposed ankle trajectories from kinematic analysis of treadmill walking in sham-injured and iSCI animals. Relative gastrocnemius deactivation and tibialis anterior activation onset times were varied within physiologically relevant ranges based on simplified locomotor electromyogram profiles. No-atrophy and moderate muscle atrophy as well as normal and injured muscle activation profiles were also simulated. Positive moments coinciding with the transition from stance to swing phase were defined as foot swing and negative moments as foot drag. Whereas decreases in activation delay caused by delayed gastrocnemius deactivation promote foot drag, all other changes associated with iSCI facilitate foot swing. Our results suggest that even small changes in the ability to precisely deactivate the gastrocnemius could result in foot drag after iSCI. Copyright © 2015 the American Physiological Society.

Compiling Planning into Quantum Optimization Problems: A Comparative Study

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-06-07

and Sipser, M. 2000. Quantum computation by adiabatic evolution. arXiv:quant- ph/0001106. Fikes, R. E., and Nilsson, N. J. 1972. STRIPS: A new...become available: quantum annealing. Quantum annealing is one of the most accessible quantum algorithms for a computer sci- ence audience not versed...in quantum computing because of its close ties to classical optimization algorithms such as simulated annealing. While large-scale universal quantum

GENESIS SciFlo: Choreographing Interoperable Web Services on the Grid using a Semantically-Enabled Dataflow Execution Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, B. D.; Manipon, G.; Xing, Z.

2007-12-01

The General Earth Science Investigation Suite (GENESIS) project is a NASA-sponsored partnership between the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, academia, and NASA data centers to develop a new suite of Web Services tools to facilitate multi-sensor investigations in Earth System Science. The goal of GENESIS is to enable large-scale, multi-instrument atmospheric science using combined datasets from the AIRS, MODIS, MISR, and GPS sensors. Investigations include cross-comparison of spaceborne climate sensors, cloud spectral analysis, study of upper troposphere-stratosphere water transport, study of the aerosol indirect cloud effect, and global climate model validation. The challenges are to bring together very large datasets, reformat and understand the individual instrument retrievals, co-register or re-grid the retrieved physical parameters, perform computationally-intensive data fusion and data mining operations, and accumulate complex statistics over months to years of data. To meet these challenges, we have developed a Grid computing and dataflow framework, named SciFlo, in which we are deploying a set of versatile and reusable operators for data access, subsetting, registration, mining, fusion, compression, and advanced statistical analysis. SciFlo leverages remote Web Services, called via Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) or REST (one-line) URLs, and the Grid Computing standards (WS-* & Globus Alliance toolkits), and enables scientists to do multi- instrument Earth Science by assembling reusable Web Services and native executables into a distributed computing flow (tree of operators). The SciFlo client & server engines optimize the execution of such distributed data flows and allow the user to transparently find and use datasets and operators without worrying about the actual location of the Grid resources. In particular, SciFlo exploits the wealth of datasets accessible by OpenGIS Consortium (OGC) Web Mapping Servers & Web Coverage Servers (WMS/WCS), and by Open Data Access Protocol (OpenDAP) servers. SciFlo also publishes its own SOAP services for space/time query and subsetting of Earth Science datasets, and automated access to large datasets via lists of (FTP, HTTP, or DAP) URLs which point to on-line HDF or netCDF files. Typical distributed workflows obtain datasets by calling standard WMS/WCS servers or discovering and fetching data granules from ftp sites; invoke remote analysis operators available as SOAP services (interface described by a WSDL document); and merge results into binary containers (netCDF or HDF files) for further analysis using local executable operators. Naming conventions (HDFEOS and CF-1.0 for netCDF) are exploited to automatically understand and read on-line datasets. More interoperable conventions, and broader adoption of existing converntions, are vital if we are to "scale up" automated choreography of Web Services beyond toy applications. Recently, the ESIP Federation sponsored a collaborative activity in which several ESIP members developed some collaborative science scenarios for atmospheric and aerosol science, and then choreographed services from multiple groups into demonstration workflows using the SciFlo engine and a Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) workflow engine. We will discuss the lessons learned from this activity, the need for standardized interfaces (like WMS/WCS), the difficulty in agreeing on even simple XML formats and interfaces, the benefits of doing collaborative science analysis at the "touch of a button" once services are connected, and further collaborations that are being pursued.

a Measurement of the Fine Structure Constant

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hensley, Joel M.; Wicht, Andreas; Sarajlic, Edina; Chu, Steven

2002-06-01

Using an atom interferometer method, we measure the recoil velocity of cesium due to the coherent scattering of a photon. This measurement is used to obtain a preliminary value of ħ/MCs and the fine structure constant, α, with an uncertainty Δα/α = 7.3 × 10-9.

Verifying the INF and START treaties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ifft, Edward

2014-05-01

The INF and START Treaties form the basis for constraints on nuclear weapons. Their verification provisions are one of the great success stories of modern arms control and will be an important part of the foundation upon which the verification regime for further constraints on nuclear weapons will be constructed.

Verifying the INF and START treaties

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

Ifft, Edward

The INF and START Treaties form the basis for constraints on nuclear weapons. Their verification provisions are one of the great success stories of modern arms control and will be an important part of the foundation upon which the verification regime for further constraints on nuclear weapons will be constructed.

The Multifaceted Effects of Agmatine on Functional Recovery after Spinal Cord Injury through Modulations of BMP-2/4/7 Expressions in Neurons and Glial Cells

PubMed Central

Park, Yu Mi; Lee, Won Taek; Bokara, Kiran Kumar; Seo, Su Kyoung; Park, Seung Hwa; Kim, Jae Hwan; Yenari, Midori A.; Park, Kyung Ah; Lee, Jong Eun

2013-01-01

Presently, few treatments for spinal cord injury (SCI) are available and none have facilitated neural regeneration and/or significant functional improvement. Agmatine (Agm), a guanidinium compound formed from decarboxylation of L-arginine by arginine decarboxylase, is a neurotransmitter/neuromodulator and been reported to exert neuroprotective effects in central nervous system injury models including SCI. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the multifaceted effects of Agm on functional recovery and remyelinating events following SCI. Compression SCI in mice was produced by placing a 15 g/mm2 weight for 1 min at thoracic vertebra (Th) 9 segment. Mice that received an intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of Agm (100 mg/kg/day) within 1 hour after SCI until 35 days showed improvement in locomotor recovery and bladder function. Emphasis was made on the analysis of remyelination events, neuronal cell preservation and ablation of glial scar area following SCI. Agm treatment significantly inhibited the demyelination events, neuronal loss and glial scar around the lesion site. In light of recent findings that expressions of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are modulated in the neuronal and glial cell population after SCI, we hypothesized whether Agm could modulate BMP- 2/4/7 expressions in neurons, astrocytes, oligodendrocytes and play key role in promoting the neuronal and glial cell survival in the injured spinal cord. The results from computer assisted stereological toolbox analysis (CAST) demonstrate that Agm treatment dramatically increased BMP- 2/7 expressions in neurons and oligodendrocytes. On the other hand, BMP- 4 expressions were significantly decreased in astrocytes and oligodendrocytes around the lesion site. Together, our results reveal that Agm treatment improved neurological and histological outcomes, induced oligodendrogenesis, protected neurons, and decreased glial scar formation through modulating the BMP- 2/4/7 expressions following SCI. PMID:23349763

SciDAC-Data, A Project to Enabling Data Driven Modeling of Exascale Computing

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

Mubarak, M.; Ding, P.; Aliaga, L.

The SciDAC-Data project is a DOE funded initiative to analyze and exploit two decades of information and analytics that have been collected by the Fermilab Data Center on the organization, movement, and consumption of High Energy Physics data. The project will analyze the analysis patterns and data organization that have been used by the NOvA, MicroBooNE, MINERvA and other experiments, to develop realistic models of HEP analysis workflows and data processing. The SciDAC-Data project aims to provide both realistic input vectors and corresponding output data that can be used to optimize and validate simulations of HEP analysis. These simulations aremore » designed to address questions of data handling, cache optimization and workflow structures that are the prerequisites for modern HEP analysis chains to be mapped and optimized to run on the next generation of leadership class exascale computing facilities. We will address the use of the SciDAC-Data distributions acquired from Fermilab Data Center’s analysis workflows and corresponding to around 71,000 HEP jobs, as the input to detailed queuing simulations that model the expected data consumption and caching behaviors of the work running in HPC environments. In particular we describe in detail how the Sequential Access via Metadata (SAM) data handling system in combination with the dCache/Enstore based data archive facilities have been analyzed to develop the radically different models of the analysis of HEP data. We present how the simulation may be used to analyze the impact of design choices in archive facilities.« less

Development of a Formal Theory of Agent-Based Computing for System Evaluation and System-Design Guidance

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-06-01

Department of EE and Computer Science University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA pollackm@eecs.umich.edu Sujata Banerjeez Info. Sci. & Telecom. Dept...University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA sujata @tele.pitt.edu Abstract An important aspect of Business to Business E- Commerce is the agile

Scidac-Data: Enabling Data Driven Modeling of Exascale Computing

DOE PAGES

Mubarak, Misbah; Ding, Pengfei; Aliaga, Leo; ...

2017-11-23

Here, the SciDAC-Data project is a DOE-funded initiative to analyze and exploit two decades of information and analytics that have been collected by the Fermilab data center on the organization, movement, and consumption of high energy physics (HEP) data. The project analyzes the analysis patterns and data organization that have been used by NOvA, MicroBooNE, MINERvA, CDF, D0, and other experiments to develop realistic models of HEP analysis workflows and data processing. The SciDAC-Data project aims to provide both realistic input vectors and corresponding output data that can be used to optimize and validate simulations of HEP analysis. These simulationsmore » are designed to address questions of data handling, cache optimization, and workflow structures that are the prerequisites for modern HEP analysis chains to be mapped and optimized to run on the next generation of leadership-class exascale computing facilities. We present the use of a subset of the SciDAC-Data distributions, acquired from analysis of approximately 71,000 HEP workflows run on the Fermilab data center and corresponding to over 9 million individual analysis jobs, as the input to detailed queuing simulations that model the expected data consumption and caching behaviors of the work running in high performance computing (HPC) and high throughput computing (HTC) environments. In particular we describe how the Sequential Access via Metadata (SAM) data-handling system in combination with the dCache/Enstore-based data archive facilities has been used to develop radically different models for analyzing the HEP data. We also show how the simulations may be used to assess the impact of design choices in archive facilities.« less

Scidac-Data: Enabling Data Driven Modeling of Exascale Computing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mubarak, Misbah; Ding, Pengfei; Aliaga, Leo; Tsaris, Aristeidis; Norman, Andrew; Lyon, Adam; Ross, Robert

2017-10-01

The SciDAC-Data project is a DOE-funded initiative to analyze and exploit two decades of information and analytics that have been collected by the Fermilab data center on the organization, movement, and consumption of high energy physics (HEP) data. The project analyzes the analysis patterns and data organization that have been used by NOvA, MicroBooNE, MINERvA, CDF, D0, and other experiments to develop realistic models of HEP analysis workflows and data processing. The SciDAC-Data project aims to provide both realistic input vectors and corresponding output data that can be used to optimize and validate simulations of HEP analysis. These simulations are designed to address questions of data handling, cache optimization, and workflow structures that are the prerequisites for modern HEP analysis chains to be mapped and optimized to run on the next generation of leadership-class exascale computing facilities. We present the use of a subset of the SciDAC-Data distributions, acquired from analysis of approximately 71,000 HEP workflows run on the Fermilab data center and corresponding to over 9 million individual analysis jobs, as the input to detailed queuing simulations that model the expected data consumption and caching behaviors of the work running in high performance computing (HPC) and high throughput computing (HTC) environments. In particular we describe how the Sequential Access via Metadata (SAM) data-handling system in combination with the dCache/Enstore-based data archive facilities has been used to develop radically different models for analyzing the HEP data. We also show how the simulations may be used to assess the impact of design choices in archive facilities.

Scidac-Data: Enabling Data Driven Modeling of Exascale Computing

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

Mubarak, Misbah; Ding, Pengfei; Aliaga, Leo

Here, the SciDAC-Data project is a DOE-funded initiative to analyze and exploit two decades of information and analytics that have been collected by the Fermilab data center on the organization, movement, and consumption of high energy physics (HEP) data. The project analyzes the analysis patterns and data organization that have been used by NOvA, MicroBooNE, MINERvA, CDF, D0, and other experiments to develop realistic models of HEP analysis workflows and data processing. The SciDAC-Data project aims to provide both realistic input vectors and corresponding output data that can be used to optimize and validate simulations of HEP analysis. These simulationsmore » are designed to address questions of data handling, cache optimization, and workflow structures that are the prerequisites for modern HEP analysis chains to be mapped and optimized to run on the next generation of leadership-class exascale computing facilities. We present the use of a subset of the SciDAC-Data distributions, acquired from analysis of approximately 71,000 HEP workflows run on the Fermilab data center and corresponding to over 9 million individual analysis jobs, as the input to detailed queuing simulations that model the expected data consumption and caching behaviors of the work running in high performance computing (HPC) and high throughput computing (HTC) environments. In particular we describe how the Sequential Access via Metadata (SAM) data-handling system in combination with the dCache/Enstore-based data archive facilities has been used to develop radically different models for analyzing the HEP data. We also show how the simulations may be used to assess the impact of design choices in archive facilities.« less

Six Month Oral Toxicity Study of WR238605 Succinate in Rats. Volume 2

DTIC Science & Technology

1996-02-02

chronic, per {vascular Accumulation, foamy macrophage KIDNEY Mineralization Inf laomat ion, chronic Nephropathy Hydronephrosis Pyelonephritis...KIDNEY # EX Mineralization Inflammation, chronic Nephropathy Hydronephrosis Py»lonaphrItIs Hyperplasia, pelvic epithelium Pigmentation, cortex...Mineralization Inf Lajaaat ion, chronic Nephropathy Hydronephrosis Pigmentation, cor ten (1) - - - ɚ> (1) - ə> - (1) - ə> - 2L

Military Post Office Mail Distribution Scheme (MPOMDS)

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-04-01

VIENNA) 09667-0001 AMERICAN EMBASSY BELGIUM (BRUSSELS) 34032-0001 AMERICAN EMBASSY BOLIVIA (LA PAZ) 34030-0001 AMERICAN EMBASSY BRAZIL (BRASILA) 34033...1801 3 INF DIV, NCO ACADEMY 09036- 2018 3 INF, REPL DET 09701-1815 3 MATERIAL MAINT CMD 09182-1823 3 MED BN 09164-3443 3 MED DET 09164-3433 3 MED DET

A mitochondria-anchored isoform of the actin-nucleating spire protein regulates mitochondrial division.

PubMed

Manor, Uri; Bartholomew, Sadie; Golani, Gonen; Christenson, Eric; Kozlov, Michael; Higgs, Henry; Spudich, James; Lippincott-Schwartz, Jennifer

2015-08-25

Mitochondrial division, essential for survival in mammals, is enhanced by an inter-organellar process involving ER tubules encircling and constricting mitochondria. The force for constriction is thought to involve actin polymerization by the ER-anchored isoform of the formin protein inverted formin 2 (INF2). Unknown is the mechanism triggering INF2-mediated actin polymerization at ER-mitochondria intersections. We show that a novel isoform of the formin-binding, actin-nucleating protein Spire, Spire1C, localizes to mitochondria and directly links mitochondria to the actin cytoskeleton and the ER. Spire1C binds INF2 and promotes actin assembly on mitochondrial surfaces. Disrupting either Spire1C actin- or formin-binding activities reduces mitochondrial constriction and division. We propose Spire1C cooperates with INF2 to regulate actin assembly at ER-mitochondrial contacts. Simulations support this model's feasibility and demonstrate polymerizing actin filaments can induce mitochondrial constriction. Thus, Spire1C is optimally positioned to serve as a molecular hub that links mitochondria to actin and the ER for regulation of mitochondrial division.

Experiments with d-wave Superconductors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mannhart, J.; Hilgenkamp, H.; Hammerl, G.; Schneider, C. W.

2003-10-01

The predominant dx2-y2-wave pairing-symmetry of most high-Tc, superconductors provides the opportunity to fabricate Josephson junction circuits in which part of the junctions are biased by a phase difference of the superconducting order parameter of π. To explore the road to such π-electronics, we have fabricated and studied all-high-Tc dc superconducting quantum interference devices (dc SQUIDs) realized with thin film technology, of which the Josephson junctions consist of one standard junction and one junction with a π-phase shift. These π-SQUIDs provide clear evidence of the dx2-y2-wave symmetry of the order parameter, the amount of complex admixtures of other symmetry components being undetectably small. This seems to contradict other experiments, the results of which have been presented as evidence for an s-wave order parameter or for complex admixtures. Possible solutions to resolve this apparent contradiction are presented. In particular it is pointed out that even in the bulk of a superconductor the order parameter symmetry (the admixture of various symmetry components) may be spatially dependent.

Interferon-gamma (INF-gamma) release test can detect cutaneous adverse effects to statins.

PubMed

Goldberg, Ilan; Isman, Gila; Shirazi, Idit; Brenner, Sarah

2009-12-01

An increasing number of cutaneous adverse effects are being reported as use of statins becomes more widespread. A study was undertaken to establish the relationship between statin and a cutaneous reaction by the in vitro interferon-gamma (INF-gamma) release test. The lymphocytes of 20 patients with suspected drug-induced skin reaction were incubated with and without the drug. The level of INF-gamma from the supernatant was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the increase calculated. Response was positive in 27 (21.43%) of the 126 drugs. Statin was the only drug with a positive response in 80% of those cases. Nine of 20 patients (45.0%) had complete resolution after discontinuation of the drug; 6 (30.0%) who replaced one drug by another statin had partial or no resolution; and 5 (20.0%) had no resolution despite cessation of statins of all kinds. A positive INF-gamma release test was found in patients who developed skin reactions while taking statins; the test's reliability was strengthened by prompt improvement following elimination of the suspected drug in the majority of patients.

Non-Volatile High Speed & Low Power Charge Trapping Devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Moon Kyung; Tiwari, Sandip

2007-06-01

We report the operational characteristics of ultra-small-scaled SONOS (below 50 nm gate width and length) and SiO2/SiO2 structural devices with 0.5 um gate width and length where trapping occurs in a very narrow region. The experimental work summarizes the memory characteristics of retention time, endurance cycles, and speed in SONOS and SiO2/SiO2 structures. Silicon nitride has many defects to hold electrons as charge storage media in SONOS memory. Defects are also incorporated during growth and deposition in device processing. Our experiments show that the interface between two oxides, one grown and one deposited, provides a remarkable media for electron storage with a smaller gate stack and thus lower operating voltage. The exponential dependence of the time on the voltage is reflected in the characteristic energy. It is ˜0.44 eV for the write process and ˜0.47 eV for the erase process in SiO2/SiO2 structural device which is somewhat more efficient than those of SONOS structure memory.

E2/M1 and C2/M1 at Elsa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gothe, R. W.

2003-07-01

At the ELectron Stretcher Accelerator ELSA the four momentum transfer dependence of the N to Δ transition has been investigated by measuring the \\vartheta {π }{*} and \\varphi {π }{*} angular distribution of the double differential pion production cross sections in a series of electron scattering coincidence experiments on hydrogen in the -K2-range from 0.04 GeV2 to 0.8 GeV2. The azimuthal angular dependence of the hadronic cross section is based on the polarization of the virtual photon and separates the response functions RT + ∈LRL, RLT and RTT. Whereas the individual \\vartheta {π }{*} -dependences of these response functions allow to form specific ratios, which are sensitive either to the electric transverse (E2 or E1+) or the Coulomb (C2 or S1+) quadrupole transition amplitudes. Preliminary results on the extraction of such multipole ratios have been previously reported in the NSTAR 2000 proceedings1. First results for a -K2 of 0.638 GeV2 obtained after radiative and resolution dependent corrections are described here and compared to other most recent experimental results.

Near-perfect compliance with SCIP Inf-9 had no effect on catheter utilization or urinary tract infections at an academic medical center.

PubMed

Kaplan, Jennifer A; Carter, Jonathan T

2018-01-01

The Joint Commission's SCIP Inf-9 mandated early removal of indwelling urinary catheters (IUCs), but the impact of compliance on catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) and postoperative urinary retention (POUR) are unknown. Retrospective pre- and post-intervention study at a single tertiary academic medical center of all patients undergoing general surgery procedures with an IUC placed at the time of surgery who were admitted for at least two days before and after a Best Practice Advisory was put in place to improve compliance with SCIP Inf-9. A total of 1036 patients were included (468 pre-intervention; 568 post-intervention). POUR occurred in 13% of patients and CAUTI in 0.8%. There was no change in POUR, CAUTI, or catheter utilization after the Best Practice Advisory was initiated. Both POUR and CAUTI predicted longer lengths of stay. Near-perfect SCIP Inf-9 compliance had no effect on the CAUTI rate at our institution. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

SCiP at 35: an idiosyncratic history of the society for computers in psychology.

PubMed

Wolfe, Christopher R

2006-05-01

SCiP history may be divided into three eras: the Paleozoic (1971-1982), the Mesozoic (1982-1994), and the Cenozoic (1994-present). Following a list of Secretary-Treasurers, a list of all SCiP Presidents is provided in Table 1. Next I present personal highlights, including the first symposium on psychology and the World-Wide Web; David Rumelhart's mathematical explanation of connectionism; and Stevan Hamad's discussion of "freeing" the journal literature. I observe that a small conference is becoming more intimate and that much of our mission involves figuring out how to conduct high-quality scientific research with consumer-grade electronics. I argue that we are an increasingly international organization, that graduate students are welcome, and that we should become more inclusive in the areas of gender and ethnicity and should make membership more meaningful I conclude by looking ahead and attempting to predict the future.

WRKY Transcription Factors Phosphorylated by MAPK Regulate a Plant Immune NADPH Oxidase in Nicotiana benthamiana[OPEN

PubMed Central

Adachi, Hiroaki; Nakano, Takaaki; Miyagawa, Noriko; Ishihama, Nobuaki; Yoshioka, Miki; Katou, Yuri; Yaeno, Takashi

2015-01-01

Pathogen attack sequentially confers pattern-triggered immunity (PTI) and effector-triggered immunity (ETI) after sensing of pathogen patterns and effectors by plant immune receptors, respectively. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play pivotal roles in PTI and ETI as signaling molecules. Nicotiana benthamiana RBOHB, an NADPH oxidase, is responsible for both the transient PTI ROS burst and the robust ETI ROS burst. Here, we show that RBOHB transactivation mediated by MAPK contributes to R3a/AVR3a-triggered ETI (AVR3a-ETI) ROS burst. RBOHB is markedly induced during the ETI and INF1-triggered PTI (INF1-PTI), but not flg22-tiggered PTI (flg22-PTI). We found that the RBOHB promoter contains a functional W-box in the R3a/AVR3a and INF1 signal-responsive cis-element. Ectopic expression of four phospho-mimicking mutants of WRKY transcription factors, which are MAPK substrates, induced RBOHB, and yeast one-hybrid analysis indicated that these mutants bind to the cis-element. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays indicated direct binding of the WRKY to the cis-element in plants. Silencing of multiple WRKY genes compromised the upregulation of RBOHB, resulting in impairment of AVR3a-ETI and INF1-PTI ROS bursts, but not the flg22-PTI ROS burst. These results suggest that the MAPK-WRKY pathway is required for AVR3a-ETI and INF1-PTI ROS bursts by activation of RBOHB. PMID:26373453

Genome-wide transcriptional changes of ramie (Boehmeria nivea L. Gaud) in response to root-lesion nematode infection.

PubMed

Zhu, Siyuan; Tang, Shouwei; Tang, Qingming; Liu, Touming

2014-11-15

Ramie fiber extracted from stem bark is one of the most important natural fibers. The root-lesion nematode (RLN) Pratylenchus coffeae is a major ramie pest and causes large fiber yield losses in China annually. The response mechanism of ramie to RLN infection is poorly understood. In this study, we identified genes that are potentially involved in the RLN-resistance in ramie using Illumina pair-end sequencing in two RLN-infected plants (Inf1 and Inf2) and two control plants (CO1 and CO2). Approximately 56.3, 51.7, 43.4, and 45.0 million sequencing reads were generated from the libraries of CO1, CO2, Inf1, and Inf2, respectively. De novo assembly for these 196 million reads yielded 50,486 unigenes with an average length of 853.3bp. A total of 24,820 (49.2%) genes were annotated for their function. Comparison of gene expression levels between CO and Inf ramie revealed 777 differentially expressed genes (DEGs). The expression levels of 12 DEGs were further confirmed by real-time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR). Pathway enrichment analysis showed that three pathways (phenylalanine metabolism, carotenoid biosynthesis, and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis) were strongly influenced by RLN infection. A series of candidate genes and pathways that may contribute to the defense response against RLN in ramie will be helpful for further improving resistance to RLN infection. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

ESIM: Edge Similarity for Screen Content Image Quality Assessment.

PubMed

Ni, Zhangkai; Ma, Lin; Zeng, Huanqiang; Chen, Jing; Cai, Canhui; Ma, Kai-Kuang

2017-10-01

In this paper, an accurate full-reference image quality assessment (IQA) model developed for assessing screen content images (SCIs), called the edge similarity (ESIM), is proposed. It is inspired by the fact that the human visual system (HVS) is highly sensitive to edges that are often encountered in SCIs; therefore, essential edge features are extracted and exploited for conducting IQA for the SCIs. The key novelty of the proposed ESIM lies in the extraction and use of three salient edge features-i.e., edge contrast, edge width, and edge direction. The first two attributes are simultaneously generated from the input SCI based on a parametric edge model, while the last one is derived directly from the input SCI. The extraction of these three features will be performed for the reference SCI and the distorted SCI, individually. The degree of similarity measured for each above-mentioned edge attribute is then computed independently, followed by combining them together using our proposed edge-width pooling strategy to generate the final ESIM score. To conduct the performance evaluation of our proposed ESIM model, a new and the largest SCI database (denoted as SCID) is established in our work and made to the public for download. Our database contains 1800 distorted SCIs that are generated from 40 reference SCIs. For each SCI, nine distortion types are investigated, and five degradation levels are produced for each distortion type. Extensive simulation results have clearly shown that the proposed ESIM model is more consistent with the perception of the HVS on the evaluation of distorted SCIs than the multiple state-of-the-art IQA methods.

Interaction of SNP in the CRP gene and plasma fatty acid profile in inflammatory pattern: A cross-sectional population-based study.

PubMed

Oki, Erica; Norde, Marina M; Carioca, Antônio A F; Ikeda, Renata E; Souza, José M P; Castro, Inar A; Marchioni, Dirce M L; Fisberg, Regina M; Rogero, Marcelo M

2016-01-01

To assess the interaction of three single nucleotide polymorphisms in the C-reactive protein (CRP) gene and plasma fatty acid (FA) levels in modulating inflammatory profile. A total of 262 subjects, aged >19 y and <60 y, participated in a cross-sectional, population-based study performed in Brazil. Three single nucleotide polymorphisms (rs1205, rs1417938, and rs2808630) spanning the CRP gene were genotyped. Eleven plasma inflammatory biomarkers and plasma FA profile were determined. Cluster analysis was performed to stratify individuals based on eleven inflammatory biomarkers into two groups: an inflammatory (INF) and a noninflammatory group. The INF cluster had higher age, waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure; higher levels of triacylglycerol, high-sensitivity CRP, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-8, IL-6, IL-1β, IL-12, IL-10, soluble monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1, C16:0, polyunsaturated fatty acid, and omega (n)-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid; and greater C20:4n-6, C18:1/18:0, and C20:4/20:3 ratios than the noninflammatory group. Statistically significant gene-plasma C16:1n-7 interaction was detected for rs1417938 (P = 0.047). Those with a dominant homozygous rs2808630 had a lower risk of belonging to the INF group with the upper 50th percentile of C20:4n-6, n-3 highly unsaturated FA, and C20:4/20:3 ratio. Regarding rs1205, A allele carriers had lower risk of being in the INF group when C20:5n-3 and n-3 highly unsaturated FA levels were greater than the median. The INF group exhibited changes in metabolic parameters that predispose this group to chronic disease, where polymorphisms in the CRP gene modulated the risk of being in the INF group depending on individual plasma fatty acid and lipid profile. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Diagnostic value of T-Spot TB combined with INF-γ and IL-27 in tuberculous pleurisy

PubMed Central

Zhang, Meng; Xiong, Dedong; Li, Hongxia; Wang, Zonglan; Li, Renzhe

2018-01-01

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the diagnostic value of T cells spot test (T-Spot TB) combined with interferon-γ (INF-γ) and interleukin-27 (IL-27) in tuberculous pleurisy. Sixty patients with tuberculous pleurisy (observation group) and 60 patients with non-tuberculous pleurisy (control group) were enrolled in this study. T-Spot TB was performed to detect the pleural effusion of two groups of patients. Levels of IFN-γ and IL-27 in serum and pleural effusion were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Relative expression of IFN-γ mRNA and IL-27 mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells were detected by RT-PCR. Positive rate of T-Spot TB in observation group was 96.7% (58 cases), which was significantly higher than that in control group (p<0.05). Concentration of INF-γ in pleural effusion of observation group was 468.6±24.8 ng/l, which was significantly higher than that in control group (131.3±18.7 ng/l, p<0.05). Concentration of IL-27 in pleural effusion of observation group was 423.4±37.2 ng/l, which was significantly higher than that in control group (116.2±15.5 ng/l, p<0.05). Concentrations of INF-γ and IL-27 in serum of observation group were 48.2±13.4 and 41.7±10.6 ng/l, respectively, which were significantly higher than those in control group (38.6±11.2 and 35.3±8.4 ng/l, p<0.05). Relative expression levels of INF-γ mRNA and IL-27 mRNA in observation group were significantly higher than those in control group (p<0.05). Therefore, combination of T-Spot TB with INF-γ and IL-27 has significant application value in the clinical diagnosis of tuberculous pleurisy, and should be popularized. PMID:29399137

Diagnostic value of ex vivo pleural fluid interferon-gamma versus adapted whole-blood quantiferon-TB gold in tube assays in tuberculous pleural effusion

PubMed Central

Eldin, Eman N.; Omar, Asmaa; Khairy, Mahmoud; Mekawy, Adel H. M.; Ghanem, Maha K.

2012-01-01

BACKGROUND: Noninvasive diagnosis of pleural tuberculosis (TB) remains a challenge due to the paucibacillary nature of the disease. As Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB)-specific T cells are recruited into pleural space in TB effusion; their indirect detection may provide useful clinical information. OBJECTIVES: Evaluation of pleural fluid interferon (INF)-γ levels vs Quantiferon–TB Gold In tube assay (QFT- IT) in blood and its adapted variants, using pleural fluid or isolated pleural fluid cells in the diagnosis of pleural TB. METHODS: Thirty-eight patients with pleural effusion of unknown etiology presented at Assiut University Hospital, Egypt, were recruited. Blood and pleural fluid were collected at presentation for INF-γ assays. Ex vivo pleural fluid INF-γ levels, QFT-IT in blood and its adapted variants were compared with final diagnosis as confirmed by other tools including blind and/or thoracoscopic pleural biopsy. RESULTS: The final clinical diagnosis was TB in 20 (53%), malignancy in 10 (26%), and effusion due to other causes in eight patients (21%). Ex vivo pleural fluid INF-γ levels accurately identified TB in all patients and were superior to the QFT-IT assays using blood or pleural fluid (70 and 78% sensitivity, with 60 and 83% specificity, respectively). QFT-IT assay applied to isolated pleural fluid cells had 100% sensitivity and 72% specificity. The optimal cut-off obtained with ROC analysis was 0.73 for TB Gold assay in blood assay, 0.82 IU/ml for the cultured pleural fluid assay, and 0.94 for isolated pleural cells assay. CONCLUSION: The ex vivo pleural fluid INF-γ level is an accurate marker for the diagnosis of pleural TB. QFT- IT assay in peripheral blood or its adapted versions of the assay using pleural fluid and/or washed pleural fluid cells had no diagnostic advantage over pleural fluid INF-γ in the diagnosis of pleural TB. PMID:23189099

Substance P and the neurokinin-1 receptor expression in dog ileum with and without inflammation.

PubMed

Polidoro, Giulia; Giancola, Fiorella; Fracassi, Federico; Pietra, Marco; Bettini, Giuliano; Asti, Martina; Chiocchetti, Roberto

2017-10-01

In the gastrointestinal tract, the tachykinin Substance P (SP) is involved in motility, fluid and electrolyte secretion, and blood flow and regulation of immunoinflammatory response. SP exerts its biological activity on target cells by interacting mainly with the neurokinin-1 receptor (NK 1 R). The present study aims to quantify the percentage of SP-immunoreactive (SP-IR) enteric neurons and the density of SP-IR nerve fibers in the ileum of control dogs (CTRL-dogs; n=7) vs dogs with spontaneous ileal inflammation (INF-dogs; n=8). In addition, the percentage of enteric neurons bearing NK 1 R, and nitrergic neurons (nNOS-IR) expressing NK 1 R immunoreactivity were evaluated in both groups. The percentages of SP-IR neurons were similar in CTRL- and INF-dogs, in either the myenteric (MP) (15±8% vs. 16±7%, respectively) and submucosal plexus (SMP) (26±7% vs. 24±14%, respectively). In INF-dogs, the density of SP-IR mucosal nerve fibers showed a trend to decrease (P=0.07). Myenteric neurons of CTRL- and INF-dogs expressed similar percentages of NK 1 R-immunoreactivity (39±5% vs. 38±20%, respectively). Submucosal NK 1 R-IR neurons were occasionally observed in a CTRL-dog. MP nitrergic neurons bearing NK 1 R showed a trend to decrease in INF-dogs vs. CTRL- dogs (41±22% vs. 65±10%, respectively; P=0.11). In INF-dogs, muscle cells and immune cells overexpressed NK 1 R immunoreactivity. These findings should be taken as a warning for possible intestinal motility disorders, which might occur during administration of NK 1 R-antagonist drugs. Conversely, the strong expression of NK 1 R immunoreactivity observed in muscle and mucosal immune cells of inflamed tissues may provide a rationale for the use of NK 1 R antagonist drugs in the treatment of intestinal inflammation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Diagnostic value of T-Spot TB combined with INF-γ and IL-27 in tuberculous pleurisy.

PubMed

Zhang, Meng; Xiong, Dedong; Li, Hongxia; Wang, Zonglan; Li, Renzhe

2018-02-01

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the diagnostic value of T cells spot test (T-Spot TB) combined with interferon-γ (INF-γ) and interleukin-27 (IL-27) in tuberculous pleurisy. Sixty patients with tuberculous pleurisy (observation group) and 60 patients with non-tuberculous pleurisy (control group) were enrolled in this study. T-Spot TB was performed to detect the pleural effusion of two groups of patients. Levels of IFN-γ and IL-27 in serum and pleural effusion were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Relative expression of IFN-γ mRNA and IL-27 mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells were detected by RT-PCR. Positive rate of T-Spot TB in observation group was 96.7% (58 cases), which was significantly higher than that in control group (p<0.05). Concentration of INF-γ in pleural effusion of observation group was 468.6±24.8 ng/l, which was significantly higher than that in control group (131.3±18.7 ng/l, p<0.05). Concentration of IL-27 in pleural effusion of observation group was 423.4±37.2 ng/l, which was significantly higher than that in control group (116.2±15.5 ng/l, p<0.05). Concentrations of INF-γ and IL-27 in serum of observation group were 48.2±13.4 and 41.7±10.6 ng/l, respectively, which were significantly higher than those in control group (38.6±11.2 and 35.3±8.4 ng/l, p<0.05). Relative expression levels of INF-γ mRNA and IL-27 mRNA in observation group were significantly higher than those in control group (p<0.05). Therefore, combination of T-Spot TB with INF-γ and IL-27 has significant application value in the clinical diagnosis of tuberculous pleurisy, and should be popularized.

Synovial CD4+ T-cell-derived GM-CSF supports the differentiation of an inflammatory dendritic cell population in rheumatoid arthritis

PubMed Central

Reynolds, G; Gibbon, J R; Pratt, A G; Wood, M J; Coady, D; Raftery, G; Lorenzi, A R; Gray, A; Filer, A; Buckley, C D; Haniffa, M A; Isaacs, J D; Hilkens, C M U

2016-01-01

Objective A population of synovial inflammatory dendritic cells (infDCs) has recently been identified in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and is thought to be monocyte-derived. Here, we investigated the role and source of granulocyte macrophage-colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) in the differentiation of synovial infDC in RA. Methods Production of GM-CSF by peripheral blood (PB) and synovial fluid (SF) CD4+ T cells was assessed by ELISA and flow cytometry. In vitro CD4+ T-cell polarisation experiments were performed with T-cell activating CD2/CD3/CD28-coated beads in the absence or presence of pro-Th1 or pro-Th17 cytokines. CD1c+ DC and CD16+ macrophage subsets were flow-sorted and analysed morphologically and functionally (T-cell stimulatory/polarising capacity). Results RA-SF CD4+ T cells produced abundant GM-CSF upon stimulation and significantly more than RA-SF mononuclear cells depleted of CD4+ T cells. GM-CSF-producing T cells were significantly increased in RA-SF compared with non-RA inflammatory arthritis SF, active RA PB and healthy donor PB. GM-CSF-producing CD4+ T cells were expanded by Th1-promoting but not Th17-promoting conditions. Following coculture with RA-SF CD4+ T cells, but not healthy donor PB CD4+ T cells, a subpopulation of monocytes differentiated into CD1c+ infDC; a process dependent on GM-CSF. These infDC displayed potent alloproliferative capacity and enhanced GM-CSF, interleukin-17 and interferon-γ production by CD4+ T cells. InfDC with an identical phenotype to in vitro generated cells were significantly enriched in RA-SF compared with non-RA-SF/tissue/PB. Conclusions We demonstrate a therapeutically tractable feedback loop of GM-CSF secreted by RA synovial CD4+ T cells promoting the differentiation of infDC with potent capacity to induce GM-CSF-producing CD4+ T cells. PMID:25923217

Cost-effectiveness of different interferon beta products for relapsing-remitting and secondary progressive multiple sclerosis: Decision analysis based on long-term clinical data and switchable treatments

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a highly debilitating immune mediated disorder and the second most common cause of neurological disability in young and middle-aged adults. Iran is amongst high MS prevalence countries (50/100,000). Economic burden of MS is a topic of important deliberation in economic evaluations study. Therefore determining of cost-effectiveness interferon beta (INF β) and their copied biopharmaceuticals (CBPs) and biosimilars products is significant issue for assessment of affordability in Lower-middle-income countries (LMICs). Methods A literature-based Markov model was developed to assess the cost-effectiveness of three INF βs products compared with placebo for managing a hypothetical cohort of patients diagnosed with relapsing remitting MS (RRMS) in Iran from a societal perspective. Health states were based on the Kurtzke Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS). Disease progression transition probabilities for symptom management and INF β therapies were obtained from natural history studies and multicenter randomized controlled trials and their long term follow up for RRMS and secondary progressive MS (SPMS). A cross sectional study has been developed to evaluate cost and utility. Transitions among health states occurred in 2-years cycles for fifteen cycles and switching to other therapies was allowed. Calculations of costs and utilities were established by attachment of decision trees to the overall model. The incremental cost effectiveness ratio (ICER) of cost/quality adjusted life year (QALY) for all available INF β products (brands, biosimilars and CBPs) were considered. Both costs and utilities were discounted. Sensitivity analyses were done to assess robustness of model. Results ICER for Avonex, Rebif and Betaferon was 18712, 11832, 15768 US Dollars ($) respectively when utility attained from literature review has been considered. ICER for available CBPs and biosimilars in Iran was $847, $6964 and $11913. Conclusions The Markov pharmacoeconomics model determined that according to suggested threshold for developing countries by world health organization, all brand INF β products are cost effective in Iran except Avonex. The best strategy among INF β therapies is CBP intramuscular INF β-1a (Cinnovex). Results showed that a policy of encouraging accessibility to CBPs and biosimilars could make even high technology products cost-effective in LMICs. PMID:23800250

Modifications of exposure to ambient particulate matter: Tackling bias in using ambient concentration as surrogate with particle infiltration factor and ambient exposure factor.

PubMed

Shi, Shanshan; Chen, Chen; Zhao, Bin

2017-01-01

Numerous epidemiological studies explored health risks attributed to outdoor particle pollution. However, a number of these studies routinely utilized ambient concentration as a surrogate for personal exposure to ambient particles. This simplification ignored the difference between indoor and outdoor concentrations of outdoor originated particles and may bias the estimate of particle-health associations. Intending to avoid the bias, particle infiltration factor (F inf ), which describes the penetration of outdoor particles in indoor environment, and ambient exposure factor (α), which represents the fraction of outdoor particles people are truly exposed to, are utilized as modification factors to modify outdoor particle concentration. In this study, the probabilistic distributions of annually-averaged and seasonally-averaged F inf and α were assessed for residences and residents in Beijing. F inf of a single residence and α of an individual was estimated based on the mechanisms governing particle outdoor-to-indoor migration and human time-activity pattern. With this as the core deterministic model, probabilistic distributions of F inf and α were estimated via Monte Carlo Simulation. Annually-averaged F inf of PM 2.5 and PM 10 for residences in Beijing tended to be log-normally distributed as lnN(-0.74,0.14) and lnN(-0.94,0.15) with geometric mean value as 0.47 and 0.39, respectively. Annually-averaged α of PM 2.5 and PM 10 for Beijing residents also tended to be log-normally distributed as lnN(-0.59,0.12) and lnN(-0.73,0.13) with geometric mean value as 0.55 and 0.48, respectively. As for seasonally-averaged results, F inf and α of PM 2.5 and PM 10 were largest in summer and smallest in winter. The obvious difference between these modification factors and unity suggested that modifications of ambient particle concentration need to be considered in epidemiological studies to avoid misclassifications of personal exposure to ambient particles. Moreover, considering the inter-individual difference of F inf and α may lead to a brand new perspective of particle-health associations in further epidemiological study. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Harnessing the power of emerging petascale platforms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mellor-Crummey, John

2007-07-01

As part of the US Department of Energy's Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing (SciDAC-2) program, science teams are tackling problems that require computational simulation and modeling at the petascale. A grand challenge for computer science is to develop software technology that makes it easier to harness the power of these systems to aid scientific discovery. As part of its activities, the SciDAC-2 Center for Scalable Application Development Software (CScADS) is building open source software tools to support efficient scientific computing on the emerging leadership-class platforms. In this paper, we describe two tools for performance analysis and tuning that are being developed as part of CScADS: a tool for analyzing scalability and performance, and a tool for optimizing loop nests for better node performance. We motivate these tools by showing how they apply to S3D, a turbulent combustion code under development at Sandia National Laboratory. For S3D, our node performance analysis tool helped uncover several performance bottlenecks. Using our loop nest optimization tool, we transformed S3D's most costly loop nest to reduce execution time by a factor of 2.94 for a processor working on a 503 domain.

A qualitative study on the use of personal information technology by persons with spinal cord injury.

PubMed

Mattar, Andrew A G; Hitzig, Sander L; McGillivray, Colleen F

2015-01-01

Previous work has shown that information technology (IT), such as personal computers and other digital devices (e.g. tablets, laptops, etc.), software, online resources and hand-held communication tools (e.g. cellphones), has benefits for health and well-being for persons with chronic health conditions. To date, the ways that persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) use IT in their daily activities has not been fully explored. Thus, the purpose of the study was to obtain an in-depth perspective of how people with SCI regularly use IT to gain insight on ways IT can be used to support health and well-being in the community for this population. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with community-dwelling persons with SCI (N = 10) who identified themselves as frequent-or-daily-users of IT. Qualitative content analysis was used to identify the ways that persons with SCI use personal IT. Ten themes related to IT use were identified: (1) Modifications allowing access to IT; (2) Convenience of IT and its perceived value; (3) IT as a scheduler/planner; (4) Challenges; (5) Contributions of IT to participation; (6) Access to information; (7) Influence of IT on well-being; (8) IT as a connector; (9) Issues of IT acquisition; and (10) Desires for future devices/technology. The findings suggest that IT use by people with SCI contributes to general health and well-being, by increasing access to SCI-related health information and opportunity for social participation. Despite the benefits offered by IT, persons with SCI have identified a degree of skepticism about the reliability and applicability of the health information they find online. Future work on developing and implementing IT for health and well-being post-SCI should take into account consumers' perspectives to facilitate uptake. Implications for Rehabilitation There is a need for a more refined understanding of how people with spinal cord injury (SCI) use information technology (IT) in their daily lives in order to understand how IT can support health and well-being post-injury in the community. IT use holds implications for the physical and mental well-being of persons with SCI. IT allows access to a variety of information, and facilitates participation in the community. The enthusiasm for the use of IT is tempered by a degree of skepticism about the reliability and applicability of the health information available online. This highlights the need to raise awareness of existing sources vetted for this population, and to develop content that meets the particular health needs for SCI.

Contributions to the NUCLEI SciDAC-3 Project

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

Bogner, Scott; Nazarewicz, Witek

This is the Final Report for Michigan State University for the NUCLEI SciDAC-3 project. The NUCLEI project, as defined by the scope of work, has developed, implemented and run codes for large-scale computations of many topics in low-energy nuclear physics. Physics studied included the properties of nuclei and nuclear decays, nuclear structure and reactions, and the properties of nuclear matter. The computational techniques used included Configuration Interaction, Coupled Cluster, and Density Functional methods. The research program emphasized areas of high interest to current and possible future DOE nuclear physics facilities, including ATLAS at ANL and FRIB at MSU (nuclear structuremore » and reactions, and nuclear astrophysics), TJNAF (neutron distributions in nuclei, few body systems, and electroweak processes), NIF (thermonuclear reactions), MAJORANA and FNPB (neutrinoless double-beta decay and physics beyond the Standard Model), and LANSCE (fission studies).« less

Studies to Control Endemic Typhoid Fever in Chile

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-07-14

Malmaceda PGP, Acosta JJV, Arrasco VG. La fiebre tifoidea en el nino senor de dos anos. Biol. Ned. Hosp. Inf. Rex. 38:473, 1981. 11. Kumate J...Penaloza JL, Llausas’A. La fiebre tifoidea en el primer ano de la vida. Biol. Red. Bosp. Inf. 31:925, 1974. 12. Herrera P, Cuellar A. Samanellosis tifica en

Speckle Interferometry at the US Naval Observatory. XIII

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-10-01

18443+3940 ............................. STF 2382 AB 6.394 348.9 2.35 1 0.3 0.06 Mason et al. (2004a) 0.2 0.03 Novakovic & Todorovic (2005) 18443+3940...1952, Bull. Astron. Paris, 16, 263 Novakovic , B., & Todorovic, N. 2005, Circ. d’Inf. 157 Olevic, D. 2002, Circ. d’Inf. 147 Olevic, D., & Cvetkovic, Z

B Physics, Hg EDM, and Lepton Flavor Violation in SUSY Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shimizu, Yasuhiro

2005-06-01

We consider the correlation between the CP asymmetry in B → ϕKs (SϕKs) and the chromoelectric dipole moment (CEDM) of strange quark (dCs), which is constrained by the electric dipole moment (EDM) of 199Hg, is studied in the SUSY SU(5) GUT with right-handed neutrinos.

An Efficient Algorithm for a Visibility-Based Surveillance-Evasion Game

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-01-01

function vs : Ω2free → R for the static game as (8) vs(x0E , x 0 P ) := sup σP∈ A inf σE∈ A J (x0E , x0P , σE , σP ). In general, it can be shown that...the optimal controls (or -suboptimal controls, see Remark 2.2), formally written as σ∗P ∈ arg sup σP∈ A inf σE∈ A J (x0E , x0P , σE , σP ),(9) σ∗E...arg inf σE∈ A J (x0E , x0P , σE , σ∗P ),(10) provided the game ends in finite time. For brevity, we shall refer to the static visibility-based

Scalable Earth-observation Analytics for Geoscientists: Spacetime Extensions to the Array Database SciDB

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Appel, Marius; Lahn, Florian; Pebesma, Edzer; Buytaert, Wouter; Moulds, Simon

2016-04-01

Today's amount of freely available data requires scientists to spend large parts of their work on data management. This is especially true in environmental sciences when working with large remote sensing datasets, such as obtained from earth-observation satellites like the Sentinel fleet. Many frameworks like SpatialHadoop or Apache Spark address the scalability but target programmers rather than data analysts, and are not dedicated to imagery or array data. In this work, we use the open-source data management and analytics system SciDB to bring large earth-observation datasets closer to analysts. Its underlying data representation as multidimensional arrays fits naturally to earth-observation datasets, distributes storage and computational load over multiple instances by multidimensional chunking, and also enables efficient time-series based analyses, which is usually difficult using file- or tile-based approaches. Existing interfaces to R and Python furthermore allow for scalable analytics with relatively little learning effort. However, interfacing SciDB and file-based earth-observation datasets that come as tiled temporal snapshots requires a lot of manual bookkeeping during ingestion, and SciDB natively only supports loading data from CSV-like and custom binary formatted files, which currently limits its practical use in earth-observation analytics. To make it easier to work with large multi-temporal datasets in SciDB, we developed software tools that enrich SciDB with earth observation metadata and allow working with commonly used file formats: (i) the SciDB extension library scidb4geo simplifies working with spatiotemporal arrays by adding relevant metadata to the database and (ii) the Geospatial Data Abstraction Library (GDAL) driver implementation scidb4gdal allows to ingest and export remote sensing imagery from and to a large number of file formats. Using added metadata on temporal resolution and coverage, the GDAL driver supports time-based ingestion of imagery to existing multi-temporal SciDB arrays. While our SciDB plugin works directly in the database, the GDAL driver has been specifically developed using a minimum amount of external dependencies (i.e. CURL). Source code for both tools is available from github [1]. We present these tools in a case-study that demonstrates the ingestion of multi-temporal tiled earth-observation data to SciDB, followed by a time-series analysis using R and SciDBR. Through the exclusive use of open-source software, our approach supports reproducibility in scalable large-scale earth-observation analytics. In the future, these tools can be used in an automated way to let scientists only work on ready-to-use SciDB arrays to significantly reduce the data management workload for domain scientists. [1] https://github.com/mappl/scidb4geo} and \\url{https://github.com/mappl/scidb4gdal

Measuring psychological trauma after spinal cord injury: Development and psychometric characteristics of the SCI-QOL Psychological Trauma item bank and short form

PubMed Central

Kisala, Pamela A.; Victorson, David; Pace, Natalie; Heinemann, Allen W.; Choi, Seung W.; Tulsky, David S.

2015-01-01

Objective To describe the development and psychometric properties of the SCI-QOL Psychological Trauma item bank and short form. Design Using a mixed-methods design, we developed and tested a Psychological Trauma item bank with patient and provider focus groups, cognitive interviews, and item response theory based analytic approaches, including tests of model fit, differential item functioning (DIF) and precision. Setting We tested a 31-item pool at several medical institutions across the United States, including the University of Michigan, Kessler Foundation, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, the University of Washington, Craig Hospital and the James J. Peters/Bronx Veterans Administration hospital. Participants A total of 716 individuals with SCI completed the trauma items Results The 31 items fit a unidimensional model (CFI=0.952; RMSEA=0.061) and demonstrated good precision (theta range between 0.6 and 2.5). Nine items demonstrated negligible DIF with little impact on score estimates. The final calibrated item bank contains 19 items Conclusion The SCI-QOL Psychological Trauma item bank is a psychometrically robust measurement tool from which a short form and a computer adaptive test (CAT) version are available. PMID:26010967

Management and outcomes of spinal epidural hematoma during vertebroplasty: Case series.

PubMed

Fang, Miao; Zhou, Jiaojiao; Yang, Dongjun; He, Yu; Xu, Yong; Liu, Xin; Zeng, Yong

2018-05-01

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is one of the common complications of spinal surgery. There is no definite treatment and time of decompression for spinal cord induced by epidural hematoma during vertebroplasty. A total of 6 patients with SCI during vertebroplasty were included in our research. All of them occurred sensory disturbance and motor dysfunction due to a lower or same level operative vertebral body lesion in vertebroplasty. Neurological manifestations during vertebroplasty, postoperative magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography. Once SCI occurred in vertebroplasty, four patients were underwent spinal cord decompression immediately, and two patients were done after 14 and 22 hours, respectively. Before decompression operation, one patient was Frankel A, three were Frankel B, and two were Frankel C. One day after evacuation of the SEH, three patients recovered to normal neurological function (Frankel E), one to Frankel C, and one to Frankel D, but the other one did not recover. At the last follow-up, five patients had recovered to Frankel E and one patient to Frankel D. According to our experience, when SCI occurs during vertebroplasty, neurological deficits are always secondary to acute SEH. Timely decompression, particularly transfer surgery, can shorten recovery time.

The Fulldome Curriculum for the Spitz SciDome Digital Planetarium: Volume 2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bradstreet, David H.; Sanders, S. J.; Huggins, S.

2014-01-01

The Spitz Fulldome Curriculum (FDC) for the SciDome digital planetarium ushered in a new and innovative way to present astronomical pedagogy via its use of the unique teaching attributes of the digital planetarium. In the case of the FDC, which uses the ubiquitous Starry Night planetarium software as its driving engine, these engaging and novel teaching techniques have also been made usable to desktop computers and flat-screen video projectors for classroom use. Volume 2 of the FDC introduces exciting new classes and mini-lessons to further enlighten and invigorate students as they struggle with often difficult three dimensional astronomical concepts. Additionally, other topics with related astronomical ties have been created to integrate history into planetarium presentations. One of the strongest advantages of the SciDome is its use of Starry Night as its astronomical engine. With it students can create their own astronomical configurations in the computer lab or at home, using the PC or Mac version. They can then simply load their creations onto the SciDome planetarium system and display them for their classmates on the dome. This poster will discuss and illustrate some of the new content that has been developed for Volume 2. Topics covered in Volume 2 include eclipses, plotting planet locations on a curtate orbit chart by observing their positions in the sky, time and timekeeping (including sidereal day, hour angles, sidereal time, LAST, LMST, time zones and the International Date Line), teaching to the Boy Scout Merit Badge requirements, plotting scale analemmas on the surface of planets and interpreting them, precession, astronomical events in revolutionary Boston, the Lincoln Almanac Trial, eclipsing binaries, lunar librations, a trip through the universe, watching the speed of light move in real time, stellar sizes and the Milky Way.

The scaling issue: scientific opportunities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orbach, Raymond L.

2009-07-01

A brief history of the Leadership Computing Facility (LCF) initiative is presented, along with the importance of SciDAC to the initiative. The initiative led to the initiation of the Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment program (INCITE), open to all researchers in the US and abroad, and based solely on scientific merit through peer review, awarding sizeable allocations (typically millions of processor-hours per project). The development of the nation's LCFs has enabled available INCITE processor-hours to double roughly every eight months since its inception in 2004. The 'top ten' LCF accomplishments in 2009 illustrate the breadth of the scientific program, while the 75 million processor hours allocated to American business since 2006 highlight INCITE contributions to US competitiveness. The extrapolation of INCITE processor hours into the future brings new possibilities for many 'classic' scaling problems. Complex systems and atomic displacements to cracks are but two examples. However, even with increasing computational speeds, the development of theory, numerical representations, algorithms, and efficient implementation are required for substantial success, exhibiting the crucial role that SciDAC will play.

Distributed Processing of Sentinel-2 Products using the BIGEARTH Platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bacu, Victor; Stefanut, Teodor; Nandra, Constantin; Mihon, Danut; Gorgan, Dorian

2017-04-01

The constellation of observational satellites orbiting around Earth is constantly increasing, providing more data that need to be processed in order to extract meaningful information and knowledge from it. Sentinel-2 satellites, part of the Copernicus Earth Observation program, aim to be used in agriculture, forestry and many other land management applications. ESA's SNAP toolbox can be used to process data gathered by Sentinel-2 satellites but is limited to the resources provided by a stand-alone computer. In this paper we present a cloud based software platform that makes use of this toolbox together with other remote sensing software applications to process Sentinel-2 products. The BIGEARTH software platform [1] offers an integrated solution for processing Earth Observation data coming from different sources (such as satellites or on-site sensors). The flow of processing is defined as a chain of tasks based on the WorDeL description language [2]. Each task could rely on a different software technology (such as Grass GIS and ESA's SNAP) in order to process the input data. One important feature of the BIGEARTH platform comes from this possibility of interconnection and integration, throughout the same flow of processing, of the various well known software technologies. All this integration is transparent from the user perspective. The proposed platform extends the SNAP capabilities by enabling specialists to easily scale the processing over distributed architectures, according to their specific needs and resources. The software platform [3] can be used in multiple configurations. In the basic one the software platform runs as a standalone application inside a virtual machine. Obviously in this case the computational resources are limited but it will give an overview of the functionalities of the software platform, and also the possibility to define the flow of processing and later on to execute it on a more complex infrastructure. The most complex and robust configuration is based on cloud computing and allows the installation on a private or public cloud infrastructure. In this configuration, the processing resources can be dynamically allocated and the execution time can be considerably improved by the available virtual resources and the number of parallelizable sequences in the processing flow. The presentation highlights the benefits and issues of the proposed solution by analyzing some significant experimental use cases. Main references for further information: [1] BigEarth project, http://cgis.utcluj.ro/projects/bigearth [2] Constantin Nandra, Dorian Gorgan: "Defining Earth data batch processing tasks by means of a flexible workflow description language", ISPRS Ann. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci., III-4, 59-66, (2016). [3] Victor Bacu, Teodor Stefanut, Dorian Gorgan, "Adaptive Processing of Earth Observation Data on Cloud Infrastructures Based on Workflow Description", Proceedings of the Intelligent Computer Communication and Processing (ICCP), IEEE-Press, pp.444-454, (2015).

A Discontinuous Petrov-Galerkin Methodology for Adaptive Solutions to the Incompressible Navier-Stokes Equations

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

Roberts, Nathan V.; Demkowiz, Leszek; Moser, Robert

2015-11-15

The discontinuous Petrov-Galerkin methodology with optimal test functions (DPG) of Demkowicz and Gopalakrishnan [18, 20] guarantees the optimality of the solution in an energy norm, and provides several features facilitating adaptive schemes. Whereas Bubnov-Galerkin methods use identical trial and test spaces, Petrov-Galerkin methods allow these function spaces to differ. In DPG, test functions are computed on the fly and are chosen to realize the supremum in the inf-sup condition; the method is equivalent to a minimum residual method. For well-posed problems with sufficiently regular solutions, DPG can be shown to converge at optimal rates—the inf-sup constants governing the convergence aremore » mesh-independent, and of the same order as those governing the continuous problem [48]. DPG also provides an accurate mechanism for measuring the error, and this can be used to drive adaptive mesh refinements. We employ DPG to solve the steady incompressible Navier-Stokes equations in two dimensions, building on previous work on the Stokes equations, and focusing particularly on the usefulness of the approach for automatic adaptivity starting from a coarse mesh. We apply our approach to a manufactured solution due to Kovasznay as well as the lid-driven cavity flow, backward-facing step, and flow past a cylinder problems.« less

15-deoxy-Delta12,14-prostaglandin J2 inhibits INF-gamma-induced JAK/STAT1 signalling pathway activation and IP-10/CXCL10 expression in mesangial cells.

PubMed

Panzer, Ulf; Zahner, Gunther; Wienberg, Ulrike; Steinmetz, Oliver M; Peters, Anett; Turner, Jan-Eric; Paust, Hans-Joachim; Wolf, Gunter; Stahl, Rolf A K; Schneider, André

2008-12-01

Activators of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma), originally found to be implicated in lipid metabolism and glucose homeostasis, have been shown to modulate inflammatory responses through interference with cytokine and chemokine production. Given the central role of mesangial cell-derived chemokines in glomerular leukocyte recruitment in human and experimental glomerulonephritis, we studied the influence of natural and synthetic PPARgamma activators on INF-gamma-induced expression of the T cell-attracting chemokines IP-10/CXCL10, Mig/CXCL9 and I-TAC/CXCL11 in mouse mesangial cells. INF-gamma-treated mesangial cells were cultured in the presence or absence of either the naturally occurring PPARgamma ligand 15-deoxy-Delta(12,14)-prostaglandin J(2) (15d-PGJ(2)) or synthetic PPARgamma activators of the glitazone group. Chemokine mRNA and protein expression and activation of the JAK/STAT signalling pathway were analysed. The 15d-PGJ(2), but not synthetic PPARgamma ligands, dose-dependently inhibited INF-gamma-induced chemokine gene (mRNA and protein) expression. Combined results from EMSA and western blot analysis revealed the inhibitory ability of 15d-PGJ(2), but not of synthetic PPARgamma ligands, on IFN-gamma-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of JAK1, JAK2, STAT1 and nuclear STAT1 translocation and DNA binding. Our results demonstrate that 15d-PGJ(2) inhibits INF-gamma-induced chemokine expression in mesangial cells by targeting the JAK/STAT signalling pathway. This effect is independent of an interference with PPARgamma.

Inflammatory cells in minor salivary glands of patients with chronic hepatitis C: immunophenotype, pattern of distribution, and comparison with liver samples.

PubMed

Caldeira, Patrícia Carlos; Oliveira e Silva, Karla Rachel; Vidigal, Paula Vieira Teixeira; Grossmann, Soraya de Mattos Camargo; do Carmo, Maria Auxiliadora Vieira

2014-05-01

To characterize the immunophenotype and the distribution of the inflammatory infiltrate (INF) in salivary glands (SG) of patients with chronic hepatitis C, comparing with laboratorial data (genotype, viral load, METAVIR, and HCV RNA in SG), and liver. INF was classified as diffuse or focal. Immunohistochemistry for CD3, CD20, CD8, CD4, CD57, CD68, and S100 was performed in 61 SG and 59 livers. Diffuse INF was more common in SG than in liver. CD3(+), CD20(+), and CD8(+) were the most frequent cells in both tissues, with few CD57(+), CD68(+), and S100(+) cells. CD4(+) cells were common in liver, but rare in SG. Liver presented higher indexes for all markers, except S100(+) (p<0.05). Higher CD3(+), CD20(+), and CD8(+) (p<0.05) were observed in SG with focal infiltrate than with diffuse infiltrate. In liver, CD20(+) and CD3(+) were higher in focal infiltrate, and CD68(+) in diffuse infiltrate (p<0.05). Comparisons with laboratorial data did not show statistical significance. The INF in SG was mainly composed by T and B lymphocytes, mostly cytotoxic T cells. The glandular INF can present differences in composition according to its distribution. A more intense inflammation was observed in liver, but similar cell types were identified in SG, except for CD4(+). Copyright © 2014 American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Hydrolysable chestnut tannins for reduction of postweaning diarrhea: Efficacy on an experimental ETEC F4 model.

PubMed

Girard, Marion; Thanner, Sophie; Pradervand, Nicolas; Hu, Dou; Ollagnier, Catherine; Bee, Giuseppe

2018-01-01

An experimental model for postweaning diarrhea with enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli F4 (ETEC F4) was set up in piglets, and the efficacy of 1% chestnut-tannin extract in preventing diarrhea was subsequently assessed. In a first trial (infection model), 32 Swiss Large White piglets (age: 24 days; average BW: 7.8 ± 0.8 kg) were randomly assigned to two experimental groups (infected [INF], noninfected [NINF]). In a subsequent trial, 72 Swiss Large White piglets (age: 26 days; average BW: 7.4 ± 1.5 kg) were blocked by BW and assigned within block to four experimental groups: NINF-CO: not infected and fed a standard control starter diet (CO); INF-CO: infected and fed the CO diet; NINF-TA: not infected and fed the CO diet supplemented with 1% chestnut extract containing 54% of hydrolysable tannins (TA); and INF-TA: infected and fed the TA diet. Both diets (TA and CO) were formulated to be isocaloric and isoproteic and to meet or surpass the nutritional requirements. In both trials, four days after weaning, piglets assigned to the INF group received an oral suspension of ETEC F4. Fecal score, ETEC shedding in feces (only in trial 2), and growth performance traits were measured for the following 14 days post infection. In both trials, more than 50% of the INF piglets developed diarrhea within six days post infection. Tannins reduced (P < 0.05) the average fecal score, the percentage of piglets in diarrhea, and the duration of diarrhea, whereas feed intake and the average daily gain were unaffected.

Wireless Communications in Reverberant Environments

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-01-01

Secure Wireless Agent Testbed (SWAT), the Protocol Engineering Advanced Networking (PROTEAN) Research Group, the Data Fusion Laboratory (DFL), and the...constraints of their application. 81 Bibliography [1] V. Gungor and G. Hancke, “Industrial wireless sensor networks : Challenges, design principles, and...Bhattacharya, “Path loss estimation for a wireless sensor network for application in ship,” Int. J. of Comput. Sci. and Mobile Computing, vol. 2, no. 6, pp

Effects of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interferon-gamma on expressions of matrix metalloproteinase-2 and -9 in human bladder cancer cells.

PubMed

Shin, K Y; Moon, H S; Park, H Y; Lee, T Y; Woo, Y N; Kim, H J; Lee, S J; Kong, G

2000-10-31

We have investigated the effects of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interferon (INF-gamma), the potent Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG)-induced cytokines on the production of MMP-2, MMP-9, TIMP-1, TIMP-2 and MT1-MMP in high grade human bladder cancer cell lines, T-24, J-82 and HT-1376 cell lines. MMP-2 expression and activity were decreased in T-24 cells treated with both cytokines in a dose dependent manner. However, J-82 cells treated with TNF-alpha and INF-gamma revealed dose dependent increases of MMP-9 expression and activity with similar baseline expression and activity of MMP-2. HT-1376 cells after exposure to TNF-alpha only enhanced the expression and activity of MMP-9. These results indicate that TNF-alpha and INF-gamma could regulate the production of MMP-2 or MMP-9 on bladder cancer cells and their patterns of regulation are cell specific. Furthermore, this diverse response of bladder cancer cells to TNF-alpha and INF-gamma suggests that BCG immunotherapy may enhance the invasiveness of bladder cancer in certain conditions with induction of MMPs.

The Upper Limit of Cerebral Blood Flow Autoregulation Is Decreased with Elevations in Intracranial Pressure.

PubMed

Pesek, Matthew; Kibler, Kathleen; Easley, R Blaine; Mytar, Jennifer; Rhee, Christopher; Andropolous, Dean; Brady, Ken

2016-01-01

The upper limit of cerebrovascular pressure autoregulation (ULA) is inadequately characterized. We sought to delineate the ULA in a neonatal swine model. Neonatal piglets with sham surgery (n = 9), interventricular fluid infusion (INF; n = 10), controlled cortical impact (CCI; n = 10), or impact + infusion (CCI + INF; n = 11) had intracranial pressure monitoring and bilateral cortical laser-Doppler flux recordings during arterial hypertension until lethality. An increase in red cell flux as a function of cerebral perfusion pressure was determined by piecewise linear regression and static rates of autoregulation (SRoRs) were determined above and below this inflection. When identified, the ULA (median [interquartile range]) was as follows: sham group: 102 mmHg (97-109), INF group: 75 mmHg (52-84), CCI group: 81 mmHg (69-101), and CCI + INF group: 61 mmHg (52-57; p = 0.01). Both groups with interventricular infusion had significantly lower ULA compared with the sham group. Neonatal piglets without intracranial pathological conditions tolerated acute hypertension, with minimal perturbation of cerebral blood flow. Piglets with acutely elevated intracranial pressure, with or without trauma, demonstrated loss of autoregulation when subjected to arterial hypertension.

Apoptosis of Trypanosoma musculi co-cultured with LPS activated macrophages: enhanced expression of nitric oxide synthase INF-gamma and caspase.

PubMed

Gugssa, A; Gebru, S; Lee, C M; Baccetti, B; Anderson, W

2005-08-01

Trypanosoma musculi-macrophage co-cultures were studied to investigate the biological role of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced cytokines in controlling the proliferation of parasites in vitro. Macrophages, isolated by peritoneal lavage, sustained the growth and proliferation of the parasites. Macrophages activated with LPS were characterized by up-regulation of nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and phagocytosis of fluorescent latex spheres. Activated macrophages showed marked inhibition of the association and proliferation of the parasites. The LPS treated macrophages produced cytokines, especially interferon gamma (INF-gamma), which was detected by Western blot. Trypanosomes, inhibited from association with macrophages, did not proliferate and instead formed clusters held together by their flagella. Cells in these clusters were apoptotic, as demonstrated by the Apoptag reaction and gel fragmentation assay. In addition, high levels of caspase 8 and caspase 3 were shown in floating trypanosome clusters. The results would suggest that INF-gamma and other cytokines released by activated macrophages, possibly functioning through the INF-gammaR1, Fas ligand, CD95 or other death ligands in the trypanosome plasma membrane initiates the apoptosis cascade in trypanosomes.

A mitochondria-anchored isoform of the actin-nucleating spire protein regulates mitochondrial division

PubMed Central

Manor, Uri; Bartholomew, Sadie; Golani, Gonen; Christenson, Eric; Kozlov, Michael; Higgs, Henry; Spudich, James; Lippincott-Schwartz, Jennifer

2015-01-01

Mitochondrial division, essential for survival in mammals, is enhanced by an inter-organellar process involving ER tubules encircling and constricting mitochondria. The force for constriction is thought to involve actin polymerization by the ER-anchored isoform of the formin protein inverted formin 2 (INF2). Unknown is the mechanism triggering INF2-mediated actin polymerization at ER-mitochondria intersections. We show that a novel isoform of the formin-binding, actin-nucleating protein Spire, Spire1C, localizes to mitochondria and directly links mitochondria to the actin cytoskeleton and the ER. Spire1C binds INF2 and promotes actin assembly on mitochondrial surfaces. Disrupting either Spire1C actin- or formin-binding activities reduces mitochondrial constriction and division. We propose Spire1C cooperates with INF2 to regulate actin assembly at ER-mitochondrial contacts. Simulations support this model's feasibility and demonstrate polymerizing actin filaments can induce mitochondrial constriction. Thus, Spire1C is optimally positioned to serve as a molecular hub that links mitochondria to actin and the ER for regulation of mitochondrial division. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.08828.001 PMID:26305500

Implementing Connected Component Labeling as a User Defined Operator for SciDB

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Oloso, Amidu; Kuo, Kwo-Sen; Clune, Thomas; Brown, Paul; Poliakov, Alex; Yu, Hongfeng

2016-01-01

We have implemented a flexible User Defined Operator (UDO) for labeling connected components of a binary mask expressed as an array in SciDB, a parallel distributed database management system based on the array data model. This UDO is able to process very large multidimensional arrays by exploiting SciDB's memory management mechanism that efficiently manipulates arrays whose memory requirements far exceed available physical memory. The UDO takes as primary inputs a binary mask array and a binary stencil array that specifies the connectivity of a given cell to its neighbors. The UDO returns an array of the same shape as the input mask array with each foreground cell containing the label of the component it belongs to. By default, dimensions are treated as non-periodic, but the UDO also accepts optional input parameters to specify periodicity in any of the array dimensions. The UDO requires four stages to completely label connected components. In the first stage, labels are computed for each subarray or chunk of the mask array in parallel across SciDB instances using the weighted quick union (WQU) with half-path compression algorithm. In the second stage, labels around chunk boundaries from the first stage are stored in a temporary SciDB array that is then replicated across all SciDB instances. Equivalences are resolved by again applying the WQU algorithm to these boundary labels. In the third stage, relabeling is done for each chunk using the resolved equivalences. In the fourth stage, the resolved labels, which so far are "flattened" coordinates of the original binary mask array, are renamed with sequential integers for legibility. The UDO is demonstrated on a 3-D mask of O(1011) elements, with O(108) foreground cells and O(106) connected components. The operator completes in 19 minutes using 84 SciDB instances.

Peripheral denervation participates in heterotopic ossification in a spinal cord injury model

PubMed Central

Salga, Marjorie; Begot, Laurent; Holy, Xavier; Chedik, Malha; de l’Escalopier, Nicolas; Torossian, Fréderic; Levesque, Jean-Pierre; Lataillade, Jean-Jacques; Le Bousse-Kerdilès, Marie-Caroline; Genêt, François

2017-01-01

We previously reported the development of a new acquired neurogenic HO (NHO) mouse model, combining spinal cord transection (SCI) and chemical muscle injury. Pathological mechanisms responsible for ectopic osteogenesis after central neurological damage are still to be elucidated. In this study, we first hypothesized that peripheral nervous system (PNS) might convey pathological signals from injured spinal cord to muscles in NHO mouse model. Secondly, we sought to determine whether SCI could lead to intramuscular modifications of BMP2 signaling pathways. Twenty one C57Bl6 mice were included in this protocol. Bilateral cardiotoxin (CTX) injection in hamstring muscles was associated with a two-stage surgical procedure, combining thoracic SCI with unilateral peripheral denervation. Volumes of HO (Bone Volume, BV) were measured 28 days after surgery using micro-computed tomography imaging techniques and histological analyses were made to confirm intramuscular osteogenesis. Volume comparisons were conducted between right and left hind limb of each animal, using a Wilcoxon signed rank test. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was performed to explore intra muscular expression of BMP2, Alk3 and Id1. Nineteen mice survive the complete SCI and peripheral denervation procedure. When CTX injections were done right after surgery (n = 7), bilateral HO were detected in all animals after 28 days. Micro-CT measurements showed significantly increased BV in denervated paws (1.47 mm3 +/- 0.5) compared to contralateral sides (0.56 mm3 +/-0.4), p = 0.03. When peripheral denervation and CTX injections were performed after sham SCI surgery (n = 6), bilateral HO were present in three mice at day 28. Quantitative PCR analyses showed no changes in intra muscular BMP2 expression after SCI as compared to control mice (shamSCI). Peripheral denervation can be reliably added to spinal cord transection in NHO mouse model. This new experimental design confirms that neuro inflammatory mechanisms induced by central or peripheral nervous system injury plays a key role in triggering ectopic osteogenesis. PMID:28854256

GeoSciGraph: An Ontological Framework for EarthCube Semantic Infrastructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gupta, A.; Schachne, A.; Condit, C.; Valentine, D.; Richard, S.; Zaslavsky, I.

2015-12-01

The CINERGI (Community Inventory of EarthCube Resources for Geosciences Interoperability) project compiles an inventory of a wide variety of earth science resources including documents, catalogs, vocabularies, data models, data services, process models, information repositories, domain-specific ontologies etc. developed by research groups and data practitioners. We have developed a multidisciplinary semantic framework called GeoSciGraph semantic ingration of earth science resources. An integrated ontology is constructed with Basic Formal Ontology (BFO) as its upper ontology and currently ingests multiple component ontologies including the SWEET ontology, GeoSciML's lithology ontology, Tematres controlled vocabulary server, GeoNames, GCMD vocabularies on equipment, platforms and institutions, software ontology, CUAHSI hydrology vocabulary, the environmental ontology (ENVO) and several more. These ontologies are connected through bridging axioms; GeoSciGraph identifies lexically close terms and creates equivalence class or subclass relationships between them after human verification. GeoSciGraph allows a community to create community-specific customizations of the integrated ontology. GeoSciGraph uses the Neo4J,a graph database that can hold several billion concepts and relationships. GeoSciGraph provides a number of REST services that can be called by other software modules like the CINERGI information augmentation pipeline. 1) Vocabulary services are used to find exact and approximate terms, term categories (community-provided clusters of terms e.g., measurement-related terms or environmental material related terms), synonyms, term definitions and annotations. 2) Lexical services are used for text parsing to find entities, which can then be included into the ontology by a domain expert. 3) Graph services provide the ability to perform traversal centric operations e.g., finding paths and neighborhoods which can be used to perform ontological operations like computing transitive closure (e.g., finding all subclasses of rocks). 4) Annotation services are used to adorn an arbitrary block of text (e.g., from a NOAA catalog record) with ontology terms. The system has been used to ontologically integrate diverse sources like Science-base, NOAA records, PETDB.

A randomized, controlled clinical trial to evaluate the immunogenicity of a PreS/S hepatitis B vaccine Sci-B-Vac™, as compared to Engerix B®, among vaccine naïve and vaccine non-responder dialysis patients.

PubMed

Elhanan, E; Boaz, M; Schwartz, I; Schwartz, D; Chernin, G; Soetendorp, H; Gal Oz, A; Agbaria, A; Weinstein, T

2018-02-01

Dialysis patients have a suboptimal response to hepatitis B (HBV) vaccination. This study aimed to compare the immunogenicity of two vaccines: the third-generation Sci-B-Vac™ vs. the second-generation Engerix B ® . The cohort included two groups of dialysis patients: naïve and previously vaccinated non-responders. Primary endpoints were antibody titers ≥10 IU/L at 3 and 7 month post-vaccination. Secondary objectives were seroprotection rates in vaccine-naïve patients and in previously vaccinated non-responders. Eighty-six patients were assigned to vaccine (Sci-B-Vac™ or Engerix B ® ) using computer-generated randomization, stratified by age, gender, diabetes, and previous HBV vaccination. Sci-B-Vac™ was administered in three doses, 10 μg, at 0, 1, and 6 months in naïve patients; or 20 μg in previously vaccinated non-responders. Engerix B ® included four doses, 40 μg at 0, 1, 2, and 6 months. Each group had 43 patients. Seroconversion was 69.8% with Engerix B ® vs. 73.2% with Sci-B-Vac™. Antibody titers at 7 months were higher with Sci-B-Vac™ (266.4 ± 383.9, median 53.4) than with Engerix ® (193.2 ± 328.9, median 19). However, these differences were not significant, perhaps due to a suboptimal sample size. This study suggests comparable immunogenicity for both vaccines. Thus, we cannot reject the null hypothesis that there is no difference in seroconversion by vaccine type. It is noteworthy that naïve patients were vaccinated with a standard dose of Sci-B-Vac™, while Engerix B ® was administered at a double dose. Similarly, although mean antibody titer levels in the Sci-B-Vac™ group were higher than in the Engerix ® group, this difference did not reach significance. Consequently, a future clinical trial should recruit a larger cohort of patients, using a standard double-dose protocol in both groups.

Bone architecture adaptations after spinal cord injury: impact of long-term vibration of a constrained lower limb.

PubMed

Dudley-Javoroski, S; Petrie, M A; McHenry, C L; Amelon, R E; Saha, P K; Shields, R K

2016-03-01

This study examined the effect of a controlled dose of vibration upon bone density and architecture in people with spinal cord injury (who eventually develop severe osteoporosis). Very sensitive computed tomography (CT) imaging revealed no effect of vibration after 12 months, but other doses of vibration may still be useful to test. The purposes of this report were to determine the effect of a controlled dose of vibratory mechanical input upon individual trabecular bone regions in people with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI) and to examine the longitudinal bone architecture changes in both the acute and chronic state of SCI. Participants with SCI received unilateral vibration of the constrained lower limb segment while sitting in a wheelchair (0.6g, 30 Hz, 20 min, three times weekly). The opposite limb served as a control. Bone mineral density (BMD) and trabecular micro-architecture were measured with high-resolution multi-detector CT. For comparison, one participant was studied from the acute (0.14 year) to the chronic state (2.7 years). Twelve months of vibration training did not yield adaptations of BMD or trabecular micro-architecture for the distal tibia or the distal femur. BMD and trabecular network length continued to decline at several distal femur sub-regions, contrary to previous reports suggesting a "steady state" of bone in chronic SCI. In the participant followed from acute to chronic SCI, BMD and architecture decline varied systematically across different anatomical segments of the tibia and femur. This study supports that vibration training, using this study's dose parameters, is not an effective anti-osteoporosis intervention for people with chronic SCI. Using a high-spatial-resolution CT methodology and segmental analysis, we illustrate novel longitudinal changes in bone that occur after spinal cord injury.

Improved measurements of RNA structure conservation with generalized centroid estimators.

PubMed

Okada, Yohei; Saito, Yutaka; Sato, Kengo; Sakakibara, Yasubumi

2011-01-01

Identification of non-protein-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) in genomes is a crucial task for not only molecular cell biology but also bioinformatics. Secondary structures of ncRNAs are employed as a key feature of ncRNA analysis since biological functions of ncRNAs are deeply related to their secondary structures. Although the minimum free energy (MFE) structure of an RNA sequence is regarded as the most stable structure, MFE alone could not be an appropriate measure for identifying ncRNAs since the free energy is heavily biased by the nucleotide composition. Therefore, instead of MFE itself, several alternative measures for identifying ncRNAs have been proposed such as the structure conservation index (SCI) and the base pair distance (BPD), both of which employ MFE structures. However, these measurements are unfortunately not suitable for identifying ncRNAs in some cases including the genome-wide search and incur high false discovery rate. In this study, we propose improved measurements based on SCI and BPD, applying generalized centroid estimators to incorporate the robustness against low quality multiple alignments. Our experiments show that our proposed methods achieve higher accuracy than the original SCI and BPD for not only human-curated structural alignments but also low quality alignments produced by CLUSTAL W. Furthermore, the centroid-based SCI on CLUSTAL W alignments is more accurate than or comparable with that of the original SCI on structural alignments generated with RAF, a high quality structural aligner, for which twofold expensive computational time is required on average. We conclude that our methods are more suitable for genome-wide alignments which are of low quality from the point of view on secondary structures than the original SCI and BPD.

High stakes in INF verification

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

Krepon, M.

1987-06-01

The stakes involved in negotiating INF verification arrangements are high. While these proposals deal only with intermediate-range ground-launched cruise and mobile missiles, if properly devised they could help pave the way for comprehensive limits on other cruise missiles and strategic mobile missiles. In contrast, poorly drafted monitoring provisions could compromise national industrial security and generate numerous compliance controversies. Any verification regime will require new openness on both sides, but that means significant risks as well as opportunities. US and Soviet negotiators could spend weeks, months, and even years working out in painstaking detail verification provisions for medium-range missiles. Alternatively, ifmore » the two sides wished to conclude an INF agreement quickly, they could defer most of the difficult verification issues to the strategic arms negotiations.« less

Soviet objectives in the INF negotiations and European security. Master's thesis

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

Baumgardner, H.J.

1987-12-01

On 12 December 1979, NATO officials announced the decision to deploy 108 Pershing II nuclear missiles and 464 Ground Launched Cruise Missiles, in response to the Soviet deployment of SS-20 nuclear missiles. The NATO decision was met by a determined Soviet effort to prevent the deployment of the new missiles. The Soviet effort consisted of negotiations, diplomatic propaganda, and covert measures. When it was clear that the deployment was not going to be stopped, the Soviets agreed to formal INF arms-reduction talks. It is this author's opinion that the Soviet negotiation tactics, during the INF talks, supported the long-range goalmore » of reducing the military effectiveness of NATO, and also supported the goal of reducing U.S. influence in Europe.« less

Effect of a brief smoking cessation intervention on adult tobacco smokers with pulmonary tuberculosis: A cluster randomized controlled trial from North India.

PubMed

Goel, Sonu; Kathiresan, Jeyashree; Singh, Preeti; Singh, Rana J

2017-09-01

An association between smoking and poor tuberculosis (TB) treatment outcomes has been globally established. Various smoking cessation interventions (SCIs) have been proven worldwide to curb smoking behavior. There is a need for evidence to assess if SCI increases the chance of successful treatment outcome among TB patients. To assess the effectiveness of a brief SCI; The Ask, Brief, Cessation support (ABC) package, on treatment outcomes and smoking cessation in smear-positive adult pulmonary TB patients. A cluster, randomized controlled trial was conducted wherein 17 designated microscopic centers of Chandigarh, India were randomly assigned using a computer-generated randomization sequence to receive SCI within directly observed treatment, short (DOTS) services, or existing standard of care. Eligible and consenting smokers (15 + years) registered as smear-positive pulmonary TB for DOTS (n = 156) between January and June 2013 were enrolled. Smoking cessation (self-reported) was assessed at intervals till the end of treatment. End TB treatment outcomes were extracted from patient records. Treatment success was lower in intervention arm (83.6%) as compared control arm (88.2%), but the difference was statistically insignificant (P = 0.427). Smoking cessation was higher in intervention arm (80.2%) compared to comparison arm (57.5%) (adjusted incidence risk ratio = 1.56; 95% confidence interval = 1.24-1.93; P < 0.0001). SCI is effective in inducing smoking cessation among TB patients. No association of SCI with TB treatment outcomes could be detected.

The Structure of Medical Informatics Journal Literature

PubMed Central

Morris, Theodore A.; McCain, Katherine W.

1998-01-01

Abstract Objective: Medical informatics is an emergent interdisciplinary field described as drawing upon and contributing to both the health sciences and information sciences. The authors elucidate the disciplinary nature and internal structure of the field. Design: To better understand the field's disciplinary nature, the authors examine the intercitation relationships of its journal literature. To determine its internal structure, they examined its journal cocitation patterns. Measurements: The authors used data from the Science Citation Index (SCI) and Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) to perform intercitation studies among productive journal titles, and software routines from SPSS to perform multivariate data analyses on cocitation data for proposed core journals. Results: Intercitation network analysis suggests that a core literature exists, one mark of a separate discipline. Multivariate analyses of cocitation data suggest that major focus areas within the field include biomedical engineering, biomedical computing, decision support, and education. The interpretable dimensions of multidimensional scaling maps differed for the SCI and SSCI data sets. Strong links to information science literature were not found. Conclusion: The authors saw indications of a core literature and of several major research fronts. The field appears to be viewed differently by authors writing in journals indexed by SCI from those writing in journals indexed by SSCI, with more emphasis placed on computers and engineering versus decision making by the former and more emphasis on theory versus application (clinical practice) by the latter. PMID:9760393

Performance optimization of Qbox and WEST on Intel Knights Landing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Huihuo; Knight, Christopher; Galli, Giulia; Govoni, Marco; Gygi, Francois

We present the optimization of electronic structure codes Qbox and WEST targeting the Intel®Xeon Phi™processor, codenamed Knights Landing (KNL). Qbox is an ab-initio molecular dynamics code based on plane wave density functional theory (DFT) and WEST is a post-DFT code for excited state calculations within many-body perturbation theory. Both Qbox and WEST employ highly scalable algorithms which enable accurate large-scale electronic structure calculations on leadership class supercomputer platforms beyond 100,000 cores, such as Mira and Theta at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility. In this work, features of the KNL architecture (e.g. hierarchical memory) are explored to achieve higher performance in key algorithms of the Qbox and WEST codes and to develop a road-map for further development targeting next-generation computing architectures. In particular, the optimizations of the Qbox and WEST codes on the KNL platform will target efficient large-scale electronic structure calculations of nanostructured materials exhibiting complex structures and prediction of their electronic and thermal properties for use in solar and thermal energy conversion device. This work was supported by MICCoM, as part of Comp. Mats. Sci. Program funded by the U.S. DOE, Office of Sci., BES, MSE Division. This research used resources of the ALCF, which is a DOE Office of Sci. User Facility under Contract DE-AC02-06CH11357.

Preliminary Results on mηc from Besii

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bian, Jianguo

2003-01-01

In a sample of 58 million J/ψ decays collected in BESII, the process J/ψ → γηc is observed in six different decay channels: ηc → K+K-π+π-, π+π-π+π-, K±K0Sπ ∓ (with K0S -> π +π ^-), ϕϕ(with ϕ → K+K-), K+K-π0 and p/line{p}.

Generalized INF-SUP condition for Chebyshev approximation of the Navier-Stokes equations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bernardi, Christine; Canuto, Claudio; Maday, Yvon

1986-01-01

An abstract mixed problem and its approximation are studied; both are well-posed if and only if several inf-sup conditions are satisfied. These results are applied to a spectral Galerkin method for the Stokes problem in a square, when it is formulated in Chebyshev weighted Sobolev spaces. Finally, a collocation method for the Navier-Stokes equations at Chebyshev nodes is analyzed.

SCI model structure determination program (OSR) user's guide. [optimal subset regression

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1979-01-01

The computer program, OSR (Optimal Subset Regression) which estimates models for rotorcraft body and rotor force and moment coefficients is described. The technique used is based on the subset regression algorithm. Given time histories of aerodynamic coefficients, aerodynamic variables, and control inputs, the program computes correlation between various time histories. The model structure determination is based on these correlations. Inputs and outputs of the program are given.

Extraction of mandibular premolars and molars: comparison between local infiltration via pressure syringe and inferior alveolar nerve block anesthesia.

PubMed

Thiem, Daniel G E; Schnaith, Florian; Van Aken, Caroline M E; Köntges, Anne; Kumar, Vinay V; Al-Nawas, Bilal; Kämmerer, Peer W

2018-04-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the anesthetic efficiency of local infiltration anesthesia administered with a pressure syringe (P-INF) via a special technique versus direct block anesthesia of the inferior alveolar nerve (IANB) for tooth extraction in the posterior mandible. In a prospective randomized study, 101 teeth in 101 patients were extracted in the posterior mandible under local anesthesia whereby two different administration techniques were used (P-INF n = 48; IANB n = 53). Primary objectives were comparisons of anesthetic success rate (yes/no) and efficacy (full/sufficient vs. insufficient). Secondary objectives were patients' pain perception during treatment, pain of injection (numerical rating scale), need for second injections (always IANB), time until onset of anesthetic action (min), and duration of local numbness (min). IANB was successful in all cases, whereas initial P-INF achieved 35% of success only. Furthermore, IANB reached significant higher values of anesthetic efficacy compared to P-INF (P < 0.001). Concerning pain of injection, patients rated IANB to be more painful (P = 0.039). Second injections were significantly more often necessary for P-INF (P = 0.006) whereas duration until onset of action as well as the duration of local numbness were found to be equal. For anesthetic efficacy as well as anesthetic success, block anesthesia of the inferior alveolar nerve (IANB) turned out to be more proficient to local infiltration via special delivering system with a special technique. Infiltration, even when performed with 4% articaine and a pressure syringe system, is not a suitable method of anesthesia in the posterior mandible.

Mutations to the Formin Homology 2 Domain of INF2 Protein Have Unexpected Effects on Actin Polymerization and Severing*

PubMed Central

Ramabhadran, Vinay; Gurel, Pinar S.; Higgs, Henry N.

2012-01-01

INF2 (inverted formin 2) is a formin protein with unusual biochemical characteristics. As with other formins, the formin homology 2 (FH2) domain of INF2 accelerates actin filament assembly and remains at the barbed end, modulating elongation. The unique feature of INF2 is its ability to sever filaments and enhance depolymerization, which requires the C-terminal region. Physiologically, INF2 acts in the secretory pathway and is mutated in two human diseases, focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis and Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. In this study, we investigate the effects of mutating two FH2 residues found to be key in other formins: Ile-643 and Lys-792. Surprisingly, neither mutation abolishes barbed end binding, as judged by pyrene-actin and total internal reflection (TIRF) microscopy elongation assays. The I643A mutation causes tight capping of a subset of filaments, whereas K792A causes slow elongation of all filaments. The I643A mutation has a minor inhibitory effect on polymerization activity but causes almost complete abolition of severing and depolymerization activity. The K792A mutation has relatively small effects on polymerization, severing, and depolymerization. In cells, the K792A mutant causes actin accumulation around the endoplasmic reticulum to a similar extent as wild type, whereas the I643A mutant causes no measurable polymerization. The inability of I643A to induce actin polymerization in cells is explained by its inability to promote robust actin polymerization in the presence of capping protein. These results highlight an important point: it is dangerous to assume that mutation of conserved FH2 residues will have equivalent effects in all formins. The work also suggests that both mutations have effects on the mechanism of processive elongation. PMID:22879592

Hexanoic acid protects tomato plants against Botrytis cinerea by priming defence responses and reducing oxidative stress.

PubMed

Finiti, Ivan; de la O Leyva, María; Vicedo, Begonya; Gómez-Pastor, Rocío; López-Cruz, Jaime; García-Agustín, Pilar; Real, Maria Dolores; González-Bosch, Carmen

2014-08-01

Treatment with the resistance priming inducer hexanoic acid (Hx) protects tomato plants from Botrytis cinerea by activating defence responses. To investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying hexanoic acid-induced resistance (Hx-IR), we compared the expression profiles of three different conditions: Botrytis-infected plants (Inf), Hx-treated plants (Hx) and Hx-treated + infected plants (Hx+Inf). The microarray analysis at 24 h post-inoculation showed that Hx and Hx+Inf plants exhibited the differential expression and priming of many Botrytis-induced genes. Interestingly, we found that the activation by Hx of other genes was not altered by the fungus at this time point. These genes may be considered to be specific targets of the Hx priming effect and may help to elucidate its mechanisms of action. It is noteworthy that, in Hx and Hx+Inf plants, there was up-regulation of proteinase inhibitor genes, DNA-binding factors, enzymes involved in plant hormone signalling and synthesis, and, remarkably, the genes involved in oxidative stress. Given the relevance of the oxidative burst occurring in plant-pathogen interactions, the effect of Hx on this process was studied in depth. We showed by specific staining that reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation in Hx+Inf plants was reduced and more restricted around infection sites. In addition, these plants showed higher ratios of reduced to oxidized glutathione and ascorbate, and normal levels of antioxidant activities. The results obtained indicate that Hx protects tomato plants from B. cinerea by regulating and priming Botrytis-specific and non-specific genes, preventing the harmful effects of oxidative stress produced by infection. © 2013 BSPP AND JOHN WILEY & SONS LTD.

Astaxanthin, a Carotenoid, Stimulates Immune Responses by Enhancing IFN-γ and IL-2 Secretion in Primary Cultured Lymphocytes in Vitro and ex Vivo.

PubMed

Lin, Kuan-Hung; Lin, Kao-Chang; Lu, Wan-Jung; Thomas, Philip-Aloysius; Jayakumar, Thanasekaran; Sheu, Joen-Rong

2015-12-29

Astaxanthin, a potent antioxidant carotenoid, plays a major role in modulating the immune response. In this study, we examined the immunomodulatory effects of astaxanthin on cytokine production in primary cultured lymphocytes both in vitro and ex vivo. Direct administration of astaxanthin (70-300 nM) did not produce cytotoxicity in lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 100 µg/ mL)- or concanavalin A (Con A, 10 µg/ mL)-activated lymphocytes, whereas astaxanthin alone at 300 nM induced proliferation of splenic lymphocytes (p < 0.05) in vitro. Although astaxanthin, alone or with Con A, had no apparent effect on interferon (INF-γ) and interleukin (IL-2) production in primary cultured lymphocytes, it enhanced LPS-induced INF-γ production. In an ex vivo experiment, oral administration of astaxanthin (0.28, 1.4 and 7 mg/kg/day) for 14 days did not cause alterations in the body or spleen weights of mice and also was not toxic to lymphocyte cells derived from the mice. Moreover, treatment with astaxanthin significantly increased LPS-induced lymphocyte proliferation ex vivo but not Con A-stimulated lymphocyte proliferation ex vivo. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) analysis revealed that administration of astaxanthin significantly enhanced INF-γ production in response to both LPS and Con A stimulation, whereas IL-2 production increased only in response to Con A stimulation. Also, astaxanthin treatment alone significantly increased IL-2 production in lymphocytes derived from mice, but did not significantly change production of INF-γ. These findings suggest that astaxanthin modulates lymphocytic immune responses in vitro, and that it partly exerts its ex vivo immunomodulatory effects by increasing INF-γ and IL-2 production without inducing cytotoxicity.

Astaxanthin, a Carotenoid, Stimulates Immune Responses by Enhancing IFN-γ and IL-2 Secretion in Primary Cultured Lymphocytes in Vitro and ex Vivo

PubMed Central

Lin, Kuan-Hung; Lin, Kao-Chang; Lu, Wan-Jung; Thomas, Philip-Aloysius; Jayakumar, Thanasekaran; Sheu, Joen-Rong

2015-01-01

Astaxanthin, a potent antioxidant carotenoid, plays a major role in modulating the immune response. In this study, we examined the immunomodulatory effects of astaxanthin on cytokine production in primary cultured lymphocytes both in vitro and ex vivo. Direct administration of astaxanthin (70–300 nM) did not produce cytotoxicity in lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 100 µg/ mL)- or concanavalin A (Con A, 10 µg/ mL)-activated lymphocytes, whereas astaxanthin alone at 300 nM induced proliferation of splenic lymphocytes (p < 0.05) in vitro. Although astaxanthin, alone or with Con A, had no apparent effect on interferon (INF-γ) and interleukin (IL-2) production in primary cultured lymphocytes, it enhanced LPS-induced INF-γ production. In an ex vivo experiment, oral administration of astaxanthin (0.28, 1.4 and 7 mg/kg/day) for 14 days did not cause alterations in the body or spleen weights of mice and also was not toxic to lymphocyte cells derived from the mice. Moreover, treatment with astaxanthin significantly increased LPS-induced lymphocyte proliferation ex vivo but not Con A-stimulated lymphocyte proliferation ex vivo. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) analysis revealed that administration of astaxanthin significantly enhanced INF-γ production in response to both LPS and Con A stimulation, whereas IL-2 production increased only in response to Con A stimulation. Also, astaxanthin treatment alone significantly increased IL-2 production in lymphocytes derived from mice, but did not significantly change production of INF-γ. These findings suggest that astaxanthin modulates lymphocytic immune responses in vitro, and that it partly exerts its ex vivo immunomodulatory effects by increasing INF-γ and IL-2 production without inducing cytotoxicity. PMID:26729100

Interferon therapy in hepatitis C leading to chronic type 1 diabetes

PubMed Central

Zornitzki, Taiba; Malnick, Stephen; Lysyy, Lyudmila; Knobler, Hilla

2015-01-01

AIM: To review the prevalence, clinical data and course of interferon- associated type 1 diabetes in chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. METHODS: Search of all interferon (INF)-related type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) cases published in the English literature from 1992 to December 2013 according to the key words: chronic hepatitis C infection, diabetes mellitus type 1, insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, and interferon treatment. We found 107 cases and analyzed their clinical and laboratory data and long-term follow-up. Due to the predominance of cases described in Japanese literature, we analyzed separately cases of Caucasian and Japanese origin. In addition we describe a representative case with HCV who developed INF-related T1DM. RESULTS: Our data show that INF treatment increases the risk of developing T1DM by 10-18 fold compared with the corresponding general population and the median age of onset was 43 years (range: 24-66 years) in Caucasians and 52 years (range: 45-63 years) in Japanese. Most patients developed T1DM during INF treatment, after a median time-period of 4.2 and 5.7 mo in Caucasian and Japanese groups, respectively. The clinical course was characterized by a fulminant course with abrupt severe hyperglycemia or ketoacidosis, a high titer of anti-islet autoantibodies and almost all patients (105/107) permanently required insulin therapy with a follow-up of up to 4 years. A substantial number of patients had evidence for other autoimmune disorders mainly thyroid diseases (25% and 31% in Caucasian and Japanese groups, respectively). CONCLUSION: INF-associated T1DM in HCV has a fulminant course, often associated with other autoimmune diseases, and results almost inevitably in permanent insulin therapy requirement. PMID:25574096

Analysis of INF-gamma, TNF-alpha and dendritic cells to predict hepatitis C virus recurrence in liver transplant patients.

PubMed

Ocaña, L; Cos, J; Quer, J; Bilbao, I; Palou, E; Parra, R; Sauleda, S; Esteban, J I; Guàrdia, J; Massuet, L I; Margarit, C

2005-11-01

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is one of the leading causes of chronic liver disease and the reason for more than 50% of liver transplantations (OLT). Recurrent HCV infection occurs in almost all transplant recipients and has an unfavorable course. Although immunosuppressive agents are necessary to avoid allograft rejection, these drugs may favor viral replication facilitating viral-mediated graft injury. To predict the evolution of two HCV(+) patients who underwent OLT, we studied INF-gamma and TNF-alpha production and the maturation capacity of dendritic cells (DCs) at three time points: before transplantation (Pre-Tx) and at 2 (2M) and 6 (6M) months after transplantation. Cytometric bead assays were used to quantify INF-gamma and TNF-alpha production in the supernates of mixed leukocyte reactions (MLR) between spleen cells from the liver donor and CD4(+) cells from the recipients. Immature and mature DCs were generated in vitro from patient monocytes. The one patient who experienced recurrent HCV showed loss of CD4(+) responses to donor antigens and INF-gamma and TNF-alpha production after OLT. In contrast, the other patient maintained detectable levels of these cytokines after OLT. It was possible to generate mature DCs from monocytes with the aid of CD40L in both cases, but decreased expression of HLA-DR, CD80, and CD86 markers was observed upon posttransplantation analyses in the patient with recurrent HCV. Loss of the proliferative response as well as INF-gamma and TNF-alpha production, together with a decreased HLA-DR, CD80, and CD86 (markers of mature DCs), indicated an inadequate immune response to viral progression in the liver transplant recipient with relapsing HCV infection.

Inhibition of bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis by bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells might be mediated by decreasing MMP9, TIMP-1, INF-γ and TGF-β.

PubMed

Yu, Shi-huan; Liu, Li-jie; Lv, Bin; Che, Chun-li; Fan, Da-ping; Wang, Li-feng; Zhang, Yi-mei

2015-08-01

The study was aimed to investigate the mechanism and administration timing of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) in bleomycin (BLM)-induced pulmonary fibrosis mice. Thirty-six mice were divided into six groups: control group (saline), model group (intratracheal administration of BLM), day 1, day 3 and day 6 BMSCs treatment groups and hormone group (hydrocortisone after BLM treatment). BMSCs treatment groups received BMSCs at day 1, 3 or 6 following BLM treatment, respectively. Haematoxylin and eosin and Masson staining were conducted to measure lung injury and fibrosis, respectively. Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP9), tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1), γ-interferon (INF-γ) and transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β) were detected in both lung tissue and serum. Histologically, the model group had pronounced lung injury, increased inflammatory cells and collagenous fibres and up-regulated MMP9, TIMP-1, INF-γ and TGF-β compared with control group. The histological appearance of lung inflammation and fibrosis and elevation of these parameters were inhibited in BMSCs treatment groups, among which, day 3 and day 6 treatment groups had less inflammatory cells and collagenous fibres than day 1 treatment group. BMSCs might suppress lung fibrosis and inflammation through down-regulating MMP9, TIMP-1, INF-γ and TGF-β. Delayed BMSCs treatment might exhibit a better therapeutic effect. Highlights are as follows: 1. BMSCs repair lung injury induced by BLM. 2. BMSCs attenuate pulmonary fibrosis induced by BLM. 3. BMSCs transplantation down-regulates MMP9 and TIMP-1. 4. BMSCs transplantation down-regulates INF-γ and TGF-β. 5. Delayed transplantation timing of BMSCs might exhibit a better effect against BLM. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Efficient Modeling of Laser-Plasma Accelerators with INF&RNO

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

Benedetti, C.; Schroeder, C. B.; Esarey, E.

2010-06-01

The numerical modeling code INF&RNO (INtegrated Fluid& paRticle simulatioN cOde, pronounced"inferno") is presented. INF&RNO is an efficient 2D cylindrical code to model the interaction of a short laser pulse with an underdense plasma. The code is based on an envelope model for the laser while either a PIC or a fluid description can be used for the plasma. The effect of the laser pulse on the plasma is modeled with the time-averaged poderomotive force. These and other features allow for a speedup of 2-4 orders of magnitude compared to standard full PIC simulations while still retaining physical fidelity. The codemore » has been benchmarked against analytical solutions and 3D PIC simulations and here a set of validation tests together with a discussion of the performances are presented.« less

Efficient Modeling of Laser-Plasma Accelerators with INF&RNO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benedetti, C.; Schroeder, C. B.; Esarey, E.; Geddes, C. G. R.; Leemans, W. P.

2010-11-01

The numerical modeling code INF&RNO (INtegrated Fluid & paRticle simulatioN cOde, pronounced "inferno") is presented. INF&RNO is an efficient 2D cylindrical code to model the interaction of a short laser pulse with an underdense plasma. The code is based on an envelope model for the laser while either a PIC or a fluid description can be used for the plasma. The effect of the laser pulse on the plasma is modeled with the time-averaged poderomotive force. These and other features allow for a speedup of 2-4 orders of magnitude compared to standard full PIC simulations while still retaining physical fidelity. The code has been benchmarked against analytical solutions and 3D PIC simulations and here a set of validation tests together with a discussion of the performances are presented.

Large-Scale, Parallel, Multi-Sensor Data Fusion in the Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, B. D.; Manipon, G.; Hua, H.

2012-12-01

NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) is an ambitious facility for studying global climate change. The mandate now is to combine measurements from the instruments on the "A-Train" platforms (AIRS, AMSR-E, MODIS, MISR, MLS, and CloudSat) and other Earth probes to enable large-scale studies of climate change over periods of years to decades. However, moving from predominantly single-instrument studies to a multi-sensor, measurement-based model for long-duration analysis of important climate variables presents serious challenges for large-scale data mining and data fusion. For example, one might want to compare temperature and water vapor retrievals from one instrument (AIRS) to another instrument (MODIS), and to a model (ECMWF), stratify the comparisons using a classification of the "cloud scenes" from CloudSat, and repeat the entire analysis over years of AIRS data. To perform such an analysis, one must discover & access multiple datasets from remote sites, find the space/time "matchups" between instruments swaths and model grids, understand the quality flags and uncertainties for retrieved physical variables, assemble merged datasets, and compute fused products for further scientific and statistical analysis. To efficiently assemble such decade-scale datasets in a timely manner, we are utilizing Elastic Computing in the Cloud and parallel map/reduce-based algorithms. "SciReduce" is a Hadoop-like parallel analysis system, programmed in parallel python, that is designed from the ground up for Earth science. SciReduce executes inside VMWare images and scales to any number of nodes in the Cloud. Unlike Hadoop, in which simple tuples (keys & values) are passed between the map and reduce functions, SciReduce operates on bundles of named numeric arrays, which can be passed in memory or serialized to disk in netCDF4 or HDF5. Thus, SciReduce uses the native datatypes (geolocated grids, swaths, and points) that geo-scientists are familiar with. We are deploying within SciReduce a versatile set of python operators for data lookup, access, subsetting, co-registration, mining, fusion, and statistical analysis. All operators take in sets of geo-located arrays and generate more arrays. Large, multi-year satellite and model datasets are automatically "sharded" by time and space across a cluster of nodes so that years of data (millions of granules) can be compared or fused in a massively parallel way. Input variables (arrays) are pulled on-demand into the Cloud using OPeNDAP or webification URLs, thereby minimizing the size of the stored input and intermediate datasets. A typical map function might assemble and quality control AIRS Level-2 water vapor profiles for a year of data in parallel, then a reduce function would average the profiles in lat/lon bins (again, in parallel), and a final reduce would aggregate the climatology and write it to output files. We are using SciReduce to automate the production of multiple versions of a multi-year water vapor climatology (AIRS & MODIS), stratified by Cloudsat cloud classification, and compare it to models (ECMWF & MERRA reanalysis). We will present the architecture of SciReduce, describe the achieved "clock time" speedups in fusing huge datasets on our own nodes and in the Amazon Cloud, and discuss the Cloud cost tradeoffs for storage, compute, and data transfer.

Large-Scale, Parallel, Multi-Sensor Data Fusion in the Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, B.; Manipon, G.; Hua, H.

2012-04-01

NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) is an ambitious facility for studying global climate change. The mandate now is to combine measurements from the instruments on the "A-Train" platforms (AIRS, AMSR-E, MODIS, MISR, MLS, and CloudSat) and other Earth probes to enable large-scale studies of climate change over periods of years to decades. However, moving from predominantly single-instrument studies to a multi-sensor, measurement-based model for long-duration analysis of important climate variables presents serious challenges for large-scale data mining and data fusion. For example, one might want to compare temperature and water vapor retrievals from one instrument (AIRS) to another instrument (MODIS), and to a model (ECMWF), stratify the comparisons using a classification of the "cloud scenes" from CloudSat, and repeat the entire analysis over years of AIRS data. To perform such an analysis, one must discover & access multiple datasets from remote sites, find the space/time "matchups" between instruments swaths and model grids, understand the quality flags and uncertainties for retrieved physical variables, assemble merged datasets, and compute fused products for further scientific and statistical analysis. To efficiently assemble such decade-scale datasets in a timely manner, we are utilizing Elastic Computing in the Cloud and parallel map/reduce-based algorithms. "SciReduce" is a Hadoop-like parallel analysis system, programmed in parallel python, that is designed from the ground up for Earth science. SciReduce executes inside VMWare images and scales to any number of nodes in the Cloud. Unlike Hadoop, in which simple tuples (keys & values) are passed between the map and reduce functions, SciReduce operates on bundles of named numeric arrays, which can be passed in memory or serialized to disk in netCDF4 or HDF5. Thus, SciReduce uses the native datatypes (geolocated grids, swaths, and points) that geo-scientists are familiar with. We are deploying within SciReduce a versatile set of python operators for data lookup, access, subsetting, co-registration, mining, fusion, and statistical analysis. All operators take in sets of geo-arrays and generate more arrays. Large, multi-year satellite and model datasets are automatically "sharded" by time and space across a cluster of nodes so that years of data (millions of granules) can be compared or fused in a massively parallel way. Input variables (arrays) are pulled on-demand into the Cloud using OPeNDAP or webification URLs, thereby minimizing the size of the stored input and intermediate datasets. A typical map function might assemble and quality control AIRS Level-2 water vapor profiles for a year of data in parallel, then a reduce function would average the profiles in bins (again, in parallel), and a final reduce would aggregate the climatology and write it to output files. We are using SciReduce to automate the production of multiple versions of a multi-year water vapor climatology (AIRS & MODIS), stratified by Cloudsat cloud classification, and compare it to models (ECMWF & MERRA reanalysis). We will present the architecture of SciReduce, describe the achieved "clock time" speedups in fusing huge datasets on our own nodes and in the Amazon Cloud, and discuss the Cloud cost tradeoffs for storage, compute, and data transfer.

A comparison of hydrostatic weighing and air displacement plethysmography in adults with spinal cord injury.

PubMed

Clasey, Jody L; Gater, David R

2005-11-01

To compare (1) total body volume (V(b)) and density (D(b)) measurements obtained by hydrostatic weighing (HW) and air displacement plethysmography (ADP) in adults with spinal cord injury (SCI); (2) measured and predicted thoracic gas volume (V(TG)); and (3) differences in percentage of fat measurements using ADP-obtained D(b) and HW-obtained D(b) measures that were interchanged in a 4-compartment body composition model (4-comp %fat). Twenty adults with SCI underwent ADP and V(TG), and HW testing. In a subgroup (n=13) of subjects, 4-comp %fat procedures were computed. Research laboratories in a university setting. Twenty adults with SCI below the T3 vertebrae and motor complete paraplegia. Not applicable. Statistical analyses, including determination of group mean differences, shared variance, total error, and 95% confidence intervals. The 2 methods yielded small yet significantly different V(b) and D(b). The groups' mean V(TG) did not differ significantly, but the large relative differences indicated an unacceptable amount of individual error. When the 4-comp %fat measurements were compared, there was a trend toward significant differences (P=.08). ADP is a valid alternative method of determining the V(b) and D(b) in adults with SCI; however, the predicted V(TG) should be used with caution.

Universal quantum computing using (Zd) 3 symmetry-protected topologically ordered states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yanzhu; Prakash, Abhishodh; Wei, Tzu-Chieh

2018-02-01

Measurement-based quantum computation describes a scheme where entanglement of resource states is utilized to simulate arbitrary quantum gates via local measurements. Recent works suggest that symmetry-protected topologically nontrivial, short-ranged entangled states are promising candidates for such a resource. Miller and Miyake [npj Quantum Inf. 2, 16036 (2016), 10.1038/npjqi.2016.36] recently constructed a particular Z2×Z2×Z2 symmetry-protected topological state on the Union Jack lattice and established its quantum-computational universality. However, they suggested that the same construction on the triangular lattice might not lead to a universal resource. Instead of qubits, we generalize the construction to qudits and show that the resulting (d -1 ) qudit nontrivial Zd×Zd×Zd symmetry-protected topological states are universal on the triangular lattice, for d being a prime number greater than 2. The same construction also holds for other 3-colorable lattices, including the Union Jack lattice.

Effects of Two Commonly Found Strains of Influenza A Virus on Developing Dopaminergic Neurons, in Relation to the Pathophysiology of Schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Landreau, Fernando; Galeano, Pablo; Caltana, Laura R.; Masciotra, Luis; Chertcoff, Agustín; Pontoriero, A.; Baumeister, Elsa; Amoroso, Marcela; Brusco, Herminia A.; Tous, Mónica I.; Savy, Vilma L.; Lores Arnaiz, María del Rosario; de Erausquin, Gabriel A.

2012-01-01

Influenza virus (InfV) infection during pregnancy is a known risk factor for neurodevelopment abnormalities in the offspring, including the risk of schizophrenia, and has been shown to result in an abnormal behavioral phenotype in mice. However, previous reports have concentrated on neuroadapted influenza strains, whereas increased schizophrenia risk is associated with common respiratory InfV. In addition, no specific mechanism has been proposed for the actions of maternal infection on the developing brain that could account for schizophrenia risk. We identified two common isolates from the community with antigenic configurations H3N2 and H1N1 and compared their effects on developing brain with a mouse modified-strain A/WSN/33 specifically on the developing of dopaminergic neurons. We found that H1N1 InfV have high affinity for dopaminergic neurons in vitro, leading to nuclear factor kappa B activation and apoptosis. Furthermore, prenatal infection of mothers with the same strains results in loss of dopaminergic neurons in the offspring, and in an abnormal behavioral phenotype. We propose that the well-known contribution of InfV to risk of schizophrenia during development may involve a similar specific mechanism and discuss evidence from the literature in relation to this hypothesis. PMID:23251423

Multifactor analysis and simulation of the surface runoff and soil infiltration at different slope gradients

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, J.; Kang, Q.; Yang, J. X.; Jin, P. W.

2017-08-01

The surface runoff and soil infiltration exert significant influence on soil erosion. The effects of slope gradient/length (SG/SL), individual rainfall amount/intensity (IRA/IRI), vegetation cover (VC) and antecedent soil moisture (ASM) on the runoff depth (RD) and soil infiltration (INF) were evaluated in a series of natural rainfall experiments in the South of China. RD is found to correlate positively with IRA, IRI, and ASM factors and negatively with SG and VC. RD decreased followed by its increase with SG and ASM, it increased with a further decrease with SL, exhibited a linear growth with IRA and IRI, and exponential drop with VC. Meanwhile, INF exhibits a positive correlation with SL, IRA and IRI and VC, and a negative one with SG and ASM. INF was going up and then down with SG, linearly rising with SL, IRA and IRI, increasing by a logit function with VC, and linearly falling with ASM. The VC level above 60% can effectively lower the surface runoff and significantly enhance soil infiltration. Two RD and INF prediction models, accounting for the above six factors, were constructed using the multiple nonlinear regression method. The verification of those models disclosed a high Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient and low root-mean-square error, demonstrating good predictability of both models.

INF- α and ototoxicity.

PubMed

Sharifian, Mohammad Reza; Kamandi, Shima; Sima, Hamid Reza; Zaringhalam, Mohammad Ali; Bakhshaee, Mehdi

2013-01-01

INF- α is a common drug for the treatment of hepatitis B and C. Although a variety of related complications are discussed, possible ototoxic effects of this mediation are not well described. In a before-after control study, 24 patients who received INF- α for the treatment of hepatitis B and C and 30 normal controls were included. Subjective and objective ototoxicity evaluations via questionnaire, high frequency audiometry, and measuring transiently evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) were performed one week before and one month after the prescription of the drug. Results. Subjective hearing complaint, tinnitus, and vertigo were seen in just 3 cases, which was not statistically significant (P = 0.083). In the frequency range of 4000 to 8000 Hz before (9.38 ± 1.0 and 10.7 ± 1.2, resp.) and after (17.9 ± 2.6 and 17.6 ± 2.6, resp.) one month of treatment, a significant difference (P = 0.083) was detected. Progressive decreases in amplitude of the OAE during TEOAE measurement in 1, 2, and 4 frequencies among 41.66%, 18.75 %, and 43.75% were observed, respectively. The hearing loss was seen more among older and male cases significantly. Conclusion. The results showed ototoxicity of INF- α that may encourage planning hearing monitoring in patients receiving this drug.

Metallothionein-1 and nitric oxide expression are inversely correlated in a murine model of Chagas disease

PubMed Central

Gonzalez-Mejia, Martha Elba; Torres-Rasgado, Enrique; Porchia, Leonardo M; Salgado, Hilda Rosas; Totolhua, José-Luis; Ortega, Arturo; Hernández-Kelly, Luisa Clara Regina; Ruiz-Vivanco, Guadalupe; Báez-Duarte, Blanca G; Pérez-Fuentes, Ricardo

2014-01-01

Chagas disease, caused by Trypanosoma cruzi, represents an endemic among Latin America countries. The participation of free radicals, especially nitric oxide (NO), has been demonstrated in the pathophysiology of seropositive individuals with T. cruzi. In Chagas disease, increased NO contributes to the development of cardiomyopathy and megacolon. Metallothioneins (MTs) are efficient free radicals scavengers of NO in vitro and in vivo. Here, we developed a murine model of the chronic phase of Chagas disease using endemic T. cruzi RyCH1 in BALB/c mice, which were divided into four groups: infected non-treated (Inf), infected N-monomethyl-L-arginine treated (Inf L-NAME), non-infected L-NAME treated and non-infected vehicle-treated. We determined blood parasitaemia and NO levels, the extent of parasite nests in tissues and liver MT-I expression levels. It was observed that NO levels were increasing in Inf mice in a time-dependent manner. Inf L-NAME mice had fewer T. cruzi nests in cardiac and skeletal muscle with decreased blood NO levels at day 135 post infection. This affect was negatively correlated with an increase of MT-I expression (r = -0.8462, p < 0.0001). In conclusion, we determined that in Chagas disease, an unknown inhibitory mechanism reduces MT-I expression, allowing augmented NO levels. PMID:24676665

INF verification: a guide for the perplexed

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

Mendelsohn, J.

1987-09-01

The administration has dug itself some deep holes on the verification issue. It will have to conclude an arms control treaty without having resolved earlier (but highly questionable) compliance issues on which it has placed great emphasis. It will probably have to abandon its more sweeping (and unnecessary) on-site inspection (OSI) proposals because of adverse security and political implications for the United States and its allies. And, finally, it will probably have to present to the Congress an INF treaty that will provide for a considerably less-stringent (but nonetheless adequate) verification regime that it had originally demanded. It is difficultmore » to dispel the impression that, when the likelihood of concluding an INF treaty seemed remote, the administration indulged its penchant for intrusive and non-negotiable verification measures. As the possibility of, and eagerness for, a treaty increased, and as the Soviet Union shifted its policy from one of the resistance to OSI to one of indicating that on-site verification involved reciprocal obligations, the administration was forced to scale back its OSI rhetoric. This re-evaluation of OSI by the administration does not make the INF treaty any less verifiable; from the outset the Reagan administration was asking for a far more extensive verification package than was necessary, practicable, acceptable, or negotiable.« less

Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing (SciDAC-3) Partnership Project Annual Report

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

Hoffman, Forest M.; Bochev, Pavel B.; Cameron-Smith, Philip J..

The Applying Computationally Efficient Schemes for BioGeochemical Cycles ACES4BGC Project is advancing the predictive capabilities of Earth System Models (ESMs) by reducing two of the largest sources of uncertainty, aerosols and biospheric feedbacks, with a highly efficient computational approach. In particular, this project is implementing and optimizing new computationally efficient tracer advection algorithms for large numbers of tracer species; adding important biogeochemical interactions between the atmosphere, land, and ocean models; and applying uncertainty quanti cation (UQ) techniques to constrain process parameters and evaluate uncertainties in feedbacks between biogeochemical cycles and the climate system.

An Innovative Infrastructure with a Universal Geo-Spatiotemporal Data Representation Supporting Cost-Effective Integration of Diverse Earth Science Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rilee, Michael Lee; Kuo, Kwo-Sen

2017-01-01

The SpatioTemporal Adaptive Resolution Encoding (STARE) is a unifying scheme encoding geospatial and temporal information for organizing data on scalable computing/storage resources, minimizing expensive data transfers. STARE provides a compact representation that turns set-logic functions into integer operations, e.g. conditional sub-setting, taking into account representative spatiotemporal resolutions of the data in the datasets. STARE geo-spatiotemporally aligns data placements of diverse data on massive parallel resources to maximize performance. Automating important scientific functions (e.g. regridding) and computational functions (e.g. data placement) allows scientists to focus on domain-specific questions instead of expending their efforts and expertise on data processing. With STARE-enabled automation, SciDB (Scientific Database) plus STARE provides a database interface, reducing costly data preparation, increasing the volume and variety of interoperable data, and easing result sharing. Using SciDB plus STARE as part of an integrated analysis infrastructure dramatically eases combining diametrically different datasets.

SciDAC-3: Searching for Physics Beyond the Standard Model, University of Arizona component, Year 2 progress report

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

Toussaint, Doug

2014-03-21

The Arizona component of the SciDAC-3 Lattice Gauge Theory program consisted of partial support for a postdoctoral position. In the original budget this covered three fourths of a postdoc, but the University of Arizona changed its ERE rate for postdoctoral positions from 4.3% to 21%, so the support level was closer to two-thirds of a postdoc. The grant covered the work of postdoc Thomas Primer. Dr. Primer's first task was an urgent one, although it was not forseen in our proposed work. It turned out that on the large lattices used in some of our current computations the gauge fixingmore » code was not working as expected, and this revealed itself in inconsistent results in the correlators needed to compute the semileptonic form factors for K and D decays. Dr. Primer participated in the effort to understand this problem and to modify our codes to deal with the large lattices we are now generating (as large as 144 3 x 288). Corrected code was incorporated in our standard codes, and workarounds that allow us to use the correlators already computed with the unexpected gauge fixing were been implemented.« less

Quantification of Uncertainty in Extreme Scale Computations (QUEST)

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

Ghanem, Roger

QUEST was a SciDAC Institute comprising Sandia National Laboratories, Los Alamos National Laboratory, the University of Southern California, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Texas at Austin, and Duke University. The mission of QUEST is to: (1) develop a broad class of uncertainty quantification (UQ) methods/tools, and (2) provide UQ expertise and software to other SciDAC projects, thereby enabling/guiding their UQ activities. The USC effort centered on the development of reduced models and efficient algorithms for implementing various components of the UQ pipeline. USC personnel were responsible for the development of adaptive bases, adaptive quadrature, and reduced modelsmore » to be used in estimation and inference.« less

SciDAC Center for Gyrokinetic Particle Simulation of Turbulent Transport in Burning Plasmas

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

Lin, Zhihong

2013-12-18

During the first year of the SciDAC gyrokinetic particle simulation (GPS) project, the GPS team (Zhihong Lin, Liu Chen, Yasutaro Nishimura, and Igor Holod) at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) studied the tokamak electron transport driven by electron temperature gradient (ETG) turbulence, and by trapped electron mode (TEM) turbulence and ion temperature gradient (ITG) turbulence with kinetic electron effects, extended our studies of ITG turbulence spreading to core-edge coupling. We have developed and optimized an elliptic solver using finite element method (FEM), which enables the implementation of advanced kinetic electron models (split-weight scheme and hybrid model) in the SciDACmore » GPS production code GTC. The GTC code has been ported and optimized on both scalar and vector parallel computer architectures, and is being transformed into objected-oriented style to facilitate collaborative code development. During this period, the UCI team members presented 11 invited talks at major national and international conferences, published 22 papers in peer-reviewed journals and 10 papers in conference proceedings. The UCI hosted the annual SciDAC Workshop on Plasma Turbulence sponsored by the GPS Center, 2005-2007. The workshop was attended by about fifties US and foreign researchers and financially sponsored several gradual students from MIT, Princeton University, Germany, Switzerland, and Finland. A new SciDAC postdoc, Igor Holod, has arrived at UCI to initiate global particle simulation of magnetohydrodynamics turbulence driven by energetic particle modes. The PI, Z. Lin, has been promoted to the Associate Professor with tenure at UCI.« less

International urinary tract imaging basic spinal cord injury data set.

PubMed

Biering-Sørensen, F; Craggs, M; Kennelly, M; Schick, E; Wyndaele, J-J

2009-05-01

To create an International Urinary Tract Imaging Basic Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Data Set within the framework of the International SCI Data Sets. An international working group. The draft of the Data Set was developed by a working group comprising members appointed by the Neurourology Committee of the International Continence Society, the European Association of Urology, the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA), the International Spinal Cord Society (ISCoS) and a representative of the Executive Committee of the International SCI Standards and Data Sets. The final version of the Data Set was developed after review and comments by members of the Executive Committee of the International SCI Standards and Data Sets, the ISCoS Scientific Committee, ASIA Board, relevant and interested international organizations and societies (around 40), individual persons with specific expertise and the ISCoS Council. Endorsement of the Data Sets by relevant organizations and societies will be obtained. To make the Data Set uniform, each variable and each response category within each variable have been specifically defined in a way that is designed to promote the collection and reporting of comparable minimal data. The variables included in the International Urinary Tract Imaging Basic SCI Data Set are the results obtained using the following investigations: intravenous pyelography or computer tomography urogram or ultrasound, X-ray, renography, clearance, cystogram, voiding cystogram or micturition cystourogram or videourodynamics. The complete instructions for data collection and the data sheet itself are freely available on the websites of both ISCoS (http://www.iscos.org.uk) and ASIA (http://www.asia-spinalinjury.org).

People and computers--some recent highlights.

PubMed

Shackel, B

2000-12-01

This paper aims to review selectively a fair proportion of the literature on human-computer interaction (HCI) over the three years since Shackel (J. Am. Soc. Inform. Sci. 48 (11) (1997) 970-986). After a brief note of history I discuss traditional input, output and workplace aspects, the web and 'E-topics', web-related aspects, virtual reality, safety-critical systems, and the need to move from HCI to human-system integration (HSI). Finally I suggest, and consider briefly, some future possibilities and issues including web consequences, embedded ubiquitous computing, and 'back to systems ergonomics?'.

Legendre modified moments for Euler's constant

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prévost, Marc

2008-10-01

Polynomial moments are often used for the computation of Gauss quadrature to stabilize the numerical calculation of the orthogonal polynomials, see [W. Gautschi, Computational aspects of orthogonal polynomials, in: P. Nevai (Ed.), Orthogonal Polynomials-Theory and Practice, NATO ASI Series, Series C: Mathematical and Physical Sciences, vol. 294. Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1990, pp. 181-216 [6]; W. Gautschi, On the sensitivity of orthogonal polynomials to perturbations in the moments, Numer. Math. 48(4) (1986) 369-382 [5]; W. Gautschi, On generating orthogonal polynomials, SIAM J. Sci. Statist. Comput. 3(3) (1982) 289-317 [4

Computing correct truncated excited state wavefunctions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bacalis, N. C.; Xiong, Z.; Zang, J.; Karaoulanis, D.

2016-12-01

We demonstrate that, if a wave function's truncated expansion is small, then the standard excited states computational method, of optimizing one "root" of a secular equation, may lead to an incorrect wave function - despite the correct energy according to the theorem of Hylleraas, Undheim and McDonald - whereas our proposed method [J. Comput. Meth. Sci. Eng. 8, 277 (2008)] (independent of orthogonality to lower lying approximants) leads to correct reliable small truncated wave functions. The demonstration is done in He excited states, using truncated series expansions in Hylleraas coordinates, as well as standard configuration-interaction truncated expansions.

Pqcd Analysis of Atmospheric Tau Neutrino

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yeh, Tsung-Wen

2003-03-01

We calculate the flux of ντ produced in the atmosphere by cosmic ray-air collisions. The production channels of ντ from the process pA -> X -> ν τ (bar ν τ )Y with X = Ds ,W±, Z, hb, tbar t , are considered. The calculations are performed by employing perturbative QCD (PQCD). The predicted ντ flux ϕντ is given for energy range 103GeV ≤ E ≤ 108GeV.

Magnetic-Field Dependences of Thermodynamic Quantities in the Vortex State of Type-Ii Superconductors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Watanabe, Koichi; Kita, Takafumi; Arai, Masao

2006-08-01

We develop an alternative method to solve the Eilenberger equations numerically for the vortex-lattice states of type-II superconductors. Using it, we clarify the magnetic-field and impurity-concentration dependences of the magnetization, the entropy, the Pauli paramagnetism, and the mixing of higher Landau levels in the pair potential for two-dimensional s- and dx2-y2-wave superconductors with a cylindrical Fermi surface.

Anaerobic Transformation of Furfural by Methanococcus deltae (Delta)LH

PubMed Central

Belay, N.; Boopathy, R.; Voskuilen, G.

1997-01-01

Methanococcus deltae (Delta)LH was grown on H(inf2)-CO(inf2) in the presence of various concentrations of furfural. Furfural at higher concentrations, namely, 20 and 25 mM, inhibited growth of this organism. At concentration of 5 and 10 mM, no inhibition of growth was observed. The other methanogens in this study were not inhibited by 10 mM furfural. Among the methanogens tested, M. deltae was capable of transforming furfural, whereas Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum Marburg, Methanosarcina barkeri 227, Methanococcus thermolithotrophicus, and Methanobrevibacter ruminantium lacked this capability. One hundred percent removal of furfural was observed within 48 h of incubation in M. deltae cultures. The end product observed during furfural metabolism was furfuryl alcohol. An almost stoichiometric amount of furfuryl alcohol was produced by M. deltae. This transformation is likely to be of value in the detoxification of furfural and in its ultimate conversion to methane and CO(inf2) by anaerobic digestion. PMID:16535618

Efficient Modeling of Laser-Plasma Accelerators with INF and RNO

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

Benedetti, C.; Schroeder, C. B.; Esarey, E.

2010-11-04

The numerical modeling code INF and RNO (INtegrated Fluid and paRticle simulatioN cOde, pronounced 'inferno') is presented. INF and RNO is an efficient 2D cylindrical code to model the interaction of a short laser pulse with an underdense plasma. The code is based on an envelope model for the laser while either a PIC or a fluid description can be used for the plasma. The effect of the laser pulse on the plasma is modeled with the time-averaged poderomotive force. These and other features allow for a speedup of 2-4 orders of magnitude compared to standard full PIC simulations whilemore » still retaining physical fidelity. The code has been benchmarked against analytical solutions and 3D PIC simulations and here a set of validation tests together with a discussion of the performances are presented.« less

Differential Game Logic for Hybrid Games

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-03-01

André Platzer. Logics of dynamical systems (invited tutorial). In LICS [DBL12]. [PP03] Marc Pauly and Rohit Parikh. Game logic - an overview...hybrid games. Theor. Comput. Sci., 412(48):6770–6785, 2011. [Wal98] Wolfgang Walter. Ordinary Differential Equations. Springer, 1998. 18 A Proof of Scott

Numerical Analysis and Improved Algorithms for Lyapunov-Exponent Calculation of Discrete-Time Chaotic Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Jianbin; Yu, Simin; Cai, Jianping

2016-12-01

Lyapunov exponent is an important index for describing chaotic systems behavior, and the largest Lyapunov exponent can be used to determine whether a system is chaotic or not. For discrete-time dynamical systems, the Lyapunov exponents are calculated by an eigenvalue method. In theory, according to eigenvalue method, the more accurate calculations of Lyapunov exponent can be obtained with the increment of iterations, and the limits also exist. However, due to the finite precision of computer and other reasons, the results will be numeric overflow, unrecognized, or inaccurate, which can be stated as follows: (1) The iterations cannot be too large, otherwise, the simulation result will appear as an error message of NaN or Inf; (2) If the error message of NaN or Inf does not appear, then with the increment of iterations, all Lyapunov exponents will get close to the largest Lyapunov exponent, which leads to inaccurate calculation results; (3) From the viewpoint of numerical calculation, obviously, if the iterations are too small, then the results are also inaccurate. Based on the analysis of Lyapunov-exponent calculation in discrete-time systems, this paper investigates two improved algorithms via QR orthogonal decomposition and SVD orthogonal decomposition approaches so as to solve the above-mentioned problems. Finally, some examples are given to illustrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the improved algorithms.

Body-Machine Interface Enables People With Cervical Spinal Cord Injury to Control Devices With Available Body Movements: Proof of Concept.

PubMed

Abdollahi, Farnaz; Farshchiansadegh, Ali; Pierella, Camilla; Seáñez-González, Ismael; Thorp, Elias; Lee, Mei-Hua; Ranganathan, Rajiv; Pedersen, Jessica; Chen, David; Roth, Elliot; Casadio, Maura; Mussa-Ivaldi, Ferdinando

2017-05-01

This study tested the use of a customized body-machine interface (BoMI) for enhancing functional capabilities in persons with cervical spinal cord injury (cSCI). The interface allows people with cSCI to operate external devices by reorganizing their residual movements. This was a proof-of-concept phase 0 interventional nonrandomized clinical trial. Eight cSCI participants wore a custom-made garment with motion sensors placed on the shoulders. Signals derived from the sensors controlled a computer cursor. A standard algorithm extracted the combinations of sensor signals that best captured each participant's capacity for controlling a computer cursor. Participants practiced with the BoMI for 24 sessions over 12 weeks performing 3 tasks: reaching, typing, and game playing. Learning and performance were evaluated by the evolution of movement time, errors, smoothness, and performance metrics specific to each task. Through practice, participants were able to reduce the movement time and the distance from the target at the 1-second mark in the reaching task. They also made straighter and smoother movements while reaching to different targets. All participants became faster in the typing task and more skilled in game playing, as the pong hit rate increased significantly with practice. The results provide proof-of-concept for the customized BoMI as a means for people with absent or severely impaired hand movements to control assistive devices that otherwise would be manually operated.

Performance Engineering Research Institute SciDAC-2 Enabling Technologies Institute Final Report

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

Hall, Mary

2014-09-19

Enhancing the performance of SciDAC applications on petascale systems has high priority within DOE SC. As we look to the future, achieving expected levels of performance on high-end com-puting (HEC) systems is growing ever more challenging due to enormous scale, increasing archi-tectural complexity, and increasing application complexity. To address these challenges, PERI has implemented a unified, tripartite research plan encompassing: (1) performance modeling and prediction; (2) automatic performance tuning; and (3) performance engineering of high profile applications. The PERI performance modeling and prediction activity is developing and refining performance models, significantly reducing the cost of collecting the data upon whichmore » the models are based, and increasing model fidelity, speed and generality. Our primary research activity is automatic tuning (autotuning) of scientific software. This activity is spurred by the strong user preference for automatic tools and is based on previous successful activities such as ATLAS, which has automatically tuned components of the LAPACK linear algebra library, and other re-cent work on autotuning domain-specific libraries. Our third major component is application en-gagement, to which we are devoting approximately 30% of our effort to work directly with Sci-DAC-2 applications. This last activity not only helps DOE scientists meet their near-term per-formance goals, but also helps keep PERI research focused on the real challenges facing DOE computational scientists as they enter the Petascale Era.« less

Social Networking Adapted for Distributed Scientific Collaboration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Karimabadi, Homa

2012-01-01

Share is a social networking site with novel, specially designed feature sets to enable simultaneous remote collaboration and sharing of large data sets among scientists. The site will include not only the standard features found on popular consumer-oriented social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace, but also a number of powerful tools to extend its functionality to a science collaboration site. A Virtual Observatory is a promising technology for making data accessible from various missions and instruments through a Web browser. Sci-Share augments services provided by Virtual Observatories by enabling distributed collaboration and sharing of downloaded and/or processed data among scientists. This will, in turn, increase science returns from NASA missions. Sci-Share also enables better utilization of NASA s high-performance computing resources by providing an easy and central mechanism to access and share large files on users space or those saved on mass storage. The most common means of remote scientific collaboration today remains the trio of e-mail for electronic communication, FTP for file sharing, and personalized Web sites for dissemination of papers and research results. Each of these tools has well-known limitations. Sci-Share transforms the social networking paradigm into a scientific collaboration environment by offering powerful tools for cooperative discourse and digital content sharing. Sci-Share differentiates itself by serving as an online repository for users digital content with the following unique features: a) Sharing of any file type, any size, from anywhere; b) Creation of projects and groups for controlled sharing; c) Module for sharing files on HPC (High Performance Computing) sites; d) Universal accessibility of staged files as embedded links on other sites (e.g. Facebook) and tools (e.g. e-mail); e) Drag-and-drop transfer of large files, replacing awkward e-mail attachments (and file size limitations); f) Enterprise-level data and messaging encryption; and g) Easy-to-use intuitive workflow.

Community Petascale Project for Accelerator Science and Simulation: Advancing Computational Science for Future Accelerators and Accelerator Technologies

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

Spentzouris, P.; /Fermilab; Cary, J.

The design and performance optimization of particle accelerators are essential for the success of the DOE scientific program in the next decade. Particle accelerators are very complex systems whose accurate description involves a large number of degrees of freedom and requires the inclusion of many physics processes. Building on the success of the SciDAC-1 Accelerator Science and Technology project, the SciDAC-2 Community Petascale Project for Accelerator Science and Simulation (ComPASS) is developing a comprehensive set of interoperable components for beam dynamics, electromagnetics, electron cooling, and laser/plasma acceleration modelling. ComPASS is providing accelerator scientists the tools required to enable the necessarymore » accelerator simulation paradigm shift from high-fidelity single physics process modeling (covered under SciDAC1) to high-fidelity multiphysics modeling. Our computational frameworks have been used to model the behavior of a large number of accelerators and accelerator R&D experiments, assisting both their design and performance optimization. As parallel computational applications, the ComPASS codes have been shown to make effective use of thousands of processors. ComPASS is in the first year of executing its plan to develop the next-generation HPC accelerator modeling tools. ComPASS aims to develop an integrated simulation environment that will utilize existing and new accelerator physics modules with petascale capabilities, by employing modern computing and solver technologies. The ComPASS vision is to deliver to accelerator scientists a virtual accelerator and virtual prototyping modeling environment, with the necessary multiphysics, multiscale capabilities. The plan for this development includes delivering accelerator modeling applications appropriate for each stage of the ComPASS software evolution. Such applications are already being used to address challenging problems in accelerator design and optimization. The ComPASS organization for software development and applications accounts for the natural domain areas (beam dynamics, electromagnetics, and advanced acceleration), and all areas depend on the enabling technologies activities, such as solvers and component technology, to deliver the desired performance and integrated simulation environment. The ComPASS applications focus on computationally challenging problems important for design or performance optimization to all major HEP, NP, and BES accelerator facilities. With the cost and complexity of particle accelerators rising, the use of computation to optimize their designs and find improved operating regimes becomes essential, potentially leading to significant cost savings with modest investment.« less

The rate of growth in scientific publication and the decline in coverage provided by Science Citation Index.

PubMed

Larsen, Peder Olesen; von Ins, Markus

2010-09-01

The growth rate of scientific publication has been studied from 1907 to 2007 using available data from a number of literature databases, including Science Citation Index (SCI) and Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI). Traditional scientific publishing, that is publication in peer-reviewed journals, is still increasing although there are big differences between fields. There are no indications that the growth rate has decreased in the last 50 years. At the same time publication using new channels, for example conference proceedings, open archives and home pages, is growing fast. The growth rate for SCI up to 2007 is smaller than for comparable databases. This means that SCI was covering a decreasing part of the traditional scientific literature. There are also clear indications that the coverage by SCI is especially low in some of the scientific areas with the highest growth rate, including computer science and engineering sciences. The role of conference proceedings, open access archives and publications published on the net is increasing, especially in scientific fields with high growth rates, but this has only partially been reflected in the databases. The new publication channels challenge the use of the big databases in measurements of scientific productivity or output and of the growth rate of science. Because of the declining coverage and this challenge it is problematic that SCI has been used and is used as the dominant source for science indicators based on publication and citation numbers. The limited data available for social sciences show that the growth rate in SSCI was remarkably low and indicate that the coverage by SSCI was declining over time. National Science Indicators from Thomson Reuters is based solely on SCI, SSCI and Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI). Therefore the declining coverage of the citation databases problematizes the use of this source.

Bone architecture adaptations after spinal cord injury: impact of long-term vibration of a constrained lower limb

PubMed Central

Dudley-Javoroski, S.; Petrie, M. A.; McHenry, C. L.; Amelon, R. E.; Saha, P. K.

2015-01-01

Summary This study examined the effect of a controlled dose of vibration upon bone density and architecture in people with spinal cord injury (who eventually develop severe osteoporosis). Very sensitive computed tomography (CT) imaging revealed no effect of vibration after 12 months, but other doses of vibration may still be useful to test. Introduction The purposes of this report were to determine the effect of a controlled dose of vibratory mechanical input upon individual trabecular bone regions in people with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI) and to examine the longitudinal bone architecture changes in both the acute and chronic state of SCI. Methods Participants with SCI received unilateral vibration of the constrained lower limb segment while sitting in a wheelchair (0.6g, 30 Hz, 20 min, three times weekly). The opposite limb served as a control. Bone mineral density (BMD) and trabecular micro-architecture were measured with high-resolution multi-detector CT. For comparison, one participant was studied from the acute (0.14 year) to the chronic state (2.7 years). Results Twelve months of vibration training did not yield adaptations of BMD or trabecular micro-architecture for the distal tibia or the distal femur. BMD and trabecular network length continued to decline at several distal femur sub-regions, contrary to previous reports suggesting a “steady state” of bone in chronic SCI. In the participant followed from acute to chronic SCI, BMD and architecture decline varied systematically across different anatomical segments of the tibia and femur. Conclusions This study supports that vibration training, using this study’s dose parameters, is not an effective antiosteoporosis intervention for people with chronic SCI. Using a high-spatial-resolution CT methodology and segmental analysis, we illustrate novel longitudinal changes in bone that occur after spinal cord injury. PMID:26395887

A Comparison of Global Indexing Schemes to Facilitate Earth Science Data Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Griessbaum, N.; Frew, J.; Rilee, M. L.; Kuo, K. S.

2017-12-01

Recent advances in database technology have led to systems optimized for managing petabyte-scale multidimensional arrays. These array databases are a good fit for subsets of the Earth's surface that can be projected into a rectangular coordinate system with acceptable geometric fidelity. However, for global analyses, array databases must address the same distortions and discontinuities that apply to map projections in general. The array database SciDB supports enormous databases spread across thousands of computing nodes. Additionally, the following SciDB characteristics are particularly germane to the coordinate system problem: SciDB efficiently stores and manipulates sparse (i.e. mostly empty) arrays. SciDB arrays have 64-bit indexes. SciDB supports user-defined data types, functions, and operators. We have implemented two geospatial indexing schemes in SciDB. The simplest uses two array dimensions to represent longitude and latitude. For representation as 64-bit integers, the coordinates are multiplied by a scale factor large enough to yield an appropriate Earth surface resolution (e.g., a scale factor of 100,000 yields a resolution of approximately 1m at the equator). Aside from the longitudinal discontinuity, the principal disadvantage of this scheme is its fixed scale factor. The second scheme uses a single array dimension to represent the bit-codes for locations in a hierarchical triangular mesh (HTM) coordinate system. A HTM maps the Earth's surface onto an octahedron, and then recursively subdivides each triangular face to the desired resolution. Earth surface locations are represented as the concatenation of an octahedron face code and a quadtree code within the face. Unlike our integerized lat-lon scheme, the HTM allow for objects of different size (e.g., pixels with differing resolutions) to be represented in the same indexing scheme. We present an evaluation of the relative utility of these two schemes for managing and analyzing MODIS swath data.

The rate of growth in scientific publication and the decline in coverage provided by Science Citation Index

PubMed Central

von Ins, Markus

2010-01-01

The growth rate of scientific publication has been studied from 1907 to 2007 using available data from a number of literature databases, including Science Citation Index (SCI) and Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI). Traditional scientific publishing, that is publication in peer-reviewed journals, is still increasing although there are big differences between fields. There are no indications that the growth rate has decreased in the last 50 years. At the same time publication using new channels, for example conference proceedings, open archives and home pages, is growing fast. The growth rate for SCI up to 2007 is smaller than for comparable databases. This means that SCI was covering a decreasing part of the traditional scientific literature. There are also clear indications that the coverage by SCI is especially low in some of the scientific areas with the highest growth rate, including computer science and engineering sciences. The role of conference proceedings, open access archives and publications published on the net is increasing, especially in scientific fields with high growth rates, but this has only partially been reflected in the databases. The new publication channels challenge the use of the big databases in measurements of scientific productivity or output and of the growth rate of science. Because of the declining coverage and this challenge it is problematic that SCI has been used and is used as the dominant source for science indicators based on publication and citation numbers. The limited data available for social sciences show that the growth rate in SSCI was remarkably low and indicate that the coverage by SSCI was declining over time. National Science Indicators from Thomson Reuters is based solely on SCI, SSCI and Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI). Therefore the declining coverage of the citation databases problematizes the use of this source. PMID:20700371

Production and Characterization of Trametes versicolor Mutants Unable To Bleach Hardwood Kraft Pulp

PubMed Central

Addleman, K.; Dumonceaux, T.; Paice, M. G.; Bourbonnais, R.; Archibald, F. S.

1995-01-01

Protoplasts of the monokaryotic strain 52J of Trametes versicolor were treated with UV light and screened for the inability to produce a colored precipitate on guaiacol-containing agar plates. Mutants unable to oxidize guaiacol had absent or very low secretion of laccase and manganese peroxidase (MnP) proteins. All isolates unable to secrete MnP were also unable to bleach or delignify kraft pulp. One mutant strain, M49, which grew normally but did not oxidize guaiacol, was tested further with a number of other substrates whose degradation has been associated with delignification by white rot fungi. Compared with the parent, 52J, mutant M49, secreting no MnP and low laccase, could not brighten or delignify kraft pulp, produced less ethylene from 2-keto methiolbutyric acid, released much less (sup14)CO(inf2) from [(sup14)C]DHP (a synthetic lignin-like polymerizate), and produced much less methanol from pulp. This mutant also displayed decreased abilities to oxidize the dyes poly B-411, poly R-478, and phenol red compared with the wild-type strain and was also unable to decolorize kraft bleachery effluent or mineralize its organochlorine. Addition of purified MnP in conjunction with H(inf2)O(inf2), MnSO(inf4), and an Mn(III) chelator to M49 cultures partially restored methanol production, pulp delignification, and biobleaching in some cases. PMID:16535150

SDF-1 in Mammary Fibroblasts of Bovine with Mastitis Induces EMT and Inflammatory Response of Epithelial Cells.

PubMed

He, Guiliang; Ma, Mengru; Yang, Wei; Wang, Hao; Zhang, Yong; Gao, Ming-Qing

2017-01-01

Fibroblasts constitute the majority of the stromal cells within bovine mammary gland, yet the functional contributions of these cells to mastitis and fibrosis and the mechanism are poorly understood. In this study, we demonstrate that inflammation-associated fibroblasts (INFs) extracted from bovine mammary glands with clinical mastitis had different expression pattern regarding to several extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins, chemokines and cytokines compared to normal fibroblasts (NFs) from dairy cows during lactation. The INFs induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and inflammatory responses of mammary epithelial cells in a vitro co-culture model. These functional contributions of INFs to normal epithelial cells were mediated through their ability to secrete stromal cell-derived factor 1 (SDF-1). SDF-1 was highly secreted/expressed by INFs, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) -treated NFs, lipoteichoic acid (LTA) -treated NFs, as well as mastitic tissue compared to their counterparts. Exogenous SDF-1 promoted EMT on epithelial cells through activating NF-κB pathway, induced inflammation response and inhibited proliferation of epithelial cells. In addition, SDF-1 was able to induce mastitis and slight fibrosis of mouse mammary gland, which was attenuated by a specific inhibitor of the receptor of SDF-1. Our findings indicate that stromal fibroblasts within mammary glands with mastitis contribute to EMT and inflammatory responses of epithelial cells through the secretion of SDF-1, which could result in the inflammation spread and fibrosis within mammary gland.

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) deterrence and defense after the INF (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces) treaty. Final report, June 1988-June 1989

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

Garrett, S.A.

1989-06-21

The treaty between the Soviet Union and the United States eliminating a whole class of intermediate-range nuclear forces (INF) in Europe raises a number of questions about NATO's future ability to deter Warsaw Pact aggression. Future choices on Alliance strategy and doctrine will be influenced by a variety of factors, including the image of new thinking in Soviet security policy enunciated by General Secretary Gorbachev, changing West European opinion toward the use of nuclear weapons for NATO deterrence, the complications inherent in further nuclear and conventional arms-control negotiations, assessments of the current conventional arms balance in Europe, and ongoing questionsmore » about NATO cohesion as well as the continued coupling of American security with that of her European allies. In the post-INF environment it may well be that U.S. Navy nuclear assets will assume an increasingly important role, particularly the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile/Nuclear (TLAM/N). The TLAM/N has many attractive attributes that can be supportive of NATO deterrence of the WTO, but there are also a number of unresolved questions to be addressed concerning this particular weapons system. Modernization of NATO's land-based short-range nuclear forces (SNF), such as the Lance missile, is also seen by many as critical to the maintenance of Alliance security in the aftermath of INF.« less

[Influence of Kudou Shencha decotion on INF-gamma, ICAM-1, MCP-1 levels of prostate tissue homogenate in immunity prostatitis model rats].

PubMed

Xia, Li-Ying; Liu, Wei-Jia; Li, Ming-Xi; Ge, Wen-Jin; Gao, Xue-Min; Zhang, Jian-Jun

2014-05-01

To investigate the influence of Kudou Shencha decotion on INF-y, ICAM-1, MCP-1 levels of prostate tissue homogenate in immunity prostatitis model rats. Forty Wistar male rats were divided into 5 groups randomly: Kudou Shencha decotion group with high dosage and low dosage, Qianleitai group, the model control group and normal group. The rat model of chronic nonbacterial prostatitis was established by multiple hypodermical injection of the suspension of prostatic protein purification with Freund's completed adjuvant. The level of intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM-1), interferon gamma (INF-gamma) and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The content of ICAM-1 and MCP-1 in the model group was higher than that of the normal group (P < 0.05), the content of ICAM-1 was obviously decreased in Kudou Shencha decotion group with high dosage (P <0.05), the contents of MCP-1 were all obviously decreased in Kudou Shencha decotion groups and Qianlietai group. Compared with the model group, the contents of INF-gamma in all treatment groups were decreased insignificantly. Kudou Shencha decotion has the action of lowering the level of ICAM-1 and MCP-1, which may be one of the mechanisms of Kudou Shencha decotion in the therapy of chronic prostatitis.

Proposal for a standardised identification of the mono-exponential terminal phase for orally administered drugs.

PubMed

Scheerans, Christian; Derendorf, Hartmut; Kloft, Charlotte

2008-04-01

The area under the plasma concentration-time curve from time zero to infinity (AUC(0-inf)) is generally considered to be the most appropriate measure of total drug exposure for bioavailability/bioequivalence studies of orally administered drugs. However, the lack of a standardised method for identifying the mono-exponential terminal phase of the concentration-time curve causes variability for the estimated AUC(0-inf). The present investigation introduces a simple method, called the two times t(max) method (TTT method) to reliably identify the mono-exponential terminal phase in the case of oral administration. The new method was tested by Monte Carlo simulation in Excel and compared with the adjusted r squared algorithm (ARS algorithm) frequently used in pharmacokinetic software programs. Statistical diagnostics of three different scenarios, each with 10,000 hypothetical patients showed that the new method provided unbiased average AUC(0-inf) estimates for orally administered drugs with a monophasic concentration-time curve post maximum concentration. In addition, the TTT method generally provided more precise estimates for AUC(0-inf) compared with the ARS algorithm. It was concluded that the TTT method is a most reasonable tool to be used as a standardised method in pharmacokinetic analysis especially bioequivalence studies to reliably identify the mono-exponential terminal phase for orally administered drugs showing a monophasic concentration-time profile.

Incidence of isolated nodal failure in non-small cell lung cancer patients included in a prospective study of the value of PET-CT.

PubMed

Kolodziejczyk, Milena; Bujko, Krzysztof; Michalski, Wojciech; Kepka, Lucyna

2012-07-01

Elective nodal irradiation (ENI) is not recommended in PET-CT-based radiotherapy for NSCLC despite a low level of evidence to support such guidelines. The aim of this investigation is to find out whether omitting ENI is safe. Sixty-seven patients treated within a frame of a previously published prospective trial of the value of PET-CT were included in the analysis. Seventeen (25%) patients received ENI due to higher initial nodal involvement and in the remaining 50 patients (75%) with N0-N1 or single N2 disease ENI was omitted. Isolated nodal failure (INF) was recorded if relapse occurred in the initially uninvolved regional lymph node without previous or simultaneous local recurrence regardless of the status of distant metastases. With a median follow-up of 32 months, the estimated 3-year overall survival was 42%, local progression-free interval was 55%, and distant metastases-free interval was 62%. Three patients developed INF; all had ENI omitted from treatment, giving a final result of three INFs in 50 (6%) patients treated without ENI. In this group of patients, the 3-year cause-specific cumulative incidence of INF was 6.4% (95% confidence interval: 0-17%). The omission of ENI appears to be not as safe as suggested by current recommendations. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Association Fields via Cuspless Sub-Riemannian Geodesics in SE(2).

PubMed

Duits, R; Boscain, U; Rossi, F; Sachkov, Y

To model association fields that underly perceptional organization (gestalt) in psychophysics we consider the problem P curve of minimizing [Formula: see text] for a planar curve having fixed initial and final positions and directions. Here κ ( s ) is the curvature of the curve with free total length ℓ . This problem comes from a model of geometry of vision due to Petitot (in J. Physiol. Paris 97:265-309, 2003; Math. Inf. Sci. Humaines 145:5-101, 1999), and Citti & Sarti (in J. Math. Imaging Vis. 24(3):307-326, 2006). In previous work we proved that the range [Formula: see text] of the exponential map of the underlying geometric problem formulated on SE(2) consists of precisely those end-conditions ( x fin , y fin , θ fin ) that can be connected by a globally minimizing geodesic starting at the origin ( x in , y in , θ in )=(0,0,0). From the applied imaging point of view it is relevant to analyze the sub-Riemannian geodesics and [Formula: see text] in detail. In this article we show that [Formula: see text] is contained in half space x ≥0 and (0, y fin )≠(0,0) is reached with angle π ,show that the boundary [Formula: see text] consists of endpoints of minimizers either starting or ending in a cusp,analyze and plot the cones of reachable angles θ fin per spatial endpoint ( x fin , y fin ),relate the endings of association fields to [Formula: see text] and compute the length towards a cusp,analyze the exponential map both with the common arc-length parametrization t in the sub-Riemannian manifold [Formula: see text] and with spatial arc-length parametrization s in the plane [Formula: see text]. Surprisingly, s -parametrization simplifies the exponential map, the curvature formulas, the cusp-surface, and the boundary value problem,present a novel efficient algorithm solving the boundary value problem,show that sub-Riemannian geodesics solve Petitot's circle bundle model (cf. Petitot in J. Physiol. Paris 97:265-309, [2003]),show a clear similarity with association field lines and sub-Riemannian geodesics.

Adaptation of a MR imaging protocol into a real-time clinical biometric ultrasound protocol for persons with spinal cord injury at risk for deep tissue injury: A reliability study.

PubMed

Swaine, Jillian M; Moe, Andrew; Breidahl, William; Bader, Daniel L; Oomens, Cees W J; Lester, Leanne; O'Loughlin, Edmond; Santamaria, Nick; Stacey, Michael C

2018-02-01

High strain in soft tissues that overly bony prominences are considered a risk factor for pressure ulcers (PUs) following spinal cord impairment (SCI) and have been computed using Finite Element methods (FEM). The aim of this study was to translate a MRI protocol into ultrasound (US) and determine between-operator reliability of expert sonographers measuring diameter of the inferior curvature of the ischial tuberosity (IT) and the thickness of the overlying soft tissue layers on able-bodied (AB) and SCI using real-time ultrasound. Part 1: Fourteen AB participants with a mean age of 36.7 ± 12.09 years with 7 males and 7 females had their 3 soft tissue layers in loaded and unloaded sitting measured independently by 2 sonographers: tendon/muscle, skin/fat and total soft tissue and the diameter of the IT in its short and long axis. Part 2: Nineteen participants with SCI were screened, three were excluded due to abnormal skin signs, and eight participants (42%) were excluded for abnormal US signs with normal skin. Eight SCI participants with a mean age of 31.6 ± 13.6 years and all male with 4 paraplegics and 4 tetraplegics were measured by the same sonographers for skin, fat, tendon, muscle and total. Skin/fat and tendon/muscle were computed. AB between-operator reliability was good (ICC = 0.81-0.90) for 3 soft tissues layers in unloaded and loaded sitting and poor for both IT short and long axis (ICC = -0.028 and -0.01). SCI between-operator reliability was good in unloaded and loaded for total, muscle, fat, skin/fat, tendon/muscle (ICC = 0.75-0.97) and poor for tendon (ICC = 0.26 unloaded and ICC = -0.71 loaded) and skin (ICC = 0.37 unloaded and ICC = 0.10). A MRI protocol was successfully adapted for a reliable 3 soft tissue layer model and could be used in a 2-D FEM model designed to estimate soft tissue strain as a novel risk factor for the development of a PU. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Operation of a brain-computer interface walking simulator for individuals with spinal cord injury

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Spinal cord injury (SCI) can leave the affected individuals with paraparesis or paraplegia, thus rendering them unable to ambulate. Since there are currently no restorative treatments for this population, novel approaches such as brain-controlled prostheses have been sought. Our recent studies show that a brain-computer interface (BCI) can be used to control ambulation within a virtual reality environment (VRE), suggesting that a BCI-controlled lower extremity prosthesis for ambulation may be feasible. However, the operability of our BCI has not yet been tested in a SCI population. Methods Five participants with paraplegia or tetraplegia due to SCI underwent a 10-min training session in which they alternated between kinesthetic motor imagery (KMI) of idling and walking while their electroencephalogram (EEG) were recorded. Participants then performed a goal-oriented online task, where they utilized KMI to control the linear ambulation of an avatar while making 10 sequential stops at designated points within the VRE. Multiple online trials were performed in a single day, and this procedure was repeated across 5 experimental days. Results Classification accuracy of idling and walking was estimated offline and ranged from 60.5% (p = 0.0176) to 92.3% (p = 1.36×10−20) across participants and days. Offline analysis revealed that the activation of mid-frontal areas mostly in the μ and low β bands was the most consistent feature for differentiating between idling and walking KMI. In the online task, participants achieved an average performance of 7.4±2.3 successful stops in 273±51 sec. These performances were purposeful, i.e. significantly different from the random walk Monte Carlo simulations (p<0.01), and all but one participant achieved purposeful control within the first day of the experiments. Finally, all participants were able to maintain purposeful control throughout the study, and their online performances improved over time. Conclusions The results of this study demonstrate that SCI participants can purposefully operate a self-paced BCI walking simulator to complete a goal-oriented ambulation task. The operation of the proposed BCI system requires short training, is intuitive, and robust against participant-to-participant and day-to-day neurophysiological variations. These findings indicate that BCI-controlled lower extremity prostheses for gait rehabilitation or restoration after SCI may be feasible in the future. PMID:23866985

Final Technical Report: Quantification of Uncertainty in Extreme Scale Computations (QUEST)

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

Knio, Omar M.

QUEST is a SciDAC Institute comprising Sandia National Laboratories, Los Alamos National Laboratory, University of Southern California, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Texas at Austin, and Duke University. The mission of QUEST is to: (1) develop a broad class of uncertainty quantification (UQ) methods/tools, and (2) provide UQ expertise and software to other SciDAC projects, thereby enabling/guiding their UQ activities. The Duke effort focused on the development of algorithms and utility software for non-intrusive sparse UQ representations, and on participation in the organization of annual workshops and tutorials to disseminate UQ tools to the community, and to gather inputmore » in order to adapt approaches to the needs of SciDAC customers. In particular, fundamental developments were made in (a) multiscale stochastic preconditioners, (b) gradient-based approaches to inverse problems, (c) adaptive pseudo-spectral approximations, (d) stochastic limit cycles, and (e) sensitivity analysis tools for noisy systems. In addition, large-scale demonstrations were performed, namely in the context of ocean general circulation models.« less

Comprehensive joint feedback control for standing by functional neuromuscular stimulation-a simulation study.

PubMed

Nataraj, Raviraj; Audu, Musa L; Kirsch, Robert F; Triolo, Ronald J

2010-12-01

Previous investigations of feedback control of standing after spinal cord injury (SCI) using functional neuromuscular stimulation (FNS) have primarily targeted individual joints. This study assesses the potential efficacy of comprehensive (trunk, hips, knees, and ankles) joint feedback control against postural disturbances using a bipedal, 3-D computer model of SCI stance. Proportional-derivative feedback drove an artificial neural network trained to produce muscle excitation patterns consistent with maximal joint stiffness values achievable about neutral stance given typical SCI muscle properties. Feedback gains were optimized to minimize upper extremity (UE) loading required to stabilize against disturbances. Compared to the baseline case of maximum constant muscle excitations used clinically, the controller reduced UE loading by 55% in resisting external force perturbations and by 84% during simulated one-arm functional tasks. Performance was most sensitive to inaccurate measurements of ankle plantar/dorsiflexion position and hip ab/adduction velocity feedback. In conclusion, comprehensive joint feedback demonstrates potential to markedly improve FNS standing function. However, alternative control structures capable of effective performance with fewer sensor-based feedback parameters may better facilitate clinical usage.

Comprehensive Joint Feedback Control for Standing by Functional Neuromuscular Stimulation – a Simulation Study

PubMed Central

Nataraj, Raviraj; Audu, Musa L.; Kirsch, Robert F.; Triolo, Ronald J.

2013-01-01

Previous investigations of feedback control of standing after spinal cord injury (SCI) using functional neuromuscular stimulation (FNS) have primarily targeted individual joints. This study assesses the potential efficacy of comprehensive (trunk, hips, knees, and ankles) joint-feedback control against postural disturbances using a bipedal, three-dimensional computer model of SCI stance. Proportional-derivative feedback drove an artificial neural network trained to produce muscle excitation patterns consistent with maximal joint stiffness values achievable about neutral stance given typical SCI muscle properties. Feedback gains were optimized to minimize upper extremity (UE) loading required to stabilize against disturbances. Compared to the baseline case of maximum constant muscle excitations used clinically, the controller reduced UE loading by 55% in resisting external force perturbations and by 84% during simulated one-arm functional tasks. Performance was most sensitive to inaccurate measurements of ankle plantar/dorsiflexion position and hip ab/adduction velocity feedback. In conclusion, comprehensive joint-feedback demonstrates potential to markedly improve FNS standing function. However, alternative control structures capable of effective performance with fewer sensor-based feedback parameters may better facilitate clinical usage. PMID:20923741

Final Report for "Implimentation and Evaluation of Multigrid Linear Solvers into Extended Magnetohydrodynamic Codes for Petascale Computing"

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

Srinath Vadlamani; Scott Kruger; Travis Austin

Extended magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) codes are used to model the large, slow-growing instabilities that are projected to limit the performance of International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). The multiscale nature of the extended MHD equations requires an implicit approach. The current linear solvers needed for the implicit algorithm scale poorly because the resultant matrices are so ill-conditioned. A new solver is needed, especially one that scales to the petascale. The most successful scalable parallel processor solvers to date are multigrid solvers. Applying multigrid techniques to a set of equations whose fundamental modes are dispersive waves is a promising solution to CEMM problems.more » For the Phase 1, we implemented multigrid preconditioners from the HYPRE project of the Center for Applied Scientific Computing at LLNL via PETSc of the DOE SciDAC TOPS for the real matrix systems of the extended MHD code NIMROD which is a one of the primary modeling codes of the OFES-funded Center for Extended Magnetohydrodynamic Modeling (CEMM) SciDAC. We implemented the multigrid solvers on the fusion test problem that allows for real matrix systems with success, and in the process learned about the details of NIMROD data structures and the difficulties of inverting NIMROD operators. The further success of this project will allow for efficient usage of future petascale computers at the National Leadership Facilities: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, and National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center. The project will be a collaborative effort between computational plasma physicists and applied mathematicians at Tech-X Corporation, applied mathematicians Front Range Scientific Computations, Inc. (who are collaborators on the HYPRE project), and other computational plasma physicists involved with the CEMM project.« less

Filarial infection modulates the immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis through expansion of CD4+ IL-4 memory T cells

PubMed Central

Chatterjee, Soumya; Clark, Carolyn E.; Lugli, Enrico; Roederer, Mario; Nutman, Thomas B.

2015-01-01

Exaggerated CD4+T helper 2-specific cytokine producing memory T cell responses developing concomitantly with a T helper1 response might have a detrimental role in immunity to infection caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). To assess the dynamics of antigen (Ag)-specific memory T cell compartments in the context of filarial infection we used multiparameter flow cytometry on PBMCs from 25 microfilaremic filarial -infected (Inf) and 14 filarial-uninfected (Uninf) subjects following stimulation with filarial (BmA) or with the Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb)-specific Ag CFP10. Our data demonstrated that the Inf group not only had a marked increase in BmA-specific CD4+IL-4+ cells (Median net frequency compared to baseline (Fo)=0.09% vs. 0.01%, p=0.038) but also to CFP10 (Fo =0.16% vs. 0.007%, p=0.04) and Staphylococcal Enterotoxin B (SEB) (Fo =0.49% vs. 0.26%, p=0.04). The Inf subjects showed a BmA-specific expansion of CD4+CD45RO+IL-4+ producing central memory (TCM, CD45RO+CCR7+CD27+) (Fo =1.1% vs. 0.5%, p=0.04) as well as effector memory (TEM CD45RO+CCR7-CD27-) (Fo =1.5% vs. 0.2%, p=0.03) with a similar but non-significant response to CFP10. In addition, there was expansion of CD4+ IL-4+ CD45RA+ CCR7+CD27+ (naïve-like) in Inf individuals compared to Uninf subjects. Among Inf subjects with definitive latent tuberculosis , there were no differences in frequencies of IL-4 producing cells within any of the memory compartments compared to the Uninf group. Our data suggest that filarial infection induces antigen-specific, exaggerated IL-4 responses in distinct T cell memory compartments to Mtb-specific antigens, which are attenuated in subjects who are able to mount a delayed type hypersensitivity reaction to Mtb. PMID:25667413

Games and Simulations for Climate, Weather and Earth Science Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Russell, R. M.

2014-12-01

We will demonstrate several interactive, computer-based simulations, games, and other interactive multimedia. These resources were developed for weather, climate, atmospheric science, and related Earth system science education. The materials were created by the UCAR Center for Science Education. These materials have been disseminated via our web site (SciEd.ucar.edu), webinars, online courses, teacher workshops, and large touchscreen displays in weather and Sun-Earth connections exhibits in NCAR's Mesa Lab facility in Boulder, Colorado. Our group has also assembled a web-based list of similar resources, especially simulations and games, from other sources that touch upon weather, climate, and atmospheric science topics. We'll briefly demonstrate this directory. More info available at: scied.ucar.edu/events/agu-2014-games-simulations-sessions

Evidence for an intense solar outburst in prehistory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peratt, A. L.; Yao, W. F.

2008-10-01

A past intense solar outburst and its effect on Earth was proposed by Gold (1962 Pontificiae Acad. Sci. Scr. Varia 25 159) who, along with others, based his hypotheses on strong astronomical and geophysical evidence. The discovery that objects from the Neolithic or Early Bronze Age carry patterns associated with high-current Z-pinches, as would result from an intense plasma impinging Earth, provides a possible insight into the origin and meaning of these ancient symbols produced by humans. Peratt (2003 Trans. Plasma Sci. 31 1192) dealt with the comparison of graphical and radiation data from high-current Z-pinches to petroglyphs, geoglyphs and megaliths. Peratt (2007 Trans. Plasma Sci. 35 778) focused primarily, but not exclusively, on petroglyphs of some 84 different morphologies; pictures found in laboratory experiments and carved on rock. These corresponded to mankind's visual observations of ancient aurora as might be produced if the solar wind had increased at times between one and two orders of magnitude, millennia ago (Gold 1962 Pontificiae Acad. Sci. Scr. Varia 25 159). In Peratt (2007 Trans. Plasma Sci. 35 778), the data were given on the source of light and its temporal change from a current-increasing Z-pinch or dense plasma focus aurora. Orientation and field-of-view data are given as surveyed and contributed from 139 countries, from sites and fields containing several millions of these objects, the latest data coming from a 300 km survey along the Orinoco river basin in Venezuela. In this paper, we include additional petroglyph figures derivable from experiment and computer. This information allows a reconstruction of the auroral form presumably associated with extreme geomagnetic storms and shows, based on existent geophysical evidence, relativistic electron flow inward at Earth's south polar axis and hypervelocity proton impacts around the north polar axis.

Horticultural therapy as a measure for recovery support of regional community in the disaster area: a preliminary experiment for forty five women who living certain region in the coastal area of Miyagi Prefecture.

PubMed

Kotozaki, Yuka

2014-01-01

Three years have passed since the earthquake, in the coastal areas in the disaster area, by population transfer or the like from the temporary housing, the importance of the regeneration and revitalization of the local community has been pointed out. This study performed a preliminary study to aim at the psychological inspection about an effect of the horticultural therapy as the means of the local community reproduction support of the disaster area. Forty five women who are living in the coastal area of Miyagi Prefecture participated in this study. They experienced the Great East Japan earthquake in 2011 and suffered some kind of damage caused by the earthquake. The participants were assigned to two groups, the intervention group and the control group, via a random draw using a computer. The HI group attended the horticultural therapy intervention (HT intervention) sessions for 16 weeks. The HT intervention was designed in collaboration with a horticultural therapist and clinical psychologists. This intervention comprised a total of 16 weekly sessions (120 min each) at the community center and 15 minutes per day at participants' homes. We used five psychological measures for an intervention evaluation. The HI group showed a significant increase in post- intervention SCI-2 total scores, post- intervention SCI-2 membership scores, post-intervention SCI-2 influence scores, post- intervention SCI-2 meeting needs scores, post- intervention SCI-2 shared emotional connection scores, and post- intervention RSES score. We believe that these results suggest the effectiveness of the horticultural therapy as the means of the local community reproduction.

Student goal orientation in learning inquiry skills with modifiable software advisors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shimoda, Todd A.; White, Barbara Y.; Frederiksen, John R.

2002-03-01

A computer support environment (SCI-WISE) for learning and doing science inquiry projects was designed. SCI-WISE incorporates software advisors that give general advice about a skill such as hypothesizing. By giving general advice (rather than step-by-step procedures), the system is intended to help students conduct experiments that are more epistemologically authentic. Also, students using SCI-WISE can select the type of advice the advisors give and when they give advice, as well as modify the advisors' knowledge bases. The system is based partly on a theoretical framework of levels of agency and goal orientation. This framework assumes that giving students higher levels of agency facilitates higher-level goal orientations (such as mastery or knowledge building as opposed to task completion) that in turn produce higher levels of competence. A study of sixth grade science students was conducted. Students took a pretest questionnaire that measured their goal orientations for science projects and their inquiry skills. The students worked in pairs on an open-ended inquiry project that requires complex reasoning about human memory. The students used one of two versions of SCI-WISE - one that was modifiable and one that was not. After finishing the project, the students took a posttest questionnaire similar to the pretest, and evaluated the version of the system they used. The main results showed that (a) there was no correlation of goal orientation with grade point average, (b) knowledge-oriented students using the modifiable version tended to rate SCI-WISE more helpful than task-oriented students, and (c) knowledge-oriented pairs using the nonmodifiable version tended to have higher posttest inquiry skills scores than other pair types.

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

Albeverio, Sergio; Chen Kai; Fei Shaoming

A necessary separability criterion that relates the structures of the total density matrix and its reductions is given. The method used is based on the realignment method [K. Chen and L. A. Wu, Quant. Inf. Comput. 3, 193 (2003)]. The separability criterion naturally generalizes the reduction separability criterion introduced independently in the previous work [M. Horodecki and P. Horodecki, Phys. Rev. A 59, 4206 (1999) and N. J. Cerf, C. Adami, and R. M. Gingrich, Phys. Rev. A 60, 898 (1999)]. In special cases, it recovers the previous reduction criterion and the recent generalized partial transposition criterion [K. Chen andmore » L. A. Wu, Phys. Lett. A 306, 14 (2002)]. The criterion involves only simple matrix manipulations and can therefore be easily applied.« less

Speckle Interferometry at Soar in 2010 and 2011: Measures, Orbits, and Rectilinear Fits

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-02-01

Astron. Nachr., 331, 304 18 The Astronomical Journal, 143:42 (19pp), 2012 February Hartkopf, Tokovinin, & Mason Cvetkovic, Z., & Novakovic , B. 2006...Serb. AJ, 173, 73 Cvetkovic, Z., Novakovic , B., & Todorovic, N. 2008, New Astron., 13, 125 Davis, J., Mendez, A., Seneta, E. B., et al. 2005, MNRAS...J., et al. 2004, A&A, 418, 989 Novakovic , B. 2006, Inf. Circ., 158, 1 Novakovic , B. 2007, Chin. J. Astron. Astrophys., 7, 415 Olevic, D. 2002a, Inf

Measurement of the Neutron Electric Form Factor GEN at High Q2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McCormick, Kathy

2003-01-01

Experiment E02-0131 at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab) will measure the neutron electric form factor GEn at the high four-momentum transfer values of Q2 ≈ 1.3, 2.4 and 3.4 (GeV/c)2 via a measurement of the cross section asymmetry AT in the reaction {}3vec He(vec e, e'n)pp . This measurement was approved for 32 days of running by Jefferson Lab PAC 212 in January 2002.

Rough Interface Effects on N-S Proximity-Contact Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nagato, Yasushi; Nagai, Katsuhiko

2003-03-01

We discuss the influence of atomic scale roughness of the interface on the properties of the N-S contact systems. To treat the interface roughness effects we extend our previous quasi-classical theory of the rough surface effect and construct a formal solution for the quasi-classical Green's function. We apply the formulation to N-S systems with two-dimensional anisotropic dx2-y2 superconductor and calculate the self-consistent pair potential and the density of states at the interface.

panMetaDocs and DataSync - providing a convenient way to share and publish research data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ulbricht, D.; Klump, J. F.

2013-12-01

In recent years research institutions, geological surveys and funding organizations started to build infrastructures to facilitate the re-use of research data from previous work. At present, several intermeshed activities are coordinated to make data systems of the earth sciences interoperable and recorded data discoverable. Driven by governmental authorities, ISO19115/19139 emerged as metadata standards for discovery of data and services. Established metadata transport protocols like OAI-PMH and OGC-CSW are used to disseminate metadata to data portals. With the persistent identifiers like DOI and IGSN research data and corresponding physical samples can be given unambiguous names and thus become citable. In summary, these activities focus primarily on 'ready to give away'-data, already stored in an institutional repository and described with appropriate metadata. Many datasets are not 'born' in this state but are produced in small and federated research projects. To make access and reuse of these 'small data' easier, these data should be centrally stored and version controlled from the very beginning of activities. We developed DataSync [1] as supplemental application to the panMetaDocs [2] data exchange platform as a data management tool for small science projects. DataSync is a JAVA-application that runs on a local computer and synchronizes directory trees into an eSciDoc-repository [3] by creating eSciDoc-objects via eSciDocs' REST API. DataSync can be installed on multiple computers and is in this way able to synchronize files of a research team over the internet. XML Metadata can be added as separate files that are managed together with data files as versioned eSciDoc-objects. A project-customized instance of panMetaDocs is provided to show a web-based overview of the previously uploaded file collection and to allow further annotation with metadata inside the eSciDoc-repository. PanMetaDocs is a PHP based web application to assist the creation of metadata in any XML-based metadata schema. To reduce manual entries of metadata to a minimum and make use of contextual information in a project setting, metadata fields can be populated with static or dynamic content. Access rights can be defined to control visibility and access to stored objects. Notifications about recently updated datasets are available by RSS and e-mail and the entire inventory can be harvested via OAI-PMH. panMetaDocs is optimized to be harvested by panFMP [4]. panMetaDocs is able to mint dataset DOIs though DataCite and uses eSciDocs' REST API to transfer eSciDoc-objects from a non-public 'pending'-status to the published status 'released', which makes data and metadata of the published object available worldwide through the internet. The application scenario presented here shows the adoption of open source applications to data sharing and publication of data. An eSciDoc-repository is used as storage for data and metadata. DataSync serves as a file ingester and distributor, whereas panMetaDocs' main function is to annotate the dataset files with metadata to make them ready for publication and sharing with your own team, or with the scientific community.

SCI Identification (SCIDNT) program user's guide. [maximum likelihood method for linear rotorcraft models

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1979-01-01

The computer program Linear SCIDNT which evaluates rotorcraft stability and control coefficients from flight or wind tunnel test data is described. It implements the maximum likelihood method to maximize the likelihood function of the parameters based on measured input/output time histories. Linear SCIDNT may be applied to systems modeled by linear constant-coefficient differential equations. This restriction in scope allows the application of several analytical results which simplify the computation and improve its efficiency over the general nonlinear case.

From Sci-Fi to Reality--Mobile Robots Get the Job Done

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roman, Harry T.

2006-01-01

Robots are simply computers that can interact with their environment. Some are fixed in place in industrial assembly plants for cars, appliances, micro electronic circuitry, and pharmaceuticals. Another important category of robots is the mobiles, machines that can be driven to the workplace, often designed for hazardous duty operation or…

Seismic Propagation in the Kuriles/Kamchatka Region

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-07-25

model the final profile is well-represented by a spline interpolation. Figure 7 shows the sampling grid used to input velocity perturbations due to the...A modification of Cagniard’s method for s~ lving seismic pulse problems, Appl. Sci. Res. B., 8, p. 349, 1960. Fuchs, K. and G. Muller, Computation of

Surgical Process Improvement: Impact of a Standardized Care Model With Electronic Decision Support to Improve Compliance With SCIP Inf-9.

PubMed

Cook, David J; Thompson, Jeffrey E; Suri, Rakesh; Prinsen, Sharon K

2014-01-01

The absence of standardization in surgical care process, exemplified in a "solution shop" model, can lead to unwarranted variation, increased cost, and reduced quality. A comprehensive effort was undertaken to improve quality of care around indwelling bladder catheter use following surgery by creating a "focused factory" model within the cardiac surgical practice. Baseline compliance with Surgical Care Improvement Inf-9, removal of urinary catheter by the end of surgical postoperative day 2, was determined. Comparison of baseline data to postintervention results showed clinically important reductions in the duration of indwelling bladder catheters as well as marked reduction in practice variation. Following the intervention, Surgical Care Improvement Inf-9 guidelines were met in 97% of patients. Although clinical quality improvement was notable, the process to accomplish this-identification of patients suitable for standardized pathways, protocol application, and electronic systems to support the standardized practice model-has potentially greater relevance than the specific clinical results. © 2013 by the American College of Medical Quality.

Genetic screening in adolescents with steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome.

PubMed

Lipska, Beata S; Iatropoulos, Paraskevas; Maranta, Ramona; Caridi, Gianluca; Ozaltin, Fatih; Anarat, Ali; Balat, Ayse; Gellermann, Jutta; Trautmann, Agnes; Erdogan, Ozlem; Saeed, Bassam; Emre, Sevinc; Bogdanovic, Radovan; Azocar, Marta; Balasz-Chmielewska, Irena; Benetti, Elisa; Caliskan, Salim; Mir, Sevgi; Melk, Anette; Ertan, Pelin; Baskin, Esra; Jardim, Helena; Davitaia, Tinatin; Wasilewska, Anna; Drozdz, Dorota; Szczepanska, Maria; Jankauskiene, Augustina; Higuita, Lina Maria Serna; Ardissino, Gianluigi; Ozkaya, Ozan; Kuzma-Mroczkowska, Elzbieta; Soylemezoglu, Oguz; Ranchin, Bruno; Medynska, Anna; Tkaczyk, Marcin; Peco-Antic, Amira; Akil, Ipek; Jarmolinski, Tomasz; Firszt-Adamczyk, Agnieszka; Dusek, Jiri; Simonetti, Giacomo D; Gok, Faysal; Gheissari, Alaleh; Emma, Francesco; Krmar, Rafael T; Fischbach, Michel; Printza, Nikoleta; Simkova, Eva; Mele, Caterina; Ghiggeri, Gian Marco; Schaefer, Franz

2013-07-01

Genetic screening paradigms for congenital and infantile nephrotic syndrome are well established; however, screening in adolescents has received only minor attention. To help rectify this, we analyzed an unselected adolescent cohort of the international PodoNet registry to develop a rational screening approach based on 227 patients with nonsyndromic steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome aged 10-20 years. Of these, 21% had a positive family history. Autosomal dominant cases were screened for WT1, TRPC6, ACTN4, and INF2 mutations. All other patients had the NPHS2 gene screened, and WT1 was tested in sporadic cases. In addition, 40 sporadic cases had the entire coding region of INF2 tested. Of the autosomal recessive and the sporadic cases, 13 and 6%, respectively, were found to have podocin-associated nephrotic syndrome, and 56% of them were compound heterozygous for the nonneutral p.R229Q polymorphism. Four percent of the sporadic and 10% of the autosomal dominant cases had a mutation in WT1. Pathogenic INF2 mutations were found in 20% of the dominant but none of the sporadic cases. In a large cohort of adolescents including both familial and sporadic disease, NPHS2 mutations explained about 7% and WT1 4% of cases, whereas INF2 proved relevant only in autosomal dominant familial disease. Thus, screening of the entire coding sequence of NPHS2 and exons 8-9 of WT1 appears to be the most rational and cost-effective screening approach in sporadic juvenile steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome.

Attaching NorA efflux pump inhibitors to methylene blue enhances antimicrobial photodynamic inactivation of Escherichia coli and Acinetobacter baumannii in vitro and in vivo.

PubMed

Rineh, Ardeshir; Bremner, John B; Hamblin, Michael R; Ball, Anthony R; Tegos, George P; Kelso, Michael J

2018-02-24

Resistance of bacteria to antibiotics is a public health concern worldwide due to the increasing failure of standard antibiotic therapies. Antimicrobial photodynamic inactivation (aPDI) is a promising non-antibiotic alternative for treating localized bacterial infections that uses non-toxic photosensitizers and harmless visible light to produce reactive oxygen species and kill microbes. Phenothiazinium photosensitizers like methylene blue (MB) and toluidine blue O are hydrophobic cations that are naturally expelled from bacterial cells by multidrug efflux pumps, which reduces their effectiveness. We recently reported the discovery of a NorA efflux pump inhibitor-methylene blue (EPI-MB) hybrid compound INF55-(Ac)en-MB that shows enhanced photodynamic inactivation of the Gram-positive bacterium methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) relative to MB, both in vitro and in vivo. Here, we report the surprising observation that INF55-(Ac)en-MB and two related hybrids bearing the NorA efflux pump inhibitors INF55 and INF271 also show enhanced aPDI activity in vitro (relative to MB) against the Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli and Acinetobacter baumannii, despite neither species expressing the NorA pump. Two of the hybrids showed superior effects to MB in murine aPDI infection models. The findings motivate wider exploration of aPDI with EPI-MB hybrids against Gram-negative pathogens and more detailed studies into the molecular mechanisms underpinning their activity. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Scaling to diversity: The DERECHOS distributed infrastructure for analyzing and sharing data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rilee, M. L.; Kuo, K. S.; Clune, T.; Oloso, A.; Brown, P. G.

2016-12-01

Integrating Earth Science data from diverse sources such as satellite imagery and simulation output can be expensive and time-consuming, limiting scientific inquiry and the quality of our analyses. Reducing these costs will improve innovation and quality in science. The current Earth Science data infrastructure focuses on downloading data based on requests formed from the search and analysis of associated metadata. And while the data products provided by archives may use the best available data sharing technologies, scientist end-users generally do not have such resources (including staff) available to them. Furthermore, only once an end-user has received the data from multiple diverse sources and has integrated them can the actual analysis and synthesis begin. The cost of getting from idea to where synthesis can start dramatically slows progress. In this presentation we discuss a distributed computational and data storage framework that eliminates much of the aforementioned cost. The SciDB distributed array database is central as it is optimized for scientific computing involving very large arrays, performing better than less specialized frameworks like Spark. Adding spatiotemporal functions to the SciDB creates a powerful platform for analyzing and integrating massive, distributed datasets. SciDB allows Big Earth Data analysis to be performed "in place" without the need for expensive downloads and end-user resources. Spatiotemporal indexing technologies such as the hierarchical triangular mesh enable the compute and storage affinity needed to efficiently perform co-located and conditional analyses minimizing data transfers. These technologies automate the integration of diverse data sources using the framework, a critical step beyond current metadata search and analysis. Instead of downloading data into their idiosyncratic local environments, end-users can generate and share data products integrated from diverse multiple sources using a common shared environment, turning distributed active archive centers (DAACs) from warehouses into distributed active analysis centers.

ARC: An open-source library for calculating properties of alkali Rydberg atoms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Šibalić, N.; Pritchard, J. D.; Adams, C. S.; Weatherill, K. J.

2017-11-01

We present an object-oriented Python library for the computation of properties of highly-excited Rydberg states of alkali atoms. These include single-body effects such as dipole matrix elements, excited-state lifetimes (radiative and black-body limited) and Stark maps of atoms in external electric fields, as well as two-atom interaction potentials accounting for dipole and quadrupole coupling effects valid at both long and short range for arbitrary placement of the atomic dipoles. The package is cross-referenced to precise measurements of atomic energy levels and features extensive documentation to facilitate rapid upgrade or expansion by users. This library has direct application in the field of quantum information and quantum optics which exploit the strong Rydberg dipolar interactions for two-qubit gates, robust atom-light interfaces and simulating quantum many-body physics, as well as the field of metrology using Rydberg atoms as precise microwave electrometers. Program Files doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.17632/hm5n8w628c.1 Licensing provisions: BSD-3-Clause Programming language: Python 2.7 or 3.5, with C extension External Routines: NumPy [1], SciPy [1], Matplotlib [2] Nature of problem: Calculating atomic properties of alkali atoms including lifetimes, energies, Stark shifts and dipole-dipole interaction strengths using matrix elements evaluated from radial wavefunctions. Solution method: Numerical integration of radial Schrödinger equation to obtain atomic wavefunctions, which are then used to evaluate dipole matrix elements. Properties are calculated using second order perturbation theory or exact diagonalisation of the interaction Hamiltonian, yielding results valid even at large external fields or small interatomic separation. Restrictions: External electric field fixed to be parallel to quantisation axis. Supplementary material: Detailed documentation (.html), and Jupyter notebook with examples and benchmarking runs (.html and .ipynb). [1] T.E. Oliphant, Comput. Sci. Eng. 9, 10 (2007). http://www.scipy.org/. [2] J.D. Hunter, Comput. Sci. Eng. 9, 90 (2007). http://matplotlib.org/.

Developing Models for Predictive Climate Science

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

Drake, John B; Jones, Philip W

2007-01-01

The Community Climate System Model results from a multi-agency collaboration designed to construct cutting-edge climate science simulation models for a broad research community. Predictive climate simulations are currently being prepared for the petascale computers of the near future. Modeling capabilities are continuously being improved in order to provide better answers to critical questions about Earth's climate. Climate change and its implications are front page news in today's world. Could global warming be responsible for the July 2006 heat waves in Europe and the United States? Should more resources be devoted to preparing for an increase in the frequency of strongmore » tropical storms and hurricanes like Katrina? Will coastal cities be flooded due to a rise in sea level? The National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), which archives all weather data for the nation, reports that global surface temperatures have increased over the last century, and that the rate of increase is three times greater since 1976. Will temperatures continue to climb at this rate, will they decline again, or will the rate of increase become even steeper? To address such a flurry of questions, scientists must adopt a systematic approach and develop a predictive framework. With responsibility for advising on energy and technology strategies, the DOE is dedicated to advancing climate research in order to elucidate the causes of climate change, including the role of carbon loading from fossil fuel use. Thus, climate science--which by nature involves advanced computing technology and methods--has been the focus of a number of DOE's SciDAC research projects. Dr. John Drake (ORNL) and Dr. Philip Jones (LANL) served as principal investigators on the SciDAC project, 'Collaborative Design and Development of the Community Climate System Model for Terascale Computers.' The Community Climate System Model (CCSM) is a fully-coupled global system that provides state-of-the-art computer simulations of the Earth's past, present, and future climate states. The collaborative SciDAC team--including over a dozen researchers at institutions around the country--developed, validated, documented, and optimized the performance of CCSM using the latest software engineering approaches, computational technology, and scientific knowledge. Many of the factors that must be accounted for in a comprehensive model of the climate system are illustrated in figure 1.« less

Passive hind-limb cycling improves cardiac function and reduces cardiovascular disease risk in experimental spinal cord injury.

PubMed

West, Christopher R; Crawford, Mark A; Poormasjedi-Meibod, Malihe-Sadat; Currie, Katharine D; Fallavollita, Andre; Yuen, Violet; McNeill, John H; Krassioukov, Andrei V

2014-04-15

Spinal cord injury (SCI) causes altered autonomic control and severe physical deconditioning that converge to drive maladaptive cardiac remodelling. We used a clinically relevant experimental model to investigate the cardio-metabolic responses to SCI and to establish whether passive hind-limb cycling elicits a cardio-protective effect. Initially, 21 male Wistar rats were evenly assigned to three groups: uninjured control (CON), T3 complete SCI (SCI) or T3 complete SCI plus passive hind-limb cycling (SCI-EX; 2 × 30 min day(-1), 5 days week(-1) for 4 weeks beginning 6 days post-SCI). On day 32, cardio-metabolic function was assessed using in vivo echocardiography, ex vivo working heart assessments, cardiac histology/molecular biology and blood lipid profiles. Twelve additional rats (n = 6 SCI and n = 6 SCI-EX) underwent in vivo echocardiography and basal haemodynamic assessments pre-SCI and at days 7, 14 and 32 post-SCI to track temporal cardiovascular changes. Compared with CON, SCI exhibited a rapid and sustained reduction in left ventricular dimensions and function that ultimately manifested as reduced contractility, increased myocardial collagen deposition and an up-regulation of transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGFβ1) and mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 3 (Smad3) mRNA. For SCI-EX, the initial reduction in left ventricular dimensions and function at day 7 post-SCI was completely reversed by day 32 post-SCI, and there were no differences in myocardial contractility between SCI-EX and CON. Collagen deposition was similar between SCI-EX and CON. TGFβ1 and Smad3 were down-regulated in SCI-EX. Blood lipid profiles were improved in SCI-EX versus SCI. We provide compelling novel evidence that passive hind-limb cycling prevents cardiac dysfunction and reduces cardiovascular disease risk in experimental SCI.

The Virtual Earth-Solar Observatory of the SCiESMEX

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De la Luz, V.; Gonzalez-Esparza, A.; Cifuentes-Nava, G.

2015-12-01

The Mexican Space Weather Service (SCiESMEX, http://www.sciesmex.unam.mx) started operations in October 2014. The project includes the Virtual Earth-Solar Observatory (VESO, http://www.veso.unam.mx). The VESO is a improved project wich objetive is integrate the space weather instrumentation network from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). The network includes the Mexican Array Radiotelescope (MEXART), the Callisto receptor (MEXART), a Neutron Telescope, a Cosmic Ray Telescope. the Schumann Antenna, the National Magnetic Service, and the mexican GPS network (TlalocNet). The VESO facility is located at the Geophysics Institute campus Michoacan (UNAM). We offer the service of data store, real-time data, and quasi real-time data. The hardware of VESO includes a High Performance Computer (HPC) dedicated specially to big data storage.

Plasma iron levels appraised 15 days after spinal cord injury in a limb movement animal model.

PubMed

Reis, F M; Esteves, A M; Tufik, S; de Mello, M T

2011-03-01

Experimental, controlled trial. The purpose of this study was to evaluate plasma iron and transferrin levels in a limb movement animal model with spinal cord injury (SCI). Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Departamento de Psicobiologia. In all, 72 male Wistar rats aged 90 days were divided into four groups: (1) acute SCI (1 day, SCI1), (2) 3 days post-SCI (SCI3), (3) 7 days post-SCI (SCI7) and (4) 15 days post-SCI (SCI15). Each of these groups had corresponding control (CTRL) and SHAM groups. Plasma iron and transferrin levels of the different groups were analyzed using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Tukey's test. We found a significant reduction in iron plasma levels after SCI compared with the CTRL group: SCI1 (CTRL: 175±10.58 μg dl(-1); SCI: 108.28±11.7 μg dl(-1)), SCI3 (CTRL: 195.5±11.00 μg dl(-1); SCI: 127.88±12.63 μg dl(-1)), SCI7 (CTRL: 186±2.97 μg dl(-1); SCI: 89.2±15.39 μg dl(-1)) and SCI15 (CTRL: 163±5.48 μg dl(-1); SCI: 124.44±10.30 μg dl(-1)) (P<0.05; ANOVA). The SHAM1 group demonstrated a reduction in iron plasma after acute SCI (CTRL: 175±10.58 μg dl(-1); SHAM: 114.60±7.81 μg dl(-1)) (P<0.05; ANOVA). Reduced iron metabolism after SCI may be one of the mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of sleep-related movement disorders.

The SDF-1/CXCR4 axis promotes recovery after spinal cord injury by mediating bone marrow-derived from mesenchymal stem cells

PubMed Central

Wang, Xiao; Zhang, Yong-Le; Zhang, Ya-Dong; Xue, Feng

2017-01-01

This study aims to explore the role of the SDF-1/CXCR4 axis in mediating BMSCs and SCI recovery. BMSCs were collected and SCI rat models were established. Wistar rats were assigned into the blank control, sham, SCI, SCI + BMSCs, SCI + BMSCs + SDF-1, SCI + BMSCs + AMD3100 (an inhibitor of SDF-1/CXCR4 axis) and SCI + BMSCs + SDF-1 + AMD3100 groups. Hind limb motor function was measured 7, 14, 21 and 28 days after operation. qRT-PCR, western blotting and ELISA was performed to determine the expressions of SDF-1, CXCR4, NGF, BDNF, GFAP and GAP-43, TNF-α, IL-1β, L-6 and IFN-γ. Hind limb motor function scores 7 days after the operation were reduced in the SCI rats of the blank control and sham groups. Hind limb function was found to be better in the SCI + BMSCs and SCI + BMSCs + SDF-1 groups than in the SCI, SCI + BMSCs + AMD3100 and SCI + BMSCs + SDF-1 + AMD3100 groups 14, 21 and 28 days after operation. Furthermore, the SCI group had lower SDF-1, CXCR4, NGF, BDNF and GAP-43 expressions but higher GFAP, TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 and IFN-γ than the blank control and sham groups 28 days after operation. While, the SCI + BMSCs, SCI + BMSCs + SDF-1 and SCI + BMSCs + SDF-1 + AMD3100 groups displayed opposite trends to the SCI and SCI + BMSCs + AMD3100 groups. In conclusion, SDF-1/CXCR4 axis promotes recovery after SCI by mediating BMSCs. PMID:28099928

Measuring grief and loss after spinal cord injury: Development, validation and psychometric characteristics of the SCI-QOL Grief and Loss item bank and short form

PubMed Central

Kalpakjian, Claire Z.; Tulsky, David S.; Kisala, Pamela A.; Bombardier, Charles H.

2015-01-01

Objective To develop an item response theory (IRT) calibrated Grief and Loss item bank as part of the Spinal Cord Injury – Quality of Life (SCI-QOL) measurement system. Design A literature review guided framework development of grief/loss. New items were created from focus groups. Items were revised based on expert review and patient feedback and were then field tested. Analyses included confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), graded response IRT modeling and evaluation of differential item functioning (DIF). Setting We tested a 20-item pool at several rehabilitation centers across the United States, including the University of Michigan, Kessler Foundation, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, the University of Washington, Craig Hospital and the James J. Peters/Bronx Department of Veterans Affairs hospital. Participants A total of 717 individuals with SCI answered the grief and loss questions. Results The final calibrated item bank resulted in 17 retained items. A unidimensional model was observed (CFI = 0.976; RMSEA = 0.078) and measurement precision was good (theta range between −1.48 to 2.48). Ten items were flagged for DIF, however, after examination of effect sizes found this to be negligible with little practical impact on score estimates. Conclusions This study indicates that the SCI-QOL Grief and Loss item bank represents a psychometrically robust measurement tool. Short form items are also suggested and computer adaptive tests are available. PMID:26010969

Observation of dx2-y-Like Superconducting Gap in an Electron-Doped High-Temperature Superconductor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sato, T.; Kamiyama, T.; Takahashi, T.; Kurahashi, K.; Yamada, K.

2001-02-01

High-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy of the electron-doped high-temperature superconductor Nd2-xCexCuO4 (x = 0.15, transition temperature Tc = 22 K) has found the quasiparticle signature as well as the anisotropic dx2-y-like superconducting gap. The spectral line shape at the superconducting state shows a strong anisotropic nature of the many-body interaction. The result suggests that the electron-hole symmetry is present in the high-temperature superconductors.

π0 → γγ TO NLO IN CHPT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goity, José L.

2003-04-01

The π0 → γγ width is determined to next to leading order in the combined chiral and 1/Nc expansions. It is shown that corrections driven by chiral symmetry breaking produce an enhancement of about 4.5% with respect to the width calculated in terms of the chiral-limit amplitude leading to Γπ0 → γγ = 8.10 ± 0.08 MeV. This theoretical prediction will be tested via π0 Primakoff production by the PRIMEX experiment at Jefferson Lab.

Passive hind-limb cycling improves cardiac function and reduces cardiovascular disease risk in experimental spinal cord injury

PubMed Central

West, Christopher R; Crawford, Mark A; Poormasjedi-Meibod, Malihe-Sadat; Currie, Katharine D; Fallavollita, Andre; Yuen, Violet; McNeill, John H; Krassioukov, Andrei V

2014-01-01

Spinal cord injury (SCI) causes altered autonomic control and severe physical deconditioning that converge to drive maladaptive cardiac remodelling. We used a clinically relevant experimental model to investigate the cardio-metabolic responses to SCI and to establish whether passive hind-limb cycling elicits a cardio-protective effect. Initially, 21 male Wistar rats were evenly assigned to three groups: uninjured control (CON), T3 complete SCI (SCI) or T3 complete SCI plus passive hind-limb cycling (SCI-EX; 2 × 30 min day−1, 5 days week−1 for 4 weeks beginning 6 days post-SCI). On day 32, cardio-metabolic function was assessed using in vivo echocardiography, ex vivo working heart assessments, cardiac histology/molecular biology and blood lipid profiles. Twelve additional rats (n = 6 SCI and n = 6 SCI-EX) underwent in vivo echocardiography and basal haemodynamic assessments pre-SCI and at days 7, 14 and 32 post-SCI to track temporal cardiovascular changes. Compared with CON, SCI exhibited a rapid and sustained reduction in left ventricular dimensions and function that ultimately manifested as reduced contractility, increased myocardial collagen deposition and an up-regulation of transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGFβ1) and mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 3 (Smad3) mRNA. For SCI-EX, the initial reduction in left ventricular dimensions and function at day 7 post-SCI was completely reversed by day 32 post-SCI, and there were no differences in myocardial contractility between SCI-EX and CON. Collagen deposition was similar between SCI-EX and CON. TGFβ1 and Smad3 were down-regulated in SCI-EX. Blood lipid profiles were improved in SCI-EX versus SCI. We provide compelling novel evidence that passive hind-limb cycling prevents cardiac dysfunction and reduces cardiovascular disease risk in experimental SCI. PMID:24535438

Mean Arterial Blood Pressure Correlates with Neurological Recovery after Human Spinal Cord Injury: Analysis of High Frequency Physiologic Data

PubMed Central

Hawryluk, Gregory; Whetstone, William; Saigal, Rajiv; Ferguson, Adam; Talbott, Jason; Bresnahan, Jacqueline; Dhall, Sanjay; Pan, Jonathan; Beattie, Michael

2015-01-01

Abstract Current guidelines for the care of patients with acute spinal cord injuries (SCIs) recommend maintaining mean arterial pressure (MAP) values of 85–90 mm Hg for 7 days after an acute SCI however, little evidence supports this recommendation. We sought to better inform the relationship between MAP values and neurological recovery. A computer system automatically collected and stored q1 min physiological data from intensive care unit monitors on patients with SCI over a 6-year period. Data for 100 patients with acute SCI were collected. 74 of these patients had American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale (AIS) grades determined by physical examination on admission and at time of hospital discharge. Average MAP values as well as the proportion of MAP values below thresholds were explored for values from 120 mm Hg to 40 mm Hg in 1 mm Hg increments; the relationship between these measures and outcome was explored at various time points up to 30 days from the time of injury. A total of 994,875 q1 min arterial line blood pressure measurements were recorded for the included patients amid 1,688,194 min of recorded intensive care observations. A large proportion of measures were below 85 mm Hg despite generally acceptable average MAP values. Higher average MAP values correlated with improved recovery in the first 2–3 days after SCI while the proportion of MAP values below the accepted threshold of 85 mm Hg seemed a stronger correlate, decreasing in strength over the first 5–7 days after injury. This study provides strong evidence supporting a correlation between MAP values and neurological recovery. It does not, however, provide evidence of a causal relationship. Duration of hypotension may be more important than average MAP. It provides support for the notion of MAP thresholds in SCI recovery, and the highest MAP values correlated with the greatest degree of neurological recovery. The results are concordant with current guidelines in suggesting that MAP thresholds >85 mm Hg may be appropriate after acute SCI. PMID:25669633

The grand challenge of managing the petascale facility.

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

Aiken, R. J.; Mathematics and Computer Science

2007-02-28

This report is the result of a study of networks and how they may need to evolve to support petascale leadership computing and science. As Dr. Ray Orbach, director of the Department of Energy's Office of Science, says in the spring 2006 issue of SciDAC Review, 'One remarkable example of growth in unexpected directions has been in high-end computation'. In the same article Dr. Michael Strayer states, 'Moore's law suggests that before the end of the next cycle of SciDAC, we shall see petaflop computers'. Given the Office of Science's strong leadership and support for petascale computing and facilities, wemore » should expect to see petaflop computers in operation in support of science before the end of the decade, and DOE/SC Advanced Scientific Computing Research programs are focused on making this a reality. This study took its lead from this strong focus on petascale computing and the networks required to support such facilities, but it grew to include almost all aspects of the DOE/SC petascale computational and experimental science facilities, all of which will face daunting challenges in managing and analyzing the voluminous amounts of data expected. In addition, trends indicate the increased coupling of unique experimental facilities with computational facilities, along with the integration of multidisciplinary datasets and high-end computing with data-intensive computing; and we can expect these trends to continue at the petascale level and beyond. Coupled with recent technology trends, they clearly indicate the need for including capability petascale storage, networks, and experiments, as well as collaboration tools and programming environments, as integral components of the Office of Science's petascale capability metafacility. The objective of this report is to recommend a new cross-cutting program to support the management of petascale science and infrastructure. The appendices of the report document current and projected DOE computation facilities, science trends, and technology trends, whose combined impact can affect the manageability and stewardship of DOE's petascale facilities. This report is not meant to be all-inclusive. Rather, the facilities, science projects, and research topics presented are to be considered examples to clarify a point.« less

Feasibility of web-based decision aids in neurological patients.

PubMed

van Til, Janine A; Drossaert, Constance H C; Renzenbrink, Gerbert J; Snoek, Govert J; Dijkstra, Evelien; Stiggelbout, Anne M; Ijzerman, Maarten J

2010-01-01

Decision aids (DAs) may be helpful in improving patients' participation in medical decision-making. We investigated the potential for web-based DAs in a rehabilitation population. Two self-administered DAs focused on the treatment of acquired ankle-foot impairment in stroke and the treatment of arm-hand function in cervical spinal cord injury (SCI). Data collection comprised a telephone interview and a self-reported paper questionnaire. Of the patients who agreed to participate, 39 stroke patients (44%) and 38 patients with SCI (78%) returned a questionnaire. More than 75% of patients expressed a need for more information about the treatment of disease-related impairment. The DAs were highly appreciated by both patient groups. Nearly all patients expressed a positive attitude towards the use of the web-based DAs in general practice. The DAs had a positive effect on the knowledge about the treatment alternatives in the stroke patients (P = 0.001), although not in the patients with SCI. The DAs reduced patients' conflict about treatment (P < 0.05). The effect of the DAs on patients' desired role in decision-making was limited. Web-based aids are feasible in the rehabilitation population with access to a computer and can improve the knowledge gaps in patients.

A comparison of balance control during stance and gait in patients with inflammatory and non-inflammatory polyneuropathy

PubMed Central

van der Logt, Rens; Nedeltchev, Krassen; Achtnichts, Lutz; Allum, John H. J.

2018-01-01

Introduction We compared changes in balance control due to chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) and non-inflammatory (non-inf) polyneuropathy (PNP) to each other and with respect to healthy controls (HCs). Differences in patients’ subjective impressions of balance capabilities were also compared. Methods Balance control of 11 CIDP patients (mean age 61.1±(sd) 11, 8 male) and 10 non-inf PNP patients (mean age 68.5±11.7, all male) was examined and compared to that of 18 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. Balance control during stance and gait tasks was measured as trunk sway angles and angular velocities with body-worn gyroscopes. Patients’ subjective impressions of balance were obtained using the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI). The Neuropathy Impairment Score in the Lower Limbs (NIS-LL) was used to measure clinical disease status. Results Non-inf PNP patients had slightly lower NIS-LL (13.5±7.2 vs. 17.9±15.1) and DHI scores (22.6±17.1 vs 27.6±16.3). Gait tasks showed a significant decrease in gait speed with respect to HCs for both patient groups but reduced trunk sway for non-inf PNP patients. Trunk sway during tandem walking and walking on the heels was greater for both groups than that of HCs. Sway during 2-legged stance tasks with eyes closed on a firm or foam surface was also greater than for HCs. Discussion Compared to HCs both groups of patients have significantly greater sway for most stance and gait tasks accompanied by reduced gait speed. As for HCs, non-inf PNP patients reduced trunk sway with slower gait speed. In CIDP patients this compensatory strategy was absent, possibly due to a greater deficit of efferent and motor nerve fibers. An interpretation of these findings is that CIDP patients have reduced ability to decrease trunk sway with slower gait speed and is possibly associated with an increased risk of falls. PMID:29474369

Determinants of indoor and personal exposure to PM 2.5 of indoor and outdoor origin during the RIOPA study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meng, Qing Yu; Spector, Dalia; Colome, Steven; Turpin, Barbara

2009-12-01

Effects of physical/environmental factors on fine particle (PM 2.5) exposure, outdoor-to-indoor transport and air exchange rate ( AER) were examined. The fraction of ambient PM 2.5 found indoors ( F INF) and the fraction to which people are exposed ( α) modify personal exposure to ambient PM 2.5. Because F INF, α, and AER are infrequently measured, some have used air conditioning (AC) as a modifier of ambient PM 2.5 exposure. We found no single variable that was a good predictor of AER. About 50% and 40% of the variation in F INF and α, respectively, was explained by AER and other activity variables. AER alone explained 36% and 24% of the variations in F INF and α, respectively. Each other predictor, including Central AC Operation, accounted for less than 4% of the variation. This highlights the importance of AER measurements to predict F INF and α. Evidence presented suggests that outdoor temperature and home ventilation features affect particle losses as well as AER, and the effects differ. Total personal exposures to PM 2.5 mass/species were reconstructed using personal activity and microenvironmental methods, and compared to direct personal measurement. Outdoor concentration was the dominant predictor of (partial R2 = 30-70%) and the largest contributor to (20-90%) indoor and personal exposures for PM 2.5 mass and most species. Several activities had a dramatic impact on personal PM 2.5 mass/species exposures for the few study participants exposed to or engaged in them, including smoking and woodworking. Incorporating personal activities (in addition to outdoor PM 2.5) improved the predictive power of the personal activity model for PM 2.5 mass/species; more detailed information about personal activities and indoor sources is needed for further improvement (especially for Ca, K, OC). Adequate accounting for particle penetration and persistence indoors and for exposure to non-ambient sources could potentially increase the power of epidemiological analyses linking health effects to particulate exposures.

A Generalized Information Theoretical Model for Quantum Secret Sharing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bai, Chen-Ming; Li, Zhi-Hui; Xu, Ting-Ting; Li, Yong-Ming

2016-11-01

An information theoretical model for quantum secret sharing was introduced by H. Imai et al. (Quantum Inf. Comput. 5(1), 69-80 2005), which was analyzed by quantum information theory. In this paper, we analyze this information theoretical model using the properties of the quantum access structure. By the analysis we propose a generalized model definition for the quantum secret sharing schemes. In our model, there are more quantum access structures which can be realized by our generalized quantum secret sharing schemes than those of the previous one. In addition, we also analyse two kinds of important quantum access structures to illustrate the existence and rationality for the generalized quantum secret sharing schemes and consider the security of the scheme by simple examples.

Pulmonary Artery Pseudoaneurysm Secondary to Lung Inf lammation.

PubMed

Ishimoto, Shinichirou; Sakurai, Hiroyuki; Higure, Ryouta; Kawachi, Riken; Shimamura, Mie

2018-01-15

Pulmonary artery aneurysms (PAA) and pseudoaneurysms (PAP) are caused by infections, vasculitis, trauma, pulmonary hypertension, congenital heart disease, and connective tissue disease. Most cases of such aneurysm occur in the trunk or major branches of the pulmonary artery, while the peripheral type is less common. The treatment modalities are medical therapy, surgery, and percutaneous catheter embolization. The mortality rate associated with rupture is approximately 50%. We encountered a case of a 53-year-old man with a pulmonary artery pseudoaneurysm secondary to pneumonia and cavity formation during chemotherapy for acute myeloid leukemia (AML). In diagnosis, contrast-enhanced chest computed tomography (CT) scan and pulmonary angiography were very useful. He was treated with right middle and lower lobectomy. After 1-month follow-up, he could restart additional chemotherapy.

Standardization efforts in IP telephony

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sengodan, Senthil; Bansal, Raj

1999-11-01

The recent interest in IP telephony has led to a tremendous increase of standardization activities in the area. The three main standards bodies in the area of IP telephony are the International Telecommunication Union's (ITU-T) Study Group (SG) 16, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the European Telecommunication Standards Institute's (ETSI) TIPHON project. In addition, forums such as the International Multimedia Teleconferencing Consortium (IMTC), the Intelligent Network Forum (INF), the International Softswitch Consortium (ISC), the Electronic Computer Telephony Forum (ECTF), and the MIT's Internet Telephony Consortium (ITC) are looking into various other aspects that aim at the growth of this industry. This paper describes the main tasks (completed and in progress) undertaken by these organizations. In describing such work, an overview of the underlying technology is also provided.

Discrepancies between implicit and explicit self-concepts of intelligence: relations to modesty, narcissism, and achievement motivation

PubMed Central

Gerstenberg, Friederike X. R.; Imhoff, Roland; Banse, Rainer; Schmitt, Manfred

2014-01-01

Previous research has shown that different configurations of the implicit self-concept of intelligence (iSCI) and the explicit self-concept of intelligence (eSCI) are consistently related to individuals’ performance on different intelligence tests (Dislich etal., 2012). The results indicated that any discrepant configuration between the iSCI and the eSCI impairs performance. In the present study, how correspondence between the iSCI and the eSCI is related to intelligence test performance as well as personality traits of modesty (low eSCI, high iSCI), narcissism (high eSCI, low iSCI), and achievement motivation was investigated. Furthermore, a moderated mediation analysis showed that the relation between the iSCI–eSCI configurations and intelligence test performance was mediated by achievement motivation for modest individuals. PMID:24575063

Pyridostigmine Improves the Effects of Resistance Exercise Training after Myocardial Infarction in Rats

PubMed Central

Feriani, Daniele J.; Coelho-Júnior, Hélio J.; de Oliveira, Juliana C. M. F.; Delbin, Maria A.; Mostarda, Cristiano T.; Dourado, Paulo M. M.; Caperuto, Érico C.; Irigoyen, Maria C. C.; Rodrigues, Bruno

2018-01-01

Myocardial infarction (MI) remains the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Exercise training and pharmacological treatments are important strategies to minimize the deleterious effects of MI. However, little is known about the effects of resistance training combined with pyridostigmine bromide (PYR) treatment on cardiac and autonomic function, as well as on the inflammatory profile after MI. Thus, in the present study, male Wistar rats were randomly assigned into: control (Cont); sedentary infarcted (Inf); PYR – treated sedentary infarcted rats (Inf+P); infarcted rats undergoing resistance exercise training (Inf+RT); and infarcted rats undergoing PYR treatment plus resistance training (Inf+RT+P). After 12 weeks of resistance training (15–20 climbs per session, with a 1-min rest between each climb, at a low to moderate intensity, 5 days a week) and/or PYR treatment (0.14 mg/mL of drink water), hemodynamic function, autonomic modulation, and cytokine expressions were evaluated. We observed that 3 months of PYR treatment, either alone or in combination with exercise, can improve the deleterious effects of MI on left ventricle dimensions and function, baroreflex sensitivity, and autonomic parameters, as well as systemic and tissue inflammatory profile. Furthermore, additional benefits in a maximal load test and anti-inflammatory state of skeletal muscle were found when resistance training was combined with PYR treatment. Thus, our findings suggest that the combination of resistance training and PYR may be a good therapeutic strategy since they promote additional benefits on skeletal muscle anti-inflammatory profile after MI. PMID:29483876

[Monitoring of neopterin and INF-gamma in children with recurrent respiratory tract infection].

PubMed

Shervashidze, M R; Barabadze, K A; Vekua, M V; Akhvlediani, I K

2006-07-01

The upper and lover respiratory tract infections are usually mild and self-limited. Owing to their frequency recurrent upper and lower respiratory tract infection in children and adults constitute a major global health problem. The goal of our study was to observe 30 children with recurrent respiratory tract infection, 17 boy and 13 girl, they were treated with Ribomunyl. The control group consisted of 15 children who received only basic therapy (10 boys and 5 girls). The age of the children ranged between 8 months and 6 years. The study was conducted by the simply randomization method. Clinical and laboratory examinations were evaluated before and after treatment. The concentration of INF-gamma was rather low in study group in comparison with control group before the beginning of the treatment, that indicates insufficient stimulation of T-lymphocytes in children with recurrent infection. INF-gamma lever significantly increased after treatment (Statistically significantly P<0.05) in study group in comparison with control group. Neopterin level unlike INF-gamma in study group was higher than in the control group, before and after treatment. This fact can be explained that neopterin as a slowly acting biologically active substance remains high during the presence of recurrent infections. Ribomunyl treatment significantly increased the level of neopterin. The efficacy of the product is primarily confirmed by significant reductions in the number of recurrent infections episodes and the use of antibacterials. Combined immunostimulating effect of Ribomunyl makes it possible to use Ribomunyl to create a longterm postvaccinal protection of the child.

Biodegradation of [(sup14)C]Benzo[a]pyrene Added in Crude Oil to Uncontaminated Soil

PubMed Central

Kanaly, R.; Bartha, R.; Fogel, S.; Findlay, M.

1997-01-01

To investigate the possible cometabolic biodegradation of benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), crude oil spiked with [7-(sup14)C]BaP and unlabeled BaP was added to soil with no known pollution history, to give 34 g of oil and 67 mg of BaP/kg of dry soil. The oil-soil mixture was amended with mineral nutrients and incubated in an airtight container with continuous forced aeration. Total CO(inf2) and (sup14)CO(inf2) in the off-gas were trapped and quantified. Soil samples were Soxhlet extracted with dichloromethane at seven time points during the 150-day incubation period, and the extracted soil was subjected to further fractionation in order to recover reversibly and irreversibly bound radiocarbon. Radiocarbon recovery was 100% (plusmn) 3% for each time point. During the first 50 days of incubation, no (sup14)CO(inf2) was evolved, but over the next 100 days, 50% of the BaP radiocarbon was evolved as (sup14)CO(inf2). At 150 days, only 5% of the intact BaP and 23% of the crude oil remained. Of the remaining radiolabel, 20% was found in solvent-extractable metabolites and 25% was incorporated into soil organic matter. Only 1/10 of this could be solubilized by chemical hydrolysis. An abiotic control experiment exhibited binding of only 2% of the BaP, indicating the microbial nature of the BaP transformations. We report that in soil containing suitable cosubstrates, BaP can be completely degraded. PMID:16535735

Drug immunogenicity in patients with inflammatory arthritis and secondary failure to tumour necrosis factor inhibitor therapies: the REASON study.

PubMed

Balsa, Alejandro; Sanmarti, Raimon; Rosas, José; Martin, Victor; Cabez, Ana; Gómez, Susana; Montoro, María

2018-04-01

The aims were to evaluate the prevalence of anti-drug antibodies (ADA) in patients with RA or SpA experiencing secondary failure to anti-TNF therapy and to correlate ADA presence with anti-TNF concentration and clinical response. This was a cross-sectional, observational study of patients with active RA or SpA experiencing secondary failure to etanercept (ETN), infliximab (INF) or adalimumab (ADL). Concomitant non-biologic DMARDs were permitted. Serum anti-TNF and ADA levels were measured with two-site ELISA. Among 570 evaluable patients, those with RA (n = 276) were mostly female (80 vs 39%), older (56 vs 48 years), received concomitant DMARDs (83 vs 47%) and had maintained good clinical disease control for longer (202 vs 170 weeks) compared with patients with SpA (n = 294). ADA were found in 114/570 (20.0%) patients; 51/188 (27.1%) against INF and 63/217 (29.0%) against ADL; none against ETN. Of these 114 patients, 92 (81%) had no detectable serum drug concentrations. Proportionately more patients with SpA (31.3%) had anti-INF antibodies than those with RA (21.1%; P = 0.014). A significantly lower proportion of patients receiving concomitant DMARDs (16.5%) developed ADA than those on monotherapy (26.4%; P < 0.05). In patients with RA or SpA and secondary failure, the development of ADA against ADL or INF, but not ETN, appears to be one of the main reasons for secondary treatment failure, but not the only one. Further investigations are needed to determine other causes of anti-TNF failure.

Length of stay and medical stability for spinal cord-injured patients on admission to an inpatient rehabilitation hospital: a comparison between a model SCI trauma center and non-SCI trauma center.

PubMed

Ploumis, A; Kolli, S; Patrick, M; Owens, M; Beris, A; Marino, R J

2011-03-01

Retrospective database review. To compare lengths of stay (LOS), pressure ulcers and readmissions to the acute care hospital of patients admitted to the inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) from a model spinal cord injury (SCI) trauma center or from a non-SCI acute hospital. Only sparse data exist comparing the status of patients admitted to IRF from a model SCI trauma center or from a non-SCI acute hospital. Acute care, IRF and total LOS were compared between patients transferred to IRF from the SCI center (n=78) and from non-SCI centers (n=131). The percentages of pressure ulcers on admission to IRF and transfer back to acute care were also compared. Patients admitted to IRF from the SCI trauma center (SCI TC) had significantly shorter (P=0.01) acute care LOS and total LOS compared with patients admitted from non-SCI TCs. By neurological category, acute-care LOS was less for all groups admitted from the SCI center, but statistically significant only for tetraplegia. There was no significant difference in the incidence of readmissions to acute care from IRF. More patients from non-SCI centers (34%) than SCI centers (12%) had pressure ulcers (P<0.001). Acute care in organized SCI TCs before transfer to IRF can significantly lower acute-care LOS or total LOS and incidence of pressure ulcers compared with non-SCI TCs. Patients admitted to IRF from SCI TCs are no more likely to be sent back to an acute hospital than those from non-SCI TCs.

dREL: a relational expression language for dictionary methods.

PubMed

Spadaccini, Nick; Castleden, Ian R; du Boulay, Doug; Hall, Sydney R

2012-08-27

The provision of precise metadata is an important but a largely underrated challenge for modern science [Nature 2009, 461, 145]. We describe here a dictionary methods language dREL that has been designed to enable complex data relationships to be expressed as formulaic scripts in data dictionaries written in DDLm [Spadaccini and Hall J. Chem. Inf. Model.2012 doi:10.1021/ci300075z]. dREL describes data relationships in a simple but powerful canonical form that is easy to read and understand and can be executed computationally to evaluate or validate data. The execution of dREL expressions is not a substitute for traditional scientific computation; it is to provide precise data dependency information to domain-specific definitions and a means for cross-validating data. Some scientific fields apply conventional programming languages to methods scripts but these tend to inhibit both dictionary development and accessibility. dREL removes the programming barrier and encourages the production of the metadata needed for seamless data archiving and exchange in science.

Outcomes after primary chemoradiotherapy for N3 (>6 cm) head and neck squamous cell carcinoma after an FDG-PET--guided neck management policy.

PubMed

Adams, Gerard; Porceddu, Sandro V; Pryor, David I; Panizza, Benedict; Foote, Matthew; Rowan, Ann; Burmeister, Bryan

2014-08-01

The purpose of this study was to assess whether a positron emission tomography (PET)-directed policy remains appropriate for managing neck nodes (N3; >6 cm) in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). All patients with N3 (>6 cm) HNSCC treated with definitive chemoradiotherapy (CRT) at our institution between 2005 and 2012 were included in the analysis. Patients underwent PET assessment before and 12 weeks after CRT. Neck dissections were performed for PET-avid residual nodal abnormalities after complete response at the primary site. Rate of isolated nodal failure (INF) was the primary outcome. Median follow-up from diagnosis for 33 patients was 30 months (range, 6-76 months). INF occurred in 2 patients (6%) with neck dissections performed in 4 cases (12%). First failure was predominantly distant metastatic (10; 30%). The rate of INF remains low when following a PET-directed neck management policy after definitive CRT for N3 (>6 cm) HNSCC. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Retrospective Evaluation of Hairy Cell Leukemia Patients Treated with Three Different First-Line Treatment Modalities in the Last Two Decades: A Single-Center Experience.

PubMed

Öngören, Şeniz; Eşkazan, Ahmet Emre; Berk, Selin; Elverdi, Tuğrul; Salihoğlu, Ayşe; Ar, Muhlis Cem; Başlar, Zafer; Aydın, Yıldız; Tüzüner, Nükhet; Soysal, Teoman

2017-12-01

In this study, we retrospectively analyzed the clinical outcome, treatment responses, infectious complications, and survival rates of 71 hairy cell leukemia (HCL) cases. Sixty-seven patients received a first-line treatment and 2-chlorodeoxyadenosine (cladribine-2-CdA) was administered in 31 cases, 19 patients received interferon-alpha (INF-α), splenectomy was performed in 16 cases, and rituximab was used in one. Although the highest overall response rate (ORR) was observed in patients receiving 2-CdA upfront, ORRs were comparable in the 2-CdA, INF-α, and splenectomy subgroups. Relapse rates were significantly lower in patients who received first-line 2-CdA. The progression-free survival (PFS) rate with 2-CdA was significantly higher than in patients with INF-α and splenectomy, but we found similar overall survival rates with all three upfront treatment modalities. Infections including tuberculosis were a major problem. Although purine analogues have improved the ORRs and PFS, there is still much progress to make with regard to overall survival and relapsed/refractory disease in patients with HCL.

Classical swine fever virus infection modulates serum levels of INF-α, IL-8 and TNF-α in 6-month-old pigs.

PubMed

von Rosen, T; Lohse, L; Nielsen, J; Uttenthal, Å

2013-12-01

Several studies have highlighted the important role of cytokines in disease development of classical swine fever virus (CSFV) infection. In the present study, we examined the kinetics of 7 porcine cytokines in serum from pigs infected with 3 different CSFV strains. Based on the clinical picture in 6-month-old Danish pigs, the strains used for inoculation were classified as being of low (Bergen), low to moderate (Eystrup) and moderate to high (Lithuania) virulence. The cytokines interferon-alpha (INF-α), interleukin-8 (IL-8) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) showed increased levels after CSFV infection with more or less comparable course in the 3 groups. However, the cytokine level peaked with a 2-3 days delay in pigs infected with the low virulent strain compared to those infected with a moderately or highly virulent strain. These findings may indicate that INF-α, IL-8 and TNF-α are involved in the immune response during CSFV infection with strains of different virulence. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

GreenView and GreenLand Applications Development on SEE-GRID Infrastructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mihon, Danut; Bacu, Victor; Gorgan, Dorian; Mészáros, Róbert; Gelybó, Györgyi; Stefanut, Teodor

2010-05-01

The GreenView and GreenLand applications [1] have been developed through the SEE-GRID-SCI (SEE-GRID eInfrastructure for regional eScience) FP7 project co-funded by the European Commission [2]. The development of environment applications is a challenge for Grid technologies and software development methodologies. This presentation exemplifies the development of the GreenView and GreenLand applications over the SEE-GRID infrastructure by the Grid Application Development Methodology [3]. Today's environmental applications are used in vary domains of Earth Science such as meteorology, ground and atmospheric pollution, ground metal detection or weather prediction. These applications run on satellite images (e.g. Landsat, MERIS, MODIS, etc.) and the accuracy of output results depends mostly of the quality of these images. The main drawback of such environmental applications regards the need of computation power and storage power (some images are almost 1GB in size), in order to process such a large data volume. Actually, almost applications requiring high computation resources have approached the migration onto the Grid infrastructure. This infrastructure offers the computing power by running the atomic application components on different Grid nodes in sequential or parallel mode. The middleware used between the Grid infrastructure and client applications is ESIP (Environment Oriented Satellite Image Processing Platform), which is based on gProcess platform [4]. In its current format, gProcess is used for launching new processes on the Grid nodes, but also for monitoring the execution status of these processes. This presentation highlights two case studies of Grid based environmental applications, GreenView and GreenLand [5]. GreenView is used in correlation with MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) satellite images and meteorological datasets, in order to produce pseudo colored temperature and vegetation maps for different geographical CEE (Central Eastern Europe) regions. On the other hand, GreenLand is used for generating maps for different vegetation indexes (e.g. NDVI, EVI, SAVI, GEMI) based on Landsat satellite images. Both applications are using interpolation and random value generation algorithms, but also specific formulas for computing vegetation index values. The GreenView and GreenLand applications have been experimented over the SEE-GRID infrastructure and the performance evaluation is reported in [6]. The improvement of the execution time (obtained through a better parallelization of jobs), the extension of geographical areas to other parts of the Earth, and new user interaction techniques on spatial data and large set of satellite images are the goals of the future work. References [1] GreenView application on Wiki, http://wiki.egee-see.org/index.php/GreenView [2] SEE-GRID-SCI Project, http://www.see-grid-sci.eu/ [3] Gorgan D., Stefanut T., Bâcu V., Mihon D., Grid based Environment Application Development Methodology, SCICOM, 7th International Conference on "Large-Scale Scientific Computations", 4-8 June, 2009, Sozopol, Bulgaria, (To be published by Springer), (2009). [4] Gorgan D., Bacu V., Stefanut T., Rodila D., Mihon D., Grid based Satellite Image Processing Platform for Earth Observation Applications Development. IDAACS'2009 - IEEE Fifth International Workshop on "Intelligent Data Acquisition and Advanced Computing Systems: Technology and Applications", 21-23 September, Cosenza, Italy, IEEE Published in Computer Press, 247-252 (2009). [5] Mihon D., Bacu V., Stefanut T., Gorgan D., "Grid Based Environment Application Development - GreenView Application". ICCP2009 - IEEE 5th International Conference on Intelligent Computer Communication and Processing, 27 Aug, 2009 Cluj-Napoca. Published by IEEE Computer Press, pp. 275-282 (2009). [6] Danut Mihon, Victor Bacu, Dorian Gorgan, Róbert Mészáros, Györgyi Gelybó, Teodor Stefanut, Practical Considerations on the GreenView Application Development and Execution over SEE-GRID. SEE-GRID-SCI User Forum, 9-10 Dec 2009, Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey, ISBN: 978-975-403-510-0, pp. 167-175 (2009).

The Tongue Enables Computer and Wheelchair Control for People with Spinal Cord Injury

PubMed Central

Kim, Jeonghee; Park, Hangue; Bruce, Joy; Sutton, Erica; Rowles, Diane; Pucci, Deborah; Holbrook, Jaimee; Minocha, Julia; Nardone, Beatrice; West, Dennis; Laumann, Anne; Roth, Eliot; Jones, Mike; Veledar, Emir; Ghovanloo, Maysam

2015-01-01

The Tongue Drive System (TDS) is a wireless and wearable assistive technology, designed to allow individuals with severe motor impairments such as tetraplegia to access their environment using voluntary tongue motion. Previous TDS trials used a magnetic tracer temporarily attached to the top surface of the tongue with tissue adhesive. We investigated TDS efficacy for controlling a computer and driving a powered wheelchair in two groups of able-bodied subjects and a group of volunteers with spinal cord injury (SCI) at C6 or above. All participants received a magnetic tongue barbell and used the TDS for five to six consecutive sessions. The performance of the group was compared for TDS versus keypad and TDS versus a sip-and-puff device (SnP) using accepted measures of speed and accuracy. All performance measures improved over the course of the trial. The gap between keypad and TDS performance narrowed for able-bodied subjects. Despite participants with SCI already having familiarity with the SnP, their performance measures were up to three times better with the TDS than with the SnP and continued to improve. TDS flexibility and the inherent characteristics of the human tongue enabled individuals with high-level motor impairments to access computers and drive wheelchairs at speeds that were faster than traditional assistive technologies but with comparable accuracy. PMID:24285485

The Role of Audio-Visual Feedback in a Thought-Based Control of a Humanoid Robot: A BCI Study in Healthy and Spinal Cord Injured People.

PubMed

Tidoni, Emmanuele; Gergondet, Pierre; Fusco, Gabriele; Kheddar, Abderrahmane; Aglioti, Salvatore M

2017-06-01

The efficient control of our body and successful interaction with the environment are possible through the integration of multisensory information. Brain-computer interface (BCI) may allow people with sensorimotor disorders to actively interact in the world. In this study, visual information was paired with auditory feedback to improve the BCI control of a humanoid surrogate. Healthy and spinal cord injured (SCI) people were asked to embody a humanoid robot and complete a pick-and-place task by means of a visual evoked potentials BCI system. Participants observed the remote environment from the robot's perspective through a head mounted display. Human-footsteps and computer-beep sounds were used as synchronous/asynchronous auditory feedback. Healthy participants achieved better placing accuracy when listening to human footstep sounds relative to a computer-generated sound. SCI people demonstrated more difficulty in steering the robot during asynchronous auditory feedback conditions. Importantly, subjective reports highlighted that the BCI mask overlaying the display did not limit the observation of the scenario and the feeling of being in control of the robot. Overall, the data seem to suggest that sensorimotor-related information may improve the control of external devices. Further studies are required to understand how the contribution of residual sensory channels could improve the reliability of BCI systems.

ArrayBridge: Interweaving declarative array processing with high-performance computing

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

Xing, Haoyuan; Floratos, Sofoklis; Blanas, Spyros

Scientists are increasingly turning to datacenter-scale computers to produce and analyze massive arrays. Despite decades of database research that extols the virtues of declarative query processing, scientists still write, debug and parallelize imperative HPC kernels even for the most mundane queries. This impedance mismatch has been partly attributed to the cumbersome data loading process; in response, the database community has proposed in situ mechanisms to access data in scientific file formats. Scientists, however, desire more than a passive access method that reads arrays from files. This paper describes ArrayBridge, a bi-directional array view mechanism for scientific file formats, that aimsmore » to make declarative array manipulations interoperable with imperative file-centric analyses. Our prototype implementation of ArrayBridge uses HDF5 as the underlying array storage library and seamlessly integrates into the SciDB open-source array database system. In addition to fast querying over external array objects, ArrayBridge produces arrays in the HDF5 file format just as easily as it can read from it. ArrayBridge also supports time travel queries from imperative kernels through the unmodified HDF5 API, and automatically deduplicates between array versions for space efficiency. Our extensive performance evaluation in NERSC, a large-scale scientific computing facility, shows that ArrayBridge exhibits statistically indistinguishable performance and I/O scalability to the native SciDB storage engine.« less

The Implementation Challenge and the Learning Health System for SCI Initiative.

PubMed

Stucki, Gerold; Bickenbach, Jerome

2017-02-01

The paper introduces the special issue by linking the International Spinal Cord Injury (InSCI) Community Survey study to the Learning Health System for SCI Initiative (LHS-SCI). The LHS-SCI was designed to respond to the implementation challenge of bringing about policy reform in light of the targeted policy recommendations of World Health Organization's International Perspectives on SCI report as well as the call for action of WHO's Global Disability Action Plan. The paper reviews the components of LHS-SCI relevant to internationally comparable information, a theory of change to guide for action, and the tools for evidence-informed policy. The interplay between persons, their health needs, and the societal response to those needs provides the foundation for the organization of the LHS-SCI Initiative. Moreover, as the other articles in this special issue describe in detail, the rationale, conceptualization, and study design of the InSCI study are also informed by the rationale, and mission, of the LHS for SCI Initiative. The LHS-SCI, and the implementation challenge that motivates it, is responsible for the design of the InSCI study and the overall mission of LHS-SCI to continuously improve the lived experience of people living with SCI around the world through an international evidence- and rights-informed research and policy reform effort.

Self-paced brain-computer interface control of ambulation in a virtual reality environment.

PubMed

Wang, Po T; King, Christine E; Chui, Luis A; Do, An H; Nenadic, Zoran

2012-10-01

Spinal cord injury (SCI) often leaves affected individuals unable to ambulate. Electroencephalogram (EEG) based brain-computer interface (BCI) controlled lower extremity prostheses may restore intuitive and able-body-like ambulation after SCI. To test its feasibility, the authors developed and tested a novel EEG-based, data-driven BCI system for intuitive and self-paced control of the ambulation of an avatar within a virtual reality environment (VRE). Eight able-bodied subjects and one with SCI underwent the following 10-min training session: subjects alternated between idling and walking kinaesthetic motor imageries (KMI) while their EEG were recorded and analysed to generate subject-specific decoding models. Subjects then performed a goal-oriented online task, repeated over five sessions, in which they utilized the KMI to control the linear ambulation of an avatar and make ten sequential stops at designated points within the VRE. The average offline training performance across subjects was 77.2 ± 11.0%, ranging from 64.3% (p = 0.001 76) to 94.5% (p = 6.26 × 10(-23)), with chance performance being 50%. The average online performance was 8.5 ± 1.1 (out of 10) successful stops and 303 ± 53 s completion time (perfect = 211 s). All subjects achieved performances significantly different than those of random walk (p < 0.05) in 44 of the 45 online sessions. By using a data-driven machine learning approach to decode users' KMI, this BCI-VRE system enabled intuitive and purposeful self-paced control of ambulation after only 10 minutes training. The ability to achieve such BCI control with minimal training indicates that the implementation of future BCI-lower extremity prosthesis systems may be feasible.

Extraordinary Tools for Extraordinary Science: The Impact ofSciDAC on Accelerator Science&Technology

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

Ryne, Robert D.

2006-08-10

Particle accelerators are among the most complex and versatile instruments of scientific exploration. They have enabled remarkable scientific discoveries and important technological advances that span all programs within the DOE Office of Science (DOE/SC). The importance of accelerators to the DOE/SC mission is evident from an examination of the DOE document, ''Facilities for the Future of Science: A Twenty-Year Outlook''. Of the 28 facilities listed, 13 involve accelerators. Thanks to SciDAC, a powerful suite of parallel simulation tools has been developed that represent a paradigm shift in computational accelerator science. Simulations that used to take weeks or more now takemore » hours, and simulations that were once thought impossible are now performed routinely. These codes have been applied to many important projects of DOE/SC including existing facilities (the Tevatron complex, the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider), facilities under construction (the Large Hadron Collider, the Spallation Neutron Source, the Linac Coherent Light Source), and to future facilities (the International Linear Collider, the Rare Isotope Accelerator). The new codes have also been used to explore innovative approaches to charged particle acceleration. These approaches, based on the extremely intense fields that can be present in lasers and plasmas, may one day provide a path to the outermost reaches of the energy frontier. Furthermore, they could lead to compact, high-gradient accelerators that would have huge consequences for US science and technology, industry, and medicine. In this talk I will describe the new accelerator modeling capabilities developed under SciDAC, the essential role of multi-disciplinary collaboration with applied mathematicians, computer scientists, and other IT experts in developing these capabilities, and provide examples of how the codes have been used to support DOE/SC accelerator projects.« less

Motor imagery-induced EEG patterns in individuals with spinal cord injury and their impact on brain-computer interface accuracy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Müller-Putz, G. R.; Daly, I.; Kaiser, V.

2014-06-01

Objective. Assimilating the diagnosis complete spinal cord injury (SCI) takes time and is not easy, as patients know that there is no ‘cure' at the present time. Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) can facilitate daily living. However, inter-subject variability demands measurements with potential user groups and an understanding of how they differ to healthy users BCIs are more commonly tested with. Thus, a three-class motor imagery (MI) screening (left hand, right hand, feet) was performed with a group of 10 able-bodied and 16 complete spinal-cord-injured people (paraplegics, tetraplegics) with the objective of determining what differences were present between the user groups and how they would impact upon the ability of these user groups to interact with a BCI. Approach. Electrophysiological differences between patient groups and healthy users are measured in terms of sensorimotor rhythm deflections from baseline during MI, electroencephalogram microstate scalp maps and strengths of inter-channel phase synchronization. Additionally, using a common spatial pattern algorithm and a linear discriminant analysis classifier, the classification accuracy was calculated and compared between groups. Main results. It is seen that both patient groups (tetraplegic and paraplegic) have some significant differences in event-related desynchronization strengths, exhibit significant increases in synchronization and reach significantly lower accuracies (mean (M) = 66.1%) than the group of healthy subjects (M = 85.1%). Significance. The results demonstrate significant differences in electrophysiological correlates of motor control between healthy individuals and those individuals who stand to benefit most from BCI technology (individuals with SCI). They highlight the difficulty in directly translating results from healthy subjects to participants with SCI and the challenges that, therefore, arise in providing BCIs to such individuals.

Extraordinary tools for extraordinary science: the impact of SciDAC on accelerator science and technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ryne, Robert D.

2006-09-01

Particle accelerators are among the most complex and versatile instruments of scientific exploration. They have enabled remarkable scientific discoveries and important technological advances that span all programs within the DOE Office of Science (DOE/SC). The importance of accelerators to the DOE/SC mission is evident from an examination of the DOE document, ''Facilities for the Future of Science: A Twenty-Year Outlook.'' Of the 28 facilities listed, 13 involve accelerators. Thanks to SciDAC, a powerful suite of parallel simulation tools has been developed that represent a paradigm shift in computational accelerator science. Simulations that used to take weeks or more now take hours, and simulations that were once thought impossible are now performed routinely. These codes have been applied to many important projects of DOE/SC including existing facilities (the Tevatron complex, the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider), facilities under construction (the Large Hadron Collider, the Spallation Neutron Source, the Linac Coherent Light Source), and to future facilities (the International Linear Collider, the Rare Isotope Accelerator). The new codes have also been used to explore innovative approaches to charged particle acceleration. These approaches, based on the extremely intense fields that can be present in lasers and plasmas, may one day provide a path to the outermost reaches of the energy frontier. Furthermore, they could lead to compact, high-gradient accelerators that would have huge consequences for US science and technology, industry, and medicine. In this talk I will describe the new accelerator modeling capabilities developed under SciDAC, the essential role of multi-disciplinary collaboration with applied mathematicians, computer scientists, and other IT experts in developing these capabilities, and provide examples of how the codes have been used to support DOE/SC accelerator projects.

Final Report: Quantification of Uncertainty in Extreme Scale Computations (QUEST)

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

Marzouk, Youssef; Conrad, Patrick; Bigoni, Daniele

QUEST (\\url{www.quest-scidac.org}) is a SciDAC Institute that is focused on uncertainty quantification (UQ) in large-scale scientific computations. Our goals are to (1) advance the state of the art in UQ mathematics, algorithms, and software; and (2) provide modeling, algorithmic, and general UQ expertise, together with software tools, to other SciDAC projects, thereby enabling and guiding a broad range of UQ activities in their respective contexts. QUEST is a collaboration among six institutions (Sandia National Laboratories, Los Alamos National Laboratory, the University of Southern California, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Texas at Austin, and Duke University) with a historymore » of joint UQ research. Our vision encompasses all aspects of UQ in leadership-class computing. This includes the well-founded setup of UQ problems; characterization of the input space given available data/information; local and global sensitivity analysis; adaptive dimensionality and order reduction; forward and inverse propagation of uncertainty; handling of application code failures, missing data, and hardware/software fault tolerance; and model inadequacy, comparison, validation, selection, and averaging. The nature of the UQ problem requires the seamless combination of data, models, and information across this landscape in a manner that provides a self-consistent quantification of requisite uncertainties in predictions from computational models. Accordingly, our UQ methods and tools span an interdisciplinary space across applied math, information theory, and statistics. The MIT QUEST effort centers on statistical inference and methods for surrogate or reduced-order modeling. MIT personnel have been responsible for the development of adaptive sampling methods, methods for approximating computationally intensive models, and software for both forward uncertainty propagation and statistical inverse problems. A key software product of the MIT QUEST effort is the MIT Uncertainty Quantification library, called MUQ (\\url{muq.mit.edu}).« less

SciDAC GSEP: Gyrokinetic Simulation of Energetic Particle Turbulence and Transport

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

Lin, Zhihong

Energetic particle (EP) confinement is a key physics issue for burning plasma experiment ITER, the crucial next step in the quest for clean and abundant energy, since ignition relies on self-heating by energetic fusion products (α-particles). Due to the strong coupling of EP with burning thermal plasmas, plasma confinement property in the ignition regime is one of the most uncertain factors when extrapolating from existing fusion devices to the ITER tokamak. EP population in current tokamaks are mostly produced by auxiliary heating such as neutral beam injection (NBI) and radio frequency (RF) heating. Remarkable progress in developing comprehensive EP simulationmore » codes and understanding basic EP physics has been made by two concurrent SciDAC EP projects GSEP funded by the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Fusion Energy Science (OFES), which have successfully established gyrokinetic turbulence simulation as a necessary paradigm shift for studying the EP confinement in burning plasmas. Verification and validation have rapidly advanced through close collaborations between simulation, theory, and experiment. Furthermore, productive collaborations with computational scientists have enabled EP simulation codes to effectively utilize current petascale computers and emerging exascale computers. We review here key physics progress in the GSEP projects regarding verification and validation of gyrokinetic simulations, nonlinear EP physics, EP coupling with thermal plasmas, and reduced EP transport models. Advances in high performance computing through collaborations with computational scientists that enable these large scale electromagnetic simulations are also highlighted. These results have been widely disseminated in numerous peer-reviewed publications including many Phys. Rev. Lett. papers and many invited presentations at prominent fusion conferences such as the biennial International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Fusion Energy Conference and the annual meeting of the American Physics Society, Division of Plasma Physics (APS-DPP).« less

Isospin and Spin-Isospin Modes in Nuclei

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zegers, R. G. T.; van den Berg, A. M.; Brandenburg, S.; Fleurot, F. R. R.; Hannen, V. M.; Harakeh, M. N.; van der Schaaf, K.; van der Werf, S. Y.; Wilschut, H. W.; Guillot, J.; Laurent, H.; Willis, A.; Jänecke, J.; Fujiwara, M.

2002-09-01

The (3He,t) reaction on Pb at E3He=177 MeV and the subsequent decay by proton emission were studied in order to distinguish isovector monopole strength corresponding to 2ħω transitions from the non-resonant continuum background. Monopole strength at excitation energies above 25 MeV was discovered and compared to the calculated strength due to the isovector giant monopole resonance and the spin-flip isovector monopole resonance. Calculations in a normal-modes framework show that all isovector monopole strength can be accounted for if the branching ratio for decay by proton emission is 20%.

Comment on "Dynamic quantum secret sharing"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liao, Ci-Hong; Yang, Chun-Wei; Hwang, Tzonelish

2013-10-01

Hsu et al. (Quantum Inf Process 12:331-344,2013) proposed a dynamic quantum secret sharing (DQSS) protocol using the entanglement swapping of Bell states for an agent to easily join (or leave) the system. In 2013, Wang and Li (Quantum Inf Process 12(5):1991-1997, 2013) proposed a collusion attack on Hsu et al.'s DQSS protocol. Nevertheless, this study points out a new security issue on Hsu et al.'s DQSS protocol regarding to the honesty of a revoked agent. Without considering this issue, the DQSS protocol could be failed to provide secret sharing function.

National Centers for Environmental Prediction

Science.gov Websites

references for past and current documentation: Sort A-Z | Sort by Year Alpert, J.C., S-Y Hong and Y-J Kim -Scale Environment, Part I. J. Atmos. Sci., 31, 674-704. Asselin, R., 1972: Frequency filter for time observations and model computations. J. Clim. and Appl. Meteo., 25, 214-226. Campana, K. A., Y-T Hou, K. E

Telecommunications and Information-Systems Standardization--Is America Ready? CRS Report for Congress. Sci-Tech Alert. 87-458 SPR.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hack, David

This report on telephone networks and computer networks in a global context focuses on the processes and organizations through which the standards that make this possible are set. The first of five major sections presents descriptions of the standardization process, including discussions of the various kinds of standards, advantages and…

Finite Element Modeling of Viscoelastic Behavior and Interface Damage in Adhesively Bonded Joints

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-01-01

eccentricity of the axis of a lap joint gives rise to transverse or peel stresses at the Report Documentation Page Form ApprovedOMB No. 0704-0188...Computers and Structures 29, 1011 (1988). 21 S. Roy and J. N. Reddy, Tire Sci. Technol. 16, 146 (1988). 22 S. Roy and J. N. Reddy, Intl. J. Numer

2015 Marine Corps Security Environment Forecast: Futures 2030-2045

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-01-01

The technologies that make the iPhone “smart” were publically funded—the Internet, wireless networks, the global positioning system, microelectronics...Energy Revolution (63 percent);  Internet of Things (ubiquitous sensors embedded in interconnected computing devices) (50 percent);  “Sci-Fi...Neuroscience & artificial intelligence - Sensors /control systems -Power & energy -Human-robot interaction Robots/autonomous systems will become part of the

Illusion of arm movement evoked by tendon vibration in patients with spinal cord injury.

PubMed

Fusco, Gabriele; Tidoni, Emmanuele; Barone, Nicola; Pilati, Claudio; Aglioti, Salvatore Maria

2016-09-21

Studies in healthy people show that stimulation of muscle spindles through frequency-specific tendon vibration (TV) induces the illusory perception of movement. Following spinal cord injury (SCI), motor and sensory connections between the brain and parts of the body below-the-lesion level are partially or totally impaired. The present investigation is a descriptive study aimed to investigate whether people living with SCI may experience movement illusions comparable to a control group. Healthy and people with SCI were asked to report on three illusion-related features (Vividness, Duration, Illusory Extension) after receiving 70 Hz TV on the biceps brachii tendon of both arms. Two different forces of stimulation were applied: 2.4 N and 4.2 N. Both patients and controls were susceptible to the kinesthetic illusion. However patients presented lower sensitivity to TV than healthy subjects. Participants rated stronger illusions of movement after 4.2 N than 2.4 N stimulation in all the three illusion-related features. Further, patients reported atypical illusory experiences of movement (e.g. as if the arm wanted to extend, or a sensation of pushing against something) that may reflect different reorganization processes following spinal cord injury. The study provides a preliminary evidence of the possible use of the proprioceptive stimulation in the upper limbs of people living with SCI. Results are discussed in the light of recent advancements of brain-computer applications based on motor imagery for the control of neuroprosthetic and robotic devices in patients with severe sensorimotor deficits.

Increasing specialty care access through use of an innovative home telehealth-based spinal cord injury disease management protocol (SCI DMP)

PubMed Central

Seton, Jacinta M.; Washington, Monique; Tomlinson, Suk C.; Phrasavath, Douangmala; Farrell, Karen R.; Goldstein, Barry

2016-01-01

Background A spinal cord injury disease management protocol (SCI DMP) was developed to address the unique medical, physical, functional, and psychosocial needs of those living with spinal cord injuries and disorders (SCI/D). The SCI DMP was piloted to evaluate DMP clinical content and to identify issues for broader implementation across the Veterans Affairs (VA) SCI System of Care. Methods Thirty-three patients with SCI/D from four VA SCI centers participated in a 6-month pilot. Patients received customized SCI DMP questions through a data messaging device (DMD). Nurse home telehealth care coordinators (HTCC) monitored responses and addressed clinical alerts daily. One site administered the Duke Severity of Illness (DUSOI) Checklist and Short Form-8 (SF-8™) to evaluate the changes in comorbidity severity and health-related quality of life while on the SCI DMP. Results Patients remained enrolled an average of 116 days, with a mean response rate of 56%. The average distance between patient's home and their VA SCI center was 59 miles. Feedback on SCI DMP content and the DMD included requests for additional clinical topics, changes in administration frequency, and adapting the DMD for functional impairments. Improvement in clinical outcomes was seen in a subset of patients enrolled on the SCI DMP. Conclusion SCI HTCCs and patients reported that the program was most beneficial for newly injured patients recently discharged from acute rehabilitation that live far from specialty SCI care facilities. SCI DMP content changes and broader implementation strategies are currently being evaluated based on lessons learned from the pilot. PMID:24617497

Increasing specialty care access through use of an innovative home telehealth-based spinal cord injury disease management protocol (SCI DMP).

PubMed

Woo, Christine; Seton, Jacinta M; Washington, Monique; Tomlinson, Suk C; Phrasavath, Douangmala; Farrell, Karen R; Goldstein, Barry

2016-01-01

A spinal cord injury disease management protocol (SCI DMP) was developed to address the unique medical, physical, functional, and psychosocial needs of those living with spinal cord injuries and disorders (SCI/D). The SCI DMP was piloted to evaluate DMP clinical content and to identify issues for broader implementation across the Veterans Affairs (VA) SCI System of Care. Thirty-three patients with SCI/D from four VA SCI centers participated in a 6-month pilot. Patients received customized SCI DMP questions through a data messaging device (DMD). Nurse home telehealth care coordinators (HTCC) monitored responses and addressed clinical alerts daily. One site administered the Duke Severity of Illness (DUSOI) Checklist and Short Form-8 (SF-8™) to evaluate the changes in comorbidity severity and health-related quality of life while on the SCI DMP. Patients remained enrolled an average of 116 days, with a mean response rate of 56%. The average distance between patient's home and their VA SCI center was 59 miles. Feedback on SCI DMP content and the DMD included requests for additional clinical topics, changes in administration frequency, and adapting the DMD for functional impairments. Improvement in clinical outcomes was seen in a subset of patients enrolled on the SCI DMP. SCI HTCCs and patients reported that the program was most beneficial for newly injured patients recently discharged from acute rehabilitation that live far from specialty SCI care facilities. SCI DMP content changes and broader implementation strategies are currently being evaluated based on lessons learned from the pilot.

Transmission of Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus 1 to and from vaccinated pigs in a one-to-one model.

PubMed

Pileri, E; Gibert, E; Martín-Valls, G E; Nofrarias, M; López-Soria, S; Martín, M; Díaz, I; Darwich, L; Mateu, E

2017-03-01

The present study examined transmission by contact of Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) 1 in a one-to-one model to vaccinated and unvaccinated pigs and from vaccinated infected pigs to other vaccinated pigs. The experiment started by randomly assigning weaned pigs to groups V (n=24) and U (n=26). V pigs were vaccinated with a commercial live attenuated PRRSV vaccine and the U animals were kept as unvaccinated controls. Twenty-eight days later, 6U pigs were separated and allocated in individual boxes. The remaining 20U pigs were intranasally inoculated with PRRSV isolate 3267 (from now on designated as seeder (S) pigs) and 48h later were distributed in boxes where they were commingled with either V or U pigs in 1:1 groups (first contact phase), resulting in 6S:U and 14S:V pairs. As soon as a V pig was detected to be viremic because of contact with a S, the infected V (from now on designated as V inf ) was transferred (<24h after detection) to a new pen where it was comingled with a new V pig (designated as V 2 ) in a second contact phase. For the first contact phase, pigs were maintained 21days at maximum and for the second contact phase the maximum exposure period was 14days. Two V pigs tested positive for the vaccine virus (>99.5% similarity) when they were relocated with the corresponding V 2 pigs and they were removed; thus, only 12V inf were finally considered. All V pigs (12/12) exposed to S animals became infected although the first detection of viremia occurred at 13.6±3.6days, one week later than in U (p<0.05). Also, duration of viremia was shorter for V inf compared to U, (5.5±4.3days versus 12.5±2.7days). The V inf group showed remarkable individual variability: eight animals had a viremic period of 5 or less days (3.0±1.4) while the remaining four had a longer viremic period of more than one week (10.8±2.9). This situation was not observed in U. In the second contact phase, transmission from V inf to V 2 pigs occurred in 7/8 cases (87.5%). The mean duration of viremia for V 2 was 4.8±3.4 and two different patterns were again observed: two animals had viremias of 9-10days and the rest averaged 3.0±1.4days (range: 2-5days). Vaccinated groups V inf and V 2 had a significantly lower PRRSV shedding in oral fluids for at least the first 9days after the onset of the viremia compared to U, and shedding for V2 was even significantly lower (p<0.05) than shedding for V inf . Our experimental design reproduced the worst-case scenario for evaluating the effect of vaccination and, under such conditions; it was still efficacious in slowering PRRSV transmission and decreasing the global viral load and particularly oral shedding. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Psychometric evaluation of the Spanish version of the MPI-SCI.

PubMed

Soler, M D; Cruz-Almeida, Y; Saurí, J; Widerström-Noga, E G

2013-07-01

Postal surveys. To confirm the factor structure of the Spanish version of the MPI-SCI (MPI-SCI-S, Multidimensional Pain Inventory in the SCI population) and to test its internal consistency and construct validity in a Spanish population. Guttmann Institute, Barcelona, Spain. The MPI-SCI-S along with Spanish measures of pain intensity (Numerical Rating Scale), pain interference (Brief Pain Inventory), functional independence (Functional Independence Measure), depression (Beck Depression Inventory), locus of control (Multidimensional health Locus of Control), support (Functional Social Support Questionnaire (Duke-UNC)), psychological well-being (Psychological Global Well-Being Index) and demographic/injury characteristics were assessed in persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) and chronic pain (n=126). Confirmatory factor analysis suggested an adequate factor structure for the MPI-SCI-S. The internal consistency of the MPI-SCI-S subscales ranged from acceptable (r=0.66, Life Control) to excellent (r=0.94, Life Interference). All MPI-SCI-S subscales showed adequate construct validity, with the exception of the Negative and Solicitous Responses subscales. The Spanish version of the MPI-SCI is adequate for evaluating chronic pain impact following SCI in a Spanish-speaking population. Future studies should include additional measures of pain-related support in the Spanish-speaking SCI population.

Infertility in Men with Spinal Cord Injury: Research and Treatment

PubMed Central

Brackett, Nancy L.

2012-01-01

Spinal cord injury (SCI) occurs most often to young men. Following SCI, most men are infertile due to a combination of erectile dysfunction, ejaculatory dysfunction and semen abnormalities. Erectile dysfunction may be treated by the same therapies that are used in the general population. Similarly, the same treatments that are effective to assist conception in couples with non-SCI male factor patients are effective in assisting conception in SCI male-factor patients. The most apparent differences in male-factor symptoms between SCI and non-SCI patients are the high occurrences of anejaculation and atypical semen profiles in men with SCI. Methods available to assist ejaculation in men with SCI include penile vibratory stimulation and EEJ. Use of surgical sperm retrieval as the first line of treatment for anejaculation in men with SCI is controversial. Most men with SCI have a unique semen profile characterized by normal sperm concentration, but abnormally low sperm motility. Toxic substances in the semen contribute to this problem. Despite impaired sperm parameters, pregnancy outcomes using sperm from men with SCI are similar to pregnancy outcomes using sperm from non-SCI men. Future studies should focus on improving natural ejaculation and improving semen quality in these men. PMID:24278717

Prevalence and Etiology of Hypogonadism in Young Men With Chronic Spinal Cord Injury: A Cross-Sectional Analysis From Two University-Based Rehabilitation Centers.

PubMed

Sullivan, Shannon D; Nash, Mark S; Tefera, Eshetu; Tinsley, Emily; Blackman, Marc R; Groah, Suzanne

2017-08-01

Spinal cord injury (SCI) triggers an "accelerated aging" process that may include development of hypogonadism, even among younger men with SCI; however, few studies have investigated the prevalence or etiology of hypogonadism in men with SCI. Young men with SCI also are at increased risk for developing metabolic dysfunction after injury, which may be exacerbated by concomitant testosterone (T) deficiency, thus identifying the prevalence and risk factors for T deficiency in men with SCI is important for their long-term health. To investigate the prevalence, risk factors, and etiology of T deficiency (hypogonadism) in otherwise-healthy men with chronic, motor complete SCI. Secondary cross-sectional analysis. Rehabilitation research centers in Washington, DC, and Miami, Florida. Men (n = 58) aged 18-45 years with chronic (≥1 year), motor complete SCI without comorbidities or use of testosterone therapy. Plasma concentrations of hormones were measured with standardized assays. Body composition was assessed with dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry scan. Serum total T and calculated free T. T deficiency was more common in men after SCI than in a matched cohort of similarly-aged men without SCI (25%, SCI versus 6.7%, non-SCI, P < .001). The risk of hypogonadism appeared to be increased in men with more extensive injury and with higher percent body fat. The majority of men with SCI with low T had low serum LH levels, suggesting that central suppression of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis may be the most common etiology of hypogonadism after SCI. Hypogonadism is more common in young men with SCI than in similarly aged men without SCI, suggesting that SCI should be identified as a risk factor for T deficiency and that routine screening for hypogonadism should be performed in the SCI population. II. Copyright © 2017 American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Drug survival of the first course of anti-TNF agents in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and seronegative spondyloarthritis: analysis from the MonitorNet database.

PubMed

Scirè, Carlo A; Caporali, Roberto; Sarzi-Puttini, Piercarlo; Frediani, Bruno; Di Franco, Manuela; Tincani, Angela; Sinigaglia, Luigi; Sfriso, Paolo; Tirri, Rosella; Bellis, Emanuela; Delsante, Giovanni; Porru, Giovanni; Salaffi, Fausto; Giuggioli, Dilia; Rossini, Maurizio; Todoerti, Monica; Bazzichi, Laura; Govoni, Marcello; Gerli, Roberto; Raschetti, Roberto; Minisola, Giovanni; Montecucco, Carlomaurizio; Todesco, Silvano

2013-01-01

To compare drug survival of different anti-TNF drugs (infliximab, INF, etanercept, ETA, and adalimumab, ADA) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and spondyloarthritis (SpA) by analysing data collected from an Italian multicenter observational cohort study. All patients with RA or SpA registered in the MonitorNet database who started their first course of anti-TNF therapy were included. Overall drug survival was measured, along with specific reasons of discontinuation (inefficacy or adverse events). A first set of analyses using RA as reference category assessed the relationship between diagnosis and drug survival. A second set of analyses stratified by diagnosis (RA and SpA) used INF as reference drug. Adjustment for confounders was performed. The results are presented as adjusted hazard ratios (adjHR) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). 2640 RA patients and 1220 SpA patients with a median follow-up of 17 months (IQR 7.2-33.4) were included in the analyses. Patients with a diagnosis of SpA showed a lower risk of drug discontinuation with an adjHR (95%CI) of 0.81 (0.73, 0.90). In SpA, the subset of patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) showed the best survival on treatment. In RA, both ETA and ADA showed a significantly lower probability of withdrawal when compared to INF [adjHR (95%CI) 0.46 (0.38, 0.56) and 0.68 (0.57, 0.81), respectively]. Similar results were found in SpA. Drug survival for SpA is longer than that in RA mainly due to the AS subgroup. In both RA and SpA, ETA and ADA showed a better retention on treatment when compared to INF.

Potato NPH3/RPT2-Like Protein StNRL1, Targeted by a Phytophthora infestans RXLR Effector, Is a Susceptibility Factor.

PubMed

Yang, Lina; McLellan, Hazel; Naqvi, Shaista; He, Qin; Boevink, Petra C; Armstrong, Miles; Giuliani, Licida M; Zhang, Wei; Tian, Zhendong; Zhan, Jiasui; Gilroy, Eleanor M; Birch, Paul R J

2016-05-01

Plant pathogens deliver effectors to manipulate host processes. We know little about how fungal and oomycete effectors target host proteins to promote susceptibility, yet such knowledge is vital to understand crop disease. We show that either transient expression in Nicotiana benthamiana, or stable transgenic expression in potato (Solanum tuberosum), of the Phytophthora infestans RXLR effector Pi02860 enhances leaf colonization by the pathogen. Expression of Pi02860 also attenuates cell death triggered by the P. infestans microbe-associated molecular pattern INF1, indicating that the effector suppresses pattern-triggered immunity. However, the effector does not attenuate cell death triggered by Cf4/Avr4 coexpression, showing that it does not suppress all cell death activated by cell surface receptors. Pi02860 interacts in yeast two-hybrid assays with potato NPH3/RPT2-LIKE1 (NRL1), a predicted CULLIN3-associated ubiquitin E3 ligase. Interaction of Pi02860 in planta was confirmed by coimmunoprecipitation and bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays. Virus-induced gene silencing of NRL1 in N. benthamiana resulted in reduced P. infestans colonization and accelerated INF1-mediated cell death, indicating that this host protein acts as a negative regulator of immunity. Moreover, whereas NRL1 virus-induced gene silencing had no effect on the ability of the P. infestans effector Avr3a to suppress INF1-mediated cell death, such suppression by Pi02860 was significantly attenuated, indicating that this activity of Pi02860 is mediated by NRL1. Transient overexpression of NRL1 resulted in the suppression of INF1-mediated cell death and enhanced P. infestans leaf colonization, demonstrating that NRL1 acts as a susceptibility factor to promote late blight disease. © 2016 American Society of Plant Biologists. All Rights Reserved.

Influence of toll-like receptor 4 gene variants and plasma fatty acid profile on systemic inflammation: A population-based cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Norde, Marina Maintinguer; Oki, Erica; Carioca, Antonio A F; Castro, Inar A; Souza, José M P; Marchioni, Dirce M L; Fisberg, Regina M; Rogero, Marcelo M

2017-03-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the interaction of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) gene single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and plasma fatty acid (FA) profile in modulating risk for systemic inflammation. In all, 262 adult (19-59 y) participants of the Health Survey of São Paulo met the inclusion criteria. Anthropometric parameters, blood pressure, plasma inflammatory biomarker concentration, and fatty acid profile were measured and four SNPs of the TLR4 gene (rs4986790, rs4986791, rs11536889, and rs5030728) were genotyped. Multivariate cluster analysis was performed to stratify individuals based on levels of 11 plasma inflammatory biomarkers into two groups: inflammatory (INF) and noninflammatory (NINF). No association was found between any of the SNPs studied and systemic inflammation. The INF cluster had higher palmitic acid levels (P = 0.039) and estimated stearoyl coenzyme A desaturase activity (P = 0.045) and lower polyunsaturated fatty acid (P = 0.011), ω-6 fatty acid (P = 0.018), arachidonic acid (P = 0.002) levels, and estimated δ-5 desaturase activity (P = 0.025) compared with the NINF cluster. Statistically significant interaction between rs11536889 and arachidonic acid/eicosapentaenoic acid (AA/EPA) ratio (P = 0.034) was found to increase the odds of belonging to the INF cluster when individuals had the variant allele C and were at the higher percentile of AA/EPA plasma ratio. Plasma fatty acid profile modulated the odds of belonging to the INF cluster depending on genotypes of TRL4 gene polymorphisms. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Valsartan attenuates bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis by inhibition of NF-κB expression and regulation of Th1/Th2 cytokines.

PubMed

Mojiri-Forushani, Hoda; Hemmati, Ali Asghar; Khodadadi, Ali; Rashno, Mohammad

2018-06-01

Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is a chronic respiratory system disease. The role of inflammation and angiotensin in the development and progression of PF has previously been demonstrated. Alternation in antifibrotic/profibrotic mediators and NF-κB activation have important roles in PF development. NF-κB, a nuclear factor, induces the transcription of inflammatory and pro-inflammatory cytokines. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of valsartan as an angiotensin receptor blocker on IL-4, INF-γ, and NF-κB expression in the treatment of PF. Rats were divided into five groups: groups I (bleomycin) and II (control) received a single injection of bleomycin (7.5 IU/kg) or vehicle, respectively. Groups III-V received valsartan (20, 40, and 80 mg/kg, respectively) orally a week before and for 3 weeks after the bleomycin injection. Serum levels of IL-4 and INF- γ were then measured. Relative NF-κB expression was investigated by real-time PCR. Histopathological examination showed the anti-inflammation effect of valsartan. Bleomycin significantly increased IL-4 serum level and decreased that of INF-γ in the serum. Valsartan could restore their levels to normal. Valsartan raised the decreased ratio of INF-γ/IL-4. Exposure to bleomycin elevated NF-κB expression; and valsartan decreased the increased gene expression. Valsartan as an angiotensin receptor antagonist presumably by blocking angiotensin receptor causes to ameliorated PF, which was at least partly due to antifibrotic/profibrotic cytokine regulation and reduced NF-κB expression. Valsartan showed a significant protective effect against bleomycin-induced PF.

[Effect of Yersinia pestis EV 76 lypopolysaccharides with different levels of toxicity on dynamics of TNF-alpha and INF-gamma synthesis by human monocytes].

PubMed

Sokolova, E P; Demidova, G V; Ziuzina, V P; Alekseeva, L P; Bespalova, I A; Tynianova, V I

2010-01-01

AIM. To study dynamics of synthesis of TNF-alpha and INF-gamma by cell line U-937 human monocytes under the effect of Yersinia pestis EV 76 lypopolysaccharides (LPS) with different levels of toxicity: original LPS28 and LPS37 as well as their conformationally--changed variants with enhanced toxicity--complex of LPS with murine toxin (MT) of Y. pestis, and LPS modified by biologicall active compound (BAC) obtained from human erythrocytes. Using phenol method, LPS were obtained from Y. pestis EV 76 cells grown at 28 and 37 degrees C. Production of cytokines was measured by ELISA. It was shown that original and modified forms of LPS28 and LPS37 induce synthesis of both TNF-alpha and INF-gamma by human monocytes. Expression of genes for two ways of synthesis of these cytokines points to activation and transmission of signal induced by all studied forms of Y. pestis EV 76 LPS through TLR4. Levels of activity of MyD88-dependent and MyD88-independent signaling pathways are different and depend from chemical structure of LPS28 and LPS37, conformation of their modified forms and duration of their exposition with monocytes. Dynamics ofcytokine synthesis corresponds to response of synergized TLR on activation with profound agonistic/antagonistic effect. It was determined that conformational modifications of Y. pestis EV76 LPS occurring due to effect of MT and BAC accompanied by quantitative, qualitative and temporal changes of TNF-alpha and INF-gamma synthesis by human monocytes and correlate with increase of their toxic properties.

A phase I, randomized, single-dose study evaluating the pharmacokinetic equivalence of biosimilar ABP 215 and bevacizumab in healthy adult men.

PubMed

Markus, Richard; Chow, Vincent; Pan, Zhiying; Hanes, Vladimir

2017-10-01

This study compared the pharmacokinetic (PK) profiles of the proposed biosimilar ABP 215 with bevacizumab in healthy males. In this randomized, single-blind, single-dose, three-arm, parallel-group study, healthy subjects were randomized to receive ABP 215 (n = 68), bevacizumab (US) (n = 67), or bevacizumab (EU) (n = 67) 3 mg/kg intravenously. Primary endpoints were area under the serum concentration-time curve from time 0 extrapolated to infinity (AUC inf ) and the maximum observed concentration (C max ). Secondary endpoints included safety and immunogenicity. AUC inf and C max were similar across the three groups. Geometric means ratio (GMR) for C max and AUC inf , respectively, was 0.98 and 0.99 for ABP 215 versus bevacizumab (US); 1.03 and 0.96 for ABP 215 versus bevacizumab (EU); and 1.05 and 0.97 for bevacizumab (US) versus bevacizumab (EU). The 90% confidence intervals for the GMRs of AUC inf and C max were within the prespecified standard PK bioequivalence criteria of 0.80 to 1.25. The incidence of adverse events (AEs) was 47.1, 32.8, and 61.2% in the ABP 215, bevacizumab (US) and bevacizumab (EU) groups, respectively. When analyzed by investigational site, the incidence and severity of AEs were comparable in the ABP 215 and bevacizumab groups. There were no AEs leading to study discontinuation. No binding or neutralizing anti-drug anti-bodies was detected. This study demonstrated the PK similarity of ABP 215 to both bevacizumab (US) and bevacizumab (EU), and of bevacizumab (US) to bevacizumab (EU). Safety and tolerability were comparable between treatments and no subject developed binding or neutralizing anti-drug anti-bodies.

Efficient myogenic differentiation of human adipose-derived stem cells by the transduction of engineered MyoD protein

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

Sung, Min Sun; Biosystems and Bioengineering Program, University of Science and Technology; Mun, Ji-Young

2013-07-19

Highlights: •MyoD was engineered to contain protein transduction domain and endosome-disruptive INF7 peptide. •The engineered MyoD-IT showed efficient nuclear targeting through an endosomal escape by INF7 peptide. •By applying MyoD-IT, human adipose-derived stem cells (hASCs) were differentiated into myogenic cells. •hASCs differentiated by applying MyoD-IT fused to myotubes through co-culturing with mouse myoblasts. •Myogenic differentiation using MyoD-IT is a safe method without the concern of altering the genome. -- Abstract: Human adipose-derived stem cells (hASCs) have great potential as cell sources for the treatment of muscle disorders. To provide a safe method for the myogenic differentiation of hASCs, we engineeredmore » the MyoD protein, a key transcription factor for myogenesis. The engineered MyoD (MyoD-IT) was designed to contain the TAT protein transduction domain for cell penetration and the membrane-disrupting INF7 peptide, which is an improved version of the HA2 peptide derived from influenza. MyoD-IT showed greatly improved nuclear targeting ability through an efficient endosomal escape induced by the pH-sensitive membrane disruption of the INF7 peptide. By applying MyoD-IT to a culture, hASCs were efficiently differentiated into long spindle-shaped myogenic cells expressing myosin heavy chains. Moreover, these cells differentiated by an application of MyoD-IT fused to myotubes with high efficiency through co-culturing with mouse C2C12 myoblasts. Because internalized proteins can be degraded in cells without altering the genome, the myogenic differentiation of hASCs using MyoD-IT would be a safe and clinically applicable method.« less

Combined SCI and TBI: Recovery of forelimb function after unilateral cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) is retarded by contralateral traumatic brain injury (TBI), and ipsilateral TBI balances the effects of SCI on paw placement

PubMed Central

Inoue, Tomoo; Lin, Amity; Ma, Xiaokui; McKenna, Stephen L.; Creasey, Graham H.; Manley, Geoffrey T.; Ferguson, Adam R.; Bresnahan, Jacqueline C.; Beattie, Michael S.

2015-01-01

A significant proportion (estimates range from 16–74%) of patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) have concomitant traumatic brain injury (TBI), and the combination often produces difficulties in planning and implementing rehabilitation strategies and drug therapies. For example, many of the drugs used to treat SCI may interfere with cognitive rehabilitation, and conversely drugs that are used to control seizures in TBI patients may undermine locomotor recovery after SCI. The current paper presents an experimental animal model for combined SCI and TBI to help drive mechanistic studies of dual diagnosis. Rats received a unilateral SCI (75 kdyn) at C5 vertebral level, a unilateral TBI (2.0 mm depth, 4.0 m/s velocity impact on the forelimb sensori-motor cortex), or both SCI + TBI. TBI was placed either contralateral or ipsilateral to the SCI. Behavioral recovery was examined using paw placement in a cylinder, grooming, open field locomotion, and the IBB cereal eating test. Over 6 weeks, in the paw placement test, SCI + contralateral TBI produced a profound deficit that failed to recover, but SCI + ipsilateral TBI increased the relative use of the paw on the SCI side. In the grooming test, SCI + contralateral TBI produced worse recovery than either lesion alone even though contralateral TBI alone produced no observable deficit. In the IBB forelimb test, SCI + contralateral TBI revealed a severe deficit that recovered in 3 weeks. For open field locomotion, SCI alone or in combination with TBI resulted in an initial deficit that recovered in 2 weeks. Thus, TBI and SCI affected forelimb function differently depending upon the test, reflecting different neural substrates underlying, for example, exploratory paw placement and stereotyped grooming. Concurrent SCI and TBI had significantly different effects on outcomes and recovery, depending upon laterality of the two lesions. Recovery of function after cervical SCI was retarded by the addition of a moderate TBI in the contralateral hemisphere in all tests, but forepaw placements were relatively increased by an ipsilateral TBI relative to SCI alone, perhaps due to the dual competing injuries influencing the use of both forelimbs. These findings emphasize the complexity of recovery from combined CNS injuries, and the possible role of plasticity and laterality in rehabilitation, and provide a start towards a useful preclinical model for evaluating effective therapies for combine SCI and TBI. PMID:23770071

Combined SCI and TBI: recovery of forelimb function after unilateral cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) is retarded by contralateral traumatic brain injury (TBI), and ipsilateral TBI balances the effects of SCI on paw placement.

PubMed

Inoue, Tomoo; Lin, Amity; Ma, Xiaokui; McKenna, Stephen L; Creasey, Graham H; Manley, Geoffrey T; Ferguson, Adam R; Bresnahan, Jacqueline C; Beattie, Michael S

2013-10-01

A significant proportion (estimates range from 16 to 74%) of patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) have concomitant traumatic brain injury (TBI), and the combination often produces difficulties in planning and implementing rehabilitation strategies and drug therapies. For example, many of the drugs used to treat SCI may interfere with cognitive rehabilitation, and conversely drugs that are used to control seizures in TBI patients may undermine locomotor recovery after SCI. The current paper presents an experimental animal model for combined SCI and TBI to help drive mechanistic studies of dual diagnosis. Rats received a unilateral SCI (75 kdyn) at C5 vertebral level, a unilateral TBI (2.0 mm depth, 4.0 m/s velocity impact on the forelimb sensori-motor cortex), or both SCI+TBI. TBI was placed either contralateral or ipsilateral to the SCI. Behavioral recovery was examined using paw placement in a cylinder, grooming, open field locomotion, and the IBB cereal eating test. Over 6weeks, in the paw placement test, SCI+contralateral TBI produced a profound deficit that failed to recover, but SCI+ipsilateral TBI increased the relative use of the paw on the SCI side. In the grooming test, SCI+contralateral TBI produced worse recovery than either lesion alone even though contralateral TBI alone produced no observable deficit. In the IBB forelimb test, SCI+contralateral TBI revealed a severe deficit that recovered in 3 weeks. For open field locomotion, SCI alone or in combination with TBI resulted in an initial deficit that recovered in 2 weeks. Thus, TBI and SCI affected forelimb function differently depending upon the test, reflecting different neural substrates underlying, for example, exploratory paw placement and stereotyped grooming. Concurrent SCI and TBI had significantly different effects on outcomes and recovery, depending upon laterality of the two lesions. Recovery of function after cervical SCI was retarded by the addition of a moderate TBI in the contralateral hemisphere in all tests, but forepaw placements were relatively increased by an ipsilateral TBI relative to SCI alone, perhaps due to the dual competing injuries influencing the use of both forelimbs. These findings emphasize the complexity of recovery from combined CNS injuries, and the possible role of plasticity and laterality in rehabilitation, and provide a start towards a useful preclinical model for evaluating effective therapies for combine SCI and TBI. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Center for Center for Technology for Advanced Scientific Component Software (TASCS)

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

Kostadin, Damevski

A resounding success of the Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing (SciDAC) program is that high-performance computational science is now universally recognized as a critical aspect of scientific discovery [71], complementing both theoretical and experimental research. As scientific communities prepare to exploit unprecedented computing capabilities of emerging leadership-class machines for multi-model simulations at the extreme scale [72], it is more important than ever to address the technical and social challenges of geographically distributed teams that combine expertise in domain science, applied mathematics, and computer science to build robust and flexible codes that can incorporate changes over time. The Center for Technologymore » for Advanced Scientific Component Software (TASCS)1 tackles these these issues by exploiting component-based software development to facilitate collaborative high-performance scientific computing.« less

Neuroprotective effects of lycopene in spinal cord injury in rats via antioxidative and anti-apoptotic pathway.

PubMed

Hu, Wei; Wang, Hongbo; Liu, Zhenfeng; Liu, Yanlu; Wang, Rong; Luo, Xiao; Huang, Yifei

2017-03-06

Oxidative damage induced-mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis has been widely studied in spinal cord injury (SCI). Lycopene, a polyunsaturated hydrocarbon, has the highest antioxidant capacity compared to the other carotenoids. However, the role of lycopene in SCI is unknown. In the present study, we evaluated the antioxidant effects of lycopene on mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis following T10 contusion SCI in rats. The rats were randomized into 5 groups: the sham group, the SCI group and the SCI pre-treated with lycopene (5, 10, or 20mg/kg) group. The SCI group showed increased malondialdehyde (MDA) content, decreased superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) ability, which indicated that SCI could induce oxidative damage. What's more, the SCI group showed decreased mRNA expression of cytochrome b and mitochondrial transcription factor A (Tfam), and decreased mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔYm), which indicated that SCI could induce mitochondrial dysfunction. Besides, the SCI group showed decreased protein expression of bcl-2 and mitochondrial cytochrome C, increased protein expression of cytosolic cytochrome C, cleaved caspase-9, cleaved caspase-3 and bax, and increased TUNEL-positive cell numbers, which indicated that SCI could induce cell apoptosis. Fortunately, the lycopene treatment significantly ameliorated oxidative damage, mitochondrial dysfunction and cell apoptosis via the reversion of those parameters described above in the dose of lycopene of 10 and 20mg/kg. In addition, lycopene significantly ameliorated the hind limb motor disturbances in the SCI+lyco10 group and the SCI+lyco20 group compared with the SCI group. These results suggested that lycopene administration could improve total antioxidant status and might have neuroprotective effects on SCI. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of Spinal Cord Injury in Heart Rate Variability After Acute and Chronic Exercise: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Buker, Daniel Bueno; Oyarce, Cristóbal Castillo; Plaza, Raúl Smith

2018-01-01

Background: Spinal cord injury (SCI) above T6 is followed by a loss of sympathetic supraspinal control of the heart, disturbing the autonomic balance and increasing cardiovascular risk. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a widely used tool for assessing the cardiac autonomic nervous system and positive adaptations after regular exercise in able-bodied subjects. However, adaptations in SCI subjects are not well known. Objectives: To compare HRV between able-bodied and SCI subjects and analyze the effects of chronic and acute exercise on HRV in the SCI group. Methods: We searched MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, SciELO, and Google Scholar databases to July 2016. We selected English and Spanish observational or experimental studies reporting HRV after training or acute exercise in SCI patients. We also included studies comparing HRV in SCI individuals with able-bodied subjects. Animal studies and nontraumatic SCI studies were excluded. We screened 279 articles by title and abstract; of these, we fully reviewed 29 articles. Eighteen articles fulfilled criteria for inclusion in this study. Results: SCI individuals showed lower HRV values in the low frequency band compared to able-bodied subjects. Regular exercise improved HRV in SCI subjects, however time and intensity data were lacking. HRV decreases after an acute bout of exercise on SCI subjects, but recovery kinetics are unknown. Conclusion: HRV is affected following SCI. Able-bodied subjects and SCI individuals have different values of HRV. Acute bouts of exercise change HRV temporarily, and chronic exercise might improve autonomic balance in SCI.

Occupational characteristics of adults with pediatric-onset spinal cord injury.

PubMed

Hwang, Miriam; Zebracki, Kathy; Vogel, Lawrence C

2015-01-01

Employment rates among individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) are lower than in the general population and little is known about the specific occupations in which they are employed. To describe specific occupations of adults with pediatric-onset SCI using the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system and to determine associations between SOC occupations and demographic factors. Cross-sectional data specific to education and employment were collected from the last interviews of a larger longitudinal study. Occupations were categorized according to the 2010 SOC system. SOC groups were compared within gender level of injury and final education. Of the 461 total participants 219 (47.5%) were employed and specific occupations were available for 179. Among the SOC groups Education Law Community Service Arts and Media Occupations were most prevalent (30.2%) followed by Management Business and Finance Occupations (21.1%) Computer Engineering and Science Occupations (10.6%) Administrative and Office Support Occupations (10.0%) Service Occupations (7.3%) Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations (3.9%) and Production Occupations (3.4%). Differences were found in the distribution of SOC groups between gender levels of injury and final education groups. A wide variety of occupations were reported in adults with pediatric-onset SCI generally in concordance with final education and functional ability levels.

Occupational Characteristics of Adults with Pediatric-Onset Spinal Cord Injury

PubMed Central

Zebracki, Kathy; Vogel, Lawrence C.

2015-01-01

Background: Employment rates among individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) are lower than in the general population and little is known about the specific occupations in which they are employed. Objectives: To describe specific occupations of adults with pediatric-onset SCI using the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system and to determine associations between SOC occupations and demographic factors. Methods: Cross-sectional data specific to education and employment were collected from the last interviews of a larger longitudinal study. Occupations were categorized according to the 2010 SOC system. SOC groups were compared within gender level of injury and final education. Results: Of the 461 total participants 219 (47.5%) were employed and specific occupations were available for 179. Among the SOC groups Education Law Community Service Arts and Media Occupations were most prevalent (30.2%) followed by Management Business and Finance Occupations (21.1%) Computer Engineering and Science Occupations (10.6%) Administrative and Office Support Occupations (10.0%) Service Occupations (7.3%) Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations (3.9%) and Production Occupations (3.4%). Differences were found in the distribution of SOC groups between gender levels of injury and final education groups. Conclusion: A wide variety of occupations were reported in adults with pediatric-onset SCI generally in concordance with final education and functional ability levels. PMID:25762856

A Computational, Tissue-Realistic Model of Pressure Ulcer Formation in Individuals with Spinal Cord Injury.

PubMed

Ziraldo, Cordelia; Solovyev, Alexey; Allegretti, Ana; Krishnan, Shilpa; Henzel, M Kristi; Sowa, Gwendolyn A; Brienza, David; An, Gary; Mi, Qi; Vodovotz, Yoram

2015-06-01

People with spinal cord injury (SCI) are predisposed to pressure ulcers (PU). PU remain a significant burden in cost of care and quality of life despite improved mechanistic understanding and advanced interventions. An agent-based model (ABM) of ischemia/reperfusion-induced inflammation and PU (the PUABM) was created, calibrated to serial images of post-SCI PU, and used to investigate potential treatments in silico. Tissue-level features of the PUABM recapitulated visual patterns of ulcer formation in individuals with SCI. These morphological features, along with simulated cell counts and mediator concentrations, suggested that the influence of inflammatory dynamics caused simulations to be committed to "better" vs. "worse" outcomes by 4 days of simulated time and prior to ulcer formation. Sensitivity analysis of model parameters suggested that increasing oxygen availability would reduce PU incidence. Using the PUABM, in silico trials of anti-inflammatory treatments such as corticosteroids and a neutralizing antibody targeted at Damage-Associated Molecular Pattern molecules (DAMPs) suggested that, at best, early application at a sufficiently high dose could attenuate local inflammation and reduce pressure-associated tissue damage, but could not reduce PU incidence. The PUABM thus shows promise as an adjunct for mechanistic understanding, diagnosis, and design of therapies in the setting of PU.

A Computational, Tissue-Realistic Model of Pressure Ulcer Formation in Individuals with Spinal Cord Injury

PubMed Central

Ziraldo, Cordelia; Solovyev, Alexey; Allegretti, Ana; Krishnan, Shilpa; Henzel, M. Kristi; Sowa, Gwendolyn A.; Brienza, David; An, Gary; Mi, Qi; Vodovotz, Yoram

2015-01-01

People with spinal cord injury (SCI) are predisposed to pressure ulcers (PU). PU remain a significant burden in cost of care and quality of life despite improved mechanistic understanding and advanced interventions. An agent-based model (ABM) of ischemia/reperfusion-induced inflammation and PU (the PUABM) was created, calibrated to serial images of post-SCI PU, and used to investigate potential treatments in silico. Tissue-level features of the PUABM recapitulated visual patterns of ulcer formation in individuals with SCI. These morphological features, along with simulated cell counts and mediator concentrations, suggested that the influence of inflammatory dynamics caused simulations to be committed to “better” vs. “worse” outcomes by 4 days of simulated time and prior to ulcer formation. Sensitivity analysis of model parameters suggested that increasing oxygen availability would reduce PU incidence. Using the PUABM, in silico trials of anti-inflammatory treatments such as corticosteroids and a neutralizing antibody targeted at Damage-Associated Molecular Pattern molecules (DAMPs) suggested that, at best, early application at a sufficiently high dose could attenuate local inflammation and reduce pressure-associated tissue damage, but could not reduce PU incidence. The PUABM thus shows promise as an adjunct for mechanistic understanding, diagnosis, and design of therapies in the setting of PU. PMID:26111346

Stability Models for Augmentor Design Tools and Technology Assessment

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-07-14

AFRL experiments of the flame holders proposed here for further validation. 63 Appendix A A.1 Contributors Prof. Heinz Pitsch Stanford University Prof...Related Publications & Presentations 1. Hossam El-Asrag, Heinz Pitsch, Wookyung Kim, Hyungrok Do & M. Godfrey Mungal, Flame Stability in Augmentor...Flows, Comb. Sci. Tech., submitted, 2010. 2. Hossam El-Asrag, Heinz Pitsch, Wookyung Kim, Hyungrok Do & M. Godfrey Mungal, A Computational and

Bacterial susceptibility patterns in patients with spinal cord injury and disorder (SCI/D): an opportunity for customized stewardship tools.

PubMed

Suda, K J; Patel, U C; Sabzwari, R; Cao, L; Ramanathan, S; Hill, J N; Evans, C T

2016-11-01

Retrospective observational study of bacterial susceptibilities in Veterans with SCI/D as compared to a general patient population. The purpose of this project was to evaluate the prevalence and susceptibility of bacteria isolated from spinal cord injury and disorder (SCI/D) patients as compared with a general patient population and determine whether a SCI/D-specific antibiogram, a report of bacterial susceptibilities used to guide empiric antibiotic selection, would be a useful stewardship tool. Veterans Affairs Medical Center located in Cook county, IL, USA. Microbiology reports from 1 October 2012 to 30 September 2013 were compiled into a SCI/D-specific antibiogram and compared to a non-SCI/D antibiogram. Persons with positive cultures and SCI/D were younger and had a higher Charlson Index as compared to non-SCI/D patients (P<0.0001 for both). Five thousand one hundred and thirty-one unique isolate cultures were evaluated (SCI/D=23.0%). Frequencies of pathogens isolated in SCI/D and non-SCI/D differed. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus occurred more frequently in SCI/D (27.8% vs 55.4%; P<0.0001). Gram-negatives had generally lower susceptibilities in SCI/D and a higher frequency of organisms producing extended-spectrum Beta-lactamases (17.6% vs 5.0%; P<0.0001), carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (2.4% vs 0.5%; P<0.0001), carbapenem resistance (7.6% vs 2.4%; P<0.0001) and isolates resistant to ⩾3 antibiotic classes (60.7% vs 28.0%; P=0.0001). Different pathogens with poorer susceptibilities are isolated in SCI/D. Thus an SCI/D-specific antibiogram reflective of resistance patterns in these patients may increase the appropriateness of empiric antibiotic selection. The frequency of multi-drug resistant organisms in cultures obtained from patients with SCI/D is worrisome.

Tracking functional status across the spinal cord injury lifespan: linking pediatric and adult patient-reported outcome scores.

PubMed

Tian, Feng; Ni, Pengsheng; Mulcahey, M J; Hambleton, Ronald K; Tulsky, David; Haley, Stephen M; Jette, Alan M

2014-11-01

To use item response theory (IRT) methods to link scores from 2 recently developed contemporary functional outcome measures, the adult Spinal Cord Injury-Functional Index (SCI-FI) and the Pedi SCI (both the parent version and the child version). Secondary data analysis of the physical functioning items of the adult SCI-FI and the Pedi SCI instruments. We used a nonequivalent group design with items common to both instruments and the Stocking-Lord method for the linking. Linking was conducted so that the adult SCI-FI and Pedi SCI scaled scores could be compared. Community. This study included a total sample of 1558 participants. Pedi SCI items were administered to a sample of children (n=381) with SCI aged 8 to 21 years, and of parents/caregivers (n=322) of children with SCI aged 4 to 21 years. Adult SCI-FI items were administered to a sample of adults (n=855) with SCI aged 18 to 92 years. Not applicable. Five scales common to both instruments were included in the analysis: Wheelchair, Daily Routine/Self-care, Daily Routine/Fine Motor, Ambulation, and General Mobility functioning. Confirmatory factor analysis and exploratory factor analysis results indicated that the 5 scales are unidimensional. A graded response model was used to calibrate the items. Misfitting items were identified and removed from the item banks. Items that function differently between the adult and child samples (ie, exhibit differential item functioning) were identified and removed from the common items used for linking. Domain scores from the Pedi SCI instruments were transformed onto the adult SCI-FI metric. This IRT linking allowed estimation of adult SCI-FI scale scores based on Pedi SCI scale scores and vice versa; therefore, it provides clinicians with a means of tracking long-term functional data for children with an SCI across their entire lifespan. Copyright © 2014 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

On the existence of a solution to a quasilinear elliptic system of the Lane, Emden and Fowler type

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Covei, Dragoş-Pǎtru

2012-11-01

In this article, we give an algorithm to obtain the existence of a solution for a quasilinear elliptic system. Our result is new and is based on a recent work of [R.J. Biezuner, J. Brown, G. Ercole and E.M. Martins, Computing the first eigenpair of the p-Laplacian via inverse iteration of sublinear supersolutions, J. Sci. Computation, 2011]. Such problems appear in boundary layer phenomena for viscous fluids, the equilibrium configuration of mass in a spherical cloud of gas, thermal explosion as well as in others applications.

On ``Overestimation-free Computational Version of Interval Analysis''

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Popova, Evgenija D.

2013-10-01

The transformation of interval parameters into trigonometric functions, proposed in Int. J. Comput. Meth. Eng. Sci. Mech., vol. 13, pp. 319-328 (2012), is not motivated in comparison to the infinitely many equivalent algebraic transformations. The conclusions about the efficacy of the methodology used are based on incorrect comparisons between solutions of different problems. We show theoretically, and in the examples considered in the commented article, that changing the number of the parameters in a system of linear algebraic equations may change the initial problem, respectively, its solution set. We also correct various misunderstandings and bugs that appear in the article noted above.

Automatic Parametrization of Somatosensory Evoked Potentials With Chirp Modeling.

PubMed

Vayrynen, Eero; Noponen, Kai; Vipin, Ashwati; Thow, X Y; Al-Nashash, Hasan; Kortelainen, Jukka; All, Angelo

2016-09-01

In this paper, an approach using polynomial phase chirp signals to model somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) is proposed. SEP waveforms are assumed as impulses undergoing group velocity dispersion while propagating along a multipath neural connection. Mathematical analysis of pulse dispersion resulting in chirp signals is performed. An automatic parameterization of SEPs is proposed using chirp models. A Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm is used to optimize the model parameters. Features describing the latencies and amplitudes of SEPs are automatically derived. A rat model is then used to evaluate the automatic parameterization of SEPs in two experimental cases, i.e., anesthesia level and spinal cord injury (SCI). Experimental results show that chirp-based model parameters and the derived SEP features are significant in describing both anesthesia level and SCI changes. The proposed automatic optimization based approach for extracting chirp parameters offers potential for detailed SEP analysis in future studies. The method implementation in Matlab technical computing language is provided online.

A Temperature-Dependent Phase-Field Model for Phase Separation and Damage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heinemann, Christian; Kraus, Christiane; Rocca, Elisabetta; Rossi, Riccarda

2017-07-01

In this paper we study a model for phase separation and damage in thermoviscoelastic materials. The main novelty of the paper consists in the fact that, in contrast with previous works in the literature concerning phase separation and damage processes in elastic media, in our model we encompass thermal processes, nonlinearly coupled with the damage, concentration and displacement evolutions. More particularly, we prove the existence of "entropic weak solutions", resorting to a solvability concept first introduced in Feireisl (Comput Math Appl 53:461-490, 2007) in the framework of Fourier-Navier-Stokes systems and then recently employed in Feireisl et al. (Math Methods Appl Sci 32:1345-1369, 2009) and Rocca and Rossi (Math Models Methods Appl Sci 24:1265-1341, 2014) for the study of PDE systems for phase transition and damage. Our global-in-time existence result is obtained by passing to the limit in a carefully devised time-discretization scheme.

Discussion on “A Fuzzy Method for Medical Diagnosis of Headache”

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hung, Kuo-Chen; Wou, Yu-Wen; Julian, Peterson

This paper is in response to the report of Ahn, Mun, Kim, Oh, and Han published in IEICE Trans. INF. & SYST., Vol.E91-D, No.4, 2008, 1215-1217. They tried to extend their previous paper that published on IEICE Trans. INF. & SYST., Vol.E86-D, No.12, 2003, 2790-2793. However, we will point out that their extension is based on the detailed data of knowing the frequency of three types. Their new occurrence information based on intuitionistic fuzzy set for medical diagnosis of headache becomes redundant. We advise researchers to directly use the detailed data to decide the diagnosis of headache.

Holographic Techni-Dilaton, or Conformal Higgs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Habaa, Kazumoto; Matsuzaki, Shinya; Yamawaki, Koichi

2011-01-01

We study a holographic model dual to walking/conformal technicolor (W/C TC) deforming a hard-wall type of bottom-up setup by including effects from techni-gluon condensation. We calculate masses of (techni-) ρ meson, a1 meson, and flavor/chiral-singlet scalar meson identified with techni-dilaton (TD)/conformal Higgs boson, as well as the S parameter. It is shown that gluon contributions and large anomalous dimension tend to decrease specifically mass of the TD. In the typical model with S ≃ 0.1, we find mTD ≃ 600 GeV, while mρ, ma1 ≃ 4TeV.

A network of conserved formins, regulated by the guanine exchange factor EXC-5 and the GTPase CDC-42, modulates tubulogenesis in vivo.

PubMed

Shaye, Daniel D; Greenwald, Iva

2016-11-15

The C. elegans excretory cell (EC) is a powerful model for tubulogenesis, a conserved process that requires precise cytoskeletal regulation. EXC-6, an ortholog of the disease-associated formin INF2, coordinates cell outgrowth and lumen formation during EC tubulogenesis by regulating F-actin at the tip of the growing canal and the dynamics of basolateral microtubules. EXC-6 functions in parallel with EXC-5/FGD, a predicted activator of the Rho GTPase Cdc42. Here, we identify the parallel pathway: EXC-5 functions through CDC-42 to regulate two other formins: INFT-2, another INF2 ortholog, and CYK-1, the sole ortholog of the mammalian diaphanous (mDia) family of formins. We show that INFT-2 promotes F-actin accumulation in the EC, and that CYK-1 inhibits INFT-2 to regulate F-actin levels and EXC-6-promoted outgrowth. As INF2 and mDia physically interact and cross-regulate in cultured cells, our work indicates that a conserved EXC-5-CDC-42 pathway modulates this regulatory interaction and that it is functionally important in vivo during tubulogenesis. © 2016. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Collective properties of low-lying octupole excitations in 20882Pb126, 6020Ca40 and 288O20

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, X. R.; Zhao, E. G.; Dong, B. G.; Zhang, X. Z.; Long, G. L.

2003-08-01

The octupole strengths of three nuclei: β-stable nucleus 20882Pb 126, neutron skin nucleus 6020Ca 40 and neutron drip line nucleus 288O 20 are studied by using the self-consistent Hartree-Fock calculation with the random phase approximation. The collective properties of low-lying excitations are analyzed by particle-vibration coupling. The results show that there is the coexistence of the collective excitations and the decoupled strong continuum strength near the threshold in the lowest isoscalar states in 6020Ca 40 and 288O 20. For these three nuclei, both the low-lying isoscalar states and giant isoscalar resonance carry isovector strength. The ratio B(IV)/ B(IS) is checked and it is found that, for 20882Pb 126, the ratio is equal to (( N- Z)/ A) 2 in good accuracy, while for 6020Ca 40 and 288O 20, the ratios are much larger than (( N- Z)/ A) 2. The study shows that the enhancement of the ratio is due to the excess neutrons that have small binding energies in 6020Ca 40 and 288O 20.

Lipid Peroxidation and Its Role in the Expression of NLRP1a and NLRP3 Genes in Testicular Tissue of Male Rats: a Model of Spinal Cord Injury

PubMed

Bazrafkan, Mahshid; Nikmehr, Banafsheh; Shahverdi, Abdolhossein; Hosseini, Seyed Reza; Hassani, Fatemeh; Poorhassan, Mahnaz; Mokhtari, Tahmineh; Abolhassani, Farid; Choobineh, Hamid; Beyer, Cordian; Hassanzadeh, Gholamreza

2017-10-16

The majority of male patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) suffer from infertility. Nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptors NOD-like receptors (NLRs) are a kind of receptors that corporate in the inflammasome complex. Recent studies have introduced the inflammasome as the responsible agent for secreting cytokines in semen. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) is one of the elements that trigger inflammasome activation. Genital infections in SCI can lead to ROS generation. We investigated the relation between lipid peroxidation and inflammasome complex activity in testicular tissue of SCI rats. Adult male rats (n=20), weighting 200-250 g, were included and divided into four groups: three experimental groups, including SCI1, SCI3, and SCI7, i.e. the rats were subjected to SCI procedure and sacrificed after one, three, and seven days, respectively and a control group. We performed a moderate, midline spinal contusion injury at thoracic level 10. The animals were anesthetized, and testes were collected for measurement of gene expression by real-time PCR. Caudal parts of epididymis were collected for malondialdehyde (MDA) measurement. No NLRP1a mRNA over expression was seen in the testes of control and SCI groups. After seven days from SCI surgery, NLRP3 mRNA expression was significantly increased in SCI7 animals (P≤0.05). There was a significant difference in MDA level in SCI7 versus control group, as well as SCI1 and SCI3 animals (P≤0.05). NLRP3 overexpression occurs due to the increased ROS production in testicular tissue of SCI rats.

Lipid Peroxidation and Its Role in the Expression of NLRP1a and NLRP3 Genes in Testicular Tissue of Male Rats: A Model of Spinal Cord Injury

PubMed Central

Bazrafkan, Mahshid; Nikmehr, Banafsheh; Shahverdi, Abdolhossein; Hosseini, Seyed Reza; Hassani, Fatemeh; Poorhassan, Mahnaz; Mokhtari, Tahmineh; Abolhassani, Farid; Choobineh, Hamid; Beyer, Cordian; Hassanzadeh, Gholamreza

2018-01-01

Background: The majority of male patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) suffer from infertility. Nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptors NOD-like receptors (NLRs) are a kind of receptors that corporate in the inflammasome complex. Recent studies have introduced the inflammasome as the responsible agent for secreting cytokines in semen. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) is one of the elements that trigger inflammasome activation. Genital infections in SCI can lead to ROS generation. We investigated the relation between lipid peroxidation and inflammasome complex activity in testicular tissue of SCI rats. Methods: Adult male rats (n=20), weighting 200-250 g, were included and divided into four groups: three experimental groups, including SCI1, SCI3, and SCI7, i.e. the rats were subjected to SCI procedure and sacrificed after one, three, and seven days, respectively and a control group. We performed a moderate, midline spinal contusion injury at thoracic level 10. The animals were anesthetized, and testes were collected for measurement of gene expression by real-time PCR. Caudal parts of epididymis were collected for malondialdehyde (MDA) measurement. Results: No NLRP1a mRNA overexpression was seen in the testes of control and SCI groups. After seven days from SCI surgery, NLRP3 mRNA expression was significantly increased in SCI7 animals (p ≤ 0.05). There was a significant difference in MDA level in SCI7 versus control group, as well as SCI1 and SCI3 animals (p ≤ 0.05). Conclusion: NLRP3 overexpression occurs due to the increased ROS production in testis tissue of SCI rats

Circulating sclerostin is elevated in short-term and reduced in long-term SCI

PubMed Central

Battaglino, Ricardo A.; Sudhakar, Supreetha; Lazzari, Antonio; Garshick, Eric; Zafonte, Ross; Morse, Leslie R.

2012-01-01

Spinal cord injury (SCI) causes profound bone loss due to muscle paralysis resulting in the inability to walk. Sclerostin, a Wnt signaling pathway antagonist produced by osteocytes, is a potent inhibitor of bone formation. Short-term studies in rodent models have demonstrated increased sclerostin in response to mechanical unloading that is reversed with reloading. Although sclerostin inhibition has been proposed as a potential therapy for bone loss, it is not known if sclerostin levels vary with duration of SCI in humans. We analyzed circulating sclerostin in 155 men with varying degrees of SCI who were 1 year or more post-injury. We report that sclerostin levels are greatest in subjects with short-term SCI (≤ 5 years post-injury) and decrease significantly over the first 5 years post-injury. There was no association between sclerostin and injury duration in subjects with long-term SCI (> 5 years post-injury). In subjects with long-term SCI, sclerostin levels were positively associated with lower extremity bone density and bone mineral content. These data suggest that sclerostin levels in SCI are initially increased after SCI in response to mechanical unloading. This response is time-limited and as bone loss progresses, circulating sclerostin is lowest in subjects with severe osteoporosis. These findings support a dual role for sclerostin after SCI: a therapeutic target in acute SCI, and a biomarker of osteoporosis severity in chronic SCI. PMID:22575440

Learning by Creating and Exchanging Objects: The SCY Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

De Jong, Ton; Van Joolingen, Wouter R.; Giemza, Adam; Girault, Isabelle; Hoppe, Ulrich; Kindermann, Jorg; Kluge, Anders; Lazonder, Ard W.; Vold, Vibeke; Weinberger, Armin; Weinbrenner, Stefan; Wichmann, Astrid; Anjewierden, Anjo; Bodin, Marjolaine; Bollen, Lars; D'Ham, Cedric; Dolonen, Jan; Engler, Jan; Geraedts, Caspar; Grosskreutz, Henrik; Hovardas, Tasos; Julien, Rachel; Lechner, Judith; Ludvigsen, Sten; Matteman, Yuri; Meistadt, Oyvind; Naess, Bjorge; Ney, Muriel; Pedaste, Margus; Perritano, Anthony; Rinket, Marieke; Von Schlanbusch, Henrik; Sarapuu, Tago; Schulz, Florian; Sikken, Jakob; Slotta, Jim; Toussaint, Jeremy; Verkade, Alex; Wajeman, Claire; Wasson, Barbara; Zacharia, Zacharias C.; Van Der Zanden, Martine

2010-01-01

Science Created by You (SCY) is a project on learning in science and technology domains. SCY uses a pedagogical approach that centres around products, called "emerging learning objects" (ELOs) that are created by students. Students work individually and collaboratively in SCY-Lab (the general SCY learning environment) on "missions" that are guided…

75 FR 24747 - SCI, LLC/Zener-Rectifier Operations Division A Wholly Owned Subsidiary of SCI, LLC/ON...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-05

... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Employment and Training Administration [TA-W-70,235] SCI, LLC/Zener-Rectifier... Adjustment Assistance on October 19, 2009, applicable to workers of SCI LLC/Zener-Rectifier, Operations... Technical Resources were employed on-site at the Phoenix Arizona location of SCI LLC/Zener-Rectifier...

Sensitivity of the SCI-FI/AT in Individuals With Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury.

PubMed

Keeney, Tamra; Slavin, Mary; Kisala, Pamela; Ni, Pengsheng; Heinemann, Allen W; Charlifue, Susan; Fyffe, Denise C; Marino, Ralph J; Morse, Leslie R; Worobey, Lynn A; Tate, Denise; Rosenblum, David; Zafonte, Ross; Tulsky, David; Jette, Alan M

2018-03-31

To examine the ability of the Spinal Cord Injury-Functional Index/Assistive Technology (SCI-FI/AT) measure to detect change in persons with spinal cord injury (SCI). Multisite longitudinal (12-mo follow-up) study. Nine SCI Model Systems programs. Adults (N=165) with SCI enrolled in the SCI Model Systems database. Not applicable. SCI-FI/AT computerized adaptive test (CAT) (Basic Mobility, Self-Care, Fine Motor Function, Wheelchair Mobility, and/or Ambulation domains) completed at discharge from rehabilitation and 12 months after SCI. For each domain, effect size estimates and 95% confidence intervals were calculated for subgroups with paraplegia and tetraplegia. The demographic characteristics of the sample were as follows: 46% (n=76) individuals with paraplegia, 76% (n=125) male participants, 57% (n=94) used a manual wheelchair, 38% (n=63) used a power wheelchair, 30% (n=50) were ambulatory. For individuals with paraplegia, the Basic Mobility, Self-Care, and Ambulation domains of the SCI-FI/AT detected a significantly large amount of change; in contrast, the Fine Motor Function and Wheelchair Mobility domains detected only a small amount of change. For those with tetraplegia, the Basic Mobility, Fine Motor Function, and Self-Care domains detected a small amount of change whereas the Ambulation item domain detected a medium amount of change. The Wheelchair Mobility domain for people with tetraplegia was the only SCI-FI/AT domain that did not detect significant change. SCI-FI/AT CAT item banks detected an increase in function from discharge to 12 months after SCI. The effect size estimates for the SCI-FI/AT CAT vary by domain and level of lesion. Findings support the use of the SCI-FI/AT CAT in the population with SCI and highlight the importance of multidimensional functional measures. Copyright © 2018 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Education in children's sleep hygiene: which approaches are effective? A systematic review.

PubMed

Halal, Camila S E; Nunes, Magda L

2014-01-01

To analyze the interventions aimed at the practice of sleep hygiene, as well as their applicability and effectiveness in the clinical scenario, so that they may be used by pediatricians and family physicians for parental advice. A search of the PubMed database was performed using the following descriptors: sleep hygiene OR sleep education AND children or school-aged. In the LILACS and SciELO databases, the descriptors in Portuguese were: higiene E sono, educação E sono, educação E sono E crianças, e higiene E sono E infância, with no limitations of the publication period. In total, ten articles were reviewed, in which the main objectives were to analyze the effectiveness of behavioral approaches and sleep hygiene techniques on children's sleep quality and parents' quality of life. The techniques used were one or more of the following: positive routines; controlled comforting and gradual extinction or sleep remodeling; as well as written diaries to monitor children's sleep patterns. All of the approaches yielded positive results. Although behavioral approaches to pediatric sleep hygiene are easy to apply and adhere to, there have been very few studies evaluating the effectiveness of the available techniques. This review demonstrated that these methods are effective in providing sleep hygiene for children, thus reflecting on parents' improved quality of life. It is of utmost importance that pediatricians and family physicians are aware of such methods in order to adequately advise patients and their families. Copyright © 2014 Sociedade Brasileira de Pediatria. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

Voxel inversion of airborne electromagnetic data for improved model integration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fiandaca, Gianluca; Auken, Esben; Kirkegaard, Casper; Vest Christiansen, Anders

2014-05-01

Inversion of electromagnetic data has migrated from single site interpretations to inversions including entire surveys using spatial constraints to obtain geologically reasonable results. Though, the model space is usually linked to the actual observation points. For airborne electromagnetic (AEM) surveys the spatial discretization of the model space reflects the flight lines. On the contrary, geological and groundwater models most often refer to a regular voxel grid, not correlated to the geophysical model space, and the geophysical information has to be relocated for integration in (hydro)geological models. We have developed a new geophysical inversion algorithm working directly in a voxel grid disconnected from the actual measuring points, which then allows for informing directly geological/hydrogeological models. The new voxel model space defines the soil properties (like resistivity) on a set of nodes, and the distribution of the soil properties is computed everywhere by means of an interpolation function (e.g. inverse distance or kriging). Given this definition of the voxel model space, the 1D forward responses of the AEM data are computed as follows: 1) a 1D model subdivision, in terms of model thicknesses, is defined for each 1D data set, creating "virtual" layers. 2) the "virtual" 1D models at the sounding positions are finalized by interpolating the soil properties (the resistivity) in the center of the "virtual" layers. 3) the forward response is computed in 1D for each "virtual" model. We tested the new inversion scheme on an AEM survey carried out with the SkyTEM system close to Odder, in Denmark. The survey comprises 106054 dual mode AEM soundings, and covers an area of approximately 13 km X 16 km. The voxel inversion was carried out on a structured grid of 260 X 325 X 29 xyz nodes (50 m xy spacing), for a total of 2450500 inversion parameters. A classical spatially constrained inversion (SCI) was carried out on the same data set, using 106054 spatially constrained 1D models with 29 layers. For comparison, the SCI inversion models have been gridded on the same grid of the voxel inversion. The new voxel inversion and the classic SCI give similar data fit and inversion models. The voxel inversion decouples the geophysical model from the position of acquired data, and at the same time fits the data as well as the classic SCI inversion. Compared to the classic approach, the voxel inversion is better suited for informing directly (hydro)geological models and for sequential/Joint/Coupled (hydro)geological inversion. We believe that this new approach will facilitate the integration of geophysics, geology and hydrology for improved groundwater and environmental management.

Acute and Chronic Deficits in the Urinary Bladder after Spinal Contusion Injury in the Adult Rat

PubMed Central

Herrera, Juan J.; Haywood-Watson, Ricky J.L.

2010-01-01

Abstract Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) permanently alters bladder function in humans. Hematuria and cystitis occur in both human SCI as well as in rodent models of SCI. Others have reported early SCI-dependent disruption to bladder uroepithelial integrity that results in increased permeability to urine and urine-borne substances. This can result in cystitis, or inflammation of the bladder, an ongoing pathological condition present throughout the chronic phase of SCI in humans. The goals of our study were twofold: (1) to begin to examine the inflammatory and molecular changes that occur within the bladder uroepithelium using a clinically-relevant spinal contusion model of injury, and (2) to assess whether these alterations continue into the chronic phase of SCI. Rats received either moderate SCI or sham surgery. Urine was collected from SCI and sham subjects over 7 days or at 7 months to assess levels of excreted proteins. Inflammation in the bladder wall was assessed via biochemical and immunohistochemical methods. Bladder tight junction proteins, mediators of uroepithelial integrity, were also measured in both the acute and chronic phases of SCI. Urine protein and hemoglobin levels rapidly increase following SCI. An SCI-dependent elevation in numbers of neutrophils within the bladder wall peaked at 48 h. Bladder tight junction proteins demonstrate a rapid but transient decrease as early as 2 h post-SCI. Surprisingly, elevated levels of urine proteins and significant deficits in bladder tight junction proteins could be detected in chronic SCI, suggesting that early pathological changes to the bladder may continue throughout the chronic phase of injury. PMID:19891526

Targeting Translational Successes through CANSORT-SCI: Using Pet Dogs To Identify Effective Treatments for Spinal Cord Injury.

PubMed

Moore, Sarah A; Granger, Nicolas; Olby, Natasha J; Spitzbarth, Ingo; Jeffery, Nick D; Tipold, Andrea; Nout-Lomas, Yvette S; da Costa, Ronaldo C; Stein, Veronika M; Noble-Haeusslein, Linda J; Blight, Andrew R; Grossman, Robert G; Basso, D Michele; Levine, Jonathan M

2017-06-15

Translation of therapeutic interventions for spinal cord injury (SCI) from laboratory to clinic has been historically challenging, highlighting the need for robust models of injury that more closely mirror the human condition. The high prevalence of acute, naturally occurring SCI in pet dogs provides a unique opportunity to evaluate expeditiously promising interventions in a population of animals that receive diagnoses and treatment clinically in a manner similar to persons with SCI, while adhering to National Institutes of Health guidelines for scientific rigor and transparent reporting. In addition, pet dogs with chronic paralysis are often maintained long-term by their owners, offering a similarly unique population for study of chronic SCI. Despite this, only a small number of studies have used the clinical dog model of SCI. The Canine Spinal Cord Injury Consortium (CANSORT-SCI) was recently established by a group of veterinarians and basic science researchers to promote the value of the canine clinical model of SCI. The CANSORT-SCI group held an inaugural meeting November 20 and 21, 2015 to evaluate opportunities and challenges to the use of pet dogs in SCI research. Key challenges identified included lack of familiarity with the model among nonveterinary scientists and questions about how and where in the translational process the canine clinical model would be most valuable. In light of these, we review the natural history, outcome, and available assessment tools associated with canine clinical SCI with emphasis on their relevance to human SCI and the translational process.

High Prevalence of Stress and Low Prevalence of Alzheimer Disease CSF Biomarkers in a Clinical Sample with Subjective Cognitive Impairment.

PubMed

Eckerström, Marie; Berg, Anne Ingeborg; Nordlund, Arto; Rolstad, Sindre; Sacuiu, Simona; Wallin, Anders

2016-01-01

Subjective cognitive impairment (SCI) is a trigger for seeking health care in a possible preclinical phase of Alzheimer's disease (AD), although the characteristics of SCI need clarification. We investigated the prevalence of psychosocial stress, depressive symptoms and CSF AD biomarkers in SCI and MCI (mild cognitive impairment). Memory clinic patients (SCI: n = 90; age: 59.8 ± 7.6 years; MCI: n = 160; age: 63.7 ± 7.0 years) included in the Gothenburg MCI study were examined at baseline. Variables were analyzed using logistic regression with SCI as dependent variable. Stress was more prevalent in SCI (51.1%) than MCI (23.1%); p < 0.0005. SCI patients had more previous depressive symptoms (p = 0.006), but showed no difference compared to MCI patients considering current depressive symptoms. A positive CSF AD profile was present in 14.4% of SCI patients and 35.0% of MCI patients (p = 0.001). Stress (p = 0.002), previous stress/depressive symptoms (p = 0.006) and a negative CSF AD profile (p = 0.036) predicted allocation to the SCI group. Psychosocial stress is more prevalent in SCI than previously acknowledged. The high prevalence and long-term occurrence of stress/depressive symptoms in SCI in combination with a low prevalence of altered CSF AD biomarkers strengthens the notion that AD is not the most likely etiology of SCI. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

The Interaction between Knowledge and Practice in the Acquisition of Cognitive Skills

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-06-01

by interpreting (in the computer sci- ence sense) the declarative knowledge. During interpretation, new pro- duction rules are constructed which...83224 Toe Uww...y P Jr.o. L J2mx AOrd." ANO 2X Dr. Lado " 0. P.Wm SoodlAd CDR fl.* C. P".1. 3~. , d...ooo. .sd UNrTID KINODOM mN1w o vd.els".a Trosmpeoosmw

SOFIA Science Imagery

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-09-14

SCI2016_0001: SOFIA/GREAT [O I] spectrum at 4.7 THz (63 μm) superimposed on a picture of Mars. Absorption line depth is approximately 10% of the continuum. The abundance of atomic oxygen computed from the data is less than expected from the Forget et al. 1999 global circulation & photochemical model. Credit: SOFIA/GREAT spectrum: NASA/DLR/USRA/DSI/MPIfR/GREAT Consortium/MPIfS/Rezac et al. 2015; Mars image: NASA

Design of a lens table for a double toroidal electron spectrometer

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

Liu Xiaojng; Nicolas, Christophe; Miron, Catalin

2013-03-15

We report here on the method we developed to build a lens table for a four-element electrostatic transfer lens operated together with a double toroidal electron energy analyzer designed by one of us, and whose original design and further improvements are described in detail in Miron et al. [Rev. Sci. Instrum. 68, 3728 (1997)] and Le Guen et al. [Rev. Sci. Instrum. 73, 3885 (2002)]. Both computer simulations and laboratory instrument tuning were performed in order to build this lens table. The obtained result was tested for a broad range of electron kinetic energies and analyzer pass energies. Based onmore » this new lens table, allowing to easily computer control the spectrometer working conditions, we could routinely achieve an electron energy resolution ranging between 0.6% and 0.8% of the analyzer pass energy, while the electron count rate was also significantly improved. The establishment of such a lens table is of high importance to relieve experimentalists from the tedious laboring of the lens optimization, which was previously necessary prior to any measurement. The described method can be adapted to any type of electron/ion energy analyzer, and will thus be interesting for all experimentalists who own, or plan to build or improve their charged particle energy analyzers.« less

Relief of neuropathic pain after spinal cord injury by brain-computer interface training.

PubMed

Yoshida, Naoki; Hashimoto, Yasunari; Shikota, Mio; Ota, Tetsuo

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to report the effects of brain-computer interface (BCI) training, a neurofeedback rehabilitation technique, on persistent neuropathic pain (NP) after cervical spinal cord injury (SCI). We present the case of a 71-year-old woman with NP in her left upper extremity after SCI (C8). She underwent BCI training as outpatient rehabilitation for 4 months to enhance event-related desynchronization (ERD), which is triggered by the patient's motor intuition. Scalp electroencephalography was recorded to observe the ERD during every BCI training session. The patient's pain was evaluated with the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) and a visual analog scale (VAS). The MPQ was performed after every BCI training session, and the patient assessed the VAS score on her own, once every few days during the BCI training period. After the BCI training started, the patient's ERD during the BCI training period increased significantly, from 15.6-30.3%. Moreover, her VAS score decreased gradually, from 8 to 5, after the BCI training started, although the MPQ did not change significantly. BCI training has the potential to provide relief for patients with persistent NP via brain plasticity, and to improve their activities of daily living and quality of life.

Use, knowledge, and perception of the scientific contribution of Sci-Hub in medical students: Study in six countries in Latin America.

PubMed

Mejia, Christian R; Valladares-Garrido, Mario J; Miñan-Tapia, Armando; Serrano, Felipe T; Tobler-Gómez, Liz E; Pereda-Castro, William; Mendoza-Flores, Cynthia R; Mundaca-Manay, Maria Y; Valladares-Garrido, Danai

2017-01-01

Sci-Hub is a useful web portal for people working in science as it provides access to millions of free scientific articles. Satisfaction and usage should be explored in the Latino student population. The objective of this study was to evaluate the use, knowledge, and perception of the scientific contribution of Sci-Hub in medical students from Latin America. A multicenter, observational, analytical study was conducted in 6632 medical students from 6 countries in Latin America. We surveyed from a previously validated instrument, delving into knowledge, monthly average usage, satisfaction level, and perception of the scientific contributions provided by Sci-Hub. Frequencies and percentages are described, and generalized linear models were used to establish statistical associations. Only 19.2% of study participants knew of Sci-Hub and its function, while the median use was twice a month. 29.9% of Sci-Hub-aware participants claimed they always find the desired scientific information in their Sci-Hub search; 62.5% of participants affirmed that Sci-Hub contributes to scientific investigation; only 2.2% reported that Sci-Hub does not contribute to science. The majority of Latino students are not aware of Sci-Hub.

Computation of Quasiperiodic Normally Hyperbolic Invariant Tori: Rigorous Results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Canadell, Marta; Haro, Àlex

2017-12-01

The development of efficient methods for detecting quasiperiodic oscillations and computing the corresponding invariant tori is a subject of great importance in dynamical systems and their applications in science and engineering. In this paper, we prove the convergence of a new Newton-like method for computing quasiperiodic normally hyperbolic invariant tori carrying quasiperiodic motion in smooth families of real-analytic dynamical systems. The main result is stated as an a posteriori KAM-like theorem that allows controlling the inner dynamics on the torus with appropriate detuning parameters, in order to obtain a prescribed quasiperiodic motion. The Newton-like method leads to several fast and efficient computational algorithms, which are discussed and tested in a companion paper (Canadell and Haro in J Nonlinear Sci, 2017. doi: 10.1007/s00332-017-9388-z), in which new mechanisms of breakdown are presented.

The Anomalous Magnetic Moment of the Muon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hughes, Vernon W.; Sichtermann, Ernst P.

2002-12-01

A precise measurement of the anomalous g value, a = (g - 2)/2, for the positive muon has been made at the Brookhaven Alternating Gradient Synchrotron. The result aμ+ = 11 659 202(14)(6) × 10-10 (1.3 ppm) is in good agreement with previous measurements and has an error one third that of the combined previous data. The measurement tests standard theory and has the potential to discover new physics. The analysis of data collected in 2000 and 2001 is well underway and, when combined with data from a requested and final run in the fall of 2002 and winter of 2003, are expected to reduce the experimental uncertainty on aμ to 0.4 ppm.

Recommendations for the National Institute for Neurologic Disorders and Stroke spinal cord injury common data elements for children and youth with SCI.

PubMed

Mulcahey, M J; Vogel, L C; Sheikh, M; Arango-Lasprilla, J C; Augutis, M; Garner, E; Hagen, E M; Jakeman, L B; Kelly, E; Martin, R; Odenkirchen, J; Scheel-Sailer, A; Schottler, J; Taylor, H; Thielen, C C; Zebracki, K

2017-04-01

In 2014, the adult spinal cord injury (SCI) common data element (CDE) recommendations were made available. This project was a review of the adult SCI CDE for relevance to children and youth with SCI. The objective of this study was to review the National Institute of Neurologic Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) adult SCI CDEs for relevance to children and youth with SCI. International. The pediatric working group consisted of international members with varied fields of expertise related to pediatric SCI. The group convened biweekly meetings for 6 months in 2015. All of the adult SCI CDEs were reviewed, evaluated and modified/created for four age groups: 0-5 years, 6-12 years, 13-15 years and 16-18 years. Whenever possible, results of published research studies were used to guide recommendations. In the absence of empirical support, grey literature and international content expert consensus were garnered. Existing pediatric NINDS CDEs and new CDEs were developed in areas where adult recommendations were not appropriate. After internal working group review of domain recommendations, these pediatric CDEs were vetted during a public review from November through December 2015. Version 1.0 of the pediatric SCI CDEs was posted in February 2016. The pediatric SCI CDEs are incorporated directly into the NINDS SCI CDE sets and can be found at https://commondataelements.ninds.nih.gov.

Spinal cord injury below-level neuropathic pain relief with dorsal root entry zone microcoagulation performed caudal to level of complete spinal cord transection.

PubMed

Falci, Scott; Indeck, Charlotte; Barnkow, Dave

2018-06-01

OBJECTIVE Surgically created lesions of the spinal cord dorsal root entry zone (DREZ) to relieve central pain after spinal cord injury (SCI) have historically been performed at and cephalad to, but not below, the level of SCI. This study was initiated to investigate the validity of 3 proposed concepts regarding the DREZ in SCI central pain: 1) The spinal cord DREZ caudal to the level of SCI can be a primary generator of SCI below-level central pain. 2) Neuronal transmission from a DREZ that generates SCI below-level central pain to brain pain centers can be primarily through sympathetic nervous system (SNS) pathways. 3) Perceived SCI below-level central pain follows a unique somatotopic map of DREZ pain-generators. METHODS Three unique patients with both intractable SCI below-level central pain and complete spinal cord transection at the level of SCI were identified. All 3 patients had previously undergone surgical intervention to their spinal cords-only cephalad to the level of spinal cord transection-with either DREZ microcoagulation or cyst shunting, in failed attempts to relieve their SCI below-level central pain. Subsequent to these surgeries, DREZ lesioning of the spinal cord solely caudal to the level of complete spinal cord transection was performed using electrical intramedullary guidance. The follow-up period ranged from 1 1/2 to 11 years. RESULTS All 3 patients in this study had complete or near-complete relief of all below-level neuropathic pain. The analyzed electrical data confirmed and enhanced a previously proposed somatotopic map of SCI below-level DREZ pain generators. CONCLUSIONS The results of this study support the following hypotheses. 1) The spinal cord DREZ caudal to the level of SCI can be a primary generator of SCI below-level central pain. 2) Neuronal transmission from a DREZ that generates SCI below-level central pain to brain pain centers can be primarily through SNS pathways. 3) Perceived SCI below-level central pain follows a unique somatotopic map of DREZ pain generators.

Not just quantity: gluteus maximus muscle characteristics in able-bodied and SCI individuals--implications for tissue viability.

PubMed

Wu, Gary A; Bogie, Kath M

2013-08-01

Some individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) remain pressure ulcer (PU) free whilst others experience a recurring cycle of tissue breakdown. Detailed analysis of gluteal muscle characteristics may provide insights to local tissue viability variability. The study hypothesis was that SCI individuals have altered muscle composition compared to able-bodied (AB). Ten AB and ten SCI received a supine pelvic CT scan, with contrast. Cross-sectional area (CSA) and overall muscle volume were derived using image analysis. Gluteal muscle tissue type was classified at the S2/S3 sacral vertebrae midpoint, the superior greater trochanters margin (GT) and the inferior ischial tuberosities margin (IT) using the linear transformation Hounsfield Unit scale. SCI gluteal CSA was less than for AB throughout the muscle, with the greatest relative atrophy at the IT (48%). Average AB gluteal volume was nearly double SCI. Eight SCI had over 20% infiltrative adipose tissue, three with over 50%. SCI gluteal CSA and intramuscular fat infiltration were significantly negatively correlated (p < 0.05). SCI IT axial slices showed less lean muscle and higher intramuscular fat infiltration than more proximally (p < 0.05). SCI gluteal muscle characteristics were indicative of impaired tissue viability. SCI disuse muscle atrophy was anticipated; the analytic approach further indicated that intramuscular atrophy was not uniform. SCI muscle composition showed increased proportions of both low density muscle and adipose tissue. CT scan with contrast is effective for gluteal muscle characterization. This assessment technique may contribute to determination of personalized risk for PU development and other secondary complications. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Targeting Translational Successes through CANSORT-SCI: Using Pet Dogs To Identify Effective Treatments for Spinal Cord Injury

PubMed Central

Granger, Nicolas; Olby, Natasha J.; Spitzbarth, Ingo; Jeffery, Nick D.; Tipold, Andrea; Nout-Lomas, Yvette S.; da Costa, Ronaldo C.; Stein, Veronika M.; Noble-Haeusslein, Linda J.; Blight, Andrew R.; Grossman, Robert G.; Basso, D. Michele; Levine, Jonathan M.

2017-01-01

Abstract Translation of therapeutic interventions for spinal cord injury (SCI) from laboratory to clinic has been historically challenging, highlighting the need for robust models of injury that more closely mirror the human condition. The high prevalence of acute, naturally occurring SCI in pet dogs provides a unique opportunity to evaluate expeditiously promising interventions in a population of animals that receive diagnoses and treatment clinically in a manner similar to persons with SCI, while adhering to National Institutes of Health guidelines for scientific rigor and transparent reporting. In addition, pet dogs with chronic paralysis are often maintained long-term by their owners, offering a similarly unique population for study of chronic SCI. Despite this, only a small number of studies have used the clinical dog model of SCI. The Canine Spinal Cord Injury Consortium (CANSORT-SCI) was recently established by a group of veterinarians and basic science researchers to promote the value of the canine clinical model of SCI. The CANSORT-SCI group held an inaugural meeting November 20 and 21, 2015 to evaluate opportunities and challenges to the use of pet dogs in SCI research. Key challenges identified included lack of familiarity with the model among nonveterinary scientists and questions about how and where in the translational process the canine clinical model would be most valuable. In light of these, we review the natural history, outcome, and available assessment tools associated with canine clinical SCI with emphasis on their relevance to human SCI and the translational process. PMID:28230415

Spinal-Cord-Injured Individual's Experiences of Having a Partner: A Phenomenological-Hermeneutic Study.

PubMed

Angel, Sanne

2015-06-01

Having a partner is a strong factor in adaptation to the new life situation with a spinal cord injury (SCI). Still, more knowledge in detail about the partner's influences according to the experiences of individuals with SCI could contribute to the understanding of the situation after an injury. The aim of this phenomenological-hermeneutic article is to achieve a deeper understanding of nine individuals' experiences the first 2 years after SCI. In rehabilitation after SCI, the partner supported the SCI individual's life spirit by not giving up and by still seeing possibilities in the future. The partner reinforced the SCI individual's commitment to life by sharing experiences; providing love, trust, and hope; and giving priority to the best things in life for the SCI individual. This implied cohabitation providing concrete help and an intimacy that helped to cope with problems and anxieties and allowed SCI individuals the ability to self-realize. This promoted feelings of profound gratitude but also dependency. Thus, the SCI individual benefitted from the partner's support mentally and physically, which enabled a life that would not otherwise be possible.