Application of Raman spectroscopy to identification and sorting of post-consumer plastics for recycling

DOEpatents

Sommer, Edward J.; Rich, John T.

2001-01-01

A high accuracy rapid system for sorting a plurality of waste products by polymer type. The invention involves the application of Raman spectroscopy and complex identification techniques to identify and sort post-consumer plastics for recycling. The invention reads information unique to the molecular structure of the materials to be sorted to identify their chemical compositions and uses rapid high volume sorting techniques to sort them into product streams at commercially viable throughput rates. The system employs a laser diode (20) for irradiating the material sample (10), a spectrograph (50) is used to determine the Raman spectrum of the material sample (10) and a microprocessor based controller (70) is employed to identify the polymer type of the material sample (10).

Compression of color-mapped images

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hadenfeldt, A. C.; Sayood, Khalid

1992-01-01

In a standard image coding scenario, pixel-to-pixel correlation nearly always exists in the data, especially if the image is a natural scene. This correlation is what allows predictive coding schemes (e.g., DPCM) to perform efficient compression. In a color-mapped image, the values stored in the pixel array are no longer directly related to the pixel intensity. Two color indices which are numerically adjacent (close) may point to two very different colors. The correlation still exists, but only via the colormap. This fact can be exploited by sorting the color map to reintroduce the structure. The sorting of colormaps is studied and it is shown how the resulting structure can be used in both lossless and lossy compression of images.

Real-Time Pattern Recognition - An Industrial Example

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fitton, Gary M.

1981-11-01

Rapid advancements in cost effective sensors and micro computers are now making practical the on-line implementation of pattern recognition based systems for a variety of industrial applications requiring high processing speeds. One major application area for real time pattern recognition is in the sorting of packaged/cartoned goods at high speed for automated warehousing and return goods cataloging. While there are many OCR and bar code readers available to perform these functions, it is often impractical to use such codes (package too small, adverse esthetics, poor print quality) and an approach which recognizes an item by its graphic content alone is desirable. This paper describes a specific application within the tobacco industry, that of sorting returned cigarette goods by brand and size.

Engineering bacteria to solve the Burnt Pancake Problem

PubMed Central

Haynes, Karmella A; Broderick, Marian L; Brown, Adam D; Butner, Trevor L; Dickson, James O; Harden, W Lance; Heard, Lane H; Jessen, Eric L; Malloy, Kelly J; Ogden, Brad J; Rosemond, Sabriya; Simpson, Samantha; Zwack, Erin; Campbell, A Malcolm; Eckdahl, Todd T; Heyer, Laurie J; Poet, Jeffrey L

2008-01-01

Background We investigated the possibility of executing DNA-based computation in living cells by engineering Escherichia coli to address a classic mathematical puzzle called the Burnt Pancake Problem (BPP). The BPP is solved by sorting a stack of distinct objects (pancakes) into proper order and orientation using the minimum number of manipulations. Each manipulation reverses the order and orientation of one or more adjacent objects in the stack. We have designed a system that uses site-specific DNA recombination to mediate inversions of genetic elements that represent pancakes within plasmid DNA. Results Inversions (or "flips") of the DNA fragment pancakes are driven by the Salmonella typhimurium Hin/hix DNA recombinase system that we reconstituted as a collection of modular genetic elements for use in E. coli. Our system sorts DNA segments by inversions to produce different permutations of a promoter and a tetracycline resistance coding region; E. coli cells become antibiotic resistant when the segments are properly sorted. Hin recombinase can mediate all possible inversion operations on adjacent flippable DNA fragments. Mathematical modeling predicts that the system reaches equilibrium after very few flips, where equal numbers of permutations are randomly sorted and unsorted. Semiquantitative PCR analysis of in vivo flipping suggests that inversion products accumulate on a time scale of hours or days rather than minutes. Conclusion The Hin/hix system is a proof-of-concept demonstration of in vivo computation with the potential to be scaled up to accommodate larger and more challenging problems. Hin/hix may provide a flexible new tool for manipulating transgenic DNA in vivo. PMID:18492232

Sorting cells of the microalga Chlorococcum littorale with increased triacylglycerol productivity.

PubMed

Cabanelas, Iago Teles Dominguez; van der Zwart, Mathijs; Kleinegris, Dorinde M M; Wijffels, René H; Barbosa, Maria J

2016-01-01

Despite extensive research in the last decades, microalgae are still only economically feasible for high valued markets. Strain improvement is a strategy to increase productivities, hence reducing costs. In this work, we focus on microalgae selection: taking advantage of the natural biological variability of species to select variations based on desired characteristics. We focused on triacylglycerol (TAG), which have applications ranging from biodiesel to high-value omega-3 fatty-acids. Hence, we demonstrated a strategy to sort microalgae cells with increased TAG productivity. 1. We successfully identified sub-populations of cells with increased TAG productivity using Fluorescence assisted cell sorting (FACS). 2. We sequentially sorted cells after repeated cycles of N-starvation, resulting in five sorted populations (S1-S5). 3. The comparison between sorted and original populations showed that S5 had the highest TAG productivity [0.34 against 0.18 g l(-1) day(-1) (original), continuous light]. 4. Original and S5 were compared in lab-scale reactors under simulated summer conditions confirming the increased TAG productivity of S5 (0.4 against 0.2 g l(-1) day(-1)). Biomass composition analyses showed that S5 produced more biomass under N-starvation because of an increase only in TAG content and, flow cytometry showed that our selection removed cells with lower efficiency in producing TAGs. All combined, our results present a successful strategy to improve the TAG productivity of Chlorococcum littorale, without resourcing to genetic manipulation or random mutagenesis. Additionally, the improved TAG productivity of S5 was confirmed under simulated summer conditions, highlighting the industrial potential of S5 for microalgal TAG production.

Advances in automated nut sorting

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Nuts in general, and tree nuts in particular, are a high value crop in many countries. Products with defects, contamination, insects or fungal damage can cause serious losses to producers, so almost all products are subjected to some level of sorting to remove these undesirable products. This chap...

Is it time to revisit the log-sort yard?

Treesearch

John Dramm; Gerry Jackson

2000-01-01

Log-sort yards provide better utilization and marketing with improved value recovery of currently available timber resources in North America. Log-sort yards provide many services in marketing wood and fiber by concentrating, merchandising, manufacturing, sorting, and adding value to logs. Such operations supply forest products firms with desired raw materials, which...

Production analysis of two tree-bucking and product-sorting methods for hardwoods

Treesearch

John E. Baumgras; Chris B. LeDoux

1989-01-01

This paper documents the results of a study to determine the cost and productivity of two tree-bucking and product-sorting methods used by West Virginia loggers harvesting three to four types of roundwood products. The methods include manual chainsaw bucking and bucking with a hydraulically powered chainsaw slasher. Results show that chain saw bucking of trees...

Find a Gastroenterologist

MedlinePlus

... Province Select Country Zip/Postal Code Sort By GI Health Centers Colorectal Cancer Hepatitis C Inflammatory Bowel ... GI Symptoms Gastroparesis See All Topics (A-Z) GI Procedures Colonoscopy Colorectal Cancer Screening See All Procedures ( ...

The Analysis of Dimensionality Reduction Techniques in Cryptographic Object Code Classification

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

Jason L. Wright; Milos Manic

2010-05-01

This paper compares the application of three different dimension reduction techniques to the problem of locating cryptography in compiled object code. A simple classi?er is used to compare dimension reduction via sorted covariance, principal component analysis, and correlation-based feature subset selection. The analysis concentrates on the classi?cation accuracy as the number of dimensions is increased.

Technical assessment of processing plants as exemplified by the sorting of beverage cartons from lightweight packaging wastes.

PubMed

Feil, A; Thoden van Velzen, E U; Jansen, M; Vitz, P; Go, N; Pretz, T

2016-02-01

The recovery of beverage cartons (BC) in three lightweight packaging waste processing plants (LP) was analyzed with different input materials and input masses in the area of 21-50Mg. The data was generated by gravimetric determination of the sorting products, sampling and sorting analysis. Since the particle size of beverage cartons is larger than 120mm, a modified sampling plan was implemented and targeted multiple sampling (3-11 individual samplings) and a total sample size of respectively 1200l (ca. 60kg) for the BC-products and of about 2400l (ca. 120kg) for material-heterogeneous mixed plastics (MP) and sorting residue products. The results infer that the quantification of the beverage carton yield in the process, i.e., by including all product-containing material streams, can be specified only with considerable fluctuation ranges. Consequently, the total assessment, regarding all product streams, is rather qualitative than quantitative. Irregular operation conditions as well as unfavorable sampling conditions and capacity overloads are likely causes for high confidence intervals. From the results of the current study, recommendations can basically be derived for a better sampling in LP-processing plants. Despite of the suboptimal statistical results, the results indicate very clear that the plants show definite optimisation potentials with regard to the yield of beverage cartons as well as the required product purity. Due to the test character of the sorting trials the plant parameterization was not ideal for this sorting task and consequently the results should be interpreted with care. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Palladium-Mediated Catalysis Leads to Intramolecular Narcissistic Self-Sorting on a Cavitand Platform.

PubMed

Nagymihály, Zoltán; Caturello, Naidel A M S; Takátsy, Anikó; Aragay, Gemma; Kollár, László; Albuquerque, Rodrigo Q; Csók, Zsolt

2017-01-06

Palladium-catalyzed aminocarbonylation reactions have been used to directly convert a tetraiodocavitand intermediate into the corresponding carboxamides and 2-ketocarboxamides. When complex mixtures of the amine reactants are employed in competition experiments using polar solvents, such as DMF, no "mixed" products possessing structurally different amide fragments are detected either by 1 H or 13 C NMR. Only highly symmetrical cavitands are sorted out of a large number of potentially feasible products, which represents a rare example of intramolecular, narcissistic self-sorting. Our experimental results along with thermodynamic energy analysis suggest that the observed self-sorting is a symmetry-driven, kinetically controlled process.

Automatic Color Sorting of Hardwood Edge-Glued Panel Parts

Treesearch

D. Earl Kline; Richard Conners; Qiang Lu; Philip A. Araman

1997-01-01

This paper describes an automatic color sorting system for red oak edge-glued panel parts. The color sorting system simultaneously examines both faces of a panel part and then determines which face has the "best" color, and sorts the part into one of a number of color classes at plant production speeds. Initial test results show that the system generated over...

Two Upper Bounds for the Weighted Path Length of Binary Trees. Report No. UIUCDCS-R-73-565.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pradels, Jean Louis

Rooted binary trees with weighted nodes are structures encountered in many areas, such as coding theory, searching and sorting, information storage and retrieval. The path length is a meaningful quantity which gives indications about the expected time of a search or the length of a code, for example. In this paper, two sharp bounds for the total…

Technology to sort lumber by color and grain for furniture parts

Treesearch

D. Earl Kline; Richard Conners; Philip A. Araman

2000-01-01

This paper describes an automatic color and grain sorting system for wood edge-glued panel parts. The color sorting system simultaneously examines both faces of a panel part and then determines which face has the "best" color, and sorts the part into one of a number of color classes at plant production speeds. In-plant test results show that the system...

Use of the think aloud method to examine fruit and vegetable purchasing behaviors among low-income African American women.

PubMed

Reicks, Marla; Smith, Chery; Henry, Helen; Reimer, Kathy; Atwell, Janine; Thomas, Ruth

2003-01-01

The purpose of this report is to describe the development and implementation of the think aloud method in relation to fruit and vegetable purchasing behaviors of low-income African American mothers. Women (n = 70) were audiotaped as they thought aloud while selecting fruits and vegetables during a routine shopping trip. Audiotapes were transcribed, text was coded, and coded text was sorted using a database software program. Data were analyzed using content analysis procedures. The method was found to be useful in its ability to provide verbalization data for the majority of the women in the sample that reflected a typical shopping experience, were not excessively affected by the presence of the investigator, and captured information processing in relation to salient factors that influenced food purchasing decisions. Because a few women indicated that the method itself may have influenced behavior, future research is needed to test the reactivity of the think aloud method and its relationship to final choice of products.

Using Sorting by Reversal: Breakpoint Graph for Gene Assembly in Ciliates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brijder, Robert; Jan Hoogeboom, Hendrik

2007-09-01

The theory of gene assembly in ciliates has much in common with the theory of sorting by reversal. Both model processes that are based on splicing, and have a fixed begin and end product. The main difference is the type of splicing operations used to obtain the end product from the begin product. In this overview paper we show that the concept of breakpoint graph, known from the theory of sorting by reversal, has many uses in the theory of gene assembly. Our aim is to present the material in an intuitive and informal manner to allow for an efficient introduction into the subject.

Report of the Defense Review Committee for the Code of Conduct. Volume 2. Supplement,

DTIC Science & Technology

1976-01-01

think of all the innocent people killed, schools and churches destroyed, medical aid stations ruined ...." "During the (preflight) briefings, I was...other people could live by the Code of Conduct, then I could too, but I don’t think you could ever find anybody who was ever released that lived...Code of Conduct; it was trying just to survive." " I think there is a need for some sort of document to assist people , particularly people who could

Statistical Characteristics of Single Sort of Grape Bulgarian Wines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boyadzhiev, D.

2008-10-01

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the differences in the values of the 8 basic physicochemical indices of single sort of grape Bulgarian wines (white and red ones), obligatory for the standardization of ready production in the winery. Statistically significant differences in the values of various sorts and vintages are established and possibilities for identifying the sort and the vintage on the base of these indices by applying discriminant analysis are discussed.

IAP-Based Cell Sorting Results in Homogeneous Transplantable Dopaminergic Precursor Cells Derived from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells.

PubMed

Lehnen, Daniela; Barral, Serena; Cardoso, Tiago; Grealish, Shane; Heuer, Andreas; Smiyakin, Andrej; Kirkeby, Agnete; Kollet, Jutta; Cremer, Harold; Parmar, Malin; Bosio, Andreas; Knöbel, Sebastian

2017-10-10

Human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-derived mesencephalic dopaminergic (mesDA) neurons can relieve motor deficits in animal models of Parkinson's disease (PD). Clinical translation of differentiation protocols requires standardization of production procedures, and surface-marker-based cell sorting is considered instrumental for reproducible generation of defined cell products. Here, we demonstrate that integrin-associated protein (IAP) is a cell surface marker suitable for enrichment of hPSC-derived mesDA progenitor cells. Immunomagnetically sorted IAP + mesDA progenitors showed increased expression of ventral midbrain floor plate markers, lacked expression of pluripotency markers, and differentiated into mature dopaminergic (DA) neurons in vitro. Intrastriatal transplantation of IAP + cells sorted at day 16 of differentiation in a rat model of PD resulted in functional recovery. Grafts from sorted IAP + mesDA progenitors were more homogeneous in size and DA neuron density. Thus, we suggest IAP-based sorting for reproducible prospective enrichment of mesDA progenitor cells in clinical cell replacement strategies. Copyright © 2017 Miltenyi Biotec GmbH. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Size and density sorting of dust grains in SPH simulations of protoplanetary discs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pignatale, F. C.; Gonzalez, J.-F.; Cuello, Nicolas; Bourdon, Bernard; Fitoussi, Caroline

2017-07-01

The size and density of dust grains determine their response to gas drag in protoplanetary discs. Aerodynamical (size × density) sorting is one of the proposed mechanisms to explain the grain properties and chemical fractionation of chondrites. However, the efficiency of aerodynamical sorting and the location in the disc in which it could occur are still unknown. Although the effects of grain sizes and growth in discs have been widely studied, a simultaneous analysis including dust composition is missing. In this work, we present the dynamical evolution and growth of multicomponent dust in a protoplanetary disc using a 3D, two-fluid (gas+dust) smoothed particle hydrodynamics code. We find that the dust vertical settling is characterized by two phases: a density-driven phase that leads to a vertical chemical sorting of dust and a size-driven phase that enhances the amount of lighter material in the mid-plane. We also see an efficient radial chemical sorting of the dust at large scales. We find that dust particles are aerodynamically sorted in the inner disc. The disc becomes sub-solar in its Fe/Si ratio on the surface since the early stage of evolution but sub-solar Fe/Si can be also found in the outer disc-mid-plane at late stages. Aggregates in the disc mimic the physical and chemical properties of chondrites, suggesting that aerodynamical sorting played an important role in determining their final structure.

Automated classification of MMPI profiles into psychotic, neurotic or personality disorder types.

PubMed

Hatcher, W E

1978-03-01

A Fortran program has been developed which can objectively classify Minnesota Multiphasic Inventory (MMPI) profiles as being psychotic, neurotic, personality disorder, or indeterminate types. The method used is a set of configural rules, 'Henrichs' rules for males'. The only input data required are K-corrected T scores, which are the end product of standard scoring techniques. To automate these rules it was necessary to rewrite them so that all decisions were the result of arithmetic comparisons or logical tests using only and, or and not. In particular, examination of the Welsh code, which many rules required, had to be stimulated by the use of several sorted arrays. The program has been carefully tested and is in the use in our computer lab.

Sexing mammalian sperm for production of offspring: the state-of-the-art.

PubMed

Johnson, L A

2000-07-02

Predetermination of sex in livestock offspring is in great demand and is of critical importance to providing for the most efficient production of the world's food supply. With the changes that have taken place in animal agriculture over the past generation the application of sex preselection to production systems becomes increasingly necessary. The current technology is based on the well-known difference in X- and Y-sperm in the amount of DNA present. The method has been validated on the basis of live births, laboratory reanalysis of sorted sperm for DNA content and embryo biopsy for sex determination. The technology incorporates modified flow cytometric sorting instrumentation to sort X- and Y-bearing sperm. Resulting populations of X or Y sperm can be used in conjunction with IVF in swine and in cattle for the production of sexed embryos to be transferred to eligible recipients for the duration of gestation. It can also be used for intratubal insemination and for deep-uterine and conventional insemination in cattle. This semipractical sexing method, though currently impractical for some production systems (where large numbers of sperm are required for fertilization) could be used to provide a more flexible progeny-producing option in many livestock operations. Improvements in the production rate of sexed sperm continue as new technology is developed. High-speed sorting is one of the newer technological advances and is being used in our laboratory to increase sorted sperm throughput. With our original technology we sorted 350,000 sperm/h. We now sort 6 million of each sex, under routine conditions. Sorting only the X population results in about 18 million sperm/h. Improvements in the technology will no doubt lead to much greater usage of sexed sperm, depending on the species involved. Insemination of lower sperm numbers in cattle has proven to be an effective means of utilizing the sexing technology. Solving the problems associated with inseminating low sperm numbers in the pig would be advantageous to the utilization of sexed sperm for some type of deep artificial insemination. Such a development would also enhance the economy of using lower sperm numbers with conventional artificial insemination (AI) and aid the swine industry worldwide. The use of sexed sperm for non-ordinary applications such as endangered species, laboratory animals, hobby or pet species is also of interest and will become a part of the move to be more reproductively efficient in the next millennium. Sexed sperm on demand over the next several years will provide livestock producers with many options in seeking to improve efficiency of production and improve quality of products to enhance consumer acceptability.

Decreased proteinase A excretion by strengthening its vacuolar sorting and weakening its constitutive secretion in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

PubMed

Chen, Yefu; Song, Lulu; Han, Yueran; Liu, Mingming; Gong, Rui; Luo, Weiwei; Guo, Xuewu; Xiao, Dongguang

2017-01-01

Proteinase A (PrA), encoded by PEP4 gene, is detrimental to beer foam stability. There are two transport pathways for the new synthesized PrA in yeast, sorting to the vacuole normally, or excreting out of the cells under stress conditions. They were designated as the Golgi-to-vacuole pathway and the constitutive secretory pathway, respectively. To reduce PrA excretion in some new way instead of its coding gene deletion, which had a negative effect on cell metabolism and beer fermentation, we modified the PrA transport based on these above two pathways. In the Golgi-to-vacuole pathway, after the verification that Vps10p is the dominant sorting receptor for PrA Golgi-to-vacuolar transportation by VPS10 deletion, VPS10 was then overexpressed. Furthermore, SEC5, encoding exocyst complexes' central subunit (Sec5p) in the constitutive secretory pathway, was deleted. The results show that PrA activity in the broth fermented with WGV10 (VPS10 overexpressing strain) and W∆SEC5 (SEC5 deletion strain) was lowered by 76.96 and 32.39%, compared with the parental strain W303-1A, at the end of main fermentation. There are negligible changes in fermentation performance between W∆SEC5 and W303-1A, whereas, surprisingly, WGV10 had a significantly improved fermentation performance compared with W303-1A. WGV10 has an increased growth rate, resulting in higher biomass and faster fermentation speed; finally, wort fermentation is performed thoroughly. The results show that the biomass production of WGV10 is always higher than that of W∆SEC5 and W303-1A at all stages of fermentation, and that ethanol production of WGV10 is 1.41-fold higher than that of W303-1A. Obviously, VPS10 overexpression is beneficial for yeast and is a more promising method for reduction of PrA excretion.

An improved infrared technique for sorting pecans

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Graeve, Thorsten; Dereniak, Eustace L.; Lamonica, John A., Jr.

1991-10-01

This paper presents the results of a study of pecan spectral reflectances. It describes an experiment for measuring the contrast between several components of raw pecan product to be sorted. An analysis of the experimental data reveals high contrast ratios in the infrared spectrum, suggesting a potential improvement in sorting efficiency when separating pecan meat from shells. It is believed that this technique has the potential to dramatically improve the efficiency of current sorting machinery, and to reduce the cost of processing pecans for the consumer market.

Advanced sorting technologies for optimal wood products and woody biomass utilization

Treesearch

Xiping Wang

2012-01-01

Forest materials represent great potential for advancing our goals in the 21st century for sustainable building, energy independence, and carbon sequestration. A critical component of an improved system for producing bioproducts and bioenergr from forest materials is the ability to sort trees, stems, and logs into end-product categories that represent their highest...

Apartheid's Legacy to Black Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murphy, Jerome T.

1992-01-01

Segregated and unequal education, the main instrument for sorting children into their color-coded societal niches, is deeply embedded in South Africa. Despite obstacles such as inadequate funding, a tough, Eurocentric curriculum, and a bewildering school management bureaucracy nearing collapse, South Africa's general prosperity and political…

Replication Improves Sorting-Task Results Analyzed by DISTATIS in a Consumer Study of American Bourbon and Rye Whiskeys.

PubMed

Lahne, Jacob; Collins, Thomas S; Heymann, Hildegarde

2016-05-01

In consumer food-sensory studies, sorting and closely related methods (for example, projective mapping) have often been applied to large product sets which are complex and fatiguing for panelists. Analysis of sorting by Multi-Dimensional Scaling (MDS) is common, but this method discards relevant individual decisions; analysis by DISTATIS, which accounts for individual differences, is gaining acceptance. This research posits that replication can improve DISTATIS analysis by stabilizing consumer sensory maps, which are often extremely unstable. As a case study a fatiguing product set was sorted: 10 American whiskeys-5 bourbons and 5 ryes-were sorted into groups by 21 consumers over 2 replications. These products were chosen because American whiskeys are some of the most important distilled beverages in today's market; in particular, "bourbon" (mashbill more than 50% corn) and "rye" (more than 50% rye) whiskeys are important and assumed to be products with distinct sensory attributes. However, there is almost no scientific information about their sensory properties. Data were analyzed using standard and aggregated DISTATIS and MDS. No significant relationship between mashbill and consumer categorization in whiskeys was found; instead, there was evidence of producer and aging effects. aggregated DISTATIS was found to provide more stable results than without replication, and DISTATIS results provided a number of benefits over MDS, including bootstrapped confidence intervals for product separation. In addition, this is the first published evidence that mashbill does not determine sensory properties of American whiskey: bourbons and ryes, while legally distinct, were not separated by consumers. © 2016 Institute of Food Technologists®

Application of visible spectroscopy in waste sorting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spiga, Philippe; Bourely, Antoine

2011-10-01

Today, waste recycling, (bottles, papers...), is a mechanical operation: the waste are crushed, fused and agglomerated in order to obtain new manufactured products (e.g. new bottles, clothes ...). The plastics recycling is the main application in the color sorting process. The colorless plastics recovered are more valuable than the colored plastics. Other emergent applications are in the paper sorting, where the main goal is to sort dyed paper from white papers. Up to now, Pellenc Selective Technologies has manufactured color sorting machines based on RGB cameras. Three dimensions (red, green and blue) are no longer sufficient to detect low quantities of dye in the considered waste. In order to increase the efficiency of the color detection, a new sorting machine, based on visible spectroscopy, has been developed. This paper presents the principles of the two approaches and their difference in terms of sorting performance, making visible spectroscopy a clear winner.

Application of sperm sorting and associated reproductive technology for wildlife management and conservation.

PubMed

O'Brien, J K; Steinman, K J; Robeck, T R

2009-01-01

Efforts toward the conservation and captive breeding of wildlife can be enhanced by sperm sorting and associated reproductive technologies such as sperm cryopreservation and artificial insemination (AI). Sex ratio management is of particular significance to species which naturally exist in female-dominated social groups. A bias of the sex ratio towards females of these species will greatly assist in maintaining socially cohesive groups and minimizing male-male aggression. Another application of this technology potentially exists for endangered species, as the preferential production of females can enable propagation of those species at a faster rate. The particular assisted reproductive technology (ART) used in conjunction with sperm sorting for the production of offspring is largely determined by the quality and quantity of spermatozoa following sorting and preservation processes. Regardless of the ART selected, breeding decisions involving sex-sorted spermatozoa should be made in conjunction with appropriate genetic management. Zoological-based research on reproductive physiology and assisted reproduction, including sperm sorting, is being conducted on numerous terrestrial and marine mammals. The wildlife species for which the technology has undergone the most advance is the bottlenose dolphin. AI using sex-sorted fresh or frozen-thawed spermatozoa has become a valuable tool for the genetic and reproductive management of captive bottlenose dolphins with six pre-sexed calves, all of the predetermined sex born to date.

A visual ergonomics intervention in mail sorting facilities: effects on eyes, muscles and productivity.

PubMed

Hemphälä, Hillevi; Eklund, Jörgen

2012-01-01

Visual requirements are high when sorting mail. The purpose of this visual ergonomics intervention study was to evaluate the visual environment in mail sorting facilities and to explore opportunities for improving the work situation by reducing visual strain, improving the visual work environment and reducing mail sorting time. Twenty-seven postmen/women participated in a pre-intervention study, which included questionnaires on their experiences of light, visual ergonomics, health, and musculoskeletal symptoms. Measurements of lighting conditions and productivity were also performed along with eye examinations of the postmen/women. The results from the pre-intervention study showed that the postmen/women who suffered from eyestrain had a higher prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) and sorted slower, than those without eyestrain. Illuminance and illuminance uniformity improved as a result of the intervention. The two post-intervention follow-ups showed a higher prevalence of MSD among the postmen/women with eyestrain than among those without. The previous differences in sorting time for employees with and without eyestrain disappeared. After the intervention, the postmen/women felt better in general, experienced less work induced stress, and considered that the total general lighting had improved. The most pronounced decreases in eyestrain, MSD, and mail sorting time were seen among the younger participants of the group. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

Rmax: A systematic approach to evaluate instrument sort performance using center stream catch☆

PubMed Central

Riddell, Andrew; Gardner, Rui; Perez-Gonzalez, Alexis; Lopes, Telma; Martinez, Lola

2015-01-01

Sorting performance can be evaluated with regard to Purity, Yield and/or Recovery of the sorted fraction. Purity is a check on the quality of the sample and the sort decisions made by the instrument. Recovery and Yield definitions vary with some authors regarding both as how efficient the instrument is at sorting the target particles from the original sample, others distinguishing Recovery from Yield, where the former is used to describe the accuracy of the instrument’s sort count. Yield and Recovery are often neglected, mostly due to difficulties in their measurement. Purity of the sort product is often cited alone but is not sufficient to evaluate sorting performance. All of these three performance metrics require re-sampling of the sorted fraction. But, unlike Purity, calculating Yield and/or Recovery calls for the absolute counting of particles in the sorted fraction, which may not be feasible, particularly when dealing with rare populations and precious samples. In addition, the counting process itself involves large errors. Here we describe a new metric for evaluating instrument sort Recovery, defined as the number of particles sorted relative to the number of original particles to be sorted. This calculation requires only measuring the ratios of target and non-target populations in the original pre-sort sample and in the waste stream or center stream catch (CSC), avoiding re-sampling the sorted fraction and absolute counting. We called this new metric Rmax, since it corresponds to the maximum expected Recovery for a particular set of instrument parameters. Rmax is ideal to evaluate and troubleshoot the optimum drop-charge delay of the sorter, or any instrument related failures that will affect sort performance. It can be used as a daily quality control check but can be particularly useful to assess instrument performance before single-cell sorting experiments. Because we do not perturb the sort fraction we can calculate Rmax during the sort process, being especially valuable to check instrument performance during rare population sorts. PMID:25747337

Differential regulation of amyloid precursor protein sorting with pathological mutations results in a distinct effect on amyloid-β production.

PubMed

Lin, Yen-Chen; Wang, Jia-Yi; Wang, Kai-Chen; Liao, Jhih-Ying; Cheng, Irene H

2014-11-01

The deposition of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide, which is generated from amyloid precursor protein (APP), is the pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Three APP familial AD mutations (D678H, D678N, and H677R) located at the sixth and seventh amino acid of Aβ have distinct effect on Aβ aggregation, but their influence on the physiological and pathological roles of APP remain unclear. We found that the D678H mutation strongly enhances amyloidogenic cleavage of APP, thus increasing the production of Aβ. This enhancement of amyloidogenic cleavage is likely because of the acceleration of APPD678H sorting into the endosomal-lysosomal pathway. In contrast, the APPD678N and APPH677R mutants do not cause the same effects. Therefore, this study indicates a regulatory role of D678H in APP sorting and processing, and provides genetic evidence for the importance of APP sorting in AD pathogenesis. The internalization of amyloid precursor protein (APP) increases its opportunity to be processed by β-secretase and to produce Amyloid-β (Aβ) that causes Alzheimer's disease (AD). We report a pathogenic APPD678H mutant that enhances APP internalization into the endosomal-lysosomal pathway and thus promotes the β-secretase cleavage and Aβ production. This study provides genetic evidence for the importance of APP sorting in AD pathogenesis. © 2014 International Society for Neurochemistry.

Code Readiness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lapin, Lisa

2009-01-01

Should a crisis hit the University of Montana, students sitting in classrooms will get immediate emergency information, even if their mobile phones are turned off and they aren't online. Classrooms, dorms, and other buildings are now outfitted with LED message boards--a sort of wall-mounted electronic pager--that use widely understood colors of…

Material recycling of post-consumer polyolefin bulk plastics: Influences on waste sorting and treatment processes in consideration of product qualities achievable.

PubMed

Pfeisinger, Christian

2017-02-01

Material recycling of post-consumer bulk plastics made up of polyolefins is well developed. In this article, it is examined which effects on waste sorting and treatment processes influence the qualities of polyolefin-recyclats. It is shown that the properties and their changes during the product life-cycle of a polyolefin are defined by its way of polymerisation, its nature as a thermoplast, additives, other compound and composite materials, but also by the mechanical treatments during the production, its use where contact to foreign materials is possible and the waste sorting and treatment processes. Because of the sum of the effects influencing the quality of polyolefin-recyclats, conclusions are drawn for the material recycling of polyolefins to reach high qualities of their recyclats. Also, legal requirements like the EU regulation 1907/2006 concerning the registration, evaluation, authorisation and restrictions on chemicals are considered.

Two-dimensional compression of surface electromyographic signals using column-correlation sorting and image encoders.

PubMed

Costa, Marcus V C; Carvalho, Joao L A; Berger, Pedro A; Zaghetto, Alexandre; da Rocha, Adson F; Nascimento, Francisco A O

2009-01-01

We present a new preprocessing technique for two-dimensional compression of surface electromyographic (S-EMG) signals, based on correlation sorting. We show that the JPEG2000 coding system (originally designed for compression of still images) and the H.264/AVC encoder (video compression algorithm operating in intraframe mode) can be used for compression of S-EMG signals. We compare the performance of these two off-the-shelf image compression algorithms for S-EMG compression, with and without the proposed preprocessing step. Compression of both isotonic and isometric contraction S-EMG signals is evaluated. The proposed methods were compared with other S-EMG compression algorithms from the literature.

Optical detection techniques for laser sorting machines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meulebroeck, W.; Thienpont, H.

2006-04-01

In this work we summarize some of the results we obtained during our research of different physical phenomena which take place when a visible or near-infrared laser beam falls in onto a biological product, more in particular on a vegetable or on a fruit. The most important phenomena are surface reflection, selective absorption, fluorescence, absorption in the near-infrared and internal reflection. While the emphasis lays on the identification of the product type we will show that some of the demonstrated sorting principles can also be used for quality sorting: for example a determination of the ripeness of green vegetables or of the water/oil content of vegetables and fruits and a detection of the presence of the very harmful aflatoxines.

What We Eat in America Food Categories, 2011-2012

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The purpose of the What We Eat in America (WWEIA) Food Categories is to provide an application for analyzing foods and beverages as consumed in the American diet. Each food and beverage code in the Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies (FNDDS) 2011-2012 is sorted into one of the 150+ mutua...

What We Eat in America Food Categories, 2013-2014

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The purpose of the What We Eat in America (WWEIA) Food Categories is to provide an application for analyzing foods and beverages as consumed in the American diet. Each food and beverage code in the Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies (FNDDS) 2013-2014 is sorted into one of the 150+ mutua...

Perceptually-Based Adaptive JPEG Coding

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Watson, Andrew B.; Rosenholtz, Ruth; Null, Cynthia H. (Technical Monitor)

1996-01-01

An extension to the JPEG standard (ISO/IEC DIS 10918-3) allows spatial adaptive coding of still images. As with baseline JPEG coding, one quantization matrix applies to an entire image channel, but in addition the user may specify a multiplier for each 8 x 8 block, which multiplies the quantization matrix, yielding the new matrix for the block. MPEG 1 and 2 use much the same scheme, except there the multiplier changes only on macroblock boundaries. We propose a method for perceptual optimization of the set of multipliers. We compute the perceptual error for each block based upon DCT quantization error adjusted according to contrast sensitivity, light adaptation, and contrast masking, and pick the set of multipliers which yield maximally flat perceptual error over the blocks of the image. We investigate the bitrate savings due to this adaptive coding scheme and the relative importance of the different sorts of masking on adaptive coding.

Method for Coating a Tow with an Electrospun Nanofiber

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kohlman, Lee W. (Inventor); Roberts, Gary D. (Inventor)

2015-01-01

Method and apparatus for enhancing the durability as well as the strength and stiffness of prepreg fiber tows of the sort used in composite materials are disclosed. The method involves adhering electrospun fibers onto the surface of such composite materials as filament-wound composite objects and the surface of prepreg fiber tows of the sort that are subsequently used in the production of composite materials of the filament-wound, woven, and braided sorts. The apparatus performs the methods described herein.

Reality-and-Desire in Ciliates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brijder, Robert; Hoogeboom, Hendrik Jan

The theory of gene assembly in ciliates has a number of similarities with the theory of sorting by reversal. Both theories model processes that are based on splicing, and have a fixed begin and end product. The main difference is the type of splicing operations used to obtain the end product from the begin product. In this overview paper, we show how the concept of breakpoint graph, known from the theory of sorting by reversal, can be used in the theory of gene assembly. Our aim is to present the material in an intuitive and informal manner to allow for an efficient introduction into the subject.

Extracellular Vesicle-Associated RNA as a Carrier of Epigenetic Information

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Post-transcriptional regulation of messenger RNA (mRNA) metabolism and subcellular localization is of the utmost importance both during development and in cell differentiation. Besides carrying genetic information, mRNAs contain cis-acting signals (zip codes), usually present in their 5′- and 3′-untranslated regions (UTRs). By binding to these signals, trans-acting factors, such as RNA-binding proteins (RBPs), and/or non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), control mRNA localization, translation and stability. RBPs can also form complexes with non-coding RNAs of different sizes. The release of extracellular vesicles (EVs) is a conserved process that allows both normal and cancer cells to horizontally transfer molecules, and hence properties, to neighboring cells. By interacting with proteins that are specifically sorted to EVs, mRNAs as well as ncRNAs can be transferred from cell to cell. In this review, we discuss the mechanisms underlying the sorting to EVs of different classes of molecules, as well as the role of extracellular RNAs and the associated proteins in altering gene expression in the recipient cells. Importantly, if, on the one hand, RBPs play a critical role in transferring RNAs through EVs, RNA itself could, on the other hand, function as a carrier to transfer proteins (i.e., chromatin modifiers, and transcription factors) that, once transferred, can alter the cell’s epigenome. PMID:28937658

Sperm sexing in sheep and cattle: the exception and the rule.

PubMed

de Graaf, S P; Beilby, K H; Underwood, S L; Evans, G; Maxwell, W M C

2009-01-01

Flow cytometric sorting for the preselection of sex has progressed considerably in the 20 years since its inception. This technique has allowed the production of pre-sexed offspring in a multitude of species and become a commercial success in cattle around the world. However, due to the stress inherent to the sex-sorting process, sex-sorted spermatozoa are widely recognized as functionally compromised in terms of their fertilizing lifespan within the female reproductive tract as a result of reduced motility and viability and changed functional state. These characteristics, when compared to non-sorted controls, are manifest in vivo as lower fertility. However, improvements to the technology and a greater understanding of its biological impact have facilitated recent developments in sheep, showing sex-sorting is capable of selecting a functionally superior population in terms of both in vitro and in vivo function. These results are reviewed in the context of recent developments in other species and the reasons for success after artificial insemination with sex-sorted ram spermatozoa are discussed.

Conserved Non-Coding Regulatory Signatures in Arabidopsis Co-Expressed Gene Modules

PubMed Central

Spangler, Jacob B.; Ficklin, Stephen P.; Luo, Feng; Freeling, Michael; Feltus, F. Alex

2012-01-01

Complex traits and other polygenic processes require coordinated gene expression. Co-expression networks model mRNA co-expression: the product of gene regulatory networks. To identify regulatory mechanisms underlying coordinated gene expression in a tissue-enriched context, ten Arabidopsis thaliana co-expression networks were constructed after manually sorting 4,566 RNA profiling datasets into aerial, flower, leaf, root, rosette, seedling, seed, shoot, whole plant, and global (all samples combined) groups. Collectively, the ten networks contained 30% of the measurable genes of Arabidopsis and were circumscribed into 5,491 modules. Modules were scrutinized for cis regulatory mechanisms putatively encoded in conserved non-coding sequences (CNSs) previously identified as remnants of a whole genome duplication event. We determined the non-random association of 1,361 unique CNSs to 1,904 co-expression network gene modules. Furthermore, the CNS elements were placed in the context of known gene regulatory networks (GRNs) by connecting 250 CNS motifs with known GRN cis elements. Our results provide support for a regulatory role of some CNS elements and suggest the functional consequences of CNS activation of co-expression in specific gene sets dispersed throughout the genome. PMID:23024789

Conserved non-coding regulatory signatures in Arabidopsis co-expressed gene modules.

PubMed

Spangler, Jacob B; Ficklin, Stephen P; Luo, Feng; Freeling, Michael; Feltus, F Alex

2012-01-01

Complex traits and other polygenic processes require coordinated gene expression. Co-expression networks model mRNA co-expression: the product of gene regulatory networks. To identify regulatory mechanisms underlying coordinated gene expression in a tissue-enriched context, ten Arabidopsis thaliana co-expression networks were constructed after manually sorting 4,566 RNA profiling datasets into aerial, flower, leaf, root, rosette, seedling, seed, shoot, whole plant, and global (all samples combined) groups. Collectively, the ten networks contained 30% of the measurable genes of Arabidopsis and were circumscribed into 5,491 modules. Modules were scrutinized for cis regulatory mechanisms putatively encoded in conserved non-coding sequences (CNSs) previously identified as remnants of a whole genome duplication event. We determined the non-random association of 1,361 unique CNSs to 1,904 co-expression network gene modules. Furthermore, the CNS elements were placed in the context of known gene regulatory networks (GRNs) by connecting 250 CNS motifs with known GRN cis elements. Our results provide support for a regulatory role of some CNS elements and suggest the functional consequences of CNS activation of co-expression in specific gene sets dispersed throughout the genome.

Macrophage Sortilin Promotes LDL Uptake, Foam Cell Formation, and Atherosclerosis

PubMed Central

Patel, Kevin M.; Strong, Alanna; Tohyama, Junichiro; Jin, Xueting; Morales, Carlos R.; Billheimer, Jeffery; Millar, John; Kruth, Howard; Rader, Daniel J.

2015-01-01

Rationale Non-coding gene variants at the SORT1 locus are strongly associated with LDL-C levels as well as with coronary artery disease (CAD). SORT1 encodes a protein called sortilin, and hepatic sortilin modulates LDL metabolism by targeting apoB-containing lipoproteins to the lysosome. Sortilin is also expressed in macrophages, but its role in macrophage uptake of LDL and in atherosclerosis independent of plasma LDL-C levels is unknown. Objective To determine the effect of macrophage sortilin expression on LDL uptake, foam cell formation, and atherosclerosis. Methods and Results We crossed Sort1−/− mice onto a ‘humanized’ Apobec1−/−; hAPOB Tg background and determined that Sort1 deficiency on this background had no effect on plasma LDL-C levels but dramatically reduced atherosclerosis in the aorta and aortic root. In order to test whether this effect was a result of macrophage sortilin deficiency, we transplanted Sort1−/−;LDLR−/− or Sort1+/+;LDLR−/− bone marrow into Ldlr−/− mice and observed a similar reduction in atherosclerosis in mice lacking hematopoetic sortilin without an effect on plasma LDL-C levels. In an effort to determine the mechanism by which hematopoetic sortilin deficiency reduced atherosclerosis, we found no effect of sortilin deficiency on macrophage recruitment or LPS-induced cytokine release in vivo. In contrast, sortilin deficient macrophages had significantly reduced uptake of native LDL ex vivo and reduced foam cell formation in vivo, whereas sortilin overexpression in macrophages resulted in increased LDL uptake and foam cell formation. Conclusions Macrophage sortilin deficiency protects against atherosclerosis by reducing macrophage uptake of LDL. Sortilin-mediated uptake of native LDL into macrophages may be an important mechanism of foam cell formation and contributor to atherosclerosis development. PMID:25593281

Physical Sciences Preservice Teachers' Religious and Scientific Views Regarding the Origin of the Universe and Life

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Govender, Nadaraj

2017-01-01

This paper explores final-year physical sciences preservice teachers' religious and scientific views regarding the origin of the universe and life. Data was obtained from 10 preservice teachers from individual in-depth interviews conducted at the end of the Science Method module. Their viewpoints were analyzed using coding, sorting, and…

Effects of Task and Category Membership on Representation Stability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gaillard, Audrey; Urdapilleta, Isabel; Houix, Olivier; Manetta, Celine

2011-01-01

This study examined the within-subject stability of 150 participants who performed both a sorting task and a property-generation task over multiple sessions, focusing on three concrete concept categories (food, animals and bathroom products). We hypothesized that (1) the within-subject stability would be higher in the sorting task than in the…

[Effects of handling and processing on deoxynivalenol and zearalenone content of cereals and cereal products].

PubMed

Wolff, J

2005-12-01

Since national limits have been introduced for the content of DON and ZEA in cereals and cereal products designated for human consumption, it is highly important to understand how these toxins are distributed during sorting, cleaning and further processing to bakery products and pasta. Cereals from several crops were analysed before and after sorting and cleaning. After milling, flours, breads, semolinas, pastas and others were analysed. The results show that that the distribution of DON and ZEA was different. ZEA was more effectively removed than DON. The efficacy of the various processes varied markedly from one lot to the other.

Sorting of Streptomyces Cell Pellets Using a Complex Object Parametric Analyzer and Sorter

PubMed Central

Petrus, Marloes L. C.; van Veluw, G. Jerre; Wösten, Han A. B.; Claessen, Dennis

2014-01-01

Streptomycetes are filamentous soil bacteria that are used in industry for the production of enzymes and antibiotics. When grown in bioreactors, these organisms form networks of interconnected hyphae, known as pellets, which are heterogeneous in size. Here we describe a method to analyze and sort mycelial pellets using a Complex Object Parametric Analyzer and Sorter (COPAS). Detailed instructions are given for the use of the instrument and the basic statistical analysis of the data. We furthermore describe how pellets can be sorted according to user-defined settings, which enables downstream processing such as the analysis of the RNA or protein content. Using this methodology the mechanism underlying heterogeneous growth can be tackled. This will be instrumental for improving streptomycetes as a cell factory, considering the fact that productivity correlates with pellet size. PMID:24561666

Sperm sex-sorting and preservation for managing the sex ratio and genetic diversity of the southern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum).

PubMed

O'Brien, J K; Roth, T L; Stoops, M A; Ball, R L; Steinman, K J; Montano, G A; Love, C C; Robeck, T R

2015-01-01

White rhinoceros ejaculates (n=9) collected by electroejaculation from four males were shipped (10°C, 12h) to develop procedures for the production of chilled and frozen-thawed sex-sorted spermatozoa of adequate quality for artificial insemination (AI). Of all electroejaculate fractions, 39.7% (31/78) exhibited high quality post-collection (≥70% total motility and membrane integrity) and of those, 54.8% (17/31) presented reduced in vitro quality after transport and were retrospectively determined to exhibit urine-contamination (≥21.0μg creatinine/ml). Of fractions analyzed for creatinine concentration, 69% (44/64) were classified as urine-contaminated. For high quality non-contaminated fractions, in vitro parameters (motility, velocity, membrane, acrosome and DNA integrity) of chilled non-sorted and sorted spermatozoa were well-maintained at 5°C up to 54h post-collection, whereby >70% of post-transport (non-sorted) or post-sort (sorted) values were retained. By 54h post-collection, some motility parameters were higher (P<0.05) for non-sorted spermatozoa (total motility, rapid velocity, average path velocity) whereas all remaining motion parameters as well as membrane, acrosome and DNA integrity were similar between sperm types. In comparison with a straw method, directional freezing resulted in enhanced (P<0.05) motility and velocity of non-sorted and sorted spermatozoa, with comparable overall post-thaw quality between sperm types. High purity enrichment of X-bearing (89±6%) or Y-bearing (86±3%) spermatozoa was achieved using moderate sorting rates (2540±498X-spermatozoa/s; 1800±557Y-spermatozoa/s). Collective in vitro characteristics of sorted-chilled or sorted-frozen-thawed spermatozoa derived from high quality electroejaculates indicate acceptable fertility potential for use in AI. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Encapsulation of sex sorted boar semen: sperm membrane status and oocyte penetration parameters.

PubMed

Spinaci, Marcella; Chlapanidas, Theodora; Bucci, Diego; Vallorani, Claudia; Perteghella, Sara; Lucconi, Giulia; Communod, Ricardo; Vigo, Daniele; Galeati, Giovanna; Faustini, Massimo; Torre, Maria Luisa

2013-03-01

Although sorted semen is experimentally used for artificial, intrauterine, and intratubal insemination and in vitro fertilization, its commercial application in swine species is still far from a reality. This is because of the low sort rate and the large number of sperm required for routine artificial insemination in the pig, compared with other production animals, and the greater susceptibility of porcine spermatozoa to stress induced by the different sex sorting steps and the postsorting handling protocols. The encapsulation technology could overcome this limitation in vivo, protecting and allowing the slow release of low-dose sorted semen. The aim of this work was to evaluate the impact of the encapsulation process on viability, acrosome integrity, and on the in vitro fertilizing potential of sorted boar semen. Our results indicate that the encapsulation technique does not damage boar sorted semen; in fact, during a 72-hour storage, no differences were observed between liquid-stored sorted semen and encapsulated sorted semen in terms of plasma membrane (39.98 ± 14.38% vs. 44.32 ± 11.72%, respectively) and acrosome integrity (74.32 ± 12.17% vs. 66.07 ± 10.83%, respectively). Encapsulated sorted spermatozoa presented a lower penetration potential than nonencapsulated ones (47.02% vs. 24.57%, respectively, P < 0.0001), and a significant reduction of polyspermic fertilization (60.76% vs. 36.43%, respectively, polyspermic ova/total ova; P < 0.0001). However, no difference (P > 0.05) was observed in terms of total efficiency of fertilization expressed as normospermic oocytes/total oocytes (18.45% vs. 15.43% for sorted diluted and sorted encapsulated semen, respectively). The encapsulation could be an alternative method of storing of pig sex sorted spermatozoa and is potentially a promising technique in order to optimize the use of low dose of sexed spermatozoa in vivo. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effect of water addition to a total mixed ration on feed temperature, feed intake, sorting behavior, and milk production of dairy cows.

PubMed

Felton, C A; DeVries, T J

2010-06-01

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of water addition to a high-moisture total mixed ration (TMR) on feed temperature, feed intake, feed sorting behavior, and milk production of dairy cows. Twelve lactating Holstein cows (155.8+/-60.1 DIM), individually fed once daily at 1000 h, were exposed to 3 diets in a Latin square design with 28-d treatment periods. Diets had the same ingredient composition [30.9% corn silage, 30.3% alfalfa haylage, 21.2% high-moisture corn, and 17.6% protein supplement; dry matter (DM) basis] and differed only in DM concentration, which was reduced by the addition of water. Treatment diets averaged 56.3, 50.8, and 44.1% DM. The study was conducted between May and August when environmental temperature was 18.2+/-3.6 degrees C and ambient temperature in the barn was 24.4+/-3.3 degrees C. Dry matter intake (DMI) was monitored for each animal for the last 14 d of each treatment period. For the final 7 d of each period, milk production was monitored, feed temperature and ambient temperature and humidity were recorded (daily at 1000, 1300, and 1600 h), and fresh feed and orts were sampled for determination of sorting. For the final 4 d of each period, milk samples were taken for composition analysis. Samples taken for determining sorting were separated using a Penn State Particle Separator that had 3 screens (19, 8, and 1.18 mm) and a bottom pan, resulting in 4 fractions (long, medium, short, and fine). Sorting was calculated as the actual intake of each particle size fraction expressed as a percentage of the predicted intake of that fraction. Greater amounts of water added to the TMR resulted in greater increases in feed temperature in the hours after feed delivery, greater sorting against long particles, and decreased DMI, reducing the overall intake of starch and neutral detergent fiber. Milk production and composition were not affected by the addition of water to the TMR. Efficiency of production of milk was, however, increased with greater amounts of water added to the TMR. The increases in feed temperature in the hours after feed delivery were enhanced by higher ambient temperatures; this may be indicative of feed spoilage and thus may have contributed to the reduced DMI observed. Overall, these results suggest that the addition of water to high-moisture TMR (less than 60% DM) containing primarily haylage and silage forage sources will not always discourage cows from sorting, but rather may increase this behavior and limit the nutrient consumption of cows, particularly when ambient temperature is high. 2010 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Economic analysis of a self-propelled apple harvest and in-field sorting machine for the apple industry

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The U.S. apple industry, which generated more than $2.7 billion revenue at the farm gate in 2013, is facing critical challenges in decreased availability of labor and increased labor and production cost. To address these challenges, a self-propelled apple harvest and automated in-field sorting machi...

Meet Joan Marcano | NREL

Science.gov Websites

solving a puzzle every time you go to the river. There are so many different variables that can be different products like hydrogen. "I have to put all these pieces together as well-what sort of genetic elements and what sort of genes am I going to put in combination. I might try different variations and

Evaluation of recycling programmes in household waste collection systems.

PubMed

Dahlén, Lisa; Lagerkvist, Anders

2010-07-01

A case study and a literature review have been carried out to address the two questions: how can waste flow data from collection systems be interpreted and compared? and which factors are decisive in the results of recycling programmes in household waste collection systems? The aim is to contribute to the understanding of how recycling programmes affect the quantity of waste and sorting activities. It is shown how the results from various waste sorting systems can be interpreted and made comparable. A set of waste flow indicators is proposed, which together with generic system descriptions can facilitate comparisons of different collections systems. The evaluation of collection systems depends on the system boundaries and will always be site-specific to some degree. Various factors are relevant, e.g. environmental objectives, technical function, operating costs, types of recyclable materials collected separately, property-close collection or drop-off systems, economic incentives, information strategies, residential structure, social codes, etc. Kerbside collection of recyclables and weight-based billing led to increased waste sorting activities in the case study. Forty-three decisive factors are listed and discussed.

Circular codes revisited: a statistical approach.

PubMed

Gonzalez, D L; Giannerini, S; Rosa, R

2011-04-21

In 1996 Arquès and Michel [1996. A complementary circular code in the protein coding genes. J. Theor. Biol. 182, 45-58] discovered the existence of a common circular code in eukaryote and prokaryote genomes. Since then, circular code theory has provoked great interest and underwent a rapid development. In this paper we discuss some theoretical issues related to the synchronization properties of coding sequences and circular codes with particular emphasis on the problem of retrieval and maintenance of the reading frame. Motivated by the theoretical discussion, we adopt a rigorous statistical approach in order to try to answer different questions. First, we investigate the covering capability of the whole class of 216 self-complementary, C(3) maximal codes with respect to a large set of coding sequences. The results indicate that, on average, the code proposed by Arquès and Michel has the best covering capability but, still, there exists a great variability among sequences. Second, we focus on such code and explore the role played by the proportion of the bases by means of a hierarchy of permutation tests. The results show the existence of a sort of optimization mechanism such that coding sequences are tailored as to maximize or minimize the coverage of circular codes on specific reading frames. Such optimization clearly relates the function of circular codes with reading frame synchronization. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Improved Production of a Heterologous Amylase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by Inverse Metabolic Engineering

PubMed Central

Liu, Zihe; Liu, Lifang; Österlund, Tobias; Hou, Jin; Huang, Mingtao; Fagerberg, Linn; Petranovic, Dina; Uhlén, Mathias

2014-01-01

The increasing demand for industrial enzymes and biopharmaceutical proteins relies on robust production hosts with high protein yield and productivity. Being one of the best-studied model organisms and capable of performing posttranslational modifications, the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is widely used as a cell factory for recombinant protein production. However, many recombinant proteins are produced at only 1% (or less) of the theoretical capacity due to the complexity of the secretory pathway, which has not been fully exploited. In this study, we applied the concept of inverse metabolic engineering to identify novel targets for improving protein secretion. Screening that combined UV-random mutagenesis and selection for growth on starch was performed to find mutant strains producing heterologous amylase 5-fold above the level produced by the reference strain. Genomic mutations that could be associated with higher amylase secretion were identified through whole-genome sequencing. Several single-point mutations, including an S196I point mutation in the VTA1 gene coding for a protein involved in vacuolar sorting, were evaluated by introducing these to the starting strain. By applying this modification alone, the amylase secretion could be improved by 35%. As a complement to the identification of genomic variants, transcriptome analysis was also performed in order to understand on a global level the transcriptional changes associated with the improved amylase production caused by UV mutagenesis. PMID:24973076

Estimating botanical composition by the dry-weight-rank method in California's annual grasslands

Treesearch

Raymond D. Ratliff; William E. Frost

1990-01-01

The dry-weight-rank method of estimating botanical composition on California's annual grasslands is a viable alternative to harvesting and sorting or methods using points. Two data sets of sorted species weights were available. One spanned nine years with quadrats harvested at peak of production. The second spanned one growing season with 20 harvest dates. Two...

Class Size and Sorting in Market Equilibrium: Theory and Evidence. NBER Working Paper No. 13303

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Urquiola, Miguel; Verhoogen, Eric

2007-01-01

This paper examines how schools choose class size and how households sort in response to those choices. Focusing on the highly liberalized Chilean education market, we develop a model in which schools are heterogeneous in an underlying productivity parameter, class size is a component of school quality, households are heterogeneous in income and…

User's guide: Nimbus-7 Earth radiation budget narrow-field-of-view products. Scene radiance tape products, sorting into angular bins products, and maximum likelihood cloud estimation products

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kyle, H. Lee; Hucek, Richard R.; Groveman, Brian; Frey, Richard

1990-01-01

The archived Earth radiation budget (ERB) products produced from the Nimbus-7 ERB narrow field-of-view scanner are described. The principal products are broadband outgoing longwave radiation (4.5 to 50 microns), reflected solar radiation (0.2 to 4.8 microns), and the net radiation. Daily and monthly averages are presented on a fixed global equal area (500 sq km), grid for the period May 1979 to May 1980. Two independent algorithms are used to estimate the outgoing fluxes from the observed radiances. The algorithms are described and the results compared. The products are divided into three subsets: the Scene Radiance Tapes (SRT) contain the calibrated radiances; the Sorting into Angular Bins (SAB) tape contains the SAB produced shortwave, longwave, and net radiation products; and the Maximum Likelihood Cloud Estimation (MLCE) tapes contain the MLCE products. The tape formats are described in detail.

Adding liquid feed to a total mixed ration reduces feed sorting behavior and improves productivity of lactating dairy cows.

PubMed

DeVries, T J; Gill, R M

2012-05-01

This study was designed to determine the effect of adding a molasses-based liquid feed (LF) supplement to a total mixed ration (TMR) on the feed sorting behavior and production of dairy cows. Twelve lactating Holstein cows (88.2±19.5 DIM) were exposed, in a crossover design with 21-d periods, to each of 2 treatment diets: 1) control TMR and 2) control TMR with 4.1% dietary dry matter LF added. Dry matter intake (DMI), sorting, and milk yield were recorded for the last 7 d of each treatment period. Milk samples were collected for composition analysis for the last 3 d of each treatment period; these data were used to calculate 4% fat-corrected milk and energy-corrected milk yield. Sorting was determined by subjecting fresh feed and orts samples to particle separation and expressing the actual intake of each particle fraction as a percentage of the predicted intake of that fraction. Addition of LF did not noticeably change the nutrient composition of the ration, with the exception of an expected increase in dietary sugar concentration (from 4.0 to 5.4%). Liquid feed supplementation affected the particle size distribution of the ration, resulting in a lesser amount of short and a greater amount of fine particles. Cows sorted against the longest ration particles on both treatment diets; the extent of this sorting was greater on the control diet (55.0 vs. 68.8%). Dry matter intake was 1.4 kg/d higher when cows were fed the LF diet as compared with the control diet, resulting in higher acid-detergent fiber, neutral-detergent fiber, and sugar intakes. As a result of the increased DMI, cows tended to produce 1.9 kg/d more milk and produced 3.1 and 3.2 kg/d more 4% fat-corrected milk and energy-corrected milk, respectively, on the LF diet. As a result, cows tended to produce more milk fat (0.13 kg/d) and produced more milk protein (0.09 kg/d) on the LF diet. No difference between treatments was observed in the efficiency of milk production. Overall, adding a molasses-based LF to TMR can be used to decrease feed sorting, enhance DMI, and improve milk yield. Copyright © 2012 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Observation Uncertainty in Gaussian Sensor Networks

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-01-23

Ziv , J., and Lempel , A. A universal algorithm for sequential data compression . IEEE Transactions on Information Theory 23, 3 (1977), 337–343. 73 ...using the Lempel - Ziv algorithm [42], context-tree weighting [41], or the Burrows-Wheeler Trans- form [4], [15], for example. These source codes will...and Computation (Monticello, IL, September 2004). [4] Burrows, M., and Wheeler, D. A block sorting lossless data compression algorithm . Tech.

"What Sort of Person Ought I to Be?"--Repositioning EPs in Light of the Children and Families Bill (2013)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fox, Mark

2015-01-01

The changes brought by the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) code of practice: 0 to 25 years, 2014, is an opportunity for educational psychologists (EPs) to reposition ourselves so that we can improve our contribution to the services for children and young people with special educational needs (SENs) or a disability. Underpinning…

Mass, energy and material balances of SRF production process. Part 2: SRF produced from construction and demolition waste.

PubMed

Nasrullah, Muhammad; Vainikka, Pasi; Hannula, Janne; Hurme, Markku; Kärki, Janne

2014-11-01

In this work, the fraction of construction and demolition waste (C&D waste) complicated and economically not feasible to sort out for recycling purposes is used to produce solid recovered fuel (SRF) through mechanical treatment (MT). The paper presents the mass, energy and material balances of this SRF production process. All the process streams (input and output) produced in MT waste sorting plant to produce SRF from C&D waste are sampled and treated according to CEN standard methods for SRF. Proximate and ultimate analysis of these streams is performed and their composition is determined. Based on this analysis and composition of process streams their mass, energy and material balances are established for SRF production process. By mass balance means the overall mass flow of input waste material stream in the various output streams and material balances mean the mass flow of components of input waste material stream (such as paper and cardboard, wood, plastic (soft), plastic (hard), textile and rubber) in the various output streams of SRF production process. The results from mass balance of SRF production process showed that of the total input C&D waste material to MT waste sorting plant, 44% was recovered in the form of SRF, 5% as ferrous metal, 1% as non-ferrous metal, and 28% was sorted out as fine fraction, 18% as reject material and 4% as heavy fraction. The energy balance of this SRF production process showed that of the total input energy content of C&D waste material to MT waste sorting plant, 74% was recovered in the form of SRF, 16% belonged to the reject material and rest 10% belonged to the streams of fine fraction and heavy fraction. From the material balances of this process, mass fractions of plastic (soft), paper and cardboard, wood and plastic (hard) recovered in the SRF stream were 84%, 82%, 72% and 68% respectively of their input masses to MT plant. A high mass fraction of plastic (PVC) and rubber material was found in the reject material stream. Streams of heavy fraction and fine fraction mainly contained non-combustible material (such as stone/rock, sand particles and gypsum material). Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Flow karyotyping and sorting of human chromosomes

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

Gray, J.W.; Lucas, J.; Peters, D.

1986-07-16

Flow cytometry and sorting are becoming increasingly useful as tools for chromosome classfication and for the detection of numerical and structural chromosome aberrations. Chromosomes of a single type can be purified with these tools to facilitate gene mapping or production of chromosome specific recombinant DNA libraries. For analysis of chromosomes with flow cytometry, the chromosomes are extracted from mitotic cells, stained with one or more fluorescent dyes and classified one-by-one according to their dye content(s). Thus, the flow approach is fundamentally different than conventional karyotyping where chromosomes are classified within the context of a metaphase spread. Flow sorting allows purificationmore » of chromosomes that can be distinguished flow cytometrically. The authors describe the basic principles of flow cytometric chromosome classification i.e. flow karyotyping, and chromosome sorting and describe several applications. 30 refs., 8 figs.« less

Developement of an Optimum Interpolation Analysis Method for the CYBER 205

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nestler, M. S.; Woollen, J.; Brin, Y.

1985-01-01

A state-of-the-art technique to assimilate the diverse observational database obtained during FGGE, and thus create initial conditions for numerical forecasts is described. The GLA optimum interpolation (OI) analysis method analyzes pressure, winds, and temperature at sea level, mixing ratio at six mandatory pressure levels up to 300 mb, and heights and winds at twelve levels up to 50 mb. Conversion to the CYBER 205 required a major re-write of the Amdahl OI code to take advantage of the CYBER vector processing capabilities. Structured programming methods were used to write the programs and this has resulted in a modular, understandable code. Among the contributors to the increased speed of the CYBER code are a vectorized covariance-calculation routine, an extremely fast matrix equation solver, and an innovative data search and sort technique.

Container hardwood seedling production

Treesearch

John McRae

2005-01-01

Container production of hardwood seedlings requires larger cavities, more space, and the ability to easily sort seedlings (as compared to conifers) very early during the germination phase of production. This presentation demonstrates the most productive system, based upon past experience, to commercially produce container hardwoods. The container system of choice is...

Flow cytometric sex sorting affects CD4 membrane distribution and binding of exogenous DNA on bovine sperm cells.

PubMed

Domingues, William Borges; da Silveira, Tony Leandro Rezende; Komninou, Eliza Rossi; Monte, Leonardo Garcia; Remião, Mariana Härter; Dellagostin, Odir Antônio; Corcini, Carine Dahl; Varela Junior, Antônio Sergio; Seixas, Fabiana Kömmling; Collares, Tiago; Campos, Vinicius Farias

2017-08-01

Bovine sex-sorted sperm have been commercialized and successfully used for the production of transgenic embryos of the desired sex through the sperm-mediated gene transfer (SMGT) technique. However, sex-sorted sperm show a reduced ability to internalize exogenous DNA. The interaction between sperm cells and the exogenous DNA has been reported in other species to be a CD4-like molecule-dependent process. The flow cytometry-based sex-sorting process subjects the spermatozoa to different stresses causing changes in the cell membrane. The aim of this study was to elucidate the relationship between the redistribution of CD4-like molecules and binding of exogenous DNA to sex-sorted bovine sperm. In the first set of experiments, the membrane phospholipid disorder and the redistribution of the CD4 were evaluated. The second set of experiments was conducted to investigate the effect of CD4 redistribution on the mechanism of binding of exogenous DNA to sperm cells and the efficiency of lipofection in sex-sorted bovine sperm. Sex-sorting procedure increased the membrane phospholipid disorder and induced the redistribution of CD4-like molecules. Both X-sorted and Y-sorted sperm had decreased DNA bound to membrane in comparison with the unsorted sperm; however, the binding of the exogenous DNA was significantly increased with the addition of liposomes. Moreover, we demonstrated that the number of sperm-bound exogenous DNA was decreased when these cells were preincubated with anti-bovine CD4 monoclonal antibody, supporting our hypothesis that CD4-like molecules indeed play a crucial role in the process of exogenous DNA/bovine sperm cells interaction.

Axon-Sorting Multifunctional Nerve Guides: Accelerating Restoration of Nerve Function

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-10-01

factor (singly & in selected combinations) in the organotypic model system for preferential sensory or motor axon extension. Use confocal microscopy to...track axon extension of labeled sensory or motor neurons from spinal cord slices (motor) or dorsal root ganglia ( DRG ) (sensory). 20 Thy1-YFP mice...RESEARCH ACCOMPLISHMENTS: • Established a system of color-coded mixed nerve tracking using GFP and RFP expressing motor and sensory neurons (Figure 1

Use of Hilbert Curves in Parallelized CUDA code: Interaction of Interstellar Atoms with the Heliosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Destefano, Anthony; Heerikhuisen, Jacob

2015-04-01

Fully 3D particle simulations can be a computationally and memory expensive task, especially when high resolution grid cells are required. The problem becomes further complicated when parallelization is needed. In this work we focus on computational methods to solve these difficulties. Hilbert curves are used to map the 3D particle space to the 1D contiguous memory space. This method of organization allows for minimized cache misses on the GPU as well as a sorted structure that is equivalent to an octal tree data structure. This type of sorted structure is attractive for uses in adaptive mesh implementations due to the logarithm search time. Implementations using the Message Passing Interface (MPI) library and NVIDIA's parallel computing platform CUDA will be compared, as MPI is commonly used on server nodes with many CPU's. We will also compare static grid structures with those of adaptive mesh structures. The physical test bed will be simulating heavy interstellar atoms interacting with a background plasma, the heliosphere, simulated from fully consistent coupled MHD/kinetic particle code. It is known that charge exchange is an important factor in space plasmas, specifically it modifies the structure of the heliosphere itself. We would like to thank the Alabama Supercomputer Authority for the use of their computational resources.

An implementation of a tree code on a SIMD, parallel computer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Olson, Kevin M.; Dorband, John E.

1994-01-01

We describe a fast tree algorithm for gravitational N-body simulation on SIMD parallel computers. The tree construction uses fast, parallel sorts. The sorted lists are recursively divided along their x, y and z coordinates. This data structure is a completely balanced tree (i.e., each particle is paired with exactly one other particle) and maintains good spatial locality. An implementation of this tree-building algorithm on a 16k processor Maspar MP-1 performs well and constitutes only a small fraction (approximately 15%) of the entire cycle of finding the accelerations. Each node in the tree is treated as a monopole. The tree search and the summation of accelerations also perform well. During the tree search, node data that is needed from another processor is simply fetched. Roughly 55% of the tree search time is spent in communications between processors. We apply the code to two problems of astrophysical interest. The first is a simulation of the close passage of two gravitationally, interacting, disk galaxies using 65,636 particles. We also simulate the formation of structure in an expanding, model universe using 1,048,576 particles. Our code attains speeds comparable to one head of a Cray Y-MP, so single instruction, multiple data (SIMD) type computers can be used for these simulations. The cost/performance ratio for SIMD machines like the Maspar MP-1 make them an extremely attractive alternative to either vector processors or large multiple instruction, multiple data (MIMD) type parallel computers. With further optimizations (e.g., more careful load balancing), speeds in excess of today's vector processing computers should be possible.

Design and control of multifunctional sorting and training platform based on PLC control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wan, Hongqiang; Ge, Shuai; Han, Peiying; Li, Fancong; Zhang, Simiao

2018-05-01

Electromechanical integration, as a multi-disciplinary subject, has been paid much attention by universities and is widely used in the automation production of enterprises. Aiming at the problem of the lack of control among enterprises and the lack of training among colleges and universities, this paper presents a design of multifunctional sorting training platform based on PLC control. Firstly, the structure of the platform is determined and three-dimensional modeling is done. Then design the platform's aerodynamic control and electrical control. Finally, realize the platform sorting function through PLC programming and configuration software development. The training platform can be used to design the practical training experiment, which has a strong advance and pertinence in the electromechanical integration teaching. At the same time, the platform makes full use of modular thinking to make the sorting modules more flexible. Compared with the traditional training platform, its teaching effect is more significant.

Development of the Off-line Analysis Code for GODDESS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garland, Heather; Cizewski, Jolie; Lepailleur, Alex; Walters, David; Pain, Steve; Smith, Karl

2016-09-01

Determining (n, γ) cross sections on unstable nuclei is important for understanding the r-process that is theorized to occur in supernovae and neutron-star mergers. However, (n, γ) reactions are difficult to measure directly because of the short lifetime of the involved neutron rich nuclei. A possible surrogate for the (n, γ) reaction is the (d,p γ) reaction; the measurement of these reactions in inverse kinematics is part of the scope of GODDESS - Gammasphere ORRUBA (Oak Ridge Rutgers University Barrel Array): Dual Detectors for Experimental Structure Studies. The development of an accurate and efficient off-line analysis code for GODDESS experiments is not only essential, but also provides a unique opportunity to create an analysis code designed specifically for transfer reaction experiments. The off-line analysis code has been developed to produce histograms from the binary data file to determine how to best sort events. Recent developments in the off-line analysis code will be presented as well as details on the energy and position calibrations for the ORRUBA detectors. This work is supported in part by the U.S. Department of Energy and National Science Foundation.

A general heuristic for genome rearrangement problems.

PubMed

Dias, Ulisses; Galvão, Gustavo Rodrigues; Lintzmayer, Carla Négri; Dias, Zanoni

2014-06-01

In this paper, we present a general heuristic for several problems in the genome rearrangement field. Our heuristic does not solve any problem directly, it is rather used to improve the solutions provided by any non-optimal algorithm that solve them. Therefore, we have implemented several algorithms described in the literature and several algorithms developed by ourselves. As a whole, we implemented 23 algorithms for 9 well known problems in the genome rearrangement field. A total of 13 algorithms were implemented for problems that use the notions of prefix and suffix operations. In addition, we worked on 5 algorithms for the classic problem of sorting by transposition and we conclude the experiments by presenting results for 3 approximation algorithms for the sorting by reversals and transpositions problem and 2 approximation algorithms for the sorting by reversals problem. Another algorithm with better approximation ratio can be found for the last genome rearrangement problem, but it is purely theoretical with no practical implementation. The algorithms we implemented in addition to our heuristic lead to the best practical results in each case. In particular, we were able to improve results on the sorting by transpositions problem, which is a very special case because many efforts have been made to generate algorithms with good results in practice and some of these algorithms provide results that equal the optimum solutions in many cases. Our source codes and benchmarks are freely available upon request from the authors so that it will be easier to compare new approaches against our results.

Online sorting of recovered wood waste by automated XRF-technology: part II. Sorting efficiencies.

PubMed

Hasan, A Rasem; Solo-Gabriele, Helena; Townsend, Timothy

2011-04-01

Sorting of waste wood is an important process practiced at recycling facilities in order to detect and divert contaminants from recycled wood products. Contaminants of concern include arsenic, chromium and copper found in chemically preserved wood. The objective of this research was to evaluate the sorting efficiencies of both treated and untreated parts of the wood waste stream, and metal (As, Cr and Cu) mass recoveries by the use of automated X-ray fluorescence (XRF) systems. A full-scale system was used for experimentation. This unit consisted of an XRF-detection chamber mounted on the top of a conveyor and a pneumatic slide-way diverter which sorted wood into presumed treated and presumed untreated piles. A randomized block design was used to evaluate the operational conveyance parameters of the system, including wood feed rate and conveyor belt speed. Results indicated that online sorting efficiencies of waste wood by XRF technology were high based on number and weight of pieces (70-87% and 75-92% for treated wood and 66-97% and 68-96% for untreated wood, respectively). These sorting efficiencies achieved mass recovery for metals of 81-99% for As, 75-95% for Cu and 82-99% of Cr. The incorrect sorting of wood was attributed almost equally to deficiencies in the detection and conveyance/diversion systems. Even with its deficiencies, the system was capable of producing a recyclable portion that met residential soil quality levels established for Florida, for an infeed that contained 5% of treated wood. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Repeated ruminal acidosis challenges in lactating dairy cows at high and low risk for developing acidosis: feed sorting.

PubMed

Devries, T J; Dohme, F; Beauchemin, K A

2008-10-01

An experiment was conducted to determine whether the susceptibility of cows to ruminal acidosis influences feed sorting and whether feed sorting changes during a bout of ruminal acidosis. Eight ruminally cannulated cows were assigned to 1 of 2 acidosis risk levels: low risk (LR, mid-lactation cows fed a 60% forage diet) or high risk (HR, early lactation cows fed a 45% forage diet). As a result, diets were intentionally confounded with milk production to represent 2 different acidosis risk scenarios. Cows were exposed to an acidosis challenge in each of two 14-d periods. Each period consisted of 3 baseline days, a feed restriction day (restricting TMR to 50% of ad libitum intake), an acidosis challenge day (1-h meal of 4 kg of ground barley/wheat before allocating the TMR), and a recovery phase. Ruminal pH was measured continuously for the first 9 d of each period using an indwelling system. Feed and orts were sampled for 2 baseline days, on the challenge day, and 1 and 3 d after the challenge day for each cow and subjected to particle size analysis. The separator contained 3 screens (18, 9, and 1.18 mm) and a bottom pan to determine the proportion of long, medium, short, and fine particles, respectively. Sorting was calculated as the actual intake of each particle size fraction expressed as a percentage of the predicted intake of that fraction. All cows sorted against the longest and finest TMR particles and sorted for medium-length particles. Sorting was performed to a greater extent by the HR cows, and this sorting was related to low ruminal pH. Both HR and LR cows altered their sorting behavior in response to acidosis challenges. For the HR cows, severe acidosis was associated with increased sorting for the longer particles in the diet and against the shorter particles, likely to lessen the effects of the very.

High-throughput cell analysis and sorting technologies for clinical diagnostics and therapeutics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leary, James F.; Reece, Lisa M.; Szaniszlo, Peter; Prow, Tarl W.; Wang, Nan

2001-05-01

A number of theoretical and practical limits of high-speed flow cytometry/cell sorting are important for clinical diagnostics and therapeutics. Three applications include: (1) stem cell isolation with tumor purging for minimal residual disease monitoring and treatment, (2) identification and isolation of human fetal cells from maternal blood for prenatal diagnostics and in-vitro therapeutics, and (3) high-speed library screening for recombinant vaccine production against unknown pathogens.

Relativistic quantum cryptography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Molotkov, S. N.; Nazin, S. S.

2003-07-01

The problem of unconditional security of quantum cryptography (i.e. the security which is guaranteed by the fundamental laws of nature rather than by technical limitations) is one of the central points in quantum information theory. We propose a relativistic quantum cryptosystem and prove its unconditional security against any eavesdropping attempts. Relativistitic causality arguments allow to demonstrate the security of the system in a simple way. Since the proposed protocol does not empoly collective measurements and quantum codes, the cryptosystem can be experimentally realized with the present state-of-art in fiber optics technologies. The proposed cryptosystem employs only the individual measurements and classical codes and, in addition, the key distribution problem allows to postpone the choice of the state encoding scheme until after the states are already received instead of choosing it before sending the states into the communication channel (i.e. to employ a sort of "antedate" coding).

MOOSE Implementation of MAMBA

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

Galloway, Jack; Matthews, Topher

The development of MAMBA is targeted at capturing both core wide CRUD induced power shifts (CIPS) as well as pin-­level CRUD induced localized corrosion (CILC). Both CIPS and CILC require some sort of information from thermal-­hydraulic, neutronics, and fuel performance codes, although the degree of coupling is different for the two effects. Since CIPS necessarily requires a core-­wide power distribution solve, it requires tight coupling with a neutronics code. Conversely, CIPS tends to be an individual pin phenomenon, requiring tight coupling a fuel performance code. As efforts are now focused on coupling MAMBA within the VERA suite, a natural separationmore » has surfaced in which a FORTRAN rewrite of MAMBA is optimal for VERA integration to capture CIPS behavior, while a CILC focused calculation would benefit from a tight coupling with BISON, motivating a MOOSE version of MAMBA.« less

Making effective use of tolerancing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perrin, Jean-Claude

2005-09-01

After having summarized the different methods in use to tolerance optical systems, with advantages and drawbacks, we present a new software, called TOLTRI, to post process the data's of tolerancing obtained with the TOR routine of CODE V and also introduce new features which are not possible in another way. This software accelerate the interpretation and discussions between the different disciplines involved, by presenting and sorting the results on separate EXCEL sheets and Matlab figures.

Delimiting Coalescence Genes (C-Genes) in Phylogenomic Data Sets.

PubMed

Springer, Mark S; Gatesy, John

2018-02-26

coalescence methods have emerged as a popular alternative for inferring species trees with large genomic datasets, because these methods explicitly account for incomplete lineage sorting. However, statistical consistency of summary coalescence methods is not guaranteed unless several model assumptions are true, including the critical assumption that recombination occurs freely among but not within coalescence genes (c-genes), which are the fundamental units of analysis for these methods. Each c-gene has a single branching history, and large sets of these independent gene histories should be the input for genome-scale coalescence estimates of phylogeny. By contrast, numerous studies have reported the results of coalescence analyses in which complete protein-coding sequences are treated as c-genes even though exons for these loci can span more than a megabase of DNA. Empirical estimates of recombination breakpoints suggest that c-genes may be much shorter, especially when large clades with many species are the focus of analysis. Although this idea has been challenged recently in the literature, the inverse relationship between c-gene size and increased taxon sampling in a dataset-the 'recombination ratchet'-is a fundamental property of c-genes. For taxonomic groups characterized by genes with long intron sequences, complete protein-coding sequences are likely not valid c-genes and are inappropriate units of analysis for summary coalescence methods unless they occur in recombination deserts that are devoid of incomplete lineage sorting (ILS). Finally, it has been argued that coalescence methods are robust when the no-recombination within loci assumption is violated, but recombination must matter at some scale because ILS, a by-product of recombination, is the raison d'etre for coalescence methods. That is, extensive recombination is required to yield the large number of independently segregating c-genes used to infer a species tree. If coalescent methods are powerful enough to infer the correct species tree for difficult phylogenetic problems in the anomaly zone, where concatenation is expected to fail because of ILS, then there should be a decreasing probability of inferring the correct species tree using longer loci with many intralocus recombination breakpoints (i.e., increased levels of concatenation).

Delimiting Coalescence Genes (C-Genes) in Phylogenomic Data Sets

PubMed Central

Springer, Mark S.; Gatesy, John

2018-01-01

Summary coalescence methods have emerged as a popular alternative for inferring species trees with large genomic datasets, because these methods explicitly account for incomplete lineage sorting. However, statistical consistency of summary coalescence methods is not guaranteed unless several model assumptions are true, including the critical assumption that recombination occurs freely among but not within coalescence genes (c-genes), which are the fundamental units of analysis for these methods. Each c-gene has a single branching history, and large sets of these independent gene histories should be the input for genome-scale coalescence estimates of phylogeny. By contrast, numerous studies have reported the results of coalescence analyses in which complete protein-coding sequences are treated as c-genes even though exons for these loci can span more than a megabase of DNA. Empirical estimates of recombination breakpoints suggest that c-genes may be much shorter, especially when large clades with many species are the focus of analysis. Although this idea has been challenged recently in the literature, the inverse relationship between c-gene size and increased taxon sampling in a dataset—the ‘recombination ratchet’—is a fundamental property of c-genes. For taxonomic groups characterized by genes with long intron sequences, complete protein-coding sequences are likely not valid c-genes and are inappropriate units of analysis for summary coalescence methods unless they occur in recombination deserts that are devoid of incomplete lineage sorting (ILS). Finally, it has been argued that coalescence methods are robust when the no-recombination within loci assumption is violated, but recombination must matter at some scale because ILS, a by-product of recombination, is the raison d’etre for coalescence methods. That is, extensive recombination is required to yield the large number of independently segregating c-genes used to infer a species tree. If coalescent methods are powerful enough to infer the correct species tree for difficult phylogenetic problems in the anomaly zone, where concatenation is expected to fail because of ILS, then there should be a decreasing probability of inferring the correct species tree using longer loci with many intralocus recombination breakpoints (i.e., increased levels of concatenation). PMID:29495400

The Transformative Experience in Engineering Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goodman, Katherine Ann

This research evaluates the usefulness of transformative experience (TE) in engineering education. With TE, students 1) apply ideas from coursework to everyday experiences without prompting (motivated use); 2) see everyday situations through the lens of course content (expanded perception); and 3) value course content in new ways because it enriches everyday affective experience (affective value). In a three-part study, we examine how engineering educators can promote student progress toward TE and reliably measure that progress. For the first study, we select a mechanical engineering technical elective, Flow Visualization, that had evidence of promoting expanded perception of fluid physics. Through student surveys and interviews, we compare this elective to the required Fluid Mechanics course. We found student interest in fluids fell into four categories: complexity, application, ubiquity, and aesthetics. Fluid Mechanics promotes interest from application, while Flow Visualization promotes interest based in ubiquity and aesthetics. Coding for expanded perception, we found it associated with students' engineering identity, rather than a specific course. In our second study, we replicate atypical teaching methods from Flow Visualization in a new design course: Aesthetics of Design. Coding of surveys and interviews reveals that open-ended assignments and supportive teams lead to increased ownership of projects, which fuels risk-taking, and produces increased confidence as an engineer. The third study seeks to establish parallels between expanded perception and measurable perceptual expertise. Our visual expertise experiment uses fluid flow images with both novices and experts (students who had passed fluid mechanics). After training, subjects sort images into laminar and turbulent categories. The results demonstrate that novices learned to sort the flow stimuli in ways similar to subjects in prior perceptual expertise studies. In contrast, the experts' significantly better results suggest they are accessing conceptual fluids knowledge to perform this new, visual task. The ability to map concepts onto visual information is likely a necessary step toward expanded perception. Our findings suggest that open-ended aesthetic experiences with engineering content unexpectedly support engineering identity development, and that visual tasks could be developed to measure conceptual understanding, promoting expanded perception. Overall, we find TE a productive theoretical framework for engineering education research.

Complexity control algorithm based on adaptive mode selection for interframe coding in high efficiency video coding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Gang; Yang, Bing; Zhang, Xiaoyun; Gao, Zhiyong

2017-07-01

The latest high efficiency video coding (HEVC) standard significantly increases the encoding complexity for improving its coding efficiency. Due to the limited computational capability of handheld devices, complexity constrained video coding has drawn great attention in recent years. A complexity control algorithm based on adaptive mode selection is proposed for interframe coding in HEVC. Considering the direct proportionality between encoding time and computational complexity, the computational complexity is measured in terms of encoding time. First, complexity is mapped to a target in terms of prediction modes. Then, an adaptive mode selection algorithm is proposed for the mode decision process. Specifically, the optimal mode combination scheme that is chosen through offline statistics is developed at low complexity. If the complexity budget has not been used up, an adaptive mode sorting method is employed to further improve coding efficiency. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm achieves a very large complexity control range (as low as 10%) for the HEVC encoder while maintaining good rate-distortion performance. For the lowdelayP condition, compared with the direct resource allocation method and the state-of-the-art method, an average gain of 0.63 and 0.17 dB in BDPSNR is observed for 18 sequences when the target complexity is around 40%.

Application of NIR hyperspectral imaging for post-consumer polyolefins recycling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Serranti, Silvia; Gargiulo, Aldo; Bonifazi, Giuseppe

2012-06-01

An efficient large-scale recycling approach of particulate solid wastes is always accomplished according to the quality of the materials fed to the recycling plant and/or to any possible continuous and reliable control of the different streams inside the processing plants. Processing technologies addressed to recover plastics need to be extremely powerful, since they must be relatively simple to be cost-effective, but also accurate enough to create high-purity products and able to valorize a substantial fraction of the plastic waste materials into useful products of consistent quality in order to be economical. On the other hand, the potential market for such technologies is large and the boost of environmental regulations, and the oil price increase, has made many industries interested both in "general purpose" waste sorting technologies, as well as in developing more specialized sensing devices and/or inspection logics for a better quality assessment of plastic products. In this perspective recycling strategies have to be developed taking into account some specific aspects as i) mixtures complexity: the valuable material has to be extracted from the residue, ii) overall production: the profitability of plastic can be achieved only with mass production and iii) costs: low-cost sorting processes are required. In this paper new analytical strategies, based on hyperspectral imaging in the near infrared field (1000-1700 nm), have been investigated and set up in order to define sorting and/or quality control logics that could be profitably applied, at industrial plant level, for polyolefins recycling.

78 FR 69805 - Periodic Reporting (Proposals Six Through Nine)

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-11-21

... MODS Operation Groups for Productivity Calculations The Postal Service states that Proposal Eight would... MODS productivity data (TPF or TPH per workhour) for a variety of operation groups related to letter, flat, parcel, and bundle sorting. The MODS productivity data are used to parameterize a number of cost...

Technical advance: autofluorescence-based sorting: rapid and nonperturbing isolation of ultrapure neutrophils to determine cytokine production.

PubMed

Dorward, David A; Lucas, Christopher D; Alessandri, Ana L; Marwick, John A; Rossi, Fiona; Dransfield, Ian; Haslett, Christopher; Dhaliwal, Kevin; Rossi, Adriano G

2013-07-01

The technical limitations of isolating neutrophils without contaminating leukocytes, while concurrently minimizing neutrophil activation, is a barrier to determining specific neutrophil functions. We aimed to assess the use of FACS for generating highly pure quiescent neutrophil populations in an antibody-free environment. Peripheral blood human granulocytes and murine bone marrow-derived neutrophils were isolated by discontinuous Percoll gradient and flow-sorted using FSC/SSC profiles and differences in autofluorescence. Postsort purity was assessed by morphological analysis and flow cytometry. Neutrophil activation was measured in unstimulated-unsorted and sorted cells and in response to fMLF, LTB4, and PAF by measuring shape change, CD62L, and CD11b expression; intracellular calcium flux; and chemotaxis. Cytokine production by human neutrophils was also determined. Postsort human neutrophil purity was 99.95% (sem=0.03; n=11; morphological analysis), and 99.68% were CD16(+ve) (sem=0.06; n=11), with similar results achieved for murine neutrophils. Flow sorting did not alter neutrophil activation or chemotaxis, relative to presorted cells, and no differences in response to agonists were observed. Stimulated neutrophils produced IL-1β, although to a lesser degree than CXCL8/IL-8. The exploitation of the difference in autofluorescence between neutrophils and eosinophils by FACS is a quick and effective method for generating highly purified populations for subsequent in vitro study.

Both the stroma and thylakoid lumen of tobacco chloroplasts are competent for the formation of disulphide bonds in recombinant proteins.

PubMed

Bally, Julia; Paget, Eric; Droux, Michel; Job, Claudette; Job, Dominique; Dubald, Manuel

2008-01-01

Plant chloroplasts are promising vehicles for recombinant protein production, but the process of protein folding in these organelles is not well understood in comparison with that in prokaryotic systems, such as Escherichia coli. This is particularly true for disulphide bond formation which is crucial for the biological activity of many therapeutic proteins. We have investigated the capacity of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) chloroplasts to efficiently form disulphide bonds in proteins by expressing in this plant cell organelle a well-known bacterial enzyme, alkaline phosphatase, whose activity and stability strictly depend on the correct formation of two intramolecular disulphide bonds. Plastid transformants have been generated that express either the mature enzyme, localized in the stroma, or the full-length coding region, including its signal peptide. The latter has the potential to direct the recombinant alkaline phosphatase into the lumen of thylakoids, giving access to this even less well-characterized organellar compartment. We show that the chloroplast stroma supports the formation of an active enzyme, unlike a normal bacterial cytosol. Sorting of alkaline phosphatase to the thylakoid lumen occurs in the plastid transformants translating the full-length coding region, and leads to larger amounts and more active enzyme. These results are compared with those obtained in bacteria. The implications of these findings on protein folding properties and competency of chloroplasts for disulphide bond formation are discussed.

Viewing multiple sequence alignments with the JavaScript Sequence Alignment Viewer (JSAV)

PubMed Central

Martin, Andrew C. R.

2014-01-01

The JavaScript Sequence Alignment Viewer (JSAV) is designed as a simple-to-use JavaScript component for displaying sequence alignments on web pages. The display of sequences is highly configurable with options to allow alternative coloring schemes, sorting of sequences and ’dotifying’ repeated amino acids. An option is also available to submit selected sequences to another web site, or to other JavaScript code. JSAV is implemented purely in JavaScript making use of the JQuery and JQuery-UI libraries. It does not use any HTML5-specific options to help with browser compatibility. The code is documented using JSDOC and is available from http://www.bioinf.org.uk/software/jsav/. PMID:25653836

Viewing multiple sequence alignments with the JavaScript Sequence Alignment Viewer (JSAV).

PubMed

Martin, Andrew C R

2014-01-01

The JavaScript Sequence Alignment Viewer (JSAV) is designed as a simple-to-use JavaScript component for displaying sequence alignments on web pages. The display of sequences is highly configurable with options to allow alternative coloring schemes, sorting of sequences and 'dotifying' repeated amino acids. An option is also available to submit selected sequences to another web site, or to other JavaScript code. JSAV is implemented purely in JavaScript making use of the JQuery and JQuery-UI libraries. It does not use any HTML5-specific options to help with browser compatibility. The code is documented using JSDOC and is available from http://www.bioinf.org.uk/software/jsav/.

Rapid fabrication of three-dimensional structures for dielectrophoretic sorting of lipid-containing organisms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schor, Alisha R.; Buie, Cullen R.

2016-10-01

In this work, we demonstrate a microfluidic particle sorter consisting of three-dimensional, conducting microposts. Our sorter uses dielectrophoresis (DEP) to sort high- and low-lipid phenotypes of the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica. Y. lipolytica is one of the many microorganisms being explored as a hydrocarbon source for biodiesel, Omega-3 additives, and other products derived from fatty acids. A rapid, non-destructive, lipid-based sorting tool would accelerate the commercialization of these products. Our device consists of an array of 105, 25 μm wide gold microposts that span the height of a 15 μm channel. This array generates an electric field in a microfluidic device that is uniform through the channel height, but has a custom-shaped non-uniformity in the horizontal directions. This is crucial in order to achieve continuous sorting using DEP, as it ensures all cells are exposed to the same conditions throughout the channel height. By using very low currents (100 μA), we are able to electroplate these post arrays in fewer than 15 min. This is an order of magnitude improvement over previous reports of electroplated microstructures. With an applied signal of 250 MHz, 2.6 V pp in our device, we separate a heterogeneous population with a purity of 97.8% in the low-lipid stream and 71.4% in the high-lipid stream. The high-lipid stream purity can be improved by adjusting the spacing of the array. This unique protocol for the rapid fabrication of 3D microstructures has enabled the creation of a non-invasive sorting tool for genetically engineered, lipid-producing organisms. The ability to screen organisms based on lipid content will alleviate one of the major bottlenecks in commercialization of microbial biofuels.

A new technology for automatic identification and sorting of plastics for recycling.

PubMed

Ahmad, S R

2004-10-01

A new technology for automatic sorting of plastics, based upon optical identification of fluorescence signatures of dyes, incorporated in such materials in trace concentrations prior to product manufacturing, is described. Three commercial tracers were selected primarily on the basis of their good absorbency in the 310-370 nm spectral band and their identifiable narrow-band fluorescence signatures in the visible band of the spectrum when present in binary combinations. This absorption band was selected because of the availability of strong emission lines in this band from a commercial Hg-arc lamp and high fluorescence quantum yields of the tracers at this excitation wavelength band. The plastics chosen for tracing and identification are HDPE, LDPE, PP, EVA, PVC and PET and the tracers were compatible and chemically non-reactive with the host matrices and did not affect the transparency of the plastics. The design of a monochromatic and collimated excitation source, the sensor system are described and their performances in identifying and sorting plastics doped with tracers at a few parts per million concentration levels are evaluated. In an industrial sorting system, the sensor was able to sort 300 mm long plastic bottles at a conveyor belt speed of 3.5 m.sec(-1) with a sorting purity of -95%. The limitation was imposed due to mechanical singulation irregularities at high speed and the limited processing speed of the computer used.

Coupling Bacterial Activity Measurements with Cell Sorting by Flow Cytometry.

PubMed

Servais; Courties; Lebaron; Troussellier

1999-08-01

> Abstract A new procedure to investigate the relationship between bacterial cell size and activity at the cellular level has been developed; it is based on the coupling of radioactive labeling of bacterial cells and cell sorting by flow cytometry after SYTO 13 staining. Before sorting, bacterial cells were incubated in the presence of tritiated leucine using a procedure similar to that used for measuring bacterial production by leucine incorporation and then stained with SYTO 13. Subpopulations of bacterial cells were sorted according to their average right-angle light scatter (RALS) and fluorescence. Average RALS was shown to be significantly related to the average biovolume. Experiments were performed on samples collected at different times in a Mediterranean seawater mesocosm enriched with nitrogen and phosphorus. At four sampling times, bacteria were sorted in two subpopulations (cells smaller and larger than 0.25 µm(3)). The results indicate that, at each sampling time, the growth rate of larger cells was higher than that of smaller cells. In order to confirm this tendency, cell sorting was performed on six subpopulations differing in average biovolume during the mesocosm follow-up. A clear increase of the bacterial growth rates was observed with increasing cell size for the conditions met in this enriched mesocosm.http://link.springer-ny.com/link/service/journals/00248/bibs/38n2p180.html

Optimizing agent-based transmission models for infectious diseases.

PubMed

Willem, Lander; Stijven, Sean; Tijskens, Engelbert; Beutels, Philippe; Hens, Niel; Broeckhove, Jan

2015-06-02

Infectious disease modeling and computational power have evolved such that large-scale agent-based models (ABMs) have become feasible. However, the increasing hardware complexity requires adapted software designs to achieve the full potential of current high-performance workstations. We have found large performance differences with a discrete-time ABM for close-contact disease transmission due to data locality. Sorting the population according to the social contact clusters reduced simulation time by a factor of two. Data locality and model performance can also be improved by storing person attributes separately instead of using person objects. Next, decreasing the number of operations by sorting people by health status before processing disease transmission has also a large impact on model performance. Depending of the clinical attack rate, target population and computer hardware, the introduction of the sort phase decreased the run time from 26% up to more than 70%. We have investigated the application of parallel programming techniques and found that the speedup is significant but it drops quickly with the number of cores. We observed that the effect of scheduling and workload chunk size is model specific and can make a large difference. Investment in performance optimization of ABM simulator code can lead to significant run time reductions. The key steps are straightforward: the data structure for the population and sorting people on health status before effecting disease propagation. We believe these conclusions to be valid for a wide range of infectious disease ABMs. We recommend that future studies evaluate the impact of data management, algorithmic procedures and parallelization on model performance.

High-resolution FISH on super-stretched flow-sorted plant chromosomes.

PubMed

Valárik, M; Bartos, J; Kovárová, P; Kubaláková, M; de Jong, J H; Dolezel, J

2004-03-01

A novel high-resolution fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) strategy, using super-stretched flow-sorted plant chromosomes as targets, is described. The technique that allows longitudinal extension of chromosomes of more than 100 times their original metaphase size is especially attractive for plant species with large chromosomes, whose pachytene chromosomes are generally too long and heterochromatin patterns too complex for FISH analysis. The protocol involves flow cytometric sorting of metaphase chromosomes, mild proteinase-K digestion of air-dried chromosomes on microscopic slides, followed by stretching with ethanol:acetic acid (3 : 1). Stretching ratios were assessed in a number of FISH experiments with super-stretched chromosomes from barley, wheat, rye and chickpea, hybridised with 45S and 5S ribosomal DNAs and the [GAA]n microsatellite, the [TTTAGGG]n telomeric repeat and a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clone as probes. FISH signals on stretched chromosomes were brighter than those on the untreated control, resulting from better accessibility of the stretched chromatin and maximum observed sensitivity of 1 kbp. Spatial resolution of neighbouring loci was improved down to 70 kbp as compared to 5-10 Mbp after FISH on mitotic chromosomes, revealing details of adjacent DNA sequences hitherto not obtained with any other method. Stretched chromosomes are advantageous over extended DNA fibres from interphase nuclei as targets for FISH studies because they still retain chromosomal integrity. Although the method is confined to species for which chromosome flow sorting has been developed, it provides a unique system for controlling stretching degree of mitotic chromosomes and high-resolution bar-code FISH.

Phylogenetic incongruence in the Drosophila melanogaster species group

PubMed Central

Wong, Alex; Jensen, Jeffrey D.; Pool, John E.; Aquadro, Charles F.

2007-01-01

Drosophila melanogaster and its close relatives are used extensively in comparative biology. Despite the importance of phylogenetic information for such studies, relationships between some melanogaster species group members are unclear due to conflicting phylogenetic signals at different loci. In this study, we use twelve nuclear loci (eleven coding and one non-coding) to assess the degree of phylogenetic incongruence in this model system. We focus on two nodes: (1) The node joining the D. erecta-D. orena, D. melanogaster-D. simulans, and D. yakuba-D. teissieri lineages, and (2) The node joining the lineages leading to the melanogaster, takahashii, and eugracilis subgroups. We find limited evidence for incongruence at the first node; our data, as well as those of several previous studies, strongly support monophyly of a clade consisting of D. erecta-D. orena and D. yakuba-D. teissieri. By contrast, using likelihood based tests of congruence, we find robust evidence for topological incongruence at the second node. Different loci support different relationships among the melanogaster, takahashii and eugracilis subgroups, and the observed incongruence is not easily attributable to homoplasy, non-equilibrium base composition, or positive selection on a subset of loci. We argue that lineage sorting in the common ancestor of these three subgroups is the most plausible explanation for our observations. Such lineage sorting may lead to biased estimation of tree topology and evolutionary rates, and may confound inferences of positive selection. PMID:17071113

The Multidimensional Influence of Acculturation on Digit Symbol-Coding and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test in Hispanics.

PubMed

Krch, Denise; Lequerica, Anthony; Arango-Lasprilla, Juan Carlos; Rogers, Heather L; DeLuca, John; Chiaravalloti, Nancy D

2015-01-01

The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the relative contribution of acculturation to two tests of nonverbal test performance in Hispanics. This study compared 40 Hispanic and 20 non-Hispanic whites on Digit Symbol-Coding (DSC) and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and evaluated the relative contribution of the various acculturation components to cognitive test performance in the Hispanic group. Hispanics performed significantly worse on DSC and WCST relative to non-Hispanic whites. Multiple regressions conducted within the Hispanic group revealed that language use uniquely accounted for 11.0% of the variance on the DSC, 18.8% of the variance on WCST categories completed, and 13.0% of the variance in perseverative errors on the WCST. Additionally, years of education in the United States uniquely accounted for 14.9% of the variance in DSC. The significant impact of acculturation on DSC and WCST lends support that nonverbal cognitive tests are not necessarily culture free. The differential contribution of acculturation proxies highlights the importance of considering these separate components when interpreting performance on neuropsychological tests in clinical and research settings. Factors, such as the country where education was received, may in fact be more meaningful information than the years of education of education attained. Thus, acculturation should be considered an important factor in any cognitive evaluation of culturally diverse individuals.

Entry, Pricing, and Product Design in an Initially Monopolized Market

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, Steven J.; Murphy, Kevin M.; Topel, Robert H.

2004-01-01

We analyze entry, pricing, and product design in a model with differentiated products. Market equilibrium can be "separating," with multiple sellers and a sorting of heterogeneous consumers across goods, or "exclusionary," with one seller serving all customer types. Entry into an initially monopolized market can occur because of cost reductions or…

NeoAnalysis: a Python-based toolbox for quick electrophysiological data processing and analysis.

PubMed

Zhang, Bo; Dai, Ji; Zhang, Tao

2017-11-13

In a typical electrophysiological experiment, especially one that includes studying animal behavior, the data collected normally contain spikes, local field potentials, behavioral responses and other associated data. In order to obtain informative results, the data must be analyzed simultaneously with the experimental settings. However, most open-source toolboxes currently available for data analysis were developed to handle only a portion of the data and did not take into account the sorting of experimental conditions. Additionally, these toolboxes require that the input data be in a specific format, which can be inconvenient to users. Therefore, the development of a highly integrated toolbox that can process multiple types of data regardless of input data format and perform basic analysis for general electrophysiological experiments is incredibly useful. Here, we report the development of a Python based open-source toolbox, referred to as NeoAnalysis, to be used for quick electrophysiological data processing and analysis. The toolbox can import data from different data acquisition systems regardless of their formats and automatically combine different types of data into a single file with a standardized format. In cases where additional spike sorting is needed, NeoAnalysis provides a module to perform efficient offline sorting with a user-friendly interface. Then, NeoAnalysis can perform regular analog signal processing, spike train, and local field potentials analysis, behavioral response (e.g. saccade) detection and extraction, with several options available for data plotting and statistics. Particularly, it can automatically generate sorted results without requiring users to manually sort data beforehand. In addition, NeoAnalysis can organize all of the relevant data into an informative table on a trial-by-trial basis for data visualization. Finally, NeoAnalysis supports analysis at the population level. With the multitude of general-purpose functions provided by NeoAnalysis, users can easily obtain publication-quality figures without writing complex codes. NeoAnalysis is a powerful and valuable toolbox for users doing electrophysiological experiments.

OCTGRAV: Sparse Octree Gravitational N-body Code on Graphics Processing Units

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaburov, Evghenii; Bédorf, Jeroen; Portegies Zwart, Simon

2010-10-01

Octgrav is a very fast tree-code which runs on massively parallel Graphical Processing Units (GPU) with NVIDIA CUDA architecture. The algorithms are based on parallel-scan and sort methods. The tree-construction and calculation of multipole moments is carried out on the host CPU, while the force calculation which consists of tree walks and evaluation of interaction list is carried out on the GPU. In this way, a sustained performance of about 100GFLOP/s and data transfer rates of about 50GB/s is achieved. It takes about a second to compute forces on a million particles with an opening angle of heta approx 0.5. To test the performance and feasibility, we implemented the algorithms in CUDA in the form of a gravitational tree-code which completely runs on the GPU. The tree construction and traverse algorithms are portable to many-core devices which have support for CUDA or OpenCL programming languages. The gravitational tree-code outperforms tuned CPU code during the tree-construction and shows a performance improvement of more than a factor 20 overall, resulting in a processing rate of more than 2.8 million particles per second. The code has a convenient user interface and is freely available for use.

Consumers' Risk Perception of Household Cleaning and Washing Products.

PubMed

Bearth, Angela; Miesler, Linda; Siegrist, Michael

2017-04-01

A large share of accidental and nonaccidental poisonings are caused by household cleaning and washing products, such as drain cleaner or laundry detergent. The main goal of this article was to investigate consumers' risk perception and misconceptions of a variety of cleaning and washing products in order to inform future risk communication efforts. For this, a sorting task including 33 commonly available household cleaning and washing products was implemented. A total of 60 female consumers were asked to place the cleaning and washing products on a reference line 3 m in length with the poles "dangerous" and "not dangerous." The gathered data were analyzed qualitatively and by means of multidimensional scaling, cluster analysis, and linear regression. The dimensionality of the sorting data suggests that both analytically (i.e., written and graphical hazard notes and perceived effectiveness) and intuitively driven risk judgments (i.e., eco vs. regular products) were applied by the participants. Furthermore, results suggest the presence of misconceptions, particularly related to consumers' perceptions of eco cleaning products, which were generally regarded as safer than their regular counterparts. Future risk communication should aim at dispelling these misconceptions and promoting accurate risk perceptions of particular household cleaning and washing products. © 2016 Society for Risk Analysis.

GGA1 regulates signal-dependent sorting of BACE1 to recycling endosomes, which moderates Aβ production

PubMed Central

Toh, Wei Hong; Chia, Pei Zhi Cheryl; Hossain, Mohammed Iqbal; Gleeson, Paul A.

2018-01-01

The diversion of the membrane-bound β-site amyloid precursor protein–(APP) cleaving enzyme (BACE1) from the endolysosomal pathway to recycling endosomes represents an important transport step in the regulation of amyloid beta (Aβ) production. However, the mechanisms that regulate endosome sorting of BACE1 are poorly understood. Here we assessed the transport of BACE1 from early to recycling endosomes and have identified essential roles for the sorting nexin 4 (SNX4)-mediated, signal-independent pathway and for a novel signal-mediated pathway. The signal-mediated pathway is regulated by the phosphorylation of the DXXLL-motif sequence DISLL in the cytoplasmic tail of BACE1. The phosphomimetic S498D BACE1 mutant was trafficked to recycling endosomes at a faster rate compared with wild-type BACE1 or the nonphosphorylatable S498A mutant. The rapid transit of BACE1 S498D from early endosomes was coupled with reduced levels of amyloid precursor protein processing and Aβ production, compared with the S498A mutant. We show that the adaptor, GGA1, and retromer are essential to mediate rapid trafficking of phosphorylated BACE1 to recycling endosomes. In addition, the BACE1 DISLL motif is phosphorylated and regulates endosomal trafficking, in primary neurons. Therefore, post-translational phosphorylation of DISLL enhances the exit of BACE1 from early endosomes, a pathway mediated by GGA1 and retromer, which is important in regulating Aβ production. PMID:29142073

Mutation in the peroxin-coding gene PEX22 contributing to high malate production in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

PubMed

Negoro, Hiroaki; Sakamoto, Mitsuru; Kotaka, Atsushi; Matsumura, Kengo; Hata, Yoji

2018-02-01

Saccharomyces cerevisiae produces organic acids such as succinate, acetate, and malate during alcoholic fermentation. Since malate contributes to the pleasant taste of sake (a Japanese alcoholic beverage), various methods for breeding high-malate-producing yeast strains have been developed. Here, a high-malate-producing yeast strain F-701H was isolated. This mutant was sensitive to dimethyl succinate (DMS) and harbored a nonsense mutation in the peroxin gene PEX22, which was identified as the cause of high malate production by comparative genome analysis. This mutation, which appeared to cause Pex22p dysfunction, was sufficient to confer increased malate productivity and DMS sensitivity to yeast cells. Next, we investigated the mechanism by which this mutation led to high malate production in yeast cells. Peroxins, such as Pex22p, maintain peroxisomal biogenesis. Analysis of 29 PEX disruptants revealed an increased malate production by deletion of the genes encoding peroxins responsible for importing proteins (containing peroxisomal targeting signal 1, PTS1) into the peroxisomal matrix, and those responsible for the assembly of peroxins themselves in the peroxisomal membrane. A defect in peroxisomal malate dehydrogenase (Mdh3p), harboring endogenous PTS1, inhibited the high malate-producing phenotype in the PEX22 mutant. Moreover, Mdh3p, which was normally sorted to the peroxisomal matrix, was potentially mislocalized to the cytosol in the PEX22 mutant. This suggested that an increase in malate production resulted from the mislocalization of Mdh3p from the peroxisome to the cytoplasm due to the loss of peroxin-mediated transportation. Thus, the present study revealed a novel mechanism for organic acid productions in yeast during sake brewing. Copyright © 2017 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Neural computation of arithmetic functions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Siu, Kai-Yeung; Bruck, Jehoshua

1990-01-01

An area of application of neural networks is considered. A neuron is modeled as a linear threshold gate, and the network architecture considered is the layered feedforward network. It is shown how common arithmetic functions such as multiplication and sorting can be efficiently computed in a shallow neural network. Some known results are improved by showing that the product of two n-bit numbers and sorting of n n-bit numbers can be computed by a polynomial-size neural network using only four and five unit delays, respectively. Moreover, the weights of each threshold element in the neural networks require O(log n)-bit (instead of n-bit) accuracy. These results can be extended to more complicated functions such as multiple products, division, rational functions, and approximation of analytic functions.

Recent progress on the structure separation of single-wall carbon nanotubes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cui, Jiaming; Yang, Dehua; Zeng, Xiang; Zhou, Naigen; Liu, Huaping

2017-11-01

The mass production of single-structure, single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with identical properties is critical for their basic research and technical applications in the fields of electronics, optics and optoelectronics. Great efforts have been made to control the structures of SWCNTs since their discovery. Recently, the structure separation of SWCNTs has been making great progress. Various solution-sorting methods have been developed to achieve not only the separation of metallic and semiconducting species, but also the sorting of distinct (n, m) single-chirality species and even their enantiomers. This progress would dramatically accelerate the application of SWCNTs in the next-generation electronic devices. Here, we review the recent progress in the structure sorting of SWCNTs and outline the challenges and prospects of the structure separation of SWCNTs.

HCPCS Coding: An Integral Part of Your Reimbursement Strategy.

PubMed

Nusgart, Marcia

2013-12-01

The first step to a successful reimbursement strategy is to ensure that your wound care product has the most appropriate Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) code (or billing) for your product. The correct HCPCS code plays an essential role in patient access to new and existing technologies. When devising a strategy to obtain a HCPCS code for its product, companies must consider a number of factors as follows: (1) Has the product gone through the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory process or does it need to do so? Will the FDA code designation impact which HCPCS code will be assigned to your product? (2) In what "site of service" do you intend to market your product? Where will your customers use the product? Which coding system (CPT ® or HCPCS) applies to your product? (3) Does a HCPCS code for a similar product already exist? Does your product fit under the existing HCPCS code? (4) Does your product need a new HCPCS code? What is the linkage, if any, between coding, payment, and coverage for the product? Researchers and companies need to start early and place the same emphasis on a reimbursement strategy as it does on a regulatory strategy. Your reimbursement strategy staff should be involved early in the process, preferably during product research and development and clinical trial discussions.

Lighting Quality Affects Eyestrain of Operators at Sorting Station in Beverage Industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anizar; Erwin

2017-03-01

This study observes sorters’ performance in two beverage industries whose job is to separate defect products found. Sorters observe bottles quality and beverage quality continuously, therefore requiring more focused eyes which makes eyes’ load heavier. Sorters’ eyestrain causes more defect products pass the selection. In this study, measurement is conducted toward ilumintation, operators’ time response, and defect products that pass the selection. Measurement is hold in 2 beverage industries for four days with four measurements per day, twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon. Ilumination is measured with 4 in 1 environmental meter in grid 1m x 1m, while operators’ time response is measured with Flicker Fusion. Illuminance is generally higher in the morning than in the evening, but still under the standard of Indonesia. Overall, sorters’ time response is higher in the morning than in the afternoon. Higher time response shows that operators experiencing lower fatigue than lower time response. The sorting duration also affects operators’ time response and defect products which pass the selection.

Number of minimum-weight code words in a product code

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, R. L.

1978-01-01

Consideration is given to the number of minimum-weight code words in a product code. The code is considered as a tensor product of linear codes over a finite field. Complete theorems and proofs are presented.

PBMC are as good a source of tumor-reactive T lymphocytes as TIL after selection by Melan-A/A2 multimer immunomagnetic sorting.

PubMed

Labarrière, Nathalie; Gervois, Nadine; Bonnin, Annabelle; Bouquié, Régis; Jotereau, Francine; Lang, François

2008-02-01

Choosing a reliable source of tumor-specific T lymphocytes and an efficient method to isolate these cells still remains a critical issue in adoptive cellular therapy (ACT). In this study, we assessed the capacity of MHC/peptide based immunomagnetic sorting followed by polyclonal T cell expansion to derive pure polyclonal and tumor-reactive Melan-A specific T cell populations from melanoma patient's PBMC and TIL. We first demonstrated that this approach was extremely efficient and reproducible. We then used this procedure to compare PBMC and TIL-derived cells from three melanoma patients in terms of avidity for Melan-A A27L analog, Melan-A(26-35)and Melan-A(27-35), tumor reactivity (lysis and cytokine production) and repertoire. Regardless of their origin, i.e., fresh PBMC, peptide stimulated PBMC or TIL, all sorted populations (from the three patients) were cytotoxic against HLA-A2+ melanoma cell lines expressing Melan-A. Although some variability in peptide avidity, lytic activity and cytokine production was observed between populations of different origins in a given patient, it differed from one patient to another and thus no correlation could be drawn between T cell source and reactivity. Analysis of Vbeta usage within the sorted populations showed the recurrence of Vbeta3 and Vbeta14 subfamilies in the three patients but differences in the rest of the Melan-A repertoire. In addition, in two patients, we observed major repertoire differences between populations sorted from the three sources. We especially documented that in vitro peptide stimulation of PBMC, used to facilitate the sort by enriching in specific T lymphocytes, could significantly alter their repertoire and reactivity towards tumor cells. We conclude that PBMC which are easily obtained from all melanoma patients, can be as good a source as TIL to derive high amounts of tumor-reactive Melan-A specific T cells, with this selection/amplification procedure. However, the conditions of peptide stimulation should be improved to prevent a possible loss of reactive clonotypes.

Grass allergy

MedlinePlus

... itself may not be harmful, fertilizers, insecticides , and herbicides applied to the grass can be poisonous. ... of any sort such as fertilizer, insecticide, or herbicide, find out the product name and ingredients.

Tool for Rapid Analysis of Monte Carlo Simulations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Restrepo, Carolina; McCall, Kurt E.; Hurtado, John E.

2013-01-01

Designing a spacecraft, or any other complex engineering system, requires extensive simulation and analysis work. Oftentimes, the large amounts of simulation data generated are very difficult and time consuming to analyze, with the added risk of overlooking potentially critical problems in the design. The authors have developed a generic data analysis tool that can quickly sort through large data sets and point an analyst to the areas in the data set that cause specific types of failures. The first version of this tool was a serial code and the current version is a parallel code, which has greatly increased the analysis capabilities. This paper describes the new implementation of this analysis tool on a graphical processing unit, and presents analysis results for NASA's Orion Monte Carlo data to demonstrate its capabilities.

Particle-in-cell simulations with charge-conserving current deposition on graphic processing units

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ren, Chuang; Kong, Xianglong; Huang, Michael; Decyk, Viktor; Mori, Warren

2011-10-01

Recently using CUDA, we have developed an electromagnetic Particle-in-Cell (PIC) code with charge-conserving current deposition for Nvidia graphic processing units (GPU's) (Kong et al., Journal of Computational Physics 230, 1676 (2011). On a Tesla M2050 (Fermi) card, the GPU PIC code can achieve a one-particle-step process time of 1.2 - 3.2 ns in 2D and 2.3 - 7.2 ns in 3D, depending on plasma temperatures. In this talk we will discuss novel algorithms for GPU-PIC including charge-conserving current deposition scheme with few branching and parallel particle sorting. These algorithms have made efficient use of the GPU shared memory. We will also discuss how to replace the computation kernels of existing parallel CPU codes while keeping their parallel structures. This work was supported by U.S. Department of Energy under Grant Nos. DE-FG02-06ER54879 and DE-FC02-04ER54789 and by NSF under Grant Nos. PHY-0903797 and CCF-0747324.

Fast and straightforward analysis approach of charge transport data in single molecule junctions.

PubMed

Zhang, Qian; Liu, Chenguang; Tao, Shuhui; Yi, Ruowei; Su, Weitao; Zhao, Cezhou; Zhao, Chun; Dappe, Yannick J; Nichols, Richard J; Yang, Li

2018-08-10

In this study, we introduce an efficient data sorting algorithm, including filters for noisy signals, conductance mapping for analyzing the most dominant conductance group and sub-population groups. The capacity of our data analysis process has also been corroborated on real experimental data sets of Au-1,6-hexanedithiol-Au and Au-1,8-octanedithiol-Au molecular junctions. The fully automated and unsupervised program requires less than one minute on a standard PC to sort the data and generate histograms. The resulting one-dimensional and two-dimensional log histograms give conductance values in good agreement with previous studies. Our algorithm is a straightforward, fast and user-friendly tool for single molecule charge transport data analysis. We also analyze the data in a form of a conductance map which can offer evidence for diversity in molecular conductance. The code for automatic data analysis is openly available, well-documented and ready to use, thereby offering a useful new tool for single molecule electronics.

Bioterrorism-related Inhalational Anthrax in an Elderly Woman, Connecticut, 2001

PubMed Central

Mead, Paul; Armstrong, Gregory L.; Painter, John; Kelley, Katherine A.; Hoffmaster, Alex R.; Mayo, Donald; Barden, Diane; Ridzon, Renee; Parashar, Umesh; Teshale, Eyasu Habtu; Williams, Jen; Noviello, Stephanie; Perz, Joseph F.; Mast, Eric E.; Swerdlow, David L.; Hadler, James L.

2003-01-01

On November 20, 2001, inhalational anthrax was confirmed in an elderly woman from rural Connecticut. To determine her exposure source, we conducted an extensive epidemiologic, environmental, and laboratory investigation. Molecular subtyping showed that her isolate was indistinguishable from isolates associated with intentionally contaminated letters. No samples from her home or community yielded Bacillus anthracis, and she received no first-class letters from facilities known to have processed intentionally contaminated letters. Environmental sampling in the regional Connecticut postal facility yielded B. anthracis spores from 4 (31%) of 13 sorting machines. One extensively contaminated machine primarily processes bulk mail. A second machine that does final sorting of bulk mail for her zip code yielded B. anthracis on the column of bins for her carrier route. The evidence suggests she was exposed through a cross-contaminated bulk mail letter. Such cross-contamination of letters and postal facilities has implications for managing the response to future B. anthracis–contaminated mailings. PMID:12781007

Results from the Veterans Health Administration ICD-10-CM/PCS Coding Pilot Study.

PubMed

Weems, Shelley; Heller, Pamela; Fenton, Susan H

2015-01-01

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) of the US Department of Veterans Affairs has been preparing for the October 1, 2015, conversion to the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification and Procedural Coding System (ICD-10-CM/PCS) for more than four years. The VHA's Office of Informatics and Analytics ICD-10 Program Management Office established an ICD-10 Learning Lab to explore expected operational challenges. This study was conducted to determine the effects of the classification system conversion on coding productivity. ICD codes are integral to VHA business processes and are used for purposes such as clinical studies, performance measurement, workload capture, cost determination, Veterans Equitable Resource Allocation (VERA) determination, morbidity and mortality classification, indexing of hospital records by disease and operations, data storage and retrieval, research purposes, and reimbursement. The data collection for this study occurred in multiple VHA sites across several months using standardized methods. It is commonly accepted that coding productivity will decrease with the implementation of ICD-10-CM/PCS. The findings of this study suggest that the decrease will be more significant for inpatient coding productivity (64.5 percent productivity decrease) than for ambulatory care coding productivity (6.7 percent productivity decrease). This study reveals the following important points regarding ICD-10-CM/PCS coding productivity: 1. Ambulatory care ICD-10-CM coding productivity is not expected to decrease as significantly as inpatient ICD-10-CM/PCS coding productivity. 2. Coder training and type of record (inpatient versus outpatient) affect coding productivity. 3. Inpatient coding productivity is decreased when a procedure requiring ICD-10-PCS coding is present. It is highly recommended that organizations perform their own analyses to determine the effects of ICD-10-CM/PCS implementation on coding productivity.

Results from the Veterans Health Administration ICD-10-CM/PCS Coding Pilot Study

PubMed Central

Weems, Shelley; Heller, Pamela; Fenton, Susan H.

2015-01-01

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) of the US Department of Veterans Affairs has been preparing for the October 1, 2015, conversion to the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification and Procedural Coding System (ICD-10-CM/PCS) for more than four years. The VHA's Office of Informatics and Analytics ICD-10 Program Management Office established an ICD-10 Learning Lab to explore expected operational challenges. This study was conducted to determine the effects of the classification system conversion on coding productivity. ICD codes are integral to VHA business processes and are used for purposes such as clinical studies, performance measurement, workload capture, cost determination, Veterans Equitable Resource Allocation (VERA) determination, morbidity and mortality classification, indexing of hospital records by disease and operations, data storage and retrieval, research purposes, and reimbursement. The data collection for this study occurred in multiple VHA sites across several months using standardized methods. It is commonly accepted that coding productivity will decrease with the implementation of ICD-10-CM/PCS. The findings of this study suggest that the decrease will be more significant for inpatient coding productivity (64.5 percent productivity decrease) than for ambulatory care coding productivity (6.7 percent productivity decrease). This study reveals the following important points regarding ICD-10-CM/PCS coding productivity: Ambulatory care ICD-10-CM coding productivity is not expected to decrease as significantly as inpatient ICD-10-CM/PCS coding productivity.Coder training and type of record (inpatient versus outpatient) affect coding productivity.Inpatient coding productivity is decreased when a procedure requiring ICD-10-PCS coding is present. It is highly recommended that organizations perform their own analyses to determine the effects of ICD-10-CM/PCS implementation on coding productivity. PMID:26396553

Characterization of aerosols produced by cell sorters and evaluation of containment

PubMed Central

Holmes, Kevin L.

2011-01-01

In spite of the recognition by the flow cytometry community of potential aerosol hazards associated with cell sorting, there has been no previous study that has thoroughly characterized the aerosols that can be produced by cell sorters. In this study an Aerodynamic Particle Sizer was used to determine the concentration and aerodynamic diameter of aerosols produced by a FACS Aria II cell sorter under various conditions. Aerosol containment and evacuation was also evaluated using this novel methodology. The results showed that high concentrations of aerosols in the range of 1–3 μm can be produced in fail mode and that with decreased sheath pressure, aerosol concentration decreased and aerodynamic diameter increased. Although the engineering controls of the FACS Aria II for containment were effective, sort chamber evacuation of aerosols following a simulated nozzle obstruction was ineffective. However, simple modifications to the FACS Aria II are described that greatly improved sort chamber aerosol evacuation. The results of this study will facilitate the risk assessment of cell sorting potentially biohazardous samples by providing much needed data regarding aerosol production and containment. PMID:22052694

Isolation of intact RNA from murine CD4+ T cells after intracellular cytokine staining and fluorescence-activated cell sorting.

PubMed

Kunnath-Velayudhan, Shajo; Porcelli, Steven A

2018-05-01

Intracellular cytokine staining (ICS) is a powerful method for identifying functionally distinct lymphocyte subsets, and for isolating these by fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS). Although transcriptomic analysis of cells sorted on the basis of ICS has many potential applications, this is rarely performed because of the difficulty in isolating intact RNA from cells processed using standard fixation and permeabilization buffers for ICS. To address this issue, we compared three buffers shown previously to preserve RNA in nonhematopoietic cells subjected to intracellular staining for their effects on RNA isolated from T lymphocytes processed for ICS. Our results showed that buffers containing the recombinant ribonuclease inhibitor RNasin or high molar concentrations of salt yielded intact RNA from fixed and permeabilized T cells. As proof of principle, we successfully used the buffer containing RNasin to isolate intact RNA from CD4 + T cells that were sorted by FACS on the basis of specific cytokine production, thus demonstrating the potential of this approach for coupling ICS with transcriptomic analysis. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Using National Drug Codes and drug knowledge bases to organize prescription records from multiple sources.

PubMed

Simonaitis, Linas; McDonald, Clement J

2009-10-01

The utility of National Drug Codes (NDCs) and drug knowledge bases (DKBs) in the organization of prescription records from multiple sources was studied. The master files of most pharmacy systems include NDCs and local codes to identify the products they dispense. We obtained a large sample of prescription records from seven different sources. These records carried a national product code or a local code that could be translated into a national product code via their formulary master. We obtained mapping tables from five DKBs. We measured the degree to which the DKB mapping tables covered the national product codes carried in or associated with the sample of prescription records. Considering the total prescription volume, DKBs covered 93.0-99.8% of the product codes from three outpatient sources and 77.4-97.0% of the product codes from four inpatient sources. Among the in-patient sources, invented codes explained 36-94% of the noncoverage. Outpatient pharmacy sources rarely invented codes, which comprised only 0.11-0.21% of their total prescription volume, compared with inpatient pharmacy sources for which invented codes comprised 1.7-7.4% of their prescription volume. The distribution of prescribed products was highly skewed, with 1.4-4.4% of codes accounting for 50% of the message volume and 10.7-34.5% accounting for 90% of the message volume. DKBs cover the product codes used by outpatient sources sufficiently well to permit automatic mapping. Changes in policies and standards could increase coverage of product codes used by inpatient sources.

50 CFR Table 1c to Part 679 - Product Type Codes

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 11 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Product Type Codes 1c Table 1c to Part..., Table 1c Table 1c to Part 679—Product Type Codes Description Code Ancillary product.A product, such as... the highest recovery rate. P Reprocessed or rehandled product.A product, such as meal, that results...

Short communication: Associations between feed push-up frequency, feeding and lying behavior, and milk yield and composition of dairy cows.

PubMed

Miller-Cushon, E K; DeVries, T J

2017-03-01

Feeding management factors have great potential to influence activity patterns and feeding behavior of dairy cows, which may have implications for performance. The objectives of this study were to assess the effects of feed push-up frequency on the behavioral patterns of dairy cows, and to determine associations between behavior and milk yield and composition. Lactating Holstein dairy cows (n = 28, parity = 1.9 ± 1.1; mean ± SD) were housed in tiestalls, milked twice per day, and offered ad libitum access to water and a total mixed ration (containing, on a dry matter basis: 25% corn silage, 25% grass/alfalfa haylage, 30% high-moisture corn, and 20% protein/mineral supplement), provided twice per day. Cows were divided into 2 groups of 14 (balanced by days in milk, milk production, and parity) and individually exposed to each of 2 treatments in a crossover design with 21-d periods; treatment 1 had infrequent feed push-up (3×/d), whereas treatment 2 had frequent feed push-up (5×/d). During the last 7 d of each period, dry matter intake and milk production were recorded and lying behavior was monitored using electronic data loggers. During the last 2 d of each period, milk samples were collected for analysis of protein and fat content and feed samples of fresh feed and orts were collected for particle size analysis. The particle size separator had 3 screens (19, 8, and 1.18 mm) and a bottom pan, resulting in 4 fractions (long, medium, short, fine). Sorting was calculated as the actual intake of each particle size fraction expressed as a percentage of the predicted intake of that fraction. Feed push-up frequency had no effect on lying time [11.4 ± 0.37 h/d; mean ± standard error (SE)], milk production (40.2 ± 1.28 kg/d) and composition (milk protein: 3.30 ± 0.048%; milk fat: 3.81 ± 0.077%), or feed sorting. Cows sorted against long particles (78.0 ± 2.2%) and for short (102.6 ± 0.6%) and fine (108.4 ± 0.9%) particles. Milk fat content decreased by 0.1 percentage points for every 10% increase in sorting against long particles and was not associated with lying behavior or other cow-level factors. Milk protein content decreased by 0.03 percentage points for every hour decrease in lying time and by 0.04 percentage points for every 10% increase in sorting against long particles. These results suggest that sorting against long ration particles may negatively affect milk composition. Additionally, we did not find that altering feed push-up frequency affected feed sorting or cow standing and lying patterns. Copyright © 2017 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Investigating selective transport and abrasion on an alluvial fan using quantitative grain size and shape analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Litwin, K. L.; Jerolmack, D. J.

2011-12-01

Selective sorting and abrasion are the two major fluvial processes that are attributed to the downstream fining of sediments in rivers and alluvial fans. Selective transport is the process by which smaller grains are preferentially transported downstream while larger grains are deposited closer to the source. Abrasion is defined by the production of fine sediments and sand that occurs by saltation of gravel, where particle-to-particle collisions supply the energy required to break apart grains. We hypothesize that abrasion results in the gradual fining of large grains and the production of fine sands and silts, while sorting accounts for the differences in transport of these two grain-size fractions produced from abrasion, thereby creating the abrupt gravel-sand transition observed in many channel systems. In this research, we explore both selective transport and abrasion processes on the Dog Canyon alluvial fan near Alamogordo, New Mexico. We complete an extensive grain size analysis down the main channel of the fan employing an image-based technique that utilizes an autocorrelation process. We also characterize changes in grain shape using standard shape parameters, as well as Fourier analysis, which allows the study of contributions of grain roughness on a variety of length scales. Sorting appears to dominate the upper portion of the fan; the grain-size distribution narrows moving downstream until reaching a point of equal mobility, at which point sorting ceases. Abrasion exerts a subtle but persistent effect on grains during transport down the fan. Shape analysis reveals that particles become more rounded by the removal of small-scale textural features, a process that is expected to only modestly influence grain size of gravel, but should produce significant quantities of sand. This study provides a better understanding of the importance of grain abrasion and sorting on the downstream fining of channel grains in an alluvial fan, as well as an improved knowledge about the abrupt gravel-sand transition observed in a majority of alluvial fans.

Neural network hardware and software solutions for sorting of waste plastics for recycling

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

Stanton, S.L.; Alam, M.K.; Hebner, G.A.

1992-12-31

While plastic recycling efforts have expanded during the past several years, the cost of recovering plastics is still a major impediment for recyclers. Several factors contribute to the prohibitive cost of recycled resins, including the present low marketability of products made with mixed recycled materials, and costs of collecting, sorting and reprocessing plastic materials. A method for automatic sorting of post-consumer plastics into pure polymer streams is needed to overcome the inaccuracies and low product throughput of the currently used method of hand sorting of waste plastics for recycling. The Society of Plastics has designated seven categories as recyclable: Polyethylenemore » terephthalate (PET); High Density Polyethylene (HDPE); Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC); Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE); Polypropylene (PP); Polystyrene (PS); and Other (mixtures, layered items, etc.). With these categories in mind, a system for sorting of waste plastics using near-infrared reflectance spectra and a backpropagation neural network classifier has been developed. A solution has been demonstrated in the laboratory using a high resolution, and relatively slow instrument. A faster instrument is being developed at this time. Neural network hardware options have been evaluated for use in a real-time industrial system. In the lab, a Fourier transform Near Infrared (FT-NIR) scanning spectrometer was used to gather reflectance data from various locations on samples of actual waste plastics. Neural networks were trained off-line with this data using the NeuralWorks Professional II Plus software package on a SparcStation 2. One of the successfully trained networks was used to compare the neural accelerator hardware options available. The results of running this ``worst case`` network on the neural network hardware will be presented. The AT&T ANNA chip and the Intel 80170NX chip development system were used to determine the ease of implementation and accuracies for this network.« less

Neural network hardware and software solutions for sorting of waste plastics for recycling

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

Stanton, S.L.; Alam, M.K.; Hebner, G.A.

1992-01-01

While plastic recycling efforts have expanded during the past several years, the cost of recovering plastics is still a major impediment for recyclers. Several factors contribute to the prohibitive cost of recycled resins, including the present low marketability of products made with mixed recycled materials, and costs of collecting, sorting and reprocessing plastic materials. A method for automatic sorting of post-consumer plastics into pure polymer streams is needed to overcome the inaccuracies and low product throughput of the currently used method of hand sorting of waste plastics for recycling. The Society of Plastics has designated seven categories as recyclable: Polyethylenemore » terephthalate (PET); High Density Polyethylene (HDPE); Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC); Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE); Polypropylene (PP); Polystyrene (PS); and Other (mixtures, layered items, etc.). With these categories in mind, a system for sorting of waste plastics using near-infrared reflectance spectra and a backpropagation neural network classifier has been developed. A solution has been demonstrated in the laboratory using a high resolution, and relatively slow instrument. A faster instrument is being developed at this time. Neural network hardware options have been evaluated for use in a real-time industrial system. In the lab, a Fourier transform Near Infrared (FT-NIR) scanning spectrometer was used to gather reflectance data from various locations on samples of actual waste plastics. Neural networks were trained off-line with this data using the NeuralWorks Professional II Plus software package on a SparcStation 2. One of the successfully trained networks was used to compare the neural accelerator hardware options available. The results of running this worst case'' network on the neural network hardware will be presented. The AT T ANNA chip and the Intel 80170NX chip development system were used to determine the ease of implementation and accuracies for this network.« less

Comparative environmental evaluation of construction waste management through different waste sorting systems in Hong Kong.

PubMed

Hossain, Md Uzzal; Wu, Zezhou; Poon, Chi Sun

2017-11-01

This study aimed to compare the environmental performance of building construction waste management (CWM) systems in Hong Kong. Life cycle assessment (LCA) approach was applied to evaluate the performance of CWM systems holistically based on primary data collected from two real building construction sites and secondary data obtained from the literature. Different waste recovery rates were applied based on compositions and material flow to assess the influence on the environmental performance of CWM systems. The system boundary includes all stages of the life cycle of building construction waste (including transportation, sorting, public fill or landfill disposal, recovery and reuse, and transformation and valorization into secondary products). A substitutional LCA approach was applied for capturing the environmental gains due to the utilizations of recovered materials. The results showed that the CWM system by using off-site sorting and direct landfilling resulted in significant environmental impacts. However, a considerable net environmental benefit was observed through an on-site sorting system. For example, about 18-30kg CO 2 eq. greenhouse gases (GHGs) emission were induced for managing 1 t of construction waste through off-site sorting and direct landfilling, whereas significant GHGs emission could be potentially avoided (considered as a credit -126 to -182kg CO 2 eq.) for an on-site sorting system due to the higher recycling potential. Although the environmental benefits mainly depend on the waste compositions and their sortability, the analysis conducted in this study can serve as guidelines to design an effective and resource-efficient building CWM system. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development of a new approach based on midwave infrared spectroscopy for post-consumer black plastic waste sorting in the recycling industry.

PubMed

Rozenstein, Offer; Puckrin, Eldon; Adamowski, Jan

2017-10-01

Waste sorting is key to the process of waste recycling. Exact identification of plastic resin and wood products using Near Infrared (NIR, 1-1.7µm) sensing is currently in use. Yet, dark targets characterized by low reflectance, such as black plastics, are hard to identify by this method. Following the recent success of Midwave Infrared (MWIR, 3-12µm) measurements to identify coloured plastic polymers, the aim of this study was to assess whether this technique is applicable to sorting black plastic polymers and wood products. We performed infrared reflectance contact measurements of 234 plastic samples and 29 samples of wood and paper products. Plastic samples included black, coloured and transparent Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), Polyethylene (PE), Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), Polypropylene (PP), Polylactic acid (PLA) and Polystyrene (PS). The spectral signatures of the black and coloured plastic samples were compared with clear plastic samples and signatures documented in the literature to identify the polymer spectral features in the presence of coloured material. This information was used to determine the spectral bands that best suit the sorting of black plastic polymers. The main NIR-MWIR absorption features of wood, cardboard and paper were identified as well according to the spectral measurements. Good agreement was found between our measurements and the absorption features documented in the literature. The new approach using MWIR spectral features appears to be useful for black plastics as it overcomes some of the limitations in the NIR region to identify them. The main limitation of this technique for industrial applications is the trade-off between the signal-to-noise ratio of the sensor operating in standoff mode and the speed at which waste is moved under the sensor. This limitation can be resolved by reducing the system's spectral resolution to 16cm -1 , which allows for faster spectra acquisition while maintaining a reasonable signal-to-noise ratio. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sorting waves and associated eigenvalues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carbonari, Costanza; Colombini, Marco; Solari, Luca

2017-04-01

The presence of mixed sediment always characterizes gravel bed rivers. Sorting processes take place during bed load transport of heterogeneous sediment mixtures. The two main elements necessary to the occurrence of sorting are the heterogeneous character of sediments and the presence of an active sediment transport. When these two key ingredients are simultaneously present, the segregation of bed material is consistently detected both in the field [7] and in laboratory [3] observations. In heterogeneous sediment transport, bed altimetric variations and sorting always coexist and both mechanisms are independently capable of driving the formation of morphological patterns. Indeed, consistent patterns of longitudinal and transverse sorting are identified almost ubiquitously. In some cases, such as bar formation [2] and channel bends [5], sorting acts as a stabilizing effect and therefore the dominant mechanism driving pattern formation is associated with bed altimetric variations. In other cases, such as longitudinal streaks, sorting enhances system instability and can therefore be considered the prevailing mechanism. Bedload sheets, first observed by Khunle and Southard [1], represent another classic example of a morphological pattern essentially triggered by sorting, as theoretical [4] and experimental [3] results suggested. These sorting waves cause strong spatial and temporal fluctuations of bedload transport rate typical observed in gravel bed rivers. The problem of bed load transport of a sediment mixture is formulated in the framework of a 1D linear stability analysis. The base state consists of a uniform flow in an infinitely wide channel with active bed load transport. The behaviour of the eigenvalues associated with fluid motion, bed evolution and sorting processes in the space of the significant flow and sediment parameters is analysed. A comparison is attempted with the results of the theoretical analysis of Seminara Colombini and Parker [4] and Stecca, Siviglia and Blom [6]. [1] Kuhnle, R.A. and Southard, J.B. 1988. Bed Load Transport Fluctuations in a Gravel Bed Laboratory Channel. Water Resources Research, 24(2), 247-260. [2] Lanzoni, S. and Tubino, M. 1999. Grain sorting and bar instability. Journal of Fluid Mechanics. 393, 149-174. [3] Recking, A., Frey, P., Paquier, A. and Belleudy, P. 2009. An experimental investigation of mechanisms involved in bed load sheet production and migration. Journal of Geophysical Research, 114, F03010. [4] Seminara, G., Colombini, M. and Parker, G. 1996. Nearly pure sorting waves and formation of bedload sheets. Journal of Fluid Mechanics. 312, (1996), 253-278. [5] Seminara, G., Solari, L. and Tubino, M. 1997. Finite amplitude scour and grain sorting in wide channel bends. XXVII IAHR Congress, San Francisco, 1445-1450. [6] Stecca, G., Siviglia, A. and Blom, A. 2014. Mathematical analysis of the Saint-Venant-Hirano model for mixed-sediment morphodynamics. Water Resources Research, 50, 7563-7589. [7] Whiting, P.J., Dietrich, W.E., Leopold, L. B., Drake, T. G. and Shreve, R.L. 1988. Bedload sheets in heterogeneous sediment. Geology, 16, 105-108.

Sorting in-shell walnuts using near infrared spectroscopy for improved drying efficiency and product quality

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

In the current walnut drying practice, dryers comingle nuts with varying moisture contents (MC) which results in over drying of nuts with low MC and thereby decrease product quality. The objectives of this research were to investigate correlations among near infrared (NIR) spectral data and MC of fr...

7 CFR 59.104 - Mandatory reporting of boxed beef sales.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... Choice or better, USDA Choice, USDA Select, ungraded no-roll product); (iv) The grade for cow beef or packer yield and/or quality sort for cow beef (e.g., Breakers, Boners, White Cow, Cutters (lean)); (v... product delivery period; and (ix) The beef type (steer/heifer, dairy steer/heifer, or cow). (b...

Optimal platform design using non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II and technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution; application to automotive suspension system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shojaeefard, Mohammad Hassan; Khalkhali, Abolfazl; Faghihian, Hamed; Dahmardeh, Masoud

2018-03-01

Unlike conventional approaches where optimization is performed on a unique component of a specific product, optimum design of a set of components for employing in a product family can cause significant reduction in costs. Increasing commonality and performance of the product platform simultaneously is a multi-objective optimization problem (MOP). Several optimization methods are reported to solve these MOPs. However, what is less discussed is how to find the trade-off points among the obtained non-dominated optimum points. This article investigates the optimal design of a product family using non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II) and proposes the employment of technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) method to find the trade-off points among the obtained non-dominated results while compromising all objective functions together. A case study for a family of suspension systems is presented, considering performance and commonality. The results indicate the effectiveness of the proposed method to obtain the trade-off points with the best possible performance while maximizing the common parts.

Non-invasive sex assessment in bovine semen by Raman spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Luca, A. C.; Managó, S.; Ferrara, M. A.; Rendina, I.; Sirleto, L.; Puglisi, R.; Balduzzi, D.; Galli, A.; Ferraro, P.; Coppola, G.

2014-05-01

X- and Y-chromosome-bearing sperm cell sorting is of great interest, especially for animal production management systems and genetic improvement programs. Here, we demonstrate an optical method based on Raman spectroscopy to separate X- and Y-chromosome-bearing sperm cells, overcoming many of the limitations associated with current sex-sorting protocols. A priori Raman imaging of bull spermatozoa was utilized to select the sampling points (head-neck region), which were then used to discriminate cells based on a spectral classification model. Main variations of Raman peaks associated with the DNA content were observed together with a variation due to the sex membrane proteins. Next, we used principal component analysis to determine the efficiency of our device as a cell sorting method. The results (>90% accuracy) demonstrated that Raman spectroscopy is a powerful candidate for the development of a highly efficient, non-invasive, and non-destructive tool for sperm sexing.

Construction aggregates

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nelson, T.I.; Bolen, W.P.

2007-01-01

Construction aggregates, primarily stone, sand and gravel, are recovered from widespread naturally occurring mineral deposits and processed for use primarily in the construction industry. They are mined, crushed, sorted by size and sold loose or combined with portland cement or asphaltic cement to make concrete products to build roads, houses, buildings, and other structures. Much smaller quantities are used in agriculture, cement manufacture, chemical and metallurgical processes, glass production and many other products.

The Development of WARP - A Framework for Continuous Energy Monte Carlo Neutron Transport in General 3D Geometries on GPUs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bergmann, Ryan

Graphics processing units, or GPUs, have gradually increased in computational power from the small, job-specific boards of the early 1990s to the programmable powerhouses of today. Compared to more common central processing units, or CPUs, GPUs have a higher aggregate memory bandwidth, much higher floating-point operations per second (FLOPS), and lower energy consumption per FLOP. Because one of the main obstacles in exascale computing is power consumption, many new supercomputing platforms are gaining much of their computational capacity by incorporating GPUs into their compute nodes. Since CPU-optimized parallel algorithms are not directly portable to GPU architectures (or at least not without losing substantial performance), transport codes need to be rewritten to execute efficiently on GPUs. Unless this is done, reactor simulations cannot take full advantage of these new supercomputers. WARP, which can stand for ``Weaving All the Random Particles,'' is a three-dimensional (3D) continuous energy Monte Carlo neutron transport code developed in this work as to efficiently implement a continuous energy Monte Carlo neutron transport algorithm on a GPU. WARP accelerates Monte Carlo simulations while preserving the benefits of using the Monte Carlo Method, namely, very few physical and geometrical simplifications. WARP is able to calculate multiplication factors, flux tallies, and fission source distributions for time-independent problems, and can run in both criticality or fixed source modes. WARP can transport neutrons in unrestricted arrangements of parallelepipeds, hexagonal prisms, cylinders, and spheres. WARP uses an event-based algorithm, but with some important differences. Moving data is expensive, so WARP uses a remapping vector of pointer/index pairs to direct GPU threads to the data they need to access. The remapping vector is sorted by reaction type after every transport iteration using a high-efficiency parallel radix sort, which serves to keep the reaction types as contiguous as possible and removes completed histories from the transport cycle. The sort reduces the amount of divergence in GPU ``thread blocks,'' keeps the SIMD units as full as possible, and eliminates using memory bandwidth to check if a neutron in the batch has been terminated or not. Using a remapping vector means the data access pattern is irregular, but this is mitigated by using large batch sizes where the GPU can effectively eliminate the high cost of irregular global memory access. WARP modifies the standard unionized energy grid implementation to reduce memory traffic. Instead of storing a matrix of pointers indexed by reaction type and energy, WARP stores three matrices. The first contains cross section values, the second contains pointers to angular distributions, and a third contains pointers to energy distributions. This linked list type of layout increases memory usage, but lowers the number of data loads that are needed to determine a reaction by eliminating a pointer load to find a cross section value. Optimized, high-performance GPU code libraries are also used by WARP wherever possible. The CUDA performance primitives (CUDPP) library is used to perform the parallel reductions, sorts and sums, the CURAND library is used to seed the linear congruential random number generators, and the OptiX ray tracing framework is used for geometry representation. OptiX is a highly-optimized library developed by NVIDIA that automatically builds hierarchical acceleration structures around user-input geometry so only surfaces along a ray line need to be queried in ray tracing. WARP also performs material and cell number queries with OptiX by using a point-in-polygon like algorithm. WARP has shown that GPUs are an effective platform for performing Monte Carlo neutron transport with continuous energy cross sections. Currently, WARP is the most detailed and feature-rich program in existence for performing continuous energy Monte Carlo neutron transport in general 3D geometries on GPUs, but compared to production codes like Serpent and MCNP, WARP has limited capabilities. Despite WARP's lack of features, its novel algorithm implementations show that high performance can be achieved on a GPU despite the inherently divergent program flow and sparse data access patterns. WARP is not ready for everyday nuclear reactor calculations, but is a good platform for further development of GPU-accelerated Monte Carlo neutron transport. In it's current state, it may be a useful tool for multiplication factor searches, i.e. determining reactivity coefficients by perturbing material densities or temperatures, since these types of calculations typically do not require many flux tallies. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Combinatorial structure of genome rearrangements scenarios.

PubMed

Ouangraoua, Aïda; Bergeron, Anne

2010-09-01

In genome rearrangement theory, one of the elusive questions raised in recent years is the enumeration of rearrangement scenarios between two genomes. This problem is related to the uniform generation of rearrangement scenarios and the derivation of tests of statistical significance of the properties of these scenarios. Here we give an exact formula for the number of double-cut-and-join (DCJ) rearrangement scenarios between two genomes. We also construct effective bijections between the set of scenarios that sort a component as well studied combinatorial objects such as parking functions, labeled trees, and prüfer codes.

Improving the layout of recycling centres by use of lean production principles.

PubMed

Sundin, Erik; Björkman, Mats; Eklund, Mats; Eklund, Jörgen; Engkvist, Inga-Lill

2011-06-01

There has been increased focus on recycling in Sweden during recent years. This focus can be attributed to external environmental factors such as tougher legislation, but also to the potential gains for raw materials suppliers. Recycling centres are important components in the Swedish total recycling system. Recycling centres are manned facilities for waste collection where visitors can bring, sort and discard worn products as well as large-sized, hazardous, and electrical waste. The aim of this paper was to identify and describe the main flows and layout types at Swedish recycling centres. The aim was also to adapt and apply production theory for designing and managing recycling centre operations. More specifically, this means using lean production principles to help develop guidelines for recycling centre design and efficient control. Empirical data for this research was primarily collected through interviews and questionnaires among both visitors and employees at 16 Swedish recycling centres. Furthermore, adapted observation protocols have been used in order to explore visitor activities. There was also close collaboration with a local recycling centre company, which shared their layout experiences with the researchers in this project. The recycling centres studied had a variety of problems such as queues of visitors, overloading of material and improper sorting. The study shows that in order to decrease the problems, the recycling centres should be designed and managed according to lean production principles, i.e. through choosing more suitable layout choices with visible and linear flows, providing better visitor information, and providing suitable technical equipment. Improvements can be achieved through proper planning of the layout and control of the flow of vehicles, with the result of increased efficiency and capacity, shorter visits, and cleaner waste fractions. The benefits of a lean production mindset include increased visitor capacity, waste flexibility, improved sorting quality, shorter time for visits and improved working conditions. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Implementation of hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) in dried anchovy production process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Citraresmi, A. D. P.; Wahyuni, E. E.

2018-03-01

The aim of this study was to inspect the implementation of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) for identification and prevention of potential hazards in the production process of dried anchovy at PT. Kelola Mina Laut (KML), Lobuk unit, Sumenep. Cold storage process is needed in each anchovy processing step in order to maintain its physical and chemical condition. In addition, the implementation of quality assurance system should be undertaken to maintain product quality. The research was conducted using a survey method, by following the whole process of making anchovy from the receiving raw materials to the packaging of final product. The method of data analysis used was descriptive analysis method. Implementation of HACCP at PT. KML, Lobuk unit, Sumenep was conducted by applying Pre Requisite Programs (PRP) and preparation stage consisting of 5 initial stages and 7 principles of HACCP. The results showed that CCP was found in boiling process flow with significant hazard of Listeria monocytogenesis bacteria and final sorting process with significant hazard of foreign material contamination in the product. Actions taken were controlling boiling temperature of 100 – 105°C for 3 - 5 minutes and training for sorting process employees.

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

A.S. Larin; V.V. Demenko; V.L. Voitanik

In recent Giprokoks designs for the reconstruction of coke-sorting systems, high-productivity vibrational-inertial screens have been employed. This permits single-stage screening and reduction in capital and especially operating expenditures, without loss of coke quality. In two-stage screening, >80 mm coke (for foundry needs) is additionally separated, with significant improvement in quality of the metallurgical coke (25-80 mm). New designs for the reconstruction of coke-sorting systems employ mechanical treatment of the coke outside the furnace, which offers new scope for stabilization of coke quality and permits considerable improvement in mechanical strength and granulometric composition of the coke by mechanical crushing.

Collaborative research, knowledge and emergence.

PubMed

Zittoun, Tania; Baucal, Aleksandar; Cornish, Flora; Gillespie, Alex

2007-06-01

We use the notion of emergence to consider the sorts of knowledge that can be produced in a collaborative research project. The notion invites us to see collaborative work as a developmental dynamic system in which various changes constantly occur. Among these we examine two sorts of knowledge that can be produced: scientific knowledge, and collaborative knowledge. We argue that collaborative knowledge can enable researchers to reflectively monitor their collaborative project, so as to encourage its most productive changes. On the basis of examples taken from this special issue, we highlight four modes of producing collaborative knowledge and discuss the possible uses of such knowledge.

Study for standardization of the lighting system in fruit sorting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gomes, J. F. S.; Baldner, F. O.; Costa, P. B.; Guedes, M. B.; Oliveira, I. A. A.; Leta, F. R.

2016-07-01

Sorting is a very important step in the fruit processing. The attributes definition and characterization are important for both marketing and end user, making it necessary to establish regulations for classification and standardization in order to unify the language of the market and enabling a more efficient market and also increase consumer awareness. For this end, it is necessary to standardize the technical criteria that can change the perception of the product. Studies have been developed in order to standardize a methodology to determine the subclass of fruit ripening, evaluating the influence of different light sources in the subclass evaluation.

Thermochemical Pretreatment for Anaerobic Digestion of Sorted Waste

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hao, W.; Hongtao, W.

2008-02-01

The effect of alkaline hydrothermal pre-treatment for anaerobic digestion of mechanically-sorted municipal solid waste (MSW) and source-sorted waste was studied. Waste was hydrothermally pre-treated in dilute alkali solution. Hydrolysis product was incubated in 500 ml saline bottle to determine methane potential (MP) under mesospheric anaerobic conditions. Optimum reaction condition obtained in the study is 170 °C at the dose of 4 g NaOH/100 g solid for one hour. Soluble COD was 13936 mg/L and methane yield was 164 ml/g VS for 6 days incubation at optimum conditions. More than 50% biogas increase was achieved over the control, and methane conversion ratio on carbon basis was enhanced to 30.6%. The digestion period was less than 6 days when pre-treatment temperature was above 130 °C. The organic part of sorted waste is mainly constituted of kitchen garbage and leaf. Model kitchen garbage was completely liquidized at 130 °C for one hour and the methane yield was 276 ml/g VS. Addition of alkali enhance hydroxylation rate and methane yield slightly. The biogas potential of leaf could be observed by pre-treatment above 150 °C under alkaline condition.

50 CFR 600.502 - Vessel reports.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... species code), product (by product code), and quantity of all fish and fish products (by product weight to... message must be delivered at least 24 hours before the vessel begins to fish. (2) “DEPART”. Each operator...), product (by product code), and quantity of all fish and fish products (by product weight to the nearest...

50 CFR 600.502 - Vessel reports.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... species code), product (by product code), and quantity of all fish and fish products (by product weight to... message must be delivered at least 24 hours before the vessel begins to fish. (2) “DEPART”. Each operator...), product (by product code), and quantity of all fish and fish products (by product weight to the nearest...

Reduction of Aflatoxins in Apricot Kernels by Electronic and Manual Color Sorting.

PubMed

Zivoli, Rosanna; Gambacorta, Lucia; Piemontese, Luca; Solfrizzo, Michele

2016-01-19

The efficacy of color sorting on reducing aflatoxin levels in shelled apricot kernels was assessed. Naturally-contaminated kernels were submitted to an electronic optical sorter or blanched, peeled, and manually sorted to visually identify and sort discolored kernels (dark and spotted) from healthy ones. The samples obtained from the two sorting approaches were ground, homogenized, and analysed by HPLC-FLD for their aflatoxin content. A mass balance approach was used to measure the distribution of aflatoxins in the collected fractions. Aflatoxin B₁ and B₂ were identified and quantitated in all collected fractions at levels ranging from 1.7 to 22,451.5 µg/kg of AFB₁ + AFB₂, whereas AFG₁ and AFG₂ were not detected. Excellent results were obtained by manual sorting of peeled kernels since the removal of discolored kernels (2.6%-19.9% of total peeled kernels) removed 97.3%-99.5% of total aflatoxins. The combination of peeling and visual/manual separation of discolored kernels is a feasible strategy to remove 97%-99% of aflatoxins accumulated in naturally-contaminated samples. Electronic optical sorter gave highly variable results since the amount of AFB₁ + AFB₂ measured in rejected fractions (15%-18% of total kernels) ranged from 13% to 59% of total aflatoxins. An improved immunoaffinity-based HPLC-FLD method having low limits of detection for the four aflatoxins (0.01-0.05 µg/kg) was developed and used to monitor the occurrence of aflatoxins in 47 commercial products containing apricot kernels and/or almonds commercialized in Italy. Low aflatoxin levels were found in 38% of the tested samples and ranged from 0.06 to 1.50 μg/kg for AFB₁ and from 0.06 to 1.79 μg/kg for total aflatoxins.

Applications of color machine vision in the agricultural and food industries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Min; Ludas, Laszlo I.; Morgan, Mark T.; Krutz, Gary W.; Precetti, Cyrille J.

1999-01-01

Color is an important factor in Agricultural and the Food Industry. Agricultural or prepared food products are often grade by producers and consumers using color parameters. Color is used to estimate maturity, sort produce for defects, but also perform genetic screenings or make an aesthetic judgement. The task of sorting produce following a color scale is very complex, requires special illumination and training. Also, this task cannot be performed for long durations without fatigue and loss of accuracy. This paper describes a machine vision system designed to perform color classification in real-time. Applications for sorting a variety of agricultural products are included: e.g. seeds, meat, baked goods, plant and wood.FIrst the theory of color classification of agricultural and biological materials is introduced. Then, some tools for classifier development are presented. Finally, the implementation of the algorithm on real-time image processing hardware and example applications for industry is described. This paper also presented an image analysis algorithm and a prototype machine vision system which was developed for industry. This system will automatically locate the surface of some plants using digital camera and predict information such as size, potential value and type of this plant. The algorithm developed will be feasible for real-time identification in an industrial environment.

Licorice Production and Manufacturing: All-Sorts of Practical Applications for Statistics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Watson, Jane; Skalicky, Jane; Fitzallen, Noleine; Wright, Suzie

2009-01-01

Among the practical applications of statistics is the collection of data from manufacturing processes. Often collected in the form of a time series, data collected from a series of measurements show the variation in those measurements, such as mass of a product manufactured. Limits are set for quality control and if these are exceeded then a…

Combinatorial chemistry on solid support in the search for central nervous system agents.

PubMed

Zajdel, Paweł; Pawłowski, Maciej; Martinez, Jean; Subra, Gilles

2009-08-01

The advent of combinatorial chemistry was one of the most important developments, that has significantly contributed to the drug discovery process. Within just a few years, its initial concept aimed at production of libraries containing huge number of compounds (thousands to millions), so called screening libraries, has shifted towards preparation of small and medium-sized rationally designed libraries. When applicable, the use of solid supports for the generation of libraries has been a real breakthrough in enhancing productivity. With a limited amount of resin and simple manual workups, the split/mix procedure may generate thousands of bead-tethered compounds. Beads can be chemically or physically encoded to facilitate the identification of a hit after the biological assay. Compartmentalization of solid supports using small reactors like teabags, kans or pellicular discrete supports like Lanterns resulted in powerful sort and combine technologies, relying on codes 'written' on the reactor, and thus reducing the need for automation and improving the number of compounds synthesized. These methods of solid-phase combinatorial chemistry have been recently supported by introduction of solid-supported reagents and scavenger resins. The first part of this review discusses the general premises of combinatorial chemistry and some methods used in the design of primary and focused combinatorial libraries. The aim of the second part is to present combinatorial chemistry methodologies aimed at discovering bioactive compounds acting on diverse GPCR involved in central nervous system disorders.

Theoretical approaches to maternal-infant interaction: which approach best discriminates between mothers with and without postpartum depression?

PubMed

Logsdon, M Cynthia; Mittelberg, Meghan; Morrison, David; Robertson, Ashley; Luther, James F; Wisniewski, Stephen R; Confer, Andrea; Eng, Heather; Sit, Dorothy K Y; Wisner, Katherine L

2014-12-01

The purpose of this study was to determine which of the four common approaches to coding maternal-infant interaction best discriminates between mothers with and without postpartum depression. After extensive training, four research assistants coded 83 three minute videotapes of maternal infant interaction at 12month postpartum visits. Four theoretical approaches to coding (Maternal Behavior Q-Sort, the Dyadic Mini Code, Ainsworth Maternal Sensitivity Scale, and the Child-Caregiver Mutual Regulation Scale) were used. Twelve month data were chosen to allow the maximum possible exposure of the infant to maternal depression during the first postpartum year. The videotapes were created in a laboratory with standard procedures. Inter-rater reliabilities for each coding method ranged from .7 to .9. The coders were blind to depression status of the mother. Twenty-seven of the women had major depressive disorder during the 12month postpartum period. Receiver operating characteristics analysis indicated that none of the four methods of analyzing maternal infant interaction discriminated between mothers with and without major depressive disorder. Limitations of the study include the cross-sectional design and the low number of women with major depressive disorder. Further analysis should include data from videotapes at earlier postpartum time periods, and alternative coding approaches should be considered. Nurses should continue to examine culturally appropriate ways in which new mothers can be supported in how to best nurture their babies. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The presence and partitioning behavior of flame retardants in waste, leachate, and air particles from Norwegian waste-handling facilities.

PubMed

Morin, Nicolas A O; Andersson, Patrik L; Hale, Sarah E; Arp, Hans Peter H

2017-12-01

Flame retardants in commercial products eventually make their way into the waste stream. Herein the presence of flame retardants in Norwegian landfills, incineration facilities and recycling sorting/defragmenting facilities is investigated. These facilities handled waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), vehicles, digestate, glass, combustibles, bottom ash and fly ash. The flame retardants considered included polybrominated diphenyl ethers (∑BDE-10) as well as dechlorane plus, polybrominated biphenyls, hexabromobenzene, pentabromotoluene and pentabromoethylbenzene (collectively referred to as ∑FR-7). Plastic, WEEE and vehicles contained the largest amount of flame retardants (∑BDE-10: 45,000-210,000μg/kg; ∑FR-7: 300-13,000μg/kg). It was hypothesized leachate and air concentrations from facilities that sort/defragment WEEE and vehicles would be the highest. This was supported for total air phase concentrations (∑BDE-10: 9000-195,000pg/m 3 WEEE/vehicle facilities, 80-900pg/m 3 in incineration/sorting and landfill sites), but not for water leachate concentrations (e.g., ∑BDE-10: 15-3500ng/L in WEEE/Vehicle facilities and 1-250ng/L in landfill sites). Landfill leachate exhibited similar concentrations as WEEE/vehicle sorting and defragmenting facility leachate. To better account for concentrations in leachates at the different facilities, waste-water partitioning coefficients, K waste were measured (for the first time to our knowledge for flame retardants). WEEE and plastic waste had elevated K waste compared to other wastes, likely because flame retardants are directly added to these materials. The results of this study have implications for the development of strategies to reduce exposure and environmental emissions of flame retardants in waste and recycled products through improved waste management practices. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

76 FR 38160 - Pesticide Products; Registration Applications

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-29

.... Potentially affected entities may include, but are not limited to: Crop production (NAICS code 111). Animal production (NAICS code 112). Food manufacturing (NAICS code 311). Pesticide manufacturing (NAICS code 32532... classification/Use: For control of certain diseases in almond, grape (small fruit vine climbing group, except...

Initial Kernel Timing Using a Simple PIM Performance Model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Katz, Daniel S.; Block, Gary L.; Springer, Paul L.; Sterling, Thomas; Brockman, Jay B.; Callahan, David

2005-01-01

This presentation will describe some initial results of paper-and-pencil studies of 4 or 5 application kernels applied to a processor-in-memory (PIM) system roughly similar to the Cascade Lightweight Processor (LWP). The application kernels are: * Linked list traversal * Sun of leaf nodes on a tree * Bitonic sort * Vector sum * Gaussian elimination The intent of this work is to guide and validate work on the Cascade project in the areas of compilers, simulators, and languages. We will first discuss the generic PIM structure. Then, we will explain the concepts needed to program a parallel PIM system (locality, threads, parcels). Next, we will present a simple PIM performance model that will be used in the remainder of the presentation. For each kernel, we will then present a set of codes, including codes for a single PIM node, and codes for multiple PIM nodes that move data to threads and move threads to data. These codes are written at a fairly low level, between assembly and C, but much closer to C than to assembly. For each code, we will present some hand-drafted timing forecasts, based on the simple PIM performance model. Finally, we will conclude by discussing what we have learned from this work, including what programming styles seem to work best, from the point-of-view of both expressiveness and performance.

Signature neural networks: definition and application to multidimensional sorting problems.

PubMed

Latorre, Roberto; de Borja Rodriguez, Francisco; Varona, Pablo

2011-01-01

In this paper we present a self-organizing neural network paradigm that is able to discriminate information locally using a strategy for information coding and processing inspired in recent findings in living neural systems. The proposed neural network uses: 1) neural signatures to identify each unit in the network; 2) local discrimination of input information during the processing; and 3) a multicoding mechanism for information propagation regarding the who and the what of the information. The local discrimination implies a distinct processing as a function of the neural signature recognition and a local transient memory. In the context of artificial neural networks none of these mechanisms has been analyzed in detail, and our goal is to demonstrate that they can be used to efficiently solve some specific problems. To illustrate the proposed paradigm, we apply it to the problem of multidimensional sorting, which can take advantage of the local information discrimination. In particular, we compare the results of this new approach with traditional methods to solve jigsaw puzzles and we analyze the situations where the new paradigm improves the performance.

Communication Studies of DMP and SMP Machines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sohn, Andrew; Biswas, Rupak; Chancellor, Marisa K. (Technical Monitor)

1997-01-01

Understanding the interplay between machines and problems is key to obtaining high performance on parallel machines. This paper investigates the interplay between programming paradigms and communication capabilities of parallel machines. In particular, we explicate the communication capabilities of the IBM SP-2 distributed-memory multiprocessor and the SGI PowerCHALLENGEarray symmetric multiprocessor. Two benchmark problems of bitonic sorting and Fast Fourier Transform are selected for experiments. Communication-efficient algorithms are developed to exploit the overlapping capabilities of the machines. Programs are written in Message-Passing Interface for portability and identical codes are used for both machines. Various data sizes and message sizes are used to test the machines' communication capabilities. Experimental results indicate that the communication performance of the multiprocessors are consistent with the size of messages. The SP-2 is sensitive to message size but yields a much higher communication overlapping because of the communication co-processor. The PowerCHALLENGEarray is not highly sensitive to message size and yields a low communication overlapping. Bitonic sorting yields lower performance compared to FFT due to a smaller computation-to-communication ratio.

LIS Professionals as Knowledge Engineers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Poulter, Alan; And Others

1994-01-01

Considers the role of library and information science professionals as knowledge engineers. Highlights include knowledge acquisition, including personal experience, interviews, protocol analysis, observation, multidimensional sorting, printed sources, and machine learning; knowledge representation, including production rules and semantic nets;…

Biogas production from the mechanically pretreated, liquid fraction of sorted organic municipal solid wastes.

PubMed

Alvarado-Lassman, A; Méndez-Contreras, J M; Martínez-Sibaja, A; Rosas-Mendoza, E S; Vallejo-Cantú, N A

2017-06-01

The high liquid content in fruit and vegetable wastes makes it convenient to mechanically separate these wastes into mostly liquid and solid fractions by means of pretreatment. Then, the liquid fraction can be treated using a high-rate anaerobic biofilm reactor to produce biogas, simultaneously reducing the amount of solids that must be landfilled. In this work, the specific composition of municipal solid waste (MSW) in a public market was determined; then, the sorted organic fraction of municipal solid waste was treated mechanically to separate and characterize the mostly liquid and solid fractions. Then, the mesophilic anaerobic digestion for biogas production of the first fraction was evaluated. The anaerobic digestion resulted in a reduced hydraulic retention time of two days with high removal of chemical oxygen demand, that is, 88% on average, with the additional benefit of reducing the mass of the solids that had to be landfilled by about 80%.

Modeling and Optimization for Morphing Wing Concept Generation II. Part 1; Morphing Wing Modeling and Structural Sizing Techniques

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Skillen, Michael D.; Crossley, William A.

2008-01-01

This report documents a series of investigations to develop an approach for structural sizing of various morphing wing concepts. For the purposes of this report, a morphing wing is one whose planform can make significant shape changes in flight - increasing wing area by 50% or more from the lowest possible area, changing sweep 30 or more, and / or increasing aspect ratio by as much as 200% from the lowest possible value. These significant changes in geometry mean that the underlying load-bearing structure changes geometry. While most finite element analysis packages provide some sort of structural optimization capability, these codes are not amenable to making significant changes in the stiffness matrix to reflect the large morphing wing planform changes. The investigations presented here use a finite element code capable of aeroelastic analysis in three different optimization approaches -a "simultaneous analysis" approach, a "sequential" approach, and an "aggregate" approach.

The software architecture of climate models: a graphical comparison of CMIP5 and EMICAR5 configurations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alexander, K.; Easterbrook, S. M.

2015-01-01

We analyse the source code of eight coupled climate models, selected from those that participated in the CMIP5 (Taylor et al., 2012) or EMICAR5 (Eby et al., 2013; Zickfeld et al., 2013) intercomparison projects. For each model, we sort the preprocessed code into components and subcomponents based on dependency structure. We then create software architecture diagrams which show the relative sizes of these components/subcomponents and the flow of data between them. The diagrams also illustrate several major classes of climate model design; the distribution of complexity between components, which depends on historical development paths as well as the conscious goals of each institution; and the sharing of components between different modelling groups. These diagrams offer insights into the similarities and differences between models, and have the potential to be useful tools for communication between scientists, scientific institutions, and the public.

The software architecture of climate models: a graphical comparison of CMIP5 and EMICAR5 configurations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alexander, K.; Easterbrook, S. M.

2015-04-01

We analyze the source code of eight coupled climate models, selected from those that participated in the CMIP5 (Taylor et al., 2012) or EMICAR5 (Eby et al., 2013; Zickfeld et al., 2013) intercomparison projects. For each model, we sort the preprocessed code into components and subcomponents based on dependency structure. We then create software architecture diagrams that show the relative sizes of these components/subcomponents and the flow of data between them. The diagrams also illustrate several major classes of climate model design; the distribution of complexity between components, which depends on historical development paths as well as the conscious goals of each institution; and the sharing of components between different modeling groups. These diagrams offer insights into the similarities and differences in structure between climate models, and have the potential to be useful tools for communication between scientists, scientific institutions, and the public.

Enhanced production of recombinant proteins with Corynebacterium glutamicum by deletion of insertion sequences (IS elements).

PubMed

Choi, Jae Woong; Yim, Sung Sun; Kim, Min Jeong; Jeong, Ki Jun

2015-12-29

In most bacteria, various jumping genetic elements including insertion sequences elements (IS elements) cause a variety of genetic rearrangements resulting in harmful effects such as genome and recombinant plasmid instability. The genetic stability of a plasmid in a host is critical for high-level production of recombinant proteins, and in this regard, the development of an IS element-free strain could be a useful strategy for the enhanced production of recombinant proteins. Corynebacterium glutamicum, which is a workhorse in the industrial-scale production of various biomolecules including recombinant proteins, also has several IS elements, and it is necessary to identify the critical IS elements and to develop IS element deleted strain. From the cultivation of C. glutamicum harboring a plasmid for green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene expression, non-fluorescent clones were isolated by FACS (fluorescent activated cell sorting). All the isolated clones had insertions of IS elements in the GFP coding region, and two major IS elements (ISCg1 and ISCg2 families) were identified. By co-cultivating cells harboring either the isolated IS element-inserted plasmid or intact plasmid, it was clearly confirmed that cells harboring the IS element-inserted plasmids became dominant during the cultivation due to their growth advantage over cells containing intact plasmids, which can cause a significant reduction in recombinant protein production during cultivation. To minimize the harmful effects of IS elements on the expression of heterologous genes in C. glutamicum, two IS element free C. glutamicum strains were developed in which each major IS element was deleted, and enhanced productivity in the engineered C. glutamicum strain was successfully demonstrated with three models: GFP, poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) [P(3HB)] and γ-aminobutyrate (GABA). Our findings clearly indicate that the hopping of IS elements could be detrimental to the production of recombinant proteins in C. glutamicum, emphasizing the importance of developing IS element free host strains.

Recent developments and applications of hyperspectral imaging for rapid detection of mycotoxins and mycotoxigenic fungi in food products.

PubMed

Xing, Fuguo; Yao, Haibo; Liu, Yang; Dai, Xiaofeng; Brown, Robert L; Bhatnagar, Deepak

2017-08-28

Mycotoxins are the foremost naturally occurring contaminants of food products such as corn, peanuts, tree nuts, and wheat. As the secondary metabolites, mycotoxins are mainly synthesized by many species of the genera Aspergillus, Fusarium and Penicillium, and are considered highly toxic and carcinogenic to humans and animals. Most mycotoxins are detected and quantified by analytical chemistry-based methods. While mycotoxigenic fungi are usually identified and quantified by biological methods. However, these methods are time-consuming, laborious, costly, and inconsistent because of the variability of the grain-sampling process. It is desirable to develop rapid, non-destructive and efficient methods that objectively measure and evaluate mycotoxins and mycotoxigenic fungi in food. In recent years, some spectroscopy-based technologies such as hyperspectral imaging (HSI), Raman spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy have been extensively investigated for their potential use as tools for the detection, classification, and sorting of mycotoxins and toxigenic fungal contaminants in food. HSI integrates both spatial and spectral information for every pixel in an image, making it suitable for rapid detection of large quantities of samples and more heterogeneous samples and for in-line sorting in the food industry. In order to track the latest research developments in HSI, this paper gives a brief overview of the theories and fundamentals behind the technology and discusses its applications in the field of rapid detection and sorting of mycotoxins and toxigenic fungi in food products. Additionally, advantages and disadvantages of HSI are compared, and its potential use in commercial applications is reported.

Effect of Art Production on Negative Mood: A Randomized, Controlled Trial

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bell, Chloe E.; Robbins, Steven J.

2007-01-01

Art therapists have long held that art production causes reductions in stress and elevations in mood (Rubin, 1999). The authors examined this claim in a randomized, controlled trial. Fifty adults between the ages of 18 and 30 were randomly assigned to either create an art work or to view and sort a series of art prints. Three measures of overall…

Effect of Art Production on Negative Mood and Anxiety for Adults in Treatment for Substance Abuse

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Laurer, Mattye; van der Vennet, Renée

2015-01-01

This study investigated whether art production or viewing and sorting art reproductions would be more effective in reducing negative mood and anxiety for 28 adults with substance use disorders. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups and completed pre- and posttest measures of negative mood and anxiety The hypothesis that art…

Clear exterior finishes : finding the balance between aesthetics and durability

Treesearch

Tom Daniel; Marc S. Hirsch; Ken McClelland; Alan S. Ross; R. Sam Williams

2004-01-01

Consumers can easily be confused by the abundance of choices to make when selecting a clear wood finish. There are many types of clear finishes with different characteristics and product claims. This article is designed to help consumers sort out the different finishes and effectively choose which product would be best for their purpose. First, we cover the causes and...

Association between Rare Variants in AP4E1, a Component of Intracellular Trafficking, and Persistent Stuttering

PubMed Central

Raza, M. Hashim; Mattera, Rafael; Morell, Robert; Sainz, Eduardo; Rahn, Rachel; Gutierrez, Joanne; Paris, Emily; Root, Jessica; Solomon, Beth; Brewer, Carmen; Basra, M. Asim Raza; Khan, Shaheen; Riazuddin, Sheikh; Braun, Allen; Bonifacino, Juan S.; Drayna, Dennis

2015-01-01

Stuttering is a common, highly heritable neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in the volitional control of speech. Whole-exome sequencing identified two heterozygous AP4E1 coding variants, c.1549G>A (p.Val517Ile) and c.2401G>A (p.Glu801Lys), that co-segregate with persistent developmental stuttering in a large Cameroonian family, and we observed the same two variants in unrelated Cameroonians with persistent stuttering. We found 23 other rare variants, including predicted loss-of-function variants, in AP4E1 in unrelated stuttering individuals in Cameroon, Pakistan, and North America. The rate of rare variants in AP4E1 was significantly higher in unrelated Pakistani and Cameroonian stuttering individuals than in population-matched control individuals, and coding variants in this gene are exceptionally rare in the general sub-Saharan West African, South Asian, and North American populations. Clinical examination of the Cameroonian family members failed to identify any symptoms previously reported in rare individuals carrying homozygous loss-of-function mutations in this gene. AP4E1 encodes the ε subunit of the heterotetrameric (ε-β4-μ4-σ4) AP-4 complex, involved in protein sorting at the trans-Golgi network. We found that the μ4 subunit of AP-4 interacts with NAGPA, an enzyme involved in the synthesis of the mannose 6-phosphate signal that targets acid hydrolases to the lysosome and the product of a gene previously associated with stuttering. These findings implicate deficits in intracellular trafficking in persistent stuttering. PMID:26544806

Childhood pneumonia diagnostics: community health workers' and national stakeholders' differing perspectives of new and existing aids.

PubMed

Spence, Hollie; Baker, Kevin; Wharton-Smith, Alexandra; Mucunguzi, Akasiima; Matata, Lena; Habte, Tedila; Nanyumba, Diana; Sebsibe, Anteneh; Thany, Thol; Källander, Karin

2017-01-01

Pneumonia heavily contributes to global under-five mortality. Many countries use community case management to detect and treat childhood pneumonia. Community health workers (CHWs) have limited tools to help them assess signs of pneumonia. New respiratory rate (RR) counting devices and pulse oximeters are being considered for this purpose. To explore perspectives of CHWs and national stakeholders regarding the potential usability and scalability of seven devices to aid community assessment of pneumonia signs. Pile sorting was conducted to rate the usability and scalability of 7 different RR counting aids and pulse oximeters amongst 16 groups of participants. Following each pile-sorting session, a focus group discussion (FGD) explored participants' sorting rationale. Purposive sampling was used to select CHWs and national stakeholders with experience in childhood pneumonia and integrated community case management (iCCM) in Cambodia, Ethiopia, Uganda and South Sudan. Pile-sorting data were aggregated for countries and participant groups. FGDs were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Translated FGDs transcripts were coded in NVivo 10 and analysed using thematic content analysis. Comparative analysis was performed between countries and groups to identify thematic patterns. CHWs and national stakeholders across the four countries perceived the acute respiratory infection (ARI) timer and fingertip pulse oximeter as highly scalable and easy for CHWs to use. National stakeholders were less receptive to new technologies. CHWs placed greater priority on device acceptability to caregivers and children. Both groups felt that heavy reliance on electricity reduced potential scalability and usability in rural areas. Device simplicity, affordability and sustainability were universally valued. CHWs and national stakeholders prioritise different device characteristics according to their specific focus of work. The views of all relevant stakeholders, including health workers, policy makers, children and parents, should be considered in future policy decisions, research and development regarding suitable pneumonia diagnostic aids for community use.

[Product of the month: a bibliographic database with optional formatting capability].

PubMed

Vahlensieck, M

1992-05-01

The function and usage of the software package "Endnote Plus" for the Apple Macintosh are described. Its advantages in fulfilling different requirements for the citation style and the sort order of reference lists are emphasized.

Quantum Kronecker sum-product low-density parity-check codes with finite rate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kovalev, Alexey A.; Pryadko, Leonid P.

2013-07-01

We introduce an ansatz for quantum codes which gives the hypergraph-product (generalized toric) codes by Tillich and Zémor and generalized bicycle codes by MacKay as limiting cases. The construction allows for both the lower and the upper bounds on the minimum distance; they scale as a square root of the block length. Many thus defined codes have a finite rate and limited-weight stabilizer generators, an analog of classical low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes. Compared to the hypergraph-product codes, hyperbicycle codes generally have a wider range of parameters; in particular, they can have a higher rate while preserving the estimated error threshold.

76 FR 53912 - FDA's Public Database of Products With Orphan-Drug Designation: Replacing Non-Informative Code...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-08-30

...] FDA's Public Database of Products With Orphan-Drug Designation: Replacing Non-Informative Code Names... replaced non- informative code names with descriptive identifiers on its public database of products that... on our public database with non-informative code names. After careful consideration of this matter...

Does the Holland Code Predict Job Satisfaction and Productivity in Clothing Factory Workers?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heesacker, Martin; And Others

1988-01-01

Administered Self-Directed Search to sewing machine operators to determine Holland code, and assessed work productivity, job satisfaction, absenteeism, and insurance claims. Most workers were of the Social code. Social subjects were the most satisfied, Conventional and Realistic subjects next, and subjects of other codes less so. Productivity of…

Particle Size Distributions Obtained Through Unfolding 2D Sections: Towards Accurate Distributions of Nebular Solids in the Allende Meteorite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Christoffersen, P. A.; Simon, Justin I.; Ross, D. K.; Friedrich, J. M.; Cuzzi, J. N.

2012-01-01

Size distributions of nebular solids in chondrites suggest an efficient sorting of these early forming objects within the protoplanetary disk. The effect of this sorting has been documented by investigations of modal abundances of CAIs (e.g., [1-4]) and chondrules (e.g., [5-8]). Evidence for aerodynamic sorting in the disk is largely qualitative, and needs to be carefully assessed. It may be a way of concentrating these materials into planetesimal-mass clumps, perhaps 100 fs of ka after they formed. A key parameter is size/density distributions of particles (i.e., chondrules, CAIs, and metal grains), and in particular, whether the radius-density product (rxp) is a better metric for defining the distribution than r alone [9]. There is no consensus between r versus rxp based models. Here we report our initial tests and preliminary results, which when expanded will be used to test the accuracy of current dynamical disk models.

Myosin Ib modulates the morphology and the protein transport within multi-vesicular sorting endosomes.

PubMed

Salas-Cortes, Laura; Ye, Fei; Tenza, Danièle; Wilhelm, Claire; Theos, Alexander; Louvard, Daniel; Raposo, Graça; Coudrier, Evelyne

2005-10-15

Members of at least four classes of myosin (I, II, V and VI) have been implicated in the dynamics of a large variety of organelles. Despite their common motor domain structure, some of these myosins, however, are non processive and cannot move organelles along the actin tracks. Here, we demonstrate in the human pigmented MNT-1 cell line that, (1) the overexpression of one of these myosins, myosin 1b, or the addition of cytochalasin D affects the morphology of the sorting multivesicular endosomes; (2) the overexpression of myosin 1b delays the processing of Pmel17 (the product of murine silver locus also named GP100), which occurs in these multivesicular endosomes; (3) myosin 1b associated with endosomes coimmunoprecipitates with Pmel17. All together, these observations suggest that myosin 1b controls the traffic of protein cargo in multivesicular endosomes most probably through its ability to modulate with actin the morphology of these sorting endosomes.

Simulations of Tidally Driven Formation of Binary Planet Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murray, R. Zachary P.; Guillochon, James

2018-01-01

In the last decade there have been hundreds of exoplanets discovered by the Kepler, CoRoT and many other initiatives. This wealth of data suggests the possibility of detecting exoplanets with large satellites. This project seeks to model the interactions between orbiting planets using the FLASH hydrodynamics code developed by The Flash Center for Computational Science at University of Chicago. We model the encounters in a wide variety of encounter scenarios and initial conditions including variations in encounter depth, mass ratio, and encounter velocity and attempt to constrain what sorts of binary planet configurations are possible and stable.

Pregnancy rate and birth rate of calves from a large-scale IVF program using reverse-sorted semen in Bos indicus, Bos indicus-taurus, and Bos taurus cattle.

PubMed

Morotti, F; Sanches, B V; Pontes, J H F; Basso, A C; Siqueira, E R; Lisboa, L A; Seneda, M M

2014-03-15

Obtaining sexed sperm from previously frozen doses (reverse-sorted semen [RSS]) provides an important advantage because of the possibility of using the semen of bulls with desired genetic attributes that have died or have become infertile but from whom frozen semen is available. We report the efficiency of RSS on the pregnancy rate and birth rate of calves in a large-scale program using ovum pick-up and in vitro embryo production (IVEP) from Bos indicus, Bos indicus-taurus, and Bos taurus cattle. From 645 ovum pick-up procedures (Holstein, Gir, and Nelore), 9438 viable oocytes were recovered. A dose of frozen semen (Holstein, Nelore, Brahman, Gir, and Braford) was thawed, and the sperm were sex-sorted and cooled for use in IVF. Additionally, IVF with sperm from three Holstein bulls with freeze-thawed, sex-sorted (RSS) or sex-sorted, freeze-thawed (control) was tested. A total of 2729 embryos were produced, exhibiting a mean blastocyst rate of 29%. Heifers and cows selected for adequate body condition, estrus, and health received 2404 embryos, and 60 days later, a 41% average pregnancy rate was observed. A total of 966 calves were born, and 910 were of a predetermined sex, with an average of 94% accuracy in determining the sex. Despite the lower blastocyst rate with freeze-thawed, sex-sorted semen compared with sex-sorted semen, (P < 0.05), the pregnancy rate (bull I, 45% vs. 40%; II, 35% vs. 50%; and III, 47% vs. 48% for RSS and control, respectively; P > 0.05) and sex-sorted efficiency (bull I, 93% vs. 98%; II, 96% vs. 94%; and III, 96% vs. 97% for RSS and control, respectively; P > 0.05) were similar for each of the three bulls regardless of the sperm type used in the IVF. The sexing of previously frozen semen, associated with IVEP, produces viable embryos with a pregnancy rate of up to 40%, and calves of the desired sex are born even if the paternal bull has acquired some infertility, died, or is located a long distance from the sexing laboratory. Furthermore, these data show the feasibility of the process even when used in a large-scale IVEP program. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

BAD-LAMP controls TLR9 trafficking and signalling in human plasmacytoid dendritic cells.

PubMed

Combes, Alexis; Camosseto, Voahirana; N'Guessan, Prudence; Argüello, Rafael J; Mussard, Julie; Caux, Christophe; Bendriss-Vermare, Nathalie; Pierre, Philippe; Gatti, Evelina

2017-10-13

Toll-like receptors (TLR) are essential components of the innate immune system. Several accessory proteins, such as UNC93B1, are required for transport and activation of nucleic acid sensing Toll-like receptors in endosomes. Here, we show that BAD-LAMP (LAMP5) controls TLR9 trafficking to LAMP1 + late endosomes in human plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC), leading to NF-κB activation and TNF production upon DNA detection. An inducible VAMP3 +/ LAMP2 +/ LAMP1 - endolysosome compartment exists in pDCs from which TLR9 activation triggers type I interferon expression. BAD-LAMP-silencing enhances TLR9 retention in this compartment and consequent downstream signalling events. Conversely, sustained BAD-LAMP expression in pDCs contributes to their lack of type I interferon production after exposure to a TGF-β-positive microenvironment or isolation from human breast tumours. Hence, BAD-LAMP limits interferon expression in pDCs indirectly, by promoting TLR9 sorting to late endosome compartments at steady state and in response to immunomodulatory cues.TLR9 is highly expressed by plasmacytoid dendritic cells and detects nucleic acids, but to discriminate between host and microbial nucleic acids TLR9 is sorted into different endosomal compartments. Here the authors show that BAD-LAMP limits type 1 interferon responses by sorting TLR9 to late endosomal compartments.

Grower price effects of Innate™ potato

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The revival of biotechnology applications for potato raises interesting economic questions that we examine here. Technologies of this sort increase supply by decreasing waste and reducing percentage of off-grade product. Increased supply leads, eventually, to reductions in the market price, so that ...

Development of a novel cell sorting method that samples population diversity in flow cytometry.

PubMed

Osborne, Geoffrey W; Andersen, Stacey B; Battye, Francis L

2015-11-01

Flow cytometry based electrostatic cell sorting is an important tool in the separation of cell populations. Existing instruments can sort single cells into multi-well collection plates, and keep track of cell of origin and sorted well location. However currently single sorted cell results reflect the population distribution and fail to capture the population diversity. Software was designed that implements a novel sorting approach, "Slice and Dice Sorting," that links a graphical representation of a multi-well plate to logic that ensures that single cells are sampled and sorted from all areas defined by the sort region/s. Therefore the diversity of the total population is captured, and the more frequently occurring or rarer cell types are all sampled. The sorting approach was tested computationally, and using functional cell based assays. Computationally we demonstrate that conventional single cell sorting can sample as little as 50% of the population diversity dependant on the population distribution, and that Slice and Dice sorting samples much more of the variety present within a cell population. We then show by sorting single cells into wells using the Slice and Dice sorting method that there are cells sorted using this method that would be either rarely sorted, or not sorted at all using conventional single cell sorting approaches. The present study demonstrates a novel single cell sorting method that samples much more of the population diversity than current methods. It has implications in clonal selection, stem cell sorting, single cell sequencing and any areas where population heterogeneity is of importance. © 2015 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry.

A task analysis of the shift from teacher instructions to self-instructions in performing an in-common task.

PubMed

Grote, I; Rosales, J; Baer, D M

1996-11-01

Three preschool children repeatedly did four kinds of sorts with a deck of stimulus cards: a difficult, untaught target sort and three other sorts considered analytic of self-instructing the target performance. The untaught target sort was to find in a deck of cards those matching what two sample cards had in common. Most preschool children must be taught to mediate this problem. The three other kinds of sorts taught skills involved in the target performance or its mediation. As correct self-instructive talk emerged in the target sorts, it was confirmed. The untaught target sorts were interspersed infrequently among the three alternating directly taught skill sorts, to see if accurate target sorts, and accurate self-instructive talk about the target sorts, would emerge as the three skill sorts were mastered. As all the sorts progressed, increasing accuracy was seen first in the skill sorts and then in the untaught target sorts. All three subjects showed subsequent generalization to new target sorts involving other stimulus sets. Correct spontaneous self-instructions about the target sorts increased from near zero at the beginning of the experiment to consistency at its end. Thus the three skill sorts appeared sufficient for the emergence of a self-instructed solution to the previously insoluble target performance.

Parallel sort with a ranged, partitioned key-value store in a high perfomance computing environment

DOEpatents

Bent, John M.; Faibish, Sorin; Grider, Gary; Torres, Aaron; Poole, Stephen W.

2016-01-26

Improved sorting techniques are provided that perform a parallel sort using a ranged, partitioned key-value store in a high performance computing (HPC) environment. A plurality of input data files comprising unsorted key-value data in a partitioned key-value store are sorted. The partitioned key-value store comprises a range server for each of a plurality of ranges. Each input data file has an associated reader thread. Each reader thread reads the unsorted key-value data in the corresponding input data file and performs a local sort of the unsorted key-value data to generate sorted key-value data. A plurality of sorted, ranged subsets of each of the sorted key-value data are generated based on the plurality of ranges. Each sorted, ranged subset corresponds to a given one of the ranges and is provided to one of the range servers corresponding to the range of the sorted, ranged subset. Each range server sorts the received sorted, ranged subsets and provides a sorted range. A plurality of the sorted ranges are concatenated to obtain a globally sorted result.

A Methodology for Performing Effects-Based Assessments

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-03-01

can then be used to make assessments (Smith, 2002:384). 2.8 Cause-and-Effect Diagrams Developed by Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa in the field of Quality Control...John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2004. Ishikawa , Kaoru . Guide to Quality Control. White Plains NY: Asian Productivity Organization, 1989...various causes affecting product quality by sorting out and relating the causes. Cause-and-effect diagrams are sometimes called Ishikawa diagrams, or

Methods, systems, and computer program products for network firewall policy optimization

DOEpatents

Fulp, Errin W [Winston-Salem, NC; Tarsa, Stephen J [Duxbury, MA

2011-10-18

Methods, systems, and computer program products for firewall policy optimization are disclosed. According to one method, a firewall policy including an ordered list of firewall rules is defined. For each rule, a probability indicating a likelihood of receiving a packet matching the rule is determined. The rules are sorted in order of non-increasing probability in a manner that preserves the firewall policy.

78 FR 28856 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for Office of Management and Budget Review...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-16

... Request; Bar Code Label Requirement for Human Drug and Biological Products AGENCY: Food and Drug... and clearance. Bar Code Label Requirement for Human Drug and Biological Products--(OMB Control Number... that required human drug product and biological product labels to have bar codes. The rule required bar...

Exploring the underlying factors influencing e-learning adoption in nurse education.

PubMed

Petit dit Dariel, Odessa; Wharrad, Heather; Windle, Richard

2013-06-01

To report a study undertaken to explore the underlying factors influencing e-learning adoption in nurse education. Despite e-learning's high profile it has not been readily integrated into teaching practice in nurse education. Previous research has identified generic, cross-disciplinary factors but has left out 'soft' factors. The study adopted an exploratory descriptive design. Q-methodology was used to explore e-learning adoption in a Division of Nursing located in an institution of Higher Education in the UK. Between September-December 2009, 38 participants were recruited to participate in Q-sorts and post-sort interviews. The Q-sort data were factor analysed and the interviews were coded to their respective factors to develop in-depth narratives. Four factors were identified: 'E-learning advocates' saw e-learning's potential to improve nurse education and prepare future nurses for their evolving role; the 'Humanists' had avoided e-learning because they valued human interaction; the 'Sceptics' doubted that technology could improve learning outcomes; and the 'Pragmatics,' only used e-learning as a tool to post lecture notes online to supplement what they covered in class. The findings point to the variety of responses existing among nurse academics faced with integrating e-learning into their teaching. Moving beyond the binary labels commonly attributed to those considered either 'early adopters' or 'laggards,' the findings contribute to the literature by revealing a wider breadth of views and responses towards technology. Acknowledging these views can inform future e-learning strategies and lead to improvement in e-learning use in nurse education. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

A single-cell resolution map of mouse hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell differentiation.

PubMed

Nestorowa, Sonia; Hamey, Fiona K; Pijuan Sala, Blanca; Diamanti, Evangelia; Shepherd, Mairi; Laurenti, Elisa; Wilson, Nicola K; Kent, David G; Göttgens, Berthold

2016-08-25

Maintenance of the blood system requires balanced cell fate decisions by hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs). Because cell fate choices are executed at the individual cell level, new single-cell profiling technologies offer exciting possibilities for mapping the dynamic molecular changes underlying HSPC differentiation. Here, we have used single-cell RNA sequencing to profile more than 1600 single HSPCs, and deep sequencing has enabled detection of an average of 6558 protein-coding genes per cell. Index sorting, in combination with broad sorting gates, allowed us to retrospectively assign cells to 12 commonly sorted HSPC phenotypes while also capturing intermediate cells typically excluded by conventional gating. We further show that independently generated single-cell data sets can be projected onto the single-cell resolution expression map to directly compare data from multiple groups and to build and refine new hypotheses. Reconstruction of differentiation trajectories reveals dynamic expression changes associated with early lymphoid, erythroid, and granulocyte-macrophage differentiation. The latter two trajectories were characterized by common upregulation of cell cycle and oxidative phosphorylation transcriptional programs. By using external spike-in controls, we estimate absolute messenger RNA (mRNA) levels per cell, showing for the first time that despite a general reduction in total mRNA, a subset of genes shows higher expression levels in immature stem cells consistent with active maintenance of the stem-cell state. Finally, we report the development of an intuitive Web interface as a new community resource to permit visualization of gene expression in HSPCs at single-cell resolution for any gene of choice. © 2016 by The American Society of Hematology.

Reduction of Aflatoxins in Apricot Kernels by Electronic and Manual Color Sorting

PubMed Central

Zivoli, Rosanna; Gambacorta, Lucia; Piemontese, Luca; Solfrizzo, Michele

2016-01-01

The efficacy of color sorting on reducing aflatoxin levels in shelled apricot kernels was assessed. Naturally-contaminated kernels were submitted to an electronic optical sorter or blanched, peeled, and manually sorted to visually identify and sort discolored kernels (dark and spotted) from healthy ones. The samples obtained from the two sorting approaches were ground, homogenized, and analysed by HPLC-FLD for their aflatoxin content. A mass balance approach was used to measure the distribution of aflatoxins in the collected fractions. Aflatoxin B1 and B2 were identified and quantitated in all collected fractions at levels ranging from 1.7 to 22,451.5 µg/kg of AFB1 + AFB2, whereas AFG1 and AFG2 were not detected. Excellent results were obtained by manual sorting of peeled kernels since the removal of discolored kernels (2.6%–19.9% of total peeled kernels) removed 97.3%–99.5% of total aflatoxins. The combination of peeling and visual/manual separation of discolored kernels is a feasible strategy to remove 97%–99% of aflatoxins accumulated in naturally-contaminated samples. Electronic optical sorter gave highly variable results since the amount of AFB1 + AFB2 measured in rejected fractions (15%–18% of total kernels) ranged from 13% to 59% of total aflatoxins. An improved immunoaffinity-based HPLC-FLD method having low limits of detection for the four aflatoxins (0.01–0.05 µg/kg) was developed and used to monitor the occurrence of aflatoxins in 47 commercial products containing apricot kernels and/or almonds commercialized in Italy. Low aflatoxin levels were found in 38% of the tested samples and ranged from 0.06 to 1.50 μg/kg for AFB1 and from 0.06 to 1.79 μg/kg for total aflatoxins. PMID:26797635

Construction of self-dual codes in the Rosenbloom-Tsfasman metric

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krisnawati, Vira Hari; Nisa, Anzi Lina Ukhtin

2017-12-01

Linear code is a very basic code and very useful in coding theory. Generally, linear code is a code over finite field in Hamming metric. Among the most interesting families of codes, the family of self-dual code is a very important one, because it is the best known error-correcting code. The concept of Hamming metric is develop into Rosenbloom-Tsfasman metric (RT-metric). The inner product in RT-metric is different from Euclid inner product that is used to define duality in Hamming metric. Most of the codes which are self-dual in Hamming metric are not so in RT-metric. And, generator matrix is very important to construct a code because it contains basis of the code. Therefore in this paper, we give some theorems and methods to construct self-dual codes in RT-metric by considering properties of the inner product and generator matrix. Also, we illustrate some examples for every kind of the construction.

Against Harmful Research on Non-Agreeing Children.

PubMed

Chwang, Eric

2015-07-01

The Code of Federal Regulations permits harmful research on children who have not agreed to participate, but I will argue that it should be no more permissive of harmful research on such children than of harmful research on adults who have not agreed to participate. Of course, the Code permits harmful research on adults. Such research is not morally problematic, however, because adults must agree to participate. And, of course, the Code also permits beneficial research on children without needing their explicit agreement. This sort of research is also not problematic, this time because paternalism towards children may be justifiable. The moral problem at the center of this paper arises from the combination of two potential properties of pediatric research, first that it might be harmful and second that its subjects might not agree to participate. In Section 2 of this article I explain how the Code permits harmful research on non-agreeing children. Section 3 contains my argument that we should no more permit harmful research on non-agreeing children than on non-agreeing adults. In Section 4, I argue that my thesis does not presuppose that pediatric assent has the same moral force that adult consent does. In Section 5, I argue that the distinction between non-voluntary and involuntary research is irrelevant to my thesis. In Section 6, I rebut an objection based on the power of parental permission. In Section 7 I suggest how the Code of Federal Regulations might be changed. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Design and Development of a High Speed Sorting System Based on Machine Vision Guiding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Wenchang; Mei, Jiangping; Ding, Yabin

In this paper, a vision-based control strategy to perform high speed pick-and-place tasks on automation product line is proposed, and relevant control software is develop. Using Delta robot to control a sucker to grasp disordered objects from one moving conveyer and then place them on the other in order. CCD camera gets one picture every time the conveyer moves a distance of ds. Objects position and shape are got after image processing. Target tracking method based on "Servo motor + synchronous conveyer" is used to fulfill the high speed porting operation real time. Experiments conducted on Delta robot sorting system demonstrate the efficiency and validity of the proposed vision-control strategy.

Lean coding machine. Facilities target productivity and job satisfaction with coding automation.

PubMed

Rollins, Genna

2010-07-01

Facilities are turning to coding automation to help manage the volume of electronic documentation, streamlining workflow, boosting productivity, and increasing job satisfaction. As EHR adoption increases, computer-assisted coding may become a necessity, not an option.

[Ordinance No. 91-240 of 25 February 1991 relating to the Labor Code applicable to the Territory of Mayotte].

PubMed

1991-03-06

This Law sets forth the Labor Code for the French territory of Mayotte. The Code contains the following provisions relating to sex discrimination, maternity leave, night work, and the employment of foreigners: a) employers are prohibited from discriminating against women who are pregnant; b) women are entitled to fully paid maternity leave of 14 weeks, 8 weeks before and 6 weeks after giving birth; c) the employer and the Government will each pay for half of the worker's salary during this leave; d) discrimination on the basis of sex or family situation is prohibited in advertisements, offers of employment, hiring, firing, pay, training, job classification, and promotion; e) retaliation for instituting an action for sex discrimination is prohibited; f) men and women are guaranteed equal pay for equal work or work of an equivalent value; g) women may not perform work at night in factories, mines, building sites, workshops, public or ministerial offices, places of professional work, companies, unions, or associations of any sort, unless they are in management positions; and h) a foreigner may not engage in a professional activity in Mayotte without authorization. The Law prescribes penalties for violations of these provisions.

Active Inference and Learning in the Cerebellum.

PubMed

Friston, Karl; Herreros, Ivan

2016-09-01

This letter offers a computational account of Pavlovian conditioning in the cerebellum based on active inference and predictive coding. Using eyeblink conditioning as a canonical paradigm, we formulate a minimal generative model that can account for spontaneous blinking, startle responses, and (delay or trace) conditioning. We then establish the face validity of the model using simulated responses to unconditioned and conditioned stimuli to reproduce the sorts of behavior that are observed empirically. The scheme's anatomical validity is then addressed by associating variables in the predictive coding scheme with nuclei and neuronal populations to match the (extrinsic and intrinsic) connectivity of the cerebellar (eyeblink conditioning) system. Finally, we try to establish predictive validity by reproducing selective failures of delay conditioning, trace conditioning, and extinction using (simulated and reversible) focal lesions. Although rather metaphorical, the ensuing scheme can account for a remarkable range of anatomical and neurophysiological aspects of cerebellar circuitry-and the specificity of lesion-deficit mappings that have been established experimentally. From a computational perspective, this work shows how conditioning or learning can be formulated in terms of minimizing variational free energy (or maximizing Bayesian model evidence) using exactly the same principles that underlie predictive coding in perception.

Denni Algorithm An Enhanced Of SMS (Scan, Move and Sort) Algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aprilsyah Lubis, Denni; Salim Sitompul, Opim; Marwan; Tulus; Andri Budiman, M.

2017-12-01

Sorting has been a profound area for the algorithmic researchers, and many resources are invested to suggest a more working sorting algorithm. For this purpose many existing sorting algorithms were observed in terms of the efficiency of the algorithmic complexity. Efficient sorting is important to optimize the use of other algorithms that require sorted lists to work correctly. Sorting has been considered as a fundamental problem in the study of algorithms that due to many reasons namely, the necessary to sort information is inherent in many applications, algorithms often use sorting as a key subroutine, in algorithm design there are many essential techniques represented in the body of sorting algorithms, and many engineering issues come to the fore when implementing sorting algorithms., Many algorithms are very well known for sorting the unordered lists, and one of the well-known algorithms that make the process of sorting to be more economical and efficient is SMS (Scan, Move and Sort) algorithm, an enhancement of Quicksort invented Rami Mansi in 2010. This paper presents a new sorting algorithm called Denni-algorithm. The Denni algorithm is considered as an enhancement on the SMS algorithm in average, and worst cases. The Denni algorithm is compared with the SMS algorithm and the results were promising.

Examining the relationship between comprehension and production processes in code-switched language

PubMed Central

Guzzardo Tamargo, Rosa E.; Valdés Kroff, Jorge R.; Dussias, Paola E.

2016-01-01

We employ code-switching (the alternation of two languages in bilingual communication) to test the hypothesis, derived from experience-based models of processing (e.g., Boland, Tanenhaus, Carlson, & Garnsey, 1989; Gennari & MacDonald, 2009), that bilinguals are sensitive to the combinatorial distributional patterns derived from production and that they use this information to guide processing during the comprehension of code-switched sentences. An analysis of spontaneous bilingual speech confirmed the existence of production asymmetries involving two auxiliary + participle phrases in Spanish–English code-switches. A subsequent eye-tracking study with two groups of bilingual code-switchers examined the consequences of the differences in distributional patterns found in the corpus study for comprehension. Participants’ comprehension costs mirrored the production patterns found in the corpus study. Findings are discussed in terms of the constraints that may be responsible for the distributional patterns in code-switching production and are situated within recent proposals of the links between production and comprehension. PMID:28670049

Examining the relationship between comprehension and production processes in code-switched language.

PubMed

Guzzardo Tamargo, Rosa E; Valdés Kroff, Jorge R; Dussias, Paola E

2016-08-01

We employ code-switching (the alternation of two languages in bilingual communication) to test the hypothesis, derived from experience-based models of processing (e.g., Boland, Tanenhaus, Carlson, & Garnsey, 1989; Gennari & MacDonald, 2009), that bilinguals are sensitive to the combinatorial distributional patterns derived from production and that they use this information to guide processing during the comprehension of code-switched sentences. An analysis of spontaneous bilingual speech confirmed the existence of production asymmetries involving two auxiliary + participle phrases in Spanish-English code-switches. A subsequent eye-tracking study with two groups of bilingual code-switchers examined the consequences of the differences in distributional patterns found in the corpus study for comprehension. Participants' comprehension costs mirrored the production patterns found in the corpus study. Findings are discussed in terms of the constraints that may be responsible for the distributional patterns in code-switching production and are situated within recent proposals of the links between production and comprehension.

77 FR 2537 - Fenoxaprop-p

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-18

... production (NAICS code 111). Animal production (NAICS code 112). Food manufacturing (NAICS code 311). Pesticide manufacturing (NAICS code 32532). This listing is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather...? You may be potentially affected by this action if you are an agricultural producer, food manufacturer...

Multidimensional representations: The knowledge domain of germs held by students, teachers and medical professionals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rua, Melissa Jo

The present study examined the understandings held by 5th, 8th, and 11th-grade students, their teachers and medical professionals about germs. Specifically, this study describes the content and structure of students' and adults' conceptions in the areas of germ contraction, transmission, and treatment of infectious and non-infectious diseases caused by microorganisms. Naturalistic and empirical research methods were used to investigate participants' conceptions. Between and within group similarities were found using data from concept maps on the topic "flu," drawings of germs, a 20 word card sort related to germs and illness, and a semi-structured interview. Concept maps were coded according to techniques by Novak and Gowan (1984). Drawings of germs were coded into four main categories (bacteria, viruses, animal cell, other) and five subcategories (disease, caricature, insect, protozoa, unclassified). Cluster patterns for the card sorts of each group were found using multidimensional scaling techniques. Six coding categories emerged from the interview transcripts: (a) transmission, (b) treatment, (c) effect of weather on illness, (d) immune response, (e) location of germs, and (f) similarities and differences between bacteria and viruses. The findings showed students, teachers and medical professionals have different understandings about bacteria and viruses and the structures of those understandings vary. Gaps or holes in the participants knowledge were found in areas such as: (a) how germs are transmitted, (b) where germs are found, (c) how the body transports and uses medicine, (d) how the immune system functions, (e) the difference between vaccines and non-prescription medicines, (f) differences that exist between bacteria and viruses, and (g) bacterial resistance to medication. The youngest students relied heavily upon personal experiences with germs rather than formal instruction when explaining their conceptions. As a result, the influence of media was evident in the students' understandings and images of microbes. Students also viewed germs as a human problem rather than seeing microorganisms as an independent member of the ecosystem. Teachers' explanations about germs varied in explicitness based on the grade level they taught while medical professionals based their understandings on formal knowledge and tended to use explicit technical language in their explanations of the phenomena.

76 FR 17644 - Pesticide Product; Registration Application

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-30

... (NAICS code 111). Animal production (NAICS code 112). Food manufacturing (NAICS code 311). Pesticide.../Use: Mating disruption of the dogwood borer (Synanthedon scitula) (G. Casciano). List of Subjects...

75 FR 26668 - Flutriafol; Pesticide Tolerances

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-12

... skin sensitizer when tested in guinea pigs. The pattern of toxicity attributed to flutriafol exposure... production (NAICS code 111). Animal production (NAICS code 112). Food manufacturing (NAICS code 311...

Scientific and Technological Progress and Job Qualification.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ivanov, N. P.

Clarifying the influences determining how and to what extent highly qualified personnel are employed, this study discusses those sorts of economic and technological advances affecting employment potentials. Two main trends in scientific and technological progress--computerized industries and the high science-content of production--have so…

School Maker Faires

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harlow, Danielle; Hansen, Alexandria

2018-01-01

The Maker Movement (Dougherty 2012) highlights innovation and creativity through "activities focused on designing, building, modifying, and/or repurposing material objects, for playful or useful ends, oriented toward making a 'product' of some sort that can be used, interacted with, or demonstrated" (Martin 2015, p. 31). When engaged in…

Microfluidic, marker-free isolation of circulating tumor cells from blood samples

PubMed Central

Karabacak, Nezihi Murat; Spuhler, Philipp S; Fachin, Fabio; Lim, Eugene J; Pai, Vincent; Ozkumur, Emre; Martel, Joseph M; Kojic, Nikola; Smith, Kyle; Chen, Pin-i; Yang, Jennifer; Hwang, Henry; Morgan, Bailey; Trautwein, Julie; Barber, Thomas A; Stott, Shannon L; Maheswaran, Shyamala; Kapur, Ravi; Haber, Daniel A; Toner, Mehmet

2014-01-01

The ability to isolate and analyze rare circulating tumor cells (CTCs) has the potential to further our understanding of cancer metastasis and enhance the care of cancer patients. In this protocol, we describe the procedure for isolating rare CTCs from blood samples by using tumor antigen–independent microfluidic CTC-iChip technology. The CTC-iChip uses deterministic lateral displacement, inertial focusing and magnetophoresis to sort up to 107 cells/s. By using two-stage magnetophoresis and depletion antibodies against leukocytes, we achieve 3.8-log depletion of white blood cells and a 97% yield of rare cells with a sample processing rate of 8 ml of whole blood/h. The CTC-iChip is compatible with standard cytopathological and RNA-based characterization methods. This protocol describes device production, assembly, blood sample preparation, system setup and the CTC isolation process. Sorting 8 ml of blood sample requires 2 h including setup time, and chip production requires 2–5 d. PMID:24577360

Method and apparatus for separating material

DOEpatents

Oder, Robin R.; Jamison, Russell E.

2006-10-24

An apparatus for sorting particles composed of a mixture of particles with differing physical and chemical characteristics. The apparatus includes a comminutor, a mechanism for removing particles from the inside of the comminutor which are intermediate in size between the feed to the comminutor and the product of comminution, a mechanism for either discharging particles taken from the comminutor to a reject stream or providing them to a size classification apparatus such as screening, a mechanism for returning the oversize particles to the comminutor or for discharging them to the reject stream, an electric mechanism for separating particles with an electrical force disposed adjacent to a magnet mechanism, a mechanism for providing the particles to the magnet mechanism and the electric mechanism and for providing triboelectric and capacitive charges to the particles, and a mechanism for returning one of the products of electric and magnetic separation to the comminutor while discharging the other to the reject stream. A method for sorting particles composed of a mixture of particles with differing physical and chemical characteristics.

75 FR 74634 - Spiroxamine; Pesticide Tolerances

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-12-01

... is a skin sensitizer when tested in guinea pigs and is a severe dermal irritant. Spiroxamine... production (NAICS code 111). Animal production (NAICS code 112). Food manufacturing (NAICS code 311...

Robust and Blind 3D Mesh Watermarking in Spatial Domain Based on Faces Categorization and Sorting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Molaei, Amir Masoud; Ebrahimnezhad, Hossein; Sedaaghi, Mohammad Hossein

2016-06-01

In this paper, a 3D watermarking algorithm in spatial domain is presented with blind detection. In the proposed method, a negligible visual distortion is observed in host model. Initially, a preprocessing is applied on the 3D model to make it robust against geometric transformation attacks. Then, a number of triangle faces are determined as mark triangles using a novel systematic approach in which faces are categorized and sorted robustly. In order to enhance the capability of information retrieval by attacks, block watermarks are encoded using Reed-Solomon block error-correcting code before embedding into the mark triangles. Next, the encoded watermarks are embedded in spherical coordinates. The proposed method is robust against additive noise, mesh smoothing and quantization attacks. Also, it is stout next to geometric transformation, vertices and faces reordering attacks. Moreover, the proposed algorithm is designed so that it is robust against the cropping attack. Simulation results confirm that the watermarked models confront very low distortion if the control parameters are selected properly. Comparison with other methods demonstrates that the proposed method has good performance against the mesh smoothing attacks.

Product code optimization for determinate state LDPC decoding in robust image transmission.

PubMed

Thomos, Nikolaos; Boulgouris, Nikolaos V; Strintzis, Michael G

2006-08-01

We propose a novel scheme for error-resilient image transmission. The proposed scheme employs a product coder consisting of low-density parity check (LDPC) codes and Reed-Solomon codes in order to deal effectively with bit errors. The efficiency of the proposed scheme is based on the exploitation of determinate symbols in Tanner graph decoding of LDPC codes and a novel product code optimization technique based on error estimation. Experimental evaluation demonstrates the superiority of the proposed system in comparison to recent state-of-the-art techniques for image transmission.

Mass, energy and material balances of SRF production process. Part 1: SRF produced from commercial and industrial waste.

PubMed

Nasrullah, Muhammad; Vainikka, Pasi; Hannula, Janne; Hurme, Markku; Kärki, Janne

2014-08-01

This paper presents the mass, energy and material balances of a solid recovered fuel (SRF) production process. The SRF is produced from commercial and industrial waste (C&IW) through mechanical treatment (MT). In this work various streams of material produced in SRF production process are analyzed for their proximate and ultimate analysis. Based on this analysis and composition of process streams their mass, energy and material balances are established for SRF production process. Here mass balance describes the overall mass flow of input waste material in the various output streams, whereas material balance describes the mass flow of components of input waste stream (such as paper and cardboard, wood, plastic (soft), plastic (hard), textile and rubber) in the various output streams of SRF production process. A commercial scale experimental campaign was conducted on an MT waste sorting plant to produce SRF from C&IW. All the process streams (input and output) produced in this MT plant were sampled and treated according to the CEN standard methods for SRF: EN 15442 and EN 15443. The results from the mass balance of SRF production process showed that of the total input C&IW material to MT waste sorting plant, 62% was recovered in the form of SRF, 4% as ferrous metal, 1% as non-ferrous metal and 21% was sorted out as reject material, 11.6% as fine fraction, and 0.4% as heavy fraction. The energy flow balance in various process streams of this SRF production process showed that of the total input energy content of C&IW to MT plant, 75% energy was recovered in the form of SRF, 20% belonged to the reject material stream and rest 5% belonged with the streams of fine fraction and heavy fraction. In the material balances, mass fractions of plastic (soft), plastic (hard), paper and cardboard and wood recovered in the SRF stream were 88%, 70%, 72% and 60% respectively of their input masses to MT plant. A high mass fraction of plastic (PVC), rubber material and non-combustibles (such as stone/rock and glass particles), was found in the reject material stream. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Basic Business and Economics: Understanding the Uses of the Universal Product Code

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blockhus, Wanda

1977-01-01

Describes the Universal Product Code (UPC), the two-part food labeling and packaging code which is both human- and electronic scanner-readable. Discusses how it affects both consumer and business, and suggests how to teach the UPC code to business education students. (HD)

Particle-in-cell simulations on graphic processing units

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ren, C.; Zhou, X.; Li, J.; Huang, M. C.; Zhao, Y.

2014-10-01

We will show our recent progress in using GPU's to accelerate the PIC code OSIRIS [Fonseca et al. LNCS 2331, 342 (2002)]. The OISRIS parallel structure is retained and the computation-intensive kernels are shipped to GPU's. Algorithms for the kernels are adapted for the GPU, including high-order charge-conserving current deposition schemes with few branching and parallel particle sorting [Kong et al., JCP 230, 1676 (2011)]. These algorithms make efficient use of the GPU shared memory. This work was supported by U.S. Department of Energy under Grant No. DE-FC02-04ER54789 and by NSF under Grant No. PHY-1314734.

Distributed databases for materials study of thermo-kinetic properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toher, Cormac

2015-03-01

High-throughput computational materials science provides researchers with the opportunity to rapidly generate large databases of materials properties. To rapidly add thermal properties to the AFLOWLIB consortium and Materials Project repositories, we have implemented an automated quasi-harmonic Debye model, the Automatic GIBBS Library (AGL). This enables us to screen thousands of materials for thermal conductivity, bulk modulus, thermal expansion and related properties. The search and sort functions of the online database can then be used to identify suitable materials for more in-depth study using more precise computational or experimental techniques. AFLOW-AGL source code is public domain and will soon be released within the GNU-GPL license.

The risk of musculoskeletal disorders for workers due to repetitive movements during tomato harvesting.

PubMed

Cecchini, M; Colantoni, A; Massantini, R; Monarca, D

2010-04-01

Tomatoes are the most common crop in Italy. The production cycle requires operations in the field and factory that can cause musculoskeletal disorders due to the repetitive movements of the upper limbs of the workers employed in the sorting phase. This research aims to evaluate these risks using the OCRA (occupational repetitive actions) index method This method is based firstly on the calculation of a maximum number of recommended actions, related to the way the operation is performed, and secondly on a comparison of the number of actions effectively carried out by the upper limb with the recommended calculated value. The results of the risk evaluation for workers who manually sort tomatoes during harvest showed a risk for the workers, with an exposure index greater than 20; the OCRA index defines an index higher than 3.5 as unacceptable. The present trend of replacing manual sorting onboard a vehicle with optical sorters seems to be appropriate to reduce the risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) and is supported from both a financial point of view and as a quality control measure.

Magnetic-Activated Cell Sorting for the Fast and Efficient Separation of Human and Rodent Schwann Cells from Mixed Cell Populations.

PubMed

Ravelo, Kristine M; Andersen, Natalia D; Monje, Paula V

2018-01-01

To date, magnetic-activated cell sorting (MACS) remains a powerful method to isolate distinct cell populations based on differential cell surface labeling. Optimized direct and indirect MACS protocols for cell immunolabeling are presented here as methods to divest Schwann cell (SC) cultures of contaminating cells (specifically, fibroblast cells) and isolate SC populations at different stages of differentiation. This chapter describes (1) the preparation of single-cell suspensions from established human and rat SC cultures, (2) the design and application of cell selection strategies using SC-specific (p75 NGFR , O4, and O1) and fibroblast-specific (Thy-1) markers, and (3) the characterization of both the pre- and post-sorting cell populations. A simple protocol for the growth of hybridoma cell cultures as a source of monoclonal antibodies for cell surface immunolabeling of SCs and fibroblasts is provided as a cost-effective alternative for commercially available products. These steps allow for the timely and efficient recovery of purified SC populations without compromising the viability and biological activity of the cells.

Using image analysis to predict the weight of Alaskan salmon of different species.

PubMed

Balaban, Murat O; Unal Sengör, Gülgün F; Gil Soriano, Mario; Guillén Ruiz, Elena

2010-04-01

After harvesting, salmon is sorted by species, size, and quality. This is generally manually done by operators. Automation would bring repeatability, objectivity, and record-keeping capabilities to these tasks. Machine vision (MV) and image analysis have been used in sorting many agricultural products. Four salmon species were tested: pink (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha), red (Oncorhynchus nerka), silver (Oncorhynchus kisutch), and chum (Oncorhynchus keta). A total of 60 whole fish from each species were first weighed, then placed in a light box to take their picture. Weight compared with view area as well as length and width correlations were developed. In addition the effect of "hump" development (see text) of pink salmon on this correlation was investigated. It was possible to predict the weight of a salmon by view area, regardless of species, and regardless of the development of a hump for pinks. Within pink salmon there was a small but insignificant difference between predictive equations for the weight of "regular" fish and "humpy" fish. Machine vision can accurately predict the weight of whole salmon for sorting.

Optical-electronic system for express analysis of mineral raw materials dressability by color sorting method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alekhin, Artem A.; Gorbunova, Elena V.; Chertov, Aleksandr N.; Petuhova, Darya B.

2013-04-01

Due to the depletion of solid minerals ore reserves and the involvement in the production of the poor and refractory ores a process of continuous appreciation of minerals is going. In present time at the market of enrichment equipment are well represented optical sorters of various firms. All these sorters are essentially different from each other by parameters of productivity, classes of particles sizes for processed raw, nuances of decision algorithm, as well as by color model (RGB, YUV, HSB, etc.) chosen to describe the color of separating mineral samples. At the same time there is no dressability estimation method for mineral raw materials without direct semi-industrial test on the existing type of optical sorter, as well as there is no equipment realizing mentioned dressability estimation method. It should also be note the lack of criteria for choosing of one or another manufacturer (or type) of optical sorter. A direct consequence of this situation is the "opacity" of the color sorting method and the rejection of its potential customers. The proposed solution of mentioned problems is to develop the dressability estimation method, and to create an optical-electronic system for express analysis of mineral raw materials dressability by color sorting method. This paper has the description of structure organization and operating principles of experimental model optical-electronic system for express analysis of mineral raw material. Also in this work are represented comparison results of the proposed optical-electronic system and the real color sorter.

Sorting and recycling of domestic waste. Review of occupational health problems and their possible causes.

PubMed

Poulsen, O M; Breum, N O; Ebbehøj, N; Hansen, A M; Ivens, U I; van Lelieveld, D; Malmros, P; Matthiasen, L; Nielsen, B H; Nielsen, E M

1995-05-19

In order to reduce the strain on the environment from the deposition of waste in landfills and combustion at incineration plants, several governments throughout the industrialized world have planned greatly increased recycling of domestic waste by the turn of the millennium. To implement the plans, new waste recycling facilities are to be built and the number of workers involved in waste sorting and recycling will increase steadily during the next decade. Several studies have reinforced the hypothesis that exposure to airborne microorganisms and the toxic products thereof are important factors causing a multitude of health problems among workers at waste sorting and recycling plants. Workers at transfer stations, landfills and incineration plants may experience an increased risk of pulmonary disorders and gastrointestinal problems. High concentrations of total airborne dust, bacteria, faecal coliform bacteria and fungal spores have been reported. The concentrations are considered to be sufficiently high to cause adverse health effects. In addition, a high incidence of lower back injuries, probably due to heavy lifting during work, has been reported among workers at landfills and incineration plants. Workers involved in manual sorting of unseparated domestic waste, as well as workers at compost plants experience more or less frequent symptoms of organic dust toxic syndrome (ODTS) (cough, chest-tightness, dyspnoea, influenza-like symptoms such as chills, fever, muscle ache, joint pain, fatigue and headache), gastrointestinal problems such as nausea and diarrhoea, irritation of the skin, eye and mucous membranes of the nose and upper airways, etc. In addition cases of severe occupational pulmonary diseases (asthma, alveolitis, bronchitis) have been reported. Manual sorting of unseparated domestic waste may be associated with exposures to large quantities of airborne bacteria and endotoxin. Several work functions in compost plants can result in very high exposure to airborne fungal spores and thermophilic actinomycetes. At plants sorting separated domestic waste, e.g. the combustible fraction of waste composed of paper, cardboard and plastics, the workers may have an increased risk of gastrointestinal symptoms and irritation of the eyes and skin. At such plants the bioaerosol exposure levels are in general low, but at some work tasks, e.g. manual sorting and work near the balers, exposure levels may occasionally be high enough to be potentially harmful. Workers handling the source-sorted paper or cardboard fraction do not appear to have an elevated risk of occupational health problems related to bioaerosol exposure, and the bioaerosol exposure is generally low.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Final technical report

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

Edward DeLong

2011-10-07

Our overarching goals in this project were to: Develop and improve high-throughput sequencing methods and analytical approaches for quantitative analyses of microbial gene expression at the Hawaii Ocean Time Series Station and the Bermuda Atlantic Time Series Station; Conduct field analyses following gene expression patterns in picoplankton microbial communities in general, and Prochlorococcus flow sorted from that community, as they respond to different environmental variables (light, macronutrients, dissolved organic carbon), that are predicted to influence activity, productivity, and carbon cycling; Use the expression analyses of flow sorted Prochlorococcus to identify horizontally transferred genes and gene products, in particular those thatmore » are located in genomic islands and likely to confer habitat-specific fitness advantages; Use the microbial community gene expression data that we generate to gain insights, and test hypotheses, about the variability, genomic context, activity and function of as yet uncharacterized gene products, that appear highly expressed in the environment. We achieved the above goals, and even more over the course of the project. This includes a number of novel methodological developments, as well as the standardization of microbial community gene expression analyses in both field surveys, and experimental modalities. The availability of these methods, tools and approaches is changing current practice in microbial community analyses.« less

Phenology and productivity of C3 and C4 grasslands in Hawaii.

PubMed

Pau, Stephanie; Still, Christopher J

2014-01-01

Grasslands account for a large proportion of global terrestrial productivity and play a critical role in carbon and water cycling. Within grasslands, photosynthetic pathway is an important functional trait yielding different rates of productivity along environmental gradients. Recently, C3-C4 sorting along spatial environmental gradients has been reassessed by controlling for confounding traits in phylogenetically structured comparisons. C3 and C4 grasses should sort along temporal environmental gradients as well, resulting in differing phenologies and growing season lengths. Here we use 10 years of satellite data (NDVI) to examine the phenology and greenness (as a proxy for productivity) of C3 and C4 grass habitats, which reflect differences in both environment and plant physiology. We perform phylogenetically structured comparisons based on 3,595 digitized herbarium collections of 152 grass species across the Hawaiian Islands. Our results show that the clade identity of grasses captures differences in their habitats better than photosynthetic pathway. Growing season length (GSL) and associated productivity (GSP) were not significantly different when considering photosynthetic type alone, but were indeed different when considering photosynthetic type nested within clade. The relationship between GSL and GSP differed most strongly between C3 clade habitats, and not between C3-C4 habitats. Our results suggest that accounting for the interaction between phylogeny and photosynthetic pathway can help improve predictions of productivity, as commonly used C3-C4 classifications are very broad and appear to mask important diversity in grassland ecosystem functions.

Sensitivity of macrobenthic secondary production to trawling in the English sector of the Greater North Sea: A biological trait approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bolam, S. G.; Coggan, R. C.; Eggleton, J.; Diesing, M.; Stephens, D.

2014-01-01

Demersal trawling constitutes the most significant human impact on both the structure and functioning of coastal seabed fauna. While a number of studies have assessed the impacts of trawling on faunal community structure and the degree to which different taxa are vulnerable to trawling, few have focused on how these impacts affect important ecological functions of the seabed. In this study, we use biological trait analysis (BTA) to assess the relative sensitivity of benthic macrofauna to trawling, in both the short- and long-term, and use this information to describe the spatial variation in sensitivity of secondary production for the Greater North Sea (GNS). Within the GNS, estimates of total production varied by almost three orders of magnitude, from 1.66 kJ m- 2 y- 1 to 968.9 kJ m- 2 y- 1. Large-scale patterns were observed in the proportion of secondary production derived from trawling-sensitive taxa. In the southern North Sea, total production is predominantly governed by taxa with low sensitivity to trawling, whereas production is relatively trawling-sensitive in the northern North Sea and western English Channel. In general, the more sensitive and productive regions are associated with poorly-sorted, gravelly or muddy sediments, while the less sensitive and less productive regions are associated with well-sorted, sandy substrates. These relationships between production sensitivity and environmental features are primarily due to variations in long-term recovery; total production of most assemblages is highly sensitive to the direct impacts of trawling. We discuss the implications of these findings for management 1decisions to improve the environmental sustainability of trawling.

Parallel integer sorting with medium and fine-scale parallelism

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dagum, Leonardo

1993-01-01

Two new parallel integer sorting algorithms, queue-sort and barrel-sort, are presented and analyzed in detail. These algorithms do not have optimal parallel complexity, yet they show very good performance in practice. Queue-sort designed for fine-scale parallel architectures which allow the queueing of multiple messages to the same destination. Barrel-sort is designed for medium-scale parallel architectures with a high message passing overhead. The performance results from the implementation of queue-sort on a Connection Machine CM-2 and barrel-sort on a 128 processor iPSC/860 are given. The two implementations are found to be comparable in performance but not as good as a fully vectorized bucket sort on the Cray YMP.

Sort computation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dorband, John E.

1988-01-01

Sorting has long been used to organize data in preparation for further computation, but sort computation allows some types of computation to be performed during the sort. Sort aggregation and sort distribution are the two basic forms of sort computation. Sort aggregation generates an accumulative or aggregate result for each group of records and places this result in one of the records. An aggregate operation can be any operation that is both associative and commutative, i.e., any operation whose result does not depend on the order of the operands or the order in which the operations are performed. Sort distribution copies the value from a field of a specific record in a group into that field in every record of that group.

Product Matching in Television News Using Benefit Segmentation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wicks, Robert H.

Because local television news appears to be resilient to audience erosion, programmers may find it beneficial to develop strategies that are accommodating to the interests of audience segments. This also suggests that advertisers may communicate more effectively with consumers sorted according to benefit orientation. After telephone interviews…

Association between Rare Variants in AP4E1, a Component of Intracellular Trafficking, and Persistent Stuttering.

PubMed

Raza, M Hashim; Mattera, Rafael; Morell, Robert; Sainz, Eduardo; Rahn, Rachel; Gutierrez, Joanne; Paris, Emily; Root, Jessica; Solomon, Beth; Brewer, Carmen; Basra, M Asim Raza; Khan, Shaheen; Riazuddin, Sheikh; Braun, Allen; Bonifacino, Juan S; Drayna, Dennis

2015-11-05

Stuttering is a common, highly heritable neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in the volitional control of speech. Whole-exome sequencing identified two heterozygous AP4E1 coding variants, c.1549G>A (p.Val517Ile) and c.2401G>A (p.Glu801Lys), that co-segregate with persistent developmental stuttering in a large Cameroonian family, and we observed the same two variants in unrelated Cameroonians with persistent stuttering. We found 23 other rare variants, including predicted loss-of-function variants, in AP4E1 in unrelated stuttering individuals in Cameroon, Pakistan, and North America. The rate of rare variants in AP4E1 was significantly higher in unrelated Pakistani and Cameroonian stuttering individuals than in population-matched control individuals, and coding variants in this gene are exceptionally rare in the general sub-Saharan West African, South Asian, and North American populations. Clinical examination of the Cameroonian family members failed to identify any symptoms previously reported in rare individuals carrying homozygous loss-of-function mutations in this gene. AP4E1 encodes the ε subunit of the heterotetrameric (ε-β4-μ4-σ4) AP-4 complex, involved in protein sorting at the trans-Golgi network. We found that the μ4 subunit of AP-4 interacts with NAGPA, an enzyme involved in the synthesis of the mannose 6-phosphate signal that targets acid hydrolases to the lysosome and the product of a gene previously associated with stuttering. These findings implicate deficits in intracellular trafficking in persistent stuttering. Copyright © 2015 The American Society of Human Genetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

75 FR 11171 - Notice of Filing of Several Pesticide Petitions for Residues of Pesticide Chemicals in or on...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-03-10

... limited to: Crop production (NAICS code 111). Animal production (NAICS code 112). Food manufacturing (NAICS code 311). Pesticide manufacturing (NAICS code 32532). This listing is not intended to be... Environmental protection, Agricultural commodities, Feed additives, Food additives, Pesticides and pests...

75 FR 60452 - Notice of Filing of Several Pesticide Petitions for Residues of Pesticide Chemicals in or on...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-09-30

... limited to: Crop production (NAICS code 111). Animal production (NAICS code 112). Food manufacturing (NAICS code 311). Pesticide manufacturing (NAICS code 32532). This listing is not intended to be... commodities, Feed additives, Food additives, Pesticides and pests, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements...

75 FR 17715 - Notice of Receipt of a Pesticide Petition Filed for Temporary Tolerance Exemption for Residues of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-04-07

...: Crop production (NAICS code 111). Animal production (NAICS code 112). Food manufacturing (NAICS code 311). Pesticide manufacturing (NAICS code 32532). This listing is not intended to be exhaustive, but..., Agricultural commodities, Feed additives, Food additives, Pesticides and pests, Reporting and recordkeeping...

76 FR 33183 - Receipt of a Pesticide Petition Filed for Residues of Pesticide Chemicals in or on Various...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-08

...: Crop production (NAICS code 111). Animal production (NAICS code 112). Food manufacturing (NAICS code 311). Pesticide manufacturing (NAICS code 32532). This listing is not intended to be exhaustive, but... CFR Part 174 Environmental protection, Agricultural commodities, Feed additives, Food additives...

76 FR 36479 - Receipt of a Pesticide Petition Filed for Residues of Pesticide Chemicals in or on Various...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-22

... limited to: Crop production (NAICS code 111). Animal production (NAICS code 112). Food manufacturing (NAICS code 311). Pesticide manufacturing (NAICS code 32532). This listing is not intended to be... commodities, Feed additives, Food additives, Pesticides and pests, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements...

Start-Up Scenario in Gyrotrons with a Nonstationary Microwave-Field Structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nusinovich, G. S.; Yeddulla, M.; Antonsen, T. M., Jr.; Vlasov, A. N.

2006-03-01

Megawatt class gyrotrons operate in very high-order modes. Therefore, control of a gyrotron oscillator’s start-up is important for excitation of the desired mode in the presence of the many undesired modes. Analysis of such scenario using the self-consistent code MAGY [M. Botton , IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. 26,ITPSBD0093-3813 882 (1998)10.1109/27.700860] reveals that during start-up not only mode amplitudes vary in time, but also their axial structure can be time dependent. Simulations done for a 1.5 MW gyrotron show that the excitation of a single operating TE22,6 mode can exhibit a sort of intermittency when, first, it is excited as a mode whose axial structure extends outside the interaction cavity, then it ceases and then reappears as a mode mostly localized in the cavity. This phenomenon makes it necessary to analyze start-up scenarios in such gyrotrons with the use of codes that account for the possible evolution of field profiles.

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

Nuhn, Heinz-Dieter.

The Visual to Infrared SASE Amplifier (VISA) [1] FEL is designed to achieve saturation at radiation wavelengths between 800 and 600 nm with a 4-m pure permanent magnet undulator. The undulator comprises four 99-cm segments each of which has four FODO focusing cells superposed on the beam by means of permanent magnets in the gap alongside the beam. Each segment will also have two beam position monitors and two sets of x-y dipole correctors. The trajectory walk-off in each segment will be reduced to a value smaller than the rms beam radius by means of magnet sorting, precise fabrication, andmore » post-fabrication shimming and trim magnets. However, this leaves possible inter-segment alignment errors. A trajectory analysis code has been used in combination with the FRED3D [2] FEL code to simulate the effect of the shimming procedure and segment alignment errors on the electron beam trajectory and to determine the sensitivity of the FEL gain process to trajectory errors. The paper describes the technique used to establish tolerances for the segment alignment.« less

Derivation of sorting programs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Varghese, Joseph; Loganantharaj, Rasiah

1990-01-01

Program synthesis for critical applications has become a viable alternative to program verification. Nested resolution and its extension are used to synthesize a set of sorting programs from their first order logic specifications. A set of sorting programs, such as, naive sort, merge sort, and insertion sort, were successfully synthesized starting from the same set of specifications.

Spin-the-bottle Sort and Annealing Sort: Oblivious Sorting via Round-robin Random Comparisons

PubMed Central

Goodrich, Michael T.

2013-01-01

We study sorting algorithms based on randomized round-robin comparisons. Specifically, we study Spin-the-bottle sort, where comparisons are unrestricted, and Annealing sort, where comparisons are restricted to a distance bounded by a temperature parameter. Both algorithms are simple, randomized, data-oblivious sorting algorithms, which are useful in privacy-preserving computations, but, as we show, Annealing sort is much more efficient. We show that there is an input permutation that causes Spin-the-bottle sort to require Ω(n2 log n) expected time in order to succeed, and that in O(n2 log n) time this algorithm succeeds with high probability for any input. We also show there is a specification of Annealing sort that runs in O(n log n) time and succeeds with very high probability. PMID:24550575

21 CFR 20.115 - Product codes for manufacturing or sales dates.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Product codes for manufacturing or sales dates. 20.115 Section 20.115 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES GENERAL PUBLIC INFORMATION Availability of Specific Categories of Records § 20.115 Product codes...

Safe sorting of GFP-transduced live cells for subsequent culture using a modified FACS vantage.

PubMed

Sørensen, T U; Gram, G J; Nielsen, S D; Hansen, J E

1999-12-01

A stream-in-air cell sorter enables rapid sorting to a high purity, but it is not well suited for sorting of infectious material due to the risk of airborne spread to the surroundings. A FACS Vantage cell sorter was modified for safe use with potentially HIV infected cells. Safety tests with bacteriophages were performed to evaluate the potential spread of biologically active material during cell sorting. Cells transduced with a retroviral vector carrying the gene for GFP were sorted on the basis of their GFP fluorescence, and GFP expression was followed during subsequent culture. The bacteriophage sorting showed that the biologically active material was confined to the sorting chamber. A failure mode simulating a nozzle blockage resulted in detectable droplets inside the sorting chamber, but no droplets could be detected when an additional air suction from the sorting chamber had been put on. The GFP transduced cells were sorted to 99% purity. Cells not expressing GFP at the time of sorting did not turn on the gene during subsequent culture. Un-sorted cells and cells sorted to be positive for GFP showed a decrease in the fraction of GFP positive cells during culture. Sorting of live infected cells can be performed safely and with no deleterious effects on vector expression using the modified FACS Vantage instrument. Copyright 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Development of MCNPX-ESUT computer code for simulation of neutron/gamma pulse height distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abolfazl Hosseini, Seyed; Vosoughi, Naser; Zangian, Mehdi

2015-05-01

In this paper, the development of the MCNPX-ESUT (MCNPX-Energy Engineering of Sharif University of Technology) computer code for simulation of neutron/gamma pulse height distribution is reported. Since liquid organic scintillators like NE-213 are well suited and routinely used for spectrometry in mixed neutron/gamma fields, this type of detectors is selected for simulation in the present study. The proposed algorithm for simulation includes four main steps. The first step is the modeling of the neutron/gamma particle transport and their interactions with the materials in the environment and detector volume. In the second step, the number of scintillation photons due to charged particles such as electrons, alphas, protons and carbon nuclei in the scintillator material is calculated. In the third step, the transport of scintillation photons in the scintillator and lightguide is simulated. Finally, the resolution corresponding to the experiment is considered in the last step of the simulation. Unlike the similar computer codes like SCINFUL, NRESP7 and PHRESP, the developed computer code is applicable to both neutron and gamma sources. Hence, the discrimination of neutron and gamma in the mixed fields may be performed using the MCNPX-ESUT computer code. The main feature of MCNPX-ESUT computer code is that the neutron/gamma pulse height simulation may be performed without needing any sort of post processing. In the present study, the pulse height distributions due to a monoenergetic neutron/gamma source in NE-213 detector using MCNPX-ESUT computer code is simulated. The simulated neutron pulse height distributions are validated through comparing with experimental data (Gohil et al. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 664 (2012) 304-309.) and the results obtained from similar computer codes like SCINFUL, NRESP7 and Geant4. The simulated gamma pulse height distribution for a 137Cs source is also compared with the experimental data.

Construction of a male sterility system for hybrid rice breeding and seed production using a nuclear male sterility gene

PubMed Central

Chang, Zhenyi; Chen, Zhufeng; Wang, Na; Xie, Gang; Lu, Jiawei; Yan, Wei; Zhou, Junli; Tang, Xiaoyan; Deng, Xing Wang

2016-01-01

The breeding and large-scale adoption of hybrid seeds is an important achievement in agriculture. Rice hybrid seed production uses cytoplasmic male sterile lines or photoperiod/thermo-sensitive genic male sterile lines (PTGMS) as female parent. Cytoplasmic male sterile lines are propagated via cross-pollination by corresponding maintainer lines, whereas PTGMS lines are propagated via self-pollination under environmental conditions restoring male fertility. Despite huge successes, both systems have their intrinsic drawbacks. Here, we constructed a rice male sterility system using a nuclear gene named Oryza sativa No Pollen 1 (OsNP1). OsNP1 encodes a putative glucose–methanol–choline oxidoreductase regulating tapetum degeneration and pollen exine formation; it is specifically expressed in the tapetum and miscrospores. The osnp1 mutant plant displays normal vegetative growth but complete male sterility insensitive to environmental conditions. OsNP1 was coupled with an α-amylase gene to devitalize transgenic pollen and the red fluorescence protein (DsRed) gene to mark transgenic seed and transformed into the osnp1 mutant. Self-pollination of the transgenic plant carrying a single hemizygous transgene produced nontransgenic male sterile and transgenic fertile seeds in 1:1 ratio that can be sorted out based on the red fluorescence coded by DsRed. Cross-pollination of the fertile transgenic plants to the nontransgenic male sterile plants propagated the male sterile seeds of high purity. The male sterile line was crossed with ∼1,200 individual rice germplasms available. Approximately 85% of the F1s outperformed their parents in per plant yield, and 10% out-yielded the best local cultivars, indicating that the technology is promising in hybrid rice breeding and production. PMID:27864513

Construction of a male sterility system for hybrid rice breeding and seed production using a nuclear male sterility gene.

PubMed

Chang, Zhenyi; Chen, Zhufeng; Wang, Na; Xie, Gang; Lu, Jiawei; Yan, Wei; Zhou, Junli; Tang, Xiaoyan; Deng, Xing Wang

2016-12-06

The breeding and large-scale adoption of hybrid seeds is an important achievement in agriculture. Rice hybrid seed production uses cytoplasmic male sterile lines or photoperiod/thermo-sensitive genic male sterile lines (PTGMS) as female parent. Cytoplasmic male sterile lines are propagated via cross-pollination by corresponding maintainer lines, whereas PTGMS lines are propagated via self-pollination under environmental conditions restoring male fertility. Despite huge successes, both systems have their intrinsic drawbacks. Here, we constructed a rice male sterility system using a nuclear gene named Oryza sativa No Pollen 1 (OsNP1). OsNP1 encodes a putative glucose-methanol-choline oxidoreductase regulating tapetum degeneration and pollen exine formation; it is specifically expressed in the tapetum and miscrospores. The osnp1 mutant plant displays normal vegetative growth but complete male sterility insensitive to environmental conditions. OsNP1 was coupled with an α-amylase gene to devitalize transgenic pollen and the red fluorescence protein (DsRed) gene to mark transgenic seed and transformed into the osnp1 mutant. Self-pollination of the transgenic plant carrying a single hemizygous transgene produced nontransgenic male sterile and transgenic fertile seeds in 1:1 ratio that can be sorted out based on the red fluorescence coded by DsRed Cross-pollination of the fertile transgenic plants to the nontransgenic male sterile plants propagated the male sterile seeds of high purity. The male sterile line was crossed with ∼1,200 individual rice germplasms available. Approximately 85% of the F1s outperformed their parents in per plant yield, and 10% out-yielded the best local cultivars, indicating that the technology is promising in hybrid rice breeding and production.

ZENO: N-body and SPH Simulation Codes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barnes, Joshua E.

2011-02-01

The ZENO software package integrates N-body and SPH simulation codes with a large array of programs to generate initial conditions and analyze numerical simulations. Written in C, the ZENO system is portable between Mac, Linux, and Unix platforms. It is in active use at the Institute for Astronomy (IfA), at NRAO, and possibly elsewhere. Zeno programs can perform a wide range of simulation and analysis tasks. While many of these programs were first created for specific projects, they embody algorithms of general applicability and embrace a modular design strategy, so existing code is easily applied to new tasks. Major elements of the system include: Structured data file utilities facilitate basic operations on binary data, including import/export of ZENO data to other systems.Snapshot generation routines create particle distributions with various properties. Systems with user-specified density profiles can be realized in collisionless or gaseous form; multiple spherical and disk components may be set up in mutual equilibrium.Snapshot manipulation routines permit the user to sift, sort, and combine particle arrays, translate and rotate particle configurations, and assign new values to data fields associated with each particle.Simulation codes include both pure N-body and combined N-body/SPH programs: Pure N-body codes are available in both uniprocessor and parallel versions.SPH codes offer a wide range of options for gas physics, including isothermal, adiabatic, and radiating models. Snapshot analysis programs calculate temporal averages, evaluate particle statistics, measure shapes and density profiles, compute kinematic properties, and identify and track objects in particle distributions.Visualization programs generate interactive displays and produce still images and videos of particle distributions; the user may specify arbitrary color schemes and viewing transformations.

Design and realization of sort manipulator of crystal-angle sort machine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Ming-shun; Chen, Shu-ping; Guan, Shou-ping; Zhang, Yao-wei

2005-12-01

It is a current tendency of development in automation technology to replace manpower with manipulators in working places where dangerous, harmful, heavy or repetitive work is involved. The sort manipulator is installed in a crystal-angle sort machine to take the place of manpower, and engaged in unloading and sorting work. It is the outcome of combing together mechanism, electric transmission, and pneumatic element and micro-controller control. The step motor makes the sort manipulator operate precisely. The pneumatic elements make the sort manipulator be cleverer. Micro-controller's software bestows some simple artificial intelligence on the sort manipulator, so that it can precisely repeat its unloading and sorting work. The combination of manipulator's zero position and step motor counting control puts an end to accumulating error in long time operation. A sort manipulator's design in the practice engineering has been proved to be correct and reliable.

Modification and benchmarking of MCNP for low-energy tungsten spectra.

PubMed

Mercier, J R; Kopp, D T; McDavid, W D; Dove, S B; Lancaster, J L; Tucker, D M

2000-12-01

The MCNP Monte Carlo radiation transport code was modified for diagnostic medical physics applications. In particular, the modified code was thoroughly benchmarked for the production of polychromatic tungsten x-ray spectra in the 30-150 kV range. Validating the modified code for coupled electron-photon transport with benchmark spectra was supplemented with independent electron-only and photon-only transport benchmarks. Major revisions to the code included the proper treatment of characteristic K x-ray production and scoring, new impact ionization cross sections, and new bremsstrahlung cross sections. Minor revisions included updated photon cross sections, electron-electron bremsstrahlung production, and K x-ray yield. The modified MCNP code is benchmarked to electron backscatter factors, x-ray spectra production, and primary and scatter photon transport.

77 FR 27164 - Butylate, Clethodim, Dichlorvos, Dicofol, Isopropyl Carbanilate, et al.; Proposed Tolerance Actions

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-09

...: Crop production (NAICS code 111). Animal production (NAICS code 112). Food manufacturing (NAICS code 311). Pesticide manufacturing (NAICS code 32532). This listing is not intended to be exhaustive, but... apply to me? You may be potentially affected by this action if you are an agricultural producer, food...

Nondestructive inspection of nuts for food quality and safety using NIRS (abstract)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Mold infection and insect infestation are significant postharvest problems for processors of nuts. Fungal disease causes direct loss of product or reduced value due to the lower-quality grade of the chest-nut lot. In most cases, fungal infection is not detectable using traditional sorting techniques...

The Role of IQGAP1 in Breast Carcinoma

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-10-01

study! of! the! pathogenesis! of! breast! cancer.! These! include! analysis ! of! intracellular! signaling!by!Western!blotting,! determination!of! cell...proliferation!by! sulforhodamine!B! staining,! fluorescence: activated!cell!sorting!(FACS)! analysis ,!stable!cell!line!generation,!production!of!and...transduction!using!retroviral! and!lentiviral!supernatants,! immunocytochemistry!and!confocal! laser!microscopy,! immunohistochemistry,!and! analysis

A Mother's Choice--Toys for Children with Special Needs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wanger, Arlene

1993-01-01

This bulletin describes toys and games found to be appropriate for use with children with disabilities. The toys, made by Discovery Toys, include products that promote exploration, play with both hands, sorting and matching, self-awareness, coordination, cause-effect relationships, imagination, construction, language use, and interaction with…

Competition from below for light and nutrients shifts productivity among tropical species

Treesearch

J. J. Ewel; M. J. Mazzarino

2008-01-01

Chance events such as seed dispersal determine the potential composition of plant communities, but the eventual assemblage is determined in large part by subsequent interactions among species. Postcolonization sorting also affects the ultimate composition of communities assembled by people for restoration, horticulture, or conservation. Thus,...

Professional Noticing: Learning to Teach Responsively

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomas, Jonathan; Fisher, Molly H.; Jong, Cindy; Schack, Edna O.; Krause, Lisa R.; Kasten, Sarah

2015-01-01

In the buzzing activity of the mathematics classroom, teaching in a way that effectively responds to and furthers students' thinking can be quite challenging. Given that teachers' instructional decisions will directly influence students' learning, it is extremely important to develop the sorts of practices that lead to productive in-the-moment…

Passenger or Crew? Who Do You Want in Charge?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kowalski, Sue

2009-01-01

School library professionals are, by nature, the nurturing sort. They thrive on systems and strategies to scaffold student success. They create templates, lists, and signage to make life easier for their patrons. They model quality research strategies; they demonstrate technology applications; and they provide exemplars of final products. Since…

Segmenting Broadcast News Audiences in the New Media Environment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wicks, Robert H.

1989-01-01

Examines the "benefit segmentation model," a marketing strategy for local news media which is capable of sorting consumers into discrete segments interested in similar salient product attributes or benefits. Concludes that benefit segmentation may provide a means by which news programmers may respond to their audience. (RS)

Multinational Development of Large Aircraft. The European Experience

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-07-01

ABAP. The French firm Ratier arranged for the licensed production of the propellers in cooperation with De Havilland . With this sort of complicated...project to develop the Hawker-Siddeley HS.801 Nimrod based on the Comet jet airliner. By this time, it was clear that in addition to Norway and the

A Task Analysis of the Shift from Teacher Instructions to Self-Instructions in Performing an In-Common Task.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grote, Irene; And Others

1996-01-01

Three preschoolers performed four sorts with stimulus cards--an untaught target sort and three directly taught alternating sorts considered to self-instruct the target performance. Accuracy increased first in the skill sorts and then in the untaught target sorts. All subjects generalized to new target sorts. Correct spontaneous self-instructions…

To sort or not to sort: the impact of spike-sorting on neural decoding performance.

PubMed

Todorova, Sonia; Sadtler, Patrick; Batista, Aaron; Chase, Steven; Ventura, Valérie

2014-10-01

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are a promising technology for restoring motor ability to paralyzed patients. Spiking-based BCIs have successfully been used in clinical trials to control multi-degree-of-freedom robotic devices. Current implementations of these devices require a lengthy spike-sorting step, which is an obstacle to moving this technology from the lab to the clinic. A viable alternative is to avoid spike-sorting, treating all threshold crossings of the voltage waveform on an electrode as coming from one putative neuron. It is not known, however, how much decoding information might be lost by ignoring spike identity. We present a full analysis of the effects of spike-sorting schemes on decoding performance. Specifically, we compare how well two common decoders, the optimal linear estimator and the Kalman filter, reconstruct the arm movements of non-human primates performing reaching tasks, when receiving input from various sorting schemes. The schemes we tested included: using threshold crossings without spike-sorting; expert-sorting discarding the noise; expert-sorting, including the noise as if it were another neuron; and automatic spike-sorting using waveform features. We also decoded from a joint statistical model for the waveforms and tuning curves, which does not involve an explicit spike-sorting step. Discarding the threshold crossings that cannot be assigned to neurons degrades decoding: no spikes should be discarded. Decoding based on spike-sorted units outperforms decoding based on electrodes voltage crossings: spike-sorting is useful. The four waveform based spike-sorting methods tested here yield similar decoding efficiencies: a fast and simple method is competitive. Decoding using the joint waveform and tuning model shows promise but is not consistently superior. Our results indicate that simple automated spike-sorting performs as well as the more computationally or manually intensive methods used here. Even basic spike-sorting adds value to the low-threshold waveform-crossing methods often employed in BCI decoding.

To sort or not to sort: the impact of spike-sorting on neural decoding performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Todorova, Sonia; Sadtler, Patrick; Batista, Aaron; Chase, Steven; Ventura, Valérie

2014-10-01

Objective. Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are a promising technology for restoring motor ability to paralyzed patients. Spiking-based BCIs have successfully been used in clinical trials to control multi-degree-of-freedom robotic devices. Current implementations of these devices require a lengthy spike-sorting step, which is an obstacle to moving this technology from the lab to the clinic. A viable alternative is to avoid spike-sorting, treating all threshold crossings of the voltage waveform on an electrode as coming from one putative neuron. It is not known, however, how much decoding information might be lost by ignoring spike identity. Approach. We present a full analysis of the effects of spike-sorting schemes on decoding performance. Specifically, we compare how well two common decoders, the optimal linear estimator and the Kalman filter, reconstruct the arm movements of non-human primates performing reaching tasks, when receiving input from various sorting schemes. The schemes we tested included: using threshold crossings without spike-sorting; expert-sorting discarding the noise; expert-sorting, including the noise as if it were another neuron; and automatic spike-sorting using waveform features. We also decoded from a joint statistical model for the waveforms and tuning curves, which does not involve an explicit spike-sorting step. Main results. Discarding the threshold crossings that cannot be assigned to neurons degrades decoding: no spikes should be discarded. Decoding based on spike-sorted units outperforms decoding based on electrodes voltage crossings: spike-sorting is useful. The four waveform based spike-sorting methods tested here yield similar decoding efficiencies: a fast and simple method is competitive. Decoding using the joint waveform and tuning model shows promise but is not consistently superior. Significance. Our results indicate that simple automated spike-sorting performs as well as the more computationally or manually intensive methods used here. Even basic spike-sorting adds value to the low-threshold waveform-crossing methods often employed in BCI decoding.

Sorting nexin-2 is associated with tubular elements of the early endosome, but is not essential for retromer-mediated endosome-to-TGN transport

PubMed Central

Carlton, Jez G.; Bujny, Miriam V.; Peter, Brian J.; Oorschot, Viola M. J.; Rutherford, Anna; Arkell, Rebecca S.; Klumperman, Judith; McMahon, Harvey T.; Cullen, Peter J.

2006-01-01

Summary Sorting nexins are a large family of phox-homology-domain-containing proteins that have been implicated in the control of endosomal sorting. Sorting nexin-1 is a component of the mammalian retromer complex that regulates retrieval of the cation-independent mannose 6-phosphate receptor from endosomes to the trans-Golgi network. In yeast, retromer is composed of Vps5p (the orthologue of sorting nexin-1), Vps17p (a related sorting nexin) and a cargo selective subcomplex composed of Vps26p, Vps29p and Vps35p. With the exception of Vps17p, mammalian orthologues of all yeast retromer components have been identified. For Vps17p, one potential mammalian orthologue is sorting nexin-2. Here we show that, like sorting nexin-1, sorting nexin-2 binds phosphatidylinositol 3-monophosphate and phosphatidylinositol 3,5-bisphosphate, and possesses a Bin/Amphiphysin/Rvs domain that can sense membrane curvature. However, in contrast to sorting nexin-1, sorting nexin-2 could not induce membrane tubulation in vitro or in vivo. Functionally, we show that endogenous sorting nexin-1 and sorting nexin-2 co-localise on high curvature tubular elements of the 3-phosphoinositide-enriched early endosome, and that suppression of sorting nexin-2 does not perturb the degradative sorting of receptors for epidermal growth factor or transferrin, nor the steady-state distribution of the cation-independent mannose 6-phosphate receptor. However, suppression of sorting nexin-2 results in a subtle alteration in the kinetics of cation-independent mannose 6-phosphate receptor retrieval. These data suggest that although sorting nexin-2 may be a component of the retromer complex, its presence is not essential for the regulation of endosome-to-trans Golgi network retrieval of the cation-independent mannose 6-phosphate receptor. PMID:16179610

Master standard data quantity food production code. Macro elements for synthesizing production labor time.

PubMed

Matthews, M E; Waldvogel, C F; Mahaffey, M J; Zemel, P C

1978-06-01

Preparation procedures of standardized quantity formulas were analyzed for similarities and differences in production activities, and three entrée classifications were developed, based on these activities. Two formulas from each classification were selected, preparation procedures were divided into elements of production, and the MSD Quantity Food Production Code was applied. Macro elements not included in the existing Code were simulated, coded, assigned associated Time Measurement Units, and added to the MSD Quantity Food Production Code. Repeated occurrence of similar elements within production methods indicated that macro elements could be synthesized for use within one or more entrée classifications. Basic elements were grouped, simulated, and macro elements were derived. Macro elements were applied in the simulated production of 100 portions of each entrée formula. Total production time for each formula and average production time for each entrée classification were calculated. Application of macro elements indicated that this method of predetermining production time was feasible and could be adapted by quantity foodservice managers as a decision technique used to evaluate menu mix, production personnel schedules, and allocation of equipment usage. These macro elements could serve as a basis for further development and refinement of other macro elements which could be applied to a variety of menu item formulas.

75 FR 763 - Dibenzylidene Sorbitol; Exemption from the Requirement of a Tolerance

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-01-06

... sensitization study in guinea pigs determined that DBS is not a sensitizer. A primary dermal irritation study in...: Crop production (NAICS code 111). Animal production (NAICS code 112). Food manufacturing (NAICS code...

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

Womeldorff, Geoffrey Alan; Payne, Joshua Estes; Bergen, Benjamin Karl

These are slides for a presentation on PARTISN Research and FleCSI Updates. The following topics are covered: SNAP vs PARTISN, Background Research, Production Code (structural design and changes, kernel design and implementation, lessons learned), NuT IMC Proxy, FleCSI Update (design and lessons learned). It can all be summarized in the following manner: Kokkos was shown to be effective in FY15 in implementing a C++ version of SNAP's kernel. This same methodology was applied to a production IC code, PARTISN. This was a much more complex endeavour than in FY15 for many reasons; a C++ kernel embedded in Fortran, overloading Fortranmore » memory allocations, general language interoperability, and a fully fleshed out production code versus a simplified proxy code. Lessons learned are Legion. In no particular order: Interoperability between Fortran and C++ was really not that hard, and a useful engineering effort. Tracking down all necessary memory allocations for a kernel in a production code is pretty hard. Modifying a production code to work for more than a handful of use cases is also pretty hard. Figuring out the toolchain that will allow a successful implementation of design decisions is quite hard, if making use of "bleeding edge" design choices. In terms of performance, production code concurrency architecture can be a virtual showstopper; being too complex to easily rewrite and test in a short period of time, or depending on tool features which do not exist yet. Ultimately, while the tools used in this work were not successful in speeding up the production code, they helped to identify how work would be done, and provide requirements to tools.« less

75 FR 19261 - Alkyl (C12-C16) Dimethyl Ammonio Acetate; Exemption From the Requirement of a Tolerance

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-04-14

..., it gave a negative response for skin sensitization in in vivo guinea pigs as determined by Magnusson.... Potentially affected entities may include, but are not limited to: Crop production (NAICS code 111). Animal production (NAICS code 112). Food manufacturing (NAICS code 311). Pesticide manufacturing (NAICS code 32532...

75 FR 42318 - Poly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl), α-isotridecyl-ω-methoxy; Exemption from the Requirement of a Tolerance

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-07-21

....2600) in guinea pigs showed skin sensitization when exposed to poly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl), [alpha.... Potentially affected entities may include, but are not limited to: Crop production (NAICS code 111). Animal production (NAICS code 112). Food manufacturing (NAICS code 311). Pesticide manufacturing (NAICS code 32532...

ACON: a multipurpose production controller for plasma physics codes

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

Snell, C.

1983-01-01

ACON is a BCON controller designed to run large production codes on the CTSS Cray-1 or the LTSS 7600 computers. ACON can also be operated interactively, with input from the user's terminal. The controller can run one code or a sequence of up to ten codes during the same job. Options are available to get and save Mass storage files, to perform Historian file updating operations, to compile and load source files, and to send out print and film files. Special features include ability to retry after Mass failures, backup options for saving files, startup messages for the various codes,more » and ability to reserve specified amounts of computer time after successive code runs. ACON's flexibility and power make it useful for running a number of different production codes.« less

Bilingual processing of ASL-English code-blends: The consequences of accessing two lexical representations simultaneously

PubMed Central

Emmorey, Karen; Petrich, Jennifer; Gollan, Tamar H.

2012-01-01

Bilinguals who are fluent in American Sign Language (ASL) and English often produce code-blends - simultaneously articulating a sign and a word while conversing with other ASL-English bilinguals. To investigate the cognitive mechanisms underlying code-blend processing, we compared picture-naming times (Experiment 1) and semantic categorization times (Experiment 2) for code-blends versus ASL signs and English words produced alone. In production, code-blending did not slow lexical retrieval for ASL and actually facilitated access to low-frequency signs. However, code-blending delayed speech production because bimodal bilinguals synchronized English and ASL lexical onsets. In comprehension, code-blending speeded access to both languages. Bimodal bilinguals’ ability to produce code-blends without any cost to ASL implies that the language system either has (or can develop) a mechanism for switching off competition to allow simultaneous production of close competitors. Code-blend facilitation effects during comprehension likely reflect cross-linguistic (and cross-modal) integration at the phonological and/or semantic levels. The absence of any consistent processing costs for code-blending illustrates a surprising limitation on dual-task costs and may explain why bimodal bilinguals code-blend more often than they code-switch. PMID:22773886

Smart Shop Assistant - Using Semantic Technologies to Improve Online Shopping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niemann, Magnus; Mochol, Malgorzata; Tolksdorf, Robert

Internet commerce experiences a rising complexity: Not only more and more products become available online but also the amount of information available on a single product has been constantly increasing. Thanks to the Web 2.0 development it is, in the meantime, quite common to involve customers in the creation of product description and extraction of additional product information by offering customers feedback forms and product review sites, users' weblogs and other social web services. To face this situation, one of the main tasks in a future internet will be to aggregate, sort and evaluate this huge amount of information to aid the customers in choosing the "perfect" product for their needs.

An in silico pan-genomic probe for the molecular traits behind Lactobacillus ruminis gut autochthony.

PubMed

Kant, Ravi; Palva, Airi; von Ossowski, Ingemar

2017-01-01

As an ecological niche, the mammalian intestine provides the ideal habitat for a variety of bacterial microorganisms. Purportedly, some commensal genera and species offer a beneficial mix of metabolic, protective, and structural processes that help sustain the natural digestive health of the host. Among these sort of gut inhabitants is the Gram-positive lactic acid bacterium Lactobacillus ruminis, a strict anaerobe with both pili and flagella on its cell surface, but also known for being autochthonous (indigenous) to the intestinal environment. Given that the molecular basis of gut autochthony for this species is largely unexplored and unknown, we undertook a study at the genome level to pinpoint some of the adaptive traits behind its colonization behavior. In our pan-genomic probe of L. ruminis, the genomes of nine different strains isolated from human, bovine, porcine, and equine host guts were compiled and compared for in silico analysis. For this, we conducted a geno-phenotypic assessment of protein-coding genes, with an emphasis on those products involved with cell-surface morphology and anaerobic fermentation and respiration. We also categorized and examined the core and accessory genes that define the L. ruminis species and its strains. Here, we made an attempt to identify those genes having ecologically relevant phenotypes that might support or bring about intestinal indigenousness.

Dissecting Stop Transfer versus Conservative Sorting Pathways for Mitochondrial Inner Membrane Proteins in Vivo*

PubMed Central

Park, Kwangjin; Botelho, Salomé Calado; Hong, Joonki; Österberg, Marie; Kim, Hyun

2013-01-01

Mitochondrial inner membrane proteins that carry an N-terminal presequence are sorted by one of two pathways: stop transfer or conservative sorting. However, the sorting pathway is known for only a small number of proteins, in part due to the lack of robust experimental tools with which to study. Here we present an approach that facilitates determination of inner membrane protein sorting pathways in vivo by fusing a mitochondrial inner membrane protein to the C-terminal part of Mgm1p containing the rhomboid cleavage region. We validated the Mgm1 fusion approach using a set of proteins for which the sorting pathway is known, and determined sorting pathways of inner membrane proteins for which the sorting mode was previously uncharacterized. For Sdh4p, a multispanning membrane protein, our results suggest that both conservative sorting and stop transfer mechanisms are required for insertion. Furthermore, the sorting process of Mgm1 fusion proteins was analyzed under different growth conditions and yeast mutant strains that were defective in the import motor or the m-AAA protease function. Our results show that the sorting of mitochondrial proteins carrying moderately hydrophobic transmembrane segments is sensitive to cellular conditions, implying that mitochondrial import and membrane sorting in the physiological environment may be dynamically tuned. PMID:23184936

Seminal plasma affects sperm sex sorting in boars.

PubMed

Alkmin, Diego V; Parrilla, Inmaculada; Tarantini, Tatiana; Del Olmo, David; Vazquez, Juan M; Martinez, Emilio A; Roca, Jordi

2016-04-01

Two experiments were conducted in boar semen samples to evaluate how both holding time (24h) and the presence of seminal plasma (SP) before sorting affect sperm sortability and the ability of sex-sorted spermatozoa to tolerate liquid storage. Whole ejaculate samples were divided into three aliquots immediately after collection: one was diluted (1:1, v/v) in Beltsville thawing solution (BTS; 50% SP); the SP of the other two aliquots was removed and the sperm pellets were diluted with BTS + 10% of their own SP (10% SP) or BTS alone (0% SP). The three aliquots of each ejaculate were divided into two portions, one that was processed immediately for sorting and a second that was sorted after 24h storage at 15-17°C. In the first experiment, the ability to exhibit well-defined X- and Y-chromosome-bearing sperm peaks (split) in the cytometry histogram and the subsequent sorting efficiency were assessed (20 ejaculates). In contrast with holding time, the SP proportion influenced the parameters examined, as evidenced by the higher number of ejaculates exhibiting split and better sorting efficiency (P<0.05) in semen samples with 0-10% SP compared with those with 50% SP. In a second experiment, the quality (viability, total and progressive motility) and functionality (plasma membrane fluidity and intracellular generation of reactive oxygen species) of sex-sorted spermatozoa were evaluated after 0, 72 and 120h storage at 15-17°C (10 ejaculates). Holding time and SP proportion did not influence the quality or functionality of stored sex-sorted spermatozoa. In conclusion, a holding time as long as 24h before sorting did not negatively affect sex sorting efficiency or the ability of sorted boar spermatozoa to tolerate long-term liquid storage. A high proportion of SP (50%) in the semen samples before sorting reduced the number of ejaculates to be sorted and negatively influenced the sorting efficiency, but did not affect the ability of sex-sorted spermatozoa to tolerate liquid storage.

Quantifying Recycling and Losses of Cr and Ni in Steel Throughout Multiple Life Cycles Using MaTrace-Alloy.

PubMed

Nakamura, Shinichiro; Kondo, Yasushi; Nakajima, Kenichi; Ohno, Hajime; Pauliuk, Stefan

2017-09-05

Alloying metals are indispensable ingredients of high quality alloy steel such as austenitic stainless steel, the cyclical use of which is vital for sustainable resource management. Under the current practice of recycling, however, different metals are likely to be mixed in an uncontrolled manner, resulting in function losses and dissipation of metals with distinctive functions, and in the contamination of recycled steels. The latter could result in dilution loss, if metal scrap needed dilution with virgin iron to reduce the contamination below critical levels. Management of these losses resulting from mixing in repeated recycling of metals requires tracking of metals over multiple life cycles of products with compositional details. A new model (MaTrace-alloy) was developed that tracks the fate of metals embodied in each of products over multiple life cycles of products, involving accumulation, discard, and recycling, with compositional details at the level of both alloys and products. The model was implemented for the flow of Cr and Ni in the Japanese steel cycle involving 27 steel species and 115 final products. It was found that, under a high level of scrap sorting, greater than 70% of the initial functionality of Cr and Ni could be retained over a period of 100 years, whereas under a poor level of sorting, it could plunge to less than 30%, demonstrating the relevance of waste management technology in circular economy policies.

The production of granulocyte-monocyte colony-stimulating activity by isolated human T lymphocyte subpopulations.

PubMed

Hesketh, P J; Sullivan, R; Valeri, C R; McCarroll, L A

1984-05-01

Isolated human T lymphocyte subpopulations were obtained by fluorescence-activated cell sorting using the murine monoclonal antibodies, OKT4 and OKT8. The capabilities of the isolated lymphocytes to produce granulocyte-monocyte colony-stimulating activity (CSA) in response to mitogen challenge were assessed by in vitro assays employing light density nonadherent bone marrow cells. Essentially, no CSA production was noted by any isolated T lymphocyte population [OKT4 positive (+) or OKT8 positive (+)] cultured alone or following the addition of 10(4) autologous monocytes/ml. When phytohemagglutinin (PHA) alone was added, OKT4+ lymphocytes elaborated small amounts of CSA. With the addition of concanavalin A (Con-A) alone, both OKT4+ and OKT8+ cells were able to produce modest amounts of CSA. Significantly enhanced CSA production was observed when either OKT4+ or OKT8+ lymphocytes were coincubated with autologous monocytes in the presence of mitogen. We conclude that highly purified T lymphocyte subpopulations, free of monocytes as assessed by nonspecific esterase staining, can elaborate small amounts of CSA in response to PHA or Con-A challenge. A synergistic augmentation of CSA production was noted with coincubation of sorted lymphocytes and autologous monocytes in the presence of mitogen. Finally, our results suggest that the ability of T lymphocytes to make CSA is not exclusively limited to either the OKT4+ or OKT8+ defined subsets.

76 FR 36342 - 2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol; Exemption from the Requirement of a Tolerance

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-22

... skin sensitizer in guinea pigs. It has low inhalation toxicity, with an LC 50 of 160 parts per million...: Crop production (NAICS code 111). Animal production (NAICS code 112). Food manufacturing (NAICS code...

Stochastic Model of Vesicular Sorting in Cellular Organelles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vagne, Quentin; Sens, Pierre

2018-02-01

The proper sorting of membrane components by regulated exchange between cellular organelles is crucial to intracellular organization. This process relies on the budding and fusion of transport vesicles, and should be strongly influenced by stochastic fluctuations, considering the relatively small size of many organelles. We identify the perfect sorting of two membrane components initially mixed in a single compartment as a first passage process, and we show that the mean sorting time exhibits two distinct regimes as a function of the ratio of vesicle fusion to budding rates. Low ratio values lead to fast sorting but result in a broad size distribution of sorted compartments dominated by small entities. High ratio values result in two well-defined sorted compartments but sorting is exponentially slow. Our results suggest an optimal balance between vesicle budding and fusion for the rapid and efficient sorting of membrane components and highlight the importance of stochastic effects for the steady-state organization of intracellular compartments.

Identification and genetic analysis of cancer cells with PCR-activated cell sorting

PubMed Central

Eastburn, Dennis J.; Sciambi, Adam; Abate, Adam R.

2014-01-01

Cell sorting is a central tool in life science research for analyzing cellular heterogeneity or enriching rare cells out of large populations. Although methods like FACS and FISH-FC can characterize and isolate cells from heterogeneous populations, they are limited by their reliance on antibodies, or the requirement to chemically fix cells. We introduce a new cell sorting technology that robustly sorts based on sequence-specific analysis of cellular nucleic acids. Our approach, PCR-activated cell sorting (PACS), uses TaqMan PCR to detect nucleic acids within single cells and trigger their sorting. With this method, we identified and sorted prostate cancer cells from a heterogeneous population by performing >132 000 simultaneous single-cell TaqMan RT-PCR reactions targeting vimentin mRNA. Following vimentin-positive droplet sorting and downstream analysis of recovered nucleic acids, we found that cancer-specific genomes and transcripts were significantly enriched. Additionally, we demonstrate that PACS can be used to sort and enrich cells via TaqMan PCR reactions targeting single-copy genomic DNA. PACS provides a general new technical capability that expands the application space of cell sorting by enabling sorting based on cellular information not amenable to existing approaches. PMID:25030902

Production code control system for hydrodynamics simulations

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

Slone, D.M.

1997-08-18

We describe how the Production Code Control System (pCCS), written in Perl, has been used to control and monitor the execution of a large hydrodynamics simulation code in a production environment. We have been able to integrate new, disparate, and often independent, applications into the PCCS framework without the need to modify any of our existing application codes. Both users and code developers see a consistent interface to the simulation code and associated applications regardless of the physical platform, whether an MPP, SMP, server, or desktop workstation. We will also describe our use of Perl to develop a configuration managementmore » system for the simulation code, as well as a code usage database and report generator. We used Perl to write a backplane that allows us plug in preprocessors, the hydrocode, postprocessors, visualization tools, persistent storage requests, and other codes. We need only teach PCCS a minimal amount about any new tool or code to essentially plug it in and make it usable to the hydrocode. PCCS has made it easier to link together disparate codes, since using Perl has removed the need to learn the idiosyncrasies of system or RPC programming. The text handling in Perl makes it easy to teach PCCS about new codes, or changes to existing codes.« less

Hypoxia-induced long non-coding RNA Malat1 is dispensable for renal ischemia/reperfusion-injury.

PubMed

Kölling, Malte; Genschel, Celina; Kaucsar, Tamas; Hübner, Anika; Rong, Song; Schmitt, Roland; Sörensen-Zender, Inga; Haddad, George; Kistler, Andreas; Seeger, Harald; Kielstein, Jan T; Fliser, Danilo; Haller, Hermann; Wüthrich, Rudolf; Zörnig, Martin; Thum, Thomas; Lorenzen, Johan

2018-02-21

Renal ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury is a major cause of acute kidney injury (AKI). Non-coding RNAs are crucially involved in its pathophysiology. We identified hypoxia-induced long non-coding RNA Malat1 (Metastasis Associated Lung Adenocarcinoma Transcript 1) to be upregulated in renal I/R injury. We here elucidated the functional role of Malat1 in vitro and its potential contribution to kidney injury in vivo. Malat1 was upregulated in kidney biopsies and plasma of patients with AKI, in murine hypoxic kidney tissue as well as in cultured and ex vivo sorted hypoxic endothelial cells and tubular epithelial cells. Malat1 was transcriptionally activated by hypoxia-inducible factor 1-α. In vitro, Malat1 inhibition reduced proliferation and the number of endothelial cells in the S-phase of the cell cycle. In vivo, Malat1 knockout and wildtype mice showed similar degrees of outer medullary tubular epithelial injury, proliferation, capillary rarefaction, inflammation and fibrosis, survival and kidney function. Small-RNA sequencing and whole genome expression analysis revealed only minor changes between ischemic Malat1 knockout and wildtype mice. Contrary to previous studies, which suggested a prominent role of Malat1 in the induction of disease, we did not confirm an in vivo role of Malat1 concerning renal I/R-injury.

SOPHAEROS code development and its application to falcon tests

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

Lajtha, G.; Missirlian, M.; Kissane, M.

1996-12-31

One of the key issues in source-term evaluation in nuclear reactor severe accidents is determination of the transport behavior of fission products released from the degrading core. The SOPHAEROS computer code is being developed to predict fission product transport in a mechanistic way in light water reactor circuits. These applications of the SOPHAEROS code to the Falcon experiments, among others not presented here, indicate that the numerical scheme of the code is robust, and no convergence problems are encountered. The calculation is also very fast being three times longer on a Sun SPARC 5 workstation than real time and typicallymore » {approx} 10 times faster than an identical calculation with the VICTORIA code. The study demonstrates that the SOPHAEROS 1.3 code is a suitable tool for prediction of the vapor chemistry and fission product transport with a reasonable level of accuracy. Furthermore, the fexibility of the code material data bank allows improvement of understanding of fission product transport and deposition in the circuit. Performing sensitivity studies with different chemical species or with different properties (saturation pressure, chemical equilibrium constants) is very straightforward.« less

The biodiversity of Aspergillus section Flavi in brazil nuts: from rainforest to consumer.

PubMed

Calderari, Thaiane O; Iamanaka, Beatriz T; Frisvad, Jens C; Pitt, John I; Sartori, Daniele; Pereira, Jose Luiz; Fungaro, Maria Helena P; Taniwaki, Marta H

2013-01-01

A total of 288 brazil nut samples (173 kernel and 115 shell) from the Amazon rainforest region and São Paulo State, Brazil were collected at different stages of brazil nut production. Samples were analysed for: percentages of aflatoxigenic fungal species and potential for aflatoxin production and presence of aflatoxins. Aspergillus nomius was the most common species found (1235 isolates) which amounted to 30% of the total species with potential to produce aflatoxins. This species is of concern since 100% of all isolates produced aflatoxins B(1), B(2), G(1) and G(2). Aspergillus flavus was almost equally common (1212 isolates) although only 46% produced aflatoxins under laboratory conditions, and only aflatoxins B(1) and B(2). Low number of other species with the potential to produce aflatoxins was isolated: Aspergillus arachidicola and Aspergillus bombycis produced B and G aflatoxins whilst Aspergillus pseudotamarii produced only aflatoxin B(1). The total aflatoxin levels found in samples taken from the rainforests was 0.7 μg/kg, from processing plants before and after sorting 8.0 and 0.1 μg/kg respectively, from street markets in the Amazon region 6.3 μg/kg and from supermarkets in São Paulo State 0.2 μg/kg. Processing, which included manual or mechanical sorting and drying at 60°C for 30 to 36 h, eliminated on average more than 98% of total aflatoxins. These results showed that sorting is a very effective way to decrease aflatoxin content in brazil nuts. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Glycoprotein production for structure analysis with stable, glycosylation mutant CHO cell lines established by fluorescence-activated cell sorting.

PubMed

Wilke, Sonja; Krausze, Joern; Gossen, Manfred; Groebe, Lothar; Jäger, Volker; Gherardi, Ermanno; van den Heuvel, Joop; Büssow, Konrad

2010-06-01

Stable mammalian cell lines are excellent tools for the expression of secreted and membrane glycoproteins. However, structural analysis of these molecules is generally hampered by the complexity of N-linked carbohydrate side chains. Cell lines with mutations are available that result in shorter and more homogenous carbohydrate chains. Here, we use preparative fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) and site-specific gene excision to establish high-yield glycoprotein expression for structural studies with stable clones derived from the well-established Lec3.2.8.1 glycosylation mutant of the Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line. We exemplify the strategy by describing novel clones expressing single-chain hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF, a secreted glycoprotein) and a domain of lysosome-associated membrane protein 3 (LAMP3d). In both cases, stable GFP-expressing cell lines were established by transfection with a genetic construct including a GFP marker and two rounds of cell sorting after 1 and 2 weeks. The GFP marker was subsequently removed by heterologous expression of Flp recombinase. Production of HGF/SF and LAMP3d was stable over several months. 1.2 mg HGF/SF and 0.9 mg LAMP3d were purified per litre of culture, respectively. Homogenous glycoprotein preparations were amenable to enzymatic deglycosylation under native conditions. Purified and deglycosylated LAMP3d protein was readily crystallized. The combination of FACS and gene excision described here constitutes a robust and fast procedure for maximizing the yield of glycoproteins for structural analysis from glycosylation mutant cell lines.

Evaluation of motility, membrane status and DNA integrity of frozen-thawed bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) spermatozoa after sex-sorting and recryopreservation.

PubMed

Montano, G A; Kraemer, D C; Love, C C; Robeck, T R; O'Brien, J K

2012-06-01

Artificial insemination (AI) with sex-sorted frozen-thawed spermatozoa has led to enhanced management of ex situ bottlenose dolphin populations. Extended distance of animals from the sorting facility can be overcome by the use of frozen-thawed, sorted and recryopreserved spermatozoa. Although one bottlenose dolphin calf had been born using sexed frozen-thawed spermatozoa derived from frozen semen, a critical evaluation of in vitro sperm quality is needed to justify the routine use of such samples in AI programs. Sperm motility parameters and plasma membrane integrity were influenced by stage of the sex-sorting process, sperm type (non-sorted and sorted) and freezing method (straw and directional) (P<0.05). After recryopreservation, sorted spermatozoa frozen with the directional freezing method maintained higher (P<0.05) motility parameters over a 24-h incubation period compared to spermatozoa frozen using straws. Quality of sperm DNA of non-sorted spermatozoa, as assessed by the sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA), was high and remained unchanged throughout freeze-thawing and incubation processes. Though a possible interaction between Hoechst 33342 and the SCSA-derived acridine orange was observed in stained and sorted samples, the proportion of sex-sorted, recryopreserved spermatozoa exhibiting denatured DNA was low (6.6±4.1%) at 6 h after the second thawing step and remained unchanged (P>0.05) at 24 h. The viability of sorted spermatozoa was higher (P<0.05) than that of non-sorted spermatozoa across all time points after recryopreservation. Collective results indicate that bottlenose dolphin spermatozoa undergoing cryopreservation, sorting and recryopreservation are of adequate quality for use in AI.

Microfluidic cell sorting: a review of the advances in the separation of cells from debulking to rare cell isolation.

PubMed

Shields, C Wyatt; Reyes, Catherine D; López, Gabriel P

2015-03-07

Accurate and high throughput cell sorting is a critical enabling technology in molecular and cellular biology, biotechnology, and medicine. While conventional methods can provide high efficiency sorting in short timescales, advances in microfluidics have enabled the realization of miniaturized devices offering similar capabilities that exploit a variety of physical principles. We classify these technologies as either active or passive. Active systems generally use external fields (e.g., acoustic, electric, magnetic, and optical) to impose forces to displace cells for sorting, whereas passive systems use inertial forces, filters, and adhesion mechanisms to purify cell populations. Cell sorting on microchips provides numerous advantages over conventional methods by reducing the size of necessary equipment, eliminating potentially biohazardous aerosols, and simplifying the complex protocols commonly associated with cell sorting. Additionally, microchip devices are well suited for parallelization, enabling complete lab-on-a-chip devices for cellular isolation, analysis, and experimental processing. In this review, we examine the breadth of microfluidic cell sorting technologies, while focusing on those that offer the greatest potential for translation into clinical and industrial practice and that offer multiple, useful functions. We organize these sorting technologies by the type of cell preparation required (i.e., fluorescent label-based sorting, bead-based sorting, and label-free sorting) as well as by the physical principles underlying each sorting mechanism.

Microfluidic Cell Sorting: A Review of the Advances in the Separation of Cells from Debulking to Rare Cell Isolation

PubMed Central

Shields, C. Wyatt; Reyes, Catherine D.; López, Gabriel P.

2015-01-01

Accurate and high throughput cell sorting is a critical enabling technology in molecular and cellular biology, biotechnology, and medicine. While conventional methods can provide high efficiency sorting in short timescales, advances in microfluidics have enabled the realization of miniaturized devices offering similar capabilities that exploit a variety of physical principles. We classify these technologies as either active or passive. Active systems generally use external fields (e.g., acoustic, electric, magnetic, and optical) to impose forces to displace cells for sorting, whereas passive systems use inertial forces, filters, and adhesion mechanisms to purify cell populations. Cell sorting on microchips provides numerous advantages over conventional methods by reducing the size of necessary equipment, eliminating potentially biohazardous aerosols, and simplifying the complex protocols commonly associated with cell sorting. Additionally, microchip devices are well suited for parallelization, enabling complete lab-on-a-chip devices for cellular isolation, analysis, and experimental processing. In this review, we examine the breadth of microfluidic cell sorting technologies, while focusing on those that offer the greatest potential for translation into clinical and industrial practice and that offer multiple, useful functions. We organize these sorting technologies by the type of cell preparation required (i.e., fluorescent label-based sorting, bead-based sorting, and label-free sorting) as well as by the physical principles underlying each sorting mechanism. PMID:25598308

50 CFR 300.117 - Prohibitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

.... (9) Fail to use real-time C-VMS port-to-port on board U.S. vessels harvesting AMLR in the Convention... documentation of the use of real-time C-VMS port-to-port by the vessel that harvested such Dissostichus species... fish, from sorting the catch to the storage of the finished product. (bb) Vessel monitoring systems. (1...

Stress wave sorting of red maple logs for structural quality

Treesearch

Xiping Wang; Robert J. Ross; David W. Green; Brian Brashaw; Karl Englund; Michael Wolcott

2004-01-01

Existing log grading procedures in the United States make only visual assessments of log quality. These procedures do not incorporate estimates of the modulus of elasticity (MOE) of logs. It is questionable whether the visual grading procedures currently used for logs adequately assess the potential quality of structural products manufactured from them, especially...

Nondestructive evaluation for sorting red maple logs

Treesearch

Xiping Wang; Robert J. Ross; David W. Green; Karl Englund; Michael Wolcott

2000-01-01

Existing log grading procedures in the United States make only visual assessments of log quality. These procedures do not incorporate estimates of the modulus of elasticity (MOE) of logs. It is questionable whether the visual grading procedures currently used for logs adequately assess the potential quality of structural products manufactured from them, especially...

Different haplotypes encode the same protein for independent sources of zucchini yellow mosaic virus resistance in cucumber

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) production is negatively affected by zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV). Three sources of ZYMV resistance have been commercially deployed and all three resistances are conditioned by a single recessive gene. A vacuolar protein sorting-associated protein 4-like (VPS4-like)...

Pallet part grading trainer

Treesearch

Deborah F. Cook; Philip A. Araman; Matthew F. Winn

2000-01-01

A computerized pallet grading training system was developed to facilitate the production of higher quality pallets. Higher quality pallets would be more durable and could be re-used many times, resulting in long-term savings. Schmoldt et al. (1993) evaluated the economic impact of grading and sorting pallet parts. They determined that higher quality pallets produced by...

Window Insulation: How to Sort Through the Options.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Barbara

This two-part report explores the efforts of businesses and individuals to improve the thermal performance of windows. Part I discusses the basics of what makes a window product insulate or save energy. Topic areas addressed include saving energy lost through windows, key components of window insulation, three basic types of window insulation,…

Perception and Production of the Human Figure in Drawings by Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Itskowitz, Rivka

This research deals with the development and relative importance of both the conceptual-cognitive and the aesthetic-affective aspect of the perceptual process at various age levels of children. Three tasks were chosen: (1) sorting drawings of human figures--a task that represents a more conceptual function; (2) expressing preferences for those…

Drying and decontamination of pistachios with sequential infrared drying, tempering and hot air drying

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The pistachio industry is in need of improved drying technology as the current hot air drying has low energy efficiency and drying rate and high labor cost and also does not produce safe products against microbial contamination. In the current study, dehulled and water- sorted pistachios with a mois...

Building Computer Free Sorting Devices Based on Reflection of Visible and NIR Wavelengths

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

NIR and visible light reflection from food products has long been the basis of scientific research for the detection of defects and contaminants as well as food quality attributes. Most of the research in this area reports derived calibration equations that indicate the potential of using the techno...

Biokinetic model-based multi-objective optimization of Dunaliella tertiolecta cultivation using elitist non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm with inheritance.

PubMed

Sinha, Snehal K; Kumar, Mithilesh; Guria, Chandan; Kumar, Anup; Banerjee, Chiranjib

2017-10-01

Algal model based multi-objective optimization using elitist non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm with inheritance was carried out for batch cultivation of Dunaliella tertiolecta using NPK-fertilizer. Optimization problems involving two- and three-objective functions were solved simultaneously. The objective functions are: maximization of algae-biomass and lipid productivity with minimization of cultivation time and cost. Time variant light intensity and temperature including NPK-fertilizer, NaCl and NaHCO 3 loadings are the important decision variables. Algal model involving Monod/Andrews adsorption kinetics and Droop model with internal nutrient cell quota was used for optimization studies. Sets of non-dominated (equally good) Pareto optimal solutions were obtained for the problems studied. It was observed that time variant optimal light intensity and temperature trajectories, including optimum NPK fertilizer, NaCl and NaHCO 3 concentration has significant influence to improve biomass and lipid productivity under minimum cultivation time and cost. Proposed optimization studies may be helpful to implement the control strategy in scale-up operation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

50 CFR Table 3c to Part 680 - Crab Product Codes for Economic Data Reports

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 9 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Crab Product Codes for Economic Data Reports 3c Table 3c to Part 680 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL... EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE OFF ALASKA Pt. 680, Table 3c Table 3c to Part 680—Crab Product Codes for Economic...

50 CFR Table 3c to Part 680 - Crab Product Codes for Economic Data Reports

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Crab Product Codes for Economic Data Reports 3c Table 3c to Part 680 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL... EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE OFF ALASKA Pt. 680, Table 3c Table 3c to Part 680—Crab Product Codes for Economic...

50 CFR Table 3c to Part 680 - Crab Product Codes for Economic Data Reports

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 11 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Crab Product Codes for Economic Data Reports 3c Table 3c to Part 680 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL... EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE OFF ALASKA Pt. 680, Table 3c Table 3c to Part 680—Crab Product Codes for Economic...

Quality and developmental rate of embryos produced with sex-sorted and conventional semen from superovulated dairy cattle.

PubMed

Mikkola, M; Taponen, J

2017-01-01

This study investigated the effect of sex-sorted semen compared with conventional semen on the outcome of embryo recovery, placing special emphasis on the quality, and developmental stage of embryos. Data were analyzed for 443 embryo collections with sex-sorted semen (SEX group) and 1528 with conventional semen (CONV group) in superovulated dairy heifers and cows. The insemination protocol for conventional semen included two inseminations, comprising a total dose of 30 million sperm passing into the uterine body. For sex-sorted semen, two (30%) to three (70%) deep uterine inseminations were performed, the total dose ranging from eight to 12 million sperm. The data were analyzed separately for heifers and cows. The total number of recovered structures was similar among the groups. The number of viable embryos decreased in the SEX groups compared with the CONV (with 1.4 and 3.2 fewer embryos in heifers and cows, correspondingly, P < 0.001), and correspondingly the proportions of unfertilized ova and degenerated embryos increased in the SEX groups (P < 0.001). The proportion of unsuccessful collections, yielding no transferable embryos, increased in the SEX groups for both heifers (from 7.2% to 11.2%, P = 0.025) and cows (from 9.0% to 20.7%, P < 0.001). Regarding the quality of viable embryos, the quality grades were superior in the CONV group compared with the SEX group for heifers (P < 0.001) and cows (P < 0.001). The proportion of grade 1 embryos decreased by 6.5 percentage points in heifers and 11.9 percentage points in cows when sex-sorted semen was used. Correspondingly, the proportions of grade 2 and 3 embryos increased in heifers and cows when sexed semen was used. The mean developmental stages of embryo collections were numerically slightly lower in the SEX group. In heifers, the delay in developmental stage was statistically significant (P = 0.001), but in cows, there was only a tendency toward that (P = 0.067). In conclusion, sex-sorted sperm decreased the transferable embryo yield and increased the risk of a recovery yielding no transferable embryos. Furthermore, use of sex-sorted semen decreased the proportion of grade 1 embryos. In addition, it also seemed to delay embryonic development, although the delay in embryonic development was minimal and its biological relevance remains undefined. Despite the compromised embryo production, taken into account the optimization of recipient resources, the use of sex-sorted semen is advantageous, especially in superovulated heifers, which are of most importance in the modern breeding strategies using genomic selection. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Siblings in dyads: relationships among perceptions and behavior.

PubMed

Graham-Bermann, S A

1991-06-01

The ways in which middle-childhood siblings perceive themselves as similar or different was assessed with a sample of 40 pairs of 9- to 11-year-old (younger) and 12- to 14-year-old (older) siblings. Each child was interviewed and completed a card sort procedure and a measure of self-competence. Sibling pairs participated in three behavioral tasks coded for cooperation and conflict. Self-ratings, self-perceptions, and sibling behavior were analyzed for their association with the perceived similarity construct. Siblings perceived themselves as being more like one another than did their mothers. Forty-one percent of the variance in their perceived similarity was accounted for by paired self-cooperation ratings, social competence, and behavioral task scores.

A Binary Array Asynchronous Sorting Algorithm with Using Petri Nets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Voevoda, A. A.; Romannikov, D. O.

2017-01-01

Nowadays the tasks of computations speed-up and/or their optimization are actual. Among the approaches on how to solve these tasks, a method applying approaches of parallelization and asynchronization to a sorting algorithm is considered in the paper. The sorting methods are ones of elementary methods and they are used in a huge amount of different applications. In the paper, we offer a method of an array sorting that based on a division into a set of independent adjacent pairs of numbers and their parallel and asynchronous comparison. And this one distinguishes the offered method from the traditional sorting algorithms (like quick sorting, merge sorting, insertion sorting and others). The algorithm is implemented with the use of Petri nets, like the most suitable tool for an asynchronous systems description.

A Quality Sorting of Fruit Using a New Automatic Image Processing Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amenomori, Michihiro; Yokomizu, Nobuyuki

This paper presents an innovative approach for quality sorting of objects such as apples sorting in an agricultural factory, using an image processing algorithm. The objective of our approach are; firstly to sort the objects by their colors precisely; secondly to detect any irregularity of the colors surrounding the apples efficiently. An experiment has been conducted and the results have been obtained and compared with that has been preformed by human sorting process and by color sensor sorting devices. The results demonstrate that our approach is capable to sort the objects rapidly and the percentage of classification valid rate was 100 %.

MO-G-BRE-05: Clinical Process Improvement and Billing in Radiation Oncology: A Case Study of Applying FMEA for CPT Code 77336 (continuing Medical Physics Consultation)

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

Spirydovich, S; Huq, M

2014-06-15

Purpose: The improvement of quality in healthcare can be assessed by Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA). In radiation oncology, FMEA, as applied to the billing CPT code 77336, can improve both charge capture and, most importantly, quality of the performed services. Methods: We created an FMEA table for the process performed under CPT code 77336. For a given process step, each member of the assembled team (physicist, dosimetrist, and therapist) independently assigned numerical values for: probability of occurrence (O, 1–10), severity (S, 1–10), and probability of detection (D, 1–10) for every failure mode cause and effect combination. The riskmore » priority number, RPN, was then calculated as a product of O, S and D from which an average RPN was calculated for each combination mentioned above. A fault tree diagram, with each process sorted into 6 categories, was created with linked RPN. For processes with high RPN recommended actions were assigned. 2 separate R and V systems (Lantis and EMR-based ARIA) were considered. Results: We identified 9 potential failure modes and corresponding 19 potential causes of these failure modes all resulting in unjustified 77336 charge and compromised quality of care. In Lantis, the range of RPN was 24.5–110.8, and of S values – 2–10. The highest ranking RPN of 110.8 came from the failure mode described as “end-of-treatment check not done before the completion of treatment”, and the highest S value of 10 (RPN=105) from “overrides not checked”. For the same failure modes, within ARIA electronic environment with its additional controls, RPN values were significantly lower (44.3 for end-of-treatment missing check and 20.0 for overrides not checked). Conclusion: Our work has shown that when charge capture was missed that also resulted in some services not being performed. Absence of such necessary services may result in sub-optimal quality of care rendered to patients.« less

Localization of male-specifically expressed MROS genes of Silene latifolia by PCR on flow-sorted sex chromosomes and autosomes.

PubMed

Kejnovský, E; Vrána, J; Matsunaga, S; Soucek, P; Siroký, J; Dolezel, J; Vyskot, B

2001-07-01

The dioecious white campion Silene latifolia (syn. Melandrium album) has heteromorphic sex chromosomes, XX in females and XY in males, that are larger than the autosomes and enable their separation by flow sorting. The group of MROS genes, the first male-specifically expressed genes in dioecious plants, was recently identified in S. latifolia. To localize the MROS genes, we used the flow-sorted X chromosomes and autosomes as a template for PCR with internal primers. Our results indicate that the MROS3 gene is located in at least two copies tandemly arranged on the X chromosome with additional copy(ies) on the autosome(s), while MROS1, MROS2, and MROS4 are exclusively autosomal. The specificity of PCR products was checked by digestion with a restriction enzyme or reamplification using nested primers. Homology search of databases has shown the presence of five MROS3 homologues in A. thaliana, four of them arranged in two tandems, each consisting of two copies. We conclude that MROS3 is a low-copy gene family, connected with the proper pollen development, which is present not only in dioecious but also in other dicot plant species.

Sedimentary structures and textures of Rio Orinoco channel sands, Venezuela and Colombia

USGS Publications Warehouse

McKee, Edwin Dinwiddie

1989-01-01

Most sedimentary structures represented in sand bodies of the Rio Orinoco are tabular-planar cross-strata which, together with some wedge-planar cross-strata, are the products of sand-wave deposition. Locally, in areas of river meander where point bars characteristically form, trough structures forming festoon patterns are numerous. At a few localities, sets of nearly horizontal strata occur between tabular-planar sets and are interpreted to be the deposits of very fast currents of the upper flow regime; elsewhere, uncommon lenses and beds of silt, clay, or organic matter consisting of leaves and twigs, seem to be the result of quiet-water settling through gravity. By far the most common grain size represented in the tabular-planar and wedge-planar cross-strata of the sandwave deposits is medium sand (? - ? millimeter) as determined by screen analyses. Many samples, however, also contain moderate quantities of coarse or very coarse sand. Eolian dunes on top of the sand-wave deposits are dominantly fine grained. The river channel sands were determined to be largely moderately well sorted, although in some places they were mostly well sorted, and in others, mostly moderately sorted.

Evaluation of cleaner production options in dyeing and printing industry: Using combination weighting method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kang, Hong; Zhang, Yun; Hou, Haochen; Sun, Xiaoyang; Qin, Chenglu

2018-03-01

The textile industry has a high environmental impact so that implementing cleaner production audit is an effective way to achieve energy conservation and emissions reduction. But the evaluation method in current cleaner production audit divided the evaluation of CPOs into two parts: environment and economy. The evaluation index system was constructed from three criteria of environment benefits, economy benefits and product performance; weights of five indicators were determined by combination weights of entropy method and factor weight sorting method. Then efficiencies were evaluated comprehensively. The results showed that the best alkali recovery option was the nanofiltration membrane method (S=0.80).

Nucleic acid isolation

DOEpatents

Longmire, J.L.; Lewis, A.K.; Hildebrand, C.E.

1988-01-21

A method is provided for isolating DNA from eukaryotic cell and flow sorted chromosomes. When DNA is removed from chromosome and cell structure, detergent and proteolytic digestion products remain with the DNA. These products can be removed with organic extraction, but the process steps associated with organic extraction reduces the size of DNA fragments available for experimental use. The present process removes the waste products by dialyzing a solution containing the DNA against a solution containing polyethylene glycol (PEG). The waste products dialyze into the PEG leaving isolated DNA. The remaining DNA has been prepared with fragments containing more than 160 kb. The isolated DNA has been used in conventional protocols without effect on the protocol.

The use of coded PCR primers enables high-throughput sequencing of multiple homolog amplification products by 454 parallel sequencing.

PubMed

Binladen, Jonas; Gilbert, M Thomas P; Bollback, Jonathan P; Panitz, Frank; Bendixen, Christian; Nielsen, Rasmus; Willerslev, Eske

2007-02-14

The invention of the Genome Sequence 20 DNA Sequencing System (454 parallel sequencing platform) has enabled the rapid and high-volume production of sequence data. Until now, however, individual emulsion PCR (emPCR) reactions and subsequent sequencing runs have been unable to combine template DNA from multiple individuals, as homologous sequences cannot be subsequently assigned to their original sources. We use conventional PCR with 5'-nucleotide tagged primers to generate homologous DNA amplification products from multiple specimens, followed by sequencing through the high-throughput Genome Sequence 20 DNA Sequencing System (GS20, Roche/454 Life Sciences). Each DNA sequence is subsequently traced back to its individual source through 5'tag-analysis. We demonstrate that this new approach enables the assignment of virtually all the generated DNA sequences to the correct source once sequencing anomalies are accounted for (miss-assignment rate<0.4%). Therefore, the method enables accurate sequencing and assignment of homologous DNA sequences from multiple sources in single high-throughput GS20 run. We observe a bias in the distribution of the differently tagged primers that is dependent on the 5' nucleotide of the tag. In particular, primers 5' labelled with a cytosine are heavily overrepresented among the final sequences, while those 5' labelled with a thymine are strongly underrepresented. A weaker bias also exists with regards to the distribution of the sequences as sorted by the second nucleotide of the dinucleotide tags. As the results are based on a single GS20 run, the general applicability of the approach requires confirmation. However, our experiments demonstrate that 5'primer tagging is a useful method in which the sequencing power of the GS20 can be applied to PCR-based assays of multiple homologous PCR products. The new approach will be of value to a broad range of research areas, such as those of comparative genomics, complete mitochondrial analyses, population genetics, and phylogenetics.

A novel fractal image compression scheme with block classification and sorting based on Pearson's correlation coefficient.

PubMed

Wang, Jianji; Zheng, Nanning

2013-09-01

Fractal image compression (FIC) is an image coding technology based on the local similarity of image structure. It is widely used in many fields such as image retrieval, image denoising, image authentication, and encryption. FIC, however, suffers from the high computational complexity in encoding. Although many schemes are published to speed up encoding, they do not easily satisfy the encoding time or the reconstructed image quality requirements. In this paper, a new FIC scheme is proposed based on the fact that the affine similarity between two blocks in FIC is equivalent to the absolute value of Pearson's correlation coefficient (APCC) between them. First, all blocks in the range and domain pools are chosen and classified using an APCC-based block classification method to increase the matching probability. Second, by sorting the domain blocks with respect to APCCs between these domain blocks and a preset block in each class, the matching domain block for a range block can be searched in the selected domain set in which these APCCs are closer to APCC between the range block and the preset block. Experimental results show that the proposed scheme can significantly speed up the encoding process in FIC while preserving the reconstructed image quality well.

Review: Applications and benefits of sexed semen in dairy and beef herds.

PubMed

Holden, S A; Butler, S T

2018-06-01

The use of sexed semen in dairy and beef cattle production provides a number of benefits at both farm and industry levels. There is an increasing demand for dairy and beef products across the globe, which will necessitate a greater focus on improving production efficiency. In dairy farming, there is surplus production of unwanted male calves. Male dairy calves increase the risk of dystocia compared with heifer calves, and as an unwanted by-product of breeding with conventional semen, they have a low economic value. Incorporating sexed semen into the breeding programme can minimise the number of unwanted male dairy calves and reduce dystocia. Sexed semen can be used to generate herd replacements and additional heifers for herd expansion at a faster rate from within the herd, thereby minimising biosecurity risks associated with bringing in animals from different herds. Furthermore, the use of sexed semen can increase herd genetic gain compared with use of non-sorted semen. In dairy herds, a sustainable breeding strategy could combine usage of sexed semen to generate replacements only, and usage of beef semen on all dams that are not suitable for generating replacements. This results in increased genetic gain in dairy herd, increased value of beef output from the dairy herd, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions from beef. It is important to note, however, that even a small decrease in fertility of sexed semen relative to conventional semen can negate much of the economic benefit. A high fertility sexed semen product has the potential to accelerate herd expansion, minimise waste production, improve animal welfare and increase profitability compared with non-sorted conventional semen.

Black plastics: Linear and circular economies, hazardous additives and marine pollution.

PubMed

Turner, Andrew

2018-08-01

Black products constitute about 15% of the domestic plastic waste stream, of which the majority is single-use packaging and trays for food. This material is not, however, readily recycled owing to the low sensitivity of black pigments to near infrared radiation used in conventional plastic sorting facilities. Accordingly, there is mounting evidence that the demand for black plastics in consumer products is partly met by sourcing material from the plastic housings of end-of-life waste electronic and electrical equipment (WEEE). Inefficiently sorted WEEE plastic has the potential to introduce restricted and hazardous substances into the recyclate, including brominated flame retardants (BFRs), Sb, a flame retardant synergist, and the heavy metals, Cd, Cr, Hg and Pb. The current paper examines the life cycles of single-use black food packaging and black plastic WEEE in the context of current international regulations and directives and best practices for sorting, disposal and recycling. The discussion is supported by published and unpublished measurements of restricted substances (including Br as a proxy for BFRs) in food packaging, EEE plastic goods and non-EEE plastic products. Specifically, measurements confirm the linear economy of plastic food packaging and demonstrate a complex quasi-circular economy for WEEE plastic that results in significant and widespread contamination of black consumer goods ranging from thermos cups and cutlery to tool handles and grips, and from toys and games to spectacle frames and jewellery. The environmental impacts and human exposure routes arising from WEEE plastic recycling and contamination of consumer goods are described, including those associated with marine pollution. Regarding the latter, a compilation of elemental data on black plastic litter collected from beaches of southwest England reveals a similar chemical signature to that of contaminated consumer goods and blended plastic WEEE recyclate, exemplifying the pervasiveness of the problem. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Performance evaluation of firefly algorithm with variation in sorting for non-linear benchmark problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Umbarkar, A. J.; Balande, U. T.; Seth, P. D.

2017-06-01

The field of nature inspired computing and optimization techniques have evolved to solve difficult optimization problems in diverse fields of engineering, science and technology. The firefly attraction process is mimicked in the algorithm for solving optimization problems. In Firefly Algorithm (FA) sorting of fireflies is done by using sorting algorithm. The original FA is proposed with bubble sort for ranking the fireflies. In this paper, the quick sort replaces bubble sort to decrease the time complexity of FA. The dataset used is unconstrained benchmark functions from CEC 2005 [22]. The comparison of FA using bubble sort and FA using quick sort is performed with respect to best, worst, mean, standard deviation, number of comparisons and execution time. The experimental result shows that FA using quick sort requires less number of comparisons but requires more execution time. The increased number of fireflies helps to converge into optimal solution whereas by varying dimension for algorithm performed better at a lower dimension than higher dimension.

A usability evaluation of an interactive application for halal products using optical character recognition and augmented reality technologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lam, Meng Chun; Nizam, Siti Soleha Muhammad; Arshad, Haslina; A'isyah Ahmad Shukri, Saidatul; Hashim, Nurhazarifah Che; Putra, Haekal Mozzia; Abidin, Rimaniza Zainal

2017-10-01

This article discusses the usability of an interactive application for halal products using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies. Among the problems that have been identified in this study is that consumers have little knowledge about the E-Code. Therefore, users often have doubts about the halal status of the product. Nowadays, the integrity of halal status can be doubtful due to the actions of some irresponsible people spreading false information about a product. Therefore, an application that uses OCR and AR technology developed in this study will help the users to identify the information content of a product by scanning the E-Code label and by scanning the product's brand to know the halal status of the product. In this application, E-Code on the label of a product is scanned using OCR technology to display information about the E-Code. The product's brand is scan using augmented reality technology to display halal status of the product. The findings reveal that users are satisfied with this application and it is useful and easy to use.

76 FR 55268 - Chromobacterium subtsugae Strain PRAA4-1T

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-09-07

... (irritation symptoms cleared by 24 hours; Toxicity Category IV). 9. Dermal sensitization--guinea pig... that Chromobacterium subtsugae strain PRAA4-1\\T\\ was not a dermal sensitizer to guinea pigs. IV... production (NAICS code 111). Animal production (NAICS code 112). Food manufacturing (NAICS code 311...

Performance of the dot product function in radiative transfer code SORD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Korkin, Sergey; Lyapustin, Alexei; Sinyuk, Aliaksandr; Holben, Brent

2016-10-01

The successive orders of scattering radiative transfer (RT) codes frequently call the scalar (dot) product function. In this paper, we study performance of some implementations of the dot product in the RT code SORD using 50 scenarios for light scattering in the atmosphere-surface system. In the dot product function, we use the unrolled loops technique with different unrolling factor. We also considered the intrinsic Fortran functions. We show results for two machines: ifort compiler under Windows, and pgf90 under Linux. Intrinsic DOT_PRODUCT function showed best performance for the ifort. For the pgf90, the dot product implemented with unrolling factor 4 was the fastest. The RT code SORD together with the interface that runs all the mentioned tests are publicly available from ftp://maiac.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/skorkin/SORD_IP_16B (current release) or by email request from the corresponding (first) author.

Learning cellular sorting pathways using protein interactions and sequence motifs.

PubMed

Lin, Tien-Ho; Bar-Joseph, Ziv; Murphy, Robert F

2011-11-01

Proper subcellular localization is critical for proteins to perform their roles in cellular functions. Proteins are transported by different cellular sorting pathways, some of which take a protein through several intermediate locations until reaching its final destination. The pathway a protein is transported through is determined by carrier proteins that bind to specific sequence motifs. In this article, we present a new method that integrates protein interaction and sequence motif data to model how proteins are sorted through these sorting pathways. We use a hidden Markov model (HMM) to represent protein sorting pathways. The model is able to determine intermediate sorting states and to assign carrier proteins and motifs to the sorting pathways. In simulation studies, we show that the method can accurately recover an underlying sorting model. Using data for yeast, we show that our model leads to accurate prediction of subcellular localization. We also show that the pathways learned by our model recover many known sorting pathways and correctly assign proteins to the path they utilize. The learned model identified new pathways and their putative carriers and motifs and these may represent novel protein sorting mechanisms. Supplementary results and software implementation are available from http://murphylab.web.cmu.edu/software/2010_RECOMB_pathways/.

Effects of varying forage particle size and fermentable carbohydrates on feed sorting, ruminal fermentation, and milk and component yields of dairy cows.

PubMed

Maulfair, D D; Heinrichs, A J

2013-05-01

Ration sorting is thought to affect ruminal fermentation in such a manner that milk yield milk and components are often decreased. However, the influence of ruminally degradable starch on ration sorting has not been studied. Therefore, the objective of this experiment was to evaluate the interactions between forage particle size (FPS) and ruminally fermentable carbohydrates (RFC) for dry matter intake (DMI), ration sorting, ruminal fermentation, chewing activity, and milk yield and components. In this study, 12 (8 ruminally cannulated) multiparous, lactating Holstein cows were fed a total mixed ration that varied in FPS and RFC. Two lengths of corn silage were used to alter FPS and 2 grind sizes of corn grain were used to alter RFC. It was determined that increasing RFC increased ruminating time and did not affect eating time, whereas increasing FPS increased eating time and did not affect ruminating time. Ruminal fermentation did not differ by altering either FPS or RFC. However, increasing FPS tended to increase mean and maximum ruminal pH and increasing RFC tended to decrease minimum ruminal pH. Particle size distribution became more diverse and neutral detergent fiber content of refusals increased over time, whereas starch content decreased, indicating that cows were sorting against physically effective neutral detergent fiber and for RFC. Selection indices determined that virtually no interactions occurred between FPS and RFC and that despite significant sorting throughout the day, by 24h after feeding cows had consumed a ration very similar to what was offered. This theory was reinforced by particle fraction intakes that very closely resembled the proportions of particle fractions in the offered total mixed ration. An interaction between FPS and RFC was observed for DMI, as DMI decreased with increasing FPS when the diet included low RFC and did not change when the diet included high RFC. Dry matter intake increased with RFC for long diets and did not change with RFC on short diets. Increasing RFC was found to increase milk yield, milk protein content and yield, and lactose content and yield but decrease milk fat content. Increasing FPS did not have as great an effect on milk production as RFC. This study found no significant interaction between FPS and RFC for ration sorting, although an interaction between FPS and RFC for DMI was observed. Neither FPS nor RFC affected ruminal fermentation, whereas RFC had a greater influence on milk yield and components than FPS. Copyright © 2013 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Profugus

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

Evans, Thomas; Hamilton, Steven; Slattery, Stuart

Profugus is an open-source mini-application (mini-app) for radiation transport and reactor applications. It contains the fundamental computational kernels used in the Exnihilo code suite from Oak Ridge National Laboratory. However, Exnihilo is production code with a substantial user base. Furthermore, Exnihilo is export controlled. This makes collaboration with computer scientists and computer engineers difficult. Profugus is designed to bridge that gap. By encapsulating the core numerical algorithms in an abbreviated code base that is open-source, computer scientists can analyze the algorithms and easily make code-architectural changes to test performance without compromising the production code values of Exnihilo. Profugus is notmore » meant to be production software with respect to problem analysis. The computational kernels in Profugus are designed to analyze performance, not correctness. Nonetheless, users of Profugus can setup and run problems with enough real-world features to be useful as proof-of-concept for actual production work.« less

Bituminous coal production in the Appalachian basin: past, present, and future: Chapter D.3 in Coal and petroleum resources in the Appalachian basin: distribution, geologic framework, and geochemical character

USGS Publications Warehouse

Milici, Robert C.; Polyak, Désirée E.; Ruppert, Leslie F.; Ryder, Robert T.

2014-01-01

This report on Appalachian basin coal production consists of four plates and associated graphs and tables that were used to construct the maps. Figure 1 shows the decade of greatest coal production by county. Figure 2 shows the amount of coal produced for each county (in thousands of short tons) during the year of greatest coal production. These data are sorted by decade. Figure 3 illustrates the cumulative coal production (in thousands of short tons) for each county since about the beginning of the 20th century. Figure 4 shows 2003 production by county in thousands of short tons.

21 CFR 610.67 - Bar code label requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... or to blood and blood components intended for transfusion. For blood and blood components intended...) BIOLOGICS GENERAL BIOLOGICAL PRODUCTS STANDARDS Labeling Standards § 610.67 Bar code label requirements. Biological products must comply with the bar code requirements at § 201.25 of this chapter. However, the bar...

21 CFR 610.67 - Bar code label requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... or to blood and blood components intended for transfusion. For blood and blood components intended...) BIOLOGICS GENERAL BIOLOGICAL PRODUCTS STANDARDS Labeling Standards § 610.67 Bar code label requirements. Biological products must comply with the bar code requirements at § 201.25 of this chapter. However, the bar...

21 CFR 610.67 - Bar code label requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... or to blood and blood components intended for transfusion. For blood and blood components intended...) BIOLOGICS GENERAL BIOLOGICAL PRODUCTS STANDARDS Labeling Standards § 610.67 Bar code label requirements. Biological products must comply with the bar code requirements at § 201.25 of this chapter. However, the bar...

77 FR 25716 - Fipronil; Receipt of Applications for Emergency Exemptions, Solicitation of Public Comment

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-01

... pesticide manufacturer. Potentially affected entities may include, but are not limited to: Crop production (NAICS code 111). Animal production (NAICS code 112). Food manufacturing (NAICS code 311). Pesticide... your concerns and suggest alternatives. vii. Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the...

78 FR 35143 - 1,3-Propanediol; Exemptions From the Requirement of a Tolerance

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-06-12

... rabbits. Dermal sensitization studies on guinea pigs showed that 1,3-propanediol is not a sensitizer. In a... whether this document applies to them. Potentially affected entities may include: Crop production (NAICS code 111). Animal production (NAICS code 112). Food manufacturing (NAICS code 311). Pesticide...

76 FR 26194 - Metarhizium anisopliae Strain F52; Exemption From the Requirement of a Tolerance

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-05-06

... sensitization--guinea pig (Harmonized Guideline 870.2600; MRID No. 448447-15). An acceptable dermal... pesticide manufacturer. Potentially affected entities may include, but are not limited to: Crop production (NAICS code 111). Animal production (NAICS code 112). Food manufacturing (NAICS code 311). Pesticide...

Birth of kids after artificial insemination with sex-sorted, frozen-thawed goat spermatozoa.

PubMed

Bathgate, R; Mace, N; Heasman, K; Evans, G; Maxwell, W M C; de Graaf, S P

2013-12-01

Successful sex-sorting of goat spermatozoa and subsequent birth of pre-sexed kids have yet to be reported. As such, a series of experiments were conducted to develop protocols for sperm-sorting (using a modified flow cytometer, MoFlo SX(®) ) and cryopreservation of goat spermatozoa. Saanen goat spermatozoa (n = 2 males) were (i) collected into Salamon's or Tris catch media post-sorting and (ii) frozen in Tris-citrate-glucose media supplemented with 5, 10 or 20% egg yolk in (iii) 0.25 ml pellets on dry ice or 0.25 ml straws in a controlled-rate freezer. Post-sort and post-thaw sperm quality were assessed by motility (CASA), viability and acrosome integrity (PI/FITC-PNA). Sex-sorted goat spermatozoa frozen in pellets displayed significantly higher post-thaw motility and viability than spermatozoa frozen in straws. Catch media and differing egg yolk concentration had no effect on the sperm parameters tested. The in vitro and in vivo fertility of sex-sorted goat spermatozoa produced with this optimum protocol were then tested by means of a heterologous ova binding assay and intrauterine artificial insemination of Saanen goat does, respectively. Sex-sorted goat spermatozoa bound to sheep ova zona pellucidae in similar numbers (p > 0.05) to non-sorted goat spermatozoa, non-sorted ram spermatozoa and sex-sorted ram spermatozoa. Following intrauterine artificial insemination with sex-sorted spermatozoa, 38% (5/13) of does kidded with 83% (3/5) of kids being of the expected sex. Does inseminated with non-sorted spermatozoa achieved a 50% (3/6) kidding rate and a sex ratio of 3 : 1 (F : M). This study demonstrates for the first time that goat spermatozoa can be sex-sorted by flow cytometry, successfully frozen and used to produce pre-sexed kids. © 2013 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

21 CFR 607.35 - Notification of registrant; blood product establishment registration number and NDC Labeler Code.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 7 2011-04-01 2010-04-01 true Notification of registrant; blood product establishment registration number and NDC Labeler Code. 607.35 Section 607.35 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG... PRODUCT LISTING FOR MANUFACTURERS OF HUMAN BLOOD AND BLOOD PRODUCTS Procedures for Domestic Blood Product...

21 CFR 607.35 - Notification of registrant; blood product establishment registration number and NDC Labeler Code.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 7 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Notification of registrant; blood product establishment registration number and NDC Labeler Code. 607.35 Section 607.35 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG... PRODUCT LISTING FOR MANUFACTURERS OF HUMAN BLOOD AND BLOOD PRODUCTS Procedures for Domestic Blood Product...

Preliminary Metallogenic Map of North America; a listing of deposits by commodity

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lee, Michael P.; Guild, Philip White; Schruben, Paul G.

1987-01-01

The 4,215 ore deposits shown on the Preliminary Metallogenic Map of North America and contained in the Metallogenic Map file have been sorted by their principal (first-listed) commodities and grouped into metallic and nonmetallic categories. Deposit listings for 56 individual metals and minerals have been assembled using the data base and are arranged alphabetically by country, political subdivision (for the larger countries), and deposit name. Map numbers, major and minor constituents, geographic coordinates, and a geologic code are given for each deposit; additionally, the relative size and deposit class have been derived from the code and are listed separately. The frequencies of individual commodities and commodity groups by type, geographic distribution, and geologic occurrence are summarized in tables, and the relationships of associated commodities to principal commodities in the data base are emphasized in both tables and brief texts. In all, 49 metals and minerals are listed as principal (first or only) commodities and 7 more are shown as 'major' but not principal commodities. (Commodities listed as 'minor' in the data base were not sorted or tabulated separately.) Metals, divided into six subgroups, predominate over nonmetallic minerals by a ratio of about 7 to 1, although in terms of quantities and value the disparity is not so great. Within the metals group, the ranking according to frequency is as follows: base, precious, iron and alloying, other (antimony, beryllium, and others), nuclear-fuel, and light metals. The most frequently occurring commodity in the Metallogenic Map file is gold. Copper is ranked second, both in number of occurrences and as the principal commodity in deposits. Silver is ranked third in frequency of occurrence; lead and zinc are ranked fourth and fifth, respectively. Iron, ranked sixth in frequency of occurrence as a major commodity, is the third most reported principal commodity in the data base, ahead of silver (ranked fourth), lead (ranked fifth), and zinc (ranked sixth).

Sorting nexin Snx41 is essential for conidiation and mediates glutathione-based antioxidant defense during invasive growth in Magnaporthe oryzae

PubMed Central

Deng, Yi Zhen; Qu, Ziwei; He, Yunlong; Naqvi, Naweed I.

2012-01-01

The sorting nexins Atg20/Snx42 and Snx41 regulate membrane traffic and endosomal protein sorting and are essential for Cvt and/or pexophagy in yeast. Previously, we showed that macroautophagy is necessary for conidiation in the rice-blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae. Here, we analyzed the physiological function(s) of selective autophagy in Magnaporthe through targeted deletion of MGG_12832, an ortholog of yeast SNX41 and ATG20/SNX42. Loss of MGG_12832 (hereafter SNX41) abolished conidia formation and pathogenesis in M. oryzae. Snx41-GFP localized as dynamic puncta or short tubules that are partially associated with autophagosomes and/or autophagic vacuoles. PX domain, but not macroautophagy per se, was required for such localization of Snx41-GFP in Magnaporthe. Although not required for nonselective autophagy, Snx41 was essential for pexophagy in Magnaporthe. We identified Oxp1, an ATP-dependent oxoprolinase in the gamma-glutamyl cycle, as a binding partner and potential retrieval target of Snx41-dependent protein sorting. The substrate of Oxp1, 5-oxoproline, could partially restore conidiation in the snx41Δ. Exogenous glutathione, a product of the gamma-glutamyl cycle, significantly restored pathogenicity in the snx41Δ mutant, likely through counteracting the oxidative stress imposed by the host. We propose that the gamma-glutamyl cycle and glutathione biosynthesis are subject to regulation by Snx41-dependent vesicular trafficking, and mediate antioxidant defense crucial for in planta growth and pathogenic differentiation of Magnaporthe at the onset of blast disease in rice. PMID:22561104

Properties of concrete blocks prepared with low grade recycled aggregates.

PubMed

Poon, Chi-Sun; Kou, Shi-cong; Wan, Hui-wen; Etxeberria, Miren

2009-08-01

Low grade recycled aggregates obtained from a construction waste sorting facility were tested to assess the feasibility of using these in the production of concrete blocks. The characteristics of the sorted construction waste are significantly different from that of crushed concrete rubbles that are mostly derived from demolition waste streams. This is due to the presence of higher percentages of non-concrete components (e.g. >10% soil, brick, tiles etc.) in the sorted construction waste. In the study reported in this paper, three series of concrete block mixtures were prepared by using the low grade recycled aggregates to replace (i) natural coarse granite (10mm), and (ii) 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% replacement levels of crushed stone fine (crushed natural granite <5mm) in the concrete blocks. Test results on properties such as density, compressive strength, transverse strength and drying shrinkage as well as strength reduction after exposure to 800 degrees C are presented below. The results show that the soil content in the recycled fine aggregate was an important factor in affecting the properties of the blocks produced and the mechanical strength deceased with increasing low grade recycled fine aggregate content. But the higher soil content in the recycled aggregates reduced the reduction of compressive strength of the blocks after exposure to high temperature due probably to the formation of a new crystalline phase. The results show that the low grade recycled aggregates obtained from the construction waste sorting facility has potential to be used as aggregates for making non-structural pre-cast concrete blocks.

Sorting drops and cells with acoustics: acoustic microfluidic fluorescence-activated cell sorter.

PubMed

Schmid, Lothar; Weitz, David A; Franke, Thomas

2014-10-07

We describe a versatile microfluidic fluorescence-activated cell sorter that uses acoustic actuation to sort cells or drops at ultra-high rates. Our acoustic sorter combines the advantages of traditional fluorescence-activated cell (FACS) and droplet sorting (FADS) and is applicable for a multitude of objects. We sort aqueous droplets, at rates as high as several kHz, into two or even more outlet channels. We can also sort cells directly from the medium without prior encapsulation into drops; we demonstrate this by sorting fluorescently labeled mouse melanoma cells in a single phase fluid. Our acoustic microfluidic FACS is compatible with standard cell sorting cytometers, yet, at the same time, enables a rich variety of more sophisticated applications.

Forget the Alamo: Thinking about History in John Sayles' "Lone Star"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adams, Anna

2007-01-01

John Sayles' film "Lone Star" is an excellent vehicle for teaching about the production and interpretation of history in a high school or introductory level college history class. The film illustrates that history is subjective, that the sorting and arrangement of evidence is what makes history, and that history is not necessarily an inevitable…

Effect of "Focus on Form" versus "Focus on Forms" Pragmatic Instruction on Development of Pragmatic Comprehension and Production

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rafieyan, Vahid

2016-01-01

To develop target language pragmatic competence, language learners' attention must be directed toward not only linguistic but also pragmatic aspect of the target language expressions (Schmidt, 2001). Thus, some sorts of pragmatic awareness-raising instruction, using either explicit "Focus on Forms" or implicit "Focus on Form"…

Beyond Signaling and Human Capital: Education and the Revelation of Ability. NBER Working Paper No. 13951

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arcidiacono, Peter; Bayer, Patrick; Hizmo, Aurel

2008-01-01

In traditional signaling models, education provides a way for individuals to sort themselves by ability. Employers in turn use education to statistically discriminate, paying wages that reflect the average productivity of workers with the same given level of education. In this paper, we provide evidence that education (specifically, attending…

Anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation of the Prefrontal Cortex Enhances Complex Verbal Associative Thought

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cerruti, Carlo; Schlaug, Gottfried

2009-01-01

The remote associates test (RAT) is a complex verbal task with associations to both creative thought and general intelligence. RAT problems require not only lateral associations and the internal production of many words but a convergent focus on a single answer. Complex problem-solving of this sort may thus require both substantial verbal…

Surface acoustic wave actuated cell sorting (SAWACS).

PubMed

Franke, T; Braunmüller, S; Schmid, L; Wixforth, A; Weitz, D A

2010-03-21

We describe a novel microfluidic cell sorter which operates in continuous flow at high sorting rates. The device is based on a surface acoustic wave cell-sorting scheme and combines many advantages of fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) and fluorescence activated droplet sorting (FADS) in microfluidic channels. It is fully integrated on a PDMS device, and allows fast electronic control of cell diversion. We direct cells by acoustic streaming excited by a surface acoustic wave which deflects the fluid independently of the contrast in material properties of deflected objects and the continuous phase; thus the device underlying principle works without additional enhancement of the sorting by prior labelling of the cells with responsive markers such as magnetic or polarizable beads. Single cells are sorted directly from bulk media at rates as fast as several kHz without prior encapsulation into liquid droplet compartments as in traditional FACS. We have successfully directed HaCaT cells (human keratinocytes), fibroblasts from mice and MV3 melanoma cells. The low shear forces of this sorting method ensure that cells survive after sorting.

FEL Trajectory Analysis for the VISA Experiment

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

Nuhn, Heinz-Dieter

1998-10-06

The Visual to Infrared SASE Amplifier (VISA) [1] FEL is designed to achieve saturation at radiation wavelengths between 800 and 600 nm with a 4-m pure permanent magnet undulator. The undulator comprises four 99-cm segments each of which has four FODO focusing cells superposed on the beam by means of permanent magnets in the gap alongside the beam. Each segment will also have two beam position monitors and two sets of x-y dipole correctors. The trajectory walk-off in each segment will be reduced to a value smaller than the rms beam radius by means of magnet sorting, precise fabrication, andmore » post-fabrication shimming and trim magnets. However, this leaves possible inter-segment alignment errors. A trajectory analysis code has been used in combination with the FRED3D [2] FEL code to simulate the effect of the shimming procedure and segment alignment errors on the electron beam trajectory and to determine the sensitivity of the FEL gain process to trajectory errors. The paper describes the technique used to establish tolerances for the segment alignment.« less

Development of Adaptive Coping From Mid to Late Life: A 70-Year Longitudinal Study of Defense Maturity and Its Psychosocial Correlates.

PubMed

Martin-Joy, John S; Malone, Johanna C; Cui, Xing-Jia; Johansen, Pål-Ørjan; Hill, Kevin P; Rahman, M Omar; Waldinger, Robert J; Vaillant, George E

2017-09-01

The present study examines changes in defense maturity from mid to late life using data from an over 70-year longitudinal study. A sample of 72 men was followed beginning in late adolescence. Participants' childhoods were coded for emotional warmth. Defense mechanisms were coded by independent raters using the Q-Sort of Defenses (, Ego mechanisms of defense: A guide for clinicians and researchers 217-233) based on interview data gathered at approximately ages 52 and 75. We examined psychosocial correlates of defenses at midlife, late life, and changes in defense from mid to late life. Overall, defenses grew more adaptive from midlife to late life. However, results differed on the basis of the emotional warmth experienced in the participants' childhoods. In midlife, men who experienced warm childhoods used more adaptive (mature) defenses; yet by late life, this difference in defensive maturity had disappeared. Men who experienced less childhood warmth were more likely to show an increase in adaptive defenses during the period from mid to late life.

A High-Granularity Approach to Modeling Energy Consumption and Savings Potential in the U.S. Residential Building Stock

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

None

Building simulations are increasingly used in various applications related to energy efficient buildings. For individual buildings, applications include: design of new buildings, prediction of retrofit savings, ratings, performance path code compliance and qualification for incentives. Beyond individual building applications, larger scale applications (across the stock of buildings at various scales: national, regional and state) include: codes and standards development, utility program design, regional/state planning, and technology assessments. For these sorts of applications, a set of representative buildings are typically simulated to predict performance of the entire population of buildings. Focusing on the U.S. single-family residential building stock, this paper willmore » describe how multiple data sources for building characteristics are combined into a highly-granular database that preserves the important interdependencies of the characteristics. We will present the sampling technique used to generate a representative set of thousands (up to hundreds of thousands) of building models. We will also present results of detailed calibrations against building stock consumption data.« less

Learning Cellular Sorting Pathways Using Protein Interactions and Sequence Motifs

PubMed Central

Lin, Tien-Ho; Bar-Joseph, Ziv

2011-01-01

Abstract Proper subcellular localization is critical for proteins to perform their roles in cellular functions. Proteins are transported by different cellular sorting pathways, some of which take a protein through several intermediate locations until reaching its final destination. The pathway a protein is transported through is determined by carrier proteins that bind to specific sequence motifs. In this article, we present a new method that integrates protein interaction and sequence motif data to model how proteins are sorted through these sorting pathways. We use a hidden Markov model (HMM) to represent protein sorting pathways. The model is able to determine intermediate sorting states and to assign carrier proteins and motifs to the sorting pathways. In simulation studies, we show that the method can accurately recover an underlying sorting model. Using data for yeast, we show that our model leads to accurate prediction of subcellular localization. We also show that the pathways learned by our model recover many known sorting pathways and correctly assign proteins to the path they utilize. The learned model identified new pathways and their putative carriers and motifs and these may represent novel protein sorting mechanisms. Supplementary results and software implementation are available from http://murphylab.web.cmu.edu/software/2010_RECOMB_pathways/. PMID:21999284

A New Algorithm Using the Non-Dominated Tree to Improve Non-Dominated Sorting.

PubMed

Gustavsson, Patrik; Syberfeldt, Anna

2018-01-01

Non-dominated sorting is a technique often used in evolutionary algorithms to determine the quality of solutions in a population. The most common algorithm is the Fast Non-dominated Sort (FNS). This algorithm, however, has the drawback that its performance deteriorates when the population size grows. The same drawback applies also to other non-dominating sorting algorithms such as the Efficient Non-dominated Sort with Binary Strategy (ENS-BS). An algorithm suggested to overcome this drawback is the Divide-and-Conquer Non-dominated Sort (DCNS) which works well on a limited number of objectives but deteriorates when the number of objectives grows. This article presents a new, more efficient algorithm called the Efficient Non-dominated Sort with Non-Dominated Tree (ENS-NDT). ENS-NDT is an extension of the ENS-BS algorithm and uses a novel Non-Dominated Tree (NDTree) to speed up the non-dominated sorting. ENS-NDT is able to handle large population sizes and a large number of objectives more efficiently than existing algorithms for non-dominated sorting. In the article, it is shown that with ENS-NDT the runtime of multi-objective optimization algorithms such as the Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II) can be substantially reduced.

21 CFR 206.10 - Code imprint required.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 4 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Code imprint required. 206.10 Section 206.10 Food...: GENERAL IMPRINTING OF SOLID ORAL DOSAGE FORM DRUG PRODUCTS FOR HUMAN USE § 206.10 Code imprint required... imprint that, in conjunction with the product's size, shape, and color, permits the unique identification...

75 FR 44184 - Aluminum tris(O-ethylphosphonate), Butylate, Chlorethoxyfos, Clethodim, et al.; Proposed...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-07-28

...: Crop production (NAICS code 111). Animal production (NAICS code 112). Food manufacturing (NAICS code... contamination of food, feed, or food-contact/feed-contact surfaces. Compliance with the tolerance level... Apply to Me? You may be potentially affected by this action if you are an agricultural producer, food...

77 FR 47291 - Residues of Didecyl Dimethyl Ammonium Chloride; Exemption From the Requirement of a Tolerance

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-08

... production (NAICS code 111). Animal production (NAICS code 112). Food manufacturing (NAICS code 311... Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) requesting an exemption from the requirement of a tolerance...? You may be potentially affected by this action if you are an agricultural producer, food manufacturer...

75 FR 50884 - 2-(2'-hydroxy-3', 5'-di-tert-amylphenyl) benzotriazole and Phenol, 2-(2H-benzotriazole-2-yl)-6...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-08-18

... 2-(2'-hydroxy-5'-methylphenyl) benzotriazole in guinea pigs showed skin sensitization; however... pesticide manufacturer. Potentially affected entities may include, but are not limited to: Crop production (NAICS code 111). Animal production (NAICS code 112). Food manufacturing (NAICS code 311). Pesticide...

76 FR 6342 - n-Octyl Alcohol and n-Decyl Alcohol; Exemption From the Requirement of a Tolerance

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-02-04

... produce sensitization in guinea pigs. A 90-day dermal toxicity study in rats with fatty alcohol blend (56... pesticide manufacturer. Potentially affected entities may include, but are not limited to: Crop production (NAICS code 111). Animal production (NAICS code 112). Food manufacturing (NAICS code 311). Pesticide...

Research and development of Camellia oleifera fruit sheller and sorting machine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kang, Di; Wang, Yong; Fan, Youhua; Chen, Zejun

2018-01-01

Camellia oleifera fruit sheller in this paper was designed by the principle of kneading and extruding. This machine adopted the rolling classification sieve to screen camellia oleifera fruit with different sizes into the husking device, and camellia oleifera fruit was shelled in the mutually co-operative action of transport belt and flexible rubbing washboard. After research, in the condition that the moisture content of camellia oleifera fruit was below 55%, the vibration of the motor frequency was 50 Hz and the horizontal angle of sorting belt was 50 degrees∼55 degrees, the processing capacity was more than 900 kg/h, the threshing ratio was more than 97%, the seed broken ratio was less than 5%, the loss ratio was less than 1%. The machine is of great value in actual production, and should be widely spread and applied.

Diagonal chromatography to study plant protein modifications.

PubMed

Walton, Alan; Tsiatsiani, Liana; Jacques, Silke; Stes, Elisabeth; Messens, Joris; Van Breusegem, Frank; Goormachtig, Sofie; Gevaert, Kris

2016-08-01

An interesting asset of diagonal chromatography, which we have introduced for contemporary proteome research, is its high versatility concerning proteomic applications. Indeed, the peptide modification or sorting step that is required between consecutive peptide separations can easily be altered and thereby allows for the enrichment of specific, though different types of peptides. Here, we focus on the application of diagonal chromatography for the study of modifications of plant proteins. In particular, we show how diagonal chromatography allows for studying proteins processed by proteases, protein ubiquitination, and the oxidation of protein-bound methionines. We discuss the actual sorting steps needed for each of these applications and the obtained results. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Plant Proteomics--a bridge between fundamental processes and crop production, edited by Dr. Hans-Peter Mock. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cognitive and motor shifting aptitude disorder in Parkinson's disease.

PubMed Central

Cools, A R; van den Bercken, J H; Horstink, M W; van Spaendonck, K P; Berger, H J

1984-01-01

Eighteen patients suffering from Parkinson's disease and nineteen control subjects, who were matched for age and intelligence, were compared in tests measuring "shifting aptitude" at cognitive and motor levels (word production, sorting blocks or animals, and finger pushing sequences). It was found that Parkinson patients produced fewer different names of animals and professions in one minute than control subjects, needed more trials for detecting a shift in a sorting criterion, and produced fewer finger responses in a change of pushing sequence than control subjects. These results are interpreted as reflecting a central programming deficit that manifests itself in verbal, figural and motor modalities, that is, a diminished "shifting aptitude" characteristic of patients with dysfunctioning basal ganglia. The results are discussed in relation to changes of behaviour organisations in animals with dysfunctioning basal ganglia. PMID:6736974

Screening and identification of genetic loci involved in producing more/denser inclusion bodies in Escherichia coli

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Many proteins and peptides have been used in therapeutic or industrial applications. They are often produced in microbial production hosts by fermentation. Robust protein production in the hosts and efficient downstream purification are two critical factors that could significantly reduce cost for microbial protein production by fermentation. Producing proteins/peptides as inclusion bodies in the hosts has the potential to achieve both high titers in fermentation and cost-effective downstream purification. Manipulation of the host cells such as overexpression/deletion of certain genes could lead to producing more and/or denser inclusion bodies. However, there are limited screening methods to help to identify beneficial genetic changes rendering more protein production and/or denser inclusion bodies. Results We report development and optimization of a simple density gradient method that can be used for distinguishing and sorting E. coli cells with different buoyant densities. We demonstrate utilization of the method to screen genetic libraries to identify a) expression of glyQS loci on plasmid that increased expression of a peptide of interest as well as the buoyant density of inclusion body producing E. coli cells; and b) deletion of a host gltA gene that increased the buoyant density of the inclusion body produced in the E. coli cells. Conclusion A novel density gradient sorting method was developed to screen genetic libraries. Beneficial host genetic changes could be exploited to improve recombinant protein expression as well as downstream protein purification. PMID:23638724

Screening and identification of genetic loci involved in producing more/denser inclusion bodies in Escherichia coli.

PubMed

Pandey, Neeraj; Sachan, Annapurna; Chen, Qi; Ruebling-Jass, Kristin; Bhalla, Ritu; Panguluri, Kiran Kumar; Rouviere, Pierre E; Cheng, Qiong

2013-05-02

Many proteins and peptides have been used in therapeutic or industrial applications. They are often produced in microbial production hosts by fermentation. Robust protein production in the hosts and efficient downstream purification are two critical factors that could significantly reduce cost for microbial protein production by fermentation. Producing proteins/peptides as inclusion bodies in the hosts has the potential to achieve both high titers in fermentation and cost-effective downstream purification. Manipulation of the host cells such as overexpression/deletion of certain genes could lead to producing more and/or denser inclusion bodies. However, there are limited screening methods to help to identify beneficial genetic changes rendering more protein production and/or denser inclusion bodies. We report development and optimization of a simple density gradient method that can be used for distinguishing and sorting E. coli cells with different buoyant densities. We demonstrate utilization of the method to screen genetic libraries to identify a) expression of glyQS loci on plasmid that increased expression of a peptide of interest as well as the buoyant density of inclusion body producing E. coli cells; and b) deletion of a host gltA gene that increased the buoyant density of the inclusion body produced in the E. coli cells. A novel density gradient sorting method was developed to screen genetic libraries. Beneficial host genetic changes could be exploited to improve recombinant protein expression as well as downstream protein purification.

An Assessment of Some Design Constraints on Heat Production of a 3D Conceptual EGS Model Using an Open-Source Geothermal Reservoir Simulation Code

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

Yidong Xia; Mitch Plummer; Robert Podgorney

2016-02-01

Performance of heat production process over a 30-year period is assessed in a conceptual EGS model with a geothermal gradient of 65K per km depth in the reservoir. Water is circulated through a pair of parallel wells connected by a set of single large wing fractures. The results indicate that the desirable output electric power rate and lifespan could be obtained under suitable material properties and system parameters. A sensitivity analysis on some design constraints and operation parameters indicates that 1) the fracture horizontal spacing has profound effect on the long-term performance of heat production, 2) the downward deviation anglemore » for the parallel doublet wells may help overcome the difficulty of vertical drilling to reach a favorable production temperature, and 3) the thermal energy production rate and lifespan has close dependence on water mass flow rate. The results also indicate that the heat production can be improved when the horizontal fracture spacing, well deviation angle, and production flow rate are under reasonable conditions. To conduct the reservoir modeling and simulations, an open-source, finite element based, fully implicit, fully coupled hydrothermal code, namely FALCON, has been developed and used in this work. Compared with most other existing codes that are either closed-source or commercially available in this area, this new open-source code has demonstrated a code development strategy that aims to provide an unparalleled easiness for user-customization and multi-physics coupling. Test results have shown that the FALCON code is able to complete the long-term tests efficiently and accurately, thanks to the state-of-the-art nonlinear and linear solver algorithms implemented in the code.« less

Unravel lipid accumulation mechanism in oleaginous yeast through single cell systems biology study

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

Xie, Xiaoliang; Ding, Shiyou

Searching for alternative and clean energy is one of the most important tasks today. Our research aimed at finding the best living condition for certain types of oleaginous yeasts for efficient lipid production. We found that R. glutinis yeast cells has great variability in lipid production among cells while Y. lipolytica cells has similar oil production ability. We found some individual cells shows much higher level of oil production. In order to further study these cases, we employed a label-free chemical sensitive microscopy method call stimulated Raman scattering (SRS). With SRS, we could measure the lipid content in each cell.more » We combined SRS microscopy with microfluidic device so that we can isolate cells with high fat content. We also developed SRS imaging technique that has higher imaging speed, which is highly desirable for high throughput cell screening and sorting. Since these cells has similar genome, it must be the transcriptome caused their difference in oil production. We developed a single cell transcriptome sequencing method to study which genes are responsible for elevated oil production. These methods that are developed for this project can easily be applied for many other areas of research. For example, the single transcriptome can be used to study the transcriptomes of other cell types. The high-speed SRS microscopy techniques can be used to speed up chemical imaging for lablefree histology or imaging distribution of chemicals in tissues of live mice or in humans. The developed microfluidic platform can be used to sort other type of cells, e.g., white blood cells for diagnosis of cancer or other blood diseases.« less

Particle Transport and Size Sorting in Bubble Microstreaming Flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thameem, Raqeeb; Rallabandi, Bhargav; Wang, Cheng; Hilgenfeldt, Sascha

2014-11-01

Ultrasonic driving of sessile semicylindrical bubbles results in powerful steady streaming flows that are robust over a wide range of driving frequencies. In a microchannel, this flow field pattern can be fine-tuned to achieve size-sensitive sorting and trapping of particles at scales much smaller than the bubble itself; the sorting mechanism has been successfully described based on simple geometrical considerations. We investigate the sorting process in more detail, both experimentally (using new parameter variations that allow greater control over the sorting) and theoretically (incorporating the device geometry as well as the superimposed channel flow into an asymptotic theory). This results in optimized criteria for size sorting and a theoretical description that closely matches the particle behavior close to the bubble, the crucial region for size sorting.

Error-Detecting Identification Codes for Algebra Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sutherland, David C.

1990-01-01

Discusses common error-detecting identification codes using linear algebra terminology to provide an interesting application of algebra. Presents examples from the International Standard Book Number, the Universal Product Code, bank identification numbers, and the ZIP code bar code. (YP)

75 FR 50914 - Flubendiamide; Pesticide Tolerances

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-08-18

... skin sensitizer under the conditions of the guinea pig maximization test. In the mammalian toxicology... activities: Crop production (NAICS code 111). Animal production (NAICS code 112). Food manufacturing (NAICS...

Computer vision for automatic inspection of agricultural produce

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Molto, Enrique; Blasco, Jose; Benlloch, Jose V.

1999-01-01

Fruit and vegetables suffer different manipulations from the field to the final consumer. These are basically oriented towards the cleaning and selection of the product in homogeneous categories. For this reason, several research projects, aimed at fast, adequate produce sorting and quality control are currently under development around the world. Moreover, it is possible to find manual and semi- automatic commercial system capable of reasonably performing these tasks.However, in many cases, their accuracy is incompatible with current European market demands, which are constantly increasing. IVIA, the Valencian Research Institute of Agriculture, located in Spain, has been involved in several European projects related with machine vision for real-time inspection of various agricultural produces. This paper will focus on the work related with two products that have different requirements: fruit and olives. In the case of fruit, the Institute has developed a vision system capable of providing assessment of the external quality of single fruit to a robot that also receives information from other senors. The system use four different views of each fruit and has been tested on peaches, apples and citrus. Processing time of each image is under 500 ms using a conventional PC. The system provides information about primary and secondary color, blemishes and their extension, and stem presence and position, which allows further automatic orientation of the fruit in the final box using a robotic manipulator. Work carried out in olives was devoted to fast sorting of olives for consumption at table. A prototype has been developed to demonstrate the feasibility of a machine vision system capable of automatically sorting 2500 kg/h olives using low-cost conventional hardware.

A proposed framework of food waste collection and recycling for renewable biogas fuel production in Hong Kong.

PubMed

Woon, Kok Sin; Lo, Irene M C

2016-01-01

Hong Kong is experiencing a pressing need for food waste management. Currently, approximately 3600 tonnes of food waste are disposed of at landfills in Hong Kong daily. The landfills in Hong Kong are expected to be exhausted by 2020. In the long run, unavoidable food waste should be sorted out from the other municipal solid waste (MSW) and then valorized into valuable resources. A simple sorting process involving less behavioural change of residents is, therefore, of paramount importance in order to encourage residents to sort the food waste from other MSW. In this paper, a sustainable framework of food waste collection and recycling for renewable biogas fuel production is proposed. For an efficient separation and collection system, an optic bag (i.e. green bag) can be used to pack the food waste, while the residual MSW can be packed in a common plastic bag. All the wastes are then sent to the refuse transfer stations in the conventional way (i.e. refuse collection vehicles). At the refuse transfer stations, the food waste is separated from the residual MSW using optic sensors which recognize the colours of the bags. The food waste in the optic bags is then delivered to the proposed Organic Waste Treatment Facilities, in which biogas is generated following the anaerobic digestion technology. The biogas can be further upgraded via gas upgrading units to a quality suitable for use as a vehicle biogas fuel. The use of biogas fuel from food waste has been widely practiced by some countries such as Sweden, France, and Norway. Hopefully, the proposed framework can provide the epitome of the waste-to-wealth concept for the sustainable collection and recycling of food waste in Hong Kong. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Annual Coded Wire Tag Program; Missing Production Groups, 1996 Annual Report.

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

Pastor, Stephen M.

1997-01-01

In 1989 the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) began funding the evaluation of production groups of juvenile anadromous fish not being coded-wire tagged for other programs. These groups were the ''Missing Production Groups''. Production fish released by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) without representative coded-wire tags during the 1980's are indicated as blank spaces on the survival graphs in this report. The objectives of the ''Missing Production Groups'' program are: (1) to estimate the total survival of each production group, (2) to estimate the contribution of each production group to various fisheries, and (3) to prepare an annual reportmore » for all USFWS hatcheries in the Columbia River basin. Coded-wire tag recovery information will be used to evaluate the relative success of individual brood stocks. This information can also be used by salmon harvest managers to develop plans to allow the harvest of excess hatchery fish while protecting threatened, endangered, or other stocks of concern. In order to meet these objectives, a minimum of one marked group of fish is necessary for each production release. The level of marking varies according to location, species, and age at release. In general, 50,000 fish are marked with a coded-wire tag (CWT) to represent each production release group at hatcheries below John Day Dam. More than 100,000 fish per group are usually marked at hatcheries above John Day Dam. All fish release information, including marked/unmarked ratios, is reported to the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission (PSMFC). Fish recovered in the various fisheries or at the hatcheries are sampled to recover coded-wire tags. This recovery information is also reported to PSMFC.« less

Sortilin 1 Loss-of-Function Protects Against Cholestatic Liver Injury by Attenuating Hepatic Bile Acid Accumulation in Bile Duct Ligated Mice.

PubMed

Li, Jibiao; Woolbright, Benjamin L; Zhao, Wen; Wang, Yifeng; Matye, David; Hagenbuch, Bruno; Jaeschke, Hartmut; Li, Tiangang

2018-01-01

Sortilin 1 (Sort1) is an intracellular trafficking receptor that mediates protein sorting in the endocytic or secretory pathways. Recent studies revealed a role of Sort1 in the regulation of cholesterol and bile acid (BA) metabolism. This study further investigated the role of Sort1 in modulating BA detoxification and cholestatic liver injury in bile duct ligated mice. We found that Sort1 knockout (KO) mice had attenuated liver injury 24 h after bile duct ligation (BDL), which was mainly attributed to less bile infarct formation. Sham-operated Sort1 KO mice had about 20% larger BA pool size than sham-operated wildtype (WT) mice, but 24 h after BDL Sort1 KO mice had significantly attenuated hepatic BA accumulation and smaller BA pool size. After 14 days BDL, Sort1 KO mice showed significantly lower hepatic BA concentration and reduced expression of inflammatory and fibrotic marker genes, but similar degree of liver fibrosis compared with WT mice. Unbiased quantitative proteomics revealed that Sort1 KO mice had increased hepatic BA sulfotransferase 2A1, but unaltered phase-I BA metabolizing cytochrome P450s or phase-III BA efflux transporters. Consistently, Sort1 KO mice showed elevated plasma sulfated taurocholate after BDL. Finally, we found that liver Sort1 was repressed after BDL, which may be due to BA activation of farnesoid x receptor. In conclusion, we report a role of Sort1 in the regulation of hepatic BA detoxification and cholestatic liver injury in mice. The mechanisms underlying increased hepatic BA elimination in Sort1 KO mice after BDL require further investigation. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Toxicology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Reducing 4D CT artifacts using optimized sorting based on anatomic similarity.

PubMed

Johnston, Eric; Diehn, Maximilian; Murphy, James D; Loo, Billy W; Maxim, Peter G

2011-05-01

Four-dimensional (4D) computed tomography (CT) has been widely used as a tool to characterize respiratory motion in radiotherapy. The two most commonly used 4D CT algorithms sort images by the associated respiratory phase or displacement into a predefined number of bins, and are prone to image artifacts at transitions between bed positions. The purpose of this work is to demonstrate a method of reducing motion artifacts in 4D CT by incorporating anatomic similarity into phase or displacement based sorting protocols. Ten patient datasets were retrospectively sorted using both the displacement and phase based sorting algorithms. Conventional sorting methods allow selection of only the nearest-neighbor image in time or displacement within each bin. In our method, for each bed position either the displacement or the phase defines the center of a bin range about which several candidate images are selected. The two dimensional correlation coefficients between slices bordering the interface between adjacent couch positions are then calculated for all candidate pairings. Two slices have a high correlation if they are anatomically similar. Candidates from each bin are then selected to maximize the slice correlation over the entire data set using the Dijkstra's shortest path algorithm. To assess the reduction of artifacts, two thoracic radiation oncologists independently compared the resorted 4D datasets pairwise with conventionally sorted datasets, blinded to the sorting method, to choose which had the least motion artifacts. Agreement between reviewers was evaluated using the weighted kappa score. Anatomically based image selection resulted in 4D CT datasets with significantly reduced motion artifacts with both displacement (P = 0.0063) and phase sorting (P = 0.00022). There was good agreement between the two reviewers, with complete agreement 34 times and complete disagreement 6 times. Optimized sorting using anatomic similarity significantly reduces 4D CT motion artifacts compared to conventional phase or displacement based sorting. This improved sorting algorithm is a straightforward extension of the two most common 4D CT sorting algorithms.

NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery (NIHTB-CB): list sorting test to measure working memory.

PubMed

Tulsky, David S; Carlozzi, Noelle; Chiaravalloti, Nancy D; Beaumont, Jennifer L; Kisala, Pamela A; Mungas, Dan; Conway, Kevin; Gershon, Richard

2014-07-01

The List Sorting Working Memory Test was designed to assess working memory (WM) as part of the NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery. List Sorting is a sequencing task requiring children and adults to sort and sequence stimuli that are presented visually and auditorily. Validation data are presented for 268 participants ages 20 to 85 years. A subset of participants (N=89) was retested 7 to 21 days later. As expected, the List Sorting Test had moderately high correlations with other measures of working memory and executive functioning (convergent validity) but a low correlation with a test of receptive vocabulary (discriminant validity). Furthermore, List Sorting demonstrates expected changes over the age span and has excellent test-retest reliability. Collectively, these results provide initial support for the construct validity of the List Sorting Working Memory Measure as a measure of working memory. However, the relationship between the List Sorting Test and general executive function has yet to be determined.

Manual sorting to eliminate aflatoxin from peanuts.

PubMed

Galvez, F C F; Francisco, M L D L; Villarino, B J; Lustre, A O; Resurreccion, A V A

2003-10-01

A manual sorting procedure was developed to eliminate aflatoxin contamination from peanuts. The efficiency of the sorting process in eliminating aflatoxin-contaminated kernels from lots of raw peanuts was verified. The blanching of 20 kg of peanuts at 140 degrees C for 25 min in preheated roasters facilitated the manual sorting of aflatoxin-contaminated kernels after deskinning. The manual sorting of raw materials with initially high aflatoxin contents (300 ppb) resulted in aflatoxin-free peanuts (i.e., peanuts in which no aflatoxin was detected). Verification procedures showed that the sorted sound peanuts contained no aflatoxin or contained low levels (<15 ppb) of aflatoxin. The results obtained confirmed that the sorting process was effective in separating contaminated peanuts whether or nor contamination was extensive. At the commercial level, when roasters were not preheated, the dry blanching of 50 kg of peanuts for 45 to 55 min facilitated the proper deskinning and subsequent manual sorting of aflatoxin-contaminated peanut kernels from sound kernels.

Automated spike sorting algorithm based on Laplacian eigenmaps and k-means clustering.

PubMed

Chah, E; Hok, V; Della-Chiesa, A; Miller, J J H; O'Mara, S M; Reilly, R B

2011-02-01

This study presents a new automatic spike sorting method based on feature extraction by Laplacian eigenmaps combined with k-means clustering. The performance of the proposed method was compared against previously reported algorithms such as principal component analysis (PCA) and amplitude-based feature extraction. Two types of classifier (namely k-means and classification expectation-maximization) were incorporated within the spike sorting algorithms, in order to find a suitable classifier for the feature sets. Simulated data sets and in-vivo tetrode multichannel recordings were employed to assess the performance of the spike sorting algorithms. The results show that the proposed algorithm yields significantly improved performance with mean sorting accuracy of 73% and sorting error of 10% compared to PCA which combined with k-means had a sorting accuracy of 58% and sorting error of 10%.A correction was made to this article on 22 February 2011. The spacing of the title was amended on the abstract page. No changes were made to the article PDF and the print version was unaffected.

A Simple Deep Learning Method for Neuronal Spike Sorting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Kai; Wu, Haifeng; Zeng, Yu

2017-10-01

Spike sorting is one of key technique to understand brain activity. With the development of modern electrophysiology technology, some recent multi-electrode technologies have been able to record the activity of thousands of neuronal spikes simultaneously. The spike sorting in this case will increase the computational complexity of conventional sorting algorithms. In this paper, we will focus spike sorting on how to reduce the complexity, and introduce a deep learning algorithm, principal component analysis network (PCANet) to spike sorting. The introduced method starts from a conventional model and establish a Toeplitz matrix. Through the column vectors in the matrix, we trains a PCANet, where some eigenvalue vectors of spikes could be extracted. Finally, support vector machine (SVM) is used to sort spikes. In experiments, we choose two groups of simulated data from public databases availably and compare this introduced method with conventional methods. The results indicate that the introduced method indeed has lower complexity with the same sorting errors as the conventional methods.

NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery (NIHTB-CB): The List Sorting Test to Measure Working Memory

PubMed Central

Tulsky, David S.; Carlozzi, Noelle; Chiaravalloti, Nancy D.; Beaumont, Jennifer L.; Kisala, Pamela A.; Mungas, Dan; Conway, Kevin; Gershon, Richard

2015-01-01

The List Sorting Working Memory Test was designed to assess working memory (WM) as part of the NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery. List Sorting is a sequencing task requiring children and adults to sort and sequence stimuli that are presented visually and auditorily. Validation data are presented for 268 participants ages 20 to 85 years. A subset of participants (N=89) was retested 7 to 21 days later. As expected, the List Sorting Test had moderately high correlations with other measures of working memory and executive functioning (convergent validity) but a low correlation with a test of receptive vocabulary (discriminant validity). Furthermore, List Sorting demonstrates expected changes over the age span and has excellent test-retest reliability. Collectively, these results provide initial support the construct validity of the List Sorting Working Memory Measure as a measure of working memory. However, the relation between the List Sorting Test and general executive function has yet to be determined. PMID:24959983

Check-All-That-Apply (CATA), Sorting, and Polarized Sensory Positioning (PSP) with Astringent Stimuli

PubMed Central

Fleming, Erin E.; Ziegler, Gregory R.; Hayes, John E.

2015-01-01

Multiple rapid sensory profiling techniques have been developed as more efficient alternatives to traditional sensory descriptive analysis. Here, we compare the results of three rapid sensory profiling techniques – check-all-that-apply (CATA), sorting, and polarized sensory positioning (PSP) – using a diverse range of astringent stimuli. These rapid methods differ in their theoretical basis, implementation, and data analyses, and the relative advantages and limitations are largely unexplored. Additionally, we were interested in using these methods to compare varied astringent stimuli, as these compounds are difficult to characterize using traditional descriptive analysis due to high fatigue and potential carry-over. In the CATA experiment, subjects (n=41) were asked to rate the overall intensity of each stimulus as well as to endorse any relevant terms (from a list of 13) which characterized the sample. In the sorting experiment, subjects (n=30) assigned intensity-matched stimuli into groups 1-on-1 with the experimenter. In the PSP experiment, (n=41) subjects first sampled and took notes on three blind references (‘poles’) before rating each stimulus for its similarity to each of the 3 poles. Two-dimensional perceptual maps from correspondence analysis (CATA), multidimensional scaling (sorting), and multiple factor analysis (PSP) were remarkably similar, with normalized RV coefficients indicating significantly similar plots, regardless of method. Agglomerative hierarchical clustering of all data sets using Ward’s minimum variance as the linkage criteria showed the clusters of astringent stimuli were approximately based on the respective class of astringent agent. Based on the descriptive CATA data, it appears these differences may be due to the presence of side tastes such as bitterness and sourness, rather than astringent sub-qualities per se. Although all three methods are considered ‘rapid,’ our prior experience with sorting suggests it is best performed 1:1 with the experimenter, which makes sorting relatively less efficient than CATA or PSP. Based on the evaluation criteria used here, the choice of method depends on the time constraints of the experimenter and the need for descriptive terms to understand the sensory space of the samples. Accordingly, we recommend a mixed approach that combines CATA with a subsequent PSP task so that the product space can be well characterized before choosing poles for PSP. PMID:26113771

Nucleic acid isolation process

DOEpatents

Longmire, Jonathan L.; Lewis, Annette K.; Hildebrand, Carl E.

1990-01-01

A method is provided for isolating DNA from eukaryotic cell and flow sorted chromosomes. When DNA is removed from chromosome and cell structure, detergent and proteolytic digestion products remain with the DNA. These products can be removed with organic extraction, but the process steps associated with organic extraction reduce the size of DNA fragments available for experimental use. The present process removes the waste products by dialyzing a solution containing the DNA against a solution containing polyethylene glycol (PEG). The waste products dialyze into the PEG leaving isolated DNA. The remaining DNA has been prepared with fragments containing more than 160 kb. The isolated DNA has been used in conventional protocols without affect on the protocol.

The importance of production standard operating procedure in a family business company

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hongdiyanto, C.

2017-12-01

Plastic industry is a growing sector, therefore UD X which engage in this business has a great potential to grow as well. The problem faced by this family business company is that no standard operating procedure is used and it lead to problem in the quality and quantity produced. This research is aim to create a production standard operating procedure for UD X. Semistructure interview is used to gather information from respondent to help writer create the SOP. There are four SOP’s created, namely: classifying SOP, sorting SOP, milling SOP and packing SOP. Having SOP will improve the effectiveness of production because employees already know how to work in each stages of production process.

Regulation of synaptic activity by snapin-mediated endolysosomal transport and sorting

PubMed Central

Di Giovanni, Jerome; Sheng, Zu-Hang

2015-01-01

Recycling synaptic vesicles (SVs) transit through early endosomal sorting stations, which raises a fundamental question: are SVs sorted toward endolysosomal pathways? Here, we used snapin mutants as tools to assess how endolysosomal sorting and trafficking impact presynaptic activity in wild-type and snapin−/− neurons. Snapin acts as a dynein adaptor that mediates the retrograde transport of late endosomes (LEs) and interacts with dysbindin, a subunit of the endosomal sorting complex BLOC-1. Expressing dynein-binding defective snapin mutants induced SV accumulation at presynaptic terminals, mimicking the snapin−/− phenotype. Conversely, over-expressing snapin reduced SV pool size by enhancing SV trafficking to the endolysosomal pathway. Using a SV-targeted Ca2+ sensor, we demonstrate that snapin–dysbindin interaction regulates SV positional priming through BLOC-1/AP-3-dependent sorting. Our study reveals a bipartite regulation of presynaptic activity by endolysosomal trafficking and sorting: LE transport regulates SV pool size, and BLOC-1/AP-3-dependent sorting fine-tunes the Ca2+ sensitivity of SV release. Therefore, our study provides new mechanistic insights into the maintenance and regulation of SV pool size and synchronized SV fusion through snapin-mediated LE trafficking and endosomal sorting. PMID:26108535

Interactive QR code beautification with full background image embedding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Lijian; Wu, Song; Liu, Sijiang; Jiang, Bo

2017-06-01

QR (Quick Response) code is a kind of two dimensional barcode that was first developed in automotive industry. Nowadays, QR code has been widely used in commercial applications like product promotion, mobile payment, product information management, etc. Traditional QR codes in accordance with the international standard are reliable and fast to decode, but are lack of aesthetic appearance to demonstrate visual information to customers. In this work, we present a novel interactive method to generate aesthetic QR code. By given information to be encoded and an image to be decorated as full QR code background, our method accepts interactive user's strokes as hints to remove undesired parts of QR code modules based on the support of QR code error correction mechanism and background color thresholds. Compared to previous approaches, our method follows the intention of the QR code designer, thus can achieve more user pleasant result, while keeping high machine readability.

MSAViewer: interactive JavaScript visualization of multiple sequence alignments.

PubMed

Yachdav, Guy; Wilzbach, Sebastian; Rauscher, Benedikt; Sheridan, Robert; Sillitoe, Ian; Procter, James; Lewis, Suzanna E; Rost, Burkhard; Goldberg, Tatyana

2016-11-15

The MSAViewer is a quick and easy visualization and analysis JavaScript component for Multiple Sequence Alignment data of any size. Core features include interactive navigation through the alignment, application of popular color schemes, sorting, selecting and filtering. The MSAViewer is 'web ready': written entirely in JavaScript, compatible with modern web browsers and does not require any specialized software. The MSAViewer is part of the BioJS collection of components. The MSAViewer is released as open source software under the Boost Software License 1.0. Documentation, source code and the viewer are available at http://msa.biojs.net/Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. msa@bio.sh. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press.

MSAViewer: interactive JavaScript visualization of multiple sequence alignments

PubMed Central

Yachdav, Guy; Wilzbach, Sebastian; Rauscher, Benedikt; Sheridan, Robert; Sillitoe, Ian; Procter, James; Lewis, Suzanna E.; Rost, Burkhard; Goldberg, Tatyana

2016-01-01

Summary: The MSAViewer is a quick and easy visualization and analysis JavaScript component for Multiple Sequence Alignment data of any size. Core features include interactive navigation through the alignment, application of popular color schemes, sorting, selecting and filtering. The MSAViewer is ‘web ready’: written entirely in JavaScript, compatible with modern web browsers and does not require any specialized software. The MSAViewer is part of the BioJS collection of components. Availability and Implementation: The MSAViewer is released as open source software under the Boost Software License 1.0. Documentation, source code and the viewer are available at http://msa.biojs.net/. Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. Contact: msa@bio.sh PMID:27412096

GenASiS Basics: Object-oriented utilitarian functionality for large-scale physics simulations

DOE PAGES

Cardall, Christian Y.; Budiardja, Reuben D.

2015-06-11

Aside from numerical algorithms and problem setup, large-scale physics simulations on distributed-memory supercomputers require more basic utilitarian functionality, such as physical units and constants; display to the screen or standard output device; message passing; I/O to disk; and runtime parameter management and usage statistics. Here we describe and make available Fortran 2003 classes furnishing extensible object-oriented implementations of this sort of rudimentary functionality, along with individual `unit test' programs and larger example problems demonstrating their use. Lastly, these classes compose the Basics division of our developing astrophysics simulation code GenASiS (General Astrophysical Simulation System), but their fundamental nature makes themmore » useful for physics simulations in many fields.« less

Iterative decoding of SOVA and LDPC product code for bit-patterned media recoding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jeong, Seongkwon; Lee, Jaejin

2018-05-01

The demand for high-density storage systems has increased due to the exponential growth of data. Bit-patterned media recording (BPMR) is one of the promising technologies to achieve the density of 1Tbit/in2 and higher. To increase the areal density in BPMR, the spacing between islands needs to be reduced, yet this aggravates inter-symbol interference and inter-track interference and degrades the bit error rate performance. In this paper, we propose a decision feedback scheme using low-density parity check (LDPC) product code for BPMR. This scheme can improve the decoding performance using an iterative approach with extrinsic information and log-likelihood ratio value between iterative soft output Viterbi algorithm and LDPC product code. Simulation results show that the proposed LDPC product code can offer 1.8dB and 2.3dB gains over the one LDPC code at the density of 2.5 and 3 Tb/in2, respectively, when bit error rate is 10-6.

Three-dimensional Monte-Carlo simulation of gamma-ray scattering and production in the atmosphere

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

Morris, D.J.

1989-05-15

Monte Carlo codes have been developed to simulate gamma-ray scattering and production in the atmosphere. The scattering code simulates interactions of low-energy gamma rays (20 to several hundred keV) from an astronomical point source in the atmosphere; a modified code also simulates scattering in a spacecraft. Four incident spectra, typical of gamma-ray bursts, solar flares, and the Crab pulsar, and 511 keV line radiation have been studied. These simulations are consistent with observations of solar flare radiation scattered from the atmosphere. The production code simulates the interactions of cosmic rays which produce high-energy (above 10 MeV) photons and electrons. Itmore » has been used to calculate gamma-ray and electron albedo intensities at Palestine, Texas and at the equator; the results agree with observations in most respects. With minor modifications this code can be used to calculate intensities of other high-energy particles. Both codes are fully three-dimensional, incorporating a curved atmosphere; the production code also incorporates the variation with both zenith and azimuth of the incident cosmic-ray intensity due to geomagnetic effects. These effects are clearly reflected in the calculated albedo by intensity contrasts between the horizon and nadir, and between the east and west horizons.« less

Categorizing Variations of Student-Implemented Sorting Algorithms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taherkhani, Ahmad; Korhonen, Ari; Malmi, Lauri

2012-01-01

In this study, we examined freshmen students' sorting algorithm implementations in data structures and algorithms' course in two phases: at the beginning of the course before the students received any instruction on sorting algorithms, and after taking a lecture on sorting algorithms. The analysis revealed that many students have insufficient…

Review of log sort yards

Treesearch

John Rusty Dramm; Gerry L. Jackson; Jenny Wong

2002-01-01

This report provides a general overview of current log sort yard operations in the United States, including an extensive literature review and information collected during on-site visits to several operations throughout the nation. Log sort yards provide many services in marketing wood and fiber by concentrating, merchandising, processing, sorting, and adding value to...

COST EVALUATION OF AUTOMATED AND MANUAL POST- CONSUMER PLASTIC BOTTLE SORTING SYSTEMS

EPA Science Inventory

This project evaluates, on the basis of performance and cost, two Automated BottleSort® sorting systems for post-consumer commingled plastic containers developed by Magnetic Separation Systems. This study compares the costs to sort mixed bales of post-consumer plastic at these t...

Exploring viral reservoir: The combining approach of cell sorting and droplet digital PCR.

PubMed

Gibellini, Lara; Pecorini, Simone; De Biasi, Sara; Pinti, Marcello; Bianchini, Elena; De Gaetano, Anna; Digaetano, Margherita; Pullano, Rosalberta; Lo Tartaro, Domenico; Iannone, Anna; Mussini, Cristina; Cossarizza, Andrea; Nasi, Milena

2018-02-01

Combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) blocks different steps of HIV replication and maintains plasma viral RNA at undetectable levels. The virus can remain in long-living cells and create a reservoir where HIV can restart replicating after cART discontinuation. A persistent viral production triggers and maintains a persistent immune activation, which is a well-known feature of chronic HIV infection, and contributes either to precocious aging, or to the increased incidence of morbidity and mortality of HIV positive patients. The new frontier of the treatment of HIV infection is nowadays eradication of the virus from all host cells and tissues. For this reason, it is crucial to have a clear and precise idea of where the virus hides, and which are the cells that keep it silent. Important efforts have been made to improve the detection of viral reservoirs, and new techniques are now giving the opportunity to characterize viral reservoirs. Among these techniques, a strategic approach based upon cell sorting and droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) is opening new horizons and opportunities of research. This review provides an overview of the methods that combine cell sorting and ddPCR for the quantification of HIV DNA in different cell types, and for the detection of its maintenance. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Concocting that Magic Elixir: Successful Grant Application Writing in Dissemination and Implementation Research.

PubMed

Brownson, Ross C; Colditz, Graham A; Dobbins, Maureen; Emmons, Karen M; Kerner, Jon F; Padek, Margaret; Proctor, Enola K; Stange, Kurt C

2015-12-01

This paper reports core competencies for dissemination and implementation (D&I) grant application writing and provides tips for writing a successful proposal. Two related phases were used to collect the data: a card sorting process among D&I researchers and an expert review among a smaller set of researchers. Card sorting was completed by 123 respondents. In the second phase, a series of grant application writing tips were developed based on the combined 170 years of grant review experience of the writing team. The card sorting resulted in 12 core competencies for D&I grant application writing that covered the main sections in a grant application to the US National Institutes of Health: (a) specific aims that provide clear rationale, objectives, and an overview of the research plan; (b) significance that frames and justifies the importance of a D&I question; (c) innovation that articulates novel products and new knowledge; and (d) approach that uses a relevant D&I model, addresses measurement and the D&I context, and includes an analysis plan well-tied to the aims and measures. Writing a successful D&I grant application is a skill that can be learned with experience and attention to the core competencies articulated in this paper. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Concocting that Magic Elixir: Successful Grant Application Writing in Dissemination and Implementation Research

PubMed Central

Colditz, Graham A.; Dobbins, Maureen; Emmons, Karen M.; Kerner, Jon F.; Padek, Margaret; Proctor, Enola K.; Stange, Kurt C.

2015-01-01

Abstract Background This paper reports core competencies for dissemination and implementation (D&I) grant application writing and provides tips for writing a successful proposal. Methods Two related phases were used to collect the data: a card sorting process among D&I researchers and an expert review among a smaller set of researchers. Card sorting was completed by 123 respondents. In the second phase, a series of grant application writing tips were developed based on the combined 170 years of grant review experience of the writing team. Results The card sorting resulted in 12 core competencies for D&I grant application writing that covered the main sections in a grant application to the US National Institutes of Health: (a) specific aims that provide clear rationale, objectives, and an overview of the research plan; (b) significance that frames and justifies the importance of a D&I question; (c) innovation that articulates novel products and new knowledge; and (d) approach that uses a relevant D&I model, addresses measurement and the D&I context, and includes an analysis plan well‐tied to the aims and measures. Conclusions Writing a successful D&I grant application is a skill that can be learned with experience and attention to the core competencies articulated in this paper. PMID:26577630

Identification of Circular RNAs from the Parental Genes Involved in Multiple Aspects of Cellular Metabolism in Barley

PubMed Central

Darbani, Behrooz; Noeparvar, Shahin; Borg, Søren

2016-01-01

RNA circularization made by head-to-tail back-splicing events is involved in the regulation of gene expression from transcriptional to post-translational levels. By exploiting RNA-Seq data and down-stream analysis, we shed light on the importance of circular RNAs in plants. The results introduce circular RNAs as novel interactors in the regulation of gene expression in plants and imply the comprehensiveness of this regulatory pathway by identifying circular RNAs for a diverse set of genes. These genes are involved in several aspects of cellular metabolism as hormonal signaling, intracellular protein sorting, carbohydrate metabolism and cell-wall biogenesis, respiration, amino acid biosynthesis, transcription and translation, and protein ubiquitination. Additionally, these parental loci of circular RNAs, from both nuclear and mitochondrial genomes, encode for different transcript classes including protein coding transcripts, microRNA, rRNA, and long non-coding/microprotein coding RNAs. The results shed light on the mitochondrial exonic circular RNAs and imply the importance of circular RNAs for regulation of mitochondrial genes. Importantly, we introduce circular RNAs in barley and elucidate their cellular-level alterations across tissues and in response to micronutrients iron and zinc. In further support of circular RNAs' functional roles in plants, we report several cases where fluctuations of circRNAs do not correlate with the levels of their parental-loci encoded linear transcripts. PMID:27375638

The evolution of transcriptional regulation in eukaryotes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wray, Gregory A.; Hahn, Matthew W.; Abouheif, Ehab; Balhoff, James P.; Pizer, Margaret; Rockman, Matthew V.; Romano, Laura A.

2003-01-01

Gene expression is central to the genotype-phenotype relationship in all organisms, and it is an important component of the genetic basis for evolutionary change in diverse aspects of phenotype. However, the evolution of transcriptional regulation remains understudied and poorly understood. Here we review the evolutionary dynamics of promoter, or cis-regulatory, sequences and the evolutionary mechanisms that shape them. Existing evidence indicates that populations harbor extensive genetic variation in promoter sequences, that a substantial fraction of this variation has consequences for both biochemical and organismal phenotype, and that some of this functional variation is sorted by selection. As with protein-coding sequences, rates and patterns of promoter sequence evolution differ considerably among loci and among clades for reasons that are not well understood. Studying the evolution of transcriptional regulation poses empirical and conceptual challenges beyond those typically encountered in analyses of coding sequence evolution: promoter organization is much less regular than that of coding sequences, and sequences required for the transcription of each locus reside at multiple other loci in the genome. Because of the strong context-dependence of transcriptional regulation, sequence inspection alone provides limited information about promoter function. Understanding the functional consequences of sequence differences among promoters generally requires biochemical and in vivo functional assays. Despite these challenges, important insights have already been gained into the evolution of transcriptional regulation, and the pace of discovery is accelerating.

Colleges Should Reimagine Themselves in an Oil-Scarce World

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carlson, Scott

2008-01-01

Some years ago, bringing up peak oil--the concept that oil production will crest and then decline, leading to all sorts of trouble in society--might have made one seem like the kind of person who frequents Web sites that sell survival books and freeze-dried food. Today such discussion has pretty much hit the mainstream. Last month The Wall Street…

Chapter 3:Sorting red maple logs for structural quality

Treesearch

Xiping Wang

2005-01-01

Nondestructive evaluation (NDE) of wood materials has a long history of application in the wood products industry. Visual grading of lumber is perhaps one of the earliest NDE forms. Visual assessment of a piece of lumber requires the grader to estimate a strength ratio on the basis of observed external defects (USDA 1999). The ratio is used to estimate the strength of...

A Theoretical Exploration of the Function of the Image in Communication.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schrag, Robert L.

1974-01-01

The mass media provide a flood of information about people, ideas, and products. With all this input, the individual is often hard pressed to sort these images into a meaningful framework. This article synthesizes some of the concepts of Kenneth Boulding and Daniel Boorstin concerning the image and its effects on the structure of our lives and…

Chemoselective organocatalytic aerobic oxidation of primary amines to secondary imines.

PubMed

Wendlandt, Alison E; Stahl, Shannon S

2012-06-01

Biomimetic aerobic oxidation of primary benzylic amines has been achieved by using a quinone catalyst. Excellent selectivity is observed for primary, unbranched benzylic amines relative to secondary/tertiary amines, branched benzylic amines, and aliphatic amines. The exquisite selectivity for benzylic amines enables oxidative self-sorting within dynamic mixtures of amines and imines to afford high yields of cross-coupled imine products.

Place as Text: Approaches to Active Learning. 2nd Edition. National Collegiate Honors Council Monograph Series

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Braid, Bernice, Ed.; Long, Ada, Ed.

2010-01-01

The decade since publication of "Place as Text: Approaches to Active Learning" has seen an explosion of interest and productivity in the field of experiential education. This monograph presents a story of an experiment and a blueprint of sorts for anyone interested in enriching an existing program or willing to experiment with pedagogy…

How Is Emergent Writing Based on Drawing? Analyses of Children's Products and Their Sorting by Children and Mothers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levin, Iris; Bus, Adriana G.

2003-01-01

Compared 28- to 53-month-olds' writing and drawing. Scores on a writing scale composed of graphic, "writing-like," and symbolic schemes improved with age. Recognition of drawings as drawings preceded recognition of writings as writings. Writing and drawing scores were substantially correlated, even with age partialed out, suggesting that…

Physical analyses of compost from composting plants in Brazil.

PubMed

Barreira, L P; Philippi Junior, A; Rodrigues, M S; Tenório, J A S

2008-01-01

Nowadays the composting process has shown itself to be an alternative in the treatment of municipal solid wastes by composting plants. However, although more than 50% of the waste generated by the Brazilian population is composed of matter susceptible to organic composting, this process is, still today, insufficiently developed in Brazil, due to low compost quality and lack of investments in the sector. The objective of this work was to use physical analyses to evaluate the quality of the compost produced at 14 operative composting plants in the Sao Paulo State in Brazil. For this purpose, size distribution and total inert content tests were done. The results were analyzed by grouping the plants according to their productive processes: plants with a rotating drum, plants with shredders or mills, and plants without treatment after the sorting conveyor belt. Compost quality was analyzed considering the limits imposed by the Brazilian Legislation and the European standards for inert contents. The size distribution tests showed the influence of the machinery after the sorting conveyer on the granule sizes as well as the inert content, which contributes to the presence of materials that reduce the quality of the final product.

Novel Serial Positive Enrichment Technology Enables Clinical Multiparameter Cell Sorting

PubMed Central

Tschulik, Claudia; Piossek, Christine; Bet, Jeannette; Yamamoto, Tori N.; Schiemann, Matthias; Neuenhahn, Michael; Martin, Klaus; Schlapschy, Martin; Skerra, Arne; Schmidt, Thomas; Edinger, Matthias; Riddell, Stanley R.; Germeroth, Lothar; Busch, Dirk H.

2012-01-01

A general obstacle for clinical cell preparations is limited purity, which causes variability in the quality and potency of cell products and might be responsible for negative side effects due to unwanted contaminants. Highly pure populations can be obtained best using positive selection techniques. However, in many cases target cell populations need to be segregated from other cells by combinations of multiple markers, which is still difficult to achieve – especially for clinical cell products. Therefore, we have generated low-affinity antibody-derived Fab-fragments, which stain like parental antibodies when multimerized via Strep-tag and Strep-Tactin, but can subsequently be removed entirely from the target cell population. Such reagents can be generated for virtually any antigen and can be used for sequential positive enrichment steps via paramagnetic beads. First protocols for multiparameter enrichment of two clinically relevant cell populations, CD4high/CD25high/CD45RAhigh ‘regulatory T cells’ and CD8high/CD62Lhigh/CD45RAneg ‘central memory T cells’, have been established to determine quality and efficacy parameters of this novel technology, which should have broad applicability for clinical cell sorting as well as basic research. PMID:22545138

Cooperative optimization and their application in LDPC codes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Ke; Rong, Jian; Zhong, Xiaochun

2008-10-01

Cooperative optimization is a new way for finding global optima of complicated functions of many variables. The proposed algorithm is a class of message passing algorithms and has solid theory foundations. It can achieve good coding gains over the sum-product algorithm for LDPC codes. For (6561, 4096) LDPC codes, the proposed algorithm can achieve 2.0 dB gains over the sum-product algorithm at BER of 4×10-7. The decoding complexity of the proposed algorithm is lower than the sum-product algorithm can do; furthermore, the former can achieve much lower error floor than the latter can do after the Eb / No is higher than 1.8 dB.

Software metrics: The quantitative impact of four factors on work rates experienced during software development. [reliability engineering

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gaffney, J. E., Jr.; Judge, R. W.

1981-01-01

A model of a software development process is described. The software development process is seen to consist of a sequence of activities, such as 'program design' and 'module development' (or coding). A manpower estimate is made by multiplying code size by the rates (man months per thousand lines of code) for each of the activities relevant to the particular case of interest and summing up the results. The effect of four objectively determinable factors (organization, software product type, computer type, and code type) on productivity values for each of nine principal software development activities was assessed. Four factors were identified which account for 39% of the observed productivity variation.

MetaSort untangles metagenome assembly by reducing microbial community complexity

PubMed Central

Ji, Peifeng; Zhang, Yanming; Wang, Jinfeng; Zhao, Fangqing

2017-01-01

Most current approaches to analyse metagenomic data rely on reference genomes. Novel microbial communities extend far beyond the coverage of reference databases and de novo metagenome assembly from complex microbial communities remains a great challenge. Here we present a novel experimental and bioinformatic framework, metaSort, for effective construction of bacterial genomes from metagenomic samples. MetaSort provides a sorted mini-metagenome approach based on flow cytometry and single-cell sequencing methodologies, and employs new computational algorithms to efficiently recover high-quality genomes from the sorted mini-metagenome by the complementary of the original metagenome. Through extensive evaluations, we demonstrated that metaSort has an excellent and unbiased performance on genome recovery and assembly. Furthermore, we applied metaSort to an unexplored microflora colonized on the surface of marine kelp and successfully recovered 75 high-quality genomes at one time. This approach will greatly improve access to microbial genomes from complex or novel communities. PMID:28112173

Ubiquitin-dependent sorting of integral membrane proteins for degradation in lysosomes

PubMed Central

Piper, Robert C.

2007-01-01

Summary The pathways that deliver newly synthesized proteins that reside in lysosomes are well understood by comparison with our knowledge of how integral membrane proteins are sorted and delivered to the lysosome for degradation. Many membrane proteins are sorted to lysosomes following ubiquitination, which provides a sorting signal that can operate for sorting at the TGN (trans-Golgi network), at the plasma membrane or at the endosome for delivery into lumenal vesicles. Candidate multicomponent machines that can potentially move ubiquitinated integral membrane cargo proteins have been identified, but much work is still required to ascertain which of these candidates directly recognizes ubiquitinated cargo and what they do with cargo after recognition. In the case of the machinery required for sorting into the lumenal vesicles of endosomes, other functions have also been determined including a link between sorting and movement of endosomes along microtubules. PMID:17689064

An audit of health products advertised for sale on chiropractic Web sites in Canada and consideration of these practices in the context of Canadian chiropractic codes of ethics and conduct.

PubMed

Page, Stacey A; Grod, Jaroslaw P

2009-01-01

This study describes the extent to which chiropractors with Web sites practicing in Canada advertise health products for sale and considers this practice in the context of chiropractic codes of ethics and conduct. Chiropractic Web sites in Canada were identified using a public online business directory (Canada 411). The Web sites were searched, and an inventory of the health products for sale was taken. The influences of type of practice and province of practice on the sale of health product were assessed. Textual comments about health product marketing were summarized. National and provincial codes of ethics were reviewed, and the content on health product advertising was summarized. Two hundred eighty-seven Web sites were reviewed. Just more than half of the Web sites contained information on health products for sale (n = 158, 54%). Orthotics were advertised most often (n = 136 practices, 47%), followed by vitamins/nutritional supplements (n = 53, 18%), pillows and supports (n = 40, 14%), and exercise/rehabilitation products (n = 20, 7%). Chiropractors in solo or group chiropractic practices were less likely to advertise health products than those in multidisciplinary practice (P < .001), whereas chiropractors in BC were less likely to advertise nutritional supplements (P < .01). Provincial codes of ethics and conduct varied in their guidelines regarding health product sales. Variations in codes of ethics and in the proportions of practitioners advertising health products for sales across the country suggest that opinions may be divided on the acceptability of health product sales. Such practices raise questions and considerations for the chiropractic profession.

Bar code, good for industry and trade--how does it benefit the dentist?

PubMed

Oehlmann, H

2001-10-01

Every dentist who attentively follows the change in product labelling can easily see that the HIBC bar code is on the increase. In fact, according to information from FIDE/VDDI and ADE/BVD, the dental industry and trade are firmly resolved to apply the HIBC bar code to all products used internationally in dental practices. Why? Indeed, at first it looks like extra expense to additionally print a bar code on the packages. Good reasons can only lie in advantages which manufacturers and the trade expect from the HIBC bar code, Indications in dental technician circles are that the HIBC bar code is coming. If there are advantages, what are these, and can the dentist also profit from them? What does HIBC bar code mean and what items of interest does it include? What does bar code cost and does only one code exist? This is explained briefly, concentrating on the benefits bar code can bring for different users.

A VHDL Interface for Altera Design Files

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-01-01

this requirement dictated that all prototype products developed during this research would have to mirror standard VHDL code . In fact, the final... product would have to meet the 20 syntactic and semantic requirements of standard VHDL . The coding style used to create the transformation program was the...Transformed Decoder File ....................... 47 C. Supplemental VHDL Package Source Code ........... 54 Altpk.vhd .................................... 54 D

An in silico pan-genomic probe for the molecular traits behind Lactobacillus ruminis gut autochthony

PubMed Central

Kant, Ravi; Palva, Airi

2017-01-01

As an ecological niche, the mammalian intestine provides the ideal habitat for a variety of bacterial microorganisms. Purportedly, some commensal genera and species offer a beneficial mix of metabolic, protective, and structural processes that help sustain the natural digestive health of the host. Among these sort of gut inhabitants is the Gram-positive lactic acid bacterium Lactobacillus ruminis, a strict anaerobe with both pili and flagella on its cell surface, but also known for being autochthonous (indigenous) to the intestinal environment. Given that the molecular basis of gut autochthony for this species is largely unexplored and unknown, we undertook a study at the genome level to pinpoint some of the adaptive traits behind its colonization behavior. In our pan-genomic probe of L. ruminis, the genomes of nine different strains isolated from human, bovine, porcine, and equine host guts were compiled and compared for in silico analysis. For this, we conducted a geno-phenotypic assessment of protein-coding genes, with an emphasis on those products involved with cell-surface morphology and anaerobic fermentation and respiration. We also categorized and examined the core and accessory genes that define the L. ruminis species and its strains. Here, we made an attempt to identify those genes having ecologically relevant phenotypes that might support or bring about intestinal indigenousness. PMID:28414739

Phonological Codes Constrain Output of Orthographic Codes via Sublexical and Lexical Routes in Chinese Written Production

PubMed Central

Wang, Cheng; Zhang, Qingfang

2015-01-01

To what extent do phonological codes constrain orthographic output in handwritten production? We investigated how phonological codes constrain the selection of orthographic codes via sublexical and lexical routes in Chinese written production. Participants wrote down picture names in a picture-naming task in Experiment 1or response words in a symbol—word associative writing task in Experiment 2. A sublexical phonological property of picture names (phonetic regularity: regular vs. irregular) in Experiment 1and a lexical phonological property of response words (homophone density: dense vs. sparse) in Experiment 2, as well as word frequency of the targets in both experiments, were manipulated. A facilitatory effect of word frequency was found in both experiments, in which words with high frequency were produced faster than those with low frequency. More importantly, we observed an inhibitory phonetic regularity effect, in which low-frequency picture names with regular first characters were slower to write than those with irregular ones, and an inhibitory homophone density effect, in which characters with dense homophone density were produced more slowly than those with sparse homophone density. Results suggested that phonological codes constrained handwritten production via lexical and sublexical routes. PMID:25879662

Word Sorts for General Music Classes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cardany, Audrey Berger

2015-01-01

Word sorts are standard practice for aiding children in acquiring skills in English language arts. When included in the general music classroom, word sorts may aid students in acquiring a working knowledge of music vocabulary. The author shares a word sort activity drawn from vocabulary in John Lithgow's children's book "Never Play…

"ON ALGEBRAIC DECODING OF Q-ARY REED-MULLER AND PRODUCT REED-SOLOMON CODES"

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

SANTHI, NANDAKISHORE

We consider a list decoding algorithm recently proposed by Pellikaan-Wu for q-ary Reed-Muller codes RM{sub q}({ell}, m, n) of length n {le} q{sup m} when {ell} {le} q. A simple and easily accessible correctness proof is given which shows that this algorithm achieves a relative error-correction radius of {tau} {le} (1-{radical}{ell}q{sup m-1}/n). This is an improvement over the proof using one-point Algebraic-Geometric decoding method given in. The described algorithm can be adapted to decode product Reed-Solomon codes. We then propose a new low complexity recursive aJgebraic decoding algorithm for product Reed-Solomon codes and Reed-Muller codes. This algorithm achieves a relativemore » error correction radius of {tau} {le} {Pi}{sub i=1}{sup m} (1 - {radical}k{sub i}/q). This algorithm is then proved to outperform the Pellikaan-Wu algorithm in both complexity and error correction radius over a wide range of code rates.« less

Host lung immunity is severely compromised during tropical pulmonary eosinophilia: role of lung eosinophils and macrophages.

PubMed

Sharma, Pankaj; Sharma, Aditi; Vishwakarma, Achchhe Lal; Agnihotri, Promod Kumar; Sharma, Sharad; Srivastava, Mrigank

2016-04-01

Eosinophils play a central role in the pathogenesis of tropical pulmonary eosinophilia, a rare, but fatal, manifestation of filariasis. However, no exhaustive study has been done to identify the genes and proteins of eosinophils involved in the pathogenesis of tropical pulmonary eosinophilia. In the present study, we established a mouse model of tropical pulmonary eosinophilia that mimicked filarial manifestations of human tropical pulmonary eosinophilia pathogenesis and used flow cytometry-assisted cell sorting and real-time RT-PCR to study the gene expression profile of flow-sorted, lung eosinophils and lung macrophages during tropical pulmonary eosinophilia pathogenesis. Our results show that tropical pulmonary eosinophilia mice exhibited increased levels of IL-4, IL-5, CCL5, and CCL11 in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and lung parenchyma along with elevated titers of IgE and IgG subtypes in the serum. Alveolar macrophages from tropical pulmonary eosinophilia mice displayed decreased phagocytosis, attenuated nitric oxide production, and reduced T-cell proliferation capacity, and FACS-sorted lung eosinophils from tropical pulmonary eosinophilia mice upregulated transcript levels of ficolin A and anti-apoptotic gene Bcl2,but proapoptotic genes Bim and Bax were downregulated. Similarly, flow-sorted lung macrophages upregulated transcript levels of TLR-2, TLR-6, arginase-1, Ym-1, and FIZZ-1 but downregulated nitric oxide synthase-2 levels, signifying their alternative activation. Taken together, we show that the pathogenesis of tropical pulmonary eosinophilia is marked by functional impairment of alveolar macrophages, alternative activation of lung macrophages, and upregulation of anti-apoptotic genes by eosinophils. These events combine together to cause severe lung inflammation and compromised lung immunity. Therapeutic interventions that can boost host immune response in the lungs might thus provide relief to patients with tropical pulmonary eosinophilia. © Society for Leukocyte Biology.

Depth optimal sorting networks resistant to k passive faults

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

Piotrow, M.

In this paper, we study the problem of constructing a sorting network that is tolerant to faults and whose running time (i.e. depth) is as small as possible. We consider the scenario of worst-case comparator faults and follow the model of passive comparator failure proposed by Yao and Yao, in which a faulty comparator outputs directly its inputs without comparison. Our main result is the first construction of an N-input, k-fault-tolerant sorting network that is of an asymptotically optimal depth {theta}(log N+k). That improves over the recent result of Leighton and Ma, whose network is of depth O(log N +more » k log log N/log k). Actually, we present a fault-tolerant correction network that can be added after any N-input sorting network to correct its output in the presence of at most k faulty comparators. Since the depth of the network is O(log N + k) and the constants hidden behind the {open_quotes}O{close_quotes} notation are not big, the construction can be of practical use. Developing the techniques necessary to show the main result, we construct a fault-tolerant network for the insertion problem. As a by-product, we get an N-input, O(log N)-depth INSERT-network that is tolerant to random faults, thereby answering a question posed by Ma in his PhD thesis. The results are based on a new notion of constant delay comparator networks, that is, networks in which each register is used (compared) only in a period of time of a constant length. Copies of such networks can be put one after another with only a constant increase in depth per copy.« less

The effects of hoechst 33342 staining and the male sample donor on the sorting efficiency of canine spermatozoa.

PubMed

Rodenas, C; Lucas, X; Tarantini, T; Del Olmo, D; Roca, J; Vazquez, J M; Martinez, E A; Parrilla, I

2014-02-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of Hoechst 33342 (H-42) concentration and of the male donor on the efficiency of sex-sorting procedure in canine spermatozoa. Semen samples from six dogs (three ejaculates/dog) were diluted to 100 × 10(6) sperm/ml, split into four aliquots, stained with increasing H-42 concentrations (5, 7.5, 10 and 12.5 μl, respectively) and sorted by flow cytometry. The rates of non-viable (FDA+), oriented (OS) and selected spermatozoa (SS), as well as the average sorting rates (SR, sorted spermatozoa/s), were used to determine the sorting efficiency. The effects of the sorting procedure on the quality of sorted spermatozoa were evaluated in terms of total motility (TM), percentage of viable spermatozoa (spermatozoa with membrane and acrosomal integrity) and percentage of spermatozoa with reacted/damaged acrosomes. X- and Y-chromosome-bearing sperm populations were identified in all of the samples stained with 7.5, 10 and 12.5 μl of H-42, while these two populations were only identified in 77.5% of samples stained with 5 μl. The values of OS, SS and SR were influenced by the male donor (p < 0.01) but not by the H-42 concentration used. The quality of sorted sperm samples immediately after sorting was similar to that of fresh samples, while centrifugation resulted in significant reduction (p < 0.05) in TM and in the percentage of viable spermatozoa and a significant increase (p < 0.01) in the percentage of spermatozoa with damage/reacted acrosomes. In conclusion, the sex-sorting of canine spermatozoa by flow cytometry can be performed successfully using H-42 concentrations between 7.5 and 12.5 μl. The efficiency of the sorting procedure varies based on the dog from which the sperm sample derives. © 2013 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Ubiquitylation of a Melanosomal Protein by HECT-E3 Ligases Serves as Sorting Signal for Lysosomal DegradationD⃞

PubMed Central

Lévy, Frédéric; Muehlethaler, Katja; Salvi, Suzanne; Peitrequin, Anne-Lise; Lindholm, Cecilia K.; Cerottini, Jean-Charles; Rimoldi, Donata

2005-01-01

The production of pigment by melanocytic cells of the skin involves a series of enzymatic reactions that take place in specialized organelles called melanosomes. Melan-A/MART-1 is a melanocytic transmembrane protein with no enzymatic activity that accumulates in vesicles at the trans side of the Golgi and in melanosomes. We show here that, in melanoma cells, Melan-A associates with two homologous to E6-AP C-terminus (HECT)-E3 ubiquitin ligases, NEDD4 and Itch, and is ubiquitylated. Both NEDD4 and Itch participate in the degradation of Melan-A. A mutant Melan-A lacking ubiquitin-acceptor residues displays increased half-life and, in pigmented cells, accumulates in melanosomes. These results suggest that ubiquitylation regulates the lysosomal sorting and degradation of Melan-A/MART-1 from melanosomes in melanocytic cells. PMID:15703212

Introduction to the session on `Human Space Exploration'

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Messidoro, P.

When Schiaparelli tried to interpret the surface of Mars as it appeared from his telescope, in particular with reference to the famous "channels", he formulated the hypothesis that they would have been the product of some intelligent Mars population. Today we know that this interpretation was not correct, but we would like to consider his idea as a sort of vision for a future when the humankind will export our civilization on Mars. In fact the objective of the international plans of "Space Exploration" is exactly to land the humans on Mars to start its colonization. Although a new approach is proposed which includes International Space Station, Moon, Asteroids, etc. in a sort of "flexible path" to look for "new worlds in the Solar System where is possible for the humankind to live and operate", it is confirmed that the "final destination" is Mars.

Preparation of polystyrene/SiO2 microsphere via Pickering emulsion polymerization: Synergistic effect of SiO2 concentrations and initiator sorts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Haiou; Shi, Tiejun; Zhou, Xun

2013-02-01

In this paper, polystyrene (PS)/SiO2 microspheres were successfully prepared via Pickering emulsion polymerization stabilized solely by ethacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (MPTMS) modified SiO2 nanoparticles. The formation mechanisms of PS/SiO2 microspheres with different morphology were investigated under various Pickering emulsion polymerization conditions. The results showed that SiO2 concentrations and initiator sorts would synergistically impact on the morphology of products corresponding to distinct formation mechanisms. When SiO2 concentrations was low and water-solute initiator potassium persulfate (KPS) was used, aqueous nucleation was dominant, which was deduced to the formation of dispersive microspheres sparsely anchored by SiO2 particles. When SiO2 concentrations was increased and oil-solute initiator azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) was applied, nucleation in oil phase prevailed which lead to the formation of microspheres densely packed by SiO2 particles.

Mate choice in fruit flies is rational and adaptive.

PubMed

Arbuthnott, Devin; Fedina, Tatyana Y; Pletcher, Scott D; Promislow, Daniel E L

2017-01-17

According to rational choice theory, beneficial preferences should lead individuals to sort available options into linear, transitive hierarchies, although the extent to which non-human animals behave rationally is unclear. Here we demonstrate that mate choice in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster results in the linear sorting of a set of diverse isogenic female lines, unambiguously demonstrating the hallmark of rational behaviour, transitivity. These rational choices are associated with direct benefits, enabling males to maximize offspring production. Furthermore, we demonstrate that female behaviours and cues act redundantly in mate detection and assessment, as rational mate choice largely persists when visual or chemical sensory modalities are impaired, but not when both are impaired. Transitivity in mate choice demonstrates that the quality of potential mates varies significantly among genotypes, and that males and females behave in such a way as to facilitate adaptive mate choice.

Distinct Mechanisms of Recognizing Endosomal Sorting Complex Required for Transport III (ESCRT-III) Protein IST1 by Different Microtubule Interacting and Trafficking (MIT) Domains*

PubMed Central

Guo, Emily Z.; Xu, Zhaohui

2015-01-01

The endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT) machinery is responsible for membrane remodeling in a number of biological processes including multivesicular body biogenesis, cytokinesis, and enveloped virus budding. In mammalian cells, efficient abscission during cytokinesis requires proper function of the ESCRT-III protein IST1, which binds to the microtubule interacting and trafficking (MIT) domains of VPS4, LIP5, and Spartin via its C-terminal MIT-interacting motif (MIM). Here, we studied the molecular interactions between IST1 and the three MIT domain-containing proteins to understand the structural basis that governs pairwise MIT-MIM interaction. Crystal structures of the three molecular complexes revealed that IST1 binds to the MIT domains of VPS4, LIP5, and Spartin using two different mechanisms (MIM1 mode versus MIM3 mode). Structural comparison revealed that structural features in both MIT and MIM contribute to determine the specific binding mechanism. Within the IST1 MIM sequence, two phenylalanine residues were shown to be important in discriminating MIM1 versus MIM3 binding. These observations enabled us to deduce a preliminary binding code, which we applied to provide CHMP2A, a protein that normally only binds the MIT domain in the MIM1 mode, the additional ability to bind the MIT domain of Spartin in the MIM3 mode. PMID:25657007

Health claims in the labelling and marketing of food products:

PubMed Central

Asp, Nils-Georg; Bryngelsson, Susanne

2007-01-01

Since 1990 certain health claims in the labelling and marketing of food products have been allowed in Sweden within the food sector's Code of Practice. The rules were developed in close dialogue with the authorities. The legal basis was a decision by the authorities not to apply the medicinal products’ legislation to “foods normally found on the dinner table” provided the rules defined in the Code were followed. The Code of Practice lists nine well-established diet–health relationships eligible for generic disease risk reduction claims in two steps and general rules regarding nutrient function claims. Since 2001, there has also been the possibility for using “product-specific physiological claims (PFP)”, subject to premarketing evaluation of the scientific dossier supporting the claim. The scientific documentation has been approved for 10 products with PFP, and another 15 products have been found to fulfil the Code's criteria for “low glycaemic index”. In the third edition of the Code, active since 2004, conditions in terms of nutritional composition were set, i.e. “nutrient profiles”, with a general reference to the Swedish National Food Administration's regulation on the use of a particular symbol, i.e. the keyhole symbol. Applying the Swedish Code of practice has provided experience useful in the implementation of the European Regulation on nutrition and health claims made on foods, effective from 2007.

Sorting out Ideas about Function

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hillen, Amy F.; Malik, LuAnn

2013-01-01

Card sorting has the potential to provide opportunities for exploration of a variety of topics and levels. In a card-sorting task, each participant is presented with a set of cards--each of which depicts a relationship--and is asked to sort the cards into categories that make sense to him or her. The concept of function is critical to…

Gender Sorting across K-12 Schools in the United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Long, Mark C.; Conger, Dylan

2013-01-01

This article documents evidence of nonrandom gender sorting across K-12 schools in the United States. The sorting exists among coed schools and at all grade levels, and it is highest in the secondary school grades. We observe some gender sorting across school sectors and types: for instance, males are slightly underrepresented in private schools…

Lazarus's BASIC ID: Making Initial Client Assessments Using Q-Sorts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Mark J.

1987-01-01

Presents overview of Lazarus's multimodal therapy model and the Q-sort, an observer-evaluation scoring instrument. Outlines feasibility of integrating Q-sort within multimodal model. Describes both a preliminary attempt using expert raters to categorize Q-sort cards within the model and a case study on how to assess client by incorporating Q-sort…

Machine Vision System for Color Sorting Wood Edge-Glued Panel Parts

Treesearch

Qiang Lu; S. Srikanteswara; W. King; T. Drayer; Richard Conners; D. Earl Kline; Philip A. Araman

1997-01-01

This paper describes an automatic color sorting system for hardwood edge-glued panel parts. The color sorting system simultaneously examines both faces of a panel part and then determines which face has the "better" color given specified color uniformity and priority defined by management. The real-time color sorting system software and hardware are briefly...

Flankers Facilitate 3-Year-Olds' Performance in a Card-Sorting Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jordan, Patricia L.; Morton, J. Bruce

2008-01-01

Three-year-old children often act inflexibly in card-sorting tasks by continuing to sort by an old rule after being asked to switch and sort by a new rule. This inflexibility has been variously attributed to age-related constraints on higher order rule use, object redescription, and attention shifting. In 2 experiments, flankers that were…

My eSorts and Digital Extensions of Word Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zucker, Tricia A.; Invernizzi, Marcia

2008-01-01

"My eSorts" is a strategy for helping children learn to read and spell in a socially motivated context. It is based on developmental spelling research and the word study approach to teaching phonics and spelling. "eSorting" employs digital desktop publishing tools that allow children to author their own electronic word sorts and then share these…

Continuous sorting of Brownian particles using coupled photophoresis and asymmetric potential cycling.

PubMed

Ng, Tuck Wah; Neild, Adrian; Heeraman, Pascal

2008-03-15

Feasible sorters need to function rapidly and permit the input and delivery of particles continuously. Here, we describe a scheme that incorporates (i) restricted spatial input location and (ii) orthogonal sort and movement direction features. Sorting is achieved using an asymmetric potential that is cycled on and off, whereas movement is accomplished using photophoresis. Simulations with 0.2 and 0.5 microm diameter spherical particles indicate that sorting can commence quickly from a continuous stream. Procedures to optimize the sorting scheme are also described.

Solvent use in private research laboratories in Japan: comparison with the use in public research laboratories and on production floors in industries.

PubMed

Hanada, Takaaki; Zaitsu, Ai; Kojima, Satoshi; Ukai, Hirohiko; Nagasawa, Yasuhiro; Takada, Shiro; Kawakami, Takuya; Ohashi, Fumiko; Ikeda, Masayuki

2014-01-01

Solvents used in production facility-affiliated private laboratories have been seldomly reported. This study was initiated to specify solvent use characteristics in private laboratories in comparison with the use in public research laboratories and on production floors. Elucidation of the applicability of conclusions from a public laboratory survey to private institutions is not only of scientific interest but also of practical importance. A survey on use of 47 legally stipulated organic solvents was conducted. The results were compiled for April 2011 to March 2013. Through sorting, data were available for 479 unit workplaces in private laboratories. Similar sorting for April 2012 to March 2013 was conducted for public research laboratories (e.g., national universities) and production floors (in private enterprises) to obtain 621 and 937 cases, respectively. Sampling of workroom air followed by capillary gas-chromatographic analyses for solvents was conducted in accordance with regulatory requirements. More than one solvent was usually detected in the air of private laboratories. With regard to solvent types, acetone, methyl alcohol, chloroform and hexane were prevalently used in private laboratories, and this was similar to the case of public laboratories. Prevalent use of ethyl acetate was unique to private laboratories. Toluene use was less common both in private and public laboratories. The prevalence of administrative control class 1 (i.e., an adequately controlled environment) was higher in laboratories (both private and public) than production floors. Solvent use patterns are similar in private and public laboratories, except that the use of mixtures of solvents is substantially more popular in private laboratories than in public laboratories.

Syntactic Alignment and Shared Word Order in Code-Switched Sentence Production: Evidence from Bilingual Monologue and Dialogue

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kootstra, Gerrit Jan; van Hell, Janet G.; Dijkstra, Ton

2010-01-01

In four experiments, we investigated the role of shared word order and alignment with a dialogue partner in the production of code-switched sentences. In Experiments 1 and 2, Dutch-English bilinguals code-switched in describing pictures while being cued with word orders that are either shared or not shared between Dutch and English. In Experiments…

Popular epidemiology and "fracking": citizens' concerns regarding the economic, environmental, health and social impacts of unconventional natural gas drilling operations.

PubMed

Powers, Martha; Saberi, Poune; Pepino, Richard; Strupp, Emily; Bugos, Eva; Cannuscio, Carolyn C

2015-06-01

Pennsylvania sits atop the Marcellus Shale, a reservoir of natural gas that was untapped until the 2004 introduction of unconventional natural gas drilling operations (UNGDO) in the state. Colloquially known as fracking, UNGDO is a controversial process that employs large volumes of water to fracture the shale and capture gas; it has become a multi-billion dollar industry in Pennsylvania. We analyzed letters to the editor of the most widely circulated local newspaper in the most heavily drilled county in Pennsylvania (Bradford County) in order to characterize residents' concerns and their involvement in popular epidemiology--the process by which citizens investigate risks associated with a perceived environmental threat. We reviewed 215 letters to the editor that referenced natural gas operations and were published by The Daily Review between January 1, 2008 and June 8, 2013. We used NVivo 10 to code and analyze letters and identify major themes. Nvivo is qualitative data analysis software (http://www.qsrinternational.com/products_nvivo.aspx) that allows researchers to code and analyze "unstructured" data, including text files of any type (e.g., interview transcripts, news articles, letters, archival materials) as well as photographs and videos. Nvivo can be used to classify, sort, query, comment on, and share data across a research group. Letters demonstrated citizen engagement in beginning and intermediate stages of lay epidemiology, as well as discord and stress regarding four main issues: socio-economic impacts, perceived threats to water, population growth and implications, and changes to the rural landscape. Residents called for stronger scientific evidence and a balance of economic development and health and environmental protections. Citizens' distress regarding UNGDO appeared to be exacerbated by a dearth of information to guide economic growth and health, environmental, and social concerns. This analysis proposes locally informed questions to guide future surveillance and research.

40 CFR 80.158 - Product transfer documents (PTDs).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... exempt base gasoline to be used for research, development, or test purposes only, the following warning must also be stated on the PTD: “For use in research, development, and test programs only.” (6) The...) Use of product codes and other non-regulatory language. (1) Product codes and other non-regulatory...

77 FR 77077 - Pesticide Product Registration; Receipt of Applications for New Uses

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-12-31

... affected entities may include: Crop production (NAICS code 111). Animal production (NAICS code 112). Food... File Symbol: 264-1049 and 72155- RNO. Docket ID Number: EPA-HQ-OPP-2012-0946. Applicant: Bayer CropScience, 2 T. W. Alexander Drive, P. O. Box 12014, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709. Active Ingredient...

Codes and standards for structural wood products and their use in the United States

Treesearch

David W. Green; Roland Hernandez

1998-01-01

The system of model building codes and voluntary product standards used in the United States for structural lumber and engineered wood products can appear complicated and confusing to those introduced to it for the first time. This paper is a discussion of the various types of structural wood products commonly used in U.S. residential and commercial construction and...

Unsupervised neural spike sorting for high-density microelectrode arrays with convolutive independent component analysis.

PubMed

Leibig, Christian; Wachtler, Thomas; Zeck, Günther

2016-09-15

Unsupervised identification of action potentials in multi-channel extracellular recordings, in particular from high-density microelectrode arrays with thousands of sensors, is an unresolved problem. While independent component analysis (ICA) achieves rapid unsupervised sorting, it ignores the convolutive structure of extracellular data, thus limiting the unmixing to a subset of neurons. Here we present a spike sorting algorithm based on convolutive ICA (cICA) to retrieve a larger number of accurately sorted neurons than with instantaneous ICA while accounting for signal overlaps. Spike sorting was applied to datasets with varying signal-to-noise ratios (SNR: 3-12) and 27% spike overlaps, sampled at either 11.5 or 23kHz on 4365 electrodes. We demonstrate how the instantaneity assumption in ICA-based algorithms has to be relaxed in order to improve the spike sorting performance for high-density microelectrode array recordings. Reformulating the convolutive mixture as an instantaneous mixture by modeling several delayed samples jointly is necessary to increase signal-to-noise ratio. Our results emphasize that different cICA algorithms are not equivalent. Spike sorting performance was assessed with ground-truth data generated from experimentally derived templates. The presented spike sorter was able to extract ≈90% of the true spike trains with an error rate below 2%. It was superior to two alternative (c)ICA methods (≈80% accurately sorted neurons) and comparable to a supervised sorting. Our new algorithm represents a fast solution to overcome the current bottleneck in spike sorting of large datasets generated by simultaneous recording with thousands of electrodes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Recycling of metals: accounting of greenhouse gases and global warming contributions.

PubMed

Damgaard, Anders; Larsen, Anna W; Christensen, Thomas H

2009-11-01

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions related to recycling of metals in post-consumer waste are assessed from a waste management perspective; here the material recovery facility (MRF), for the sorting of the recovered metal. The GHG accounting includes indirect upstream emissions, direct activities at the MRF as well as indirect downstream activities in terms of reprocessing of the metal scrap and savings in terms of avoided production of virgin metal. The global warming factor (GWF) shows that upstream activities and the MRF causes negligible GHG emissions (12.8 to 52.6 kg CO(2)-equivalents tonne(-1) recovered metal) compared to the reprocessing of the metal itself (360-1260 kg CO(2)-equivalents tonne(-1) of recovered aluminium and 400- 1020 kg CO(2)-equivalents tonne(- 1) of recovered steel).The reprocessing is however counterbalanced by large savings of avoided virgin production of steel and aluminium. The net downstream savings were found to be 5040-19 340 kg CO(2)-equivalents tonne(-1) of treated aluminium and 560-2360 kg CO(2)-equivalents tonne(-1) of treated steel. Due to the huge differences in reported data it is hard to compare general data on the recovery of metal scrap as they are very dependent on the technology and data choices. Furthermore, the energy used in both the recovery process as well as the avoided primary production is crucial. The range of avoided impact shows that recovery of metals will always be beneficial over primary production, due to the high energy savings, and that the GHG emissions associated with the sorting of metals are negligible.

Two Types of Perseveration in the Dimension Change Card Sort Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hanania, Rima

2010-01-01

In the Dimension Change Card Sort (DCCS) task, 3-year-olds can sort cards well by one dimension but have difficulty in switching to sort the same cards by another dimension when asked; that is, they perseverate on the first relevant information. What is the information that children perseverate on? Using a new version of the DCCS, the experiments…

Cell-Free Reconstitution of Multivesicular Body Formation and Receptor Sorting

PubMed Central

Sun, Wei; Vida, Thomas A.; Sirisaengtaksin, Natalie; Merrill, Samuel A.; Hanson, Phyllis I.; Bean, Andrew J.

2010-01-01

The number of surface membrane proteins and their residence time on the plasma membrane are critical determinants of cellular responses to cues that can control plasticity, growth and differentiation. After internalization, the ultimate fate of many plasma membrane proteins is dependent on whether they are sorted for internalization into the lumenal vesicles of multivesicular bodies (MVBs), an obligate step prior to lysosomal degradation. To help to elucidate the mechanisms underlying MVB sorting, we have developed a novel cell-free assay that reconstitutes the sorting of a prototypical membrane protein, the epidermal growth factor receptor, with which we have probed some of its molecular requirements. The sorting event measured is dependent on cytosol, ATP, time, temperature and an intact proton gradient. Depletion of Hrs inhibited biochemical and morphological measures of sorting that were rescued by inclusion of recombinant Hrs in the assay. Moreover, depletion of signal-transducing adaptor molecule (STAM), or addition of mutated ATPase-deficient Vps4, also inhibited sorting. This assay reconstitutes the maturation of late endosomes, including the formation of internal vesicles and the sorting of a membrane protein, and allows biochemical investigation of this process. PMID:20214752

An Unsupervised Online Spike-Sorting Framework.

PubMed

Knieling, Simeon; Sridharan, Kousik S; Belardinelli, Paolo; Naros, Georgios; Weiss, Daniel; Mormann, Florian; Gharabaghi, Alireza

2016-08-01

Extracellular neuronal microelectrode recordings can include action potentials from multiple neurons. To separate spikes from different neurons, they can be sorted according to their shape, a procedure referred to as spike-sorting. Several algorithms have been reported to solve this task. However, when clustering outcomes are unsatisfactory, most of them are difficult to adjust to achieve the desired results. We present an online spike-sorting framework that uses feature normalization and weighting to maximize the distinctiveness between different spike shapes. Furthermore, multiple criteria are applied to either facilitate or prevent cluster fusion, thereby enabling experimenters to fine-tune the sorting process. We compare our method to established unsupervised offline (Wave_Clus (WC)) and online (OSort (OS)) algorithms by examining their performance in sorting various test datasets using two different scoring systems (AMI and the Adamos metric). Furthermore, we evaluate sorting capabilities on intra-operative recordings using established quality metrics. Compared to WC and OS, our algorithm achieved comparable or higher scores on average and produced more convincing sorting results for intra-operative datasets. Thus, the presented framework is suitable for both online and offline analysis and could substantially improve the quality of microelectrode-based data evaluation for research and clinical application.

Design of mechanical arm for an automatic sorting system of recyclable cans

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Resti, Y.; Mohruni, A. S.; Burlian, F.; Yani, I.; Amran, A.

2018-04-01

The use of a mechanical arm for an automatic sorting system of used cans should be designed carefully. The right design will result in a high precision sorting rate and a short sorting time. The design includes first; design manipulator,second; determine link and joint specifications, and third; build mechanical systems and control systems. This study aims to design the mechanical arm as a hardware system for automatic cans sorting system. The material used for the manipulator is the aluminum plate. The manipulator is designed using 6 links and 6 join where the 6th link is the end effectorand the 6th join is the gripper. As a driving motor used servo motor, while as a microcontroller used Arduino Uno which is connected with Matlab programming language. Based on testing, a mechanical arm designed for this recyclable canned recycling system has a precision sorting rate at 93%, where the average total time required for sorting is 10.82 seconds.

Low power and high accuracy spike sorting microprocessor with on-line interpolation and re-alignment in 90 nm CMOS process.

PubMed

Chen, Tung-Chien; Ma, Tsung-Chuan; Chen, Yun-Yu; Chen, Liang-Gee

2012-01-01

Accurate spike sorting is an important issue for neuroscientific and neuroprosthetic applications. The sorting of spikes depends on the features extracted from the neural waveforms, and a better sorting performance usually comes with a higher sampling rate (SR). However for the long duration experiments on free-moving subjects, the miniaturized and wireless neural recording ICs are the current trend, and the compromise on sorting accuracy is usually made by a lower SR for the lower power consumption. In this paper, we implement an on-chip spike sorting processor with integrated interpolation hardware in order to improve the performance in terms of power versus accuracy. According to the fabrication results in 90nm process, if the interpolation is appropriately performed during the spike sorting, the system operated at the SR of 12.5 k samples per second (sps) can outperform the one not having interpolation at 25 ksps on both accuracy and power.

JPRS Report China

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-10-19

greater or lesser influence on comtemporary political life in terms of the system, concepts, and habits. In particular, the feudal patriarchal clan...factories to close, stop production, merge, or switch to another line of business ; thereby sorting out the eco- nomic relations if only temporarily... business , they should not be contracted. It follows that the present tax system should be reformed. We should abolish the income adjustment tax, cut

Simpler is better: fewer nontarget insects trapped with a 4-component chemical lure versus a chemically more complex food-type bait for Drosophila suzukii

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

As baits, fermented food products are generally attractive to many types of insects, making it difficult to sort through nontarget insects to monitor a pest species of interest. We test the hypothesis that a chemically simpler and more defined attractant developed for a target insect is more specifi...

Post-consumer contamination in high-density polyethylene (HDPE) milk bottles and the design of a bottle-to-bottle recycling process.

PubMed

Welle, F

2005-10-01

Six hundred conventional recycled HDPE flake samples, which were recollected and sorted in the UK, were screened for post-consumer contamination levels. Each analysed sample consisted of 40-50 individual flakes so that the amount of analysed individual containers was in the range 24,000-30,000 post-consumer milk bottles. Predominant contaminants in hot-washed flake samples were unsaturated oligomers, which can be also be found in virgin high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pellet samples used for milk bottle production. In addition, the flavour compound limonene, the degradation product of antioxidant additives di-tert-butylphenol and low amounts of saturated oligomers were found in higher concentrations in the post-consumer samples in comparison with virgin HDPE. However, the overall concentrations in post-consumer recycled samples were similar to or lower than concentration ranges in comparison with virgin HDPE. Contamination with other HDPE untypical compounds was rare and was in most cases related to non-milk bottles, which are <2.1% of the input material of the recycling process. The maximum concentration found in one sample of 1 g was estimated as 130 mg kg(-1), which corresponds to a contamination of 5200-6500 mg kg(-1) in the individual bottle. The recycling process investigated was based on an efficient sorting process, a hot-washing of the ground bottles, and a further deep-cleaning of the flakes with high temperatures and vacuum. Based on the fact that the contamination levels of post-consumer flake samples are similar to virgin HDPE and on the high cleaning efficiency of the super-clean recycling process especially for highly volatile compounds, the recycling process investigated is suitable for recycled post-consumer HDPE bottles for direct food-contact applications. However, hand-picking after automatically sorting is recommended to decrease the amount of non-milk bottles. The conclusions for suitability are valid, provided that the migration testing of recyclate contains milk bottles up to 100% and that both shelf-life testing and sensorial testing of the products are successful, which are topics of further investigations.

Contrast Characteristics of the Muscovitic Quartzite from Karelia, Russia - Determining the Possibility of Intensification of the Beneficiation Process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bubnova, Tatyana; Skamnitskaya, Lubov; Gorbunova, Elena; Chertov, Alexandr

2017-12-01

The use of muscovite is determined by its industrial look and quality. Sheet mica is traditionally used as electrically insulating material. Crushed mica dry or wet grinding and scrap (waste from the production of sheet mica) are used as electrical insulating material (for example, mica paper), filler in the manufacture of various kinds of fillers, grout and paint etc. In addition, today there is a steady demand for micronized muscovite for the production of decorative coatings and cosmetics. On the territory of the Republic of Karelia (Russian Federation) there is a significant number of deposits and occurrences moscoviticarum rocks. Promising target small iron-poor Muscovite is the manifestation of the Eastern Hitware identified in 1999. The average mineral composition of rocks of the productive series: quartz - 10-71%; Muscovite - 8-42%; plagioclase - 1,5-28%; kyanite - 2-13,5%; biotite, and 0.1-8%; ore (pyrite, sphalerite) and 1.5 - 11%. Enrichment of this type of mineral raw materials may be carried out using traditional methods - gravity, magnetic separation, flotation. Textural-structural and mineralogical features, a high degree of secondary changes (thin intergrowths of muscovite with graphite, ferritization, the decrease of the strength characteristics) and the availability of areas and dedicated silicification abundant pyrite mineralization and its vein type significantly impoverish muscovite ore, necessitate the adjustment of technological schemes and modes of enrichment. Possibilities of improvement of processes of pretreatment and subsequent enrichment is possible using the methods of pre-sorting that represent rational and cost-effective alternative to traditional beneficiation processes. To explore the possibility of using the optical methods being preconcentration, experimental study of the contrast of properties of samples of the original ore. The study was carried out on crushed material, graded by size: -10+5; -20+10; -40+20 -60 and+40 mm. the results revealed the main search area colour shades in images of mineral samples in the colour system HLS - grey, brown, bright yellow-orange and purple. The correlation between the colour characteristics of the individual pieces and the content of muscovite. To implement the sort method of photometric separation, the threshold separation can be determined by one of the highlighted areas of the gamut or in their entirety. Next, the sorted ore with the same mineralogical and structural properties can effectively be enriched with gravitational methods. In the complex process of enrichment, it is possible to obtain, in addition to muscovite, quartz and kyanite products, which undoubtedly will increase the output of marketable products.

QR Codes 101

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crompton, Helen; LaFrance, Jason; van 't Hooft, Mark

2012-01-01

A QR (quick-response) code is a two-dimensional scannable code, similar in function to a traditional bar code that one might find on a product at the supermarket. The main difference between the two is that, while a traditional bar code can hold a maximum of only 20 digits, a QR code can hold up to 7,089 characters, so it can contain much more…

Automated Coding Software: Development and Use to Enhance Anti-Fraud Activities*

PubMed Central

Garvin, Jennifer H.; Watzlaf, Valerie; Moeini, Sohrab

2006-01-01

This descriptive research project identified characteristics of automated coding systems that have the potential to detect improper coding and to minimize improper or fraudulent coding practices in the setting of automated coding used with the electronic health record (EHR). Recommendations were also developed for software developers and users of coding products to maximize anti-fraud practices. PMID:17238546

Algorithm Sorts Groups Of Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Evans, J. D.

1987-01-01

For efficient sorting, algorithm finds set containing minimum or maximum most significant data. Sets of data sorted as desired. Sorting process simplified by reduction of each multielement set of data to single representative number. First, each set of data expressed as polynomial with suitably chosen base, using elements of set as coefficients. Most significant element placed in term containing largest exponent. Base selected by examining range in value of data elements. Resulting series summed to yield single representative number. Numbers easily sorted, and each such number converted back to original set of data by successive division. Program written in BASIC.

Chip-based droplet sorting

DOEpatents

Beer, Neil Reginald; Lee, Abraham; Hatch, Andrew

2014-07-01

A non-contact system for sorting monodisperse water-in-oil emulsion droplets in a microfluidic device based on the droplet's contents and their interaction with an applied electromagnetic field or by identification and sorting.

When Seeing Is Knowing: The Role of Visual Cues in the Dissociation between Children's Rule Knowledge and Rule Use

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buss, Aaron T.; Spencer, John P.

2012-01-01

The Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) task requires children to switch from sorting cards based on shape or color to sorting based on the other dimension. Typically, 3-year-olds perseverate, whereas 4-year-olds flexibly sort by different dimensions. Zelazo and colleagues (1996, Cognitive Development, 11, 37-63) asked children questions about the…

21 CFR 20.115 - Product codes for manufacturing or sales dates.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Product codes for manufacturing or sales dates. 20.115 Section 20.115 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN... the label or in labeling or otherwise used in connection with a product subject to the jurisdiction of...

National Underground Mines Inventory

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-10-01

system is well designed to minimize water accumulation on the drift levels. In many areas, sufficient water has accumulated to make the use of boots a...four characters designate Field office. 17-18 State Code Pic 99 FIPS code for state in which minets located. 19-21 County Code Plc 999 FIPS code for... Designate a general product class based onSIC code. 28-29 Nine Type Plc 99 Natal/Nonmetal mine type code. Based on subunit operations code and canvass code

BayesMotif: de novo protein sorting motif discovery from impure datasets.

PubMed

Hu, Jianjun; Zhang, Fan

2010-01-18

Protein sorting is the process that newly synthesized proteins are transported to their target locations within or outside of the cell. This process is precisely regulated by protein sorting signals in different forms. A major category of sorting signals are amino acid sub-sequences usually located at the N-terminals or C-terminals of protein sequences. Genome-wide experimental identification of protein sorting signals is extremely time-consuming and costly. Effective computational algorithms for de novo discovery of protein sorting signals is needed to improve the understanding of protein sorting mechanisms. We formulated the protein sorting motif discovery problem as a classification problem and proposed a Bayesian classifier based algorithm (BayesMotif) for de novo identification of a common type of protein sorting motifs in which a highly conserved anchor is present along with a less conserved motif regions. A false positive removal procedure is developed to iteratively remove sequences that are unlikely to contain true motifs so that the algorithm can identify motifs from impure input sequences. Experiments on both implanted motif datasets and real-world datasets showed that the enhanced BayesMotif algorithm can identify anchored sorting motifs from pure or impure protein sequence dataset. It also shows that the false positive removal procedure can help to identify true motifs even when there is only 20% of the input sequences containing true motif instances. We proposed BayesMotif, a novel Bayesian classification based algorithm for de novo discovery of a special category of anchored protein sorting motifs from impure datasets. Compared to conventional motif discovery algorithms such as MEME, our algorithm can find less-conserved motifs with short highly conserved anchors. Our algorithm also has the advantage of easy incorporation of additional meta-sequence features such as hydrophobicity or charge of the motifs which may help to overcome the limitations of PWM (position weight matrix) motif model.

Sorted bedforms developed on sandy lobes fed by small ephemeral streams (Catalan continental shelf)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Durán, R.; Guillén, J.; Muñoz, A.; Guerrero, Q.

2016-12-01

The morphology and sedimentological characteristics of sorted bedforms identified in the Catalan continental shelf (NW Mediterranean Sea) have been characterized using multibeam echosounder data and sediment samples collected in 2013 within the FORMED project. Bathymetric data was compared with previous data gathered in 2004 within the ESPACE project to assess the decadal stability of these bedforms. The sorted bedforms were observed on the inner shelf at water depths from 10 to 40 m, along a coastal stretch of more than 3 km. They are associated with elongated patches of low backscatter, corresponding to fine sand. The fine-grained sediment patches are located off small bays fed by short, intermittent streams, extending down to 40 m water depth. The sorted bedforms exhibit elongated shapes with subtle relief (up to 1 m) and are oriented nearly perpendicular to the shoreline. In cross-section, the sorted bedforms display lateral symmetry in bathymetric relief and backscatter, with high backscatter corresponding to poorly sorted coarse sand (median size of 0.55-0.96 mm) centered on the bathymetric depression, and low backscatter consisting of well-sorted fine to medium sand (median sized of 0.22-0.35 mm) on the crest. The local input of well-sorted fine sand supplied by ephemeral streams over the coarse sand domain of the infralittoral prograding wedge contributes to the bed sediment heterogeneity (mixture of sediment), which is further reorganized into sorted bedforms. The sorted bedforms are better developed in deeper waters (20-40 m) than near the shoreline, probably due to stronger wave forcing in the shallower shelf that prevents the maintenance of these morphologies. At a decadal time scale, the morphological evolution of these bedforms indicates that they are persistent features, showing small changes in their boundaries, which is in agreement with previous observations and numerical simulations that highlighted the persistence and long-term stability of sorted bedforms at water depths greater than 15-20 m over annual or even decadal timescales.

Sequencing of Dust Filter Production Process Using Design Structure Matrix (DSM)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sari, R. M.; Matondang, A. R.; Syahputri, K.; Anizar; Siregar, I.; Rizkya, I.; Ursula, C.

2018-01-01

Metal casting company produces machinery spare part for manufactures. One of the product produced is dust filter. Most of palm oil mill used this product. Since it is used in most of palm oil mill, company often have problems to address this product. One of problem is the disordered of production process. It carried out by the job sequencing. The important job that should be solved first, least implement, while less important job and could be completed later, implemented first. Design Structure Matrix (DSM) used to analyse and determine priorities in the production process. DSM analysis is sort of production process through dependency sequencing. The result of dependency sequences shows the sequence process according to the inter-process linkage considering before and after activities. Finally, it demonstrates their activities to the coupled activities for metal smelting, refining, grinding, cutting container castings, metal expenditure of molds, metal casting, coating processes, and manufacture of molds of sand.

BamTools: a C++ API and toolkit for analyzing and managing BAM files.

PubMed

Barnett, Derek W; Garrison, Erik K; Quinlan, Aaron R; Strömberg, Michael P; Marth, Gabor T

2011-06-15

Analysis of genomic sequencing data requires efficient, easy-to-use access to alignment results and flexible data management tools (e.g. filtering, merging, sorting, etc.). However, the enormous amount of data produced by current sequencing technologies is typically stored in compressed, binary formats that are not easily handled by the text-based parsers commonly used in bioinformatics research. We introduce a software suite for programmers and end users that facilitates research analysis and data management using BAM files. BamTools provides both the first C++ API publicly available for BAM file support as well as a command-line toolkit. BamTools was written in C++, and is supported on Linux, Mac OSX and MS Windows. Source code and documentation are freely available at http://github.org/pezmaster31/bamtools.

High School Biology Teachers' Views on Teaching Evolution: Implications for Science Teacher Educators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hermann, Ronald S.

2013-06-01

In the US, there may be few scientific concepts that students maintain preconceived ideas about as strongly and passionately as they do with regard to evolution. At the confluence of a multitude of social, religious, political, and scientific factors lies the biology teacher. This phenomenological study provides insight into the salient aspects of teaching evolution as viewed by public high school biology teachers. Transcribed interviews were coded, and data were sorted resulting in key themes regarding teachers' views of evolution education. These themes are presented against the backdrop of extant literature on the teaching and learning of evolution. Suggestions for science teacher educators are presented such that we can modify teacher preparation programs to better prepare science teachers to meet the challenges of teaching evolution.

D-GENIES: dot plot large genomes in an interactive, efficient and simple way.

PubMed

Cabanettes, Floréal; Klopp, Christophe

2018-01-01

Dot plots are widely used to quickly compare sequence sets. They provide a synthetic similarity overview, highlighting repetitions, breaks and inversions. Different tools have been developed to easily generated genomic alignment dot plots, but they are often limited in the input sequence size. D-GENIES is a standalone and web application performing large genome alignments using minimap2 software package and generating interactive dot plots. It enables users to sort query sequences along the reference, zoom in the plot and download several image, alignment or sequence files. D-GENIES is an easy-to-install, open-source software package (GPL) developed in Python and JavaScript. The source code is available at https://github.com/genotoul-bioinfo/dgenies and it can be tested at http://dgenies.toulouse.inra.fr/.

Production of dioxins and furans for various solid fuels burnt in 25 kW automatic boiler

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hopan, František; Horák, Jiří; Krpec, Kamil; Kubesa, Petr; Dej, Milan; Laciok, Vendula

2016-06-01

There has been brown coal, black coal and maize straw in a pellet form burnt in an automatic boiler. Production of dibenzodioxins and dibenzofuranes, recomputated through toxicity equivalents, expressed as the emission factor relative to the fuel unit, has differentiated in a range of ca. three orders (0.05 up to 78.9 ng/kg) in dependence on a sort of the used fuel. The measured values have been compared with emission factors used for the emission inventory in the Czech Republic and Poland and with the emission limit applicable for waste incineration plants. The study has proven the influence of chlorine content in fuel on production of dioxins and furanes.

Beam-dynamics codes used at DARHT

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

Ekdahl, Jr., Carl August

Several beam simulation codes are used to help gain a better understanding of beam dynamics in the DARHT LIAs. The most notable of these fall into the following categories: for beam production – Tricomp Trak orbit tracking code, LSP Particle in cell (PIC) code, for beam transport and acceleration – XTR static envelope and centroid code, LAMDA time-resolved envelope and centroid code, LSP-Slice PIC code, for coasting-beam transport to target – LAMDA time-resolved envelope code, LSP-Slice PIC code. These codes are also being used to inform the design of Scorpius.

Health and nutrition content claims on Australian fast-food websites.

PubMed

Wellard, Lyndal; Koukoumas, Alexandra; Watson, Wendy L; Hughes, Clare

2017-03-01

To determine the extent that Australian fast-food websites contain nutrition content and health claims, and whether these claims are compliant with the new provisions of the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code ('the Code'). Systematic content analysis of all web pages to identify nutrition content and health claims. Nutrition information panels were used to determine whether products with claims met Nutrient Profiling Scoring Criteria (NPSC) and qualifying criteria, and to compare them with the Code to determine compliance. Australian websites of forty-four fast-food chains including meals, bakery, ice cream, beverage and salad chains. Any products marketed on the websites using health or nutrition content claims. Of the forty-four fast-food websites, twenty (45 %) had at least one claim. A total of 2094 claims were identified on 371 products, including 1515 nutrition content (72 %) and 579 health claims (28 %). Five fast-food products with health (5 %) and 157 products with nutrition content claims (43 %) did not meet the requirements of the Code to allow them to carry such claims. New provisions in the Code came into effect in January 2016 after a 3-year transition. Food regulatory agencies should review fast-food websites to ensure compliance with the qualifying criteria for nutrition content and health claim regulations. This would prevent consumers from viewing unhealthy foods as healthier choices. Healthy choices could be facilitated by applying NPSC to nutrition content claims. Fast-food chains should be educated on the requirements of the Code regarding claims.

Put your hands up! Gesturing improves preschoolers' executive function.

PubMed

Rhoads, Candace L; Miller, Patricia H; Jaeger, Gina O

2018-09-01

This study addressed the causal direction of a previously reported relation between preschoolers' gesturing and their executive functioning on the Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) sorting-switch task. Gesturing the relevant dimension for sorting was induced in a Gesture group through instructions, imitation, and prompts. In contrast, the Control group was instructed to "think hard" when sorting. Preschoolers (N = 50) performed two DCCS tasks: (a) sort by size and then spatial orientation of two objects and (b) sort by shape and then proximity of the two objects. An examination of performance over trials permitted a fine-grained depiction of patterns of younger and older children in the Gesture and Control conditions. After the relevant dimension was switched, the Gesture group had more accurate sorts than the Control group, particularly among younger children on the second task. Moreover, the amount of gesturing predicted the number of correct sorts among younger children on the second task. The overall association between gesturing and sorting was not reflected at the level of individual trials, perhaps indicating covert gestural representation on some trials or the triggering of a relevant verbal representation by the gesturing. The delayed benefit of gesturing, until the second task, in the younger children may indicate a utilization deficiency. Results are discussed in terms of theories of gesturing and thought. The findings open up a new avenue of research and theorizing about the possible role of gesturing in emerging executive function. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[CD34(+)/CD123(+) cell sorting from the patients with leukemia by Midi MACS method].

PubMed

Wang, Guang-Ping; Cao, Xin-Yu; Xin, Hong-Ya; Li, Qun; Qi, Zhen-Hua; Chen, Fang-Ping

2006-10-01

The aim of this study was to sort the CD34(+)/CD123(+) cells from the bone marrow cells of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) by Midi MACS method. Firstly, the bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMMNC) were isolated from the patients with AML with Ficoll Paque, CD34(+) cells were then isolated by Midi MACS method followed by the isolation of CD34(+)/CD123(+) cells from the fraction of CD34(+) cells. The enrichment and recovery of CD34(+) and CD34(+)/CD123(+) cells were assayed by FACS technique. The results showed that the enrichment of CD34(+) cells was up to 98.73%, its average enrichment was 95.6%, and the recovery of CD34(+) was 84.6%, its average recovery was 51% after the first round sorting, by the second round sorting, the enrichment of CD34(+)/CD123(+) cells was up to 99.23%, its average enrichment was 83%. With regard to BMMNCs before sorting, the recovery of CD34(+)/CD123(+) was 34%. But, on the CD34(+) cells obtained by the first round sorting, its recovery was 56%. In conclusion, these results confirmed that the method of Midi MACS sorting can be applied to sort CD34(+)/CD123(+) cells from the bone marrow cells of AML patients, which give rise to the similar enrichment and recovery of the sorted cells with that of literature reported by the method of FACS.

Reaction path of energetic materials using THOR code

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Durães, L.; Campos, J.; Portugal, A.

1998-07-01

The method of predicting reaction path, using THOR code, allows for isobar and isochor adiabatic combustion and CJ detonation regimes, the calculation of the composition and thermodynamic properties of reaction products of energetic materials. THOR code assumes the thermodynamic equilibria of all possible products, for the minimum Gibbs free energy, using HL EoS. The code allows the possibility of estimating various sets of reaction products, obtained successively by the decomposition of the original reacting compound, as a function of the released energy. Two case studies of thermal decomposition procedure were selected, calculated and discussed—pure Ammonium Nitrate and its based explosive ANFO, and Nitromethane—because their equivalence ratio is respectively lower, near and greater than the stoicheiometry. Predictions of reaction path are in good correlation with experimental values, proving the validity of proposed method.

A Procedure for Extending Input Selection Algorithms to Low Quality Data in Modelling Problems with Application to the Automatic Grading of Uploaded Assignments

PubMed Central

Otero, José; Palacios, Ana; Suárez, Rosario; Junco, Luis

2014-01-01

When selecting relevant inputs in modeling problems with low quality data, the ranking of the most informative inputs is also uncertain. In this paper, this issue is addressed through a new procedure that allows the extending of different crisp feature selection algorithms to vague data. The partial knowledge about the ordinal of each feature is modelled by means of a possibility distribution, and a ranking is hereby applied to sort these distributions. It will be shown that this technique makes the most use of the available information in some vague datasets. The approach is demonstrated in a real-world application. In the context of massive online computer science courses, methods are sought for automatically providing the student with a qualification through code metrics. Feature selection methods are used to find the metrics involved in the most meaningful predictions. In this study, 800 source code files, collected and revised by the authors in classroom Computer Science lectures taught between 2013 and 2014, are analyzed with the proposed technique, and the most relevant metrics for the automatic grading task are discussed. PMID:25114967

Visual communications with side information via distributed printing channels: extended multimedia and security perspectives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Voloshynovskiy, Sviatoslav V.; Koval, Oleksiy; Deguillaume, Frederic; Pun, Thierry

2004-06-01

In this paper we address visual communications via printing channels from an information-theoretic point of view as communications with side information. The solution to this problem addresses important aspects of multimedia data processing, security and management, since printed documents are still the most common form of visual information representation. Two practical approaches to side information communications for printed documents are analyzed in the paper. The first approach represents a layered joint source-channel coding for printed documents. This approach is based on a self-embedding concept where information is first encoded assuming a Wyner-Ziv set-up and then embedded into the original data using a Gel'fand-Pinsker construction and taking into account properties of printing channels. The second approach is based on Wyner-Ziv and Berger-Flynn-Gray set-ups and assumes two separated communications channels where an appropriate distributed coding should be elaborated. The first printing channel is considered to be a direct visual channel for images ("analog" channel with degradations). The second "digital channel" with constrained capacity is considered to be an appropriate auxiliary channel. We demonstrate both theoretically and practically how one can benefit from this sort of "distributed paper communications".

Modeling Well Sampled Composite Spectral Energy Distributions of Distant Galaxies via an MCMC-driven Inference Framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pasha, Imad; Kriek, Mariska; Johnson, Benjamin; Conroy, Charlie

2018-01-01

Using a novel, MCMC-driven inference framework, we have modeled the stellar and dust emission of 32 composite spectral energy distributions (SEDs), which span from the near-ultraviolet (NUV) to far infrared (FIR). The composite SEDs were originally constructed in a previous work from the photometric catalogs of the NEWFIRM Medium-Band Survey, in which SEDs of individual galaxies at 0.5 < z < 2.0 were iteratively matched and sorted into types based on their rest-frame UV-to-NIR photometry. In a subsequent work, MIPS 24 μm was added for each SED type, and in this work, PACS 100 μm, PACS160 μm, SPIRE 25 μm, and SPIRE 350 μm photometry have been added to extend the range of the composite SEDs into the FIR. We fit the composite SEDs with the Prospector code, which utilizes an MCMC sampling to explore the parameter space for models created by the Flexible Stellar Population Synthesis (FSPS) code, in order to investigate how specific star formation rate (sSFR), dust temperature, and other galaxy properties vary with SED type.This work is also being used to better constrain the SPS models within FSPS.

Perseveration and the Status of 3-Year-Olds' Knowledge in a Card-Sorting Task: Evidence from Studies Involving Congruent Flankers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jordan, Patricia L.; Morton, J. Bruce

2012-01-01

Infants and young children often perseverate despite apparent knowledge of the correct response. Two Experiments addressed questions concerning the status of such knowledge in the context of a card-sorting task. In Experiment 1, three groups of 3-year-olds sorted bivalent cards one way and then were instructed to switch and sort the same cards…

Standardizing texture and facies codes for a process-based classification of clastic sediment and rock

USGS Publications Warehouse

Farrell, K.M.; Harris, W.B.; Mallinson, D.J.; Culver, S.J.; Riggs, S.R.; Pierson, J.; ,; Lautier, J.C.

2012-01-01

Proposed here is a universally applicable, texturally based classification of clastic sediment that is independent from composition, cementation, and geologic environment, is closely allied to process sedimentology, and applies to all compartments in the source-to-sink system. The classification is contingent on defining the term "clastic" so that it is independent from composition or origin and includes any particles or grains that are subject to erosion, transportation, and deposition. Modifications to Folk's (1980) texturally based classification that include applying new assumptions and defining a broader array of textural fields are proposed to accommodate this. The revised ternary diagrams include additional textural fields that better define poorly sorted and coarse-grained deposits, so that all end members (gravel, sand, and mud size fractions) are included in textural codes. Revised textural fields, or classes, are based on a strict adherence to volumetric estimates of percentages of gravel, sand, and mud size grain populations, which by definition must sum to 100%. The new classification ensures that descriptors are applied consistently to all end members in the ternary diagram (gravel, sand, and mud) according to several rules, and that none of the end members are ignored. These modifications provide bases for standardizing vertical displays of texture in graphic logs, lithofacies codes, and their derivatives- hydrofacies. Hydrofacies codes are nondirectional permeability indicators that predict aquifer or reservoir potential. Folk's (1980) ternary diagram for fine-grained clastic sediments (sand, silt, and clay size fractions) is also revised to preserve consistency with the revised diagram for gravel, sand, and mud. Standardizing texture ensures that the principles of process sedimentology are consistently applied to compositionally variable rock sequences, such as mixed carbonate-siliciclastic ramp settings, and the extreme ends of depositional systems.

Activation of epidermal growth factor receptor mediates receptor axon sorting and extension in the developing olfactory system of the moth Manduca sexta.

PubMed

Gibson, Nicholas J; Tolbert, Leslie P

2006-04-10

During development of the adult olfactory system of the moth Manduca sexta, olfactory receptor neurons extend axons from the olfactory epithelium in the antenna into the brain. As they arrive at the brain, interactions with centrally derived glial cells cause axons to sort and fasciculate with other axons destined to innervate the same glomeruli. Here we report studies indicating that activation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is involved in axon ingrowth and targeting. Blocking the EGFR kinase domain pharmacologically leads to stalling of many axons in the sorting zone and nerve layer as well as abnormal axonal fasciculation in the sorting zone. We also find that neuroglian, an IgCAM known to activate the EGFR through homophilic interactions in other systems, is transiently present on olfactory receptor neuron axons and on glia during the critical stages of the sorting process. The neuroglian is resistant to extraction with Triton X-100 in the sorting zone and nerve layer, possibly indicating its stabilization by homophilic binding in these regions. Our results suggest a mechanism whereby neuroglian molecules on axons and possibly sorting zone glia bind homophilically, leading to activation of EGFRs, with subsequent effects on axon sorting, pathfinding, and extension, and glomerulus development. Copyright 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Activation of EGF Receptor Mediates Receptor Axon Sorting and Extension in the Developing Olfactory System of the Moth Manduca sexta

PubMed Central

Gibson, Nicholas J.; Tolbert, Leslie P.

2008-01-01

During development of the adult olfactory system of the moth Manduca sexta, olfactory receptor neurons extend axons from the olfactory epithelium in the antenna into the brain. As they arrive at the brain, interactions with centrally-derived glial cells cause axons to sort and fasciculate with other axons destined to innervate the same glomeruli. Here we report studies that indicate that activation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is involved in axon ingrowth and targeting. Blocking the EGFR kinase domain pharmacologically leads to stalling of many axons in the sorting zone and nerve layer, as well as abnormal axonal fasciculation in the sorting zone. We also find that neuroglian, an IgCAM known to activate the EGFR through homophilic interactions in other systems, is transiently present on olfactory receptor neuron axons and on glia during the critical stages of the sorting process. The neuroglian is resistant to extraction with Triton X-100 in the sorting zone and nerve layer, possibly indicating its stabilization by homophilic binding in these regions. Our results suggest a mechanism whereby neuroglian molecules on axons and possibly sorting zone glia bind homophilically, leading to activation of EGFRs with subsequent effects on axon sorting, pathfinding, and extension, and glomerulus development. PMID:16498681

Effect of staining and freezing media on sortability of stallion spermatozoa and their post-thaw viability after sex-sorting and cryopreservation.

PubMed

Clulow, J R; Buss, H; Evans, G; Sieme, H; Rath, D; Morris, L H A; Maxwell, W M C

2012-02-01

Sex-sorted, frozen-thawed stallion spermatozoa remain out of reach of commercial horse breeders because of the low efficiency of the sex-sorting process and unacceptable fertility rates after insemination. Two experiments were designed to test the effects of alternative staining and freezing media to improve the viability of sex-sorted frozen-thawed stallion spermatozoa. Experiment 1 compared two freezing media, INRA 82(®) and a modified lactose-ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), for the cryopreservation of sex-sorted stallion spermatozoa. No significant differences between the two freezing media could be identified, suggesting that both cryodiluents would be suitable for incorporation into a sex-preselection protocol for stallion spermatozoa. Experiment 2 compared Kenney's modified Tyrode's (KMT) and Sperm TALP (Sp-TALP) as the staining and incubation medium for stallion spermatozoa prior to sex-sorting. A significant increase in the percentage of acrosome-reacted spermatozoa occurred after staining and incubation in the clarified Sp-TALP compared with KMT. As no improvements in sorting rates were achieved using Sp-TALP, it was concluded that stallion sorting protocols could include KMT as the staining and incubation medium while either INRA 82(®) or lactose-EDTA could be employed as a cryodiluents. © 2011 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Sorted bedform pattern evolution: Persistence, destruction and self-organized intermittency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goldstein, Evan B.; Murray, A. Brad; Coco, Giovanni

2011-12-01

We investigate the long-term evolution of inner continental shelf sorted bedform patterns. Numerical modeling suggests that a range of behaviors are possible, from pattern persistence to spatial-temporal intermittency. Sorted bedform persistence results from a robust sorting feedback that operates when the seabed features a sufficient concentration of coarse material. In the absence of storm events, pattern maturation processes such as defect dynamics and pattern migration tend to cause the burial of coarse material and excavation of fine material, leading to the fining of the active layer. Vertical sorting occurs until a critical state of active layer coarseness is reached. This critical state results in the local cessation of the sorting feedback, leading to a self-organized spatially intermittent pattern, a hallmark of observed sorted bedforms. Bedforms in shallow conditions and those subject to high wave climates may be temporally intermittent features as a result of increased wave orbital velocity during storms. Erosion, or deposition of bimodal sediment, similarly leads to a spatially intermittent pattern, with individual coarse domains exhibiting temporal intermittence. Recurring storm events cause coarsening of the seabed (strengthening the sorting feedback) and the development of large wavelength patterns. Cessation of storm events leads to the superposition of storm (large wavelength) and inter-storm (small wavelength) patterns and spatial heterogeneity of pattern modes.

American Contact Dermatitis Society Contact Allergy Management Program: An Epidemiologic Tool to Quantify Ingredient Usage.

PubMed

Scheman, Andrew; Severson, David

2016-01-01

The usage prevalence of ingredients in topical products is important to dermatologists and industry. To determine the prevalence of methylisothiazolinone (MI) in various types of consumer products The Contact Allergy Management Program (CAMP) database was mapped and sorted in spreadsheet format to determine the prevalence of MI in various types of consumer products. Methylisothiazolinone was found in 13.2% of 4660 total products in CAMP. High usage of MI was seen in dishwashing products (64%), shampoos (53%), bathroom/kitchen/all-purpose cleaners (47%), hair conditioners (45%), hair dyes (43%), laundry additives/fresheners/softeners (30%), soaps/cleansers (29%), and surface cleaners/disinfectants (27%). Of the products containing MI, MI alone (without methylchloroisothiazolinone) was most common in makeup products (100%), cleaning/dish/laundry products (>99%), moisturizers (82%), shaving products (78%), sunscreens (71%), and antiaging products (67%). The American Contact Dermatitis Society's CAMP is a valuable tool to collect epidemiologic data on the incidence of specific ingredient usage in various types of topical products.

Using sorted invariant mass variables to evade combinatorial ambiguities in cascade decays

DOE PAGES

Kim, Doojin; Matchev, Konstantin T.; Park, Myeonghun

2016-02-19

The classic method for mass determination in a SUSY-like cascade decay chain relies on measurements of the kinematic endpoints in the invariant mass distributions of suitable collections of visible decay products. However, the procedure is complicated by combinatorial ambiguities: e.g., the visible final state particles may be indistinguishable (as in the case of QCD jets), or one may not know the exact order in which they are emitted along the decay chain. In order to avoid such combinatorial ambiguities, we propose to treat the nal state particles fully democratically and consider the sorted set of the invariant masses of allmore » possible partitions of the visible particles in the decay chain. In particular, for a decay to N visible particles, one considers the sorted sets of all possible n-body invariant mass combinations (2≤ n≤ N) and determines the kinematic endpoint m (n,r) max of the distribution of the r-th largest n-body invariant mass m (n,r) for each possible value of n and r. For the classic example of a squark decay in supersymmetry, we provide analytical formulas for the interpretation of these endpoints in terms of the underlying physical masses. We point out that these measurements can be used to determine the structure of the decay topology, e.g., the number and position of intermediate on-shell resonances.« less

Using sorted invariant mass variables to evade combinatorial ambiguities in cascade decays

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

Kim, Doojin; Matchev, Konstantin T.; Park, Myeonghun

The classic method for mass determination in a SUSY-like cascade decay chain relies on measurements of the kinematic endpoints in the invariant mass distributions of suitable collections of visible decay products. However, the procedure is complicated by combinatorial ambiguities: e.g., the visible final state particles may be indistinguishable (as in the case of QCD jets), or one may not know the exact order in which they are emitted along the decay chain. In order to avoid such combinatorial ambiguities, we propose to treat the nal state particles fully democratically and consider the sorted set of the invariant masses of allmore » possible partitions of the visible particles in the decay chain. In particular, for a decay to N visible particles, one considers the sorted sets of all possible n-body invariant mass combinations (2≤ n≤ N) and determines the kinematic endpoint m (n,r) max of the distribution of the r-th largest n-body invariant mass m (n,r) for each possible value of n and r. For the classic example of a squark decay in supersymmetry, we provide analytical formulas for the interpretation of these endpoints in terms of the underlying physical masses. We point out that these measurements can be used to determine the structure of the decay topology, e.g., the number and position of intermediate on-shell resonances.« less

Comparison of different fertilisation media for an in vitro maturation?fertilisation?culture system using flow-cytometrically sorted X chromosome-bearing spermatozoa for bovine embryo production.

PubMed

Ferré, Luis B; Bogliotti, Yanina; Chitwood, James L; Fresno, Cristóbal; Ortega, Hugo H; Kjelland, Michael E; Ross, Pablo J

2015-05-13

High demand exists among commercial cattle producers for in vitro-derived bovine embryos fertilised with female sex-sorted spermatozoa from high-value breeding stock. The aim of this study was to evaluate three fertilisation media, namely M199, synthetic oviductal fluid (SOF) and Tyrode's albumin-lactate-pyruvate (TALP), on IVF performance using female sex-sorted spermatozoa. In all, 1143, 1220 and 1041 cumulus-oocyte complexes were fertilised in M199, SOF and TALP, respectively. There were significant differences among fertilisation media (P < 0.05) in cleavage rate (M199 = 57%, SOF = 71% and TALP = 72%), blastocyst formation (M199 = 9%, SOF = 20% and TALP = 19%), proportion of Grade 1 blastocysts (M199 = 15%, SOF = 52% and TALP = 51%), proportion of Grade 3 blastocysts (M199 = 58%, SOF = 21% and TALP = 20%) and hatching rates (M199 = 29%, SOF = 60% and TALP = 65%). The inner cell mass (ICM) and trophectoderm (TE) cells of Day 7 blastocysts were also affected by the fertilisation medium. Embryos derived from SOF and TALP fertilisation media had higher numbers of ICM, TE and total cells than those fertilised in M199. In conclusion, fertilisation media affected cleavage rate, as well as subsequent embryo development, quality and hatching ability. SOF and TALP fertilisation media produced significantly more embryos of higher quality than M199.

The Role of Snx41-Based Pexophagy in Magnaporthe Development

PubMed Central

Deng, Yizhen; Qu, Ziwei; Naqvi, Naweed I.

2013-01-01

Pexophagy, the degradation of peroxisomes via selective autophagy, depends on Atg20/Snx42 function in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Besides its role in selective autophagy, Atg20/Snx42 is also involved in an autophagy-independent endosomal retrieval trafficking, in cooperation with two other sorting nexins, Snx41 and Snx4. Recently, we reported that the sorting nexin MoSnx41, which showed high sequence similarity to yeast Snx41 and Snx42/Atg20 proteins, regulates the gamma-glutamyl cycle and GSH production and is essential for conidiation and pathogenicity in Magnaporthe oryzae. Pexophagy was also found to be defective in Mosnx41Δ mutant. These findings indicate that MoSnx41 likely serves combined functions of Snx42/Atg20 and Snx41 in M. oryzae.. In this study, we performed complementation analyses and demonstrate that MoSnx41 alone serves the dual function of protein sorting (ScSnx41) and pexophagy (ScSnx42/Atg20). To study the potential biological function of pexophagy in fungal pathogenic life cycle, we created deletion mutants of potential pexophagy-specific genes, and characterized them in terms of pexophagy, conidiation and pathogenesis. We identified Pex14 as an essential protein for pexophagy in M. oryzae. Overall, our results show that pexophagy per se is not essential for asexual development or virulence in M. oryzae. PMID:24302988

A Sequence of Sorting Strategies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duncan, David R.; Litwiller, Bonnie H.

1984-01-01

Describes eight increasingly sophisticated and efficient sorting algorithms including linear insertion, binary insertion, shellsort, bubble exchange, shakersort, quick sort, straight selection, and tree selection. Provides challenges for the reader and the student to program these efficiently. (JM)

UBE4B Protein Couples Ubiquitination and Sorting Machineries to Enable Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) Degradation*

PubMed Central

Sirisaengtaksin, Natalie; Gireud, Monica; Yan, Qing; Kubota, Yoshihisa; Meza, Denisse; Waymire, Jack C.; Zage, Peter E.; Bean, Andrew J.

2014-01-01

The signaling of plasma membrane proteins is tuned by internalization and sorting in the endocytic pathway prior to recycling or degradation in lysosomes. Ubiquitin modification allows recognition and association of cargo with endosomally associated protein complexes, enabling sorting of proteins to be degraded from those to be recycled. The mechanism that provides coordination between the cellular machineries that mediate ubiquitination and endosomal sorting is unknown. We report that the ubiquitin ligase UBE4B is recruited to endosomes in response to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) activation by binding to Hrs, a key component of endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT) 0. We identify the EGFR as a substrate for UBE4B, establish UBE4B as a regulator of EGFR degradation, and describe a mechanism by which UBE4B regulates endosomal sorting, affecting cellular levels of the EGFR and its downstream signaling. We propose a model in which the coordinated action of UBE4B, ESCRT-0, and the deubiquitinating enzyme USP8 enable the endosomal sorting and lysosomal degradation of the EGFR. PMID:24344129

Fast emission spectroscopy for monitoring condensed carbon in detonation products of oxygen-deficient high explosives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poeuf, Sandra; Baudin, Gerard; Genetier, Marc; Lefrançois, Alexandre; Cinnayya, Ashwin; Laurent, Jacquet

2017-06-01

A new thermochemical code, SIAME, dedicated to the study of high explosives, is currently being developed. New experimental data relative to the expansion of detonation products are required to validate the code, and a particular focus is made on solid carbon products. Two different high explosive formulations are used: a melt-cast one (RDX/TNT 60/40 % wt.) and a pressed one (HMX/VitonR 96/4 % wt.). The experimental setup allows the expansion of the products at pressures below 1 GPa in an inert medium (vacuum, helium, nitrogen and PMMA). The results of fast emission dynamic spectroscopy measurements used to monitor the detonation carbon products are reported. Two spectral signatures are identified: the first is associated to ionized gases and the second to carbon thermal radiation. The experimental spectral lines are compared with simulated spectra. The trajectory of the shock wave front is continuously recorded with a high frequency interferometer. Comparisons with numerical simulations on the hydrodynamic code Ouranoshave been done. These two measurements, using the different inert media, enable to make one step forward in the validation of the detonation products equation of state implemented in the SIAME code.

The World in a Tomato: Revisiting the Use of "Codes" in Freire's Problem-Posing Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barndt, Deborah

1998-01-01

Gives examples of the use of Freire's notion of codes or generative themes in problem-posing literacy education. Describes how these applications expand Freire's conceptions by involving students in code production, including multicultural perspectives, and rethinking codes as representations. (SK)

78 FR 67048 - Prothioconazole; Pesticide Tolerances

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-11-08

... code 111). Animal production (NAICS code 112). Food manufacturing (NAICS code 311). Pesticide manufacturing (NAICS code 32532). B. How can I get electronic access to other related information? You may... Assessment and Determination of Safety Section 408(b)(2)(A)(i) of FFDCA allows EPA to establish a tolerance...

75 FR 32519 - Small Business Size Standards: Waiver of the Nonmanufacturer Rule

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-08

... (Compressed and Liquefied Gases), under NAICS code 325120 (Industrial Gases Manufacturing). On March 23, 2010...), under NAICS code 325120 (Industrial Gases Manufacturing). Dated: June 1, 2010. Karen Hontz, Director... Propane Gas (LPG), North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 325120, Product Service Code...

The role of the insula in intuitive expert bug detection in computer code: an fMRI study.

PubMed

Castelhano, Joao; Duarte, Isabel C; Ferreira, Carlos; Duraes, Joao; Madeira, Henrique; Castelo-Branco, Miguel

2018-05-09

Software programming is a complex and relatively recent human activity, involving the integration of mathematical, recursive thinking and language processing. The neural correlates of this recent human activity are still poorly understood. Error monitoring during this type of task, requiring the integration of language, logical symbol manipulation and other mathematical skills, is particularly challenging. We therefore aimed to investigate the neural correlates of decision-making during source code understanding and mental manipulation in professional participants with high expertise. The present fMRI study directly addressed error monitoring during source code comprehension, expert bug detection and decision-making. We used C code, which triggers the same sort of processing irrespective of the native language of the programmer. We discovered a distinct role for the insula in bug monitoring and detection and a novel connectivity pattern that goes beyond the expected activation pattern evoked by source code understanding in semantic language and mathematical processing regions. Importantly, insula activity levels were critically related to the quality of error detection, involving intuition, as signalled by reported initial bug suspicion, prior to final decision and bug detection. Activity in this salience network (SN) region evoked by bug suspicion was predictive of bug detection precision, suggesting that it encodes the quality of the behavioral evidence. Connectivity analysis provided evidence for top-down circuit "reutilization" stemming from anterior cingulate cortex (BA32), a core region in the SN that evolved for complex error monitoring such as required for this type of recent human activity. Cingulate (BA32) and anterolateral (BA10) frontal regions causally modulated decision processes in the insula, which in turn was related to activity of math processing regions in early parietal cortex. In other words, earlier brain regions used during evolution for other functions seem to be reutilized in a top-down manner for a new complex function, in an analogous manner as described for other cultural creations such as reading and literacy.

Optical LDPC decoders for beyond 100 Gbits/s optical transmission.

PubMed

Djordjevic, Ivan B; Xu, Lei; Wang, Ting

2009-05-01

We present an optical low-density parity-check (LDPC) decoder suitable for implementation above 100 Gbits/s, which provides large coding gains when based on large-girth LDPC codes. We show that a basic building block, the probabilities multiplier circuit, can be implemented using a Mach-Zehnder interferometer, and we propose corresponding probabilistic-domain sum-product algorithm (SPA). We perform simulations of a fully parallel implementation employing girth-10 LDPC codes and proposed SPA. The girth-10 LDPC(24015,19212) code of the rate of 0.8 outperforms the BCH(128,113)xBCH(256,239) turbo-product code of the rate of 0.82 by 0.91 dB (for binary phase-shift keying at 100 Gbits/s and a bit error rate of 10(-9)), and provides a net effective coding gain of 10.09 dB.

Cloning of Plasmodium falciparum by single-cell sorting

PubMed Central

Miao, Jun; Li, Xiaolian; Cui, Liwang

2010-01-01

Malaria parasite cloning is traditionally carried out mainly by using the limiting dilution method, which is laborious, imprecise, and unable to distinguish multiply-infected RBCs. In this study, we used a parasite engineered to express green fluorescent protein (GFP) to evaluate a single-cell sorting method for rapidly cloning Plasmodium falciparum. By dividing a two dimensional scattergram from a cell sorter into 17 gates, we determined the parameters for isolating singly-infected erythrocytes and sorted them into individual cultures. Pre-gating of the engineered parasites for GFP allowed the isolation of almost 100% GFP-positive clones. Compared with the limiting dilution method, the number of parasite clones obtained by single-cell sorting was much higher. Molecular analyses showed that parasite isolates obtained by single-cell sorting were highly homogenous. This highly efficient single-cell sorting method should prove very useful for cloning both P. falciparum laboratory populations from genetic manipulation experiments and clinical samples. PMID:20435038

PhySortR: a fast, flexible tool for sorting phylogenetic trees in R.

PubMed

Stephens, Timothy G; Bhattacharya, Debashish; Ragan, Mark A; Chan, Cheong Xin

2016-01-01

A frequent bottleneck in interpreting phylogenomic output is the need to screen often thousands of trees for features of interest, particularly robust clades of specific taxa, as evidence of monophyletic relationship and/or reticulated evolution. Here we present PhySortR, a fast, flexible R package for classifying phylogenetic trees. Unlike existing utilities, PhySortR allows for identification of both exclusive and non-exclusive clades uniting the target taxa based on tip labels (i.e., leaves) on a tree, with customisable options to assess clades within the context of the whole tree. Using simulated and empirical datasets, we demonstrate the potential and scalability of PhySortR in analysis of thousands of phylogenetic trees without a priori assumption of tree-rooting, and in yielding readily interpretable trees that unambiguously satisfy the query. PhySortR is a command-line tool that is freely available and easily automatable.

Sortilin 1 knockout alters basal adipose glucose metabolism but not diet-induced obesity in mice.

PubMed

Li, Jibiao; Matye, David J; Wang, Yifeng; Li, Tiangang

2017-04-01

Sortilin 1 (Sort1) is a trafficking receptor that has been implicated in the regulation of plasma cholesterol in humans and mice. Here, we use metabolomics and hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp approaches to obtain further understanding of the in vivo effects of Sort1 deletion on diet-induced obesity as well as on adipose lipid and glucose metabolism. Results show that Sort1 knockout (KO) does not affect Western diet-induced obesity nor adipose fatty acid and ceramide concentrations. Under the basal fasting state, chow-fed Sort1 KO mice have decreased adipose glycolytic metabolites, but Sort1 deletion does not affect insulin-stimulated tissue glucose uptake during the insulin clamp. These results suggest that Sort1 loss-of-function in vivo does not affect obesity development, but differentially modulates adipose glucose metabolism under fasting and insulin-stimulated states. © 2017 Federation of European Biochemical Societies.

Standard practice for cell sorting in a BSL-3 facility.

PubMed

Perfetto, Stephen P; Ambrozak, David R; Nguyen, Richard; Roederer, Mario; Koup, Richard A; Holmes, Kevin L

2011-01-01

Over the past decade, there has been a rapid growth in the number of BSL-3 and BSL-4 laboratories in the USA and an increase in demand for infectious cell sorting in BSL-3 laboratories. In 2007, the International Society for Advancement of Cytometry (ISAC) Biosafety Committee published standards for the sorting of unfixed cells and is an important resource for biosafety procedures when performing infectious cell sorting. Following a careful risk assessment, if it is determined that a cell sorter must be located within a BSL-3 laboratory, there are a variety of factors to be considered prior to the establishment of the laboratory. This chapter outlines procedures for infectious cell sorting in a BSL-3 environment to facilitate the establishment and safe operation of a BSL-3 cell sorting laboratory. Subjects covered include containment verification, remote operation, disinfection, personal protective equipment (PPE), and instrument-specific modifications for enhanced aerosol evacuation.

Standard Practice for Cell Sorting in a BSL-3 Facility

PubMed Central

Perfetto, Stephen P.; Ambrozak, David R.; Nguyen, Richard; Roederer, Mario; Koup, Richard A.; Holmes, Kevin L.

2016-01-01

Over the past decade, there has been a rapid growth in the number of BSL-3 and BSL-4 laboratories in the USA and an increase in demand for infectious cell sorting in BSL-3 laboratories. In 2007, the International Society for Advancement of Cytometry (ISAC) Biosafety Committee published standards for the sorting of unfixed cells and is an important resource for biosafety procedures when performing infectious cell sorting. Following a careful risk assessment, if it is determined that a cell sorter must be located within a BSL-3 laboratory, there are a variety of factors to be considered prior to the establishment of the laboratory. This chapter outlines procedures for infectious cell sorting in a BSL-3 environment to facilitate the establishment and safe operation of a BSL-3 cell sorting laboratory. Subjects covered include containment verification, remote operation, disinfection, personal protective equipment (PPE), and instrument-specific modifications for enhanced aerosol evacuation. PMID:21116997

Data parallel sorting for particle simulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dagum, Leonardo

1992-01-01

Sorting on a parallel architecture is a communications intensive event which can incur a high penalty in applications where it is required. In the case of particle simulation, only integer sorting is necessary, and sequential implementations easily attain the minimum performance bound of O (N) for N particles. Parallel implementations, however, have to cope with the parallel sorting problem which, in addition to incurring a heavy communications cost, can make the minimun performance bound difficult to attain. This paper demonstrates how the sorting problem in a particle simulation can be reduced to a merging problem, and describes an efficient data parallel algorithm to solve this merging problem in a particle simulation. The new algorithm is shown to be optimal under conditions usual for particle simulation, and its fieldwise implementation on the Connection Machine is analyzed in detail. The new algorithm is about four times faster than a fieldwise implementation of radix sort on the Connection Machine.

The interactive electrode localization utility: software for automatic sorting and labeling of intracranial subdural electrodes

PubMed Central

Tang, Wei; Peled, Noam; Vallejo, Deborah I.; Borzello, Mia; Dougherty, Darin D.; Eskandar, Emad N.; Widge, Alik S.; Cash, Sydney S.; Stufflebeam, Steven M.

2018-01-01

Purpose Existing methods for sorting, labeling, registering, and across-subject localization of electrodes in intracranial encephalography (iEEG) may involve laborious work requiring manual inspection of radiological images. Methods We describe a new open-source software package, the interactive electrode localization utility which presents a full pipeline for the registration, localization, and labeling of iEEG electrodes from CT and MR images. In addition, we describe a method to automatically sort and label electrodes from subdural grids of known geometry. Results We validated our software against manual inspection methods in twelve subjects undergoing iEEG for medically intractable epilepsy. Our algorithm for sorting and labeling performed correct identification on 96% of the electrodes. Conclusions The sorting and labeling methods we describe offer nearly perfect performance and the software package we have distributed may simplify the process of registering, sorting, labeling, and localizing subdural iEEG grid electrodes by manual inspection. PMID:27915398

Total Quality Management in Construction

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-08-01

1989. I Ishikawa , Kaoru . Guide to Quality Control. White Plains, New York: Asian Productivity Organization, 1982. 5 Kelso, Frank B. II, Admiral...category are explored to determine the most significant causes which produce the effect. Figure 24 shows a typical cause-and effect diagram. Kaoru ... Ishikawa describes cause-and-effect diagrams as I an effective tool "to clearly illustrate the various causes I affecting quality by sorting out and relating

"To Be Dutch or Not to Be Turkish, that Is the Question", or, How to Measure the Reception of a Community-Based Play about Living between Cultures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vuyk, Kees; Poelman, Linda; Cerovecki, Ivana; van Erven, Eugene

2010-01-01

In this article, the authors experiment with an interdisciplinary, partly empirical investigation into the reception of a community-based theatre production created by three generations of Turkish migrants in the Netherlands. Although community arts has been experiencing a boom of sorts in the Netherlands and local funding agents increasingly call…

Like a Good Neighbor, NCI-Frederick Is There | Poster

Cancer.gov

The main campus of the National Cancer Institute at Frederick is an island of sorts: 68 acres of land that was once part of Fort Detrick. Accessing NCI property means passing through the Fort Detrick gates and crossing the post. While the campus is surrounded by the military installation, is protected by NIH police, and doesn’t allow the use of tobacco products, it is not a

Efficient selective breeding of live oil-rich Euglena gracilis with fluorescence-activated cell sorting

PubMed Central

Yamada, Koji; Suzuki, Hideyuki; Takeuchi, Takuto; Kazama, Yusuke; Mitra, Sharbanee; Abe, Tomoko; Goda, Keisuke; Suzuki, Kengo; Iwata, Osamu

2016-01-01

Euglena gracilis, a microalgal species of unicellular flagellate protists, has attracted much attention in both the industrial and academic sectors due to recent advances in the mass cultivation of E. gracilis that have enabled the cost-effective production of nutritional food and cosmetic commodities. In addition, it is known to produce paramylon (β-1,3-glucan in a crystalline form) as reserve polysaccharide and convert it to wax ester in hypoxic and anaerobic conditions–a promising feedstock for biodiesel and aviation biofuel. However, there remain a number of technical challenges to be solved before it can be deployed in the competitive fuel market. Here we present a method for efficient selective breeding of live oil-rich E. gracilis with fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS). Specifically, the selective breeding method is a repetitive procedure for one-week heterotrophic cultivation, staining intracellular lipids with BODIPY505/515, and FACS-based isolation of top 0.5% lipid-rich E. gracilis cells with high viability, after inducing mutation with Fe-ion irradiation to the wild type (WT). Consequently, we acquire a live, stable, lipid-rich E. gracilis mutant strain, named B1ZFeL, with 40% more lipid content on average than the WT. Our method paves the way for rapid, cost-effective, energy-efficient production of biofuel. PMID:27212384

A three-dimensional code for muon propagation through the rock: MUSIC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Antonioli, P.; Ghetti, C.; Korolkova, E. V.; Kudryavtsev, V. A.; Sartorelli, G.

1997-10-01

We present a new three-dimensional Monte-Carlo code MUSIC (MUon SImulation Code) for muon propagation through the rock. All processes of muon interaction with matter with high energy loss (including the knock-on electron production) are treated as stochastic processes. The angular deviation and lateral displacement of muons due to multiple scattering, as well as bremsstrahlung, pair production and inelastic scattering are taken into account. The code has been applied to obtain the energy distribution and angular and lateral deviations of single muons at different depths underground. The muon multiplicity distributions obtained with MUSIC and CORSIKA (Extensive Air Shower simulation code) are also presented. We discuss the systematic uncertainties of the results due to different muon bremsstrahlung cross-sections.