Novel metaheuristic for parameter estimation in nonlinear dynamic biological systems.

PubMed

Rodriguez-Fernandez, Maria; Egea, Jose A; Banga, Julio R

2006-11-02

We consider the problem of parameter estimation (model calibration) in nonlinear dynamic models of biological systems. Due to the frequent ill-conditioning and multi-modality of many of these problems, traditional local methods usually fail (unless initialized with very good guesses of the parameter vector). In order to surmount these difficulties, global optimization (GO) methods have been suggested as robust alternatives. Currently, deterministic GO methods can not solve problems of realistic size within this class in reasonable computation times. In contrast, certain types of stochastic GO methods have shown promising results, although the computational cost remains large. Rodriguez-Fernandez and coworkers have presented hybrid stochastic-deterministic GO methods which could reduce computation time by one order of magnitude while guaranteeing robustness. Our goal here was to further reduce the computational effort without loosing robustness. We have developed a new procedure based on the scatter search methodology for nonlinear optimization of dynamic models of arbitrary (or even unknown) structure (i.e. black-box models). In this contribution, we describe and apply this novel metaheuristic, inspired by recent developments in the field of operations research, to a set of complex identification problems and we make a critical comparison with respect to the previous (above mentioned) successful methods. Robust and efficient methods for parameter estimation are of key importance in systems biology and related areas. The new metaheuristic presented in this paper aims to ensure the proper solution of these problems by adopting a global optimization approach, while keeping the computational effort under reasonable values. This new metaheuristic was applied to a set of three challenging parameter estimation problems of nonlinear dynamic biological systems, outperforming very significantly all the methods previously used for these benchmark problems.

Factors associated with fear of falling and associated activity restriction in community-dwelling older adults: a systematic review.

PubMed

Denkinger, Michael D; Lukas, Albert; Nikolaus, Thorsten; Hauer, Klaus

2015-01-01

Fear of falling (FOF) is an important threat to autonomy. Current interventions to reduce FOF have yielded conflicting results. A possible reason for this discrepancy could be its multicausality. Some risk factors may not have been identified and addressed in recent studies. The last systematic review included studies until 2006. To identify additional risk factors for FOF and to test those mentioned previously, we conducted a systematic literature review. Studies examining FOF in community-dwelling older adults between 2006 and October 2013 were screened. Outcomes are summarized with respect to different constructs such as FOF, fall-related self-efficacy/balance confidence, and FOF-related activity restriction. Odds ratios and p values are reported. There is no clear pattern with regard to the different FOF-related constructs studied. The only parameters robustly associated across all constructs were female gender, performance-based and questionnaire-based physical function, the use of a walking aid, and, less robust, a history of falls and poor self-rated health. Conflicting results were identified for depression and anxiety, multiple drugs, and psychotropic drugs. Other potentially modifiable risk factors were only mentioned in one or two studies and warrant further investigation. Parameters with mainly negative results are also presented. Only few risk factors identified were robustly associated across all FOF-related constructs and should be included in future studies on FOF. Some newer factors have to be tested again in different cohorts. The comprehensive overview might assist in the conceptualization of future studies. Copyright © 2015 American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comment on “Two statistics for evaluating parameter identifiability and error reduction” by John Doherty and Randall J. Hunt

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hill, Mary C.

2010-01-01

Doherty and Hunt (2009) present important ideas for first-order-second moment sensitivity analysis, but five issues are discussed in this comment. First, considering the composite-scaled sensitivity (CSS) jointly with parameter correlation coefficients (PCC) in a CSS/PCC analysis addresses the difficulties with CSS mentioned in the introduction. Second, their new parameter identifiability statistic actually is likely to do a poor job of parameter identifiability in common situations. The statistic instead performs the very useful role of showing how model parameters are included in the estimated singular value decomposition (SVD) parameters. Its close relation to CSS is shown. Third, the idea from p. 125 that a suitable truncation point for SVD parameters can be identified using the prediction variance is challenged using results from Moore and Doherty (2005). Fourth, the relative error reduction statistic of Doherty and Hunt is shown to belong to an emerging set of statistics here named perturbed calculated variance statistics. Finally, the perturbed calculated variance statistics OPR and PPR mentioned on p. 121 are shown to explicitly include the parameter null-space component of uncertainty. Indeed, OPR and PPR results that account for null-space uncertainty have appeared in the literature since 2000.

Collection and analysis of specific ELINT Signal Parameters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, Lonnie A.

1985-12-01

This report was a followup to, Collection and Analysis of Specific ELINT Signal Parameters, DTIC A166507, 23 June 1985. The programs and hardware assembled for the above mentioned report were used to analyze two types of radar, the PPS-6 and the HOOD radars. The typical ELINT parameters of frequency, pulse width, and pulse repetition rate were collected and analyzed.

Collection and analysis of specific ELINT Signal Parameters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, Lonnie A.

1985-01-01

This report was a followup to, Collection and Analysis of Specific ELINT Signal Parameters, DTIC A166507, 23 June 1985. The programs and hardware assembled for the above mentioned report were used to analyze two types of radar, the PPS-6 and the HOOD radars. The typical ELINT parameters of frequency, pulse width, and pulse repetition rate were collected and analyzed.

Changes in growth, hormones levels and essential oil content of Ammi visnaga L. plants treated with some bioregulators

PubMed Central

Talaat, Iman M.; Khattab, Hemmat I.; Ahmed, Aisha M.

2013-01-01

The effects of foliar application of different concentrations of amino acids (tyrosine and phenylalanine) and phenolic acids (trans-cinnamic acid, benzoic acid and salicylic acid) on growth, pigment content, hormones levels and essential oil content of Ammi visnaga L were carried out during two successive seasons. It is clear that foliar application of either amino acids or phenolics significantly promoted the growth parameters in terms of shoot height, fresh and dry biomass, number of branches and number of umbels per plant. The increment of growth parameter was associated with elevated levels of growth promoters (IAA, GA3, total cytokinins) and low level of ABA. The greatest increase in the previously mentioned parameters was measured in plants exposed to different concentrations of phenols particularly in benzoic acid-treated plants. Such effect was concentration dependent. All treatments led to significant increments in yield seeds and oil content. Moreover, gas liquid chromatographic analysis revealed that the main identified components of essential oil were 2,2-dimethyl butanoic acid, isobutyl isobutyrate, α-isophorone, thymol, fenchyl acetate and linalool. Phenolics and amino acid treatments resulted in qualitative differences in these components of essential oil. PMID:25183946

Mention effect in information diffusion on a micro-blogging network.

PubMed

Bao, Peng; Shen, Hua-Wei; Huang, Junming; Chen, Haiqiang

2018-01-01

Micro-blogging systems have become one of the most important ways for information sharing. Network structure and users' interactions such as forwarding behaviors have aroused considerable research attention, while mention, as a key feature in micro-blogging platforms which can improve the visibility of a message and direct it to a particular user beyond the underlying social structure, is seldom studied in previous works. In this paper, we empirically study the mention effect in information diffusion, using the dataset from a population-scale social media website. We find that users with high number of followers would receive much more mentions than others. We further investigate the effect of mention in information diffusion by examining the response probability with respect to the number of mentions in a message and observe a saturation at around 5 mentions. Furthermore, we find that the response probability is the highest when a reciprocal followship exists between users, and one is more likely to receive a target user's response if they have similar social status. To illustrate these findings, we propose the response prediction task and formulate it as a binary classification problem. Extensive evaluation demonstrates the effectiveness of discovered factors. Our results have consequences for the understanding of human dynamics on the social network, and potential implications for viral marketing and public opinion monitoring.

Quantum chemical parameters in QSAR: what do I use when?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hickey, James P.; Ostrander, Gary K.

1996-01-01

This chapter provides a brief overview of the numerous quantum chemical parameters that have been/are currently being used in quantitative structure activity relationships (QSAR), along with a representative bibliography. The parameters will be grouped according to their mechanistic interpretations, and representative biological and physical chemical applications will be mentioned. Parmater computation methods and the appropriate software are highlighted, as are sources for software.

Determination of the Characteristic Values and Variation Ratio for Sensitive Soils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Milutinovici, Emilia; Mihailescu, Daniel

2017-12-01

In 2008, Romania adopted Eurocode 7, part II, regarding the geotechnical investigations - called SR EN1997-2/2008. However a previous standard already existed in Romania, by using the mathematical statistics in determination of the calculation values, the requirements of Eurocode can be taken into consideration. The setting of characteristics and calculations values of the geotechnical parameters was finally issued in Romania at the end of 2010 at standard NP122-2010 - “Norm regarding determination of the characteristic and calculation values of the geotechnical parameters”. This standard allows using of data already known from analysed area and setting the calculation values of geotechnical parameters. However, this possibility exist, it is not performed easy in Romania, considering that there isn’t any centralized system of information coming from the geotechnical studies performed for various objectives of private or national interests. Every company performing geotechnical studies tries to organize its own data base, but unfortunately none of them use existing centralized data. When determining the values of calculation, an important role is played by the variation ratio of the characteristic values of a geotechnical parameter. There are recommendations in the mentioned Norm, that could be taken into account, regarding the limits of the variation ratio, but these values are mentioned for Quaternary age soils only, normally consolidated, with a content of organic material < 5%. All of the difficult soils are excluded from the Norm even if they exist and affect the construction foundations on more than a half of the Romania’s surface. A type of difficult soil, extremely widespread on the Romania’s territory, is the contractile soil (with high swelling and contractions, very sensitive to the seasonal moisture variations). This type of material covers and influences the construction foundations in one over third of Romania’s territory. This work is proposing to be a step in determination of limits of the variation ratios for the contractile soils category, for the most used geotechnical parameters in the Romanian engineering practice, namely: the index of consistency and the cohesion.

Creep Rupture Analysis and Life Estimation of 1.25Cr-0.5Mo, 2.25Cr-1Mo and Modified 9Cr-1Mo Steel: A Comparative Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roy, Prabir Kumar

2018-04-01

This paper highlights a comparative assessment of creep life of 1.25Cr-0.5Mo, 2.25Cr-1Mo and modified 9Cr-1Mo steels based on accelerated creep rupture tests. Creep rupture test data have been analysed and creep life of the above mentioned materials have been assessed using Larson Miller parameter at the stress levels of 60 and 42 MPa for different temperatures. Limiting steam temperatures for minimum design life of 105 h at 42 and 60 MPa for the above mentioned steels have also been calculated. Microstructural studies for the three above mentioned steels are also done.

Design of physical and logical topologies with fault-tolerant ability in wavelength-routed optical network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Chunfeng; Liu, Hua; Fan, Ge

2005-02-01

In this paper we consider the problem of designing a network of optical cross-connects(OXCs) to provide end-to-end lightpath services to label switched routers (LSRs). Like some previous work, we select the number of OXCs as our objective. Compared with the previous studies, we take into account the fault-tolerant characteristic of logical topology. First of all, using a Prufer number randomly generated, we generate a tree. By adding some edges to the tree, we can obtain a physical topology which consists of a certain number of OXCs and fiber links connecting OXCs. It is notable that we for the first time limit the number of layers of the tree produced according to the method mentioned above. Then we design the logical topologies based on the physical topologies mentioned above. In principle, we will select the shortest path in addition to some consideration on the load balancing of links and the limitation owing to the SRLG. Notably, we implement the routing algorithm for the nodes in increasing order of the degree of the nodes. With regarding to the problem of the wavelength assignment, we adopt the heuristic algorithm of the graph coloring commonly used. It is clear our problem is computationally intractable especially when the scale of the network is large. We adopt the taboo search algorithm to find the near optimal solution to our objective. We present numerical results for up to 1000 LSRs and for a wide range of system parameters such as the number of wavelengths supported by each fiber link and traffic. The results indicate that it is possible to build large-scale optical networks with rich connectivity in a cost-effective manner, using relatively few but properly dimensioned OXCs.

Mention effect in information diffusion on a micro-blogging network

PubMed Central

Shen, Hua-Wei; Huang, Junming; Chen, Haiqiang

2018-01-01

Micro-blogging systems have become one of the most important ways for information sharing. Network structure and users’ interactions such as forwarding behaviors have aroused considerable research attention, while mention, as a key feature in micro-blogging platforms which can improve the visibility of a message and direct it to a particular user beyond the underlying social structure, is seldom studied in previous works. In this paper, we empirically study the mention effect in information diffusion, using the dataset from a population-scale social media website. We find that users with high number of followers would receive much more mentions than others. We further investigate the effect of mention in information diffusion by examining the response probability with respect to the number of mentions in a message and observe a saturation at around 5 mentions. Furthermore, we find that the response probability is the highest when a reciprocal followship exists between users, and one is more likely to receive a target user’s response if they have similar social status. To illustrate these findings, we propose the response prediction task and formulate it as a binary classification problem. Extensive evaluation demonstrates the effectiveness of discovered factors. Our results have consequences for the understanding of human dynamics on the social network, and potential implications for viral marketing and public opinion monitoring. PMID:29558498

Embedding of electrodes within a microchannel interfacing a permselective medium for sensing and active control of the concentration-polarization layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yossifon, Gilad; Park, Sinwook

2016-11-01

Previously, it has been shown that for a prescribed system, the diffusion length may be affected by any number of mechanisms including natural and forced convection, electroosmotic flow of the second kind and electro-convective instability. In all of the above mentioned cases the length of the diffusion layer is indirectly prescribed by the complicated competition between several mechanisms which are primarily dictated by the various system parameters and applied voltage. In contrast, we suggest that by embedding electrodes/heaters within a microchannel interfacing a permselective medium, the diffusion layer length may be controlled regardless of the dominating overlimiting current mechanism and system parameters. As well as demonstrating that the simple presence of electrodes can enhance mixing via induced-charge electrokinetic effects, we also offer a means of externally activating embedded electrodes and heaters to maintain external, dynamic control of the diffusion length. Such control is particularly important in applications requiring intense ion transport, such as electrodialysis. At the same time, we will also investigate means of suppressing these mechanisms which is of fundamental importance for sensing applications.

Analysis of JT-60SA operational scenarios

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garzotti, L.; Barbato, E.; Garcia, J.; Hayashi, N.; Voitsekhovitch, I.; Giruzzi, G.; Maget, P.; Romanelli, M.; Saarelma, S.; Stankiewitz, R.; Yoshida, M.; Zagórski, R.

2018-02-01

Reference scenarios for the JT-60SA tokamak have been simulated with one-dimensional transport codes to assess the stationary state of the flat-top phase and provide a profile database for further physics studies (e.g. MHD stability, gyrokinetic analysis) and diagnostics design. The types of scenario considered vary from pulsed standard H-mode to advanced non-inductive steady-state plasmas. In this paper we present the results obtained with the ASTRA, CRONOS, JINTRAC and TOPICS codes equipped with the Bohm/gyro-Bohm, CDBM and GLF23 transport models. The scenarios analysed here are: a standard ELMy H-mode, a hybrid scenario and a non-inductive steady state plasma, with operational parameters from the JT-60SA research plan. Several simulations of the scenarios under consideration have been performed with the above mentioned codes and transport models. The results from the different codes are in broad agreement and the main plasma parameters generally agree well with the zero dimensional estimates reported previously. The sensitivity of the results to different transport models and, in some cases, to the ELM/pedestal model has been investigated.

Cold-Adapted Enzymes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Georlette, D.; Bentahir, M.; Claverie, P.; Collins, T.; D'amico, S.; Delille, D.; Feller, G.; Gratia, E.; Hoyoux, A.; Lonhienne, T.; Meuwis, M.-a.; Zecchinon, L.; Gerday, Ch.

In the last few years, increased attention has been focused on enzymes produced by cold-adapted micro-organisms. It has emerged that psychrophilic enzymes represent an extremely powerful tool in both protein folding investigations and for biotechnological purposes. Such enzymes are characterised by an increased thermosensitivity and, most of them, by a higher catalytic efficiency at low and moderate temperatures, when compared to their mesophilic counterparts. The high thermosensitivity probably originates from an increased flexibility of either a selected area of the molecular edifice or the overall protein structure, providing enhanced abilities to undergo conformational changes during catalysis at low temperatures. Structure modelling and recent crystallographic data have allowed to elucidate the structural parameters that could be involved in this higher resilience. It was demonstrated that each psychrophilic enzyme adopts its own adaptive strategy. It appears, moreover, that there is a continuum in the strategy of protein adaptation to temperature, as the previously mentioned structural parameters are implicated in the stability of thermophilic proteins. Additional 3D crystal structures, site-directed and random mutagenesis experiments should now be undertaken to further investigate the stability-flexibility-activity relationship.

Exergy parametric study of carbon monoxide oxidation in moist air

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Souidi, Ferhat; Benmalek, Toufik; Yesaad, Billel; Baik, Mouloud

2015-12-01

This study aims to analyze the oxidation of carbon monoxide in moist air from the second thermodynamic law aspect. A mathematical model of laminar premixed flame in a stagnation point flow has been achieved by numerical solution of the boundary layer equation using a self-made code. The chemical kinetic mechanism for flameless combustion of fuel, which is a mixture of carbon monoxide, oxygen, and water vapor, is modeled by 34 elementary reactions that incorporate (09) nine chemical species: CO, O, CO2, O2, H2O, H, H2, HO2, and OH. The salient point is that for all the parameters we considered, the exergy of the process is completely destroyed by irreversibilities. From the chemical viewpoint, the OH radical plays an essential role in CO oxidation. This latter point has already been mentioned by previous investigators.

Characterization of perovskite film prepared by pulsed laser deposition on ferritic stainless steel using microscopic and optical methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Durda, E.; Jaglarz, J.; Kąc, S.; Przybylski, K.; El Kouari, Y.

2016-06-01

The perovskite La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3-δ (LSCF48) film was deposited on Crofer 22 APU ferritic stainless steel by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). Morphological studies of the sample were performed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Information about film thickness and surface topography of the film and the steel substrate were obtained using following optical methods: spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE), bidirectional reflection distribution function (BRDF) and total integrated reflectometry (TIS). In particular, the BRDF study, being complementary to atomic force microscopy, yielded information about surface topography. Using the previously mentioned methods, the following statistic surface parameters were determined: root-mean square (rms) roughness and autocorrelation length by determining the power spectral density (PSD) function of surface irregularities.

Similar solutions for viscous hypersonic flow over a slender three-fourths-power body of revolution

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lin, Chin-Shun

1987-01-01

For hypersonic flow with a shock wave, there is a similar solution consistent throughout the viscous and inviscid layers along a very slender three-fourths-power body of revolution The strong pressure interaction problem can then be treated by the method of similarity. Numerical calculations are performed in the viscous region with the edge pressure distribution known from the inviscid similar solutions. The compressible laminar boundary-layer equations are transformed into a system of ordinary differential equations. The resulting two-point boundary value problem is then solved by the Runge-Kutta method with a modified Newton's method for the corresponding boundary conditions. The effects of wall temperature, mass bleeding, and body transverse curvature are investigated. The induced pressure, displacement thickness, skin friction, and heat transfer due to the previously mentioned parameters are estimated and analyzed.

Hydrogen isotopes transport parameters in fusion reactor materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Serra, E.; Benamati, G.; Ogorodnikova, O. V.

1998-06-01

This work presents a review of hydrogen isotopes-materials interactions in various materials of interest for fusion reactors. The relevant parameters cover mainly diffusivity, solubility, trap concentration and energy difference between trap and solution sites. The list of materials includes the martensitic steels (MANET, Batman and F82H-mod.), beryllium, aluminium, beryllium oxide, aluminium oxide, copper, tungsten and molybdenum. Some experimental work on the parameters that describe the surface effects is also mentioned.

Is an Ideal Sense of Humor Gendered? A Cross-National Study.

PubMed

Tosun, Sümeyra; Faghihi, Nafiseh; Vaid, Jyotsna

2018-01-01

To explore lay conceptions of characteristics of an ideal sense of humor as embodied in a known individual, our study examined elicited written narratives by male and female participants from three different countries of origin: United States, Iran, and Turkey. As reported in an earlier previous study with United States-based participants (Crawford and Gressley, 1991), our study also found that the embodiment of an ideal sense of humor was predominantly a male figure. This effect was more pronounced for male than for female participants but did not differ by country. Relative mention of specific humor characteristics differed by participant gender and by country of origin. Whereas all groups mentioned creativity most often as a component of an ideal sense of humor, this attribute was mentioned significantly more often by Americans than by the other two groups; hostility/sarcasm was also mentioned significantly more often by Americans than Turkish participants who mentioned it more often than Iranian participants. Caring was mentioned significantly more often by Americans and Iranians than by Turkish participants. These findings show a shared pattern of humor characteristics by gender but group differences in the relative prominence given to specific humor characteristics. Further work is needed to corroborate the group differences observed and to pinpoint their source.

Self-tuning bistable parametric feedback oscillator: Near-optimal amplitude maximization without model information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Braun, David J.; Sutas, Andrius; Vijayakumar, Sethu

2017-01-01

Theory predicts that parametrically excited oscillators, tuned to operate under resonant condition, are capable of large-amplitude oscillation useful in diverse applications, such as signal amplification, communication, and analog computation. However, due to amplitude saturation caused by nonlinearity, lack of robustness to model uncertainty, and limited sensitivity to parameter modulation, these oscillators require fine-tuning and strong modulation to generate robust large-amplitude oscillation. Here we present a principle of self-tuning parametric feedback excitation that alleviates the above-mentioned limitations. This is achieved using a minimalistic control implementation that performs (i) self-tuning (slow parameter adaptation) and (ii) feedback pumping (fast parameter modulation), without sophisticated signal processing past observations. The proposed approach provides near-optimal amplitude maximization without requiring model-based control computation, previously perceived inevitable to implement optimal control principles in practical application. Experimental implementation of the theory shows that the oscillator self-tunes itself near to the onset of dynamic bifurcation to achieve extreme sensitivity to small resonant parametric perturbations. As a result, it achieves large-amplitude oscillations by capitalizing on the effect of nonlinearity, despite substantial model uncertainties and strong unforeseen external perturbations. We envision the present finding to provide an effective and robust approach to parametric excitation when it comes to real-world application.

Optimizing a Laser Process for Making Carbon Nanotubes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arepalli, Sivaram; Nikolaev, Pavel; Holmes, William

2010-01-01

A systematic experimental study has been performed to determine the effects of each of the operating conditions in a double-pulse laser ablation process that is used to produce single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). The comprehensive data compiled in this study have been analyzed to recommend conditions for optimizing the process and scaling up the process for mass production. The double-pulse laser ablation process for making SWCNTs was developed by Rice University researchers. Of all currently known nanotube-synthesizing processes (arc and chemical vapor deposition), this process yields the greatest proportion of SWCNTs in the product material. The aforementioned process conditions are important for optimizing the production of SWCNTs and scaling up production. Reports of previous research (mostly at Rice University) toward optimization of process conditions mention effects of oven temperature and briefly mention effects of flow conditions, but no systematic, comprehensive study of the effects of process conditions was done prior to the study described here. This was a parametric study, in which several production runs were carried out, changing one operating condition for each run. The study involved variation of a total of nine parameters: the sequence of the laser pulses, pulse-separation time, laser pulse energy density, buffer gas (helium or nitrogen instead of argon), oven temperature, pressure, flow speed, inner diameter of the flow tube, and flow-tube material.

Diagnosing and Treating Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS)

MedlinePlus

... and mention their potential rodent exposure. Are there any complications? Previous observations of patients that develop HPS from New World Hantaviruses recover completely. No chronic infection has been ...

Planck constant as spectral parameter in integrable systems and KZB equations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Levin, A.; Olshanetsky, M.; Zotov, A.

2014-10-01

We construct special rational gl N Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov-Bernard (KZB) equations with Ñ punctures by deformation of the corresponding quantum gl N rational R-matrix. They have two parameters. The limit of the first one brings the model to the ordinary rational KZ equation. Another one is τ. At the level of classical mechanics the deformation parameter τ allows to extend the previously obtained modified Gaudin models to the modified Schlesinger systems. Next, we notice that the identities underlying generic (elliptic) KZB equations follow from some additional relations for the properly normalized R-matrices. The relations are noncommutative analogues of identities for (scalar) elliptic functions. The simplest one is the unitarity condition. The quadratic (in R matrices) relations are generated by noncommutative Fay identities. In particular, one can derive the quantum Yang-Baxter equations from the Fay identities. The cubic relations provide identities for the KZB equations as well as quadratic relations for the classical r-matrices which can be treated as halves of the classical Yang-Baxter equation. At last we discuss the R-matrix valued linear problems which provide gl Ñ CM models and Painlevé equations via the above mentioned identities. The role of the spectral parameter plays the Planck constant of the quantum R-matrix. When the quantum gl N R-matrix is scalar ( N = 1) the linear problem reproduces the Krichever's ansatz for the Lax matrices with spectral parameter for the gl Ñ CM models. The linear problems for the quantum CM models generalize the KZ equations in the same way as the Lax pairs with spectral parameter generalize those without it.

[Social desirability and barriers to the accomplishment of the dietary treatment in overweight women].

PubMed

Poínhos, Rui; Correia, F; Faneca, M; Ferreira, J; Gonçalves, C; Pinhão, S; Medina, J Luís

2008-01-01

There are several barriers related to the non-accomplishment of the dietary treatment of overweight. Social desirability (SD), defined as the tendency to transmit a culturally accepted image, may bias parameters evaluated in scientific studies. (1) To evaluate SD in overweight women; (2) To evaluate the association between SD and other characteristics; (3) To compare the level of SD between patients evaluated in their first appointment or in subsequent appointments; (4) To evaluate the differences in the level of SD between patients who mention or not each barrier to the accomplishment of the dietary treatment; (5) To evaluate the effect of SD in the frequency of each statement pointed out as a barrier to the accomplishment of the dietary treatment. Sixty-seven women with BMI over 25,0 kg/m2 (mean BMI = 40,0 kg/m2; sd= 5,7) and mean age of 40 years (sd = 11) were evaluated on age, education, height, present and desired weights, perception of heath condition, weight and body image (Likert scale from 1 feels very well to 5 very bad). BMI, weight they desired to loose and corresponding BMI were calculated. The number of previous appointments and the date of the first appointment were registered and the time since the first appointment was calculated. Psychopathologic characteristics were studied with the Psychological General Well-Being Index. Barriers to the accomplishment of the dietary treatment were evaluated by pointing, from a list of 34 sentences mentioning obstacles to its accomplishment, those which patients identified themselves with. SD was evaluated with the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MC-SDS). Mean score on the MC-SDS was 20,9 (sd = 4,0). Positive and weak correlations were found between SD and the number of previous appointments and time since the first appointment. Patients with previous appointments show significantly higher levels of SD than those who were evaluated in their first appointment (means of 21,7 and 18,8; p = 0,005). There weren't found significant differences on the level of SD of patients who pointed or not each sentence and it wasn't found a significant effect of SD in the frequency of any sentence. The mean score on the MC-SDS was higher than values found in the majority of studies, which may result from the higher age, lower education and the presence of pathology. Previous contact with the patients seems to influence SD and may bias and make difficult the interpretation of parameters measured by self-report. The identification of barriers to the accomplishment of the dietary treatment seems to be independent from SD.

Investigations of the possibility of determination of thermal parameters of Si and SiGe samples based on the Photo Thermal Radiometry technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chrobak, Ł.; Maliński, M.

2018-03-01

This paper presents results of investigations of the possibility of determination of thermal parameters (thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity) of silicon and silicon germanium crystals from the frequency characteristics of the Photo Thermal Radiometry (PTR) signal. The theoretical analysis of the influence of the mentioned parameters on the PTR signal has been presented and discussed. The values of the thermal and recombination parameters have been extracted from the fittings of the theoretical to experimental data. The presented approach uses the reference Si sample whose thermal and recombination parameters are known.

Pressure leaching of chalcopyrite concentrate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aleksei, Kritskii; Kirill, Karimov; Stanislav, Naboichenko

2018-05-01

The results of chalcopyrite concentrate processing using low-temperature and high-temperature sulfuric acid pressure leaching are presented. A material of the following composition was used, 21.5 Cu, 0.1 Zn, 0.05 Pb, 0.04 Ni, 26.59 S, 24.52 Fe, 16.28 SiO2 (in wt.%). The influence of technological parameters on the degree of copper and iron extraction into the leach solution was studied in the wide range of values. The following conditions were suggested as the optimal for the high-temperature pressure leaching: t = 190 °C, PO2 = 0.5 MPa, CH2SO4 = 15 g/L, L:S = 6:1. At the mentioned parameters, it is possible to extract at least 98% Cu from concentrate into the leaching solution during 100 minutes. The following conditions were suggested as optimal for the low-temperature pressure leaching: t = 105 °C, PO2 = 1.3-1.5 MPa, CH2SO4 = 90 g/L, L:S = 10:1. At the mentioned parameters, it is possible to extract up to 83% Cu from the concentrate into the leach solution during 300-360 minutes.

Influence of material uncertainties on the RLC parameters of wound inductors modeled using the finite element method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lossa, Geoffrey; Deblecker, Olivier; Grève, Zacharie De

2018-05-01

In this work, we highlight the influence of the material uncertainties (magnetic permeability, electric conductivity of a Mn-Zn ferrite core, and electric permittivity of wire insulation) on the RLC parameters of a wound inductor extracted from the finite element method. To that end, the finite element method is embedded in a Monte Carlo simulation. We show that considering mentioned different material properties as real random variables, leads to significant variations in the distributions of the RLC parameters.

A study of the conformational isomerism of 1-iodobutane by high resolution rotational spectroscopy

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

Arsenault, Eric A.; Obenchain, Daniel A.; Blake, Thomas A.

2017-05-01

The first microwave study of 1-iodobutane, performed by Steinmetz et al.in 1977) led to the determination of the B + C parameter for the anti-anti­and gauche-anti-conformers. Nearly 40 years later, this reinvestigation of 1- iodobutane, by high-resolution microwave spectroscopy, led to the determina­tion of rotational constants, centrifugal distortion constants, nuclear quadrupole coupling constants (NQCCs), and nuclear-sp rotation constants belonging to both of the two previously mentioned conformers, in addition to the gauche­ gauche-conformer, which was observed in this frequency regime for the first time. Comparisons between the three conformers of 1-iodobutanc and other iodo- and bromoalkanes are made, specifically throughmore » an analysis of the nuclear quadrupole coupling constants belonging to the iodine and bromine atoms in the respective chemical environments.« less

A Parametric Computational Analysis into Galvanic Coupling Intrabody Communication.

PubMed

Callejon, M Amparo; Del Campo, P; Reina-Tosina, Javier; Roa, Laura M

2017-08-02

Intrabody Communication (IBC) uses the human body tissues as transmission media for electrical signals to interconnect personal health devices in wireless body area networks. The main goal of this work is to conduct a computational analysis covering some bioelectric issues that still have not been fully explained, such as the modeling of the skin-electrode impedance, the differences associated to the use of constant voltage or current excitation modes, or the influence on attenuation of the subject's anthropometrical and bioelectric properties. With this aim, a computational finite element model has been developed, allowing the IBC channel attenuation as well as the electric field and current density through arm tissues to be computed as a function of these parameters. As a conclusion, this parametric analysis has in turn permitted us to disclose some knowledge about the causes and effects of the above-mentioned issues, thus explaining and complementing previous results reported in the literature.

A study of the conformational isomerism of 1-iodobutane by high resolution rotational spectroscopy

DOE PAGES

Arsenault, Eric A.; Obenchain, Daniel A.; Blake, Thomas A.; ...

2017-05-01

The first microwave study of 1-iodobutane, performed by Steinmetz et al. in 1977, led to the determination of the B+C parameter for the anti-anti- and gauche-anti-conformers. Nearly 40 years later, in this paper this reinvestigation of 1-iodobutane, by high-resolution microwave spectroscopy, led to the determination of rotational constants, centrifugal distortion constants, nuclear quadrupole coupling constants (NQCCs), and nuclear-spin rotation constants belonging to both of the two previously mentioned conformers, in addition to the gauche-gauche-conformer, which was observed in this frequency regime for the first time. Finally, comparisons between the three conformers of 1-iodobutane and other iodo- and bromoalkanes are made,more » specifically through an analysis of the nuclear quadrupole coupling constants belonging to the iodine and bromine atoms in the respective chemical environments.« less

Allometric scaling: analysis of LD50 data.

PubMed

Burzala-Kowalczyk, Lidia; Jongbloed, Geurt

2011-04-01

The need to identify toxicologically equivalent doses across different species is a major issue in toxicology and risk assessment. In this article, we investigate interspecies scaling based on the allometric equation applied to the single, oral LD (50) data previously analyzed by Rhomberg and Wolff. We focus on the statistical approach, namely, regression analysis of the mentioned data. In contrast to Rhomberg and Wolff's analysis of species pairs, we perform an overall analysis based on the whole data set. From our study it follows that if one assumes one single scaling rule for all species and substances in the data set, then β = 1 is the most natural choice among a set of candidates known in the literature. In fact, we obtain quite narrow confidence intervals for this parameter. However, the estimate of the variance in the model is relatively high, resulting in rather wide prediction intervals. © 2010 Society for Risk Analysis.

Interlayer interaction and mechanical properties in multi-layer graphene, Boron-Nitride, Aluminum-Nitride and Gallium-Nitride graphene-like structure: A quantum-mechanical DFT study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghorbanzadeh Ahangari, Morteza; Fereidoon, A.; Hamed Mashhadzadeh, Amin

2017-12-01

In present study, we investigated mechanical, electronic and interlayer properties of mono, bi and 3layer of Boron-Nitride (B-N), Aluminum-Nitride (Al-N) and Gallium-Nitride (Ga-N) graphene sheets and compared these results with results obtained from carbonic graphenes (C-graphenes). For reaching this purpose, first we optimized the geometrical parameters of these graphenes by using density functional theory (DFT) method. Then we calculated Young's modulus of graphene sheet by compressing and then elongating these sheets in small increment. Our results indicates that Young's modulus of graphenes didn't changed obviously by increasing the number of layer sheet. We also found that carbonic graphene has greatest Young's modulus among another mentioned sheets because of smallest equilibrium distance between its elements. Next we modeled the van der Waals interfacial interaction exist between two sheets with classical spring model by using general form of Lennard-Jones (L-J) potential for all of mentioned graphenes. For calculating L-J parameters (ε and σ), the potential energy between layers of mentioned graphene as a function of the separation distance was plotted. Moreover, the density of states (DOS) are calculated to understand the electronic properties of these systems better.

Mammographic texture synthesis using genetic programming and clustered lumpy background

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Castella, Cyril; Kinkel, Karen; Descombes, François; Eckstein, Miguel P.; Sottas, Pierre-Edouard; Verdun, Francis R.; Bochud, François O.

2006-03-01

In this work we investigated the digital synthesis of images which mimic real textures observed in mammograms. Such images could be produced in an unlimited number with tunable statistical properties in order to study human performance and model observer performance in perception experiments. We used the previously developed clustered lumpy background (CLB) technique and optimized its parameters with a genetic algorithm (GA). In order to maximize the realism of the textures, we combined the GA objective approach with psychophysical experiments involving the judgments of radiologists. Thirty-six statistical features were computed and averaged, over 1000 real mammograms regions of interest. The same features were measured for the synthetic textures, and the Mahalanobis distance was used to quantify the similarity of the features between the real and synthetic textures. The similarity, as measured by the Mahalanobis distance, was used as GA fitness function for evolving the free CLB parameters. In the psychophysical approach, experienced radiologists were asked to qualify the realism of synthetic images by considering typical structures that are expected to be found on real mammograms: glandular and fatty areas, and fiber crossings. Results show that CLB images found via optimization with GA are significantly closer to real mammograms than previously published images. Moreover, the psychophysical experiments confirm that all the above mentioned structures are reproduced well on the generated images. This means that we can generate an arbitrary large database of textures mimicking mammograms with traceable statistical properties.

Predictors of femtosecond laser intrastromal astigmatic keratotomy efficacy for astigmatism management in cataract surgery.

PubMed

Day, Alexander C; Stevens, Julian D

2016-02-01

To evaluate the factors associated with the efficacy of femtosecond laser intrastromal astigmatic keratotomy (AK). Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, United Kingdom. Prospective case series. Eyes having intrastromal AK for corneal cylinder correction were analyzed. Preoperative biometric parameters included axial length, anterior chamber depth, central corneal thickness, and Ocular Response Analyzer corneal hysteresis (CH) and corneal resistance factor (CRF). Preoperative and 1-month postoperative corneal keratometry was measured using the Topcon KR8100PA topographer-autorefractor. Astigmatic analyses were performed using the Alpins method. The study analyzed 319 eyes of 213 patients with a mean target induced astigmatism of 1.24 diopters (D) ± 0.44 (SD), mean surgically induced astigmatism (SIA) of 0.71 ± 0.43 D, and mean difference vector of 0.79 ± 0.41 D. Two multiple regression models were constructed for SIA prediction. Model 1, based on previous manual limbal relaxing incision parameters, confirmed age and astigmatism meridian (with/against the rule and oblique) to be associated with SIA in addition to AK arc length, AK start depth, and preoperative corneal cylinder magnitude. Model 2, additionally considering other parameters, found only lower CH (-0.06 DC per unit CH), a higher CRF (0.04 D per unit CRF), and the astigmatism meridian to be independent predictors of greater SIA (after adjusting for intrastromal AK arc length, start depth, and preoperative corneal cylinder). With-the-rule astigmatism was associated with a 0.13 D higher SIA than against-the-rule astigmatism, holding all other variables constant. Corneal biomechanical parameters and astigmatism meridian were independent predictors of femtosecond laser intrastromal AK efficacy even after adjusting for AK arc length, AK start depth, and preoperative corneal cylinder. Dr. Stevens is a previous consultant to Optimedica, Inc. which is now part of Abbott Medical Optics, Inc. Drs. Stevens and Day have no financial or proprietary interest in any material or method mentioned. Copyright © 2016 ASCRS and ESCRS. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Dispersion durations of P-wave and QT interval in children treated with a ketogenic diet.

PubMed

Doksöz, Önder; Güzel, Orkide; Yılmaz, Ünsal; Işgüder, Rana; Çeleğen, Kübra; Meşe, Timur

2014-04-01

Limited data are available on the effects of a ketogenic diet on dispersion duration of P-wave and QT-interval measures in children. We searched for the changes in these measures with serial electrocardiograms in patients treated with a ketogenic diet. Twenty-five drug-resistant patients with epilepsy treated with a ketogenic diet were enrolled in this study. Electrocardiography was performed in all patients before the beginning and at the sixth month after implementation of the ketogenic diet. Heart rate, maximum and minimum P-wave duration, P-wave dispersion, and maximum and minimum corrected QT interval and QT dispersion were manually measured from the 12-lead surface electrocardiogram. Minimum and maximum corrected QT and QT dispersion measurements showed nonsignificant increase at month 6 compared with baseline values. Other previously mentioned electrocardiogram parameters also showed no significant changes. A ketogenic diet of 6 months' duration has no significant effect on electrocardiogram parameters in children. Further studies with larger samples and longer duration of follow-up are needed to clarify the effects of ketogenic diet on P-wave dispersion and corrected QT and QT dispersion. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Determination of Hydrodynamic Parameters on Two--Phase Flow Gas - Liquid in Pipes with Different Inclination Angles Using Image Processing Algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Montoya, Gustavo; Valecillos, María; Romero, Carlos; Gonzáles, Dosinda

2009-11-01

In the present research a digital image processing-based automated algorithm was developed in order to determine the phase's height, hold up, and statistical distribution of the drop size in a two-phase system water-air using pipes with 0 , 10 , and 90 of inclination. Digital images were acquired with a high speed camera (up to 4500fps), using an equipment that consist of a system with three acrylic pipes with diameters of 1.905, 3.175, and 4.445 cm. Each pipe is arranged in two sections of 8 m of length. Various flow patterns were visualized for different superficial velocities of water and air. Finally, using the image processing program designed in Matlab/Simulink^, the captured images were processed to establish the parameters previously mentioned. The image processing algorithm is based in the frequency domain analysis of the source pictures, which allows to find the phase as the edge between the water and air, through a Sobel filter that extracts the high frequency components of the image. The drop size was found using the calculation of the Feret diameter. Three flow patterns were observed: Annular, ST, and ST&MI.

CUILESS2016: a clinical corpus applying compositional normalization of text mentions.

PubMed

Osborne, John D; Neu, Matthew B; Danila, Maria I; Solorio, Thamar; Bethard, Steven J

2018-01-10

Traditionally text mention normalization corpora have normalized concepts to single ontology identifiers ("pre-coordinated concepts"). Less frequently, normalization corpora have used concepts with multiple identifiers ("post-coordinated concepts") but the additional identifiers have been restricted to a defined set of relationships to the core concept. This approach limits the ability of the normalization process to express semantic meaning. We generated a freely available corpus using post-coordinated concepts without a defined set of relationships that we term "compositional concepts" to evaluate their use in clinical text. We annotated 5397 disorder mentions from the ShARe corpus to SNOMED CT that were previously normalized as "CUI-less" in the "SemEval-2015 Task 14" shared task because they lacked a pre-coordinated mapping. Unlike the previous normalization method, we do not restrict concept mappings to a particular set of the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) semantic types and allow normalization to occur to multiple UMLS Concept Unique Identifiers (CUIs). We computed annotator agreement and assessed semantic coverage with this method. We generated the largest clinical text normalization corpus to date with mappings to multiple identifiers and made it freely available. All but 8 of the 5397 disorder mentions were normalized using this methodology. Annotator agreement ranged from 52.4% using the strictest metric (exact matching) to 78.2% using a hierarchical agreement that measures the overlap of shared ancestral nodes. Our results provide evidence that compositional concepts can increase semantic coverage in clinical text. To our knowledge we provide the first freely available corpus of compositional concept annotation in clinical text.

Spatial inhomogeneities in ionic liquids, charged proteins, and charge stabilized colloids from collective variables theory.

PubMed

Patsahan, O; Ciach, A

2012-09-01

Effects of size and charge asymmetry between oppositely charged ions or particles on spatial inhomogeneities are studied for a large range of charge and size ratios. We perform a stability analysis of the primitive model of ionic systems with respect to periodic ordering using the collective variables-based theory. We extend previous studies [Ciach et al., Phys. Rev. E 75, 051505 (2007)] in several ways. First, we employ a nonlocal approximation for the reference hard-sphere fluid which leads to the Percus-Yevick pair direct correlation functions for the uniform case. Second, we use the Weeks-Chandler-Anderson regularization scheme for the Coulomb potential inside the hard core. We determine the relevant order parameter connected with the periodic ordering and analyze the character of the dominant fluctuations along the λ lines. We show that the above-mentioned modifications produce large quantitative and partly qualitative changes in the phase diagrams obtained previously. We discuss possible scenarios of the periodic ordering for the whole range of size and charge ratios of the two ionic species, covering electrolytes, ionic liquids, charged globular proteins or nanoparticles in aqueous solutions, and charge-stabilized colloids.

Comparison of artificial intelligence methods and empirical equations to estimate daily solar radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mehdizadeh, Saeid; Behmanesh, Javad; Khalili, Keivan

2016-08-01

In the present research, three artificial intelligence methods including Gene Expression Programming (GEP), Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) and Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) as well as, 48 empirical equations (10, 12 and 26 equations were temperature-based, sunshine-based and meteorological parameters-based, respectively) were used to estimate daily solar radiation in Kerman, Iran in the period of 1992-2009. To develop the GEP, ANN and ANFIS models, depending on the used empirical equations, various combinations of minimum air temperature, maximum air temperature, mean air temperature, extraterrestrial radiation, actual sunshine duration, maximum possible sunshine duration, sunshine duration ratio, relative humidity and precipitation were considered as inputs in the mentioned intelligent methods. To compare the accuracy of empirical equations and intelligent models, root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), mean absolute relative error (MARE) and determination coefficient (R2) indices were used. The results showed that in general, sunshine-based and meteorological parameters-based scenarios in ANN and ANFIS models presented high accuracy than mentioned empirical equations. Moreover, the most accurate method in the studied region was ANN11 scenario with five inputs. The values of RMSE, MAE, MARE and R2 indices for the mentioned model were 1.850 MJ m-2 day-1, 1.184 MJ m-2 day-1, 9.58% and 0.935, respectively.

Does remembering emotional items impair recall of same-emotion items?

PubMed

Sison, Jo Ann G; Mather, Mara

2007-04-01

In the part-set cuing effect, cuing a subset of previously studied items impairs recall of the remaining noncued items. This experiment reveals that cuing participants with previously-studied emotional pictures (e.g., fear-evoking pictures of people) can impair recall of pictures involving the same emotion but different content (e.g., fear-evoking pictures of animals). This indicates that new events can be organized in memory using emotion as a grouping function to create associations. However, whether new information is organized in memory along emotional or nonemotional lines appears to be a flexible process that depends on people's current focus. Mentioning in the instructions that the pictures were either amusement- or fear-related led to memory impairment for pictures with the same emotion as cued pictures, whereas mentioning that the pictures depicted either animals or people led to memory impairment for pictures with the same type of actor.

Calculation of Optical Parameters of Liquid Crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, A.

2007-12-01

Validation of a modified four-parameter model describing temperature effect on liquid crystal refractive indices is being reported in the present article. This model is based upon the Vuks equation. Experimental data of ordinary and extraordinary refractive indices for two liquid crystal samples MLC-9200-000 and MLC-6608 are used to validate the above-mentioned theoretical model. Using these experimental data, birefringence, order parameter, normalized polarizabilities, and the temperature gradient of refractive indices are determined. Two methods: directly using birefringence measurements and using Haller's extrapolation procedure are adopted for the determination of order parameter. Both approches of order parameter calculation are compared. The temperature dependences of all these parameters are discussed. A close agreement between theory and experiment is obtained.

Testing local-realism and macro-realism under generalized dichotomic measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Das, Debarshi; Mal, Shiladitya; Home, Dipankar

2018-04-01

Generalized quantum measurements with two outcomes are fully characterized by two real parameters, dubbed as sharpness parameter and biasedness parameter and they can be linked with different aspects of the experimental setup. It is known that sharpness parameter characterizes precision of the measurements and decreasing sharpness parameter of the measurements reduces the possibility of probing quantum features like quantum mechanical (QM) violation of local-realism (LR) or macro-realism (MR). Here we investigate the effect of biasedness together with that of sharpness of measurements and find a trade-off between those two parameters in the context of probing QM violations of LR and MR. Interestingly, we also find that the above mentioned trade-off is more robust in the latter case.

Research of interaction between technological and material parameters during densification of sunflower hulls

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Križan, Peter; Matúš, Miloš; Beniak, Juraj; Šooš, Ľubomír

2018-01-01

During the biomass densification can be recognized various technological variables and also material parameters which significantly influences the final solid biofuels (pellets) quality. In this paper, we will present the research findings concerning relationships between technological and material variables during densification of sunflower hulls. Sunflower hulls as an unused source is a typical product of agricultural industry in Slovakia and belongs to the group of herbaceous biomass. The main goal of presented experimental research is to determine the impact of compression pressure, compression temperature and material particle size distribution on final biofuels quality. Experimental research described in this paper was realized by single-axis densification, which was represented by experimental pressing stand. The impact of mentioned investigated variables on the final briquettes density and briquettes dilatation was determined. Mutual interactions of these variables on final briquettes quality are showing the importance of mentioned variables during the densification process. Impact of raw material particle size distribution on final biofuels quality was also proven by experimental research on semi-production pelleting plant.

Protective effect of ethyl pyruvate on mice sperm parameters in phenylhydrazine induced hemolytic anemia.

PubMed

Mozafari, Ali Akbar; Shahrooz, Rasoul; Ahmadi, Abbas; Malekinjad, Hassan; Mardani, Karim

2016-01-01

The aim of the present study was to assess the protective effect of ethyl pyruvate (EP) on sperm quality parameters, testosterone level and malondialdehyde (MDA) in phenylhydrazine (PHZ) treated mice. For this purpose, 32 NMRI mice with the age range of 8 to 10 weeks, weight average 26.0 ± 2.0 g, were randomly divided into four equal groups. The control group (1) received normal saline (0. 1 mL per day) by intraperitoneal injection (IP). Group 2 (PHZ group) was treated with initial dose of PHZ (8 mg 100 g(-1), IP) followed by 6 mg 100 g(-1) , IP every 48 hr. Group 3, (Group PHZ+EP) received PHZ (according to the previous prescription) with EP (40 mg kg(-1), daily, IP). Ethyl pyruvate group (4) received only EP (40 mg kg(-1), daily, IP). Treatment period was 35 days. After euthanasia, sperms from caudal region of epididymis were collected and the total mean sperm count, sperm viability, motility and morphology were determined. Testis tissue MDA and serum testosterone levels of all experimental groups were also evaluated. A considerable reduction in mean percentage of number, natural morphology of sperm, sperm motility and viability and serum testosterone concentration besides DNA injury increment among mice treating with PHZ in comparison with control group were observed. However, in PHZ+EP group the above mentioned parameters were improved. This study showed that PHZ caused induction of toxicity on sperm parameters and reduction of testosterone as well as the increment of MDA level and EP as an antioxidant could reduce destructive effects of PHZ on sperm parameters, testosterone level and lipid peroxidation.

Scheduled Relaxation Jacobi method: Improvements and applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adsuara, J. E.; Cordero-Carrión, I.; Cerdá-Durán, P.; Aloy, M. A.

2016-09-01

Elliptic partial differential equations (ePDEs) appear in a wide variety of areas of mathematics, physics and engineering. Typically, ePDEs must be solved numerically, which sets an ever growing demand for efficient and highly parallel algorithms to tackle their computational solution. The Scheduled Relaxation Jacobi (SRJ) is a promising class of methods, atypical for combining simplicity and efficiency, that has been recently introduced for solving linear Poisson-like ePDEs. The SRJ methodology relies on computing the appropriate parameters of a multilevel approach with the goal of minimizing the number of iterations needed to cut down the residuals below specified tolerances. The efficiency in the reduction of the residual increases with the number of levels employed in the algorithm. Applying the original methodology to compute the algorithm parameters with more than 5 levels notably hinders obtaining optimal SRJ schemes, as the mixed (non-linear) algebraic-differential system of equations from which they result becomes notably stiff. Here we present a new methodology for obtaining the parameters of SRJ schemes that overcomes the limitations of the original algorithm and provide parameters for SRJ schemes with up to 15 levels and resolutions of up to 215 points per dimension, allowing for acceleration factors larger than several hundreds with respect to the Jacobi method for typical resolutions and, in some high resolution cases, close to 1000. Most of the success in finding SRJ optimal schemes with more than 10 levels is based on an analytic reduction of the complexity of the previously mentioned system of equations. Furthermore, we extend the original algorithm to apply it to certain systems of non-linear ePDEs.

Utilizing dimensional analysis with observed data to determine the significance of hydrodynamic solutions in coastal hydrology

USGS Publications Warehouse

Swain, Eric D.; Decker, Jeremy D.; Hughes, Joseph D.

2014-01-01

In this paper, the authors present an analysis of the magnitude of the temporal and spatial acceleration (inertial) terms in the surface-water flow equations and determine the conditions under which these inertial terms have sufficient magnitude to be required in the computations. Data from two South Florida field sites are examined and the relative magnitudes of temporal acceleration, spatial acceleration, and the gravity and friction terms are compared. Parameters are derived by using dimensionless numbers and applied to quantify the significance of the hydrodynamic effects. The time series of the ratio of the inertial and gravity terms from field sites are presented and compared with both a simplified indicator parameter and a more complex parameter called the Hydrodynamic Significance Number (HSN). Two test-case models were developed by using the SWIFT2D hydrodynamic simulator to examine flow behavior with and without the inertial terms and compute the HSN. The first model represented one of the previously-mentioned field sites during gate operations of a structure-managed coastal canal. The second model was a synthetic test case illustrating the drainage of water down a sloped surface from an initial stage while under constant flow. The analyses indicate that the times of substantial hydrodynamic effects are sporadic but significant. The simplified indicator parameter correlates much better with the hydrodynamic effect magnitude for a constant width channel such as Miami Canal than at the non-uniform North River. Higher HSN values indicate flow situations where the inertial terms are large and need to be taken into account.

The dynamics of blood biochemical parameters in cosmonauts during long-term space flights

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Markin, Andrei; Strogonova, Lubov; Balashov, Oleg; Polyakov, Valery; Tigner, Timoty

Most of the previously obtained data on cosmonauts' metabolic state concerned certain stages of the postflight period. In this connection, all conclusions, as to metabolism peculiarities during the space flight, were to a large extent probabilistic. The purpose of this work was study of metabolism characteristics in cosmonauts directly during long-term space flights. In the capillary blood samples taken from a finger, by "Reflotron IV" biochemical analyzer, "Boehringer Mannheim" GmbH, Germany, adapted to weightlessness environments, the activity of GOT, GPT, CK, gamma-GT, total and pancreatic amylase, as well as concentration of hemoglobin, glucose, total bilirubin, uric acid, urea, creatinine, total, HDL- and LDL cholesterol, triglycerides had been determined. HDL/LDL-cholesterol ratio also was computed. The crewmembers of 6 main missions to the "Mir" orbital station, a total of 17 cosmonauts, were examined. Biochemical tests were carryed out 30-60 days before lounch, and in the flights different stages between the 25-th and the 423-rd days of flights. In cosmonauts during space flight had been found tendency to increase, in compare with basal level, GOT, GPT, total amylase activity, glucose and total cholesterol concentration, and tendency to decrease of CK activity, hemoglobin, HDL-cholesterol concentration, and HDL/LDL — cholesterol ratio. Some definite trends in variations of other determined biochemical parameters had not been found. The same trends of mentioned biochemical parameters alterations observed in majority of tested cosmonauts, allows to suppose existence of connection between noted metabolic alterations with influence of space flight conditions upon cosmonaut's body. Variations of other studied blood biochemical parameters depends on, probably, pure individual causes.

32 CFR 245.31 - ESCAT test.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... ESCAT testing, the responsible military commander will notify the ATCSCC using the following sample... control measures are being implemented. (Some examples are: Flight restricted zones, Temporary Flight... aircraft not previously mentioned as exemptions are restricted from flight in the affected area until...

32 CFR 245.31 - ESCAT test.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... ESCAT testing, the responsible military commander will notify the ATCSCC using the following sample... control measures are being implemented. (Some examples are: Flight restricted zones, Temporary Flight... aircraft not previously mentioned as exemptions are restricted from flight in the affected area until...

32 CFR 245.31 - ESCAT test.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... ESCAT testing, the responsible military commander will notify the ATCSCC using the following sample... control measures are being implemented. (Some examples are: Flight restricted zones, Temporary Flight... aircraft not previously mentioned as exemptions are restricted from flight in the affected area until...

Methods for Calibration of Prout-Tompkins Kinetics Parameters Using EZM Iteration and GLO

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

Wemhoff, A P; Burnham, A K; de Supinski, B

2006-11-07

This document contains information regarding the standard procedures used to calibrate chemical kinetics parameters for the extended Prout-Tompkins model to match experimental data. Two methods for calibration are mentioned: EZM calibration and GLO calibration. EZM calibration matches kinetics parameters to three data points, while GLO calibration slightly adjusts kinetic parameters to match multiple points. Information is provided regarding the theoretical approach and application procedure for both of these calibration algorithms. It is recommended that for the calibration process, the user begin with EZM calibration to provide a good estimate, and then fine-tune the parameters using GLO. Two examples have beenmore » provided to guide the reader through a general calibrating process.« less

Corrigendum to 'Effect of irradiation on the parameters that influence quality characteristics of raw turkey breast meat' [Radiation Physics and Chemistry, 130, 40-46

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Xi; Moon, Sun Hee; Lee, Hyun Yong; Ahn, Dong Uk

2018-07-01

The author regrets that the carbonyl content units (nmoles/mg protein) is miswritten as "mmoles/mg protein" in the above-mentioned paper. The parts needed to be revised were listed below and underlined.

Fuzzy Logic-Based Guaranteed Lifetime Protocol for Real-Time Wireless Sensor Networks.

PubMed

Shah, Babar; Iqbal, Farkhund; Abbas, Ali; Kim, Ki-Il

2015-08-18

Few techniques for guaranteeing a network lifetime have been proposed despite its great impact on network management. Moreover, since the existing schemes are mostly dependent on the combination of disparate parameters, they do not provide additional services, such as real-time communications and balanced energy consumption among sensor nodes; thus, the adaptability problems remain unresolved among nodes in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). To solve these problems, we propose a novel fuzzy logic model to provide real-time communication in a guaranteed WSN lifetime. The proposed fuzzy logic controller accepts the input descriptors energy, time and velocity to determine each node's role for the next duration and the next hop relay node for real-time packets. Through the simulation results, we verified that both the guaranteed network's lifetime and real-time delivery are efficiently ensured by the new fuzzy logic model. In more detail, the above-mentioned two performance metrics are improved up to 8%, as compared to our previous work, and 14% compared to existing schemes, respectively.

Effects of the target aspect ratio and intrinsic reactivity onto diffusive search in bounded domains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grebenkov, Denis S.; Metzler, Ralf; Oshanin, Gleb

2017-10-01

We study the mean first passage time (MFPT) to a reaction event on a specific site in a cylindrical geometry—characteristic, for instance, for bacterial cells, with a concentric inner cylinder representing the nuclear region of the bacterial cell. A similar problem emerges in the description of a diffusive search by a transcription factor protein for a specific binding region on a single strand of DNA. We develop a unified theoretical approach to study the underlying boundary value problem which is based on a self-consistent approximation of the mixed boundary condition. Our approach permits us to derive explicit, novel, closed-form expressions for the MFPT valid for a generic setting with an arbitrary relation between the system parameters. We analyse this general result in the asymptotic limits appropriate for the above-mentioned biophysical problems. Our investigation reveals the crucial role of the target aspect ratio and of the intrinsic reactivity of the binding region, which were disregarded in previous studies. Theoretical predictions are confirmed by numerical simulations.

Fuzzy Logic-Based Guaranteed Lifetime Protocol for Real-Time Wireless Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Shah, Babar; Iqbal, Farkhund; Abbas, Ali; Kim, Ki-Il

2015-01-01

Few techniques for guaranteeing a network lifetime have been proposed despite its great impact on network management. Moreover, since the existing schemes are mostly dependent on the combination of disparate parameters, they do not provide additional services, such as real-time communications and balanced energy consumption among sensor nodes; thus, the adaptability problems remain unresolved among nodes in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). To solve these problems, we propose a novel fuzzy logic model to provide real-time communication in a guaranteed WSN lifetime. The proposed fuzzy logic controller accepts the input descriptors energy, time and velocity to determine each node’s role for the next duration and the next hop relay node for real-time packets. Through the simulation results, we verified that both the guaranteed network’s lifetime and real-time delivery are efficiently ensured by the new fuzzy logic model. In more detail, the above-mentioned two performance metrics are improved up to 8%, as compared to our previous work, and 14% compared to existing schemes, respectively. PMID:26295238

Microrheometric upconversion-based techniques for intracellular viscosity measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodríguez-Sevilla, Paloma; Zhang, Yuhai; de Sousa, Nuno; Marqués, Manuel I.; Sanz-Rodríguez, Francisco; Jaque, Daniel; Liu, Xiaogang; Haro-González, Patricia

2017-08-01

Rheological parameters (viscosity, creep compliance and elasticity) play an important role in cell function and viability. For this reason different strategies have been developed for their study. In this work, two new microrheometric techniques are presented. Both methods take advantage of the analysis of the polarized emission of an upconverting particle to determine its orientation inside the optical trap. Upconverting particles are optical materials that are able to convert infrared radiation into visible light. Their usefulness has been further boosted by the recent demonstration of their three-dimensional control and tracking by single beam infrared optical traps. In this work it is demonstrated that optical torques are responsible of the stable orientation of the upconverting particle inside the trap. Moreover, numerical calculations and experimental data allowed to use the rotation dynamics of the optically trapped upconverting particle for environmental sensing. In particular, the cytoplasm viscosity could be measured by using the rotation time and thermal fluctuations of an intracellular optically trapped upconverting particle, by means of the two previously mentioned microrheometric techniques.

Pakistan’s Capital Crisis: Implications for U.S. Policy

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-11-21

Shaukat Tarin. On September 19, 2008, acting finance minister Naveed Qamar released new economic policies designed to bring about macroeconomic...Pakistan’s political problems. When he announced the previously mentioned economic policies in September 2008, Finance Minister Qamar said that the

The physical foundation of FN = kh(3/2) for conical/pyramidal indentation loading curves.

PubMed

Kaupp, G

2016-01-01

A physical deduction of the FN = kh(3/2) relation (where FN is normal force, k penetration resistance, and h penetration depth) for conical/pyramidal indentation loading curves has been achieved on the basis of elementary mathematics. The indentation process couples the productions of volume and pressure to the displaced material that often partly plasticizes due to such pressure. As the pressure/plasticizing depends on the indenter volume, it follows that FN = FNp(1/3) · FNV(2/3), where the index p stands for pressure/plasticizing and V for indentation volume. FNp does not contribute to the penetration, only FNV. The exponent 2/3 on FNV shows that while FN is experimentally applied; only FN(2/3) is responsible for the penetration depth h. Thus, FN = kh(3/2) is deduced and the physical reason is the loss of FN(1/3) for the depth. Unfortunately, this has not been considered in teaching, textbooks, and the previous deduction of numerous common mechanical parameters, when the Love/Sneddon deductions of an exponent 2 on h were accepted and applied. The various unexpected experimental verifications and applications of the correct exponent 3/2 are mentioned and cited. Undue mechanical parameters require correction not only for safety reasons. © Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Influence of Embedded Inhomogeneities on the Spectral Ratio of the Horizontal Components of a Random Field of Rayleigh Waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsukanov, A. A.; Gorbatnikov, A. V.

2018-01-01

Study of the statistical parameters of the Earth's random microseismic field makes it possible to obtain estimates of the properties and structure of the Earth's crust and upper mantle. Different approaches are used to observe and process the microseismic records, which are divided into several groups of passive seismology methods. Among them are the well-known methods of surface-wave tomography, the spectral H/ V ratio of the components in the surface wave, and microseismic sounding, currently under development, which uses the spectral ratio V/ V 0 of the vertical components between pairs of spatially separated stations. In the course of previous experiments, it became clear that these ratios are stable statistical parameters of the random field that do not depend on the properties of microseism sources. This paper proposes to expand the mentioned approach and study the possibilities for using the ratio of the horizontal components H 1/ H 2 of the microseismic field. Numerical simulation was used to study the influence of an embedded velocity inhomogeneity on the spectral ratio of the horizontal components of the random field of fundamental Rayleigh modes, based on the concept that the Earth's microseismic field is represented by these waves in a significant part of the frequency spectrum.

Size-controlled fabrication of zein nano/microparticles by modified anti-solvent precipitation with/without sodium caseinate

PubMed Central

Li, Feng; Chen, Yan; Liu, Shubo; Qi, Jian; Wang, Weiying; Wang, Chenhua; Zhong, Ruiyue; Chen, Zhijun; Li, Xiaoming; Guan, Yuanzhou; Kong, Wei; Zhang, Yong

2017-01-01

Zein-based nano/microparticles have been demonstrated to be promising carrier systems for both the food industry and biomedical applications. However, the fabrication of size-controlled zein particles has been a challenging issue. In this study, a modified anti-solvent precipitation method was developed, and the effects of various factors, such as mixing method, solvent/anti-solvent ratio, temperature, zein concentrations and the presence of sodium caseinate (SC) on properties of zein particles were investigated. Evidence is presented that, among the previously mentioned factors, the mixing method, especially mixing rate, could be used as an effective parameter to control the size of zein particles without changing other parameters. Moreover, through fine-tuning the mixing rate together with zein concentration, particles with sizes ranging from nanometers to micrometers and low polydispersity index values could be easily obtained. Based on the size-controlled fabrication method, SC-coated zein nanoparticles could also be obtained in a size-controlled manner by incubation of the coating material with the already-formed zein particles. The resultant nanoparticles showed better performance in both drug loading and controlled release, compared with zein/SC hybrid nanoparticles fabricated by adding aqueous ethanol solution to SC solution. The possible mechanisms of the nanoprecipitation process and self-assembly formation of these nanoparticles are discussed. PMID:29184408

Size-controlled fabrication of zein nano/microparticles by modified anti-solvent precipitation with/without sodium caseinate.

PubMed

Li, Feng; Chen, Yan; Liu, Shubo; Qi, Jian; Wang, Weiying; Wang, Chenhua; Zhong, Ruiyue; Chen, Zhijun; Li, Xiaoming; Guan, Yuanzhou; Kong, Wei; Zhang, Yong

2017-01-01

Zein-based nano/microparticles have been demonstrated to be promising carrier systems for both the food industry and biomedical applications. However, the fabrication of size-controlled zein particles has been a challenging issue. In this study, a modified anti-solvent precipitation method was developed, and the effects of various factors, such as mixing method, solvent/anti-solvent ratio, temperature, zein concentrations and the presence of sodium caseinate (SC) on properties of zein particles were investigated. Evidence is presented that, among the previously mentioned factors, the mixing method, especially mixing rate, could be used as an effective parameter to control the size of zein particles without changing other parameters. Moreover, through fine-tuning the mixing rate together with zein concentration, particles with sizes ranging from nanometers to micrometers and low polydispersity index values could be easily obtained. Based on the size-controlled fabrication method, SC-coated zein nanoparticles could also be obtained in a size-controlled manner by incubation of the coating material with the already-formed zein particles. The resultant nanoparticles showed better performance in both drug loading and controlled release, compared with zein/SC hybrid nanoparticles fabricated by adding aqueous ethanol solution to SC solution. The possible mechanisms of the nanoprecipitation process and self-assembly formation of these nanoparticles are discussed.

Poplar response to cadmium and lead soil contamination.

PubMed

Radojčić Redovniković, Ivana; De Marco, Alessandra; Proietti, Chiara; Hanousek, Karla; Sedak, Marija; Bilandžić, Nina; Jakovljević, Tamara

2017-10-01

An outdoor pot experiment was designed to study the potential of poplar (Populus nigra 'Italica') in phytoremediation of cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb). Poplar was treated with a combination of different concentrations of Cd (w = 10, 25, 50mgkg -1 soil) and Pb (400, 800, 1200mgkg -1 soil) and several physiological and biochemical parameters were monitored including the accumulation and distribution of metals in different plant parts (leaf, stem, root). Simultaneously, the changes in the antioxidant system in roots and leaves were monitored to be able to follow synergistic effects of both heavy metals. Moreover, a statistical analysis based on the Random Forests Analysis (RFA) was performed in order to determine the most important predictors affecting growth and antioxidative machinery activities of poplar under heavy metal stress. The study demonstrated that tested poplar could be a good candidate for phytoextraction processes of Cd in moderately contaminated soils, while in heavily contaminated soil it could be only considered as a phytostabilisator. For Pb remediation only phytostabilisation process could be considered. By using RFA we pointed out that it is important to conduct the experiments in an outdoor space and include environmental conditions in order to study more realistic changes of growth parameters and accumulation and distribution of heavy metals. Also, to be able to better understand the interactions among previously mentioned parameters, it is important to conduct the experiments during prolonged time exposure., This is especially important for the long life cycle woody species. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

State-Of High Brightness RF Photo-Injector Design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferrario, Massimo; Clendenin, Jym; Palmer, Dennis; Rosenzweig, James; Serafini, Luca

2000-04-01

The art of designing optimized high brightness electron RF Photo-Injectors has moved in the last decade from a cut and try procedure, guided by experimental experience and time consuming particle tracking simulations, up to a fast parameter space scanning, guided by recent analytical results and a fast running semi-analytical code, so to reach the optimum operating point which corresponds to maximum beam brightness. Scaling laws and the theory of invariant envelope provide to the designers excellent tools for a first parameters choice and the code HOMDYN, based on a multi-slice envelope description of the beam dynamics, is tailored to describe the space charge dominated dynamics of laminar beams in presence of time dependent space charge forces, giving rise to a very fast modeling capability for photo-injectors design. We report in this talk the results of a recent beam dynamics study, motivated by the need to redesign the LCLS photoinjector. During this work a new effective working point for a split RF photoinjector has been discovered by means of the previous mentioned approach. By a proper choice of rf gun and solenoid parameters, the emittance evolution shows a double minimum behavior in the drifting region. If the booster is located where the relative emittance maximum and the envelope waist occur, the second emittance minimum can be shifted at the booster exit and frozen at a very low level (0.3 mm-mrad for a 1 nC flat top bunch), to the extent that the invariant envelope matching conditions are satisfied.

Quantitative PET studies of the serotonin transporter in MDMA users and controls using [11C]McN5652 and [11C]DASB.

PubMed

McCann, Una D; Szabo, Zsolt; Seckin, Esen; Rosenblatt, Peter; Mathews, William B; Ravert, Hayden T; Dannals, Robert F; Ricaurte, George A

2005-09-01

(+/-)3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, 'Ecstasy') is a widely used illicit drug that produces toxic effects on brain serotonin axons and axon terminals in animals. The results of clinical studies addressing MDMA's serotonin neurotoxic potential in humans have been inconclusive. In the present study, 23 abstinent MDMA users and 19 non-MDMA controls underwent quantitative positron emission tomography (PET) studies using [11C]McN5652 and [11C]DASB, first- and second-generation serotonin transporter (SERT) ligands previously validated in baboons for detecting MDMA-induced brain serotonin neurotoxicity. Global and regional distribution volumes (DVs) and two additional SERT-binding parameters (DV(spec) and DVR) were compared in the two subject populations using parametric statistical analyses. Data from PET studies revealed excellent correlations between the various binding parameters of [11C]McN5652 and [11C]DASB, both in individual brain regions and individual subjects. Global SERT reductions were found in MDMA users with both PET ligands, using all three of the above-mentioned SERT-binding parameters. Preplanned comparisons in 15 regions of interest demonstrated reductions in selected cortical and subcortical structures. Exploratory correlational analyses suggested that SERT measures recover with time, and that loss of the SERT is directly associated with MDMA use intensity. These quantitative PET data, obtained using validated first- and second-generation SERT PET ligands, provide strong evidence of reduced SERT density in some recreational MDMA users.

THE BACON not the bacon: How children and adults understand accented and unaccented noun phrases

PubMed Central

Arnold, Jennifer E.

2008-01-01

Two eye-tracking experiments examine whether adults and 4 and 5 year old children use the presence or absence of accenting to guide their interpretation of noun phrases (e.g., the bacon) with respect to the discourse context. Unaccented nouns tend to refer to contextually accessible referents, while accented variants tend to be used for less accessible entities. Experiment 1 confirms that accenting is informative for adults, who show a bias toward previously-mentioned objects beginning 300 msec after the onset of unaccented nouns and pronouns. But contrary to findings in the literature, accented words produced no observable bias. In Experiment 2, 4 and 5 year olds were also biased toward previously-mentioned objects with unaccented nouns and pronouns. This builds on findings of limits on children’s on-line reference comprehension (Arnold, Brown-Schmidt, & Trueswell, in press), showing that children’s interpretation of unaccented nouns and pronouns is constrained in contexts with one single highly accessible object. PMID:18358460

Repetition reduction during word and concept overlap in bilinguals

PubMed Central

Lam, Tuan Q.; Marian, Viorica

2015-01-01

In natural conversation, speakers often mention the same referents multiple times. While referents that have been previously mentioned are produced with less prominence than those that have not been mentioned, it is unclear whether prominence reduction is due to repetition of concepts, words, or a combination of the two. In the current study, we dissociate these sources of repetition by examining bilingual speakers, who have more than one word for the same concept across their two languages. Three groups of Korean-English bilinguals (balanced, English-dominant, and Korean-dominant) performed an event description task involving repetition of referents within a single language (i.e., repetition of word and concept) or across languages (i.e., repetition of concept only). While balanced bilinguals reduced prominence both within and across languages, unbalanced bilinguals only reduced prominence when repetition occurred within a language. These patterns suggest that the degree to which words and concepts are linked within a speaker’s language system determines the source of repetition reduction. PMID:26166943

A Historical Perspective from "a" to "c"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Edwards, Thomas G.; Ozgun-Koca, S. Asli

2010-01-01

Evolving technology has played an important part in a common quadratic-function lesson. Having been mentioned repeatedly in numerous reform documents, a recurring lesson has involved changing the parameters in f(x) = ax[superscript 2] + bx + c and studying the effects on the graph. In both NCTM Yearbooks and NCTM Standards documents, technology is…

Advanced materials for 193-nm resists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ushirogouchi, Tohru; Asakawa, Koji; Shida, Naomi; Okino, Takeshi; Saito, Satoshi; Funaki, Yoshinori; Takaragi, Akira; Tsutsumi, Kentaro; Nakano, Tatsuya

2000-06-01

Acrylate monomers containing alicyclic side chains featuring a series of polar substituent groups were assumed to be model compounds. Solubility parameters were calculated for the corresponding acrylate polymers. These acrylate monomers were synthesized using a novel aerobic oxidation reaction employing N-hydroxyphtalimide (NHPI) as a catalyst, and then polymerized. These reactions were confirmed to be applicable for the mass-production of those compounds. The calculation results agreed with the hydrophilic parameters measured experimentally. Moreover, the relationship between the resist performance and the above-mentioned solubility parameter has been studied. As a result, a correlation between the resist performance and the calculated solubility parameter was observed. Finally, resolution of 0.13-micron patterns, based on the 1G DRAM design rule, could be successfully fabricated by optimizing the solubility parameter and the resist composition.

Planck 2015 results: XXI. The integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect

DOE PAGES

Ade, P. A. R.; Aghanim, N.; Arnaud, M.; ...

2016-09-20

Here, this paper presents a study of the integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW) effect from the Planck 2015 temperature and polarization data release. This secondary cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy caused by the large-scale time-evolving gravitational potential is probed from different perspectives. The CMB is cross-correlated with different large-scale structure (LSS) tracers: radio sources from the NVSS catalogue; galaxies from the optical SDSS and the infrared WISE surveys; and the Planck 2015 convergence lensing map. The joint cross-correlation of the CMB with the tracers yields a detection at 4σ where most of the signal-to-noise is due to the Planck lensing and themore » NVSS radio catalogue. In fact, the ISW effect is detected from the Planck data only at ≈3σ (through the ISW-lensing bispectrum), which is similar to the detection level achieved by combining the cross-correlation signal coming from all the galaxy catalogues mentioned above. We study the ability of the ISW effect to place constraints on the dark-energy parameters; in particular, we show that Ω Λ is detected at more than 3σ. This cross-correlation analysis is performed only with the Planck temperature data, since the polarization scales available in the 2015 release do not permit significant improvement of the CMB-LSS cross-correlation detectability. Nevertheless, the Planck polarization data are used to study the anomalously large ISW signal previously reported through the aperture photometry on stacked CMB features at the locations of known superclusters and supervoids, which is in conflict with ΛCDM expectations. We find that the current Planck polarization data do not exclude that this signal could be caused by the ISW effect. In addition, the stacking of the Planck lensing map on the locations of superstructures exhibits a positive cross-correlation with these large-scale structures. Finally, we have improved our previous reconstruction of the ISW temperature fluctuations by combining the information encoded in all the previously mentioned LSS tracers. In particular, we construct a map of the ISW secondary anisotropies and the corresponding uncertainties map, obtained from simulations. Lastly, we also explore the reconstruction of the ISW anisotropies caused by the large-scale structure traced by the 2MASS Photometric Redshift Survey (2MPZ) by directly inverting the density field into the gravitational potential field.« less

Planck 2015 results. XXI. The integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Planck Collaboration; Ade, P. A. R.; Aghanim, N.; Arnaud, M.; Ashdown, M.; Aumont, J.; Baccigalupi, C.; Banday, A. J.; Barreiro, R. B.; Bartolo, N.; Basak, S.; Battaner, E.; Benabed, K.; Benoît, A.; Benoit-Lévy, A.; Bernard, J.-P.; Bersanelli, M.; Bielewicz, P.; Bock, J. J.; Bonaldi, A.; Bonavera, L.; Bond, J. R.; Borrill, J.; Bouchet, F. R.; Bucher, M.; Burigana, C.; Butler, R. C.; Calabrese, E.; Cardoso, J.-F.; Casaponsa, B.; Catalano, A.; Challinor, A.; Chamballu, A.; Chiang, H. C.; Christensen, P. R.; Church, S.; Clements, D. L.; Colombi, S.; Colombo, L. P. L.; Combet, C.; Couchot, F.; Coulais, A.; Crill, B. P.; Curto, A.; Cuttaia, F.; Danese, L.; Davies, R. D.; Davis, R. J.; de Bernardis, P.; de Rosa, A.; de Zotti, G.; Delabrouille, J.; Désert, F.-X.; Diego, J. M.; Dole, H.; Donzelli, S.; Doré, O.; Douspis, M.; Ducout, A.; Dupac, X.; Efstathiou, G.; Elsner, F.; Enßlin, T. A.; Eriksen, H. K.; Fergusson, J.; Fernandez-Cobos, R.; Finelli, F.; Forni, O.; Frailis, M.; Fraisse, A. A.; Franceschi, E.; Frejsel, A.; Galeotta, S.; Galli, S.; Ganga, K.; Génova-Santos, R. T.; Giard, M.; Giraud-Héraud, Y.; Gjerløw, E.; González-Nuevo, J.; Górski, K. M.; Gratton, S.; Gregorio, A.; Gruppuso, A.; Gudmundsson, J. E.; Hansen, F. K.; Hanson, D.; Harrison, D. L.; Henrot-Versillé, S.; Hernández-Monteagudo, C.; Herranz, D.; Hildebrandt, S. R.; Hivon, E.; Hobson, M.; Holmes, W. A.; Hornstrup, A.; Hovest, W.; Huffenberger, K. M.; Hurier, G.; Ilić, S.; Jaffe, A. H.; Jaffe, T. R.; Jones, W. C.; Juvela, M.; Keihänen, E.; Keskitalo, R.; Kisner, T. S.; Kneissl, R.; Knoche, J.; Kunz, M.; Kurki-Suonio, H.; Lagache, G.; Lähteenmäki, A.; Lamarre, J.-M.; Langer, M.; Lasenby, A.; Lattanzi, M.; Lawrence, C. R.; Leonardi, R.; Lesgourgues, J.; Levrier, F.; Liguori, M.; Lilje, P. B.; Linden-Vørnle, M.; López-Caniego, M.; Lubin, P. M.; Ma, Y.-Z.; Macías-Pérez, J. F.; Maggio, G.; Maino, D.; Mandolesi, N.; Mangilli, A.; Marcos-Caballero, A.; Maris, M.; Martin, P. G.; Martínez-González, E.; Masi, S.; Matarrese, S.; McGehee, P.; Meinhold, P. R.; Melchiorri, A.; Mendes, L.; Mennella, A.; Migliaccio, M.; Mitra, S.; Miville-Deschênes, M.-A.; Moneti, A.; Montier, L.; Morgante, G.; Mortlock, D.; Moss, A.; Munshi, D.; Murphy, J. A.; Naselsky, P.; Nati, F.; Natoli, P.; Netterfield, C. B.; Nørgaard-Nielsen, H. U.; Noviello, F.; Novikov, D.; Novikov, I.; Oxborrow, C. A.; Paci, F.; Pagano, L.; Pajot, F.; Paoletti, D.; Pasian, F.; Patanchon, G.; Perdereau, O.; Perotto, L.; Perrotta, F.; Pettorino, V.; Piacentini, F.; Piat, M.; Pierpaoli, E.; Pietrobon, D.; Plaszczynski, S.; Pointecouteau, E.; Polenta, G.; Popa, L.; Pratt, G. W.; Prézeau, G.; Prunet, S.; Puget, J.-L.; Rachen, J. P.; Reach, W. T.; Rebolo, R.; Reinecke, M.; Remazeilles, M.; Renault, C.; Renzi, A.; Ristorcelli, I.; Rocha, G.; Rosset, C.; Rossetti, M.; Roudier, G.; Rubiño-Martín, J. A.; Rusholme, B.; Sandri, M.; Santos, D.; Savelainen, M.; Savini, G.; Schaefer, B. M.; Scott, D.; Seiffert, M. D.; Shellard, E. P. S.; Spencer, L. D.; Stolyarov, V.; Stompor, R.; Sudiwala, R.; Sunyaev, R.; Sutton, D.; Suur-Uski, A.-S.; Sygnet, J.-F.; Tauber, J. A.; Terenzi, L.; Toffolatti, L.; Tomasi, M.; Tristram, M.; Tucci, M.; Tuovinen, J.; Valenziano, L.; Valiviita, J.; Van Tent, F.; Vielva, P.; Villa, F.; Wade, L. A.; Wandelt, B. D.; Wehus, I. K.; Yvon, D.; Zacchei, A.; Zonca, A.

2016-09-01

This paper presents a study of the integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW) effect from the Planck 2015 temperature and polarization data release. This secondary cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy caused by the large-scale time-evolving gravitational potential is probed from different perspectives. The CMB is cross-correlated with different large-scale structure (LSS) tracers: radio sources from the NVSS catalogue; galaxies from the optical SDSS and the infrared WISE surveys; and the Planck 2015 convergence lensing map. The joint cross-correlation of the CMB with the tracers yields a detection at 4σ where most of the signal-to-noise is due to the Planck lensing and the NVSS radio catalogue. In fact, the ISW effect is detected from the Planck data only at ≈3σ (through the ISW-lensing bispectrum), which is similar to the detection level achieved by combining the cross-correlation signal coming from all the galaxy catalogues mentioned above. We study the ability of the ISW effect to place constraints on the dark-energy parameters; in particular, we show that ΩΛ is detected at more than 3σ. This cross-correlation analysis is performed only with the Planck temperature data, since the polarization scales available in the 2015 release do not permit significant improvement of the CMB-LSS cross-correlation detectability. Nevertheless, the Planck polarization data are used to study the anomalously large ISW signal previously reported through the aperture photometry on stacked CMB features at the locations of known superclusters and supervoids, which is in conflict with ΛCDM expectations. We find that the current Planck polarization data do not exclude that this signal could be caused by the ISW effect. In addition, the stacking of the Planck lensing map on the locations of superstructures exhibits a positive cross-correlation with these large-scale structures. Finally, we have improved our previous reconstruction of the ISW temperature fluctuations by combining the information encoded in all the previously mentioned LSS tracers. In particular, we construct a map of the ISW secondary anisotropies and the corresponding uncertainties map, obtained from simulations. We also explore the reconstruction of the ISW anisotropies caused by the large-scale structure traced by the 2MASS Photometric Redshift Survey (2MPZ) by directly inverting the density field into the gravitational potential field.

Planck 2015 results: XXI. The integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect

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

Ade, P. A. R.; Aghanim, N.; Arnaud, M.

Here, this paper presents a study of the integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW) effect from the Planck 2015 temperature and polarization data release. This secondary cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy caused by the large-scale time-evolving gravitational potential is probed from different perspectives. The CMB is cross-correlated with different large-scale structure (LSS) tracers: radio sources from the NVSS catalogue; galaxies from the optical SDSS and the infrared WISE surveys; and the Planck 2015 convergence lensing map. The joint cross-correlation of the CMB with the tracers yields a detection at 4σ where most of the signal-to-noise is due to the Planck lensing and themore » NVSS radio catalogue. In fact, the ISW effect is detected from the Planck data only at ≈3σ (through the ISW-lensing bispectrum), which is similar to the detection level achieved by combining the cross-correlation signal coming from all the galaxy catalogues mentioned above. We study the ability of the ISW effect to place constraints on the dark-energy parameters; in particular, we show that Ω Λ is detected at more than 3σ. This cross-correlation analysis is performed only with the Planck temperature data, since the polarization scales available in the 2015 release do not permit significant improvement of the CMB-LSS cross-correlation detectability. Nevertheless, the Planck polarization data are used to study the anomalously large ISW signal previously reported through the aperture photometry on stacked CMB features at the locations of known superclusters and supervoids, which is in conflict with ΛCDM expectations. We find that the current Planck polarization data do not exclude that this signal could be caused by the ISW effect. In addition, the stacking of the Planck lensing map on the locations of superstructures exhibits a positive cross-correlation with these large-scale structures. Finally, we have improved our previous reconstruction of the ISW temperature fluctuations by combining the information encoded in all the previously mentioned LSS tracers. In particular, we construct a map of the ISW secondary anisotropies and the corresponding uncertainties map, obtained from simulations. Lastly, we also explore the reconstruction of the ISW anisotropies caused by the large-scale structure traced by the 2MASS Photometric Redshift Survey (2MPZ) by directly inverting the density field into the gravitational potential field.« less

Meteor Beliefs Project: Meteoric references in Ovid's Metamorphoses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gheorghe, A. D.; McBeath, A.

2003-10-01

Three sections of Ovid's Metamorphoses are examined, providing further information on meteoric beliefs in ancient Roman times. These include meteoric imagery among the portents associated with the death of Julius Caesar, which we mentioned previously from the works of William Shakespeare (McBeath and Gheorghe, 2003b).

In Silico Screening for Biothreat Countermeasures

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-02-03

drug candidates to each kinase structure using the well-known docking algorithm LibDock . This population of 1200 ligands includes ~400 ligands with...mentioned previously, each of the known p38 inhibitors in the population was docked to its target using the LibDock application. This method resulted

Household dyeing plants and traditional uses in some areas of Italy

PubMed Central

Guarrera, Paolo Maria

2006-01-01

Background This paper reports the results of investigations carried out from 1977 to today in some areas of Italy (Latium, Marche, Abruzzo and to a limited extent in Sardinia) concerning traditional uses of dyeing plants in the household. Results Twenty-nine plants are described, distributed in 23 families, and for each species the vernacular name, the way it is used and the locations of traditional use are given. Other plants used in the past in the above-mentioned regions are recalled. Conclusion Among the new findings – not mentioned in previous literature, see references – is Muscari neglectum (purplish). Nowadays atavistic dye uses still persist only in Nule (Sardinia). PMID:16457717

Anatomical entity mention recognition at literature scale

PubMed Central

Pyysalo, Sampo; Ananiadou, Sophia

2014-01-01

Motivation: Anatomical entities ranging from subcellular structures to organ systems are central to biomedical science, and mentions of these entities are essential to understanding the scientific literature. Despite extensive efforts to automatically analyze various aspects of biomedical text, there have been only few studies focusing on anatomical entities, and no dedicated methods for learning to automatically recognize anatomical entity mentions in free-form text have been introduced. Results: We present AnatomyTagger, a machine learning-based system for anatomical entity mention recognition. The system incorporates a broad array of approaches proposed to benefit tagging, including the use of Unified Medical Language System (UMLS)- and Open Biomedical Ontologies (OBO)-based lexical resources, word representations induced from unlabeled text, statistical truecasing and non-local features. We train and evaluate the system on a newly introduced corpus that substantially extends on previously available resources, and apply the resulting tagger to automatically annotate the entire open access scientific domain literature. The resulting analyses have been applied to extend services provided by the Europe PubMed Central literature database. Availability and implementation: All tools and resources introduced in this work are available from http://nactem.ac.uk/anatomytagger. Contact: sophia.ananiadou@manchester.ac.uk Supplementary Information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. PMID:24162468

An investigation into studying of the activated sludge foaming potential by using physicochemical parameters.

PubMed

Hladikova, K; Ruzickova, I; Klucova, P; Wanner, J

2002-01-01

This paper examines how the physicochemical characteristics of the solids are related to foam formation and describes how the foaming potential of full-scale plants can be assessed. The relations among activated sludge and biological foam hydrophobicity, scum index, aeration tank cover and filamentous population are evaluated. Individual parameter comparison reveals the scumming intensity can be estimated only on the assumption that foams is already established. None of the above mentioned characteristics can be reliably used to predict the foaming episodes at wastewater treatment plants.

The relationship between mean anomaly block sizes and spherical harmonic representations. [of earth gravity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rapp, R. H.

1977-01-01

The frequently used rule specifying the relationship between a mean gravity anomaly in a block whose side length is theta degrees and a spherical harmonic representation of these data to degree l-bar is examined in light of the smoothing parameter used by Pellinen (1966). It is found that if the smoothing parameter is not considered, mean anomalies computed from potential coefficients can be in error by about 30% of the rms anomaly value. It is suggested that the above mentioned rule should be considered only a crude approximation.

Abnormal Circulation Changes in the Winter Stratosphere, Detected Through Variations of D Region Ionospheric Absorption

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Delamorena, B. A.

1984-01-01

A method to detect stratospheric warmings using ionospheric absorption records obtained by an Absorption Meter (method A3) is introduced. The activity of the stratospheric circulation and the D region ionospheric absorption as well as other atmospheric parameters during the winter anomaly experience an abnormal variation. A simultaneity was found in the beginning of abnormal variation in the mentioned parameters, using the absorption records for detecting the initiation of the stratospheric warming. Results of this scientific experience of forecasting in the El Arenosillo Range, are presented.

76 FR 50223 - Notice To Change Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-08-12

...-mentioned grantees in their FY 2011 applications submitted under funding opportunity CDC-RFA-EH11-001... Domestic Assistance Number (CFDA): 93.070. Approximately $900,000 in funding will be awarded to the... information to the previously published funding opportunity announcement of EH11-001: Authority: Authorized...

Simple technique to treat pupillary capture after transscleral fixation of intraocular lens.

PubMed

Jürgens, Ignasi; Rey, Amanda

2015-01-01

We describe a simple surgical technique to manage pupillary capture after previous transscleral fixation of an intraocular lens. Neither author has a financial or proprietary interest in any material or method mentioned. Copyright © 2015 ASCRS and ESCRS. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Exploring Engaging Gamification Mechanics in Massive Online Open Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chang, Jen-Wei; Wei, Hung-Yu

2016-01-01

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have developed rapidly and become tremendously popular because of their plentiful gamification designs, such as reputation points, rewards, and goal setting. Although previous studies have mentioned a broad range of gamification designs that might influence MOOC learner engagement, most gamified MOOCs fail to…

Cassini's motions and resonant librations of synchronous satellites of big planets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barkin, Yu. V.

2008-09-01

Introduction. In the paper the rotations of synchronous satellites of the Jupiter, Saturn, Uran and Neptune are studied. On the base theory of resonant rotation of the rigid satellite on precessing elliptical orbit [1], [2] parameters of Cassini's motions and periods of free resonant librations have been determined for big grope of satellites of planets considered as rigid non-spherical bodies. Here I use observed values of coefficients of second harmonics of gravitational potensials ( 2 J and 22 C ) and of dimension less moment of inertia I = C / ?mr 2 ? of Io, Europa, Ganimede, Callisto and also Rhea and Titan, obtained on the base of data of space missions to these bodies [3]. Here C is the polar moment of inertia, m and r is the mass and the mean radius of satellite. Mentioned parameters 2 J , 22 C and I also have been evaluated for a wide set of another's satellites of big planets for their models as homogeneous ellipsoids of known forms and sizes (www.nasa.gov). These models also have been obtained here effective applications. For corresponding models the notation (e) is used here. For another from considered satellites (without indexes) we use also ellipsoidal models of hydrostatic equilibrium state of synchronous satellite [4]. The full list of discussed parameters for satellites of planets is presented in the paper [5]. Perturbed orbital motions of considered satellites we discribe by mean orbital elements reffered to local Laplacian planes of corresponding satellites ( http://ssd.jpl.nasa. gov/sat_elem. html). From them: the eccentricity ( e ), the inclination of orbit plane ( i ), the mean orbital motion and its period ( n and n T ), the angular velocity and period of preseccion of orbit plane of satellite on local Laplacian plane ( n? and T? ). In our approach all mentioned parameters are considered as constants and more fine effects in orbital motions of satellites do not take into account in this paper. The purpose of paper is to study syncronous motions of satellites in Solar system and for each of them to determine the values of the basic Cassini's parameter 0 ? (it is the average angle of inclination of the axis of rotation relatively to normal of the precessing orbit plane) and the periods of resonant librations in the longitude ( g T ), in the pole wobble ( l T ) and period of space precession ( h T ) (and their errors). Here we use the analytical formulas for mentioned parameters which were developed by study of the Moon Cassini's motion in my early papers [1], [2]. Specially for the case of small eccentricities and inclinations of orbits of synchronous satellites we have obtained the simple reduced formulas for all four considered parameters.

Cytokinesis-block micronucleus cytome assay parameters in peripheral blood lymphocytes of the general population: Contribution of age, sex, seasonal variations and lifestyle factors.

PubMed

Gajski, Goran; Gerić, Marko; Oreščanin, Višnja; Garaj-Vrhovac, Vera

2018-02-01

The cytokinesis-block micronucleus cytome (CBMN Cyt) assay was used to evaluate the baseline frequency of cytogenetic damage in peripheral blood lymphocytes of the general population (average age, 38.28 ± 12.83 years) in relation to age, sex, body mass index, seasonal variations (season of sampling, period of sampling and different meteorological parameters) and lifestyle factors (smoking habit, alcohol consumption, exposure to medications and diagnostic radiation, physical activity, and family history of cancer). The background frequency of micronuclei (MNi) for the 200 subjects assayed was 5.06 ± 3.11 per 1000 binucleated cells, while the mean frequency of nucleoplasmic bridges (NPBs) was 1.21 ± 1.46 and of nuclear buds (NBUDs) 3.48 ± 2.14. The background frequency of apoptosis and necrosis was 1.58 ± 1.50 and 1.39 ± 1.56, respectively, while the mean nuclear division index (NDI) was 1.99 ± 0.14. The cut-off value, which corresponds to the 95th percentile of the distribution of 200 individual values, was 11 MNi, 4 NPBs and 7 NBUDs. The study also confirmed an association of the above mentioned parameters with age, sex and several lifestyle factors. Moreover, significant confounders based on our results are also sampling season, sampling period and different meteorological parameters that were dependent on the CBMN Cyt assay parameters. In line with the above mentioned, several factors should be taken into account when it comes to the monitoring of exposed populations using cytogenetic biomarkers. Moreover, the normal and cut-off values obtained in this study present background data for the general population, and can later serve as baseline values for further biomonitoring studies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Literature mining of protein-residue associations with graph rules learned through distant supervision.

PubMed

Ravikumar, Ke; Liu, Haibin; Cohn, Judith D; Wall, Michael E; Verspoor, Karin

2012-10-05

We propose a method for automatic extraction of protein-specific residue mentions from the biomedical literature. The method searches text for mentions of amino acids at specific sequence positions and attempts to correctly associate each mention with a protein also named in the text. The methods presented in this work will enable improved protein functional site extraction from articles, ultimately supporting protein function prediction. Our method made use of linguistic patterns for identifying the amino acid residue mentions in text. Further, we applied an automated graph-based method to learn syntactic patterns corresponding to protein-residue pairs mentioned in the text. We finally present an approach to automated construction of relevant training and test data using the distant supervision model. The performance of the method was assessed by extracting protein-residue relations from a new automatically generated test set of sentences containing high confidence examples found using distant supervision. It achieved a F-measure of 0.84 on automatically created silver corpus and 0.79 on a manually annotated gold data set for this task, outperforming previous methods. The primary contributions of this work are to (1) demonstrate the effectiveness of distant supervision for automatic creation of training data for protein-residue relation extraction, substantially reducing the effort and time involved in manual annotation of a data set and (2) show that the graph-based relation extraction approach we used generalizes well to the problem of protein-residue association extraction. This work paves the way towards effective extraction of protein functional residues from the literature.

Semi-Supervised Recurrent Neural Network for Adverse Drug Reaction mention extraction.

PubMed

Gupta, Shashank; Pawar, Sachin; Ramrakhiyani, Nitin; Palshikar, Girish Keshav; Varma, Vasudeva

2018-06-13

Social media is a useful platform to share health-related information due to its vast reach. This makes it a good candidate for public-health monitoring tasks, specifically for pharmacovigilance. We study the problem of extraction of Adverse-Drug-Reaction (ADR) mentions from social media, particularly from Twitter. Medical information extraction from social media is challenging, mainly due to short and highly informal nature of text, as compared to more technical and formal medical reports. Current methods in ADR mention extraction rely on supervised learning methods, which suffer from labeled data scarcity problem. The state-of-the-art method uses deep neural networks, specifically a class of Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) which is Long-Short-Term-Memory network (LSTM). Deep neural networks, due to their large number of free parameters rely heavily on large annotated corpora for learning the end task. But in the real-world, it is hard to get large labeled data, mainly due to the heavy cost associated with the manual annotation. To this end, we propose a novel semi-supervised learning based RNN model, which can leverage unlabeled data also present in abundance on social media. Through experiments we demonstrate the effectiveness of our method, achieving state-of-the-art performance in ADR mention extraction. In this study, we tackle the problem of labeled data scarcity for Adverse Drug Reaction mention extraction from social media and propose a novel semi-supervised learning based method which can leverage large unlabeled corpus available in abundance on the web. Through empirical study, we demonstrate that our proposed method outperforms fully supervised learning based baseline which relies on large manually annotated corpus for a good performance.

Long term endurance test and contact degradation of CIGS solar cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ott, Thomas; Schönberger, Francillina; Walter, Thomas; Hariskos, Dimitrios; Kiowski, Oliver; Schäffler, Raymund

2013-09-01

CIGS is the most promising technology for thin-film solar cells with record efficiencies of 20.4 % on laboratory scale and 17.8 % aperture area efficiency on a 900 cm² module. Another important factor besides the cell efficiency is the reliability and long term stability of the manufactured modules, which can be assessed by accelerated ageing. In this contribution the accelerated ageing of CIGS mini modules has been investigated. Therefore, modules were dark annealed under dry heat conditions at different temperatures. During the endurance test a positive or negative bias was applied to the cells. In regular intervals the IV- and CV-characteristics were measured at room temperature. After an overall stress time of 3500 h the IV-characteristics were determined under different illumination conditions (intensity, spectral illumination). Our previous publications suggest a barrier at the back contact to explain the observed parameter drifts. This contribution is focused on the influence of different bias conditions during the endurance test on the generation of a back diode and on the change of the acceptor concentration. These parameter drifts have an impact on the open circuit voltage, fill factor and on the appearance of a cross over between dark and illuminated IV-characteristics. The interpretation of the observed parameter drifts was supported by SCAPS simulations based on the above mentioned back barrier model. As an outcome of the simulations signatures for the existence of a back barrier diode were established. IVmeasurements, temperature dependent Voc measurements and SunsVoc measurements are helpful means to detect such back diodes.

The ``exceptional'' earthquake of 3 January 1117 in the Verona area (northern Italy): A critical time review and detection of two lost earthquakes (lower Germany and Tuscany)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guidoboni, Emanuela; Comastri, Alberto; Boschi, Enzo

2005-12-01

In the seismological literature the 3 January 1117 earthquake represents an interesting case study, both for the sheer size of the area in which that event is recorded by the monastic sources of the 12th century, and for the amount of damage mentioned. The 1117 event has been added to the earthquake catalogues of up to five European countries (Italy, France, Belgium, Switzerland, the Iberian peninsula), and it is the largest historical earthquake for northern Italy. We have analyzed the monastic time system in the 12th century and, by means of a comparative analysis of the sources, have correlated the two shocks mentioned (in the night and in the afternoon of 3 January) to territorial effects, seeking to make the overall picture reported for Europe more consistent. The connection between the linguistic indications and the localization of the effects has allowed us to shed light, with a reasonable degree of approximation, upon two previously little known earthquakes, probably generated by a sequence of events. A first earthquake in lower Germany (I0 (epicentral intensity) VII-VIII MCS (Mercalli, Cancani, Sieberg), M 6.4) preceded the far more violent one in northern Italy (Verona area) by about 12-13 hours. The second event is the one reported in the literature. We have put forward new parameters for this Veronese earthquake (I0 IX MCS, M 7.0). A third earthquake is independently recorded in the northwestern area of Tuscany (Imax VII-VIII MCS), but for the latter event the epicenter and magnitude cannot be evaluated.

About normal distribution on SO(3) group in texture analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Savyolova, T. I.; Filatov, S. V.

2017-12-01

This article studies and compares different normal distributions (NDs) on SO(3) group, which are used in texture analysis. Those NDs are: Fisher normal distribution (FND), Bunge normal distribution (BND), central normal distribution (CND) and wrapped normal distribution (WND). All of the previously mentioned NDs are central functions on SO(3) group. CND is a subcase for normal CLT-motivated distributions on SO(3) (CLT here is Parthasarathy’s central limit theorem). WND is motivated by CLT in R 3 and mapped to SO(3) group. A Monte Carlo method for modeling normally distributed values was studied for both CND and WND. All of the NDs mentioned above are used for modeling different components of crystallites orientation distribution function in texture analysis.

The Societal and Ethical Implications of Nanotechnology: A Christian Response

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Foltz, Franz A.; Foltz, Frederick A.

2006-01-01

In the past two years, every magazine on the newsstands has featured nanotechnology. The articles usually speak of nanotech as the latest emerging platform technology that will substantially transform the material and social world, just as electricity and nuclear science did previously. What is usually not mentioned in these articles is reference…

Silver speciation and release in commercial antimicrobial textiles as influenced by washing

EPA Science Inventory

The use of nanoscale Ag in textiles is one the most often mentioned uses of nano-Ag. It has previously been shown that significant amounts of the Ag in the textiles are released upon washing. However, the form of Ag present in the textiles remains largely unknown as product label...

Indirect Ingratiation: Pleasing People by Associating Them with Successful Others and by Praising Their Associates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tal-Or, Nurit

2010-01-01

Most of the literature on impression management considers direct tactics such as self-promoting by mentioning personal achievements and ingratiating by complimenting others. These direct tactics can backfire if the target recognizes the hidden motive behind them. Therefore, people often use indirect impression management tactics. Previous research…

Drawing as Social Play: Shared Meaning-Making in Young Children's Collective Drawing Activities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kukkonen, Tiina; Chang-Kredl, Sandra

2018-01-01

The ability to construct shared meaning with peers is important for young children's social and linguistic development. Previous studies have mainly focused on shared meaning-making within cooperative pretend play with little mention of other childhood activities that might promote intersubjectivity. This study investigated the group play that…

[Modifications in treatment of tetanus and prognosis--observations from the Cracow Department of Infectious Diseases].

PubMed

Garlicki, A; Caban, J; Bociaga-Jasik, M; Kluba-Wojewoda, U; Krukowiecki, J

1999-01-01

The assessment of modifications in the tetanus treatment, which included using metronidazol and midazolam instead penicillin and diazepam, was presented. According to our own observations and previous investigations, mentioned above changes in the tetanus therapy improve survival rate, reduce psychiatric disturbances and shorten hospitalisation time.

Energy Systems Integration Newsletter - December 2016 | Energy Systems

Science.gov Websites

in New NSF Big Data Project for Smart Grids NREL is participating in a National Science Foundation control features of modern wind turbine generators. Frew presented research on wholesale market design and industry research. Previous work was cited in numerous European studies, and ERGIS was mentioned as an

Comment on autogenic training and hypertension.

PubMed

Sakai, M; Sato, T; Takeichi, M; Fakunishi, I

1997-06-01

We comment on a report by Watanabe, et al. regarding the effects of autogenic training on hypertension. Using previous reports in the United States, we mention methodological problems on how to evaluate the effects of autogenic training and express our hope that they would provide further research to clarify the effects of autogenic training on hypertension.

Coping strategies during and after spaceflight: Data from retired cosmonauts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suedfeld, Peter; Brcic, Jelena; Johnson, Phyllis J.; Gushin, Vadim

2015-05-01

Coping is a dynamic physiological and psychological process in response to perceived environmental stress that functions to restore physiological homeostasis and reduce negative affect [1]. Thematic content analysis was employed for references to 13 well-established coping strategies in interviews with 20 retired long-duration male cosmonauts. As in previous research with other space samples [2,3] the retired cosmonauts mentioned Problem-Oriented strategies more frequently than Emotion-Oriented ones. In the present sample, Seeking Social Support, Planful Problem Solving and Endurance/Obedience/Effort were the top three most mentioned coping strategies. Cosmonauts who had spent more than a year in space, compared to those who had spent less than a year, mentioned using Planful Problem Solving more as they recalled their career and retirement. Examining changes over time, spaceflight had a positive effect on Accepting Responsibility. Endurance/Obedience/Effort steadily decreased over time, while we found an inverted-U pattern for Distancing and Self-Control. Additional results in relation to other astronaut samples and the relationship between coping and post-flight growth are discussed.

Is volcanic phenomena of fractal nature?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quevedo, R.; Lopez, D. A. L.; Alparone, S.; Hernandez Perez, P. A.; Sagiya, T.; Barrancos, J.; Rodriguez-Santana, A. A.; Ramos, A.; Calvari, S.; Perez, N. M.

2016-12-01

A particular resonance waveform pattern has been detected beneath different physical volcano manifestations from recent 2011-2012 period of volcanic unrest at El Hierro Island, Canary Islands, and also from other worldwide volcanoes with different volcanic typology. This mentioned pattern appears to be a fractal time dependent waveform repeated in different time scales (periods of time). This time dependent feature suggests this resonance as a new approach to volcano phenomena for predicting such interesting matters as earthquakes, gas emission, deformation etc. as this fractal signal has been discovered hidden in a wide typical volcanic parameters measurements. It is known that the resonance phenomenon occurring in nature usually denote a structure, symmetry or a subjacent law (Fermi et al., 1952; and later -about enhanced cross-sections symmetry in protons collisions), which, in this particular case, may be indicative of some physical interactions showing a sequence not completely chaotic but cyclic provided with symmetries. The resonance and fractal model mentioned allowed the authors to make predictions in cycles from a few weeks to months. In this work an equation for this waveform has been described and also correlations with volcanic parameters and fractal behavior demonstration have been performed, including also some suggestive possible explanations of this signal origin.

Number-phase entropic squeezing and nonclassical properties of a three-level atom interacting with a two-mode field: intensity-dependent coupling, deformed Kerr medium, and detuning effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Faghihi, Mohammad Javad; Tavassoly, Mohammad Kazem

2013-11-01

In this paper, we follow our presented model in J. Opt. Soc. Am. B {\\bf 30}, 1109--1117 (2013), in which the interaction between a $\\Lambda$-type three-level atom and a quantized two-mode radiation field in a cavity in the presence of nonlinearities is studied. After giving a brief review on the procedure of obtaining the state vector of the atom-field system, some further interesting and important physical features (which are of particular interest in the quantum optics field of research) of the whole system state, i.e., the number-phase entropic uncertainty relation (based on the two-mode Pegg-Barnett formalism) and some of the nonclassicality signs consist of sub-Poissonian statistics, Cauchy-Schwartz inequality and two kinds of squeezing phenomenon are investigated. During our presentation, the effects of intensity-dependent coupling, deformed Kerr medium and the detuning parameters on the depth and domain of each of the mentioned nonclassical criteria of the considered quantum system are studied, in detail. It is shown that each of the mentioned nonclassicality aspects can be obtained by appropriately choosing the related parameters.

Fuzzy – PI controller to control the velocity parameter of Induction Motor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malathy, R.; Balaji, V.

2018-04-01

The major application of Induction motor includes the usage of the same in industries because of its high robustness, reliability, low cost, highefficiency and good self-starting capability. Even though it has the above mentioned advantages, it also have some limitations: (1) the standard motor is not a true constant-speed machine, itsfull-load slip varies less than 1 % (in high-horsepower motors).And (2) it is not inherently capable of providing variable-speedoperation. In order to solve the above mentioned problem smart motor controls and variable speed controllers are used. Motor applications involve non linearity features, which can be controlled by Fuzzy logic controller as it is capable of handling those features with high efficiency and it act similar to human operator. This paper presents individuality of the plant modelling. The fuzzy logic controller (FLC)trusts on a set of linguistic if-then rules, a rule-based Mamdani for closed loop Induction Motor model. Themotor model is designed and membership functions are chosenaccording to the parameters of the motor model. Simulation results contains non linearity in induction motor model. A conventional PI controller iscompared practically to fuzzy logic controller using Simulink.

Sequential associative memory with nonuniformity of the layer sizes.

PubMed

Teramae, Jun-Nosuke; Fukai, Tomoki

2007-01-01

Sequence retrieval has a fundamental importance in information processing by the brain, and has extensively been studied in neural network models. Most of the previous sequential associative memory embedded sequences of memory patterns have nearly equal sizes. It was recently shown that local cortical networks display many diverse yet repeatable precise temporal sequences of neuronal activities, termed "neuronal avalanches." Interestingly, these avalanches displayed size and lifetime distributions that obey power laws. Inspired by these experimental findings, here we consider an associative memory model of binary neurons that stores sequences of memory patterns with highly variable sizes. Our analysis includes the case where the statistics of these size variations obey the above-mentioned power laws. We study the retrieval dynamics of such memory systems by analytically deriving the equations that govern the time evolution of macroscopic order parameters. We calculate the critical sequence length beyond which the network cannot retrieve memory sequences correctly. As an application of the analysis, we show how the present variability in sequential memory patterns degrades the power-law lifetime distribution of retrieved neural activities.

[A survey of oral and maxillofacial surgery in China].

PubMed

2011-08-01

To understand the current status of the discipline and work out the developmental tactics of oral and maxillofacial surgery in China. A questionnaire on the status of oral and maxillofacial surgery was designed and dispatched to the departments of stomatology in general hospitals at the level of prefecture or higher, stomatological hospitals and schools of stomatology. The contents of the questionnaire included the scale, manpower, professional extent, amount of clinical work and professional training of oral and maxillofacial surgery. The current status was compared with the previous status 5 and 10 years ago. In the most institutions which were surveyed, the number of oral and maxillofacial surgeons, beds and out-patients increased, the professional extent enlarged, and the clinical level improved. However, the above-mentioned clinical parameters decreased in some basic level institutions. The number of graduate students and trainees of oral and maxillofacial surgery decreased in one-third of institutions. The discipline of oral and maxillofacial surgery is continuously developing, but it is weakened in some basic level institutions. An effective developmental tactics should be carried on to improve the competition capability of the discipline.

On the positronium spin conversion reactions caused by some macrocyclic Co II complexes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fantola-Lazzarini, Anna L.; Lazzarini, Ennio

2002-08-01

The rate constants, kCR, of ortho- into para-positronium ( o-Ps→ p-Ps) spin conversion reactions, CR, caused by the high-spin [Co IIsep] 2+, [Co IIdinosar] 2+ and [Co IIdiamsar] 2+ macrocyclic complexes and also by high-spin [Co II sen] 2+ tripod complex were measured at several temperatures. The delocalizations, β, of Co II unpaired electrons, promoted by the mentioned ligands, were determined by using the previously established correlations between kCR and the electron delocalization β of unpaired metal electrons. β is given by the ratio between the Racah inter-electronic repulsion parameters of complexes, B, and that of the free ions, B0. The β values are compared with those of the Co II complexes with en (1,2-ethanediamine), pn (1,2 propanediamine) and dien (2,2' diamino diethylamine) ligands. The kCR rate constants are also compared with those of the Ps oxidation reactions, OR, promoted by the corresponding Co III complexes. It is concluded that, unlike OR's, the CR's do not occur by formation of hepta-coordinate adducts with Ps atoms.

An analytical solution for Dean flow in curved ducts with rectangular cross section

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Norouzi, M.; Biglari, N.

2013-05-01

In this paper, a full analytical solution for incompressible flow inside the curved ducts with rectangular cross-section is presented for the first time. The perturbation method is applied to solve the governing equations and curvature ratio is considered as the perturbation parameter. The previous perturbation solutions are usually restricted to the flow in curved circular or annular pipes related to the overly complex form of solutions or singularity situation for flow in curved ducts with non-circular shapes of cross section. This issue specifies the importance of analytical studies in the field of Dean flow inside the non-circular ducts. In this study, the main flow velocity, stream function of lateral velocities (secondary flows), and flow resistance ratio in rectangular curved ducts are obtained analytically. The effect of duct curvature and aspect ratio on flow field is investigated as well. Moreover, it is important to mention that the current analytical solution is able to simulate the Taylor-Görtler and Dean vortices (vortices in stable and unstable situations) in curved channels.

Entropy corrected holographic dark energy models in modified gravity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jawad, Abdul; Azhar, Nadeem; Rani, Shamaila

We consider the power law and the entropy corrected holographic dark energy (HDE) models with Hubble horizon in the dynamical Chern-Simons modified gravity. We explore various cosmological parameters and planes in this framework. The Hubble parameter lies within the consistent range at the present and later epoch for both entropy corrected models. The deceleration parameter explains the accelerated expansion of the universe. The equation of state (EoS) parameter corresponds to quintessence and cold dark matter (ΛCDM) limit. The ωΛ-ωΛ‧ approaches to ΛCDM limit and freezing region in both entropy corrected models. The statefinder parameters are consistent with ΛCDM limit and dark energy (DE) models. The generalized second law of thermodynamics remain valid in all cases of interacting parameter. It is interesting to mention here that our results of Hubble, EoS parameter and ωΛ-ωΛ‧ plane show consistency with the present observations like Planck, WP, BAO, H0, SNLS and nine-year WMAP.

Computational investigations of trans-platinum(II) oxime complexes used as anticancer drug

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sayin, Koray; Karakaş, Duran

2018-01-01

Some platinum oxime complexes are optimized at HF/CEP-31G level which has been reported as the best level for these type complexes in the gas phase. IR spectrum is calculated and the new scale factor is derived. NMR spectrum is calculated at the same level of theory and examined in detail. Quantum chemical parameters which have been mainly used are investigated and their formulas are given in detail. Additionally, selected quantum chemical parameters of studied complexes are calculated. New theoretical IC50% formulas are derived and biological activity rankings of mentioned complexes are investigated.

Acceleration Disturbances onboard of Geodetic Precision Space Laboratories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peterseim, Nadja; Jakob, Flury; Schlicht, Anja

Bartlomiej Oszczak, b@dgps.pl University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Poland, Olsztyn, Poland Olga Maciejczyk, omaciejczyk@gmail.com Poland In this paper there is presented the study on the parameters of the ASG-EUPOS real-time RTK service NAWGEO such as: accuracy, availability, integrity and continuity. Author's model is used for tests. These parameters enable determination of the quality of received information and practical applications of the service. Paper includes also the subject related to the NAWGEO service and algorithms used in determination of mentioned parameters. The results of accuracy and precision analyses and study on availability demonstrated that NAWGEO service enables a user a position determination with a few centimeters accuracy with high probability in any moment of time.

Religious Education and Peace: An Overview and Response

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

King, Ursula

2007-01-01

This article provides some concluding reflections on religious education and peace-making in different countries in East and West (Indonesia, Korea, Japan, Israel, Spain, Germany, USA), as discussed in the previous papers of this volume. I mention the changed nature of modern forms of violence and war, so that peace is no longer just an option in…

Acute toxic nephropathies: clinical pathologic correlations.

PubMed

Muehrcke, R C; Volini, F I; Morris, A M; Moles, J B; Lawrence, A G

1976-01-01

Man's ever increasing exposure to numerous drugs and chemicals, which are the results of medical and industrial progress, produces a by-product of acute toxic nephropathies. These include acute toxic renal failure, drug-induced acute oliguric renal failure, acute hemorrhagic glomerulonephritis, nephrotic syndrome, tubular disturbances and potassium deficiency. In depth information is provided for the previously mentioned disorders.

How Can the European Foundation for Quality Management Excellence Model Contribute to the Development of a Leadership Doctrine for the Belgian Defense Force?

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-06-17

4 CHAPTER 2. ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP .........................................................7 Introduction ...D. O. Hebb Introduction As already mentioned in the previous chapter, the multitude of leadership approaches...Schwarzkopf, US Army Introduction The leadership literature review in this chapter will focus on the military organization and will build further

Development of an Imaging Fourier Transform Spectrometer

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-05-01

during multiple tests or concurrently applying many identical instrument systems to a single test. These difficult, expensive, and time-consuming...processes would introduce AEDC-TR-86-17 uncertainties due to nonstationary sources and instrument instability associated with multiple firings or... multiple instruments. For even moderate spatial, spectral, and temporal resolution, none of the previously mentioned approaches is reasonable. The

Drill Cuttings-based Methodology to Optimize Multi-stage Hydraulic Fracturing in Horizontal Wells and Unconventional Gas Reservoirs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ortega Mercado, Camilo Ernesto

Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques have become almost mandatory technologies for economic exploitation of unconventional gas reservoirs. Key to commercial success is minimizing the risk while drilling and hydraulic fracturing these wells. Data collection is expensive and as a result this is one of the first casualties during budget cuts. As a result complete data sets in horizontal wells are nearly always scarce. In order to minimize the data scarcity problem, the research addressed throughout this thesis concentrates on using drill cuttings, an inexpensive direct source of information, for developing: 1) A new methodology for multi-stage hydraulic fracturing optimization of horizontal wells without any significant increases in operational costs. 2) A new method for petrophysical evaluation in those wells with limited amount of log information. The methods are explained using drill cuttings from the Nikanassin Group collected in the Deep Basin of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (WCSB). Drill cuttings are the main source of information for the proposed methodology in Item 1, which involves the creation of three 'log tracks' containing the following parameters for improving design of hydraulic fracturing jobs: (a) Brittleness Index, (b) Measured Permeability and (c) An Indicator of Natural Fractures. The brittleness index is primarily a function of Poisson's ratio and Young Modulus, parameters that are obtained from drill cuttings and sonic logs formulations. Permeability is measured on drill cuttings in the laboratory. The indication of natural fractures is obtained from direct observations on drill cuttings under the microscope. Drill cuttings are also the main source of information for the new petrophysical evaluation method mentioned above in Item 2 when well logs are not available. This is important particularly in horizontal wells where the amount of log data is almost non-existent in the vast majority of the wells. By combining data from drill cuttings and previously available empirical relationships developed from cores it is possible to estimate water saturations, pore throat apertures, capillary pressures, flow units, porosity (or cementation) exponent m, true formation resistivity Rt, distance to a water table (if present), and to distinguish the contributions of viscous and diffusion-like flow in the tight gas formation. The method further allows the construction of Pickett plots using porosity and permeability obtained from drill cuttings, without previous availability of well logs. The method assumes the existence of intervals at irreducible water saturation, which is the case of the Nikanassin Group throughout the gas column. The new methods mentioned above are not meant to replace the use of detailed and sophisticated evaluation techniques. But the proposed methods provide a valuable and practical aid in those cases where geomechanical and petrophysical information are scarce.

AI Tools for Foreign Language Training

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-07-01

certain of the four basic language skills (reading, writing, speak- ing, hearing ) are supported in this envircnmnnt. hile this argument is valid, we... skills . While this paper will not review the psycholinguistic parameters pertaining to foreign language learning, we mention it as cne of the essential...Institute Technologies for Skill Acquisition and Retention Technical Area Zita M. Simutis, Chief Training Research Laboratory Jack H. HiJler, Director U.S

Accuracy of modal wavefront estimation from eye transverse aberration measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chyzh, Igor H.; Sokurenko, Vyacheslav M.

2001-01-01

The influence of random errors in measurement of eye transverse aberrations on the accuracy of reconstructing wave aberration as well as ametropia and astigmatism parameters is investigated. The dependence of mentioned errors on a ratio between the number of measurement points and the number of polynomial coefficients is found for different pupil location of measurement points. Recommendations are proposed for setting these ratios.

Incidence and diagnosis of anosognosia for hemiparesis revisited

PubMed Central

Baier, B; Karnath, H

2005-01-01

Background: In previous studies, the incidence of anosognosia for hemiparesis has varied between 17% and 58% in samples of brain damaged patients with hemiparesis. Objective: To determine whether this wide variation might be explained by the different criteria used for diagnosing anosognosia. Methods: 128 acute stroke patients with hemiparesis or hemiplegia were tested for anosognosia for hemiparesis using the anosognosia scale of Bisiach et al. Results: 94% of the patients who were rated as having "mild anosognosia"—that is, they did not acknowledge their hemiparesis spontaneously following a general question about their complaints—suffered from, and mentioned, other neurological deficits such as dysarthria, ptosis, or headache. However, they immediately acknowledged their paresis when they were asked about the strength of their limbs. Their other deficits clearly had a greater impact. These patients had significantly milder paresis than those who denied their disorder even when asked directly about their limbs. Conclusions: Patients who do not mention their paresis spontaneously but do so when questioned about it directly should not be diagnosed having "anosognosia." If this more conservative cut off criterion is applied to the data of the present as well as previous studies, a frequency of between 10% and 18% for anosognosia for hemiparesis is obtained in unselected samples of acute hemiparetic stroke patients. The incidence thus seems smaller than previously assumed. PMID:15716526

Palliative care nursing involvement in end-of-life decision-making: Qualitative secondary analysis.

PubMed

Hernández-Marrero, Pablo; Fradique, Emília; Pereira, Sandra Martins

2018-01-01

Nurses are the largest professional group in healthcare and those who make more decisions. In 2014, the Committee on Bioethics of the Council of Europe launched the "Guide on the decision-making process regarding medical treatment in end-of-life situations" (hereinafter, Guide), aiming at improving decision-making processes and empowering professionals in making end-of-life decisions. The Guide does not mention nurses explicitly. To analyze the ethical principles most valued by nurses working in palliative care when making end-of-life decisions and investigate if they are consistent with the framework and recommendations of the Guide; to identify what disputed/controversial issues are more frequent in these nurses' current end-of-life care practices. Qualitative secondary analysis. Participants/context: Three qualitative datasets including 32 interviews from previous studies with nurses working in palliative care in Portugal. Ethical consideration: Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethics Research Lab of the Instituto de Bioética (Ethics Research Lab of the Institute of Bioethics) (Ref.04.2015). Ethical procedures are thoroughly described. All participant nurses referred to autonomy as an ethical principle paramount in end-of-life decision-making. They were commonly involved in end-of-life decision-making. Palliative sedation and communication were the most mentioned disputed/controversial issues. Autonomy was highly valued in end-of-life care and decision-making. Nurses expressed major concerns in assessing patients' preferences, wishes, and promoting advance care planning. Nurses working in palliative care in Portugal were highly involved in end-of-life decision-making. These processes embraced a collective, inclusive approach. Palliative sedation was the most mentioned disputed issue, which is aligned with previous findings. Communication also emerged as a sensitive ethical issue; it is surprising, however, that only three nurses referred to it. While the Guide does not explicitly mention nurses in its content, this study shows that nurses working in palliative care in Portugal are involved in these processes. Further research is needed on nurses' involvement and practices in end-of-life decision-making.

Global Source Parameters from Regional Spectral Ratios for Yield Transportability Studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Phillips, W. S.; Fisk, M. D.; Stead, R. J.; Begnaud, M. L.; Rowe, C. A.

2016-12-01

We use source parameters such as moment, corner frequency and high frequency rolloff as constraints in amplitude tomography, ensuring that spectra of well-studied earthquakes are recovered using the ensuing attenuation and site term model. We correct explosion data for path and site effects using such models, which allows us to test transportability of yield estimation techniques based on our best source spectral estimates. To develop a background set of source parameters, we applied spectral ratio techniques to envelopes of a global set of regional distance recordings from over 180,000 crustal events. Corner frequencies and moment ratios were determined via inversion using all event pairs within predetermined clusters, shifting to absolute levels using independently determined regional and teleseismic moments. The moment and corner frequency results can be expressed as stress drop, which has considerable scatter, yet shows dramatic regional patterns. We observe high stress in subduction zones along S. America, S. Mexico, the Banda Sea, and associated with the Yakutat Block in Alaska. We also observe high stress at the Himalayan syntaxes, the Pamirs, eastern Iran, the Caspian, the Altai-Sayan, and the central African rift. Low stress is observed along mid ocean spreading centers, the Afar rift, patches of convergence zones such as Nicaragua, the Zagros, Tibet, and the Tien Shan, among others. Mine blasts appear as low stress events due to their low corners and steep rolloffs. Many of these anomalies have been noted by previous studies, and we plan to compare results directly. As mentioned, these results will be used to constrain tomographic imaging, but can also be used in model validation procedures similar to the use of ground truth in location problems, and, perhaps most importantly, figure heavily in quality control of local and regional distance amplitude measurements.

Reconstructing the Sky Location of Gravitational-Wave Detected Compact Binary Systems: Methodology for Testing and Comparison

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sidney, T.; Aylott, B.; Christensen, N.; Farr, B.; Farr, W.; Feroz, F.; Gair, J.; Grover, K.; Graff, P.; Hanna, C.;

Reconstructing the sky location of gravitational-wave detected compact binary systems: Methodology for testing and comparison

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sidery, T.; Aylott, B.; Christensen, N.; Farr, B.; Farr, W.; Feroz, F.; Gair, J.; Grover, K.; Graff, P.; Hanna, C.; Kalogera, V.; Mandel, I.; O'Shaughnessy, R.; Pitkin, M.; Price, L.; Raymond, V.; Röver, C.; Singer, L.; van der Sluys, M.; Smith, R. J. E.; Vecchio, A.; Veitch, J.; Vitale, S.

2014-04-01

The problem of reconstructing the sky position of compact binary coalescences detected via gravitational waves is a central one for future observations with the ground-based network of gravitational-wave laser interferometers, such as Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo. Different techniques for sky localization have been independently developed. They can be divided in two broad categories: fully coherent Bayesian techniques, which are high latency and aimed at in-depth studies of all the parameters of a source, including sky position, and "triangulation-based" techniques, which exploit the data products from the search stage of the analysis to provide an almost real-time approximation of the posterior probability density function of the sky location of a detection candidate. These techniques have previously been applied to data collected during the last science runs of gravitational-wave detectors operating in the so-called initial configuration. Here, we develop and analyze methods for assessing the self consistency of parameter estimation methods and carrying out fair comparisons between different algorithms, addressing issues of efficiency and optimality. These methods are general, and can be applied to parameter estimation problems other than sky localization. We apply these methods to two existing sky localization techniques representing the two above-mentioned categories, using a set of simulated inspiral-only signals from compact binary systems with a total mass of ≤20M⊙ and nonspinning components. We compare the relative advantages and costs of the two techniques and show that sky location uncertainties are on average a factor ≈20 smaller for fully coherent techniques than for the specific variant of the triangulation-based technique used during the last science runs, at the expense of a factor ≈1000 longer processing time.

'It's going to shorten your life': framing of oncologist-patient communication about prognosis.

PubMed

Rodriguez, Keri L; Gambino, Frank J; Butow, Phyllis N; Hagerty, Rebecca G; Arnold, Robert M

2008-03-01

In this qualitative study, we used grounded theory techniques to analyze transcripts of 29 first-time encounters between oncologists and patients referred to them with previously diagnosed, incurable cancer. We found that 23 (79%) of the transcripts included 166 examples of prognostic talk. The language used ranged from general to personal, with 25% of statements mentioning no patients (e.g., 'the tumor will usually come back'), 13% mentioning patients other than the current patient (e.g., 'some patients with tumor response will be around for 2-5 years'), 11% mentioning the current patient in the context of others (e.g., 'on average, people like you live a couple of years'), and 51% directly focusing on the patient (e.g., 'this thing's going to kill you eventually'). More statements pertained to treatment-related prognosis than to disease-related prognosis (67 versus 33%). While 31% of statements focused on negative outcomes (loss framing), the remainder either focused on positive outcomes (gain framing) or discussed a combination of positive and negative outcomes (mixed framing). When discussions focused on negative outcomes, general and indirect language was commonly used, perhaps to buffer the patient from news of the poor prognosis. (c) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

A rule-based named-entity recognition method for knowledge extraction of evidence-based dietary recommendations

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Evidence-based dietary information represented as unstructured text is a crucial information that needs to be accessed in order to help dietitians follow the new knowledge arrives daily with newly published scientific reports. Different named-entity recognition (NER) methods have been introduced previously to extract useful information from the biomedical literature. They are focused on, for example extracting gene mentions, proteins mentions, relationships between genes and proteins, chemical concepts and relationships between drugs and diseases. In this paper, we present a novel NER method, called drNER, for knowledge extraction of evidence-based dietary information. To the best of our knowledge this is the first attempt at extracting dietary concepts. DrNER is a rule-based NER that consists of two phases. The first one involves the detection and determination of the entities mention, and the second one involves the selection and extraction of the entities. We evaluate the method by using text corpora from heterogeneous sources, including text from several scientifically validated web sites and text from scientific publications. Evaluation of the method showed that drNER gives good results and can be used for knowledge extraction of evidence-based dietary recommendations. PMID:28644863

Method of determining operation parameters of stand tests of vehicle suspension elements under conditions of ultra-low temperatures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fedyanov, E. A.; Sokolov-Dobrev, N. S.; Ljashenko, M. V.; Shekhovtsov, V. V.; Potapov, P. V.; Dolotov, A. A.; Klementiev, E. V.

2018-05-01

This article presents the description of the method for estimation of heat flows characteristic during research of operability of suspension elements under the conditions of ultralow temperature. The mentioned research is performed at the test bench created in VSTU. Solid carbon dioxide (also known as artificial ice) is used as the coolant. The method provides evaluation of required quantity of artificial ice and cooling dynamics of the test unit in the insulated low-temperature chamber with structurally specified parameters of heat insulation. Also the method allows computation of heat intake into the chamber volume.

UV Detector Materials Development Program

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-12-01

document. UNCLASSIFIED SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF THIr odkE ’Whe Date Entered) READ INSTRUCTIONS REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE BEFORE COMPLETING FORM 1... collection efficiency within the detector (internal quantum efficiency). As mentioned previously, it was found that reverse biasing the Schottky diodes...the ratio of the number of carriers collected in the detector versus the number of photons entering into the absorbing region. It is, therefore

A Miniature Electromechanical Generator Design Utilizing Human Motion

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-09-01

Inductance Operating Range In the previous chapter, it was mentioned that the EMF induced from the generator was related to a time-changing magnetic...ELECTROMECHANICAL GENERATOR DESIGN UTILIZING HUMAN MOTION by Nicholas G. Hoffman September 2010 Thesis Co-Advisors: Alexander L. Julian...AND DATES COVERED Master’s Thesis 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE A Miniature Electromechanical Generator Design Utilizing Human Motion 5. FUNDING NUMBERS

78 FR 28495 - Safety Zone; Safety Precautions to Protect the Public from the Effects of a Potential...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-15

... Folder on the line associated with this rulemaking. You may also visit the Docket Management Facility in... the Port Lake Michigan. That safety zone has been effective and enforced since April 18, 2013, and... previously-mentioned safety zones on the Illinois River from Mile Marker 187.2 to Mile Marker 285.9. Since...

Enhancing Decision Performance

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-07-09

ecological importance, such as affect. Zajonc (1980) argued that emotional responses are often the most automatic and consequently guide behaviour and...reflected by the Yerkes-Dodson law (Hardy, & Hayes, 1996), emotions can change cognitions, often for longer than the event that provoked the emotion ...Lerner, & Keltner , 2001). As previously mentioned, time pressure induces a feeling of stress and it is considered by some that stress is an inherent

Quantum chemical investigation of levofloxacin-boron complexes: A computational approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sayin, Koray; Karakaş, Duran

2018-04-01

Quantum chemical calculations are performed over some boron complexes with levofloxacin. Boron complex with fluorine atoms are optimized at three different methods (HF, B3LYP and M062X) with 6-31 + G(d) basis set. The best level is determined as M062X/6-31 + G(d) by comparison of experimental and calculated results of complex (1). The other complexes are optimized by using the best level. Structural properties, IR and NMR spectrum are examined in detail. Biological activities of mentioned complexes are investigated by some quantum chemical descriptors and molecular docking analyses. As a result, biological activities of complex (2) and (4) are close to each other and higher than those of other complexes. Additionally, NLO properties of mentioned complexes are investigated by some quantum chemical parameters. It is found that complex (3) is the best candidate for NLO applications.

Preparation, structure and superconductivity of high T(c) compounds: Research of high temperature superconductors in Hungary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kirschner, I.

1995-01-01

In this paper the main directions, methods and results of the investigation of high-T(c) superconductors in Hungary are briefly summarized. The fundamental idea of this research is to study the effect of starting conditions on the microstructure of samples and the influence of the latter one on their superconducting parameters. The investigation concerning technical development is also mentioned.

Acoustical and Other Physical Properties of Marine Sediments

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-01-01

Granular Structure of Rocks 4. Anisotropic Poroelasticity and Biot’s Parameters PART 1 A simple analytical model has been developed to describe the...mentioned properties. PART 4 Prediction of wave propagation in a submarine environment re- quires modeling the acoustic response of ocean bottom...Biot’s theory is a promising approach for modelling acoustic wave propa- gation in ocean sediments which generally consist of elastic or viscoelastic

Changes in the gait characteristics caused by external load, ground slope and velocity variation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mrozowski, Jerzy; Awrejcewicz, Jan

2011-05-01

The complexity of the human gait manifests itself by lots of parameters that can evoke different changes in the walking manner. They can be divided into two groups: inherent, like anthropometric features or peculiar psychomotor type, and those related to the external conditions. The aim of the paper is to analyze the influence of three parameters, i.e. external load, ground slope and gait velocity, on the locomotion characteristics and the gait stability. Within the framework of investigations for different values of the mentioned parameters a film registration of the trajectories of selected kinematic nodes during some gait cycles has been carried out. The obtained data was a subject of numerical calculation aimed at extracting the essential properties of the principal gait characteristics.

Polymer-mediated nanorod self-assembly predicted by dissipative particle dynamics simulations.

PubMed

Khani, Shaghayegh; Jamali, Safa; Boromand, Arman; Hore, Michael J A; Maia, Joao

2015-09-14

Self-assembly of nanoparticles in polymer matrices is an interesting and growing subject in the field of nanoscience and technology. We report herein on modelling studies of the self-assembly and phase behavior of nanorods in a homopolymer matrix, with the specific goal of evaluating the role of deterministic entropic and enthalpic factors that control the aggregation/dispersion in such systems. Grafting polymer brushes from the nanorods is one approach to control/impact their self-assembly capabilities within a polymer matrix. From an energetic point of view, miscible interactions between the brush and the matrix are required for achieving a better dispersibility; however, grafting density and brush length are the two important parameters in dictating the morphology. Unlike in previous computational studies, the present Dissipative Particle Dynamics (DPD) simulation framework is able to both predict dispersion or aggregation of nanorods and determine the self-assembled structure, allowing for the determination of a phase diagram, which takes all of these factors into account. Three types of morphologies are predicted: dispersion, aggregation and partial aggregation. Moreover, favorable enthalpic interactions between the brush and the matrix are found to be essential for expanding the window for achieving a well-dispersed morphology. A three-dimensional phase diagram is mapped on which all the afore-mentioned parameters are taken into account. Additionally, in the case of immiscibility between brushes and the matrix, simulations predict the formation of some new and tunable structures.

Systematic Investigation on the Influence of Spray Parameters on the Mechanical Properties of Atmospheric Plasma-Sprayed YSZ Coatings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mutter, Markus; Mauer, Georg; Mücke, Robert; Guillon, Olivier; Vaßen, Robert

2018-04-01

In the atmospheric plasma spray (APS) process, micro-sized ceramic powder is injected into a thermal plasma where it is rapidly heated and propelled toward the substrate. The coating formation is characterized by the subsequent impingement of a large number of more or less molten particles forming the so-called splats and eventually the coating. In this study, a systematic investigation on the influence of selected spray parameters on the coating microstructure and the coating properties was conducted. The investigation thereby comprised the coating porosity, the elastic modulus, and the residual stress evolution within the coating. The melting status of the particles at the impingement on the substrate in combination with the substrate surface condition is crucial for the coating formation. Single splats were collected on mirror-polished substrates for selected spray conditions and evaluated by identifying different types of splats (ideal, distorted, weakly bonded, and partially molten) and their relative fractions. In a previous study, these splat types were evaluated in terms of their effect on the above-mentioned coating properties. The particle melting status, which serves as a measure for the particle spreading behavior, was determined by in-flight particle temperature measurements and correlated to the coating properties. It was found that the gun power and the spray distance have a strong effect on the investigated coating properties, whereas the feed rate and the cooling show minor influence.

The 2ν6/ν2 + ν3/ν3 + ν5 band system of CH3Br revisited: Modeling anharmonic and Coriolis interactions in a three-level system near 2000 cm-1

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ceausu-Velcescu, Adina; Kwabia Tchana, Fridolin; Landsheere, Xavier

2018-06-01

The 2ν6 (A1 + E)/ν2 + ν3 (A1)/ν3 + ν5 (E) band system of CH3Br, near 2000 cm-1, has been studied, for both 79Br and 81Br isotopologues, using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, with a resolution of 0.003 cm-1. This band system, revealing anharmonic (Δk = Δl = 0) and Coriolis (Δk = Δl = ± 1) interactions, has been analyzed through a least-squares fit of more than 3000 transitions, for each isotopologue. More than 600 transitions belonging to the very weak ν3 + ν5 combination band were assigned for the first time, for both CH379Br and CH381Br isotopologues. Assignments of the weak 2 ν60 parallel band, which is Fermi-interacting with ν2 + ν3, were also considerably extended with respect to a previous high-resolution study (Najib et al., 1985), thanks to a more accurate knowledge of the Fermi coupling parameters and of the relative positions of the interacting levels. The least-squares fits provided quantitative reproduction of all data belonging to the four above mentioned bands. Moreover, the Coriolis coupling parameters obtained for the ν2 + ν3/ν3 + ν5 interacting bands show a remarkable consistency with those obtained for the ν2/ν5 'fundamental' system (Kwabia Tchana et al., 2004).

Yang-Mills correlators across the deconfinement phase transition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reinosa, U.; Serreau, J.; Tissier, M.; Tresmontant, A.

2017-02-01

We compute the finite temperature ghost and gluon propagators of Yang-Mills theory in the Landau-DeWitt gauge. The background field that enters the definition of the latter is intimately related with the (gauge-invariant) Polyakov loop and serves as an equivalent order parameter for the deconfinement transition. We use an effective gauge-fixed description where the nonperturbative infrared dynamics of the theory is parametrized by a gluon mass which, as argued elsewhere, may originate from the Gribov ambiguity. In this scheme, one can perform consistent perturbative calculations down to infrared momenta, which have been shown to correctly describe the phase diagram of Yang-Mills theories in four dimensions as well as the zero-temperature correlators computed in lattice simulations. In this article, we provide the one-loop expressions of the finite temperature Landau-DeWitt ghost and gluon propagators for a large class of gauge groups and present explicit results for the SU(2) case. These are substantially different from those previously obtained in the Landau gauge, which corresponds to a vanishing background field. The nonanalyticity of the order parameter across the transition is directly imprinted onto the propagators in the various color modes. In the SU(2) case, this leads, for instance, to a cusp in the electric and magnetic gluon susceptibilities as well as similar signatures in the ghost sector. We mention the possibility that such distinctive features of the transition could be measured in lattice simulations in the background field gauge studied here.

Methyltestosterone-induced cholestasis. The importance of disproportionately low serum alkaline phosphatase level.

PubMed

Borhan-Manesh, F; Farnum, J B

1989-09-01

We describe a 64-year-old man who developed cholestatic jaundice after receiving 20 to 40 mg of methyltestosterone daily for 6 months for impotence but failed to mention it as part of his drug history. He underwent endoscopic retrograde and papillotomy before a positive history for methyltestosterone ingestion could be obtained. Since methyltestosterone is most often used for sexual impotence, the patient may be quite reluctant to mention this hormone as part of his medication. A normal or mildly elevated alkaline phosphatase level, disproportionate to the level of hyperbilirubinemia seen in this patient and in all previous reports, appears to be characteristic of this phenomenon. This pattern of liver function abnormality can be a clue to suspect methyltestosterone as the causative agent and spare the patient unneeded expensive noninvasive and potentially harmful invasive procedures.

REVEALING THE ASYMMETRY OF THE WIND OF THE VARIABLE WOLF-RAYET STAR WR1 (HD 4004) THROUGH SPECTROPOLARIZATION

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

St-Louis, N., E-mail: stlouis@astro.umontreal.ca

In this paper, high quality spectropolarimetric observations of the Wolf-Rayet (WR) star WR1 (HD 4004) obtained with ESPaDOnS at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope are presented. All major emission lines present in the spectrum show depolarization in the relative Stokes parameters Q/I and U/I. From the behavior of the amount of line depolarization as a function of line strength, the intrinsic continuum light polarization of WR1 is estimated to be P/I = 0.443% ± 0.028% with an angle of θ = –26.°2. Although such a level of polarization could in principle be caused by a wind flattened by fast rotation, the scenariomore » in which it is a consequence of the presence of corotating interaction regions (CIRs) in the wind is preferred. This is supported by previous photometric and spectroscopic observations showing periodic variations with a period of 16.9 days. This is now the third WR star thought to exhibit CIRs in its wind that is found to have line depolarization. Previous authors have found a strong correlation between line depolarization and the presence of an ejected nebula, which they interpret as a sign that the star has relatively recently reached the WR phase since the nebula are thought to dissipate very fast. In cases where the presence of CIRs in the wind is favored to explain the depolarization across spectral lines, the above-mentioned correlation may indicate that those massive stars have only very recently transited from the previous evolutionary phase to the WR phase.« less

Post-flight BET products for the 2nd discovery entry, STS-19 (51-A)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kelly, G. M.; Mcconnell, J. G.; Heck, M. L.; Troutman, P. A.; Waters, L. A.; Findlay, J. T.

1985-01-01

The post-flight products for the second Discovery flight, STS-19 (51-A), are summarized. The inertial best estimate trajectory (BET), BT19D19/UN=169750N, was developed using spacecraft dynamic measurements from Inertial Measurement Unit 2 (IMU2) in conjunction with the best tracking coverage available for any of the earlier Shuttle entries. As a consequence of the latter, an anchor epoch was selected which conforms to an initial altitude of greater than a million feet. The Extended BET, ST19BET/UN=274885C, incorporated the previously mentioned inertial reconstructed state information and the Langley Atmospheric Information Retrieval System (LAIRS) atmosphere, ST19MET/UN=712662N, with some minor exceptions. Primary and back-up AEROBET reels are NK0165 and NK0201, respectively. This product was only developed over the lowermost 360 kft altitude range due to atmosphere problems but this relates to altitudes well above meaningful signal in the IMUs. Summary results generated from the AEROBET for this flight are presented with meaningful configuration and statistical comparisons from the previous thirteen flights. Modified maximum likelihood estimation (MMLE) files were generated based on IMU2 and the Rate Gyro Assembly/Accelerometer Assembly (RGA/AA), respectively. Appendices attached define spacecraft and physical constants utilized, show plots of the final tracking data residuals from the post-flight fit, list relevant parameters from the BET at a two second spacing, and retain for archival purpose all relevant input and output tapes and files generated.

Andragogy, Organization, and Implementation Concerns for Gaming as an Instructional Tool in the Community College

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, Vance S.

2011-01-01

As this and previous editions of "New Directions for Community Colleges" have argued, digital skills are necessary. Our future economy will be based on them, but there is no consensus on which skills to teach. Many talk about Web 2.0 skills, familiarity with software, and critical thinking skills, yet few mention the potential of video games in…

Assignment Scheduling Capability for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles - A Discrete Event Simulation with Optimization in the Loop Approach to Solving a Scheduling Problem

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-12-01

APPROACH As mentioned previously, ASCU does not use simulation in the traditional manner. Instead, it uses simulation to transition and capture the state...0 otherwise (by a heuristic discussed below). • Let cja = The reward for a UAV with sensor pack- age j being assigned to mission area a from the

The relevance of the whitecapping term in wave forecasting. An analysis for the wave period of the Catalan coast.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pallares, Elena; Espino, Manuel; Sánchez-Arcilla, Agustín

2013-04-01

The Catalan Coast is located in the North Western Mediterranean Sea. It is a region with highly heterogeneous wind and wave conditions, characterized by a microtidal environment, and economically very dependent from the sea and the coastal zone activities. Because some of the main coastal conflicts and management problems occur within a few kilometers of the land-ocean boundary, the level of resolution and accuracy from meteo-oceanographic predictions required is not currently available. The current work is focused on improving high resolution wave forecasting very near the coast. The SWAN wave model is used to simulate the waves in the area, and various buoy data and field campaigns are used to validate the results. The simulations are structured in four different domains covering all the North Western Mediterranean Sea, with a grid resolution from 9 km to 250 meters in coastal areas. Previous results show that the significant wave height is almost always underpredicted in this area, and the underprediction is higher during storm events. However, the error in the peak period and the mean period is almost always constantly under predicted with a bias between one and two seconds, plus some residual error. This systematic error represents 40% of the total error. To improve the initial results, the whiteccaping dissipation term is studied and modified. In the SWAN model, the whitecapping is mainly controlled by the steepness of the waves. Although the by default parameter is not depending on the wave number, there is a new formulation in the last SWAN version (40.81) to include it in the calculations. Previous investigations show that adjusting the dependence for the wave number improved the predictions for the wave energy at lower frequencies, solving the underprediction of the period mentioned before. In the present work different simulations are developed to calibrate the new formulation, obtaining important improvements in the results. For the significant wave height, the results are only modified during the storm events, when the wave height is higher. The main improvement is shown in the period, with a reduction of the bias mentioned before from -1.45 to 0.19 seconds on average for the more coastal locations.

Antimicrobial Activity and Physicochemical Properties of Calcium Hydroxide Pastes Used as Intracanal Medication.

PubMed

Zancan, Rafaela Fernandes; Vivan, Rodrigo Ricci; Milanda Lopes, Marcelo Ribeiro; Weckwerth, Paulo Henrique; de Andrade, Flaviana Bombarda; Ponce, José Burgos; Duarte, Marco Antonio Hungaro

2016-12-01

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the pH, calcium release, solubility, and antimicrobial action against biofilms of calcium hydroxide + saline solution, Calen (SS White Artigos Dentários Ltd, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) (CH/P), Calen camphorated paramonochlorophenol (CMCP) (CH/CMPC), and calcium hydroxide + chlorhexidine (CH/CHX) pastes. The pH of the pastes was determined with a calibrated pH meter placed in direct contact with each paste. The root canals of acrylic teeth (N = 10) were filled with the previously mentioned intracanal dressings and immersed in ultrapure water to measure hydroxyl (pH meter) and calcium ion release (atomic absorption spectrophotometer) at time intervals of 3, 7, 15, and 30 days. To assess solubility, the root canals of acrylic teeth (N = 10) were filled with the previously mentioned pastes and scanned by micro-computed tomographic imaging before (initial) and after 7, 15, and 30 days of immersion in ultrapure water. The solubility of each specimen was the difference between the initial and final volume scanning. For antimicrobial analysis, monospecies and dual-species biofilms were in vitro induced on dentin blocks (N = 20). Afterward, they were treated with the pastes for 7 days. Live/dead dye and a confocal microscope were used to measure the percentage of living cells. Data were statistically compared (P < .05). The highest OH - ion release values were found in 3 and 30 days. Ca 2+ releases were greater in CH/CMCP. CH/P and CH/CMCP showed a higher percentage of volume loss values. CH/CHX presented the greatest antimicrobial action. CH/P and CH/CMPC showed higher solubility values in the period analyzed. Seven days of contact may be insufficient for calcium hydroxide + saline solution, CH/P, and CH/CMCP pastes to kill bacterial cells in the biofilms studied. Chlorhexidine added to CH favored greater effectiveness against the previously mentioned bacterial biofilms. Copyright © 2016 American Association of Endodontists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Update on the endorsement of CONSORT by high impact factor journals: a survey of journal "Instructions to Authors" in 2014.

PubMed

Shamseer, Larissa; Hopewell, Sally; Altman, Douglas G; Moher, David; Schulz, Kenneth F

2016-06-24

The CONsolidated Standards Of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) Statement provides a minimum standard set of items to be reported in published clinical trials; it has received widespread recognition within the biomedical publishing community. This research aims to provide an update on the endorsement of CONSORT by high impact medical journals. We performed a cross-sectional examination of the online "Instructions to Authors" of 168 high impact factor (2012) biomedical journals between July and December 2014. We assessed whether the text of the "Instructions to Authors" mentioned the CONSORT Statement and any CONSORT extensions, and we quantified the extent and nature of the journals' endorsements of these. These data were described by frequencies. We also determined whether journals mentioned trial registration and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE; other than in regards to trial registration) and whether either of these was associated with CONSORT endorsement (relative risk and 95 % confidence interval). We compared our findings to the two previous iterations of this survey (in 2003 and 2007). We also identified the publishers of the included journals. Sixty-three percent (106/168) of the included journals mentioned CONSORT in their "Instructions to Authors." Forty-four endorsers (42 %) explicitly stated that authors "must" use CONSORT to prepare their trial manuscript, 38 % required an accompanying completed CONSORT checklist as a condition of submission, and 39 % explicitly requested the inclusion of a flow diagram with the submission. CONSORT extensions were endorsed by very few journals. One hundred and thirty journals (77 %) mentioned ICMJE, and 106 (63 %) mentioned trial registration. The endorsement of CONSORT by high impact journals has increased over time; however, specific instructions on how CONSORT should be used by authors are inconsistent across journals and publishers. Publishers and journals should encourage authors to use CONSORT and set clear expectations for authors about compliance with CONSORT.

Joint Discussion/Mini-Workshop: Gamma-Ray Bursts and their Hosts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fishman, Gerald J.

2000-01-01

The observed gamma-ray temporal, spectral, intensity and spatial distribution characteristics of GRBs, primarily from data obtained from the Compton Observatory, will be described. The talk will concentrate on recent studies of burst properties, correlations of GRB parameters and other statistical studies that have only recently come to light with the unprecedented sample of over two thousand GRBs, along with some mention of studies in progress by members of the BATSE team.

New silicon photodiodes for detection of the 1064nm wavelength radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wegrzecki, Maciej; Piotrowski, Tadeusz; Puzewicz, Zbigniew; Bar, Jan; Czarnota, Ryszard; Dobrowolski, Rafal; Klimov, Andrii; Kulawik, Jan; Kłos, Helena; Marchewka, Michał; Nieprzecki, Marek; Panas, Andrzej; Seredyński, Bartłomiej; Sierakowski, Andrzej; Słysz, Wojciech; Synkiewicz, Beata; Szmigiel, Dariusz; Zaborowski, Michał

2016-12-01

In this paper a concept of a new bulk structure of p+-υ-n+ silicon photodiodes optimized for the detection of fast-changing radiation at the 1064 nm wavelength is presented. The design and technology for two types of quadrant photodiodes, the 8-segment photodiode and the 32-element linear photodiode array that were developed according to the concept are described. Electric and photoelectric parameters of the photodiodes mentioned above are presented.

Internet Resources for Radio Astronomy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andernach, H.

A subjective overview of Internet resources for radio-astronomical information is presented. Basic observing techniques and their implications for the interpretation of publicly available radio data are described, followed by a discussion of existing radio surveys, their level of optical identification, and nomenclature of radio sources. Various collections of source catalogues and databases for integrated radio source parameters are reviewed and compared, as well as the web interfaces to interrogate the current and ongoing large-area surveys. Links to radio observatories with archives of raw (uv-) data are presented, as well as services providing images, both of individual objects or extracts (``cutouts'') from large-scale surveys. While the emphasis is on radio continuum data, a brief list of sites providing spectral line data, and atomic or molecular information is included. The major radio telescopes and surveys under construction or planning are outlined. A summary is given of a search for previously unknown optically bright radio sources, as performed by the students as an exercise, using Internet resources only. Over 200 different links are mentioned and were verified, but despite the attempt to make this report up-to-date, it can only provide a snapshot of the situation as of mid-1998.

Solar Activity, Ultraviolet Radiation and Consequences in Birds in Mexico City, 2001- 2002

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Valdes, M.; Velasco, V.

2008-12-01

Anomalous behavior in commercial and pet birds in Mexico City was reported during 2002 by veterinarians at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. This was attributed to variations in the surrounding luminosity. The solar components, direct, diffuse, global, ultraviolet band A and B, as well as some meteorological parameters, temperature, relative humidity, and precipitation, were then analyzed at the Solar Radiation Laboratory. Although the total annual radiance of the previously mentioned radiation components did not show important changes, ultraviolet Band-B solar radiation did vary significantly. During 2001 the total annual irradiance , 61.05 Hjcm² to 58.32 Hjcm², was 1.6 standard deviations lower than one year later, in 2002 and increased above the mean total annual irradiance, to 65.75 Hjcm², 2.04 standard deviations, giving a total of 3.73 standard deviations for 2001-2002. Since these differences did not show up clearly in the other solar radiation components, daily extra-atmosphere irradiance was analyzed and used to calculate the total annual extra-atmosphere irradiance, which showed a descent for 2001. Our conclusions imply that Ultraviolet Band-B solar radiation is representative of solar activity and has an important impact on commercial activity related with birds.

A model system to mimic environmentally active surface film roughness and hydrophobicity.

PubMed

Grant, Jacob S; Shaw, Scott K

2017-10-01

This work presents the development and initial assessment of a laboratory platform to allow quantitative studies on model urban films. The platform consists of stearic acid and eicosane mixtures that are solution deposited from hexanes onto smooth, solid substrates. We show that this model has distinctive capabilities to better mimic a naturally occurring film's morphology and hydrophobicity, two important parameters that have not previously been incorporated into model film systems. The physical and chemical properties of the model films are assessed using a variety of analytical instruments. The film thickness and roughness are probed via atomic force microscopy while the film composition, wettability, and water uptake are analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, contact angle goniometry, and quartz crystal microbalance, respectively. Simulated environmental maturation is achieved by exposing the film to regulated amounts of UV/ozone. Ultimately, oxidation of the film is monitored by the analytical techniques mentioned above and proceeds as expected to produce a utile model film system. Including variable roughness and tunable surface coverage results in several key advantages over prior model systems, and will more accurately represent native urban film behavior. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nuclear Data Sheets for A = 239

DOE PAGES

Browne, E.; Tuli, J. K.

2014-11-18

Spectroscopic data and level schemes from radioactive decay and nuclear reaction studies are presented here for all nuclei with mass number A=239. In general, a relatively small amount of new data on this mass chain has been reported since the previous evaluation in 2003. However, special evaluations, such as ''Database of prompt gamma rays from slow neutron–capture from elemental analysis'' (2007ChZX), have provided additional precise data for levels in 29U. Also, new Coulomb excitation measurements in 239Pu have extended the knowledge of the 1/2[631] rotational band up to Jπ=(55/2+)Jπ=(55/2+), and that of the octupole vibrational band up to Jπ=(53/2-)Jπ=(53/2-). Formore » historical knowledge it is worth mentioning the report on the “Discovery of isotopes of the transuranium elements with 93 <= Z <= 98'' (2013Fr02), where the information for elements Np, Pu, Am, and Cf with mass number A=239 is presented. The alpha hindrance factors (HF) presented in this evaluation were calculated using values of the radius parameter (r 0) interpolated from those for even–even adjacent nuclei given by 1998Ak04.« less

Nuclear Data Sheets for A = 239

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

Browne, E.; Tuli, J. K.

Spectroscopic data and level schemes from radioactive decay and nuclear reaction studies are presented here for all nuclei with mass number A=239. In general, a relatively small amount of new data on this mass chain has been reported since the previous evaluation in 2003. However, special evaluations, such as ''Database of prompt gamma rays from slow neutron–capture from elemental analysis'' (2007ChZX), have provided additional precise data for levels in 29U. Also, new Coulomb excitation measurements in 239Pu have extended the knowledge of the 1/2[631] rotational band up to Jπ=(55/2+)Jπ=(55/2+), and that of the octupole vibrational band up to Jπ=(53/2-)Jπ=(53/2-). Formore » historical knowledge it is worth mentioning the report on the “Discovery of isotopes of the transuranium elements with 93 <= Z <= 98'' (2013Fr02), where the information for elements Np, Pu, Am, and Cf with mass number A=239 is presented. The alpha hindrance factors (HF) presented in this evaluation were calculated using values of the radius parameter (r 0) interpolated from those for even–even adjacent nuclei given by 1998Ak04.« less

Nuclear Data Sheets for A = 239

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

Browne, E.; Tuli, J.K.

Spectroscopic data and level schemes from radioactive decay and nuclear reaction studies are presented here for all nuclei with mass number A=239. In general, a relatively small amount of new data on this mass chain has been reported since the previous evaluation in 2003. However, special evaluations, such as “Database of prompt gamma rays from slow neutron–capture from elemental analysis” (2007ChZX), have provided additional precise data for levels in {sup 239}U. Also, new Coulomb excitation measurements in {sup 239}Pu have extended the knowledge of the 1/2[631] rotational band up to Jπ=(55/2+), and that of the octupole vibrational band up tomore » Jπ=(53/2−). For historical knowledge it is worth mentioning the report on the “Discovery of isotopes of the transuranium elements with 93 <= Z <= 98” (2013Fr02), where the information for elements Np, Pu, Am, and Cf with mass number A=239 is presented. The alpha hindrance factors (HF) presented in this evaluation were calculated using values of the radius parameter (r{sub 0}) interpolated from those for even–even adjacent nuclei given by 1998Ak04.« less

Seismic behavior of outrigger truss-wall shear connections using multiple steel angles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xian; Wang, Wei; Lü, Henglin; Zhang, Guangchang

2016-06-01

An experimental investigation on the seismic behavior of a type of outrigger truss-reinforced concrete wall shear connection using multiple steel angles is presented. Six large-scale shear connection models, which involved a portion of reinforced concrete wall and a shear tab welded onto a steel endplate with three steel angles, were constructed and tested under combined actions of cyclic axial load and eccentric shear. The effects of embedment lengths of steel angles, wall boundary elements, types of anchor plates, and thicknesses of endplates were investigated. The test results indicate that properly detailed connections exhibit desirable seismic behavior and fail due to the ductile fracture of steel angles. Wall boundary elements provide beneficial confinement to the concrete surrounding steel angles and thus increase the strength and stiffness of connections. Connections using whole anchor plates are prone to suffer concrete pry-out failure while connections with thin endplates have a relatively low strength and fail due to large inelastic deformations of the endplates. The current design equations proposed by Chinese Standard 04G362 and Code GB50011 significantly underestimate the capacities of the connection models. A revised design method to account for the influence of previously mentioned test parameters was developed.

Dome diagnostics system of optical parameters and characteristics of LEDs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peretyagin, Vladimir S.; Pavlenko, Nikita A.

2017-09-01

Scientific and technological progress of recent years in the production of the light emitting diodes (LEDs) has led to the expansion of areas of their application from the simplest systems to high precision lighting devices used in various fields of human activity. However, development and production (especially mass production) of LED lighting devices are impossible without a thorough analysis of its parameters and characteristics. There are many ways and devices for analysis the spatial, energy and colorimetric parameters of LEDs. The most methods are intended for definition only one parameter (for example, luminous flux) or one characteristic (for example, the angular distribution of energy or the spectral characteristics). Besides, devices used these methods are intended for measuring parameters in only one point or plane. This problem can be solved by using a dome diagnostics system of optical parameters and characteristics of LEDs, developed by specialists of the department OEDS chair of ITMO University in Russia. The paper presents the theoretical aspects of the analysis of LED's spatial (angular), energy and color parameters by using mentioned of diagnostics system. The article also presents the results of spatial), energy and color parameters measurements of some LEDs brands.

A CRF-based system for recognizing chemical entity mentions (CEMs) in biomedical literature

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Background In order to improve information access on chemical compounds and drugs (chemical entities) described in text repositories, it is very crucial to be able to identify chemical entity mentions (CEMs) automatically within text. The CHEMDNER challenge in BioCreative IV was specially designed to promote the implementation of corresponding systems that are able to detect mentions of chemical compounds and drugs, which has two subtasks: CDI (Chemical Document Indexing) and CEM. Results Our system processing pipeline consists of three major components: pre-processing (sentence detection, tokenization), recognition (CRF-based approach), and post-processing (rule-based approach and format conversion). In our post-challenge system, the cost parameter in CRF model was optimized by 10-fold cross validation with grid search, and word representations feature induced by Brown clustering method was introduced. For the CEM subtask, our official runs were ranked in top position by obtaining maximum 88.79% precision, 69.08% recall and 77.70% balanced F-measure, which were improved further to 88.43% precision, 76.48% recall and 82.02% balanced F-measure in our post-challenge system. Conclusions In our system, instead of extracting a CEM as a whole, we regarded it as a sequence labeling problem. Though our current system has much room for improvement, our system is valuable in showing that the performance in term of balanced F-measure can be improved largely by utilizing large amounts of relatively inexpensive un-annotated PubMed abstracts and optimizing the cost parameter in CRF model. From our practice and lessons, if one directly utilizes some open-source natural language processing (NLP) toolkits, such as OpenNLP, Standford CoreNLP, false positive (FP) rate may be very high. It is better to develop some additional rules to minimize the FP rate if one does not want to re-train the related models. Our CEM recognition system is available at: http://www.SciTeMiner.org/XuShuo/Demo/CEM. PMID:25810768

[Design of Portable Spirometer Based on Internet of Things of Medicine].

PubMed

He, Yichen; Yang, Bo; Xiong, Shiqi; Li, Qing

2018-02-08

A kind of portable device for detecting common lung function parameters is mentioned in this paper. Using the singlechip microcomputer as the master control block to collect and process the data from high-accuracy gas pressure sensor, through the way of parametric calibration and linear interpolation to test and calculate the Forced Vital Capacity (FVC), Peak Expiratory Flow (PEF), Forced Expiratory Volume in one second (FEV1), and FEV1/FVC. Meanwhile, the detected parameters can be uploaded to the intelligent mobile terminal through the wireless transmission module. The device is able to show expiratory volume-time curve and the final parameters clearly, the error of measurement is less than 5%. In addition, that device is small and convenient, not only is good for clinical application, but also can be used for family in a house.

Effect of Pulse Parameters on Weld Quality in Pulsed Gas Metal Arc Welding: A Review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pal, Kamal; Pal, Surjya K.

2011-08-01

The weld quality comprises bead geometry and its microstructure, which influence the mechanical properties of the weld. The coarse-grained weld microstructure, higher heat-affected zone, and lower penetration together with higher reinforcement reduce the weld service life in continuous mode gas metal arc welding (GMAW). Pulsed GMAW (P-GMAW) is an alternative method providing a better way for overcoming these afore mentioned problems. It uses a higher peak current to allow one molten droplet per pulse, and a lower background current to maintain the arc stability. Current pulsing refines the grains in weld fusion zone with increasing depth of penetration due to arc oscillations. Optimum weld joint characteristics can be achieved by controlling the pulse parameters. The process is versatile and easily automated. This brief review illustrates the effect of pulse parameters on weld quality.

Electronic transport properties of 4f shell elements of liquid metal using hard sphere Yukawa system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patel, H. P.; Sonvane, Y. A.; Thakor, P. B.

2018-04-01

The electronic transport properties are analyzed for 4f shell elements of liquid metals. To examine the electronic transport properties like electrical resistivity (ρ), thermal conductivity (σ) and thermo electrical power (Q), we used our own parameter free model potential with the Hard Sphere Yukawa (HSY) reference system. The screening effect on aforesaid properties has been examined by using different screening functions like Hartree (H), Taylor (T) and Sarkar (S). The correlations of our resultsand other data with available experimental values are intensely promising. Also, we conclude that our newly constructed parameter free model potential is capable of explaining the above mentioned electronic transport properties.

Oral trauma and dental emergency management recommendations of first-aid textbooks and manuals.

PubMed

Zadik, Yehuda

2007-10-01

The recommendations of oral trauma and dental emergencies management of nine first-aid textbooks and manuals from the last two decades were evaluated. Only one book includes all the relevant topics: dental anatomy, management of tooth luxations and avulsion, tooth fracture, mandible dislocation, jaw fracture, intraoral bleeding and dental pain. Two books recommend self-replantation of an avulsed tooth, but four books detail the storage media and evaluate the importance of a quick referral to a dental surgery. In three first-aid books, the only mention of oral trauma is the hazard of choking from tooth fragments, and in one other book, only mandible dislocation is mentioned as oral trauma. The insufficient information of oral trauma management in these first-aid texts partly explains the previous reports of poor and inadequate knowledge in that topic among medics, teachers and the general public.

Are virtues national, supranational, or universal?

PubMed

van Oudenhoven, Jan Pieter; de Raad, Boele; Timmerman, Marieke E; Askevis-Leherpeux, Françoise; Boski, Pawel; Carmona, Carmen; Choubisa, Rajneesh; Del Carmen Dominguez, Alejandra; Bye, Hege H; Kurylo, Anastacia; Lahmann, Cornelia; Mastor, Khairul; Selenko, Eva; Slezáčková, Alena; Smith, Ripley; Tip, Linda; Yik, Michelle

2014-01-01

Many studies investigated cultural differences in values, most notably by Hofstede and Schwarz. Relatively few have focused on virtues, a related and important concept in contemporary social science. The present paper examines the similarities and differences between nations, or blocks of - culturally related - nations on the perceived importance of virtues. Adults (N = 2.809 students) from 14 countries were asked to freely mention which virtues they found important to practice in daily life, and next to rate a list of 15 virtues, which reflect the most frequently mentioned categories in The Netherlands, as found in a previous study. The 14 nations included the United States, Mexico, nine European and three Asian nations. For the free-listed virtues, we compared the top-ten lists of most frequently mentioned virtues across the nations. We used a correspondence analysis on the frequency table to assess the relationships between the virtues and nations. For the 15 virtues ratings, a MANOVA, and follow-up ANOVA's were used to examine effects of nation, age, gender and religion. We found strong evidence for relationships between nations and blocks of culturally related nations and the importance attached to various virtues. There appear to be some country specific virtues, such as generosity in France, but also some relatively universal virtues, most notably honesty, respect, and kindness.

Optimization model for the allocation of water resources based on the maximization of employment in the agriculture and industry sectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Habibi Davijani, M.; Banihabib, M. E.; Nadjafzadeh Anvar, A.; Hashemi, S. R.

2016-02-01

In many discussions, work force is mentioned as the most important factor of production. Principally, work force is a factor which can compensate for the physical and material limitations and shortcomings of other factors to a large extent which can help increase the production level. On the other hand, employment is considered as an effective factor in social issues. The goal of the present research is the allocation of water resources so as to maximize the number of jobs created in the industry and agriculture sectors. An objective that has attracted the attention of policy makers involved in water supply and distribution is the maximization of the interests of beneficiaries and consumers in case of certain policies adopted. The present model applies the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm in order to determine the optimum amount of water allocated to each water-demanding sector, area under cultivation, agricultural production, employment in the agriculture sector, industrial production and employment in the industry sector. Based on the results obtained from this research, by optimally allocating water resources in the central desert region of Iran, 1096 jobs can be created in the industry and agriculture sectors, which constitutes an improvement of about 13% relative to the previous situation (non-optimal water utilization). It is also worth mentioning that by optimizing the employment factor as a social parameter, the other areas such as the economic sector are influenced as well. For example, in this investigation, the resulting economic benefits (incomes) have improved from 73 billion Rials at baseline employment figures to 112 billion Rials in the case of optimized employment condition. Therefore, it is necessary to change the inter-sector and intra-sector water allocation models in this region, because this change not only leads to more jobs in this area, but also causes an improvement in the region's economic conditions.

Detection of Nepovirus Vector and Nonvector Xiphinema Species in Grapevine.

PubMed

Van Ghelder, C; Reid, A; Kenyon, D; Esmenjaud, D

2015-01-01

Fanleaf degeneration is considered the most damaging viral disease of grapevine. The two major nepoviruses involved are Grapevine fanleaf virus (GFLV) and Arabis mosaic virus (ArMV) which are respectively and specifically transmitted by the dagger nematodes Xiphinema index and X. diversicaudatum. The methods described below are aimed at detecting four prevalent grapevine Xiphinema species: the vector species previously mentioned and two nonvector species X. vuittenezi and X. italiae.

Pallet recovery, repair and remanufacturing in a changing industry: 1992 to 2006

Treesearch

Philip Araman; Les Groom

2010-01-01

In a previously published Pallet Enterprise article (Material Use and Production Changes in the U.S. Wood Pallet and Container Industry: 1992 to 2006, June 2009), we provided the results of a series of studies that investigated the use of new wood by the pallet and container industry. As we mentioned in the article, the use of new wood is only one of the changes in raw...

[Last instar larva, pupa and a new distribution record of Periploca otrebla Vargas (Lepidoptera: Cosmopterigidae)].

PubMed

Vargas, Héctor A

2007-01-01

A description and figures of the last instar larva and pupa of Periploca otrebla Vargas are presented, based on specimens collected on Acacia macracantha (Fabaceae) in the type locality, Azapa valley, Arica Province, northern Chile. The Chaca valley, Arica Province, northern Chile, is mentioned as a new locality for the geographic distribution of P. otrebla, previously known only from the type locality.

Managing the Service Supply Chain in the Department of Defense: Opportunities and Challenges

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-12-30

are discussed in textbooks such as Sasser, Olsen and Wyckoff (1978), Murdick, Render and Russell (1990), Heskett, Sasser and Hart (1990), Lovelock ...come up with generalizations that are helpful for managers of service businesses. Lovelock (1983, Summer) proposes five schemes for classifying...business are given by Lovelock (1992), Schmenner (1986, Spring), and Quinn (1992). Chase (1981), as mentioned previously, proposed a theory of the

Sieve-based relation extraction of gene regulatory networks from biological literature

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Background Relation extraction is an essential procedure in literature mining. It focuses on extracting semantic relations between parts of text, called mentions. Biomedical literature includes an enormous amount of textual descriptions of biological entities, their interactions and results of related experiments. To extract them in an explicit, computer readable format, these relations were at first extracted manually from databases. Manual curation was later replaced with automatic or semi-automatic tools with natural language processing capabilities. The current challenge is the development of information extraction procedures that can directly infer more complex relational structures, such as gene regulatory networks. Results We develop a computational approach for extraction of gene regulatory networks from textual data. Our method is designed as a sieve-based system and uses linear-chain conditional random fields and rules for relation extraction. With this method we successfully extracted the sporulation gene regulation network in the bacterium Bacillus subtilis for the information extraction challenge at the BioNLP 2013 conference. To enable extraction of distant relations using first-order models, we transform the data into skip-mention sequences. We infer multiple models, each of which is able to extract different relationship types. Following the shared task, we conducted additional analysis using different system settings that resulted in reducing the reconstruction error of bacterial sporulation network from 0.73 to 0.68, measured as the slot error rate between the predicted and the reference network. We observe that all relation extraction sieves contribute to the predictive performance of the proposed approach. Also, features constructed by considering mention words and their prefixes and suffixes are the most important features for higher accuracy of extraction. Analysis of distances between different mention types in the text shows that our choice of transforming data into skip-mention sequences is appropriate for detecting relations between distant mentions. Conclusions Linear-chain conditional random fields, along with appropriate data transformations, can be efficiently used to extract relations. The sieve-based architecture simplifies the system as new sieves can be easily added or removed and each sieve can utilize the results of previous ones. Furthermore, sieves with conditional random fields can be trained on arbitrary text data and hence are applicable to broad range of relation extraction tasks and data domains. PMID:26551454

Sieve-based relation extraction of gene regulatory networks from biological literature.

PubMed

Žitnik, Slavko; Žitnik, Marinka; Zupan, Blaž; Bajec, Marko

2015-01-01

Relation extraction is an essential procedure in literature mining. It focuses on extracting semantic relations between parts of text, called mentions. Biomedical literature includes an enormous amount of textual descriptions of biological entities, their interactions and results of related experiments. To extract them in an explicit, computer readable format, these relations were at first extracted manually from databases. Manual curation was later replaced with automatic or semi-automatic tools with natural language processing capabilities. The current challenge is the development of information extraction procedures that can directly infer more complex relational structures, such as gene regulatory networks. We develop a computational approach for extraction of gene regulatory networks from textual data. Our method is designed as a sieve-based system and uses linear-chain conditional random fields and rules for relation extraction. With this method we successfully extracted the sporulation gene regulation network in the bacterium Bacillus subtilis for the information extraction challenge at the BioNLP 2013 conference. To enable extraction of distant relations using first-order models, we transform the data into skip-mention sequences. We infer multiple models, each of which is able to extract different relationship types. Following the shared task, we conducted additional analysis using different system settings that resulted in reducing the reconstruction error of bacterial sporulation network from 0.73 to 0.68, measured as the slot error rate between the predicted and the reference network. We observe that all relation extraction sieves contribute to the predictive performance of the proposed approach. Also, features constructed by considering mention words and their prefixes and suffixes are the most important features for higher accuracy of extraction. Analysis of distances between different mention types in the text shows that our choice of transforming data into skip-mention sequences is appropriate for detecting relations between distant mentions. Linear-chain conditional random fields, along with appropriate data transformations, can be efficiently used to extract relations. The sieve-based architecture simplifies the system as new sieves can be easily added or removed and each sieve can utilize the results of previous ones. Furthermore, sieves with conditional random fields can be trained on arbitrary text data and hence are applicable to broad range of relation extraction tasks and data domains.

New approaches to enhance active steering system functionalities: preliminary results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Serarslan, Benan

2014-09-01

An important development of the steering systems in general is active steering systems like active front steering and steer-by-wire systems. In this paper the current functional possibilities in application of active steering systems are explored. A new approach and additional functionalities are presented that can be implemented to the active steering systems without additional hardware such as new sensors and electronic control units. Commercial active steering systems are controlling the steering angle depending on the driving situation only. This paper introduce methods for enhancing active steering system functionalities depending not only on the driving situation but also vehicle parameters like vehicle mass, tyre and road condition. In this regard, adaptation of the steering ratio as a function of above mentioned vehicle parameters is presented with examples. With some selected vehicle parameter changes, the reduction of the undesired influences on vehicle dynamics of these parameter changes has been demonstrated theoretically with simulations and with real-time driving measurements.

The influence of process parameters on porosity formation in hybrid LASER-GMA welding of AA6082 aluminum alloy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ascari, Alessandro; Fortunato, Alessandro; Orazi, Leonardo; Campana, Giampaolo

2012-07-01

This paper deals with an experimental campaign carried out on AA6082 8 mm thick plates in order to investigate the role of process parameters on porosity formation in hybrid LASER-GMA welding. Bead on plate weldments were obtained on the above mentioned aluminum alloy considering the variation of the following process parameters: GMAW current (120 and 180 A for short-arc mode, 90 and 130 A for pulsed-arc mode), arc transfer mode (short-arc and pulsed-arc) and mutual distance between arc and LASER sources (0, 3 and 6 mm). Porosities occurring in the fused zone were observed by means of X-ray inspection and measured exploiting an image analysis software. In order to understand the possible correlation between process parameters and porosity formation an analysis of variance statistical approach was exploited. The obtained results pointed out that GMAW current is significant on porosity formation, while the distance between the sources do not affect this aspect.

Fitting a Structured Juvenile-Adult Model for Green Tree Frogs to Population Estimates from Capture-Mark-Recapture Field Data

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ackleh, A.S.; Carter, J.; Deng, K.; Huang, Q.; Pal, N.; Yang, X.

2012-01-01

We derive point and interval estimates for an urban population of green tree frogs (Hyla cinerea) from capture-mark-recapture field data obtained during the years 2006-2009. We present an infinite-dimensional least-squares approach which compares a mathematical population model to the statistical population estimates obtained from the field data. The model is composed of nonlinear first-order hyperbolic equations describing the dynamics of the amphibian population where individuals are divided into juveniles (tadpoles) and adults (frogs). To solve the least-squares problem, an explicit finite difference approximation is developed. Convergence results for the computed parameters are presented. Parameter estimates for the vital rates of juveniles and adults are obtained, and standard deviations for these estimates are computed. Numerical results for the model sensitivity with respect to these parameters are given. Finally, the above-mentioned parameter estimates are used to illustrate the long-time behavior of the population under investigation. ?? 2011 Society for Mathematical Biology.

Automated Extraction and Classification of Cancer Stage Mentions fromUnstructured Text Fields in a Central Cancer Registry

PubMed Central

AAlAbdulsalam, Abdulrahman K.; Garvin, Jennifer H.; Redd, Andrew; Carter, Marjorie E.; Sweeny, Carol; Meystre, Stephane M.

2018-01-01

Cancer stage is one of the most important prognostic parameters in most cancer subtypes. The American Joint Com-mittee on Cancer (AJCC) specifies criteria for staging each cancer type based on tumor characteristics (T), lymph node involvement (N), and tumor metastasis (M) known as TNM staging system. Information related to cancer stage is typically recorded in clinical narrative text notes and other informal means of communication in the Electronic Health Record (EHR). As a result, human chart-abstractors (known as certified tumor registrars) have to search through volu-minous amounts of text to extract accurate stage information and resolve discordance between different data sources. This study proposes novel applications of natural language processing and machine learning to automatically extract and classify TNM stage mentions from records at the Utah Cancer Registry. Our results indicate that TNM stages can be extracted and classified automatically with high accuracy (extraction sensitivity: 95.5%–98.4% and classification sensitivity: 83.5%–87%). PMID:29888032

Automated Extraction and Classification of Cancer Stage Mentions fromUnstructured Text Fields in a Central Cancer Registry.

PubMed

AAlAbdulsalam, Abdulrahman K; Garvin, Jennifer H; Redd, Andrew; Carter, Marjorie E; Sweeny, Carol; Meystre, Stephane M

2018-01-01

Cancer stage is one of the most important prognostic parameters in most cancer subtypes. The American Joint Com-mittee on Cancer (AJCC) specifies criteria for staging each cancer type based on tumor characteristics (T), lymph node involvement (N), and tumor metastasis (M) known as TNM staging system. Information related to cancer stage is typically recorded in clinical narrative text notes and other informal means of communication in the Electronic Health Record (EHR). As a result, human chart-abstractors (known as certified tumor registrars) have to search through volu-minous amounts of text to extract accurate stage information and resolve discordance between different data sources. This study proposes novel applications of natural language processing and machine learning to automatically extract and classify TNM stage mentions from records at the Utah Cancer Registry. Our results indicate that TNM stages can be extracted and classified automatically with high accuracy (extraction sensitivity: 95.5%-98.4% and classification sensitivity: 83.5%-87%).

ValWorkBench: an open source Java library for cluster validation, with applications to microarray data analysis.

PubMed

Giancarlo, R; Scaturro, D; Utro, F

2015-02-01

The prediction of the number of clusters in a dataset, in particular microarrays, is a fundamental task in biological data analysis, usually performed via validation measures. Unfortunately, it has received very little attention and in fact there is a growing need for software tools/libraries dedicated to it. Here we present ValWorkBench, a software library consisting of eleven well known validation measures, together with novel heuristic approximations for some of them. The main objective of this paper is to provide the interested researcher with the full software documentation of an open source cluster validation platform having the main features of being easily extendible in a homogeneous way and of offering software components that can be readily re-used. Consequently, the focus of the presentation is on the architecture of the library, since it provides an essential map that can be used to access the full software documentation, which is available at the supplementary material website [1]. The mentioned main features of ValWorkBench are also discussed and exemplified, with emphasis on software abstraction design and re-usability. A comparison with existing cluster validation software libraries, mainly in terms of the mentioned features, is also offered. It suggests that ValWorkBench is a much needed contribution to the microarray software development/algorithm engineering community. For completeness, it is important to mention that previous accurate algorithmic experimental analysis of the relative merits of each of the implemented measures [19,23,25], carried out specifically on microarray data, gives useful insights on the effectiveness of ValWorkBench for cluster validation to researchers in the microarray community interested in its use for the mentioned task. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Optimization of pulsed laser welding process parameters in order to attain minimum underfill and undercut defects in thin 316L stainless steel foils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pakmanesh, M. R.; Shamanian, M.

2018-02-01

In this study, the optimization of pulsed Nd:YAG laser welding parameters was done on the lap-joint of a 316L stainless steel foil with the aim of reducing weld defects through response surface methodology. For this purpose, the effects of peak power, pulse-duration, and frequency were investigated. The most important weld defects seen in this method include underfill and undercut. By presenting a second-order polynomial, the above-mentioned statistical method was managed to be well employed to balance the welding parameters. The results showed that underfill increased with the increased power and reduced frequency, it first increased and then decreased with the increased pulse-duration; and the most important parameter affecting it was the power, whose effect was 65%. The undercut increased with the increased power, pulse-duration, and frequency; and the most important parameter affecting it was the power, whose effect was 64%. Finally, by superimposing different responses, improved conditions were presented to attain a weld with no defects.

Correlation between free-volume parameters and physical properties of polyethylene-nitrile rubber blend

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gomaa, E.; Mostafa, N.; Mohsen, M.; Mohammed, M.

2004-10-01

Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) was used to study the immiscibility of a polar nitrile rubber (NBR) that had been blended with pure and waste, low- and high-density polyethylene (PE). The effect of the weight percent of the rubber added to the PE was also investigated. It was found that a complicated variation (positive and negative) in both free-volume parameters (τ3 and I 3) from the values of the initial polymers forms an immiscible blend. These results are supported by a significant broadening in the free-volume hole size distributions. This has been interpreted in terms of interfacial spaces created between the boundaries of the two phases. Furthermore, a correlation was established between the free-volume parameters (τ3 and I 3) and the electrical and mechanical properties of the before mentioned polymer blends as a function of the weight percent of waste PE.

Parameter Estimation for GRACE-FO Geometric Ranging Errors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wegener, H.; Mueller, V.; Darbeheshti, N.; Naeimi, M.; Heinzel, G.

2017-12-01

Onboard GRACE-FO, the novel Laser Ranging Instrument (LRI) serves as a technology demonstrator, but it is a fully functional instrument to provide an additional high-precision measurement of the primary mission observable: the biased range between the two spacecraft. Its (expectedly) two largest error sources are laser frequency noise and tilt-to-length (TTL) coupling. While not much can be done about laser frequency noise, the mechanics of the TTL error are widely understood. They depend, however, on unknown parameters. In order to improve the quality of the ranging data, it is hence essential to accurately estimate these parameters and remove the resulting TTL error from the data.Means to do so will be discussed. In particular, the possibility of using calibration maneuvers, the utility of the attitude information provided by the LRI via Differential Wavefront Sensing (DWS), and the benefit from combining ranging data from LRI with ranging data from the established microwave ranging, will be mentioned.

Vehicle dynamic analysis using neuronal network algorithms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oloeriu, Florin; Mocian, Oana

2014-06-01

Theoretical developments of certain engineering areas, the emergence of new investigation tools, which are better and more precise and their implementation on-board the everyday vehicles, all these represent main influence factors that impact the theoretical and experimental study of vehicle's dynamic behavior. Once the implementation of these new technologies onto the vehicle's construction had been achieved, it had led to more and more complex systems. Some of the most important, such as the electronic control of engine, transmission, suspension, steering, braking and traction had a positive impact onto the vehicle's dynamic behavior. The existence of CPU on-board vehicles allows data acquisition and storage and it leads to a more accurate and better experimental and theoretical study of vehicle dynamics. It uses the information offered directly by the already on-board built-in elements of electronic control systems. The technical literature that studies vehicle dynamics is entirely focused onto parametric analysis. This kind of approach adopts two simplifying assumptions. Functional parameters obey certain distribution laws, which are known in classical statistics theory. The second assumption states that the mathematical models are previously known and have coefficients that are not time-dependent. Both the mentioned assumptions are not confirmed in real situations: the functional parameters do not follow any known statistical repartition laws and the mathematical laws aren't previously known and contain families of parameters and are mostly time-dependent. The purpose of the paper is to present a more accurate analysis methodology that can be applied when studying vehicle's dynamic behavior. A method that provides the setting of non-parametrical mathematical models for vehicle's dynamic behavior is relying on neuronal networks. This method contains coefficients that are time-dependent. Neuronal networks are mostly used in various types' system controls, thus being a non-linear process identification algorithm. The common use of neuronal networks for non-linear processes is justified by the fact that both have the ability to organize by themselves. That is why the neuronal networks best define intelligent systems, thus the word `neuronal' is sending one's mind to the biological neuron cell. The paper presents how to better interpret data fed from the on-board computer and a new way of processing that data to better model the real life dynamic behavior of the vehicle.

Nurturing Gifted and Talented Students to Become Future Leaders: The Innovative Curriculum for the Gifted and/or Talented at GT College in Hong Kong

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tam, Raymond Kwok-Wai

2017-01-01

In the previous literature on gifted education in Hong Kong, there has been little mention of special schools for gifted and/or talented students in Hong Kong except for GT College, Hong Kong's first college for the gifted. Some notable researchers in gifted education in Hong Kong have described the college briefly with regard to its admission…

Joint Interagency Task Forces; the Right Model to Combat Transnational Organized Crime

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-05-18

of predicting drug movements with incredible accuracy. 8 JIATF-South started life as one of three Department of Defense (DOD) Joint Task...on terrorism, human trafficking, drug smuggling; a JIATF Africa /Middle East focused on terrorism, arms smuggling, infectious diseases; and, a JIATF...narco terrorist threats within the prescribed JOA.” 72 As previously mentioned, JIATF-South has by necessity already started to widen its focus to TCO

Tropical Cyclone Reconnaissance Over the Western North Pacific with the Global Hawk: Operational Requirements, Benefits, and Feasibility

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-09-01

Science mission conducted using the Global Hawk. Ten specialized instruments were installed on the aircraft to explore the upper troposphere and...shorelines and evaluate the potential for marine enforcement surveillance. The HALE UAV used in situ measurements of gases such as ozone , halocarbons...at altitudes of 65000 ft measurements may be obtained through the entire depth of the troposphere . Like many UAVs mentioned previously, the Global

Eye and Head Response to Peripheral Targets

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-08-01

nystagmus movements of the eyes. These move- ments tend to be oscillatory or unstable in nature and can be elicited in three ways: stimuli 2 in the...Hall and Cusack, 1972). Nystagmus can best be described through example. As mentioned previously, the com- pensatory eye movements serve to stabilize...movements are what are referred to as nystagmus . The direction of the nystagmus is identified by the movement of the fast phase, that is, the direction

A Merged IQC/SOS Theory for Analysis and Synthesis of Nonlinear Control Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-06-23

constraints. As mentioned previously, this enables new applications of IQCs to analyze the robustness of time-varying and nonlinear systems . This...enables new applications of IQCs to analyze the robustness of time-varying and nonlinear systems . This section considers the analysis of nonlinear systems ...AFRL-AFOSR-VA-TR-2016-0008 A Merged IQC/SOS Theory for Analysis and Synthesis of Nonlinear Control Systems Gary Balas REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF

Military Wives: Stress, Strain and Alcohol Use

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-01-01

to 45 be confused with the previously mentioned concept of coping as a process ( cognitive aspect of coping). Social support has been hypothesized to...breast. Knowing that one of the signs of breast cancer is a lump on the breast, the woman perceives this situation as a stressful situation ( cognitive ... aspect of coping). She can take direct action after she’s determined the threat by immediately calling for an appointment with her physician or cope

Detailed Project Report and Environmental Assessment, Wilson Branch, Chesterfield County, South Carolina.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-06-01

of the creek. Some native tree species inc lud ing sweet gum, yel low poplar , sugar berry , loblolly pine, and longleaf pine occur within the...vegetation. In addition to the previously mentioned tree species, overstory species in this area include red maple, water oak, willow oak, willows, hickories...residential lawns and associated deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs; and small stands of mixed pine/hardwoods. Mote detailed species composition for

X-Ray Standing Waves on Surfaces

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-01-01

dependent distributional changes of iodine on Pt 6.3 X-ray standing wave study of a Langmuir - Blodgett multilayer film 7. Conclusions 8. Acknowledgments...4B. 6.3 X-ray standing wave study of a Langmuir - Blodgett multilayer film As mentioned previously the total external reflection condition occurs...for a Zn atom layer embedded in the top arachidate bilayer of a Langmuir - Blodgett (LB) multilayer film which was deposited on the surface of a gold

Information system of forest growth and productivity by site quality type and elements of forest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khlyustov, V.

2012-04-01

Information system of forest growth and productivity by site quality type and elements of forest V.K. Khlustov Head of the Forestry Department of Russian State Agrarian University named after K.A.Timiryazev doctor of agricultural sciences, professor The efficiency of forest management can be improved substantially by development and introduction of principally new models of forest growth and productivity dynamics based on regionalized site specific parameters. Therefore an innovative information system was developed. It describes the current state and gives a forecast for forest stand parameters: growth, structure, commercial and biological productivity depend on type of site quality. In contrast to existing yield tables, the new system has environmental basis: site quality type. The information system contains set of multivariate statistical models and can work at the level of individual trees or at the stand level. The system provides a graphical visualization, as well as export of the emulation results. The System is able to calculate detailed description of any forest stand based on five initial indicators: site quality type, site index, stocking, composition, and tree age by elements of the forest. The results of the model run are following parameters: average diameter and height, top height, number of trees, basal area, growing stock (total, commercial with distribution by size, firewood and residuals), live biomass (stem, bark, branches, foliage). The system also provides the distribution of mentioned above forest stand parameters by tree diameter classes. To predict the future forest stand dynamics the system require in addition the time slot only. Full set of forest parameters mention above will be provided by the System. The most conservative initial parameters (site quality type and site index) can be kept in the form of geo referenced polygons. In this case the system would need only 3 dynamic initial parameters (stocking, composition and age) to simulate forest parameters and their dynamics. The system can substitute traditional processing of forest inventory field data and provide users with detailed information on the current state of forest and give a prediction. Implementation of the proposed system in combination with high resolution remote sensing is able to increase significantly the quality of forest inventory and at the same time reduce the costs. The system is a contribution to site oriented forest management. The System is registered in the Russian State Register of Computer Programs 12.07.2011, No 2011615418.

Decoherence control mechanisms of a charged magneto-oscillator in contact with different environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rajesh, Asam; Bandyopadhyay, Malay; Jayannavar, Arun M.

2017-12-01

In this work, we consider two different techniques based on reservoir engineering process and quantum Zeno control method to analyze the decoherence control mechanism of a charged magneto-oscillator in contact with different type of environment. Our analysis reveals that both the control mechanisms are very much sensitive on the details of different environmental spectrum (J (ω)), and also on different system and reservoir parameters, e.g., external magnetic field (rc), confinement length (r0), temperature (T), cut-off frequency of reservoir spectrum (ωcut), and measurement interval (τ). We also demonstrate the manipulation scheme of the continuous passage from decay suppression to decay acceleration by tuning the above mentioned system or reservoir parameters, e.g., rc, r0, T and τ.

[Arterial pressure curve and fluid status].

PubMed

Pestel, G; Fukui, K

2009-04-01

Fluid optimization is a major contributor to improved outcome in patients. Unfortunately, anesthesiologists are often in doubt whether an additional fluid bolus will improve the hemodynamics of the patient or not as excess fluid may even jeopardize the condition. This article discusses physiological concepts of liberal versus restrictive fluid management followed by a discussion on the respective capabilities of various monitors to predict fluid responsiveness. The parameter difference in pulse pressure (dPP), derived from heart-lung interaction in mechanically ventilated patients is discussed in detail. The dPP cutoff value of 13% to predict fluid responsiveness is presented together with several assessment techniques of dPP. Finally, confounding variables on dPP measurements, such as ventilation parameters, pneumoperitoneum and use of norepinephrine are also mentioned.

A comparison between Warner-Bratzler shear force measurement and texture profile analysis of meat and meat products: a review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Novaković, S.; Tomašević, I.

2017-09-01

Texture is one of the most important characteristics of meat and we can explain it as the human physiological-psychological awareness of a number of rheological and other properties of foods and their relations. In this paper, we discuss instrumental measurement of texture by Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF) and texture profile analysis (TPA). The conditions for using the device are detailed in WBSF measurements, and the influence of different parameters on the execution of the method and final results are shown. After that, the main disadvantages are reflected in the non-standardized method. Also, we introduce basic texture parameters which connect and separate TPA and WBSF methods and mention contemporary methods with their main advantage.

Analysis of thermoelastic characteristics in a thick walled FGM cylinder

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tanvir, A. N. M.; Islam, Md. Didarul; Ahmed, Faisal

2017-12-01

This study is concerned with the behavior of stress and strain in a thick walled functionally graded material (FGM) cylinder under internal pressure. The incompatible eigenstrain and equivalent eigenstrain developed in the cylinder, are taken into account. As a demonstration, a TiC/Al2O3 FGM cylinder is considered and different components of stress and strain are presented in order to study the effects of internal pressure, temperature difference (between room and sintering temperature), cylinder wall thickness and material distribution. The numerical result presented here shows that the thermoelastic characteristic like stress and strain of an FGM cylinder is significantly influenced by some of the above-mentioned parameters and can be controlled by properly controlling these parameters.

Special Issue on a Fault Tolerant Network on Chip Architecture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Janidarmian, Majid; Tinati, Melika; Khademzadeh, Ahmad; Ghavibazou, Maryam; Fekr, Atena Roshan

2010-06-01

In this paper a fast and efficient spare switch selection algorithm is presented in a reliable NoC architecture based on specific application mapped onto mesh topology called FERNA. Based on ring concept used in FERNA, this algorithm achieves best results equivalent to exhaustive algorithm with much less run time improving two parameters. Inputs of FERNA algorithm for response time of the system and extra communication cost minimization are derived from simulation of high transaction level using SystemC TLM and mathematical formulation, respectively. The results demonstrate that improvement of above mentioned parameters lead to advance whole system reliability that is analytically calculated. Mapping algorithm has been also investigated as an effective issue on extra bandwidth requirement and system reliability.

[Enhanced resistance to emotional stress through the use of D-phenylalanine].

PubMed

Iumatov, E A; Sarychev, E I; Kozlovskiĭ, I I; Mineeva, M F; Demidov, V M; Morozov, I S; Kozlovskaia, M M

1991-01-01

Stress-protective action was studied of D-phenylalanine, having an ability to decrease destruction of endogenic enkefalins. In the experiments stability of the experimental (receiving D-phenylalanine) and control groups of male rats of August line to emotional stress was compared in conditions of immobilization stress by parameters of animals survival rate, adrenal glands hypertrophy development, involution of thymus, pathologic changes in lungs (abscesses development), ulcero-dystrophic disturbances in stomach, and also the activity and kinetic properties of enzyme tyrosin-hydroxylase in the hypothalamus were determined. It was shown that by several of the mentioned physiological parameters the D-phenylalanine significantly increased the animals stability to the emotional stress and decreased tyrosinhydroxylase activity which participates in activation of katecholaminergic processes.

Experimental design rules for implementing biconically tapered single mode optical fibre displacement sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arregui, Francisco J.; Matias, Ignacio R.; Bariain, Candido; Lopez-Amo, Manuel

1998-06-01

Tapered optical fibers are used to design couplers, wavelength division multiplexers, near field scanning optical microscopy, just to mention a few. Moreover, and due to its strong transmission dependence to external medium the tapered fiber may also be used to sense distinct parameters such as temperature, humidity, PH, etc. In this work bending effects in tapers are exploited to achieved displacement sensors and to present design rules for implementing these sensors according to the desired both range and sensitivity.

Lidar for Wind and Optical Turbulence Profiling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fastig, Shlomo; Porat, Omer; Englander, Abraham; Sprung, Detlev; Stein, Karin U.; Sucher, Erik

2018-04-01

A field campaign for the comparison investigation of systems to measure wind and optical turbulence profiles was conducted in northern Germany. The experimental effort was to compare the performance of the LIDAR, SODAR-RASS and ultrasonic anemometers for the measurement of the above mentioned atmospheric parameters. Soreq's LIDAR is a fiber laser based system demonstrator for the vertical profiling of the wind and turbulence, based on the correlation of aerosol density variations. It provides measurements up to 350m with 20m resolution.

Computer assisted uroflowmetry diagnostic system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Makal, Jarosław; Idźkowski, Adam; Walendziuk, Wojciech

2006-10-01

In this paper an original uroflowmeter (called Adalbertus) has been presented. The device draws the flow chart and measures the parameters of urine flow. It is used in urological surgeries as an assistance in diagnosis of lower urinary track diseases like Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH). The measuring track and its main part - weight sensor have been described. Also the way of uncertainty calculation is mentioned. An example flow chart has been shown and the achieved results have been compared with a commercial product.

The general dispersion relation of induced streaming instabilities in quantum outflow systems

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

Mehdian, H., E-mail: mehdian@khu.ac.ir; Hajisharifi, K.; Hasanbeigi, A.

2015-11-15

In this manuscript the dispersion relations of streaming instabilities, by using the unique property (neutralized in charge and current by default) of plasma shells colliding, have been generalized and studied. This interesting property for interpenetrating beams enables one to find the general dispersion relations without any restrictions used in the previous works in this area. In our previous work [H. Mehdian et al., ApJ. 801, 89 (2015)], employing the plasma shell concept and boost frame method, the general dispersion relation for filamentation instability has been derived in the relativistic classical regime. But in this paper, using the above mentioned concepts,more » the general dispersion relations (for each of streaming instabilities, filamentation, two-stream and multi-stream) in the non-relativistic quantum regime have been derived by employing the quantum fluid equations together with Maxwell equations. The derived dispersion relations enable to describe any arbitrary system of interacting two and three beams, justified neutralization condition, by choosing the inertial reference frame embedded on the one of the beams. Furthermore, by the numerical and analytical study of these dispersion relations, many new features of streaming instabilities (E.g. their cut-off wave numbers and growth rates) in terms of all involved parameters have been illustrated. The obtained results in this paper can be used to describe many astrophysical systems and laboratory astrophysics setting, such as collision of non-parallel plasma shells over a background plasma or the collision of three neutralized plasma slabs, and justifying the many plasma phenomena such as particle accelerations and induced fields.« less

New conducted electrical weapons: Electrical safety relative to relevant standards.

PubMed

Panescu, Dorin; Nerheim, Max; Kroll, Mark W; Brave, Michael A

2017-07-01

We have previously published about TASER ® conducted electrical weapons (CEW) compliance with international standards. CEWs deliver electrical pulses that can inhibit a person's neuromuscular control or temporarily incapacitate. An eXperimental Rotating-Field (XRF) waveform CEW and the X2 CEW are new 2-shot electrical weapon models designed to target a precise amount of delivered charge per pulse. They both can deploy 1 or 2 dart pairs, delivered by 2 separate cartridges. Additionally, the XRF controls delivery of incapacitating pulses over 4 field vectors, in a rotating sequence. As in our previous study, we were motivated by the need to understand the cardiac safety profile of these new CEWs. The goal of this paper is to analyze the nominal electrical outputs of TASER XRF and X2 CEWs in reference to provisions of all relevant international standards that specify safety requirements for electrical medical devices and electrical fences. Although these standards do not specifically mention CEWs, they are the closest electrical safety standards and hence give very relevant guidance. The outputs of several TASER XRF and X2 CEWs were measured under normal operating conditions. The measurements were compared against manufacturer specifications. CEWs electrical output parameters were reviewed against relevant safety requirements of UL 69, IEC 60335-2-76 Ed 2.1, IEC 60479-1, IEC 60479-2, AS/NZS 60479.1, AS/NZS 60479.2, IEC 60601-1 and BS EN 60601-1. Our study confirmed that the nominal electrical outputs of TASER XRF and X2 CEWs lie within safety bounds specified by relevant standards.

The general dispersion relation of induced streaming instabilities in quantum outflow systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mehdian, H.; Hajisharifi, K.; Hasanbeigi, A.

2015-11-01

In this manuscript the dispersion relations of streaming instabilities, by using the unique property (neutralized in charge and current by default) of plasma shells colliding, have been generalized and studied. This interesting property for interpenetrating beams enables one to find the general dispersion relations without any restrictions used in the previous works in this area. In our previous work [H. Mehdian et al., ApJ. 801, 89 (2015)], employing the plasma shell concept and boost frame method, the general dispersion relation for filamentation instability has been derived in the relativistic classical regime. But in this paper, using the above mentioned concepts, the general dispersion relations (for each of streaming instabilities, filamentation, two-stream and multi-stream) in the non-relativistic quantum regime have been derived by employing the quantum fluid equations together with Maxwell equations. The derived dispersion relations enable to describe any arbitrary system of interacting two and three beams, justified neutralization condition, by choosing the inertial reference frame embedded on the one of the beams. Furthermore, by the numerical and analytical study of these dispersion relations, many new features of streaming instabilities (E.g. their cut-off wave numbers and growth rates) in terms of all involved parameters have been illustrated. The obtained results in this paper can be used to describe many astrophysical systems and laboratory astrophysics setting, such as collision of non-parallel plasma shells over a background plasma or the collision of three neutralized plasma slabs, and justifying the many plasma phenomena such as particle accelerations and induced fields.

Is meat quality from Longissimus lumborum samples correlated with other cuts in horse meat?

PubMed

De Palo, Pasquale; Maggiolino, Aristide; Centoducati, Pasquale; Milella, Paola; Calzaretti, Giovanna; Tateo, Alessandra

2016-03-01

The present work aims to investigate if the variation of each parameter in Longissimus lumborum muscle could correspond to the same or to a similar variation of the parameter in the other muscles. The work presents results of Pearson's correlations between Longissimus lumborum samples and other muscle samples, such as Biceps femoris, Rectus femoris, Semimembranosus, Supraspinatus and Semitendinosus in horse meat. A total of 27 male IHDH (Italian Heavy Draught Horse) breed foals were employed. They were slaughtered at 11 months of age and the above-mentioned muscles were sampled. The Longissimus lumborum muscle showed to be representative of other muscles and of the whole carcass for some chemical parameters (moisture, protein and ash) and for some fatty acids profile patterns such as C12:0, C14:0, total monounsaturated fatty acid and polyunsaturated fatty acid, but poor correlations were recorded for intramuscular fat concentration, rheological and colorimetric parameters. Although almost all the qualitative parameters in meat are affected by the anatomical site and by the muscle, the Longissimus lumborum is often not representative in horse meat with regard to modifications of this parameters. © 2015 Japanese Society of Animal Science.

An Extension of BLANC to System Mentions.

PubMed

Luo, Xiaoqiang; Pradhan, Sameer; Recasens, Marta; Hovy, Eduard

2014-06-01

BLANC is a link-based coreference evaluation metric for measuring the quality of coreference systems on gold mentions. This paper extends the original BLANC ("BLANC-gold" henceforth) to system mentions, removing the gold mention assumption. The proposed BLANC falls back seamlessly to the original one if system mentions are identical to gold mentions, and it is shown to strongly correlate with existing metrics on the 2011 and 2012 CoNLL data.

Language comprehenders retain implied shape and orientation of objects.

PubMed

Pecher, Diane; van Dantzig, Saskia; Zwaan, Rolf A; Zeelenberg, René

2009-06-01

According to theories of embodied cognition, language comprehenders simulate sensorimotor experiences to represent the meaning of what they read. Previous studies have shown that picture recognition is better if the object in the picture matches the orientation or shape implied by a preceding sentence. In order to test whether strategic imagery may explain previous findings, language comprehenders first read a list of sentences in which objects were mentioned. Only once the complete list had been read was recognition memory tested with pictures. Recognition performance was better if the orientation or shape of the object matched that implied by the sentence, both immediately after reading the complete list of sentences and after a 45-min delay. These results suggest that previously found match effects were not due to strategic imagery and show that details of sensorimotor simulations are retained over longer periods.

Real time retrieval of volcanic cloud particles and SO2 by satellite using an improved simplified approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pugnaghi, Sergio; Guerrieri, Lorenzo; Corradini, Stefano; Merucci, Luca

2016-07-01

Volcanic plume removal (VPR) is a procedure developed to retrieve the ash optical depth, effective radius and mass, and sulfur dioxide mass contained in a volcanic cloud from the thermal radiance at 8.7, 11, and 12 µm. It is based on an estimation of a virtual image representing what the sensor would have seen in a multispectral thermal image if the volcanic cloud were not present. Ash and sulfur dioxide were retrieved by the first version of the VPR using a very simple atmospheric model that ignored the layer above the volcanic cloud. This new version takes into account the layer of atmosphere above the cloud as well as thermal radiance scattering along the line of sight of the sensor. In addition to improved results, the new version also offers an easier and faster preliminary preparation and includes other types of volcanic particles (andesite, obsidian, pumice, ice crystals, and water droplets). As in the previous version, a set of parameters regarding the volcanic area, particle types, and sensor is required to run the procedure. However, in the new version, only the mean plume temperature is required as input data. In this work, a set of parameters to compute the volcanic cloud transmittance in the three quoted bands, for all the aforementioned particles, for both Mt. Etna (Italy) and Eyjafjallajökull (Iceland) volcanoes, and for the Terra and Aqua MODIS instruments is presented. Three types of tests are carried out to verify the results of the improved VPR. The first uses all the radiative transfer simulations performed to estimate the above mentioned parameters. The second one makes use of two synthetic images, one for Mt. Etna and one for Eyjafjallajökull volcanoes. The third one compares VPR and Look-Up Table (LUT) retrievals analyzing the true image of Eyjafjallajökull volcano acquired by MODIS aboard the Aqua satellite on 11 May 2010 at 14:05 GMT.

Effect of Process Parameters on Catalytic Incineration of Solvent Emissions

PubMed Central

Ojala, Satu; Lassi, Ulla; Perämäki, Paavo; Keiski, Riitta L.

2008-01-01

Catalytic oxidation is a feasible and affordable technology for solvent emission abatement. However, finding optimal operation conditions is important, since they are strongly dependent on the application area of VOC incineration. This paper presents the results of the laboratory experiments concerning four most central parameters, that is, effects of concentration, gas hourly space velocity (GHSV), temperature, and moisture on the oxidation of n-butyl acetate. Both fresh and industrially aged commercial Pt/Al2O3 catalysts were tested to determine optimal process conditions and the significance order and level of selected parameters. The effects of these parameters were evaluated by computer-aided statistical experimental design. According to the results, GHSV was the most dominant parameter in the oxidation of n-butyl acetate. Decreasing GHSV and increasing temperature increased the conversion of n-butyl acetate. The interaction effect of GHSV and temperature was more significant than the effect of concentration. Both of these affected the reaction by increasing the conversion of n-butyl acetate. Moisture had only a minor decreasing effect on the conversion, but it also decreased slightly the formation of by products. Ageing did not change the significance order of the above-mentioned parameters, however, the effects of individual parameters increased slightly as a function of ageing. PMID:18584032

GGOS and the EOP - the key role of SLR for a stable estimation of highly accurate Earth orientation parameters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bloßfeld, Mathis; Panzetta, Francesca; Müller, Horst; Gerstl, Michael

2016-04-01

The GGOS vision is to integrate geometric and gravimetric observation techniques to estimate consistent geodetic-geophysical parameters. In order to reach this goal, the common estimation of station coordinates, Stokes coefficients and Earth Orientation Parameters (EOP) is necessary. Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) provides the ability to study correlations between the different parameter groups since the observed satellite orbit dynamics are sensitive to the above mentioned geodetic parameters. To decrease the correlations, SLR observations to multiple satellites have to be combined. In this paper, we compare the estimated EOP of (i) single satellite SLR solutions and (ii) multi-satellite SLR solutions. Therefore, we jointly estimate station coordinates, EOP, Stokes coefficients and orbit parameters using different satellite constellations. A special focus in this investigation is put on the de-correlation of different geodetic parameter groups due to the combination of SLR observations. Besides SLR observations to spherical satellites (commonly used), we discuss the impact of SLR observations to non-spherical satellites such as, e.g., the JASON-2 satellite. The goal of this study is to discuss the existing parameter interactions and to present a strategy how to obtain reliable estimates of station coordinates, EOP, orbit parameter and Stokes coefficients in one common adjustment. Thereby, the benefits of a multi-satellite SLR solution are evaluated.

Feasibility of Virtual Machine and Cloud Computing Technologies for High Performance Computing

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-05-01

Hat Enterprise Linux SaaS software as a service VM virtual machine vNUMA virtual non-uniform memory access WRF weather research and forecasting...previously mentioned in Chapter I Section B1 of this paper, which is used to run the weather research and forecasting ( WRF ) model in their experiments...against a VMware virtualization solution of WRF . The experiment consisted of running WRF in a standard configuration between the D-VTM and VMware while

Phase-Equilibria and Nanostructure Formation in Charged Rigid-Rod Polymers and Carbon Nanotubes

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-11-10

or liquid crystalline) and the crystalline polymer state. The form-I crystal solvate, identi- fied as a cocrystal of the protonated polymer and the...dissolution temperature, below 100 °C.12,13 The form-II crystal solvate, considered a polymer-solvent cocrystal in which the polymer is deprotonated,11,12...solvate that is a cocrystal of protonated PBZT and PPA anions. As previously mentioned, the fact that these two extreme cases result in similar

The Interaction of Steroid Hormones and Oncogene in Breast Cancer.

DTIC Science & Technology

1998-10-01

fragment [3] at the 5’ end of our regulator under the control of the MMTV promoter and the bovine growth hormone polyadenylation signal (Figure 6A...appeared swollen exhibiting a classic case of mastitis due to the failure to release milk that is produced. A couple of unique wart-like structures... mastitis ). As previously mentioned, it was most likely that the levels of int- 2/fgf-3 expression are enormously higher than that needed for

Conceptual Design and Analysis of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) for Command and Control of Space Assets

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-12-01

strategy “to establish a net- centric environment that increasingly leverages shared services and SOAs that are:  Supported by…a single set of common...component services. As mentioned previously, this is an important characteristic of SOA. Also noteworthy is set of shared services seen on the...transmit information products directly to the user(s). 6. Shared Services One of the key benefits of Service Oriented Architecture is the ability to

When is Analysis Sufficient? A Study of how Professional Intelligence Analysts Judge Rigor

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-05-01

investors, the marketing researcher assembling an analysis of a competitor’s new products for a corporate executive, and the military analyst preparing a...previously mentioned. In all instances of analysis, the risk of shallowness is fundamental—for both the middle school student and the marketing researcher...natural gas energy policy to respond to the changing consumption of a limited resource in a dynamic energy market . The next critical facet of the

Software For Tie-Point Registration Of SAR Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rignot, Eric; Dubois, Pascale; Okonek, Sharon; Van Zyl, Jacob; Burnette, Fred; Borgeaud, Maurice

1995-01-01

SAR-REG software package registers synthetic-aperture-radar (SAR) image data to common reference frame based on manual tie-pointing. Image data can be in binary, integer, floating-point, or AIRSAR compressed format. For example, with map of soil characteristics, vegetation map, digital elevation map, or SPOT multispectral image, as long as user can generate binary image to be used by tie-pointing routine and data are available in one of the previously mentioned formats. Written in FORTRAN 77.

Resolving Inadequacies of the Navy Industrial Fund Cost Accounting System to Enable Its Use in the RAMP SMP (Rapid Acquisition of Manufactured Parts Small Manufactured Parts) Facility

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-12-01

maintenance, depreciation , rent, utilities, insurance, and taxes. 6 Historically, manufacturing activities have been labor intensive and man-paced...developed and produced which renders older equipment obsolete sooner. As a result, equipment must be replaced more frequently and depreciation is charged...McIlhattan, 1987). As previously mentioned, automated manufacturing activities incur greater amounts of depreciation expenses more rapidly than a

Bureau of Military Intelligence in the Chancellorsville Campaign

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-06-09

as “very good, rather deep,” and 200 feet wide. The Confederate army did not guard Ely’s or Germanna Fords because they did not think the Federal...Lee’s army was much smaller than previously estimated by Federal army commanders: We think the six divisions before mentioned have doubtless twenty...battalions, we think these figures are too large, and believe that a calculation of our own, from several scattered regiments, is nearer the truth, viz

Technical and Operational Analysis of the Fortress Secure Wireless Access Bridge (ES-520) in Support of Tactical Military Coalition Operations

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-03-01

Postgraduate School’s COASTS international field- testing and thesis research program. B. COASTS 2007 Indonesia, Malaysia , Singapore, Thailand, and the...software tools available for monitoring and testing network throughput. One Dell Laptop was loaded with the IxChariot console as shown in Figure 32...91 J. LAPTOP COMPUTERS As mentioned in the previous section, one dell laptop was loaded with the IxChariot console. Two additional laptop

Evaluation of Aedes Aegypti Presence and Abundance in Septic Tanks and Their Impacts on Dengue Transmission

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-03-10

problem was further compounded by the public’s incomplete understanding regarding the importance of Ae. aegypti. Many of the individuals surveyed ... survey of the community may identify the significant sources of pupae and help direct subsequent reduction efforts.59 A final point to consider...mosquitoes (all species), but as previously mentioned, they have not been shown to reduce the burden of disease. In contrast, pupal survey results and source

Interspecies Extrapolations of Halocarbon Respiratory and Tissue Kinetics: Applications to Predicting Toxicity in Different Species

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-08-15

repository for TCE, and thus a critical determinant of TCE’s pharmacokinetics. As previously mentioned, it is advantageous to have quantitative tcxicity...steel columns (182 cm x 0.317 cm) packed with 10% FFAP ( Alltech Associates, Deerfield, IL). The GC operating conditions were: headspace sampler...steel columns (182 cm x 0.317 cm) packed with 10% FFAP ( Alltech Associates, Deerfield, IL). The GC operating conditions were: headspace sampler

Improving the quality and impact of public health social media activity in Scotland during 2016: #ScotPublicHealth.

PubMed

Mackenzie, Douglas Graham

2017-06-07

Social media, including Twitter, potentially provides a route to communicate public health messages to a large audience. Simple measures can boost onward broadcast to other users ('retweeting'). This study compares the impact of a structured programme of social media activity in Scotland during 2016 (using #ScotPublicHealth hashtag) with previous years. The Twitter search function was used to identify tweets between 2014 and 2016 inclusive. The first three tweets from each Twitter user were selected for each period. The number of retweets was used as a measure of impact. The quality of tweets was assessed by recording use of image, weblink (uniform resource locator or URL), mention of another Twitter user and/or hashtag, each of which have been shown to boost number of retweets. The percentage of tweets with an image, URL and/or mention of another Twitter user increased during the period of study. The percentage of tweets retweeted during Scottish Public Health conferences increased from 43% in 2014 to 70% in 2016. The volume of tweeting also increased. The quality and impact of tweets sent by the Scottish Public Health community was higher during 2016 than previous years. Conference tweeting remains an area for improvement. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

Risk Factors for the Need of Surgical Necrosectomy After Percutaneous Catheter Drainage in the Management of Infection Secondary to Necrotizing Pancreatitis.

PubMed

Ji, Liang; Wang, Gang; Li, Le; Li, Yi-Long; Hu, Ji-Sheng; Zhang, Guang-Quan; Chen, Hong-Ze; Chen, Hua; Kong, Rui; Bai, Xue-Wei; Sun, Bei

2018-04-01

This study aimed to assess the need of surgical necrosectomy after percutaneous catheter drainage (PCD) for infected necrotizing pancreatitis. The clinical data of documented/suspected patients who were treated with a step-up approach were extracted and analyzed. Of the 329 patients enrolled, the initial PCD was performed at 12 (interquartile range, 9-15) days since onset and 35.3% were cured by PCD alone. In the pre-PCD model, mean computed tomographic (CT) density of necrotic fluid collection (NFC; P < 0.001), and multiple-organ failure (MOF; P < 0.001) within 24 hours before the initial PCD were independent risk factors, and a combination of the previously mentioned 2 factors produced an area under the curve of 0.775. In the post-PCD model, mean CT density of NFC (P = 0.041), MOF (P = 0.002), and serum procalcitonin level (P = 0.035) 3 days after the initial PCD were independent risk factors, and a combination of these previously mentioned factors produced an area under the curve of 0.642. Both mean CT density of NFC and MOF are independent pre- and post-PCD risk factors for the need of necrosectomy after PCD. Post-PCD serum procalcitonin level might be a respondent factor that is correlated with the necessity of necrosectomy.

Familias 3 - Extensions and new functionality.

PubMed

Kling, Daniel; Tillmar, Andreas O; Egeland, Thore

2014-11-01

In relationship testing the aim is to determine the most probable pedigree structure given genetic marker data for a set of persons. Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) based on DNA data from presumed relatives of the missing persons can be considered to be a collection of relationship problems. Forensic calculations in investigative mode address questions like "How many markers and reference persons are needed?" Such questions can be answered by simulations. Mutations, deviations from Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium (or more generally, accounting for population substructure) and silent alleles cannot be ignored when evaluating forensic evidence in case work. With the advent of new markers, so called microvariants have become more common. Previous mutation models are no longer appropriate and a new model is proposed. This paper describes methods designed to deal with DVI problems and a new simulation model to study distribution of likelihoods. There are softwares available, addressing similar problems. However, for some problems including DVI, we are not aware of freely available validated software. The Familias software has long been widely used by forensic laboratories worldwide to compute likelihoods in relationship scenarios, though previous versions have lacked desired functionality, such as the above mentioned. The extensions as well as some other novel features have been implemented in the new version, freely available at www.familias.no. The implementation and validation are briefly mentioned leaving complete details to Supplementary sections. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

New type of x-ray-wafer image intensifier with CsI-CsI/MCP photocathodes: its design and assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiang, Shiming; Zhao, Hong

1993-04-01

The article introduces a new type of x-ray wafer image intensifier with a double proximity focusing system, (Phi) 50 CsI-CsI/MCP photocathode, and a series of welding constructions of glass window or ceramic components with metal rings. This kind of x-ray image intensifier has been widely used in the field of medical diagnosis and industrial non-destructive detection by means of sophisticated portable x-ray diagnoscopes, featuring a number of satisfactory performances such as low x-ray dosage, miniature x-ray tube and power supply, high output brightness and good resolution, light weight, small volume, low cost, and easy operation without any condition constrained by working environment and illumination. In the paper, the authors have given a series of formulae to determine characteristic parameters of the device, i.e., the quantum detection efficiencies of both reflection mode (CsI/MCP) and transmission mode (glass window CsI/MCP) photocathode, the brightness conversion factor, and resolution. The relations of the mentioned parameters with the performances of constituent components, which include CsI photocathodes layer thickness, MCP bias angle and gain, phosphor screen conversion efficiency, and double proximity focusing distances, are also briefly analyzed. The analysis thought and methods mentioned in the paper have been successfully used for the optimal design and assessment work of our devices and shows that they have a good coincidence with experimental results.

Absolute variation of the mechanical characteristics of halloysite reinforced polyurethane nanocomposites complemented by Taguchi and ANOVA approaches

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaaz, Tayser Sumer; Sulong, Abu Bakar; Kadhum, Abdul Amir H.; Nassir, Mohamed H.; Al-Amiery, Ahmed A.

The variation of the results of the mechanical properties of halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) reinforced thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) at different HNTs loadings was implemented as a tool for analysis. The preparation of HNTs-TPU nanocomposites was performed under four controlled parameters of mixing temperature, mixing speed, mixing time, and HNTs loading at three levels each to satisfy Taguchi method orthogonal array L9 aiming to optimize these parameters for the best measurements of tensile strength, Young's modulus, and tensile strain (known as responses). The maximum variation of the experimental results for each response was determined and analysed based on the optimized results predicted by Taguchi method and ANOVA. It was found that the maximum absolute variations of the three mentioned responses are 69%, 352%, and 126%, respectively. The analysis has shown that the preparation of the optimized tensile strength requires 1 wt.% HNTs loading (excluding 2 wt.% and 3 wt.%), mixing temperature of 190 °C (excluding 200 °C and 210 °C), and mixing speed of 30 rpm (excluding 40 rpm and 50 rpm). In addition, the analysis has determined that the mixing time at 20 min has no effect on the preparation. The mentioned analysis was fortified by ANOVA, images of FESEM, and DSC results. Seemingly, the agglomeration and distribution of HNTs in the nanocomposite play an important role in the process. The outcome of the analysis could be considered as a very important step towards the reliability of Taguchi method.

The mechanism of propulsion of a model microswimmer in a viscoelastic fluid next to a solid boundary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ives, Thomas R.; Morozov, Alexander

2017-12-01

In this paper, we study the swimming of a model organism, the so-called Taylor's swimming sheet, in a viscoelastic fluid close to a solid boundary. This situation comprises natural habitats of many swimming microorganisms, and while previous investigations have considered the effects of both swimming next to a boundary and swimming in a viscoelastic fluid, seldom have both effects been considered simultaneously. We re-visit the small wave amplitude result obtained by Elfring and Lauga ["Theory of locomotion through complex fluids," in Complex Fluids in Biological Systems, Biological and Medical Physics, Biomedical Engineering, edited by S. E. Spagnolie (Springer New York, New York, NY, 2015), pp. 283-317] and give a mechanistic explanation to the decoupling of the effects of viscoelasticity, which tend to slow the sheet, and the presence of the boundary, which tends to speed up the sheet. We also develop a numerical spectral method capable of finding the swimming speed of a waving sheet with an arbitrary amplitude and waveform. We use it to show that the decoupling mentioned earlier does not hold at finite wave amplitudes and that for some parameters the presence of a boundary can cause the viscoelastic effects to increase the swimming speed of microorganisms.

Aerosol optical depth trend over the Middle East

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klingmueller, Klaus; Pozzer, Andrea; Metzger, Swen; Abdelkader, Mohamed; Stenchikov, Georgiy; Lelieveld, Jos

2016-04-01

We use the combined Dark Target/Deep Blue aerosol optical depth (AOD) satellite product of the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) collection 6 to study trends over the Middle East between 2000 and 2015. Our analysis corroborates a previously identified positive AOD trend over large parts of the Middle East during the period 2001 to 2012. By relating the annual AOD to precipitation, soil moisture and surface wind, being the main factors controlling the dust cycle, we identify regions where these attributes are significantly correlated to the AOD over Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran. The Fertile Crescent turns out to be of prime importance for the AOD trend over these countries. Using multiple linear regression we show that AOD trend and interannual variability can be attributed to the above mentioned dust cycle parameters, confirming that the AOD increase is predominantly driven by dust. In particular, the positive AOD trend relates to a negative soil moisture trend. This suggests that increasing temperature and decreasing relative humidity in the last decade have promoted soil drying, leading to increased dust emissions and AOD; consequently an AOD increase is expected due to climate change. Based on simulations using the ECHAM/MESSy atmospheric chemistry-climate model (EMAC), we interpret the correlations identified in the observational data in terms of causal relationships.

Titan's interior constrained from its obliquity and tidal Love number

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baland, Rose-Marie; Coyette, Alexis; Yseboodt, Marie; Beuthe, Mikael; Van Hoolst, Tim

2016-04-01

In the last few years, the Cassini-Huygens mission to the Saturn system has measured the shape, the obliquity, the static gravity field, and the tidally induced gravity field of Titan. The large values of the obliquity and of the k2 Love number both point to the existence of a global internal ocean below the icy crust. In order to constrain interior models of Titan, we combine the above-mentioned data as follows: (1) we build four-layer density profiles consistent with Titan's bulk properties; (2) we determine the corresponding internal flattening compatible with the observed gravity and topography; (3) we compute the obliquity and tidal Love number for each interior model; (4) we compare these predictions with the observations. Previously, we found that Titan is more differentiated than expected (assuming hydrostatic equilibrium), and that its ocean is dense and less than 100 km thick. Here, we revisit these conclusions using a more complete Cassini state model, including: (1) gravitational and pressure torques due to internal tidal deformations; (2) atmosphere/lakes-surface exchange of angular momentum; (3) inertial torque due to Poincaré flow. We also adopt faster methods to evaluate Love numbers (i.e. the membrane approach) in order to explore a larger parameter space.

Brain-Computer Interface Spellers: A Review.

PubMed

Rezeika, Aya; Benda, Mihaly; Stawicki, Piotr; Gembler, Felix; Saboor, Abdul; Volosyak, Ivan

2018-03-30

A Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) provides a novel non-muscular communication method via brain signals. A BCI-speller can be considered as one of the first published BCI applications and has opened the gate for many advances in the field. Although many BCI-spellers have been developed during the last few decades, to our knowledge, no reviews have described the different spellers proposed and studied in this vital field. The presented speller systems are categorized according to major BCI paradigms: P300, steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP), and motor imagery (MI). Different BCI paradigms require specific electroencephalogram (EEG) signal features and lead to the development of appropriate Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs). The purpose of this review is to consolidate the most successful BCI-spellers published since 2010, while mentioning some other older systems which were built explicitly for spelling purposes. We aim to assist researchers and concerned individuals in the field by illustrating the highlights of different spellers and presenting them in one review. It is almost impossible to carry out an objective comparison between different spellers, as each has its variables, parameters, and conditions. However, the gathered information and the provided taxonomy about different BCI-spellers can be helpful, as it could identify suitable systems for first-hand users, as well as opportunities of development and learning from previous studies for BCI researchers.

Further In-vitro Characterization of an Implantable Biosensor for Ethanol Monitoring in the Brain

PubMed Central

Secchi, Ottavio; Zinellu, Manuel; Spissu, Ylenia; Pirisinu, Marco; Bazzu, Gianfranco; Migheli, Rossana; Desole, Maria Speranza; O′Neill, Robert D.; Serra, Pier Andrea; Rocchitta, Gaia

2013-01-01

Ethyl alcohol may be considered one of the most widespread central nervous system (CNS) depressants in Western countries. Because of its toxicological and neurobiological implications, the detection of ethanol in brain extracellular fluid (ECF) is of great importance. In a previous study, we described the development and characterization of an implantable biosensor successfully used for the real-time detection of ethanol in the brain of freely-moving rats. The implanted biosensor, integrated in a low-cost telemetry system, was demonstrated to be a reliable device for the short-time monitoring of exogenous ethanol in brain ECF. In this paper we describe a further in-vitro characterization of the above-mentioned biosensor in terms of oxygen, pH and temperature dependence in order to complete its validation. With the aim of enhancing ethanol biosensor performance, different enzyme loadings were investigated in terms of apparent ethanol Michaelis-Menten kinetic parameters, viz. IMAX, KM and linear region slope, as well as ascorbic acid interference shielding. The responses of biosensors were studied over a period of 28 days. The overall findings of the present study confirm the original biosensor configuration to be the best of those investigated for in-vivo applications up to one week after implantation. PMID:23881145

Evolution of enzymes in a series is driven by dissimilar functional demands.

PubMed

Salvador, Armindo; Savageau, Michael A

2006-02-14

That distinct enzyme activities in an unbranched metabolic pathway are evolutionarily tuned to a single functional requirement is a pervasive assumption. Here we test this assumption by examining the activities of two consecutively acting enzymes in human erythrocytes with an approach to quantitative evolutionary design that avoids the above-mentioned assumption. We previously found that avoidance of NADPH depletion during the pulses of oxidative load to which erythrocytes are normally exposed is the main functional requirement mediating selection for high glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity. In the present study, we find that, in contrast, the maintenance of oxidized glutathione at low concentrations is the main functional requirement mediating selection for high glutathione reductase activity. The results in this case show that, contrary to the assumption of a single functional requirement, natural selection for the normal activities of the distinct enzymes in the pathway is mediated by different requirements. On the other hand, the results agree with the more general principles that underlie our approach. Namely, that (i) the values of biochemical parameters evolve so as to fulfill the various performance requirements that are relevant to achieve high fitness, and (ii) these performance requirements can be inferred from quantitative systems theory considerations, informed by knowledge of specific aspects of the biochemistry, physiology, genetics, and ecology of the organism.

Effects on the torsional vibration behavior in the investigation of dental implant osseointegration using resonance frequency analysis: a numerical approach.

PubMed

Zhai, Min; Li, Bing; Li, Dehua

2017-09-01

Resonance frequency analysis (RFA) methods are widely used to assess implant stability, particularly the Osstell ® device. The potential effects associated with this method have been discussed in the literature. Torsional RFA (T-RFA), mentioned in our previous study, could represent a new measurement method. The purpose of this study was to simulate T-shaped and Osstell ® transducer-implant-bone system models; compare their vibration modes and corresponding resonance frequencies; and investigate the effects of their parameters, such as the effective implant length (EIL), bone quality, and osseointegration level, on the torsional resonance frequency (TRF) and bending resonance frequency (BRF) using three-dimensional finite element analysis. Following the finite element model validation, the TRFs and BRFs for three different EILs and four types of bone quality were obtained, and the change rates during 25 degrees of osseointegration were observed. The analysis showed that an increase in the EIL and a decrease in bone quality have less effect on the declination rate of TRFs than on that of BRFs. TRFs are highly sensitive to the stiffness of the implant-bone interface during the healing period. It was concluded that T-RFA has better sensitivity and specificity.

Expanding the catalog of binary black-hole simulations: aligned-spin configurations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chu, Tony; Pfeiffer, Harald; Scheel, Mark; Szilagyi, Bela; SXS Collaboration

2015-04-01

A major goal of numerical relativity is to model the inspiral and merger of binary black holes through sufficiently accurate and long simulations, to enable the successful detection of gravitational waves. However, covering the full parameter space of binary configurations is a computationally daunting task. The SXS Collaboration has made important progress in this direction recently, with a catalog of 174 publicly available binary black-hole simulations [black-holes.org/waveforms]. Nevertheless, the parameter-space coverage remains sparse, even for non-precessing binaries. In this talk, I will describe an addition to the SXS catalog to improve its coverage, consisting of 95 new simulations of aligned-spin binaries with moderate mass ratios and dimensionless spins as high as 0.9. Some applications of these new simulations will also be mentioned.

KIDS Nuclear Energy Density Functional: 1st Application in Nuclei

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gil, Hana; Papakonstantinou, Panagiota; Hyun, Chang Ho; Oh, Yongseok

We apply the KIDS (Korea: IBS-Daegu-Sungkyunkwan) nuclear energy density functional model, which is based on the Fermi momentum expansion, to the study of properties of lj-closed nuclei. The parameters of the model are determined by the nuclear properties at the saturation density and theoretical calculations on pure neutron matter. For applying the model to the study of nuclei, we rely on the Skyrme force model, where the Skyrme force parameters are determined through the KIDS energy density functional. Solving Hartree-Fock equations, we obtain the energies per particle and charge radii of closed magic nuclei, namely, 16O, 28O, 40Ca, 48Ca, 60Ca, 90Zr, 132Sn, and 208Pb. The results are compared with the observed data and further improvement of the model is shortly mentioned.

Dependence of average inter-particle distance upon the temperature of neutrals in dusty plasma crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nikolaev, V. S.; Timofeev, A. V.

2018-01-01

It is often suggested that inter-particle distance in stable dusty plasma structures decreases with cooling as a square root of neutral gas temperature. Deviations from this dependence (up to the increase at cryogenic temperatures) found in the experimental results for the pressures range 0.1-8.0 mbar and for the currents range 0.1-1.0 mA are given. Inter-particle distance dependences on the charge of particles, parameter of the trap and the screening length in surrounding plasma are obtained for different conditions from molecular dynamics simulations. They are well approximated by power functions in the mentioned range of parameters. It is found that under certain assumptions thermophoretical force is responsible for inter-particle distance increase at cryogenic temperatures.

Modeling of a bimetallic eccentric cylindrical plasma waveguide based on a transmission line for TEM-mode

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Golharani, Saeedeh; Jazi, Bahram; Jahanbakht, Sajad; Moeini-Nashalji, Azam

2018-07-01

In this paper, a plasma waveguide made of two eccentric cylindrical metallic walls have been studied according to the theory of transmission lines. The inductance per unit length L, the capacitance per unit length C, the resistance per unit length R and the shunt conductance per unit length G are obtained. The graphs of variations of the mentioned parameters vs. geometrical dimensions of waveguide are investigated. This investigations have been done for two different types of plasma waveguide. At first stage, plasma region will be considered in cold and collisional approximation and in second stage, a drift plasma in cold collisionless approximation will be considered. Also, graphs of phase velocity variation vs. the main parameters of the waveguide are presented.

Promoting physical activity for children and adolescents in low- and middle-income countries: An umbrella systematic review: A review on promoting physical activity in LMIC.

PubMed

Barbosa Filho, Valter Cordeiro; Minatto, Giseli; Mota, Jorge; Silva, Kelly Samara; de Campos, Wagner; Lopes, Adair da Silva

2016-07-01

It is unknown how much previous reviews on promoting physical activity (PA) for children and adolescents (aged 6-18years) take into account studies from low- and middle-income countries (LMIC, based on the World Bank definition) and the level of evidence of the effect of PA interventions in this population. This study aims to answer such questions using an umbrella systematic review approach. We searched for peer-reviewed systematic reviews and original studies in eight electronic databases, screening of reference lists and expert contacts. Information in systematic reviews on PA interventions for children and adolescents from LMIC was discussed. Original studies on PA interventions (randomized-controlled trials [RCT], cluster-RCT and non-RCT) with children and adolescents from LMIC were eligible. We assessed the methodological quality in all studies, and the evidence level of effect on PA in intervention studies. Fifty systematic reviews (nine meta-analyses) and 25 original studies (20 different interventions) met eligibility criteria. Only 3.1% of mentioned studies in previous reviews were from LMIC. Strong and LMIC-specific evidence was found that school-based, multicomponent, and short-term (up to six months) interventions, focused on adolescents primarily (aged 13-18years), can promote PA in children and adolescents from LMIC. Other intervention characteristics had inconclusive evidence due to the low number of studies, low methodological quality, and/or small sample size. A minimal part of PA interventions mentioned in previous reviews are from LMIC. Our LMIC-specific analyses showed priorities of implementation and practical implication that can be used in public policies for PA promotion in LMIC. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Subordinated continuous-time AR processes and their application to modeling behavior of mechanical system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gajda, Janusz; Wyłomańska, Agnieszka; Zimroz, Radosław

2016-12-01

Many real data exhibit behavior adequate to subdiffusion processes. Very often it is manifested by so-called ;trapping events;. The visible evidence of subdiffusion we observe not only in financial time series but also in technical data. In this paper we propose a model which can be used for description of such kind of data. The model is based on the continuous time autoregressive time series with stable noise delayed by the infinitely divisible inverse subordinator. The proposed system can be applied to real datasets with short-time dependence, visible jumps and mentioned periods of stagnation. In this paper we extend the theoretical considerations in analysis of subordinated processes and propose a new model that exhibits mentioned properties. We concentrate on the main characteristics of the examined subordinated process expressed mainly in the language of the measures of dependence which are main tools used in statistical investigation of real data. We present also the simulation procedure of the considered system and indicate how to estimate its parameters. The theoretical results we illustrate by the analysis of real technical data.

Active Acoustic Array for Ultrasonic Biomedical Applications

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-07-30

of the human anatomy and means to 3 acoustically couple the acoustic array to the portion of the 4 human anatomy . The acoustic array is doubly...ultrasonic sound wave to be generated into the portion 14 of the 22 human anatomy . As previously mentioned, each of the acoustic 23 elements 28 acts as...human breast, it should be 3 recognized that the device can be adapted to detect cancer in 4 other portions of the human anatomy . 5 It is apparent

DOT/FAA Human Factors Workshop on Aviation (3th). Transcript Held at Cambridge, Massachusetts on 18-19 March 1981.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-03-19

controls, standardization and anthropometry . Of course, from a Human Factors manufacturer’s point-of-view, we are concerned with the design features of the...however, become more aware of anthropometry . Anthropometry is the measurement of the human body. And there are more and more woman pilots coming into both...side-arm controller mentioned previously will do a great deal in settling the anthropometry issue. A compilation of issues would not be complete

Computation of transonic viscous-inviscid interacting flow

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Whitfield, D. L.; Thomas, J. L.; Jameson, A.; Schmidt, W.

1983-01-01

Transonic viscous-inviscid interaction is considered using the Euler and inverse compressible turbulent boundary-layer equations. Certain improvements in the inverse boundary-layer method are mentioned, along with experiences in using various Runge-Kutta schemes to solve the Euler equations. Numerical conditions imposed on the Euler equations at a surface for viscous-inviscid interaction using the method of equivalent sources are developed, and numerical solutions are presented and compared with experimental data to illustrate essential points. Previously announced in STAR N83-17829

Discrimination Power of Polynomial-Based Descriptors for Graphs by Using Functional Matrices.

PubMed

Dehmer, Matthias; Emmert-Streib, Frank; Shi, Yongtang; Stefu, Monica; Tripathi, Shailesh

2015-01-01

In this paper, we study the discrimination power of graph measures that are based on graph-theoretical matrices. The paper generalizes the work of [M. Dehmer, M. Moosbrugger. Y. Shi, Encoding structural information uniquely with polynomial-based descriptors by employing the Randić matrix, Applied Mathematics and Computation, 268(2015), 164-168]. We demonstrate that by using the new functional matrix approach, exhaustively generated graphs can be discriminated more uniquely than shown in the mentioned previous work.

Discrimination Power of Polynomial-Based Descriptors for Graphs by Using Functional Matrices

PubMed Central

Dehmer, Matthias; Emmert-Streib, Frank; Shi, Yongtang; Stefu, Monica; Tripathi, Shailesh

2015-01-01

In this paper, we study the discrimination power of graph measures that are based on graph-theoretical matrices. The paper generalizes the work of [M. Dehmer, M. Moosbrugger. Y. Shi, Encoding structural information uniquely with polynomial-based descriptors by employing the Randić matrix, Applied Mathematics and Computation, 268(2015), 164–168]. We demonstrate that by using the new functional matrix approach, exhaustively generated graphs can be discriminated more uniquely than shown in the mentioned previous work. PMID:26479495

Dual-Hierarchy Graph Method for Object Indexing and Recognition

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-07-01

from examples would be too late for the prey. Mythical monsters in movies or cartoons can look quite scary even though we have never seen their...uniform, at 25 blocks per parent, but depends on the number of SIFT features in the parent blocks. If we have more features we create more children for...method mentioned above to these descriptors to derive the 3D structure and pose of the object. In effect , we replace the previous “spatial verification

Japan Report, Science and Technology.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-04-17

suspended cells by using the microinjection method. Figure 2. Typical Drawing of Inject Scope _ # [Extracted from M . Furusawa , et. al.: "Erythropoiesis...yf-’n-uyx 7. •> t - \\y 8. fctftll’VX 1212 Injectoscope^iCE! M . Furusawa , et- ai ’. " Erythropoiesis and differentiation in Friend...34 o °f p -*K2) / DNA»* (1) V i = ^P’f vyi^i/3 > m ®f7v •y*’sym®<Di&&. m Key: 1. DNA molecule 2. Injector needle As previously mentioned, this

Effects of Transient Power Extraction on an Integrated Hardware-in-the-Loop Aircraft/Propulsion/Power System

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-11-01

Simulations of an engine and its Full Authority Digital Engine Control ( FADEC ), along with a 6 degree-of-freedom (6DoF) airframe dynamics model and...as needed. In its current configuration, the generic turbine engine model’s FADEC is included in the same simulation and runs primarily on 2 a...back to the engine. As mentioned previously, the FADEC and engine are combined into one simulation and are collectively referred to as “the engine

Direct Numerical Simulations of an Unpremixed Turbulent Jet Flame

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-03-01

shear layer. As the vortices reach the outflow boundary, the zero-gradient condition seems to allow them to travel out of the computational domain...ei Ii-t salp . Thiey- used pint ihe ustial d ependent variales. I1 Imerefre for r’- H(1/2 act1ig flows tile dimniensiomalit v of tilie vystveni call...seems to allow them to travel out of the computational domain. As mentioned in the previous section, the errors associated with this boundary condition

Development of a Microprocessor-Based Asynchronous Data Communications Line Tester.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-12-01

either RS232 or 20 mA current loop 13. Current loop optically isolated 14. Current loop selectable for either active or pasive mode 15. Address...Executin Invoking the execution of the software is therefore a matter of power-up and reset. The software will wait for a response from the console (any key...SIO has two channels as previously mentioned. Addressing the SIO then is a matter of addressing these two channels. The port addrecses are user defined

Tour Recommendation Guide- Personalized travel sequence recommendation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sivakumar, Akshitha; Prabadevi, B.

2017-11-01

Presents a personalized travel sequence for the given area the individual wants to visit. It not only helps to personalize the travel but also recommend a travel sequence based on the area mentioned. Firstly the frequently visited routes are ranked then top ranked routes are chosen based on previous travel records. The data is being collected using data mining and the famous routes are ranked based on user and the route. It helps in bridging the gap between user travel preference and routes.

Non-Evaporative Cooling via Inelastic Collisions in an Optical Trap

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-02-28

Simultaneous loading of 85 Rb and 87 Rb into an optical trap from a Magneto - optic Trap (MOT) As was mentioned in the previous section, when both...potential in an 85 Rb magneto - optical trap , Phys. Rev. A 83, 033419 (2011) I.D Ultracold plasma response to few-cycle rf pulses As will be detailed in...ultracold atoms of each isotope were cooled into overlapping Magneto - optic Traps (MOTs). From there, the atoms were then loaded into a Far-off

Altered cell function in microgravity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hughes-Fulford, Millie

1991-01-01

The paper overviews published results from investigations of changes in basic biological parameters taking place as a result of spaceflight exposure. These include changes in the rates of the DNA, mRNA, and protein biosyntheses; changes in the growth rate of an organism; and alterations in the cytoskeleton structure, differentiation, hormone accumulation, and collagen matrix secretion. These results, obtained both in complex biological organisms and on cultured cells, suggest that a basic cellular function is influenced and changed by microgravity. Many of the above mentioned changes are also found to take place in aging cells.

A discussion for stabilization time of carbon steel in atmospheric corrosion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Zong-kai; Ma, Xiao-bing; Cai, Yi-kun

2017-09-01

Stabilization time is an important parameter in long-term prediction of carbon steel corrosion in atmosphere. The range of the stabilization time of carbon steel in atmospheric corrosion has been published in many scientific literatures. However, the results may not precise because engineering experiences is dominant. This paper deals with the recalculation of stabilization time based on ISO CORRAG program, and analyzes the results and makes a comparison to the data mentioned above. In addition, a new thinking to obtain stabilization time will be proposed.

All-Atom Molecular-Level Computational Analyses of Polyurea/Fused-Silica Interfacial Decohesion Caused by Impinging Tensile Stress-Waves

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-01-01

glass, the polyhedron -center atoms are all silicon and each silicon atom is surrounded by four oxygen atoms (while each oxygen atom is connected to...of non-bridging (connected to only a single network forming cation) oxygen atoms per network polyhedron and takes on a zero value in the case of...network polyhedron and takes on a value of 4.0 in the case of fused silica. In addition to the three parameters mentioned above, the “seemingly

A class of vertex-edge-growth small-world network models having scale-free, self-similar and hierarchical characters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Fei; Su, Jing; Hao, Yongxing; Yao, Bing; Yan, Guanghui

2018-02-01

The problem of uncovering the internal operating function of network models is intriguing, demanded and attractive in researches of complex networks. Notice that, in the past two decades, a great number of artificial models are built to try to answer the above mentioned task. Based on the different growth ways, these previous models can be divided into two categories, one type, possessing the preferential attachment, follows a power-law P(k) ∼k-γ, 2 < γ < 3. The other has exponential-scaling feature, P(k) ∼α-k. However, there are no models containing above two kinds of growth ways to be presented, even the study of interconnection between these two growth manners in the same model is lacking. Hence, in this paper, we construct a class of planar and self-similar graphs motivated from a new attachment way, vertex-edge-growth network-operation, more precisely, the couple of both them. We report that this model is sparse, small world and hierarchical. And then, not only is scale-free feature in our model, but also lies the degree parameter γ(≈ 3 . 242) out the typical range. Note that, we suggest that the coexistence of multiple vertex growth ways will have a prominent effect on the power-law parameter γ, and the preferential attachment plays a dominate role on the development of networks over time. At the end of this paper, we obtain an exact analytical expression for the total number of spanning trees of models and also capture spanning trees entropy which we have compared with those of their corresponding component elements.

Aesthetic effect of silicone gel on surgical scars in Asians.

PubMed

Rhee, Suk-Hyun; Koh, Sung-Hoon; Lee, Dong-Won; Park, Beyoung-Yun; Kim, Yong-Oock

2010-05-01

Scars on exposed areas are a major concern among Asian populations because of their conspicuousness. Size, color, or whether the scar is hypopigmented or hyperpigmented matters little. Silicone gel is well known for the prevention and induction of better maturation of hypertrophic and keloid scars. However, its aesthetic effect on normal surgical scars has not been considered. Clinical evaluation of scars was performed in 40 patients. All the 40 patients underwent clean and minor surgery of the exposed area, such as scar revision, by 1 plastic surgeon. Twenty of the 40 patients did not apply any adjunctive material for scar management and were grouped as the control. The other 20 patients applied a silicone gel sheet for 12 hours a day for 3 months. Three assessment criteria, pigmentation, vascularity, and height, were evaluated by photographic assessment of the scars at 2 weeks, 1 month, and 3 months postoperatively and scored by 3 plastic surgeons. The Wilcoxon rank sum test was used to verify any significant differences in the previously mentioned 3 parameters between the 2 groups and parameter scores at each follow-up period. Two patients were excluded from the study because of the development of rashes on the areas covered by the silicone gel sheet. There was no statistical significance between the groups at postoperative 2 weeks and 1 month in pigmentation and redness. For evaluation of height, there was statistical significance (P = 0.024) at postoperative 1 month. However, there were statistically significant differences in all the assessment criteria at postoperative 3 months between the groups: pigmentation, P = 0.0002; vascularity, P = 0.0002; and height, P < 0.0001. The silicone gel sheet has a favorable aesthetical effect for normally created surgical scars in the Asians. Its application can reduce the conspicuousness of scars more rapidly than without.

Gravity-darkening exponents in semi-detached binary systems from their photometric observations. II.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Djurašević, G.; Rovithis-Livaniou, H.; Rovithis, P.; Georgiades, N.; Erkapić, S.; Pavlović, R.

2006-01-01

This second part of our study concerning gravity-darkening presents the results for 8 semi-detached close binary systems. From the light-curve analysis of these systems the exponent of the gravity-darkening (GDE) for the Roche lobe filling components has been empirically derived. The method used for the light-curve analysis is based on Roche geometry, and enables simultaneous estimation of the systems' parameters and the gravity-darkening exponents. Our analysis is restricted to the black-body approximation which can influence in some degree the parameter estimation. The results of our analysis are: 1) For four of the systems, namely: TX UMa, β Per, AW Cam and TW Cas, there is a very good agreement between empirically estimated and theoretically predicted values for purely convective envelopes. 2) For the AI Dra system, the estimated value of gravity-darkening exponent is greater, and for UX Her, TW And and XZ Pup lesser than corresponding theoretical predictions, but for all mentioned systems the obtained values of the gravity-darkening exponent are quite close to the theoretically expected values. 3) Our analysis has proved generally that with the correction of the previously estimated mass ratios of the components within some of the analysed systems, the theoretical predictions of the gravity-darkening exponents for stars with convective envelopes are highly reliable. The anomalous values of the GDE found in some earlier studies of these systems can be considered as the consequence of the inappropriate method used to estimate the GDE. 4) The empirical estimations of GDE given in Paper I and in the present study indicate that in the light-curve analysis one can apply the recent theoretical predictions of GDE with high confidence for stars with both convective and radiative envelopes.

A FEM simulation study of the solid state hydrostatic extrusion of PMMA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Costa, André L. M.; Riffel, Douglas B.; Misiolek, Wojciech Z.; Valberg, Henry S.

2018-05-01

Solid state hydrostatic extrusion (SSHE) of polymers below glass transition temperature is used to obtain highly oriented structures. Experimental studies on the SSHE of polymethyl-methacrylate (PMMA) have been made since early eighties but there is no information on internal temperature, stress and strain distribution. In this work we have made 3D FEM simulations of SSHE of PMMA by using the commercial DEFORM package with experimental flow curves and thermal properties from literature. The initial temperature of tooling and workpiece was 90°C, ram speeds were 1.0 and 10.0 mm/min with extrusion ratio R = 3.0. For a comparative analysis, SSHE simulation of the AA7108 aluminum alloy at 400°C was also performed. These ranges of parameters were chosen in order to encompass the parameters found in previously mentioned experiments. The best correlation with experimental hydrostatic pressure was verified for a shear friction coefficient at the material-conical die interface m = 0.50. Force-displacement curve for PMMA presented a constitutive and thermal softening in contrast to a constant force curve for aluminum. The internal temperature in the deformation zone increased in a characteristic "owl's face" profile in contrast to quasi-constant profile of aluminum alloy. In both PMMA and aluminum the stress is hydrostatic inside the container, but the stress profiles are significantly different inside the deformation zone. As expected, the strain and strain-rate profiles are practically the same for the two materials, but the temperature profile has promoted slightly differences in material flow. The velocity gradient from center to surface is higher in PMMA than aluminum. It's supposed that during hydrostatic extrusion solid PMMA has a characteristic thermally-inducted mechanical behavior.

Does plasticity in plant physiological traits explain the rapid increase in water use efficiency? An ecohydrological modeling approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mastrotheodoros, Theodoros; Fatichi, Simone; Pappas, Christoforos; Molnar, Peter; Burlando, Paolo

2016-04-01

The rise of atmospheric CO2 concentration is expected to stimulate plant productivity by enhancing photosynthesis and reducing stomatal conductance and thus increasing plant water use efficiency (WUE) worldwide. An analysis of eddy covariance flux tower data from 21 forested ecosystems across the north hemisphere detected an unexpectedly large increase in WUE (Keenan et al, 2013), which was six times larger than the increase found by most previous studies based on controlled experiments (e.g., FACE), leaf-scale analyses, and numerical modelling. This increase could be solely attributed to the increase in atmospheric CO2 since other confounding factors were ruled out. Here, we investigate the potential contribution of plant plasticity, reflected in the temporal adjustment of major plant physiological traits, on changes in WUE using the ecohydrological model Tethys and Chloris (T&C). We hypothesize that the increase in WUE can be attributed to small variations in plant physiological traits, undetectable through observations, eventually triggered by the atmospheric CO2 increase. Data from the 21 sites in the above mentioned study are used to force the model. Simulation results with and without plasticity in the physiological traits (i.e., model parameters in our numerical experiments) are compared with the observed trends in WUE. We test several plant adaptation strategies in being effective in explaining the observed increase in WUE using a multifactorial numerical experiment in which we perturb in a systematic way selected plant parameters. Keenan, T. F., Hollinger, D. Y., Bohrer, G., Dragoni, D., Munger, J. W., Schmid, H. P., and Richardson, A. D. (2013). Increase in forest water-use efficiency as atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations rise. Nature, 499(7458), 324-7.

Evaluation of Effecting Parameters on Optimum Arrangement of Urban Land Uses and Assessment of Their Compatibility Using Adjacency Matrix

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vaezi, S.; Mesgari, M. S.; Kaviary, F.

2015-12-01

Todays, stability of human life is threatened by a set of parameters. So sustainable urban development theory is introduced after the stability theory to protect the urban environment. In recent years, sustainable urban development gains a lot of attraction by different sciences and totally becomes a final target for urban development planners and managers to use resources properly and to establish a balanced relationship among human, community, and nature. Proper distribution of services for decreasing spatial inequalities, promoting the quality of living environment, and approaching an urban stability requires an analytical understanding of the present situation. Understanding the present situation is the first step for making a decision and planning effectively. This paper evaluates effective parameters affecting proper arrangement of land-uses using a descriptive-analytical method, to develop a conceptual framework for understanding of the present situation of urban land-uses, based on the assessment of their compatibility. This study considers not only the local parameters, but also spatial parameters are included in this study. The results indicate that land-uses in the zone considered here are not distributed properly. Considering mentioned parameters and distributing service land-uses effectively cause the better use of these land-uses.

Empirical estimation of school siting parameter towards improving children's safety

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aziz, I. S.; Yusoff, Z. M.; Rasam, A. R. A.; Rahman, A. N. N. A.; Omar, D.

2014-02-01

Distance from school to home is a key determination in ensuring the safety of hildren. School siting parameters are made to make sure that a particular school is located in a safe environment. School siting parameters are made by Department of Town and Country Planning Malaysia (DTCP) and latest review was on June 2012. These school siting parameters are crucially important as they can affect the safety, school reputation, and not to mention the perception of the pupil and parents of the school. There have been many studies to review school siting parameters since these change in conjunction with this ever-changing world. In this study, the focus is the impact of school siting parameter on people with low income that live in the urban area, specifically in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. In achieving that, this study will use two methods which are on site and off site. The on site method is to give questionnaires to people and off site is to use Geographic Information System (GIS) and Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS), to analyse the results obtained from the questionnaire. The output is a maps of suitable safe distance from school to house. The results of this study will be useful to people with low income as their children tend to walk to school rather than use transportation.

The Effects of Size and Type of Vocal Fold Polyp on Some Acoustic Voice Parameters.

PubMed

Akbari, Elaheh; Seifpanahi, Sadegh; Ghorbani, Ali; Izadi, Farzad; Torabinezhad, Farhad

2018-03-01

Vocal abuse and misuse would result in vocal fold polyp. Certain features define the extent of vocal folds polyp effects on voice acoustic parameters. The present study aimed to define the effects of polyp size on acoustic voice parameters, and compare these parameters in hemorrhagic and non-hemorrhagic polyps. In the present retrospective study, 28 individuals with hemorrhagic or non-hemorrhagic polyps of the true vocal folds were recruited to investigate acoustic voice parameters of vowel/ æ/ computed by the Praat software. The data were analyzed using the SPSS software, version 17.0. According to the type and size of polyps, mean acoustic differences and correlations were analyzed by the statistical t test and Pearson correlation test, respectively; with significance level below 0.05. The results indicated that jitter and the harmonics-to-noise ratio had a significant positive and negative correlation with the polyp size (P=0.01), respectively. In addition, both mentioned parameters were significantly different between the two types of the investigated polyps. Both the type and size of polyps have effects on acoustic voice characteristics. In the present study, a novel method to measure polyp size was introduced. Further confirmation of this method as a tool to compare polyp sizes requires additional investigations.

The Effects of Size and Type of Vocal Fold Polyp on Some Acoustic Voice Parameters

PubMed Central

Akbari, Elaheh; Seifpanahi, Sadegh; Ghorbani, Ali; Izadi, Farzad; Torabinezhad, Farhad

2018-01-01

Background Vocal abuse and misuse would result in vocal fold polyp. Certain features define the extent of vocal folds polyp effects on voice acoustic parameters. The present study aimed to define the effects of polyp size on acoustic voice parameters, and compare these parameters in hemorrhagic and non-hemorrhagic polyps. Methods In the present retrospective study, 28 individuals with hemorrhagic or non-hemorrhagic polyps of the true vocal folds were recruited to investigate acoustic voice parameters of vowel/ æ/ computed by the Praat software. The data were analyzed using the SPSS software, version 17.0. According to the type and size of polyps, mean acoustic differences and correlations were analyzed by the statistical t test and Pearson correlation test, respectively; with significance level below 0.05. Results The results indicated that jitter and the harmonics-to-noise ratio had a significant positive and negative correlation with the polyp size (P=0.01), respectively. In addition, both mentioned parameters were significantly different between the two types of the investigated polyps. Conclusion Both the type and size of polyps have effects on acoustic voice characteristics. In the present study, a novel method to measure polyp size was introduced. Further confirmation of this method as a tool to compare polyp sizes requires additional investigations. PMID:29749984

The Shock Pulse Index and Its Application in the Fault Diagnosis of Rolling Element Bearings

PubMed Central

Sun, Peng; Liao, Yuhe; Lin, Jin

2017-01-01

The properties of the time domain parameters of vibration signals have been extensively studied for the fault diagnosis of rolling element bearings (REBs). Parameters like kurtosis and Envelope Harmonic-to-Noise Ratio are the most widely applied in this field and some important progress has been made. However, since only one-sided information is contained in these parameters, problems still exist in practice when the signals collected are of complicated structure and/or contaminated by strong background noises. A new parameter, named Shock Pulse Index (SPI), is proposed in this paper. It integrates the mutual advantages of both the parameters mentioned above and can help effectively identify fault-related impulse components under conditions of interference of strong background noises, unrelated harmonic components and random impulses. The SPI optimizes the parameters of Maximum Correlated Kurtosis Deconvolution (MCKD), which is used to filter the signals under consideration. Finally, the transient information of interest contained in the filtered signal can be highlighted through demodulation with the Teager Energy Operator (TEO). Fault-related impulse components can therefore be extracted accurately. Simulations show the SPI can correctly indicate the fault impulses under the influence of strong background noises, other harmonic components and aperiodic impulse and experiment analyses verify the effectiveness and correctness of the proposed method. PMID:28282883

How often do sensitivity analyses for economic parameters change cost-utility analysis conclusions?

PubMed

Schackman, Bruce R; Gold, Heather Taffet; Stone, Patricia W; Neumann, Peter J

2004-01-01

There is limited evidence about the extent to which sensitivity analysis has been used in the cost-effectiveness literature. Sensitivity analyses for health-related QOL (HR-QOL), cost and discount rate economic parameters are of particular interest because they measure the effects of methodological and estimation uncertainties. To investigate the use of sensitivity analyses in the pharmaceutical cost-utility literature in order to test whether a change in economic parameters could result in a different conclusion regarding the cost effectiveness of the intervention analysed. Cost-utility analyses of pharmaceuticals identified in a prior comprehensive audit (70 articles) were reviewed and further audited. For each base case for which sensitivity analyses were reported (n = 122), up to two sensitivity analyses for HR-QOL (n = 133), cost (n = 99), and discount rate (n = 128) were examined. Article mentions of thresholds for acceptable cost-utility ratios were recorded (total 36). Cost-utility ratios were denominated in US dollars for the year reported in each of the original articles in order to determine whether a different conclusion would have been indicated at the time the article was published. Quality ratings from the original audit for articles where sensitivity analysis results crossed the cost-utility ratio threshold above the base-case result were compared with those that did not. The most frequently mentioned cost-utility thresholds were $US20,000/QALY, $US50,000/QALY, and $US100,000/QALY. The proportions of sensitivity analyses reporting quantitative results that crossed the threshold above the base-case results (or where the sensitivity analysis result was dominated) were 31% for HR-QOL sensitivity analyses, 20% for cost-sensitivity analyses, and 15% for discount-rate sensitivity analyses. Almost half of the discount-rate sensitivity analyses did not report quantitative results. Articles that reported sensitivity analyses where results crossed the cost-utility threshold above the base-case results (n = 25) were of somewhat higher quality, and were more likely to justify their sensitivity analysis parameters, than those that did not (n = 45), but the overall quality rating was only moderate. Sensitivity analyses for economic parameters are widely reported and often identify whether choosing different assumptions leads to a different conclusion regarding cost effectiveness. Changes in HR-QOL and cost parameters should be used to test alternative guideline recommendations when there is uncertainty regarding these parameters. Changes in discount rates less frequently produce results that would change the conclusion about cost effectiveness. Improving the overall quality of published studies and describing the justifications for parameter ranges would allow more meaningful conclusions to be drawn from sensitivity analyses.

Experimental verification of internal parameter in magnetically coupled boost used as PV optimizer in parallel association

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sawicki, Jean-Paul; Saint-Eve, Frédéric; Petit, Pierre; Aillerie, Michel

2017-02-01

This paper presents results of experiments aimed to verify a formula able to compute duty cycle in the case of pulse width modulation control for a DC-DC converter designed and realized in laboratory. This converter, called Magnetically Coupled Boost (MCB) is sized to step up only one photovoltaic module voltage to supply directly grid inverters. Duty cycle formula will be checked in a first time by identifying internal parameter, auto-transformer ratio, and in a second time by checking stability of operating point on the side of photovoltaic module. Thinking on nature of generator source and load connected to converter leads to imagine additional experiments to decide if auto-transformer ratio parameter could be used with fixed value or on the contrary with adaptive value. Effects of load variations on converter behavior or impact of possible shading on photovoltaic module are also mentioned, with aim to design robust control laws, in the case of parallel association, designed to compensate unwanted effects due to output voltage coupling.

Constraints on short-term mantle rheology from the J2 observation and the dispersion of the 18.6 y tidal Love number

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sabadini, R.; Yuen, D. A.; Widmer, R.

1985-01-01

Information derived from data recently acquired from the LAGEOS satellite is used to place some constraints on the rheological parameters of short-term mantle rheology. The validity of Lambeck and Nakiboglu's (1983) rheological model is assessed by formally developing an expression for the transformed shear modulus using a truncated retardation spectrum. This analytical formula is used to show that the parameters of the above mentioned model are not consistent at all with the amount of anelastic dispersion expected in the Chandler wobble and with the attenuation of seismic normal modes. The feasibility of a standard linear solid (SLS) rheology operating over intermediate timescales between 1 and 100 yr is investigated to determine whether the tidal dispersion at 18.6 yr can be explained by this model. An attempt is made to place some constraints on the parameters of the SLS model and the nature of short-term mantle rheology for timescales of less than 100 yr is discussed.

Designing a capacitated multi-configuration logistics network under disturbances and parameter uncertainty: a real-world case of a drug supply chain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shishebori, Davood; Babadi, Abolghasem Yousefi

2018-03-01

This study investigates the reliable multi-configuration capacitated logistics network design problem (RMCLNDP) under system disturbances, which relates to locating facilities, establishing transportation links, and also allocating their limited capacities to the customers conducive to provide their demand on the minimum expected total cost (including locating costs, link constructing costs, and also expected costs in normal and disturbance conditions). In addition, two types of risks are considered; (I) uncertain environment, (II) system disturbances. A two-level mathematical model is proposed for formulating of the mentioned problem. Also, because of the uncertain parameters of the model, an efficacious possibilistic robust optimization approach is utilized. To evaluate the model, a drug supply chain design (SCN) is studied. Finally, an extensive sensitivity analysis was done on the critical parameters. The obtained results show that the efficiency of the proposed approach is suitable and is worthwhile for analyzing the real practical problems.

Hydrological Relevant Parameters from Remote Sensing - Spatial Modelling Input and Validation Basis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hochschild, V.

2012-12-01

This keynote paper will demonstrate how multisensoral remote sensing data is used as spatial input for mesoscale hydrological modeling as well as for sophisticated validation purposes. The tasks of Water Resources Management are subject as well as the role of remote sensing in regional catchment modeling. Parameters derived from remote sensing discussed in this presentation will be land cover, topographical information from digital elevation models, biophysical vegetation parameters, surface soil moisture, evapotranspiration estimations, lake level measurements, determination of snow covered area, lake ice cycles, soil erosion type, mass wasting monitoring, sealed area, flash flood estimation. The actual possibilities of recent satellite and airborne systems are discussed, as well as the data integration into GIS and hydrological modeling, scaling issues and quality assessment will be mentioned. The presentation will provide an overview of own research examples from Germany, Tibet and Africa (Ethiopia, South Africa) as well as other international research activities. Finally the paper gives an outlook on upcoming sensors and concludes the possibilities of remote sensing in hydrology.

Nonlinear Prediction As A Tool For Determining Parameters For Phase Space Reconstruction In Meteorology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miksovsky, J.; Raidl, A.

Time delays phase space reconstruction represents one of useful tools of nonlinear time series analysis, enabling number of applications. Its utilization requires the value of time delay to be known, as well as the value of embedding dimension. There are sev- eral methods how to estimate both these parameters. Typically, time delay is computed first, followed by embedding dimension. Our presented approach is slightly different - we reconstructed phase space for various combinations of mentioned parameters and used it for prediction by means of the nearest neighbours in the phase space. Then some measure of prediction's success was computed (correlation or RMSE, e.g.). The position of its global maximum (minimum) should indicate the suitable combination of time delay and embedding dimension. Several meteorological (particularly clima- tological) time series were used for the computations. We have also created a MS- Windows based program in order to implement this approach - its basic features will be presented as well.

[Visual and motor functions in schizophrenic patients].

PubMed

Del Vecchio, S; Gargiulo, P A

1992-12-01

In the present work, visual and motor functions have been explored in 26 chronic schizophrenic patients, and 7 acute schizophrenic patients, compared with 26 normal controls, by means of the Bender-Gestalt Test. Parameters under consideration were: Form distortion, rotation, integration, perseveration, use of space, subtle motricity, score (global parameter), and time employed. As regards distortion and rotation there have been highly significant differences between chronic patients and control group. Among acute patients, it was observed that perseveration was also highly significant. Conversely, integration and use of space did not differ significantly among the three groups involved. The global score, resulting from all the above mentioned parameters showed important differences between both patient groups on the one hand, and control group on the other hand. Taking into account that patients were being administered neuroleptic drugs, it can safely be said, however, that the Bender-Gestalt Test allows to recognize alteration in perceptual closure consistent with a loss of the objective structure of perceived phenomena, in both chronic and acute patients.

ISO ammonia line absorption reveals a layer of hot gas veiling Sgr B2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ceccarelli, C.; Baluteau, J.-P.; Walmsley, M.; Swinyard, B. M.; Caux, E.; Sidher, S. D.; Cox, P.; Gry, C.; Kessler, M.; Prusti, T.

2002-02-01

We report the first results of the unbiased spectral high resolution survey obtained towards Sgr B2 with the Long Wavelength Spectrometer on board ISO. The survey detected more than one hundreds lines from several molecules. Ammonia is the molecule with the largest number (21) of detected lines in the survey. We detected NH3 transitions from levels with energies from 45 to 500 cm-1. The detected transitions are from both para and ortho ammonia and metastable and non-metastable levels. All the ammonia lines are in absortion against the FIR continuum of Sgr B2. With such a large number of detected lines in such a large range of energy levels, we could very efficiently constrain the main parameters of the absorbing gas layer. The gas is at (700 +/- 100) K and has a density lower than 104 cm-3. The total NH3 column density in the layer is (3+/- 1) x 1016 cm-2, equally shared between ortho and para ammonia. Given the derived relatively high gas temperature and ammonia column density, our observations support the hypothesis previously proposed of a layer of shocked gas between us and Sgr B2. We also discuss previous observations of far infrared line absorption from other molecules, like H2O and HF, in the light of this hot absorbing layer. If the absorption is done by the hot absorbing layer rather than by the warm envelope surrounding Sgr B2, as was previously supposed in order to interpret the mentioned observations, the derived H2O and HF abundances are one order of magitude larger than previously estimated. Yet, the present H2O and HF observations do not allow one to disentangle the absorption from the hot layer against the warm envelope. Our conclusions are hence that care should be applied when interpreting the absorption observations in Sgr B2, as the hot layer clearly seen in the ammonia transitions may substantially contribute to the absorption. ISO is an ESA project with instruments funded by ESA Member States (especially the PI countries: France, Germany, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom) and with the participation of ISAS and NASA.

Mortality from Parkinson's disease and other causes among a workforce manufacturing paraquat: a retrospective cohort study

PubMed Central

Campbell, Clive

2011-01-01

Objective To assess the risk of Parkinson's disease (PD) and update information on mortality from major causes of death among a UK workforce who manufactured paraquat (PQ) between 1961 and 1995. There have been no previous studies of the incidence of PD among PQ production workers, although much epidemiological literature exists concerning the relationship between pesticides and PD, and interest has focused on PQ and its users. Methods The cohort included all employees who had ever worked on any of the four plants at Widnes where PQ was manufactured between 1961 and 1995, and 926 male and 42 female workers were followed through 30 June 2009. Mortalities for males were compared with national and local rates, including rates for PD as a mentioned cause of death. Results Overall, 307 workers had died by 30 June 2009. One male death was due to PD, and no other death certificate mentioned PD. At least 3.3 death certificates of male employees would have been expected to have mentioned PD (standardised mortality ratio=31; 95% CI 1 to 171). Personal monitoring results were indicative that the exposure of a PQ production worker on a daily basis was at least comparable with that of a PQ sprayer or mixer/loader. Reduced mortalities compared with local rates were found for major causes of death. Conclusions The study provided no evidence of an increased risk of PD, or increased mortalities from other causes. PMID:22080539

The portrayal of bone tumours in the press.

PubMed

Al-Nammari, Shafic Said; Danesh, Arash; Mussa, Mohamed; Al-Hadithy, Nawfal

2013-04-01

The media are pivotal in educating and informing the general public. The stories they cover and how they cover them has a powerful influence on public perceptions. There have been no previous reports of the portrayal of bone tumours in the press. LexisNexis™ Professional search engine used to retrieve articles from all United Kingdom National Newspapers over one year containing terms "bone tumour/bone tumour" and 46 other named bone and joint tumours from May 2009 to May 2010. A total of 253 relevant articles were found. Seven per cent solely bone tumour related, 41% main theme and 52% mentioned in passing. 52% mentioned tumour type. These were 51% multiple myeloma, 15% Ewing's sarcoma, 9% sarcoma unspecified, 6% clear cell sarcoma, 4.5% epithelial sarcoma, 4% synovial sarcoma, 3% osteosarcoma, 3% bony metastasis and 1.5% chondrosarcoma. Benign bone tumours not mentioned. Article focus: chemotherapy 17%, surgeon/doctor 7% and new surgical technique 2%. The overall attitudinal tone of the articles were 52% negative, 32% neutral and 16% positive. Only 13% quoted an oncologist, and 1% an orthopaedic surgeon. Quality of medical information provided was limited with 90% providing no meaningful medical information and this medical information being correct only 68% of the time. Articles with quotes from a doctor were significantly more likely to contain meaningful medical information than those without-33 versus 4%, respectively (p < 0.001 Chi-squared test)-and there was a trend for them to be more factually correct overall-68 versus 50% (p = 0.192 Fisher's exact Test).

A Look Through Time: Historical Analysis of Obstetrics and Gynecology Texts Highlights Changes in Medicine.

PubMed

Roeckner, Jared T; Peebles, Amy B

2018-06-01

Our objective was to analyze systematically the preface and foreword of each edition of Williams Obstetrics and Te Linde's Operative Gynecology to gain insight into historical changes in medicine. The preface and foreword from 24 editions of Williams Obstetrics and 11 editions of Te Linde's Operative Gynecology were obtained. Documents were assessed for the inclusion of predefined key words or topics, including sex-specific pronoun usage, insurance, fertility regulation, government regulation/laws, documentation burden, malpractice, race, medicine as "art" or medicine as "science," and others. Data were extracted and analyzed using Microsoft Excel. Changing pronoun usage was evident across both texts. From 1941 through 1950, physicians were referred to as male 19 times and as female once. The ratio of male-to-female pronoun usage equalized in the 1990s. Medicine increasingly was referred to as a science rather than as an art within the last 2 decades. From the 1970s onward, emerging physician concerns, including malpractice, documentation burden, regulation, and insurance, were mentioned increasingly. The first mention of governmental regulation and evidence-based medicine occurred in the 21st century. Since 1903, race was never mentioned and "change" and "improvement" were cited almost universally. The increase in female pronoun usage reflects the expanding role of women in medicine. Another trend noted relates to increasing external influence on and regulation of our profession. Previously less important concerns such as documentation burden have emerged in the last 2 decades.

Evaluation of stimulation parameters on aortomyoplasty, using Latissimus Dorsi muscle in a goat model: an acute study.

PubMed

Hakami, A; Santamore, W P; Stremel, R W; Tobin, G; Hjortdal, V E

1999-08-01

Dynamic aortomyoplasty using Latissimus Dorsi muscle (LDM) has been shown to improve myocardial function. However, systematic examination of the effects of stimulation parameters on aortic wrap function has not been done. Thus, the present study measures the direct effect of stimulation voltage, pulse train duration, frequency of the pulses, and the duration of the stimulation delay from R wave on the aortic wrap function. In eight female goats, the left LDM was wrapped around the descending aorta. The muscle was then subjected to electrical stimulation, altering frequency of stimulation pulses (16.6, 20, 25, 33 and 50 Hz), amplitude (2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 V), and number of pulses (2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 pulses) in a train stimulation. Left ventricular, aortic pressure, and pressure generated by LDM on aorta (wrap pressure) was measured. The changes in hemodynamic parameters mentioned above were calculated and compared for different stimulation parameters during unassisted and assisted cardiac cycles. Aortomyoplasty counterpulsation using LDM provided significant improvement in wrap pressure (78 mmHg +/- 2), aortic diastolic pressure, and changes in aortic diastolic pressure from 2 to 4 V (P < 0.05). Further increase in amplitude did not make any significant improvements of the above mentioned parameters. Significant augmentation of wrap pressure (82 mmHg +/- 2), aortic diastolic pressure (79 mmHg +/- 3) and changes in aortic diastolic pressure (12 mmHg +/- 1) occurred at 6 pulses (P < 0.05). Other changes in number of pulses did not show any significant improvements. Significant improvement of wrap pressure (80 mmHg +/- 2), aortic diastolic pressure (73 mmHg +/- 3) and changes in aortic diastolic pressure (12 mmHg +/- 1) was observed with a frequency of 33 Hz. To examine a wide range of delays from the onset of the QRS complex to LDM stimulation, stimulation was delivered randomly. The exact delay was determined from the ECG signal and superimposed LDM stimulation pulses. In this study we present a new measurement, wrap pressure. We also present that in aortomyoplasty using LDM, the most significant improvement in wrap pressure, aortic diastolic pressure and changes in aortic diastolic pressure occurs when the stimulation consists of an amplitude of 4 V, a frequency of 33 Hz and a train stimulation of 6 pulses.

The increased risk of globus pharyngeus in patients with chronic thyroiditis: a case control study.

PubMed

Karahatay, S; Ayan, A; Aydin, U; Ince, S; Emer, O; Alagoz, E

2015-12-01

A correlation between globus pharyngeus and thyroid gland inflammation has been mentioned in previous studies. However, the potential risk of globus pharyngeus in chronic thyroiditis patients has not been shown so far. The aim of this study is to investigate a possible association between chronic thyroiditis and globus pharyngeus. The study was performed in an ultrasound (US) center of a tertiary health care institution. Ninety-two patients who were under examination for suspected thyroid pathologies or undergoing follow-up for a previously diagnosed thyroid disease were enrolled in the study. The patients were divided into two groups according to the existence of globus symptoms. Subsequently, all patients underwent high-resolution thyroid ultrasounds. The patients whose ultrasound findings were suggestive of chronic thyroiditis constituted the second subgroup. The demographic data of the patients and other ultrasound findings including the volume of the thyroid glands and nodules, if any, were noted as well. Sixty-seven female (73%) and 25 male (27%) patients were enrolled in the study. Thirty-two (35%) of the 92 patients constituted the globus pharyngeus group according to their responses to the questionnaire and the US findings were concordant with chronic thyroiditis in 36 (39%) patients. The correlation between chronic thyroiditis and globus sensation was significant (p = 0.004), and the odds ratio was calculated as 3.7 (95% CI = 1.5-9.11). Other parameters including age, sex, thyroid volume and nodule status were not significantly related to globus pharyngeus in this particular patient series. In the presented study, the risk of globus pharyngeus occurrence was calculated as 3.7-fold higher in patients with chronic thyroiditis. Being a preliminary report, it is necessary to confirm this finding and understand the pathophysiological mechanism via further investigations with a larger patient series.

The development and application of a multi-criteria optimization method to the design of a 20-seat regional jet airliner

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Au, How Meng

The aircraft design process traditionally starts with a given set of top-level requirements. These requirements can be aircraft performance related such as the fuel consumption, cruise speed, or takeoff field length, etc., or aircraft geometry related such as the cabin height or cabin volume, etc. This thesis proposes a new aircraft design process in which some of the top-level requirements are not explicitly specified. Instead, these previously specified parameters are now determined through the use of the Price-Per-Value-Factor (PPVF) index. This design process is well suited for design projects where general consensus of the top-level requirements does not exist. One example is the design of small commuter airliners. The above mentioned value factor is comprised of productivity, cabin volume, cabin height, cabin pressurization, mission fuel consumption, and field length, each weighted to a different exponent. The relative magnitude and positive/negative signs of these exponents are in agreement with general experience. The value factors of the commuter aircraft are shown to have improved over a period of four decades. In addition, the purchase price is shown to vary linearly with the value factor. The initial aircraft sizing process can be manpower intensive if the calculations are done manually. By incorporating automation into the process, the design cycle can be shortened considerably. The Fortran program functions and subroutines in this dissertation, in addition to the design and optimization methodologies described above, contribute to the reduction of manpower required for the initial sizing process. By combining the new design process mentioned above and the PPVF as the objective function, an optimization study is conducted on the design of a 20-seat regional jet. Handbook methods for aircraft design are written into a Fortran code. A genetic algorithm is used as the optimization scheme. The result of the optimization shows that aircraft designed to this PPVF index can be competitive compared to existing turboprop commuter aircraft. The process developed can be applied to other classes of aircraft with the designer modifying the cost function based upon the design goals.

Improvement of Stand Jig Sealer and Its Increased Production Capacity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soebandrija, K. E. N.; Astuti, S. W. D.

2014-03-01

This paper has the objective to prove that improvement of Stand Jig Sealer can lead to the cycle time target as part of Improvement efforts and its Productivity. Prior researches through prior journals both classics journal such as Quesnay (1766) and Solow (1957) and updated journal such as Reikard (2011) researches, are mentioned and elaborated. Precisely, the research is narrowed down and specified into automotive industry and eventually the software related of SPSS and Structural Equation Modeling ( SEM ). The analysis and its method are conducted through the calculation working time. The mentioned calculation are reinforced with the hypothesis test using SPSS Version 19 and involve parameters of production efficiency, productivity calculation, and the calculation of financial investments. The results obtained are augmented achievement of cycle time target ≤ 80 seconds posterior to improvement stand jig sealer. The result from calculation of SPSS-19 version comprise the following aspects: the one-sided hypothesis test is rejection of Ho:μ≥80 seconds, the correlation rs=0.84, regression y = 0.159+0.642x, validity R table = 0.4438, reliability value of Cronbach's alpha = 0.885>0.70, independence (Chi Square) Asymp. Sig=0.028<0.05, 95% efficiency, increase productivity 11%, financial analysis (NPV 2,340,596>0, PI 2.04>1, IRR 45.56%>i=12.68%, PP=1.86). The Mentioned calculation results support the hypothesis and ultimately align with the objective of this paper to prove that improvement of Stand Jig Sealer and its relation toward the cycle time target. Precisely, the improvement of production capacity of PT. Astra Daihatsu Motor.

Static Posturography: A New Perspective in the Assessment of Lameness in a Canine Model

PubMed Central

Manera, Maria E.; Carrillo, José M.; Batista, Miguel; Rubio, Monica; Sopena, Joaquin; Santana, Angelo

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was to assess the static posturography in dogs as a useful tool for diagnosis of lameness by means of the use of a pressure platform. For this purpose, a series of different parameters (pressure distribution, area of support, mean pressure, maximum pressure and statokinesiograms) were obtained from five lame dogs with unilateral elbow osteoarthritis treated with plasma rich in growth factors. Data were obtained before and 3 months after treatment, and results were compared with a control group of sound dogs of similar conformation. Significant differences were found in the above mentioned parameters between sound and lame limbs. Improvement after 3 months of treatment was also detected, demonstrating that this multi-parametric technique is an effective and reliable method for the assessment of lameness in dogs. PMID:28114312

Static Posturography: A New Perspective in the Assessment of Lameness in a Canine Model.

PubMed

Manera, Maria E; Carrillo, José M; Batista, Miguel; Rubio, Monica; Sopena, Joaquin; Santana, Angelo; Vilar, José M

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was to assess the static posturography in dogs as a useful tool for diagnosis of lameness by means of the use of a pressure platform. For this purpose, a series of different parameters (pressure distribution, area of support, mean pressure, maximum pressure and statokinesiograms) were obtained from five lame dogs with unilateral elbow osteoarthritis treated with plasma rich in growth factors. Data were obtained before and 3 months after treatment, and results were compared with a control group of sound dogs of similar conformation. Significant differences were found in the above mentioned parameters between sound and lame limbs. Improvement after 3 months of treatment was also detected, demonstrating that this multi-parametric technique is an effective and reliable method for the assessment of lameness in dogs.

Experimental parameters optimization of instrumental neutron activation analysis in order to determine selected elements in some industrial soils in Turkey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haciyakupoglu, Sevilay; Nur Esen, Ayse; Erenturk, Sema

2014-08-01

The purpose of this study is optimization of the experimental parameters for analysis of soil matrix by instrumental neutron activation analysis and quantitative determination of barium, cerium, lanthanum, rubidium, scandium and thorium in soil samples collected from industrialized urban areas near Istanbul. Samples were irradiated in TRIGA MARK II Research Reactor of Istanbul Technical University. Two types of reference materials were used to check the accuracy of the applied method. The achieved results were found to be in compliance with certified values of the reference materials. The calculated En numbers for mentioned elements were found to be less than 1. The presented data of element concentrations in soil samples will help to trace the pollution as an impact of urbanization and industrialization, as well as providing database for future studies.

Studies of a general flat space/boson star transition model in a box through a language similar to holographic superconductors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Yan

2017-07-01

We study a general flat space/boson star transition model in quasi-local ensemble through approaches familiar from holographic superconductor theories. We manage to find a parameter ψ 2, which is proved to be useful in disclosing properties of phase transitions. In this work, we explore effects of the scalar mass, scalar charge and Stückelberg mechanism on the critical phase transition points and the order of transitions mainly from behaviors of the parameter ψ 2. We mention that properties of transitions in quasi-local gravity are strikingly similar to those in holographic superconductor models. We also obtain an analytical relation ψ 2 ∝ ( μ - μ c )1/2, which also holds for the condensed scalar operator in the holographic insulator/superconductor system in accordance with mean field theories.

Numerical simulation of electrons dynamics in a microtron on 6 - 10 MeV

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bashmakov, Y. A.; Dyubkov, V. S.; Lozeev, Y. Y.

2017-12-01

Electron dynamics in 6.5 MeV classic microtron of the Lebedev Physics Institute (LPI) is investigated by means of numerical methods. Particular emphasis is placed on the formation mechanism of electron bunches at the first circular orbits. An effect of microtron main parameters such as accelerating RF field amplitude, DC magnetic field, as well as a geometry and a position of a thermal emitter on characteristics of electron beam extracted from the microtron are studied. In the space of mentioned parameters a region corresponding an optimal microtron operation mode is found. It is noted that the unique geometric and energy characteristics of accelerated beam makes use of microtron attractive not only as injector into a synchrotron, but also as a driver in experiments on generation of coherent terahertz electromagnetic radiation.

Large field-of-view and depth-specific cortical microvascular imaging underlies regional differences in ischemic brain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qin, Jia; Shi, Lei; Dziennis, Suzan; Wang, Ruikang K.

2014-02-01

Ability to non-invasively monitor and quantify of blood flow, blood vessel morphology, oxygenation and tissue morphology is important for improved diagnosis, treatment and management of various neurovascular disorders, e.g., stroke. Currently, no imaging technique is available that can satisfactorily extract these parameters from in vivo microcirculatory tissue beds, with large field of view and sufficient resolution at defined depth without any harm to the tissue. In order for more effective therapeutics, we need to determine the area of brain that is damaged but not yet dead after focal ischemia. Here we develop an integrated multi-functional imaging system, in which SDW-LSCI (synchronized dual wavelength laser speckle imaging) is used as a guiding tool for OMAG (optical microangiography) to investigate the fine detail of tissue hemodynamics, such as vessel flow, profile, and flow direction. We determine the utility of the integrated system for serial monitoring afore mentioned parameters in experimental stroke, middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in mice. For 90 min MCAO, onsite and 24 hours following reperfusion, we use SDW-LSCI to determine distinct flow and oxygenation variations for differentiation of the infarction, peri-infarct, reduced flow and contralateral regions. The blood volumes are quantifiable and distinct in afore mentioned regions. We also demonstrate the behaviors of flow and flow direction in the arterials connected to MCA play important role in the time course of MCAO. These achievements may improve our understanding of vascular involvement under pathologic and physiological conditions, and ultimately facilitate clinical diagnosis, monitoring and therapeutic interventions of neurovascular diseases, such as ischemic stroke.

High resolution seismics methods in application to fault zone detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matula, Rafal; Czaja, Klaudia; Mahmod, Adam Ahmed

2014-05-01

Surveys were carried out along border line between Outer Carpathians, Inner Carpathians and Pieniny Klippen Belt. Main point of interest was imaging transition zone structured by para-conglomerates, sandstone and clays lenses, crossing in near neighbourhood of Stare Bystre, village in the southern part of Poland. Actually geological works states existence of two hypothetical faults, first at the direction NE-SW and second NNW-SSE. Main aim of geological and geophysical investigation was to prove that mentioned fault has a system of smaller discontinuities connected with previous main fault activity. Para-conglomerate exposures, which is localized close to discussed fault is cut by visible system of cracks. That fact provide geological evidences that this system could be the effect of previous fault activity so in other words, it has a continuation up to main discontinuities. What is more part of the same formation para-conglomerates is covered by Neogen river sediments, so non-direct detection methods of cracks azimuth must be applied. Geophysical investigation was located near mentioned exposure and conducted in 3-D variant. Measurements were extremely focused on determining any changes of elevation buried para-conglomerates and velocity variation inside studied sediments. Seismic methods such as refraction and refraction tomography were used to imaging bedrock. Surveys were carried out in non typical acquisition, azimuthal schema. During field works 24- channels seismograph and 4 Hz, 10 Hz and 100 Hz geophones were used. Hypothetical discontinuities were estimated after analysing seismic records and expressed by velocity variation in bedding rocks and additionally evaluated changes in its elevation. Furthermore, in this study attempt of use refraction wave attributes related to loosing rock - para-conglomerates continuity were exposed. The presentation of geophysical data had a volumetric character what was easier to interpret and better related to assumptions about geological structure of mentioned zone. Correlation between geophysical and geological results seems to be very effective in reconstruction the forming processes of fault zones. Better understanding phenomena, which rules of young fault activities, reduce incorporated hazards and simultaneously bring information about presence geodynamics processes.

Formation mechanisms of metal colloids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Halaciuga, Ionel

Highly dispersed uniform metallic particles are widely used in various areas of technology and medicine and are likely to be incorporated into many other applications in the future. It is commonly accepted that size, shape and composition of the particles represent critical factors in most applications. Thus, understanding the mechanisms of formation of metal particles and the ways to control the physical (e.g. shape, size) and chemical (e.g. composition) properties is of great importance. In the current research, the formation of uniform silver spheres is investigated experimentally. The parameters that influence the formation of silver particles when concentrated iso-ascorbic acid and silver-polyamine complex solutions are rapidly mixed were studied in the absence of dispersants. We found that by varying the nature of the amine, temperature, concentration of reactants, silver/amine molar ratio, and the nature of the silver salt, the size of the resulting silver particles can be varied in a wide range (0.08--1.5 microm). The silver particles were formed by aggregation of nanosize subunits as substantiated by both electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction techniques and by the vivid rapid color changes during the chemical precipitation process. From the practical standpoint, the goal of this research was to prepare well dispersed spherical silver particles having a relatively smooth surface and a diameter of about 1 microm to satisfy the demands of the current electronic materials market. A two stage particle growth model previously developed to explain the narrow size distribution occurring in synthesis of gold spheres was applied to the present experimental system, and the parameters that control the size distribution characteristics were identified. The kinetic parameter required to match the final particle size was found to be in agreement with the one used previously in modeling formation of gold spheres, suggesting that similar kinetics governs the aggregation process. Furthermore, the two-stage particle growth model was used to account for the effects of solvent viscosity and temperature on the particle properties, particularly their size. As an application of the above mentioned study, the aggregation process that led to the formation of large silver spheres was used to deposit in a controlled manner layers of silver and other metals (Ni, Au) onto various metallic and non-metallic substrates. In the final section of this thesis methods to form nanosized primary particle strictly through diffusional growth are described. The highly crystalline metallic particles of various sizes and composition prepared provide performance characteristics that are complementary to the polycrystalline metallic particles described in the preceding sections.

Overview of Icing Physics Relevant to Scaling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anderson, David N.; Tsao, Jen-Ching

2005-01-01

An understanding of icing physics is required for the development of both scaling methods and ice-accretion prediction codes. This paper gives an overview of our present understanding of the important physical processes and the associated similarity parameters that determine the shape of Appendix C ice accretions. For many years it has been recognized that ice accretion processes depend on flow effects over the model, on droplet trajectories, on the rate of water collection and time of exposure, and, for glaze ice, on a heat balance. For scaling applications, equations describing these events have been based on analyses at the stagnation line of the model and have resulted in the identification of several non-dimensional similarity parameters. The parameters include the modified inertia parameter of the water drop, the accumulation parameter and the freezing fraction. Other parameters dealing with the leading edge heat balance have also been used for convenience. By equating scale expressions for these parameters to the values to be simulated a set of equations is produced which can be solved for the scale test conditions. Studies in the past few years have shown that at least one parameter in addition to those mentioned above is needed to describe surface-water effects, and some of the traditional parameters may not be as significant as once thought. Insight into the importance of each parameter, and the physical processes it represents, can be made by viewing whether ice shapes change, and the extent of the change, when each parameter is varied. Experimental evidence is presented to establish the importance of each of the traditionally used parameters and to identify the possible form of a new similarity parameter to be used for scaling.

Scoring Coreference Partitions of Predicted Mentions: A Reference Implementation.

PubMed

Pradhan, Sameer; Luo, Xiaoqiang; Recasens, Marta; Hovy, Eduard; Ng, Vincent; Strube, Michael

2014-06-01

The definitions of two coreference scoring metrics- B 3 and CEAF-are underspecified with respect to predicted , as opposed to key (or gold ) mentions. Several variations have been proposed that manipulate either, or both, the key and predicted mentions in order to get a one-to-one mapping. On the other hand, the metric BLANC was, until recently, limited to scoring partitions of key mentions. In this paper, we (i) argue that mention manipulation for scoring predicted mentions is unnecessary, and potentially harmful as it could produce unintuitive results; (ii) illustrate the application of all these measures to scoring predicted mentions; (iii) make available an open-source, thoroughly-tested reference implementation of the main coreference evaluation measures; and (iv) rescore the results of the CoNLL-2011/2012 shared task systems with this implementation. This will help the community accurately measure and compare new end-to-end coreference resolution algorithms.

Kinematic measures for upper limb robot-assisted therapy following stroke and correlations with clinical outcome measures: A review.

PubMed

Tran, Vi Do; Dario, Paolo; Mazzoleni, Stefano

2018-03-01

This review classifies the kinematic measures used to evaluate post-stroke motor impairment following upper limb robot-assisted rehabilitation and investigates their correlations with clinical outcome measures. An online literature search was carried out in PubMed, MEDLINE, Scopus and IEEE-Xplore databases. Kinematic parameters mentioned in the studies included were categorized into the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) domains. The correlations between these parameters and the clinical scales were summarized. Forty-nine kinematic parameters were identified from 67 articles involving 1750 patients. The most frequently used parameters were: movement speed, movement accuracy, peak speed, number of speed peaks, and movement distance and duration. According to the ICF domains, 44 kinematic parameters were categorized into Body Functions and Structure, 5 into Activities and no parameters were categorized into Participation and Personal and Environmental Factors. Thirteen articles investigated the correlations between kinematic parameters and clinical outcome measures. Some kinematic measures showed a significant correlation coefficient with clinical scores, but most were weak or moderate. The proposed classification of kinematic measures into ICF domains and their correlations with clinical scales could contribute to identifying the most relevant ones for an integrated assessment of upper limb robot-assisted rehabilitation treatments following stroke. Increasing the assessment frequency by means of kinematic parameters could optimize clinical assessment procedures and enhance the effectiveness of rehabilitation treatments. Copyright © 2018 IPEM. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Twins reunited: scientific and personal perspectives/twin research studies: multiple birth effects on IQ and body size; life style, muscles, and metabolism; monochorionic dizygotic twin with blood chimerism; amniocentesis for twins/twins in the media: identical doctors; freedom fighter for twins; twin scholarships; Auguste and Jean-Felix Piccard; twins born apart.

PubMed

Segal, Nancy L; Mulligan, Christy A

2014-04-01

A reunion of 38-year-old female monozygotic twins took place in Daegu, South Korea, on January 14, 2014. Scientific and personal perspectives on this extraordinary event are provided. A review of timely twin research follows, covering the effects of multiple births on IQ and body size, lifestyle and physical fitness associations, a rare case of a dizygotic twin with blood chimerism and definitional issues surrounding amniocentesis-related loss in multiple birth pregnancies. Interesting and informative mention of twins in the media includes twin doctors, a twin freedom fighter, the availability of college scholarships for twins, a new book about the Piccard family (two of whose members were twins), and co-twins born before and after the new year. A follow-up to a previous mention of identical twin biatheletes is also provided.

Strategic messaging to promote taxation of sugar-sweetened beverages: lessons from recent political campaigns.

PubMed

Jou, Judy; Niederdeppe, Jeff; Barry, Colleen L; Gollust, Sarah E

2014-05-01

This study explored the use of strategic messaging by proponents of sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) taxation to influence public opinion and shape the policy process, emphasizing the experiences in El Monte and Richmond, California, with SSB tax proposals in 2012. We conducted 18 semistructured interviews with key stakeholders about the use and perceived effectiveness of messages supporting and opposing SSB taxation, knowledge sharing among advocates, message dissemination, and lessons learned from their messaging experiences. The protax messages most frequently mentioned by respondents were reinvesting tax revenue into health-related programs and linking SSB consumption to health outcomes such as obesity and diabetes. The most frequently mentioned antitax messages addressed negative economic effects on businesses and government restriction of personal choice. Factors contributing to perceived messaging success included clearly defining "sugar-sweetened beverage" and earmarking funds for obesity prevention, incorporating cultural sensitivity into messaging, and providing education about the health effects of SSB consumption. Sugar-sweetened beverage taxation has faced significant challenges in gaining political and public support. Future campaigns can benefit from insights gained through the experiences of stakeholders involved in previous policy debates.

Design of a Secure Authentication and Key Agreement Scheme Preserving User Privacy Usable in Telecare Medicine Information Systems.

PubMed

Arshad, Hamed; Rasoolzadegan, Abbas

2016-11-01

Authentication and key agreement schemes play a very important role in enhancing the level of security of telecare medicine information systems (TMISs). Recently, Amin and Biswas demonstrated that the authentication scheme proposed by Giri et al. is vulnerable to off-line password guessing attacks and privileged insider attacks and also does not provide user anonymity. They also proposed an improved authentication scheme, claiming that it resists various security attacks. However, this paper demonstrates that Amin and Biswas's scheme is defenseless against off-line password guessing attacks and replay attacks and also does not provide perfect forward secrecy. This paper also shows that Giri et al.'s scheme not only suffers from the weaknesses pointed out by Amin and Biswas, but it also is vulnerable to replay attacks and does not provide perfect forward secrecy. Moreover, this paper proposes a novel authentication and key agreement scheme to overcome the mentioned weaknesses. Security and performance analyses show that the proposed scheme not only overcomes the mentioned security weaknesses, but also is more efficient than the previous schemes.

Using Soluble Reactive Phosphorus and Ammonia to Identify Point Source Discharge from Large Livestock Facilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borrello, M. C.; Scribner, M.; Chessin, K.

2013-12-01

A growing body of research draws attention to the negative environmental impacts on surface water from large livestock facilities. These impacts are mostly in the form of excessive nutrient loading resulting in significantly decreased oxygen levels. Over-application of animal waste on fields as well as direct discharge into surface water from facilities themselves has been identified as the main contributor to the development of hypoxic zones in Lake Erie, Chesapeake Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Some regulators claim enforcement of water quality laws is problematic because of the nature and pervasiveness of non-point source impacts. Any direct discharge by a facility is a violation of permits governed by the Clean Water Act, unless the facility has special dispensation for discharge. Previous research by the principal author and others has shown runoff and underdrain transport are the main mechanisms by which nutrients enter surface water. This study utilized previous work to determine if the effects of non-point source discharge can be distinguished from direct (point-source) discharge using simple nutrient analysis and dissolved oxygen (DO) parameters. Nutrient and DO parameters were measured from three sites: 1. A stream adjacent to a field receiving manure, upstream of a large livestock facility with a history of direct discharge, 2. The same stream downstream of the facility and 3. A stream in an area relatively unimpacted by large-scale agriculture (control site). Results show that calculating a simple Pearson correlation coefficient (r) of soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) and ammonia over time as well as temperature and DO, distinguishes non-point source from point source discharge into surface water. The r value for SRP and ammonia for the upstream site was 0.01 while the r value for the downstream site was 0.92. The control site had an r value of 0.20. Likewise, r values were calculated on temperature and DO for each site. High negative correlations between temperature and DO are indicative of a relatively unimpacted stream. Results from this study are commensurate with nutrient correlations and are: r = -0.97 for the upstream site, r = -0.21 for the downstream site and r = -0.89 for the control site. Results from every site tested were statistically significant (p ≤ 0.05). These results support previous studies and demonstrate that the simple analytical techniques mentioned provide an effective means for regulatory agencies and community groups to monitor and identify point source discharge from large livestock facilities.

Effect of subchronic administration of nutmeg (Myristica fragrans Houtt) ethanolic extract to hematological parameters in rat

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bachri, M. S.; Yuliani, S.; Sari, A. K.

2017-11-01

Nutmeg is dried kernel of broadly ovoid seed of Myristica fragrans Houtt. It has been mentioned in ethnomedical literature as aphrodisiac, stomachic, carminative, tonic, and nervous stimulant. In order to establish the safety of nutmeg, the effect of the repeated administration of nutmeg is needed. The study was aimed to determine the toxic effect of subchronic administration of nutmeg ethanolic extract to hematological parameters in rat. A total of 28 male adult Wistar rats divided into 4 groups. Group I as control was given by 0.5% CMC-suspension, group II, III, and IV were given by 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg bw, respectively, of nutmeg ethanolic extract. The treatments were administered daily for 31 days. On day 31 bloods were taken from orbital sinus. The hematological parameter consisted of the numbers of erythrocyte and leukocyte as well as hemoglobin and total protein levels were measured. The data were statistically analyzed by one way Anova followed by LSD test. All of observed hematological parameters in rats showed that there were no significant difference between the nutmeg ethanolic extract treated groups and control group. The result indicated that the subchronic administration of 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg bw of nutmeg ethanolic extract did not cause the change of hematological parameters in rat.

Geothermal Life Cycle Calculator

DOE Data Explorer

Sullivan, John

2014-03-11

This calculator is a handy tool for interested parties to estimate two key life cycle metrics, fossil energy consumption (Etot) and greenhouse gas emission (ghgtot) ratios, for geothermal electric power production. It is based solely on data developed by Argonne National Laboratory for DOE’s Geothermal Technologies office. The calculator permits the user to explore the impact of a range of key geothermal power production parameters, including plant capacity, lifetime, capacity factor, geothermal technology, well numbers and depths, field exploration, and others on the two metrics just mentioned. Estimates of variations in the results are also available to the user.

Computer image processing - The Viking experience. [digital enhancement techniques

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Green, W. B.

1977-01-01

Computer processing of digital imagery from the Viking mission to Mars is discussed, with attention given to subjective enhancement and quantitative processing. Contrast stretching and high-pass filtering techniques of subjective enhancement are described; algorithms developed to determine optimal stretch and filtering parameters are also mentioned. In addition, geometric transformations to rectify the distortion of shapes in the field of view and to alter the apparent viewpoint of the image are considered. Perhaps the most difficult problem in quantitative processing of Viking imagery was the production of accurate color representations of Orbiter and Lander camera images.

Metal Oxide Gas Sensors: Sensitivity and Influencing Factors

PubMed Central

Wang, Chengxiang; Yin, Longwei; Zhang, Luyuan; Xiang, Dong; Gao, Rui

2010-01-01

Conductometric semiconducting metal oxide gas sensors have been widely used and investigated in the detection of gases. Investigations have indicated that the gas sensing process is strongly related to surface reactions, so one of the important parameters of gas sensors, the sensitivity of the metal oxide based materials, will change with the factors influencing the surface reactions, such as chemical components, surface-modification and microstructures of sensing layers, temperature and humidity. In this brief review, attention will be focused on changes of sensitivity of conductometric semiconducting metal oxide gas sensors due to the five factors mentioned above. PMID:22294916

Study of performance and propagation characteristics of wire and planar structures around human body.

PubMed

Aroul, A L Praveen; Bhatia, Dinesh

2011-01-01

Continued miniaturization of electronic devices and technological advancements in wireless communications has made wearable body-centric telemedicine systems viable. Antennas play a crucial role in characterizing the efficiency and reliability of these systems. The performance characteristics such as the radiation pattern, gain, efficiency of the antennas get adversely affected due to the presence of lossy human body tissues. In this paper we investigate the above mentioned performance parameters and radio frequency transmission properties of wire and planar structures operating at ISM frequency band of 2.40-2.50 GHz in the proximity of human body.

GPS Modeling and Analysis. Summary of Research: GPS Satellite Axial Ratio Predictions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Axelrad, Penina; Reeh, Lisa

2002-01-01

This report outlines the algorithms developed at the Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research to model yaw and predict the axial ratio as measured from a ground station. The algorithms are implemented in a collection of Matlab functions and scripts that read certain user input, such as ground station coordinates, the UTC time, and the desired GPS (Global Positioning System) satellites, and compute the above-mentioned parameters. The position information for the GPS satellites is obtained from Yuma almanac files corresponding to the prescribed date. The results are displayed graphically through time histories and azimuth-elevation plots.

Planetary geology, stellar evolution and galactic cosmology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1972-01-01

Field studies of selected basalt flows in the Snake River Plain, Idaho, were made for comparative lunar and Mars geological investigations. Studies of basalt lava tubes were also initiated in Washington, Oregon, Hawaii, and northern California. The main effort in the stellar evolution research is toward the development of a computer code to calculate hydrodynamic flow coupled with radiative energy transport. Estimates of the rotation effects on a collapsing cloud indicate that the total angular momentum is the critical parameter. The study of Paschen and Balmer alpha lines of positronium atoms in the center of a galaxy is mentioned.

Uncertainty Models for Knowledge-Based Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-08-01

sists of the subsets of a constituting the a-algebra A such that = Pr Note that the sum of (A over A in general exceeds unity or is divergent . (Of...f is a g.d.f. Hence, again PCf = -Pf I - Pf = Cf Now, analogous to Sklar’s Theroem mentioned previously, define ior any n a 1 C n U (SBVq n ((sBVq [0...then extends the following basic theroem in a natural way to the above example: The entropy of a joint probability function which has independent

Who Is to Blame? Framing HPV to Influence Vaccination Intentions among College Students.

PubMed

Vorpahl, McKenzie M; Yang, Janet Z

2018-05-01

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a prevalent sexually transmitted infection (STI) among college students. Although previous research has studied HPV-related health communication strategies using various framing techniques, the goal of this study is to test how two unique message frames-whether mentioning HPV as an STI and whether to attribute the cause of infection as external or internal-would influence young adults' intentions to receive the recommended HPV vaccine. Results indicate that gender and causal attribution framing influenced participants' intentions to receive the HPV vaccine.

A FORTRAN IV Computer Program for the Time Domain Analysis of the Two- Dimensional Dynamic Motions of General Buoy-Cable-Body Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-06-01

SPHEROIDAL BUOYS As mentioned previously, for the limiting case of zero ; educed frequency where tile free surface behaves as a rigid plane, the...4P ) -4 -4 ft O D - % Cdd :# P) fy ou Cd 1d Cd’. . 6 - C3 ’o .. eg S w Cd *g.4C~dI~**II~.a Ký 0 4 : 10 In H-C IV ..4 _ C) bu 0 40 la W C2C W cc lp lqa

Evidence of Pineal Gland Calcification on CBCT is Not Insignificant: What Else You Might Discover about Your Patient.

PubMed

Fore, Stacy

2016-01-01

The use of CBCT technology in the dental office is increasing rapidly. These scans provide information on anatomy not previously evaluated with traditional 2D films. One structure often mentioned in a CBCT radiology report is the pineal gland. The pineal gland will show evidence of calcification, but this calcification is often dismissed as a normal aging process. This review of the function and influence of the pineal gland may influence the doctor to complete further evaluation of the patient.

Effect of Electric-current Pulses on Grain-structure Evolution in Cryogenically Rolled Copper

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-11-01

4 , however, FIG. 6 . (a) Effect of...Including twins Excluding twins LABs R3a Region 1 1.3 6 1.1 3.7 6 3.9 4 43 Region 2 1.6 6 2.5 6.4 6 6.5 6 44 Region 3 2.6 6 2.3 6.5 6 6.7 4 49 aWithin... 4 orders of magnitude greater than the pulse duration itself. As mentioned in previous work, 6 the cryorolled material was very unstable; i.e., it

Data Management System (DMS) Evolution Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Douglas, Katherine

1990-01-01

The all encompassing goal for the Data Management System (DMS) Evolution Analysis task is to develop an advocacy for ensuring that growth and technology insertion issues are properly and adequately addressed during DMS requirements specification, design, and development. The most efficient methods of addressing those issues are via planned and graceful evolution, technology transparency, and system growth margins. It is necessary that provisions, such as those previously mentioned, are made to accommodate advanced missions requirements (e.g., Human Space Exploration Programs) in addition to evolving Space Station Freedom operations and user requirements .

Illness theodicies in the New Testament.

PubMed

Price, R M

1986-12-01

The New Testament writers advocate or at least mention six different religious explanations for the origin of sickness. First, Satan may thus victimize the innocent. Second, God may send sickness as a punishment for the sufferer's sins. Third, God may send sickness to punish one's parents' sins. Fourth, God may so punish one's own sins committed in a previous life. Fifth, God may inflict illness in order to show his power by subsequent healing. Sixth, God may inflict illness in order to show his power by sustaining the sufferer through the illness instead of healing it.

First in new environmental spacecraft series to be launched

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1978-01-01

A series of operational meteorological monitoring satellites (TIROS-N) is described. Emphasis is placed on environmental monitoring instruments onboard the satellites that provide technological advances over previous sensors. Benefits in the areas of weather forecasting, oceanography, water resource management, and flood forecasting are discussed along with the operational capability to collect and transmit environmental data from platforms on land, at sea, and airborne, and to track stations motion. The participation of Canada, Great Britain, and France is mentioned and a description of the launch vehicle is included.

Transfer function concept for ultrasonic characterization of material microstructures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vary, A.; Kautz, H. E.

1986-01-01

The approach given depends on treating material microstructures as elastomechanical filters that have analytically definable transfer functions. These transfer functions can be defined in terms of the frequency dependence of the ultrasonic attenuation coefficient. The transfer function concept provides a basis for synthesizing expressions that characterize polycrystalline materials relative to microstructural factors such as mean grain size, grain-size distribution functions, and grain boundary energy transmission. Although the approach is nonrigorous, it leads to a rational basis for combining the previously mentioned diverse and fragmented equations for ultrasonic attenuation coefficients.

Channel and Switchbox Routing Using a Greedy Based Channel Algorithm with Outward Scanning Technique.

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-12-01

ol ) V. CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION......................... ... 6 APPENDIX A. NPGS ROUTER USER GUIDE........................6 APPENDIX B. C PROGRAM...problem and shows some of the terminology. previously mentioned. that is peculiar to VISI routing. Clq C4 C4 C4 -4 C4 Clq -4- o C CCD Co -4 q 04 -4 oL ...34 l II 92-. -.-- -.-- , -.... -4--*- -*-- tC I I + 62- -- - ----- -. .t -- +* 0C ’l i II I o -- - ..... 4+ - -+- j- - --- +-+-g9! 6 Ol ... ... "II g4

Determination of Aflatoxin M1 Contamination and Integrity as well as Credibility

PubMed Central

Ataee, R; Tavana, A Mehrabi; Ataee, MH

2012-01-01

Aspergillums can produce and secrete directly aflatoxin M1. During the previous decade several papers pertaining to aflatoxin M1 have been published in different journals. Not mention of their more or less scientific aspects, they have fundamentally some problems in different features. In this paper we are going to have a bird’s eye view on some articles published on this topic. It is suggested that complete research must be performed in order to find out the source of aflatoxin M1 contamination. PMID:23304667

Efficacy of tramadol vs meperidine in vasoocclusive sickle cell crisis.

PubMed

Uzun, Belkan; Kekec, Zeynep; Gurkan, Emel

2010-05-01

Despite progress in management, patients with sickle cell disease who are experiencing acute painful episode are often incompletely treated. We compared meperidine and tramadol with respect to their effects on the hemodynamics and pain relief in patients with sickle cell disease who were admitted to the emergency department with painful crisis. A total of 68 patients with sickle cell disease were randomly assigned to receive either tramadol 1.5 mg/kg (n = 34) or meperidine 1 mg/kg (n = 34). Hemodynamic parameters were recorded at regular intervals after analgesic infusions. Pain intensity and relief were documented by visual analog and pain relief scale, respectively. Sedation level was defined according to Ramsay sedation scale. Both meperidine and tramadol administration resulted in a significant reduction in systolic and diastolic blood pressure after 2 hours (P < .05). Efficacy in pain relief between the analgesics was more rapid and better in the meperidine group, although the degree of relief were significantly improved compared to baseline levels in both groups (P < .05). Sedation was more commonly seen in the meperidine arm. None of the patients had experienced neurotoxicity. In summary, both agents had proven safe and effective for emergent use in patients with sickle cell disease. Avoiding meperidine injections as recommended with previous guidelines needs to be carefully reconsidered especially when low doses are mentioned. (c) 2010. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Brain–Computer Interface Spellers: A Review

PubMed Central

Gembler, Felix; Saboor, Abdul

2018-01-01

A Brain–Computer Interface (BCI) provides a novel non-muscular communication method via brain signals. A BCI-speller can be considered as one of the first published BCI applications and has opened the gate for many advances in the field. Although many BCI-spellers have been developed during the last few decades, to our knowledge, no reviews have described the different spellers proposed and studied in this vital field. The presented speller systems are categorized according to major BCI paradigms: P300, steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP), and motor imagery (MI). Different BCI paradigms require specific electroencephalogram (EEG) signal features and lead to the development of appropriate Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs). The purpose of this review is to consolidate the most successful BCI-spellers published since 2010, while mentioning some other older systems which were built explicitly for spelling purposes. We aim to assist researchers and concerned individuals in the field by illustrating the highlights of different spellers and presenting them in one review. It is almost impossible to carry out an objective comparison between different spellers, as each has its variables, parameters, and conditions. However, the gathered information and the provided taxonomy about different BCI-spellers can be helpful, as it could identify suitable systems for first-hand users, as well as opportunities of development and learning from previous studies for BCI researchers. PMID:29601538

Solar tower cavity receiver aperture optimization based on transient optical and thermo-hydraulic modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schöttl, Peter; Bern, Gregor; van Rooyen, De Wet; Heimsath, Anna; Fluri, Thomas; Nitz, Peter

2017-06-01

A transient simulation methodology for cavity receivers for Solar Tower Central Receiver Systems with molten salt as heat transfer fluid is described. Absorbed solar radiation is modeled with ray tracing and a sky discretization approach to reduce computational effort. Solar radiation re-distribution in the cavity as well as thermal radiation exchange are modeled based on view factors, which are also calculated with ray tracing. An analytical approach is used to represent convective heat transfer in the cavity. Heat transfer fluid flow is simulated with a discrete tube model, where the boundary conditions at the outer tube surface mainly depend on inputs from the previously mentioned modeling aspects. A specific focus is put on the integration of optical and thermo-hydraulic models. Furthermore, aiming point and control strategies are described, which are used during the transient performance assessment. Eventually, the developed simulation methodology is used for the optimization of the aperture opening size of a PS10-like reference scenario with cavity receiver and heliostat field. The objective function is based on the cumulative gain of one representative day. Results include optimized aperture opening size, transient receiver characteristics and benefits of the implemented aiming point strategy compared to a single aiming point approach. Future work will include annual simulations, cost assessment and optimization of a larger range of receiver parameters.

Study of the Influence of the Orientation of a 50-Hz Magnetic Field on Fetal Exposure Using Polynomial Chaos Decomposition

PubMed Central

Liorni, Ilaria; Parazzini, Marta; Fiocchi, Serena; Ravazzani, Paolo

2015-01-01

Human exposure modelling is a complex topic, because in a realistic exposure scenario, several parameters (e.g., the source, the orientation of incident fields, the morphology of subjects) vary and influence the dose. Deterministic dosimetry, so far used to analyze human exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF), is highly time consuming if the previously-mentioned variations are considered. Stochastic dosimetry is an alternative method to build analytical approximations of exposure at a lower computational cost. In this study, it was used to assess the influence of magnetic flux density (B) orientation on fetal exposure at 50 Hz by polynomial chaos (PC). A PC expansion of induced electric field (E) in each fetal tissue at different gestational ages (GA) was built as a function of B orientation. Maximum E in each fetal tissue and at each GA was estimated for different exposure configurations and compared with the limits of the International Commission of Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) Guidelines 2010. PC theory resulted in an efficient tool to build accurate approximations of E in each fetal tissue. B orientation strongly influenced E, with a variability across tissues from 10% to 43% with respect to the mean value. However, varying B orientation, maximum E in each fetal tissue was below the limits of ICNIRP 2010 at all GAs. PMID:26024363

Study of the influence of the orientation of a 50-Hz magnetic field on fetal exposure using polynomial chaos decomposition.

PubMed

Liorni, Ilaria; Parazzini, Marta; Fiocchi, Serena; Ravazzani, Paolo

2015-05-27

Human exposure modelling is a complex topic, because in a realistic exposure scenario, several parameters (e.g., the source, the orientation of incident fields, the morphology of subjects) vary and influence the dose. Deterministic dosimetry, so far used to analyze human exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF), is highly time consuming if the previously-mentioned variations are considered. Stochastic dosimetry is an alternative method to build analytical approximations of exposure at a lower computational cost. In this study, it was used to assess the influence of magnetic flux density (B) orientation on fetal exposure at 50 Hz by polynomial chaos (PC). A PC expansion of induced electric field (E) in each fetal tissue at different gestational ages (GA) was built as a function of B orientation. Maximum E in each fetal tissue and at each GA was estimated for different exposure configurations and compared with the limits of the International Commission of Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) Guidelines 2010. PC theory resulted in an efficient tool to build accurate approximations of E in each fetal tissue. B orientation strongly influenced E, with a variability across tissues from 10% to 43% with respect to the mean value. However, varying B orientation, maximum E in each fetal tissue was below the limits of ICNIRP 2010 at all GAs.

Results of monitoring of the high orbits with ISON optical network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Molotov, Igor; Schildknecht, Thomas; Zalles, Rodolfo; Rumyantsev, Vasilij; Voropaev, Viktor; Zolotov, Vladimir; Kokina, Tatiana; Montojo, Francisco Javier; Namkhai, Tungalag

2016-07-01

International Scientific Optical Network (ISON) represents one of largest systems specializing in observation of space objects. ISON provides permanent monitoring of the whole GEO region, regular surveying of Molniya type orbits, and tracking of objects at GEO, GTO, HEO and LEO. ISON project is continuously developing and is joining now the 37 observation facilities in 15 countries with 79 telescopes of different class (aperture from 12.5 cm to 2.6 m). 15.4 millions measurements in 2.1 millions of tracklets for about 4100 objects are collected by KIAM in 2015. 339 new space objects have been discovered, 307 previously lost objects have been rediscovered. Telescopes of two European observatories (AIUB Zimmerwald and TFRM Barcelona) and two Latin American observatories (Bolivian Tarija and Mexican UAS Cosala) have joined to the ISON survey subsystem. New subsystem of 7 telescopes for extended GEO surveys is created (it allows KIAM to determine more precise GEO orbits for conjunction analysis). Also deployment of Roscosmos subsystem of six dedicated mini-observatories EOP-1/EOP-2 has been completed. ISON encompasses five groups of telescopes and three scheduling centers to better serve user's requests. Obtained measurements are processing at KIAM ballistic center to be used for scientific and applied goals, including collision risks analysis and space situation analysis. Achieved parameters of the above mentioned telescopes and plans of ISON network development will be presented and discussed.

Modeling and analyzing malware propagation in social networks with heterogeneous infection rates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jia, Peng; Liu, Jiayong; Fang, Yong; Liu, Liang; Liu, Luping

2018-10-01

With the rapid development of social networks, hackers begin to try to spread malware more widely by utilizing various kinds of social networks. Thus, studying malware epidemic dynamics in these networks is becoming a popular subject in the literature. Most of the previous works focus on the effects of factors, such as network topology and user behavior, on malware propagation. Some researchers try to analyze the heterogeneity of infection rates, but the common problem of their works is the factors they mentioned that could affect the heterogeneity are not comprehensive enough. In this paper, focusing on the effects of heterogeneous infection rates, we propose a novel model called HSID (heterogeneous-susceptible-infectious-dormant model) to characterize virus propagation in social networks, in which a connection factor is presented to evaluate the heterogeneous relationships between nodes, and a resistance factor is introduced to represent node's mutable resistant ability. We analyzed how key parameters in the two factors affect the heterogeneity and then performed simulations to explore the effects in three real-world social networks. The results indicate: heterogeneous relationship could lead to wider diffusion in directed network, and heterogeneous security awareness could lead to wider diffusion in both directed and undirected networks; heterogeneous relationship could restrain the outbreak of malware but heterogeneous initial security awareness would increase the probability; furthermore, the increasing resistibility along with infected times would lead to malware's disappearance in social networks.

Dietary Phenolic Acids of Macrotyloma uniflorum (Horse Gram) Protect the Rat Heart Against Isoproterenol-Induced Myocardial Infarction.

PubMed

Panda, Vandana; Laddha, Ankit; Nandave, Mukesh; Srinath, Sudhamani

2016-07-01

The present study investigates the cardioprotective activity of the Macrotyloma uniflorum seed extract (MUSE) and its phenolic acids (p-coumaric acid and ferulic acid) in isoproterenol (ISO)-induced myocardial infarction in rats. The previously mentioned phenolic acids were isolated and quantified from MUSE by HPLC. Pretreatment of gemfibrozil (reference standard), MUSE (250 and 500 mg/kg) and the phenolic acids for 30 days to rats treated with ISO (85 mg/kg) on the last 2 days resulted in a significant attenuation of the ISO-elevated levels of serum marker enzymes (aspartate aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase and creatine phosphokinase MB), total cholesterol, triglycerides, uric acid, C-reactive protein and malondialdehyde and a restoration of the levels of the ISO-depleted marker enzymes, reduced glutathione and the antioxidant enzymes-superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase in heart. Restoration of the ISO-altered electrocardiogram pattern and haemodynamic parameters (left ventricular end diastolic pressure, heart rate, systolic, diastolic and mean arterial pressure) was also brought about by treatment with MUSE and the phenolic acids. It may be concluded that MUSE treatment to ISO-challenged rats exhibits a significant cardioprotective effect probably because of the potent antioxidant activity of its phenolic acids that salvage the myocardium from the deleterious effects of ISO. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Challenges in the association of human single nucleotide polymorphism mentions with unique database identifiers

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Most information on genomic variations and their associations with phenotypes are covered exclusively in scientific publications rather than in structured databases. These texts commonly describe variations using natural language; database identifiers are seldom mentioned. This complicates the retrieval of variations, associated articles, as well as information extraction, e. g. the search for biological implications. To overcome these challenges, procedures to map textual mentions of variations to database identifiers need to be developed. Results This article describes a workflow for normalization of variation mentions, i.e. the association of them to unique database identifiers. Common pitfalls in the interpretation of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) mentions are highlighted and discussed. The developed normalization procedure achieves a precision of 98.1 % and a recall of 67.5% for unambiguous association of variation mentions with dbSNP identifiers on a text corpus based on 296 MEDLINE abstracts containing 527 mentions of SNPs. The annotated corpus is freely available at http://www.scai.fraunhofer.de/snp-normalization-corpus.html. Conclusions Comparable approaches usually focus on variations mentioned on the protein sequence and neglect problems for other SNP mentions. The results presented here indicate that normalizing SNPs described on DNA level is more difficult than the normalization of SNPs described on protein level. The challenges associated with normalization are exemplified with ambiguities and errors, which occur in this corpus. PMID:21992066

How the Scientific Community Reacts to Newly Submitted Preprints: Article Downloads, Twitter Mentions, and Citations

PubMed Central

Shuai, Xin; Pepe, Alberto; Bollen, Johan

2012-01-01

We analyze the online response to the preprint publication of a cohort of 4,606 scientific articles submitted to the preprint database arXiv.org between October 2010 and May 2011. We study three forms of responses to these preprints: downloads on the arXiv.org site, mentions on the social media site Twitter, and early citations in the scholarly record. We perform two analyses. First, we analyze the delay and time span of article downloads and Twitter mentions following submission, to understand the temporal configuration of these reactions and whether one precedes or follows the other. Second, we run regression and correlation tests to investigate the relationship between Twitter mentions, arXiv downloads, and article citations. We find that Twitter mentions and arXiv downloads of scholarly articles follow two distinct temporal patterns of activity, with Twitter mentions having shorter delays and narrower time spans than arXiv downloads. We also find that the volume of Twitter mentions is statistically correlated with arXiv downloads and early citations just months after the publication of a preprint, with a possible bias that favors highly mentioned articles. PMID:23133597

The Knaster-Kuratowski-Mazurkiewicz theorem and abstract convexities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cain, George L., Jr.; González, Luis

2008-02-01

The Knaster-Kuratowski-Mazurkiewicz covering theorem (KKM), is the basic ingredient in the proofs of many so-called "intersection" theorems and related fixed point theorems (including the famous Brouwer fixed point theorem). The KKM theorem was extended from Rn to Hausdorff linear spaces by Ky Fan. There has subsequently been a plethora of attempts at extending the KKM type results to arbitrary topological spaces. Virtually all these involve the introduction of some sort of abstract convexity structure for a topological space, among others we could mention H-spaces and G-spaces. We have introduced a new abstract convexity structure that generalizes the concept of a metric space with a convex structure, introduced by E. Michael in [E. Michael, Convex structures and continuous selections, Canad. J. MathE 11 (1959) 556-575] and called a topological space endowed with this structure an M-space. In an article by Shie Park and Hoonjoo Kim [S. Park, H. Kim, Coincidence theorems for admissible multifunctions on generalized convex spaces, J. Math. Anal. Appl. 197 (1996) 173-187], the concepts of G-spaces and metric spaces with Michael's convex structure, were mentioned together but no kind of relationship was shown. In this article, we prove that G-spaces and M-spaces are close related. We also introduce here the concept of an L-space, which is inspired in the MC-spaces of J.V. Llinares [J.V. Llinares, Unified treatment of the problem of existence of maximal elements in binary relations: A characterization, J. Math. Econom. 29 (1998) 285-302], and establish relationships between the convexities of these spaces with the spaces previously mentioned.

Blog and Podcast Watch: Cutaneous Emergencies.

PubMed

Grock, Andrew; Morley, Eric J; Roppolo, Lynn; Khadpe, Jay; Ankel, Felix; Lin, Michelle

2017-02-01

The WestJEM Blog and Podcast Watch presents high quality open-access educational blogs and podcasts in emergency medicine (EM) based on the ongoing Academic Life in Emergency Medicine (ALiEM) Approved Instructional Resources (AIR) and AIR-Professional series. Both series critically appraise resources using an objective scoring rubric. This installment of the Blog and Podcast Watch highlights the topic of cutaneous emergencies from the AIR series. The AIR series is a continuously building curriculum that follows the Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors (CORD) annual testing schedule. For each module, relevant content is collected from the top 50 most accessed sites per the Social Media Index published within the previous 12 months and scored by eight board members using five equally weighted measurement outcomes: Best Evidence in Emergency Medicine (BEEM) score, accuracy, educational utility, evidence based, and references. Resources scoring ≥30 out of 35 available points receive an AIR label. Resources scoring 27-29 receive an "honorable mention" label, if the editorial board agrees that the post is accurate and educationally valuable. A total of 35 blog posts and podcasts were evaluated. None scored ≥30 points necessary for the AIR label, although four honorable mention posts were identified. Key educational pearls from these honorable mention posts are summarized. This Blog and Podcast Watch series is based on the AIR and AIR-Pro series, which attempts to identify high quality educational content on open-access blogs and podcasts. This series provides an expert-based, post-publication curation of educational social media content for EM clinicians with this installment focusing on cutaneous emergencies.

Role of MODIS Vegetation Phenology Products in the ForWarn System for Monitoring of Forest Disturbances in the Conterminous United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spruce, J.; Hargrove, W. W.; Norman, S.; Gasser, J.; Smoot, J.; Kuper, P.

2012-12-01

This presentation discusses MODIS vegetation phenology products used in the ForWarn Early Warning System (EWS) tool for near real time regional forest disturbance detection and surveillance at regional to national scales. The ForWarn EWS is being developed by the USDA Forest Service NASA, ORNL, and USGS to aid federal and state forest health management activities. ForWarn employs multiple historical land surface phenology products that are derived from MODIS MOD13 Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data. The latter is temporally processed into phenology products with the Time Series Product Tool (TSPT) and the Phenological Parameter Estimation Tool (PPET) software produced at NASA Stennis Space Center. TSPT is used to effectively noise reduce, fuse, and void interpolate MODIS NDVI data. PPET employs TSPT-processed NDVI time series data as an input, outputting multiple vegetation phenology products at a 232 meter resolution for 2000 to 2011, including NDVI magnitude and day of year products for seven key points along the growing season (peak of growing season and the minima, 20%, and 80% of the peak NDVI for both the left and right side of growing season), cumulative NDVI integral products for the most active part of the growing season and sequentially across the growing season at 8 day intervals, and maximum value NDVI products composited at 24 day intervals in which each product date has 8 days of overlap between the previous and following product dates. MODIS NDVI phenology products are also used to compute nationwide near real time forest change products every 8 days. These include percent change in forest NDVI products that compare the current NDVI from USGS eMODIS products to historical MODIS MOD13 NDVI. For each date, three forest change products are produced using three different maximum value NDVI baselines (from the previous year, three previous years, and all previous years). All change products are output with a rainbow color table in which forests with the most severe NDVI decreases are assigned hot colors (yellow to red) and forests with prominent NDVI increases are assigned cold colors (blue tones). All mentioned products have been integrated as data layers into ForWarn's geospatial data viewer known as the U.S. Forest Change Assessment Viewer (FCAV). The latter is used to view and assess the context of the mentioned forest change products with respect to ancillary data layers, such as land cover, elevation, hydrologic features, climatic data, storm data, aerial disturbance surveys, fire data, and land ownership. The FCAV also includes a temporal NDVI profiler for viewing phenological change in multi-year NDVI associated with known or suspected regionally apparent forest disturbances (e.g., from fire and insects). ForWarn forest change products have been used to detect, track, and assess several biotic and abiotic regional forest disturbance events across the country, including ephemeral and longer lasting damage from storms, drought, and insects. Such change products are most effective for viewing severe disturbance patches of multiple pixels. MODIS vegetation phenology products contribute vital current information on forest conditions to the ForWarn system and this role is expected to grow as these products are refined and derivative products are added.

Role of MODIS Vegetation Phenology Products in the ForWarn System for Monitoring of Forest Disturbances in the Conterminous United States

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spruce, Joseph P.; Hargrove, William; Norman, Steve; Gasser, Jerry; Smoot, James; Kuper, Philip D,

2012-01-01

This presentation discusses MODIS vegetation phenology products used in the ForWarn Early Warning System (EWS) tool for near real time regional forest disturbance detection and surveillance at regional to national scales. The ForWarn EWS is being developed by the USDA Forest Service NASA, ORNL, and USGS to aid federal and state forest health management activities. ForWarn employs multiple historical land surface phenology products that are derived from MODIS MOD13 Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data. The latter is temporally processed into phenology products with the Time Series Product Tool (TSPT) and the Phenological Parameter Estimation Tool (PPET) software produced at NASA Stennis Space Center. TSPT is used to effectively noise reduce, fuse, and void interpolate MODIS NDVI data. PPET employs TSPT-processed NDVI time series data as an input, outputting multiple vegetation phenology products at a 232 meter resolution for 2000 to 2011, including NDVI magnitude and day of year products for seven key points along the growing season (peak of growing season and the minima, 20%, and 80% of the peak NDVI for both the left and right side of growing season), cumulative NDVI integral products for the most active part of the growing season and sequentially across the growing season at 8 day intervals, and maximum value NDVI products composited at 24 day intervals in which each product date has 8 days of overlap between the previous and following product dates. MODIS NDVI phenology products are also used to compute nationwide NRT forest change products refreshed every 8 days. These include percent change in forest NDVI products that compare the current NDVI from USGS eMODIS products to historical MODIS MOD13 NDVI. For each date, three forest change products are produced using three different maximum value NDVI baselines (from the previous year, three previous years, and all previous years). All change products are output with a rainbow color table in which forests with the most severe NDVI decreases are assigned hot colors (yellow to red) and forests with prominent NDVI increases are assigned cold colors (blue tones). All mentioned products have been integrated as data layers into ForWarn s geospatial data viewer known as the U.S. Forest Change Assessment Viewer (FCAV). The latter is used to view and assess the context of the mentioned forest change products with respect to ancillary data layers, such as land cover, elevation, hydrologic features, climatic data, storm data, aerial disturbance surveys, fire data, and land ownership. The FCAV also includes a temporal NDVI profiler for viewing phenological change in multi-year NDVI associated with known or suspected regionally apparent forest disturbances (e.g., from fire and insects). ForWarn forest change products have been used to detect, track, and assess several biotic and abiotic regional forest disturbance events across the country, including ephemeral and longer lasting damage from storms, drought, and insects. Such change products are most effective for viewing severe disturbances affecting multiple MODIS pixels. MODIS vegetation phenology products contribute vital current information on forest conditions to the ForWarn system and this role is expected to grow as these products are refined and derivative products are added.

A brief introduction to computer-intensive methods, with a view towards applications in spatial statistics and stereology.

PubMed

Mattfeldt, Torsten

2011-04-01

Computer-intensive methods may be defined as data analytical procedures involving a huge number of highly repetitive computations. We mention resampling methods with replacement (bootstrap methods), resampling methods without replacement (randomization tests) and simulation methods. The resampling methods are based on simple and robust principles and are largely free from distributional assumptions. Bootstrap methods may be used to compute confidence intervals for a scalar model parameter and for summary statistics from replicated planar point patterns, and for significance tests. For some simple models of planar point processes, point patterns can be simulated by elementary Monte Carlo methods. The simulation of models with more complex interaction properties usually requires more advanced computing methods. In this context, we mention simulation of Gibbs processes with Markov chain Monte Carlo methods using the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm. An alternative to simulations on the basis of a parametric model consists of stochastic reconstruction methods. The basic ideas behind the methods are briefly reviewed and illustrated by simple worked examples in order to encourage novices in the field to use computer-intensive methods. © 2010 The Authors Journal of Microscopy © 2010 Royal Microscopical Society.

The structure study of thin semiconductor and dielectric films by diffraction of synchrotron radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yurjev, G. S.; Fainer, N. I.; Maximovskiy, E. A.; Kosinova, M. L.; Sheromov, M. A.; Rumyantsev, Yu. M.

1998-02-01

The structure of semiconductor and dielectric thin (100-300 nm) films was studied by diffraction of synchrotron radiation. The diffraction experiments were performed at both the station "Anomalous scattering" of the storage ring synchrotron facility VEPP-3 and DRON-4 diffractometer. The structure of CdS thin films grown on fused silica, single Si(100) and InP(100) substrates was investigated. The structure of Cu 2S thin films grown on fused silica, single Si(100) substrates and CdS/Si(100)-heterostructure was studied. The structure study was performed on Si 3N 4 films grown on GaAs(100) substrates. The structure of thin BN layers grown on single Si(100) substrates was studied. It was established that structural parameters of above-mentioned thin films coincide on the parameters of JCPDS International Centre for Diffraction Data.

New physicochemical interpretations for the adsorption of food dyes on chitosan films using statistical physics treatment.

PubMed

Dotto, G L; Pinto, L A A; Hachicha, M A; Knani, S

2015-03-15

In this work, statistical physics treatment was employed to study the adsorption of food dyes onto chitosan films, in order to obtain new physicochemical interpretations at molecular level. Experimental equilibrium curves were obtained for the adsorption of four dyes (FD&C red 2, FD&C yellow 5, FD&C blue 2, Acid Red 51) at different temperatures (298, 313 and 328 K). A statistical physics formula was used to interpret these curves, and the parameters such as, number of adsorbed dye molecules per site (n), anchorage number (n'), receptor sites density (NM), adsorbed quantity at saturation (N asat), steric hindrance (τ), concentration at half saturation (c1/2) and molar adsorption energy (ΔE(a)) were estimated. The relation of the above mentioned parameters with the chemical structure of the dyes and temperature was evaluated and interpreted. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A robust fuzzy local Information c-means clustering algorithm with noise detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shang, Jiayu; Li, Shiren; Huang, Junwei

2018-04-01

Fuzzy c-means clustering (FCM), especially with spatial constraints (FCM_S), is an effective algorithm suitable for image segmentation. Its reliability contributes not only to the presentation of fuzziness for belongingness of every pixel but also to exploitation of spatial contextual information. But these algorithms still remain some problems when processing the image with noise, they are sensitive to the parameters which have to be tuned according to prior knowledge of the noise. In this paper, we propose a new FCM algorithm, combining the gray constraints and spatial constraints, called spatial and gray-level denoised fuzzy c-means (SGDFCM) algorithm. This new algorithm conquers the parameter disadvantages mentioned above by considering the possibility of noise of each pixel, which aims to improve the robustness and obtain more detail information. Furthermore, the possibility of noise can be calculated in advance, which means the algorithm is effective and efficient.

Neutron investigation of Nd 2- x- yCe xLa yCuO 4 (0 ⩽ x ⩽ 0.2; y = 0.5, 1)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gutmann, M.; Allenspach, P.; Fauth, F.; Furrer, A.; Zolliker, M.; Rosenkranz, S.; Eccleston, R. S.

1997-02-01

We present neutron diffraction and crystal field (CF) spectroscopy results obtained for the electron-doped superconductor precursor material Nd 2- x- yCe xLa yCuO 4 (0 ⩽ x ⩽ 0.2; y = 0.5, 1). Samples were prepared via a sol-gel methods. The lattice constants as a function of Ce-doping show the well-known behavior common to this class of compounds, i.e. the a parameter increases while the c parameter decreases with increasing Ce amount. The presence of La expands the unit cell in all directions compared to the mother compound Nd 2CuO 4 while preserving the T‧-structure for the above mentioned range. The CF spectra clearly show the presence of electronic inhomogeneities associated with electron doping from Ce 4+ on one Cu-site in the CuO 2-planes.

A Review on Investigation and Assessment of Path Loss Models in Urban and Rural Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maurya, G. R.; Kokate, P. A.; Lokhande, S. K.; Shrawankar, J. A.

2017-08-01

This paper aims at providing a clear knowledge of Path Loss (PL) to the researcher. The important data have been extracted from the papers and mentioned in clear and precise manner. The limited studies were based on identification of PL due to FM frequency. Majority of studies based on identification of PL considering telephonic frequency as a source. In this paper the PL in urban and rural areas of different places due to various factors like buildings, trees, antenna height, forest etc. have been studied. The common parameters like frequency, model and location based studies were done. The studies were segregated based on various parameters in tabular format and they were compared based on frequency, location and best fit model in that table. Scatter chart was drawn in order to make the things clearer and more understandable. However, location specific PL models are required to investigate the RF propagation in identified terrain.

Effects of the Variation in Brain Tissue Mechanical Properties on the Intracranial Response of a 6-Year-Old Child.

PubMed

Cui, Shihai; Li, Haiyan; Li, Xiangnan; Ruan, Jesse

2015-01-01

Brain tissue mechanical properties are of importance to investigate child head injury using finite element (FE) method. However, these properties used in child head FE model normally vary in a large range in published literatures because of the insufficient child cadaver experiments. In this work, a head FE model with detailed anatomical structures is developed from the computed tomography (CT) data of a 6-year-old healthy child head. The effects of brain tissue mechanical properties on traumatic brain response are also analyzed by reconstruction of a head impact on engine hood according to Euro-NCAP testing regulation using FE method. The result showed that the variations of brain tissue mechanical parameters in linear viscoelastic constitutive model had different influences on the intracranial response. Furthermore, the opposite trend was obtained in the predicted shear stress and shear strain of brain tissues caused by the variations of mentioned parameters.

On two diffusion neuronal models with multiplicative noise: The mean first-passage time properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

D'Onofrio, G.; Lansky, P.; Pirozzi, E.

2018-04-01

Two diffusion processes with multiplicative noise, able to model the changes in the neuronal membrane depolarization between two consecutive spikes of a single neuron, are considered and compared. The processes have the same deterministic part but different stochastic components. The differences in the state-dependent variabilities, their asymptotic distributions, and the properties of the first-passage time across a constant threshold are investigated. Closed form expressions for the mean of the first-passage time of both processes are derived and applied to determine the role played by the parameters involved in the model. It is shown that for some values of the input parameters, the higher variability, given by the second moment, does not imply shorter mean first-passage time. The reason for that can be found in the complete shape of the stationary distribution of the two processes. Applications outside neuroscience are also mentioned.

Extraction of rapamycin (sirolimus) from Streptomyces rapamycinicus using ultrasound.

PubMed

More, Amol S; Gadalkar, Sagar; Rathod, Virendra K

2017-07-03

The study was designed to investigate the use of ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) of rapamycin (sirolimus) from bacterial strain of Streptomyces rapamycinicus NRRL 5491. To achieve the maximum extraction yield, various parameters were optimized which include S. rapamycinicus (10 g) of biomass in toluene (50 mL), temperature (20°C), acoustic intensity (35.67 W/cm 2 ), and duty cycle (40%) for 4 min extraction time with probe tip length of 0.5 cm dipped into extraction solvent from the surface. The maximum extraction yield 60.15 ± 0.01 mg/L was attained under the mentioned optimum parameters. The use of ultrasound for the extraction of rapamycin shows about twofold increase in the yield as compared to the conventional solid-liquid extraction (29.7 ± 0.2 mg/L). The study provides the effective UAE technique to produce potential value-added products.

An EOQ model of time quadratic and inventory dependent demand for deteriorated items with partially backlogged shortages under trade credit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Pushpinder; Mishra, Nitin Kumar; Singh, Vikramjeet; Saxena, Seema

2017-07-01

In this paper a single buyer, single supplier inventory model with time quadratic and stock dependent demand for a finite planning horizon has been studied. Single deteriorating item which suffers shortage, with partial backlogging and some lost sales is considered. Model is divided into two scenarios, one with non permissible delay in payment and other with permissible delay in payment. Latter is called, centralized system, where supplier offers trade credit to retailer. In the centralized system cost saving is shared amongst the two. The objective is to study the difference in minimum costs borne by retailer and supplier, under two scenarios including the above mentioned parameters. To obtain optimal solution of the problem the model is solved analytically. Numerical example and a comparative study are then discussed supported by sensitivity analysis of each parameter.

Fifty years of fat: news coverage of trends that predate obesity prevalence.

PubMed

Davis, Brennan; Wansink, Brian

2015-07-10

Obesity prevalence has risen in fifty years. While people generally expect media mentions of health risks like obesity prevalence to follow health risk trends, food consumption trends may precede obesity prevalence trends. Therefore, this research investigates whether media mentions of food predate obesity prevalence. Fifty years of non-advertising articles in the New York Times (and 17 years for the London Times) are coded for the mention of less healthy (5 salty and 5 sweet snacks) and healthy (5 fruits and 5 vegetables) food items by year and then associated with annual obesity prevalence in subsequent years. Time-series generalized linear models test whether food-related mentions predate or postdate obesity prevalence in each country. United States obesity prevalence is positively associated with New York Times mentions of sweet snacks (b = 55.2, CI = 42.4 to 68.1, p = .000) and negatively associated with mentions of fruits (b = -71.28, CI -91.5 to -51.1, p = .000) and vegetables (b = -13.6, CI = -17.5 to -9.6, p = .000). Similar results are found for the United Kingdom and The London Times. Importantly, the "obesity followed mentions" models are stronger than the "obesity preceded mentions" models. It may be possible to estimate a nation's future obesity prevalence (e.g., three years from now) based on how frequently national media mention sweet snacks (positively related) and vegetables or fruits (negatively related) today. This may provide public health officials and epidemiologists with new tools to more quickly assess the effectiveness of current obesity interventions based on what is mentioned in the media today.

Using domain knowledge and domain-inspired discourse model for coreference resolution for clinical narratives

PubMed Central

Roth, Dan

2013-01-01

Objective This paper presents a coreference resolution system for clinical narratives. Coreference resolution aims at clustering all mentions in a single document to coherent entities. Materials and methods A knowledge-intensive approach for coreference resolution is employed. The domain knowledge used includes several domain-specific lists, a knowledge intensive mention parsing, and task informed discourse model. Mention parsing allows us to abstract over the surface form of the mention and represent each mention using a higher-level representation, which we call the mention's semantic representation (SR). SR reduces the mention to a standard form and hence provides better support for comparing and matching. Existing coreference resolution systems tend to ignore discourse aspects and rely heavily on lexical and structural cues in the text. The authors break from this tradition and present a discourse model for “person” type mentions in clinical narratives, which greatly simplifies the coreference resolution. Results This system was evaluated on four different datasets which were made available in the 2011 i2b2/VA coreference challenge. The unweighted average of F1 scores (over B-cubed, MUC and CEAF) varied from 84.2% to 88.1%. These experiments show that domain knowledge is effective for different mention types for all the datasets. Discussion Error analysis shows that most of the recall errors made by the system can be handled by further addition of domain knowledge. The precision errors, on the other hand, are more subtle and indicate the need to understand the relations in which mentions participate for building a robust coreference system. Conclusion This paper presents an approach that makes an extensive use of domain knowledge to significantly improve coreference resolution. The authors state that their system and the knowledge sources developed will be made publicly available. PMID:22781192

[Estimation of action of lactoovovegetarian and vegan diets on blood level of atherogenic lipoproteins in healthy people].

PubMed

Medkova, I L; Mosiakina, L I; Biriukova, L S

2002-01-01

The biochemical status of 72 vegetarians (aged 40-60) was studied; 35 persons kept to a lactoovovegetarian diet and 37 persons followed a vegan diet (vegetable food only). As the results of the investigation showed, almost all of the biochemical parameters of blood tests in the both groups were kept to the physiological norm. A pronounced hypolipidemic effect of both the diets was observed (the total cholesterol level was 5.24 +/- 0.28 mmol/l in the vegetarian group and 3.26 +/- 0.17 mmol/l in the vegan group), some parameters of lipid metabolism in the group of vegan being lower then in the vegetarian group. Thus, the total cholesterol level in the vegan group was lower by 38.7%, the atherogenic coefficient--by 13.8%, the low density cholesterol--by 34.3%, triglicerides--by 28.3%. Although the above mentioned parameters of the vegan group seem to be more satisfactory than those of the vegetarian group, we could not recommend the vegan diet for long periods of time because of deficiency of some nutrients in it.

Marangoni instability in a thin film heated from below: Effect of nonmonotonic dependence of surface tension on temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sarma, Rajkumar; Mondal, Pranab Kumar

2018-04-01

We investigate Marangoni instability in a thin liquid film resting on a substrate of low thermal conductivity and separated from the surrounding gas phase by a deformable free surface. Considering a nonmonotonic variation of surface tension with temperature, here we analytically derive the neutral stability curve for the monotonic and oscillatory modes of instability (for both the long-wave and short-wave perturbations) under the framework of linear stability analysis. For the long-wave instability, we derive a set of amplitude equations using the scaling k ˜(Bi) 1 /2 , where k is the wave number and Bi is the Biot number. Through this investigation, we demonstrate that for such a fluid layer upon heating from below, both monotonic and oscillatory instability can appear for a certain range of the dimensionless parameters, viz., Biot number (Bi ) , Galileo number (Ga ) , and inverse capillary number (Σ ) . Moreover, we unveil, through this study, the influential role of the above-mentioned parameters on the stability of the system and identify the critical values of these parameters above which instability initiates in the liquid layer.

VO-KOREL: A Fourier Disentangling Service of the Virtual Observatory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Škoda, Petr; Hadrava, Petr; Fuchs, Jan

2012-04-01

VO-KOREL is a web service exploiting the technology of the Virtual Observatory for providing astronomers with the intuitive graphical front-end and distributed computing back-end running the most recent version of the Fourier disentangling code KOREL. The system integrates the ideas of the e-shop basket, conserving the privacy of every user by transfer encryption and access authentication, with features of laboratory notebook, allowing the easy housekeeping of both input parameters and final results, as well as it explores a newly emerging technology of cloud computing. While the web-based front-end allows the user to submit data and parameter files, edit parameters, manage a job list, resubmit or cancel running jobs and mainly watching the text and graphical results of a disentangling process, the main part of the back-end is a simple job queue submission system executing in parallel multiple instances of the FORTRAN code KOREL. This may be easily extended for GRID-based deployment on massively parallel computing clusters. The short introduction into underlying technologies is given, briefly mentioning advantages as well as bottlenecks of the design used.

Windowed multitaper correlation analysis of multimodal brain monitoring parameters.

PubMed

Faltermeier, Rupert; Proescholdt, Martin A; Bele, Sylvia; Brawanski, Alexander

2015-01-01

Although multimodal monitoring sets the standard in daily practice of neurocritical care, problem-oriented analysis tools to interpret the huge amount of data are lacking. Recently a mathematical model was presented that simulates the cerebral perfusion and oxygen supply in case of a severe head trauma, predicting the appearance of distinct correlations between arterial blood pressure and intracranial pressure. In this study we present a set of mathematical tools that reliably detect the predicted correlations in data recorded at a neurocritical care unit. The time resolved correlations will be identified by a windowing technique combined with Fourier-based coherence calculations. The phasing of the data is detected by means of Hilbert phase difference within the above mentioned windows. A statistical testing method is introduced that allows tuning the parameters of the windowing method in such a way that a predefined accuracy is reached. With this method the data of fifteen patients were examined in which we found the predicted correlation in each patient. Additionally it could be shown that the occurrence of a distinct correlation parameter, called scp, represents a predictive value of high quality for the patients outcome.

Optomechanical design software for segmented mirrors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marrero, Juan

2016-08-01

The software package presented in this paper, still under development, was born to help analyzing the influence of the many parameters involved in the design of a large segmented mirror telescope. In summary, it is a set of tools which were added to a common framework as they were needed. Great emphasis has been made on the graphical presentation, as scientific visualization nowadays cannot be conceived without the use of a helpful 3d environment, showing the analyzed system as close to reality as possible. Use of third party software packages is limited to ANSYS, which should be available in the system only if the FEM results are needed. Among the various functionalities of the software, the next ones are worth mentioning here: automatic 3d model construction of a segmented mirror from a set of parameters, geometric ray tracing, automatic 3d model construction of a telescope structure around the defined mirrors from a set of parameters, segmented mirror human access assessment, analysis of integration tolerances, assessment of segments collision, structural deformation under gravity and thermal variation, mirror support system analysis including warping harness mechanisms, etc.

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

EL-Shamy, E. F., E-mail: emadel-shamy@hotmail.com; Department of Physics, College of Science, King Khalid University, P.O. 9004, Abha; Al-Asbali, A. M., E-mail: aliaa-ma@hotmail.com

A theoretical investigation is carried out to study the propagation and the head-on collision of dust-acoustic (DA) shock waves in a strongly coupled dusty plasma consisting of negative dust fluid, Maxwellian distributed electrons and ions. Applying the extended Poincaré–Lighthill–Kuo method, a couple of Korteweg–deVries–Burgers equations for describing DA shock waves are derived. This study is a first attempt to deduce the analytical phase shifts of DA shock waves after collision. The impacts of physical parameters such as the kinematic viscosity, the unperturbed electron-to-dust density ratio, parameter determining the effect of polarization force, the ion-to-electron temperature ratio, and the effective dustmore » temperature-to-ion temperature ratio on the structure and the collision of DA shock waves are examined. In addition, the results reveal the increase of the strength and the steepness of DA shock waves as the above mentioned parameters increase, which in turn leads to the increase of the phase shifts of DA shock waves after collision. The present model may be useful to describe the structure and the collision of DA shock waves in space and laboratory dusty plasmas.« less

Serial robot for the trajectory optimization and error compensation of TMT mask exchange system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jianping; Zhang, Feifan; Zhou, Zengxiang; Zhai, Chao

2015-10-01

Mask exchange system is the main part of Multi-Object Broadband Imaging Echellette (MOBIE) on the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). According to the conception of the TMT mask exchange system, the pre-design was introduced in the paper which was based on IRB 140 robot. The stiffness model of IRB 140 in SolidWorks was analyzed under different gravity vectors for further error compensation. In order to find the right location and path planning, the robot and the mask cassette model was imported into MOBIE model to perform different schemes simulation. And obtained the initial installation position and routing. Based on these initial parameters, IRB 140 robot was operated to simulate the path and estimate the mask exchange time. Meanwhile, MATLAB and ADAMS software were used to perform simulation analysis and optimize the route to acquire the kinematics parameters and compare with the experiment results. After simulation and experimental research mentioned in the paper, the theoretical reference was acquired which could high efficient improve the structure of the mask exchange system parameters optimization of the path and precision of the robot position.

The role of different sampling methods in improving biological activity prediction using deep belief network.

PubMed

Ghasemi, Fahimeh; Fassihi, Afshin; Pérez-Sánchez, Horacio; Mehri Dehnavi, Alireza

2017-02-05

Thousands of molecules and descriptors are available for a medicinal chemist thanks to the technological advancements in different branches of chemistry. This fact as well as the correlation between them has raised new problems in quantitative structure activity relationship studies. Proper parameter initialization in statistical modeling has merged as another challenge in recent years. Random selection of parameters leads to poor performance of deep neural network (DNN). In this research, deep belief network (DBN) was applied to initialize DNNs. DBN is composed of some stacks of restricted Boltzmann machine, an energy-based method that requires computing log likelihood gradient for all samples. Three different sampling approaches were suggested to solve this gradient. In this respect, the impact of DBN was applied based on the different sampling approaches mentioned above to initialize the DNN architecture in predicting biological activity of all fifteen Kaggle targets that contain more than 70k molecules. The same as other fields of processing research, the outputs of these models demonstrated significant superiority to that of DNN with random parameters. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Multivariate erosion risk assessment of lateritic badlands of Birbhum (West Bengal, India): A case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghosh, Sandipan; Bhattacharya, Kamala

2012-12-01

Each geomorphic hazard involves a degree of risk which incorporates quantification of the probability that a hazard will be harmful. At present, the categorization of sub-watersheds into erosion risk is considered as the fundamental step to conserve the soil loss. Development of badlands over the laterites of Birbhum district is an indicative of excessive soil loss in the monsoonal wet-dry type of climate. Slope erosion and channel erosion have generated huge amount of sediment from the small watersheds during intense monsoonal rainfall (June-September). The adjoining areas of Rampurhat I Block, Birbhum (West Bengal) and Shikaripara Block, Dumka (Jharkhand) have lost the lateritic soil cover at a rate of 20-40 ton/ha/year (Sarkar et al. 2005). In order to estimate the progressive removal of soil particles from the gully-catchments of the above-mentioned area, different morphometric parameters, soil parameters, hydrologic parameters and empirical models are employed. Side by side, the study is carried out to categorize the gully-catchments into different magnitude of erosion risk using several multivariate statistical techniques.

Cervical porcupine quill foreign body involving the spinal cord of a dog: A description of various imaging modality findings.

PubMed

Le Roux, Christelle; Venter, Frans J; Kirberger, Robert M

2017-12-08

Although porcupine quill injuries are common in dogs, the detailed appearance of the quill on diagnostic ultrasound, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging has not been sufficiently described. A 4-year-old, intact, female Jack Russel terrier presented with severe neck pain and ataxia after an altercation with a porcupine 2 weeks earlier. Radiology, diagnostic ultrasound, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging were all utilised to identify a quill imbedded in the cervical vertebral canal and cervical musculature and were compared to each other. Surgical removal of the quill, guided by imaging findings, led to the resolution of the clinical signs in the patient. Previous ultrasound imaging reports have just stated that the quill consists of paralell hyperechoic lines, and do not mention the finer hyperechoic lines inbetween and do not try to provide a reason for the appearance. Previous computed tomography (CT) reports just mention identifying the quill on CT images (whether or not CT could identify the fragments), but do not go into detail about the attenuating appearance of the quill nor try to relate this to the composition of the quill. This is to the authors' knowledge the first report with detailed imaging descriptions of a case of cranial cervical vertebral canal porcupine quill foreign body in a dog. This is also the first report to allude to a possible difference in imaging findings related to quill structure because of keratin orientation and melanin content. The ideal imaging modality to use remains elusive, but ultrasound, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging could all identify the quill.

Alcohol Brand References in U.S. Popular Music, 2009–2011

PubMed Central

Siegel, Michael; Johnson, Renee M.; Tyagi, Keshav; Power, Kathryn; Lohsen, Mark C.; Ayers, Amanda J.; Jernigan, David H.

2013-01-01

This study aimed to assess the prevalence and context of alcohol brand references in popular music. Billboard Magazine year-end charts from 2009–2011 were used to identify the most popular songs in four genres: Urban, Pop, Country, and Rock. Of the 720 songs, 23% included an alcohol mention, and 6.4% included an alcohol brand mention. Songs classified as Urban had the highest percentage of alcohol mentions and alcohol brand mentions. The context associated with alcohol brand mentions was almost uniformly positive or neutral. Public health efforts may be necessary to reduce youth exposure to these positive messages about alcohol use. PMID:23971875

Alcohol brand references in U.S. popular music, 2009-2011.

PubMed

Siegel, Michael; Johnson, Renee M; Tyagi, Keshav; Power, Kathryn; Lohsen, Mark C; Ayers, Amanda J; Jernigan, David H

2013-12-01

This study aimed to assess the prevalence and context of alcohol brand references in popular music. Billboard Magazine year-end charts from 2009 to 2011 were used to identify the most popular songs in four genres: Urban, Pop, Country, and Rock. Of the 720 songs, 23% included an alcohol mention, and 6.4% included an alcohol brand mention. Songs classified as Urban had the highest percentage of alcohol mentions and alcohol brand mentions. The context associated with alcohol brand mentions was almost uniformly positive or neutral. Public health efforts may be necessary to reduce youth exposure to these positive messages about alcohol use.

Drug Prices and Emergency Department Mentions for Cocaine and Heroin

PubMed Central

Caulkins, Jonathan P.

2001-01-01

Objectives. In this report, the author illustrates the historic relation between retail drug prices and emergency department mentions for cocaine and heroin. Methods. Price series based on the Drug Enforcement Administration's System to Retrieve Information From Drug Evidence database were correlated with data on emergency department mentions from the Drug Abuse Warning Network for cocaine (1978–1996) and heroin (1981–1996). Results. A simple model in which emergency department mentions are driven by only prices explains more than 95% of the variation in emergency department mentions. Conclusions. Fluctuations in prices are an important determinant of adverse health outcomes associated with drugs. PMID:11527779

Comparison of the immediate efficacy of the Spinomed® back orthosis and posture training support on walking ability in elderly people with thoracic kyphosis.

PubMed

Namdar, Nategh; Arazpour, Mokhtar; Ahmadi Bani, Monireh

2017-12-21

The effect of spinal orthoses, including the Spinomed ® and posture training support (PTS) in improving balance and reducing falls in older people has been previously evaluated. However, there is little evidence available regarding their effect on the walking ability of older individuals with thoracic hyperkyphosis. This study was therefore designed to compare the immediate effect of the Spinomed ® orthosis and PTS on specific gait parameters in this patient group. A total of 34 older volunteer subjects with thoracic hyperkyphosis participated in this study and were randomly allocated into two groups, to either walk with the Spinomed ® orthosis in situ or the PTS. The elderly mobility scale test (EMS), two-minute walk test (2-MWT), and 10-meter walk test (10-MWT) were used to evaluate their walking performance, the distance walked and their walking speed respectively. There were no significant differences in the mean age, body mass index (BMI), kyphosis angle, EMS, 2-MWT, and 10-MWT between the groups at baseline. All parameters were uniform amongst the two groups. The Spinomed ® orthosis and PTS both had a positive and significant effect on the EMS score, the 2-MWT, and the 10-MWT. No significant difference was detected between two the types of orthoses in terms of the EMS score, the 2-MWT, or the 10-MWT. The Spinomed ® and PTS were both effective in improving all the primary outcome measures, with similar improvements demonstrated by both orthoses. Implications for rehabilitations In this category, one of the approaches to treat the elderly with hyperkyphosis is the use of spinal orthoses such as Spinomed ® orthosis and posture training support (PTS). The results showed that the anti-kyphosis orthosis including Spinomed ® and PTS played effective roles in the elderly with hyperkyphosis to improve their walking function. According to the current study results, there was no significant difference between the efficacies of these orthoses in the mentioned parameters.

Overview of Building Information Modelling (BIM) adoption factors for construction organisations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohammad, W. N. S. Wan; Abdullah, M. R.; Ismail, S.; Takim, R.

2018-04-01

Improvement and innovation in building visualization, project coordination and communication are the major benefits generated by Building Information Modelling (BIM) for construction organisations. Thus, as many firms across the world would adopt BIM, however they do not know the clear direction in which path they are moving as there is no specific reference available for them to refer to. Hence, the paper seeks to identify the factors of BIM adoption from previous research. The methodology used in this paper is based on literature review from various sources such as conference articles and journals. Then, the findings were analysed using content analysis. The findings show that there are 24 factors found from literature that influence the adoption of BIM and four (4) factors such as vendor, organisational vision, knowledge, and implementation plan are among the least factors mentioned by previous researchers.

Can PC-9 Zhong chong replace K-1 Yong quan for the acupunctural resuscitation of a bilateral double-amputee? Stating the “random criterion problem” in its statistical analysis

PubMed Central

Inchauspe, Adrián Angel

2016-01-01

AIM: To present an inclusion criterion for patients who have suffered bilateral amputation in order to be treated with the supplementary resuscitation treatment which is hereby proposed by the author. METHODS: This work is based on a Retrospective Cohort model so that a certainly lethal risk to the control group is avoided. RESULTS: This paper presents a hypothesis on acupunctural PC-9 Zhong chong point, further supported by previous statistical work recorded for the K-1 Yong quan resuscitation point. CONCLUSION: Thanks to the application of the resuscitation maneuver herein proposed on the previously mentioned point, patients with bilateral amputation would have another alternative treatment available in case basic and advanced CPR should fail. PMID:27152257

First Case Report of Metastatic Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Lung Associated with Mounier-Kuhn Syndrome and Review of Literature.

PubMed

Ayub, Fatima; Saif, Muhammad W

2017-06-26

Mounier-Kuhn syndrome is a relatively rare condition, mostly involving the trachea and main stem bronchi. It is caused either by the atrophy of elastic fibers or faulty fetal development of cartilage and smooth muscles, hence leading to an overall increase in the diameter of lower respiratory tract. No certain etiology was found in the majority of cases reported previously, however, several other connective tissue diseases have also been implicated with the congenital tracheobronchomegaly. One anecdotal case report mentioned the development of lung malignancy in a patient who had previously received external beam radiotherapy. Herein, we report the first case of Mounier-Kuhn syndrome in a 62-year-old male with a recent diagnosis of metastatic squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the lung.

Variations in debris distribution and thickness on Himalayan debris-covered glaciers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gibson, Morgan; Rowan, Ann; Irvine-Fynn, Tristram; Quincey, Duncan; Glasser, Neil

2016-04-01

Many Himalayan glaciers are characterised by extensive supraglacial debris coverage; in Nepal 33% of glaciers exhibit a continuous layer of debris covering their ablation areas. The presence of such a debris layer modulates a glacier's response to climatic change. However, the impact of this modulation is poorly constrained due to inadequate quantification of the impact of supraglacial debris on glacier surface energy balance. Few data exist to describe spatial and temporal variations in parameters such as debris thickness, albedo and surface roughness in energy balance calculations. Consequently, improved understanding of how debris affects Himalayan glacier ablation requires the assessment of surface energy balance model sensitivity to spatial and temporal variability in these parameters. Measurements of debris thickness, surface temperature, reflectance and roughness were collected across Khumbu Glacier during the pre- and post-monsoon seasons of 2014 and 2015. The extent of the spatial variation in each of these parameters are currently being incorporated into a point-based glacier surface energy balance model (CMB-RES, Collier et al., 2014, The Cryosphere), applied on a pixel-by-pixel basis to the glacier surface, to ascertain the sensitivity of glacier surface energy balance and ablation values to these debris parameters. A time series of debris thickness maps have been produced for Khumbu Glacier over a 15-year period (2000-2015) using Mihalcea et al.'s (2008, Cold Reg. Sci. Technol.) method, which utilised multi-temporal ASTER thermal imagery and our in situ debris surface temperature and thickness measurements. Change detection between these maps allowed the identification of variations in debris thickness that could be compared to discrete measurements, glacier surface velocity and morphology of the debris-covered area. Debris thickness was found to vary spatially between 0.1 and 4 metres within each debris thickness map, and temporally on the order of 1 to 2 m. Temporal variability was a result of differential surface lowering, spatial variability in glacier surface velocities and intermittent input of debris to the glacier surface through mass movement. Most debris thickening is seen in initially thin areas of debris (< 0.4 m) or within ~1 km of the glacier terminus. Surface energy balance modelling is currently underway to determine the effect of these variations in debris thickness, and other parameters mentioned previously. Future work will be to calculate debris transport flux on the surface of Khumbu Glacier using the time series of debris thickness maps. Debris flux and refined energy balance calculations will then be incorporated into a 3-D ice flow model to determine the response of Khumbu Glacier to debris transport and climatic changes.

Towards a global flood detection system using social media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Bruijn, Jens; de Moel, Hans; Jongman, Brenden; Aerts, Jeroen

2017-04-01

It is widely recognized that an early warning is critical in improving international disaster response. Analysis of social media in real-time can provide valuable information about an event or help to detect unexpected events. For successful and reliable detection systems that work globally, it is important that sufficient data is available and that the algorithm works both in data-rich and data-poor environments. In this study, both a new geotagging system and multi-level event detection system for flood hazards was developed using Twitter data. Geotagging algorithms that regard one tweet as a single document are well-studied. However, no algorithms exist that combine several sequential tweets mentioning keywords regarding a specific event type. Within the time frame of an event, multiple users use event related keywords that refer to the same place name. This notion allows us to treat several sequential tweets posted in the last 24 hours as one document. For all these tweets, we collect a series of spatial indicators given in the tweet metadata and extract additional topological indicators from the text. Using these indicators, we can reduce ambiguity and thus better estimate what locations are tweeted about. Using these localized tweets, Bayesian change-point analysis is used to find significant increases of tweets mentioning countries, provinces or towns. In data-poor environments detection of events on a country level is possible, while in other, data-rich, environments detection on a city level is achieved. Additionally, on a city-level we analyse the spatial dependence of mentioned places. If multiple places within a limited spatial extent are mentioned, detection confidence increases. We run the algorithm using 2 years of Twitter data with flood related keywords in 13 major languages and validate against a flood event database. We find that the geotagging algorithm yields significantly more data than previously developed algorithms and successfully deals with ambiguous place names. In addition, we show that our detection system can both quickly and reliably detect floods, even in countries where data is scarce, while achieving high detail in countries where more data is available.

The quality estimation of exterior wall’s and window filling’s construction design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saltykov, Ivan; Bovsunovskaya, Maria

2017-10-01

The article reveals the term of “artificial envelope” in dwelling building. Authors offer a complex multifactorial approach to the design quality estimation of external fencing structures, which is based on various parameters impact. These referred parameters are: functional, exploitation, cost, and also, the environmental index is among them. The quality design index Qк is inputting for the complex characteristic of observed above parameters. The mathematical relation of this index from these parameters is the target function for the quality design estimation. For instance, the article shows the search of optimal variant for wall and window designs in small, middle and large square dwelling premises of economic class buildings. The graphs of target function single parameters are expressed for the three types of residual chamber’s dimensions. As a result of the showing example, there is a choice of window opening’s dimensions, which make the wall’s and window’s constructions properly correspondent to the producible complex requirements. The authors reveal the comparison of recommended window filling’s square in accordance with the building standards, and the square, due to the finding of the optimal variant of the design quality index. The multifactorial approach for optimal design searching, which is mentioned in this article, can be used in consideration of various construction elements of dwelling buildings in accounting of suitable climate, social and economic construction area features.

An automatic segmentation method of a parameter-adaptive PCNN for medical images.

PubMed

Lian, Jing; Shi, Bin; Li, Mingcong; Nan, Ziwei; Ma, Yide

2017-09-01

Since pre-processing and initial segmentation steps in medical images directly affect the final segmentation results of the regions of interesting, an automatic segmentation method of a parameter-adaptive pulse-coupled neural network is proposed to integrate the above-mentioned two segmentation steps into one. This method has a low computational complexity for different kinds of medical images and has a high segmentation precision. The method comprises four steps. Firstly, an optimal histogram threshold is used to determine the parameter [Formula: see text] for different kinds of images. Secondly, we acquire the parameter [Formula: see text] according to a simplified pulse-coupled neural network (SPCNN). Thirdly, we redefine the parameter V of the SPCNN model by sub-intensity distribution range of firing pixels. Fourthly, we add an offset [Formula: see text] to improve initial segmentation precision. Compared with the state-of-the-art algorithms, the new method achieves a comparable performance by the experimental results from ultrasound images of the gallbladder and gallstones, magnetic resonance images of the left ventricle, and mammogram images of the left and the right breast, presenting the overall metric UM of 0.9845, CM of 0.8142, TM of 0.0726. The algorithm has a great potential to achieve the pre-processing and initial segmentation steps in various medical images. This is a premise for assisting physicians to detect and diagnose clinical cases.

Certain composition formulae for the fractional integral operators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agarwal, Praveen; Harjule, Priyanka

2017-09-01

In this paper we establish some (presumably new) interesting expressions for the composition of some well known fractional integral operators Ia+ μ,Da+ μ,Ia+ γ ,μ and also derive an integral operator ℋa+;p ,q ;β w ;m ,n ;α whose kernel involves the Fox's H- function. By suitably specializing the coefficients and the parameters in these functions we can get a large number of (new and known) interesting expressions for the composition formulae which occur rather frequently in many problems of engineering and mathematical analysis but here we can mention only those which follow as particular cases of the Srivastava et al.

Research on axisymmetric aspheric surface numerical design and manufacturing technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Zhen-zhong; Guo, Yin-biao; Lin, Zheng

2006-02-01

The key technology for aspheric machining offers exact machining path and machining aspheric lens with high accuracy and efficiency, in spite of the development of traditional manual manufacturing into nowadays numerical control (NC) machining. This paper presents a mathematical model between virtual cone and aspheric surface equations, and discusses the technology of uniform wear of grinding wheel and error compensation in aspheric machining. Finally, a software system for high precision aspheric surface manufacturing is designed and realized, based on the mentioned above. This software system can work out grinding wheel path according to input parameters and generate machining NC programs of aspheric surfaces.

Comment on "A note on generalized radial mesh generation for plasma electronic structure"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pain, J.-Ch.

2011-12-01

In a recent note, B.G. Wilson and V. Sonnad [1] proposed a very useful closed form expression for the efficient generation of analytic log-linear radial meshes. The central point of the note is an implicit equation for the parameter h, involving Lambert's function W[x]. The authors mention that they are unaware of any direct proof of this equation (they obtained it by re-summing the Taylor expansion of h[α] using high-order coefficients obtained by analytic differentiation of the implicit definition using symbolic manipulation). In the present comment, we propose a direct proof of that equation.

Ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation of graphite epoxy composite laminates

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, James G.

1990-01-01

Quantitative ultrasonic techniques are summarized with applications to the measurement of frequency-dependent attenuation and backscatter and to the NDE of composite laminates. Results are listed for the ultrasonic NDE of graphite-epoxy composite laminates including impact and fatigue damage as well as porosity. The methods reviewed include transmission measurements of attenuation, reconstructive tomography based on attenuation, estimating attenuation from backscattered ultrasound, and backscatter approaches. Phase-sensitive and -insensitive detection techniques are mentioned such as phase cancellation at piezoelectric receiving transducers and acoustoelectric effects. The techniques permit the NDE of the parameters listed in inhomogeneous media and provide both images from the transmission mode and in the reflection mode.

nala: text mining natural language mutation mentions

PubMed Central

Cejuela, Juan Miguel; Bojchevski, Aleksandar; Uhlig, Carsten; Bekmukhametov, Rustem; Kumar Karn, Sanjeev; Mahmuti, Shpend; Baghudana, Ashish; Dubey, Ankit; Satagopam, Venkata P.; Rost, Burkhard

2017-01-01

Abstract Motivation: The extraction of sequence variants from the literature remains an important task. Existing methods primarily target standard (ST) mutation mentions (e.g. ‘E6V’), leaving relevant mentions natural language (NL) largely untapped (e.g. ‘glutamic acid was substituted by valine at residue 6’). Results: We introduced three new corpora suggesting named-entity recognition (NER) to be more challenging than anticipated: 28–77% of all articles contained mentions only available in NL. Our new method nala captured NL and ST by combining conditional random fields with word embedding features learned unsupervised from the entire PubMed. In our hands, nala substantially outperformed the state-of-the-art. For instance, we compared all unique mentions in new discoveries correctly detected by any of three methods (SETH, tmVar, or nala). Neither SETH nor tmVar discovered anything missed by nala, while nala uniquely tagged 33% mentions. For NL mentions the corresponding value shot up to 100% nala-only. Availability and Implementation: Source code, API and corpora freely available at: http://tagtog.net/-corpora/IDP4+. Contact: nala@rostlab.org Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. PMID:28200120

Summary of NASA landing-gear research

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fisher, B. D.; Sleeper, R. K.; Stubbs, S. M.

1978-01-01

This paper presents a brief summary of the airplane landing gear research underway at NASA. The technology areas include: ground handling simulator, antiskid braking systems, space shuttle nose-gear shimmy, active control landing gear, wire brush skid landing gear, air cushion landing systems, tire/surface friction characteristics, tire mechanical properties, tire-tread materials, powered wheels for taxiing, and crosswind landing gear. This paper deals mainly with the programs on tire-tread materials, powered wheel taxiing, air cushion landing systems, and crosswind landing gear research with particular emphasis on previously unreported results of recently completed flight tests. Work in the remaining areas is only mentioned.

Eustachian Valve Endocarditis: Echocardiographic Diagnosis in a Critical Care Patient.

PubMed

Alves, Mariana; Faria, Rita; Messias, António; Meneses-Oliveira, Carlos

2018-01-01

Eustachian valve endocarditis is rare. A literature review revealed that only 29 cases have been reported and, among them, there is only one mention of an intensive care unit (ICU) admission. We present an 82-year-old man without previous medical records who presented with septic shock with multiple organ dysfunction. The patient was admitted to the ICU and deteriorated with combined shock (septic + cardiogenic). A second ultrasound screen detected a prominent Eustachian valve with mobile multilobulated vegetation attached. Transesophageal echocardiography confirmed a 12 mm oscillating mass attached to a visible Eustachian valve.

Corrigendum.

PubMed

2018-01-01

Gelo, F. (2018). TED Talks: Learning Through Podcasts. Journal of Pastoral Care & Counselling, 72, 76-76. In the first line of the above-mentioned article, there is a reference to the article Gelo, F. (2018) On Being: Podcasts to Explore, Journal of Pastoral Care & Counselling 72, 75-75, as being in a previous issue of the Journal of Pastoral Care & Counselling. This is incorrect, and the article "On Being: Podcasts to Explore", appeared in the same issue of the Journal of Pastoral Care & Counselling. This line should read: "This issue of JPC&C also highlights a public radio conversation and podcast website On Being."

Constrained-pairing mean-field theory. IV. Inclusion of corresponding pair constraints and connection to unrestricted Hartree-Fock theory.

PubMed

Tsuchimochi, Takashi; Henderson, Thomas M; Scuseria, Gustavo E; Savin, Andreas

2010-10-07

Our previously developed constrained-pairing mean-field theory (CPMFT) is shown to map onto an unrestricted Hartree-Fock (UHF) type method if one imposes a corresponding pair constraint to the correlation problem that forces occupation numbers to occur in pairs adding to one. In this new version, CPMFT has all the advantages of standard independent particle models (orbitals and orbital energies, to mention a few), yet unlike UHF, it can dissociate polyatomic molecules to the correct ground-state restricted open-shell Hartree-Fock atoms or fragments.

[Evaluation of the surface of the new intraocular lenses in the scanning electron microscope].

PubMed

Kałuzny, B J; Szatkowski, J; Kałuzny, J J

2001-01-01

To evaluate the surface of the new PC IOLs commercially available in Poland in 2000. Representative samples of new posterior chamber IOLs produced by 6 different companies (Alcon, Lensita, Medicontur, Opsia, Rayner, Storz), 5 of each, underwent surface examination with Novoscan 30 scanning electron microscope. Although, in general, smooth surface of optic and haptic parts were observed, three samples with irregularities were found. Comparing to previous evaluation performed in 1994, significant improvement in quality of IOLs surface was noted. No considerable differences in this field between above mentioned producers were observed.

Self-talk functions: portrayal of an elite power lifter.

PubMed

Cutton, David M; Hearon, Christopher M

2014-10-01

The study presents the results of a case study with a repeated data collection design: a recent and former world champion power lifter provided weekly e-mails, during approximately 6 mo. of training and competition, with a description of his 'self-determined self-talk.' The instruction used for self-talk (ST) mentioned its associations with emotions, staying focused, maintaining motivation, and improving exercise skills. The obtained e-mails were coded using categories indicating functions of 'self-determined self-talk' mainly based on previous literature. The frequency of the functions during training and competition were compared and discussed following the qualitative research tradition.

Percutaneous Direct Puncture Embolization with N-butyl-cyanoacrylate for High-flow Priapism

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

Tokue, Hiroyuki, E-mail: tokue@s2.dion.ne.jp; Shibuya, Kei; Ueno, Hiroyuki

There are many treatment options in high-flow priapism. Those mentioned most often are watchful waiting, Doppler-guided compression, endovascular highly selective embolization, and surgery. We present a case of high-flow priapism in a 57-year-old man treated by percutaneous direct puncture embolization of a post-traumatic left cavernosal arteriovenous fistula using N-butyl-cyanoacrylate. Erectile function was preserved during a 12-month follow-up. No patients with percutaneous direct puncture embolization for high-flow priapism have been reported previously. Percutaneous direct puncture embolization is a potentially useful and safe method for management of high-flow priapism.

Services supporting collaborative alignment of engineering networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jansson, Kim; Uoti, Mikko; Karvonen, Iris

2015-08-01

Large-scale facilities such as power plants, process factories, ships and communication infrastructures are often engineered and delivered through geographically distributed operations. The competencies required are usually distributed across several contributing organisations. In these complicated projects, it is of key importance that all partners work coherently towards a common goal. VTT and a number of industrial organisations in the marine sector have participated in a national collaborative research programme addressing these needs. The main output of this programme was development of the Innovation and Engineering Maturity Model for Marine-Industry Networks. The recently completed European Union Framework Programme 7 project COIN developed innovative solutions and software services for enterprise collaboration and enterprise interoperability. One area of focus in that work was services for collaborative project management. This article first addresses a number of central underlying research themes and previous research results that have influenced the development work mentioned above. This article presents two approaches for the development of services that support distributed engineering work. Experience from use of the services is analysed, and potential for development is identified. This article concludes with a proposal for consolidation of the two above-mentioned methodologies. This article outlines the characteristics and requirements of future services supporting collaborative alignment of engineering networks.

Strategic Messaging to Promote Taxation of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages: Lessons From Recent Political Campaigns

PubMed Central

Jou, Judy; Niederdeppe, Jeff; Barry, Colleen L.; Gollust, Sarah E.

2014-01-01

Objectives. This study explored the use of strategic messaging by proponents of sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) taxation to influence public opinion and shape the policy process, emphasizing the experiences in El Monte and Richmond, California, with SSB tax proposals in 2012. Methods. We conducted 18 semistructured interviews with key stakeholders about the use and perceived effectiveness of messages supporting and opposing SSB taxation, knowledge sharing among advocates, message dissemination, and lessons learned from their messaging experiences. Results. The protax messages most frequently mentioned by respondents were reinvesting tax revenue into health-related programs and linking SSB consumption to health outcomes such as obesity and diabetes. The most frequently mentioned antitax messages addressed negative economic effects on businesses and government restriction of personal choice. Factors contributing to perceived messaging success included clearly defining “sugar-sweetened beverage” and earmarking funds for obesity prevention, incorporating cultural sensitivity into messaging, and providing education about the health effects of SSB consumption. Conclusions. Sugar-sweetened beverage taxation has faced significant challenges in gaining political and public support. Future campaigns can benefit from insights gained through the experiences of stakeholders involved in previous policy debates. PMID:24625177

[Technological advances in neurorehabilitation].

PubMed

Gutiérrez-Martínez, Josefina; Núñez-Gaona, Marco Antonio; Carrillo-Mora, Paul

2014-07-01

Neurological rehabilitation arose as formal method in the 60's, for the therapeutic treatment of patients with stroke or spinal cord injury, which develop severe sequelae that affect their motor and sensory abilities. Although the Central Nervous System has plasticity mechanisms for spontaneous recovery, a high percentage of patients should receive specialized therapies to regain motor function, such as Constraint Induced Movement Therapy or Upright physical Therapy. The neurorehabilitation has undergone drastic changes over the last two decades due to the incorporation of computer and robotic electronic devices, designed to produce positive changes in cortical excitability of the cerebral hemisphere damaged and so to improve neuroplasticity. Among equipment, we can mention those for electrotherapy devices, apparatus for transcranial magnetic stimulation, the robotic lower limb orthoses, robot for upper limb training, systems for functional electrical stimulation, neuroprosthesis and brain computer interfaces. These devices have caused controversy because of its application and benefits reported in the literature. The aim of Neurorehabilitation technologies is to take advantage of the functional neuromuscular structures preserved, and they compensate or re-learn the functions that previously made the damaged areas. The purpose of this article is to mention some clinical applications and benefits that these technologies offer to patients with neuronal injury.

Serotonin, neural markers, and memory

PubMed Central

Meneses, Alfredo

2015-01-01

Diverse neuropsychiatric disorders present dysfunctional memory and no effective treatment exits for them; likely as result of the absence of neural markers associated to memory. Neurotransmitter systems and signaling pathways have been implicated in memory and dysfunctional memory; however, their role is poorly understood. Hence, neural markers and cerebral functions and dysfunctions are revised. To our knowledge no previous systematic works have been published addressing these issues. The interactions among behavioral tasks, control groups and molecular changes and/or pharmacological effects are mentioned. Neurotransmitter receptors and signaling pathways, during normal and abnormally functioning memory with an emphasis on the behavioral aspects of memory are revised. With focus on serotonin, since as it is a well characterized neurotransmitter, with multiple pharmacological tools, and well characterized downstream signaling in mammals' species. 5-HT1A, 5-HT4, 5-HT5, 5-HT6, and 5-HT7 receptors as well as SERT (serotonin transporter) seem to be useful neural markers and/or therapeutic targets. Certainly, if the mentioned evidence is replicated, then the translatability from preclinical and clinical studies to neural changes might be confirmed. Hypothesis and theories might provide appropriate limits and perspectives of evidence. PMID:26257650

Beryllium abundances along the evolutionary sequence of the open cluster IC 4651 - A new test for hydrodynamical stellar models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smiljanic, R.; Pasquini, L.; Charbonnel, C.; Lagarde, N.

2010-02-01

Context. Previous analyses of lithium abundances in main sequence and red giant stars have revealed the action of mixing mechanisms other than convection in stellar interiors. Beryllium abundances in stars with Li abundance determinations can offer valuable complementary information on the nature of these mechanisms. Aims: Our aim is to derive Be abundances along the whole evolutionary sequence of an open cluster. We focus on the well-studied open cluster IC 4651. These Be abundances are used with previously determined Li abundances, in the same sample stars, to investigate the mixing mechanisms in a range of stellar masses and evolutionary stages. Methods: Atmospheric parameters were adopted from a previous abundance analysis by the same authors. New Be abundances have been determined from high-resolution, high signal-to-noise UVES spectra using spectrum synthesis and model atmospheres. The careful synthetic modeling of the Be lines region is used to calculate reliable abundances in rapidly rotating stars. The observed behavior of Be and Li is compared to theoretical predictions from stellar models including rotation-induced mixing, internal gravity waves, atomic diffusion, and thermohaline mixing. Results: Beryllium is detected in all the main sequence and turn-off sample stars, both slow- and fast-rotating stars, including the Li-dip stars, but is not detected in the red giants. Confirming previous results, we find that the Li dip is also a Be dip, although the depletion of Be is more modest than for Li in the corresponding effective temperature range. For post-main-sequence stars, the Be dilution starts earlier within the Hertzsprung gap than expected from classical predictions, as does the Li dilution. A clear dispersion in the Be abundances is also observed. Theoretical stellar models including the hydrodynamical transport processes mentioned above are able to reproduce all the observed features well. These results show a good theoretical understanding of the Li and Be behavior along the color-magnitude diagram of this intermediate-age cluster for stars more massive than 1.2 M⊙. Based on observations made with the ESO VLT, at Paranal Observatory, under programs 065.L-0427 and 067.D-0126.Current address: European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 2, 85748 Garching bei München, Germany.

Medical conditions associated with the use of CT in children and young adults, Great Britain, 1995–2008

PubMed Central

McHugh, Kieran; Harbron, Richard W; Pearce, Mark S; Berrington De Gonzalez, Amy

2016-01-01

Objective: To describe the medical conditions associated with the use of CT in children or young adults with no previous cancer diagnosis. Methods: Radiologist reports for scans performed in 1995–2008 in non-cancer patients less than 22 years of age were collected from the radiology information system in 44 hospitals of Great Britain. By semantic search, an automated procedure identified 185 medical conditions within the radiologist reports. Manual validation of a subsample by a paediatric radiologist showed a satisfactory performance of the automatic coding procedure. Results: Medical information was extracted for 37,807 scans; 19.5% scans were performed in children less than 5 years old; 52.0% scans were performed in 2000 or after. Trauma, diseases of the nervous (mainly hydrocephalus) or the circulatory system were each mentioned in 25–30% of scans. Hydrocephalus was mentioned in 19% of all scans, 59% of scans repeated ≥5 times in a year, and was the most frequent condition in children less than 5 years of age. Congenital diseases/malformations, disorders of the musculoskeletal system/connective tissues and infectious or respiratory diseases were each mentioned in 5–10% of scans. Suspicionor diagnosis of benign or malignant tumour was identified in 5% of scans. Conclusion: This study describes the medical conditions that likely underlie the use of CT in children in Great Britain. It shows that patients with hydrocephalus may receive high cumulative radiation exposures from CT in early life, i.e. at ages when they are most sensitive to radiation. Advances in knowledge: The majority of scans were unrelated to cancer suspicion. Repeated scans over time were mainly associated with the management of hydrocephalus. PMID:27767331

Medical conditions associated with the use of CT in children and young adults, Great Britain, 1995-2008.

PubMed

Journy, Neige M; McHugh, Kieran; Harbron, Richard W; Pearce, Mark S; Berrington De Gonzalez, Amy

2016-12-01

To describe the medical conditions associated with the use of CT in children or young adults with no previous cancer diagnosis. Radiologist reports for scans performed in 1995-2008 in non-cancer patients less than 22 years of age were collected from the radiology information system in 44 hospitals of Great Britain. By semantic search, an automated procedure identified 185 medical conditions within the radiologist reports. Manual validation of a subsample by a paediatric radiologist showed a satisfactory performance of the automatic coding procedure. Medical information was extracted for 37,807 scans; 19.5% scans were performed in children less than 5 years old; 52.0% scans were performed in 2000 or after. Trauma, diseases of the nervous (mainly hydrocephalus) or the circulatory system were each mentioned in 25-30% of scans. Hydrocephalus was mentioned in 19% of all scans, 59% of scans repeated ≥5 times in a year, and was the most frequent condition in children less than 5 years of age. Congenital diseases/malformations, disorders of the musculoskeletal system/connective tissues and infectious or respiratory diseases were each mentioned in 5-10% of scans. Suspicionor diagnosis of benign or malignant tumour was identified in 5% of scans. This study describes the medical conditions that likely underlie the use of CT in children in Great Britain. It shows that patients with hydrocephalus may receive high cumulative radiation exposures from CT in early life, i.e. at ages when they are most sensitive to radiation. Advances in knowledge: The majority of scans were unrelated to cancer suspicion. Repeated scans over time were mainly associated with the management of hydrocephalus.

Candyflipping and Other Combinations: Identifying Drug–Drug Combinations from an Online Forum

PubMed Central

Chary, Michael; Yi, David; Manini, Alex F.

2018-01-01

Novel psychoactive substances (NPS) refer to synthetic compounds or derivatives of more widely known substances of abuse that have emerged over the last two decades. Case reports suggest that users combine substances to achieve desired psychotropic experiences while reducing dysphoria and unpleasant somatic effects. However, the pattern of combining NPS has not been studied on a large scale. Here, we show that posts discussing NPS describe combining nootropics with sedative-hypnotics and stimulants with plant hallucinogens or psychiatric medications. Discussions that mention sedative-hypnotics most commonly also mention hallucinogens and stimulants. We analyzed 20 years of publicly available posts from Lycaeum, an Internet forum dedicated to sharing information about psychoactive substance use. We used techniques from natural language processing and machine learning to identify NPS and correlate patterns of co-mentions of substances across posts. We found that conversations mentioning synthetic hallucinogens tended to divide into those mentioning hallucinogens derived from amphetamine and those derived from ergot. Conversations that mentioned synthetic hallucinogens tended not to mention plant hallucinogens. Conversations that mention bath salts commonly mention sedative-hypnotics or nootropics while more canonical stimulants are discussed with plant hallucinogens and psychiatric medications. All types of substances are frequently compared to MDMA, DMT, cocaine, or atropine when trying to describe their effects. Our results provide the largest analysis to date of online descriptions of patterns of polysubstance use and further demonstrate the utility of social media in learning about trends in substance use. We anticipate this work to lead to a more detailed analysis of the knowledge contained online about the patterns of usage and effects of novel psychoactive substances. PMID:29760666

IVS Tropospheric Parameters: Comparison with DORIS and GPS for CONT02

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schuh, Harald; Snajdrova, Kristyna; Boehm, Johannes; Willis, Pascal; Engelhardt, Gerald; Lanotte, Roberto; Tomasi, Paolo; Negusini, Monia; MacMillan, Daniel; Vereshchagina, Iraida

2004-01-01

In April 2002 the IVS (International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry) set up the Pilot Project - Tropospheric Parameters, and the Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics (IGG), Vienna, was put in charge of coordinating the project. Seven IVS Analysis Centers have joined the project and regularly submitted their estimates of tropospheric parameters (wet and total zenith delays, horizontal gradients) for all IVS-R1 mid IVS-R4 sessions since January 1st, 2002. The individual submissions are combined by a two-step procedure to obtain stable, robust and highly accurate tropospheric parameter time series with one hour resolution (internal accuracy: 2-4 ram). Starting with July 2003, the combined tropospheric estimates became operational IVS products. In the second half of October 2002 the VLBI campaign CONT02 was observed with 8 stations participating around the globe. At four of them (Gilmore Creek, U.S.A.; Hartebeesthoek, South Africa; Kokee Park, U.S.A.; Ny-Alesund, Norway) also total zenith delays from DORIS (Doppler Orbitography and Radiopositioning Integrated by Satellite) are available and these estimates are compared with those from the IGS (International GPS Service) and the IVS. The distance from the DORIS beacons to the co-located GPS and VLBI stations is around 2 km or less for the four sites mentioned above.

Possible influence of the polarity reversal of the solar magnetic field on the various types of arrhythmias

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giannaropoulou, E.; Papailiou, M.; Mavromichalaki, H.; Gigolashvili, M.; Tvildiani, L.; Janashia, K.; Preka-Papadema, P.; Papadima, Th

2013-02-01

Over the last few years various researches have reached the conclusion that cosmic ray variations and geomagnetic disturbances are related to the condition of the human physiological state. In this study medical data concerning the number of incidents of different types of cardiac arrhythmias for the time period 1983 - 1992 which refer to 1902 patients in Tbilisi, Georgia were used. The smoothing method and the Pearson r-coefficients were used to examine the possible effect of different solar and geomagnetic activity parameters and cosmic ray intensity variations on the different types of arrhythmias. The time interval under examination was separated into two different time periods which coincided with the polarity reversal of the solar magnetic field that occurred in the years 1989-1990 and as a result a different behavior of all the above mentioned parameters as well as of the different types of arrhythmias was noticed during the two time intervals. In addition, changing of polarity sign of the solar magnetic field was found to affect the sign of correlation between the incidence of arrhythmias and the aforementioned parameters. The primary and secondary maxima observed in the solar parameters during the solar cycle 22, also appeared in several types of arrhythmias with a time lag of about five months.

PRince: a web server for structural and physicochemical analysis of protein-RNA interface.

PubMed

Barik, Amita; Mishra, Abhishek; Bahadur, Ranjit Prasad

2012-07-01

We have developed a web server, PRince, which analyzes the structural features and physicochemical properties of the protein-RNA interface. Users need to submit a PDB file containing the atomic coordinates of both the protein and the RNA molecules in complex form (in '.pdb' format). They should also mention the chain identifiers of interacting protein and RNA molecules. The size of the protein-RNA interface is estimated by measuring the solvent accessible surface area buried in contact. For a given protein-RNA complex, PRince calculates structural, physicochemical and hydration properties of the interacting surfaces. All these parameters generated by the server are presented in a tabular format. The interacting surfaces can also be visualized with software plug-in like Jmol. In addition, the output files containing the list of the atomic coordinates of the interacting protein, RNA and interface water molecules can be downloaded. The parameters generated by PRince are novel, and users can correlate them with the experimentally determined biophysical and biochemical parameters for better understanding the specificity of the protein-RNA recognition process. This server will be continuously upgraded to include more parameters. PRince is publicly accessible and free for use. Available at http://www.facweb.iitkgp.ernet.in/~rbahadur/prince/home.html.

Analysis of cloud top height and cloud coverage from satellites using the O2 A and B bands

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kuze, Akihiko; Chance, Kelly V.

1994-01-01

Cloud height and cloud coverage detection are important for total ozone retrieval using ultraviolet and visible scattered light. Use of the O2 A and B bands, around 761 and 687 nm, by a satellite-borne instrument of moderately high spectral resolution viewing in the nadir makes it possible to detect cloud top height and related parameters, including fractional coverage. The measured values of a satellite-borne spectrometer are convolutions of the instrument slit function and the atmospheric transmittance between cloud top and satellite. Studies here determine the optical depth between a satellite orbit and the Earth or cloud top height to high accuracy using FASCODE 3. Cloud top height and a cloud coverage parameter are determined by least squares fitting to calculated radiance ratios in the oxygen bands. A grid search method is used to search the parameter space of cloud top height and the coverage parameter to minimize an appropriate sum of squares of deviations. For this search, nonlinearity of the atmospheric transmittance (i.e., leverage based on varying amounts of saturation in the absorption spectrum) is important for distinguishing between cloud top height and fractional coverage. Using the above-mentioned method, an operational cloud detection algorithm which uses minimal computation time can be implemented.

GPHMM: an integrated hidden Markov model for identification of copy number alteration and loss of heterozygosity in complex tumor samples using whole genome SNP arrays

PubMed Central

Li, Ao; Liu, Zongzhi; Lezon-Geyda, Kimberly; Sarkar, Sudipa; Lannin, Donald; Schulz, Vincent; Krop, Ian; Winer, Eric; Harris, Lyndsay; Tuck, David

2011-01-01

There is an increasing interest in using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping arrays for profiling chromosomal rearrangements in tumors, as they allow simultaneous detection of copy number and loss of heterozygosity with high resolution. Critical issues such as signal baseline shift due to aneuploidy, normal cell contamination, and the presence of GC content bias have been reported to dramatically alter SNP array signals and complicate accurate identification of aberrations in cancer genomes. To address these issues, we propose a novel Global Parameter Hidden Markov Model (GPHMM) to unravel tangled genotyping data generated from tumor samples. In contrast to other HMM methods, a distinct feature of GPHMM is that the issues mentioned above are quantitatively modeled by global parameters and integrated within the statistical framework. We developed an efficient EM algorithm for parameter estimation. We evaluated performance on three data sets and show that GPHMM can correctly identify chromosomal aberrations in tumor samples containing as few as 10% cancer cells. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the estimation of global parameters in GPHMM provides information about the biological characteristics of tumor samples and the quality of genotyping signal from SNP array experiments, which is helpful for data quality control and outlier detection in cohort studies. PMID:21398628

How many scientific papers are mentioned in policy-related documents? An empirical investigation using Web of Science and Altmetric data.

PubMed

Haunschild, Robin; Bornmann, Lutz

2017-01-01

In this short communication, we provide an overview of a relatively newly provided source of altmetrics data which could possibly be used for societal impact measurements in scientometrics. Recently, Altmetric-a start-up providing publication level metrics-started to make data for publications available which have been mentioned in policy-related documents. Using data from Altmetric, we study how many papers indexed in the Web of Science (WoS) are mentioned in policy-related documents. We find that less than 0.5% of the papers published in different subject categories are mentioned at least once in policy-related documents. Based on our results, we recommend that the analysis of (WoS) publications with at least one policy-related mention is repeated regularly (annually) in order to check the usefulness of the data. Mentions in policy-related documents should not be used for impact measurement until new policy-related sites are tracked.

HIV Model Parameter Estimates from Interruption Trial Data including Drug Efficacy and Reservoir Dynamics

PubMed Central

Luo, Rutao; Piovoso, Michael J.; Martinez-Picado, Javier; Zurakowski, Ryan

2012-01-01

Mathematical models based on ordinary differential equations (ODE) have had significant impact on understanding HIV disease dynamics and optimizing patient treatment. A model that characterizes the essential disease dynamics can be used for prediction only if the model parameters are identifiable from clinical data. Most previous parameter identification studies for HIV have used sparsely sampled data from the decay phase following the introduction of therapy. In this paper, model parameters are identified from frequently sampled viral-load data taken from ten patients enrolled in the previously published AutoVac HAART interruption study, providing between 69 and 114 viral load measurements from 3–5 phases of viral decay and rebound for each patient. This dataset is considerably larger than those used in previously published parameter estimation studies. Furthermore, the measurements come from two separate experimental conditions, which allows for the direct estimation of drug efficacy and reservoir contribution rates, two parameters that cannot be identified from decay-phase data alone. A Markov-Chain Monte-Carlo method is used to estimate the model parameter values, with initial estimates obtained using nonlinear least-squares methods. The posterior distributions of the parameter estimates are reported and compared for all patients. PMID:22815727

Benzene and toluene influence with or without nitrogen dioxide on inorganic pigments of works of art—Part II

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agelakopoulou, T.; Bassiotis, I.; Metaxa, E.; Roubani-Kalantzopoulou, F.

Air pollution has a great impact on the social and economic aspects all over the world. In order to account the human interaction with the atmospheric environment, a suitable scientific basis is needed. That is why six physicochemical quantities have been determined in a previous work for each one heterogeneous system between organic volatile pollutants and oxide-pigments of works of art. This investigation is extended in order to determine experimentally five new ones. Thus, a more precise contribution to the elucidation of the mechanism of the deterioration of various works of art in museums is achieved. These physicochemical quantities are: (1) local adsorption energies, (2) local monolayer capacities, (3) local adsorption isotherms, (4) density probability function, and (5) pollutant concentration on the oxide-pigment at equilibrium. All these adsorption parameters mentioned above have been calculated as a function of experimental time for the systems: C 6H 6/TiO 2, C 6H 6/NO 2/TiO 2, C 6H 6/Cr 2O 3, C 6H 6/NO 2/Cr 2O 3, C 6H 5CH 3/TiO 2, C 6H 5CH 3/NO 2/TiO 2, C 6H 5CH 3/Cr 2O 3, C 6H 5CH 3/NO 2/Cr 2O 3, C 6H 6/PbO, C 6H 6/NO 2/PbO, C 6H 5CH 3/PbO, and C 6H 5CH 3/NO 2/PbO for the first time. Thus, in this work we shall stress the recent new aspect of Reversed Flow-(Inverse) Gas Chromatography (RF-GC or RF-IGC), i.e. the time-resolved chromatography related to the evaluation of some important adsorption parameters. Gas Chromatography is a promising meeting place of surface science and atmospheric chemistry.

Boverhof's App Earns Honorable Mention in Amazon's Web Services

Science.gov Websites

» Boverhof's App Earns Honorable Mention in Amazon's Web Services Competition News & Publications News Publications Facebook Google+ Twitter Boverhof's App Earns Honorable Mention in Amazon's Web Services by Amazon Web Services (AWS). Amazon officially announced the winners of its EC2 Spotathon on Monday

Uncertainty Assessment of Space-Borne Passive Soil Moisture Retrievals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Quets, Jan; De Lannoy, Gabrielle; Reichle, Rolf; Cosh, Michael; van der Schalie, Robin; Wigneron, Jean-Pierre

2017-01-01

The uncertainty associated with passive soil moisture retrieval is hard to quantify, and known to be underlain by various, diverse, and complex causes. Factors affecting space-borne retrieved soil moisture estimation include: (i) the optimization or inversion method applied to the radiative transfer model (RTM), such as e.g. the Single Channel Algorithm (SCA), or the Land Parameter Retrieval Model (LPRM), (ii) the selection of the observed brightness temperatures (Tbs), e.g. polarization and incidence angle, (iii) the definition of the cost function and the impact of prior information in it, and (iv) the RTM parameterization (e.g. parameterizations officially used by the SMOS L2 and SMAP L2 retrieval products, ECMWF-based SMOS assimilation product, SMAP L4 assimilation product, and perturbations from those configurations). This study aims at disentangling the relative importance of the above-mentioned sources of uncertainty, by carrying out soil moisture retrieval experiments, using SMOS Tb observations in different settings, of which some are mentioned above. The ensemble uncertainties are evaluated at 11 reference CalVal sites, over a time period of more than 5 years. These experimental retrievals were inter-compared, and further confronted with in situ soil moisture measurements and operational SMOS L2 retrievals, using commonly used skill metrics to quantify the temporal uncertainty in the retrievals.

Seismic waves and earthquakes in a global monolithic model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roubíček, Tomáš

2018-03-01

The philosophy that a single "monolithic" model can "asymptotically" replace and couple in a simple elegant way several specialized models relevant on various Earth layers is presented and, in special situations, also rigorously justified. In particular, global seismicity and tectonics is coupled to capture, e.g., (here by a simplified model) ruptures of lithospheric faults generating seismic waves which then propagate through the solid-like mantle and inner core both as shear (S) or pressure (P) waves, while S-waves are suppressed in the fluidic outer core and also in the oceans. The "monolithic-type" models have the capacity to describe all the mentioned features globally in a unified way together with corresponding interfacial conditions implicitly involved, only when scaling its parameters appropriately in different Earth's layers. Coupling of seismic waves with seismic sources due to tectonic events is thus an automatic side effect. The global ansatz is here based, rather for an illustration, only on a relatively simple Jeffreys' viscoelastic damageable material at small strains whose various scaling (limits) can lead to Boger's viscoelastic fluid or even to purely elastic (inviscid) fluid. Self-induced gravity field, Coriolis, centrifugal, and tidal forces are counted in our global model, as well. The rigorous mathematical analysis as far as the existence of solutions, convergence of the mentioned scalings, and energy conservation is briefly presented.

Standard of reporting animal-based experimental research in Indian Journal of Pharmacology.

PubMed

Aiman, Umme; Rahman, Syed Ziaur

2015-01-01

The objective of present study was to survey and determine the reporting standards of animal studies published during three years from 2012 to 2014 in the Indian Journal of Pharmacology (IJP). All issues of IJP published in the year 2012, 2013 and 2014 were reviewed to identify animal studies. Each animal study was searched for 15 parameters specifically designed to review standards of animal experimentation and research methodology. All published studies had clearly defined aims and objectives while a statement on ethical clearance about the study protocol was provided in 97% of papers. Information about animal strain and sex was given in 91.8% and 90% of papers respectively. Age of experimental animals was mentioned by 44.4% papers while source of animals was given in 50.8% papers. Randomization was reported by 37.4% while 9.9% studies reported blinding. Only 3.5% studies mentioned any limitations of their work. Present study demonstrates relatively good reporting standards in animal studies published in IJP. The items which need to be improved are randomization, blinding, sample size calculation, stating the limitations of study, sources of support and conflict of interest. The knowledge shared in the present paper could be used for better reporting of animal based experiments.

Do emergency medicine journals promote trial registration and adherence to reporting guidelines? A survey of "Instructions for Authors".

PubMed

Sims, Matthew T; Henning, Nolan M; Wayant, C Cole; Vassar, Matt

2016-11-24

The aim of this study was to evaluate the current state of two publication practices, reporting guidelines requirements and clinical trial registration requirements, by analyzing the "Instructions for Authors" of emergency medicine journals. We performed a web-based data abstraction from the "Instructions for Authors" of the 27 Emergency Medicine journals catalogued in the Expanded Science Citation Index of the 2014 Journal Citation Reports and Google Scholar Metrics h5-index to identify whether each journal required, recommended, or made no mention of the following reporting guidelines: EQUATOR Network, ICMJE, ARRIVE, CARE, CONSORT, STARD, TRIPOD, CHEERS, MOOSE, STROBE, COREQ, SRQR, SQUIRE, PRISMA-P, SPIRIT, PRISMA, and QUOROM. We also extracted whether journals required or recommended trial registration. Authors were blinded to one another's ratings until completion of the data validation. Cross-tabulations and descriptive statistics were calculated using IBM SPSS 22. Of the 27 emergency medicine journals, 11 (11/27, 40.7%) did not mention a single guideline within their "Instructions for Authors," while the remaining 16 (16/27, 59.3%) mentioned one or more guidelines. The QUOROM statement and SRQR were not mentioned by any journals whereas the ICMJE guidelines (18/27, 66.7%) and CONSORT statement (15/27, 55.6%) were mentioned most often. Of the 27 emergency medicine journals, 15 (15/27, 55.6%) did not mention trial or review registration, while the remaining 12 (12/27, 44.4%) at least mentioned one of the two. Trial registration through ClinicalTrials.gov was mentioned by seven (7/27, 25.9%) journals while the WHO registry was mentioned by four (4/27, 14.8%). Twelve (12/27, 44.4%) journals mentioned trial registration through any registry platform. The aim of this study was to evaluate the current state of two publication practices, reporting guidelines requirements and clinical trial registration requirements, by analyzing the "Instructions for Authors" of emergency medicine journals. In this study, there was not a single reporting guideline mentioned in more than half of the journals. This undermines efforts of other journals to improve the completeness and transparency of research reporting. Reporting guidelines are infrequently required or recommended by emergency medicine journals. Furthermore, few require clinical trial registration. These two mechanisms may limit bias and should be considered for adoption by journal editors in emergency medicine. UMIN000022486.

Systematization of α-decaying nuclei based on shell structures: The case of odd-even and odd-odd nuclei

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yarman, Tolga; Zaim, Nimet; Yarman, Ozan; Kholmetskii, Alexander; Arık, Metin

In previous studies, we provided a novel systematization of α-decaying even-even and even-odd nuclei starting with the classically adopted mechanism [T. Yarman et al., Eur. Phys. J. A 52 (2016) 140; Eur. Phys. J. A 53 (2017) 4]. Knowing beforehand the measured decay half-life, we had taken as a parameter the probability of the α-particle as being first born in a unit period of time, within the parent nucleus before it is emitted out. We thence developed a scaffold based on shell properties of families composed of “alike nuclei”. Along the same line, we now present a systematization of odd-even (OE) as well as odd-odd (OO) nuclei. We apply our approach further to the investigation of the effect of pairing (e.g., the effect when the number of nucleons is increased by one neutron), and that of unpairing (e.g., the effect when the number of nucleons is decreased by one neutron); thus it becomes an even number for the case of odd-even nuclei (Case OE), and an odd number in the case of odd-odd nuclei (Case OO). For the first case (OE), we pick the exemplar set 161Re, 217Fr, 243Bk, 263Db; where we delineate by, respectively, Re, Fr, Bk, and Db all of the odd-even or odd-odd isotopes that neighbor the four mentioned odd-even isotopes on the proposed scaffold. We proceed in the same way for the second case (OO). Thus, we choose the exemplar set of odd-odd nuclei 172Ir, 218Ac, 244Es. We then gather all of the Ir, Ac, and Es odd-odd and odd-even isotopes that neighbor the three mentioned odd-odd isotopes on the proposed scaffold. We show that, in the former case, pairing, as expected, generally increases stability of the given nucleus; and in the latter case, unpairing works in just the opposite direction — i.e., it generally increases instability. We disclose “stability peaks” versus Z for both sets of nuclei, we tackle here. Furthermore, we present a study to highlight an outlook of “odd-A nuclei” at hand. Contrary to the general expectation, we unveil no systematic on that.

New Cork-Based Materials and Applications.

PubMed

Gil, Luís

2015-02-10

This review work is an update of a previous work reporting the new cork based materials and new applications of cork based materials. Cork is a material which has been used for multiple applications. The most known uses of cork are in stoppers (natural and agglomerated cork) for alcoholic beverages, classic floor covering with composite cork tiles (made by the binding of cork particles with different binders), and thermal/acoustic/vibration insulation with expanded corkboard in buildings and some other industrial fields. Many recent developments have been made leading to new cork based materials. Most of these newly developed cork materials are not yet on the market, but they represent new possibilities for engineers, architects, designers and other professionals which must be known and considered, potentially leading to their industrialization. This paper is a review covering the last five years of innovative cork materials and applications also mentioning previous work not reported before.

Early bases of modern embryology in Spain: microscopical anatomy and the introduction of cell theory and histology in their scientific and social European context.

PubMed

Marco-Cuellar, Roberto; Aréchaga, Juan

2009-01-01

We present a survey of the introduction and evolution of microscopy techniques in Spain, and the concepts and lines of research developed around this instrument, particularly in the field of Biomedical research. We cover in our article the long period from the XVII Century to the arrival of the great figure of Santiago Ramon y Cajal (1853-1934). We particularly want to mention many of the previously neglected pioneers who certainly paved the route for his discoveries and, we believe that without them, he would never have arrived to his important position in the annals of Biology and Medicine. The historical, scientific and social framework of that period also helped the approach to important biological concepts such as the cell and tissue, which are previous and essential ideas for a correct understanding of Development.

The Influence of Topic Status on Written and Spoken Sentence Production

PubMed Central

Cowles, H. Wind; Ferreira, Victor S.

2012-01-01

Four experiments investigate the influence of topic status and givenness on how speakers and writers structure sentences. The results of these experiments show that when a referent is previously given, it is more likely to be produced early in both sentences and word lists, confirming prior work showing that givenness increases the accessibility of given referents. When a referent is previously given and assigned topic status, it is even more likely to be produced early in a sentence, but not in a word list. Thus, there appears to be an early mention advantage for topics that is present in both written and spoken modalities, but is specific to sentence production. These results suggest that information-structure constructs like topic exert an influence that is not based only on increased accessibility, but also reflects mapping to syntactic structure during sentence production. PMID:22408281

New Cork-Based Materials and Applications

PubMed Central

Gil, Luís

2015-01-01

This review work is an update of a previous work reporting the new cork based materials and new applications of cork based materials. Cork is a material which has been used for multiple applications. The most known uses of cork are in stoppers (natural and agglomerated cork) for alcoholic beverages, classic floor covering with composite cork tiles (made by the binding of cork particles with different binders), and thermal/acoustic/vibration insulation with expanded corkboard in buildings and some other industrial fields. Many recent developments have been made leading to new cork based materials. Most of these newly developed cork materials are not yet on the market, but they represent new possibilities for engineers, architects, designers and other professionals which must be known and considered, potentially leading to their industrialization. This paper is a review covering the last five years of innovative cork materials and applications also mentioning previous work not reported before. PMID:28787962

Head-on collisions of localized pressure excitations in derivative cubic relaxing media: dynamical structure survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Youssoufa, Saliou; Kamgang Kuetche, Victor; Crepin Kofane, Timoleon

2015-02-01

In the wake of the recent derivation of the new cubic nonlinear evolution equation of high-frequency pressure perturbations of a barothropic medium under relaxation (Kuetche V K et al 2014 J. Math. Phys. 55 052702), we closely investigate the head-on collisions of some typical localized waveguide excitations, which are solutions to the previous system. From the viewpoint of Hirota's formalism, we delve into the structural scattering features of the interacting waves mentioned above. As a result, we find that there might exist some ‘characteristic’ amplitude ratio of the interacting waves at which the scattering changes its features. Accordingly, we provide an illustration of the previous result within the depiction of the interactions between three single soliton solutions alongside the phase-shift of each particle. Following these depictions, we address some physical implications of the results as well as the different potential applications.

An optimal pole-matching observer design for estimating tyre-road friction force

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Faraji, Mohammad; Johari Majd, Vahid; Saghafi, Behrooz; Sojoodi, Mahdi

2010-10-01

In this paper, considering the dynamical model of tyre-road contacts, we design a nonlinear observer for the on-line estimation of tyre-road friction force using the average lumped LuGre model without any simplification. The design is the extension of a previously offered observer to allow a muchmore realistic estimation by considering the effect of the rolling resistance and a term related to the relative velocity in the observer. Our aim is not to introduce a new friction model, but to present a more accurate nonlinear observer for the assumed model. We derive linear matrix equality conditions to obtain an observer gain with minimum pole mismatch for the desired observer error dynamic system. We prove the convergence of the observer for the non-simplified model. Finally, we compare the performance of the proposed observer with that of the previously mentioned nonlinear observer, which shows significant improvement in the accuracy of estimation.

Atmospheric, Long Baseline, and Reactor Neutrino Data Constraints on θ13

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roa, J. E.; Latimer, D. C.; Ernst, D. J.

2009-08-01

An atmospheric neutrino oscillation tool that uses full three-neutrino oscillation probabilities and a full three-neutrino treatment of the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein effect, together with an analysis of the K2K, MINOS, and CHOOZ data, is used to examine the bounds on θ13. The recent, more finely binned, Super-K atmospheric data are employed. For L/Eν≳104km/GeV, we previously found significant linear in θ13 terms. This analysis finds θ13 bounded from above by the atmospheric data while bounded from below by CHOOZ. The origin of this result arises from data in the previously mentioned very long baseline region; here, matter effects conspire with terms linear in θ13 to produce asymmetric bounds on θ13. Assuming CP conservation, we find θ13=-0.07-0.11+0.18 (90% C.L.).

Atmospheric, long baseline, and reactor neutrino data constraints on theta_{13}.

PubMed

Roa, J E; Latimer, D C; Ernst, D J

2009-08-07

An atmospheric neutrino oscillation tool that uses full three-neutrino oscillation probabilities and a full three-neutrino treatment of the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein effect, together with an analysis of the K2K, MINOS, and CHOOZ data, is used to examine the bounds on theta_{13}. The recent, more finely binned, Super-K atmospheric data are employed. For L/E_{nu} greater, similar 10;{4} km/GeV, we previously found significant linear in theta_{13} terms. This analysis finds theta_{13} bounded from above by the atmospheric data while bounded from below by CHOOZ. The origin of this result arises from data in the previously mentioned very long baseline region; here, matter effects conspire with terms linear in theta_{13} to produce asymmetric bounds on theta_{13}. Assuming CP conservation, we find theta_{13} = -0.07_{-0.11};{+0.18} (90% C.L.).

[The importance of memory bias in obtaining age of menarche by recall method in Brazilian adolescents].

PubMed

Castilho, Silvia Diez; Nucci, Luciana Bertoldi; Assuino, Samanta Ramos; Hansen, Lucca Ortolan

2014-06-01

To compare the age at menarche obtained by recall method according to the time elapsed since the event, in order to verify the importance of the recall bias. Were evaluated 1,671 girls (7-18 years) at schools in Campinas-SP regarding the occurrence of menarche by the status quo method (menarche: yes or no) and the recall method (date of menarche, for those who mentioned it). The age at menarche obtained by the status quo method was calculated by logit, which considers the whole group, and the age obtained by the recall method was calculated as the average of the mentioned age at menarche. In this group, the age at menarche was obtained by the difference between the date of the event and the date of birth. Girls who reported menarche (883, 52.8%) were divided into four groups according to the time elapsed since the event. To analyze the results, we used ANOVA and logistic regression for the analysis, with a significance level of 0.05. The age at menarche calculated by logit was 12.14 y/o (95% CI 12.08 to 12.20). Mean ages obtained by recall were: for those who experienced menarche within the previous year 12.26 y/o (±1.14), between > 1-2 years before, 12.29 y (±1.22); between > 2-3 years before, 12.23 y/o (±1.27); and more than 3 years before, 11.55y/o (±1.24), p < 0.001. The age at menarche obtained by the recall method was similar for girls who menstruated within the previous 3 years (and approaches the age calculated by logit); when more than 3 years have passed, the recall bias was significant.

Knockdown of CkrL by shRNA deteriorates hypoxia/reoxygenation-induced H9C2 cardiomyocyte apoptosis and survival inhibition Via Bax and downregulation of P-Erk1/2.

PubMed

Zhang, Zhi-Sheng; Yang, Dong-Yan; Fu, Yan-Bo; Zhang, Lei; Zhao, Qian-Ping; Li, Gang

2015-03-01

Integrin β1 subunit and its downstream molecule integrin-linked kinase and focal adhesion kinase have been confirmed to be essential to cell survival and inhibition of apoptosis and hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R)-induced injuries in cardiomyocytes. However, it is still unclear whether CrkL [v-crk avian sarcoma virus CT-10 oncogene homolog (Crk)-like], which acts also as a component of the integrin pathway, could also affect H/R-induced injuries in the cardiomyocytes. The rat-derived H9C2 cardiomyocytes were infected with a CrkL small hairpin RNA interference recombinant lentivirus, which knockdowns the endogenous CrkL expression in the cardiomyocytes. Apoptosis, cell proliferation and survival were examined in the H9C2 cardiomyocytes treated with either H/R or not. Results showed that knockdown of CrkL could significantly increase apoptosis and inhibition of the cell proliferation and survival and deteriorate the previously mentioned injuries induced by H/R. In contrast, overexpression of human CrkL could relieve the exacerbation of the previously mentioned injuries induced by CrkL knockdown in the H9C2 cardiomyocytes via regulation of Bax and extracellular signal-regulated kinase1/2 (p-ERK1/2). In conclusion, these results confirmed that knockdown of CrkL could deteriorate H/R-induced apoptosis and cell survival inhibition in rat-derived H9C2 cardiomyocytes via Bax and downregulation of p-ERK1/2. It implies that CrkL could mitigate H/R-induced injuries in the cardiomyocytes. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Evaluation of MOSFET-type glucose sensor using platinum electrode with glucose oxidase

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ooe, Katsutoshi; Hamamoto, Yasutaro; Hirano, Yoshiaki

2005-02-01

As the population ages, health management will be one of the important issues. The development of a safe medical machine based on MEMS technologies for the human body will be the primary research project in the future. We have developed the glucose sensor, as one of the medical based devices, for use in the Health Monitoring System (HMS). HMS is the device that continuously monitors human health conditions. For example, blood is the monitoring target of HMS. The glucose sensor specifically detects the glucose levels of the blood and monitors the glucose concentration as the blood sugar level. This glucose sensor has a "separated Au electrode", which immobilizes GOx. In our previous work, GOx was immobilized onto Au electrode by the SAMs (Self-Assembled Monolayer) method, and the sensor, using this working electrode, detected the glucose concentration of an aqueous glucose solution. In this report, we used a Pt electrode, which immobilized GOx, as a working electrode. Au electrode, which was used previously, was dissolved by the application of current in the presence of chloride ions. Based on the above-mentioned fact, a new working electrode, which immobilized GOx, was produced using Pt, which did not possess such characteristics. These Pt working electrodes were produced using the covalent binding method and the cross-link method, and both the electrodes displayed a good sensing property. In addition, the electrode using glutaraldehyde (GA) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) as crosslinking agents was produced, and it displayed better characteristics as compared with those displayed by the electrode that used only GA. Based on the above-mentioned techniques, the improvement in performance of the sensor was confirmed.

Numerical calculations of energy, nucleus size and coulomb decay rate for ddμ* resonance states in the variational approach using new wavefunctions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eskandari, M. R.; Gheisari, R.; Kashian, S.

2006-02-01

This paper provides a theoretical complement to the experimental measurement of the population of excited dμ(2s) and dμ(1s) atoms in a deuterium. The population of these atoms plays an important role in a muon catalyzed fusion cycle. Symmetric and non-symmetric muonic molecular ions have been predicted to form in excited states in collisions between excited muonic atoms and hydrogen molecules. One example is the ddμ*, which is a muonic deuterium-deuterium symmetric ion in excited state and is initially produced in the interaction of dμ(2s) atoms with deuterium nuclei. Our calculations interpret the experimental findings in terms of the so-called side-path model. This model essentially deals with the interaction mentioned above in which the ddμ* ion undergoes Coulomb de-excitation where the excitation energy is shared between a dμ(1s) atom and one deuterium. The structure of ddμ* is studied here using the numerical, variational method and the given wavefunctions. Few resonance energies for ddμ* molecular states are calculated below the 2s threshold. For more precise assessment of the reliability of the given wavefunctions, the nucleus sizes and Coulomb decay rates for the zeroth, first and second vibrational meta-stable states of the mentioned ion are also calculated. The obtained results are close to those previously reported. The advantage of the given method over previous methods is that the used wavefunction has only two terms, which simplifies the calculations with the same results as those from the complicated coupled rearrangement channel method with a Gaussian basis set. These energies are the base data required for size, formation and decay rate calculations of the ddμ* ion.

Impact of Different Correlations on TRACEv4.160 Predicted Critical Heat Flux

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

Jasiulevicius, A.; Macian-Juan, R.

2006-07-01

This paper presents an independent assessment of the Critical Heat Flux (CHF) models implemented in TRACEv4.160 with data from the experiments carried out at the Royal Institute of Technology (RIT) in Stockholm, Sweden, with single vertical uniformly heated 7.0 m long tubes. In previous CHF assessment studies with TRACE, it was noted that, although the overall code predictions in long single tubes with inner diameters of 1.0 to 2.49 cm agreed rather well with the results of experiments (with r.m.s. error being 25.6%), several regions of pressure and coolant mass flux could be identified, in which the code strongly under-predictsmore » or over-predicts the CHF. In order to evaluate the possibility of improving the code performance, some of the most widely used and assessed CHF correlations were additionally implemented in TRACEv4.160, namely Bowring, Levitan - Lantsman, and Tong-W3. The results obtained for the CHF predictions in single tubes with uniform axial heat flux by using these correlations, were compared to the results produced with the standard TRACE correlations (Biasi and CISE-GE), and with the experimental data from RIT, which covered a broad range of pressures (3-20 MPa) and coolant mass fluxes (500-3000 kg/m{sup 2}s). Several hundreds of experimental points were calculated to cover the parameter range mentioned above for the evaluation of the newly implemented correlations in the TRACEv4.160 code. (author)« less

Acoustic scattering of a cylindrical quasi-Gaussian beam with arbitrary incidence focused on a rigid elliptical cylinder

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

Mitri, F. G., E-mail: F.G.Mitri@ieee.org

2015-11-14

Using the partial-wave series expansion method in cylindrical coordinates, a formal analytical solution for the acoustical scattering of a 2D cylindrical quasi-Gaussian beam with an arbitrary angle of incidence θ{sub i}, focused on a rigid elliptical cylinder in a non-viscous fluid, is developed. The cylindrical focused beam expression is an exact solution of the Helmholtz equation. The scattering coefficients for the elliptical cylinder are determined by forcing the expression of the total (incident + scattered) field to satisfy the Neumann boundary condition for a rigid immovable surface, and performing the product of matrices involving an inversion procedure. Computations for the matrices elementsmore » require a single numerical integration procedure for each partial-wave mode. Numerical results are performed with particular emphasis on the focusing properties of the incident beam and its angle of incidence with respect to the major axis a of the ellipse as well as the aspect ratio a/b where b is the minor axis (assuming a > b). The method is validated and verified against previous results obtained via the T-matrix for plane waves. The present analysis is the first to consider an acoustical beam on an elliptic cylinder of variable cross-section as opposed to plane waves of infinite extent. Other 2D non-spherical and Chebyshev surfaces are mentioned that may be examined throughout this analytical formalism assuming a small deformation parameter ε.« less

Optimized liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry approach for the determination of diquat and paraquat herbicides.

PubMed

Hao, Chunyan; Zhao, Xiaoming; Morse, David; Yang, Paul; Taguchi, Vince; Morra, Franca

2013-08-23

Liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) determination of quaternary ammonium herbicides diquat (DQ) and paraquat (PQ) can be very challenging due to their complicated chromatographic and mass spectrometric behaviors. Various multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) transitions from radical cations M(+) and singly charged cations [M-H](+), have been reported for LC-MS/MS quantitation under different chromatographic and mass spectrometric conditions. However, interference peaks were observed for certain previously reported MRM transitions in our study. Using a Dionex Acclaim(®) reversed-phase and HILIC mixed-mode LC column, we evaluated the most sensitive MRM transitions from three types of quasi-molecular ions of DQ and PQ, elucidated the cross-interference phenomena, and demonstrated that the rarely mentioned MRM transitions from dications M(2+) offered the best selectivity for LC-MS/MS analysis. Experimental parameters, such as IonSpray (IS) voltage, source temperature, declustering potential (DP), column oven temperature, collision energy (CE), acid and salt concentrations in the mobile phases were also optimized and an uncommon electrospray ionization (ESI) capillary voltage of 1000V achieved the highest sensitivity. Employing the proposed dication transitions 92/84.5 for DQ and 93/171 for PQ, the direct aqueous injection LC-MS/MS method developed was able to provide a method detection limit (MDL) of 0.1μg/L for the determination of these two herbicides in drinking water. Crown Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Flight Evaluation of the Factors which Influence the Selection of Landing Approach Speeds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Drinkwater, Fred J., III; Cooper, George E.

1958-01-01

The factors which influence the selection of landing approach speeds are discussed from the pilot's point of view. Concepts were developed and data were obtained during a landing approach flight investigation of a large number of jet airplane configurations which included straight-wing, swept-wing, and delta-wing airplanes as well as several applications of boundary-layer control. Since the fundamental limitation to further reductions in approach speed on most configurations appeared to be associated with the reduction in the pilot's ability to control flight path angle and airspeed, this problem forms the basis of the report. A simplified equation is presented showing the basic parameters which govern the flight path angle and airspeed changes, and pilot control techniques are discussed in relation to this equation. Attention is given to several independent aerodynamic characteristics which do not affect the flight path angle or airspeed directly but which determine to a large extent the effort and attention required of the pilot in controlling these factors during the approach. These include stall characteristics, stability about all axes, and changes in trim due to thrust adjustments. The report considers the relationship between piloting technique and all of the factors previously mentioned. A piloting technique which was found to be highly desirable for control of high-performance airplanes is described and the pilot's attitudes toward low-speed flight which bear heavily on the selection of landing approach speeds under operational conditions are discussed.

Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction - Concept, Pathophysiology, Diagnosis and Challenges for Treatment.

PubMed

Miljkovik, Lidija Veterovska; Spiroska, Vera

2015-09-15

Heart failure (HF) with preserved left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (HFpEF) occurs in 40 to 60% of the patients with HF, with a prognosis which is similar to HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). HFpEF pathophysiology is different from that of HFrEF, and has been characterized with diastolic dysfunction. Diastolic dysfunction has been defined with elevated left ventricular stiffness, prolonged iso-volumetric LV relaxation, slow LV filing and elevated LV end-diastolic pressure. Arterial hypertension occurs in majority cases with HFpEF worldwide. Patients are mostly older and obese. Diabetes mellitus and atrial fibrillation appear proportionally in a high frequency of patients with HFpEF. The HFpEF diagnosis is based on existence of symptoms and signs of heart failure, normal or approximately normal ejection and diagnosing of LV diastolic dysfunction by means of heart catheterization or Doppler echocardiography and/or elevated concentration of plasma natriuretic peptide. The present recommendations for HFpEF treatment include blood pressure control, heart chamber frequency control when atrial fibrillation exists, in some situations even coronary revascularization and an attempt for sinus rhythm reestablishment. Up to now, it is considered that no medication or a group of medications improve the survival of HFpEF patients. Due to these causes and the bad prognosis of the disorder, rigorous control is recommended of the previously mentioned precipitating factors for this disorder. This paper presents a universal review of the most important parameters which determine this disorder.

Bibliometric and thematic analysis of articles in the field of infertility (2011-2015).

PubMed

Makkizadeh, Fatemeh; Sa'adat, Farzaneh

2017-11-01

Infertility is a disease that results in the abnormal functioning of the male or female reproductive system. Systematic research planning on any subject, including infertility is in need of solid data regarding previous efforts in this field and to identify the gaps in the research. The aim of this research is to study the thematic structure of articles related to infertility. In this descriptive-analytical study with a scientometric approach, the PubMed database was searched for research publications indexed under "Infertility" over the period 2011-2015. Specific parameters were retrieved from the PubMed. Articles about infertility were analyzed regarding the journal of publication, topics, and countries using Net draw, Ucinet and RavarPreMap software. Also, the most influential topics were analyzed by indicators in the analysis of the network: closeness centrality, and between centrality. The growth in scientific productions the area of infertility over the mentioned period shows an upward trend with the highest growths seen in countries like the United States, the UK, Netherlands, China, and Germany. Moreover, the contents such as fertilization in vitro, adverse effects, spermatozoa, pregnancy rate, and treatment outcome were among the most frequently-used topics in the sphere. Thematic analysis can provide us the research topics, important expressions, and the relationships between them. Users and policymakers can also have a better understanding of the research status in the sphere and consequently, they can plan to increase the quantity and quality of scientific productions in a more efficient way.

Photoemission, NMR, susceptibility and specific heat in V and A15 V 3Pt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amamou, A.; Turek, P.; Kuentzler, R.

1982-08-01

We present a study on the electronic structure of V and V 3Pt, based on photoemission (XPS and UPS) measurements and on the examination of previous band calculations, specific heat, susceptibility and NMR results. Photoemission spectra on pure V, in particular the XPS one, show a good agreement with band calculations ; the He II spectrum exhibits a strong satellite which could be attributed to a simple Auger effect or to a resonant process. Photoemission on V 3Pt allows an evaluation of the partial densities of states (PDOS) ; the Vanadium PDOS is similar to that of pure element, at least for the upper part of the valence band ; meanwhile the Platinium partial EDOS is drastically modified. This can be understood in the framework of electronic structure of compounds involving early and late transition metals where the atomic structure seems to play an important role. An evaluation of the EDOS's at the Fermi level n(E F) can also be tempted and compared to those obtained from the other mentioned techniques. Therefore it is suggested that for Vanadium n(E F) is similar to that of pure element ; for Platinium n(E F) is strongly reduced. Finally the analysis of the electronic specific heat of V, Pt and V 3Pt indicates that the parameter of electron-phonon coupling determined by the Mc Millan's theory is likely underesti:ated, due to the occurence of an estimated coupling in V and V 3Pt.

Calibration of the fine-structure constant of graphene by time-dependent density-functional theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sindona, A.; Pisarra, M.; Vacacela Gomez, C.; Riccardi, P.; Falcone, G.; Bellucci, S.

2017-11-01

One of the amazing properties of graphene is the ultrarelativistic behavior of its loosely bound electrons, mimicking massless fermions that move with a constant velocity, inversely proportional to a fine-structure constant αg of the order of unity. The effective interaction between these quasiparticles is, however, better controlled by the coupling parameter αg*=αg/ɛ , which accounts for the dynamic screening due to the complex permittivity ɛ of the many-valence electron system. This concept was introduced in a couple of previous studies [Reed et al., Science 330, 805 (2010) and Gan et al., Phys. Rev. B 93, 195150 (2016)], where inelastic x-ray scattering measurements on crystal graphite were converted into an experimentally derived form of αg* for graphene, over an energy-momentum region on the eV Å -1 scale. Here, an accurate theoretical framework is provided for αg*, using time-dependent density-functional theory in the random-phase approximation, with a cutoff in the interaction between excited electrons in graphene, which translates to an effective interlayer interaction in graphite. The predictions of the approach are in excellent agreement with the above-mentioned measurements, suggesting a calibration method to substantially improve the experimental derivation of αg*, which tends to a static limiting value of ˜0.14 . Thus, the ab initio calibration procedure outlined demonstrates the accuracy of perturbation expansion treatments for the two-dimensional gas of massless Dirac fermions in graphene, in parallel with quantum electrodynamics.

Knowledge Dissemination of Intimate Partner Violence Intervention Studies Measured Using Alternative Metrics: Results From a Scoping Review.

PubMed

Madden, Kim; Evaniew, Nathan; Scott, Taryn; Domazetoska, Elena; Dosanjh, Pritnek; Li, Chuan Silvia; Thabane, Lehana; Bhandari, Mohit; Sprague, Sheila

2016-07-01

Alternative metrics measure the number of online mentions that an academic paper receives, including mentions in social media and online news outlets. It is important to monitor and measure dispersion of intimate partner violence (IPV) victim intervention research so that we can improve our knowledge translation and exchange (KTE) processes improving utilization of study findings. The objective of this study is to describe the dissemination of published IPV victim intervention studies and to explore which study characteristics are associated with a greater number of alternative metric mentions and conventional citations. As part of a larger scoping review, we conducted a literature search to identify IPV intervention studies. Outcomes included znumber of alternative metric mentions and conventional citations. Fifty-nine studies were included in this study. The median number of alternative metric mentions was six, and the median number of conventional citations was two. Forty-one percent of the studies (24/59) had no alternative metric mentions, and 27% (16/59) had no conventional citations. Longer time since publication was significantly associated with a greater number of mentions and citations, as were systematic reviews and randomized controlled trial designs. The majority of IPV studies receive little to no online attention or citations in academic journals, indicating a need for the field to focus on implementing strong knowledge dissemination plans. The papers receiving the most alternative metric mentions and conventional citations were also the more rigorous study designs, indicating a need to focus on study quality. We recommend using alternative metrics in conjunction with conventional metrics to evaluate the full dissemination of IPV research.

The shape parameter and its modification for defining coastal profiles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Türker, Umut; Kabdaşli, M. Sedat

2009-03-01

The shape parameter is important for the theoretical description of the sandy coastal profiles. This parameter has previously been defined as a function of the sediment-settling velocity. However, the settling velocity cannot be characterized over a wide range of sediment grains. This, in turn, limits the calculation of the shape parameter over a wide range. This paper provides a simpler and faster analytical equation to describe the shape parameter. The validity of the equation has been tested and compared with the previously estimated values given in both graphical and tabular forms. The results of this study indicate that the analytical solutions of the shape parameter improved the usability of profile better than graphical solutions, predicting better results both at the surf zone and offshore.

Phytochemical, spectroscopic and density functional theory study of Diospyrin, and non-bonding interactions of Diospyrin with atmospheric gases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fazl-i-Sattar; Ullah, Zakir; Ata-ur-Rahman; Rauf, Abdur; Tariq, Muhammad; Tahir, Asif Ali; Ayub, Khurshid; Ullah, Habib

2015-04-01

Density functional theory (DFT) and phytochemical study of a natural product, Diospyrin (DO) have been carried out. A suitable level of theory was developed, based on correlating the experimental and theoretical data. Hybrid DFT method at B3LYP/6-31G (d,p) level of theory is employed for obtaining the electronic, spectroscopic, inter-molecular interaction and thermodynamic properties of DO. The exact structure of DO is confirmed from the nice validation of the theory and experiment. Non-covalent interactions of DO with different atmospheric gases such as NH3, CO2, CO, and H2O were studied to find out its electroactive nature. The experimental and predicted geometrical parameters, IR and UV-vis spectra (B3LYP/6-31+G (d,p) level of theory) show excellent correlation. Inter-molecular non-bonding interaction of DO with atmospheric gases is investigated through geometrical parameters, electronic properties, charge analysis, and thermodynamic parameters. Electronic properties include, ionization potential (I.P.), electron affinities (E.A.), electrostatic potential (ESP), density of states (DOS), HOMO, LUMO, and band gap. All these characterizations have corroborated each other and confirmed the presence of non-covalent nature in DO with the mentioned gases.

Sustainability of transport structures - some aspects of the nonlinear reliability assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pukl, Radomír; Sajdlová, Tereza; Strauss, Alfred; Lehký, David; Novák, Drahomír

2017-09-01

Efficient techniques for both nonlinear numerical analysis of concrete structures and advanced stochastic simulation methods have been combined in order to offer an advanced tool for assessment of realistic behaviour, failure and safety assessment of transport structures. The utilized approach is based on randomization of the non-linear finite element analysis of the structural models. Degradation aspects such as carbonation of concrete can be accounted in order predict durability of the investigated structure and its sustainability. Results can serve as a rational basis for the performance and sustainability assessment based on advanced nonlinear computer analysis of the structures of transport infrastructure such as bridges or tunnels. In the stochastic simulation the input material parameters obtained from material tests including their randomness and uncertainty are represented as random variables or fields. Appropriate identification of material parameters is crucial for the virtual failure modelling of structures and structural elements. Inverse analysis using artificial neural networks and virtual stochastic simulations approach is applied to determine the fracture mechanical parameters of the structural material and its numerical model. Structural response, reliability and sustainability have been investigated on different types of transport structures made from various materials using the above mentioned methodology and tools.

Windowed Multitaper Correlation Analysis of Multimodal Brain Monitoring Parameters

PubMed Central

Proescholdt, Martin A.; Bele, Sylvia; Brawanski, Alexander

2015-01-01

Although multimodal monitoring sets the standard in daily practice of neurocritical care, problem-oriented analysis tools to interpret the huge amount of data are lacking. Recently a mathematical model was presented that simulates the cerebral perfusion and oxygen supply in case of a severe head trauma, predicting the appearance of distinct correlations between arterial blood pressure and intracranial pressure. In this study we present a set of mathematical tools that reliably detect the predicted correlations in data recorded at a neurocritical care unit. The time resolved correlations will be identified by a windowing technique combined with Fourier-based coherence calculations. The phasing of the data is detected by means of Hilbert phase difference within the above mentioned windows. A statistical testing method is introduced that allows tuning the parameters of the windowing method in such a way that a predefined accuracy is reached. With this method the data of fifteen patients were examined in which we found the predicted correlation in each patient. Additionally it could be shown that the occurrence of a distinct correlation parameter, called scp, represents a predictive value of high quality for the patients outcome. PMID:25821507

Exploring DC-Kerr effect of impurity doped quantum dots under the aegis of noise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arif, Sk. Md.; Bera, Aindrila; Ghosh, Anuja; Ghosh, Manas

2018-02-01

Present study performs an extensive exploration of the profiles of DC-Kerr effect (DCKE) of doped GaAs quantum dot (QD) under the control of Gaussian white noise. A large number of important physical parameters have been varied over a range and the resultant changes in the DCKE profiles have been thoroughly analyzed. The said physical parameters comprise of electric field, magnetic field, confinement potential, dopant location, dopant potential, noise strength, aluminium concentration (only for Alx Ga1 - x As alloy QD), carrier density, relaxation time, position-dependent effective mass (PDEM), position-dependent dielectric screening function (PDDSF), anisotropy, hydrostatic pressure (HP) and temperature. The particular physical quantity being varied, presence of noise and its pathway of application, in combination, lead to emergence of diverse features in the DCKE profiles. As a technologically significant aspect we often find maximization of DCKE for some typical combinations as mentioned above. Presence of multiplicative noise, in general, causes greater shift and greater augmentation of DCKE profiles from a noise-free condition than its additive counterpart. The outcomes of the study indicate ample scope of tailoring DCKE of doped QD systems in presence of noise by minute adjustment of several control parameters.

Validation of geometric models for fisheye lenses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schneider, D.; Schwalbe, E.; Maas, H.-G.

The paper focuses on the photogrammetric investigation of geometric models for different types of optical fisheye constructions (equidistant, equisolid-angle, sterographic and orthographic projection). These models were implemented and thoroughly tested in a spatial resection and a self-calibrating bundle adjustment. For this purpose, fisheye images were taken with a Nikkor 8 mm fisheye lens on a Kodak DSC 14n Pro digital camera in a hemispherical calibration room. Both, the spatial resection and the bundle adjustment resulted in a standard deviation of unit weight of 1/10 pixel with a suitable set of simultaneous calibration parameters introduced into the camera model. The camera-lens combination was treated with all of the four basic models mentioned above. Using the same set of additional lens distortion parameters, the differences between the models can largely be compensated, delivering almost the same precision parameters. The relative object space precision obtained from the bundle adjustment was ca. 1:10 000 of the object dimensions. This value can be considered as a very satisfying result, as fisheye images generally have a lower geometric resolution as a consequence of their large field of view and also have a inferior imaging quality in comparison to most central perspective lenses.

Calcium-dependent nonspecific permeability of the inner mitochondrial membrane is not induced in mitochondria of the yeast Endomyces magnusii.

PubMed

Deryabina, Y I; Isakova, E P; Shurubor, E I; Zvyagilskaya, R A

2004-09-01

Mitochondria of the yeast Endomyces magnusii were examined for the presence of a Ca2+- and phosphate-induced permeability of the inner mitochondrial membrane (pore). For this purpose, coupled mitochondria were incubated under conditions known to induce the permeability transition pore in animal mitochondria, i.e., in the presence of high concentrations of Ca2+ and P(i), prooxidants (t-butylhydroperoxide), oxaloacetate, atractyloside (an inhibitor of ADP/ATP translocator), SH-reagents, by depletion of adenine nucleotide pools, and deenergization of the mitochondria. Large amplitude swelling, collapse of the membrane potential, and efflux of the accumulated Ca2+ were used as parameters for demonstrating pore induction. E. magnusii mitochondria were highly resistant to the above-mentioned substances. Deenergization of mitochondria or depletion of adenine nucleotide pools have no effect on low-amplitude swelling or the other parameters. Cyclosporin A, a specific inhibitor of the nonspecific permeability transition in animal mitochondria, did not affect the parameters measured. It is thus evident that E. magnusii mitochondria lack a functional Ca2+-dependent pore, or possess a pore differently regulated as compared to that of mammalian mitochondria.

Laser control of reactions of photoswitching functional molecules.

PubMed

Tamura, Hiroyuki; Nanbu, Shinkoh; Ishida, Toshimasa; Nakamura, Hiroki

2006-07-21

Laser control schemes of reactions of photoswitching functional molecules are proposed based on the quantum mechanical wave-packet dynamics and the design of laser parameters. The appropriately designed quadratically chirped laser pulses can achieve nearly complete transitions of wave packet among electronic states. The laser parameters can be optimized by using the Zhu-Nakamura theory of nonadiabatic transition. This method is effective not only for the initial photoexcitation process but also for the pump and dump scheme in the middle of the overall photoswitching process. The effects of momentum of the wave packet crossing a conical intersection on the branching ratio of products have also been clarified. These control schemes mentioned above are successfully applied to the cyclohexadiene/hexatriene photoisomerization (ring-opening) process which is the reaction center of practical photoswitching molecules such as diarylethenes. The overall efficiency of the ring opening can be appreciably increased by using the appropriately designed laser pulses compared to that of the natural photoisomerization without any control schemes.

Workaholism: A Review

PubMed Central

Sussman, Steven

2013-01-01

In this review, I examine the definition, etiology, measurement, prevention and treatment of workaholism, based on a systematic search of the literature. While there is some debate regarding the parameters of the concept, viewed as a negative consequential addiction, workaholism involves excessive time spent working, preoccupation with work to the exclusion of other life domains, loss of control over the parameters of one’s work and disenchantment with work, and negative social, emotional, and health consequences. The etiology of workaholism is not clear but may pertain to persons with compulsive personality traits, who are driven to work harder than that demanded from work contexts, and who have learned to place work as a main means of gratification compared to other lifestyle alternatives. Most measurement approaches rely on self-report questionnaires, tested primarily with convenience samples. Refinement of current assessments is ongoing. Prevention and treatment implications are discussed, which include intra- and extra-personal level approaches. Finally, limitations of the work completed in this arena are mentioned and needed future research directions are suggested. PMID:24273685

Compression Molding of Composite of Recycled HDPE and Recycled Tire Particles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liu, Ping; Waskom, Tommy L.; Chen, Zhengyu; Li, Yanze; Peng, Linda

1996-01-01

Plastic and rubber recycling is an effective means of reducing solid waste to the environment and preserving natural resources. A project aimed at developing a new composite material from recycled high density polyethylene (HDPE) and recycled rubber is currently being conducted at Eastern Illinois University. The recycled plastic pellets with recycled rubber particles are extruded into some HDPE/rubber composite strands. The strand can be further cut into pellets that can be used to fabricate other material forms or products. This experiment was inspired by the above-mentioned research activity. In order to measure Durometer hardness of the extruded composite, a specimen with relatively large dimensions was needed. Thus, compression molding was used to form a cylindrical specimen of 1 in. diameter and 1 in. thickness. The initial poor quality of the molded specimen prompted a need to optimize the processing parameters such as temperature, holding time, and pressure. Design of experiment (DOE) was used to obtain optimum combination of the parameters.

A research on radiation calibration of high dynamic range based on the dual channel CMOS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Kai; Shi, Zhan; Pan, Xiaodong; Wang, Yongsheng; Wang, Jianghua

2017-10-01

The dual channel complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) can get high dynamic range (HDR) image through extending the gray level of the image by using image fusion with high gain channel image and low gain channel image in a same frame. In the process of image fusion with dual channel, it adopts the coefficients of radiation response of a pixel from dual channel in a same frame, and then calculates the gray level of the pixel in the HDR image. For the coefficients of radiation response play a crucial role in image fusion, it has to find an effective method to acquire these parameters. In this article, it makes a research on radiation calibration of high dynamic range based on the dual channel CMOS, and designs an experiment to calibrate the coefficients of radiation response for the sensor it used. In the end, it applies these response parameters in the dual channel CMOS which calibrates, and verifies the correctness and feasibility of the method mentioned in this paper.

Comparative study of classification algorithms for damage classification in smart composite laminates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khan, Asif; Ryoo, Chang-Kyung; Kim, Heung Soo

2017-04-01

This paper presents a comparative study of different classification algorithms for the classification of various types of inter-ply delaminations in smart composite laminates. Improved layerwise theory is used to model delamination at different interfaces along the thickness and longitudinal directions of the smart composite laminate. The input-output data obtained through surface bonded piezoelectric sensor and actuator is analyzed by the system identification algorithm to get the system parameters. The identified parameters for the healthy and delaminated structure are supplied as input data to the classification algorithms. The classification algorithms considered in this study are ZeroR, Classification via regression, Naïve Bayes, Multilayer Perceptron, Sequential Minimal Optimization, Multiclass-Classifier, and Decision tree (J48). The open source software of Waikato Environment for Knowledge Analysis (WEKA) is used to evaluate the classification performance of the classifiers mentioned above via 75-25 holdout and leave-one-sample-out cross-validation regarding classification accuracy, precision, recall, kappa statistic and ROC Area.

Ceramization of low and intermediate level radioactive wastes

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

Fiquet, O.; Berson, X.

1993-12-31

A ceramic conditioning is studied for a large variety of low and intermediate level wastes. These wastes arise from several waste streams coming from all process steps of the fuel cycle. The physical properties of ceramics can advantageously be used for radioactive waste immobilization. Their chemical durability can offer a barrier against external aggression. More over, some minerals have possible host sites in their crystal structure for heavy elements which can confer the best immobilization mechanism. The general route for development studies is described giving compositions and process choices. Investigations have been conducted on clay materials and on the processmore » parameters which condition the final product properties. Two practical examples are described concerning chemical precipitation sludge resulting from liquid waste treatment and chamot used as a fluidized bed in a graphite incinerator. Important process parameters are put in evidence and the possibility of a pilot plant development is briefly mentioned. Results of investigations are promising to define a new route of conditioning.« less

A Novel Strain-Based Method to Estimate Tire Conditions Using Fuzzy Logic for Intelligent Tires.

PubMed

Garcia-Pozuelo, Daniel; Olatunbosun, Oluremi; Yunta, Jorge; Yang, Xiaoguang; Diaz, Vicente

2017-02-10

The so-called intelligent tires are one of the most promising research fields for automotive engineers. These tires are equipped with sensors which provide information about vehicle dynamics. Up to now, the commercial intelligent tires only provide information about inflation pressure and their contribution to stability control systems is currently very limited. Nowadays one of the major problems for intelligent tire development is how to embed feasible and low cost sensors to obtain reliable information such as inflation pressure, vertical load or rolling speed. These parameters provide key information for vehicle dynamics characterization. In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm based on fuzzy logic to estimate the mentioned parameters by means of a single strain-based system. Experimental tests have been carried out in order to prove the suitability and durability of the proposed on-board strain sensor system, as well as its low cost advantages, and the accuracy of the obtained estimations by means of fuzzy logic.

Security of Color Image Data Designed by Public-Key Cryptosystem Associated with 2D-DWT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mishra, D. C.; Sharma, R. K.; Kumar, Manish; Kumar, Kuldeep

2014-08-01

In present times the security of image data is a major issue. So, we have proposed a novel technique for security of color image data by public-key cryptosystem or asymmetric cryptosystem. In this technique, we have developed security of color image data using RSA (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman) cryptosystem with two-dimensional discrete wavelet transform (2D-DWT). Earlier proposed schemes for security of color images designed on the basis of keys, but this approach provides security of color images with the help of keys and correct arrangement of RSA parameters. If the attacker knows about exact keys, but has no information of exact arrangement of RSA parameters, then the original information cannot be recovered from the encrypted data. Computer simulation based on standard example is critically examining the behavior of the proposed technique. Security analysis and a detailed comparison between earlier developed schemes for security of color images and proposed technique are also mentioned for the robustness of the cryptosystem.

Typical Applications of Airborne LIDAR Technolagy in Geological Investigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, X.; Xiao, C.

2018-05-01

The technology of airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR), also referred to as Airborne Laser Scanning, is widely used for high-resolution topographic data acquisition (even under forest cover) with sub-meter planimetric and vertical accuracy. This contribution constructs the real digital terrain model to provide the direct observation data for the landscape analysis in geological domains. Based on the advantage of LiDAR, the authors mainly deal with the applications of LiDAR data to such fields as surface land collapse, landslide and fault structure extraction. The review conclusion shows that airborne LiDAR technology is becoming an indispensable tool for above mentioned issues, especially in the local and large scale investigations of micro-topography. The technology not only can identify the surface collapse, landslide boundary and subtle faulted landform, but also be able to extract the filling parameters of collapsed surface, the geomorphic parameters of landslide stability evaluation and cracks. This technology has extensive prospect of applications in geological investigation.

Erratum: ``The Luminosity Function of IRAS Point Source Catalog Redshift Survey Galaxies'' (ApJ, 587, L89 [2003])

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takeuchi, Tsutomu T.; Yoshikawa, Kohji; Ishii, Takako T.

2004-05-01

We have mentioned that we normalized the parameters for the luminosity function by the Hubble constant H0=100 km s-1 Mpc-1 however, for the characteristic luminosity L* we erroneously normalized it by H0=70 km s-1 Mpc-1. As a result, we have proposed wrong numerical factors for L*. In addition, there is a typographic error in the exponent of equation (6) of the published manuscript. Correct values are as follows: L*=(4.34+/-0.86)×108 h-2 [Lsolar] for equation (4), and L*=(2.50+/-0.44)×109 h-2 [Lsolar] and L*=(9.55+/-0.20)×108 h-2 [Lsolar] for equations (5) and (6), respectively. All the other parameters are correct. The errors have occurred only in the final conversion, and they do not affect our discussions and conclusions at all. We thank P. Ranalli for pointing out the errors.

Effects of the Variation in Brain Tissue Mechanical Properties on the Intracranial Response of a 6-Year-Old Child

PubMed Central

Cui, Shihai; Li, Haiyan; Li, Xiangnan; Ruan, Jesse

2015-01-01

Brain tissue mechanical properties are of importance to investigate child head injury using finite element (FE) method. However, these properties used in child head FE model normally vary in a large range in published literatures because of the insufficient child cadaver experiments. In this work, a head FE model with detailed anatomical structures is developed from the computed tomography (CT) data of a 6-year-old healthy child head. The effects of brain tissue mechanical properties on traumatic brain response are also analyzed by reconstruction of a head impact on engine hood according to Euro-NCAP testing regulation using FE method. The result showed that the variations of brain tissue mechanical parameters in linear viscoelastic constitutive model had different influences on the intracranial response. Furthermore, the opposite trend was obtained in the predicted shear stress and shear strain of brain tissues caused by the variations of mentioned parameters. PMID:26495031

Ternary Blends of High Aluminate Cement, Fly ash and Blast-furnace slag for Sewerage Lining Mortar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chao, L. C.; Kuo, C. P.

2018-01-01

High aluminate cement (HAC), fly ash (FA) and blast-furnace slag (BFS) have been treated sustainable materials for the use of cement products for wastewater infrastructure due to their capabilities of corrosion resistance. The purpose of this study is to optimize a ternary blend of above mentioned materials for a special type of mortar for sewerage lining. By the using of Taguchi method, four control parameters including water/cementitious material ratio, mix water content, fly ash content and blast-furnace slag content were considered in nine trial mix designs in this study. By evaluating target properties including (1) maximization of compressive strength, (2) maximization of electricity resistance and (3) minimization of water absorption rate, the best possible levels for each control parameter were determined and the optimal mix proportions were verified. Through the implementation of the study, a practical and completed idea for designing corrosion resistive mortar comprising HAC, FA and BSF is provided.

Analysis of parameters for technological equipment of parallel kinematics based on rods of variable length for processing accuracy assurance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koltsov, A. G.; Shamutdinov, A. H.; Blokhin, D. A.; Krivonos, E. V.

2018-01-01

A new classification of parallel kinematics mechanisms on symmetry coefficient, being proportional to mechanism stiffness and accuracy of the processing product using the technological equipment under study, is proposed. A new version of the Stewart platform with a high symmetry coefficient is presented for analysis. The workspace of the mechanism under study is described, this space being a complex solid figure. The workspace end points are reached by the center of the mobile platform which moves in parallel related to the base plate. Parameters affecting the processing accuracy, namely the static and dynamic stiffness, natural vibration frequencies are determined. The capability assessment of the mechanism operation under various loads, taking into account resonance phenomena at different points of the workspace, was conducted. The study proved that stiffness and therefore, processing accuracy with the use of the above mentioned mechanisms are comparable with the stiffness and accuracy of medium-sized series-produced machines.

A Novel Strain-Based Method to Estimate Tire Conditions Using Fuzzy Logic for Intelligent Tires

PubMed Central

Garcia-Pozuelo, Daniel; Olatunbosun, Oluremi; Yunta, Jorge; Yang, Xiaoguang; Diaz, Vicente

2017-01-01

The so-called intelligent tires are one of the most promising research fields for automotive engineers. These tires are equipped with sensors which provide information about vehicle dynamics. Up to now, the commercial intelligent tires only provide information about inflation pressure and their contribution to stability control systems is currently very limited. Nowadays one of the major problems for intelligent tire development is how to embed feasible and low cost sensors to obtain reliable information such as inflation pressure, vertical load or rolling speed. These parameters provide key information for vehicle dynamics characterization. In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm based on fuzzy logic to estimate the mentioned parameters by means of a single strain-based system. Experimental tests have been carried out in order to prove the suitability and durability of the proposed on-board strain sensor system, as well as its low cost advantages, and the accuracy of the obtained estimations by means of fuzzy logic. PMID:28208631

Can we predict uranium bioavailability based on soil parameters? Part 2: soil solution uranium concentration is not a good bioavailability index.

PubMed

Vandenhove, H; Van Hees, M; Wannijn, J; Wouters, K; Wang, L

2007-01-01

The present study aimed to quantify the influence of soil parameters on uranium uptake by ryegrass. Ryegrass was established on eighteen distinct soils, spiked with (238)U. Uranium soil-to-plant transfer factors (TF) ranged from 0.0003 to 0.0340kgkg(-1). There was no significant relation between the U soil-to-plant transfer (or total U uptake or flux) and the uranium concentration in the soil solution or any other soil factor measured, nor with the U recovered following selective soil extractions. Multiple linear regression analysis resulted in a significant though complex model explaining up to 99% of variation in TF. The influence of uranium speciation on uranium uptake observed was featured: UO(2)(+2), uranyl carbonate complexes and UO(2)PO(4)(-) seem the U species being preferentially taken up by the roots and transferred to the shoots. Improved correlations were obtained when relating the uranium TF with the summed soil solution concentrations of mentioned uranium species.

PathNER: a tool for systematic identification of biological pathway mentions in the literature

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Biological pathways are central to many biomedical studies and are frequently discussed in the literature. Several curated databases have been established to collate the knowledge of molecular processes constituting pathways. Yet, there has been little focus on enabling systematic detection of pathway mentions in the literature. Results We developed a tool, named PathNER (Pathway Named Entity Recognition), for the systematic identification of pathway mentions in the literature. PathNER is based on soft dictionary matching and rules, with the dictionary generated from public pathway databases. The rules utilise general pathway-specific keywords, syntactic information and gene/protein mentions. Detection results from both components are merged. On a gold-standard corpus, PathNER achieved an F1-score of 84%. To illustrate its potential, we applied PathNER on a collection of articles related to Alzheimer's disease to identify associated pathways, highlighting cases that can complement an existing manually curated knowledgebase. Conclusions In contrast to existing text-mining efforts that target the automatic reconstruction of pathway details from molecular interactions mentioned in the literature, PathNER focuses on identifying specific named pathway mentions. These mentions can be used to support large-scale curation and pathway-related systems biology applications, as demonstrated in the example of Alzheimer's disease. PathNER is implemented in Java and made freely available online at http://sourceforge.net/projects/pathner/. PMID:24555844

Gender differences and regionalization of the cultural significance of wild mushrooms around La Malinche volcano, Tlaxcala, Mexico.

PubMed

Montoya, A; Torres-García, E A; Kong, A; Estrada-Torres, A; Caballero, J

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the cultural significance of wild mushrooms in 10 communities on the slopes of La Malinche volcano, Tlaxcala. The frequency and order of mention of each mushroom species in interviews of 200 individuals were used as indicators of the relative cultural significance of each species. A X(2) analysis was used to compare the frequency of mention of each species between males and females, and a Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the difference in the total number of fungi mentioned by either gender. Traditional names for mushroom species were documented and frequency of mention assessed through multivariate statistics. The fungi with highest frequency of mention were Amanita basii, Lyophyllum decastes, Boletus pinophilus, Gomphus floccosus and Cantharellus cibarius complex. We found significant differences in the frequency of mention of different fungi by males and females but no significant difference was found for the total number of fungi mentioned by either gender. Principal component analysis suggested a cultural regionalization of La Malinche volcano communities based on preferences for consumption and use of traditional names. We observed two groups: one formed by communities on the eastern part of the volcano (with mixed cultures) and the other including communities on the western slope (ethnic Nahua towns). San Isidro Buensuceso is the most distinct community, according to the criteria in this study.

Ambiguity and variability of database and software names in bioinformatics.

PubMed

Duck, Geraint; Kovacevic, Aleksandar; Robertson, David L; Stevens, Robert; Nenadic, Goran

2015-01-01

There are numerous options available to achieve various tasks in bioinformatics, but until recently, there were no tools that could systematically identify mentions of databases and tools within the literature. In this paper we explore the variability and ambiguity of database and software name mentions and compare dictionary and machine learning approaches to their identification. Through the development and analysis of a corpus of 60 full-text documents manually annotated at the mention level, we report high variability and ambiguity in database and software mentions. On a test set of 25 full-text documents, a baseline dictionary look-up achieved an F-score of 46 %, highlighting not only variability and ambiguity but also the extensive number of new resources introduced. A machine learning approach achieved an F-score of 63 % (with precision of 74 %) and 70 % (with precision of 83 %) for strict and lenient matching respectively. We characterise the issues with various mention types and propose potential ways of capturing additional database and software mentions in the literature. Our analyses show that identification of mentions of databases and tools is a challenging task that cannot be achieved by relying on current manually-curated resource repositories. Although machine learning shows improvement and promise (primarily in precision), more contextual information needs to be taken into account to achieve a good degree of accuracy.

Diagnostic utility of F waves in clinically diagnosed patients of carpal tunnel syndrome.

PubMed

Joshi, Anand G; Gargate, Ashwini R

2013-01-01

Sensory nerve conduction velocity (SNCV) of median nerve measured across the carpal tunnel, difference between distal sensory latencies (DSLs) of median and ulnar nerves and difference between distal motor latencies (DMLs) of median and ulnar nerves are commonly used nerve conduction parameters for diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). These are having high degree of sensitivity and specificity. Study of median nerve F-wave minimal latency (FWML) and difference between F-wave minimal latencies (FWMLs) of median and ulnar nerves have also been reported to be useful parameters for diagnosis of CTS. However, there is controversy regarding superiority of F-wave study for diagnosis of CTS. So the aim of present study was to compare sensitivity and specificity of median FWML and difference between FWMLs of median and ulnar nerves with that of above mentioned electrophysiological parameters and to find out which parameters are having more sensitivity and specificity, for early diagnosis of CTS. Median and ulnar nerves sensory and motor conduction, median and ulnar nerves F-wave studies were carried out bilaterally in 125 clinically diagnosed patients of carpal tunnel syndrome. These parameters were also studied in 45 age matched controls. Difference between DSLs of median and ulnar nerves, median SNCV and difference between DMLs of median and ulnar nerves were having highest sensitivity and specificity while median FWML and difference between FWMLs of median and ulnar nerves was having lowest sensitivity and specificity for diagnosis of CTS. So in conclusion F-wave study is not superior parameter for diagnosis of CTS.

Correlation between thermal parameters, structures, dendritic spacing and corrosion behavior of Zn Al alloys with columnar to equiaxed transition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ares, A. E.; Gassa, L. M.; Gueijman, S. F.; Schvezov, C. E.

2008-04-01

The columnar to equiaxed transition (CET) has been examined for many years and the significance of CET has been treated in several articles. Experimental observations in different alloy systems have shown that the position of the transition is dependent on parameters like cooling rate, velocity of the liquidus and solidus fronts, local solidification time, temperature gradients and recalescence. The dendritic structure in alloys results in microsegregation of solute species which affects significantly the mechanical properties of the material. The main parameters characterizing the microstructure and the length range of microsegregation is the spacing which is classified as primary, secondary and tertiary. Properties like mechanical resistance and ductility are influenced by the dimensions and continuity of the primary branches, while the secondary and tertiary branches permit the isolation of interdendritic phases which can deteriorate the mechanical behavior of the material. Since the morphology and dimensions of the dendritic structure is related to the solidification parameters mentioned above, for each type of alloy it is essential to correlate dimensions and solidification conditions in order to control the structure. The objective of the present research consists on studying the influence of solidification thermal parameters with the type of structure (columnar, equiaxial or with the CET); and with grain size and dendritic spacing (primary and secondary) in Zn-Al (ZA) alloys (Zn—4 wt%Al, Zn—16 wt%Al and Zn—27 wt%Al, weight percent). Also, correlate the thermal parameters, type of structure, grain size and dendritic spacing with the corrosion resistance of these alloys.

Development of an emittance meter and off-line measurements for the SPES project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Montano, Jacobo; Vasquez, Jesus; Andrighetto, Aberto; Poggi, Marco; Bassato, Giorgio; Boscagli, Lucia; Prete, Gianfranco; Conforto, Nicola

2012-02-01

In the framework of the Selective Production of Exotic Species (SPES) project, an emittance meter has been designed and constructed to determine the ion sources operational characteristics. This instrument allows scanning the beam in two orthogonal planes establishing the distribution of the beam spatial density as well as the particles directions. The controls of the scanning sequence and the data collection during the measurements are performed by an appropriated electronic unit. The collected data is then analyzed and the twiss parameters are determined including the emittance for both planes under scrutiny. Finally a user friendly interface is developed that allows a general user to perform the mentioned tasks.

Extended nonlinear Schrödinger equation with higher-order odd and even terms and its rogue wave solutions.

PubMed

Ankiewicz, Adrian; Wang, Yan; Wabnitz, Stefan; Akhmediev, Nail

2014-01-01

We consider an extended nonlinear Schrödinger equation with higher-order odd (third order) and even (fourth order) terms with variable coefficients. The resulting equation has soliton solutions and approximate rogue wave solutions. We present these solutions up to second order. Moreover, specific constraints on the parameters of higher-order terms provide integrability of the resulting equation, providing a corresponding Lax pair. Particular cases of this equation are the Hirota and the Lakshmanan-Porsezian-Daniel equations. The resulting integrable equation admits exact rogue wave solutions. In particular cases, mentioned above, these solutions are reduced to the rogue wave solutions of the corresponding equations.

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

Usman, Muhammad; Mumtaz, Arif, E-mail: arif@qau.edu.pk; Raoof, Sobia

We report the relaxor behavior of the zirconium doped barium titanate BaZr{sub x}Ti{sub 1−x}O{sub 3} solid solutions and discuss the temperature, frequency, and concentration dependence in terms of correlations among the polar nanoregions. The relaxor behavior is analyzed within the mean field theory by estimating the Edward-Anderson order parameter q{sub EA}. Additionally, we find that q{sub EA} calculated for the different concentrations obeys a scaling behavior q{sub EA}=1−(T/T{sub m}){sup n}, where T{sub m} are the respective dielectric maxima temperatures and n = 2.0 ± 0.1. The frequency dependence of the q{sub EA} also shows results consistent with the above mentioned picture.

Compilation and Review of Supersonic Business Jet Studies from 1963 through 1995

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maglieri, Domenic J.

2011-01-01

This document provides a compilation of all known supersonic business jet studies/activities conducted from 1963 through 1995 by university, industry and the NASA. First, an overview is provided which chronologically displays all known supersonic business jet studies/activities conducted by universities, industry, and the NASA along with the key features of the study vehicles relative to configuration, planform, operation parameters, and the source of study. This is followed by a brief description of each study along with some comments on the study. Mention will be made as to whether the studies addressed cost, market needs, and the environmental issues of airport-community noise, sonic boom, and ozone.

A class of traveling wave solutions for space-time fractional biological population model in mathematical physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akram, Ghazala; Batool, Fiza

2017-10-01

The (G'/G)-expansion method is utilized for a reliable treatment of space-time fractional biological population model. The method has been applied in the sense of the Jumarie's modified Riemann-Liouville derivative. Three classes of exact traveling wave solutions, hyperbolic, trigonometric and rational solutions of the associated equation are characterized with some free parameters. A generalized fractional complex transform is applied to convert the fractional equations to ordinary differential equations which subsequently resulted in number of exact solutions. It should be mentioned that the (G'/G)-expansion method is very effective and convenient for solving nonlinear partial differential equations of fractional order whose balancing number is a negative integer.

The body's tailored suit: Skin as a mechanical interface.

PubMed

Tissot, Floriane S; Boulter, Etienne; Estrach, Soline; Féral, Chloé C

2016-11-01

Skin, by nature, is very similar to the Rouquayrol-Denayrouze suit mentioned by Jules Verne in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea: it allows "to risk (…) new physiological conditions without suffering any organic disorder". Mechanical cues, to the same extent as other environmental parameters, are such "new physiological conditions". Indeed, skin's primary function is to form a protective barrier to shield inner tissues from the external environment. This requires unique mechanical properties as well as the ability to sense mechanical cues from the environment in order to prevent or repair mechanical damages as well as to function as the primary mechanosensory interface of the whole body. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Diagnostic Principles of Peri-Implantitis: a Systematic Review and Guidelines for Peri-Implantitis Diagnosis Proposal.

PubMed

Ramanauskaite, Ausra; Juodzbalys, Gintaras

2016-01-01

To review and summarize the literature concerning peri-implantitis diagnostic parameters and to propose guidelines for peri-implantitis diagnosis. An electronic literature search was conducted of the MEDLINE (Ovid) and EMBASE databases for articles published between 2011 and 2016. Sequential screening at the title/abstract and full-text levels was performed. Systematic reviews/guidelines of consensus conferences proposing classification or suggesting diagnostic parameters for peri-implantitis in the English language were included. The review was recorded on PROSPERO system with the code CRD42016033287. The search resulted in 10 articles that met the inclusion criteria. Four were papers from consensus conferences, two recommended diagnostic guidelines, three proposed classification of peri-implantitis, and one suggested an index for implant success. The following parameters were suggested to be used for peri-implantitis diagnosis: pain, mobility, bleeding on probing, probing depth, suppuration/exudate, and radiographic bone loss. In all of the papers, different definitions of peri-implantitis or implant success, as well as different thresholds for the above mentioned clinical and radiographical parameters, were used. Current evidence rationale for the diagnosis of peri-implantitis and classification based on consecutive evaluation of soft-tissue conditions and the amount of bone loss were suggested. Currently there is no single uniform definition of peri-implantitis or the parameters that should be used. Rationale for diagnosis and prognosis of peri-implantitis as well as classification of the disease is proposed.

Influence of cadmium on life-history characteristics of Folsomia candida (Willem) in an artificial soil substrate

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

Crommentuijn, T.; Brils, J.; Van Straalen, N.M.

1993-10-01

To understand the consequences of soil pollution on higher levels of biological organization, the chain of effects of cadmium on several interrelated responses was studied in a chronic toxicity experiment using the collembolan species Folsomia candida (Willem) in an artificial soil. The individual parameters survival, growth, and number of offspring were determined after different time intervals up to 9 weeks. The accumulation of cadmium in springtails and the population increase during the experimental period were also determined. By combining all the mentioned parameters and their development in time, a detailed picture of the action of cadmium on F. candida wasmore » obtained. In order of decreasing sensitivity the EC50 values for Von Bertalanffy growth, number of offspring, population increase, and survival were 256, > 326, 475, and 850 micrograms Cd/g dry soil, respectively. The ultimate LC50 value and also the equilibrium body burden were reached after about 20 days. Reproduction started later because of retarded growth, but was not affected directly and eventually reached the control level. The results are discussed in light of the seemingly contradictory ideas of Halbach (1984, Hydrobiologia 109, 79-96) and Meyer et al. (1987, Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 6, 115-126) about the sensitivity of individual and population parameters. It appears to be very important to know how individual parameters develop in time so that the most sensitive parameter and the consequences for higher levels of biological organization can be determined.« less

Order-parameter model for unstable multilane traffic flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lubashevsky, Ihor A.; Mahnke, Reinhard

2000-11-01

We discuss a phenomenological approach to the description of unstable vehicle motion on multilane highways that explains in a simple way the observed sequence of the ``free flow <--> synchronized mode <--> jam'' phase transitions as well as the hysteresis in these transitions. We introduce a variable called an order parameter that accounts for possible correlations in the vehicle motion at different lanes. So, it is principally due to the ``many-body'' effects in the car interaction in contrast to such variables as the mean car density and velocity being actually the zeroth and first moments of the ``one-particle'' distribution function. Therefore, we regard the order parameter as an additional independent state variable of traffic flow. We assume that these correlations are due to a small group of ``fast'' drivers and by taking into account the general properties of the driver behavior we formulate a governing equation for the order parameter. In this context we analyze the instability of homogeneous traffic flow that manifested itself in the above-mentioned phase transitions and gave rise to the hysteresis in both of them. Besides, the jam is characterized by the vehicle flows at different lanes which are independent of one another. We specify a certain simplified model in order to study the general features of the car cluster self-formation under the ``free flow <--> synchronized motion'' phase transition. In particular, we show that the main local parameters of the developed cluster are determined by the state characteristics of vehicle motion only.

Handling the unknown soil hydraulic parameters in data assimilation for unsaturated flow problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lange, Natascha; Erdal, Daniel; Neuweiler, Insa

2017-04-01

Model predictions of flow in the unsaturated zone require the soil hydraulic parameters. However, these parameters cannot be determined easily in applications, in particular if observations are indirect and cover only a small range of possible states. Correlation of parameters or their correlation in the range of states that are observed is a problem, as different parameter combinations may reproduce approximately the same measured water content. In field campaigns this problem can be helped by adding more measurement devices. Often, observation networks are designed to feed models for long term prediction purposes (i.e. for weather forecasting). A popular way of making predictions with such kind of observations are data assimilation methods, like the ensemble Kalman filter (Evensen, 1994). These methods can be used for parameter estimation if the unknown parameters are included in the state vector and updated along with the model states. Given the difficulties related to estimation of the soil hydraulic parameters in general, it is questionable, though, whether these methods can really be used for parameter estimation under natural conditions. Therefore, we investigate the ability of the ensemble Kalman filter to estimate the soil hydraulic parameters. We use synthetic identical twin-experiments to guarantee full knowledge of the model and the true parameters. We use the van Genuchten model to describe the soil water retention and relative permeability functions. This model is unfortunately prone to the above mentioned pseudo-correlations of parameters. Therefore, we also test the simpler Russo Gardner model, which is less affected by that problem, in our experiments. The total number of unknown parameters is varied by considering different layers of soil. Besides, we study the influence of the parameter updates on the water content predictions. We test different iterative filter approaches and compare different observation strategies for parameter identification. Considering heterogeneous soils, we discuss the representativeness of different observation types to be used for the assimilation. G. Evensen. Sequential data assimilation with a nonlinear quasi-geostrophic model using Monte Carlo methods to forecast error statistics. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 99(C5):10143-10162, 1994

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

Carmona, J. M.; Cortes, J. L.; Mazon, D.

Locality of interactions is an essential ingredient of Special Relativity. Recently, a new framework under the name of relative locality [G. Amelino-Camelia, L. Freidel, J. Kowalski-Glikman, and L. Smolin, arXiv:1101.0931.] has been proposed as a way to consider Planckian modifications of the relativistic dynamics of particles. We note in this paper that the loss of absolute locality is a general feature of theories beyond Special Relativity with an implementation of a relativity principle. We give an explicit construction of such an implementation and compare it both with the previously mentioned framework of relative locality and the so-called Doubly Special Relativitymore » theories.« less

Behavior and Body Patterns of the Larger Pacific Striped Octopus.

PubMed

Caldwell, Roy L; Ross, Richard; Rodaniche, Arcadio; Huffard, Christine L

2015-01-01

Over thirty years ago anecdotal accounts of the undescribed Larger Pacific Striped Octopus suggested behaviors previously unknown for octopuses. Beak-to-beak mating, dens shared by mating pairs, inking during mating and extended spawning were mentioned in publications, and enticed generations of cephalopod biologists. In 2012-2014 we were able to obtain several live specimens of this species, which remains without a formal description. All of the unique behaviors listed above were observed for animals in aquaria and are discussed here. We describe the behavior, body color patterns, and postures of 24 adults maintained in captivity. Chromatophore patterns of hatchlings are also shown.

Behavior and Body Patterns of the Larger Pacific Striped Octopus

PubMed Central

Caldwell, Roy L.; Ross, Richard; Rodaniche, Arcadio; Huffard, Christine L.

2015-01-01

Over thirty years ago anecdotal accounts of the undescribed Larger Pacific Striped Octopus suggested behaviors previously unknown for octopuses. Beak-to-beak mating, dens shared by mating pairs, inking during mating and extended spawning were mentioned in publications, and enticed generations of cephalopod biologists. In 2012–2014 we were able to obtain several live specimens of this species, which remains without a formal description. All of the unique behaviors listed above were observed for animals in aquaria and are discussed here. We describe the behavior, body color patterns, and postures of 24 adults maintained in captivity. Chromatophore patterns of hatchlings are also shown. PMID:26266543

The method of space-time and conservation element and solution element: A new approach for solving the Navier-Stokes and Euler equations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chang, Sin-Chung

1995-01-01

A new numerical framework for solving conservation laws is being developed. This new framework differs substantially in both concept and methodology from the well-established methods, i.e., finite difference, finite volume, finite element, and spectral methods. It is conceptually simple and designed to overcome several key limitations of the above traditional methods. A two-level scheme for solving the convection-diffusion equation is constructed and used to illuminate the major differences between the present method and those previously mentioned. This explicit scheme, referred to as the a-mu scheme, has two independent marching variables.

Assessing the Content of YouTube Videos in Educating Patients Regarding Common Imaging Examinations.

PubMed

Rosenkrantz, Andrew B; Won, Eugene; Doshi, Ankur M

2016-12-01

To assess the content of currently available YouTube videos seeking to educate patients regarding commonly performed imaging examinations. After initial testing of possible search terms, the first two pages of YouTube search results for "CT scan," "MRI," "ultrasound patient," "PET scan," and "mammogram" were reviewed to identify educational patient videos created by health organizations. Sixty-three included videos were viewed and assessed for a range of features. Average views per video were highest for MRI (293,362) and mammography (151,664). Twenty-seven percent of videos used a nontraditional format (eg, animation, song, humor). All videos (100.0%) depicted a patient undergoing the examination, 84.1% a technologist, and 20.6% a radiologist; 69.8% mentioned examination lengths, 65.1% potential pain/discomfort, 41.3% potential radiation, 36.5% a radiology report/results, 27.0% the radiologist's role in interpretation, and 13.3% laboratory work. For CT, 68.8% mentioned intravenous contrast and 37.5% mentioned contrast safety. For MRI, 93.8% mentioned claustrophobia, 87.5% noise, 75.0% need to sit still, 68.8% metal safety, 50.0% intravenous contrast, and 0.0% contrast safety. For ultrasound, 85.7% mentioned use of gel. For PET, 92.3% mentioned radiotracer injection, 61.5% fasting, and 46.2% diabetic precautions. For mammography, unrobing, avoiding deodorant, and possible additional images were all mentioned by 63.6%; dense breasts were mentioned by 0.0%. Educational patient videos on YouTube regarding common imaging examinations received high public interest and may provide a valuable patient resource. Videos most consistently provided information detailing the examination experience and less consistently provided safety information or described the presence and role of the radiologist. Copyright © 2016 American College of Radiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Extracting Sexual Trauma Mentions from Electronic Medical Notes Using Natural Language Processing.

PubMed

Divita, Guy; Brignone, Emily; Carter, Marjorie E; Suo, Ying; Blais, Rebecca K; Samore, Matthew H; Fargo, Jamison D; Gundlapalli, Adi V

2017-01-01

Patient history of sexual trauma is of clinical relevance to healthcare providers as survivors face adverse health-related outcomes. This paper describes a method for identifying mentions of sexual trauma within the free text of electronic medical notes. A natural language processing pipeline for information extraction was developed and scaled to handle a large corpus of electronic medical notes used for this study from US Veterans Health Administration medical facilities. The tool was used to identify sexual trauma mentions and create snippets around every asserted mention based on a domain-specific lexicon developed for this purpose. All snippets were evaluated by trained human reviewers. An overall positive predictive value (PPV) of 0.90 for identifying sexual trauma mentions from the free text and a PPV of 0.71 at the patient level are reported. The metrics are superior for records from female patients.

Fear and Anger Responses to Local News Coverage of Alcohol-Related Crimes, Accidents, and Injuries: Explaining News Effects on Policy Support Using a Representative Sample of Messages and People

PubMed Central

Goodall, Catherine E.; Slater, Michael D.; Myers, Teresa A.

2013-01-01

An experiment investigated emotional reactions to news on policy support. Stimuli were selected from a nationally representative sample of local crime/accident news, and a nationally representative online panel of U.S. adults. Stories were manipulated to mention or not mention the role of alcohol. Anger elicited by stories increased blame of individuals, whereas fear increased consideration of contributing societal factors. Mention of alcohol increased likelihood of different emotional responses dominating--greater anger when alcohol was mentioned and greater fear when not mentioned. Such emotions influence policy support: enforcement of existing laws controlling individual behavior in addition to new laws when anger predominated, and, indirectly, support for new laws changing social context in which alcohol is promoted and sold when fear predominated. PMID:23729838

Application of chemometric methods for assessment and modelling of microbiological quality data concerning coastal bathing water in Greece.

PubMed

Papaioannou, Agelos; Rigas, George; Papastergiou, Panagiotis; Hadjichristodoulou, Christos

2014-12-02

Worldwide, the aim of managing water is to safeguard human health whilst maintaining sustainable aquatic and associated terrestrial, ecosystems. Because human enteric viruses are the most likely pathogens responsible for waterborne diseases from recreational water use, but detection methods are complex and costly for routine monitoring, it is of great interest to determine the quality of coastal bathing water with a minimum cost and maximum safety. This study handles the assessment and modelling of the microbiological quality data of 2149 seawater bathing areas in Greece over 10-year period (1997-2006) by chemometric methods. Cluster analysis results indicated that the studied bathing beaches are classified in accordance with the seasonality in three groups. Factor analysis was applied to investigate possible determining factors in the groups resulted from the cluster analysis, and also two new parameters were created in each group; VF1 includes E. coli, faecal coliforms and total coliforms and VF2 includes faecal streptococci/enterococci. By applying the cluster analysis in each seasonal group, three new groups of coasts were generated, group A (ultraclean), group B (clean) and group C (contaminated). The above analysis is confirmed by the application of discriminant analysis, and proves that chemometric methods are useful tools for assessment and modeling microbiological quality data of coastal bathing water on a large scale, and thus could attribute to effective and economical monitoring of the quality of coastal bathing water in a country with a big number of bathing coasts, like Greece. Significance for public healthThe microbiological protection of coastal bathing water quality is of great interest for the public health authorities as well as for the economy. The present study proves that this protection can be achieved by monitoring only two microbiological parameters, E. coli and faecal streptococci/enterococci instead four microbiological parameters (the two mentioned above plus Total coliforms and Faecal coliforms) that are usually monitored today. As a consequence, countries, especially those with large quantities of coastal bathing sites, can perform microbiological monitoring of their bathing waters by checking only the mentioned two parameters, thus ensuring economies of scale. Thus, funds can be used in other actions to preserve the quality of coastal water and human health. This in turn, would aid in the assessment of the quality of coastal bathing waters and provide a more timely indication of bathing water quality, hence contributing to the immediate health protection of bathers.

Perceptions of northeast Thai breastfeeding mothers regarding facilitators and barriers to six-month exclusive breastfeeding: focus group discussions.

PubMed

Thepha, Thiwawan; Marais, Debbie; Bell, Jacqueline; Muangpin, Somjit

2018-01-01

The 6-month exclusive breastfeeding rate in the Northeast region of Thailand has recently significantly decreased in contrast to all other regions in Thailand. The factors that have influenced this decrease remain unknown. Hence, it is suggested that an investigation into factors that could improve or hinder EBF for 6 months in Northeast Thailand may be required to inform the development of relevant interventions to improve this situation. This study aimed to identify perceived facilitators and barriers to providing exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months in Northeast Thailand among breastfeeding mothers. Six focus group discussions were conducted with a total of 30 mothers aged 20 to 40 years who had children aged between 4 and 6 months and were currently breastfeeding or had breastfeeding experience. Participants were recruited through self-selection sampling from Khonkaen hospital (urban), Numphong hospital (peri-urban) and private hospitals (urban) in Khonkaen, Thailand. Thematic analysis was employed to analyse the data. Five main themes, with 10 sub-themes, were identified as either facilitators (+) or barriers (-), or in some cases, as both (+/-). Breastfeeding knowledge, perceptions, maternal circumstances, support, and traditional food were the main identified themes. Mother's breastfeeding knowledge, intention to breastfeed, and social media were perceived as facilitators. Perceptions, employment, and formula milk promotion were perceived as barriers. Family, healthcare, and traditional food were perceived as both facilitators and barriers. The perception that social media was a way to access breastfeeding knowledge and support mothers in Northeast Thailand emerged as a new facilitating factor that had not previously been identified in Thai literature relating to facilitators and barriers to exclusive breastfeeding. Intention to breastfeed, family support, healthcare support and traditional food were mentioned by all groups, whereas mothers from urban areas specifically mentioned mother's breastfeeding knowledge, social media and employment sub-themes. Only mothers from the peri-urban area mentioned formula milk promotion and only mothers who had delivered in public hospitals mentioned the perceptions sub-theme. Knowledge about these facilitators and barriers may inform the design and development of specific and relevant interventions to improve the 6-month exclusive breastfeeding rate in the Northeast region of Thailand and be useful in other contexts. Social media emerged as a newly perceived facilitator in the Thai context and may be a useful inclusion in a 6-month exclusive breastfeeding intervention model.

Print media coverage of post-traumatic stress disorder: content analysis of three major Korean newspapers.

PubMed

Jeong, Yourhee; Kim, Daeho; Oh, Hyun Young; Park, Yong Chon

2013-07-01

The print media is still one of major sources for health-related information. To shed light on how the media accurately delivers information for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), we searched the newspaper articles and analyzed their contents for accuracy in the description of symptoms, causes, and treatment of PTSD. The articles featuring PSTD were searched from the very first available to 2010 at on-line search systems of three major Korean newspapers. A total of 123 articles appeared and the first article appeared in 1984. The number of articles steadily increased till the early 2000s but we found the robust increase in the late 2000s. Among the mentioned symptoms of PTSD: re-experience (39%) was most common, followed by avoidance or numbing (28%) and hyperarousal (22%). Of the 29 articles mentioning treatment of PTSD, 13 mentioned psychotherapy only and 11 mentioned both psychotherapy and medication equally. However, the psychotherapies mentioned were non-specific and only five articles mentioned any empirically supported therapies. The number of articles on PTSD in Korean newspapers has continually increased during the last three decades. However, the quality of information on the treatment of PTSD was questionable.

Retrieval of Aerosol Parameters from Continuous H24 Lidar-Ceilometer Measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dionisi, D.; Barnaba, F.; Costabile, F.; Di Liberto, L.; Gobbi, G. P.; Wille, H.

2016-06-01

Ceilometer technology is increasingly applied to the monitoring and the characterization of tropospheric aerosols. In this work, a method to estimate some key aerosol parameters (extinction coefficient, surface area concentration and volume concentration) from ceilometer measurements is presented. A numerical model has been set up to derive a mean functional relationships between backscatter and the above mentioned parameters based on a large set of simulated aerosol optical properties. A good agreement was found between the modeled backscatter and extinction coefficients and the ones measured by the EARLINET Raman lidars. The developed methodology has then been applied to the measurements acquired by a prototype Polarization Lidar-Ceilometer (PLC). This PLC instrument was developed within the EC- LIFE+ project "DIAPASON" as an upgrade of the commercial, single-channel Jenoptik CHM15k system. The PLC run continuously (h24) close to Rome (Italy) for a whole year (2013-2014). Retrievals of the aerosol backscatter coefficient at 1064 nm and of the relevant aerosol properties were performed using the proposed methodology. This information, coupled to some key aerosol type identification made possible by the depolarization channel, allowed a year-round characterization of the aerosol field at this site. Examples are given to show how this technology coupled to appropriate data inversion methods is potentially useful in the operational monitoring of parameters of air quality and meteorological interest.

A Monte Carlo study of the impact of the choice of rectum volume definition on estimates of equivalent uniform doses and the volume parameter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kvinnsland, Yngve; Muren, Ludvig Paul; Dahl, Olav

2004-08-01

Calculations of normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) values for the rectum are difficult because it is a hollow, non-rigid, organ. Finding the true cumulative dose distribution for a number of treatment fractions requires a CT scan before each treatment fraction. This is labour intensive, and several surrogate distributions have therefore been suggested, such as dose wall histograms, dose surface histograms and histograms for the solid rectum, with and without margins. In this study, a Monte Carlo method is used to investigate the relationships between the cumulative dose distributions based on all treatment fractions and the above-mentioned histograms that are based on one CT scan only, in terms of equivalent uniform dose. Furthermore, the effect of a specific choice of histogram on estimates of the volume parameter of the probit NTCP model was investigated. It was found that the solid rectum and the rectum wall histograms (without margins) gave equivalent uniform doses with an expected value close to the values calculated from the cumulative dose distributions in the rectum wall. With the number of patients available in this study the standard deviations of the estimates of the volume parameter were large, and it was not possible to decide which volume gave the best estimates of the volume parameter, but there were distinct differences in the mean values of the values obtained.

Lifestyle Factors and Metabolic Syndrome among Workers: The Role of Interactions between Smoking and Alcohol to Nutrition and Exercise

PubMed Central

Huang, Jui-Hua; Li, Ren-Hau; Huang, Shu-Ling; Sia, Hon-Ke; Chen, Yu-Ling; Tang, Feng-Cheng

2015-01-01

This study aimed to investigate (1) relations of smoking and alcohol to metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its components, with nutrition and exercise controlled; and (2) interactions between smoking/alcohol and nutrition/exercise on MetS. This cross-sectional study enrolled 4025 workers. Self-reported lifestyles, anthropometric values, blood pressure (BP), and biochemical determinations were obtained. Among males, smoking significantly increased the risk of low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), high triglyceride, abdominal obesity (AO), and MetS. Additionally, smoking showed significant interaction effects with nutrition on high BP, AO, and MetS; after further analysis, nutrition did not decrease above-mentioned risks for smokers. However, there was no significant interaction of smoking with exercise on any metabolic parameter. Alcohol increased the risk of AO, but decreased low HDL-C. It also showed an interaction effect with exercise on AO; after further analysis, exercise decreased AO risk for drinkers. Among females, alcohol significantly decreased the risk of high fasting blood glucose, but did not show significant interaction with nutrition/exercise on any metabolic parameter. In conclusion, in males, smoking retained significant associations with MetS and its components, even considering benefits of nutrition; exercise kept predominance on lipid parameters regardless of smoking status. Alcohol showed inconsistencies on metabolic parameters for both genders. PMID:26694434

Lifestyle Factors and Metabolic Syndrome among Workers: The Role of Interactions between Smoking and Alcohol to Nutrition and Exercise.

PubMed

Huang, Jui-Hua; Li, Ren-Hau; Huang, Shu-Ling; Sia, Hon-Ke; Chen, Yu-Ling; Tang, Feng-Cheng

2015-12-16

This study aimed to investigate (1) relations of smoking and alcohol to metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its components, with nutrition and exercise controlled; and (2) interactions between smoking/alcohol and nutrition/exercise on MetS. This cross-sectional study enrolled 4025 workers. Self-reported lifestyles, anthropometric values, blood pressure (BP), and biochemical determinations were obtained. Among males, smoking significantly increased the risk of low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), high triglyceride, abdominal obesity (AO), and MetS. Additionally, smoking showed significant interaction effects with nutrition on high BP, AO, and MetS; after further analysis, nutrition did not decrease above-mentioned risks for smokers. However, there was no significant interaction of smoking with exercise on any metabolic parameter. Alcohol increased the risk of AO, but decreased low HDL-C. It also showed an interaction effect with exercise on AO; after further analysis, exercise decreased AO risk for drinkers. Among females, alcohol significantly decreased the risk of high fasting blood glucose, but did not show significant interaction with nutrition/exercise on any metabolic parameter. In conclusion, in males, smoking retained significant associations with MetS and its components, even considering benefits of nutrition; exercise kept predominance on lipid parameters regardless of smoking status. Alcohol showed inconsistencies on metabolic parameters for both genders.

Protective effect of pumpkin seed extract on sperm characteristics, biochemical parameters and epididymal histology in adult male rats treated with cyclophosphamide.

PubMed

Aghaei, S; Nikzad, H; Taghizadeh, M; Tameh, A A; Taherian, A; Moravveji, A

2014-10-01

Cancer treatment with cyclophosphamide (CP) may result in reproductive toxicity as one of its side effects. The pumpkin seed is a rich natural source of antioxidant. We have assessed the possible protective efficacy of pumpkin seed extract on sperm characteristics, biochemical parameters and epididymal histology of CP-treated rats. Male adult Wistar rats were categorised into four groups. Group 1 served as control and received intraperitoneal (IP) injection of isotonic saline solution. Group 2 rats were treated with CP by IP injection in a single dose of 100 mg/kg body weight, only once. Group 3 and 4 received CP plus 300 and 600 mg/kg pumpkin seed extract respectively. Six weeks after treatment, sperm characteristics, biochemical parameters and histopathological changes were examined. Results showed that, sperm characteristics in CP-treated rats were significantly decreased. Biochemical analysis results showed that the co-administration of 300 mg pumpkin seed extract could increase the total antioxidant capacity (TAC) level significantly. In CP-treated rats, histopathological changes such as vacuolisation, disorganisation and separation of epididymal epithelium were observed as well. Interestingly, pumpkin seed extract could improve the above-mentioned parameters remarkably in CP-treated rats. Our findings indicated that pumpkin seed extract might be used as protective agent against CP-induced reproductive toxicity. © 2013 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Direct imaging detectors for electron microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Faruqi, A. R.; McMullan, G.

2018-01-01

Electronic detectors used for imaging in electron microscopy are reviewed in this paper. Much of the detector technology is based on the developments in microelectronics, which have allowed the design of direct detectors with fine pixels, fast readout and which are sufficiently radiation hard for practical use. Detectors included in this review are hybrid pixel detectors, monolithic active pixel sensors based on CMOS technology and pnCCDs, which share one important feature: they are all direct imaging detectors, relying on directly converting energy in a semiconductor. Traditional methods of recording images in the electron microscope such as film and CCDs, are mentioned briefly along with a more detailed description of direct electronic detectors. Many applications benefit from the use of direct electron detectors and a few examples are mentioned in the text. In recent years one of the most dramatic advances in structural biology has been in the deployment of the new backthinned CMOS direct detectors to attain near-atomic resolution molecular structures with electron cryo-microscopy (cryo-EM). The development of direct detectors, along with a number of other parallel advances, has seen a very significant amount of new information being recorded in the images, which was not previously possible-and this forms the main emphasis of the review.

A Semantic Approach with Decision Support for Safety Service in Smart Home Management

PubMed Central

Huang, Xiaoci; Yi, Jianjun; Zhu, Xiaomin; Chen, Shaoli

2016-01-01

Research on smart homes (SHs) has increased significantly in recent years because of the convenience provided by having an assisted living environment. The functions of SHs as mentioned in previous studies, particularly safety services, are seldom discussed or mentioned. Thus, this study proposes a semantic approach with decision support for safety service in SH management. The focus of this contribution is to explore a context awareness and reasoning approach for risk recognition in SH that enables the proper decision support for flexible safety service provision. The framework of SH based on a wireless sensor network is described from the perspective of neighbourhood management. This approach is based on the integration of semantic knowledge in which a reasoner can make decisions about risk recognition and safety service. We present a management ontology for a SH and relevant monitoring contextual information, which considers its suitability in a pervasive computing environment and is service-oriented. We also propose a rule-based reasoning method to provide decision support through reasoning techniques and context-awareness. A system prototype is developed to evaluate the feasibility, time response and extendibility of the approach. The evaluation of our approach shows that it is more effective in daily risk event recognition. The decisions for service provision are shown to be accurate. PMID:27527170

How French media have portrayed ADHD to the lay public and to social workers

PubMed Central

Ponnou, Sébastien; Gonon, François

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Two models of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) coexist: the biomedical and the psychosocial. We identified in nine French newspapers 159 articles giving facts and opinions about ADHD from 1995 to 2015. We classified them according to the model they mainly supported and on the basis of what argument. Two thirds (104/159) mainly supported the biomedical model. The others either defended the psychodynamic understanding of ADHD or voiced both models. Neurological dysfunctions and genetic risk factors were mentioned in support of the biomedical model in only 26 and eight articles, respectively. These biological arguments were less frequent in the most recent years. There were fewer articles mentioning medication other than asserting that medication must be combined with psychosocial interventions (14 versus 57 articles). Only 11/159 articles claimed that medication protects from school failure. These results were compared to those of our two previous studies. Thus, both French newspapers and the specialized press read by social workers mainly defended either the psychodynamic understanding of ADHD or a nuanced version of the biomedical model. In contrast, most French TV programmes described ADHD as an inherited neurological disease whose consequences on school failure can be counteracted by a very effective medication. PMID:28532330

An endless research for 2016.

PubMed

Grammaticos, Philip C; Antoniou, Dimitrios E

2016-01-01

In a moment of reflection of the past year of 2015, as to what we have achieved in medical research and what we need to do in the future we realize that although we have performed an enormous progress in medical research in the past we still have to do much more. In nuclear medicine there are many problems to solve like, how can we differentiate between infection, inflammation and cancer or between lymphomas and adenocarcinomas. In bone scans we need to differentiate traumatic lesions acute or chronic and lesions from another origin. Dosimetry and radiation burden is another problem. In HJNM we have previously published related papers. Not to mention radiation sickness due to modern atomic or hydrogen bombs. Labeling antibodies and genetic material is another issue. Additionally, in general medical knowledge is still unable to solve many unknown, difficult or tragic problems of our lives, like cancer, some viral infections, research in immunology, collagen diseases, genetics, radiation treatment, psychological disorders, anesthetics, the Hayflick phenomenon, hypertension, asthma, the function of the gastrointestinal tract, infectious diseases, physical exercise, all of which are briefly mentioned. We hope that even under the present financial problems and considering that almost 90% of medical truth is still unknown, our research in 2016 will be very important. In this paper we also discuss means for a more genuine and effective research.

Response to "Comment on `Water-processed carbon nanotube/graphene hybrids with enhanced field emission properties'" [AIP Advances 8, 039101 (2018)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Meng; Xu, Peng; Song, Yenan; Wang, Xu; Li, Zhenhua; Shang, Xuefu; Wu, Huizhen; Zhao, Pei; Wang, Miao

2018-03-01

In this response, we explain the points mentioned by R. Rani and R. Bhatia in their Comment for our previous paper [AIP Advances 5, 097130 (2015)], that the high value of β obtained in Song et al. [AIP Advances 5, 097130 (2015)] is misleading because it does not corroborate with the obtained Jmax, and the obtained value of Jmax is "low" in the mentioned study as compared to the reported values [J. Appl. Phys. 111, 044307 (2012) & Appl. Phys. Lett. 102, 033102 (2013)]. For the high value of β, the obtained current Jmax is corroborated but such high value is mainly due to the multistage effect when CNTs are deposited on the rough surface of reduced graphene. For the "low" Jmax, although this is true when compared with Sameera et al. [J. Appl. Phys. 111, 044307 (2012) and Appl. Phys. Lett. 102, 033102 (2013)], but we believe that our value is a generally common value when compared with other reports [Diam. Relat. Mater. 47, 1 (2014); J. Alloys Compd. 610, 659 (2014); J. Nanomater. 2013, 5239 (2013)] using the similar method as described in our paper. Therefore, the conclusions from the experimental results on field emission performance of CNT/graphene composite materials in our paper are reliable.

DNorm: disease name normalization with pairwise learning to rank.

PubMed

Leaman, Robert; Islamaj Dogan, Rezarta; Lu, Zhiyong

2013-11-15

Despite the central role of diseases in biomedical research, there have been much fewer attempts to automatically determine which diseases are mentioned in a text-the task of disease name normalization (DNorm)-compared with other normalization tasks in biomedical text mining research. In this article we introduce the first machine learning approach for DNorm, using the NCBI disease corpus and the MEDIC vocabulary, which combines MeSH® and OMIM. Our method is a high-performing and mathematically principled framework for learning similarities between mentions and concept names directly from training data. The technique is based on pairwise learning to rank, which has not previously been applied to the normalization task but has proven successful in large optimization problems for information retrieval. We compare our method with several techniques based on lexical normalization and matching, MetaMap and Lucene. Our algorithm achieves 0.782 micro-averaged F-measure and 0.809 macro-averaged F-measure, an increase over the highest performing baseline method of 0.121 and 0.098, respectively. The source code for DNorm is available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/CBBresearch/Lu/Demo/DNorm, along with a web-based demonstration and links to the NCBI disease corpus. Results on PubMed abstracts are available in PubTator: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/CBBresearch/Lu/Demo/PubTator .

Developing an experimental case in aluminium foils 1100 to determine the maximum angle of formability in a piece by Dieless-SPIF process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gabriel, Paramo; Adrian, Benitez

2014-07-01

Incremental sheet forming by the method of single point incremental forming Dieless-SPIF, is a widely studied process, experimented and developed in countries with high manufacturing technologies, with friendly costs when the productive configuration in a productivity system is based in small production batches. United states, United kingdom and France lead this type of studies and cases, developing various proof with experimental geometries, different from the national environment such as Colombia, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru where this process where discretely studied. Previously mentioned, it pretends develop an experimental case of a particular geometry, identifying the maximum formability angle of material permissible for the forming of a piece in one pass, the analysis of forming limit curve (FLC), with the objective to emphasizes in this innovative method based in CAD-CAM technologies, compare with other analogous process of deformation sheet metal like embossing, take correct decisions about the viability and applicability of this process (Dieless) in a particular industrial piece, which responses to the necessities of productive configurations mentioned and be highly taken like a manufacturing alternative to the other conventional process of forming sheet metal like embossing, for systems with slow batches production.

A Semantic Approach with Decision Support for Safety Service in Smart Home Management.

PubMed

Huang, Xiaoci; Yi, Jianjun; Zhu, Xiaomin; Chen, Shaoli

2016-08-03

Research on smart homes (SHs) has increased significantly in recent years because of the convenience provided by having an assisted living environment. The functions of SHs as mentioned in previous studies, particularly safety services, are seldom discussed or mentioned. Thus, this study proposes a semantic approach with decision support for safety service in SH management. The focus of this contribution is to explore a context awareness and reasoning approach for risk recognition in SH that enables the proper decision support for flexible safety service provision. The framework of SH based on a wireless sensor network is described from the perspective of neighbourhood management. This approach is based on the integration of semantic knowledge in which a reasoner can make decisions about risk recognition and safety service. We present a management ontology for a SH and relevant monitoring contextual information, which considers its suitability in a pervasive computing environment and is service-oriented. We also propose a rule-based reasoning method to provide decision support through reasoning techniques and context-awareness. A system prototype is developed to evaluate the feasibility, time response and extendibility of the approach. The evaluation of our approach shows that it is more effective in daily risk event recognition. The decisions for service provision are shown to be accurate.

A reassessment of the suspended sediment load in the Madeira River basin from the Andes of Peru and Bolivia to the Amazon River in Brazil, based on 10 years of data from the HYBAM monitoring programme

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vauchel, Philippe; Santini, William; Guyot, Jean Loup; Moquet, Jean Sébastien; Martinez, Jean Michel; Espinoza, Jhan Carlo; Baby, Patrice; Fuertes, Oscar; Noriega, Luis; Puita, Oscar; Sondag, Francis; Fraizy, Pascal; Armijos, Elisa; Cochonneau, Gérard; Timouk, Franck; de Oliveira, Eurides; Filizola, Naziano; Molina, Jorge; Ronchail, Josyane

2017-10-01

The Madeira River is the second largest tributary of the Amazon River. It contributes approximately 13% of the Amazon River flow and it may contribute up to 50% of its sediment discharge to the Atlantic Ocean. Until now, the suspended sediment load of the Madeira River was not well known and was estimated in a broad range from 240 to 715 Mt yr-1. Since 2002, the HYBAM international network developed a new monitoring programme specially designed to provide more reliable data than in previous intents. It is based on the continuous monitoring of a set of 11 gauging stations in the Madeira River watershed from the Andes piedmont to the confluence with the Amazon River, and discrete sampling of the suspended sediment concentration every 7 or 10 days. This paper presents the results of the suspended sediment data obtained in the Madeira drainage basin during 2002-2011. The Madeira River suspended sediment load is estimated at 430 Mt yr-1 near its confluence with the Amazon River. The average production of the Madeira River Andean catchment is estimated at 640 Mt yr-1 (±30%), the corresponding sediment yield for the Andes is estimated at 3000 t km-2 yr-1 (±30%), and the average denudation rate is estimated at 1.20 mm yr-1 (±30%). Contrary to previous results that had mentioned high sedimentation rates in the Beni River floodplain, we detected no measurable sedimentation process in this part of the basin. On the Mamoré River basin, we observed heavy sediment deposition of approximately 210 Mt yr-1 that seem to confirm previous studies. But while these studies mentioned heavy sedimentation in the floodplain, we showed that sediment deposition occurred mainly in the Andean piedmont and immediate foreland in rivers (Parapeti, Grande, Pirai, Yapacani, Chimoré, Chaparé, Secure, Maniqui) with discharges that are not sufficiently large to transport their sediment load downstream in the lowlands.

Structure-activity relationships of pyrethroid insecticides. Part 2. The use of molecular dynamics for conformation searching and average parameter calculation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hudson, Brian D.; George, Ashley R.; Ford, Martyn G.; Livingstone, David J.

1992-04-01

Molecular dynamics simulations have been performed on a number of conformationally flexible pyrethroid insecticides. The results indicate that molecular dynamics is a suitable tool for conformational searching of small molecules given suitable simulation parameters. The structures derived from the simulations are compared with the static conformation used in a previous study. Various physicochemical parameters have been calculated for a set of conformations selected from the simulations using multivariate analysis. The averaged values of the parameters over the selected set (and the factors derived from them) are compared with the single conformation values used in the previous study.

[Evaluation of maternal parameters as risk factors for premature birth (individual and combined effects)].

PubMed

Voigt, M; Briese, V; Pietzner, V; Kirchengast, S; Schneider, K T M; Straube, S; Jorch, G

2009-08-01

We aimed to examine the individual and combined effects of nine maternal parameters (biological, medical, and social) on rates of prematurity. Our objective was to provide obstetricians with a way of screening women for likely premature deliveries. We conducted a retrospective analysis on the data of about 2.3 million pregnancies taken from the German perinatal statistics of 1995-2000. Rates of prematurity were calculated with single and multi-dimensional analyses on the basis of nine maternal parameters (age, weight, height, number of previous live births, stillbirths, miscarriages and terminations of pregnancy, smoking status, previous premature delivery). The following combinations of parameters were investigated in particular: rates of prematurity according to the number of previous stillbirths, miscarriages, and terminations; rates of prematurity according to the number of previous live births and maternal age, height and weight. We also included daily cigarette consumption and previous premature deliveries in our analyses. The rate of prematurity (< or =36 weeks of gestation) in our population was 7.0%; the rate of moderately early premature deliveries (32-36 weeks) was 5.9%, and the rate of very early premature deliveries (< or =31 weeks) was 1.1%. Our multi-dimensional analyses revealed rates of prematurity (< or =36 weeks) between 5.1% and 27.5% depending on the combination of parameters. We found the highest rate of prematurity of 27.5% in women with the following combination of parameters: > or =1 stillbirth, > or =2 terminations of pregnancy and > or =2 miscarriages. A rather high risk of premature delivery (>11%) was also found for elderly (> or =40 years) grand multiparous women as well as small (< or =155 cm) and slim women (< or =45 kg). We have shown that certain combinations of maternal parameters are associated with a high risk of premature deliveries (>10%). The risk table that we present here may assist in predicting premature delivery. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart.New York.

[Silvicultural treatments and their selection effects].

PubMed

Vincent, G

1973-01-01

Selection can be defined in terms of its observable consequences as the non random differential reproduction of genotypes (Lerner 1958). In the forest stands we are selecting during the improvements-fellings and reproduction treatments the individuals surpassing in growth or in production of first-class timber. However the silvicultural treatments taken in forest stands guarantee a permanent increase of forest production only in such cases, if they have been taken with respect to the principles of directional (dynamic) selection. These principles require that the trees determined for further growing and for forest regeneration are selected by their hereditary properties, i.e. by their genotypes.For making this selection feasible, our study deals with the genetic parameters and gives some examples of the application of the response, the selection differential, the heritability in the narrow and in the broad sense, as well as of the genetic and genotypic gain. On the strength of this parameter we have the possibility to estimate the economic success of several silvicultural treatments in forest stands.The mentioned examples demonstrate that the selection measures of a higher intensity will be manifested in a higher selection differential, in a higher genetic and genotypic gain and that the mentioned measures show more distinct effects in the variable populations - in natural forest - than in the population characteristic by a smaller variability, e.g. in many uniform artificially established stands.The examples of influences of different selection on the genotypes composition of population prove that genetics instructs us to differentiate the different genotypes of the same species and gives us at the same time a new criterions for evaluating selectional treatments. These criterions from economic point of view is necessary to consider in silviculture as advantageous even for the reason that we can judge from these criterions the genetical composition of forest stands in the following generation, it means, within the scope of time for more than a human age.

Data Driven Ionospheric Modeling in Relation to Space Weather: Percent Cloud Coverage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tulunay, Y.; Senalp, E. T.; Tulunay, E.

2009-04-01

Since 1990, a small group at METU has been developing data driven models in order to forecast some critical system parameters related with the near-Earth space processes. The background on the subject supports new achievements, which contributed the COST 724 activities, which will contribute to the new ES0803 activities. This work mentions one of the outstanding contributions, namely forecasting of meteorological parameters by considering the probable influence of cosmic rays (CR) and sunspot numbers (SSN). The data-driven method is generic and applicable to many Near-Earth Space processes including ionospheric/plasmaspheric interactions. It is believed that the EURIPOS initiative would be useful in supplying wide range reliable data to the models developed. Quantification of physical mechanisms, which causally link Space Weather to the Earth's Weather, has been a challenging task. In this basis, the percent cloud coverage (%CC) and cloud top temperatures (CTT) were forecast one month ahead of time between geographic coordinates of (22.5˚N; 57.5˚N); and (7.5˚W; 47.5˚E) at 96 grid locations and covering the years of 1983 to 2000 using the Middle East Technical University Fuzzy Neural Network Model (METU-FNN-M) [Tulunay, 2008]. The Near Earth Space variability at several different time scales arises from a number of separate factors and the physics of the variations cannot be modeled due to the lack of current information about the parameters of several natural processes. CR are shielded by the magnetosphere to a certain extent, but they can modulate the low level cloud cover. METU-FNN-M was developed, trained and applied for forecasting the %CC and CTT, by considering the history of those meteorological variables; Cloud Optical Depth (COD); the Ionization (I) value that is formulized and computed by using CR data and CTT; SSN; temporal variables; and defuzified cloudiness. The temporal and spatial variables and the cut off rigidity are used to compute the defuzified cloudiness. The forecast %CC and CTT values at uniformly spaced grids over the region of interest are used for mapping by Bezier surfaces. The major advantage of the fuzzy model is that it uses its inputs and the expert knowledge in coordination. Long-term cloud analysis was performed on a region having differences in terms of atmospheric activity, in order to show the generalization capability. Global and local parameters of the process were considered. Both CR Flux and SSN reflect the influence of Space Weather on general planetary situation; but other parameters in the inputs of the model reflect local situation. Error and correlation analysis on the forecast and observed parameters were performed. The correlations between the forecast and observed parameters are very promising. The model contributes to the dependence of the cloud formation process on CR Fluxes. The one-month in advance forecast values of the model can also be used as inputs to other models, which forecast some other local or global parameters in order to further test the hypothesis on possible link(s) between Space Weather and the Earth's Weather. The model based, theoretical and numerical works mentioned are promising and have potential for future research and developments. References Tulunay Y., E.T. Şenalp, Ş. Öz, L.I. Dorman, E. Tulunay, S.S. Menteş and M.E. Akcan (2008), A Fuzzy Neural Network Model to Forecast the Percent Cloud Coverage and Cloud Top Temperature Maps, Ann. Geophys., 26(12), 3945-3954, 2008.

Estimating the Geocenter from GNSS Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dach, Rolf; Michael, Meindl; Beutler, Gerhard; Schaer, Stefan; Lutz, Simon; Jäggi, Adrian

2014-05-01

The satellites of the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) are orbiting the Earth according to the laws of celestial mechanics. As a consequence, the satellites are sensitive to the coordinates of the center of mass of the Earth. The coordinates of the (ground) tracking stations are referring to the center of figure as the conventional origin of the reference frame. The difference between the center of mass and center of figure is the instantaneous geocenter. Following this definition the global GNSS solutions are sensitive to the geocenter. Several studies demonstrated strong correlations of the GNSS-derived geocenter coordinates with parameters intended to absorb radiation pressure effects acting on the GNSS satellites, and with GNSS satellite clock parameters. One should thus pose the question to what extent these satellite-related parameters absorb (or hide) the geocenter information. A clean simulation study has been performed to answer this question. The simulation environment allows it in particular to introduce user-defined shifts of the geocenter (systematic inconsistencies between the satellite's and station's reference frames). These geocenter shifts may be recovered by the mentioned parameters - provided they were set up in the analysis. If the geocenter coordinates are not estimated, one may find out which other parameters absorb the user-defined shifts of the geocenter and to what extent. Furthermore, the simulation environment also allows it to extract the correlation matrix from the a posteriori covariance matrix to study the correlations between different parameter types of the GNSS analysis system. Our results show high degrees of correlations between geocenter coordinates, orbit-related parameters, and satellite clock parameters. These correlations are of the same order of magnitude as the correlations between station heights, troposphere, and receiver clock parameters in each regional or global GNSS network analysis. If such correlations are accepted in a GNSS analysis when estimating station coordinates, geocenter coordinates must be considered as mathematically estimable in a global GNSS analysis. The geophysical interpretation may of course become difficult, e.g., if insufficient orbit models are used.

Spin-lattice relaxation-rate anomaly at structural phase transitions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Levanyuk, A. P.; Minyukov, S. A.; Etrillard, J.; Toudic, B.

1997-12-01

The theory of spin-lattice relaxation (SLR)-rate anomaly at structural phase transitions proposed about 30 years ago is reconsidered taking into account that knowledge about the relevant lattice response functions has changed considerably. We use both the results of previous authors and perform original calculations of the response functions when it is necessary. We consider displacive systems and use the perturbation theory to treat the lattice anharmonicities in a broad temperature region whenever possible. Some comments about the order-disorder systems are made as well. The possibility of linear coupling of the order parameter and the resonance frequency is always assumed. It is found that in the symmetrical phase the anomaly is due to the one-phonon processes, the anomalous part being proportional to either (T-Tc)-1 or (T-Tc)-1/2 depending on some condition on the soft-mode dispersion. In both cases the value of the SLR rate at the boundary of applicabity of the theory (close to the phase transition) is estimated to be 102-103 times more than the typical value of the SLR rate in an ideal crystal. An essential specific feature of the nonsymmetrical phase is appearance of third-order anharmonicities that are well known to lead to a low-frequency dispersion of the order-parameter damping constant. We have found that this constant exhibits, in addition, a strong wave-vector dispersion, so that the damping constant determing the SLR rate is quite different from that at zero wave vector. In the case of two-component order parameter the damping constant for the component with nonzero equilibrium value is different from that for the other component, the difference is of the same order of magnitude as the damping constants themselves. In the case of the incommensurate phase a part of the mentioned third-order anharmonicity is responsible for longitudinal-transversal interaction that is well known to influence the static longitudinal response function. We calculate as well the dynamic response function to find that for the SLR calculations the imaginary part is of main importance. Due to this interaction the longitudinal SLR rate acquires a dependence on the Larmor frequency. This dependence is however, fairly weak: a logarithmic one. The implications of the obtained results for interpretation of the experimental data on SLR in incommensurate phase are discussed as well.

Referential first mention in narratives by mildly mentally retarded adults.

PubMed

Kernan, K T; Sabsay, S

1987-01-01

Referential first mentions in narrative reports of a short film by 40 mildly mentally retarded adults and 20 nonretarded adults were compared. The mentally retarded sample included equal numbers of male and female, and black and white speakers. The mentally retarded speakers made significantly fewer first mentions and significantly more errors in the form of the first mentions than did nonretarded speakers. A pattern of better performance by black males than by other mentally retarded speakers was found. It is suggested that task difficulty and incomplete mastery of the use of definite and indefinite forms for encoding old and new information, rather than some global type of egocentrism, accounted for the poorer performance by mentally retarded speakers.

Parents who influence their children to become scientists: effects of gender and parental education.

PubMed

Sonnert, Gerhard

2009-12-01

In this paper we report on testing the 'role-model' and 'opportunity-structure' hypotheses about the parents whom scientists mentioned as career influencers. According to the role-model hypothesis, the gender match between scientist and influencer is paramount (for example, women scientists would disproportionately often mention their mothers as career influencers). According to the opportunity-structure hypothesis, the parent's educational level predicts his/her probability of being mentioned as a career influencer (that is, parents with higher educational levels would be more likely to be named). The examination of a sample of American scientists who had received prestigious postdoctoral fellowships resulted in rejecting the role-model hypothesis and corroborating the opportunity-structure hypothesis. There were a few additional findings. First, women scientists were more likely than men scientists to mention parental influencers. Second, fathers were more likely than mothers to be mentioned as influencers. Third, an interaction was found between the scientist's gender and parental education when predicting a parent's nomination as influencer.

Magnetic storms and solar flares: can be analysed within similar mathematical framework with other extreme events?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balasis, Georgios; Potirakis, Stelios M.; Papadimitriou, Constantinos; Zitis, Pavlos I.; Eftaxias, Konstantinos

2015-04-01

The field of study of complex systems considers that the dynamics of complex systems are founded on universal principles that may be used to describe a great variety of scientific and technological approaches of different types of natural, artificial, and social systems. We apply concepts of the nonextensive statistical physics, on time-series data of observable manifestations of the underlying complex processes ending up to different extreme events, in order to support the suggestion that a dynamical analogy characterizes the generation of a single magnetic storm, solar flare, earthquake (in terms of pre-seismic electromagnetic signals) , epileptic seizure, and economic crisis. The analysis reveals that all the above mentioned different extreme events can be analyzed within similar mathematical framework. More precisely, we show that the populations of magnitudes of fluctuations included in all the above mentioned pulse-like-type time series follow the traditional Gutenberg-Richter law as well as a nonextensive model for earthquake dynamics, with similar nonextensive q-parameter values. Moreover, based on a multidisciplinary statistical analysis we show that the extreme events are characterized by crucial common symptoms, namely: (i) high organization, high compressibility, low complexity, high information content; (ii) strong persistency; and (iii) existence of clear preferred direction of emerged activities. These symptoms clearly discriminate the appearance of the extreme events under study from the corresponding background noise.

Social media patient testimonials in implant dentistry: information or misinformation?

PubMed

Ho, Adrian; McGrath, Colman; Mattheos, Nikos

2017-07-01

This study aims to assess the educational value of YouTube patient testimonial videos in implant dentistry and qualitatively analyse the themes mentioned. Videos were sampled consecutively on YouTube, using the keywords "dental implant patients' testimonials experience," sorted "by relevance." Patient testimonials on dental implant treatment were examined. Inaudible or non-English videos were excluded. Four calibrated investigators scored the videos for educational content, using a matrix derived from the European Association for Osseointegration information booklet, and demographic details were recorded. Data were analysed qualitatively through inductive thematic analysis. A total of 202 videos were analysed (48 exclusions). Inter-examiner reliability was fair to moderate for informative statements and poor to substantial for misleading statements. A mean of 1.8 informative statements were made per video, compared with misleading, 0.5. Many topics were rarely mentioned, with 19/30 themes appearing fewer than 5% of videos. Patients often informed that implants could improve aesthetics and function, but were misleading on aspects of pain control. Some statements may heighten expectations or imply permanency of treatment. Balanced presentation in YouTube testimonials may be limited by bias of clinician-uploaded content. Greater magnitude and breadth of information would improve educational value. Many important parameters of implant therapy were overlooked, whilst information was often potentially misleading. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

ANTI – CANCER DRUGS FROM U.P. HIMALAYA

PubMed Central

Uniyal, M. R.; Tewari, L. C.

1991-01-01

Many ayurvedic texts mention arbuda which is considered as an equivalent of cancer. Vagbhata mentions arbuda of mouth, tongue, eyes, nose, breast and uterus. Caraka and Susruta also provide plenty of information on this dreaded group of diseases. Considering the importance of this disease in present day health care, the authors mention in this paper several plants of the Himalaya, used in the treatment of cancer. PMID:22556561

Mentioning race at the beginning of clinical case presentations: a survey of US medical schools.

PubMed

Nawaz, Hamayun; Brett, Allan S

2009-02-01

Medical students and doctors in the USA frequently mention the patient's race at the beginning of oral or written clinical case presentations. However, this practice is controversial. We aimed to determine whether US medical schools explicitly teach students to mention race at the beginning of case presentations, and to collect additional information on the schools' perspectives on this practice. An Internet-based questionnaire was submitted to directors of courses on history taking and physical examination at all US medical schools. The response rate was 85%. Students are taught to mention race routinely at 11% of schools and selectively at 63% of schools; this practice is discouraged at 9% of schools and not addressed at 18% of schools. Most respondents noted that resident doctors at their institutions routinely mention race at the beginning of case presentations. Even at schools in which mentioning race is discouraged or not addressed, students tend to include race during their clinical rotations. Respondents were divided on whether a standardised approach to inclusion of race should exist at US schools. Teaching about inclusion or exclusion of race in the opening statement of clinical case presentations varies across US medical schools. This variation presents an opportunity for medical educators to discuss tensions between stereotyping and cultural competence in medical education.

Recovering Parameters of Johnson's SB Distribution

Treesearch

Bernard R. Parresol

2003-01-01

A new parameter recovery model for Johnson's SB distribution is developed. This latest alternative approach permits recovery of the range and both shape parameters. Previous models recovered only the two shape parameters. Also, a simple procedure for estimating the distribution minimum from sample values is presented. The new methodology...