The parallel-sequential field subtraction techniques for nonlinear ultrasonic imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Jingwei; Potter, Jack N.; Drinkwater, Bruce W.

2018-04-01

Nonlinear imaging techniques have recently emerged which have the potential to detect cracks at a much earlier stage and have sensitivity to particularly closed defects. This study utilizes two modes of focusing: parallel, in which the elements are fired together with a delay law, and sequential, in which elements are fired independently. In the parallel focusing, a high intensity ultrasonic beam is formed in the specimen at the focal point. However, in sequential focusing only low intensity signals from individual elements enter the sample and the full matrix of transmit-receive signals is recorded; with elastic assumptions, both parallel and sequential images are expected to be identical. Here we measure the difference between these images formed from the coherent component of the field and use this to characterize nonlinearity of closed fatigue cracks. In particular we monitor the reduction in amplitude at the fundamental frequency at each focal point and use this metric to form images of the spatial distribution of nonlinearity. The results suggest the subtracted image can suppress linear features (e.g., back wall or large scatters) and allow damage to be detected at an early stage.

Comparing the behavioural impact of a nudge-based handwashing intervention to high-intensity hygiene education: a cluster-randomised trial in rural Bangladesh.

PubMed

Grover, Elise; Hossain, Mohammed Kamal; Uddin, Saker; Venkatesh, Mohini; Ram, Pavani K; Dreibelbis, Robert

2018-01-01

To determine the impact of environmental nudges on handwashing behaviours among primary school children as compared to a high-intensity hygiene education intervention. In a cluster-randomised trial (CRT), we compared the rates of handwashing with soap (HWWS) after a toileting event among primary school students in rural Bangladesh. Eligible schools (government run, on-site sanitation and water, no hygiene interventions in last year, fewer than 450 students) were identified, and 20 schools were randomly selected and allocated without blinding to one of four interventions, five schools per group: simultaneous handwashing infrastructure and nudge construction, sequential infrastructure then nudge construction, simultaneous infrastructure and high-intensity hygiene education (HE) and sequential handwashing infrastructure and HE. The primary outcome, incidence of HWWS after a toileting event, was compared between the intervention groups at different data collection points with robust-Poisson regression analysis with generalised estimating equations, adjusting for school-level clustering of outcomes. The nudge intervention and the HE intervention were found to be equally effective at sustained impact over 5 months post-intervention (adjusted IRR 0.81, 95% CI 0.61-1.09). When comparing intervention delivery timing, the simultaneous delivery of the HE intervention significantly outperformed the sequential HE delivery (adjusted IRR 1.58 CI 1.20-2.08), whereas no significant difference was observed between sequential and simultaneous nudge intervention delivery (adjusted IRR 0.75, 95% CI 0.48-1.17). Our trial demonstrates sustained improved handwashing behaviour 5 months after the nudge intervention. The nudge intervention's comparable performance to a high-intensity hygiene education intervention is encouraging. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Sequential vs simultaneous revascularization in patients undergoing liver transplantation: A meta-analysis.

PubMed

Wang, Jia-Zhong; Liu, Yang; Wang, Jin-Long; Lu, Le; Zhang, Ya-Fei; Lu, Hong-Wei; Li, Yi-Ming

2015-06-14

We undertook this meta-analysis to investigate the relationship between revascularization and outcomes after liver transplantation. A literature search was performed using MeSH and key words. The quality of the included studies was assessed using the Jadad Score and the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Heterogeneity was evaluated by the χ(2) and I (2) tests. The risk of publication bias was assessed using a funnel plot and Egger's test, and the risk of bias was assessed using a domain-based assessment tool. A sensitivity analysis was conducted by reanalyzing the data using different statistical approaches. Six studies with a total of 467 patients were included. Ischemic-type biliary lesions were significantly reduced in the simultaneous revascularization group compared with the sequential revascularization group (OR = 4.97, 95%CI: 2.45-10.07; P < 0.00001), and intensive care unit (ICU) days were decreased (MD = 2.00, 95%CI: 0.55-3.45; P = 0.007) in the simultaneous revascularization group. Although warm ischemia time was prolonged in simultaneous revascularization group (MD = -25.84, 95%CI: -29.28-22.40; P < 0.00001), there were no significant differences in other outcomes between sequential and simultaneous revascularization groups. Assessment of the risk of bias showed that the methods of random sequence generation and blinding might have been a source of bias. The sensitivity analysis strengthened the reliability of the results of this meta-analysis. The results of this study indicate that simultaneous revascularization in liver transplantation may reduce the incidence of ischemic-type biliary lesions and length of stay of patients in the ICU.

A fast and precise indoor localization algorithm based on an online sequential extreme learning machine.

PubMed

Zou, Han; Lu, Xiaoxuan; Jiang, Hao; Xie, Lihua

2015-01-15

Nowadays, developing indoor positioning systems (IPSs) has become an attractive research topic due to the increasing demands on location-based service (LBS) in indoor environments. WiFi technology has been studied and explored to provide indoor positioning service for years in view of the wide deployment and availability of existing WiFi infrastructures in indoor environments. A large body of WiFi-based IPSs adopt fingerprinting approaches for localization. However, these IPSs suffer from two major problems: the intensive costs of manpower and time for offline site survey and the inflexibility to environmental dynamics. In this paper, we propose an indoor localization algorithm based on an online sequential extreme learning machine (OS-ELM) to address the above problems accordingly. The fast learning speed of OS-ELM can reduce the time and manpower costs for the offline site survey. Meanwhile, its online sequential learning ability enables the proposed localization algorithm to adapt in a timely manner to environmental dynamics. Experiments under specific environmental changes, such as variations of occupancy distribution and events of opening or closing of doors, are conducted to evaluate the performance of OS-ELM. The simulation and experimental results show that the proposed localization algorithm can provide higher localization accuracy than traditional approaches, due to its fast adaptation to various environmental dynamics.

Multimodal sensory integration during sequential eating--linking chewing activity, aroma release, and aroma perception over time.

PubMed

Leclercq, Ségolène; Blancher, Guillaume

2012-10-01

The respective effects of chewing activity, aroma release from a gelled candy, and aroma perception were investigated. Specifically, the study aimed at 1) comparing an imposed chewing and swallowing pattern (IP) and free protocol (FP) on panelists for in vivo measurements, 2) investigating carryover effects in sequential eating, and 3) studying the link between instrumental data and their perception counterpart. Chewing activity, in-nose aroma concentration, and aroma perception over time were measured by electromyography, proton transfer reaction-mass spectrometry, and time intensity, respectively. Model gel candies were flavored at 2 intensity levels (low-L and high-H). The panelists evaluated 3 sequences (H then H, H then L, and L then H) in duplicates with both IP and FP. They scored aroma intensity over time while their in-nose aroma concentrations and their chewing activity were measured. Overall, only limited advantages were found in imposing a chewing and swallowing pattern for instrumental and sensory data. In addition, the study highlighted the role of brain integration on perceived intensity and dynamics of perception, in the framework of sequential eating without rinsing. Because of the presence of adaptation phenomena, contrast effect, and potential taste and texture cross-modal interaction with aroma perception, it was concluded that dynamic in-nose concentration data provide only one part of the perception picture and therefore cannot be used alone in prediction models.

Sequential Testing: Basics and Benefits

DTIC Science & Technology

1978-03-01

Eii~TARADC6M and x _..TECHNICAL REPORT NO. 12325 SEQUENTIAL TESTING: BASICS AND BENEFITS / i * p iREFERENCE CP...Sequential Testing: Basics and Benefits Contents Page I. Introduction and Summary II. Sequential Analysis 2 III. Mathematics of Sequential Testing 4 IV...testing. The added benefit of reduced energy needs are inherent in this testing method. The text was originally released by the authors in 1972. The text

An eye movement based reading intervention in lexical and segmental readers with acquired dyslexia.

PubMed

Ablinger, Irene; von Heyden, Kerstin; Vorstius, Christian; Halm, Katja; Huber, Walter; Radach, Ralph

2014-01-01

Due to their brain damage, aphasic patients with acquired dyslexia often rely to a greater extent on lexical or segmental reading procedures. Thus, therapy intervention is mostly targeted on the more impaired reading strategy. In the present work we introduce a novel therapy approach based on real-time measurement of patients' eye movements as they attempt to read words. More specifically, an eye movement contingent technique of stepwise letter de-masking was used to support sequential reading, whereas fixation-dependent initial masking of non-central letters stimulated a lexical (parallel) reading strategy. Four lexical and four segmental readers with acquired central dyslexia received our intensive reading intervention. All participants showed remarkable improvements as evident in reduced total reading time, a reduced number of fixations per word and improved reading accuracy. Both types of intervention led to item-specific training effects in all subjects. A generalisation to untrained items was only found in segmental readers after the lexical training. Eye movement analyses were also used to compare word processing before and after therapy, indicating that all patients, with one exclusion, maintained their preferred reading strategy. However, in several cases the balance between sequential and lexical processing became less extreme, indicating a more effective individual interplay of both word processing routes.

A sequential solution for anisotropic total variation image denoising with interval constraints

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Jingyan; Noo, Frédéric

2017-09-01

We show that two problems involving the anisotropic total variation (TV) and interval constraints on the unknown variables admit, under some conditions, a simple sequential solution. Problem 1 is a constrained TV penalized image denoising problem; problem 2 is a constrained fused lasso signal approximator. The sequential solution entails finding first the solution to the unconstrained problem, and then applying a thresholding to satisfy the constraints. If the interval constraints are uniform, this sequential solution solves problem 1. If the interval constraints furthermore contain zero, the sequential solution solves problem 2. Here uniform interval constraints refer to all unknowns being constrained to the same interval. A typical example of application is image denoising in x-ray CT, where the image intensities are non-negative as they physically represent linear attenuation coefficient in the patient body. Our results are simple yet seem unknown; we establish them using the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker conditions for constrained convex optimization.

A “SMART” Design for Building Individualized Treatment Sequences

PubMed Central

Lei, H.; Nahum-Shani, I.; Lynch, K.; Oslin, D.; Murphy, S.A.

2013-01-01

Interventions often involve a sequence of decisions. For example, clinicians frequently adapt the intervention to an individual’s outcomes. Altering the intensity and type of intervention over time is crucial for many reasons, such as to obtain improvement if the individual is not responding or to reduce costs and burden when intensive treatment is no longer necessary. Adaptive interventions utilize individual variables (severity, preferences) to adapt the intervention and then dynamically utilize individual outcomes (response to treatment, adherence) to readapt the intervention. The Sequential Multiple Assignment Randomized Trial (SMART)provides high-quality data that can be used to construct adaptive interventions. We review the SMART and highlight its advantages in constructing and revising adaptive interventions as compared to alternative experimental designs. Selected examples of SMART studies are described and compared. A data analysis method is provided and illustrated using data from the Extending Treatment Effectiveness of Naltrexone SMART study. PMID:22224838

Sequential lineup presentation promotes less-biased criterion setting but does not improve discriminability.

PubMed

Palmer, Matthew A; Brewer, Neil

2012-06-01

When compared with simultaneous lineup presentation, sequential presentation has been shown to reduce false identifications to a greater extent than it reduces correct identifications. However, there has been much debate about whether this difference in identification performance represents improved discriminability or more conservative responding. In this research, data from 22 experiments that compared sequential and simultaneous lineups were analyzed using a compound signal-detection model, which is specifically designed to describe decision-making performance on tasks such as eyewitness identification tests. Sequential (cf. simultaneous) presentation did not influence discriminability, but produced a conservative shift in response bias that resulted in less-biased choosing for sequential than simultaneous lineups. These results inform understanding of the effects of lineup presentation mode on eyewitness identification decisions.

Sequential vs simultaneous revascularization in patients undergoing liver transplantation: A meta-analysis

PubMed Central

Wang, Jia-Zhong; Liu, Yang; Wang, Jin-Long; Lu, Le; Zhang, Ya-Fei; Lu, Hong-Wei; Li, Yi-Ming

2015-01-01

AIM: We undertook this meta-analysis to investigate the relationship between revascularization and outcomes after liver transplantation. METHODS: A literature search was performed using MeSH and key words. The quality of the included studies was assessed using the Jadad Score and the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Heterogeneity was evaluated by the χ2 and I2 tests. The risk of publication bias was assessed using a funnel plot and Egger’s test, and the risk of bias was assessed using a domain-based assessment tool. A sensitivity analysis was conducted by reanalyzing the data using different statistical approaches. RESULTS: Six studies with a total of 467 patients were included. Ischemic-type biliary lesions were significantly reduced in the simultaneous revascularization group compared with the sequential revascularization group (OR = 4.97, 95%CI: 2.45-10.07; P < 0.00001), and intensive care unit (ICU) days were decreased (MD = 2.00, 95%CI: 0.55-3.45; P = 0.007) in the simultaneous revascularization group. Although warm ischemia time was prolonged in simultaneous revascularization group (MD = -25.84, 95%CI: -29.28-22.40; P < 0.00001), there were no significant differences in other outcomes between sequential and simultaneous revascularization groups. Assessment of the risk of bias showed that the methods of random sequence generation and blinding might have been a source of bias. The sensitivity analysis strengthened the reliability of the results of this meta-analysis. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that simultaneous revascularization in liver transplantation may reduce the incidence of ischemic-type biliary lesions and length of stay of patients in the ICU. PMID:26078582

Analyzing Communication Architectures Using Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) Modeling and Simulation Tools

DTIC Science & Technology

1998-06-01

4] By 2010, we should be able to change how we conduct the most intense joint operations. Instead of relying on massed forces and sequential ...not independent, sequential steps. Data probes to support the analysis phase were required to complete the logical models. This generated a need...Networks) Identify Granularity (System Level) - Establish Physical Bounds or Limits to Systems • Determine System Test Configuration and Lineup

A Fast and Precise Indoor Localization Algorithm Based on an Online Sequential Extreme Learning Machine †

PubMed Central

Zou, Han; Lu, Xiaoxuan; Jiang, Hao; Xie, Lihua

2015-01-01

Nowadays, developing indoor positioning systems (IPSs) has become an attractive research topic due to the increasing demands on location-based service (LBS) in indoor environments. WiFi technology has been studied and explored to provide indoor positioning service for years in view of the wide deployment and availability of existing WiFi infrastructures in indoor environments. A large body of WiFi-based IPSs adopt fingerprinting approaches for localization. However, these IPSs suffer from two major problems: the intensive costs of manpower and time for offline site survey and the inflexibility to environmental dynamics. In this paper, we propose an indoor localization algorithm based on an online sequential extreme learning machine (OS-ELM) to address the above problems accordingly. The fast learning speed of OS-ELM can reduce the time and manpower costs for the offline site survey. Meanwhile, its online sequential learning ability enables the proposed localization algorithm to adapt in a timely manner to environmental dynamics. Experiments under specific environmental changes, such as variations of occupancy distribution and events of opening or closing of doors, are conducted to evaluate the performance of OS-ELM. The simulation and experimental results show that the proposed localization algorithm can provide higher localization accuracy than traditional approaches, due to its fast adaptation to various environmental dynamics. PMID:25599427

Binding intensity and metal partitioning in soils affected by mining and smelting activities in Minas Gerais, Brazil.

PubMed

Lopes, G; Costa, E T S; Penido, E S; Sparks, D L; Guilherme, L R G

2015-09-01

Mining and smelting activities are potential sources of heavy metal contamination, which pose a threat to human health and ecological systems. This study investigated single and sequential extractions of Zn, Pb, and Cd in Brazilian soils affected by mining and smelting activities. Soils from a Zn mining area (soils A, B, C, D, E, and the control soil) and a tailing from a smelting area were collected in Minas Gerais state, Brazil. The samples were subjected to single (using Mehlich I solution) and sequential extractions. The risk assessment code (RAC), the redistribution index (U ts ), and the reduced partition index (I R ) have been applied to the sequential extraction data. Zinc and Cd, in soil samples from the mining area, were found mainly associated with carbonate forms. This same pattern did not occur for Pb. Moreover, the Fe-Mn oxides and residual fractions had important contributions for Zn and Pb in those soils. For the tailing, more than 70 % of Zn and Cd were released in the exchangeable fraction, showing a much higher mobility and availability of these metals at this site, which was also supported by results of RAC and I R . These differences in terms of mobility might be due to different chemical forms of the metals in the two sites, which are attributable to natural occurrence as well as ore processing.

Implementation of digital equality comparator circuit on memristive memory crossbar array using material implication logic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haron, Adib; Mahdzair, Fazren; Luqman, Anas; Osman, Nazmie; Junid, Syed Abdul Mutalib Al

2018-03-01

One of the most significant constraints of Von Neumann architecture is the limited bandwidth between memory and processor. The cost to move data back and forth between memory and processor is considerably higher than the computation in the processor itself. This architecture significantly impacts the Big Data and data-intensive application such as DNA analysis comparison which spend most of the processing time to move data. Recently, the in-memory processing concept was proposed, which is based on the capability to perform the logic operation on the physical memory structure using a crossbar topology and non-volatile resistive-switching memristor technology. This paper proposes a scheme to map digital equality comparator circuit on memristive memory crossbar array. The 2-bit, 4-bit, 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit, and 64-bit of equality comparator circuit are mapped on memristive memory crossbar array by using material implication logic in a sequential and parallel method. The simulation results show that, for the 64-bit word size, the parallel mapping exhibits 2.8× better performance in total execution time than sequential mapping but has a trade-off in terms of energy consumption and area utilization. Meanwhile, the total crossbar area can be reduced by 1.2× for sequential mapping and 1.5× for parallel mapping both by using the overlapping technique.

Comparative study of lesions created by high-intensity focused ultrasound using sequential discrete and continuous scanning strategies.

PubMed

Fan, Tingbo; Liu, Zhenbo; Zhang, Dong; Tang, Mengxing

2013-03-01

Lesion formation and temperature distribution induced by high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) were investigated both numerically and experimentally via two energy-delivering strategies, i.e., sequential discrete and continuous scanning modes. Simulations were presented based on the combination of Khokhlov-Zabolotskaya-Kuznetsov (KZK) equation and bioheat equation. Measurements were performed on tissue-mimicking phantoms sonicated by a 1.12-MHz single-element focused transducer working at an acoustic power of 75 W. Both the simulated and experimental results show that, in the sequential discrete mode, obvious saw-tooth-like contours could be observed for the peak temperature distribution and the lesion boundaries, with the increasing interval space between two adjacent exposure points. In the continuous scanning mode, more uniform peak temperature distributions and lesion boundaries would be produced, and the peak temperature values would decrease significantly with the increasing scanning speed. In addition, compared to the sequential discrete mode, the continuous scanning mode could achieve higher treatment efficiency (lesion area generated per second) with a lower peak temperature. The present studies suggest that the peak temperature and tissue lesion resulting from the HIFU exposure could be controlled by adjusting the transducer scanning speed, which is important for improving the HIFU treatment efficiency.

Sequential nitrification and denitrification in a novel palm shell granular activated carbon twin-chamber upflow bio-electrochemical reactor for treating ammonium-rich wastewater.

PubMed

Mousavi, Seyyedalireza; Ibrahim, Shaliza; Aroua, Mohamed Kheireddine

2012-12-01

In this study, a twin-chamber upflow bio-electrochemical reactor packed with palm shell granular activated carbon as biocarrier and third electrode was used for sequential nitrification and denitrification of nitrogen-rich wastewater under different operating conditions. The experiments were performed at a constant pH value for the denitrification compartment. The effect of variables, namely, electric current (I) and hydraulic retention time (HRT), on the pH was considered in the nitrification chamber. The response surface methodology was used based on three levels to develop empirical models for the study on the effects of HRT and current values as independent operating variables on NH(4)(+)-N removal. The results showed that ammonium was reduced within the function of an extensive operational range of electric intensity (20-50 mA) and HRT (6-24h). The optimum condition for ammonium oxidation (90%) was determined with an I of 32 mA and HRT of 19.2h. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Multiple ionization of neon by soft x-rays at ultrahigh intensity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guichard, R.; Richter, M.; Rost, J.-M.; Saalmann, U.; Sorokin, A. A.; Tiedtke, K.

2013-08-01

At the free-electron laser FLASH, multiple ionization of neon atoms was quantitatively investigated at photon energies of 93.0 and 90.5 eV. For ion charge states up to 6+, we compare the respective absolute photoionization yields with results from a minimal model and an elaborate description including standard sequential and direct photoionization channels. Both approaches are based on rate equations and take into account a Gaussian spatial intensity distribution of the laser beam. From the comparison we conclude that photoionization up to a charge of 5+ can be described by the minimal model which we interpret as sequential photoionization assisted by electron shake-up processes. For higher charges, the experimental ionization yields systematically exceed the elaborate rate-based prediction.

Basic study of less invasive high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) in fetal therapy for twin reversed arterial perfusion (TRAP) sequence.

PubMed

Ichizuka, Kiyotake; Matsuoka, Ryu; Aoki, Hiroko; Hasegawa, Junichi; Okai, Takashi; Umemura, Shin-Ichiro

2016-10-01

The objective of the present study was to develop a high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) transducer more suitable for clinical use in fetal therapy for twin reversed arterial perfusion (TRAP) sequence. We created a cooling and degassed water-circulating-type HIFU treatment device. HIFU was applied to renal branch vessels in three rabbits. Sequential HIFU irradiation contains a trigger wave, heating wave, and rest time. The duration of HIFU application was 10 s/course. Targeting could be achieved by setting the imaging probe in the center and placing the HIFU beam and imaging ultrasonic wave on the same axis. We confirmed under sequential HIFU irradiation with a total intensity of 1.94 kW/cm(2) (spatial average temporal average intensity) that the vein and artery were occluded in all three rabbits. Simultaneous occluding of the veins and arteries was confirmed with trigger waves and a resting phase using the HIFU transducer treatment device created for this study. Clinical application appears possible and may represent a promising option for fetal therapy involving TRAP sequence.

[Professor GAO Yuchun's experience on "sequential acupuncture leads to smooth movement of qi"].

PubMed

Wang, Yanjun; Xing, Xiao; Cui, Linhua

2016-01-01

Professor GAO Yuchun is considered as the key successor of GAO's academic school of acupuncture and moxibustion in Yanzhao region. Professor GAO's clinical experience of, "sequential acupuncture" is introduced in details in this article. In Professor GAO's opinions, appropriate acupuncture sequence is the key to satisfactory clinical effects during treatment. Based on different acupoints, sequential acupuncture can achieve the aim of qi following needles and needles leading qi; based on different symptoms, sequential acupuncture can regulate qi movement; based on different body positions, sequential acupuncture can harmonize qi-blood and reinforcing deficiency and reducing excess. In all, according to the differences of disease condition and constitution, based on the accurate acupoint selection and appropriate manipulation, it is essential to capture the nature of diseases and make the order of acupuncture, which can achieve the aim of regulating qi movement and reinforcing deficiency and reducing excess.

Hierarchical Chunking of Sequential Memory on Neuromorphic Architecture with Reduced Synaptic Plasticity

PubMed Central

Li, Guoqi; Deng, Lei; Wang, Dong; Wang, Wei; Zeng, Fei; Zhang, Ziyang; Li, Huanglong; Song, Sen; Pei, Jing; Shi, Luping

2016-01-01

Chunking refers to a phenomenon whereby individuals group items together when performing a memory task to improve the performance of sequential memory. In this work, we build a bio-plausible hierarchical chunking of sequential memory (HCSM) model to explain why such improvement happens. We address this issue by linking hierarchical chunking with synaptic plasticity and neuromorphic engineering. We uncover that a chunking mechanism reduces the requirements of synaptic plasticity since it allows applying synapses with narrow dynamic range and low precision to perform a memory task. We validate a hardware version of the model through simulation, based on measured memristor behavior with narrow dynamic range in neuromorphic circuits, which reveals how chunking works and what role it plays in encoding sequential memory. Our work deepens the understanding of sequential memory and enables incorporating it for the investigation of the brain-inspired computing on neuromorphic architecture. PMID:28066223

Alternatives to the sequential lineup: the importance of controlling the pictures.

PubMed

Lindsay, R C; Bellinger, K

1999-06-01

Because sequential lineups reduce false-positive choices, their use has been recommended (R. C. L. Lindsay, 1999; R. C. L. Lindsay & G. L. Wells, 1985). Blind testing is included in the recommended procedures. Police, concerned about blind testing, devised alternative procedures, including self-administered sequential lineups, to reduce use of relative judgments (G. L. Wells, 1984) while permitting the investigating officer to conduct the procedure. Identification data from undergraduates exposed to a staged crime (N = 165) demonstrated that 4 alternative identification procedures tested were less effective than the original sequential lineup. Allowing witnesses to control the photographs resulted in higher rates of false-positive identification. Self-reports of using relative judgments were shown to be postdictive of decision accuracy.

The parallel-sequential field subtraction technique for coherent nonlinear ultrasonic imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Jingwei; Potter, Jack N.; Drinkwater, Bruce W.

2018-06-01

Nonlinear imaging techniques have recently emerged which have the potential to detect cracks at a much earlier stage than was previously possible and have sensitivity to partially closed defects. This study explores a coherent imaging technique based on the subtraction of two modes of focusing: parallel, in which the elements are fired together with a delay law and sequential, in which elements are fired independently. In the parallel focusing a high intensity ultrasonic beam is formed in the specimen at the focal point. However, in sequential focusing only low intensity signals from individual elements enter the sample and the full matrix of transmit-receive signals is recorded and post-processed to form an image. Under linear elastic assumptions, both parallel and sequential images are expected to be identical. Here we measure the difference between these images and use this to characterise the nonlinearity of small closed fatigue cracks. In particular we monitor the change in relative phase and amplitude at the fundamental frequencies for each focal point and use this nonlinear coherent imaging metric to form images of the spatial distribution of nonlinearity. The results suggest the subtracted image can suppress linear features (e.g. back wall or large scatters) effectively when instrumentation noise compensation in applied, thereby allowing damage to be detected at an early stage (c. 15% of fatigue life) and reliably quantified in later fatigue life.

A Process Improvement Evaluation of Sequential Compression Device Compliance and Effects of Provider Intervention.

PubMed

Beachler, Jason A; Krueger, Chad A; Johnson, Anthony E

This process improvement study sought to evaluate the compliance in orthopaedic patients with sequential compression devices and to monitor any improvement in compliance following an educational intervention. All non-intensive care unit orthopaedic primary patients were evaluated at random times and their compliance with sequential compression devices was monitored and recorded. Following a 2-week period of data collection, an educational flyer was displayed in every patient's room and nursing staff held an in-service training event focusing on the importance of sequential compression device use in the surgical patient. Patients were then monitored, again at random, and compliance was recorded. With the addition of a simple flyer and a single in-service on the importance of mechanical compression in the surgical patient, a significant improvement in compliance was documented at the authors' institution from 28% to 59% (p < .0001).

Lineup Composition, Suspect Position, and the Sequential Lineup Advantage

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carlson, Curt A.; Gronlund, Scott D.; Clark, Steven E.

2008-01-01

N. M. Steblay, J. Dysart, S. Fulero, and R. C. L. Lindsay (2001) argued that sequential lineups reduce the likelihood of mistaken eyewitness identification. Experiment 1 replicated the design of R. C. L. Lindsay and G. L. Wells (1985), the first study to show the sequential lineup advantage. However, the innocent suspect was chosen at a lower rate…

A Bayesian sequential design using alpha spending function to control type I error.

PubMed

Zhu, Han; Yu, Qingzhao

2017-10-01

We propose in this article a Bayesian sequential design using alpha spending functions to control the overall type I error in phase III clinical trials. We provide algorithms to calculate critical values, power, and sample sizes for the proposed design. Sensitivity analysis is implemented to check the effects from different prior distributions, and conservative priors are recommended. We compare the power and actual sample sizes of the proposed Bayesian sequential design with different alpha spending functions through simulations. We also compare the power of the proposed method with frequentist sequential design using the same alpha spending function. Simulations show that, at the same sample size, the proposed method provides larger power than the corresponding frequentist sequential design. It also has larger power than traditional Bayesian sequential design which sets equal critical values for all interim analyses. When compared with other alpha spending functions, O'Brien-Fleming alpha spending function has the largest power and is the most conservative in terms that at the same sample size, the null hypothesis is the least likely to be rejected at early stage of clinical trials. And finally, we show that adding a step of stop for futility in the Bayesian sequential design can reduce the overall type I error and reduce the actual sample sizes.

Effect of pulsed discharge on the ignition of pulse modulated radio frequency glow discharge at atmospheric pressure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qiu, Shenjie; Guo, Ying; Han, Qianhan; Bao, Yun; Zhang, Jing; Shi, J. J.

2018-01-01

A pulsed discharge is introduced between two sequential pulse-modulated radio frequency glow discharges in atmospheric helium. The dependence of radio frequency discharge ignition on pulsed discharge intensity is investigated experimentally with the pulse voltage amplitudes of 650, 850, and 1250 V. The discharge characteristics and dynamics are studied in terms of voltage and current waveforms, and spatial-temporal evolution of optical emission. With the elevated pulsed discharge intensity of two orders of magnitude, the ignition of radio frequency discharge is enhanced by reducing the ignition time and achieving the stable operation with a double-hump spatial profile. The ignition time of radio frequency discharge is estimated to be 2.0 μs, 1.5 μs, and 1.0 μs with the pulse voltage amplitudes of 650, 850, and 1250 V, respectively, which is also demonstrated by the spatial-temporal evolution of optical emission at 706 and 777 nm.

Two-step sequential pretreatment for the enhanced enzymatic hydrolysis of coffee spent waste.

PubMed

Ravindran, Rajeev; Jaiswal, Swarna; Abu-Ghannam, Nissreen; Jaiswal, Amit K

2017-09-01

In the present study, eight different pretreatments of varying nature (physical, chemical and physico-chemical) followed by a sequential, combinatorial pretreatment strategy was applied to spent coffee waste to attain maximum sugar yield. Pretreated samples were analysed for total reducing sugar, individual sugars and generation of inhibitory compounds such as furfural and hydroxymethyl furfural (HMF) which can hinder microbial growth and enzyme activity. Native spent coffee waste was high in hemicellulose content. Galactose was found to be the predominant sugar in spent coffee waste. Results showed that sequential pretreatment yielded 350.12mg of reducing sugar/g of substrate, which was 1.7-fold higher than in native spent coffee waste (203.4mg/g of substrate). Furthermore, extensive delignification was achieved using sequential pretreatment strategy. XRD, FTIR, and DSC profiles of the pretreated substrates were studied to analyse the various changes incurred in sequentially pretreated spent coffee waste as opposed to native spent coffee waste. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A sampling and classification item selection approach with content balancing.

PubMed

Chen, Pei-Hua

2015-03-01

Existing automated test assembly methods typically employ constrained combinatorial optimization. Constructing forms sequentially based on an optimization approach usually results in unparallel forms and requires heuristic modifications. Methods based on a random search approach have the major advantage of producing parallel forms sequentially without further adjustment. This study incorporated a flexible content-balancing element into the statistical perspective item selection method of the cell-only method (Chen et al. in Educational and Psychological Measurement, 72(6), 933-953, 2012). The new method was compared with a sequential interitem distance weighted deviation model (IID WDM) (Swanson & Stocking in Applied Psychological Measurement, 17(2), 151-166, 1993), a simultaneous IID WDM, and a big-shadow-test mixed integer programming (BST MIP) method to construct multiple parallel forms based on matching a reference form item-by-item. The results showed that the cell-only method with content balancing and the sequential and simultaneous versions of IID WDM yielded results comparable to those obtained using the BST MIP method. The cell-only method with content balancing is computationally less intensive than the sequential and simultaneous versions of IID WDM.

Attentional effects on orientation judgements are dependent on memory consolidation processes.

PubMed

Haskell, Christie; Anderson, Britt

2016-11-01

Are the effects of memory and attention on perception synergistic, antagonistic, or independent? Tested separately, memory and attention have been shown to affect the accuracy of orientation judgements. When multiple stimuli are presented sequentially versus simultaneously, error variance is reduced. When a target is validly cued, precision is increased. What if they are manipulated together? We combined memory and attention manipulations in an orientation judgement task to answer this question. Two circular gratings were presented sequentially or simultaneously. On some trials a brief luminance cue preceded the stimuli. Participants were cued to report the orientation of one of the two gratings by rotating a response grating. We replicated the finding that error variance is reduced on sequential trials. Critically, we found interacting effects of memory and attention. Valid cueing reduced the median, absolute error only when two stimuli appeared together and improved it to the level of performance on uncued sequential trials, whereas invalid cueing always increased error. This effect was not mediated by cue predictiveness; however, predictive cues reduced the standard deviation of the error distribution, whereas nonpredictive cues reduced "guessing". Our results suggest that, when the demand on memory is greater than a single stimulus, attention is a bottom-up process that prioritizes stimuli for consolidation. Thus attention and memory are synergistic.

Fixed or adapted conditioning intensity for repeated conditioned pain modulation.

PubMed

Hoegh, M; Petersen, K K; Graven-Nielsen, T

2017-12-29

Aims Conditioned pain modulation (CPM) is used to assess descending pain modulation through a test stimulation (TS) and a conditioning stimulation (CS). Due to potential carry-over effects, sequential CPM paradigms might alter the intensity of the CS, which potentially can alter the CPM-effect. This study aimed to investigate the difference between a fixed and adaptive CS intensity on CPM-effect. Methods On the dominant leg of 20 healthy subjects the cuff pressure detection threshold (PDT) was recorded as TS and the pain tolerance threshold (PTT) was assessed on the non-dominant leg for estimating the CS. The difference in PDT before and during CS defined the CPM-effect. The CPM-effect was assessed four times using a CS with intensities of 70% of baseline PTT (fixed) or 70% of PTT measured throughout the session (adaptive). Pain intensity of the conditioning stimulus was assessed on a numeric rating scale (NRS). Data were analyzed with repeated-measures ANOVA. Results No difference was found comparing the four PDTs assessed before CSs for the fixed and the adaptive paradigms. The CS pressure intensity for the adaptive paradigm was increasing during the four repeated assessments (P < 0.01). The pain intensity was similar during the fixed (NRS: 5.8±0.5) and the adjusted paradigm (NRS: 6.0±0.4). The CPM-effect was higher using the fixed condition compared with the adaptive condition (P < 0.05). Conclusions The current study found that sequential CPM paradigms using a fixed conditioning stimulus produced an increased CPM-effect compared with adaptive and increasing conditioning intensities.

Introducing a Model for Optimal Design of Sequential Objective Structured Clinical Examinations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mortaz Hejri, Sara; Yazdani, Kamran; Labaf, Ali; Norcini, John J.; Jalili, Mohammad

2016-01-01

In a sequential OSCE which has been suggested to reduce testing costs, candidates take a short screening test and who fail the test, are asked to take the full OSCE. In order to introduce an effective and accurate sequential design, we developed a model for designing and evaluating screening OSCEs. Based on two datasets from a 10-station…

Sequential analysis in neonatal research-systematic review.

PubMed

Lava, Sebastiano A G; Elie, Valéry; Ha, Phuong Thi Viet; Jacqz-Aigrain, Evelyne

2018-05-01

As more new drugs are discovered, traditional designs come at their limits. Ten years after the adoption of the European Paediatric Regulation, we performed a systematic review on the US National Library of Medicine and Excerpta Medica database of sequential trials involving newborns. Out of 326 identified scientific reports, 21 trials were included. They enrolled 2832 patients, of whom 2099 were analyzed: the median number of neonates included per trial was 48 (IQR 22-87), median gestational age was 28.7 (IQR 27.9-30.9) weeks. Eighteen trials used sequential techniques to determine sample size, while 3 used continual reassessment methods for dose-finding. In 16 studies reporting sufficient data, the sequential design allowed to non-significantly reduce the number of enrolled neonates by a median of 24 (31%) patients (IQR - 4.75 to 136.5, p = 0.0674) with respect to a traditional trial. When the number of neonates finally included in the analysis was considered, the difference became significant: 35 (57%) patients (IQR 10 to 136.5, p = 0.0033). Sequential trial designs have not been frequently used in Neonatology. They might potentially be able to reduce the number of patients in drug trials, although this is not always the case. What is known: • In evaluating rare diseases in fragile populations, traditional designs come at their limits. About 20% of pediatric trials are discontinued, mainly because of recruitment problems. What is new: • Sequential trials involving newborns were infrequently used and only a few (n = 21) are available for analysis. • The sequential design allowed to non-significantly reduce the number of enrolled neonates by a median of 24 (31%) patients (IQR - 4.75 to 136.5, p = 0.0674).

The effectiveness of a preferred intensity exercise programme on the mental health outcomes of young people with depression: a sequential mixed methods evaluation.

PubMed

Carter, Tim; Callaghan, Patrick; Khalil, Elizabeth; Morres, Ioannis

2012-03-13

People with mental illness are more likely to suffer physical health problems than comparable populations who do not have mental illness. There is evidence to suggest that exercise, as well has having obvious physical benefits, also has positive effects on mental health. There is a distinct paucity of research testing its effects on young people seeking help for mental health issues. Additionally, it is generally found that compliance with prescribed exercise programmes is low. As such, encouraging young people to exercise at levels recommended by national guidelines may be unrealistic considering their struggle with mental health difficulties. It is proposed that an exercise intervention tailored to young people's preferred intensity may improve mental health outcomes, overall quality of life, and reduce exercise attrition rates. A sequential mixed methods design will be utilised to assess the effectiveness of an individually tailored exercise programme on the mental health outcomes of young people with depression. The mixed methods design incorporates a Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT), focus groups and interviews and an economic evaluation. 158 young people (14-17 years) recruited from primary care and voluntary services randomly allocated to either the intervention group or control group. Intervention group: PARTICIPANTS will undertake a 12 week exercise programme of 12 × 60 minutes of preferred intensity aerobic exercise receiving motivational coaching and support throughout. PARTICIPANTS will also be invited to attend focus groups and 1-1 interviews following completion of the exercise programme to illicit potential barriers facilitators to participation. PARTICIPANTS will receive treatment as usual. Depression using the Children's Depression Inventory 2 (CDI-2). Quality of Life (EQ-5D), physical fitness (Borg RPE scale, heart rate), incidents of self-harm, treatment received and compliance with treatment, and the cost effectiveness of the intervention. Outcome measures will be taken at baseline, post intervention and 6 month follow up. The results of this study will inform policy makers of the effectiveness of preferred intensity exercise on the mental health outcomes of young people with depression, the acceptability of such an intervention to this population and its cost effectiveness. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01474837.

Strong signal increase in STED fluorescence microscopy by imaging regions of subdiffraction extent

PubMed Central

Göttfert, Fabian; Pleiner, Tino; Heine, Jörn; Westphal, Volker; Görlich, Dirk; Sahl, Steffen J.; Hell, Stefan W.

2017-01-01

Photobleaching remains a limiting factor in superresolution fluorescence microscopy. This is particularly true for stimulated emission depletion (STED) and reversible saturable/switchable optical fluorescence transitions (RESOLFT) microscopy, where adjacent fluorescent molecules are distinguished by sequentially turning them off (or on) using a pattern of light formed as a doughnut or a standing wave. In sample regions where the pattern intensity reaches or exceeds a certain threshold, the molecules are essentially off (or on), whereas in areas where the intensity is lower, that is, around the intensity minima, the molecules remain in the initial state. Unfortunately, the creation of on/off state differences on subdiffraction scales requires the maxima of the intensity pattern to exceed the threshold intensity by a large factor that scales with the resolution. Hence, when recording an image by scanning the pattern across the sample, each molecule in the sample is repeatedly exposed to the maxima, which exacerbates bleaching. Here, we introduce MINFIELD, a strategy for fundamentally reducing bleaching in STED/RESOLFT nanoscopy through restricting the scanning to subdiffraction-sized regions. By safeguarding the molecules from the intensity of the maxima and exposing them only to the lower intensities (around the minima) needed for the off-switching (on-switching), MINFIELD largely avoids detrimental transitions to higher molecular states. A bleaching reduction by up to 100-fold is demonstrated. Recording nanobody-labeled nuclear pore complexes in Xenopus laevis cells showed that MINFIELD-STED microscopy resolved details separated by <25 nm where conventional scanning failed to acquire sufficient signal. PMID:28193881

Simultaneous vs. sequential treatment for smoking and weight management in tobacco quitlines: 6 and 12 month outcomes from a randomized trial.

PubMed

Bush, Terry; Lovejoy, Jennifer; Javitz, Harold; Torres, Alula Jimenez; Wassum, Ken; Tan, Marcia M; Spring, Bonnie

2018-05-31

Smoking cessation often results in weight gain which discourages many smokers from quitting and can increase health risks. Treatments to reduce cessation-related weight gain have been tested in highly controlled trials of in-person treatment, but have never been tested in a real-world setting, which has inhibited dissemination. The Best Quit Study (BQS) is a replication and "real world" translation using telephone delivery of a prior in-person efficacy trial. randomized control trial in a quitline setting. Eligible smokers (n = 2540) were randomized to the standard 5-call quitline intervention or quitline plus simultaneous or sequential weight management. Regression analyses tested effectiveness of treatments on self-reported smoking abstinence and weight change at 6 and 12 months. Study enrollees were from 10 commercial employer groups and three state quitlines. Participants were between ages 18-72, 65.8% female, 68.2% white; 23.0% Medicaid-insured, and 76.3% overweight/obese. The follow-up response rate was lower in the simultaneous group than the control group at 6 months (p = 0.01). While a completers analysis of 30-day point prevalence abstinence detected no differences among groups at 6 or 12 months, multiply imputed abstinence showed quit rate differences at 6 months for:simultaneous (40.3%) vs. sequential (48.3%), p = 0.034 and simultaneous vs. control (44.9%), p = 0.043. At 12 months, multiply imputed abstinence, was significantly lower for the simultaneous group (40.7%) vs. control (46.0%), p < 0.05 and vs. sequential (46.3%), p < 0.05. Weight gain at 6 and 12 months was minimal and not different among treatment groups. The sequential group completed fewer total calls (3.75) vs. control (4.16) and vs. simultaneous group (3.83), p = 0.01, and fewer weight calls (0.94) than simultaneous (2.33), p < 0.0001. The number of calls completed predicted 30-day abstinence, p < 0.001, but not weight outcomes. This study offers a model for evaluating population-level public health interventions conducted in partnership with tobacco quitlines. Simultaneous (vs. sequential) delivery of phone/web weight management with cessation treatment in the quitline setting may adversely affect quit rate. Neither a simultaneous nor sequential approach to addressing weight produced any benefit on suppressing weight gain. This study highlights the need and the challenges of testing intensive interventions in real-world settings. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01867983 . Registered: May 30, 2013.

One-stage sequential bilateral thoracic expansion for asphyxiating thoracic dystrophy (Jeune syndrome).

PubMed

Muthialu, Nagarajan; Mussa, Shafi; Owens, Catherine M; Bulstrode, Neil; Elliott, Martin J

2014-10-01

Jeune syndrome (asphyxiating thoracic dystrophy) is a rare disorder characterized by skeletal dysplasia, reduced diameter of the thoracic cage and extrathoracic organ involvement. Fatal, early respiratory insufficiency may occur. Two-stage lateral thoracic expansion has been reported, addressing each side sequentially over 3-12 months. While staged repair theoretically provides less invasive surgery in a small child with respiratory distress, we utilized a single stage, bilateral procedure aiming to rapidly maximize lung development. Combined bilateral surgery also offered the chance of rapid recovery, and reduced hospital stay. We present our early experience of this modification of existing surgical treatment for an extremely rare condition, thought to be generally fatal in early childhood. Nine children (6 males, 3 females; median age 30 months [3.5-75]) underwent thoracic expansion for Jeune syndrome in our centre. All patients required preoperative respiratory support (5 with tracheostomy, 8 requiring positive pressure ventilation regularly within each day/night cycle). Two children underwent sequential unilateral (2-month interval between stages) and 7 children bilateral thoracic expansion by means of staggered osteotomies of third to eighth ribs and plate fixation of fourth to fifth rib and sixth to seventh rib, leaving the remaining ribs floating. There was no operative mortality. There were 2 deaths within 3 months of surgery, due to pulmonary hypertension (1 following two-stage and 1 following single-stage thoracic expansion). At the median follow-up of 11 months (1-15), 3 children have been discharged home from their referring unit and 2 have significantly reduced respiratory support. One child remains on non-invasive ventilation and another is still ventilated with a high oxygen requirement. Jeune syndrome is a difficult condition to manage, but bilateral thoracic expansion offers an effective reduction in ventilator requirements in these children. While two-stage repair has been described previously, this is the first report of single-stage bilateral thoracic expansion. Single-stage repair is feasible and may offer better resource management and significant cost savings by potentially reducing theatre usage and overall length of stay (intensive care and hospital) without compromising clinical outcomes. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. All rights reserved.

Evidence for decreased interaction and improved carotenoid bioavailability by sequential delivery of a supplement.

PubMed

Salter-Venzon, Dawna; Kazlova, Valentina; Izzy Ford, Samantha; Intra, Janjira; Klosner, Allison E; Gellenbeck, Kevin W

2017-05-01

Despite the notable health benefits of carotenoids for human health, the majority of human diets worldwide are repeatedly shown to be inadequate in intake of carotenoid-rich fruits and vegetables, according to current health recommendations. To address this deficit, strategies designed to increase dietary intakes and subsequent plasma levels of carotenoids are warranted. When mixed carotenoids are delivered into the intestinal tract simultaneously, competition occurs for micelle formation and absorption, affecting carotenoid bioavailability. Previously, we tested the in vitro viability of a carotenoid mix designed to deliver individual carotenoids sequentially spaced from one another over the 6 hr transit time of the human upper gastrointestinal system. We hypothesized that temporally and spatially separating the individual carotenoids would reduce competition for micelle formation, improve uptake, and maximize efficacy. Here, we test this hypothesis in a double-blind, repeated-measure, cross-over human study with 12 subjects by comparing the change of plasma carotenoid levels for 8 hr after oral doses of a sequentially spaced carotenoid mix, to a matched mix without sequential spacing. We find the carotenoid change from baseline, measured as area under the curve, is increased following consumption of the sequentially spaced mix compared to concomitant carotenoids delivery. These results demonstrate reduced interaction and regulation between the sequentially spaced carotenoids, suggesting improved bioavailability from a novel sequentially spaced carotenoid mix.

Effect of sequential dry heat and hydrogen peroxide treatment on inactivation of Salmonella Typhimurium on alfalfa seeds and seeds germination.

PubMed

Hong, Eun-Jeong; Kang, Dong-Hyun

2016-02-01

The purpose of this study was to inactivate Salmonella Typhimurium on alfalfa seeds without having negative effect on seed germination. Inoculated alfalfa seeds were treated with dry heat at 60, 70 or 80 °C for 0, 12, 18 or 24 h followed by 2% hydrogen peroxide solution (10 min). Populations of Salmonella on alfalfa seeds treated with dry heat alone (60, 70 or 80 °C) for up to 24 h were reduced by 0.26-2.76 log CFU/g, and sequential treatment with dry heat and H2O2 reduced populations by 1.66-3.60 log CFU/g. The germination percentage of seeds subjected to sequential treatments was significantly enhanced to up to 97%, whereas that of untreated seeds was only 79.5%. This study suggests that sequential treatment with dry heat and hydrogen peroxide is applicable for reducing levels of Salmonella on seeds while simultaneously enhancing seeds germinability. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Comparison of Image Quality and Radiation Dose of Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography Between Conventional Helical Scanning and a Strategy Incorporating Sequential Scanning

PubMed Central

Einstein, Andrew J.; Wolff, Steven D.; Manheimer, Eric D.; Thompson, James; Terry, Sylvia; Uretsky, Seth; Pilip, Adalbert; Peters, M. Robert

2009-01-01

Radiation dose from coronary computed tomography angiography may be reduced using a sequential scanning protocol rather than a conventional helical scanning protocol. Here we compare radiation dose and image quality from coronary computed tomography angiography in a single center between an initial period during which helical scanning with electrocardiographically-controlled tube current modulation was used for all patients (n=138) and after adoption of a strategy incorporating sequential scanning whenever appropriate (n=261). Using the sequential-if-appropriate strategy, sequential scanning was employed in 86.2% of patients. Compared to the helical-only strategy, this strategy was associated with a 65.1% dose reduction (mean dose-length product of 305.2 vs. 875.1 and mean effective dose of 14.9 mSv vs. 5.2 mSv, respectively), with no significant change in overall image quality, step artifacts, motion artifacts, or perceived image noise. For the 225 patients undergoing sequential scanning, the dose-length product was 201.9 ± 90.0 mGy·cm, while for patients undergoing helical scanning under either strategy, the dose-length product was 890.9 ± 293.3 mGy·cm (p<0.0001), corresponding to mean effective doses of 3.4 mSv and 15.1 mSv, respectively, a 77.5% reduction. Image quality was significantly greater for the sequential studies, reflecting the poorer image quality in patients undergoing helical scanning in the sequential-if-appropriate strategy. In conclusion, a sequential-if-appropriate diagnostic strategy reduces dose markedly compared to a helical-only strategy, with no significant difference in image quality. PMID:19892048

Reduction of Salmonella on chicken meat and chicken skin by combined or sequential application of lytic bacteriophage with chemical antimicrobials.

PubMed

Sukumaran, Anuraj T; Nannapaneni, Rama; Kiess, Aaron; Sharma, Chander Shekhar

2015-08-17

The effectiveness of recently approved Salmonella lytic bacteriophage preparation (SalmoFresh™) in reducing Salmonella in vitro and on chicken breast fillets was examined in combination with lauric arginate (LAE) or cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC). In another experiment, a sequential spray application of this bacteriophage (phage) solution on Salmonella inoculated chicken skin after a 20s dip in chemical antimicrobials (LAE, CPC, peracetic acid, or chlorine) was also examined in reducing Salmonella counts on chicken skin. The application of phage in combination with CPC or LAE reduced S. Typhimurium, S. Heidelberg, and S. Enteritidis up to 5 log units in vitro at 4 °C. On chicken breast fillets, phage in combination with CPC or LAE resulted in significant (p<0.05) reductions of Salmonella ranging from 0.5 to 1.3 log CFU/g as compared to control up to 7 days of refrigerated storage. When phage was applied sequentially with chemical antimicrobials, all the treatments resulted in significant reductions of Salmonella. The application of chlorine (30 ppm) and PAA (400 ppm) followed by phage spray (10(9)PFU/ml) resulted in highest Salmonella reductions of 1.6-1.7 and 2.2-2.5l og CFU/cm(2), respectively. In conclusion, the surface applications of phage in combination with LAE or CPC significantly reduced Salmonella counts on chicken breast fillets. However, higher reductions in Salmonella counts were achieved on chicken skin by the sequential application of chemical antimicrobials followed by phage spray. The sequential application of chlorine, PAA, and phage can provide additional hurdles to reduce Salmonella on fresh poultry carcasses or cut up parts. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sequentially-crosslinked biomimetic bioactive glass/gelatin methacryloyl composites hydrogels for bone regeneration.

PubMed

Zheng, Jiafu; Zhao, Fujian; Zhang, Wen; Mo, Yunfei; Zeng, Lei; Li, Xian; Chen, Xiaofeng

2018-08-01

In recent years, gelatin-based composites hydrogels have been intensively investigated because of their inherent bioactivity, biocompatibility and biodegradability. Herein, we fabricated photocrosslinkable biomimetic composites hydrogels from bioactive glass (BG) and gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) by a sequential physical and chemical crosslinking (gelation + UV) approach. The results showed that the compressive modulus of composites hydrogels increased significantly through the sequential crosslinking approach. The addition of BG resulted in a significant increase in physiological stability and apatite-forming ability. In vitro data indicated that BG/GelMA composites hydrogels promoted cell attachment, proliferation and differentiation. Overall, the BG/GelMA composites hydrogels combined the advantages of good biocompatibility and bioactivity, and had potential applications in bone regeneration. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

High energy protons generation by two sequential laser pulses

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

Wang, Xiaofeng; Shen, Baifei, E-mail: bfshen@mail.shcnc.ac.cn, E-mail: zhxm@siom.ac.cn; Zhang, Xiaomei, E-mail: bfshen@mail.shcnc.ac.cn, E-mail: zhxm@siom.ac.cn

2015-04-15

The sequential proton acceleration by two laser pulses of relativistic intensity is proposed to produce high energy protons. In the scheme, a relativistic super-Gaussian (SG) laser pulse followed by a Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) pulse irradiates dense plasma attached by underdense plasma. A proton beam is produced from the target and accelerated in the radiation pressure regime by the short SG pulse and then trapped and re-accelerated in a special bubble driven by the LG pulse in the underdense plasma. The advantages of radiation pressure acceleration and LG transverse structure are combined to achieve the effective trapping and acceleration of protons. Inmore » a two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation, protons of 6.7 GeV are obtained from a 2 × 10{sup 22 }W/cm{sup 2} SG laser pulse and a LG pulse at a lower peak intensity.« less

Algorithms for Large-Scale Astronomical Problems

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-08-01

implemented as a succession of Hadoop MapReduce jobs and sequential programs written in Java . The sampling and splitting stages are implemented as...one MapReduce job, the partitioning and clustering phases make up another job. The merging stage is implemented as a stand-alone Java program. The...Merging. The merging stage is implemented as a sequential Java program that reads the files with the shell information, which were generated by

Safeguarding a Lunar Rover with Wald's Sequential Probability Ratio Test

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Furlong, Michael; Dille, Michael; Wong, Uland; Nefian, Ara

2016-01-01

The virtual bumper is a safeguarding mechanism for autonomous and remotely operated robots. In this paper we take a new approach to the virtual bumper system by using an old statistical test. By using a modified version of Wald's sequential probability ratio test we demonstrate that we can reduce the number of false positive reported by the virtual bumper, thereby saving valuable mission time. We use the concept of sequential probability ratio to control vehicle speed in the presence of possible obstacles in order to increase certainty about whether or not obstacles are present. Our new algorithm reduces the chances of collision by approximately 98 relative to traditional virtual bumper safeguarding without speed control.

Lineup composition, suspect position, and the sequential lineup advantage.

PubMed

Carlson, Curt A; Gronlund, Scott D; Clark, Steven E

2008-06-01

N. M. Steblay, J. Dysart, S. Fulero, and R. C. L. Lindsay (2001) argued that sequential lineups reduce the likelihood of mistaken eyewitness identification. Experiment 1 replicated the design of R. C. L. Lindsay and G. L. Wells (1985), the first study to show the sequential lineup advantage. However, the innocent suspect was chosen at a lower rate in the simultaneous lineup, and no sequential lineup advantage was found. This led the authors to hypothesize that protection from a sequential lineup might emerge only when an innocent suspect stands out from the other lineup members. In Experiment 2, participants viewed a simultaneous or sequential lineup with either the guilty suspect or 1 of 3 innocent suspects. Lineup fairness was varied to influence the degree to which a suspect stood out. A sequential lineup advantage was found only for the unfair lineups. Additional analyses of suspect position in the sequential lineups showed an increase in the diagnosticity of suspect identifications as the suspect was placed later in the sequential lineup. These results suggest that the sequential lineup advantage is dependent on lineup composition and suspect position. (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved

Raw data normalization for a multi source inverse geometry CT system

PubMed Central

Baek, Jongduk; De Man, Bruno; Harrison, Daniel; Pelc, Norbert J.

2015-01-01

A multi-source inverse-geometry CT (MS-IGCT) system consists of a small 2D detector array and multiple x-ray sources. During data acquisition, each source is activated sequentially, and may have random source intensity fluctuations relative to their respective nominal intensity. While a conventional 3rd generation CT system uses a reference channel to monitor the source intensity fluctuation, the MS-IGCT system source illuminates a small portion of the entire field-of-view (FOV). Therefore, it is difficult for all sources to illuminate the reference channel and the projection data computed by standard normalization using flat field data of each source contains error and can cause significant artifacts. In this work, we present a raw data normalization algorithm to reduce the image artifacts caused by source intensity fluctuation. The proposed method was tested using computer simulations with a uniform water phantom and a Shepp-Logan phantom, and experimental data of an ice-filled PMMA phantom and a rabbit. The effect on image resolution and robustness of the noise were tested using MTF and standard deviation of the reconstructed noise image. With the intensity fluctuation and no correction, reconstructed images from simulation and experimental data show high frequency artifacts and ring artifacts which are removed effectively using the proposed method. It is also observed that the proposed method does not degrade the image resolution and is very robust to the presence of noise. PMID:25837090

Mg-hydrogen interaction in AlGaN alloys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zvanut, M. E.; Sunay, Ustun R.; Dashdorj, J.; Willoughby, W. R.; Allerman, A. A.

2012-03-01

It is well known that hydrogen passivation of Mg in Mg-doped GaN reduces free hole concentrations. While there are numerous studies of passivation of Mg in GaN, little work has been reported concerning passivation rates in AlGaN alloys. We investigated the hydrogen interaction with Mg in nitrides by measuring the intensity of the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) signal associated with the acceptor. The samples were isothermally annealed in sequential steps ranging from 5 min - 6.6 h between 300 and 700 oC in H2:N2 (7%: 92%) or pure N2. The signal intensity decreased during the H2N2 anneal and was revived by the N2 anneal as expected; however, the rate at which the intensity changed was shown to depend on Al concentration. In addition, while all signals were quenched at 700 oC in H2:N2, a 750 oC N2 anneal reactivated only about 30% of the Mg in the alloys and 80% of the intensity in the GaN film. These data suggest that the rate of passivation and activation of Mg by hydrogen is dependent on the concentration of Al in the AlxGa-1xN layer. The EPR annealing data could prove to be beneficial in improving p-type optimization in AlGaN alloys.

Simultaneous compared with sequential blood pressure measurement results in smaller inter-arm blood pressure differences.

PubMed

van der Hoeven, Niels V; Lodestijn, Sophie; Nanninga, Stephanie; van Montfrans, Gert A; van den Born, Bert-Jan H

2013-11-01

There are currently few recommendations on how to assess inter-arm blood pressure (BP) differences. The authors compared simultaneous with sequential measurement on mean BP, inter-arm BP differences, and within-visit reproducibility in 240 patients stratified according to age (<50 or ≥60 years) and BP (<140/90 mm Hg or ≥140/90 mm Hg). Three simultaneous and three sequential BP measurements were taken in each patient. Starting measurement type and starting arm for sequential measurements were randomized. Mean BP and inter-arm BP differences of the first pair and reproducibility of inter-arm BP differences of the first and second pair were compared between both methods. Mean systolic BP was 1.3±7.5 mm Hg lower during sequential compared with simultaneous measurement (P<.01). However, the first sequential measurement was on average higher than the second, suggesting an order effect. Absolute systolic inter-arm BP differences were smaller on simultaneous (6.2±6.7/3.3±3.5 mm Hg) compared with sequential BP measurement (7.8±7.3/4.6±5.6 mm Hg, P<.01 for both). Within-visit reproducibility was identical (both r=0.60). Simultaneous measurement of BP at both arms reduces order effects and results in smaller inter-arm BP differences, thereby potentially reducing unnecessary referral and diagnostic procedures. ©2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Tapering off long-term opioid therapy in chronic non-cancer pain patients: a randomized clinical trial.

PubMed

Kurita, Geana Paula; Højsted, Jette; Sjøgren, Per

2018-05-13

The indications for initiating long-term opioid treatment (L-TOT) for chronic non-cancer pain (CNCP) are often unclear and associated with problematic use. This study aimed at evaluating the efficacy of stabilizing opioid therapy followed by a sequential opioid tapering off program in CNCP patients. A randomized clinical trial with a medications stabilization period (Phase 1) followed by a opioid tapering off program (Phase 2). In Phase 2, patients were randomized to Control Group (stable treatment) or Taper off Group (sequential opioid dose reduction) and assessed at baseline, after stabilization and up to six months. Primary outcomes: measures of cognitive function; secondary outcomes: pain, sleep, rest, quality of life, depression, anxiety, opioid misuse, and opioid withdrawal symptoms. Two hundred seventy-four patients were screened; 75 were included, out of which 40 dropped out before Phase 2. Those who succeeded Phase 1 (n=35) had weak/moderate improvements of psychomotor function (p=0.020), sleeping hours (p=0.031), opioid withdrawal symptoms (p=0.019), measures of quality of life (p≤0.043) and opioid misuse scores (p=0.003). In Phase 2, patients in Taper off Group (n=15) experienced stable pain intensity and felt significantly more rested at third assessment than the Control Group (n=20). The opioid tapering off program was not successful due to the vast number of dropouts. Phase 1 was associated with weak to moderate improvements on psychomotor function, sleeping, opioid withdrawal symptoms, quality of life, and reduced risk of opioid misuse. In the intervention group of Phase 2, pain intensity was stable and patients felt more rested. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Sequential segmental neuromuscular stimulation reduces fatigue and improves perfusion in dynamic graciloplasty.

PubMed

Zonnevijlle, E D; Somia, N N; Abadia, G P; Stremel, R W; Maldonado, C J; Werker, P M; Kon, M; Barker, J H

2000-09-01

Dynamic graciloplasty is used as a treatment modality for total urinary incontinence caused by a paralyzed sphincter. A problem with this application is undesirable fatigue of the muscle caused by continuous electrical stimulation. Therefore, the neosphincter must be trained via a rigorous regimen to transform it from a fatigue-prone state to a fatigue-resistant state. To avoid or shorten this training period, the application of sequential segmental neuromuscular stimulation (SSNS) was examined. This form of stimulation proved previously to be highly effective in acutely reducing fatigue caused by electrical stimulation. The contractile function and perfusion of gracilis muscles employed as neosphincters were compared between conventional, single-channel, continuous stimulation, and multichannel sequential stimulation in 8 dogs. The sequentially stimulated neosphincter proved to have an endurance 2.9 times longer (as measured by halftime to fatigue) than continuous stimulation and a better blood perfusion during stimulation (both of which were significant changes, p < 0.05). Clinically, this will not antiquate training of the muscle, but SSNS could reduce the need for long and rigorous training protocols, making dynamic graciloplasty more attractive as a method of treating urinary or fecal incontinence.

Sepsis 2018: Definitions and Guideline Changes.

PubMed

Napolitano, Lena M

Sepsis is a global healthcare issue and continues to be the leading cause of death from infection. Early recognition and diagnosis of sepsis is required to prevent the transition into septic shock, which is associated with a mortality rate of 40% or more. New definitions for sepsis and septic shock (Third International Consensus Definitions for Sepsis and Septic Shock [Sepsis-3]) have been developed. A new screening tool for sepsis (quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment [qSOFA]) has been proposed to predict the likelihood of poor outcome in out-of-intensive care unit (ICU) patients with clinical suspicion of sepsis. The Surviving Sepsis Campaign Guidelines were recently updated and include greater evidence-based recommendations for treatment of sepsis in attempts to reduce sepsis-associated mortality. This review discusses the new Sepsis-3 definitions and guidelines.

Buffer management for sequential decoding. [block erasure probability reduction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Layland, J. W.

1974-01-01

Sequential decoding has been found to be an efficient means of communicating at low undetected error rates from deep space probes, but erasure or computational overflow remains a significant problem. Erasure of a block occurs when the decoder has not finished decoding that block at the time that it must be output. By drawing upon analogies in computer time sharing, this paper develops a buffer-management strategy which reduces the decoder idle time to a negligible level, and therefore improves the erasure probability of a sequential decoder. For a decoder with a speed advantage of ten and a buffer size of ten blocks, operating at an erasure rate of .01, use of this buffer-management strategy reduces the erasure rate to less than .0001.

Optimization of a novel sequential alkalic and metal salt pretreatment for enhanced delignification and enzymatic saccharification of corn cobs.

PubMed

Sewsynker-Sukai, Yeshona; Gueguim Kana, E B

2017-11-01

This study presents a sequential sodium phosphate dodecahydrate (Na 3 PO 4 ·12H 2 O) and zinc chloride (ZnCl 2 ) pretreatment to enhance delignification and enzymatic saccharification of corn cobs. The effects of process parameters of Na 3 PO 4 ·12H 2 O concentration (5-15%), ZnCl 2 concentration (1-5%) and solid to liquid ratio (5-15%) on reducing sugar yield from corn cobs were investigated. The sequential pretreatment model was developed and optimized with a high coefficient of determination value (0.94). Maximum reducing sugar yield of 1.10±0.01g/g was obtained with 14.02% Na 3 PO 4 ·12H 2 O, 3.65% ZnCl 2 and 5% solid to liquid ratio. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared analysis (FTIR) showed major lignocellulosic structural changes after the optimized sequential pretreatment with 63.61% delignification. In addition, a 10-fold increase in the sugar yield was observed compared to previous reports on the same substrate. This sequential pretreatment strategy was efficient for enhancing enzymatic saccharification of corn cobs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Bayesian sequential design with adaptive randomization for 2-sided hypothesis test.

PubMed

Yu, Qingzhao; Zhu, Lin; Zhu, Han

2017-11-01

Bayesian sequential and adaptive randomization designs are gaining popularity in clinical trials thanks to their potentials to reduce the number of required participants and save resources. We propose a Bayesian sequential design with adaptive randomization rates so as to more efficiently attribute newly recruited patients to different treatment arms. In this paper, we consider 2-arm clinical trials. Patients are allocated to the 2 arms with a randomization rate to achieve minimum variance for the test statistic. Algorithms are presented to calculate the optimal randomization rate, critical values, and power for the proposed design. Sensitivity analysis is implemented to check the influence on design by changing the prior distributions. Simulation studies are applied to compare the proposed method and traditional methods in terms of power and actual sample sizes. Simulations show that, when total sample size is fixed, the proposed design can obtain greater power and/or cost smaller actual sample size than the traditional Bayesian sequential design. Finally, we apply the proposed method to a real data set and compare the results with the Bayesian sequential design without adaptive randomization in terms of sample sizes. The proposed method can further reduce required sample size. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Glutathione exposes sequential IgE-epitopes in ovomucoid relevant in persistent egg allergy.

PubMed

Roth-Walter, Franziska; Starkl, Philipp; Zuberbier, Torsten; Hummel, Karin; Nöbauer, Karin; Razzazi-Fazeli, Ebrahim; Brunner, Richard; Pali-Schöll, Isabella; Kinkel, Janis; Felix, Ferdinand; Jensen-Jarolim, Erika; Kinaciyan, Tamar

2013-03-01

Patients with persistent egg allergy have more immunoglobulin E (IgE) against sequential than conformational epitopes of ovomucoid (OVO). Here, we aimed to identify compounds capable to render sequential epitopes in egg. Glutathione was used for in vitro reduction of OVO and circular dichroism analyses were performed. Glutathione reduced OVO in a concentration-dependent manner. Egg white was analyzed for reduced proteins with a thiol probe and by MALDI-TOF/TOF. In unprocessed total egg white, several reduced proteins were detected by the thiol probe, among them reduced ovalbumin could be confirmed with MS analyses. Egg-allergics or sensitized controls were tested serologically (n = 19) for IgE against native and reduced OVO and in skin prick tests (n = 9). More patients had IgE against reduced than native OVO in Western blots. In skin prick test, five out of seven persistent egg-allergics and none of the controls reacted with reduced OVO. Reduced egg proteins are present in natural egg white. Glutathione, which is present in egg and furthermore is used as texture-improving additive in processed food, is capable of reducing OVO. Patients with persistent egg allergy reacted rather to reduce the native OVO. Hence, our data indicate that reduction is a novel natural and processing-associated principle, which contributes to the allergenicity of food. © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Facile Determination of Sodium Ion and Osmolarity in Artificial Tears by Sequential DNAzymes.

PubMed

Kim, Eun Hye; Lee, Eun-Song; Lee, Dong Yun; Kim, Young-Pil

2017-12-07

Despite high relevance of tear osmolarity and eye abnormality, numerous methods for detecting tear osmolarity rely upon expensive osmometers. We report a reliable method for simply determining sodium ion-based osmolarity in artificial tears using sequential DNAzymes. When sodium ion-specific DNAzyme and peroxidase-like DNAzyme were used as a sensing and detecting probe, respectively, the concentration of Na⁺ in artificial tears could be measured by absorbance or fluorescence intensity, which was highly correlated with osmolarity over the diagnostic range ( R ² > 0.98). Our approach is useful for studying eye diseases in relation to osmolarity.

Processing of Sequential and Holistic Stimuli in Left and Right Visual Fields,

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-10-01

1 7 A-A091 588 AIR =FORCE ACADEMY CO IF/G 5/10 I PROCESSING OF SEQUENTIAL AND HOLISTIC STIMULI IN LEFT AND RIGHT--ETC( U ) OCT 80 E H GALLUSCIO. D A...neocortical commissures sectioned to reduce grand mal seizures have added significantly to 1.. ... . ....... .......- , l - ’ ’ . .... . .. ’ r U I l...REALISTIC AUTISTIC MASLOW RATIONAL INTUITIVE MILNER VERBAL NON-VERBAL NEISSER SEQUENTIAL MULTIPLE ORNSTEIN ANALYTIC HOLISTIC C. S. PEIRCE EXPLICATIVE

Safety of Tetanus Toxoid, Reduced Diphtheria Toxoid, and Acellular Pertussis and Influenza Vaccinations in Pregnancy.

PubMed

Sukumaran, Lakshmi; McCarthy, Natalie L; Kharbanda, Elyse O; Weintraub, Eric S; Vazquez-Benitez, Gabriela; McNeil, Michael M; Li, Rongxia; Klein, Nicola P; Hambidge, Simon J; Naleway, Allison L; Lugg, Marlene M; Jackson, Michael L; King, Jennifer P; DeStefano, Frank; Omer, Saad B; Orenstein, Walter A

2015-11-01

To evaluate the safety of coadministering tetanus toxoid, reduced diphtheria toxoid, and acellular pertussis (Tdap) and influenza vaccines during pregnancy by comparing adverse events after concomitant and sequential vaccination. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of pregnant women aged 14-49 years in the Vaccine Safety Datalink from January 1, 2007, to November 15, 2013. We compared medically attended acute events (fever, any acute reaction) and adverse birth outcomes (preterm delivery, low birth weight, small for gestational age) in women receiving concomitant Tdap and influenza vaccination and women receiving sequential vaccination. Among 36,844 pregnancies in which Tdap and influenza vaccines were administered, the vaccines were administered concomitantly in 8,464 (23%) pregnancies and sequentially in 28,380 (77%) pregnancies. Acute adverse events after vaccination were rare. We found no statistically significant increased risk of fever or any medically attended acute adverse event in pregnant women vaccinated concomitantly compared with sequentially. When analyzing women at 20 weeks of gestation or greater during periods of influenza vaccine administration, there were no differences in preterm delivery, low-birth-weight, or small-for-gestational-age neonates between women vaccinated concomitantly compared with sequentially in pregnancy. Concomitant administration of Tdap and influenza vaccines during pregnancy was not associated with a higher risk of medically attended adverse acute outcomes or birth outcomes compared with sequential vaccination. II.

Three parameters optimizing closed-loop control in sequential segmental neuromuscular stimulation.

PubMed

Zonnevijlle, E D; Somia, N N; Perez Abadia, G; Stremel, R W; Maldonado, C J; Werker, P M; Kon, M; Barker, J H

1999-05-01

In conventional dynamic myoplasties, the force generation is poorly controlled. This causes unnecessary fatigue of the transposed/transplanted electrically stimulated muscles and causes damage to the involved tissues. We introduced sequential segmental neuromuscular stimulation (SSNS) to reduce muscle fatigue by allowing part of the muscle to rest periodically while the other parts work. Despite this improvement, we hypothesize that fatigue could be further reduced in some applications of dynamic myoplasty if the muscles were made to contract according to need. The first necessary step is to gain appropriate control over the contractile activity of the dynamic myoplasty. Therefore, closed-loop control was tested on a sequentially stimulated neosphincter to strive for the best possible control over the amount of generated pressure. A selection of parameters was validated for optimizing control. We concluded that the frequency of corrections, the threshold for corrections, and the transition time are meaningful parameters in the controlling algorithm of the closed-loop control in a sequentially stimulated myoplasty.

Modeling of Interface and Internal Disorder Applied to XRD Analysis of Ag-Based Nano-Multilayers.

PubMed

Ariosa, Daniel; Cancellieri, Claudia; Araullo-Peters, Vicente; Chiodi, Mirco; Klyatskina, Elizaveta; Janczak-Rusch, Jolanta; Jeurgens, Lars P H

2018-06-20

Multilayered structures are a promising route to tailor electronic, magnetic, optical, and/or mechanical properties and durability of functional materials. Sputter deposition at room temperature, being an out-of-equilibrium process, introduces structural defects and confers to these nanosystems an intrinsic thermodynamical instability. As-deposited materials exhibit a large amount of internal atomic displacements within each constituent block as well as severe interface roughness between different layers. To access and characterize the internal multilayer disorder and its thermal evolution, X-ray diffraction investigation and analysis are performed systematically at differently grown Ag-Ge/aluminum nitride (AlN) multilayers (co-deposited, sequentially deposited with and without radio frequency (RF) bias) samples and after high-temperature annealing treatment. We report here on model calculations based on a kinematic formalism describing the displacement disorder both within the multilayer blocks and at the interfaces to reproduce the experimental X-ray diffraction intensities. Mixing and displacements at the interface are found to be considerably reduced after thermal treatment for co- and sequentially deposited Ag-Ge/AlN samples. The application of a RF bias during the deposition causes the highest interface mixing and introduces random intercalates in the AlN layers. X-ray analysis is contrasted to transmission electron microscopy pictures to validate the approach.

Reducing interaction in simultaneous paired stimulation with CI.

PubMed

Vellinga, Dirk; Bruijn, Saskia; Briaire, Jeroen J; Kalkman, Randy K; Frijns, Johan H M

2017-01-01

In this study simultaneous paired stimulation of electrodes in cochlear implants is investigated by psychophysical experiments in 8 post-lingually deaf subjects (and one extra subject who only participated in part of the experiments). Simultaneous and sequential monopolar stimulation modes are used as references and are compared to channel interaction compensation, partial tripolar stimulation and a novel sequential stimulation strategy named phased array compensation. Psychophysical experiments are performed to investigate both the loudness integration during paired stimulation at the main electrodes as well as the interaction with the electrode contact located halfway between the stimulating pair. The study shows that simultaneous monopolar stimulation has more loudness integration on the main electrodes and more interaction in between the electrodes than sequential stimulation. Channel interaction compensation works to reduce the loudness integration at the main electrodes, but does not reduce the interaction in between the electrodes caused by paired stimulation. Partial tripolar stimulation uses much more current to reach the needed loudness, but shows the same interaction in between the electrodes as sequential monopolar stimulation. In phased array compensation we have used the individual impedance matrix of each subject to calculate the current needed on each electrode to exactly match the stimulation voltage along the array to that of sequential stimulation. The results show that the interaction in between the electrodes is the same as monopolar stimulation. The strategy uses less current than partial tripolar stimulation, but more than monopolar stimulation. In conclusion, the paper shows that paired stimulation is possible if the interaction is compensated.

Double-blind photo lineups using actual eyewitnesses: an experimental test of a sequential versus simultaneous lineup procedure.

PubMed

Wells, Gary L; Steblay, Nancy K; Dysart, Jennifer E

2015-02-01

Eyewitnesses (494) to actual crimes in 4 police jurisdictions were randomly assigned to view simultaneous or sequential photo lineups using laptop computers and double-blind administration. The sequential procedure used in the field experiment mimicked how it is conducted in actual practice (e.g., using a continuation rule, witness does not know how many photos are to be viewed, witnesses resolve any multiple identifications), which is not how most lab experiments have tested the sequential lineup. No significant differences emerged in rates of identifying lineup suspects (25% overall) but the sequential procedure produced a significantly lower rate (11%) of identifying known-innocent lineup fillers than did the simultaneous procedure (18%). The simultaneous/sequential pattern did not significantly interact with estimator variables and no lineup-position effects were observed for either the simultaneous or sequential procedures. Rates of nonidentification were not significantly different for simultaneous and sequential but nonidentifiers from the sequential procedure were more likely to use the "not sure" response option than were nonidentifiers from the simultaneous procedure. Among witnesses who made an identification, 36% (41% of simultaneous and 32% of sequential) identified a known-innocent filler rather than a suspect, indicating that eyewitness performance overall was very poor. The results suggest that the sequential procedure that is used in the field reduces the identification of known-innocent fillers, but the differences are relatively small.

Use of tomotherapy in treatment of synchronous bilateral breast cancer: dosimetric comparison study

PubMed Central

Wadasadawala, T; Sarin, R; Upreti, R R; Paul, S; Phurailatpam, R

2015-01-01

Objective: Synchronous malignancy in both breasts is a rare incidence. The present study aims at dosimetric comparison of conventional bitangential radiotherapy (RT) technique with conventional [field-in-field (FIF)] and rotational [Helical TomoTherapy® and TomoDirect™ (TD); Accuray Inc., Sunnyvale, CA] intensity-modulated RT for patients with synchronous bilateral breast cancer (SBBC). Methods: CT data sets of 10 patients with SBBC were selected for the present study. RT was planned for all patients on both sides to whole breast and/or chest wall using the above-mentioned techniques. Six females with breast conservation on at least one side also had a composite plan along with tumour bed (TB) boost using sequential electrons for bitangential and FIF techniques or sequential helical tomotherapy (HT) boost (for TD) or simultaneous integrated boost (SIB) for HT. Results: All techniques produced acceptable target coverage. The hotspot was significantly lower with FIF technique and HT but higher with TD. For the organs at risk doses, HT resulted in significant reduction of the higher dose volumes. Similarly, TD resulted in significant reduction of the mean dose to the heart and total lung by reducing the lower dose volumes. All techniques of delivering boost to the TB were comparable in terms of target coverage. HT-SIB markedly reduced mean doses to the total lung and heart by specifically lowering the higher dose volumes. Conclusion: This study demonstrates the cardiac and pulmonary sparing ability of tomotherapy in the setting of SBBC. Advances in knowledge: This is the first study demonstrating feasibility of treatment of SBBC using tomotherapy. PMID:25605345

Parallelization of sequential Gaussian, indicator and direct simulation algorithms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nunes, Ruben; Almeida, José A.

2010-08-01

Improving the performance and robustness of algorithms on new high-performance parallel computing architectures is a key issue in efficiently performing 2D and 3D studies with large amount of data. In geostatistics, sequential simulation algorithms are good candidates for parallelization. When compared with other computational applications in geosciences (such as fluid flow simulators), sequential simulation software is not extremely computationally intensive, but parallelization can make it more efficient and creates alternatives for its integration in inverse modelling approaches. This paper describes the implementation and benchmarking of a parallel version of the three classic sequential simulation algorithms: direct sequential simulation (DSS), sequential indicator simulation (SIS) and sequential Gaussian simulation (SGS). For this purpose, the source used was GSLIB, but the entire code was extensively modified to take into account the parallelization approach and was also rewritten in the C programming language. The paper also explains in detail the parallelization strategy and the main modifications. Regarding the integration of secondary information, the DSS algorithm is able to perform simple kriging with local means, kriging with an external drift and collocated cokriging with both local and global correlations. SIS includes a local correction of probabilities. Finally, a brief comparison is presented of simulation results using one, two and four processors. All performance tests were carried out on 2D soil data samples. The source code is completely open source and easy to read. It should be noted that the code is only fully compatible with Microsoft Visual C and should be adapted for other systems/compilers.

Data Networks Reliability

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-10-03

full achievable region is achievable if there is only a bounded degree of asynchronism. E. Arikan , in a Ph.D. thesis [Ari85], extended sequential...real co-operation is required to reduce the number of transmissions to O(log log N). 14 REFERENCES [Ari85] E. Arikan , "Sequential Decoding for Multiple

Automatic registration of ICG images using mutual information and perfusion analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Namkug; Seo, Jong-Mo; Lee, June-goo; Kim, Jong Hyo; Park, Kwangsuk; Yu, Hyeong-Gon; Yu, Young Suk; Chung, Hum

2005-04-01

Introduction: Indocyanin green fundus angiographic images (ICGA) of the eyes is useful method in detecting and characterizing the choroidal neovascularization (CNV), which is the major cause of the blindness over 65 years of age. To investigate the quantitative analysis of the blood flow on ICGA, systematic approach for automatic registration of using mutual information and a quantitative analysis was developed. Methods: Intermittent sequential images of indocyanin green angiography were acquired by Heidelberg retinal angiography that uses the laser scanning system for the image acquisition. Misalignment of the each image generated by the minute eye movement of the patients was corrected by the mutual information method because the distribution of the contrast media on image is changing throughout the time sequences. Several region of interest (ROI) were selected by a physician and the intensities of the selected region were plotted according to the time sequences. Results: The registration of ICGA time sequential images is required not only translate transform but also rotational transform. Signal intensities showed variation based on gamma-variate function depending on ROIs and capillary vessels show more variance of signal intensity than major vessels. CNV showed intermediate variance of signal intensity and prolonged transit time. Conclusion: The resulting registered images can be used not only for quantitative analysis, but also for perfusion analysis. Various investigative approached on CNV using this method will be helpful in the characterization of the lesion and follow-up.

Fluid accumulation during acute kidney injury in the intensive care unit.

PubMed

Berthelsen, R E; Perner, A; Jensen, A K; Jensen, J-U; Bestle, M H

2018-07-01

Fluid therapy is a ubiquitous intervention in patients admitted to the intensive care unit, but positive fluid balance may be associated with poor outcomes and particular in patients with acute kidney injury. Studies describing this have defined fluid overload either at specific time points or considered patients with a positive mean daily fluid balance as fluid overloaded. We wished to detail this further and performed joint model analyses of the association between daily fluid balance and outcome represented by mortality and renal recovery in patients admitted with acute kidney injury. We did a retrospective cohort study of patients admitted to the intensive care unit with acute kidney injury during a 2-year observation period. We used serum creatinine measurements to identify patients with acute kidney injury and collected sequential daily fluid balance during the first 5 days of admission to the intensive care unit. We used joint modelling techniques to correlate the development of fluid overload with survival and renal recovery adjusted for age, gender and disease severity. The cohort contained 863 patients with acute kidney injury of whom 460 (53%) and 254 (29%) developed 5% and 10% fluid overload, respectively. We found that both 5% and 10% fluid overload was correlated with reduced survival and renal recovery. Joint model analyses of fluid accumulation in patients admitted to the intensive care unit with acute kidney injury confirm that even a modest degree of fluid overload (5%) may be negatively associated with both survival and renal recovery. © 2018 The Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica Foundation. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Quantification of effectiveness of bilateral and unilateral neuromodulation in the rat bladder rhythmic contraction model

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Using the isovolumetric bladder rhythmic contraction (BRC) model in anesthetized rats, we have quantified the responsiveness to unilateral and bilateral stimulation of the L6 spinal nerve (SN) and characterized the relationship between stimulus intensity and inhibition of the bladder micturition reflex. Methods A wire electrode was placed under either one or both of the L6 SN roots. A cannula was placed into the bladder via the urethra and the urethra was ligated. Saline infusion induced BRC. Results At motor threshold (Tmot) intensity, SN stimulation of both roots (10 Hz) for 10 min reduced bladder contraction frequency from 0.63 ± 0.04 to 0.17 ± 0.09 contractions per min (26 ± 14% of baseline control; n = 10, p < 0.05). However, the same intensity of unilateral stimulation (n = 15) or sequential stimulation of both SNs (e.g. 5 min per side alternatively for a total of 10 min or 20 min) was less efficacious. The greater sensitivity to bilateral stimulation is not dependent upon precise bilateral timing of the stimulation pulses. Bilateral stimulation also produced both acute and prolonged- inhibition on bladder contractions in a stimulation intensity dependent fashion. Conclusions Using the bladder rhythmic contraction model, bilateral stimulation was more effective than unilateral stimulation of the SN. Clinical testing should be conducted to further compare efficacies of unilateral and bilateral stimulation. Bilateral stimulation may allow the use of lower stimulation intensities to achieve higher efficacy for neurostimulation therapies on urinary tract control. PMID:23866931

The Origin of Sequential Chromospheric Brightenings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirk, M. S.; Balasubramaniam, K. S.; Jackiewicz, J.; Gilbert, H. R.

2017-06-01

Sequential chromospheric brightenings (SCBs) are often observed in the immediate vicinity of erupting flares and are associated with coronal mass ejections. Since their initial discovery in 2005, there have been several subsequent investigations of SCBs. These studies have used differing detection and analysis techniques, making it difficult to compare results between studies. This work employs the automated detection algorithm of Kirk et al. (Solar Phys. 283, 97, 2013) to extract the physical characteristics of SCBs in 11 flares of varying size and intensity. We demonstrate that the magnetic substructure within the SCB appears to have a significantly smaller area than the corresponding Hα emission. We conclude that SCBs originate in the lower corona around 0.1 R_{⊙} above the photosphere, propagate away from the flare center at speeds of 35 - 85 km s^{-1}, and have peak photosphere magnetic intensities of 148±2.9 G. In light of these measurements, we infer SCBs to be distinctive chromospheric signatures of erupting coronal mass ejections.

A New CT Reconstruction Technique Using Adaptive Deformation Recovery and Intensity Correction (ADRIC)

PubMed Central

Zhang, You; Ma, Jianhua; Iyengar, Puneeth; Zhong, Yuncheng; Wang, Jing

2017-01-01

Purpose Sequential same-patient CT images may involve deformation-induced and non-deformation-induced voxel intensity changes. An adaptive deformation recovery and intensity correction (ADRIC) technique was developed to improve the CT reconstruction accuracy, and to separate deformation from non-deformation-induced voxel intensity changes between sequential CT images. Materials and Methods ADRIC views the new CT volume as a deformation of a prior high-quality CT volume, but with additional non-deformation-induced voxel intensity changes. ADRIC first applies the 2D-3D deformation technique to recover the deformation field between the prior CT volume and the new, to-be-reconstructed CT volume. Using the deformation-recovered new CT volume, ADRIC further corrects the non-deformation-induced voxel intensity changes with an updated algebraic reconstruction technique (‘ART-dTV’). The resulting intensity-corrected new CT volume is subsequently fed back into the 2D-3D deformation process to further correct the residual deformation errors, which forms an iterative loop. By ADRIC, the deformation field and the non-deformation voxel intensity corrections are optimized separately and alternately to reconstruct the final CT. CT myocardial perfusion imaging scenarios were employed to evaluate the efficacy of ADRIC, using both simulated data of the extended-cardiac-torso (XCAT) digital phantom and experimentally acquired porcine data. The reconstruction accuracy of the ADRIC technique was compared to the technique using ART-dTV alone, and to the technique using 2D-3D deformation alone. The relative error metric and the universal quality index metric are calculated between the images for quantitative analysis. The relative error is defined as the square root of the sum of squared voxel intensity differences between the reconstructed volume and the ‘ground-truth’ volume, normalized by the square root of the sum of squared ‘ground-truth’ voxel intensities. In addition to the XCAT and porcine studies, a physical lung phantom measurement study was also conducted. Water-filled balloons with various shapes/volumes and concentrations of iodinated contrasts were put inside the phantom to simulate both deformations and non-deformation-induced intensity changes for ADRIC reconstruction. The ADRIC-solved deformations and intensity changes from limited-view projections were compared to those of the ‘gold-standard’ volumes reconstructed from fully-sampled projections. Results For the XCAT simulation study, the relative errors of the reconstructed CT volume by the 2D-3D deformation technique, the ART-dTV technique and the ADRIC technique were 14.64%, 19.21% and 11.90% respectively, by using 20 projections for reconstruction. Using 60 projections for reconstruction reduced the relative errors to 12.33%, 11.04% and 7.92% for the three techniques, respectively. For the porcine study, the corresponding results were 13.61%, 8.78%, 6.80% by using 20 projections; and 12.14%, 6.91% and 5.29% by using 60 projections. The ADRIC technique also demonstrated robustness to varying projection exposure levels. For the physical phantom study, the average DICE coefficient between the initial prior balloon volume and the new ‘gold-standard’ balloon volumes was 0.460. ADRIC reconstruction by 21 projections increased the average DICE coefficient to 0.954. Conclusion The ADRIC technique outperformed both the 2D-3D deformation technique and the ART-dTV technique in reconstruction accuracy. The alternately solved deformation field and non-deformation voxel intensity corrections can benefit multiple clinical applications, including tumor tracking, radiotherapy dose accumulation and treatment outcome analysis. PMID:28380247

Costs of achieving live birth from assisted reproductive technology: a comparison of sequential single and double embryo transfer approaches.

PubMed

Crawford, Sara; Boulet, Sheree L; Mneimneh, Allison S; Perkins, Kiran M; Jamieson, Denise J; Zhang, Yujia; Kissin, Dmitry M

2016-02-01

To assess treatment and pregnancy/infant-associated medical costs and birth outcomes for assisted reproductive technology (ART) cycles in a subset of patients using elective double embryo (ET) and to project the difference in costs and outcomes had the cycles instead been sequential single ETs (fresh followed by frozen if the fresh ET did not result in live birth). Retrospective cohort study using 2012 and 2013 data from the National ART Surveillance System. Infertility treatment centers. Fresh, autologous double ETs performed in 2012 among ART patients younger than 35 years of age with no prior ART use who cryopreserved at least one embryo. Sequential single and double ETs. Actual live birth rates and estimated ART treatment and pregnancy/infant-associated medical costs for double ET cycles started in 2012 and projected ART treatment and pregnancy/infant-associated medical costs if the double ET cycles had been performed as sequential single ETs. The estimated total ART treatment and pregnancy/infant-associated medical costs were $580.9 million for 10,001 double ETs started in 2012. If performed as sequential single ETs, estimated costs would have decreased by $195.0 million to $386.0 million, and live birth rates would have increased from 57.7%-68.0%. Sequential single ETs, when clinically appropriate, can reduce total ART treatment and pregnancy/infant-associated medical costs by reducing multiple births without lowering live birth rates. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Sequential intravenous injection of anionic polymer and cationic lipoplex of siRNA could effectively deliver siRNA to the liver.

PubMed

Hattori, Yoshiyuki; Arai, Shohei; Okamoto, Ryou; Hamada, Megumi; Kawano, Kumi; Yonemochi, Etsuo

2014-12-10

In this study, we developed novel siRNA transfer method to the liver by sequential intravenous injection of anionic polymer and cationic liposome/cholesterol-modified siRNA complex (cationic lipoplex). When cationic lipoplex was intravenously injected into mice, the accumulation of siRNA was mainly observed in the lungs. In contrast, when cationic lipoplex was intravenously injected at 1 min after intravenous injection of poly-L-glutamic acid (PGA) or chondroitin sulfate C (CS), siRNA was accumulated in the liver. In terms of suppression of gene expression in vivo, apolipoprotein B (ApoB) mRNA in the liver and low-density-lipoprotein (LDL) and very low-density-lipoprotein (VLDL) cholesterol level in serum were reduced at 48 h after single sequential injection of PGA or CS plus cationic lipoplex of cholesterol-modified ApoB siRNA. Furthermore, sequential injections of PGA plus cationic lipoplex of cholesterol-modified luciferase siRNA could reduce luciferase activity in tumor xenografts bearing liver metastasis of human breast tumor MCF-7-Luc. From these findings, sequential injection of anionic polymer and cationic lipoplex of siRNA might produce a systemic vector of siRNA to the liver. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sequential search leads to faster, more efficient fragment-based de novo protein structure prediction.

PubMed

de Oliveira, Saulo H P; Law, Eleanor C; Shi, Jiye; Deane, Charlotte M

2018-04-01

Most current de novo structure prediction methods randomly sample protein conformations and thus require large amounts of computational resource. Here, we consider a sequential sampling strategy, building on ideas from recent experimental work which shows that many proteins fold cotranslationally. We have investigated whether a pseudo-greedy search approach, which begins sequentially from one of the termini, can improve the performance and accuracy of de novo protein structure prediction. We observed that our sequential approach converges when fewer than 20 000 decoys have been produced, fewer than commonly expected. Using our software, SAINT2, we also compared the run time and quality of models produced in a sequential fashion against a standard, non-sequential approach. Sequential prediction produces an individual decoy 1.5-2.5 times faster than non-sequential prediction. When considering the quality of the best model, sequential prediction led to a better model being produced for 31 out of 41 soluble protein validation cases and for 18 out of 24 transmembrane protein cases. Correct models (TM-Score > 0.5) were produced for 29 of these cases by the sequential mode and for only 22 by the non-sequential mode. Our comparison reveals that a sequential search strategy can be used to drastically reduce computational time of de novo protein structure prediction and improve accuracy. Data are available for download from: http://opig.stats.ox.ac.uk/resources. SAINT2 is available for download from: https://github.com/sauloho/SAINT2. saulo.deoliveira@dtc.ox.ac.uk. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Non-common path aberration correction in an adaptive optics scanning ophthalmoscope.

PubMed

Sulai, Yusufu N; Dubra, Alfredo

2014-09-01

The correction of non-common path aberrations (NCPAs) between the imaging and wavefront sensing channel in a confocal scanning adaptive optics ophthalmoscope is demonstrated. NCPA correction is achieved by maximizing an image sharpness metric while the confocal detection aperture is temporarily removed, effectively minimizing the monochromatic aberrations in the illumination path of the imaging channel. Comparison of NCPA estimated using zonal and modal orthogonal wavefront corrector bases provided wavefronts that differ by ~λ/20 in root-mean-squared (~λ/30 standard deviation). Sequential insertion of a cylindrical lens in the illumination and light collection paths of the imaging channel was used to compare image resolution after changing the wavefront correction to maximize image sharpness and intensity metrics. Finally, the NCPA correction was incorporated into the closed-loop adaptive optics control by biasing the wavefront sensor signals without reducing its bandwidth.

Digital TV tri-state delta modulation system for Space Shuttle ku-band downlink

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Udalov, S.; Huth, G. K.; Roberts, D.; Batson, B. H.

1982-01-01

A tri-state delta modulation/demodulation (TSDM) technique which provides for efficient run-length coding of constant-intensity segments of a TV picture is described. Aspects of the hardware implementation of a high-speed TSDM transmitter and receiver for black-and-white TV or field-sequential color or NTSC format color are reviewed. Run-length encoding of the TSDM output can consistently reduce the required channel data rate well below one bit per sample. As compared with a bistate delta modulation system, the present technique eliminates granularity in the reconstructed video without degrading rise or fall times. About 40 chips are used by TSDM when used to handle the luminance information in a color link. A possible overall space and ground functional configuration to accommodate Shuttle digital TV with scrambling for privacy is presented.

Sequential color video to parallel color video converter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1975-01-01

The engineering design, development, breadboard fabrication, test, and delivery of a breadboard field sequential color video to parallel color video converter is described. The converter was designed for use onboard a manned space vehicle to eliminate a flickering TV display picture and to reduce the weight and bulk of previous ground conversion systems.

Anomaly Detection in Dynamic Networks

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

Turcotte, Melissa

2014-10-14

Anomaly detection in dynamic communication networks has many important security applications. These networks can be extremely large and so detecting any changes in their structure can be computationally challenging; hence, computationally fast, parallelisable methods for monitoring the network are paramount. For this reason the methods presented here use independent node and edge based models to detect locally anomalous substructures within communication networks. As a first stage, the aim is to detect changes in the data streams arising from node or edge communications. Throughout the thesis simple, conjugate Bayesian models for counting processes are used to model these data streams. Amore » second stage of analysis can then be performed on a much reduced subset of the network comprising nodes and edges which have been identified as potentially anomalous in the first stage. The first method assumes communications in a network arise from an inhomogeneous Poisson process with piecewise constant intensity. Anomaly detection is then treated as a changepoint problem on the intensities. The changepoint model is extended to incorporate seasonal behavior inherent in communication networks. This seasonal behavior is also viewed as a changepoint problem acting on a piecewise constant Poisson process. In a static time frame, inference is made on this extended model via a Gibbs sampling strategy. In a sequential time frame, where the data arrive as a stream, a novel, fast Sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) algorithm is introduced to sample from the sequence of posterior distributions of the change points over time. A second method is considered for monitoring communications in a large scale computer network. The usage patterns in these types of networks are very bursty in nature and don’t fit a Poisson process model. For tractable inference, discrete time models are considered, where the data are aggregated into discrete time periods and probability models are fitted to the communication counts. In a sequential analysis, anomalous behavior is then identified from outlying behavior with respect to the fitted predictive probability models. Seasonality is again incorporated into the model and is treated as a changepoint model on the transition probabilities of a discrete time Markov process. Second stage analytics are then developed which combine anomalous edges to identify anomalous substructures in the network.« less

Finding False Paths in Sequential Circuits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matrosova, A. Yu.; Andreeva, V. V.; Chernyshov, S. V.; Rozhkova, S. V.; Kudin, D. V.

2018-02-01

Method of finding false paths in sequential circuits is developed. In contrast with heuristic approaches currently used abroad, the precise method based on applying operations on Reduced Ordered Binary Decision Diagrams (ROBDDs) extracted from the combinational part of a sequential controlling logic circuit is suggested. The method allows finding false paths when transfer sequence length is not more than the given value and obviates the necessity of investigation of combinational circuit equivalents of the given lengths. The possibilities of using of the developed method for more complicated circuits are discussed.

Eyewitness confidence in simultaneous and sequential lineups: a criterion shift account for sequential mistaken identification overconfidence.

PubMed

Dobolyi, David G; Dodson, Chad S

2013-12-01

Confidence judgments for eyewitness identifications play an integral role in determining guilt during legal proceedings. Past research has shown that confidence in positive identifications is strongly associated with accuracy. Using a standard lineup recognition paradigm, we investigated accuracy using signal detection and ROC analyses, along with the tendency to choose a face with both simultaneous and sequential lineups. We replicated past findings of reduced rates of choosing with sequential as compared to simultaneous lineups, but notably found an accuracy advantage in favor of simultaneous lineups. Moreover, our analysis of the confidence-accuracy relationship revealed two key findings. First, we observed a sequential mistaken identification overconfidence effect: despite an overall reduction in false alarms, confidence for false alarms that did occur was higher with sequential lineups than with simultaneous lineups, with no differences in confidence for correct identifications. This sequential mistaken identification overconfidence effect is an expected byproduct of the use of a more conservative identification criterion with sequential than with simultaneous lineups. Second, we found a steady drop in confidence for mistaken identifications (i.e., foil identifications and false alarms) from the first to the last face in sequential lineups, whereas confidence in and accuracy of correct identifications remained relatively stable. Overall, we observed that sequential lineups are both less accurate and produce higher confidence false identifications than do simultaneous lineups. Given the increasing prominence of sequential lineups in our legal system, our data argue for increased scrutiny and possibly a wholesale reevaluation of this lineup format. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Descriptive Analyses of Pediatric Food Refusal: The Structure of Parental Attention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Woods, Julia N.; Borrero, John C.; Laud, Rinita B.; Borrero, Carrie S. W.

2010-01-01

Mealtime observations were conducted and occurrences of appropriate and inappropriate mealtime behavior and various forms of parental attention (e.g., coaxing, reprimands) were recorded for 25 children admitted to an intensive feeding program and their parents. Using the data from the observations, lag sequential analyses were conducted to…

Dynamics of soybean rust epidemics in sequential plantings of soybean cultivars in Nigeria

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Soybean rust, caused by the fungus Phakopsora pachyrhizi, is an important foliar disease of soybean. The disease intensity is dependent on environmental factors, although the precise conditions of most of these factors is not known. To help understand what environmental factors favor disease develop...

A cost and policy analysis comparing immediate sequential cataract surgery and delayed sequential cataract surgery from the physician perspective in the United States.

PubMed

Neel, Sean T

2014-11-01

A cost analysis was performed to evaluate the effect on physicians in the United States of a transition from delayed sequential cataract surgery to immediate sequential cataract surgery. Financial and efficiency impacts of this change were evaluated to determine whether efficiency gains could offset potential reduced revenue. A cost analysis using Medicare cataract surgery volume estimates, Medicare 2012 physician cataract surgery reimbursement schedules, and estimates of potential additional office visit revenue comparing immediate sequential cataract surgery with delayed sequential cataract surgery for a single specialty ophthalmology practice in West Tennessee. This model should give an indication of the effect on physicians on a national basis. A single specialty ophthalmology practice in West Tennessee was found to have a cataract surgery revenue loss of $126,000, increased revenue from office visits of $34,449 to $106,271 (minimum and maximum offset methods), and a net loss of $19,900 to $91,700 (base case) with the conversion to immediate sequential cataract surgery. Physicians likely stand to lose financially, and this loss cannot be offset by increased patient visits under the current reimbursement system. This may result in physician resistance to converting to immediate sequential cataract surgery, gaming, and supplier-induced demand.

Low energy intake during the first week in an emergency intensive care unit is associated with reduced duration of mechanical ventilation in critically ill, underweight patients: a single-center retrospective chart review.

PubMed

Ichimaru, Satomi; Fujiwara, Hidetoshi; Amagai, Teruyoshi; Atsumi, Takahiro

2014-06-01

Although nutrition support is essential in intensive care units, optimal energy intake remains unclear. Here, we assessed the influence of energy intake on outcomes of critically ill, underweight patients. A retrospective chart review was conducted in patients with body mass index (BMI) of <20.0 kg/m(2) in an emergency intensive care unit (EICU). Patients were categorized into 4 groups by initial Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score (I-SOFA) and average daily energy intake during the first week: group M-1, I-SOFA ≤8 and <16 kcal/kg/d; group M-2, I-SOFA ≤8 and ≥16 kcal/kg/d; group S-1, I-SOFA >8 and <16 kcal/kg/d; and group S-2, I-SOFA >8 and ≥16 kcal/kg/d. The study included 51 patients with a median age of 69 years. No significant differences were noted in all-cause mortality and length of stay in the EICU and hospital between groups M-1 and M-2 or groups S-1 and S-2. The mechanical ventilation duration (MVD) was significantly shorter in group M-1 than M-2 (2.7 [1.0-5.7] vs 9.2 [4.2-17.4] days; P = .040) and in group S-1 than S-2 (3.1 [0.7-6.0] vs 8.8 [6.1-23.1] days; P = .006). The number of patients who underwent tracheostomy in hospital was significantly lower in group S-1 than in S-2 (20% vs 32%; P = .002). Multivariable analyses to adjust for confounders revealed that average energy intake during the first week in EICU was a significant factor independently associated with MVD but not with the requirement of tracheostomy. Reduced energy intake during the first week in EICU was associated with a reduced MVD in clinically ill patients with BMI <20.0 kg/m(2).

Sequential culture with Torulaspora delbrueckii and Saccharomyces cerevisiae and management of fermentation temperature to improve cherry wine quality.

PubMed

Sun, Shu Yang; Gong, Han Sheng; Zhao, Yu Ping; Liu, Wen Li; Jin, Cheng Wu

2016-04-01

There has been limited research on the use of non-Saccharomyces yeasts for the production of cherry wines. This work used an autochthonous Torulaspora delbrueckii strain 49 (TD49) in association with a commercial S. cerevisiae RC212 yeast, to investigate the effect of multi-starter culture (sequential inoculation and simultaneous inoculation) and fermentation temperature on the quality of cherry wines. Both TD49 and RC212 proliferated during alcoholic fermentation (AF) under sequential inoculation conditions, whereas in the case of simultaneous inoculation, TD49 increased slowly at first and then declined sharply near the fermentation end. The analytical profile showed that both mixed fermentations produced lower levels of volatile acidy and higher levels of aromatic compounds than those from RC212 mono-culture. During sensory analysis, wines from sequential fermentation obtained the highest score, mainly due to the higher intensity in 'fruity' and 'floral' characters. As for the influence of temperature, a low temperature (20 °C) enhanced TD49 persistence during AF, but the sensory quality decreased anyway; 30 °C resulted in decreases in most measured descriptors. Therefore, 25 °C was selected as the best culture temperature. TD49/RC212 sequential inoculation and fermentation at 25 °C significantly enhanced the cherry wine quality. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.

Daily laxative therapy reduces organ dysfunction in mechanically ventilated patients: a phase II randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

de Azevedo, Rodrigo Palacio; Freitas, Flávio Geraldo Resende; Ferreira, Elaine Maria; Pontes de Azevedo, Luciano Cesar; Machado, Flávia Ribeiro

2015-09-16

Constipation is a common problem in intensive care units. We assessed the efficacy and safety of laxative therapy aiming to promote daily defecation in reducing organ dysfunction in mechanically ventilated patients. We conducted a prospective, randomized, controlled, nonblinded phase II clinical trial at two general intensive care units. Patients expected to remain ventilated for over 3 days were randomly assigned to daily defecation or control groups. The intervention group received lactulose and enemas to produce 1-2 defecations per day. In the control group, absence of defecation was tolerated up to 5 days. Primary outcome was the change in Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score between the date of enrollment and intensive care unit discharge, death or day 14. We included 88 patients. Patients in the treatment group had a higher number of defecations per day (1.3 ± 0.42 versus 0.7 ± 0.56, p < 0.0001) and lower percentage of days without defecation (33.1 ± 15.7% versus 62.3 ± 24.5%, p < 0.0001). Patients in the intervention group had a greater reduction in SOFA score (-4.0 (-6.0 to 0) versus -1.0 (-4.0 to 1.0), p = 0.036) with no difference in mortality rates or in survival time. Adverse events were more frequent in the treatment group (4.5 (3.0-8.0) versus 3.0 (1.0-5.7), p = 0.016), including more days with diarrhea (2.0 (1.0-4.0) versus 1.0 (0-2.0) days, p < 0.0001). Serious adverse events were rare and did not significantly differ between groups. Laxative therapy improved daily defecation in ventilated patients and was associated with a greater reduction in SOFA score. Clinical Trials.gov NCT01607060, registered 24 May 2012.

Behavioral preference in sequential decision-making and its association with anxiety.

PubMed

Zhang, Dandan; Gu, Ruolei

2018-06-01

In daily life, people often make consecutive decisions before the ultimate goal is reached (i.e., sequential decision-making). However, this kind of decision-making has been largely overlooked in the literature. The current study investigated whether behavioral preference would change during sequential decisions, and the neural processes underlying the potential changes. For this purpose, we revised the classic balloon analogue risk task and recorded the electroencephalograph (EEG) signals associated with each step of decision-making. Independent component analysis performed on EEG data revealed that four EEG components elicited by periodic feedback in the current step predicted participants' decisions (gamble vs. no gamble) in the next step. In order of time sequence, these components were: bilateral occipital alpha rhythm, bilateral frontal theta rhythm, middle frontal theta rhythm, and bilateral sensorimotor mu rhythm. According to the information flows between these EEG oscillations, we proposed a brain model that describes the temporal dynamics of sequential decision-making. Finally, we found that the tendency to gamble (as well as the power intensity of bilateral frontal theta rhythms) was sensitive to the individual level of trait anxiety in certain steps, which may help understand the role of emotion in decision-making. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Endogenous Sequential Cortical Activity Evoked by Visual Stimuli

PubMed Central

Miller, Jae-eun Kang; Hamm, Jordan P.; Jackson, Jesse; Yuste, Rafael

2015-01-01

Although the functional properties of individual neurons in primary visual cortex have been studied intensely, little is known about how neuronal groups could encode changing visual stimuli using temporal activity patterns. To explore this, we used in vivo two-photon calcium imaging to record the activity of neuronal populations in primary visual cortex of awake mice in the presence and absence of visual stimulation. Multidimensional analysis of the network activity allowed us to identify neuronal ensembles defined as groups of cells firing in synchrony. These synchronous groups of neurons were themselves activated in sequential temporal patterns, which repeated at much higher proportions than chance and were triggered by specific visual stimuli such as natural visual scenes. Interestingly, sequential patterns were also present in recordings of spontaneous activity without any sensory stimulation and were accompanied by precise firing sequences at the single-cell level. Moreover, intrinsic dynamics could be used to predict the occurrence of future neuronal ensembles. Our data demonstrate that visual stimuli recruit similar sequential patterns to the ones observed spontaneously, consistent with the hypothesis that already existing Hebbian cell assemblies firing in predefined temporal sequences could be the microcircuit substrate that encodes visual percepts changing in time. PMID:26063915

Trial-to-Trial Modulations of the Simon Effect in Conditions of Attentional Limitations : Evidence from Dual Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fischer, Rico; Plessow, Franziska; Kunde, Wilfried; Kiesel, Andrea

2010-01-01

Interference effects are reduced after trials including response conflict. This sequential modulation has often been attributed to a top-down mediated adaptive control mechanism and/or to feature repetition mechanisms. In the present study we tested whether mechanisms responsible for such sequential modulations are subject to attentional…

ROC and Loss Function Analysis in Sequential Testing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Muijtjens, Arno M. M.; Van Luijk, Scheltus J.; Van Der Vleuten, Cees P. M.

2006-01-01

Sequential testing is applied to reduce costs in SP-based tests (OSCEs). Initially, all candidates take a screening test consisting of a part of the OSCE. Candidates who fail the screen sit the complete test, whereas those who pass the screen are qualified as a pass of the complete test. The procedure may result in a reduction of testing…

The Sequential Binge, a New Therapeutic Approach for Binge Eating: A Pilot Study

PubMed Central

Neveu, Rémi; Neveu, Dorine; Barbalat, Guillaume; Schmidt, Ulrike

2016-01-01

Background and Objectives A sizeable proportion of patients experiencing binge eating do not respond to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). We present the sequential binge (SB), a new behavioral intervention that complements CBT, and preliminary results of its effects. SB breaks up the binge into repeated identical sequences of eating separated by incremental pauses. This pattern of ingestion aims at facilitating boredom toward the ingested foods and at turning cognitive control away from binge food restriction. SB is hypothesized to reduce food intake during the binge and the number of daily binges. Methods Prospective pilot study. Fifteen binging patients with previous unsuccessful intensive CBT were given SB as an adjunct to their treatment and were followed up for 16 weeks from admission. All patients were reassessed 47 weeks on average after discharge. Results SB was associated with a 44% relative reduction in the planned food intake (p<0.001), a longer consecutive binge refractory period compared to regular binges (median: 48 hours versus 4 hours, p = 0.002) and an average relative reduction by 26% of binge number the day after each SB (p = 0.004). 47% of patients reached binge abstinence for four consecutive weeks 16 weeks after the first SB. Conclusion This case series shows promising evidence for the use of SB in patients with refractory binge eating. Further evaluation in a prospective randomized controlled trial would be justified. PMID:27832121

High resolution imaging of intracellular oxygen concentration by phosphorescence lifetime

PubMed Central

Kurokawa, Hiromi; Ito, Hidehiro; Inoue, Mai; Tabata, Kenji; Sato, Yoshifumi; Yamagata, Kazuya; Kizaka-Kondoh, Shinae; Kadonosono, Tetsuya; Yano, Shigenobu; Inoue, Masahiro; Kamachi, Toshiaki

2015-01-01

Optical methods using phosphorescence quenching by oxygen are suitable for sequential monitoring and non-invasive measurements for oxygen concentration (OC) imaging within cells. Phosphorescence intensity measurement is widely used with phosphorescent dyes. These dyes are ubiquitously but heterogeneously distributed inside the whole cell. The distribution of phosphorescent dye is a major disadvantage in phosphorescence intensity measurement. We established OC imaging system for a single cell using phosphorescence lifetime and a laser scanning confocal microscope. This system had improved spatial resolution and reduced the measurement time with the high repetition rate of the laser. By the combination of ubiquitously distributed phosphorescent dye with this lifetime imaging microscope, we can visualize the OC inside the whole cell and spheroid. This system uses reversible phosphorescence quenching by oxygen, so it can measure successive OC changes from normoxia to anoxia. Lower regions of OC inside the cell colocalized with mitochondria. The time-dependent OC change in an insulin-producing cell line MIN6 by the glucose stimulation was successfully visualized. Assessing the detailed distribution and dynamics of OC inside cells achieved by the presented system will be useful to understanding a physiological and pathological oxygen metabolism. PMID:26065366

The carbon price: a toothless tool for material efficiency?

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

This article explores whether a carbon price will effectively encourage the more efficient use of greenhouse gas intensive materials such as steel. The article identifies a range of distortions that arise when some of the restrictive assumptions of neoclassical economics are relaxed. Distortions occur due to the sequential nature of decision-making along supply chains, due to imperfect competition and due to government intervention to reduce the risk of carbon leakage. If upstream sectors do not pass on carbon costs, downstream sectors do not have the opportunity to react. Of the distortions identified, compensation mechanisms that reduce the risk of carbon leakage are likely to act as the greatest hinderance to appropriate incentives for the more efficient use of steel in the UK: as things currently stand, unless upstream companies are encouraged to make windfall profits, incentives downstream are weakened. The article concludes by exploring policy options to address the distortions identified, including efforts to reinstate the carbon price downstream and efforts to remove other distortive taxes. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Material demand reduction’. PMID:28461438

The carbon price: a toothless tool for material efficiency?

PubMed

Skelton, Alexandra C H; Allwood, Julian M

2017-06-13

This article explores whether a carbon price will effectively encourage the more efficient use of greenhouse gas intensive materials such as steel. The article identifies a range of distortions that arise when some of the restrictive assumptions of neoclassical economics are relaxed. Distortions occur due to the sequential nature of decision-making along supply chains, due to imperfect competition and due to government intervention to reduce the risk of carbon leakage. If upstream sectors do not pass on carbon costs, downstream sectors do not have the opportunity to react. Of the distortions identified, compensation mechanisms that reduce the risk of carbon leakage are likely to act as the greatest hinderance to appropriate incentives for the more efficient use of steel in the UK: as things currently stand, unless upstream companies are encouraged to make windfall profits, incentives downstream are weakened. The article concludes by exploring policy options to address the distortions identified, including efforts to reinstate the carbon price downstream and efforts to remove other distortive taxes.This article is part of the themed issue 'Material demand reduction'. © 2017 The Authors.

Multi-point objective-oriented sequential sampling strategy for constrained robust design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Ping; Zhang, Siliang; Chen, Wei

2015-03-01

Metamodelling techniques are widely used to approximate system responses of expensive simulation models. In association with the use of metamodels, objective-oriented sequential sampling methods have been demonstrated to be effective in balancing the need for searching an optimal solution versus reducing the metamodelling uncertainty. However, existing infilling criteria are developed for deterministic problems and restricted to one sampling point in one iteration. To exploit the use of multiple samples and identify the true robust solution in fewer iterations, a multi-point objective-oriented sequential sampling strategy is proposed for constrained robust design problems. In this article, earlier development of objective-oriented sequential sampling strategy for unconstrained robust design is first extended to constrained problems. Next, a double-loop multi-point sequential sampling strategy is developed. The proposed methods are validated using two mathematical examples followed by a highly nonlinear automotive crashworthiness design example. The results show that the proposed method can mitigate the effect of both metamodelling uncertainty and design uncertainty, and identify the robust design solution more efficiently than the single-point sequential sampling approach.

Impacts of climate change on cropping patterns in a tropical, sub-humid watershed

PubMed Central

Zwart, Sander J.; Hein, Lars

2018-01-01

In recent decades, there have been substantial increases in crop production in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) as a result of higher yields, increased cropping intensity, expansion of irrigated cropping systems, and rainfed cropland expansion. Yet, to date much of the research focus of the impact of climate change on crop production in the coming decades has been on crop yield responses. In this study, we analyse the impact of climate change on the potential for increasing rainfed cropping intensity through sequential cropping and irrigation expansion in central Benin. Our approach combines hydrological modelling and scenario analysis involving two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs), two water-use scenarios for the watershed based on the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs), and environmental water requirements leading to sustained streamflow. Our analyses show that in Benin, warmer temperatures will severely limit crop production increases achieved through the expansion of sequential cropping. Depending on the climate change scenario, between 50% and 95% of cultivated areas that can currently support sequential cropping or will need to revert to single cropping. The results also show that the irrigation potential of the watershed will be at least halved by mid-century in all scenario combinations. Given the urgent need to increase crop production to meet the demands of a growing population in SSA, our study outlines challenges and the need for planned development that need to be overcome to improve food security in the coming decades. PMID:29513753

Speckle pattern sequential extraction metric for estimating the focus spot size on a remote diffuse target.

PubMed

Yu, Zhan; Li, Yuanyang; Liu, Lisheng; Guo, Jin; Wang, Tingfeng; Yang, Guoqing

2017-11-10

The speckle pattern (line by line) sequential extraction (SPSE) metric is proposed by the one-dimensional speckle intensity level crossing theory. Through the sequential extraction of received speckle information, the speckle metrics for estimating the variation of focusing spot size on a remote diffuse target are obtained. Based on the simulation, we will give some discussions about the SPSE metric range of application under the theoretical conditions, and the aperture size will affect the metric performance of the observation system. The results of the analyses are verified by the experiment. This method is applied to the detection of relative static target (speckled jitter frequency is less than the CCD sampling frequency). The SPSE metric can determine the variation of the focusing spot size over a long distance, moreover, the metric will estimate the spot size under some conditions. Therefore, the monitoring and the feedback of far-field spot will be implemented laser focusing system applications and help the system to optimize the focusing performance.

Induction of simultaneous and sequential malolactic fermentation in durian wine.

PubMed

Taniasuri, Fransisca; Lee, Pin-Rou; Liu, Shao-Quan

2016-08-02

This study represented for the first time the impact of malolactic fermentation (MLF) induced by Oenococcus oeni and its inoculation strategies (simultaneous vs. sequential) on the fermentation performance as well as aroma compound profile of durian wine. There was no negative impact of simultaneous inoculation of O. oeni and Saccharomyces cerevisiae on the growth and fermentation kinetics of S. cerevisiae as compared to sequential fermentation. Simultaneous MLF did not lead to an excessive increase in volatile acidity as compared to sequential MLF. The kinetic changes of organic acids (i.e. malic, lactic, succinic, acetic and α-ketoglutaric acids) varied with simultaneous and sequential MLF relative to yeast alone. MLF, regardless of inoculation mode, resulted in higher production of fermentation-derived volatiles as compared to control (alcoholic fermentation only), including esters, volatile fatty acids, and terpenes, except for higher alcohols. Most indigenous volatile sulphur compounds in durian were decreased to trace levels with little differences among the control, simultaneous and sequential MLF. Among the different wines, the wine with simultaneous MLF had higher concentrations of terpenes and acetate esters while sequential MLF had increased concentrations of medium- and long-chain ethyl esters. Relative to alcoholic fermentation only, both simultaneous and sequential MLF reduced acetaldehyde substantially with sequential MLF being more effective. These findings illustrate that MLF is an effective and novel way of modulating the volatile and aroma compound profile of durian wine. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Non-common path aberration correction in an adaptive optics scanning ophthalmoscope

PubMed Central

Sulai, Yusufu N.; Dubra, Alfredo

2014-01-01

The correction of non-common path aberrations (NCPAs) between the imaging and wavefront sensing channel in a confocal scanning adaptive optics ophthalmoscope is demonstrated. NCPA correction is achieved by maximizing an image sharpness metric while the confocal detection aperture is temporarily removed, effectively minimizing the monochromatic aberrations in the illumination path of the imaging channel. Comparison of NCPA estimated using zonal and modal orthogonal wavefront corrector bases provided wavefronts that differ by ~λ/20 in root-mean-squared (~λ/30 standard deviation). Sequential insertion of a cylindrical lens in the illumination and light collection paths of the imaging channel was used to compare image resolution after changing the wavefront correction to maximize image sharpness and intensity metrics. Finally, the NCPA correction was incorporated into the closed-loop adaptive optics control by biasing the wavefront sensor signals without reducing its bandwidth. PMID:25401020

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.

Method of selective reduction of halodisilanes with alkyltin hydrides

DOEpatents

D'Errico, John J.; Sharp, Kenneth G.

1989-01-01

The invention relates to the selective and sequential reduction of halodisilanes by reacting these compounds at room temperature or below with trialkyltin hydrides or dialkyltin dihydrides without the use of free radical intermediates. The alkyltin hydrides selectively and sequentially reduce the Si-Cl, Si-Br or Si-I bonds while leaving intact the Si-Si and Si-F bonds present.

Therapeutic effect for liver-metastasized tumor by sequential intravenous injection of anionic polymer and cationic lipoplex of siRNA.

PubMed

Hattori, Yoshiyuki; Arai, Shohei; Kikuchi, Takuto; Ozaki, Kei-Ichi; Kawano, Kumi; Yonemochi, Etsuo

2016-04-01

Previously, we developed a novel siRNA transfer method to the liver by sequential intravenous injection of anionic polymer and cationic liposome/siRNA complex (cationic lipoplex). In this study, we investigated whether siRNA delivered by this sequential injection could significantly suppress mRNA expression of the targeted gene in liver metastasis and inhibit tumor growth. When cationic lipoplex was intravenously injected into mice bearing liver metastasis of human breast tumor MCF-7 at 1 min after intravenous injection of chondroitin sulfate C (CS) or poly-l-glutamic acid (PGA), siRNA was accumulated in tumor-metastasized liver. In terms of a gene silencing effect, sequential injections of CS or PGA plus cationic lipoplex of luciferase siRNA could reduce luciferase activity in liver MCF-7-Luc metastasis. Regarding the side effects, sequential injections of CS plus cationic lipoplex did not exhibit hepatic damage or induction of inflammatory cytokines in serum after repeated injections, but sequential injections of PGA plus cationic lipoplex did. Finally, sequential injections of CS plus cationic lipoplex of protein kinase N3 siRNA could suppress tumor growth in the mice bearing liver metastasis. From these findings, sequential injection of CS and cationic lipoplex of siRNA might be a novel systemic method of delivering siRNA to liver metastasis.

Testing a stepped care model for binge-eating disorder: a two-step randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Tasca, Giorgio A; Koszycki, Diana; Brugnera, Agostino; Chyurlia, Livia; Hammond, Nicole; Francis, Kylie; Ritchie, Kerri; Ivanova, Iryna; Proulx, Genevieve; Wilson, Brian; Beaulac, Julie; Bissada, Hany; Beasley, Erin; Mcquaid, Nancy; Grenon, Renee; Fortin-Langelier, Benjamin; Compare, Angelo; Balfour, Louise

2018-05-24

A stepped care approach involves patients first receiving low-intensity treatment followed by higher intensity treatment. This two-step randomized controlled trial investigated the efficacy of a sequential stepped care approach for the psychological treatment of binge-eating disorder (BED). In the first step, all participants with BED (n = 135) received unguided self-help (USH) based on a cognitive-behavioral therapy model. In the second step, participants who remained in the trial were randomized either to 16 weeks of group psychodynamic-interpersonal psychotherapy (GPIP) (n = 39) or to a no-treatment control condition (n = 46). Outcomes were assessed for USH in step 1, and then for step 2 up to 6-months post-treatment using multilevel regression slope discontinuity models. In the first step, USH resulted in large and statistically significant reductions in the frequency of binge eating. Statistically significant moderate to large reductions in eating disorder cognitions were also noted. In the second step, there was no difference in change in frequency of binge eating between GPIP and the control condition. Compared with controls, GPIP resulted in significant and large improvement in attachment avoidance and interpersonal problems. The findings indicated that a second step of a stepped care approach did not significantly reduce binge-eating symptoms beyond the effects of USH alone. The study provided some evidence for the second step potentially to reduce factors known to maintain binge eating in the long run, such as attachment avoidance and interpersonal problems.

BFL: a node and edge betweenness based fast layout algorithm for large scale networks

PubMed Central

Hashimoto, Tatsunori B; Nagasaki, Masao; Kojima, Kaname; Miyano, Satoru

2009-01-01

Background Network visualization would serve as a useful first step for analysis. However, current graph layout algorithms for biological pathways are insensitive to biologically important information, e.g. subcellular localization, biological node and graph attributes, or/and not available for large scale networks, e.g. more than 10000 elements. Results To overcome these problems, we propose the use of a biologically important graph metric, betweenness, a measure of network flow. This metric is highly correlated with many biological phenomena such as lethality and clusters. We devise a new fast parallel algorithm calculating betweenness to minimize the preprocessing cost. Using this metric, we also invent a node and edge betweenness based fast layout algorithm (BFL). BFL places the high-betweenness nodes to optimal positions and allows the low-betweenness nodes to reach suboptimal positions. Furthermore, BFL reduces the runtime by combining a sequential insertion algorim with betweenness. For a graph with n nodes, this approach reduces the expected runtime of the algorithm to O(n2) when considering edge crossings, and to O(n log n) when considering only density and edge lengths. Conclusion Our BFL algorithm is compared against fast graph layout algorithms and approaches requiring intensive optimizations. For gene networks, we show that our algorithm is faster than all layout algorithms tested while providing readability on par with intensive optimization algorithms. We achieve a 1.4 second runtime for a graph with 4000 nodes and 12000 edges on a standard desktop computer. PMID:19146673

Exploiting fast detectors to enter a new dimension in room-temperature crystallography

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

Owen, Robin L., E-mail: robin.owen@diamond.ac.uk; Paterson, Neil; Axford, Danny

2014-05-01

A departure from a linear or an exponential decay in the diffracting power of macromolecular crystals is observed and accounted for through consideration of a multi-state sequential model. A departure from a linear or an exponential intensity decay in the diffracting power of protein crystals as a function of absorbed dose is reported. The observation of a lag phase raises the possibility of collecting significantly more data from crystals held at room temperature before an intolerable intensity decay is reached. A simple model accounting for the form of the intensity decay is reintroduced and is applied for the first timemore » to high frame-rate room-temperature data collection.« less

Chromosome characterization using single fluorescent dye

DOEpatents

Crissman, Harry A.; Hirons, Gregory T.

1995-01-01

Chromosomes are characterized by fluorescent emissions from a single fluorescent dye that is excited over two different wavelengths. A mixture containing chromosomes is stained with a single dye selected from the group consisting of TOTO and YOYO and the stained chromosomes are placed in a flow cytometer. The fluorescent dye is excited sequentially by a first light having a wavelength in the ultraviolet range to excite the TOTO or YOYO to fluoresce at a first intensity and by a second light having a wavelength effective to excite the TOTO or YOYO dye to fluoresce at a second intensity. Specific chromosomes may be identified and sorted by intensity relationships between the first and second fluorescence emissions.

An efficient and accurate approach to MTE-MART for time-resolved tomographic PIV

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lynch, K. P.; Scarano, F.

2015-03-01

The motion-tracking-enhanced MART (MTE-MART; Novara et al. in Meas Sci Technol 21:035401, 2010) has demonstrated the potential to increase the accuracy of tomographic PIV by the combined use of a short sequence of non-simultaneous recordings. A clear bottleneck of the MTE-MART technique has been its computational cost. For large datasets comprising time-resolved sequences, MTE-MART becomes unaffordable and has been barely applied even for the analysis of densely seeded tomographic PIV datasets. A novel implementation is proposed for tomographic PIV image sequences, which strongly reduces the computational burden of MTE-MART, possibly below that of regular MART. The method is a sequential algorithm that produces a time-marching estimation of the object intensity field based on an enhanced guess, which is built upon the object reconstructed at the previous time instant. As the method becomes effective after a number of snapshots (typically 5-10), the sequential MTE-MART (SMTE) is most suited for time-resolved sequences. The computational cost reduction due to SMTE simply stems from the fewer MART iterations required for each time instant. Moreover, the method yields superior reconstruction quality and higher velocity field measurement precision when compared with both MART and MTE-MART. The working principle is assessed in terms of computational effort, reconstruction quality and velocity field accuracy with both synthetic time-resolved tomographic images of a turbulent boundary layer and two experimental databases documented in the literature. The first is the time-resolved data of flow past an airfoil trailing edge used in the study of Novara and Scarano (Exp Fluids 52:1027-1041, 2012); the second is a swirling jet in a water flow. In both cases, the effective elimination of ghost particles is demonstrated in number and intensity within a short temporal transient of 5-10 frames, depending on the seeding density. The increased value of the velocity space-time correlation coefficient demonstrates the increased velocity field accuracy of SMTE compared with MART.

Cortical responses following simultaneous and sequential retinal neurostimulation with different return configurations.

PubMed

Barriga-Rivera, Alejandro; Morley, John W; Lovell, Nigel H; Suaning, Gregg J

2016-08-01

Researchers continue to develop visual prostheses towards safer and more efficacious systems. However limitations still exist in the number of stimulating channels that can be integrated. Therefore there is a need for spatial and time multiplexing techniques to provide improved performance of the current technology. In particular, bright and high-contrast visual scenes may require simultaneous activation of several electrodes. In this research, a 24-electrode array was suprachoroidally implanted in three normally-sighted cats. Multi-unit activity was recorded from the primary visual cortex. Four stimulation strategies were contrasted to provide activation of seven electrodes arranged hexagonally: simultaneous monopolar, sequential monopolar, sequential bipolar and hexapolar. Both monopolar configurations showed similar cortical activation maps. Hexapolar and sequential bipolar configurations activated a lower number of cortical channels. Overall, the return configuration played a more relevant role in cortical activation than time multiplexing and thus, rapid sequential stimulation may assist in reducing the number of channels required to activate large retinal areas.

Competitive interactions affect working memory performance for both simultaneous and sequential stimulus presentation.

PubMed

Ahmad, Jumana; Swan, Garrett; Bowman, Howard; Wyble, Brad; Nobre, Anna C; Shapiro, Kimron L; McNab, Fiona

2017-07-06

Competition between simultaneously presented visual stimuli lengthens reaction time and reduces both the BOLD response and neural firing. In contrast, conditions of sequential presentation have been assumed to be free from competition. Here we manipulated the spatial proximity of stimuli (Near versus Far conditions) to examine the effects of simultaneous and sequential competition on different measures of working memory (WM) for colour. With simultaneous presentation, the measure of WM precision was significantly lower for Near items, and participants reported the colour of the wrong item more often. These effects were preserved when the second stimulus immediately followed the first, disappeared when they were separated by 500 ms, and were partly recovered (evident for our measure of mis-binding but not WM precision) when the task was altered to encourage participants to maintain the sequentially presented items together in WM. Our results show, for the first time, that competition affects the measure of WM precision, and challenge the assumption that sequential presentation removes competition.

The target-to-foils shift in simultaneous and sequential lineups.

PubMed

Clark, Steven E; Davey, Sherrie L

2005-04-01

A theoretical cornerstone in eyewitness identification research is the proposition that witnesses, in making decisions from standard simultaneous lineups, make relative judgments. The present research considers two sources of support for this proposal. An experiment by G. L. Wells (1993) showed that if the target is removed from a lineup, witnesses shift their responses to pick foils, rather than rejecting the lineups, a result we will term a target-to-foils shift. Additional empirical support is provided by results from sequential lineups which typically show higher accuracy than simultaneous lineups, presumably because of a decrease in the use of relative judgments in making identification decisions. The combination of these two lines of research suggests that the target-to-foils shift should be reduced in sequential lineups relative to simultaneous lineups. Results of two experiments showed an overall advantage for sequential lineups, but also showed a target-to-foils shift equal in size for simultaneous and sequential lineups. Additional analyses indicated that the target-to-foils shift in sequential lineups was moderated in part by an order effect and was produced with (Experiment 2) or without (Experiment 1) a shift in decision criterion. This complex pattern of results suggests that more work is needed to understand the processes which underlie decisions in simultaneous and sequential lineups.

A randomized pilot comparative study of topical methyl aminolevulinate photodynamic therapy versus imiquimod 5% versus sequential application of both therapies in immunocompetent patients with actinic keratosis: clinical and histologic outcomes.

PubMed

Serra-Guillén, Carlos; Nagore, Eduardo; Hueso, Luis; Traves, Victor; Messeguer, Francesc; Sanmartín, Onofre; Llombart, Beatriz; Requena, Celia; Botella-Estrada, Rafael; Guillén, Carlos

2012-04-01

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) and imiquimod are the treatments of choice for actinic keratosis (AK). As they have different mechanisms of action, it seems reasonable to assume that applying both treatments sequentially would be efficacious. We sought to determine which of these therapeutic modalities provides a better clinical and histologic response in patients with AK and whether sequential use of both was more efficacious than each separately. Patients were randomly assigned to one treatment group: group 1, PDT only; group 2, imiquimod only; or group 3, sequential use of PDT and imiquimod. The primary outcome measure was complete clinical response. Partial clinical response was defined as a reduction of more than 75% in the initial number of lesions. A complete clinicopathologic response was defined as lack of evidence of AK in the biopsy specimen. In all, 105 patients completed the study (group 1, 40 patients; group 2, 33 patients; group 3, 32 patients). Sequential application of PDT and imiquimod was more efficacious in all the outcome measures. More patients were satisfied with PDT than with the other two modalities (P = .003). No significant differences were observed among the 3 modalities and tolerance to treatment. Only one cycle of imiquimod was administered. The follow-up period was brief. Sequential application of PDT and imiquimod provides a significantly better clinical and histologic response in the treatment of AK than PDT or imiquimod monotherapy. It also produces less intense local reactions and better tolerance and satisfaction than imiquimod monotherapy. Copyright © 2011 American Academy of Dermatology, Inc. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Pivotal role of glutathione depletion in plasma-induced endothelial oxidative stress during sepsis.

PubMed

Huet, Olivier; Cherreau, Christaine; Nicco, Carole; Dupic, Laurent; Conti, Marc; Borderie, Didier; Pene, Frédéric; Vicaut, Eric; Benhamou, Dan; Mira, Jean-Paul; Duranteau, Jacques; Batteux, Frédéric

2008-08-01

Plasma from septic shock patients can induce production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) in vitro. How endothelial cells defend themselves against ROS under increased oxidative stress has not yet been examined. This study investigates the antioxidant defenses of HUVEC exposed to plasma obtained from either septic shock patients or healthy volunteers. Prospective, observational study. Medical intensive care unit in a university hospital. Twenty-five patients with septic shock and 10 healthy volunteers. Blood samples were collected within the first 24 hrs of septic shock. In vitro HUVEC production of ROS was studied by spectrofluorimetry using 2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate fluorescent dye. Reactive nitrogen species were also assessed. Intracellular reduced glutathione (GSH) levels were measured using monochlorobimane fluorescent dye. Activity of catalase and superoxide dismutase in HUVEC were also measured. Cell death was assessed using YOPRO fluorescent dye and the MTT assay. On admission, the septic shock population's mean age was 55 yrs old, the mean Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score was 12, mean simplified acute physiology score was 50, and intensive care unit mortality rate was 45%. Evaluation of HUVEC antioxidant defenses showed a significantly decreased GSH level, increased catalase activity, and unchanged superoxide dismutase activity. ROS levels and cell death were significantly reduced when cells were pretreated with N-acetylcysteine or GSH, but no changes in reactive nitrogen species were observed. This study demonstrates that plasma-induced ROS production by HUVEC is associated with an intracellular decrease in reduced GSH. Both ROS levels and cell death decreased when N-acetylcysteine or GSH were added before exposing the cells to plasma. These data suggest a pivotal role of alterations in GSH in damage caused by sepsis-generated ROS in endothelial cell.

TDRSS-user orbit determination using batch least-squares and sequential methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oza, D. H.; Jones, T. L.; Hakimi, M.; Samii, Mina V.; Doll, C. E.; Mistretta, G. D.; Hart, R. C.

1993-02-01

The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Flight Dynamics Division (FDD) commissioned Applied Technology Associates, Incorporated, to develop the Real-Time Orbit Determination/Enhanced (RTOD/E) system on a Disk Operating System (DOS)-based personal computer (PC) as a prototype system for sequential orbit determination of spacecraft. This paper presents the results of a study to compare the orbit determination accuracy for a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) user spacecraft, Landsat-4, obtained using RTOD/E, operating on a PC, with the accuracy of an established batch least-squares system, the Goddard Trajectory Determination System (GTDS), and operating on a mainframe computer. The results of Landsat-4 orbit determination will provide useful experience for the Earth Observing System (EOS) series of satellites. The Landsat-4 ephemerides were estimated for the January 17-23, 1991, timeframe, during which intensive TDRSS tracking data for Landsat-4 were available. Independent assessments were made of the consistencies (overlap comparisons for the batch case and covariances and the first measurement residuals for the sequential case) of solutions produced by the batch and sequential methods. The forward-filtered RTOD/E orbit solutions were compared with the definitive GTDS orbit solutions for Landsat-4; the solution differences were less than 40 meters after the filter had reached steady state.

Comparison of ERBS orbit determination accuracy using batch least-squares and sequential methods

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Oza, D. H.; Jones, T. L.; Fabien, S. M.; Mistretta, G. D.; Hart, R. C.; Doll, C. E.

1991-01-01

The Flight Dynamics Div. (FDD) at NASA-Goddard commissioned a study to develop the Real Time Orbit Determination/Enhanced (RTOD/E) system as a prototype system for sequential orbit determination of spacecraft on a DOS based personal computer (PC). An overview is presented of RTOD/E capabilities and the results are presented of a study to compare the orbit determination accuracy for a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) user spacecraft obtained using RTOS/E on a PC with the accuracy of an established batch least squares system, the Goddard Trajectory Determination System (GTDS), operating on a mainframe computer. RTOD/E was used to perform sequential orbit determination for the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS), and the Goddard Trajectory Determination System (GTDS) was used to perform the batch least squares orbit determination. The estimated ERBS ephemerides were obtained for the Aug. 16 to 22, 1989, timeframe, during which intensive TDRSS tracking data for ERBS were available. Independent assessments were made to examine the consistencies of results obtained by the batch and sequential methods. Comparisons were made between the forward filtered RTOD/E orbit solutions and definitive GTDS orbit solutions for ERBS; the solution differences were less than 40 meters after the filter had reached steady state.

TDRSS-user orbit determination using batch least-squares and sequential methods

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Oza, D. H.; Jones, T. L.; Hakimi, M.; Samii, Mina V.; Doll, C. E.; Mistretta, G. D.; Hart, R. C.

1993-01-01

The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Flight Dynamics Division (FDD) commissioned Applied Technology Associates, Incorporated, to develop the Real-Time Orbit Determination/Enhanced (RTOD/E) system on a Disk Operating System (DOS)-based personal computer (PC) as a prototype system for sequential orbit determination of spacecraft. This paper presents the results of a study to compare the orbit determination accuracy for a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) user spacecraft, Landsat-4, obtained using RTOD/E, operating on a PC, with the accuracy of an established batch least-squares system, the Goddard Trajectory Determination System (GTDS), and operating on a mainframe computer. The results of Landsat-4 orbit determination will provide useful experience for the Earth Observing System (EOS) series of satellites. The Landsat-4 ephemerides were estimated for the January 17-23, 1991, timeframe, during which intensive TDRSS tracking data for Landsat-4 were available. Independent assessments were made of the consistencies (overlap comparisons for the batch case and covariances and the first measurement residuals for the sequential case) of solutions produced by the batch and sequential methods. The forward-filtered RTOD/E orbit solutions were compared with the definitive GTDS orbit solutions for Landsat-4; the solution differences were less than 40 meters after the filter had reached steady state.

Comparison of ERBS orbit determination accuracy using batch least-squares and sequential methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oza, D. H.; Jones, T. L.; Fabien, S. M.; Mistretta, G. D.; Hart, R. C.; Doll, C. E.

1991-10-01

The Flight Dynamics Div. (FDD) at NASA-Goddard commissioned a study to develop the Real Time Orbit Determination/Enhanced (RTOD/E) system as a prototype system for sequential orbit determination of spacecraft on a DOS based personal computer (PC). An overview is presented of RTOD/E capabilities and the results are presented of a study to compare the orbit determination accuracy for a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) user spacecraft obtained using RTOS/E on a PC with the accuracy of an established batch least squares system, the Goddard Trajectory Determination System (GTDS), operating on a mainframe computer. RTOD/E was used to perform sequential orbit determination for the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS), and the Goddard Trajectory Determination System (GTDS) was used to perform the batch least squares orbit determination. The estimated ERBS ephemerides were obtained for the Aug. 16 to 22, 1989, timeframe, during which intensive TDRSS tracking data for ERBS were available. Independent assessments were made to examine the consistencies of results obtained by the batch and sequential methods. Comparisons were made between the forward filtered RTOD/E orbit solutions and definitive GTDS orbit solutions for ERBS; the solution differences were less than 40 meters after the filter had reached steady state.

Impact of Temporal Masking of Flip-Flop Upsets on Soft Error Rates of Sequential Circuits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, R. M.; Mahatme, N. N.; Diggins, Z. J.; Wang, L.; Zhang, E. X.; Chen, Y. P.; Liu, Y. N.; Narasimham, B.; Witulski, A. F.; Bhuva, B. L.; Fleetwood, D. M.

2017-08-01

Reductions in single-event (SE) upset (SEU) rates for sequential circuits due to temporal masking effects are evaluated. The impacts of supply voltage, combinational-logic delay, flip-flop (FF) SEU performance, and particle linear energy transfer (LET) values are analyzed for SE cross sections of sequential circuits. Alpha particles and heavy ions with different LET values are used to characterize the circuits fabricated at the 40-nm bulk CMOS technology node. Experimental results show that increasing the delay of the logic circuit present between FFs and decreasing the supply voltage are two effective ways of reducing SE error rates for sequential circuits for particles with low LET values due to temporal masking. SEU-hardened FFs benefit less from temporal masking than conventional FFs. Circuit hardening implications for SEU-hardened and unhardened FFs are discussed.

A sequential adaptation technique and its application to the Mark 12 IFF system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bailey, John S.; Mallett, John D.; Sheppard, Duane J.; Warner, F. Neal; Adams, Robert

1986-07-01

Sequential adaptation uses only two sets of receivers, correlators, and A/D converters which are time multiplexed to effect spatial adaptation in a system with (N) adaptive degrees of freedom. This technique can substantially reduce the hardware cost over what is realizable in a parallel architecture. A three channel L-band version of the sequential adapter was built and tested for use with the MARK XII IFF (identify friend or foe) system. In this system the sequentially determined adaptive weights were obtained digitally but implemented at RF. As a result, many of the post RF hardware induced sources of error that normally limit cancellation, such as receiver mismatch, are removed by the feedback property. The result is a system that can yield high levels of cancellation and be readily retrofitted to currently fielded equipment.

2-tier in-plane motion correction and out-of-plane motion filtering for contrast-enhanced ultrasound.

PubMed

Ta, Casey N; Eghtedari, Mohammad; Mattrey, Robert F; Kono, Yuko; Kummel, Andrew C

2014-11-01

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) cines of focal liver lesions (FLLs) can be quantitatively analyzed to measure tumor perfusion on a pixel-by-pixel basis for diagnostic indication. However, CEUS cines acquired freehand and during free breathing cause nonuniform in-plane and out-of-plane motion from frame to frame. These motions create fluctuations in the time-intensity curves (TICs), reducing the accuracy of quantitative measurements. Out-of-plane motion cannot be corrected by image registration in 2-dimensional CEUS and degrades the quality of in-plane motion correction (IPMC). A 2-tier IPMC strategy and adaptive out-of-plane motion filter (OPMF) are proposed to provide a stable correction of nonuniform motion to reduce the impact of motion on quantitative analyses. A total of 22 cines of FLLs were imaged with dual B-mode and contrast specific imaging to acquire a 3-minute TIC. B-mode images were analyzed for motion, and the motion correction was applied to both B-mode and contrast images. For IPMC, the main reference frame was automatically selected for each cine, and subreference frames were selected in each respiratory cycle and sequentially registered toward the main reference frame. All other frames were sequentially registered toward the local subreference frame. Four OPMFs were developed and tested: subsample normalized correlation (NC), subsample sum of absolute differences, mean frame NC, and histogram. The frames that were most dissimilar to the OPMF reference frame using 1 of the 4 above criteria in each respiratory cycle were adaptively removed by thresholding against the low-pass filter of the similarity curve. Out-of-plane motion filter was quantitatively evaluated by an out-of-plane motion metric (OPMM) that measured normalized variance in the high-pass filtered TIC within the tumor region-of-interest with low OPMM being the goal. Results for IPMC and OPMF were qualitatively evaluated by 2 blinded observers who ranked the motion in the cines before and after various combinations of motion correction steps. Quantitative measurements showed that 2-tier IPMC and OPMF improved imaging stability. With IPMC, the NC B-mode metric increased from 0.504 ± 0.149 to 0.585 ± 0.145 over all cines (P < 0.001). Two-tier IPMC also produced better fits on the contrast-specific TIC than industry standard IPMC techniques did (P < 0.02). In-plane motion correction and OPMF were shown to improve goodness of fit for pixel-by-pixel analysis (P < 0.001). Out-of-plane motion filter reduced variance in the contrast-specific signal as shown by a median decrease of 49.8% in the OPMM. Two-tier IPMC and OPMF were also shown to qualitatively reduce motion. Observers consistently ranked cines with IPMC higher than the same cine before IPMC (P < 0.001) as well as ranked cines with OPMF higher than when they were uncorrected. The 2-tier sequential IPMC and adaptive OPMF significantly reduced motion in 3-minute CEUS cines of FLLs, thereby overcoming the challenges of drift and irregular breathing motion in long cines. The 2-tier IPMC strategy provided stable motion correction tolerant of out-of-plane motion throughout the cine by sequentially registering subreference frames that bypassed the motion cycles, thereby overcoming the lack of a nearly stationary reference point in long cines. Out-of-plane motion filter reduced apparent motion by adaptively removing frames imaged off-plane from the automatically selected OPMF reference frame, thereby tolerating nonuniform breathing motion. Selection of the best OPMF by minimizing OPMM effectively reduced motion under a wide variety of motion patterns applicable to clinical CEUS. These semiautomated processes only required user input for region-of-interest selection and can improve the accuracy of quantitative perfusion measurements.

A Cross-Grade Study Validating the Evolutionary Pathway of Student Mental Models in Electric Circuits

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lin, Jing-Wen

2017-01-01

Cross-grade studies are valuable for the development of sequential curriculum. However such studies are time and resource intensive and fail to provide a clear representation to integrate different levels of representational complexity. Lin (Lin, 2006; Lin & Chiu, 2006; Lin, Chiu, & Hsu, 2006) proposed a cladistics approach in conceptual…

Comparing Parent-Child Interactions in the Clinic and at Home: An Exploration of the Validity of Clinical Behavior Observations Using Sequential Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shriver, Mark D.; Frerichs, Lynae J.; Williams, Melissa; Lancaster, Blake M.

2013-01-01

Direct observation is often considered the "gold standard" for assessing the function, frequency, and intensity of problem behavior. Currently, the literature investigating the construct validity of direct observation conducted in the clinic setting reveals conflicting results. Previous studies on the construct validity of clinic-based…

Water System Adaptation to Hydrological Changes: Module 2, Stormwater Management and Sewer Performance under Intense Storms: Case Study from Lawrence, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

EPA Science Inventory

This course focuses on water system adaptation to short-term and long-term climate and hydrologic stressors that affect water availability, water quality, security, and resilience. The course is organized into 15 sequential modules. The lectures will be augmented by weekly assign...

Up-conversion fluorescence: noncoherent excitation by sunlight.

PubMed

Baluschev, S; Miteva, T; Yakutkin, V; Nelles, G; Yasuda, A; Wegner, G

2006-10-06

We demonstrate up-conversion of noncoherent sunlight realized by ultralow excitation intensity. The bimolecular up-conversion process in our systems relies on the presence of a metastable triplet excited state, and thus has dramatically different photophysical characteristics relative to the other known methods for photon up-conversion (two-photon absorption, parametric processes, second harmonic generation, sequential multiphoton absorption, etc.).

Infiltration Processes and Flow Velocities Across the Landscape: When and Where is Macropore Flow Relevant?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Demand, D.; Blume, T.; Weiler, M.

2017-12-01

Preferential flow in macropores significantly affects the distributions of water and solutes in soil and many studies showed its relevance worldwide. Although some models include this process as a second pore domain, little is known about the spatial patterns and temporal dynamics. For example, while flow in the matrix is usually modeled and parameterized based on soil texture, an influence of texture on non-capillary flow for a given land-use class is poorly understood. To investigate the temporal and spatial dynamics on preferential flow we used a four-year soil moisture dataset from the mesoscale Attert catchment (288 km²) in Luxembourg. This dataset contains time series from 126 soil profiles in different textures and two land-use classes (forest, grassland). The soil moisture probes were installed in 10, 30 and 50 cm depth and measured in a 5-minute temporal resolution. Events were defined by a soil moisture increase higher than the instrument noise after a precipitation sum of more than 1 mm. Precipitation was measured next to the profiles so that each location could be associated to its unique precipitation characteristics. For every event and profile the soil moisture reaction was classified in sequential (ordered by depth) and non-sequential response. A non-sequential soil moisture reaction was used as an indicator of preferential flow. For sequential flow, the velocity was determined by the first reaction between two vertically adjacent sensors. The sensor reaction and wetting front velocity was analyzed in the context of precipitation characteristics and initial soil water content. Grassland sites showed a lower proportion of non-sequential flow than forest sites. For forest, non-sequential response is dependent on texture, rainfall intensity and initial water content. This is less distinct for the grassland sites. Furthermore, sequential reactions show higher flow velocities at sites, which also have high percentage of non-sequential response. In contrast, grassland sites show a more homogenous wetting front independent of soil texture. Compared against common modelling approaches of soil water flow, measured velocities show clear evidence of preferential flow, especially for forest soils. The analysis also shows that vegetation can alter the soil properties above the textural properties alone.

Comparison of solution-mixed and sequentially processed P3HT: F4TCNQ films: effect of doping-induced aggregation on film morphology

DOE PAGES

Jacobs, Ian E.; Aasen, Erik W.; Oliveira, Julia L.; ...

2016-03-23

Doping polymeric semiconductors often drastically reduces the solubility of the polymer, leading to difficulties in processing doped films. Here, we compare optical, electrical, and morphological properties of P3HT films doped with F4TCNQ, both from mixed solutions and using sequential solution processing with orthogonal solvents. We demonstrate that sequential doping occurs rapidly (<1 s), and that the film doping level can be precisely controlled by varying the concentration of the doping solution. Furthermore, the choice of sequential doping solvent controls whether dopant anions are included or excluded from polymer crystallites. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) reveals that sequential doping produces significantly moremore » uniform films on the nanoscale than the mixed-solution method. In addition, we show that mixed-solution doping induces the formation of aggregates even at low doping levels, resulting in drastic changes to film morphology. Sequentially coated films show 3–15 times higher conductivities at a given doping level than solution-doped films, with sequentially doped films processed to exclude dopant anions from polymer crystallites showing the highest conductivities. In conclusion, we propose a mechanism for doping induced aggregation in which the shift of the polymer HOMO level upon aggregation couples ionization and solvation energies. To show that the methodology is widely applicable, we demonstrate that several different polymer:dopant systems can be prepared by sequential doping.« less

Simultaneous Versus Sequential Ptosis and Strabismus Surgery in Children.

PubMed

Revere, Karen E; Binenbaum, Gil; Li, Jonathan; Mills, Monte D; Katowitz, William R; Katowitz, James A

The authors sought to compare the clinical outcomes of simultaneous versus sequential ptosis and strabismus surgery in children. Retrospective, single-center cohort study of children requiring both ptosis and strabismus surgery on the same eye. Simultaneous surgeries were performed during a single anesthetic event; sequential surgeries were performed at least 7 weeks apart. Outcomes were ptosis surgery success (margin reflex distance 1 ≥ 2 mm, good eyelid contour, and good eyelid crease); strabismus surgery success (ocular alignment within 10 prism diopters of orthophoria and/or improved head position); surgical complications; and reoperations. Fifty-six children were studied, 38 had simultaneous surgery and 18 sequential. Strabismus surgery was performed first in 38/38 simultaneous and 6/18 sequential cases. Mean age at first surgery was 64 months, with mean follow up 27 months. A total of 75% of children had congenital ptosis; 64% had comitant strabismus. A majority of ptosis surgeries were frontalis sling (59%) or Fasanella-Servat (30%) procedures. There were no significant differences between simultaneous and sequential groups with regards to surgical success rates, complications, or reoperations (all p > 0.28). In the first comparative study of simultaneous versus sequential ptosis and strabismus surgery, no advantage for sequential surgery was seen. Despite a theoretical risk of postoperative eyelid malposition or complications when surgeries were performed in a combined manner, the rate of such outcomes was not increased with simultaneous surgeries. Performing ptosis and strabismus surgery together appears to be clinically effective and safe, and reduces anesthesia exposure during childhood.

Comparison of solution-mixed and sequentially processed P3HT: F4TCNQ films: effect of doping-induced aggregation on film morphology

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

Jacobs, Ian E.; Aasen, Erik W.; Oliveira, Julia L.

Doping polymeric semiconductors often drastically reduces the solubility of the polymer, leading to difficulties in processing doped films. Here, we compare optical, electrical, and morphological properties of P3HT films doped with F4TCNQ, both from mixed solutions and using sequential solution processing with orthogonal solvents. We demonstrate that sequential doping occurs rapidly (<1 s), and that the film doping level can be precisely controlled by varying the concentration of the doping solution. Furthermore, the choice of sequential doping solvent controls whether dopant anions are included or excluded from polymer crystallites. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) reveals that sequential doping produces significantly moremore » uniform films on the nanoscale than the mixed-solution method. In addition, we show that mixed-solution doping induces the formation of aggregates even at low doping levels, resulting in drastic changes to film morphology. Sequentially coated films show 3–15 times higher conductivities at a given doping level than solution-doped films, with sequentially doped films processed to exclude dopant anions from polymer crystallites showing the highest conductivities. In conclusion, we propose a mechanism for doping induced aggregation in which the shift of the polymer HOMO level upon aggregation couples ionization and solvation energies. To show that the methodology is widely applicable, we demonstrate that several different polymer:dopant systems can be prepared by sequential doping.« less

Reduced dimensionality tailored HN(C)N experiments for facile backbone resonance assignment of proteins through unambiguous identification of sequential HSQC peaks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, Dinesh

2013-12-01

Two novel reduced dimensionality (RD) tailored HN(C)N [S.C. Panchal, N.S. Bhavesh, R.V. Hosur, Improved 3D triple resonance experiments, HNN and HN(C)N, for HN and 15N sequential correlations in (13C, 15N) labeled proteins: application to unfolded proteins, J. Biomol. NMR 20 (2001) 135-147] experiments are proposed to facilitate the backbone resonance assignment of proteins both in terms of its accuracy and speed. These experiments - referred here as (4,3)D-hNCOcaNH and (4,3)D-hNcoCANH - exploit the linear combination of backbone 15N and 13C‧/13Cα chemical shifts simultaneously to achieve higher peak dispersion and randomness along their respective F1 dimensions. Simply, this has been achieved by modulating the backbone 15N(i) chemical shifts with that of 13C‧ (i - 1)/13Cα (i - 1) spins following the established reduced dimensionality NMR approach [T. Szyperski, D.C. Yeh, D.K. Sukumaran, H.N. Moseley, G.T. Montelione, Reduced-dimensionality NMR spectroscopy for high-throughput protein resonance assignment, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99 (2002) 8009-8014]. Though the modification is simple it has resulted an ingenious improvement of HN(C)N both in terms of peak dispersion and easiness of establishing the sequential connectivities. The increased dispersion along F1 dimension solves two purposes here: (i) resolves the ambiguities arising because of degenerate 15N chemical shifts and (ii) reduces the signal overlap in F2(15N)-F3(1H) planes (an important requisite in HN(C)N based assignment protocol for facile and unambiguous identification of sequentially connected HSQC peaks). The performance of both these experiments and the assignment protocol has been demonstrated using bovine apo Calbindin-d9k (75 aa) and urea denatured UNC60B (a 152 amino acid ADF/cofilin family protein of Caenorhabditis elegans), as representatives of folded and unfolded protein systems, respectively.

Spatial-Sequential Working Memory in Younger and Older Adults: Age Predicts Backward Recall Performance within Both Age Groups

PubMed Central

Brown, Louise A.

2016-01-01

Working memory is vulnerable to age-related decline, but there is debate regarding the age-sensitivity of different forms of spatial-sequential working memory task, depending on their passive or active nature. The functional architecture of spatial working memory was therefore explored in younger (18–40 years) and older (64–85 years) adults, using passive and active recall tasks. Spatial working memory was assessed using a modified version of the Spatial Span subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale – Third Edition (WMS-III; Wechsler, 1998). Across both age groups, the effects of interference (control, visual, or spatial), and recall type (forward and backward), were investigated. There was a clear effect of age group, with younger adults demonstrating a larger spatial working memory capacity than the older adults overall. There was also a specific effect of interference, with the spatial interference task (spatial tapping) reliably reducing performance relative to both the control and visual interference (dynamic visual noise) conditions in both age groups and both recall types. This suggests that younger and older adults have similar dependence upon active spatial rehearsal, and that both forward and backward recall require this processing capacity. Linear regression analyses were then carried out within each age group, to assess the predictors of performance in each recall format (forward and backward). Specifically the backward recall task was significantly predicted by age, within both the younger and older adult groups. This finding supports previous literature showing lifespan linear declines in spatial-sequential working memory, and in working memory tasks from other domains, but contrasts with previous evidence that backward spatial span is no more sensitive to aging than forward span. The study suggests that backward spatial span is indeed more processing-intensive than forward span, even when both tasks include a retention period, and that age predicts backward spatial span performance across the adult lifespan, within both younger and older adulthood. PMID:27757096

Spatial-Sequential Working Memory in Younger and Older Adults: Age Predicts Backward Recall Performance within Both Age Groups.

PubMed

Brown, Louise A

2016-01-01

Working memory is vulnerable to age-related decline, but there is debate regarding the age-sensitivity of different forms of spatial-sequential working memory task, depending on their passive or active nature. The functional architecture of spatial working memory was therefore explored in younger (18-40 years) and older (64-85 years) adults, using passive and active recall tasks. Spatial working memory was assessed using a modified version of the Spatial Span subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale - Third Edition (WMS-III; Wechsler, 1998). Across both age groups, the effects of interference (control, visual, or spatial), and recall type (forward and backward), were investigated. There was a clear effect of age group, with younger adults demonstrating a larger spatial working memory capacity than the older adults overall. There was also a specific effect of interference, with the spatial interference task (spatial tapping) reliably reducing performance relative to both the control and visual interference (dynamic visual noise) conditions in both age groups and both recall types. This suggests that younger and older adults have similar dependence upon active spatial rehearsal, and that both forward and backward recall require this processing capacity. Linear regression analyses were then carried out within each age group, to assess the predictors of performance in each recall format (forward and backward). Specifically the backward recall task was significantly predicted by age, within both the younger and older adult groups. This finding supports previous literature showing lifespan linear declines in spatial-sequential working memory, and in working memory tasks from other domains, but contrasts with previous evidence that backward spatial span is no more sensitive to aging than forward span. The study suggests that backward spatial span is indeed more processing-intensive than forward span, even when both tasks include a retention period, and that age predicts backward spatial span performance across the adult lifespan, within both younger and older adulthood.

Single, simultaneous and sequential applications of ultrasonic frequencies for the elimination of ibuprofen in water.

PubMed

Ziylan-Yavas, Asu; Ince, Nilsun H

2018-01-01

The study is about the assessment of single and multi-frequency operations for the overall degradation of a widely consumed analgesic pharmaceutical-ibuprofen (IBP). The selected frequencies were in the range of 20-1130kHz emissions coming from probes, baths and piezo-electric transducers attached to plate-type devices. Multi-frequency operations were applied either simultaneously as "duals", or sequentially at fixed time intervals; and the total reaction time in all operations was 30-min. The work also covers evaluation of the effect of zero-valent iron (ZVI) on the efficiency of the degradation process and the performance of the reaction systems. It was found that low-frequency probe type devices especially at 20kHz were ineffective when applied singly and without ZVI, and relatively more effective in combined-frequency operations in the presence of ZVI. The power efficiencies of the reactors and/or reaction systems showed that 20-kHz probe was considerably more energy intensive than all others, and was therefore not used in multi-frequency operations. The most efficient reactor in terms of power consumption was the bath (200kHz), which however provided insufficient mineralization of the test chemical. The highest percentage of TOC decay (37%) was obtained in a dual-frequency operation (40/572kHz) with ZVI, in which the energy consumption was neither low nor exceptionally too high. A sequential operation (40+200kHz) in that respect was more efficient, because it required much less energy for a similar TOC decay performance (30%). In general, the degradation of IBP increased with increased power consumption, which in turn reduced the sonochemical yield. The study also showed that advanced Fenton reactions with ZVI were faster in the presence of ultrasound, and the metal was very effective in improving the performance of low-frequency operations. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sequentially allocated clinical trial of rhythmic stabilization exercises and TENS in women with chronic low back pain.

PubMed

Kofotolis, Nikolaos D; Vlachopoulos, Symeon P; Kellis, Eleftherios

2008-02-01

To examine the effectiveness of rhythmic stabilization exercises and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) and their combination in treating women with chronic low back pain. Sequentially allocated, single-blinded and controlled study, with a two-month follow-up. The data were collected in a patient rehabilitation setting. A total of 92 women (34-46 years old) with chronic low back pain were studied. Sequential allocation was undertaken into four groups: ;rhythmic stabilization' (n=23), ;rhythmic stabilization - TENS' (n=23), TENS (n=23), and a placebo group (n = 23). Each programme lasted for four weeks. All outcome measures were assessed prior to, immediately after, four weeks and eight weeks post intervention. Data were obtained on functional disability, pain intensity, trunk extension range of motion, dynamic endurance of trunk flexion and static endurance of trunk extension. A total of 88 patients provided two-month follow-up data. The ;rhythmic stabilization' and the ;rhythmic stabilization - TENS' groups displayed statistically significant (P<0.05) improvements in functional disability and pain intensity (ranging from 21.2 to 42.8%), trunk extension range of motion (ranging from 6.5 to 25.5%), dynamic endurance of trunk flexion and static endurance of trunk extension (ranging from 13.5 to 74.3%) compared with the remaining groups. The rhythmic stabilization programmes resulted in more gains in women with chronic low back pain regarding the present outcome variables compared with the other groups; therefore, its application in female chronic low back pain patients aged 34-46 years is recommended.

Certainty and uncertainty about end of life care nursing practices in New Zealand Intensive Care Units: a mixed methods study.

PubMed

Coombs, Maureen; Fulbrook, Paul; Donovan, Sarah; Tester, Rachel; deVries, Kay

2015-05-01

With end-of-life (EOL) central to the nursing role in intensive care, few studies have been undertaken to explore EOL care in the context of New Zealand (NZ) intensive care nursing. To investigate NZ intensive care nurses' experiences of, and attitudes towards EOL care. Sequential mixed methods study using cross sectional survey with follow-on focus groups. NZ intensive care nurses (N=465) across four large tertiary intensive care units (ICUs) were contacted to complete a 43-item web-based survey. A follow-on focus group was conducted in each of the sites to explore specific aspects of the survey findings. 203 fully completed surveys were returned (response rate 44%) from the four ICUs. Over half of nurses surveyed (55%, n=111) disagreed that withholding and withdrawing life support treatment were ethically the same. 78% (n=159) of nurses stated that withholding treatment was ethically more acceptable than withdrawing it. Whilst nurses generally supported reducing inspired oxygen to air for ventilated patients at EOL (71%, n=139) this was also an area that demonstrated one of the highest levels of uncertainty (21%, n=41). Just under a quarter of respondents were also uncertain about the use of continued nutritional support, continued passive limb exercises and use of deep sedation during EOL. The 18 nurses who participated in follow-on focus groups detailed the supportive, culturally sensitive, collaborative environment that EOL was conducted in. However diverse opinions and understandings were held on the use of passive limb and use of fluids at EOL. Whilst results from this NZ study broadly align with European studies, uncertainty about specific areas of EOL practices highlight that further guidance for nurses is required. Copyright © 2015 Australian College of Critical Care Nurses Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pulsed x-ray imaging of high-density objects using a ten picosecond high-intensity laser driver

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rusby, D. R.; Brenner, C. M.; Armstrong, C.; Wilson, L. A.; Clarke, R.; Alejo, A.; Ahmed, H.; Butler, N. M. H.; Haddock, D.; Higginson, A.; McClymont, A.; Mirfayzi, S. R.; Murphy, C.; Notley, M.; Oliver, P.; Allott, R.; Hernandez-Gomez, C.; Kar, S.; McKenna, P.; Neely, D.

2016-10-01

Point-like sources of X-rays that are pulsed (sub nanosecond), high energy (up to several MeV) and bright are very promising for industrial and security applications where imaging through large and dense objects is required. Highly penetrating X-rays can be produced by electrons that have been accelerated by a high intensity laser pulse incident onto a thin solid target. We have used a pulse length of 10ps to accelerate electrons to create a bright x-ray source. The bremsstrahlung temperature was measured for a laser intensity from 8.5-12×1018 W/cm2. These x-rays have sequentially been used to image high density materials using image plate and a pixelated scintillator system.

Comprehension of Navigation Directions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Healy, Alice F.; Schneider, Vivian I.

2002-01-01

Subjects were shown navigation instructions varying in length directing them to move in a space represented by grids on a computer screen. They followed the instructions by clicking on the grids in the locations specified. Some subjects repeated back the instructions before following them, some did not, and others repeated back the instructions in reduced form, including only the critical words. The commands in each message were presented simultaneously for half of the subjects and sequentially for the others. For the longest messages, performance was better on the initial commands and worse on the final commands with simultaneous than with sequential presentation. Instruction repetition depressed performance, but reduced repetition removed this disadvantage. Effects of presentation format were attributed to visual scanning strategies. The advantage for reduced repetition was attributable either to enhanced visual scanning or to reduced output interference. A follow-up study with auditory presentation supported the visual scanning explanation.

Water in polymer membranes. 4. Raman scattering from cellulose acetate films

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

Scherer, J.R.; Bailey, G.F.; Kint, S.

Raman scattering was observed from thin film optical waveguides of cellulose acetate exposed to water vapor from 0% to 100% relative humidity (RH), and from dilute solutions of water in methyl acetate. Spectra of cellulose acetate (CA398, 39.8% acetyl) at low RH and cellulose triacetate (CTA) at low and high RH are consistent with the presence of water monomers that are weakly hydrogen bonded to acetyl C=O groups. Differences between the spectra of water in CA398 and CTA at low RH are attributed to sequential hydrogen bonding involving OH groups in CA398. At high RH, CA398 and CTA (to amore » lesser extent) show bands attributed to water/water interactions that are similar to those found in sequentially hydrogen-bonded hydrates. CA398 films that are annealed at high temperatures exhibit decreased water/water interactions at high RH. Exposure of CA398 films to D/sub 2/O converts > 90% of all polymer OH groups to OD groups. This indicates that water is accessible to nearly all regions of the polymer containing OH groups. Annealing does not alter this accessibility but does reduce the total water content by roughly half, at 100% RH. Hydrogen-bonded C=O groups are associated with a band centered at 1731 cm/sup -1/ which increases in intensity with increasing water content in the film but does not shift in frequency. 38 references, 16 figures, 1 table.« less

The In-Session and Long-Term Role of a Significant Other in Motivational Enhancement Therapy for Alcohol Use Disorders

PubMed Central

Bourke, Emilie; Magill, Molly; Apodaca, Timothy R.

2016-01-01

Objective To examine how significant other (SO) language in support of or against client abstinence from alcohol influences clients’ in-session speech and drinking behavior over the 9 months post-Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET). Method Sequential analyses were used to examine the language of Project MATCH clients who invited an SO to participate in an MET session. Hierarchical regressions investigated the predictive relationship between SO language and clients’ post-treatment drinking behavior. A cohort analytic design compared the change language of these SO-involved participants against a matched group who chose client-only therapy. Results 'SO Support Change' language increased the odds of client Change Talk in the next utterance (p < .01). SO Support Change did not significantly predict reduced post-treatment drinking whereas 'SO Against Change' significantly predicted an increase in average drinks per drinking day (DDD) across months 7-9 post-MET (p = .04). In the matched comparison, the proportion of change-related client language was comparable across the SO-involved and client-only groups. Conclusions Motivational interviewing theory was supported by the sequential association between SO and client language as well as the predictive link between SO Against Change and client drinking intensity. Given the centrality of pro-sobriety language in the literature, it was surprising that SO Support Change did not predict alcohol use outcomes. Findings are discussed in relation to contemporary treatment process research and clinical practice. PMID:26951920

Comparison of Radiation Dose and Image Quality of Triple-Rule-Out Computed Tomography Angiography Between Conventional Helical Scanning and a Strategy Incorporating Sequential Scanning

PubMed Central

Manheimer, Eric D.; Peters, M. Robert; Wolff, Steven D.; Qureshi, Mehreen A.; Atluri, Prashanth; Pearson, Gregory D.N.; Einstein, Andrew J.

2011-01-01

Triple-rule-out computed tomography angiography (TRO CTA), performed to evaluate the coronary arteries, pulmonary arteries, and thoracic aorta, has been associated with high radiation exposure. Utilization of sequential scanning for coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) reduces radiation dose. The application of sequential scanning to TRO CTA is much less well defined. We analyzed radiation dose and image quality from TRO CTA performed in a single outpatient center, comparing scans from a period during which helical scanning with electrocardiographically controlled tube current modulation was used for all patients (n=35) and after adoption of a strategy incorporating sequential scanning whenever appropriate (n=35). Sequential scanning was able to be employed in 86% of cases. The sequential-if-appropriate strategy, compared to the helical-only strategy, was associated with a 61.6% dose decrease (mean dose-length product [DLP] of 439 mGy×cm vs 1144 mGy×cm and mean effective dose of 7.5 mSv vs 19.4 mSv, respectively, p<0.0001). Similarly, there was a 71.5% dose reduction among 30 patients scanned with the sequential protocol compared to 40 patients scanned with the helical protocol under either strategy (326 mGy×cm vs 1141 mGy×cm and 5.5 mSv vs 19.4 mSv, respectively, p<0.0001). Although image quality did not differ between strategies, there was a non-statistically significant trend towards better quality in the sequential protocol compared to the helical protocol. In conclusion, approaching TRO CTA with a diagnostic strategy of sequential scanning as appropriate offers a marked reduction in radiation dose while maintaining image quality. PMID:21306693

Early Astronomical Sequential Photography, 1873-1923

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonifácio, Vitor

2011-11-01

In 1873 Jules Janssen conceived the first automatic sequential photographic apparatus to observe the eagerly anticipated 1874 transit of Venus. This device, the 'photographic revolver', is commonly considered today as the earliest cinema precursor. In the following years, in order to study the variability or the motion of celestial objects, several instruments, either manually or automatically actuated, were devised to obtain as many photographs as possible of astronomical events in a short time interval. In this paper we strive to identify from the available documents the attempts made between 1873 and 1923, and discuss the motivations behind them and the results obtained. During the time period studied astronomical sequential photography was employed to determine the time of the instants of contact in transits and occultations, and to study total solar eclipses. The technique was seldom used but apparently the modern film camera invention played no role on this situation. Astronomical sequential photographs were obtained both before and after 1895. We conclude that the development of astronomical sequential photography was constrained by the reduced number of subjects to which the technique could be applied.

Comparison of simultaneous and sequential SPECT imaging for discrimination tasks in assessment of cardiac defects.

PubMed

Trott, C M; Ouyang, J; El Fakhri, G

2010-11-21

Simultaneous rest perfusion/fatty-acid metabolism studies have the potential to replace sequential rest/stress perfusion studies for the assessment of cardiac function. Simultaneous acquisition has the benefits of increased signal and lack of need for patient stress, but is complicated by cross-talk between the two radionuclide signals. We consider a simultaneous rest (99m)Tc-sestamibi/(123)I-BMIPP imaging protocol in place of the commonly used sequential rest/stress (99m)Tc-sestamibi protocol. The theoretical precision with which the severity of a cardiac defect and the transmural extent of infarct can be measured is computed for simultaneous and sequential SPECT imaging, and their performance is compared for discriminating (1) degrees of defect severity and (2) sub-endocardial from transmural defects. We consider cardiac infarcts for which reduced perfusion and metabolism are observed. From an information perspective, simultaneous imaging is found to yield comparable or improved performance compared with sequential imaging for discriminating both severity of defect and transmural extent of infarct, for three defects of differing location and size.

Sequential effect of phages and cold nitrogen plasma against Escherichia coli O157:H7 biofilms on different vegetables.

PubMed

Cui, Haiying; Bai, Mei; Yuan, Lu; Surendhiran, Duraiarasan; Lin, Lin

2018-03-02

Escherichia coli O157:H7 (E. coli O157:H7) is one of the most common pathogens in fresh vegetables and fruits, and most of the diseases produced by E. coli O157:H7 are associated with biofilms. Cold nitrogen plasma (CNP) is a cold sterilization technique which has no residue. However to completely eliminate the biofilm on the surface of vegetables the processing power and time of CNP have to be enhanced, which will impact on the quality of fruits and vegetables. Thus the sequential treatment of CNP and phage techniques was engineered in this study. Compared to treatment performed separately, sequential treatment not only had more mild treatment conditions as 400W CNP treatment for 2min and 5% phage treatment for 30min, but also exhibited more remarkable effect on eradicating E. coli O157:H7 biofilms in vitro and on vegetables. The population of E. coli O157:H7 was approximately reduced by 2logCFU/cm 2 after individual treatment of 5% phages for 30min or 500W CNP for 3min. While the sequential treatment of CNP (400W, 2min) and phages (5%, 30min) reduced the E. coli O157:H7 viable count in biofilm by 5.71logCFU/cm 2 . Therefore, the sequential treatment holds a great promise to improve the current treatment systems of bacterial contamination on different vegetable surfaces. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Performance of Quick Sequential (Sepsis Related) and Sequential (Sepsis Related) Organ Failure Assessment to Predict Mortality in Patients with Acute Pyelonephritis Associated with Upper Urinary Tract Calculi.

PubMed

Fukushima, Hiroshi; Kobayashi, Masaki; Kawano, Keizo; Morimoto, Shinji

2018-06-01

The Third International Consensus Definitions for Sepsis and Septic Shock Task Force proposed a new definition of sepsis based on the SOFA (Sequential [Sepsis-related] Organ Failure Assessment) score and introduced a novel scoring system, quickSOFA, to screen patients at high risk for sepsis. However, the clinical usefulness of these systems is unclear. Therefore, we investigated predictive performance for mortality in patients with acute pyelonephritis associated with upper urinary tract calculi. This retrospective study included 141 consecutive patients who were clinically diagnosed with acute pyelonephritis associated with upper urinary tract calculi outside the intensive care unit. We evaluated the performance of the quickSOFA, SOFA and SIRS (systemic inflammatory response syndrome) scores to predict in-hospital mortality and intensive care unit admission using the AUC of the ROC curve, net reclassification, integrated discrimination improvements and decision curve analysis. A total of 11 patients (8%) died in the hospital and 26 (18%) were admitted to the intensive care unit. The AUC of quickSOFA to predict in-hospital mortality and intensive care unit admission was significantly greater than that of SIRS (each p <0.001) and comparable to that of SOFA (p = 0.47 and 0.57, respectively). When incorporated into the baseline model consisting of patient age, gender and the Charlson Comorbidity Index, quickSOFA and SOFA provided a greater change in AUC, and in net classification and integrated discrimination improvements than SIRS for each outcome. Decision curve analyses revealed that the quickSOFA and SOFA incorporated models showed a superior net benefit compared to the SIRS incorporated model for most examined probabilities of the 2 outcomes. The in-hospital mortality rate of patients with a quickSOFA score of 2 or greater and a SOFA score of 7 or greater, which were the optimal cutoffs determined by the Youden index, was 18% and 28%, respectively. SOFA and quickSOFA are more clinically useful scoring systems than SIRS to predict mortality in patients with acute pyelonephritis associated with upper urinary tract calculi. Copyright © 2018 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

How to Compress Sequential Memory Patterns into Periodic Oscillations: General Reduction Rules

PubMed Central

Zhang, Kechen

2017-01-01

A neural network with symmetric reciprocal connections always admits a Lyapunov function, whose minima correspond to the memory states stored in the network. Networks with suitable asymmetric connections can store and retrieve a sequence of memory patterns, but the dynamics of these networks cannot be characterized as readily as that of the symmetric networks due to the lack of established general methods. Here, a reduction method is developed for a class of asymmetric attractor networks that store sequences of activity patterns as associative memories, as in a Hopfield network. The method projects the original activity pattern of the network to a low-dimensional space such that sequential memory retrievals in the original network correspond to periodic oscillations in the reduced system. The reduced system is self-contained and provides quantitative information about the stability and speed of sequential memory retrievals in the original network. The time evolution of the overlaps between the network state and the stored memory patterns can also be determined from extended reduced systems. The reduction procedure can be summarized by a few reduction rules, which are applied to several network models, including coupled networks and networks with time-delayed connections, and the analytical solutions of the reduced systems are confirmed by numerical simulations of the original networks. Finally, a local learning rule that provides an approximation to the connection weights involving the pseudoinverse is also presented. PMID:24877729

Fatigue reduction during aggregated and distributed sequential stimulation.

PubMed

Bergquist, Austin J; Babbar, Vishvek; Ali, Saima; Popovic, Milos R; Masani, Kei

2017-08-01

Transcutaneous neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) can generate muscle contractions for rehabilitation and exercise. However, NMES-evoked contractions are limited by fatigue when they are delivered "conventionally" (CONV) using a single active electrode. Researchers have developed "sequential" (SEQ) stimulation, involving rotation of pulses between multiple "aggregated" (AGGR-SEQ) or "distributed" (DISTR-SEQ) active electrodes, to reduce fatigue (torque-decline) by reducing motor unit discharge rates. The primary objective was to compare fatigue-related outcomes, "potentiation," "variability," and "efficiency" between CONV, AGGR-SEQ, and DISTR-SEQ stimulation of knee extensors in healthy participants. Torque and current were recorded during testing with fatiguing trains using each NMES type under isometric and isokinetic (180°/s) conditions. Compared with CONV stimulation, SEQ techniques reduced fatigue-related outcomes, increased potentiation, did not affect variability, and reduced efficiency. SEQ techniques hold promise for reducing fatigue during NMES-based rehabilitation and exercise; however, optimization is required to improve efficiency. Muscle Nerve 56: 271-281, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The reduced space Sequential Quadratic Programming (SQP) method for calculating the worst resonance response of nonlinear systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liao, Haitao; Wu, Wenwang; Fang, Daining

2018-07-01

A coupled approach combining the reduced space Sequential Quadratic Programming (SQP) method with the harmonic balance condensation technique for finding the worst resonance response is developed. The nonlinear equality constraints of the optimization problem are imposed on the condensed harmonic balance equations. Making use of the null space decomposition technique, the original optimization formulation in the full space is mathematically simplified, and solved in the reduced space by means of the reduced SQP method. The transformation matrix that maps the full space to the null space of the constrained optimization problem is constructed via the coordinate basis scheme. The removal of the nonlinear equality constraints is accomplished, resulting in a simple optimization problem subject to bound constraints. Moreover, second order correction technique is introduced to overcome Maratos effect. The combination application of the reduced SQP method and condensation technique permits a large reduction of the computational cost. Finally, the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed methodology is demonstrated by two numerical examples.

Evaluating projects for improving fish and wildlife habitat on National Forests.

Treesearch

Fred H. Everest; Daniel R. Talhelm

1982-01-01

Recent legislation (PL. 93-452; P.L. 94-588) has emphasized improvement of fish and wildlife habitat on lands of the National Forest System. A sequential procedure has been developed for screening potential projects to identify those producing the greatest fishery benefits. The procedure—which includes program planning, project planning, and intensive benefit/cost...

Evaluation of proposed casemix criteria as a basis for costing patients in the adult general intensive care unit.

PubMed

Stevens, V G; Hibbert, C L; Edbrooke, D L

1998-10-01

This study analyses the relationship between the actual patient-related costs of care calculated for 145 patients admitted sequentially to an adult general intensive care unit and a number of factors obtained from a previously described consensus of opinion study. The factors identified in the study were suggested as potential descriptors for the casemix in an intensive care unit that could be used to predict the costs of care. Significant correlations between the costs of care and severity of illness, workload and length of stay were found but these failed to predict the costs of care with sufficient accuracy to be used in isolation to define isoresource groups in the intensive care unit. No associations between intensive care unit mortality, reason for admission and intensive and unit treatments and costs of care were found. Based on these results, it seems that casemix descriptors and isoresource groups for the intensive care unit that would allow costs to be predicted cannot be defined in terms of single factors.

Stoichiometry control of complex oxides by sequential pulsed-laser deposition from binary-oxide targets

DOE PAGES

Herklotz, A.; Dörr, Kathrin; Ward, T. Z.; ...

2015-04-03

In this paper, to have precise atomic layer control over interfaces, we examine the growth of complex oxides through the sequential deposition from binary targets by pulsed laser deposition. In situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) is used to control the growth and achieve films with excellent structural quality. The growth from binary oxide targets is fundamentally different from single target growth modes and shows more similarities to shuttered growth by molecular beam epitaxy. The RHEED intensity oscillations of non-stoichiometric growth are consistent with a model of island growth and accumulation of excess material on the surface that can bemore » utilized to determine the correct stoichiometry for growth. Correct monolayer doses can be determined through an envelope frequency in the RHEED intensity oscillations. In order to demonstrate the ability of this growth technique to create complex heterostructures, the artificial n = 2 and 3 Sr n +1Ti n O 3 n +1 Ruddlesden-Popper phases are grown with good long-range order. Finally, this method enables the precise unit-cell level control over the structure of perovskite-type oxides, and thus the growth of complex materials with improved structural quality and electronic functionality.« less

Stoichiometry control of complex oxides by sequential pulsed-laser deposition from binary-oxide targets

DOE PAGES

Herklotz, Andreas; Dorr, Kathrin; Ward, Thomas Zac; ...

2015-04-03

To have precise atomic layer control over interfaces, we examine the growth of complex oxides through the sequential deposition from binary targets by pulsed laser deposition. In situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) is used to control the growth and achieve films with excellent structural quality. The growth from binary oxide targets is fundamentally different from single target growth modes and shows more similarities to shuttered growth by molecular beam epitaxy. The RHEED intensity oscillations of non-stoichiometric growth are consistent with a model of island growth and accumulation of excess material on the surface that can be utilized to determinemore » the correct stoichiometry for growth. Correct monolayer doses can be determined through an envelope frequency in the RHEED intensity oscillations. In order to demonstrate the ability of this growth technique to create complex heterostructures, the artificial n = 2 and 3 Sr n+1Ti nO 3 n+1 Ruddlesden-Popper phases are grown with good long-range order. Furthermore, this method enables the precise unit-cell level control over the structure of perovskite-type oxides, and thus the growth of complex materials with improved structural quality and electronic functionality.« less

Sequential injection redox or acid-base titration for determination of ascorbic acid or acetic acid.

PubMed

Lenghor, Narong; Jakmunee, Jaroon; Vilen, Michael; Sara, Rolf; Christian, Gary D; Grudpan, Kate

2002-12-06

Two sequential injection titration systems with spectrophotometric detection have been developed. The first system for determination of ascorbic acid was based on redox reaction between ascorbic acid and permanganate in an acidic medium and lead to a decrease in color intensity of permanganate, monitored at 525 nm. A linear dependence of peak area obtained with ascorbic acid concentration up to 1200 mg l(-1) was achieved. The relative standard deviation for 11 replicate determinations of 400 mg l(-1) ascorbic acid was 2.9%. The second system, for acetic acid determination, was based on acid-base titration of acetic acid with sodium hydroxide using phenolphthalein as an indicator. The decrease in color intensity of the indicator was proportional to the acid content. A linear calibration graph in the range of 2-8% w v(-1) of acetic acid with a relative standard deviation of 4.8% (5.0% w v(-1) acetic acid, n=11) was obtained. Sample throughputs of 60 h(-1) were achieved for both systems. The systems were successfully applied for the assays of ascorbic acid in vitamin C tablets and acetic acid content in vinegars, respectively.

Sequential lift and suture technique for post-LASIK corneal striae.

PubMed

Mackool, Richard J; Monsanto, Vivian R

2003-04-01

We describe a surgical technique to manage persistent corneal striae after laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK). The sequential lift and suture technique reduces the time required for LASIK, eliminates the need to fixate the flap with forceps during suturing, and increases the accuracy of suture placement. The results in 10 eyes (9 patients) showed complete resolution of striae with improvement in subjective symptoms (glare and blurred vision) and best corrected visual acuity.

128-slice Dual-source Computed Tomography Coronary Angiography in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation: Image Quality and Radiation Dose of Prospectively Electrocardiogram-triggered Sequential Scan Compared with Retrospectively Electrocardiogram-gated Spiral Scan.

PubMed

Lin, Lu; Wang, Yi-Ning; Kong, Ling-Yan; Jin, Zheng-Yu; Lu, Guang-Ming; Zhang, Zhao-Qi; Cao, Jian; Li, Shuo; Song, Lan; Wang, Zhi-Wei; Zhou, Kang; Wang, Ming

2013-01-01

Objective To evaluate the image quality (IQ) and radiation dose of 128-slice dual-source computed tomography (DSCT) coronary angiography using prospectively electrocardiogram (ECG)-triggered sequential scan mode compared with ECG-gated spiral scan mode in a population with atrial fibrillation. Methods Thirty-two patients with suspected coronary artery disease and permanent atrial fibrillation referred for a second-generation 128-slice DSCT coronary angiography were included in the prospective study. Of them, 17 patients (sequential group) were randomly selected to use a prospectively ECG-triggered sequential scan, while the other 15 patients (spiral group) used a retrospectively ECG-gated spiral scan. The IQ was assessed by two readers independently, using a four-point grading scale from excel-lent (grade 1) to non-assessable (grade 4), based on the American Heart Association 15-segment model. IQ of each segment and effective dose of each patient were compared between the two groups. Results The mean heart rate (HR) of the sequential group was 96±27 beats per minute (bpm) with a variation range of 73±25 bpm, while the mean HR of the spiral group was 86±22 bpm with a variationrange of 65±24 bpm. Both of the mean HR (t=1.91, P=0.243) and HR variation range (t=0.950, P=0.350) had no significant difference between the two groups. In per-segment analysis, IQ of the sequential group vs. spiral group was rated as excellent (grade 1) in 190/244 (78%) vs. 177/217 (82%) by reader1 and 197/245 (80%) vs. 174/214 (81%) by reader2, as non-assessable (grade 4) in 4/244 (2%) vs. 2/217 (1%) by reader1 and 6/245 (2%) vs. 4/214 (2%) by reader2. Overall averaged IQ per-patient in the sequential and spiral group showed equally good (1.27±0.19 vs. 1.25±0.22, Z=-0.834, P=0.404). The effective radiation dose of the sequential group reduced significantly compared with the spiral group (4.88±1.77 mSv vs. 10.20±3.64 mSv; t=-5.372, P=0.000). Conclusion Compared with retrospectively ECG-gated spiral scan, prospectively ECG-triggered sequential DSCT coronary angiography provides similarly diagnostically valuable images in patients with atrial fibrillation and significantly reduces radiation dose.

Changes in transthoracic impedance during sequential biphasic defibrillation.

PubMed

Deakin, Charles D; Ambler, Jonathan J S; Shaw, Steven

2008-08-01

Sequential monophasic defibrillation reduces transthoracic impedance (TTI) and progressively increases current flow for any given energy level. The effect of sequential biphasic shocks on TTI is unknown. We therefore studied patients undergoing elective cardioversion using a biphasic waveform to establish whether this is a phenomenon seen in the clinical setting. Adults undergoing elective DC cardioversion for atrial flutter or fibrillation received sequential transthoracic shocks using an escalating protocol (70J, 100J, 150J, 200J, and 300J) with a truncated exponential biphasic waveform. TTI was calculated through the defibrillator circuit and recorded electronically. Successful cardioversion terminated further defibrillation shocks. A total of 58 patients underwent elective cardioversion. Cardioversion was successful in 93.1% patients. First shock TTI was 92.2 [52.0-126.0]Omega (n=58) and decreased significantly with each sequential shock. Mean TTI in patients receiving five shocks (n=5) was 85.0Omega. Sequential biphasic defibrillation decreases TTI in a similar manner to that seen with monophasic waveforms. The effect is likely during defibrillation during cardiac arrest by the quick succession in which shocks are delivered and the lack of cutaneous blood flow which limits the inflammatory response. The ability of biphasic defibrillators to adjust their waveform according to TTI is likely to minimise any effect of these findings on defibrillation efficacy.

Breast conserving treatment for breast cancer: dosimetric comparison of sequential versus simultaneous integrated photon boost.

PubMed

Van Parijs, Hilde; Reynders, Truus; Heuninckx, Karina; Verellen, Dirk; Storme, Guy; De Ridder, Mark

2014-01-01

Breast conserving surgery followed by whole breast irradiation is widely accepted as standard of care for early breast cancer. Addition of a boost dose to the initial tumor area further reduces local recurrences. We investigated the dosimetric benefits of a simultaneously integrated boost (SIB) compared to a sequential boost to hypofractionate the boost volume, while maintaining normofractionation on the breast. For 10 patients 4 treatment plans were deployed, 1 with a sequential photon boost, and 3 with different SIB techniques: on a conventional linear accelerator, helical TomoTherapy, and static TomoDirect. Dosimetric comparison was performed. PTV-coverage was good in all techniques. Conformity was better with all SIB techniques compared to sequential boost (P = 0.0001). There was less dose spilling to the ipsilateral breast outside the PTVboost (P = 0.04). The dose to the organs at risk (OAR) was not influenced by SIB compared to sequential boost. Helical TomoTherapy showed a higher mean dose to the contralateral breast, but less than 5 Gy for each patient. SIB showed less dose spilling within the breast and equal dose to OAR compared to sequential boost. Both helical TomoTherapy and the conventional technique delivered acceptable dosimetry. SIB seems a safe alternative and can be implemented in clinical routine.

Breast Conserving Treatment for Breast Cancer: Dosimetric Comparison of Sequential versus Simultaneous Integrated Photon Boost

PubMed Central

Reynders, Truus; Heuninckx, Karina; Verellen, Dirk; Storme, Guy; De Ridder, Mark

2014-01-01

Background. Breast conserving surgery followed by whole breast irradiation is widely accepted as standard of care for early breast cancer. Addition of a boost dose to the initial tumor area further reduces local recurrences. We investigated the dosimetric benefits of a simultaneously integrated boost (SIB) compared to a sequential boost to hypofractionate the boost volume, while maintaining normofractionation on the breast. Methods. For 10 patients 4 treatment plans were deployed, 1 with a sequential photon boost, and 3 with different SIB techniques: on a conventional linear accelerator, helical TomoTherapy, and static TomoDirect. Dosimetric comparison was performed. Results. PTV-coverage was good in all techniques. Conformity was better with all SIB techniques compared to sequential boost (P = 0.0001). There was less dose spilling to the ipsilateral breast outside the PTVboost (P = 0.04). The dose to the organs at risk (OAR) was not influenced by SIB compared to sequential boost. Helical TomoTherapy showed a higher mean dose to the contralateral breast, but less than 5 Gy for each patient. Conclusions. SIB showed less dose spilling within the breast and equal dose to OAR compared to sequential boost. Both helical TomoTherapy and the conventional technique delivered acceptable dosimetry. SIB seems a safe alternative and can be implemented in clinical routine. PMID:25162031

Laser-driven ultrafast antiproton beam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Shun; Pei, Zhikun; Shen, Baifei; Xu, Jiancai; Zhang, Lingang; Zhang, Xiaomei; Xu, Tongjun; Yu, Yong; Bu, Zhigang

2018-02-01

Antiproton beam generation is investigated based on the ultra-intense femtosecond laser pulse by using two-dimensional particle-in-cell and Geant4 simulations. A high-flux proton beam with an energy of tens of GeV is generated in sequential radiation pressure and bubble regime and then shoots into a high-Z target for producing antiprotons. Both yield and energy of the antiproton beam increase almost linearly with the laser intensity. The generated antiproton beam has a short pulse duration of about 5 ps and its flux reaches 2 × 10 20 s - 1 at the laser intensity of 2.14 × 10 23 W / cm 2 . Compared to conventional methods, this new method based on the ultra-intense laser pulse is able to provide a compact, tunable, and ultrafast antiproton source, which is potentially useful for quark-gluon plasma study, all-optical antihydrogen generation, and so on.

Fixed-Precision Sequential Sampling Plans for Estimating Alfalfa Caterpillar, Colias lesbia, Egg Density in Alfalfa, Medicago sativa, Fields in Córdoba, Argentina

PubMed Central

Serra, Gerardo V.; Porta, Norma C. La; Avalos, Susana; Mazzuferi, Vilma

2013-01-01

The alfalfa caterpillar, Colias lesbia (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera: Pieridae), is a major pest of alfalfa, Medicago sativa L. (Fabales: Fabaceae), crops in Argentina. Its management is based mainly on chemical control of larvae whenever the larvae exceed the action threshold. To develop and validate fixed-precision sequential sampling plans, an intensive sampling programme for C. lesbia eggs was carried out in two alfalfa plots located in the Province of Córdoba, Argentina, from 1999 to 2002. Using Resampling for Validation of Sampling Plans software, 12 additional independent data sets were used to validate the sequential sampling plan with precision levels of 0.10 and 0.25 (SE/mean), respectively. For a range of mean densities of 0.10 to 8.35 eggs/sample, an average sample size of only 27 and 26 sample units was required to achieve a desired precision level of 0.25 for the sampling plans of Green and Kuno, respectively. As the precision level was increased to 0.10, average sample size increased to 161 and 157 sample units for the sampling plans of Green and Kuno, respectively. We recommend using Green's sequential sampling plan because it is less sensitive to changes in egg density. These sampling plans are a valuable tool for researchers to study population dynamics and to evaluate integrated pest management strategies. PMID:23909840

Adaptive time-sequential binary sensing for high dynamic range imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Chenhui; Lu, Yue M.

2012-06-01

We present a novel image sensor for high dynamic range imaging. The sensor performs an adaptive one-bit quantization at each pixel, with the pixel output switched from 0 to 1 only if the number of photons reaching that pixel is greater than or equal to a quantization threshold. With an oracle knowledge of the incident light intensity, one can pick an optimal threshold (for that light intensity) and the corresponding Fisher information contained in the output sequence follows closely that of an ideal unquantized sensor over a wide range of intensity values. This observation suggests the potential gains one may achieve by adaptively updating the quantization thresholds. As the main contribution of this work, we propose a time-sequential threshold-updating rule that asymptotically approaches the performance of the oracle scheme. With every threshold mapped to a number of ordered states, the dynamics of the proposed scheme can be modeled as a parametric Markov chain. We show that the frequencies of different thresholds converge to a steady-state distribution that is concentrated around the optimal choice. Moreover, numerical experiments show that the theoretical performance measures (Fisher information and Craḿer-Rao bounds) can be achieved by a maximum likelihood estimator, which is guaranteed to find globally optimal solution due to the concavity of the log-likelihood functions. Compared with conventional image sensors and the strategy that utilizes a constant single-photon threshold considered in previous work, the proposed scheme attains orders of magnitude improvement in terms of sensor dynamic ranges.

Multi-photon ionization of atoms in intense short-wavelength radiation fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meyer, Michael

2015-05-01

The unprecedented characteristics of XUV and X-ray Free Electron Lasers (FELs) have stimulated numerous investigations focusing on the detailed understanding of fundamental photon-matter interactions in atoms and molecules. In particular, the high intensities (up to 106 W/cm2) giving rise to non-linear phenomena in the short wavelength regime. The basic phenomenology involves the production of highly charged ions via electron emission to which both sequential and direct multi-photon absorption processes contribute. The detailed investigation of the role and relative weight of these processes under different conditions (wavelength, pulse duration, intensity) is the key element for a comprehensive understanding of the ionization dynamics. Here the results of recent investigations are presented, performed at the FELs in Hamburg (FLASH) and Trieste (FERMI) on atomic systems with electronic structures of increasing complexity (Ar, Ne and Xe). Mainly, electron spectroscopy is used to obtain quantitative information about the relevance of various multi-photon ionization processes. For the case of Ar, a variety of processes including above threshold ionization (ATI) from 3p and 3s valence shells, direct 2p two-photon ionization and resonant 2p-4p two-photon excitations were observed and their role was quantitatively determined comparing the experimental ionization yields to ab-initio calculations of the cross sections for the multi-photon processes. Using Ar as a benchmark to prove the reliability of the combined experimental and theoretical approach, the more complex and intriguing case of Xe was studied. Especially, the analysis of the two-photon ATI from the Xe 4d shell reveals new insight into the character of the 4d giant resonance, which was unresolved in the linear one-photon regime. Finally, the influence of intense XUV radiation to the relaxation dynamics of the Ne 2s-3p resonance was investigated by angle-resolved electron spectroscopy, especially be observing the intensity dependent variation of the angular distribution patterns for the sequential ionization process.

Effect of various conditions on inactivation of Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella Typhimurium, and Listeria monocytogenes in fresh-cut lettuce using ultraviolet radiation.

PubMed

Kim, Yoon-Hee; Jeong, Seul-Gi; Back, Kyeong-Hwan; Park, Ki-Hwan; Chung, Myung-Sub; Kang, Dong-Hyun

2013-09-16

The effect of various conditions on inactivation of foodborne pathogens and quality of fresh-cut lettuce during ultraviolet (254 nm, UVC) radiation was investigated. Lettuce was inoculated with a cocktail of Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella Typhimurium, and Listeria monocytogenes and treated at different temperatures (4 and 25 °C), distances between sample and lamp (10 and 50 cm), type of exposure (illuminated from one or two sides), UV intensities (1.36 to 6.80 mW/cm²), and exposure times (0.5 to 10 min), sequentially. UV treatment at 25 °C for 1 min achieved 1.45-, 1.35-, and 2.12-log reductions in surface-inoculated E. coli O157:H7, S. Typhimurium, and L. monocytogenes, respectively, whereas the reduction of these pathogens at 4 °C was 0.31, 0.57, and 1.16 log, respectively. UV radiation was most effective when distance from UV lamp to the sample was minimal (10 cm) and radiation area was maximal (two-sided exposure). All UV intensities significantly (P<0.05) reduced the three pathogens after 10 min exposure, but the effect of treatment was correlated with UV intensity and exposure time. Color values and texture parameters of lettuce subjected to UV treatment under the optimum conditions (25 °C, 10 cm between sample and lamp, two-sided exposure, 6.80 mW/cm²) were not significantly (P>0.05) different from those of nontreated samples up to 5 min exposure. However, these qualities significantly (P<0.05) changed at prolonged treatment time. These results suggest that UV radiation under optimized conditions could reduce foodborne pathogens without adversely affecting color quality properties of fresh-cut lettuce. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Combination of Pre-Treatment DWI-Signal Intensity and S-1 Treatment: A Predictor of Survival in Patients with Locally Advanced Pancreatic Cancer Receiving Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy and Sequential S-1.

PubMed

Zhang, Yu; Zhu, Xiaofei; Liu, Ri; Wang, Xianglian; Sun, Gaofeng; Song, Jiaqi; Lu, Jianping; Zhang, Huojun

2018-04-01

To identify whether the combination of pre-treatment radiological and clinical factors can predict the overall survival (OS) in patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC) treated with stereotactic body radiation and sequential S-1 (a prodrug of 5-FU combined with two modulators) therapy with improved accuracy compared with that of established clinical and radiologic risk models. Patients admitted with LAPC underwent diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) scan at 3.0-T (b = 600 s/mm 2 ). The mean signal intensity (SI b = 600) of region-of-interest (ROI) was measured. The Log-rank test was done for tumor location, biliary stent, S-1, and other treatments and the Cox regression analysis was done to identify independent prognostic factors for OS. Prediction error curves (PEC) were used to assess potential errors in prediction of survival. The accuracy of prediction was evaluated by Integrated Brier Score (IBS) and C index. 41 patients were included in this study. The median OS was 11.7 months (2.8-23.23 months). The 1-year OS was 46%. Multivariate analysis showed that pre-treatment SI b = 600 value and administration of S-1 were independent predictors for OS. The performance of pre-treatment SI b = 600 and S-1 treatment in combination was better than that of SI b = 600 or S-1 treatment alone. The combination of pre-treatment SI b = 600 and S-1 treatment could predict the OS in patients with LAPC undergoing SBRT and sequential S-1 therapy with improved accuracy compared with that of established clinical and radiologic risk models. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Robust patella motion tracking using intensity-based 2D-3D registration on dynamic bi-plane fluoroscopy: towards quantitative assessment in MPFL reconstruction surgery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Otake, Yoshito; Esnault, Matthieu; Grupp, Robert; Kosugi, Shinichi; Sato, Yoshinobu

2016-03-01

The determination of in vivo motion of multiple-bones using dynamic fluoroscopic images and computed tomography (CT) is useful for post-operative assessment of orthopaedic surgeries such as medial patellofemoral ligament reconstruction. We propose a robust method to measure the 3D motion of multiple rigid objects with high accuracy using a series of bi-plane fluoroscopic images and a multi-resolution, intensity-based, 2D-3D registration. A Covariance Matrix Adaptation Evolution Strategy (CMA-ES) optimizer was used with a gradient correlation similarity metric. Four approaches to register three rigid objects (femur, tibia-fibula and patella) were implemented: 1) an individual bone approach registering one bone at a time, each with optimization of a six degrees of freedom (6DOF) parameter, 2) a sequential approach registering one bone at a time but using the previous bone results as the background in DRR generation, 3) a simultaneous approach registering all the bones together (18DOF) and 4) a combination of the sequential and the simultaneous approaches. These approaches were compared in experiments using simulated images generated from the CT of a healthy volunteer and measured fluoroscopic images. Over the 120 simulated frames of motion, the simultaneous approach showed improved registration accuracy compared to the individual approach: with less than 0.68mm root-mean-square error (RMSE) for translation and less than 1.12° RMSE for rotation. A robustness evaluation was conducted with 45 trials of a randomly perturbed initialization showed that the sequential approach improved robustness significantly (74% success rate) compared to the individual bone approach (34% success) for patella registration (femur and tibia-fibula registration had a 100% success rate with each approach).

Effects of the exposure of TiO2 nanoparticles on basil (Ocimum basilicum) for two generations.

PubMed

Tan, Wenjuan; Du, Wenchao; Darrouzet-Nardi, Anthony J; Hernandez-Viezcas, Jose A; Ye, Yuqing; Peralta-Videa, Jose R; Gardea-Torresdey, Jorge L

2018-09-15

There is a lack of information about the transgenerational effects of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (nano-TiO 2 ) in plants. This study aimed to evaluate the impacts of successive exposure of nano-TiO 2 with different surface properties to basil (Ocimum basilicum). Seeds from plants exposed or re-exposed to pristine, hydrophobic, or hydrophilic nano-TiO 2 were cultivated for 65 days in soil unamended or amended with 750 mg·kg -1 of the respective particles. Plant growth, concentration of titanium and essential elements, as well as content of carbohydrates and chlorophyll were evaluated. There were no differences on Ti concentration in roots of plants sequentially exposed to pristine or hydrophobic nano-TiO 2 , or in roots of plants exposed to the corresponding particle, only in the second cycle. However, sequential exposure to hydrophilic particles resulted in 65.2% less Ti in roots, compared to roots of plants exposed the same particles, only in the second cycle. The Ti concentrations in shoots were similar in all treatments. On the other hand, pristine and hydrophilic particles reduced Mg in root by 115% and 81%, respectively, while pristine and hydrophobic particles reduced Ni in shoot by 84% and 75%, respectively, compared to unexposed plants in both cycles. Sequential exposure to pristine nano-TiO 2 increased stomatal conductance (214%, p ≤ 0.10), compared to plants that were never exposed. Hydrophobic and hydrophilic nano-TiO 2 reduced chlorophyll b (52%) and total chlorophyll (30%) but increased total sugar (186%) and reducing sugar (145%), compared to unexposed plants in both cycles. Sequential exposure to hydrophobic or hydrophilic nano-TiO 2 resulted in more adverse effects on photosynthesis but in positive effects on plant growth, compared to pristine nano-TiO 2 . Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

In-situ sequential laser transfer and laser reduction of graphene oxide films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Papazoglou, S.; Petridis, C.; Kymakis, E.; Kennou, S.; Raptis, Y. S.; Chatzandroulis, S.; Zergioti, I.

2018-04-01

Achieving high quality transfer of graphene on selected substrates is a priority in device fabrication, especially where drop-on-demand applications are involved. In this work, we report an in-situ, fast, simple, and one step process that resulted in the reduction, transfer, and fabrication of reduced graphene oxide-based humidity sensors, using picosecond laser pulses. By tuning the laser illumination parameters, we managed to implement the sequential printing and reduction of graphene oxide flakes. The overall process lasted only a few seconds compared to a few hours that our group has previously published. DC current measurements, X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, X-Ray Diffraction, and Raman Spectroscopy were employed in order to assess the efficiency of our approach. To demonstrate the applicability and the potential of the technique, laser printed reduced graphene oxide humidity sensors with a limit of detection of 1700 ppm are presented. The results demonstrated in this work provide a selective, rapid, and low-cost approach for sequential transfer and photochemical reduction of graphene oxide micro-patterns onto various substrates for flexible electronics and sensor applications.

Interactions between Neurophysiology and Psychoacoustics: Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America (117th) Held in Syracuse, New York on 22 May 1989

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-06-01

the intensity for which performance equals the chosen value. We use the PEST (parameter estimation by sequential testing; Taylor and Creelman , 1967...forward masking in the auditory nerve." J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 84, 584-591. Taylor, M.M. and Creelman , C.D. (1967). "PEST: Efficient estimates on

Characterization of St and Y genome in StStYY Elymus species (Triticeae: Poaceae) using Sequential FISH and GISH

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Tetraploid species possessing StY genome could be donors to hexaploid species having StYH, StYP, or StYW genome constitution in the genus Elymus, and a few of StY species have been intensely studied for inferring the origin of the Y genome. In this study, genome characterization of St and Y genome w...

Sequentially reweighted TV minimization for CT metal artifact reduction.

PubMed

Zhang, Xiaomeng; Xing, Lei

2013-07-01

Metal artifact reduction has long been an important topic in x-ray CT image reconstruction. In this work, the authors propose an iterative method that sequentially minimizes a reweighted total variation (TV) of the image and produces substantially artifact-reduced reconstructions. A sequentially reweighted TV minimization algorithm is proposed to fully exploit the sparseness of image gradients (IG). The authors first formulate a constrained optimization model that minimizes a weighted TV of the image, subject to the constraint that the estimated projection data are within a specified tolerance of the available projection measurements, with image non-negativity enforced. The authors then solve a sequence of weighted TV minimization problems where weights used for the next iteration are computed from the current solution. Using the complete projection data, the algorithm first reconstructs an image from which a binary metal image can be extracted. Forward projection of the binary image identifies metal traces in the projection space. The metal-free background image is then reconstructed from the metal-trace-excluded projection data by employing a different set of weights. Each minimization problem is solved using a gradient method that alternates projection-onto-convex-sets and steepest descent. A series of simulation and experimental studies are performed to evaluate the proposed approach. Our study shows that the sequentially reweighted scheme, by altering a single parameter in the weighting function, flexibly controls the sparsity of the IG and reconstructs artifacts-free images in a two-stage process. It successfully produces images with significantly reduced streak artifacts, suppressed noise and well-preserved contrast and edge properties. The sequentially reweighed TV minimization provides a systematic approach for suppressing CT metal artifacts. The technique can also be generalized to other "missing data" problems in CT image reconstruction.

Effect of oven drying and freeze drying on the antioxidant and functional properties of protein hydrolysates derived from freshwater fish (Cirrhinus mrigala) using papain enzyme.

PubMed

Elavarasan, Krishnamoorthy; Shamasundar, Bangalore Aswathnarayan

2016-02-01

Fish protein hydrolysate (FPH) was prepared from fresh water fish Cirrhinus mrigala using papain and dried in oven (OD-FPH) and freeze dryer (FD-FPH). The electron micrographs of FD-FPH samples showed porous structure. The browning intensity of OD-FPH samples was higher than the FD-FPH samples. The DPPH (2, 2 Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) free radical scavenging activity and linoleic acid peroxidation inhibition activity of FPH were not affected by oven drying process. The sequential digestion of FPH with pepsin and pancreatin reduced the antioxidant properties in both OD-FPH and FD-FPH samples. The solubility of proteins in OD-FPH was lower at pH 5 while for that of FD-FPH it was at pH 7 with water as solvent. The surface active properties of FD-FPH samples were higher than OD-FPH samples. The oven drying of fish protein hydrolysates may be advocated considering the properties and cost of production.

A Simulation Approach to Assessing Sampling Strategies for Insect Pests: An Example with the Balsam Gall Midge

PubMed Central

Carleton, R. Drew; Heard, Stephen B.; Silk, Peter J.

2013-01-01

Estimation of pest density is a basic requirement for integrated pest management in agriculture and forestry, and efficiency in density estimation is a common goal. Sequential sampling techniques promise efficient sampling, but their application can involve cumbersome mathematics and/or intensive warm-up sampling when pests have complex within- or between-site distributions. We provide tools for assessing the efficiency of sequential sampling and of alternative, simpler sampling plans, using computer simulation with “pre-sampling” data. We illustrate our approach using data for balsam gall midge (Paradiplosis tumifex) attack in Christmas tree farms. Paradiplosis tumifex proved recalcitrant to sequential sampling techniques. Midge distributions could not be fit by a common negative binomial distribution across sites. Local parameterization, using warm-up samples to estimate the clumping parameter k for each site, performed poorly: k estimates were unreliable even for samples of n∼100 trees. These methods were further confounded by significant within-site spatial autocorrelation. Much simpler sampling schemes, involving random or belt-transect sampling to preset sample sizes, were effective and efficient for P. tumifex. Sampling via belt transects (through the longest dimension of a stand) was the most efficient, with sample means converging on true mean density for sample sizes of n∼25–40 trees. Pre-sampling and simulation techniques provide a simple method for assessing sampling strategies for estimating insect infestation. We suspect that many pests will resemble P. tumifex in challenging the assumptions of sequential sampling methods. Our software will allow practitioners to optimize sampling strategies before they are brought to real-world applications, while potentially avoiding the need for the cumbersome calculations required for sequential sampling methods. PMID:24376556

Sequential therapy with "vacuum sealing drainage-artificial dermis implantation-thin partial thickness skin grafting" for deep and infected wound surfaces in children.

PubMed

Yuan, X-G; Zhang, X; Fu, Y-X; Tian, X-F; Liu, Y; Xiao, J; Li, T-W; Qiu, L

2016-05-01

To evaluate the efficacy of a "vacuum sealing drainage (VSD) - artificial dermis implantation (ADI) - thin partial thickness skin grafting (TSG)" sequential therapy for deep and infected wounds in children. Fifty-three pediatric patients with deep and infected wounds were treated with sequential VSD-ADI-TSG therapy. The efficacy of this treatment was compared with that of the surgical debridement-change dressings-thin partial thickness skin grafting previously performed on 20 patients. Survival of tissue grafts, color and flexibility, subcutaneous fullness and scar formation of the graft site were examined and compared. The sequential therapy combined the advantages of the VSD treatment, in reducing tissue necrosis and infection on the wound surfaces and promoting the growth of granulation tissue, with the enhancement of grafting by artificial dermis. Compared with the 20 controls, skin grafted on the artificial dermis was more smooth and glossy, while the textures of the region were more elastic, and the scars were significantly lighter in Vancouver scale. The sequential VSD-ADI-TSG therapy is a simple and effective treatment for children with deep and infected wounds. IV. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.

Evaluating specificity of sequential extraction for chemical forms of lead in artificially-contaminated and field-contaminated soils.

PubMed

Tai, Yiping; McBride, Murray B; Li, Zhian

2013-03-30

In the present study, we evaluated a commonly employed modified Bureau Communautaire de Référence (BCR test) 3-step sequential extraction procedure for its ability to distinguish forms of solid-phase Pb in soils with different sources and histories of contamination. When the modified BCR test was applied to mineral soils spiked with three forms of Pb (pyromorphite, hydrocerussite and nitrate salt), the added Pb was highly susceptible to dissolution in the operationally-defined "reducible" or "oxide" fraction regardless of form. When three different materials (mineral soil, organic soil and goethite) were spiked with soluble Pb nitrate, the BCR sequential extraction profiles revealed that soil organic matter was capable of retaining Pb in more stable and acid-resistant forms than silicate clay minerals or goethite. However, the BCR sequential extraction for field-collected soils with known and different sources of Pb contamination was not sufficiently discriminatory in the dissolution of soil Pb phases to allow soil Pb forms to be "fingerprinted" by this method. It is concluded that standard sequential extraction procedures are probably not very useful in predicting lability and bioavailability of Pb in contaminated soils. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[Sequential sampling plans to Orthezia praelonga Douglas (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha, Ortheziidae) in citrus].

PubMed

Costa, Marilia G; Barbosa, José C; Yamamoto, Pedro T

2007-01-01

The sequential sampling is characterized by using samples of variable sizes, and has the advantage of reducing sampling time and costs if compared to fixed-size sampling. To introduce an adequate management for orthezia, sequential sampling plans were developed for orchards under low and high infestation. Data were collected in Matão, SP, in commercial stands of the orange variety 'Pêra Rio', at five, nine and 15 years of age. Twenty samplings were performed in the whole area of each stand by observing the presence or absence of scales on plants, being plots comprised of ten plants. After observing that in all of the three stands the scale population was distributed according to the contagious model, fitting the Negative Binomial Distribution in most samplings, two sequential sampling plans were constructed according to the Sequential Likelihood Ratio Test (SLRT). To construct these plans an economic threshold of 2% was adopted and the type I and II error probabilities were fixed in alpha = beta = 0.10. Results showed that the maximum numbers of samples expected to determine control need were 172 and 76 samples for stands with low and high infestation, respectively.

Better together: reduced compliance after sequential versus simultaneous bilateral hearing aids fitting.

PubMed

Lavie, Limor; Banai, Karen; Attias, Joseph; Karni, Avi

2014-03-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of sequential versus simultaneous bilateral hearing aids fitting on patient compliance. Thirty-six older adults with hearing impairment participated in this study. Twelve were fitted with bilateral hearing aids simultaneously. The remaining participants were fitted sequentially: One hearing aid (to the left or to the right ear) was used initially; 1 month later, the other ear was also fitted with a hearing aid for bilateral use. Self-reports on usefulness and compliance were elicited after the first and second months of hearing aid use. In addition, the number of hours the hearing aids were used was extracted from the data loggings of each device. Simultaneous fitting resulted in high levels of compliance and consistent usage throughout the study period. Sequential fitting resulted in abrupt reduction in compliance and hours of use once the second hearing aid was added, both in the clinical scoring and in the data loggings. Simultaneous fitting of bilateral hearing aids results in better compliance compared with sequential fitting. The addition of a second hearing aid after a relatively short period of monaural use may lead to inconsistent use of both hearing aids.

CACTI: free, open-source software for the sequential coding of behavioral interactions.

PubMed

Glynn, Lisa H; Hallgren, Kevin A; Houck, Jon M; Moyers, Theresa B

2012-01-01

The sequential analysis of client and clinician speech in psychotherapy sessions can help to identify and characterize potential mechanisms of treatment and behavior change. Previous studies required coding systems that were time-consuming, expensive, and error-prone. Existing software can be expensive and inflexible, and furthermore, no single package allows for pre-parsing, sequential coding, and assignment of global ratings. We developed a free, open-source, and adaptable program to meet these needs: The CASAA Application for Coding Treatment Interactions (CACTI). Without transcripts, CACTI facilitates the real-time sequential coding of behavioral interactions using WAV-format audio files. Most elements of the interface are user-modifiable through a simple XML file, and can be further adapted using Java through the terms of the GNU Public License. Coding with this software yields interrater reliabilities comparable to previous methods, but at greatly reduced time and expense. CACTI is a flexible research tool that can simplify psychotherapy process research, and has the potential to contribute to the improvement of treatment content and delivery.

A Node Linkage Approach for Sequential Pattern Mining

PubMed Central

Navarro, Osvaldo; Cumplido, René; Villaseñor-Pineda, Luis; Feregrino-Uribe, Claudia; Carrasco-Ochoa, Jesús Ariel

2014-01-01

Sequential Pattern Mining is a widely addressed problem in data mining, with applications such as analyzing Web usage, examining purchase behavior, and text mining, among others. Nevertheless, with the dramatic increase in data volume, the current approaches prove inefficient when dealing with large input datasets, a large number of different symbols and low minimum supports. In this paper, we propose a new sequential pattern mining algorithm, which follows a pattern-growth scheme to discover sequential patterns. Unlike most pattern growth algorithms, our approach does not build a data structure to represent the input dataset, but instead accesses the required sequences through pseudo-projection databases, achieving better runtime and reducing memory requirements. Our algorithm traverses the search space in a depth-first fashion and only preserves in memory a pattern node linkage and the pseudo-projections required for the branch being explored at the time. Experimental results show that our new approach, the Node Linkage Depth-First Traversal algorithm (NLDFT), has better performance and scalability in comparison with state of the art algorithms. PMID:24933123

Sequential Anaerobic/Aerobic Digestion for Enhanced Carbon/Nitrogen Removal and Cake Odor Reduction.

PubMed

Ahmad, Muneer; Denee, Marco Abel; Jiang, Hao; Eskicioglu, Cigdem; Kadota, Paul; Gregonia, Theresa

2016-12-01

  Anaerobic digestion (AD) has been proven to be an effective process for the treatment of wastewater sludge. However, it produces high levels of ammonia in the digester effluent, which may jeopardize meeting stringent nutrient discharge limits. In this study, the effect of a sequential anaerobic/aerobic (AN/AERO) digestion and a single-stage conventional AN digestion (as control) was investigated on mixed (primary + secondary) sludge generated by the Annacis Island wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) (BC, Canada). An overall sludge retention time (SRT) of 22.5 days under three different scenarios was chosen based on the current operational SRT of the digesters at the Annacis Island WWTP. The steady state results have shown that sequential AN/AERO digestion configurations achieved up to 11% higher volatile solids (VS) removal and 72% lower ammonia generation over single-stage conventional AN digestion. Furthermore, sequential AN/AERO system also showed enhanced dewaterability, improved fecal coliform destruction and reduced digested cake odors over control digesters.

Image segmentation for biomedical applications based on alternating sequential filtering and watershed transformation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gorpas, D.; Yova, D.

2009-07-01

One of the major challenges in biomedical imaging is the extraction of quantified information from the acquired images. Light and tissue interaction leads to the acquisition of images that present inconsistent intensity profiles and thus the accurate identification of the regions of interest is a rather complicated process. On the other hand, the complex geometries and the tangent objects that very often are present in the acquired images, lead to either false detections or to the merging, shrinkage or expansion of the regions of interest. In this paper an algorithm, which is based on alternating sequential filtering and watershed transformation, is proposed for the segmentation of biomedical images. This algorithm has been tested over two applications, each one based on different acquisition system, and the results illustrate its accuracy in segmenting the regions of interest.

Effects of neostriatal 6-OHDA lesion on performance in a rat sequential reaction time task.

PubMed

Domenger, D; Schwarting, R K W

2008-10-31

Work in humans and monkeys has provided evidence that the basal ganglia, and the neurotransmitter dopamine therein, play an important role for sequential learning and performance. Compared to primates, experimental work in rodents is rather sparse, largely due to the fact that tasks comparable to the human ones, especially serial reaction time tasks (SRTT), had been lacking until recently. We have developed a rat model of the SRTT, which allows to study neural correlates of sequential performance and motor sequence execution. Here, we report the effects of dopaminergic neostriatal lesions, performed using bilateral 6-hydroxydopamine injections, on performance of well-trained rats tested in our SRTT. Sequential behavior was measured in two ways: for one, the effects of small violations of otherwise well trained sequences were examined as a measure of attention and automation. Secondly, sequential versus random performance was compared as a measure of sequential learning. Neurochemically, the lesions led to sub-total dopamine depletions in the neostriatum, which ranged around 60% in the lateral, and around 40% in the medial neostriatum. These lesions led to a general instrumental impairment in terms of reduced speed (response latencies) and response rate, and these deficits were correlated with the degree of striatal dopamine loss. Furthermore, the violation test indicated that the lesion group conducted less automated responses. The comparison of random versus sequential responding showed that the lesion group did not retain its superior sequential performance in terms of speed, whereas they did in terms of accuracy. Also, rats with lesions did not improve further in overall performance as compared to pre-lesion values, whereas controls did. These results support previous results that neostriatal dopamine is involved in instrumental behaviour in general. Also, these lesions are not sufficient to completely abolish sequential performance, at least when acquired before lesion as tested here.

Does rat granulation tissue maturation involve gap junction communications?

PubMed

Au, Katherine; Ehrlich, H Paul

2007-07-01

Wound healing, a coordinated process, proceeds by sequential changes in cell differentiation and terminates with the deposition of a new connective tissue matrix, a scar. Initially, there is the migratory fibroblast, followed by the proliferative fibroblast, then the synthetic fibroblast, which transforms into the myofibroblast, and finally the apoptotic fibroblast. Gap junction intercellular communications are proposed to coordinate the stringent control of fibroblast phenotypic changes. Does added oleamide, a natural fatty acid that blocks gap junction intercellular communications, alter the phenotypic progression of wound fibroblasts? Pairs of polyvinyl alcohol sponges attached to Alzet pumps, which constantly pumped either oleamide or vehicle solvent, were implanted subcutaneously into three rats. On day 8, implants were harvested and evaluated histologically and biochemically. The capsule of oleamide-treated sponge contained closely packed fibroblasts with little connective tissue between them. The birefringence intensity of that connective tissue was reduced, indicating a reduced density of collagen fiber bundles. Myofibroblasts, identified immunohistologically by alpha-smooth muscle actin-stained stress fibers, were reduced in oleamide-treated implants. Western blot analysis showing less alpha-smooth muscle actin confirmed the reduced density of myofibroblasts. It appears that oleamide retards the progression of wound repair, where less connective tissue is deposited, the collagen is less organized, and the appearance of myofibroblasts is impaired. These findings support the hypothesis that gap junction intercellular communications between wound fibroblasts in granulation tissue play a role in the progression of repair and the maturation of granulation tissue into scar.

A gas-phase chemiluminescence-based analyzer for waterborne arsenic

USGS Publications Warehouse

Idowu, A.D.; Dasgupta, P.K.; Genfa, Z.; Toda, K.; Garbarino, J.R.

2006-01-01

We show a practical sequential injection/zone fluidics-based analyzer that measures waterborne arsenic. The approach is capable of differentiating between inorganic As(III) and As(V). The principle is based on generating AsH 3 from the sample in a confined chamber by borohydride reduction at controlled pH, sparging the chamber to drive the AsH3 to a small reflective cell located atop a photomultiplier tube, allowing it to react with ozone generated from ambient air, and measuring the intense chemiluminescence that results. Arsine generation and removal from solution results in isolation from the sample matrix, avoiding the pitfalls encountered in some solution-based analysis techniques. The differential determination of As(III) and As(V) is based on the different pH dependence of the reducibility of these species to AsH3. At pH ???1, both As(III) and As(V) are quantitatively converted to arsine in the presence of NaBH4. At a pH of 4-5, only As(III) is converted to arsine. In the present form, the limit of detection (S/N = 3) is 0.05 ??g/L As at pH ???1 and 0.09 ??g/L As(III) at pH ???4-5 for a 3-mL sample. The analyzer is intrinsically automated and requires 4 min per determination. It is also possible to determine As(III) first at pH 4.5 and then determine the remaining As in a sequential manner; this requires 6 min. There are no significant practical interferences. A new borohydride solution formulation permits month-long reagent stability. ?? 2006 American Chemical Society.

6-Thioguanine, cytarabine, and daunorubicin (TAD) and high-dose cytarabine and mitoxantrone (HAM) for induction, TAD for consolidation, and either prolonged maintenance by reduced monthly TAD or TAD-HAM-TAD and one course of intensive consolidation by sequential HAM in adult patients at all ages with de novo acute myeloid leukemia (AML): a randomized trial of the German AML Cooperative Group.

PubMed

Büchner, Thomas; Hiddemann, Wolfgang; Berdel, Wolfgang E; Wörmann, Bernhard; Schoch, Claudia; Fonatsch, Christa; Löffler, Helmut; Haferlach, Torsten; Ludwig, Wolf-Dieter; Maschmeyer, Georg; Staib, Peter; Aul, Carlo; Gruneisen, Andreas; Lengfelder, Eva; Frickhofen, Norbert; Kern, Wolfgang; Serve, Hubert L; Mesters, Rolf M; Sauerland, Maria Cristina; Heinecke, Achim

2003-12-15

To examine the efficacy of prolonged maintenance chemotherapy versus intensified consolidation therapy for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Eight hundred thirty-two patients (median age, 54 years; range, 16 to 82 years) with de novo AML were randomly assigned to receive 6-thioguanine, cytarabine, and daunorubicin (TAD) plus cytarabine and mitoxantrone (HAM; cytarabine 3 g/m2 [age < 60 years] or 1 g/m2 [age > or = 60 years] x 6) induction, TAD consolidation, and monthly modified TAD maintenance for 3 years, or TAD-HAM-TAD and one course of intensive consolidation with sequential HAM (S-HAM) with cytarabine 1 g/m2 (age < 60 years) or 0.5 g/m2 (age > or = 60 years) x 8 instead of maintenance. A total of 69.2% patients went into complete remission (CR). Median relapse-free survival (RFS) was 19 months for patients on the maintenance arm, with 31.4% of patients relapse-free at 5 years, versus 12 months for patients on the S-HAM arm, with 24.7% of patients relapse-free at 5 years (P =.0118). RFS from maintenance was superior in patients with poor risk by unfavorable karyotype, age > or = 60 years, lactate dehydrogenase level greater than 700 U/L, or day 16 bone marrow blasts greater than 40% (P =.0061) but not in patients with good risk by complete absence of any poor risk factors. Although a survival benefit in the CR patients is not significant (P =.085), more surviving patients in the maintenance than in the S-HAM arm remain in first CR (P =.026). We conclude that TAD-HAM-TAD-maintenance first-line treatment has a higher curative potential than TAD-HAM-TAD-S-HAM and improves prognosis even among patients with poor prognosis.

Evaluation of Landsat-4 orbit determination accuracy using batch least-squares and sequential methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oza, D. H.; Jones, T. L.; Feiertag, R.; Samii, M. V.; Doll, C. E.; Mistretta, G. D.; Hart, R. C.

The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Flight Dynamics Division (FDD) commissioned Applied Technology Associates, Incorporated, to develop the Real-Time Orbit Determination/Enhanced (RTOD/E) system on a Disk Operating System (DOS)-based personal computer (PC) as a prototype system for sequential orbit determination of spacecraft. This paper presents the results of a study to compare the orbit determination accuracy for a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) System (TDRSS) user spacecraft, Landsat-4, obtained using RTOD/E, operating on a PC, with the accuracy of an established batch least-squares system, the Goddard Trajectory Determination System (GTDS), operating on a mainframe computer. The results of Landsat-4 orbit determination will provide useful experience for the Earth Observing System (EOS) series of satellites. The Landsat-4 ephemerides were estimated for the May 18-24, 1992, timeframe, during which intensive TDRSS tracking data for Landsat-4 were available. During this period, there were two separate orbit-adjust maneuvers on one of the TDRSS spacecraft (TDRS-East) and one small orbit-adjust maneuver for Landsat-4. Independent assessments were made of the consistencies (overlap comparisons for the batch case and covariances and the first measurement residuals for the sequential case) of solutions produced by the batch and sequential methods. The forward-filtered RTOD/E orbit solutions were compared with the definitive GTDS orbit solutions for Landsat-4; the solution differences were generally less than 30 meters after the filter had reached steady state.

Evaluation of Landsat-4 orbit determination accuracy using batch least-squares and sequential methods

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Oza, D. H.; Jones, T. L.; Feiertag, R.; Samii, M. V.; Doll, C. E.; Mistretta, G. D.; Hart, R. C.

1993-01-01

The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Flight Dynamics Division (FDD) commissioned Applied Technology Associates, Incorporated, to develop the Real-Time Orbit Determination/Enhanced (RTOD/E) system on a Disk Operating System (DOS)-based personal computer (PC) as a prototype system for sequential orbit determination of spacecraft. This paper presents the results of a study to compare the orbit determination accuracy for a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) System (TDRSS) user spacecraft, Landsat-4, obtained using RTOD/E, operating on a PC, with the accuracy of an established batch least-squares system, the Goddard Trajectory Determination System (GTDS), operating on a mainframe computer. The results of Landsat-4 orbit determination will provide useful experience for the Earth Observing System (EOS) series of satellites. The Landsat-4 ephemerides were estimated for the May 18-24, 1992, timeframe, during which intensive TDRSS tracking data for Landsat-4 were available. During this period, there were two separate orbit-adjust maneuvers on one of the TDRSS spacecraft (TDRS-East) and one small orbit-adjust maneuver for Landsat-4. Independent assessments were made of the consistencies (overlap comparisons for the batch case and covariances and the first measurement residuals for the sequential case) of solutions produced by the batch and sequential methods. The forward-filtered RTOD/E orbit solutions were compared with the definitive GTDS orbit solutions for Landsat-4; the solution differences were generally less than 30 meters after the filter had reached steady state.

Fundamental Study on the Fabrication of Inverted Planar Perovskite Solar Cells Using Two-Step Sequential Substrate Vibration-Assisted Spray Coating (2S-SVASC).

PubMed

Zabihi, Fatemeh; Ahmadian-Yazdi, Mohammad-Reza; Eslamian, Morteza

2016-12-01

In this paper, a scalable and fast process is developed and employed for the fabrication of the perovskite light harvesting layer in inverted planar heterojunction solar cell (FTO/PEDOT:PSS/CH3NH3PbI3-x Cl x /PCBM/Al). Perovskite precursor solutions are sprayed onto an ultrasonically vibrating substrate in two sequential steps via a process herein termed as the two-step sequential substrate vibration-assisted spray coating (2S-SVASC). The gentle imposed ultrasonic vibration on the substrate promotes droplet spreading and coalescence, surface wetting, evaporation, mixing of reagents, and uniform growth of perovskite nanocrystals. The role of the substrate temperature, substrate vibration intensity, and the time interval between the two sequential sprays are studied on the roughness, coverage, and crystalline structure of perovskite thin films. We demonstrate that a combination of a long time interval between spraying of precursor solutions (15 min), a high substrate temperature (120 °C), and a mild substrate vibration power (5 W) results in a favorable morphology and surface quality. The characteristics and performance of prepared perovskite thin films made via the 2S-SVASC technique are compared with those of the co-sprayed perovskite thin films. The maximum power conversion efficiency of 5.08 % on a 0.3-cm(2) active area is obtained for the device made via the scalable 2S-SVASC technique.

Secondary ion generation mechanism studied by ISS-SIMS and work function measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kawatoh, Eizoh; Terada, Norihito; Shimizu, Ryuichi; Kang, Hee Jae

1989-03-01

Oxygen enhancement effects in secondary ion generation were studied in polycrystalline Ni at different partial pressures of oxygen, Po2, by sequential ISS-SIMS and work function measurements. The investigation has revealed that the enhancement undergoes three stages: (I) The secondary ion intensity increases monotonically with an increase of work function which is described very well by the electron tunneling model. (II) This tendency abruptly changes, i.e. the work function decreases and the secondary ion intensity increases rapidly, for a slight increase of Po2 (III) The secondary ion intensities gradually increase and become saturated with a further increase of Po2. It has also been found that the critical coverage, θc, corresponds exactly to the stage (II) behaviour, which was observed by Blaise and Bernheim for a single crystal (100)Ni surface.

[Autonomy in intensive care unit: let us start by caring ourselves].

PubMed

Vargas, Ambrosina Oliveira; Ramos, Flávia Regina Souza

2010-01-01

This study, a qualitative investigation anchored in Foucaltian analysis with approximations to post-structuralist theory, explores the question of autonomy as one of the tensions of nursing performance/knowledge which can be discursively articulated to bioethics and to techno biomedicine. From such perspective, from the multiples vies that may emerge to completing a critical reading of the analyzed texts (articles produced by nurses) and of the interviews with intensive care nurses, the theme of autonomy was analytically explored from the concept of self care, unfolding itself into categories which express privileging: morals as obedience to the Law; conduct and morals concerning technical knowledge; self-governing in its confront with technique. These are configured as ethical possibilities for the intensive care nurse/subject, not as sequential or competitive stages, but connected and confluent in the experience of the current historical period.

Adaptive Sequential Monte Carlo for Multiple Changepoint Analysis

DOE PAGES

Heard, Nicholas A.; Turcotte, Melissa J. M.

2016-05-21

Process monitoring and control requires detection of structural changes in a data stream in real time. This paper introduces an efficient sequential Monte Carlo algorithm designed for learning unknown changepoints in continuous time. The method is intuitively simple: new changepoints for the latest window of data are proposed by conditioning only on data observed since the most recent estimated changepoint, as these observations carry most of the information about the current state of the process. The proposed method shows improved performance over the current state of the art. Another advantage of the proposed algorithm is that it can be mademore » adaptive, varying the number of particles according to the apparent local complexity of the target changepoint probability distribution. This saves valuable computing time when changes in the changepoint distribution are negligible, and enables re-balancing of the importance weights of existing particles when a significant change in the target distribution is encountered. The plain and adaptive versions of the method are illustrated using the canonical continuous time changepoint problem of inferring the intensity of an inhomogeneous Poisson process, although the method is generally applicable to any changepoint problem. Performance is demonstrated using both conjugate and non-conjugate Bayesian models for the intensity. Lastly, appendices to the article are available online, illustrating the method on other models and applications.« less

Kriging for Simulation Metamodeling: Experimental Design, Reduced Rank Kriging, and Omni-Rank Kriging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hosking, Michael Robert

This dissertation improves an analyst's use of simulation by offering improvements in the utilization of kriging metamodels. There are three main contributions. First an analysis is performed of what comprises good experimental designs for practical (non-toy) problems when using a kriging metamodel. Second is an explanation and demonstration of how reduced rank decompositions can improve the performance of kriging, now referred to as reduced rank kriging. Third is the development of an extension of reduced rank kriging which solves an open question regarding the usage of reduced rank kriging in practice. This extension is called omni-rank kriging. Finally these results are demonstrated on two case studies. The first contribution focuses on experimental design. Sequential designs are generally known to be more efficient than "one shot" designs. However, sequential designs require some sort of pilot design from which the sequential stage can be based. We seek to find good initial designs for these pilot studies, as well as designs which will be effective if there is no following sequential stage. We test a wide variety of designs over a small set of test-bed problems. Our findings indicate that analysts should take advantage of any prior information they have about their problem's shape and/or their goals in metamodeling. In the event of a total lack of information we find that Latin hypercube designs are robust default choices. Our work is most distinguished by its attention to the higher levels of dimensionality. The second contribution introduces and explains an alternative method for kriging when there is noise in the data, which we call reduced rank kriging. Reduced rank kriging is based on using a reduced rank decomposition which artificially smoothes the kriging weights similar to a nugget effect. Our primary focus will be showing how the reduced rank decomposition propagates through kriging empirically. In addition, we show further evidence for our explanation through tests of reduced rank kriging's performance over different situations. In total, reduced rank kriging is a useful tool for simulation metamodeling. For the third contribution we will answer the question of how to find the best rank for reduced rank kriging. We do this by creating an alternative method which does not need to search for a particular rank. Instead it uses all potential ranks; we call this approach omnirank kriging. This modification realizes the potential gains from reduced rank kriging and provides a workable methodology for simulation metamodeling. Finally, we will demonstrate the use and value of these developments on two case studies, a clinic operation problem and a location problem. These cases will validate the value of this research. Simulation metamodeling always attempts to extract maximum information from limited data. Each one of these contributions will allow analysts to make better use of their constrained computational budgets.

Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy With Dose Painting to Treat Rhabdomyosarcoma

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

Yang, Joanna C.; Dharmarajan, Kavita V.; Wexler, Leonard H.

Purpose: To examine local control and patterns of failure in rhabdomyosarcoma patients treated with intensity modulated radiation therapy (RT) with dose painting (DP-IMRT). Patients and Methods: A total of 41 patients underwent DP-IMRT with chemotherapy for definitive treatment. Nineteen also underwent surgery with or without intraoperative RT. Fifty-six percent had alveolar histologic features. The median interval from beginning chemotherapy to RT was 17 weeks (range, 4-25). Very young children who underwent second-look procedures with or without intraoperative RT received reduced doses of 24-36 Gy in 1.4-1.8-Gy fractions. Young adults received 50.4 Gy to the primary tumor and lower doses ofmore » 36 Gy in 1.8-Gy fractions to at-risk lymph node chains. Results: With 22 months of median follow-up, the actuarial local control rate was 90%. Patients aged {<=}7 years who received reduced overall and fractional doses had 100% local control, and young adults had 79% (P=.07) local control. Three local failures were identified in young adults whose primary target volumes had received 50.4 Gy in 1.8-Gy fractions. Conclusions: DP-IMRT with lower fractional and cumulative doses is feasible for very young children after second-look procedures with or without intraoperative RT. DP-IMRT is also feasible in adolescents and young adults with aggressive disease who would benefit from prophylactic RT to high-risk lymph node chains, although dose escalation might be warranted for improved local control. With limited follow-up, it appears that DP-IMRT produces local control rates comparable to those of sequential IMRT in patients with rhabdomyosarcoma.« less

Motion-oriented high speed 3-D measurements by binocular fringe projection using binary aperiodic patterns.

PubMed

Feng, Shijie; Chen, Qian; Zuo, Chao; Tao, Tianyang; Hu, Yan; Asundi, Anand

2017-01-23

Fringe projection is an extensively used technique for high speed three-dimensional (3-D) measurements of dynamic objects. To precisely retrieve a moving object at pixel level, researchers prefer to project a sequence of fringe images onto its surface. However, the motion often leads to artifacts in reconstructions due to the sequential recording of the set of patterns. In order to reduce the adverse impact of the movement, we present a novel high speed 3-D scanning technique combining the fringe projection and stereo. Firstly, promising measuring speed is achieved by modifying the traditional aperiodic sinusoidal patterns so that the fringe images can be cast at kilohertz with the widely used defocusing strategy. Next, a temporal intensity tracing algorithm is developed to further alleviate the influence of motion by accurately tracing the ideal intensity for stereo matching. Then, a combined cost measure is suggested to robustly estimate the cost for each pixel and lastly a three-step framework of refinement follows not only to eliminate outliers caused by the motion but also to obtain sub-pixel disparity results for 3-D reconstructions. In comparison with the traditional method where the effect of motion is not considered, experimental results show that the reconstruction accuracy for dynamic objects can be improved by an order of magnitude with the proposed method.

Pixel-level tunable liquid crystal lenses for auto-stereoscopic display

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Kun; Robertson, Brian; Pivnenko, Mike; Chu, Daping; Zhou, Jiong; Yao, Jun

2014-02-01

Mobile video and gaming are now widely used, and delivery of a glass-free 3D experience is of both research and development interest. The key drawbacks of a conventional 3D display based on a static lenticular lenslet array and parallax barriers are low resolution, limited viewing angle and reduced brightness, mainly because of the need of multiple-pixels for each object point. This study describes the concept and performance of pixel-level cylindrical liquid crystal (LC) lenses, which are designed to steer light to the left and right eye sequentially to form stereo parallax. The width of the LC lenses can be as small as 20-30 μm, so that the associated auto-stereoscopic display will have the same resolution as the 2D display panel in use. Such a thin sheet of tunable LC lens array can be applied directly on existing mobile displays, and can deliver 3D viewing experience while maintaining 2D viewing capability. Transparent electrodes were laser patterned to achieve the single pixel lens resolution, and a high birefringent LC material was used to realise a large diffraction angle for a wide field of view. Simulation was carried out to model the intensity profile at the viewing plane and optimise the lens array based on the measured LC phase profile. The measured viewing angle and intensity profile were compared with the simulation results.

Development of colorless distributed combustion for gas turbine application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arghode, Vaibhav Kumar

Colorless Distributed Combustion (CDC) is investigated for gas turbine engine application due to its benefit for ultra-low pollutant emission, improved pattern factor, low noise emission, stable combustion and low pressure drop, alleviation of combustion instabilities and increased life of turbine blades with less air cooling requirements. The CDC is characterized by discrete and direct injection of fuel and air at high velocity and the reaction zone is stabilized due to controlled aerodynamics inside the combustor and wider (radially) shear layer mixing. Mixing between the injected air and product gases to form hot and diluted oxidant is required followed by rapid mixing with the fuel. This results in distributed reaction zone instead of a concentrated flame front as observed in conventional diffusion flames and hence, to avoid hot spot regions and provide reduced NOx and CO emissions. The focus of this dissertation is to develop and demonstrate CDC for application to stationary gas turbine combustors which generally operate at thermal intensity of 15MW/m3-atm. However, higher thermal intensity is desirable to reduce hardware costs due to smaller weight and volume of the combustors. Design of high thermal intensity CDC combustor requires careful control of critical parameters, such as, gas recirculation, fuel/oxidizer mixing and residence time characteristics via careful selection of different air and fuel injection configurations to achieve desirable combustion characteristics. This dissertation examines sequential development of low emission colorless distributed combustor operating from thermal intensity of 5MW/m3-atm up to 198MW/m3-atm. Initially, various fuel and air injection configurations were investigated at a low thermal intensity of 5MW/m 3-atm. Further investigations were performed for a simpler combustor having single air and fuel injection ports for medium thermal intensity range of 28-57MW/m3-atm. Among the flow configurations investigated, reverse cross-flow configuration was found to give more favorable results possibly due to higher residence time because of reverse flow geometry and faster mixing with the fuel injection in cross-flow. This configuration was investigated in detail by further reducing the combustor volume to give ultra-high thermal intensity of up to 198MW/m3-atm. At thermal intensity of 53MW/m3-atm NO emissions were 4ppm in non-premixed mode and 1ppm in premixed mode and CO emissions were 30ppm in both the modes. The pressure loss was less than 5% and heat loss was less than 15%. The pressure fluctuations were less than 0.025% suggesting very stable combustion. At ultra-high thermal intensity of 170MW/m3-atm NO emissions were 8ppm and 3ppm in non-premixed and premixed modes respectively and CO emissions were about 100ppm in both the modes. Dilution of fuel with nitrogen, carbon dioxide and air resulted in significant reduction in NO emission in non-premixed mode from 8ppm to about 2ppm. Methane was used as fuel for all these investigations. Liquid fuel (ethanol) was also tested and very low NO emission of about 6ppm was obtained in direct injection mode and 2ppm in premixed prevaporized mode. CO emission of about 200ppm was observed in both the modes.

A service-based BLAST command tool supported by cloud infrastructures.

PubMed

Carrión, Abel; Blanquer, Ignacio; Hernández, Vicente

2012-01-01

Notwithstanding the benefits of distributed-computing infrastructures for empowering bioinformatics analysis tools with the needed computing and storage capability, the actual use of these infrastructures is still low. Learning curves and deployment difficulties have reduced the impact on the wide research community. This article presents a porting strategy of BLAST based on a multiplatform client and a service that provides the same interface as sequential BLAST, thus reducing learning curve and with minimal impact on their integration on existing workflows. The porting has been done using the execution and data access components from the EC project Venus-C and the Windows Azure infrastructure provided in this project. The results obtained demonstrate a low overhead on the global execution framework and reasonable speed-up and cost-efficiency with respect to a sequential version.

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

Rao, Nageswara S.; Ramirez Aviles, Camila A.

We consider the problem of inferring the operational status of a reactor facility using measurements from a radiation sensor network deployed around the facility’s ventilation off-gas stack. The intensity of stack emissions decays with distance, and the sensor counts or measurements are inherently random with parameters determined by the intensity at the sensor’s location. We utilize the measurements to estimate the intensity at the stack, and use it in a one-sided Sequential Probability Ratio Test (SPRT) to infer on/off status of the reactor. We demonstrate the superior performance of this method over conventional majority fusers and individual sensors using (i)more » test measurements from a network of 21 NaI detectors, and (ii) effluence measurements collected at the stack of a reactor facility. We also analytically establish the superior detection performance of the network over individual sensors with fixed and adaptive thresholds by utilizing the Poisson distribution of the counts. We quantify the performance improvements of the network detection over individual sensors using the packing number of the intensity space.« less

Using Zebra-speech to study sequential and simultaneous speech segregation in a cochlear-implant simulation.

PubMed

Gaudrain, Etienne; Carlyon, Robert P

2013-01-01

Previous studies have suggested that cochlear implant users may have particular difficulties exploiting opportunities to glimpse clear segments of a target speech signal in the presence of a fluctuating masker. Although it has been proposed that this difficulty is associated with a deficit in linking the glimpsed segments across time, the details of this mechanism are yet to be explained. The present study introduces a method called Zebra-speech developed to investigate the relative contribution of simultaneous and sequential segregation mechanisms in concurrent speech perception, using a noise-band vocoder to simulate cochlear implants. One experiment showed that the saliency of the difference between the target and the masker is a key factor for Zebra-speech perception, as it is for sequential segregation. Furthermore, forward masking played little or no role, confirming that intelligibility was not limited by energetic masking but by across-time linkage abilities. In another experiment, a binaural cue was used to distinguish the target and the masker. It showed that the relative contribution of simultaneous and sequential segregation depended on the spectral resolution, with listeners relying more on sequential segregation when the spectral resolution was reduced. The potential of Zebra-speech as a segregation enhancement strategy for cochlear implants is discussed.

Using Zebra-speech to study sequential and simultaneous speech segregation in a cochlear-implant simulation

PubMed Central

Gaudrain, Etienne; Carlyon, Robert P.

2013-01-01

Previous studies have suggested that cochlear implant users may have particular difficulties exploiting opportunities to glimpse clear segments of a target speech signal in the presence of a fluctuating masker. Although it has been proposed that this difficulty is associated with a deficit in linking the glimpsed segments across time, the details of this mechanism are yet to be explained. The present study introduces a method called Zebra-speech developed to investigate the relative contribution of simultaneous and sequential segregation mechanisms in concurrent speech perception, using a noise-band vocoder to simulate cochlear implants. One experiment showed that the saliency of the difference between the target and the masker is a key factor for Zebra-speech perception, as it is for sequential segregation. Furthermore, forward masking played little or no role, confirming that intelligibility was not limited by energetic masking but by across-time linkage abilities. In another experiment, a binaural cue was used to distinguish target and masker. It showed that the relative contribution of simultaneous and sequential segregation depended on the spectral resolution, with listeners relying more on sequential segregation when the spectral resolution was reduced. The potential of Zebra-speech as a segregation enhancement strategy for cochlear implants is discussed. PMID:23297922

Simultaneous sequential monitoring of efficacy and safety led to masking of effects.

PubMed

van Eekelen, Rik; de Hoop, Esther; van der Tweel, Ingeborg

2016-08-01

Usually, sequential designs for clinical trials are applied on the primary (=efficacy) outcome. In practice, other outcomes (e.g., safety) will also be monitored and influence the decision whether to stop a trial early. Implications of simultaneous monitoring on trial decision making are yet unclear. This study examines what happens to the type I error, power, and required sample sizes when one efficacy outcome and one correlated safety outcome are monitored simultaneously using sequential designs. We conducted a simulation study in the framework of a two-arm parallel clinical trial. Interim analyses on two outcomes were performed independently and simultaneously on the same data sets using four sequential monitoring designs, including O'Brien-Fleming and Triangular Test boundaries. Simulations differed in values for correlations and true effect sizes. When an effect was present in both outcomes, competition was introduced, which decreased power (e.g., from 80% to 60%). Futility boundaries for the efficacy outcome reduced overall type I errors as well as power for the safety outcome. Monitoring two correlated outcomes, given that both are essential for early trial termination, leads to masking of true effects. Careful consideration of scenarios must be taken into account when designing sequential trials. Simulation results can help guide trial design. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Doctrine of Original Antigenic Sin: Separating Good From Evil.

PubMed

Monto, Arnold S; Malosh, Ryan E; Petrie, Joshua G; Martin, Emily T

2017-06-15

The term "original antigenic sin" was coined approximately 60 years ago to describe the imprinting by the initial first influenza A virus infection on the antibody response to subsequent vaccination. These studies did not suggest a reduction in the response to current antigens but instead suggested anamnestic recall of antibody to earlier influenza virus strains. Then, approximately 40 years ago, it was observed that sequential influenza vaccination might lead to reduced vaccine effectiveness (VE). This conclusion was largely dismissed after an experimental study involving sequential administration of then-standard influenza vaccines. Recent observations have provided convincing evidence that reduced VE after sequential influenza vaccination is a real phenomenon. We propose that such reduction in VE be termed "negative antigenic interaction," given that there is no age cohort effect. In contrast, the potentially positive protective effect of early influenza virus infection later in life continues to be observed. It is essential that we understand better the immunologic factors underlying both original antigenic sin and negative antigenic interaction, to support development of improved influenza vaccines and vaccination strategies. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

Reducing sedation time for thyroplasty with arytenoid adduction with sequential anesthetic technique.

PubMed

Saadeh, Charles K; Rosero, Eric B; Joshi, Girish P; Ozayar, Esra; Mau, Ted

2017-12-01

To determine the extent to which a sequential anesthetic technique 1) shortens time under sedation for thyroplasty with arytenoid adduction (TP-AA), 2) affects the total operative time, and 3) changes the voice outcome compared to TP-AA performed entirely under sedation/analgesia. Case-control study. A new sequential anesthetic technique of performing most of the TP-AA surgery under general anesthesia (GA), followed by transition to sedation/analgesia (SA) for voice assessment, was developed to achieve smooth emergence from GA. Twenty-five TP-AA cases performed with the sequential GA-SA technique were compared with 25 TP-AA controls performed completely under sedation/analgesia. The primary outcome measure was the time under sedation. Voice improvement, as assessed by Consensus Auditory-Perceptual Evaluation of Voice, and total operative time were secondary outcome measures. With the conventional all-SA anesthetic, the duration of SA was 209 ± 26.3 minutes. With the sequential GA-SA technique, the duration of SA was 79.0 ± 18.9 minutes, a 62.3% reduction (P < 0.0001). There was no significant difference in the total operative time (209.5 vs. 200.9 minutes; P = 0.42) or in voice outcome. This sequential anesthetic technique has been easily adopted by multiple anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists at our institution. TP-AA is effectively performed under sequential GA-SA technique with a significant reduction in the duration of time under sedation. This allows the surgeon to perform the technically more challenging part of the surgery under GA, without having to contend with variability in patient tolerance for laryngeal manipulation under sedation. 3b. Laryngoscope, 127:2813-2817, 2017. © 2017 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

Optimal medication dosing from suboptimal clinical examples: a deep reinforcement learning approach.

PubMed

Nemati, Shamim; Ghassemi, Mohammad M; Clifford, Gari D

2016-08-01

Misdosing medications with sensitive therapeutic windows, such as heparin, can place patients at unnecessary risk, increase length of hospital stay, and lead to wasted hospital resources. In this work, we present a clinician-in-the-loop sequential decision making framework, which provides an individualized dosing policy adapted to each patient's evolving clinical phenotype. We employed retrospective data from the publicly available MIMIC II intensive care unit database, and developed a deep reinforcement learning algorithm that learns an optimal heparin dosing policy from sample dosing trails and their associated outcomes in large electronic medical records. Using separate training and testing datasets, our model was observed to be effective in proposing heparin doses that resulted in better expected outcomes than the clinical guidelines. Our results demonstrate that a sequential modeling approach, learned from retrospective data, could potentially be used at the bedside to derive individualized patient dosing policies.

Improved solution accuracy for Landsat-4 (TDRSS-user) orbit determination

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Oza, D. H.; Niklewski, D. J.; Doll, C. E.; Mistretta, G. D.; Hart, R. C.

1994-01-01

This paper presents the results of a study to compare the orbit determination accuracy for a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) user spacecraft, Landsat-4, obtained using a Prototype Filter Smoother (PFS), with the accuracy of an established batch-least-squares system, the Goddard Trajectory Determination System (GTDS). The results of Landsat-4 orbit determination will provide useful experience for the Earth Observing System (EOS) series of satellites. The Landsat-4 ephemerides were estimated for the January 17-23, 1991, timeframe, during which intensive TDRSS tracking data for Landsat-4 were available. Independent assessments were made of the consistencies (overlap comparisons for the batch case and convariances for the sequential case) of solutions produced by the batch and sequential methods. The filtered and smoothed PFS orbit solutions were compared with the definitive GTDS orbit solutions for Landsat-4; the solution differences were generally less than 15 meters.

Cadmium partition in river sediments from an area affected by mining activities.

PubMed

Vasile, Georgiana D; Vlădescu, Luminiţa

2010-08-01

In this paper, the cadmium distribution in Certej River sediments in an area seriously affected by intense mining activities has been studied. The main objective of this study was the evaluation of partition of this metal into different operational defined fractions by sequential extractions. Community Bureau of Reference (BCR) sequential extraction was used to isolate different fractions. The sediment quality was assessed both upstream and downstream the pollution input points, along the Certej River, in order to reveal a possible accumulation of cadmium in sediments and the seasonal changes in cadmium concentrations in BCR sediment phases. Our results reveal that most of the cadmium content is divided between both the soluble and iron and manganese hydrated oxide fractions. Based on total cadmium concentrations in sediments, the enrichment factors were estimated using aluminum as normalizing element and the regression curve Cd/Al corresponding to the geochemical background of the studied area.

Worst-error analysis of batch filter and sequential filter in navigation problems. [in spacecraft trajectory estimation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nishimura, T.

1975-01-01

This paper proposes a worst-error analysis for dealing with problems of estimation of spacecraft trajectories in deep space missions. Navigation filters in use assume either constant or stochastic (Markov) models for their estimated parameters. When the actual behavior of these parameters does not follow the pattern of the assumed model, the filters sometimes result in very poor performance. To prepare for such pathological cases, the worst errors of both batch and sequential filters are investigated based on the incremental sensitivity studies of these filters. By finding critical switching instances of non-gravitational accelerations, intensive tracking can be carried out around those instances. Also the worst errors in the target plane provide a measure in assignment of the propellant budget for trajectory corrections. Thus the worst-error study presents useful information as well as practical criteria in establishing the maneuver and tracking strategy of spacecraft's missions.

Ultrahigh Responsivity and Detectivity Graphene-Perovskite Hybrid Phototransistors by Sequential Vapor Deposition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, Po-Han; Liu, Shang-Yi; Lan, Yu-Bing; Tsai, Yi-Chen; You, Xue-Qian; Li, Chia-Shuo; Huang, Kuo-You; Chou, Ang-Sheng; Cheng, Tsung-Chin; Wang, Juen-Kai; Wu, Chih-I.

2017-04-01

In this work, graphene-methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI3) perovskite hybrid phototransistors fabricated by sequential vapor deposition are demonstrated. Ultrahigh responsivity of 1.73 × 107 A W-1 and detectivity of 2 × 1015 Jones are achieved, with extremely high effective quantum efficiencies of about 108% in the visible range (450-700 nm). This excellent performance is attributed to the ultra-flat perovskite films grown by vapor deposition on the graphene sheets. The hybrid structure of graphene covered with uniform perovskite has high exciton separation ability under light exposure, and thus efficiently generates photocurrents. This paper presents photoluminescence (PL) images along with statistical analysis used to study the photo-induced exciton behavior. Both uniform and dramatic PL intensity quenching has been observed over entire measured regions, consistently demonstrating excellent exciton separation in the devices.

Ultrahigh Responsivity and Detectivity Graphene–Perovskite Hybrid Phototransistors by Sequential Vapor Deposition

PubMed Central

Chang, Po-Han; Liu, Shang-Yi; Lan, Yu-Bing; Tsai, Yi-Chen; You, Xue-Qian; Li, Chia-Shuo; Huang, Kuo-You; Chou, Ang-Sheng; Cheng, Tsung-Chin; Wang, Juen-Kai; Wu, Chih-I

2017-01-01

In this work, graphene-methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI3) perovskite hybrid phototransistors fabricated by sequential vapor deposition are demonstrated. Ultrahigh responsivity of 1.73 × 107 A W−1 and detectivity of 2 × 1015 Jones are achieved, with extremely high effective quantum efficiencies of about 108% in the visible range (450–700 nm). This excellent performance is attributed to the ultra-flat perovskite films grown by vapor deposition on the graphene sheets. The hybrid structure of graphene covered with uniform perovskite has high exciton separation ability under light exposure, and thus efficiently generates photocurrents. This paper presents photoluminescence (PL) images along with statistical analysis used to study the photo-induced exciton behavior. Both uniform and dramatic PL intensity quenching has been observed over entire measured regions, consistently demonstrating excellent exciton separation in the devices. PMID:28422117

Wald Sequential Probability Ratio Test for Analysis of Orbital Conjunction Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carpenter, J. Russell; Markley, F. Landis; Gold, Dara

2013-01-01

We propose a Wald Sequential Probability Ratio Test for analysis of commonly available predictions associated with spacecraft conjunctions. Such predictions generally consist of a relative state and relative state error covariance at the time of closest approach, under the assumption that prediction errors are Gaussian. We show that under these circumstances, the likelihood ratio of the Wald test reduces to an especially simple form, involving the current best estimate of collision probability, and a similar estimate of collision probability that is based on prior assumptions about the likelihood of collision.

Adaptive x-ray threat detection using sequential hypotheses testing with fan-beam experimental data (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thamvichai, Ratchaneekorn; Huang, Liang-Chih; Ashok, Amit; Gong, Qian; Coccarelli, David; Greenberg, Joel A.; Gehm, Michael E.; Neifeld, Mark A.

2017-05-01

We employ an adaptive measurement system, based on sequential hypotheses testing (SHT) framework, for detecting material-based threats using experimental data acquired on an X-ray experimental testbed system. This testbed employs 45-degree fan-beam geometry and 15 views over a 180-degree span to generate energy sensitive X-ray projection data. Using this testbed system, we acquire multiple view projection data for 200 bags. We consider an adaptive measurement design where the X-ray projection measurements are acquired in a sequential manner and the adaptation occurs through the choice of the optimal "next" source/view system parameter. Our analysis of such an adaptive measurement design using the experimental data demonstrates a 3x-7x reduction in the probability of error relative to a static measurement design. Here the static measurement design refers to the operational system baseline that corresponds to a sequential measurement using all the available sources/views. We also show that by using adaptive measurements it is possible to reduce the number of sources/views by nearly 50% compared a system that relies on static measurements.

Monte Carlo Simulation of Sudden Death Bearing Testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vlcek, Brian L.; Hendricks, Robert C.; Zaretsky, Erwin V.

2003-01-01

Monte Carlo simulations combined with sudden death testing were used to compare resultant bearing lives to the calculated hearing life and the cumulative test time and calendar time relative to sequential and censored sequential testing. A total of 30 960 virtual 50-mm bore deep-groove ball bearings were evaluated in 33 different sudden death test configurations comprising 36, 72, and 144 bearings each. Variations in both life and Weibull slope were a function of the number of bearings failed independent of the test method used and not the total number of bearings tested. Variation in L10 life as a function of number of bearings failed were similar to variations in lift obtained from sequentially failed real bearings and from Monte Carlo (virtual) testing of entire populations. Reductions up to 40 percent in bearing test time and calendar time can be achieved by testing to failure or the L(sub 50) life and terminating all testing when the last of the predetermined bearing failures has occurred. Sudden death testing is not a more efficient method to reduce bearing test time or calendar time when compared to censored sequential testing.

CACTI: Free, Open-Source Software for the Sequential Coding of Behavioral Interactions

PubMed Central

Glynn, Lisa H.; Hallgren, Kevin A.; Houck, Jon M.; Moyers, Theresa B.

2012-01-01

The sequential analysis of client and clinician speech in psychotherapy sessions can help to identify and characterize potential mechanisms of treatment and behavior change. Previous studies required coding systems that were time-consuming, expensive, and error-prone. Existing software can be expensive and inflexible, and furthermore, no single package allows for pre-parsing, sequential coding, and assignment of global ratings. We developed a free, open-source, and adaptable program to meet these needs: The CASAA Application for Coding Treatment Interactions (CACTI). Without transcripts, CACTI facilitates the real-time sequential coding of behavioral interactions using WAV-format audio files. Most elements of the interface are user-modifiable through a simple XML file, and can be further adapted using Java through the terms of the GNU Public License. Coding with this software yields interrater reliabilities comparable to previous methods, but at greatly reduced time and expense. CACTI is a flexible research tool that can simplify psychotherapy process research, and has the potential to contribute to the improvement of treatment content and delivery. PMID:22815713

Carbon Nanotube Growth Rate Regression using Support Vector Machines and Artificial Neural Networks

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-03-27

intensity D peak. Reprinted with permission from [38]. The SVM classifier is trained using custom written Java code leveraging the Sequential Minimal...Society Encog is a machine learning framework for Java , C++ and .Net applications that supports Bayesian Networks, Hidden Markov Models, SVMs and ANNs [13...SVM classifiers are trained using Weka libraries and leveraging custom written Java code. The data set is created as an Attribute Relationship File

Air and Space Power Journal. Volume 22, Number 2, Summer 2008

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-01-01

readers, it connotes and perpetuates an artificial distinction be- tween intelligence personnel and those who conduct operations.8 JP 1-02’s definition...intelligence springs from this legacy. in the industrial-age model, intelli - gence was a massive, personnel-intensive op- eration aimed at supporting...interpret its mean- ing, write a message, deliver it. the intelli - gence cycle was sequential. in an age when airpower itself was artifi- cially

Cost-Utility Analysis of Cochlear Implantation in Australian Adults.

PubMed

Foteff, Chris; Kennedy, Steven; Milton, Abul Hasnat; Deger, Melike; Payk, Florian; Sanderson, Georgina

2016-06-01

Sequential and simultaneous bilateral cochlear implants are emerging as appropriate treatment options for Australian adults with sensory deficits in both cochleae. Current funding of Australian public hospitals does not provide for simultaneous bilateral cochlear implantation (CI) as a separate surgical procedure. Previous cost-effectiveness studies of sequential and simultaneous bilateral CI assumed 100% of unilaterally treated patients' transition to a sequential bilateral CI. This assumption does not place cochlear implantation in the context of the generally treated population. When mutually exclusive treatment options exist, such as unilateral CI, sequential bilateral CI, and simultaneous bilateral CI, the mean costs of the treated populations are weighted in the calculation of incremental cost-utility ratios. The objective was to evaluate the cost-utility of bilateral hearing aids (HAs) compared with unilateral, sequential, and simultaneous bilateral CI in Australian adults with bilateral severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss. Cost-utility analysis of secondary sources input to a Markov model. Australian health care perspective, lifetime horizon with costs and outcomes discounted 5% annually. Bilateral HAs as treatment for bilateral severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss compared with unilateral, sequential, and simultaneous bilateral CI. Incremental costs per quality adjusted life year (AUD/QALY). When compared with bilateral hearing aids the incremental cost-utility ratio for the CI treatment population was AUD11,160/QALY. The incremental cost-utility ratio was weighted according to the number of patients treated unilaterally, sequentially, and simultaneously, as these were mutually exclusive treatment options. No peer-reviewed articles have reported the incremental analysis of cochlear implantation in a continuum of care for surgically treated populations with bilateral severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss. Unilateral, sequential, and simultaneous bilateral CI were cost-effective when compared with bilateral hearing aids. Technologies that reduce the total number of visits for a patient could introduce additional cost efficiencies into clinical practice.

Sequential Double lonization: The Timing of Release

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pfeiffer, A.

2011-05-01

The timing of electron release in strong field double ionization poses great challenges both for conceptual definition and for conducting experimental measurement. Here we present coincidence momentum measurements of the doubly charged ion and of the two electrons arising from double ionization of Argon using elliptically (close to circularly) polarized laser pulses. Based on a semi-classical model, the ionization times are calculated from the measured electron momenta across a large intensity range. Exploiting the attoclock technique we have direct access to timings on a coarse and on a fine scale, similar to the hour and the minute hand of a clock. In our attoclock, the magnitude of the electron momenta follows the envelope of the laser pulse and gives a coarse timing for the electron releases (the hour hand), while the fine timing (the minute hand) is provided by the emission angle of the electrons. The first of our findings is that due to depletion the averaged ionization time moves towards the beginning of the pulse with increasing intensity, confirming the results of Maharjan et al., and that the ion momentum distribution projected onto the minor polarization axis shows a bifurcation from a 3-peak to a 4-peak structure. This effect can be fully understood by modeling the process semi-classically in the independent electron approximation following the simple man's model. The ionization time measurement performed with the attoclock shows that the release time of the first electron is in good agreement with the semi-classical simulation performed on the basis of Sequential Double lonization (SDI), whereas the ionization of the second electron occurs significantly earlier than predicted. This observation suggests that electron correlation and other Non-Sequential Double lonization (NSDI) mechanisms may play an important role also in the case of strong field double ionization by close-to-circularly polarized laser pulses. The timing of electron release in strong field double ionization poses great challenges both for conceptual definition and for conducting experimental measurement. Here we present coincidence momentum measurements of the doubly charged ion and of the two electrons arising from double ionization of Argon using elliptically (close to circularly) polarized laser pulses. Based on a semi-classical model, the ionization times are calculated from the measured electron momenta across a large intensity range. Exploiting the attoclock technique we have direct access to timings on a coarse and on a fine scale, similar to the hour and the minute hand of a clock. In our attoclock, the magnitude of the electron momenta follows the envelope of the laser pulse and gives a coarse timing for the electron releases (the hour hand), while the fine timing (the minute hand) is provided by the emission angle of the electrons. The first of our findings is that due to depletion the averaged ionization time moves towards the beginning of the pulse with increasing intensity, confirming the results of Maharjan et al., and that the ion momentum distribution projected onto the minor polarization axis shows a bifurcation from a 3-peak to a 4-peak structure. This effect can be fully understood by modeling the process semi-classically in the independent electron approximation following the simple man's model. The ionization time measurement performed with the attoclock shows that the release time of the first electron is in good agreement with the semi-classical simulation performed on the basis of Sequential Double lonization (SDI), whereas the ionization of the second electron occurs significantly earlier than predicted. This observation suggests that electron correlation and other Non-Sequential Double lonization (NSDI) mechanisms may play an important role also in the case of strong field double ionization by close-to-circularly polarized laser pulses. In collaboration with C. Cirelli and M. Smolarski, Physics Department, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland; R. Doerner, Institut fiir Kernphysik, Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universitat, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany; and U. Keller, ETH Zurich.

The application of intraoperative transit time flow measurement to accurately assess anastomotic quality in sequential vein grafting

PubMed Central

Yu, Yang; Zhang, Fan; Gao, Ming-Xin; Li, Hai-Tao; Li, Jing-Xing; Song, Wei; Huang, Xin-Sheng; Gu, Cheng-Xiong

2013-01-01

OBJECTIVES Intraoperative transit time flow measurement (TTFM) is widely used to assess anastomotic quality in coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). However, in sequential vein grafting, the flow characteristics collected by the conventional TTFM method are usually associated with total graft flow and might not accurately indicate the quality of every distal anastomosis in a sequential graft. The purpose of our study was to examine a new TTFM method that could assess the quality of each distal anastomosis in a sequential graft more reliably than the conventional TTFM approach. METHODS Two TTFM methods were tested in 84 patients who underwent sequential saphenous off-pump CABG in Beijing An Zhen Hospital between April and August 2012. In the conventional TTFM method, normal blood flow in the sequential graft was maintained during the measurement, and the flow probe was placed a few centimetres above the anastomosis to be evaluated. In the new method, blood flow in the sequential graft was temporarily reduced during the measurement by placing an atraumatic bulldog clamp at the graft a few centimetres distal to the anastomosis to be evaluated, while the position of the flow probe remained the same as in the conventional method. This new TTFM method was named the flow reduction TTFM. Graft flow parameters measured by both methods were compared. RESULTS Compared with the conventional TTFM, the flow reduction TTFM resulted in significantly lower mean graft blood flow (P < 0.05); in contrast, yielded significantly higher pulsatility index (P < 0.05). Diastolic filling was not significantly different between the two methods and was >50% in both cases. Interestingly, the flow reduction TTFM identified two defective middle distal anastomoses that the conventional TTFM failed to detect. Graft flows near the defective distal anastomoses were improved substantially after revision. CONCLUSIONS In this study, we found that temporary reduction of graft flow during TTFM seemed to enhance the sensitivity of TTFM to less-than-critical anastomotic defects in a sequential graft and to improve the overall accuracy of the intraoperative assessment of anastomotic quality in sequential vein grafting. PMID:24000314

Evaluation of Non-Saccharomyces Yeasts for the Reduction of Alcohol Content in Wine

PubMed Central

Contreras, A.; Hidalgo, C.; Henschke, P. A.; Chambers, P. J.; Curtin, C.

2014-01-01

Over recent decades, the average ethanol concentration of wine has increased, largely due to consumer preference for wine styles associated with increased grape maturity; sugar content increases with grape maturity, and this translates into increased alcohol content in wine. However, high ethanol content impacts wine sensory properties, reducing the perceived complexity of flavors and aromas. In addition, for health and economic reasons, the wine sector is actively seeking technologies to facilitate the production of wines with lower ethanol content. Nonconventional yeast species, in particular, non-Saccharomyces yeasts, have shown potential for producing wines with lower alcohol content. These yeast species, which are largely associated with grapes preharvest, are present in the early stages of fermentation but, in general, are not capable of completing alcoholic fermentation. We have evaluated 50 different non-Saccharomyces isolates belonging to 24 different genera for their capacity to produce wine with a lower ethanol concentration when used in sequential inoculation regimes with a Saccharomyces cerevisiae wine strain. A sequential inoculation of Metschnikowia pulcherrima AWRI1149 followed by an S. cerevisiae wine strain was best able to produce wine with an ethanol concentration lower than that achieved with the single-inoculum, wine yeast control. Sequential fermentations utilizing AWRI1149 produced wines with 0.9% (vol/vol) and 1.6% (vol/vol) (corresponding to 7.1 g/liter and 12.6 g/liter, respectively) lower ethanol concentrations in Chardonnay and Shiraz wines, respectively. In Chardonnay wine, the total concentration of esters and higher alcohols was higher for wines generated from sequential inoculations, whereas the total concentration of volatile acids was significantly lower. In sequentially inoculated Shiraz wines, the total concentration of higher alcohols was higher and the total concentration of volatile acids was reduced compared with those in control S. cerevisiae wines, whereas the total concentrations of esters were not significantly different. PMID:24375129

11-kW direct diode laser system with homogenized 55 × 20 mm2 Top-Hat intensity distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Köhler, Bernd; Noeske, Axel; Kindervater, Tobias; Wessollek, Armin; Brand, Thomas; Biesenbach, Jens

2007-02-01

In comparison with other laser systems diode lasers are characterized by a unique overall efficiency, a small footprint and high reliability. However, one major drawback of direct diode laser systems is the inhomogeneous intensity distribution in the far field. Furthermore the output power of current commercially available systems is limited to about 6 kW. We report on a diode laser system with 11 kW output power at a single wavelength of 940 nm aiming for customer specific large area treatment. To the best of our knowledge this is the highest output power reported so far for a direct diode laser system. In addition to the high output power the intensity distribution of the laser beam is homogenized in both axes leading to a 55 x 20 mm2 Top-Hat intensity profile at a working distance of 400 mm. Homogeneity of the intensity distribution is better than 90%. The intensity in the focal plane is 1 kW/cm2. We will present a detailed characterization of the laser system, including measurements of power, power stability and intensity distribution of the homogenized laser beam. In addition we will compare the experimental data with the results of non-sequential raytracing simulations.

State-dependent changes in cortical gain control as measured by auditory evoked responses to varying intensity stimuli.

PubMed

Phillips, Derrick J; Schei, Jennifer L; Meighan, Peter C; Rector, David M

2011-11-01

Auditory evoked potential (AEP) components correspond to sequential activation of brain structures within the auditory pathway and reveal neural activity during sensory processing. To investigate state-dependent modulation of stimulus intensity response profiles within different brain structures, we assessed AEP components across both stimulus intensity and state. We implanted adult female Sprague-Dawley rats (N = 6) with electrodes to measure EEG, EKG, and EMG. Intermittent auditory stimuli (6-12 s) varying from 50 to 75 dBa were delivered over a 24-h period. Data were parsed into 2-s epochs and scored for wake/sleep state. All AEP components increased in amplitude with increased stimulus intensity during wake. During quiet sleep, however, only the early latency response (ELR) showed this relationship, while the middle latency response (MLR) increased at the highest 75 dBa intensity, and the late latency response (LLR) showed no significant change across the stimulus intensities tested. During rapid eye movement sleep (REM), both ELR and LLR increased, similar to wake, but MLR was severely attenuated. Stimulation intensity and the corresponding AEP response profile were dependent on both brain structure and sleep state. Lower brain structures maintained stimulus intensity and neural response relationships during sleep. This relationship was not observed in the cortex, implying state-dependent modification of stimulus intensity coding. Since AEP amplitude is not modulated by stimulus intensity during sleep, differences between paired 75/50 dBa stimuli could be used to determine state better than individual intensities.

Computational time reduction for sequential batch solutions in GNSS precise point positioning technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martín Furones, Angel; Anquela Julián, Ana Belén; Dimas-Pages, Alejandro; Cos-Gayón, Fernando

2017-08-01

Precise point positioning (PPP) is a well established Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) technique that only requires information from the receiver (or rover) to obtain high-precision position coordinates. This is a very interesting and promising technique because eliminates the need for a reference station near the rover receiver or a network of reference stations, thus reducing the cost of a GNSS survey. From a computational perspective, there are two ways to solve the system of observation equations produced by static PPP either in a single step (so-called batch adjustment) or with a sequential adjustment/filter. The results of each should be the same if they are both well implemented. However, if a sequential solution (that is, not only the final coordinates, but also those observed in previous GNSS epochs), is needed, as for convergence studies, finding a batch solution becomes a very time consuming task owing to the need for matrix inversion that accumulates with each consecutive epoch. This is not a problem for the filter solution, which uses information computed in the previous epoch for the solution of the current epoch. Thus filter implementations need extra considerations of user dynamics and parameter state variations between observation epochs with appropriate stochastic update parameter variances from epoch to epoch. These filtering considerations are not needed in batch adjustment, which makes it attractive. The main objective of this research is to significantly reduce the computation time required to obtain sequential results using batch adjustment. The new method we implemented in the adjustment process led to a mean reduction in computational time by 45%.

Repeated surveys by acoustic Doppler current profiler for flow and sediment dynamics in a tidal river

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dinehart, R.L.; Burau, J.R.

2005-01-01

A strategy of repeated surveys by acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) was applied in a tidal river to map velocity vectors and suspended-sediment indicators. The Sacramento River at the junction with the Delta Cross Channel at Walnut Grove, California, was surveyed over several tidal cycles in the Fall of 2000 and 2001 with a vessel-mounted ADCP. Velocity profiles were recorded along flow-defining survey paths, with surveys repeated every 27 min through a diurnal tidal cycle. Velocity vectors along each survey path were interpolated to a three-dimensional Cartesian grid that conformed to local bathymetry. A separate array of vectors was interpolated onto a grid from each survey. By displaying interpolated vector grids sequentially with computer animation, flow dynamics of the reach could be studied in three-dimensions as flow responded to the tidal cycle. Velocity streamtraces in the grid showed the upwelling of flow from the bottom of the Sacramento River channel into the Delta Cross Channel. The sequential display of vector grids showed that water in the canal briefly returned into the Sacramento River after peak flood tides, which had not been known previously. In addition to velocity vectors, ADCP data were processed to derive channel bathymetry and a spatial indicator for suspended-sediment concentration. Individual beam distances to bed, recorded by the ADCP, were transformed to yield bathymetry accurate enough to resolve small bedforms within the study reach. While recording velocity, ADCPs also record the intensity of acoustic backscatter from particles suspended in the flow. Sequential surveys of backscatter intensity were interpolated to grids and animated to indicate the spatial movement of suspended sediment through the study reach. Calculation of backscatter flux through cross-sectional grids provided a first step for computation of suspended-sediment discharge, the second step being a calibrated relation between backscatter intensity and sediment concentration. Spatial analyses of ADCP data showed that a strategy of repeated surveys and flow-field interpolation has the potential to simplify computation of flow and sediment discharge through complex waterways. The use of trade, product, industry, or firm names in this report is for descriptive purposes only and does not constitute endorsement of products by the US Government. ?? 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sequential CFAR detectors using a dead-zone limiter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tantaratana, Sawasd

1990-09-01

The performances of some proposed sequential constant-false-alarm-rate (CFAR) detectors are evaluated. The observations are passed through a dead-zone limiter, the output of which is -1, 0, or +1, depending on whether the input is less than -c, between -c and c, or greater than c, where c is a constant. The test statistic is the sum of the outputs. The test is performed on a reduced set of data (those with absolute value larger than c), with the test statistic being the sum of the signs of the reduced set of data. Both constant and linear boundaries are considered. Numerical results show a significant reduction of the average number of observations needed to achieve the same false alarm and detection probabilities as a fixed-sample-size CFAR detector using the same kind of test statistic.

Bioactive Lipidic Extracts from Octopus (Paraoctopus limaculatus): Antimutagenicity and Antiproliferative Studies

PubMed Central

Moreno-Félix, Carolina; Wilson-Sánchez, Griselda; Cruz-Ramírez, Susana-Gabriela; Velázquez-Contreras, Carlos; Plascencia-Jatomea, Maribel; Acosta, Ana; Machi-Lara, Lorena; Aldana-Madrid, María-Lourdes; Ezquerra-Brauer, Josafat-Marina; Rocha-Alonzo, Fernando; Burgos-Hernández, Armando

2013-01-01

Fractions from an organic extract from fresh octopus (Paraoctopus limaculatus) were studied for biological activities such as antimutagenic and antiproliferative properties using Salmonella tester strains TA98 and TA100 with metabolic activation (S9) and a cancer cell line (B-cell lymphoma), respectively. A chloroform extract obtained from octopus tentacles was sequentially fractionated using thin layer chromatography (TLC), and each fraction was tested for antimutagenic and antiproliferative activities. Organic extract reduced the number of revertants caused by aflatoxin B1 showing a dose-response type of relationship. Sequential TLC fractionation of the active extracts produced several antimutagenic and/or antiproliferative fractions. Based on the results obtained, the isolated fractions obtained from octopus contain compounds with chemoprotective properties that reduce the mutagenicity of AFB1 and proliferation of cancer cell lines. PMID:23401709

Superior lithium storage performance using sequentially stacked MnO2/reduced graphene oxide composite electrodes.

PubMed

Kim, Sue Jin; Yun, Young Jun; Kim, Ki Woong; Chae, Changju; Jeong, Sunho; Kang, Yongku; Choi, Si-Young; Lee, Sun Sook; Choi, Sungho

2015-04-24

Hybrid nanostructures based on graphene and metal oxides hold great potential for use in high-performance electrode materials for next-generation lithium-ion batteries. Herein, a new strategy to fabricate sequentially stacked α-MnO2 /reduced graphene oxide composites driven by surface-charge-induced mutual electrostatic interactions is proposed. The resultant composite anode exhibits an excellent reversible charge/discharge capacity as high as 1100 mA h g(-1) without any traceable capacity fading, even after 100 cycles, which leads to a high rate capability electrode performance for lithium ion batteries. Thus, the proposed synthetic procedures guarantee a synergistic effect of multidimensional nanoscale media between one (metal oxide nanowire) and two dimensions (graphene sheet) for superior energy-storage electrodes. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Acidification of In-Storage-Psychrophilic-Anaerobic-Digestion (ISPAD) process to reduce ammonia volatilization: Model development and validation.

PubMed

Madani-Hosseini, Mahsa; Mulligan, Catherine N; Barrington, Suzelle

2016-06-01

In-Storage-Psychrophilic-Anaerobic-Digestion (ISPAD) is an ambient temperature treatment system for wastewaters stored for over 100days under temperate climates, which produces a nitrogen rich digestate susceptible to ammonia (NH3) volatilization. Present acidification techniques reducing NH3 volatilization are not only expensive and with secondary environmental effects, but do not apply to ISPAD relying on batch-to-batch inoculation. The objectives of this study were to identify and validate sequential organic loading (OL) strategies producing imbalances in acidogen and methanogen growth, acidifying ISPAD content one week before emptying to a pH of 6, while also preserving the inoculation potential. This acidification process is challenging as wastewaters often offer a high buffering capacity and ISPAD operational practices foster low microbial populations. A model simulating the ISPAD pH regime was used to optimize 3 different sequential OLs to decrease the ISPAD pH to 6.0. All 3 strategies were compared in terms of biogas production, volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentration, microbial activity, glucose consumption, and pH decrease. Laboratory validation of the model outputs confirmed that a sequential OL of 13kg glucose/m(3) of ISPAD content over 4days could indeed reduce the pH to 6.0. Such OL competes feasibly with present acidification techniques. Nevertheless, more research is required to explain the 3-day lag between the model results and the experimental data. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sampling strategies for subsampled segmented EPI PRF thermometry in MR guided high intensity focused ultrasound

PubMed Central

Odéen, Henrik; Todd, Nick; Diakite, Mahamadou; Minalga, Emilee; Payne, Allison; Parker, Dennis L.

2014-01-01

Purpose: To investigate k-space subsampling strategies to achieve fast, large field-of-view (FOV) temperature monitoring using segmented echo planar imaging (EPI) proton resonance frequency shift thermometry for MR guided high intensity focused ultrasound (MRgHIFU) applications. Methods: Five different k-space sampling approaches were investigated, varying sample spacing (equally vs nonequally spaced within the echo train), sampling density (variable sampling density in zero, one, and two dimensions), and utilizing sequential or centric sampling. Three of the schemes utilized sequential sampling with the sampling density varied in zero, one, and two dimensions, to investigate sampling the k-space center more frequently. Two of the schemes utilized centric sampling to acquire the k-space center with a longer echo time for improved phase measurements, and vary the sampling density in zero and two dimensions, respectively. Phantom experiments and a theoretical point spread function analysis were performed to investigate their performance. Variable density sampling in zero and two dimensions was also implemented in a non-EPI GRE pulse sequence for comparison. All subsampled data were reconstructed with a previously described temporally constrained reconstruction (TCR) algorithm. Results: The accuracy of each sampling strategy in measuring the temperature rise in the HIFU focal spot was measured in terms of the root-mean-square-error (RMSE) compared to fully sampled “truth.” For the schemes utilizing sequential sampling, the accuracy was found to improve with the dimensionality of the variable density sampling, giving values of 0.65 °C, 0.49 °C, and 0.35 °C for density variation in zero, one, and two dimensions, respectively. The schemes utilizing centric sampling were found to underestimate the temperature rise, with RMSE values of 1.05 °C and 1.31 °C, for variable density sampling in zero and two dimensions, respectively. Similar subsampling schemes with variable density sampling implemented in zero and two dimensions in a non-EPI GRE pulse sequence both resulted in accurate temperature measurements (RMSE of 0.70 °C and 0.63 °C, respectively). With sequential sampling in the described EPI implementation, temperature monitoring over a 192 × 144 × 135 mm3 FOV with a temporal resolution of 3.6 s was achieved, while keeping the RMSE compared to fully sampled “truth” below 0.35 °C. Conclusions: When segmented EPI readouts are used in conjunction with k-space subsampling for MR thermometry applications, sampling schemes with sequential sampling, with or without variable density sampling, obtain accurate phase and temperature measurements when using a TCR reconstruction algorithm. Improved temperature measurement accuracy can be achieved with variable density sampling. Centric sampling leads to phase bias, resulting in temperature underestimations. PMID:25186406

Sequential Monte Carlo tracking of the marginal artery by multiple cue fusion and random forest regression.

PubMed

Cherry, Kevin M; Peplinski, Brandon; Kim, Lauren; Wang, Shijun; Lu, Le; Zhang, Weidong; Liu, Jianfei; Wei, Zhuoshi; Summers, Ronald M

2015-01-01

Given the potential importance of marginal artery localization in automated registration in computed tomography colonography (CTC), we have devised a semi-automated method of marginal vessel detection employing sequential Monte Carlo tracking (also known as particle filtering tracking) by multiple cue fusion based on intensity, vesselness, organ detection, and minimum spanning tree information for poorly enhanced vessel segments. We then employed a random forest algorithm for intelligent cue fusion and decision making which achieved high sensitivity and robustness. After applying a vessel pruning procedure to the tracking results, we achieved statistically significantly improved precision compared to a baseline Hessian detection method (2.7% versus 75.2%, p<0.001). This method also showed statistically significantly improved recall rate compared to a 2-cue baseline method using fewer vessel cues (30.7% versus 67.7%, p<0.001). These results demonstrate that marginal artery localization on CTC is feasible by combining a discriminative classifier (i.e., random forest) with a sequential Monte Carlo tracking mechanism. In so doing, we present the effective application of an anatomical probability map to vessel pruning as well as a supplementary spatial coordinate system for colonic segmentation and registration when this task has been confounded by colon lumen collapse. Published by Elsevier B.V.

In situ laser-induced photochemical silver substrate synthesis and sequential SERS detection in a flow cell.

PubMed

Herman, Krisztian; Szabó, László; Leopold, Loredana F; Chiş, Vasile; Leopold, Nicolae

2011-05-01

A new, simple, and effective approach for multianalyte sequential surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection in a flow cell is reported. The silver substrate was prepared in situ by laser-induced photochemical synthesis. By focusing the laser on the 320 μm inner diameter glass capillary at 0.5 ml/min continuous flow of 1 mM silver nitrate and 10 mM sodium citrate mixture, a SERS active silver spot on the inner wall of the glass capillary was prepared in a few seconds. The test analytes, dacarbazine, 4-(2-pyridylazo)resorcinol (PAR) complex with Cu(II), and amoxicillin, were sequentially injected into the flow cell. Each analyte was adsorbed to the silver surface, enabling the recording of high intensity SERS spectra even at 2 s integration times, followed by desorption from the silver surface and being washed away from the capillary. Before and after each analyte passed the detection window, citrate background spectra were recorded, and thus, no "memory effects" perturbed the SERS detection. A good reproducibility of the SERS spectra obtained under flow conditions was observed. The laser-induced photochemically synthesized silver substrate enables high Raman enhancement, is characterized by fast preparation with a high success rate, and represents a valuable alternative for silver colloids as SERS substrate in flow approaches.

Use of Torulaspora delbrueckii and Saccharomyces cerevisiae in semi-industrial sequential inoculation to improve quality of Palomino and Chardonnay wines in warm climates.

PubMed

Puertas, B; Jiménez, M J; Cantos-Villar, E; Cantoral, J M; Rodríguez, M E

2017-03-01

We have evaluated for the first time the impact of two commercial yeast strains (Torulaspora delbrueckii TD291 and Saccharomyces cerevisiae QA23) inoculated sequentially in musts of Chardonnay and Palomino Fino grape varieties grown under warm climate (South-west of Spain). Semi-industrial scale alcoholic fermentations (AF) were performed during the 2011 and 2012 harvests. Implantation analyses demonstrated that T. delbrueckii is the predominant strain until the end of the AF phase. Wines with sequential inoculation (SI) resulted in the production of low levels of acetic acid (which gives wine an undesirable 'vinegary' character), low acetaldehyde in Chardonnay and high in Palomino wines. The most salient attributes that contribute to the quality of the Chardonnay and Palomino wines produced were aroma intensity, fresh and tropical fruit character. This study demonstrated that SI of T. delbrueckii and S. cerevisiae contribute significantly to the improvement of Chardonnay wine aromas and the creation of new styles of wine for Palomino. This study has generated new knowledge about the biotechnological potential of T. delbrueckii (TD219) and S. cerevisiae (QA23) for improving the organoleptic properties of Chardonnay and Palomino wines. © 2016 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

Inflammation, vitamin deficiencies and organ failure in critically ill patients.

PubMed

Corcoran, T B; O'Neill, M P; Webb, S A R; Ho, K M

2009-09-01

It is unknown whether biochemical vitamin deficiencies in critical illness are associated with severity of illness, organ dysfunction, inflammation or mortality. This nested cohort study recruited 98 patients admitted as emergencies to the intensive care unit, who had a stay of greater than 48 hours. Patient data were prospectively collected. Within the first 48 hours of admission, concentrations of C-reactive protein, vitamins A, E, B1, B12 and folate were measured on arterial blood. These measures were then repeated at least once during the later (> 48 hours) period of their stay. Seventy patients (71%) had completed vitamin studies eligible for inclusion in the analysis. Ten patients died (14.3%) during their hospital stay and mortality was associated with age, admission source and severity of illness scores. Vitamin B12 concentration was weakly associated with C-reactive protein concentrations on admission to the intensive care unit (r on days one and two = 0.4 [P = 0.002], 0.36 [P = 0.04], respectively) and with the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score between days two and four (Spearman's r = 0.361 [P = 0.04], 0.42 [P = 0.02] and 0.48 [P = 0.02], respectively). Vitamin A concentration was weakly associated with the C-reactive protein concentrations on days one and five (Spearman's r = -0.5 [P = 0.001], -0.4 [P = 0.03], respectively). Change in deficiency status of any of the vitamins over time in the first week of intensive care admission did not appear to influence mortality. We conclude that while weak correlations were identified between vitamins A and B12 and C-reactive protein and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment scores, the importance of these associations and their relationship to hospital mortality remain to be determined.

Time-dependent upregulation of electron transport with concomitant induction of regulated excitation dissipation in Haslea diatoms.

PubMed

Perkins, R; Williamson, C; Lavaud, J; Mouget, J-L; Campbell, D A

2018-04-16

Photoacclimation by strains of Haslea "blue" diatom species H. ostrearia and H. silbo sp. nov. ined. was investigated with rapid light curves and induction-recovery curves using fast repetition rate fluorescence. Cultures were grown to exponential phase under 50 µmol m -2  s -1 photosynthetic available radiation (PAR) and then exposed to non-sequential rapid light curves where, once electron transport rate (ETR) had reached saturation, light intensity was decreased and then further increased prior to returning to near growth light intensity. The non-sequential rapid light curve revealed that ETR was not proportional to the instantaneously applied light intensity, due to rapid photoacclimation. Changes in the effective absorption cross sections for open PSII reaction centres (σ PSII ') or reaction centre connectivity (ρ) did not account for the observed increases in ETR under extended high light. σ PSII ' in fact decreased as a function of a time-dependent induction of regulated excitation dissipation Y(NPQ), once cells were at or above a PAR coinciding with saturation of ETR. Instead, the observed increases in ETR under extended high light were explained by an increase in the rate of PSII reopening, i.e. Q A - oxidation. This acceleration of electron transport was strictly light dependent and relaxed within seconds after a return to low light or darkness. The time-dependent nature of ETR upregulation and regulated NPQ induction was verified using induction-recovery curves. Our findings show a time-dependent induction of excitation dissipation, in parallel with very rapid photoacclimation of electron transport, which combine to make ETR independent of short-term changes in PAR. This supports a selective advantage for these diatoms when exposed to fluctuating light in their environment.

Method for making oxygen-reducing catalyst layers

DOEpatents

O'Brien, Dennis P.; Schmoeckel, Alison K.; Vernstrom, George D.; Atanasoski, Radoslav; Wood, Thomas E.; O'Neill, David G.

2010-06-22

Methods are provided for making oxygen-reducing catalyst layers, which include simultaneous or sequential stops of physical vapor depositing an oxygen-reducing catalytic material onto a substrate, the catalytic material comprising a transition metal that is substantially free of platinum; and thermally treating the catalytic material. At least one of the physical vapor deposition and the thermal treatment is performed in a processing environment comprising a nitrogen-containing gas.

Efficacy of chlorhexidine, dexpanthenol, allantoin and chitosan gel in comparison with bicarbonate oral rinse in controlling post-interventional inflammation, pain and cicatrization in subjects undergoing dental surgery.

PubMed

Lopez-Lopez, Jose; Lope-Lopez, Jose; Jan-Pallí, Enric; lez-Navarro, Beatriz Gonzá; González-Navarro, Beatriz; Jané-Salas, Enric; Estrugo-Devesa, Albert; Milani, Massimo

2015-12-01

Reducing post-interventional inflammation and pain in odontostomatological surgery procedures, such as tooth extractions, implants or oral biopsies is a relevant clinical goal. Chlorhexidine oral rinse is commonly used with this aim. Recently a new product containing chlorhexidine, dexpanthenol, allantoin and chitosan (Bexident Post [BP]) in a gel formulation has been developed. We evaluated the efficacy of BP in controlling postsurgical inflammation and pain and in promoting cicatrization in subjects undergoing molar extractions. We conducted a prospective sequential cross-over, randomized controlled study in patients undergoing surgical removal of at least two impacted mandibular third molars (teeth numbers 38 and 48) (numbers 17 and 32 in the Universal Tooth Numbering System), in two separate sessions, to determine the effect of BP in comparison with bicarbonate (BC) oral rinse (one spoonful in 200 ml of water), both used three times daily. Each subject utilized both products in a randomized sequential manner after each tooth extraction. Primary outcomes of the study were post-procedure pain and inflammation. Secondary outcomes were analgesic pill rescue use (metamizole 1 cap every 8 hours if needed) and an assessor-blinded evaluation of cicatrization with a semi-quantitative scale (good, satisfactory and insufficient). Post-procedure pain was assessed 6 hours after tooth extraction and for seven consecutive days by means of a 10 cm visual analogue scale (VAS) (from 0: no pain to 10: extreme pain). The extent of inflammation was evaluated through metric measurements of facial perimeter using standardized anatomical reference points. A total of 47 patients (22 men and 25 women; mean age 34 years) were enrolled with a total of 94 molars extracted. Nineteen subjects applied BC as the first sequential treatment and 28 BP as the first. Before surgery no mean differences in the two treatments in inflammation measurements were observed. After surgery mean VAS pain score was similar between the two treatments in the first 6 hours (VAS score = 6.5). A marked progressive reduction in pain intensity with the use of BP was observed throughout the treatment period in comparison with BC (7 day mean scores 3.7 vs. 5.3; p = 0.0001). BP was superior to BC in reducing inflammation with -50% of the inflammation-related measurement (6 mm vs. 12 mm; p = 0.0001). Analgesic pill consumption was lower with BP in comparison with BC (13 pills vs. 24; p < 0.05). Cicatrization was scored 'good' in a higher percentage of subjects during BP use (64%) in comparison with the BC group (13%) (p = 0.0001). No serious side effects were reported with either treatment regimen. In this trial BP performed better than BC in controlling pain and inflammation in subjects undergoing dental surgery, reducing the consumption of analgesics and favoring better cicatrization.

A randomized phase II/III study of adverse events between sequential (SEQ) versus simultaneous integrated boost (SIB) intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma; preliminary result on acute adverse events.

PubMed

Songthong, Anussara P; Kannarunimit, Danita; Chakkabat, Chakkapong; Lertbutsayanukul, Chawalit

2015-08-08

To investigate acute and late toxicities comparing sequential (SEQ-IMRT) versus simultaneous integrated boost intensity modulated radiotherapy (SIB-IMRT) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients. Newly diagnosed stage I-IVB NPC patients were randomized to receive SEQ-IMRT or SIB-IMRT, with or without chemotherapy. SEQ-IMRT consisted of two sequential radiation treatment plans: 2 Gy x 25 fractions to low-risk planning target volume (PTV-LR) followed by 2 Gy x 10 fractions to high-risk planning target volume (PTV-HR). In contrast, SIB-IMRT consisted of only one treatment plan: 2.12 Gy and 1.7 Gy x 33 fractions to PTV-HR and PTV-LR, respectively. Toxicities were evaluated according to CTCAE version 4.0. Between October 2010 and November 2013, 122 eligible patients were randomized between SEQ-IMRT (54 patients) and SIB-IMRT (68 patients). With median follow-up time of 16.8 months, there was no significant difference in toxicities between the two IMRT techniques. During chemoradiation, the most common grade 3-5 acute toxicities were mucositis (15.4% vs 13.6%, SEQ vs SIB, p = 0.788) followed by dysphagia (9.6% vs 9.1%, p = 1.000) and xerostomia (9.6% vs 7.6%, p = 0.748). During the adjuvant chemotherapy period, 25.6% and 32.7% experienced grade 3 weight loss in SEQ-IMRT and SIB-IMRT (p = 0.459). One-year overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were 95.8% and 95.5% in SEQ-IMRT and 98% and 90.2% in SIB-IMRT, respectively (p = 0.472 for OS and 0.069 for PFS). This randomized, phase II/III trial comparing SIB-IMRT versus SEQ-IMRT in NPC showed no statistically significant difference between both IMRT techniques in terms of acute adverse events. Short-term tumor control and survival outcome were promising.

A randomized phase III study between sequential versus simultaneous integrated boost intensity-modulated radiation therapy in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

PubMed

Lertbutsayanukul, Chawalit; Prayongrat, Anussara; Kannarunimit, Danita; Chakkabat, Chakkapong; Netsawang, Buntipa; Kitpanit, Sarin

2018-05-01

This study was performed to compare the acute and late toxicities between sequential (SEQ) and simultaneous integrated boost (SIB) intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Stage I-IVB NPC patients were randomized to receive SEQ-IMRT or SIB-IMRT. SEQ-IMRT consisted of two plans: 2 Gy × 25 fractions to low-risk planning target volume (PTV) followed by a sequential boost (2 Gy × 10 fractions) to high-risk PTV, while SIB-IMRT treated low- and high-risk PTVs with doses of 56 and 70 Gy in 33 fractions. Toxicities and survival outcomes were analyzed. Between October 2010 and September 2015, of the 209 patients who completed treatment, 102 in the SEQ and 107 in the SIB arm were analyzed. The majority had undifferentiated squamous cell carcinoma (82%). Mucositis and dysphagia were the most common grade 3-5 acute toxicities. There were no statistically significant differences in the cumulative incidence of grade 3-4 acute toxicities between the two arms (59.8% in SEQ vs. 58.9% in SIB; P = 0.892). Common grade 3-4 late toxicities for SEQ and SIB included hearing loss (2.9 vs. 8.4%), temporal lobe injury (2.9 vs. 0.9%), cranial nerve injury (0 vs. 2.8%), and xerostomia (2 vs. 0.9%). With the median follow-up of 41 months, 3‑year progression-free and overall survival rates were 72.7 vs. 73.4% (P = 0.488) and 86.3 vs. 83.6% (P = 0.938), respectively. SEQ and SIB provide excellent survival outcomes with few late toxicities. According to our study, SIB with a satisfactory dose-volume constraint to nearby critical organs is the technique of choice for NPC treatment due to its convenience.

Disentangling beat perception from sequential learning and examining the influence of attention and musical abilities on ERP responses to rhythm.

PubMed

Bouwer, Fleur L; Werner, Carola M; Knetemann, Myrthe; Honing, Henkjan

2016-05-01

Beat perception is the ability to perceive temporal regularity in musical rhythm. When a beat is perceived, predictions about upcoming events can be generated. These predictions can influence processing of subsequent rhythmic events. However, statistical learning of the order of sounds in a sequence can also affect processing of rhythmic events and must be differentiated from beat perception. In the current study, using EEG, we examined the effects of attention and musical abilities on beat perception. To ensure we measured beat perception and not absolute perception of temporal intervals, we used alternating loud and soft tones to create a rhythm with two hierarchical metrical levels. To control for sequential learning of the order of the different sounds, we used temporally regular (isochronous) and jittered rhythmic sequences. The order of sounds was identical in both conditions, but only the regular condition allowed for the perception of a beat. Unexpected intensity decrements were introduced on the beat and offbeat. In the regular condition, both beat perception and sequential learning were expected to enhance detection of these deviants on the beat. In the jittered condition, only sequential learning was expected to affect processing of the deviants. ERP responses to deviants were larger on the beat than offbeat in both conditions. Importantly, this difference was larger in the regular condition than in the jittered condition, suggesting that beat perception influenced responses to rhythmic events in addition to sequential learning. The influence of beat perception was present both with and without attention directed at the rhythm. Moreover, beat perception as measured with ERPs correlated with musical abilities, but only when attention was directed at the stimuli. Our study shows that beat perception is possible when attention is not directed at a rhythm. In addition, our results suggest that attention may mediate the influence of musical abilities on beat perception. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Use of the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score for evaluating outcome among obstetric patients admitted to the intensive care unit.

PubMed

Jain, Shruti; Guleria, Kiran; Suneja, Amita; Vaid, Neelam B; Ahuja, Sharmila

2016-03-01

To evaluate the prognostic value of the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score among obstetric patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). A prospective study was conducted among 90 consecutive obstetric patients who were admitted to the ICU of Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Delhi, India, between October 6, 2010, and December 25, 2011. Maximum SOFA score was calculated for each of the six organ systems. Receiver operating characteristic curves were used to determine critical cutoff values for total, maximum total, and mean total SOFA scores at various time points. Total SOFA score at admission displayed an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.949, a cutoff value of at least 8.5, sensitivity of 86.7%, and specificity of 90.0%. Maximum total SOFA score had an AUC of 0.980, a cutoff value of at least 10.0, sensitivity of 96.7%, and specificity of 90.0%. Mean total SOFA score had an AUC of 0.997, a cutoff value of at least 9.0, sensitivity of 96.7%, and specificity of 96.7%. In terms of discriminatory power for predicting mortality among obstetric patients admitted to the ICU, total SOFA score at admission was the most relevant, simple, and accurate measure. Copyright © 2015 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Combination Therapies of Diacerein and Febuxostat Inhibit IL-1β Responses and Improve Clinical Symptoms in Patients With Refractory Gout.

PubMed

Yu, Yi-Kai; Yu, Fei; Ye, Cong; Shen, Gui-Fen; Lei, Xiao-Mei; Zhang, Sheng-Tao; Hu, Shao-Xian

2017-05-01

There are several therapeutic strategies available for the treatment of an acute gout attack and the prevention of recurrent gout flares, and they include nonsteroid anti-inflammatory drugs. This prospective study was aimed at evaluating the efficiency and safety of diacerein in combination with febuxostat on urate control, global assessments of disease activity, self-monitored gouty acute flare times, inflammatory markers, and clinical symptoms associated with their life quantity in patients with refractory gout. A total of 64 patients with refractory gout were sequentially recruited and prescribed with oral febuxostat alone or febuxostat plus diacerein daily for 12 weeks. The intensity of joint pain, numbers of acute flare, disease activity and the levels of serum amyloid A, mature IL-1β, IL-18, C-reactive protein, and urate in individual subjects were routine analyzed. In comparison with that treatment with febuxostat alone, treatment with both drugs for 12 weeks had a better therapeutic effect on reducing the values of visual analog scales, acute flares, and healthy assessment questionnaire scores in these gout patients. Furthermore, treatment with both drugs also significantly reduced the mean daily dose of etoricoxib and the levels of serum IL-1β and serum amyloid A. There was no significant difference in the frequency of patients with adverse effect between these 2 groups of patients. In conclusion, combination of diacerein and febuxostat had better therapeutic effect on reducing acute gout flares, inflammation, and clinical symptoms in patients with refractory gout.

Encoding Sequential Information in Semantic Space Models: Comparing Holographic Reduced Representation and Random Permutation

PubMed Central

Recchia, Gabriel; Sahlgren, Magnus; Kanerva, Pentti; Jones, Michael N.

2015-01-01

Circular convolution and random permutation have each been proposed as neurally plausible binding operators capable of encoding sequential information in semantic memory. We perform several controlled comparisons of circular convolution and random permutation as means of encoding paired associates as well as encoding sequential information. Random permutations outperformed convolution with respect to the number of paired associates that can be reliably stored in a single memory trace. Performance was equal on semantic tasks when using a small corpus, but random permutations were ultimately capable of achieving superior performance due to their higher scalability to large corpora. Finally, “noisy” permutations in which units are mapped to other units arbitrarily (no one-to-one mapping) perform nearly as well as true permutations. These findings increase the neurological plausibility of random permutations and highlight their utility in vector space models of semantics. PMID:25954306

Sequential shrink photolithography for plastic microlens arrays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dyer, David; Shreim, Samir; Jayadev, Shreshta; Lew, Valerie; Botvinick, Elliot; Khine, Michelle

2011-07-01

Endeavoring to push the boundaries of microfabrication with shrinkable polymers, we have developed a sequential shrink photolithography process. We demonstrate the utility of this approach by rapidly fabricating plastic microlens arrays. First, we create a mask out of the children's toy Shrinky Dinks by simply printing dots using a standard desktop printer. Upon retraction of this pre-stressed thermoplastic sheet, the dots shrink to a fraction of their original size, which we then lithographically transfer onto photoresist-coated commodity shrink wrap film. This shrink film reduces in area by 95% when briefly heated, creating smooth convex photoresist bumps down to 30 µm. Taken together, this sequential shrink process provides a complete process to create microlenses, with an almost 99% reduction in area from the original pattern size. Finally, with a lithography molding step, we emboss these bumps into optical grade plastics such as cyclic olefin copolymer for functional microlens arrays.

Sequential shrink photolithography for plastic microlens arrays.

PubMed

Dyer, David; Shreim, Samir; Jayadev, Shreshta; Lew, Valerie; Botvinick, Elliot; Khine, Michelle

2011-07-18

Endeavoring to push the boundaries of microfabrication with shrinkable polymers, we have developed a sequential shrink photolithography process. We demonstrate the utility of this approach by rapidly fabricating plastic microlens arrays. First, we create a mask out of the children's toy Shrinky Dinks by simply printing dots using a standard desktop printer. Upon retraction of this pre-stressed thermoplastic sheet, the dots shrink to a fraction of their original size, which we then lithographically transfer onto photoresist-coated commodity shrink wrap film. This shrink film reduces in area by 95% when briefly heated, creating smooth convex photoresist bumps down to 30 µm. Taken together, this sequential shrink process provides a complete process to create microlenses, with an almost 99% reduction in area from the original pattern size. Finally, with a lithography molding step, we emboss these bumps into optical grade plastics such as cyclic olefin copolymer for functional microlens arrays.

Sequential shrink photolithography for plastic microlens arrays

PubMed Central

Dyer, David; Shreim, Samir; Jayadev, Shreshta; Lew, Valerie; Botvinick, Elliot; Khine, Michelle

2011-01-01

Endeavoring to push the boundaries of microfabrication with shrinkable polymers, we have developed a sequential shrink photolithography process. We demonstrate the utility of this approach by rapidly fabricating plastic microlens arrays. First, we create a mask out of the children’s toy Shrinky Dinks by simply printing dots using a standard desktop printer. Upon retraction of this pre-stressed thermoplastic sheet, the dots shrink to a fraction of their original size, which we then lithographically transfer onto photoresist-coated commodity shrink wrap film. This shrink film reduces in area by 95% when briefly heated, creating smooth convex photoresist bumps down to 30 µm. Taken together, this sequential shrink process provides a complete process to create microlenses, with an almost 99% reduction in area from the original pattern size. Finally, with a lithography molding step, we emboss these bumps into optical grade plastics such as cyclic olefin copolymer for functional microlens arrays. PMID:21863126

Mining of high utility-probability sequential patterns from uncertain databases

PubMed Central

Zhang, Binbin; Fournier-Viger, Philippe; Li, Ting

2017-01-01

High-utility sequential pattern mining (HUSPM) has become an important issue in the field of data mining. Several HUSPM algorithms have been designed to mine high-utility sequential patterns (HUPSPs). They have been applied in several real-life situations such as for consumer behavior analysis and event detection in sensor networks. Nonetheless, most studies on HUSPM have focused on mining HUPSPs in precise data. But in real-life, uncertainty is an important factor as data is collected using various types of sensors that are more or less accurate. Hence, data collected in a real-life database can be annotated with existing probabilities. This paper presents a novel pattern mining framework called high utility-probability sequential pattern mining (HUPSPM) for mining high utility-probability sequential patterns (HUPSPs) in uncertain sequence databases. A baseline algorithm with three optional pruning strategies is presented to mine HUPSPs. Moroever, to speed up the mining process, a projection mechanism is designed to create a database projection for each processed sequence, which is smaller than the original database. Thus, the number of unpromising candidates can be greatly reduced, as well as the execution time for mining HUPSPs. Substantial experiments both on real-life and synthetic datasets show that the designed algorithm performs well in terms of runtime, number of candidates, memory usage, and scalability for different minimum utility and minimum probability thresholds. PMID:28742847

Direct observation of sequential oxidations of a titania-bound molecular proxy catalyst generated through illumination of molecular sensitizers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Hsiang-Yun; Ardo, Shane

2018-01-01

Natural photosynthesis uses the energy in sunlight to oxidize or reduce reaction centres multiple times, therefore preparing each reaction centre for a multiple-electron-transfer reaction that will ultimately generate stable reaction products. This process relies on multiple chromophores per reaction centre to quickly generate the active state of the reaction centre and to outcompete deleterious charge recombination. Using a similar design principle, we report spectroscopic evidence for the generation of a twice-oxidized TiO2-bound molecular proxy catalyst after low-intensity visible-light excitation of co-anchored molecular Ru(II)-polypyridyl dyes. Electron transfer from an excited dye to TiO2 generated a Ru(III) state that subsequently and repeatedly reacted with neighbouring Ru(II) dyes via self-exchange electron transfer to ultimately oxidize a distant co-anchored proxy catalyst before charge recombination. The largest yield for twice-oxidized proxy catalysts occurred when they were present at low coverage, suggesting that large dye/electrocatalyst ratios are also desired in dye-sensitized photoelectrochemical cells.

Sequential MRI Study of Graft Integrity and Signal Following Pediatric All-epiphyseal ACL Reconstruction: Does the “Sharp Turn” at the Socket of the Distal Femoral Aperture Matter?

PubMed Central

Tuca, Maria; Greditzer, Harry Gus; Gausden, Elizabeth Bishop; Uppstrom, Tyler J.; Potter, Hollis G.; Cordasco, Frank A.; Green, Daniel W.

2017-01-01

Objectives: To analyze graft structure and signal with particular emphasis on the distal femoral socket aperture following all-epiphyseal ACLR using hamstring autografts with sequential MRI in skeletally immature athletes. Methods: Retrospective cohort study of 23 skeletally immature patients who underwent ACLR by the same surgical team at a tertiary center during 2011-2013. Athletes had at least two follow-up MRIs, the first MRI 6-12 months after surgery and the second MRI >18 months, were included. Exclusion criteria included those athletes with inMRI follow-up (6) or with a failure of their reconstructions (1). All athletes were treated with an arthroscopic all-inside, all-epiphyseal ACLR, using hamstring autograft, secured with adjustable loop cortical buttons on both tibia and femur. MRI images were analyzed independently and blinded by an orthopaedic surgery fellow and a musculoskeletal radiology fellow. Using a GE Functional Analysis Software, the signal intensity (SI) of the graft was measured in 5 different locations: 1) femoral tunnel, 2) intra-articular proximal turn, 3) midsubstance, 4) intra-articular distal turn, and 5) tibial tunnel. Values were normalized to cortical bone density. The amount of perigraft scarring and synovitis was analyzed. An intraclass correlation coefficient was used to quantify inter-rater reliability, non-parametric Wilcoxon test for perigraft scarring and synovitis, one-way ANOVA to test if significant differences of SI were seen between the different graft locations, and a 2-tailed student t-test for SI changes from 1st to 2nd MRI. Results: The study included 16 patients (5 girls and 11 boys), with an average age at surgery of 11.9 years (range 10-15). The first follow-up MRI was on average at 8.4 months (range 6-12 months), while the 2nd MRI was on average 30.7 months (range 18-40) after surgery. Intra-class correlation coefficients were above 0.7 for all measurements, indicating an excellent concordance between observers. Perigraft scarring tended to reduce with follow-up (p=0.057) though not significantly, while synovitis had a significant reduction over time (p=0.01). On average, normalized SI showed no significant differences between measurements taken in different regions of the graft (p=0.58). When comparing the graft SI from 1st to 2nd MRI, no significant differences were found in any of the locations: femoral tunnel (p=0.14), proximal turn (p=0.11), midsubstance (p=0,29), intra-articular distal (p=0.10), or tibial tunnel (p=0.15). All 16 athletes returned to their prior sport at the same level of performance without re-injury. Conclusion: ACL grafts in skeletally immature patients with all-epiphyseal reconstructions maintain a stable intensity signaling at long term MRI follow-up, with no significant signal reduction over time. Despite the sharp turn created at the distal femoral socket aperture in physeal-sparing reconstructions, no particular anatomic location of the graft presents significantly different signal intensity over others. This is the first sequential mri study in pediatric epiphyseal acl reconstructions demonstrating postoperative maintenance of graft integrity and graft signal.

Potential contaminants at a dredged spoil placement site, Charles City County, Virginia, as revealed by sequential extraction

PubMed Central

Tang, Jianwu; Whittecar, G Richard; Johannesson, Karen H; Daniels, W Lee

2004-01-01

Backfills of dredged sediments onto a former sand and gravel mine site in Charles City County, VA may have the potential to contaminate local groundwater. To evaluate the mobility of trace elements and to identify the potential contaminants from the dredged sediments, a sequential extraction scheme was used to partition trace elements associated with the sediments from the local aquifer and the dredged sediments into five fractions: exchangeable, acidic, reducible, oxidizable, and residual phases. Sequential extractions indicate that, for most of the trace elements examined, the residual phases account for the largest proportion of the total concentrations, and their total extractable fractions are mainly from reducible and oxidizable phases. Only Cd, Pb, and Zn have an appreciable extractable proportion from the acidic phase in the filled dredged sediments. Our groundwater monitoring data suggest that the dredged sediments are mainly subject to a decrease in pH and a series of oxidation reactions, when exposed to the atmosphere. Because the trace elements released by carbonate dissolution and the oxidation (e.g., organic matter degradation, iron sulfide and, ammonia oxidation) are subsequently immobilized by sorption to iron, manganese, and aluminum oxides, no potential contaminants to local groundwater are expected by addition of the dredged sediments to this site.

Computational time analysis of the numerical solution of 3D electrostatic Poisson's equation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamboh, Shakeel Ahmed; Labadin, Jane; Rigit, Andrew Ragai Henri; Ling, Tech Chaw; Amur, Khuda Bux; Chaudhary, Muhammad Tayyab

2015-05-01

3D Poisson's equation is solved numerically to simulate the electric potential in a prototype design of electrohydrodynamic (EHD) ion-drag micropump. Finite difference method (FDM) is employed to discretize the governing equation. The system of linear equations resulting from FDM is solved iteratively by using the sequential Jacobi (SJ) and sequential Gauss-Seidel (SGS) methods, simulation results are also compared to examine the difference between the results. The main objective was to analyze the computational time required by both the methods with respect to different grid sizes and parallelize the Jacobi method to reduce the computational time. In common, the SGS method is faster than the SJ method but the data parallelism of Jacobi method may produce good speedup over SGS method. In this study, the feasibility of using parallel Jacobi (PJ) method is attempted in relation to SGS method. MATLAB Parallel/Distributed computing environment is used and a parallel code for SJ method is implemented. It was found that for small grid size the SGS method remains dominant over SJ method and PJ method while for large grid size both the sequential methods may take nearly too much processing time to converge. Yet, the PJ method reduces computational time to some extent for large grid sizes.

Time-resolved and temperature tuneable measurements of fluorescent intensity using a smartphone fluorimeter.

PubMed

Hossain, Md Arafat; Canning, John; Yu, Zhikang; Ast, Sandra; Rutledge, Peter J; Wong, Joseph K-H; Jamalipour, Abbas; Crossley, Maxwell J

2017-05-30

A smartphone fluorimeter capable of time-based fluorescence intensity measurements at various temperatures is reported. Excitation is provided by an integrated UV LED (λ ex = 370 nm) and detection obtained using the in-built CMOS camera. A Peltier is integrated to allow measurements of the intensity over T = 10 to 40 °C. All components are controlled using a smartphone battery powered Arduino microcontroller and a customised Android application that allows sequential fluorescence imaging and quantification every δt = 4 seconds. The temperature dependence of fluorescence intensity for four emitters (rhodamine B, rhodamine 6G, 5,10,15,20-tetraphenylporphyrin and 6-(1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane)2-ethyl-naphthalimide) are characterised. The normalised fluorescence intensity over time of the latter chemosensor dye complex in the presence of Zn 2+ is observed to accelerate with an increasing rate constant, k = 1.94 min -1 at T = 15 °C and k = 3.64 min -1 at T = 30 °C, approaching a factor of ∼2 with only a change in temperature of ΔT = 15 °C. Thermally tuning these twist and bend associated rates to optimise sensor approaches and device applications is proposed.

PC_Eyewitness: evaluating the New Jersey method.

PubMed

MacLin, Otto H; Phelan, Colin M

2007-05-01

One important variable in eyewitness identification research is lineup administration procedure. Lineups administered sequentially (one at a time) have been shown to reduce the number of false identifications in comparison with those administered simultaneously (all at once). As a result, some policymakers have adopted sequential administration. However, they have made slight changes to the method used in psychology laboratories. Eyewitnesses in the field are allowed to take multiple passes through a lineup, whereas participants in the laboratory are allowed only one pass. PC_Eyewitness (PCE) is a computerized system used to construct and administer simultaneous or sequential lineups in both the laboratory and the field. It is currently being used in laboratories investigating eyewitness identification in the United States, Canada, and abroad. A modified version of PCE is also being developed for a local police department. We developed a new module for PCE, the New Jersey module, to examine the effects of a second pass. We found that the sequential advantage was eliminated when the participants were allowed to view the lineup a second time. The New Jersey module, and steps we are taking to improve on the module, are presented here and are being made available to the research and law enforcement communities.

Oxidative stress is increased in critically ill patients according to antioxidant vitamins intake, independent of severity: a cohort study

PubMed Central

Abilés, Jimena; de la Cruz, Antonio Pérez; Castaño, José; Rodríguez-Elvira, Manuel; Aguayo, Eduardo; Moreno-Torres, Rosario; Llopis, Juan; Aranda, Pilar; Argüelles, Sandro; Ayala, Antonio; de la Quintana, Alberto Machado; Planells, Elena Maria

2006-01-01

Introduction Critically ill patients suffer from oxidative stress caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS). Although ROS/RNS are constantly produced under normal circumstances, critical illness can drastically increase their production. These patients have reduced plasma and intracellular levels of antioxidants and free electron scavengers or cofactors, and decreased activity of the enzymatic system involved in ROS detoxification. The pro-oxidant/antioxidant balance is of functional relevance during critical illness because it is involved in the pathogenesis of multiple organ failure. In this study the objective was to evaluate the relation between oxidative stress in critically ill patients and antioxidant vitamin intake and severity of illness. Methods Spectrophotometry was used to measure in plasma the total antioxidant capacity and levels of lipid peroxide, carbonyl group, total protein, bilirubin and uric acid at two time points: at intensive care unit (ICU) admission and on day seven. Daily diet records were kept and compliance with recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of antioxidant vitamins (A, C and E) was assessed. Results Between admission and day seven in the ICU, significant increases in lipid peroxide and carbonyl group were associated with decreased antioxidant capacity and greater deterioration in Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score. There was significantly greater worsening in oxidative stress parameters in patients who received antioxidant vitamins at below 66% of RDA than in those who received antioxidant vitamins at above 66% of RDA. An antioxidant vitamin intake from 66% to 100% of RDA reduced the risk for worsening oxidative stress by 94% (ods ratio 0.06, 95% confidence interval 0.010 to 0.39), regardless of change in severity of illness (Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score). Conclusion The critical condition of patients admitted to the ICU is associated with worsening oxidative stress. Intake of antioxidant vitamins below 66% of RDA and alteration in endogenous levels of substances with antioxidant capacity are related to redox imbalance in critical ill patients. Therefore, intake of antioxidant vitamins should be carefully monitored so that it is as close as possible to RDA. PMID:17040563

COMPARISON OF HYDROGEN CONCENTRATIONS IN PCE-DEHALOGENATING AND SULFATE-REDUCING ESTUARINE SEDIMENTS

EPA Science Inventory

The primary transformation pathway for PCE in anoxic environments is through sequential reductive dehalogenation, and information concerning dehalogenation processes that occur in environments containing alternative electron acceptors (sulfate) is limited. Hydrogen is postulated ...

Evaluation of Antimicrobial Activities of Sequential Spray Applications of Decontamination Treatments on Chicken Carcasses

PubMed Central

Benli, Hakan; Sanchez-Plata, Marcos X.; Ilhak, Osman Irfan; Núñez De González, Maryuri T.; Keeton, Jimmy T.

2015-01-01

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of sequential applications of ɛ-polylysine (EPL) or lauramide arginine ethyl ester (LAE) sprays followed by an acidic calcium sulfate (ACS) spray on inoculated chicken carcasses to reduce Salmonella (Salmonella enterica serovars including Salmonella typhimurium and Salmonella enteritidis) contamination during 6 days of storage (4.4°C). Secondly, reductions of the resident microflora were studied on uninoculated chicken carcasses following the sequential application of the treatments, chilling and 10 days of storage at 4.4°C. The treatment of Salmonella inoculated carcasses with 300 mg/L EPL followed by 30% ACS (EPL300-ACS30) sprays reduced Salmonella counts initially by 1.5 log cfu/mL and then by 1.2 log cfu/mL (p<0.05) following 6 days of storage at 4.4°C. Likewise, 200 mg/L LAE followed by 30% ACS (LAE200-ACS30) treatment reduced initial Salmonella counts on poultry carcasses by 1.8, 1.4 and 1.8 log cfu/mL (p<0.05), respectively, after 0, 3, and 6 days storage. Immediately after the treatments, EPL300-ACS30 and LAE200-ACS30 both reduced Escherichia coli counts significantly by 2.6 and 2.9 log cfu/mL, respectively. EPL300-ACS30 and LAE200-ASC30 were effective in lowering psychrotroph counts by 1 log cfu/mL on day 10 when compared to the control and distilled water treatments. This study demonstrated that EPL300-ACS30 and LAE200-ACS30 were effective in reducing Salmonella on inoculated chicken carcasses both after treatment and during the storage at 4.4°C for up to 6 days. In addition, reductions in psychrotroph counts indicated that these treatments might have the potential to increase the shelf-life of poultry carcasses. PMID:25656180

Speciation and transformation of heavy metals during vermicomposting of animal manure.

PubMed

Lv, Baoyi; Xing, Meiyan; Yang, Jian

2016-06-01

This work was conducted to evaluate the effects of vermicomposting on the speciation and mobility of heavy metals (Zn, Pb, Cr, and Cu) in cattle dung (CD) and pig manure (PM) using tessier sequential extraction method. Results showed that the pH, total organic carbon and C/N ratio were reduced, while the electric conductivity and humic acid increased after 90days vermicomposting. Moreover, the addition of earthworm could accelerate organic stabilization in vermicomposting. The total heavy metals in final vermicompost from CD and PM were higher than the initial values and the control without worms. Sequential extraction indicated that vermicomposting decreased the migration and availability of heavy metals, and the earthworm could reduce the mobile fraction, while increase the stable fraction of heavy metals. Furthermore, these results indicated that vermicomposting played a positive role in stabilizing heavy metals in the treatment of animal manure. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cluster designs to assess the prevalence of acute malnutrition by lot quality assurance sampling: a validation study by computer simulation.

PubMed

Olives, Casey; Pagano, Marcello; Deitchler, Megan; Hedt, Bethany L; Egge, Kari; Valadez, Joseph J

2009-04-01

Traditional lot quality assurance sampling (LQAS) methods require simple random sampling to guarantee valid results. However, cluster sampling has been proposed to reduce the number of random starting points. This study uses simulations to examine the classification error of two such designs, a 67x3 (67 clusters of three observations) and a 33x6 (33 clusters of six observations) sampling scheme to assess the prevalence of global acute malnutrition (GAM). Further, we explore the use of a 67x3 sequential sampling scheme for LQAS classification of GAM prevalence. Results indicate that, for independent clusters with moderate intracluster correlation for the GAM outcome, the three sampling designs maintain approximate validity for LQAS analysis. Sequential sampling can substantially reduce the average sample size that is required for data collection. The presence of intercluster correlation can impact dramatically the classification error that is associated with LQAS analysis.

Investigations of Cu, Pb and Zn partitioning by sequential extraction in harbour sediments after electrodialytic remediation.

PubMed

Kirkelund, Gunvor M; Ottosen, Lisbeth M; Villumsen, Arne

2010-05-01

Electrodialytic remediation was used to remove Cu, Zn and Pb from three different contaminated harbour sediments. Electrodialytic experiments lasting 2 and 4 weeks were performed and 48-86% Cu, 74-90% Zn and 62-88% Pb were removed from the different sediments and the removal increased with longer remediation time. A three step sequential extraction scheme (BCR), with an extra residual step, was used to evaluate the heavy metal distribution in the sediments before and after electrodialytic remediation. Cu was mainly associated with the oxidisable phase of the sediment, both before and after remediation. Zn and Pb were found in the exchangeable and reducible phases before remediation. Zn was still found in the exchangeable and reducible phases after remediation, whereas most Pb was removed from these phases during electrodialytic remediation. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Expert system for identification of simultaneous and sequential reactor fuel failures with gas tagging

DOEpatents

Gross, Kenny C.

1994-01-01

Failure of a fuel element in a nuclear reactor core is determined by a gas tagging failure detection system and method. Failures are catalogued and characterized after the event so that samples of the reactor's cover gas are taken at regular intervals and analyzed by mass spectroscopy. Employing a first set of systematic heuristic rules which are applied in a transformed node space allows the number of node combinations which must be processed within a barycentric algorithm to be substantially reduced. A second set of heuristic rules treats the tag nodes of the most recent one or two leakers as "background" gases, further reducing the number of trial node combinations. Lastly, a "fuzzy" set theory formalism minimizes experimental uncertainties in the identification of the most likely volumes of tag gases. This approach allows for the identification of virtually any number of sequential leaks and up to five simultaneous gas leaks from fuel elements.

Screening antimutagenic and antiproliferative properties of extracts isolated from Jackfruit pulp (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam).

PubMed

Ruiz-Montañez, G; Burgos-Hernández, A; Calderón-Santoyo, M; López-Saiz, C M; Velázquez-Contreras, C A; Navarro-Ocaña, A; Ragazzo-Sánchez, J A

2015-05-15

The present focused on the study of the antimutagenic and antiproliferative potential of pulp Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam) extract, using Salmonella typhimurium tester strains TA98 and TA100 with metabolic activation (S9) and a cancer cell line M12.C3.F6 (murine B-cell lymphoma), respectively. Jackfruit pulp extract was sequentially fractionated by chromatography (RP-HPLC) and each fraction was tested for antimutagenic and antiproliferative activities. The organic extracts obtained from Jackfruit pulp reduced the number of revertants caused by aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and proliferation of cells M12.C3.F6; a dose-response relationship was showed. Sequential RP-HPLC fractionation of the active extracts produced both antimutagenic and/or antiproliferative fractions. These results suggested that the Jackfruit contained compounds with chemoprotective properties to reduce the mutagenicity of AFB1, also proliferation of a cancer cell line. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sequential data access with Oracle and Hadoop: a performance comparison

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baranowski, Zbigniew; Canali, Luca; Grancher, Eric

2014-06-01

The Hadoop framework has proven to be an effective and popular approach for dealing with "Big Data" and, thanks to its scaling ability and optimised storage access, Hadoop Distributed File System-based projects such as MapReduce or HBase are seen as candidates to replace traditional relational database management systems whenever scalable speed of data processing is a priority. But do these projects deliver in practice? Does migrating to Hadoop's "shared nothing" architecture really improve data access throughput? And, if so, at what cost? Authors answer these questions-addressing cost/performance as well as raw performance- based on a performance comparison between an Oracle-based relational database and Hadoop's distributed solutions like MapReduce or HBase for sequential data access. A key feature of our approach is the use of an unbiased data model as certain data models can significantly favour one of the technologies tested.

Identification of doubly excited states in nonsequential double ionization of Ar in strong laser fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Zhangjin; Li, Xiaojin; Sun, Xiaoli; Hao, Xiaolei; Chen, Jing

2017-12-01

We use the semiclassical model to study the intensity dependence of nonsequential double ionization (NSDI) of Ar in short strong laser pulses. The contributions to NSDI through sequential ionization of doubly excited states (SIDE) are identified by tracking the energy trajectories of the two outgoing electrons. The correlated electron momentum distributions are calculated from which the longitudinal momentum distributions of the fast and the slow electrons for the side-by-side and the back-to-back emissions are obtained. The simulated momentum distributions of the fast and the slow electrons for NSDI of Ar by linearly polarized fields with a wavelength of 795 nm at an intensity of 7 × 1013 W cm-2 are in good agreement with the experimental measurements of Liu et al (2014 Phys. Rev. Lett. 112 013003). We demonstrate that the process of double ionization through SIDE dominates NSDI only when the laser intensities are below the recollision threshold; nevertheless, for higher intensities the SIDE process still takes place although the contribution to the NSDI yields decreases rapidly as the intensity increases. It has been found that for SIDE at different intensities, both the correlated electron momentum spectra and the momentum distributions of the fast and the slow electrons remain the same.

Adverse Outcomes in Infantile Bilateral Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip.

PubMed

Morbi, Abigail H M; Carsi, Belen; Gorianinov, Vitalli; Clarke, Nicholas M P

2015-01-01

It is believed that bilateral developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) has poorer outcomes with higher rates of avascular necrosis (AVN) and reintervention, compared with unilateral DDH. However, there is limited evidence in the literature, with few studies looking specifically at bilateral cases. A retrospective review of 36 patients (72 hips) with >4 years of follow-up. Patient population included surgically treated DDH including late presentations and failures of conservative treatment. The dislocated hips underwent either simultaneous closed or 1 open and 1 closed, or sequential open reduction. AVN and secondary procedures were used as endpoints for analysis as well as clinical and radiologic outcomes. At the last follow-up, 33% of hips had radiologic signs of AVN. Those hips that had no ossific nucleus (ON) at the time of surgery had an odds ratio of developing AVN of 3.05 and a statistically significant association between the 2 variables, whereas open/closed or simultaneous/sequential reduction did not increase the risk for AVN. In addition, 45.8% of those hips required further surgery. The estimated odds ratio of needing additional surgery after simultaneous reduction was 4.04. Clinically, 79.2% of the hips were graded as McKay I, whereas radiologically only 38.8% were Severin I. The AVN rate in bilateral DDH treated surgically is greater than the rate noted in unilateral cases from the same institution undergoing identical protocols. There was no difference in AVN rates between simultaneous and sequential or between the first and second hip to be sequentially reduced. Presence of ON decreases the risk for AVN, suggesting that in bilateral cases, awaiting the appearance of the ON is an important tool to reduce the incidence of AVN. IV.

Simultaneous bilateral stereotactic procedure for deep brain stimulation implants: a significant step for reducing operation time.

PubMed

Fonoff, Erich Talamoni; Azevedo, Angelo; Angelos, Jairo Silva Dos; Martinez, Raquel Chacon Ruiz; Navarro, Jessie; Reis, Paul Rodrigo; Sepulveda, Miguel Ernesto San Martin; Cury, Rubens Gisbert; Ghilardi, Maria Gabriela Dos Santos; Teixeira, Manoel Jacobsen; Lopez, William Omar Contreras

2016-07-01

OBJECT Currently, bilateral procedures involve 2 sequential implants in each of the hemispheres. The present report demonstrates the feasibility of simultaneous bilateral procedures during the implantation of deep brain stimulation (DBS) leads. METHODS Fifty-seven patients with movement disorders underwent bilateral DBS implantation in the same study period. The authors compared the time required for the surgical implantation of deep brain electrodes in 2 randomly assigned groups. One group of 28 patients underwent traditional sequential electrode implantation, and the other 29 patients underwent simultaneous bilateral implantation. Clinical outcomes of the patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) who had undergone DBS implantation of the subthalamic nucleus using either of the 2 techniques were compared. RESULTS Overall, a reduction of 38.51% in total operating time for the simultaneous bilateral group (136.4 ± 20.93 minutes) as compared with that for the traditional consecutive approach (220.3 ± 27.58 minutes) was observed. Regarding clinical outcomes in the PD patients who underwent subthalamic nucleus DBS implantation, comparing the preoperative off-medication condition with the off-medication/on-stimulation condition 1 year after the surgery in both procedure groups, there was a mean 47.8% ± 9.5% improvement in the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale Part III (UPDRS-III) score in the simultaneous group, while the sequential group experienced 47.5% ± 15.8% improvement (p = 0.96). Moreover, a marked reduction in the levodopa-equivalent dose from preoperatively to postoperatively was similar in these 2 groups. The simultaneous bilateral procedure presented major advantages over the traditional sequential approach, with a shorter total operating time. CONCLUSIONS A simultaneous stereotactic approach significantly reduces the operation time in bilateral DBS procedures, resulting in decreased microrecording time, contributing to the optimization of functional stereotactic procedures.

Parents' Verbal and Nonverbal Caring Behaviors and Child Distress During Cancer-Related Port Access Procedures: A Time-Window Sequential Analysis.

PubMed

Bai, Jinbing; Harper, Felicity W K; Penner, Louis A; Swanson, Kristen; Santacroce, Sheila J

2017-11-01

To study the relationship between parental verbal and nonverbal caring behaviors and child distress during cancer-related port access placement using correlational and time-window sequential analyses.
. Longitudinal, observational design.
. Children's Hospital of Michigan and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
. 43 child-parent dyads, each with two or three video recordings of the child undergoing cancer-related port placement.
. Two trained raters coded parent interaction behaviors and child distress using the Parent Caring Response Scoring System and Karmanos Child Coping and Distress Scale, respectively. Mixed modeling with generalized estimating equations examined the associations between parent interaction behaviors and parent distress, child distress, and child cooperation reported by multiple raters. Time-window sequential analyses were performed to investigate the temporal relationships in parent-child interactions within a five-second window.
. Parent caring behaviors, child distress, and child cooperation.
. Parent caring interaction behaviors were significantly correlated with parent distress, child distress, and child cooperation during repeated cancer port accessing. Sequential analyses showed that children were significantly less likely to display behavioral and verbal distress following parent caring behaviors than at any other time. If a child is already distressed, parent verbal and nonverbal caring behaviors can significantly reduce child behavioral and verbal distress.
. Parent caring behaviors, particularly the rarely studied nonverbal behaviors (e.g., eye contact, distance close to touch, supporting/allowing), can reduce the child's distress during cancer port accessing procedures.
. Studying parent-child interactions during painful cancer-related procedures can provide evidence to develop nursing interventions to support parents in caring for their child during painful procedures.

Anti-tumor activity of high-dose EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor and sequential docetaxel in wild type EGFR non-small cell lung cancer cell nude mouse xenografts

PubMed Central

Tang, Ning; Zhang, Qianqian; Fang, Shu; Han, Xiao; Wang, Zhehai

2017-01-01

Treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with wild-type epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is still a challenge. This study explored antitumor activity of high-dose icotinib (an EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor) plus sequential docetaxel against wild-type EGFR NSCLC cells-generated nude mouse xenografts. Nude mice were subcutaneously injected with wild-type EGFR NSCLC A549 cells and divided into different groups for 3-week treatment. Tumor xenograft volumes were monitored and recorded, and at the end of experiments, tumor xenografts were removed for Western blot and immunohistochemical analyses. Compared to control groups (negative control, regular-dose icotinib [IcoR], high-dose icotinib [IcoH], and docetaxel [DTX]) and regular icotinib dose (60 mg/kg) with docetaxel, treatment of mice with a high-dose (1200 mg/kg) of icotinib plus sequential docetaxel for 3 weeks (IcoH-DTX) had an additive effect on suppression of tumor xenograft size and volume (P < 0.05). Icotinib-containing treatments markedly reduced phosphorylation of EGFR, mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK), and protein kinase B (Akt), but only the high-dose icotinib-containing treatments showed an additive effect on CD34 inhibition (P < 0.05), an indication of reduced microvessel density in tumor xenografts. Moreover, high-dose icotinib plus docetaxel had a similar effect on mouse weight loss (a common way to measure adverse reactions in mice), compared to the other treatment combinations. The study indicate that the high dose of icotinib plus sequential docetaxel (IcoH-DTX) have an additive effect on suppressing the growth of wild-type EGFR NSCLC cell nude mouse xenografts, possibly through microvessel density reduction. Future clinical trials are needed to confirm the findings of this study. PMID:27852073

Accelerated drug release and clearance of PEGylated epirubicin liposomes following repeated injections: a new challenge for sequential low-dose chemotherapy

PubMed Central

Yang, Qiang; Ma, Yanling; Zhao, Yongxue; She, Zhennan; Wang, Long; Li, Jie; Wang, Chunling; Deng, Yihui

2013-01-01

Background Sequential low-dose chemotherapy has received great attention for its unique advantages in attenuating multidrug resistance of tumor cells. Nevertheless, it runs the risk of producing new problems associated with the accelerated blood clearance phenomenon, especially with multiple injections of PEGylated liposomes. Methods Liposomes were labeled with fluorescent phospholipids of 1,2-dipalmitoyl-snglycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-N-(7-nitro-2-1,3-benzoxadiazol-4-yl) and epirubicin (EPI). The pharmacokinetics profile and biodistribution of the drug and liposome carrier following multiple injections were determined. Meanwhile, the antitumor effect of sequential low-dose chemotherapy was tested. To clarify this unexpected phenomenon, the production of polyethylene glycol (PEG)-specific immunoglobulin M (IgM), drug release, and residual complement activity experiments were conducted in serum. Results The first or sequential injections of PEGylated liposomes within a certain dose range induced the rapid clearance of subsequently injected PEGylated liposomal EPI. Of note, the clearance of EPI was two- to three-fold faster than the liposome itself, and a large amount of EPI was released from liposomes in the first 30 minutes in a complement-activation, direct-dependent manner. The therapeutic efficacy of liposomal EPI following 10 days of sequential injections in S180 tumor-bearing mice of 0.75 mg EPI/kg body weight was almost completely abolished between the sixth and tenth day of the sequential injections, even although the subsequently injected doses were doubled. The level of PEG-specific IgM in the blood increased rapidly, with a larger amount of complement being activated while the concentration of EPI in blood and tumor tissue was significantly reduced. Conclusion Our investigation implied that the accelerated blood clearance phenomenon and its accompanying rapid leakage and clearance of drug following sequential low-dose injections may reverse the unique pharmacokinetic–toxicity profile of liposomes which deserved our attention. Therefore, a more reasonable treatment regime should be selected to lessen or even eliminate this phenomenon. PMID:23576868

Sequential Modulations in a Combined Horizontal and Vertical Simon Task: Is There ERP Evidence for Feature Integration Effects?

PubMed Central

Hoppe, Katharina; Küper, Kristina; Wascher, Edmund

2017-01-01

In the Simon task, participants respond faster when the task-irrelevant stimulus position and the response position are corresponding, for example on the same side, compared to when they have a non-corresponding relation. Interestingly, this Simon effect is reduced after non-corresponding trials. Such sequential effects can be explained in terms of a more focused processing of the relevant stimulus dimension due to increased cognitive control, which transfers from the previous non-corresponding trial (conflict adaptation effects). Alternatively, sequential modulations of the Simon effect can also be due to the degree of trial-to-trial repetitions and alternations of task features, which is confounded with the correspondence sequence (feature integration effects). In the present study, we used a spatially two-dimensional Simon task with vertical response keys to examine the contribution of adaptive cognitive control and feature integration processes to the sequential modulation of the Simon effect. The two-dimensional Simon task creates correspondences in the vertical as well as in the horizontal dimension. A trial-by-trial alternation of the spatial dimension, for example from a vertical to a horizontal stimulus presentation, generates a subset containing no complete repetitions of task features, but only complete alternations and partial repetitions, which are equally distributed over all correspondence sequences. In line with the assumed feature integration effects, we found sequential modulations of the Simon effect only when the spatial dimension repeated. At least for the horizontal dimension, this pattern was confirmed by the parietal P3b, an event-related potential that is assumed to reflect stimulus–response link processes. Contrary to conflict adaptation effects, cognitive control, measured by the fronto-central N2 component of the EEG, was not sequentially modulated. Overall, our data provide behavioral as well as electrophysiological evidence for feature integration effects contributing to sequential modulations of the Simon effect. PMID:28713305

Sequential Modulations in a Combined Horizontal and Vertical Simon Task: Is There ERP Evidence for Feature Integration Effects?

PubMed

Hoppe, Katharina; Küper, Kristina; Wascher, Edmund

2017-01-01

In the Simon task, participants respond faster when the task-irrelevant stimulus position and the response position are corresponding, for example on the same side, compared to when they have a non-corresponding relation. Interestingly, this Simon effect is reduced after non-corresponding trials. Such sequential effects can be explained in terms of a more focused processing of the relevant stimulus dimension due to increased cognitive control, which transfers from the previous non-corresponding trial (conflict adaptation effects). Alternatively, sequential modulations of the Simon effect can also be due to the degree of trial-to-trial repetitions and alternations of task features, which is confounded with the correspondence sequence (feature integration effects). In the present study, we used a spatially two-dimensional Simon task with vertical response keys to examine the contribution of adaptive cognitive control and feature integration processes to the sequential modulation of the Simon effect. The two-dimensional Simon task creates correspondences in the vertical as well as in the horizontal dimension. A trial-by-trial alternation of the spatial dimension, for example from a vertical to a horizontal stimulus presentation, generates a subset containing no complete repetitions of task features, but only complete alternations and partial repetitions, which are equally distributed over all correspondence sequences. In line with the assumed feature integration effects, we found sequential modulations of the Simon effect only when the spatial dimension repeated. At least for the horizontal dimension, this pattern was confirmed by the parietal P3b, an event-related potential that is assumed to reflect stimulus-response link processes. Contrary to conflict adaptation effects, cognitive control, measured by the fronto-central N2 component of the EEG, was not sequentially modulated. Overall, our data provide behavioral as well as electrophysiological evidence for feature integration effects contributing to sequential modulations of the Simon effect.

Adrenal vein sampling in primary aldosteronism: concordance of simultaneous vs sequential sampling.

PubMed

Almarzooqi, Mohamed-Karji; Chagnon, Miguel; Soulez, Gilles; Giroux, Marie-France; Gilbert, Patrick; Oliva, Vincent L; Perreault, Pierre; Bouchard, Louis; Bourdeau, Isabelle; Lacroix, André; Therasse, Eric

2017-02-01

Many investigators believe that basal adrenal venous sampling (AVS) should be done simultaneously, whereas others opt for sequential AVS for simplicity and reduced cost. This study aimed to evaluate the concordance of sequential and simultaneous AVS methods. Between 1989 and 2015, bilateral simultaneous sets of basal AVS were obtained twice within 5 min, in 188 consecutive patients (59 women and 129 men; mean age: 53.4 years). Selectivity was defined by adrenal-to-peripheral cortisol ratio ≥2, and lateralization was defined as an adrenal aldosterone-to-cortisol ratio ≥2, the contralateral side. Sequential AVS was simulated using right sampling at -5 min (t = -5) and left sampling at 0 min (t = 0). There was no significant difference in mean selectivity ratio (P = 0.12 and P = 0.42 for the right and left sides respectively) and in mean lateralization ratio (P = 0.93) between t = -5 and t = 0. Kappa for selectivity between 2 simultaneous AVS was 0.71 (95% CI: 0.60-0.82), whereas it was 0.84 (95% CI: 0.76-0.92) and 0.85 (95% CI: 0.77-0.93) between sequential and simultaneous AVS at respectively -5 min and at 0 min. Kappa for lateralization between 2 simultaneous AVS was 0.84 (95% CI: 0.75-0.93), whereas it was 0.86 (95% CI: 0.78-0.94) and 0.80 (95% CI: 0.71-0.90) between sequential AVS and simultaneous AVS at respectively -5 min at 0 min. Concordance between simultaneous and sequential AVS was not different than that between 2 repeated simultaneous AVS in the same patient. Therefore, a better diagnostic performance is not a good argument to select the AVS method. © 2017 European Society of Endocrinology.

Isothermal crystallization of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) studied by terahertz two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoshina, Hiromichi; Ishii, Shinya; Morisawa, Yusuke; Sato, Harumi; Noda, Isao; Ozaki, Yukihiro; Otani, Chiko

2012-01-01

The isothermal crystallization of poly(3-hydroxybutylate) (PHB) was studied by monitoring the temporal evolution of terahertz absorption spectra in conjunction with spectral analysis using two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy. Correlation between the absorption peaks and the sequential order of the changes in spectral intensity extracted from synchronous and asynchronous plots indicated that crystallization of PHB at 90 °C is a two step process, in which C-H...O=C hydrogen bonds are initially formed before well-defined crystal structures are established.

Preliminary studies of radiation coupling between remote soft X-ray laser amplifiers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cairns, G.; Lewis, C. L. S.; Macphee, A. G.; Neely, D.; Holden, M.; Krishnan, J.; Tallents, G. J.; Key, M. H.; Norreys, P. N.; Smith, C. G.; Zhang, J.; Holden, P. B.; Pert, G. J.; Plowes, J.; Ramsden, S. A.

1994-01-01

Coupling of a soft X-ray laser beam with a relaying concave mirror in a sequentially pumped amplifier geometry using the Ne-like Ge system has been studied experimentally. Preliminary observations indicate an increase in the spatial coherence of the amplified relayed beam. In addition, near-field imaging of one of the amplifier plasmas shows a double-lobed intensity pattern of the emergent beam indicating refractive guiding of the amplified beam with components both normal and tangential to the target surface.

Intra-individual diagnostic image quality and organ-specific-radiation dose comparison between spiral cCT with iterative image reconstruction and z-axis automated tube current modulation and sequential cCT.

PubMed

Wenz, Holger; Maros, Máté E; Meyer, Mathias; Gawlitza, Joshua; Förster, Alex; Haubenreisser, Holger; Kurth, Stefan; Schoenberg, Stefan O; Groden, Christoph; Henzler, Thomas

2016-01-01

To prospectively evaluate image quality and organ-specific-radiation dose of spiral cranial CT (cCT) combined with automated tube current modulation (ATCM) and iterative image reconstruction (IR) in comparison to sequential tilted cCT reconstructed with filtered back projection (FBP) without ATCM. 31 patients with a previous performed tilted non-contrast enhanced sequential cCT aquisition on a 4-slice CT system with only FBP reconstruction and no ATCM were prospectively enrolled in this study for a clinical indicated cCT scan. All spiral cCT examinations were performed on a 3rd generation dual-source CT system using ATCM in z-axis direction. Images were reconstructed using both, FBP and IR (level 1-5). A Monte-Carlo-simulation-based analysis was used to compare organ-specific-radiation dose. Subjective image quality for various anatomic structures was evaluated using a 4-point Likert-scale and objective image quality was evaluated by comparing signal-to-noise ratios (SNR). Spiral cCT led to a significantly lower (p < 0.05) organ-specific-radiation dose in all targets including eye lense. Subjective image quality of spiral cCT datasets with an IR reconstruction level 5 was rated significantly higher compared to the sequential cCT acquisitions (p < 0.0001). Consecutive mean SNR was significantly higher in all spiral datasets (FBP, IR 1-5) when compared to sequential cCT with a mean SNR improvement of 44.77% (p < 0.0001). Spiral cCT combined with ATCM and IR allows for significant-radiation dose reduction including a reduce eye lens organ-dose when compared to a tilted sequential cCT while improving subjective and objective image quality.

Simultaneous, But Not Consecutive, Combination With Folinate Salts Potentiates 5-Fluorouracil Antitumor Activity In Vitro and In Vivo.

PubMed

Di Paolo, Antonello; Orlandi, Paola; Di Desidero, Teresa; Danesi, Romano; Bocci, Guido

2017-08-07

The combination of folinate salts to 5-fluoruracil (5-FU)-based schedules is an established clinical routine in the landscape of colorectal cancer treatment. The aim of this study was to investigate the pharmacological differences between the sequential administration of folinate salts (1 h before, as in clinical routine) followed by 5-FU and the simultaneous administration of both drugs. Proliferation and apoptotic assays were performed on human colon cancer cells exposed to 5-FU, calcium (CaLV), or disodium (NaLV) levofolinate or their simultaneous and sequential combination for 24 and 72 h. TYMS and SLC19A1 gene expression was performed with real-time PCR. In vivo experiments were performed in xenografted nude mice, which were treated with 5-FU escalating doses and CaLV or NaLV alone or in simultaneous and sequential combination. The simultaneous combination of folinate salts and 5-FU was synergistic (NaLV) or additive (CaLV) in a 24-h treatment in both cell lines. In contrast, the sequential combination of both folinate salts and 5-FU was antagonistic at 24 and 72 h. The simultaneous combination of 5-FU and NaLV or CaLV inhibited TYMS gene expression at 24 h, whereas the sequential combination reduced SLC19A1 gene expression. In vivo experiments confirmed the enhanced antitumor activity of the 5-FU + NaLV simultaneous combination with a good toxicity profile, whereas the sequential combination with CaLV failed to potentiate 5-FU activity. In conclusion, only the simultaneous, but not the consecutive, in vitro and in vivo combination of 5-FU and both folinate salt formulations potentiated the antiproliferative effects of the drugs.

Administration of Concurrent Vaginal Brachytherapy During Chemotherapy for Treatment of Endometrial Cancer

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

Nagar, Himanshu; Boothe, Dustin; Parikh, Amar

2013-11-15

Purpose: To evaluate the tolerability and toxicity of administering vaginal brachytherapy (VB) concurrently during chemotherapy compared with the sequential approach for patients with endometrial cancer. Methods and Materials: A retrospective analysis of 372 surgically staged patients with endometrial cancer American Joint Committee on Cancer 2009 stages I to IV treated with adjuvant postoperative radiation therapy (RT) at our institution from 2001 to 2012 was conducted. All patients received VB + external beam RT (EBRT) + 6 cycles of adjuvant carboplatin- and paclitaxel-based chemotherapy. The VB mean dose was 15.08 Gy (range, 15-20 Gy), with 3 to 4 weekly applications, andmore » the EBRT mean dose was 45 Gy delivered with 3-dimensional or intensity modulated RT techniques. Hematologic, gastrointestinal (GI), and genitourinary (GU) toxicities were assessed by Common Toxicity Criteria (CTC) and compared between sequential and concurrent chemotherapy and VB schedules. Results: Among patients who received RT and adjuvant chemotherapy, 180 of 372 patients (48%) received RT sandwiched between cycles 3 and 4 of chemotherapy. A separate group of 192 patients (52%) were treated with VB during the first 3 cycles of chemotherapy, with a weekly application on nonchemotherapy days, and received the EBRT portion in a sandwiched fashion. Patients treated with VB during chemotherapy had a decreased overall treatment time by 4 weeks (P<.001; 95% confidence interval: 3.99-4.02) and sustained no difference in CTC-graded acute hematologic, GI, or GU toxicities in comparison with the patients treated with VB and chemotherapy in a sequential manner (P>.05). CTC grade 3 or 4 hematologic, GI, and GU toxicities were zero. Conclusions: VB during chemotherapy is well tolerated, decreases overall treatment time, and does not render more toxicity than the sequential regimen.« less

Effect of Compression Devices on Preventing Deep Vein Thrombosis Among Adult Trauma Patients: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Ibrahim, Mona; Ahmed, Azza; Mohamed, Warda Yousef; El-Sayed Abu Abduo, Somaya

2015-01-01

Trauma is the leading cause of death in Americans up to 44 years old each year. Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a significant condition occurring in trauma, and prophylaxis is essential to the appropriate management of trauma patients. The incidence of DVT varies in trauma patients, depending on patients' risk factors, modality of prophylaxis, and methods of detection. However, compression devices and arteriovenous (A-V) foot pumps prophylaxis are recommended in trauma patients, but the efficacy and optimal use of it is not well documented in the literature. The aim of this study was to review the literature on the effect of compression devices in preventing DVT among adult trauma patients. We searched through PubMed, CINAHL, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials for eligible studies published from 1990 until June 2014. Reviewers identified all randomized controlled trials that satisfied the study criteria, and the quality of included studies was assessed by Cochrane risk of bias tool. Five randomized controlled trials were included with a total of 1072 patients. Sequential compression devices significantly reduced the incidence of DVT in trauma patients. Also, foot pumps were more effective in reducing incidence of DVT compared with sequential compression devices. Sequential compression devices and foot pumps reduced the incidence of DVT in trauma patients. However, the evidence is limited to a small sample size and did not take into account other confounding variables that may affect the incidence of DVT in trauma patients. Future randomized controlled trials with larger probability samples to investigate the optimal use of mechanical prophylaxis in trauma patients are needed.

Effects of modified zeolite on the removal and stabilization of heavy metals in contaminated lake sediment using BCR sequential extraction.

PubMed

Wen, Jia; Yi, Yuanjie; Zeng, Guangming

2016-08-01

Sediment can be applied on land as a soil conditioner. However, toxic substances such as heavy metals within the sediment often lead to soil contamination if no proper management is conducted prior to land application. In order to reduce the bioavailable portion of heavy metals such as Pb, Cu, Zn and Cd, zeolite as a kind of stabilizer was investigated on the effect of metal stabilization in sediment. Zeolite was firstly modified and screened to get the best condition for removal of heavy metals. Results showed that the granulated zeolite with NaCl conditioning had the highest CEC and metal sorption. Using BCR sequential extraction, the selected modified zeolite effectively stabilized Pb, Cu, Zn and Cd in sediment to different extents. It was most suitable for Cd stabilization by reducing its acid exchangeable fraction while increasing the contents of the reducible and residual fractions. Modified zeolite also immobilized Cu, Zn and Pb in sediment by enhancing one stable fraction while decreasing the acid exchangeable fraction. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Visual detection and sequential injection determination of aluminium using a cinnamoyl derivative.

PubMed

Elečková, Lenka; Alexovič, Michal; Kuchár, Juraj; Balogh, Ioseph S; Andruch, Vasil

2015-02-01

A cinnamoyl derivative, 3-[4-(dimethylamino)cinnamoyl]-4-hydroxy-6-methyl-3,4-2H-pyran-2-one, was used as a ligand for the determination of aluminium. Upon the addition of an acetonitrile solution of the ligand to an aqueous solution containing Al(III) and a buffer solution at pH 8, a marked change in colour from yellow to orange is observed. The colour intensity is proportional to the concentration of Al(III); thus, the 'naked-eye' detection of aluminium is possible. The reaction is also applied for sequential injection determination of aluminium. Beer׳s law is obeyed in the range from 0.055 to 0.66 mg L(-1) of Al(III). The limit of detection, calculated as three times the standard deviation of the blank test (n=10), was found to be 4 μg L(-1) for Al(III). The method was applied for the determination of aluminium in spiked water samples and pharmaceutical preparations. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sequential megafaunal collapse in the North Pacific Ocean: An ongoing legacy of industrial whaling?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Springer, A.M.; Estes, J.A.; Van Vliet, Gus B.; Williams, T.M.; Doak, D.F.; Danner, E.M.; Forney, K.A.; Pfister, B.

2003-01-01

Populations of seals, sea lions, and sea otters have sequentially collapsed over large areas of the northern North Pacific Ocean and southern Bering Sea during the last several decades. A bottom-up nutritional limitation mechanism induced by physical oceanographic change or competition with fisheries was long thought to be largely responsible for these declines. The current weight of evidence is more consistent with top-down forcing. Increased predation by killer whales probably drove the sea otter collapse and may have been responsible for the earlier pinniped declines as well. We propose that decimation of the great whales by post-World War II industrial whaling caused the great whales' foremost natural predators, killer whales, to begin feeding more intensively on the smaller marine mammals, thus "fishing-down" this element of the marine food web. The timing of these events, information on the abundance, diet, and foraging behavior of both predators and prey, and feasibility analyses based on demographic and energetic modeling are all consistent with this hypothesis.

Sequential megafaunal collapse in the North Pacific Ocean: An ongoing legacy of industrial whaling?

PubMed Central

Springer, A. M.; Estes, J. A.; van Vliet, G. B.; Williams, T. M.; Doak, D. F.; Danner, E. M.; Forney, K. A.; Pfister, B.

2003-01-01

Populations of seals, sea lions, and sea otters have sequentially collapsed over large areas of the northern North Pacific Ocean and southern Bering Sea during the last several decades. A bottom-up nutritional limitation mechanism induced by physical oceanographic change or competition with fisheries was long thought to be largely responsible for these declines. The current weight of evidence is more consistent with top-down forcing. Increased predation by killer whales probably drove the sea otter collapse and may have been responsible for the earlier pinniped declines as well. We propose that decimation of the great whales by post-World War II industrial whaling caused the great whales' foremost natural predators, killer whales, to begin feeding more intensively on the smaller marine mammals, thus “fishing-down” this element of the marine food web. The timing of these events, information on the abundance, diet, and foraging behavior of both predators and prey, and feasibility analyses based on demographic and energetic modeling are all consistent with this hypothesis. PMID:14526101

Monitoring proteins using in vivo near-infrared time-domain optical imaging after 2-O-hexyldiglycerol-mediated transfer to the brain.

PubMed

Hülper, Petra; Dullin, Christian; Kugler, Wilfried; Lakomek, Max; Erdlenbruch, Bernhard

2011-04-01

The aim of the present study was to gain insight into the penetration, biodistribution, and fate of globulins in the brain after 2-O-hexyldiglycerol-induced blood-brain barrier opening. The spatial distribution of fluorescence probes was investigated after blood-brain barrier opening with intracarotid 2-O-hexyldiglycerol injection. Fluorescence intensity was visualized by microscopy (mice and rats) and by in vivo time-domain optical imaging. There was an increased 2-O-hexyldiglycerol-mediated transfer of fluorescence-labeled globulins into the ipsilateral hemisphere. Sequential in vivo measurements revealed that the increase in protein concentration lasted at least 96 h after administration. Ex vivo detection of tissue fluorescence confirmed the results obtained in vivo. Globulins enter the healthy brain in conjunction with 2-O-hexyldiglycerol. Sequential in vivo near-infrared fluorescence measurements enable the visualization of the spatial distribution of antibodies in the brain of living small animals.

Tri-state delta modulation system for Space Shuttle digital TV downlink

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Udalov, S.; Huth, G. K.; Roberts, D.; Batson, B. H.

1981-01-01

Future requirements for Shuttle Orbiter downlink communication may include transmission of digital video which, in addition to black and white, may also be either field-sequential or NTSC color format. The use of digitized video could provide for picture privacy at the expense of additional onboard hardware, together with an increased bandwidth due to the digitization process. A general objective for the Space Shuttle application is to develop a digitization technique that is compatible with data rates in the 20-30 Mbps range but still provides good quality pictures. This paper describes a tri-state delta modulation/demodulation (TSDM) technique which is a good compromise between implementation complexity and performance. The unique feature of TSDM is that it provides for efficient run-length encoding of constant-intensity segments of a TV picture. Axiomatix has developed a hardware implementation of a high-speed TSDM transmitter and receiver for black-and-white TV and field-sequential color. The hardware complexity of this TSDM implementation is summarized in the paper.

Performance analysis of coherent free space optical communications with sequential pyramid wavefront sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Wei; Yao, Kainan; Chen, Lu; Huang, Danian; Cao, Jingtai; Gu, Haijun

2018-03-01

Based-on the previous study on the theory of the sequential pyramid wavefront sensor (SPWFS), in this paper, the SPWFS is first applied to the coherent free space optical communications (FSOC) with more flexible spatial resolution and higher sensitivity than the Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor, and with higher uniformity of intensity distribution and much simpler than the pyramid wavefront sensor. Then, the mixing efficiency (ME) and the bit error rate (BER) of the coherent FSOC are analyzed during the aberrations correction through numerical simulation with binary phase shift keying (BPSK) modulation. Finally, an experimental AO system based-on SPWFS is setup, and the experimental data is used to analyze the ME and BER of homodyne detection with BPSK modulation. The results show that the AO system based-on SPWFS can increase ME and decrease BER effectively. The conclusions of this paper provide a new method of wavefront sensing for designing the AO system for a coherent FSOC system.

Safety and immunogenicity of one dose of MenACWY-CRM, an investigational quadrivalent meningococcal glycoconjugate vaccine, when administered to adolescents concomitantly or sequentially with Tdap and HPV vaccines.

PubMed

Arguedas, A; Soley, C; Loaiza, C; Rincon, G; Guevara, S; Perez, A; Porras, W; Alvarado, O; Aguilar, L; Abdelnour, A; Grunwald, U; Bedell, L; Anemona, A; Dull, P M

2010-04-19

This Phase III study evaluates an investigational quadrivalent meningococcal CRM(197) conjugate vaccine, MenACWY-CRM (Novartis Vaccines), when administered concomitantly or sequentially with two other recommended adolescent vaccines; combined tetanus, reduced diphtheria and acellular pertussis (Tdap), and human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. In this single-centre study, 1620 subjects 11-18 years of age, were randomized to three groups (1:1:1) to receive MenACWY-CRM concomitantly or sequentially with Tdap and HPV. Meningococcal serogroup-specific serum bactericidal assay using human complement (hSBA), and antibodies to Tdap antigens and HPV virus-like particles were determined before and 1 month after study vaccinations. Proportions of subjects with hSBA titres > or =1:8 for all four meningococcal serogroups (A, C, W-135, Y) were non-inferior for both concomitant and sequential administration. Immune responses to Tdap and HPV antigens were comparable when these vaccines were given alone or concomitantly with MenACWY-CRM. All vaccines were well tolerated; concomitant or sequential administration did not increase reactogenicity. MenACWY-CRM was well tolerated and immunogenic in subjects 11-18 years of age, with comparable immune responses to the four serogroups when given alone or concomitantly with Tdap or HPV antigens. This is the first demonstration that these currently recommended adolescent vaccines could be administered concomitantly without causing increased reactogenicity. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Rare-gas-cluster explosions under irradiation by intense short XUV pulses

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

Hoffmann, K.; Murphy, B.; Kandadai, N.

High-intensity, extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) femtosecond interactions with large rare-gas clusters of xenon and argon have been studied at a wavelength of 38 nm. Pulses of XUV radiation with nJ energy are produced by high-order harmonic conversion from a 35-fs, near-infrared, terawatt laser. Mass resolved ion spectra show charge states up to Xe{sup 8+} and Ar{sup 4+}. Kinetic-energy measurements of ions and electrons indicate that a nanoplasma is formed and a hydrodynamic cluster explosion ensues after heating by the short wavelength pulse. It appears that the observed charge states and electron temperatures are consistent with sequential, single-photon ionization and collisional ionization ofmore » ions that have had their ionization potential depressed by plasma continuum lowering in the cluster nanoplasma.« less

Graphics processing unit accelerated intensity-based optical coherence tomography angiography using differential frames with real-time motion correction.

PubMed

Watanabe, Yuuki; Takahashi, Yuhei; Numazawa, Hiroshi

2014-02-01

We demonstrate intensity-based optical coherence tomography (OCT) angiography using the squared difference of two sequential frames with bulk-tissue-motion (BTM) correction. This motion correction was performed by minimization of the sum of the pixel values using axial- and lateral-pixel-shifted structural OCT images. We extract the BTM-corrected image from a total of 25 calculated OCT angiographic images. Image processing was accelerated by a graphics processing unit (GPU) with many stream processors to optimize the parallel processing procedure. The GPU processing rate was faster than that of a line scan camera (46.9 kHz). Our OCT system provides the means of displaying structural OCT images and BTM-corrected OCT angiographic images in real time.

A fast algorithm for solving a linear feasibility problem with application to Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy.

PubMed

Herman, Gabor T; Chen, Wei

2008-03-01

The goal of Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) is to deliver sufficient doses to tumors to kill them, but without causing irreparable damage to critical organs. This requirement can be formulated as a linear feasibility problem. The sequential (i.e., iteratively treating the constraints one after another in a cyclic fashion) algorithm ART3 is known to find a solution to such problems in a finite number of steps, provided that the feasible region is full dimensional. We present a faster algorithm called ART3+. The idea of ART3+ is to avoid unnecessary checks on constraints that are likely to be satisfied. The superior performance of the new algorithm is demonstrated by mathematical experiments inspired by the IMRT application.

Enhanced external counterpulsation - effect on angina pectoris, QoL and exercise capacity after 1 year.

PubMed

May, Ole; Lynggaard, Vibeke; Mortensen, Jesper C A; Malczynski, Jerzy

2015-02-01

Enhanced external counterpulsation (EECP) is a new therapy offered to patients with refractory angina pectoris (AP). To assess the effect of EECP on AP, quality of life (QoL) and exercise capacity in a design starting with a control period to avoid the influence of regression-towards-the-mean. Patients were examined two months before EECP, just before, just after, and three and 12 months after EECP. EECP was given for 1 h 5 days a week in 7 weeks. Three sets of pneumatic cuffs were mounted on the lower extremities and inflated sequentially in diastole to 260 mm Hg. 50 patients were included (male 72%, mean age: 62.5 years). Mean daily AP attacks were reduced during EECP from 2.7 to 0.9 (p < 0.005) and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society classification was reduced by at least 1 class in 82% just after EECP, 79% 3 months and 76% 12 months after EECP (p < 0.0002). Generic (SF36) and disease-specific QoL (Seattle AP questionnaire) improved just after, 3 and 12 months after compared with that before EECP. There was a significant improvement in exercise capacity and exercise-induced chest pain just after, three and 12 months after EECP (p < 0.02). No change was detected during the control period. EECP improves generic and disease-specific QoL, angina intensity and exercise capacity in at least 12 months.

Fundamental Interactions in Gasoline Compression Ignition Engines with Fuel Stratification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wolk, Benjamin Matthew

Transportation accounted for 28% of the total U.S. energy demand in 2011, with 93% of U.S. transportation energy coming from petroleum. The large impact of the transportation sector on global climate change necessitates more-efficient, cleaner-burning internal combustion engine operating strategies. One such strategy that has received substantial research attention in the last decade is Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI). Although the efficiency and emissions benefits of HCCI are well established, practical limits on the operating range of HCCI engines have inhibited their application in consumer vehicles. One such limit is at high load, where the pressure rise rate in the combustion chamber becomes excessively large. Fuel stratification is a potential strategy for reducing the maximum pressure rise rate in HCCI engines. The aim is to introduce reactivity gradients through fuel stratification to promote sequential auto-ignition rather than a bulk-ignition, as in the homogeneous case. A gasoline-fueled compression ignition engine with fuel stratification is termed a Gasoline Compression Ignition (GCI) engine. Although a reasonable amount of experimental research has been performed for fuel stratification in GCI engines, a clear understanding of how the fundamental in-cylinder processes of fuel spray evaporation, mixing, and heat release contribute to the observed phenomena is lacking. Of particular interest is gasoline's pressure sensitive low-temperature chemistry and how it impacts the sequential auto-ignition of the stratified charge. In order to computationally study GCI with fuel stratification using three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and chemical kinetics, two reduced mechanisms have been developed. The reduced mechanisms were developed from a large, detailed mechanism with about 1400 species for a 4-component gasoline surrogate. The two versions of the reduced mechanism developed in this work are: (1) a 96-species version and (2) a 98-species version including nitric oxide formation reactions. Development of reduced mechanisms is necessary because the detailed mechanism is computationally prohibitive in three-dimensional CFD and chemical kinetics simulations. Simulations of Partial Fuel Stratification (PFS), a GCI strategy, have been performed using CONVERGE with the 96-species reduced mechanism developed in this work for a 4-component gasoline surrogate. Comparison is made to experimental data from the Sandia HCCI/GCI engine at a compression ratio 14:1 at intake pressures of 1 bar and 2 bar. Analysis of the heat release and temperature in the different equivalence ratio regions reveals that sequential auto-ignition of the stratified charge occurs in order of increasing equivalence ratio for 1 bar intake pressure and in order of decreasing equivalence ratio for 2 bar intake pressure. Increased low- and intermediate-temperature heat release with increasing equivalence ratio at 2 bar intake pressure compensates for decreased temperatures in higher-equivalence ratio regions due to evaporative cooling from the liquid fuel spray and decreased compression heating from lower values of the ratio of specific heats. The presence of low- and intermediate-temperature heat release at 2 bar intake pressure alters the temperature distribution of the mixture stratification before hot-ignition, promoting the desired sequential auto-ignition. At 1 bar intake pressure, the sequential auto-ignition occurs in the reverse order compared to 2 bar intake pressure and too fast for useful reduction of the maximum pressure rise rate compared to HCCI. Additionally, the premixed portion of the charge auto-ignites before the highest-equivalence ratio regions. Conversely, at 2 bar intake pressure, the premixed portion of the charge auto-ignites last, after the higher-equivalence ratio regions. More importantly, the sequential auto-ignition occurs over a longer time period for 2 bar intake pressure than at 1 bar intake pressure such that a sizable reduction in the maximum pressure rise rate compared to HCCI can be achieved.

Combating speckle in SAR images - Vector filtering and sequential classification based on a multiplicative noise model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lin, Qian; Allebach, Jan P.

1990-01-01

An adaptive vector linear minimum mean-squared error (LMMSE) filter for multichannel images with multiplicative noise is presented. It is shown theoretically that the mean-squared error in the filter output is reduced by making use of the correlation between image bands. The vector and conventional scalar LMMSE filters are applied to a three-band SIR-B SAR, and their performance is compared. Based on a mutliplicative noise model, the per-pel maximum likelihood classifier was derived. The authors extend this to the design of sequential and robust classifiers. These classifiers are also applied to the three-band SIR-B SAR image.

Solving constrained minimum-time robot problems using the sequential gradient restoration algorithm

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, Allan Y.

1991-01-01

Three constrained minimum-time control problems of a two-link manipulator are solved using the Sequential Gradient and Restoration Algorithm (SGRA). The inequality constraints considered are reduced via Valentine-type transformations to nondifferential path equality constraints. The SGRA is then used to solve these transformed problems with equality constraints. The results obtained indicate that at least one of the two controls is at its limits at any instant in time. The remaining control then adjusts itself so that none of the system constraints is violated. Hence, the minimum-time control is either a pure bang-bang control or a combined bang-bang/singular control.

Sample size re-estimation and other midcourse adjustments with sequential parallel comparison design.

PubMed

Silverman, Rachel K; Ivanova, Anastasia

2017-01-01

Sequential parallel comparison design (SPCD) was proposed to reduce placebo response in a randomized trial with placebo comparator. Subjects are randomized between placebo and drug in stage 1 of the trial, and then, placebo non-responders are re-randomized in stage 2. Efficacy analysis includes all data from stage 1 and all placebo non-responding subjects from stage 2. This article investigates the possibility to re-estimate the sample size and adjust the design parameters, allocation proportion to placebo in stage 1 of SPCD, and weight of stage 1 data in the overall efficacy test statistic during an interim analysis.

Characterizing the structure and content of nurse handoffs: A Sequential Conversational Analysis approach.

PubMed

Abraham, Joanna; Kannampallil, Thomas; Brenner, Corinne; Lopez, Karen D; Almoosa, Khalid F; Patel, Bela; Patel, Vimla L

2016-02-01

Effective communication during nurse handoffs is instrumental in ensuring safe and quality patient care. Much of the prior research on nurse handoffs has utilized retrospective methods such as interviews, surveys and questionnaires. While extremely useful, an in-depth understanding of the structure and content of conversations, and the inherent relationships within the content is paramount to designing effective nurse handoff interventions. In this paper, we present a methodological framework-Sequential Conversational Analysis (SCA)-a mixed-method approach that integrates qualitative conversational analysis with quantitative sequential pattern analysis. We describe the SCA approach and provide a detailed example as a proof of concept of its use for the analysis of nurse handoff communication in a medical intensive care unit. This novel approach allows us to characterize the conversational structure, clinical content, disruptions in the conversation, and the inherently phasic nature of nurse handoff communication. The characterization of communication patterns highlights the relationships underlying the verbal content of nurse handoffs with specific emphasis on: the interactive nature of conversation, relevance of role-based (incoming, outgoing) communication requirements, clinical content focus on critical patient-related events, and discussion of pending patient management tasks. We also discuss the applicability of the SCA approach as a method for providing in-depth understanding of the dynamics of communication in other settings and domains. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Differential effects of progesterone and genital stimulation on sequential inhibition of estrous behavior and progesterone receptor expression in the rat brain.

PubMed

Gómez-Camarillo, Madaí A; Beyer, Carlos; Lucio, Rosa Angélica; García-Juárez, Marcos; González-Arenas, Aliesha; Camacho-Arroyo, Ignacio; Komisaruk, Barry R; González-Flores, Oscar

2011-05-30

The effect of genital stimulation, either by vaginocervical stimulation (VCS) using a calibrated vaginal probe combined with manual flank stimulation (FS), or by mounts performed by the male, on the hypothalamus and preoptic area concentration of the progesterone receptors A (PR-A) and B (PR-B) was assessed in ovariectomized (ovx) estrogen-primed rats. VCS/FS or stimulation provided by male mounts, even without intromission, significantly decreased PR-B concentration in the hypoythalamus. Down regulation of PR produced by genital stimulation was quantitatively similar to that elicited by progesterone (P) administration. Bilateral or unilateral transection of the pelvic or the pudendal nerves prevented down regulation elicited by VCS/FS. Repeated VCS/FS elicited lordosis behavior in most ovx estrogen primed rats, but the lordosis intensity was lower than that observed in response to P. P administered to ovx estrogen primed rats, induced sequential inhibition, i.e., failure to display estrous behavior in response to a second P injection (24h after the initial P injection). VCS/FS failed to elicit sequential inhibition, since rats responded with normal estrous behavior to the second injection of P. This suggests that down regulation by VCS, by contrast with P, failed to inhibit the subpopulation of PR involved in the facilitation of estrous behavior by P. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Permanent scalp alopecia related to breast cancer chemotherapy by sequential fluorouracil/epirubicin/cyclophosphamide (FEC) and docetaxel: a prospective study of 20 patients.

PubMed

Kluger, N; Jacot, W; Frouin, E; Rigau, V; Poujol, S; Dereure, O; Guillot, B; Romieu, G; Bessis, D

2012-11-01

To analyze the clinical and histological features of permanent alopecia following a sequential fluorouracil/epirubicin/cyclophosphamide (FEC) and docetaxel regimen for adjuvant breast cancer treatment. Women treated for breast cancer by a sequential adjuvant FEC and docetaxel regimen who developed permanent alopecia diagnosed between 2007 and 2011 were identified from the Department of Dermatology (Saint-Eloi Hospital, Montpellier, France) and the Department of Medical Oncology (CRLC Val d'Aurelle, Montpellier, France). Data were collected regarding demographics, type of cancer, delay of onset after chemotherapy, Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), clinical description of the lesions, scalp biopsies, laboratory explorations investigating steroid hormonal, iron, zinc and thyroid status, therapy and outcome. Twenty white Caucasian females were included. Hair loss presented with a moderate or intense androgenetic-like pattern of scalp alopecia. Biopsy specimen examinations were normal or displayed the androgenetic-like pattern. Laboratory explorations ruled out iron or zinc deficiency and thyroid disorders and confirmed hormonal menopause without hyperandrogenism. The overall mean DLQI score reflected the distressing psychological consequences in the patients' lives. No spontaneous regrowth of the scalp hair was noted. Treatment including vitamins, minoxidil, psoralen and ultraviolet A therapy and spironolactone proved to be ineffective. Permanent and severe alopecia is a newly reported complication of the FEC 100-docetaxel breast cancer regimen.

Dual-mode photosensitive arrays based on the integration of liquid crystal microlenses and CMOS sensors for obtaining the intensity images and wavefronts of objects.

PubMed

Tong, Qing; Lei, Yu; Xin, Zhaowei; Zhang, Xinyu; Sang, Hongshi; Xie, Changsheng

2016-02-08

In this paper, we present a kind of dual-mode photosensitive arrays (DMPAs) constructed by hybrid integration a liquid crystal microlens array (LCMLA) driven electrically and a CMOS sensor array, which can be used to measure both the conventional intensity images and corresponding wavefronts of objects. We utilize liquid crystal materials to shape the microlens array with the electrically tunable focal length. Through switching the voltage signal on and off, the wavefronts and the intensity images can be acquired through the DMPAs, sequentially. We use white light to obtain the object's wavefronts for avoiding losing important wavefront information. We separate the white light wavefronts with a large number of spectral components and then experimentally compare them with single spectral wavefronts of typical red, green and blue lasers, respectively. Then we mix the red, green and blue wavefronts to a composite wavefront containing more optical information of the object.

Classification of Reactor Facility Operational State Using SPRT Methods with Radiation Sensor Networks

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

Ramirez Aviles, Camila A.; Rao, Nageswara S.

We consider the problem of inferring the operational state of a reactor facility by using measurements from a radiation sensor network, which is deployed around the facility’s ventilation stack. The radiation emissions from the stack decay with distance, and the corresponding measurements are inherently random with parameters determined by radiation intensity levels at the sensor locations. We fuse measurements from network sensors to estimate the intensity at the stack, and use this estimate in a one-sided Sequential Probability Ratio Test (SPRT) to infer the on/off state of the reactor facility. We demonstrate the superior performance of this method over conventionalmore » majority vote fusers and individual sensors using (i) test measurements from a network of NaI sensors, and (ii) emulated measurements using radioactive effluents collected at a reactor facility stack. We analytically quantify the performance improvements of individual sensors and their networks with adaptive thresholds over those with fixed ones, by using the packing number of the radiation intensity space.« less

Collection of Wet-Origin Footwear Impressions on Various Surfaces Using an Electrostatic Dust Print Lifter.

PubMed

Hong, Sungwook; Park, Miseon

2018-01-19

Electrostatic dust print lift method is known to be able to recover only dry-origin footwear impression. However, the wet-origin footwear impression could also be recovered using this method. As the amount of dust accumulated before deposition of the wet-origin footwear impression increased, the intensity of the footwear impression lifted with this method became stronger. If the footwear impression is not affected by moisture after it is made, the 28-h old wet-origin footwear impression could be recovered using this method. The intensity of the lifted footwear impression did not decrease significantly even when the number of sequential steps increased as long as the shoe sole is wet. However, when the moisture on the shoe sole depleted, the intensity of the footwear impression decreased sharply. This method has the advantage of being able to enhance the footwear impression without being affected by the footwear impressions deposited in the past. © 2018 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Internal States and Behavioral Decision-Making: Toward an Integration of Emotion and Cognition.

PubMed

Kennedy, Ann; Asahina, Kenta; Hoopfer, Eric; Inagaki, Hidehiko; Jung, Yonil; Lee, Hyosang; Remedios, Ryan; Anderson, David J

2014-01-01

Social interactions, such as an aggressive encounter between two conspecific males or a mating encounter between a male and a female, typically progress from an initial appetitive or motivational phase, to a final consummatory phase. This progression involves both changes in the intensity of the animals' internal state of arousal or motivation and sequential changes in their behavior. How are these internal states, and their escalating intensity, encoded in the brain? Does this escalation drive the progression from the appetitive/motivational to the consummatory phase of a social interaction and, if so, how are appropriate behaviors chosen during this progression? Recent work on social behaviors in flies and mice suggests possible ways in which changes in internal state intensity during a social encounter may be encoded and coupled to appropriate behavioral decisions at appropriate phases of the interaction. These studies may have relevance to understanding how emotion states influence cognitive behavioral decisions at higher levels of brain function. Copyright © 2014 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press; all rights reserved.

TH-CD-202-04: Evaluation of Virtual Non-Contrast Images From a Novel Split-Filter Dual-Energy CT Technique

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

Huang, J; Szczykutowicz, T; Bayouth, J

Purpose: To compare the ability of two dual-energy CT techniques, a novel split-filter single-source technique of superior temporal resolution against an established sequential-scan technique, to remove iodine contrast from images with minimal impact on CT number accuracy. Methods: A phantom containing 8 tissue substitute materials and vials of varying iodine concentrations (1.7–20.1 mg I /mL) was imaged using a Siemens Edge CT scanner. Dual-energy virtual non-contrast (VNC) images were generated using the novel split-filter technique, in which a 120kVp spectrum is filtered by tin and gold to create high- and low-energy spectra with < 1 second temporal separation between themore » acquisition of low- and high-energy data. Additionally, VNC images were generated with the sequential-scan technique (80 and 140kVp) for comparison. CT number accuracy was evaluated for all materials at 15, 25, and 35mGy CTDIvol. Results: The spectral separation was greater for the sequential-scan technique than the split-filter technique with dual-energy ratios of 2.18 and 1.26, respectively. Both techniques successfully removed iodine contrast, resulting in mean CT numbers within 60HU of 0HU (split-filter) and 40HU of 0HU (sequential-scan) for all iodine concentrations. Additionally, for iodine vials of varying diameter (2–20 mm) with the same concentration (9.9 mg I /mL), the system accurately detected iodine for all sizes investigated. Both dual-energy techniques resulted in reduced CT numbers for bone materials (by >400HU for the densest bone). Increasing the imaging dose did not improve the CT number accuracy for bone in VNC images. Conclusion: VNC images from the split-filter technique successfully removed iodine contrast. These results demonstrate a potential for improving dose calculation accuracy and reducing patient imaging dose, while achieving superior temporal resolution in comparison sequential scans. For both techniques, inaccuracies in CT numbers for bone materials necessitate consideration for radiation therapy treatment planning.« less

Using Hadoop MapReduce for Parallel Genetic Algorithms: A Comparison of the Global, Grid and Island Models.

PubMed

Ferrucci, Filomena; Salza, Pasquale; Sarro, Federica

2017-06-29

The need to improve the scalability of Genetic Algorithms (GAs) has motivated the research on Parallel Genetic Algorithms (PGAs), and different technologies and approaches have been used. Hadoop MapReduce represents one of the most mature technologies to develop parallel algorithms. Based on the fact that parallel algorithms introduce communication overhead, the aim of the present work is to understand if, and possibly when, the parallel GAs solutions using Hadoop MapReduce show better performance than sequential versions in terms of execution time. Moreover, we are interested in understanding which PGA model can be most effective among the global, grid, and island models. We empirically assessed the performance of these three parallel models with respect to a sequential GA on a software engineering problem, evaluating the execution time and the achieved speedup. We also analysed the behaviour of the parallel models in relation to the overhead produced by the use of Hadoop MapReduce and the GAs' computational effort, which gives a more machine-independent measure of these algorithms. We exploited three problem instances to differentiate the computation load and three cluster configurations based on 2, 4, and 8 parallel nodes. Moreover, we estimated the costs of the execution of the experimentation on a potential cloud infrastructure, based on the pricing of the major commercial cloud providers. The empirical study revealed that the use of PGA based on the island model outperforms the other parallel models and the sequential GA for all the considered instances and clusters. Using 2, 4, and 8 nodes, the island model achieves an average speedup over the three datasets of 1.8, 3.4, and 7.0 times, respectively. Hadoop MapReduce has a set of different constraints that need to be considered during the design and the implementation of parallel algorithms. The overhead of data store (i.e., HDFS) accesses, communication, and latency requires solutions that reduce data store operations. For this reason, the island model is more suitable for PGAs than the global and grid model, also in terms of costs when executed on a commercial cloud provider.

Sampling strategies for subsampled segmented EPI PRF thermometry in MR guided high intensity focused ultrasound

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

Odéen, Henrik, E-mail: h.odeen@gmail.com; Diakite, Mahamadou; Todd, Nick

2014-09-15

Purpose: To investigate k-space subsampling strategies to achieve fast, large field-of-view (FOV) temperature monitoring using segmented echo planar imaging (EPI) proton resonance frequency shift thermometry for MR guided high intensity focused ultrasound (MRgHIFU) applications. Methods: Five different k-space sampling approaches were investigated, varying sample spacing (equally vs nonequally spaced within the echo train), sampling density (variable sampling density in zero, one, and two dimensions), and utilizing sequential or centric sampling. Three of the schemes utilized sequential sampling with the sampling density varied in zero, one, and two dimensions, to investigate sampling the k-space center more frequently. Two of the schemesmore » utilized centric sampling to acquire the k-space center with a longer echo time for improved phase measurements, and vary the sampling density in zero and two dimensions, respectively. Phantom experiments and a theoretical point spread function analysis were performed to investigate their performance. Variable density sampling in zero and two dimensions was also implemented in a non-EPI GRE pulse sequence for comparison. All subsampled data were reconstructed with a previously described temporally constrained reconstruction (TCR) algorithm. Results: The accuracy of each sampling strategy in measuring the temperature rise in the HIFU focal spot was measured in terms of the root-mean-square-error (RMSE) compared to fully sampled “truth.” For the schemes utilizing sequential sampling, the accuracy was found to improve with the dimensionality of the variable density sampling, giving values of 0.65 °C, 0.49 °C, and 0.35 °C for density variation in zero, one, and two dimensions, respectively. The schemes utilizing centric sampling were found to underestimate the temperature rise, with RMSE values of 1.05 °C and 1.31 °C, for variable density sampling in zero and two dimensions, respectively. Similar subsampling schemes with variable density sampling implemented in zero and two dimensions in a non-EPI GRE pulse sequence both resulted in accurate temperature measurements (RMSE of 0.70 °C and 0.63 °C, respectively). With sequential sampling in the described EPI implementation, temperature monitoring over a 192 × 144 × 135 mm{sup 3} FOV with a temporal resolution of 3.6 s was achieved, while keeping the RMSE compared to fully sampled “truth” below 0.35 °C. Conclusions: When segmented EPI readouts are used in conjunction with k-space subsampling for MR thermometry applications, sampling schemes with sequential sampling, with or without variable density sampling, obtain accurate phase and temperature measurements when using a TCR reconstruction algorithm. Improved temperature measurement accuracy can be achieved with variable density sampling. Centric sampling leads to phase bias, resulting in temperature underestimations.« less

Enhanced rice production but greatly reduced carbon emission following biochar amendment in a metal-polluted rice paddy.

PubMed

Zhang, Afeng; Bian, Rongjun; Li, Lianqing; Wang, Xudong; Zhao, Ying; Hussain, Qaiser; Pan, Genxing

2015-12-01

Soil amendment of biochar (BSA) had been shown effective for mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and alleviating metal stress to plants and microbes in soil. It has not yet been addressed if biochar exerts synergy effects on crop production, GHG emission, and microbial activity in metal-polluted soils. In a field experiment, biochar was amended at sequential rates at 0, 10, 20, and 40 t ha(-1), respectively, in a cadmium- and lead-contaminated rice paddy from the Tai lake Plain, China, before rice cropping in 2010. Fluxes of soil carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) were monitored using a static chamber method during the whole rice growing season (WRGS) of 2011. BSA significantly reduced soil CaCl2 extractable pool of Cd, and DTPA extractable pool of Cd and Pb. As compared to control, soil CO2 emission under BSA was observed to have no change at 10 t ha(-1) but decreased by 16-24% at 20 and 40 t ha(-1). In a similar trend, BSA at 20 and 40 t ha(-1) increased rice yield by 25-26% and thus enhanced ecosystem CO2 sequestration by 47-55% over the control. Seasonal total N2O emission was reduced by 7.1, 30.7, and 48.6% under BSA at 10, 20, and 40 t ha(-1), respectively. Overall, a net reduction in greenhouse gas balance (NGHGB) by 53.9-62.8% and in greenhouse gas intensity (GHGI) by 14.3-28.6% was observed following BSA at 20 and 40 t ha(-1). The present study suggested a great potential of biochar to enhancing grain yield while reducing carbon emission in metal-polluted rice paddies.

SEQUENTIAL REDUCTIVE DEHALOGATION OF CHLOROANILINES BY MICROORGANISMS FROM A METHANOGENIC AQUIFER

EPA Science Inventory

Chloroaniline-based compounds are widely used chem- icals and important contaminants of aquatic and terrestrial environments. We have found that chloroanilines can be biologically dehalogenated in polluted aquifers when methanogenic, but not sulfate-reducing conditions prevail. T...

Sequential updating of a new dynamic pharmacokinetic model for caffeine in premature neonates.

PubMed

Micallef, Sandrine; Amzal, Billy; Bach, Véronique; Chardon, Karen; Tourneux, Pierre; Bois, Frédéric Y

2007-01-01

Caffeine treatment is widely used in nursing care to reduce the risk of apnoea in premature neonates. To check the therapeutic efficacy of the treatment against apnoea, caffeine concentration in blood is an important indicator. The present study was aimed at building a pharmacokinetic model as a basis for a medical decision support tool. In the proposed model, time dependence of physiological parameters is introduced to describe rapid growth of neonates. To take into account the large variability in the population, the pharmacokinetic model is embedded in a population structure. The whole model is inferred within a Bayesian framework. To update caffeine concentration predictions as data of an incoming patient are collected, we propose a fast method that can be used in a medical context. This involves the sequential updating of model parameters (at individual and population levels) via a stochastic particle algorithm. Our model provides better predictions than the ones obtained with models previously published. We show, through an example, that sequential updating improves predictions of caffeine concentration in blood (reduce bias and length of credibility intervals). The update of the pharmacokinetic model using body mass and caffeine concentration data is studied. It shows how informative caffeine concentration data are in contrast to body mass data. This study provides the methodological basis to predict caffeine concentration in blood, after a given treatment if data are collected on the treated neonate.

Sequential structural and optical evolution of MoS2 by chemical synthesis and exfoliation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Ju Hwan; Kim, Jungkil; Oh, Si Duck; Kim, Sung; Choi, Suk-Ho

2015-06-01

Various types of MoS2 structures are successfully obtained by using economical and facile sequential synthesis and exfoliation methods. Spherically-shaped lumps of multilayer (ML) MoS2 are prepared by using a conventional hydrothermal method and were subsequently 1st-exfoliated in hydrazine while being kept in autoclave to be unrolled and separated into five-to-six-layer MoS2 pieces of several-hundred nm in size. The MoS2 MLs are 2nd-exfoliated in sodium naphthalenide under an Ar ambient to finally produce bilayer MoS2 crystals of ~100 nm. The sequential exfoliation processes downsize MoS2 laterally and reduce its number of layers. The three types of MoS2 allotropes exhibit particular optical properties corresponding to their structural differences. These results suggest that two-dimensional MoS2 crystals can be prepared by employing only chemical techniques without starting from high-pressure-synthesized bulk MoS2 crystals.

Combined techniques for characterising pasta structure reveals how the gluten network slows enzymic digestion rate.

PubMed

Zou, Wei; Sissons, Mike; Gidley, Michael J; Gilbert, Robert G; Warren, Frederick J

2015-12-01

The aim of the present study is to characterise the influence of gluten structure on the kinetics of starch hydrolysis in pasta. Spaghetti and powdered pasta were prepared from three different cultivars of durum semolina, and starch was also purified from each cultivar. Digestion kinetic parameters were obtained through logarithm-of-slope analysis, allowing identification of sequential digestion steps. Purified starch and semolina were digested following a single first-order rate constant, while pasta and powdered pasta followed two sequential first-order rate constants. Rate coefficients were altered by pepsin hydrolysis. Confocal microscopy revealed that, following cooking, starch granules were completely swollen for starch, semolina and pasta powder samples. In pasta, they were completely swollen in the external regions, partially swollen in the intermediate region and almost intact in the pasta strand centre. Gluten entrapment accounts for sequential kinetic steps in starch digestion of pasta; the compact microstructure of pasta also reduces digestion rates. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Novel 2D Triple-Resonance NMR Experiments for Sequential Resonance Assignments of Proteins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ding, Keyang; Gronenborn, Angela M.

2002-06-01

We present 2D versions of the popular triple resonance HN(CO) CACB, HN(COCA)CACB, HN(CO)CAHA, and HN(COCA) CAHA experiments, commonly used for sequential resonance assignments of proteins. These experiments provide information about correlations between amino proton and nitrogen chemical shifts and the α- and β-carbon and α-proton chemical shifts within and between amino acid residues. Using these 2D spectra, sequential resonance assignments of H N, N, C α, C β, and H α nuclei are easily achieved. The resolution of these spectra is identical to the well-resolved 2D 15N- 1H HSQC and H(NCO)CA spectra, with slightly reduced sensitivity compared to their 3D and 4D versions. These types of spectra are ideally suited for exploitation in automated assignment procedures and thereby constitute a fast and efficient means for NMR structural determination of small and medium-sized proteins in solution in structural genomics programs.

SU-F-P-26: Study of Radiation Dose Evaluation for Organs at Risk Using MRI in Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

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

Gong, G; Guo, Y; Yin, Y

Purpose: To study the contour and dosimetric feature of organs at risk (OARs) applying magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images in intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) compared to computed tomography (CT) images. Methods: 35 NPC patients was selected into this trail. CT simulation with non-contrast and contrast enhanced scan, MRI simulation with non-contrast and contrast enhanced T1, T2 and diffusion weighted imaging were achieved sequentially. And the OARs were contoured on the CT and MRI images after rigid registration respectively. 9 beams IMRT plan with equal division angle were designed for every patients, and the prescription dosemore » for tumor target was set as 72Gy (2.4Gy/ fration). The boundary display, volume and dose-volume indices of each organ were compared between on MRI and CT images. Results: Compared to CT, MRI showed clearer boundary of brainstem, spinal cord, the deep lobe of Parotid gland and the optical nerve in canal. MRI images increase the volume of lens, optical nerve, while reducing the volume of eye slightly, and the maximum dose of lens, the mean dose of eyes and optical raised in different percentage, while there was no statistical differences were found. The left and right parotid volume on MRI increased by 7.07%, 8.13%, and the mean dose raised by 14.95% (4.01Gy), 18.76% (4.95Gy) with statistical significant difference (p<0.05). The brainstem volume reduced by 9.33% (p<0.05), and the dose of 0.1cm3 volume (D0.1cm3) reduced by mean 8.46% (4.32Gy), and D0.1cm3 of spinal cord increased by 1.5Gy on MRI. Conclusion: It is credible to evaluate the radiation dose of lens, eye and the spinal cord, while it should be necessary to evaluate the dose of brainstem, parotid and the optical nerve applying MRI images sometime, it will be more meaningful for these organs with high risk of radiation injury.« less

Adjunctive treatment of abdominal catastrophes and sepsis with direct peritoneal resuscitation: indications for use in acute care surgery.

PubMed

Smith, Jason W; Neal Garrison, R; Matheson, Paul J; Harbrecht, Brian G; Benns, Matthew V; Franklin, Glen A; Miller, Keith R; Bozeman, Matthew C; David Richardson, J

2014-09-01

The success of damage-control surgery (DCS) for the treatment of trauma has led to its use in other surgical problems such as abdominal sepsis. Previous studies using direct peritoneal resuscitation (DPR) for the treatment of trauma have yielded promising results. We present the results of the application of this technique to patients experiencing abdominal sepsis. We enrolled 88 DCS patients during a 5 year-period (January 2008 to December 2012) into a propensity-matched study to evaluate the utility of using DPR in addition to standard resuscitation. DPR consisted of peritoneal lavage with 2.5% DELFLEX, and abdominal closure was standardized across both groups. Patients were matched using Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) variables. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed. There were no differences between the control and experimental groups with regard to age, sex, ethnicity, or APACHE II at 24 hours. Indications for damage control included pancreatitis, perforated hollow viscous, bowel obstruction, and ischemic enterocolitis. Patients undergoing DPR had both a higher rate of (68% vs. 43%, p < 0.03) and a shorter time to definitive fascial closure (5.9 [3.2] days vs. 7.7 [4.1] days, p < 0.02). DPR patients had a decreased APACHE II and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score compared with the controls at 48 hours. In addition, DPR patients had fewer abdominal complications compared with the controls (RR, 0.57; 95% confidence interval, 0.32-1.01; p = 0.038). Ventilator days and intensive care unit length of stay were both significantly reduced in the DPR group. The DPR group showed a lower overall mortality at 30 days (16% vs. 27%, p = 0.15). DPR reduces time to definitive abdominal closure, increases primary fascial closure, and reduces intra-abdominal complications following DCS. DPR may also attenuate progressive physiologic injury as demonstrated by a reduction in 48-hour intensive care unit severity scores. As a result, DPR following DCS may afford better outcomes to patients experiencing shock. Therapeutic study, level III.

Centralized Reminder/Recall to Increase Immunization Rates in Young Children: How Much Bang for the Buck?

PubMed

Kempe, Allison; Saville, Alison W; Beaty, Brenda; Dickinson, L Miriam; Gurfinkel, Dennis; Eisert, Sheri; Roth, Heather; Herrero, Diana; Trefren, Lynn; Herlihy, Rachel

2017-04-01

We compared the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of: 1) centralized reminder/recall (C-R/R) using the Colorado Immunization Information System (CIIS) versus practice-based reminder/recall (PB-R/R) approaches to increase immunization rates; 2) different levels of C-R/R intensity; and 3) C-R/R with versus without the name of the child's provider. We conducted 3 sequential cluster-randomized trials involving children aged 19 to 25 months in 15 Colorado counties in March 2013 (trial 1), October 2013 (trial 2), and May 2014 (trial 3). In C-R/R counties, the intensity of the intervention decreased sequentially in trials 1 through 3, from 3 to 1 recall messages. In PB-R/R counties, practices were offered training using CIIS and financial support. The percentage of children with up-to-date (UTD) vaccinations was compared 6 months after recall. A mixed-effects model assessed the association between C-R/R versus PB-R/R and UTD rates. C-R/R was more effective in trials 1 to 3 (relative risk = 1.11; 95% confidence interval 1.01-1.20; P = .009). Effectiveness did not decrease with decreasing intervention intensity (P = .59). Costs decreased with decreasing intensity in the C-R/R arm, from $18.72 per child brought UTD in trial 1 to $10.11 in trial 3. Costs were higher and more variable in the PB-R/R arm, ranging from $20.63 to $237.81 per child brought UTD. C-R/R was significantly more effective if the child's practice name was included (P < .0001). C-R/R was more effective and cost-effective than PB-R/R for increasing UTD rates in young children and was most effective if messages included the child's provider name. Three reminders were not more effective than one, which may be explained by the increasing accuracy of contact information in CIIS over the course of the trials. Copyright © 2016 Academic Pediatric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Quantifying and Reducing Uncertainty in Correlated Multi-Area Short-Term Load Forecasting

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

Sun, Yannan; Hou, Zhangshuan; Meng, Da

2016-07-17

In this study, we represent and reduce the uncertainties in short-term electric load forecasting by integrating time series analysis tools including ARIMA modeling, sequential Gaussian simulation, and principal component analysis. The approaches are mainly focusing on maintaining the inter-dependency between multiple geographically related areas. These approaches are applied onto cross-correlated load time series as well as their forecast errors. Multiple short-term prediction realizations are then generated from the reduced uncertainty ranges, which are useful for power system risk analyses.

Fully vs. Sequentially Coupled Loads Analysis of Offshore Wind Turbines

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

Damiani, Rick; Wendt, Fabian; Musial, Walter

The design and analysis methods for offshore wind turbines must consider the aerodynamic and hydrodynamic loads and response of the entire system (turbine, tower, substructure, and foundation) coupled to the turbine control system dynamics. Whereas a fully coupled (turbine and support structure) modeling approach is more rigorous, intellectual property concerns can preclude this approach. In fact, turbine control system algorithms and turbine properties are strictly guarded and often not shared. In many cases, a partially coupled analysis using separate tools and an exchange of reduced sets of data via sequential coupling may be necessary. In the sequentially coupled approach, themore » turbine and substructure designers will independently determine and exchange an abridged model of their respective subsystems to be used in their partners' dynamic simulations. Although the ability to achieve design optimization is sacrificed to some degree with a sequentially coupled analysis method, the central question here is whether this approach can deliver the required safety and how the differences in the results from the fully coupled method could affect the design. This work summarizes the scope and preliminary results of a study conducted for the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement aimed at quantifying differences between these approaches through aero-hydro-servo-elastic simulations of two offshore wind turbines on a monopile and jacket substructure.« less

Sequential avulsions of the tibial tubercle in an adolescent basketball player.

PubMed

Huang, Ying Chieh; Chao, Ying-Hao; Lien, Fang-Chieh

2010-05-01

Tibial tubercle avulsion is an uncommon fracture in physically active adolescents. Sequential avulsion of tibial tubercles is extremely rare. We reported a healthy, active 15-year-old boy who suffered from left tibial tubercle avulsion fracture during a basketball game. He received open reduction and internal fixation with two smooth Kirschner wires and a cannulated screw, with every effort to reduce the plate injury. Long-leg splint was used for protection followed by programmed rehabilitation. He recovered uneventfully and returned to his previous level of activity soon. Another avulsion fracture happened at the right tibial tubercle 3.5 months later when he was playing the basketball. From the encouragement of previous successful treatment, we provided him open reduction and fixation with two small-caliber screws. He recovered uneventfully and returned to his previous level of activity soon. No genu recurvatum or other deformity was happening in our case at the end of 2-year follow-up. No evidence of Osgood-Schlatter disease or osteogenesis imperfecta was found. Sequential avulsion fractures of tibial tubercles are rare. Good functional recovery can often be obtained like our case if we treat it well. To a physically active adolescent, we should never overstate the risk of sequential avulsion of the other leg to postpone the return to an active, functional life.

Aging effects in sequential modulations of poorer-strategy effects during execution of memory strategies.

PubMed

Hinault, Thomas; Lemaire, Patrick; Touron, Dayna

2017-02-01

In this study, we asked young adults and older adults to encode pairs of words. For each item, they were told which strategy to use, interactive imagery or rote repetition. Data revealed poorer-strategy effects in both young adults and older adults: Participants obtained better performance when executing better strategies (i.e., interactive-imagery strategy to encode pairs of concrete words; rote-repetition strategy on pairs of abstract words) than with poorer strategies (i.e., interactive-imagery strategy on pairs of abstract words; rote-repetition strategy on pairs of concrete words). Crucially, we showed that sequential modulations of poorer-strategy effects (i.e., poorer-strategy effects being larger when previous items were encoded with better relative to poorer strategies), previously demonstrated in arithmetic, generalise to memory strategies. We also found reduced sequential modulations of poorer-strategy effects in older adults relative to young adults. Finally, sequential modulations of poorer-strategy effects correlated with measures of cognitive control processes, suggesting that these processes underlie efficient trial-to-trial modulations during strategy execution. Differences in correlations with cognitive control processes were also found between older adults and young adults. These findings have important implications regarding mechanisms underlying memory strategy execution and age differences in memory performance.

Effect of the resuspension technique on distribution of the heavy metals in sediment and suspended particulate matter.

PubMed

Pourabadehei, Mehdi; Mulligan, Catherine N

2016-06-01

Harbour areas play important roles in the economy worldwide. Human activities, however, in those areas, generate contamination, which mostly accumulates in sediments. On the other hand, harbour areas have been facing deposition of significant amounts of sediment each year. As a consequence, shallowness and accumulation of contaminants in sediment become challenging issues in harbours. Among the various management options for remediation of contaminated sediments in harbours, resuspension technique was introduced as a new approach to address those issues. The concept of the resuspension method is that finer sediments have a greater tendency to adsorb the contamination. Therefore, removing the finer sediments instead of dredging the whole contaminated area is the main goal of the resuspension technique. The objective of this paper was to evaluate the effect of the resuspension method on reducing the concentration of contamination and distribution of heavy metals in sediment and suspended particulate matter. The resuspension method was successful in reducing the concentration of seven selected heavy metals (Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd and Pb) by removing just 4% of the contaminated sediment. The contamination intensity in the sediment, presented by geoaccumulation index, was reduced for Cd and Pb as the main contaminants by 26 and 28 percent and the rest of the selected heavy metals returned to the natural level. The results of the sequential extraction tests and enrichment factor implied that the resuspension technique is capable of decreasing the risk of remobilization of heavy metals in the aquatic ecosystem. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Particle Smoother with Sequential Importance Resampling for soil hydraulic parameter estimation: A lysimeter experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Montzka, Carsten; Hendricks Franssen, Harrie-Jan; Moradkhani, Hamid; Pütz, Thomas; Han, Xujun; Vereecken, Harry

2013-04-01

An adequate description of soil hydraulic properties is essential for a good performance of hydrological forecasts. So far, several studies showed that data assimilation could reduce the parameter uncertainty by considering soil moisture observations. However, these observations and also the model forcings were recorded with a specific measurement error. It seems a logical step to base state updating and parameter estimation on observations made at multiple time steps, in order to reduce the influence of outliers at single time steps given measurement errors and unknown model forcings. Such outliers could result in erroneous state estimation as well as inadequate parameters. This has been one of the reasons to use a smoothing technique as implemented for Bayesian data assimilation methods such as the Ensemble Kalman Filter (i.e. Ensemble Kalman Smoother). Recently, an ensemble-based smoother has been developed for state update with a SIR particle filter. However, this method has not been used for dual state-parameter estimation. In this contribution we present a Particle Smoother with sequentially smoothing of particle weights for state and parameter resampling within a time window as opposed to the single time step data assimilation used in filtering techniques. This can be seen as an intermediate variant between a parameter estimation technique using global optimization with estimation of single parameter sets valid for the whole period, and sequential Monte Carlo techniques with estimation of parameter sets evolving from one time step to another. The aims are i) to improve the forecast of evaporation and groundwater recharge by estimating hydraulic parameters, and ii) to reduce the impact of single erroneous model inputs/observations by a smoothing method. In order to validate the performance of the proposed method in a real world application, the experiment is conducted in a lysimeter environment.

Simultaneous determination of rutin and ascorbic acid in a sequential injection lab-at-valve system.

PubMed

Al-Shwaiyat, Mohammed Khair E A; Miekh, Yuliia V; Denisenko, Tatyana A; Vishnikin, Andriy B; Andruch, Vasil; Bazel, Yaroslav R

2018-02-05

A green, simple, accurate and highly sensitive sequential injection lab-at-valve procedure has been developed for the simultaneous determination of ascorbic acid (Asc) and rutin using 18-molybdo-2-phosphate Wells-Dawson heteropoly anion (18-MPA). The method is based on the dependence of the reaction rate between 18-MPA and reducing agents on the solution pH. Only Asc is capable of interacting with 18-MPA at pH 4.7, while at pH 7.4 the reaction with both Asc and rutin proceeds simultaneously. In order to improve the precision and sensitivity of the analysis, to minimize reagent consumption and to remove the Schlieren effect, the manifold for the sequential injection analysis was supplemented with external reaction chamber, and the reaction mixture was segmented. By the reduction of 18-MPA with reducing agents one- and two-electron heteropoly blues are formed. The fraction of one-electron heteropoly blue increases at low concentrations of the reducer. Measurement of the absorbance at a wavelength corresponding to the isobestic point allows strictly linear calibration graphs to be obtained. The calibration curves were linear in the concentration ranges of 0.3-24mgL -1 and 0.2-14mgL -1 with detection limits of 0.13mgL -1 and 0.09mgL -1 for rutin and Asc, respectively. The determination of rutin was possible in the presence of up to a 20-fold molar excess of Asc. The method was applied to the determination of Asc and rutin in ascorutin tablets with acceptable accuracy and precision (1-2%). Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Fractionation and ecotoxicological implication of potentially toxic metals in sediments of three urban rivers and the Lagos Lagoon, Nigeria, West Africa.

PubMed

Oyeyiola, Aderonke O; Davidson, Christine M; Olayinka, Kehinde O; Alo, Babajide I

2014-11-01

The potential environmental impact of sediment-bound Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb and Zn in three trans-urban rivers in Lagos state and in the Lagos Lagoon was assessed by use of the modified Community Bureau of Reference (BCR) sequential extraction. The quality of the data was checked using BCR CRM 143R and BCR CRM 701. Good agreement was obtained between found and certified/indicative values. Of the rivers, the Odo-Iyaalaro, was generally the most contaminated and the Ibeshe the least. Higher concentrations of metals were generally found in the dry season compared to the wet season. Cadmium and Zn were released mostly in the acid exchangeable step of the sequential extraction, indicating that they have the greatest potential mobility and bioavailability of the analytes studied. Chromium and Cu were associated mainly with the reducible and oxidisable fractions, and Pb predominantly with the reducible and residual fractions. Sediments with the highest pseudototal analyte concentrations also released higher proportions of analytes earlier in the sequential extraction procedure. The study suggests that, during the dry season, potentially toxic metals (PTM) may accumulate in sediments in relatively labile forms that are released and can potentially be transported or bioaccumulate in the rainy season. Application of risk assessment codes and Hankanson potential risk indices indicated that Cd was the element of greatest concern in the Lagos Lagoon system. The study indicated that there is a need to strengthen environmental management and pollution control measures to reduce risk from PTM, but that even relatively simple strategies, such as seasonal restrictions on dredging and fishing, could be beneficial.

Scene Text Recognition using Similarity and a Lexicon with Sparse Belief Propagation

PubMed Central

Weinman, Jerod J.; Learned-Miller, Erik; Hanson, Allen R.

2010-01-01

Scene text recognition (STR) is the recognition of text anywhere in the environment, such as signs and store fronts. Relative to document recognition, it is challenging because of font variability, minimal language context, and uncontrolled conditions. Much information available to solve this problem is frequently ignored or used sequentially. Similarity between character images is often overlooked as useful information. Because of language priors, a recognizer may assign different labels to identical characters. Directly comparing characters to each other, rather than only a model, helps ensure that similar instances receive the same label. Lexicons improve recognition accuracy but are used post hoc. We introduce a probabilistic model for STR that integrates similarity, language properties, and lexical decision. Inference is accelerated with sparse belief propagation, a bottom-up method for shortening messages by reducing the dependency between weakly supported hypotheses. By fusing information sources in one model, we eliminate unrecoverable errors that result from sequential processing, improving accuracy. In experimental results recognizing text from images of signs in outdoor scenes, incorporating similarity reduces character recognition error by 19%, the lexicon reduces word recognition error by 35%, and sparse belief propagation reduces the lexicon words considered by 99.9% with a 12X speedup and no loss in accuracy. PMID:19696446

Reduced intensity conditioning allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation for adult acute myeloid leukemia in complete remission - a review from the Acute Leukemia Working Party of the EBMT

PubMed Central

Sengsayadeth, Salyka; Savani, Bipin N.; Blaise, Didier; Malard, Florent; Nagler, Arnon; Mohty, Mohamad

2015-01-01

Acute myeloid leukemia is the most common indication for an allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant. The introduction of reduced intensity conditioning has expanded the recipient pool for transplantation, which has importantly made transplant an option for the more commonly affected older age groups. Reduced intensity conditioning allogeneic transplantation is currently the standard of care for patients with intermediate or high-risk acute myeloid leukemia and is now most often employed in older patients and those with medical comorbidities. Despite being curative for a significant proportion of patients, post-transplant relapse remains a challenge in the reduced intensity conditioning setting. Herein we discuss the studies that demonstrate the feasibility of reduced intensity conditioning allogeneic transplants, compare the outcomes of reduced intensity conditioning versus chemotherapy and conventional myeloablative conditioning regimens, describe the optimal donor and stem cell source, and consider the impact of post-remission consolidation, comorbidities, center experience, and more intensive (reduced toxicity conditioning) regimens on outcomes. Additionally, we discuss the need for further prospective studies to optimize transplant outcomes. PMID:26130513

Heat accumulation during sequential cortical bone drilling.

PubMed

Palmisano, Andrew C; Tai, Bruce L; Belmont, Barry; Irwin, Todd A; Shih, Albert; Holmes, James R

2016-03-01

Significant research exists regarding heat production during single-hole bone drilling. No published data exist regarding repetitive sequential drilling. This study elucidates the phenomenon of heat accumulation for sequential drilling with both Kirschner wires (K wires) and standard two-flute twist drills. It was hypothesized that cumulative heat would result in a higher temperature with each subsequent drill pass. Nine holes in a 3 × 3 array were drilled sequentially on moistened cadaveric tibia bone kept at body temperature (about 37 °C). Four thermocouples were placed at the center of four adjacent holes and 2 mm below the surface. A battery-driven hand drill guided by a servo-controlled motion system was used. Six samples were drilled with each tool (2.0 mm K wire and 2.0 and 2.5 mm standard drills). K wire drilling increased temperature from 5 °C at the first hole to 20 °C at holes 6 through 9. A similar trend was found in standard drills with less significant increments. The maximum temperatures of both tools increased from <0.5 °C to nearly 13 °C. The difference between drill sizes was found to be insignificant (P > 0.05). In conclusion, heat accumulated during sequential drilling, with size difference being insignificant. K wire produced more heat than its twist-drill counterparts. This study has demonstrated the heat accumulation phenomenon and its significant effect on temperature. Maximizing the drilling field and reducing the number of drill passes may decrease bone injury. © 2015 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Anticipating conflict facilitates controlled stimulus-response selection

PubMed Central

Correa, Ángel; Rao, Anling; Nobre, Anna C.

2014-01-01

Cognitive control can be triggered in reaction to previous conflict, as suggested by the finding of sequential effects in conflict tasks. Can control also be triggered proactively by presenting cues predicting conflict (‘proactive control’)? We exploited the high temporal resolution of event-related potentials (ERPs) and controlled for sequential effects to ask whether proactive control based on anticipating conflict modulates neural activity related to cognitive control, as may be predicted from the conflict-monitoring model. ERPs associated with conflict detection (N2) were measured during a cued flanker task. Symbolic cues were either informative or neutral with respect to whether the target involved conflicting or congruent responses. Sequential effects were controlled by analysing the congruency of the previous trial. The results showed that cuing conflict facilitated conflict resolution and reduced the N2 latency. Other potentials (frontal N1 and P3) were also modulated by cuing conflict. Cuing effects were most evident after congruent than after incongruent trials. This interaction between cuing and sequential effects suggests neural overlap between the control networks triggered by proactive and reactive signals. This finding clarifies why previous neuroimaging studies, in which reactive sequential effects were not controlled, have rarely found anticipatory effects upon conflict-related activity. Finally, the high temporal resolution of ERPs was critical to reveal a temporal modulation of conflict detection by proactive control. This novel finding suggests that anticipating conflict speeds up conflict detection and resolution. Recent research suggests that this anticipatory mechanism may be mediated by pre-activation of the ACC during the preparatory interval. PMID:18823248

[Clinical study on the treatment of acute paraquat poisoning with sequential whole gastric and bowel irrigation].

PubMed

Zhao, Bo; Dai, Jingbin; Li, Jun; Xiao, Lei; Sun, Baoquan; Liu, Naizheng; Zhang, Yanmin; Jian, Xiangdong

2015-03-01

To explore the clinical efficacy of early application of sequential gastrointestinal lavage in patients with acute paraquat poisoning by analyzing the clinical data of 97 patients. A total of 97 eligible patients with acute paraquat poisoning were divided into conventional treatment group (n = 48) and sequential treatment group (n = 49). The conventional treatment group received routine gastric lavage with water. Then 30 g of montmorillonite powder, 30 g of activated charcoal, and mannitol were given to remove intestinal toxins once a day for five days. The sequential treatment group received 60 g of montmorillonite powder for oral administration, followed by small-volume low-pressure manual gastric lavage with 2.5%bicarbonate liquid. Then 30 g of activated charcoal, 30 g of montmorillonite powder, and polyethylene glycol electrolyte lavage solution were given one after another for gastrointestinal lavage once a day for five days. Both groups received large doses of corticosteroids, blood perfusion, and anti-oxidation treatment. The levels of serum potassium, serum amylase (AMY) alanine aminotransferase (ALT), total bilirubin (TBIL), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine (Cr), lactate (Lac), and PaO₂of patients were determined at 1, 3, 5, 7, and 10 days. Laxative time, mortality, and survival time of dead cases were evaluated in the two groups. The incidence rates of hypokalemia (<3.5 mmol/L) and AMY (>110 U/L) were significantly lower in the sequential treatment group than in the conventional treatment group (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences in the incidence of ALT (>80 U/L), TBIL (>34.2 µmol/L), BUN (>7.2 mmol/L), and Cr (>177 µmol/L) between the two groups (P>0.05). However, the highest levels of ALT, TBIL, BUN, Cr, and Lac were significantly lower in the sequential treatment group than in the conventional treatment group (P < 0.05). Moreover, the sequential treatment group had significantly lower incidence of PaO₂(<60 mmHg), shorter average laxative time, lower mortality, and longer survival time of dead cases than the conventional treatment group (P < 0.05). The early application of sequential gastrointestinal lavage can shorten laxative time, alleviate organ damage in the liver, kidney, lung, and pancreas, reduce mortality, and prolong the survival time of dead cases in patients with acute paraquat poisoning.

Trial Sequential Analysis in systematic reviews with meta-analysis.

PubMed

Wetterslev, Jørn; Jakobsen, Janus Christian; Gluud, Christian

2017-03-06

Most meta-analyses in systematic reviews, including Cochrane ones, do not have sufficient statistical power to detect or refute even large intervention effects. This is why a meta-analysis ought to be regarded as an interim analysis on its way towards a required information size. The results of the meta-analyses should relate the total number of randomised participants to the estimated required meta-analytic information size accounting for statistical diversity. When the number of participants and the corresponding number of trials in a meta-analysis are insufficient, the use of the traditional 95% confidence interval or the 5% statistical significance threshold will lead to too many false positive conclusions (type I errors) and too many false negative conclusions (type II errors). We developed a methodology for interpreting meta-analysis results, using generally accepted, valid evidence on how to adjust thresholds for significance in randomised clinical trials when the required sample size has not been reached. The Lan-DeMets trial sequential monitoring boundaries in Trial Sequential Analysis offer adjusted confidence intervals and restricted thresholds for statistical significance when the diversity-adjusted required information size and the corresponding number of required trials for the meta-analysis have not been reached. Trial Sequential Analysis provides a frequentistic approach to control both type I and type II errors. We define the required information size and the corresponding number of required trials in a meta-analysis and the diversity (D 2 ) measure of heterogeneity. We explain the reasons for using Trial Sequential Analysis of meta-analysis when the actual information size fails to reach the required information size. We present examples drawn from traditional meta-analyses using unadjusted naïve 95% confidence intervals and 5% thresholds for statistical significance. Spurious conclusions in systematic reviews with traditional meta-analyses can be reduced using Trial Sequential Analysis. Several empirical studies have demonstrated that the Trial Sequential Analysis provides better control of type I errors and of type II errors than the traditional naïve meta-analysis. Trial Sequential Analysis represents analysis of meta-analytic data, with transparent assumptions, and better control of type I and type II errors than the traditional meta-analysis using naïve unadjusted confidence intervals.

How to Fabricate Functional Artificial Luciferases for Bioassays.

PubMed

Kim, Sung-Bae; Fujii, Rika

2016-01-01

The present protocol introduces fabrication of artificial luciferases (ALuc(®)) by extracting the consensus amino acids from the alignment of copepod luciferase sequences. The made ALucs have unique sequential identities that are phylogenetically distinctive from those of any existing copepod luciferase. Some ALucs exhibited heat stability, and strong and greatly prolonged optical intensities. The made ALucs are applicable to various bioassays as an optical readout, including live cell imaging, single-chain probes, and bioluminescent tags of antibodies. The present protocol guides on how to fabricate a unique artificial luciferase with designed optical properties and functionalities.

A simple optode based method for imaging O2 distribution and dynamics in tap water biofilms.

PubMed

Staal, M; Prest, E I; Vrouwenvelder, J S; Rickelt, L F; Kühl, M

2011-10-15

A ratiometric luminescence intensity imaging approach is presented, which enables spatial O2 measurements in biofilm reactors with transparent planar O2 optodes. Optodes consist of an O2 sensitive luminescent dye immobilized in a 1-10 μm thick polymeric layer on a transparent carrier, e.g. a glass window. The method is based on sequential imaging of the O2 dependent luminescence intensity, which are subsequently normalized with luminescent intensity images recorded under anoxic conditions. We present 2-dimensional O2 distribution images at the base of a tap water biofilm measured with the new ratiometric method and compare the results with O2 distribution images obtained in the same biofilm reactor with luminescence lifetime imaging. Using conventional digital cameras, such simple normalized luminescence intensity imaging can yield images of 2-dimensional O2 distributions with a high signal-to-noise ratio and spatial resolution comparable or even surpassing those obtained with expensive and complex luminescence lifetime imaging systems. The method can be applied to biofilm growth incubators allowing intermittent experimental shifts to anoxic conditions or in systems, in which the O2 concentration is depleted during incubation. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Investigation of the Iterative Phase Retrieval Algorithm for Interferometric Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gombkötő, Balázs; Kornis, János

2010-04-01

Sequentially recorded intensity patterns reflected from a coherently illuminated diffuse object can be used to reconstruct the complex amplitude of the scattered beam. Several iterative phase retrieval algorithms are known in the literature to obtain the initially unknown phase from these longitudinally displaced intensity patterns. When two sequences are recorded in two different states of a centimeter sized object in optical setups that are similar to digital holographic interferometry-but omitting the reference wave-, displacement, deformation, or shape measurement is theoretically possible. To do this, the retrieved phase pattern should contain information not only about the intensities and locations of the point sources of the object surface, but their relative phase as well. Not only experiments require strict mechanical precision to record useful data, but even in simulations several parameters influence the capabilities of iterative phase retrieval, such as object to camera distance range, uniform or varying camera step sequence, speckle field characteristics, and sampling. Experiments were done to demonstrate this principle with an as large as 5×5 cm sized deformable object as well. Good initial results were obtained in an imaging setup, where the intensity pattern sequences were recorded near the image plane.

Pros and cons of immediately sequential bilateral cataract surgery (ISBCS).

PubMed

Grzybowski, Andrzej; Wasinska-Borowiec, Weronika; Claoué, Charles

2016-01-01

Immediately sequential bilateral cataract surgery (ISBCS) is currently a "hot topic" in ophthalmology. There are well-documented advantages in terms of quicker visual rehabilitation and reduced costs. The risk of bilateral simultaneous endophthalmitis and bilateral blindness is now recognized to be minuscule with the advent of intracameral antibiotics and modern management of endophthalmitis. Refractive surprises are rare for normal eyes and with the use of optical biometry. Where a general anesthetic is indicated for cataract surgery, the risk of death from a second anesthetic is much higher than the risk of blindness. A widely recognized protocol from the International Society of Bilateral Cataract Surgeons needs to be adhered to if surgeons wish to start practicing ISBCS.

Discrete filtering techniques applied to sequential GPS range measurements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vangraas, Frank

1987-01-01

The basic navigation solution is described for position and velocity based on range and delta range (Doppler) measurements from NAVSTAR Global Positioning System satellites. The application of discrete filtering techniques is examined to reduce the white noise distortions on the sequential range measurements. A second order (position and velocity states) Kalman filter is implemented to obtain smoothed estimates of range by filtering the dynamics of the signal from each satellite separately. Test results using a simulated GPS receiver show a steady-state noise reduction, the input noise variance divided by the output noise variance, of a factor of four. Recommendations for further noise reduction based on higher order Kalman filters or additional delta range measurements are included.

Intense or malicious? The decoding of eyebrow-lowering frowning in laughter animations depends on the presentation mode

PubMed Central

Hofmann, Jennifer

2014-01-01

Joyful laughter is the only laughter type that has received sufficient validation in terms of morphology (i.e., face, voice). Still, it is unclear whether joyful laughter involves one prototypical facial-morphological configuration (Duchenne Display and mouth opening) to be decoded as such, or whether qualitatively distinct facial markers occur at different stages of laughter intensity. It was proposed that intense laughter goes along with eyebrow-lowering frowning, but in decoding studies of pictures, these “frowns” were associated with perceived maliciousness rather than higher intensity. Thus, two studies were conducted to investigate the influence of the presentation mode (static, dynamic) and eyebrow-lowering frowning on the perception of laughter animations of different intensity. In Study 1, participants (N = 110) were randomly assigned to two presentation modes (static pictures vs. dynamic videos) to watch animations of Duchenne laughter and laughter with added eyebrow-lowering frowning. Ratings on the intensity, valence, and contagiousness of the laughter were completed. In Study 2, participants (N = 55) saw both animation types in both presentation modes sequentially. Results confirmed that the static presentation lead to eyebrow-lowering frowning in intense laughter being perceived as more malicious, less intense, less benevolent, and less contagious compared to the dynamic presentation. This was replicated for maliciousness in Study 2, although participants could potentially infer the “frown” as a natural element of the laugh, as they had seen the video and the picture. Thus, a dynamic presentation is necessary for detecting graduating intensity markers in the joyfully laughing face. While this study focused on the decoding, future studies should investigate the encoding of frowning in laughter. This is important, as tools assessing facially expressed joy might need to account for laughter intensity markers that differ from the Duchenne Display. PMID:25477836

Intense or malicious? The decoding of eyebrow-lowering frowning in laughter animations depends on the presentation mode.

PubMed

Hofmann, Jennifer

2014-01-01

Joyful laughter is the only laughter type that has received sufficient validation in terms of morphology (i.e., face, voice). Still, it is unclear whether joyful laughter involves one prototypical facial-morphological configuration (Duchenne Display and mouth opening) to be decoded as such, or whether qualitatively distinct facial markers occur at different stages of laughter intensity. It was proposed that intense laughter goes along with eyebrow-lowering frowning, but in decoding studies of pictures, these "frowns" were associated with perceived maliciousness rather than higher intensity. Thus, two studies were conducted to investigate the influence of the presentation mode (static, dynamic) and eyebrow-lowering frowning on the perception of laughter animations of different intensity. In Study 1, participants (N = 110) were randomly assigned to two presentation modes (static pictures vs. dynamic videos) to watch animations of Duchenne laughter and laughter with added eyebrow-lowering frowning. Ratings on the intensity, valence, and contagiousness of the laughter were completed. In Study 2, participants (N = 55) saw both animation types in both presentation modes sequentially. Results confirmed that the static presentation lead to eyebrow-lowering frowning in intense laughter being perceived as more malicious, less intense, less benevolent, and less contagious compared to the dynamic presentation. This was replicated for maliciousness in Study 2, although participants could potentially infer the "frown" as a natural element of the laugh, as they had seen the video and the picture. Thus, a dynamic presentation is necessary for detecting graduating intensity markers in the joyfully laughing face. While this study focused on the decoding, future studies should investigate the encoding of frowning in laughter. This is important, as tools assessing facially expressed joy might need to account for laughter intensity markers that differ from the Duchenne Display.

Particle size and chemical control of heavy metals in bed sediment from the Rouge River, southeast Michigan

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

Murray, K.S.; Cauvet, D.; Lybeer, M.

1999-04-01

Anthropogenic activities related to 100 years of industrialization in the metropolitan Detroit area have significantly enriched the bed sediment of the lower reaches of the Rouge River in Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb, and Zn. These enriched elements, which may represent a threat to biota, are predominantly present in sequentially extracted reducible and oxidizable chemical phases with small contributions from residual phases. In size-fractionated samples trace metal concentrations generally increase with decreasing particle size, with the greatest contribution to this increase from the oxidizable phase. Experimental results obtained on replicate samples of river sediment demonstrate that the accuracy of themore » sequential extraction procedure, evaluated by comparing the sums of the three individual fractions, is generally better than 10%. Oxidizable and reducible phases therefore constitute important sources of potentially available heavy metals that need to be explicitly considered when evaluating sediment and water quality impacts on biota.« less

Cluster designs to assess the prevalence of acute malnutrition by lot quality assurance sampling: a validation study by computer simulation

PubMed Central

Olives, Casey; Pagano, Marcello; Deitchler, Megan; Hedt, Bethany L; Egge, Kari; Valadez, Joseph J

2009-01-01

Traditional lot quality assurance sampling (LQAS) methods require simple random sampling to guarantee valid results. However, cluster sampling has been proposed to reduce the number of random starting points. This study uses simulations to examine the classification error of two such designs, a 67×3 (67 clusters of three observations) and a 33×6 (33 clusters of six observations) sampling scheme to assess the prevalence of global acute malnutrition (GAM). Further, we explore the use of a 67×3 sequential sampling scheme for LQAS classification of GAM prevalence. Results indicate that, for independent clusters with moderate intracluster correlation for the GAM outcome, the three sampling designs maintain approximate validity for LQAS analysis. Sequential sampling can substantially reduce the average sample size that is required for data collection. The presence of intercluster correlation can impact dramatically the classification error that is associated with LQAS analysis. PMID:20011037

Expert system for identification of simultaneous and sequential reactor fuel failures with gas tagging

DOEpatents

Gross, K.C.

1994-07-26

Failure of a fuel element in a nuclear reactor core is determined by a gas tagging failure detection system and method. Failures are catalogued and characterized after the event so that samples of the reactor's cover gas are taken at regular intervals and analyzed by mass spectroscopy. Employing a first set of systematic heuristic rules which are applied in a transformed node space allows the number of node combinations which must be processed within a barycentric algorithm to be substantially reduced. A second set of heuristic rules treats the tag nodes of the most recent one or two leakers as background'' gases, further reducing the number of trial node combinations. Lastly, a fuzzy'' set theory formalism minimizes experimental uncertainties in the identification of the most likely volumes of tag gases. This approach allows for the identification of virtually any number of sequential leaks and up to five simultaneous gas leaks from fuel elements. 14 figs.

Benefit and harm of adding ketamine to an opioid in a patient-controlled analgesia device for the control of postoperative pain: systematic review and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials with trial sequential analyses.

PubMed

Assouline, Benjamin; Tramèr, Martin R; Kreienbühl, Lukas; Elia, Nadia

2016-12-01

Ketamine is often added to opioids in patient-controlled analgesia devices. We tested whether in surgical patients, ketamine added to an opioid patient-controlled analgesia decreased pain intensity by ≥25%, cumulative opioid consumption by ≥30%, the risk of postoperative nausea and vomiting by ≥30%, the risk of respiratory adverse effects by ≥50%, and increased the risk of hallucination not more than 2-fold. In addition, we searched for evidence of dose-responsiveness. Nineteen randomized trials (1349 adults, 104 children) testing different ketamine regimens added to various opioids were identified through searches in databases and bibliographies (to 04.2016). In 9 trials (595 patients), pain intensity at rest at 24 hours was decreased by 32% with ketamine (weighted mean difference -1.1 cm on the 0-10 cm visual analog scale [98% CI, -1.8 to -0.39], P < 0.001). In 7 trials (495 patients), cumulative 24 hours morphine consumption was decreased by 28% with ketamine (weighted mean difference -12.9 mg [-22.4 to -3.35], P = 0.002). In 7 trials (435 patients), the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting was decreased by 44% with ketamine (risk ratio 0.56 [0.40 to 0.78], P < 0.001). There was no evidence of a difference in the incidence of respiratory adverse events (9 trials, 871 patients; risk ratio 0.31 [0.06 to 1.51], P = 0.08) or hallucination (7 trials, 690 patients; odds ratio 1.16 [0.47 to 2.79], P = 0.70). Trial sequential analyses confirmed the significant benefit of ketamine on pain intensity, cumulative morphine consumption, and postoperative nausea and vomiting and its inability to double the risk of hallucination. The available data did not allow us to make a conclusion on respiratory adverse events or to establish dose-responsiveness.

Endocide-Induced Abnormal Growth Forms of Invasive Giant Salvinia (Salvinia molesta).

PubMed

Li, Shiyou; Wang, Ping; Su, Zushang; Lozano, Emily; LaMaster, Olivia; Grogan, Jason B; Weng, Yuhui; Decker, Thomas; Findeisen, John; McGarrity, Monica

2018-05-22

Giant salvinia (Salvinia molesta) is one of the most noxious invasive species in the world. The fern is known to have primary, secondary, and tertiary growth forms, which are also commonly hypothesized as growth stages. The identification of these forms is primarily based on the size and folding status of the floating leaves. However, we identified 12 forms in the greenhouse and the field. Our experiments showed that the folding of floating leaves is a reversible trait dependent on water access. The floating leaves quickly fold in response to water shortage, reducing water loss and needs, decreasing growth, and avoiding trichome damage. The leaves re-open to allow trichomes repel water and enhance growth when having adequate water supply. Larger secondary or tertiary forms do not produce small-leaf primary forms without high intensity stress. These results do not support the hypothesis that three growth forms represent sequential growth stages. The abnormal small-leaf forms are the result of endocide-induced autotoxicity and some of them never grow into other forms. The development of abnormal forms and reversible leaf folding strategy in response to high stress along with rapid asexual reproduction are major adaptive traits contributing to the invasiveness of S. molesta.

Working data together: the accountability and reflexivity of digital astronomical practice.

PubMed

Hoeppe, Götz

2014-04-01

Drawing on ethnomethodology, this article considers the sequential work of astronomers who combine observations from telescopes at two observatories in making a data set for scientific analyses. By witnessing the induction of a graduate student into this work, it aims at revealing the backgrounded assumptions that enter it. I find that these researchers achieved a consistent data set by engaging diverse evidential contexts as contexts of accountability. Employing graphs that visualize data in conventional representational formats of observational astronomy, experienced practitioners held each other accountable by using an 'implicit cosmology', a shared (but sometimes negotiable) characterization of 'what the universe looks like' through these formats. They oriented to data as malleable, that is, as containing artifacts of the observing situation which are unspecified initially but can be defined and subsequently removed. Alternating between reducing data and deducing astronomical phenomena, they ascribed artifacts to local observing conditions or computational procedures, thus maintaining previously stabilized phenomena reflexively. As researchers in data-intensive sciences are often removed from the instruments that generated the data they use, this example demonstrates how scientists can achieve agreement by engaging stable 'global' data sets and diverse contexts of accountability, allowing them to bypass troubling features and limitations of data generators.

TRIO: Burst Buffer Based I/O Orchestration

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

Wang, Teng; Oral, H Sarp; Pritchard, Michael

The growing computing power on leadership HPC systems is often accompanied by ever-escalating failure rates. Checkpointing is a common defensive mechanism used by scientific applications for failure recovery. However, directly writing the large and bursty checkpointing dataset to parallel filesystem can incur significant I/O contention on storage servers. Such contention in turn degrades the raw bandwidth utilization of storage servers and prolongs the average job I/O time of concurrent applications. Recently burst buffer has been proposed as an intermediate layer to absorb the bursty I/O traffic from compute nodes to storage backend. But an I/O orchestration mechanism is still desiredmore » to efficiently move checkpointing data from bursty buffers to storage backend. In this paper, we propose a burst buffer based I/O orchestration framework, named TRIO, to intercept and reshape the bursty writes for better sequential write traffic to storage severs. Meanwhile, TRIO coordinates the flushing orders among concurrent burst buffers to alleviate the contention on storage server bandwidth. Our experimental results reveal that TRIO can deliver 30.5% higher bandwidth and reduce the average job I/O time by 37% on average for data-intensive applications in various checkpointing scenarios.« less

Intrauterine administration of CDB-2914 (Ulipristal) suppresses the endometrium of rhesus macaques

PubMed Central

Brenner, Robert M.; Slayden, Ov D.; Nath, Anita; Tsong, YY; Sitruk-Ware, Regine

2010-01-01

Background Ulipristal (CDB-2914; UPA) is a progesterone receptor modulator with contraceptive potential. To test its effects when delivered by an intrauterine system (IUS), we prepared control and UPA-filled IUS and evaluated their effects in rhesus macaques. Study Design Short lengths of Silastic tubing either empty (n=3), or containing UPA (n=5), were inserted into the uteri of 8 ovariectomized macaques. Animals were cycled by sequential treatment with estradiol and progesterone. After 3.5 cycles, the uterus was removed. Results During treatment, animals with an empty IUS menstruated for a mean total of 11.66 ± 0.88 days while UPA-IUS treated animals bled for only 1 ± 0.45 days. Indices of endometrial proliferation were significantly reduced by UPA-IUS treatment. The UPA exposed endometria were atrophied with some glandular cysts while the blank controls displayed a proliferative morphology without cysts. Androgen receptors were more intensely stained in the glands of the UPA-IUS treated endometria than in the blank-IUS treated controls. Conclusions In rhesus macaques, a UPA-IUS induced endometrial atrophy and amenorrhea. The work provides proof of principle that an IUS can deliver effective intrauterine concentrations of Ulipristal. PMID:20227552

Validation of previously reported predictors for radiation-induced hypothyroidism in nasopharyngeal cancer patients treated with intensity-modulated radiation therapy, a post hoc analysis from a Phase III randomized trial.

PubMed

Lertbutsayanukul, Chawalit; Kitpanit, Sarin; Prayongrat, Anussara; Kannarunimit, Danita; Netsawang, Buntipa; Chakkabat, Chakkapong

2018-05-10

This study aimed to validate previously reported dosimetric parameters, including thyroid volume, mean dose, and percentage thyroid volume, receiving at least 40, 45 and 50 Gy (V40, V45 and V50), absolute thyroid volume spared (VS) from 45, 50 and 60 Gy (VS45, VS50 and VS60), and clinical factors affecting the development of radiation-induced hypothyroidism (RHT). A post hoc analysis was performed in 178 euthyroid nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) patients from a Phase III study comparing sequential versus simultaneous-integrated boost intensity-modulated radiation therapy. RHT was determined by increased thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) with or without reduced free thyroxin, regardless of symptoms. The median follow-up time was 42.5 months. The 1-, 2- and 3-year freedom from RHT rates were 78.4%, 56.4% and 43.4%, respectively. The median latency period was 21 months. The thyroid gland received a median mean dose of 53.5 Gy. Female gender, smaller thyroid volume, higher pretreatment TSH level (≥1.55 μU/ml) and VS60 < 10 cm3 were significantly associated with RHT in univariate analyses. Only pretreatment TSH ≥ 1.55 μU/ml and VS60 < 10 cm3 were significant predictors in multivariate analysis. Our results suggested that patients with pretreatment TSH ≥ 1.55 μU/ml should be cautious about the risk of RHT. The VS60 ≥ 10 cm3 is recommended for treatment planning.

Adaptive optics full-field OCT: a resolution almost insensitive to aberrations (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiao, Peng; Fink, Mathias; Boccara, A. Claude

2016-03-01

A Full-Field OCT (FFOCT) setup coupled to a compact transmissive liquid crystal spatial light modulator (LCSLM) is used to induce or correct aberrations and simulate eye examinations. To reduce the system complexity, strict pupil conjugation was abandoned. During our work on quantifying the effect of geometrical aberrations on FFOCT images, we found that the image resolution is almost insensitive to aberrations. Indeed if the object channel PSF is distorted, its interference with the reference channel conserves the main feature of an unperturbed PSF with only a reduction of the signal level. This unique behavior is specific to the use of a spatially incoherent illumination. Based on this, the FFOCT image intensity was used as the metric for our wavefront sensorless correction. Aberration correction was first conducted on an USAF resolution target with the LSCLM as both aberration generator and corrector. A random aberration mask was induced, and the low-order Zernike Modes were corrected sequentially according to the intensity metric function optimization. A Ficus leaf and a fixed mouse brain tissue slice were also imaged to demonstrate the correction of sample self-induced wavefront distortions. After optimization, more structured information appears for the leaf imaging. And the high-signal fiber-like myelin fiber structures were resolved much more clearly after the whole correction process for mouse brain imaging. Our experiment shows the potential of this compact AO-FFOCT system for aberration correction imaging. This preliminary approach that simulates eyes aberrations correction also opens the path to a simple implementation of FFOCT adaptive optics for retinal examinations.

Decoding-Accuracy-Based Sequential Dimensionality Reduction of Spatio-Temporal Neural Activities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Funamizu, Akihiro; Kanzaki, Ryohei; Takahashi, Hirokazu

Performance of a brain machine interface (BMI) critically depends on selection of input data because information embedded in the neural activities is highly redundant. In addition, properly selected input data with a reduced dimension leads to improvement of decoding generalization ability and decrease of computational efforts, both of which are significant advantages for the clinical applications. In the present paper, we propose an algorithm of sequential dimensionality reduction (SDR) that effectively extracts motor/sensory related spatio-temporal neural activities. The algorithm gradually reduces input data dimension by dropping neural data spatio-temporally so as not to undermine the decoding accuracy as far as possible. Support vector machine (SVM) was used as the decoder, and tone-induced neural activities in rat auditory cortices were decoded into the test tone frequencies. SDR reduced the input data dimension to a quarter and significantly improved the accuracy of decoding of novel data. Moreover, spatio-temporal neural activity patterns selected by SDR resulted in significantly higher accuracy than high spike rate patterns or conventionally used spatial patterns. These results suggest that the proposed algorithm can improve the generalization ability and decrease the computational effort of decoding.

Can Cranberries Contribute to Reduce the Incidence of Urinary Tract Infections? A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis and Trial Sequential Analysis of Clinical Trials.

PubMed

Luís, Ângelo; Domingues, Fernanda; Pereira, Luísa

2017-09-01

We sought to clarify the association between cranberry intake and the prevention of urinary tract infections. This systematic review, which complies with the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis) statement, was done as a meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis of clinical trials. The findings clearly showed the potential use of cranberries for the clinical condition of urinary tract infection. Cranberry products significantly reduced the incidence of urinary tract infections as indicated by the weighted risk ratio (0.6750, 95% CI 0.5516-0.7965, p <0.0001). The results of subgroup analysis demonstrated that patients at some risk for urinary tract infections were more susceptible to the effects of cranberry ingestion. The results of the current study could be used by physicians to recommend cranberry ingestion to decrease the incidence of urinary tract infections, particularly in individuals with recurrent urinary tract infections. This would also reduce the administration of antibiotics, which could be beneficial since antibiotics can lead to the worldwide emergence of antibiotic resistant microorganisms. Copyright © 2017 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Fast parallel tridiagonal algorithm for a class of CFD applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moitra, Stuti; Sun, Xian-He

1996-01-01

The parallel diagonal dominant (PDD) algorithm is an efficient tridiagonal solver. This paper presents for study a variation of the PDD algorithm, the reduced PDD algorithm. The new algorithm maintains the minimum communication provided by the PDD algorithm, but has a reduced operation count. The PDD algorithm also has a smaller operation count than the conventional sequential algorithm for many applications. Accuracy analysis is provided for the reduced PDD algorithm for symmetric Toeplitz tridiagonal (STT) systems. Implementation results on Langley's Intel Paragon and IBM SP2 show that both the PDD and reduced PDD algorithms are efficient and scalable.

Moving Synergistically Acting Drug Combinations to the Clinic by Comparing Sequential versus Simultaneous Drug Administrations.

PubMed

Dinavahi, Saketh S; Noory, Mohammad A; Gowda, Raghavendra; Drabick, Joseph J; Berg, Arthur; Neves, Rogerio I; Robertson, Gavin P

2018-03-01

Drug combinations acting synergistically to kill cancer cells have become increasingly important in melanoma as an approach to manage the recurrent resistant disease. Protein kinase B (AKT) is a major target in this disease but its inhibitors are not effective clinically, which is a major concern. Targeting AKT in combination with WEE1 (mitotic inhibitor kinase) seems to have potential to make AKT-based therapeutics effective clinically. Since agents targeting AKT and WEE1 have been tested individually in the clinic, the quickest way to move the drug combination to patients would be to combine these agents sequentially, enabling the use of existing phase I clinical trial toxicity data. Therefore, a rapid preclinical approach is needed to evaluate whether simultaneous or sequential drug treatment has maximal therapeutic efficacy, which is based on a mechanistic rationale. To develop this approach, melanoma cell lines were treated with AKT inhibitor AZD5363 [4-amino- N -[(1 S )-1-(4-chlorophenyl)-3-hydroxypropyl]-1-(7 H -pyrrolo[2,3- d ]pyrimidin-4-yl)piperidine-4-carboxamide] and WEE1 inhibitor AZD1775 [2-allyl-1-(6-(2-hydroxypropan-2-yl)pyridin-2-yl)-6-((4-(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)phenyl)amino)-1 H -pyrazolo[3,4- d ]pyrimidin-3(2 H )-one] using simultaneous and sequential dosing schedules. Simultaneous treatment synergistically reduced melanoma cell survival and tumor growth. In contrast, sequential treatment was antagonistic and had a minimal tumor inhibitory effect compared with individual agents. Mechanistically, simultaneous targeting of AKT and WEE1 enhanced deregulation of the cell cycle and DNA damage repair pathways by modulating transcription factors p53 and forkhead box M1, which was not observed with sequential treatment. Thus, this study identifies a rapid approach to assess the drug combinations with a mechanistic basis for selection, which suggests that combining AKT and WEE1 inhibitors is needed for maximal efficacy. Copyright © 2018 by The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.

Transient Cognitive Dynamics, Metastability, and Decision Making

PubMed Central

Rabinovich, Mikhail I.; Huerta, Ramón; Varona, Pablo; Afraimovich, Valentin S.

2008-01-01

The idea that cognitive activity can be understood using nonlinear dynamics has been intensively discussed at length for the last 15 years. One of the popular points of view is that metastable states play a key role in the execution of cognitive functions. Experimental and modeling studies suggest that most of these functions are the result of transient activity of large-scale brain networks in the presence of noise. Such transients may consist of a sequential switching between different metastable cognitive states. The main problem faced when using dynamical theory to describe transient cognitive processes is the fundamental contradiction between reproducibility and flexibility of transient behavior. In this paper, we propose a theoretical description of transient cognitive dynamics based on the interaction of functionally dependent metastable cognitive states. The mathematical image of such transient activity is a stable heteroclinic channel, i.e., a set of trajectories in the vicinity of a heteroclinic skeleton that consists of saddles and unstable separatrices that connect their surroundings. We suggest a basic mathematical model, a strongly dissipative dynamical system, and formulate the conditions for the robustness and reproducibility of cognitive transients that satisfy the competing requirements for stability and flexibility. Based on this approach, we describe here an effective solution for the problem of sequential decision making, represented as a fixed time game: a player takes sequential actions in a changing noisy environment so as to maximize a cumulative reward. As we predict and verify in computer simulations, noise plays an important role in optimizing the gain. PMID:18452000

Automated Registration of Sequential Breath-Hold Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced MRI Images: a Comparison of 3 Techniques

PubMed Central

Rajaraman, Sivaramakrishnan; Rodriguez, Jeffery J.; Graff, Christian; Altbach, Maria I.; Dragovich, Tomislav; Sirlin, Claude B.; Korn, Ronald L.; Raghunand, Natarajan

2011-01-01

Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) is increasingly in use as an investigational biomarker of response in cancer clinical studies. Proper registration of images acquired at different time-points is essential for deriving diagnostic information from quantitative pharmacokinetic analysis of these data. Motion artifacts in the presence of time-varying intensity due to contrast-enhancement make this registration problem challenging. DCE-MRI of chest and abdominal lesions is typically performed during sequential breath-holds, which introduces misregistration due to inconsistent diaphragm positions, and also places constraints on temporal resolution vis-à-vis free-breathing. In this work, we have employed a computer-generated DCE-MRI phantom to compare the performance of two published methods, Progressive Principal Component Registration and Pharmacokinetic Model-Driven Registration, with Sequential Elastic Registration (SER) to register adjacent time-sample images using a published general-purpose elastic registration algorithm. In all 3 methods, a 3-D rigid-body registration scheme with a mutual information similarity measure was used as a pre-processing step. The DCE-MRI phantom images were mathematically deformed to simulate misregistration which was corrected using the 3 schemes. All 3 schemes were comparably successful in registering large regions of interest (ROIs) such as muscle, liver, and spleen. SER was superior in retaining tumor volume and shape, and in registering smaller but important ROIs such as tumor core and tumor rim. The performance of SER on clinical DCE-MRI datasets is also presented. PMID:21531108

Biochemical transport modeling, estimation, and detection in realistic environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ortner, Mathias; Nehorai, Arye

2006-05-01

Early detection and estimation of the spread of a biochemical contaminant are major issues for homeland security applications. We present an integrated approach combining the measurements given by an array of biochemical sensors with a physical model of the dispersion and statistical analysis to solve these problems and provide system performance measures. We approximate the dispersion model of the contaminant in a realistic environment through numerical simulations of reflected stochastic diffusions describing the microscopic transport phenomena due to wind and chemical diffusion using the Feynman-Kac formula. We consider arbitrary complex geometries and account for wind turbulence. Localizing the dispersive sources is useful for decontamination purposes and estimation of the cloud evolution. To solve the associated inverse problem, we propose a Bayesian framework based on a random field that is particularly powerful for localizing multiple sources with small amounts of measurements. We also develop a sequential detector using the numerical transport model we propose. Sequential detection allows on-line analysis and detecting wether a change has occurred. We first focus on the formulation of a suitable sequential detector that overcomes the presence of unknown parameters (e.g. release time, intensity and location). We compute a bound on the expected delay before false detection in order to decide the threshold of the test. For a fixed false-alarm rate, we obtain the detection probability of a substance release as a function of its location and initial concentration. Numerical examples are presented for two real-world scenarios: an urban area and an indoor ventilation duct.

Dynamic fractionation of trace metals in soil and sediment samples using rotating coiled column extraction and sequential injection microcolumn extraction: a comparative study.

PubMed

Rosende, Maria; Savonina, Elena Yu; Fedotov, Petr S; Miró, Manuel; Cerdà, Víctor; Wennrich, Rainer

2009-09-15

Dynamic fractionation has been recognized as an appealing alternative to conventional equilibrium-based sequential extraction procedures (SEPs) for partitioning of trace elements (TE) in environmental solid samples. This paper reports the first attempt for harmonization of flow-through dynamic fractionation using two novel methods, the so-called sequential injection microcolumn (SIMC) extraction and rotating coiled column (RCC) extraction. In SIMC extraction, a column packed with the solid sample is clustered in a sequential injection system, while in RCC, the particulate matter is retained under the action of centrifugal forces. In both methods, the leachants are continuously pumped through the solid substrates by the use of either peristaltic or syringe pumps. A five-step SEP was selected for partitioning of Cu, Pb and Zn in water soluble/exchangeable, acid-soluble, easily reducible, easily oxidizable and moderately reducible fractions from 0.2 to 0.5 g samples at an extractant flow rate of 1.0 mL min(-1) prior to leachate analysis by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry. Similarities and discrepancies between both dynamic approaches were ascertained by fractionation of TE in certified reference materials, namely, SRM 2711 Montana Soil and GBW 07311 sediment, and two real soil samples as well. Notwithstanding the different extraction conditions set by both methods, similar trends of metal distribution were in generally found. The most critical parameters for reliable assessment of mobilizable pools of TE in worse-case scenarios are the size-distribution of sample particles, the density of particles, the content of organic matter and the concentration of major elements. For reference materials and a soil rich in organic matter, the extraction in RCC results in slightly higher recoveries of environmentally relevant fractions of TE, whereas SIMC leaching is more effective for calcareous soils.

Sequential Bayesian Geostatistical Inversion and Evaluation of Combined Data Worth for Aquifer Characterization at the Hanford 300 Area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murakami, H.; Chen, X.; Hahn, M. S.; Over, M. W.; Rockhold, M. L.; Vermeul, V.; Hammond, G. E.; Zachara, J. M.; Rubin, Y.

2010-12-01

Subsurface characterization for predicting groundwater flow and contaminant transport requires us to integrate large and diverse datasets in a consistent manner, and quantify the associated uncertainty. In this study, we sequentially assimilated multiple types of datasets for characterizing a three-dimensional heterogeneous hydraulic conductivity field at the Hanford 300 Area. The datasets included constant-rate injection tests, electromagnetic borehole flowmeter tests, lithology profile and tracer tests. We used the method of anchored distributions (MAD), which is a modular-structured Bayesian geostatistical inversion method. MAD has two major advantages over the other inversion methods. First, it can directly infer a joint distribution of parameters, which can be used as an input in stochastic simulations for prediction. In MAD, in addition to typical geostatistical structural parameters, the parameter vector includes multiple point values of the heterogeneous field, called anchors, which capture local trends and reduce uncertainty in the prediction. Second, MAD allows us to integrate the datasets sequentially in a Bayesian framework such that it updates the posterior distribution, as a new dataset is included. The sequential assimilation can decrease computational burden significantly. We applied MAD to assimilate different combinations of the datasets, and then compared the inversion results. For the injection and tracer test assimilation, we calculated temporal moments of pressure build-up and breakthrough curves, respectively, to reduce the data dimension. A massive parallel flow and transport code PFLOTRAN is used for simulating the tracer test. For comparison, we used different metrics based on the breakthrough curves not used in the inversion, such as mean arrival time, peak concentration and early arrival time. This comparison intends to yield the combined data worth, i.e. which combination of the datasets is the most effective for a certain metric, which will be useful for guiding the further characterization effort at the site and also the future characterization projects at the other sites.

Emotional intensity reduces later generalized anxiety disorder symptoms when fear of anxiety and negative problem-solving appraisal are low.

PubMed

Sugiura, Yoshinori; Sugiura, Tomoko

2015-08-01

While research based on the emotion dysregulation model indicates a positive relationship between intense emotions and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) symptoms, emotion-focused intervention involves the use of techniques to enhance emotional experiences, based on the notion that GAD patients are engaging in avoidance strategies. To reveal the conditions under which intense emotions lead to reduced GAD symptoms, we designed a longitudinal study to monitor changes in GAD symptoms among students (N = 129) over 3 months. Our focus was on possible moderators of the effect of emotional intensity. Results indicated that when fear of emotions and negative appraisals about problem solving were low, negative emotional intensity reduced later GAD symptoms. Moreover, under the condition of high responsibility to continue thinking, emotional intensity tended to reduce later GAD symptoms. Results suggest that reduced fear of emotions and reduced negative appraisals about problem solving may enhance the use of emotional processing techniques (e.g., emotional exposure). The interaction between responsibility to continue thinking and emotional intensity requires further examination. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Multithreaded transactions in scientific computing: New versions of a computer program for kinematical calculations of RHEED intensity oscillations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brzuszek, Marcin; Daniluk, Andrzej

2006-11-01

Writing a concurrent program can be more difficult than writing a sequential program. Programmer needs to think about synchronisation, race conditions and shared variables. Transactions help reduce the inconvenience of using threads. A transaction is an abstraction, which allows programmers to group a sequence of actions on the program into a logical, higher-level computation unit. This paper presents multithreaded versions of the GROWTH program, which allow to calculate the layer coverages during the growth of thin epitaxial films and the corresponding RHEED intensities according to the kinematical approximation. The presented programs also contain graphical user interfaces, which enable displaying program data at run-time. New version program summaryTitles of programs:GROWTHGr, GROWTH06 Catalogue identifier:ADVL_v2_0 Program summary URL:http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/ADVL_v2_0 Program obtainable from:CPC Program Library, Queen's University of Belfast, N. Ireland Catalogue identifier of previous version:ADVL Does the new version supersede the original program:No Computer for which the new version is designed and others on which it has been tested: Pentium-based PC Operating systems or monitors under which the new version has been tested: Windows 9x, XP, NT Programming language used:Object Pascal Memory required to execute with typical data:More than 1 MB Number of bits in a word:64 bits Number of processors used:1 No. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.:20 931 Number of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 1 311 268 Distribution format:tar.gz Nature of physical problem: The programs compute the RHEED intensities during the growth of thin epitaxial structures prepared using the molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The computations are based on the use of kinematical diffraction theory [P.I. Cohen, G.S. Petrich, P.R. Pukite, G.J. Whaley, A.S. Arrott, Surf. Sci. 216 (1989) 222. [1

Self-assembled Li 3V 2(PO 4) 3/reduced graphene oxide multilayer composite prepared by sequential adsorption

DOE PAGES

Kim, Myeong-Seong; Bak, Seong-Min; Lee, Suk-Woo; ...

2017-09-26

Here in this paper, we report on Li 3V 2(PO 4) 3 (LVP)/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) multilayer composites prepared via a sequential adsorption method and subsequent heat treatment, and their use as cathodes for high-rate lithium-ion batteries. The sequential adsorption process includes adsorbing oppositely charged components of anionic inorganic species and cationic head of a surfactant adsorbed to graphite oxide sheets, which is a key step in the fabrication of the LVP/rGO multilayer composites. The multilayer structure has open channels between the highly conductive rGO layers while achieving a relatively high tap density, which could effectively improve the rate capability.more » Consequently, the LVP/rGO multilayer composites exhibit a high tap density (0.6 g cm -3) and good electrochemical properties. Specifically, in the voltage range of 3.0–4.3 V, the composite exhibits a specific capacity of 131 mAh g -1 at 0.1C, a good rate capabilities (88% capacity retention at 60C), and long cycling performance (97% capacity retention after 500 cycles at 10C). Moreover, in the extended voltage range of 3.0–4.8 V, it exhibits a high specific capacity of 185 mAh g -1 at 0.2C, a good rate capability (66% capacity retention at 30C), and stable cycling performance (96% capacity retention after 500 cycles at 10C).« less

In situ monitoring of atomic layer controlled pore reduction in alumina tubular membranes using sequential surface reactions

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

Berland, B.S.; Gartland, I.P.; Ott, A.W.

1998-12-01

The pore diameter in alumina tubular membranes with an initial diameter of 50 {angstrom} was systematically reduced using the atomic layer controlled deposition of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}. The Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} was deposited using sequential exposures of Al(CH{sub 3}){sub 3} (trimethylaluminum, TMA) and H{sub 2}O in an ABAB... binary reaction sequence. The pore diameter reduction was monitored using in situ N{sub 2} and Ar conductance measurements. The conductance, C = Q/{Delta}P, was measured using a mass flow controller to define a constant gas throughput, Q, and a pair of capacitance manometers to monitor the transmembrane pressure drop, {Delta}P. Conductance measurementsmore » were periodically obtained at 298 K as a function of AB binary reaction cycles. These conductance measurements were consistent with a pore diameter reduction from 50 {angstrom} to {approximately}5--10 {angstrom} at a rate of {approximately}2.5 {angstrom} for each AB cycle. Conductance measurements were also performed during the Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} deposition at 500 K after each half-reaction in the binary reaction sequence. These in situ conductance measurements demonstrate that the pore diameters in mesoporous membranes can be reduced to molecular dimensions with atomic layer control using sequential surface reactions. Poe diameters can be tailored for specific applications by varying the number of AB cycles and changing the nature of the terminating surface functional groups.« less

Self-assembled Li 3V 2(PO 4) 3/reduced graphene oxide multilayer composite prepared by sequential adsorption

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

Kim, Myeong-Seong; Bak, Seong-Min; Lee, Suk-Woo

Here in this paper, we report on Li 3V 2(PO 4) 3 (LVP)/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) multilayer composites prepared via a sequential adsorption method and subsequent heat treatment, and their use as cathodes for high-rate lithium-ion batteries. The sequential adsorption process includes adsorbing oppositely charged components of anionic inorganic species and cationic head of a surfactant adsorbed to graphite oxide sheets, which is a key step in the fabrication of the LVP/rGO multilayer composites. The multilayer structure has open channels between the highly conductive rGO layers while achieving a relatively high tap density, which could effectively improve the rate capability.more » Consequently, the LVP/rGO multilayer composites exhibit a high tap density (0.6 g cm -3) and good electrochemical properties. Specifically, in the voltage range of 3.0–4.3 V, the composite exhibits a specific capacity of 131 mAh g -1 at 0.1C, a good rate capabilities (88% capacity retention at 60C), and long cycling performance (97% capacity retention after 500 cycles at 10C). Moreover, in the extended voltage range of 3.0–4.8 V, it exhibits a high specific capacity of 185 mAh g -1 at 0.2C, a good rate capability (66% capacity retention at 30C), and stable cycling performance (96% capacity retention after 500 cycles at 10C).« less

A new methodology for determining dispersion coefficient using ordinary and partial differential transport equations.

PubMed

Cho, Kyung Hwa; Lee, Seungwon; Ham, Young Sik; Hwang, Jin Hwan; Cha, Sung Min; Park, Yongeun; Kim, Joon Ha

2009-01-01

The present study proposes a methodology for determining the effective dispersion coefficient based on the field measurements performed in Gwangju (GJ) Creek in South Korea which is environmentally degraded by the artificial interferences such as weirs and culverts. Many previous works determining the dispersion coefficient were limited in application due to the complexity and artificial interferences in natural stream. Therefore, the sequential combination of N-Tank-In-Series (NTIS) model and Advection-Dispersion-Reaction (ADR) model was proposed for evaluating dispersion process in complex stream channel in this study. The series of water quality data were intensively monitored in the field to determine the effective dispersion coefficient of E. coli in rainy day. As a result, the suggested methodology reasonably estimates the dispersion coefficient for GJ Creek with 1.25 m(2)/s. Also, the sequential combined method provided Number of tank-Velocity-Dispersion coefficient (NVD) curves for convenient evaluation of dispersion coefficient of other rivers or streams. Comparing the previous studies, the present methodology is quite general and simple for determining the effective dispersion coefficients which are applicable for other rivers and streams.

Thinking in clinical nursing practice: a study of critical care nurses' thinking applying the think-aloud, protocol analysis method.

PubMed

Han, Kyung-Ja; Kim, Hesook Suzie; Kim, Mae-Ja; Hong, Kyung-Ja; Park, Sungae; Yun, Soon-Nyoung; Song, Misoon; Jung, Yoenyi; Kim, Haewon; Kim, Dong-Oak Debbie; Choi, Heejung; Kim, Kyungae

2007-06-01

The purpose of the paper is to discover the patterns and processes of decision-making in clinical nursing practice. A set of think-aloud data from five critical care nurses during 40 to 50 minutes of caregiving in intensive care units were obtained and analyzed by applying the procedures recommended by Ericsson and Simon for protocol analysis. Four thinking processes before acting were identified to constitute various sorts of thoughts in which the nurses were engaged during patient care: reviewing, validation, consideration, rationalization, and action. In addition, three patterns of sequential streaming of thinking (short, intermediate, long) were identified to reveal various ways the nurses dealt with clinical situations involving nursing tasks and responsibilities. This study specifies the initial categories of thoughts for each of the processes and various patterns with which these processes are sequentially combined, providing insights into the ways nurses think about problems and address their concerns. The findings suggest that the thinking in clinical practice involves more than focused decision-making and reasoning, and needs to be examined from a broader perspective.

Prognostic value of Sequential Organ Failure Assessment and Simplified Acute Physiology II Score compared with trauma scores in the outcome of multiple-trauma patients.

PubMed

Fueglistaler, Philipp; Amsler, Felix; Schüepp, Marcel; Fueglistaler-Montali, Ida; Attenberger, Corinna; Pargger, Hans; Jacob, Augustinus Ludwig; Gross, Thomas

2010-08-01

Prospective data regarding the prognostic value of the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score in comparison with the Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS II) and trauma scores on the outcome of multiple-trauma patients are lacking. Single-center evaluation (n = 237, Injury Severity Score [ISS] >16; mean ISS = 29). Uni- and multivariate analysis of SAPS II, SOFA, revised trauma, polytrauma, and trauma and ISS scores (TRISS) was performed. The 30-day mortality was 22.8% (n = 54). SOFA day 1 was significantly higher in nonsurvivors compared with survivors (P < .001) and correlated well with the length of intensive care unit stay (r = .50, P < .001). Logistic regression revealed SAPS II to have the best predictive value of 30-day mortality (area under the receiver operating characteristic = .86 +/- .03). The SOFA score significantly added prognostic information with regard to mortality to both SAPS II and TRISS. The combination of critically ill and trauma scores may increase the accuracy of mortality prediction in multiple-trauma patients. 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Development of a Newcastle disease virus vector expressing a foreign gene through an internal ribosomal entry site provides direct proof for a sequential transcription mechanism.

PubMed

Zhang, Zhenyu; Zhao, Wei; Li, Deshan; Yang, Jinlong; Zsak, Laszlo; Yu, Qingzhong

2015-08-01

In the present study, we developed a novel approach for foreign gene expression by Newcastle disease virus (NDV) from a second ORF through an internal ribosomal entry site (IRES). Six NDV LaSota strain-based recombinant viruses vectoring the IRES and a red fluorescence protein (RFP) gene behind the nucleocapsid (NP), phosphoprotein (P), matrix (M), fusion (F), haemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) or large polymerase (L) gene ORF were generated using reverse genetics technology. The insertion of the second ORF slightly attenuated virus pathogenicity, but did not affect ability of the virus to grow. Quantitative measurements of RFP expression in virus-infected DF-1 cells revealed that the abundance of viral mRNAs and red fluorescence intensity were positively correlated with the gene order of NDV, 3'-NP-P-M-F-HN-L-5', proving the sequential transcription mechanism for NDV. The results herein suggest that the level of foreign gene expression could be regulated by selecting the second ORF insertion site to maximize the efficacy of vaccine and gene therapy.

Approaches for Achieving Broadband Achromatic Phase Shifts for Visible Nulling Coronagraphy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bolcar, Matthew R.; Lyon, Richard G.

2012-01-01

Visible nulling coronagraphy is one of the few approaches to the direct detection and characterization of Jovian and Terrestrial exoplanets that works with segmented aperture telescopes. Jovian and Terrestrial planets require at least 10(exp -9) and 10(exp -10) image plane contrasts, respectively, within the spectral bandpass and thus require a nearly achromatic pi-phase difference between the arms of the interferometer. An achromatic pi-phase shift can be achieved by several techniques, including sequential angled thick glass plates of varying dispersive materials, distributed thin-film multilayer coatings, and techniques that leverage the polarization-dependent phase shift of total-internal reflections. Herein we describe two such techniques: sequential thick glass plates and Fresnel rhomb prisms. A viable technique must achieve the achromatic phase shift while simultaneously minimizing the intensity difference, chromatic beam spread and polarization variation between each arm. In this paper we describe the above techniques and report on efforts to design, model, fabricate, align the trades associated with each technique that will lead to an implementations of the most promising one in Goddard's Visible Nulling Coronagraph (VNC).

Effect of sequential pneumatic compression therapy on venous blood velocity, refilling time, pain and quality of life in women with varicose veins: a randomized control study

PubMed Central

Yamany, Abeer; Hamdy, Bassant

2016-01-01

[Purpose] The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of sequential pneumatic compression therapy on venous blood flow, refilling time, pain level, and quality of life in women with varicose veins. [Subjects and Methods] Twenty-eight females with varicose veins were selected and randomly allocated to a control group, and experimental group. Maximum and mean venous blood velocities, the refilling time, pain by visual analog scale and quality of life by Aberdeen Varicose Veins Questionnaire were measured in all patients before and after six weeks of treatment. Both groups received lower extremity exercises; in addition, patients in the experimental group received sequential pneumatic compression therapy for 30 minutes daily, five days a week for six weeks. [Results] All measured parameters improved significantly in both groups, comparison of post treatment measurements between groups showed that the maximum and mean blood flow velocity, the pain level, and quality of life were significantly higher in the experimental group compared with the control group. On the other hand there was no significant difference between groups for refilling time. [Conclusion] Sequential pneumatic compression therapy with the applied parameters was an effective modality for increasing venous blood flow, reducing pain, and improving quality of women life with varicose veins. PMID:27512247

Comparative Cost Analysis of Sequential, Adaptive, Behavioral, Pharmacological, and Combined Treatments for Childhood ADHD

PubMed Central

Page, Timothy F.; Fabiano, Gregory A.; Greiner, Andrew R.; Gnagy, Elizabeth M.; Pelham, William E.; Hart, Katie; Coxe, Stefany; Waxmonsky, James G.; Pelham, William E.

2016-01-01

Objective We conducted a cost-analysis of the behavioral, pharmacological, and combined interventions employed in a sequential, multiple assignment randomized, and adaptive trial investigating the sequencing and enhancement of treatment for ADHD children (Pelham et al., under review; N=152, 76% male, 80% Caucasian). Methods The quantity of resources expended on each child’s treatment was determined from records that listed the type, date, location, persons present, and duration of all services provided. The inputs considered were the amount of physician time, clinician time, paraprofessional time, teacher time, parent time, medication, and gasoline. Quantities of these inputs were converted into costs in 2013 USD using national wage estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the prices of 30-day supplies of prescription drugs from the national Express Scripts service, and mean fuel prices from the Energy Information Administration. Results Beginning treatment with a low-intensity regimen of behavior modification (group parent training) was less costly for a school-year of treatment ($961) than beginning treatment with a low dose of stimulant medication ($1689), regardless of whether the initial treatment was intensified with a higher “dose” or if the other modality was added. Conclusions Outcome data from the parent study (Pelham et al., under review) found equivalent or superior outcomes for treatments beginning with low-intensity behavior modification compared to intervention beginning with medication. Combined with the present analyses, these findings document that initiating treatment with behavior modification rather than medication is the more cost-effective option for children with ADHD. PMID:26808137

Intensity modulated radiotherapy with simultaneous integrated boost vs. conventional radiotherapy with sequential boost for breast cancer - A preliminary result.

PubMed

Lee, Hsin-Hua; Hou, Ming-Feng; Chuang, Hung-Yi; Huang, Ming-Yii; Tsuei, Le-Ping; Chen, Fang-Ming; Ou-Yang, Fu; Huang, Chih-Jen

2015-10-01

This study was aimed to assess the acute dermatological adverse effect from two distinct RT techniques for breast cancer patients. We compared intensity-modulated radiotherapy with simultaneous integrated boost (IMRT-SIB) and conventional radiotherapy followed by sequential boost (CRT-SB). The study population was composed of 126 consecutive female breast cancer patients treated with breast conserving surgery. Sixty-six patients received IMRT-SIB to 2 dose levels simultaneously. They received 50.4 Gy at 1.8 Gy per fraction to the whole breast and 60.2 Gy at 2.15 Gy per fraction to the tumor bed by integral boost. Sixty patients in the CRT-SB group received 50 Gy in 25 fractions to the whole breast followed by a boost irradiation to tumor bed in 5-7 fractions to a total dose of 60-64 Gy. Acute skin toxicities were documented in agreement with the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 3 (CTCAE v.3.0). Ninety-eight patients had grade 1 radiation dermatitis while 14 patients had grade 2. Among those with grade 2, there were 3 patients in IMRT-SIB group (4.5%) while 11 in CRT-SB group (18.3%). (P = 0.048) There was no patient with higher than grade 2 toxicity. Three year local control was 99.2%, 3-year disease free survival was 97.5% and 3-year overall survival was 99.2%. A significant reduction in the severity of acute radiation dermatitis from IMRT-SIB comparing with CRT-SB is demonstrated. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Risk factors, sequential organ failure assessment and model for end-stage liver disease scores for predicting short term mortality in cirrhotic patients admitted to intensive care unit.

PubMed

Cholongitas, E; Senzolo, M; Patch, D; Kwong, K; Nikolopoulou, V; Leandro, G; Shaw, S; Burroughs, A K

2006-04-01

Prognostic scores in an intensive care unit (ICU) evaluate outcomes, but derive from cohorts containing few cirrhotic patients. To evaluate 6-week mortality in cirrhotic patients admitted to an ICU, and to compare general and liver-specific prognostic scores. A total of 312 consecutive cirrhotic patients (65% alcoholic; mean age 49.6 years). Multivariable logistic regression to evaluate admission factors associated with survival. Child-Pugh, Model for End-stage Liver Disease (MELD), Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) scores were compared by receiver operating characteristic curves. Major indication for admission was respiratory failure (35.6%). Median (range) Child-Pugh, APACHE II, MELD and SOFA scores were 11 (5-15), 18 (0-44), 24 (6-40) and 11 (0-21), respectively; 65% (n = 203) died. Survival improved over time (P = 0.005). Multivariate model factors: more organs failing (FOS) (<3 = 49.5%, > or =3 = 90%), higher FiO(2), lactate, urea and bilirubin; resulting in good discrimination [area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) = 0.83], similar to SOFA and MELD (AUC = 0.83 and 0.81, respectively) and superior to APACHE II and Child-Pugh (AUC = 0.78 and 0.72, respectively). Cirrhotics admitted to ICU with > or =3 failing organ systems have 90% mortality. The Royal Free model discriminated well and contained key variables of organ function. SOFA and MELD were better predictors than APACHE II or Child-Pugh scores.

Seismic signal processing on heterogeneous supercomputers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gokhberg, Alexey; Ermert, Laura; Fichtner, Andreas

2015-04-01

The processing of seismic signals - including the correlation of massive ambient noise data sets - represents an important part of a wide range of seismological applications. It is characterized by large data volumes as well as high computational input/output intensity. Development of efficient approaches towards seismic signal processing on emerging high performance computing systems is therefore essential. Heterogeneous supercomputing systems introduced in the recent years provide numerous computing nodes interconnected via high throughput networks, every node containing a mix of processing elements of different architectures, like several sequential processor cores and one or a few graphical processing units (GPU) serving as accelerators. A typical representative of such computing systems is "Piz Daint", a supercomputer of the Cray XC 30 family operated by the Swiss National Supercomputing Center (CSCS), which we used in this research. Heterogeneous supercomputers provide an opportunity for manifold application performance increase and are more energy-efficient, however they have much higher hardware complexity and are therefore much more difficult to program. The programming effort may be substantially reduced by the introduction of modular libraries of software components that can be reused for a wide class of seismology applications. The ultimate goal of this research is design of a prototype for such library suitable for implementing various seismic signal processing applications on heterogeneous systems. As a representative use case we have chosen an ambient noise correlation application. Ambient noise interferometry has developed into one of the most powerful tools to image and monitor the Earth's interior. Future applications will require the extraction of increasingly small details from noise recordings. To meet this demand, more advanced correlation techniques combined with very large data volumes are needed. This poses new computational problems that require dedicated HPC solutions. The chosen application is using a wide range of common signal processing methods, which include various IIR filter designs, amplitude and phase correlation, computing the analytic signal, and discrete Fourier transforms. Furthermore, various processing methods specific for seismology, like rotation of seismic traces, are used. Efficient implementation of all these methods on the GPU-accelerated systems represents several challenges. In particular, it requires a careful distribution of work between the sequential processors and accelerators. Furthermore, since the application is designed to process very large volumes of data, special attention had to be paid to the efficient use of the available memory and networking hardware resources in order to reduce intensity of data input and output. In our contribution we will explain the software architecture as well as principal engineering decisions used to address these challenges. We will also describe the programming model based on C++ and CUDA that we used to develop the software. Finally, we will demonstrate performance improvements achieved by using the heterogeneous computing architecture. This work was supported by a grant from the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS) under project ID d26.

On-Site Production of Cellulolytic Enzymes by the Sequential Cultivation Method.

PubMed

Farinas, Cristiane S; Florencio, Camila; Badino, Alberto C

2018-01-01

The conversion of renewable lignocellulosic biomass into fuels, chemicals, and high-value materials using the biochemical platform has been considered the most sustainable alternative for the implementation of future biorefineries. However, the high cost of the cellulolytic enzymatic cocktails used in the saccharification step significantly affects the economics of industrial large-scale conversion processes. The on-site production of enzymes, integrated to the biorefinery plant, is being considered as a potential strategy that could be used to reduce costs. In such approach, the microbial production of enzymes can be carried out using the same lignocellulosic biomass as feedstock for fungal development and biofuels production. Most of the microbial cultivation processes for the production of industrial enzymes have been developed using the conventional submerged fermentation. Recently, a sequential solid-state followed by submerged fermentation has been described as a potential alternative cultivation method for cellulolytic enzymes production. This chapter presents the detailed procedure of the sequential cultivation method, which could be employed for the on-site production of the cellulolytic enzymes required to convert lignocellulosic biomass into simple sugars.

Flexible sequential designs for multi-arm clinical trials.

PubMed

Magirr, D; Stallard, N; Jaki, T

2014-08-30

Adaptive designs that are based on group-sequential approaches have the benefit of being efficient as stopping boundaries can be found that lead to good operating characteristics with test decisions based solely on sufficient statistics. The drawback of these so called 'pre-planned adaptive' designs is that unexpected design changes are not possible without impacting the error rates. 'Flexible adaptive designs' on the other hand can cope with a large number of contingencies at the cost of reduced efficiency. In this work, we focus on two different approaches for multi-arm multi-stage trials, which are based on group-sequential ideas, and discuss how these 'pre-planned adaptive designs' can be modified to allow for flexibility. We then show how the added flexibility can be used for treatment selection and sample size reassessment and evaluate the impact on the error rates in a simulation study. The results show that an impressive overall procedure can be found by combining a well chosen pre-planned design with an application of the conditional error principle to allow flexible treatment selection. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Deficit irrigation practices may alter Vitis vinifera L. resistance to cold injury: Empirical evidence from the field

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Deficit irrigation reduces seasonal carbohydrate supply and decreases starch concentrations in vegetative tissues. The specific role of starch metabolism in conferring tolerance to cold is still poorly understood. A decrease in cold tolerance after sequential years of deficit irrigation would limit ...

16 CFR § 1500.42 - Test for eye irritants.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... before testing, and only those animals without eye defects or irritation shall be used. The animal is... substances, including testing that does not require animals, are presented in the CPSC's animal testing... conducted, a sequential testing strategy is recommended to reduce the number of test animals. Additionally...

16 CFR 1500.42 - Test for eye irritants.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

..., including testing that does not require animals, are presented in the CPSC's animal testing policy set forth... conducted, a sequential testing strategy is recommended to reduce the number of test animals. Additionally... eye irritation. Both eyes of each animal in the test group shall be examined before testing, and only...

Deep venous thrombosis prophylaxis in trauma: improved compliance with a novel miniaturized pneumatic compression device.

PubMed

Murakami, Maki; McDill, Tandace L; Cindrick-Pounds, Lori; Loran, David B; Woodside, Kenneth J; Mileski, William J; Hunter, Glenn C; Killewich, Lois A

2003-11-01

Intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC) devices prevent lower-extremity deep venous thrombosis (LEDVT) when used properly, but compliance remains an issue. Devices are frequently discontinued when patients are out of bed, and they are rarely used in emergency departments. Trauma patients are at high risk for LEDVT; however, IPCs are underused in this population because of compliance limitations. The hypothesis of this study was that a new miniaturized, portable, battery-powered pneumatic compression device improves compliance in trauma patients over that provided by a standard device. This was a prospective trial in which trauma patients (mean age, 46 years; revised trauma score, 11.7) were randomized to DVT prophylaxis with a standard calf-length sequential IPC device (SCD group) or a miniaturized sequential device (continuous enhanced-circulation therapy [CECT] group). The CECT device can be battery-operated for up to 6 hours and worn during ambulation. Timers attached to the devices, which recorded the time each device was applied to the legs and functioning, were used to quantify compliance. For each subject in each location during hospitalization, compliance rates were determined by dividing the number of minutes the device was functioning by the total minutes in that location. Compliance rates for all subjects were averaged in each location: emergency department, operating room, intensive care unit, and nursing ward. Total compliance rate in the CECT group was significantly higher than in the SCD group (77.7% vs. 58.9%, P =.004). Compliance in the emergency department and nursing ward were also significantly greater with the CECT device (P =.002 and P =.008 respectively). Previous studies have demonstrated that reduced compliance with IPC devices results in a higher incidence of LEDVT. Given its ability to improve compliance, the CECT may provide superior DVT prevention compared with that provided by standard devices.

Heat waves and their significance for a temperate benthic community: A near-natural experimental approach.

PubMed

Pansch, Christian; Scotti, Marco; Barboza, Francisco R; Al-Janabi, Balsam; Brakel, Janina; Briski, Elizabeta; Bucholz, Björn; Franz, Markus; Ito, Maysa; Paiva, Filipa; Saha, Mahasweta; Sawall, Yvonne; Weinberger, Florian; Wahl, Martin

2018-04-23

Climate change will not only shift environmental means but will also increase the intensity of extreme events, exerting additional stress on ecosystems. While field observations on the ecological consequences of heat waves are emerging, experimental evidence is rare, and lacking at the community level. Using a novel "near-natural" outdoor mesocosms approach, this study tested whether marine summer heat waves have detrimental consequences for macrofauna of a temperate coastal community, and whether sequential heat waves provoke an increase or decrease of sensitivity to thermal stress. Three treatments were applied, defined and characterized through a statistical analysis of 15 years of temperature records from the experimental site: (1) no heat wave, (2) two heat waves in June and July followed by a summer heat wave in August and (3) the summer heat wave only. Overall, 50% of the species showed positive, negative or positive/negative responses in either abundance and/or biomass. We highlight four possible ways in which single species responded to either three subsequent heat waves or one summer heat wave: (1) absence of a response (tolerance, 50% of species), (2) negative accumulative effects by three subsequent heat waves (tellinid bivalve), (3) buffering by proceeding heat waves due to acclimation and/or shifts in phenology (spionid polychaete) and (4) an accumulative positive effect by subsequent heat waves (amphipod). The differential responses to single or sequential heat waves at the species level entailed shifts at the community level. Community-level differences between single and triple heat waves were more pronounced than those between regimes with vs. without heat waves. Detritivory was reduced by the single heat wave while suspension feeding was less common in the triple heat wave regime. Critical extreme events occur already today and will occur more frequently in a changing climate, thus, leading to detrimental impacts on coastal marine systems. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Improved coverage of cDNA-AFLP by sequential digestion of immobilized cDNA.

PubMed

Weiberg, Arne; Pöhler, Dirk; Morgenstern, Burkhard; Karlovsky, Petr

2008-10-13

cDNA-AFLP is a transcriptomics technique which does not require prior sequence information and can therefore be used as a gene discovery tool. The method is based on selective amplification of cDNA fragments generated by restriction endonucleases, electrophoretic separation of the products and comparison of the band patterns between treated samples and controls. Unequal distribution of restriction sites used to generate cDNA fragments negatively affects the performance of cDNA-AFLP. Some transcripts are represented by more than one fragment while other escape detection, causing redundancy and reducing the coverage of the analysis, respectively. With the goal of improving the coverage of cDNA-AFLP without increasing its redundancy, we designed a modified cDNA-AFLP protocol. Immobilized cDNA is sequentially digested with several restriction endonucleases and the released DNA fragments are collected in mutually exclusive pools. To investigate the performance of the protocol, software tool MECS (Multiple Enzyme cDNA-AFLP Simulation) was written in Perl. cDNA-AFLP protocols described in the literature and the new sequential digestion protocol were simulated on sets of cDNA sequences from mouse, human and Arabidopsis thaliana. The redundancy and coverage, the total number of PCR reactions, and the average fragment length were calculated for each protocol and cDNA set. Simulation revealed that sequential digestion of immobilized cDNA followed by the partitioning of released fragments into mutually exclusive pools outperformed other cDNA-AFLP protocols in terms of coverage, redundancy, fragment length, and the total number of PCRs. Primers generating 30 to 70 amplicons per PCR provided the highest fraction of electrophoretically distinguishable fragments suitable for normalization. For A. thaliana, human and mice transcriptome, the use of two marking enzymes and three sequentially applied releasing enzymes for each of the marking enzymes is recommended.

Sequential interactions-in which one player plays first and another responds-promote cooperation in evolutionary-dynamical simulations of single-shot Prisoner's Dilemma and Snowdrift games.

PubMed

Laird, Robert A

2018-09-07

Cooperation is a central topic in evolutionary biology because (a) it is difficult to reconcile why individuals would act in a way that benefits others if such action is costly to themselves, and (b) it underpins many of the 'major transitions of evolution', making it essential for explaining the origins of successively higher levels of biological organization. Within evolutionary game theory, the Prisoner's Dilemma and Snowdrift games are the main theoretical constructs used to study the evolution of cooperation in dyadic interactions. In single-shot versions of these games, wherein individuals play each other only once, players typically act simultaneously rather than sequentially. Allowing one player to respond to the actions of its co-player-in the absence of any possibility of the responder being rewarded for cooperation or punished for defection, as in simultaneous or sequential iterated games-may seem to invite more incentive for exploitation and retaliation in single-shot games, compared to when interactions occur simultaneously, thereby reducing the likelihood that cooperative strategies can thrive. To the contrary, I use lattice-based, evolutionary-dynamical simulation models of single-shot games to demonstrate that under many conditions, sequential interactions have the potential to enhance unilaterally or mutually cooperative outcomes and increase the average payoff of populations, relative to simultaneous interactions-benefits that are especially prevalent in a spatially explicit context. This surprising result is attributable to the presence of conditional strategies that emerge in sequential games that can't occur in the corresponding simultaneous versions. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Efficacy of premixed versus sequential administration of clonidine as an adjuvant to hyperbaric bupivacaine intrathecally in cesarean section

PubMed Central

Sachan, Prachee; Kumar, Nidhi; Sharma, Jagdish Prasad

2014-01-01

Background: Density of the drugs injected intrathecally is an important factor that influences spread in the cerebrospinal fluid. Mixing adjuvants with local anesthetics (LA) alters their density and hence their spread compared to when given sequentially in seperate syringes. Aims: To evaluate the efficacy of intrathecal administration of hyperbaric bupivacaine (HB) and clonidine as a mixture and sequentially in terms of block characteristics, hemodynamics, neonatal outcome, and postoperative pain. Setting and Design: Prospective randomized single blind study at a tertiary center from 2010 to 2012. Materials and Methods: Ninety full-term parturient scheduled for elective cesarean sections were divided into three groups on the basis of technique of intrathecal drug administration. Group M received mixture of 75 μg clonidine and 10 mg HB 0.5%. Group A received 75 μg clonidine after administration of 10 mg HB 0.5% through separate syringe. Group B received 75 μg clonidine before HB 0.5% (10 mg) through separate syringe. Statistical analysis used: Observational descriptive statistics, analysis of variance with Bonferroni multiple comparison post hoc test, and Chi-square test. Results: Time to achieve complete sensory and motor block was less in group A and B in which drugs were given sequentially. Duration of analgesia lasted longer in group B (474.3 ± 20.79 min) and group A (472.50 ± 22.11 min) than in group M (337 ± 18.22 min) with clinically insignificant influence on hemodynamic parameters and sedation. Conclusion: Sequential technique reduces time to achieve complete sensory and motor block, delays block regression, and significantly prolongs the duration of analgesia. However, it did not matter much whether clonidine was administered before or after HB. PMID:25886098

Sulfur K-edge XANES and acid volatile sulfide analyses of changes in chemical speciation of S and Fe during sequential extraction of trace metals in anoxic sludge from biogas reactors.

PubMed

Shakeri Yekta, Sepehr; Gustavsson, Jenny; Svensson, Bo H; Skyllberg, Ulf

2012-01-30

The effect of sequential extraction of trace metals on sulfur (S) speciation in anoxic sludge samples from two lab-scale biogas reactors augmented with Fe was investigated. Analyses of sulfur K-edge X-ray absorption near edge structure (S XANES) spectroscopy and acid volatile sulfide (AVS) were conducted on the residues from each step of the sequential extraction. The S speciation in sludge samples after AVS analysis was also determined by S XANES. Sulfur was mainly present as FeS (≈ 60% of total S) and reduced organic S (≈ 30% of total S), such as organic sulfide and thiol groups, in the anoxic solid phase. Sulfur XANES and AVS analyses showed that during first step of the extraction procedure (the removal of exchangeable cations), a part of the FeS fraction corresponding to 20% of total S was transformed to zero-valent S, whereas Fe was not released into the solution during this transformation. After the last extraction step (organic/sulfide fraction) a secondary Fe phase was formed. The change in chemical speciation of S and Fe occurring during sequential extraction procedure suggests indirect effects on trace metals associated to the FeS fraction that may lead to incorrect results. Furthermore, by S XANES it was verified that the AVS analysis effectively removed the FeS fraction. The present results identified critical limitations for the application of sequential extraction for trace metal speciation analysis outside the framework for which the methods were developed. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Comparing Coordinated Versus Sequential Salpingo-Oophorectomy for BRCA1 and BRCA2 Mutation Carriers With Breast Cancer.

PubMed

S Chapman, Jocelyn; Roddy, Erika; Panighetti, Anna; Hwang, Shelley; Crawford, Beth; Powell, Bethan; Chen, Lee-May

2016-12-01

Women with breast cancer who carry BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations must also consider risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy (RRSO) and how to coordinate this procedure with their breast surgery. We report the factors associated with coordinated versus sequential surgery and compare the outcomes of each. Patients in our cancer risk database who had breast cancer and a known deleterious BRCA1/2 mutation before undergoing breast surgery were included. Women who chose concurrent RRSO at the time of breast surgery were compared to those who did not. Sixty-two patients knew their mutation carrier status before undergoing breast cancer surgery. Forty-three patients (69%) opted for coordinated surgeries, and 19 (31%) underwent sequential surgeries at a median follow-up of 4.4 years. Women who underwent coordinated surgery were significantly older than those who chose sequential surgery (median age of 45 vs. 39 years; P = .025). There were no differences in comorbidities between groups. Patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy were more likely to undergo coordinated surgery (65% vs. 37%; P = .038). Sequential surgery patients had longer hospital stays (4.79 vs. 3.44 days, P = .01) and longer operating times (8.25 vs. 6.38 hours, P = .006) than patients who elected combined surgery. Postoperative complications were minor and were no more likely in either group (odds ratio, 4.76; 95% confidence interval, 0.56-40.6). Coordinating RRSO with breast surgery is associated with receipt of neoadjuvant chemotherapy, longer operating times, and hospital stays without an observed increase in complications. In the absence of risk, surgical options can be personalized. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sequential Systemic Administrations of Combretastatin A4 Phosphate and Radioiodinated Hypericin Exert Synergistic Targeted Theranostic Effects with Prolonged Survival on SCID Mice Carrying Bifocal Tumor Xenografts

PubMed Central

Li, Junjie; Cona, Marlein Miranda; Chen, Feng; Feng, Yuanbo; Zhou, Lin; Zhang, Guozhi; Nuyts, Johan; de Witte, Peter; Zhang, Jian; Yu, Jie; Oyen, Raymond; Verbruggen, Alfons; Ni, Yicheng

2013-01-01

Objectives: Based on the soil-to-seeds principle, we explored the small-molecular sequential dual-targeting theranostic strategy (SMSDTTS) for prolonged survival and imaging detectability in a xenograft tumor model. Materials and Methods: Thirty severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mice bearing bilateral radiation-induced fibrosarcoma-1 (RIF-1) subcutaneously were divided into group A of SMSDTTS with sequential intravenous injections of combretastatin A4 phosphate (CA4P) and 131I-iodohypericin (131I-Hyp) at a 24 h interval; group B of single targeting control with CA4P and vehicle of 131I-Hyp; and group C of vehicle control (10 mice per group). Tumoricidal events were monitored by in vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and planar gamma scintiscan, and validated by ex vivo autoradiography and histopathology. Besides, 9 mice received sequential intravenous injections of CA4P and 131I-Hyp were subjected to biodistribution analysis at 24, 72 and 120 h. Results: Gamma counting revealed fast clearance of 131I-Hyp from normal organs but intense accumulation in necrotic tumor over 120 h. After only one treatment, significantly prolonged survival (p<0.001) was found in group A compared to group B and C with median survival of 33, 22, and 21 days respectively. Tumor volume on day 15 was 2.0 ± 0.89, 5.66 ± 1.66, and 5.02 ± 1.0 cm3 with tumor doubling time 7.8 ± 2.8, 4.4 ± 0.67, and 4.5 ± 0.5 days respectively. SMSDTTS treated tumors were visualized as hot spots on gamma scintiscans, and necrosis over tumor ratio remained consistently high on MRI, autoradiography and histology. Conclusion: The synergistic antitumor effects, multifocal targetability, simultaneous theranostic property, and good tolerance of the SMSDTTS were evident in this experiment, which warrants further development for preclinical and clinical applications. PMID:23423247

A Sequential Linear Quadratic Approach for Constrained Nonlinear Optimal Control with Adaptive Time Discretization and Application to Higher Elevation Mars Landing Problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sandhu, Amit

A sequential quadratic programming method is proposed for solving nonlinear optimal control problems subject to general path constraints including mixed state-control and state only constraints. The proposed algorithm further develops on the approach proposed in [1] with objective to eliminate the use of a high number of time intervals for arriving at an optimal solution. This is done by introducing an adaptive time discretization to allow formation of a desirable control profile without utilizing a lot of intervals. The use of fewer time intervals reduces the computation time considerably. This algorithm is further used in this thesis to solve a trajectory planning problem for higher elevation Mars landing.

Comparison of simultaneous and sequential administration of fentanyl-propofol for surgical abortion: a randomized single-blinded controlled trial.

PubMed

Gao, Wei; Sha, Baoyong; Zhao, Yuan; Fan, Zhe; Liu, Lin; Shen, Xin

2017-08-01

Propofol lipid emulsion (PLE) is a nanosized sedative, and it is used with a combination of salted antalgic prodrug, fentanyl citrate (FC). To illustrate the synergistic effect of mixing, we compared the sedation/analgesia resulting from simultaneous and sequential administration in surgically induced abortion (No. ChiCTR-IPC-15006153). Simultaneous group showed lower bispectral index, blood pressure, and heart rate, when cannula was inserted into the uterus. It also showed less frequency of hypertension, sinus tachycardia, movement, pain at the injection site, and additional FC. Therefore, premixing of PLE and FC enhanced the sedation and analgesia; stabilized the hemodynamics; lessened the incidence of movement and injection pain; and reduced the requirement of drugs.

Loudness enhancement and decrement in four paradigms

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Elmasian, R.; Galambos, R.; Bernheim, A., Jr.

1980-01-01

When one tone burst (the conditioner) preceeds another (the target) by 100 ms, target loudness is enhanced if the conditioner is more intense and decreased if it is less intense. We show here that similar loudness enhancements and decrements occur when the conditioner follows the target. In all instances, monaural loudness enhancements (in which the conditioner and target are delivered to the same ear) are greater than the dichotic enhancements (in which the conditioner is presented contralaterally), but the decrements, which are smaller than the enhancements, are similar in magnitude. Loudness enhancements and decrements are similar to sequential loudness effects and central tendency effects; the major difference is the relatively very large increases in loudness obtainable in loudness enhancement experiments. We outline a mechanism to account for these loudness phenomena and suggest that this mechanism is responsible for similar perceptual effects that occur in other stimulus dimensions and modalities.

A clinical decision support system prototype for cardiovascular intensive care.

PubMed

Lau, F

1994-08-01

This paper describes the development and validation of a decision-support system prototype that can help manage hypovolemic hypotension in the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (CVICU). The prototype uses physiologic pattern-matching, therapeutic protocols, computational drug-dosage response modeling and expert reasoning heuristics in its selection of intervention strategies and choices. As part of model testing, the prototype simulated real-time operation by processing historical physiologic and intervention data on a patient sequentially, generating alerts on questionable data, critiques of interventions instituted and recommendations on preferred interventions. Bench-testing with 399 interventions from 13 historical cases showed therapies for bleeding and fluid replacement proposed by the prototype were significantly more consistent (p < 0.0001) than those instituted by the staff when compared against expert critiques (80% versus 44%). This study has demonstrated the feasibility of formalizing hemodynamic management of CVICU patients in a manner that may be implemented and evaluated in a clinical setting.

Study on Urban Heat Island Intensity Level Identification Based on an Improved Restricted Boltzmann Machine.

PubMed

Zhang, Yang; Jiang, Ping; Zhang, Hongyan; Cheng, Peng

2018-01-23

Thermal infrared remote sensing has become one of the main technology methods used for urban heat island research. When applying urban land surface temperature inversion of the thermal infrared band, problems with intensity level division arise because the method is subjective. However, this method is one of the few that performs heat island intensity level identification. This paper will build an intensity level identifier for an urban heat island, by using weak supervision and thought-based learning in an improved, restricted Boltzmann machine (RBM) model. The identifier automatically initializes the annotation and optimizes the model parameters sequentially until the target identifier is completed. The algorithm needs very little information about the weak labeling of the target training sample and generates an urban heat island intensity spatial distribution map. This study can provide reliable decision-making support for urban ecological planning and effective protection of urban ecological security. The experimental results showed the following: (1) The heat island effect in Wuhan is existent and intense. Heat island areas are widely distributed. The largest heat island area is in Wuhan, followed by the sub-green island. The total area encompassed by heat island and strong island levels accounts for 54.16% of the land in Wuhan. (2) Partially based on improved RBM identification, this method meets the research demands of determining the spatial distribution characteristics of the internal heat island effect; its identification accuracy is superior to that of comparable methods.

Study on Urban Heat Island Intensity Level Identification Based on an Improved Restricted Boltzmann Machine

PubMed Central

Jiang, Ping; Zhang, Hongyan; Cheng, Peng

2018-01-01

Thermal infrared remote sensing has become one of the main technology methods used for urban heat island research. When applying urban land surface temperature inversion of the thermal infrared band, problems with intensity level division arise because the method is subjective. However, this method is one of the few that performs heat island intensity level identification. This paper will build an intensity level identifier for an urban heat island, by using weak supervision and thought-based learning in an improved, restricted Boltzmann machine (RBM) model. The identifier automatically initializes the annotation and optimizes the model parameters sequentially until the target identifier is completed. The algorithm needs very little information about the weak labeling of the target training sample and generates an urban heat island intensity spatial distribution map. This study can provide reliable decision-making support for urban ecological planning and effective protection of urban ecological security. The experimental results showed the following: (1) The heat island effect in Wuhan is existent and intense. Heat island areas are widely distributed. The largest heat island area is in Wuhan, followed by the sub-green island. The total area encompassed by heat island and strong island levels accounts for 54.16% of the land in Wuhan. (2) Partially based on improved RBM identification, this method meets the research demands of determining the spatial distribution characteristics of the internal heat island effect; its identification accuracy is superior to that of comparable methods. PMID:29360786

Reduced-Intensity Stem Cell Transplantation: "...whereof a little More than a little is by much too much." King Henry IV, part 1, I, 2.

PubMed

Antin, Joseph H

2007-01-01

The recognition that the immune system can play a major role in the control and cure of transplantable disorders led to the development of reduced-intensity allogeneic transplantation. The notion is that a compromise can be made between the intensity of conditioning and the fostering of graft-versus-host disease/ graft-versus-leukemia (GVHD/GVL), allowing the use of less intense conditioning with concomitantly less intense immediate toxicity. Reduced-intensity conditioning regimens have allowed the application of transplantation to older patients and to patients with underlying medical problems that preclude full-dose transplantation. Clearly, in some settings in which dose intensity is important, reduced-intensity regimens are less useful. However, for diseases that are either indolent, highly susceptible to GVL, or under good control before entering transplantation, this approach appears to have substantial benefits. Although the therapy appears to be valuable, concerns about delayed immune reconstitution and GVHD remain.

A Low Cost Structurally Optimized Design for Diverse Filter Types

PubMed Central

Kazmi, Majida; Aziz, Arshad; Akhtar, Pervez; Ikram, Nassar

2016-01-01

A wide range of image processing applications deploys two dimensional (2D)-filters for performing diversified tasks such as image enhancement, edge detection, noise suppression, multi scale decomposition and compression etc. All of these tasks require multiple type of 2D-filters simultaneously to acquire the desired results. The resource hungry conventional approach is not a viable option for implementing these computationally intensive 2D-filters especially in a resource constraint environment. Thus it calls for optimized solutions. Mostly the optimization of these filters are based on exploiting structural properties. A common shortcoming of all previously reported optimized approaches is their restricted applicability only for a specific filter type. These narrow scoped solutions completely disregard the versatility attribute of advanced image processing applications and in turn offset their effectiveness while implementing a complete application. This paper presents an efficient framework which exploits the structural properties of 2D-filters for effectually reducing its computational cost along with an added advantage of versatility for supporting diverse filter types. A composite symmetric filter structure is introduced which exploits the identities of quadrant and circular T-symmetries in two distinct filter regions simultaneously. These T-symmetries effectually reduce the number of filter coefficients and consequently its multipliers count. The proposed framework at the same time empowers this composite filter structure with additional capabilities of realizing all of its Ψ-symmetry based subtypes and also its special asymmetric filters case. The two-fold optimized framework thus reduces filter computational cost up to 75% as compared to the conventional approach as well as its versatility attribute not only supports diverse filter types but also offers further cost reduction via resource sharing for sequential implementation of diversified image processing applications especially in a constraint environment. PMID:27832133

Mixing modes in a population-based interview survey: comparison of a sequential and a concurrent mixed-mode design for public health research.

PubMed

Mauz, Elvira; von der Lippe, Elena; Allen, Jennifer; Schilling, Ralph; Müters, Stephan; Hoebel, Jens; Schmich, Patrick; Wetzstein, Matthias; Kamtsiuris, Panagiotis; Lange, Cornelia

2018-01-01

Population-based surveys currently face the problem of decreasing response rates. Mixed-mode designs are now being implemented more often to account for this, to improve sample composition and to reduce overall costs. This study examines whether a concurrent or sequential mixed-mode design achieves better results on a number of indicators of survey quality. Data were obtained from a population-based health interview survey of adults in Germany that was conducted as a methodological pilot study as part of the German Health Update (GEDA). Participants were randomly allocated to one of two surveys; each of the surveys had a different design. In the concurrent mixed-mode design ( n  = 617) two types of self-administered questionnaires (SAQ-Web and SAQ-Paper) and computer-assisted telephone interviewing were offered simultaneously to the respondents along with the invitation to participate. In the sequential mixed-mode design ( n  = 561), SAQ-Web was initially provided, followed by SAQ-Paper, with an option for a telephone interview being sent out together with the reminders at a later date. Finally, this study compared the response rates, sample composition, health indicators, item non-response, the scope of fieldwork and the costs of both designs. No systematic differences were identified between the two mixed-mode designs in terms of response rates, the socio-demographic characteristics of the achieved samples, or the prevalence rates of the health indicators under study. The sequential design gained a higher rate of online respondents. Very few telephone interviews were conducted for either design. With regard to data quality, the sequential design (which had more online respondents) showed less item non-response. There were minor differences between the designs in terms of their costs. Postage and printing costs were lower in the concurrent design, but labour costs were lower in the sequential design. No differences in health indicators were found between the two designs. Modelling these results for higher response rates and larger net sample sizes indicated that the sequential design was more cost and time-effective. This study contributes to the research available on implementing mixed-mode designs as part of public health surveys. Our findings show that SAQ-Paper and SAQ-Web questionnaires can be combined effectively. Sequential mixed-mode designs with higher rates of online respondents may be of greater benefit to studies with larger net sample sizes than concurrent mixed-mode designs.

Seeing the electroporative uptake of cell-membrane impermeable fluorescent molecules and nanoparticles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Kisoo; Kim, Jeong Ah; Lee, Soon-Geul; Lee, Won Gu

2012-07-01

This paper presents direct visualization of uptake directionality for cell-membrane impermeant fluorescent molecules and fluorescence-doped nanoparticles at a single-cell level during electroporation. To observe directly the uptake direction, we used microchannel-type electroporation that can generate a relatively symmetric and uniform electric field. For all the image frames during electroporation, fluorescence intensities that occurred at cell membranes in both uptake directions toward the electrodes have been sequentially recorded and quantitatively analyzed pixel by pixel. In our experiments, we found that fluorescent molecules, even not labeled to target biomolecules, had their own uptake direction with different intensities. It is also observed that the uptake intensity toward the cell membrane had a maximal value at a certain electric voltage, not at the highest value of voltages applied. The results also imply that the uptake direction of fluorescence-doped nanoparticles can be determined by a net surface charge of uptake materials and sizes in the electroporative environments. In summary, we performed a quantitative screening and direct visualization of uptake directionality for a set of fluorescent molecules and fluorescence-doped nanoparticles using electric-pulsation. Taking a closer look at the uptake direction of exogenous materials will help researchers to understand an unknown uptake phenomenon in which way foreign materials are inclined to move, and furthermore to design functional nanoparticles for electroporative gene delivery.This paper presents direct visualization of uptake directionality for cell-membrane impermeant fluorescent molecules and fluorescence-doped nanoparticles at a single-cell level during electroporation. To observe directly the uptake direction, we used microchannel-type electroporation that can generate a relatively symmetric and uniform electric field. For all the image frames during electroporation, fluorescence intensities that occurred at cell membranes in both uptake directions toward the electrodes have been sequentially recorded and quantitatively analyzed pixel by pixel. In our experiments, we found that fluorescent molecules, even not labeled to target biomolecules, had their own uptake direction with different intensities. It is also observed that the uptake intensity toward the cell membrane had a maximal value at a certain electric voltage, not at the highest value of voltages applied. The results also imply that the uptake direction of fluorescence-doped nanoparticles can be determined by a net surface charge of uptake materials and sizes in the electroporative environments. In summary, we performed a quantitative screening and direct visualization of uptake directionality for a set of fluorescent molecules and fluorescence-doped nanoparticles using electric-pulsation. Taking a closer look at the uptake direction of exogenous materials will help researchers to understand an unknown uptake phenomenon in which way foreign materials are inclined to move, and furthermore to design functional nanoparticles for electroporative gene delivery. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c2nr30578j

Late Intensive Care Unit Admission in Liver Transplant Recipients: 10-Year Experience.

PubMed

Atar, Funda; Gedik, Ender; Kaplan, Şerife; Zeyneloğlu, Pınar; Pirat, Arash; Haberal, Mehmet

2015-11-01

We evaluated late intensive care unit admission in liver transplant recipients to identify incidences and causes of acute respiratory failure in the postoperative period and to compare these results with results in patients who did not have acute respiratory failure. We retrospectively screened the data of 173 consecutive adult liver transplant recipients from January 2005 through March 2015 to identify patients with late admission (> 30 d posttransplant) to an intensive care unit. Patients were divided into 2 groups: patients with and without acute respiratory failure. Acute respiratory failure was defined as severe dyspnea, respiratory distress, decreased oxygen saturation, hypoxemia or hypercapnia on room air, or need for noninvasive or invasive mechanical ventilation. Demographic, laboratory, clinical, and respiratory data were collected. Model for End-Stage Liver Disease, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II, and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment scores; lengths of intensive care unit and hospital stays; and hospital mortality were assessed. Among 173 patients, 37 (21.4%) were admitted to an intensive care unit, including 22 (59.5%) with acute respiratory failure. The leading cause of acute respiratory failure was pneumonia (n = 19, 86.4%). Patients with acute respiratory failure had significantly lower levels of albumin before intensive care unit admission (P = .003). In patients with acute respiratory failure, severe sepsis and septic shock were more frequently observed and tracheotomy was more frequently performed (P = .041). Acute respiratory failure developed in 59.5% of liver transplant recipients with late intensive care unit admission. The leading cause was pneumonia, with this group of patients having higher requirements for invasive mechanical ventilation and tracheotomy, longer stays in an intensive care unit, and higher mortality.

The impact of slice-reduced computed tomography on histogram-based densitometry assessment of lung fibrosis in patients with systemic sclerosis.

PubMed

Nguyen-Kim, Thi Dan Linh; Maurer, Britta; Suliman, Yossra A; Morsbach, Fabian; Distler, Oliver; Frauenfelder, Thomas

2018-04-01

To evaluate usability of slice-reduced sequential computed tomography (CT) compared to standard high-resolution CT (HRCT) in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) for qualitative and quantitative assessment of interstitial lung disease (ILD) with respect to (I) detection of lung parenchymal abnormalities, (II) qualitative and semiquantitative visual assessment, (III) quantification of ILD by histograms and (IV) accuracy for the 20%-cut off discrimination. From standard chest HRCT of 60 SSc patients sequential 9-slice-computed tomography (reduced HRCT) was retrospectively reconstructed. ILD was assessed by visual scoring and quantitative histogram parameters. Results from standard and reduced HRCT were compared using non-parametric tests and analysed by univariate linear regression analyses. With respect to the detection of parenchymal abnormalities, only the detection of intrapulmonary bronchiectasis was significantly lower in reduced HRCT compared to standard HRCT (P=0.039). No differences were found comparing visual scores for fibrosis severity and extension from standard and reduced HRCT (P=0.051-0.073). All scores correlated significantly (P<0.001) to histogram parameters derived from both, standard and reduced HRCT. Significant higher values of kurtosis and skewness for reduced HRCT were found (both P<0.001). In contrast to standard HRCT histogram parameters from reduced HRCT showed significant discrimination at cut-off 20% fibrosis (sensitivity 88% kurtosis and skewness; specificity 81% kurtosis and 86% skewness; cut-off kurtosis ≤26, cut-off skewness ≤4; both P<0.001). Reduced HRCT is a robust method to assess lung fibrosis in SSc with minimal radiation dose with no difference in scoring assessment of lung fibrosis severity and extension in comparison to standard HRCT. In contrast to standard HRCT histogram parameters derived from the approach of reduced HRCT could discriminate at a threshold of 20% lung fibrosis with high sensitivity and specificity. Hence it might be used to detect early disease progression of lung fibrosis in context of monitoring and treatment of SSc patients.

Rhythmic grouping biases constrain infant statistical learning

PubMed Central

Hay, Jessica F.; Saffran, Jenny R.

2012-01-01

Linguistic stress and sequential statistical cues to word boundaries interact during speech segmentation in infancy. However, little is known about how the different acoustic components of stress constrain statistical learning. The current studies were designed to investigate whether intensity and duration each function independently as cues to initial prominence (trochaic-based hypothesis) or whether, as predicted by the Iambic-Trochaic Law (ITL), intensity and duration have characteristic and separable effects on rhythmic grouping (ITL-based hypothesis) in a statistical learning task. Infants were familiarized with an artificial language (Experiments 1 & 3) or a tone stream (Experiment 2) in which there was an alternation in either intensity or duration. In addition to potential acoustic cues, the familiarization sequences also contained statistical cues to word boundaries. In speech (Experiment 1) and non-speech (Experiment 2) conditions, 9-month-old infants demonstrated discrimination patterns consistent with an ITL-based hypothesis: intensity signaled initial prominence and duration signaled final prominence. The results of Experiment 3, in which 6.5-month-old infants were familiarized with the speech streams from Experiment 1, suggest that there is a developmental change in infants’ willingness to treat increased duration as a cue to word offsets in fluent speech. Infants’ perceptual systems interact with linguistic experience to constrain how infants learn from their auditory environment. PMID:23730217

Course Manual for X-Ray Applications.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Food and Drug Administration (DHEW), Rockville, MD. Bureau of Radiological Health.

This publication is the third of three sequential course manuals for instructors in x-ray science and engineering. This course manual has been tested by introducing it into the Oregon State University curriculum. The publication is prepared for the purpose of improving the qualifications of x-ray users and to reduce the ionizing radiation exposure…

Sequential Changes in Alanine Metabolism Following Partial Hepatectomy in the Rat

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-11-01

complete semipurified diet for 10 days be- libitum and the second subgroup was pair-fed with HX fore and after experimentation. 5 Food was removed rats. Nine...amino acid to form ing the ketogenic pathway. Indeed, reduced ketogene - pyruvate which can enter the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) sis after partial

Sequential Analysis of the Numerical Stroop Effect Reveals Response Suppression

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kadosh, Roi Cohen; Gevers, Wim; Notebaert, Wim

2011-01-01

Automatic processing of irrelevant stimulus dimensions has been demonstrated in a variety of tasks. Previous studies have shown that conflict between relevant and irrelevant dimensions can be reduced when a feature of the irrelevant dimension is repeated. The specific level at which the automatic process is suppressed (e.g., perceptual repetition,…

Preparation of Solvent-Dispersible Graphene and its Application to Nanocomposites

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-06-14

sulfuric acid (H2SO4), hydrochloric acid (HCl), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), potassium permanganate (KMnO4), and sodium nitrate (NaNO3) were...then added to reduce the unreacted permanganate . The mixture was then filtered through a cellulose filter and washed sequentially with dilute HCl and

16 CFR 1500.41 - Method of testing primary irritant substances.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... corrosivity properties of substances, including testing that does not require animals, are presented in the CPSC's animal testing policy set forth in 16 CFR 1500.232. A weight-of-evidence analysis or a validated... conducted, a sequential testing strategy is recommended to reduce the number of test animals. The method of...

PATTERN RECOGNITION APPROACH TO MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS,

DTIC Science & Technology

A sequential method of pattern recognition was used to recognize hyperthyroidism in a sample of 2219 patients being treated at the Straub Clinic in...the most prominent class features are selected. Thus, the symptoms which best distinguish hyperthyroidism are extracted at every step and the number of tests required to reach a diagnosis is reduced. (Author)

Computer simulation of a space SAR using a range-sequential processor for soil moisture mapping

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fujita, M.; Ulaby, F. (Principal Investigator)

1982-01-01

The ability of a spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) to detect soil moisture was evaluated by means of a computer simulation technique. The computer simulation package includes coherent processing of the SAR data using a range-sequential processor, which can be set up through hardware implementations, thereby reducing the amount of telemetry involved. With such a processing approach, it is possible to monitor the earth's surface on a continuous basis, since data storage requirements can be easily met through the use of currently available technology. The Development of the simulation package is described, followed by an examination of the application of the technique to actual environments. The results indicate that in estimating soil moisture content with a four-look processor, the difference between the assumed and estimated values of soil moisture is within + or - 20% of field capacity for 62% of the pixels for agricultural terrain and for 53% of the pixels for hilly terrain. The estimation accuracy for soil moisture may be improved by reducing the effect of fading through non-coherent averaging.

Giant morphea-form basal cell carcinoma of the umbilicus: Successful debulking with vismodegib.

PubMed

Orduz Robledo, Mariana; Lebas, Eve; Reginster, Marie-Annick; Baghaie, Mahmoud; Groves, Sabine; Nikkels, Arjen F

2018-01-01

Basal cell carcinoma of the umbilicus is very rare. The nodular subtype is the main representative. Giant basal cell carcinomas represent around 1% of all basal cell carcinomas. The hedgehog pathway inhibitor vismodegib is indicated for advanced basal cell carcinoma and CD56-negative immunostaining seems indicative for successful treatment. A 54-year-old man presented a 10 cm × 14 cm large and 4.5 cm deep morphea-form basal cell carcinoma with faint immunohistochemical CD56 expression arising from the umbilicus. A sequential treatment was initiated with debulking using vismodegib 150 mg per day for 4 months, followed by reconstructive surgery. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a giant basal cell carcinoma of the morphea-form type of the umbilicus. The sequential treatment plan reduces the duration of vismodegib inherent adverse effects and significantly reduces the tumor mass prior to surgery. Besides increasing adherence to vismodegib treatment, this approach facilitates the surgical technique and improves cosmetic outcome.

A Cascade of Sequentially Expressed Sucrose Transporters in the Seed Coat and Endosperm Provides Nutrition for the Arabidopsis Embryo[OPEN

PubMed Central

Chen, Li-Qing; Lin, I Winnie; Qu, Xiao-Qing; Sosso, Davide; McFarlane, Heather E.; Londoño, Alejandra; Samuels, A. Lacey; Frommer, Wolf B.

2015-01-01

Developing plant embryos depend on nutrition from maternal tissues via the seed coat and endosperm, but the mechanisms that supply nutrients to plant embryos have remained elusive. Sucrose, the major transport form of carbohydrate in plants, is delivered via the phloem to the maternal seed coat and then secreted from the seed coat to feed the embryo. Here, we show that seed filling in Arabidopsis thaliana requires the three sucrose transporters SWEET11, 12, and 15. SWEET11, 12, and 15 exhibit specific spatiotemporal expression patterns in developing seeds, but only a sweet11;12;15 triple mutant showed severe seed defects, which include retarded embryo development, reduced seed weight, and reduced starch and lipid content, causing a “wrinkled” seed phenotype. In sweet11;12;15 triple mutants, starch accumulated in the seed coat but not the embryo, implicating SWEET-mediated sucrose efflux in the transfer of sugars from seed coat to embryo. This cascade of sequentially expressed SWEETs provides the feeding pathway for the plant embryo, an important feature for yield potential. PMID:25794936

Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic model for analysis of adalimumab administered for Crohn's disease.

PubMed

Kimura, Koji; Yoshida, Atsushi; Takayanagi, Risa; Yamada, Yasuhiko

2018-05-23

Adalimumab (ADA) is used as a therapeutic agent for Crohn's disease (CD). Although that dosage regimen has been established through clinical trial experience, it has not been analyzed theoretically. In the present study, we analyzed of sequential changes of the Crohn's disease activity index (CDAI) after repeated administrations of ADA using a pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic model. In addition, we analyzed the validity of the dosage regimen, and potential efficacy gained by increasing the dose and reducing the interval of administration. The sequential changes in CDAI values obtained with our model were in good agreement with observed CDAI values, which was considered to show the validity of our analysis. We considered that our results showed the importance of the loading dose of ADA to obtain remission in an early stage of active CD. In addition, we showed that patients who have an incomplete response to ADA can obtain similar efficacy from increasing the dose and reducing the dose interval. In conclusion, our results showed that the present model may be applied to predict the CDAI values of ADA for CD. They indicated the validity of the dosage regimen, as well as the efficacy of increasing the dose and reducing the dose interval. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

The effects of sequential attention shifts within visual working memory.

PubMed

Li, Qi; Saiki, Jun

2014-01-01

Previous studies have shown conflicting data as to whether it is possible to sequentially shift spatial attention among visual working memory (VWM) representations. The present study investigated this issue by asynchronously presenting attentional cues during the retention interval of a change detection task. In particular, we focused on two types of sequential attention shifts: (1) orienting attention to one location, and then withdrawing attention from it, and (2) switching the focus of attention from one location to another. In Experiment 1, a withdrawal cue was presented after a spatial retro-cue to measure the effect of withdrawing attention. The withdrawal cue significantly reduced the cost of invalid spatial cues, but surprisingly, did not attenuate the benefit of valid spatial cues. This indicates that the withdrawal cue only triggered the activation of facilitative components but not inhibitory components of attention. In Experiment 2, two spatial retro-cues were presented successively to examine the effect of switching the focus of attention. We observed equivalent benefits of the first and second spatial cues, suggesting that participants were able to reorient attention from one location to another within VWM, and the reallocation of attention did not attenuate memory at the first-cued location. In Experiment 3, we found that reducing the validity of the preceding spatial cue did lead to a significant reduction in its benefit. However, performance was still better at first-cued locations than at uncued and neutral locations, indicating that the first cue benefit might have been preserved both partially under automatic control and partially under voluntary control. Our findings revealed new properties of dynamic attentional control in VWM maintenance.

Sequential hand hygiene promotion contributes to a reduced nosocomial bloodstream infection rate among very low-birth weight infants: an interrupted time series over a 10-year period.

PubMed

Helder, Onno K; Brug, Johannes; van Goudoever, Johannes B; Looman, Caspar W N; Reiss, Irwin K M; Kornelisse, René F

2014-07-01

Sustained high compliance with hand hygiene (HH) is needed to reduce nosocomial bloodstream infections (NBSIs). However, over time, a wash out effect often occurs. We studied the long-term effect of sequential HH-promoting interventions. An observational study with an interrupted time series analysis of the occurrence of NBSI was performed in very low-birth weight (VLBW) infants. Interventions consisted of an education program, gain-framed screen saver messages, and an infection prevention week with an introduction on consistent glove use. A total of 1,964 VLBW infants admitted between January 1, 2002, and December 31, 2011, were studied. The proportion of infants with ≥1 NBSI decreased from 47.6%-21.2% (P < .01); the number of NBSIs per 1,000 patient days decreased from 16.8-8.9 (P < .01). Preintervention, the number of NBSIs per 1,000 patient days significantly increased by 0.74 per quartile (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.27-1.22). The first intervention was followed by a significantly declining trend in NBSIs of -1.27 per quartile (95% CI, -2.04 to -0.49). The next interventions were followed by a neutral trend change. The relative contributions of coagulase-negative staphylococci and Staphylococcus aureus as causative pathogens decreased significantly over time. Sequential HH promotion seems to contribute to a sustained low NBSI rate. Copyright © 2014 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Left atrial booster function in valvular heart disease.

PubMed

Heidenreich, F P; Shaver, J A; Thompson, M E; Leonard, J J

1970-09-01

This study was designed to assess atrial booster pump action in valvular heart disease and to dissect booster pump from reservoir-conduit functions. In five patients with aortic stenosis and six with mitral stenosis, sequential atrioventricular (A-V) pacing was instituted during the course of diagnostic cardiac catheterization. Continuous recording of valvular gradient allowed estimation of flow for each cardiac cycle by transposition of the Gorlin formula. Left ventricular ejection time and left ventricular stroke work in aortic stenosis or left ventricular mean systolic pressure in mitral stenosis were also determined. Control observations were recorded during sequential A-V pacing with well-timed atrial systole. Cardiac cycles were then produced with no atrial contraction but undisturbed atrial reservoir function by intermittently interrupting the atrial pacing stimulus during sequential A-V pacing. This intervention significantly reduced valvular gradient, flow, left ventricular ejection time, and left ventricular mean systolic pressure or stroke work. Cardiac cycles were then produced with atrial booster action eliminated by instituting synchronous A-V pacing. The resultant simultaneous contraction of the atrium and ventricle not only eliminated effective atrial systole but also placed atrial systole during the normal period of atrial reservoir function. This also significantly reduced all the hemodynamic measurements. However, comparison of the magnitude of change from these two different pacing interventions showed no greater impairment of hemodynamic state when both booster pump action and reservoir function were impaired than when booster pump action alone was impaired. The study confirms the potential benefit of well placed atrial booster pump action in valvular heart disease in man.

Sequential sampling and biorational chemistries for management of lepidopteran pests of vegetable amaranth in the Caribbean.

PubMed

Clarke-Harris, Dionne; Fleischer, Shelby J

2003-06-01

Although vegetable amaranth, Amaranthus viridis L. and A. dubius Mart. ex Thell., production and economic importance is increasing in diversified peri-urban farms in Jamaica, lepidopteran herbivory is common even during weekly pyrethroid applications. We developed and validated a sampling plan, and investigated insecticides with new modes of action, for a complex of five species (Pyralidae: Spoladea recurvalis (F.), Herpetogramma bipunctalis (F.), Noctuidae: Spodoptera exigua (Hubner), S. frugiperda (J. E. Smith), and S. eridania Stoll). Significant within-plant variation occurred with H. bipunctalis, and a six-leaf sample unit including leaves from the inner and outer whorl was selected to sample all species. Larval counts best fit a negative binomial distribution. We developed a sequential sampling plan using a threshold of one larva per sample unit and the fitted distribution with a k(c) of 0.645. When compared with a fixed plan of 25 plants, sequential sampling recommended the same management decision on 87.5%, additional samples on 9.4%, and gave inaccurate recommendations on 3.1% of 32 farms, while reducing sample size by 46%. Insecticide frequency was reduced 33-60% when management decisions were based on sampled data compared with grower-standards, with no effect on crop damage. Damage remained high or variable (10-46%) with pyrethroid applications. Lepidopteran control was dramatically improved with ecdysone agonists (tebufenozide) or microbial metabolites (spinosyns and emamectin benzoate). This work facilitates resistance management efforts concurrent with the introduction of newer modes of action for lepidopteran control in leafy vegetable production in the Caribbean.

Sequential improvements in organ procurement increase the organ donation rate.

PubMed

Billeter, Adrian T; Sklare, Seth; Franklin, Glen A; Wright, Jerry; Morgan, Gary; O'Flynn, Paul E; Polk, Hiram C

2012-11-01

Organ demand exceeds availability of transplantable organs. Organ procurement continues to suffer from failures to identify potential donors, inability to obtain consent for donation, as well as failures to retrieve certain organs as donor demographics change. The purpose of this article is to propose how sequentially introduced measures can increase organ donation rates as well as improve organ procurement. We analysed the effect of stepwise improvements in the organ procurement process patients in a university-based surgical intensive care unit over a 20-year period. We related newly introduced measures in the organ retrieval process with changes in donation rates. We specifically targeted these three main steps in the donation process: donor identification, conversion of potential donors to actual donors, and organ protection during the procurement process. Finally, we assessed the effect of the same measures on organ procurement after introduction in other hospitals of the same organ procurement region. Introduction of quality improvement steps increased all of the observed parameters. The number of organ donors was stabilised due to a better identification of potential donors, a major increase in conversion from potential to actual donors, and an increase in extended criteria donor. Improvements in organ protection led to higher rates of organs transplanted per donor and increased recovery of lungs and hearts despite increasing donor age. The same measures were introduced successfully in other hospitals in our organ procurement region. Sequential improvements in organ procurement can increase the yield of retrieved organs. The same measures can be applied to other hospitals and lead to comparable improvements in organ donation. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Methods, safety, and early clinical outcomes of dose escalation using simultaneous integrated and sequential boosts in patients with locally advanced gynecologic malignancies.

PubMed

Boyle, John; Craciunescu, Oana; Steffey, Beverly; Cai, Jing; Chino, Junzo

2014-11-01

To evaluate the safety of dose escalated radiotherapy using a simultaneous integrated boost technique in patients with locally advanced gynecological malignancies. Thirty-nine women with locally advanced gynecological malignancies were treated with intensity modulated radiation therapy utilizing a simultaneous integrated boost (SIB) technique for gross disease in the para-aortic and/or pelvic nodal basins, sidewall extension, or residual primary disease. Women were treated to 45Gy in 1.8Gy fractions to elective nodal regions. Gross disease was simultaneously treated to 55Gy in 2.2Gy fractions (n=44 sites). An additional sequential boost of 10Gy in 2Gy fractions was delivered if deemed appropriate (n=29 sites). Acute and late toxicity, local control in the treated volumes (LC), overall survival (OS), and distant metastases (DM) were assessed. All were treated with a SIB to a dose of 55Gy. Twenty-four patients were subsequently treated with a sequential boost to a median dose of 65Gy. Median follow-up was 18months. Rates of acute>grade 2 gastrointestinal (GI), genitourinary (GU), and hematologic (heme) toxicities were 2.5%, 0%, and 30%, respectively. There were no grade 4 acute toxicities. At one year, grade 1-2 late GI toxicities were 24.5%. There were no grade 3 or 4 late GI toxicities. Rates of grade 1-2 late GU toxicities were 12.7%. There were no grade 3 or 4 late GU toxicities. Dose escalated radiotherapy using a SIB results in acceptable rates of acute toxicity. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Parallelization and implementation of approximate root isolation for nonlinear system by Monte Carlo

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khosravi, Ebrahim

1998-12-01

This dissertation solves a fundamental problem of isolating the real roots of nonlinear systems of equations by Monte-Carlo that were published by Bush Jones. This algorithm requires only function values and can be applied readily to complicated systems of transcendental functions. The implementation of this sequential algorithm provides scientists with the means to utilize function analysis in mathematics or other fields of science. The algorithm, however, is so computationally intensive that the system is limited to a very small set of variables, and this will make it unfeasible for large systems of equations. Also a computational technique was needed for investigating a metrology of preventing the algorithm structure from converging to the same root along different paths of computation. The research provides techniques for improving the efficiency and correctness of the algorithm. The sequential algorithm for this technique was corrected and a parallel algorithm is presented. This parallel method has been formally analyzed and is compared with other known methods of root isolation. The effectiveness, efficiency, enhanced overall performance of the parallel processing of the program in comparison to sequential processing is discussed. The message passing model was used for this parallel processing, and it is presented and implemented on Intel/860 MIMD architecture. The parallel processing proposed in this research has been implemented in an ongoing high energy physics experiment: this algorithm has been used to track neutrinoes in a super K detector. This experiment is located in Japan, and data can be processed on-line or off-line locally or remotely.

Implementing reduced-risk integrated pest management in fresh-market cabbage: influence of sampling parameters, and validation of binomial sequential sampling plans for the cabbage looper (Lepidoptera Noctuidae).

PubMed

Burkness, Eric C; Hutchison, W D

2009-10-01

Populations of cabbage looper, Trichoplusiani (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), were sampled in experimental plots and commercial fields of cabbage (Brasicca spp.) in Minnesota during 1998-1999 as part of a larger effort to implement an integrated pest management program. Using a resampling approach and the Wald's sequential probability ratio test, sampling plans with different sampling parameters were evaluated using independent presence/absence and enumerative data. Evaluations and comparisons of the different sampling plans were made based on the operating characteristic and average sample number functions generated for each plan and through the use of a decision probability matrix. Values for upper and lower decision boundaries, sequential error rates (alpha, beta), and tally threshold were modified to determine parameter influence on the operating characteristic and average sample number functions. The following parameters resulted in the most desirable operating characteristic and average sample number functions; action threshold of 0.1 proportion of plants infested, tally threshold of 1, alpha = beta = 0.1, upper boundary of 0.15, lower boundary of 0.05, and resampling with replacement. We found that sampling parameters can be modified and evaluated using resampling software to achieve desirable operating characteristic and average sample number functions. Moreover, management of T. ni by using binomial sequential sampling should provide a good balance between cost and reliability by minimizing sample size and maintaining a high level of correct decisions (>95%) to treat or not treat.

Nanoparticle bioconjugates as "bottom-up" assemblies of artifical multienzyme complexes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keighron, Jacqueline D.

2010-11-01

The sequential enzymes of several metabolic pathways have been shown to exist in close proximity with each other in the living cell. Although not proven in all cases, colocalization may have several implications for the rate of metabolite formation. Proximity between the sequential enzymes of a metabolic pathway has been proposed to have several benefits for the overall rate of metabolite formation. These include reduced diffusion distance for intermediates, sequestering of intermediates from competing pathways and the cytoplasm. Restricted diffusion in the vicinity of an enzyme can also cause the pooling of metabolites, which can alter reaction equilibria to control the rate of reaction through inhibition. Associations of metabolic enzymes are difficult to isolate ex vivo due to the weak interactions believed to colocalize sequential enzymes within the cell. Therefore model systems in which the proximity and diffusion of intermediates within the experiment system are controlled are attractive alternatives to explore the effects of colocalization of sequential enzymes. To this end three model systems for multienzyme complexes have been constructed. Direct adsorption enzyme:gold nanoparticle bioconjugates functionalized with malate dehydrogenase (MDH) and citrate synthase (CS) allow for proximity between to the enzymes to be controlled from the nanometer to micron range. Results show that while the enzymes present in the colocalized and non-colocalized systems compared here behaved differently overall the sequential activity of the pathway was improved by (1) decreasing the diffusion distance between active sites, (2) decreasing the diffusion coefficient of the reaction intermediate to prevent escape into the bulk solution, and (3) decreasing the overall amount of bioconjugate in the solution to prevent the pathway from being inhibited by the buildup of metabolite over time. Layer-by-layer (LBL) assemblies of MDH and CS were used to examine the layering effect of sequential enzymes found in multienzyme complexes such as the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC). By controlling the orientation of enzymes in the complex (i.e. how deeply embedded each enzyme is) it was hypothesized that differences in sequential activity would determine an optimal orientation for a multienzyme complex. It was determined during the course of these experiments that the polyelectrolyte (PE) assembly itself served to slow diffusion of intermediates, leading to a buildup of oxaloacetate within the PE layers to form a pool of metabolite that equalized the rate of sequential reaction between the different orientations tested. Hexahistidine tag -- Ni(II) nitriliotriacetic acid (NTA) chemistry is an attractive method to control the proximity between sequential enzymes because each enzyme can be bound in a specific orientation, with minimal loss of activity, and the interaction is reversible. Modifying gold nanoparticles or large unilamellar vesicles with this functionality allows for another class of model to be constructed in which proximity between enzymes is dynamic. Some metabolic pathways (such as the de novo purine biosynthetic pathway), have demonstrated dynamic proximity of sequential enzymes in response to specific cellular stimuli. Results indicate that Ni(II)NTA scaffolds immobilize histidine-tagged enzymes non-destructively, with a near 100% reversibility. This model can be used to demonstrate the possible implications of dynamic proximity such as pathway regulation. Insight into the benefits and mechanisms of sequential enzyme colocalization can enhance the general understanding of cellular processes, as well as allow for the development of new and innovative ways to modulate pathway activity. This may provide new designs for treatments of metabolic diseases and cancer, where metabolic pathways are altered.

Progesterone-Based Contraceptives Reduce Adaptive Immune Responses and Protection against Sequential Influenza A Virus Infections.

PubMed

Hall, Olivia J; Nachbagauer, Raffael; Vermillion, Meghan S; Fink, Ashley L; Phuong, Vanessa; Krammer, Florian; Klein, Sabra L

2017-04-15

In addition to their intended use, progesterone (P4)-based contraceptives promote anti-inflammatory immune responses, yet their effects on the outcome of infectious diseases, including influenza A virus (IAV) infection, are rarely evaluated. To evaluate their impact on immune responses to sequential IAV infections, adult female mice were treated with placebo or one of two progestins, P4 or levonorgestrel (LNG), and infected with a mouse-adapted H1N1 (maH1N1) virus. Treatment with P4 or LNG reduced morbidity but had no effect on pulmonary virus titers during primary H1N1 infection compared to placebo treatment. In serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, total anti-IAV IgG and IgA titers and virus-neutralizing antibody titers but not hemagglutinin stalk antibody titers were lower in progestin-treated mice than placebo-treated mice. Females were challenged 6 weeks later with either an maH1N1 drift variant (maH1N1dv) or maH3N2 IAV. The level of protection following infection with the maH1N1dv was similar among all groups. In contrast, following challenge with maH3N2, progestin treatment reduced survival as well as the numbers and activity of H1N1- and H3N2-specific memory CD8 + T cells, including tissue-resident cells, compared with placebo treatment. In contrast to primary IAV infection, progestin treatment increased the titers of neutralizing and IgG antibodies against both challenge viruses compared with those achieved with placebo treatment. While the immunomodulatory properties of progestins protected immunologically naive female mice from the severe outcomes from IAV infection, it made them more susceptible to secondary challenge with a heterologous IAV, despite improving their antibody responses against a secondary IAV infection. Taken together, the immunomodulatory effects of progestins differentially regulate the outcome of infection depending on exposure history. IMPORTANCE The impact of hormone-based contraceptives on the outcome of infectious diseases outside the reproductive tract is rarely considered. Using a mouse model, we have made the novel observation that treatment with either progesterone or a synthetic analog found in hormonal contraceptives, levonorgestrel, impacts sequential influenza A virus infection by modulating antibody responses and decreasing the numbers and activity of memory CD8 + T cells. Progestins reduced the antibody responses during primary H1N1 virus infection but increased antibody titers following a sequential infection with either an H1N1 drift variant or an H3N2 virus. Following challenge with an H3N2 virus, female mice treated with progestins experienced greater mortality with increased pulmonary inflammation and reduced numbers and activity of CD8 + T cells. This study suggests that progestins significantly affect adaptive immune responses to influenza A virus infection, with their effect on the outcome of infection depending on exposure history. Copyright © 2017 American Society for Microbiology.

Abelianization and sequential confinement in 2 + 1 dimensions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benvenuti, Sergio; Giacomelli, Simone

2017-10-01

We consider the lagrangian description of Argyres-Douglas theories of type A 2 N -1, which is a SU( N) gauge theory with an adjoint and one fundamental flavor. An appropriate reformulation allows us to map the moduli space of vacua across the duality, and to dimensionally reduce. Going down to three dimensions, we find that the adjoint SQCD "abelianizes": in the infrared it is equivalent to a N=4 linear quiver theory. Moreover, we study the mirror dual: using a monopole duality to "sequentially confine" quivers tails with balanced nodes, we show that the mirror RG flow lands on N=4 SQED with N flavors. These results make the supersymmetry enhancement explicit and provide a physical derivation of previous proposals for the three dimensional mirror of AD theories.

Multilevel Sequential Monte Carlo Samplers for Normalizing Constants

DOE PAGES

Moral, Pierre Del; Jasra, Ajay; Law, Kody J. H.; ...

2017-08-24

This article considers the sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) approximation of ratios of normalizing constants associated to posterior distributions which in principle rely on continuum models. Therefore, the Monte Carlo estimation error and the discrete approximation error must be balanced. A multilevel strategy is utilized to substantially reduce the cost to obtain a given error level in the approximation as compared to standard estimators. Two estimators are considered and relative variance bounds are given. The theoretical results are numerically illustrated for two Bayesian inverse problems arising from elliptic partial differential equations (PDEs). The examples involve the inversion of observations of themore » solution of (i) a 1-dimensional Poisson equation to infer the diffusion coefficient, and (ii) a 2-dimensional Poisson equation to infer the external forcing.« less

Empirical links between instruction with teaching tools and the hierarchical model of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in a Korean college tennis class.

PubMed

Shin, Myoungjin; Kwon, Sungho

2015-04-01

The objective of this study was to demonstrate the sequential process (i.e., social factors→mediators→motivation→consequences) underlying the Hierarchical Model of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation at the contextual level in instruction using three teaching tools, modified balls, a high net, and colored balls and cones in a college-level tennis class in South Korea. 126 students enrolled in a 15-week tennis class participated in the study. The results indicate that the three teaching tools positively affected students' perceived competence, with perceived competence's beta on intrinsic motivation equal to 0.45. Intrinsic motivation was found to reduce negative affect further by -0.33, thereby demonstrating the sequential process of the Hierarchical Model of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation.

Oral care intervention to reduce incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia in the neurologic intensive care unit.

PubMed

Fields, Lorraine B

2008-10-01

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a preventable secondary consequence of intubation and mechanical ventilation. VAP is pneumonia that develops in an intubated patient after 48 hours or more of mechanical ventilator support. Mechanically ventilated patients in neurologic and other intensive care units (ICUs) are at an increased risk of VAP due to factors such as decreased level of consciousness; dry, open mouth; and microaspiration of secretions. VAP can be prevented by initiating interventions from the Institute of Healthcare Improvement's VAP bundle, including (a) elevating the head of the bed of ventilated patients to 30 degrees, (b) preventing venous thromboembolism through use of sequential compression devices or anticoagulation, (c) administering gastric acid histamine2 blockers, (d) practicing good hand hygiene, (e) initiating early mobilization, and (f) performing daily sedation interruption at 10 am to evaluate neurologic status. The one intervention not included in the IHI bundle is oral hygiene. The purpose of this project is to support the premise that oral care, including timed toothbrushing, combined with the VAP bundle can mitigate and prevent the occurrence of VAP. Our project specifically addressed timed oral care of mechanically ventilated patients on a 24-bed stroke, neurologic, and medical ICU. Patients were randomized into a control group that performed usual oral care or an intervention group that brushed teeth every 8 hours. The results were immediate and startling, as the VAP rate dropped to zero within a week of beginning the every-8-hours toothbrushing regimen in the intervention group. The study was so successful that the control group was dropped after 6 months, and all intubated patients' teeth were brushed every 8 hours, maintaining the zero rate until the end of the study.

Developing Subdomain Allocation Algorithms Based on Spatial and Communicational Constraints to Accelerate Dust Storm Simulation

PubMed Central

Gui, Zhipeng; Yu, Manzhu; Yang, Chaowei; Jiang, Yunfeng; Chen, Songqing; Xia, Jizhe; Huang, Qunying; Liu, Kai; Li, Zhenlong; Hassan, Mohammed Anowarul; Jin, Baoxuan

2016-01-01

Dust storm has serious disastrous impacts on environment, human health, and assets. The developments and applications of dust storm models have contributed significantly to better understand and predict the distribution, intensity and structure of dust storms. However, dust storm simulation is a data and computing intensive process. To improve the computing performance, high performance computing has been widely adopted by dividing the entire study area into multiple subdomains and allocating each subdomain on different computing nodes in a parallel fashion. Inappropriate allocation may introduce imbalanced task loads and unnecessary communications among computing nodes. Therefore, allocation is a key factor that may impact the efficiency of parallel process. An allocation algorithm is expected to consider the computing cost and communication cost for each computing node to minimize total execution time and reduce overall communication cost for the entire simulation. This research introduces three algorithms to optimize the allocation by considering the spatial and communicational constraints: 1) an Integer Linear Programming (ILP) based algorithm from combinational optimization perspective; 2) a K-Means and Kernighan-Lin combined heuristic algorithm (K&K) integrating geometric and coordinate-free methods by merging local and global partitioning; 3) an automatic seeded region growing based geometric and local partitioning algorithm (ASRG). The performance and effectiveness of the three algorithms are compared based on different factors. Further, we adopt the K&K algorithm as the demonstrated algorithm for the experiment of dust model simulation with the non-hydrostatic mesoscale model (NMM-dust) and compared the performance with the MPI default sequential allocation. The results demonstrate that K&K method significantly improves the simulation performance with better subdomain allocation. This method can also be adopted for other relevant atmospheric and numerical modeling. PMID:27044039

[Changes observed in three quality indicators after the implementation of improvement strategies in the respiratory intensive care unit].

PubMed

Álvarez Maldonado, Pablo; Cueto Robledo, Guillermo; Cicero Sabido, Raúl

2015-04-01

To compare the results of quality monitoring after the implementation of improvement strategies in the respiratory intensive care unit (RICU). A prospective, comparative, longitudinal and interventional study was carried out. The RICU of Hospital General de México (Mexico). All patients admitted to the RICU from March 2012 to March 2013. An evidence-based bundle of interventions was implemented in order to reduce the ratios of three quality indicators: non-planned extubation (NPE), reintubation, and ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). NPE, reintubation and VAP ratios. A total of 232 patients were admitted, with a mean age of 49.5±17.8years; 119 (50.5%) were woman. The mean Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS-3) was 49.8±17, and the mean Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score was 5.3±4.1. The mortality rate in the RICU was 38.7%. The standardized mortality ratio was 1.50 (95%CI: 1.20-1.84). An improved ratio was observed for reintubation and NPE indicators compared to the ratios of the previous 2011 cohort: 1.6% vs. 7% (P=.02) and 8.1 vs. 17 episodes per 1000 days of mechanical ventilation (P=.04), respectively. A worsened VAP ratio was observed: 18.4 vs. 15.1 episodes per 1000 days of mechanical ventilation (P=.5). Quality improvement is feasible with the identification of areas of opportunity and the implementation of strategies. Nevertheless, the implementation of a bundle of preventive measures in itself does not guarantee improvements. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier España, S.L.U. and SEMICYUC. All rights reserved.

Effects of seasonal anoxia on the distribution of phosphorus fractions in the surface sediments of southeastern Arabian Sea shelf

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sudheesh, V.; Movitha, M.; Hatha, A. A. Mohamed; Renjith, K. R.; Resmi, P.; Rahiman, Mujeeb; Nair, S. M.

2017-11-01

The seasonal upwelling along the southeastern Arabian Sea (SEAS) brings cold, nutrient-rich low oxygen subsurface water to the continental shelf. The subsurface oxygen deficiency due to upwelling is severe in some years, the intensity of which could profoundly influence the nutrient cycling along the SEAS. Herein, we studied the effect of seasonal anoxia on fractionation of phosphorus during the peak upwelling period of August 2013. Abundance of five fractions of phosphorus (P), namely exchangeable or loosely sorbed P (Pads), iron-bound P (PFe), authigenic P (Paut), detrital apatite plus other inorganic P (Pdet) and organic P (Porg), in surface sediments of SEAS shelf has been studied using a sequential extraction procedure (SEDEX) to examine their distributions and sources. Total P (TP) concentrations ranged from 209 to 1081 μg g-1 with an average of 508 ± 256 μg g-1. Among the five P fractions, the authigenic P was the dominant species, representing about 60% of TP. The relative abundance of P fractions was in the order: Paut>Pdet>Porg>PFe> Pads. Multivariate analyses revealed that the P fractions were primarily associated with the organic constituents and fine sediments. The hypoxic bottom condition associated with summer monsoon upwelling significantly reduced the concentrations of PFe, Pads and Porg in the surface sediments. The enhanced release of organic bound and iron oxides bound P under low oxygen condition was evident from the enhanced C/P and N/P ratios and lower C/N ratio in the sediments. The intense biomineralization of organic matter and reduction of Fe-Mn oxides due to the periodic anoxia resulted in the transformations of their associated P fractions and enhanced accumulation as authigenic calcium phosphate mineral.

Empirical mono- versus combination antibiotic therapy in adult intensive care patients with severe sepsis - A systematic review with meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis.

PubMed

Sjövall, Fredrik; Perner, Anders; Hylander Møller, Morten

2017-04-01

To assess benefits and harms of empirical mono- vs. combination antibiotic therapy in adult patients with severe sepsis in the intensive care unit (ICU). We performed a systematic review according to the Cochrane Collaboration methodology, including meta-analysis, risk of bias assessment and trial sequential analysis (TSA). We included randomised clinical trials (RCT) assessing empirical mono-antibiotic therapy versus a combination of two or more antibiotics in adult ICU patients with severe sepsis. We exclusively assessed patient-important outcomes, including mortality. Two reviewers independently evaluated studies for inclusion, extracted data, and assessed risk of bias. Risk ratios (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated and the risk of random errors was assessed by TSA. Thirteen RCTs (n = 2633) were included; all were judged as having high risk of bias. Carbapenems were the most frequently used mono-antibiotic (8 of 13 trials). There was no difference in mortality (RR 1.11, 95% CI 0.95-1.29; p = 0.19) or in any other patient-important outcomes between mono- vs. combination therapy. In TSA of mortality, the Z-curve reached the futility area, indicating that a 20% relative risk difference in mortality may be excluded between the two groups. For the other outcomes, TSA indicated lack of data and high risk of random errors. This systematic review of RCTs with meta-analysis and TSA demonstrated no differences in mortality or other patient-important outcomes between empirical mono- vs. combination antibiotic therapy in adult ICU patients with severe sepsis. The quantity and quality of data was low without firm evidence for benefit or harm of combination therapy. Copyright © 2016 The British Infection Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evolution of a double amino acid substitution in the 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase in Eleusine indica conferring high-level glyphosate resistance.

PubMed

Yu, Qin; Jalaludin, Adam; Han, Heping; Chen, Ming; Sammons, R Douglas; Powles, Stephen B

2015-04-01

Glyphosate is the most important and widely used herbicide in world agriculture. Intensive glyphosate selection has resulted in the widespread evolution of glyphosate-resistant weed populations, threatening the sustainability of this valuable once-in-a-century agrochemical. Field-evolved glyphosate resistance due to known resistance mechanisms is generally low to modest. Here, working with a highly glyphosate-resistant Eleusine indica population, we identified a double amino acid substitution (T102I+P106S [TIPS]) in the 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) gene in glyphosate-resistant individuals. This TIPS mutation recreates the biotechnology-engineered commercial first generation glyphosate-tolerant EPSPS in corn (Zea mays) and now in other crops. In E. indica, the naturally evolved TIPS mutants are highly (more than 180-fold) resistant to glyphosate compared with the wild type and more resistant (more than 32-fold) than the previously known P106S mutants. The E. indica TIPS EPSPS showed very high-level (2,647-fold) in vitro resistance to glyphosate relative to the wild type and is more resistant (600-fold) than the P106S variant. The evolution of the TIPS mutation in crop fields under glyphosate selection is likely a sequential event, with the P106S mutation being selected first and fixed, followed by the T102I mutation to create the highly resistant TIPS EPSPS. The sequential evolution of the TIPS mutation endowing high-level glyphosate resistance is an important mechanism by which plants adapt to intense herbicide selection and a dramatic example of evolution in action. © 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists. All Rights Reserved.

Evaluation of Robustness to Setup and Range Uncertainties for Head and Neck Patients Treated With Pencil Beam Scanning Proton Therapy

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

Malyapa, Robert; Lowe, Matthew; Christie Medical Physics and Engineering, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester

Purpose: To evaluate the robustness of head and neck plans for treatment with intensity modulated proton therapy to range and setup errors, and to establish robustness parameters for the planning of future head and neck treatments. Methods and Materials: Ten patients previously treated were evaluated in terms of robustness to range and setup errors. Error bar dose distributions were generated for each plan, from which several metrics were extracted and used to define a robustness database of acceptable parameters over all analyzed plans. The patients were treated in sequentially delivered series, and plans were evaluated for both the first seriesmore » and for the combined error over the whole treatment. To demonstrate the application of such a database in the head and neck, for 1 patient, an alternative treatment plan was generated using a simultaneous integrated boost (SIB) approach and plans of differing numbers of fields. Results: The robustness database for the treatment of head and neck patients is presented. In an example case, comparison of single and multiple field plans against the database show clear improvements in robustness by using multiple fields. A comparison of sequentially delivered series and an SIB approach for this patient show both to be of comparable robustness, although the SIB approach shows a slightly greater sensitivity to uncertainties. Conclusions: A robustness database was created for the treatment of head and neck patients with intensity modulated proton therapy based on previous clinical experience. This will allow the identification of future plans that may benefit from alternative planning approaches to improve robustness.« less

Variation in elemental intensities among teeth and between pre- and postnatal regions of enamel.

PubMed

Dolphin, Alexis E; Goodman, Alan H; Amarasiriwardena, Dulasiri D

2005-12-01

Microspatial analyses of the trace element composition of dental enamel are made possible using laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). Fine spatial resolution, multielement capabilities, and minimal sample destruction make this technique particularly well-suited for documenting the distribution of elements in sequentially calcifying layers of enamel. Because deciduous enamel forms from week 13 in utero up to 9 months postnatally (thereafter essentially becoming inert), the application of LA-ICP-MS allows for the retrospective measurement of prenatal and early postnatal trace-element uptake during a critical period of child development. In this study, we compared intra- and intertooth intensities of 25Mg, 57Fe, 66Zn, 68Zn, 88Sr, 138Ba, and 208Pb via LA-ICP-MS of 38 exfoliated deciduous incisors and canines donated by 36 participants in the Solís Valley Mexico Nutrition Collaborative Research Support Program (NCRSP). Pre- and postnatal comparisons within teeth showed significant increases (P < 0.001) and greater variation in the abundance of all isotopes in postnatal enamel, with the exception of a decrease in 25Mg (P < 0.001) and constant values for 88Sr (P = 0.681). Conversely, comparisons by tooth type and mouth quadrant revealed few significant differences between teeth of the same individual. We argue that more variation in the trace element composition of teeth occurs across developmental areas within a tooth than among different teeth of the same person. This study further demonstrates that sequentially calcifying areas of enamel have different chemical concentrations. The results support the use of microspatial analyses of enamel for understanding changes in nutrition, pollution, and residence. 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Evolution of a Double Amino Acid Substitution in the 5-Enolpyruvylshikimate-3-Phosphate Synthase in Eleusine indica Conferring High-Level Glyphosate Resistance1

PubMed Central

Yu, Qin; Jalaludin, Adam; Han, Heping; Chen, Ming; Sammons, R. Douglas; Powles, Stephen B.

2015-01-01

Glyphosate is the most important and widely used herbicide in world agriculture. Intensive glyphosate selection has resulted in the widespread evolution of glyphosate-resistant weed populations, threatening the sustainability of this valuable once-in-a-century agrochemical. Field-evolved glyphosate resistance due to known resistance mechanisms is generally low to modest. Here, working with a highly glyphosate-resistant Eleusine indica population, we identified a double amino acid substitution (T102I + P106S [TIPS]) in the 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) gene in glyphosate-resistant individuals. This TIPS mutation recreates the biotechnology-engineered commercial first generation glyphosate-tolerant EPSPS in corn (Zea mays) and now in other crops. In E. indica, the naturally evolved TIPS mutants are highly (more than 180-fold) resistant to glyphosate compared with the wild type and more resistant (more than 32-fold) than the previously known P106S mutants. The E. indica TIPS EPSPS showed very high-level (2,647-fold) in vitro resistance to glyphosate relative to the wild type and is more resistant (600-fold) than the P106S variant. The evolution of the TIPS mutation in crop fields under glyphosate selection is likely a sequential event, with the P106S mutation being selected first and fixed, followed by the T102I mutation to create the highly resistant TIPS EPSPS. The sequential evolution of the TIPS mutation endowing high-level glyphosate resistance is an important mechanism by which plants adapt to intense herbicide selection and a dramatic example of evolution in action. PMID:25717039

How to improve an un-alterable model forecast? A sequential data assimilation based error updating approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gragne, A. S.; Sharma, A.; Mehrotra, R.; Alfredsen, K. T.

2012-12-01

Accuracy of reservoir inflow forecasts is instrumental for maximizing value of water resources and influences operation of hydropower reservoirs significantly. Improving hourly reservoir inflow forecasts over a 24 hours lead-time is considered with the day-ahead (Elspot) market of the Nordic exchange market in perspectives. The procedure presented comprises of an error model added on top of an un-alterable constant parameter conceptual model, and a sequential data assimilation routine. The structure of the error model was investigated using freely available software for detecting mathematical relationships in a given dataset (EUREQA) and adopted to contain minimum complexity for computational reasons. As new streamflow data become available the extra information manifested in the discrepancies between measurements and conceptual model outputs are extracted and assimilated into the forecasting system recursively using Sequential Monte Carlo technique. Besides improving forecast skills significantly, the probabilistic inflow forecasts provided by the present approach entrains suitable information for reducing uncertainty in decision making processes related to hydropower systems operation. The potential of the current procedure for improving accuracy of inflow forecasts at lead-times unto 24 hours and its reliability in different seasons of the year will be illustrated and discussed thoroughly.

The utilization of modified BCR three-step sequential extraction procedure for the fractionation of Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn in soil reference materials of different origins.

PubMed

Zemberyová, Mária; Barteková, Jana; Hagarová, Ingrid

2006-12-15

A modified three-step sequential extraction procedure for the fractionation of heavy metals, proposed by the Commission of the European Communities Bureau of Reference (BCR) has been applied to the Slovak reference materials of soils (soil orthic luvisols, soil rendzina and soil eutric cambisol), which represent pedologically different types of soils in Slovakia. Analyses were carried out by flame or electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS or ETAAS). The fractions extracted were: exchangeable (extraction step 1), reducible-iron/manganese oxides (extraction step 2), oxidizable-organic matter and sulfides (extraction step 3). The sum of the element contents in the three fractions plus aqua-regia extractable content of the residue was compared to the aqua-regia extractable content of the elements in the origin soils. The accuracy obtained by comparing the determined contents of the elements with certified values, using BCR CRM 701, certified for the extractable contents (mass fractions) of Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn in sediment following a modified BCR-three step sequential extraction procedure, was found to be satisfactory.

The relationship between internalized stigma and quality of life among people with mental illness: are self-esteem and sense of coherence sequential mediators?

PubMed

Świtaj, Piotr; Grygiel, Paweł; Chrostek, Anna; Nowak, Izabela; Wciórka, Jacek; Anczewska, Marta

2017-09-01

To elucidate the mechanism through which internalized stigma reduces the quality of life (QoL) of people with mental illness by exploring the mediating roles of self-esteem and sense of coherence (SOC). A cross-sectional analysis of 229 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia or affective disorders was undertaken to test a sequential mediation model assuming that more severe internalized stigma is related to lower self-esteem, which is associated with weaker SOC, which in turn relates to worse QoL. The proposed model was supported by the data. A sequential indirect effect from internalized stigma to QoL via self-esteem and SOC turned out to be significant [beta = -0.06, SE = 0.02; 95% CI (-0.11, -0.03)]. Support was also found for simple mediation models with either self-esteem or SOC as single mediators between internalized stigma and QoL. Self-esteem and SOC are personal resources that should be considered as potential targets of interventions aiming to prevent the harmful consequences of internalized stigma for the QoL of people receiving psychiatric treatment.

Sequential reductive and oxidative biodegradation of chloroethenes stimulated in a coupled bioelectro-process.

PubMed

Lohner, Svenja T; Becker, Dirk; Mangold, Klaus-Michael; Tiehm, Andreas

2011-08-01

This article for the first time demonstrates successful application of electrochemical processes to stimulate sequential reductive/oxidative microbial degradation of perchloroethene (PCE) in mineral medium and in contaminated groundwater. In a flow-through column system, hydrogen generation at the cathode supported reductive dechlorination of PCE to cis-dichloroethene (cDCE), vinyl chloride (VC), and ethene (ETH). Electrolytically generated oxygen at the anode allowed subsequent oxidative degradation of the lower chlorinated metabolites. Aerobic cometabolic degradation of cDCE proved to be the bottleneck for complete metabolite elimination. Total removal of chloroethenes was demonstrated for a PCE load of approximately 1.5 μmol/d. In mineral medium, long-term operation with stainless steel electrodes was demonstrated for more than 300 days. In contaminated groundwater, corrosion of the stainless steel anode occurred, whereas DSA (dimensionally stable anodes) proved to be stable. Precipitation of calcareous deposits was observed at the cathode, resulting in a higher voltage demand and reduced dechlorination activity. With DSA and groundwater from a contaminated site, complete degradation of chloroethenes in groundwater was obtained for two months thus demonstrating the feasibility of the sequential bioelectro-approach for field application.

Acute Respiratory Failure in Cardiac Transplant Recipients.

PubMed

Komurcu, Ozgur; Ozdemirkan, Aycan; Camkiran Firat, Aynur; Zeyneloglu, Pinar; Sezgin, Atilla; Pirat, Arash

2015-11-01

This study sought to evaluate the incidence, risk factors, and outcomes of acute respiratory failure in cardiac transplant recipients. Cardiac transplant recipients >15 years of age and readmitted to the intensive care unit after cardiac transplant between 2005 and 2015 were included. Thirty-nine patients were included in the final analyses. Patients with acute respiratory failure and without acute respiratory failure were compared. The most frequent causes of readmission were routine intensive care unit follow-up after endomyocardial biopsy, heart failure, sepsis, and pneumonia. Patients who were readmitted to the intensive care unit were further divided into 2 groups based on presence of acute respiratory failure. Patients' ages and body weights did not differ between groups. The groups were not different in terms of comorbidities. The admission sequential organ failure assessment scores were higher in patients with acute respiratory failure. Patients with acute respiratory failure were more likely to use bronchodilators and n-acetylcysteine before readmission. Mean peak inspiratory pressures were higher in patients in acute respiratory failure. Patients with acute respiratory failure developed sepsis more frequently and they were more likely to have hypotension. Patients with acute respiratory failure had higher values of serum creatinine before admission to intensive care unit and in the first day of intensive care unit. Patients with acute respiratory failure had more frequent bilateral opacities on chest radiographs and positive blood and urine cultures. Duration of intensive care unit and hospital stays were not statistically different between groups. Mortality in patients with acute respiratory failure was 76.5% compared with 0% in patients without acute respiratory failure. A significant number of cardiac transplant recipients were readmitted to the intensive care unit. Patients presenting with acute respiratory failure on readmission more frequently developed sepsis and hypotension, suggesting a poorer prognosis.

Coping strategies and psychological distress in caregivers of patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

PubMed

Siciliano, Mattia; Santangelo, Gabriella; Trojsi, Francesca; Di Somma, Carmela; Patrone, Manila; Femiano, Cinzia; Monsurrò, Maria Rosaria; Trojano, Luigi; Tedeschi, Gioacchino

2017-08-01

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) causes distress in caregivers. The present study aims to examine the association between coping strategies and psychological distress in caregivers of ALS patients. Coping strategies were assessed in 96 ALS informal caregivers by means of the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations. Data about caregivers' demographic characteristics, levels of burden, depression and anxiety (psychological distress) were also gathered by standardised questionnaires. Patients' clinical, cognitive and behavioural disturbances were evaluated by ALS specific assessment tools. Sequential logistic regression analysis showed that emotion-oriented coping strategy was significantly associated with high levels of depressive (p < 0.01) and anxiety (p < 0.05) symptoms and high levels of burden (p < 0.05), after controlling for all other variables. Moreover, a significant relationship of patients' functional dependence levels with burden experienced by caregivers was observed. No relationships were detected between task-oriented and avoidance-oriented coping strategies and caregivers' levels of psychological distress. The present study supported the mediating effects of coping strategies on intensity of burden, depression and anxiety experienced by ALS caregivers. These findings suggest that interventions aimed at reducing utilisation of maladaptive coping strategies may improve well-being in ALS caregivers, and, possibly, management of symptoms in ALS patients.

Development of in vitro and in vivo rabies virus neutralization assays based on a high-titer pseudovirus system

PubMed Central

Nie, Jianhui; Wu, Xiaohong; Ma, Jian; Cao, Shouchun; Huang, Weijin; Liu, Qiang; Li, Xuguang; Li, Yuhua; Wang, Youchun

2017-01-01

Pseudoviruses are useful virological tools because of their safety and versatility; however the low titer of these viruses substantially limits their wider applications. We developed a highly efficient pseudovirus production system capable of yielding 100 times more rabies pseudovirus than the traditional method. Employing the high-titer pseudoviruses, we have developed robust in vitro and in vivo neutralization assays for the evaluation of rabies vaccine, which traditionally relies on live-virus based assays. Compared with current rapid fluorescent focus inhibition test (RFFIT), our in vitro pseudovirus-based neutralization assay (PBNA) is much less labor-intensive while demonstrating better reproducibility. Moreover, the in vivo PBNA assay was also found to be superior to the live virus based assay. Following intravenous administration, the pseudovirus effectively infected the mice, with dynamic viral distributions being sequentially observed in spleen, liver and brain. Furthermore, data from in vivo PBNA showed great agreement with those generated from the live virus model but with the experimental time significantly reduced from 2 weeks to 3 days. Taken together, the effective pseudovirus production system facilitated the development of novel PBNA assays which could replace live virus-based traditional assays due to its safety, rapidity, reproducibility and high throughput capacity. PMID:28218278

Relaxation for Children. (Revised and Expanded Edition.)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rickard, Jenny

Intended as a guide to reduce negative stress in children, this book suggests relaxation and meditation techniques to help children cope with stressful events. Part 1 provides an introduction to the format of the book. Part 2 contains summaries of the 10 sessions that make up the program. Each session has six sequential stages in which students…

Allergenicity of Peanut Proteins is Retained Following Enzymatic Hydrolysis

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Rationale: Hydrolysis of peanut proteins by food-grade enzymes may reduce allergenicity and could lead to safer forms of immunotherapy. Methods: Light roasted peanut flour extracts were digested with pepsin (37°C, pH 2), Alcalase (60°C pH 8), or Flavourzyme (50°C, pH 7) up to 1 hr, or sequentially w...

How Big Is Big Enough? Sample Size Requirements for CAST Item Parameter Estimation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chuah, Siang Chee; Drasgow, Fritz; Luecht, Richard

2006-01-01

Adaptive tests offer the advantages of reduced test length and increased accuracy in ability estimation. However, adaptive tests require large pools of precalibrated items. This study looks at the development of an item pool for 1 type of adaptive administration: the computer-adaptive sequential test. An important issue is the sample size required…

How Sequential Changes in Reward Magnitude Modulate Cognitive Flexibility: Evidence from Voluntary Task Switching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fröber, Kerstin; Dreisbach, Gesine

2016-01-01

There is much evidence that the prospect of reward modulates cognitive control in terms of more stable behavior. Increases in expected reward magnitude, however, have been suggested to increase flexible behavior as evidenced by reduced switch costs. In a series of experiments, the authors provide evidence that this increased cognitive flexibility…

Developmental plasticity in Tenebrio molitor (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae): Analysis of Instar Variation in Number and Development Time under Different Diets

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The variation in instar number and the pattern of sequential instar development time of Tenebrio molitor L. (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) was studied under 4 different diet regimes. Addition of dietary supplements consisting of dry potato or a mix of dry potato and dry egg whites significantly reduced...

Comparison of DNA testing strategies in monitoring human papillomavirus infection prevalence through simulation.

PubMed

Lin, Carol Y; Li, Ling

2016-11-07

HPV DNA diagnostic tests for epidemiology monitoring (research purpose) or cervical cancer screening (clinical purpose) have often been considered separately. Women with positive Linear Array (LA) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) research test results typically are neither informed nor referred for colposcopy. Recently, a sequential testing by using Hybrid Capture 2 (HC2) HPV clinical test as a triage before genotype by LA has been adopted for monitoring HPV infections. Also, HC2 has been reported as a more feasible screening approach for cervical cancer in low-resource countries. Thus, knowing the performance of testing strategies incorporating HPV clinical test (i.e., HC2-only or using HC2 as a triage before genotype by LA) compared with LA-only testing in measuring HPV prevalence will be informative for public health practice. We conducted a Monte Carlo simulation study. Data were generated using mathematical algorithms. We designated the reported HPV infection prevalence in the U.S. and Latin America as the "true" underlying type-specific HPV prevalence. Analytical sensitivity of HC2 for detecting 14 high-risk (oncogenic) types was considered to be less than LA. Estimated-to-true prevalence ratios and percentage reductions were calculated. When the "true" HPV prevalence was designated as the reported prevalence in the U.S., with LA genotyping sensitivity and specificity of (0.95, 0.95), estimated-to-true prevalence ratios of 14 high-risk types were 2.132, 1.056, 0.958 for LA-only, HC2-only, and sequential testing, respectively. Estimated-to-true prevalence ratios of two vaccine-associated high-risk types were 2.359 and 1.063 for LA-only and sequential testing, respectively. When designated type-specific prevalence of HPV16 and 18 were reduced by 50 %, using either LA-only or sequential testing, prevalence estimates were reduced by 18 %. Estimated-to-true HPV infection prevalence ratios using LA-only testing strategy are generally higher than using HC2-only or using HC2 as a triage before genotype by LA. HPV clinical testing can be incorporated to monitor HPV prevalence or vaccine effectiveness. Caution is needed when comparing apparent prevalence from different testing strategies.

Effect of applied voltage, initial concentration and natural organic matter on sequential reduction/oxidation of nitrobenzene by graphite electrodes

PubMed Central

Sun, Mei; Reible, Danny D.; Lowry, Gregory V.; Gregory, Kelvin B.

2012-01-01

Carbon electrodes are proposed in reactive sediment caps for in situ treatment of contaminants. The electrodes produce reducing conditions and H2 at the cathode and oxidizing conditions and O2 at the anode. Emplaced perpendicular to seepage flow, the electrodes provide the opportunity for sequential reduction and oxidation of contaminants. The objectives of this study are to demonstrate degradation of nitrobenzene (NB) as a probe compound for sequential electrochemical reduction and oxidation, and to determine the effect of applied voltage, initial concentration and natural organic matter on the degradation rate. In H-cell reactors with graphite electrodes and buffer solution, NB was reduced stoichiometrically to aniline (AN) at the cathode with nitrosobenzene (NSB) as the intermediate. AN was then removed at the anode, faster than the reduction step. No common AN oxidation intermediate was detected in the system. Both the first order reduction rate constants of NB (kNB) and NSB (kNSB) increased with applied voltage between 2V and 3.5 V (when the initial NB concentration was 100 µM, kNB=0.3 d−1 and kNSB=0.04 d−1at 2V; kNB=1.6 d−1 and kNSB=0.64 d−1at 3.5 V) but stopped increasing beyond the threshold of 3.5V. When initial NB concentration decreased from 100 to 5 µM, kNB and kNSB became 9 and 5 times faster, respectively, suggesting that competition for active sites on the electrode surface is an important factor in NB degradation. Presence of natural organic matter (in forms of either humic acid or Anacostia River sediment porewater) decreased kNB while slightly increased kNSB, but only to a limited extent (~factor of 3) for dissolved organic carbon content up to 100 mg/l. These findings suggest that electrode-based reactive sediment capping via sequential reduction/oxidation is a potentially robust and tunable technology for in situ contaminants degradation. PMID:22571797

Design and Synthesis of a Novel Class of Flavonoid Derivatives via Sequential Phosphorylation and its Application for Greener Nanoparticle Synthesis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Osonga, Francis Juma

Flavonoids exhibit arrays of biological effects that are beneficial to humans, including anti-viral, anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic effects. However, these applications have been hindered by their poor stability and solubility in common solvents. Consequently, there is significant interest in the modification of flavonoids to improve their solubility. This poor solubility is also believed to be responsible for its permeability and bioavailability. Hence the central goal of this work is to design synthetic strategies for the sequential protection of the -OH groups in order to produce phosphorylated quercetin and apigenin derivatives. This work is divided into two parts: the first part presents the design, synthesis, and characterization of novel flavonoid derivatives via global and sequential phosphorylation. The second part focuses on the application of the synthesized derivatives for greener nanoparticle synthesis. This work shows for the first time that sequential phosphorylation of Quercetin is feasible through the design of 4 new derivatives namely: 5,4'-O-Quercetin Diphosphate (QDPI), 4'-O-phosphate Quercetin (4'-QPI), 5,4'-Quercetin Diphosphate (5,4'-QDP) and monophosphate 4-QP. The synthesis of 4'-QP and 5, 4'-QDP was successful with 85% and 60.5% yields respectively. In addition, the progress towards the total synthesis of apigenin phosphate derivatives (7, 4'-ADP and 7-AP) is presented. The synthesized derivatives were characterized using 1H, 13C, and 31P NMR. The phosphorylated derivatives were subsequently explored as reducing agents for sustainable synthesis of gold, silver and copper nanoparticles. We have successfully demonstrated the photochemical synthesis of gold nanoplates of sizes ranging from 10 - 200 nm using water soluble QDP in the presence of sunlight. This work contributes immensely in promoting the ideals of green nanosynthesis by (i) eliminating the use of organic solvents in the nanosynthesis, (ii) exploiting the naturally-derived flavonoids as reducing and stabilizing reagents without any other extraneous reagents, and (iii) achieving anisotropic nanosynthesis using sunlight and at room temperature.

A sequential mechanism for clathrin cage disassembly by 70-kDa heat-shock cognate protein (Hsc70) and auxilin

PubMed Central

Rothnie, Alice; Clarke, Anthony R.; Kuzmic, Petr; Cameron, Angus; Smith, Corinne J.

2011-01-01

An essential stage in endocytic coated vesicle recycling is the dissociation of clathrin from the vesicle coat by the molecular chaperone, 70-kDa heat-shock cognate protein (Hsc70), and the J-domain-containing protein, auxilin, in an ATP-dependent process. We present a detailed mechanistic analysis of clathrin disassembly catalyzed by Hsc70 and auxilin, using loss of perpendicular light scattering to monitor the process. We report that a single auxilin per clathrin triskelion is required for maximal rate of disassembly, that ATP is hydrolyzed at the same rate that disassembly occurs, and that three ATP molecules are hydrolyzed per clathrin triskelion released. Stopped-flow measurements revealed a lag phase in which the scattering intensity increased owing to association of Hsc70 with clathrin cages followed by serial rounds of ATP hydrolysis prior to triskelion removal. Global fit of stopped-flow data to several physically plausible mechanisms showed the best fit to a model in which sequential hydrolysis of three separate ATP molecules is required for the eventual release of a triskelion from the clathrin–auxilin cage. PMID:21482805

A spatial scan statistic for multiple clusters.

PubMed

Li, Xiao-Zhou; Wang, Jin-Feng; Yang, Wei-Zhong; Li, Zhong-Jie; Lai, Sheng-Jie

2011-10-01

Spatial scan statistics are commonly used for geographical disease surveillance and cluster detection. While there are multiple clusters coexisting in the study area, they become difficult to detect because of clusters' shadowing effect to each other. The recently proposed sequential method showed its better power for detecting the second weaker cluster, but did not improve the ability of detecting the first stronger cluster which is more important than the second one. We propose a new extension of the spatial scan statistic which could be used to detect multiple clusters. Through constructing two or more clusters in the alternative hypothesis, our proposed method accounts for other coexisting clusters in the detecting and evaluating process. The performance of the proposed method is compared to the sequential method through an intensive simulation study, in which our proposed method shows better power in terms of both rejecting the null hypothesis and accurately detecting the coexisting clusters. In the real study of hand-foot-mouth disease data in Pingdu city, a true cluster town is successfully detected by our proposed method, which cannot be evaluated to be statistically significant by the standard method due to another cluster's shadowing effect. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Photoluminescence Mechanism and Photocatalytic Activity of Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Materials Formed by Sequential Vapor Infiltration.

PubMed

Akyildiz, Halil I; Stano, Kelly L; Roberts, Adam T; Everitt, Henry O; Jur, Jesse S

2016-05-03

Organic-inorganic hybrid materials formed by sequential vapor infiltration (SVI) of trimethylaluminum into polyester fibers are demonstrated, and the photoluminescence of the fibers is evaluated using a combined UV-vis and photoluminescence excitation (PLE) spectroscopy approach. The optical activity of the modified fibers depends on infiltration thermal processing conditions and is attributed to the reaction mechanisms taking place at different temperatures. At low temperatures a single excitation band and dual emission bands are observed, while, at high temperatures, two distinct absorption bands and one emission band are observed, suggesting that the physical and chemical structure of the resulting hybrid material depends on the SVI temperature. Along with enhancing the photoluminescence intensity of the PET fibers, the internal quantum efficiency also increased to 5-fold from ∼4-5% to ∼24%. SVI processing also improved the photocatalytic activity of the fibers, as demonstrated by photodeposition of Ag and Au metal particles out of an aqueous metal salt solution onto fiber surfaces via UVA light exposure. Toward applications in flexible electronics, well-defined patterning of the metallic materials is achieved by using light masking and focused laser rastering approaches.

Analysis of the isoprene chemistry observed during the New England Air Quality Study (NEAQS) 2002 intensive experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roberts, James M.; Marchewka, Mathew; Bertman, Steven B.; Goldan, Paul; Kuster, William; de Gouw, Joost; Warneke, Carsten; Williams, Eric; Lerner, Brian; Murphy, Paul; Apel, Eric; Fehsenfeld, Fred C.

2006-12-01

Isoprene and its first and second generation photochemical products, methyl vinyl ketone (MVK), methacrolein (MACR), and peroxymethacrylic nitric anhydride (MPAN), were measured off the coast of New England during the 2002 New England Air Quality Study (NEAQS) on board the NOAA Research Vessel Ronald H. Brown. The results of these measurements were analyzed using a simple sequential reaction model that has been used previously to examine regional oxidant chemistry. The highest isoprene impact was observed in air masses that had passed over an area of high isoprene emission WSW of Boston. The relative concentrations of isoprene and its first generation products show that the photochemistry is consistently "older" than the isoprene photochemistry observed at continental sites. The sequential reaction model was also applied to the aldehyde-PANs (Peroxycarboxylic nitric anhydride) system, and the resulting PPN (peroxypropionic nitric anhydride)/propanal and PAN (peroxyacetic nitric anhydride)/acetaldehyde relationships were consistent with additional sources of PAN in this environment, e.g., isoprene photochemistry. This isoprene source was estimated to result in approximately 1.6 to 4 times more PAN in this environment relative to that produced from anthropogenic VOCs (volatile organic compounds) alone.

Polarization Imaging Apparatus with Auto-Calibration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zou, Yingyin Kevin (Inventor); Zhao, Hongzhi (Inventor); Chen, Qiushui (Inventor)

2013-01-01

A polarization imaging apparatus measures the Stokes image of a sample. The apparatus consists of an optical lens set, a first variable phase retarder (VPR) with its optical axis aligned 22.5 deg, a second variable phase retarder with its optical axis aligned 45 deg, a linear polarizer, a imaging sensor for sensing the intensity images of the sample, a controller and a computer. Two variable phase retarders were controlled independently by a computer through a controller unit which generates a sequential of voltages to control the phase retardations of the first and second variable phase retarders. A auto-calibration procedure was incorporated into the polarization imaging apparatus to correct the misalignment of first and second VPRs, as well as the half-wave voltage of the VPRs. A set of four intensity images, I(sub 0), I(sub 1), I(sub 2) and I(sub 3) of the sample were captured by imaging sensor when the phase retardations of VPRs were set at (0,0), (pi,0), (pi,pi) and (pi/2,pi), respectively. Then four Stokes components of a Stokes image, S(sub 0), S(sub 1), S(sub 2) and S(sub 3) were calculated using the four intensity images.

Polarization imaging apparatus with auto-calibration

DOEpatents

Zou, Yingyin Kevin; Zhao, Hongzhi; Chen, Qiushui

2013-08-20

A polarization imaging apparatus measures the Stokes image of a sample. The apparatus consists of an optical lens set, a first variable phase retarder (VPR) with its optical axis aligned 22.5.degree., a second variable phase retarder with its optical axis aligned 45.degree., a linear polarizer, a imaging sensor for sensing the intensity images of the sample, a controller and a computer. Two variable phase retarders were controlled independently by a computer through a controller unit which generates a sequential of voltages to control the phase retardations of the first and second variable phase retarders. A auto-calibration procedure was incorporated into the polarization imaging apparatus to correct the misalignment of first and second VPRs, as well as the half-wave voltage of the VPRs. A set of four intensity images, I.sub.0, I.sub.1, I.sub.2 and I.sub.3 of the sample were captured by imaging sensor when the phase retardations of VPRs were set at (0,0), (.pi.,0), (.pi.,.pi.) and (.pi./2,.pi.), respectively. Then four Stokes components of a Stokes image, S.sub.0, S.sub.1, S.sub.2 and S.sub.3 were calculated using the four intensity images.

Polarization imaging apparatus

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zou, Yingyin Kevin (Inventor); Chen, Qiushui (Inventor); Zhao, Hongzhi (Inventor)

2010-01-01

A polarization imaging apparatus measures the Stokes image of a sample. The apparatus consists of an optical lens set 11, a linear polarizer 14 with its optical axis 18, a first variable phase retarder 12 with its optical axis 16 aligned 22.5.degree. to axis 18, a second variable phase retarder 13 with its optical axis 17 aligned 45.degree. to axis 18, a imaging sensor 15 for sensing the intensity images of the sample, a controller 101 and a computer 102. Two variable phase retarders 12 and 13 were controlled independently by a computer 102 through a controller unit 101 which generates a sequential of voltages to control the phase retardations of VPRs 12 and 13. A set of four intensity images, I.sub.0, I.sub.1, I.sub.2 and I.sub.3 of the sample were captured by imaging sensor 15 when the phase retardations of VPRs 12 and 13 were set at (0,0), (.pi.,0), (.pi.,.pi.) and (.pi./2,.pi.), respectively Then four Stokes components of a Stokes image, S.sub.0, S.sub.1, S.sub.2 and S.sub.3 were calculated using the four intensity images.

Skin dose differences between intensity-modulated radiation therapy and volumetric-modulated arc therapy and between boost and integrated treatment regimens for treating head and neck and other cancer sites in patients

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

Penoncello, Gregory P.; Ding, George X., E-mail: george.ding@vanderbilt.edu

The purpose of this study was (1) to evaluate dose to skin between volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) and intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) treatment techniques for target sites in the head and neck, pelvis, and brain and (2) to determine if the treatment dose and fractionation regimen affect the skin dose between traditional sequential boost and integrated boost regimens for patients with head and neck cancer. A total of 19 patients and 48 plans were evaluated. The Eclipse (v11) treatment planning system was used to plan therapy in 9 patients with head and neck cancer, 5 patients with prostate cancer, andmore » 5 patients with brain cancer with VMAT and static-field IMRT. The mean skin dose and the maximum dose to a contiguous volume of 2 cm{sup 3} for head and neck plans and brain plans and a contiguous volume of 5 cm{sup 3} for pelvis plans were compared for each treatment technique. Of the 9 patients with head and neck cancer, 3 underwent an integrated boost regimen. One integrated boost plan was replanned with IMRT and VMAT using a traditional boost regimen. For target sites located in the head and neck, VMAT reduced the mean dose and contiguous hot spot most noticeably in the shoulder region by 5.6% and 5.4%, respectively. When using an integrated boost regimen, the contiguous hot spot skin dose in the shoulder was larger on average than a traditional boost pattern by 26.5% and the mean skin dose was larger by 1.7%. VMAT techniques largely decrease the contiguous hot spot in the skin in the pelvis by an average of 36% compared with IMRT. For the same target coverage, VMAT can reduce the skin dose in all the regions of the body, but more noticeably in the shoulders in patients with head and neck and pelvis cancer. We also found that using integrated boost regimens in patients with head and neck cancer leads to higher shoulder skin doses compared with traditional boost regimens.« less

Field evaluation of intensive compost application on Cd fractionation and phytoavailability in a mining-contaminated soil.

PubMed

Li, Ming; Mohamed, Ibrahim; Raleve, David; Chen, Wenli; Huang, Qiaoyun

2016-10-01

A field experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of chicken manure compost on the fractionation of cadmium (Cd), soil biological properties and Cd uptake by wheat in a soil affected by mining activities in Hubei province, China. Compost was applied at five levels (0, 27, 54, 108, 216 t ha(-1)), and winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) was chosen as an indicator plant. Results showed that the application of compost increased soil pH and the content of total phosphorus and organic matter. Soil biological properties such as microbial biomass carbon, invertase, protease, urease and catalase activities were significantly enhanced by 0.24-3.47 times after compost application. Sequential extraction indicated that compost amendments decreased the acid-extractable Cd by 8.2-37.6 %, while increased the reducible and oxidisable Cd by 9.2-39.5 and 8.2-60.4 %, respectively. The addition of 27-54 t ha(-1) compost reduced Cd content in wheat stems and seeds by 69.6-75.0 % and 10.3-18.4 %, respectively. However, only 25.5-26.5 % reductions in Cd content in wheat stems were observed in 108-216 t ha(-1) compost amendments, and no significant decrease was detected for seeds. This study suggests that although compost is a suitable organic amendment to improve soil fertility and biological activities, the addition of compost should be moderated by an appropriate rate to optimize the use of compost for the reclamation of metal-contaminated soils at field scale.

Seagrass Herbivory Levels Sustain Site-Fidelity in a Remnant Dugong Population.

PubMed

D'Souza, Elrika; Patankar, Vardhan; Arthur, Rohan; Marbà, Núria; Alcoverro, Teresa

2015-01-01

Herds of dugong, a largely tropical marine megaherbivore, are known to undertake long-distance movements, sequentially overgrazing seagrass meadows in their path. Given their drastic declines in many regions, it is unclear whether at lower densities, their grazing is less intense, reducing their need to travel between meadows. We studied the effect of the feeding behaviour of a small dugong population in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago, India to understand how small isolated populations graze seagrasses. In the seven years of our observation, all recorded dugongs travelled either solitarily or in pairs, and their use of seagrasses was limited to 8 meadows, some of which were persistently grazed. These meadows were relatively large, contiguous and dominated by short-lived seagrasses species. Dugongs consumed approximately 15% of meadow primary production, but there was a large variation (3-40% of total meadow production) in consumption patterns between meadows. The impact of herbivory was relatively high, with shoot densities c. 50% higher inside herbivore exclosures than in areas exposed to repeated grazing. Our results indicate that dugongs in the study area repeatedly graze the same meadows probably because the proportion of primary production consumed reduces shoot density to levels that are still above values that can trigger meadow abandonment. This ability of seagrasses to cope perhaps explains the long-term site fidelity shown by individual dugongs in these meadows. The fact that seagrass meadows in the archipelago are able to support dugong foraging requirements allows us to clearly identify locations where this remnant population persists, and where urgent management efforts can be directed.

Flexible architecture of inducible morphological plasticity.

PubMed

Kishida, Osamu; Nishimura, Kinya

2006-05-01

1. Predator-induced morphological defences are produced in response to an emergent predator regime. In natural systems, prey organisms usually experience temporal shifting of the composition of the predator assemblage and of the intensity of predation risk from each predator species. Although, a repetitive morphological change in response to a sequential shift of the predator regime such as alteration of the predator species or diminution of the predation risk may be adaptive, such flexible inducible morphological defences are not ubiquitous. 2. We experimentally addressed whether a flexible inducible morphological defence is accomplished in response to serial changes in the predation regime, using a model prey species which adopt different defensive morphological phenotypes in response to different predator species. Rana pirica (Matsui) tadpoles increased body depth and tail depth against the predatory larval salamander Hynobius retardatus (Dunn); on the other hand, they only increased tail depth against the predatory larval dragonfly Aeshna nigroflava (Martin). 3. Rana pirica tadpoles with the predator-specific phenotypes were subjected to removal or exchange of the predator species. After removal of the predator species, tadpoles with each predator-specific phenotype changed their phenotype to the nondefensive basic one, suggesting that both predator-specific phenotypes are costly to maintain. After an exchange of the predator species, tadpoles with each predator-specific phenotype reciprocally, flexibly shifted their phenotype to the now more suitable predator-specific one only by modifying their body part. The partial modification can effectively reduce time and energy expenditures involved in repetitive morphological changes, and therefore suggest that the costs of the flexible morphological changes are reduced.

Preliminary Report on U-Th-Pb Isotope Systematics of the Olivine-Phyric Shergottite Tissint

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moriwaki, R.; Usui, T.; Yokoyama, T.; Simon, J. I.; Jones, J. H.

2014-01-01

Geochemical studies of shergottites suggest that their parental magmas reflect mixtures between at least two distinct geochemical source reservoirs, producing correlations between radiogenic isotope compositions, and trace element abundances.. These correlations have been interpreted as indicating the presence of a reduced, incompatible-element- depleted reservoir and an oxidized, incompatible-element-rich reservoir. The former is clearly a depleted mantle source, but there has been a long debate regarding the origin of the enriched reservoir. Two contrasting models have been proposed regarding the location and mixing process of the two geochemical source reservoirs: (1) assimilation of oxidized crust by mantle derived, reduced magmas, or (2) mixing of two distinct mantle reservoirs during melting. The former clearly requires the ancient martian crust to be the enriched source (crustal assimilation), whereas the latter requires a long-lived enriched mantle domain that probably originated from residual melts formed during solidification of a magma ocean (heterogeneous mantle model). This study conducts Pb isotope and U-Th-Pb concentration analyses of the olivine-phyric shergottite Tissint because U-Th-Pb isotope systematics have been intensively used as a powerful radiogenic tracer to characterize old crust/sediment components in mantle- derived, terrestrial oceanic island basalts. The U-Th-Pb analyses are applied to sequential acid leaching fractions obtained from Tissint whole-rock powder in order to search for Pb isotopic source components in Tissint magma. Here we report preliminary results of the U-Th-Pb analyses of acid leachates and a residue, and propose the possibility that Tissint would have experienced minor assimilation of old martian crust.

Lumbar Imaging with Reporting of Epidemiology (LIRE)- Protocol for a Pragmatic Cluster Randomized Trial

PubMed Central

Jarvik, Jeffrey G.; Comstock, Bryan A.; James, Kathryn T.; Avins, Andrew L.; Bresnahan, Brian W.; Deyo, Richard A.; Luetmer, Patrick H.; Friedly, Janna L.; Meier, Eric N.; Cherkin, Daniel C.; Gold, Laura S.; Rundell, Sean D.; Halabi, Safwan S.; Kallmes, David F.; Tan, Katherine W.; Turner, Judith A.; Kessler, Larry G.; Lavallee, Danielle C.; Stephens, Kari A.; Heagerty, Patrick J.

2015-01-01

Background Diagnostic imaging is often the first step in evaluating patients with back pain and likely functions as a “gateway” to a subsequent cascade of interventions. However, lumbar spine imaging frequently reveals incidental findings among normal, pain-free individuals suggesting that treatment of these “abnormalities” may not be warranted. Our prior work suggested that inserting the prevalence of imaging findings in patients without back pain into spine imaging reports may reduce subsequent interventions. We are now conducting a pragmatic cluster randomized clinical trial to test the hypothesis that inserting this prevalence data into lumbar spine imaging reports for studies ordered by primary care providers will reduce subsequent spine-related interventions. Methods/Design We are using a stepped wedge design that sequentially randomizes 100 primary care clinics at four health systems to receive either standard lumbar spine imaging reports, or reports containing prevalence data for common imaging findings in patients without back pain. We capture all outcomes passively through the electronic medical record. Our primary outcome is spine-related intervention intensity based on Relative Value Units (RVUs) during the following year. Secondary outcomes include subsequent prescriptions for opioid analgesics and cross-sectional lumbar spine re-imaging. Discussion If our study shows that adding prevalence data to spine imaging reports decreases subsequent back-related RVUs, this intervention could be easily generalized and applied to other kinds of testing, as well as other conditions where incidental findings may be common. Our study also serves as a model for cluster randomized trials that are minimal risk and highly pragmatic. PMID:26493088

Seagrass Herbivory Levels Sustain Site-Fidelity in a Remnant Dugong Population

PubMed Central

Patankar, Vardhan; Marbà, Núria

2015-01-01

Herds of dugong, a largely tropical marine megaherbivore, are known to undertake long-distance movements, sequentially overgrazing seagrass meadows in their path. Given their drastic declines in many regions, it is unclear whether at lower densities, their grazing is less intense, reducing their need to travel between meadows. We studied the effect of the feeding behaviour of a small dugong population in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago, India to understand how small isolated populations graze seagrasses. In the seven years of our observation, all recorded dugongs travelled either solitarily or in pairs, and their use of seagrasses was limited to 8 meadows, some of which were persistently grazed. These meadows were relatively large, contiguous and dominated by short-lived seagrasses species. Dugongs consumed approximately 15% of meadow primary production, but there was a large variation (3–40% of total meadow production) in consumption patterns between meadows. The impact of herbivory was relatively high, with shoot densities c. 50% higher inside herbivore exclosures than in areas exposed to repeated grazing. Our results indicate that dugongs in the study area repeatedly graze the same meadows probably because the proportion of primary production consumed reduces shoot density to levels that are still above values that can trigger meadow abandonment. This ability of seagrasses to cope perhaps explains the long-term site fidelity shown by individual dugongs in these meadows. The fact that seagrass meadows in the archipelago are able to support dugong foraging requirements allows us to clearly identify locations where this remnant population persists, and where urgent management efforts can be directed. PMID:26492558

A "Neurological Emergency Trolley" reduces turnaround time for high-risk medications in a general intensive care unit.

PubMed

Ajzenberg, Henry; Newman, Paula; Harris, Gail-Anne; Cranston, Marnie; Boyd, J Gordon

2018-02-01

To reduce medication turnaround times during neurological emergencies, a multidisciplinary team developed a neurological emergency crash trolley in our intensive care unit. This trolley includes phenytoin, hypertonic saline and mannitol, as well as other equipment. The aim of this study was to assess whether the cart reduced turnaround times for these medications. In this retrospective cohort study, medication delivery times for two year epochs before and after its implementation were compared. Eligible patients were identified from our intensive care unit screening log. Adults who required emergent use of phenytoin, hypertonic saline or mannitol while in the intensive care unit were included. Groups were compared with nonparametric analyses. 33-bed general medical-surgical intensive care unit in an academic teaching hospital. Time to medication administration. In the pre-intervention group, there were 43 patients with 66 events. In the post-intervention group, there were 45 patients with 80 events. The median medication turnaround time was significantly reduced after implementation of the neurological emergency trolley (25 vs. 10minutes, p=0.003). There was no statistically significant difference in intensive care or 30-day survival between the two cohorts. The implementation of a novel neurological emergency crash trolley in our intensive care unit reduced medication turnaround times. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The effect of a sequential structure of practice for the training of perceptual-cognitive skills in tennis

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Objective Anticipation of opponent actions, through the use of advanced (i.e., pre-event) kinematic information, can be trained using video-based temporal occlusion. Typically, this involves isolated opponent skills/shots presented as trials in a random order. However, two different areas of research concerning representative task design and contextual (non-kinematic) information, suggest this structure of practice restricts expert performance. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of a sequential structure of practice during video-based training of anticipatory behavior in tennis, as well as the transfer of these skills to the performance environment. Methods In a pre-practice-retention-transfer design, participants viewed life-sized video of tennis rallies across practice in either a sequential order (sequential group), in which participants were exposed to opponent skills/shots in the order they occur in the sport, or a non-sequential (non-sequential group) random order. Results In the video-based retention test, the sequential group was significantly more accurate in their anticipatory judgments when the retention condition replicated the sequential structure compared to the non-sequential group. In the non-sequential retention condition, the non-sequential group was more accurate than the sequential group. In the field-based transfer test, overall decision time was significantly faster in the sequential group compared to the non-sequential group. Conclusion Findings highlight the benefits of a sequential structure of practice for the transfer of anticipatory behavior in tennis. We discuss the role of contextual information, and the importance of representative task design, for the testing and training of perceptual-cognitive skills in sport. PMID:28355263

[Clinical effect of Saccharomyces boulardii powder combined with azithromycin sequential therapy in treatment of children with diarrhea secondary to Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia].

PubMed

Chen, Qi-Fen; Zhang, Yi-Wei

2018-02-01

To investigate the clinical effect of Saccharomyces boulardii powder combined with azithromycin sequential therapy in the treatment of children with diarrhea secondary to Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia. A total of 88 children with diarrhea secondary to Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia between June 2015 and March 2017 were divided into control group and study group using a random number table, with 44 children in each group. The children in the control group were given routine treatment combined with azithromycin sequential therapy, and those in the study group were given oral Saccharomyces boulardii powder in addition to the treatment in the control group until the end of azithromycin sequential therapy. After the treatment ended, the two groups were compared in terms of time to improvement of clinical symptoms, length of hospital stay, clinical outcome, defecation frequency before and after treatment, condition of intestinal dysbacteriosis, and incidence of adverse events. Compared with the control group, the study group had significantly shorter time to improvement of clinical symptoms and length of hospital stay (P<0.05). The study group had a significantly higher response rate than the control group (P<0.05). On days 3 and 5 of treatment, the study group had a significant reduction in defecation frequency compared with the control group (P<0.05). The study group had a significantly lower rate of intestinal dysbacteriosis than the control group (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse events between the two groups (P>0.05). In the treatment of children with diarrhea secondary to Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia, Saccharomyces boulardii powder combined with azithromycin sequential therapy can improve clinical symptoms, shorten the length of hospital stay, reduce defecation frequency and the incidence of intestinal dysbacteriosis, and improve clinical outcomes, and does not increase the risk of adverse events.

Central masking with bilateral cochlear implants

PubMed Central

Lin, Payton; Lu, Thomas; Zeng, Fan-Gang

2013-01-01

Across bilateral cochlear implants, contralateral threshold shift has been investigated as a function of electrode difference between the masking and probe electrodes. For contralateral electric masking, maximum threshold elevations occurred when the position of the masker and probe electrode was approximately place-matched across ears. The amount of masking diminished with increasing masker-probe electrode separation. Place-dependent masking occurred in both sequentially implanted ears, and was not affected by the masker intensity or the time delay from the masker onset. When compared to previous contralateral masking results in normal hearing, the similarities between place-dependent central masking patterns suggest comparable mechanisms of overlapping excitation in the central auditory nervous system. PMID:23363113

Comparison of PCR/Electron Spray Ionization-Time-of-Flight-Mass Spectrometry versus Traditional Clinical Microbiology for Active Surveillance of Organisms Contaminating High-Use Surfaces in a Burn Intensive Care Unit, an Orthopedic Ward and Healthcare Workers

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-10-10

were designed with anterooms and universal gowns and gloves are used) and ten from the orthopedic ward. Nine rooms in the burn ICU had sam- ple...PCR amplification was carried out as per Ecker et al [25]. The PCR products were then desalted in a 96-well plate format and sequentially electro...organisms by site. Based on these data, no obvious target for increased infection control efforts was seen in the study units. As this study was designed

Patterns and Sequences: Interactive Exploration of Clickstreams to Understand Common Visitor Paths.

PubMed

Liu, Zhicheng; Wang, Yang; Dontcheva, Mira; Hoffman, Matthew; Walker, Seth; Wilson, Alan

2017-01-01

Modern web clickstream data consists of long, high-dimensional sequences of multivariate events, making it difficult to analyze. Following the overarching principle that the visual interface should provide information about the dataset at multiple levels of granularity and allow users to easily navigate across these levels, we identify four levels of granularity in clickstream analysis: patterns, segments, sequences and events. We present an analytic pipeline consisting of three stages: pattern mining, pattern pruning and coordinated exploration between patterns and sequences. Based on this approach, we discuss properties of maximal sequential patterns, propose methods to reduce the number of patterns and describe design considerations for visualizing the extracted sequential patterns and the corresponding raw sequences. We demonstrate the viability of our approach through an analysis scenario and discuss the strengths and limitations of the methods based on user feedback.

Humanizing Outgroups Through Multiple Categorization

PubMed Central

Prati, Francesca; Crisp, Richard J.; Meleady, Rose; Rubini, Monica

2016-01-01

In three studies, we examined the impact of multiple categorization on intergroup dehumanization. Study 1 showed that perceiving members of a rival university along multiple versus simple categorical dimensions enhanced the tendency to attribute human traits to this group. Study 2 showed that multiple versus simple categorization of immigrants increased the attribution of uniquely human emotions to them. This effect was explained by the sequential mediation of increased individuation of the outgroup and reduced outgroup threat. Study 3 replicated this sequential mediation model and introduced a novel way of measuring humanization in which participants generated attributes corresponding to the outgroup in a free response format. Participants generated more uniquely human traits in the multiple versus simple categorization conditions. We discuss the theoretical implications of these findings and consider their role in informing and improving efforts to ameliorate contemporary forms of intergroup discrimination. PMID:26984016

Wald Sequential Probability Ratio Test for Space Object Conjunction Assessment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carpenter, James R.; Markley, F Landis

2014-01-01

This paper shows how satellite owner/operators may use sequential estimates of collision probability, along with a prior assessment of the base risk of collision, in a compound hypothesis ratio test to inform decisions concerning collision risk mitigation maneuvers. The compound hypothesis test reduces to a simple probability ratio test, which appears to be a novel result. The test satisfies tolerances related to targeted false alarm and missed detection rates. This result is independent of the method one uses to compute the probability density that one integrates to compute collision probability. A well-established test case from the literature shows that this test yields acceptable results within the constraints of a typical operational conjunction assessment decision timeline. Another example illustrates the use of the test in a practical conjunction assessment scenario based on operations of the International Space Station.

Transaction costs and sequential bargaining in transferable discharge permit markets.

PubMed

Netusil, N R; Braden, J B

2001-03-01

Market-type mechanisms have been introduced and are being explored for various environmental programs. Several existing programs, however, have not attained the cost savings that were initially projected. Modeling that acknowledges the role of transactions costs and the discrete, bilateral, and sequential manner in which trades are executed should provide a more realistic basis for calculating potential cost savings. This paper presents empirical evidence on potential cost savings by examining a market for the abatement of sediment from farmland. Empirical results based on a market simulation model find no statistically significant change in mean abatement costs under several transaction cost levels when contracts are randomly executed. An alternative method of contract execution, gain-ranked, yields similar results. At the highest transaction cost level studied, trading reduces the total cost of compliance relative to a uniform standard that reflects current regulations.

Impact of a Sequential Intervention on Albumin Utilization in Critical Care.

PubMed

Lyu, Peter F; Hockenberry, Jason M; Gaydos, Laura M; Howard, David H; Buchman, Timothy G; Murphy, David J

2016-07-01

Literature generally finds no advantages in mortality risk for albumin over cheaper alternatives in many settings. Few studies have combined financial and nonfinancial strategies to reduce albumin overuse. We evaluated the effect of a sequential multifaceted intervention on decreasing albumin use in ICU and explore the effects of different strategies. Prospective prepost cohort study. Eight ICUs at two hospitals in an academic healthcare system. Adult patients admitted to study ICUs from September 2011 to August 2014 (n = 22,004). Over 2 years, providers in study ICUs participated in an intervention to reduce albumin use involving monthly feedback and explicit financial incentives in the first year and internal guidelines and order process changes in the second year. Outcomes measured were albumin orders per ICU admission, direct albumin costs, and mortality. Mean (SD) utilization decreased 37% from 2.7 orders (6.8) per admission during the baseline to 1.7 orders (4.6) during the intervention (p < 0.001). Regression analysis revealed that the intervention was independently associated with 0.9 fewer orders per admission, a 42% relative decrease. This adjusted effect consisted of an 18% reduction in the probability of using any albumin (p < 0.001) and a 29% reduction in the number of orders per admission among patients receiving any (p < 0.001). Secondary analysis revealed that probability reductions were concurrent with internal guidelines and order process modification while reductions in quantity occurred largely during the financial incentives and feedback period. Estimated cost savings totaled $2.5M during the 2-year intervention. There was no significant difference in ICU or hospital mortality between baseline and intervention. A sequential intervention achieved significant reductions in ICU albumin use and cost savings without changes in patient outcomes, supporting the combination of financial and nonfinancial strategies to align providers with evidence-based practices.

Optimization of 64-MDCT urography: effect of dual-phase imaging with furosemide on collecting system opacification and radiation dose.

PubMed

Portnoy, Orith; Guranda, Larisa; Apter, Sara; Eiss, David; Amitai, Marianne Michal; Konen, Eli

2011-11-01

The purpose of this study was to compare opacification of the urinary collecting system and radiation dose associated with three-phase 64-MDCT urographic protocols and those associated with a split-bolus dual-phase protocol including furosemide. Images from 150 CT urographic examinations performed with three scanning protocols were retrospectively evaluated. Group A consisted of 50 sequentially registered patients who underwent a three-phase protocol with saline infusion. Group B consisted of 50 sequentially registered patients who underwent a reduced-radiation three-phase protocol with saline. Group C consisted of 50 sequentially registered patients who underwent a dual-phase split-bolus protocol that included a low-dose furosemide injection. Opacification of the urinary collecting system was evaluated with segmental binary scoring. Contrast artifacts were evaluated, and radiation doses were recorded. Results were compared by analysis of variance. A significant reduction in mean effective radiation dose was found between groups A and B (p < 0.001) and between groups B and C (p < 0.001), resulting in 65% reduction between groups A and C (p < 0.001). This reduction did not significantly affect opacification score in any of the 12 urinary segments (p = 0.079). In addition, dense contrast artifacts overlying the renal parenchyma observed with the three-phase protocols (groups A and B) were avoided with the dual-phase protocol (group C) (p < 0.001). A dual-phase protocol with furosemide injection is the preferable technique for CT urography. In comparison with commonly used three-phase protocols, the dual-phase protocol significantly reduces radiation exposure dose without reduction in image quality.

Treatment Adherence and Its Impact on Disease-Free Survival in the Breast International Group 1-98 Trial of Tamoxifen and Letrozole, Alone and in Sequence.

PubMed

Chirgwin, Jacquie H; Giobbie-Hurder, Anita; Coates, Alan S; Price, Karen N; Ejlertsen, Bent; Debled, Marc; Gelber, Richard D; Goldhirsch, Aron; Smith, Ian; Rabaglio, Manuela; Forbes, John F; Neven, Patrick; Láng, István; Colleoni, Marco; Thürlimann, Beat

2016-07-20

To investigate adherence to endocrine treatment and its relationship with disease-free survival (DFS) in the Breast International Group (BIG) 1-98 clinical trial. The BIG 1-98 trial is a double-blind trial that randomly assigned 6,193 postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive early breast cancer in the four-arm option to 5 years of tamoxifen (Tam), letrozole (Let), or the agents in sequence (Let-Tam, Tam-Let). This analysis included 6,144 women who received at least one dose of study treatment. Conditional landmark analyses and marginal structural Cox proportional hazards models were used to evaluate the relationship between DFS and treatment adherence (persistence [duration] and compliance with dosage). Competing risks regression was used to assess demographic, disease, and treatment characteristics of the women who stopped treatment early because of adverse events. Both aspects of low adherence (early cessation of letrozole and a compliance score of < 90%) were associated with reduced DFS (multivariable model hazard ratio, 1.45; 95% CI, 1.09 to 1.93; P = .01; and multivariable model hazard ratio, 1.61; 95% CI, 1.08 to 2.38; P = .02, respectively). Sequential treatments were associated with higher rates of nonpersistence (Tam-Let, 20.8%; Let-Tam, 20.3%; Tam 16.9%; Let 17.6%). Adverse events were the reason for most trial treatment early discontinuations (82.7%). Apart from sequential treatment assignment, reduced adherence was associated with older age, smoking, node negativity, or prior thromboembolic event. Both persistence and compliance are associated with DFS. Toxicity management and, for sequential treatments, patient and physician awareness, may improve adherence. © 2016 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Effect of magnesium added to local anesthetics for caudal anesthesia on postoperative pain in pediatric surgical patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis with Trial Sequential Analysis.

PubMed

Kawakami, Hiromasa; Mihara, Takahiro; Nakamura, Nobuhito; Ka, Koui; Goto, Takahisa

2018-01-01

Magnesium has been investigated as an adjuvant for neuraxial anesthesia, but the effect of caudal magnesium on postoperative pain is inconsistent. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the analgesic effect of caudal magnesium. We searched six databases, including trial registration sites. Randomized clinical trials reporting the effect of caudal magnesium on postoperative pain after general anesthesia were eligible. The risk ratio for use of rescue analgesics after surgery was combined using a random-effects model. We also assessed adverse events. The I2 statistic was used to assess heterogeneity. We assessed risk of bias with Cochrane domains. We controlled type I and II errors due to sparse data and repetitive testing with Trial Sequential Analysis. We assessed the quality of evidence with GRADE. Four randomized controlled trials (247 patients) evaluated the need for rescue analgesics. In all four trials, 50 mg of magnesium was administered with caudal ropivacaine. The results suggested that the need for rescue analgesia was reduced significantly by caudal magnesium administration (risk ratio 0.45; 95% confidence interval 0.24-0.86). There was considerable heterogeneity as indicated by an I2 value of 62.5%. The Trial Sequential Analysis-adjusted confidence interval was 0.04-5.55, indicating that further trials are required. The quality of evidence was very low. The rate of adverse events was comparable between treatment groups. Caudal magnesium may reduce the need for rescue analgesia after surgery, but further randomized clinical trials with a low risk of bias and a low risk of random errors are necessary to assess the effect of caudal magnesium on postoperative pain and adverse events. University Hospital Medical Information Network Clinical Trials Registry UMIN000025344.

The effects of sequential attention shifts within visual working memory

PubMed Central

Li, Qi; Saiki, Jun

2014-01-01

Previous studies have shown conflicting data as to whether it is possible to sequentially shift spatial attention among visual working memory (VWM) representations. The present study investigated this issue by asynchronously presenting attentional cues during the retention interval of a change detection task. In particular, we focused on two types of sequential attention shifts: (1) orienting attention to one location, and then withdrawing attention from it, and (2) switching the focus of attention from one location to another. In Experiment 1, a withdrawal cue was presented after a spatial retro-cue to measure the effect of withdrawing attention. The withdrawal cue significantly reduced the cost of invalid spatial cues, but surprisingly, did not attenuate the benefit of valid spatial cues. This indicates that the withdrawal cue only triggered the activation of facilitative components but not inhibitory components of attention. In Experiment 2, two spatial retro-cues were presented successively to examine the effect of switching the focus of attention. We observed equivalent benefits of the first and second spatial cues, suggesting that participants were able to reorient attention from one location to another within VWM, and the reallocation of attention did not attenuate memory at the first-cued location. In Experiment 3, we found that reducing the validity of the preceding spatial cue did lead to a significant reduction in its benefit. However, performance was still better at first-cued locations than at uncued and neutral locations, indicating that the first cue benefit might have been preserved both partially under automatic control and partially under voluntary control. Our findings revealed new properties of dynamic attentional control in VWM maintenance. PMID:25237306

Effectiveness of a myocardial infarction protocol in reducing door-to-ballon time.

PubMed

Correia, Luis Cláudio Lemos; Brito, Mariana; Kalil, Felipe; Sabino, Michael; Garcia, Guilherme; Ferreira, Felipe; Matos, Iracy; Jacobs, Peter; Ronzoni, Liliana; Noya-Rabelo, Márcia

2013-07-01

An adequate door-to-balloon time (<120 minutes) is the necessary condition for the efficacy of primary angioplasty in infarction to translate into effectiveness. To describe the effectiveness of a quality of care protocol in reducing the door-to-balloon time. Between May 2010 and August 2012, all individuals undergoing primary angioplasty in our hospital were analyzed. The door time was electronically recorded at the moment the patient took a number to be evaluated in the emergency room, which occurred prior to filling the check-in forms and to the triage. The balloon time was defined as the beginning of artery opening (introduction of the first device). The first 5 months of monitoring corresponded to the period of pre-implementation of the protocol. The protocol comprised the definition of a flowchart of actions from patient arrival at the hospital, the team's awareness raising in relation to the prioritization of time, and provision of a periodic feedback on the results and possible inadequacies. A total of 50 individuals were assessed. They were divided into five groups of 10 sequential patients (one group pre- and four groups post-protocol). The door-to-balloon time regarding the 10 cases recorded before protocol implementation was 200 ± 77 minutes. After protocol implementation, there was a progressive reduction of the door-to-balloon time to 142±78 minutes in the first 10 patients, then to 150±50 minutes, 131±37 minutes and, finally, 116±29 minutes in the three sequential groups of 10 patients, respectively. Linear regression between sequential patients and the door-to-balloon time (r = - 0.41) showed a regression coefficient of - 1.74 minutes. The protocol implementation proved effective in the reduction of the door-to-balloon time.

An environmental disinfection odyssey: evaluation of sequential interventions to improve disinfection of Clostridium difficile isolation rooms.

PubMed

Sitzlar, Brett; Deshpande, Abhishek; Fertelli, Dennis; Kundrapu, Sirisha; Sethi, Ajay K; Donskey, Curtis J

2013-05-01

OBJECTIVE. Effective disinfection of hospital rooms after discharge of patients with Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is necessary to prevent transmission. We evaluated the impact of sequential cleaning and disinfection interventions by culturing high-touch surfaces in CDI rooms after cleaning. DESIGN. Prospective intervention. SETTING. A Veterans Affairs hospital. INTERVENTIONS. During a 21-month period, 3 sequential tiered interventions were implemented: (1) fluorescent markers to provide monitoring and feedback on thoroughness of cleaning facility-wide, (2) addition of an automated ultraviolet radiation device for adjunctive disinfection of CDI rooms, and (3) enhanced standard disinfection of CDI rooms, including a dedicated daily disinfection team and implementation of a process requiring supervisory assessment and clearance of terminally cleaned CDI rooms. To determine the impact of the interventions, cultures were obtained from CDI rooms after cleaning and disinfection. RESULTS. The fluorescent marker intervention improved the thoroughness of cleaning of high-touch surfaces (from 47% to 81% marker removal; P < .0001). Relative to the baseline period, the prevalence of positive cultures from CDI rooms was reduced by 14% (P=.024), 48% (P <.001), and 89% (P=.006) with interventions 1, 2, and 3, respectively. During the baseline period, 67% of CDI rooms had positive cultures after disinfection, whereas during interventions periods 1, 2, and 3 the percentages of CDI rooms with positive cultures after disinfection were reduced to 57%, 35%, and 7%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS. An intervention that included formation of a dedicated daily disinfection team and implementation of a standardized process for clearing CDI rooms achieved consistent CDI room disinfection. Culturing of CDI rooms provides a valuable tool to drive improvements in environmental disinfection.

Treatment Adherence and Its Impact on Disease-Free Survival in the Breast International Group 1-98 Trial of Tamoxifen and Letrozole, Alone and in Sequence

PubMed Central

Giobbie-Hurder, Anita; Coates, Alan S.; Price, Karen N.; Ejlertsen, Bent; Debled, Marc; Gelber, Richard D.; Goldhirsch, Aron; Smith, Ian; Rabaglio, Manuela; Forbes, John F.; Neven, Patrick; Láng, István; Colleoni, Marco; Thürlimann, Beat

2016-01-01

Purpose To investigate adherence to endocrine treatment and its relationship with disease-free survival (DFS) in the Breast International Group (BIG) 1-98 clinical trial. Methods The BIG 1-98 trial is a double-blind trial that randomly assigned 6,193 postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive early breast cancer in the four-arm option to 5 years of tamoxifen (Tam), letrozole (Let), or the agents in sequence (Let-Tam, Tam-Let). This analysis included 6,144 women who received at least one dose of study treatment. Conditional landmark analyses and marginal structural Cox proportional hazards models were used to evaluate the relationship between DFS and treatment adherence (persistence [duration] and compliance with dosage). Competing risks regression was used to assess demographic, disease, and treatment characteristics of the women who stopped treatment early because of adverse events. Results Both aspects of low adherence (early cessation of letrozole and a compliance score of < 90%) were associated with reduced DFS (multivariable model hazard ratio, 1.45; 95% CI, 1.09 to 1.93; P = .01; and multivariable model hazard ratio, 1.61; 95% CI, 1.08 to 2.38; P = .02, respectively). Sequential treatments were associated with higher rates of nonpersistence (Tam-Let, 20.8%; Let-Tam, 20.3%; Tam 16.9%; Let 17.6%). Adverse events were the reason for most trial treatment early discontinuations (82.7%). Apart from sequential treatment assignment, reduced adherence was associated with older age, smoking, node negativity, or prior thromboembolic event. Conclusion Both persistence and compliance are associated with DFS. Toxicity management and, for sequential treatments, patient and physician awareness, may improve adherence. PMID:27217455

Identifying High-Rate Flows Based on Sequential Sampling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yu; Fang, Binxing; Luo, Hao

We consider the problem of fast identification of high-rate flows in backbone links with possibly millions of flows. Accurate identification of high-rate flows is important for active queue management, traffic measurement and network security such as detection of distributed denial of service attacks. It is difficult to directly identify high-rate flows in backbone links because tracking the possible millions of flows needs correspondingly large high speed memories. To reduce the measurement overhead, the deterministic 1-out-of-k sampling technique is adopted which is also implemented in Cisco routers (NetFlow). Ideally, a high-rate flow identification method should have short identification time, low memory cost and processing cost. Most importantly, it should be able to specify the identification accuracy. We develop two such methods. The first method is based on fixed sample size test (FSST) which is able to identify high-rate flows with user-specified identification accuracy. However, since FSST has to record every sampled flow during the measurement period, it is not memory efficient. Therefore the second novel method based on truncated sequential probability ratio test (TSPRT) is proposed. Through sequential sampling, TSPRT is able to remove the low-rate flows and identify the high-rate flows at the early stage which can reduce the memory cost and identification time respectively. According to the way to determine the parameters in TSPRT, two versions of TSPRT are proposed: TSPRT-M which is suitable when low memory cost is preferred and TSPRT-T which is suitable when short identification time is preferred. The experimental results show that TSPRT requires less memory and identification time in identifying high-rate flows while satisfying the accuracy requirement as compared to previously proposed methods.

Miniaturizing and automation of free acidity measurements for uranium (VI)-HNO3 solutions: Development of a new sequential injection analysis for a sustainable radio-analytical chemistry.

PubMed

Néri-Quiroz, José; Canto, Fabrice; Guillerme, Laurent; Couston, Laurent; Magnaldo, Alastair; Dugas, Vincent

2016-10-01

A miniaturized and automated approach for the determination of free acidity in solutions containing uranium (VI) is presented. The measurement technique is based on the concept of sequential injection analysis with on-line spectroscopic detection. The proposed methodology relies on the complexation and alkalimetric titration of nitric acid using a pH 5.6 sodium oxalate solution. The titration process is followed by UV/VIS detection at 650nm thanks to addition of Congo red as universal pH indicator. Mixing sequence as well as method validity was investigated by numerical simulation. This new analytical design allows fast (2.3min), reliable and accurate free acidity determination of low volume samples (10µL) containing uranium/[H(+)] moles ratio of 1:3 with relative standard deviation of <7.0% (n=11). The linearity range of the free nitric acid measurement is excellent up to 2.77molL(-1) with a correlation coefficient (R(2)) of 0.995. The method is specific, presence of actinide ions up to 0.54molL(-1) does not interfere on the determination of free nitric acid. In addition to automation, the developed sequential injection analysis method greatly improves the standard off-line oxalate complexation and alkalimetric titration method by reducing thousand fold the required sample volume, forty times the nuclear waste per analysis as well as the analysis time by eight fold. These analytical parameters are important especially in nuclear-related applications to improve laboratory safety, personnel exposure to radioactive samples and to drastically reduce environmental impacts or analytical radioactive waste. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Metal fractionation in olive oil and urban sewage sludges using the three-stage BCR sequential extraction method and microwave single extractions.

PubMed

Pérez Cid, B; Fernández Alborés, A; Fernández Gómez, E; Faliqé López, E

2001-08-01

The conventional three-stage BCR sequential extraction method was employed for the fractionation of heavy metals in sewage sludge samples from an urban wastewater treatment plant and from an olive oil factory. The results obtained for Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb and Zn in these samples were compared with those attained by a simplified extraction procedure based on microwave single extractions and using the same reagents as employed in each individual BCR fraction. The microwave operating conditions in the single extractions (heating time and power) were optimized for all the metals studied in order to achieve an extraction efficiency similar to that of the conventional BCR procedure. The measurement of metals in the extracts was carried out by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The results obtained in the first and third fractions by the proposed procedure were, for all metals, in good agreement with those obtained using the BCR sequential method. Although in the reducible fraction the extraction efficiency of the accelerated procedure was inferior to that of the conventional method, the overall metals leached by both microwave single and sequential extractions were basically the same (recoveries between 90.09 and 103.7%), except for Zn in urban sewage sludges where an extraction efficiency of 87% was achieved. Chemometric analysis showed a good correlation between the results given by the two extraction methodologies compared. The application of the proposed approach to a certified reference material (CRM-601) also provided satisfactory results in the first and third fractions, as it was observed for the sludge samples analysed.

Backloading in the sequential lineup prevents within-lineup criterion shifts that undermine eyewitness identification performance.

PubMed

Horry, Ruth; Palmer, Matthew A; Brewer, Neil

2012-12-01

Although the sequential lineup has been proposed as a means of protecting innocent suspects from mistaken identification, little is known about the importance of various aspects of the procedure. One potentially important detail is that witnesses should not know how many people are in the lineup. This is sometimes achieved by backloading the lineup so that witnesses believe that the lineup includes more photographs than it actually does. This study aimed to investigate the effect of backloading on witness decision making. A large sample (N = 833) of community-dwelling adults viewed a live "culprit" and then saw a target-present or target-absent sequential lineup. All lineups included 6 individuals, but the participants were told that the lineup included 6 photographs (nonbackloaded condition) or that the lineup included 12 or 30 photographs (backloaded conditions). The suspect either appeared early (Position 2) or late (Position 6) in the lineup. Innocent suspects placed in Position 6 were chosen more frequently by participants in the nonbackloaded condition than in either backloaded condition. Additionally, when the lineup was not backloaded, foil identification rates increased from Positions 3 to 5, suggesting a gradually shifting response criterion. The results suggest that backloading encourages participants to adopt a more conservative response criterion, and it reduces or eliminates the tendency for the criterion to become more lenient over the course of the lineup. The results underscore the absolute importance of ensuring that witnesses who view sequential lineups are unaware of the number of individuals to be seen.

HNCA-TOCSY-CANH experiments with alternate 13C-12C labeling: a set of 3D experiment with unique supra-sequential information for mainchain resonance assignment

PubMed Central

Takeuchi, Koh; Gal, Maayan; Takahashi, Hideo; Shimada, Ichio

2011-01-01

Described here is a set of three-dimensional (3D) NMR experiments that rely on CACA-TOCSY magnetization transfer via the weak 3JCαCα coupling. These pulse sequences, which resemble recently described 13C detected CACA-TOCSY (Takeuchi et al. 2010) experiments, are recorded in 1H2O, and use 1H excitation and detection. These experiments require alternate 13C-12C labeling together with perdeuteration, which allows utilizing the small 3JCαCα scalar coupling that is otherwise masked by the stronger 1JCC couplings in uniformly 13C labeled samples. These new experiments provide a unique assignment ladder-mark that yields bidirectional supra-sequential information and can readily straddle proline residues. Unlike the conventional HNCA experiment, which contains only sequential information to the 13Cα of the preceding residue, the 3D hnCA-TOCSY-caNH experiment can yield sequential correlations to alpha carbons in positions i−1, i + 1 and i−2. Furthermore, the 3D hNca-TOCSY-caNH and Hnca-TOC-SY-caNH experiments, which share the same magnetization pathway but use a different chemical shift encoding, directly couple the 15N-1H spin pair of residue i to adjacent amide protons and nitrogens at positions i−2, i−1, i + 1 and i + 2, respectively. These new experimental features make protein backbone assignments more robust by reducing the degeneracy problem associated with the conventional 3D NMR experiments. PMID:21110064

Sequential chemical treatment of radium species in TENORM waste sludge produced from oil and natural gas production.

PubMed

El Afifi, E M; Awwad, N S; Hilal, M A

2009-01-30

This paper is dedicated to the treatment of sludge occurring in frame of the Egyptian produced from oil and gas production. The activity levels of three radium isotopes: Ra-226 (of U-series), Ra-228 and Ra-224 (of Th-series) in the solid TENORM waste (sludge) were first evaluated and followed by a sequential treatment for all radium species (fractions) presented in TENORM. The sequential treatment was carried out based on two approaches 'A' and 'B' using different chemical solutions. The results obtained indicate that the activity levels of all radium isotopes (Ra-226, Ra-228 and Ra-224) of the environmental interest in the TENORM waste sludge were elevated with regard to exemption levels established by IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), International basic safety standards for the protection against ionizing radiation and for the safety of radiation sources. GOV/2715/Vienna, 1994]. Each approach of the sequential treatment was performed through four steps using different chemical solutions to reduce the activity concentration of radium in a large extent. Most of the leached radium was found as an oxidizable Ra species. The actual removal % leached using approach B was relatively efficient compared to A. It is observed that the actual removal percentages (%) of Ra-226, Ra-228 and Ra-224 using approach A are 78+/-2.8, 64.8+/-4.1 and 76.4+/-5.2%, respectively. Whereas in approach A, the overall removal % of Ra-226, Ra-228 and Ra-228 was increased to approximately 91+/-3.5, 87+/-4.1 and 90+/-6.2%, respectively.

A comparison of disinfection by-products formation during sequential or simultaneous disinfection of surface waters with chlorine dioxide and chlor(am)ine.

PubMed

Shi, Yanwei; Ling, Wencui; Qiang, Zhimin

2013-01-01

The effect of chlorine dioxide (ClO2) oxidation on the formation of disinfection by-products (DBPs) during sequential (ClO2 pre-oxidation for 30 min) and simultaneous disinfection processes with free chlorine (FC) or monochloramine (MCA) was investigated. The formation of DBPs from synthetic humic acid (HA) water and three natural surface waters containing low bromide levels (11-27 microg/L) was comparatively examined in the FC-based (single FC, sequential ClO2-FC, and simultaneous ClO2/FC) and MCA-based (single MCA, ClO2-MCA, and ClO2/MCA) disinfection processes. The results showed that much more DBPs were formed from the synthetic HA water than from the three natural surface waters with comparative levels of dissolved organic carbon. In the FC-based processes, ClO2 oxidation could reduce trihalomethanes (THMs) by 27-35% and haloacetic acids (HAAs) by 14-22% in the three natural surface waters, but increased THMs by 19% and HAAs by 31% in the synthetic HA water after an FC contact time of 48 h. In the MCA-based processes, similar trends were observed although DBPs were produced at a much lower level. There was an insignificant difference in DBPs formation between the sequential and simultaneous processes. The presence of a high level of bromide (320 microg/L) remarkably promoted the DBPs formation in the FC-based processes. Therefore, the simultaneous disinfection process of ClO2/MCA is recommended particularly for waters with a high bromide level.

Noise reduction methods for nucleic acid and macromolecule sequencing

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

Schuller, Ivan K.; Di Ventra, Massimiliano; Balatsky, Alexander

Methods, systems, and devices are disclosed for processing macromolecule sequencing data with substantial noise reduction. In one aspect, a method for reducing noise in a sequential measurement of a macromolecule comprising serial subunits includes cross-correlating multiple measured signals of a physical property of subunits of interest of the macromolecule, the multiple measured signals including the time data associated with the measurement of the signal, to remove or at least reduce signal noise that is not in the same frequency and in phase with the systematic signal contribution of the measured signals.

Long-term efficacy of reduced-intensity versus myeloablative conditioning before allogeneic haemopoietic cell transplantation in patients with acute myeloid leukaemia in first complete remission: retrospective follow-up of an open-label, randomised phase 3 trial.

PubMed

Fasslrinner, Frederick; Schetelig, Johannes; Burchert, Andreas; Kramer, Michael; Trenschel, Rudolf; Hegenbart, Ute; Stadler, Michael; Schäfer-Eckart, Kerstin; Bätzel, Michael; Eich, Hans; Stuschke, Martin; Engenhart-Cabillic, Rita; Krause, Mechthild; Dreger, Peter; Neubauer, Andreas; Ehninger, Gerhard; Beelen, Dietrich; Berdel, Wolfgang E; Siepmann, Timo; Stelljes, Matthias; Bornhäuser, Martin

2018-04-01

The impact of the intensity of conditioning before allogeneic haemopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) has been studied in a randomised phase 3 trial comparing reduced-intensity conditioning with myeloablative conditioning in patients with acute myeloid leukaemia in first complete remission. Because of the short follow-up of the original trial, whether reduced-intensity conditioning increases the risk of late relapse compared with myeloablative conditioning remained unclear. To address this question, we present retrospective 10-year follow-up data of this trial and focus on late relapse. The original randomised phase 3 trial included patients aged 18-60 years, with intermediate-risk or high-risk acute myeloid leukaemia, an adequate organ function, and an available HLA-matched sibling donor or an unrelated donor with at least nine out of ten HLA alleles matched. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to 120 mg/m 2 fludarabine combined with four 2 Gy doses of total-body irradiation (reduced-intensity conditioning) or six 2 Gy doses of total-body irradiation and 120 mg/kg cyclophosphamide (myeloablative conditioning). The primary and secondary efficacy endpoints of this trial have been published previously. In this retrospective, long-term follow-up analysis, data were collected from medical reports from individual participating study centres, and from physician and patient interviews. Endpoints included in this analysis were cumulative relapse incidence, overall survival, disease-free survival, and non-relapse mortality in the original study population and in patients alive and relapse-free at 12 months after HCT (landmark analysis). 10-year time to event rates were calculated in the intention-to-treat population and were compared with the Gray test. The trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00150878. In the original trial, 195 patients were randomly assigned to receive reduced-intensity conditioning (n=99) or myeloablative conditioning (n=96). For this retrospective analysis, data were collected with a nearly complete follow-up (completeness index 99%). Median follow-up time for surviving patients was 9·9 years (IQR 8·5-11·4), during which the cumulative incidence of relapse in the complete study population was identical in both groups (30% [95% CI 20-39] in the reduced-intensity conditioning group vs 30% [21-40] in the myeloablative conditioning group; Gray test p=0·99). Relapse occurred at a median of 5·0 months (IQR 3·0-8·8) in the reduced-intensity conditioning group versus 9·5 months (4·5-20·5) in the myeloablative conditioning group. 10-year disease-free survival was 55% (95% CI 45-66) in the reduced-intensity conditioning group and 43% (34-55) in the myeloablative conditioning group (hazard ratio [HR] 0·76 [0·51-1·14]; p=0·19). 10-year non-relapse mortality was 16% (95% CI 8-24) in the reduced-intensity conditioning group and 26% (17-36) in the myeloablative conditioning group (subdistribution HR 0·60 [95% CI 0·32-1·11]; Gray test p=0·10). The incidence of long-term toxicities associated with total-body irradiation was comparable; secondary malignancies occurred in six (6%) of 94 patients in the reduced-intensity conditioning group and five (6%) of 90 in the myeloablative conditioning group (p=1·00). There is no evidence that reduced-intensity conditioning increases the risk of late relapse compared with myeloablative conditioning. Given that the reduced-intensity conditioning group in the original trial was associated with lower early morbidity and toxicity, reduced-intensity conditioning with moderately reduced total-body irradiation doses could be the preferred conditioning strategy for patients with acute myeloid leukaemia who are younger than 60 years and transplanted in first complete remission. None. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reduction in chemotherapy order errors with computerized physician order entry.

PubMed

Meisenberg, Barry R; Wright, Robert R; Brady-Copertino, Catherine J

2014-01-01

To measure the number and type of errors associated with chemotherapy order composition associated with three sequential methods of ordering: handwritten orders, preprinted orders, and computerized physician order entry (CPOE) embedded in the electronic health record. From 2008 to 2012, a sample of completed chemotherapy orders were reviewed by a pharmacist for the number and type of errors as part of routine performance improvement monitoring. Error frequencies for each of the three distinct methods of composing chemotherapy orders were compared using statistical methods. The rate of problematic order sets-those requiring significant rework for clarification-was reduced from 30.6% with handwritten orders to 12.6% with preprinted orders (preprinted v handwritten, P < .001) to 2.2% with CPOE (preprinted v CPOE, P < .001). The incidence of errors capable of causing harm was reduced from 4.2% with handwritten orders to 1.5% with preprinted orders (preprinted v handwritten, P < .001) to 0.1% with CPOE (CPOE v preprinted, P < .001). The number of problem- and error-containing chemotherapy orders was reduced sequentially by preprinted order sets and then by CPOE. CPOE is associated with low error rates, but it did not eliminate all errors, and the technology can introduce novel types of errors not seen with traditional handwritten or preprinted orders. Vigilance even with CPOE is still required to avoid patient harm.

Candida zemplinina can reduce acetic acid produced by Saccharomyces cerevisiae in sweet wine fermentations.

PubMed

Rantsiou, Kalliopi; Dolci, Paola; Giacosa, Simone; Torchio, Fabrizio; Tofalo, Rosanna; Torriani, Sandra; Suzzi, Giovanna; Rolle, Luca; Cocolin, Luca

2012-03-01

In this study we investigated the possibility of using Candida zemplinina, as a partner of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, in mixed fermentations of must with a high sugar content, in order to reduce its acetic acid production. Thirty-five C. zemplinina strains, which were isolated from different geographic regions, were molecularly characterized, and their fermentation performances were determined. Five genetically different strains were selected for mixed fermentations with S. cerevisiae. Two types of inoculation were carried out: coinoculation and sequential inoculation. A balance between the two species was generally observed for the first 6 days, after which the levels of C. zemplinina started to decrease. Relevant differences were observed concerning the consumption of sugars, the ethanol and glycerol content, and acetic acid production, depending on which strain was used and which type of inoculation was performed. Sequential inoculation led to the reduction of about half of the acetic acid content compared to the pure S. cerevisiae fermentation, but the ethanol and glycerol amounts were also low. A coinoculation with selected combinations of S. cerevisiae and C. zemplinina resulted in a decrease of ~0.3 g of acetic acid/liter, while maintaining high ethanol and glycerol levels. This study demonstrates that mixed S. cerevisiae and C. zemplinina fermentation could be applied in sweet wine fermentation to reduce the production of acetic acid, connected to the S. cerevisiae osmotic stress response.

Putting the brakes on the "drive to eat": Pilot effects of naltrexone and reward based eating on food cravings among obese women

PubMed Central

Mason, Ashley E.; Laraia, Barbara; Daubenmier, Jennifer; Hecht, Frederick M.; Lustig, Robert H.; Puterman, Eli; Adler, Nancy; Dallman, Mary; Kiernan, Michaela; Gearhardt, Ashley N.; Epel, Elissa S.

2015-01-01

Purpose Obese individuals vary in their experience of food cravings and tendency to engage in reward-driven eating, both of which can be modulated by the neural reward system rather than physiological hunger. We examined two predictions in a sample of obese women: (1) whether opioidergic blockade reduced food-craving intensity, and (2) whether opioidergic blockade reduced an association between food-craving intensity and reward-driven eating, which is a trait-like index of three factors (lack of control over eating, lack of satiation, preoccupation with food). Methods Forty-four obese, pre-menopausal women completed the Reward-based Eating Drive (RED) scale at study start and daily food-craving intensity on 5 days on which they ingested either a pill-placebo (2 days), a 25mg naltrexone dose (1 day), or a standard 50mg naltrexone dose (2 days). Results Craving intensity was similar under naltrexone and placebo doses. The association between food-craving intensity and reward-driven eating significantly differed between placebo and 50mg naltrexone doses. Reward-driven eating and craving intensity were significantly positively associated under both placebo doses. As predicted, opioidergic blockade (for both doses 25mg and 50mg naltrexone) reduced this positive association between reward-driven eating and craving intensity to non-significance. Conclusions Opioidergic blockade did not reduce craving intensity; however, blockade reduced an association between trait-like reward-driven eating and daily food-craving intensity, and may help identify an important endophenotype within obesity. PMID:26164674

Photoactive high explosives: linear and nonlinear photochemistry of petrin tetrazine chloride.

PubMed

Greenfield, Margo T; McGrane, Shawn D; Bolme, Cindy A; Bjorgaard, Josiah A; Nelson, Tammie R; Tretiak, Sergei; Scharff, R Jason

2015-05-21

Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), a high explosive, initiates with traditional shock and thermal mechanisms. In this study, the tetrazine-substituted derivative of PETN, pentaerythritol trinitrate chlorotetrazine (PetrinTzCl), is being investigated for a photochemical initiation mechanism that could allow control over the chemistry contributing to decomposition leading to initiation. PetrinTzCl exhibits a photochemical quantum yield (QYPC) at 532 nm not evident with PETN. Using static spectroscopic methods, we observe energy absorption on the tetrazine (Tz) ring that results in photodissociation yielding N2, Cl-CN, and Petrin-CN as the major photoproducts. The QYPC was enhanced with increasing irradiation intensity. Experiment and theoretical calculations imply this excitation mechanism follows sequential photon absorption. Dynamic simulations demonstrate that the relaxation mechanism leading to the observed photochemistry in PetrinTzCl is due to vibrational excitation during internal conversion. PetrinTzCl's single photon stability and intensity dependence suggest this material could be stable in ambient lighting, yet possible to initiate with short-pulsed lasers.

Multiple Stressors in a Changing World: The Need for an Improved Perspective on Physiological Responses to the Dynamic Marine Environment.

PubMed

Gunderson, Alex R; Armstrong, Eric J; Stillman, Jonathon H

2016-01-01

Abiotic conditions (e.g., temperature and pH) fluctuate through time in most marine environments, sometimes passing intensity thresholds that induce physiological stress. Depending on habitat and season, the peak intensity of different abiotic stressors can occur in or out of phase with one another. Thus, some organisms are exposed to multiple stressors simultaneously, whereas others experience them sequentially. Understanding these physicochemical dynamics is critical because how organisms respond to multiple stressors depends on the magnitude and relative timing of each stressor. Here, we first discuss broad patterns of covariation between stressors in marine systems at various temporal scales. We then describe how these dynamics will influence physiological responses to multi-stressor exposures. Finally, we summarize how multi-stressor effects are currently assessed. We find that multi-stressor experiments have rarely incorporated naturalistic physicochemical variation into their designs, and emphasize the importance of doing so to make ecologically relevant inferences about physiological responses to global change.

High-intensity focused ultrasound-triggered nanoscale bubble-generating liposomes for efficient and safe tumor ablation under photoacoustic imaging monitoring.

PubMed

Feng, Gang; Hao, Lan; Xu, Chunyan; Ran, Haitao; Zheng, Yuanyi; Li, Pan; Cao, Yang; Wang, Qi; Xia, Jizhu; Wang, Zhigang

2017-01-01

High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is widely applied to tumors in clinical practice due to its minimally invasive approach. However, several issues lower therapeutic efficiency in some cases. Many synergists such as microbubbles and perfluorocarbon nanoparticles have recently been used to improve HIFU treatment efficiency, but none were determined to be effective and safe in vivo. In this study, nanoscale bubble-generating liposomes (liposomes containing ammonium bicarbonate [Lip-ABC]) were prepared by film hydration followed by sequential extrusion. Their stable nanoscale particle diameter was confirmed, and their bubble-generating capacity after HIFU triggering was demonstrated with ultrasound imaging. Lip-ABC had good stability in vivo and accumulated in the tumor interstitial space based on the enhanced permeability and retention effect evaluated by photoacoustic imaging. When used to synergize HIFU ablation to bovine liver in vitro and implanted breast tumors of BALB/c nude mice, Lip-ABC outperformed the control. Importantly, all mice survived HIFU treatment, suggesting that Lip-ABC is a safe HIFU synergist.