Using Participatory Methods and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to Prepare for an HIV Community-Based Trial in Vulindlela, South Africa (Project Accept-HPTN 043)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chirowodza, Admire; van Rooyen, Heidi; Joseph, Philip; Sikotoyi, Sindisiwe; Richter, Linda; Coates, Thomas

2009-01-01

Recent attempts to integrate geographic information systems (GIS) and participatory techniques, have given rise to terminologies such as "participatory GIS" and "community-integrated GIS". Although GIS was initially developed for physical geographic application, it can be used for the management and analysis of health and…

Assessment of safety and efficacy of lamotrigine over the course of 1-year observation in Japanese patients with bipolar disorder: post-marketing surveillance study report

PubMed Central

Terao, Takeshi; Ishida, Atsuko; Kimura, Toshifumi; Yoshida, Mitsuhiro; Hara, Terufumi

2017-01-01

Background A post-marketing surveillance (PMS) study was conducted with a 1-year observation period to assess the safety and efficacy of lamotrigine in routine clinical practice in patients with bipolar disorder (BD). Patients and methods Central enrollment method was used to recruit patients diagnosed with BD who were being treated for the first time with lamotrigine to prevent the recurrence/relapse of BD mood episodes. Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and recurrence/relapse were assessed. Improvement of mania and depression was also assessed using the Hamilton’s Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D) and the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) at treatment initiation, 4–6 months post treatment initiation, and 10–12 months post treatment initiation. Results A total of 237/989 patients (24.0%) reported ADRs, most commonly rash (9.1%), and the incidence of serious ADRs was 3.3% (33/989 patients). Skin disorders occurred in 130 patients (13.1%), mostly within 8 weeks post treatment. A total of 237/703 patients (33.7%) experienced recurrence/relapse of mood episodes. The 25th percentile of the time to recurrence/relapse of mood episodes was 105 days. Remission of depression symptoms (HAM-D ≤7) occurred in 147/697 patients (21.1%) at treatment initiation, rising to 361 patients (67.4%) at 10–12 months post treatment. Remission of manic symptoms (YMRS ≤13) occurred in 615/676 patients (91.0%) at treatment initiation, rising to 500 patients (97.3%) at 10–12 months post treatment. Conclusion The results of this PMS study suggest that lamotrigine is a well-tolerated and effective drug for preventing recurrence/relapse of BD in clinical practice. PMID:28652744

The association of maternal factors with delayed implantation and the initial rise of urinary human chorionic gonadotrophin

PubMed Central

Jukic, A.M.Z.; Weinberg, C.R.; Baird, D.D.; Wilcox, A.J.

2011-01-01

BACKGROUND Late implantation and the pattern of early rise in hCG have been associated with early pregnancy loss. We explored factors that might be predictive of these markers of poor embryonic health in spontaneously conceived pregnancies. METHODS Participants in the North Carolina Early Pregnancy Study collected daily first-morning urine specimens while attempting to conceive. Samples were assayed for estrogen and progesterone metabolites (to identify day of ovulation) and hCG (to detect conception). Data were available for 190 pregnancies, 48 of which ended in early loss (within 6 weeks of the last menstrual period). We used logistic regression to identify characteristics associated with late implantation (≥10 days post-ovulation). For pregnancies surviving at least 6 weeks (n= 142), we used linear mixed models to identify factors associated with variations in hCG rise in the first 7 days from detection. RESULTS Later implantation was associated with current maternal smoking [odds ratio (OR): 5.7; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.1–30] and with oocytes that were likely to have been fertilized late in their post-ovulatory lifespan (OR: 5.1; CI: 1.9–16). Older women had a faster rise in hCG (P= 0.01), as did women who had relatively late menarche (P for trend = 0.02). Women exposed in utero to diethylstilbestrol showed an unusual pattern of slow initial hCG rise followed by a fast increase, a pattern significantly different from that of unexposed women (P= 0.002). CONCLUSIONS Although limited by small numbers and infrequent exposures, our analyses suggest that a woman's exposures both early in life and at the time of pregnancy may influence early development of the conceptus. PMID:21292636

Research on particulate filter simulation and regeneration control strategy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dawei, Qu; Jun, Li; Yu, Liu

2017-03-01

This paper reports a DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter) collection mathematical model for a new regeneration control strategy. The new strategy is composed by main parts, such as regeneration time capturing, temperature rising strategy and regeneration control strategy. In the part of regeneration time capturing, a multi-level regeneration capturing method is put forward based on the combined effect of the PM (Particulate Matter) loading, pressure drop and fuel consumption. The temperature rising strategy proposes the global temperature for all operating conditions. The regeneration control process considers the particle loading density, temperature and oxygen respectively. Based on the analysis of the initial overheating, runaway temperature and local hot spot, the final control strategy is established.

Sea-Level Projections from the SeaRISE Initiative

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nowicki, Sophie; Bindschadler, Robert

2011-01-01

SeaRISE (Sea-level Response to Ice Sheet Evolution) is a community organized modeling effort, whose goal is to inform the fifth IPCC of the potential sea-level contribution from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets in the 21st and 22nd century. SeaRISE seeks to determine the most likely ice sheet response to imposed climatic forcing by initializing an ensemble of models with common datasets and applying the same forcing to each model. Sensitivity experiments were designed to quantify the sea-level rise associated with a change in: 1) surface mass balance, 2) basal lubrication, and 3) ocean induced basal melt. The range of responses, resulting from the multi-model approach, is interpreted as a proxy of uncertainty in our sea-level projections. http://websrv.cs .umt.edu/isis/index.php/SeaRISE_Assessment.

Review of methods for measuring β-cell function: Design considerations from the Restoring Insulin Secretion (RISE) Consortium.

PubMed

Hannon, Tamara S; Kahn, Steven E; Utzschneider, Kristina M; Buchanan, Thomas A; Nadeau, Kristen J; Zeitler, Philip S; Ehrmann, David A; Arslanian, Silva A; Caprio, Sonia; Edelstein, Sharon L; Savage, Peter J; Mather, Kieren J

2018-01-01

The Restoring Insulin Secretion (RISE) study was initiated to evaluate interventions to slow or reverse the progression of β-cell failure in type 2 diabetes (T2D). To design the RISE study, we undertook an evaluation of methods for measurement of β-cell function and changes in β-cell function in response to interventions. In the present paper, we review approaches for measurement of β-cell function, focusing on methodologic and feasibility considerations. Methodologic considerations included: (1) the utility of each technique for evaluating key aspects of β-cell function (first- and second-phase insulin secretion, maximum insulin secretion, glucose sensitivity, incretin effects) and (2) tactics for incorporating a measurement of insulin sensitivity in order to adjust insulin secretion measures for insulin sensitivity appropriately. Of particular concern were the capacity to measure β-cell function accurately in those with poor function, as is seen in established T2D, and the capacity of each method for demonstrating treatment-induced changes in β-cell function. Feasibility considerations included: staff burden, including time and required methodological expertise; participant burden, including time and number of study visits; and ease of standardizing methods across a multicentre consortium. After this evaluation, we selected a 2-day measurement procedure, combining a 3-hour 75-g oral glucose tolerance test and a 2-stage hyperglycaemic clamp procedure, augmented with arginine. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Learning from Rising Sixth Grade Readers: How Nooks Shaped Students' Reading Behaviors during a Summer Independent Reading Initiative

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mitchell, Chrystine Cooper

2016-01-01

Researchers have documented a "summer reading setback" where an achievement gap between proficient and struggling readers expands during the summer. This research focuses on 20 rising sixth graders who participated in a summer independent reading initiative using Nook digital readers. Using a qualitative exploratory design and content…

Decision-making Processes among Prostate Cancer Survivors with Rising PSA Levels: Results from a Qualitative Analysis.

PubMed

Shen, Megan Johnson; Nelson, Christian J; Peters, Ellen; Slovin, Susan F; Hall, Simon J; Hall, Matt; Herrera, Phapichaya Chaoprang; Leventhal, Elaine A; Leventhal, Howard; Diefenbach, Michael A

2015-05-01

Prostate cancer survivors with a rising prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level have few treatment options, experience a heightened state of uncertainty about their disease trajectory that might include the possibility of cancer metastasis and death, and often experience elevated levels of distress as they have to deal with a disease they thought they had conquered. Guided by self-regulation theory, the present study examined the cognitive and affective processes involved in shared decision making between physicians and patients who experience a rising PSA after definitive treatment for prostate cancer. In-depth interviews were conducted with 34 prostate cancer survivors who had been diagnosed with a rising PSA (i.e., biochemical failure) within the past 12 months. Survivors were asked about their experiences and affective responses after being diagnosed with a rising PSA and while weighing potential treatment options. In addition, patients were asked about their decision-making process for the initial prostate cancer treatment. Compared with the initial diagnosis, survivors with a rising PSA reported increased negative affect following their diagnosis, concern about the treatability of their disease, increased planning and health behavior change, heightened levels of worry preceding doctor appointments (especially prior to the discussion of PSA testing results), and a strong reliance on physicians' treatment recommendations. Prostate cancer survivors' decision-making processes for the treatment of a rising PSA are markedly different from those of the initial diagnosis of prostate cancer. Because patients experience heightened distress and rely more heavily on their physicians' recommendations with a rising PSA, interactions with the health care provider provide an excellent opportunity to address and assist patients with managing the uncertainty and distress inherent with rising PSA levels. © The Author(s) 2014.

Wideband dichroic-filter design for LED-phosphor beam-combining

DOEpatents

Falicoff, Waqidi

2010-12-28

A general method is disclosed of designing two-component dichroic short-pass filters operable for incidence angle distributions over the 0-30.degree. range, and specific preferred embodiments are listed. The method is based on computer optimization algorithms for an N-layer design, specifically the N-dimensional conjugate-gradient minimization of a merit function based on difference from a target transmission spectrum, as well as subsequent cycles of needle synthesis for increasing N. A key feature of the method is the initial filter design, upon which the algorithm proceeds to iterate successive design candidates with smaller merit functions. This initial design, with high-index material H and low-index L, is (0.75 H, 0.5 L, 0.75 H)^m, denoting m (20-30) repetitions of a three-layer motif, giving rise to a filter with N=2 m+1.

Application of a temperature-dependent fluorescent dye (Rhodamine B) to the measurement of radiofrequency radiation-induced temperature changes in biological samples.

PubMed

Chen, Yuen Y; Wood, Andrew W

2009-10-01

We have applied a non-contact method for studying the temperature changes produced by radiofrequency (RF) radiation specifically to small biological samples. A temperature-dependent fluorescent dye, Rhodamine B, as imaged by laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) was used to do this. The results were calibrated against real-time temperature measurements from fiber optic probes, with a calibration factor of 3.4% intensity change degrees C(-1) and a reproducibility of +/-6%. This non-contact method provided two-dimensional and three-dimensional images of temperature change and distributions in biological samples, at a spatial resolution of a few micrometers and with an estimated absolute precision of around 1.5 degrees C, with a differential precision of 0.4 degree C. Temperature rise within tissue was found to be non-uniform. Estimates of specific absorption rate (SAR) from absorbed power measurements were greater than those estimated from rate of temperature rise, measured at 1 min intervals, probably because this interval is too long to permit accurate estimation of initial temperature rise following start of RF exposure. Future experiments will aim to explore this.

Formation of costs of high-rise objects of housing and civil purpose based on enlarged norms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vorotyntseva, Anna; Ovsiannikov, Andrei; Bolgov, Vladimir

2018-03-01

When determining the cost of capital construction objects, for purposes of pre-design workings out and purposes of initial maximum initial price determination on tenders, construction price norms are used (CPNs). Modern CPNs are not designed to determine the value of high-rise buildings. It is necessary to adapt modern CPNs to get opportunity for the possibility to take into account special cost factors in determining the cost of high-rise buildings. The main ways can be: selection of new representative objects or application of additional correction factors.

The effect of rising vs. falling glucose level on amperometric glucose sensor lag and accuracy in Type 1 diabetes.

PubMed

Ward, W K; Engle, J M; Branigan, D; El Youssef, J; Massoud, R G; Castle, J R

2012-08-01

Because declining glucose levels should be detected quickly in persons with Type 1 diabetes, a lag between blood glucose and subcutaneous sensor glucose can be problematic. It is unclear whether the magnitude of sensor lag is lower during falling glucose than during rising glucose. Initially, we analysed 95 data segments during which glucose changed and during which very frequent reference blood glucose monitoring was performed. However, to minimize confounding effects of noise and calibration error, we excluded data segments in which there was substantial sensor error. After these exclusions, and combination of data from duplicate sensors, there were 72 analysable data segments (36 for rising glucose, 36 for falling). We measured lag in two ways: (1) the time delay at the vertical mid-point of the glucose change (regression delay); and (2) determination of the optimal time shift required to minimize the difference between glucose sensor signals and blood glucose values drawn concurrently. Using the regression delay method, the mean sensor lag for rising vs. falling glucose segments was 8.9 min (95%CI 6.1-11.6) vs. 1.5 min (95%CI -2.6 to 5.5, P<0.005). Using the time shift optimization method, results were similar, with a lag that was higher for rising than for falling segments [8.3 (95%CI 5.8-10.7) vs. 1.5 min (95% CI -2.2 to 5.2), P<0.001]. Commensurate with the lag results, sensor accuracy was greater during falling than during rising glucose segments. In Type 1 diabetes, when noise and calibration error are minimized to reduce effects that confound delay measurement, subcutaneous glucose sensors demonstrate a shorter lag duration and greater accuracy when glucose is falling than when rising. © 2011 The Authors. Diabetic Medicine © 2011 Diabetes UK.

Experimental evaluation of rigor mortis. VIII. Estimation of time since death by repeated measurements of the intensity of rigor mortis on rats.

PubMed

Krompecher, T

1994-10-21

The development of the intensity of rigor mortis was monitored in nine groups of rats. The measurements were initiated after 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 12, 15, 24, and 48 h post mortem (p.m.) and lasted 5-9 h, which ideally should correspond to the usual procedure after the discovery of a corpse. The experiments were carried out at an ambient temperature of 24 degrees C. Measurements initiated early after death resulted in curves with a rising portion, a plateau, and a descending slope. Delaying the initial measurement translated into shorter rising portions, and curves initiated 8 h p.m. or later are comprised of a plateau and/or a downward slope only. Three different phases were observed suggesting simple rules that can help estimate the time since death: (1) if an increase in intensity was found, the initial measurements were conducted not later than 5 h p.m.; (2) if only a decrease in intensity was observed, the initial measurements were conducted not earlier than 7 h p.m.; and (3) at 24 h p.m., the resolution is complete, and no further changes in intensity should occur. Our results clearly demonstrate that repeated measurements of the intensity of rigor mortis allow a more accurate estimation of the time since death of the experimental animals than the single measurement method used earlier. A critical review of the literature on the estimation of time since death on the basis of objective measurements of the intensity of rigor mortis is also presented.

Global thermal analysis of air-air cooled motor based on thermal network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Tian; Leng, Xue; Shen, Li; Liu, Haidong

2018-02-01

The air-air cooled motors with high efficiency, large starting torque, strong overload capacity, low noise, small vibration and other characteristics, are widely used in different department of national industry, but its cooling structure is complex, it requires the motor thermal management technology should be high. The thermal network method is a common method to calculate the temperature field of the motor, it has the advantages of small computation time and short time consuming, it can save a lot of time in the initial design phase of the motor. The domain analysis of air-air cooled motor and its cooler was based on thermal network method, the combined thermal network model was based, the main components of motor internal and external cooler temperature were calculated and analyzed, and the temperature rise test results were compared to verify the correctness of the combined thermal network model, the calculation method can satisfy the need of engineering design, and provide a reference for the initial and optimum design of the motor.

Strength resistance of reinforced concrete elements of high-rise buildings under dynamic loads

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berlinov, Mikhail

2018-03-01

A new method for calculating reinforced concrete constructions of high-rise buildings under dynamic loads from wind, seismic, transport and equipment based on the initial assumptions of the modern phenomenological theory of a nonlinearly deformable elastic-creeping body is proposed. In the article examined the influence of reinforcement on the work of concrete in the conditions of triaxial stress-strain state, based on the compatibility of the deformation of concrete and reinforcement. Mathematical phenomenological equations have been obtained that make it possible to calculate the reinforced concrete elements working without and with cracks. A method for linearizing of these equations based on integral estimates is proposed, which provides the fixation of the vibro-creep processes in the considered period of time. Application of such a technique using the finite-difference method, step method and successive approximations will allow to find a numerical solution of the problem. Such an approach in the design of reinforced concrete constructions will allow not only more fully to take into account the real conditions of their work, revealing additional reserves of load capacity, but also to open additional opportunities for analysis and forecasting their functioning at various stages of operation.

The impact of a general practice group intervention on prescribing costs and patterns.

PubMed Central

Walker, Jane; Mathers, Nigel

2002-01-01

BACKGROUND: The formation of primary care groups (PCGs) and trusts (PCTs) has shifted the emphasis from individual practice initiatives to group-based efforts to control rising prescribing costs. However, there is a paucity of literature describing such group initiatives. We report the results of a multilevel group initiative, involving input from a pharmaceutical adviser, practice comparison feedback, and peer review meetings. AIM: To determine the impact of a prescribing initiative on the prescribing patterns of a group of general practices. DESIGN OF STUDY: A comparative study with non-matched controls. SETTING: Nine semi-rural/rural practices forming a commissioning group pilot, later a PCG, in Southern Derbyshire with nine practices as controls. METHOD: Practice data were collated for overall prescribing and for therapeutic categories, between the years 1997/1998 and 1998/1999 and analysed statistically. Prescribing expenditure trends were also collated. RESULTS: Although both groups came well within their prescribing budgets, in the study group this was for the first time in five years. Their rate of increase in expenditure slowed significantly following the initiative compared with that of the comparison group, which continued to rise (median practice net ingredient cost/patient unit (nic/PU) increase: Pound Sterling0.69 and Pound Sterling3.80 respectively; P = 0.03). The study group's nic/PU dropped below, and stayed below, that of the comparison group one month after the start of the initiative. For most therapeutic categories the study group had lower increases in costs and higher increases in percentage of generic items than the comparison group. Quality markers were unaffected. CONCLUSION: We suggest that practices with diverse prescribing patterns can work together effectively within a PCT locality to control prescribing costs. PMID:12030659

46 CFR 164.008-4 - Test requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... thermocouples on the unexposed surface described in § 164.008-3(f)(2) will not rise more than 139 °C. (250 °F..., rise more than 225 °C. (405 °F.) above the initial temperature at the end of 15 minutes. When failure is due to excessive temperature rise on the joint, consideration will be given to alternate joint...

46 CFR 164.008-4 - Test requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... thermocouples on the unexposed surface described in § 164.008-3(f)(2) will not rise more than 139 °C. (250 °F..., rise more than 225 °C. (405 °F.) above the initial temperature at the end of 15 minutes. When failure is due to excessive temperature rise on the joint, consideration will be given to alternate joint...

Cinetica de oxidacion de polimeros conductores: poli-3,4- etilendioxitiofeno

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caballero Romero, Maria

Films of poly-3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (PEDOT) perchlorate used as electrodes in liquid electrolytes incorporate anions and solvent during oxidation for charge and osmotic balance: the film swells. During reduction the film shrinks, closes its structure trapping counterions getting then rising conformational packed states by expulsion of counterions and solvent. Here by potential step from the same reduced initial state to the same oxidized final state the rate coefficient, the activation energy and reaction orders related to the counterion concentration in solution and to the concentration of active centers in the polymer film, were attained following the usual methodology used for chemical and electrochemical kinetics. Now the full methodology was repeated using different reduced-shrunk or reduced-conformational compacted initial states every time. Those initial states were attained by reduction of the oxidized film at rising cathodic potentials for the same reduction time each. Rising reduced and conformational compacted states give slower subsequent oxidation rates by potential step to the same anodic potential every time. The activation energy, the reaction coefficient and reaction orders change for rising conformational compacted initial states. Decreasing rate constants and increasing activation energies are obtained for the PEDOT oxidation from increasing conformational compacted initial states. The experimental activation energy presents two linear ranges as a function of the initial reduced-compacted state. Using as initial states for the oxidation open structures attained by reduction at low cathodic potentials, activation energies attained were constant: namely the chemical activation energy. Using as initial states for the oxidation deeper reduced, closed and packed conformational structures, the activation energy includes two components: the constant chemical energy plus the conformational energy required to relax the conformational structure generating free volume which allows the entrance of the balancing counterions required for the reaction. The conformational energy increases linearly as a function of the reduction-compaction potential. The kinetic magnitudes include conformational and structural information. The Chemical Kinetics becomes Structural (or conformational) Chemical Kinetics.

Kelvin probe microscopic visualization of charge storage at polystyrene interfaces with pentacene and gold

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dawidczyk, T. J.; Johns, G. L.; Ozgun, R.; Alley, O.; Andreou, A. G.; Markovic, N.; Katz, H. E.

2012-02-01

Charge carriers trapped in polystyrene (PS) were investigated with Kelvin probe microscopy (KPM) and thermally stimulated discharge current (TSDC). Lateral heterojunctions of pentacene/PS were scanned using KPM, effectively observing polarization along a side view of a lateral nonvolatile organic field-effect transistor dielectric interface. TSDC was used to observe charge migration out of PS films and to estimate the trap energy level inside the PS, using the initial rise method.

Dielectric relaxation behaviour of (poly (vinyl formal)) (PVFO) and polyvinylidenefluoride (PVDF) blends

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dawande, Kiran; Patel, Swarnim; Bajpai, Rakesh; Keller, J. M.

2018-05-01

Thermally stimulated discharge currents in PVFO: PVDF blend samples of weight percentage ratio 80:20 and 95:05 prepared by the solution cast technique have been studied as function of polarizing temperature. Three distinct peaks are found at 60±10, 100±10, and 140 ±10 °C respectively. Activation energy values been calculated by initial rise method and it were found to range from 0.22 to 1.0 eV.

Stable plume rise in a shear layer.

PubMed

Overcamp, Thomas J

2007-03-01

Solutions are given for plume rise assuming a power-law wind speed profile in a stably stratified layer for point and finite sources with initial vertical momentum and buoyancy. For a constant wind speed, these solutions simplify to the conventional plume rise equations in a stable atmosphere. In a shear layer, the point of maximum rise occurs further downwind and is slightly lower compared with the plume rise with a constant wind speed equal to the wind speed at the top of the stack. If the predictions with shear are compared with predictions for an equivalent average wind speed over the depth of the plume, the plume rise with shear is higher than plume rise with an equivalent average wind speed.

Study of the water transportation characteristics of marsh saline soil in the Yellow River Delta.

PubMed

He, Fuhong; Pan, Yinghua; Tan, Lili; Zhang, Zhenhua; Li, Peng; Liu, Jia; Ji, Shuxin; Qin, Zhaohua; Shao, Hongbo; Song, Xueyan

2017-01-01

One-dimensional soil column water infiltration and capillary adsorption water tests were conducted in the laboratory to study the water transportation characteristics of marsh saline soil in the Yellow River Delta, providing a theoretical basis for the improvement, utilization and conservation of marsh saline soil. The results indicated the following: (1) For soils with different vegetation covers, the cumulative infiltration capacity increased with the depth of the soil layers. The initial infiltration rate of soils covered by Suaeda and Tamarix chinensis increased with depth of the soil layers, but that of bare soil decreased with soil depth. (2) The initial rate of capillary rise of soils with different vegetation covers showed an increasing trend from the surface toward the deeper layers, but this pattern with respect to soil depth was relatively weak. (3) The initial rates of capillary rise were lower than the initial infiltration rates, but infiltration rate decreased more rapidly than capillary water adsorption rate. (4) The two-parameter Kostiakov model can very well-simulate the changes in the infiltration and capillary rise rates of wetland saline soil. The model simulated the capillary rise rate better than it simulated the infiltration rate. (5) There were strong linear relationships between accumulative infiltration capacity, wetting front, accumulative capillary adsorbed water volume and capillary height. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Prostate specific antigen velocity as a measure of the natural history of prostate cancer: defining a 'rapid riser' subset.

PubMed

Nam, R K; Klotz, L H; Jewett, M A; Danjoux, C; Trachtenberg, J

1998-01-01

To study the rate of change in prostate specific antigen (PSA velocity) in patients with prostate cancer initially managed by 'watchful waiting'. Serial PSA levels were determined in 141 patients with prostate cancer confirmed by biopsy, who were initially managed expectantly and enrolled between May 1990 and December 1995. Sixty-seven patients eventually underwent surgery (mean age 59 years) because they chose it (the decision for surgery was not based on PSA velocity). A cohort of 74 patients remained on 'watchful waiting' (mean age 69 years). Linear regression and logarithmic transformations were used to segregate those patients who showed a rapid rise, defined as a > 50% rise in PSA per year (or a doubling time of < 2 years) and designated 'rapid risers'. An initial analysis based on a minimum of two PSA values showed that 31% were rapid risers. Only 15% of patients with more than three serial PSA determinations over > or = 6 months showed a rapid rise in PSA level. There was no advantage of log-linear analysis over linear regression models. Three serial PSA determinations over > or = 6 months in patients with clinically localized prostate cancer identifies a subset (15%) of patients with a rapidly rising PSA level. Shorter PSA surveillance with fewer PSA values may falsely identify patients with rapid rises in PSA level. However, further follow-up is required to determine if a rapid rise in PSA level identifies a subset of patients with an aggressive biological phenotype who are either still curable or who have already progressed to incurability through metastatic disease.

Paleo-elevation and subsidence of ˜145Ma Shatsky Rise inferred from CO2 and H2O in fresh volcanic glass

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shimizu, Kenji; Shimizu, Nobumichi; Sano, Takashi; Matsubara, Noritaka; Sager, William

2013-12-01

Shatsky Rise, a large Mesozoic oceanic plateau in the northwest Pacific, consists of three massifs (Tamu, Ori, and Shirshov) that formed near a mid-ocean-ridge triple junction. Published depth estimates imply that Shatsky Rise has not subsided normally, like typical oceanic lithosphere. We estimated paleo-eruption depths of Shatsky Rise massifs on the basis of dissolved CO2 and H2O in volcanic glass and descriptions of cores recovered from five sites of Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 324. Initial maximum elevations of Shatsky Rise are estimated to be 2500-3500 m above the surrounding seafloor and the ensuing subsidence of Shatsky Rise is estimated to be 2600-3400 m. We did not observe the anomalously low subsidence that has been reported for both Shatsky Rise and the Ontong Java Plateau. Although we could not resolve whether Shatsky Rise originated from a hot mantle plume or non-plume fusible mantle, uplift and subsidence histories of Shatsky Rise for the both cases are constrained based on the subsidence trend from the center of Tamu Massif (˜2600 m) toward the flank of Ori Massif (˜3400 m). In the case of a hot mantle plume origin, Shatsky Rise may have formed on young (˜5 Ma) pre-existing oceanic crust with a total crustal thickness of ˜20 km. For this scenario, the center of Shatsky Rise is subsequently uplifted by later (prolonged) crustal growth, forming the observed ˜30 km thickness crust. For a non-plume origin, Shatsky Rise may have formed at the spreading ridge center as initially thick crust (˜30 km thickness), with later reduced subsidence caused by the emplacement of a buoyant mass-perhaps a refractory mantle residuum-beneath the center of Shatsky Rise.

Determination of Temperature Rise and Temperature Differentials of CEMII/B-V Cement for 20MPa Mass Concrete using Adiabatic Temperature Rise Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chee Siang, GO

2017-07-01

Experimental test was carried out to determine the temperature rise characteristics of Portland-Fly-Ash Cement (CEM II/B-V, 42.5N) of Blaine fineness 418.6m2/kg and 444.6m2/kg respectively for 20MPa mass concrete under adiabatic condition. The estimation on adiabatic temperature rise by way of CIRIA C660 method (Construction Industry Research & Information Information) was adopted to verify and validate the hot-box test results by simulating the heat generation curve of the concrete under semi-adiabatic condition. Test result found that Portland fly-ash cement has exhibited decrease in the peak value of temperature rise and maximum temperature rise rate. The result showed that the temperature development and distribution profile, which is directly contributed from the heat of hydration of cement with time, is affected by the insulation, initial placing temperature, geometry and size of concrete mass. The mock up data showing the measured temperature differential is significantly lower than the technical specifications 20°C temperature differential requirement and the 27.7°C limiting temperature differential for granite aggregate concrete as stipulated in BS8110-2: 1985. The concrete strength test result revealed that the 28 days cubes compressive strength was above the stipulated 20MPa characteristic strength at 90 days. The test demonstrated that with proper concrete mix design, the use of Portland flyash cement, combination of chilled water and flake ice, and good insulation is effective in reducing peak temperature rise, temperature differential, and lower adiabatic temperature rise for mass concrete pours. As far as the determined adiabatic temperature rise result was concern, the established result could be inferred for in-situ thermal properties of 20MPa mass concrete application, as the result could be repeatable on account of similar type of constituent materials and concrete mix design adopted for permanent works at project site.

Identifying gaps in the continuum of care for cardiovascular disease and diabetes in two communities in South Africa: Baseline findings from the HealthRise project.

PubMed

Wollum, Alexandra; Gabert, Rose; McNellan, Claire R; Daly, Jessica M; Reddy, Priscilla; Bhatt, Paurvi; Bryant, Miranda; Colombara, Danny V; Naidoo, Pamela; Ngongo, Belinda; Nyembezi, Anam; Petersen, Zaino; Phillips, Bryan; Wilson, Shelley; Gakidou, Emmanuela; Duber, Herbert C

2018-01-01

The HealthRise initiative seeks to implement and evaluate innovative community-based strategies for diabetes, hypertension and hypercholesterolemia along the entire continuum of care (CoC)-from awareness and diagnosis, through treatment and control. In this study, we present baseline findings from HealthRise South Africa, identifying gaps in the CoC, as well as key barriers to care for non-communicable diseases (NCDs). This mixed-methods needs assessment utilized national household data, health facility surveys, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews in Umgungundlovu and Pixley ka Seme districts. Risk factor and disease prevalence were estimated from the South Africa National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Health facility surveys were conducted at 86 facilities, focusing on essential intervention, medications and standard treatment guidelines. Quantitative results are presented descriptively, and qualitative data was analyzed using a framework approach. 46.8% of the population in Umgungundlovu and 51.0% in Pixley ka Seme were hypertensive. Diabetes was present in 11.0% and 9.7% of the population in Umgungundlovu and Pixley ka Seme. Hypercholesterolemia was more common in Pixley ka Seme (17.3% vs. 11.1%). Women and those of Indian descent were more likely to have diabetes. More than half of the population was found to be overweight, and binge drinking, inactivity and smoking were all common. More than half of patients with hypertension were unaware of their disease status (51.6% in Pixley ka Seme and 51.3% in Umgungundlovu), while the largest gap in the diabetes CoC occurred between initiation of treatment and achieving disease control. Demand-side barriers included lack of transportation, concerns about confidentiality, perceived discrimination and long wait times. Supply-side barriers included limited availability of testing equipment, inadequate staffing, and pharmaceutical stock outs. In this baseline assessment of two South African health districts we found high rates of undiagnosed hypercholesterolemia and hypertension, and poor control of hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, and diabetes. The HealthRise Initiative will need to address key supply- and demand-side barriers in an effort to improve important NCD outcomes.

Optimal Battery Sizing in Photovoltaic Based Distributed Generation Using Enhanced Opposition-Based Firefly Algorithm for Voltage Rise Mitigation

PubMed Central

Wong, Ling Ai; Shareef, Hussain; Mohamed, Azah; Ibrahim, Ahmad Asrul

2014-01-01

This paper presents the application of enhanced opposition-based firefly algorithm in obtaining the optimal battery energy storage systems (BESS) sizing in photovoltaic generation integrated radial distribution network in order to mitigate the voltage rise problem. Initially, the performance of the original firefly algorithm is enhanced by utilizing the opposition-based learning and introducing inertia weight. After evaluating the performance of the enhanced opposition-based firefly algorithm (EOFA) with fifteen benchmark functions, it is then adopted to determine the optimal size for BESS. Two optimization processes are conducted where the first optimization aims to obtain the optimal battery output power on hourly basis and the second optimization aims to obtain the optimal BESS capacity by considering the state of charge constraint of BESS. The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated by applying the algorithm to the 69-bus distribution system and by comparing the performance of EOFA with conventional firefly algorithm and gravitational search algorithm. Results show that EOFA has the best performance comparatively in terms of mitigating the voltage rise problem. PMID:25054184

Optimal battery sizing in photovoltaic based distributed generation using enhanced opposition-based firefly algorithm for voltage rise mitigation.

PubMed

Wong, Ling Ai; Shareef, Hussain; Mohamed, Azah; Ibrahim, Ahmad Asrul

2014-01-01

This paper presents the application of enhanced opposition-based firefly algorithm in obtaining the optimal battery energy storage systems (BESS) sizing in photovoltaic generation integrated radial distribution network in order to mitigate the voltage rise problem. Initially, the performance of the original firefly algorithm is enhanced by utilizing the opposition-based learning and introducing inertia weight. After evaluating the performance of the enhanced opposition-based firefly algorithm (EOFA) with fifteen benchmark functions, it is then adopted to determine the optimal size for BESS. Two optimization processes are conducted where the first optimization aims to obtain the optimal battery output power on hourly basis and the second optimization aims to obtain the optimal BESS capacity by considering the state of charge constraint of BESS. The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated by applying the algorithm to the 69-bus distribution system and by comparing the performance of EOFA with conventional firefly algorithm and gravitational search algorithm. Results show that EOFA has the best performance comparatively in terms of mitigating the voltage rise problem.

An experimental study on the thermal characteristics and heating effect of arc-fault from Cu core in residential electrical wiring fires

PubMed Central

Du, Jian-Hua; Zeng, Yi; Pan, Leng; Zhang, Ren-Cheng

2017-01-01

The characteristics of a series direct current (DC) arc-fault including both electrical and thermal parameters were investigated based on an arc-fault simulator to provide references for multi-parameter electrical fire detection method. Tests on arc fault behavior with three different initial circuit voltages, resistances and arc gaps were conducted, respectively. The influences of circuit conditions on arc dynamic image, voltage, current or power were interpreted. Also, the temperature rises of electrode surface and ambient air were studied. The results showed that, first, significant variations of arc structure and light emitting were observed under different conditions. A thin outer burning layer of vapor generated from electrodes with orange light was found due to the extremely high arc temperature. Second, with the increasing electrode gap in discharging, the arc power was shown to have a non monotonic relationship with arc length for constant initial circuit voltage and resistance. Finally, the temperature rises of electrode surface caused by heat transfer from arc were found to be not sensitive with increasing arc length due to special heat transfer mechanism. In addition, temperature of ambient air showed a large gradient in radial direction of arc. PMID:28797055

Epitaxial thinning process

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Siegel, C. M. (Inventor)

1984-01-01

A method is described for thinning an epitaxial layer of a wafer that is to be used in producing diodes having a specified breakdown voltage and which also facilitates the thinning process. Current is passed through the epitaxial layer, by connecting a current source between the substrate of the wafer and an electrolyte in which the wafer is immersed. When the wafer is initially immersed, the voltage across the wafer initially drops and then rises at a steep rate. When light is applied to the wafer the voltage drops, and when the light is interrupted the voltage rises again. These changes in voltage, each indicate the breakdown voltage of a Schottky diode that could be prepared from the wafer at that time. The epitaxial layer is thinned by continuing to apply current through the wafer while it is immersed and light is applied, to form an oxide film and when the oxide film is thick the wafer can then be cleaned of oxide and the testing and thinning continued. Uninterrupted thinning can be achieved by first forming an oxide film, and then using an electrolyte that dissolves the oxide about as fast as it is being formed, to limit the thickness of the oxide layer.

An experimental study on the thermal characteristics and heating effect of arc-fault from Cu core in residential electrical wiring fires.

PubMed

Du, Jian-Hua; Tu, Ran; Zeng, Yi; Pan, Leng; Zhang, Ren-Cheng

2017-01-01

The characteristics of a series direct current (DC) arc-fault including both electrical and thermal parameters were investigated based on an arc-fault simulator to provide references for multi-parameter electrical fire detection method. Tests on arc fault behavior with three different initial circuit voltages, resistances and arc gaps were conducted, respectively. The influences of circuit conditions on arc dynamic image, voltage, current or power were interpreted. Also, the temperature rises of electrode surface and ambient air were studied. The results showed that, first, significant variations of arc structure and light emitting were observed under different conditions. A thin outer burning layer of vapor generated from electrodes with orange light was found due to the extremely high arc temperature. Second, with the increasing electrode gap in discharging, the arc power was shown to have a non monotonic relationship with arc length for constant initial circuit voltage and resistance. Finally, the temperature rises of electrode surface caused by heat transfer from arc were found to be not sensitive with increasing arc length due to special heat transfer mechanism. In addition, temperature of ambient air showed a large gradient in radial direction of arc.

Additional adjoint Monte Carlo studies of the shielding of concrete structures against initial gamma radiation. Final report

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

Beer, M.; Cohen, M.O.

1975-02-01

The adjoint Monte Carlo method previously developed by MAGI has been applied to the calculation of initial radiation dose due to air secondary gamma rays and fission product gamma rays at detector points within buildings for a wide variety of problems. These provide an in-depth survey of structure shielding effects as well as many new benchmark problems for matching by simplified models. Specifically, elevated ring source results were obtained in the following areas: doses at on-and off-centerline detectors in four concrete blockhouse structures; doses at detector positions along the centerline of a high-rise structure without walls; dose mapping at basementmore » detector positions in the high-rise structure; doses at detector points within a complex concrete structure containing exterior windows and walls and interior partitions; modeling of the complex structure by replacing interior partitions by additional material at exterior walls; effects of elevation angle changes; effects on the dose of changes in fission product ambient spectra; and modeling of mutual shielding due to external structures. In addition, point source results yielding dose extremes about the ring source average were obtained. (auth)« less

Increasing Resilience Through Engagement In Sea Level Rise Community Science Initiatives.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chilton, L. A.; Rindge, H.

2017-12-01

Science literate and engaged members of the public, including students, are critical to building climate resilient communities. USC Sea Grant facilitates programs that work to build and strengthen these connections. The Urban Tides Community Science Initiative (Urban Tides) and the Youth Exploring Sea Level Rise Science Program (YESS) engage communities across the boundaries of public engagement, K-12 education, and informal education. YESS is an experiential sea level rise education program that combines classroom learning, field investigations and public presentations. Students explore sea level rise using a new curricula, collect their own data on sea level rise, develop communication products, and present their findings to city governments, researchers, and others. Urban Tides engages community members, informal education centers, K-12 students, and local government leaders in a citizen science program photo- documenting extreme high tides, erosion and coastal flooding in Southern California. Images provide critical information to help calibrate scientific models used to identify locations vulnerable to damage from future sea level rise. These tools and information enable community leaders and local governments to set priorities, guidelines, and update policies as they plan strategies that will help the region adapt. The program includes a mobile app for data collection, an open database to view photos, a lesson plan, and community beach walks. Urban Tides has led to an increase in data and data-gathering capacity for regional scientists, an increase in public participation in science, and an increase in ocean and climate literacy among initiative participants. Both of these programs bring informed and diverse voices into the discussion of how to adapt and build climate resilient communities. USC Sea Grant will share impacts and lessons learned from these two unique programs.

Method for selectively preparing evoglucosenone (LGO) and other anhydrosugars from biomass in polar aprotic solvents

DOEpatents

Huber, George W.; Cao, Fei; Dumesic, James A.; Schwartz, Thomas J.

2016-06-28

A method to produce 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) is described in which a reactant including cellulose, lignocellulose, or a combination thereof, in a reaction mixture of a polar, aprotic solvent and an acid is reacted for a time, at a temperature, and at a hydrogen ion concentration wherein at least a portion of the cellulose or lignocellulose present in the reactant is converted to HMF. The reaction mixture is initially substantially devoid of water. As the reaction proceeds, dehydration of intermediates causes the water concentration in the reaction mixture to rise to no more than about 2.0 wt % water.

Method for selectively preparing 5-hydroxymethylfurfual (HMF) from biomass in polar aprotic solvents

DOEpatents

Dumesic, James A.; Huber, George W.; Weingarten, Ronen

2016-01-26

A method to produce 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) is described in which a reactant including cellulose, lignocellulose, or a combination thereof, in a reaction mixture of a polar, aprotic solvent and an acid is reacted for a time, at a temperature, and at a hydrogen ion concentration wherein at least a portion of the cellulose or lignocellulose present in the reactant is converted to HMF. The reaction mixture is initially substantially devoid of water. As the reaction proceeds, dehydration of intermediates causes the water concentration in the reaction mixture to rise to no more than about 0.2 wt % water.

Rheumatology Informatics System for Effectiveness: A National Informatics-Enabled Registry for Quality Improvement.

PubMed

Yazdany, Jinoos; Bansback, Nick; Clowse, Megan; Collier, Deborah; Law, Karen; Liao, Katherine P; Michaud, Kaleb; Morgan, Esi M; Oates, James C; Orozco, Catalina; Reimold, Andreas; Simard, Julia F; Myslinski, Rachel; Kazi, Salahuddin

2016-12-01

The Rheumatology Informatics System for Effectiveness (RISE) is a national electronic health record (EHR)-enabled registry. RISE passively collects data from EHRs of participating practices, provides advanced quality measurement and data analytic capacities, and fulfills national quality reporting requirements. Here we report the registry's architecture and initial data, and we demonstrate how RISE is being used to improve the quality of care. RISE is a certified Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Qualified Clinical Data Registry, allowing collection of data without individual patient informed consent. We analyzed data between October 1, 2014 and September 30, 2015 to characterize initial practices and patients captured in RISE. We also analyzed medication use among rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and performance on several quality measures. Across 55 sites, 312 clinicians contributed data to RISE; 72% were in group practice, 21% in solo practice, and 7% were part of a larger health system. Sites contributed data on 239,302 individuals. Among the subset with RA, 34.4% of patients were taking a biologic or targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) at their last encounter, and 66.7% were receiving a nonbiologic DMARD. Examples of quality measures include that 55.2% had a disease activity score recorded, 53.6% a functional status score, and 91.0% were taking a DMARD in the last year. RISE provides critical infrastructure for improving the quality of care in rheumatology and is a unique data source to generate new knowledge. Data validation and mapping are ongoing and RISE is available to the research and clinical communities to advance rheumatology. © 2016, American College of Rheumatology.

Numerical study of wall effects on buoyant gas-bubble rise in a liquid-filled finite cylinder

PubMed Central

Mukundakrishnan, Karthik; Quan, Shaoping; Eckmann, David M.; Ayyaswamy, Portonovo S.

2009-01-01

The wall effects on the axisymmetric rise and deformation of an initially spherical gas bubble released from rest in a liquid-filled, finite circular cylinder are numerically investigated. The bulk and gas phases are considered incompressible and immiscible. The bubble motion and deformation are characterized by the Morton number (Mo), Eötvös number (Eo), Reynolds number (Re), Weber number (We), density ratio, viscosity ratio, the ratios of the cylinder height and the cylinder radius to the diameter of the initially spherical bubble (H* = H/d0, R* = R/d0). Bubble rise in liquids described by Eo and Mo combinations ranging from (1,0.01) to (277.5,0.092), as appropriate to various terminal state Reynolds numbers (ReT) and shapes have been studied. The range of terminal state Reynolds numbers includes 0.02 < ReT < 70. Bubble shapes at terminal states vary from spherical to intermediate spherical-cap–skirted. The numerical procedure employs a front tracking finite difference method coupled with a level contour reconstruction of the front. This procedure ensures a smooth distribution of the front points and conserves the bubble volume. For the wide range of Eo and Mo examined, bubble motion in cylinders of height H* = 8 and R* ≥ 3, is noted to correspond to the rise in an infinite medium, both in terms of Reynolds number and shape at terminal state. In a thin cylindrical vessel (small R*), the motion of the bubble is retarded due to increased total drag and the bubble achieves terminal conditions within a short distance from release. The wake effects on bubble rise are reduced, and elongated bubbles may occur at appropriate conditions. For a fixed volume of the bubble, increasing the cylinder radius may result in the formation of well-defined rear recirculatory wakes that are associated with lateral bulging and skirt formation. The paper includes figures of bubble shape regimes for various values of R*, Eo, Mo, and ReT. Our predictions agree with existing results reported in the literature. PMID:17930342

Validation and Refinement of the DELFIC Cloud Rise Module

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-01-15

Explosion Energy Fraction in the Cloud, f 13 2.4.2 Temper&ture of Condensed-Phase Matter 13 2.4.3 Altitude 14 2.4.4 Rise V0elociy 14 2.4.5 Mass and Volume 15...2.4.1 Explosion Energy Fraction in the Cloud. f. The original NRDL water-surface burst model used an energy fraction of 33%. For the first DELFIC...of explosion energy) is used to heat soil and air to their respective initial tempera- tures. The soil mans and both initial temperatures are

Developing the evidence base for adult social care practice: The NIHR School for Social Care Research

PubMed Central

Knapp, Martin; Manthorpe, Jill; Mehta, Angela; Challis, David; Glendinning, Caroline; Hastings, Gill; Mansell, Jim; Netten, Ann

2011-01-01

In a foreword to Shaping the Future of Care Together, Prime Minister Gordon Brown says that a care and support system reflecting the needs of our times and meeting our rising aspirations is achievable, but ‘only if we are prepared to rise to the challenge of radical reform’. A number of initiatives will be needed to meet the challenge of improving social care for the growing older population. Before the unveiling of the green paper, The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) announced that it has provided £15m over a five-year period to establish the NIHR School for Social Care Research. The School’s primary aim is to conduct or commission research that will help to improve adult social care practice in England. The School is seeking ideas for research topics, outline proposals for new studies and expert advice in developing research methods. PMID:22003363

Sensitivity analysis of sea level rise contribution depending on external forcing: A case study of Victoria Land, East Antarctica.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, I. W.; Lee, S. H.; Lee, W. S.; Lee, C. K.; Lee, K. K.

2017-12-01

As global mean temperature increases, it affects increase in polar glacier melt and thermal expansion of sea, which contributed to global sea level rise. Unlike large sea level rise contributors in Western Antarctica (e. g. Pine island glacier, Thwaites glacier), glaciers in East Antarctica shows relatively stable and slow ice velocity. However, recent calving events related to increase of supraglacier lake in Nansen ice shelf arouse the questions in regards to future evolution of ice dynamics at Victoria Land, East Antarctica. Here, using Ice Sheet System Model (ISSM), a series of numerical simulations were carried out to investigate ice dynamics evolution (grounding line migration, ice velocity) and sea level rise contribution in response to external forcing conditions (surface mass balance, floating ice melting rate, and ice front retreat). In this study, we used control method to set ice dynamic properties (ice rigidity and friction coefficient) with shallow shelf approximation model and check each external forcing conditions contributing to sea level change. Before 50-year transient simulations were conducted based on changing surface mass balance, floating ice melting rate, and ice front retreat of Drygalski ice tongue and Nansen ice shelf, relaxation was performed for 10 years to reduce non-physical undulation and it was used as initial condition. The simulation results showed that sea level rise contribution were expected to be much less compared to other fast glaciers. Floating ice melting rate was most sensitive parameter to sea level rise, while ice front retreat of Drygalski tongue was negligible. The regional model will be further updated utilizing ice radar topography and measured floating ice melting rate.

West German NATO Policy: The Next Five Years

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-11-01

West German conservatives have been confronted by the rise of the Republican party on the radical right . The causes underlying such political shifts...rise of the radical right Republican party, initially founded in Bavaria by several deputies from the the CDU’s sister party, the Christian Social

Rising Dragon: Infrastructure Development and Chinese Influence in Vietnam

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-06-01

This thesis will contribute to the on-going debate over whether China’s rise as a regional and potential global power will be benign or disruptive...bilateral and regional initiatives. These infrastructure developments create the mechanisms for future exploitation by expanding China’s economic and military

A Gompertz population model with Allee effect and fuzzy initial values

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amarti, Zenia; Nurkholipah, Nenden Siti; Anggriani, Nursanti; Supriatna, Asep K.

2018-03-01

Growth and population dynamics models are important tools used in preparing a good management for society to predict the future of population or species. This has been done by various known methods, one among them is by developing a mathematical model that describes population growth. Models are usually formed into differential equations or systems of differential equations, depending on the complexity of the underlying properties of the population. One example of biological complexity is Allee effect. It is a phenomenon showing a high correlation between very small population size and the mean individual fitness of the population. In this paper the population growth model used is the Gompertz equation model by considering the Allee effect on the population. We explore the properties of the solution to the model numerically using the Runge-Kutta method. Further exploration is done via fuzzy theoretical approach to accommodate uncertainty of the initial values of the model. It is known that an initial value greater than the Allee threshold will cause the solution rises towards carrying capacity asymptotically. However, an initial value smaller than the Allee threshold will cause the solution decreases towards zero asymptotically, which means the population is eventually extinct. Numerical solutions show that modeling uncertain initial value of the critical point A (the Allee threshold) with a crisp initial value could cause the extinction of population of a certain possibilistic degree, depending on the predetermined membership function of the initial value.

Lipid effects on neutrophil calcium signaling induced by opsonized particles: platelet activating factor is only part of the story.

PubMed

Wanten, Geert; Kusters, Anneke; van Emst-de Vries, Sjenet E; Tool, Anton; Roos, Dirk; Naber, Ton; Willems, Peter

2004-08-01

Total parenteral nutrition is frequently used in clinical practice to improve the nutritional status of patients. However, the risk for infectious complications remains a drawback in which immune-modulating effects of the lipid component may play a role. To characterize these lipid effects we investigated neutrophil activation by opsonized yeast particles under influence of lipid emulsions derived from fish oil (VLCT), olive oil (LCT-MUFA), soybean oil (LCT), and a physical mixture of coconut and soybean oil (LCT-MCT). Serum-treated zymosan (STZ) evoked a biphasic increase in cytosolic Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]c) with an initial slow rise that turned into a second fast rise until a plateau was reached. LCT-MCT (5 mM) pretreatment markedly increased the rate of [Ca2+]c rise during the initial phase, abolished the second phase and lowered the plateau. These effects of LCT-MCT were mimicked by the protein kinase C (PKC) activating phorbol ester PMA. LCT, LCT-MUFA and VLCT, on the other hand, decreased the rate of [Ca2+]c rise during both phases and lowered the plateau. The platelet-activating factor (PAF) receptor antagonist WEB 2086 inhibited the second phase, demonstrating that PAF acts as an intercellular messenger in STZ-induced Ca2+ mobilization, but did not interfere with the stimulatory effect of LCT-MCT or PMA on the initial rate of [Ca2+]c rise. Structurally different lipids act only in part through PAF to distinctively modulate neutrophil calcium signaling in response to activation by opsonized particles. Copyright 2003 Elsevier Ltd.

Controlling cost escalation of healthcare: making universal health coverage sustainable in China

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

An increasingly number of low- and middle-income countries have developed and implemented a national policy towards universal coverage of healthcare for their citizens over the past decade. Among them is China which has expanded its population coverage by health insurance from around 29.7% in 2003 to over 90% at the end of 2010. While both central and local governments in China have significantly increased financial inputs into the two newly established health insurance schemes: new cooperative medical scheme (NCMS) for the rural population, and urban resident basic health insurance (URBMI), the cost of healthcare in China has also been rising rapidly at the annual rate of 17.0%% over the period of the past two decades years. The total health expenditure increased from 74.7 billion Chinese yuan in 1990 to 1998 billion Chinese yuan in 2010, while average health expenditure per capital reached the level of 1490.1 Chinese yuan per person in 2010, rising from 65.4 Chinese yuan per person in 1990. The repaid increased population coverage by government supported health insurance schemes has stimulated a rising use of healthcare, and thus given rise to more pressure on cost control in China. There are many effective measures of supply-side and demand-side cost control in healthcare available. Over the past three decades China had introduced many measures to control demand for health care, via a series of co-payment mechanisms. The paper introduces and discusses new initiatives and measures employed to control cost escalation of healthcare in China, including alternative provider payment methods, reforming drug procurement systems, and strengthening the application of standard clinical paths in treating patients at hospitals, and analyses the impacts of these initiatives and measures. The paper finally proposes ways forward to make universal health coverage in China more sustainable. PMID:22992484

How Do River Meanders Change with Sea Level Rise and Fall?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scamardo, J. E.; Kim, W.

2016-12-01

River meander patterns are controlled by numerous factors, including variations in water discharge, sediment input, and base level. However, the effect of sea level rise and fall on meandering rivers has not been thoroughly quantified. This study examines geomorphic changes to meandering rivers as a result of sea level rise and fall. Twenty experimental runs using coarse-grained walnut shell sediment (D50= 500 microns) in a flume tank (2.4m x 0.6m x 0.1m) tested the optimal initial conditions for creating meandering rivers in a laboratory setting as well as variations in base level rise and fall rates. Geomorphic changes were recorded by camera images every 20 seconds for a duration of 4 hours per experiment. Seventeen experiments tested the effects of changes in initial base levels, water discharge between 200 and 400 mL/min, and sediment to water input ratios between 1:1000 and 1:250 while measuring sinuosity, channel geometry, and the timescale of the channel to reach a stable form. Sinuosity and channel activity increased with increasing water discharge, initial base level, and the sediment to water ratio to a point after which the activity decreased with increasing sediment input. Base-level change experiments used initial conditions of 400 mL/min, a 1:750 sediment to water input ratio, and a 6 cm initial base-level to induce river meanders for the initial 2 hours before base-level change occurred. Three separate experiments investigated the effects of increasing rates of sea level change: 0.07 cm/min, 0.1 cm/min, and 0.2 cm/min. Experimental sea level was decreased constantly from a high-stand of 6 cm to a low-stand of 2 cm back to the high-stand base-level in each experiment. The rates of change in the experiments scale roughly from central to glacial cycles. In all three experiments, sea level fall induced meander cut-off while sea level rise prompted greater rates of meander bend erosion and meander growth. Sinuosity increased by 12%, 13.5%, and 24%, respectively in the three experiments, with most sinuosity changes occurring in the downstream reach of the channel. These experiments could provide insight into long term effects of sea level change on modern meandering fluvial systems as well as provide a key to interpreting past fluvial changes in the stratigraphic record.

The current state of resident training in genomic pathology: a comprehensive analysis utilizing the Resident In-Service Exam (RISE)

PubMed Central

Haspel, Richard L.; Rinder, Henry M.; Frank, Karen M.; Wagner, Jay; Ali, Asma M.; Fisher, Patrick B.; Parks, Eric R.

2014-01-01

Objectives To determine the current state of pathology resident training in genomic and molecular pathology. Methods The Training Residents in Genomics (TRIG) Working Group developed survey and knowledge questions for the 2013 Pathology Resident In-Service Examination (RISE). Sixteen demographic questions related to amount of training, current and predicted future use, and perceived ability in molecular pathology vs. genomic medicine were included along with five genomic pathology and 19 molecular pathology knowledge questions. Results A total of 2,506 pathology residents took the 2013 RISE with approximately 600 individuals per post-graduate year (PGY). For genomic medicine, 42% of PGY-4 respondents stated they had no training compared to 7% for molecular pathology (p<0.001). PGY-4 resident perceived ability in genomic medicine, comfort in discussing results, and predicted future use as a practicing pathologist were less than reported for molecular pathology (p<0.001). There was a greater increase by PGY in knowledge question scores for molecular than for genomic pathology. Conclusions The RISE is a powerful tool in assessing the state of resident training in genomic pathology and current results suggest a significant deficit. The results also provide a baseline to assess future initiatives to improve genomics education for pathology residents such as those developed by the TRIG Working Group. PMID:25239410

Variation in light intensity with height and time from subsequent lightning return strokes

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

Jordan, D.M.; Uman, M.A.

1983-08-20

Relative light intensity has been measured photographically as a function of height and time for seven subsequent return strokes in two lightning flashes at ranges of 7.8 and 8.7 km. The film used was Kodak 5474 Shellburst, which has a roughly constant spectral response between 300 and 670 nm. The time resolution was about 1.0 ..mu..s, and the spatial resolution was about 4 m. The observed light signals consisted of a fast rise to peak, followed by a slower decrease to a relatively constant value. The amplitude of the initial light peak decreases exponentially with height with a decay constantmore » of about 0.6 to 0.8 km. The 20% to 80% rise time of the initial light signal is between 1 and 4 ..mu..s near ground and increases by an additional 1 to 2 ..mu..s by the time the return stroke reaches the cloud base, a height between 1 and 2 km. The light intensity 30 ..mu..s after the initial peak is relatively constant with height and has an amplitude that is 15% to 30% of the initial peak near the ground and 50% to 100% of the initial peak at cloud base. The logarithm of the peak light intensity near the ground is roughly proportional to the initial peak electric field intensity, and this in turn implies that the current decrease with height may be much slower than the light decrease. The absolute light intensity has been estimated by integrating the photographic signals from individual channel segments to simulate the calibrated all-sky photoelectric data of Guo and Krider (1982). Using this method, the authors find that the mean peak radiance near the ground is 8.3 x 10/sup 5/ W/m, with a total range from 1.4 x 10/sup 5/ to 3.8 x 10/sup 6/ W/m. 16 references, 11 figures.« less

The Rise and Fall of Priming: How Visual Exposure Shapes Cortical Representations of Objects

PubMed Central

Zago, Laure; Fenske, Mark J.; Aminoff, Elissa; Bar, Moshe

2006-01-01

How does the amount of time for which we see an object influence the nature and content of its cortical representation? To address this question, we varied the duration of initial exposure to visual objects and then measured functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) signal and behavioral performance during a subsequent repeated presentation of these objects. We report a novel ‘rise-and-fall’ pattern relating exposure duration and the corresponding magnitude of fMRI cortical signal. Compared with novel objects, repeated objects elicited maximal cortical response reduction when initially presented for 250 ms. Counter-intuitively, initially seeing an object for a longer duration significantly reduced the magnitude of this effect. This ‘rise-and-fall’ pattern was also evident for the corresponding behavioral priming. To account for these findings, we propose that the earlier interval of an exposure to a visual stimulus results in a fine-tuning of the cortical response, while additional exposure promotes selection of a subset of key features for continued representation. These two independent mechanisms complement each other in shaping object representations with experience. PMID:15716471

SeaRISE: A Multidisciplinary Research Initiative to Predict Rapid Changes in Global Sea Level Caused by Collapse of Marine Ice Sheets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bindschadler, Robert A. (Editor)

1990-01-01

The results of a workshop held to discuss the role of the polar ice sheets in global climate change are reported. The participants agreed that the most important aspect of the ice sheets' involvement in climate change is the potential of marine ice sheets to cause a rapid change in global sea level. To address this concern, a research initiative is called for that considers the full complexity of the coupled atmosphere-ocean-cryosphere-lithosphere system. This initiative, called SeaRISE (Sea-level Response to Ice Sheet Evolution) has the goal of predicting the contribution of marine ice sheets to rapid changes in global sea level in the next decade to few centuries. To attain this goal, a coordinated program of multidisciplinary investigations must be launched with the linked objectives of understanding the current state, internal dynamics, interactions, and history of this environmental system. The key questions needed to satisfy these objectives are presented and discussed along with a plan of action to make the SeaRISE project a reality.

Evaluation about wettability, water absorption or swelling of excipients through various methods and the correlation between these parameters and tablet disintegration.

PubMed

Yang, Baixue; Wei, Chen; Yang, Yang; Wang, Qifang; Li, Sanming

2018-04-06

To evaluate parameters about wettability, water absorption or swelling of excipients in forms of powders or dosage through various methods systematically and explore its correlation with tablet disintegration. The water penetration and swelling of powders with different proportions of excipients including microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), mannitol, low-substituted hydroxypropyl cellulose (L-HPC), crospolyvinylpyrrolidone (PVPP), carboxymethyl starch sodium (CMS-Na), croscarmellose sodium (CCMC-Na) and magnesium stearate (MgSt) were determined by Washburn capillary rise. Both contact angle of water on the excipient compacts and surface swelling volume were measured by sessile drop technique. Moreover, the test about water absorption and swelling of compacts was fulfilled by a modified method. Eventually, the disintegration of tablets with or without loratadine was performed according to the method described in USP. These parameters were successfully identified by the methods above, which proved that excipient wettability or swelling properties varied with the structure of excipients. For example, MgSt could improve the water uptake, while impeded tablet swelling. Furthermore, in the present study it is verified that tablet disintegration was closely related to these parameters, especially wetting rate and initial water absorption rate. The higher wetting rate of water on tablet or initial water absorption rate, the faster swelling it be, resulting in the shorter tablet disintegration time. The methods utilized in the present study were feasible and effective. The disintegration of tablets did relate to these parameters, especially wetting rate and initial water absorption rate.

The Erdős-Hajnal problem of hypergraph colouring, its generalizations, and related problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raigorodskii, Andrei M.; Shabanov, Dmitrii A.

2011-10-01

Extremal problems concerned with hypergraph colouring first arose in connection with classical investigations in the 1920-30s which gave rise to Ramsey theory. Since then, this area has assumed a central position in extremal combinatorics. This survey is devoted to one well-known problem of hypergraph colouring, the Erdős-Hajnal problem, initially posed in 1961. It opened a line of research in hypergraph theory whose methods and results are widely used in various domains of discrete mathematics. Bibliography: 109 titles.

High methane natural gas/air explosion characteristics in confined vessel.

PubMed

Tang, Chenglong; Zhang, Shuang; Si, Zhanbo; Huang, Zuohua; Zhang, Kongming; Jin, Zebing

2014-08-15

The explosion characteristics of high methane fraction natural gas were investigated in a constant volume combustion vessel at different initial conditions. Results show that with the increase of initial pressure, the peak explosion pressure, the maximum rate of pressure rise increase due to a higher amount (mass) of flammable mixture, which delivers an increased amount of heat. The increased total flame duration and flame development time result as a consequence of the higher amount of flammable mixture. With the increase of the initial temperature, the peak explosion pressures decrease, but the pressure increase during combustion is accelerated, which indicates a faster flame speed and heat release rate. The maximum value of the explosion pressure, the maximum rate of pressure rise, the minimum total combustion duration and the minimum flame development time is observed when the equivalence ratio of the mixture is 1.1. Additionally, for higher methane fraction natural gas, the explosion pressure and the maximum rate of pressure rise are slightly decreased, while the combustion duration is postponed. The combustion phasing is empirically correlated with the experimental parameters with good fitting performance. Furthermore, the addition of dilute gas significantly reduces the explosion pressure, the maximum rate of pressure rise and postpones the flame development and this flame retarding effect of carbon dioxide is stronger than that of nitrogen. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

MODELING THE RISE OF FIBRIL MAGNETIC FIELDS IN FULLY CONVECTIVE STARS

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

Weber, Maria A.; Browning, Matthew K., E-mail: mweber@astro.ex.ac.uk

Many fully convective stars exhibit a wide variety of surface magnetism, including starspots and chromospheric activity. The manner by which bundles of magnetic field traverse portions of the convection zone to emerge at the stellar surface is not especially well understood. In the solar context, some insight into this process has been gleaned by regarding the magnetism as consisting partly of idealized thin flux tubes (TFTs). Here we present the results of a large set of TFT simulations in a rotating spherical domain of convective flows representative of a 0.3 M {sub ⊙} main-sequence star. This is the first studymore » to investigate how individual flux tubes in such a star might rise under the combined influence of buoyancy, convection, and differential rotation. A time-dependent hydrodynamic convective flow field, taken from separate 3D simulations calculated with the anelastic equations, impacts the flux tube as it rises. Convective motions modulate the shape of the initially buoyant flux ring, promoting localized rising loops. Flux tubes in fully convective stars have a tendency to rise nearly parallel to the rotation axis. However, the presence of strong differential rotation allows some initially low-latitude flux tubes of moderate strength to develop rising loops that emerge in the near-equatorial region. Magnetic pumping suppresses the global rise of the flux tube most efficiently in the deeper interior and at lower latitudes. The results of these simulations aim to provide a link between dynamo-generated magnetic fields, fluid motions, and observations of starspots for fully convective stars.« less

Physical Education, Sociology, and Sociology of Sport: Points of Intersection.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sage, George H.

1997-01-01

Examines the rise of sociology and physical education (PE), discussing linkages that initially existed and the separation that transpired between them. Also examines connections between social theory and PE before the sociology of sport was formally developed. Details the rise of sociology of sport, highlighting roles of physical educators. (SM)

Interaction of Repetitively Pulsed High Energy Laser Radiation With Matter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hugenschmidt, Manfred

1986-10-01

The paper is concerned with laser target interaction processes involving new methods of improving the overall energy balance. As expected theoretically, this can be achieved with high repetition rate pulsed lasers even for initially highly reflecting materials, such as metals. Experiments were performed by using a pulsed CO2 laser at mean powers up to 2 kW and repetition rates up to 100 Hz. The rates of temperature rise of aluminium for example were thereby increased by lore than a factor of 3 as compared to cw-radiation of comparable power density. Similar improvements were found for the overall absorptivities that were increased by this method by more than an order of magnitude.

Taking Her Breath Away: The Rise of COPD in Women

MedlinePlus

... policy . Skip to main content ABOUT US OUR INITIATIVES LUNG HEALTH & DISEASES SUPPORT & COMMUNITY STOP SMOKING GET ... Supporters Careers Contact Us Corporate Ethics Reporting OUR INITIATIVES LUNG FORCE Saved By The Scan Research Healthy ...

Leasing instruments of high-rise construction financing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aleksandrova, Olga; Ivleva, Elena; Sukhacheva, Viktoria; Rumyantseva, Anna

2018-03-01

The leasing sector of the business economics is expanding. Leasing instruments for high-rise construction financing allow to determine the best business behaviour in the leasing economy sector, not only in the sphere of transactions with equipment and vehicles. Investments in high-rise construction have a multiplicative effect. It initiates an active search and leasing instruments use in the economic behaviour of construction organizations. The study of the high-rise construction sector in the structure of the leasing market participants significantly expands the leasing system framework. The scheme of internal and external leasing process factors influence on the result formation in the leasing sector of economy is offered.

REDUCING AMBIGUITY IN THE FUNCTIONAL ASSESSMENT OF PROBLEM BEHAVIOR

PubMed Central

Rooker, Griffin W.; DeLeon, Iser G.; Borrero, Carrie S. W.; Frank-Crawford, Michelle A.; Roscoe, Eileen M.

2015-01-01

Severe problem behavior (e.g., self-injury and aggression) remains among the most serious challenges for the habilitation of persons with intellectual disabilities and is a significant obstacle to community integration. The current standard of behavior analytic treatment for problem behavior in this population consists of a functional assessment and treatment model. Within that model, the first step is to assess the behavior–environment relations that give rise to and maintain problem behavior, a functional behavioral assessment. Conventional methods of assessing behavioral function include indirect, descriptive, and experimental assessments of problem behavior. Clinical investigators have produced a rich literature demonstrating the relative effectiveness for each method, but in clinical practice, each can produce ambiguous or difficult-to-interpret outcomes that may impede treatment development. This paper outlines potential sources of variability in assessment outcomes and then reviews the evidence on strategies for avoiding ambiguous outcomes and/or clarifying initially ambiguous results. The end result for each assessment method is a set of best practice guidelines, given the available evidence, for conducting the initial assessment. PMID:26236145

Direct and indirect controls on organic matter decomposition in four coastal wetland communities along a landscape salinity gradient

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stagg, Camille L.; Baustian, Melissa M.; Perry, Carey L.; Carruthers, Tim J.B.; Hall, Courtney T.

2018-01-01

Coastal wetlands store more carbon than most ecosystems globally. As sea level rises, changes in flooding and salinity will potentially impact ecological functions, such as organic matter decomposition, that influence carbon storage. However, little is known about the mechanisms that control organic matter loss in coastal wetlands at the landscape scale. As sea level rises, how will the shift from fresh to salt-tolerant plant communities impact organic matter decomposition? Do long-term, plant-mediated, effects of sea-level rise differ from direct effects of elevated salinity and flooding?We identified internal and external factors that regulated indirect and direct pathways of sea-level rise impacts, respectively, along a landscape-scale salinity gradient that incorporated changes in wetland type (fresh, oligohaline, mesohaline and polyhaline marshes). We found that indirect and direct impacts of sea-level rise had opposing effects on organic matter decomposition.Salinity had an indirect effect on litter decomposition that was mediated through litter quality. Despite significant variation in environmental conditions along the landscape gradient, the best predictors of above- and below-ground litter decomposition were internal drivers, initial litter nitrogen content and initial litter lignin content respectively. Litter decay constants were greatest in the oligohaline marsh and declined with increasing salinity, and the fraction of litter remaining (asymptote) was greatest in the mesohaline marsh. In contrast, direct effects of salinity and flooding were positive. External drivers, salinity and flooding, stimulated cellulytic activity, which was highest in the polyhaline marsh.Synthesis. Our results indicate that as sea level rises, initial direct effects of salinity will stimulate decay of labile carbon, but over time as plant communities shift from fresh to polyhaline marsh, litter decay will decline, yielding greater potential for long-term carbon storage. These findings highlight the importance of quantifying carbon loss at multiple temporal scales, not only in coastal wetlands but also in other ecosystems where plant-mediated responses to climate change will have significant impacts on carbon cycling.

Prevention of Over-Pressurization During Combustion in a Sealed Chamber

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gokoglu, Suleyman A.; Niehaus, Justin E.; Olson, Sandra L.; Dietrich, Daniel L.; Ruff, Gary A.; Johnston, Michael C.

2012-01-01

The combustion of flammable material in a sealed chamber invariably leads to an initial pressure rise in the volume. The pressure rise is due to the increase in the total number of gaseous moles (condensed fuel plus chamber oxygen combining to form gaseous carbon dioxide and water vapor) and, most importantly, the temperature rise of the gas in the chamber. Though the rise in temperature and pressure would reduce with time after flame extinguishment due to the absorption of heat by the walls and contents of the sealed spacecraft, the initial pressure rise from a fire, if large enough, could lead to a vehicle over-pressure and the release of gas through the pressure relief valve. This paper presents a simple lumped-parameter model of the pressure rise in a sealed chamber resulting from the heat release during combustion. The transient model considers the increase in gaseous moles due to combustion, and heat transfer to the chamber walls by convection and radiation and to the fuel-sample holder by conduction, as a function of the burning rate of the material. The results of the model are compared to the pressure rise in an experimental chamber during flame spread tests as well as to the pressure falloff after flame extinguishment. The experiments involve flame spread over thin solid fuel samples. Estimates of the heat release rate profiles for input to the model come from the assumed stoichiometric burning of the fuel along with the observed flame spread behavior. The sensitivity of the model to predict maximum chamber pressure is determined with respect to the uncertainties in input parameters. Model predictions are also presented for the pressure profile anticipated in the Fire Safety-1 experiment, a material flammability and fire safety experiment proposed for the European Space Agency (ESA) Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV). Computations are done for a range of scenarios including various initial pressures and sample sizes. Based on these results, various mitigation approaches are suggested to prevent vehicle over-pressurization and help guide the definition of the space experiment.

Model development and experimental validation for analyzing initial transients of irradiation of tissues during thermal therapy using short pulse lasers.

PubMed

Ganguly, Mohit; Miller, Stephanie; Mitra, Kunal

2015-11-01

Short pulse lasers with pulse durations in the range of nanoseconds and shorter are effective in the targeted delivery of heat energy for precise tissue heating and ablation. This photothermal therapy is useful where the removal of cancerous tissue sections is required. The objective of this paper is to use finite element modeling to demonstrate the differences in the thermal response of skin tissue to short-pulse and continuous wave laser irradiation in the initial stages of the irradiation. Models have been developed to validate the temperature distribution and heat affected zone during laser irradiation of excised rat skin samples and live anesthetized mouse tissue. Excised rat skin samples and live anesthetized mice were subjected to Nd:YAG pulsed laser (1,064 nm, 500 ns) irradiation of varying powers. A thermal camera was used to measure the rise in surface temperature as a result of the laser irradiation. Histological analyses of the heat affected zone created in the tissue samples due to the temperature rise were performed. The thermal interaction of the laser with the tissue was quantified by measuring the thermal dose delivered by the laser. Finite element geometries of three-dimensional tissue sections for continuum and vascular models were developed using COMSOL Multiphysics. Blood flow was incorporated into the vascular model to mimic the presence of discrete blood vessels and contrasted with the continuum model without blood perfusion. The temperature rises predicted by the continuum and the vascular models agreed with the temperature rises observed at the surface of the excised rat tissue samples and live anesthetized mice due to laser irradiation respectively. The vascular model developed was able to predict the cooling produced by the blood vessels in the region where the vessels were present. The temperature rise in the continuum model due to pulsed laser irradiation was higher than that due to continuous wave (CW) laser irradiation in the initial stages of the irradiation. The temperature rise due to pulsed and CW laser irradiation converged as the time of irradiation increased. A similar trend was observed when comparing the thermal dose for pulsed and CW laser irradiation in the vascular model. Finite element models (continuum and vascular) were developed that can be used to predict temperature rise and quantify the thermal dose resulting from laser irradiation of excised rat skin samples and live anesthetized mouse tissue. The vascular model incorporating blood perfusion effects predicted temperature rise better in the live animal tissue. The models developed demonstrated that pulsed lasers caused greater temperature rise and delivered a greater thermal dose than CW lasers of equal average power, especially during the initial transients of irradiation. This analysis will be beneficial for thermal therapy applications where maximum delivery of thermal dose over a short period of time is important. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A Gaussian beam method for ultrasonic non-destructive evaluation modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jacquet, O.; Leymarie, N.; Cassereau, D.

2018-05-01

The propagation of high-frequency ultrasonic body waves can be efficiently estimated with a semi-analytic Dynamic Ray Tracing approach using paraxial approximation. Although this asymptotic field estimation avoids the computational cost of numerical methods, it may encounter several limitations in reproducing identified highly interferential features. Nevertheless, some can be managed by allowing paraxial quantities to be complex-valued. This gives rise to localized solutions, known as paraxial Gaussian beams. Whereas their propagation and transmission/reflection laws are well-defined, the fact remains that the adopted complexification introduces additional initial conditions. While their choice is usually performed according to strategies specifically tailored to limited applications, a Gabor frame method has been implemented to indiscriminately initialize a reasonable number of paraxial Gaussian beams. Since this method can be applied for an usefully wide range of ultrasonic transducers, the typical case of the time-harmonic piston radiator is investigated. Compared to the commonly used Multi-Gaussian Beam model [1], a better agreement is obtained throughout the radiated field between the results of numerical integration (or analytical on-axis solution) and the resulting Gaussian beam superposition. Sparsity of the proposed solution is also discussed.

Magnetohydrodynamic Modeling of Solar Coronal Dynamics with an Initial Non-force-free Magnetic Field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prasad, A.; Bhattacharyya, R.; Kumar, Sanjay

2017-05-01

The magnetic fields in the solar corona are generally neither force-free nor axisymmetric and have complex dynamics that are difficult to characterize. Here we simulate the topological evolution of solar coronal magnetic field lines (MFLs) using a magnetohydrodynamic model. The simulation is initialized with a non-axisymmetric non-force-free magnetic field that best correlates with the observed vector magnetograms of solar active regions (ARs). To focus on these ideas, simulations are performed for the flaring AR 11283 noted for its complexity and well-documented dynamics. The simulated dynamics develops as the initial Lorentz force pushes the plasma and facilitates successive magnetic reconnections at the two X-type null lines present in the initial field. Importantly, the simulation allows for the spontaneous development of mass flow, unique among contemporary works, that preferentially reconnects field lines at one of the X-type null lines. Consequently, a flux rope consisting of low-lying twisted MFLs, which approximately traces the major polarity inversion line, undergoes an asymmetric monotonic rise. The rise is attributed to a reduction in the magnetic tension force at the region overlying the rope, resulting from the reconnection. A monotonic rise of the rope is in conformity with the standard scenario of flares. Importantly, the simulated dynamics leads to bifurcations of the flux rope, which, being akin to the observed filament bifurcation in AR 11283, establishes the appropriateness of the initial field in describing ARs.

Magnetohydrodynamic Modeling of Solar Coronal Dynamics with an Initial Non-force-free Magnetic Field

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

Prasad, A.; Bhattacharyya, R.; Kumar, Sanjay

The magnetic fields in the solar corona are generally neither force-free nor axisymmetric and have complex dynamics that are difficult to characterize. Here we simulate the topological evolution of solar coronal magnetic field lines (MFLs) using a magnetohydrodynamic model. The simulation is initialized with a non-axisymmetric non-force-free magnetic field that best correlates with the observed vector magnetograms of solar active regions (ARs). To focus on these ideas, simulations are performed for the flaring AR 11283 noted for its complexity and well-documented dynamics. The simulated dynamics develops as the initial Lorentz force pushes the plasma and facilitates successive magnetic reconnections atmore » the two X-type null lines present in the initial field. Importantly, the simulation allows for the spontaneous development of mass flow, unique among contemporary works, that preferentially reconnects field lines at one of the X-type null lines. Consequently, a flux rope consisting of low-lying twisted MFLs, which approximately traces the major polarity inversion line, undergoes an asymmetric monotonic rise. The rise is attributed to a reduction in the magnetic tension force at the region overlying the rope, resulting from the reconnection. A monotonic rise of the rope is in conformity with the standard scenario of flares. Importantly, the simulated dynamics leads to bifurcations of the flux rope, which, being akin to the observed filament bifurcation in AR 11283, establishes the appropriateness of the initial field in describing ARs.« less

Preventing China s Rise: Maintaining United States Hegemony in the Face of a Rising China

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-12-04

Indies for supplies, the American Committee of Secret Correspondence, initially led by Silas Deane, and later joined by Benjamin Franklin , petitioned the...A Way Ahead ................................................................................................................................. 46...applied in the current environment. The fourth section, titled “A Way Ahead,” discusses a potential course of action the United States could follow in

States' Budgets Reflect Rising Tax Collections

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoff, David J.

2005-01-01

Many state budgets are reaping the benefits of tax revenues that are rising faster than at any time since the economic slowdown ended. Overall tax collections by states rose by 11.7 percent in the first quarter of 2005, giving the legislatures extra cash to shore up school aid, increase teacher pay, and finance new initiatives such as full-day…

An instrumental variable approach finds no associated harm or benefit from early dialysis initiation in the United States

PubMed Central

Scialla, Julia J.; Liu, Jiannong; Crews, Deidra C.; Guo, Haifeng; Bandeen-Roche, Karen; Ephraim, Patti L.; Tangri, Navdeep; Sozio, Stephen M.; Shafi, Tariq; Miskulin, Dana C.; Michels, Wieneke M.; Jaar, Bernard G.; Wu, Albert W.; Powe, Neil R.; Boulware, L. Ebony

2014-01-01

The estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) at dialysis initiation has been rising. Observational studies suggest harm, but may be confounded by unmeasured factors. As instrumental variable methods may be less biased we performed a retrospective cohort study of 310,932 patients starting dialysis between 2006 to 2008 and registered in the United States Renal Data System in order to describe geographic variation in eGFR at dialysis initiation and determine its association with mortality. Patients were grouped into 804 health service areas by zip code. Individual eGFR at dialysis initiation averaged 10.8 ml/min/1.73m2 but varied geographically. Only 11% of the variation in mean health service areas-level eGFR at dialysis initiation was accounted for by patient characteristics. We calculated demographic-adjusted mean eGFR at dialysis initiation in the health service areas using the 2006 and 2007 incident cohort as our instrument and estimated the association between individual eGFR at dialysis initiation and mortality in the 2008 incident cohort using the 2 stage residual inclusion method. Among 89,547 patients starting dialysis in 2008 with eGFR 5 to 20 ml/min/1.73m2, eGFR at initiation was not associated with mortality over a median of 15.5 months [hazard ratio 1.025 per 1 ml/min/1.73m2 for eGFR 5 to 14 ml/min/1.73m2; and 0.973 per 1 ml/min/1.73m2 for eGFR 14 to 20 ml/min/1.73m2]. Thus, there was no associated harm or benefit from early dialysis initiation in the United States. PMID:24786707

Rising tides, rising gates: The complex ecogeomorphic response of coastal wetlands to sea-level rise and human interventions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sandi, Steven G.; Rodríguez, José F.; Saintilan, Neil; Riccardi, Gerardo; Saco, Patricia M.

2018-04-01

Coastal wetlands are vulnerable to submergence due to sea-level rise, as shown by predictions of up to 80% of global wetland loss by the end of the century. Coastal wetlands with mixed mangrove-saltmarsh vegetation are particularly vulnerable because sea-level rise can promote mangrove encroachment on saltmarsh, reducing overall wetland biodiversity. Here we use an ecogeomorphic framework that incorporates hydrodynamic effects, mangrove-saltmarsh dynamics, and soil accretion processes to assess the effects of control structures on wetland evolution. Migration and accretion patterns of mangrove and saltmarsh are heavily dependent on topography and control structures. We find that current management practices that incorporate a fixed gate for the control of mangrove encroachment are useful initially, but soon become ineffective due to sea-level rise. Raising the gate, to counteract the effects of sea level rise and promote suitable hydrodynamic conditions, excludes mangrove and maintains saltmarsh over the entire simulation period of 100 years

Agent-based model of angiogenesis simulates capillary sprout initiation in multicellular networks

PubMed Central

Walpole, J.; Chappell, J.C.; Cluceru, J.G.; Mac Gabhann, F.; Bautch, V.L.; Peirce, S. M.

2015-01-01

Many biological processes are controlled by both deterministic and stochastic influences. However, efforts to model these systems often rely on either purely stochastic or purely rule-based methods. To better understand the balance between stochasticity and determinism in biological processes a computational approach that incorporates both influences may afford additional insight into underlying biological mechanisms that give rise to emergent system properties. We apply a combined approach to the simulation and study of angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels from existing networks. This complex multicellular process begins with selection of an initiating endothelial cell, or tip cell, which sprouts from the parent vessels in response to stimulation by exogenous cues. We have constructed an agent-based model of sprouting angiogenesis to evaluate endothelial cell sprout initiation frequency and location, and we have experimentally validated it using high-resolution time-lapse confocal microscopy. ABM simulations were then compared to a Monte Carlo model, revealing that purely stochastic simulations could not generate sprout locations as accurately as the rule-informed agent-based model. These findings support the use of rule-based approaches for modeling the complex mechanisms underlying sprouting angiogenesis over purely stochastic methods. PMID:26158406

Agent-based model of angiogenesis simulates capillary sprout initiation in multicellular networks.

PubMed

Walpole, J; Chappell, J C; Cluceru, J G; Mac Gabhann, F; Bautch, V L; Peirce, S M

2015-09-01

Many biological processes are controlled by both deterministic and stochastic influences. However, efforts to model these systems often rely on either purely stochastic or purely rule-based methods. To better understand the balance between stochasticity and determinism in biological processes a computational approach that incorporates both influences may afford additional insight into underlying biological mechanisms that give rise to emergent system properties. We apply a combined approach to the simulation and study of angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels from existing networks. This complex multicellular process begins with selection of an initiating endothelial cell, or tip cell, which sprouts from the parent vessels in response to stimulation by exogenous cues. We have constructed an agent-based model of sprouting angiogenesis to evaluate endothelial cell sprout initiation frequency and location, and we have experimentally validated it using high-resolution time-lapse confocal microscopy. ABM simulations were then compared to a Monte Carlo model, revealing that purely stochastic simulations could not generate sprout locations as accurately as the rule-informed agent-based model. These findings support the use of rule-based approaches for modeling the complex mechanisms underlying sprouting angiogenesis over purely stochastic methods.

Maturation of the Mitochondrial Redox Response to Profound Asphyxia in Fetal Sheep

PubMed Central

Drury, Paul P.; Bennet, Laura; Booth, Lindsea C.; Davidson, Joanne O.; Wassink, Guido; Gunn, Alistair J.

2012-01-01

Fetal susceptibility to hypoxic brain injury increases over the last third of gestation. This study examined the hypothesis that this is associated with impaired mitochondrial adaptation, as measured by more rapid oxidation of cytochrome oxidase (CytOx) during profound asphyxia. Methods: Chronically instrumented fetal sheep at 0.6, 0.7, and 0.85 gestation were subjected to either 30 min (0.6 gestational age (ga), n = 6), 25 min (0.7 ga, n = 27) or 15 min (0.85 ga, n = 17) of complete umbilical cord occlusion. Fetal EEG, cerebral impedance (to measure brain swelling) and near-infrared spectroscopy-derived intra-cerebral oxygenation (ΔHb = HbO2 – Hb), total hemoglobin (THb) and CytOx redox state were monitored continuously. Occlusion was associated with profound, rapid fall in ΔHb in all groups to a plateau from 6 min, greatest at 0.85 ga compared to 0.6 and 0.7 ga (p<0.05). THb initially increased at all ages, with the greatest rise at 0.85 ga (p<0.05), followed by a progressive fall from 7 min in all groups. CytOx initially increased in all groups with the greatest rise at 0.85 ga (p<0.05), followed by a further, delayed increase in preterm fetuses, but a striking fall in the 0.85 group after 6 min of occlusion. Cerebral impedance (a measure of cytotoxic edema) increased earlier and more rapidly with greater gestation. In conclusion, the more rapid rise in CytOx and cortical impedance during profound asphyxia with greater maturation is consistent with increasing dependence on oxidative metabolism leading to earlier onset of neural energy failure before the onset of systemic hypotension. PMID:22720088

Fatigue Crack Prognostics by Optical Quantification of Defect Frequency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chan, K. S.; Buckner, B. D.; Earthman, J. C.

2018-01-01

Defect frequency, a fatigue crack prognostics indicator, is defined as the number of microcracks per second detected using a laser beam that is scanned across a surface at a constant predetermined frequency. In the present article, a mechanistic approach was taken to develop a methodology for deducing crack length and crack growth information from defect frequency data generated from laser scanning measurements made on fatigued surfaces. The method was developed by considering a defect frequency vs fatigue cycle curve that comprised three regions: (i) a crack initiation regime of rising defect frequency, (ii) a plateau region of a relatively constant defect frequency, and (iii) a region of rapid rising defect frequency due to crack growth. Relations between defect frequency and fatigue cycle were developed for each of these three regions and utilized to deduce crack depth information from laser scanning data of 7075-T6 notched specimens. The proposed method was validated using experimental data of crack density and crack length data from the literature for a structural steel. The proposed approach was successful in predicting the length or depth of small fatigue cracks in notched 7075-T6 specimens and in smooth fatigue specimens of a structural steel.

Contraceptive Practice in Sub-Saharan Africa

PubMed Central

Tsui, Amy O.; Brown, Win; Li, Qingfeng

2017-01-01

Forty eight of the African continent’s 54 sovereign states are located in the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region, with the government of each defining and shaping its own health services and delivery systems. This paper reviews the trends and patterns of contraceptive practice in the region. Using survey data available from the Demographic and Health Surveys and Performance Monitoring and Accountability 2020, the study finds modern contraceptive practice to be on the rise overall but with much geographic variation. The contraceptive methods most frequently used are injectables and, more recently, implants. Higher levels of use are observed among unmarried sexually active than married females. Although use is rising, contraceptive discontinuation rates are also high. Recent program initiatives discussed include expanding long-acting contraceptive options, promoting and delivering contraceptive methods in the postpartum period, and relying on community health workers for contraceptive outreach and service delivery. SSA’s family planning situation remains challenged by weak health systems which must address competing priorities to manage disease prevention as well as primary health care. Increasing investments in family planning delivery in many SSA countries, however, augur for continued rapid uptake of modern contraception, possibly matching if not outpacing the record of other regions. PMID:29081552

Abnormal human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) trends after transfer of multiple embryos resulting in viable singleton pregnancies.

PubMed

Brady, Paula C; Farland, Leslie V; Missmer, Stacey A; Racowsky, Catherine; Fox, Janis H

2018-03-01

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether abnormal hCG trends occur at a higher incidence among women conceiving singleton pregnancies following transfer of multiple (two or more) embryos (MET), as compared to those having a single embryo transfer (SET). Retrospective cohort study was performed of women who conceived singleton pregnancies following fresh or frozen autologous IVF/ICSI cycles with day 3 or day 5 embryo transfers between 2007 and 2014 at a single academic medical center. Cycles resulting in one gestational sac on ultrasound followed by singleton live birth beyond 24 weeks of gestation were included. Logistic regression models adjusted a priori for patient age at oocyte retrieval and day of embryo transfer were used to estimate the Odds Ratio of having an abnormal hCG rise (defined as a rise or < 66% in 2 days) following SET as compared to MET. Among patients receiving two or more embryos, 6.1% (n = 84) had abnormal hCG rises between the first and second measurements, compared to 2.7% (n = 17) of patients undergoing SET (OR 2.16, 95% CI 1.26-3.71). Among patients with initially abnormal hCG rises who had a third level checked (89%), three-quarters had normal hCG rises between the second and third measurements. Patients who deliver singletons following MET were more likely to have suboptimal initial hCG rises, potentially due to transient implantation of other non-viable embryo(s). While useful for counseling, these findings should not change standard management of abnormal hCG rises following IVF. The third hCG measurements may clarify pregnancy prognosis.

Role of Perturbing Ocean Initial Condition in Simulated Regional Sea Level Change

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

Hu, Aixue; Meehl, Gerald; Stammer, Detlef

Multiple lines of observational evidence indicate that the global climate has been getting warmer since the early 20th century. This warmer climate has led to a global mean sea level rise of about 18 cm during the 20th century, and over 6 cm for the first 15 years of the 21st century. Regionally the sea level rise is not uniform due in large part to internal climate variability. To better serve the community, the uncertainties of predicting/projecting regional sea level changes associated with internal climate variability need to be quantified. Previous research on this topic has used single-model large ensemblesmore » with perturbed atmospheric initial conditions (ICs). Here we compare uncertainties associated with perturbing ICs in just the atmosphere and just the ocean using a state-of-the-art coupled climate model. We find that by perturbing the oceanic ICs, the uncertainties in regional sea level changes increase compared to those with perturbed atmospheric ICs. In order for us to better assess the full spectrum of the impacts of such internal climate variability on regional and global sea level rise, approaches that involve perturbing both atmospheric and oceanic initial conditions are thus necessary.« less

Role of Perturbing Ocean Initial Condition in Simulated Regional Sea Level Change

DOE PAGES

Hu, Aixue; Meehl, Gerald; Stammer, Detlef; ...

2017-06-05

Multiple lines of observational evidence indicate that the global climate has been getting warmer since the early 20th century. This warmer climate has led to a global mean sea level rise of about 18 cm during the 20th century, and over 6 cm for the first 15 years of the 21st century. Regionally the sea level rise is not uniform due in large part to internal climate variability. To better serve the community, the uncertainties of predicting/projecting regional sea level changes associated with internal climate variability need to be quantified. Previous research on this topic has used single-model large ensemblesmore » with perturbed atmospheric initial conditions (ICs). Here we compare uncertainties associated with perturbing ICs in just the atmosphere and just the ocean using a state-of-the-art coupled climate model. We find that by perturbing the oceanic ICs, the uncertainties in regional sea level changes increase compared to those with perturbed atmospheric ICs. In order for us to better assess the full spectrum of the impacts of such internal climate variability on regional and global sea level rise, approaches that involve perturbing both atmospheric and oceanic initial conditions are thus necessary.« less

Inhibition linearizes firing rate responses in human motor units: implications for the role of persistent inward currents.

PubMed

Revill, Ann L; Fuglevand, Andrew J

2017-01-01

Motor neurons are the output neurons of the central nervous system and are responsible for controlling muscle contraction. When initially activated during voluntary contraction, firing rates of motor neurons increase steeply but then level out at modest rates. Activation of an intrinsic source of excitatory current at recruitment onset may underlie the initial steep increase in firing rate in motor neurons. We attempted to disable this intrinsic excitatory current by artificially activating an inhibitory reflex. When motor neuron activity was recorded while the inhibitory reflex was engaged, firing rates no longer increased steeply, suggesting that the intrinsic excitatory current was probably responsible for the initial sharp rise in motor neuron firing rate. During graded isometric contractions, motor unit (MU) firing rates increase steeply upon recruitment but then level off at modest rates even though muscle force continues to increase. The mechanisms underlying such firing behaviour are not known although activation of persistent inward currents (PICs) might be involved. PICs are intrinsic, voltage-dependent currents that activate strongly when motor neurons (MNs) are first recruited. Such activation might cause a sharp escalation in depolarizing current and underlie the steep initial rise in MU firing rate. Because PICs can be disabled with synaptic inhibition, we hypothesized that artificial activation of an inhibitory pathway might curb this initial steep rise in firing rate. To test this, human subjects performed slow triangular ramp contractions of the ankle dorsiflexors in the absence and presence of tonic synaptic inhibition delivered to tibialis anterior (TA) MNs by sural nerve stimulation. Firing rate profiles (expressed as a function of contraction force) of TA MUs recorded during these tasks were compared for control and stimulation conditions. Under control conditions, during the ascending phase of the triangular contractions, 93% of the firing rate profiles were best fitted by rising exponential functions. With stimulation, however, firing rate profiles were best fitted with linear functions or with less steeply rising exponentials. Firing rate profiles for the descending phases of the contractions were best fitted with linear functions for both control and stimulation conditions. These results seem consistent with the idea that PICs contribute to non-linear firing rate profiles during ascending but not descending phases of contractions. © 2016 The Authors. The Journal of Physiology © 2016 The Physiological Society.

A comparison of thermocouple and infrared thermographic analysis of temperature rise on the root surface during the continuous wave of condensation technique.

PubMed

Mc Cullagh, J J; Setchell, D J; Gulabivala, K; Hussey, D L; Biagioni, P; Lamey, P J; Bailey, G

2000-07-01

This study was designed to use two methods of temperature measurement to analyse and quantify the in vitro root surface temperature changes during the initial stage of the continuous wave technique of obturation of 17 single-rooted premolar teeth with standard canal preparations. A model was designed to allow simultaneous temperature measurement with both thermocouples and an infrared thermal imaging system. Two thermocouples were placed on the root surface, one coronally and the other near the root apex. A series of thermal images were recorded by an infrared thermal imaging camera during the downpack procedure. The mean temperature rises on the root surface, as measured by the two thermocouples, averaged 13.9 degrees C over the period of study, whilst the infrared thermal imaging system measured an average rise of 28.4 degrees C at the same sites. Temperatures at the more apical point were higher than those measured coronally. After the first wave of condensation, the second activation of the plugger in the canal prior to its removal always resulted in a secondary rise in temperature. The thermal imaging system detected areas of greater temperature change distant from the two selected thermocouple sites. The continuous wave technique of obturation may result in high temperatures on the external root surface. Infrared thermography is a useful device for mapping patterns of temperature change over a large area.

Adjoint Sensitivity Method to Determine Optimal Set of Stations for Tsunami Source Inversion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gusman, A. R.; Hossen, M. J.; Cummins, P. R.; Satake, K.

2017-12-01

We applied the adjoint sensitivity technique in tsunami science for the first time to determine an optimal set of stations for a tsunami source inversion. The adjoint sensitivity (AS) method has been used in numerical weather prediction to find optimal locations for adaptive observations. We implemented this technique to Green's Function based Time Reverse Imaging (GFTRI), which is recently used in tsunami source inversion in order to reconstruct the initial sea surface displacement, known as tsunami source model. This method has the same source representation as the traditional least square (LSQ) source inversion method where a tsunami source is represented by dividing the source region into a regular grid of "point" sources. For each of these, Green's function (GF) is computed using a basis function for initial sea surface displacement whose amplitude is concentrated near the grid point. We applied the AS method to the 2009 Samoa earthquake tsunami that occurred on 29 September 2009 in the southwest Pacific, near the Tonga trench. Many studies show that this earthquake is a doublet associated with both normal faulting in the outer-rise region and thrust faulting in the subduction interface. To estimate the tsunami source model for this complex event, we initially considered 11 observations consisting of 5 tide gauges and 6 DART bouys. After implementing AS method, we found the optimal set of observations consisting with 8 stations. Inversion with this optimal set provides better result in terms of waveform fitting and source model that shows both sub-events associated with normal and thrust faulting.

Ground testing on the nonvented fill method of orbital propellant transfer: Results of initial test series

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chato, David J.

1991-01-01

The results are presented of a series of no-vent fill experiments conducted on a 175 cu ft flightweight hydrogen tank. The experiments consisted of the nonvented fill of the tankage with liquid hydrogen using two different inlet systems (top spray, and bottom spray) at different tank initial conditions and inflow rates. Nine tests were completed of which six filled in excess of 94 percent. The experiments demonstrated a consistent and repeatable ability to fill the tank in excess of 94 percent using the nonvented fill technique. Ninety-four percent was established as the high level cutoff due to requirements for some tank ullage to prevent rapid tank pressure rise which occurs in a tank filled entirely with liquid. The best fill was terminated at 94 percent full with a tank internal pressure less than 26 psia. Although the baseline initial tank wall temperature criteria was that all portions of the tank wall be less than 40 R, fills were achieved with initial wall temperatures as high as 227 R.

Self-pressurization of a flightweight liquid hydrogen tank: Effects of fill level at low wall heat flux

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vandresar, N. T.; Hasan, M. M.; Lin, C.-S.

1991-01-01

Experimental results are presented for the self pressurization and thermal stratification of a 4.89 cu m liquid hydrogen storage tank subjected to low heat flux (2.0 and 3.5 W/sq m) in normal gravity. The test tank was representative of future spacecraft tankage, having a low mass to volume ratio and high performance multilayer thermal insulation. Tests were performed at fill levels of 29 and 49 pcts. (by volume) and complement previous tests at 83 pct. fill. As the heat flux increases, the pressure rise rate at each fill level exceeds the homogeneous rate by an increasing ratio. Herein, this ratio did not exceed a value of 2. The slowest pressure rise rate was observed for the 49 pct. fill level at both heat fluxes. This result is attributed to the oblate spheroidal tank geometry which introduces the variables of wetted wall area, liquid-vapor interfacial area, and ratio of side wall to bottom heating as a function of fill level or liquid depth. Initial tank thermal conditions were found to affect the initial pressure rise rate. Quasi steady pressure rise rates are independent of starting conditions.

Rf-assisted current startup in FED

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

Borowski, S.K.; Peng, Y.K.M.; Kammash, T.

1981-01-01

Auxiliary rf heating of electrons before and during the current rise phase in FED is examined as a means of reducing both the initiation loop voltage and resistive flux expenditure during startup. Prior to current initiation, 1 to 2 MW of electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) power at approximately 90 GHz is used to create a small volume of high conductivity plasma near the upper hybrid resonance (UHR) region. This plasma conditioning permits a small radius (a/sub o/ approximately 0.2-0.4 m) current channel to be established with a relatively low initial loop voltage (<25 V). During the subsequent plasma expansionmore » and current ramp phase, additional rf power is introduced to reduce volt-second consumption due to plasma resistance. The physics models used for analyzing the UHR heating and current rise phases are also discussed.« less

System and method for quench protection of a superconductor

DOEpatents

Huang, Xianrui; Sivasubramaniam, Kiruba Haran; Bray, James William; Ryan, David Thomas

2008-03-11

A system and method for protecting a superconductor from a quench condition. A quench protection system is provided to protect the superconductor from damage due to a quench condition. The quench protection system comprises a voltage detector operable to detect voltage across the superconductor. The system also comprises a frequency filter coupled to the voltage detector. The frequency filter is operable to couple voltage signals to a control circuit that are representative of a rise in superconductor voltage caused by a quench condition and to block voltage signals that are not. The system is operable to detect whether a quench condition exists in the superconductor based on the voltage signal received via the frequency filter and to initiate a protective action in response.

Interaction of repetitively pulsed high energy laser radiation with matter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hugenschmidt, M.

1986-05-01

Laser target interaction processes and methods of improving the overall energy balance are discussed. This can be achieved with high repetition rate pulsed lasers even for initially highly reflecting materials, such as metals. Experiments were performed using a pulsed CO2 laser at mean powers up to 2 KW and repetition rates up to 100 Hz. The rates of temperature rise of aluminum for example are increased by more than a factor of 3 as compared to cw-radiation of comparable power density. Similar improvements are found for the overall absorptivities, that are increased by more than an order of magnitude.

Methods and electrolytes for electrodeposition of smooth films

DOEpatents

Zhang, Jiguang; Xu, Wu; Graff, Gordon L; Chen, Xilin; Ding, Fei; Shao, Yuyan

2015-03-17

Electrodeposition involving an electrolyte having a surface-smoothing additive can result in self-healing, instead of self-amplification, of initial protuberant tips that give rise to roughness and/or dendrite formation on the substrate and/or film surface. For electrodeposition of a first conductive material (C1) on a substrate from one or more reactants in an electrolyte solution, the electrolyte solution is characterized by a surface-smoothing additive containing cations of a second conductive material (C2), wherein cations of C2 have an effective electrochemical reduction potential in the solution lower than that of the reactants.

Derivation of Inviscid Quasi-geostrophic Equation from Rotational Compressible Magnetohydrodynamic Flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kwon, Young-Sam; Lin, Ying-Chieh; Su, Cheng-Fang

2018-04-01

In this paper, we consider the compressible models of magnetohydrodynamic flows giving rise to a variety of mathematical problems in many areas. We derive a rigorous quasi-geostrophic equation governed by magnetic field from the rotational compressible magnetohydrodynamic flows with the well-prepared initial data. It is a first derivation of quasi-geostrophic equation governed by the magnetic field, and the tool is based on the relative entropy method. This paper covers two results: the existence of the unique local strong solution of quasi-geostrophic equation with the good regularity and the derivation of a quasi-geostrophic equation.

Titanium subhydride potassium perchlorate (TiH1.65/KClO4) burn rates from hybrid closed bomb-strand burner experiments.

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

Cooper, Marcia A.; Oliver, Michael S.

2012-08-01

A hybrid closed bomb-strand burner is used to measure the burning behavior of the titanium subhydride potassium perchlorate pyrotechnic with an equivalent hydrogen concentration of 1.65. This experimental facility allows for simultaneous measurement of the closed bomb pressure rise and pyrotechnic burn rate as detected by electrical break wires over a range of pressures. Strands were formed by pressing the pyrotechnic powders to bulk densities between 60% and 90% theoretical maximum density. The burn rate dependance on initial density and vessel pressure are measured. At all initial strand densities, the burn is observed to transition from conductive to convective burningmore » within the strand. The measured vessel pressure history is further analyzed following the closed bomb analysis methods developed for solid propellants.« less

Cancer Drugs: An International Comparison of Postlicensing Price Inflation.

PubMed

Savage, Philip; Mahmoud, Sarah; Patel, Yogin; Kantarjian, Hagop

2017-06-01

The cost of cancer drugs forms a rising proportion of health care budgets worldwide. A number of studies have examined international comparisons of initial cost, but there is little work on postlicensing price increases. To examine this, we compared cancer drug prices at initial sale and subsequent price inflation in the United States and United Kingdom and also reviewed relevant price control mechanisms. The 10 top-selling cancer drugs were selected, and their prices at initial launch and in 2015 were compared. Standard nondiscounted prices were obtained from the relevant annual copies of the RED BOOK and the British National Formulary. At initial marketing, prices were on average 42% higher in the United States than in the United Kingdom. After licensing in the United States, all 10 drugs had price rises averaging an overall annual 8.8% (range, 1.4% to 24.1%) increase. In comparison, in the United Kingdom, six drugs had unchanged prices, two had decreased prices, and two had modest price increases. The overall annual increase in the United Kingdom was 0.24%. Cancer drug prices are rising substantially, both at their initial marketing price and, in the United States, at postlicensing prices. In the United Kingdom, the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme, an agreement between the government and the pharmaceutical industry, controls health care costs while allowing a return on investment and funds for research. The increasing costs of cancer drugs are approaching the limits of sustainability, and a similar government-industry agreement may allow stability for both health care provision and the pharmaceutical industry in the United States.

Preparation and thermoluminescent dosimetry features of high sensitivity LiF:Mg,Ce phosphor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shoushtari, M. K.; Zahedifar, M.; Sadeghi, E.

2018-04-01

Thermoluminescence (TL) kinetics and dosimetry features of newly produced LiF doped with Mg and Ce were investigated. Different contents of Mg (0-1 mol%) and Ce (0-2 mol%) were introduced in host material by melting method. The most TL sensitivity of the fabricated phosphor was obtained at 0.7 and 0.05 mol% concentrations of Mg and Ce impurities, respectively. The optimum pre-irradiation annealing regime of the synthesized LiF-based material was found at 350 °C for 10 min. Kinetic parameters of LiF:Mg,Ce dosimeter were obtained using different methods of computerized glow curve deconvolution (CGCD), initial rise (IR) and isothermal decay (ID). A good conformity are observed between the results obtained from different kinetic analysis methods. Other TL features such as fading, dose response and reusability were also examined.

The circadian rhythm of core temperature: origin and some implications for exercise performance.

PubMed

Waterhouse, Jim; Drust, Barry; Weinert, Dietmar; Edwards, Benjamin; Gregson, Warren; Atkinson, Greg; Kao, Shaoyuan; Aizawa, Seika; Reilly, Thomas

2005-01-01

This review first examines reliable and convenient ways of measuring core temperature for studying the circadian rhythm, concluding that measurements of rectal and gut temperature fulfil these requirements, but that insulated axilla temperature does not. The origin of the circadian rhythm of core temperature is mainly due to circadian changes in the rate of loss of heat through the extremities, mediated by vasodilatation of the cutaneous vasculature. Difficulties arise when the rhythm of core temperature is used as a marker of the body clock, since it is also affected by the sleep-wake cycle. This masking effect can be overcome directly by constant routines and indirectly by "purification" methods, several of which are described. Evidence supports the value of purification methods to act as a substitute when constant routines cannot be performed. Since many of the mechanisms that rise to the circadian rhythm of core temperature are the same as those that occur during thermoregulation in exercise, there is an interaction between the two. This interaction is manifest in the initial response to spontaneous activity and to mild exercise, body temperature rising more quickly and thermoregulatory reflexes being recruited less quickly around the trough and rising phase of the resting temperature rhythm, in comparison with the peak and falling phase. There are also implications for athletes, who need to exercise maximally and with minimal risk of muscle injury or heat exhaustion in a variety of ambient temperatures and at different times of the day. Understanding the circadian rhythm of core temperature may reduce potential hazards due to the time of day when exercise is performed.

Gravitational salt tectonics above a rising basement plateau offshore Algeria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaullier, Virginie; Vendeville, Bruno C.; Besème, Grégoire; Legoux, Gaetan; Déverchère, Jacques; Lymer, Gaël

2017-04-01

Seismic data (survey "MARADJA 1", 2003) offshore the Algerian coast have imaged an unexpected deformation pattern of the Messinian salt (Mobile Unit; MU) and its sedimentary overburden (Messinian Upper Unit and Plio-Quaternary) above an actively rising plateau in the subsalt basement. From a geodynamic point of view, the region is undergoing crustal convergence, as attested by the Boumerdes earthquake (2003, magnitude 6.8). The rise of this plateau, forming a 3D promontory restricted to the area offshore Algiers, is associated with that geodynamic setting. The seismic profiles show several subsalt thrusts (Domzig et al. 2006). The data provided additional information on the deformation of the Messinian mobile evaporitic unit and its Plio-Quaternary overburden. Margin-perpendicular profiles show mostly compressional features (anticlines and synclines) that had little activity during Messinian times, then grew more during Plio-Quaternary times. A few normal faults are also present, but are not accompanied by salt rise. By contrast, margin-parallel profiles clearly show that extensional, reactive salt diapiric ridges (symptomatic with their triangular shape in cross section) formed early, as early as the time of deposition of the Messinian Upper Unit, as recorded by fan-shaped strata. These ridges have recorded E-W, thin-skinned gravity gliding above the Messinian salt, as a response to the rise of the basement plateau. We tested this hypothesis using two analogue models, one where we assumed that the rise of the plateau started after Messinian times (initially tabular salt across the entire region), the second model assumed that the plateau had already risen partially as the Messininan Mobile Unit was deposited (salt initially thinner above the plateau than in the adjacent regions). In both experiments, the rise of the plateau generated preferential E-W extension above the salt, combined with N-S shortening. Extension was caused by gravity gliding of the salt from above the rising basement toward the deeper adjacent basins. So far, the deformation pattern of the salt and overburden on the plateau did not allow us to use it as a clear indicator of whether the plateau's rise started before or during Messinian times.

Novel high-frequency, high-power, pulsed oscillator based on a transmission line transformer.

PubMed

Burdt, R; Curry, R D

2007-07-01

Recent analysis and experiments have demonstrated the potential for transmission line transformers to be employed as compact, high-frequency, high-power, pulsed oscillators with variable rise time, high output impedance, and high operating efficiency. A prototype system was fabricated and tested that generates a damped sinusoidal wave form at a center frequency of 4 MHz into a 200 Omega load, with operating efficiency above 90% and peak power on the order of 10 MW. The initial rise time of the pulse is variable and two experiments were conducted to demonstrate initial rise times of 12 and 3 ns, corresponding to a spectral content from 4-30 and from 4-100 MHz, respectively. A SPICE model has been developed to accurately predict the circuit behavior and scaling laws have been identified to allow for circuit design at higher frequencies and higher peak power. The applications, circuit analysis, test stand, experimental results, circuit modeling, and design of future systems are all discussed.

Generations of even-order harmonics from vibrating H2+ and T2+ in the rising and falling parts of the laser field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Liqiang; Kapteyn, Henry J.; Feng, April Y.

2018-04-01

The generations of the even-order harmonics from H2+ and one of its isotope T2+ have been theoretically investigated beyond the Born-Oppenheimer approximation. Normally, the high-order harmonic generation (HHG) only contains odd-order harmonics for the orbital symmetry along the direction of laser polarization. Here, we showed that due to asymmetric harmonic emission (asymmetric half-wave profile), the even-order harmonics can be generated in the rising and the falling part of the laser field. In detail, in the lower initial vibrational state, the even-order harmonics main come from the falling part of the laser field; while as the initial vibrational state increases, the identified even-order harmonics in the falling part of the laser field are decreased; while some other even-order harmonics coming from the rising part of the laser field can be produced. The interesting phenomena have been proved through studying the spatial distributions and the time profiles of the HHG.

Effect of LED and Argon Laser on Degree of Conversion and Temperature Rise of Hybrid and Low Shrinkage Composite Resins.

PubMed

Pahlevan, Ayob; Tabatabaei, Masumeh Hasani; Arami, Sakineh; Valizadeh, Sara

2016-01-01

Different light curing units are used for polymerization of composite resins. The aim of this study was to evaluate the degree of conversion (DC) and temperature rise in hybrid and low shrinkage composite resins cured by LED and Argon Laser curing lights. DC was measured using FTIR spectroscopy. For measuring temperature rise, composite resin samples were placed in Teflon molds and cured from the top. The thermocouple under samples recorded the temperature rise. After initial radiation and specimens reaching the ambient temperature, reirradiation was done and temperature was recorded again. Both temperature rise and DC data submitted to one-way ANOVA and Tukey-HSD tests (5% significance). The obtained results revealed that DC was not significantly different between the understudy composite resins or curing units. Low shrinkage composite resin showed a significantly higher temperature rise than hybrid composite resin. Argon laser caused the lowest temperature rise among the curing units. Energy density of light curing units was correlated with the DC. Type of composite resin and light curing unit had a significant effect on temperature rise due to polymerization and curing unit, respectively.

The role of CD133 in the identification and characterisation of tumour-initiating cells in non-small-cell lung cancer.

PubMed

Tirino, Virginia; Camerlingo, Rosa; Franco, Renato; Malanga, Donatella; La Rocca, Antonello; Viglietto, Giuseppe; Rocco, Gaetano; Pirozzi, Giuseppe

2009-09-01

Emerging evidence suggests that specific sub-populations of cancer cells with stem cell characteristics within the bulk of tumours are implicated in the pathogenesis of heterogeneous malignant tumours. The cells that drive tumour growth have been denoted cancer-initiating cells or cancer stem cells (hereafter CSCs). CSCs have been isolated initially from leukaemias and subsequently from several solid tumours including brain, breast, prostate, colon and lung cancer. This study aimed at isolating and characterising the population of tumour-initiating cells in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Specimens of NSCLC obtained from 89 patients undergoing tumour resection at the Cancer National Institute of Naples were analysed. Three methods to isolate the tumour-initiating cells were used: (1) flow cytometry analysis for identification of positive cells for surface markers such as CD24, CD29, CD31, CD34, CD44, CD133 and CD326; (2) Hoechst 33342 dye exclusion test for the identification of a side-population characteristic for the presence of stem cells; (3) non-adherent culture condition able to form spheres with stem cell-like characteristics. Definition of the tumourigenic potential of the cells through soft agar assay and injection into NOD/SCID mice were used to functionally define (in vitro and in vivo) putative CSCs isolated from NSCLC samples. Upon flow cytometry analysis of NSCLC samples, CD133-positive cells were found in 72% of 89 fresh specimens analysed and, on average, represented 6% of the total cells. Moreover, the number of CD133-positive cells increased markedly when the cells, isolated from NSCLC specimens, were grown as spheres in non-adherent culture conditions. Cells from NSCLC, grown as spheres, when assayed in soft agar, give rise to a 3.8-fold larger number of colonies in culture and are more tumourigenic in non-obese diabetic (NOD)/severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mice compared with the corresponding adherent cells. We have isolated and characterised a population of CD133-positive cells from NSCLC that is able to give rise to spheres and can act as tumour-initiating cells.

Dynamics of Rear Stagnant Cap formation at the surface of spherical bubbles rising in surfactant solutions at large Reynolds numbers under conditions of small Marangoni number and slow sorption kinetics.

PubMed

Dukhin, S S; Kovalchuk, V I; Gochev, G G; Lotfi, M; Krzan, M; Malysa, K; Miller, R

2015-08-01

On the surface of bubbles rising in a surfactant solution the adsorption process proceeds and leads to the formation of a so called Rear Stagnant Cap (RSC). The larger this RSC is the stronger is the retardation of the rising velocity. The theory of a steady RSC and steady retarded rising velocity, which sets in after a transient stage, has been generally accepted. However, a non-steady process of bubble rising starting from the initial zero velocity represents an important portion of the trajectory of rising, characterized by a local velocity profile (LVP). As there is no theory of RSC growth for large Reynolds numbers Re » 1 so far, the interpretation of LVPs measured in this regime was impossible. It turned out, that an analytical theory for a quasi-steady growth of RSC is possible for small Marangoni numbers Ma « 1, i.e. when the RSC is almost completely compressed, which means a uniform surface concentration Γ(θ)=Γ(∞) within the RSC. Hence, the RSC angle ψ(t) is obtained as a function of the adsorption isotherm parameters and time t. From the steady velocity v(st)(ψ), the dependence of non-steady velocity on time is obtained by employing v(st)[ψ(t)] via a quasi-steady approximation. The measurement of LVP creates a promising new opportunity for investigation of the RSC dynamics and adsorption kinetics. While adsorption and desorption happen at the same localization in the classical methods, in rising bubble experiments desorption occurs mainly within RSC while adsorption on the mobile part of the bubble surface. The desorption flux from RSC is proportional to αΓ(∞), while it is usually αΓ. The adsorption flux at the mobile surface above RSC can be assumed proportional to βC0, while it is usually βC0(1-Γ/Γ(∞)). These simplifications may become favorable in investigations of the adsorption kinetics for larger molecules, in particular for globular proteins, which essentially stay at an interface once adsorbed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Discrete Element Model for Simulations of Early-Life Thermal Fracturing Behaviors in Ceramic Nuclear Fuel Pellets

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

Hai Huang; Ben Spencer; Jason Hales

2014-10-01

A discrete element Model (DEM) representation of coupled solid mechanics/fracturing and heat conduction processes has been developed and applied to explicitly simulate the random initiations and subsequent propagations of interacting thermal cracks in a ceramic nuclear fuel pellet during initial rise to power and during power cycles. The DEM model clearly predicts realistic early-life crack patterns including both radial cracks and circumferential cracks. Simulation results clearly demonstrate the formation of radial cracks during the initial power rise, and formation of circumferential cracks as the power is ramped down. In these simulations, additional early-life power cycles do not lead to themore » formation of new thermal cracks. They do, however clearly indicate changes in the apertures of thermal cracks during later power cycles due to thermal expansion and shrinkage. The number of radial cracks increases with increasing power, which is consistent with the experimental observations.« less

Method and apparatus for producing co-current fluid contact

DOEpatents

Trutna, William R.

1997-01-01

An improved packing system and method are disclosed wherein a packing section includes a liquid distributor and a separator placed above the distributor so that gas rising through the liquid distributor contacts liquid in the distributor, forming a gas-liquid combination which rises in co-current flow to the separator. Liquid is collected in the separator, from which gas rises.

Method and apparatus for producing co-current fluid contact

DOEpatents

Trutna, W.R.

1997-12-09

An improved packing system and method are disclosed wherein a packing section includes a liquid distributor and a separator placed above the distributor so that gas rising through the liquid distributor contacts liquid in the distributor, forming a gas-liquid combination which rises in co-current flow to the separator. Liquid is collected in the separator, from which gas rises. 13 figs.

Aviation safety : safer skies initiative has taken initial steps to reduce accident rates by 2007

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2000-06-01

The continued growth forecast for U.S. aviation in the coming decade will likely bring a rise in fatal accidents if the current accident rate is not reduced. Commercial aviation, used by most Americans when they fly, experienced an average of 6 fatal...

The Association of Family Influence and Initial Interest in Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dabney, Katherine P.; Chakraverty, Devasmita; Tai, Robert H.

2013-01-01

With recent attention to improving scientific workforce development and student achievement, there has been a rise in effort to understand and encourage student engagement in physical science. This study examines the association of family influence and initial interest in science through multiple and logistic regression models. Research questions…

Peptide kinetics from picoseconds to microseconds using boxed molecular dynamics: Power law rate coefficients in cyclisation reactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shalashilin, Dmitrii V.; Beddard, Godfrey S.; Paci, Emanuele; Glowacki, David R.

2012-10-01

Molecular dynamics (MD) methods are increasingly widespread, but simulation of rare events in complex molecular systems remains a challenge. We recently introduced the boxed molecular dynamics (BXD) method, which accelerates rare events, and simultaneously provides both kinetic and thermodynamic information. We illustrate how the BXD method may be used to obtain high-resolution kinetic data from explicit MD simulations, spanning picoseconds to microseconds. The method is applied to investigate the loop formation dynamics and kinetics of cyclisation for a range of polypeptides, and recovers a power law dependence of the instantaneous rate coefficient over six orders of magnitude in time, in good agreement with experimental observations. Analysis of our BXD results shows that this power law behaviour arises when there is a broad and nearly uniform spectrum of reaction rate coefficients. For the systems investigated in this work, where the free energy surfaces have relatively small barriers, the kinetics is very sensitive to the initial conditions: strongly non-equilibrium conditions give rise to power law kinetics, while equilibrium initial conditions result in a rate coefficient with only a weak dependence on time. These results suggest that BXD may offer us a powerful and general algorithm for describing kinetics and thermodynamics in chemical and biochemical systems.

Form and function of the bulbus arteriosus in yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) and blue marlin (Makaira nigricans): static properties.

PubMed

Braun, Marvin H; Brill, Richard W; Gosline, John M; Jones, David R

2003-10-01

The juxtaposition of heart and gills in teleost fish means that the Windkessel function characteristic of the whole mammalian arterial tree has to be subserved by the extremely short ventral aorta and bulbus arteriosus. Over the functional pressure range, arteries from blue marlin (Makaira nigricans) and yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) have J-shaped pressure-volume (P-V) loops, while bulbi from the same species have r-shaped P-V loops, with a steep initial rise followed by a compliant plateau phase. The steep initial rise in pressure is due to the geometry of the lumen. The interactions between radius, pressure and tension require a large initial pressure to open the bulbar lumen for flow. The plateau is due to the unique organization of the bulbar wall. The large elastin:collagen ratio, limited amount of collagen arranged circumferentially, lack of elastin lamellae and low hydrophobicity of the elastin itself all combine to lower stiffness, increase extensibility and allow efficient recoil. Even though the modulus of bulbus material is much lower than that of an artery, at large volumes the overall stiffness of the bulbus increases rapidly. The morphological features that give rise to the special inflation characteristics of the bulbus help to extend flow and maintain pressure during diastole.

Linking research to practice: the rise of evidence-based health sciences librarianship.

PubMed

Marshall, Joanne Gard

2014-01-01

The lecture explores the origins of evidence-based practice (EBP) in health sciences librarianship beginning with examples from the work of Janet Doe and past Doe lecturers. Additional sources of evidence are used to document the rise of research and EBP as integral components of our professional work. FOUR SOURCES OF EVIDENCE ARE USED TO EXAMINE THE RISE OF EBP: (1) a publication by Doe and research-related content in past Doe lectures, (2) research-related word usage in articles in the Bulletin of the Medical Library Association and Journal of the Medical Library Association between 1961 and 2010, (3) Medical Library Association activities, and (4) EBP as an international movement. These sources of evidence confirm the rise of EBP in health sciences librarianship. International initiatives sparked the rise of evidence-based librarianship and continue to characterize the movement. This review shows the emergence of a unique form of EBP that, although inspired by evidence-based medicine (EBM), has developed its own view of evidence and its application in library and information practice. Health sciences librarians have played a key role in initiating, nurturing, and spreading EBP in other branches of our profession. Our close association with EBM set the stage for developing our own EBP. While we relied on EBM as a model for our early efforts, we can observe the continuing evolution of our own unique approach to using, creating, and applying evidence from a variety of sources to improve the quality of health information services.

Salt diapirs in the Dead Sea basin and their relationship to Quaternary extensional tectonics

USGS Publications Warehouse

Al-Zoubi, A.; ten Brink, Uri S.

2001-01-01

Regional extension of a brittle overburden and underlying salt causes differential loading that is thought to initiate the rise of reactive diapirs below and through regions of thin overburden. We present a modern example of a large salt diapir in the Dead Sea pull-apart basin, the Lisan diapir, which we believe was formed during the Quaternary due to basin transtension and subsidence. Using newly released seismic data that are correlated to several deep wells, we determine the size of the diapir to be 13 x 10 km. its maximum depth 7.2 km. and its roof 125 m below the surface. From seismic stratigraphy, we infer that the diapir started rising during the early to middle Pleistocene as this section of the basin underwater rapid subsidence and significant extension of the overburden. During the middle to late Pleistocene, the diapir pierced through the extensionally thinned overburden, as indicated by rim synclines, which attest to rapid salt withdrawal from the surrounding regions. Slight positive topography above the diapir and shallow folded horizons indicate that it is still rising intermittently. The smaller Sedom diapir, exposed along the western bounding fault of the basin is presently rising and forms a 200 m-high ridge. Its initiation is explained by localized E-W extension due monoclinal draping over the edge of a rapidly subsiding basin during the early to middle Pleistocene, and its continued rise by lateral squeezing due to continued rotation of the Amazyahu diagonal fault. 

Diffuse interface simulation of bubble rising process: a comparison of adaptive mesh refinement and arbitrary lagrange-euler methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Ye; Cai, Jiejin; Li, Qiong; Yin, Huaqiang; Yang, Xingtuan

2018-06-01

Gas-liquid two phase flow exists in several industrial processes and light-water reactors (LWRs). A diffuse interface based finite element method with two different mesh generation methods namely, the Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR) and the Arbitrary Lagrange Euler (ALE) methods is used to model the shape and velocity changes in a rising bubble. Moreover, the calculating speed and mesh generation strategies of AMR and ALE are contrasted. The simulation results agree with the Bhagat's experiments, indicating that both mesh generation methods can simulate the characteristics of bubble accurately. We concluded that: the small bubble rises as elliptical with oscillation, whereas a larger bubble (11 mm > d > 7 mm) rises with a morphology between the elliptical and cap type with a larger oscillation. When the bubble is large (d > 11 mm), it rises up as a cap type, and the amplitude becomes smaller. Moreover, it takes longer to achieve the stable shape from the ellipsoid to the spherical cap type with the increase of the bubble diameter. The results also show that for smaller diameter case, the ALE method uses fewer grids and has a faster calculation speed, but the AMR method can solve the case of a large geometry deformation efficiently.

PLA and two components silicon rubber blends aiming for frozen foods packaging applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meekum, Utai; Khiansanoi, Apichart

2018-03-01

Designing of PLA and two components silicone rubber blends was studies. Frozen food packaging application is the main ultimate aim. The statistical method using 23 DOE was conducted. The standard testing methods, in particular impact testing at sub-zero temperature, were performed. The preliminary blend formula comprised 1.0 phr of silane and polyester polyols, respectively, was initially resolved. Then, the optimize the silicone portion in the blends was determined. Blending formula using 8.0 phr of silicone with respect to PLA matrix gave rise to the overall satisfactory properties. 3. TETA was used as the silicone curing agent and reactively blended onto the ingredients. TETA at 0.4 phr, with respect to the silicone, enhanced the mechanical properties, especially flexibility and toughness, of the PLA/silicone blend. Exceeding the optimal TETA loading would cause the chain scission and also the dilution effects. Hence, marginal inferior properties of the blends were be experienced. The preliminary biodegradability investigation found that the PLA/silicone blend initially triggered at the second week. Its degradation rate was likely to be faster than neat PLA.

Quantitative assessments of arousal by analyzing microsaccade rates and pupil fluctuations prior to slow eye movements.

PubMed

Honda, Shogo; Kohama, Takeshi; Tanaka, Tatsuro; Yoshida, Hisashi

2014-01-01

It is well known that a decline of arousal level causes of poor performance of movements or judgments. Our previous study indicates that microsaccade (MS) rates and pupil fluctuations change before slow eye movements (SEMs) (Honda et al. 2013). However, SEM detection of this study was obscure and insufficient. In this study, we propose a new SEM detection method and analyze MS rates and pupil fluctuations while subjects maintain their gaze on a target. We modified Shin et al.'s method, which is optimized for EOG (electrooculography) signals, to extract the period of sustaining SEMs using a general eye tracker. After SEM detection, we analyzed MS rates and pupil fluctuations prior to the initiation of SEMs. As a result, we were able to detect SEMs more precisely than in our previous study. Moreover, the results of eye movements and pupil fluctuations analyses show that gradual rise of MS rate and longitudinal miosis are observed prior to the initiation of SEMs, which is consistent with our previous study. These findings suggest that monitoring eye movements and pupil fluctuations may evaluate the arousal level more precisely. Further, we found that these tendencies become more significant when they are restricted to the initial SEMs.

From local uncertainty to global predictions: Making predictions on fractal basins

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

In nonlinear systems long term dynamics is governed by the attractors present in phase space. The presence of a chaotic saddle gives rise to basins of attraction with fractal boundaries and sometimes even to Wada boundaries. These two phenomena involve extreme difficulties in the prediction of the future state of the system. However, we show here that it is possible to make statistical predictions even if we do not have any previous knowledge of the initial conditions or the time series of the system until it reaches its final state. In this work, we develop a general method to make statistical predictions in systems with fractal basins. In particular, we have applied this new method to the Duffing oscillator for a choice of parameters where the system possesses the Wada property. We have computed the statistical properties of the Duffing oscillator for different phase space resolutions, to obtain information about the global dynamics of the system. The key idea is that the fraction of initial conditions that evolve towards each attractor is scale free—which we illustrate numerically. We have also shown numerically how having partial information about the initial conditions of the system does not improve in general the predictions in the Wada regions. PMID:29668687

Effect of a Second, Parallel Capacitor on the Performance of a Pulse Inductive Plasma Thruster

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Polzin, Kurt A.; Balla, Joseph V.

2010-01-01

Pulsed inductive plasma accelerators are electrodeless space propulsion devices where a capacitor is charged to an initial voltage and is then discharged through an inductive coil that couples energy into the propellant, ionizing and accelerating it to produce thrust. A model that employs a set of circuit equations (as illustrated in Fig. 1a) coupled to a one-dimensional momentum equation has been previously used by Lovberg and Dailey [1] and Polzin et al. [2-4] to model the plasma acceleration process in pulsed inductive thrusters. In this paper an extra capacitor, inductor, and resistor are added to the system in the manner illustrated in the schematic shown in Fig. 1b. If the second capacitor has a smaller value than the initially charged capacitor, it can serve to increase the current rise rate through the inductive coil. Increasing the current rise rate should serve to better ionize the propellant. The equation of motion is solved to find the effect of an increased current rise rate on the acceleration process. We examine the tradeoffs between enhancing the breakdown process (increasing current rise rate) and altering the plasma acceleration process. These results provide insight into the performance of modified circuits in an inductive thruster, revealing how this design permutation can affect an inductive thruster's performance.

The Physics of Twisted Magnetic Tubes Rising in a Stratified Medium: Two-dimensional Results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Emonet, T.; Moreno-Insertis, F.

1998-01-01

The physics of a twisted magnetic flux tube rising in a stratified medium is studied using a numerical magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) code. The problem considered is fully compressible (has no Boussinesq approximation), includes ohmic resistivity, and is two-dimensional, i.e., there is no variation of the variables in the direction of the tube axis. We study a high-plasma β-case with a small ratio of radius to external pressure scale height. The results obtained will therefore be of relevance to understanding the transport of magnetic flux across the solar convection zone. We confirm that a sufficient twist of the field lines around the tube axis can suppress the conversion of the tube into two vortex rolls. For a tube with a relative density deficit on the order of 1/β (the classical Parker buoyancy) and a radius smaller than the pressure scale height (R2<

Evaluation of the Effects of Iron Oxides on Soil Reducing Conditions and Methane Generation in Cambodian Wetland Rice Fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weaver, M.; Benner, S.; Fendorf, S.; Sampson, M.; Leng, M.

2007-12-01

Atmospheric concentrations of methane have been steadily increasing over the last 100 years, which has given rise to research of wetland rice fields, recently identified as a major anthropomorphic source of methane. Establishment of experimental soil pots, cultivating an aromatic early variety rice strain in the Kean Svay District of Cambodia, have recently been carried out to evaluate methods to minimize methane release by promoting redox buffering by iron oxides. In the first series of experiments, iron oxides were added to the soils and the rate of change in reducing conditions and methanogenesis onset was monitored. In the second series of experiments, plots are subject to periodic drying cycles to promote rejuvenation of buffering iron oxides. Initial results indicate a delay in the onset of methanogenesis, and overall methane generation, in plots where initial iron oxides concentrations are elevated.

Emerging commercial molecular tests for the diagnosis of bloodstream infection.

PubMed

Mwaigwisya, Solomon; Assiri, Rasha Assad M; O'Grady, Justin

2015-05-01

Bloodstream infection (BSI) by microorganisms can lead to sepsis. This condition has a high mortality rate, which rises significantly with delays in initiation of appropriate antimicrobial treatment. Current culture methods for diagnosing BSI have long turnaround times and poor clinical sensitivity. While clinicians wait for culture diagnosis, patients are treated empirically, which can result in inappropriate treatment, undesirable side effects and contribute to drug resistance development. Molecular diagnostics assays that target pathogen DNA can identify pathogens and resistance markers within hours. Early diagnosis improves antibiotic stewardship and is associated with favorable clinical outcomes. Nonetheless, limitations of current molecular diagnostic methods are substantial. This article reviews recent commercially available molecular methods that use pathogen DNA to diagnose BSI, either by testing positive blood cultures or directly testing patient blood. We critically assess these tests and their application in clinical microbiology. A view of future directions in BSI diagnosis is also provided.

Methods and energy storage devices utilizing electrolytes having surface-smoothing additives

DOEpatents

Xu, Wu; Zhang, Jiguang; Graff, Gordon L; Chen, Xilin; Ding, Fei

2015-11-12

Electrodeposition and energy storage devices utilizing an electrolyte having a surface-smoothing additive can result in self-healing, instead of self-amplification, of initial protuberant tips that give rise to roughness and/or dendrite formation on the substrate and anode surface. For electrodeposition of a first metal (M1) on a substrate or anode from one or more cations of M1 in an electrolyte solution, the electrolyte solution is characterized by a surface-smoothing additive containing cations of a second metal (M2), wherein cations of M2 have an effective electrochemical reduction potential in the solution lower than that of the cations of M1.

Method for fluorination of uranium oxide

DOEpatents

Petit, George S.

1987-01-01

Highly pure uranium hexafluoride is made from uranium oxide and fluorine. The uranium oxide, which includes UO.sub.3, UO.sub.2, U.sub.3 O.sub.8 and mixtures thereof, is introduced together with a small amount of a fluorine-reactive substance, selected from alkali chlorides, silicon dioxide, silicic acid, ferric oxide, and bromine, into a constant volume reaction zone. Sufficient fluorine is charged into the zone at a temperature below approximately 0.degree. C. to provide an initial pressure of at least approximately 600 lbs/sq. in. at the ambient atmospheric temperature. The temperature is then allowed to rise in the reaction zone until reaction occurs.

Photoacoustic imaging in both soft and hard biological tissue

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, T.; Dewhurst, R. J.

2010-03-01

To date, most Photoacoustic (PA) imaging results have been from soft biotissues. In this study, a PA imaging system with a near-infrared pulsed laser source has been applied to obtain 2-D and 3-D images from both soft tissue and post-mortem dental samples. Imaging results showed that the PA technique has the potential to image human oral disease, such as early-stage teeth decay. For non-invasive photoacoustic imaging, the induced temperature and pressure rises within biotissues should not cause physical damage to the tissue. Several simulations based on the thermoelastic effect have been applied to predict initial temperature and pressure fields within a tooth sample. Predicted initial temperature and pressure rises are below corresponding safety limits.

Determination of Tissue Thermal Conductivity by Measuring and Modeling Temperature Rise Induced in Tissue by Pulsed Focused Ultrasound

PubMed Central

Kujawska, Tamara; Secomski, Wojciech; Kruglenko, Eleonora; Krawczyk, Kazimierz; Nowicki, Andrzej

2014-01-01

A tissue thermal conductivity (Ks) is an important parameter which knowledge is essential whenever thermal fields induced in selected organs are predicted. The main objective of this study was to develop an alternative ultrasonic method for determining Ks of tissues in vitro suitable for living tissues. First, the method involves measuring of temperature-time T(t) rises induced in a tested tissue sample by a pulsed focused ultrasound with measured acoustic properties using thermocouples located on the acoustic beam axis. Measurements were performed for 20-cycle tone bursts with a 2 MHz frequency, 0.2 duty-cycle and 3 different initial pressures corresponding to average acoustic powers equal to 0.7 W, 1.4 W and 2.1 W generated from a circular focused transducer with a diameter of 15 mm and f-number of 1.7 in a two-layer system of media: water/beef liver. Measurement results allowed to determine position of maximum heating located inside the beef liver. It was found that this position is at the same axial distance from the source as the maximum peak-peak pressure calculated for each nonlinear beam produced in the two-layer system of media. Then, the method involves modeling of T(t) at the point of maximum heating and fitting it to the experimental data by adjusting Ks. The averaged value of Ks determined by the proposed method was found to be 0.5±0.02 W/(m·°C) being in good agreement with values determined by other methods. The proposed method is suitable for determining Ks of some animal tissues in vivo (for example a rat liver). PMID:24743838

The Global Education Agenda and the Delivery of Aid to Pacific Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coxon, Eve; Munce, Karen

2008-01-01

In recent years the international development community's concern to redress the apparent failure of half a century of "development" efforts, has given rise to a number of global initiatives aimed at both reducing worldwide poverty and enhancing international security. One outcome of these initiatives has been a refocusing on the…

Facilitating Transfer: An Issue of the 90's.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coleman, Catherine

Recently the state legislatures in Texas and Arkansas have passed initiatives to maximize transfer effectiveness from two- to four-year institutions. These initiatives, and others being undertaken on a national level, were stimulated by the rising cost of higher education, a decline in transfer rates and low achievement among students who do…

Evidence for Harmonic Content and Frequency Evolution of Oscillations During the Rising Phase of X-ray Bursts From 4U 1636-536

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bgattacharyya, Sudip; Strohmayer, E.

2005-01-01

We report on a study of the evolution of burst oscillation properties during the rising phase of X-ray bursts from 4U 1636-536 observed with the proportional counter array (PCA) on board the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) . We present evidence for significant harmonic structure of burst oscillation pulses during the early rising phases of bursts. This is the first such detection in burst rise oscillations, and is very important for constraining neutron star structure parameters and the equation of state models of matter at the core of a neutron star. The detection of harmonic content only during the initial portions of the burst rise is consistent with the theoretical expectation that with time the thermonuclear burning region becomes larger, and hence the fundamental and harmonic amplitudes both diminish. We also find, for the first time from this source, strong evidence of oscillation frequency increase during the burst rise. The timing behavior of harmonic content, amplitude, and frequency of burst rise oscillations may be important in understanding the spreading of thermonuclear flames under the extreme physical conditions on neutron star surfaces.

Committed sea-level rise for the next century from Greenland ice sheet dynamics during the past decade

PubMed Central

Price, Stephen F.; Payne, Antony J.; Howat, Ian M.; Smith, Benjamin E.

2011-01-01

We use a three-dimensional, higher-order ice flow model and a realistic initial condition to simulate dynamic perturbations to the Greenland ice sheet during the last decade and to assess their contribution to sea level by 2100. Starting from our initial condition, we apply a time series of observationally constrained dynamic perturbations at the marine termini of Greenland’s three largest outlet glaciers, Jakobshavn Isbræ, Helheim Glacier, and Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier. The initial and long-term diffusive thinning within each glacier catchment is then integrated spatially and temporally to calculate a minimum sea-level contribution of approximately 1 ± 0.4 mm from these three glaciers by 2100. Based on scaling arguments, we extend our modeling to all of Greenland and estimate a minimum dynamic sea-level contribution of approximately 6 ± 2 mm by 2100. This estimate of committed sea-level rise is a minimum because it ignores mass loss due to future changes in ice sheet dynamics or surface mass balance. Importantly, > 75% of this value is from the long-term, diffusive response of the ice sheet, suggesting that the majority of sea-level rise from Greenland dynamics during the past decade is yet to come. Assuming similar and recurring forcing in future decades and a self-similar ice dynamical response, we estimate an upper bound of 45 mm of sea-level rise from Greenland dynamics by 2100. These estimates are constrained by recent observations of dynamic mass loss in Greenland and by realistic model behavior that accounts for both the long-term cumulative mass loss and its decay following episodic boundary forcing. PMID:21576500

Committed sea-level rise for the next century from Greenland ice sheet dynamics during the past decade.

PubMed

Price, Stephen F; Payne, Antony J; Howat, Ian M; Smith, Benjamin E

2011-05-31

We use a three-dimensional, higher-order ice flow model and a realistic initial condition to simulate dynamic perturbations to the Greenland ice sheet during the last decade and to assess their contribution to sea level by 2100. Starting from our initial condition, we apply a time series of observationally constrained dynamic perturbations at the marine termini of Greenland's three largest outlet glaciers, Jakobshavn Isbræ, Helheim Glacier, and Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier. The initial and long-term diffusive thinning within each glacier catchment is then integrated spatially and temporally to calculate a minimum sea-level contribution of approximately 1 ± 0.4 mm from these three glaciers by 2100. Based on scaling arguments, we extend our modeling to all of Greenland and estimate a minimum dynamic sea-level contribution of approximately 6 ± 2 mm by 2100. This estimate of committed sea-level rise is a minimum because it ignores mass loss due to future changes in ice sheet dynamics or surface mass balance. Importantly, > 75% of this value is from the long-term, diffusive response of the ice sheet, suggesting that the majority of sea-level rise from Greenland dynamics during the past decade is yet to come. Assuming similar and recurring forcing in future decades and a self-similar ice dynamical response, we estimate an upper bound of 45 mm of sea-level rise from Greenland dynamics by 2100. These estimates are constrained by recent observations of dynamic mass loss in Greenland and by realistic model behavior that accounts for both the long-term cumulative mass loss and its decay following episodic boundary forcing.

Hydrological modelling in sandstone rocks watershed

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ponížilová, Iva; Unucka, Jan

2015-04-01

The contribution is focused on the modelling of surface and subsurface runoff in the Ploučnice basin. The used rainfall-runoff model is HEC-HMS comprising of the method of SCS CN curves and a recession method. The geological subsurface consisting of sandstone is characterised by reduced surface runoff and, on the contrary, it contributes to subsurface runoff. The aim of this paper is comparison of the rate of influence of sandstone on reducing surface runoff. The recession method for subsurface runoff was used to determine the subsurface runoff. The HEC-HMS model allows semi- and fully distributed approaches to schematisation of the watershed and rainfall situations. To determine the volume of runoff the method of SCS CN curves is used, which results depend on hydrological conditions of the soils. The rainfall-runoff model assuming selection of so-called methods of event of the SCS-CN type is used to determine the hydrograph and peak flow rate based on simulation of surface runoff in precipitation exceeding the infiltration capacity of the soil. The recession method is used to solve the baseflow (subsurface) runoff. The method is based on the separation of hydrograph to direct runoff and subsurface or baseflow runoff. The study area for the simulation of runoff using the method of SCS CN curves to determine the hydrological transformation is the Ploučnice basin. The Ploučnice is a hydrologically significant river in the northern part of the Czech Republic, it is a right tributary of the Elbe river with a total basin area of 1.194 km2. The average value of CN curves for the Ploučnice basin is 72. The geological structure of the Ploučnice basin is predominantly formed by Mesozoic sandstone. Despite significant initial loss of rainfall the basin response to the causal rainfall was demonstrated by a rapid rise of the surface runoff from the watershed and reached culmination flow. Basically, only surface runoff occures in the catchment during the initial phase of this extreme event. The increase of the baseflow runoff is slower and remains constant after reaching a certain level. The rise of the baseflow runoff is showed in a descending part of the hydrograph. The recession method in this case shows almost 20 hours delay. Results from the HEC-HMS prove availability of both methods for the runoff modeling in this type of catchment. When simulating extreme short-term rainfall-runoff episodes, the influence of geological subsurface is not significant, but it is manifested. Using more relevant rainfall events would bring more satisfactory results.

Simulating Ice Shelf Response to Potential Triggers of Collapse Using the Material Point Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huth, A.; Smith, B. E.

2017-12-01

Weakening or collapse of an ice shelf can reduce the buttressing effect of the shelf on its upstream tributaries, resulting in sea level rise as the flux of grounded ice into the ocean increases. Here we aim to improve sea level rise projections by developing a prognostic 2D plan-view model that simulates the response of an ice sheet/ice shelf system to potential triggers of ice shelf weakening or collapse, such as calving events, thinning, and meltwater ponding. We present initial results for Larsen C. Changes in local ice shelf stresses can affect flow throughout the entire domain, so we place emphasis on calibrating our model to high-resolution data and precisely evolving fracture-weakening and ice geometry throughout the simulations. We primarily derive our initial ice geometry from CryoSat-2 data, and initialize the model by conducting a dual inversion for the ice viscosity parameter and basal friction coefficient that minimizes mismatch between modeled velocities and velocities derived from Landsat data. During simulations, we implement damage mechanics to represent fracture-weakening, and track ice thickness evolution, grounding line position, and ice front position. Since these processes are poorly represented by the Finite Element Method (FEM) due to mesh resolution issues and numerical diffusion, we instead implement the Material Point Method (MPM) for our simulations. In MPM, the ice domain is discretized into a finite set of Lagrangian material points that carry all variables and are tracked throughout the simulation. Each time step, information from the material points is projected to a Eulerian grid where the momentum balance equation (shallow shelf approximation) is solved similarly to FEM, but essentially treating the material points as integration points. The grid solution is then used to determine the new positions of the material points and update variables such as thickness and damage in a diffusion-free Lagrangian frame. The grid does not store any variables permanently, and can be replaced at any time step. MPM naturally tracks the ice front and grounding line at a subgrid scale. MPM also facilitates the implementation of rift propagation in arbitrary directions, and therefore shows promise for predicting calving events. To our knowledge, this is the first application of MPM to ice flow modeling.

Diversifying Science: Intervention Programs Moderate the Effect of Stereotype Threat on Motivation and Career Choice

PubMed Central

Woodcock, Anna; Hernandez, Paul R.; Schultz, P. Wesley

2016-01-01

Stereotypes influence academic interests, performance, and ultimately career goals. The long-standing National Institutes of Health Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE) training program has been shown to be effective at retaining underrepresented minorities in science. We argue that programs such as RISE may alter the experience and impact of stereotype threat on academic achievement goals and future engagement in a scientific career. We report analyses of a national sample comparing RISE students with a propensity score-matched control group over a 6-year period. Mediation analyses revealed that while RISE program membership did not buffer students from stereotype threat, it changed students' downstream responses and ultimately their academic outcomes. Nonprogram students were less likely than RISE students to persist in the sciences, partially because feelings of stereotype threat diminished their adoption of mastery goals. We discuss how these findings inform stereotype threat and goal orientation theories and provide insight into the success of intervention programs. PMID:27668075

Economic efficiency of high-rise construction in the Moscow program of renovation of housing stock

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Misailovov, Andrey

2018-03-01

The article considers a new initiative of the regional authorities of updating the housing stock designated as the renovation of housing. Its main aspects are analyzed, including the nature of program, economic efficiency of its implementation due to high-rise construction and the regulatory and legislative framework, the procedure for implementing the program, and the time frame for its implementation. The role of the program for regions in which high depreciation of the housing stock is combined with a limited number of sites for a new housing construction is disclosed. The high-rise construction in the renovation program is presented as a variant of a successful solution not only of the tasks of renovating the housing stock, but also of filling the regional budget. The social and economic orientation of the high-rise construction and the involvement of residents in the process of making town-planning decisions in the field of high-rise construction at all stages of implementing the program are shown.

Cost-Benefit Analysis of a Support Program for Nursing Staff.

PubMed

Moran, Dane; Wu, Albert W; Connors, Cheryl; Chappidi, Meera R; Sreedhara, Sushama K; Selter, Jessica H; Padula, William V

2017-04-27

A peer-support program called Resilience In Stressful Events (RISE) was designed to help hospital staff cope with stressful patient-related events. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the RISE program by conducting an economic evaluation of its cost benefit. A Markov model with a 1-year time horizon was developed to compare the cost benefit with and without the RISE program from a provider (hospital) perspective. Nursing staff who used the RISE program between 2015 and 2016 at a 1000-bed, private hospital in the United States were included in the analysis. The cost of running the RISE program, nurse turnover, and nurse time off were modeled. Data on costs were obtained from literature review and hospital data. Probabilities of quitting or taking time off with or without the RISE program were estimated using survey data. Net monetary benefit (NMB) and budget impact of having the RISE program were computed to determine cost benefit to the hospital. Expected model results of the RISE program found a net monetary benefit savings of US $22,576.05 per nurse who initiated a RISE call. These savings were determined to be 99.9% consistent on the basis of a probabilistic sensitivity analysis. The budget impact analysis revealed that a hospital could save US $1.81 million each year because of the RISE program. The RISE program resulted in substantial cost savings to the hospital. Hospitals should be encouraged by these findings to implement institution-wide support programs for medical staff, based on a high demand for this type of service and the potential for cost savings.

Shallow temperature differences along the Deep Creek Range front, Idaho

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ore, H. T.; Wiegand, G. H.

1990-02-01

The extent of the solvolysis reaction of a tertiary butyl chloride solution placed in vials buried about 1.2 m below the ground surface is dependent on average temperature at that depth over the period of burial. This method is herein used to indicate differences in shallow temperature from the western flank of the Basin and Range Deep Creek Range front, about 5 km westward into Rockland Valley in southeastern Idaho. Ninety-three samples, distributed to allow determination of lateral and vertical sample-site variation in total reaction amount, were analyzed after being in place for 3 months. Results from two sample lines, 3.5 km apart, show that subsurface total reaction amount declines slightly for the first 1.6 km away from the mountain front, rises abruptly to several times initial reaction, slowly declines for the next several km, then tends to slowly rise again. Plots of extent of reaction vs distance for the two traverses are nearly parallel; in both the abrupt increase in total reaction coincides with a line of springs, suggesting that hydrologic activity is at least related to the effects noted.

Study of electron mobility in small molecular SAlq by transient electroluminescence method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, Pankaj; Jain, S. C.; Kumar, Vikram; Chand, Suresh; Kamalasanan, M. N.; Tandon, R. P.

2007-12-01

The study of electron mobility of bis(2-methyl 8-hydroxyquinoline) (triphenyl siloxy) aluminium (SAlq) by transient electroluminescence (EL) is presented. An EL device is fabricated in bilayer, ITO/N,N'-diphenyl-N, N'-bis(3-methylphenyl)-(1,1'-biphenyl)-4,4'-diamine (TPD)/SAlq/LiF/Al configuration. The temporal evaluation of the EL with respect to the step voltage pulse is characterized by a delay time followed by a fast initial rise, which is followed by a slower rise. The delay time between the applied electrical pulse and the onset of EL is correlated with the carrier mobility (electron in our case). Transient EL studies for SAlq have been carried out at different temperatures and different applied electric fields. The electron mobility in SAlq is found to be field and temperature dependent and calculated to be 6.9 × 10-7 cm2 V-1 s-1 at 2.5 × 106 V cm-1 and 308 K. The EL decays immediately as the voltage is turned off and does not depend on the amplitude of the applied voltage pulse or dc offset.

Initial aging phenomena in copper-chromium alloys

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Suzuki, H.; Motohiro, K.

1985-01-01

The effects of quenching and aging temperatures on the initial aging curves of Cu-Cr alloy were examined mainly by means of electrical resistivity measurements. Three Cu-Cr alloy specimens having 0.24, 0.74, and 1.0% Cr were solution-treated at 950-1050 C, quenched into ice-water, and subsequently aged at 300-500 C. The results were as follows: (1) At the very early stage of aging (within about 30 sec), an abrupt decrease of resistivity with lowering aging tempratures. (T sub A) and rising solution temperatures (T sub S) was observed at (T sub A) up to about 400 C. In contrast, a transient increase of resistivity with rising T sub A and lowering T sub S was observed at T sub A from about 450 to 500 C. These phenomena seem to be caused by a rapid formation of solute clusters and the reversion of clusters formed during quenching, which are enhanced by quenched-in vacancies, respectively. (2) The amount of precipitation increased at the latter stage of aging with rising T sub S and T sub A as generally expected, where T sub S was not so high as to form secondary defects. (3) As a result, the initial aging phenomena in Cr-Cr alloy were revealed to be complicated against expectations. This was considered to be due to the migration energy of vacancies so larger in Cu-base.

Study of temperature rises and forces on drilling bone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Srikanth Venkataraman, Ananya

Many different approaches have been used to prepare, store and test bone samples in order to determine its physical properties. The need to establish a standard method of specimen preparation and storage prior to experimental testing, contributed greatly to the primary part of this study. When mechanized cutting tools such as saws and drills are used, heat is produced and this raises the temperature of both the tool and the material being cut. In orthopedic and dental practices, high-speed tools are often applied to bones and teeth, and heat from these operations may result in thermal necrosis [1]. Since this can have a negative impact on the outcome of an orthopedic procedure, temperatures must be kept below the threshold that results in bone necrosis. The initial set of experiments was performed to determine the conditions under which the mechanical properties of the bone changed so as to establish the most suitable testing conditions. The hardness variation of the bone samples, under different annealing treatment conditions was used as the indicating parameter for evaluation of the change in the mechanical properties. Establishing the most appropriate section of the metacarpal sample for testing, by studying the anisotropy of the bone was another determining parameter. The second step was to examine the effects of conventional drilling as well as modulation assisted drilling on the temperature rise generated in the bone during these machining processes. In addition to this, a set of experiments were performed to ascertain how lubrication affected the temperature rise during drilling. The dynamic portions of the torque and thrust traces as well as the specific energies were compared for the different drilling conditions. Modulation showed no significant effect on the mean torque, thrust, specific energies of cutting, or temperature rise. Lubrication (flooding and misting) in both the modulation and no modulation cases drastically reduced the temperature rise during cutting, as expected. In addition to this the characteristics of the chips produced by both the methods of drilling were compared. The modulation process produced more consistent chips at the lower speed (360 rpm) and as the speed was increased to 3000 rpm the chip formation was similar to the no modulation drilling condition at the same feed rates. A brief study on the histological changes due to drilling was also performed.

Luminescence properties of Na2Sr2Al2PO4Cl9:Sm3+ phosphor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tamboli, Sumedha; Shahare, D. I.; Dhoble, S. J.

2018-04-01

A series of Sm3+ ions doped Na2Sr2Al2PO4Cl9 phosphors were synthesized via solid state synthesis method. Photoluminescence (PL) emission spectra were obtained by keeping excitation wavelength at 406 nm. Emission spectra show three emission peaks at 563 nm, 595 nm and 644 nm. The CIE chromaticity diagram shows emission colour of the phosphor in the orange-red region of the visible spectrum, indicating that the phosphor may be useful in preparing orange light-emitting diodes. Na2Sr2Al2PO4Cl9:Sm3+ phosphors were irradiated by γ-rays from a 60Co source and β-rays from a 90Sr source. Their thermoluminescence (TL) glow curves were obtained by Nucleonix 1009I TL reader. TL Trapping parameters such as activation energy of trapped electrons and order of kinetics were obtained by using Chen's peak shape method, Glow curve fitting method and initial rise method.

Initial Training and Labour-Market Entry among French Youth.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Training & Employment: French Dimensions, 1991

1991-01-01

Over the past 15 years, the level of initial training among French youth has shown a rapid rise, with one of the highest rates of full-time school attendance in Europe. This sharp increase in school attendance clearly improves the training capital. In their hiring policies, employers have become more and more selective, with the result that…

Applications of network analysis for adaptive management of artificial drainage systems in landscapes vulnerable to sea level rise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poulter, Benjamin; Goodall, Jonathan L.; Halpin, Patrick N.

2008-08-01

SummaryThe vulnerability of coastal landscapes to sea level rise is compounded by the existence of extensive artificial drainage networks initially built to lower water tables for agriculture, forestry, and human settlements. These drainage networks are found in landscapes with little topographic relief where channel flow is characterized by bi-directional movement across multiple time-scales and related to precipitation, wind, and tidal patterns. The current configuration of many artificial drainage networks exacerbates impacts associated with sea level rise such as salt-intrusion and increased flooding. This suggests that in the short-term, drainage networks might be managed to mitigate sea level rise related impacts. The challenge, however, is that hydrologic processes in regions where channel flow direction is weakly related to slope and topography require extensive parameterization for numerical models which is limited where network size is on the order of a hundred or more kilometers in total length. Here we present an application of graph theoretic algorithms to efficiently investigate network properties relevant to the management of a large artificial drainage system in coastal North Carolina, USA. We created a digital network model representing the observation network topology and four types of drainage features (canal, collector and field ditches, and streams). We applied betweenness-centrality concepts (using Dijkstra's shortest path algorithm) to determine major hydrologic flowpaths based off of hydraulic resistance. Following this, we identified sub-networks that could be managed independently using a community structure and modularity approach. Lastly, a betweenness-centrality algorithm was applied to identify major shoreline entry points to the network that disproportionately control water movement in and out of the network. We demonstrate that graph theory can be applied to solving management and monitoring problems associated with sea level rise for poorly understood drainage networks in advance of numerical methods.

RF-assisted current startup in FED

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

Borowski, S. K.; Peng, Yueng Kay Martin; Kammash, T.

1981-01-01

Auxiliary rf heating of electrons before and during the current rise phase in FED is examined as a means of reducing both the initiation loop voltage and resistive flux expendicture during startup. Prior to current initiation, 1 to 2 MW of electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) power at {approx} 90 GHz is used to create a small volume of high conductivity plasma (T{sub e} {approx_equal} 100-200 eV, n{sub e} {approx_equal} 10{sup 13} cm{sup -3}) near the upper hybrid resonance (UHR) region. This plasma conditioning permits a small radius (a{sub o} {approx_equal} 0.2-0.4 m) current channel to be established with amore » relatively low initial loop voltage (<25 V). During the subsequent plasma expansion and current ramp phase, additional rf power is introduced to reduce volt-second consumption due to plasma resistance. The physics models used for analyzing the UHR heating and current rise phases are also discussed.« less

Magnetic hyperthermia in water based ferrofluids: Effects of initial susceptibility and size polydispersity on heating efficiency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lahiri, B. B.; Ranoo, Surojit; Muthukumaran, T.; Philip, John

2018-04-01

The effects of initial susceptibility and size polydispersity on magnetic hyperthermia efficiency in two water based ferrofluids containing phosphate and TMAOH coated superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles were studied. Experiments were performed at a fixed frequency of 126 kHz on four different concentrations of both samples and under different external field amplitudes. It was observed that for field amplitudes beyond 45.0 kAm-1, the maximum temperature rise was in the vicinity of 42°C (hyperthermia limit) which indicated the suitability of the water based ferrofluids for hyperthermia applications. The maximum temperature rise and specific absorption rate were found to vary linearly with square of the applied field amplitudes, in accordance with theoretical predictions. It was further observed that for a fixed sample concentration, specific absorption rate was higher for the phosphate coated samples which was attributed to the higher initial static susceptibility and lower size polydispersity of phosphate coated Fe3O4.

The initial freezing point temperature of beef rises with the rise in pH: a short communication.

PubMed

Farouk, M M; Kemp, R M; Cartwright, S; North, M

2013-05-01

This study tested the hypothesis that the initial freezing point temperature of meat is affected by pH. Sixty four bovine M. longissimus thoracis et lumborum were classified into two ultimate pH groups: low (<5.8) and high pH (>6.2) and their cooling and freezing point temperatures were determined. The initial freezing temperatures for beef ranged from -0.9 to -1.5°C (∆=0.6°C) with the higher and lower temperatures associated with high and low ultimate pH respectively. There was a significant correlation (r=+0.73, P<0.01) between beef pH and freezing point temperature in the present study. The outcome of this study has implications for the meat industry where evidence of freezing (ice formation) in a shipment as a result of high pH meat could result in a container load of valuable chilled product being downgraded to a lower value frozen product. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development of seismic fragility curves for low-rise masonry infilled reinforced concrete buildings by a coefficient-based method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Su, Ray Kai Leung; Lee, Chien-Liang

2013-06-01

This study presents a seismic fragility analysis and ultimate spectral displacement assessment of regular low-rise masonry infilled (MI) reinforced concrete (RC) buildings using a coefficient-based method. The coefficient-based method does not require a complicated finite element analysis; instead, it is a simplified procedure for assessing the spectral acceleration and displacement of buildings subjected to earthquakes. A regression analysis was first performed to obtain the best-fitting equations for the inter-story drift ratio (IDR) and period shift factor of low-rise MI RC buildings in response to the peak ground acceleration of earthquakes using published results obtained from shaking table tests. Both spectral acceleration- and spectral displacement-based fragility curves under various damage states (in terms of IDR) were then constructed using the coefficient-based method. Finally, the spectral displacements of low-rise MI RC buildings at the ultimate (or nearcollapse) state obtained from this paper and the literature were compared. The simulation results indicate that the fragility curves obtained from this study and other previous work correspond well. Furthermore, most of the spectral displacements of low-rise MI RC buildings at the ultimate state from the literature fall within the bounded spectral displacements predicted by the coefficient-based method.

Model 'zero-age' lunar thermal profiles resulting from electrical induction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Herbert, F.; Sonett, C. P.; Wiskerchen, M. J.

1977-01-01

Thermal profiles for the moon are calculated under the assumption that a pre-main-sequence T-Tauri-like solar wind excites both transverse magnetic and transverse electric induction while the moon is accreting. A substantial initial temperature rise occurs, possibly of sufficient magnitude to cause subsequent early extensive melting throughout the moon in conjunction with nominal long-lived radioactives. In these models, accretion is an unimportant direct source of thermal energy but is important because even small temperature rises from accretion cause significant changes in bulk electrical conductivity. Induction depends upon the radius of the moon, which we take to be accumulating while it is being heated electrically. The 'zero-age' profiles calculated in this paper are proposed as initial conditions for long-term thermal evolution of the moon.

Hyper-G stress-induced hyperglycemia in rats mediated by glucoregulatory hormones

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Daligcon, B. C.; Oyama, J.

1985-01-01

The present investigation is concerned with possible relations of the hyperglycemic response of rats exposed to hyper-G stress to (1) alterations in blood levels of the glucoregulatory hormones and gluconeogenic substrates, and (2) changes in insulin response on muscle glucose uptake. Male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 250-300 g were used in the study. The results of the experiments indicate that the initial rapid rise in blood glucose of rats exposed to hyper-G stress is mediated by increases in circulating catecholamines and glucagon, both potent stimulators of hepatic gluconeogenesis. Lactate, derived from epinephrine stimulation of muscle glycogenolysis, appears to be a major precursor for the initial rise in blood glucose. The inhibition of the insulin-stimulated glucose uptake by muscle tissues may be a factor in the observed sustained hyperglycemia.

Computerized glow curve deconvolution of thermoluminescent emission from polyminerals of Jamaica Mexican flower

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Favalli, A.; Furetta, C.; Zaragoza, E. Cruz; Reyes, A.

The aim of this work is to study the main thermoluminescence (TL) characteristics of the inorganic polyminerals extracted from dehydrated Jamaica flower or roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) belonging to Malvaceae family of Mexican origin. TL emission properties of the polymineral fraction in powder were studied using the initial rise (IR) method. The complex structure and kinetic parameters of the glow curves have been analysed accurately using the computerized glow curve deconvolution (CGCD) assuming an exponential distribution of trapping levels. The extension of the IR method to the case of a continuous and exponential distribution of traps is reported, such as the derivation of the TL glow curve deconvolution functions for continuous trap distribution. CGCD is performed both in the case of frequency factor, s, temperature independent, and in the case with the s function of temperature.

Complex Contact Angles Calculated from Capillary Rise Measurements on Rock Fracture Faces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perfect, E.; Gates, C. H.; Brabazon, J. W.; Santodonato, L. J.; Dhiman, I.; Bilheux, H.; Bilheux, J. C.; Lokitz, B. S.

2017-12-01

Contact angles for fluids in unconventional reservoir rocks are needed for modeling hydraulic fracturing leakoff and subsequent oil and gas extraction. Contact angle measurements for wetting fluids on rocks are normally performed using polished flat surfaces. However, such prepared surfaces are not representative of natural rock fracture faces, which have been shown to be rough over multiple scales. We applied a variant of the Wilhelmy plate method for determining contact angle from the height of capillary rise on a vertical surface to the wetting of rock fracture faces by water in the presence of air. Cylindrical core samples (5.05 cm long x 2.54 cm diameter) of Mancos shale and 6 other rock types were investigated. Mode I fractures were created within the cores using the Brazilian method. Each fractured core was then separated into halves exposing the fracture faces. One fracture face from each rock type was oriented parallel to a collimated neutron beam in the CG-1D imaging instrument at ORNL's High Flux Isotope Reactor. Neutron radiography was performed using the multi-channel plate detector with a spatial resolution of 50 μm. Images were acquired every 60 s after a water reservoir contacted the base of the fracture face. The images were normalized to the initial dry condition so that the upward movement of water on the fracture face was clearly visible. The height of wetting at equilibrium was measured on the normalized images using ImageJ. Contact angles were also measured on polished flat surfaces using the conventional sessile drop method. Equilibrium capillary rise on the exposed fracture faces was up to 8.5 times greater than that predicted for polished flat surfaces from the sessile drop measurements. These results indicate that rock fracture faces are hyperhydrophilic (i.e., the height of capillary rise is greater than that predicted for a contact angle of zero degrees). The use of complex numbers permitted calculation of imaginary contact angles for such surfaces. This analysis yielded a continuum of contact angles (real above, and imaginary below, zero degrees) that can be used to investigate relationships with properties such surface roughness and porosity. It should be noted these are preliminary, unreplicated results and further research will be needed to verify them and refine the approach.

A molecular timescale of eukaryote evolution and the rise of complex multicellular life

PubMed Central

Hedges, S Blair; Blair, Jaime E; Venturi, Maria L; Shoe, Jason L

2004-01-01

Background The pattern and timing of the rise in complex multicellular life during Earth's history has not been established. Great disparity persists between the pattern suggested by the fossil record and that estimated by molecular clocks, especially for plants, animals, fungi, and the deepest branches of the eukaryote tree. Here, we used all available protein sequence data and molecular clock methods to place constraints on the increase in complexity through time. Results Our phylogenetic analyses revealed that (i) animals are more closely related to fungi than to plants, (ii) red algae are closer to plants than to animals or fungi, (iii) choanoflagellates are closer to animals than to fungi or plants, (iv) diplomonads, euglenozoans, and alveolates each are basal to plants+animals+fungi, and (v) diplomonads are basal to other eukaryotes (including alveolates and euglenozoans). Divergence times were estimated from global and local clock methods using 20–188 proteins per node, with data treated separately (multigene) and concatenated (supergene). Different time estimation methods yielded similar results (within 5%): vertebrate-arthropod (964 million years ago, Ma), Cnidaria-Bilateria (1,298 Ma), Porifera-Eumetozoa (1,351 Ma), Pyrenomycetes-Plectomycetes (551 Ma), Candida-Saccharomyces (723 Ma), Hemiascomycetes-filamentous Ascomycota (982 Ma), Basidiomycota-Ascomycota (968 Ma), Mucorales-Basidiomycota (947 Ma), Fungi-Animalia (1,513 Ma), mosses-vascular plants (707 Ma), Chlorophyta-Tracheophyta (968 Ma), Rhodophyta-Chlorophyta+Embryophyta (1,428 Ma), Plantae-Animalia (1,609 Ma), Alveolata-plants+animals+fungi (1,973 Ma), Euglenozoa-plants+animals+fungi (1,961 Ma), and Giardia-plants+animals+fungi (2,309 Ma). By extrapolation, mitochondria arose approximately 2300-1800 Ma and plastids arose 1600-1500 Ma. Estimates of the maximum number of cell types of common ancestors, combined with divergence times, showed an increase from two cell types at 2500 Ma to ~10 types at 1500 Ma and 50 cell types at ~1000 Ma. Conclusions The results suggest that oxygen levels in the environment, and the ability of eukaryotes to extract energy from oxygen, as well as produce oxygen, were key factors in the rise of complex multicellular life. Mitochondria and organisms with more than 2–3 cell types appeared soon after the initial increase in oxygen levels at 2300 Ma. The addition of plastids at 1500 Ma, allowing eukaryotes to produce oxygen, preceded the major rise in complexity. PMID:15005799

A molecular timescale of eukaryote evolution and the rise of complex multicellular life

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hedges, S. Blair; Blair, Jaime E.; Venturi, Maria L.; Shoe, Jason L.

2004-01-01

BACKGROUND: The pattern and timing of the rise in complex multicellular life during Earth's history has not been established. Great disparity persists between the pattern suggested by the fossil record and that estimated by molecular clocks, especially for plants, animals, fungi, and the deepest branches of the eukaryote tree. Here, we used all available protein sequence data and molecular clock methods to place constraints on the increase in complexity through time. RESULTS: Our phylogenetic analyses revealed that (i) animals are more closely related to fungi than to plants, (ii) red algae are closer to plants than to animals or fungi, (iii) choanoflagellates are closer to animals than to fungi or plants, (iv) diplomonads, euglenozoans, and alveolates each are basal to plants+animals+fungi, and (v) diplomonads are basal to other eukaryotes (including alveolates and euglenozoans). Divergence times were estimated from global and local clock methods using 20-188 proteins per node, with data treated separately (multigene) and concatenated (supergene). Different time estimation methods yielded similar results (within 5%): vertebrate-arthropod (964 million years ago, Ma), Cnidaria-Bilateria (1,298 Ma), Porifera-Eumetozoa (1,351 Ma), Pyrenomycetes-Plectomycetes (551 Ma), Candida-Saccharomyces (723 Ma), Hemiascomycetes-filamentous Ascomycota (982 Ma), Basidiomycota-Ascomycota (968 Ma), Mucorales-Basidiomycota (947 Ma), Fungi-Animalia (1,513 Ma), mosses-vascular plants (707 Ma), Chlorophyta-Tracheophyta (968 Ma), Rhodophyta-Chlorophyta+Embryophyta (1,428 Ma), Plantae-Animalia (1,609 Ma), Alveolata-plants+animals+fungi (1,973 Ma), Euglenozoa-plants+animals+fungi (1,961 Ma), and Giardia-plants+animals+fungi (2,309 Ma). By extrapolation, mitochondria arose approximately 2300-1800 Ma and plastids arose 1600-1500 Ma. Estimates of the maximum number of cell types of common ancestors, combined with divergence times, showed an increase from two cell types at 2500 Ma to approximately 10 types at 1500 Ma and 50 cell types at approximately 1000 Ma. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that oxygen levels in the environment, and the ability of eukaryotes to extract energy from oxygen, as well as produce oxygen, were key factors in the rise of complex multicellular life. Mitochondria and organisms with more than 2-3 cell types appeared soon after the initial increase in oxygen levels at 2300 Ma. The addition of plastids at 1500 Ma, allowing eukaryotes to produce oxygen, preceded the major rise in complexity.

Initiation of the Slow-Rise and Fast-Rise Phases of an Erupting Solar Filament by Localized Emerging Magnetic Field via Microflaring

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sterling, A. C.; Moore, R. L.; Harra, L. K.

2006-01-01

EUV data from EIT show that a filament of 2001 February 28 underwent a slow-rise phase lasting about 6 hrs, before rapidly erupting in a fast-rise phase. Concurrent images in soft X-rays (SXRs) from Yohkoh/SXT show that a series of three microflares, prominent in SXT images but weak in EIT approx.195 Ang EUV images, occurred near one end of the filament. The first and last microflares occurred respectively in conjunction with the start of the slow-rise phase and the start of the fast-rise phase, and the second microflare corresponded to a kink in the filament trajectory. Beginning within 10 hours of the start of the slow rise, new magnetic flux emerged at the location of the microflaring. This localized new flux emergence and the resulting microflares, consistent with reconnection between the emerging field and the sheared sigmoid core magnetic field holding the filament, apparently caused the slow rise of this field and the transition to explosive eruption. For the first time in such detail, the observations show this direct action of localized emerging flux in the progressive destabilization of a sheared core field in the onset of a coronal mass ejection (CME). Similar processes may have occurred in other recently-studied events, NASA supported this work through NASA SR&T and SEC GI grants.

Initiation of Solar Eruptions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sterling, Alphonse C.; Moore, Ronald L.

2007-01-01

We consider processes occurring just prior to and at the start of the onset of flare- and CME-producing solar eruptions. Our recent work uses observations of filament motions around the time of eruption onset as a proxy for the evolution of the fields involved in the eruption. Frequently the filaments show a slow rise prior to fast eruption, indicative of a slow expansion of the field that is about co explode. Work by us and others suggests that reconnection involving emerging or canceling flux results in a lengthening of fields restraining the filament-carrying field, and the consequent upward expansion of the field in and around the filament produces the filament's slow rise: that is, the reconnection weakens the magnetic "tethers" ("tether-weakening" reconnection), and results in the slow rise of the filament. It is still inconclusive, however, what mechanism is responsible for the switch from the slow rise to the fast eruption.

Phenol Photocatalytic Degradation by Advanced Oxidation Process under Ultraviolet Radiation Using Titanium Dioxide

PubMed Central

Nickheslat, Ali; Amin, Mohammad Mehdi; Izanloo, Hassan; Fatehizadeh, Ali; Mousavi, Seyed Mohammad

2013-01-01

Background. The main objective of this study was to examine the photocatalytic degradation of phenol from laboratory samples and petrochemical industries wastewater under UV radiation by using nanoparticles of titanium dioxide coated on the inner and outer quartz glass tubes. Method. The first stage of this study was conducted to stabilize the titanium dioxide nanoparticles in anatase crystal phase, using dip-coating sol-gel method on the inner and outer surfaces of quartz glass tubes. The effect of important parameters including initial phenol concentration, TiO2 catalyst dose, duration of UV radiation, pH of solution, and contact time was investigated. Results. In the dip-coat lining stage, the produced nanoparticles with anatase crystalline structure have the average particle size of 30 nm and are uniformly distributed over the tube surface. The removal efficiency of phenol was increased with the descending of the solution pH and initial phenol concentration and rising of the contact time. Conclusion. Results showed that the light easily passes through four layers of coating (about 105 nm). The highest removal efficiency of phenol with photocatalytic UV/TiO2 process was 50% at initial phenol concentration of 30 mg/L, solution pH of 3, and 300 min contact time. The comparison of synthetic solution and petrochemical wastewater showed that at same conditions the phenol removal efficiency was equal. PMID:23710198

Analysis of Required Supporting Systems for the Supercritical CO(2) Power Conversion System

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-09-01

been drawn to the viability of using S-C02 as a working fluid in modern reactor designs. Near the critical point, C02 has a rapid rise in density...viability of using S-CO2 as a working fluid in modern reactor designs. Near the critical point, CO2 has a rapid rise in density allowing a significant...32 Figure 2.2.3 Effect on Mass Transferred of Changing ICV Initial Temperature for emptying PCS ...................32 Figure 2.2.4 Effect

Defining the Role and Functions of the Utilization Management Nurse Consultant at Keller Army Community Hospital

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-08-01

Military Health Services System (MHSS), continue to rise at an unacceptable rate. In an effort to curb rising costs, the Department of Defense has...Currently we spend $23,000 a second, more than $2 billion a day, and $733 billion a year on medical care (Castro, 1991). The cost of medical care in the...mandated that DoD pursue cost containment initiatives. Demonstration projects such as the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services

Family Medicine in a Consumer Age — Part 4: Preventive Medicine, Professional Satisfaction, and the Rise of Consumerism

PubMed Central

Warner, Morton M.

1977-01-01

In an attempt to find out if the physician perceives the same strengths and weaknesses in today's practice of family medicine as does the consumer, the Lay Advisory Committee of the College's B.C. Chapter initiated a survey of physicians' and consumers' attitudes. This article, the fourth and last in a series, presents some of the results of the survey as they relate to preventive-medicine, professional satisfaction and the rise of consumerism.

Comparative Study of Three Data Assimilation Methods for Ice Sheet Model Initialisation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mosbeux, Cyrille; Gillet-Chaulet, Fabien; Gagliardini, Olivier

2015-04-01

The current global warming has direct consequences on ice-sheet mass loss contributing to sea level rise. This loss is generally driven by an acceleration of some coastal outlet glaciers and reproducing these mechanisms is one of the major issues in ice-sheet and ice flow modelling. The construction of an initial state, as close as possible to current observations, is required as a prerequisite before producing any reliable projection of the evolution of ice-sheets. For this step, inverse methods are often used to infer badly known or unknown parameters. For instance, the adjoint inverse method has been implemented and applied with success by different authors in different ice flow models in order to infer the basal drag [ Schafer et al., 2012; Gillet-chauletet al., 2012; Morlighem et al., 2010]. Others data fields, such as ice surface and bedrock topography, are easily measurable with more or less uncertainty but only locally along tracks and interpolated on finer model grid. All these approximations lead to errors on the data elevation model and give rise to an ill-posed problem inducing non-physical anomalies in flux divergence [Seroussi et al, 2011]. A solution to dissipate these divergences of flux is to conduct a surface relaxation step at the expense of the accuracy of the modelled surface [Gillet-Chaulet et al., 2012]. Other solutions, based on the inversion of ice thickness and basal drag were proposed [Perego et al., 2014; Pralong & Gudmundsson, 2011]. In this study, we create a twin experiment to compare three different assimilation algorithms based on inverse methods and nudging to constrain the bedrock friction and the bedrock elevation: (i) cyclic inversion of friction parameter and bedrock topography using adjoint method, (ii) cycles coupling inversion of friction parameter using adjoint method and nudging of bedrock topography, (iii) one step inversion of both parameters with adjoint method. The three methods show a clear improvement in parameters knowledge leading to a significant reduction of flux divergence of the model before forecasting.

Primed for Reform: A District's Use of Existing Assets to Drive Improvement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Region IX Equity Assistance Center at WestEd, 2014

2014-01-01

This brief reports on the early stages and initial successes of turnaround efforts in a California school district. With administrators and educators in the midst of implementing a robust reform agenda, there are clear signs that the district is on the rise. The reform initiatives have stopped a downward slide in student attendance, behavior, and…

Significant role of serum CRP in differentiating inflammatory from non-inflammatory causes of thyrotoxicosis

PubMed Central

Baruah, Manash P.; Bhattacharya, Bhaskar

2012-01-01

Background: C-reactive protein (CRP), which is a marker of inflammation, has not been widely studied in inflammatory thyroid disorders particularly in sub-acute thyroiditis (SAT). Aim: This study was aimed to find the significance of CRP level rise in patients with SAT and compare that to the rise in erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), a gold standard laboratory parameter in establishing the diagnosis of SAT. Materials and Methods: Serum CRP levels were measured at initial presentation in 28 subjects with SAT(12 male, 16 female, age (Mean +SD) 37.96 ±8.5 years),and 19 patients with Graves’ disease (2 male, 17 female, age [Mean +SD] 36.8 ±16.5 years) as controls. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) was measured in all 28 patients with SAT by Westergrens’ method. Either Tc99 nucleotide thyroid scan or high resolution ultrasonography (HR-USG) was performed to differentiate SAT from Graves’ disease.Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of thyroid was performed selected patients. Results: Serum CRP level was high in 61% of SAT patients but in none of the Graves′patients. Mean (SEM) (90%CI) serum CRP level (mg/L) was also significantly higher (P <0.0004) in the SAT group [27.55 (5.76) (15.72-39.38)], than in the Graves’ group [4.09 (0.12) (3.81-4.36)]. The sensitivity of serum CRP was 73.33%, specificity 53.85%, positive predictive value (PPV) 64.71%, and negative predictive value (NPV) 63.64% as compared to the sensitivity (53.57%), specificity (15.38%), PPV (57.69 %), and NPV (13.33%) of ESR. Conclusion: There is significantly higher rise in serum CRP level in patients with SAT is compared to patients with Graves’ disease. It correlates well with the rise in ESR. Such findings of this pilot study highlight the scope of using serum CRP as a diagnostic marker of SAT specially in situations when it may be confused with Graves’ disease, another common cause of thyrotoxicosis. It is logical to carry out studies to find a particular cut-off for serum CRP which can serve as an objective parameter for grading the inflammation in patients with SAT. PMID:23226645

Analysis of the Pressure Rise in a Partially Filled Liquid Tank in Microgravity with Low Wall Heat Flux and Simultaneous Boiling and Condensation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hasan, Mohammad M.; Balasubramaniam, R.

2012-01-01

Experiments performed with Freon 113 in the space shuttle have shown that in a pro- cess of very slow heating, high liquid superheats can be sustained for a long period in microgravity. In a closed system explosive vaporization of superheated liquid resulted in pressure spikes of varying magnitudes. In this paper, we analyze the pressure rise in a partially lled closed tank in which a large vapor bubble (i.e., ullage) is initially present, and the liquid is subjected to a low wall heat ux. The liquid layer adjacent to the wall becomes superheated until the temperature for nucleation of the bubbles (or the incipience of boiling) is achieved. In the absence of the gravity-induced convection large quantities of superheated liquid can accumulate over time near the heated surface. Once the incipience temperature is attained, explosive boiling occurs and the vapor bubbles that are produced on the heater surface tend to quickly raise the tank pressure. The liquid-vapor saturation temperature increases as well. These two e ects tend to induce condensation of the large ullage bubble that is initially present, and tends to mitigate the tank pressure rise. As a result, the tank pressure is predicted to rise sharply, attain a maximum, and subsequently decay slowly. The predicted pressure rise is compared with experimental results obtained in the microgravity environments of the space shuttle for Freon 113. The analysis is appli- cable, in general to heating of liquid in closed containers in microgravity and to cryogenic fuel tanks, in particular where small heat leaks into the tank are unavoidable.

Methodical approaches to value assessment and determination of the capitalization level of high-rise construction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smirnov, Vitaly; Dashkov, Leonid; Gorshkov, Roman; Burova, Olga; Romanova, Alina

2018-03-01

The article presents the analysis of the methodological approaches to cost estimation and determination of the capitalization level of high-rise construction objects. Factors determining the value of real estate were considered, three main approaches for estimating the value of real estate objects are given. The main methods of capitalization estimation were analyzed, the most reasonable method for determining the level of capitalization of high-rise buildings was proposed. In order to increase the value of real estate objects, the author proposes measures that enable to increase significantly the capitalization of the enterprise through more efficient use of intangible assets and goodwill.

Calculation of Temperature Rise in Calorimetry.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Canagaratna, Sebastian G.; Witt, Jerry

1988-01-01

Gives a simple but fuller account of the basis for accurately calculating temperature rise in calorimetry. Points out some misconceptions regarding these calculations. Describes two basic methods, the extrapolation to zero time and the equal area method. Discusses the theoretical basis of each and their underlying assumptions. (CW)

Study of voltage decrease in organic light emitting diodes during the initial stage of lifetime

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cusumano, P.

2016-02-01

We report the results of lifetime DC testing at constant current of not-encapsulated organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) based on Tris (8 idroxyquinoline) aluminum (Alq3) as emitting material. In particular, a voltage decrease during the initial stage of the lifetime test is observed. The cause of this behavior is also discussed, mainly linked to initial Joule self-heating of the device, rising its temperature above room temperature until thermal equilibrium is reached at steady state.

Potential Savings of Harmonising Hospital and Community Formularies for Chronic Disease Medications Initiated in Hospital

PubMed Central

Lapointe-Shaw, Lauren; Fischer, Hadas D.; Newman, Alice; John-Baptiste, Ava; Anderson, Geoffrey M.; Rochon, Paula A.; Bell, Chaim M.

2012-01-01

Background Hospitals in Canada manage their formularies independently, yet many inpatients are discharged on medications which will be purchased through publicly-funded programs. We sought to determine how much public money could be saved on chronic medications if hospitals promoted the initiation of agents with the lowest outpatient formulary prices. Methods We used administrative databases for the province of Ontario to identify patients initiated on a proton pump inhibitor (PPI), angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) following hospital admission from April 1st 2008-March 31st 2009. We assessed the cost to the Ontario Drug Benefit Program (ODB) over the year following initiation and determined the cost savings if prescriptions were substituted with the least expensive agent in each class. Results The cost for filling all PPI, ACE inhibitor and ARB prescriptions was $ 2.48 million, $968 thousand and $325 thousand respectively. Substituting the least expensive agent could have saved $1.16 million (47%) for PPIs, $162 thousand (17%) for ACE inhibitors and $14 thousand (4%) for ARBs over the year following discharge. Interpretation In a setting where outpatient prescriptions are publicly funded, harmonising outpatient formularies with inpatient therapeutic substitution resulted in modest cost savings and may be one way to control rising pharmaceutical costs. PMID:22761882

Individual differences in the cortisol-awakening response during the first two years of shift work: A longitudinal study in novice police officers.

PubMed

Lammers-van der Holst, Heidi M; Kerkhof, Gerard A

2015-01-01

Cortisol acts as a critical biological intermediary through which chronic stressors like shift work impact upon multiple physiological, neuro-endocrine and hormonal functions. Therefore, the cortisol awakening response (CAR) is suggested as a prime index of shift work tolerance. Repeated assessments of the CAR (calculated as MnInc) in a group of 25 young novice police officers showed that in the interval between about 4 and 14 months after transitioning from regular day work to rotating shift work, mean values began to rise from baseline to significantly higher levels at about 14 months after they commenced shift work. Visual inspection of the individual trends revealed that a subgroup of 10 subjects followed a monotonically rising trend, whereas another 14 subjects, after an initial rise from about 4-14 months, reverted to a smaller, baseline level cortisol response at about 20 months after the start of shift work. If the initial increase in the cortisol response marks the development of a chronic stress response, the subsequent reversal to baseline levels in the subgroup of 14 participants might be indicative of a process of recovery, possibly the development of shift work tolerance.

Measurement and interpretation of threshold stress intensity factors for steels in high-pressure hydrogen gas.

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

Dadfarnia, Mohsen; Nibur, Kevin A.; San Marchi, Christopher W.

2010-07-01

Threshold stress intensity factors were measured in high-pressure hydrogen gas for a variety of low alloy ferritic steels using both constant crack opening displacement and rising crack opening displacement procedures. The sustained load cracking procedures are generally consistent with those in ASME Article KD-10 of Section VIII Division 3 of the Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, which was recently published to guide design of high-pressure hydrogen vessels. Three definitions of threshold were established for the two test methods: K{sub THi}* is the maximum applied stress intensity factor for which no crack extension was observed under constant displacement; K{sub THa} ismore » the stress intensity factor at the arrest position for a crack that extended under constant displacement; and K{sub JH} is the stress intensity factor at the onset of crack extension under rising displacement. The apparent crack initiation threshold under constant displacement, K{sub THi}*, and the crack arrest threshold, K{sub THa}, were both found to be non-conservative due to the hydrogen exposure and crack-tip deformation histories associated with typical procedures for sustained-load cracking tests under constant displacement. In contrast, K{sub JH}, which is measured under concurrent rising displacement and hydrogen gas exposure, provides a more conservative hydrogen-assisted fracture threshold that is relevant to structural components in which sub-critical crack extension is driven by internal hydrogen gas pressure.« less

Measurement and interpretation of threshold stress intensity factors for steels in high-pressure hydrogen gas.

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

Nibur, Kevin A.

2010-11-01

Threshold stress intensity factors were measured in high-pressure hydrogen gas for a variety of low alloy ferritic steels using both constant crack opening displacement and rising crack opening displacement procedures. The sustained load cracking procedures are generally consistent with those in ASME Article KD-10 of Section VIII Division 3 of the Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, which was recently published to guide design of high-pressure hydrogen vessels. Three definitions of threshold were established for the two test methods: K{sub THi}* is the maximum applied stress intensity factor for which no crack extension was observed under constant displacement; K{sub THa} ismore » the stress intensity factor at the arrest position for a crack that extended under constant displacement; and K{sub JH} is the stress intensity factor at the onset of crack extension under rising displacement. The apparent crack initiation threshold under constant displacement, K{sub THi}*, and the crack arrest threshold, K{sub THa}, were both found to be non-conservative due to the hydrogen exposure and crack-tip deformation histories associated with typical procedures for sustained-load cracking tests under constant displacement. In contrast, K{sub JH}, which is measured under concurrent rising displacement and hydrogen gas exposure, provides a more conservative hydrogen-assisted fracture threshold that is relevant to structural components in which sub-critical crack extension is driven by internal hydrogen gas pressure.« less

An evaluation of rise time characterization and prediction methods

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Robinson, Leick D.

1994-01-01

One common method of extrapolating sonic boom waveforms from aircraft to ground is to calculate the nonlinear distortion, and then add a rise time to each shock by a simple empirical rule. One common rule is the '3 over P' rule which calculates the rise time in milliseconds as three divided by the shock amplitude in psf. This rule was compared with the results of ZEPHYRUS, a comprehensive algorithm which calculates sonic boom propagation and extrapolation with the combined effects of nonlinearity, attenuation, dispersion, geometric spreading, and refraction in a stratified atmosphere. It is shown there that the simple empirical rule considerably overestimates the rise time estimate. In addition, the empirical rule does not account for variations in the rise time due to humidity variation or propagation history. It is also demonstrated that the rise time is only an approximate indicator of perceived loudness. Three waveforms with identical characteristics (shock placement, amplitude, and rise time), but with different shock shapes, are shown to give different calculated loudness. This paper is based in part on work performed at the Applied Research Laboratories, the University of Texas at Austin, and supported by NASA Langley.

Urban environment interventions linked to the promotion of physical activity. A mixed methods study applied to the urban context of Latin America

PubMed Central

Gomez, Luis F; Sarmiento, Rodrigo; Ordoñez, Maria Fernanda; Pardo, Carlos Felipe; de Sá, Thiago Hérick; Mallarino, Christina H; Miranda, J Jaime; Mosquera, Janeth; Parra, Diana Celmira; Reis, Rodrigo; Quistberg, Alex

2015-01-01

This study summarizes the evidence from quantitative systematic reviews that assessed the association between urban environment attributes and physical activity. It also documents sociopolitical barriers and facilitators involved in urban interventions linked with active living in the ten most populated urban settings of Latin America. The synthesis of evidence indicates that several attributes of urban environments are associated with physical activity, including land-use mix and cycling infrastructure. The documentary analysis indicated that despite the benefits and opportunities provided by the programs and existing infrastructure in the examined cities, an overall concern is the rising inequality in the coverage and distribution of the initiatives in the region. If these programs and initiatives are to achieve a real population level effect that helps to reduce health disparities, they need to examine their social and spatial distribution within the cities so they can reach underserved populations and develop to their full potential. PMID:25748111

Urban environment interventions linked to the promotion of physical activity: a mixed methods study applied to the urban context of Latin America.

PubMed

Gomez, Luis F; Sarmiento, Rodrigo; Ordoñez, Maria Fernanda; Pardo, Carlos Felipe; de Sá, Thiago Hérick; Mallarino, Christina H; Miranda, J Jaime; Mosquera, Janeth; Parra, Diana C; Reis, Rodrigo; Quistberg, D Alex

2015-04-01

This study summarizes the evidence from quantitative systematic reviews that assessed the association between urban environment attributes and physical activity. It also documents sociopolitical barriers and facilitators involved in urban interventions linked with active living in the ten most populated urban settings of Latin America. The synthesis of evidence indicates that several attributes of urban environments are associated with physical activity, including land-use mix and cycling infrastructure. The documentary analysis indicated that despite the benefits and opportunities provided by the programs and existing infrastructure in the examined cities, an overall concern is the rising inequality in the coverage and distribution of the initiatives in the region. If these programs and initiatives are to achieve a real population level effect that helps to reduce health disparities, they need to examine their social and spatial distribution within the cities so they can reach underserved populations and develop to their full potential. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Phase diagram of Ag-Pd bimetallic nanoclusters by molecular dynamics simulations: solid-to-liquid transition and size-dependent behavior.

PubMed

Kim, Da Hye; Kim, Hyun You; Ryu, Ji Hoon; Lee, Hyuck Mo

2009-07-07

This report on the solid-to-liquid transition region of an Ag-Pd bimetallic nanocluster is based on a constant energy microcanonical ensemble molecular dynamics simulation combined with a collision method. By varying the size and composition of an Ag-Pd bimetallic cluster, we obtained a complete solid-solution type of binary phase diagram of the Ag-Pd system. Irrespective of the size and composition of the cluster, the melting temperature of Ag-Pd bimetallic clusters is lower than that of the bulk state and rises as the cluster size and the Pd composition increase. Additionally, the slope of the phase boundaries (even though not exactly linear) is lowered when the cluster size is reduced on account of the complex relations of the surface tension, the bulk melting temperature, and the heat of fusion. The melting of the cluster initially starts at the surface layer. The initiation and propagation of a five-fold icosahedron symmetry is related to the sequential melting of the cluster.

Removal of organic matter and ammonia nitrogen from landfill leachate by ultrasound.

PubMed

Wang, Songlin; Wu, Xiaohui; Wang, Yansong; Li, Qifen; Tao, Meijun

2008-09-01

Experiments on the removal of organic matters and ammonia nitrogen from landfill leachate by ultrasound irradiation were carried out. The effects of COD reduction and ammonia removal of power input, initial concentration, initial pH and aeration were studied. It was found that the sonolysis of organic matters proceeds via reaction with ()OH radicals; a thermal reaction also occurs with a small contribution. The rise of COD at some intervals could be explained by the complexity of organic pollutant sonolysis in landfill leachate. Ultrasonic irradiation was shown to be an effective method for the removal of ammonia nitrogen from landfill leachate. After 180 min ultrasound irradiation, up to 96% ammonia nitrogen removal efficiency can be obtained. It was found that the mechanism of ammonia nitrogen removal by ultrasound irradiation is largely that the free ammonia molecules in leachate enter into the cavitation bubbles and transform into nitrogen molecules and hydrogen molecules via pyrolysis under instant high temperature and high pressure in the cavitation bubbles.

Plasma Discharge Initiation of Explosives in Rock Blasting Application: A Case Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jae-Ou, Chae; Young-Jun, Jeong; V, M. Shmelev; A, A. Denicaev; V, M. Poutchkov; V, Ravi

2006-07-01

A plasma discharge initiation system for the explosive volumetric combustion charge was designed, investigated and developed for practical application. Laboratory scale experiments were carried out before conducting the large scale field tests. The resultant explosions gave rise to less noise, insignificant seismic vibrations and good specific explosive consumption for rock blasting. Importantly, the technique was found to be safe and environmentally friendly.

Drug Resistance in Salmonella Typhimurium and its Implications*

PubMed Central

Anderson, E. S.

1968-01-01

A rise in Salmonella typhimurium infection was observed in calves in Britain during 1964–6, follwing the adoption of the intensive farming method. A single phage type of S. typhimurium, type 29, was incriminated as the major pathogen. Attempts to treat and control the disease with a range of antibiotics were ineffective, but resulted in the acquisition of transferable multiple drug resistance by type 29. The transmission of drug-resistant type 29, directly or indirectly, from bovines to man resulted in many human infections. Transferable drug resistance reaching man from enterobacteria of animal origin may ultimately enter specifically human pathogens. Infections such as that caused by type 29 can be eliminated, not by the massive use of antibiotics but by improvement in conditions of animal husbandry and reduction in the opportunities for the initiation and spread of the disease. A reappraisal is needed of the methods of using antibiotics to determine how these methods can be improved, in order to conserve the long-term efficacy of the antibiotics. PMID:4874171

Models for the rise of the dinosaurs.

PubMed

Benton, Michael J; Forth, Jonathan; Langer, Max C

2014-01-20

Dinosaurs arose in the early Triassic in the aftermath of the greatest mass extinction ever and became hugely successful in the Mesozoic. Their initial diversification is a classic example of a large-scale macroevolutionary change. Diversifications at such deep-time scales can now be dissected, modelled and tested. New fossils suggest that dinosaurs originated early in the Middle Triassic, during the recovery of life from the devastating Permo-Triassic mass extinction. Improvements in stratigraphic dating and a new suite of morphometric and comparative evolutionary numerical methods now allow a forensic dissection of one of the greatest turnovers in the history of life. Such studies mark a move from the narrative to the analytical in macroevolutionary research, and they allow us to begin to answer the proposal of George Gaylord Simpson, to explore adaptive radiations using numerical methods. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Construction of hierarchically porous metal–organic frameworks through linker labilization

DOE PAGES

Yuan, Shuai; Zou, Lanfang; Qin, Jun-Sheng; ...

2017-05-25

One major goal of metal–organic framework (MOF) research is the expansion of pore size and volume. Although many approaches have been attempted to increase the pore size of MOF materials, it is still a challenge to construct MOFs with precisely customized pore apertures for specific applications. W present a new method, namely linker labilization, to increase the MOF porosity and pore size, giving rise to hierarchical-pore architectures. Microporous MOFs with robust metal nodes and pro-labile linkers were initially synthesized. The mesopores were subsequently created as crystal defects through the splitting of a pro-labile-linker and the removal of the linker fragmentsmore » by acid treatment. We also demonstrate that linker labilization method can create controllable hierarchical porous structures in stable MOFs, which facilitates the diffusion and adsorption process of guest molecules to improve the performances of MOFs in adsorption and catalysis.« less

The effect of beam-driven return current instability on solar hard X-ray bursts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cromwell, D.; Mcquillan, P.; Brown, J. C.

1986-01-01

The problem of electrostatic wave generation by a return current driven by a small area electron beam during solar hard X-ray bursts is discussed. The marginal stability method is used to solve numerically the electron and ion heating equations for a prescribed beam current evolution. When ion-acoustic waves are considered, the method appears satisfactory and, following an initial phase of Coulomb resistivity in which T sub e/T sub i rise, predicts a rapid heating of substantial plasma volumes by anomalous ohmic dissipation. This hot plasma emits so much thermal bremsstrahlung that, contrary to previous expectations, the unstable beam-plasma system actually emits more hard X-rays than does the beam in the purely collisional thick target regime relevant to larger injection areas. Inclusion of ion-cyclotron waves results in ion-acoustic wave onset at lower T sub e/T sub i and a marginal stability treatment yields unphysical results.

Recoverable stress induced two-way shape memory effect on NiTi surface using laser-produced shock wave

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seyitliyev, Dovletgeldi; Li, Peizhen; Kholikov, Khomidkhodza; Grant, Byron; Thomas, Zachary; Alal, Orhan; Karaca, Haluk E.; Er, Ali O.

2017-02-01

The surfaces of Ni50Ti50 shape memory alloys (SMAs) were patterned by laser scribing. This method is more simplistic and efficient than traditional indentation techniques, and has also shown to be an effective method in patterning these materials. Different laser energy densities ranging from 5 mJ/pulse to 56 mJ/pulse were used to observe recovery on SMA surface. The temperature dependent heat profiles of the NiTi surfaces after laser scribing at 56 mJ/pulse show the partially-recovered indents, which indicate a "shape memory effect (SME)" Experimental data is in good agreement with theoretical simulation of laser induced shock wave propagation inside NiTi SMAs. Stress wave closely followed the rise time of the laser pulse to its peak values and initial decay. Further investigations are underway to improve the SME such that the indents are recovered to a greater extent.

Construction of hierarchically porous metal-organic frameworks through linker labilization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Shuai; Zou, Lanfang; Qin, Jun-Sheng; Li, Jialuo; Huang, Lan; Feng, Liang; Wang, Xuan; Bosch, Mathieu; Alsalme, Ali; Cagin, Tahir; Zhou, Hong-Cai

2017-05-01

A major goal of metal-organic framework (MOF) research is the expansion of pore size and volume. Although many approaches have been attempted to increase the pore size of MOF materials, it is still a challenge to construct MOFs with precisely customized pore apertures for specific applications. Herein, we present a new method, namely linker labilization, to increase the MOF porosity and pore size, giving rise to hierarchical-pore architectures. Microporous MOFs with robust metal nodes and pro-labile linkers were initially synthesized. The mesopores were subsequently created as crystal defects through the splitting of a pro-labile-linker and the removal of the linker fragments by acid treatment. We demonstrate that linker labilization method can create controllable hierarchical porous structures in stable MOFs, which facilitates the diffusion and adsorption process of guest molecules to improve the performances of MOFs in adsorption and catalysis.

Application of point kinetics equations to the design of a reactivity meter

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

Binney, S.E.; Bakir, A.J.M.

1988-01-01

The time-dependent reactivity of a nuclear reactor is obviously one of the most important reactor parameters that describes the state of the reactor. Although several different types of techniques exist to measure reactivity, only the kinetic method is described here. The paper illustrates the measured reactor power and calculated reactivity for a 70 cents step change in reactivity. These data were taken at 1-s time intervals. It is seen that the reactivity, initially at zero, rises rapidly to a predetermined value (determined by the reactivity change induced in the system) and then returns to zero as the reactor is reestablishedmore » in a critical situation by insertion of another control rod. It is concluded that the method of Tuttle has been adapted to produce a reliable, on-line calculation of reactivity from a time-dependent reactor power signal.« less

Construction of hierarchically porous metal–organic frameworks through linker labilization

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

Yuan, Shuai; Zou, Lanfang; Qin, Jun-Sheng

One major goal of metal–organic framework (MOF) research is the expansion of pore size and volume. Although many approaches have been attempted to increase the pore size of MOF materials, it is still a challenge to construct MOFs with precisely customized pore apertures for specific applications. W present a new method, namely linker labilization, to increase the MOF porosity and pore size, giving rise to hierarchical-pore architectures. Microporous MOFs with robust metal nodes and pro-labile linkers were initially synthesized. The mesopores were subsequently created as crystal defects through the splitting of a pro-labile-linker and the removal of the linker fragmentsmore » by acid treatment. We also demonstrate that linker labilization method can create controllable hierarchical porous structures in stable MOFs, which facilitates the diffusion and adsorption process of guest molecules to improve the performances of MOFs in adsorption and catalysis.« less

Building a Community Framework for Adaptation to Sea Level Rise and Inundation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Culver, M. E.; Schubel, J.; Davidson, M. A.; Haines, J.

2010-12-01

Sea level rise and inundation pose a substantial risk to many coastal communities, and the risk is projected to increase because of continued development, changes in the frequency and intensity of inundation events, and acceleration in the rate of sea-level rise. Calls for action at all levels acknowledge that a viable response must engage federal, state and local expertise, perspectives, and resources in a coordinated and collaborative effort. Representatives from a variety of these agencies and organizations have developed a shared framework to help coastal communities structure and facilitate community-wide adaptation processes and to help agencies determine where investments should be made to enable states and local governments to assess impacts and initiate adaptation strategies over the next decade. For sea level rise planning and implementation, the requirements for high-quality data and information are vast and the availability is limited. Participants stressed the importance of data interoperability to ensure that users are able to apply data from a variety of sources and to improve availability and confidence in the data. Participants were able to prioritize the following six categories of data needed to support future sea level rise planning and implementation: - Data to understand land forms and where and how water will flow - Monitoring data and environmental drivers - Consistent sea level rise scenarios and projections across agencies to support local planning - Data to characterize vulnerabilities and impacts of sea level rise - Community characteristics - Legal frameworks and administrative structure. To develop a meaningful and effective sea level rise adaptation plan, state and local planners must understand how the availability, scale, and uncertainty of these types of data will impact new guidelines or adaptation measures. The tools necessary to carry-out the adaptation planning process need to be understood in terms of data requirements, assumptions of the method, and the reliability and utility of the outputs. This type of information will assist the community in choosing among the available options. Communities have experience with storm and hazardous events, and the response typically is to return to pre-event conditions. With sea level rise, there will need to be a shift in perception and response from storm events, and the people must collectively arrive at a new vision for their community in light of a changing environment. Understanding the possible scenarios and the uncertainty or probability of those scenarios is a critical component in the adaptation process. Although there is a broad constituency that does not know the issue well, many communities are savvy about the impacts of sea level rise. Armed with the available information and resources and an understanding of the uncertainties, many communities are ready to take action. Successful adaptation planning will require that all sectors — local, state, federal, academic, nongovernmental, and the private sector — work together throughout the process to provide local communities with resources, scientific and political support.

Marsh accretion in Oregon estuaries using the marker horizon method and implications of sea level rise

EPA Science Inventory

Sea level rise and the ability of marshes to keep up with this rise have been extensively studied on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the US; however, there is limited information available for marshes in the Pacific Northwest. Our research focuses on measuring marsh sediment acc...

Analytical chemical kinetic investigation of the effects of oxygen, hydrogen, and hydroxyl radicals on hydrogen-air combustion

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carson, G. T., Jr.

1974-01-01

Quantitative values were computed which show the effects of the presence of small amounts of oxygen, hydrogen, and hydroxyl radicals on the finite-rate chemical kinetics of premixed hydrogen-air mixtures undergoing isobaric autoignition and combustion. The free radicals were considered to be initially present in hydrogen-air mixtures at equivalence ratios of 0.2, 0.6, 1.0, and 1.2. Initial mixture temperatures were 1100 K, 1200 K, and 1500 K, and pressures were 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, and 4.0 atm. Of the radicals investigated, atomic oxygen was found to be the most effective for reducing induction time, defined as the time to 5 percent of the total combustion temperature rise. The reaction time, the time between 5 percent and 95 percent of the temperature rise, is not decreased by the presence of free radicals in the initial hydrogen-air mixture. Fuel additives which yield free radicals might be used to effect a compact supersonic combustor design for efficient operation in an otherwise reaction-limited combustion regime.

ISMIP6 - initMIP: Greenland ice sheet model initialisation experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goelzer, Heiko; Nowicki, Sophie; Payne, Tony; Larour, Eric; Abe Ouchi, Ayako; Gregory, Jonathan; Lipscomb, William; Seroussi, Helene; Shepherd, Andrew; Edwards, Tamsin

2016-04-01

Earlier large-scale Greenland ice sheet sea-level projections e.g. those run during ice2sea and SeaRISE initiatives have shown that ice sheet initialisation can have a large effect on the projections and gives rise to important uncertainties. This intercomparison exercise (initMIP) aims at comparing, evaluating and improving the initialization techniques used in the ice sheet modeling community and to estimate the associated uncertainties. It is the first in a series of ice sheet model intercomparison activities within ISMIP6 (Ice Sheet Model Intercomparison Project for CMIP6). The experiments are conceived for the large-scale Greenland ice sheet and are designed to allow intercomparison between participating models of 1) the initial present-day state of the ice sheet and 2) the response in two schematic forward experiments. The latter experiments serve to evaluate the initialisation in terms of model drift (forward run without any forcing) and response to a large perturbation (prescribed surface mass balance anomaly). We present and discuss first results of the intercomparison and highlight important uncertainties with respect to projections of the Greenland ice sheet sea-level contribution.

Strategic advantages of high-rise construction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yaskova, Natalya

2018-03-01

Traditional methods to assess the competitiveness of different types of real estate in the context of huge changes of new technological way of life don't provide building solutions that would be correct from a strategic perspective. There are many challenges due to changes in the consumers' behavior in the housing area. A multiplicity of life models, a variety of opportunities and priorities, traditions and new trends in construction should be assessed in terms of prospective benefits in the environment of the emerging new world order. At the same time, the mane discourse of high-rise construction mainly relates to its design features, technical innovations, and architectural accents. We need to clarify the criteria for economic evaluation of high-rise construction in order to provide decisions with clear and quantifiable contexts. The suggested approach to assessing the strategic advantage of high-rise construction and the prospects for capitalization of high-rise buildings poses new challenges for the economy to identify adequate quantitative assessment methods of the high-rise buildings economic efficiency, taking into account all stages of their life cycle.

Numerical study of heterogeneous mean temperature and shock wave in a resonator

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

Yano, Takeru

2015-10-28

When a frequency of gas oscillation in an acoustic resonator is sufficiently close to one of resonant frequencies of the resonator, the amplitude of gas oscillation becomes large and hence the nonlinear effect manifests itself. Then, if the dissipation effects due to viscosity and thermal conductivity of the gas are sufficiently small, the gas oscillation may evolve into the acoustic shock wave, in the so-called consonant resonators. At the shock front, the kinetic energy of gas oscillation is converted into heat by the dissipation process inside the shock layer, and therefore the temperature of the gas in the resonator rises.more » Since the acoustic shock wave travels in the resonator repeatedly over and over again, the temperature rise becomes noticeable in due course of time even if the shock wave is weak. We numerically study the gas oscillation with shock wave in a resonator of square cross section by solving the initial and boundary value problem of the system of three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations with a finite difference method. In this case, the heat conduction across the boundary layer on the wall of resonator causes a spatially heterogeneous distribution of mean (time-averaged) gas temperature.« less

Systemic effects of screening for retinopathy of prematurity.

PubMed Central

Laws, D E; Morton, C; Weindling, M; Clark, D

1996-01-01

AIMS: To detect systemic complications of screening for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), paying particular attention to the physical examination. METHODS: Oxygen saturation, pulse rate, and blood pressure were monitored before, during, and after 110 ROP screening examinations. RESULTS: Following topical mydriatics diastolic blood pressure was elevated by a mean of 6 (SD 7.2) mm Hg. Immediately after the examination there was a further rise in both systolic and diastolic pressure of 4.3 (14.5) mm Hg and 3.3 (11.6) mm Hg, respectively. Oxygen saturation and pulse rate remained stable during the control period and administration of eyedrops. Saturation fell by a median of 3% (95% confidence interval plus or minus 1.2%) after the examination while there was rise in pulse rate of 7 (SD 23.1) beats per minute. This change in pulse rate was not observed in infants on concurrent methylxanthine therapy. No infant had clinically significant changes at the end of the study. CONCLUSION: The initial changes in blood pressure may represent side effects of topical mydriatics but the later changes following the physical examination may be an additional response to the stress of ROP screening. PMID:8695564

Ionospheric modification - An initial report on artificially created equatorial Spread F

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ossakow, S. L.; Zalesak, S. T.; Mcdonald, B. E.

1978-01-01

A numerical simulation code for investigating equatorial Spread F in the collisional Rayleigh-Taylor regime is utilized to follow the evolution of artificial plasma density depletions injected into the bottomside nighttime equatorial F region. The 70 km diameter hole rapidly rises and steepens, forming plasma density enhancements at altitudes below the rising hole. The distribution of enhancements and depletions is similar to natural equatorial Spread F phenomena, except it occurs on a much faster time scale. These predictions warrant carrying out artificial injection experiments in the nighttime equatorial F region.

Modeling pressure rise in gas targets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jahangiri, P.; Lapi, S. E.; Publicover, J.; Buckley, K.; Martinez, D. M.; Ruth, T. J.; Hoehr, C.

2017-05-01

The purpose of this work is to introduce a universal mathematical model to explain a gas target behaviour at steady-state time scale. To obtain our final goal, an analytical model is proposed to study the pressure rise in the targets used to produce medical isotopes on low-energy cyclotrons. The model is developed based on the assumption that during irradiation the system reaches steady-state. The model is verified by various experiments performed at different beam currents, gas type, and initial pressures at 13 MeV cyclotron at TRIUMF. Excellent agreement is achieved.

Arterial Baroreceptor Reflex Counteracts Long-Term Blood Pressure Increase in the Rat Model of Renovascular Hypertension

PubMed Central

Tsyrlin, Vitaly A.; Galagudza, Michael M.; Kuzmenko, Nataly V.; Pliss, Michael G.; Rubanova, Nataly S.; Shcherbin, Yury I.

2013-01-01

Introduction The present study tested the hypothesis that long-term effects of baroreceptor activation might contribute to the prevention of persistent arterial blood pressure (BP) increase in the rat model of renovascular hypertension (HTN). Methods Repetitive arterial baroreflex (BR) testing was performed in normo- and hypertensive rats. The relationship between initial arterial BR sensitivity and severity of subsequently induced two-kidney one-clip (2K1C) renovascular HTN was studied in Wistar rats. Additionally, the time course of changes in systolic BP (SBP) and cardiac beat-to-beat (RR) interval was studied for 8 weeks after the induction of 2K1C renovascular HTN in the rats with and without sinoaortic denervation (SAD). In a separate experimental series, cervical sympathetic nerve activity (cSNA) was assessed in controls, 2K1C rats, WKY rats, and SHR. Results The inverse correlation between arterial BR sensitivity and BP was observed in the hypertensive rats during repetitive arterial BR testing. The animals with greater initial arterial BR sensitivity developed lower BP values after renal artery clipping than those with lower initial arterial BR sensitivity. BP elevation during the first 8 weeks of renal artery clipping in 2K1C rats was associated with decreased sensitivity of arterial BR. Although SAD itself resulted only in greater BP variability but not in persistent BP rise, the subsequent renal artery clipping invariably resulted in the development of sustained HTN. The time to onset of HTN was found to be shorter in the rats with SAD than in those with intact baroreceptors. cSNA was significantly greater in the 2K1C rats than in controls. Conclusions Arterial BR appears to be an important mechanism of long-term regulation of BP, and is believed to be involved in the prevention of BP rise in the rat model of renovascular HTN. PMID:23762254

Sea level rise from the Greenland Ice Sheet during the Eemian interglacial: Review of previous work with focus on the surface mass balance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plach, Andreas; Hestnes Nisancioglu, Kerim

2016-04-01

The contribution from the Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS) to the global sea level rise during the Eemian interglacial (about 125,000 year ago) was the focus of many studies in the past. A main reason for the interest in this period is the considerable warmer climate during the Eemian which is often seen as an equivalent for possible future climate conditions. Simulated sea level rise during the Eemian can therefore be used to better understand a possible future sea level rise. The most recent assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC AR5) gives an overview of several studies and discusses the possible implications for a future sea level rise. The report also reveals the big differences between these studies in terms of simulated GIS extent and corresponding sea level rise. The present study gives a more exhaustive review of previous work discussing sea level rise from the GIS during the Eemian interglacial. The smallest extents of the GIS simulated by various authors are shown and summarized. A focus is thereby given to the methods used to calculate the surface mass balance. A hypothesis of the present work is that the varying results of the previous studies can largely be explained due to the various methods used to calculate the surface mass balance. In addition, as a first step for future work, the surface mass balance of the GIS for a proxy-data derived forcing ("index method") and a direct forcing with a General Circulation Model (GCM) are shown and discussed.

900 Numbers: A Controversial Industry.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Galvez, Nancy D.

1992-01-01

Pay-per-call telephone services through 900 numbers have given rise to criticism of their content and complaints of consumer fraud. The Federal Communications Commission, legislative initiatives, industry self-regulation, and consumer educators are attempting to protect consumers. (SK)

Yeast respond to hypotonic shock with a calcium pulse

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Batiza, A. F.; Schulz, T.; Masson, P. H.

1996-01-01

We have used the transgenic AEQUORIN calcium reporter system to monitor the cytosolic calcium ([Ca2+]cyt) response of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to hypotonic shock. Such a shock generates an almost immediate and transient rise in [Ca2+]cyt which is eliminated by gadolinium, a blocker of stretch-activated channels. In addition, this transient rise in [Ca2+]cyt is initially insensitive to 1,2-bis-(o-aminophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid (BAPTA), an extracellular calcium chelator. However, BAPTA abruptly attenuates the maintenance of that transient rise. These data show that hypotonic shock generates a stretch-activated channel-dependent calcium pulse in yeast. They also suggest that the immediate calcium influx is primarily generated from intracellular stores, and that a sustained increase in [Ca2+]cyt depends upon extracellular calcium.

Effect of degrading yellow oxo-biodegradable low-density polyethylene films to water quality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Requejo, B. A.; Pajarito, B. B.

2017-05-01

Polyethylene (PE) contributes largely to plastic wastes that are disposed in aquatic environment as a consequence of its widespread use. In this study, yellow oxo-biodegradable low-density PE films were immersed in deionized water at 50°C for 49 days. Indicators of water quality: pH, oxidation-reduction potential, turbidity, and total dissolved solids (TDS), were monitored at regular intervals. It was observed that pH initially rises and then slowly decreases with time, oxidation-reduction potential decreases then slowly increases with time, turbidity rises above the control at varied rates, and TDS increases abruptly and rises at a hindered rate. Moreover, the films potentially leach out lead chromate. The results imply that degrading oxo-biodegradable LDPE films results to significant reduction of water quality.

The intonation of gapping and coordination in Japanese: evidence for intonational phrase and utterance.

PubMed

Kawahara, Shigeto; Shinya, Takahito

2008-01-01

In previous studies of Japanese intonational phonology, levels of prosodic constituents above the Major Phrase have not received much attention. This paper argues that at least two prosodic levels exist above the Major Phrase in Japanese. Through a detailed investigation of the intonation of gapping and coordination in Japanese, we argue that each syntactic clause projects its own Intonational Phrase, while an entire sentence constitutes one Utterance. We show that the Intonational Phrase is characterized by tonal lowering, creakiness and a pause in final position, as well as a distinctive large initial rise and pitch reset at its beginning. The Utterance defines a domain of declination, and it is signaled by an even larger initial rise, as well as a phrasal H tone at its right edge. Building on our empirical findings, we discuss several implications for the theory of intonational phonology. (c) 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Adaptation or Resistance: a classification of responses to sea-level rise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cooper, J. A.

2016-02-01

Societal responses to sea level rise and associated coastal change are apparently diverse in nature and motivation. Most are commonly referred to as 'adaptation'. Based on a review of current practice, however, it is argued that many of these responses do not involve adaptation, but are rather resisting change. There are several instances where formerly adaptive initiatives involving human adaptability are being replaced by initiatives that resist change. A classification is presented that recognises a continuum of responses ranging from adaptation to resistance, depending upon the willingness to change human activities to accommodate environmental change. In many cases climate change adaptation resources are being used for projects that are purely resistant and which foreclose future adaptation options. It is argued that a more concise definition of adaptation is needed if coastal management is to move beyond the current position of holding the shoreline, other tah n in a few showcase examples.

Urban Shanty Town Recognition Based on High-Resolution Remote Sensing Images and National Geographical Monitoring Features - a Case Study of Nanning City

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Y.; He, Y.

2018-04-01

Urban shanty towns are communities that has contiguous old and dilapidated houses with more than 2000 square meters built-up area or more than 50 households. This study makes attempts to extract shanty towns in Nanning City using the product of Census and TripleSat satellite images. With 0.8-meter high-resolution remote sensing images, five texture characteristics (energy, contrast, maximum probability, and inverse difference moment) of shanty towns are trained and analyzed through GLCM. In this study, samples of shanty town are well classified with 98.2 % producer accuracy of unsupervised classification and 73.2 % supervised classification correctness. Low-rise and mid-rise residential blocks in Nanning City are classified into 4 different types by using k-means clustering and nearest neighbour classification respectively. This study initially establish texture feature descriptions of different types of residential areas, especially low-rise and mid-rise buildings, which would help city administrator evaluate residential blocks and reconstruction shanty towns.

Characteristics code for shock initiation

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

Partom, Y.

1986-10-01

We developed SHIN, a characteristics code for shock initiation studies. We describe in detail the equations of state, reaction model, rate equations, and numerical difference equations that SHIN incorporates. SHIN uses the previously developed surface burning reaction model which better represents the shock initiation process in TATB, than do bulk reaction models. A large number of computed simulations prove the code is a reliable and efficient tool for shock initiation studies. A parametric study shows the effect on build-up and run distance to detonation of (1) type of boundary condtion, (2) burning velocity curve, (3) shock duration, (4) rise timemore » in ramp loading, (5) initial density (or porosity) of the explosive, (6) initial temperature, and (7) grain size. 29 refs., 65 figs.« less

The method of selecting an integrated development territory for the high-rise unique constructions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sheina, Svetlana; Shevtsova, Elina; Sukhinin, Alexander; Priss, Elena

2018-03-01

On the basis of data provided by the Department of architecture and urban planning of the city of Rostov-on-don, the problem of the choice of the territory for complex development that will be in priority for the construction of high-rise and unique buildings is solved. The objective of the study was the development of a methodology for selection of the area and the implementation of the proposed method on the example of evaluation of four-territories complex development. The developed method along with standard indicators of complex evaluation considers additional indicators that assess the territory from the position of high-rise unique building. The final result of the study is the rankings of the functional priority areas that takes into account the construction of both residential and public and business objects of unique high-rise construction. The use of the developed methodology will allow investors and customers to assess the investment attractiveness of the future unique construction project on the proposed site.

Construction of high-rise building with underground parking in Moscow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ilyichev, Vyacheslav; Nikiforova, Nadezhda; Konnov, Artem

2018-03-01

Paper presents results of scientific support to construction of unique residential building 108 m high with one storey underground part under high-rise section and 3-storey underground parking connected by underground passage. On-site soils included anthropogenic soil, clayey soils soft-stiff, saturated sands of varied grain coarseness. Design of retaining structure and support system for high-rise part excavation was developed. It suggested installation of steel pipes and struts. Construction of adjacent 3-storey underground parking by "Moscow method" is described in the paper. This method involves implementation of retaining wall consisted of prefabricated panels, truss structures (used as struts) and reinforced concrete slabs. Also design and construction technology is provided for foundations consisted of bored piles 800 MM in diameter joined by slab with base widening diameter of 1500 MM. Experiment results of static and dynamic load testing (ELDY method) are considered. Geotechnical monitoring data of adjacent building and utility systems settlement caused by construction of presented high-rise building were compared to numerical modelling results, predicted and permissible values.

Comparative effectiveness research.

PubMed

Hirsch, J A; Schaefer, P W; Romero, J M; Rabinov, J D; Sanelli, P C; Manchikanti, L

2014-09-01

The goal of comparative effectiveness research is to improve health care while dealing with the seemingly ever-rising cost. An understanding of comparative effectiveness research as a core topic is important for neuroradiologists. It can be used in a variety of ways. Its goal is to look at alternative methods of interacting with a clinical condition, ideally, while improving delivery of care. While the Patient-Centered Outcome Research initiative is the most mature US-based foray into comparative effectiveness research, it has been used more robustly in decision-making in other countries for quite some time. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence of the United Kingdom is a noteworthy example of comparative effectiveness research in action. © 2014 by American Journal of Neuroradiology.

Mapping a research agenda for the science of team science

PubMed Central

Falk-Krzesinski, Holly J; Contractor, Noshir; Fiore, Stephen M; Hall, Kara L; Kane, Cathleen; Keyton, Joann; Klein, Julie Thompson; Spring, Bonnie; Stokols, Daniel; Trochim, William

2012-01-01

An increase in cross-disciplinary, collaborative team science initiatives over the last few decades has spurred interest by multiple stakeholder groups in empirical research on scientific teams, giving rise to an emergent field referred to as the science of team science (SciTS). This study employed a collaborative team science concept-mapping evaluation methodology to develop a comprehensive research agenda for the SciTS field. Its integrative mixed-methods approach combined group process with statistical analysis to derive a conceptual framework that identifies research areas of team science and their relative importance to the emerging SciTS field. The findings from this concept-mapping project constitute a lever for moving SciTS forward at theoretical, empirical, and translational levels. PMID:23223093

Marshes to mudflats—Effects of sea-level rise on tidal marshes along a latitudinal gradient in the Pacific Northwest

USGS Publications Warehouse

Thorne, Karen M.; Dugger, Bruce D.; Buffington, Kevin J.; Freeman, Chase M.; Janousek, Christopher N.; Powelson, Katherine W.; Gutenspergen, Glenn R.; Takekawa, John Y.

2015-11-17

In the Pacific Northwest, coastal wetlands support a wealth of ecosystem services including habitat provision for wildlife and fisheries and flood protection. The tidal marshes, mudflats, and shallow bays of coastal estuaries link marine, freshwater, and terrestrial habitats, and provide economic and recreational benefits to local communities. Climate change effects such as sea-level rise are altering these habitats, but we know little about how these areas will change over the next 50–100 years. Our study examined the effects of sea-level rise on nine tidal marshes in Washington and Oregon between 2012 and 2015, with the goal of providing scientific data to support future coastal planning and conservation. We compiled physical and biological data, including coastal topography, tidal inundation, vegetation structure, as well as recent and historical sediment accretion rates, to assess and model how sea-level rise may alter these ecosystems in the future. Multiple factors, including initial elevation, marsh productivity, sediment availability, and rates of sea-level rise, affected marsh persistence. Under a low sea-level rise scenario, all marshes remained vegetated with little change in the present configuration of communities of marsh plants or gradually increased proportions of middle-, high-, or transition-elevation zones of marsh vegetation. However, at most sites, mid sea-level rise projections led to loss of habitat of middle and high marshes and a gain of low marshes. Under a high sea-level rise scenario, marshes at most sites eventually converted to intertidal mudflats. Two sites (Grays Harbor and Willapa) seemed to have the most resilience to a high rate of rise in sea-level, persisting as low marsh until at least 2110. Our main model finding is that most tidal marsh study sites are resilient to sea-level rise over the next 50–70 years, but that sea-level rise will eventually outpace marsh accretion and drown most habitats of high and middle marshes by 2110.

Adapting to Rising Sea Level: A Florida Perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parkinson, Randall W.

2009-07-01

Global climate change and concomitant rising sea level will have a profound impact on Florida's coastal and marine systems. Sea-level rise will increase erosion of beaches, cause saltwater intrusion into water supplies, inundate coastal marshes and other important habitats, and make coastal property more vulnerable to erosion and flooding. Yet most coastal areas are currently managed under the premise that sea-level rise is not significant and the shorelines are static or can be fixed in place by engineering structures. The new reality of sea-level rise and extreme weather due to climate change requires a new style of planning and management to protect resources and reduce risk to humans. Scientists must: (1) assess existing coastal vulnerability to address short term management issues and (2) model future landscape change and develop sustainable plans to address long term planning and management issues. Furthermore, this information must be effectively transferred to planners, managers, and elected officials to ensure their decisions are based upon the best available information. While there is still some uncertainty regarding the details of rising sea level and climate change, development decisions are being made today which commit public and private investment in real estate and associated infrastructure. With a design life of 30 yrs to 75 yrs or more, many of these investments are on a collision course with rising sea level and the resulting impacts will be significant. In the near term, the utilization of engineering structures may be required, but these are not sustainable and must ultimately yield to "managed withdrawal" programs if higher sea-level elevations or rates of rise are forthcoming. As an initial step towards successful adaptation, coastal management and planning documents (i.e., comprehensive plans) must be revised to include reference to climate change and rising sea-level.

The importance of vegetation change in the prediction of future tropical cyclone flood statistics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Irish, J. L.; Resio, D.; Bilskie, M. V.; Hagen, S. C.; Weiss, R.

2015-12-01

Global sea level rise is a near certainty over the next century (e.g., Stocker et al. 2013 [IPCC] and references therein). With sea level rise, coastal topography and land cover (hereafter "landscape") is expected to change and tropical cyclone flood hazard is expected to accelerate (e.g., Irish et al. 2010 [Ocean Eng], Woodruff et al. 2013 [Nature], Bilskie et al. 2014 [Geophys Res Lett], Ferreira et al. 2014 [Coast Eng], Passeri et al. 2015 [Nat Hazards]). Yet, the relative importance of sea-level rise induced landscape change on future tropical cyclone flood hazard assessment is not known. In this paper, idealized scenarios are used to evaluate the relative impact of one class of landscape change on future tropical cyclone extreme-value statistics in back-barrier regions: sea level rise induced vegetation migration and loss. The joint probability method with optimal sampling (JPM-OS) (Resio et al. 2009 [Nat Hazards]) with idealized surge response functions (e.g., Irish et al. 2009 [Nat Hazards]) is used to quantify the present-day and future flood hazard under various sea level rise scenarios. Results are evaluated in terms of their impact on the flood statistics (a) when projected flood elevations are included directly in the JPM analysis (Figure 1) and (b) when represented as additional uncertainty within the JPM integral (Resio et al. 2013 [Nat Hazards]), i.e., as random error. Findings are expected to aid in determining the level of effort required to reasonably account for future landscape change in hazard assessments, namely in determining when such processes are sufficiently captured by added uncertainty and when sea level rise induced vegetation changes must be considered dynamically, via detailed modeling initiatives. Acknowledgements: This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. CMMI-1206271 and by the National Sea Grant College Program of the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under Grant No. NA10OAR4170099. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of these organizations. The STOKES ARCC at the University of Central Florida provided computational resources for storm surge simulations.

Rapid testing of pulse transformers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grillo, J.

1980-01-01

Quality-control testing of pulse transformers is speeded up by method for determining rise time and droop. Instead of using oscilloscope and square-wave generator to measure these characteristics directly, method uses voltmeter and sine-wave generator to measure them indirectly in about one-tenth time. Droop and rise time are determined by measuring input/output voltage ratio at just four frequencies.

Paleoenvironmental evidence for first human colonization of the eastern Caribbean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Siegel, Peter E.; Jones, John G.; Pearsall, Deborah M.; Dunning, Nicholas P.; Farrell, Pat; Duncan, Neil A.; Curtis, Jason H.; Singh, Sushant K.

2015-12-01

Identifying and dating first human colonization of new places is challenging, especially when group sizes were small and material traces of their occupations were ephemeral. Generating reliable reconstructions of human colonization patterns from intact archaeological sites may be difficult to impossible given post-depositional taphonomic processes and in cases of island and coastal locations the inundation of landscapes resulting from post-Pleistocene sea-level rise. Paleoenvironmental reconstruction is proving to be a more reliable method of identifying small-scale human colonization events than archaeological data alone. We demonstrate the method through a sediment-coring project across the Lesser Antilles and southern Caribbean. Paleoenvironmental data were collected informing on the timing of multiple island-colonization events and land-use histories spanning the full range of human occupations in the Caribbean, from the initial forays into the islands through the arrival and eventual domination of the landscapes and indigenous people by Europeans. In some areas, our data complement archaeological, paleoecological, and historical findings from the Lesser Antilles and in others amplify understanding of colonization history. Here, we highlight data relating to the timing and process of initial colonization in the eastern Caribbean. In particular, paleoenvironmental data from Trinidad, Grenada, Martinique, and Marie-Galante (Guadeloupe) provide a basis for revisiting initial colonization models of the Caribbean. We conclude that archaeological programs addressing human occupations dating to the early to mid-Holocene, especially in dynamic coastal settings, should systematically incorporate paleoenvironmental investigations.

Accretion of a New England (U.S.A.) salt march in response to inlet migration, storms, and sea-level rise

USGS Publications Warehouse

Roman, C.T.; Peck, J.A.; Allen, J.R.; King, J.W.; Appleby, P.G.

1997-01-01

Sediment accumulation rates were determined at several sites throughout Nauset Marsh (Massachusetts, U.S.A.), a back-barrier lagoonal system, using feldspar marker horizons to evaluate short-term rates (1 to 2 year scales) and radiometric techniques to estimate rates over longer time scales (137Cs, 210Pb, 14C). The barrier spit fronting the Spartina-dominated study site has a complex geomorphic history of inlet migration and over-wash events. This study evaluates sediment accumulation rates in relation to inlet migration, storm events, and sea-level rise. The marker horizon technique displayed strong temporal and spatial variability in response to storm events and proximity to the inlet. Sediment accumulation rates of up to 24 mm year -1 were recorded in the immediate vicinity of the inlet during a period that included several major coastal storms, while feldspar sites remote from the inlet had substantially lower rates (trace accumulation to 2.2 mm year -1). During storm-free periods, accumulation rates did not exceed 6.7 mm year -1, but remained quite variable among sites. Based on 137Cs (3.8 to 4.5 mm year -1) and 210Pb (2.6 to 4.2 mm year -1) radiometric techniques, integrating sediment accumulation over decadal time scales, the marsh appeared to be keeping pace with the relative rate of sealevel rise from 1921 to 1993 of 2.4 mm year -1. At one site, the 210Pb-based sedimentation rate and rate of relative sea-level rise were nearly similar and peat rhizome analysis revealed that Distichlis spicata recently replaced this once S.patens site, suggesting that this portion of Nauset Marsh may be getting wetter, thus representing an initial response to wetland submergence. Horizon markers are useful in evaluating the role of short-term events, such as storms or inlet migration, influencing marsh sedimentation processes. However, sampling methods that integrate marsh sedimentation over decadal time scales are preferable when evaluating a systems response to sea-level rise.

Accretion of a New England (U.S.A.) salt marsh in response to inlet migration, storms, and sea-level rise

USGS Publications Warehouse

Roman, C.T.; Peck, J.A.; Allen, J.R.; King, J.W.; Appleby, P.G.

1997-01-01

Sediment accumulation rates were determined at several sites throughout Nauset Marsh (Massachusetts, U.S.A.), a back-barrier lagoonal system, using feldspar marker horizons to evaluate short-term rates (1 to 2 year scales) and radiometric techniques to estimate rates over longer time scales (137Cs, 210Pb, 14C). The barrier spit fronting the Spartima-dominated study site has a complex geomorphic history of inlet migration and overwash events. This study evaluates sediment accumulation rates in relation to inlet migration, storm events and sea-level rise. The marker horizon technique displayed strong temporal and spatial variability in response to storm events and proximity to the inlet. Sediment accumulation rates of up to 24 mm year-1 were recorded in the immediate vicinity of the inlet during a period that included several major coastal storms, while feldspar sites remote from the inlet had substantially lower rates (trace accumulation to 2.2 mm year-1). During storm-free periods, accumulation rates did not exceed 6.7 mm year-1, but remained quite variable among sites. Based on 137Cs (3.8 to 4.5 mm year-1) and 210Pb (2.6 to 4.2 mm year-1) radiometric techniques, integrating sediment accumulation over decadal time scales, the marsh appeared to be keeping pace with the relative rate of sea-level rise from 1921 to 1993 of 2.4 mm year-1. At one site, the 210Pb-based sedimentation rate and rate of relative sea-level rise were nearly similar and peat rhizome analysis revealed that Distichlis spicata recently replaced this once S. patens site, suggesting that this portion of Nauset Marsh may be getting wetter, thus representing an initial response to wetland submergence. Horizon markers are useful in evaluating the role of short-term events, such as storms or inlet migration, influencing marsh sedimentation processes. However, sampling methods that integrate marsh sedimentation over decadal time scales are preferable when evaluating a systems response to sea-level rise.

Consistent Initial Conditions for the DNS of Compressible Turbulence

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ristorcelli, J. R.; Blaisdell, G. A.

1996-01-01

Relationships between diverse thermodynamic quantities appropriate to weakly compressible turbulence are derived. It is shown that for turbulence of a finite turbulent Mach number there is a finite element of compressibility. A methodology for generating initial conditions for the fluctuating pressure, density and dilatational velocity is given which is consistent with finite Mach number effects. Use of these initial conditions gives rise to a smooth development of the flow, in contrast to cases in which these fields are specified arbitrarily or set to zero. Comparisons of the effect of different types of initial conditions are made using direct numerical simulation of decaying isotropic turbulence.

Ca2+-induced Ca2+ Release Phenomena in Mammalian Sympathetic Neurons Are Critically Dependent on the Rate of Rise of Trigger Ca2+

PubMed Central

Hernández-Cruz, Arturo; Escobar, Ariel L.; Jiménez, Nicolás

1997-01-01

The role of ryanodine-sensitive intracellular Ca2+ stores present in nonmuscular cells is not yet completely understood. Here we examine the physiological parameters determining the dynamics of caffeine-induced Ca2+ release in individual fura-2–loaded sympathetic neurons. Two ryanodine-sensitive release components were distinguished: an early, transient release (TR) and a delayed, persistent release (PR). The TR component shows refractoriness, depends on the filling status of the store, and requires caffeine concentrations ≥10 mM. Furthermore, it is selectively suppressed by tetracaine and intracellular BAPTA, which interfere with Ca2+-mediated feedback loops, suggesting that it constitutes a Ca2+-induced Ca2+-release phenomenon. The dynamics of release is markedly affected when Sr2+ substitutes for Ca2+, indicating that Sr2+ release may operate with lower feedback gain than Ca2+ release. Our data indicate that when the initial release occurs at an adequately fast rate, Ca2+ triggers further release, producing a regenerative response, which is interrupted by depletion of releasable Ca2+ and Ca2+-dependent inactivation. A compartmentalized linear diffusion model can reproduce caffeine responses: When the Ca2+ reservoir is full, the rapid initial Ca2+ rise determines a faster occupation of the ryanodine receptor Ca2+ activation site giving rise to a regenerative release. With the store only partially loaded, the slower initial Ca2+ rise allows the inactivating site of the release channel to become occupied nearly as quickly as the activating site, thereby suppressing the initial fast release. The PR component is less dependent on the store's Ca2+ content. This study suggests that transmembrane Ca2+ influx in rat sympathetic neurons does not evoke widespread amplification by CICR because of its inability to raise [Ca2+] near the Ca2+ release channels sufficiently fast to overcome their Ca2+-dependent inactivation. Conversely, caffeine-induced Ca2+ release can undergo considerable amplification especially when Ca2+ stores are full. We propose that the primary function of ryanodine-sensitive stores in neurons and perhaps in other nonmuscular cells, is to emphasize subcellular Ca2+ gradients resulting from agonist-induced intracellular release. The amplification gain is dependent both on the agonist concentration and on the filling status of intracellular Ca2+ stores. PMID:9041445

Emergent properties of magnetic materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ratcliff, William Davis, II

In Tolstoy's War and Peace, history is presented as a tapestry spun from the daily interactions of large numbers of individuals. Even if one understands individuals, it is very difficult to predict history. Similarly, the interactions of large numbers of electrons give rise to properties that one would not initially guess from their microscopic interactions. During the course of my dissertation, I have explored emergent phenomena in a number of contexts. In ZnCr2O4, geometric frustration gives rise to a plethora of equivalent ground states. From these, a lower dimensional set of collinear spins on hexagons are selected to form the building blocks of the lattice. In MgTi2O4, quantum spins dimerize and form a unique chiral ordering pattern on the spinel lattice. Descending into two dimensions, differences in size and charge give rise to an ordering between triangular layers of magnetic and nonmagnetic ions. This triangular lattice allows for the possibility of observing the RVB spin liquid state, or perhaps a valence bond crystal and initial measurements are promising. Also, on the spinel lattice, ionic ordering gives rise to one dimensional chains with their own interesting physics. Finally, in the SrCoxTi1-x O3, system we find that upon reduction, tiny clusters of Co metal precipitate out and chemical inhomogeneity on the microscale may determine much of the physics. This has relevance to a number of recent claims of room temperature ferromagnism in dilute magnetic systems. In all of these systems, complex behavior emerges from well understood microscopic behavior. For me, this is the fascination of strongly correlated electronic systems.

Higher Incidence Rates of Hypothyroidism and Late TSH Rise in Preterm Very-Low-Birth-Weight Infants at a Tertiary Care Center.

PubMed

Tfayli, Hala; Charafeddine, Lama; Tamim, Hani; Saade, Joanne; Daher, Rose T; Yunis, Khalid

2018-04-11

Preterm newborns with a very low birth weight (VLBW) of < 1,500 g have an atypical form of hypothyroidism with a delayed rise in TSH, necessitating a second newborn screening specimen collection. The aims of this study were to survey the compliance with second newborn screening to detect delayed TSH rise in VLBW preterm infants at a tertiary care center, and to determine the rate of atypical hypothyroidism. Retrospective review of the records of 104 preterm VLBW infants. Late TSH rise was defined as an increase in TSH concentration after 14 days of age in the presence of a normal initial screen. The compliance rate was 92% for the second screening. High rates of hypothyroidism (16.3%) and of late TSH rise (4.8%) were detected. Patients with hypothyroidism had a significantly lower birth weight (p = 0.01) and longer hospital stay (p = 0.004). Patients with late versus those with early TSH rise had a significantly lower mean birth weight (851 ± 302 vs. 1,191 ± 121 g, p = 0.004). The rates of early and late TSH rise in this VLBW population were higher than those in the literature and could be due to the use of povidone-iodine disinfectants. The yield of a second TSH screening in this study was high indicating the need for vigilance in screening VLBW preterm infants. © 2018 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Influence of Voltage Rise Time for Oxidation Treatment of NO in Simulated Exhausted Gas by Polarity-Reversed Pulse Discharge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shinmoto, Kazuya; Kadowaki, Kazunori; Nishimoto, Sakae; Kitani, Isamu

This paper describes experimental study on NO removal from a simulated exhausted-gas using repetitive surface discharge on a glass barrier subjected to polarity-reversed voltage pulses. The very fast polarity-reversal with a rise time of 20ns is caused by direct grounding of a charged coaxial cable of 10m in length. Influence of voltage rise time on energy efficiency for NO removal is studied. Results of NO removal using a barrier-type plasma reactor with screw-plane electrode system indicates that the energy efficiency for the very fast polarity reversal caused by direct grounding becomes higher than that for the slower polarity reversal caused by grounding through an inductor at the cable end. The energy efficiency for the direct grounding is about 80g/kWh for 50% NO removal ratio and is about 60g/kWh for 100% NO removal ratio. Very intense discharge light is observed at the initial time of 10ns for the fast polarity reversal, whereas the intensity in the initial discharge light for the slower polarity reversal is relatively small. To confirm the effectiveness of the polarity-reversed pulse application, comparison of the energy efficiency between the polarity-reversed voltage pulse and ac 60Hz voltage will be presented.

Onset of thermomagnetic convection around a vertically oriented hot-wire in ferrofluid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vatani, Ashkan; Woodfield, Peter Lloyd; Nguyen, Nam-Trung; Dao, Dzung Viet

2018-06-01

The onset of thermomagnetic convection in ferrofluid in a vertical transient hot-wire cell is analytically and experimentally investigated by studying the temperature rise of an electrically-heated wire. During the initial stage of heating, the temperature rise is found to correspond well to that predicted by conduction only. For high electrical current densities, the initial heating stage is followed by a sudden change in the slope of the temperature rise with respect to time as a result of the onset of thermomagnetic convection cooling. The observed onset of thermomagnetic convection was then compared to that of natural convection of deionized water. For the first time, the critical time corresponding to the onset of thermomagnetic convection around an electrically-heated wire is characterized and non-dimensionalized as a critical Fourier number (Foc). We propose an equation for Foc as a function of a magnetic Rayleigh number to predict the time for the onset of thermomagnetic convection. We observed that thermomagnetic convection in ferrofluid occurs earlier than natural convection in non-magnetic fluids for similar experimental conditions. The onset of thermomagnetic convection is dependent on the current supplied to the wire. The findings have important implications for cooling of high-power electronics using ferrofluids and for measuring thermal properties of ferrofluids.

Experimental Study on Influence of Trap Parameters on Dielectric Characteristics of Nano-Modified Insulation Pressboard

PubMed Central

Chen, Qingguo; Liu, Heqian; Chi, Minghe; Wang, Yonghong; Wei, Xinlao

2017-01-01

In order to study the influence of trap parameters on dielectric characteristics of nano-modified pressboards, pressboards were made using the nano doping method with different nanoparticle components. The dielectric characteristics of the modified pressboards were measured, and the trap parameters were investigated using the thermally stimulated current (TSC) method. The test results indicated that the conductivity initially declined and then rose with the increase of nano-Al2O3 content, whereas it solely rose with the increase of nano-SiC content. Moreover, the conductivity exhibited nonlinear characteristics with the enhancement of electric field stress at high nanoparticle content. The relative permittivity of modified pressboard declines initially and then rises with the increase of nanoparticle content. In addition, the breakdown strength of modified pressboards exhibited a pattern of incline followed by decline with the increase of nano-Al2O3 content, while it always declined with the increase of nano-SiC content. The analysis based on the energy band theory on trap parameters of the constructed multi-core model concludes that the nanoparticle components added in pressboard altered both the depth and density of traps. It is therefore concluded that trap parameters have significant influence on the dielectric characteristics of nano-modified insulation pressboard. PMID:28772448

Experimental Study on Influence of Trap Parameters on Dielectric Characteristics of Nano-Modified Insulation Pressboard.

PubMed

Chen, Qingguo; Liu, Heqian; Chi, Minghe; Wang, Yonghong; Wei, Xinlao

2017-01-22

In order to study the influence of trap parameters on dielectric characteristics of nano-modified pressboards, pressboards were made using the nano doping method with different nanoparticle components. The dielectric characteristics of the modified pressboards were measured, and the trap parameters were investigated using the thermally stimulated current (TSC) method. The test results indicated that the conductivity initially declined and then rose with the increase of nano-Al₂O₃ content, whereas it solely rose with the increase of nano-SiC content. Moreover, the conductivity exhibited nonlinear characteristics with the enhancement of electric field stress at high nanoparticle content. The relative permittivity of modified pressboard declines initially and then rises with the increase of nanoparticle content. In addition, the breakdown strength of modified pressboards exhibited a pattern of incline followed by decline with the increase of nano-Al₂O₃ content, while it always declined with the increase of nano-SiC content. The analysis based on the energy band theory on trap parameters of the constructed multi-core model concludes that the nanoparticle components added in pressboard altered both the depth and density of traps. It is therefore concluded that trap parameters have significant influence on the dielectric characteristics of nano-modified insulation pressboard.

The burden of prostate cancer in Asian nations

PubMed Central

Cullen, Jennifer; Elsamanoudi, Sally; Brassell, Stephen A.; Chen, Yongmei; Colombo, Monica; Srivastava, Amita; McLeod, David G.

2012-01-01

Introduction: In this review, the International Agency for Research on Cancer's cancer epidemiology databases were used to examine prostate cancer (PCa) age-standardized incidence rates (ASIR) in selected Asian nations, including Cancer Incidence in Five Continents (CI5) and GLOBOCAN databases, in an effort to determine whether ASIRs are rising in regions of the world with historically low risk of PCa development. Materials and Methods: Asian nations with adequate data quality were considered for this review. PCa ASIR estimates from CI5 and GLOBOCAN 2008 public use databases were examined in the four eligible countries: China, Japan, Korea and Singapore. Time trends in PCa ASIRs were examined using CI5 Volumes I-IX. Results: While PCa ASIRs remain much lower in the Asian nations examined than in North America, there is a clear trend of increasing PCa ASIRs in the four countries examined. Conclusion: Efforts to systematically collect cancer incidence data in Asian nations must be expanded. Current CI5 data indicate a rise in PCa ASIR in several populous Asian countries. If these rates continue to rise, it is uncertain whether there will be sufficient resources in place, in terms of trained personnel and infrastructure for medical treatment and continuum of care, to handle the increase in PCa patient volume. The recommendation by some experts to initiate PSA screening in Asian nations could compound a resource shortfall. Obtaining accurate estimates of PCa incidence in these countries is critically important for preparing for a potential shift in the public health burden posed by this disease. PMID:22529743

Stability of lava lakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Witham, Fred; Llewellin, Edward W.

2006-11-01

A physical model of a generic lava lake system is developed. We derive the requisite conditions for the existence of an 'equilibrium lava lake' in which magmastatic pressure at the base of the conduit balances the pressure in the underlying magmatic reservoir. The stability of this lava lake system is tested by investigating the response of the system to perturbation. We develop a graphical method, based on the system's pressure-depth profile, to predict the subsequent behaviour of the system. Despite the simplicity of the modelled system, we find a broad behavioural spectrum. Initially, the rise of bubbles through the magma is ignored. In this case, both stable, long-lived lava lakes, and unstable lakes that are prone to sudden draining, are predicted. The stability of the system is shown to be controlled by lake-conduit geometry, the solubility and gas expansion laws and the magma's volatile content. We show that an unstable lake must collapse to a new, stable equilibrium. Subsequent recharge of the system by, for example, conduit overturn, would promote a return to the original equilibrium, giving rise to cyclic behaviour. Such a mechanism is consistent with lava lake behaviour during the 1983-1984 Pu'u 'O'o eruption of Kilauea. When the rise of bubbles through the magma is considered, our model predicts that stable lakes must drain over time. We, therefore, deduce that persistently degassing, stable lava lakes, such as those observed at Mt. Erebus, Antarctica, and Mauna Ulu, Kilauea, Hawaii, must have an effective conduit convection mechanism or an exogenous supply of bubbles from depth.

Driving technology for improving motion quality of active-matrix organic light-emitting diode display

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Jongbin; Kim, Minkoo; Kim, Jong-Man; Kim, Seung-Ryeol; Lee, Seung-Woo

2014-09-01

This paper reports transient response characteristics of active-matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) displays for mobile applications. This work reports that the rising responses look like saw-tooth waveform and are not always faster than those of liquid crystal displays. Thus, a driving technology is proposed to improve the rising transient responses of AMOLED based on the overdrive (OD) technology. We modified the OD technology by combining it with a dithering method because the conventional OD method cannot successfully enhance all the rising responses. Our method can improve all the transitions of AMOLED without modifying the conventional gamma architecture of drivers. A new artifact is found when OD is applied to certain transitions. We propose an optimum OD selection method to mitigate the artifact. The implementation results show the proposed technology can successfully improve motion quality of scrolling texts as well as moving pictures in AMOLED displays.

Is Exposure to Tobacco Advertising, Promotion and Sponsorship Associated with Initiation of Tobacco Use among Current Tobacco Users in Youth in India?

PubMed

Sardana, Mohini; Goel, Sonu; Gupta, Madhu; Sardana, Veera; Singh, B S

2015-01-01

The rise in consumption of tobacco products among youth is a public health concern in India. Several studies have shown that advertisements promoting tobacco products influence decisions and behaviour of youth towards smoking. To ascertain which method of Tobacco Advertising, Promotion and Sponsorship (TAPS) was more influential for initiating tobacco use in youth in India. The secondary data of youth (15-24 years) from nationally representative Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) conducted in 2009-2010 was analyzed. Odds ratio and p-value were used to know the association between TAPS and initiation of use of tobacco products among youth. Logistic regression was used to determine the most significant means of TAPS altering the youth's behaviour towards tobacco products. Out of 13,383 youths, 1,982 (14.7%) used smokeless forms of tobacco and 860 (6.38%) used smoke forms. Logistic regression reveals that promotional activities mainly through cinemas (p<0.05) and providing free samples of tobacco products (p<=.001) were most influential means of initiating consumption of tobacco products among youth. The smoking in youth is associated with watching advertisements particularly in cinema and promotional activities like distribution of free samples, coupons and sales on the price of tobacco products. Stronger legislative measures should be enforced to curb promotional advertisements in cinemas and distribution of free samples.

Searching for Suicide Methods: Accessibility of Information About Helium as a Method of Suicide on the Internet.

PubMed

Gunnell, David; Derges, Jane; Chang, Shu-Sen; Biddle, Lucy

2015-01-01

Helium gas suicides have increased in England and Wales; easy-to-access descriptions of this method on the Internet may have contributed to this rise. To investigate the availability of information on using helium as a method of suicide and trends in searching about this method on the Internet. We analyzed trends in (a) Google searching (2004-2014) and (b) hits on a Wikipedia article describing helium as a method of suicide (2013-2014). We also investigated the extent to which helium was described as a method of suicide on web pages and discussion forums identified via Google. We found no evidence of rises in Internet searching about suicide using helium. News stories about helium suicides were associated with increased search activity. The Wikipedia article may have been temporarily altered to increase awareness of suicide using helium around the time of a celebrity suicide. Approximately one third of the links retrieved using Google searches for suicide methods mentioned helium. Information about helium as a suicide method is readily available on the Internet; the Wikipedia article describing its use was highly accessed following celebrity suicides. Availability of online information about this method may contribute to rises in helium suicides.

SafeTrip 21 initiative : networked traveler foresighted driving field experiment, final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-04-01

The Networked Traveler Project was originally conceived to leverage the explosive rise of smartphones as a : communications gateway to bring real-time traveler assistance concepts from the ITS community to the American : people. The Networked Travele...

The Sun in a Drawer

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, Bruce

1975-01-01

Widespread use of solar energy is unsuccessful with large scale integration required and conservatism of responsible institutions. Rising fuel costs and government promotion may initiate expansion in commercial, environmental, and government establishments, homes, and schools. Difficulties encountered include financing, tax incentives, design,…

3 CFR 8746 - Proclamation 8746 of November 1, 2011. National Diabetes Month, 2011

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... diabetes among our Nation’s children is linked to the rise of childhood obesity. To end the epidemic of childhood obesity within a generation, First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative is inspiring...

NONPOTABLE WATER REUSE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

EPA Science Inventory

Globally, the need for water reuse is increasing due to rising water demands and finite water resources. In addition, certain regulations and policies, such as zero discharge initiatives or limited new dam construction, may indirectly contribute to the need for reuse. With growin...

NONPOTABLE WATER REUSE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

EPA Science Inventory

Globally, the need for water reuse is increasing due to rising water demands and finite water resources. In addition, certain regulations and policies, such as zero discharge initiatives or limited new dam construction, may indirectly contribute to the need for reuse. Also, with ...

Environmental Models as a Service: Enabling Interoperability through RESTful Endpoints and API Documentation

EPA Science Inventory

Achieving interoperability in environmental modeling has evolved as software technology has progressed. The recent rise of cloud computing and proliferation of web services initiated a new stage for creating interoperable systems. Scientific programmers increasingly take advantag...

Environmental Models as a Service: Enabling Interoperability through RESTful Endpoints and API Documentation.

EPA Science Inventory

Achieving interoperability in environmental modeling has evolved as software technology has progressed. The recent rise of cloud computing and proliferation of web services initiated a new stage for creating interoperable systems. Scientific programmers increasingly take advantag...

Cluster kinetics model of particle separation in vibrated granular media.

PubMed

McCoy, Benjamin J; Madras, Giridhar

2006-01-01

We model the Brazil-nut effect (BNE) by hypothesizing that granules form clusters that fragment and aggregate. This provides a heterogeneous medium in which the immersed intruder particle rises (BNE) or sinks (reverse BNE) according to relative convection currents and buoyant and drag forces. A simple relationship proposed for viscous drag in terms of the vibrational intensity and the particle to grain density ratio allows simulation of published experimental data for rise and sink times as functions of particle radius, initial depth of the particle, and particle-grain density ratio. The proposed model correctly describes the experimentally observed maximum in risetime.

The Application of the Real Options Method for the Evaluation of High-Rise Construction Projects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Izotov, Aleksandr; Rostova, Olga; Dubgorn, Alissa

2018-03-01

The paper is devoted to the problem of evaluation of high-rise construction projects in a rapidly changing environment. The authors proposed an algorithm for constructing and embedding real options in high-rise construction projects, which makes it possible to increase the flexibility of managing multi-stage projects that have the ability to adapt to changing conditions of implementation.

Architecture of high-rise buildings as a brand of the modern Kazakhstan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdrassilova, Gulnara; Kozbagarova, Nina; Tuyakayeva, Ainagul

2018-03-01

Using practical examples article reviews urban-planning and space-planning features of design and construction of high-rise buildings in Kazakhstan conditions; methods are identified that provide for structural stability against wind and seismic loads based on innovative technical and technological solutions. Article authors stress out the fashion function of high-rise buildings in the new capital of Kazakhstan, the Astana city.

Results of the Greenland Ice Sheet Model Initialisation Experiments ISMIP6 - initMIP-Greenland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goelzer, H.; Nowicki, S.; Edwards, T.; Beckley, M.; Abe-Ouchi, A.; Aschwanden, A.; Calov, R.; Gagliardini, O.; Gillet-chaulet, F.; Golledge, N. R.; Gregory, J. M.; Greve, R.; Humbert, A.; Huybrechts, P.; Larour, E. Y.; Lipscomb, W. H.; Le ´h, S.; Lee, V.; Kennedy, J. H.; Pattyn, F.; Payne, A. J.; Rodehacke, C. B.; Rückamp, M.; Saito, F.; Schlegel, N.; Seroussi, H. L.; Shepherd, A.; Sun, S.; Vandewal, R.; Ziemen, F. A.

2016-12-01

Earlier large-scale Greenland ice sheet sea-level projections e.g. those run during ice2sea and SeaRISE initiatives have shown that ice sheet initialisation can have a large effect on the projections and gives rise to important uncertainties. The goal of this intercomparison exercise (initMIP-Greenland) is to compare, evaluate and improve the initialization techniques used in the ice sheet modeling community and to estimate the associated uncertainties. It is the first in a series of ice sheet model intercomparison activities within ISMIP6 (Ice Sheet Model Intercomparison Project for CMIP6). Two experiments for the large-scale Greenland ice sheet have been designed to allow intercomparison between participating models of 1) the initial present-day state of the ice sheet and 2) the response in two schematic forward experiments. The forward experiments serve to evaluate the initialisation in terms of model drift (forward run without any forcing) and response to a large perturbation (prescribed surface mass balance anomaly). We present and discuss final results of the intercomparison and highlight important uncertainties with respect to projections of the Greenland ice sheet sea-level contribution.

Stratigraphy, correlation, depositional setting, and geophysical characteristics of the Oligocene Snowshoe Mountain Tuff and Creede Formation in two cored boreholes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Larsen, Daniel; Nelson, Philip H.

2000-01-01

Core descriptions and geophysical logs from two boreholes (CCM-1 and CCM-2) in the Oligocene Snowshoe Mountain Tuff and Creede Formation, south-central Colorado, are used to interpret sedimentary and volcanic facies associations and their physical properties. The seven facies association include a mixed sequence of intracaldera ash-flow tuffs and breccias, alluvial and lake margin deposits, and tuffaceous lake beds. These deposits represent volcanic units related to caldera collapse and emplacement of the Snowshoe Mountain Tuff, and sediments and pyroclastic material deposited in the newly formed caldera basin, Early sedimentation is interpreted to have been rapid, and to have occurred in volcaniclastic fan environments at CCM-1 and in a variery of volcaniclastic fan, braided stream shallow lacustrine, and mudflat environments at CCM-2. After an initial period of lake-level rise, suspension settling, turbidite, and debris-flow sedimentation occurred in lacustrine slope and basin environments below wave base. Carbonate sedimentation was initially sporadic, but more continuous in the latter part of the recorded lake history (after the H fallout tuff). Sublacustrine-fan deposition occurred at CCM-1 after a pronounced lake-level fall and subsequent rise that preceded the H tuff. Variations in density, neutron, gamma-ray, sonic, and electrical properties of deposits penetrated oin the two holes reflect variations in lithology, porosity, and alteration. Trends in the geophysical properties of the lacustrine strata are linked to downhole changes in authigenic mineralology and a decrease in porosity interpreted to have resulted primarily from diagenesis. Lithological and geophysical characteristics provide a basis for correlation of the cores; however, mineralogical methods of correlation are hampered by the degree of diagenesis and alteration.

METHOD FOR EXCHANGING ENERGY WITH A PLASMA BY MAGNETIC PUMPING

DOEpatents

Hall, L.S.

1963-12-31

A method of heating a plasma confined by a static magnetic field is presented. A time-varying magnetic field having a rise time to a predetermined value substantially less than its fall time is applied to a portion of the plasma. Because of the much shorter rise time, the plasma is reversibly heated. This cycle is repeated until the desired plasma temperature is reached. (AEC)

Evaluation of possibility to increasing sustainability of high-rise buildings through use university intellectual property

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Potekhin, Igor; Mischenko, Valeryi; Mottaeva, Angela; Zheltenkov, Alexander

2018-03-01

In this article explained approach of valuation of intellectual property of Voronezh State Technical University, as her usefulness to increasing the sustainability and ecological safety of high-rise building. High-rise building is main type of buildings in modern cities. They include large volume of material mass, high volume of energy using and high volume of emissions. Using innovation solutions to improving ecology safety of high-rise buildings has large potential to city in whole. Explained in the article methods of calculation of effects helps to value sustainable solutions of present and future generations. Thus usefulness of patents express through usefulness regarding to high-rise building, including for sustainable development.

Method for Assessing Impacts of Global Sea Level Rise on Navigation Gate Operations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Obrien, P. S.; White, K. D.; Friedman, D.

2015-12-01

Coastal navigation infrastructure may be highly vulnerable to changing climate, including increasing sea levels and altered frequency and intensity of coastal storms. Future gate operations impacted by global sea level rise will pose unique challenges, especially for structures 50 years and older. Our approach is to estimate future changes in gate operational frequency based on a bootstrapping method to forecast future water levels. A case study will be presented to determine future changes in frequency of operations over the next 100 years. A statistical model in the R programming language was developed to apply future sea level rise projections using the three sea level rise scenarios prescribed by USACE Engineer Regulation ER 1100-2-8162. Information derived from the case study will help forecast changes in operational costs caused by increased gate operations and inform timing of decisions on adaptation measures.

Keeping the Faiths

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gray, Katti

2010-01-01

Faced with America's stratified religious landscape, colleges and universities work to embrace spiritual diversity through inclusive discourse, initiatives and programs. Nationwide, some campuses have focused on the rise in religious diversity and mending the religious fractures that persist. They have crafted programs aimed at letting a shifting…

Environmental Models as a Service: Enabling Interoperability through RESTful Endpoints and API Documentation (presentation)

EPA Science Inventory

Achieving interoperability in environmental modeling has evolved as software technology has progressed. The recent rise of cloud computing and proliferation of web services initiated a new stage for creating interoperable systems. Scientific programmers increasingly take advantag...

Asymmetric bubble collapse

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lai, Lipeng; Turitsyn, Konstantin S.; Zhang, Wendy W.

2008-11-01

Recent studies reveal that an inertial implosion, analogous to the collapse of a large cavity in water, governs how a submerged air bubble disconnects from a nozzle. For the bubble, slight asymmetries in the initial neck shape give rise to vibrations that grow pronounced over time. These results motivate our study of the final stage of asymmetric cavity collapse. We are particularly interested in the generic situation where the initial condition is sufficiently well-focused that a cavity can implode inwards energetically. Yet, because the initial condition is not perfectly symmetric, the implosion fails to condense all the energy. We consider cavity shapes in the slender-body limit, for which the collapse dynamics is quasi two-dimensional. In this limit, each cross-section of the cavity evolves as if it were a distorted void immersed in an inviscid and irrotational fluid. Simulations of a circular void distorted by an elongation-compression vibrational mode reveal that a variety of outcomes are possible in the 2D problem. Opposing sides of the void surface can curve inwards and contact smoothly in a finite amount of time. Depending on the phase of the vibration excited, the contact can be either north-south or east-west. Phase values that lie in the transition zone from one orientation to the other give rise to final shapes with large lengthscale separation. We show also that the final outcome varies non-monotonically with the initial amplitude of the vibrational mode.

Contributions of a Strengthened Early Holocene Monsoon and Sediment Loading to Present-Day Subsidence of the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karpytchev, M.; Ballu, V.; Krien, Y.; Becker, M.; Goodbred, S.; Spada, G.; Calmant, S.; Shum, C. K.; Khan, Z.

2018-02-01

The contribution of subsidence to relative sea level rise in the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta (GBD) is largely unknown and may considerably enhance exposure of the Bengal Basin populations to sea level rise and storm surges. This paper focuses on estimating the present-day subsidence induced by Holocene sediment in the Bengal Basin and by oceanic loading due to eustatic sea level rise over the past 18 kyr. Using a viscoelastic Earth model and sediment deposition history based on in situ measurements, results suggest that massive sediment influx initiated in the early Holocene under a strengthened South Asian monsoon may have contributed significantly to the present-day subsidence of the GBD. We estimate that the Holocene loading generates up to 1.6 mm/yr of the present-day subsidence along the GBD coast, depending on the rheological model of the Earth. This rate is close to the twentieth century global mean sea level rise (1.1-1.7 mm/yr). Thus, past climate change, by way of enhanced sedimentation, is impacting vulnerability of the GBD populations.

Developing community-driven quality improvement initiatives to enhance chronic disease care in Indigenous communities in Canada: the FORGE AHEAD program protocol.

PubMed

Naqshbandi Hayward, Mariam; Paquette-Warren, Jann; Harris, Stewart B

2016-07-26

Given the dramatic rise and impact of chronic diseases and gaps in care in Indigenous peoples in Canada, a shift from the dominant episodic and responsive healthcare model most common in First Nations communities to one that places emphasis on proactive prevention and chronic disease management is urgently needed. The Transformation of Indigenous Primary Healthcare Delivery (FORGE AHEAD) Program partners with 11 First Nations communities across six provinces in Canada to develop and evaluate community-driven quality improvement (QI) initiatives to enhance chronic disease care. FORGE AHEAD is a 5-year research program (2013-2017) that utilizes a pre-post mixed-methods observational design rooted in participatory research principles to work with communities in developing culturally relevant innovations and improved access to available services. This intensive program incorporates a series of 10 inter-related and progressive program activities designed to foster community-driven initiatives with type 2 diabetes mellitus as the action disease. Preparatory activities include a national community profile survey, best practice and policy literature review, and readiness tool development. Community-level intervention activities include community and clinical readiness consultations, development of a diabetes registry and surveillance system, and QI activities. With a focus on capacity building, all community-level activities are driven by trained community members who champion QI initiatives in their community. Program wrap-up activities include readiness tool validation, cost-analysis and process evaluation. In collaboration with Health Canada and the Aboriginal Diabetes Initiative, scale-up toolkits will be developed in order to build on lessons-learned, tools and methods, and to fuel sustainability and spread of successful innovations. The outcomes of this research program, its related cost and the subsequent policy recommendations, will have the potential to significantly affect future policy decisions pertaining to chronic disease care in First Nations communities in Canada. Current ClinicalTrial.gov protocol ID NCT02234973 . Date of Registration: July 30, 2014.

A multiresolution approach for the convergence acceleration of multivariate curve resolution methods.

PubMed

Sawall, Mathias; Kubis, Christoph; Börner, Armin; Selent, Detlef; Neymeyr, Klaus

2015-09-03

Modern computerized spectroscopic instrumentation can result in high volumes of spectroscopic data. Such accurate measurements rise special computational challenges for multivariate curve resolution techniques since pure component factorizations are often solved via constrained minimization problems. The computational costs for these calculations rapidly grow with an increased time or frequency resolution of the spectral measurements. The key idea of this paper is to define for the given high-dimensional spectroscopic data a sequence of coarsened subproblems with reduced resolutions. The multiresolution algorithm first computes a pure component factorization for the coarsest problem with the lowest resolution. Then the factorization results are used as initial values for the next problem with a higher resolution. Good initial values result in a fast solution on the next refined level. This procedure is repeated and finally a factorization is determined for the highest level of resolution. The described multiresolution approach allows a considerable convergence acceleration. The computational procedure is analyzed and is tested for experimental spectroscopic data from the rhodium-catalyzed hydroformylation together with various soft and hard models. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ternary liquid mixtures control the multiplicity, shape and internal structure of emulsion droplets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haase, Martin F.; Brujic, Jasna

2014-03-01

It is important to control the shape, internal structure and stability of emulsion droplets for drug delivery, biochemical assays, and the design of materials with novel physical properties. Successful methods involve the mechanical manipulation of the flow of oil in water using complex microfluidic devices to make multiple emulsions with a sequential introduction of specific reactants. Instead, here we show how the thermodynamics of immiscible liquid mixtures tailor emulsions using a single dripping instability. For example, the initial composition and choice of surfactant govern the multiplicity of concentric alternating oil and water layers inside the droplets. Stabilizing ternary droplets using nanoparticles gives rise to a plethora of shapes whose geometry is defined by the deformability of the shell and the flow rate. Another option is to incorporate lipids to the multiple emulsion droplet, which form vesicles upon expulsion of the inner water droplets. Depending on the number of initial water droplets, these vesicles eventually form complex hollow topologies, which can be used as junctions or scaffolds for the self-assembly of colloidal particles in the future.

Analysis of Radiation Effects in Silicon using Kinetic Monte Carlo Methods

DOE PAGES

Hehr, Brian Douglas

2014-11-25

The transient degradation of semiconductor device performance under irradiation has long been an issue of concern. Neutron irradiation can instigate the formation of quasi-stable defect structures, thereby introducing new energy levels into the bandgap that alter carrier lifetimes and give rise to such phenomena as gain degradation in bipolar junction transistors. Normally, the initial defect formation phase is followed by a recovery phase in which defect-defect or defect-dopant interactions modify the characteristics of the damaged structure. A kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) code has been developed to model both thermal and carrier injection annealing of initial defect structures in semiconductor materials.more » The code is employed to investigate annealing in electron-irradiated, p-type silicon as well as the recovery of base current in silicon transistors bombarded with neutrons at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) “Blue Room” facility. Our results reveal that KMC calculations agree well with these experiments once adjustments are made, within the appropriate uncertainty bounds, to some of the sensitive defect parameters.« less

The exact rogue wave recurrence in the NLS periodic setting via matched asymptotic expansions, for 1 and 2 unstable modes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grinevich, P. G.; Santini, P. M.

2018-04-01

The focusing Nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation is the simplest universal model describing the modulation instability (MI) of quasi monochromatic waves in weakly nonlinear media, the main physical mechanism for the generation of rogue (anomalous) waves (RWs) in Nature. In this paper we investigate the x-periodic Cauchy problem for NLS for a generic periodic initial perturbation of the unstable constant background solution, in the case of N = 1 , 2 unstable modes. We use matched asymptotic expansion techniques to show that the solution of this problem describes an exact deterministic alternate recurrence of linear and nonlinear stages of MI, and that the nonlinear RW stages are described by the N-breather solution of Akhmediev type, whose parameters, different at each RW appearance, are always given in terms of the initial data through elementary functions. This paper is motivated by a preceding work of the authors in which a different approach, the finite gap method, was used to investigate periodic Cauchy problems giving rise to RW recurrence.

The first interview: Anxieties and research on initiating psychoanalysis.

PubMed

Reith, Bernard

2015-06-01

A qualitative clinical study of preliminary interviews by the Working Party on Initiating Psychoanalysis (WPIP) of the European Psychoanalytic Federation suggests that the unconscious dynamics in first interviews are extraordinarily powerful and that they give rise to deep unconscious anxieties in both patient and analyst, with the corresponding defences against them. Furthermore, the group dynamics observed in the clinical workshops and in the research team doing the study suggest that both the anxieties and the defences are conveyed to these groups in the form of unelaborated 'session residues' provoking renewed anxieties and defences in them. These findings contribute to our understanding of what goes on in first interviews, but also raise interesting questions about the psychoanalytic research process in psychoanalysis and how confrontation with the unknown is dealt with in that context. Rather than as a means to avoid anxiety, method in clinical research can be seen as a way to help the research group to contain its reactions and to tolerate them until the group finds its way to further elaboration. These points are illustrated with a clinical case drawn from the study. Copyright © 2014 Institute of Psychoanalysis.

Bacterial adherence in the pathogenesis of urinary tract infection: a review.

PubMed

Reid, G; Sobel, J D

1987-01-01

Bacterial adherence to the uroepithelium is recognized as an important mechanism in the initiation and pathogenesis of urinary tract infections (UTI). The uropathogens originate predominantly in the intestinal tract and initially colonize the periurethral region and ascend into the bladder, resulting in symptomatic or asymptomatic bacteriuria. Thereafter, depending on host factors and bacterial virulence factors, the organisms may further ascend and give rise to pyelonephritis. Uropathogens are selected by the presence of virulence characteristics that enable them to resist the normally efficient host defense mechanisms. Considerable progress has been made in identifying bacterial adhesins and in demonstrating bacterial receptor sites on uroepithelial surfaces. Recent studies have identified natural anti-adherence mechanisms in humans as well as possible increased susceptibility to UTI when these mechanisms are defective and when receptor density on uroepithelial cells is altered. Knowledge of bacterial adherence mechanisms may permit alternative methods of prevention and management of urinary infection, including the use of subinhibitory concentrations of antibiotics, vaccine development, nonimmune inhibition of bacterial adhesins and receptor sites, and the use of autochthonous flora, such as lactobacilli, to exclude uropathogens from colonizing the urinary tract.

Archiving and access systems for remote sensing: Chapter 6

USGS Publications Warehouse

Faundeen, John L.; Percivall, George; Baros, Shirley; Baumann, Peter; Becker, Peter H.; Behnke, J.; Benedict, Karl; Colaiacomo, Lucio; Di, Liping; Doescher, Chris; Dominguez, J.; Edberg, Roger; Ferguson, Mark; Foreman, Stephen; Giaretta, David; Hutchison, Vivian; Ip, Alex; James, N.L.; Khalsa, Siri Jodha S.; Lazorchak, B.; Lewis, Adam; Li, Fuqin; Lymburner, Leo; Lynnes, C.S.; Martens, Matt; Melrose, Rachel; Morris, Steve; Mueller, Norman; Navale, Vivek; Navulur, Kumar; Newman, D.J.; Oliver, Simon; Purss, Matthew; Ramapriyan, H.K.; Rew, Russ; Rosen, Michael; Savickas, John; Sixsmith, Joshua; Sohre, Tom; Thau, David; Uhlir, Paul; Wang, Lan-Wei; Young, Jeff

2016-01-01

Focuses on major developments inaugurated by the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites, the Group on Earth Observations System of Systems, and the International Council for Science World Data System at the global level; initiatives at national levels to create data centers (e.g. the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Distributed Active Archive Centers and other international space agency counterparts), and non-government systems (e.g. Center for International Earth Science Information Network). Other major elements focus on emerging tool sets, requirements for metadata, data storage and refresh methods, the rise of cloud computing, and questions about what and how much data should be saved. The sub-sections of the chapter address topics relevant to the science, engineering and standards used for state-of-the-art operational and experimental systems.

Review on developments in fiber optical sensors and applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Annamdas, Kiran Kishore Kumar; Annamdas, Venu Gopal Madhav

2010-04-01

The last couple of decades had witnessed a rise in the research of optoelectronic and fiber optical communication fields, which resulted in applications focused initially in military and aerospace equipments, and later in health monitoring for medicine, heritage culture and various engineering fields. The monitoring of existing or /and new engineering, biomedical structures has become a regular feature throughout the world. Monitoring is fast emerging as a pioneering field with high precision and quality equipments. This field is very vast, consisting of both traditional as well as smart materials based methods. The fiber optics belong to the finest class of smart materials, there are many types and classifications based on the necessity, manufacturer and the end user. In this paper, a complete over view of fiber sensing systems and their usefulness is briefly presented.

Increased work in cardiac trabeculae causes decreased mitochondrial NADH fluorescence followed by slow recovery.

PubMed Central

Brandes, R; Bers, D M

1996-01-01

The oxidative phosphorylation rate in isolated mitochondria is stimulated by increased [ADP], resulting in decreased [NADH]. In intact hearts, however, increased mechanical work has generally not been shown to cause an increase in [ADP]. Therefore, increased [NADH] has been suggested as an alternative for stimulating the phosphorylation rate. Such a rise in [NADH] could result from stimulation of various substrate dehydrogenases by increased intracellular [Ca2+] (e.g., during increased pacing frequency). We have monitored mitochondrial [NADH] in isolated rat ventricular trabeculae, using a novel fluorescence spectroscopy method where a native fluorescence signal was used to correct for motion artifacts. Work was controlled by increased pacing frequency and assessed using time-averaged force. At low-pacing rates (approximately 0.1 Hz), [NADH] immediately decreased during contraction and then slowly recovered (approximately 5 s) before the next contraction. At higher rates, [NADH] initially decreased by an amount related to pacing rate (i.e., work). However, during prolonged stimulation, [NADH] slowly (approximately 60 s) recovered to a new steady-state level below the initial level. We conclude that 1) during increased work, oxidative phosphorylation is not initially stimulated by increased mitochondrial [NADH]; and 2) increased pacing frequency slowly causes stimulation of NADH production. Images FIGURE 2 FIGURE 4 PMID:8842239

Plane wave density functional molecular dynamics study of exothermic reactions of Al/CuO thermites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oloriegbe, Suleiman; Sewell, Thomas; Chen, Zhen; Jiang, Shan; Gan, Yong

2014-03-01

Exothermic reactions between nanosize aluminum (Al) and copper oxide (CuO) structures are of current interest because of their high reaction enthalpy and energy density which exceed those of traditional monomolecular energetic compounds such as TNT, RDX, and HMX. In this work, molecular dynamics simulations with forces obtained from plane wave density functional theory are used to investigate the atomic-scale and electronic processes that occur during the fast thermite reactions between Al and CuO nanostructures under adiabatic conditions. Aluminum surfaces in contact with O-exposed and Cu-exposed CuO surfaces are studied. Starting from initial temperature T = 800 K, we have observed: faster chemical reaction at the oxygen-rich interface during the initial 0.5 ps, linear temperature rise, and fast oxygen diffusion into the Al region with the rate 1.87 X 10-3 cm2/s. The density-derived electrostatic and chemical method is used to evaluate the net atomic charges and charge transfer during the important redox processes. High charge density around the oxygen-exposed interface may be responsible for the faster initial reactions at that interface. The overall reaction rate, determined using the time evolution of Cu-O charge orbital overlap population, is approximately first order.

Impacts of past climate and sea level change on Everglades wetlands: placing a century of anthropogenic change into a late-Holocene context

USGS Publications Warehouse

Willard, D.A.; Bernhardt, C.E.

2011-01-01

We synthesize existing evidence on the ecological history of the Florida Everglades since its inception ~7 ka (calibrated kiloannum) and evaluate the relative impacts of sea level rise, climate variability, and human alteration of Everglades hydrology on wetland plant communities. Initial freshwater peat accumulation began between 6 and 7 ka on the platform underlying modern Florida Bay when sea level was ~6.2 m below its current position. By 5 ka, sawgrass and waterlily peats covered the area bounded by Lake Okeechobee to the north and the Florida Keys to the south. Slower rates of relative sea level rise ~3 ka stabilized the south Florida coastline and initiated transitions from freshwater to mangrove peats near the coast. Hydrologic changes in freshwater marshes also are indicated ~3 ka. During the last ~2 ka, the Everglades wetland was affected by a series of hydrologic fluctuations related to regional to global-scale fluctuations in climate and sea level. Pollen evidence indicates that regional-scale droughts lasting two to four centuries occurred ~1 ka and ~0.4 ka, altering wetland community composition and triggering development of characteristic Everglades habitats such as sawgrass ridges and tree islands. Intercalation of mangrove peats with estuarine muds ~1 ka indicates a temporary slowing or stillstand of sea level. Although sustained droughts and Holocene sea level rise played large roles in structuring the greater Everglades ecosystem, twentieth century reductions in freshwater flow, compartmentalization of the wetland, and accelerated rates of sea level rise had unprecedented impacts on oxidation and subsidence of organic soils, changes/loss of key Everglades habitats, and altered distribution of coastal vegetation.

INVESTIGATING TWO SUCCESSIVE FLUX ROPE ERUPTIONS IN A SOLAR ACTIVE REGION

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

Cheng, X.; Zhang, J.; Ding, M. D.

2013-06-01

We investigate two successive flux rope (FR1 and FR2) eruptions resulting in two coronal mass ejections (CMEs) on 2012 January 23. Both flux ropes (FRs) appeared as an EUV channel structure in the images of high temperature passbands of the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly prior to the CME eruption. Through fitting their height evolution with a function consisting of linear and exponential components, we determine the onset time of the FR impulsive acceleration with high temporal accuracy for the first time. Using this onset time, we divide the evolution of the FRs in the low corona into two phases: a slowmore » rise phase and an impulsive acceleration phase. In the slow rise phase of FR1, the appearance of sporadic EUV and UV brightening and the strong shearing along the polarity inverse line indicates that the quasi-separatrix-layer reconnection likely initiates the slow rise. On the other hand, for FR2, we mainly contribute its slow rise to the FR1 eruption, which partially opened the overlying field and thus decreased the magnetic restriction. At the onset of the impulsive acceleration phase, FR1 (FR2) reaches the critical height of 84.4 ± 11.2 Mm (86.2 ± 13.0 Mm) where the decline of the overlying field with height is fast enough to trigger the torus instability. After a very short interval (∼2 minutes), the flare emission began to enhance. These results reveal the compound activity involving multiple magnetic FRs and further suggest that the ideal torus instability probably plays the essential role of initiating the impulsive acceleration of CMEs.« less

A Method to Constrain Mass and Spin of GRB Black Holes within the NDAF Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Tong; Xue, Li; Zhao, Xiao-Hong; Zhang, Fu-Wen; Zhang, Bing

2016-04-01

Black holes (BHs) hide themselves behind various astronomical phenomena and their properties, I.e., mass and spin, are usually difficult to constrain. One leading candidate for the central engine model of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) invokes a stellar mass BH and a neutrino-dominated accretion flow (NDAF), with the relativistic jet launched due to neutrino-anti-neutrino annihilations. Such a model gives rise to a matter-dominated fireball, and is suitable to interpret GRBs with a dominant thermal component with a photospheric origin. We propose a method to constrain BH mass and spin within the framework of this model and apply the method to the thermally dominant GRB 101219B, whose initial jet launching radius, r0, is constrained from the data. Using our numerical model of NDAF jets, we estimate the following constraints on the central BH: mass MBH ˜ 5-9 M⊙, spin parameter a* ≳ 0.6, and disk mass 3 M⊙ ≲ Mdisk ≲ 4 M⊙. Our results also suggest that the NDAF model is a competitive candidate for the central engine of GRBs with a strong thermal component.

Thermoluminescence glow curve deconvolution and trapping parameters determination of dysprosium doped magnesium borate glass

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salama, E.; Soliman, H. A.

2018-07-01

In this paper, thermoluminescence glow curves of gamma irradiated magnesium borate glass doped with dysprosium were studied. The number of interfering peaks and in turn the number of electron trap levels are determined using the Repeated Initial Rise (RIR) method. At different heating rates (β), the glow curves were deconvoluted into two interfering peaks based on the results of RIR method. Kinetic parameters such as trap depth, kinetic order (b) and frequency factor (s) for each electron trap level is determined using the Peak Shape (PS) method. The obtained results indicated that, the magnesium borate glass doped with dysprosium has two electron trap levels with the average depth energies of 0.63 and 0.79 eV respectively. These two traps have second order kinetic and are formed at low temperature region. The obtained results due to the glow curve analysis could be used to explain some observed properties such as, high thermal fading and light sensitivity for such thermoluminescence material. In this work, systematic procedures to determine the kinetic parameters of any thermoluminescence material are successfully introduced.

Impacts and responses to sea-level rise: a global analysis of the SRES scenarios over the twenty-first century.

PubMed

Nicholls, Robert J; Tol, Richard S J

2006-04-15

Taking the Special Report on Emission Scenarios (SRES) climate and socio-economic scenarios (A1FI, A2, B1 and B2 'future worlds'), the potential impacts of sea-level rise through the twenty-first century are explored using complementary impact and economic analysis methods at the global scale. These methods have never been explored together previously. In all scenarios, the exposure and hence the impact potential due to increased flooding by sea-level rise increases significantly compared to the base year (1990). While mitigation reduces impacts, due to the lagged response of sea-level rise to atmospheric temperature rise, impacts cannot be avoided during the twenty-first century by this response alone. Cost-benefit analyses suggest that widespread protection will be an economically rational response to land loss due to sea-level rise in the four SRES futures that are considered. The most vulnerable future worlds to sea-level rise appear to be the A2 and B2 scenarios, which primarily reflects differences in the socio-economic situation (coastal population, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and GDP/capita), rather than the magnitude of sea-level rise. Small islands and deltaic settings stand out as being more vulnerable as shown in many earlier analyses. Collectively, these results suggest that human societies will have more choice in how they respond to sea-level rise than is often assumed. However, this conclusion needs to be tempered by recognition that we still do not understand these choices and significant impacts remain possible. Future worlds which experience larger rises in sea-level than considered here (above 35 cm), more extreme events, a reactive rather than proactive approach to adaptation, and where GDP growth is slower or more unequal than in the SRES futures remain a concern. There is considerable scope for further research to better understand these diverse issues.

Uncertainty quantification of Antarctic contribution to sea-level rise using the fast Elementary Thermomechanical Ice Sheet (f.ETISh) model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bulthuis, Kevin; Arnst, Maarten; Pattyn, Frank; Favier, Lionel

2017-04-01

Uncertainties in sea-level rise projections are mostly due to uncertainties in Antarctic ice-sheet predictions (IPCC AR5 report, 2013), because key parameters related to the current state of the Antarctic ice sheet (e.g. sub-ice-shelf melting) and future climate forcing are poorly constrained. Here, we propose to improve the predictions of Antarctic ice-sheet behaviour using new uncertainty quantification methods. As opposed to ensemble modelling (Bindschadler et al., 2013) which provides a rather limited view on input and output dispersion, new stochastic methods (Le Maître and Knio, 2010) can provide deeper insight into the impact of uncertainties on complex system behaviour. Such stochastic methods usually begin with deducing a probabilistic description of input parameter uncertainties from the available data. Then, the impact of these input parameter uncertainties on output quantities is assessed by estimating the probability distribution of the outputs by means of uncertainty propagation methods such as Monte Carlo methods or stochastic expansion methods. The use of such uncertainty propagation methods in glaciology may be computationally costly because of the high computational complexity of ice-sheet models. This challenge emphasises the importance of developing reliable and computationally efficient ice-sheet models such as the f.ETISh ice-sheet model (Pattyn, 2015), a new fast thermomechanical coupled ice sheet/ice shelf model capable of handling complex and critical processes such as the marine ice-sheet instability mechanism. Here, we apply these methods to investigate the role of uncertainties in sub-ice-shelf melting, calving rates and climate projections in assessing Antarctic contribution to sea-level rise for the next centuries using the f.ETISh model. We detail the methods and show results that provide nominal values and uncertainty bounds for future sea-level rise as a reflection of the impact of the input parameter uncertainties under consideration, as well as a ranking of the input parameter uncertainties in the order of the significance of their contribution to uncertainty in future sea-level rise. In addition, we discuss how limitations posed by the available information (poorly constrained data) pose challenges that motivate our current research.

Analysis of the Sources of Islamic Extremism

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-06-15

UN 59th General Assembly and Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan was named the cosponsor. The AOC initiative analyzed the rise in cross-cultural...the founder of al-Qaida, has identified his grievances through audio and video tapes , statements released to the media and through interviews. Bruce

Show What You Know

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Dan; Rhodes, Dwight E.

2017-01-01

Educators Rising, an initiative of PDK International, has developed five microcredentials that allow aspiring teachers to demonstrate what they know and are able to do through experiences very similar to what professional teachers do every day. [This article contains a sidebar: "Microcredentials in the Teacher Academy Classroom: Rigor,…

Economics of oversized cyclones in the cotton ginning industry

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Cost of reducing pollution to meet increasingly stringent air quality standards particularly for the U.S. cotton ginning industry is rising overtime. Most industry participants use cyclones to control air pollutants. These cyclones have no moving parts and their initial investment costs are relative...

Generation and stability of dynamical skyrmions and droplet solitons.

PubMed

Statuto, Nahuel; Hernàndez, Joan Manel; Kent, Andrew D; Macià, Ferran

2018-08-10

A spin-polarized current in a nanocontact to a magnetic film can create collective magnetic oscillations by compensating the magnetic damping. In particular, in materials with uniaxial magnetic anisotropy, droplet solitons have been observed-a self-localized excitation consisting of partially reversed magnetization that precesses coherently in the nanocontact region. It is also possible to generate topological droplet solitons, known as dynamical skyrmions (DSs). Here, we show that spin-polarized current thresholds for DS creation depend not only on the material's parameters but also on the initial magnetization state and the rise time of the spin-polarized current. We study the conditions that promote either droplet or DS formation and describe their stability in magnetic films without Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions. The Oersted fields from the applied current, the initial magnetization state, and the rise time of the injected current can determine whether a droplet or a DS forms. DSs are found to be more stable than droplets. We also discuss electrical characteristics that can be used to distinguish these magnetic objects.

The optical and radiation field signatures produced by lightning return strokes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Guo, C.; Krider, E. P.

1982-01-01

Typical examples of the signals that are produced by first and subsequent return strokes in cloud-to-ground lightning on a microsecond time scale are presented. Statistics on the structure of the waveforms and the radiance of the channels are given. The relationship between the light signals and the associated electric field signatures is discussed. It is shown that the initial light signal from a return stroke tends to be linear for about 15 microsec and then rises more slowly to a peak that is delayed by approximately 60 microsec from the electric field peak. It is thought that the transition between the fast linear portion and the slower rise may be due to the return stroke entering the cloud base. A small percentage of the records suggest that two different branches of the same stepped leader can initiate separate return strokes. The light pulses from cloud discharges tend to be smaller and to vary more slowly than those from return strokes.

Explosive decomposition of ethylene oxide at elevated condition: effect of ignition energy, nitrogen dilution, and turbulence.

PubMed

Pekalski, A A; Zevenbergen, J F; Braithwaite, M; Lemkowitz, S M; Pasman, H J

2005-02-14

Experimental and theoretical investigation of explosive decomposition of ethylene oxide (EO) at fixed initial experimental parameters (T=100 degrees C, P=4 bar) in a 20-l sphere was conducted. Safety-related parameters, namely the maximum explosion pressure, the maximum rate of pressure rise, and the Kd values, were experimentally determined for pure ethylene oxide and ethylene oxide diluted with nitrogen. The influence of the ignition energy on the explosion parameters was also studied. All these dependencies are quantified in empirical formulas. Additionally, the effect of turbulence on explosive decomposition of ethylene oxide was investigated. In contrast to previous studies, it is found that turbulence significantly influences the explosion severity parameters, mostly the rate of pressure rise. Thermodynamic models are used to calculate the maximum explosion pressure of pure and of nitrogen-diluted ethylene oxide, at different initial temperatures. Soot formation was experimentally observed. Relation between the amounts of soot formed and the explosion pressure was experimentally observed and was calculated.

Growth hormone response to feeding in term and preterm neonates.

PubMed

Adrian, T E; Lucas, A; Bloom, S R; Aynsley-Green, A

1983-03-01

Plasma growth hormone concentrations were measured in 248 healthy term and preterm infants. At birth growth hormone concentrations in cord blood from both term and preterm babies were approximately 100-fold higher than those in blood drawn from healthy adults. By the sixth postnatal day basal pre-feed levels had fallen in term neonates by 65% and a marked postprandial rise was apparent; preterm infants did not show this initial fall in preprandial hormone levels nor was any response to feeding seen. However a fall in preprandial concentrations accompanied by the development of postprandial surges in growth hormone occurred during the next 2 weeks so that by 24 days the postprandial rise was similar to that of term neonates on the sixth day. We conclude that although the initial postnatal changes in plasma growth hormone concentrations are different in preterm and term infants, feeding is a major stimulus to growth hormone secretion in both groups of neonates. Further work is needed to define the precise role of this hormone in neonatal metabolic adaptation.

Linear bubble plume model for hypolimnetic oxygenation: Full-scale validation and sensitivity analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singleton, V. L.; Gantzer, P.; Little, J. C.

2007-02-01

An existing linear bubble plume model was improved, and data collected from a full-scale diffuser installed in Spring Hollow Reservoir, Virginia, were used to validate the model. The depth of maximum plume rise was simulated well for two of the three diffuser tests. Temperature predictions deviated from measured profiles near the maximum plume rise height, but predicted dissolved oxygen profiles compared very well with observations. A sensitivity analysis was performed. The gas flow rate had the greatest effect on predicted plume rise height and induced water flow rate, both of which were directly proportional to gas flow rate. Oxygen transfer within the hypolimnion was independent of all parameters except initial bubble radius and was inversely proportional for radii greater than approximately 1 mm. The results of this work suggest that plume dynamics and oxygen transfer can successfully be predicted for linear bubble plumes using the discrete-bubble approach.

The effect of sediments on turbulent plume dynamics in a stratified fluid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stenberg, Erik; Ezhova, Ekaterina; Brandt, Luca

2017-11-01

We report large eddy simulation results of sediment-loaded turbulent plumes in a stratified fluid. The configuration, where the plume is discharged from a round source, provides an idealized model of subglacial discharge from a submarine tidewater glacier and is a starting point for understanding the effect of sediments on the dynamics of the rising plume. The transport of sediments is modeled by means of an advection-diffusion equation where sediment settling velocity is taken into account. We initially follow the experimental setup of Sutherland (Phys. Rev. Fluids, 2016), considering uniformly stratified ambients and further extend the work to pycnocline-type stratifications typical of Greenland fjords. Apart from examining the rise height, radial spread and intrusion of the rising plume, we gain further insights of the plume dynamics by extracting turbulent characteristics and the distribution of the sediments inside the plume.

The early dynamical evolution of star clusters near the Galactic Centre

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, So-Myoung; Goodwin, Simon P.; Kim, Sungsoo S.

2018-07-01

We examine the dynamical evolution of both Plummer sphere and substructured (fractal) star-forming regions in Galactic Centre (GC) strong tidal fields to see what initial conditions could give rise to an Arches-like massive star cluster by ˜2 Myr. We find that any initial distribution has to be contained within its initial tidal radius to survive, which sets a lower limit of the initial density of the Arches of ˜600 M⊙ pc-3 if the Arches is at 30 pc from the GC, or ˜200 M⊙ pc-3 if the Arches is at 100 pc from the GC. Plummer spheres that survive change little other than to dynamically mass segregate, but initially fractal distributions rapidly erase substructure, dynamically mass segregate and by 2 Myr look extremely similar to initial Plummer spheres, therefore it is almost impossible to determine the initial conditions of clusters in strong tidal fields.

The early dynamical evolution of star clusters near the Galactic Centre

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, So-Myoung; Goodwin, Simon P.; Kim, Sungsoo S.

2018-04-01

We examine the dynamical evolution of both Plummer sphere and substructured (fractal) star forming regions in Galactic Centre (GC) strong tidal fields to see what initial conditions could give rise to an Arches-like massive star cluster by ˜2 Myr. We find that any initial distribution has to be contained within its initial tidal radius to survive, which sets a lower limit of the initial density of the Arches of ˜ 600 M⊙ pc-3 if the Arches is at 30 pc from the GC, or ˜ 200 M⊙ pc-3 if the Arches is at 100 pc from the GC. Plummer spheres that survive change little other than to dynamically mass segregate, but initially fractal distributions rapidly erase substructure, dynamically mass segregate and by 2 Myr look extremely similar to initial Plummer spheres, therefore it is almost impossible to determine the initial conditions of clusters in strong tidal fields.

Studies on tribology

PubMed Central

Hori, Yukio; Kato, Koji

2008-01-01

In high speed rotating machines such as turbines and generators, vibrations of a rotating shaft often hinder the smooth operation of the machine or even cause failure. Oil whip is one of such vibrations due to oil film action of journal bearing. Its mechanism and preventive method is explained and proposed in this paper. Further theoretical and experimental analyses are made for considering heat generation and temperature rise in hydrodynamic lubrication. The usefulness of the lubrication theory based on the k–ε model is also shown for bearings with high eccentricity ratios. In the latter half of this paper, water lubrication, nitrogen gas lubrication and tribo-coated indium lubrication are shown as new promising methods, and their mechanisms are discussed and the importance of tribo-layer is explained. Some mechanisms of wear are introduced for better understanding of tribo-layer. In the last part of this paper, the mechanisms of generating static friction are shown for the cases of plastic contact and elastic contact, which is the base for understanding the mechanism of initiation of macroscopic sliding. PMID:18941304

Studies on tribology.

PubMed

Hori, Yukio; Kato, Koji

2008-01-01

In high speed rotating machines such as turbines and generators, vibrations of a rotating shaft often hinder the smooth operation of the machine or even cause failure. Oil whip is one of such vibrations due to oil film action of journal bearing. Its mechanism and preventive method is explained and proposed in this paper. Further theoretical and experimental analyses are made for considering heat generation and temperature rise in hydrodynamic lubrication. The usefulness of the lubrication theory based on the k-epsilon model is also shown for bearings with high eccentricity ratios. In the latter half of this paper, water lubrication, nitrogen gas lubrication and tribo-coated indium lubrication are shown as new promising methods, and their mechanisms are discussed and the importance of tribo-layer is explained. Some mechanisms of wear are introduced for better understanding of tribo-layer. In the last part of this paper, the mechanisms of generating static friction are shown for the cases of plastic contact and elastic contact, which is the base for understanding the mechanism of initiation of macroscopic sliding.

Effect of 5-hydroxytryptophan acting from the cerebral ventricles on 5-hydroxytryptamine output and body temperature

PubMed Central

El Hawary, M. B. E.; Feldberg, W.

1966-01-01

1. In cats anaesthetized with intraperitoneal pentobarbitone sodium the third ventricle, the anterior or inferior horn of the left lateral ventricle, was perfused with 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) in different concentrations, and the effluent assayed for 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) on the rat stomach strip preparation of Vane (1957). 2. On perfusion of the third ventricle with 5-HTP the output of 5-HT in effluent increased, the increase depending on the 5-HTP concentration: with 1/50,000 it increased 44-69 times (mean 55), with 1/25,000, 81-83 times (mean 82) and with 1/10,000, 71-200 times (mean 128). The 5-HT output depended also on the initial output during the preceding perfusion with artificial c.s.f. The greater this initial output the greater was the maximum output reached during the 5-HTP perfusion. 3. The increase in 5-HT output during perfusion of the third ventricle with 5-HTP was usually associated with shivering and a rise in rectal temperature. This association, however, was not invariably obtained, probably because of a central depressant effect of 5-HTP itself. 4. On perfusion of the anterior or inferior horn of the left lateral ventricle with 5-HTP, the output of 5-HT in the effluent also increased, but to a lesser extent than in the effluent from the third ventricle. There was no association with shivering nor with a rise in rectal temperature. 5. An injection of 1 or 2 mg 5—HTP into the cerebral ventricles of unanaesthetized cats produced a biphasic rise in temperature, shivering, constriction of the skin vessels followed by vasodilatation, tachypnoea, wiping and scratching movements, miaowing and long lasting sleep. 6. The biphasic rise in temperature is explained as the result of two opposing effects: increased formation of 5-HT which would raise body temperature, and a central depressant effect of 5-HTP itself or of one of its metabolites which would lower body temperature. 7. The initial rise in temperature and the shivering in response to an intraventricular injection of 5-HTP varied from cat to cat. In those in which these effects were strong the 5-HT output during a subsequent perfusion of the third ventricle with artificial c.s.f. was higher, and the maximum 5—HT output reached on perfusion with 5-HTP was greater than in those in which these effects had been weak. PMID:5298335

Methodology for determining the investment attractiveness of construction of high-rise buildings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nezhnikova, Ekaterina; Kashirin, Valentin; Davydova, Yana; Kazakova, Svetlana

2018-03-01

The article presents the analysis of the existing methods for assessing the investment attractiveness of high-rise construction. The authors determined and justified the primary choice of objects and territories that are the most attractive for the development of high-rise construction. A system of risk indicators has been developed that allow making a quantitative adjustment for a particular project in the evaluation of the efficiency of investment projects. The study is aimed at developing basic methodological concepts for a comparative evaluation of the prospects of construction of high-rise facilities that allow to take into consideration the features of investment in construction and to enable quantitative evaluation of the investment effectiveness in high-rise construction.

Precise rise and decay time measurements of inorganic scintillators by means of X-ray and 511 keV excitation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gundacker, S.; Turtos, R. M.; Auffray, E.; Lecoq, P.

2018-05-01

The emergence of new solid-state avalanche photodetectors, e.g. SiPMs, with unprecedented timing capabilities opens new ways to profit from ultrafast and prompt photon emission in scintillators. In time of flight positron emission tomography (TOF-PET) and high energy timing detectors based on scintillators the ultimate coincidence time resolution (CTR) achievable is proportional to the square root of the scintillation rise time, decay time and the reciprocal light yield, CTR ∝√{τrτd / LY }. Hence, the precise study of light emission in the very first tens of picoseconds is indispensable to understand time resolution limitations imposed by the scintillator. We developed a time correlated single photon counting setup having a Gaussian impulse response function (IRF) of 63ps sigma, allowing to precisely measure the scintillation rise time of various materials with 511keV excitation. In L(Y)SO:Ce we found two rise time components, the first below the resolution of our setup <10 ps and a second component being ∼380 ps. Co-doping with Ca2+ completely suppresses the slow rise component leading to a very fast initial scintillation emission with a rise time of <10ps. A very similar behavior is observed in LGSO:Ce crystals. The results are further confirmed by complementary measurements using a streak-camera system with pulsed X-ray excitation and additional 511 keV excited measurements of Mg2+ co-doped LuAG:Ce, YAG:Ce and GAGG:Ce samples.

The importance of plume rise on the concentrations and atmospheric impacts of biomass burning aerosol

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walter, Carolin; Freitas, Saulo R.; Kottmeier, Christoph; Kraut, Isabel; Rieger, Daniel; Vogel, Heike; Vogel, Bernhard

2016-07-01

We quantified the effects of the plume rise of biomass burning aerosol and gases for the forest fires that occurred in Saskatchewan, Canada, in July 2010. For this purpose, simulations with different assumptions regarding the plume rise and the vertical distribution of the emissions were conducted. Based on comparisons with observations, applying a one-dimensional plume rise model to predict the injection layer in combination with a parametrization of the vertical distribution of the emissions outperforms approaches in which the plume heights are initially predefined. Approximately 30 % of the fires exceed the height of 2 km with a maximum height of 8.6 km. Using this plume rise model, comparisons with satellite images in the visible spectral range show a very good agreement between the simulated and observed spatial distributions of the biomass burning plume. The simulated aerosol optical depth (AOD) with data of an AERONET station is in good agreement with respect to the absolute values and the timing of the maximum. Comparison of the vertical distribution of the biomass burning aerosol with CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation) retrievals also showed the best agreement when the plume rise model was applied. We found that downwelling surface short-wave radiation below the forest fire plume is reduced by up to 50 % and that the 2 m temperature is decreased by up to 6 K. In addition, we simulated a strong change in atmospheric stability within the biomass burning plume.

Concrete ensemble Kalman filters with rigorous catastrophic filter divergence

PubMed Central

Kelly, David; Majda, Andrew J.; Tong, Xin T.

2015-01-01

The ensemble Kalman filter and ensemble square root filters are data assimilation methods used to combine high-dimensional, nonlinear dynamical models with observed data. Ensemble methods are indispensable tools in science and engineering and have enjoyed great success in geophysical sciences, because they allow for computationally cheap low-ensemble-state approximation for extremely high-dimensional turbulent forecast models. From a theoretical perspective, the dynamical properties of these methods are poorly understood. One of the central mysteries is the numerical phenomenon known as catastrophic filter divergence, whereby ensemble-state estimates explode to machine infinity, despite the true state remaining in a bounded region. In this article we provide a breakthrough insight into the phenomenon, by introducing a simple and natural forecast model that transparently exhibits catastrophic filter divergence under all ensemble methods and a large set of initializations. For this model, catastrophic filter divergence is not an artifact of numerical instability, but rather a true dynamical property of the filter. The divergence is not only validated numerically but also proven rigorously. The model cleanly illustrates mechanisms that give rise to catastrophic divergence and confirms intuitive accounts of the phenomena given in past literature. PMID:26261335

Concrete ensemble Kalman filters with rigorous catastrophic filter divergence.

PubMed

Kelly, David; Majda, Andrew J; Tong, Xin T

2015-08-25

The ensemble Kalman filter and ensemble square root filters are data assimilation methods used to combine high-dimensional, nonlinear dynamical models with observed data. Ensemble methods are indispensable tools in science and engineering and have enjoyed great success in geophysical sciences, because they allow for computationally cheap low-ensemble-state approximation for extremely high-dimensional turbulent forecast models. From a theoretical perspective, the dynamical properties of these methods are poorly understood. One of the central mysteries is the numerical phenomenon known as catastrophic filter divergence, whereby ensemble-state estimates explode to machine infinity, despite the true state remaining in a bounded region. In this article we provide a breakthrough insight into the phenomenon, by introducing a simple and natural forecast model that transparently exhibits catastrophic filter divergence under all ensemble methods and a large set of initializations. For this model, catastrophic filter divergence is not an artifact of numerical instability, but rather a true dynamical property of the filter. The divergence is not only validated numerically but also proven rigorously. The model cleanly illustrates mechanisms that give rise to catastrophic divergence and confirms intuitive accounts of the phenomena given in past literature.

The Impact of Media Reporting on the Emergence of Charcoal Burning Suicide in Taiwan

PubMed Central

Chen, Ying-Yeh; Chen, Feng; Gunnell, David; Yip, Paul S. F.

2013-01-01

We investigated the association of the intensity of newspaper reporting of charcoal burning suicide with the incidence of such deaths in Taiwan during 1998–2002. A counting process approach was used to estimate the incidence of suicides and intensity of news reporting. Conditional Poisson generalized linear autoregressive models were performed to assess the association of the intensity of newspaper reporting of charcoal burning and non-charcoal burning suicides with the actual number of charcoal burning and non-charcoal burning suicides the following day. We found that increases in the reporting of charcoal burning suicide were associated with increases in the incidence of charcoal burning suicide on the following day, with each reported charcoal burning news item being associated with a 16% increase in next day charcoal burning suicide (p<.0001). However, the reporting of other methods of suicide was not related to their incidence. We conclude that extensive media reporting of charcoal burning suicides appears to have contributed to the rapid rise in the incidence of the novel method in Taiwan during the initial stage of the suicide epidemic. Regulating media reporting of novel suicide methods may prevent an epidemic spread of such new methods. PMID:23383027

Regional approaches in high-rise construction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iconopisceva, O. G.; Proskurin, G. A.

2018-03-01

The evolutionary process of high-rise construction is in the article focus. The aim of the study was to create a retrospective matrix reflecting the tasks of the study such as: structuring the most iconic high-rise objects within historic boundaries. The study is based on contemporary experience of high-rise construction in different countries. The main directions and regional specifics in the field of high-rise construction as well as factors influencing the further evolution process are analyzed. The main changes in architectural stylistics, form-building, constructive solutions that focus on the principles of energy efficiency and bio positivity of "sustainable buildings", as well as the search for a new typology are noted. The most universal constructive methods and solutions that turned out to be particularly popular are generalized. The new typology of high-rises and individual approach to urban context are noted. The results of the study as a graphical scheme made it possible to represent the whole high-rise evolution. The new spatial forms of high-rises lead them to new role within the urban environments. Futuristic hyperscalable concepts take the autonomous urban space functions itself and demonstrate us how high-rises can replace multifunctional urban fabric, developing it inside their shells.

Dynamo action and magnetic buoyancy in convection simulations with vertical shear

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guerrero, G.; Käpylä, P. J.

2011-09-01

Context. A hypothesis for sunspot formation is the buoyant emergence of magnetic flux tubes created by the strong radial shear at the tachocline. In this scenario, the magnetic field has to exceed a threshold value before it becomes buoyant and emerges through the whole convection zone. Aims: We follow the evolution of a random seed magnetic field with the aim of study under what conditions it is possible to excite the dynamo instability and whether the dynamo generated magnetic field becomes buoyantly unstable and emerges to the surface as expected in the flux-tube context. Methods: We perform numerical simulations of compressible turbulent convection that include a vertical shear layer. Like the solar tachocline, the shear is located at the interface between convective and stable layers. Results: We find that shear and convection are able to amplify the initial magnetic field and form large-scale elongated magnetic structures. The magnetic field strength depends on several parameters such as the shear amplitude, the thickness and location of the shear layer, and the magnetic Reynolds number (Rm). Models with deeper and thicker tachoclines allow longer storage and are more favorable for generating a mean magnetic field. Models with higher Rm grow faster but saturate at slightly lower levels. Whenever the toroidal magnetic field reaches amplitudes greater a threshold value which is close to the equipartition value, it becomes buoyant and rises into the convection zone where it expands and forms mushroom shape structures. Some events of emergence, i.e. those with the largest amplitudes of the initial field, are able to reach the very uppermost layers of the domain. These episodes are able to modify the convective pattern forming either broader convection cells or convective eddies elongated in the direction of the field. However, in none of these events the field preserves its initial structure. The back-reaction of the magnetic field on the fluid is also observed in lower values of the turbulent velocity and in perturbations of approximately three per cent on the shear profile. Conclusions: The results indicate that buoyancy is a common phenomena when the magnetic field is amplified through dynamo action in a narrow layer. It is, however, very hard for the field to rise up to the surface without losing its initial coherence.

System and method for trapping and measuring a charged particle in a liquid

DOEpatents

Reed, Mark A; Krstic, Predrag S; Guan, Weihua; Zhao, Xiongce

2013-07-23

A system and method for trapping a charged particle is disclosed. A time-varying periodic multipole electric potential is generated in a trapping volume. A charged particle under the influence of the multipole electric field is confined to the trapping volume. A three electrode configuration giving rise to a 3D Paul trap and a four planar electrode configuration giving rise to a 2D Paul trap are disclosed.

Method and apparatus for the detection of neutrons and gamma rays

DOEpatents

Reber, Edward L.; Aryaeinejad, Rahmat; Spencer, David F.

2005-10-11

A pulse discrimination method for discriminating between pulses having a short decay period and a long decay period, may comprise: Detecting the pulse; integrating a rise portion of the pulse; integrating a decay portion of the pulse; and comparing the integrated rise portion of the pulse with the integrated decay portion of the pulse to distinguish between a pulse having a long decay period and a pulse having a short decay period.

System and method for trapping and measuring a charged particle in a liquid

DOEpatents

Reed, Mark A; Krstic, Predrag S; Guan, Weihua; Zhao, Xiongce

2012-10-23

A system and method for trapping a charged particle is disclosed. A time-varying periodic multipole electric potential is generated in a trapping volume. A charged particle under the influence of the multipole electric field is confined to the trapping volume. A three electrode configuration giving rise to a 3D Paul trap and a four planar electrode configuration giving rise to a 2D Paul trap are disclosed.

Effects of sea-level rise and pumpage elimination on saltwater intrusion in the Hilton Head Island area, South Carolina, 2004-2104

USGS Publications Warehouse

Payne, Dorothy F.

2010-01-01

Saltwater intrusion of the Upper Floridan aquifer has been observed in the Hilton Head area, South Carolina since the late 1970s and currently affects freshwater supply. Rising sea level in the Hilton Head Island area may contribute to the occurrence of and affect the rate of saltwater intrusion into the Upper Floridan aquifer by increasing the hydraulic gradient and by inundating an increasing area with saltwater, which may then migrate downward into geologic units that presently contain freshwater. Rising sea level may offset any beneficial results from reductions in groundwater pumpage, and thus needs to be considered in groundwater-management decisions. A variable-density groundwater flow and transport model was modified from a previously existing model to simulate the effects of sea-level rise in the Hilton Head Island area. Specifically, the model was used to (1) simulate trends of saltwater intrusion from predevelopment to the present day (1885-2004) and evaluate the conceptual model, (2) project these trends from the present day into the future based on different potential rates of sea-level change, and (3) evaluate the relative influences of pumpage and sea-level rise on saltwater intrusion. Four scenarios were simulated for 2004-2104: (1) continuation of the estimated sea-level rise rate over the last century, (2) a doubling of the sea-level rise, (3) a cessation of sea-level rise, and (4) continuation of the rate over the last century coupled with an elimination of all pumpage. Results show that, if present-day (year 2004) pumping conditions are maintained, the extent of saltwater in the Upper Floridan aquifer will increase, whether or not sea level continues to rise. Furthermore, if all pumpage is eliminated and sea level continues to rise, the simulated saltwater extent in the Upper Floridan aquifer is reduced. These results indicate that pumpage is a strong driving force for simulated saltwater intrusion, more so than sea-level rise at current rates. However, results must be considered in light of limitations in the model, including, but not limited to uncertainty in field data, the conceptual model, the physical properties and representation of the hydrogeologic framework, and boundary and initial conditions, as well as uncertainty in future conditions, such as the rate of sea-level rise.

Wintertime urban heat island modified by global climate change over Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hara, M.

2015-12-01

Urban thermal environment change, especially, surface air temperature (SAT) rise in metropolitan areas, is one of the major recent issues in urban areas. The urban thermal environmental change affects not only human health such as heat stroke, but also increasing infectious disease due to spreading out virus vectors habitat and increase of industry and house energy consumption. The SAT rise is mostly caused by global climate change and urban heat island (hereafter UHI) by urbanization. The population in Tokyo metropolitan area is over 30 millions and the Tokyo metropolitan area is one of the biggest megacities in the world. The temperature rise due to urbanization seems comparable to the global climate change in the major megacities. It is important to project how the urbanization and the global climate change affect to the future change of urban thermal environment to plan the adaptation and mitigation policy. To predict future SAT change in urban scale, we should estimate future UHI modified by the global climate change. This study investigates change in UHI intensity (UHII) of major metropolitan areas in Japan by effects of the global climate change. We performed a series of climate simulations. Present climate simulations with and without urban process are conducted for ten seasons using a high-resolution numerical climate model, the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. Future climate projections with and without urban process are also conducted. The future projections are performed using the pseudo global warming method, assuming 2050s' initial and boundary conditions estimated by a GCM under the RCP scenario. Simulation results indicated that UHII would be enhanced more than 30% in Tokyo during the night due to the global climate change. The enhancement of urban heat island is mostly caused by change of lower atmospheric stability.

Non-Condon nonequilibrium Fermi’s golden rule rates from the linearized semiclassical method

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

Sun, Xiang; Geva, Eitan

2016-08-14

The nonequilibrium Fermi’s golden rule describes the transition between a photoexcited bright donor electronic state and a dark acceptor electronic state, when the nuclear degrees of freedom start out in a nonequilibrium state. In a previous paper [X. Sun and E. Geva, J. Chem. Theory Comput. 12, 2926 (2016)], we proposed a new expression for the nonequilibrium Fermi’s golden rule within the framework of the linearized semiclassical approximation and based on the Condon approximation, according to which the electronic coupling between donor and acceptor is assumed constant. In this paper we propose a more general expression, which is applicable tomore » the case of non-Condon electronic coupling. We test the accuracy of the new non-Condon nonequilibrium Fermi’s golden rule linearized semiclassical expression on a model where the donor and acceptor potential energy surfaces are parabolic and identical except for shifts in the equilibrium energy and geometry, and the coupling between them is linear in the nuclear coordinates. Since non-Condon effects may or may not give rise to conical intersections, both possibilities are examined by considering the following: (1) A modified Garg-Onuchic-Ambegaokar model for charge transfer in the condensed phase, where the donor-acceptor coupling is linear in the primary-mode coordinate, and for which non-Condon effects do not give rise to a conical intersection; (2) the linear vibronic coupling model for electronic transitions in gas phase molecules, where non-Condon effects give rise to conical intersections. We also present a comprehensive comparison between the linearized semiclassical expression and a progression of more approximate expressions, in both normal and inverted regions, and over a wide range of initial nonequilibrium states, temperatures, and frictions.« less

Multistrategy learning: A case study

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

Domingos, P.

1996-12-31

Two of the most popular approaches to induction are instance-based learning (IBL) and rule generation. Their strengths and weaknesses are largely complementary. IBL methods are able to identify small details in the instance space, but have trouble with attributes that are relevant in some parts of the space but not others. Conversely, rule induction methods may overlook small exception regions, but are able to select different attributes in different parts of the instance space. The two methods have been unified in the RISE algorithm. RISE views instances as maximally specific rules, forms more general rules by gradually clustering instances ofmore » the same class, and classifies a test example by letting the nearest rule win. This approach potentially combines the advantages of rule induction and IBL, and has indeed been observed to be more accurate than each on a large number of bench-mark datasets. However, it is important to determine if this performance is indeed due to the hypothesized advantages, and to define the situations in which RISE`s bias will and will not be preferable to those of the individual approaches. This abstract reports experiments to this end in artificial domains.« less

Cosmological implications of quantum entanglement in the multiverse

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kanno, Sugumi

2015-12-01

We explore the cosmological implications of quantum entanglement between two causally disconnected universes in the multiverse. We first consider two causally separated de Sitter spaces with a state which is initially entangled. We derive the reduced density matrix of our universe and compute the spectrum of vacuum fluctuations. We then consider the same system with an initially non-entangled state. We find that due to quantum interference scale dependent modulations may enter the spectrum for the case of initially non-entangled state. This gives rise to the possibility that the existence of causally disconnected universes may be experimentally tested by analyzing correlators in detail.

Combining urbanization and hydrodynamics data to evaluate sea level rise impacts on coastal water resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Young, C. R.; Martin, J. B.

2016-02-01

Assessments of the potential for salt water intrusion due to sea level rise require consideration of both coastal hydrodynamic and human activity thresholds. In siliciclastic systems, sea level rise may cause salt intrusion to coastal aquifers at annual or decadal scales, whereas in karst systems salt intrudes at the tidal scalse. In both cases, human activity impacts the freshwater portion of the system by altering the water demand on the aquifer. We combine physicochemical and human activity data to evaluate impact of sea level rise on salt intrusion to siliclastic (Indian River Lagoon, Fl, USA) and karst (Puerto Morelos, Yucatan, Mexico) systems under different sea level rise rate scenarios. Two hydrodynamic modeling scenarios are considered; flux controlled and head controlled. Under a flux controlled system hydraulic head gradients remain constant during sea level rise while under a head controlled system hydraulic graidents diminish, allowing saltwater intrusion. Our model contains three key terms; aquifer recharge, groundwater discharge and hydraulic conductivity. Groundwater discharge and hydraulic conductivity were calculated based on high frequency (karst system) and decadal (siliciclastic system) field measurements. Aquifer recharge is defined as precipitation less evapotranspiration and water demand was evaluated based on urban planning data that provided the regional water demand. Water demand includes agricultural area, toursim, traffic patterns, garbage collection and total population. Water demand was initially estimated using a partial leaset squares regression based on these variables. Our model indicates that water demand depends most on agricultural area, which has changed significantly over the last 30 years. In both systems, additional water demand creates a head controlled scenario, thus increaseing the protential fo salt intrusion with projected sea level rise.

Effect of moisture content on fed batch composting reactor of vegetable and fruit wastes.

PubMed

Jolanun, B; Tripetchkul, S; Chiemchaisri, C; Chaiprasert, P; Towprayoon, S

2005-03-01

Vegetable and fruit wastes mixed with sawdust were composted in a laboratory scale reactor by controlling the waste feeding rate at 21 kg m(-3) day(-1) and aeration rate at 10.6 l m(-3) min(-1). The effects of initial moisture content on organic matter degradation and process performance of fed batch composting were investigated. The absolute amount of removal, removal percentage, and removal rate of dry mass obtained were substantially different among the initial moisture contents. The rapid rise of moisture content and the lowest absolute amount of removal observed were achieved in the 50% condition. The initial moisture content yielding the largest absolute amount of removal in both feeding and curing stage was 30% whereas the removal percentage and rate constant of waste decomposition were highest in the 50% condition. Examined by traditional soil physics method, the moisture content at 50-55% was suitable for satisfying the degree of free air space (65-70%) of compost during the fed batch composting. Most degradable organic matter was mainly consumed in the feeding stage as indicated by a higher removal rate of dry mass in all cases. It is recommended that the initial moisture content of 30% and mode of aeration and agitation should be adopted for achieving practical fed batch composting of vegetable and fruit wastes. The study also demonstrated that the composting kinetics of vegetable and fruit wastes mixed with sawdust can be described by a first order model.

A new method to estimate global mass transport and its implication for sea level rise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yi, S.; Heki, K.

2017-12-01

Estimates of changes in global land mass by using GRACE observations can be achieved by two methods, a mascon method and a forward modeling method. However, results from these two methods show inconsistent secular trend. Sea level budget can be adopted to validate the consistency among observations of sea level rise by altimetry, steric change by the Argo project, and mass change by GRACE. Mascon products from JPL, GSFC and CSR are compared here, we find that all these three products cannot achieve a reconciled sea level budget, while this problem can be solved by a new forward modeling method. We further investigate the origin of this difference, and speculate that it is caused by the signal leakage from the ocean mass. Generally, it is well recognized that land signals leak into oceans, but it also happens the other way around. We stress the importance of correction of leakage from the ocean in the estimation of global land masses. Based on a reconciled sea level budget, we confirmed that global sea level rise has been accelerating significantly over 2005-2015, as a result of the ongoing global temperature increase.

Proposed strategies for designing sustainable high-rise apartment buildings in Ho Chi Minh City responding to critical urban issues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Truong, Nguyen Hoang Long; Huan Giang, Ngoc; Binh Duong, Trong

2018-03-01

This paper aims at finding practical strategies for designing sustainable high-rise apartment buildings in Ho Chi Minh City responding to varied municipal issues. Two steps are made. Step-1 identifies the critical issues of Ho Chi Minh City which are associated with high-rise apartment building projects. Step-2 finds potential and applicable strategies which are solutions for the critical issues in Step-1 with reference of seven selected assessment methods. The study finds the set of 58 strategies applicable to designing sustainable high-rise apartment buildings in Ho Chi Minh City.

Status of Water Levels and Selected Water-Quality Conditions in the Sparta-Memphis Aquifer in Arkansas and the Status of Water Levels in the Sparta Aquifer in Louisiana, Spring 2005

USGS Publications Warehouse

Schrader, T.P.; Jones, J.S.

2007-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission, the Arkansas Geological Commission, and the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development has monitored water levels in the Sparta Sand of Claiborne Group and Memphis Sand of Claiborne Group since the 1920's. Ground-water withdrawals have increased while water levels have declined since monitoring was initiated. This report has been produced to describe ground-water levels in the aquifers in the Sparta Sand and Memphis Sand and provide information for the management of this valuable resource. The 2005 potentiometric-surface map of the aquifers in the Sparta Sand and Memphis Sand was constructed using water-level data collected in 333 wells in Arkansas and 120 wells in Louisiana during the spring of 2005. The highest water-level altitude measured in Arkansas was 327 feet above National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 located in Grant County in the outcrop at the western boundary of the study area; the lowest water-level altitude was 189 feet below National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 in Union County. The highest water-level altitude measured in Louisiana was 246 feet above National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 located in Bossier Parish in the outcrop area near the western boundary of the study area; the lowest water-level altitude was 226 feet below National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 in central Ouachita Parish. Three large depressions centered in Columbia, Jefferson, and Union Counties in Arkansas are the result of large withdrawals for industrial and public supplies. In Louisiana, three major pumping centers are in Ouachita, Jackson, and Lincoln Parishes. Water withdrawals from these major pumping centers primarily is used for industrial and public-supply purposes. Withdrawals from Ouachita and Lincoln Parishes and Union County, Arkansas, primarily for industrial purposes, have caused the resulting cones of depression to coalesce so that the -40 foot potentiometric contour encircles the three pumping centers. Seven smaller depressions are evident on the 2005 Sparta-Memphis potentiometric-surface map located in Webster and Winn Parishes, Louisiana, and Calhoun, Cleveland, western Columbia, Desha, and Lafayette Counties, Arkansas. The depression in Calhoun County initially was shown in the 1996-1997 potentiometric surface. The depression in Desha County initially was shown in the 1999 potentiometric surface. The depressions in Webster and Winn Parishes were shown as early as 1975. The depressions in Cleveland, western Columbia, and Lafayette Counties initially were shown in the 2003 potentiometric surface. A map of differences in water-level measurements between 2001 and 2005 was constructed using the difference between water-level measurements from 294 wells in Arkansas and 29 wells in Louisiana. The difference in water levels between 2001 and 2005 ranged from -30.1 to 44.6 feet. The largest rise of 44.6 feet in water level measured was in Union County in Arkansas. The largest decline of 30.1 feet in water level measured was in Columbia County in Arkansas. Areas with a general rise in water levels in Arkansas are shown in Arkansas, Columbia, Craighead, Jefferson, Prairie, and the western half of Union Counties. The area around west-central Union County had rises as much as 44.6 feet, with seven wells showing a rise of 20 feet or greater, which is an annual rise of 5 feet or greater. Areas in Arkansas with a general decline in water level are shown in western Bradley, eastern Calhoun, Cleveland, Cross, Desha, Drew, Lafayette, Lee, Lincoln, Lonoke, Poinsett, and the eastern half of Union Counties. In Louisiana, the water-level difference map showed a general rise in water levels in northern Claiborne, northern Webster, and northwestern Union Parishes mainly because of a decrease in industrial withdrawals in southern Arkansas, particularly Union County. Another rise in water level was indicated in western

Analysis of plant germline development by high-throughput RNA profiling: technical advances and new insights.

PubMed

Schmidt, Anja; Schmid, Marc W; Grossniklaus, Ueli

2012-04-01

Reproduction is a crucial step in the life cycle of plants. The male and female germline lineages develop in the reproductive organs of the flower, which in higher plants are the anthers and ovules, respectively. Development of the germline lineage initiates from a dedicated sporophytic cell that undergoes meiosis to form spores that subsequently give rise to the gametophytes through mitotic cell divisions. The mature male and female gametophytes harbour the male (sperm cells) and female gametes (egg and central cell), respectively. Those unite during double fertilization to initiate embryo and endosperm development in sexually reproducing higher plants. While cytological changes involved in development of the germline lineages have been well characterized in a number of species, investigation of the transcriptional basis underlying their development and the specification of the gametes proved challenging. This is largely due to the inaccessibility of the cells constituting the germline lineages, which are enclosed by sporophytic tissues. Only recently, these technical limitations could be overcome by combining new methods to isolate the relevant cells with powerful transcriptional profiling methods, such as microarrays or high-throughput sequencing of RNA. This review focuses on these technical advances and the new insights gained from them concerning the transcriptional basis and molecular mechanisms underlying germline development. © 2012 The Authors. The Plant Journal © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Current costing models: are they suitable for allocating health resources? The example of fall injury prevention in Australia.

PubMed

Moller, Jerry

2005-01-01

The example of fall injury among older people is used to define and illustrate how current Australian systems for allocation of health resources perform for funding emerging public health issues. While the examples are Australian, the allocation and priority setting methods are common in the health sector in all developed western nations. With an ageing population the number of falls injuries in Australia and the cost of treatment will rise dramatically over the next 20-50 years. Current methods of allocating funds within the health system are not well suited to meeting this coming epidemic. The information requirements for cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness measures cannot be met. Marginal approaches to health funding are likely to continue to fund already well-funded treatment or politically driven prevention processes and to miss the opportunity for new prevention initiatives in areas that do not have a high political profile. Fall injury is one of many emerging areas that struggle to make claims for funding because the critical mass of intervention and evidence of its impact is not available. The beneficiaries of allocation failure may be those who treat the disease burden that could have been easily prevented. Changes to allocation mechanisms, data systems and new initiative funding practices are required to ensure that preventative strategies are able to compete on an equal footing with treatment approaches for mainstream health funding.

Synchronous Measurement of Ultrafast Anisotropy Decay of the B850 in Bacterial LH2 Complex

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yun-Peng; Du, Lu-Chao; Zhu, Gang-Bei; Wang, Zhuan; Weng, Yu-Xiang

2015-02-01

Ultrafast anisotropic decay is a prominent parameter revealing ultrafast energy and electron transfer; however, it is difficult to be determined reliably owing to the requirement of a simultaneous availability of the parallel and perpendicular polarized decay kinetics. Nowadays, any measurement of anisotropic decay is a kind of approach to the exact simultaneity. Here we report a novel method for a synchronous ultrafast anisotropy decay measurement, which can well determine the anisotropy, even at a very early time, as the rising phase of the excitation laser pulse. The anisotropic decay of the B850 in bacterial light harvesting antenna complex LH2 of Rhodobacter sphaeroides in solution at room temperature with coherent excitation is detected by this method, which shows a polarization response time of 30 fs, and the energy transfer from the initial excitation to the bacteriochlorophylls in B850 ring takes about 70 fs. The anisotropic decay that is probed at the red side of the absorption spectrum, such as 880 nm, has an initial value of 0.4, corresponding to simulated emission, while the blue side with an anisotropy of 0.1 contributes to the ground-state bleaching. Our results show that the coherent excitation covering the whole ring might not be realized owing to the symmetry breaking of LH2: from C9 symmetry in membrane to C2 symmetry in solution.

A multi-populations multi-strategies differential evolution algorithm for structural optimization of metal nanoclusters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fan, Tian-E.; Shao, Gui-Fang; Ji, Qing-Shuang; Zheng, Ji-Wen; Liu, Tun-dong; Wen, Yu-Hua

2016-11-01

Theoretically, the determination of the structure of a cluster is to search the global minimum on its potential energy surface. The global minimization problem is often nondeterministic-polynomial-time (NP) hard and the number of local minima grows exponentially with the cluster size. In this article, a multi-populations multi-strategies differential evolution algorithm has been proposed to search the globally stable structure of Fe and Cr nanoclusters. The algorithm combines a multi-populations differential evolution with an elite pool scheme to keep the diversity of the solutions and avoid prematurely trapping into local optima. Moreover, multi-strategies such as growing method in initialization and three differential strategies in mutation are introduced to improve the convergence speed and lower the computational cost. The accuracy and effectiveness of our algorithm have been verified by comparing the results of Fe clusters with Cambridge Cluster Database. Meanwhile, the performance of our algorithm has been analyzed by comparing the convergence rate and energy evaluations with the classical DE algorithm. The multi-populations, multi-strategies mutation and growing method in initialization in our algorithm have been considered respectively. Furthermore, the structural growth pattern of Cr clusters has been predicted by this algorithm. The results show that the lowest-energy structure of Cr clusters contains many icosahedra, and the number of the icosahedral rings rises with increasing size.

Supercritical fluids in separation science--the dreams, the reality and the future.

PubMed

Smith, R M

1999-09-24

The last 20 years have seen an intense interest in the use of supercritical fluids in separation science. This started with the introduction of commercial instruments first for packed and then for capillary chromatography and it looked as if this would be a technique to rival gas-liquid chromatography and HPLC. The activity developed quite rapidly into packed column supercritical fluid separations then into supercritical fluid extraction. However, in recent years there has been a decline in publications. These later techniques continue to be used but are now principally applied to a limited group of applications where they offer significant advantages over alternative techniques. This review looks back over this period and analyses how these methods were developed and the fluids, detectors and applications that were examined. It suggests why many of the initial applications have vanished and why the initial apparent promise was not fulfilled. The rise and fall of supercritical fluids represents a lesson in the way analysts approach new techniques and how we might view other new separation developments at the end of this millennium. The review looks forward to the future of supercritical fluids and their role at the end of the first century of separation science. Probably the most important idea that supercritical fluids have brought to separation science is a recognition that there is unity in the separation methods and that a continuum exists from gases to liquids.

Adolescents' Perceptions of Alcohol

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roy, Amit; Ikonen, Risto; Keinonen, Tuula; Kumar, Kuldeep

2017-01-01

Purpose: Rising trends in alcohol consumption and early drinking initiation pose serious health risks especially for adolescents. Learner's prior knowledge about alcohol gained from the social surroundings and the media are important sources that can impact the learning outcomes in health education. The purpose of this paper is to map adolescents'…

The Rise of Post-Grant Proceedings

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

This viewpoint provides a brief overview of the procedures for initiating post-grant proceedings before the United States Patent Trial and Appeal Board, including a discussion of why companies are now commonly electing to use those proceedings, both as part of an overall litigation strategy and outside of the litigation context. PMID:28105262

Centralization for Equity: A Fair Price?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Malkiewich, Chris; McEwen, John

This paper analyzes educational finance reforms initiated in Ontario. It outlines the changes in governance, funding, and curriculum and states that reforms were implemented without proper support and forethought, resulting in chaos. The report details how the rise of a conservative government in the province led to a desire to reduce taxation and…

32 CFR 516.35 - Preparation of claims for litigation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... AUTHORITIES AND PUBLIC RELATIONS LITIGATION Legal Proceedings Initiated by the United States Medical Care and... applicable state law. (See Fed. R. Civ. P. 11) (2) Copies of all medical records and bills reflecting the... for litigation should briefly summarize the facts giving rise to the claim and the collection actions...

"Green on the Screen": Promoting Sustainability through a Campus Film Series

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lindsay, Nathan; Harrell-Blair, Krista; McDaniel, Lindsey; Williams, Clifton; Reed, Diane

2010-01-01

Without question, sustainability efforts and initiatives are on the rise on college campuses. In a 2007 American College Personnel Association (ACPA) presentation, Debra Rowe reported that across the country there were 250 sustainability coordinators/offices/committees, 300 LEED (green) buildings, 275 campus sustainability assessments that had…

The biophysical link between climate, water, and vegetation in bioenergy agro-ecosystems

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Land use change for bioenergy feedstocks is likely to intensify as energy demand rises simultaneously with increased pressure to minimize greenhouse gas emissions. Initial assessments of the impact of adopting bioenergy crops as a significant energy source have largely focused on the potential for b...

78 FR 66613 - National Diabetes Month, 2013

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-11-05

... increasingly being diagnosed in younger Americans and is associated with obesity and inactivity. The risk is... Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! initiative has taken on the staggering rise in childhood obesity our... put children on a path to healthier futures. Obese children face an increased risk of adult obesity...

Euroracism, Citizenship and Democracy: The Role of Teacher Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clay, John; Cole, Mike

1992-01-01

Argues for an acknowledgement of the rise in Euroracism, a combination of postcolonial racism, antisemitism, and fascism. Discusses the role of initial teacher education in combatting forms of inequality. Rejects nationalistic and multicultural approaches in favor of an empowering curriculum. Concludes that interconnections between all forms of…

The Salutogenic Wellness Promotion Scale for Older Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Becker, Craig M.; Chaney, Beth H.; Shores, Kindal; Glascoff, Mary

2015-01-01

Background: From 1990 to 2050, the population aged 60 years and older will rise from 9% to 21%. Healthy aging initiatives are vital to promote individual, community, and global well-being during this transformation. Accurate health measurement tools are needed to successfully guide strategies and plot progress. The validated multi-dimensional…

Governance Frameworks for International Public Goods: The Case of Concerted Entrepreneurship

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Andersson, Thomas; Formica, Piero

2007-01-01

In the "participation age", emerging cross-border, transnational communities driven by innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives--in short, international entrepreneurial communities--give impetus to the rise of international public goods. With varying intensity, a non-voting international mobile public--still a small but an increasing fraction…

Methods of erection of high-rise buildings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cherednichenko, Nadezhda; Oleinik, Pavel

2018-03-01

The article contains the factors determining the choice of methods for organizing the construction and production of construction and installation work for the construction of high-rise buildings. There are also indicated specific features of their underground parts, characterized by powerful slab-pile foundations, large volumes of earthworks, reinforced bases and foundations for assembly cranes. The work cycle is considered when using reinforced concrete, steel and combined skeletons of high-rise buildings; the areas of application of flow, separate and complex methods are being disclosed. The main conditions for the erection of high-rise buildings and their components are singled out: the choice of formwork systems, delivery and lifting of concrete mixes, installation of reinforcement, the formation of lifting and transporting and auxiliary equipment. The article prescribes the reserves of reduction in the duration of construction due to the creation of: complex mechanized technologies for the efficient construction of foundations in various soil conditions, including in the heaving, swelling, hindered, subsidence, bulk, water-saturated forms; complex mechanized technologies for the erection of monolithic reinforced concrete structures, taking into account the winter conditions of production and the use of mobile concrete-laying complexes and new generation machines; modular formwork systems, distinguished by their versatility, ease, simplicity in operation suitable for complex high-rise construction; more perfect methodology and the development of a set of progressive organizational and technological solutions that ensure a rational relationship between the processes of production and their maximum overlap in time and space.

Gas Control and Thermal Modeling Methods for Pressed Pellet and Fast Rise Thin-Film Thermal Batteries

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-01

Thin-Film Thermal Batteries by Frank C Krieger and Michael S Ding Approved for public release; distribution unlimited...Laboratory Gas Control and Thermal Modeling Methods for Pressed Pellet and Fast Rise Thin-Film Thermal Batteries by Frank C Krieger and Michael S...Batteries 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) Frank C Krieger and Michael S Ding 5d. PROJECT NUMBER

San Francisco Bay Area CHARG: Coastal Hazards Adaptation Resiliency Group, a Multi-Jurisdictional Collaboration to Develop Innovative Regional Solutions to Address Sea Level Rise and Improve Shoreline Resiliency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saleh, R.

2017-12-01

For a challenge as complex and far-reaching as sea level rise and improving shoreline resiliency, strong partnerships between scientists, elected officials, decision-makers, and the general public are the only way that effective solutions can be developed. The San Francisco Bay, like many similar sheltered water coastal environments (for example, Galveston Bay, Tampa Bay, or Venetian Lagoon) offers a unique opportunity for multiple jurisdictions to collaborate to address sea level rise on a regional basis. For the San Francisco Bay, significant scientific progress has been made in building a real-time simulation model for riverine and Bay hydrodynamics. Other major scientific initiatives, such as morphology mapping, shoreline mapping, and a sediment budget are also underway. In 2014, leaders from the Bay Area science, engineering, planning, policy, elected, and regulatory communities representing jurisdictions around the Bay joined together to address sea level rise. The group includes people from local, regional, state, and federal agencies and organizations. Together, CHARG (Coastal Hazards Adaptation Resiliency Group) established a collective vision and approach to implementing regional solutions. Decision-makers within many Bay Area jurisdictions are motivated to show demonstrable progress toward addressing sea level rise. However, the cost to implement shoreline resiliency solutions will be very large, and must be founded on strong science.CHARG is now tackling several key technical challenges. One is to develop science-based guidelines for local jurisdictions to determine when a project is local, sub-regional, or regional. Concurrently, several organizations are planning or implementing pilot shoreline resiliency projects and other programs. Many creative regional solutions are possible in a sheltered water environment that simply would not be feasible along the open coast. By definition, these solutions cannot be undertaken by one entity alone. Large-scale regional solutions are only possible through the hard work and collaboration of many. This paper will offer insights into the process of collaboration, initiated by the scientific and engineering communities, to influence and help direct major decisions about shoreline resiliency.

The Rise in Growth Hormone during Starvation Does Not Serve to Maintain Glucose Levels or Lean Mass but Is Required for Appropriate Adipose Tissue Response in Female Mice

PubMed Central

Gahete, Manuel D.; Córdoba-Chacón, José; Luque, Raúl M.

2013-01-01

In mice, GH levels rise in response to short-term fasting or starvation (food restriction to 40% of ad libitum intake), similar to that which occurs in humans in response to fasting or anorexia. Recent studies using acyl-ghrelin knockout mice have suggested that the rise in GH during food restriction is essential to support glucose levels. To directly test this hypothesis, adult-onset isolated GH deficient (AOiGHD) mice and their GH-replete littermate controls were provided 40% of ad libitum food intake for 11 d. As previously shown, food restriction increased GH levels in controls, and this response was not observed in AOiGHD mice. In both controls and AOiGHD, food restriction resulted in an initial decline in glucose, which stabilized to 82–85% of ad libitum-fed values by d 2. In addition, loss of lean mass in response to food restriction was not altered by GH status. However, the loss of fat mass and the associated rise in circulating free fatty acids and ketones was blunted in starved AOiGHD mice compared with controls. Taken together, these results suggest a rise of GH during starvation is not required to support glucose levels and muscle mass but may be important in supporting fat mobilization. PMID:23150490

Choosing the function of mechanical properties of grounds and rock formations due to their heterogeneity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frolova, Irina; Agakhanov, Murad

2018-03-01

The development of computing techniques to analyze underground structures, buildings in high-rise construction that would fully take account of the conditions of their design and operation, as well as the real material properties, is one of the important trends in structural mechanics. For the territory in high-rise construction it is necessary to monitor the deformations of the soil surface. When high-rise construction is recommended to take into account the rheological properties and temperature deformations of the soil, the effect of temperature on the mechanical characteristics of the surrounding massif. Similar tasks also arise in the creation and operation of underground parts of high-rise construction, which are used for various purposes. These parts of the structures are surrounded by rock massifs of various materials. The actual mechanical characteristics of such materials must be taken into account. The objective property of nearly all materials is their non-homogeneity, both natural and technological. The work addresses the matters of building nonhomogeneous media initial models based on the experimental evidence. This made it possible to approximate real dependencies and obtain the appropriate functions in a simple and convenient way.

Current Research Activities of the Department of Oceanography.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-04-01

being analyzed in terms of the structure of the East Pacific A multi-institutional investi- Rise at 12* N and the change in crus- gation on the abundance...seismic experiment at the axis of the East Pacific Rise . Marine Geology 35: 147-169. No. 1090 McDaniel, N . and K. Banse (1979) A novel method of...proceeded eastward from Tahiti ducted off the Oregon and Washington to the East Pacific Rise area, then coasts. In late August a return back to Tahiti. On

Challenges faced by ice sheet projections: lessons from the SeaRISE effort

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nowicki, S.

2013-12-01

Projecting the future evolution of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets is a problem of enormous societal importance, as ice sheet influence our future sea levels. This crucial issue is however a non trivial task, as demonstrated by the Sea level Response to Ice Sheet Evolution (SeaRISE) effort: prescribing simple external forcings to a group of ice sheet models results in a spread in responses. Understanding the source of the diversity in the model results is therefore crucial in order to reduce the uncertainty in the projection. Just as in any future climate simulation, the analysis presented here demonstrates that the model spread in the SeaRISE effort is due to a number of factors. First is the problem of obtaining an initial configuration for the projection. The two commonly used methods, interglacial spin-up or data assimilation, have both advantages and drawbacks, and will affect the determination of fields that cannot be measured (such as basal slipperiness). Second is the uncertainty in actual observations, which includes but is not limited to surface mass balance, basal topography, ice thickness, and surface velocities. An additional issue with these observations is that they can be transient quantities which are not measured at the same time, but ice sheet models require them to be simultaneous. Third is the uncertainty in the models' physics and discretization, which is limited by our understanding (or lack of understanding) of crucial processes that often occur at subgrid scale relative to the resolution used by continental ice sheet models, and thus require parameterization. Grounding line migration and sliding laws are such an example. Fourth is the determination of the future forcing scenarios and their implementation as the external forcing. Unfortunately, as demonstrated in this analysis, all ice sheet models face these limitations to some degree, so that it is extremely difficult to identify a set of models and projections that should be trusted in preference to others. One model might be more suitable for assessing the impact of a warmer atmosphere because of its initialization procedure, but its deficiencies in capturing grounding line migration, for example, might make its projections for oceanic forcing unreliable. More work is thus required to evaluate individual ice sheet models' skills in projection, but this crucial and challenging task is left for future studies.

Model development to study strategies of younger and older adults getting up from the floor.

PubMed

Schwickert, L; Oberle, C; Becker, C; Lindemann, U; Klenk, J; Schwenk, M; Bourke, A; Zijlstra, W

2016-04-01

Long lies after a fall remain a public health challenge. Many successful fall prevention programmes have been developed but only few of them include recovery strategies after a fall. Once better understood, such movement strategies could be implemented into training interventions. A model of motion sequences describing successful movement strategies for rising from the floor in different age groups was developed. Possible risk factors for poor rising performance such as flexibility and muscle power were evaluated. Fourteen younger subjects between 20 and 50 years of age and 10 healthy older subjects (60+ years) were included. Movement strategies and key components of different rising sequences were determined from video analyses. The temporal parameters of transfers and number of components within the motion sequences were calculated. Possible explanatory variables for differences in rising performance were assessed (leg extension power, flexibility of the knee- and hip joints). Seven different components were identified for the lie-to-stand-walk transfer, labelled as lying, initiation, positioning, supporting, elevation, or stabilisation component followed by standing and/or walking. Median time to rise was significantly longer in older subjects (older 5.7s vs. younger 3.7s; p < 0.001), and leg extension power (left p = 0.002, right p = 0.013) and knee flexibility (left p = 0.019, right p = 0.025) were significantly lower. The number of components for rising was correlated with hip flexibility (r = 0.514) and maximal power (r = 0.582). The time to rise was correlated with minimal goniometric knee angle of the less flexible leg (r = 0.527) and maximal leg extension power (r = 0.725). A motion sequence model containing seven different components identified by individual key-frames could be established. Age-related differences in rising strategies and performance were identified.

A total variation diminishing finite difference algorithm for sonic boom propagation models

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sparrow, Victor W.

1993-01-01

It is difficult to accurately model the rise phases of sonic boom waveforms with traditional finite difference algorithms because of finite difference phase dispersion. This paper introduces the concept of a total variation diminishing (TVD) finite difference method as a tool for accurately modeling the rise phases of sonic booms. A standard second order finite difference algorithm and its TVD modified counterpart are both applied to the one-way propagation of a square pulse. The TVD method clearly outperforms the non-TVD method, showing great potential as a new computational tool in the analysis of sonic boom propagation.

An Earth's Future Special Collection: Impacts of the coastal dynamics of sea level rise on low-gradient coastal landscapes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kidwell, David M.; Dietrich, J. Casey; Hagen, Scott C.; Medeiros, Stephen C.

2017-01-01

Rising sea level represents a significant threat to coastal communities and ecosystems, including altered habitats and increased vulnerability to coastal storms and recurrent inundation. This threat is exemplified in the northern Gulf of Mexico, where low topography, marshes, and a prevalence of tropical storms have resulted in extensive coastal impacts. The ability to facilitate adaptation and mitigation measures relies, in part, on the development of robust predictive capabilities that incorporate complex biological processes with physical dynamics. Initiated in 2010, the 6-year Ecological Effects of Sea Level Rise—Northern Gulf of Mexico project applied a transdisciplinary science approach to develop a suite of integrated modeling platforms informed by empirical data that are capable of evaluating a range of climate change scenarios. This special issue highlights resultant integrated models focused on tidal hydrodynamics, shoreline morphology, oyster ecology, coastal wetland vulnerability, and storm surges that demonstrate the need for dynamic models to incorporate feedbacks among physical and biological processes in assessments of sea level rise effects on coastal systems. Effects are projected to be significant, spatially variable and nonlinear relative to sea level rise rates. Scenarios of higher sea level rise rates are projected to exceed thresholds of wetland sustainability, and many regions will experience enhanced storm surges. Influenced by an extensive collaborative stakeholder engagement process, these assessments on the coastal dynamics of sea level rise provide a strong foundation for resilience measures in the northern Gulf of Mexico and a transferable approach for application to other coastal regions throughout the world.

Imitative Production of Rising Speech Intonation in Pediatric Cochlear Implant Recipients

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peng, Shu-Chen; Tomblin, J. Bruce; Spencer, Linda J.; Hurtig, Richard R.

2007-01-01

Purpose: This study investigated the acoustic characteristics of pediatric cochlear implant (CI) recipients' imitative production of rising speech intonation, in relation to the perceptual judgments by listeners with normal hearing (NH). Method: Recordings of a yes-no interrogative utterance imitated by 24 prelingually deafened children with a CI…

Design and results of the ice sheet model initialisation experiments initMIP-Greenland: an ISMIP6 intercomparison

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goelzer, Heiko; Nowicki, Sophie; Edwards, Tamsin; Beckley, Matthew; Abe-Ouchi, Ayako; Aschwanden, Andy; Calov, Reinhard; Gagliardini, Olivier; Gillet-Chaulet, Fabien; Golledge, Nicholas R.; Gregory, Jonathan; Greve, Ralf; Humbert, Angelika; Huybrechts, Philippe; Kennedy, Joseph H.; Larour, Eric; Lipscomb, William H.; Le clec'h, Sébastien; Lee, Victoria; Morlighem, Mathieu; Pattyn, Frank; Payne, Antony J.; Rodehacke, Christian; Rückamp, Martin; Saito, Fuyuki; Schlegel, Nicole; Seroussi, Helene; Shepherd, Andrew; Sun, Sainan; van de Wal, Roderik; Ziemen, Florian A.

2018-04-01

Earlier large-scale Greenland ice sheet sea-level projections (e.g. those run during the ice2sea and SeaRISE initiatives) have shown that ice sheet initial conditions have a large effect on the projections and give rise to important uncertainties. The goal of this initMIP-Greenland intercomparison exercise is to compare, evaluate, and improve the initialisation techniques used in the ice sheet modelling community and to estimate the associated uncertainties in modelled mass changes. initMIP-Greenland is the first in a series of ice sheet model intercomparison activities within ISMIP6 (the Ice Sheet Model Intercomparison Project for CMIP6), which is the primary activity within the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) focusing on the ice sheets. Two experiments for the large-scale Greenland ice sheet have been designed to allow intercomparison between participating models of (1) the initial present-day state of the ice sheet and (2) the response in two idealised forward experiments. The forward experiments serve to evaluate the initialisation in terms of model drift (forward run without additional forcing) and in response to a large perturbation (prescribed surface mass balance anomaly); they should not be interpreted as sea-level projections. We present and discuss results that highlight the diversity of data sets, boundary conditions, and initialisation techniques used in the community to generate initial states of the Greenland ice sheet. We find good agreement across the ensemble for the dynamic response to surface mass balance changes in areas where the simulated ice sheets overlap but differences arising from the initial size of the ice sheet. The model drift in the control experiment is reduced for models that participated in earlier intercomparison exercises.

DES14X3taz: A TYPE I SUPERLUMINOUS SUPERNOVA SHOWING A LUMINOUS, RAPIDLY COOLING INITIAL PRE-PEAK BUMP

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

Smith, M.; Sullivan, M.; D’Andrea, C. B.

2016-02-03

We present DES14X3taz, a new hydrogen-poor superluminous supernova (SLSN-I) discovered by the Dark Energy Survey (DES) supernova program, with additional photometric data provided by the Survey Using DECam for Superluminous Supernovae. Spectra obtained using Optical System for Imaging and low-Intermediate-Resolution Integrated Spectroscopy on the Gran Telescopio CANARIAS show DES14X3taz is an SLSN-I at z = 0.608. Multi-color photometry reveals a double-peaked light curve: a blue and relatively bright initial peak that fades rapidly prior to the slower rise of the main light curve. Our multi-color photometry allows us, for the first time, to show that the initial peak cools frommore » 22,000 to 8000 K over 15 rest-frame days, and is faster and brighter than any published core-collapse supernova, reaching 30% of the bolometric luminosity of the main peak. No physical Ni-56-powered model can fit this initial peak. We show that a shock-cooling model followed by a magnetar driving the second phase of the light curve can adequately explain the entire light curve of DES14X3taz. Models involving the shock-cooling of extended circumstellar material at a distance of similar or equal to 400 R-circle dot are preferred over the cooling of shock-heated surface layers of a stellar envelope. We compare DES14X3taz to the few double-peaked SLSN-I events in the literature. Although the rise. times and characteristics of these initial peaks differ, there exists the tantalizing possibility that they can be explained by one physical interpretation« less

DES14X3taz: A type I superluminous supernova showing a luminous, rapidly cooling initial pre-peak bump

DOE PAGES

Smith, M.

2016-02-03

Here, we present DES14X3taz, a new hydrogen-poor superluminous supernova (SLSN-I) discovered by the Dark Energy Survey (DES) supernova program, with additional photometric data provided by the Survey Using DECam for Superluminous Supernovae. Spectra obtained using Optical System for Imaging and low-Intermediate-Resolution Integrated Spectroscopy on the Gran Telescopio CANARIAS show DES14X3taz is an SLSN-I at z = 0.608. Multi-color photometry reveals a double-peaked light curve: a blue and relatively bright initial peak that fades rapidly prior to the slower rise of the main light curve. Our multi-color photometry allows us, for the first time, to show that the initial peak cools from 22,000more » to 8000 K over 15 rest-frame days, and is faster and brighter than any published core-collapse supernova, reaching 30% of the bolometric luminosity of the main peak. No physical (56)Ni-powered model can fit this initial peak. We show that a shock-cooling model followed by a magnetar driving the second phase of the light curve can adequately explain the entire light curve of DES14X3taz. Models involving the shock-cooling of extended circumstellar material at a distance of ≃400 R ⊙ are preferred over the cooling of shock-heated surface layers of a stellar envelope. We compare DES14X3taz to the few double-peaked SLSN-I events in the literature. Although the rise times and characteristics of these initial peaks differ, there exists the tantalizing possibility that they can be explained by one physical interpretation.« less

Design and results of the ice sheet model initialisation experiments initMIP-Greenland: an ISMIP6 intercomparison

DOE PAGES

Goelzer, Heiko; Nowicki, Sophie; Edwards, Tamsin; ...

2018-04-19

Earlier large-scale Greenland ice sheet sea-level projections (e.g. those run during the ice2sea and SeaRISE initiatives) have shown that ice sheet initial conditions have a large effect on the projections and give rise to important uncertainties. Here, the goal of this initMIP-Greenland intercomparison exercise is to compare, evaluate, and improve the initialisation techniques used in the ice sheet modelling community and to estimate the associated uncertainties in modelled mass changes. initMIP-Greenland is the first in a series of ice sheet model intercomparison activities within ISMIP6 (the Ice Sheet Model Intercomparison Project for CMIP6), which is the primary activity within themore » Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) focusing on the ice sheets. Two experiments for the large-scale Greenland ice sheet have been designed to allow intercomparison between participating models of (1) the initial present-day state of the ice sheet and (2) the response in two idealised forward experiments. The forward experiments serve to evaluate the initialisation in terms of model drift (forward run without additional forcing) and in response to a large perturbation (prescribed surface mass balance anomaly); they should not be interpreted as sea-level projections. We present and discuss results that highlight the diversity of data sets, boundary conditions, and initialisation techniques used in the community to generate initial states of the Greenland ice sheet. We find good agreement across the ensemble for the dynamic response to surface mass balance changes in areas where the simulated ice sheets overlap but differences arising from the initial size of the ice sheet. The model drift in the control experiment is reduced for models that participated in earlier intercomparison exercises.« less

Design and results of the ice sheet model initialisation experiments initMIP-Greenland: an ISMIP6 intercomparison

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

Goelzer, Heiko; Nowicki, Sophie; Edwards, Tamsin

Earlier large-scale Greenland ice sheet sea-level projections (e.g. those run during the ice2sea and SeaRISE initiatives) have shown that ice sheet initial conditions have a large effect on the projections and give rise to important uncertainties. Here, the goal of this initMIP-Greenland intercomparison exercise is to compare, evaluate, and improve the initialisation techniques used in the ice sheet modelling community and to estimate the associated uncertainties in modelled mass changes. initMIP-Greenland is the first in a series of ice sheet model intercomparison activities within ISMIP6 (the Ice Sheet Model Intercomparison Project for CMIP6), which is the primary activity within themore » Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) focusing on the ice sheets. Two experiments for the large-scale Greenland ice sheet have been designed to allow intercomparison between participating models of (1) the initial present-day state of the ice sheet and (2) the response in two idealised forward experiments. The forward experiments serve to evaluate the initialisation in terms of model drift (forward run without additional forcing) and in response to a large perturbation (prescribed surface mass balance anomaly); they should not be interpreted as sea-level projections. We present and discuss results that highlight the diversity of data sets, boundary conditions, and initialisation techniques used in the community to generate initial states of the Greenland ice sheet. We find good agreement across the ensemble for the dynamic response to surface mass balance changes in areas where the simulated ice sheets overlap but differences arising from the initial size of the ice sheet. The model drift in the control experiment is reduced for models that participated in earlier intercomparison exercises.« less

Canada's Dominion Astrophysical Observatory and the rise of 20th Century Astrophysics and Technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hesser, James E.; Bohlender, David; Crabtree, Dennis

2016-10-01

Construction of Canada's Dominion Astrophysical Observatory (DAO) commenced in 1914 with first light on 6 May 1918. As distinct from the contemporaneous development with private funding of major observatories in the western United States, DAO was (and remains) funded by the federal government. Canada's initial foray into `big science', creation of DAO during the First World War was driven by Canada's desire to contribute significantly to the international rise of observational astrophysics enabled by photographic spectroscopy. In 2009 the Observatory was designated a National Historic Site. DAO's varied, rich contributions to the astronomical heritage of the 20th century continue in the 21st century, with particularly strong ties to Maunakea.

Gushing metal chain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belyaev, Alexander; Sukhanov, Alexander; Tsvetkov, Alexander

2016-03-01

This article addresses the problem in which a chain falls from a glass from some height. This phenomenon demonstrates a paradoxical rise of the chain over the glass. To explain this effect, an initial hypothesis and an appropriate theory are proposed for calculating the steady fall parameters of the chain. For this purpose, the modified Cayley's problem of falling chain given its rise due to the centrifugal force of upward inertia is solved. Results show that the lift caused by an increase in linear density at the part of chain where it is being bent (the upper part) is due to the convergence of the chain balls to one another. The experiments confirm the obtained estimates of the lifting chain.

Initial comparisons of modular-sized, integrated utility systems and conventional systems for several building types

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Benson, H. E.; Monford, L. G., Jr.

1976-01-01

The results of a study of the application of a modular integrated utility system to six typical building types are compared with the application of a conventional utility system to the same facilities. The effects of varying the size and climatic location of the buildings and the size of the powerplants are presented. Construction details of the six building types (garden apartments, a high rise office building, high rise apartments, a shopping center, a high school, and a hospital) and typical site and floor plans are provided. The environmental effects, the unit size determination, and the market potential are discussed. The cost effectiveness of the various design options is not considered.

Overestimation of marsh vulnerability to sea level rise

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kirwan, Matthew L.; Temmerman, Stijn; Skeehan, Emily E.; Guntenspergen, Glenn R.; Fagherazzi, Sergio

2016-01-01

Coastal marshes are considered to be among the most valuable and vulnerable ecosystems on Earth, where the imminent loss of ecosystem services is a feared consequence of sea level rise. However, we show with a meta-analysis that global measurements of marsh elevation change indicate that marshes are generally building at rates similar to or exceeding historical sea level rise, and that process-based models predict survival under a wide range of future sea level scenarios. We argue that marsh vulnerability tends to be overstated because assessment methods often fail to consider biophysical feedback processes known to accelerate soil building with sea level rise, and the potential for marshes to migrate inland.

Identifying Tumor Progenitor Cells | Center for Cancer Research

Cancer.gov

All cells within a tumor are not identical. In fact, only a small subset appears to be capable of actually generating the tumor. These tumor-initiating cells tend to resemble normal stem cells, which have the unique ability to give rise to differentiated cells while simultaneously producing additional undifferentiated stem cells. Most chemotherapeutics affect the bulk of a tumor but spare the stem-like cells, allowing the tumor to re-grow once chemotherapy is stopped. If, however, the cancer-initiating cells could be successfully targeted, cancer recurrence could be prevented.

PRECISION TIME-DELAY CIRCUIT

DOEpatents

Creveling, R.

1959-03-17

A tine-delay circuit which produces a delay time in d. The circuit a capacitor, an te back resistance, connected serially with the anode of the diode going to ground. At the start of the time delay a negative stepfunction is applied to the series circuit and initiates a half-cycle transient oscillatory voltage terminated by a transient oscillatory voltage of substantially higher frequency. The output of the delay circuit is taken at the junction of the inductor and diode where a sudden voltage rise appears after the initiation of the higher frequency transient oscillations.

Projecting Future Sea Level Rise for Water Resources Planning in California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, J.; Kao, K.; Chung, F.

2008-12-01

Sea level rise is one of the major concerns for the management of California's water resources. Higher water levels and salinity intrusion into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta could affect water supplies, water quality, levee stability, and aquatic and terrestrial flora and fauna species and their habitat. Over the 20th century, sea levels near San Francisco Bay increased by over 0.6ft. Some tidal gauge and satellite data indicate that rates of sea level rise are accelerating. Sea levels are expected to continue to rise due to increasing air temperatures causing thermal expansion of the ocean and melting of land-based ice such as ice on Greenland and in southeastern Alaska. For water planners, two related questions are raised on the uncertainty of future sea levels. First, what is the expected sea level at a specific point in time in the future, e.g., what is the expected sea level in 2050? Second, what is the expected point of time in the future when sea levels will exceed a certain height, e.g., what is the expected range of time when the sea level rises by one foot? To address these two types of questions, two factors are considered: (1) long term sea level rise trend, and (2) local extreme sea level fluctuations. A two-step approach will be used to develop sea level rise projection guidelines for decision making that takes both of these factors into account. The first step is developing global sea level rise probability distributions for the long term trends. The second step will extend the approach to take into account the effects of local astronomical tides, changes in atmospheric pressure, wind stress, floods, and the El Niño/Southern Oscillation. In this paper, the development of the first step approach is presented. To project the long term sea level rise trend, one option is to extend the current rate of sea level rise into the future. However, since recent data indicate rates of sea level rise are accelerating, methods for estimating sea level rise that account for this acceleration are needed. One such method is an empirical relationship between air temperatures and global sea levels. The air temperature-sea level rise relationship was applied to the 12 climate change projections selected by the California Climate Action Team to estimate future sea levels. The 95% confidence level developed from the historical data was extrapolated to estimate the uncertainties in the future projections. To create sea level rise trend probability distributions, a lognormal probability distribution and a generalized extreme value probability distribution are used. Parameter estimations for these distributions are subjective and inevitably involve uncertainties, which will be improved as more research is conducted in this area.

Modelling of energy consumption at construction of high-rise buildings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Korol, Elena; Korol, Oleg

2018-03-01

High-rise building structures in the course of its erection suppose primary use of methods provided for erection, concrete and external finishing works. Erection works do not differ significantly from usual ones: traditional equipment, accessories and techniques are used which are based on erection of structures in project position using a crane. Structures to be assembled in building frame include steel columns and beams, wall panels, form elements of columns, walls and floor structures. We can note heightened attention to operational control for quality of erection, but it is attributable to all works in the course of high-rise construction. During high-rise erection by means of cast in-situ reinforced concrete all formworks to be used do not have any special differences except systems specially designed for high-rise erection using sliding formwork or vertical traveling forms. In these systems special attention is paid to safety of elevated works. Working methods of placement and curing of concrete and structures as a whole remain traditional - the requirements for controlling such operations become toughened. The most evident differences in high-rise erection with regard to equipment, machinery and accessories used are in means provided for load transportation and safety of works at heights. Particularity of internal finishing works which are also obligatory during construction of skyscrapers allows not considering them in as technological differences from usual construction as far as the «height» of its execution is limited by height of particular floor and determined by price and building class.

Relationship between Weather, Traffic and Delay Based on Empirical Methods

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sridhar, Banavar; Swei, Sean S. M.

2006-01-01

The steady rise in demand for air transportation over the years has put much emphasis on the need for sophisticated air traffic flow management (TFM) within the National Airspace System (NAS). The NAS refers to hardware, software and people, including runways, radars, networks, FAA, airlines, etc., involved in air traffic management (ATM) in the US. One of the metrics that has been used to assess the performance of NAS is the actual delays provided through FAA's Air Traffic Operations Network (OPSNET). The OPSNET delay data includes those reportable delays, i.e. delays of 15 minutes or more experienced by Instrument Flight Rule (IFR) flights, submitted by the FAA facilities. These OPSNET delays are caused by the application of TFM initiatives in response to, for instance, weather conditions, increased traffic volume, equipment outages, airline operations, and runway conditions. TFM initiatives such as, ground stops, ground delay programs, rerouting, airborne holding, and miles-in-trail restrictions, are actions which are needed to control the air traffic demand to mitigate the demand-capacity imbalance due to the reduction in capacity. Consequently, TFM initiatives result in NAS delays. Of all the causes, weather has been identified as the most important causal factor for NAS delays. Therefore, in order to accurately assess the NAS performance, it has become necessary to create a baseline for NAS performance and establish a model which characterizes the relation between weather and NAS delays.

Modeling the Effects of E-Cigarettes on Smoking Behavior: Implications for Future Adult Smoking Prevalence

PubMed Central

Cherng, Sarah T.; Tam, Jamie; Christine, Paul; Meza, Rafael

2016-01-01

Background Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use has increased rapidly in recent years. Given the unknown effects of e-cigarette use on cigarette smoking behaviors, e-cigarette regulation has become the subject of considerable controversy. In the absence of longitudinal data documenting the long-term effects of e-cigarette use on smoking behavior and population smoking outcomes, computational models can guide future empirical research and provide insights into the possible effects of e-cigarette use on smoking prevalence over time. Methods Agent-based model examining hypothetical scenarios of e-cigarette use by smoking status and e-cigarette effects on smoking initiation and smoking cessation. Results If e-cigarettes increase individual-level smoking cessation probabilities by 20%, the model estimates a 6% reduction in smoking prevalence by 2060 compared to baseline model (no effects) outcomes. In contrast, e-cigarette use prevalence among never smokers would have to rise dramatically from current estimates, with e-cigarettes increasing smoking initiation by more than 200% relative to baseline model estimates in order to achieve a corresponding 6% increase in smoking prevalence by 2060. Conclusions Based on current knowledge of the patterns of e-cigarette use by smoking status and the heavy concentration of e-cigarette use among current smokers, the simulated effects of e-cigarettes on smoking cessation generate substantially larger changes to smoking prevalence relative to their effects on smoking initiation. PMID:27093020

Energy Management for Human Service Agencies. Second Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Academy for Educational Development, Washington, DC.

Concerned about the effect rising energy costs would have on their local affiliates, building consultants for national social welfare agencies have been advocating the initiation of energy management and conservation programs. This manual, a three-part educational and planning tool, is a key element in a program developed to help local agencies…

Preventing High-Risk Sexual Behavior, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, and Pregnancy among Adolescents.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sagrestano, Lynda M.; Paikoff, Roberta L.

Adolescent sexual activity and the resulting pregnancy and transmission of sexually transmitted diseases have been on the rise during the past several decades. This chapter addresses each of the three objectives regarding sexual behavior outlined in the Healthy People 2000 initiative. Background data and trends in adolescent sexual behavior are…

The Global Neighborhood: Programming Initiatives with International Living-Learning Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McClanahan, Sarah

2014-01-01

The United States is currently enrolling more international students than any other country in the world. In 2011, approximately 764,000 international students were enrolled in higher education in the U.S., comprising 19% of the world's total students studying internationally (Institute of International Education, 2012). This rise, as well as the…

Helping English Learners Rise to the Challenge of Complex Texts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walqui, Aida

2014-01-01

The idea that secondary English language learner (ELL) students can master rigorous academic content quickly and deeply goes against much accepted wisdom in the field, but Aída Walqui--the author and Director of WestEd's Teacher Professional Development Program, which houses the Quality Teaching for English Learners (QTEL) initiative--and her…

39 CFR 3030.10 - Complaint contents.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 39 Postal Service 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Complaint contents. 3030.10 Section 3030.10 Postal Service POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION PERSONNEL RULES FOR COMPLAINTS Form and Manner Requirements of Initial Pleadings § 3030.10 Complaint contents. (a) A complaint must: (1) Set forth the facts and circumstances that give rise to the complaint; (2)...

39 CFR 3030.10 - Complaint contents.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 39 Postal Service 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Complaint contents. 3030.10 Section 3030.10 Postal Service POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION PERSONNEL RULES FOR COMPLAINTS Form and Manner Requirements of Initial Pleadings § 3030.10 Complaint contents. (a) A complaint must: (1) Set forth the facts and circumstances that give rise to the complaint; (2)...

39 CFR 3030.10 - Complaint contents.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 39 Postal Service 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Complaint contents. 3030.10 Section 3030.10 Postal Service POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION PERSONNEL RULES FOR COMPLAINTS Form and Manner Requirements of Initial Pleadings § 3030.10 Complaint contents. (a) A complaint must: (1) Set forth the facts and circumstances that give rise to the complaint; (2)...

39 CFR 3030.10 - Complaint contents.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 39 Postal Service 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Complaint contents. 3030.10 Section 3030.10 Postal Service POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION PERSONNEL RULES FOR COMPLAINTS Form and Manner Requirements of Initial Pleadings § 3030.10 Complaint contents. (a) A complaint must: (1) Set forth the facts and circumstances that give rise to the complaint; (2)...

Chapter 1: CLT Introduction to cross-laminated timber

Treesearch

Sylvan Gagnon; E.M.(Ted) Bilek; Lisa Podesto; Pablo Crespell

2013-01-01

Cross-laminated timber ( CLT), a new generation of engineered wood product developed initially in Europe, has been gaining increased popularity in residential and non-residential applications in several countries. Many impressive low- and mid-rise buildings built around the world using CLT showcase the many advantages this product has to offer to the construction...

40 CFR 307.41 - Subrogation of claimants' rights to the Fund.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... claimants' rights to the Fund. (a) The United States acquires by subrogation all rights of the claimant to... CERCLA for the release giving rise to the response action. (b) Claimants shall assist in any cost recovery action that may be initiated by the United States. The claimant and the claimant's contractors...

An Exploratory Analysis of Student-Community Interactions in Urban Agriculture

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grossman, Julie; Sherard, Maximilian; Prohn, Seb M.; Bradley, Lucy; Goodell, L. Suzanne; Andrew, Katherine

2012-01-01

Urban agriculture initiatives are on the rise, providing healthy food while teaching a land ethic to youth. In parallel, increasing numbers of university graduates are obtaining Extension work requiring the effective communication of science in a diverse, urban, low-income setting. This study evaluates a pilot service-learning program, the…

37 CFR 102.10 - Appeals from initial determinations or untimely delays.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... AND TRADEMARK OFFICE, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE ADMINISTRATION DISCLOSURE OF GOVERNMENT INFORMATION... respect to the request, giving rise to a right of judicial review under 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(6)(C). If the..., the administrative appeal process may continue. (e) A determination on appeal shall be in writing and...

39 CFR 3030.10 - Complaint contents.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 39 Postal Service 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Complaint contents. 3030.10 Section 3030.10 Postal Service POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION PERSONNEL RULES FOR COMPLAINTS Form and Manner Requirements of Initial Pleadings § 3030.10 Complaint contents. (a) A complaint must: (1) Set forth the facts and circumstances that give rise to the complaint; (2)...

Western Mountain Initiative - Publications

Science.gov Websites

. Warziniack, D.L. Peterson, and J.J. Ho. 2017. Understanding and managing the effects of climate change on , W.C. Malm, R. Alexander, and H. Doremus. 2016. Protecting national parks from air pollution effects chronic temperature rise. Nature Climate Change 6:295-300. Meddens, A. J. H., J. A. Hicke, and B. F

Rockets -- Part II.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leitner, Alfred

1982-01-01

If two rockets are identical except that one engine burns in one-tenth the time of the other (total impulse and initial fuel mass of the two engines being the same), which rocket will rise higher? Why? The answer to this question (part 1 response in v20 n6, p410, Sep 1982) is provided. (Author/JN)

Is Christian Religious Conservatism Compatible with the Liberal Social Welfare State?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Belcher, John R.; Fandetti, Donald; Cole, Danny

2004-01-01

This article examines the rise of Christian religious conservatism and explores whether the theological views of the conservative Christian movement are compatible with the liberal social welfare state. The authors conclude that the driving force behind social change should remain with the state, even though faith-based initiatives can provide…

Local reduction of certain wave operators to one-dimensional form

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roe, Philip

1994-01-01

It is noted that certain common linear wave operators have the property that linear variation of the initial data gives rise to one-dimensional evolution in a plane defined by time and some direction in space. The analysis is given For operators arising in acoustics, electromagnetics, elastodynamics, and an abstract system.

Innovative Degree Programs Matched to City Strengths

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sukhatme, Uday

2011-01-01

In recent years, IUPUI has steadily acquired a considerable national reputation as an up-and-coming university. Some of the reasons for this recognition include the RISE Initiative and the large number of innovative degree programs recently started at IUPUI based on campus strengths and the priorities of the city of Indianapolis. Some specific…

Civilising the Natives? Liberal Studies in Further Education Revisited

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simmons, Robin

2015-01-01

This paper uses Basil Bernstein's work on pedagogic discourses to examine a largely neglected facet of the history of vocational education--the liberal studies movement in English further education colleges. Initially, the paper discusses some of the competing conceptions of education, work and society which underpinned the rise and fall of the…

An Initial Exploration of a Virtual Personal Fitness Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mosier, Brian; Lynn, Susan

2012-01-01

The incredible growth rates and increased enrollments in virtual physical education (VPE), otherwise known as K-12 online physical education, continue to rise. VPE has the potential to service K-12 student learning in independent and self-paced curriculum. However, VPE brings a healthy skepticism among the profession. To this point, it is…

Significant role of serum CRP in differentiating inflammatory from non-inflammatory causes of thyrotoxicosis.

PubMed

Baruah, Manash P; Bhattacharya, Bhaskar

2012-11-01

C-reactive protein (CRP), which is a marker of inflammation, has not been widely studied in inflammatory thyroid disorders particularly in sub-acute thyroiditis (SAT). This study was aimed to find the significance of CRP level rise in patients with SAT and compare that to the rise in erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), a gold standard laboratory parameter in establishing the diagnosis of SAT. Serum CRP levels were measured at initial presentation in 28 subjects with SAT(12 male, 16 female, age (Mean +SD) 37.96 ±8.5 years),and 19 patients with Graves' disease (2 male, 17 female, age [Mean +SD] 36.8 ±16.5 years) as controls. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) was measured in all 28 patients with SAT by Westergrens' method. Either Tc(99) nucleotide thyroid scan or high resolution ultrasonography (HR-USG) was performed to differentiate SAT from Graves' disease.Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of thyroid was performed selected patients. Serum CRP level was high in 61% of SAT patients but in none of the Graves'patients. Mean (SEM) (90%CI) serum CRP level (mg/L) was also significantly higher (P <0.0004) in the SAT group [27.55 (5.76) (15.72-39.38)], than in the Graves' group [4.09 (0.12) (3.81-4.36)]. The sensitivity of serum CRP was 73.33%, specificity 53.85%, positive predictive value (PPV) 64.71%, and negative predictive value (NPV) 63.64% as compared to the sensitivity (53.57%), specificity (15.38%), PPV (57.69 %), and NPV (13.33%) of ESR. There is significantly higher rise in serum CRP level in patients with SAT is compared to patients with Graves' disease. It correlates well with the rise in ESR. Such findings of this pilot study highlight the scope of using serum CRP as a diagnostic marker of SAT specially in situations when it may be confused with Graves' disease, another common cause of thyrotoxicosis. It is logical to carry out studies to find a particular cut-off for serum CRP which can serve as an objective parameter for grading the inflammation in patients with SAT.

Efficiency of a Photoreactor Packed with Immobilized Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles in the Removal of Acid Orange 7.

PubMed

Sheidaei, Behnaz; Behnajady, Mohammad A

2016-05-01

In this paper, the removal efficiency of Color Index Acid Orange 7 (AO7) as a model contaminant was investigated in a batch-recirculated photoreactor packed with immobilized titanium dioxide type P25 nanoparticles on glass beads. The effects of different operational parameters such as the initial concentration of AO7, the volume of solution, the volumetric flowrate, and the light source power in the photoreactor were investigated. The results indicate that the removal percent increased with the rise in volumetric flowrate and power of the light source, but decreased with the rise of the initial concentration of AO7 and the volume of solution. The AO7 degradation was followed through total organic carbon, gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GC/MS), and mineralization products analysis. The ammonium and sulfate ions were analyzed as mineralization products of nitrogen and sulfur heteroatoms, respectively. The results of GC/MS revealed the production of 1-indanone, 1-phthalanone, and 2-naphthalenol as intermediate products for the removal of AO7 in this process.

Mini-filament Eruption as the Initiation of a Jet along Coronal Loops

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hong, Junchao; Jiang, Yunchun; Yang, Jiayan; Yang, Bo; Xu, Zhe; Xiang, Yongyuan

2016-10-01

Minifilament eruptions (MFEs) and coronal jets are different types of solar small-scale explosive events. We report an MFE observed at the New Vacuum Solar Telescope (NVST). As seen in the NVST Hα images, during the rising phase, the minifilament erupts outward orthogonally to its length, accompanied with a flare-like brightening at the bottom. Afterward, dark materials are found to possibly extend along the axis of the expanded filament body. The MFE is analogous to large filament eruptions. However, a simultaneous observation of the Solar Dynamics Observatory shows that a jet is initiated and flows out along nearby coronal loops during the rising phase of the MFE. Meanwhile, small hot loops, which connect the original eruptive site of the minifilament to the footpoints of the coronal loops, are formed successively. A differential emission measure analysis demonstrates that, on the top of the new small loops, a hot cusp structure exists. We conjecture that the magnetic fields of the MFE interact with magnetic fields of the coronal loops. This interaction is interpreted as magnetic reconnection that produces the jet and the small hot loops.

Supplement to LA-UR-17-21218: Application to SSVD

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

Tregillis, Ian Lee

We apply the formalism derived in LA-UR-17-21218 to the prescription for an RMI-based self-similar velocity distribution (SSVD) derived by Ham- merberg et al.. We compute analytically the true [mt(t)] and inferred [mi(t)] ejecta mass arriving at the piezoelectric sensor for several shots de- scribed in the literature and compare the results to the data. We nd that while the \\RMI + SSVD" prescription gives rise to decent estimates for the nal accumulated mass at the pin, the time-dependent accumulation rises too sharply and linearly to agree with data. We also compute the time-dependent pressure and voltage at the sensor, andmore » compare the latter to data. The pres- sure does not rise smoothly from zero, instead exhibiting a strong surge as the leading edge of the ejecta cloud arrives, which produces an initial sharp spike in the voltage trace, which is not observed. These inconsistencies result from a discontinuity in the prescribed self-similar velocity distribution at maximum relative velocity.« less

Evidence for coral island formation during rising sea level in the central Pacific Ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kench, Paul S.; Owen, Susan D.; Ford, Murray R.

2014-02-01

The timing and evolution of Jabat Island, Marshall Islands, was investigated using morphostratigraphic analysis and radiometric dating. Results show the first evidence of island building in the Pacific during latter stages of Holocene sea level rise. A three-phase model of development of Jabat is presented. Initially, rapid accumulation of coarse sediments on Jabat occurred 4800-4000 years B.P. across a reef flat higher than present level, as sea level continued to rise. During the highstand, island margins and particularly the western margin accreted vertically to 2.5-3.0 m above contemporary ridge elevations. This accumulation phase was dominated by sand-size sediments. Phase three involved deposition of gravel ridges on the northern reef, as sea level fell to present position. Jabat has remained geomorphically stable for the past 2000 years. Findings suggest reef platforms may accommodate the oldest reef islands in atoll systems, which may have profound implications for questions of prehistoric migration through Pacific archipelagos.

Current & future vulnerability of sarasota county Florida to hurricane storm surge & sea level rise

USGS Publications Warehouse

Frazier, T.; Wood, N.; Yarnal, B.

2008-01-01

Coastal communities in portions of the United States are vulnerable to storm-surge inundation from hurricanes and this vulnerability will likely increase, given predicted rises in sea level from climate change and growing coastal development. In this paper, we provide an overview of research to determine current and future societal vulnerability to hurricane storm-surge inundation and to help public officials and planners integrate these scenarios into their long-range land use plans. Our case study is Sarasota County, Florida, where planners face the challenge of balancing increasing population growth and development with the desire to lower vulnerability to storm surge. Initial results indicate that a large proportion of Sarasota County's residential and employee populations are in areas prone to storm-surge inundation from a Category 5 hurricane. This hazard zone increases when accounting for potential sea-level-rise scenarios, thereby putting additional populations at risk. Subsequent project phases involve the development of future land use and vulnerability scenarios in collaboration with local officials. Copyright ASCE 2008.

Is frictional heating needed to cause dramatic weakening of nanoparticle gouge during seismic slip? Insights from friction experiments with variable thermal evolutions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yao, Lu; Ma, Shengli; Niemeijer, André R.; Shimamoto, Toshihiko; Platt, John D.

2016-07-01

To examine whether faults can be lubricated by preexisting and newly formed nanoparticles, we perform high-velocity friction experiments on periclase (MgO) nanoparticles and on bare surfaces of Carrara marble cylinders/slices, respectively. Variable temperature conditions were simulated by using host blocks of different thermal conductivities. When temperature rises are relatively low, we observe high friction in nano-MgO tests and unexpected slip strengthening following initial weakening in marble slice tests, suggesting that the dominant weakening mechanisms are of thermal origin. Solely the rolling of nanoparticles without significant temperature rise is insufficient to cause dynamic fault weakening. For nano-MgO experiments, comprehensive investigations suggest that flash heating is the most likely weakening mechanism. In marble experiments, flash heating controls the unique evolutions of friction, and the competition between bulk temperature rise and wear-induced changes of asperity contact numbers seems to strongly affect the efficiency of flash heating.

Global sea-level rise is recognised, but flooding from anthropogenic land subsidence is ignored around northern Manila Bay, Philippines.

PubMed

Rodolfo, Kelvin S; Siringan, Fernando P

2006-03-01

Land subsidence resulting from excessive extraction of groundwater is particularly acute in East Asian countries. Some Philippine government sectors have begun to recognise that the sea-level rise of one to three millimetres per year due to global warming is a cause of worsening floods around Manila Bay, but are oblivious to, or ignore, the principal reason: excessive groundwater extraction is lowering the land surface by several centimetres to more than a decimetre per year. Such ignorance allows the government to treat flooding as a lesser problem that can be mitigated through large infrastructural projects that are both ineffective and vulnerable to corruption. Money would be better spent on preventing the subsidence by reducing groundwater pumping and moderating population growth and land use, but these approaches are politically and psychologically unacceptable. Even if groundwater use is greatly reduced and enlightened land-use practices are initiated, natural deltaic subsidence and global sea-level rise will continue to aggravate flooding, although at substantially lower rates.

Seasonally active frost-dust avalanches on a north polar scarp of Mars captured by HiRISE

USGS Publications Warehouse

Russell, P.; Thomas, N.; Byrne, S.; Herkenhoff, K.; Fishbaugh, K.; Bridges, N.; Okubo, C.; Milazzo, M.; Daubar, I.; Hansen, C.; McEwen, A.

2008-01-01

North-polar temporal monitoring by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) orbiting Mars has discovered new, dramatic examples that Mars1 CO2-dominated seasonal volatile cycle is not limited to quiet deposition and sublimation of frost. In early northern martian spring, 2008, HiRISE captured several cases of CO2 frost and dust cascading down a steep, polar scarp in discrete clouds. Analysis of morphology and process reveals these events to be similar to terrestrial powder avalanches, sluffs, and falls of loose, dry snow. Potential material sources and initiating mechanisms are discussed in the context of the Martian polar spring environment and of additional, active, aeolian processes observed on the plateau above the scarp. The scarp events are identified as a trigger for mass wasting of bright, fractured layers within the basal unit, and may indirectly influence the retreat rate of steep polar scarps in competing ways. Copyright 2008 by the American Geophysical Union.

Rapid and Simple Capillary-Rise/Vanishing Interfacial Tension Method To Determine Crude Oil Minimum Miscibility Pressure: Pure and Mixed CO 2, Methane, and Ethane

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

Hawthorne, Steven B.; Miller, David J.; Jin, Lu

Here, we report a simplification of the capillary-rise/vanishing interfacial tension (IFT) method to measure minimum miscibility pressure (MMP) based on only requiring knowledge of when the interfacial tension approaches zero. Simply measuring the height of the crude oil in a capillary at several pressures from ambient to near the MMP pressure and extrapolating the oil height versus pressure plot to zero oil height yields the MMP without the need of the additional instrumentation and labor required to perform actual IFT measurements. A total of 2-4 MMP values can be determined per day with only one experimental apparatus, and the methodmore » greatly reduces the initial cost and complexity of the required instrumentation. The use of three capillaries having different inner diameters allows for triplicate determinations of MMP from each experiment. Because the actual MMP pressure need not be reached during the experiment, MMP values that exceed the pressure ratings of the equipment can be reasonably estimated (e.g., MMPs using pure nitrogen). The method was used to determine the MMP pressure for crude oil samples from a conventional Muddy Formation reservoir in the Powder River Basin [American Petroleum Institute (API) gravity of 35.8°] and an unconventional Bakken Formation reservoir in the Williston Basin (API gravity of 38.7°). The method is reproducible [typically <4% relative standard deviation (RSD)], and the method gave good agreement for a “live” Bakken oil with the results from a slim tube test of a commercial laboratory. Approximately 80 MMP values were measured using pure CO 2, methane, and ethane as well as 0-100% mole ratios of methane/CO 2 and methane/ethane. For both oil samples, ethane MMPs were ca. one-half those with CO 2, while methane MMPs were ca. double or triple those with CO 2. MMPs with mixed methane/CO 2 showed a linear increase with mole percent methane for both crude oils, while both oils showed an exponential increase in MMP with mole percent methane in ethane, with a little increase in MMP until ca. 20 mol % methane in ethane.« less

Rapid and Simple Capillary-Rise/Vanishing Interfacial Tension Method To Determine Crude Oil Minimum Miscibility Pressure: Pure and Mixed CO 2, Methane, and Ethane

DOE PAGES

Hawthorne, Steven B.; Miller, David J.; Jin, Lu; ...

2016-07-10

Here, we report a simplification of the capillary-rise/vanishing interfacial tension (IFT) method to measure minimum miscibility pressure (MMP) based on only requiring knowledge of when the interfacial tension approaches zero. Simply measuring the height of the crude oil in a capillary at several pressures from ambient to near the MMP pressure and extrapolating the oil height versus pressure plot to zero oil height yields the MMP without the need of the additional instrumentation and labor required to perform actual IFT measurements. A total of 2-4 MMP values can be determined per day with only one experimental apparatus, and the methodmore » greatly reduces the initial cost and complexity of the required instrumentation. The use of three capillaries having different inner diameters allows for triplicate determinations of MMP from each experiment. Because the actual MMP pressure need not be reached during the experiment, MMP values that exceed the pressure ratings of the equipment can be reasonably estimated (e.g., MMPs using pure nitrogen). The method was used to determine the MMP pressure for crude oil samples from a conventional Muddy Formation reservoir in the Powder River Basin [American Petroleum Institute (API) gravity of 35.8°] and an unconventional Bakken Formation reservoir in the Williston Basin (API gravity of 38.7°). The method is reproducible [typically <4% relative standard deviation (RSD)], and the method gave good agreement for a “live” Bakken oil with the results from a slim tube test of a commercial laboratory. Approximately 80 MMP values were measured using pure CO 2, methane, and ethane as well as 0-100% mole ratios of methane/CO 2 and methane/ethane. For both oil samples, ethane MMPs were ca. one-half those with CO 2, while methane MMPs were ca. double or triple those with CO 2. MMPs with mixed methane/CO 2 showed a linear increase with mole percent methane for both crude oils, while both oils showed an exponential increase in MMP with mole percent methane in ethane, with a little increase in MMP until ca. 20 mol % methane in ethane.« less

Monitoring and analyzing waste glass compositions

DOEpatents

Schumacher, R.F.

1994-03-01

A device and method are described for determining the viscosity of a fluid, preferably molten glass. The apparatus and method use the velocity of rising bubbles, preferably helium bubbles, within the molten glass to determine the viscosity of the molten glass. The bubbles are released from a tube positioned below the surface of the molten glass so that the bubbles pass successively between two sets of electrodes, one above the other, that are continuously monitoring the conductivity of the molten glass. The measured conductivity will change as a bubble passes between the electrodes enabling an accurate determination of when a bubble has passed between the electrodes. The velocity of rising bubbles can be determined from the time interval between a change in conductivity of the first electrode pair and the second, upper electrode pair. The velocity of the rise of the bubbles in the glass melt is used in conjunction with other physical characteristics, obtained by known methods, to determine the viscosity of the glass melt fluid and, hence, glass quality. 2 figures.

Monitoring and analyzing waste glass compositions

DOEpatents

Schumacher, Ray F.

1994-01-01

A device and method for determining the viscosity of a fluid, preferably molten glass. The apparatus and method uses the velocity of rising bubbles, preferably helium bubbles, within the molten glass to determine the viscosity of the molten glass. The bubbles are released from a tube positioned below the surface of the molten glass so that the bubbles pass successively between two sets of electrodes, one above the other, that are continuously monitoring the conductivity of the molten glass. The measured conductivity will change as a bubble passes between the electrodes enabling an accurate determination of when a bubble has passed between the electrodes. The velocity of rising bubbles can be determined from the time interval between a change in conductivity of the first electrode pair and the second, upper electrode pair. The velocity of the rise of the bubbles in the glass melt is used in conjunction with other physical characteristics, obtained by known methods, to determine the viscosity of the glass melt fluid and, hence, glass quality.

Tomographic imaging of the shallow crustal structure of the East Pacific Rise at 9 deg 30 min N

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toomey, Douglas R.; Solomon, Sean C.; Purdy, G. M.

1994-12-01

Compressional wave travel times from a seismic tomography experiment at 9 deg 30 min N on the East Pacific Rise are analyzed by a new tomographic method to determine the three-dimensional seismic velocity structure of the upper 2.5 km of oceanic crust within a 20 x 18 km area centered on the rise axis. The data comprise the travel times and associated uncertainties of 1459 compressional waves that have propagated above the axial magma chamber. A careful analysis of source and receiver parameters, in conjunction with an automated method of picking P wave onsets and assigning uncertainties, constrains the prior uncertainty in the data to 5 to 20 ms. The new tomographic method employs graph theory to estimate ray paths and travel times through strongly heterogeneous and densely parameterized seismic velocity models. The nonlinear inverse method uses a jumping strategy to minimize a functional that includes the penalty function, horizontal and vertical smoothing constraints, and prior model assumptions; all constraints applied to model perturbations are normalized to remove bias. We use the tomographic method to reject the null hypothesis that the axial seismic structure is two-dimensional. Three-dimensional models reveal a seismic structure that correlates well with cross- and along-axis variations in seafloor morphology, the location of the axial summit caldera, and the distribution of seafloor hydrothermal activity. The along-axis segmentation of the seismic structure above the axial magma chamber is consistent with the hypothesis that mantle-derived melt is preferentially injected midway along a locally linear segment of the rise and that the architecture of the crustal section is characterized by an en echelon series of elongate axial volcanoes approximately 10 km in length. The seismic data are compatible with a 300- to 500-m-thick thermal anomaly above a midcrustal melt lens; such an interpretation suggests that hydrothermal fluids may not have penetrated this region in the last 10(exp 3) years. Asymmetries in the seismic structure across the rise support the inferences that the thickness of seismic layer 2 and the average midcrustal temperature increase to the west of the rise axis. These anomalies may be the result of off-axis magmatism; alternatively, the asymmetric thermal anomaly may be the consequence of differences in the depth extent of hydrothermal cooling.

Reproducibility2020: Progress and priorities

PubMed Central

Freedman, Leonard P.; Venugopalan, Gautham; Wisman, Rosann

2017-01-01

The preclinical research process is a cycle of idea generation, experimentation, and reporting of results. The biomedical research community relies on the reproducibility of published discoveries to create new lines of research and to translate research findings into therapeutic applications. Since 2012, when scientists from Amgen reported that they were able to reproduce only 6 of 53 “landmark” preclinical studies, the biomedical research community began discussing the scale of the reproducibility problem and developing initiatives to address critical challenges. Global Biological Standards Institute (GBSI) released the “Case for Standards” in 2013, one of the first comprehensive reports to address the rising concern of irreproducible biomedical research. Further attention was drawn to issues that limit scientific self-correction, including reporting and publication bias, underpowered studies, lack of open access to methods and data, and lack of clearly defined standards and guidelines in areas such as reagent validation. To evaluate the progress made towards reproducibility since 2013, GBSI identified and examined initiatives designed to advance quality and reproducibility. Through this process, we identified key roles for funders, journals, researchers and other stakeholders and recommended actions for future progress. This paper describes our findings and conclusions. PMID:28620458

The current situation in education and training of health-care professionals across Africa to optimise the delivery of palliative care for cancer patients

PubMed Central

Rawlinson, FM; Gwyther, L; Kiyange, F; Luyirika, E; Meiring, M; Downing, J

2014-01-01

The need for palliative care education remains vital to contribute to the quality of life of patients, both adults and children, with cancer in Africa. The number of patients with cancer continues to rise, and with them the burden of palliative care needs. Palliative care has been present in Africa for nearly four decades, and a number of services are developing in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. However, the needs of cancer patients remain a challenge. Education and training initiatives have developed throughout this time, using a combination of educational methods, including, more recently, e-learning initiatives. The role of international and national organisations in supporting education has been pivotal in developing models of education and training that are robust, sustainable, and affordable. Developing a material for education and professional development needs to continue in close collaboration with that already in production in order to optimise available resources. Seeking ways to evaluate programmes in terms of their impact on patient care remains an important part of programme delivery. This article reviews the current situation. PMID:25624873

Directed current in the Holstein system.

PubMed

Hennig, D; Burbanks, A D; Osbaldestin, A H

2011-03-01

We propose a mechanism to rectify charge transport in the semiclassical Holstein model. It is shown that localized initial conditions associated with a polaron solution, in conjunction with static electron on-site potential not having inversion symmetry, constitute minimal prerequisites for the emergence of a directed current in the underlying periodic lattice system. In particular, we demonstrate that for unbiased spatially localized initial conditions (constituted by kicked static polaron states), violation of parity prevents the existence of pairs of counterpropagating trajectories, thus allowing for a directed current despite the time reversibility of the equations of motion. Nevertheless, propagating polaron solutions associated with sets of unbiased localized initial conditions which eventually leave the region of localized initial conditions do not exhibit time reversibility. Since the initial conditions belonging to the corresponding counterpropagating, current-compensating polaron solutions are not contained in the set, this gives rise to the emergence of a current. Occurrence of long-range coherent charge transport is demonstrated.

A new MCM modification cycle regulates DNA replication initiation

PubMed Central

Wei, Lei; Zhao, Xiaolan

2016-01-01

The MCM DNA helicase is a central regulatory target during genome replication. MCM is kept inactive during G1 and activated in S phase to initiate replication. During this transition, the only known chemical change on MCM is the gain of multi-site phosphorylation that promotes cofactor recruitment. As replication initiation is intimately linked to multiple biological cues, additional changes on MCM can provide further regulatory points. Here, we describe a yeast MCM sumoylation cycle that negatively regulates replication. MCM subunits undergo sumoylation upon loading at origins in G1 prior to MCM phosphorylation. MCM sumoylation levels then decline as MCM phosphorylation levels rise, suggesting an inhibitory role in replication. Indeed, increasing MCM sumoylation impairs replication initiation through promoting the recruitment of a phosphatase that reduces MCM phosphorylation and activation. MCM sumoylation thus counterbalances kinase-based regulation to ensure accurate control of replication initiation. PMID:26854664

A new MCM modification cycle regulates DNA replication initiation.

PubMed

Wei, Lei; Zhao, Xiaolan

2016-03-01

The MCM DNA helicase is a central regulatory target during genome replication. MCM is kept inactive during G1, and it initiates replication after being activated in S phase. During this transition, the only known chemical change to MCM is the gain of multisite phosphorylation that promotes cofactor recruitment. Because replication initiation is intimately linked to multiple biological cues, additional changes to MCM can provide further regulatory points. Here, we describe a yeast MCM SUMOylation cycle that regulates replication. MCM subunits undergo SUMOylation upon loading at origins in G1 before MCM phosphorylation. MCM SUMOylation levels then decline as MCM phosphorylation levels rise, thus suggesting an inhibitory role of MCM SUMOylation during replication. Indeed, increasing MCM SUMOylation impairs replication initiation, partly through promoting the recruitment of a phosphatase that decreases MCM phosphorylation and activation. We propose that MCM SUMOylation counterbalances kinase-based regulation, thus ensuring accurate control of replication initiation.

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

Seegmiller, J.E.; Dixon, R.M.; Kemp, G.J.

The hyperuricemia responsible for the development of gouty arthritis results from a wide range of environmental factors and underlying genetically determined aberrations of metabolism. {sup 31}P magnetic resonance spectroscopy studies of children with hereditary fructose intolerance revealed a readily detectable rise in phosphomonoesters with a marked fall in inorganic phosphate in their liver in vivo and a rise in serum urate in response to very low doses of oral fructose. Parents and some family members heterozygous for this enzyme deficiency showed a similar pattern when given a substantially larger dose of fructose. Three of the nine heterozygotes thus identified alsomore » had clinical gout, suggesting the possibility of this defect being a fairly common cause of gout. In the present study this same noninvasive technology was used to identify the same spectral pattern in 2 of the 11 families studied with hereditary gout. In one family, the index patient's three brothers and his mother all showed the fructose-induced abnormality of metabolism, in agreement with the maternal inheritance of metabolism, in agreement with the maternal inheritance of the gout in this family group. The test dose of fructose used produced a significantly larger increment in the concentration of serum urate in the patients showing the changes in {sup 31}P magnetic resonance spectra than in the other patients with familial gout or in nonaffected members, thus suggesting a simpler method for initial screening for the defect.« less

A comparative analysis of potential impact area of common sugar cane burning methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hiscox, A. L.; Flecher, S.; Wang, J. J.; Viator, H. P.

2015-04-01

The negative effects of agricultural burning are well-known, although the actual impact area of different activities has not previously been quantified. An elastic backscatter lidar system was used to examine the impact-area size and dispersion of smoke generated from different types of sugarcane burning activities; pre-harvest (standing) burning and post-harvest (ground) burning. Experiments were conducted in the sugarcane harvest season of 2010 and 2011 at two locations in Louisiana, USA. Current dispersion theory would suggest that the primary difference between burn types would be primarily in the initial plume rise, but that the overall plume shape would remain the same. However, remotely sensed lidar data with the capability to measure plume dispersion and the short time dynamics of plume location showed pre-harvest (standing) burning produced a larger plume with greater rise and more spread within the 300 m of the plume, but a decrease in dispersion, but not concentration further downwind. Post-harvest (ground) burning produced a more traditional plume shape, but still exceeded impact area predictions near the source. Moreover, large changes in plume size can occur with small increases in wind speed. These are the first instrumented measurements of the meteorological effects of the different types of sugarcane burning. These results indicate that ground burning is preferable, but should be avoided in lower wind speed conditions.

77 FR 800 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection: Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-06

... years, ADAP has experienced an increase in enrollment while funding resources have decreased. This study will use case study methods to identify and examine factors that contribute to the rising enrollments... months. The study will assess factors that may contribute to the rise in ADAP enrollment and costs such...

Rise Time Perception and Detection of Syllable Stress in Adults with Developmental Dyslexia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leong, Victoria; Hamalainen, Jarmo; Soltesz, Fruzsina; Goswami, Usha

2011-01-01

Introduction: The perception of syllable stress has not been widely studied in developmental dyslexia, despite strong evidence for auditory rhythmic perceptual difficulties. Here we investigate the hypothesis that perception of sound rise time is related to the perception of syllable stress in adults with developmental dyslexia. Methods: A…

Application of a rising plate meter to estimate forage yield on dairy farms in Pennsylvania

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Accurately assessing pasture forage yield is necessary for producers who want to budget feed expenses and make informed pasture management decisions. Clipping and weighing forage from a known area is a direct method to measure pasture forage yield, however it is time consuming. The rising plate mete...

Can Oregon marshes keep up with the rising tide? A study of short and long term marsh accretion - CERF 2015

EPA Science Inventory

More frequent inundation of Oregon coastal marshlands associated with rising sea level threatens these important and diverse habitats. Accretion rates determined by the marker horizon method and longer term peak Cs137 detection in nine marsh systems from Coquille to Tillamook we...

Can Oregon Marshes Keep Up With The Rising Tide? A Study of Short and Long Term Marsh Accretion.

EPA Science Inventory

More frequent inundation of Oregon coastal marshlands associated with rising sea level threatens these important and diverse habitats. Study plot accretion rates determined by the marker horizon method and longer term peak Cs137 detection in eight marsh systems from Coquille to ...

The Rise and Fall of Andean Empires: El Nino History Lessons.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wright, Kenneth R.

2000-01-01

Provides information on El Nino and the methods for investigating ancient climate record. Traces the rise and fall of the Andean empires focusing on the climatic forces that each empire (Tiwanaku, Wari, Moche, and Inca) endured. States that modern societies should learn from the experiences of these ancient civilizations. (CMK)

Age validation of quillback rockfish (Sebastes maliger) using bomb radiocarbon

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

Kerr, L A; Andrews, A H; Munk, K

2005-01-05

Rockfishes (Sebastes spp.) support one of the most economically important fisheries of the Pacific Northwest and it is essential for sustainable management that age estimation procedures be validated for these species. Atmospheric testing of thermonuclear devices during the 1950s and 1960s created a global radiocarbon ({sup 14}C) signal in the ocean environment that scientists have identified as a useful tracer and chronological marker in natural systems. In this study, we first demonstrated that fewer samples are necessary for age validation using the bomb-generated {sup 14}C signal by emphasizing the utility of the time-specific marker created by the initial rise ofmore » bomb-{sup 14}C. Second, the bomb-generated {sup 14}C signal retained in fish otoliths was used to validate the age and age estimation methodology of the quillback rockfish (Sebastes maliger) in the waters of southeast Alaska. Radiocarbon values from the first year's growth of quillback rockfish otoliths were plotted against estimated birth year producing a {sup 14}C time series spanning 1950 to 1985. The initial rise of bomb-{sup 14}C from pre-bomb levels ({approx} -90 {per_thousand}) occurred in 1959 {+-} 1 year and {sup 14}C levels rose relatively rapidly to peak {Delta}{sup 14}C values in 1967 (+105.4 {per_thousand}), with a subsequent declining trend through the end of the record in 1985 (+15.4 {per_thousand}). The agreement between the year of initial rise of {sup 14}C levels from the quillback rockfish record and the chronometer determined for the waters of southeast Alaska from yelloweye rockfish (S. ruberrimus) otoliths validated the ageing methodology for the quillback rockfish. The concordance of the entire quillback rockfish {sup 14}C record with the yelloweye rockfish time series demonstrated the effectiveness of this age validation technique, confirmed the longevity of the quillback rockfish up to a minimum of 43 years, and strongly supports higher age estimates of up to 90 years.« less

Design of high-rise dwelling houses for Ho Chi Minh City within the framework of the "smart city" concept

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loan, Nguyen Hong; Van Tin, Nguyen

2018-03-01

There are differences in the concepts of smart cities, which are reflected in many ideas and solutions. Globally one of the similarities of the goals for achieving smart cities is sustainable developmentwith the provision of best living conditions for people beingthe first priority. Ho Chi Minh City is not out of trend, taking the planning steps for the goal of becoming a smart city. It is necessary that design and construction of high-rise dwelling houses meet the criteria of "smart city" concept. This paper explores the design of high-rise dwelling houses forHo Chi Minh City with regards tothe framework of "smart city" concept. Methods used in the paper includedata collection, analytical - synthetical and modeling method.In order to proposedesign tasks and solutions of high-rise dwelling houses forHo Chi Minh Cityinthe concept "smart city"in the current period and near future, we present new approach, whichcan alsobe applied in practice for different cities in Vietnam.Moveover, it can also establishinformation resources, which areuseful in connecting and promotingfurther development for the success of a "smart city" program.

Space-planning and structural solutions of low-rise buildings: Optimal selection methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gusakova, Natalya; Minaev, Nikolay; Filushina, Kristina; Dobrynina, Olga; Gusakov, Alexander

2017-11-01

The present study is devoted to elaboration of methodology used to select appropriately the space-planning and structural solutions in low-rise buildings. Objective of the study is working out the system of criteria influencing the selection of space-planning and structural solutions which are most suitable for low-rise buildings and structures. Application of the defined criteria in practice aim to enhance the efficiency of capital investments, energy and resource saving, create comfortable conditions for the population considering climatic zoning of the construction site. Developments of the project can be applied while implementing investment-construction projects of low-rise housing at different kinds of territories based on the local building materials. The system of criteria influencing the optimal selection of space-planning and structural solutions of low-rise buildings has been developed. Methodological basis has been also elaborated to assess optimal selection of space-planning and structural solutions of low-rise buildings satisfying the requirements of energy-efficiency, comfort and safety, and economical efficiency. Elaborated methodology enables to intensify the processes of low-rise construction development for different types of territories taking into account climatic zoning of the construction site. Stimulation of low-rise construction processes should be based on the system of approaches which are scientifically justified; thus it allows enhancing energy efficiency, comfort, safety and economical effectiveness of low-rise buildings.

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in high-rise buildings: delays to patient care and effect on survival.

PubMed

Drennan, Ian R; Strum, Ryan P; Byers, Adam; Buick, Jason E; Lin, Steve; Cheskes, Sheldon; Hu, Samantha; Morrison, Laurie J

2016-04-05

The increasing number of people living in high-rise buildings presents unique challenges to care and may cause delays for 911-initiated first responders (including paramedics and fire department personnel) responding to calls for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. We examined the relation between floor of patient contact and survival after cardiac arrest in residential buildings. We conducted a retrospective observational study using data from the Toronto Regional RescuNet Epistry database for the period January 2007 to December 2012. We included all adult patients (≥ 18 yr) with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest of no obvious cause who were treated in private residences. We excluded cardiac arrests witnessed by 911-initiated first responders and those with an obvious cause. We used multivariable logistic regression to determine the effect on survival of the floor of patient contact, with adjustment for standard Utstein variables. During the study period, 7842 cases of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest met the inclusion criteria, of which 5998 (76.5%) occurred below the third floor and 1844 (23.5%) occurred on the third floor or higher. Survival was greater on the lower floors (4.2% v. 2.6%, p = 0.002). Lower adjusted survival to hospital discharge was independently associated with higher floor of patient contact, older age, male sex and longer 911 response time. In an analysis by floor, survival was 0.9% above floor 16 (i.e., below the 1% threshold for futility), and there were no survivors above the 25th floor. In high-rise buildings, the survival rate after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest was lower for patients residing on higher floors. Interventions aimed at shortening response times to treatment of cardiac arrest in high-rise buildings may increase survival. © 2016 Canadian Medical Association or its licensors.

Stem/progenitor cells derived from the cochlear sensory epithelium give rise to spheres with distinct morphologies and features.

PubMed

Diensthuber, Marc; Oshima, Kazuo; Heller, Stefan

2009-06-01

Nonmammalian vertebrates regenerate lost sensory hair cells by means of asymmetric division of supporting cells. Inner ear or lateral line supporting cells in birds, amphibians, and fish consequently serve as bona fide stem cells resulting in high regenerative capacity of hair cell-bearing organs. Hair cell regeneration does not happen in the mammalian cochlea, but cells with proliferative capacity can be isolated from the neonatal cochlea. These cells have the ability to form clonal floating colonies, so-called spheres, when cultured in nonadherent conditions. We noticed that the sphere population derived from mouse cochlear sensory epithelium cells was heterogeneous, consisting of morphologically distinct sphere types, hereby classified as solid, transitional, and hollow. Cochlear sensory epithelium-derived stem/progenitor cells initially give rise to small solid spheres, which subsequently transition into hollow spheres, a change that is accompanied by epithelial differentiation of the majority of sphere cells. Only solid spheres, and to a lesser extent, transitional spheres, appeared to harbor self-renewing stem cells, whereas hollow spheres could not be consistently propagated. Solid spheres contained significantly more rapidly cycling Pax-2-expressing presumptive otic progenitor cells than hollow spheres. Islet-1, which becomes upregulated in nascent sensory patches, was also more abundant in solid than in hollow spheres. Likewise, hair cell-like cells, characterized by the expression of multiple hair cell markers, differentiated in significantly higher numbers in cell populations derived from solid spheres. We conclude that cochlear sensory epithelium cell populations initially give rise to small solid spheres that have self-renewing capacity before they subsequently convert into hollow spheres, a process that is accompanied by loss of stemness and reduced ability to spontaneously give rise to hair cell-like cells. Solid spheres might, therefore, represent the most suitable sphere type for cell-based assays or animal model transplantation studies aimed at development of cell replacement therapies.

Preparation of an exponentially rising optical pulse for efficient excitation of single atoms in free space.

PubMed

Dao, Hoang Lan; Aljunid, Syed Abdullah; Maslennikov, Gleb; Kurtsiefer, Christian

2012-08-01

We report on a simple method to prepare optical pulses with exponentially rising envelope on the time scale of a few ns. The scheme is based on the exponential transfer function of a fast transistor, which generates an exponentially rising envelope that is transferred first on a radio frequency carrier, and then on a coherent cw laser beam with an electro-optical phase modulator. The temporally shaped sideband is then extracted with an optical resonator and can be used to efficiently excite a single (87)Rb atom.

Exploring the cause of initially reactive bovine brains on rapid tests for BSE

PubMed Central

Dudas, Sandor; James, Jace; Anderson, Renee; Czub, Stefanie

2015-01-01

ABSTRACT Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is an invariably fatal prion disease of cattle. The identification of the zoonotic potential of BSE prompted safety officials to initiate surveillance testing for this disease. In Canada, BSE surveillance is primarily focused on high risk cattle including animals which are dead, down and unable to rise, diseased or distressed. This targeted surveillance results in the submission of brain samples with a wide range of tissue autolysis and associated contaminants. These contaminants have the potential to interfere with important steps of surveillance tests resulting in initially positive test results requiring additional testing to confirm the disease status of the animal. The current tests used for BSE screening in Canada utilize the relative protease resistance of the prion protein gained when it misfolds from PrPC to PrPSc as part of the disease process. Proteinase K completely digests PrPC in normal brains, but leaves most of the PrPSc in BSE positive brains intact which is detected using anti-prion antibodies. These tests are highly reliable but occasionally give rise to initially reactive/false positive results. Test results for these reactive samples were close to the positive/negative cut-off on a sub set of test platforms. This is in contrast to all of the previous Canadian positive samples whose numeric values on these same test platforms were 10 to 100 fold greater than the test positive/negative cut-off. Here we explore the potential reason why a sample is repeatedly positive on a sub-set of rapid surveillance tests, but negative on other test platforms. In order to better understand and identify what might cause these initial reactions, we have conducted a variety of rapid and confirmatory assays as well as bacterial isolation and identification on BSE positive, negative and initially reactive samples. We observed high levels of viable bacterial contamination in initially reactive samples suggesting that the reactivity may be related to bacterial factors. Several bacteria isolated from the initially reactive samples have characteristics of biofilm forming bacteria and this extracellular matrix might play a role in preventing complete digestion of PrPC in these samples. PMID:26689488

Technological aspects of lift-slab method in high-rise-building construction.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaidukov, Pavel V.; Pugach, Evgeny M.

2018-03-01

The utilization efficiency of slab lifting technology for high-rise-building construction is regarded in the present article. The main problem of the article is organizing technology abilities indication, which proves the method application possibility. There is the comparing of lifting technologies and sequential concrete-frame extension, as follows: the first one: the parameters are defined, and the second one: the organizational model is executed. This model defines borders of the usage methods, as well. There is the mathematic model creating, which describes boundary conditions of the present technologies usage. This model allows to predict construction efficiency for different stored-number buildings.

What do short-term and long-term relationships look like? Building the relationship coordination and strategic timing (ReCAST) model.

PubMed

Eastwick, Paul W; Keneski, Elizabeth; Morgan, Taylor A; McDonald, Meagan A; Huang, Sabrina A

2018-05-01

Close relationships research has examined committed couples (e.g., dating relationships, marriages) using intensive methods that plot relationship development over time. But a substantial proportion of people's real-life sexual experiences take place (a) before committed relationships become "official" and (b) in short-term relationships; methods that document the time course of relationships have rarely been applied to these contexts. We adapted a classic relationship trajectory-plotting technique to generate the first empirical comparisons between the features of people's real-life short-term and long-term relationships across their entire timespan. Five studies compared long-term and short-term relationships in terms of the timing of relationship milestones (e.g., flirting, first sexual intercourse) and the occurrence/intensity of important relationship experiences (e.g., romantic interest, strong sexual desire, attachment). As romantic interest was rising and partners were becoming acquainted, long-term and short-term relationships were indistinguishable. Eventually, romantic interest in short-term relationships plateaued and declined while romantic interest in long-term relationships continued to rise, ultimately reaching a higher peak. As relationships progressed, participants evidenced more features characteristic of the attachment-behavioral system (e.g., attachment, caregiving) in long-term than short-term relationships but similar levels of other features (e.g., sexual desire, self-promotion, intrasexual competition). These data inform a new synthesis of close relationships and evolutionary psychological perspectives called the Relationship Coordination and Strategic Timing (ReCAST) model. ReCAST depicts short-term and long-term relationships as partially overlapping trajectories (rather than relationships initiated with distinct strategies) that differ in their progression along a normative relationship development sequence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

The 2011 Eruption of the Recurrent Nova T Pyxidis: The Discovery, the Pre-eruption Rise, the Pre-eruption Orbital Period, and the Reason for the Long Delay

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schaefer, Bradley E.; Landolt, Arlo U.; Linnolt, Michael; Stubbings, Rod; Pojmanski, Grzegorz; Plummer, Alan; Kerr, Stephen; Nelson, Peter; Carstens, Rolf; Streamer, Margaret; Richards, Tom; Myers, Gordon; Dillon, William G.

2013-08-01

We report the discovery by M. Linnolt on JD 2,455,665.7931 (UT 2011 April 14.29) of the sixth eruption of the recurrent nova T Pyxidis. This discovery was made just as the initial fast rise was starting, so with fast notification and response by observers worldwide, the entire initial rise was covered (the first for any nova), and with high time resolution in three filters. The speed of the rise peaked at 9 mag day-1, while the light curve is well fit over only the first two days by a model with a uniformly expanding sphere. We also report the discovery by R. Stubbings of a pre-eruption rise starting 18 days before the eruption, peaking 1.1 mag brighter than its long-time average, and then fading back toward quiescence 4 days before the eruption. This unique and mysterious behavior is only the fourth known (with V1500 Cyg, V533 Her, and T CrB) anticipatory rise closely spaced before a nova eruption. We present 19 timings of photometric minima from 1986 to 2011 February, where the orbital period is fast increasing with P/\\dot{P}=+313{,000} yr. From 2008 to 2011, T Pyx had a small change in this rate of increase, so that the orbital period at the time of eruption was 0.07622950 ± 0.00000008 days. This strong and steady increase of the orbital period can only come from mass transfer, for which we calculate a rate of (1.7-3.5) × 10-7 M ⊙ yr-1. We report 6116 magnitudes between 1890 and 2011, for an average B = 15.59 ± 0.01 from 1967 to 2011, which allows for an eruption in 2011 if the blue flux is nearly proportional to the accretion rate. The ultraviolet-optical-infrared spectral energy distribution is well fit by a power law with f νvpropν1.0, although the narrow ultraviolet region has a tilt with a fit of f νvpropν1/3. We prove that most of the T Pyx light is not coming from a disk, or any superposition of blackbodies, but rather is coming from some nonthermal source. We confirm the extinction measure from IUE with E(B - V) = 0.25 ± 0.02 mag.

THE 2011 ERUPTION OF THE RECURRENT NOVA T PYXIDIS: THE DISCOVERY, THE PRE-ERUPTION RISE, THE PRE-ERUPTION ORBITAL PERIOD, AND THE REASON FOR THE LONG DELAY

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

Schaefer, Bradley E.; Landolt, Arlo U.; Linnolt, Michael

We report the discovery by M. Linnolt on JD 2,455,665.7931 (UT 2011 April 14.29) of the sixth eruption of the recurrent nova T Pyxidis. This discovery was made just as the initial fast rise was starting, so with fast notification and response by observers worldwide, the entire initial rise was covered (the first for any nova), and with high time resolution in three filters. The speed of the rise peaked at 9 mag day{sup -1}, while the light curve is well fit over only the first two days by a model with a uniformly expanding sphere. We also report themore » discovery by R. Stubbings of a pre-eruption rise starting 18 days before the eruption, peaking 1.1 mag brighter than its long-time average, and then fading back toward quiescence 4 days before the eruption. This unique and mysterious behavior is only the fourth known (with V1500 Cyg, V533 Her, and T CrB) anticipatory rise closely spaced before a nova eruption. We present 19 timings of photometric minima from 1986 to 2011 February, where the orbital period is fast increasing with P/ P-dot =+313,000 yr. From 2008 to 2011, T Pyx had a small change in this rate of increase, so that the orbital period at the time of eruption was 0.07622950 {+-} 0.00000008 days. This strong and steady increase of the orbital period can only come from mass transfer, for which we calculate a rate of (1.7-3.5) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -7} M{sub Sun} yr{sup -1}. We report 6116 magnitudes between 1890 and 2011, for an average B = 15.59 {+-} 0.01 from 1967 to 2011, which allows for an eruption in 2011 if the blue flux is nearly proportional to the accretion rate. The ultraviolet-optical-infrared spectral energy distribution is well fit by a power law with f{sub {nu}}{proportional_to}{nu}{sup 1.0}, although the narrow ultraviolet region has a tilt with a fit of f{sub {nu}}{proportional_to}{nu}{sup 1/3}. We prove that most of the T Pyx light is not coming from a disk, or any superposition of blackbodies, but rather is coming from some nonthermal source. We confirm the extinction measure from IUE with E(B - V) = 0.25 {+-} 0.02 mag.« less

Dendritic mechanisms underlying the coupling of the dendritic with the axonal action potential initiation zone of adult rat layer 5 pyramidal neurons

PubMed Central

Larkum, M E; Zhu, J J; Sakmann, B

2001-01-01

Double, triple and quadruple whole-cell voltage recordings were made simultaneously from different parts of the apical dendritic arbor and the soma of adult layer 5 (L5) pyramidal neurons. We investigated the membrane mechanisms that support the conduction of dendritic action potentials (APs) between the dendritic and axonal AP initiation zones and their influence on the subsequent AP pattern. The duration of the current injection to the distal dendritic initiation zone controlled the degree of coupling with the axonal initiation zone and the AP pattern. Two components of the distally evoked regenerative potential were pharmacologically distinguished: a rapidly rising peak potential that was TTX sensitive and a slowly rising plateau-like potential that was Cd2+ and Ni2+ sensitive and present only with longer-duration current injection. The amplitude of the faster forward-propagating Na+-dependent component and the amplitude of the back-propagating AP fell into two classes (more distinctly in the forward-propagating case). Current injection into the dendrite altered propagation in both directions. Somatic current injections that elicited single Na+ APs evoked bursts of Na+ APs when current was injected simultaneously into the proximal apical dendrite. The mechanism did not depend on dendritic Na+–Ca2+ APs. A three-compartment model of a L5 pyramidal neuron is proposed. It comprises the distal dendritic and axonal AP initiation zones and the proximal apical dendrite. Each compartment contributes to the initiation and to the pattern of AP discharge in a distinct manner. Input to the three main dendritic arbors (tuft dendrites, apical oblique dendrites and basal dendrites) has a dominant influence on only one of these compartments. Thus, the AP pattern of L5 pyramids reflects the laminar distribution of synaptic activity in a cortical column. PMID:11389204

Influence of mobile air-conditioning on vehicle emissions and fuel consumption: a model approach for modern gasoline cars used in Europe.

PubMed

Weilenmann, Martin F; Vasic, Ana-Marija; Stettler, Peter; Novak, Philippe

2005-12-15

The influence of air-conditioning activity on the emissions and fuel consumption of passenger cars is an important issue, since fleet penetration and use of these systems have reached a high level. Apart from the MOBILE6 study in the United States, little data is available on the impact of air-conditioning devices (A/Cs). Since weather conditions and A/C technologies both differ from those in the U. S., a test series was designed for the European setting. A fleet of six modern gasoline passenger cars was tested in different weather conditions. Separate test series were carried out for the initial cooldown and for the stationary situation of keeping the interior of the vehicle cool. As assumed, CO2 emissions and fuel consumption rise with the thermal load. This also causes a notable rise in CO and hydrocarbons (HCs). Moreover, A/Cs do not stop automatically at low ambient temperatures; if necessary, they produce dry air to demist the windscreen. A model is proposed that shows a constant load for lower temperatures and a linear trend for higher temperatures. The initial cooldown tests highlight significant differences among cars but show that A/C operation for the initial cooling of an overheated passenger compartment does not result in any extra emissions for the fleet as a whole.

A comparison between initial continuous currents of different types of upward lightning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, D.; Sawada, N.; Takagi, N.

2009-12-01

We have observed the lightning to a wind turbine and its lightning-protection tower for four consecutive winter seasons from 2005 to 2009. Our observation items include (1) thunderstorm electrical fields and lightning-caused electric field changes at multi sites around the wind turbine, (2) electrical currents at the bottom of the wind turbine and its lightning protection tower, (3) normal video and high speed image of lightning optical channels. Totally, we have obtained the data for 42 lightning that hit either on wind turbine or its lightning protection tower or both. Among these 42 lightning, 38 are upward lightning and 2 are downward lightning. We found the upward lightning can be sub-classified into two types. Type 1 upward lightning are self-triggered from a high structure, while type 2 lightning are triggered by a discharge occurred in other places which could be either a cloud discharge or a cloud-to-ground discharge (other-triggered). In this study, we have compared the two types of upward lightning in terms of initial continuous current rise time, peak current and charge transferred to the ground. We found that the initial current of self-triggered lightning tends to rise significantly faster and to a bigger peak value than the other-triggered lightning, although both types of lightning transferred similar amount of charge to the ground.

Radio-frequency-assisted current startup in the fusion engineering device

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

Borowski, S. K.; Peng, Yueng Kay Martin; Kammash, T.

1984-01-01

Auxiliary radio-frequency (RF) heating of electrons before and during the current rise phase of a large tokamak, such as the Fusion Engineering Device (FED) (R{sub 0} = 4.8 m, a = 1.3 m, sigma = 1.6, B(R{sub 0}) = 3.62 T), is examined as a means of reducing both the initiation loop voltage and resistive flux expenditure during startup. Prior to current initiation, 1 to 2 MW of electron cyclotron resonance heating power at about90 GHz is used to create a small volume of high conductivity plasma (T {sub e} approx. = 100 eV, n {sub e} approx. = 10{supmore » 19} m{sup -3}) near the upper hybrid resonance (UHR) region. This plasma conditioning, referred to as preheating, permits a small radius (a{sub 0} approx. = 0.2 to 0.4 m) current channel to be established with a relatively low initial loop voltage (less than or equal to 25 V as opposed to about 100 V without rf assist). During the subsequent plasma expansion and current rise phase, a combination of rf heating (up to 5 MW) and linear current ramping leads to a substantial savings in voltseconds by (a) minimizing the resistive flux consumption and (b) producing broad current density profiles. (With such broad profiles, the internal flux requirements are maintained at or near the flat profile limit.)« less

Radio-frequency-assisted current startup in the Fusion Engineering Device

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

Borowski, S.K.; Kammash, T.; Martin Peng, Y.K.

1984-07-01

Auxiliary radio-frequency (RF) heating of electrons before and during the current rise phase of a large tokamak, such as the Fusion Engineering Device (FED) (R/sub 0/ = 4.8 m, a = 1.3 m, sigma = 1.6, B(R/sub 0/) = 3.62 T), is examined as a means of reducing both the initiation loop voltage and resistive flux expenditure during startup. Prior to current initiation, 1 to 2 MW of electron cyclotron resonance heating power at about90 GHz is used to create a small volume of high conductivity plasma (T /sub e/ approx. = 100 eV, n /sub e/ approx. = 10/supmore » 19/ m/sup -3/) near the upper hybrid resonance (UHR) region. This plasma conditioning, referred to as preheating, permits a small radius (a/sub 0/ approx. = 0.2 to 0.4 m) current channel to be established with a relatively low initial loop voltage (less than or equal to 25 V as opposed to about 100 V without rf assist). During the subsequent plasma expansion and current rise phase, a combination of rf heating (up to 5 MW) and linear current ramping leads to a substantial savings in voltseconds by (a) minimizing the resistive flux consumption and (b) producing broad current density profiles. (With such broad profiles, the internal flux requirements are maintained at or near the flat profile limit.)« less

Collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet after local destabilization of the Amundsen Basin

PubMed Central

Feldmann, Johannes; Levermann, Anders

2015-01-01

The future evolution of the Antarctic Ice Sheet represents the largest uncertainty in sea-level projections of this and upcoming centuries. Recently, satellite observations and high-resolution simulations have suggested the initiation of an ice-sheet instability in the Amundsen Sea sector of West Antarctica, caused by the last decades’ enhanced basal ice-shelf melting. Whether this localized destabilization will yield a full discharge of marine ice from West Antarctica, associated with a global sea-level rise of more than 3 m, or whether the ice loss is limited by ice dynamics and topographic features, is unclear. Here we show that in the Parallel Ice Sheet Model, a local destabilization causes a complete disintegration of the marine ice in West Antarctica. In our simulations, at 5-km horizontal resolution, the region disequilibrates after 60 y of currently observed melt rates. Thereafter, the marine ice-sheet instability fully unfolds and is not halted by topographic features. In fact, the ice loss in Amundsen Sea sector shifts the catchment's ice divide toward the Filchner–Ronne and Ross ice shelves, which initiates grounding-line retreat there. Our simulations suggest that if a destabilization of Amundsen Sea sector has indeed been initiated, Antarctica will irrevocably contribute at least 3 m to global sea-level rise during the coming centuries to millennia. PMID:26578762

Emerging trends in breastfeeding practices in Singaporean Chinese women: findings from a population-based study.

PubMed

Hornbeak, Dana M; Dirani, Mohamed; Sham, Wai Kit; Li, Jialiang; Young, Terri L; Wong, Tien Yin; Chong, Yap Seng; Saw, Seang Mei

2010-02-01

This study records the prevalence and patterns of breastfeeding in Singaporean Chinese mothers who gave birth between 2000 and 2008. The Strabismus, Amblyopia and Refractive Error in Singaporean Children (STARS) study is a population-based survey conducted in South-Western Singapore. Disproportionate random sampling by 6-month age groups of Chinese children born from 2000 to 2008 was performed. The mothers (n = 3009) completed a standard questionnaire which recorded the initiation, content, method and duration of breastfeeding. World Health Organization (WHO) definitions for feeding content were used: Replacement (exclusive commercial formula or any liquid or solid/semi-solid food, excluding breast milk), Complementary (breast milk, solid/semi-solid foods, and any non-human liquid), and Exclusive (breast milk only, without additional food, drink or water). STARS-specific definitions for feeding method were used: Expressed (breast milk only fed via bottle, with no additional food or non-human liquid), Combination (breast milk and non-breast milk, fed via bottle and breast), and Direct (breast milk only fed via breast). Breastfeeding initiation (overall prevalence 77.0%) and duration increased over time, and were independently associated with higher maternal education: in 2000 and 2001, 68.6% of mothers initiated breastfeeding and 12.9% breast fed for or=6 months, vs 90.9% and 35.3%, respectively, of university-educated women (P <0.001). Expressed, Combination and Complementary feeding also increased, while Replacement feeding decreased (P <0.001). There was no difference in breastfeeding patterns by the child's gender. In a population-based sample of Singaporean Chinese mothers giving birth from 2000 to 2008, breastfeeding initiation and duration increased over time and were independently associated with higher maternal education. This increase was associated with increased milk expression and complementary feeding. Thus awareness of breastfeeding benefits is rising in Singapore, but future health policies may need to target less-educated mothers.

Historical Perspective on the Rise and Fall and Rise of Antibiotics and Human Weight Gain.

PubMed

Podolsky, Scott H

2017-01-17

In recent medical and popular literature, audiences have been asked to consider whether antibiotics have contributed to the rising obesity epidemic. Prominent magazines have stated that weight may be adversely affected by antibiotics that destroy existing microbiomes and replace them with less helpful ones. However, there is a long history of efforts to investigate the relationship between antibiotics and human weight gain. In the early 1950s, amid initial findings that low doses of antibiotics served as growth promoters in animal livestock, investigators explored the role of antibiotics as magic bullets for human malnutrition. Nevertheless, early enthusiasm was tempered by controlled studies showing that antibiotics did not serve as useful, nonspecific growth promoters for humans. In subsequent decades, against the backdrop of rising concern over antibiotic resistance, investigators studying the role of antibiotics in acute malnutrition have had to navigate a more complicated public health calculus. In a related historical stream, scientists since the 1910s have explored the role of the intestinal microflora in human health. By the 2000s, as increasing resources and more sophisticated tools were devoted to understanding the microbiome (a term coined in 2001), attention would turn to the role of antibiotics and the intestinal microflora in the rising obesity epidemic. Despite scientific and commercial enthusiasm, easy answers (whether about antibiotics or probiotics) have again given way to an appreciation for the complexity of human growth. History encourages caution about our hopes for simplistic answers for presumed "fat drugs" and slimming probiotics alike.

Sea level rise in the Severn Estuary and Bristol Channel and impacts of a Severn Barrage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmadian, Reza; Olbert, Agnieszka I.; Hartnett, Michael; Falconer, Roger A.

2014-05-01

Many research projects in recent years have focused on marine renewable energy devices and structures due to the growing interest in marine renewable energy. These devices and structures have very different life spans. Schemes such as the Severn Barrage in the UK, as originally proposed by the Severn Tidal Power Group (STPG), would be the largest tidal renewable energy generation project in the world and would be operational for well over a century if built. Due to the long working life of some of these marine renewable energy schemes, it is important to study the impacts of climate change on such schemes, and particularly sea level rise. This study focuses on investigating the impacts of sea level rise due to climate change on the largest macro-tidal estuary in the UK, namely the Severn Estuary and Bristol Channel, and the alterations of the impacts and the performance of the Severn Barrage as a result of climate change. A hierarchy of computer models was implemented to identify the more localised impacts of climate change in the region of the study. Moreover, the potential benefits of the barrage on reducing flood risk, as well as the impact of climate change and the barrage on intertidal mudflats were investigated. The model predictions showed that the barrage would reduce flood risk due to the sea level rise. Furthermore, annual power output and the initial reduction in flood risk of the barrage would not be affected by sea level rise.

Effects of climate change on water quality in the Yaquina ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

As part of a larger study to examine the effect of climate change (CC) on estuarine resources, we simulated the effect of rising sea level, alterations in river discharge, and increasing atmospheric temperatures on water quality in the Yaquina Estuary. Due to uncertainty in the effects of climate change, initial model simulations were performed for different steady river discharge rates that span the historical range in inflow, and for a range of increases in sea level and atmospheric temperature. Model simulations suggest that in the central portion of the estuary (19 km from mouth), a 60-cm increase in sea level will result in a 2-3 psu change in salinity across a broad range of river discharges. For the oligohaline portion of the estuary, salinity increases associated with a rise in sea level of 60 cm are only apparent at low river discharge rates (< 50 m3 s-1). Simulations suggest that the water temperatures near the mouth of the estuary will decrease due to rising sea level, while water temperatures in upriver portions of the estuary will increase due to rising atmospheric temperatures. We present results which demonstrate how the interaction of changes in river discharge, rising sea level, and atmospheric temperature associated with climate change produce non-linear patterns in the response of estuarine salinity and temperature, which vary with location inside the estuary and season. We also will discuss the importance of presenting results in a mann

Diversification of C(4) grasses (Poaceae) does not coincide with their ecological dominance.

PubMed

Bouchenak-Khelladi, Yanis; Slingsby, Jasper A; Verboom, G Anthony; Bond, William J

2014-02-01

The radiation of a lineage and its rise to ecological dominance are distinct phenomena and driven by different processes. For example, paleoecological data has been used to show that the Cretaceous angiosperm radiation did not coincide with their rise to dominance. Using a phylogenetic approach, we here explored the evolution of C4 grasses and evaluated whether the diversification of this group and its rise to ecological dominance in the late Miocene were decoupled. We assembled a matrix including 675 grass species of the PACMAD clade and 2784 characters (ITS and ndhF) to run a molecular dating analysis using three fossils as reference calibrations. We coded species as C3 vs. C4 and reconstructed ancestral states under maximum likelihood. We used the program BiSSE to test whether rates of diversification are correlated with photosynthetic pathway and whether the radiation of C4 lineages preceded or coincided with their rise to ecological dominance from ∼10 Ma. C4 grass lineages first originated around 35 Ma at the time of the Eocene-Oligocene transition. Accelerated diversification of C4 lineages did not coincide with their rise to ecological dominance. C4-dominated grasslands have expanded only since the Late Miocene and Pliocene. The initial diversification of their biotic elements can be tracked back as far as the Eocene-Oligocene transition. We suggest that shifts in taxonomic diversification and ecological dominance were stimulated by different factors, as in the case of the early angiosperms in the Cretaceous.

Outcomes and Cost Analysis of Surveillance Strategies After Initial Treatment for Women With Recurrent Ovarian Cancer.

PubMed

Alexander, Vinita M; Gordon, Alan N; Howard, David H; Khanna, Namita

2017-09-01

The aim of this study was to determine whether there is a survival or cost benefit dependent on detection strategy of recurrent ovarian cancer (ie, imaging, physical examination findings, report of symptoms, or rising cancer antigen 125 [CA-125] levels). A retrospective chart review of 112 ovarian cancer patients was conducted, and method of detection of recurrent disease was determined from medical records. The following primary outcomes were determined using Cox proportional hazards regression model: progression-free survival (PFS) after diagnosis of recurrence and time to death after diagnosis of recurrence (overall survival [OS]). Several approaches to disease surveillance were proposed, and a cost model was applied. Median time to recurrence was 13.5 months. Overall, 6.3% presented with only physical examination findings; 24.1%, with elevating CA-125 levels; 34.8%, with imaging; and 32.1%, with symptoms. Most patients presenting with recurrent disease diagnosed by rising CA-125 were white (62.9%); those with imaging and symptomatic recurrences were blacks (56.4% and 57.1%, respectively). There was a small but not statistically significant OS benefit for recurrence detected via CA-125 (P = 0.85; OS per detection method: PE, 20.7 months; CA-125, 26.8 months; imaging, 17.8 months; and symptoms, 6.6 months). We modeled costs of surveillance in our patient cohort; up to 40.8% of cases of ovarian cancer recurrences would have been missed if no imaging were obtained during surveillance. Results indicate minimal differences in PFS and statistically insignificant differences in OS, depending on detection method. Notably, black patients with Medicaid presented most often with symptomatic recurrences, which surprisingly did not affect patient OS and PFS; and interestingly, pr\\ivate or self-pay insurance was associated with decreased OS among black patients. From our cost analysis, we estimate that the most cost-effective surveillance strategy for the first year costs $9.2 million annually and includes office visit biannually, biannual CA-125 levels, and annual asymptomatic imaging.

Water entry and exit of horizontal circular cylinders

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Greenhow, M.; Moyo, S.

This paper describes fully nonlinear two-dimensional numerical calculations of the free-surface deformations of initially calm water caused by the forced motion of totally or partially submerged horizontal circular cylinders. The paper considers the following. (i) Totally submerged cylinders moving with constant velocity in vertical, horizontal or combined motions. Results are compared with the small-time asymptotic solution obtained by Tyvand and Milohin 1995. Their results, which are taken to third-order (which is when gravity terms first appear in the expansions), are in excellent agreement with the numerical calculations for small times; beyond this only the numerical method gives accurate results until the free surface breaks or the cylinder emerges from the free surface. Breaking can occur during exit due to strongly negative pressures arising on the cylinder surface, or during the downwards motion causing a free-surface depression which closes up rapidly, forming splashes. Downwards motion is also shown to give rise to high-frequency waves in some cases. (ii) The free-surface deformations, pressures and forces acting on a cylinder in vertical or oblique forced motion during engulfment when it submerges from being initially half-submerged. The initial stages, when the cylinder still pierces the free surface, specify the initial conditions for a separate program for a completely submerged body, thereby allowing complete engulfment to be studied. The free surface closes up violently over the top of the cylinder resulting in jet flow, which, while difficult to handle numerically, has been shown to be insignificant for the bulk flow and the cylinder pressures and forces.

Improvement of the cost-benefit analysis algorithm for high-rise construction projects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gafurov, Andrey; Skotarenko, Oksana; Plotnikov, Vladimir

2018-03-01

The specific nature of high-rise investment projects entailing long-term construction, high risks, etc. implies a need to improve the standard algorithm of cost-benefit analysis. An improved algorithm is described in the article. For development of the improved algorithm of cost-benefit analysis for high-rise construction projects, the following methods were used: weighted average cost of capital, dynamic cost-benefit analysis of investment projects, risk mapping, scenario analysis, sensitivity analysis of critical ratios, etc. This comprehensive approach helped to adapt the original algorithm to feasibility objectives in high-rise construction. The authors put together the algorithm of cost-benefit analysis for high-rise construction projects on the basis of risk mapping and sensitivity analysis of critical ratios. The suggested project risk management algorithms greatly expand the standard algorithm of cost-benefit analysis in investment projects, namely: the "Project analysis scenario" flowchart, improving quality and reliability of forecasting reports in investment projects; the main stages of cash flow adjustment based on risk mapping for better cost-benefit project analysis provided the broad range of risks in high-rise construction; analysis of dynamic cost-benefit values considering project sensitivity to crucial variables, improving flexibility in implementation of high-rise projects.

Classification of basic facilities for high-rise residential: A survey from 100 housing scheme in Kajang area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ani, Adi Irfan Che; Sairi, Ahmad; Tawil, Norngainy Mohd; Wahab, Siti Rashidah Hanum Abd; Razak, Muhd Zulhanif Abd

2016-08-01

High demand for housing and limited land in town area has increasing the provision of high-rise residential scheme. This type of housing has different owners but share the same land lot and common facilities. Thus, maintenance works of the buildings and common facilities must be well organized. The purpose of this paper is to identify and classify basic facilities for high-rise residential building hoping to improve the management of the scheme. The method adopted is a survey on 100 high-rise residential schemes that ranged from affordable housing to high cost housing by using a snowball sampling. The scope of this research is within Kajang area, which is rapidly developed with high-rise housing. The objective of the survey is to list out all facilities in every sample of the schemes. The result confirmed that pre-determined 11 classifications hold true and can provide the realistic classification for high-rise residential scheme. This paper proposed for redefinition of facilities provided to create a better management system and give a clear definition on the type of high-rise residential based on its facilities.

Evaluating Maternal and Child Health and Leadership Competencies of Emerging MCH Leaders: The MCHC/RISE-UP Experience.

PubMed

Belcher, Harolyn M E; Stone, Jacqueline D; McFadden, Jenese A; Hemmingson, Tyler A; Kreutzer, Cary; Harris, Lisa G; Wheeler, Barbara Y; Van Osdel, Joanne; Avila, Margaret; Yorker, Beatrice; Hoffman, Beth R; Turner-Musa, Jocelyn O

2015-12-01

This study examines maternal and child health core competencies and leadership characteristics of undergraduate students following participation in the Maternal and Child Health Careers/Research Initiatives for Student Enhancement-Undergraduate Program (MCHC/RISE-UP). MCHC/RISE-UP is a 10-week public health leadership program designed to promote diversity in public health workforce through mentored research, community engagement and advocacy, and clinical experiences for undergraduate students. The MCHC/RISE-UP is a national consortium of University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities including, (1) Kennedy Krieger Institute (Kennedy Krieger, lead institution) partnering with Morgan State University, a Historically Black University, (2) the University of South Dakota partnering with Tribal Serving Institutions; and (3) the University of Southern California Children's Hospital-Los Angeles and their partner institution, California State University Los Angeles, a Hispanic Serving Institution. Eighty-four junior and senior undergraduates and recent baccalaureate degree students who participated in the MCHC/RISE-UP worked on 48 maternal and child health projects. Following the MCHC/RISE-UP, students demonstrated statistically significant improvements in all maternal and child health core competencies. Transformational leadership characteristics also increased (mean increase 9.4, 95% CI 7.2-11.8; p < 0.001). At closing interview, over twice as many students endorsed a public health career goal compared to program admission (17.9 vs. 57.7%; p = 0.022). Multi-institutional collaborative public health leadership programs may extend the reach and recruitment of diverse students into the maternal and child health field. Experiential, didactic, and mentored learning opportunities may enhance student integration of maternal and child health competencies and transformational leadership characteristics.

Mathematical and computational studies of equilibrium capillary free surfaces

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Albright, N.; Chen, N. F.; Concus, P.; Finn, R.

1977-01-01

The results of several independent studies are presented. The general question is considered of whether a wetting liquid always rises higher in a small capillary tube than in a larger one, when both are dipped vertically into an infinite reservoir. An analytical investigation is initiated to determine the qualitative behavior of the family of solutions of the equilibrium capillary free-surface equation that correspond to rotationally symmetric pendent liquid drops and the relationship of these solutions to the singular solution, which corresponds to an infinite spike of liquid extending downward to infinity. The block successive overrelaxation-Newton method and the generalized conjugate gradient method are investigated for solving the capillary equation on a uniform square mesh in a square domain, including the case for which the solution is unbounded at the corners. Capillary surfaces are calculated on the ellipse, on a circle with reentrant notches, and on other irregularly shaped domains using JASON, a general purpose program for solving nonlinear elliptic equations on a nonuniform quadrilaterial mesh. Analytical estimates for the nonexistence of solutions of the equilibrium capillary free-surface equation on the ellipse in zero gravity are evaluated.

Real-time individual predictions of prostate cancer recurrence using joint models

PubMed Central

Taylor, Jeremy M. G.; Park, Yongseok; Ankerst, Donna P.; Proust-Lima, Cecile; Williams, Scott; Kestin, Larry; Bae, Kyoungwha; Pickles, Tom; Sandler, Howard

2012-01-01

Summary Patients who were previously treated for prostate cancer with radiation therapy are monitored at regular intervals using a laboratory test called Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA). If the value of the PSA test starts to rise, this is an indication that the prostate cancer is more likely to recur, and the patient may wish to initiate new treatments. Such patients could be helped in making medical decisions by an accurate estimate of the probability of recurrence of the cancer in the next few years. In this paper, we describe the methodology for giving the probability of recurrence for a new patient, as implemented on a web-based calculator. The methods use a joint longitudinal survival model. The model is developed on a training dataset of 2,386 patients and tested on a dataset of 846 patients. Bayesian estimation methods are used with one Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm developed for estimation of the parameters from the training dataset and a second quick MCMC developed for prediction of the risk of recurrence that uses the longitudinal PSA measures from a new patient. PMID:23379600

Measuring M Dwarf Rotation in the Pan-STARRS 1 Medium Deep Survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fong, Erin R.; Williams, Peter K. G.; Berger, Edo

2016-01-01

The rise of large-format CCDs and automated detection methods has greatly increased the tractability of large-scale studies of stellar rotation. Studies of the relationship between stellar rotation and magnetic activity show a strong correlation, supporting the concept of a rotationally-driven dynamo. However, the number of confirmed rotation periods for stars in the fully convective regime, whose magnetic dynamos are less well understood, remains low. Here we report on ongoing work to measure rotation periods for the M dwarf stellar population observed by the Pan-STARRS 1 Medium Deep Survey (PS1/MDS). We refine an initial sample of around 4.3 million sources using color cuts in each of the five Pan-STARRS 1 filters. Of these sources, we estimate there to be around 135,000 sources which are candidate M dwarfs with a spectral type of M1 or higher. We discuss the outcomes of various rotation period detection methods and present preliminary results. This work is supported in part by the National Science Foundation REU and Department of Defense ASSURE programs under NSF Grant no. 1262851 and by the Smithsonian Institution.

Active Wireless System for Structural Health Monitoring Applications.

PubMed

Perera, Ricardo; Pérez, Alberto; García-Diéguez, Marta; Zapico-Valle, José Luis

2017-12-11

The use of wireless sensors in Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) has increased significantly in the last years. Piezoelectric-based lead zirconium titanate (PZT) sensors have been on the rise in SHM due to their superior sensing abilities. They are applicable in different technologies such as electromechanical impedance (EMI)-based SHM. This work develops a flexible wireless smart sensor (WSS) framework based on the EMI method using active sensors for full-scale and autonomous SHM. In contrast to passive sensors, the self-sensing properties of the PZTs allow interrogating with or exciting a structure when desired. The system integrates the necessary software and hardware within a service-oriented architecture approach able to provide in a modular way the services suitable to satisfy the key requirements of a WSS. The framework developed in this work has been validated on different experimental applications. Initially, the reliability of the EMI method when carried out with the proposed wireless sensor system is evaluated by comparison with the wireless counterpart. Afterwards, the performance of the system is evaluated in terms of software stability and reliability of functioning.

One of the criteria for selecting a contractor for high-rise construction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tuskaeva, Zalina; Tagirov, Timur

2018-03-01

The mechanisms for management of the building complex used and proposed to date do not always provide the required result in the assessment of the construction organization facilities. Therefore, the development of new effective methods for such an assessment is an urgent task especially in questions related to high-rise construction. The article formally sets the task of assessing the technical facilities of a construction organization. Due to the use of expert methods, the weighted values of the coefficients of local indicators for technical facilities are identified

Mechanisms and regulation of DNA replication initiation in eukaryotes

PubMed Central

Parker, Matthew W.; Botchan, Michael R.; Berger, James M.

2017-01-01

Cellular DNA replication is initiated through the action of multiprotein complexes that recognize replication start sites in the chromosome (termed origins) and facilitate duplex DNA melting within these regions. In a given cell cycle, initiation occurs only once per origin and each round of replication is tightly coupled to cell division. To avoid aberrant origin firing and re-replication, eukaryotes tightly regulate two events in the initiation process: loading of the replicative helicase, MCM2-7, onto chromatin by the Origin Recognition Complex (ORC), and subsequent activation of the helicase by incorporation into a complex known as the CMG. Recent work has begun to reveal the details of an orchestrated and sequential exchange of initiation factors on DNA that give rise to a replication-competent complex, the replisome. Here we review the molecular mechanisms that underpin eukaryotic DNA replication initiation – from selecting replication start sites to replicative helicase loading and activation – and describe how these events are often distinctly regulated across different eukaryotic model organisms. PMID:28094588

Mechanisms and regulation of DNA replication initiation in eukaryotes.

PubMed

Parker, Matthew W; Botchan, Michael R; Berger, James M

2017-04-01

Cellular DNA replication is initiated through the action of multiprotein complexes that recognize replication start sites in the chromosome (termed origins) and facilitate duplex DNA melting within these regions. In a typical cell cycle, initiation occurs only once per origin and each round of replication is tightly coupled to cell division. To avoid aberrant origin firing and re-replication, eukaryotes tightly regulate two events in the initiation process: loading of the replicative helicase, MCM2-7, onto chromatin by the origin recognition complex (ORC), and subsequent activation of the helicase by its incorporation into a complex known as the CMG. Recent work has begun to reveal the details of an orchestrated and sequential exchange of initiation factors on DNA that give rise to a replication-competent complex, the replisome. Here, we review the molecular mechanisms that underpin eukaryotic DNA replication initiation - from selecting replication start sites to replicative helicase loading and activation - and describe how these events are often distinctly regulated across different eukaryotic model organisms.

Trap depth and color variation of Ce3+-Cr3+ co-doped Gd3(Al,Ga)5O12 garnet persistent phosphors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Asami, Kazuki; Ueda, Jumpei; Tanabe, Setsuhisa

2016-12-01

Persistent luminescent properties in Ce3+-Cr3+ codoped Gd3Al5-xGaxO12 garnet (GAGG:Ce-Cr) solid solution have been investigated. The persistent luminescent color is shifted from orange to yellowish green with increasing Ga content because Ce3+: 5d level splitting becomes much weaker. The depth of electron trap introduced by Cr codoping was estimated from the intense thermoluminescence glow peak by the initial rise method. The trap depth decreases from 0.56 eV to 0.29 eV with increasing Ga content. The shift can be explained by downshift of bottom of conduction band. From the persistent luminescence decay curve measurement after ceasing 450 nm blue illumination, the samples with x = 2.5 exhibited the longest persistent luminescence for 405 min until the luminance becomes 2 mcd/m2 in GAGG:Ce-Cr phosphors.

Crystallization of supercooled liquids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Odagaki, Takashi; Shikuya, Yuuna

2014-03-01

We investigate the crystallization process on the basis of the free energy landscape (FEL) approach to non-equilibrium systems. In this approach, the crystallization time is given by the first passage time of the representative point arriving at the crystalline basin in the FEL. We devise an efficient method to obtain the first passage time exploiting a specific boundary condition. Applying this formalism to a model system, we show that the first passage time is determined by two competing effects; one is the difference in the free energy of the initial and the final basins, and the other is the slow relaxation. As the temperature is reduced, the former accelerates the crystallization and the latter retards it. We show that these competing effects give rise to the typical nose-shape form of the time-temperature transformation curve and that the retardation of the crystallization is related to the mean waiting time of the jump motion.

A Phenomenological Study of the Work Environment in Long-Term Care Facilities for the Older Adults.

PubMed

Choi, Sandy Pin Pin; Yeung, Cheryl Chi Yan; Lee, Joseph Kok Long

2018-05-01

Attempts to meet the increasing demand for long-term care (LTC) services have been hindered by acute staff shortages and high turnover. Distinct from previous studies, a descriptive phenomenological approach with van Kaam's controlled explication method was adopted in this study, to delineate how attributes of the LTC work environment shape the workforce crisis. Individual interviews were conducted with 40 LTC workers from 10 facilities in Hong Kong. The results suggest that the work environment in LTC facilities is not only characterized by organization- and job-related attributes that influence staff outcomes but also is a socially constructed concept with derogatory connotations that can influence staff recruitment and retention. Concerted efforts from facility administrators and policy makers are needed to improve the quality of the work environment. Future initiatives should focus on developing a vision and strategic plan to facilitate the rise of the LTC sector as a profession.

Toxicity of car exhausts and opportunity for suicide: comparison between Britain and the United States.

PubMed Central

Clarke, R V; Lester, D

1987-01-01

The rate of car exhaust suicides in the United States has declined following the introduction of emission controls in the mid-1960s, though not as much as the decline in CO emitted by cars. In Britain, where emission controls have not been introduced, the rate of these suicides, initially much lower than in the United States, has greatly increased since the beginning of the 1970s and is now about double that of the United States. This rise cannot be explained simply on the basis of an increase in the opportunities for suicide as represented by an increase in the number of cars but may be due to increased knowledge of the method. While these results are interpreted as generally supporting the potential for opportunity-reducing preventive measures, they also demonstrate that much more research is needed into the complex nature of the opportunity structure for suicide. PMID:2443595

Noise induced escape from a nonhyperbolic chaotic attractor of a periodically driven nonlinear oscillator

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

Chen, Zhen, E-mail: czkillua@icloud.com, E-mail: xbliu@nuaa.edu.cn; Li, Yang; Liu, Xianbin, E-mail: czkillua@icloud.com, E-mail: xbliu@nuaa.edu.cn

2016-06-15

Noise induced escape from the domain of attraction of a nonhyperbolic chaotic attractor in a periodically excited nonlinear oscillator is investigated. The general mechanism of the escape in the weak noise limit is studied in the continuous case, and the fluctuational path is obtained by statistical analysis. Selecting the primary homoclinic tangency as the initial condition, the action plot is presented by parametrizing the set of escape trajectories and the global minimum gives rise to the optimal path. Results of both methods show good agreements. The entire process of escape is discussed in detail step by step using the fluctuationalmore » force. A structure of hierarchical heteroclinic crossings of stable and unstable manifolds of saddle cycles is found, and the escape is observed to take place through successive jumps through this deterministic hierarchical structure.« less

Tube Visualization and Properties from Isoconfigurational Averaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qin, Jian; Bisbee, Windsor; Milner, Scott

2012-02-01

We introduce a simulation method to visualize the confining tube in polymer melts and measure its properties. We studied bead-spring ring polymers, which conveniently suppresses constraint release and contour length fluctuations. We allow molecules to cross and reach topologically equilibrated states by invoking various molecular rebridging moves in Monte Carlo simulations. To reveal the confining tube, we start with a well equilibrated configuration, turn off rebridging moves, and run molecular dynamics simulation multiple times, each with different initial velocities. The resulting set of ``movies'' of molecular trajectories defines an isoconfigurational ensemble, with the bead positions at different times and in different ``movies'' giving rise to a cloud. The cloud shows the shape, range and strength of the tube confinement, which enables us to study the statistical properties of tube. Using this approach, we studied the effects of free surface, and found that the tube diameter near the surface is greater than the bulk value by about 25%.

Improving the Performance of Gold-Nanoparticle-Doped Solid-State Dye Laser Using Thermal Conversion Effect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

An, N. T. M.; Lien, N. T. H.; Hoang, N. D.; Hoa, D. Q.

2018-04-01

Energy transfer between spherical gold nanoparticles with size of more than 15 nm and molecules of organic dye 4-(dicyanomethylene)-2-methyl-6-(4-dimethylaminostyryl)-4 H-pyran (DCM) has been studied. Such radiative energy transfer led to high local temperature, giving rise to a bleaching effect that resulted in rapid degradation of the laser medium. Gold nanoparticles were dispersed at concentrations from 5 × 109 particles/mL to 5 × 1010 particles/mL in DCM polymethylmethacrylate polymer using a radical polymerization process with 2,2'-azobis(isobutyronitrile) (AIBN) as initiator. Using the fast thermoelectric cooling method, the laser medium stability was significantly improved. The output stability of a distributed feedback dye laser pumped by second-harmonic generation from a neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) laser was investigated. Moreover, bidirectional energy transfer between gold nanoparticles and dye molecules was observed.

STUDIES ON INFLUENZA INFECTION IN FERRETS BY MEANS OF FLUORESCEIN-LABELLED ANTIBODY

PubMed Central

Liu, Ch'ien

1955-01-01

By means of fluorescein-labelled antibody staining, specific influenza viral antigens were seen in both the cytoplasm and the nucleus of infected ciliated epithelial cells covering the nasal turbinates of infected ferrets. Initially, only a small portion of the nasal epithelium showed fluorescence, and no appreciable abnormality of the cells could be detected by hematoxylin and eosin staining. The fluorescence soon spread to involve the entire epithelium, followed by desquamation coinciding with the onset of manifest illness. Pneumonia was seen in some of the infected ferrets, and in them, viral antigens were found in the bronchial epithelium and in the mediastinal lymph nodes. A rise of viral infectivity titer paralleled the observed spread of viral antigens. Many desquamated nasal epithelial cells and macrophages containing antigen were present in nasal smears. The finding would seem to offer a method for the rapid specific diagnosis of influenza infection. PMID:14367687

Incidence of trampoline related pediatric fractures in a large district general hospital in the United Kingdom: lessons to be learnt

PubMed Central

Bhangal, K K; Neen, D; Dodds, R

2006-01-01

Aim To test the observation that the incidence of trampoline related pediatric fractures is increasing—both nationally and in a large district general hospital. Method A retrospective analysis was undertaken of patient records establishing mechanism of injury of pediatric fractures over three consecutive summers from 2000–03. Theatre records of fractures treated operatively were used as the initial data source. Results A statistically significant increase in trampoline related injuries was discovered. This reflects the rising incidence of injuries from national data and furthermore corresponds to the growing popularity of domestic use trampolines in the UK. Conclusion The incidence of injuries is increasing. There are lessons to be learnt from existing work from countries where trampoline prevalence has been greater for longer. The authors recommend various safety measures that may reduce children's injuries. PMID:16595431

Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9: Impact on Jupiter and plume evolution

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Takata, Toshiko; O'Keefe, John D.; Ahrens, Thomas J.; Orton, Glenn S.

1994-01-01

The impact of fragments of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 on Jupiter and the resulting vapor plume expansion are investigated by conducting three-dimensional numerical simulations using the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method. An icy body, representing the cometary fragments, with a velocity of 60 km/sec and a diameter of 2 km can penetrate to 350 km below the 1-bar pressure level in the atmosphere. Most of the initial kinetic energy of the fragment is transferred to the atmosphere between 50 km and 300 km below the 1-bar pressure level. The shock-heated atmospheric gas in the wake is totally dissociated and partially ionized. Scaling our SPH results to other sizes indicates that fragments larger than approximately 100 m in diameter can penetrate to below the visible cloud decks. The energy deposited in the atmosphere is explosively released in the upward expansion of the resulting plume. The plume preferentially expands upward rather than horizontally due to the density gradient of the ambient atmosphere. It rises greater than or equal to 10(exp 2) km in approximately 10(exp 2) sec. Eventually the total atmospheric mass ejected to above 1 bar is greater than or equal to 40 times the initial mass of the impactor. The plume temperature at a radius approximately 10(exp 3) km is greater than 10(exp 3) K for 10(exp 3) sec for a 2-km fragment. We predict that impact-induced plumes will be observable with the remote sensing instruments of the Galileo spacecraft. As the impact site rotates into the view of Earth some 20 min after the impact, the plume expansion will be observable using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and from visible and infrared instruments on groundbased telescopes. The rising plume reaches approximately 3000 km altitude in approximately 10 min and will be visible from Earth.

Onset of 2D magnetic reconnection in the solar photosphere, chromosphere, and corona

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Snow, B.; Botha, G. J. J.; McLaughlin, J. A.; Hillier, A.

2018-01-01

Aims: We aim to investigate the onset of 2D time-dependent magnetic reconnection that is triggered using an external (non-local) velocity driver located away from, and perpendicular to, an equilibrium Harris current sheet. Previous studies have typically utilised an internal trigger to initiate reconnection, for example initial conditions centred on the current sheet. Here, an external driver allows for a more naturalistic trigger as well as the study of the earlier stages of the reconnection start-up process. Methods: Numerical simulations solving the compressible, resistive magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations were performed to investigate the reconnection onset within different atmospheric layers of the Sun, namely the corona, chromosphere and photosphere. Results: A reconnecting state is reached for all atmospheric heights considered, with the dominant physics being highly dependent on atmospheric conditions. The coronal case achieves a sharp rise in electric field (indicative of reconnection) for a range of velocity drivers. For the chromosphere, we find a larger velocity amplitude is required to trigger reconnection (compared to the corona). For the photospheric environment, the electric field is highly dependent on the inflow speed; a sharp increase in electric field is obtained only as the velocity entering the reconnection region approaches the Alfvén speed. Additionally, the role of ambipolar diffusion is investigated for the chromospheric case and we find that the ambipolar diffusion alters the structure of the current density in the inflow region. Conclusions: The rate at which flux enters the reconnection region is controlled by the inflow velocity. This determines all aspects of the reconnection start-up process, that is, the early onset of reconnection is dominated by the advection term in Ohm's law in all atmospheric layers. A lower plasma-β enhances reconnection and creates a large change in the electric field. A high plasma-β hinders the reconnection, yielding a sharp rise in the electric field only when the velocity flowing into the reconnection region approaches the local Alfvén speed.

Rising intracellular zinc by membrane depolarization and glucose in insulin-secreting clonal HIT-T15 beta cells.

PubMed

Slepchenko, Kira G; Li, Yang V

2012-01-01

Zinc (Zn(2+)) appears to be intimately involved in insulin metabolism since insulin secretion is correlated with zinc secretion in response to glucose stimulation, but little is known about the regulation of zinc homeostasis in pancreatic beta-cells. This study set out to identify the intracellular zinc transient by imaging free cytosolic zinc in HIT-T15 beta-cells with fluorescent zinc indicators. We observed that membrane depolarization by KCl (30-60 mM) was able to induce a rapid increase in cytosolic concentration of zinc. Multiple zinc transients of similar magnitude were elicited during repeated stimulations. The amplitude of zinc responses was not affected by the removal of extracellular calcium or zinc. However, the half-time of the rising slope was significantly slower after removing extracellular zinc with zinc chelator CaEDTA, suggesting that extracellular zinc affect the initial rising phase of zinc response. Glucose (10 mM) induced substantial and progressive increases in intracellular zinc concentration in a similar way as KCl, with variation in the onset and the duration of zinc mobilization. It is known that the depolarization of beta-cell membrane is coupled with the secretion of insulin. Rising intracellular zinc concentration may act as a critical signaling factor in insulin metabolism of pancreatic beta-cells.

Grad Students Talk: Development and Process of a Student-Led Social Justice Initiative

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lantz, Melanie M.; Fix, Rebecca L.; Davis, Brittan L.; Harrison, Leighna N.; Oliver, Ashley; Crowell, Candice; Mitchell, Amanda M.; García, James J.

2016-01-01

College student activism has long been a staple of campus life, often driven by the sociopolitical issues of the time. In response to recent and continuous violent deaths of members of the Black community, rising instances of overt racism, and perceived silence among our institutes and professional groups, a multiinstitutional and diverse…

[The professional mobility of hospital nurses].

PubMed

Van Schingen, Édith; Ladegaillerie, Geneviève; Lefebvre, Hélène; Challier, Marie-Pierre; Rothan-Tondeur, Monique

2015-09-01

For several decades, hospitals have been faced with the voluntary departures of nurses. In parallel to this external mobility, internal mobility is also on the rise and is not always initiated by the nurse. This new mode of management has repercussions for professionals, patients as well as for the quality of care. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.

Disciplining Dalmar: A Demand to Uncover Racism and Racialization in Pursuit of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mason, Ann Mogush

2016-01-01

The need for multifaceted analyses of the relationships between how the United States acknowledges racism and how schooling can be structured to mitigate its negative impacts has never been greater, especially given rising attention to the racial "achievement gap." In suburban, elite Pioneer City, a series of initiatives I will refer to…

The Application and Evaluation of PLATO IV in AF Technical Training.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mockovak, William P.; And Others

The Air Force has been plagued with the rising cost of technical training and has increasingly turned to computer-assisted instruction (CAI) for better cost effectiveness. Toward this aim a trial of PLATO IV, a CAI system utilizing a graphic display and centered at the University of Illinois, was initiated at the Chanute and Sheppard training…

Phytophthora ramorum experience and approach in the Netherlands

Treesearch

M.H.C.G. Steeghs; J. De Gruyter

2006-01-01

Phytophthora ramorum was found for the first time in the Netherlands in 1993. In 2001 a risk analysis was done. The results initiated a program to investigate the spread in the Netherlands and to develop measures to prevent further spread. The measures outside the nurseries gave rise to intensive discussions with the managers and owners of these...

Representations of Violence in Social Science Textbooks: Rethinking Opportunities for Peacebuilding in the Colombian and South African Post-Conflict Scenarios

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rodríguez-Gómez, Diana; Foulds, Kim; Sayed, Yusuf

2016-01-01

Recent years have witnessed violence in educational settings becoming an object of public concern and global mobilisation. International initiatives indicate rising levels of awareness regarding the interconnectedness of violence and education. In this context, international educational agendas identify violence in schools as a challenge to the…

Energy for Survival: The Alternative to Extinction.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clark, Wilson

The author initially describes the basic physical principles associated with energy and the rise of energy usage in the United States. Also discussed are the ways energy limits growth and its use in various sectors of society. It is suggested that the decentralization of America's electrical system will save a great deal of energy. A variety of…

The Politics of Accountability: The Rise and Fall of Goals 2000

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Superfine, Benjamin Michael

2005-01-01

In 1994, Congress reauthorized Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and passed the Goals 2000: Education America Act. Together, these two laws were supposed to support the development and implementation of standards-based, systemic reform initiatives in the states. Despite these high hopes, Goals 2000 and Title I faced a number of…

Restorative Justice Experiences of Juvenile Female Offenders: School, Community, and Home

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, Kimberly Lee

2010-01-01

Problem. The number of delinquent female youth across the country is on the rise (U.S. Department of Justice, 2007). These young women present unique challenges for their schools, communities, and homes. A Midwest suburb created a diversion program, a Youth Justice Initiative, to address the entire family system of the youth who were committing…

26 CFR 53.4941(c)-1 - Special rules.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... provisions of this paragraph may be illustrated by the following example: Example. A and B, who are managers... display in G's office, in a transaction which gives rise to liability for tax under section 4941(a)(2) (relating to tax on foundation managers). An initial tax is imposed on both A and B with respect to the act...

26 CFR 53.4941(c)-1 - Special rules.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... provisions of this paragraph may be illustrated by the following example: Example. A and B, who are managers... display in G's office, in a transaction which gives rise to liability for tax under section 4941(a)(2) (relating to tax on foundation managers). An initial tax is imposed on both A and B with respect to the act...

26 CFR 53.4941(c)-1 - Special rules.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... provisions of this paragraph may be illustrated by the following example: Example. A and B, who are managers... display in G's office, in a transaction which gives rise to liability for tax under section 4941(a)(2) (relating to tax on foundation managers). An initial tax is imposed on both A and B with respect to the act...

26 CFR 53.4941(c)-1 - Special rules.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... provisions of this paragraph may be illustrated by the following example: Example. A and B, who are managers... display in G's office, in a transaction which gives rise to liability for tax under section 4941(a)(2) (relating to tax on foundation managers). An initial tax is imposed on both A and B with respect to the act...

26 CFR 53.4941(c)-1 - Special rules.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... provisions of this paragraph may be illustrated by the following example: Example. A and B, who are managers... display in G's office, in a transaction which gives rise to liability for tax under section 4941(a)(2) (relating to tax on foundation managers). An initial tax is imposed on both A and B with respect to the act...

Unpacking MOOC Scholarly Discourse: A Review of Nascent MOOC Scholarship

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ebben, Maureen; Murphy, Julien S.

2014-01-01

The rapid rise of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) signals a shift in the ways in which digital teaching and learning are engaged in and understood. Drawing upon a comprehensive search of nine leading academic databases, this paper examines the initial phase of MOOC scholarship (2009-2013), and offers an analysis of these empirical studies that…

Evidence, Rhetoric and Collateral Damage: The Problematic Pursuit of "World Class" Standards

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alexander, Robin

2011-01-01

Drawing initially on evidence assembled by the Cambridge Primary Review, and acknowledging Maurice Galton's trenchant critiques of recent educational policy, this paper tracks the rise and decline of the flagship standards agenda which was launched by the Blair government in 1997 and came to dominate the work of England's primary schools during…

1994 Initial Employment Follow-Up of 1993 Physics Degree Recipients.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Neuschatz, Michael; Mulvey, Patrick J.

This report presents data from a follow-up survey of new physics graduates who entered the job market in 1993, extending findings first presented in the American Institute of Physics' Bachelors Degree Recipient Report in February 1995. It documents the rising unemployment rate among new physics bachelors and Ph.D. recipients since 1989, as well as…

Profile Of A Rural Teachers' Center. Teachers' Center Exchange. Occasional Paper No. 2.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, Peter H.

Project RISE (Regional In-Service Education) is an inservice center serving teachers, administrators, support staff and parents in central Connecticut. It began in 1976 with state funding, and serves 500 teachers in nine rural and small town districts. An initial needs assessment provided a basis for planning and responding to individual teachers'…

The Emergence of Untrained Mands and Tacts in Children with Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Finn, Heather E.; Miguel, Caio F.; Ahearn, William H.

2012-01-01

Despite Skinner's (1957) assertion that verbal operants are initially functionally independent, recent studies have suggested that in some cases the acquisition of one verbal operant (e.g., mand) gives rise to the other (e.g., tact) without explicit training. The present study aimed to evaluate the functional independence of mands and tacts during…

A Longitudinal, Experiential Quality Improvement Curriculum Meeting ACGME Competencies for Geriatrics Fellows: Lessons Learned

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Callahan, Kathryn E.; Rogers, Matthew T.; Lovato, James F.; Fernandez, Helen M.

2013-01-01

Quality improvement (QI) initiatives are critical in the care of older adults who are more vulnerable to substandard care. QI education meets aspects of core Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education competencies and prepares learners for the rising focus on performance measurement in health care. The authors developed, implemented, and…

Complementizer Agreement in Modern Varieties of West Germanic: A Model of Reanalysis and Renewal

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bousquette, Joshua

2013-01-01

This dissertation provides a comparative analysis of Complementizer Agreement (C-agr) in modern dialects of West Germanic from a diachronic perspective, attributing the rise and development of C-agr to the initiation and progression of a Linguistic Cycle specific to C-agr. Approached as a historical process of reanalysis and compensatory renewal…

19 CFR 201.204 - Salary offset.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Salary offset. 201.204 Section 201.204 Customs... offset is initiated. The Notice of Intent shall state: (1) That the Director has reviewed the records... accumulated interest is paid in full; (3) The amount of the debt and the facts giving rise to the debt; (4) A...

Identifying Tumor Progenitor Cells | Center for Cancer Research

Cancer.gov

All cells within a tumor are not identical. In fact, only a small subset appears to be capable of actually generating the tumor. These tumor-initiating cells tend to resemble normal stem cells, which have the unique ability to give rise to differentiated cells while simultaneously producing additional undifferentiated stem cells. Most chemotherapeutics affect the bulk of a

Enhanced mobility of non aqueous phase liquid (NAPL) during drying of wet sand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Govindarajan, Dhivakar; Deshpande, Abhijit P.; Raghunathan, Ravikrishna

2018-02-01

Enhanced upward mobility of a non aqueous phase liquid (NAPL) present in wet sand during natural drying, and in the absence of any external pressure gradients, is reported for the first time. This mobility was significantly higher than that expected from capillary rise. Experiments were performed in a glass column with a small layer of NAPL-saturated sand trapped between two layers of water-saturated sand. Drying of the wet sand was induced by flow of air across the top surface of the wet sand. The upward movement of the NAPL, in the direction of water transport, commenced when the drying effect reached the location of the NAPL and continued as long as there was significant water evaporation in the vicinity of NAPL, indicating a clear correlation between the NAPL rise and water evaporation. The magnitude and the rate of NAPL rise was measured at different water evaporation rates, different initial locations of the NAPL, different grain size of the sand and the type of NAPL (on the basis of different NAPL-glass contact angle, viscosity and density). A positive correlation was observed between average rate of NAPL rise and the water evaporation while a negative correlation was obtained between the average NAPL rise rate and the NAPL properties of contact angle, viscosity and density. There was no significant correlation of average NAPL rise rate with variation of sand grain size between 0.1 to 0.5 mm. Based on these observations and on previous studies reported in the literature, two possible mechanisms are hypothesized -a) the effect of the spreading coefficient resulting in the wetting of NAPL on the water films created and b) a moving water film due to evaporation that "drags" the NAPL upwards. The NAPL rise reported in this paper has implications in fate and transport of chemicals in NAPL contaminated porous media such as soils and exposed dredged sediment material, which are subjected to varying water saturation levels due to drying and rewetting.

Perceptions of General Education Deans and Department Chairs of Their Colleges as Learning Organizations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mulligan, May Charmayne

2014-01-01

Higher education institutions are being pushed towards increased assessment practices because of rising costs, mass access, new delivery methods, and rising competition on the national and global scale. Academic deans and department heads are at the center of these assessment efforts, and assessment should guide changes within the organization for…

Responses to salinity in invasive cordgrass hybrids and their parental species (Spartina) in a scenario of sea level rise and climate change

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Background/Question/Methods: Salinity is one of the main abiotic factors in salt marshes. Studies rooted to analyzed salinity tolerance of halophytes may help to relate their physiological tolerances with distribution limits in the field. Climate change-induced sea level rise and higher temperatures...

Measuring Sea Level Rise-Induced Shoreline Changes and Inundation in Real Time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shilling, F.; Waetjen, D.; Grijalva, E.

2016-12-01

We describe a method to monitor shoreline inundation and changes in response to sea level rise (SLR) using a network of time-lapse cameras. We found for coastal tidal marshes that this method was sensitive to vertical changes in sea level of <1 cm, roughly equivalent to 1-2 years of sea level rise under the A1 scenario. SLR of >20 cm has occurred in the San Francisco Bay and other US coastal areas and is likely to rise by another 30-45 cm by mid-century, which will flood and erode many coastal ecosystems, highways, and urban areas. This rapid degree of rise means that it is imperative to co-plan for natural and built systems. Many public facilities are adjacent to shoreline ecosystems, which both protect infrastructure from wave and tide energy and are home to regulated species and habitats. Accurate and timely information about the actual extent of SLR impacts to shorelines will be critical during built-system adaptation. Currently, satellite-sourced imagery cannot provide the spatial or temporal resolution necessary to investigate fine-scale shoreline changes, leaving a gap between predictive models and knowing how, where and when these changes are occurring. The method described is feasible for near-term (1 to 10 years) to long-term application and can be used for measuring fine-resolution shoreline changes (<1 m2) in response to SLR and associated wave action inundation of marshes and infrastructure. We demonstrate the method with networks of cameras in 2 coastal states (CA and GA), using web-informatics and services to organize photographs that could be combined with related external data (e.g., gauged water levels) to create an information mashup. This information could be used to validate models predicting shoreline inundation and loss, inform SLR-adaptation planning, and to visualize SLR impacts to the public.

Bipolar square-wave current source for transient electromagnetic systems based on constant shutdown time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Shilong; Yin, Changchun; Lin, Jun; Yang, Yu; Hu, Xueyan

2016-03-01

Cooperative work of multiple magnetic transmitting sources is a new trend in the development of transient electromagnetic system. The key is the bipolar current waves shutdown, concurrently in the inductive load. In the past, it was difficult to use the constant clamping voltage technique to realize the synchronized shutdown of currents with different peak values. Based on clamping voltage technique, we introduce a new controlling method with constant shutdown time. We use the rising time to control shutdown time and use low voltage power source to control peak current. From the viewpoint of the circuit energy loss, by taking the high-voltage capacitor bypass resistance and the capacitor of the passive snubber circuit into account, we establish the relationship between the rising time and the shutdown time. Since the switch is not ideal, we propose a new method to test the shutdown time by the low voltage, the high voltage and the peak current. Experimental results show that adjustment of the current rising time can precisely control the value of the clamp voltage. When the rising time is fixed, the shutdown time is unchanged. The error for shutdown time deduced from the energy consumption is less than 6%. The new controlling method on current shutdown proposed in this paper can be used in the cooperative work of borehole and ground transmitting system.

Bipolar square-wave current source for transient electromagnetic systems based on constant shutdown time.

PubMed

Wang, Shilong; Yin, Changchun; Lin, Jun; Yang, Yu; Hu, Xueyan

2016-03-01

Cooperative work of multiple magnetic transmitting sources is a new trend in the development of transient electromagnetic system. The key is the bipolar current waves shutdown, concurrently in the inductive load. In the past, it was difficult to use the constant clamping voltage technique to realize the synchronized shutdown of currents with different peak values. Based on clamping voltage technique, we introduce a new controlling method with constant shutdown time. We use the rising time to control shutdown time and use low voltage power source to control peak current. From the viewpoint of the circuit energy loss, by taking the high-voltage capacitor bypass resistance and the capacitor of the passive snubber circuit into account, we establish the relationship between the rising time and the shutdown time. Since the switch is not ideal, we propose a new method to test the shutdown time by the low voltage, the high voltage and the peak current. Experimental results show that adjustment of the current rising time can precisely control the value of the clamp voltage. When the rising time is fixed, the shutdown time is unchanged. The error for shutdown time deduced from the energy consumption is less than 6%. The new controlling method on current shutdown proposed in this paper can be used in the cooperative work of borehole and ground transmitting system.

Estimating Temperature Rise Due to Flashlamp Heating Using Irreversible Temperature Indicators

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koshti, Ajay M.

1999-01-01

One of the nondestructive thermography inspection techniques uses photographic flashlamps. The flashlamps provide a short duration (about 0.005 sec) heat pulse. The short burst of energy results in a momentary rise in the surface temperature of the part. The temperature rise may be detrimental to the top layer of the part being exposed. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure the nondestructive nature of the technique. Amount of the temperature rise determines whether the flashlamp heating would be detrimental to the part. A direct method for the temperature measurement is to use of an infrared pyrometer that has much shorter response time than the flash duration. In this paper, an alternative technique is given using the irreversible temperature 'indicators. This is an indirect technique and it measures the temperature rise on the irreversible temperature indicators and computes the incident heat flux. Once the heat flux is known, the temperature rise on the part can be computed. A wedge shaped irreversible temperature indicator for measuring the heat flux is proposed. A procedure is given to use the wedge indicator.

Rapidly Rising Optical Transients from the Birth of Binary Neutron Stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hotokezaka, Kenta; Kashiyama, Kazumi; Murase, Kohta

2017-11-01

We study optical counterparts of a new-born pulsar in a double neutron star system like PSR J0737-3039A/B. This system is believed to have ejected a small amount of mass of { O }(0.1 {M}⊙ ) at the second core-collapse supernova. We argue that the initial spin of the new-born pulsar can be determined by the orbital period at the time when the second supernova occurs. The spin angular momentum of the progenitor is expected to be similar to that of the He-burning core, which is tidally synchronized with the orbital motion, and then the second remnant may be born as a millisecond pulsar. If the dipole magnetic field strength of the nascent pulsar is comparable with that inferred from the current spin-down rate of PSR J0737-3039B, the initial spin-down luminosity is comparable to the luminosity of super-luminous supernovae. We consider thermal emission arising from the supernova ejecta driven by the relativistic wind from such a new-born pulsar. The resulting optical light curves have a rise time of ˜10 days and a peak luminosity of ˜1044 erg s-1. The optical emission may last for a month to several months, due to the reprocessing of X-rays and UV photons via photoelectric absorption. These features are broadly consistent with those of the rapidly rising optical transients. The high spin-down luminosity and small ejecta mass are favorable for the progenitor of the repeating fast radio burst, FRB 121102. We discuss a possible connection between new-born double pulsars and fast radio bursts.

Climate Action Benefits: Methods of Analysis

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This page provides detailed information on the methods used in the CIRA analyses, including the overall framework, temperature projections, precipitation projections, sea level rise projections, uncertainty, and limitations.

Signal transduction at fertilization: the Ca2+ release pathway in echinoderms and other invertebrate deuterostomes.

PubMed

Townley, Ian K; Roux, Michelle M; Foltz, Kathy R

2006-04-01

Gamete interaction and fusion triggers a number of events that lead to egg activation and development of a new organism. A key event at fertilization is the rise in intracellular calcium. In deuterostomes, this calcium is released from the egg's endoplasmic reticulum and is necessary for proper activation. This article reviews recent data regarding how gamete interaction triggers the initial calcium release, focusing on the echinoderms (invertebrate deuterostomes) as model systems. In eggs of these animals, Src-type kinases and phospholipase C-gamma are required components of the initial calcium trigger pathway in eggs.

The many ways to make a luminal cell and a prostate cancer cell.

PubMed

Strand, Douglas W; Goldstein, Andrew S

2015-12-01

Research in the area of stem/progenitor cells has led to the identification of multiple stem-like cell populations implicated in prostate homeostasis and cancer initiation. Given that there are multiple cells that can regenerate prostatic tissue and give rise to prostate cancer, our focus should shift to defining the signaling mechanisms that drive differentiation and progenitor self-renewal. In this article, we will review the literature, present the evidence and raise important unanswered questions that will help guide the field forward in dissecting critical mechanisms regulating stem-cell differentiation and tumor initiation. © 2015 Society for Endocrinology.

Integrating Energy and Environmental Management in Wood Furniture Industry

PubMed Central

Babić, Milun; Jelić, Dubravka; Konćalović, Davor; Vukašinović, Vladimir

2014-01-01

As energy costs continue to rise, industrial plants (even those of energy nonintensive industries such as furniture industry) need effective way to reduce the amount of energy they consume. Besides, there are a number of economic and environmental reasons why a company should consider environmental management initiatives. This paper provides a detailed guideline for implementing joint energy and environmental management system in wood furniture industrial company. It covers in detail all essential aspects of the system: initial system assessment, organization, policy development, energy and environmental auditing, action plan development, system promotion, checking system performance, and management review. PMID:24587734

Integrating energy and environmental management in wood furniture industry.

PubMed

Gordić, Dušan; Babić, Milun; Jelić, Dubravka; Konćalović, Davor; Vukašinović, Vladimir

2014-01-01

As energy costs continue to rise, industrial plants (even those of energy nonintensive industries such as furniture industry) need effective way to reduce the amount of energy they consume. Besides, there are a number of economic and environmental reasons why a company should consider environmental management initiatives. This paper provides a detailed guideline for implementing joint energy and environmental management system in wood furniture industrial company. It covers in detail all essential aspects of the system: initial system assessment, organization, policy development, energy and environmental auditing, action plan development, system promotion, checking system performance, and management review.

Final project memorandum: sea-level rise modeling handbook: resource guide for resource managers, engineers, and scientists

USGS Publications Warehouse

Doyle, Thomas W.

2015-01-01

Coastal wetlands of the Southeastern United States are undergoing retreat and migration from increasing tidal inundation and saltwater intrusion attributed to climate variability and sea-level rise. Much of the literature describing potential sea-level rise projections and modeling predictions are found in peer-reviewed academic journals or government technical reports largely suited to reading by other Ph.D. scientists who are more familiar or engaged in the climate change debate. Various sea-level rise and coastal wetland models have been developed and applied of different designs and scales of spatial and temporal complexity for predicting habitat and environmental change that have not heretofore been synthesized to aid natural resource managers of their utility and limitations. Training sessions were conducted with Federal land managers with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and NOAA National Estuarine Research Reserves as well as state partners and nongovernmental organizations across the northern Gulf Coast from Florida to Texas to educate and to evaluate user needs and understanding of concepts, data, and modeling tools for projecting sea-level rise and its impact on coastal habitats and wildlife. As a result, this handbook was constructed from these training and feedback sessions with coastal managers and biologists of published decision-support tools and simulation models for sea-level rise and climate change assessments. A simplified tabular context was developed listing the various kinds of decision-support tools and ecological models along with criteria to distinguish the source, scale, and quality of information input and geographic data sets, physical and biological constraints and relationships, datum characteristics of water and land elevation components, utility options for setting sea-level rise and climate change scenarios, and ease or difficulty of storing, displaying, or interpreting model output. The handbook is designed to be a primer to understanding sea-level rise and a practical synthesis of the current state of knowledge and modeling tools as a resource guide for DOl land management needs and facilitating Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC) research and conservation initiatives.

Fractional Market Model and its Verification on the Warsaw STOCK Exchange

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kozłowska, Marzena; Kasprzak, Andrzej; Kutner, Ryszard

We analyzed the rising and relaxation of the cusp-like local peaks superposed with oscillations which were well defined by the Warsaw Stock Exchange index WIG in a daily time horizon. We found that the falling paths of all index peaks were described by a generalized exponential function or the Mittag-Leffler (ML) one superposed with various types of oscillations. However, the rising paths (except the first one of WIG which rises exponentially and the most important last one which rises again according to the ML function) can be better described by bullish anti-bubbles or inverted bubbles.2-4 The ML function superposed with oscillations is a solution of the nonhomogeneous fractional relaxation equation which defines here our Fractional Market Model (FMM) of index dynamics which can be also called the Rheological Model of Market. This solution is a generalized analog of an exactly solvable fractional version of the Standard or Zener Solid Model of viscoelastic materials commonly used in modern rheology.5 For example, we found that the falling paths of the index can be considered to be a system in the intermediate state lying between two complex ones, defined by short and long-time limits of the Mittag-Leffler function; these limits are given by the Kohlrausch-Williams-Watts (KWW) law for the initial times, and the power-law or the Nutting law for asymptotic time. Some rising paths (i.e., the bullish anti-bubbles) are a kind of log-periodic oscillations of the market in the bullish state initiated by a crash. The peaks of the index can be viewed as precritical or precrash ones since: (i) the financial market changes its state too early from the bullish to bearish one before it reaches a scaling region (defined by the diverging power-law of return per unit time), and (ii) they are affected by a finite size effect. These features could be a reminiscence of a significant risk aversion of the investors and their finite number, respectively. However, this means that the scaling region (where the relaxations of indexes are described by the KWW law or stretched exponential decay) was not observed. Hence, neither was the power-law of the instantaneous returns per unit time observed. Nevertheless, criticality or crash is in a natural way contained in our FMM and we found its "finger print".

Dasymetric high resolution population distribution estimates for improved decision making, with a case study of sea-level rise vulnerability in Boca Raton, Florida

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ziegler, Hannes Moritz

Planners and managers often rely on coarse population distribution data from the census for addressing various social, economic, and environmental problems. In the analysis of physical vulnerabilities to sea-level rise, census units such as blocks or block groups are coarse relative to the required decision-making application. This study explores the benefits offered from integrating image classification and dasymetric mapping at the household level to provide detailed small area population estimates at the scale of residential buildings. In a case study of Boca Raton, FL, a sea-level rise inundation grid based on mapping methods by NOAA is overlaid on the highly detailed population distribution data to identify vulnerable residences and estimate population displacement. The enhanced spatial detail offered through this method has the potential to better guide targeted strategies for future development, mitigation, and adaptation efforts.

Feasibility study tool for semi-rigid joints design of high-rise buildings steel structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bagautdinov, Ruslan; Monastireva, Daria; Bodak, Irina; Potapova, Irina

2018-03-01

There are many ways to consider the final cost of the high-rise building structures and to define, which of their different variations are the most effective from different points of view. The research of Jaakko Haapio is conducted in Tampere University of Technology, which aims to develop a method that allows determining the manufacturing and installation costs of steel structures already at the tender phase while taking into account their details. This paper is aimed to make the analysis of the Feature-Based Costing Method for skeletal steel structures proposed by Jaakko Haapio. The most appropriate ways to improve the tool and to implement it in the Russian circumstances for high-rise building design are derived. Presented tool can be useful not only for the designers but, also, for the steel structures manufacturing organizations, which can help to utilize BIM technologies in the organization process and controlling on the factory.

Numerical simulation of superheated vapor bubble rising in stagnant liquid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samkhaniani, N.; Ansari, M. R.

2017-09-01

In present study, the rising of superheated vapor bubble in saturated liquid is simulated using volume of fluid method in OpenFOAM cfd package. The surface tension between vapor-liquid phases is considered using continuous surface force method. In order to reduce spurious current near interface, Lafaurie smoothing filter is applied to improve curvature calculation. Phase change is considered using Tanasawa mass transfer model. The variation of saturation temperature in vapor bubble with local pressure is considered with simplified Clausius-Clapeyron relation. The couple velocity-pressure equation is solved using PISO algorithm. The numerical model is validated with: (1) isothermal bubble rising and (2) one-dimensional horizontal film condensation. Then, the shape and life time history of single superheated vapor bubble are investigated. The present numerical study shows vapor bubble in saturated liquid undergoes boiling and condensation. It indicates bubble life time is nearly linear proportional with bubble size and superheat temperature.

Hydraulic Control Method for Heating Systems of High-Rise Buildings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Makarov, D.; Chernenkov, V.; Likhachev, I.

2017-11-01

The following article reflects the ideas of possibility to increase energy efficiency of heating systems in high-rise buildings. The article also includes the principle ways of high-rise building heating systems operation as well as traditional engineering decisions aimed at the elimination of the increased pressure effect in heaters. The main disadvantages of such decisions are also presented for the reader. Moreover, the article offers the way of operation for the above-mentioned systems together with the equipment that implements this operation. An economic impact from such energy-saving technology application has been also evaluated.

Thermal Index Evaluation of Local SAR in MRI-Based Head Models of Adult and Children for Portable Telephones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fujiwara, Osamu; Miyamoto, Kayoko; Wang, Jianqing

Biological hazards due to radio-frequency (RF) waves result mainly from the temperature rise in tissue. It should be, therefore, clarified to what extent the RF waves of portable telephones increase the temperature-rise in human brain that includes the central part governing the body-temperature regulation function. In this paper, we calculated both the specific absorption rate (SAR) and the resultant temperature-rise for 900 MHz and 2 GHz portable telephones using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method for three typical use positions, i.e., the vertical position, cheek position and tilt position. As a result, we found that there was an increase for median and 1% value of the cumulative distribution of temperature-rise in children’s brains for any use positions of the portable telephones compared to that in the adult’s brain, and also that the increasing trend in children’s brains for temperature-rise is identical to the temperature-rise trend in children’s hypothalamus. In addition, we found that the ten-gram averaged peak SAR among the adult and children heads had the same trend as that of the 0.1% value of the relatively cumulative distribution of temperature-rise, which shows that the ten-gram averaged peak SAR reflects only the localized temperature-rise in the brain surface.

Discriminating cosmic muons and X-rays based on rise time using a GEM detector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Hui-Yin; Zhao, Sheng-Ying; Wang, Xiao-Dong; Zhang, Xian-Ming; Qi, Hui-Rong; Zhang, Wei; Wu, Ke-Yan; Hu, Bi-Tao; Zhang, Yi

2016-08-01

Gas electron multiplier (GEM) detectors have been used in cosmic muon scattering tomography and neutron imaging over the last decade. In this work, a triple GEM device with an effective readout area of 10 cm × 10 cm is developed, and a method of discriminating between cosmic muons and X-rays based on rise time is tested. The energy resolution of the GEM detector is tested by 55Fe ray source to prove the GEM detector has a good performance. Analysis of the complete signal-cycles allows us to get the rise time and pulse heights. The experiment result indicates that cosmic muons and X-rays can be discriminated with an appropriate rise time threshold. Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (11135002, 11275235, 11405077, 11575073)

A simple model to estimate the impact of sea-level rise on platform beaches

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taborda, Rui; Ribeiro, Mónica Afonso

2015-04-01

Estimates of future beach evolution in response to sea-level rise are needed to assess coastal vulnerability. A research gap is identified in providing adequate predictive methods to use for platform beaches. This work describes a simple model to evaluate the effects of sea-level rise on platform beaches that relies on the conservation of beach sand volume and assumes an invariant beach profile shape. In closed systems, when compared with the Inundation Model, results show larger retreats; the differences are higher for beaches with wide berms and when the shore platform develops at shallow depths. The application of the proposed model to Cascais (Portugal) beaches, using 21st century sea-level rise scenarios, shows that there will be a significant reduction in beach width.

Migration in Deltas: An Integrated Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nicholls, Robert J.; Hutton, Craig W.; Lazar, Attila; Adger, W. Neil; Allan, Andrew; Arto, Inaki; Vincent, Katharine; Rahman, Munsur; Salehin, Mashfiqus; Sugata, Hazra; Ghosh, Tuhin; Codjoe, Sam; Appeaning-Addo, Kwasi

2017-04-01

Deltas and low-lying coastal regions have long been perceived as vulnerable to global sea-level rise, with the potential for mass displacement of exposed populations. The assumption of mass displacement of populations in deltas requires a comprehensive reassessment in the light of present and future migration in deltas, including the potential role of adaptation to influence these decisions. At present, deltas are subject to multiple drivers of environmental change and often have high population densities as they are accessible and productive ecosystems. Climate change, catchment management, subsidence and land cover change drive environmental change across all deltas. Populations in deltas are also highly mobile, with significant urbanization trends and the growth of large cities and mega-cities within or adjacent to deltas across Asia and Africa. Such migration is driven primarily by economic opportunity, yet environmental change in general, and climate change in particular, are likely to play an increasing direct and indirect role in future migration trends. The policy challenges centre on the role of migration within regional adaptation strategies to climate change; the protection of vulnerable populations; and the future of urban settlements within deltas. This paper reviews current knowledge on migration and adaptation to environmental change to discern specific issues pertinent to delta regions. It develops a new integrated methodology to assess present and future migration in deltas using the Volta delta in Ghana, Mahanadi delta in India and Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta across India and Bangladesh. The integrated method focuses on: biophysical changes and spatial distribution of vulnerability; demographic changes and migration decision-making using multiple methods and data; macro-economic trends and scenarios in the deltas; and the policies and governance structures that constrain and enable adaptation. The analysis is facilitated by a range of consistent scenarios from global to delta scales, developed in consultation with major stakeholders. Initial results suggest that migration decision-making strongly interacts with diverse measures for adaptation of land, water and agricultural management. A key normative challenge is to identify the parameters of successful migration and adaptation across delta regions, to inform policy analysis and formulation. Key words: Deltas, sea-level rise, migration and adaptation Acknowledgement: DECCMA (Deltas, Vulnerability & Climate Change: Migration & Adaptation) project is part of the Collaborative ADAPTATION Research Initiative in Africa and Asia (CARIAA), with financial support from the UK Government's Department for International Development (DFID) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada.

Provider-Initiated Late Preterm Births in Brazil: Differences between Public and Private Health Services

PubMed Central

Leal, Maria do Carmo; Esteves-Pereira, Ana Paula; Nakamura-Pereira, Marcos; Torres, Jacqueline Alves; Domingues, Rosa Maria Soares Madeira; Dias, Marcos Augusto Bastos; Moreira, Maria Elizabeth; Theme-Filha, Mariza; da Gama, Silvana Granado Nogueira

2016-01-01

Background A large proportion of the rise in prematurity worldwide is owing to late preterm births, which may be due to the expansion of obstetric interventions, especially pre-labour caesarean section. Late preterm births pose similar risks to overall prematurity, making this trend a concern. In this study, we describe factors associated with provider-initiated late preterm birth and verify differences in provider-initiated late preterm birth rates between public and private health services according to obstetric risk. Methods This is a sub-analysis of a national population-based survey of postpartum women entitled “Birth in Brazil”, performed between 2011 and 2012. We included 23,472 singleton live births. We performed non-conditional multiple logistic regressions assessing associated factors and analysing differences between public and private health services. Results Provider-initiated births accounted for 38% of late preterm births; 32% in public health services and 61% in private health services. They were associated with previous preterm birth(s) and maternal pathologies for women receiving both public and private services and with maternal age ≥35 years for women receiving public services. Women receiving private health services had higher rates of provider-initiated late preterm birth (rate of 4.8%) when compared to the ones receiving public services (rate of 2.4%), regardless of obstetric risk–adjusted OR of 2.3 (CI 1.5–3.6) for women of low obstetric risk and adjusted OR of 1.6 (CI 1.1–2.3) for women of high obstetric risk. Conclusion The high rates of provider-initiated late preterm birth suggests a considerable potential for reduction, as such prematurity can be avoided, especially in women of low obstetric risk. To promote healthy births, we advise introducing policies with incentives for the adoption of new models of birth care. PMID:27196102

Blood-Brain Barrier Disruption Is Initiated During Primary HIV Infection and Not Rapidly Altered by Antiretroviral Therapy

PubMed Central

Rahimy, Elham; Li, Fang-Yong; Hagberg, Lars; Fuchs, Dietmar; Robertson, Kevin; Meyerhoff, Dieter J.; Zetterberg, Henrik; Price, Richard W.; Gisslén, Magnus

2017-01-01

Abstract Background. We explored the establishment of abnormal blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability and its relationship to neuropathogenesis during primary human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection by evaluating the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to serum albumin quotient (QAlb) in patients with primary HIV infection. We also analyzed effects of initiating combination antiretroviral therapy (cART). Methods. The QAlb was measured in longitudinal observational studies of primary HIV infection. We analyzed trajectories of the QAlb before and after cART initiation, using mixed-effects models, and associations between the QAlb and the CSF level of neurofilament light chain (NFL), the ratio of N-acetylaspartate to creatinine levels (a magnetic resonance spectroscopy neuronal integrity biomarker), and neuropsychological performance. Results. The baseline age-adjusted QAlb was elevated in 106 patients with primary HIV infection (median time of measurement, 91 days after infection), compared with that in 64 controls (P = .02). Before cART initiation, the QAlb increased over time in 84 participants with a normal baseline QAlb (P = .006) and decreased in 22 with a high baseline QAlb (P = .011). The QAlb did not change after a median cART duration of 398 days, initiated at a median interval of 225 days after infection (P = .174). The QAlb correlated with the NFL level at baseline (r = 0.497 and P < .001) and longitudinally (r = 0.555 and P < .001) and with the ratio of N-acetylaspartate to creatinine levels in parietal gray matter (r = −0.352 and P < .001 at baseline and r = −0.387 and P = .008 longitudinally) but not with neuropsychological performance. Conclusion. The QAlb rises during primary HIV infection, associates with neuronal injury, and does not significantly improve over a year of treatment. BBB-associated neuropathogenesis in HIV-infected patients may initiate during primary infection. PMID:28368497

Mathematical background of Parrondo's paradox

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Behrends, Ehrhard

2004-05-01

Parrondo's paradox states that there are losing gambling games which, when being combined stochastically or in a suitable deterministic way, give rise to winning games. Here we investigate the probabilistic background. We show how the properties of the equilibrium distributions of the Markov chains under consideration give rise to the paradoxical behavior, and we provide methods how to find the best a priori strategies.

The Rise of Colleges. Institutions of Learning in Islam and the West.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Makdisi, George

The typology of institutions of learning in Islam is examined with concentration on a particular institution of learning, the Muslim college, especially in its madrasa form, and on the scholastic method that was its product. Chapter 1, "Institutions," examines the rise of the schools of law, typology of learning and the law of waqf as it…

Crack Growth Mechanisms under Anti-Plane Shear in Composite Laminates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horner, Allison Lynne

The research conducted for this dissertation focuses on determining the mechanisms associated with crack growth in polymer matrix composite laminates subjected to anti-plane shear (mode III) loading. For mode III split-beam test methods were proposed, and initial evaluations were conducted. A single test method was selected for further evaluation. Using this test method, it was determined that the apparent mode III delamination toughness, GIIIc , depended on geometry, which indicated a true material property was not being measured. Transverse sectioning and optical microscopy revealed an array of transverse matrix cracks, or echelon cracks, oriented at approximately 45° and intersecting the plane of the delamination. Subsequent investigations found the echelon array formed prior to the onset of planar delamination advance and that growth of the planar delamination is always coupled to echelon array formation in these specimens. The evolution of the fracture surfaces formed by the echelon array and planar delamination were studied, and it was found that the development was similar to crack growth in homogenous materials subjected to mode III or mixed mode I-III loading, although the composite laminate architecture constrained the fracture surface development differently than homogenous materials. It was also found that, for split-beam specimens such as those used herein, applying an anti-plane shear load results in twisting of the specimen's uncracked region which gives rise to a mixed-mode I-III load condition. This twisting has been related to the apparent mode III toughness as well as the orientation of the transverse matrix cracks. A finite element model was then developed to study the mechanisms of initial echelon array formation. From this, it is shown that an echelon array will develop, but will become self-limiting prior to the onset of planar delamination growth.

Adaptive designs in clinical trials.

PubMed

Bowalekar, Suresh

2011-01-01

In addition to the expensive and lengthy process of developing a new medicine, the attrition rate in clinical research was on the rise, resulting in stagnation in the development of new compounds. As a consequence to this, the US Food and Drug Administration released a critical path initiative document in 2004, highlighting the need for developing innovative trial designs. One of the innovations suggested the use of adaptive designs for clinical trials. Thus, post critical path initiative, there is a growing interest in using adaptive designs for the development of pharmaceutical products. Adaptive designs are expected to have great potential to reduce the number of patients and duration of trial and to have relatively less exposure to new drug. Adaptive designs are not new in the sense that the task of interim analysis (IA)/review of the accumulated data used in adaptive designs existed in the past too. However, such reviews/analyses of accumulated data were not necessarily planned at the stage of planning clinical trial and the methods used were not necessarily compliant with clinical trial process. The Bayesian approach commonly used in adaptive designs was developed by Thomas Bayes in the 18th century, about hundred years prior to the development of modern statistical methods by the father of modern statistics, Sir Ronald A. Fisher, but the complexity involved in Bayesian approach prevented its use in real life practice. The advances in the field of computer and information technology over the last three to four decades has changed the scenario and the Bayesian techniques are being used in adaptive designs in addition to other sequential methods used in IA. This paper attempts to describe the various adaptive designs in clinical trial and views of stakeholders about feasibility of using them, without going into mathematical complexities.

Rise time analysis of pulsed klystron-modulator for efficiency improvement of linear colliders

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oh, J. S.; Cho, M. H.; Namkung, W.; Chung, K. H.; Shintake, T.; Matsumoto, H.

2000-04-01

In linear accelerators, the periods during the rise and fall of a klystron-modulator pulse cannot be used to generate RF power. Thus, these periods need to be minimized to get high efficiency, especially in large-scale machines. In this paper, we present a simplified and generalized voltage rise time function of a pulsed modulator with a high-power klystron load using the equivalent circuit analysis method. The optimum pulse waveform is generated when this pulsed power system is tuned with a damping factor of ˜0.85. The normalized rise time chart presented in this paper allows one to predict the rise time and pulse shape of the pulsed power system in general. The results can be summarized as follows: The large distributed capacitance in the pulse tank and operating parameters, Vs× Tp , where Vs is load voltage and Tp is the pulse width, are the main factors determining the pulse rise time in the high-power RF system. With an RF pulse compression scheme, up to ±3% ripple of the modulator voltage is allowed without serious loss of compressor efficiency, which allows the modulator efficiency to be improved as well. The wiring inductance should be minimized to get the fastest rise time.

Challenges in Projecting Sea Level Rise impacts on the Coastal Environment of South Florida (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Obeysekera, J.; Park, J.; Irizarry-Ortiz, M. M.; Barnes, J. A.; Trimble, P.; Said, W.

2010-12-01

Due to flat topography, a highly transmissive groundwater aquifer, and a growing population with the associated infrastructure, South Florida’s coastal environment is one of the most vulnerable areas to sea level rise. Current projections of sea level rise and the associated storm surges will have direct impacts on coastal beaches and infrastructure, flood protection, freshwater aquifers, and both the isolated and regional wetlands. Uncertainties in current projections have made it difficult for regional and local governments to develop adaptation strategies as such measures will depend heavily on the temporal and spatial patterns of sea level rise in the coming decades. We demonstrate the vulnerability of both the built and natural environments of the coastal region and present the current efforts to understand and predict the sea level rise estimate that management agencies could employ in planning of adaptation strategies. In particular, the potential vulnerabilities of the flood control system as well as the threat to the water supply wellfields in the coastal belt will be presented. In an effort to understand the historical variability of sea level rise, we present linkages to natural phenomena such as Atlantic Multi-Decadal Oscillation, and the analytical methods we have developed to provide probabilistic projections of both mean sea level rise and the extremes.

Calculation of change in brain temperatures due to exposure to a mobile phone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Van Leeuwen, G. M. J.; Lagendijk, J. J. W.; Van Leersum, B. J. A. M.; Zwamborn, A. P. M.; Hornsleth, S. N.; Kotte, A. N. T. J.

1999-10-01

In this study we evaluated for a realistic head model the 3D temperature rise induced by a mobile phone. This was done numerically with the consecutive use of an FDTD model to predict the absorbed electromagnetic power distribution, and a thermal model describing bioheat transfer both by conduction and by blood flow. We calculated a maximum rise in brain temperature of 0.11 °C for an antenna with an average emitted power of 0.25 W, the maximum value in common mobile phones, and indefinite exposure. Maximum temperature rise is at the skin. The power distributions were characterized by a maximum averaged SAR over an arbitrarily shaped 10 g volume of approximately 1.6 W kg-1. Although these power distributions are not in compliance with all proposed safety standards, temperature rises are far too small to have lasting effects. We verified our simulations by measuring the skin temperature rise experimentally. Our simulation method can be instrumental in further development of safety standards.

Institutional Participation and Social Transformation: Considering the Goals and Tensions of University-Initiated YPAR Projects with K-12 Youth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mirra, Nicole; Rogers, John

2016-01-01

In today's educational context, characterized by growing inequality and the rise of neoliberal ideology, universities are dealing with pressures to contribute to the global workforce and partner with private interests rather than educating citizens and serving the public good. This article presents youth participatory action research (YPAR) as a…